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 #25 - April 26th

WWE All Star Search #25 - April 26th

Hello Turnbucklers once again to the All Star Search! It's our 25th edition and what better way to celebrate than a random house show review! Looking at the card, I'm not too excited for this one except for one match...and I'm sure you'll guess when you read below. We also get the Iron Mike Sharpe/Corporal Kirchner rematch that no one's been waiting for! Tito/Orton could be good as we've already seen good things from them in previous cards but there's only one way to find out...let's get on with it!

The Card:

Sivi Afi vs Bret Hart

Tony Atlas vs Hercules

Jim Neidhart vs George Steele

Iron Mike Sharpe vs Corporal Kirchner

Hillbilly Jim vs Adrian Adonis

Tito Santana vs Bob Orton

The Killer Bees vs The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

Jake Roberts vs Scott McGhee

Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs Randy Savage (IC Champ) [WWE Title Match]

The Show:

It's our first show coming from Detroit's Joe Lewis Arena and our commentators are Jack Reynolds and Ken Resnick. Never heard of either of them but they seem like they know what their talking about.

Sivi Afi vs Bret Hart

This is a nice way to kick things off, a Bret Hart singles match. We've not seen many recently and he's seemed like he's been enjoying work recently so here's hoping Bret shows Afi how it's done. I don't like Afi so far and he's still being pushed as Jimmy Snuka's cousin. Lots of stalling to start by Bret and the crowd don't like it when he bails to the outside. Bret with a headlock and a shoulderblock but gets caught in a drop toe hold by Afi. Bret quickly escapes and locks on a hammerlock but Afi escapes with a flip and a roll up for 2 so Bret bails outside again to regroup. Bret gets in the ring again and this time can get some decent offense in. He hits his signature second rope elbow and then follows with a leg drop for 2 before locking on a chinlock. Afi breaks out but only gets as far as a Bret clothesline and elbow drop for 2 before he is thrown outside while Bret poses in the ring, getting mild boos. Afi comes back in with a sunset flip for 2 but Bret takes control yet again before Afi does the foreigner hard head thing. Afi misses a charge to the corner and Bret gives him a scoop slam but fails in a second rope elbow drop. Afi headbutts him in the nethers and hits a flying forearm and a headbutt for 2. Scoop slam by Afi followed by a second rope splash that gets another 2. Afi with a suplex followed by an elbow drop and the worst senton splash I've ever seen. He hits an anotic drop, a shoulderblock but Bret counters out of nowhere with a backbreaker and that gets the 3! The match definitely picked up towards the end and Afi really wasn't as bad as he normally is. Maybe Bret inspired him up a level...who knows! Good win for the Hitman although we've seen him do better. Match Rating: *3/4

Tony Atlas vs Hercules

Tony Atlas still works for the WWE apparently. The crowd certainly remember him as he gets quite the pop. Hercules hasn't really impressed so far but he's slowly being pushed as another strong lad to keep an eye on. Early goings of the match are boring as sin, as they both try to out power each other with the standard moves. Theirs one awkward moment where Herc has Atlas in a bearhug but Atlas gyrates free. It just looked a bit, uncomfortable. There's a lot of stalling as we continue into the match and both men manage to hit an atomic drop each. That allows Herc to take control briefly but Atlas doesn't let him control for long. Big suplex by Atlas and Herc impressively puts on the torture rack but inexplicably just lets go. Herc goes for the scoop slam but Atlas counters into a roll up and that gets him the surprise 3! Strange booking considering we havn't seen Atlas in ages. I would've expected Herc to get the win back to get some heat back after Wrestlemania. The match itself was as you'd expect, nothing bad but it was boring as sin. Match Rating: 1/2*

Jim Neidhart vs George Steele

I kind of like the idea of these two having a match. Granted, it's not because either of them are amazing in ring but both are classic 80's nostalgia on legs. Steele gets a ridiculous hometown pop which is cool. As you can guess, there's lots of stalling in this one too to start. Neidhart tries to bail from Steele a couple of times but I don't buy Anvil being scared of this weird, old bloke. Eventually when they do get back in the ring, Steele ends up getting his silly self stuck in the ropes via his legs and the crowd loves it when he gets free. Neidhart takes advantage of the whole thing because he's a mean heel but his downfall comes when he heads outside and grabs a chair. He comes inside but the ref stops him, allowing Steele to get the roll up and another surprise win! Neidhart tries to get some cheap shots in afterwards but its all in vain and he scarpers backstage. Top notch shenanigans although it was an awful match. Neidhart could've done with the singles win along with Bret's and that chair spot just made Anvil look like a toolbag. No one likes a thick heel. Match Rating: DUD

