Superstar Billy Graham vs. Mr. Elijah Akeem (April 1986)

 

Funny seeing SBG in WWC and this wasn't very good.

 

Stan "The Lariat" Hansen vs. "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas (December 1986)

 

After some back and forth brawling, Hansen would take over and started pounding on Atlas but he would make a mistake as he dropped his kneepad to drop a knee on Atlas' head which he did connect with but his head was so hard you see it hurt him a whole hell of a lot more than Atlas. Stan sold this shit like a gunshot and this was pretty awesome with Atlas taunting Hansen by patting his head before headbutting him right on the knee. Hansen would fight back though but he would be plagued by the bad knee so he would resort to using his bullrope as a weapon for the DQ.

 

Lumberjack Match for the North American Heavyweight Title: Jos LeDuc © vs. Mighty Igor (February 1986)

 

We get blood here but this wasn't very good and Chicky Starr would run in for the DQ.

 

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Invader III (September 1984)

 

Savage working WWC was always interesting to me. This had some good back and forth action to start with Invader III mainly being in charge. Savage takes an insane over the top rope bump to the basketball court with Invader III hitting a nice tope suicida leading to a brawl on the floor but the match ends in a double countout. Total fucking bullshit finish here and a major disappointment.

 

Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher (July 1986)

 

They never even made it to the ring.

 

Huracan Castillo Jr. vs. Killer Tim Brooks (February 1986)

 

Very short.

 

Loser Gets Painted Yellow: Hugo Savinovich vs. El Profe (December 1987)

 

This feud had been built up for months with Profe shit talking Hugo on promos and they had a series of matches. Hugo coming out the dressing room with fans rushing him like he was fucking Hulk Hogan was awesome. Hugo goes after Profe at the bell and we get some good back and forth action with Hugo eventually winning with an inside cradle. Profe gets his whole body painted yellow after the match which was great. Fun for what it was.

 

Next we get a midgets match which was okay.

 

Los Pastores (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) vs. Jay & Mark Youngblood (September 1984)

 

There is a LONG stalling period here and I mean LONG. The match turned into a formula style tag match to a wild fucking brawl with both teams going all over ringside beating on each other followed up by false finishes and eventually Jonathan Boyd getting involved helping the Sheeps win. This was pretty fun and I'm passing this on as a low-end pick.

 

Universal Heavyweight Title: Carlos Colon © vs. Iron Sheik (1/6/88)

 

I've seen clips of this on TV but this is the full match. Sheik attacks Colon at the bell and the brawl is on as Colon rebounds and takes the battle to Sheik who pulls a stick out of his boots and puts it in his tights on the floor. Colon still has control though and he pounds Sheiky's head on the ringside table forcing juice out as the crowd is going nuts. Sheiky would get the stick though and jabbed Colon in the throat with it to get the advantage. Sheiky doesn't do much here but he bleeds like crazy before Colon makes a comeback and locks on the sleeper but Sheiky kicks him low to break free although Colon would go right back to the hold. Colon would eventually work towards the figure-four and locked it on as the fans go nuts before Chicky Starr would run in for the DQ. The blood and crowd heat made this match but this wasn't enough for a nomination.

Superstar Billy Graham vs. Mr. Elijah Akeem

 

I was talking to Devon on facebook when this first came on and I did a poor job describing it. He thought I was describing a Promise Keepers rally that went wrong and turned into a hate crime involving the famous evangelical leader and an innocent Muslim bystander. Needless to say that misunderstanding was the highlight of this, though the bearhug from the ring to the infield was one of the more brilliantly ridiculous spots I've seen in a sea of brilliantly ridiculous spots watching this footage.

 

Lumberjack Match for the North American Heavyweight Title: Jos LeDuc © vs. Mighty Igor

 

The last match was bad but kind of funny, going in I had feared this would just be bad with none of the funny stuff. Well I was wrong because this was fucking hilarious and actually a sickening blood bath. Leduc actually worked hard to make this watchable and Igor bled a horrific gusher. But what made this was the finish with Leduc in a bearhug and Chicky running in to dropkick Leduc on top of him. Comic genius there.

