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 07/07/1986

The Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka) vs Leilani Kai & Black Venus

Well then! Wasn’t expecting to see the Crush Gals pop up on an episode of Prime Time. This was a really neat curio, and all four ladies put in a good showing. Loved the slingshot Asuka used to send Kai faceplanting into the mat. I’d seen Venus before on a LPWA DVD, and I thought she looked better here. Nice stiff shots to the stomach and a neat straight jacket sleeper with a boot to the spine. Nagayo has a real fighters stance, looks like she’s alert for an opening at all times. Kai does nothing fancy here, but she’s just full of nasty heelish shots that create sympathy for the faces. Things heat up at the end, with the Crush Galls hitting nice looking kicks to Venus and Asuka finishes her off with a German suplex. Nice to see.

Billy Jack Haynes vs Frank Marconi

This is joined in progress, which is a relief as what we do get is terrible. Haynes holds a long chinlock, peppered with the odd clubbing blow. Actually comes across quite heelish, and it’s notable that he gets a few boos after his full Nelson win.

Harley Race vs SD Jones

Interesting showcase for Race here, felt like he was trying to keep Jones strong. Despite Race dominating proceedings, Jones gets to kick out of a lot of Race’s offence. High knee and a piledriver -2. Gut wrench suplex – 2. Race keeps going for pins after every move, with Jones kicking out, before a big powerslam gives him the victory.

Pedro Morales vs Barry O

Barry O gets a surprising amount of control in this match, given their respective statuses in the WWF. Morales was on the downward straight of his career, but he was still a former world champion and Barry O was basically a jobber. O has nice offence, big clothesline and a running chop to the neck. Morales takes a ridiculous bump to the floor, getting hurled by O over the top rope straight down. Loved O conducting the crowd as they started a “Pedro” chant. Morales looks great on the comeback, lovely energy and he’s got a range of nice blows. Lovely big backbreaker gives him the win.

Lanny Poffo & George Wells vs Johnny K-9 & Rusty Brooks

After watching this match, I decided to Google K-9, and man that’s an utterly baffling tale. Fun start, Brooks is a big slobbish fat guy who bumps about for Poffo’s hiptosses. Poffo hits a springboard plancha to the floor on K-9 which looks wild for the time. Poffo and Wells just wear down K-9 with quick tags and nice offence – Poffo hits some nasty looking grounded punches which felt quite out of character, before Wells pins him with a shoulderblock.

The Hart Foundation vs The Killer Bees

This was a great way to end the show, nicely competitive tag bout with both sides feeling like potential winners. The Bees control early with some nice double teaming on Neidhart, working over his legs. Nicely, they continue this policy when Bret gets tagged in, going for his legs too. Loved their double spinning toehold. Blair becomes face-in-peril after getting booted in the back running the ropes, and the bulk of the match sees him getting worn down. The Harts cheat really effectively, with some nice double teams and good timing on their distraction spots or rushing the face corner just before Blair can get there. We get a nice false tag after Blair reverses an Irish whip to the corner (including a trademark Bret bump) as Neidhart distracts the ref. When Anvil accidentally hits Bret, the crowd explode and the hot tag gets a terrific reaction. Brunzell looks great coming in, nails a lovely big dropkick, but Anvil clubs him in the back of the head running the ropes to get the cheap win.

WWF Philadelphia Spectrum 19/02/1983

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.

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 - Andre The Giant

I believe this is an old CHV release that they just directly ported to DVD, but it's nice to see they used full matches on this release, was expecting a whole bunch of clipping

Andre the Giant vs Moondog Rex

Quick little squash to show Andre’s physical dominance. Some fun little touches with Andre booting Rex up the arse as he tried to cower in the ropes, and I liked the raw power of Andre lifting Rex off the mat by the belt. Big boot and splash get the win.

Battle Royale

Real who’s who of names here….Hogan, Orndorff, Dick Murdoch, Mil Mascaras, Pat Patterson….and Salvatore Bellomo. Even the commentators don’t know who’s in there, as Gorilla Monsoon occasionally blurts out “Is that Alexis Smirnoff in there?” Fun spot sees Murdoch and Adrian Adonis try and take out Andre in the corner, only to get shrugged off with ease. Terrible camerawork means we almost miss Big John Studd getting eliminated by Hogan then dragging him out of the ring. Somehow, as we hit the final furlongs of the match, Smirnoff and Tiger Chun Lee are still in there, with Smirnoff making the final four. Alexis is soon dispatched, taking a massive bump over the top from an Andre atomic drop, before the Giant eliminates Murdoch and Adonis to win. This was fun.

