Welcome Turnbucklers! Its edition #5 and we are back in Madison Square Garden for the September supercard. So who's new to the blog this time round? Well we got...Brutus Beefcake (this show is his MSG debut), Nikolai Volkoff, Big John Studd and...AND...one of my personal favourites, Bobby Heenan, who makes his suprise debut on this show. Its worth mentioning Hogan is on this show and Santana isn't so let's do this shall we!
The Card:
Brutus Beefcake vs Salvatore Bellomo
Nikolai Volkoff vs Chief Jay Strongbow
David Schultz vs SD Jones
Greg Valentine vs Jose Luis Rivera
Big John Studd vs Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) [WWE Title Match]
Ken Patera vs Rick McGraw
Sgt Slaughter/Wild Samoans vs Cpt Lou Albano/Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch (WWE Tag Team Champs)
B. Brian Blair vs Iron Mike Sharpe
Kamala vs Pat Patterson
The Show:
Your commentary team tonight are Gorilla Monsoon and Mean Gene Okerlund.
Brutus Beefcake vs Salvatore Bellomo
Beefcake's debut and he comes out looking like a gay magician. Before we start Howard Finkel announces Jesse Ventura is in hospital so won't be there tonight. Big heat for Fink giving the address for well wishes to be sent! Big John Studd is announced as his replacement to a MASSIVE pop. Wow. As far as jobbers go, Bellomo has been doing alright in this blog. He gets some nice offense in early in this one, so far so good. Beefcake admittedly is coming across as nothing special and has had barely any offense so far. Nice mule kick by Bellomo that I've not seen before....by a human at least. When Beefcake is in control, the problem is he shows no personality and neither does he move set and to me that's lowcard/jobber to me. The only personality he shows is a small hip shuffle to prove his flambouyancy. He is methodical but its all so basic and boring. He does however catch Bellomo is a lovely powerslam for the win! Not a great debut for Brutus but decent finish.Match Rating: 3/4*
Nikolai Volkoff vs Chief Jay Strongbow
I'm not expecting a high flying spectacle for this one. We start with Volkoff singing the USSR national anthem and gets big, Cold War heat. Turns out there were a lot of rest holds in this and a lot of scrappy looking punches. There was a long nerve hold spot by Volkoff. Volkoff gets the win with a shot to Strongbow's chest. Boring match that made Volkoff look poor.Match Rating: DUD
S.D Jones vs Dr D David Schultz
I've not seen much of either of these two so this might be interesting. Crowd seem restless and are still quite loud. The early goings of the match are just scraps between the two with Jones coming out on top. Jones looks like an idiot though as he keeps accepting Schult'z test of strength...except Schultz keeps slapping him at the last second. Jones didn't catch on until the THIRD time. The finish is awkward as Schultz nails a jumping leg lariat for the count 3...but the 3rd count was delayed and it looked like SD kicked out. Boring match where neither looked too great. Schultz was OK. Match Rating: 1/2*
Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine vs Jose Luis Rivera
I don't like Rivera's chances in this one as he was the quintessential jobber. Valentine had a decent match last month against Tito so I'm interested to see how he comes off with a less formidable opponent. Hammer gains control pretty early and shows off his methodical side while going for the figure four. He hits a lovely knee to the stomach which Gorilla calls a 'reverse backbreaker'. He throws Rivera to the outside, suplexes Rivera back in...or so it looked until he turned it into a shoulderbreaker instead, nice! Rivera eventually gets 2 scoop slams worth of offence but that's it as Hammer drops him over the top rope. Rivera fights back and the crowd is alive now. Lovely double underhook suplex by Hammer followed by an elbow. Figure four gets the win for Hammer not long after. Hammer looked good in this and Rivera got the crowds sympathy. Still a squash match but it was fun. Match Rating: *1/4
Into the back with BOBBY 'THE BRAIN' HEENAN and Big John Studd. I'm a massive Heenan fan so I'm buzzing he's now appeared. He claims he's outsmarted every one in wrestling for bagging Studd as his client and he's soon to be world champ. Studd claims to be the winner tonight and new champ too. Heenan finishes by saying Studdomania will run wild!
Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs Big John Studd [WWE Title Match]
Big heat for Heenan and Studd but I don't know whether it's because they know them and their characters already or because they're facing Hogan. Hogan, by the way, comes out to the biggest pop I've heard yet on this blog. Holy ship, it's deafening and he's still using Eye of the Tiger so he looks like a complete superstar. That right there, gets the guy points already. Hogan is bleeding from the chest...before any physical interaction. The commentators say he might have scratched himself...I just think it's where the needle went in. Anyway...Studd controls from the start but Hulk instantly Hulk's up...but gets cut off with a knee to the chest. Hulk counters in the corner and sends Studd reeling outside while the crowd go mental. Hulk back in control, tries for a body slam but can't quite do it so Studd takes control. There's a bearhug spot by Studd but Hogan expectantly escapes...but runs into a shoulderblock. Crowd are still buzzing at this as another bearhug is applied. Hogan hulks up, counters and both men go down for a breather. Hogan sent outside where he blades and won't be let back in the ring by Studd. Hogan hulks up, back in the ring and plows through Studd. He tries to slam him again and fails again. Back outside the ring for a big brawl to take place. In the melee, Heenan pushes Studd back in the ring and he gets the countout win! The heels knick the belt and run off to the back while Hogan moans and bollocks the referee. Crap match, slow and sluggish but the crowd were molten hot. That is why Hogan will forever has his place in wrestling, because no wrestler with such unrelatability gained that reaction week in, week out. Big John Studd for me was Big John DUD. Match Rating: 3/4*
So it's the recently reappeared Ken Patera versus Quick Draw. Ken Patera still looks like a poor man's Ric Flair and is a complete throwback to the previous decade. This is a complete squash match and not a fun one. Patera uses his power and his Olympic prowess to quick control, working on McGraw's leg. Patera gets the win with a Full Nelson. Crowd didn't care and neither did I. Match Rating: 1/2*
Into the back with Captain Lou Albano who says he's going to un-mar his name and although he may be effectively useless in ring tonight, he can still help...and still may cripple someone.
The Wild Samoans are after revenge here after being screwed out of the titles by Albano and the champs. Slaughter is added into this one because...extra face value? So was it better than last months *1/4 encounter...Well the crowd are hot early on when the faces clean house and Albano waddles to the back. The Samoans no sell a double noggin-knocker...because they're not American I assume. Albano briefly comes in and nails a few punches but they get no sold and he's quickly back out. More no selling by the Samoans and Murdoch finds himself in the wrong corner and panics like a hipster without hummus. If the Samoans don't feel pain with elbows shots and headbutts...does that make all head maneuvers irrelavant. Would they no sell an Undertaker Tombstone at Wrestlemania? The heels take control of Sgt Slaughter as he feels pain apparently. The heels are methodical and aggressive when controlling as you'd expect from the champs. The crowd love it all! Especially when Albano comes in and gets beaten by the Samoans. Adonis hits a great missile dropkick from the top rope! Slaughter eventually comes back in and cleans house of the heels then everyone brawls as the crowd eats it up.Finish comes when Slaughter manages to slam Murdoch off the top rope for 3! The crowd were hot and the heels successfully kept them intrigued and would up. It was the same Murdoch/Adonis match I've seen a couple of times so far. The Samoans used way too many headbutts and way too many no-sells. Slaughter was...Slaughter and Albano was fun to watch. The addition of Slaughter and Albano made this slightly better than last months match. Match Rating: *1/2
So here we have a rematch from last month where both men looked decent. Sharpe does his normal mouthing off routine and even hijacks the microphone to talk about his arms. Blair at this point was one of the smoother and quicker workers on the roster and was still enjoying his newbie push. The beginning of this match is a lot of stalling on the part of Sharpe until his aggressive nature gives him control. He uses the railings and chairs to punish Blair on the outside. Blair eventually gets some offense in of his own, working over Sharpe's legs. The match was very back and forth with lots of counters and reversals between the 2. Sharpe definitely had more control than I was expecting from him. Unfortunately it's Blairs lack of personality that's letting him down. If you took Blair's in-ring work and Sharpe's characteristics and charisma...you got yourself a superstar. The balance in this match has been perfect. Great balance between offense amount that both men get, the different styles of moves and their selling. The one thing that bugs me is the crowd seem I bit uninterested. Finish comes after some really good back and forth when Sharpe shoves the referee down after using a foreign object. Blair wins by DQ. Better than their original match, best match of this card so far and it's a shame neither man made it too far up the card. Match Rating: **1/4
Before our main event, Bobby Heenan comes back out. He complains about Studd not winning the title despite winning the match. Surely you know the rules Bobby? He has a contract for Hogan to sign for a rematch whereby Hogan can lose the title on a countout. Hogan comes out to a big pop as per and signs the contract. Hogan gets some fighting talk in and heads to the back.
