Donnie watches WWF 1984

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Championship Wrestling
December 1st, 1984
Poughkeepsie, NY

Match#1 David Sammartino vs Damitrius Carabello
Vince says a lot of the boys have David as a marked man to make their name, and i'm now afraid of who might be fed to this dweeb. Really stinky again, and i hate you all (i love you all so much). Powerslam does it
1/2*

Vince is standing by with Dave Wolfe. He says Cyndi will get her award on the 28th in MSG, and she loves the WWF.

WWF Update-
-Nik Volkoff hates America.

The Hillbilly has a sign called Heenan a weasel

Match2 Paul Orndorff w/Bobby Heenan vs Mario Mancini
Another fun one for Wonderful. Dude can't miss in squashes and i dread the day (Donnie watches WCW 92 is my guess, but we'll see when we get there). He wins with a nasty spike Tombstone
*3/4

Mean Gene-
-Hammer Valentine. He says Tito's real name is Chico and worked as a janitor at Taco Bell and he has zero business getting in the ring with him.

Match#3 Blackjack Mulligan vs Rusty Brooks

Blackjack beats the shit out of this fat boy and it's a blast. He does the arm work again before he hauls off and beats some fat ass. Running back Elbow ends another.
**

Mean Gene-
-JYD. He sings a lot because he's happy to be going back to LA with his dog pals and fans.

Match#3 Tito Santana vs Dave Barbie
3 minutes of Tito doing his thing against a big ugly motherfucker of a jobber. He wins with a gross running Forearm to the temple.
**



Andre's mystery partner is SD Jones.

Match#4 Andre the Giant & SD Jones vs Ken Patera & Big John Studd w/Bobby Heenan
Bobby has added a new member to the family in Kenneth, and it's a better spot for him than letting him rightly drown on his own. SD is a wam body for the heels to beat on and it's fine enough for these two hacks. Andre gets in and fights them both after they drop SD on the outside, and they hit a fucking double slam on Andre !!!!!!!!! They refuse to stop beating his ass so the ref DQ's them.
1/2*

Heenan gives Studd a pair of scissors and they cut Andre's hair off. The Heenan Family grab clumps of it and celebrate as the crowd wants them dead.

In the ring, Andre comes to as SD helps him up and explains what happened to him. This is on Andre for picking such a shit partner tbh.

Mean Gene-
-Gene is so angry at what he as seen and he knows Heenan planed all of this and it's horrible. He says Andre has a concussion as a result of the attack.
-Piper & Orton walk on and challenge TK and Snuka to fight them if they've got the guts. Piper says he needs a bodyguard because he knows they've got cousins upon cousins in LA, and he's not stupid enough to go alone.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling
December 8th, 1984
Toronto, Canada

Match#1 Junkyard Dog vs Bobby Bass
THUMP

Billy Red Lyons-
-They throw it to a JYD hype video which would have made more sense to air before the squash, but whatever.

Match#2 Greg Valentine w/Lou Albano vs Mohamed Saad
Hammer changes it up by working the shoulder this week with a series of nasty shoulderbreakers along with his normal amazing offence. Figure Four ends it.
**

Billy Red Lyons-
-Billy says Bret Hart wants a shot at the title!!!!!!!!!!!. Greg says he'll face anyone because he's not a closet champion and he fears no one. Bret can step in there with him because he wants to see what he can do. He makes funny money in Canada that he exchanges in the States, and he wants to keep making money by defending the title every chance he gets.

Match#3 The Moondogs vs Nick DeCarlo & Brian Mackey
Good showcase for the Dogs. They're both old as hell and mostly washed, but they still have punches and roughouse stuff to get by, and it's enough. They win with their nasty looking Death Sentence.
*1/4

Billy Red Lyons-
-Tony Atlas. Rocky is now gone from WWF, so Tony is a singles dude again. He loves the fans and he loves Canada baby, and he here to fight men of any size to show the fans that love back.

Match#3 Bret Hart vs Gino Carbello
Hell yeah, Bret gets another singles showcase now that he's challenged Hammer for the title. Bret works the arm for a while as the commentators call him the new breed of pro wrestlers, which is a killer way to promote him. Bret wins with a sleeper in an odd choice, but he's not a hitman yet so i get it.
*1/2

Blackjack's BBQ with Snuka and Tonga. They cut really bad promo about training in the islands and why they're in such good shape. WAY better when they scream and shout about murdering people.

Match#4 Iron Sheik w/Freddie Blassie vs Frank Marconi
Sheiky finally get a singles squash again and humbles and breaks a back. Clutch does the job.
*3/4

Post match, Sheik keeps taunting King Kong, so the big man gets in the ring and chases him off.