Iron Mike Sharpe vs Corporal Kirchner

It seems that these two are doing the rounds lately as we've seen these two a few editions before. I've probably said this a lot but Iron Mike is severely underrated. As you can imagine, this is a carbon copy of their previous match, so go and look that up. What I will say is that this match is missing the hard guardrail spot that was in their last match. Kirchner's dropkicks havn't really improved since we first met him and by now they really should have. Besides, they're just fucking dropkicks, surely they're like the white bread of wrestling. The finish is the exact same with Kirchner getting the win, this time with the samoan drop but the rating on this one will be a now familiar Kirchner score. Match Rating: DUD

Hillbilly Jim vs Adrian Adonis

I'm predicting some more shenanigans in this one, in fact before we even start, Jim gives us his interpretation of what he assumes Adonis acts like. It's not very, masculine. Adonis gets off to a flyer by over selling a shoulder block and tumbling outside before some hick screams 'c'mon faggot!' Back in the ring and Adonis takes control with strikes and chops while Jim awkwardly sells it all to silence from the crowd. Things don't improve as the match drags on and on while Adonis is in control. We an awkward double clothesline spot before Adonis heads up top. Of course it doesn't end well as Jim gets his knees up and manages to lock on a bearhug. Adonis escapes and begins to choke Jim. He pushes the ref repeatedly but gets no DQ but does get the DQ when he chokes Jim with his wrist tape. Adonis headbutts the ref but Jim fights back and even manages a cartwheel before Adonis scarpers. That was horrifically boring, quite possibly the worst Adonis match I've seen so far. Jim got no offense in and the DQ ending was lame. Match Rating: DUD

Tito Santana vs Bob Orton

We saw these two face off against each other in 1984 and they produced one of the better matches of that year. Two years later I'm expecting decent quality although both men are some what in limbo within the WWE landscape. They lock up to start and Tito gets the first shot in with a hip toss. They lock up again and again Tito comes out on top with a hammerlock before Orton escapes with a strong right hand before laying boots into Tito. He comes off the second rope with an elbow drop and continues to work over Tito on the mat, eventually getting a 2. Orton hits a facebuster before taunting the crowd and then follows with a nice dropkick for 2 before locking in the headlock. Tito fights out with punches and Orton misses a charge to the corner meaning Tito can keep up the momentum. Orton flops onto the ropes while Tito continues to wail away with punches. Orton sends Tito outside allowing himself to regroup before following him to the outside. He hits a big backbreaker on the outside but Tito reverses the next attempt to send Orton flying into the crowd at ringside. Both men get back in the ring and Tito is in control again with a facebuster of his own. Tito goes for the figure 4 but Orton counters. He goes for a suplex but Tito counters into one of his own but that only gets a 2. Orton hits an atomic drop but he looks dead on his feet. Both men trade punches but Orton comes out on top with a rope assisted super punch. He goes up top again but again Tito counters on the way down. Tito goes to work on Orton and gets a 2 count. Orton counters again, hits a crossbody but Tito rolls through and gets the 3 count himself! Good match with a good pace! Tito can still play himself to a tee and Orton is such an underrated heel. Ending was perfectly fine and both men look good coming out of this one. Match Rating: **1/2

The Killer Bees vs The Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

This is our first tag team match on this card and it feels like a long time since we've seen Sheik and Nik. The Bee's, although solid, have started to stale in my opinion as they're yet to do anything of note except...be there. The crowd seem more up for this match than any of the previous matches we've seen as the Bees get a big pop and the heels get booed back to the east. Jumpin Jim has his arm in a cast because he broke his hand apparently. Oodles of stalling to start from the heels as they try and successfully antagonise the crowd. Blair and Sheik manage to lock up in the midst of all that stalling and the Bees take control. Brunzell hits an atomic drop sending Sheik into a punch from Blair on the apron. Brunzell finds himself in the heel corner not long after but the heel miscommunicate and allowing Blair to come in and lock on a headlock. More tags lead to some Bees double teaming before Brunzell starts to work over Sheik's leg. In comes Blair meaning more double teaming on the leg can happen. Nikolai distracts the ref during a Bees pin but Brunzell locks on a figure 4 to the Sheik. Volkoff breaks it up and the heels can now go to work on Brunzell. Volkoff tags in but finds himself being pinned. Unfortunately Sheik is distracting the ref again so no count is given. Nikolai takes back advantage and he and Sheik get their own double teaming in. Nikolai locks on a bearhug as the camera pans to some uber-patriotic American in the crowd, crying while waving his flag at the heels. Blair comes in off the hot tag and he takes out the heels. He hits an atomic drop on Volkoff but that only gets 1. Cheap shot by Sheik leads Volkoff getting a 2 count and the heels work over Blair's back. Sheik back in and he hits a clothesline but taunts instead of covers. Big back body drop by Sheik followed by a nice side suplex. He goes for the camel clutch and then an abdominal stretch. Blair escapes and hits a weak elbow drop followed by a suplex. Both men crawl to their corners and Blair gets the hot tag to Brunzell. He cleans house and goes to work on Sheik including a clothesline for 2. Dropkick by Brunzell gets 2 before all 4 men come in the ring for a brawl. Volkoff gets sent outside allowing the Bees to double team Sheik. Brunzell puts him in a sleeper but the ref gets distracted allowing Volkoff to nail Brunzell from behind giving Sheik the 3 count. Solid but unspectacular once again from a Bees match. Good to see the heels get the win as it keeps them looking somewhat strong. The Bees continue to be tag team filler but at least that filler is watchable. Match Rating: *3/4

