WWE All Star Search #7 - Wrestlemania 1 - Adam Ross

Hello Turnbucklers! So we've made it here after trawling through 1984, Wrestlemania 1. Shown on CCTV it was a huge risk for WWE but I think it's safe to say it paid off. This is a big card with a big main event so it'll be intriguing to see how the rest of the card matches up. Before we get there, let's do a summary of what I've learnt so far. The most over superstar is by far Hulk Hogan. His pops are so much bigger than everyone elses its surreal. Tito Santana, Andre the Giant and Sgt Slaughter have been also getting strong crowd reactions. On the heel side, number 1 has to Roddy Piper. The heat he's gained in a year its amazing! Greg Valentine is another who has impressed me so far, always bringing out consistently decent matches. Most suprising superstar for me so far has been The Iron Sheik, I actually look forward to his matches now. Iron Mike Sharpe is most underrated so far in my opinion. As a jobber he stands out from the crowd. Worst wrestlers so far? My least favourite at least are the Wild Samoans, whether they're the worst is a personal opinion though. Too many headbutts and no sells for my liking. Quick shoutout to Terry Daniels too...and his armbar. Anyway...let's do this!

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The Card:

Tito Santana vs The Executioner

King Kong Bundy vs SD Jones

Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne

David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake

The Junkyard Dog vs Greg Valentine (IC Champ) [IC Title Match]

The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs The US Express (Tag Team Champs) [Tag Team Title Match]

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd (Bodyslam Challenge)

Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai (Womens Champ) [Womens Title Match]

Hulk Hogan/Mr T vs Roddy Piper/Paul Orndorff

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The Show:

Here we go then! We kick off with some funky music while screenshots of the match-ups and celebrities flashing by. Our commentary team is Gorilla Monsoon AND JESSE VENTURA! I've been waiting for this team, my second all time favourite pairing on commentary. Fink welcomes us to Wrestlemania and he gets a big pop. I guess the crowd knew this was a special event from the beginning. Mean Gene Okerlund butchers the American National Anthem for us but gets a BIG reaction. To be fair, he really had fun being the one to sing it.

Into the back with Lord Alfred Hayes who's wearing a lovely cream number. He seems strangely nervous in front of the camera and hypes up 'WrestlingMania'.

Mean Gene is with Tito Santana who says no one is going to stop him...and that means you Executioner! Ariba! As soon as Tito buggers off, Executioner appears to tell Tito he's going for his leg...and nothing else. Talk about giving the game plan away.

Tito Santana vs The Executioner

Executioner in the ring first and he's announced as being unknown...in anything. Big pop for Tito as he comes out. Can't understand why Tito is opening Wrestlemania against the Executioner. Had he had a more formidable or at least established opponent, Tito would've been a perfect opening attraction but not with the Executioner. I should point out that Executioner is Buddy Rose under a mask. The crowd is hot in the beginning as Tito holds Cutioner at bay with dropkicks. Tito maintains control throughout the match although Cutioner does gets some basic offense in. Cutioner does what he promised and aims for the legs but Tito fights back. Executioner looks a little off balance while on the offense. Cutioner goes up top but Santana counters into a slam. He goes for a splash but eats nothing but raised legs. Cutioner works on the legs again but Tito sends Cutioner onto the outside. Flying Jalepeno for Santana, Figure Four and that's all she wrote for Cutioner as Santana wins! Better than I thought it would be and that's including the fact it didn't last long. Crowd loved Tito and Executioner was the standard big man opponent needed to emphasize Santana's normal routine. Match Rating: *1/2

Into the back with a nervous Lord Al who sends us to Mean Gene and SD Jones. Jones has the best voice/accent I've heard yet. He says he's ready. He leaves and King Kong Bundy and Jimmy Hart come in and tell SD Jones to expect to eat a 5 count tonight.

King Kong Bundy vs SD Jones

Big boo's for Bundy which is good considering he's not done much in his run so far apart from squash jobbers. Match goes as follows...Strikes by Bundy, bearhug into the corner, splash in the corner, Jones goes down, eats another splash on the mat...5 count. Bundy wins. As far as squash matches go, this one is relevant and has use to it. Bundy looked like a monster in front of his biggest audience yet. A good way to set the tone over the next year. What the main problem here is the match is announced as a new match length record at 9 seconds...although anyone with a concept of time will understand how wrong that time is. Pointless lie that made WWE look silly for trying. Match Rating: DUD

Into the back with Mean Gene who's with Matt Borne...son of Tough Tony Borne. He puts over Steamboat but says he's too nice of a guy and that's why Borne will win. He leaves and Steamboat appears. He hypes Wrestlemania and says he's here to develop the 'meanness' he's lacking. Arib....wait, no, wrong babyface.

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Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne

Not the biggest reaction for Steamboat but I think the crowd have settled slightly. It starts off at a quick pace with Steamboat getting some leapfrogs in before nailing Borne with a chop to the throat. Borne goes for a couple of side suplexes but Steamboat escapes both and nails a delayed atomic drop and shows a little personality in doing so. Reverse atomic drop by Borne puts him in control. It doesn't last long as Steamboat replies with chops and a headlock. Borne with a nice belly to belly suplex followed by a standard suplex. Steamboat fights back, nails another suplex, hits a nice neckbreaker and Steamboat is firmly in control. Steamboat goes up top, nails a flying cross body and gets the 3 count! One of the better, quick matches I've seen in this blog so far. Steamboat looked good here but was no where near the superstar we look back fondly at. Steamboats style and popularity really leave very little for Jimmy Snuka to come back to as at this point, there were so many similarities between the two. Match Rating: **

Into the back with Lord Al, who runs down the next match. We even see Beefcake heading to the ring in the background.