Match#5 The Spoiler w/Lou Albano vs Tony Atlas
Spoiler does his best to carry Tony for a few minutes. He works a stomach claw because fuck doing anything too hard, i guess. Tony makes no effort to really fight out of it, so it's just two dudes being super close like dudes that rock. He finally gets out of it and runs through Spoiler with his weak lame offence, but Spoiler's selling makes it worth it. Tony tries to take off the mask, so Lou drags Spoiler to safety and the ref counts him out.
*3/4

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Championship Wrestling
December 8th, 1984
Poughkeepsie, NY

Match#1 US Express vs Charlie Fulton & Johnny Rodz
Calling them by their proper name now they've debuted as a pushed act. Good mat work from them and some killer strikes from Barry as even young Mike sucks at that. Bulldog does it.
*3/4

The big Hillbilly is in the crowd and Vince says he hopes they can line up an interview next week to finally learn who he is. FUCK YEAH

Match#2 Tony Atlas vs Gino Carbella
Very bad as no amount of hiding him in tag matches is going to turn him into a good wrestlers. Splash ends it
poop.

Interviews-
-Jack is filling in for Gene again
-Ken Patera. You've got to be a very sick person to think you have a chance against him, and it doesn't matter if David's daddy trained him, he's got no chance against a real weightlifter. Fuck off, dork.

Match#3 iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff w/Freddie Blassie vs Jim Powers & Jose Luis Rivera
FUCK YEAH JIM POWERS. Really awful as always, but it's cool to see a Young Stallion like Powers here.

Interview-
-Studd & Heenan. They've got Andre's hair in a plastic bag and they laugh a lot. True evil dickheads.

Match#4 Big John Studd w/Bobby Heenan vs Narchios
Very bad as no clue angle is going to want anyone to watch him squash someone. Slam does it.
1/2*

Post match, Studd grabs the mic and shouts he has Andre in the bag. AMAZING.

Piper's Pit w/Lou Albano. Piper says Cyndi is going to give WWF an award for what they've done for her, and Piper says he should be getting that for what he did for her. He says she's jealous because he turned her down, and they deserve awards for making her. Lou keeps trying to talk but Piper cuts him off and ends the interview. Hmm, that's a bit odd.

Match#5 Tito Santana vs John Mirto
Standard Tito squash for a couple of minutes. He wins this week with a top rope forearm
*3/4

Don and Fuji are still hanging out on the beach.

Match#6 Tonga Kid & Jimmy Snuka vs RT Reynolds & Mario Mancini
Good showcase for the killer and his cousin. Superfly Splash gets it
*

At the commentators booth, the Hillbilly is there and says he would be very happy to be on Piper's Pit. HE THEN SHOUTS OUT HIS MUM. WHAT A GUY

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Championship Wrestling
December 15th, 1984
Poughkeepsie, NY

We open the show with Vince interviewing Piper & Lou. They show clips of Cyndi at her concert promoting the WWF. We come back and Piper repeats the points he made last week in the Pit, and Lou doesn't look happy about it at all. We then go to a news clip of Cyndi and Wendi over the last few months. We come back with Vince trying to ask Lou if he thinks she deserves this, and Piper cuts him off again, so Lou walks off sadly.

Mean Gene-
-Hulk Hogan. He's going to beat up Sheik in NYC because he doesn't celebrate Christmas, so he can have a beating as a gift. He's wanted this chance for the last 12 months after all of Sheik's complaining about the title match, so it's time to shut him up for good. Hogan then talks about a recent hostage crisis and Sheik being part of it, which is really fucked up.

Match#1 Greg Valentine vs Aldo Marino
JIP after the tape fucks up. Still, we get a great minute or two and it's enough for Hammer to make it work. Figure Four does the deed.
*3/4

Piper's Pit. Piper says everyone wants to be a big shot these days, so the big Hillbilly can come up here and have his time. He tells the fans to draw him a map so he doesn't get lost on his way up here. He walks on and Piper hums the Deliverance theme in a great bit. The big man introduces himself as Jim from Kentucky. He says he's wrestled around the house once or twice, so Piper offers to train him and make him into someone good. Jim hesitates and says he's not sure if he wants to do that. He wants the best person to help him (Cowboy lingers behind him) Piper says if he could think of anyone better than him he would have chosen them, and for $300 bucks a week he'll make him a star. Jim says he'll need to ask the fans, so Piper says he's got nothing upstairs and he can have this mic and make up his mind later.

