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WWF Championship Wrestling August 2nd, 1986

August 2, 1986

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon

Tonight, we will have a special interview with Hulk Hogan. Plus, the American Express, King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd are in action. Also, Harley Race and Billy Jack Haynes are in action too.




Roger Kirby & Steve Lombardi vs. American Express

The American Express no longer have "Born in the USA" as a theme song, with "Stars and Stripes Forever" replacing that. The American Express take turns beating on Lombardi until Rotundo missed an elbow drop. Kirby tags in and lands a few shots but Rotundo ducks a chop and comes back with a crossbody. Spivey tags and they hit a double dropkick. Spivey then gets trapped in the opposing corner but he fights back then tags Rotundo, who catches Kirby in an airplane spin for the win (3:26).

Thoughts: Without "Born in the USA" as their theme song, the entrance for the American Express fell flat. Match was nothing special and the crowd was not into Spivey.


WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. This week's topic is Jake Roberts and how devastating his DDT is and how fast he is rising in the WWF ranks. They show a clip of Jake saying that he plays by his own rules and that he puts the snake on people's bodies after he beats them because he gets off on it, then asks Gene if he does.


Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Tony Garea & Jose Luis Rivera

Garea hits Brett with a crossbody after an Irish whip sequence. He then holds on to Brett's arm after he picked him up for a slam then tags Rivera. The Anvil tags as Vince talks about Brett's greasy hair and Rivera takes him down. Rivera trips up Brett then the Anvil goes to work as we are shown an insert promo from Jimmy Hart putting over the Hart Foundation and how they will be the next Tag Team Champions. The Anvil knocks Rivera through the ropes and Brett rolls him back into the ring and shortly after that, they put him away with the Hart Attack (2:33).

Thoughts: They were pushing the Hart Foundation as a top team here and it was a dominant performance.


Ken Resnick runs down the card for next week's Boston Garden show and brings out Hulk Hogan. Hulk first apologizes to the Galaxy Gym for bringing in George Steele, who messed up the gym. He then says that Adrian Adonis & Randy Savage "stink" and that Steele and himself with beat them in Boston.


Jim Haley vs. Billy Jack Haynes

Billy knocks down Haley to start and Haley fucks up the next spot as Billy bounced off of the ropes but instead of getting up to take the next move, he just rolled on his back and Billy hit him with an elbow drop. Billy grabs a chinlock as the announcers talk about Billy's physique and strength. Billy hits a dropkick then goes back to the chinlock. Haley gets in a bit of offense but Billy nearly rips his head off with a clothesline then makes Haley submit to the full nelson (3:29).

Thoughts: Not much of a match and Haley is one of the worst jobbers ever. I saw him have a horrible squash match with Ricky Steamboat the year prior. Anyway, the fans were not that into Billy Jack tonight, despite a few signs being shown in the crowd.


Resnick is with Ricky Steamboat, who says that Jake does not cherish life and promises to get revenge at the Boston Garden.


"Handsome" Harley Race w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Chris Duffy

Heenan makes Finkle refer to Race as the "King of Wrestling" which was due to Race winning the "King of the Ring" tournament. Race slams Duffy then puts on a chinlock. Race catches Duffy with a dropkick then piledrives him before roughing him up in the corner. Race hits a powerslam then tosses Duffy into the corner and after that he finishes him with a cradle suplex (2:53).

Thoughts: Race was slow and methodical in the ring and maybe too old to fit into the WWF at this time. He at least acclimated better than Dory Funk. Duffy was actually the guy who played the Santa Claus on RAW that Steve Austin stunned. Sadly, Duffy passed away in 2000 at the age of 36.


The Flower Shop with guest Junkyard Dog. JYD rambles on and is difficult to understand as he calls Adonis and woman then yells at Hart. Adonis cracks some lame dog jokes at the expense of JYD then tries to have Hart spray him but JYD swats him away. Hart then tries to attack JYD from behind but that fails and Adonis gets shoved down as JYD prances away with a rose in his mouth. This was quite terrible.