Mean Gene is in the back with the Sammartino's who give us some fighting talk. They leave and are instantly replaced by Beefcake and Valiant. Valiant does all the talking but he sounds like he's trying to fit a years worth of talking into one promo. Beefcake then gets stage fright and has to be bailed out by Valiant. That was incredibly awkward but surely Beefcake would be prepared!

David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake

Out of all the matches on the card, this one was the one I was least looking forward too. David Sammartino is the definition of a superstar lacking X Factor and Beefcake at this point was as dull as the Bury Times. David is with dad, Bruno who gets a great reaction from the crowd and Beefer is with Johnny Valiant who is quite similar to Freddie Blassie. The heels stall forever until we get a lock up, but nothing happens. We get a Beefcake strut but its all for nothing as Sammartino controls with his basic offence. We get long headlocks by both and this is getting painfully boring. Eventually, Valiant gets involved on the outside, which draws in daddy Bruno and the whole thing is thrown for a double-DQ. No one looked good in this although Bruno got big cheers. It should have been a tag match between the four men out there. Match Rating: 3/4*

The Junkyard Dog vs Greg Valentine (IC Champ) [IC Title Match]

JYD gets himself a title shot already on the WWE's biggest show to date. It seems a bit strange considering Santana was in the opener after feuding with Hammer for the past year. Steamboat would've been a better choice in this one and JYD could've fought Borne. Hammer of course is out with Jimmy Hart. JYD controls to start and Hammer tries to get a breather. He does get the briefest of offense in before JYD hits his canine-headbutts and Hammer bails outside. Hammer uses heely tactics when he gets back in to take control and works over the leg of JYD. He goes for a figure four but it gets countered. JYD nails some more headbutts and Valentine timbers to the mat. Jimmy Hart tries to get involved but heel miscommunication leads to a nasty fall to the outside by Hart. Seriously, I think it gave him a bad concussion. A bit of back and forth before Hammer goes for the rollup. It looks like he's won but Tito Santana comes down and convinces the referee that he cheated...so we continue! Bwah?! Hammer says fuck that and loses via countout. What a ridiculous finish to a pretty poor match. Both men's popularity saved this one from being really bad. Match Rating: *1/4

Into the back with Mean Gene who's with Blassie, Sheik and Volkoff. They ramble incoherently until the US Express and Albano replace them. They say that they're heading to the ring.....which they're clearly not.

The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs The US Express (Tag Team Champs) [Tag Team Title Match]

NOW they're heading to the ring. Big boo's for the foreigners and massive cheers for the US Express. Big shock there. Volkoff does his pre-match singing and then we get under way. The US Express are Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham who won the titles a few months earlier from Murdoch and Adonis. Rotundo and Sheik start us off with Rotundo getting the advantage with hiptosses and slams. Windham gets a shot in before he gets the tag and follows up with a shot from the top rope. The heels try and gain control but heel miscommunication on their part means Volkoff eats a Sheik dropkick. Sheik apologizes and Volkoff comes in...but finds himself in a headlock. A couple of one counts and eventually the heels take control. Sheik nails an elbow for 2 and follows up with a lovely side suplex. He tries for a standard suplex but Rotundo counters into one of his own. Volkoff in but quickly finds himself in a hammerlock before eating a sunset flip. Volkoff regains control, Sheik back in who locks on an abdominal stretch. He eventually escapes and makes the hot tag to Windham. Rotundo takes Sheik to the floor but doesn't keep an eye on him. Windham and Volkoff brawl until Sheik nails Windham in the noodle with Blassies cane behind the ref's back and that gets the win and we have new tag champs! A bit of a suprise considering the US Express were over huge and the foreigners were no where near in comparison. I can't see this title reign being a long one but lets see. Match was actually a good'n I think. Rotundo was a good face in peril and the foreigners had enough heat on them to really make it work.Match Rating: **1/4

Into the back with Mean Gene who's with the new Tag Champs. They say they proved themselves and that Russian and Arab countries are the best. That escalated quickly.

Still in the back and Mean Gene is joined with Heenan and Studd. Heenan is great here as he tells Gene to keep his hands to himself and tells Andre to look forward to retirement.

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd (Bodyslam Challenge)

This is Studd's $15,000 vs Andre's career...which hardly seems balanced. In fact, Andre comes out with a massive Donny Osmond smile on his face so I don't really feel like he's about to become unemployed. Studd of course is with Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan. Studd tries to get the early advantage but it doesn't quite work and he finds himself reeling on the outside. Back in and Andre does his chokes in the corner...which is a high spot for him...and then uses his arse to his advantage. Studd fights back, tries to slam Andre but it fails. Andre with a bearhug, which I thought was a heel's hold. Studd bites his way out of it but soon finds himself in a headlock. Studd goes for a boot, countered...and he eats a slam shortly after. Andre wins! He gets his bag of money to throw to the crowd but Heenan knicks it back. Glorified squash match I'm afraid but Studd was never going to win this. What's worse is the fact neither man could move very well. Match Rating: DUD

Into the back where Mean Gene is with Andre who cuts a barely understandable promo about his win. I wish I could tell you what he said but he sounded like a bath being unplugged.

Still in the back with Lauper and Richter who tells Shmoolah and Lani Kai to watch out! Richter yells that she's ready and sounds like an utter hick in the process. They are replaced by Moolah and Kai, where by Moolah shows off her new glasses and Kai says...watch out!

