Use this thread to post matches that are watched online but are not nominated to help you save time so you don't keep repeating the same match.

Demolition vs. The Islanders (MSG 2/23/87)

- Perfectly acceptable tag match that wasn't exciting or fast paced enough to warrant nomination. Early Islanders shine segment was ok but nothing to write home about. Demolition segment picked things up but they didn't come off as ass kickers to me. The ass kicker of the match was Haku who brought the fire before Tonga Kid fell to the 2nd rope elbow. 0 for 1 on the Demolition count.

I am going to enjoy Will trolling Vic in a forum he can't read

 

On another note I watched the War To Settle The Score tonight. I am really torn on it as a nomination. I fucking love it as the atmopshere is awesome, with Piper not being the least bit scared of Hogan and going right at him, both guys really feeding off the crowd, some nice back and fourth, et. But the match really doesn't have a finish at all. Post-match "riot" is pretty great. It's obviously no worse than an extra, but I'd be curious to see what others think.

I wanted to watch Demolition vs. Rockers from 1988 but Phil's hatred for Shawn Michaels prevented that from happening.

Andre the Giant v. Iron Sheik 9/7/84

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xasw9h_an...heik-pt-1_sport

 

One sided squash of Shiek with a weird heel ref from Kim Chee. Fun throws and smushing by Andre, but this was too long and too one sided

Paul Orndorff v. Roddy Piper 8/24/85

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x84873_pa...er-w-brun_sport

 

Had its good parts, but was a big step below the other matches in the feud, and Bruno slowed down the match and the speed and wildness is what made the other matches so great

Jake Roberts vs. Greg Valentine - 5/7/88 Boston Garden

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xexg88_ja...t?search_algo=1

 

This was very by the numbers. Too much stalling by The Hammer. He also locks in the figure four without any leg work. And Jake just attempts the DDT the entire match. The main problem with this is it was worked around each guy trying to get their finisher quick but the figure four works better with leg work. I understand having the DDT be a move out of nowhere but it was excessive here and too much of the match.

Jake Roberts vs. Greg Valentine - 4/24/88 (PTW 5/9/88) Maple Leaf Gardens

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xahyur_ja...s?search_algo=1

 

This was better than the Boston Garden match but still had the "by the numbers" vibe. They go through a lot of the same spots as the later match. The second half is solid with Greg doing some great leg work and locking in the figure four. Jake makes it to the ropes. The finish is good too with Jake reversing a body slam into the DDT. Jake's DDT attempts weren't as excessive and Greg did do some nice leg work but this was just average in the end.

Jake Roberts vs. Greg Valentine - 4/26/89 Omaha, NE (Wrestling Challenge)

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xctw4t_ja...s?search_algo=1

 

Man, if this had been five minutes or so longer and some more stiffness if might have been a low end nomination. I liked this for the most part as The Hammer beats on Jake pretty good early. Jake goes for the DDT a few times and his eagerness comes across better in a faster pace. He also lands a nasty elbow right in Valentine's face. The finish is eh though and that hurts it too. It's a shame I haven't been able to discover a gem from these two. I think they had it in them.

Stan Hansen, Capt. Lou and Moondog Rex vs. Garea, Martel and Monsoon (2/3 Falls) (MSG 5/4/81)

- This was in the more fun than good category. Didn't love Monsoon in this at all. I was looking forward to an extended Hansen-Garea stiff-fest that never came.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKWTyEMYzc8

 

 

Riki Choshu & Mr. Saito vs. Tony Garea & Rocky Johnson (MSG 11/22/82)

- I went in looking forward to Saito vs. Garea and came out loving Choshu vs Johnson. This was another fun 2/3 falls match but to be honest, it wouldn't have made the New Japan set and it isn't as good as the Choshu/Saito tag from AWA. Misses the mark although there was some cool stuff with Rocky as fired up babyface and a nasty Japanese corner whip kick.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYhThQTZ4Co

Hulk Hogan vs. One Man Gang - 12/5/87 Philly Spectrum

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x49ukv_hu...t?search_algo=1

 

I didn't like this as much as their Houston match. It was worked similarly with the cool spots like Hogan using a knee lift to take down Gang. Gang's back work is more extensive here. I liked Hulk continuously ramming Gang into the turnbuckles to daze him for the slam and legdrop. This is still a solid match and fun but not as exciting and heat filled as the Houston match.

Hulk Hogan vs. One Man Gang - 9/21/87 MSG

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9dcjj_hu...s?search_algo=1

 

This was the worst of these three matches that I've watched tonight but it was still solid. It had a mix of both the Philly and Houston match but with the least amount of heat. This is also partially clipped but I imagine it's in full once we get the footage. The main difference in this is the match ends in a double count out as both guys are brawling on the floor due to some interference from the Slickster.

Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper vs. Kamala/Paul Orndorff - 3/14/87 Philly Spectrum

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x90fqz_hu...t?search_algo=1

 

This started out good but didn't keep up after that. I liked Piper's FIP segment okay but it could have been better. The finish stunk too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H93Q0Zpy6WI...244B4D14F1E1050

 

Randy Savage/Jesse Ventura v. Tito Santana/Tony Atlas - 12/7/85

 

Reasonably decent tag match. Tito/Savage exchanges were really good. Atlas and Ventura were also perfectly fine. Lame finish and nothing memorable though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czbrUW51dr0

 

Ron Bass v. Koko B. Ware

 

Not sure why I felt compelled to watch this. Koko's big spots were well done and this was structured well enough but this was pretty much what you would expect from this match on paper.

Hulk Hogan vs. Harley Race - 5/18/87 MSG

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x641zv_hu...t?search_algo=1

 

This was not as good as their match I nominated but still good. Hulk actually bled from Harley's headbutts at the end and it had the same finish. The thing is Harley didn't take as many great bumps, there wasn't a good count out spot like the first match, Hogan's selling wasn't near as good and there were a few more added things like a suplex in the first match that I liked.

Hulk Hogan vs. Harley Race - 5/17/87 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7lr31_hu...s?search_algo=1

 

This was another good Hulk-Harley match. It's possible I could be swerved to give this a low end nomination but it's not as good as the two matches between these two that I've already nominated. They go through the same spots but it's a shorter match than the others so it's a bit condensed and that's my biggest complaint. Harley does bloody Hulk with some vicious headbutts before missing the top rope headbutt and Hulk winning with a roll up again.

Strike Force vs. The Islanders - Houston,TX 11/6/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8fi0g_st...t?search_algo=1

 

This was pretty good. These teams have done better than pretty good though. Plus, the Houston shows have officially amassed the worst announce team ever. Pete "Duke" Doherty is the worst color man ever and Mike McGuirk, the other color man (broad), isn't far behind in the shit department. They were far more distracting in this than the Hogan-OMG match I nominated because that match had better heat to drown them out some. Martel had his shoulder worked on and there was a good FIP segment with him but the finish sucked with the illegal man getting the pin as to trick the ref which I'm not a fan of.

 

Strike Force vs. The Islanders - Boston Garden 11/7/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7jet0_st...t?search_algo=1

 

This was about as good as the previous match. Bock is doing commentary in this match but he's not very good. Tito is the FIP in this one and they're doing this match with two refs, one in the ring and one on the outside. One thing I will say about these matches is they are not like the traditional WWF 80s tag where there's a long Heel in Peril segment but pretty quickly get into an effective FIP segment. The finishing run is pretty good in this until they do a wacky finish with the ref on the floor coming in and making the count for the illegal man. These finishes are upsetting to me. I don't mind a heel team winning a match with the illegal man on special occasions but the face team doing so is rather annoying.

 

Strike Force vs. The Islanders - Philly Spectrum 12/5/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe47nl_st...t?search_algo=1

 

This is pretty good too with another very good Tito selling performance. The problem with this was it was a little bit slow at times and I lost focus occasionally. Strike Force worked on Tama's leg for a little bit and Tito went for the figure four but Haku hit him in the back which started the heat segment. Tito did a great job selling throughout but there weren't enough compelling or exciting cut off spots here and that slowed the match down a bit. Once Tito got the hot tag to Martel it picked up a bit and eventually Strike Force retained their titles with a sunset flip from Martel. If there had been some stronger mini comebacks from Tito this could have potentially been a low end nomination.

 

Rick Martel vs. Haku - MSG 8/22/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6wf1j_ri...t?search_algo=1

 

This had some good in it but it was middling at times. Haku worked on Martel's back for most of the match and there were some good cut off spots. The finish has Tama nailing Martel in the head with a chair at ringside and Martel doing a stretcher job. Tito ran The Islanders off afterwards.

 

Tito Santana vs. Haku - Milwaukee, WI 10/6/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x70kfv_ti...a-vs-haku_sport

 

This was better than the Martel-Haku match but was really nothing more than fun than good. It had good stuff in it but nothing terribly compelling. The crowd was hot as hell. Haku got some nearfalls off of good offense. Tito's comeback was fun too. It ended in a double DQ when Martel and Tama got involved.

Strike Force vs. The Hart Foundation - MSG 11/24/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8kgn5_st...t?search_algo=1

 

All three of the Strike Force-Islanders tags that I didn't nominate were better than this. The match was so by the numbers to me. That's my biggest issue with HF is that they just seem to have by the numbers matches more often than not. I do like their stuff with The Rockers and Killer Bees but this did not do if for me. They can't seem to sustain or even at times formulate an effective heat segment. The last few minutes of this picked up but then there was a lame finish. It's a shame because I'm hoping to see at least one good to great Strike Force-HF tag. Hopefully we will.

 

Strike Force vs. The Hart Foundation - Boston Garden 1/9/88

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8o4vo_st...s?search_algo=1

 

This was pretty good. HF's heat segment was much better and intensified in this match. Martel took a good bump to the floor to lead into the heat segment. There were a couple of very good hope spots in this as well. The finish didn't makes sense though and it was too short.

