WWF Championship Wrestling 4/14/84 & 4/21/84

WWF Championship Wrestling

April 14, 1984

Your announcers are Gene Okerlund and Vince McMahon

This week features the in-ring debut of Terry Daniels plus the featured bout, which is a non-title match between Tiger Chung Lee and “Incredible” Hulk Hogan. Also, Jimmy Snuka, Tito Santana and others will be in action.  

 

 Charlie Fulton vs. Tito Santana

They lockup a few times until Fulton lands some forearms. Tito then tosses Fulton and monkeyflips him out from the corner. Flying headscissors by Tito and he goes to work on the arm. Fulton escapes but Tito sends him down with a dropkick and goes back to the arm. Fulton breaks again but Tito comes back with a flying foreman for the win (4:10).

Thoughts: Tito was a good wrestler but had some really dull squash matches.He either worked a headlock or the arm until he hit the flying forearm. Too bad Fulton had zero charisma because he was solid in the ring.

WWF Update with Vince McMahon. The spoltlight is on Big John Studd, who is billed as 6’10 and 364 lbs. He recently won a $30,000 Battle Royal in St. Louis as we see clips of Andre and Hogan beating on Studd outside the ring after the match. Apparently, Studd won by cheating.

Jose Luis Rivera vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/Capt. Lou Albano

Rivera is looking for revenge after Valentine had him carried out on a stretcher during the last bout several weeks ago. Rivera uses his quickness to ward off Valentine and gets a few armdrags but Valentine is able to land an elbow smash. Slam by Valentine. Rivera rolls away from Valentine and gets a dropkick but the Hammer comes back with another elbow smash. Suplex by Valentine then he tosses Rivera outside. Albano rolls him in and Valentine gets a pair of elbow drops for the victory (2:07)

Thoughts: Nothing special. Valentine didn’t look dominating and Rivera is back to being strictly a jobber after his lower-midcard push from the beginning of the year.

Mike Powers vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka

Powers attacks Snuka before the bell. Snuka regains control and gets a slam. Headbutt by Snuka then another slam. He hits a kneedrop then climbs up top and hits the Superfly Splash for the win (1:26). After the match, Powers is carried out on a stretcher.

Thoughts: Nice return from injury by Snuka. The crowd was into him too. They are also pushing him strong, with his opponent doing the stretcher job.

Francisco Vasquez & Johnny Rivera vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff & “Dr. D” David Schultz w/Roddy Piper

The “Paula” chants are everywhere here tonight. Rivera and Orndorff start out. Orndorff knees Rivera and tags Schultz. They get a double elbow smash then allow Vasquez to tag into the match. Schutlz shoves him down then hits him with an elbow smash, setting up the second rope elbow drop for the win (1:50)

Thoughts: Not much to see here. I expected some entertainment, giving that Piper was the manager but he really didn’t do anything.  

Piper’s Pit with Frankie Williams. Piper states that he invited Frankie out here from the goodness of his heart. He starts by asking him if he has ever lost a match. Williams of course said that he did and Piper states how he has never lost a match. He makes fun of Williams, who tries and fails to defend himself. Piper tells him that he should be making pizzas and that he is a coward, which infuriated Williams. He says that he runs from nobody and Piper just beats the shit of him. He punches him around then tosses him off the set. Piper looks into the camera and says this famous line “Just when they think they have the answers, I change the questions” before walking off. What a fantastic segment and one that was completely groundbreaking at this time. Piper was great and Williams, who had trouble speaking coherently, was the perfect target for Piper. Definitely check this out if you haven’t seen it before. 

Terry Daniels w/Sgt. Slaughter vs. Johnny Ringo

Daniels debuts with Slaughter in his corner. He lands a few armdrags then some headlock takedowns. He gets a terrible looking backdrop, which seemed like Ringo’s fault. He drops a few elbows then nearly kills himself when he scoop slams him down. Ringo gets a backdrop himself as even Vince is shitting on him during commentary, calling him clumsy. Daniels gets bounced off the ropes but comes back with a sunsetflip for the win (1:50). After the match, Slaughter takes Daniels aside and tells him if he messes up again, he will have to do pushups and they walk away. They are playing up a military-style relation between the two.

Thoughts: Ugly match that did Daniels no favors. Ringo was horrible. Gene and Vince were burying him on commentary towards the end. The crowd is eating up anything Slaughter does so this segment did okay with them. 

Tiger Chung Lee vs. “Incredible” Hulk Hogan

Hulk comes out to “Eye of the Tiger.” The crowd is crazy for Hogan. Fuji is not with Lee tonight. Lee tries to attack Hogan as he enters the ring but Hogan fights him off and grabs his kendo stick, causing Lee to bail. In the ring, Hogan rips off his shirt, causing Gene to go bonkers. Lee is on the apron intimidated as Hogan slingshots him back into the ring. Slam by Hogan. Atomic drop then Hogan catches Lee in a bearhug. Lee breaks that with an eye rake. He chops Hogan and works a nerve hold but Hogan “Hulks Up” quickly then kills him with a clothesline. He slams him again then gets the legdrop for the win (3:03).

Thoughts: Good squash for Hogan. Hulkamania was still in its infancy here so all of the spots, like the shirt-rip, were not the norm around this time.

Gene Okerlund is with Hogan. Hulk yells and states he can feel “Hulkamania” running wild. He tells the fans that he loves them and states that he is on top of the mountain. Hulk was stumbling over his words here as he was starting the whole Hulk Hogan persona at this time. Its interesting to watch.  

Tony Colon vs. Jose Gonzalez

Gonzalez, if you do not know, was known as Invader #1 but better known as the man who stabbed Bruiser Brody to death. He grounds Colon to start. Drop toehold by Gonzalez. He gets a backdrop then a snapmare. Colon comes back with an uppercut but Gonzalez gets another snapmare. He then hits a backbreaker and works a front facelock. Colon escapes but misses a corner splash. Gonzalez gets a slam then heads up top and comes off with a missile dropkick for the win (2:44).   

Thoughts: Gonzalez was a good worker who was ahead of his time. That is all I will say about him though. 

Vince and Gene plug next week’s featured bout again as Sgt. Slaughter will face Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee in a handicapped match.

Final Thoughts: A good show. Piper’s Pit was a classic and its fun to watch Hogan develop. Seeing him work out the kinks in his character is interesting. The wrestling was fairly decent for the most part.

WWF Championship Wrestling

April 21, 1984

Afa w/Sika & Capt. Lou Albano vs. Hulk Hogan

The Samoans talk outside of the ring. Hogan looks around to make sure the others will not interfere. Afa stalls before entering the ring. Hogan shoves Afa, who ducks outside. Sika distracts Hulk and Afa delivers some shots to the back of Hogan. Hulk comes back with a backdrop and slugs away. Atomic drop by Hogan, who then knocks Sika off the apron. He sends Afa back down and gets the legdrop for the win (3:42). Sika and Albano try to run in after the match but Hogan fights them off easily.

Thoughts: A match where Hogan overcomes all odds. This would happen a lot in the future.

Vince McMahon is in the studio, telling us that this is a special edition of “Championship Wrestling.” We will be shown matches from MSG and other places.

Rene Goulet vs. SD Jones

This is joined in progress from MSG. The two lockup and Goulet reaches the ropes. Goulet continues to break everything by reaching for the ropes. Goulet then gets a forearm smash and puts Jones in a bearhug. SD escapes and tries to slam Goulet but Rene falls on top of him. Goulet then does some sort of nerve hold on the head of Jones, which looks anything but painful. SD fights out of that and gets a backdrop. SD misses a charge in the corner and Goulet pulls a foreign object fro his trunks. SD ducks a punch then lands a headbutt for the win (9:40) ½*.  

Thoughts: A terribly boring match. Neither of these men are good in the ring and this was all stalling and rest-holds.  

WWF Update as Vince McMahon spotlights Tito Santana. They show him hit a jobber with a flying forearm.

“Dynamite” Jack Evans & Johnny Rodz & Joe Nova vs. Andre the Giant

This match is from 1975. Andre was somewhat slender back then and could move around well. The jobbers try to jump Andre but he manages to put all three in the corner. He knocks down Nova and gets Rodz & Evans in the rowboat spot. Andre deflects the jobbers easily and knocks Evans out of the ring with a headbutt. He knocks down Nova then puts Rodz and Evans on top and covers all three men for the win (4:17)

Thoughts: Match was all comedy spots and this would never, ever work today.

Piper’s Pit with Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas. Piper tells them that they only won the belts because Albano accidentally hit one of his men with a chair. He then tells them that they have million dollar bodies and no brains. Rocky then tells Piper that he has no brains or muscles. Rocky hovers off Piper then walks off. Pier turns to Atlas, who says that Piper’s skirt and perfume is the same as his wife’s. Piper comes back by telling him that he is in trouble if he is better looking than his wife. That was a funny comeback. Piper made the segment as Johnson & Atlas aren’t much on the mic.

Jose Luis Rivera vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton

Piper is not with Orton tonight. Orton ducks out after Rivera gets an armdrag. They take takedowns and Orton sends Rivera in the corner. There was a miscommunication spot as Orton charges at Rivera with a running knee but Rivera gets his knees up and they collide. Orton then throws Rivera across the ring with force. He places him up top and gets the superplex for the win (1:40).

Thoughts: Really brief and not much to the match.

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Tiger Chung Lee & Mr. Fuji

Slaughter starts by beating on Fuji. He quickly tags out and Lee gets the same treatment. Gutbuster by Slaughter who follows that up with a double stomp. Sarge is distracted by Fuji and Lee backs him into the corner. Lee eventually tags Fuji, who throws some kicks before tagging out. Lee gets a scoop slam and heads up top but Sarge tosses him off. He elbows Fuji off the apron then kills Lee with a clothesline. Sarge sets him up for the Cobra Clutch and boots Fuji down before applying the hold, which causes Lee to submit (4:18) *1/4.

Thoughts: Brief match that was decent for what it was. Fuji was being phased out and he could barely even do anything in the ring at this point. Lee was fast becoming a jobber around this time.

Vince runs down the show from the studio before it ends.

Final Thoughts: A change of format tonight as we didn’t have the same studio matches as usual. The Goulet/Jones match was terrible but the show itself was different, especially that it showed more competitive matches than you saw on TV at this time. No Gene Okerlund meant that we didn’t get to hear him not answer the fan mail questions or hear him scream after a high-impact move.