VQ - Excellent (24/7)

 

1. Scott McGhee vs. Barry O

Damn, this match was good. It's not something that I'd put on a set but it was a very solid match. They worked at a great pace and things never slowed down. McGhee threw some sweet arm drags and these two had some really fast pace rope running exchanges that were fun. McGhee missed a charge and took a good bump after getting tossed to the floor by Barry O. Barry O didn't seem to enthusiastic on offense at first and sort of went along with the match just lightly posting McGhee and putting him in front face lock. However, McGhee fought out of the hold and Barry O connected with a vicious clothesline that McGhee bumped awesomely for. That seemed to put a spark in Barry O as he worked hard for the rest of the match. He went back to the front face lock and did some good stuff in between going back to the hold like a solid vertical suplex. Both guys had a head on collision and McGhee started to make a bigger comeback and got two good near falls off of a small package and backslide. They went back and forth offensively including McGhee throwing some snug ass European uppercuts to Barry O. Barry O hit a really awesome forward suplex on the top rope and fell backwards into a vertical suplex while still holding on to McGhee for another good near fall in the match. Barry O missed a corner charge though right afterwards and McGhee gave him a nice powerslam and picked up the victory. This started out fun, sort of tampered off for a minute, and then both guys worked real hard for the rest of the match. I thought it was a perfectly acceptable and good opener.

 

2. Tony Parisi vs. Rene Goulet

These two old fuckers worked stiff in this one. It was a bit too slow but they did a lot of cool stuff in this. Parisi started the match by stomping on Goulet's arm and hand. I love that shit. Parisi then got Goulet in a side headlock and punched him pretty hard a couple of times. The transition into Goulet's control segment ruled as Parisi ran full speed into a violent knee from Goulet that made a thud sound. Goulet then tremendously did his double foot stomp right after that. Parisi went to the floor and took a rest but when he got back in Goulet applied El Scorpion or The Claw on him for awhile. Goulet also got Parisi back for the earlier arm and hand stomping by stomping the shit out of Parisi's hand while he was down. That was tremendous. Parisi's comeback was slow but after he reversed a suplex where Goulet was trying to suplex him over the turnbuckle he place Goulet upside on the top turnbuckle and headbutted the shit out of him. Goulet then took a the upside down and flip turnbuckle bump before he got crotched on the top rope. Goulet regained control momentarily but missed a top rope splash and soon after fell victim to the Cannonball from the top rope by Parisi that gave Parisi the win. This was a stiff and okay match but man it was so fucking slow. These fuckers were just going so damn slow.

 

3. The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs. George Steele/Cpl. Kirschner

Billy Red Lyons interviews Sheik and Volkoff before the match. Volkoff says George Steele should be in a mental institution and Sheik lists his accolades throughout his career which are actually pretty impressive. Volkoff sings the Russian National Anthem and I still love that shit. It's the only great thing Volkoff has ever done. This was a really, really terrible match. I mean it sucked. I don't feel like reviewing this shittiness. I'll say Sheik looked good for the most part besides a fucking awful clothesline spot. Volkoff was horrendous. Kirschner wasn't horrible but clearly not any good. George Steele was his usual shitty self. Sheik and Volkoff won by disqualification when Steel nailed Sheik in the head with chair as Sheik had Kirschner in the Camel Clutch. I'm begging everyone to pretend this never existed or I'm hoping to forget about it forever.

 

4. "Iron" Mike Sharpe vs. SD Jones

This was pretty boring and didn't deliver any goods. Although, Sharpe did get frustrated after continuously getting arm dragged for the first few minutes of the match so he walked into the crowd and almost all the way to the back. That was hilarious. Sharpe was terrible on offense putting in a reverse chin lock almost the entire time he had control. He did occasionally hit Jones with his "metal" forearm sleeve in the head but the blows were pathetic. Jones comebacks consisted of shitty strikes and a other bad stuff. Sharpe adjusted his "metal" forearm sleeve to be used as a weapon but Jones hit him with a cross body. However, Sharpe went with the momentum of the move and covered Jones for the three and got the win. Jones was a sore loser and sent Sharpe packing after the match. This was really, really boring and not very good either. Sharpe and Jones just aren't very compelling at all in the ring.

 

5. Terry Funk vs. Steve Gatorwolf

Vince interviewed Terry before the match and this was hilarious. Terry just rambled about being the toughest and meanest man in wrestling and said JYD should watch his match and that JYD is a jackass. Tremendous. Funk starts chopping the living shit out of Gatorwolf right away then does some boxing punches and tosses him to the floor. Terry goes to the floor and jumps on the steel railing and hits Gatorwolf with an elbow to the head then brings him back in the ring and gives him a neck breaker and leg drop. Terry rams Gatorwolf's head into the turnbuckle several times but it's ineffective and Gatorwolf starts pounding on Funk. Gatorwolf rams Terry's head into the turnbuckle and Funk staggers around the ring and bangs his own head into a few other turnbuckles and falls through the ropes. Gatorwolf chops the living shit out of Terry and brings him to the famed Toronto ramp. Terry hilariously falls off the fucking ramp about five feet down. They brawl over to the announce table and Funk randomly kicks at Gorilla's face which was funny as hell. Gatorwolf chopped the fuck out of Terry a few more times then slammed him back into the ring. Funk fought back though and hit Gatorwolf with an elbow to the head and then went for the sleeper. Gatorwolf avoided the sleeper twice by dropping down and out of it. Gatorwolf then got on his own sleeper but Terry took him over to the ropes and threw him to the floor in a nasty bump. Funk tried to suplex him back into the ring but Gatorwolf landed on Funk for a near fall. Gatorwolf went for a charge in the corner but missed and ran into a knee from Funk instead. Terry put in the sleeper and Gatorwolf couldn't respond so Funk won the match by submission. Terry branded Gatorwolf after the match and slapped him in the face and stomped him. He then tremendously danced down the Toronto ramp. This was another one of those fun ass and good Funk vs. JJTS matches in the WWF. He wasn't quite as psychotic in this but the work was good and pretty stiff. I won't nominate this though because it isn't as good as the Bellomo match that I recently nominated and didn't have quite enough of Funk's Schick that I wanted.

