World Class Championship Wrestling 22/01/1983

Kevin von Erich vs King Kong Bundy

This is for Kevin’s North American title. Kevin is all fight, in the face of Bundy early doors, to the extent that he actually gets Bundy over on a side headlock. Even more unlikely, they work some mat reversals, including Bundy countering to a headscissors. Didn’t expect that. Lovely spot where Bundy won’t let Kevin back into the ring, so Kevin does laps of the ring, using his speed to sneak an opening. Von Erich get the claw, but Bundy is in the ropes. Bundy moves the referee in the way as Kevin comes off the top, taking him out, and throws von Erich over the top rope, but it seems that the ref spots it, as he pulls Kevin out of the way of an avalanche attempt to declare him the winner. Really neat match.

Brian Adias vs Terry Gordy

Adias is accompanied by Kerry von Erich, so Gordy has his focus on Kerry most of the match. It affects his concentration, as Adias breaks a headlock to get an overhead wristlock instead. Sadly, a lot of this match is Gordy holding a headlock, which isn’t very interesting. Michael Hayes comes out to lure Kerry away, and the distraction lets Gordy hit a piledriver to win.

King Kong Bundy vs The Samoan

Pretty pedestrian squash for Bundy. He just wears the Samoan down methodically, though his big kneedrop to the back looks great. An avalanche is followed by a backbreaker and a splash for the win.

World Class Championship Wrestling 15/01/1983

This is the first episode of World Class after the Freebirds turned heel on Kerry von Erich in his NWA title match against Flair, and in keeping with that, this is a very Freebirds heavily episode

Buddy Roberts vs Brian Adidas

Adidas looks pretty awkward in the early stages, stumbling running the ropes, taking a monkey flip clumsily and hitting a poor pair of dropkicks. Roberts takes over by cheapshotting on a rope break, and levels Adidas with some big shots, including nasty knees and kicks to the head. Buddy continues by working the arm of Adidas, including a nice bit where he keeps trying pinfalls while holding the ropes, moving just in time to avoid getting caught. It’s a familiar spot, but executed really well, as the ref never catches him doing it, but is suspicious of the shaking ropes, until the third time when he catches Roberts in the act. Felt natural, as opposed to “a bit”. Adidas gets two on a terrible sunset flip, and Roberts gets a series of two counts from a swinging neckbreaker and a backbreaker, before the time limit expires. Great stuff from Roberts.

Michael Hayes vs Al Madril

The crowd is absolutely molten for this, popping every time Madril lands a shot. Hayes stalls a lot in the early stages, not giving the fired up Madril a chance to retain control. Hayes rakes Madril’s eyes to take over, and goes to work wearing him down, with chinlocks and kneedrops keeping Al on the mat. Madril gets openings, and is always fired up on his comebacks, but Hayes is really good at stopping him in his tracks. Hayes looks to have it won with a piledriver, but decides instead to keep attacking Madril, drawing out Jose Lothario for the DQ win.

Bill Irwin vs Andre The Giant vs Terry Gordy vs King Kong Bundy vs Kerry von Erich vs Bugsy McGraw

This is a six man battle royal, with pins and submissions, with the winner claiming $5,000. Michael Hayes is accompanying Gordy, and pays dividends early, as von Erich focuses his entire attack on Gordy, going after him from the off. However, a distraction by Hayes lets Gordy shockingly eliminate him early. Andre is always a threat in battle royals, but here his gameplan is very odd – just keep strangling Terry Gordy. He just wont let go of Gordy, even when Bundy jumps on him from the second rope. He breaks the hold for a moment, then goes right back to choking Gordy. McGraw is eliminated by Bundy, leaving Andre 3-1 against the heels. They team up, FINALLY getting Andre off Gordy for a period of time. Gordy and Bundy hold Andre by the arms, to allow Irwin to attack, but Andre soon escapes, eliminating Irwin with an atomic drop. Hayes stops Andre eliminating Gordy, and Andre goes after him…climbing over the top in the process, and eliminating himself. This leaves Bundy vs Gordy, two heels and, after Bundy misses the avalanche, Gordy dropkicks him out.Very strange match, mainly dedicated to Andre choking Gordy, but quite enjoyable.

