The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (4.20.1985)

Originally aired April 20, 1985.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bruno Sammartino.

BRITISH BULLDOGS vs. STEVE LOMBARDI & BARRY O
-Shoulderblocks by Dynamite and he does a fucking SWEET reversal of an armdrag while running off the ropes. Davey Boy works the arm of Barry O and gets some amazing air on a bodypress. And fuck this crowd for sitting on their hands the whole time.

-Lombardi takes his turn, getting snap suplexed and headbutted. Fucking HARD chop by Dynamite finally wakes up the crowd, and I seriously think that was the only reason that Dynamite did it. Lombardi tags Barry O, who manages to get a single bit of offense and tags out immediately to his thoroughly beaten partner. Commentators accurately call that a mistake, and before long, Davey Boy is press-slamming Dynamite onto Lombardi to get the win. Bulldogs get the victory, but Lombardi gets the moral victory of being the only guy in this match whose life wasn’t totally wrecked by his career choices.

UPDATE
-Lord Alfred Hayes crawls inch by inch through each word of his script and very gradually gets around to saying that he’s talking about King Kong Bundy. We see clips of Bundy demanding a five-count.

BRUTUS BEEFCAKE (with Luscious Johnny Valiant) vs. RON DEE
-Forearms by the Beefer, and that’s enough to knock Ron Dee unconscious because Ron Dee was not adequately trained on selling. Dee sells EVERYTHING by laying on the mat motionless until Beefcake finally finishes off his iron-deficient ass with a high knee.

-Gene Okerlund interviews Cowboy Bob Orton. Weird bit worth noting: Bob fucks up the promo, drawing a total blank on the expression “following in my father’s footsteps,” and Gene has to step in and help him. Immediately after Bob’s goof, there’s a really loud crashing sound off-camera, and Bob keeps going with the promo. Bobby Heenan once said that Vince would sometimes do things like kick the camera when you bungled your promo, so he could re-shoot it without embarassing you by saying that his bumping the camera was the reason for the re-take. So, I think Vince was trying to get Bob to restart the promo and Bob totally missed the cue there.

BRETT HART & JIM “The Anvil” NEIDHART (with Jimmy Hart) vs. MARIO MANCINI & SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES
-No collective name yet. They have the coordinated tights and even from the beginning, they mesh well and double-team like old pros. And Mario Mancini goes down in history as your first victim of the Hart Attack. Total domination; SD didn’t even get his token offense.

-Gene Okerlund talks to Brutus Beefcake and Luscious Johnny. He asks about the leg injury that they inflicted on Hillbilly Jim. Those are the dues you have to pay, they explain. He was a novice and he thought he was ready to be a wrestler…well, he was wrong.”

MAGNIFICENT MURACO vs. SAL G.
-Sal G. and Ron Dee really should have formed a tag team together. Muraco is alone again this week.

-Muraco works the neck of Sal G. and the crowd has absolutely no patience for Muraco, launching into a “boring” chant instantly, and Muraco actually breaks the hold to stare down the fans who are hassling him. Tombstone finishes.

PIPER’S PIT
-Another one taped immediately after Wrestlemania in the MSG locker room. This week’s guest is Jesse Ventura, who blames the outcome of the main event on those two awful referees, “Jack” Patterson (Jesse had a great bit of shtick about not bothering to learn anybody’s names and referring to all of them as Jack), and that washed-up ex-champion Muhammad Ali. Cowboy Bob Orton thinks it’s pathetic that somebody could be knocked unconscious by a blow from a broken arm.

A VISIT WITH HILLBILLY JIM
-Jim, sitting on his porch in Mud Lick, explains the reason he suddenly disappeared from the WWF, being injured by Brutus Beefcake and Luscious Johnny Valiant. He promises revenge as soon as he’s healthy enough to wrestle. Jim treats us to a song on the guitar, and the cameraman and editor give us some nice close-ups of his fingers during the music to make damn sure we know that he can’t actually play. Jim also introduces us to his dogs, Lancer and Dancer.

JUNKYARD DOG & TITO SANTANA vs. MR. X & R.T. REYNOLDS
-X falls victim to a double arm wringer, which is a cooler-looking move than you’d think. I think what helps it is Tito and JYD go in opposite directions with each arm. Reynolds gets caught in the wrong corner and gets trapped in a chinlock. Funny bit with the referee trying to get close and make sure it’s not a choke, but when he puts his hand close, JYD growls like a dog actually would.

-Unusually heelish move from Tito, Irish whipping Reynolds into his own corner and then standing there and just waiting for Mr. X to tag in so he has a fresh body to beat up. JYD tags in and hits the Thump to get the win.

-Gene Okerlund brings in Don Muraco, and this one is on YouTube. Muraco says that doughnuts are an important part of his training regimen and cuts a promo with a mouth full of doughnuts. Gene breaks up on camera, and Muraco just walks away. In come Bobby Heenan and Ken Patera, and Heenan can’t get word #1 out without breaking up. Patera flexes his bicep and blocks the camera’s view with it. Okerlund cuts off Heenan to talk to Patera, and Heenan walks off the set in mock frustration, and Okerlund breaks up again.

The 411: Pretty decent week; new talent showcased and a decent segment to get us excited for a match that can't possibly happen for six months. Smart way to make use of an injured guy.
Final Score:  6.1   [ Average ]