The Name on the Marquee: WWF TV (2.4.1984)

WWF Championship Wrestling

-Originally aired February 4, 1984.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Gene Okerlund.

-Your-a-ring-announcer is Jjjjjjjjoe McHugh.

TITO SANTANA & ANDRE THE GIANT vs BUTCHER VACHON & RENE GOULET
-Not exactly the marquee match we got promised on last week’s episode. Tito starts with Rene and tries to get a quick pin with a few flying headscissors. Gene has the balls to whip out the “main event in any arena” line for this. Not gonna deny the tremendous drawing power on the face side, but if you tried to make this the main event for anything bigger than an armory, your entire locker room would revolt.

-Butcher gives Tito a knee to the back from the apron. Andre steps inside to protest and while the referee deals with him, the jobbers gang up on Tito. Tito is able to roll over and make the tag, and Andre goes to work. He leaves both jobbers laying, then press slams Tito on top of the Butcher, and Tito gets the winning pin.

“Dr. D” DAVID SCHULTZ (with Rowdy Roddy Piper) vs. SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES
-Schultz tricks SD into chasing him around the ring and then pounces when SD rolls back inside. Big chant goes up for the Special one while Schultz lays in on him. Schultz foolishly targets the head, having not done the proper research to determine SD’s particular level of blackness. SD gets a little offense in, but runs facefirst into a boot. Schultz slams him into position and finishes him off with a second-rope elbow.

BRIAN BLAIR & EDDIE GILBERT vs BILL DIXON & KEN JUGAN
-Jobbers get Blair got in their corner, with Gene calling it like this is the final minute of the main event. Gilbert tags in and grounds Jugan. Blair tags in and offers a series of suplexes for two. Gilbert offers a shot to the gut and Blair finishes Jugan off with his abdominal stretch/roll-up combo.

TIGER JACKSON vs PONCHO BOY
-Fan eagerly holds up a printed sign reading “Midget Mania”! It’s 1984, you’re the first person on your block to own a home computer with a dot matrix printer, you’re going to the wrestling show, and you decide to print THAT?

-Howard Finkel jumps in to announce that Tito Santana is the new Intercontinental Champion. Vince reads some viewer mail about Rowdy Roddy Piper’s emerging stable of guys, and then Tiger Jackson gets the three-count. Whew, great match!

PIPER’S PIT
-And who is the first guest ever in Piper’s Pit? Mister Wonderful. There ya have it.

IRON SHIEK (with Ayatollah Blassie) vs STEVE LOMBARDI
-”Iron Geek” and “I Smell Camel Breath.” Okay, there, that was worth of effort of buying and installing a printer.

-They trade hammerlocks to start. Shiek drives a boot into Lombardi as a “Hogan” chant erupts, and Shiek is so pissed that he just finishes immediately with the camel clutch. Shiek proclaims his homeland’s #1-ness on the mic to piss off the fans.

-Back from commercial, Shiek is still wandering around ringside and wasting time when Sgt. Slaughter shows up for his match. Shiek, feeling extra dickishness, tells Slaughter to get out of the way because he’s the ex-champ. It’s Slaughter’s match so Slaughter thinks Shiek should get out of the way. They get right in each other’s faces and jaw for a while, and Slaughter finally heads to the ring.

SGT. SLAUGHTER vs JOHN CALLAHAN
-And in the blink of an eye, Slaughter is a face, for no reason other than that he refused to take an extra step to the right on his way into the ring. Really wrap your head around that, its’ amazing how simple this angle is.

-Slaughter’s pissed off, which is bad news because he’s always a little bit pissed off. He lays a beating on Callahan and finishes him with the cobra clutch to end it just like that.

ROCKY JOHNSON & TONY ATLAS (Tag Team Champions) vs. ISRAEL MATIA & BOB BRADLEY
-Atlas beels Bradley across the ring and Johnson comes in the ring and bounces off the ropes for a little while, looking like he’s about to do something really big and impressive, and then just stomps on Bradley. Vince actually seems to be kind of amused by that.

