WWF Coliseum Videos #1 Page 2
* Jimmy Snuka vs. Bobby Bass: Clipped match, and it's a squash too. Snuka with the Superfly splash for the win. 2 for 4.
* Jimmy Snuka in Piper's Pit…one coconut to the head coming up. Classic segment where Roddy taunts Snuka, then does THAT spot which I just mentioned, and follows with the heel beatdown while he taunts Snuka. Roddy was SO cool to watch back then. 3 for 5.
* Jimmy Snuka vs. Roddy Piper: And of course, you have to have the blowoff match featured as well. Snuka pounds on Piper as the fans pop like nuts. Piper, of course, uses illegal tactics to take control. Snuka fights back and knocks Piper to the floor. Snuka sends Piper headfirst to the apron, then rolls him back in to the ring. Snuka with a sleeper, but Piper gets to the ropes, and they end up going outside the ring. Piper sends Snuka back first into the apron and they fight outside the ring. Piper goes for a chair, but Snuka stops him and nails Piper with it instead. Both men are back in the ring, and Piper, who has bladed, plays up surprise that he's bleeding and begins begging off like crazy. Snuka shows no mercy by pummeling Piper, follows up with a headbutt, then goes to the top rope as Piper gets to his feet. Piper manages to catch Snuka as he leaps, sending him throat first into the top rope, and Snuka falls outside the ring and gets counted out. Pretty entertaining stuff here. 4 for 6.
* Junior heavyweight title: The Cobra vs. The Black Tiger: The junior heavyweight title is essentially the precursor to the current WWF Light Heavyweight title. This match is for the vacant title, BTW. Mostly a lot of mat work and resting in this match, and a lot of match clipping as well. It starts picking up with the Tiger in control, but Cobra reverses a tombstone piledriver and comes off the top rope with a senton for the pin. Well, this was about what you would expect back in the early 80's. We'll go 5 for 7.
Oh no…do I HAVE to watch the next match on the tape? If you want to know why I'm complaining, here you go…
* Hulk Hogan puts Mean Gene Okerlund through training. Do you KNOW what is about to come next? DO YOU? If you still haven’t figured out, prepare to have your worst nightmares relived, whether or not you saw what is about to come, or only saw Gene when he wrestled Mark Madden.
* Hulk Hogan and Mean Gene Okerlund vs. George "The Animal" Steele and Mr. Fuji: You people owe me BIG TIME right now. I can't believe I am going to risk losing my sanity having to watch this one. Especially since I have to put up with seeing Mean Gene dressed in nothing but wrestling trunks. Thank God Gene doesn't have a Madden-sized gut. Fuji gets tossed around by Hogan, and Animal tags in. He brawls with Hogan. Hogan fights back and goes after both Steele and Fuji, sending them out of the ring. Gene stomps on Fuji's fingers, and he and Hogan high-five, and the referee calls that a legal tag. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Don't let Gene in there! Oh, thank God, Gene evades Steels and quickly tags out. Hogan again cleans house on both Steele and Fuji. Oh God, NOW Hogan tags in Gene, and Gene stops Fuji from throwing his salt. Fuji runs into a knee from Mean Gene, then Hogan tosses Gene onto Fuji for the pinfall. But wait…WE ARE NOT DONE YET! Oh no, if you thought it was bad enough when Vince Russo put Mean Gene and Mark Madden in the ring, wait until I tell you about the post-match antics. Hogan whips Fuji into the corner, where Gene does the WORST job of raising his feet and sending him to the mat. Then Hogan whips Steele to the corner and Gene does the same thing, just as bad as the first time. My God, how can George Steele sleep at night knowing he had to sell for Mean Gene Okerlund? And you want me to scare you even more…Mean Gene joins Hogan in his posedown after the match. So you kids want to know where Russo got his ideas for having Mean Gene wrestle…now you know! 5 for 8 for the workout segments, and 5 for 9 for the match, if you even HAD to ask.
* Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zybsko: Man, Larry looks SO weird with a head full of blonde hair. This is your typical match from the early 80's in the pre-Hogan era, with Larry going for the pin after a HIPTOSS. Man, wrestling sure has come a long way over the years, hasn't it? Anyway, the story behind the match is Zybsko, the student of Bruno, is trying to find a way to defeat his teacher and can't do it. Several times, Bruno catches Zybsko in a submission hold, but he releases it, getting Zybsko frustrated every time. Zybsko eventually loses his cool when he gets sent through the ropes. When Bruno holds the ropes open for him, Zybsko turns on Bruno by punching him down, throwing the referee out of the ring, and decking Bruno with a chair. The crowd turns on Zybsko just like THAT. Bruno blades for fun. Nice little build to the heel turn. And that takes us to…
* Steel cage match: Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zybsko: And this is the rematch to serve as the blowoff to the feud. Going back to the first match, Bruno was trying to show good sportsmanship for his pupil, but in this one, Bruno wants nothing to do with that. Instead, he pounds Zybsko around the ring, repeatedly slamming him face-first into the cage. Zybsko fires off a low blow and tries to escape, but Bruno stops him. Zybsko now takes control, slamming Bruno into the cage several times, and he then tries to escape, but Bruno pulls him down. We get a lot of clipping in this match, and often at awkward points. Bruno bleeds from the arm, but still manages to keep going. He eventually slams Zybsko into the side of the cage, who is knocked for a loop and blades, then exits the cage for the win. I take it Bruno couldn’t climb out because of the arm injury. Nifty little recap of the feud. 6 for 10 for the two matches together.
Final Analysis: Not a bad little collection of moments from the early 80's WWF, actually. The only part that's a nightmare to watch is the Mean Gene crap, but the Piper/Snuka and Sammartino/Zybsko stuff are both classic. Recommended tape, as long as you fast forward through the Hogan/Gene stuff.
Now for Inside the Steel Cage…as you may have guessed, every match takes place inside a steel cage.
* Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Luscious Johnny V.
* