March 30, 1985
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon
In action for today are Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo, King Kong Bundy, Ricky Steamboat, Don Muraco, and Greg Valentine. Plus, the final training session before WrestleMania between Mr. T and Hulk Hogan.
Jim Haley & "Playboy" Buddy Rose vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo w/Capt. Lou Albano
Albano is really out of place as a face manager. He is just emotionless. Rose and Rotundo trade arm wringers to start. Rotundo wins a battle on the mat and works the arm as the crowd starts chanting "fat boy" at Rose. Rose gets a slam but misses a top rope elbow drop. Hot tag to Windham and he dropkicks Harley. Rotundo tags then gets Harley in the airplane spin for the win (3:23).
Thoughts: Decent match. Rotundo and Rose worked well together. The crowd still goes nuts when "Born to the USA" plays.
WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. The subject this week is the Junkyard Dog. Hayes puts over JYD for his charisma then we see a clip of him dancing with kids in the ring. JYD apparently promises to take the Intercontinental Title from Greg Valentine at WrestleMania.
Paul Roma vs. King Kong Bundy w/Jimmy Hart
Bundy destroys Roma in the corner. He drops a knee then kills him with a clothesline. He destroys him some more before hitting the Avalanche then getting the win with the splash (1:48). Bundy then demands that the referee give him the five count.
Thoughts: Bundy looked solid as and the WWF is slowly building him up. You can tell that he will be near the top of the card shortly.
Gene Okerlund is backstage. He runs down the card for WrestleMania before we see a clip from him interviewing Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter from a different location. Lauper says that Kai is not half of the wrestler that Richter is and promises she will regain the title.
Rick Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat
Steamboat grounds Savage to start. Steamboat catches with a knee smash and a dropkick before applying an armbar. After boring the crowd for a minute, Savage fights back and catches Steamboat with a back elbow smash. Steamboat comes back with some hard chops that awake a few of the fans. After several more chops, Steamboat gets the win with a flying body press (3:38).
Thoughts: God, that was dull. Savage was a shitty wrestler and these two just did not work well at all. There was a "boring" chant from a few in the crowd and with good reason.
Okerlund is backstage, running down WrestleMania. He lists all of the celebrities then brings out Andre the Giant. He promises to slam Studd, win the $15,000 then go on a vacation somewhere. Andre sounded tanked.
Okerlund is with Liberace in his hotel room. Liberace is the time keeper for the main event and is looking forward to being there.
Don Muraco vs. Jim Powers
No Fuji this week. Muraco takes down Powers to start. Vince says that you will not be able to see WrestleMania on TV unless you are one of the select few with Pay-Per-View capabilities. Powers works the arm then gets a slam. He goes back to the arm but Muraco chops him down then hits the tombstone piledriver for the win (2:39).
Thoughts: They gave Powers quite a bit of offense and he looked okay I suppose. The fans were actually behind him. Muraco is in neutral right now. He has no feud since his return and was doing jobs to Hogan on the house show circuit.
A clip of Okerlund in the locker room at MSG is shown, telling us that WrestleMania can only be seen on closed-circuit TV.
Piper's Pit with Bob Orton and Paul Orndorff. He brings out a toilet seat, which he refers to as the "hot seat" then puts it over a WrestleMania poster that features Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. Piper then says he doesn't want to waste the hot seat on them and has special gifts for each one. Orndorff has a few bananas for Mr. T, calling him a "Souped-up Spider Monkey" then Piper rubs the bananas on the faces of both men, to the enjoyment of Orndorff. After that, Orndorff breaks eggs on the poster. Orton then takes out the set as Piper promises at WrestleMania, they will send them back where they belong, which is at a rest area. If this segment aired today, the WWE would lose half of their sponsors.
Mr. T and Hulk Hogan are training in New York. Hogan shows him the big buildings as Mr. T wants to go to Central Park and teach Hogan how to street fight. They are shown jogging through the park then use combat training. Hogan says he is ready for guerilla warfare then they train at the gym. After that, they are at the train with a crowd cheering for them. At the end, they said that they are all ready to use any means possible to win. Although corny today, this is the stuff that the fans ate up in this era.
Pete Pompeii vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/Jimmy Hart
Valentine comes out to entrance music, which sounds like generic 80's rock music. Valentine slams Pompeii then grabs a headlock. Pompeii gets a bit of basic offense in but runs into a knee then gets tossed outside. A few "boring" chants break out as Valentine puts Pompeii in another headlock. Pompeii fights back but runs into another knee. Suplex gets two. He hits a gutbuster then goes to work on the leg before putting on the figure-four leg lock, getting the win via submission (4:35).
Thoughts: A bit too long for a squash match. McMahon kept calling Pompeii "Pompell," so I guess someone couldn't write their "I's" very well. I never heard this theme music before and it didn't fit Valentine at all. It was too upbeat for a heel to use.
Okerlund is backstage with Capt. Lou Albano and the tag team champions, Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo. Barry hopes that WrestleMania is shown in Iran so they can see them hold the Iron Sheik hostage.
Bruno and Vince run down WrestleMania before running down next week's show. Vince says that next week, the British Bulldogs will make their return to the WWF.
Final Thoughts: The show did a great job as the last show before Mania. They hyped the show and key feuds well. They really made you want to see this show, which was like nothing else ever seen before. The matches weren't that bad but the crowd was dead, which happened a lot during the last show of a taping. I also plan to put up a review of the last ever WWF show on TBS, which aired on 3/30, either tonight or tomorrow before posting by review of WrestleMania.
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon
In action for today are Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo, King Kong Bundy, Ricky Steamboat, Don Muraco, and Greg Valentine. Plus, the final training session before WrestleMania between Mr. T and Hulk Hogan.
Jim Haley & "Playboy" Buddy Rose vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo w/Capt. Lou Albano
Albano is really out of place as a face manager. He is just emotionless. Rose and Rotundo trade arm wringers to start. Rotundo wins a battle on the mat and works the arm as the crowd starts chanting "fat boy" at Rose. Rose gets a slam but misses a top rope elbow drop. Hot tag to Windham and he dropkicks Harley. Rotundo tags then gets Harley in the airplane spin for the win (3:23).
Thoughts: Decent match. Rotundo and Rose worked well together. The crowd still goes nuts when "Born to the USA" plays.
WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. The subject this week is the Junkyard Dog. Hayes puts over JYD for his charisma then we see a clip of him dancing with kids in the ring. JYD apparently promises to take the Intercontinental Title from Greg Valentine at WrestleMania.
Paul Roma vs. King Kong Bundy w/Jimmy Hart
Bundy destroys Roma in the corner. He drops a knee then kills him with a clothesline. He destroys him some more before hitting the Avalanche then getting the win with the splash (1:48). Bundy then demands that the referee give him the five count.
Thoughts: Bundy looked solid as and the WWF is slowly building him up. You can tell that he will be near the top of the card shortly.
Gene Okerlund is backstage. He runs down the card for WrestleMania before we see a clip from him interviewing Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter from a different location. Lauper says that Kai is not half of the wrestler that Richter is and promises she will regain the title.
Rick Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat
Steamboat grounds Savage to start. Steamboat catches with a knee smash and a dropkick before applying an armbar. After boring the crowd for a minute, Savage fights back and catches Steamboat with a back elbow smash. Steamboat comes back with some hard chops that awake a few of the fans. After several more chops, Steamboat gets the win with a flying body press (3:38).
Thoughts: God, that was dull. Savage was a shitty wrestler and these two just did not work well at all. There was a "boring" chant from a few in the crowd and with good reason.
Okerlund is backstage, running down WrestleMania. He lists all of the celebrities then brings out Andre the Giant. He promises to slam Studd, win the $15,000 then go on a vacation somewhere. Andre sounded tanked.
