WWF Maple Leaf Gardens 02/10/1984

Greg Valentine vs SD Jones

This is for Valentine’s IC title, a belt you’d really have to suspend your belief to imagine SD winning. This is pretty slow in places, but I kinda dug it. Valentine adds a bit of flavour to the match, faking off from a Jones attack, getting his boot caught when trying a kick then getting spun into an atomic drop that he sells with a comical sell. He misses an elbow, and Jones wisely starts working over this arm as his focal point. In turn, Valentine focuses his attack on SD’s legs in preparation for the figure four. However, Jones grabs a big old handful of tights to stop him locking the hold in. They fight on the floor, but Valentine gets in first due to Jones being slowed by his hurt leg, and Valentine is able to hit a back suplex for the win.

Nikolai Volkoff vs Rocky Johnson

This was much less interesting. I liked Volkoff repeatedly teasing to the audience behind the refs back that he just might have a foreign object in his tights, drawing decent heat, especially as it never actually plays into the ending of the match. Volkoff’s actual offence is sloppy here though, missing a kneedrop awkwardly and hitting really weak boots to the gut. Johnson is nicely fired up, really liked him peppering Volkoff with a few shots, which Volkoff counters with a wild swing that misses. Nikolai controls a bulk of this match, but Johnson makes a comeback, only for Volkoff to use this momentum against him and drop him throat-first on the ropes for the win.

Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs Goldie Rogers & Bobby Bass

The future British Bulldogs aren’t billed as such here. However, this feels like a great showcase for them. They spend the majority of the match outsmarting and outpacing the heels, who stooge about for them wonderfully. The heels even work a fun sequence of spots where the one on the apron won’t tag in for fear of taking some of the Bulldogs’s offence. This must have looked so ahead of it’s time, as the Bulldogs are an offensive dynamo. There’s a slight bit of heel heat as Davey Boy gets worked on the mat, but by the end DBS is able to plant Bass with a tombstone and hoist an onrushing Rogers onto his shoulder, allowing Dynamite to leap onto Rodgers as a launchpad to hit a diving headbutt for the win.

Andre the Giant vs Kamala

I realised as they approached a steel cage on that familiar rampway, that I’ve already reviewed this match for the WWE’s True Giants set. Didn’t like it then, still found it dull here. Andre attacks at the bell to at least start this with some fire, and Kamala at plays the character well by acting like a scared caged animal, but nothing really happens. Andre hits some big chops, but a lot of this is just Kamala trying for the door and Andre grabbing his leg. For nearly twenty minutes. By the time Andre finishes Kamala with a pair of buttsplashes, I was desperate for it to finish. Not a good match.

WWF Prime Time Wrestling 16/06/1986

Bret Hart vs Sivi Afi

Better than the match they had a few episodes earlier, there was nothing blown here and Afi looked to keep up with Bret better here. Fun opening section with Bret holding onto a headlock on Irish whips by grabbing Afi’s hair. Afi hits a nice crossbody, but Bret takes over by brilliantly catching a leapfrog into an atomic drop. Enjoyed Bret sending  Afi to the floor, not letting him in by booting him off the apron only for it to be paid off by Afi coming back in with a sunset flip for two. Didn’t like Afi’s “flying headbutt” he hit on a standing Bret, before he hits a top rope corssbody, but Bret is clearly waiting and rolls through to get the win. Good stuff.

Jim Neidhart vs Lanny Poffo

Poffo starts off with a really terrible poem, so bad he deserved to get jumped at the start by the Anvil. Hilarious spot where Poffo skins the cat, and turns around right into an Anvil forearm that instantly decks him. Neidhart’s offence looks good here, with Poffo seemingly happy to make everything he does look killer. Even an Irish whip into the corner looks bone rattling. Poffo makes a nice little comeback with a killer dropkick, and I liked him dropping to the mat, dragging Neidhart down by the beard. Moonsault gets him two, but Poffo spends too long going for a senton which misses and Neidhart hits a 2^nd rope forearm for the win.

