Your favorite MSG Card from the Golden Era?

[Moneyinc]

I'm talking non Pay Per Views, but the actual MSG shows that they did quite often back then.

What is your favorite card or match from MSG golden era?

I just watched the one from 4/29/89 which included Blue Blazer vs Greg the Hammer. I will watch ANY Blue Blazer match. It had Bret Hart vs Mr Perfect before Perfect had music. Jake the Snake vs Ted Debiase which was nostalgic as hell and then it also finishes with Hogan vs Macho man like a month after Macho lost at WM 5. Ridiculously good stuff on this card.

 

[JabroniBeater81]

I've attended three house shows during that era and the "New Generation" Era --

1990 - Hogan vs Earthquake was the main event. I also remember Jake Roberts vs Bad News Brown in the snake vs. subway rat feud, haha

1991 - Flair vs Hogan! I was actually there for that, and I did not realize how historic it was at the time. I was about 10 years old. This bout was actually in the middle of the card, as I think Hart Foundation vs. Rhythm and Blues ended the night.

1996 - Hart and Taker vs HBK and Diesel - this was the night when Diesel took everyone out with the chair, including HBK. Crowd went nuts for that! Also had an amazing match between Goldust and Savio Vega.

 

[EastCoastFan]

That's an extremely tall order, as the WWF used to run MSG every month for years and years. Bruno Sammartino headlined over 200 cards there.

Back in the day, it was normal for the World title match to be in the middle of the card. In his book, Shawn Michaels claimed Hulk Hogan used to insist on it so he could get back to his hotel while he could still order room service, but I take that with a grain of salt.

I went to a number of MSG cards in the 80's. One in particular I remember was in June 1987 (I think) and featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF title against Harley Race in a Texas Death Match. Before the match began, Howard Finkel warned fans in the first 10 rows to move away "or stay at your own risk".

I also remember going to one in January 1994. The main event was a Royal Rumble match (this took place a week before the RR PPV) won by Owen Hart, and The Quebecers regained the tag team titles from Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman).

 

[mattyice78]

I live in Pittsburgh I only made it to MSG once for Wrestlemania 20. WHat an awesome building the history of WWE there is incredible if you don't respect it your not a fan of wrestling. I would have to say my favorite house show was
WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - February 23, 1987 (18,317)
Televised on the MSG Network - featured Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan on commentary:
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/9/87: Paul Roma pinned Salvatore Bellomo at 12:23 with a powerslam
Prime Time Wrestling - 4/6/87: Demolition defeated the Islanders at 9:13 when Ax pinned Tama following the Decapitation behind the referee's back after Smash hit a clothesline on Tama (Best of the WWF Vol. 13)
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/9/87: Koko B. Ware pinned Sika at 4:51 with a roll up following a dropkick to the back after sliding under the ring and coming out the other end; after the bout, Sika attacked Koko and threw him out of the ring
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/9/87: Tito Santana fought Butch Reed (w/ Slick) to a double disqualification at 12:10 when, as Slick attempted to interfere with his cane, Koko B. Ware came out and knocked Slick out of the ring; after the bout, Santana and Koko cleared the ring
WWF Tag Team Champions Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis) defeated B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell at 13:52 when Bret reversed a slam by Brunzell into a small package after Davis attacked Brunzell from behind; during the match, Jimmy Hart briefly joined the commentary team at ringside (The Hart Foundation)
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/9/87: Outback Jack pinned Barry O with a bulldog at 3:33
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/9/87: Jake Roberts defeated King Kong Bundy via count-out at 9:17 when Bundy pushed Roberts back inside the ring following a ringside brawl; after the bout, Bundy missed the Avalanche in the corner with Roberts then chasing Bundy, Heenan, and Jimmy Hart - who did guest commentary for the bout - backstage with Damien (Jake "The Snake" Roberts)
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/9/87: The Honkytonk Man (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned Pedro Morales at 11:58 with his feet on the ropes; Slick did guest commentary for the bout, subbing for Bobby Heenan
Roddy Piper, the Junkyard Dog, & Ricky Steamboat defeated WWF IC Champion Randy Savage, Adrian Adonis, & King Harley Race in an elimination match at 20:22 when Piper pinned Savage with an inside cradle after Savage missed his flying elbowdrop; Adonis and JYD fought to a double count-out at 7:50; Race pinned Steamboat at 11:42 after Savage interfered behind the referee's back and reversed Steamboat's inside cradle; Piper pinned Race at 15:43 after Savage accidentally hit his partner with a double axe handle; prior to the bout, Jimmy Hart, Miss Elizabeth, and Bobby Heenan left ringside; after the bout, Gorilla Monsoon interviewed Piper backstage (Piper's last appearance at MSG for 2 1/2 years) (Best of the WWF Vol. 11, WWE's Top 50 Superstars of All Time) Loved this match a little bit of an end of an era feel to it.

