First on this house show run, is 3/16/86 from Madison Square Garden.

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Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura are on commentary, thankfully. Lord Alfred Hayes doing this wouldn't have been best.

The first contest is Sivi Afi vs. Moondog Spot.

 

- Afi wearing Snuka type trunks makes this a little confusing. Too confusing for me, anyway. Crossbody off the top gives Afi the pinfall victory at 7:07. **.

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Hercules Hernandez w/Freddie Blassie is now facing George Wells.

 

- Wells is a bland personality, but he can wrestle. And that's good enough for me.

 

- Hercules has this Brody thing going on with his hair, me no like. Anyway, after a missed Wells charge to the corner, Hercules covers him for 3, at 4:15. Something about that ending just didn't feel right. 1/2*.

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The next match is a special ladies tag match featuring wrestlers from Japan, those two being Dump Matsumoto and Bull Nakano, who are taking on Linda Gonzales and Velvet McIntyre.

 

- Nakano looks much smaller than she did during her run in the WWF in 1995. Much. Can't say that her partner's small, I'm afraid.

 

- Ventura and Monsoon are much more cordial than they usually are, which is a strange thing to hear. At least for me, it is. The referee is terrible. I don't know how to explain what he's doing wrong, but you know, when teams make those false tags that the referee doesn't see? Well, he's looking right at them, every time.

 

- Dump gives Gonzales an airplane spin and a big splash, getting the pinfall victory at 10:02. *1/2. Too weird.

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Pedro Morales vs. Cowboy Bob Orton is up next...

 

- Orton is really good, you know. Pedro, not so much, IMO. There's table usage which is definitely for the best, but nobody actually goes through them. Orton lifts Pedro up for a suplex, and crotches him along the top rope instead, which somehow gets a disqualification at 9:20. Since when is that a DQ? Anyway, both men fight after the match, and Pedro gets the best. More ** stuff.

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Magnificent Muraco w/Mr. Fuji vs. King Tonga is on, now.

 

- It's kinda weird to see Muraco facing Haku. I don't really know why, it just is.

 

- Tonga wanted to give Muraco a handshake, but Muraco spit at him. Oh, gee. Jesse Ventura wonders how Adrian Adonis would "get over" where Uncle Elmer comes from. Hopefully I'm not the only one who found him saying that a bit odd. Muraco hits Tonga with Fuji's cane for the victory at 8:09, after a less than remarkable affair. *3/4.

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There's another ladies tag, this time featuring Lioness Asuka and Chigusa Nagoya, who are facing Penny Mitchell and Leilani Kai.

 

- These two ladies from Japan really don't look like ladies. They look like little boys. This match is kinda boring, although to be fair, I don't even remember why. That's just what I had on my paper. Asuka gives Mitchell a crossbody for 3 at 7:05. **.

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The next match is Hillbilly Jim vs. King Kong Bundy w/Bobby Heenan.

 

- Oh no. It was bad enough at WrestleMania III when they tagged up with a few midgets, but this? Honestly, I hardly even paid attention. AVALANCHE and BIG SPLASH give Bundy the pinfall victory at 6:14. 1/4*.

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Mr. Fuji vs. Ricky Steamboat...

 

- I have no idea what this one's about. It's always nice to watch a favorite, in this case of course, being Steamboat. When Fuji's wearing his suit, you couldn't tell that he weighed as much as he did.

 

- Fuji's selling is comical. An audible "oh shit" slips out when Steamboat applies an armbar....

 

- There's a criss-cross, Fuji stops, Steamboat crossbody, pinfall at 6:10. *.

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Making his Madison Square Garden debut, it's JAKE THE SNAKE ROBERTS, who's taking on Lanny Poffo.

 

- Another favorite. Yeah, boy. While not the best of wrestlers, Jake is another favorite too. When he was talking about titles on his DVD, and how he was so over that he didn't really need a title or something like that, I disagree. Obviously he never would've held a title because of his drug problems, but holding a title would've pushed him to the next stratosphere, that being main event contention. His lack of wrestling skill is un-important. The guy could talk, and if you could talk, well....