Tony Garea vs Iron Mike Sharpe

Since I’ve started watching Prime Time, Tony Garea has been a constant disappointment in the ring. In contrast, Mike Sharpe has been a constant source of stooging joy. This match is pretty par for the course for both men. Sharpe is great from the start, acting befuddled by an armdrag, missing a dropkick and getting slingshot into the corner. Garea isn’t very interesting on offence, so Sharpe’s performance is needed to keep this on track. Garea goes for a good few pinfalls, but also does things like lock on a long abdominal stretch to kill the momentum of the bout. In contrast, Sharpe’s clubbing blows look good and it’s a nice surprise when he ducks a corner charge, sending Garea into the turnbuckles and leaving him prone for a roll up from Sharpe for the rare victory.

Hercules vs Scott McGhee

On the subject of people who’ve been surprisingly good, Hercules really impressed me in the tag match on the previous episode, and he looked good here too. Far better movement than I remembered him having, working a satisfying quick sequence with McGhee and bumping big for dropkicks. He also hits a nasty looking stun gun on McGhee, basically just hurling him head first at the ropes. McGhee also looks good, really liked his belly to belly and his top rope kneedrop. Genuinely enjoyed this bout, Herc even looked good on the ending as he catches McGhee, hits a back breaker and smoothly rolls into the pin. Pleasant surprise.

Big John Studd vs Jim Powers & Rick Hunter

Basic squash used as the backdrop to a Studd/King Tonga angle. Both guys try to slam Studd early, with the $10,000 slam challenge being offered pre-match by Bobby Heenan. Neither succeed, and Hunter gets pinned after a Studd slam. Post match, Tonga comes in, having been rebuffed pre-match by Heenan, and successfully slams Studd to a huge pop.

Johnny Valiant, Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake vs Davey Boy Smith, Pedro Morales & Danny Spivey

Real mixed cast on that face team. Really enjoyable six-man tag, it’s really a formula that’s very hard to mess up. Valentine, being by far and away the best worker on his team, works a good percentage of the match, and has to eat offence from all three faces early doors. Valiant in particular is mainly used as a tool for distraction. Davey Boy ends up the face in peril, with the idea being that the Dream Team want to weaken him for a future tag title rematch. The heel control is basic, but fun, with distractions, chokes and double teams being really well worked to keep Davey Boy in their corner. Loved how it backfired in the end, as Morales gets fed up with all the cheating, stomps on Valentine as he locks on a figure four, and gets Smith to the face corner for the tag. In the ensuing chaos, Pedro hits a backbreaker on Valiant and Davey Boy gets the win. Good, crowd pleasing match.

WWF Mega Matches

Back in the early 2000's, before YouTube and discovering the indies, it was always a massive treat to discover wrestling on sale for cheap, no matter what it was, and those rare days where some wrestling would turn up in Cash Generator were an absolute joy. I still fondly remember finding 3 ECW PPV's on tape at £3 each, and snapping them up even though I wasn't a huge ECW fan. This tape I bought and watched it in full once, before it went into the small hamper I have of wrestling tapes and sat there until this week. Let's give it another watch

Tito Santana vs Earthquake
Tito goes into this match with the dirt-worst game plan possible, which is to totally underestimate the power of Quake. He tries go-behinds that see him rammed into the corner, tries shoulderblocks that he clearly is never going to win and gets caught by the big man when he tries a crossbody. He does try to work a body part but, despite having used a figure-four as a past finisher and knowing that working a leg would make it hard for Quake to support his weight, he instead decides to work the arm. This, of course, leave the other arm free, so Quake clubs him down and starts to go to work on Tito. Quake seems to be in "methodical house show" mode here, so his attack is pretty unexciting. I did like Tito managing to escape a bearhug by climbing the turnbuckle, whilst still in Quake's arms, to get better elevation. Flying forearm only gets two, so you know Quake is getting pushed here. A missed Tito dropkick sets up the usual finishing sequence for Earthquake, but Tugboat comes in before the seated splash to attack and give Quake the win by DQ. Dino Bravo and Rhythm & Blues enter the ring (to save the heel from an unprompted 2-on-1 assault mind you; Quake hadn't broken a single rule all match) before Hacksaw Duggan makes the save for Tito and Tugger with the 2x4. Lord Alfred Hayes describes this as a moral win for Tito. What the fucking fuck? Match was pretty dull.

