klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Best of the WWF Volume 15
Host: Gene Okerlund
Commentators: Johnny V, Mike McGuirk, Bruce Pritchard, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura, Bruno Sammartino
Well my internet is out due to a bad storm so its time to knock off something I have downloaded to my computer. Never let it be said that a potentially deadly storm stopped my reviewing. This is another volume in this set that I WILL finish someday. Lets get to it.
Gene tells us that all of the titles defended on here will change hands. Great way to build up suspense there Okerlund.
Tito Santana vs. Haku
That ..doesnt sound half bad actually. This would be right before Strike Force won the titles. Martel and Tama are with their respective partners and were in Milwaukee. Tito starts fast, probably fueled on a few burritos. An elbow to the top of Hakus head and the future Meng hides on the floor for a bit. Back in and Tito rams Hakus head into the mat which shouldnt hurt but you get the idea.
The fans are WAY behind Tito. Off to the armbar now as Luscious Johnny runs down Martels face for some reason. They seem to botch a hip toss but Tito IMMEDIATELY shifts into a backslide attempt. That was so fast of a transition it was unreal. It gets two and Haku charges right back into the arm drag and armbar. Haku rakes the eyes and STILL cant get anything going.
Tito goes for the knee and Haku gets to the ropes. Tama offers some advice and apparently he would be a better manager than Heenan, as the advice pays off in the form of a shot to the throat of Tito. Haku finally takes over and gets a shoulderbreaker for two. A charge into the corner eats shoes though and here comes Tito. Id rather eat some Taco Bell but you cant get everything. Big backdrop (wheres Vince to say HIGH elevation) sets up the forearm but Tama goes up top for the DQ as Martel makes the save. Double DQ apparently.
Rating: C-. Not bad here and Id love to see these guys have some more time and an actual story to work with. Its power vs. speed with one of the best speed guys youll ever seen. Not too shabby here as Tito and Martel were on their way to the titles, apparently three weeks after this. Or one match, whichever you prefer.
Tag Titles: Strike Force vs. Hart Foundation
Ive actually never seen this. Gene pops up to say the titles change hands. Nice guy that bald one. This is on Superstars and is more or less a token title defense. Martel vs. Bret to start as we keep things Canadian. Double elbow and down goes Bret as Tito goes to that armbar which he likes apparently. OConnor Roll is countered as Titos head is rammed into the mat rather hard.
Neidhart comes in and they slug it out. Surprisingly enough its about a draw and cheating gives the champions the advantage. Backbreaker by Bret gets two. I couldnt think of a way to say gets two where both words started with two. Darn the luck. Vince says it would be a shame if this ended in controversy. Its kind of interesting to know what we know about him now and wonder if hes saying screw this up and youre fired.
More double teaming puts Tito on the floor and gets two back in the ring. Tito almost gets the tag but Bret breaks it up in a great heat drawing move. The move that Demolition would use as their finisher gets two. Bret misses an elbow and this is Santanas chance. I hope hes a better wrestler than guitar player. Never been a fan of him. That joke failed didnt it?
No tag yet as this is pure 80s tag formula. Tito reverses an Irish whip (from a Canadian to a Mexican of all things) and Bret gets to do his chest first bump into the corner. Double tag and the crowd is on fire, much like Martel. Cross body gets two on Neidhart as everything breaks down. Double slam to Anvil and the Boston Crab goes on Neidhart who gives up almost immediately and we have new champions to a big old pop.
Rating: B-. Standard 80s tag formula here but good talent and timing plus a very hot crowd are enough to make this a pretty solid outing. Also I always liked Strike Force so that helps a lot. They would hold the belts until Mania, and yet they were transitional champions. This is in October, meaning their reign was almost six months. Nice transitional reign no?
