Superstar Sleeze

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - Boston 9/7/85 Bundy has Jimmy Hart as his manager here, which honestly does make him feel midcard. I saw an episode of Tuesday Night Titans where Heenan became Bundy's manager, but there was no date, I expect it was around October of 85 so shortly after this. Bundy broke Andre's sternum at Maple Leaf Gardens in August of 85 during a Big John Studd match, but that was not aired on Primetime until October 1st and then shortly after that Bundy & Studd became the core of the Heenan Family. Wow really boring match. Probably the worst Hogan match I have seen in my recent run. Chinlock city and we follow that up with a bearhug. Give me Muraco back! The Avalanches are good. I wish Studd had a move like that. Just that one move gives Bundy so much gravitas. Hogan kicks out, HULK UP! Hart gives Bundy the Megaphone and BOOM! DQ! Hogan is bleeding. Hogan clobbers the Mouth of the South to send the Boston crowd home happy. Standard Hogan match with pretty boring action until the Avalanches.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd - Boston 6/22/85 Just one day removed from working a bloody, grueling cage match against Don Muraco, Hogan faces off against perhaps his most frequent challenger, Big John Studd. I have loved their matches in the past and I think this is their best one ever. There is something about Studd that makes him seem so credible and love the psychology of the bodyslam matches. Because this one day removed from the cage match, Hogan has a huge bandage on his head and Studd reopens that cut within minutes of the bell sounding. His white trunks were covered in Hogan's bloody. This is a great bloody brawl. Studd throwing Hogan into the chairs. Working the cut. Hogan making fiery comebacks. Hogan's punches and energy were great. Whipping me and the Boston crowd into a frenzy. Hogan goes for the slam but Studd hits him in the back. Great test of strength follows that is very dramatic with Hogan making a big comeback and knocking Studd off his feet with a big boot. Studd gets so much out of one bump. Hogan with a chair shot! I love bloody Hogan brawls. Studd does his homework and catches Hogan with a clothesline exploding out of the corner before Hogan can do it to him. Studd works the back. The one thing missing from Studd is that one move. He just needed one move and he didn't have it. That's what kills him. Bearhug by Studd and he keeps cutting Hogan off. Hogan spills to the outside. HULK UP! SCOOP! BODYSLAM ON THE FLOOR! COUNTOUT VICTORY FOR THE HULKSTER! I admit I didn't mark as hard as when I first saw that spot watching their 12/10/84 match from Nassau Coliseum, but damn if it did not blow the roof off the Boston Garden! Add in the blood and the brawling, easy thumbs up! ***1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - SNME 3/1/86 When compared to other builds to Mania, this is by far the least (Hogan/Piper/Lauper/T, the Andre turn, DiBiase buys the belt/Two Refs, MEGAPOWERS EXPLODE~!), but it is very traditional & simple. Prior to this match, King Kong Bundy squashes Steve Gatorwolf. Bobby Heenan & Bundy are hollering for Hogan. In traditional McMahon booking genius, he has Muraco beaten around the loop first and then puts the match on TV that way he has gotten all the money out of Muraco as a heel challenger. Mr. Fuji has come down with the flu and Muraco accuses the Hulkster of biological warfare so he has gone out and gotten the Brain as a last minute sub. I think this is one of the better Muraco performances. Good bumping especially the atomic drop. Heenan takes a right off the apron. Hulkster giving back the back rakes that Muraco gave him. The bearhug by Hogan is an odd choice. Thought Muraco worked hard on top actually got pretty good heat with the kneelifts and Asiatic Spikes (one from the top!). HULK UP! Brain triggers the DQ. Hogan attacks the Brain, but Bundy saves his manager. Muraco holds as Bundy gives him Three Avalanches in the corner and two splashes! Muraco gives him Last Rites too. They should have done the five count. It was the only thing that really would have put this over the top. They load Hogan up in the ambulance. It is not as flashy as Lauper & Mr. T or as shocking as the Andre stuff or as personal as the Macho Man rivalry, but there is a traditional feel to this that is nice. How many times did Hogan ever end up in an ambulance? Or really ever look this beaten down? It is surprisingly rare when you think about it. At the time before, the Andre turn, I really cant think of anytime in 1984 or 1985 that Hulk Hogan ever looked this vulnerable. It might not be the flashiest, but it is an effective build to WrestleMania II in the Steel Cage: Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - MSG 6/21/85 Steel Cage Match Definitely the best of the series as we get a good old school, double juice steel cage for the World Championship. They go for a slower pace, war of attrition feel. Both blocking cage shots early with Muraco using a ballshot and the Asiatic Spike to take control. Hogan Hulks Up and rams the Magnificent One into the cage drawing blood. As Hogan is running wild, Muraco sidesteps him and sends him into the cage. It is a catapult into the cage that busts Hogan wide open. The blood is flowing. Two great spots to end the match with Hogan gnawing on the open wound on the top rope driving MSG wild and then Muraco doing the Foley wrapping his head in the ropes. Gnarly spot. Hogan walks out the door triumphant. Finally a good Hogan/Muraco match. ***1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - MSG 5/20/85 Tell me Hulk Hogan cant work after watching this match! Tell me! Dude was on fire! Headbutts! Suplexes! Chairshots! Busting Muraco wide open. He was crushing it in this match. The only thing that dragged this down is Muraco is not a very good at selling and bumping. But Hogan on offense was glorious. Hogan drops the leg, but Fuji puts the Magnificent One's leg on the ropes. Fuji gives salt to Muraco who throws it in Hogan's face triggering the DQ and the steel cage rematch the next month at MSG. HULKAMANIA IS RUNNING WILD!

