WWF Championship Wrestling - January 19, 1985
by Mad Dog
Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino
Blackjack Mulligan vs. R.T. Reynolds
Lock up and Mulligan gets an arm drag. Mulligan reverses an irish whip and hits a back body drop out of the corner. Reynolds goes for a slam and gets nothing so Mulligan hits one of his own. Reynolds goes for the arm but Mulligan tosses him off. Reynolds takes a breather on the outside of the ring. Back in and Mulligan gets a drop toe hold and then works the leg. Reynolds pounds on Mulligan with forearms and a knee. He hits a head butt and now Mulligan is mad. Mulligan sends Reynolds into the ropes and hits a big boot. Mulligan tosses Reynolds out of the ring just because he can. Back in the ring and Mulligan punches Reynolds in the face a few times. Reynolds fights back and does the stupid head butt again. Mulligan sends him into the ropes and hits a flying elbow. Mulligan drops an elbow for the three count. Well, that was slow as hell. Lots of stalling and no real flow to the match. It was actually fairly long for a squash match as I think it ran about 5 minutes. Just too much stalling here, a lot of standing around. I think a headlock would've filled the time better personally.WINNER: Blackjack Mulligan
Back to Studio 54 for the same charity stuff. Lou Albano continues to apologize for all the years of being a heel. He hypes up Hulk Hogan as a great WWF Champion.
Brutus Beefcake w/ Johnny Valiant vs. Jim Powers
Johnny V looks absolutely ridiculous in whatever the hell he's wearing here. Powers gets into it with Johnny and Beefcake attacks to kick off the match. Beefcake tosses Powers out of the ring so he can pose for the crowd. Beefcake slams Powers when he gets back in the ring. Beefcake sends Powers into the ropes but falls victim to a sunset flip for two. Powers gets a slam and then abuses Beefcake. Powers goes for a second slam but Beefcake blocks him. Beefcake hits some big forearms and then hits a knee lift for the three count. This was quick and inoffensive.WINNER: Brutus Beefcake
Mean Gene is backstage to hype the Boston Garden show with Andre the Giant. Tornado tag match with Andre and the JYD against Big John Studd and Ken Patera. He says he's been training with Blackjack Mulligan to get ready for this match. He says he likes the shorter hair so he's not going to get mad, he's going to get even.
Junkyard Dog vs. Rusty Brooks
JYD comes out to "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen. I didn't realize he used that theme at all in the WWF. Glad to see he did. JYD gets a wristlock and hits a head butt. JYD punishes Brooks with a few head butts and gets a two count. He does that move where it looks like you're going to hit a piledriver but just jump and smash their head with your thighs. Brooks fights back but JYD shrugs him off. JYD sends him into the ropes and hits a big clothesline for two. JYD applies a headlock and works over Brooks. Brooks escapes the hold and sends JYD into the ropes. JYD blocks a dropkick and then hits a running tackle for the three count. I'm a little sad to see that he didn't try and hit the Big Thump on Brooks. That would've been quite the sight. Good squash here as JYD was a complete roughneck the whole time. I love it when guys wrestle a style similar to their personality. I wish Mulligan had approached his match in the same way.WINNER: Junkyard Dog
Mene Gene is backstage with the Iron Sheik. It's going to be Iron Sheik vs. Mike Rotunda at the Boston Garden. I think Sheiky is a little more drugged up this time because he doesn't make nearly as much sense as last week. You know the Sheik drill by this point. Fuck in ass, humble, etc., etc., etc.