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Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai (Womens Champ) [Womens Title Match]

At the War to Settle the Score, Moolah cost Richter the title to Leilani Kai. Cyndi Lauper is still with Richter and Moolah is with Kai. I'm not going to dwell too much on this one because it was utterly a stinker. Lots of slow back and forth with hair pulling added here and there. Kai tries for a gutwrench suplex but the women botch it and have to salvage it into a pinning attempt. Moolah tries to get involved but Lauper stops her to a big pop. More back and forth until Kai goes for a crossbody off the top but a horrific looking roll through gets the win and the title for Richter. Let the cringeworthy celebratory dancing begin! At this point, all the hype the women's division had developed was starting to disappear now. Unfortunately the female wrestlers involved couldn't hold up their end of the deal so to speak. Not much more Lauper can do for them. Match Rating: DUD

In the back, Mean Gene is with the new champ and Lauper. They're both very happy and Richter still yells and sounds like an utter hick.

Hulk Hogan/Mr T vs Roddy Piper/Paul Orndorff

It's main event time! So here we have...Billy Martin (who has no relevance outside the USA) as ring announcer, Pat Patterson as the ref (just for a paycheck I presume), Liberace as ringbell dude (with added effeminate bell) and of course, Muhammed Ali as special enforcer. Ali gets a huge pop and every other celebrity is quickly forgotten. Piper and Orndorff's entrance is epic as they come out with the bagpipe band. Cowboy Bob Orton plus his cast are with them. We get the now well-known visual of Mr T and Hogan ready to head to the ring...and here they come! Massive pop and my version has Eye of the Tiger to make it just that little bit better! Jimmy Snuka is with the faces in this one. Everyone, plus myself, is hyped up for this. Orndorff and Hogan start...or so it looks but Piper begs to start with Hogan...and then Mr T wants to start with Piper. They lock up and trade strikes with Piper getting a brief advantage before T nails him with a firemans's carry! This draws all 6 men in the ring for a big shmoz until Ali comes in and sends Piper outside. The heels then try to walk out but the faces don't let them. The heels charge the ring but eat a double noggin-knocker, some Hogan offence and then a second double noggin-knocker. Hogan nails an atomic drop on Piper and tags in T. T hits a cool double clothesline and slams Piper to the mat followed by a hiptoss on Orndorff. Nice and the crowd love it! Hogan back in for sends Piper to the outside but gets beaten on Orndorff which sends Hogan outside also. Piper with a chairshot to the back on Hogan but no DQ. The heels can finally take control of the match as they work over Hogan. Orndorff comes in and nails a lovely suplex on Hogan. After more heel tags in and out, Orndorff hits a lovely backbreaker on Hogan but misses an elbow drop which allows T to come back in to huge noise! He wails away on Orndorff but not for long thanks to Piper. Its not long before Hogan makes his way back in for a third double noggin-knocker! Orndorff manages to get in a lovely side suplex while Piper manages to distract the ref. This also means Orton can involve himself but Snuka tries to stop him. In the resulting shmoz between everyone, Orton manages to nails Orndorff with his cats accidentally and that gives Hogan and Mr T the win! Piper and Orton berate Orndorff afterwards which plants seeds for a faceturn. They leave Orndorff behind when they leave as the faces all eat up the crowd noise. WWE's first really massive main event and it was a success! Good action, great noise and an OK finish. It was strange that Hogan was the face in peril in this one though and you'd think the celebrity would be the one to look weaker and struggle to overcome the heels. Match Rating: ***

That's it for the show so let's see who gained the most from this show and who didn't....

Wrestler Scores:

• Tito Santana +5 (34)
• The Executioner +3 (3)
• King Kong Bundy +5 (9)
• SD Jones +1 (5)
• Ricky Steamboat +5 (5)
• Matt Borne +4 (7)
• David Sammartino +1 (4)
• Brutus Beefcake +2 (4)
• Junkyard Dog +4 (8)
• Greg Valentine +5 (31)
• Iron Sheik +6 (15)
• Nikolai Volkoff +5 (7)
• Mike Rotundo +6 (6)
• Barry Windham +5 (5)
• Andre the Giant +3 (13)
• Big John Studd +2 (10)
• Wendi Richter +1 (3)
• Lailani Kai +1 (1)
• Hulk Hogan +6 (31)
• Mr T +3 (7)
• Roddy Piper +6 (27)
• Paul Orndorff +6 (14)

So a card with 3 DUDS on it is never a great one is it. My advice, just watch the main event for quality seeking viewers. 

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @thewrestlindork and check out our affiliates! See you next edition for an April house show!

WWE All Star Search #6: 17th March 1985 (ft. The War to Settle the Score) - Adam Ross

Welcome Turnbucklers! Its edition #6 and we are back in MSG for another house show on our road to the very first Wrestlemania. Not going to lie, finding shows between October 1984 and March 1985 was hard, very hard. So to make up for it, I'm adding two HUGE events into this edition. First I'm going to look at an IC Title match, followed by a key match in the Rock 'n' Wrestling era which is the WWE Title match from the War to Settle the Score. Then it's onto the last big show before Wrestlemania 1 and we have a massive list of new faces in this one so let's see how they make their first impressions on the All Star Search. Finally, the main event is a Lumberjack Match so let's hope that turns out to be fun. Would like to add a big thank you and hello to any new readers out there, last edition broke my viewing records by x5 which is overwhelming and very humbling! Shall we begin...?

The Card:

Tito Santana (IC Champ) vs Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine [IC Title Match]

Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs Rowdy Roddy Piper [WWE Title Match]

Rocky Johnson vs Charlie Fulton

Barry O vs Rene Goulet

Jim Neidhart vs SD Jones

King Kong Bundy vs Jose Luis Rivera

David Sammartino vs Matt Borne

Andre The Giant/Jimmy Snuka/Junkyard Dog vs Ken Patera/Jesse Ventura/Big John Studd

Ricky Steamboat vs Terry Gibbs

Greg Valentine (IC Champ) vs Tito Santana [IC Title Match - Lumberjack Match]

The Show:

Let's begin with an IC Title match from September 1984 between the champ, Tito Santana and Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine. They've had a run of good matches each in this series so far with Hammer made to look strong in his contendership. They had a decent match a few months earlier but it was overshadowed by the whole Jimmy Snuka stretcher job going on at the time.