So THIS is our main event?! WWF had some strange ideas when it came to card chronology. Kamala comes out to no reaction so we can appreciate he's stereotypical tribal theme in all it's outdated glory. Kamala pearl habours Auntie Pat and goes through his basic array of strikes and chokes. Patterson fights out but can't get the scoop slam. Pat Patterson uses his brains to keep control but it's a shame Kamala can't sell. Not long later, Kamala hits a splash for the 3 count. What a way to end the night. Match Rating: DUD
Awful show, highlight being Blair vs Sharpe, which should tell you all you need to know. Nice intro for Heenan though and it means I can look forward to his appearances from now on.
Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine vs Jose Luis Rivera
I don't like Rivera's chances in this one as he was the quintessential jobber. Valentine had a decent match last month against Tito so I'm interested to see how he comes off with a less formidable opponent. Hammer gains control pretty early and shows off his methodical side while going for the figure four. He hits a lovely knee to the stomach which Gorilla calls a 'reverse backbreaker'. He throws Rivera to the outside, suplexes Rivera back in...or so it looked until he turned it into a shoulderbreaker instead, nice! Rivera eventually gets 2 scoop slams worth of offence but that's it as Hammer drops him over the top rope. Rivera fights back and the crowd is alive now. Lovely double underhook suplex by Hammer followed by an elbow. Figure four gets the win for Hammer not long after. Hammer looked good in this and Rivera got the crowds sympathy. Still a squash match but it was fun. Match Rating: *1/4
Into the back with BOBBY 'THE BRAIN' HEENAN and Big John Studd. I'm a massive Heenan fan so I'm buzzing he's now appeared. He claims he's outsmarted every one in wrestling for bagging Studd as his client and he's soon to be world champ. Studd claims to be the winner tonight and new champ too. Heenan finishes by saying Studdomania will run wild!
Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs Big John Studd [WWE Title Match]
Big heat for Heenan and Studd but I don't know whether it's because they know them and their characters already or because they're facing Hogan. Hogan, by the way, comes out to the biggest pop I've heard yet on this blog. Holy ship, it's deafening and he's still using Eye of the Tiger so he looks like a complete superstar. That right there, gets the guy points already. Hogan is bleeding from the chest...before any physical interaction. The commentators say he might have scratched himself...I just think it's where the needle went in. Anyway...Studd controls from the start but Hulk instantly Hulk's up...but gets cut off with a knee to the chest. Hulk counters in the corner and sends Studd reeling outside while the crowd go mental. Hulk back in control, tries for a body slam but can't quite do it so Studd takes control. There's a bearhug spot by Studd but Hogan expectantly escapes...but runs into a shoulderblock. Crowd are still buzzing at this as another bearhug is applied. Hogan hulks up, counters and both men go down for a breather. Hogan sent outside where he blades and won't be let back in the ring by Studd. Hogan hulks up, back in the ring and plows through Studd. He tries to slam him again and fails again. Back outside the ring for a big brawl to take place. In the melee, Heenan pushes Studd back in the ring and he gets the countout win! The heels knick the belt and run off to the back while Hogan moans and bollocks the referee. Crap match, slow and sluggish but the crowd were molten hot. That is why Hogan will forever has his place in wrestling, because no wrestler with such unrelatability gained that reaction week in, week out. Big John Studd for me was Big John DUD. Match Rating: 3/4*
Ken Patera vs Rick McGraw
So it's the recently reappeared Ken Patera versus Quick Draw. Ken Patera still looks like a poor man's Ric Flair and is a complete throwback to the previous decade. This is a complete squash match and not a fun one. Patera uses his power and his Olympic prowess to quick control, working on McGraw's leg. Patera gets the win with a Full Nelson. Crowd didn't care and neither did I. Match Rating: 1/2*
Into the back with Captain Lou Albano who says he's going to un-mar his name and although he may be effectively useless in ring tonight, he can still help...and still may cripple someone.
