Rene Goulet vs. Tony Garea
The battle of Vince Jr's future confidants. Both Rene Goulet and Tony Garea are ainstays of the New York territory, both former WWWF Tag Team champion with Karl Gotch and Rick Martel respectively. Goulet tries to get a cheap shot early which aggravates Garea intensely. Goulet bails to the apron and tries to put on a glove. The ref checks the glove and then permits Goulet to start the match with it on. Garea locks on a side headlock and then outmanoeuvred Goulet and knocks him down with a dropkick. Goulet grabs an over the top wrist lock which Garea fought against for a brief while before Goulet got him to the floor. Garea worked back up to his feet after a small "Tony" chant and Goulet changed gears with the punch and a chin lock. Garea works for the comeback once more but is met with Goulet kneeing him in the gut. Goulet delivers some lovely low punches to the stomach and then a bear hug. Goulet starts to bite and get more liberal but pays for it when Garea catches him. Garea does some babyface offence like a cross body and an atomic drop to get the crowd going before pinning Goulet with a sunset flip. This was a very professional curtain jerker that allowed people to settle in. **1/4
SD Jones vs. Tiger Chung Lee
Tiger Chung Lee finally wins a match! Lee pushes Jones into the ropes and then takes Jones down to the canvas with a drop toehold. Jones escapes with the headlock but Lee pushes Jones into the rope to force the break which he didn't adhere to given that he chopped Jones in the throat. SD Jones gives him a receipt with a punch and a headbutt but the momentum is quickly cut off for more Tiger Chung Lee offence. Jones pushes Lee into the ropes, leapfrogs him but gets caught with another chop. The match goes back and forth until Lee catches SD Jones with a kick to the chest and then an Enziguri for the win. Basic but boring. **
Ivan Putski vs. Sgt. Slaughter
The match has some light comedy to begin with. Slaughter tries to show off his guns before Putski shows his muscles, putting him to shame. Putski shows his strength via a headlock that he refuses to break even when Slaughter tries to shoot him into the ropes. The grip is finally released but Putski instead knocks Slaughter loopy with a big shoulder block. Putski continues to dominate and Slaughter bumps like crazy for a bump off the turnbuckle. Slaughter is able to execute an atomic drop but his leg is hurting him, preventing an immediate follow up. Putski punches Slaughter and launches him onto the turnbuckle. Putski is too vulnerable to damage as the simplest moves hurt him a lot, like a clothesline. Slaughter and Putski throw hands but the referee gets decked and the DQ is called in Sgt Slaughters favour. An enjoyable match. Short but you get the best of Putski and flashes of what makes Slaughter great. **1/2
Tito Santana vs. Iron Mike Sharpe
It's tentative to start off with. Both are careful of engaging and then Sharpe objects to every little thing when he gets bested. Tito sends Sharpe into the corner and then explodes with a monkey flip, flying head scissors and then a dropkick. Tito then works Sharpe's arm, getting a lot of mileage out of the arm bar, letting Sharpe escape before reeling him back in with an arm drag. Sharpe works more brutish than Tito Santana with more clubbing blows and less refined holds. The crowd starts to rise in noise as Tito sells and bumps around for a Sharpe and then more when Tito starts to get more offence in. Sharpe stalls some more to get to the draw which saves him in the end when Tito is one second away from winning before the time bell rings. Tito Santana and Mike Shapre brawl after the decision is made and Tito is left standing tall. Good match but the draw was slightly obvious and thus prolonged. ***
WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Backlund (w/Arnold Skaaland) (c) vs. The Masked Superstar
