Buck Zumhofe v. David Wagner

 

Holy shit I had forgotten about Zumhofe's get up and boom box and Wagner nearly tops it with his "Alaskan" gear. Wagner over powers Buck several times and keeps jawing with the crowd which inevitably leads to Buck firing up and getting in some offense. Wagner's bump off of the Buck dropkick was pretty impressive for a guy that size. Buck goes to work over Wagner's leg but Wagner ends up breaking free and throwing a nice kick to Zumhofe's head. Then he hits one of the shittiest elbow drops I've ever seen. Wagner works a head lock and they do a hope spot where Buck runs at him and just sort of falls down on impact. Sounds a lot shittier than it was actually. Rope running spot out of a headlock break for a cross body nearfall from Zumhofe. Wagner is working the hell out of this headlock but they are making it fairly interesting with Buck hitting rolling escapes and such, skirting around on his back in desperate search of a headscissors counter, et. They badly botch a nearfall off of a reverse cross body where Wagner fucked up the count. Wagner eats and a series of dropkicks and then gets small packaged for the finish. I enjoyed this more than I should have.

 

Larry Zbyszko promo talking about Martel hiding from him. Pretty amusing actually.

 

Billy Robinson v. Blackjack Lanza

 

This is JIP and was intro'ed in as a "classic match" from the Winnipeg Arena. Heenan is managing Billy here. I enjoyed what was shown here as there were some nifty escapes and bumps from Robinson, some clubberin from Lanza and a pair of cool neckbreakers.

 

Ray Stevens/Nick Bockwinkel promo

 

Larry Zbyszko v. Steve O

 

I am amused by the amount of energy and athleticism Larry uses in his stalling. One byproduct of this is that the crowd gets pissed and excited which is not always something you see with matches that are filled with stalling. When they go up for the first real spots in this they are five minutes in and the crowd is really up for it even though it is all elementary stuff. They end up doing a double head bump off a rope running spot and Larry takes a crazy back bump through the ropes. Cool way for Larry to take over her as Steve O goes for the old rope slingshot in and they fight back and fourth with Larry winning and Steve O taking a big flip bump to the floor. Larry keeps him at bay with cheapshot after cheapshot but Steve O finally surprises him with a sunset flip. Larry misses a dropkick coming off the ropes and Steve O hits a nice vertical suplex for a huge pop and nearfall. Nifty little struggle spot with Larry trying to block an atomic drop with a standing bridge though it doesn't work out in the end. Larry cuts off the momentum with a knee to the face off of a corner charge and they do a little back and fourth with nearfalls coming almost out of the blue but in a good way. Steve O misses a top rope elbow and eats a neckbreaker but the shitty ref fucks up the nearfall. Larry with a jumping piledriver for the fall. I really liked this a lot. The energy level was good throughout, even when there was "nothing" going on in the opening, and I thought the build was very strong. Not sure how much it will hold up for me, but this seems like a good benchmark match to kick things off.

 

Butch Reed v. two jobbers

 

Could never quite catch the full name of either jobber off the commentary. This is a twenty minute challenge with the jobbers merely having to survive to win. They do a cool spot with Reed working a wristlock and then inviting the guy on the apron to come in and help his partner and then tossing them both down. Cool double clothesline and press slam finish for Reed.

 

Ray Stevens/Nick Bockwinkel promo

 

Butch Reed promo

 

Greg Gagne v. Super Destroyer II

 

This is JIP with Okerland on commentary. Starts with Gagne taking a corner charge bump. Both of these guys take some pretty big bumps here. There were some pretty stiff big time shots in this as well. Gagne with a silly looking bump off of a double shoulder block spot. Gagne gets battered around ringside and though his fire up facial expression is pretty goofy I've got to say Destroyer and Heenan at ringside do a great job making him looking good here. Gagne hits a big hip toss and then ends up taking a wild bump off of a corner splash. Gagne's bump for a clothesline looked bizarre. Gagne wins off of a dropkick into the ropes. What was shown here was actually pretty good, despite some of the goofball mannerisms.

 

Buck Zumhofe promo. Holy shit he's got the boom box playing while he rants about Steve Regal stealing his title! Awesome.

 

Curt Hennig/Greg Gagne v. Ray Stevens/Nick Bockwinkel

 

This was a solid match with some respectable arm work and decent heel antics up until Hennig goes FIP. At that point the match got really good. It's not so much that the heels were super compelling here, but Hennig's huge corner bump, blade job and jelly legged bumping/selling really built the tension well and made the Gagne hot tag come across like a last ditch effort. Heels bumped nicely for the dropkicks but then we get a ref bump right as the Gagne sleeper gets locked on. Stupid over the top DQ as a clusterfuck broke out in the ring. The Hennig stuff makes this interesting worth watching, but the combo of a pedestrian opening stretch and shit finish means this is short of a nomination.