Match#2 Tito Santana vs R.T. Reynolds
Shorter one for Tito this week, which is fine because not everything needs to be long. He wins with the Figure Four as a fuck you.
*

Muarco is still on the beach

Match#3 US Express vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff
The feud finally kicks off out of nowhere, so it's time for some classic Vince books anti American heels and some all American's faces stand up and fight them. It would rule if Mike wasn't boring as fuck and Nik wasn't horrible, but it is what it is. Barry rocks a ton and does his best to carry all of this mayhem by himself. He hits Sheik with the bulldog, but Nik kicks the ref for the DQ
3/4*

Mean Gene-
-The Briscoe Brothers have a shot at NCS in New York on the 28th, Gerry says they've trained in rasslin their entire lives and this is all they've wanted when they arrived in the WWF. Jack is dressed like my dad and cuts a very stoic promo about winning the titles after already beating the champ in a non title match a few weeks ago.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Championship Wrestling
December 22nd, 1984
Poughkeepsie, NY

Lou Albano opens the show by reading the WWF version of Christmas Story to some kids.

Match#1 David Sammartino vs David Madden
Bad.

WWF Update-
-JYD is loved and on lots and lots and loooots of coke

Match#2 David Schultz vs Joe Mirto
Fuck yeah, Doc gets to cook for one of the last times and it's so much fun as always. Two Flying Elbows end it
*3/4

Mene Gene-
-Heenan and the Family. Studd says the old Andre would have come after them and ended this, but he's a coward whose hiding behind JYD these days. They'll happily end them both.

Cyndi Lauper music video.

Match#3 Tonga Kid & Jimmy Snuka vs Rusty Brooks & Terry Gibbs
Short and decent showcase for the killer cousins. Snuka beats Rusty with a flying splash
1/2*

Piper's Pit w/Buddy Rose & Bobby Heenan. YES. They make fun of Jim being a big stupid hillbilly with a dumb name that took his parents 9 months to come up with, and we get a shot of Jim laughing at this. Buddy rips off his robe and does one armed pushups to prove he's not a fat boy.

Match#4 Tony Atlas vs Gino Carbello
Beefcake walks out and watches the match, and i pray this doesn't mean what i think it does. Tony wins with a terrible German suplex
poop

HULK HOGAN WALKS OUT TO CONFRONT THE HEENAN FAMILY AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO ANDRE. HE POINTS AT THEM AND LEAVES, BUT SHIT IS ON LIKE NEVER BEFORE.

Match#5 Big John Studd & Ken Patera w/Bobby Heenan vs Jose Luis Rivera & Jim Powers
Short and bad, but that angle ruled so it's fine. Elbow ends it
1/2*

THEY KEEP BEATING ON THEM, SO HOGAN RUNS BACKS DOWN AND FIGHTS THEM. KEN GETS HIM IN THE FULL NELSON AS STUDD BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF JOSE. HILLBILLY JIM GETS IN THE RING AND HITS HEENAN AND STANDS BY HOGAN'S SIDE AND THEY STARE DOWN THE HEENAN FAMILY. THEY SHAKE HANDS AND HUG. THAT FUCKING RULED.

After the break, Vince shows his respect to Big Jim for helping Hogan.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF MADISON SQAURE GARDEN. DECEMBER 28TH

Roddy Piper & Bob Orton vs Tonga Kid & Jimmy Snuka
Hell yeah, about time these 4 got into it like this. Same opening as always but now we have Orton doing wild bumps alongside Piper to change it all up. Piper and Snuka fight again and it's a blast and a half as Piper is the only man not named Muraco who make Jimmy look this good all the time. TK is isolated once it settles down and we get a great control seg from these two bastards. Loads of awesome offence and cheating whenever they can. Snuka gets the hot tag and hey, shit breaks down like it seems to happen every time. The ref eventually DQ's them all for refusing to stop fighting.
**1/2

In the ring, Cyndi Lauper is out there with Hogan and Wendi for her award for everything she's done for the WWF. Dick Clarke is also there as the MC to really sell how massive this has gotten, and it's not even the tipping point. Hogan gets the crowd to cheer for the queen of rock and wrestling. Cyndi thanks them all for being in her corner, so she brings out a gold record that she wants to give to the WWF and the fans. She then says she has another award for a man whose calcium has gone down in the last year, Lou Albano. He's raised over 4 million dollars for MS research and he deserves this. He comes out in a suit with sneakers and it's all time look. He thanks her for this and what she has done for him. Orton and Piper walk out and Piper gets in the ring and grabs the record, and Lou asks him to wait. Piper says he was the one who set this up so he wants to present the award, AND HE SMASHES IT OVER LOU'S HEAD AND HE BODYSLAMS DAVID WOLFE AND KNOCKS CYNDI OVER AND RUNS OFF AS HOGAN GETS IN. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. One of the best angles ever.

