MSG 5/20/85 (The date on the disc is 5/21/85 but that is not correct from my research)

VQ - Okay to Good

1. Rocky Johnson vs. Rene Goulet

Solid opener. Rocky gave Goulet a few monkey flips and arm drags to start. Goulet bumped well for him. Goulet took control and kicked Rocky low which pissed the crowd off. Goulet did the double foot stomp again and that ruled. He then applied El Scorpion or The Claw for awhile. Rocky fought out of it but missed a charge in a corner and hit the mat. Goulet nailed him with his glove hand from the top rope and got a near fall. He re-applied El Scorpion but Rocky fought out of it for good this time. Rocky got a one count off of a sunset flip but won the match with a reverse roll up right afterwards. This was a solid match with good structure, fun offense from Rocky, and a decent heat segment from Goulet.

2. Jim Neidhart vs. Ivan Putski

This was just there. They did strongman spots with tests of strength, shoulder tackles, and collar and elbow tie ups. Niedhart took control eventually and choked, eye raked, and eye gouged Putski. Neidhart then put in a long chin lock which was boring. Putski's comeback was fun though as he threw several hay makers and nailed Neidhart with The Polish Hammer. Neidhart was close to the ropes though and rolled to the apron. Putski attempted to slam him from the apron and back into the ring but Neidhart reversed it into a pin attempt in mid-rotation for the win. These two didn't bring a lot to the table and the match just ended up happening and that's about it.

3. Pedro Morales vs. Terry Gibbs

This was pretty boring. Pedro didn't have anything left in him at this point and wasn't very good at all. He started out with some decent mat work applying a half nelson on the mat, chicken wing, and even throwing an arm drag into an arm hold. Gibbs wasn't much better as when he took offense it was the most boring part of the match. He didn't have any real direction and sort of meandered around the ring. He did put Morales in a long abdominal stretch but it was countered. Pedro missed an elbow drop after countering the abdominal stretch. Not long after though, Morales made a comeback for good and gave Gibbs an atomic drop and back body drop to set up for the Boston Crab. Pedro locked in the Boston Crab a few seconds later and Gibbs submitted giving Morales the win. This was really nothing more than a boring match with a star well past his prime and one of the more underwhelming jobbers in the company.

4. Hulk Hogan vs. Don Muraco (WWF Title)

This finished 91 on the first set and really had no business making the cut this time around. The match was fun but absolutely nothing more. Muraco Pearl Harbored Hogan before Hogan could get his entrance attire off. Muraco ripped Hulk's t-shirt and choked him with it. He gave him several weak looking strikes too. The was really into this which increased the fun of it. Hulk fought back and choked Muraco with his t-shirt. They went to the floor where Hogan continued to beat on Muraco. Muraco did hit Hulk with a chair but Hulk took the chair from him and nailed him with a few times bloodying him. Hogan then torpedoed Muraco into the ring post which was cool. Hulk tossed the beaten Muraco back into the ring and did his thing followed by the leg drop and got the three. However, Mr. Fuji put Muraco's foot on the bottom rope right before the three so the match wasn't over yet. Hulk threatened Mr. Fuji and argued with the referee but was salted by Muraco as he turned to continue the match. Muraco was disqualified and Hogan retained his championship. This was a totally one sided match with no proper heat segment and a terrible finish. I can't see any single reason why this should be on the new set. This ends up being the first match from the old set that I don't believe should make the new one. It just doesn't deserve to be on the list.

5. Bret Hart vs. Rick McGraw

Average match. Bret really hadn't put it together at this point so he's still a middling worker in the ring. McGraw is someone I like but think he's just a very good JJTS. They started off with a lock up and sort of coasted from there. Bret took control and did his usual offensive set including the leg drop, back breaker, and forearm drop. Bret sort of applied a chin lock then gave up on it. McGraw's facial expressions during his comebacks are always good. He seems to get really into it. His comeback wasn't much of anything but at least somewhat inspired. The finish to this was quite good and brutal actually as McGraw went for a charge but Bret caught him and violently dropped him face first on the top turnbuckle. Bret to a top rope splash thingy that looked really bizarre and got the win. This was very run of the mill with pre-prime Bret and that's about it.

6. Ken Patera vs. Tony Atlas

Very fun match. Atlas starts posing for the crowd at the start and Patera is hilariously mad for Atlas upstaging him. Patera eventually completely loses his temper and goes after Atlas. Tony throws Patera over with an arm drag and Patera leaves the ring angry and stalls for a few minutes. Patera finally gets his wits about him and successfully gains the advantage and starts to work over Atlas's back. He rams Tony's back into the ring apron on the floor. Atlas takes a breather and tries to rest his back but once he gets back into the ring Patera has him in a bear hug. Patera has him in it for awhile but Tony awesomely wiggles his way down and out of the bear hug and applies his own on Patera. Patera rakes Tony's eyes and breaks free of the bear hug. Atlas keeps at it though and suplexes Patera then locks in a sleeper. This was a great spot as the crowd was really fired up during this match. Patera escapes the hold by falling onto the ropes with Tony on his back so the referee would release the hold. Patera goes to the floor with Heenan again and stalls some more. He comes back in for a handshake but Tony isn't having any of it. Patera does get a near fall off of an Atlas mistake and take down pin attempt but Tony fires back with a nice barrage of punches then smashes the heads of Patera and Heenan together. However, Heenan distracted Atlas momentarily afterwards which allowed Patera to give Tony a top rope forearm to the back and neck for the win. I didn't like the finish all that much but this match was pretty damn fun. It wasn't much more than that but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Okerlund interviews Heenan about the debut of The Missing Link. Heenan puts him over really well here. He actually makes you think The Missing Link is important. Mean Gene interviews Jesse Ventura and makes fun of his outfit. Jesse tremendously threatens Gene and talks about being a great announcer and great wrestler in the ring and says he will beat Tony Garea. Gene then conducts an interview with Brutus Beefcake and Johnny Valiant. I don't really know what the hell was said. There was rambling about San Francisco and a lot of other muttering from both guys. Now Okerlund interviews Bruno Sammartino. Bruno cuts a good promo about preparing to return to MSG and beating Beefcake and Johnny V. David was there too and basically said the same stuff but wasn't as straightforward or good.