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. King Kong Bundy
This is a dark match apparently and a match that happened roughly 8000 times. Trivia for you here: the referee is a 17 year old named Shane. You guess his last name. He looks his age too as he looks like hes in high school. Bigelow is a monster at this point and easily the second most popular guy in the company. Also no facial hair which is a really weird look for him.
Standard battle of the giants here as they shove each other a lot and ram shoulders together. Splash in the corner misses for Bundy and an elbow gets two. We actually get an armbar in a match like this. Thats a rarity to put it mildly. We go to a wide shot for some reason and see Heenan run down the aisle to manage Bundy as is his job. Bigelow is knocked to the floor for a bit which goes nowhere. Back in and a clothesline takes Bigelows head off. A splash misses for Bundy but Bigelows hits. That and a REALLY fast count ends this. Too short to grade but its nothing you couldnt see on any house show at this time.
The next match is from the first Rumble so its cut and paste time.
Womens Tag Titles: Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Glamour Girls
This is 2/3 falls. The Womens Tag Titles did indeed exist. Much like he did with Moolahs Title, Vince bought them from the NWA and gave them to the Glamour Girls who allegedly won them in Egypt. I think it was billed as a double main event and shown on a split screen with Patterson winning the Intercontinental Title in Rio. It happened damn it! Anyway, the Glamour Girls are old and annoying, but the Bomb Angles are freaking AWESOME.
At Survivor Series when they kicked the asses of the Glamour Girls, Jesse said they were like watching Savage or Steamboat or Dynamite Kid and he couldnt be more correct. Ive made no secret of the fact that Im not a fan of womens wrestling, but Ive been looking forward to this match as Ive never seen it, so youll be getting a legitimate fresh review here from me.
More or less this is just housekeeping at this point, as everyone knows the Angels are winning here. Im not going to try to spell the Angels last names properly time after time, but the Glamour Girls are Judy Martin and Lelani Kai. Only the Angels get entrances. These belts were defended maybe twice or so in the six and a half years they were around and no one noticed when they were retired.
These two are like Lita vs. Moolah or something like that. For the sake of simplicity, the Angels will be named Red and Pink based on their attire. All four are wearing what would be described as one piece swimsuits for attire which arent flattering at all. Jesse and Vince are arguing about weightlifting and Jesse implies that Vince has never lifted one. Thats another of those moments that are ironic given what we know now.
Vince doesnt know the names of the Angels either. OH MY GOODNESS! Vince says for lack of anything better, lets call one Pink and one Red. I called that first Vince! I dont care if I wouldnt be born for another ten days. That was MY idea. Thats either awesome or scary as Im thinking the same way Vince does. The Angels are just flat out destroying the Glamour Girls here as they look about as worthless as Vince is on commentary.
Damn man at least know the names of your talent. His excuse is he doesnt speak Japanese. What difference does that make? If I walk into an Italian restaurant I can order spaghetti and I dont speak Italian. Its a word and you match it with a color. How hard is that?
Pink using the split legged move that Jeff Hardy used a lot. The Angels remind me of the Hardys actually with their continuity. In a very cool spot, both have a leg of one of the Glamour Girls and pull on her as the other Girl pulls from the other side. The Angels win and the Glamour Girl thats standing more or less winds up doing a headbutt onto her partner. It looked cool.
The Angels are embarrassing the champions at this point as the Girls more or less can only do bare bones level stuff while the Angels, although a bit sloppy at times, are all over the place with varieties of offense that look very great. Like I said theyre not perfect, but DAMN theyre fun to watch. Theyre not boring like most of the women wrestlers around this time period. Its like the situation in the Winter Olympics a few years ago with the French judge.
One of the teams did a very basic routine perfectly and the other team did a ridiculously hard routine nearly perfectly. As far as execution goes here, the Glamour Girls are likely better, but theyre nowhere near the level the Angels are at here. Jimmy Hart rubbing one of the Glamour Girls calves to get the circulation back into it is funny stuff. Oh I almost forgot: the woman with the bullhorn has had it taken away or has been told to stop using it THANK GOODNESS!