Andre the Giant vs Black Gordman & Great Goliath

Handicap match, and pre-match Alfred Hayes highlights the empty front rows, as promoters were so worried about Andre throwing his opponents into the crowd, that they left those seats empty. Fans eat up all the size spots, laughing at Gordman trying to slam Andre and loving Andre placing Gordman on the top rope and slapping him. Goliath tries a go behind, but Andre rams his backside at him so hard, he flies out into the empty front row.  Just as the one-sided beating is wearing thin, Andre misses a corner charge and Gordman works him over with a concealed weapon. No matter, as Andre soon shows off his power, locking both men in a big body scissors and hitting a monkey flip on both men at the same time. Andre press slams Gordman onto Goliath and sits on the pair for the easy win.

Andre the Giant vs Johnny Rodz, Jack Evans & Joe Butcher Nova

Obviously not the Canadian high-flyer Jack Evans, though I’d love to see that. Andre repeats the body scissors/monkey flip spot from the previous handicap squash, so it was an obvious crowd pleaser. All three heels try a dogpile pin, which sees Andre power all three off. Nova and Rodz clash heads and Andre piles all three up and sits on them for the easy victory.

Andre the Giant vs Gorilla Monsoon

This is a boxing match from Puerto Rico, and is a lot of daft fun. None of this resembles a classic boxing match, with Monsoon punching Andre’s legs and hitting a spinning backfist of all things. Round 1 ends with Monsoon barely standing up, but he starts the second round in control until Andre hits a headbutt and a butt splash. Not strictly boxing moves. Andre hits three big roundhouses to the staggered Monsoon and stops him with an overhead punch for the KO in round 3. Stupid, but fun.

Andre The Giant & Jimmy Snuka vs The Wild Samoans

Man, Snuka is a pretty useless tag partner here. The first half of the match is just the Samoans destroying him whilst Andre watches on from the apron. To the point where now and then Andre will just get in the ring to hit a Samoan, probably through boredom. I did love Afa stopping Snuka getting a tag with a swift headbutt from the floor. Finally, Snuka tags in Andre to a MASSIVE pop, who blitzes the Samoans. Andre hits a big boot and Snuka hits a splash from Andre’s shoulders to pick up the win. The Samoans were fun on offence, so this was pretty decent.

Andre the Giant vs The Masked Superstar

Really enjoyed this. There’s a great visual early on where Superstar has a headlock on Andre, who just stands up with Superstar dangling from his neck. Andre dominates until Superstar hits a knee to the back and then wisely barrages Andre with blows until he falls to the floor. Superstar locks on a Cobra Clutch, but Andre escapes rather cheaply by trying to remove his opponents’ mask. Big boot and a butt splash seal the win.

Andre the Giant & SD Jones vs Ken Patera & Big John Studd

More angle than match, but what an angle. The heels isolate Jones early and work him over. Jones tags out, but is thrown over the top by Patera, hitting his head on the metal railings in the process. The heels swarm Andre, leading to the match getting thrown out, and they get scissors from Bobby Heenan to cut Andre’s hair. Hot angle to set up….

Andre the Giant vs Ken Patera

This is billed as the revenge match and is from MSG. Patera stalls to avoid the angry giant, but eventually gets caught by Andre, who throttles Patera. The faces Patera makes as he gets swung back and forth are hilarious. Patera gets very little offence, but ragdolls about all over the match for Andre, pretty impressive considering Patera is no small guy. He’s unable to escape the Giant, even outside the ring where he gets hurled into the railings. Heenan attacks Andre with brass knuckles, which briefly slows him down, and draws a DQ. Andre soon recovers and squashes both Heenan and Patera in the corner. Really fun, made better by Patera’s commitment to getting destroyed.

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd

This is the Wrestlemania slam challenge. The DVD commentary is done by Michael Cole and Tazz, but my DVD started skipping here, so I went to the network version. Forgot how brief and one-sided this is. Andre chops Studd to start before a long bearhug sequence. Andre maintains control and easily slams Studd. Wasn’t much to it, but I don’t think anyone was hoping there would be