Tito Santana (IC Champ) vs Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine [IC Title Match]

Its September 1984 here and Tito is your defending IC champion. They've had previous interactions and this feud has been simmering nicely. Albano is with Hammer in this one and both are getting solid heat. Tito is nursing a poor leg in this one and Valentine uses it to his advantage in his normal methodical way. Crowd is solidly behind Santana in this one with many a chant. Valentine works over the injured leg but Santana escapes and manages to hit his Flying Burrito for a close two count. He continues on the offense and gets another close two. He thinks he's won though and while his back is turned, Hammer nails him with a knee to the back...and that gets the 3 and we have a new IC Champion! Crowd chant bullshit and everyone seemed slightly confused about the finish. Santana did a great sympathy job and Valentine looked crisp as always. Match Rating: **1/4

Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs Rowdy Roddy Piper [WWE Title Match]

Talk about a money match! This was hyped up beyond another level at this point in time. Hogan being Hogan was riding high as champion but oh boy, Piper was generating unparalleled heat! This was shown live on MTV much like the Brawl to End it All and again, drew HUGE numbers. Piper comes out to major heat accompanyed by his bagpipe players and Cowboy Bob Orton (with a cast on his arm). Piper to generate some extra heat...destroys a nice looking guitar! In the words of a friend...SOME GUY! is our special ring announcer...but being from anywhere that isn't America...no clue who he is. Eye of the Tiger hits to a monstrous pop...as per! You can't even dream of comparing Cena to Hogan watching this. Cyndi Lauper, her fella and Captain Lou Albano are accompanying Hogan. By the way, Albano is a face now after realising the errors of his ways. Crowd is hot as they start off like a house of fire trading shots. We hear Mr T is in the crowd as Hogan takes control in the early going with slams. The crowd is unglued. Piper does take control eventually with boots and gets solid heat. Sleeper by Piper and Hulk...Hulks up...but doesn't get too far with it. Piper with more offense than I was expecting at this point. Orton tries to get involved and fails so Hogan regains control. Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff comes out to support Piper from the outside and the ref gets bumped. Orndorff gets involved and he and Piper double team Hogan. Lauper gets on the apron to do some mouthing off and the heels get sucked in but hold on...crowd pops HUGE...and Mr T of all people gets involved to even the odds. Mr T however ends up getting double teamed until Hogan is up and bails him out. The match itself is thrown out as a no contest. Well, well, well, that was certainly a fun little match. If Piper got the belt here in time for Wrestlemania...the reaction would have been catatonic. The heat for everyone involved was smoldering. Of course, this puts us firmly on the road to Wrestlemania 1! Exciting! Match Rating: **1/2

Onto the MSG House Show now and our commentary team are Gorilla Monsoon and Mean Gene Okerlund once again. At this point its worth me mentioning that their commentary dynamic is a little off. Both play very similar roles and are obviously both face. More balance is definitely needed soon.

Rocky Johnson vs Charlie Fulton

What a way to start us off! Boring, slow paced match with literally nothing to mention. Punches and stalling head scissors is the peak of this one in fact. The crowd were somewhat dead during this one. At one point, Rocky is referred to as 'Rock' which is a fun little precursor. Johnson gets the win with a sunset flip. Match Rating: DUD

Barry O vs Rene Goulet

Into the next match now and we have a first debut of this edition. Barry O is Cowboy Bob's brother and Randy Orton's uncle. Rene Goulet is my 1984 foreign heel of the year...a trophy is on his way to him. 'Who knows what that O could mean' - Gorilla Monsoon. The match itself is as dull as dull can be. The commentary team spend the majority of the match discussing Wrestlemania and its tag team main event. Nice powerslam by Barry for 2. It picks up slightly towards the end of the match and a small package gets the win for Barry O. Dull, simple as. Barry O looked as vanilla as a discount Vienetta. Match Rating: 1/4*

Jim Neidhart vs SD Jones

Its blog debut number 2 and it's Jim 'soon to be Anvil' Neidhart! His appearance instantly makes him stand out from most of the roster in a positive way. His opponent is SD Jones who is slowly becoming more and more of a jobber as months drift by. Neidhart is with Jimmy Hart who I think is also making his blog debut. Fun early goings with both men trading offense. Neidhart shows off the personality we'll become accustomed too over time with his overexaggerations. He does show off his size and power though which is a good thing. They do the scoop slam/reversed into an armbar spot which I've seen numerous times since starting these reviews but I haven't seen it before. SD Jones uses the hard-head gimmick but its all in vain as Neidhart eventually gets the easy win with a crisp Powerslam. Good debut from Neidhart, I found it hard not to be entertained by him. Match Rating: 3/4*

King Kong Bundy vs Jose Luis Rivera

Blog debut number 3 - King Kong Bundy! We're going to be seeing a lot of him over the next year. Jimmy Hart is back out with Bundy. Rivera, much like SD Jones is slipping further into jobber territory. In comparison to everyone but Andre and Big John Studd, Bundy is just ridiculously big. He puts his size to good use, easily overpowering Rivera on a number of occasions. The crowd are quiet but seemingly because their in awe of Bundy. Rivera gets 2 dropkicks in but Bundy is barely phased. Bundy gets the win not long after with a massive elbow drop. Utter squash match but Bundy looked impressive as a beast, if not just for his look. Match Rating: 1/2*

Into the back with Hulk Hogan and Mr T. Hogan says Mr T is the best partner he could've found for Wrestlemania. Mr T says he specialises in work, torture and pain...his words, not mine. Bottom line 'they dead meat!' says T and Hogan says he apologizes for whats the come.

