WWE All Star Search #28 - Championship Wrestling (May 1986 part 2)

WWE All Star Search #28 - Championship Wrestling (May 1986 part 2)

Hello Turnbucklers! Its edition #28 of our All Star Search and we're moving into the middle of March with two episodes of Championship Wrestling. You know the score, we probably won't have much to say about the matches but let's hope we get some good angle development. In the two episodes we have two relatively important matches. Kirchner vs Sheik is a continuation of the feud going on between the patriot and the evil foreigners and boy do I hope we're coming to the end of it. The Bulldogs vs the big lads is an interesting one because the Bulldogs have their title winning momentum while the big lads are on a downward spiral since Wrestlemania 2. Let's get on with it shall we?

The Card:

George Steele/Junkyard Dog vs Tiger Chung Lee/Mike Angelo

Jimmy Jack Funk/Dory Funk vs Andre Malo/Dan King

The Killer Bees vs Iron Mike Sharpe/Joe Mirto

Randy Savage (IC Champ) vs Serge Jedoin

Corporal Kirchner vs The Iron Sheik

Ted Arcidi/King Tonga vs Dave Barbie/The Gladiator

The Hart Foundation vs Lanny Poffo/Don Driggers

Pedro Morales/Hillbilly Jim vs Moondog Spot/Cyclone Capone

Hercules vs Mike Sexton

Tito Santana/Dan Spivey vs Steve Lombardi/Paul Christy

The British Bulldogs (Tag Team Champs) vs King Kong Bundy/Big John Studd

The Show:

So let's kick off with the 10th May edition of Championship Wrestling. Our commentary team is Vince Mcmahon and Bruno Sammartino who run down the card.

Mike Angelo/Tiger Chung Lee vs Junkyard Dog/George Steele

The Haiti Kid is still with the faces and he's enjoying swinging his chain. Typical hijinks from Steele in this one until he gets caught in heel corner. Mike Angelo is freaking huge but a bite to the chest by Steele still manages to send him reeling. JYD comes in and hits a huge powerslam to Angelo in short order for the win. JYD is obviously stronger than he looks if he can slam Angelo like he did. After the match, there's an awkward stand off between Chung Lee and the faces while Angelo plays dead on the mat. It all comes to nothing and the faces celebrate! Not much to say about that one. Squash Rating: *

Its update time with Lord Al and this week he's looking at Jake Roberts! He asks whether Damien could be a tool used by evil worshippers? I think it's just a gimmick Al. We get a clip of a jobber getting snaked and that's all. No mention of the Steamboat angle once again.

Jimmy Jack Funk/Dory Funk vs Andre Malo/Dan King

Still no sign or mention of Terry Funk so I assume he's definitely left the WWF at this point. Bad timing though as the Funks could've been a good little faction. JJ shows plenty of aggression again but Dory just ups the game in terms of stiffness. Nice underhook suplex by Dory and the win comes with an awesome looking fallaway-powerslam move that I can't think I've seen before. Another case of not much to say except Jimmy Jack continues to impress me. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who sends us to a Hulk Hogan promo. He rants on Macho Man and puts his hype down to Elizabeth. He puts Macho over quite well before claiming that he'll still win because this is America. Sigh.

The Killer Bees vs Iron Mike Sharpe/Joe Mirto

Always good to see Iron Mike! He always seems to have a sign with him claiming him to be Canada's Greatest Athlete. I can't help but imagine him making it by hand at home before the show! The Bee's are still coming out in their masks but inexplicably take them off for the match. Match is a typical Bee's affair with the head scissors making many an appearance. Bobby Heenan turns up on commentary who says he met with Jack Tunney. He's looking into what action the WWE is going to take over Andre the Giant and his no show from a few weeks previous. Heenan calls Andre a coward and says when he's done with it all, Andre will no longer be a part of WWE. By the way, the Bee's win with a poor looking powerslam on Mirto. Once again the Bee's are solid yet unspectacular and could really do with a featured storyline...that isn't with the Hart Foundation! Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene and he's joined with Corporal Kirchner. They mention the Chernobyl explosion and somehow link it to the upcoming match between Kirchner and Nikolai Volkoff. Probably best not to mention a huge disaster that killed many a civilian...but hey, it happened to the enemy so why not.

Serge Jedoin vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)

Lots of stalling to start by Macho because...it's Macho in 1986. He really doesn't need to do his stalling schtick in these squash matches. Quite an audible Macho chant from a couple of lads in the crowd. Match finishes within a minute via an elbow drop from Macho and he's even nice enough to give another after the bell. Macho is another who needs a featured storyline after feuding with George Steele since forever. He still looks like a star after this one though. Squash Rating: *

Its time for the Flower Shop with Adrian Adonis and Jimmy Hart! He's joined by the Dream Team with Johnny V. They talk about their defeat at Wrestlemania 2 and blame it all on Ozzy Osbourne and two referees. They promise payback for the Bulldogs and that's all we have this week. If only Ozzy had actually done something of note at Wrestlemania and they'd have had a point.

Into the back with Lord Al who shows us clips of Saturday Night's Main Event whereby Jake Roberts absolutely destroyed Ricky Steamboat with his DDT on the concrete. Finally, it's nice to see it mentioned!

The Iron Sheik vs Corporal Kirchner

Well Christ, the pop for Kirchner is inexplicably loud. He even gets some patriotic signage from the crowd! I still can't him but he gets a massive USA chant up and running. He starts with a jumping headbutt and follows with a back body drop. Volkoff distracts from the outside and Sheik takes advantage. He hits a back body drop of his own before he locks on an abdominal stretch. Kirchner counters into a hip toss but misses the follow up elbow drop. Blassie gets involved and the ref does nothing but count before Sheik sends Kirchner flying outside. He scrambles back in the ring and manages a roll up on Sheik for 2. Sheik takes control again with a kick to the face as Vince admits Kirchner's wrestling ain't pretty to watch. Suplex attempt by Sheik is blocked and Kirchner hits a big one of his own. Kirchner picks up Sheik and levels him with a Samoan Drop! He makes the cover but Volkoff runs in for the DQ win for Kirchner. The heels give him boots until the Killer Bee's make the save. This will surely go down as a key moment in the Cold War but for now, it shall all continue. Crap match but the crowd enjoyed it. Match Rating: 1/4*

Into the back with Mean Gene and he's joined by the heels we've just seen give it legs. Freddie Blassie rants on about Kirchner before Volkoff gives it more of the same. I love Volkoff, he's like an old, drunk, Russian grandpa. They leave and are replaced by Macho Man! He has a copy of the WWE Magazine with Hogan on the cover. He says he's going to win the WWE Championship at the upcoming house show. Boston is his town, ohhh yeah!

Onto the 17th May edition of Championship Wrestling and our commentators are once again Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino!

Ted Arcidi/King Tonga vs Dave Barbie/The Gladiator

It's matches like these that make me sad. There is literally no one in this match I'm interested in currently. The Gladiator has been appearing on this blog since the very beginning...so how come no one has yet found out anything about him...including his height and weight? That's just poor admin from the agents in the back. Really nice back suplex by Tonga seems to be the only highpoint in this one before Arcidi gets the win with a bearhug. Complete snorefest. Squash Rating: *

It's update time with Lord Al and this week he's looking at Steamboat and Jake Roberts. Essentially its a full recap of the brutal SNME attack from a few weeks ago. Apparently Steamer is 100% fit and raring for some revenge!

The Hart Foundation vs Lanny Poffo/Don Driggers

It's the blue and black attack, the Hart Foundation! Lanny has brought some frisbees with him and of course, has a poem. It's awful as expected and the heels have to oversell it. The Harts attack quickly and we get some decent back and forth between Bret and Lanny. It doesn't last long but the Harts look awesome in this with plenty of double team moves. A Hart Attack on Barbie gets the win and it's all elementary from there! I say this every time but the tag division needs some solid programs to match the solid athletes within it. Squash Rating: ***

Into the back with...some guy...who runs down an upcoming house show card. Hulk Hogan comes in wearing his bandana like an eyepatch. He moans about Savage and Liz and even says he doesn't trust Elizabeth. He has a suprise for Savage though...it's called Hulkamania. Crap suprise if you ask me though.

Pedro Morales/Hillbilly Jim vs Moondog Spot/Cyclone Capone

What? No Moondog Rex? Where's our refunds?! The faces come out to Jim's awful country music and I wonder how former WWF champion Pedro Morales feels about that. Hillbilly Jim does a lovely yet crap cartwheel before the match. That is in fact our highlight of the entire match. The win comes for the faces via a Jim Big Boot. Test, eat your heart out. Squash Rating: *

Vince wants to know if there are any non-profit organisations that want to fund raise via WWE. Interesting concept for sure!

Into the back with SOME GUY and he's joined by Corporal Kirchner. In a weird political moment, he compares his feud with Nikolai Volkoff and the recent (at the time) Chernobyl disaster (the second time in recent months WWE have mentioned it on air) but has to add in a claim about it being a huge Russian conspiracy. Promo is unfortunately poor but hey, it's Kirchner. Merica!

Hercules vs Mike Sexton

Mike Sexton is one of my favourite jobbers...but only because he always dresses like a disco ball. Ernie Ladd makes a quick appearance on commentary and says everybody wants to be a wrestler...I, however, disagree. While all this is going on, Herc is throwing punches like no ones business and even Blassie gets some cheeky shots in. Hercules is not at all smooth in the ring although he's still very aggressive. The win comes for Herc after the torture rack and it was all boring as sin. Squash Rating: *

It's time for the Flower Shop with Adonis and Jimmy Hart. Adonis comes in looking like a sunblushed tomato and its not long before the faggot chants start up...and then repeat. Their guest today is the MACHO MAN and Liz. Adonis appreciates Liz's make up before Randy cuts a promo telling people not to be jealous of him. Adonis goes to give Liz flowers, changes his mind, and gives them Savage instead. Cheeky! Bit of a nothing segment though.

Tito Santana/Dan Spivey vs Steve Lombardi/Paul Christy

Tito is dropping down the card quite quickly now. He's Spivey's latest tag team partner and surely someone has to gel with him, right? RIGHT? Wrong, match is unspectacular and crowd barely even wake up for Tito. Finish comes with a Spivey bulldog. Vince says we may see more of this team...and that sounds like a threat to me. Squash Rating: *

The British Bulldogs (Tag Team Champs) vs King Kong Bundy/Big John Studd

Straight into the main event now and to be fair, this is a biggie for Championship Wrestling. The Bulldogs get a big reception but no entrance. Big heat as per for the heels and one crowd sign alludes to Bundy's 'thigh burn'. Weirdly enough, this is a glorified squash by the heels after some initial Bulldog offense. Cool early spot see's a double dropkick take Studd down from the Bulldogs but from there, its all the heels...and its all slow and boring. Crowd are still really into it but a Studd shove to the referee gets the Bulldogs the DQ win. After the match, there's more dissention between the giant heels and I PRAY we never see a match between them! Match Rating: 1/2*

So as a summary, both shows were pretty sub par. The major focus seems to be on the upcoming house show match between Savage and Hogan which is all good on my part, if not maybe a little too soon for Savage when he has such good momentum. Steamboat and Roberts finally got some emphasis after their huge SNME angle and Roberts is really starting to look twisted, so twisted they're linking him to Satanism it seems. Shame about the very last match between the Bulldogs and the Heenan Family. It's looking like the big lads may be on course for a break up so why squash the tag teams? Perfect opportunity to have cemented the Bulldogs as THE team but low and behold, nada! Will try and finish off the rest of May in the next A.S.S but until then, have a good'n!