Bobby Heenan vs Big Boss Man
You know this isn't going to be much of a match, but you also know this should be fun. Heenan is gold on the mic to start, begging Boss Man's forgiveness for all his mother jokes, saying he'd sent roses to Boss Man's mother and saying she was on the phone in the back to ask Boss Man not to fight the Brain. This is clearly gearing up to an ambush in the back (not picked up on by the announcers), and Boss Man thinks about leaving the ring, before quickly decimating the Brain in 30 seconds, pinning him with a foot. Mr Perfect tries to save his manager (so you know there was a backstage assault plan), but fails and Bobby gets a ball-and-chain dropped on his chest. Fun deal.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Sgt. Slaughter
Not much to this one. Slaughter takes a few nice bumps off Duggan's big goofy punches, before a flag to the back from General Adnam gives him the advantage. Slaughter looks to be maintaining focus on the back by hitting a backbreaker, but Duggan soon recovers and makes an abrupt comeback. Three point stance is interrupted by Adnam grabbing his leg, and Hacksaw chases him away to lose by DQ. Pointless.

Bret Hart vs the Barbarian
I like both guys, so this should be decent. Bret oddly goes against his usual logical instincts and decides to try and hiptoss the Barbarian, which fails, and this allows Barbarian to dominate with some power moves. Bret uses his speed advantage to avoid a 2nd rope elbow, and the Hart Attack clothesline is counted as a three in a botch by the slow, doddery old ref. He's terrible all match. Barbarian hits a lovely powerslam for the comeback, but when he drops down to counter a sunset flip, Bret in turn reverses that into a winning pinfall. Another match that's way too short on this tape.

Rhythm & Blues vs the Bushwhackers
By way of contrast, I'd prefer this match to be kept short. I've no idea why poor old Rhythm & Blues were forever paired with Luke and Butch. Valentine nails a lovely clothesline on Luke to take over, and the match is bearable when Valentine and Honky are in control. Butch comes in to break up a fair pinfall, then gets annoyed when Honky comes in to send him out to the floor. This seemingly makes it fair for Butch to level HTM with a guitar for the DQ. I fucking hate the Bushwhackers.

Hulk Hogan vs Dino Bravo
Earthquake is in Bravo's corner, so the Big Bossman is announced for Hogan's corner. This leads to a hilarious over-reaction by one girl in the crowd, who repeatedly shrieks with excitement. Scary. The match isn't much to speak about, though Hogan does his best to make it interesting. I did love him levelling Bravo with a single chop. Some Earthquake interference gives Bravo the advantage, and he keeps interfering throughout the match, with Bossman's only attempts to stop him being to slowly wander over, by which point the damage is done. Even Sean Mooney points out how useless the Bossman is here. Bravo's offence is really dull, all chokes and punches, and the only thing stopping a bearhug being tedious is how well Hogan sells it. Hogan has the smarts to nearly break it, before letting Bravo sinch it in again, to keep the crowd into the match. Bravo hits his finishing side suplex, but Hogan kicks out on two, Hulks up and swiftly hits the big boot and legdrop to win. Poor match.

Haku vs the British Bulldog
This must be early in the Bulldog's comeback, as he's only billed as "Davey Boy Smith" here. We come in joined in progress with Bulldog holding a sleeper. We've got two big lads who can move here, highlighted by a nice crossbody and a crucifix by Smith. He also takes a huge bump from a back bodydrop. Haku is pretty methodical here, and holds Smith in two consecutive restholds for a little bit too long. Bulldog gets little comebacks, but Haku is pretty good at cutting them off. Bulldog at one point breaks a sleeper, but ends up being hurled upside down to the corner. There is a midring collision, where Davey Boy somehow recovers quicker, despite being beaten up for the past 5-7 minutes. Davey locks in a sharpshooter, but Bobby Heenan pushes to rope to Haku to force a break. Bulldog sends Haku flying with a back bodydrop of his own, and the running powerslam gets three. Nice to get a decent length match here.

