Posted July 18, 201213 yr comment_5510453 VQ - Very Good 1. Pat Patterson vs. Ron Shaw Pat gets interviewed pre-match. He cut a fun promo. He was very relaxed about everything and sent a message to his French friends in the NY area. He said he was excited to see Andre vs. The Iron Sheik. Solid opener. There was some good mat work to start off. Shaw threw Pat outside to the floor and Pat took a wild bump on the toss. Pat was in peril on the floor for a few minutes with Shaw preventing him from returning to the ring. Pat got back in however and worked on Shaw's back and left leg. He aggressively targeted the leg and Shaw did a decent job of selling it. Shaw got in some stiff offense in a corner before Pat came back and did some nasty stuff to end the match which included a double foot stomp and knee from the top rope for the win. This was pretty solid but far too one sided. 2. Nikolai Volkoff vs. Steve Lombardi This was bad. The best part of this was the pre-match with Volkoff singing the Russian National Anthem and Lombardi screaming on the mic, "I'm proud!" then kicking Volkoff out of the ring. Other than that this was boring, slow, everything looked weak, and both guys seemed to be casually plodding along. Volkoff won with a big back breaker. 3. Kamala vs. Rick McGraw This was TERRIBLE. Kamala literally had McGraw in a claw grip in the armpit for ten minutes. Kamala won with a big splash but this was incredibly shitty. 4. Paul Orndorff vs. Chief Jay Strongbow Orndorff is interviewed before the match. He complains about having to give money to New Yorkers. He said he's going to give them a Chief Jay Strongbow beating. Tremendous. He's mad that he isn't getting title shots but instead wrestling the likes of Strongbow. Funny. This stunk. Orndorff amusingly took forever to remove his robe and give it to the ring attire assistant. Strongbow strutted around the ring and did some shitty offense while Orndorff bumped some for it. Orndorff got on offense and sent Strongbow to the floor and worked on him there. At one point a fan threw a paper cup in the ring and Orndorff used it to rub in Strongbow's face. Then he yelled at the crowd to throw more shit into the ring so he could use it. That was the highlight of the match. The Chief came back with shitty looking offense until Orndorff hit him with an awful looking clothesline for the win. I'm afraid we're going to be hard pressed to find any great Strongbow matches. Hogan had an interview and talked about eating rice in Japan, Bob Orton Jr. winning fights down in Honkytonk and riding Brahma Bulls, and being happy to be back in the USA. 5. Roddy Piper vs. B. Brian Blair Blair cut a promo before the match saying Piper better be ready for their match. This was okay. Piper took an eternity to take his t-shirt and kilt off. He stalled for a few minutes then Blair gave him an arm drag and other stuff which Piper sold well. Blair put in an arm bar for quite some time but it was made entertaining by Piper trying to get out of it which resulted in Piper running wildly around the ring and both guys going to the floor with the hold still applied. Piper's heat segment wasn't anything to be desired as he just kind of kicked away at Blair. The kicks were stiff but it just wasn't that compelling. Blair came back and the finishing run was pretty good with Blair getting a near fall from a small package and Piper avoiding a roll up by ramming Blair face first into a turnbuckle for a near fall. Piper missed a splash but reversed Blair's top rope cross body into a pin fall for the win. This had some fun stuff and decent work but nothing more. 6. Andre The Giant vs. The Iron Sheik Sheik cuts a hilarious promo screaming at Andre and calling him a child and scared for not competing in The Middle East before the match. This was really, really boring. Sheik literally didn't execute a single move except one club to the match right at the bell and a couple of counters on the mat. Andre did some cool stuff but this went on way too long and was completely one sided. Andre gave Sheik a big boot then two sit down splashes but the Special Guest Ref, Friday, refused to count past one. Andre attacked Friday and was disqualified giving Sheik the win. Andre sort of choke slammed Friday onto Sheik's face. The crowd was pissed afterwards. Again, this was extremely long for what it was and served no purpose with a horrible finish. 7. Hulk Hogan vs. Bob Orton Jr. (WWF Title) This was average at best. Everything was so slow and by the numbers. Orton did some decent arm work on Hulk but other than that he was terribly uninteresting on offense. Hulk worked on Orton's arm some and rammed it into the steel guardrail which was cool. Orton missed a dropkick and Hulk gave him the leg drop to retain the title. When Hogan was on offense this match was clicking but when Orton was on offense this match was boring. That says that it didn't really deliver the way it should have. Final Analysis This show was pretty bad. There were a few average or solid matches but nothing more to talk about. It really seems that the second half of 84 didn't have anything interesting except the upcoming Tito-Valentine feud.