Wrestler Scores:

• Mike Angelo +1 (1)
• Tiger Chung Lee +1 (9)
• George Steele +2 (31)
• Junkyard Dog +2 (84)
• Jake Roberts +2 (33)
• Dory Funk Jr +2 (38)
• Jimmy Jack Funk +2 (6)
• Andre Malo +1 (4)
• Dan King +1 (1)
• Hulk Hogan +2 (116)
• B Brian Blair +2 (44)
• Jim Brunzell +2 (36)
• Iron Mike Sharpe +1 (17)
• Joe Mirto +1 (7)
• Corporal Kirchner +4 (43)
• Serge Jedoin +1 (1)
• Randy Savage +4 (91)
• Adrian Adonis +2 (67)
• Brutus Beefcake +1 (50)
• Greg Valentine +1 (77)
• Iron Sheik +3 (61)
• Nikolai Volkoff +1 (56)
• Ted Arcidi +2 (12)
• King Tonga +2 (23)
• The Gladiator +1 (5)
• Dave Barbie +1 (5)
• Ricky Steamboat +1 (91)
• Bret Hart +2 (61)
• Jim Neidhart +2 (52)
• Lanny Poffo +2 (21)
• Don Driggers +1 (5)
• Pedro Morales +2 (13)
• Hillbilly Jim +2 (23)
• Moondog Spot +1 (19)
• Cyclone Capone +1 (2)
• Hercules +2 (20)
• Mike Sexton +1 (3)
• Tito Santana +2 (99)
• Dan Spivey +2 (21)
• Steve Lombardi +1 (6)
• Paul Christie +1 (4)
• Davey Boy Smith +2 (66)
• Dynamite Kid +2 (66)
• Big John Studd +2 (31)
• King Kong Bundy +2 (57)

Top 10:

1. Hulk Hogan             - 116 Points
2. Tito Santana             - 99 Points
3. Randy Savage          - 91 Points
4. Ricky Steamboar      - 91 Points
5. Junkyard Dog           - 85 Points
6. Greg Valentine         - 78 Points
7. Roddy Piper              - 76 Points
8. Paul Orndorff            - 73 Points
9. Adrian Adonis          - 67 Points
10. Davey Boy Smith      - 66 Points

WWE All Star Search #27 - May 1986 (Part 1)

WWE All Star Search #27 - May 1986 (Part 1)

Hello Turnbucklers! Its edition number 27 and we have a TV show and a house show to bring you! The Championship Wrestling taping has what you'd expect but with the added bonus of a stacked main event. We get two in ring debut on the house show as well one of which is somewhat notable. So will Jake Roberts continue to be a cunt? Will Ricky Steamboat break his face and recover within the day? Will Bundy and Studd continue to plummit into irrelevance? Let's find out!

The Card:

The Dream Team vs Don Driggers/Tony Garea

Al Navarro vs Ricky Steamboat

Scott McGhee/John Centeno vs Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

Paul Christie/Cyclone Capone vs The British Bulldogs (Tag Team Champs)

Nelson Villieux vs Jake Roberts

Tito Santana/Paul Orndorff vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)/Bob Orton


Tiger Chung Lee vs Don Kolov

Johnny K9 vs Scott McGhee

Bret Hart vs Jim Brunzell

Jim Neidhart vs B Brian Blair

Tito Santana vs Randy Savage (IC Champ) [No DQ IC Title Match]

Dory Funk/Jimmy Jack Funk vs George Wells/Lanny Poffo

SD Jones vs Harley Race

Dan Spivey vs Adrian Adonis

King Kong Bundy/Big John Studd vs Junkyard Dog/Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ)

The Show:

We kick off this edition with Championship Wrestling from the 3rd of May. Our commentators tonight are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

The Dream Team vs Don Driggers/Tony Garea

It's the former tag champs and the crowd still definitely gives it to them. Brutus seems to be a bit more hyped up in this one but a crap looking elbow reminds me that Beefcake is still below average. Garea takes the brunt of the offense but escapes a double team move and gets a roll up for 2. Once Driggers comes in, he eats a nice suplex from Beefcake and a really nice butterfly underhook throw from Valentine. Beefcake back in to hit a big powerslam and Valentine finishes it off with the figure 4. The heels give it boots afterwards but nothing special overall. Squash Rating: **

Update time with Lord Al and this week he's looking at Wrestlemania 2 again. This time he get to see the ending to the Funks/JYD-Tito match. Lord Al tells us Terry suffered a bad knee injury in that match.

Al Navarro vs Ricky Steamboat

So last time we saw Steamboat he was KO'd thanks to a Jake Roberts DDT on the concrete. Vince told us he'd be back in a week...but this was shown 2 DAYS after SNME. That is how you kill what could've been a seriously good angle. Imagine how dangerous the DDT could've seemed if Steamboat was out of action for weeks. Steamboat lets Navarro get some offense in but in the end Steamboat gets the win with the flying body press. Not one hint of the SNME angle in this one. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene and he's joined by Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik. Nikolai tells Gene Mean that they never lost the belts and proceeds to cut a horrific promo. Sheik saves it by just being his normal unorthodox self. Has anyone ever noticed that Iron Sheik is a Middle Eastern version of Mean Gene?

Scott McGhee/John Centeno vs Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

We have a new miscellaneous jobber! John Centeno looks a lot like Al Navarro but with a sprinkling of Latino about him. The heels get MASSIVE heat as per. Seriously, no one ever gets the heat that Volkoff and Sheik do. That is why the Cold War was the best character developer the WWE could have in 1986. Blassie gets on the mic and claims he wants Corporal Kirchner to sign a contract to face Iron Sheik next week! I can not wait for that one. There's a massive USA chant to support the Scot and the Puerto Rican ... but it's all in vain and Sheik wins via the Camel Clutch. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene and he's with Ricky Steamboat. He talks about beating Muraco and Fuji and how he's looking to the future. Despite no mention of SNME, he does mention Jake calling him out. He puts over Roberts, the DDT and the snake all in one amazing babyface promo.

Paul Christie/Cyclone Capone vs The British Bulldogs (Tag Team Champs)

Massive pop for the Bulldogs and it'll be interesting to see how much the Dynamite Kid will be in this one. I got to point out as well...new jobber! Davey takes control in the early goings before tagging in Dynamite. Dynamite pulls off an amazing suplex followed by another. He hits a big powerslam and tags in Davey who hits an awesome suplex himself. Dynamite tags in for another hard suplex, back suplex, followed by another side suplex. Seriously, this is awesome. They eventually get the win with a top rope powerslam. That was the best squash match I've seen so far, the crowd loved it too! That is exactly how to use a TV squash match to your advantage! Squash Rating: *****

Its the Flower Shop with Adrian Adonis! This is the replacement for Pipers Pit and I already love the Carly Simon theme. Adonis revels in the flowers on his set while the crowd chant faggot. Hillbilly Jim is his guest and Jim is very proud to be a hillbilly apparently. Adonis asks where Elmer is before asking Jim if he wants Adonis. Jim says Uncle Elmer is hurt before getting mad at Adonis and that's it. Hopefully that means that...Uncle Elmer is gone!

Nelson Villieux vs Jake Roberts

Jake's crowd reactions are slowly but surely growing but it may be for the snake. Nelson gets himself tied in the ropes which is never a smart move when Jake's around. Jake works over Nelson methodically before finishing him off with the DDT. Again, no mention of SNME and very little mention of Ricky Steamboat. This is 2 days after that huge angle. Squash Rating: **

Tito Santana/Paul Orndorff vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)/Bob Orton

Holy shit, where did this match come from! Suprisingly stacked for a TV match, I'm hoping for something decent here. Orton and Orndorff start us off and the crowd pops huge when Orndorff levels Orton with a scoop slam. Macho and Tito tag in respectively but Macho wants none of Tito so bails to the outside. He comes back in the ring and tags in Orton. They lock up and the faces do some quick tag maneuvers as the crowd chants for Tito. Orton manages to lock on a headscissors but Orndorff counters into a roll up for 2. Tito tags in and levels Macho on the apron but Orton takes advantage. He hits a nice backbreaker on Tito and now Macho tags in. He hits a big clothesline for 2 and tags Orton back in. Orton gets another 2 off a clothesline and continues to work over Tito. Tito whips Orton into the corner and makes the hot tag to Orndorff who cleans house. He hits a big dropkick on Orton, levels Macho and hits a big atomic drop on Orton. Macho distracts him allowing Orton to pearl harbour him but Tito involves himself for the save. Tito and Macho both tag in and in the schmoz, Tito hits a big flying forearm to Macho for the big 3 count! The crowd go crazy but the heels attack after the bell. A nice, fun little match with a surprising clean win for Tito. Match Rating: *3/4

Into the back with Mean Gene in a silly hat and he's joined by Bobby Heenan, Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. Heenan gets so flustered about Gene's hat that he has to wander off. Studd makes Gene laugh about something and that's about as interesting as this promo was. 

Onwards to the Maple Leaf show...

This show happens on the 4th May, so one day after the previous TV episode. Our commentary team are 

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan! Hurray!

Tiger Chung Lee vs Don Kolov

My joy is short lived as what the fuck is this opener?! Tiger Chung Lee hasn't been relevant since...ever and who the hell is Don Kolov. Apparently he's from Bulgaria but that's all Monsoon will let us know. Kolov locks on a hammerlock but Lee fights out of it into a leg lock of his own. Kolov sells the leg when he gets up and the two fall back into a hammerlock. Lee starts to take over with slowest pace possible and uses basic strikes to keep control. Lee misses a charge into the corner allowing Kolov to get a dropkick in which sends Lee to the outside. Back in the ring they lock up numerous times before Lee takes control again with big stomps and punches which gets him a 2 count. He gets another 2 count with a knee to the head and this continues to suck. Kolov tries to fight back but inexplicably stalls, allowing Lee to continue to batter him. Lee picks him up and nails a big tombstone piledriver for the win. Christ that was so boring I cannot fathom. Interesting to see Lee using the tombstone but that's as far as my interest goes. Match Rating: DUD

Johnny K9 vs Scott McGhee

More jobbers?! What did the Canadian fans do to deserve these two openers. Scott McGhee has put on some decent matches against bigger talent but Johnny K9 we've just seen being jobbed out. They lock up to start and McGhee starts off in control but can't take advantage. They lock up again and McGhee locks on an armbar but K9 uses his hair to fight out of it. The crowd start booing as the pace continues to meander and the armbars keep coming. K9 finally takes control and shows some decent aggression, enough to get some gasps out the crowd. Granted he does nothing more than a kitchen sink but still, aggression is shown. He hits a diving headbutt for 2 but McGhee fights back with right hands. McGhee slams K9's head into the mat for 2 and follows with a snap suplex for another 2. K9 fights back but the two botch an irish whip. McGhee takes control and gets another 2 off a stomp. He continues to work over K9 in the corner and follows with a german suplex, bridges into the pin and that gets the win. Slightly better than the opener but the crowd, nor myself really cared. Match Rating: 1/4*

Bret Hart vs Jim Brunzell

Strange how this isn't a tag match but none the less, it's a Bret match so I can expect some quality. The crowd have definitely woken up for this one and the Harts get some decent heat. They stall to start with Bret complaining that Brunzell has too much tape on his elbow but I can't imagine why that would be an issue. They eventually lock up and Bret takes control with headbutts, strikes and a cheeky kick to the midriff. Brunzell gets sent outside while Bret taunts the crowd and Heenan mirks him off on commentary. Bret follows outside and attacks on the raised rampway before taunting the crowd some more. Brunzell attacks from the outside and wraps Bret's leg around the ringpost. He goes after Jimmy Hart before going to work on Bret's leg in the ring. Bret sells the leg when he gets up but Brunzell won't stop the assault, eventually locking on a leglock. Brunzell tries for the figure 4 but Bret fights out of it...still selling the leg...and goes to work on Brunzell with knee drops. Bret hits his awesome backbreaker for 2 and follows that with an atomic drop. He locks on a headlock as the crowd rallies behind Brunzell. He tries to fight out repeatedly but Bret just won't let go. He eventually gets Bret in the corner but misses a charge and eats a second rope elbow drop from Bret for 2. Brunzell manages to get a sunset flip out of nowhere for 2 followed by a flying forearm to knock both men out. He hits a leg drop on Bret and the crowd are alive now. Bret whipped into the corner and Brunzell works away on him. Nice dropkick by Brunzell gets 2 but Bret rakes the eyes and drops Brunzell crotch first on the top rope for a DQ! What a crap ending! If that had 2 more minutes of fast back and forth, could've potentially have been a good *** match. Since when was crotching on the top rope a DQ? Match Rating: *3/4

