03/02/20: WWF Randoms

Ricky Steamboat def. Greg Valentine by countout at 14:19. This was everything I could have wanted and more. It was everything you’d think it would be – Valentine getting the heat on Steamboat was awesome, Steamboat’s comeback was phenomenal, and it was an incredibly well-built match. It was so fucking good, they turned the MSG crowd into a southern wrestling crowd. They started reacting to every babyface strike with a sound and there were loud “Steamboat” chants. They worked this match so perfectly, and you could tell the way the roof came off the place the last few minutes. The start of the Steamboat comeback was ao special because there was NOT a transition spot. He was walking around outside selling, started walking around and getting the fans hyped up, then started beating Valentine’s ass and the crowd lost their shit. The finish was shitty – there is absolutely no arguing that, but this was still a great fucklng match that made Steamboat, who was only there a few months by this point, a legit star. Was there a better WWF match in 1985? ****1/2

British Bulldogs def. Moondogs at 18:32. This went on forever. Lord Al Hayes was burying the Bullldogs, saying none of the holds they were putting on the Moondogs would beat them. The crowd did heat up for the Dynamite Kid comeback because it was a Dynamite Kid comeback, but the match did drag overall. Hayes, who was really fucking salty for some reason, said the Bulldogs looked like losers at first. Jesus. Who pissed in his tea. **

Roddy Piper promo backstage. He seemed a little jittery in the beginning, possibly due to heavy cocaine use, but got on track and was incredible here. Just something short to get the match going with Snuka. The highlight had to be when he called himself a snake – pure venom and pure poison. Bad fucking ass.

Roddy Piper def. Jimmy Snuka by countout at 8:34. This was so fucking great. Piper took a great ass beating until he hit Snuka with a chair, causing Jimmy to do a major league juice job, as the blood dripped all over his torso. Piper got heat on him for a while until Snuka saw he was bleeding and beat the holy hell out of Piper. In a moment that dropped my jaw, Snuka broke out a TOPE in 1984. The crowd and Red Bastien (on commentary) were going crazy. As Snuka beat the shit out of him on the floor, Roddy rolled in the ring to avoid a double-countout, getting the cheap win in the process. Snuka went apeshit and destroyed the ref, finally needing about a half dozen guys to pull him off, though Snuka kept getting at Piper. This was well-designed and tremendously worked by both guys to be the first in-ring match in a program. It was great. ****

Hulk Hogan def. Harley Race at 9:56. They did a really good job of making this look like a brawl with a lot of stuff on the floor and brawling in the crowd. Race was good here, getting up and down for Hogan, plus doing crazy shit like headbutts to the floor from the apron. The good thing about the rules is all the cheating Hulk normally did was a legal here. Race brought the WWF title into the ring and smashed Hogan with it. When Race came off the top with headbutt, but Hogan hit him with the belt, causing Race to blade, then Hogan smashed him with the title for the pinfall. This was a very good match. ***1/2