Jake Roberts vs Scott McGhee

Time for some Jake the Snake now as he takes on his latest jobber. We've seen Jake be very generous in allowing his jobber opponents to get a lot of offense in so lets see if this will be more of the same. They lock up a couple of times with McGhee getting the upperhand with hip tosses. Roberts with a smooth one handed scoop slam and he goes to work on McGhee. McGhee gets a scoop slam of his own and another before Jake slithers outside to regroup. Back in the ring McGhee gets an armbar in as Jake makes a grab for his bag unsuccessfully. Jake misses a clothesline and McGhee hits a crossbody for 2 before they lock up again. Jake takes control in the corner with elbows and hits a strong right hand to send McGhee down. Nice gutbuster by Jake and that's followed by an atomic drop. Jake locks on a headlock and works his way towards the snake but the ref stops him. McGhee tries to fight out but Jake keeps up the offense. He whips McGhee into the corner but McGhee manages to hit a clothesline and slam to silence. He goes up top for a knee drop but that only gets a 2 count. Jake fights back with a cheap shot and hits the DDT out of nowhere to wake the crowd up...in time to see Jake get the 3 count. Jake goes to the bag and out comes Damien to crawl around on McGhee as the crowd squeals. McGhee gets up bleeding from the face so perhaps he even got bitten on the face! Better match than the previous Jake affairs but the crowd was just dead. Jake at least got in more offense than his previous matches and there was a good balance to this. Match Rating: *

Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs Randy Savage (IC Champ) [WWE Title Match]

Well, well, well. Considering this has been a somewhat lacking card so far, this is truly a blockbuster of a main event. This is our first meeting of the two on the blog and I'm excited to see their chemistry a few years before the whole Mega Powers dealio. Big pop for a musicless Hogan and a decent reaction for Savage too. Macho pearl harbours Hogan to start and attacks with the IC belt...to no DQ! Rules people, forget inconvenience! Macho comes off the top with an ax handle while Hogan is reeling and once again a few seconds later....all while wearing his glasses. Hogan eventually stops selling and goes to work on Macho with right hands. Hogan puts the glasses on himself and continues with the right hands before sending Macho flying to the outside. Hogan picks up Savage and levels him into the ringpost before sending him back into the ring. Hogan hits a choke bomb and the crowd eat it all up after being dead for most the night. Hogan blows a kiss to an awkward looking Liz but Macho sends Hogan to the outside. Macho pearl harbours him again on the outside and hits a big boot to the face. Hogan chant breaks out but Macho is still being relentless, not allowing Hogan into the ring but still breaking the countout. Back in the ring Hogan reverses Macho in the corner and overpowers him. Macho begs for his life but Hogan has none of it, levelling Macho with punches instead. Macho whipped into the corner and Hogan follows with a clothesline and an atomic drop that sends Macho flying over the top rope to the outside. Liz tries to help Macho but Macho users her as a shield instead...to no heat, which is strange. Macho starts stalling because, that's his thing annoyingly and the crowd start to die again. Back in the ring, both men play mind games with each other but I still see it as stalling. Hogan tells Liz to stay out the match but Macho pearl harbours Hogan again. He hits a top rope ax handle to the outside onto Hogan followed by another before ramming him into the fan barrier. Crowd start to wake up again with a Hogan chant but Macho hits another ax handle to the outside. Back in the ring Savage gets a 2 count before hitting a clothesline for another 2. Savage thinks he's won but no, he hasn't, so he goes to the top rope for the flying elbow drop but that only gets another 2 as the crowd light up. Hogan 'hulks up' and starts to no sell Macho. He rallies through the typical Hogan offense and sends Macho outside. Liz begs for mercy but Hogan picks her up and puts her out of the way. Back in the ring Macho gets another cheap shot and heads back up top. Hogan counters on the way down with a boot to the face and that gets the 3! Macho breaks up the celebration by nailing the ref and then pearl harbouring Hogan. Macho poses with the WWE Title afterwards to some mild heat before Hogan chases him down and retrieves the belt. Best Hogan match we've seen on the blog so far and I'm pretty sure the longest and most balanced. Savage looked good in this although the pace was not what I'd normally expect from Savage. That's almost certainly due to the fact he was against Hogan but Hogan was fine in this. I liked the interactions with Liz throughout but I just wish the crowd were not such duds otherwise this could've been a well fueled early classic. Match Rating: **