 

[sdelfin]

I've attended three house shows during that era and the "New Generation" Era --

1990 - Hogan vs Earthquake was the main event. I also remember Jake Roberts vs Bad News Brown in the snake vs. subway rat feud, haha

1991 - Flair vs Hogan! I was actually there for that, and I did not realize how historic it was at the time. I was about 10 years old. This bout was actually in the middle of the card, as I think Hart Foundation vs. Rhythm and Blues ended the night.

1996 - Hart and Taker vs HBK and Diesel - this was the night when Diesel took everyone out with the chair, including HBK. Crowd went nuts for that! Also had an amazing match between Goldust and Savio Vega.

I looked it up because I knew Honky Tonk Man wasn't around in late 91, the Hogan/Flair event ended with The Nasty Boys vs. The Rockers. I suspected that as I did watch that event on TV and they were in the process of having the Rockers fall apart. Though the ending was a bit of a downer, this was a fun event.

As for the show in 96, I was a regular for the WWF at MSG in 96. Savio and Goldust were amazing in the ring together. This was actually a return match from their previous Garden match, and I still think so fondly of that first match in particular. They had the whole arena invested in the match. The Tag match you mentioned was a lot of fun too.

 

[Moneyinc]

I looked it up because I knew Honky Tonk Man wasn't around in late 91, the Hogan/Flair event ended with The Nasty Boys vs. The Rockers. I suspected that as I did watch that event on TV and they were in the process of having the Rockers fall apart. Though the ending was a bit of a downer, this was a fun event.

As for the show in 96, I was a regular for the WWF at MSG in 96. Savio and Goldust were amazing in the ring together. This was actually a return match from their previous Garden match, and I still think so fondly of that first match in particular. They had the whole arena invested in the match. The Tag match you mentioned was a lot of fun too.

Yup I actually watched this event last night. Flair vs Hogan was mid card and it was a GREAT match. Hogan kicked Flair's ass for 10 minutes and then Flair ended up putting his foot on the ropes after the leg drop. Flair hit Hogan with the object Perfect handed him and pinned Hogan 1, 2, 3!!! Officials ended up DQing Flair though. You also saw Bret Hart vs Mountie and Big Bossman vs IRS in two GREAT matches that night. Rockers Nasties did indeed end the night and Shawn blew the match by causing Marty to get pinned. Definitely the beginning of the end for the Rockers. What a card.

 

[sdelfin]

That's cool that you just watched that one. I remember a lot about the day I saw it. I think it aired the day after it took place. My brother told me that Flair pinned Hogan and the decision was reversed so I was really curious to see how it went down. The Rockers were tearing it up in 1991, so I was hoping they wouldn't break up. I knew enough about how wrestling worked, but I was still disappointed when Shawn caused Marty to get pinned in the small package.

I like this general topic but I haven't seen enough full cards from MSG to properly comment. Getting my hands on many of these, as well as Boston, Philly, LA Toronto and various other televised house shows is something I thought about before. Sadly, I only got cable around Wrestlemania 7, so I only saw a handful of shows before they stopped doing them. The one I remember most is from July of 91, Warrior vs. Undertaker in a body-bag match, and Jake Roberts vs. Earthquake.

 

[matman8540]

That's an extremely tall order, as the WWF used to run MSG every month for years and years. Bruno Sammartino headlined over 200 cards there.

Back in the day, it was normal for the World title match to be in the middle of the card. In his book, Shawn Michaels claimed Hulk Hogan used to insist on it so he could get back to his hotel while he could still order room service, but I take that with a grain of salt.

I went to a number of MSG cards in the 80's. One in particular I remember was in June 1987 (I think) and featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF title against Harley Race in a Texas Death Match. Before the match began, Howard Finkel warned fans in the first 10 rows to move away "or stay at your own risk".