Randy Savage vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan
There are a lot of smoke and mirrors in this match, but I don't really think they needed the help. Both guys put in a really good effort in the match. I loved Duggan's big punches early on, which Savage sells big time. Sensational Sherri attacks Duggan to give Savage an opening, and I love Duggan's selling here. Not only is he not afraid to sell for a lady, he also does a great job of making Savage look good. There is a great bit where Duggan slowly gets to his feet, getting fired up, only to turn into a top rope ax handle by Savage, and this leads up to Savage trying again a few minutes later, only for Duggan to be ready with a clothesline to the gut. Savage takes two big bumps, one from the ring to the floor then one from the floor over the guardrail. Hacksaw levels him with a chair, which doesn't draw a DQ somehow. The big knee only gets two after Sherri distracts the ref, but Duggan is smart enough not to take his eye off Savage as he yells at her, and avoids a sneak attack. Savage misses the top rope elbow, but the three point stance from Duggan sends the Macho King to the outside. The ref gets bumped, giving Duggan a visual fall, before Savage levels him with a weapon. A slow count from the ref means this only gets two as the drama gets cranked up, before Savage pins him with his feet on the rope to win. Really good match, with great effort from both men.

Randy Savage vs the Ultimate Warrior
This is a cage match, though they battle outside the cage at first, following a misguided attempt at a sneak attack by Savage. Warrior wipes the floor with him. I would be remiss in not mentioning how fucking unbearable Brother Love is on commentary. The opening stages are so slow, as Savage hurls Warrior into the cage with a handful of trunks, then both guys get VERY slowly to their feet. A double clothesline spot puts both down, and they act like they've worked an iron man match when we're only 5 mins in. Savage wears Warrior down with chokes and eye rakes, before the top rope elbow only gets two. Warrior fires back with the usual, but the splash hits knees. Suddenly, the match is nearly over as Savage climbs almost all the way out, only for Warrior to grab him by the hair. Sherri comes in to interfere and bang, Savage falls to the floor a victor. Terrible match, with no real drama or pacing. After, Warrior beats up Savage and looks to be about to beat Sherri before a sudden cut.

Royal Rumble 1990

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs the Bushwhackers
Jesse Ventura on commentary highlights the difference between the two teams, the brawlers vs the wrestlers. The Rougeaus have a naturality in the ring which makes most things they do look excellent, including bumping for the Whackers generic offence. They get on offence using heel chicanery, then retain the advantage with even more smarts, using distractions and double-teams on Luke. Loved Raymond's cockiness in ring, with some nice little mannerisms to rile up the crowd. Jacques has grown a beard and looks a bit pudgy here, but knocks out a quick kip-up to also annoy the fans. The meat of this match is the Rougeau's in control, which is good as the Whackers pretty much suck on attack. I thought Raymond was great here, loved him jamming an elbow into Luke's head as he tried to break a Camel Clutch. The Whackers make the hot tag and shortly thereafter win with the Battering Ram. But fuck it, the Rougeaus ruled.

The Genius vs Brutus Beefcake
The Genius also rules. He goes through a whole range of slightly fey mannerisms to rile up the crowd and is just perfectly into his character. His mincing sell of an atomic drop is just terrific. Like with the opener, it's the antics of the heel that keeps the match interesting, as Beefcake offers nothing of interest here. When he has the Genius doubled over in the set-up position for a piledriver or a powerbomb, he does the least interesting thing he could and just jumps to apparently jar the Genius' neck. The Genius manages to escape the sleeper before the ref gets bumped. Beefcake puts the Genius down with another sleeper, so starts to cut the Genius' hair to the chagrin of Ventura. Thankfully Mr Perfect comes in to stop this unjust haircut, and jams a chair into Beefcake's ribs. In an interview later on, Perfect says he's fed up of Beefcake taking advantage of people, which is really fair enough. The ref disqualifies both men, so Brutus doesn't even get a DQ win.

Ronnie Garvin vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
This is a submission match, though each guy tries to pin their opponent in vain at multiple opportunities. Hammer has the Hart Breaker legguard on his shin, so Garvin has also put a guard on his shin to counteract this. Both guys like to lay it in snugly, so they're pretty happy to exchange blows in the early stages. It's pretty fucking great to watch. Valentine downs Garvin and locks on a figure four, but Garvin's shinguard prevents it hurting, as Garvin laughs and pulls faces at the Hammer. Valentine thus has to change tactics, so goes for an Argentine Backbreaker instead. They go back to exchanging blows, and you can hear every single one. Garvin goes for an Indian Deathlock, but the Hammer doesn't submit. Garvin gets knocked down near the ropes, so Jimmy Hart takes the shinguard off Garvin's leg. This time the figure four works. Garvin escapes, but can barely stand on his bad leg. Ventura does a great job of putting over the figure four, stating Garvin should submit or Valentine may end his career. Valentine goes up top to an unfamiliar top rope berth, and it backfires as Garvin hobbles over to throw him from the top. Garvin then removes the Hart Breaker from Valentine's leg. Both try to swing for the other with a shinguard, but only Garvin connects, before sinking in a Sharpshooter for the submission win. Fantastic match.

