CHIKARA International Invasion of the International Invaders

Melvin Snodgrass vs Darkness Crabtree vs Ultramantis vs Jigsaw vs Sumie Sukai vs Jon Thornhill vs American Gigolo vs Mr ZERO vs Blind Rage

Opening match rumble to kill some time basically, with the winner facing Hallowicked for the Young Lions Cup later in the night. It opened with some old man comedy between Snodgrass and Crabtree, before Ultramantis hurled both guys out with gusto. There wasn’t much drama in this rumble, as most elimination attempts consisted of people hugging other wrestlers stood near the ropes, though Jigsaw took a dumb looking bump from a Sukai dropkick to be eliminated. Blind Rage, who has been the most impressive guy in early CHIKARA, gets binned almost right away, before ZERO eliminates Gigolo and Ultramantis at the same time to win. Some tension is teased between Ultramantis and ZERO at the end.

Rorschach vs Jolly Roger

Roger is basically working a party pirate gimmick and I kinda hate him. This is a pretty bland match, just passable rookie wrestling, with a few fun touches. I like Rorschach chopping Roger in the back, like a cat o’ nine tails, and you could see the Quackenbush training as he locks in a fun looking submission. There’s a terrible spot where Roger waits awkwardly on the turnbuckles, just waiting to be powerbombed, but on the whole, this was ok. Roger wins with a running unprettier, called Walk The Plank

American Gigolo vs Ultramantis

Gigolo is more experienced and there’s a noticeable upgrade in crispness from the previous match. Gigolo heels it up nicely, cheating to retain control, and I loved his seated Cattle Mutilation. Ultramantis makes a comeback and gets a two off a Skull Crushing Finale. Gigolo is still ahead and is able to regain control easily, locking in a beautiful takeover pin for the nearfall, only for Ultramantis to get a crucifix pin for the win. Short match, but fine.

Hallowicked vs Mr ZERO

This was actually pretty good. Loved the early matwork, with nice little touches like ZERO punching Hallowicked in the knee to break a body scissors. Both guys have their partners on the outside, and Hallowicked keeps provoking Ultramantis which allows Blind Rage to interfere on his behalf. Hallowicked concentrates his attack on ZERO’s head and neck, hitting a DDT and two neckbreakers, as well as teeing off with punches and kicks. ZERO gets to make a comeback after Hallowicked takes a needless chance, missing a cartwheel splash in the corner. Two uranage’s get two. Hallowicked hits a non-too-pretty looking sunset flip, before Rage drops ZERO neckfirst on the rope. This allows Hallowicked to hit a Michinoku Driver for the win. Pretty fun.

Jigsaw vs Sumie Sakai

I’m not a big intergender fan, but this was pretty well worked. Here, it actually made sense for Sakai to be able to control at the start of the match, given that she’s more experienced than a relative rookie in Jigsaw, and Jigsaw is so rail thin here that you buy her being able to knock him over without too much hassle. Jigsaw really bumps and stooges throughout the match to put over her offence too. When he does get control, Jigsaw does real asshole stuff, like standing on her face in the corner. He gets a really close two count off a Death Valley Driver after doing squats with her on his shoulders. Sukai’s comebacks come after Jigsaw gets too cocky, missing an elbow after dicking around, though he also gets screwed by the ref delaying him going to the top rope for a missed corkscrew splash. Jigsaw takes a few more massive bumps to put over Sukai’s missile dropkicks, but her moonsault only gets knees and a superkick gives Jigsaw the win. Again, not my favourite type of match, but this was ok.

The Wildcards vs Gran Akuma & Icarus

This was built up earlier after the Wildcards accepted a challenge for a match by attacking from behind, and severely working over Akuma’s leg. The result of this is that Icarus comes out alone and, though he runs wild at first, the Wildcards number advantage gives us a handicap match. Marciano hits a lovely flying knee to the head to down Icarus and the Wildcards are in total control Kingston is so confident he just hangs about in the crowd, while Marciano dominates. Eventually, Akuma comes to the ring on crutches to help out his partner, but even when Icarus gets a few hope spots (like a nice crossbody for 2), he refuses to tag in Akuma. Akuma eventually blind tags in, and gets in a few bits of offence that don’t involve his knee, causing the Wildcards to collide into each other and hitting a nice one-legged dropkick on Kingston. Eventually though, Marciano hits him with a chop block and Kingston locks in the Kondo Clutch. Just to rub it in, Marciano handcuffs Icarus to the ropes to leave Akuma no choice but to tap. More angle than match, but the Wildcards were great as heels here.