 

- Lanny botches a plancha attempt, and wow, he could've killed himself. He took a header for sure. DDT finishes things up, giving Jake the pinfall at 6:47. Damien comes out and molests Poffo, as Poffo looks like he's ready to bail out of the ring at a moment's notice. *1/4 for the match, which was less than spectacular.

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Gorilla Monsoon is with Randy Savage, the Intercontinental Champion. He has words for this beaner named Tito Santana. Yes, he really called Tito a beaner.

 

Obviously, Tito Santana and Randy Savage are going to have a match for the Intercontinental Title. Obviously.

 

Blow-by-blow: I love Savage. You already know that. Tito chases Savage out of the ring, and when Savage tries to make his re-entrance, Tito does the same one more time. Tito catches up to Savage, and tosses him into the guardrail, thankfully. I hate when those chase segments end up with the babyface foolishly chasing the heel in the ring, only to be beaten down. It's stupid. Tito brings Savage back in, and quickly atomic drops him, sending him over the top rope. Back in for a 10 punch, until Macho rakes the eyes. Inverted atomic drop from Savage follows, and a running elbow does too, for a 2 count. Tito gives Savage a kneebreaker, but on the FIGURE-FOUR attempt, Macho tosses Tito out. Savage goes to the top and down to the floor with BOMBS AWAY, then rams Tito into the guardrail. Savage gives Tito a clothesline for 2, and after a scoop slam, Savage goes up top. FLYING ELBOW misses though, and Tito gives Savage a kneelift. A backdrop follows, and so does a FIGURE-FOUR attempt, but Savage rakes the eyes to prevent that. Savage bails out and feigns injury, which suckers Tito in closer, only to be rammed into the guardrail. In and Tito gives Savage the FLYING JALAPENO, but no cover. That isn't his special move. The FIGURE-FOUR LEGLOCK is, and when going for that, Savage pulls the official into Tito so that he'll be DQ'd, at 9:29.

Match Analysis: I reviewed this because the clipped version was on the Savage and Liz Coliseum Video, so, yeah, that explains everything. These two had better, though. ***1/4.

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Gorilla Monsoon is with the Haiti Kid, seeing as he has a match next. He's not happy that Roddy Piper cut his hair, not at all. All because he's a friend of Mr. T.

 

Howard Finkel runs down the entire lineup for WrestleMania 2...yes, this is long. And I watched all of it.

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Haiti Kid vs. Dana Carpenter is next...I absolutely do not review midget matches. I don't watch them, either.

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The Dream Team (WWF Tag Champs) and Johnny V are taking on The British Bulldogs and Captain Lou Albano, in the last match on the card.

 

- Weird, isn't it. Half this match is good. The other...not so much. Figure out which is which. This referee has been in other matches (the one who sees the un-intended tags)...he's probably the worst I've seen.

 

- Brawl, Dynamite rolls up Beefcake (who wasn't legal) for the victory at 13:11. **1/4.

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That finishes the show. Good show, best was the IC Title Match, and the worst was Jim vs. Bundy.

Now, to HOUSTON, for the show that took place on my birthday, 12/10/1987. It's kinda weird to be watching a show that took place on the exact day that I was born.

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Sam Houston vs. Dusty Wolfe is the first matchup.

 

- What is this entrance. Houston has terrible music, and a terrible dance. Geez. After checking, the dub is better than the original. Bruce Pritchard, Mike McGuirk and Pete Doherty are on commentary. The less said about those three, the better.

 

- Houston's wearing a speedo...who the fuck knows why. Big mistake in the corner (by that I mean bungled finish), but Houston gives Wolfe a bulldog anyway for the victory at 8:38. I don't like Houston, and yes, this sucked. *.

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Our next contest is Hercules vs. the Junkyard Dog.

 

- JYD is done, physically. So this should suck too. Of course wrestling is fake, but these two take it to the point where my dad starts laughing at how bad it looks. MY DAD.

 

- This is so rotten, I'll just save words and bring us to the end. Hercules pins JYD with his feet on the ropes after a punch for the win at 8:15. Ew. DUD.