Apparently the build of this match was Masked Superstar attacking Eddie Gilbert, who had been a bit of a protege for the champion with Superstar attacking the neck. Backlund established his dominance, outwitting The Masked Superstar with a quick headlock takeover. Backlund then traps Superstar in a headscissor on the canvas. Superstar struggles to gain much ground on Backlund which clearly frustrates him (it shows even with the mask). Even when the movement gets quicker, Backlund shifts his feet and takes Superstar down once more. The match progresses further when Backlund attacks the arm and Superstar bumps and reacts in a great way. He doesn't do much offensively but he makes Backlund's chain wrestling very exciting to watch while doing his job in making the champions look strong. Superstar does get some offence in, punching Backlund to the floor. Superstar worked Backlund over for a while but Backlund had some great moments where he threw punches and tried to brawl with Masked Superstar. The Masked Superstar made a mistake though, trying the flying headbutt one to many. Backlund took advantage and tried the Crossface Chicken wing but was unable to. Superstar hit a swinging neck breaker and then did it on the floor, trying to injure the neck rather than win the title. Backlund is counted out but he doesn't sell the move well enough, getting up admittedly gingerly, but he was still able to send The Masked Superstar to the back. This was a good title match. Backlund looked uber strong, even in defeat. Backlund suggested in his promo after the match that he thought Masked Superstar "had him" and said Masked Superstar is a different animal than he's ever faced before because of his lack of respect for championships. ***1/4
Mike Graham vs. Bob Bradley
The son of Eddie Graham makes his way back to New York. The match is in the death spot, after the title match but before the main attraction of the show and while its wrestled professionally - Mike Graham was super quick and skilled in his movements - it's a short squash. Bob Bradley is so slow and sluggish, in a shoot way. Bradley will do a move and slowly walk to Graham. Graham takes quick care with him after a German Suplex to win. I would like to see more Mike Graham. *1/2
WWF Intercontinental Title Steel Cage Match: The Magnificent Muraco (c) vs. Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco cut two great promos with Vince McMahon, talking about their purpose for the cage match. Snuka was full of Vengeance while Muraco was as cool as ever, smiling and enjoying the experience mostly. Muraco comes out, taunting the fans and smashing into the cage, checking its walls. The atmosphere and the way they soaked everything in was great. The camera showed the different signs in the crowd, some were anti-Muraco and some were pro-Muraco. Snuka also got a tremendous reaction when he came through the curtain. The match starts with a lock up and Muraco tried to escape immediately after Snuka pushed him to the floor. Snuka nailed Muraco with punches to the head, then slamming his face into the turnbuckle. Muraco takes his shot with a knee to the gut and then a slingshot into the cage wall. Snuka starts to bleed heavily. They work their way up to the turnbuckle trying to end Snuka's career by pushing him off the cage and to the floor. Snuka is able to escape but Muraco stays in control. Snuka does start to make his comeback by slamming Muraco into the cage and bust him open. A diving headbutt from Snuka connects and more headbutts come but Muraco is knocked back into the cage door and he falls out, retaining the title! Then comes the iconic moment of the match. Snuka brings Muraco into the ring once more, hits a suplex and then a Superfly Splash. The match is surprisingly short (7 minutes long) but they were able to pack a lot into the match. Easy MOTN. ***1/2
Rocky Johnson vs. Samula
Despite the Samoans being tag team champions, this is Bailey squash in the favour of Rocky Johnson who is able to move out of the way of the running splash and then hits a sunset flip. I assume that time was the main issue. SQUASH.
Butcher Vachon & Israel Matia vs. The Invaders (Invader #1 & Invader #2)
The Invaders seem to be getting a bit of a push given how much the commentary duo (Pat Patterson and Gorilla Monsoon) put them over. The Invaders seem to be very modern compared to their opponents. They are very fast, coming and going with quick tags and plenty of double team work. Butcher Vachon is a very large man but he gets overwhelmed by the two and tags in Israel Matia, who is reluctant himself. Matia doesn’t fare much better but Vachon is able to manipulate the referee into a position where he doesn’t see the tag and they are able to cheat themselves. Matia makes a mistake and allows #1 to tag #2 and Invaders make a comeback. Vachon and Matia try to cheat but it backfires on them and Invaders win after one hip tosses the other onto Matia. **
Andre The Giant vs. Sika
I’m sure that the interview with Vince McMahon lasted longer than this match. Sika doesn’t last much longer than Samula did. Andre beats the heck out of Sika with hard blows to the check, a big boot and then his version of the earthquake splash. SQUASH
Comments
Post a Comment