Jose Estrada vs Curt Hennig
Pretty decent opener. Hennig is really early into his career
here, and is obviously lacking some of the polish he’ll have in in just a few
years time. A lot of the early stages of this match are based around front facelocks,
with Hennig grounding Estrada for a long time with one, and later Estrada
holding one of his own. Outside of the front facelocks, both guys looks pretty
fired up. Loved the short knee to the head hit after Estrada placed Hennig on
the top rope and Estrada catching Henning with a big shot on a leapfrog. The
end sees Estrada roll through a top rope crossbody to win.
Mac Rivera vs Johnny Rodz
Rivera jumps Rodz to start here, and even cheapshots him
over the refs shoulder, but Rodz controls the majority of the bout. Really
liked Rodz on offence here, thought his execution was excellent. Lovely diving
fist from the second rope and I loved him causally stepping over a dropdown in
order to attack. A stomp to the throat from the second rope looked nasty. They
maybe throw in a few too many headlocks, seems to be peppered in between every
2-3 moves, but the meat of this was good. Rodz wins after side stepping a
backdrop and hitting a back elbow for three.
Tony Garea vs Charlie Fulton
Like the Hennig match, Garea is more than happy to hold onto
a headlock for a while. It takes Fulton cheapshotting on a break to take over.
Nothing Fulton does is fancy, but it provides a welcome change of pace and his
focus on Garea’s back is nicely done with Irish whips to the corner and a
bearhug. Garea takes a big bump over the top to the floor and there’s a mix up
on commentary as they think Garea has won it with a sunset flip. He hasn’t, but
an O’Connor Roll gets the win moments later.
Swede Hanson vs SD Jones
Bit uncomfortable to watch in places, as you watch a tubby
looking redneck, who’d come to the ring with the Confederate flag, slapping
about SD. There’s some neat strikes by both, some nice kneedrops and Jones hits
a nice diving headbutt as he gets up. The end sees Jones going for an airplane
spin, but Hanson holds the ropes and falls on top for the victory.
Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Eddie Gilbert
Interestingly, Gorilla Monsoon says on commentary that the Baron
has the flu, giving him a bit of an out for the upcoming result. Slightly
clunky match, early on Baron gets caught up in the ropes Andre The Giant style,
and Gilbert doesn’t really do anything, which kinda deflates the crowd.
Scicluna controls with some weak blows, but Gilbert is at least fired up on his
comeback. He misses a crossbody, but gets a sunset flip to win.
Bob Backlund vs Big John Studd
Not a great match, but a fun Backlund performance. He works
an enjoyable cat and mouse sequence with Studd early on, ending with a leg lock
on the big man. Studd doesn’t offer much offensively, aside from a nice elbow,
but Backlund works the crowd nicely, getting them fired up for a near slam. He
also really works a hammerlock, torqueing the arm. Studd controls a good chunk
of the match, not particularly memorably, but Backlund fires back, locking on
the crossface chickenwing from the apron, and climbing back into the ring just
a second too late and getting counted out. Match result keeps both men strong
and builds to a rematch, but it felt like it dragged when Studd was in control
The Wild Samoans vs the Strongbow Brothers
This is 2/3 falls and a bit of a mess. It really feels like
the Samoans should just be able to wipe the floor with the unimpressive
Strongbows, but instead they get controlled by the Strongbows ineffectively
working an arm on Afa. The Samoans eventually work heat on Jules Strongbow,
choking him out with wrist tape, hidden from the ref. Eventually Jay Strongbow
has enough, and chokes both Samoans with their sarongs, getting disqualified
for the first fall. The second fall sees the brawl continue and Jay getting
choked on the outside. The Samoans crotch Jules on the top rope for the win in
two straight falls. Not much to enjoy here.
Andre the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Rocky Johnson, Pedro Morales
& Sal Bellomo vs Buddy Rose, Mr Fuji, Ray Stevens, Billy Graham & Don
Muraco
This, on the other hand, is a total crowd pleaser of a main
event. It’s 3/5 falls, which allows for a lot of possibilities and fun
nearfalls. The tone is set as Rose and Stevens pinball all around the ring for
Johnson’s armdrags. The crowd is hot for everything, and everyone involved
seems to be motivated, which is great. Muraco takes a big dive over the top
from an Andre boot, only to be awkwardly shoved back in by his partners. Lots
of goofy selling, Graham takes a tree fall bump from an Andre chop, whilst
Muraco makes himself really dizzy hitting an airplane spin on Bellomo. A belly
to belly on the hapless Bellomo by Fuji gives the heels a one fall lead and a
bit of heat is worked on Sal after that. The falls are equalised when Fuji
tries to slam Bellomo, but Snuka dropkicks Sal on top for three. The end comes
quickly as everything breaks down. Snuka hits a sunset flip on Rose to make it
2-1, before Andre rampages everyone, hitting Rose with a big boot and buttdrop
for the victory. Immensely enjoyable.
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