Well, well, well, we're getting a live Piper's Pit! Out comes Piper with 'Cowboy' Bob Orton alongside him to major heat. The microphone is annoying dodgy. Piper says that he's out there talking because no one wanted to fight him. He rips on New York as a heel would...but slightly funnier. He trolls the crowd something fierce by hyping up his next guest making it sound like Mr T...but it's Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff. Big boo's for that one. Orndorff tries talking but just makes sound...I think I heard him say 'outhouse'. Piper tells Mr T to stop snorting Cocaine and come join him in the ring. Which he promptly does to big cheers and he's brought Hogan and Jimmy Snuka with him. Snuka hasn't been mentioned since he was stretchered out months ago which is nice. Piper tells T to sit down and of course, rips into him while still trying to play it friendly and cool. It doesn't last long and tensions soon rise but the crowd eat it up. Piper runs down T's life acheivements and tells him he's giving T the chance to back out the fight to save face and there will be no shame! T fires back and says he ain't quitting. Piper brings out a painting of Mr T with his arm in a sling but T ain't scared! Things start getting physical but no brawl. Heels bail out the ring leaving the faces to soak up mild cheers. Mr T says Piper gonna pay! He promises! Good promo and I am actually hyped for Mania 1! Piper was gold here and Mr T was great in his role too.

David Sammartino vs Matt Borne

Blog debuts number 4 and 5! David Sammartino is the vanilla looking son of Bruno and Matt Borne is the son of 'Tough' Tony Borne...but you'll know him better as Doink the Clown. Borne looks like Charlie Fulton and here's me thinking I'd never get Charlie Fulton in a reference. Slaps and shoves to start before we get into some back and forth. Sammartino shows of some decent greco roman skills and Borne nails a lovely belly to belly suplex. Borne showing good aggression that we'll see later down the road. Of course it breaks down into restholds and strikes before Borne eats a big back body drop. More restholds before Sammartino gets a suplex and takes control. Sammartino goes up top but Borne slams him down for a slow 2 count. He goes for a powerslam but Sammartino rolls through for the 3 count! Sammartino looked...vanilla and Borne looked decent but too many restholds. Match Rating: 1/2*

Andre The Giant/Jimmy Snuka/Junkyard Dog vs Ken Patera/Jesse Ventura/Big John Studd

We have blog debut number 6 in this one and you better grab dem cakes as it's the Junkyard Dog! Lots of big names in this one. Andre and Studd are developing a feud that will lead towards Wrestlemania. Jimmy Snuka makes his first blog appearance since turning one of my previous editions into an episode of Casualty. Jesse Ventura is back from his bloodclot late last year and Patera is enjoying a decent push since his return. Bobby Heenan is with the heels in this one and Cpt Lou Albano is with the faces. Andre wastes no time getting to Studd but Studd bails to the floor. Faces control the early stages with JYD hitting his unique strikes and headbutts and Andre nailing a double noggin knocker on the heels. Everyone brawls with both sides getting a brief advantage. Eventually Snuka comes in and finds himself as face in peril as each of the heels take turns working him over. Eventually Snuka gets the tag to Andre who comes in and nails Studd with strikes. Ventura gets tagged in but realises he's out of his depth. A big boot and a superfly splash get the win for Snuka and his team! I really enjoyed that one, good flow, good balance and everyone played their role well. JYD is already proving popular in the WWE and his brief in ring appearances in this were harmless. Andre and Studd continued their feud towards Wrestlemania and showed good heat between the two. Snuka played a good face in peril, which makes sense as he has the least reason to be protected. Jesse found himself with little to do but that's a good thing considering his recent health issues. Match Rating: **3/4

Ricky Steamboat vs Terry Gibbs

Another debut here as we have Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat making his first blog appearance. He's another performer who was on the 1983 Starrcade card and I think, also the 1984 card too. Terry Gibbs...is also here. Lots of back and forth with Gibbs getting a decent amount of offense in. Steamboat looked as crisp as ever hitting his usual arsenal of moves. He makes Gibbs look great when Gibbs is on the offense. Steamboat shows off his array of chops and strikes. With a couple of poses thrown in for good measure. Steamboat gets the win with a flying cross body! Nothing special, just a way to get Steamboat some ring time. Match Rating: *

Greg Valentine (IC Champ) vs Tito Santana [IC Title Match - Lumberjack Match]

It's the main event! As mentioned earlier, Valentine is now the IC Champ and is now with Jimmy Hart at his side and Tito wants his belt back! This is Lumberjack rules so we have an array of superstars around the ring. Big pop for Tito which is always a good sign. Hammer pearl harbours him to start put to no avail as Hammer quickly ends up outside. The heels seem to protect him but ultimate babyface Ricky Steamboat, calm as you like, walks over and throws him back in. Santana keeps control for a few minutes while Hammer sells like gold but the tide shifts with an atomic drop for Hammer. Santana regains control, Hammer tries to escape but the faces throw him back into the ring. Hammer selling so much like Flair its silly....that includes flops and all. Someone randomly rings the ringbell but its ignored so I have no idea what that was about. Hammer in control now and works over the legs of Tito...good psycology working his way to the figure four and what's even better, Tito sells it! Tito thrown outside and then thrown back in like he's just a corpse. He's thrown back outside to the faces who...protect him...no! That's not your job lads. Hammer goes for the figure four but its countered into a cradle for 2. Tito fights back and Hammer Flair flops again. Suplex by Santana and he goes for his own Figure Four. Hart distracts the ref while the heels help out Hammer. Tito distracts himself with the outside heels but gets pearl harboured by Hammer. They hit a shoulderblock on each other, Hammer falls on top of Santana and that gets the 3! Hammer is completely KO'd too though. Really enjoyed that one and the Lumberjack was a nice tweak to the usual formula between these two. Santana is by far the best at gaining sympathy from the crowd and Valentine is WWE's very own Flair (just not as good). Match Rating: ***

Wrestler Scores:

(I'm taking into consideration the two extra matches reviewed and the live Piper's Pit. Mr T gets a rating therefore as he played a crucial role in a main segment in the show.)