The Girls win the first fall using a fairly cool looking move. Martin sets for a powerbomb but instead shoves Red over her head. Big Show used this for awhile which he called the Alley-Oop. We take a quick commercial break between falls and when we come back we ring the bell. I like that. All of a sudden Vince knows the name of the Pink Angel. Well thanks for getting it seven minutes into the match buddy.
She goes for the same finishing move again after a big brawl but Red gets a sunset flip out of it instead to tie us up. We hit another commercial and upon returning we run down the Andre/Hogan contract signing and the Rumble very quickly before the bell rings. Im most impressed here as the announcers actually talk about the match once the bell rings instead of hyping up the bigger stuff later on.
Thats showing the girls respect which is something you rarely see in todays product. When the Angels are on offense, this match is interesting. When the Girls are on offense, I want a sharp object to do bad things with. Ah there now its interesting again. The Angels hit a double dropkick from the top to win the belts in a cool looking finish. That was nice.
On replay, Jesse is proven correct as he claims that when the Angel went for the cover she hooked the arm of Martin, raising it off the mat so there shouldnt have been a pin. Vince says that since the shoulder blade was down it counts. I dont know what to say to that.
Rating: B-. I was expecting to be bored out of my mind here, but they carried this quite well in my eyes. It was fairly clear that these belts were a joke, but if nothing else they gave us something that we very rarely if ever get to see in this era, with that being a fast paced and well done womens match. This was fun. It was sloppy, but fun.
Tiger Chung Lee/Mr. Fuji vs. The Samoans
Gene tells us this was on Wrestlings Most Embarrassing Moments due to Fuji and Lee messing up a lot. In Philly here so expect a ruthless crowd. Sika beats Fuji up a lot and Fuji might have something in his hand. He hides something and the referee spends almost a minute checking on it. Yep were in a comedy match here. Ok so Fuji has it in his tights. Off to Afa as this has been completely one sided so far. Fuji gets in a shot but misses a top rope legdrop and its off to Lee. Afa slams him off the top and its off to Sika. Fuji wont tag and its 2-1 now. A bunch of headbutts end Lee. Short and not funny so no rating.
Post match Fuji chokes Lee for no apparent reason. Lee gets what is called a kendo stick and Fuji bails. Remember that were in Philly. Thats most interesting indeed.
Womens Title: Sherri Martel vs. Fabulous Moolah
Two things. First of all Jimmy Hart is on commentary here. Second, Moolah is billed as champion here for 28 years but were in 1987 here and I seem to remember Wendi Richter being champion in 1985. Odd indeed. Moolah takes her down quickly and poses a bit. They argue over a hair pull and we hit the mat with armbars all around. We enter into the problem of all womens matches from this era: THEYRE REALLY BORING!
Moolah chops her down and this is almost in slow motion. Sherri gets a slam and we hit the front facelock. Moolah works on the arm again as we hear about the whole 28 year reign or whatever the latest story is about her being champion forever. Knee lift puts Sherri down as does a headbutt. The momentum and control in this changes at the drop of a hat.
The fans start booing loudly and I cant say I blame them. I know there are always complaints about womens wrestling today but this is freaking boring man. Martel is thrown to the floor as I think there was some clipping in this match. That would explain a lot of it. Something occurs to me: I have no idea who is face and who is heel here. The announcers are talking about Moolah like a face but shes wrestling heel and Sherri is in blue and pink. Moolah tries to suplex her back in but Sherri rolls through it for the pin and the title. It gets a face pops so I have no idea what the face/heel dynamic was supposed to be.
Rating: F+. I have no idea what this was supposed to be but good night it was boring. I dont even want to see what this match was at its full length as this was almost ten minutes including the clip. The 80s were pretty brutal for this type of wrestling other than the Angels and the lineage of the title (Moolah wasnt champion at Mania 1, was said to have recently gotten the title back at Mania 2 and was champion for 28 years here, between Manias 3 and 4) changing by the month apparently. Bad match.
WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ted Adams
WOW. See, this is whats cool about WWF. Sometimes you get random stuff like this out of nowhere which is awesome. Adams is a great light heavyweight guy and Fujinami is a guy you might have heard of and if not you should have. This title would soon be taken to Japan where it would eventually be replaced by the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title which is still in place today.
Were joined in progress here in MSG in February of 78, early in Fujinamis LONG reign. After some quick stuff to start Fujinami throws on a chinlock and they fight up with an armbar. Alfred Hayes is on solo commentary here which is weird to say the least. They hit the mat and are so much faster than anyone else from this era that its unreal. Test of strength turns into some insane bridging by the Dragon (Fujinami) and we shift to a modified surfboard.
The crowd is oddly silent here, perhaps because they have no idea what theyre seeing here. Adams misses a top rope splash (THUD) but is up seconds later anyway. Dragon (going to use that for the sake of spelling) works the leg but shifts to the arm quickly. Adams takes over and hammers away on the right arm (???) with Dragon in trouble. Cross body gets two for Adams.
Off to a front facelock which Dragon escapes quickly. In a cool move, Adams is standing there looking at Dragon so Fujinami dropkicks him across the ring out of nowhere. Literally, standing there one second, flying across the ring the next. That looked great. Adams takes over again and says he wants to be champion. Off to a top wristlock by Adams as there are a lot of submissions in this match.
Its certainly nothing by comparison to the Cruiserweight stuff in WCW in the 90s, but at the same time by comparison to the usual stuff they had in this era this is off the charts. European Uppercut by Dragon and Adams is in trouble all of a sudden. Dragon gets an airplane spin but cant follow up due to reasons of dizziness. This turns into a comedy bit as neither guy can stand up. German suplex out of nowhere by Dragon ends it.
Rating: B-. Like I said the main thing to remember here is the time period this was happening in. This was a totally different style than anything you would have seen back in the day and it made for a far better match to say the least. They got better reactions as the match went on which is certainly a good sign. Interesting match but it doesnt hold up that well over time.
Demolition vs. George Steele/Billy Jack Haynes
Its supposed to be Haynes/Ken Patera vs. Demolition here but Patera is injured. This is from Wrestling Challenge and the commentary team is Craig DeGeorge and Don Muraco of all people. Hayes vs. Ax to start us off and Hayes speeds it up with some great success. Off to Steele as you can barely understand Muraco who sounds like he smokes 4 packs a day.
Think theyre stretching a bit here on the Best of concept? Haynes comes in again and gets choked out by the slipped in cane a bit. Off to the chinlock again as Patera continues to just let Fuji do all this stuff at will. Billy breaks the hold and Steele bites Axs nose a bit as we hit the armbar by Haynes. Steele comes in and hammers away with punches and a backdrop.
George Steele plays Ricky Morton for a bit in something that is miscasting if there ever has been miscasting. Yep this is boring. Why does that not surprise me for the most part? Tag to Haynes but the referee missed it. This isnt a match that we need to extend people! Fuji tries to sneak up on Patera but apparently the bowler hat gives off too much of a signal and Patera glares him away. Billy FINALLY comes in as were close to ending this now. Suplex gets two and everything breaks down. Haynes goes after Fuji and gets the full nelson on Smash but a cain shot to the head ends him and the match.
Rating: D-. Weak match and I have no idea why this got almost ten minutes. Demolition would of course get better but they were hardly miracle workers here against guys the caliber of Steele and Haynes. Billy Jack would be gone soon after refusing to job in Oregon because hes not that smart.
Overall Rating: D+. Not much on this one as far as good wrestling goes other than a bit here and there. We do however get some solid stuff from an historical standpoint such as the tag title change and Moolah losing the title for the last first time in 28 years. Anyway, nothing of note here but I doubt anyone other than me cares about finishing this series off.
