August 9, 1986
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon
In action tonight will be Paul Orndorff, The Dream Team, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, and more
Mario Mancini vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff w/ Bobby Heenan
Orndorff comes out to Hogan's "Real American" theme song, which pisses of Vince. Orndorff then mocks Hogan's poses before attacking Mancini. He continues to beat the shit out of him as the crowd starts a "Paula" chant. He picks up Mancini for the piledriver then just puts him down and yells for him to get up. Heenan tells Orndorff to let Mancini "feel his sweat" as Orndorff goes back to beating the piss out of him. The fans now chant for Hogan as Orndorff tosses Mancini outside and slams him on the floor then he hits him with a piledriver before rolling back into the ring and getting the win via countout (3:30). The crowd screams for Hogan after the match as Heenan yells at them about how they want Hogan too.
Thoughts: They really went all out to make Orndorff has unlikable as possible. I always loved when he came out to Hogan's music too. It's such an easy way to get heel heat.
WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. This week's focus is on a WWF Magazine article about martial arts and should it be used in the WWF. Steamboat is shown saying that they should be used as long as they stay within the WWF guidelines. A staffer then tries a martial arts pose behind Okerlund. A nothing segment.
Tito Santana & Pedro Morales vs. Terry Gibbs & Dave Barbie
An insert promo of Johnny Valiant is shown with him telling Tito & Pedro they are Ford Fairlane's while the Dream Team are Rolls Royce's. Gibbs and Santana start out with a nice little sequence that Tito wins. Barbie tags and lands a few shots but Tito makes the tag and Pedro cleans house then gets the win with a reverse rollup (2:42).
Thoughts: Not much of a match at all. Tito is floundering in this role and being teamed with a sluggish Pedro Morales isnt helping him out either.
Ken Resnick is with Adrian Adonis, Randy Savage, and Jimmy Hart as they hype their match against Hogan and George Steele tonight in Boston. Not much of note other than Adonis calling Steele a "retard" again.
Mark Faban vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth
Vince fawns all over Elizabeth here, stating that you can watch her all match long instead of Savage. Vince even works in a joke, calling Mark "Kay" then when corrected, says that he heard he might have a brother named Kay. The crowd chants for JYD as Savage beats on Faban while wearing his bandana. Savage then slams Faban then hits the flying elbow smash for the win (2:04). After the match, Savage continues to beat the shit out of Faban as Vince accuses referee Danny Davis of letting this happen on purpose.
Thoughts: This is the first time on TV that Vince called out Danny Davis for acting corrupt. The match itself was unmemorable but the announcers had some fun cracking kayfabe jokes.
Resnick is with Jake Roberts, who will be facing Ricky Steamboat tonight in Boston. Jake tells Steamboat that he should have second thoughts about stepping into the ring with him. He then puts over the fact that he has been 86-0 since entering the WWF and even adds that he has been arrested three times for beating up some of his opponents so badly the cops had to drag him away.
The Dream Team w/ Johnny Valiant vs. Rick Hunter & Paul Roma
The Killer Bees are shown in an insert promo putting over the Dream Team and that they will use them as a stepping stone to climb the ladder of success. Boring stuff from the Bees. The crowd cheers for Roma when he tags in but Beefcake hammers away on him in the corner. A "fruitcake" chant breaks out as Valentine tags in and works the arm. Vince breaks news that next week, the Machines will be in action. Hunter tags and lands a few shots on Valentine but runs into an elbow smash. Valentine hits a shoulderbreaker and an elbow drop before making him submit to the Figure Four (3:03).
Thoughts: The WWF was really starting to push their tag team division, positioning several teams as title threats. The Dream Team did well together too and I felt they were underrated.
The Flower Shop with Adrian Adonis. He talks about how he was disgusted about JYD attacking him last week and has laid out a ton of money for the top bodyguard in wrestling then brings out "Cowboy" Bob Orton, who puts over Adonis for being a great interviewer and taking subtle digs and Piper by saying how he was paid less before.
Jim Haley & Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Junkyard Dog & George "The Animal" Steele w/ Capt. Lou Albano
Steele bites Sharpe, who then tags Haley. Steele rams him in the corner then tags JYD who his a powerslam for the win (1:20). After the match, the faces dance in the ring with a bunch of kids.
Thoughts: Quick and inoffensive. Really not much else to say about this.
Freddie Blassie is in the ring with the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff. He then tells everyone how he now has more money in the bank than anyone in wrestling thanks to the new co-manager of his team. He then introduces him to the crowd as it is revealed as Slick, making his WWF debut here. Slick came out to no crowd reaction but did use his cane and did his pimp walk the whole time.
Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. Corporal Kirchner & Tony Garea
Kirchner & Garea clear the ring of the evil foreigners as the crowd starts a "U-S-A" chant. Kirchner slams Sheik but misses an elbow drop. Sheik hits a clothesline then Blassie holds Kirchner in place for the Sheik so he can jump on op of his back. Volkoff tags and drops Kirchner across the top rope. Sheik tags back inside but Kirchner leapfrogs him and makes the hot tag to Garea! The pride of Auckland hits a terrible looking dropkick and a slam before putting Sheik in a small package but Volkoff runs in and reverses the move and the ref is distracted with Kirchner and turns around and sees Sheik on top and counts to three for the win (2:52).
Thoughts: The finish looked ridiculous and I always found it sad that they had to protect Garea by always having him lose in some fluky fashion.
Resnick is with Hogan, who says that all of the Hulkamaniacs in Boston have pulled him out of the trenches and with his attitude problem and George Steele in his corner. Steele comes out and keeps on saying "hurt."
Slick interrupts Bruno and Vince as they preview next week's show to tell them that Sheik & Volkoff will put more people in the hospital than cancer and high blood pressure combined. Vince then says that the Machines will be here next week and we can judge for ourselves if the Giant Machine is in fact Andre the Giant.
Final Thoughts: Not a whole lot happened on this show. The debut of Slick and the seeds being planted for the evil referee angle by Danny Davis happened but not much else. The Orndorff/Hogan feud was not showcased as much and the rest of the feuds are not all that hot right now, besides Jake and Steamboat.
Here is a schedule of my upcoming reviews:
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Shawn Daivari
Friday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/16/86
Saturday: RoH Honor Invades Boston 8/24/02
Sunday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/23/86
Tuesday: WWF The Big Event 8/28/86
Email me at BBayless781@gmail.com with any questions or feedback
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/mrbayless1982
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon
In action tonight will be Paul Orndorff, The Dream Team, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, and more
Mario Mancini vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff w/ Bobby Heenan
Orndorff comes out to Hogan's "Real American" theme song, which pisses of Vince. Orndorff then mocks Hogan's poses before attacking Mancini. He continues to beat the shit out of him as the crowd starts a "Paula" chant. He picks up Mancini for the piledriver then just puts him down and yells for him to get up. Heenan tells Orndorff to let Mancini "feel his sweat" as Orndorff goes back to beating the piss out of him. The fans now chant for Hogan as Orndorff tosses Mancini outside and slams him on the floor then he hits him with a piledriver before rolling back into the ring and getting the win via countout (3:30). The crowd screams for Hogan after the match as Heenan yells at them about how they want Hogan too.
Thoughts: They really went all out to make Orndorff has unlikable as possible. I always loved when he came out to Hogan's music too. It's such an easy way to get heel heat.
WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. This week's focus is on a WWF Magazine article about martial arts and should it be used in the WWF. Steamboat is shown saying that they should be used as long as they stay within the WWF guidelines. A staffer then tries a martial arts pose behind Okerlund. A nothing segment.
Tito Santana & Pedro Morales vs. Terry Gibbs & Dave Barbie
An insert promo of Johnny Valiant is shown with him telling Tito & Pedro they are Ford Fairlane's while the Dream Team are Rolls Royce's. Gibbs and Santana start out with a nice little sequence that Tito wins. Barbie tags and lands a few shots but Tito makes the tag and Pedro cleans house then gets the win with a reverse rollup (2:42).
Thoughts: Not much of a match at all. Tito is floundering in this role and being teamed with a sluggish Pedro Morales isnt helping him out either.
Ken Resnick is with Adrian Adonis, Randy Savage, and Jimmy Hart as they hype their match against Hogan and George Steele tonight in Boston. Not much of note other than Adonis calling Steele a "retard" again.
Mark Faban vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth
Vince fawns all over Elizabeth here, stating that you can watch her all match long instead of Savage. Vince even works in a joke, calling Mark "Kay" then when corrected, says that he heard he might have a brother named Kay. The crowd chants for JYD as Savage beats on Faban while wearing his bandana. Savage then slams Faban then hits the flying elbow smash for the win (2:04). After the match, Savage continues to beat the shit out of Faban as Vince accuses referee Danny Davis of letting this happen on purpose.
Thoughts: This is the first time on TV that Vince called out Danny Davis for acting corrupt. The match itself was unmemorable but the announcers had some fun cracking kayfabe jokes.
