home | wrestling | flashback_reviews | wwe | misc

WWF Championship Wrestling- May 3, 1986

by Scrooge McSuck

- Hosted by Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino, taped on April 21st from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. We've got a ton of tag team matches this week, including The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine, and British Bulldogs in Action. Jake The Snake and Ricky The Dragon will be in singles competition, and in the feature match, Tito Santana and Paul Orndorff meet Randy Savage and Bob Orton (Magnificent who?).

Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (w/ Johnny Valiant) vs. Don Driggers & Tony Garea:

I wonder if fans in 1986 complained about there being too many tag team matches on one show. ALWAYS a pleasure to see Garea in action. Valentine and Garea start. Lockup into the ropes and Valentine isn't afraid to take the shot at him. Whip across the ring is reversed and Garea takes him over with a hip toss. Whip to the ropes and Valentine with an elbow, followed by a slam. Beefcake comes in and takes Garea over with a snap mare for two. Whip and Beefcake with an elbow. Valentine stretches out the hamstrings and works him over in the corner. Garea surprises Beefcake with an inside cradle for two and tags out to Driggers. Beefcake cuts him off and takes him down with a suplex. Valentine comes off the top with a big forearm but pulls Driggers off the canvas at two. Valentine throws him with a double under-hook. Beefcake with a whip and powerslam. Valentine comes off the ropes with the elbow and finally finishes with the Figure-Four Leg Lock at 4:25. A little long for a squash match. I can't even blame Garea, since his offense consisted of all of two moves.

- UPDATE with Lord Alfred Hayes. WrestleMania 2 is still in the minds of everyone with the mix of glamorous Hollywood beauties, professional football greats, and talented showbusiness personalities with the elite of the World Wrestling Federation. Here's footage of the match featuring the Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana against Terry and Hoss Funk, where Jimmy Hart's megaphone was the difference maker. "Terrible Terry" suffered a CRIPPLING KNEE INJURY during the match, and we see a bump over the top rope that they give credit to for the injury. Whether it's Terry or his "other brother" Jimmy Jack that gets revenge on the Dog remains to be seen.

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. Al Navarro:

No mention on commentary (though mentioned elsewhere on WWF television) about Steamboat facing Jake Roberts on Saturday Night's Main Event. Lockup into the corner and Navarro throws a series of rights. Steamboat fires back with chops and gives Navarro a taste of the turnbuckle. Steamboat with the deep arm drag and he grabs a side headlock. Navarro forces a break in the corner, but Steamboat is too quick for him to handle. Steamboat with a rolling snap mare and back to the headlock. Navarro escapes with a slam and stomps down on the chest. Steamboat fights back from his knees and gives Navarro a slam. Steamboat to the top and he finishes with the flying body press at 3:08. Not the most exciting squash match in the world.

- "Mean" Gene Okerlund is standing by with the team of the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, claiming they never lost the Tag Team Titles, and are after the Bulldogs to regain what belongs to them. Once again, no mention of "Saturday Night's Main Event", but these two teams will clash with the gold on the line.

The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Fred Blassie) vs. Scott McGhee & John Centeno:

Only the WWF would book the top foreign heel tag team against guys from Scotland and Puerto Rico with the crowd rabid to chant "U-S-A" (I'm aware of the USA/Puerto Rico relations. My opinion still stands. Asking casual wrestling fans to understand geography is a joke itself). One kid at ringside has gone to the trouble of taping mini American flags to his LJN figures of Volkoff and Sheik. Sheik starts, giving Centeno a stomach buster. Whip to the ropes and Sheik takes his head off with a clothesline. Fred Blassie wanders to the commentary booth and issues a challenge to the Bulldogs. Oh, and next week, he's challenging Corporal Kirchner! McGhee tags in and hits Sheik with a dropkick. Sheik quickly cuts him off with a boot to the chest. McGhee tags back out, and it's back to Centeno getting pummeled. Volkoff with the press slam into a back breaker. Sheik with a back suplex and the Camel Clutch finishes at 2:15. McGhee barely did anything in there.

- Gene Okerlund is standing by with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. He's got Muraco and Fuji behind and looking to the future he's got his eyes on the Intercontinental Title. For now, there's a Snake in the WWF that has his eyes on the Dragon. Steamboat gives us the details on Jake Roberts' shtick, knocking people out with the DDT and laying his snake "Damian" on them as some kind of sick ritual.