Jim Neidhart vs B Brian Blair

Jimmy Hart has stayed at ringside for this one and I guess that answers my question on why the previous match wasn't a tag match. I'm expecting this to be shorter and slower in pace seeing as Anvil is involved. There's the standard stalling to start with Neidhart showing off his strength but Blair eventually surprises him with a flying forearm that sends Anvil to the outside to regroup. Back in the ring Blair locks on an armbar and takes things into the corner. Anvil uses his strength to counter and takes control. He misses a charge in the corner and Blair takes his chance to work over Anvil's arm. Jimmy Hart manages to distract Blair and Anvil takes control by doing the old pearl harbour trick and a cheeky choke in the corner. He hits a big running tackle into the corner and gets major heat afterwards before locking on a chinlock and moving that into a headlock. That headlock lasts for quite a few minutes before Anvil inexplicably lets go. Blair eventually fights back and hits a big atomic drop followed by a clothesline. He rakes Anvil's eyes on the top rope befoe hitting a scoop slam and elbow drop. He misses another elbow and Anvil can take back control in the corner with another cheeky choke. He goes for another runnign tackle in the corner but Blair reverses it into a roll up for the 3 count! Bret runs down afterwards followed by Jim Brunzell and the teams have a big ol' brawl which the Harts seemingly get the best of. Match was nothing special but I like Anvil, he's just natural entertaining. It would've made more sense to me to have one member of each team get a win tonight but no, it's the Bee's who walk away looking the stronger. Match Rating: *1/2

Tito Santana vs Randy Savage (IC Champ) [No DQ IC Title Match]

Really noticeable boo's for Tito when he comes out and Macho Man gets a decent pop. We're always guaranteed a solid match between these two and maybe the added stipulation of no DQ will make it even better. I'm still waiting for Macho to move onto his next feud and this seems like a step back in progression for me. Savage's mannerisms are just so subtle they're golden. After a hefty amount of cowardly stalling from Savage, he uses Liz to distract Tito long enough to pearl harbour him and take control. He heads up top quickly but thats never smart as Tito catches him on the way down. Savage tries to bail out the ring but it's all in vain as Tito keeps him rooted with punches. Both men head outside while Tito uses ringside padded chairs to batter Savage. He throws Macho over the guardrail and by guardrail, I mean old 80's metal guardrail that would maim. Back in the ring, Tito comes off the top rope with a chop before peppering Macho with stomps. Big Tito chant breaks out which makes his initial reaction even more baffling. Macho manages to regain control with a cheap shot that sends Tito back outside the ring. Back in the ring, Tito fights back but misses a charge in the corner as Heenan says it 'siesta time.' Macho heads up top and comes off with a strong ax handle before choking Tito on the top rope. Tito tries to fight back but Macho stays on him with punches and knees but he only manages a 2 count. Shoulderblock by Macho gets him another 2 and the crowd have been alive all the way through this. Big scoop slam by Macho but he misses the following knee drop. Macho with a big kick to the back but Tito counters a scoop slam into a roll up for 2. He tries to keep up the momentum but Macho levels him with a right hand for 2. Tito is sent outside the ring and Macho climbs to the top rope and jumps to the outside hitting Tito with another ax handle. Macho heads off to find a chair but misses Tito and hits the ringpost instead. Tito can't take advantage and gets thrown back into the crowd while the guardrail breaks around them. Another ax handle from the top rope fails and all Macho hits is steel chair and Tito finally fights back with punches. He rams Macho's head into the announcers table before they head onto the raised rampway. Tito is still in control, bashing Macho's head into the ramp but Macho fights back with an eyerake. Tito rams Macho's head again and sends him back into the ring. The crowd go crazy as he goes for the figure 4 but Macho counters. They head back outside and Tito won't stop unloading punches until Macho rams his head into the table. A shit load of police appear to hold back the guardrail which looks odd and we see Macho has now been busted open! Both men make it back into the ring and start trading punches which Macho wins with a cheap eye rake. Macho manages to shove the ref is his haste but Tito hits the flying forearm. There's no one to count and Tito counts to 3 himself but it all means nothing. He goes to revive the ref and levels Macho but there's still no one to make this count. He tries to revive the ref again but Macho successfully cheap shots him this time. They trade roll ups and the ref is up just in time to count Tito down and give Macho the win! The crowd are going insane by the time this finishes and I don't blame them. That was a good, good match and these two continue to work together better than any other pair in the company. Macho definitely brings out the best in Tito! Match Rating: ***1/4

Dory Funk/Jimmy Jack Funk vs George Wells/Lanny Poffo

This is Jimmy Jack's real blog debut I guess considering his disastrous previous appearance in the last edition. Wells and JJ start us off with Wells coming out the better with a sunset flip for 2. Everyone ends up in the ring and the faces clean house sending the Funks reeling outside. Dory and Lanny both tag in but again the faces come out on top. Lanny locks on a facelock but gets suplexed for his troubles. JJ tags in and hits a big slam and works away on Lanny with kicks to the face. Wells tags back in and locks in a headlock before we get the standard Funk criss-cross spot. It just wasn't the same without Terry though! Dory takes control and works away on Wells with strong punches before locking in an armbar. Interestingly, Terry is still being mentioned on commentary so I'm guessing he's still a part of the company. JJ tags in and continues the assault on Wells as Jimmy Hart gets on commentary to briefly annoy Monsoon. In comes Dory and then straight back out via a quick double team tackle from the Funks. JJ hits some awful punches but Wells starts to fight back before tagging in Poffo. Poffo rallies away with punches and same again for Dory when he tags in. Poffo hits a dropkick before locking in a headlock but Dory fights out in the corner and lays in some more of his hard punches. Shoulderblock by Dory but Poffo reverses the next into one of his own followed by a slam and a dropkick. JJ tries to get involved but ends up hitting Dory, sending both heels outside to regroup. Back in the ring, Dory hits a nice suplex out the ring onto the ramp on Poffo and the thud sounded hard. A big brawl breaks out between everyone on the outside that leaves Poffo laying once again. Back in the ring, Dory locks on an abdominal stretch as Heenan claims he'd aim for the neck himself. Poffo fights out briefly but JJ tags in and sends him back down with a clothesline and a headbutt for 2. JJ rams Poffo into the corner before tagging in Dory but a double KO spot ensues to indifference from the crowd. Finally Poffo gets the hot tag to Wells who nails a big clothesline on JJ and a big dropkick. Big uppercuts by Wells but JJ follows with a scoop slam. JJ goes up top but Wells catches him on the way down for a big slam. He misses a charge in the corner allowing JJ to hit a nice powerslam for the 3 count. A solid match for what is was worth and a decent introduction to Jimmy Jack. He was solid in this one except for his weak punches and Dory was solidly technical as always. Wells looked good in this one as well, much like he did at Wrestlemania 2. Terry who? Match Rating: *1/2

SD Jones vs Harley Race

It's a blog debut for the former NWA Heavyweight champion, Harley Race. He hasn't been seen in WWF for 6 years but he's back now albeit looking slightly older. The commentators hype him up but don't mention his accolades. They lock up and Jones gets the early advantage with hip tosses and a headlock as the crowd are already chanting boring! Race takes control with a high knee but I miss the next move because the cameraman gets distracted. Race hits a nice piledriver but SD kicks out at 1?! Race continues to work over Jones methodically but still only gets 2 counts at most. Race hits an awkward looking neckbreaker for 1 while the crowd still chant boring. Even a nice gutwrench suplex doesn't ease them nor does a lovely standard suplex for 2. Another 1 count from an elbow drop but SD fights back briefly. Race keeps control in the corner and then takes down SD with a snapmare. He hits a diving headbutt off the top rope but that only gets 2. SD fights back with headbutts of his own but Race kills the momentum with a headbutt to the willy before hitting a big powerslam for the win! Race looked really good in this, showing off some decent power moves but I'm worried over how long his stamina may last. This was essentially an slightly extended TV squash match. He does look knackered after that. Match Rating: *1/4

Dan Spivey vs Adrian Adonis

It seems like a while since we've seen Spivey and I've been fairly disappointed by Adonis' more recent matches. Why is it that whenever a 'faggot' chant breaks out, it always sounds like its a little girl chanting? It's unsettling! Things head outside pretty quickly with Spivey hitting a strong scoop slam on the concrete. Back in the ring he hits another scoop slam and locks on a headlock. I can't help but notice that Jimmy Hart is always acting camper when he's managing Adonis. That's a good heel manager! Adonis fights back but they botch a leap frog before Spivey hits another scoop slam and locks on another headlock. There's a really weird spot as Spivey goes for a chop block but Adonis just walked out of the way. It looked very...real. Anyway, Adonis is back in control after that and throws Spivey to the outside. He follows outside and goes for a piledriver on the ramp but Spivey counters into a back body drop. He misses an elbow and things head back into the ring. Adonis tries to go for an underhook something but Spivey counters. They trade blows and Spivey hits a sloppy backbreaker but that only gets 2. Spivey whips Adonis into the corner and follows with a back body drop. He misses another charge in the corner and Adonis goes up top. Wrestling 101 says that won't work but he reverses the counter from Spivey into a roll up and Adonis gets the cheeky 3. Crap match that tells me that Spivey is as plain as plain can be and that Adonis is definitely going through a lethargic phase. Match Rating: 1/2*

King Kong Bundy/Big John Studd vs Junkyard Dog/Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ)

The crowd go MENTAL when Hogan and JYD come out and Hogan even has time to play with a fans Hulkster doll and JYD has the word 'thump' on his arse. As we know, since Wrestlemania, Bundy has been in a steady decline and Studd still sucks. Studd and JYD start us off and JYD gets the immediate control with headbutts and right hands. His downfall comes when he tries to slam Studd but can't...so Studd slams him in return. JYD tags in Hogan to major noise and they lock up. Studd gets the early control but Hogan fights back. Studd again gets the upperhand when Hogan can't slam him and so he slams Hogan in return. He hits another slam but misses an elbow. Hogan uses this to slam both Studd and Bundy in a real impressive spot. The crowd go crazy as the heels regroup (and argue) on the outside. Back in the ring they lock up again and Hogan continues to unload on Studd. JYD tags in and headbutts Studd before he tags in Bundy. JYD continues his assault on Bundy before he tags in Hogan. He hits a big clothesline on Bundy but that only gets a 2 before Bundy starts to fight back. Bundy works over Hogan in the corner before tagging Studd back in. Studd locks on a bearhug, which to me is one of the worst wrestling holds. Bundy tags back in and he hits an awkward elbow on Hogan. He hits a scoop slam on Hogan and hits a splash fora 2. He goes for another splash but Hogan moves and tags in JYD. He works over Bundy with headbutts but misses one allowing Studd to tag back in and work over JYD. A massive JYD chant breaks out but he gets double teamed by the heels but they only get a 2. Bundy locks on a headlock and eventually tags out to Studd. He comes in...and does very little...until JYD hits a headbutt and tags in Hogan. Hogan rallies away with punches, hits a clothesline and an atomic drop. He hits a leg drop on Studd but Heenan breaks up the pin for the DQ win for the faces. After the bell, the heels try to attack but Hogan makes sure Heenan gets squished in the corner instead of JYD before the heels run off. I just wish the big lads were better than they actually are. Studd especially is difficult to watch because he does so little. The heels seem to be arguing between them recently so I expect them to split apart soon. JYD was super over in this and if he wasn't tagging with Hogan it'd seem way more impressive. Overall though the match was a bit of a stinker apart from Hogan slamming both big lads. Match Rating: 3/4*

So all in all, we can call these two shows average. At some point, the Bees and the Harts will have to fight someone else but at least until then, we can expect decent things from them. Tito and Savage again had the best match by far and I don't know what it is about those two but they just gel so well. I certainly find myself liking Tito more when he fights Savage which proves just how good Savage is. The main event was entertaining but let's face it, we were never expecting a classic. OK debuts for Harley Race and Jimmy Jack Funk (the latter definitely surprising me). So let's head to the ol' scoreboard!