The Big Boss Man vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan
This starts off with a big brawl to start, with Bossman taking some nifty bumps out of the ring and into the ring steps. The Bossman impresses the Hell out of Ventura and Tony Schiavone with an enzuigiri on Duggan. The brawling here isn't as stiff as the previous match, but they keep up a decent pace and it remains entertaining throughout. Plus, I've always had a soft spot for the big telegraphed punches of Hacksaw. I like Duggan trying to break the bearhug of the Bossman by punching himself free, only for Bossman to keep the hold on and wear Hacksaw down. The story they're working here is that Duggan keeps getting up no matter how many times Bossman hits him, and this leads to the ending as Bossman gets so fed up, he nails Duggan with the nightstick for the DQ.

The Royal Rumble
This is a pretty great Rumble, with so many fun little stories and interesting moments. I also love the fact that you see guys fighting each other regardless of the face/heel divide. The storytelling starts early as Ted DiBiase draws number 1, which is nice continuation from him being number 30 last year. He pounces on Koko B Ware as soon as he gets in the ring to eliminate him, and does the same to Marty Jannetty to try and get an early advantage. Sadly for him, Jake Roberts is out next and provides slightly stiffer competition. I find with these early Rumbles you end up with match-ups in the ring that lend themselves to matches I'd really like to see. For example, early on we get DiBiase and Randy Savage squaring off with Roberts and Roddy Piper, which is a tag match I'd love to see. PIper teaming up with Bret Hart to double-clothesline the Warlord is a cool little moment too, knowing their real-life friendship which was never really mentioned on TV.

DiBiase gets the endurance push this year, with Jesse highlighting how well he was doing as early as 8 men in. Dusty Rhodes eliminates Savage within moments of entering, which plays off a Brother Love segment earlier on the night where Dusty came to the defence of Sapphire as Sherri abused her, and where Savage attacked Rhodes. Andre comes to the ring and eliminates the Warlord, leading to an altercation on the outside between Bobby Heenan and Mr Fuji. Awesome. Piper eliminates Bad News Brown, leading to an angry Brown pulling Piper out, kickstarting their feud. They brawl to the back as a young Shane McMahon tries to regain order. Another one of those cool pairings occurs as Dusty and Ax team up to clobber Andre, Demos style. Haku enters, which allows him to pair with Andre to beat down Ax, but Smash is the next entry, which evens the odds and provides a mini Tornado Tag in the middle of the Rumble. The Demos manage to eliminate Andre, sending him over the top with double running forearms.

Akeem pairs off with Jimmy Snuka, but makes the hilarious mistake of stopping to dance, leading to his elimination in short order. The Demos pair off against Haku and Snuka, yet another tag match I'd love to see. The Canadian Earthquake comes in and is instantly a favourite, eliminating Dusty (massively telegraphed by the Dream) and Ax. Haku pulls a great "oh shit" face at that. All the guys in the ring (bar his partner Bravo) team up to lift Quake out of the ring, which allows him to be eliminated, but also be seen as a real threat. Just great booking in this Rumble. The Warrior comes in to a huge pop. The Model comes in and goes right after Smash, which makes sense when you remember the Demos caused him to be out injured for the best part of a year. Smash winds up on the apron, and Haku kicks him in the face to eliminate him. Tito enters and, yep, goes right after Martel, as I believe he did every year. A Warrior clothesline sees DiBiase finally eliminated to a monster pop.

Hogan enters to the biggest pop of the match, and he eliminates Snuka and Haku in short order. Shawn Michaels hilariously last 20 seconds and Martel soon follows to give us the Hogan/Warrior showdown for the first time. Things pretty much end up in a stalemate, with both men down after a double clothesline, giving an entering Barbarian some pretty easy pickings. Rick Rude enters early to get some of this action. Warrior saves Hogan from elimination, but when Hogan tries to return the favour, he manages to knock Warrior from the ring. For some reason, Warrior sees this as a sign to re-enter the ring and beat up the heels. Man, that worked out pretty brilliantly for Hogan. We end up with a final three of Hogan, Rude and Mr Perfect. A heel double team backfires, leading to Rude being eliminated. Hogan Hulks up after a Perfectplex and quickly hurls Perfect out to win. Really fun Rumble.