The North-South-Connection (c) vs The Briscoe Brothers (WWF World Tag Team Championships)
This gets 27 minutes, for some reason. Awesome Murdoch bumping early on and they tell a basic story of brawling vs. matwork. Jack fucks up and allows Murdoch to go to the floor, and when he reaches to bring him in, Murdoch smacks him right in the chest with a camera case. The Briscos eventually get pissed at the constant cheating and brawling, and start to throw down too. It goes on a little too long, obviously, and all four men fight on the floor for a double DQ.
**3/4

Hulk Hogan (c) vs Iron Sheik (WWF World Championship)
Awesome 3 minute squash from Hogan. He's all pissed about before and just runs through our hero like he's not even there, and it's fucking great to watch him do this. Legdrop ends it
**

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling
December 29th, 1984
Ontario, Canada

Match#1 US Express vs Bobby Bass & R.T Reynolds
Another fine showcase thanks to Barry being the saving grace in comparison to his boring partner. Bulldog ends it
*

Music video plays highlighting the last few weeks.

Match#2 Blackjack Mulligan vs Moondog Spot
Quick as hell, sadly. Elbow does it
1/28*

Billy Red Lyons-
-Patera & Studd will be facing Andre and Blackjack at a house show. They again make fun of cutting Andre's hair and him not being the man he once was, so he needs to ask for help.

Match#3 Nik
Nah.

Billy Red Lyons-
-The Spoiler is mad at Tony trying to mask off like a coward. He doesn't need to worry about any other kind of power than his own.

Match#4 Bret Hart vs Richard Cummins
Hell yes. Dick is a big fucking dude standing over 6ft3 and like 110 plus kilos, so Bret chops down the tree and nukes the arm to keep him down once he gets him there. Bret even slams him in an awesome moment, and this guy is already good at this point and i can't wait to see him once he hits the peak of his powers. Sleeper ends it
**

Match#5 Ken Patera w/Bobby Heenan vs Nick D'Carlo
Short and bad. Full Nelson does it
poop

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWF World Champion: Hulk Hogan-23/1/84
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine-13/10/84
WWF Tag Team Champions: North South Connection-26/5/84
WWF Women's Champion; Wendi Richter-23/7/84

WWF Championship Wrestling
December 29th, 1984
Poughkeepsie, NY

Match#1 Buddy Rose w/Bobby Heenan vs Steve Lombardi
Bobby finally managing tons of people is so damn good and needed after 5 years of Lou and Freddie being in these spots. Buddy is awesome as everyone knows as he's so smooth and crisp for a big dude. killer offence and really fun bumps when needed. He wins with a DDT.
**

WWF Update-
-Brutus Beefcake is dancing in a club.

Match#2 Paul Orndorff w/Bobby Heenan vs Jim Powers
Hell yeah, one last squash for 1984's squasher of the year. Piledriver does it after a hell of a beating.
**

Post match, he piledrives him again just to do it.

Jack Reynolds-
-JYD has nothing new to say or add.

Match#3 Bret Hart vs Terry Gibbs
BRET MAKES IT TO AMERICA. WE ARE HERE BOYS AND GIRLS. Fun 90 seconds of him doing cool stuff and winning via an O'Conner roll
*3/4

Hulk Hogan makes his way out to ringside and finds Big Jim in the crowd. He whispers something in his ear, and Jim jumps over the rail to join him.

The tape fucks up and we come back to Jim in Piper's Pit. Jim is angry at him for making fun of him last week, so Piper says he's sorry about that and he wants to help him. Jim says he's decided to go with the best, and Piper is elated and promises to take him to the top. Jim picks HULK HOGAN. Hogan walks on tells Jim to stand up and put his hate on a like a man. He says he's his man now as they leave, as Piper freaks out and screams that he is his. He says Hogan will pay the PIPER.

Match#4 Blackjack Mulligan vs Jack Mirto
Jack has seemingly taken Sarge's role as the monster babyface, which sucks because i miss Sarge, man. Elbow does it
*

Speaking of Sarge, we need to cover some classic Vince bullshit. Sgt. Slaughter went to Vince with an ultimatum about a bigger piece of the merchandising pie, and you know how Vince LOVES people who give him ultimatums. So Sarge got fired and is now a free agent and wanted to jump to the NWA, until it was shot down by someone. “But by Virgil, I can’t figure out why”, notes Dave. Ho ho, Dusty Rhodes puns. Dave was like four years ahead of the curve with that one. Slaughter of course ended up working for Verne again. Although Slaughter ended up no-showing a bunch of dates, Dave notes that the WWF somehow knew in advance that they needed to have Hulk Hogan there to take his place against Volkoff, which leads Dave to suspect that perhaps Slaughter’s firing wasn’t quite the spur-of-the-moment decision it appeared to be.