WWF WrestleMania I

One thing I've realised in my time writing this blog is that it serves as a useful resource to myself when I'm trying to remember what I think about a certain match. Sometimes, as a ageing 36 year old, my memories of matches are just like fading fingerprints on an abandoned handrail (to paraphrase Bob Mortimer). Thus I've decided it might be fun/useful to work through the PPV's of the WWF to act as a kind of archive for my thoughts. Ergo, here's Wrestlemania I

Tito Santana vs The Executioner

Executioner is, of course, Buddy Rose. The ropes here are super loose. I kinda got used to it, but it felt really noticeable here. This is neatly worked to make Tito look good, loved him working a headlock, even running up the ropes to get a headlock takeover. Executioner had cut a pre-match promo stating he was going to take out Santana’s legs, and to his credit he starts to focus his offence on them. However, Tito fires up leading to a nice little run by both guys – Santana slams Executioner from the top rope, but eats knees on a splash. Santana slams Executioner back into the ring from the apron, hits a flying forearm and locks in the figure four for a straightforward victory.

King Kong Bundy vs SD Jones

I mean, it’s obvious that this goes longer than the 9 seconds they bill it as, but it’s still a fun deal. Just a nice squash, makes Bundy look killer.

Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne

Enjoyed the fun opening stages that establish Steamboat’s superiority to Borne, luring him into running into a chop and slipping out of back suplexes. Borne comes back with a nice belly-to-belly suplex. Both guys exchange nice snug blows, with Steamboat hitting a few choice kneedrops. Steamboat hits a nice top rope crossbody for the win.

David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake

Considering how much longer than the previous match this was, there’s very little to say about it. Pretty sluggish stuff, with Sammartino controlling on the mat. He’s not a compelling mat worker, doing some leg work that doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere. Beefcake in control was more interesting, as at least his blows hit with some force. His elbow to the nose in the corner was pretty nasty. Johnny Valliant attacks David on the floor, and we get a big melee leading to a double DQ with Bruno Sammartino getting in and the faces clearing the ring.

Greg Valentine vs the Junkyard Dog

I enjoyed this. Valentine has a good gameplan, going for JYD’s legs as soon as he was on the mat. Also, unlike Sammartino, Valentine’s legwork has a clear end goal and actually looks like it’s going to cause some damage. Loved Valentine’s face first plant to the mat when JYD shoves off a figure four attempt. JYD sells the leg nicely, backing into a corner when on his feet to shield it, and walking gingerly on it when he’s got control. Jimmy Hart ends up taking a big bump when Valentine hits him by accident, falling backwards to the floor, before the Hammer gets a cheat pin in the corner with his foot on the ropes. Post match, Tito Santana comes in to get the result reversed.

The US Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda) vs The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff

Fastly paced little tag sprint, with the US Express looking great to kick off. Nice quick tags and maintaining complete control. The heels get heat on Rotunda, including a nice moment when Rotunda holds onto a hammerlock when getting to his feet to try and make a comeback, with Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon nicely putting over the instincts of an amateur wrestler to do this. Sheik locks on a sloppy abdominal stretch, which Rotunda hiptosses out of, and Windham is a great hot tag, working at a really high pace. However, he gets taken out by Sheik using Freddie Blassie’s cane and the heels pick up the win and the tag belts.

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd

This is the $15,000 slam match, with Studd’s money vs Andre’s career. I wrote this up for the Andre the Giant DVD a few years ago, and I agree pretty much with what I wrote then. A pretty brief bout, with Andre never looking in any danger. He wears down Studd with some chokes, a few big chops and a bearhug. He even catches a Studd boot and beats him down before getting a slam from nowhere to win the match.

Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai

Super hot crowd for this, with Richter trying to regain her women’s title. Cyndi Lauper is the manager for Richter here, which has made this a featured bout for the show. Lots of token matwork to start, which does at least lead to a nice power spot as Kai gets caught in a bodyscissors and lifts up Richter from the mat. Impressive spot. Richter gets Kai on her shoulders and hits what looks like Sean O’Haire’s old Widowmaker finisher for two. This is perfectly fine, aided by a hot crowd, but the ending is terrible. Kai hits a top rope crossbody, but Richter clumsily rolls through for the win.

Hulk Hogan & Mr T vs Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff

This match is so carefully orchestrated to milk the maximum reaction from the crowd. The audience pops big when Mr T tags in to face Piper, and there’s been no contact made by anyone. T works a nice little mat section with Piper, before we get a big melee, drawing in Muhammed Ali and an even bigger pop. The heels start to walk out for a fake count out spot, and the crowd are pissed. Just glorious conducting of the crowd. The match starts properly, and the faces outsmart the heels, who stooge about fabulously. There’s a real feeling of chaos and things about to breakdown at any time, as people keep getting into the ring, Bob Orton keeps getting on the apron and Ali on the verge of having to reappear and keep order. There’s two heat sections, on Hogan and on T, and I loved Piper when he is working over Hogan, including a lovely wind-up running punch. We get another melee, and in the mess Bob Orton accidentally hits Orndorff with his cast, leaving him to get pinned by Hogan for the win. Just really well-worked crowd pleasing stuff, with a hot crowd getting built to a fever pitch.

WWF Prime Time Wrestling 30/06/1986

Pedro Morales vs Bob Orton

Solid match, though neither guy feels like they’re really stretching themselves. Orton is on the defence early, with a big goofy sell of a slam and of an atomic drop. A good chunk of this match is built around punches, but luckily both guys have neat looking strikes. Orton sends Morales to the floor with a lovely flurry and slams him onto the concrete. Morales shows some fire when he fires back with a nice range of punches himself. Orton tries to suplex Morales to the floor, but settles for crotching him on the top rope instead, drawing the DQ. Nothing bout, but enjoyable enough.

Nikolai Volkoff & the Iron Sheik vs Danny Spivey & Corporal Kirschner

This was a very poor bout. Crucially, Kirschner is really bad here, looking really lost in the opening matwork. Sheik would take him down, then just roll over to try and give the impression that Kirschner had reversed it. They heels work the heat on Corporal with Spivey yet to get in the ring. It’s a brief heat, though they force in a false tag in those few minutes. Spivey gets tagged in, not exactly a house of fire and is soon locked in a really poor abdominal stretch by the Sheik. It’s so bad that both Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Al call him out on how bad it looks. Sheik does hit a cracking gutwrench suplex moments later, so it’s not all bad. Kirschner gets tagged back in, looking barely trained with some awkward bumping, before Sheik “loads the boot” and gets the pin following a kick to the gut (with Kirschner selling it with a front flip bump, fair play for that). Terrible stuff.

Hercules vs George Wells

On the other hand, this goes less than 5 minutes and is really great. Herc keeps it simple, but his punches look crisp and he hits some great driven knee drops. Just nice connection. Herc goes up top, and Wells catches a crossbody and nails a backbreaker. He immediately misses a corner splash and Herc drives a forearm into his face for the win. Good, simple stuff, executed really well, with one super impressive strength spot by Wells midway through.

Bret Hart vs Jim Brunzell

Delightfully, this is really neat too. Bret reverses an early wristlock to a headlock by yanking the hair, then really works the hold, keeping it locked in despite getting whipped to the ropes. Brunzell starts working the arm, yanking it on the mat whilst forcing Bret’s head away with his boot. Bret turns the tide with a lovely knee to the gut, and proceeds to wear Brunzell down by wearing down the torso, nailing headbutts and boots. Lovely spot where Bret ties Brunzell in the ropes and charges, but Brunzell escapes and Bret gets tangled up at extreme speed. Brunzell bites Bret’s nose, returning a move from Bret earlier, and gets a great nearfall off an O’Connor roll. Brunzell gets the win with a sudden backslide. Really good stuff.

