WWF Championship Wrestling - January 12, 1985
by Mad Dog
Back again with another episode of WWF Championship Wrestling. The results from the January 5th Boston Garden show are in and Andre the Giant and JYD lost by DQ to Big John Studd and Ken Patera... bummer. Blackjack Mulligan beat David Schultz, Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch retained the tag titles against the Briscos, Tito Sanatana beat Greg Valentine but did not win the title and Don Muraco beat S.D. Jones. So with that added bonus information, let's get down to some business!
Hosts are Vince McMahon and Brunno Sammartino
Tonga Kid vs. Mike Powers
Powers attacks before the bell but Kid gets the advantage. Double stomp on the mat and then a back body drop. Kid applies a headlock and works the hold. Powers escapes the hold and Kid catches him with a shoulder block. Kid hits a slam and hits a fist drop off the ropes for a two count. Kid goes back to the headlock and Powers backs him into the corner. Powers abuses Kid in the corner until he gets fired up. Kid takes Powers down with a chop and a snap mare. Back to the headlock. Okay, seriously, you don't do your Hulk Up moment and then go back to a headlock. Powers gets into the ropes and Kid gets the headlock again. Kid hits a backbreaker and hits a flying headbutt off the top rope for the three. That was a really long match and it was a lot of headlock. The Tonga Kid looked pretty green here. He really didn't seem to know how to transition the match very much. The brief moment that Powers gained control was when the match actually flowed well. Oh well, it's just a squash match so who really cares?WINNER: Tonga Kid
We go to Studio 52 with Hulk Hogan, Captain Lou Albano and Cyndi Lauper for I'm guessing a charity even of some sort. It's hard to tell because the mic setup is bad.
WWF Intercontinental Champion Greg Valetine vs. Joe Mirto
The crowd chants Tito as Valentine taks off his ring gear. Valentine goes right for the arm with an arm wringer. Mirto briefly returns the favor until Valentine gets a drop toe hold. Mirto gets a takedown and works the arm. Valentine gets Mirto in the ropes and hits a knee and then pummels him with forearms. Valentine sends Mirto into the ropes and hits an elbow. Valentine hits an elbow to the lower ab region and then drops a knee to the face. Valentine pummels Mirto further and then hits a vertical suplex. Valentine hits an elbow off the ropes and then applies the Figure Four Leglock for the victory. That my friends is how you destroy a jobber and look awesome doing it.WINNER: Greg Valentine
Mean Gene is back to say that the WWF is coming back to the Boston Garden in February. Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda come out. Rotunda will be facing the Iron Sheik on that show. He stumbles over an interview. Barry Windham will be facing Nikolai Volkoff on the same show. He says that they didn't want any part of the Express in tag team action so they decided to take them on in singles matches.
Hulk Hogan and Hillbilly Jim are still training. Hillbilly Jim works his way through the exercises a little better this week. Hogan still has to take his hat off over and over again though. I have to say, these segments are brilliant. The fact that Hillbilly Jim still can't do the exercises quite right but he's getting better. The hat stuff is a good running gag for these. This is the perfect way to introduce Hillbilly Jim as a wrestler. I think there was an Al Snow sighting in this segment.
Mean Gene has Andre the Giant for an interview. It will be Andre the Giant and Junkyard Dog and Big John Studd and Ken Patera in a Texas Tornado tag. Andre says they got disqualified last week. He just wants to get at both men.
U.S. Express vs. R.T. Reynolds and Mister X
Windham and Reynolds start us off. Windham gets the better of an arm drag exchange. Reynolds gets a headlock and Windham escapes with forearms. They run the ropes and Windham catches him with a monkey flip. Mister X tags in and Windham gets a headlock. Rotunda tags in and gets a slam and an elbow drop for two. Windham tags back in and hits a flying forearm. Reynolds tries to make the save but accidentally hits his own man. Rotunda uses an airplane spin and gets the three count. Quick and energetic match here.WINNERS: U.S. Express
Piper's Pit time as the WWF Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch join him. Piper mocks the Briscos as a couple of drunks. Murdoch says they were suffering from high fevers when the Briscos beat them. Adrian Adonis says he had Tawain fever. Adrian Adonis says there are a lot of teams waiting for a shot at the belts and then names off a bunch of jobbers. Piper says that these are real champions, not the Briscos.
Tito Santana vs. Paul Kelly
They do a series of reverses to start the match off. Santana uses a headlock to take Kelly down. They run the ropes and Santana gets a hip toss and then a slam. Tito gets an arm drag and works the arm over. Tito uses a fireman's carry and goes to a headlock. They run the ropes and Santana gets a monkey flip and a headlock. Kelly gains the advantage and briefly pummels Santana. Santana fires back and hits a back body drop. Santana drops an elbow on the leg and then applies the Figure Four Leglock to pick up the win. And this is your new wrinkle to the Valentine/Santana feud. Valentine beats Santana with the Figure Four so Santana learns to use the same hold. Really high energy match here.WINNER: Tito Santana
We go to Hawaii with Don Muraco and Mr. Fuji. Muraco says the spirits know that he's coming back to the WWF.
Big John Studd and Ken Patera w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Aldo Marino and Jim Powers
Patera and Powers start us off. Powers gets an arm drag and Patera consults with Studd. Patera abuses Powers and tosses him across the ring. Patera drops a big elbow for a two count. Studd tags in and beats on Powers. Studd hits a big shoulder block and then attacks Marino on the apron. Studd rams Powers into the corner and then tags Patera in. Patera goes to town on Powers with forearms and elbows before hitting a vertical suplex. Marino comes in to take his beating next. Marino briefly fights back but Patera gets him in the corner. Studd comes in and hits him with an elbow. Studd hits a hip toss and then a slam/elbow combo for two. Patera tags in and they hit a double elbow. Patera tosses Marino across the ring and tags Studd in. Studd hits a stun gun on Marino and tags Patera in. Patera applies the full nelson to pick up the victory for Heenan's men. This is what you would expect from this kind of match. Not very good but it made Studd/Patera look like monsters.Mean Gene is back to hype up the next Boston Garden show. WWF Women's Champion Wendi Ritcher joins him. She's defending the belt against Judy Martin at the next show. She says that if she could beat Moolah, she can beat Judy Martin.
The Iron Sheik chases Wendi Ritcher off. He runs down Rotunda's wrestling training. He has Gene run down his credentials. The Sheik calls Rotunda a punk. This is a children's show or I'm sure the Sheik would threaten to f*ck him in the ass to humble him.
Vince McMahon says they still can't show the Madison Square Garden footage. Next week we'll have Hulk Hogan in action. Also Brutus Beefcake, Blackjack Mulligan and the JYD will be in action.
Overall Thoughts: Another good episode of Championship Wrestling this week. The Hogan/Hillbilly segments have been really fun so far. It really makes you want to see Jim debut in the ring. One of the amazing things about these shows are the Piper's Pit segments. People have really fond memories of it and it's maybe 2 minutes at the absolute max. I kind of wish the current WWE people would go back to these shows and look at things that worked. Things are much more memorable in these short punchy segments instead of the 20 minute promos that open the show every week. That's just my opinion though.
Matches were really fun this week. Greg Valentine, Tito Satana and the U.S. Express really had fun short matches. It made the middle portions of the show fly by.
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