 

6. The Dream Team vs. The British Bulldogs (WWF Tag Title)

Vince interviewed the Dream Team and Johnny V before the match. They talked about how good they were and that they would retain the belts. Nothing special said here. Valentine and DK start but only have a quick exchange. Beefcake comes in and gets his arm worked on by the Bulldogs. The work on the arm was decent but pretty simple. Davey Boy got him in a solid arm bar. Beefcake stooged a good bit and took a hip toss then DK came in to work on his arm. DK put on a hammerlock and kneed his arm while in the hold. Davey Boy came back in and put on another arm bar. Valentine distracted the ref and Beefcake slung Davey Boy off of him. Valentine got the tag and clubbed on Davey Boy's chest pretty hard but Davey Boy got the tag to DK. Valentine and DK had a nice little slugfest before DK headbutted him to the mat. Valentine then got his arm worked on pretty aggressively. However Davey Boy was in and got trapped in the heels corner. Valentine and Beefcake controlled the pace here pretty well and started to work on Davey Boy's leg to set up the figure four. However, once Valentine positioned himself to go for the hold Davey Boy kicked out of it. Davey Boy nearly made the tag to DK but the referee got distracted and Davey Boy took a double team overhead slam. Davey Boy was able to soon make the tag to DK and this match started to get good. DK came in like a house of fire and got some tremendous near falls off of a snap suplex and delayed falling headbutt on Valentine. He got in the sleeper hold but they were close to the heels corner and Valentine tagged Beefcake without DK seeing it. Beefcake stomped on DK and now DK was FIP. Valentine and Beefcake did a good job of cutting the ring in half and really working over DK. DK took that crazy chest first turnbuckle bump and Valentine brutally forearmed in the face as hard as he could. DK got his back worked on and Valentine and Beefcake would sling him real hard into the turnbuckle back first. Beefcake got in a bear hug but DK fought out of it. Not long after that Davey Boy got the hot tag and went on an offensive showcase. He dropkicked both Beefcake and Valentine then got two really awesome near falls off of a running power slam and delayed vertical suplex on Beefcake. Davey Boy would then tag in DK and body press him onto Beefcake where DK hit a nasty headbutt to the chest. DK went for the cover but the referee was distracted by Johnny V and Valentine dropped a stiff elbow on DK's back and neck allowing Beefcake to roll over and pin him for the win. This was a very good tag match that really had a great second half. The first half was solid but things really began to pick up after the first hot tag. The crowd was really awesome in this especially in the finishing run. I'm going to give this a solid nomination.

 

7. Dino Bravo vs. Mr. X

This is another one those "Trainees going over spots at North Georgia warehouse" or better yet me wrestling my brother Dustin in 2002. It was all very basic and nothing really looked good. Mr. X got in some offense which was amusing and he did the same moves over again. Dino won with an atomic drop into a back suplex while still holding on combo. I swear I "wrestled" a match like this ten years ago.

 

8. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage (WWF Title)

Vince and Billy Red Lyons interviewed Savage and Hogan respectively. Savage said Hulkamania is dead and will win the WWF Tilte. Hogan cut a good promo on loving Toronto and saying Hulkamania was going to beat up Savage or something of that nature. Savage was pissed at the ring announcer pre-match when the announcer introduced Elizabeth before him. That was funny. This was fun but it had too much bullshit going on and a screwy finish. Most of the match consisted of Hogan overpowering or getting a big move on Savage only for the Macho Man to go to the floor and used Elizabeth as a shield which pissed Hulk off. There was one great spot during all of this where Hogan caught Savage in mid-air and gave him a back breaker. They finally got a match sort of going on about ten minutes in. They both twisted each others arms and then Savage took control and tossed Hogan to the floor. He nailed an ax handle off the top turnbuckle onto Hulk who was still on the floor. Savage wasn't in control for long at all though because Hulk just came back in and gave him a big clothesline, suplex, and big boot sending Savage to stall on the floor again. Elizabeth was once again used as a shield but Hulk picked her up and moved her. Savage regained the advantage though soon after and actually hit his top rope flying elbow drop. There was this screwy kick out by Hulk after it that was all controversial so Savage went for another one but Hulk caught him with a boot to the face as he was lying on the mat. Hogan got the win on that boot but it looked like Savage kicked out. So, it was a totally some screwy finish bullshit and Savage got mad and threw Hulk to the floor then took the WWF Title belt and gave Hulk a top rope shot with it on the floor. Hulk recovered though and swung the belt at Savage as Randy was posing to the crowd and mocking Hulk. This had too much bullshit and controversial annoyances to nominate this. Plus, there wasn't enough contact either as three fourths of the match consisted of long and drawn out stalling sessions.

 

Final Analysis

Decent show with a few bright spots. The Funk match was good but could have been more. I really liked the second half of the tag title match and I thought it deserved a solid nomination. Hogan-Savage was disappointing and I'm hoping we can get at least one or two memorable matches out of these two against one another. We'll just have to see. The rest of the show was either really bad, decent, or just there. Overall, this was a solid show if everything is put together.

Valentine is going to be the "find" of this set. I have been high on the Tito v. Greg matches for a long time, but if we start finding Dream Team matches worth a serious look he could end up with more matches on this set than anyone else.