King Kong Bundy vs Hillbilly Jim

Very brief match, but nothing much to complain about. Two big lads hitting hard-hitting, yet unrefined bombs. Hillbilly avoids what looks to be an unlikely Bundy dropkick early doors, but meets boots in the corner. They do some shtick where Bundy won’t let Jim back into the ring, before Jim gets the boots up on an avalanche. Jim gets a few moves in, but makes the mistake of trying to whip Bundy into the corner. Of course, he reverses it and nails the Avalanche, then hits a huge splash for the win.

Sivi Afi vs Ron Shaw

This puts an end to the “really good stuff” run, though I kind of liked Shaw here. Big goofy looking guy, but he moved well, looked athletic on a leapfrog and nailed a big jumping knee. His back breaker was pretty soft though. Afi doesn’t do much here, few headbutts and a lot of armbars held from armdrags, before a top rope crossbody gets the win. Meh.

Big John Studd vs Paul Orndorff

Orndorff is wearing a protective cast on his right arm, which features prominently in this match. Studd is sluggish, but Orndorff is fired up and works around the fact you can’t do much with Big John by milking the most from every shot he hits. Studd catches him on a crossbody and roughly slams him in the corner, but then bizarrely goes to the top rope, predictably eating a cast shot to the stomach on his way down. Studd hits a sloppy looking atomic drop and telegraphs Orndorff skinning the cat by clearly talking to him and gingerly throwing him over the top rope. Orndorff hits Studd with a flurry of neat shots and nails him off the top with his cast, but Heenan comes in to break up a bodyslam, earning the DQ win for Orndorff. Great performance by Mr Wonderful.

World Class Championship Wrestling 11/12/1982

The Spoiler vs Jose Lothario

Short match, but pretty hard hitting throughout. Neither guy has a problem laying in some tough looking blows, with Lothario in particular hitting some nice body shots. Both guys do a little bit of limb work, with Spoiler working the left arm of Lothario, ramming a hammerlock into the corner. For his part, Lothario stretches out the knee, as well as dropping some big elbows onto it. A double countout for fighting on the apron provides an underwhelming end to a decent bout.

The Great Kabuki, Checkmate & Magic Dragon vs Brian Adidas, Bugsy McGraw & Al Madril

All action six-man tag, worked quickly enough that the flaws of the weaker participants were covered up. The face team control Magic Dragon early on, with Adidas looking particularly good, but he soon becomes face in peril. Loved how vicious Checkmate was on tagging in, with nasty driven knees to the thighs of Adidas, and even stomping on his hands as he rested on the mat. Just not giving him time to get comfortable. Madril essentially cheats by coming in as the heels control Adidas, though the brief melee doesn’t lead to a face comeback. I liked Checkmate holding Adidas by the legs for a pin attempt and, when Adidas lifts a shoulder, Checkmate uses that momentum to turn him over for a deathlock. There’s a nice hot tag to Madril, who looks really fired up, but a flying knee to the face of Adidas by Kabuki is enough for the heel win.

Kevin von Erich vs King Kong Bundy

Bundy looks a lot leaner here than the “walking condominium” he’d be in later years, though he still substantially outweighs von Erich. Kevin looks convincing on offence against the bigger man, mainly due to the convincing aggression he puts behind his blows, and he crashes into a Bundy knee with the same full force to give Bundy the control. Love how high Bundy lifts von Erich in the air to apply a bearhug, looked really good. Kevin is really good at fighting from underneath, always trying to sneak in a punch or two, always fighting, before a Bundy blow puts him down again. The end sees Kevin avoid an avalanche, but the ref gets bumped allowing Bundy to through von Erich over the top without being disqualified, and a suplex gives him the win. Good match.