• Tito Santana +12 (29)
• Greg Valentine +13 (26)
• Hulk Hogan +7 (25)
• Roddy Piper +14 (21)
• Rocky Johnson +2 (6)
• Charlie Fulton +1 (4)
• Barry O +2 (2)
• Rene Goulet +2 (7)
• Jim Neidhart +4 (4)
• SD Jones +2 (4)
• King Kong Bundy +4 (4)
• Jose Luis Rivera +1 (4)
• Mr T +4 (4)
• David Sammartino +3 (3)
• Matt Borne +3 (3)
• Jesse Ventura +5 (7)
• Ken Patera +5 (10)
• Big John Studd +5 (8)
• Andre The Giant +5 (10)
• Jimmy Snuka +4 (14)
• Junkyard Dog +4 (4)
• Ricky Steamboat +3 (3)
• Terry Gibbs +3 (3) 

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @TheWreslinDork and I shall see you next time...for Wrestlemania 1!!

WWE All Star Search #4: 25th August 1984 - Adam Ross

Welcome Turnbucklers! It's edition #4 and we are in Madison Square Garden for another house show! We're a month removed from WWE's groundbreaking show, The Brawl to End it All, so let's see if they are riding a wave of momentum. A couple of new blog appearances in this one including Roddy Piper, Ken Patera and Jesse Ventura. Terry Daniels is also back so here's hoping to see some armbars! Shall we get on with it...?

The Card:

Kamala vs Chief Jay Strongbow

B. Brian Blair vs 'Iron' Mike Sharpe

Rick McGraw vs Salvatore Bellomo

Dick Murdoch/Adrian Adonis (Tag Team Champions) vs The Wild Samoans [Tag Team Title Match]

Ken Patera vs Pat Patterson

Jesse Ventura vs Ivan Putski

Fabulous Freebirds vs Butcher Vachon/Ron Shaw/Pete Doherty

Roddy Piper vs Jimmy Snuka

Terry Daniels vs Fred Marzino

Tito Santana (IC Champ) vs Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine [IC Title Match]

The Show:

Our commentary team for tonight is Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes.

Kamala vs Chief Jay Strongbow

Chief Jay Strongbow is already in the ring when Kamala heads out to his awful music with Freddie Blassie and Friday. Kamala is slapping that belly so I guess he means business. He won't let go off his spear so lots of stalling is a foot (no pun intended). Gorilla tells us to note the serious expression on Strongbow's face but to be honest, he just looks bored...slightly melancholic. Strongbow uses his quickness in the beginning and nails some chops and punches but Kamala no sells and goes to work on Strongbow. Kamala misses a splash and Strongbow gets a sleeper on briefly. Kamala takes back control with nothing more than weak looking chops and punches. This goes on for about a minute until Strongbow has enough and fires himself up. He nails a couple of chops and kicks and charges at a cornered Kamala. Unfortunately he eats nothing but boot and then eats nothing but a splash and that gets the 3 count. Squash match with two wrestlers with huge limitations. Match Rating: DUD

B. Brian Blair vs 'Iron' Mike Sharpe

Straight to the ring for our next match and we get more first time blog appearances. Future Killer Bee, B. Brian Blair who gets a decent reaction and 'Iron' Mike Sharpe who gets decent heat. Sharpe makes sure we and the crowd know his biceps are 20 inches. Apparently they call Sharpe 'the wimp' which for a wrestler must be crap. Stalling by Sharpe to start to big heat as he mouths off to the crowd and avoids Blair. They lock up and swap wristlocks and Sharpe escapes to the apron. Funny criss-cross spot whereby Sharpe outsmarts Blair. They repeat the spot but this time Blair nails some dropkicks and armdrags to put Sharpe in his place. Sharpe brings a chair in the ring but immediately drops it back outside. Sharpe takes control and starts working on the eyes of Blair. He then moves to working on the neck, dropping Blairs neck across the top rope repeatedly. Blair reverses a whip into a nice monkey flip out the corner followed by a really nice flying head scissors which sends Sharpe reeling to the outside. Nice! Sharpe back in and partakes in some more mouthing off before being refused a handshake. So much stalling by Sharpe here and it seems slightly misplaced within the match. Blair with a cheap shot and starts working over Sharpe's leg. Sharpe regains control with knees and armdrags followed by a lovely double backbreaker which is held into the submission attempt but Blair escapes. More back and forth action until Blair is just plain thrown outside to boo's. Sharpe with more taunting of the crowd and he heads outside to Blair and rams his head into some chairs. At this point Blair surely should've been counted out once Sharpe got back in the ring about 30 seconds ago. Sharpe still won't let Blair back in the ring so Blair sneaks under the ring across the other side, back in the ring and levels Sharpe with right hands and an elbow from the second rope. Out goes Sharpe and Blair follows with an elbow to the outside. They slug it out and the bell rings for the double countout and crowd seem slightly peeved. Good match, Sharpe was really fun to watch, had good aggression and I liked those backbreakers. Blair had a good one in this showing off a good array of moves and a good quick pace. Match Rating: **1/4