-Matia tags in and Atlas goes to work on his arm. Vince explains the switched up card from earlier in the hour, saying that Mister Fuji wouldn’t wrestle a tag team match with anybody but Tiger Chung Lee, and they’ll be in action next week.

-Johnson whips Bradley into the ropes and Atlas catches him and finishes him off with a press slam. See ya next week fans!

WWF ALL-STAR WRESTLING

-Originally aired February 4, 1984.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Gene Okerlund.

“Mister Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES
-Orndorff complains about hair-pulling during the lock-up and SD is all “Bitch please!” SD gets the Wonderful one trapped in headscissors and Orndorff keeps complaining. Orndorff gets a near-fall and Piper complains about the pacing of the count. SD rams Orndorff into the turnbuckle and this time he really does pull the hair, which sends Orndorff to the floor for a retreat. Back inside, headbutt by SD grounds Orndorff, but he gets greedy and tries a falling headbutt. Orndorff dodges it and goes right in for the kill, getting the win with the piledriver.

IVAN PUTSKI vs TONY COLON
-Vince can’t even bring himself to say the jobber’s name and freezes when it appears on screen. Putski gets his hands on Colon and throws him around the ring. Headlock kills some time, and Putski gets the win after driving a hammer into the Colon.

WILD SAMOANS (with Captain Lou Albano) vs. EDDIE GILBERT, KEN JUGAN, & FRANK WILLIAMS
-It’s all three Samoans this week, and they appear to be having an argument before stepping into the ring. Gilbert tries shoulderblocks on Afa and gets nowhere; a dropkick takes him off his feet. They trap Gilbert in the corner and try to take advantage, but Gilbert fights off all three of them, which completely pisses off Albano. He hurls insults at his own team, and then storms off from ringside.

-Samula tags in and Gilbert works the arm quite effectively as Albano cools off and returns. Williams tags in and gets headbutted into goo. Samoan drop by Afa gets the three-count.

SALVATORE BELLOMO vs ISRAEL MATIA
-Bellomo gets an early advantage with a pair of dropkicks and Matia goes to the floor to stall. Back in, Matia targets the head and then stomps Bellomo down. Bellomo counters a corner charge with a roll-up and it works, giving Bellomo the win.

TONY GAREA vs MASKED SUPERSTAR
-Garea goes “airborne” with dropkicks that connect with Superstar at about mid-thigh. Vince reads some viewer mail about the whereabouts of Buddy Rogers. They spent an entire year building a manager vs. manager feud between Buddy and Captain Lou and then when it came time to pay it off, Rogers had to bow out due to a hip injury and Vince & Gene allude to a “mysterious injury” taking place in the locker room at MSG.

-Superstar rams Garea into the barricade. Garea gets back to his feet and Superstar gives him a boot to the head to keep him down every time he shows any sign of recovering. Back in, Garea mounts a comeback to a big pop and gets two. Crossbody by Garea, but Superstar rolls through and turns it into a pin, getting the three count.

-Garea protests the decision—it actually WAS a little fast—and Superstar lays a beating on Garea until Andre the Giant shows up, scaring the Superstar away…until Andre turns his back. Superstar attacks, Andre gets pissed and chases Superstar to the locker room.

PIPER’S PIT
-Piper’s guest is Eddie Gilbert. Piper mentions the bad luck that Gilbert has had in the past year and mentions that Eddie’s father manages his career. Piper blames Eddie’s dad for what a shitty career he’s had so far. Eddie tries to defend is family honor and Piper keeps cutting him off, then blames him for creating a hostile interview environment. Roddy Piper, Fox News.

-We see everything that went down between Shiek and Slaughter on Championship Wrestling.

BRIAN BLAIR vs BILL DIXON
-This is only my second week of reviewing WWF TV from this era and I feel like I’ve seen Bill Dixon wrestle 46 times. Blair does some pretty nondescript offense, save for a back suplex where it looks like the struggle to lift Dixon is giving him a hernia. Abdominal stretch roll-up gets the duke again.

And as always…for now…here’s the book plug!

The 411: Pretty eventful week, with three angles and Roddy Piper coming into his own. Thumbs up.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]