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ken Patera - Championship Wrestling 6/1/85 Interesting the Heenan Family did not have many matches with Hogan in the first half of 85. I would reckon they were mainly working with Andre as the big hair cutting angle was at the beginning of the year and of course Andre/Studd bodyslam match at Mania. Hogan was facing a rotation mainly of Beefcake, Muraco and Orndorff. While training Hillbilly Jim and Mr. T were his main focuses in terms of angles. In April of 85 following Mania, they started running Orndorff shaking Hogan's hand after matches and they cemented the babyface turn once Orndorff saved Hogan from Piper/Orton at the first Saturday Night's Main Event. In case, you didn't stay up late, this showcases the new friendship here as Mr. Wonderful saves Hogan from suffering the same fate as Andre at the hands of the Heenan Family. The match itself was like three minutes and shows Hogan as a great ball of energy just having kick ass offense. Big John Studd is out there gets on apron and they attack him. Heenan goes to cut his hair, but Paul Orndorff makes the save. Good angle.

Greg Valentine vs Koko B. Ware - SNME 1/2/88 Valentine is a full-on singles again and is being managed by the Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart. The New Dream Team broke up after Survivor Series '87 when Johnny V left. You think Valentine might get a renewed push but spends '88 stuck in programs with George The Animal Steele and Don Muraco with Superstar Graham in the midst of the worst babyface runs in history. Valentine had so much to give. This is a squash match and Valentine is great kicking the shit out of Koko. He can bump great and come off the top. Valentine really looked great. Beefcake comes out to remind everyone of this feud. Then he leaves. Um, ok. Koko slams Valentine off the top. Great slugfest between these two and Koko gets a dropkick and fist drop for two. These two could have a legit great match if they were allowed to. Kneecrusher->figure-4. Great squash. Beefcake comes out runs The Hammer off with those huge shears and takes it to the top of Jimmy Hart's mullet! Woah!

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - SNME 1/2/88 BUND-A-MANIA! BUN-DY! BUN-DY! BUN-DY! Maybe it is because I loved Married With Children, but Bundy is such a great name. So what happens to Bundy leaves a couple months after this and doesn't wrestle until 1993?!? What's the scoop, dudes? Another solid Hogan match. This one had a little more drama not just because of the Avalanching of the Ref, but Bundy hits NOT one, BUT TWO Avalanches on Hogan. I thought Hogan mixed in a lot of offense and some good selling(hand going numb on the armbar). You knew Bundy was not going to win, but the two Avalanches at least made the Hulk Up seem big, Bundy seems like the hardest person for Hogan to slam. Density? Not as athletic as the other big men? Andre comes in and chokes down Hogan it takes the whole babyface locker room and Duggan's 2x4 to finally break the Giant's deadly grip. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy - SNME 11/28/87 Andre is back! Returning at Survivor Series '87 Andre was the sole survivor defeating Hogan's team in a major victory to get him primed for a big rematch. Bundy is resurrected as a Hogan opponent here. It had been a year so I think there is some mileage again. The beginning is the same as the OMG match which I liked with Hogan putting over the size. Bundy is not as mobile as OMG besides standing on Hogan's back clear out there was no holy shit spots. Lots of gaga over Andre tripping Hogan and the ref throwing Andre out. Pretty standard Hogan match but it is fun. Twist ending with Bundy winning by countout because The Brain holds Bundy's leg. Hogan roughs up the Weasel which I think leads him to wearing a neck brace. Mostly as a way to get Andre back out there and set up another Hogan/Bundy match on SNME.