Wrestler Scores:

• Greg Valentine +3 (76)
• Brutus Beefcake +3 (49)
• Don Driggers +1 (4)
• Tony Garea +1 (10)
• Al Navarro +1 (4)
• Ricky Steamboat +4 (90)
• Scott McGhee +3 (13)
• John Centeno +1 (1)
• Iron Sheik +4 (58)
• Nikolai Volkoff +3 (55)
• Paul Christie +1 (3)
• Cyclone Capone +1 (1)
• Dynamite Kid +4 (64)
• Davey Boy Smith +4 (64)
• Adrian Adonis + (65)
• Hillbilly Jim +1 (21)
• Nelson Villieux +1 (5)
• Jake Roberts +3 (31)
• Tito Santana +9 (97)
• Paul Orndorff +3 (73)
• Randy Savage +9 (87)
• Bob Orton +4 (57)
• King Kong Bundy +3 (55)
• Big John Studd +2 (29)
• Tiger Chung Lee +1 (8)
• Don Kolov +1 (1)
• Johnny K9 +2 (4)
• Bret Hart +4 (59)
• B Brian Blair +4 (42)
• Jim Neidhart +3 (50)
• Jim Brunzell +4 (34)
• Dory Funk Jr +5 (36)
• Jimmy Jack Funk +4 (4)
• George Wells +3 (10)
• Lanny Poffo +2 (19)
• SD Jones +2 (17)
• Harley Race +4 (4)
• Dan Spivey +3 (19)
• Junkyard Dog +4 (82)
• Hulk Hogan +4 (114)

Top 10

1. Hulk Hogan            - 114 Points
2. Tito Santana           - 97 Points
3. Ricky Steamboat    - 90 Points
4. Randy Savage         - 87 Points
5. Junkyard Dog         - 82 Points
6. Greg Valentine       - 76 Points
7. Roddy Piper            - 76 Points
8. Paul Orndorff          - 73 Points
9. Adrian Adonis         - 65 Points
10. Davey Boy Smith    - 64 Points

WWE All Star Search #24 - Championship Wrestling (April 1986)

WWE All Star Search #24 - Championship Wrestling (April 1986)

Hello Turnbucklers! Wrestlemania 2 eh...it came, it saw...it...went. Now we move forward and start the long, long journey to Wrestlemania 3...but I can't remember if anything big or iconic happened at that one, so we'll have to wait and see. Everything is now up in the open so let's see what feuds will continue and what feuds will develop in the months going forward. This is Terry Funk's last appearance for a while and I think Roddy Piper's as well. Lot's of big names appearing in this edition so let's get on with it...

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The Card:

Ricky Steamboat/Junkyard Dog vs Mr X/Moondog Spot

The Hart Foundation vs Mario Mancini/SD Jones

John Rizzo vs George Steele

Terry Morgan vs Don Muraco

Paul Orndorff vs Steve Lombardi

The Gladiator/Dave Barbie vs Dan Spivey/Corporal Kirchner

The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs Terry Morgan/Ivan McDonald

Mario Mancini vs Adrian Adonis

The Killer Bees vs Tiger Chung Lee/Joe Mirto

Nelson Villieux vs Dory Funk Jr

Sal Gee vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)

The Gladiator/Steve Lombardi vs Ricky Steamboat/King Tonga

Mario Mancini vs Hercules

Tito Santana/Pedro Morales vs AJ Petruzzi/Mr X

King Kong Bundy/Big John Studd vs Hillbilly Jim/Ted Arcidi

Andre Malo vs Jake Roberts

Iron Mike Sharpe/Dave Barbie vs Junkyard Dog/George Steele

4 Wheel Parts - Off Road Parts & Accessories

The Show:

So let's kick things off with the 12th April episode and our commentators are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

Ricky Steamboat/Junkyard Dog vs Mr X/Moondog Spot

After Steamboat had his disappointing outing at Wrestlemania and JYD had his solid match on the same card, it'll be interesting to see where these two go from here. The crowd are alive for this and it's good to see Moondog Spot as always! Very little offense for the heels and the finish comes when JYD hits a hard powerslam for the win. JYD is starting to use that powerslam as his finisher more it seems. Squash Rating: ***

Update time with Lord Al and this week he's looking at the Rougeau Brothers. We see clips of a match of theirs in Sydney but we of course have already seen them a few editions ago!

The Hart Foundation vs Mario Mancini/SD Jones

Signs in the crowd referring to Bret as a greaseball and we even get a 'greaseball' chant! Weird how that one didn't reappear in 1997. His hair is still greasy in 2014 too, so he obviously didn't take his advice from crowd signs. Annoyingly, The Hart Foundation didn't get a tag match on the Wrestlemania card despite having a good showing in the battle royal so I'm hoping them to stamp their position on the tag team scene. The Foundation hit some nice double team moves in this, including that guillotine elbow drop we've seen them use recently. I'm even more impressed with a crisp dropkick by Anvil. They eventually get the win with 

the Hart Attack! They seemed to enjoy that one more than normal it seems! I think Bret even smiled...but I'm probably wrong. Squash Rating: ***

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Johnny V and the Dream Team. They're not happy at losing the titles and at a later date, they're getting the belts back. Valentine says that Captain Lou was the reason the Bulldogs won and now they're worn down so the Dream Team are ready to take advantage. Beefcake yells that he doesn't have enough time to say how he feels so he won't...and walks off! Another case of stage fright I'm guessing!

John Rizzo vs George Steele

I can't (hope) see us having to watch much more Steele matches after his match against Macho but who knows. Not much to say about this one except Steele no sells a lot, destroys turnbuckle and eventually gets the win with a cradle pin that was completely awkward in execution. Surely that move is far too complex for George Steele too...I mean, he supposedly thinks like an animal. Squash Rating: *

Into the back with Mean Gene who's with Ricky Steamboat. They talk about an upcoming 6 man tag match against the Funks and Steamboat cuts the ultimate babyface promo pretty much saying the Funks are bullies. JYD hobbles in, says something incoherently before Haiti Kid jumps in and shadowboxes. They talk about everyone's height and JYD pisses himself when Haiti Kid says he's 4 foot 2. That's not very nice Mr Dog!

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Terry Morgan vs Don Muraco

It's another lad guilty of floating in purgatory. Muraco had a really crap match against Orndorff at Wrestlemania and seriously needs to be putting over younger talent or just move aside. He still gets to dominate jobbers though and of course wins this one with a tombstone. Muraco mouths off after the match saying that's how to do a piledriver. Lots of Steamboat chants throughout this one and you'd think the crowd would want Steamboat to be anywhere BUT feuding with Muraco anymore. Muraco did look good in this but it's just a shame it means nothing. Squash Rating: ***

Piper's Pit time but weirdly, Piper is replaced by Jimmy Hart and he's joined by Jake Roberts who's got his snake out. Roberts compares himself to Damien before saying that people make mistakes all the time but people have to realise making a mistake with Jake is costly. Jimmy freaks out when the snake gets too close and that's all we have. You'll hear this a lot I'm sure but Jake was just incredible then.

Paul Orndorff vs Steve Lombardi

Orndorff is obviously the other purgatory culprit but he has so much to offer! His aggression is still showing in these TV matches and it's like you can still see hints of his old heely self despite still being mega over. Bruno plays it off as intensity but I dunno. Orndorff eventually gets the win with a piledriver and that's how you also do it Mr Muraco! Squash Rating: **

The Gladiator/Dave Barbie vs Dan Spivey/Corporal Kirchner

I wonder if these two will make it to the next Wrestlemania because I havn't heard much about them yet they seem to be on most cards we look at. They're still very over but I just can't seem to like them. Spivey isn't too bad but Kirchner is so sloppy and his character is so unlikable. Kirchner does hit a swinging neckbreaker which I've not seen him use before and then Spivey gets the win with his bulldog. I can't work out where these two will go, feudwise. Maybe they'll end up going for the tag belts in a few months. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Big John Studd. He talks about how awesome he is and the things he's done and that Ted Arcidi has done nothing in comparison. I guess these two will be fighting soon. In comes Jimmy Hart who complains about having to appear in an upcoming match too. The Funks are with him and Terry says he can't be afraid because he'll be with the Funks and that they're against a midget, a dragon without fire and a dog. Dory chillingly makes his gruesome promises and that's it for this episode so onto the next one.

It's the 19th of April now and again, our commentators are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino. Even though he's crap, I'm starting to enjoy Bruno's commentary, he's like an old, lovable uncle.

The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs Terry Morgan/Ivan McDonald

The second appearance in a row for Terry Morgan...but no one really cares I'm sure. Sheik and Volkoff are what can only be described as novelty it seems. They're good both steady boo's but they've barely done anything in the tag team scene. Blassie is wearing a lovely sparkly pink tuxedo I should point out. The finish comes when Volkoff hits a big gutbuster and Sheik follows with an awesome belly to belly suplex and the camel clutch to win. Blassie gets some cheap shots in with the cane afterwards. Squash Rating: **

Update time with Lord Al and he's looking at Wrestlemania 2. He seems to focus on the celebrity appearances in the show...of which there were fucking millions...my favourite being Herb.

Mario Mancini vs Adrian Adonis

A second appearance for Mancini...but I doubt anyone gives a shit. Adonis is still coming out to You're So Vain and I kind of get a kick out of Jimmy Hart singing it every appearance they make. Luckily for Adonis, he doesn't have to wrestle Uncle Elmer again but unluckily he's still getting 'faggot' chants thrown at him. Adonis hits a lovely hanging neckbreaker at one point before locking on a sleeper hold and that gets the win. No DDT this time! Adonis is seriously one of the better ones in terms of moveset range. Squash Rating: ***

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Captain Lou. He says hello to all his fans and then rants incoherently until the Bulldogs come in with their new titles. Davey says they've travelled around for 9 months and they finally won. They'll give the Dream Team a rematch before Dynamite says that they're very happy but they're ready to defend at any time.

The Killer Bees vs Tiger Chung Lee/Joe Mirto

I never realised before just how scary looking Tiger Chung Lee is. When he just stares, it's like a Korean Dan Severn is looking at you...I'd assume. Bee's have been doing solid yet unspectacular work recently but they're in danger of being lost in a shuffle of good, quick teams, especially now the Rougeau's have arrived. It's more of the same in this one with good double team moves by the Bees. They get the win with a double team sunset flip. Like I said before, solid yet unspectacular. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Ted Arcidi. He says he's happy he'll be returning to his hometown and he's here to settle a score with Big John Studd. Arcidi seemed quite real in this and I liked it!

Nelson Villieux vs Dory Funk Jr

This is Dory's first singles match in the blog so let's tell you about it. Headlock to start and Villieux hits a crossbody for 1. Dory sends him flying out the ring before bringing back in and nailing some uppercuts. He hits a nice underhook suplex but he gets rolled up for 1. Dory hits a nice piledriver and that gets the quick 3 before he wails away on him with a bullrope. Dory looked good but I couldn't help but expect to see him pull off a few more power moves. Squash Rating: **

Pipers Pit time and Piper gets cheered for saying that he's back. He brings out Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. They make a challenge to Andre the Giant and a partner of his choice to a match in the future. They show Piper how they're going to slam Andre using Bob Orton as the dummy despite his protestations. Poor Bob!