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 05/05/1986

The Funk Brothers vs Ivan McDonald & Jeff Gripley

Mildly disappointing squash, with the Funks not looking as impressive as you’d hope. It’s not so much their execution, as I dug Terry’s headbutts whilst holding onto the hair of Gripley, it’s more to do with the layout. The Funks seem to have Gripley done, after a big piledriver by Dory and a neckbreaker by Terry, but then Dory just puts him into an armbar. Feels odd after two moves designed to impact the neck, and it’s not like they’re building to anything with it – just feels like padding to draw out the match time. In the end, Terry works over Gripley’s leg and Dory locks in a Texas Cloverleaf to win

Bobby Heenan vs Sal Bellomo

My old nemesis Bellomo, here a clean shaven face, is put into an odd situation, facing off against Heenan in a rare match that he hasn’t been coerced into. Even more oddly, Heenan gives a clean handshake to start. I enjoyed this more than I expected, as both guys exchange some cheapshots despite the handshake, and both are bumping big. Bellomo takes a backdrop bump bigger than all the ECW one’s I’ve seen so far combined. I also liked Bellomo’s JYD headbutts in the corner from his knees. The end sees Heenan sit down on a sunset flip for the clean win. Man, Bellomo was low on the jobber chain here.

B Brian Blair vs Iron Mike Sharpe

No complaints with this one, really enjoyed it. Sharpe is so fun to watch, allowing Blair to make him look a total goon on a criss-cross and fleeing into the crowd to regroup after a flying headscissors. He’s also got these great looping punches. His backbreaker is sloppy, but Blair seems to be a big bumper to compensate for Sharpe’s lesser offence. Really enjoyed the spot where Sharpe refused to let Blair back into the ring, so Blair crawled underneath to surprise him from the backside. Thought Blair looked really good here, just crisp looking offence, nice punches and it kind of man me want to see more of a guy I’d previously barely registered. The ending was a disappointing double-count out, but this was fun.

Lanny Poffo vs The Gladiator

Gladiator is a pudgy guy in amateur wrestling tights and a faux-Kendo Nagasaki mask. Just a generic 80’s jobber costume. This is worked one the mat for the most part, and is quite nicely competitive there. Loved Poffo trying to escape by rolling out of an armbar, but remaining grounded. The Gladiator tries to change the style by punching Poffo in the corner, but he’s soon slammed and takes a moonsault for the Poffo win. If it ain’t broke, shouldn’t have fixed it…

Donna Christanello vs Linda Gonzalez

Christanello has one of those surnames that I’ve seen countless different spellings off, so apologies if I’m wrong. This is also worked primarily on the mat, but you don’t get the impression either lady is technically proficient, and instead it’s just something to do before being told to end the bout. I at least appreciated Donna pulling the tights of Gonzalez to give her leverage on a leglock. This isn’t very exciting, despite Gonzalez’s impressive bumping off a dropkick, and it’s a relief when Linda picks up the win with a decent bridging O’Connor roll.

Tony Atlas & Tony Garea vs Steve Lombardi & the Menace

The Menace is the least threatening jobber name I think I’ve heard. Lombardi really looks poor here, messing up a knee-to-the-gut sequence with Garea and having to readjust his footing so as not to arrive too early for an Atlas monkey flip. Atlas looks good here though, really nice agility, and his press slam and splash gets the win over the Menace. This was short and a bit pointless.

The Hart Foundation vs Ron Dee & Mario Mancini

The Harts look great here, really nicely executed squash. Bret nails a sharp looking back elbow on Mancini and Neidhart follows up with a big slam. Just competently breaking down the jobbers. Dee only tags in at the end, and is almost immediately met with a killer Hart Attack, as Anvil whips him off the rope and lifts him JUST in time for the Bret clothesline. Perfect timing, made the move look even deadlier.

Ted Arcidi vs Chuck Simpson

Not much to this. Arcidi can’t really do much, and for such a muscly guy, his power spots looked pretty lame. A beal across the ring on Simpson looked more like his opponent stumbling over his feet. Arcidi doesn’t have much offence, beside a nice clothesline, and Simpson doesn’t bump well enough to compensate. An overhead backbreaker gets the submission to not much reaction.

