WWF Prime Time Wrestling 09/06/1986

George Steele vs Adrian Adonis

Obviously, there is only so much that you can do with Steele, so the fact this is quite fun is pretty impressive. Adonis controls with some nice punches and an assortment of chokes, before Steele takes control with a foreign object. Adonis is a lot of fun here, taking a huge bump over the corner and hamming it up when a wobbly rope causes him to crotch himself on the top turnbuckle. We get a ref bump, allowing Adonis to survive Steele’s hammerlock submission and roll him up for the win. This was fun.

Steve Lombardi vs Tony Parisi

This is less fun, but that’s mainly because Lombardi isn’t much cop. Parisi is impressive here, he was winding down at this point, but still has really good movement, wrestling quickly around Lombardi. Lombardi locks on a lengthy chinlock, before Parisi takes a big bump over the top rope to the ramp. Lombardi’s generic offence sadly means that this match does drag a bit, but Parisi nails him with a corner elbow and a cannonball for the win.

The Rougeau Brothers vs Terry Gibbs & Hercules

Well, I wonder who will eat the pin here. This is a pretty decent tag match, nothing spectacular, but good solid formula stuff. I enjoyed the early spot where Herc challenges Raymond to an arm wrestle in the middle of the ring and is winning, only for Herc to poke his eyes to take control. Jacques becomes face-in-peril after missing a springboard crossbody from the corner. Heels control decently enough, showing some actual continuity by holding hands on an abdominal stretch or Gibbs holding Rougeau in the ring after making a tag. Raymond is all action on the hot tag and we end up with all four guys in the ring. In the melee, Raymond hits a missile dropkick on Gibbs to win.

The Moondogs vs Tony Parks & Nelson Veilleux

Fun squash, where the faces get a little shine before Veilleux becomes the face in peril. The Moondogs are nicely stiff here, with Spot hitting a vicious shoulderbreaker and Rex nailing a nasty looking kneelift. Loved Rex holding a headlock and punching Veilleux in the face as he releases. Parks gets tagged in (because Rex lets him), but his fire is soon snuffed out by a big Rex powerslam and a decapitation elbow.

Andre the Giant vs Alexis Smirnoff

Basic, though fun, squash where Alexis tries ill-advised moves like a hiptoss and a flying headscissors that Andre is easily able to block. Andre holds an armbar for maybe a bit too long before ending a brief Smirnoff flurry with headbutts, a big boot and a butt splash.

SD Jones & Paul Roma vs The Menace & Jim Haley

Not much to this one. The faces do some basic arm work to both heels, lots of arm wringers and ax handles from the turnbuckles, before Roman hits Haley with a powerslam to win. Nothing bout.

King Kong Bundy vs Tony Atlas

Fun opening spot, as Atlas crashes and burns on two attempted shoulderblocks, but has more success taking Bundy down with a crossbody. Sadly, Bundy is really not up for much in this match, some very slow and plodding offence. Atlas nicely blocks an avalanche with a headbutt from the corner, but Bundy quickly hits him with another avalanche and a big elbow to win. 

WWF Prime Time Wrestling 19/05/1986

This episode features matches from Toroto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, with a cool ramp to the ring adding a bit to the matches.

Adrian Adonis vs Danny Spivey

The early parts of this are all about Adonis’ selling. Even at this stage of his career, he takes a 360 spin from a Spivey shoulderblock and then comically stumbles from the ring. Spivey really brings the early parts down with a loooong headlock sequence. Hart and Spivey conspire to blow a trip spot. I like that neither guy is afraid to bump on the hard entrance ramp, but there seem to be a few communication issues – Spivey’s running bearhug didn’t look like a move he was going for. The end sees Spivey slam Adonis from the top rope, but Adonis rolls through into a cradle for the win.

Tiger Chung Lee vs Don Kolov

Bizarrely, I’ve only heard of Kolov for the first time today thanks to the Santino Marella “Where are they now?” WWE video, where he has the “Don Kolov Arena” as part of his training academy. This does nothing to further his legacy, as this is a jobber vs jobber match with neither guy doing anything to suggest they deserved a better spot on the card. Both guys get booed due to their foreign-sounding names, though Kolov is supposed to be the face. This is really slow, though Kolov shows a little fire on his comeback. Chung Lee gets the win with the move of the match, a nice jumping tombstone.

Bret Hart vs Jim Brunzell

This is the first of two “Hart Foundation vs Killer Bees” matches on this card. Being in Canada, Bret gets a minor pop and Brunzell actually comes off as a bit heelish as he smacks Bret’s leg into the ringpost. Bret takes over after breaking a figure four attempt with an eye poke, before working over Brunzell with a headlock spot. Unlike Spivey, Hart can actually make this spot interesting, allowing Brunzell to come close to breaking it, before a hair pull sends him back down again. Brunzell fires back with a shitty weak clothesline before pummelling Bret with some close punches to the face. Bret fires back and crotches him on the top rope….for a DQ? Terrible ending to a fun match.

Jim Neidhart vs B Brian Blair

This is worked as strength vs speed, with Blair frustrating Neidhart with his movement. Like the Bret match, Neidhart decides to work a long chinlock section, though not as cleverly. Also like the Bret match, a Killer Bee works a bit heelish and actually gets booed as he grinds Neidhart’s eyes over the top rope. Neidhart goes for a shoulder charge and Blair evades it with a sunset flip for the win. This was fine.

There’s a “classic” midget match shown, but it’s clipped and it’s shit, so we’ll skip past it.

Scott McGee vs Johnny K-9

This starts poorly with McGee working the arm in an uniteresting way, but it soon picks up with good effort from both guys. This is a nice contrast from Chung Lee/Kolov, as two lower card guys try and win over the crowd with their work. Liked K-9’s diving headbutt and I dug the strange chokeslam/STO type move McGee hits. McGee throws a string of nice uppercuts and hits a German suplex to win. This was short, but I liked both guys more coming out of it than going in.

Hoss & Jimmy Jack Funk vs George Wells & Lanny Poffo

My happiness at seeing a Funks match promised is instantly dissipated by the presence of Jimmy Jack instead of Terry. The faces frustrate the Funk team early, until Jimmy Jack knees Wells in the back during a criss-cross. Nice teaming by the Funks – even when Wells breaks a sleeper with a jawbreaker on Jimmy Jack, he’s still able to reach for the tag with his arm hooked around Wells’ neck. Poffo gets the hot tag and shows some nice energy, but he’s soon face in peril. Dory makes the most of the entrance ramp, suplexing Poffo outside from the apron, dropping him on the ramp in a form of brainbuster. Wells gets the hot tag, and shows nice strength, catching a Jimmy Jack crossbody into a backbreaker. However, he misses a corner splash, flying headfirst into the turnbuckle, and Jimmy Jack hits a powerslam for the win. Pretty decent stuff, though it’d still have been preferable to see Terry instead of the fake Funk.