Skayde vs Mike Quackenbush

This is for Skayde’s AULL Mexican Middleweight title and is 2/3 falls. With this in mind, it’s a very brief match, with the second and third falls being particularly short. The match kicked off with some lovely matwork, with some impressive holds and counters being used, most of which I don’t know the names off.Things start to heat up as both find their way into the match. It’s Quack who hits a suicide dive to really push things along, and inside Skayde seems to be driven by this, hitting a legdrop to Quacks head and tying him up to earn the tap out. The second fall also kicks off with matwork, but takes less time to get heated as Skayde starts slamming Quackenbush to the match, seemingly to get a quick win, but Quack hits the Quackendriver for the equalising fall. The final fall sees a big dive by Skayde early on, and Quack take a nasty looking bump as American Gigolo pushes Skayde out of the way of a suicide dive. The smack as Quack hits the floor is nasty. Quack just beats the count and hits a victory roll for the title. Odd match, what we got was really good, but it seemed to be over before it really got going.

WWE Main Event 18/03/2014

Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs The Real Americans

Really fun tag match, with all four guys adding little touches to make this more than just a run-of-the-mill tag match. Liked Cesaro at least trying to stop Cody hitting the Disaster Kick by making for the ropes as he hits it. Goldust was looking terrific at this point, leaping gracefully into the Code Red. A double dive to the floor by the Rhodes Brothers is as fun as it is unexpected. Cesaro’s strength allows him to easily correct spots that nearly go awry, using raw power to catch Goldust and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Loved Swagger’s cocky bullying of Goldust, just shoving him across the mat to get him into place for the Swagger Bomb. The Real Americans work a fun heat section on Goldust, including a great near tag where Cesaro shoves Cody off the apron at the last second. Cody was hot fire on the eventual tag, loved his moonsault press to Swagger. The end was great as Swagger locked in the Patriot Lock on Cody, who tried to break the hold frantically with boots to the feet before escaping and hitting the CrossRhodes for the win. Great stuff.

The Funkadactyls vs Layla & Alicia Fox

Naomi still has her eyepatch on here, so of course Fox aims some early elbows to that eye. My notes state that Cameron hit a “wheelbarrow something”, which tells you how good that move looked. Layla looks great here, loved her fluid takeover into a pin, and she stooges about really well. As per usual, Fox’s Northern Lights suplex looks great. Naomi comes in on the hot tag, and though full of energy, she looks a little sloppy. Her heel turn has really helped her slow down and crispen up her moves. Cameron botches a move where she’s supposed to leap off Fox’s back, before Naomi hits the Rear View and a split-legged moonsault for the win. The heel team looked a lot more capable here.

The Big Show vs Titus O’Neill   

Pretty brief, but there was stuff to enjoy here. Titus shows Big Show no respect early on, earning himself an hilarious tour of chops by Show, who really milks the impact of each one. A chop block by Titus looks great, and is a realistic way for him to take over. Clash of the Titus gets two, despite looking super impressive but Show catches him on a corner splash with the KO punch for the win.

WWE Main Event 11/03/2014

Los Matadores vs Rybaxel

Really fun opener here, I’ve been really enjoying Los Matadores on these C-shows. Loved them totally outsmarting Ryback to start here, and Ryback sells the confusion well as the matadors tag quickly and zip around him. Ryback yelling “stupid” at a matador trying to sunset flip him, before missing a sitdown splash, cracked me up. Axel takes control after a clothesline to the back of Fernando’s head, and I really dug Axel’s control here. Everything looked to have purpose behind it, especially a cracking knee to the head. Ryback preventing a hot tag by just punching Diego in the head on the apron was the perfect move for him. Even better, when Diego does get tagged in and runs wild on the hot tag, he makes sure to dropkick Ryback off the apron as a receipt. Axel gets distracted by El Torito, and that’s enough to get him rolled up for the Los Matadores win.

