klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Best of the WWF Volume 6
Host: Gorilla Monsoon
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Alfred Hayes, Gene Okerlund
I think youre familiar with the format here by now. Its just a collection of matches that are allegedly good. There really isnt much else to say here. Lets get to it.
This is an older tape so Id assume 84-85 for the time covered.
Damn that old school Coliseum Video opening still rocks hard.
Gorilla welcomes us to the show and says that WWF puts on over 1000 shows a year. While they had two house show circuits back in the day, thats complete and utter crap as it would still be three total shows a day, and even while back then two shows a day for a crew wasnt that odd, there is simply no way that is true. Referees, announcers and fans picked these apparently.
He says Hogan and Savage are on this, meaning at least 1985.
Terry Funk vs. Lanny Poffo
At the Garden here. Damn Terry Funk vs. Randy Poffo sounds awesome beyond belief for the promos alone if nothing else. I think they did some stuff in Memphis. Funk stalls to start. He chases a ring attendant who filed a legit lawsuit over something with the company at some point and it was a big deal. Sweet damn that was vague but its all Ive got.
Funk is considered a great here which is just weird to hear as hes a legend now rather than simply an all time great. Red hot crowd here. Poffo does a standing backflip which is insane in its own right. He was so far ahead of his time its unreal. Based on what I can find this is July 12, 1985 if youre interested. Terry sees Lanny prancing around and you know hes not a fan of it.
The brawling vs. speed/agility stuff here is actually working. Funk gets a sweet leverage move to send him over the top. His wrestling ability was and always will be underrated. He shouts PIG at Poffo. As long as he doesnt want to make him squeal like one I think were ok. Funk gets sent to the floor off an awesome atomic drop. Funk pounds away but falls to the floor again for some reason.
Terry suplexes him to the floor and Lanny is more or less dead. This guy took some of the best beatings I can ever remember. He looks a bit like a short haired version of Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin although he has, you know, talent. The crowd is getting into this and I cant blame them as this has been solid. Funk shoves the referee before hitting a nice reverse neckbreaker for two.
SWEET sunset flip by Poffo for two but they mess up and ring the bell anyway. Poffo takes over and does some sweet fast paced stuff. He busts out a freaking moonsault which was INSANE in 85. Funk goes back to that old left hand again but gets caught in a hurricanrana of all things for two. And then Funk throws on a choke/sleeper for the submission/cure for insomnia.
Rating: B. This was REALLY good and I never would have guessed that. Poffo got a chance to throw out his insane offense which blew people away back then. Funk was his usual old hateful self and the whole thing just worked really well. Solid match here and a really nice surprise the whole way around.
WWF Title: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan
This is one of about 1000 matches these two had and since its from around 85, this should be sweet. Apparently this is the first time theyve ever fought so Savage is almost brand new at this point. Savage poses to start and they finally lock up with Hogan shoving Savage away with ease. Hogan establishes his power advantage early on so Savage bails, hiding behind Liz as he would tend to do.
LOUD Hogan chant starts up as Savage stalls even more to big time heat. Were in the Garden again if you didnt guess that. The fans are ridiculously into this as it was easily the biggest match in the world with Hogan being the unstoppable champion and Savage being the best heel in company history, being totally insane and amazing in the ring. You have to keep in mind that heels until then were either evil foreigners or big muscle guys.
Enter Randy Savage who is not only nuts but is young, small and fast. No one had ever seen anything like him and he was pushed as an absolute killer. This would have easily been the main event at Mania had the timing been right. By waiting four years to pull the trigger on that it was huge and the buyrates reflect that.
Savages stalling is awesome here as the fans want to see him get his head kicked in but he wont do it. Hogan catches him coming off with a cross body and throws him to the floor. Savage pulls Liz in front of him again as the stalling and everything here is just working. Savage jaws with some fans so Hogan is like screw it and blasts him. Hogan takes too long to get in though and Randy takes over.
Double axe from the top to the floor has Hogan in big trouble. Savage gets back in to BIG heat. The Hulk Up happens rather early it would seem and the big boot sends Savage to the floor again. More Liz interference allows Savage to take Hogan down and hit the big elbow for two. Hogan gets up but hits the referee by mistake. Savage gets the belt and jumps off the top to clock Hulk who is on the floor.
Hogan is busted open and down on the floor. Savage wakes up the referee and literally does the counting for him in a funny bit. Savage grabs the belt and runs in the ring with it, declaring himself champion. I dont see why he shouldnt be. He defeated the champion in a title match didnt he? He carries the belt with him and then is PISSED when hes told it didnt change hands.
Rating: B. Another great match here with both guys having a ton of fun out there. This was a natural fight and it worked like a charm every time. These early matches they had were definitely the best matches they had as the novelty was still there. This was very fun as the crowd was way into it. Solid match and very fun.