We get to see the FULL tag team title match from Wrestlemania which I have ***3/4 for! Check out the review in the last edition.

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Sal Gee vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)

It's always a pleasure to see Macho appear and even more so regarding Liz. Big reaction albeit mixed for the two but who couldn't love what Macho's been doing...give or take his stalling. Now that George Steele is done and dusted, it will be interesting to see who steps up to challenge Macho for the belt next. It's another easy win for Savage as you'd expect as he gets the win with the flying elbow. Squash Rating: ***

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by the Dream Team. They reitorate their threats to the Bulldogs from last week and say the belts are coming back to them when they have their rematch and that's all for that episode.

Now we go onto the 26th of April and the last TV episode of the month. Our commentators are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

The Gladiator/Steve Lombardi vs Ricky Steamboat/King Tonga

So it seems these two are still tagging with each other but I just wish Tonga wasn't so devoid of personality.
He's still maybe yet to do something of note but then again, so is Jake Roberts and he certainly isn't boring is he? Match here is as you'd expect and the finish comes when Tonga hits a big atomic drop before Steamboat comes off the top with the big splash for 3. Tonga showed slightly more than normal in this one and Steamboat was his normal solid self. Squash Rating: ***

Update time with Lord Al and this week he's looking at Wrestlemania again. He rallies through a load of what I can only assume are exaggerated statistics before we see clips of the battle royal.

Mario Mancini vs Hercules

We don't see much Herc on these TV shows so here's a chance for us to see if his moveset and characteristics have developed at all. He does nail a strong clothesline in the early goings before going to work on Mancini. Herc shows plenty of aggression in this one and even Blassie gets some shots in. Herc gets the win with the torture rack! Simple and solid but it's time he was put in a featured feud. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by The British Bulldogs. Davey says the Dream Team don't deserve a rematch and they should chase them like they chased the Dream Team. Dynamite struggles with his promo and I think he's still suffering from that ridiculous bump he took at Wrestlemania. He seemed worryingly confused in that one.

Tito Santana/Pedro Morales vs AJ Petruzzi/Mr X

Vince seems to still have Mario Mancini on the brain and even says we shouldn't expect to see him for a while. Tito and Pedro are still doing their pass the torch dealeo but I think it's a little too late for Tito. While Hogan is champion, there's nowhere for him to go after two runs with the IC belt. He's still got in going in ring but Pedro obviously is slowing down at this point. Finish comes when Tito nails the Pedro assisted flying jalepeno and that gets the 3. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Jimmy Hart and Dory Funk. He's still happy about JYD at Wrestlemania. Dory has some chilling words about having to fight a midget and it makes me think he eats midgets for a light brunch. By the way, Terry is nowhere to be seen here and he might have left WWE at this point because he was spending too much time away from home and Dory could step in a get some work for himself.

King Kong Bundy/Big John Studd vs Hillbilly Jim/Ted Arcidi

This is the special challenge match made 2 episodes ago and mentioned earlier in this blog edition. Of course it was made especially to Andre the Giant but hold on...where is he? I have no idea but we get a not quite suitable replacement in Ted Arcidi. Even Vince McMahon sheds zero light on why Andre is not there. Since Andre isn't there, this is just an extended squash for the two big lads. The crowd is loud as ever though when Jim gets on the offensive. The two big lads can't quite control themselves and absolutely demolish the faces despite the ref trying to keep order. That gets them disqualified but I don't think they care too much. Match Rating: **

Pipers Pit time and they're joined this week by the Killer Bees! Piper of course rips into them and the Bees respond by being the ultimate clean cut good guys. Brunzell can't help but smile the whole way through this so I think he enjoyed working with Roddy.

Andre Malo vs Jake Roberts

Is this our first Jake TV match? Last time out he got dominated at Wrestlemania before getting the one move win. Here it's not quite like that as Jake does get more offense in. This actually proves to me that all those Jake squash matches we've seen so far could've been cut by 10 minutes each. DDT gets the win as you'd expect and Malo gets the Jake treatment afterwards. You'll hear me say this a lot but Jake will forever have the best DDT ever. Squash Rating: ***

Iron Mike Sharpe/Dave Barbie vs Junkyard Dog/George Steele

The faces are joined by Haiti Kid because they're tagging together at an upcoming house show and why the fuck not. Plenty of hijinks in this one with all the faces getting involved at some point. No DQ's when Haiti Kid starts biting people because that would just be logical. JYD gets the win for his team with a big powerslam. Squash Rating: **

Onto the scores...

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Wrestler Scores:

• Ricky Steamboat +6 (83)
• Junkyard Dog +6 (72)
• Mr X +2 (6)
• Moondog Spot +1 (18)
• Jacques Rougeau +1 (7)
• Raymond Rougeau +1 (7)
• Bret Hart +4 (51)
• Jim Neidhart +3 (45)
• Mario Mancini +2 (2)
• SD Jones +1 (15)
• Greg Valentine +2 (73)
• Brutus Beefcake +2 (46)
• John Rizzo +1 (2)
• George Steele +2 (27)
• Terry Morgan +2 (2)
• Don Muraco +3 (49)
• Jake Roberts +4 (16)
• Paul Orndorff +3 (64)
• Steve Lombardi +1 (5)
• The Gladiator +2 (4)
• Dave Barbie +2 (4)
• Dan Spivey +3 (16)
• Corporal Kirchner +3 (37)
• Big John Studd +4 (27)
• Terry Funk +1 (53)
• Dory Funk +4 (25)
• Iron Sheik +3 (44)
• Nikolai Volkoff +3 (43)
• Ivan Mcdonald +2 (5)
• Adrian Adonis +3 (54)
• Davey Boy Smith +2 (54)
• Dynamite Kid +2 (58)
• B Brian Blair +4 (33)
• Jim Brunzell +4 (24)
• Tiger Chung Lee +1 (7)
• Joe Mirto +1 (6)
• Ted Arcidi +4 (10)
• Nelson Villeaux +1 (4)
• King Kong Bundy +4 (51)
• Sal Gee +1 (2)
• Randy Savage +3 (72)
• King Tonga +3 (21)
• Hercules +3 (16)
• Tito Santana +3 (82)
• Pedro Morales +3 (11)
• AJ Petruzzi +1 (6)
• Hillbilly Jim +3 (18)
• Andre Malo +1 (3)
• Iron Mike Sharpe +1 (14)

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So really, no big points hauls for anyone apart from Steamboat and JYD and that's because they appeared a couple of times in this edition. Dory Funk is steadily rising with solid appearances and the tag teams are continuing on the same trend. With Terry Funk now removed from the active roster, it may allow others to climb towards the Top 10. Speaking of which...

1. Hulk Hogan            - 98 Points
2. Ricky Steamboat    - 83 Points
3. Tito Santana           - 82 Points
4. Roddy Piper           - 76 Points
5. Greg Valentine        - 73 Points
6. Junkyard Dog         - 72 Points
7. Randy Savage        - 72 Points
8. Paul Orndorff          - 64 Points
9. Dynamite Kid          - 58 Points
10. Adrian Adonis         - 54 Points

There might be two seperate dog fights going on as we move forward. Firstly, places 2 - 4 are constantly changing with repeated appearances and solid performances. Piper may drop off slightly but I'm expecting Savage, JYD and Orndorff to move upwards. Secondly, the race to actually appear in the top 10 is a close one. Since I don't show the immediate places after 10th, you can't see that Bob Orton, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Funk and Bret Hart are all a handful of points behind Adonis so expect to see a lot of shifts in the names at the bottom. So, that leads us nicely into the next edition! 

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WWE All Star Search #22 - March 1986 (pt 3)

WWE All Star Search #22 - March 1986 (pt 3)

Hello Turnbucklers! It's time for our very last stop before we get to Wrestlemania 2. This is a simple one looking at the last 2 Championship Wrestling episodes that aired before Wrestlemania 2. Expect lots of hype for the supercard in this one and let's hope I myself am hyped up by the end of it. Let's rock 'n' roll!

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The Card:

Randy Savage (IC Champ) vs Andre Malo

Bob Bradley vs Paul Orndorff

Ivan McDonald/SD Jones vs The Funk Brothers

Tiger Chung Lee/Mr X vs The British Bulldogs

Moondog Spot vs Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ)

Chuck Simpson/Al Navarro vs Hillbilly Jim/Uncle Elmer

Ivan McDonald vs Don Muraco

AJ Petruzzi/Steve Lombardi vs Dan Spivey/Corporal Kirchner

Nelson Villieux vs Adrian Adonis

Don Driggers/Lanny Poffo vs Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

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The Show:

So let's kick things off with the March 29th episode of Championship Wrestling. Our commentators tonight are once again, Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

Straight away we get an update with Lord Al. He runs down all the celebrities set to appear at Wrestlemania 2. My personal favourite? 'The Elusive Burger Man' ... Herb. We get some words from G Gordon Liddy...who talks about being a judge at Wrestlemania, which is fine but who are you, good sir?

Randy Savage (IC Champ) vs Andre Malo

Big reactions as per for Macho and Liz but let's see if this lasts more than 10 seconds. It does last more than that and Savage rallies through some good offense. Numerous suplexes spliced in between Savage throwing Malo to the outside. Savage hits an axe handle from the top rope to the floor, then another from the top rope into the ring. Scoop slam, flying elbow drop, cocky pin and thats the 3 count for Savage. The pace of Savage is just lightyears ahead of so many names on that roster, it hurts. Squash Rating: ***

Into the back with Mean Gene who's with Hulk Hogan and Mr T. T talks about how much he needed Hogan to motivate him. He's still waving around the kilt wearing rubber chicken. Hogan says there's a reason for everything and this is a psych out. Clubber Lang is a weakling compared to Mr T apparently.

Bob Bradley vs Paul Orndorff

Again, it seems like so long since we've seen Paul Orndorff. Crowd still loves him but I just want him to be less wasted, especially so close to Wrestlemania. Not much to tell you about this one except Orndorff is still showing the aggression of a heel but at the same time, showing enough face-like tendencies that the crowd just doesn't care. Again we get another video of G Gordon Liddy...and again, no idea who he is. Orndorff botches two hip tosses and eventually gets the win with the piledriver. Squash Rating: ***

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by the Hart Foundation. Jim Neidhart yells that no one underestimates the Hart Foundation. They leave and in comes some random football player called Colvert or Colbert or something. He hypes up the battle royal at Wrestlemania. We then cut to a clip of Refridgerator Perry who says pretty much the same thing. It's still a shame not many people outside the USA gives a shit about American Football. 

Ivan McDonald/SD Jones vs The Funk Brothers

The Funk's have had a few decent matches this month so this will just be a chance to get them a quick win and keep them looking strong. The jobbers do get some offense in, mainly Jones, but you can guess its all for nothing as the Funk rally through suplexes before Dory locks on a modified texax cloverleaf for the win. They try and brand McDonald after the match but SD Jones chases them off. As predicted, the Funks looked solid in this. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by King Kong Bundy and Bobby Heenan. Heenan says Hogan is dumb for putting up the title in a cage after all that's been done to him. Bundy says he's got Hogan right where he wants him. Fighting talk!