 

Randy Savage/Strike Force vs. Honky Tonk Man/The Hart Foundation - Boston Garden 2/5/88

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23lmm_ma...t?search_algo=1

 

This wasn't very good at all. The brawling wasn't wild and violent enough, the teams were too worried about escaping the cage, and it seemed rushed. The finish was pretty great actually with HTM taking a ludicrous crotch bump on the ropes from the side of the cage leaving Savage to climb over for his team's win.

 

Strike Force vs. The Hart Foundation - Philly Spectrum 1/9/88

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9rgm7_ha...s?search_algo=1

 

I found this to be another average match really. The last couple of minutes were pretty good but everything else was just there. This was another one of those HF by the numbers heat segments. Strike Force won by DQ when Bret nailed Martel with Jimmy's megaphone.

 

Strike Force vs. The Hart Foundation - Houston, TX 12/11/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8j9co_19...t?search_algo=1

 

This was very similar to the above match. It was average with a heat segment that came out pretty plain. The crowd was a little more into this but I've noticed the Houston crowds are always good. This was a disappointing rivalry.

 

WWF Tag Titles: "Polish Power" Ivan Putski & Tito Santana © vs. The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika) (1/21/80)

 

Samoans are making their first MSG appearance here and they will be here many times after this. Their hair is straight here so no afros and no Albano here either. Lots of stalling early with Putski intimidating Afa with his dancing pectorals. Samoans doing Memphis style chickenshit heel spots was interesting and I did like the double head knocker spot that didn't work because their heads was too damn hard. Tito would come in working over Afa's left leg which Afa sold really well for as the faces switched back and forth. Putski was real aggressive with his stomps on the leg which was cool. I liked Tito still trying to work over the head and Afa no-selling forcing Tito to go back to the leg. Damn the legwork here was well done and Putski held his own here not sucking while throwing some fiery haymakers. Afa would catch Putski with a shot to the gut finally allowing him to tag in Sika and the Samoans work over Putski where it revealed that Afa was the superior worker to Sika as Sika looked pretty shitty here. Putski was fun firing shots before tagging in Tito but the referee never saw it although he never told Tito to leave as he fucked up and Tito did it on his own which was awkward. Tito would legally come in and fired some sweet dropkicks until Sika tried to crotch him on the top rope but Tito just bounced off the ropes and crashed to the floor where he would get counted out. The babyfaces were really fun and fiery but the Samoans were inconsistent as Afa just ate a ton of offense before tagging in Sika who sucked. Decent match but no nomination.

Bret Hart v. Andre the Giant 4/10/89

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQc6_2SGidU

 

Fun Andre performance, but Bret Hart did nothing in the match. I liked Andre holding his head covering his ears and he hit a big punch, neat that it exists although nothing special

Tito Santana vs. Butch Reed - Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens 11/16/86

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8777p_ti...t?search_algo=1

 

This was a 20 minute draw. I didn't like the pacing in this at all. It was too slow. The match didn't get truly under way till about eight minutes in and before that was just time kill. Tito had some compelling hope spots and the finish was pretty good. This would have been much better if it was a ten minute match.

 

Tito Santana vs. Butch Reed - MSG 2/23/87

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdw3oe_ti...t?search_algo=1

 

This was only half as long as the previous match but actually not as good. This was very by the numbers with Reed applying a sleeper and chinlock for a minute or more with each hold. That's too long. The best part of this was Reed's awesome bump through the ropes off of a Tito dropkick early in the match. It ended in a double DQ when Slick tried to interfere but Koko B. Ware came for the save causing the disqualifications.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa4imn_ti...t?search_algo=1

 

Tito Santana v. Ivan Koloff - 12/26/83

 

Basic and technically fine, but boring match. Tito took a couple of decent bumps, but over all this was a waste of fifteen minutes.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhybii_ki...t?search_algo=1

 

The New Dream Team v. The Killer Bees - 10/16/87

 

This was okay. I actually thought there was some good offense in this, but neither team is a team I really care about and that really put this match at a disadvantage. This had the Bees mask finish but more drawn out than you would often see it.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9cgo1_hu...wwf-title_sport

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9cheo_hu...wwf-title_sport

 

WWF World Heavyweight Title: Hulk Hogan © vs. Ken Patera (5/25/85)

 

Fans are nuts for Hogan here as you would expect. Hogan dominates early as he shows his power advantage and even mixes in some comedy with Heenan. We would get a long test of strength section which Hogan used his charisma to keep it from being boring. Hogan then regains control and Patera bumps around in and out of the ring even eating a shoulder ram into the post. Patera begs off and sells before using cheap shots to get Hogan down. Patera finally gets some offense in but Hogan again comes back with more offense not giving Patera a chance for any extended offense. Hogan would hit the big boot but Heenan would trip him up as he tried the legdrop but he would recover by bashing Patera into Heenan then getting a schoolboy to win. The heels would finally get some real offense in after the match but even then Hogan would make his own comeback and ran them off. Way too much Hogan as Superman here so no nomination.