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The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (2.23.1985)

March 7, 2014 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
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The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (2.23.1985)  

-Originally aired February 23, 1985.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

MIKE ROTUNDO & BARRY WINDHAM (Tag Team Champions, with Captain Lou Albano) vs. THE UNPREDICTABLE JOHNNY RODZ & STEVE LOMBARDI
-Captain Lou has actually whittled his facial hair all the way down to a John Waters pencil moustache and it’s actually a little jarring.

-Rodz actually outdoes Windham with mat wrestling to start while Howard Finkel jumps in with a weird house show plug: “Action coming to Worchester, with an appearance by the reigning World Wrestling Federation title holder, Barry Windham along with Mike Rotundo.”

-Windham and Rotundo work the arm of Johnny Rodz. Rodz manages to fight off Rotundo and tags in Steve Lombardi (or as Vince calls him, Mike Rotundo). Lombardi immediately runs right into position for an airplane spin, and Rotundo finishes him off immediately for three. Rodz attempts an attack after the bell and gets his ass kicked out of the ring.

UPDATE
-Lord Alfred Hayes announces that Wendi Richter lost her Ladies’ Title in a recent match against challenger Lelani Kai. Hayes says that Kai shocked the world when she revealed that her new manager is the Fabulous Moolah. Hayes states that Richter has declared her intention of invoking her 60-day rematch clause.

GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE (Intercontinental Champion, with Jimmy Hart) vs. JOE MIRTO
-Jimmy’s WWF debut, and Vince says that he has quite a reputation for being a savvy manager in the world of professional wrestling.

-Mirto gets a slam on Valentine early on and Valentine goes to the floor while the commentators speculate that Moolah probably interfered somehow in that recent title match.

-Valentine finally goes to work, laying a beating on Mirto on the apron, suplexing him into the ring, and finishing with the figure four.

-Gene Okerlund promotes the upcoming Boston Garden event, with Superfly Jimmy Snuka facing Rowdy Roddy Piper in the main event. No title, no stipulations, just two people who hate each other so much that people will pay money to see them. He talks to Classy Freddy Blassie, who accuses Gene of Soviet leanings because of his red bowtie. He predicts that Windham & Rotundo will have the shortest title reign in tag team history.

DAVID SAMMARTINO vs. R.T. REYNOLDS
-Debuting in this match: female referee Rita Marie. Crowd pops for her when she does the weapons check before the bell.

-David works the arm a lot while Bruno says that he’s proud of his son. And he works the arm. And he works the arm. And he works the arm. Crowd was actually pretty hot at the start of the match; remember that gag in “The Simpsons” with the crowd gradually losing interest row-by-row during a soccer match? That is actually happening here.

-Back suplex gets two. David tries a powerslam instead and that’s enough to finish Reynolds off. Andre the Giant suddenly shows up after the bell to shake David’s hand and raise his arm to give him an attempted rub.

-Gene Okerlund talks to Captain Lou Albano, who has started smoking cigars ever since he turned face. Weird decision. Lou predicts that Snuka will win the main event at the Boston Garden. He credits Hulk Hogan for generously helping him “see the light.”

MAGNIFICENT MURACO (with Mr. Fuji) vs. TONY GAREA
-I didn’t notice it until Muraco pointed it out himself in a promo a while back, but yes, Fuji actually did gain a ridiculous amount of weight in only six months.

-Muraco slams Garea down, but misses a series of elbows and Garea just starts throwing him here, there, and everywhere with various moves until Muraco goes to the floor for a breather. Back in, Garea gets a sunset flip for two.

-Muraco’s had enough bullshit and takes a shot to the throat. He follows with the Asiatic spike from the second rope and tries to finish with a bearhug, but Garea punches free and knocks Muraco out to the apron. Muraco tries to suplex him onto the concrete floor, freaking out the crowd, but Garea counters and suplexes him into the ring. Muraco hangs on and turns it into a cradle for three, and Vince declares this one to be a major upset.

PIPER’S PIT
-Piper interviews Ken Patera and Big John Studd. Again. No new ground covered here.

-We go to MSG to look at the finishing moments of the MTV match.

“Mister Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF (with Bobby Heenan) vs. JIM YOUNG
-Heenan brings a stretcher to the ring again. That’s such a great little gimmick and somebody should do it again.

-Orndorff goes to work with knees and a suplex. He tosses Young to the floor and slams him on the concrete, then heads back in for a celebratory pose. Young tries a comeback, but Orndorff stops that with an eyerake. Vince says that the referee might want to consider stopping the match. Yes, for the lethal eyerake. Orndorff takes Young into the corner and suplexes him into tree of woe position, which probably looked better in Orndorff’s imagination than it did in execution. Piledriver finishes and Young leaves on the stretcher.
Gene Okerlund talks to Hillbilly Jim, who gives him a flask of whiskey and says it’s good for whatever’s wrong with Gene. Jim’s a babyface, by the way. In comes Roddy Piper, on the brink of insanity, complaining that Snuka should have been gone after the coconut and gone after the broken neck, but he keeps coming back and coming back, and he hopes that in Boston, he’ll finally be rid of Snuka.

-Vince wraps up with the shocking announcement that Hulk Hogan and Mr. T are challenging Rowdy Roddy Piper to a tag team match. We know nothing else at the moment.

The 411: Another debut and some shocking announcements, but nothing really HAPPENED this week. So-so.
 
Final Score:  5.1   [ Not So Good ]  legend

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Adam Nedeff

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