Wrestler Scores:

• Sivi Afi +4 (9)
• Bret Hart +4 (55)
• Tony Atlas +3 (12)
• Hercules +2 (18)
• George Steele +2 (29)
• Jim Neidhart +2 (47)
• Corporal Kirchner +2 (39)
• Iron Mike Sharpe +2 (16)
• Adrian Adonis +2 (56)
• Hillbilly Jim +2 (20)
• Bob Orton +6 (53)
• Tito Santana +6 (88)
• B Brian Blair +5 (38)
• Jim Brunzell +5 (30)
• Iron Sheik +5 (49)
• Nikolai Volkoff +4 (47)
• Jake Roberts +5 (21)
• Scott McGhee +4 (10)
• Hulk Hogan +6 (104)
• Randy Savage +6 (78)

As you can see, the points are pretty self explanatory in this edition. No spectacular matches means no spectacular points haul. There's a clear divide half way through the card between a poor haul and a decent haul and no show in my opinion should have such a clear rift in quality between halves. Let's see how the top 10 are looking...

1. Hulk Hogan              - 104 Points
2. Tito Santana             - 88 Points
3. Ricky Steamboat      - 83 Points
4. Randy Savage           - 78 Points
5. Roddy Piper             - 76 Points
6. Greg Valentine          - 73 Points
7. Junkyard Dog           - 72 Points
8. Paul Orndorff            - 64 Points
9. Dynamite Kid            - 58 Points
10. Adrian Adonis           - 56 Points

It's insane to think how much Piper is falling through the top 10. Only a few editions ago he was the firm second placed wrestler but now it's a complete free for all to be Hogan's back up. Its still a free for all at the bottom of the top 10 too with many wrestlers still on the cusp of reaching the top 10 and knocking a few of these names off. Next edition will be Saturday Nights Main Event 6 and will see a change in style in how I write these reviews. Time is of the essence so the more I work out the most convenient way of writing without affecting the quality, the better for all! Hopefully I shall see you next time Turnbucklers!

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

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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 #23 - Wrestlemania 2

WWE All Star Search #23 - Wrestlemania 2

Hello Turnbucklers! We're back for the big one and seems like it's taken an age to get to this point. After the success of Wrestlemania 1, the WWE has kept growing in strength over the past year. This show was again shown on CCTV and the show itself is split across 3 different venues. It was a baffling decision as to why but let's see if it pays off. So Randy Savage meets George Steele for the IC belt to continue their feud. I'm not looking forward to the boxing match despite the amount of hype there's been for it. Same can be said of the battle royal. We have the tag title match and the WWE title match to look forward to and we have both Kirchner and Elmer on this card...so it has to be one of the better Wrestlemania's...right?

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The Card:

Paul Orndorff vs Don Muraco

Randy Savage (IC Champ) vs George Steele [IC Title Match]

George Wells vs Jake Roberts

Roddy Piper vs Mr T [Boxing Match]

The Fabulous Moolah (Womens Champ) vs Velvet McIntyre [Womens Title Match]

Nikolai Volkoff vs Corporal Kirchner [Flag Match]

WWE/NFL 20 Man Battle Royal

The British Bulldogs vs The Dream Team (Tag Team Champs) [Tag Team Title Match]

Hercules vs Ricky Steamboat

Adrian Adonis vs Uncle Elmer

The Funk Brothers vs Junkyard Dog/Tito Santana

Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs King Kong Bundy [WWE Title Match][Cage Match]

Edwin Watts Golf

The Show:

Wrestlemania 2...it's here!!

We get a nice jazzy intro to start before cutting to Vince McMahon in the ring doing his now familiar 'welcome to Wrestlemania' schtick. He welcomes some woman called Susan St James and the crowd seem impressed. He introduces Ray Charles to do America the Beautiful which is all good, bar a dodgy mic in the beginning. Still, what a coup for wrestling, Ray Charles, what a legend!

Into the back with Mean Gene who runs down the card before cutting to Roddy Piper who's psyched up for his boxing match. He says he grew his hair long so you can tell the difference between him and Mr T. Well, I guess it helps a little. He runs down T and Joe Frazier but I'm still not excited for the boxing match.

Our commentators are Vince McMahon and Susan St James.