AJ Lee vs Natalya

Divas title match. The problem I had when AJ Lee fought Natalya is that I never bought Lee being able to control Nattie as easily as she would. Against other women, it didn’t feel unlikely that AJ could match them for power, or be able to outsmart or outwrestle them, but I never bought it against Natalya. Natalya is stronger, is at least as capable on the mat and is probably no slower than AJ. Even in the early going here, Nattie is no-nonsense, dominating AJ on the mat with a headlock and resisting all efforts to break it. We cut to a break with Natalya dominant, and we return to AJ in control, though they at least show a replay to highlight this was due to Tamina’s interference. I liked AJ’s plan of trying to put Nattie out with two guillotine chokes, one coming from a great reversal of a slam. Still doesn’t justify the unlikely sight of AJ powering Nattie over with a clothesline (especially as Natalya decides to bump huge for it). Both ladies gets their signature submission holds on, before Natalya badly telegraphs an AJ flying knee by looking over at AJ when supposedly distracted by Tamina, and the Black Widow gets the tap for Lee.

Dean Ambrose vs Mark Henry

Another title match, this time for the US title. There’s a lovely moment before the bell when Henry stares down all three Shield members, and looks like the hardest man on earth in doing so. It is a Shield distraction that allows Ambrose to take over after an early Henry flourish, and I dug the diving knee drop from the apron to Henry’s back from Ambrose. Ambrose works over the left leg of Henry, and it looks really vicious. Kinda surprising, as Ambrose’s execution is a lot more lacking nowadays. Henry’s selling is terrific throughout, really selling the difficulty he was having returning to his feet, as Ambrose hits a beautiful diving punch to the back of the knee. I like Ambrose’s tactic here, as he uses the hurt leg as a vehicle to keep Henry down and then punish him with punches, chokes etc. Henry’s comeback is great stuff too, as Ambrose takes too long getting up to the top rope, so Henry uses a quick blast of speed to get up and throw him off. Sometimes forge just how athletic Henry is. The end sees Henry try a Vader bomb, but gets distracted by Roman Reigns, allowing Ambrose to sweep him off the ropes and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Loved this.

Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden 25/01/2007

Didn't know too much about this show when I picked it up, based purely on the line-up. A little digging tells me this is the first of a series of shows produced by Masaaki Mochizuki, which seems to be heavily assisted by Dragon Gate, whose ring is used and whose logo is all over this show. This was a pretty enjoyable 2 hours.

Naruki Doi, Gamma & Masato Yoshino vs Daichi Kakimoto, Super Shenron & Turboman

Not familiar with any of the second team here, though Google Image Search brings up Shenron as some anime character, so I guess him and Turboman are cartoon character inspired. This match is clipped, which is a shame, as it’s pretty fun, and unsurprisingly moves at a pretty fast pace. Gamma has this horrible spot where he gets his opponents in the corner, as if to hit 10 count punches, but instead spits in his hands and rubs it on his opponent. Lovely. Kakimoto was pretty impressive here, he’s the guy who gets worked over the most, but he had some lovely strength spots, including stopping a Doi small package and deadlifting him from the floor to slam him. There are a few comedy spots that get lost in translation, but I dug a rana by Turboman that whipped the opponent over with real speed before Yoshino hits him with a Paige Turner for the win.

Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs Shori Asahi & Makoto Oishi

Asahi and Oishi play heel here, coming to the ring with an entourage who aren’t afraid to interfere. The first part of this is wrestled like a classic tag match, with Horiguchi playing face-in-peril after getting low blowed. He even gets whipped by a valet on the floor. It breaks down as Saito enters without a tag and essentially becomes a tornado tag. There’s a lot of action, well-executed, but it feels like a missed opportunity, even if I accept that’s an affect of the style. Loved the camera work that saw Saito hit a frogsplash from out of nowhere onto Oishi, looked great. Asahi and Oishi always seem one step ahead of their opponents, outsmarting them and even causing friction when Saito is used to break up his own partners pin by being pushed on top. The end sees Saito rally and hit a dragon suplex on Oisahi, but Asahi hits the ref with a skateboard and the entourage come in to beat up Horiguchi and Saito for the DQ

Danshoku Dino vs Akira Tozawa

This is the first time I’ve seen Dino, but I’m fully aware of his character. Essentially, he’s like Pepe Le Pew, only wanting to molest wrestlers rather than paint-stained cats. This is a comedy match, with Dino essentially fondling Tozawa for laughs. It’s odd seeing sexual harassment played up for comedy, and this is the epitome of the match you don’t want people walking in on when you’re watching it. Tozawa turns the tables on Dino by stripping down to some tiny pants and straddling HIS face, in an interesting twist (and that sentence will do nothing for my Google search stats on Blogspot). Tozawa even does that “Joey Ryan overpowers his opponent with his penis” spot 9 years before it became a popular gif. Dino hits a tombstone with Tozawa’s head stuffed in his pants for two, and hits a piledriver the same way for three.

Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Onryo vs Don Fujii & Yamato Onodera

Pretty decent tag match here, with a healthy dose of schtick for good measure. Loved Don Fujii demanding to fight Kuroda early on, then immediately tagging out to Onodera. There’s a good chunk of crowd brawling, with both Fujii and Kuroda managing to hit their partners accidentally, and a few choice comedy bits – Kuroda does his patented “smash opponent legs into the ring post then elbow the leg” spot, and gets an old lady from the crowd to also hit an elbow to the leg of Fujii. Meanwhile, while all this is going on, Onryo and Onodera are having a pretty decent series in the ring. Loved Onryo stopping a three count by grabbing the ref’s hand as he was about to hit the mat for the third time. Keeping hold of the hand, he uses it to strike Onodera before downing him with a crucifix to win.

Kintaro Kanemura & Mammoth Sasaki vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Magnitude Kishiwada

Kanamura really looks like shit here, all strapped up and looking beaten down, which makes it kinda great that he’s still able to bust out ranas and an Asai moonsault (of sorts). Sasaki seems to be having a whale of a time in the match, grinning from ear to ear. Kanemura gets isolated and suffers the effects of the opposition bringing chairs into the ring, getting slammed onto them as well as taking a Death Valley Driver. I was pretty impressed by Sasaki hitting a Dragon suplex, which looked a lot better than the sloppy quebrada Kanemura hits. He makes up for it with a bulky top rope senton on Kishiwada for two. There’s a great power spot by Sekimoto, where Kishiwada hits a German suplex on Kanemura, from which position Sekimoto wheelbarrows Kanemura and deadlifts him into another German. It does feel like Kanemura is just dying out there, and by saving him Sasaki is only stopping him being put out of his misery. At least, until Kanemura grabs a backslide out of nowhere for the win. Pretty sloppy in places, but not without it’s charm.

BxB Hulk, CIMA & Matt Sydal vs TAKA Michinoku, MEN’s Teioh & Dick Togo

Yeah, this was really great, and even Teioh was able to keep up well. There are some lovely pairings in this that just make you wonder about a singles match, with the mid-match Sydal/Togo face-off being really fun to watch. I loved the triple teaming by both teams: Kaientai using Hulk for the traditional pose and a great sequence where CIMA and Hulk team up for a double-team Codebreaker on Michinoku, punctuated by Sydal hitting a standing moonsault whilst stood on TAKA’s back. Togo is probably the standout guy here, he just seems to put a little extra something on everything he does, and I thought his high-angle slingshot senton looked excellent. The final few minutes sees everything break down, and we go through a breathtaking sequence of moves before Hulk gets picked off by the Miracle Ecstasy Bomb from Teioh and a big Togo top rope senton for the three. Loved this.

Masaaki Mochizuki & Minoru Tanaka vs Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita

Both Hidaka and Tanaka are holding Jr gold here, with Hidaka being Zero-1 International Jr Heavyweight champ and Tanaka being IWGP Jr Heavyweight champ. Tanaka was really fun here, and I loved him making a chump out of Fujita with a series of eye pokes and an over-the-top forward roll just to hit a low blow. The double-teaming by Mochizuki and Tanaka is really effective, nothing contrived, just one guy positioning an opponent to allow his partner to swiftly hit a move. Fujita feels like the weak link of the match: he’s decent, but some of his kicks are either off target or look realy milky. Mochizuki kicks the ringpost after Fujita ducks, and this allows Hidaka to go after the leg, working it over before locking in a figure four. I like the way they hark back to the injury throughout the match, highlighting it as a real weak point for Mochizuki. Hidaka and Tanaka work really well together, and their smooth sequence ends in a great spot where Tanaka has Hidaka locked in an armbar that Hidaka constantly gets THIS close to breaking before being powered back into it again. I loved the logic of Fujita going back to the injured leg of Mochizuki to lock on a Regal Stretch, and Hidaka holding a heel hook in Tanaka to stop him being able to break it, with Mochizuki instead getting the ropes. This is paid off at the end too, as this time it’s Tanaka holding Hidaka back with a return to the armbar, as Mochizuki kicks Fujita’s head off to pick up the win. Fun main event.