Hogan beats him up after the match and gets his belt back.
We get a clip from Tuesday Night Titans where Jesse talks about how the Navy is better than the Army. Vince is in the audience and takes questions for Jesse. One guy wants to know where Jesse gets his costumes from. He says theyre clothes and one set its worth more than his car. Theres nothing going on between him and Liz either. This was a talk show thing if you didnt get that. An old guy asks a way too complicated question so Jesse rips him. Im not sure what he said either.
Haiti Kid vs. Butch Cassidy
Yep its a midget match. Cassidy is probably as big as Rey. The referee is a midget too. The announcers talk about midgets of the past as I have no interest in this at all. Actually I think the referee is just really short. Haiti is the face here I think. In short here, Cassidy is big, Haiti is small, Cassidy sucks as a wrestler, Haiti is smart. Thats this match but somehow they give this TEN MINUTES.
Haiti gets two off a headbutt but it doesnt work because hes too short. Did you get that the size difference here is hurting things? Was there NO ONE else on the roster that could have used this time? Haiti uses like five headbutts, which is his finisher, before Cassidy goes down for two. Cassidy gets a dropkick. Im skipping minutes at a time without typing anything because its more or less just a move exhibition with small jokes from Hayes and Monsoon. Haiti Kid gets a rollup for the pin.
Rating: F. A midget match got ten minutes on a tape. Thats the extent of the explanation required.
Johnny Valient vs. Ivan Putski
This is from the mid 70s and is more or less from the vault. Putski is undefeated and Valient is a tag champion. Apparently this is the main event and its a 20 minute time limit. This is rather short and theres not much to it at all. Valient does basic heel stuff before Putski makes his big ticked off comeback. A sitdown splash ends this in less than four minutes. No rating obviously.
We get more comedy from the Tuesday Night Titans show, this time being love advice from Hayes and Vince. I hate this show. You would think in five minutes that you would get a single good joke. Apparently not.
Ricky Steamboat vs. Bob Orton
Ok this HAS to be good by talent levels alone. Were not in MSG here and Im not actually sure where this is. It might be Toronto. Apparently Steamboat had to change his style here in order to survive. Yeah a bit overdramatic there guys. The referee is rather blonde here. Big old arm drag of course to start us off as is the Dragons custom. Dragon goes after the arm of Ortons which is still slowly healing.
Orton busts out a nipup. Yes Randys dad did a move Ive never seen his son do that was based in athleticism. Thats not something I saw coming to put it mildly. Lot of mat work here, mainly from the future world champion on the future answer to a trivia question that no one asks. See what psychology can do for you? You have a guy with a bad arm so his opponent WORKS ON IT. Why is that so complex for so many people?
Steamboat likes armdrags a lot. He shifts to a slam and then about the fifth armdrag in two minutes. Orton, even the evil one, goes to the eyes to get out of trouble and uses some nice little speed stuff to send himself to the floor when he tries to out move Steamboat. Orton steals a soda from some fan because hes a jerk. Hes better in the ring than most people give him credit for. Thats what happens when you chill with Piper so often.
Orton goes European with a Cravate. Thats the weird headlock that Chris Hero uses for you ROH guys out there. He goes for a shot with the cast but Steamboat dives out of the way. Who goes to a headlock almost seven minutes into the match? Steamboat SNAPS off some chops and Orton is in trouble. Those things were awesome. Oh but because Steamboat has Asian blood in him theyre martial arts. Got it.
Steamboat goes up top and hits the cross body but it only gets two. Wow thats a surprise. Theyre getting close to the end here and while its been basic so far this has been rather good for the most part. Gene calls him Richard. I dont think Ive ever heard that. Orton grabs an atomic drop which Gene calls a reverse Piledriver. Odd. Gorilla says this is a classic. Good yes but not a classic.
He skins the cat and I think you know who I mean by that. Enziguri out of nowhere from Steamboat has Orton in trouble again. They keep countering each other and no one can get a win here. Orton loads the cast up again and goes up. He hits him in the head with it and theres the DQ because he did it right in front of the referee. They brawl a bit more once the match is over.
Rating: B-. Another good one here but like I said was there any doubt that would be the case given who was in there? Steamboat could more or less do no wrong in the 80s and this was no exception. If you give him someone awesome like Orton then youre going to get a good match like this out of it. The ending hurts this a good bit but overall this was solid stuff.
Some ads for future shows end this.
Overall Rating: B-. This was pretty good I thought although there are some stupid things in there. This is definitely the best of this series as for the most part these tend to suck. The first two matches and the main event were very good but some of the other stuff was just bad and a waste of time, namely the midget match. Overall though, this is pretty good and worth checking out if you can find it as its only an hour and a half.