But by that time, brutha, Roman will be on his own. The value is in showing that united the Shield is more unstoppable than ANY force in WWE. It was a great statement.

Alicia Fox is the best character actor in wrestling. She is brilliant!

The Shield doing the old school Shield beatdown on BRAUN was a great fucking Angle. Enzo Amore has been gold as Cruiserweight Champ. RAW is killing it! HOLY SHIT MICKIE! You so fine!

As much as Jason Jordan is the best in-ring prospect in ages, Elias is the best gimmick in ages. Michael Cole and his ridiculous fandom of Elias is great!

Jason Jordan vs Karl Anderson was the best random WWE midcard TV match in forever. Felt like 2013 again. Jason Jordan is in such a groove right now.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ted DiBiase - Houston 10/9/87 DiBiase never got a huge singles run with the Hulkster matches here and there kinda like Roddy Piper. DiBiase major singles run was against the Macho Man holding down the fort in the Hulkster's absence. In early 88, he was a part of series tags either with Virgil or Andre against Hogan/Bam Bam Bigelow. The Million Dollar Man is such a great gimmick. He comes out says he is going to offer a Hulkamaniac a chance to win some money but wants to wait for Hogan to come out. He cuts a promo saying he wanted Hulk out there so he could watch one of his Hulkamaniacs embarrass themselves groveling for money. Hogan does not take kindly to this and just throws DiBiase around who is bumping all over the place. You can really split your Hogan opponents into two camps. Monsters and Bumpers. DiBiase is probably the best worker he faced in 1987 (he did have some matches against Savage, but they were not notable). DiBiase was clearly more athletic than Harley at this point, but this match lacked the violence of the Harley matches. DiBiase just really did not have the offense. He was very reminiscent of Mr. Perfect here. The only cool offense was the fist drop. Hulk Up! I love that he drops the leg, but Virgil distracts and DiBiase pops right up. They brawl at ringside; Virgil sends Hogan into the post. Countout win to set up the rematch later in the year in Houston. Mike McGuirk fawning over Hogan is really something. I wonder if it was Hogan's or Vince's idea? ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs One Man Gang - Houston 8/29/87 It is from WWF Houston so it features the commentary team from Hell: Bruce Pritchard, Mike McGuirk and the Duke of Dorchester, Pete Doherty. Doherty wont shut up about One Man Gang's brains. McGuirk has the shittiest comebacks imaginable. There was one funny moment. McGuirk comments on Hogan's good looks and Doherty responds "Why are you always bringing sex into it?" Which did make me laugh. One Man Gang was one of the big four Hogan opponents in 1987 along with Harley Race, Kamala and Killer Khan. What is interesting is that you don't think of these four (maybe Harley) as classic Hogan opponents but they were. 1987 is so dominated by Andre and the Megapowers, but those are just one off things. Hogan needed opponents around the horn and these were the guys that provided that. WWF was still relatively new Houston however with Crockett buying Watts, WWF received an influx of Mid-South talent (Duggan, DiBiase, and OMG) to bolster these cards. Hogan wrestled OMG here and then DiBiase at the next two shows (really the only strong run DiBiase got against Hogan in singles). Pretty standard Hogan match. I thought he put OMG over well early bouncing off him in the shouldertackle and then back giving out on slam. Gang has good basic clobbering offense and is pretty mobile. Not an all time great like a Crusher Blackwell, but he is serviceable. Hogan makes his first comeback, but Slick grabs his foot. Shoulder massage and bearhug. Then we get the big splash. HULK-UP! Like I said standard, but is fun. Not as good as the rest of Hogan's 87, but gets the job done. ***

Hulk Hogan describes the brightest force in the world as Hulkamania and Mr. Fuji says now you see darkness. Khan spews the mist in his eyes. At this point, they are transitioning from Kamala as Hogan's monster challenger to Killer Khan. Solid angle to kick this off and plays well into the finish around the horn.