7. The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs. The U.S. Express (WWF Tag Title)

Volkoff tremendously sings the Russian National Anthem and Sheike screams "Iran number one! U.S (spitting noise)!" Awesome. Holy shit this was good. The crowd was extremely into this from the start. Rotundo and Sheik start the match and Rotundo quickly takes control. Barry and Rotundo make quick tags as they do some really fun stuff with Sheik. Sheik was great here bumping, stooging, and begging. Sheik tags in Volkoff and Barry and Rotundo work over Volkoff's arm like they do in every match but with the added bonus of a hot crowd. Barry misses a dropkick on Volkoff as Volkoff holds on to the ropes to prevent getting hit with it. Barry is great in peril here as Volkoff and Sheik work on his back some. Sheik does his tremendous spitting taunt which brings in a pissed off Rotundo to lay in a cheap shot because he doesn't want any of Sheik's bullshit. Barry counters a Sheik suplex attempt into his own and makes the hot tag to Rotundo. Rotundo cleans house and gets the crowd even more fired up. Volkoff Pear Harbors Rotundo and works him over meanwhile Windham posts the hell out of Sheik which cause Sheik to go to the floor. Sheik crawls back into the ring covered in blood and there is this awesome moment where both he and Rotundo are beaten and trying to make tags. Rotundo wins and tags Barry who cleans house and soon enough all four guys are brawling all over and around the ring. This was an awesome scene as the crowd is going insane with both teams just fighting at ringside. Barry and Rotundo get in the ring and win by count out but don't win the titles. This was an extremely heated match with blood and an awesome finish. Solid nomination.

8. The Missing Link vs. SD Jones

Heenan really put over The Missing Link and says he's going to be the one collecting the bounty that Heenan put out. The Missing Link doesn't show up to the ring right away and Heenan has to go find him. He finally comes out and it's funny because it's the fucking Missing Link. Of course, The Missing Link is terrible so this wasn't very good at all. There was nothing to it but to put over The Missing Link obviously. The Missing Link gives Jones a bunch of ax handles with some connecting and others sort of connecting but not really. Jones throws a few elbows but they do nothing and The Missing Link wins with a top rope ax handle. After the match he threatened to give a steel chair a flying headbutt off the top rope but Heenan stopped him. The match wasn't really anything at all but I don't know whether I'm supposed to laugh or take this guy seriously.

9. Jesse Ventura vs. Tony Garea

This was pretty solid. It took awhile for it to get going as the first couple minutes of the match were about Ventura and Garea trading closed fists to the back and ribs behind the referee's back. Garea eventually got the advantage and worked on Jesse's arm. Garea was in control until Jesse threw him over the top rope but Garea's head was caught between the ropes. Jesse started to beat on Garea while he was stuck in the ropes and tried to tighten the pressure on his neck and throat. Garea did get out of the ropes but Ventura continued to work on his windpipe stepping on his throat, and choking him on the top rope again and releasing the choke sending Garea flying back onto the mat. Garea mounted a comeback after Jesse spent too much time dicking around and nearly got the abdominal stretch on Ventura but Ventura countered it. Garea followed it up though by hitting a sunset flip and cross body for near falls. However, Garea missed a charge into a corner as Jesse picked him up and dropped him neck and throat first on the top turnbuckle. Ventura did an elbow drop and got the pin for the win. This took too long to get going but it was actually an okay match.

The Fink announces the next MSG card and it sounds pretty loaded.

10. Bruno Sammartino/David Sammartino vs. Brutus Beefcake/Johnny V

Fun match. Bruno looked pretty good and had a lot of great energy. Johnny V bumped great for Bruno's offense and so did Beefcake. David was FIP for a minute then tagged in Bruno. They both did cool punching combinations to Johnny V before David was once again FIP. Beefcake did a cool and nasty looking double back breaker without ever dropping David. Johnny V's punches were good but the rest of his offense sucked. He missed a charge in a corner and David rolled up for the win. The Sammartino's didn't have too much time to celebrate as the heels Pearl Harbored them after the match. However, Bruno and David were able to clear the ring of Beefcake and Johnny V and continue celebrating. This was some good fun but other than that there wasn't much else to it.

Final Analysis

This was a fun show with one match that stood out and another that made the first set but shouldn't make the new set. I enjoyed this show a good bit but nothing really jumped out at me too much. Things should start to really pick up when Terry Funk and Randy Savage join the company in the summer.