WWF The British Bulldogs

This is a VHS release from the mid 80's designed to showcase then tag champs the British Bulldogs. Aside from some less-than-fascinating footage of Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid working out, the content is almost all match footage, which should be good. Which SHOULD be good. Unfortunately, whoever selected the matches really wanted the Bulldogs to look like crap.

The British Bulldogs vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff
This is from late 85, at a time when Beefcake and Valentine currently held the tag-titles. Sheik and Volkoff don't really give the Bulldogs much offence here, but what little we get is pretty spectacular. Sheik's offence looks particularly milky here, while Volkoff at least looks committed with his clubbing blows, and he has a nice way of cowering off on the moments when the Bulldogs are on offence. Dynamite Kid soon becomes the face-in-peril, where Volkoff has one particularly impressive spot when he holds Kid off the ground in a choke with one hand, high over his head. The Bulldogs finally get a bit of offence when Sheik hits Volkoff by accident and Davey Boy gets two on a running powerslam on Sheik. However, Sheik is soon back on offence, leading to the camel clutch, which Kid breaks. Volkoff goes for a slam on Smith, but Dynamite gets a missile dropkick, which leads to Davey Boy landing on top for the win. Not a particularly good showcase for the Bulldogs here.

Dynamite Kid vs Bret Hart
Man, this gets good straight away, with the opening sequence so good that they go to a replay of it within two minutes of the match starting. Kid then hits Bret with a beautiful snap suplex before we get some clipping. On return, the two men are still trying to outwrestle each other to gain superiority. Bret finally takes control, including slamming Kid onto the concrete floor outside. Bret keeps control over Kid, but Kid manages to absorb the offence and keep hitting flash pins on Bret for two counts. Hart soon gets frustrated by this and chokes Kid before tying him in the ropes, but Dynamite avoids a crossbody, leaving Hart caught up in the ropes. Kid absolutely folds Bret in two with a back suplex and starts to work over the Hitman. It's great just how fluid Dynamite is here, everything looks perfect, including how smoothly he goes from offensive maneuvers to pinfalls. Bret takes control and throws Kid outside, which somehow warrants a replay. When we comes back, Kid has rolled up Bret for the win. Really fun match which they manage to almost run with shitty production errors. Anvil attacks Dynamite after the match, only for Davey Boy to make the save, This leads to...

Davey Boy Smith vs Jim Neidhart
The battle of the powerhouses. Davey Boy tries to take the Anvil down by running off the ropes, but this ends in a stalemate, so instead Davey downs the Anvil with a single-leg takedown. This pretty much sums up the match- Neidhart uses his strength to take control, but Davey Boy comes back by using his superior speed and matskills. Sadly, the match only goes a few minutes, before the Anvil drops Smith facefirst on the top turnbuckle from an attempted avalanche, and picks up the win. A bit pointless.

The British Bulldogs & Capt Lou Albano vs Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake & Johnny Valiant
As a WrestleMania 2 preview, the two teams meet with their managers in a 6-man tag. The first thing this match does is remind me that, as badass as Greg Valentine was, he was more than happy to stooge around to make his opponents look good. Here he flops around on missed elbows and bounces for atomic drops that make the Bulldogs look even better. However, Valentine is also happy to match both Bulldogs blow for blow, which makes the decision to have the Hammer do most of the work for his team a sensible one. There are moments when the match threatens to become a bit of a mess - the first Bulldog hot-tag is an anti-climatic moment that the fans barely notice following a brawl between all six men - but things just about keep together. Beefcake possibly spends less time in the ring here than Valiant, but he does hit a nice vertical suplex for two. The Hammer then hits an odd piledriver on Kid that ends up almost like a tombstone for two. Hot tag is made to Davey Boy, and it's Valiant who ends up bumping like a pinball for him, getting huge air on a back bodydrop and getting caught with a big running powerslam for two. All six men end up in the ring, but Valentine and Valiant get taken out, and Beefcake is rolled up for three. Beefcake must be pretty low on the pecking order that he took the fall instead of his manager.

