March 9th,
1985
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon.
In action this week is the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff,
as well as Hillbilly Jim. Also, we will see a training session with Mr. T and
Hulk Hogan.
A.J. Petruzzi vs.
Junkyard Dog
The camera pans to the dancing fans in the audience. JYD
shoves Petruzzi into the ropes before chopping him down. Petruzzi ducks out for
a breather and JYD works the arm when he gets back inside. AJ falls down after
head-butting JYD then gets caught with clothesline. Vince is cackling on
commentary as JYD keeps talking to Petruzzi then JYD finishes things off with a
powerslam (2:58). After the match, JYD teaches Howard Finkel how to dance, to
the amusement of Vince. After that, he dances with a young child.
Thoughts: They continue to push JYD as a threat to Valentine’s
Intercontinental Title. JYD is really over big with the crowds.
WWF Update with
Lord Alfred Hayes. This week’s topic is Andre the Giant and how angry he is at
Big John Studd and Bobby Heenan for cutting his hair. Hayes then brings up the
$15,000 Bodyslam Challenge and how Andre swears that he will slam Studd at WrestleMania.
Peter Pompei vs. Don
Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji
Muraco takes down Pompei and works a nerve hold. He bores
the crowd by continuing the hold as Bruno puts over his martial arts skills.
After a minute, he hits a poor excuse of an enziguiri before finishing of
Pompei with a tombstone (3:00).
Thoughts: Bad showing for Muraco. They are now trying to put
him over as someone who knows a lot of martial arts and it is laughable.
Freddie Miller is with Greg Valentine and Jimmy Hart. He
asks them about Valentine’s lumberjack match against Tito Santana in Boston
Charlie Fulton vs.
Hillbilly Jim
The fans went absolutely nuts for Jim. Fulton bounces off of
Jim a few times to start. Jim flexes and the crowd goes crazy. Jim breaks out
of a full nelson by spinning Fulton
Thoughts: Holy shit was Jim over. If he didn’t break his
leg, who knows what would have happened with his push.
Miller is with Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik. They run
down Windham & Rotundo and promise to beat them in the Boston Garden
Iron Sheik &
Mikolai Volkoff w/Freddy Blassie vs. Sean & Brian O’Grady
Sheik tosses around Sean for a bit. Brian tags in and
Nikolai hits a backbreaker and they rough up Sean again then Sheik hits the
camel clutch for the win (2:17).
Thoughts: Not much different than any other match involving
these two. The Russian National Anthem bit still draws a lot of boos from the
crowd.
Piper’s Pit with
guest Paul Orndorff. They make fun of Mr. T and Hogan training together as
Orndorff says he can easily match Hogan in the weight room. Orndorff then cuts
a promo on Mr. T, calling him “Boy,” as Piper says that in three weeks at
WrestleMania, they will destroy them.
Greg “The Hammer”
Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Aldo Marino
Valentine take Marino to the mat then drops him throat-first
across the top rope. He works the arm for a bit as Bruno puts over the
aggressiveness of Valentine. The Hammer hits an inverted atomic drop then drops
a few elbows before putting Marino in the figure four leglock for the win
(2:48).
Thoughts: Nice showing for Valentine. They are playing up
the idea that Jimmy Hart has made Valentine more aggressive than ever.
The first video advertisement for WrestleMania airs. Vince
was doing the voiceover. It only lasted about 30 seconds and ended with Mr. T
telling Piper that he was dead meat.
The video package of Mr. T and Hulk Hogan training airs.
They are in Los Angeles Venice Beach
Jack Reynolds runs down the WrestleMania card. He is joined
by Bobby Heenan and John Studd, who is holding a stack of money and Andre’s
hair.
Gene Okerlund is with Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter. Lauper
doesn’t care if Moolah attacks her as Richter lets us know that it only takes
eight pounds of pressure to break someone’s neck. Richter promises that Leilani
Kai will be dancing like an “organ grinder’s monkey.” Cutting promos were not
one of Richter’s strength.
Bruno and Vince run down next week’s show, including another
training session with Mr. T & Hulk Hogan as well as Roddy Piper and Bob
Orton in action.
Final Thoughts: They
are really starting to promote WrestleMania strong. The last fifteen minutes
were dedicated to the show. Besides that, nothing much happened but they have
done a really good job building up the feuds for the show