Hulk Hogan & Paul Orndorff vs Heenan Family (Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy) - WWF 7/19/86 The build to this is tremendous and mostly takes place on the Flower Shop. Adrian Adonis & The Flower Shop were great in 1986. Adonis was the straw that stirred the WWF drink. He was best friends with the Macho Man in their feud with Tito. Of course, the Piper return is iconic. In addition, he was the catalyst for turning Orndorff on Hogan taking innocuous occurrences and playing on Mr. Wonderful's insecurities. The infamous missed phone call and I cant still see Orndorff steaming mad in my head. He looked like one of those cartoon characters all he was missing was the steam coming out his ears. This all built to Hogan teaming with Wonderful against his two biggest rivals Studd & Bundy. This match is amazing in setting up the angle. Wonderful does a great job getting both Studd & Bundy off their feet, but he cant slam Studd. He dropkicks him off the feet. He cant slam him. The crowd gives him a good reaction, but he didn't slam him. Hogan comes in like a ball of energy and SLAMS STUDD! THE CROWD ERUPTS! ORNDORFF IS PISSED! Great, great stuff. Hogan gets double teamed. He is trying break free of Studd with a headbutt and the kickback rocks him back into Orndorff on the apron and the collision wipes out Wonderful. Studd & Bundy double team Hogan as the ref calls for the DQ. Orndorff is selling, but clears the ring of the Heenan Family. Orndorff raises Hogan's hand and then BANG CLOTHESLINE HIM! PILEDRIVER!!! AWESOME ANGLE! What I really liked about it is that felt organic. Like Orndorff was miffed at Hogan but did not have the intention of turning on him until he got knocked off the apron. It was a split second decision, which saves the headache of if you are going to turn on him why go through the motions of the match. I am going to stick with this story rather than story of it being pre-conceived as Bruno suggests because Adonis is there to congratulate him and the Heenan Family celebrate. The notion it was pre-conceived does leave a bad taste in my mouth, but otherwise a truly excellent and angle one of the best of the era. Must-see angle.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Kamala - MLG 1/11/87 Steel Cage Hogan sure had his share of cage matches this month squaring off against Mr. Wonderful on SNME earlier in the month. Typically awesome Hogan/Kamala match. This should go down as one of the best sub-10 minute matches of all time. Kamala attacks Hogan as he enters and grabs the championship belt and beats him with it. Hogan gets the belt and wow those belt shots sounded great. It was absolute mayhem and violence in this. It was great how each blocked the cage shots early but then Hogan eats it first and then starts bleeding. BIG KAMALA SPLASH! Hogan blocks. Kamala splash, kick out and HULK-UP! Kamala with great webble wobble selling. Then Hogan sends him into the cage. KIM CHEE BODYSLAMS THE REF ON THE RAMP! Kim Chee and The Wizard in. Wizard eats a punch. Kim Chee goes flying. Atomic drop on Kamala into Kim Chee and Hogan walks through the door. He kicks some more ass for good measure. Im loving all these matches. Great stuff all around. ***3/4

WWF World Heavyweight Hulk Hogan vs Kamala - MSG 12/26/86 This is the prelude to the famous Warpaint match the next month at MSG and I thought it was every bit as good. Kamala was great as the immovable object in this match. He was like a better Andre (Andre obviously having physical issues). His weeble wobble selling was great. The way they bounced off each other on the shouldertackles. Kamala's leapfrog and bowling Hogan over and then doing the leapfrog again as his celebration was great. Total commitment to the character. Loved Hogan going for the slam early and Kamala working the back over with chops. Hogan was beating the crap out of him but he would go down and one shot and Kim Chee goes flying. Great way to show how Hogan fell a normal man, but Kamala is no normal man. Great heel cheating with the horn from the Wizard and Kamala's splash looked great. The Hulk Up was great but Kim Chee attacks the ref while Wizard pokes him in the eye and Kamala splashes Hogan a bunch. Ref calls for the bell and Hogan makes his big comeback chasing them all off. Backstage, The Brain conducts an interview with the Wizard and it turns into a Hogan/Kamala brawl. Wow! I thought this was a fantastic Hogan vs Monster match. ****

