WWF Championship Wrestling April 20th, 1985

April 20^th, 1985

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon

In action tonight are the British Bulldogs, Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog, and the tag-team debut of Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart & Brett Hart.

 

 

Steve Lombardi & Barry O. vs. British Bulldogs

Dynamite takes down Barry with a pair of shoulder blocks. Davey tags in and goes to work on the arm. Crossbody gets two. Barry doesn’t get his arm up in time for a clothesline but Davey sells it anyway. Davey gets up and uses a crucifix for a nearfall. Lombardi and Dynamite tag in and Dynamite his a few suplexes. Davey gets two off a powerslam then grabs a chinlock. Dynamite chops the piss out of Lombardi then locks on a sleeper that Barry breaks up from behind. Barry hits a powerslam then tags Lombardi before heading to the top rope but Davey knocks him off then knocks down Lombardi, setting up the finish which had Davey press Dynamite over his head and launch him at Lombardi with a diving headbutt for the win (4:06). After the match we are shown a replay of the finish, where we see that Dynamite was lucky he didn’t break his neck, as Vince tries to make a sound effect that mimics a missile. He failed.

Thoughts: A nice showing for the Bulldogs, who had the crowd going after the match. They were using moves that were just not seen at all on WWF television.  Lombardi was a champ here for taking all the punishment that he did.  

 

WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. This week’s subject is King Kong Bundy and we are shown a clip of him squashing Paul Roma. The push is starting to take off for Bundy.

 

Brutus Beefcake w/Johnny Valiant vs. Ron Dee

Dee backs Beefcake into the corner then breaks cleanly. Beefcake hits a slam and goes to work on the back of Dee. On commentary, they put over the duo of Beefcake and Valiant as being perfect for each other as Beefcake hits a gutbuster. He nearly blows a clothesline then hits a running knee smash for the win (2:57).

Thoughts: Just about the same as every other Beefcake squash. His singles push still isn't working.

 

Gene Okerlund is with Bob Orton. He said his dad was a great wrestler and he is following in his footsteps. Okerlund asks him about being Piper’s bodyguard and if he is well-paid and Orton said he isn’t doing it for free. Okerlund then asks him if he has spoken to Paul Orndorff and Orton said that he has not and Orndorff is probably crying somewhere. They sure have done a great job of making people think what will happen when Orndorff returns.

 

Mario Mancini & S.D. Jones vs. Brett Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart w/Jimmy Hart

Neidhart and S.D push each other around to start. S.D. works the arm and tags Mancini but he gets destroyed by Neidhart. Bret tags and hits a dropkick. He uses a headbutt and wrestles at a fast pace. They take turns beating on Mancini as the camera shows Jimmy Hart getting flipped off by a fan. After that, the Anvil holds up Mancini and Bret takes him down with a clothesline for the win (2:37). The heels beat on Mancini after the win then leave.

Thoughts: Not much of a reaction at all for the debut of the not-yet named Hart Foundation. They looked okay in the ring but after this, you would never think that they would go on to be one of the most popular teams in WWF history. Bret was more aggressive here but still didn’t show any personality in the ring. At this time, they were still spelling his name as “Brett.”

 

Okerlund is with Beefcake and Valiant and asks them about breaking the leg of Hillbilly Jim. Valiant rambles before saying that they got in his way and was a novice. Beefcake speaks and mocks Jim by hopping around on one foot. He was pretty bad on the mic.

 

Sal Gee vs. Don Muraco

The fans heckle Muraco as he enters the ring. He beats the shit out of Gee before grabbing a chinlock. The fans start a boring chant as Gee tries to escape but gets taken down and Muraco hits the tombstone for the win (2:37). Damn, he dropped him right on his head. Muraco looked pissed off about when he took Gee down before the finish.

Thoughts: Dull match. The crowd was a bit impatient here, which is usually what happens during the last show of the taping.

 

Piper’s Pit from backstage at WrestleMania. The guest this week is Jesse Ventura, who calls the referee’s incompetent. Roddy rants about Mr. T being gassed after the match then disses Orndorff, calling him “Mr. Blunderful” as he tells Ventura that if they had him as a partner they would have won.

 

Hillbilly Jim is on his porch at his home in Mudlick, Kentucky. He reads off some fan mail and shows us his broken leg. He promises to take care of Beefcake when he heals. He then plays the guitar for a few minutes then shows us his dogs. This lasted for way too long. Hillbilly Jim was never able to sustain his popularity when he came back.

 

R.T. Reynolds & Mr. X vs. Junkyard Dog & Tito Santana

The faces work on the arm of Mr. X. Reynolds tags but ends up in the wrong corner and JYD grabs a chinlock as we hear him speak gibberish to his opponent, which amuses Vince. The faces neutralize Reynolds with various submission holds. Mr. X tags and works on Tito for a bit but that doesn’t last and JYD tags back in and hits a running powerslam for the win (4:14). After the match, JYD pulls some kids out from the crowd and dances, which has Vince remind us that last week, JYD danced with someone’s grandma.

Thoughts: The crowd really likes the team of Tito & JYD. A basic squash match.

 

Okerlund is with Muraco. He asks him about his training schedule. Muraco tells us about all of the training he does then stresses the importance of nutrition. He tells us that it is time to eat then starts eating a donut and continues to talk. Okerlund is losing it as Muraco is talking with a donut hanging out of his mouth. He spits it back into his Dunkin Donut box as Okerlund is about to lose it. After that, Bobby Heenan and Ken Patera walk out. Patera kisses his bicep as Okerlund almost loses it then tells Patera that it is ridiculous. Heenan runs down the training schedule of Patera and Studd before saying that Studd was not slammed by Andre and that he will not get the money but rather the rest of the donuts.

 

Bruno and Vince recap the show. In action next week are Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo and Jimmy Snuka.

 

Final Thoughts: Fun show. They continue to focus on the tag team division and have done a great job in building up suspense for when Orndorff returns. We haven’t seen any Hogan or Mr. T since WrestleMania. This was the last show of the TV taping that took place before WrestleMania. The WWF actually took off two weeks after Mania, then resumed business as usual afterwards.