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Tiger Chung Lee/Mr X vs The British Bulldogs

Big reaction for the Bulldogs which is good. It's all quick action from the start with Dynamite before the Bulldogs do some double teaming. Davey gets worked over while he get a quick message from...someone...about Wrestlemania 2. Davey hits a really nice powerslam but gets a really slow 2 count. Snap suplex and a backbreaker from Dynamite before Davey comes back in. Dynamite hits a really nice top rope back suplex and Mr X landed on his neck. That gets the 3 count and all is good from the Bulldogs as things lead upto their title shot at Wrestlemania. Squash Rating: ****

We see footage of Roddy Piper preparing for his boxing match at Wrestlemania while his song from The Wrestling Album plays in the background. I can't tell if he was good or bad while training to be honest...but he was definitely training.

Once again, Mean Gene runs down the Wrestlemania card. We get some footage of Battle Royal combatents answering some questions. They are 'Are You Worried Someone Will Fall on You?' 'What Would it Mean to You if You Won the Battle Royal?' and 'Are You Worried About Falling 15 Feet to the Floor?' King Tonga is worried by the way about falling to the floor...so I think he's in the wrong profession. Weirdly enough, the best response was from Jim Neidhart, mainly because he put some gusto behind it.

Moondog Spot vs Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ)

MASSIVE pop for Hogan who is making a very rare in ring TV appearance. It's about time Moondog Spot gets a shot at the champ, I've been waiting far too long! Spot does focus on the ribs because Spot is a psychological mastermind. Unfortunately...within 2 minutes Hogan has hit a leg drop and got the win. Think of every match of Hogans you've seen and compress it into 2 minutes and this is what you get. Squash Rating: **

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So now we go into April and this is our very last stop before Wrestlemania 2. It's the 4th April, it's Championship Wrestling and our commentators are once again Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino. We run down the celebrities set to appear at Wrestlemania and who the fuck is Elvira?! She looks like a vampire, why was she a celebrity? We get a message from someone Lasorta? Who are these people?!

Chuck Simpson/Al Navarro vs Hillbilly Jim/Uncle Elmer

Christ, two things to be sad about. Firstly I can no recognize Al Navarro before he's even announced and secondly, the rednecks are wrestling. They're still over with the crowd which makes me think the crowd are rednecks. The highlight of the match is a scoop slam by Hillbilly Jim, who at least has some of the basics of wrestling sorted but it's Elmer who gets the win with a Hogan-esque leg drop. Awful but apparently Elmer meets Adrian Adonis at Wrestlemania despite them not having ANY interaction that I'm aware of. Can Adonis pull him to anything other than a DUD? Squash Rating: *

Into the back with Mean Gene and Fridge Perry. He cuts an awful promo but he seems very happy to be there. Can someone let me know how big of a star this guy is...because I've ACTUALLY heard of this guy!

Ivan McDonald vs Don Muraco

Ivan McDonald reminds me of Jim McDonald...but who can blame me. If any American readers don't know who Jim McDonald is...he's a British celebrity (sorta) so now you know how it feels! Justice! Muraco at one point lets McDonald fall out of suplex that looked a bit like a botch but he handled it well enough that I'm not too sure. He hits a nice powerslam as Vince can't believe 'Herb' is going to be a timekeeper at Mania. Me neither, Vince, me neither. Muraco eventually gets the win with the tombstone piledriver before he mouths off to the female ref. She, by the way, is the one who Vince apparently tried to sexually assault. Might be true...but her 6 foot chin might've held him back. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Jimmy Hart and the Funk Brothers. Jimmy says JYD should expect a branding. Terry says wrestling is the worlds number 1 passtime before ranting about JYD some more. Dory says nothing but he's still terrifying. They leave and in comes Randy Savage who throws some confetti around. He says he's going to teach George Steele to say that Macho is the best. Oooh Yeah!

AJ Petruzzi/Steve Lombardi vs Dan Spivey/Corporal Kirchner

Still popular with the crowd as much as it pains me to say but not as painful to know that Kirchner has a match at Wrestlemania against Nikolai Volkoff. Has anyone ever noticed that Dan Spivey looks the spitting image of He-Man. I guess that would make Kirchner, Fisto which shouldn't be too much of an issue for him. Ref ignores some illegal tagging allowing Kirchner to get the win with his poor looking samoan drop. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Paul Orndorff. Apparently he's fighting Don Muraco at Wrestlemania. Orndorff says he knows what he's up against when it comes to Muraco and he's been here too long to let Muraco injure him. He calls Mr Fuji - 'Mr Too Hung Low' which is fucking hilarious. He leaves and the tag champs, the Dream Team come in. Valiant yells on their behalf before Greg Valentine claims they will leave with the belts at Wrestlemania.

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Nelson Villieux vs Adrian Adonis

Adonis comes out to 'You're So Vain' by Carly Simon which is such a nice little touch. It's such a shame WWE are so tight with getting rights to use actual songs anymore. Bruno talks a lot of sense during this, talking about how quick Adonis moves despite being the size that he is. It's completely true, as Adonis' pace is way more evident than most others we've seen tonight so far. He eventually gets the win with the sleeperhold instead of his normal DDT. More good commentary from Bruno who says that it's a lot easier to use the sleeper against Elmer at Wrestlemania than the DDT. Squash Rating: **

We head to Joe Fraziers gym now where Roddy Piper has appeared. He has words with Joe Frazier and they let him try out Mr T's training techniques. Piper starts getting hot under collar because the punching bag is wearing a kilt. Camera pans to an angry looking youth...which was nice. Frazier lets Piper use the medicine ball but it seems Piper could use a bit more practice and thus he walks off telling Mr T to beware!

Just like last weeks episode, we run through clips of various battle royal participants answering questions about the match. He-Man Spivey seems very confident about winning it. By the power of fucking Grey Skull, he just might, right? Personally I'd love it if Ol' Man Sammartino wins it! He seems confident too.

Don Driggers/Lanny Poffo vs Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

As per, we get another crap poem by Poffo that the heels have to sell as if it's cut them deep. Feels like we havn't seen the evil foreigners for a while. Still getting massive heat, especially when Volkoff sings the Soviet anthem. Is it bad I think he actually sings the song really well...get that man a podium! Poor match with the win coming via the Sheik's camel clutch. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who's joined by Hulk Hogan. Despite everyone in the world calling him crazy for getting into a cage with Bundy but it's only right everything comes full circle. Hogan says he's going to climb in the ring 'wired out of his mind' and he's going to take Bundy's pride away from him. Fighting talk to finish this episode and send us into Wrestlemania 2... Onwards to the scores...

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Wrestler Scores:

• Randy Savage +4 (65)
• Andre Malo +1 (2)
• Hulk Hogan +4 (92)
• Mr T +1 (18)
• Bob Bradley +1 (3)
• Paul Orndorff +4 (58)
• Bret Hart +1 (43)
• Jim Neidhart +1 (38)
• Ivan McDonald +2 (3)
• SD Jones +1 (14)
• Terry Funk +3 (47)
• Dory Funk +3 (16)
• King Kong Bundy +1 (43)
• Brutus Beefcake +1 (39)
• Greg Valentine +1 (63)
• Tiger Chung Lee +1 (6)
• Mr X +1 (4)
• Davey Boy Smith +3 (45)
• Dynamite Kid +4 (49)
• Roddy Piper +3 (74)
• Moondog Spot +1 (17)
• Chuck Simpson +1 (1)
• Al Navarro +1 (3)
• Hillbilly Jim +3 (15)
• Uncle Elmer +2 (13)
• Don Muraco +3 (43)
• AJ Petruzzi +1 (5)
• Steve Lombardi +1 (4)
• Dan Spivey +3 (13)
• Corporal Kirchner +3 (32)
• Nelson Villieux +1 (3)
• Adrian Adonis +3 (47)
• Don Driggers +1 (3)
• Lanny Poffo +1 (17)
• Iron Sheik +3 (41)
• Nikolai Volkoff +3 (38)

So those are the points after this edition. Not many high scorers in this but not much going on really. Paul Orndorff, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan and Dynamite Kid did alright but not spectacularly better than everyone else. The top 10 however has changed slightly so let's have a look at it for the last time before Wrestlemania 2.

1. Hulk Hogan             - 92 Points
2. Ricky Steamboat     - 75 Points
3. Tito Santana            - 75 Points
4. Roddy Piper            - 74 Points
5. Randy Savage          - 65 Points
6. Greg Valentine         - 63 Points
7. Junkyard Dog          - 62 Points
8. Paul Orndorff           - 58 Points
9. Dynamite Kid          - 49 Points
10. Adrian Adonis         - 47 Points

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WWE All Star Search #21 - March 1986 (pt 2)

WWE All Star Search #21 - March 1986 (pt 2)

Hello Turnbucklers! We're still working our way to Wrestlemania 2 and we're almost there. In this stop we're looking at an episode of Championship Wrestling and after that, the Maple Leaf Gardens show! This edition will see the debut of a popular tag team and the return of a giant superstar. Quite a few tag team matches on this edition with the highlight looking to be the Hart Foundation and the Killer Bees. Ricky Steamboat and Don Muraco continue their long running feud on this card also, this time in a martial arts match. So let's get underway shall we...

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The Card:

Jeff Cripley vs Adrian Adonis

Bob Bradley/Mr X vs The Killer Bee's

Joe Mirto/Les Thornton vs Uncle Elmer/George Steele

Tony Stetson vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)

The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs Jim Powers/Lanny Poffo

King Tonga vs Paul Christie

The Moondogs vs The Rougeau Brothers

Bob Orton vs Lanny Poffo

Ricky Steamboat vs Don Muraco (Martial Arts Match)

The Hart Foundation vs The Killer Bees

Corporal Kirchner vs Iron Mike Sharpe

Jake Roberts vs George Wells

Jimmy Hart/The Funk Brothers vs Andre the Giant/Junkyard Dog

The Show:

So let's start with the 15th March episode of Championship Wrestling. Our commentators are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino and of course, they run down the card. 

Jeff Cripley vs Adrian Adonis

That man with bows in his hair struts to the ring to the normal big heat we've come to expect. Adonis tells someone in the crowd they stink before posing to even more heat. Faggot chants break out and Cripley encourages it more so! The win comes when Adonis hits the DDT (which Vince calls the 'Gramcracker'?) and that gets the 3 count. It pains me to think all the heat Adonis gets is purely for his stereotypical characterisation but he does deserve heat none the less because he is a good performer despite that. Squash Rating: ***

Update time with Lord Al and this week he's looking at Wrestlemania 2, especially the battle royal that's been signed. He runs through the people who will be involved and pardon me but I have NO IDEA who any of the NFL players are because shockingly, no one cares about the NFL outside of the USA (unless its the Superbowl...but even then...yawn!).

Bob Bradley/Mr X vs The Killer Bee's

I thought I heard buzzing. It's the Killer Bee's time and I'm expecting solid yet unspectacular work as always from these two. It's hard not to appreciate the Bee's work rate but with the Hart Foundation and Bulldogs on the scene, it's hard for them to stand out. In fact, apart from their double dropkick, I can't think of a maneuver I expect to see in a Bee's match. Finally Vince explains that Jim Brunzell is called 'Jumpin' because of his dropkicks. Really cool spot from Brunzell who does a headlock and headscissors on both heels. A sloppy abdominal pin gets the win for the Bee's. This one was solid with a little pinch of spectacle. Squash Rating: ***

Wrestlemania 2...it's coming!!

Into the back with Mean Gene who runs down the Wrestlemania card. He's joined by The British Bulldogs. Davey says that two referee's at Mania will sort out Valiant. Dynamite reiterates but fuck, Dynamite is terrifying. 

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Joe Mirto/Les Thornton vs Uncle Elmer/George Steele

Seriously, who's idea was it to put Elmer and Steele together. Both men together make a third of a wrestler and if you take into account Elmer is the size of a Hodor...that's sad news. Steele again tries and fails to dance with Elmer and Captain Lou. We see Cousin Luke on the outside with a cast on his ankle that was apparently courtesy of the Hart Foundation. The heels try everything they can to make the faces look good but it's all an uphill battle for them. The finish comes when Elmer hits an avalanche in the corner and Steele tags in, locks on a hammerlock and that gets the win. Poor form lads. Squash Rating: DUD

Into the back with Mean Gene who once again, runs through the whole Wrestlemania card. He's joined by Hulk Hogan who says that he's glad it's all laid out. This is the first time he's defending the title in a steel cage. He loves being alive and his Hulkamaniacs and Bundy deserves to be champion if he can cheat his way to the top. Huh?