Paul Orndorff vs Don Muraco

 Talk about two lads in purgatory. Paul Orndorff should at least be doing something relevant and Don Muraco should be...well, fine. These two have had no interaction so far so I guess it's just a payday in the end. Orndorff is still mega over and I shall continue to point that out until he's not. Lock up to start and Muraco nails a scoop slam but hold on, so does Orndorff straight after before both have a stand off and Orndorff gets in a taunt. They lock up again and Muraco takes control in the corner briefly before he suffers a back body drop and ends up locked in an armbar. Orndorff keeps Muraco locked in for a while and even manages to stand on his face allowing us to see Muraco is sweating quite heavily already. Muraco finally escapes using a samoan drop and wails away with punches. They fight in the corner but both men end up stumbling over the top rope to the floor. They continue out on the floor and both men suffer the worlds fastest countout. Orndorff throws furniture in the ring but nothing comes of it as the crowd chant 'bullshit'. Was starting off pleasantly at least and even just three to five more minutes could've helped a lot. The finish was crap and neither man ought to have turned up tonight. Match Rating: 1/4*

Into the back with Mr T, Joe Frazier and Haiti Kid. He rants about Piper and I understand literally fuck of all.

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Randy Savage (IC Champ) vs George Steele [IC Title Match]

Decent pop for Steele who gets the jobber entrance but crowd are strangely subdued for Macho and Liz, not even heat, just a slight buzz. We get a brief pre-taped message from Savage who says he's the best in the world of course, oh yeah! Savage bails from a flailing Steele to start and thus we get the obligatory stalling from Savage to slightly rile the crowd. He bails again before taunting Steele with a chair on the outside, gets in the ring and bails again, and again before Steele eventually catches him and bites his leg but no DQ. Back in the ring Macho tries to pearl harbour Steele but gets caught and choked. Steele gets distracted by Liz before Macho manages to trap him in the ropes. He releases him and hits a cross body from the top rope for 2. After regrouping with Liz, Macho returns to the ring but gets thrown back out by Steele but crawls under the ring allowing him to pearl harbour Steele. It's all for nothing and Steele goes back to biting. Macho rakes the eyes before going outside and grabbing some flowers. He tries to batter Steele with them but Steele bites again and uses the flowers on Savage. Wouldn't that be a DQ? Steele gets distracted with the turnbuckle and uses the fluff to blind Savage, because they can do that apparently. Back outside the ring and Steele gets distracted by Liz allowing Macho to attack with a top rope ax handle. Back in the ring, Macho hits a scoop slam, goes up top, hits the flying elbow and that gets 2! Steele sends Macho into the turnbuckle but the ref gets in the way allowing Macho to roll him up for the rope assisted 3 count. Steele consoles himself by eating more turnbuckle afterwards. As a match, it was fucking dreadful. However, it was slightly entertaining and I didn't think Steele would kick out of the elbow. Hopefully now Savage can move back to more substantial in ring quality in terms of opponent. Match Rating: 1/2*

Into the back with Mean Gene who's with Big John Studd and Bill Fralic. They both talk about the battle royal and almost come to blows. Studd tears apart a football while yelling and all is good.

We cut back to Vince and Susan who kill some time by anticipating the next match to be 'outstanding'. So let's see what it is...

George Wells vs Jake Roberts

It's a rematch from the Maple Gardens show! Jake comes out to silence and he's got the sack with him of course. They start off straight away and Wells gets a back body drop. Jake gets a punch in and throws Wells to the outside but Wells fights back. The brawl continues in the ring before Wells hits a shoulderblock and a headbutt to send Roberts falling to the mat. Jake whipped into the corner and a nice headscissors from Wells wakes the crowd. Wells still in control and he hits a knee lift which Jake sells like he has an iron knee. Nice powerslam from Wells gets a 2 count but Jake takes control with a eye poke. He slides out the ring and Wells gives chase but Jake cheap shots him as he's coming back in the ring. One DDT later and Jake gets the win. Jake grabs the sack and finally we get to see Damien draped over someone. Wells looked amazing in this and Jake's DDT now seems deadly if it's all that's needed for a win. However, Jake put up very little offense apart from the finish and he's the lad who's going to get pushed so it's strange. Match Rating: *

Back to Vince and Susan for some more time killing who show us some footage about how Piper and Mr T started their feud and it's from the previous SNME.

Into the back with Jesse Ventura who's with Hulk Hogan. Hogan says he's going to defend his belt for the Hulksters and America...cheers Hulk!

Roddy Piper vs Mr T [Boxing Match]

Howard Finkel introduces all the celebrity judges, the most famous of course being, Herb? This has been brewing technically for over a year and it sucks that this is how they decide to finish it. It makes some sense in a way because I guess it might be all Mr T can do. I'm really not going to review it, because much like SNME, it's a fake boxing match. So we get through a couple of rounds of punches and stand off before we get to the finish. In round four, Piper is frustrated at not getting the better of Mr T so throws his stool at him. The ref tries to get involved but ends up getting pushed to the mat before Mr T gets a scoop slam and that gets the DQ win for T. It depends what your into really because some people might find this entertaining. I was really bored and the finish just wasn't worth any of it. I really hope that's the last time we see WWE attempt anything other than wrestling for a long, long time. Match Rating: DUD

Into the back with Vince and Susan who kill some more time before sending us over to Chicago.

