WWF Championship Wrestling: November 10th, 1984

November 10^th, 1984

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon

In action tonight are the Tag Team Champions, Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch. Plus, Big John Studd, Tito Santana, David Sammartino, Brutus Beefcake and the Tonga Kid. Roddy Piper is back with Piper’s Pit and guest Barry Windham.

The Executioner vs. Tito Santana

Looks like Paul Kelly is still playing the Executioner. Santana grabs a headlock and continuously wrenches the neck. This goes on for a while until he punches him down. The Executioner attempts to go for the knee but Tito grabs another headlock. He knocks him out of the ring and Tito brings him back in with a snapmare. Tito hits a backdrop then goes for the figure-four but instead uses a bridge and gets the win (4:11).

Thoughts: They had Tito look strong in his first match from the injury angle. I liked Tito a lot but his squash matches at this time were very dull.

WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. This week’s subject is Hulk Hogan. Same deal as always, short clip of an entrance then Hayes puts you over for a bit.

Big John Studd w/Bobby Heenan vs. Tony Garea

The crowd chants for Hogan as Garea tries to slam Studd. He gets shoved to the floor and Heenan starts yelling at him. Garea fights back on the apron and lands on his feet after being tossed. He dodges a charge and fires away at Studd with his pathetic punches. The crowd is getting loud as the Hillbilly is shown. Garea then bounces off of Studd, who covers for the win (2:11).

Thoughts: In no way should Studd have sold this much for Garea. The crowd was red hot as they hated Studd and Heenan. The Hillbilly in the crowd is starting to get a bit old at this point.

Gene Okerlund is with Ivan Putski. He brings up the $50,000 Battle Royal in Los Angeles as Putski tells us that he likes LA broads with cleavage and brings up the time he and Gene met “Lucille” at the club. Putski promises that he will win and throw a Polish celebration afterwards, whatever the fuck that means. A bizarre interview. Meltzer wrote in the Observer at this time that Okerlund would constantly bring up real-life happenings in these interviews that the audience would have no clue about. I wonder if this was one of those occasions.

Rick McGraw & Jose Luis Rivera vs. Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch

The champs take turns working on the knee of McGraw, who was limping before the match. He finally tags out and the champs hit Rivera with their finisher almost immediately (2:26).

Thoughts: Simple match as they destroyed the knee of McGraw then hit Rivera with their finisher as soon as he tagged. They really made the champs look strong and they sold a lot in their TV matches. The tag team division was pure shit at this time.

Mean Gene is with Bobby Heenan, who is upset about the “Weasel” chants. He is representing Kamala for Freddie Blassie, who is on assignment. Kamala and Friday come out as Heenan is shocked that someone would marry Okerlund and cracks several jokes as Kamala is wandering around in front of the camera. Not Heenan’s best but still a solid interview.

Mario Mancini vs. Brutus Beefcake w/Luscious Johnny Valiant

Funny moment, as a fan holds up a sign that reads “Brutus Buttplug” right in front of the camera. The fans are actually taunting Beefcake, which is different than the usual silence that occurs whenever he sets foot in the ring.  Beefcake chokes out Mancini to start. He holds him over his head with one hand before slamming him down. Brutus then finishes off Mancini with a running kneelift (2:59).

Thoughts: Brutus was actually over a bit here, which was a minor miracle in itself. He is still a liability in the ring but after a few months straight of TV matches, he drew some heat. Johnny V wasn’t bringing much to the table as a manager.

Piper’s Pit with Barry Windham. Piper mocks Windham being from Texas, using an over-exaggerated accent. He orders Windham to stand up and take off his jacket as things are apparently turning homoerotic at the Pit. Piper makes a joke about women from Texas before comparing Windham to a woman, with his long legs, blond hair, and bandana. Windham asks Piper to take off his shirt, and he does, as this is starting to resemble a porno scene. Windham then makes a skirt joke before walking off. This was Piper trying to bully a younger wrestler mixed with some homoeroticism.  

Johnny Rodz vs. David Sammartino

They take it to the mat and it ends in a standoff. They trade shots in the corner then Rodz grabs a side headlock. He hammers away but gets kneed on a charge and Sammartino takes control. He grabs a chinlock but Rodz escapes. Rodz gets an elbow smash but Sammartino catches him with a powerslam for the win (2:31).

Thoughts: Match was fine but David, being billed as David Bruno Sammartino by Howard Finkel, was not getting over with the crowd. His father continues to stay silent on commentary whenever he wrestles. David tried but he had no charisma and looked like a bloated Rick McGraw and that is not the formula to create a wrestling star.

Another Billy Jack vignette. He still loves clean living and can’t wait to meet the fans. He was actually supposed to debut the following week on All-Star Wrestling but he left the promotion before that took place as, according to Meltzer, Vince promised to hire his mentor Stan Stasiak, as an announcer but decided against it at the last minute.

Dave Barbie vs. Tonga Kid

Tonga takes down Barbie and delivers some chops. He grabs a chinlock as McMahon updates the status of Snuka, stating that there is a chance that he might be able to return to the ring. Barbie is choking out Tonga. He whips Tonga in the corner but gets dropkicked. Tonga uses several headbutts before grabbing a front facelock. The fans are going nuts as Piper makes his way to the ring. Tonga is distracted and Barbie attacks him from behind. Scoop slam by Barbie only gets one. Tonga fights back as Piper is on the apron. Tonga chases him off then the fans erupt as Jimmy Snuka comes down the aisle and walks towards Piper, who leaves through the crowd. Snuka takes off his neck brace and the fans go crazy. It ends with Snuka and Tonga in the ring. No decision was made on the outcome of this match (5:22).

Thoughts: Match itself wasn’t much but the return of Snuka, chasing off Piper, was an awesome moment that had the fans go apeshit. This feud was really heating up and would continue to do so for the rest of the year.

Gene Okerlund is with Sgt. Slaughter and the Junkyard Dog. He asks them about their match in LA against Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik. After JYD quotes George Thorogood, Gene asks JYD about soul music as they do hand gestures in the background as Slaughter cuts his promo It ends with JYD and Sarge performing dueling military chants. Another bizarre and hilarious interview from Okerlund.

Final Thoughts: The return of Snuka was a huge moment and the highlight of the show. There was some wacky interview segments throughout that were amusing too. They put over Windham, which was a necessity as they lacked babyfaces with actual wrestling talent. Overall, a good show.