Tony Stetson vs Randy Savage (IC Champ)

I always get a buzz when Savage's music hits and this match lasts less 10 seconds...as Savage pearl harbours Stetson, hits the flying elbow and that's all she wrote. George Steele comes down ringside and hands Liz flowers. She tries to explain she can't take them but Savage pearl harbours a distracted Steele. He ties him in the ropes, grabs the flowers and proceeds to beat Steele with them before shoving them in his mouth. Steele eventually escapes and attacks Savage as the crowd love it. Savage grabs Liz and scuttles off backstage as Steele gives (slow) chase. As much as I think Savage is wasted in this feud, at least the feud now has some heat to it. Squash Rating: *

Piper's Pit time and he's joined by two random women who he claims to be his fans but want to meet the tag champs, The Dream Team. Out they come and they proceed to have awkward interactions with the two women. The champs say the Bulldogs don't scare them and they proceed to swoon over the women.

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Into the back with Jesse Ventura who cuts to a press conference with Roddy Piper. Piper rips into Mr T and apparently T will have Smokin' Joe Frazier in his corner at Wrestlemania. We then cut to Mr T who's holding a rubber chicken. He says no one ever whipped his ass other than his mother and that he'll be eating his cereal and will be ready for Wrestlemania. We cut to King Kong Bundy now who reminds us of last Wrestlemania and that he will be champ at the next Wrestlemania. Finally we cut to Hulk Hogan who hypes up Bundy's attack from SNME. He will get his revenge a Wrestlemania even if he has to climb the cage with one good limb. 

The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs Jim Powers/Lanny Poffo

Of course Volkoff does the Soviet anthem to big USA chants. It seems like a long time since we last saw these two. Poffo cuts a poem before the match and we see that Corporal Kirchner has made his way ringside albeit briefly and somewhat pointlessly. The heels get the win when Sheik locks in the Camel Clutch to Powers and clear the ring after the match. Solid and simple. Squash Rating: **

Into the back with Mean Gene who once again, runs down the Wrestlemania card. He's joined by Macho and Liz and Macho hypes himself up for being so great. Macho gets mad when Gene tries to talk to Liz about the Wrestlemania card and that's all for this episode.

So in that case, we move onto The Maple Leaf Gardens show from the 23rd March. Our commentators are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura! The entrance ramp is a raised ramp circa ECW 1998.

King Tonga vs Paul Christie

Crowd is loud for the introductions but fall deathly silent straight after. Good to see King Tonga in a singles match without having to rely on Ricky Steamboat for back up. After some relentless stalling from Christie they eventually lock up but more stalling irks the crowd. Finally they do lock up and Tonga works over the arm. He locks on an armbar and Christie tries to escape but Tonga holds on. We get a criss-cross spot and Tonga comes out on top with a punch which of course leads to more stalling by Christie. He heads outside for a breather and that really pisses the crowd off which is all fine and dandy for a random heel jobber. He gets back in and tries to lock on a headlock, fails and then begs for mercy. Another lock up and Christie gets some punches and eye gouges in. Tonga tries to fight back but Christie levels him with a middle kick before locking on a sleeper. Tonga escapes briefly but Christie keeps the advantage using chokes to help him. Tonga hits a scoop slam, goes for a splash but Christie gets his knees up and gets a 1 count before going back to the choke. Tonga manages to fight back with a chop to the throat and proceeds to ram Christies head into the turnbuckle. Tonga hits a chop that makes an awesome sound and then hits a hip toss. He hits a thrust kick before following with a splash and that gets the win. Endlessly boring and Tonga doesn't do much for me. Match Rating: 1/4*

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The Moondogs vs The Rougeau Brothers

Hold on, who the fuck is Moondog Rex? In two years of blog, not seen him once. Massive reception for the Canadian Rougeau Brothers which makes sense as they're in Canada. This is their All Star Search debut and it's good to have another tag team on the scene. Rex and Jacques start us off and its not long before the action gets quick via the Rougeau's and a series of dropkicks and a splash. They double team Rex and use quick tags to keep the pace up, all the while working over Rex's leg. In comes Spot but he quickly finds himself in the same position. Me and Jesse both get confused as to who is actually the legal Rougeau but Gorilla tells us that its Raymond who's legal, which is all fine, as he's currently got an anklelock applied on Spot. Jacques tags in and applies to same hold before hitting a scoop slam and tagging in Ray for a big stomp. Rex distracts the ref and a pin attempt is missed and the crowd really hated that spot! Does that spot ever draw heat anymore? Rougeau's still work over the legs and if Spot sells it, I'll eat my own face. Rex breaks things up and the Moondogs finally get some offense in. Its as basic as basic can be but its offense none the less. Spot back in...and he's not selling the leg...sigh. The Moondogs double team Jacques but he counters into a sunset flip for 1 on Spot. Apparently the Moondogs were once tag team champions? If true, I couldn't be happier I missed that period of time. Jacques hits a crossbody but Rex propels him outside. Spot follows and sends him into the railing at ringside. It's a really old school concert metal railing kind of deal too. The ref continues to be distracted meaning Jacques continues to be beaten up on the outside. He's long past what should be a countout but Rex suplexes him in the ring for 2. Spot comes in and he hits an elbow from the second rope for 2. Spot locks on a headlock but Jacques fights out although not for long as Spot hits a really nice shoulderbreaker! Rex back in and he drops Jacques across the top rope before trying and failing for a suplex. Jacques hits one of his own and the crowd come alive but die once again when Spot comes in. Jacques still fights back and manages a 2 count from a flying forearm but once again soon finds himself in a headlock. The crowd rallies behind Jacques and he fights out again but Spot block the tag being made. The tag finally gets made but the ref is distracted again and it doesn't count! Crowd again don't like that and rally behind the Rougeau's again. Rex locks on a bearhug for about a minute but Jacques escapes and gets the HOT tag! He cleans house with dropkicks and elbows as the crowd go mad! Awful chop to Spot and another to Rex for 2. All four men are in the ring brawling and the Rougeau's knock the Moondogs into each other. Jacques locks on a sleeper and that gets the win for the Rougeaus! Suprisingly good match considering the Moondogs were in it. To be fair their heels tactics were classicly and positively executed. They woukd've been perfect if they sold the legs early on. The Rougeau's were good, showing a lot of pace and stamina. Would've liked to have seen a proper finisher to give them the win as I'm not a big fan of the sleeper...especially in a tag match! Match Rating: **1/2

Bob Orton vs Lanny Poffo

Of course Lanny has a poem to start us off and of course, it's crap and Orton has to sell it like it's cutting. Chain wrestling starts us off but we get a stand off as a result and the crowd don't care. Orton locks on an armbar but Poffo bridges out impressively and counters into an armbar of his own. More quick paced action with both trading advantages but Poffo ends up locking on another armbar. They both stumble through the ropes awkwardly both Poffo holds on. They get back in the ring and Poffo continues to work over the left arm of Orton, using a chickenwing this time. The crowd and myself start wilting as Orton still can't escape despite his attempts and it is Terry Daniels-esque. They again stumble through the ropes and this time Orton uses his strength to take advantage. He rams Poffo into the bell, then the ringpost and then powerslams him back into the ring for 2. He whips him into the corner but misses a charge, leaving him holding the left arm...psychology! Poffo rams his head in the corner and gets a 2 count before going to work...on the RIGHT arm...and then putting on a facelock. Orton levels Poffo with the worst punches I've ever seen, they were like inches away from connection. Orton hits a weird, standing bulldog but that only gets a 2 count. Orton rallies away with knees to the head before sending Poffo flying out to ringside. Poffo gets a close 2 with a small package when he gets back in and follows up with a suplex. Cradle pin gets a close 2 count and he follows with a scoop slam. He heads up top for a very early looking Senton Bomb but it only gets 2 again and again. He hits a scoop slam and hits a diving moonsault!!! That again only gets a 2 but Orton seems dead on his feet. He whips Orton upside down in the corner and chokes away as the ref does nothing for a while. Poffo with a dropkick to send Orton outside now and another dropkick on the outside while the ref doesn't count him out. Poffo misses a third dropkick and Orton returns in the ring. He stops Poffo on the top rope this time and hits a big superplex and that gets the 3 count! I was considering giving this a really low rating until the second half of the match. Poffo's unique aerial offense is cool to see in 1986 and Orton is such a good heel that is seemingly so hard to beat. The superplex to finish was a nice ending but all that working on the arm from Poffo was ultimately pointless and thus pointlessly boring. Match Rating: *1/2

Ricky Steamboat vs Don Muraco (Martial Arts Match)

Judging from previous experiances of watching these martial arts matches, I expect no difference from a regular match. Steamboat gets a HUGE pop when he comes out and the camera angle from behind the entrance looks amazing! Steamboat looked like a legitimate star just then. Handbags to start between the two lads before they both put on martial arts robes. Muraco looks like he's dressed for a Sauna is his gear and of course, he's joined by Mr Fuji at ringside. Steamboat start us off cornering Muraco in the ropes before nailing a kick to the back of the head to send Muraco to the outside to big cheers. Muraco runs back in to pearl harbour Steamboat but the crowd successfully warned him in a really cool spot. Hip toss by Steamboat followed by a scoop slam and Muraco just can't seem to get out the blocks. Gorilla and Fuji have words at the commentary table due to excessive cane waving apparently. They lock up again and this time Muraco does get a shot in but Steamboat manages to use his pace to nail another kick to the back of the head which sends Muraco to the outside once again. Steamboat tries a headlock but Muraco just throws him to the floor. Another lock up and this time Dragon locks on a headlock but again, Muraco uses his strength to escape. Dragon locks on another headlock but gets pushed off so he slides through Muraco's legs, twice, before hitting a sloppy swinging neckbreaker for 2! Another headlock is applied by Steamboat before both men run the ropes and Steamboat hits and elbow followed by a scoop slam. A snapmare leads to a nerve hold by Steamboat but that is countered nicely into a Samoan Drop by Muraco. He tries to throw Steamboat to the outside, but it doesn't quite work so Mr Fuji whacks Dragon with the cane while Muraco distracts the ref. Muraco snapmares him back in the ring before working over Dragon in the corner. He can't hit the slingshot out the corner and Dragon gets a quick shot in before going after the interfering Fuji on the outside. He grabs a chair but Muraco blindsides him. Fuji now grabs the chair and holds it up while Muraco slingshots him into it...but no DQ. Back in the ring Dragon is bleeding and Muraco is still in control with clotheslines before whipping Ricky with his own belt. Muraco now begins to choke Dragon with the belt...still no DQ...but Dragon escapes briefly before finding himself back to being choked. Dragon escapes using the turnbuckle and is now bleeding I should mention. Dragon rallies through his standard strikes before whipping Muraco with both belts now! Dragon hits a clothesline and the crowd is on fire as he heads up top. He hits a flying chop and rams Muraco's head into the corner. Steamboat won't get Muraco out the corner and the ref ends up being bumped and missing a pin attempt by Muraco. Both men botch something before Muraco hits a crossbody but Steamboat rolls through it and gets the 3 count! I assume what they botched was a first attempt at that finish. After the match, the heels choke Steamboat and attack him with Mr Fuji's cane to decent heat. Match was decent and the crowd were into it definitely. Steamboat seemed to be in 3rd gear here instead of 4th but he still performed better than anyone else so far on the card. Muraco still has a lot to offer the WWE but you can start to see his decline and I worry for him once Wrestlemania comes and goes. Match Rating: **

We go to the ring and it's time for the live Body Shop with Jesse Ventura. He's dressed like 1985 Adrian Adonis and starts by hyping up Wrestlemania 2. He starts to hype up the boxing match taking place and apparently his guest tonight is Mr T! Out he comes in a kilt and immediately says he don't trust Jesse. Mr T is still carrying around a rubber chicken and apparently its because Roddy Piper is a chicken. Apparently that's meant to explain why he's wearing a kilt too...but doesn't quite, does it? T says Smokin' Joe Frazier is coaching him and he is ready and he will win. They continue to talk boxing and I swear T starts to get some boo's. Ventura predicts Piper to win in 3 rounds and that riles up Mr T. Jesse gets riled up too and we have a stand off to the happiness of the crowd. Jesse bails on a fight after the endless stand off before Gorilla emerges to escort him away. A bit boring but hey, just a reason to get Mr T some extra hype on the way to Wrestlemania.