The British Bulldogs vs. Paul Christy & Cyclone Capone:

Unfortunately, we haven't reached the episode of TNT where Paul Christy made a lasting impression on the WWF audience. As for Capone, I'm sure I've mentioned this elsewhere, but he's a piece of crap, barely trained "wrestler" that tried to go into business for himself against Lanny Poffo at the Boston Garden and was never seen again (and I mean anywhere). The graphic reads "Cycle Capone", but Fink clearly says "Cyclone." I'd LOVE to see him try and shoot on Dynamite. No Albano at ringside. Davey Boy starts, grabbing a side headlock on Christy and coming off the ropes with a body press for two. Christy ties him up and pounds away. Capone comes in and grabs a headlock. Whip and Davey Boy with a back body-drop. Dynamite with a snap suplex and elbow drop, followed by a gut-wrench suplex. Davey Boy back in to hit the running powerslam. He's not done, taking Capone over with the delayed vertical suplex. Dynamite in with a snap back suplex and knee across the face. Dynamite with a double under-hook suplex. Davey Boy with a snap mare into a chin-lock. They finally finish the bastard off with a powerslam from the second rope at 3:13. Watching the Bulldogs destroy a jobber is fun when the bastard deserves it.

- Jimmy Hart is standing by from the set of the newest interview stage, The Flower Shop, hosted by "Adorable" Adrian Adonis. He says he's going to knock the Cosby Show off the top of the list. Today's guest is Hillbilly Jim. He doesn't know if he's from Arkansas or Tennessee, but he's from somewhere. He wants to know if the birth certificate actually says, "Hillbilly Jim". He says his name is Jim, and his friends call him Hillbilly Jim. Adonis has a souvenir from the last hillbilly, asking where Uncle Elmer is. Jim says Elmer's hurt right now, but Adonis better watch himself. Not the greatest debut for an interview segment.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Serge Jodoin:

I don't think I've ever seen this guy before. I think with a name like that, I would remember it. Roberts is still undefeated in his short time with the WWF. Lockup and Roberts grabs a side headlock. Whip to the ropes and Roberts with a shoulder tackle. Jodoin messes up an arm drag, so Roberts rolls through and attacks, trapping Jodoin in the ropes. Roberts scoops him up and carries him around the ring before executing a slam. Jake with a knee into the back of the neck, pulling back on his head to really make him feel good. Roberts connects with a knee lift and taunts Jodoin with the ominous bag. Bobby Heenan joins the commentary team to discuss the no-show of Andre the Giant on last week's program and demands an investigation on Andre's whereabouts. Whip and Roberts with a back body-drop. He connects with the short-arm clothesline and finishes with the DDT at 2:58. Post-match, Roberts lays Damian across Jodoin to add insult to injury. That is a HUGE snake.

Tito Santana & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/ Elizabeth) & "Cowboy" Bob Orton:

This was originally promoted as Savage and Muraco teaming up, but no mention of Muraco is made throughout the episode. I guess we'll never get closure between Orndorff and Muraco. Orndorff and Orton start. Lockup, Orton grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Orndorff catches him off the ropes a second time with a slam, and in comes Santana and Savage, with Savage bailing out immediately. Savage rescinds the tag and sends Orton back in to have his arm worked over. WATCH THE ARM, THAT THING IS FRAGILE. Orton takes Orndorff over with a hip toss and hooks a head-scissors. Orndorff rolls over into cover but Orton bridges out and takes Orndorff over with a back-slide for two. Santana takes a shot at Savage napping but pays the price with Orton raking the eyes. Orton connects with a press slam into a back breaker that looks 50-times better than Volkoff's. Savage tags in now and hits the hooking clothesline for two. Orton back in with a knee drop for two. Santana puts on the breaks, sending Orton into the corner. Orndorff with the tag, coming off the top with an elbow and unloading with rights. He nails Orton with a dropkick, followed by an atomic drop. Savage rushes in and gets caught with a right hand. Santana with a scoop slam, but Savage nails him as he hits the ropes. Savage sends him to the ropes, but Santana hits the flying forearm for three at 4:12. Wow, the Intercontinental Champion lost clean on syndicated television! Post-match, Savage and Orton attack as "No Easy Way Out" plays us out. Good for a 4-minute match.

- Gene Okerlund is back, wearing a hat from Australia. Bobby Heenan comes in, calling him an out-of-work boomerang salesman, and is quickly joined by Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. Studd calls Gene an ugly American, going overseas and making a donkey out of himself. Studd says everyone is avoiding him and offers $15,000 AND his gold necklace for anyone that can slam him.

NEXT WEEK: Highlights of Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts. The Junkyard Dog and George "The Animal" Steele will be in action. We'll have another edition of the Flower Shop. Finally, Corporal Kirchner confirms that he accepts the challenge of the Iron Sheik. We'll also see Randy Savage, the Funk Brothers, and MORE.

Final Thoughts: The mystery of Andre the Giant's whereabouts continues. Jake Roberts and Ricky Steamboat are destined to meet in the ring (and would be scheduled to meet at Saturday Night's Main Event). Tito Santana scored a surprising victory over Randy Savage. We'll also see a feature match between Corporal Kirchner and The Iron Sheik. Odd that the Boston Garden was promoted in voiceovers during matches, but none of the promo segments focused on a particular night, just generic promos from all parties.

back to Index