Sgt Slaughter/Wild Samoans vs Cpt Lou Albano/Adrain Adonis/Dick Murdoch (WWE Tag Team Champs)
The Wild Samoans are after revenge here after being screwed out of the titles by Albano and the champs. Slaughter is added into this one because...extra face value? So was it better than last months *1/4 encounter...Well the crowd are hot early on when the faces clean house and Albano waddles to the back. The Samoans no sell a double noggin-knocker...because they're not American I assume. Albano briefly comes in and nails a few punches but they get no sold and he's quickly back out. More no selling by the Samoans and Murdoch finds himself in the wrong corner and panics like a hipster without hummus. If the Samoans don't feel pain with elbows shots and headbutts...does that make all head maneuvers irrelavant. Would they no sell an Undertaker Tombstone at Wrestlemania? The heels take control of Sgt Slaughter as he feels pain apparently. The heels are methodical and aggressive when controlling as you'd expect from the champs. The crowd love it all! Especially when Albano comes in and gets beaten by the Samoans. Adonis hits a great missile dropkick from the top rope! Slaughter eventually comes back in and cleans house of the heels then everyone brawls as the crowd eats it up.Finish comes when Slaughter manages to slam Murdoch off the top rope for 3! The crowd were hot and the heels successfully kept them intrigued and would up. It was the same Murdoch/Adonis match I've seen a couple of times so far. The Samoans used way too many headbutts and way too many no-sells. Slaughter was...Slaughter and Albano was fun to watch. The addition of Slaughter and Albano made this slightly better than last months match. Match Rating: *1/2
B. Brian Blair vs Iron Mike Sharpe
So here we have a rematch from last month where both men looked decent. Sharpe does his normal mouthing off routine and even hijacks the microphone to talk about his arms. Blair at this point was one of the smoother and quicker workers on the roster and was still enjoying his newbie push. The beginning of this match is a lot of stalling on the part of Sharpe until his aggressive nature gives him control. He uses the railings and chairs to punish Blair on the outside. Blair eventually gets some offense in of his own, working over Sharpe's legs. The match was very back and forth with lots of counters and reversals between the 2. Sharpe definitely had more control than I was expecting from him. Unfortunately it's Blairs lack of personality that's letting him down. If you took Blair's in-ring work and Sharpe's characteristics and charisma...you got yourself a superstar. The balance in this match has been perfect. Great balance between offense amount that both men get, the different styles of moves and their selling. The one thing that bugs me is the crowd seem I bit uninterested. Finish comes after some really good back and forth when Sharpe shoves the referee down after using a foreign object. Blair wins by DQ. Better than their original match, best match of this card so far and it's a shame neither man made it too far up the card. Match Rating: **1/4
Before our main event, Bobby Heenan comes back out. He complains about Studd not winning the title despite winning the match. Surely you know the rules Bobby? He has a contract for Hogan to sign for a rematch whereby Hogan can lose the title on a countout. Hogan comes out to a big pop as per and signs the contract. Hogan gets some fighting talk in and heads to the back.
Kamala vs Pat Patterson
So THIS is our main event?! WWF had some strange ideas when it came to card chronology. Kamala comes out to no reaction so we can appreciate he's stereotypical tribal theme in all it's outdated glory. Kamala pearl habours Auntie Pat and goes through his basic array of strikes and chokes. Patterson fights out but can't get the scoop slam. Pat Patterson uses his brains to keep control but it's a shame Kamala can't sell. Not long later, Kamala hits a splash for the 3 count. What a way to end the night. Match Rating: DUD
Awful show, highlight being Blair vs Sharpe, which should tell you all you need to know. Nice intro for Heenan though and it means I can look forward to his appearances from now on.
Wrestler Scores:
- Brutus Beefcake +2 (2)
- Salvatore Bellomo +2 (11)
- Nikolai Volkoff +2 (2)
- Cheif Jay Strongbow +1 (6)
- David Schultz +3 (3)
- SD Jones +2 (2)
- Greg Valentine +4 (13)
- Jose Luis Rivera +3 (3)
- Big John Studd +3 (3)
- Hulk Hogan +6 (18)
- Ken Patera +3 (6)
- Rick McGraw +2 (5)
- Sgt Slaughter +3 (11)
- Afa +3 (10)
- Sika +3 (10)
- Cpt Lou Albano +3 (3)
- Adrian Adonis +4 (11)
- Dick Murdoch +4 (10)
- B Brian Blair +5 (9)
- Iron Mike Sharpe +5 (8)
- Kamala +2 (4)
- Pat Patterson +2 (4)
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