Resnick is with Jake Roberts, who will be facing Ricky Steamboat tonight in Boston. Jake tells Steamboat that he should have second thoughts about stepping into the ring with him. He then puts over the fact that he has been 86-0 since entering the WWF and even adds that he has been arrested three times for beating up some of his opponents so badly the cops had to drag him away.
The Dream Team w/ Johnny Valiant vs. Rick Hunter & Paul Roma
The Killer Bees are shown in an insert promo putting over the Dream Team and that they will use them as a stepping stone to climb the ladder of success. Boring stuff from the Bees. The crowd cheers for Roma when he tags in but Beefcake hammers away on him in the corner. A "fruitcake" chant breaks out as Valentine tags in and works the arm. Vince breaks news that next week, the Machines will be in action. Hunter tags and lands a few shots on Valentine but runs into an elbow smash. Valentine hits a shoulderbreaker and an elbow drop before making him submit to the Figure Four (3:03).
Thoughts: The WWF was really starting to push their tag team division, positioning several teams as title threats. The Dream Team did well together too and I felt they were underrated.
The Flower Shop with Adrian Adonis. He talks about how he was disgusted about JYD attacking him last week and has laid out a ton of money for the top bodyguard in wrestling then brings out "Cowboy" Bob Orton, who puts over Adonis for being a great interviewer and taking subtle digs and Piper by saying how he was paid less before.
Jim Haley & Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Junkyard Dog & George "The Animal" Steele w/ Capt. Lou Albano
Steele bites Sharpe, who then tags Haley. Steele rams him in the corner then tags JYD who his a powerslam for the win (1:20). After the match, the faces dance in the ring with a bunch of kids.
Thoughts: Quick and inoffensive. Really not much else to say about this.
Freddie Blassie is in the ring with the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff. He then tells everyone how he now has more money in the bank than anyone in wrestling thanks to the new co-manager of his team. He then introduces him to the crowd as it is revealed as Slick, making his WWF debut here. Slick came out to no crowd reaction but did use his cane and did his pimp walk the whole time.
Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. Corporal Kirchner & Tony Garea
Kirchner & Garea clear the ring of the evil foreigners as the crowd starts a "U-S-A" chant. Kirchner slams Sheik but misses an elbow drop. Sheik hits a clothesline then Blassie holds Kirchner in place for the Sheik so he can jump on op of his back. Volkoff tags and drops Kirchner across the top rope. Sheik tags back inside but Kirchner leapfrogs him and makes the hot tag to Garea! The pride of Auckland hits a terrible looking dropkick and a slam before putting Sheik in a small package but Volkoff runs in and reverses the move and the ref is distracted with Kirchner and turns around and sees Sheik on top and counts to three for the win (2:52).
Thoughts: The finish looked ridiculous and I always found it sad that they had to protect Garea by always having him lose in some fluky fashion.
Resnick is with Hogan, who says that all of the Hulkamaniacs in Boston have pulled him out of the trenches and with his attitude problem and George Steele in his corner. Steele comes out and keeps on saying "hurt."
Slick interrupts Bruno and Vince as they preview next week's show to tell them that Sheik & Volkoff will put more people in the hospital than cancer and high blood pressure combined. Vince then says that the Machines will be here next week and we can judge for ourselves if the Giant Machine is in fact Andre the Giant.
Final Thoughts: Not a whole lot happened on this show. The debut of Slick and the seeds being planted for the evil referee angle by Danny Davis happened but not much else. The Orndorff/Hogan feud was not showcased as much and the rest of the feuds are not all that hot right now, besides Jake and Steamboat.
Here is a schedule of my upcoming reviews:
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Shawn Daivari
Friday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/16/86
Saturday: RoH Honor Invades Boston 8/24/02
Sunday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/23/86
Tuesday: WWF The Big Event 8/28/86
Email me at BBayless781@gmail.com with any questions or feedback
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/mrbayless1982
Orndorff using Hogan's music made the finish of the SNME cage match even better because it threw the result into doubt.
ReplyDeleteKILLER Ken Resnick.
ReplyDeleteHe was no Maniac Marty O'Neill or Ravishing Rod Trongard.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel the Dream Team are the most fairly rated team of all time. They are what they are. Nothing is nothing. Everything is everything. The Dream Team existed.
ReplyDeleteNow we see the real beginnings of the Danny Davis angle.
ReplyDelete"From coast to coast and border to border this is the AWA on ESPN!"
ReplyDelete