The Spoiler w/ Johnny Valiant vs. Salvatore Bellomo
Johnny V has an entirely different outfit on for this match. The Spoiler goes to town on Bellomo in the corner. Bellomo fights back and can't get the irish whip on the Spoiler. The Spoiler jumps off the second rope and hits an elbow. The Spoiler walks the rope and hits an elbow to the head. There you go folks, there's who the Undertaker ripped off for his rope walk move. The Spoiler just beats the hell out of Bellomo. Bellomo fights back and hits a dropkick. Bellomo walks into boots and gets hit with a knee off the second rope. Bellomo gets a takedown and does a head butt to the mid section. Bellomo hits a shoulder block and goes for a roll up but the Spoiler shrugs him off in the ropes. The Spoiler hits a clothesline off the top rope and applies THE CLAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for the three count. Call the Von Erichs, this dastardly Spoiler stole their move! This was a really fun and energetic match. You felt like there was some hatred between the competitors.WINNER: The Spoiler
Piper's Pit with Tito Santana. Piper calls him a hasbeen but had him on because all the girls think he's cute. Piper says that all it took was one Figure Four Leglock. Tito says he knows the Figure Four Leglock and Piper doesn't think he can make someone give up in the hold. Tito dares him to try it out. Piper has Orton take his place. Tito applies the hold and Orton starts screaming in pain. Piper chases Tito off and asks if Orton is hurt. Orton says no while he hops around on one foot. Really good segment this week.
Big John Studd and Ken Patera vs. Jim Young and Paul Roma
Heenan is offering $15,000 to anyone that can slam Big John Studd. Roma and Young both try their luck at the slam and get nothing. Studd slams Young and tags Patera in. Roma tags in and Patera takes him down for two. Studd tags in and pounds on Roma with forearms. Studd hits a shoulder block and then a hip toss. Patera tags in and drops an elbow. Patera hits a slam and poses for the crowd. Young tags in and Patera gets double teamed in the corner. Patera gets the advantage and hits a vertical suplex on Young. Studd tags in and uses the Backbreaker to get the submission victory. This was better than the disaster of a match they had last week.WINNERS: Big John Studd and Ken Patera
We head to Hawaii with Mr. Fuji and Don Muraco. He brags about all of his beautiful women and the fact that he lives in Hawaii.
WWF Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Johnny Rodz
Rodz has a New Japan t-shirt on. The crowd absolutely explodes as Hogan makes his entrance down to the ring. Lock up and Hogan tosses Rodz into the corner. Hogan grabs a headlock and spins around for a drop toe hold. Rodz breaks up a headlock in the ropes as Brutus Beefcake and Johnny Valiant come down to ringside. Rodz pulls the hair to get out of a second headlock. Rodz gets a face rake and abuses Hogan in the ropes. Rodz tries to smash Hogan into the corner but that's a no go. Hogan smashes Rodz into the corner and takes him down with combo punches. Rodz goes for a single leg takedown but Hogan stuffs him and gets a slam. Hogan works the arm and then drops a leg on the arm. Hogan continues working the arm until Rodz slips out. Rodz hits a series of forearms on Hogan and then a face rake. Rodz hits a forearm off the second rope and then a head butt off the second rope for a two count. Hogan Hulks up and runs him over with a big clothesline and then drops an elbow. The Leg Drop finishes things off for the Champ. Really nice match here. This was wall to wall action and Hogan really gave Rodz a lot of offense in this one. I'm guessing this match was a show of respect to Rodz since he was a well known veteran of the WWF at the time.WINNER: Hulk Hogan
Mean Gene has Don Muraco backstage. Gene goes dirty old man on his here and completely outs himself as a chubby chaser here. Muraco says he has a woman that's 330 lbs. and wiggles all over the place and Gene is thrilled. Muraco says he wants Gene to come to Hawaii and party with him. They get serious and talk about the influence of Mr. Fuji. Muraco says he chose Fuji because of how diabolical he is. Muraco says that he's been living under a park bench in Central Park because that's who he is. I really like this promo as Muraco showed a ton of personality and Mean Gene was in dirty old man mode.
Next week we'll see Hillbilly Jim finally make his in-ring debut. Jimmy Snuka and Tonga Kid will be in tag team action, the U.S. Express, George Welles, Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik and the Moondogs.
Overall Thoughts: This was a really fun show this week. The main event of Hogan/Rodz was a pretty good match and there was some fun energy with the Spoiler/Bellomo and Beefcake/Powers matches. The Muraco segment and Piper's Pit were in my opinion must see. The only real downer to this episode was the Mulligan match.
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