Host: Gorilla Monsoon
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Alfred Hayes, Gene Okerlund
I think youre familiar with the format here by now. Its just a collection of matches that are allegedly good. There really isnt much else to say here. Lets get to it.
This is an older tape so Id assume 84-85 for the time covered.
Damn that old school Coliseum Video opening still rocks hard.
Gorilla welcomes us to the show and says that WWF puts on over 1000 shows a year. While they had two house show circuits back in the day, thats complete and utter crap as it would still be three total shows a day, and even while back then two shows a day for a crew wasnt that odd, there is simply no way that is true. Referees, announcers and fans picked these apparently.
He says Hogan and Savage are on this, meaning at least 1985.
Terry Funk vs. Lanny Poffo
At the Garden here. Damn Terry Funk vs. Randy Poffo sounds awesome beyond belief for the promos alone if nothing else. I think they did some stuff in Memphis. Funk stalls to start. He chases a ring attendant who filed a legit lawsuit over something with the company at some point and it was a big deal. Sweet damn that was vague but its all Ive got.
Funk is considered a great here which is just weird to hear as hes a legend now rather than simply an all time great. Red hot crowd here. Poffo does a standing backflip which is insane in its own right. He was so far ahead of his time its unreal. Based on what I can find this is July 12, 1985 if youre interested. Terry sees Lanny prancing around and you know hes not a fan of it.
The brawling vs. speed/agility stuff here is actually working. Funk gets a sweet leverage move to send him over the top. His wrestling ability was and always will be underrated. He shouts PIG at Poffo. As long as he doesnt want to make him squeal like one I think were ok. Funk gets sent to the floor off an awesome atomic drop. Funk pounds away but falls to the floor again for some reason.
Terry suplexes him to the floor and Lanny is more or less dead. This guy took some of the best beatings I can ever remember. He looks a bit like a short haired version of Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin although he has, you know, talent. The crowd is getting into this and I cant blame them as this has been solid. Funk shoves the referee before hitting a nice reverse neckbreaker for two.
SWEET sunset flip by Poffo for two but they mess up and ring the bell anyway. Poffo takes over and does some sweet fast paced stuff. He busts out a freaking moonsault which was INSANE in 85. Funk goes back to that old left hand again but gets caught in a hurricanrana of all things for two. And then Funk throws on a choke/sleeper for the submission/cure for insomnia.
Rating: B. This was REALLY good and I never would have guessed that. Poffo got a chance to throw out his insane offense which blew people away back then. Funk was his usual old hateful self and the whole thing just worked really well. Solid match here and a really nice surprise the whole way around.
WWF Title: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan
This is one of about 1000 matches these two had and since its from around 85, this should be sweet. Apparently this is the first time theyve ever fought so Savage is almost brand new at this point. Savage poses to start and they finally lock up with Hogan shoving Savage away with ease. Hogan establishes his power advantage early on so Savage bails, hiding behind Liz as he would tend to do.
LOUD Hogan chant starts up as Savage stalls even more to big time heat. Were in the Garden again if you didnt guess that. The fans are ridiculously into this as it was easily the biggest match in the world with Hogan being the unstoppable champion and Savage being the best heel in company history, being totally insane and amazing in the ring. You have to keep in mind that heels until then were either evil foreigners or big muscle guys.
Enter Randy Savage who is not only nuts but is young, small and fast. No one had ever seen anything like him and he was pushed as an absolute killer. This would have easily been the main event at Mania had the timing been right. By waiting four years to pull the trigger on that it was huge and the buyrates reflect that.
Savages stalling is awesome here as the fans want to see him get his head kicked in but he wont do it. Hogan catches him coming off with a cross body and throws him to the floor. Savage pulls Liz in front of him again as the stalling and everything here is just working. Savage jaws with some fans so Hogan is like screw it and blasts him. Hogan takes too long to get in though and Randy takes over.
Double axe from the top to the floor has Hogan in big trouble. Savage gets back in to BIG heat. The Hulk Up happens rather early it would seem and the big boot sends Savage to the floor again. More Liz interference allows Savage to take Hogan down and hit the big elbow for two. Hogan gets up but hits the referee by mistake. Savage gets the belt and jumps off the top to clock Hulk who is on the floor.
Hogan is busted open and down on the floor. Savage wakes up the referee and literally does the counting for him in a funny bit. Savage grabs the belt and runs in the ring with it, declaring himself champion. I dont see why he shouldnt be. He defeated the champion in a title match didnt he? He carries the belt with him and then is PISSED when hes told it didnt change hands.
Rating: B. Another great match here with both guys having a ton of fun out there. This was a natural fight and it worked like a charm every time. These early matches they had were definitely the best matches they had as the novelty was still there. This was very fun as the crowd was way into it. Solid match and very fun.
