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The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (6.1.1985)

May 17, 2014 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
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The Name on the Marquee: WWF Championship Wrestling (6.1.1985)  

-Originally aired June 1, 1985.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino and a fan who manages to evade security long enough to stick his head in.

-Howard Finkel opens the show by announcing a surprise guest, Hillbilly Jim. Jim hobbles out on crutches and gives everyone a big smile and wave.

BARRY WINDHAM & MIKE ROTUNDO (with Captain Lou Albano) vs. THE AX & THE UNPREDICTABLE JOHNNY RODZ
-Windham & Rotundo take a solid 30 seconds to show up after their entrance theme starts playing, and the funny thing is the crowd doesn’t react at all until they actually see the guys.

-Rotundo sends the Ax out to the floor and Albano threatens to pick a fight, causing the Ax to back off nervously. That’s more jobber than one match can take, so Windham puts the guy out of his misery with a bulldog to get the win right away. Vince calls the ex-champs “great role models and heartthrobs for the youth of America.”

UPDATE
-Lord Alfred Hayes recaps the crappy couple of months that Paul Orndorff has had, being abandoned by his friends after Wrestlemania and then having to fire his manager.

GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE (Intercontinental Champion, with Jimmy Hart) vs. MARIO MANCINI
-Greg works the torso mostly, with slams and knees to the ribs. Armar follows, and he finally gets around to the legs with snaps and stomps. Greg picks up Mancini’s leg and the referee immediately checks for the submission. I think even Mancini can survive that, call me crazy. It’s great too, because you can see Greg was going for a half-crab, but then the referee immediately checks for the submission and Greg just seems to go “Uh, okay,” and he just stands there awkwardly for a bit while inflicting not-punishment. Greg works the leg a little more, and the figure four draws the submission.

-Fearless Freddie Miller says that everyone in Boston is wondering if Hulk Hogan can handle the pressure of meeting Big John Studd. Hulk says that after all the breaking bones and bloodying faces that he did after Boston last month, he’s ready to face Big John. He promises to use every illegal hold and every type of dirty tactic he can to get his revenge on Big John. FOR WHAT?

TONY ATLAS & GEORGE WELLS vs. DOC BUTLER & TERRY GIBBS
-So much star power, only one ring. Gibbs tries sneaking up during the intros and immediately gets a beatdown from Atlas. Gibbs is somehow deemed to be not-the-legal man, so Butler comes in. George Wells falls victim to double teaming but fights it off with a flying bodypress that connects with both opponents.
-Atlas fares well, Wells doesn’t, and then Atlas tags back in and cleans house. Wells tackles Butler to make himself useful, and Atlas finishes with a press slam.

-Freddie Miller talks to Bobby Heenan, who says that he saw some normal people the last time he was in Boston. “Both of them and both on their way to the airport.” Big John Studd shows off his souvenir bag of Andre the Giant’s bag and promises that he can defeat Hulk as easily as he defeated Andre the Giant when nobody was looking.

“Mister Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs. BARRY O
-Shoulderblocks and hiptosses by Orndorff. Orndorff shows a lot of fire this week, doing a series of high-impact moves in rapid succession. “Orndorff” chant goes up, which is impressive because it’s not exactly a name that seems designed for chanting.

-Bobby Heenan suddenly shows up to give Orndorff the frowning of a lifetime. O gets the edge over Orndorff briefly and Vince speculates that Barry O is about to collect the bounty, and says it without giggling. Kudos, Vince. “Slingshot clothesline” (which is different from a standard clothesline because Vince thinks so, I guess) follows for Orndorff, and the piledriver finishes.

PIPER’S PIT
-Roddy introduces Jesse Ventura, who says that he’s what rock & roll should be and says he’s not a “three-dollar rock star” like Prince or Boy George. Jesse contends that Piper deserves to be world champion for slapping Hulk Hogan around at Wrestlemania. They mention the bounty on Paul Orndorff and all three of them make plans to collect.

BRETT HART & JIM “The Anvil” NEIDHART (with Jimmy Hart) vs. SPECIAL DELIVERY JONES & JOE MIRTO
-I’m starting to feel like Peter waiting for “And then there’s Maude” watching these shows week after week after week and waiting for the team to finally have a name.

-Jones gets caught in the corner and beaten down. Brett puts his head down and takes a kick. In comes Joe Mirto, who manages to stay on top of Brett but takes a knee to the back from Neidhart and that turns the tide for good. Brett & Jim play ”Distract the Ref” to sneak in some chokeholds, and the Hart Attack gets the three count.

NON-TITLE: HULK HOGAN (WWF Champion) vs. KEN PATERA (with Bobby Heenan & Big John Studd)
-Is there a chance in hell that this is anything other than a run-in finish?

-Patera goes on the offensive right away with clubbering, but Hogan reverses an Irish whip and follows with a slam. Clothesline and a suplex by Hogan, but Patera is ready for him on a charge and Hogan takes a knee to the face. Crowd chants “Hulk” and it gets the job done. Hogan hulks up pretty much immediately, but Big John hops onto the apron, and before long, it’s a triple-team effort on Hogan. Heenan brings in a pair of scissors to finish the job that nature started, but before they can give Hulk a haircut, Paul Orndorff runs in and clears the ring.

-Freddie Miller talks to Captain Lou Albano, who says that George “The Animal” Steele is “homicidal and suicidal.” Yes, he said that. And come to think of it, we have a fanbase that’s totally going nuts for Steele after long being conditioned to shit on him, so we have that in common too. Freddy Blassie promises that Volkoff and Sheik will retain their belts next time in Boston. Volkoff wonders why Windham and Rotundo keep getting title shots even though they keep getting beaten. Given how long this feud’s been going, that’s a fair point.

The 411: Well, the champ...was...here and they set up the summer house show main events pretty nicely here, so I'll give it that much.
 
Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]  legend

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Adam Nedeff

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