WWF Raw 28/2/1994

Randy Savage vs Yokozuna

Even though you knew Savage wasn’t going to win this match so close to Mania, they still did a good job of building this up, including Savage talking about doing the right thing and defending the title vs Luger and Bret. This was a really good effort from both men, with Savage setting a high tempo early by attacking Yoko before the bell. Savage is on fire, getting a close 2 on a clotheslines, and though Yoko tries to subdue him on the mat, Savage is too resilient and evades a Yoko splash. I liked Savage knocking Yoko to the outside, but really struggling to get the big man back in the ring. It made Savage look good, as if Yoko was only just holding on, and it allowed Jim Cornette to distract Savage and give Yokozuna the opening he needed to take control. They’re putting Savage over strongly here, so he soon regain control, and I loved Yoko’s wobble-selling as Savage hits a series of punches and a double-ax handle to try and knock him down. The end sees Fuji handing a wooden salt bucket to Yoko, only for Savage to grab it and use it himself. Flying elbow looks to have won it, but Crush comes in for the DQ. Really good bout.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Mike Khoury

Bland squash. Bigelow mainly hits punches and drops some elbows, though I liked him catching Khoury on a crossbody and hitting a World’s Strongest Slam. Standing enzuigiri gives Bigelow the win.

Earthquake vs Black Phantom

Phantom was a pre-fame, in-good-shape Gangrel. This was pretty enjoyable, including a fun spot where Quake dropped an elbow when Phantom did a dropdown from a Irish whip. Nice fat man dropkick from Earthquake, and a slam and sitdown splash finish.

Kwang vs John Chrystal

The Kwang gimmick sucked, but this is the second fun Kwang squash we’ve seen. Nice series of kicks, big meaty slams and a nice superkick to the jaw to win. No complaints here.

Men On A Mission vs the Brooklyn Brawler & Steve Smith

It’s for the best to pretend the Mo sections didn’t happen. His offense never looks good, and he’s pretty pointless. Mabel is really fun as the dominating force, hitting a massive legdrop on the Brawler, though his elbow drop only seems to graze Smith. Assisted splash on Smith gets the job done.

WWE Main Event 04/03/2014

Whether it's due to the (then) recent launch of the Network or the build to Wrestlemania, this episode of Main Event is positively star packed. But does having bigger names result in better matches?

Daniel Bryan vs Kane

Quite a big match for Main Event. Surprisingly good match here, best Kane match I’ve seen in a long time. Of course, being in there with Bryan helps, but it looks like Kane has upped his game knowing he’s in the ring with someone who’ll go all out. First indicator is when he whips Bryan to the buckle near the start, and immediately follows with a big clothesline. Just a noticeable burst of speed I don’t associate with Kane. Bryan’s comeback sees him work over the knee of Kane, who sells it superbly even on offence. It also adds an interesting element to their interactions with the size difference, as it gives Bryan a weak spot to concentrate on and an easy focal point for his comebacks. At the same time, one shot from Kane is enough to take Bryan down, so both are vulnerable even when on offence. Bryan goes on a kick blitz that sees Kane positively wilt. Bryan lands on the back of his head following a failed top rope rana, which is a bit cringeworthy knowing what we do now. Kane tries a chokeslam, but Bryan hoists himself over for a sunset flip for the victory. Pleasant surprise.

Nikki Bella vs Alicia Fox

Also interesting to see Nikki slumming it on the C-show. Fox is on point throughout the match, hurling herself with gusto into Nikki’s slightly weak offence. Nikki got to be really good as a heel later this year, but as a face she’s a bit too lightweight. Not as much fun as the Nikki Bella who beasts women with massive forearm shots to the face. Fox is great on offence – her Northern Lights suplex is always terrific, and I liked her choking Nikki over the ropes whilst dismissively slapping her head. Nikki makes an uninspired comeback and hits the Rack Attack from nowhere for the win.

The Usos vs Los Matadores

This is the Usos first title defence, and is due to be against the New Age Outlaws, but the NAO claim injury and are replaced by Fernando and Diego. To be honest, it most likely resulted in a better match. A really fluid and fun opening ends with a dive series, before the matadors take control with a nice dropkick/legsweep combo. Los Matadores continue to work over the isolated Uso and, barring a sloppy two-man monkey flip, incorporate a nice mix of double teams. Fernando gets a real shine spot, hitting a springboard twisting Swanton and landing on his feet when an Uso avoided the second. The Usos helpfully don’t fill this match with a thousand superkicks, so it’s acceptable when they hit just the one and win the match with a top rope splash. Fun bout.

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