Hogan beats him up after the match and gets his belt back.
We get a clip from Tuesday Night Titans where Jesse talks about how the Navy is better than the Army. Vince is in the audience and takes questions for Jesse. One guy wants to know where Jesse gets his costumes from. He says theyre clothes and one set its worth more than his car. Theres nothing going on between him and Liz either. This was a talk show thing if you didnt get that. An old guy asks a way too complicated question so Jesse rips him. Im not sure what he said either.
Haiti Kid vs. Butch Cassidy
Yep its a midget match. Cassidy is probably as big as Rey. The referee is a midget too. The announcers talk about midgets of the past as I have no interest in this at all. Actually I think the referee is just really short. Haiti is the face here I think. In short here, Cassidy is big, Haiti is small, Cassidy sucks as a wrestler, Haiti is smart. Thats this match but somehow they give this TEN MINUTES.
Haiti gets two off a headbutt but it doesnt work because hes too short. Did you get that the size difference here is hurting things? Was there NO ONE else on the roster that could have used this time? Haiti uses like five headbutts, which is his finisher, before Cassidy goes down for two. Cassidy gets a dropkick. Im skipping minutes at a time without typing anything because its more or less just a move exhibition with small jokes from Hayes and Monsoon. Haiti Kid gets a rollup for the pin.
Rating: F. A midget match got ten minutes on a tape. Thats the extent of the explanation required.
Johnny Valient vs. Ivan Putski
This is from the mid 70s and is more or less from the vault. Putski is undefeated and Valient is a tag champion. Apparently this is the main event and its a 20 minute time limit. This is rather short and theres not much to it at all. Valient does basic heel stuff before Putski makes his big ticked off comeback. A sitdown splash ends this in less than four minutes. No rating obviously.
We get more comedy from the Tuesday Night Titans show, this time being love advice from Hayes and Vince. I hate this show. You would think in five minutes that you would get a single good joke. Apparently not.
Ricky Steamboat vs. Bob Orton
Ok this HAS to be good by talent levels alone. Were not in MSG here and Im not actually sure where this is. It might be Toronto. Apparently Steamboat had to change his style here in order to survive. Yeah a bit overdramatic there guys. The referee is rather blonde here. Big old arm drag of course to start us off as is the Dragons custom. Dragon goes after the arm of Ortons which is still slowly healing.
Orton busts out a nipup. Yes Randys dad did a move Ive never seen his son do that was based in athleticism. Thats not something I saw coming to put it mildly. Lot of mat work here, mainly from the future world champion on the future answer to a trivia question that no one asks. See what psychology can do for you? You have a guy with a bad arm so his opponent WORKS ON IT. Why is that so complex for so many people?
Steamboat likes armdrags a lot. He shifts to a slam and then about the fifth armdrag in two minutes. Orton, even the evil one, goes to the eyes to get out of trouble and uses some nice little speed stuff to send himself to the floor when he tries to out move Steamboat. Orton steals a soda from some fan because hes a jerk. Hes better in the ring than most people give him credit for. Thats what happens when you chill with Piper so often.
Orton goes European with a Cravate. Thats the weird headlock that Chris Hero uses for you ROH guys out there. He goes for a shot with the cast but Steamboat dives out of the way. Who goes to a headlock almost seven minutes into the match? Steamboat SNAPS off some chops and Orton is in trouble. Those things were awesome. Oh but because Steamboat has Asian blood in him theyre martial arts. Got it.
Steamboat goes up top and hits the cross body but it only gets two. Wow thats a surprise. Theyre getting close to the end here and while its been basic so far this has been rather good for the most part. Gene calls him Richard. I dont think Ive ever heard that. Orton grabs an atomic drop which Gene calls a reverse Piledriver. Odd. Gorilla says this is a classic. Good yes but not a classic.
He skins the cat and I think you know who I mean by that. Enziguri out of nowhere from Steamboat has Orton in trouble again. They keep countering each other and no one can get a win here. Orton loads the cast up again and goes up. He hits him in the head with it and theres the DQ because he did it right in front of the referee. They brawl a bit more once the match is over.
Rating: B-. Another good one here but like I said was there any doubt that would be the case given who was in there? Steamboat could more or less do no wrong in the 80s and this was no exception. If you give him someone awesome like Orton then youre going to get a good match like this out of it. The ending hurts this a good bit but overall this was solid stuff.
Some ads for future shows end this.
Overall Rating: B-. This was pretty good I thought although there are some stupid things in there. This is definitely the best of this series as for the most part these tend to suck. The first two matches and the main event were very good but some of the other stuff was just bad and a waste of time, namely the midget match. Overall though, this is pretty good and worth checking out if you can find it as its only an hour and a half.