Salvatore Bellomo vs 'Quick Draw' Rick McGraw

I think this is face vs face and I don't know why this match is featured apart from it being filler. Back and forth to start with the swapping of headlocks. McGraw hits a nice array of armdrags and locks in an armbar. Nice sequence where Bellomo manages to hit a scoop slam while in the armbar, but the armbar is kept on by Bellomo throughout and keeps control. A drop toe hold leads to a hammerlock for McGraw. Hip lock by Bellomo but McGraw gets him back in the armbar. McGraw ought to have a chat with Terry Daniels and swap armbar notes. It last forever until McGraw works it into a nice cradle for 2. Not seen that before! Test of strength between the two which McGraw wins and manages to bridge Bellomo and a lovely counter sequence ensues followed by some mat wrestling, all very crisp! McGraw ends up locking the armbar back on and uses his knees to add further damage. Bellomo gets him up on his back, goes to drive him in the corner but actually places him on the ropes and they both let go and shake hands to big boo's from the crowd. What was so sweet I now have diabetes...weird. Headlock by Bellomo but McGraw gets an armdrag, goes for a monkey flip but Bellomo lands on his feet and nails a cross body for 2. McGraw takes back control and goes back to an armbar. Christ, we've got a Terry Daniels match later too. Cut to random grizzled old man watching on and back to the ring and Bellomo sends McGraw to the outside. McGraw nails a sunset flip for 1 but Bellomo replies with an uppercut and a stomp. Both men start to get aggressive and have a cat fight. Bellomo works on McGraw's legs until both men knock each other out with parallel shoulderblocks and then again with parallel dropkicks. And again! ...And again into a 2 count for Bellomo. Scoop slam by Bellomo for another 2 and McGraw gets a 2 of his own via a small package. The bell rings during a sunset flip pin attempt by McGraw but its the time limit expiring. It's a draw and this one needed a winner. Good action from both men with some unique offense. Bellomo blesses America and everyone shakes hands. Aww. Match Rating: **

Into the back with the tag champs, Murdoch and Adonis. They say the wrecking crew is gonna wreck everything and we see a brief glimpse of Captain Lou Albano talking to the champs before the match even though he's the Wild Samoans manager. Hmm, fishy.

Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch (Tag Team Champs) vs The Wild Samoans [Tag Team Title Match]

Big cheers for the Samoans and big boo's for the champs. Albano is our special ref in this one which makes the earlier backstage clip even fishier. Sika and Adonis start us off with a lockup and Sika hits a back drop on both heels before taking control on Sika. The champs regroup on the outside, get back in the ring but neither heel can take control on Sika. A double elbow by the champs is sold and they both get sent back outside for a slow count by Albano. The heels regroup again and Murdoch finally takes control with punches and elbows. Sika with a slam on both heels. Afa in as well and both champs eat more scoop slams and Murdoch eats a double clothesline. Murdoch forgets the Samoan hard head rule tries a charge into the corner and eats knees. He stumbles to the wrong corner for a tag which gets him a punch in the face but he finally finds Adonis for the tag. Adonis comes in a quickly locks on a sleeper hold while Murdoch nurses himself on the outside. Afa escapes and Adonis tags back out to Murdoch who methodically works over Afa until he misses an elbow and suffers an atomic drop. In comes Sika but the champs double team him in the corner. Adonis nails a scoop slam and heads to the top rope but gets crotched and headbutted outside. Murdoch in for a double headbutt but Albano doesn't count the 3 and instead rings the bell. He raises the champs hands because they won by DQ as Sika didn't have hold of the tag rope, huh. The Samoans want revenge and chase the heels off but keep hold of the belts. Match was OK but the Samoans are too basic even for 1984. Murdoch was all punches and elbows in this one too. Match Rating: *1/4

Ken Patera vs Pat Patterson

Both men are out of date at this point so I'm not expecting a classic. This is Patera's return to MSG after 4 years. Patera by the way looks like a poor man's Ric Flair. Patera shows off his strength and Patterson responds with a headlock. Armbar by Patterson, forearm by Patera but he eats a flying cross body by Patterson! A flying stooge! Patera with some hard right hands and Patterson responds with some of his own. Patera manages to end up stuck in the ropes but Patterson doesn't take much advantage. Patera goes for a boot but Patterson catches it, floors Patera, drags him to the ringpost and rams his knee into it a couple of times. Patera sells it slightly and takes control with a backbreaker for 2. He puts on a sleeper hold which Patterson tries to reverse into a wristlock...but ends up in a chinlock. Patera taunts the crowd but they don't care, thats not good after 4 years gone. Patterson escapes another chinlock attempt and levels Patera with a slingshot to the corner for 1. Scoop slam by Patterson and he goes up top but Patera rolls out of the way. A botched powerslam attempt by Patera ends up straddling Patterson across the top rope. Patera locks on the full nelson and Patterson can't escape so Patera gets the win! Wasn't as bad as I was expecting but wasn't much better. Match Rating: 3/4*

We head to the back with Jesse Ventura who tells Ivan 'Paduski' to expect a beating tonight and that he will become the number 1 contender. He looks like a travesty both in the back and in the ring. He's wearing some weird purple potective goggles and a sparkly green buret, bearing in mind his awful hair style poking through. He looks like a gay alien wizard. 