So Sarge is gone on the back os complete bullshit like wanting to be paid more because he's a fucking star, and Vince puled a Vince. Shit sucks. Sadly, it'll be a while before he pops up in any of my watches, but he will be back. Bet that.

Match#5 US Express vs Rene Goulet & R.T Reynolds
This is nearly 8 minutes is a wildly stupid choice. Just far too long with the skill level of Mike, and Barry only being one man. Fuck this
poop.

Interviews-
-Heenan says he thought they ran Andre off a month ago, but now he's back with JYD and he demands to know what he's cooking. He reminds JYD they can do the same to him, and his bite is worse than his bark. Ken calls them losers. Amazing how bad he is normally, but it's even more so when he's standing next to maybe the greatest talker ever.

Farewell 1984

 

[BigVanDonnie]

FEUD OF THE YEAR

1984 was a hell a year for feuds with Snuka/Piper and Hammer/Tito ruling from start to finish, but one feud stood out above the rest. A feud that turned a maggot into a hero, and a monster into the most hated man in the world.

SGT SLAUGHTER VS IRON SHEIK

 

[BigVanDonnie]

1978-The Yukon Lumberjacks
1979-The Wild Samoans
1980-The Wild Samoans (2)
1981-Rick Martel & Tony Garea
1982-The Wild Samoans (3)
1983-The Wild Samoans (4)

1984 TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

After seven years of these reviews we've found a new bottom for the worse division WWF has to offer. A baron wasteland of talent that is seemingly only remembered once every few months before it goes to shit again. I said last year that i hoped this would be a fight between a lot of team, but once again it was a complete murder and there is only one team that could possibly win. Thankfully, they're the best team the WWF has given us thus far, but Jesus Christ i wish this was a fight.

NORTH SOUTH CONNECTION-33

 

[BigVanDonnie]

1978-Bob Backlund
1979-Ted DiBiase/Greg Valentine
1980-Larry Zbyszko
1981-Sgt Slaughter
1982-Bob Backlund (2)
1983-Don Muraco

1984 WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

Now this was a fight for top spot right from the get go. Hammer, Wonderful, Doc and Sarge all fought tooth and nail and traded it back and forth for a while, but then one man won the workhorse title and all that went out the window. A man who more matches on TV and more great matches on house shows than anyone else. A man who is in no way a thief or a liar, a man who once wore his sunglasses in the hospital after knee surgery

TITO SANTANA-67

Sgt Slaughter-56

Paul Orndorff-55

Greg Valentine-52

David Schultz-45

Iron Sheik-44

Dick Murdoch-41

Adrian Adonis-39

Hulk Hogan-30

Roddy Piper-27

Bob Orton-26



Andre the Giant-19

Masked Superstar-17

Tonga Kid-15

Jimmy Snuka-14

Brian Blair-14

Kamala-12

Rocky Johnson-9

Bob Backlund-9

Tony Atlas-9

Bret Hart-8

Afa-8

Sika-8

Don Muraco-8

Mike Sharpe-8

The Spoiler-7

Nikolai Volkoff-7

Dynamite Kid-7

Big John Studd-7

Salvatore Bellomo-6

Buzz Swayer-6

Tony Garea-6

Invader 1-6

JYD-6

Moondog Rex-5

Barry Windham-5

Rene Goulet-5

Invader-2-5

Blackjack Mulligan-4

Jack Briscoe-4

Gerry Briscoe-4

Rick McGraw-4

Rick McGraw-4

Mike Rotundo-3

Moondog Spot-3

Samula-3

Terry Daniels-3

Eddie Gilbert-3

Mr Fuji-3

Terry Gordy-3

Michael Hayes-3

Buddy Roberts-3

Princess Victoria-3

Velvet McIntyre -3

Bobby Heenan-2

Lou Albano-2

Jerry Valient-2

Buddy Rose-2

Terry Daniels-2

Jay Strongbow-2

JJ Dillon-2

Jose Rivera-2

Tiger Chung Lee-2

Ivan Putski-2

SD Jones-2

Peggy Lee-2

Peggy Peterson-2

Pat Patterson-2

Davey Boy Smith-1

George Steele-1

Mike Sharpe-1

Mad Dog Vachon-1

Butcher Vachon-1

Wendi Richter-1

Fabulous Moolah-1

Tony Garea-1

Despina Montages-1

Leilani Kai-1