Host: Gene Okerlund
Commentators: Johnny V, Mike McGuirk, Bruce Pritchard, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura, Bruno Sammartino
Well my internet is out due to a bad storm so its time to knock off something I have downloaded to my computer. Never let it be said that a potentially deadly storm stopped my reviewing. This is another volume in this set that I WILL finish someday. Lets get to it.
Gene tells us that all of the titles defended on here will change hands. Great way to build up suspense there Okerlund.
Tito Santana vs. Haku
That ..doesnt sound half bad actually. This would be right before Strike Force won the titles. Martel and Tama are with their respective partners and were in Milwaukee. Tito starts fast, probably fueled on a few burritos. An elbow to the top of Hakus head and the future Meng hides on the floor for a bit. Back in and Tito rams Hakus head into the mat which shouldnt hurt but you get the idea.
The fans are WAY behind Tito. Off to the armbar now as Luscious Johnny runs down Martels face for some reason. They seem to botch a hip toss but Tito IMMEDIATELY shifts into a backslide attempt. That was so fast of a transition it was unreal. It gets two and Haku charges right back into the arm drag and armbar. Haku rakes the eyes and STILL cant get anything going.
Tito goes for the knee and Haku gets to the ropes. Tama offers some advice and apparently he would be a better manager than Heenan, as the advice pays off in the form of a shot to the throat of Tito. Haku finally takes over and gets a shoulderbreaker for two. A charge into the corner eats shoes though and here comes Tito. Id rather eat some Taco Bell but you cant get everything. Big backdrop (wheres Vince to say HIGH elevation) sets up the forearm but Tama goes up top for the DQ as Martel makes the save. Double DQ apparently.
Rating: C-. Not bad here and Id love to see these guys have some more time and an actual story to work with. Its power vs. speed with one of the best speed guys youll ever seen. Not too shabby here as Tito and Martel were on their way to the titles, apparently three weeks after this. Or one match, whichever you prefer.
Tag Titles: Strike Force vs. Hart Foundation
Ive actually never seen this. Gene pops up to say the titles change hands. Nice guy that bald one. This is on Superstars and is more or less a token title defense. Martel vs. Bret to start as we keep things Canadian. Double elbow and down goes Bret as Tito goes to that armbar which he likes apparently. OConnor Roll is countered as Titos head is rammed into the mat rather hard.
Neidhart comes in and they slug it out. Surprisingly enough its about a draw and cheating gives the champions the advantage. Backbreaker by Bret gets two. I couldnt think of a way to say gets two where both words started with two. Darn the luck. Vince says it would be a shame if this ended in controversy. Its kind of interesting to know what we know about him now and wonder if hes saying screw this up and youre fired.
More double teaming puts Tito on the floor and gets two back in the ring. Tito almost gets the tag but Bret breaks it up in a great heat drawing move. The move that Demolition would use as their finisher gets two. Bret misses an elbow and this is Santanas chance. I hope hes a better wrestler than guitar player. Never been a fan of him. That joke failed didnt it?
No tag yet as this is pure 80s tag formula. Tito reverses an Irish whip (from a Canadian to a Mexican of all things) and Bret gets to do his chest first bump into the corner. Double tag and the crowd is on fire, much like Martel. Cross body gets two on Neidhart as everything breaks down. Double slam to Anvil and the Boston Crab goes on Neidhart who gives up almost immediately and we have new champions to a big old pop.
Rating: B-. Standard 80s tag formula here but good talent and timing plus a very hot crowd are enough to make this a pretty solid outing. Also I always liked Strike Force so that helps a lot. They would hold the belts until Mania, and yet they were transitional champions. This is in October, meaning their reign was almost six months. Nice transitional reign no?
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. King Kong Bundy
This is a dark match apparently and a match that happened roughly 8000 times. Trivia for you here: the referee is a 17 year old named Shane. You guess his last name. He looks his age too as he looks like hes in high school. Bigelow is a monster at this point and easily the second most popular guy in the company. Also no facial hair which is a really weird look for him.
