The Islanders vs. The British Bulldogs - MSG 1/25/88

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x78krw_br...t?search_algo=1

 

This was good in parts and was fun most of the time but it dragged during The Islanders heat segment some. They really applied the nerve hold a little too long in this match. There were some fun spots including Tama taking a wild bump from the apron and back into the ring. I'm hoping these teams will have something better to look forward to.

Andre the Giant v. Ultimate Warrior 9/30/89

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdl_S13nxA8

 

I thought this match had fun parts, Andre seemed to get legit pissed off and starts potatoing Warrior and trying to kick him in the balls. Andre also takes a big bump to the floor and gets bodyslammed. Still Warriors was total garbage for the most part, some of the weakest punches and kicks I have seen.

Hulk Hogan VS King Haku 10.16.1988

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YDdI9V5FM

 

Bag of shit. Why we all used to hate Hogan. Offense looks like crap really no selly Hulk ups, long Haku nerve pinch, War Bonnet. No sir.

Watched both of the two above matches with Phil. Nothing redeemable about either match. Before the Hogan-Haku match, Andre-Warrior may have been the worst matchI ever sat through to watch on youtube with Phil. Then Hogan-Haku gave it a run for its money.

Dylan and I discussed over the phone that Hogan was a very good worker a lot of the time from 84-87. Then 88 was the beginning of the bullshit. He no sold and Hulked up in nearly every match. He made the Savage Mania match which was a very good to great match in my mind to merely a good one by doing his bullshit and no selling the top rope elbow. Yeah, I don't expect we'll have a ton of Hogan from 88-89.

Andre the Giant vs. Kamala (Cage Match) - Maple Leaf Gardens 10/21/84

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8muus_an...s?search_algo=1

 

Disappointing match. This wasn't heated or violent enough for me to nominate this. Andre did bleed and Kamala worked the cut some but this match was too caught up in the scared Kamala trying to get through the cage door with his second and the ref grappling for position for five minutes. The finish was good though with Andre giving Kamala a giant ass splash from the top rope on the side of the cage. Still, this should have been more intense, so no nomination.

The Rougeaus vs. The Moondogs - Sydney, Australia 2/28/86

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h70FBjJALTM

 

This is the Rougeaus debut in the WWF actually. Unfortunately, this is clipped but from what is seen is very good. The Moondogs bumped tremendously for the Rougeaus offense and really put them over. The main problem is we don't get the start of this match or the heat segment so it's not going to get a nomination.

Akeem vs. Blue Blazer - Philly Spectrum 1/14/89

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6d33w_ak...s?search_algo=1

 

This is pretty much the exact same match that I nominated but the crowd isn't as into it. Akeem is heeling pretty awesomely here as he does in the other match. Owen gets a near fall off of dropkick in this one and Akeem does a really cool roll to move out of the way of an Owen cross body attempt. He nails the big splash on Owen for the win afterwards. I won't nominate this because it's too similar to the one I did nominate.

The Killer Bees vs. The Rougeaus - WrestleFest Milwaukee, WI 7/31/88

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22K3VsdVmpk

 

Nah, this didn't even really get going. There was some fun stuff in this but that's about it. Jacques gave Brunzell a nice monkey flip who got great air on it. Then he taunted Brunzell after doing a back flip during a rope running spot. Ray got his leg worked on and escaped to tag Jacques. Jacques did stretches in the corner with Ray to help him get the blood flowing back in his leg. Those were the highlights. Other than that, it was just bullshit that wasn't bad but just never went anywhere.

Andre the Giant v. Randy Savage 10/24/88

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE8isdO--Uc

 

Had some of the fun stuff of their first match, but less of it and a worse finish. Enjoyed Andre in this, but we have a better version available.

Well, I fucked up.

 

 

Andre/JYD vs. The Funks/Jimmy Hart

 

This was horrible in every sense of the word, and it was all my fault. Phil gave me the remote and let me pick something to nominate for 80s WWF. And I fucked up. I thought this looked really fun on paper, and it was horrendous. This is officially the ONLY time I can remember Terry Funk half-assing it in a match. JYD 1/4 assing it? Yeah, that'll happen. But Andre stood on the apron, JYD couldn't be bothered to bend down to take headlocks, and Terry Funk wandered around putting chinlocks on and never going past "ampling stroll" pace. Just bad by every definition. It's almost enough to kill an evening of wrestle viewing. I'm so so sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3zU7RYjjIs

 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Killer Khan (11/7/87)

 