Jesse 'The Body' Venture vs Ivan Putski

In the ring and Ventura doesn't look much better. His hair is multicoloured which doesn't distract from his bald bounce surrounded by streaks of long hair. Ventura tries to take advantave straight away but it backfires and Putski takes control. Ventura awkwardly sells a punch to the stomach and falls outside. Back in the ring and then straight back out for Ventura to get his breath back. Putski, the little roid ball, is pumped up. No countout for Ventura despite him being outside for well over a minute. Billy Connelly! That's who Ventura looks like! Headlock by Putski and a slap on the bald spot for Ventura. Ventura driven head first into the mat and eats some vicious kicks. The crowd is RED HOT! Jesse does some sneaky heel antics with his wrist tape which the tries yet fails to see. Ivan knicks the wrist tape now and uses it himself to strangle Ventura and the ref does...nothing. They bail outside and onto the apron, Jesse pulls something out his tights and nails Putski outcold. Ventura wins via countout. Crap match although the crowd were hot. Jesse just knows how to be hated. Match Rating: 1/4*

The Fabulous Freebirds vs Ron Shaw/Butcher Vachon/Pete Doherty

This is a 2 out of 3 falls match will they failed to mention until mid-way through the match. So here we have the Fabulous Freebirds who gained success all over the countries territories. They had a massive feud with the Von Erichs which is still mentioned to this day. Their opponents are Jobber UTD and I can only see one winner here. The match was an elongated squash match. Basic moves mixed in with a series of awkward dances and gyrations from the Freebirtds. Michael Hayes is especially irratating and I think he thought he was way better than he actually was, he was definitely sloppy in this. Terry Gordy is a big lad and he showed it off here. He looks like a swollen Bob Orton in my eyes. Buddy Roberts was as vanilla as they go. The jobbers did there bit. I always have a soft spot for Butcher Vachon because he just physically stands out. Freebirds win by two straights falls, neither anything beyond average. Match Rating: *

Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka vs 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper

Straight into the next match and the crowd are hot for this one. Snuka is looking for revenge after attacks and jibes from Piper throughout the year. Even before we start the intensity is staggering. Snuka doesn't even blink during his long stare with Piper. Piper gets solid heat and even gets nailed with flying debris from the crowd and this is his first in-ring appearance of the series so he finally starts getting scored! Action is hot from the beginning with the intensity through the roof. Snuka gets the early control using his martial arts. I don't really like martial arts in wrestling as most the time it seems far too staged and lothargic. Snuka is a good example of that here, stalling after every chop. He gets heat but how heated is a blood match if you pose in the early stages...at all in fact? Piper gets control using heel tactics like a sneaky thumb to the eye but his domination is stop and start. Snuka uses a sleeper which baffles the commentary team. Surely he's picked it up by watching endless of others in other matches at least. I bet he's mastered the arm bar too. Piper goes into the ringpost and tries to use a chair by fails. He busted open though from the post shot and the crowd are louder than chavs on the tram. Piper stops Snuka in his tracks when he goes up top and he takes a nasty tumble outside giving Piper the countput win. Theirs afters as Piper lets loose with a chair on Snuka's neck. Snuka does a stretcher job as the commentators play it serious. The crowd want Piper's blood...which is luckily for them, pouring out his noodle. Match Rating: ***

Terry Daniels vs Fred Marzino

Time to count the armbars, if there's any less than 4, I'll riot...or at least be slightly disgruntled. We don't even show the match's early goings as instead we watch a zombie-fied Jimmy Snuka backstage. We cut back to the match for literally a glimpse of Armbar #1 before going back to Snuka having his pulse checked...he's still not dead. Back to the match for Daniels IN an armbar...doesn't count. Back to Snuka 5 SECONDS later and now he's being bandaged. Is this Holby City? Seriously, we're on Snuka for minutes while the match is going on. Back to the ring to a backslide for 3! Why bother keeping this on the card for home viewers?? Altogether...less than 20 seconds of match and worst of all, only one armbar from Daniels. Match Rating: One a scale of * - Jimmy Snuka,  I'm giving this one...a Snuka!

Tito Santana (IC Champ) vs Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine [IC Title Match]

This one should be alright given that we actually get to see it. Santana starts in control and Valentine does his Valentine begging off. Has that ever worked Greg? For you or Flair. Valentine does get control not long after using his normally aggressive punches and nails a lovely shoulderbreaker for 2! Valentine bitch slaps him and Santana responds by punching like a bitch. Into the back to see Snuka being stretchered out and I don't think today's audience would appreciate missing the main event. Back to the ring for a glimpse of a chinlock and straight back to Snuka while Monsoon tells us to say a prayer for Snuka. How many kids did pray that night and how embarassed would the now athiests be that they did? Valentine still in control while Santana tries to fight back. Ref bump and Valentine tries to take advantage but eats a flying jalepeno forearm for the 3 count for Tito! Valentine locks on the figure four afterwards and poses with the IC belt afterwards. He looks pissed and shocked when Santana was announced the winner...which makes NO SENSE as Valentine lost clearly. No point in the ref bump in this one. Match Rating: *1/2 of that what I saw.

That's all we have folks for tonight as the commentators worry about Jimmy Snuka and Tito gets interviewed by Lord Al. Santana makes some noises I never want to hear from him again.



Wrestler Scores:

• Kamala +2 (2)
• Chief Jay Strongbow +2 (5)
• B. Brian Blair +4 (4)
• Iron Mike Sharpe +3 (3)
• Rick McGraw +3 (3)
• Salvatore Bellomo +3 (9)
• Dick Murdoch +3 (6)
• Adrian Adonis +4 (7)
• Afa +2 (7)
• Sika +2 (7)
• Ken Patera +3 (3)
• Pat Patterson +2 (2)
• Jesse Ventura +4 (4)
• Ivan Putski +2 (4)
• Michael Hayes +2 (2)
• Buddy Roberts +2 (2)
• Terry Gordy +3 (3)
• Ron Shaw +1 (3)
• Butcher Vachon +1 (3)
• Pete Doherty +1 (1)
• Roddy Piper +7 (7)
• Jimmy Snuka +6 (10)
• Terry Daniels +1 (3)
• Fred Marzino +1 (1)
• Tito Santana +5 (17)
• Greg Valentine +6 (9)