The British Bulldogs vs The Dream Team
Sadly it's only the last two minutes of the WrestleMania 2 match. This does mean I still got to enjoy Davey Boy holding up Valentine one-handed for the running powerslam and Beefcake slamming Smith on a hammerlock in an insane bump, before the Bulldogs win the tag titles following a clashing of heads between Dynamite and Valentine

The British Bulldogs vs The Moondogs
Fun little match here. The opening shows the Bulldogs matching strength with the Moondogs, before taking control on Spot with some dropkicks. Clip to the Moondogs dominating Davey Boy. The match takes on a pretty solid formula tag match from this point, with the Moondogs keeping Davey Boy down and cutting the ring in half. Rex hits a big splash for two before Spot and Smith clash heads. Davey Boy tags Kid, but only on a false tag, allowing the Moondogs to keep control. A second-rope splash from Rex hits Davey's knees and Davey Boy then suplexes Spot to get the hot tag to Dynamite. Kid is like a whirling dervish as he dominates both Moondogs, before Rex throws him out of the ring. In a cool finish, Rex and Davey Boy brawl in the ring, allowing Kid to fly over them from the top rope onto Spot for the win. Plenty of fun and the best the Bulldogs have looked as a team thus far, might well have been even better without clipping.

Davey Boy Smith vs Greg Valentine
We kick off with even more Valentine stooging, this time taking a Flair flop off some Davey offence. Awesomely, DBS locks in a Sharpshooter on Valentine, though Monsoon and Hayes on commentary don't think the move can work as it doesn't allow you to sit all the way back. Funny how things change. Davey keeps control with more matwork. Clip to some Valentine control before DBS hits the running powerslam for 2. Valentine shows his experience advantage by luring smith to the floor before ambushing him on his way back into the ring. Valentine gets the figure four, but Davey Boy powers his way to the ropes. Valentine comes off the second rope with a blow to DBS' head, which is enough for the win. A bit short, you get the impression that all the clipped matches would be pretty good if shown in full

Dynamite Kid vs Brutus Beefcake
Short and sweet. We start with the two exchanging wristlocks, which goes as well as you'd expect for Beefcake. Beefcake uses his size advantage to get control and looks alright, especially a nice stalled suplex. Beefcake throws Kid outside and tries to suplex him in from the apron, but Kid escapes and rolls him up for the win. About 5 minutes of match tops, but everything looked good.

The British Bulldogs vs King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd
So far on this Bulldogs showcase, we've seen them win a 6 man via roll-up, get beaten down for most of the Sheik/Volkoff match, Davey Boy lose two singles matches and Dynamite win his two singles matches via roll-up. Is it likely they'll be allowed to look good in the last match? The early signs are promising: they use their comparative speed and skill as double-teams to control Studd in the early stages, but soon, when going one-on-one with Studd, Davey Boy becomes face-in-peril, as the two monsters dominate. In fairness, Studd and Bundy pull off their roles expertly, looking like beasts and clubbing away at Smith. Soon, however, Dynamite runs in and puts Studd in a sleeper. Bundy runs in and, in the ensuing melee, Studd pushes over the ref to give the Bulldogs a cheap win by DQ. Just to compound making the Bulldogs look like shit, the final shot of their showcase video has the screen freeze on a shoving match between Studd and Bundy. Rule Britannia indeed!

WWF Fan Favourites

This is an VHS that the WWF released in late 89/early 90, with the premise being that each match is one requested by a fan. We get a clip before each match of an unenthusiastic fan saying that wrestler A vs wrestler B would be a classic match, before we cut to the action. Let's see what we get.

Brooklyn Brawler vs Koko B. Ware
I'm sorry, there is no way I buy anyone wanting to see this match. I am especially sure no-one wanted to see a match that was 80% Brawler offence. Koko at least brings some high energy (sorry) early on, busting out a pretty nice flying headscissors, but Brawler has nothing to offer on offence, bringing stomps, chokes and rope-burns to the party. At one point Koko fires back with a sunset flip, which wakens the crowd, but Brawler soon puts a stop to that nonsense by putting on a chinlock to silence. Even Tony Schiavone and Lord Alfred can't say anything positive for Brawler, with Lord Al commenting on his "ponderous" offence. Koko eventually comes back with a nice facebuster from the corner and a killer Ghostbuster to win, but it's too late to save this abortion.