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Killer Khan - Boston 9/12/87 Amazing finish! I wont spoil it because it had me marking out. Amazing babyface vs heel match here. Khan jumps out ahead of Hogan going for the throat relentlessly. Choking him with tape, thrusting at his throat and Fuji gets in on it. Hogan is selling well. Khan spits a green loogie at the ref when the Hulkster ducks. Khan is kicking his ass all over the ring and outside the ring. Hogan makes his first comeback and it is MOLTEN! He is gives him back everything and then some with the tape and back rakes and absolutely slams a chair into him twice on the outside. Hogan in these crazy brawls has been great. Fuji distracts Hogan. Khan does the only thing to kill this match dead in its tracks. A shoulder massage and it is a long one. Too bad. Hogan's shoulder tackles look great, but Khan goes to the throat. The kneedrop is his big false finish and then Hulk Up and the wrinkle is awesome. If it was not for the shoulder massage, this is a great, great Hogan match. Definitely check this one out! ***3/4

Great stuff, Parv! Harley is not someone I am generally too fond of. I know it has been parroted before, but I see him as a bomb thrower with no psychology. The match with Martel in the AWA is a great example of this. Though, I have watched Harley Race matches that I really do enjoy. Harley does not seem to have that classic, iconic match that everyone points to as his best. So what do people think is the best Harley Race match? I ask because I just watched the Texas Death match with Hogan in 87 in fucking loved it. I also rated the Baba 10/31/79 match very highly. I agree with Parv that two matches with the Von Erich boys are standouts. What else is there?

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Harley Race - MSG 6/22/87 Texas Death Match I could have sworn I had seen this before, but there is no way because I would never forget such a badass match. Honestly, this could be the best Hogan match of his career and this is going to sound weird but I think this is the greatest Harley Race match I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of "Texas Death" matches in WWF and besides the Patera '80 one they aren't really all that violent and awesome. This was violent and this was awesome. Hogan tears into Harley. Lots of brawling around the ring. This would feel more comfortable in Memphis or Greensboro. Hogan just ramming Harley's hard head into hard object. He HORSE COLLARS him with a chair on point. Loved the transitions in this as he is bringing him back into the ring, Harley's old trick knee flares up and just whacks him in the balls. Not even the Immortal Hulk Hogan is invulnerable to that. Harley is great with the piledriver and the suplexes and those great headbutts. He takes some great bumps in this. His trademark one out the corner hooking the ropes looked totally out of control. Hogan sees red but wants the Brain and Harley uses this take control ramming a metal chair into the throat of Hogan. This is gnarly. But he misses the headbutt and eats concrete. Great spot. They are fighting up the rampway and PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR! Harley looks like he has this won. Heenan gives him the Championship Belt first he holds it high before using it as a weapon. Classic! The spot could have been executed better, but loved the intention. Harley comes off the top rope looking to end the interminable reign of Hogan with a flying headbutt but eats the Gold! (the belt was not in perfect position I think Hogan could have moved it to make it look like he did it, small quibble). Hogan does his best Chief Jay impersonation with the belt and then smashes Harley in the face and the covers while holding the belt high. Badass! Simply badass! ****1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs King Harley Race - MSG 5/18/87 For some reason the WWF did not run the Garden in March or April of 1987. The last Hogan match at the Garden was his great man vs monster classic with Kamala. Now he takes on former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race. As a Harley Race bump-a-thon this is great! That first bump is a doozy. He goes over the top rope and cracks the back of his head on a chair. He was just a bumping maniac in this match. Just feeding Hogan and Hogan was just cracking him. I thought Harley's offense was lacking until the end. The headbutts looked good and the busted Hogan open. Just when it looked like Harley may give Heenan what he always wanted, he comes crashing down from the top rope diving headbutt. Hogan rolling him up for the win is strange. Hogan bleeding wants to celebrate, but Harley attacks with his crown from behind setting up the Texas Death Match at the next show.

So whats the deal here? I know everyone needs a gimmick, but where did Vince come up with this one. I always love seeing the Rogue Gallery in the ring in the WWF. Just such a richness in the gimmicks especially on the heel side. Orton wearing the pink hat because he was Adonis' bodyguard was great. Adonis had such a stellar run from 86 up to Mania III. The Funks being in this ring for Harley is weird. Heenan plays it pretty straight. The midget is a great touch especially holding his train at the end. Good segment. Not as good as the Macho King Coronation. It is weird how this almost became like a tertiary title in the WWF.