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Brady Boone and Billy Jack Haynes are taking on Demolition w/Mr. Fuji.

 

- Boone is a sub for Ken Patera. Thank goodness. Really glad to see Demolition here. This match has no problem holding my interest, obviously. Not a whole lot to say, though. Smash hotshots Boone for the victory at 10:32. **.

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Rick Rude vs. Paul Orndorff is on, now.

 

- Funny how some of the men in the crowd take pictures of Rude when Rude does his whole robe routine. Bunch of homos.

 

- This match was better than you'd figure, until Rude went to the NERVEHOLD. I'm talking ***1/2 type good. Anyway, the match slowed down too much, and Rude pinned Orndorff while using the ropes as leverage at 9:00. **1/2 for a good match.

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Next up is Brutus Beefcake vs. the ONE MAN GANG w/Slick.

 

- No, not Brutus. Please no. The commentary is so damn funny. Bad, but funny. To be completely honest, this match is just a whole bunch of punching. The fans like it, but I do not. Slick distracts Beefcake, Gang gives him a big elbowdrop, and pins Beefcake at 9:19. 1/4* for what I thought was a pile of junk. After the match, Gang tries to cut Beefcake's hair. He can't, though.

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The Hart Foundation vs. Strike Force is our WWF Tag Team Title match.

 

- Doesn't this sound like a match that would be on Coliseum Video? Does to me. You know, the Foundation lost the titles to these two, explaining this match much better than I can. Match was unformula for a while, then we revert to formula, which is great anyway.

 

- Martel tags in, and you know how you can tell when the workers hold the crowd in the palm of their hands? This is one of those times. During the BOSTON CRAB, Neidhart clocks Martel with one of the tag belts for the DQ, at 16:20. Aw, man. ***1/2. One of those matches you need to watch, although without 24/7, you'd never be able to watch it. There's a few of those.

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The ULTIMATE WARRIOR is facing Iron Mike Sharpe in a singles bout...

 

- Yeah, larfs all around for this one. Warrior's facepaint was coming off after 30 seconds. You see, those are the things I notice. And when writing one of these short things, I want to write about things like that.

 

- 5:31 is just too long a match for these two. Gorilla press gives Warrior the victory. 1/2*.

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Ron Bass takes on Ricky Steamboat...interesting.

 

- Unfortunately, the match really isn't that interesting. Or entertaining. Steamboat wins after a crossbody at 9:35. *1/2, my favorite rating.

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I don't really know why this match is here, but Greg Valentine is facing Ken Johnson.

 

- Like I said, this is weird. For some reason, Valentine looks funny. Maybe it's his tan. It's a squash, obviously. Valentine's FIGURE-FOUR gets the submission at 3:03.

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The last match on the card is a good one, that being Ted DiBiase w/Virgil and Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan for the World Wrestling Federation Championship.

 

- DiBiase is billed as being from Bel Air, California. Good decision. This is a great matchup for any show, much less a house show. Hogan really wants to fight Andre, but Andre doesn't want to get in the ring. But he DOES get involved, by tripping Hogan. Ooooo.

 

- The match gets stopped, because Andre has to leave. After the announcement, the match restarts. HULKIN' UP TIME BROTHER, but after the big boot, Virgil gets on the apron. DiBiase hits Virgil on accident, and Hogan rolls up DiBiase for the victory at 9:30 That was a somewhat unformula Hogan finish. **1/2. Hogan poses to end the show, as you'd figure.

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Show was good by my standards, especially for a regular house show. Best match was definitely the Hart Foundation vs. Strike Force, and the worst was Hercules vs. JYD.

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I'm not going to review the MSG show from 1977. For one, when I watch shows that old, my attention span is such that I can't watch all of it at once. Second, I don't think many of you care about that anyway, and for this one in particular, nothing sticks out as a WOW, I MUST WATCH THIS type thing.

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I'll post an Armaggedon review around this time next week, I bet. My dad's sisters are coming for a few days, and I have to keep up two facades. One, that I don't like wrestling. Two, that I'm not on the computer as much as I really am. I haven't seen one of my dad's sisters in shit, at least 15 years. So I've got a lot of talking to do.