April 1986

Handheld Footage ***SPOILER*** NWA US Champion Magnum TA defeated Nikita Koloff in a steel cage match at 8:51; both men were counted down by the referee after colliding into the cage, with the referee then telling the ring announcer that the first man to reach his feet would be declared the winner

This is similar to the rest of the House Show footage. Can't find it on youtube. PM me if you have questions. Footage goes 18:40

HANDHELD FOOTAGE ***SPOILER*** Wahoo McDaniel defeated National Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard via reverse decision at the 7:30 mark when - after McDaniel had been pinned following a knee to the back - the referee changed the call after realizing JJ Dillon held McDaniel's foot down during the cover; after the match, Jimmy Garvin jumped McDaniel and repeatedly hit him over the back with a steel chair as Blanchard easily fought off two wrestlers that tried to make the save; moments later, NWA US Champion Magnum TA came out and cleared the ring

Genichiro Tenryu vs Ole Anderson - AJPW 4/6/86 When Ole Anderson was wailing on Tenryu's arm with a steel chair on the outside, I was thinking to myself how the fuck did this finish #147. Then the match ended like 5 minutes later and that's what was criminal. It was so short and there was not enough meat on the bone but what we did get was great. Ole was his usual, surly, ornery bastard self. Tenryu was NOT quite TENRYU~! yet but they had a damn good exchange early. Not much a feeling out process. Ole bodyslams him, double wristlock switches to hammerlock and throws Tenryu HARD into the buckles and I mean HARD! Tenryu takes a nasty bump on side of his neck. Ole was r…

Masa Fuchi vs Kuniaki Kobayashi - AJPW 4/6/86 I love unexpected bloody brawls! I saw this on paper was thinking oh this is a technical gem. Kobayashi bumrushes Fuchi at the bell and just beats him pillar to post like he found out he slept with his girlfriend. This was a mugging. He starts swinging the steel chair with all he has got. Relaxed rules Japanese pro wrestling is the best. He tears into Fuchi and they end up in the ring. They spill back to the outside. FUCHI WHIPS KOBAYASHI THE HARDEST I HAVE EVER SEEN INTO A STEEL RAILING! That fucking railing most have went back 6 feet and really hurt some people's knees and shins. Wow! He wiped out! Then Fuchi took him …

The famous Battle Royal with the NFL players is much better than it has any right to be. The Chicago crowd go crazy anytime any of the Bear players get a chance to shine. Perry landing a double tackle on The Hart Foundation was a cool spot. Andre's body is nearing Wrestlemania 3 levels of broken, but he's protected by The Hart Foundation during the finishing stretch to not stink up the match. ★★½

WWF World Tag Champs Dream Team vs British Bulldogs - Wrestlemania II Beefcake's total amount of time in this match is literally one minute. Thank God. At one point, Gorilla says Valentine has been in there a while and whilst the Hammer conferring with Luscious Johnny V remarks he can't believe Johnny V wouldn't advise a tag out. All I have to say is Gorilla have you seen Beefcake wrestle? Of course, Beefcake's one big move is actually a nice hammerlock slam that was perfectly fed to him by Davey Boy and perfectly setup by Valentine's arm work, but it doesn't stop Gene and Gorilla from going gaga over the Beefer's one move. Give me Dino Bravo every day over that chump…

Ergh, yet another pointlessly short match and there's even less stuff of substance here than the last match. At least the crowd seemed to lap it up. They punch around a bit, Kirchner gets cut open somehow, the referee gets knocks down and Blassie attempts to throw his cane to Volkoff, only for Kirchner to intercept. Volkoff is hit with the cane and he's pinned once the referee comes back around. All done and dusted in two minutes. ½★

Feels more like a a Saturday Night's Main Event match than the main event of Wrestlemania, but it's completely what you would expect from Hogan. Bundy gets colour after having his dome rammed into the cage. Bundy then works over Hulk until he inevitably Hulks Up. Heenan isn't able to stop Hogan from escaping the cage, and gets beaten up after the bell. A completely forgettable main event, but Undertaker vs Sid still holds the honor of being the worst Wrestlemania main event ever. ★¾

For a guy who's clearly only here to do a job for an up and coming star, Wells gets a fair bit of shine after he comes out swinging. He has some decent punches and even lands a neat flying head scissors before Roberts catches him off-guard with a knee lift and lands a DDT for the win. After the match, Jake drapes his snake over the defeated Wells. Decent enough match to build up Roberts for bigger things. ★★