Standard battle of the giants here as they shove each other a lot and ram shoulders together. Splash in the corner misses for Bundy and an elbow gets two. We actually get an armbar in a match like this. Thats a rarity to put it mildly. We go to a wide shot for some reason and see Heenan run down the aisle to manage Bundy as is his job. Bigelow is knocked to the floor for a bit which goes nowhere. Back in and a clothesline takes Bigelows head off. A splash misses for Bundy but Bigelows hits. That and a REALLY fast count ends this. Too short to grade but its nothing you couldnt see on any house show at this time.
The next match is from the first Rumble so its cut and paste time.
Womens Tag Titles: Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Glamour Girls
This is 2/3 falls. The Womens Tag Titles did indeed exist. Much like he did with Moolahs Title, Vince bought them from the NWA and gave them to the Glamour Girls who allegedly won them in Egypt. I think it was billed as a double main event and shown on a split screen with Patterson winning the Intercontinental Title in Rio. It happened damn it! Anyway, the Glamour Girls are old and annoying, but the Bomb Angles are freaking AWESOME.
At Survivor Series when they kicked the asses of the Glamour Girls, Jesse said they were like watching Savage or Steamboat or Dynamite Kid and he couldnt be more correct. Ive made no secret of the fact that Im not a fan of womens wrestling, but Ive been looking forward to this match as Ive never seen it, so youll be getting a legitimate fresh review here from me.
More or less this is just housekeeping at this point, as everyone knows the Angels are winning here. Im not going to try to spell the Angels last names properly time after time, but the Glamour Girls are Judy Martin and Lelani Kai. Only the Angels get entrances. These belts were defended maybe twice or so in the six and a half years they were around and no one noticed when they were retired.
These two are like Lita vs. Moolah or something like that. For the sake of simplicity, the Angels will be named Red and Pink based on their attire. All four are wearing what would be described as one piece swimsuits for attire which arent flattering at all. Jesse and Vince are arguing about weightlifting and Jesse implies that Vince has never lifted one. Thats another of those moments that are ironic given what we know now.
Vince doesnt know the names of the Angels either. OH MY GOODNESS! Vince says for lack of anything better, lets call one Pink and one Red. I called that first Vince! I dont care if I wouldnt be born for another ten days. That was MY idea. Thats either awesome or scary as Im thinking the same way Vince does. The Angels are just flat out destroying the Glamour Girls here as they look about as worthless as Vince is on commentary.
Damn man at least know the names of your talent. His excuse is he doesnt speak Japanese. What difference does that make? If I walk into an Italian restaurant I can order spaghetti and I dont speak Italian. Its a word and you match it with a color. How hard is that?
Pink using the split legged move that Jeff Hardy used a lot. The Angels remind me of the Hardys actually with their continuity. In a very cool spot, both have a leg of one of the Glamour Girls and pull on her as the other Girl pulls from the other side. The Angels win and the Glamour Girl thats standing more or less winds up doing a headbutt onto her partner. It looked cool.
The Angels are embarrassing the champions at this point as the Girls more or less can only do bare bones level stuff while the Angels, although a bit sloppy at times, are all over the place with varieties of offense that look very great. Like I said theyre not perfect, but DAMN theyre fun to watch. Theyre not boring like most of the women wrestlers around this time period. Its like the situation in the Winter Olympics a few years ago with the French judge.
One of the teams did a very basic routine perfectly and the other team did a ridiculously hard routine nearly perfectly. As far as execution goes here, the Glamour Girls are likely better, but theyre nowhere near the level the Angels are at here. Jimmy Hart rubbing one of the Glamour Girls calves to get the circulation back into it is funny stuff. Oh I almost forgot: the woman with the bullhorn has had it taken away or has been told to stop using it THANK GOODNESS!