Gorilla Monsoon and Mean Gene welcome us and run down the card before introducing Cathy Lee Crosby...who again...who?

The Fabulous Moolah (Womens Champ) vs Velvet McIntyre [Womens Title Match]

No idea why Velvet McIntyre is getting a title shot but she is a terrifying woman with terrifying hair. Moolah hasn't been seen for a while now either but the crowd give her some solid heat. Match lasts less than a minute when Velvet misses a top rope cross body and Moolah gets the win with a botched 3 count as a result. That was pissing dreadful and as a blog first... Match Rating: -*

Nikolai Volkoff vs Corporal Kirchner [Flag Match]

This isn't a flag match as you probably know it. All that happens in this version is the winner gets the privilege of waving their respective flag after the match. Big heat for Volkoff and a big pop for Kirchner when he comes out. This is another match featuring awful back and forth wrestling outside the ring before the finish comes within 2 minutes. Blassie tries throwing his cane to Volkoff but Kirchner knicks it, uses it behind the refs back (kinda) and gets the win. Kirchner waves his flag and the crowd gets to enjoy their country again. Match Rating: DUD

WWE/NFL 20 Man Battle Royal

Here's a chance for everyone to get a payday but except for loyal jobbers, they cross promoted with the NFL players. I'd love it if I cared about any American Football player...but I don't because I'm not from the USA. Only the last four participants are getting points at the end of the blog post by the way, that's my battle royal rule. Before I skip to the last few people here's who's in it...The Killer Bee's, Hart Foundation, Pedro Morales, Dan Spivey, Hillbilly Jim, The Iron Sheik, King Tonga, Tony Atlas, Big John Studd, Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant, Ted Arcidi, Jim Covert, Bill Fralic, Harvey Martin, Ernie Holmes, Russ Francis and Fridge Perry. Anyway, Fridgeand Studd get into it after Studd eliminates Bruno. Fridge looks like he's going to eliminate Studd until Studd nails him with an elbow to then send Fridge over the top. Fridge wants to shake hands from the outside and Studd goes with it but more fool him because Fridge pulls him out. That leaves Andre, the Foundation and Russ Francis. The Harts trap Andre in the ropes because it's still an Andre match. That means they can eliminate Francis together before going to work on Andre. Andre fights back with a noggin knocker before a kick sends Neidhart out (comically) before he throws Bret out onto Neidhart for the win! I'm glad for whatever it's worth that the Hart Foundation were in the last few and got at least some offense in on Andre. I'm also glad that the NFL guys were used realistically and didn't put up too much of a fight. Andre winning I guess was the most likely route although personally I think he shouldn't have been in it after not really being seen for months. Match Rating: *3/4

The British Bulldogs vs The Dream Team (Tag Team Champs) [Tag Team Title Match]

This is actually the match I've been looking forward to the most on this card. The Bulldogs have been so damn good over the past few months and the champs have been solid too. It seems like they've had the belts forever so expectations are high in this one for a long awaited title change. Both teams have their respective managers with them and the Bulldogs even have Ozzy Osbourne with them. He looks excited if not a little awkward bouncing around the ring. Mean Gene says Ozzy is from Manchester which is bullshit so no idea why he said it. Davey and Hammer start us off with Davey getting the better of it. They trade blows until Hammer starts stalling but he misses an elbow and ends up in an armbar. Hammer hits a hip toss but misses another elbow allowing Dynamite to tag in. He rams Hammer's head in the corner so Hammer plummets. Dynamite with a huge shoulderblock and follows with a nice snap suplex. Davey comes in and hits a nice vertical suplex for 2. Hammer begs for mercy and regroups on the outside while Johnny V and Lou Albano have words. Back in the ring and Davey and Hammer lock up. Hammer gets a cheap shot on Davey and Beefcake makes his first appearance and starts working over Davey's arm. Davey reverses into a nice press slam and tags in Dynamite. They botch a shoulderblock and a small package gets 1. Double team by the Bulldogs before Davey comes in and hits a nice northern lights suplex for 2. Hammer gets the sneaky tag and blind sies Davey with a knee to the neck before hitting a nice suplex of his own. He locks on a headlock but Davey escapes to tag in Dynamite. He works over Hammer in the corner before tagging Davey back in...and out again with some double teaming in the middle. Beefcake comes in randomly to help Hammer but Hammer gets caught in a sunset flip for a close 2. Dynamite with a nice backbreaker but Beefcake breaks it up at 2. Hammer fights back with some hard punches before he hits a cool, reverse tombstone piledriver for another close 2. Hammer tries to cover more times before he falls crotch first on Dynamites leg. Hammer goes up top but Dynamite catches him to send him flying to the mat. Beefcake tries to come in but Davey stops him. Davey tries to slam Dynamite on Hammer but he escapes. In the distraction, Hammer gets a few shits in but Davey comes back with a big powerslam for 2. Another suplex gets 2 for Davey before Hammer sends him shoulder first into the ringpost. Hammer starts working over the shoulder and tags in Beefcake for the double team on Davey. Beefcake hits a cool move making Davey land on his shoulder and even the commentators are baffled by it. Hammer back in and he hits a nice shoulderbreaker but he picks him up at 2. Dynamite climbs the turnbuckle in the corner while Davey counters Hammer's momentum, sending him head first into Dynamite's hard, British head and that gets the 3 count for the Bulldogs and NEW tag team champions! The crowd goes crazy while everyone but the Bulldogs celebrate with the belts! Captain Lou and Ozzy celebrate on the mic after. 'The British Bulldogs foreveeeeeh!' Davey says that because they won the titles, they're staying in America! America's gain was Wigan's loss. Dynamite took a huge fall from the top rope during the finishing sequence and he really looks out of it after the match. Seriously, that bump was scary looking and the camera didn't even catch all of it. This is one of the best moments I've come across on the blog so far and I think the best match. The action was fast, flowing and there were a lot of good power moves on show. Not only that but a lot of technical stuff with some psychology like working over Davey's shoulder. Hammer was awesome in this match and he pretty much did all the work for that team. Beefcake did very little in this which is very strange. The tag team division just gets even better. Match Rating: ***3/4