King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd vs Jim Powers & Mike Saxon

On commentary, Vince is very keen to highlight that Saxon isn’t Michael Jackson. Another disappointing squash, sadly, as the big lads are mainly content to whip Saxon into the ropes and let him run into them. I did love how nasty Bundy’s kneedrop looked, just a big weight falling directly onto Saxon’s chest. Studd contributes little, until an assisted avalanche and an elbow gives Bundy the three (or five). Powers was barely involved.

WWE True Giants - Disk One

As a fan of the Big Lads of pro-wrestling, this was a really great 3 disk collection put out last year. The documentary part was really fun, and then 2 disks were just made up of some really interesting looking matches. This is the first disk, with the other one hopefully coming up later this week.

Bruno Sammartino vs Ernie Ladd

Pretty enjoyable match for the most part, with Ladd working a load of fun cheating into the match. They establish before the bell rings that Ladd has a thumb weapon hidden on his person that you know will come into play at some point. Really liked Ladd’s sense of positioning, using his long legs to put his feet on the ropes when applying a bearhug to Bruno, and constantly circling whilst choking Bruno to prevent the referee seeing what he’s doing. Bruno makes a comeback, and Ladd bumps big for him, seesawing himself in the ropes. Ladd retrieves his weapon and uses it to take advantage again. Ladd hits some weak looking shoulderblocks, but his big legdrop looks as good as ever. Ladd misses a top rope splash, however, and that’s good enough for the pin for Sammartino.

Gorilla Monsoon vs Superstar Billy Graham

I can only assume they didn’t have many Monsoon matches in the archives, as this is pretty poor. Shame, as it starts off really well. Graham tries to knock Monsoon down, with Monsoon barely reacting. Suddenly, Monsoon explodes with his own shoulderblock to down Graham, quickly locks on a giant swing and then blasts Graham with a splash, with only the ropes saving Superstar. So great, it just came out of nowhere and suddenly Graham was nearly done. From then on, it’s all Superstar. He takes control with a low blow and applies two back-to-back bearhugs on Monsoon. He continues working the lower back, ramming Monsoon into the railings outside then hits a top rope kneedrop for the anticlimactic win (with Monsoon’s feet clearly in the ropes). Graham’s control was pretty dull and this went rapidly downhill after the fun opening.

Haystacks Calhoun vs Nikolai Volkoff

Very quick match. Some basic brawling to start, before Calhoun traps Volkoff in the corner and splashes him. Volkoff misses a knee charge and gets splashed for the win. Nothing to this.

Ernie Ladd vs Kerry von Erich

Bit scrappy this one, I’ve seen better from these two. There’s just too many moments where it feels like they aren’t on the same page, and have to slow it down to reset. That said, there were good things here too. Ladd is so good at using his size to immediately reach for the ropes when Von Erich puts any hold on him, and I love little things like shaking his own hand after a chop because he hit Kerry so hard. Kerry wears the Big Cat down by ramming his head into the turnbuckles, with Ladd slowly going down to a knee and getting rammed into the middle buckles. Ladd takes over with a foreign object, just as in the Bruno match, but there’s some fun turnabout as Kerry grabs the fist and causes Ladd to hit himself instead. These moments just make it more frustrating when things go off the rails again, before Kerry wins with a sloppy top rope sunset flip.

Ernie Ladd & the Wild Samoans vs Andre The Giant, Dusty Rhodes & Junkyard Dog

This is a really quick sprint, but it’s a load of fun. It’s not pretty, but they work a high tempo and keep the tags quick enough to maintain that pace. Loved the heels trying to isolate Andre in their corner, only for him to free himself, dragging Ladd and one of the Samoans with him as he gets to his own corner. The heels find it hard to gain any traction, until Ladd breaks an Andre pin with a legdrop, and the Samoans slam Andre. Things quickly break down and Andre is able to hit a 2^nd rope splash on Ladd for the win.