 

Buck Zumhofe v. Boris Zukoff

 

Zumhofe was pretty good in this. He was essentially a poor man's Lanny Poffo, doing roll through escapes, goofy arm work spots, bumping pretty wildly off of missed offensively flurries, et. Boris wins with the a ridiculous looking diving headbutt to Buck who is standing. Zumhofe made this watchable.

 

Ray Stevens promo

 

Big John Studd/Angelo Mosca v. Jerry Blackwell/Andre The Giant

 

Blackwell is so fast that he entertains even when Andre blows a spot off the ropes. Actually Andre looked pretty good here with his strikes and even made a pretty good FIP which was semi-shocking. I enjoyed Mosca peppering shots into Studd on the corner. This was needlessly long but it was kind of neat to watch all the freaks in there together.

"Rock n Roll" Buck Zumhofe vs. Dave Wagner (6/13/85)

 

Okay for what it was.

 

Next we get a promo by Zbyszko about Rick Martel ducking him and it was a good promo.

 

Then we get clips of a Billy Robinson/Blackjack Lanza match from 1984.

 

Next is a promo by Bockwinkel & Stevens about a match with Gagne & Hennig.

 

Americas Heavyweight Title: Larry Zbyszko © vs. Steve O (6/13/85)

 

Larry works his ass off stalling which is funny to say but it's true as he is all over the ring and apron trying to stay away from Steve and it gets the crowd infuriated which is the purpose. Both guys work headlocks here and Steve gets a couple of nearfalls here before the match picks up as we get a double collision sending Larry to the floor but he would bring Steve out with him as he used the top rope to pull him off. Funny thing here is that there are fans that are loudly cheering Larry but Larry Nelson constantly says that they are jeering him and it's getting on Larry's nerves. Larry does whatever he can to keep Steve on the floor until he caught him with a sunset flip over the top for a nearfall. Larry would then miss a dropkick which Steve uses to get nearfalls with a vertical suplex and an atomic drop. Larry would change the pace with a knee to the head as Steve charged the corner but Steve kept fighting through it and has Larry reeling until he misses a diving elbow off the second rope leading to a neckbreaker by Larry for a nearfall. Steve continues to be pesky until he eats a piledriver for the pinfall. This was a nice little match with both men working hard and I'll push this as a low-end pick.

 

Handicap Match: "Hacksaw" Butch Reed vs. Brian Jewel & Rick Renslow (6/13/85)

 

Nothing much to this.

 

This is followed up by promos by Bockwinkel, Stevens, & Butch.

 

Next we get clips of a fun match between Greg Gagne and an unmasked Super Destroyer Mark II better known as Sgt. Slaughter. I wish we had this in full because both men looked really good.

 

Then we get a Zumhofe promo while Heart & Soul by Huey Lewis & The News is blasting from his radio.

 

Nick Bockwinkel & Ray "The Crippler" Stevens vs. Greg Gagne & Curt Hennig (6/13/85)

 

The early parts of this was okay as the heels tried to corner Greg but he fought loose and tagged in Curt who worked on Ray's left arm. Bock comes in and action picks up as Gagne gets a sleeper hold on him but Stevens would break it up and they would trap Gagne in their corner where they worked over his neck leading to a Bock sleeper. Gagne would get tossed to the floor then when he came back in he took a hard bump shoulder first into the ringpost changing the focus from the neck to the left arm. Gagne is fun here fighting back trying to get the tag to Hennig even using two mule kicks to get away bringing Curt in. Curt runs wild when he comes in but he would also get caught in the heels corner where they bashed his head against the steel part of the turnbuckle bringing out the juice with Curt being awesome at selling this shaking his body around while the heels just take it to him. The crowd goes nuts when Greg finally gets the hot tag and he fires up on both heels bashing Bock's head into the steel like they did Hennig. Greg locks the sleeper back on when we get a ref bump leading to a 4-way brawl as the crowd goes nuts with Greg still bashing Bock around and Hennig sending Stevens to the floor as the referee calls for the bell calling this a no contest since both teams lost control. Did the finish suck yeah but this was a pretty damn solid match here and I think this is fairly easy nomination.

 

Boris Zuhkov vs. "Rock n Roll" Buck Zumhofe (7/18/85)

 

Nothing much to this.

 

Then we get a Stevens promo.

 

Andre the Giant & "King Kong" Angelo Mosca vs. Crusher Blackwell & Big John Studd (11/6/80)

 

This starts in a 4-way but breaks down into Blackwell getting his ass kicked by the faces until the heels catch Andre and they work him over which he would do a good job of selling his punishment before falling on Blackwell for a nearfall. Mosca comes in fired up and takes it to Blackwell who is moving around the ring fast until he misses a shoulder into the corner hitting all post. Mosca gets worked over for a while before tagging Andre back in who takes more punishment from the heels which is more nerve holds than anything else but Andre sells well. Mosca gets the hot tag and comes in firing away then gets the pin as a running Blackwell meets Andre's foot. Fun for what it was.