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We cut to Vince and a very hoarse voiced Susan to do what they do best...kill some time.

Off to LA for the final section of the card and our commentators are Jesse Ventura, Lord Al and a very frightening looking woman, Elvira. She looks like she died the week before.

Hercules vs Ricky Steamboat

Both men get jobber entrances which bugs me because Steamboat has been so good recently and well over. Hercules I'm pretty sure we've not seen in a while. Hercules pearl harbours him straight away but Steamboat counters with speed and hits a clothesline, two arm drags and locks on an armbar. Hercules escapes, goes for a backbreaker but Steamboat counters, hits a kick to the face and goes back to the armbar. Some decent athleticism in that by Herc by the way...I even saw a leapfrog! Herc escapes and wails away with punches but Steamboat counters again and hits a nice clothesline. He hits a suplex and this crowd seems more lively than the other two. Herc nails a hard clothesline of his own that makes the crowd gasp before he goes to work on Steamboat. Steamboat tries to fight back but gets squashed while going for a slam which gets 2 for Herc. Herc slowly works over Steamboat some more and hits a back elbow and then a few elbow drops before posing, before pinning...for 2. Steamboat fights back with some hard chops but misses a third and eats a clothesline for 2. Press slam by Herc followed by another before he goes up top. His splash attempt finds knees before Steamboat goes up top, hits a flying cross body and that gets 3! Short and sweet, if not a little slow paced in some points. I'm surprised they gave a clean defeat to Herc so soon but I'm not too bothered. Match Rating: *1/4

Adrian Adonis vs Uncle Elmer

Before anything even happens we have a faggot chant, which surely must be strange being that it's in LA. I thought it was a fairly advanced city. Uncle Elmer comes out to some ridiculous farm music but the crowd seem to love him. I don't so if the faggot loses, I riot. Elmer prances around like what one assumes would be a faggot in 1986 and hilarity ensues...presumably. Adonis struggles to get any offense in and really sells hard for all Elmer's crap offense. There's as much stalling Adonis can do without going too overboard before Elmer eventually misses a legdrop allowing Adonis to hit an elbow drop from the top rope and that gets the 3. I'm sorry they made you do that Adrian but you did the best you could. Match Rating: DUD

Into the back with Lord Al who's with Hulk Hogan. Hogan pretty much says what he did earlier in the show and that his ribs will be fine and he's going to walk out champion. Somehow, I think I believe him this time. In the background you can hear some annoying sirens meaning...

The Funk Brothers vs Junkyard Dog/Tito Santana

...Jimmy Hart and the Funk Brothers have been given the jobber entrance. JYD and Terry have been feuding for a long time at this point, bringing in Dory a few weeks ago. Tito is just part of a merry go round of partners for JYD in this feud and is effectively in purgatory with Paul Orndorff. At least it's not a rematch with the Executioner, Tito. Dory and JYD start us off with Terry getting involved and hilarity ensues. JYD nails scoop slams on both Funks sending the heels outside to regroup. Terry ends up getting send outside a few more times before Tito and Dory go at it in the ring. Tito manages to hit the flying jalapeno forearm but it only manages a close 2 count. A criss cross spot ensues which allows Terry to hit a cheap shot on Tito and the Funks to take control of the match. Jimmy Hart gets some shots in before Terry hits a suplex for 2. He tries another but Tito counters into one of his own. They both KO each other but only Terry can tag out allowing Dory to hit an underhook suplex for 2. Terry back in for a clothesline and leg drop but the only get 2. He tries again but Tito moves, hot tag to JYD and he cleans house including the noggin knocker. He gets choked by Terry while Jimmy Hart distracts the ref. JYD escapes and sends Terry out to the floor and slams him on a table. Everyone ends up back in the ring where Tito locks a figure four on Dory. Ref breaks it up due to legality and in the chaos, Terry nails a distracted JYD with the megaphone to get the cheap win. I wonder if that dodgy finish means this feud continues. Action was fun and Tito was a good partner this time around. Terry did everything he could to make this match fun and Dory still looks like a badass. Match Rating: **

