WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Pedro Morales (c) vs. Greg Valentine
A solid feud stater. Morales is DQ’d to give Valentine some heat after his cage match loss to Backlund a few days prior. Valentine stalls for strategic time - leading Vince McMahon on commentary to state that he was stalling for strategy rather than being a coward - before working Morales over with his systematic style. Morales is a kick punch wrestler and does a solid job at making them count. Plus the crowd is hot for this, with Morales being a New York legend at this point and Valentine being at this peak. There was a lot to like about this but there is way more on the table to be seen. ***
WWF Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Backlund (c) vs. Adrian Adonis
Awesome match with a somewhat surprising finish. From what I can tell, Adonis was awarded the match via ref stoppage but obviously Backlund didn't lose the title, so perhaps this is a Dusty Finish. It happened under Greg Valentine so it’s not a total blindsiding decision. This went through plenty of motions. Adonis, similar to Valentine in the Intercontinental Title match, stalls to start off, working the crowd against him and pissing Backlund off in the process. The body of the match was Backlund messing with Adonis, relentlessly schooling him on the ground and making a game of not letting go of Adonis’ wrist for such a long time which progressed into Adonis bashing Backlund’s nose in (something Barry Windham claimed wouldn’t be out of the ordinary when Adonis wrestled you) and then his forehead. Backlund bled a gusher and that turned the match into a nasty fight. This had the best of everything Backlund has to offer. Great technical wrestling and highly underrated brawling skill, although that was Adonis’ baby in this instance. The peak of Adonis as a wrestler? He looked great in his stooging and selling and then again when he beat Backlund from pillar to post, literally. Welcome to the territory. ****1/4
WWF Tag Team Title Match (Special Referee: Pat Patterson): Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito (c) vs. Rick Martel & Tony Garea
This was alright but I’m a victim of expecting too much from this because of the names. Not Mr Fuji, obviously. But Garea gets a solid rep for the era and Saito and Martel were great. This was a basic tag match with the heel team trying to cheat to gain the advantage but get stopped by Pat Patterson having one of it, leading to them getting outwitted by the face team. The match ends after Patterson takes a fall after Fuji throws salt in his eyes in order to save Saito who was about to pass out via a sleeper. **1/4
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