WWF Championship Wrestling March 2nd, 1985

March 2^nd, 1985

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon

This week, we will see clips of Leilani Kai defeating Wendi Richter for the Women’s Title at Madison Square Garden.

Carl Fury vs. Tito Santana

The announcers put over Tito for his competitiveness after coming back from injury. Fury complains to the ref of a hair-pull then walks into a punch. Tito works the arm as Vince plugs an upcoming interview with Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. This match is really dragging as Tito continues to work the arm. Tito lands a few punches and gets a backdrop before putting on the figure-four, scoring the win via submission (3:57). Tito celebrates with the fans as Vince tells us that nothing will stop Tito from regaining the Intercontinental Championship.

Thoughts: Dull match but they were putting over Tito stronger than usual on commentary. They are still limited on the face side of the roster when it comes to challengers to the Intercontinental Title so its really just Tito and JYD at this point.

WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. This week’s subject is the Junkyard Dog and how he is trying to win the Intercontinental Title from Greg Valentine.

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart vs. Jim Powers

There sure are a lot of guys named Jim involved in this match. That would not happen today. The Anvil catches Powers off a crossbody attempt then pounds away. He tosses Powers to the floor then follows out and slams him as Hart is laughing. The Anvil suplexes him back into the ring and delivers some more punishment. Powers comes back with a dropkick but the Anvil reverses an Irish whip and catches him with a powerslam for the win (3:25).

Thoughts: Neidhart’s power stuff looked okay but he was pretty much floundering at this point. Nothing much was said about Hart becoming his new manager either. Bruno and Vince were not too enthusiastic on commentary, which usually signals that you are not being pushed.

Gene Okerlund is with the Junkyard Dog, who promises that he will be juking and watching his back in Boston as he and Gene start singing. Gene then jokes that his watch got stolen then JYD comes back and shows him how to dance. This was fine.

Paul Roma vs. Brutus Beefcake w/Luscious Johnny Valiant

Valiant distracts Roma, allowing Beefcake to attack from behind. Roma manages to take him down but runs into a knee. Beefcake hits a slam then continues his assault. Bruno puts over how Brutus has become more aggressive since Valiant became his manager and shortly after that, Brutus hits him with a running knee smash for the win (2:01)

Thoughts:  I like the shorter matches but no one really cared about Beefcake, despite Vince’s best efforts to push him on commentary. He didn’t look that bad here though and is showing some improvement in the ring.

Okerlund is with Capt. Lou Albano. He says that Jimmy Snuka told him that he will defeat Roddy Piper for him then he brings out the tag champs, Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo, who cut a generic promo on the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff. I do not know why Albano did not speak for the champs as Windham is mediocre on the mic and Rotundo is bad. I guess it doesn’t matter too much as the crowd loves them anyway.

Gino Carabello & Pat Poland vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo w/Capt. Lou Albano

The crowd goes nuts once “Born in the USA” starts playing. Never seen Poland before, who is a fat fuck with a beard that wrestles in a t-shirt and tights. Rotundo and Carabello both go down after Rotundo hits a shoulder block. Windham tags and they send Carabello to the floor with a double dropkick. The champs beat on Poland for a bit until Windham hits him with a bulldog for the win (2:25).

Thoughts: The match was fine for what is was. The champs have really freshened up the tag-team division, which was really bad until they arrived.

Piper’s Pit with Paul Orndorff. Orton is in the background in a sling for the first time on WWF TV. Orndorff makes fun of Mr. T for stealing jewelry and his haircut. He then says that Mr. T only looks tough to kids and “porch monkeys.” He then mimics a gorilla as Piper refers to T as a “sort-of black fellow.” They rag on Cyndi Lauper and Hogan for a bit until they accept the challenge that was made by Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. In 1985, Piper was the best heel in United States.  

We see clips from Leilani Kai beating Wendi Richter for the Women’s Title. What was shown was pretty bad, the full match was awful too. The end of the match saw Moolah choke out Lauper then hit Richter with her forearm as she sticks her head through the ropes then Kai rolls her up for the win.

S.D. Jones & Rick McGraw vs. Ken Patera & Big John Studd w/Bobby “The Brain” Heenan

Before the match, Heenan announces that he has $15,000 for anyone who can slam Studd. Andre comes out and the fans go crazy but the referee orders him back to the locker room. The camera shows Heenan clutch the bag that contains Andre’s hair as McGraw gets destroyed. S.D. tags and beats on Patera for a bit. Patera takes control with an eye rake then drops an elbow for two. McGraw tags back and hits a dropkick and an atomic drop as the fans go crazy. McGraw gets double-teamed behind the ref’s back then Patera hits a shoulderbreaker for the win (2:38).

Thoughts: Good action in this match. They seem to be setting up towards another match between Studd and Andre.

Jack Reynolds plugs “WrestleMania” on March 31^st. This was the first mention of the card on WWF TV. He runs down the card, including Wendi Richter vs. Leilani Kai for the Women’s Title and Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo for the Tag-Team Titles. He then tells us the main event, which features Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff vs. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T w/Jimmy Snuka in their corner. They then show a list of places you can get tickets to watch at a closed circuit location (The show I had was taped from the Boston T station and listed places in Lowell, Brockton, and Plymouth).

Gene Okerlund is with Mr. T and Roddy Piper. Hogan said that nothing has made him more angry than what happened at MSG.  He then said when he saw Mr. T take care of business, he knew he had to do whatever it takes to get Orton, Orndorff, and Piper in the ring. Mr. T and Hogan then go back and forth about training each other for the match. A good segment to hype the WrestleMania main event. These two would actually go on to host “Saturday Night Live” the night before the show.

Next week, Vince promises us we will see a workout from Mr. T and Hogan. Also, an interview from Cyndi Lauper backstage at MSG. Plus, Junkyard Dog, Hillbilly Jim, and Don Muraco will be in action.

Final Thoughts: This show certainly delivered a lot of news, the most important being Mr. T and Hulk Hogan teaming to face Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the main event of “WrestleMania.” Speaking of WrestleMania, it was only promoted at the end of the show and not mentioned once by Vince on commentary. With all of the celebrity involvement, the WWF was really becoming integrated into Pop-Culture. I thought this show did a great in wanting me to see the matches that have been announced for WrestleMania at this point.