We are at the gym with Vince, wearing a track suit, interviewing Hogan about what happened with Paul Orndorff. Hogan talks about how they used to train together and how their families broke bread together at Thanksgiving. They show clips of all the events that led to Orndorff turning on Hogan. Back to Hogan, he said that Orndorff sounded unreasonable when he called him at the gym then they show more of the events that led to the turn, with Hogan calling Orndorff a "one-man ego trip" when he refused to tag out in their match against the Moondogs. He then said that Orndorff only left him a note and had not seen him for three days before their match against Studd & Bundy, calling himself a fool for not seeing what was happening. Hogan then says that Orndorff was on the verge of greatness but sold out instead. Hogan then says that Orndorff will never beat Hulkamania and that he does not take shortcuts and will take him out for good. Hogan did a great job and this was a superb piece overall.


Brickhouse Brown & Buddy Ryder vs. King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd

The match starts with Bundy taking control of Ryder as an insert promo of Lanny Poffo talking about Studd & Bundy and the Machines is shown. Poffo refers to Heenan as a "pompous ass" and says he calls him "Bobby the Butt." Studd beats on Duffy then tags Bundy, who knocks Brickhouse off of the apron then they double team Ryder until Bundy hits the Avalanche then a splash for the win. About two minutes shown.

Thoughts: Just a match for Bundy & Studd to look strong going into their feud against the Machines.


Resnick is with Jimmy Hart, who comes out with Randy Savage and Adonis. Savage talks about how he and Adonis will beat Steele & Hogan as Adonis pokes fun at the Red Sox for slipping in the standings. Adonis then calls Steele a "retard" and they both guarantee victory in Boston.


Just as they recap the show, Freddie Blassie interrupts Bruno and Vince to say that he has found someone to buy half of the contracts that belong to the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff.


Next week in action are Tito Santana & Pedro Morales, The Dream Team, and Randy Savage.


Final Thoughts: Good show. The whole Orndorff/Hogan recap was a masterpiece. They did a great job presenting everything that led to the turn. They made you want to see Hogan seek revenge on Orndorff. They did not have the Machines appear this week and only a brief mention of them happened in the Studd & Bundy match. "The Flower Shop" also started another feud, this time between JYD and Adonis, which ended up being far from memorable. Everything else was really just filler but the Hogan/Orndorff stuff was phenomenal.


Here is a schedule of my upcoming reviews:


Tuesday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/9/86
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Shawn Daivari
Friday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/16/86
Saturday: RoH Honor Invades Boston 8/24/02
Sunday: WWF Championship Wrestling 8/23/86

Email me at BBayless781@gmail.com with any questions or feedback

Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/mrbayless1982


Comments

  1. The American Express tried to charge their way to the top, but there was zero interest /rimshot

    ReplyDelete
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  3. Stranger in the AlpsJuly 27, 2014 at 5:38 PM

    Adonis making fun of the Sox. I'm glad the Sox overcame the odds and came out on top that season.


    *ahem*

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was like the Sox drove their van off the road and into a lake.


    Too soon?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why didn't the American Express work more house shows?

    Cause Vince left home without them....

    ReplyDelete
  6. The attention to detail in the Orndorff angle was amazing. I love the mention of stuff that happened off-screen which added to the sting Hogan felt when Orndorff finally turned. Nowadays in the WWE if something did not happen on-screen, it never happened, whereas in the old WWF, a lot happened off-screen which made things a bit more logical when things happened.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This segment, breaking down the whole entire thing, was just awesome. The WWE should be emulating this style today. That is how you get fans invested in storylines.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Ghost of Faffner HallJuly 28, 2014 at 2:49 AM

    But give them some credit...
    (mic feedback) Credit! Give them some credit! Is this thing on?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dan Spivey: Hello, do you know me?
    Fans: Barry Windham?

    ReplyDelete
  10. You'd think Born in the USA was dropped because someone figured out IT IS NOT A PATRIOTIC SONG.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Just as they recap the show, Freddie Blassie interrupts Bruno and Vince to say that he has found someone to buy half of the contracts that belong to the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff."
    And he met this guy and he told him quite a story, said Sheik and Volkoff would love him forevermooooooooooore...

    ReplyDelete

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