 

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Invader III

 

I've watched this on youtube, but I don't think I've talked about it in this forum, so I decided to watch it again. The problem with this is that it built to nothing. The work was actually solid, Savage finally goes on the offense, then he takes his awesome over the ropes bump, we get an awesome tope...and then it's over. We didn't even get a spirited post-match brawl, the match and spectacle just went straight to the stop button. This should have been way better than it was, but even still there is a part of me that thinks Macho Man in PR may be worth an EXTRA

 

Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher

 

Not really a match, but this was actually surprisingly fun as an around the ring brawl where they knock things over and Abby throws things at people. Not something that even feels like an extra really, but it was fine for what it was.

 

Huracan Castillo Jr. vs. Killer Tim Brooks

 

I thought this was a really, really enjoyable sprint. You don't normally think of Brooks as a guy in a match with tons of nifty spots, but this had several exchanges or little things that I loved. Brooks getting his foot up while in the ropes was really awesome in particular and I liked the finish with the posting and the shoulder breaker combo getting the win. Ayala made the save to further his feud with Brooks. Good, but Kris is right in saying it's too short to nominate (not even four minutes).

 

Cowboy Lang v. Pepe Gomez

 

Holy fuck the graphic for this is extremely disturbing as it reads "the midgets just for you." I know times were different then, but come on. The first five minutes of this are Pepe kicking Lang's hat which was over kill, though this did turn into a midget version of hide the foreign object which I kind of loved. There were some fun spots down the stretch of this too. Still this isn't a match I can see on a set.

 

Los Pastores (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) vs. Jay & Mark Youngblood

 

Kris was not kidding about the stalling at the beginning of this being long as fuck, but I also thought it was epic and great shit. I dig all the flag bearer horseshit and the way they weave it together with the Youngbloods hamming it up holding the Puerto Rican flag makes it even better. The Herders absolutely great on the defensive here, great facial expressions, very solid stooging, and awesome bumping, including a crazy spot with Butch Miller (I think) crashing wildly into the crowd and security leaping over to make sure he didn't get beaten to death. Then the Herders switch seamlessly into ass kicking mode, stomping around the ring, hitting these awesome reverse elbows with incredible speed and working some fun double team tactics. It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like Jay gets isolated on the floor and ends up getting his ass beat with a chair, at one point taking a wild whiplash bump across the floor. As this is going down you've got Boyd and random security running around ringside and it has a really chaotic feel to it. When the Youngbloods make their comeback all hell breaks loose, and one of the Herders does a wild over the top bump. Great finish here as Boyd distracts one of the Younbloods leaving the other for an ambush shot off the top leading to the fall. I thought this was pretty awesome stuff and the crazy post-match brawling only added to it. We don't have a ton of WWC from this era on the dock, but this feels like something that absolutely should make the set.

 

Carlos Colon © vs. Iron Sheik

 

This is another one I'm pretty sure I've seen before, but I figured I'd watch it with fresh eyes. The opening of this with the entrances and Colon hitting the ring and beating Sheik's ass in his sweatshirt was pretty awesome. I actually didn't love the original run of offense from Colon, though it wasn't bad. When Sheik took over on offense I thought this got good as his suplex looked awesome and the visual of the blood spilling down his face while he had the octopus on was great. Colon ends up coming back and hitting some very sharp looking offense, with Sheik sort of desperately trying to survive. Colon locks on the figure four dead center and the crowd is going nuts when Chicky runs in for the dq. Sheik loads up the boot and gets in some licks but Colon makes a comeback and Colon chases him off beating him with the title. Pretty good match really, but the b.s. finish keeps it from being a nomination.

 

Already seen Hansen v. Atlas and don't think it was worth a revisit. Hugo v. Profe I nominated some time ago.

Superstar Billy Graham vs. Mr. Elijah Akeem -

 

Superstar stalking one half of the Zambouie Express with a pole is the best way to start a PR disc. Other than that, they went five miles an hour and their strikes were far worse than mine from 2001 in my living room.

 

Stan "The Lariat" Hansen vs. "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas (December 1986) -

 

This is a good match-up on paper but there was too much half-ass choking and offense going on. I liked the brawling on the floor at the start but it didn't last long. The bullrope stuff after the match was fun.