A simple and standard match built around arm work, until the utterly shit finish puts a stop to the action. Orndorff looks great and is over with the crowd, and Muraco's stoogey selling on his arm made a basic hold just a touch entertaining. This is eventually thrown out after both men tumble to the floor and the ref rules this as a double count-out. The crowd aren't happy and treat us to some loud "Bullshit!" chants. I don't understand why we couldn't of gotten a decisive finish here. ★½

Whilst Savage would obviously have better Wrestlemania matches, this was carried by both men's charisma and by Savage's mind games. Steele gives Savage a beating with a bouquet of flowers that Savage tried to use himself, before Steele gets himself distracted by the simple sight of Elizabeth at ringside. I was shocked that Steele was allowed to kick out of Savage's elbow drop. Savage rolls up Steele for the win, with some assistance from the ropes. This was basic stuff, but campy fun nonetheless. ★★¼

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Yeah, this was garbage. Worked boxing is never going to look good even if Piper lands a few convincing punches and T's ducking and weaving looked half-way decent. The majority of strikes look like they couldn't even harm a fly. This ain't Rocky, that's for sure! The crowd aren't buying this and if they aren't sitting quietly on their hands, they are cheering for Piper. After four rounds of boredom, Piper gets mad and body slams Mr. T, causing a disqualification. DUD

Has Terry Funk ever had a bad match? You could throw him on any card in history and he'd adapt and deliver something worth watching. His performance here was his usual crazy Texan self turned up to eleven and he fights right in with WWF's style at the time. Dory is mainly here to throw some beautifully crisp firearms and look disgusted with himself for working for Vince's silly cartoon wrestling show. JYD is here to take the hot tag, so he doesn't hurt the match at all. This is an underrated match, and one of the few things worth seeing from this show. ★★★

Elmer is Khali levels of bad. You can still see glimpses of brilliance from Adonis, but he's well past his best days and his gay panic gimmick doesn't sit well with me. Adonis is still able to bump well, and that's what he does for Elmer until he is able to catch him off guard and get a win. I'll give this half a star for Adonis and his bumping. ½★

There's not much to write about here. Moolah snapmares and slaps Mcintyre around. Mcintyre uses her speed to counter and land a few dropkicks. She misses a splash and Moolah covers her for a pin in under 90 seconds. I'll give them a star for effort and that they worked at a rushed pace for the entirety of the match, I guess. You will be seeing a lot worse from Moolah in just over a decade's time. ★

This is Texas Tornado rules. This was totally a wild brawl. It had some interesting moments. Like Doc taking the blind over the top bump to the floor. The crowd was hot throughout , would get white hot during the babyface comebacks. A really spirited brawl. 3 1/4*

HANDHELD FOOTAGE ***SPOILER*** Ron Garvin fought NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson to a 15-minute time-limit draw; Garvin punched Anderson with his injured right hand during the closing moments but wasn't able to make the cover before the time expired

*** SPOILER*** Dusty Rhodes & Wahoo McDaniel defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair & National Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard in a lights out bullrope / Indian strap match at 7:35 when McDaniel pinned Blanchard after hitting him with the strap as Blanchard came off the top; Rhodes had Flair in the figure-4 at the time of the fall; prior to the match, Jimmy Garvin attacked McDaniel from behind and then left ringside HANDHELD FOOTAGE

HANDHELD FOOTAGE ***SPOILER*** NWA US Champion Magnum TA defeated Nikita Koloff via reverse decision; Koloff originally won the match and title around the 15-minute mark after hitting Magnum with a chain while the referee was down on the floor; after the decision was made, a second referee came out, told the initial referee what happened, and the call was changed; after the bout, Koloff assaulted Magnum until Magnum gained the upper hand and threw Koloff into the ringpost

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW 4/18/86 Double championship match means there is going to be some sort of skullduggery at the finish. Hansen had just dropped his PWF Championship to Riki Choshu earlier in the month, who would keep until he returned to New Japan in 1987. Even though, Jumbo & Hansen are each considered two of the ten greatest wrestlers who ever lived, their rivalry is generally considered lackluster and I dont really hear of anyone pointing to them having that one match that is held up as GOAT material. I do see a match from 1986 did finish highly in the DVDVR voting. It was…

The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey) with Jim Cornette, defend the NWA World Tag Team Titles I can't tell you how much I loved this. My tastes have changed in some fairly substantial ways over the years, but I think your tried and true southern tag worked in front of a hot crowd will be one type of wrestling match I'll never tire of. It doesn't need to be complicated. A solid babyface shine, a solid heat segment, a nice little run to the finish...even that, the most basic play on the formula, will usually be enough to keep me halfway engaged. From a layout standpoint this was as simple as you could get. It had two actual transitions the enti…

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