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WWF Championship Wrestling 6/9/84

June 9, 1984


Mean Gene is our host tonight. Vince is not here for the next three shows as his father passed away two days prior to the tapings. He tells us that this week’s featured matches are Tony Garea vs. Paul Orndorff and Terry Daniels vs. Iron Sheik.

Tony Garea vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff

Gene welcomes Lord Alfred Hayes on commentary. As bad as he was, he has nothing on Okerlund in terms of sucking. Orndorff starts by yelling at the ref and taking off his coat slowly, which irritates the crowd. They do some matwork to start things off. Garea ducks a clothesline and hits an atomic drop then works on the arm. Orndorff knees down Garea but misses an elbow drop. Garea goes back to the arm and Orndorff breaks but misses a charge in the corner. Dropkick by Garea and he gets Orndorff in a small package but that is reversed and Orndorff gets the win (5:42)

Thoughts: There was no reason for Orndorff to sell this much for Garea. Speaking of Garea, I have no idea why they tried to protect him in defeat. Hell, they protected Garea better here than they do 85% of the roster today. Orndorff should have destroyed this clown with a piledriver in under three minutes.


WWF Update with Vince McMahon. This week’s spotlight is on Tito Santana as we see a clip of him giving Charlie Fulton a flying forearm. They then show a photo of Tito with some kid in Pennsylvania who won a contest that allowed him to have lunch with his favorite WWF superstar. I have to say, this was lame, even for 1984 standards.


Okerlund is on the Piper’s Pit set. The studio is empty as he warns us about what we are about to see. They show us Piper’s Pit with Jimmy Snuka as the guest. This was filmed a few months before it was aired on WWF TV. Piper tells Snuka that he wants to make him feel like he is at home then proceeds to give Sunka a pineapple, coconut, and a banana. Piper then apologizes for not bringing Snuka a tree for him to climb. That is a line you can not get away with today. Snuka tells Piper that he is not afraid of him and Piper’s hits him off the head with a coconut from behind. Piper mashes the banana in his face then takes off his belt and whips Snuka, calling him “Boy” several times. Piper then yells how everyone wants to be big time as Snuka slowly gets up. Piper leaves out the door and slams it shut as Snuka is beating on the door and going crazy. A few other wrestlers come out and hold back Snuka, who is just irate. A tremendous segment and one of the best ways to kick off a feud. Both men were great here, especially Piper, who was one of the better agitators in the history of pro wrestling.


SD Jones vs. Jesse “The Body” Ventura

Ventura returns to the WWF after a few years. Jesse stalls for time by taking off his earrings. He backs SD into the ropes and breaks cleanly. Jesse then knocks him down and works the arm for a long time. He pulls down SD by the hair and stomps away. SD makes a brief comeback but misses a charge in the corner. Jesse chops him down and puts on a front facelock. SD escapes and gets in some token offense before Jesse takes him down. He hits SD with an inverted atomic drop then drops the elbow of the win (4:51). After the match, Jesse does several poses, which pisses off SD. He chases after Jesse then they work a criss-cross spot that ends with Jesse pulling up on the ropes and falling down before rolling away. The crowd popped for that.

Thoughts: Not much of a match, Jesse wasn’t a good worker to begin with, but he could work the crowd well. His re-introduction to the WWF went well though.


Piper’s Pit with Capt. Lou Albano. He presents Piper with an achievement award from the “Rowdy Roddy Piper” fan club. Piper thanks him then states how he called Burt Reynolds and other celebs and promises that Cyndi Lauper will be here next week. Albano then yells about Dave Wolff, calling him “Dave Dog” as the crowd gets excited. Good segment and It made you intrigued to see next week’ show.


Plug for the WWF Magazine


Terry Daniels vs. Iron Sheik w/Freddy Blassie

Okerlund says that Sgt. Slaughter has some travel problems and still hasn’t made it to the arena. Sheik yells at the crowd to start things off. They do some matwork to start and Daniels gains the advantage, to the delight of the crowd. The camera shows Slaughter, dressed in a “Cobra Corps” shirt standing in the entrance way. Sunset flip by Daniels gets two. He ducks his head off of a whip and Sheik kicks him in the face and Okerlund calls that a “controversial move.” And people think Michael Cole is the worst. Sheik slams Daniels then mocks the military salute. He proceeds to slap Daniels repeatedly in the face. Suplex by Sheik and he spits on Daniels. More slaps from the Sheik then he slams him again. Sarge moves closer to the ring as Daniels is getting destroyed. Sheik sends Daniels halfway across the ring with a forearm smash then heads up top. Sarge then shoves him off as the ref rings the bell for the DQ (4:37). Sheik and Blassie bail, with the Sheik yelling “Iran number one” into the camera. Sarge checks on Daniels and raises his hand as the crowd applauds.

Thoughts: Good advancement of the Slaughter/Sheik feud. Daniels was a decent worker but did nothing of note besides this in the WWF. Sarge is insanely over with the crowd. I still wonder what would have happened had he not left the WWF.


Salvatore Bellomo vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton

Bellomo is booed by the crowd, which makes sense because he is terrible. They start by trading off working the arm. Orton gets a drop toehold then boots Bellomo in the face. Slam by Orton and that is followed by an elbow drop. He puts Bellomo in a headlock as Hayes puts him over on commentary as one of the best wrestlers in the company. Bellomo fights back with terrible looking punches. He charges at Orton but gets tossed to the floor. Orton climbs up top and hits a forearm to the back. After a brief struggle, he suplexes Bellomo back into the ring and gets the pin (2:33)

Thoughts: Orton destroyed Bellomo, which is always enjoyable. They are starting to push him and he really was one of the better workers in wrestling at this time.

Next week’s matches include Bob Orton vs. Tito Santana in a non-title bout and the featured bout, which is B. Brian Blair vs. David Schultz. Also, the Wild Samoans and Jesse Ventura will be in action and Cyndi Lauper will be on the Piper’s Pit.


Final Thoughts: This was a decent show. Thy kicked off the Piper/Snuka feud and advanced the Lauper angle and the Sheik/Slaughter feud. Ventura had a decent return and nothing was horrible. They are starting to push the newer talent ahead of the old guard, which was desperately needed.

Comments

  1. Re: Orndorff-Garea: I have to disagree that gave Garea too much. While Garea virtually never won by this point, he was only a couple of years removed from his last tag title reign. He was still more JTTS than jobber. By keeping this match from being an outright squash, it enables them to keep future victories over Garea as seeming meaningful. Or at least more meaningful than a win over, say, Israel Matia or Dave Barbie. Then, if you're debuting a monster heel, you have HIM destroy Garea, making it more impressive. Orndorff was great, but not booked as a monster. Makes a lot more sense than today's booking, where wins and losses are virtually inconsequential.

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  2. I know this isn't the show but in seeing Orndorff's MSG debut in January of this same year, plus Muraco's look against Tito, you can really see that steroids had not hit it big with the guys. Orndorff was still cut but two years later he was MUCH bigger. and of course Muraco went from pudgy at the beginning of 84 to a roided up freak by 87.

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  3. I agree with your points but Orndorff could have beat Garea with his finisher instead of a small package reversal, which is a fluky win. They are pushing Orndorff so have him win with his finisher. Garea was only winning against the Israel Matia's of the world at this point anyway.

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  4. Totally fair point, I wasn't even thinking about the small package reversal. You're right, he should've at least piledriven him back to Auckland, New Zealand.

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  5. In any event, I love reading these sequential recaps, please keep them coming!

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