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Dusty Rhodes
An altogether more fun match. Both guys are experienced enough to know how to get a reaction from the crowd without putting too much into the match. In this case, both get the crowd into it via their selling. The Hammer sells Dusty's blows in a punch-drunk, groggy manner, while the Dream manages to incorporate a little dancing into his selling, showing his attempts to keep himself in the match. Both men are heavy hitter, and a punch exchange in the corner is particularly fun. Valentine is wearing his shinguard (called the Hartbreaker) to help with his figure four leglock, but it's Dusty who threatens one first, a nice holdover from his days feuding with Flair. Neither man actually gets to put it on, as the end comes from Ronnie Garvin coming out to prevent Jimmy Hart interfering, allowing Rhodes to roll-up a distracted Hammer for the win.

The Twin Towers vs The Hart Foundation
This should be good. The opening stage sets the scene, the Anvil trying a power battle with Boss Man, but failing to budge him on two shoulderblock attempts. Instead, he levels him with a dropkick, adapting his game. Akeem tries it with Bret, and, following a sitdown on a sunset flip attempt, starts to dominate the Hitman. The Twin Towers use their size advantage to control Bret and are plenty of fun to watch in the process, both being blessed with physical charisma and good speed for men of their size, highlighted by a sweet double avalanche in the corner. The Towers dominate Bret and the heat section is really well worked. They throw in 4 or 5 different hope spots before Bret finally gets the hot tag to a huge pop. The Anvil looks great on the hot tag, nailing Akeem with some solid shots, before resorting to using his relative speed for a double dropkick with Bret. It breaks down with all four men outside the ring (Bret even hits a pescado on Boss Man), but Akeem rolls in to beat the count and win. Afterwards, the Harts beat up Slick to regain their heat.

Mr Perfect vs Tito Santana
Two men who share real chemistry in this one. Because he's looked back on so fondly for his bumping ability, I sometimes forget how fluid Mr Perfect was on offence, and he looks really good here, aided by some consistent selling by Santana. Perfect dominates a lot of the offence in this match, but is soon bumping like a demon for Santana. Like with Perfect, I'd forgotten how good Tito was on offence, here showing real aggression as he pounds away at Perfect on the mat. Rick Martel comes out to run interference on Tito as I ponder back on the days when feuds were so well paced that they could afford to dedicate video space to it, safe in the knowledge the feud would be ongoing by the time the tape was released. Tito hits the flying forearm, but Martel puts Hennig's foot on the rope. He then distracts Tito on a figure four attempt, allowing Perfect the time to roll Santana up for the win. A bit short, but a fun bout.

Million Dollar Man vs Jimmy Snuka
The match begins with DiBiase trying to buy his way out of the match, which Schiavone takes great offence to, as it's a match the fans want to see. They shouldn't, because this really isn't very good. DiBiase does his best to bump hugely for Snuka in the opening stages, but Snuka really drags the match down by stopping...inbetween...every...move. DiBiase gets on offence, which is better simply because he doesn't take half an hour to do every move, though Snuka does take an odd bump over the top for a DiBiase clothesline, which looks awkward. The ending comes when Virgil distracts Snuka on the apron, but Snuka avoids a DiBiase attack from behind to roll him up for the win.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan & the Ultimate Warrior vs Andre The Giant & Ravishing Rick Rude
So much fun. Honestly, this is everything a throwaway tag match should be. We kick off with Warrior and Duggan doing each other's signature poses, which is cool, before we get into the action. Make no mistake, this isn't a "moves" match, but it is based around entertaining fans, which it does very well. An early spot sees Rude accidentally clothesline Andre into the ropes (and sells his arm afterwards too!) before getting used as a battering ram on the Giant by the faces. This is also one of the best uses of Andre I've seen from this era- here he's booked as a monster, gleefully stalking Duggan while he's injured. Andre taunts Warrior by doing his rope-shake pose, taunts Duggan by yelling "HOOO!!" while sitting on him and even copies Rude's hip swivel, all with a big grin plastered on his face. The ending is pretty predictable, Duggan belting Rude with the 2x4 while the ref is distracted, which leads to a Warrior splash for the win, but it's impossible to watch this and not be entertained. Good stuff.