I also remember going to one in January 1994. The main event was a Royal Rumble match (this took place a week before the RR PPV) won by Owen Hart, and The Quebecers regained the tag team titles from Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman).

Actually, they did that in the Garden back in the 70s; when both Bruno and Bob Backlund were champion. After that match, they announced the next card at the Garden, and would tell the fans their next opponent/victim. For example, after Superstar Billy Graham defeated High Chief Peter Maivia; the ring announcer would run down the entire card, with Graham's opponent being the current #1 contender; Mil Mascaras. That was the tradition at MSG for as long as I can remember.

 

[Moneyinc]

That's cool that you just watched that one. I remember a lot about the day I saw it. I think it aired the day after it took place. My brother told me that Flair pinned Hogan and the decision was reversed so I was really curious to see how it went down. The Rockers were tearing it up in 1991, so I was hoping they wouldn't break up. I knew enough about how wrestling worked, but I was still disappointed when Shawn caused Marty to get pinned in the small package.

I like this general topic but I haven't seen enough full cards from MSG to properly comment. Getting my hands on many of these, as well as Boston, Philly, LA Toronto and various other televised house shows is something I thought about before. Sadly, I only got cable around Wrestlemania 7, so I only saw a handful of shows before they stopped doing them. The one I remember most is from July of 91, Warrior vs. Undertaker in a body-bag match, and Jake Roberts vs. Earthquake.

Ah I would love to see the Warrior vs Taker body bag match. Ive been able to get my hands on about 4 of these MSG shows. One has a steel cage Macho Man vs Warrior(good match) from 1991 and a Demolition vs LOD match that unforuntately was pretty lame. It also has another version of Rockers vs Nasty Boys I believe. There are about 30 of these shows floating around on torrent sites but they are all really hard to get because so few people have downloaded them.


That is so great you remember that day though and were actually at that show. As I said earlier what an incredible card, and to see Hogan pinned 1-2-3 in a very exciting match with Flair is priceless. Even if it got overruled.

I would really love to see the Spectrum show that has Macho Man vs Debiase in a steel cage.

Just realized they have 12/29/91 MSG show in full on youtube. Hogan vs Flair, Bret Hart vs Debiase, Nasty Boys vs Bushwackers, Davey Boy vs Bezerker....and Heenan and Gorilla commentating which is about as good as it gets especially when you have a Flair vs Hogan match.

 

[Moneyinc]

Watched an MSG show from 10/28/91 last night and the main even was Piper vs Flair! Easily one of the best in ring matches of the Golden Era. Piper's energy was magnificent and Flair was putting on a clinic at this time with his selling. Flair won 1,2,3 with both legs on the rope. The finish made me laugh out loud but it was still a good finish. He threw Piper inside the ring and then awkwardly dove in while leaving his 2 feet on the ropes. HAHA. Still laughing great stuff.. There was also a few chairs involved here but it was funny because they were hitting eachother so softly with the chair. Piper even hit the ref but barely touched him haha.

Both these guys are in my top 10 of all time. Flair was getting quite a bit of pop even as a heel which you didn't see very often back then. Piper's crowd reaction and entrance was fantastic.

The card also had a long ass Davey Boy Smith vs IRS match that exceeded the time limit. A lot of that match was pretty darn boring but I think they were just trying to get some heat going into Survivor Series.

There was also a Hart vs Bezerker match and I didn't watch and an LOD vs Natural Disasters match.

 

[jbwphoto1]

I'm talking non Pay Per Views, but the actual MSG shows that they did quite often back then.

What is your favorite card or match from MSG golden era?

Starting in my early teens, we had a 10 foot fiberglass satellite dish which eventually allowed me to watch wrestling every day/night of the week. The MSG Network was on one of the Satcoms, and one night while flipping past, we saw wrestling. We didn't regularly watch MSG, so we thought it was just a matter of limited commercials. Turned out we were watching the live event as it happened. When they took intermission, you would either see an empty ring or backstage where someone was cutting a promo.

I honestly don't have a favorite memory from it, but just thought it was great to watch from the fabled arena from over 700 miles away and see the same matches my family in Brooklyn had gone into the city to see.

I do remember how dark the arena used to be. If you view WWWF/WWF/WWE events over the years, you can see how it went from the one light over the ring to the bright lights everywhere that we have today.