The Hart Foundation vs The Killer Bees

So far, the show has been admittedly decent and on paper, this match should be a good'n too! The Foundation are not yet the Pink n Black attack and are instead the pastelle blue and black attack in this one. Bret and B Brian start us off and Blair hits a nice back suplex for 2. Neidhart tags in but Blair manages to hit a cross body for 2. Brunzell tags in and he stops Neidhart getting a tag before working on his left leg. Blair tagged back in and both men work on Neidharts leg. More double teaming by The Bees but Bret is eventually tagged in. Things go just as badly for him as the Bee's start to work over his legs. Blair gets a 2 count off a sunset flip before more nifty team work takes place. Brunzell goes for a Boston Crab but can't turn him over, so gives up. Figure 4 locked on but Anvil breaks it up. Harts tag illegally but the ref just completely ignores it and some heel tactics allow Anvil to take control. Bret gets a tag and the Harts do a guillotine knee drop for 2. Bret hits a nice backbreaker but that only gets a 2 count. Anvil tags back in but ref is distracted when Blair manages a sunset flip and its not long until Anvil has him in a chinlock. Bret tags in and kitchen sinks Blair before Anvil gets some cheap shots in. He tags in but Blair still can't get to Brunzell, especially when Bret runs over and kicks him off the apron while awaiting the tag. Nice battering ram double team by the Foundation but that only gets 2. Bret tags in but he gets reversed into the corner but Blair still can't take advantage as Anvil flattens him and Bret gets another 2. Atomic drop by Bret and Anvil tags in again and he locks in a Bearhug. Bret tags back in, rakes the eyes and puts on a headlock and Blair still can't tag in Brunzell. When does eventually, the ref is distracted again! The Harts collide into each other and FINALLY the hot tag is made. Noggin knocker followed by a high knee for Bret and an atomic drop. Snapmare and a legdrop by Brunzell followed by a sweet dropkick but that only gets 2. Blair and Anvil fight outside the ring before heading in ring. The Foundation get whipped into each other before Bret gets double teamed. Bret reverses an irish whip and Anvil clocks Blair from the outside and that gets the 3. I might be a little picky on this one but it just didn't click completely for me. Maybe it was the crowd not really being too vocal or maybe it was the fact that it was a carbon copy of the previous tag match on the card. If it is the latter, that should put things into perspective, because the previous match involved the freaking Moondogs. Still, a solid match with a weak ending. Match Rating: **1/2

Corporal Kirchner vs Iron Mike Sharpe

So we get a rematch from the last house show we did. This time, we're in Sharpe's country so surely the crowd will bury Kirchner, SURELY?! Sharpe cheap shots Kirchner to start in control. Kirchner reverses an Irish whip and almost botches a monkey flip. He hits three dropkicks and thats enough to send Sharpe to the outside. Kirchner misses an atomic drop and Sharpe rolls through locking on a headlock. Kirchner struggles to fight out but when he does, he eats a series of shoulderblocks. He does hit a back body drop and follows up by teasing a kick between the legs spot...but doesn't. You know the spot, the low blow that isn't actually a low blow because it's the top of your leg. Either way, Kirchner gets booed for not doing it and both men have a test of strength. Of course, the heel cheap shots his way to control but its brief as Kirchner kicks his way to an advantage. He hits an awkward suplex but Sharpe hits a clothesline in return. He celebrates instead of going for a pin but slaps Kirchner just for my benefit...I'm sure of it. Kirchner gets thrown to the floor and then through the ringside barrier in a brutal looking spot! The barrier is wooden as well so the sound was just as brutal as the throw. Kirchner can't get back in the ring but the ref is distracted from the countout. Kirchner eventually gets back in the ring and hits a cross body for 2. Awful looking clothesline followed by a roll up also gets 2 for Kirchner. He misses a dropkick as Sharpe seems to be adjusting his forearm pad. He misses a forearm shot and Kirchner uses the forearm against Sharpe himself and that gets the 3. This was a carbon copy of last editions match between the two and let's hope we don't have to see it again. Match Rating: 1/4*

Jake Roberts vs George Wells

Another Jake match now, and after a decent debut in our last edition, he's facing another jobber this time. Of course, he's got the sack with him and I wonder if we'll finally see the snake released. They mess around with lock ups and chain wrestling to start but neither man can take control so Jake responds by flashing that creepy smile and acting as cool as cool can be. Wells manages to get a shoulderblock but still can't follow up on it. He manages a headlock and a shoulder tackle so Jake slithers out the ring to regroup. More stalling once he's back in the ring and finally Jake gets some offense in by sending Wells out the ring. Jake drops an elbow on the back of Wells head and follows up with more slithering. This is very slow paced if you havn't gathered already. Jake levels some punches before hitting a scoop slam and it gets a slow 2 count. Snapmare leads into a sleeperhold for Jake all the while taunting Wells with the sack in the corner. Wells does escape but Jake is still on his case using strikes and punches. Wells whipped hard into the corner and Jake goes over to the sack. Ref stops him and Wells manages to almost hit a sunset flip but Jake counters with a punch. Wells hits some football tackles that just look like awful spear attempts before he nails a back body drop. Wells misses a charge, Jake drops an elbow, grabs the tights and gets the cheeky win. Really poor match with a slow pace and very little action. To be fair to Jake, there's only so much he can do with these jobbers. Disappointed not to see the DDT as well or Damien. Match Rating: 1/4*

Jimmy Hart/The Funk Brothers vs Andre the Giant/Junkyard Dog

So a very similar main event to the previous house show we reviewed. Granted, this time we have the inclusion of Jimmy Hart and Andre. Andre, by the way, we havn't seen in months but he looks in better shape (slightly) than the last time we saw him. The crowd I should point out seem slightly more subdued than I'd expect with this main event. Jimmy Hart is wearing an Stoke City kit circa 1970 and a headband with 'JYD' scrawled on it. Andre and Terry start us off with Andre immediately taking control with a headlock. JYD tags in a rallies rallies through his headbutts while Andre throws Jimmy off the apron. Dory tags in but can't hit a shoulder block or a scoop slam so JYD responds by scoop slamming everyone. The heels regroup on the ramp before getting back into the ring for an amusing criss-cross spot. Dory taunts Andre on the apron but JYD doesn't tag him in and instead locks on a headlock. Dory counters and rallies through some nice uppercuts before tagging in Terry. Terry hits a nice piledriver and tags in Jimmy Hart to wake the crowd up. Hart kicks away at JYD but JYD no sells and Terry is tagged back in to throw JYD outside where Dory can work him over. Back in the ring and Terry tries to keep control but JYD counters and thrusts Terry's head into the turnbuckle for the 10 count. JYD misses the following headbutt and Dory tags back in and locks on a sleeper. He holds it briefly before tagging in Terry to take over on the sleeper. Jimmy tags in (albeit illegally) and that gives Andre the chance to tag in...and it was the coldest hot tag I've ever heard. None the less, Andre cleans house until Dory levels him with a kick to the face allowing the heels to double team him. Big 'Andre' chant breaks out as the heels struggle to keep Andre down. Eventually Andre does fight back and floors Dory with awful looking punches. He misses a big boot and ends up trapped in the ropes...because let's face it, it's an Andre match afterall. Terry tags in and Andre no sells his chops. Andre with shots of his own before tagging in JYD. JYD with headbutts before Dory tags in. The Funks try and double team but it all ends up in a mass brawl. In the kerfuffle, Jimmy Hart comes off the top with a megaphone, whacks JYD and that gets the heels DQ'd. The faces abuse Jimmy Hart in the ring afterwards before chasing off the heels with an chain swinging Andre. Another case of a slow pace but slightly more action in this one. Andre's role was kept to a minimum for obvious reasons but JYD just doesn't have enough range in his offense to carry them. The Funks were solid as always and Dory is starting to look like a badass, especially by not backing down from Andre. Silly finish though, would've made more sense for Hart to be pinned, I mean, it wouldn't exactly hurt and the crowd would've gone home happy. Match Rating: *1/4


So let's score them!

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Wrestler Scores:

• Jeff Cripley +1 (5)
• Adrian Adonis +3 (44)
• Bob Bradley +1 (2)
• Mr X +1 (3)
• B Brian Blair +9 (29)
• Jim Brunzell +9 (20)
• Davey Boy Smith +1 (42)
• Dynamite Kid +1 (45)
• Joe Mirto +1 (5)
• Les Thornton +1 (7)
• Uncle Elmer +2 (11)
• George Steele +3 (23)
• Hulk Hogan +2 (88)
• Tony Stetson +1 (3)
• Randy Savage +3 (61)
• Roddy Piper +2 (71)
• Bob Orton +7 (47)
• Greg Valentine +1 (62)
• Brutus Beefcake +1 (38)
• Mr T +2 (17)
• King Kong Bundy +1 (42)
• Iron Sheik +3 (38)
• Nikolai Volkoff +3 (35)
• Lanny Poffo +6 (16)
• Jim Powers +1 (4)
• King Tonga +3 (18)
• Paul Christie +2 (2)
• Moondog Spot +6 (16)
• Moondog Rex +5 (5)
• Jacques Rougeau +6 (6)
• Raymond Rougeau +6 (6)
• Ricky Steamboat +5 (75)
• Don Muraco +5 (40)
• Bret Hart +6 (42)
• Jim Neidhart +5 (37)
• Corporal Kirchner +3 (29)
• Iron Mike Sharpe +2 (13)
• Jake Roberts +4 (9)
• George Wells +2 (3)
• Andre the Giant +4 (28)
• Junkyard Dog +4 (62)
• Terry Funk +4 (44)
• Dory Funk +5 (13)
• Jimmy Hart +2 (2)

So there we have it, this editions list of scorers. The Killer Bee's did the best by far with two strong showing on both the TV show and the house show. In fact, most of those in tag team competition did alright, with even the Moondog bringing in their biggest points haul to date. Not much going on however for the main eventers like Hogan and Piper as they didn't really appear much. A decent debut score for both Rougeau's as well so it will be interesting to see where they end up on the grand tag team spectrum. Finally, Bob Orton did well this edition mainly because of his many appearances in interviews and promo's but also because of a strong showing against Lanny Poffo. That points haul has actually put him into the Top 10 and pushed out Adrian Adonis. So let's take a lot of the updated All Star Search current Top 10 and I shall see you in a few days for our last stop before Wrestlemania 2!

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1. Hulk Hogan             - 88 Points
2. Ricky Steamboat     - 75 Points
3. Tito Santana            - 75 Points
4. Roddy Piper            - 71 Points
5. Greg Valentine         - 62 Points
6. Junkyard Dog          - 62 Points
7. Randy Savage          - 61 Points
8. Paul Orndorff           - 54 Points
9. Bob Orton               - 47 Points
10. Dynamite Kid           - 45 Points

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