Khan is working here barefoot which was interesting and oh fuck Pete Doherty is on commentary here with Gorilla since this is in Boston and he was terrible. Khan doing a sumo stance while Bigelow cartwheels was fun but the match started out slow until both men playfully slapped each other in the face which was funny. Bigelow would answer with an atomic drop that Khan sold beautifully by rolling around in pain in the ring and then the floor. Khan stooges around a bit hitting some Mongolian chops before going to chokes and nerve holds. Bigelow comes back with some solid blows before hitting a weak clothesline leading to more big blows until Khan catches him with a thrust and a savate kick. Khan then tried to blow mist in Bammer's face but he missed and got hit with a big dropkick/splash combo for the win. Khan was fun working as a chickenshit heel but this wasn't much of anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=narqdPIwte8

 

Tony Garea vs. Moondog Spot (6/30/81)

 

This is from WWF TV and a fairly rare competitive match on there. The Dogs just took the tag titles from Garea & Martel so this is a grudge match in a way. This was a sprint from the start as both men worked a good pace with Garea going for an abdominal stretch but Spot getting to the ropes. Spot definitely wanted to keep Garea grounded and the fans are definitely into the action here. Garea would finally come back with an O'Connor Roll for a nearfall but Spot would keep the advantage with some help from Albano and Garea did a good job of selling his pain. Garea comes back with punches before a shotty dropkick for a nearfall. Garea pounds on Spot some more but Spot fires back with some good punches before Albano comes in the ring with Garea attacking him and he runs him out. There would be a blown spot in the corner leading to Spot missing a diving elbow off the middle rope and Garea covering for the win. The action wasn't pretty but this was a decent little TV match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1oAH77LQ8k

 

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff vs. Pedro Morales (2/15/87)

 

Morales is on the downside of his career and Orndorff is still getting a big push as a heel. Orndorff coming out to Hogan's music is great. Orndorff bumps and sells for the over the hill Pedro giving him some credibility before catching him with a knee to the gut in the ropes to get the advantage. Orndorff is relentless on the attack until he tries to come off the top rope where he ate a Pedro shot to the gut leading to a Pedro comeback that includes a windup punch. Pedro would hit a cross body block but Orndorff tucked and rolled and with the help of the trunks got the win. Nothing much to this.

Rick Rude vs. Tito Santana - 10/5/88 - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xenscb_ti...=2#.UQIwvr_LSSo

 

This bored me to tears. This was cruise control but at 35 miles an hour. Plus, there was a breakage due to it airing on PTW.

 

Mr. Perfect vs. Blue Blazer - 5/8/89 - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fwo6_05...=2#.UQI7Kr_LSSo

 

This was decent but took too long to get going and there wasn't a lot of chemistry between the two. Too bad here. It should have been a little bit better.

Lanny Poffo vs. Barry Horowitz (Spectrum 9/18/87) - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe11t1_la...=2#.UQhnFb_LSSo

 

This was by the numbers with a few mishaps. Nothing special.

Paul Orndorff vs. Randy Savage - 6/28/86 Spectrum - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4m5tg_pa...=2#.UQs1n7_LSSo

 

This really needed more time. These two work really well together here but the match is so rushed. It needed five or six more minutes. If it had gotten that, it would have been a nomination.

Greg Valentine vs. Pedro Morales - 12/26/81 WWF Championship Wrestling - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-JM4aUpQJg

 

This was a fun little three minute match with a great angle at the end. Greg lays in some sick strikes whenever he's on offense but spends most of the time stooging for Pedro. Pedro nails his back breaker but Grand Wizard causes a distraction and Greg attacks him from behind taking him to the floor. Greg gives Pedro a sickening delayed vertical on the concrete which causes Pedro to convulse. He starts to set up for the figure four afterwards but some faces come out for the save. This was a pretty fun little match and a nice angle at the end. I'm not nominating it because the match just wasn't enough but the angle was definitely fun.

Randy Savage vs. Dino Bravo - Maple Leaf Gardens - 10/9/88 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9CXZl0vhYY

 

Solid match. This is worked smartly and fulfills the basics but nothing more. Dino hits a good piledriver and the finish is whatever.

Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown - 10/10/88 - Boston Garden

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbR3l6MzpZ0

 

This is the first match of the feud. This means it doesn't start as well and the heat isn't there yet. Brown is a bit more interesting on offense here but the hope spots were too few and far between. We had some fun on the floor but it pales in comparison to the MSG match. The finish is something I liked with Bad News shoving Liz into Savage and winning by count-out but that alone can't warrant a nomination.