 

Lumberjack Match for the North American Heavyweight Title: Jos LeDuc © vs. Mighty Igor -

 

This sucked. There was blood and the object LeDuc used seemed extra scummy but boy do these guys suck. Chicky Starr getting involved was fun though.

 

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Invader III -

 

What a terrible ending. This was starting to get real good. It was obvious these two had a good match in them. I loved all of the arm drags and work around them. When the intensity picked up and the tempers started to flare it got great, Savage took that wild bump to the floor, and Invader III hit a tope. The brawl on the floor was awesome and then they fucking ended it? That sucks. This could go up for an EXTRA just for the Savage appearance but damn this match was building to something good.

 

Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher -

 

This was amusing. The best part is Quinones getting a chair thrown at his head by Abby. The crowd was really into this and yeah, they didn't even reach the ring but it was watchable.

 

Huracan Castillo Jr. vs. Killer Tim Brooks -

 

This was a good sprint. They did some decent rope running stuff first and then had a couple of good spots mixed in. I liked Brooks big boot when he was tied in the ropes. Castillo's post bump was brutal and that led to the shoulder breaker and leg drop for the Brooks win. This isn't enough to make a set but I enjoyed it a good bit.

 

Loser Gets Painted Yellow: Hugo Savinovich vs. El Profe (December 1987) -

 

This was fucking good. Hugo's offense is awesome. I loved his punches, cradles, submissions, and he even did the Gory Special. Profe took a great corner bump, hit a stiff senton, and the finish was sick with the missed splash into the knees. The post-match was awesome with Profe getting painted yellow. I loved the hell out of this. I think it's totally novel and sounds a great angle. It needs to be on this set. LOW END nomination but I think it's arguably a SOLID nomination.

 

Cowboy Lang v. Pepe Gomez -

 

The cowboy hat stuff lasted a long time. The foreign object stuff was done well. Really, this lasted too long and was overkill. It wasn't terrible but I was bored.

 

Los Pastores (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) vs. Jay & Mark Youngblood -

 

Holy shit, this was good. I LOVED the stalling segment. It was totally awesome with the Herders going nuts and the crowd trolling the fuck out of them and vice versa. They are waving the New Zealand flag everywhere and then the Youngbloods get a Puerto Rican flag from the front row and wave that. Then we have this awesome flag waving segment that draws tremendous heat. This finally leads into the match where the Herders are awesome still trying to stall and Mark and Jay are killing them with chops. The Herders are bumping wildly for everything and there's a great spot where Butch Miller retreats to the floor and fucking Mark throws him over the railing and into the crowd leading to a security guard flying over the railing to keep order so that Butch Miller isn't killed by the fans. We then have this great face shine segment where Mark and Jay work over Luke William's arm and it's fun as hell. Luke's turnbuckle bump is great. Meanwhile, Butch Miller is hilarious on the apron trolling the crowd. The Herders finally isolate Mark and Butch Miller is great here hitting a nice flying back elbow. Mark fights back but we the Herders fuck with Jay and use a stalling tactic so that Butch can crush Mark with a chair. This leads to a fucking awesome chaotic brawl on the floor, in the ring, and pretty much in the crowd. Mark keeps getting crushed with a chair then Jay takes a chair and kills Butch with it sending him flying into the crowd again. Mark and Luke have a great brawling exchange during all of this as well. The finish is great as there is total chaos and Boyd is shit stirring on the outside. Jay has an abdominal stretch in on Butch but Luke hits a top rope axhandle to the neck and the Herders get the win. The Youngbloods are pissed afterwards and we get a fucking crazy brawl with New Zealand flag jabbing and more chair shots. This was fucking awesome. EASY nomination.

 

Carlos Colon © vs. Iron Sheik -

 

This was a fun match. It was kind of like Puerto Rico's version of a workrate match. I could be totally off about that but both guys traded bombs and big moves for near falls. I liked the object hiding a lot and Sheik using it all of a sudden was great. Colon builds up to the figure four and puts it on but Chicky Starr interferes and causes a disqualification. Sheik loads his boot and bloodies Colon then suplexes him on his head in the post-match which was nuts. This was real fun but the finish is bad and it needed more meat to it.