Okerlund is with Liberace in his hotel room. Liberace is the time keeper for the main event and is looking forward to being there.
Don Muraco vs. Jim Powers
No Fuji this week. Muraco takes down Powers to start. Vince says that you will not be able to see WrestleMania on TV unless you are one of the select few with Pay-Per-View capabilities. Powers works the arm then gets a slam. He goes back to the arm but Muraco chops him down then hits the tombstone piledriver for the win (2:39).
Thoughts: They gave Powers quite a bit of offense and he looked okay I suppose. The fans were actually behind him. Muraco is in neutral right now. He has no feud since his return and was doing jobs to Hogan on the house show circuit.
A clip of Okerlund in the locker room at MSG is shown, telling us that WrestleMania can only be seen on closed-circuit TV.
Piper's Pit with Bob Orton and Paul Orndorff. He brings out a toilet seat, which he refers to as the "hot seat" then puts it over a WrestleMania poster that features Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. Piper then says he doesn't want to waste the hot seat on them and has special gifts for each one. Orndorff has a few bananas for Mr. T, calling him a "Souped-up Spider Monkey" then Piper rubs the bananas on the faces of both men, to the enjoyment of Orndorff. After that, Orndorff breaks eggs on the poster. Orton then takes out the set as Piper promises at WrestleMania, they will send them back where they belong, which is at a rest area. If this segment aired today, the WWE would lose half of their sponsors.
Mr. T and Hulk Hogan are training in New York. Hogan shows him the big buildings as Mr. T wants to go to Central Park and teach Hogan how to street fight. They are shown jogging through the park then use combat training. Hogan says he is ready for guerilla warfare then they train at the gym. After that, they are at the train with a crowd cheering for them. At the end, they said that they are all ready to use any means possible to win. Although corny today, this is the stuff that the fans ate up in this era.
Pete Pompeii vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/Jimmy Hart
Valentine comes out to entrance music, which sounds like generic 80's rock music. Valentine slams Pompeii then grabs a headlock. Pompeii gets a bit of basic offense in but runs into a knee then gets tossed outside. A few "boring" chants break out as Valentine puts Pompeii in another headlock. Pompeii fights back but runs into another knee. Suplex gets two. He hits a gutbuster then goes to work on the leg before putting on the figure-four leg lock, getting the win via submission (4:35).
Thoughts: A bit too long for a squash match. McMahon kept calling Pompeii "Pompell," so I guess someone couldn't write their "I's" very well. I never heard this theme music before and it didn't fit Valentine at all. It was too upbeat for a heel to use.
Okerlund is backstage with Capt. Lou Albano and the tag team champions, Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo. Barry hopes that WrestleMania is shown in Iran so they can see them hold the Iron Sheik hostage.
Bruno and Vince run down WrestleMania before running down next week's show. Vince says that next week, the British Bulldogs will make their return to the WWF.
Final Thoughts: The show did a great job as the last show before Mania. They hyped the show and key feuds well. They really made you want to see this show, which was like nothing else ever seen before. The matches weren't that bad but the crowd was dead, which happened a lot during the last show of a taping. I also plan to put up a review of the last ever WWF show on TBS, which aired on 3/30, either tonight or tomorrow before posting by review of WrestleMania.
Reading these recaps, I am just amazed by all the racist comments Orndorff was making about Mr. T. Good lord.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was incredible. Just goes to show you how this country acted in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteEven for the 80's his stuff was pretty bad and would have been out of bounds in almost any other form of entertainment. But nobody paid attention to pro wrestling until after Wrestlemania.
ReplyDelete"Born to the USA" is one of my favorite Springsteen songs, although not as great as "Born in Run."
ReplyDeletePersonally, my favorites are "Bad Gardens" and "Secret Lands"
ReplyDelete"Thunder Road" or GTFO.
ReplyDelete