King Kong Bundy vs Dusty Rhodes

Two big boys colliding here. Dusty outpaces Bundy to start, peppering him with punches. Dusty gets huge reactions just by teasing the elbow. Bundy works a bearhug, which is fun as they pepper in fun comebacks for Dusty. Dusty elbows his way to freedom and peppers Bundy’s head with more elbows, busting him open. This cues up One Man Gang to enter and draw the DQ ending. Fun match

Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd

This seems to be right at the start of Bobby Heenan’s WWF run, with Gene Okerlund and Monsoon basically introducing him to the audience with their commentary. Hogan is so great in this match, all fired up and ready to fight. He absolutely nails Studd with a running back elbow in the corner, which looks great. Studd takes over after blocking a slam, and he’s really not a fun offensive wrestler. Just methodical clubbing blows. Hogan bleeds nastily, with blood smearing the ring apron and his white trunks, and this seems to fire him up. Hogan’s angry attack is great, but they end up fighting outside the ring, with Heenan pushing Studd back in to beat the count at Hogan’s expense. This was the best Studd match I’ve seen, and that’s because Hogan brought the fire.

Kamala vs Andre The Giant

This is a cage match, and is exceptionally tedious. The start is fine, with Andre ramming Kamala into the cage causing Kamala to want to find a way out quickly. He does manage to overwhelm Andre and nail a splash, but tries for a pin due to not knowing the rules. We then endure a LOOOOOONG stretch of Kamala chopping and choking Andre, trying to escape, Andre grabbing his foot, repeat ad infinitum. This is finally broken by Andre grabbing Kamala and choking him out, slamming him and nailing a top rope buttdrop before escaping. This was terrible.

One Man Gang vs Shawn Michaels

Complete squash. Gang clubs Michaels to the floor, hits a big clothesline and powerslam in the ring and finishes with the 747

The British Bulldogs vs King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd

Same match as from the Bulldogs’ VHS I wrote about 5 years ago. Decent little match, with the Bulldogs using speed and superior double-teaming to control early on, but suffering as soon as Bundy isolates Davey Boy. Bundy is clearly better than Studd, with his offence looking far more painful and moving with more speed. Bit of a cheap ending as Dynamite Kid suddenly runs in, locking on a sleeper that looks like he’s pulling Studd’s head off, and we get a DQ win for the Bulldogs as Studd pushes the referee over. This was fine.

One Man Gang vs Ted DiBiase

Really liked DiBiase here, showed great babyface fire. Gang was the perfect foil, not only having good control and convincingly wearing DiBiase down, but also allowing for well timed openings on DiBiase’s comebacks. A missed elbow by Gang shakes the ring, and I loved how DiBiase keeps moving wherever possible. Gang misses the 747, and DiBiase tries a figure four. Gang’s leg strength sends Ted into the ropes, where he bumps heads with Skandor Akbar, the Gang’s manager. DiBiase is out, and Gang hits the 747 to the back, before hitting one from the second rope to confirm the pinfall victory. Really dug this.

Andre The Giant vs Randy Savage

This is for Savage’s WWF title. Some fun hullaballoo to start, with the ref sending Bobby Heenan to the back. Andre sneak attacks to start, hitting a big headbutt to send Savage to the floor. Even better, when Savage is on the apron, he hits a massive chop to bring Savage back into the ring. Loved Savage’s comeback where he just runs right by a big boot and hits a clothesline to tie Andre up in the ropes. Andre frees an arm and one chop is enough to stagger Savage, playing up Andre’s size advantage. Savage goes up and hits the double-axe handle, but misses the top rope elbow (with terrible camera work missing the whole thing). Andre goes to the floor and tries to grab Elizabeth, leading to a brawl and double count out. Disappointing ending. The post-match is pretty wild, with Andre grabbing the belt and roughing up the referee, demanding to be declared champion. Andre stands alone in the ring with the title to round out this disk.

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!