 

Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown - 1/14/89 - Philly Spectrum

 

 

This is the worst match I have seen of theirs so far. It's really short, the brawling isn't as intense, and it's just too rushed. It's becoming obvious the MSG match was a match WWF wanted them to make the most out of. Although, I'm sure that is the same for a lot of feuds during this time period.

 

Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown - 11/5/88 (Youtube link has date wrong) - Boston Garden (If Savage Loses By Count-Out He Loses Title)

 

 

This is something I considered giving a low end nomination but it just isn't as wild and entertaining as the MSG match. I thought it was worked well and I liked them playing off the count-out stipulation but I thought Liz was helping Randy too much to get back into the ring. It was a bit of a glaring problem for me. I did like Bad News offense in this better than most of their matches including a nice running power slam. And Savage brawls with Bad News with his shades still on in the first 30 seconds which was hilarious but the MSG match is still much better and there's other stuff that is much better than this too.

Andre the Giant vs. Bam Bam Bigelow – WWF (6/25/88 MSG) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JEMHIb9APM

I enjoy late Andre more than most and this is a match I think is good but there’s too much standstill in this for a nomination. Andre stalks Bam Bam to start and Bam Bam uses his speed to avoid Andre’s attacks. He makes a mistake though and Andre catches him on the ropes. Andre beats the hell out of Bam Bam with stiff offense including some headbutts, a massive chop, chokes on the ropes, and some absolutely brutal ass bombs. Bam Bam fights back and gets a head of steam knocking Andre in the ropes. Andre gets tied up and Bam Bam shakes the ropes back and forth with Andre swinging on them like a playground swing which was cool. Then Bam Bam throws the worst strikes imaginable while Andre’s in the ropes. None of the blows connect and it’s crap. Andre escapes the ropes and locks Bam Bam in a bear hug. I liked Bam Bam working underneath in the bear hug for the first minute or so as he tries a headbutt and it ends up dazing him instead of helping. However, the bear hug last FOUR minutes and it’s time to throw this match down the well. Bam Bam finally breaks free and sends Andre stumbling in the corner. He runs into a boot though and Andre nails an elbow drop for the win. That lost spot was solid but the length of the bear hug and Bam Bam’s shit offense killed it. Too bad, because they clearly had a good match in them.

ANDRE THE GIANT vs HULK HOGAN (08/09/1980; WWF Showdown at Shea; 00:13:51) Bad match. Bad ending. Notable only for the Hogan slam.

BOB BACKLUND & PEDRO MORALES vs WILD SAMOANS (08/09/1980; WWF Showdown at Shea; 00:19:03) Nope. No decent face offense. Fun Samoan spots are few and far between.

KEN PATERA vs TONY ATLAS (08/09/1980; WWF Showdown at Shea; 00:12:31) Tony has surprisingly fun offense. Patera turns the tide with a nice trick knee. What a fun match ruined by a bad ending. I wanted to move this forward but I know it would get killed for that ending.

CHAVO GUERRERO vs TATSUMI FUJINAMI (08/09/1980; WWF Showdown at Shea; 00:13:33) Fun match but not enough meat on the bone. It was actually my turn, your turn and that seemed to be the theme throughout.
 

RODDY PIPER & PAUL ORNDORFF & DAVID SCHULTZ vs ROCKY JOHNSON & TONY ATLAS & IVAN PUTSKI (04/23/1984; WWF MSG; New York, NY; 00:11:12)

I didn't write any notes. I just had this in my no pile. Oops! 

Putski vs Slaughter 1/23/84
This is the Putski headlock match to begin without much action. Surprising for these two. It picks up when Sarge gets his head jammed into the post and blades. Putski hits the Polish Hammer and a shoulder block and in a cool spot. Putski lifts his boot as Sarges big chin is choking him on the bottom rope. Countout finish as the crowd finally heats up. Not a nomination but glad I watched it.

Piper v Snuka 7/28/84
This starts off like the other one. Really nice body press from Puper to the ref for a ref bump early. I didn't mind since it led to Piper using a chair on Jimmy. Another countout ending with the heel winning. The post matches was wild with Snuka destroying Piper, the ref and various officials. I enjoyed the other match more so I don't think both need to be nominated.

Moondogs v Fujinami Yatsu 6/8/81
I was hoping the New Japan crew could get some exciting stuff going but no such luck. Smart work early hooking the arm of whatever Moondog gets tagged in. When the Dogs take over, they weren't nearly vicious enough for such a long match. No vote. What a shame.