I watched the Steamboat/Orndorff match from Halloween Havoc '93. These two match up well and they have a good match in them, but it just can't seem to come out. There's so much dead time and there are a few times where they cross signals.

 

That said, Orndorff is a talented wrestler, to a point where it seems like there would be an excellent Orndorff match somewhere out there, but I have yet to find it. I liked the Santana match on the WWF set, the Olympia match on the Mid South set, a Piper match from MSG, and his Cactus Jack match from SuperBrawl III, and those are all matches that have their moments, but I wouldn't call any of them great.

 

He's a guy I really want to like, and I just can't seem to find that great Orndorff match. Maybe it doesn't exist, but anyone want to help?

Funny because I've watched a lot of wrestling these last two weeks and Orndorff has come up more than once as a guy who seems really great, even though you can't point to a particular reason why. I really think he just carries himself around in the ring the way a "great" is supposed to and it shines through. I've seen some very fun early MACW tags with him and I really like his matches with Hogan, but like you I'd struggle to find anything great.

Give up on him.

He's pretty univeresally dissapointing.

Part of the problem is I think that his instincts aren't good.

If someone put together a complete WCW TV title set ( a title built around how do you put together a showcase match with variety of opponents) I think his run would look far more dissapointing than even Johnny B Badd's. Orndorf with the Tv belt often reminds me of HHH in a guy who has tools and ideas but he lacks an understanding of how those work.

Orndorff was at his peak from about 80-82 and was in serious contention for a NWA title run along with DiBiase & Patera.

I always enjoyed his matches with Hogan. The one from "The Big Event" (I always loved that name) is really good.

Agreed, that turn and run with Hogan was, I think even in Orndorff's mind, his big last hurrah. The money he got working with Hogan was so good even a major injury to his left (?) shoulder wouldn't stop him from going out and doing those shows. I think he was a great 70s guy who just happened to get caught up in the "Rock N Wrestling"/Wrestlemania deal with Vince. Where was he by Wrestlemania II?

Agreed, that turn and run with Hogan was, I think even in Orndorff's mind, his big last hurrah. The money he got working with Hogan was so good even a major injury to his left (?) shoulder wouldn't stop him from going out and doing those shows. I think he was a great 70s guy who just happened to get caught up in the "Rock N Wrestling"/Wrestlemania deal with Vince. Where was he by Wrestlemania II?

Undercard match against Muraco that me and my buddy thought was gonna be awesome, as it was a "dream match" to us.... and it blew. It was after Mania 2 he went back heel and had the awesome fued with Hogan. It was Mania 3 when he was gone.

Mania 3 he was out with an injury I think. He turned face and befriended Hogan again in '87. He left in December.

Mania 3 he was out with an injury I think. He turned face and befriended Hogan again in '87. He left in December.

Yeah, wasn't he on Hogan's Survivor Series team in 87? I remember thinking that was odd considering their history.

Mania 3 he was out with an injury I think. He turned face and befriended Hogan again in '87. He left in December.

Yeah, wasn't he on Hogan's Survivor Series team in 87? I remember thinking that was odd considering their history.

 

Yep. The angle for his 87 face turn was that Bobby Heenan added Ravishing Rick Rude to the Heenan Family and Orndorff believed Heenan brought in Rude to replace him (Orndorff). That led to Oliver Humperdink becoming Orndorff's manager and a Rude/Orndorff feud that never got blown off before Orndorff left WWF at the end of 87.

As I remember it Orndorff suffered nerve damage to his left arm/shoulder during the Hogan run which could have impacted his later ring work as -- people are right - matches with Muraco and Steamboat should have been 1st class affairs.

 

Hell he wound up working in SMW shortly after leaving the WWF in '87. How's that for starting back at the bottom?

 

That said, the run with Hogan was some of the best wrestling Hogan did in that period and was as hot a feud as he had on his plate. Vince pushed it too -- everyone remembers the (in)famous 2 winner cage match on Saturday Night's main event. The only opponent Hogan had who was close to the heat and in ring performance would have been Randy Savage.

Hell he wound up working in SMW shortly after leaving the WWF in '87. How's that for starting back at the bottom?

Orndorff's Smoky Mountain run wasn't until '92 (the first year of the promotion's existance). If I remember correctly, after he left WWF, he took a few years off to run a bowling alley and disappeared to the point where a rumor had started that he died. Then he wound up in WCW in 1990, left by the end of the year, worked Herb Abrahms' UWF in '91, SMW in '92, and then was back in WCW for his last run from '93-'95.

There was an old rumor that Orndorff was kept off the WM 3 Card just in case Andre couldn't perform or make it to the show.

 

a standby I guess (Hence the inconclusive nature of the cage match to give him an opening to a rematch)

 

Him and Kamala were the 2 biggest names left off the card IIRC

Kamala was tentatively slated to wrestle Duggan at WM 3, as Duggan's very first TV promos are about Kamala, then one week he quickly shifts to talking about Iron Sheik. Meltzer mentioned Kamala/Duggan as a WM match in a pre-WM 3 archived WON someone posed. He also said something about Ventura allegedly wrestling on the show but clearly that didnt happen either.

Vince and Bruno vs Jesse V and somebody in fact IIRC

Danny Davis was who Dave was reporting would be Jesse's partner, IIRC.

Other than that Tombstone bump he took for Davey Boy, I don't understand the point of adding Davis to what would have been a solid Harts-Bulldogs match.

Wasn't it reported that Vince had been training for the match? The broadcasting on Superstars in late 86 would lead you to believe that match was going to happen

Other than that Tombstone bump he took for Davey Boy, I don't understand the point of adding Davis to what would have been a solid Harts-Bulldogs match.

Probably because Dynamite hadn't fully recovered from his back injury when they booked the match.

Other than that Tombstone bump he took for Davey Boy, I don't understand the point of adding Davis to what would have been a solid Harts-Bulldogs match.

Probably because Dynamite hadn't fully recovered from his back injury when they booked the match.

 

And there was a storyline about Tito wanting to get Davis because he was the ref in the IC Match in Boston when Savage beat him. Granted, Davis wasn't "Heel Ref" yet, but the retro history gave Tito something to do at Mania while helping cover Dynamite's back.

 

And Mr. Wonderful was awesome. I hated his guts at first when I was a kid but he won me over as maybe the first heel I liked.

 

And his berating the poor fat girl cracked me up.

 

 

That's almost as awesome as "At Home With Dr. D David Schultz", (which also made me start cheering him. Add in that Piper was their manager/ partner and it's easy to see how a 13/ 14 year old would start becoming a heel fan).

Tito's IC Title loss to Savage was retconned to Davis seeing Savage cheat and ignoring it.

I've seen enough stuff from that era to assume that the fans REALLY wanted the faces to get their hands on Davis. Is that inaccurate?

I believe at that time almost anyone on the roster with a modicum of push was way over.

That's pretty accurate, I think.

 

That reminds me of this clip showing how even in 2000 anyone could get a pop:

 

The Honky Tonk Man getting booed as a babyface when they debuted him is really the only time I can think of during that time of someone not getting the desired reaction.