The Girls win the first fall using a fairly cool looking move. Martin sets for a powerbomb but instead shoves Red over her head. Big Show used this for awhile which he called the Alley-Oop. We take a quick commercial break between falls and when we come back we ring the bell. I like that. All of a sudden Vince knows the name of the Pink Angel. Well thanks for getting it seven minutes into the match buddy.
She goes for the same finishing move again after a big brawl but Red gets a sunset flip out of it instead to tie us up. We hit another commercial and upon returning we run down the Andre/Hogan contract signing and the Rumble very quickly before the bell rings. Im most impressed here as the announcers actually talk about the match once the bell rings instead of hyping up the bigger stuff later on.
Thats showing the girls respect which is something you rarely see in todays product. When the Angels are on offense, this match is interesting. When the Girls are on offense, I want a sharp object to do bad things with. Ah there now its interesting again. The Angels hit a double dropkick from the top to win the belts in a cool looking finish. That was nice.
On replay, Jesse is proven correct as he claims that when the Angel went for the cover she hooked the arm of Martin, raising it off the mat so there shouldnt have been a pin. Vince says that since the shoulder blade was down it counts. I dont know what to say to that.
Rating: B-. I was expecting to be bored out of my mind here, but they carried this quite well in my eyes. It was fairly clear that these belts were a joke, but if nothing else they gave us something that we very rarely if ever get to see in this era, with that being a fast paced and well done womens match. This was fun. It was sloppy, but fun.
Tiger Chung Lee/Mr. Fuji vs. The Samoans
Gene tells us this was on Wrestlings Most Embarrassing Moments due to Fuji and Lee messing up a lot. In Philly here so expect a ruthless crowd. Sika beats Fuji up a lot and Fuji might have something in his hand. He hides something and the referee spends almost a minute checking on it. Yep were in a comedy match here. Ok so Fuji has it in his tights. Off to Afa as this has been completely one sided so far. Fuji gets in a shot but misses a top rope legdrop and its off to Lee. Afa slams him off the top and its off to Sika. Fuji wont tag and its 2-1 now. A bunch of headbutts end Lee. Short and not funny so no rating.
Post match Fuji chokes Lee for no apparent reason. Lee gets what is called a kendo stick and Fuji bails. Remember that were in Philly. Thats most interesting indeed.
Womens Title: Sherri Martel vs. Fabulous Moolah
Two things. First of all Jimmy Hart is on commentary here. Second, Moolah is billed as champion here for 28 years but were in 1987 here and I seem to remember Wendi Richter being champion in 1985. Odd indeed. Moolah takes her down quickly and poses a bit. They argue over a hair pull and we hit the mat with armbars all around. We enter into the problem of all womens matches from this era: THEYRE REALLY BORING!
Moolah chops her down and this is almost in slow motion. Sherri gets a slam and we hit the front facelock. Moolah works on the arm again as we hear about the whole 28 year reign or whatever the latest story is about her being champion forever. Knee lift puts Sherri down as does a headbutt. The momentum and control in this changes at the drop of a hat.
The fans start booing loudly and I cant say I blame them. I know there are always complaints about womens wrestling today but this is freaking boring man. Martel is thrown to the floor as I think there was some clipping in this match. That would explain a lot of it. Something occurs to me: I have no idea who is face and who is heel here. The announcers are talking about Moolah like a face but shes wrestling heel and Sherri is in blue and pink. Moolah tries to suplex her back in but Sherri rolls through it for the pin and the title. It gets a face pops so I have no idea what the face/heel dynamic was supposed to be.
Rating: F+. I have no idea what this was supposed to be but good night it was boring. I dont even want to see what this match was at its full length as this was almost ten minutes including the clip. The 80s were pretty brutal for this type of wrestling other than the Angels and the lineage of the title (Moolah wasnt champion at Mania 1, was said to have recently gotten the title back at Mania 2 and was champion for 28 years here, between Manias 3 and 4) changing by the month apparently. Bad match.
WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ted Adams
WOW. See, this is whats cool about WWF. Sometimes you get random stuff like this out of nowhere which is awesome. Adams is a great light heavyweight guy and Fujinami is a guy you might have heard of and if not you should have. This title would soon be taken to Japan where it would eventually be replaced by the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title which is still in place today.
Were joined in progress here in MSG in February of 78, early in Fujinamis LONG reign. After some quick stuff to start Fujinami throws on a chinlock and they fight up with an armbar. Alfred Hayes is on solo commentary here which is weird to say the least. They hit the mat and are so much faster than anyone else from this era that its unreal. Test of strength turns into some insane bridging by the Dragon (Fujinami) and we shift to a modified surfboard.
The crowd is oddly silent here, perhaps because they have no idea what theyre seeing here. Adams misses a top rope splash (THUD) but is up seconds later anyway. Dragon (going to use that for the sake of spelling) works the leg but shifts to the arm quickly. Adams takes over and hammers away on the right arm (???) with Dragon in trouble. Cross body gets two for Adams.
Off to a front facelock which Dragon escapes quickly. In a cool move, Adams is standing there looking at Dragon so Fujinami dropkicks him across the ring out of nowhere. Literally, standing there one second, flying across the ring the next. That looked great. Adams takes over again and says he wants to be champion. Off to a top wristlock by Adams as there are a lot of submissions in this match.
Its certainly nothing by comparison to the Cruiserweight stuff in WCW in the 90s, but at the same time by comparison to the usual stuff they had in this era this is off the charts. European Uppercut by Dragon and Adams is in trouble all of a sudden. Dragon gets an airplane spin but cant follow up due to reasons of dizziness. This turns into a comedy bit as neither guy can stand up. German suplex out of nowhere by Dragon ends it.
Rating: B-. Like I said the main thing to remember here is the time period this was happening in. This was a totally different style than anything you would have seen back in the day and it made for a far better match to say the least. They got better reactions as the match went on which is certainly a good sign. Interesting match but it doesnt hold up that well over time.
Demolition vs. George Steele/Billy Jack Haynes
Its supposed to be Haynes/Ken Patera vs. Demolition here but Patera is injured. This is from Wrestling Challenge and the commentary team is Craig DeGeorge and Don Muraco of all people. Hayes vs. Ax to start us off and Hayes speeds it up with some great success. Off to Steele as you can barely understand Muraco who sounds like he smokes 4 packs a day.
Think theyre stretching a bit here on the Best of concept? Haynes comes in again and gets choked out by the slipped in cane a bit. Off to the chinlock again as Patera continues to just let Fuji do all this stuff at will. Billy breaks the hold and Steele bites Axs nose a bit as we hit the armbar by Haynes. Steele comes in and hammers away with punches and a backdrop.
George Steele plays Ricky Morton for a bit in something that is miscasting if there ever has been miscasting. Yep this is boring. Why does that not surprise me for the most part? Tag to Haynes but the referee missed it. This isnt a match that we need to extend people! Fuji tries to sneak up on Patera but apparently the bowler hat gives off too much of a signal and Patera glares him away. Billy FINALLY comes in as were close to ending this now. Suplex gets two and everything breaks down. Haynes goes after Fuji and gets the full nelson on Smash but a cain shot to the head ends him and the match.
Rating: D-. Weak match and I have no idea why this got almost ten minutes. Demolition would of course get better but they were hardly miracle workers here against guys the caliber of Steele and Haynes. Billy Jack would be gone soon after refusing to job in Oregon because hes not that smart.
Overall Rating: D+. Not much on this one as far as good wrestling goes other than a bit here and there. We do however get some solid stuff from an historical standpoint such as the tag title change and Moolah losing the title for the last first time in 28 years. Anyway, nothing of note here but I doubt anyone other than me cares about finishing this series off.