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Hulk Hogan (WWE Champ) vs King Kong Bundy [WWE Title Match][Cage Match]

So we're finally here. After weeks of questioning whether Hogan's ribs were good enough, he can't back out now. More celebrities are involved with stuff and some guy who's timekeeper really doesn't get a good reaction from the crowd. He looks like some dorky kid too. Big heat for Bundy and Heenan which is good after all this build and of course, the pop for Hogan is MASSIVE. This is our first steel cage match of the blog and its the classic thick blue bars cage. They start off quickly with Hogan coming out on top, nailing a big boot. He slams Bundy into the cage, hits an elbow but can't hit a second cage attempt. Bundy starts to target the ribs and takes control. He goes for the door quickly but Hogan stops him. Bundy reacts by slamming Hogan into the cage this time before going for the door again. Its unsuccessful again but this time he chokes Hogan with his wrist tape. He tries to tie Hogan to the ropes with the tape but shockingly Hogan breaks free and stops Bundy walking out again. He slams Bundy into the cage and Bundy blades quite obviously and starts gushing blood not long after. The dreaded back rake and more slams into the cage from Hogan before he tries to slam Bundy but fails due to the weight. Bundy tries to escape again but Hogan stops him so Bundy gets a cheap shot. He hits the big avalanche on Hogan but fuck, Hogan completely no sells it and slams Bundy! Holy shit! He hits a leg drop, tries to escape over the top but Bundy stops him briefly although not for long as Hogan shoves him down before escaping to the floor to get the win and keep his title. Hogan beats on Heenan after the match to the delight of the crowd before posing to send us home. I liked this match to be honest, mainly because of the story it told. The amount of times Bundy tried to escape underlined the balance between monster and just a bloke who wants to win so much. I would've liked to have seen Bundy show off his power some more but that's me being picky. Hogan I wish sold the ribs but no, he took the avalanche and then managed the slam. It's frustrating but it was the 80's. So long Mr Bundy, it was nice seeing you at your peak. Match Rating: **

Onto the scores!

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Wrestler Scores:

• Paul Orndorff +3 (61)
• Don Muraco +3 (46)
• George Steele +2 (25)
• Randy Savage +4 (69)
• George Wells +4 (7)
• Jake Roberts +3 (12)
• Roddy Piper +2 (76)
• Mr T +2 (20)
• Fabulous Moolah +1 (5)
• Velvet McIntyre +1 (3)
• Nikolai Volkoff +2 (40)
• Corporal Kirchner +2 (34)
• Russ Francis +1 (1)
• Bret Hart +4 (47)
• Jim Neidhart +4 (42)
• Andre the Giant +4 (32)
• Davey Boy Smith +7 (52)
• Dynamite Kid +7 (56)
• Greg Valentine +8 (71)
• Brutus Beefcake +5 (44)
• Hercules +3 (13)
• Ricky Steamboat +3 (77)
• Adrian Adonis +4 (51)
• Uncle Elmer +1 (14)
• Terry Funk +5 (52)
• Dory Funk +5 (21)
• Tito Santana +4 (79)
• Junkyard Dog +4 (66)
• King Kong Bundy +4 (47)
• Hulk Hogan +6 (98)

So Greg Valentine was the surprise of the show with a solidly, great performance in the title match. Same can be said of the Bulldogs who were also amazing. Not so many other high scorers on this one as there just wasn't that much quality on the show. Hogan gets a decent haul because you just can't ignore how important to the show the steel cage match was. Let's face it, it certainly isn't for in ring quality. In what was another surpirse, George Wells picks up more points for his performance in his match than Jake did. This was because Jake did very little except hitting his finisher where as Wells showed off a decent move set. I was tempted to give nothing to the women but they did show up at least so a point each is somewhat fair I guess. None the less, this means we see some changes to the current All Star Top 10 so before we end this edition...here's the Top 10

1. Hulk Hogan            - 98 Points
2. Tito Santana           - 79 Points
3. Ricky Steamboat    - 77 Points
4. Roddy Piper           - 76 Points
5. Greg Valentine        - 71 Points
6. Randy Savage         - 69 Points
7. Junkyard Dog         - 66 Points
8. Paul Orndorff          - 61 Points
9. Dynamite Kid          - 56 Points
10. Davey Boy Smith    - 52 Points

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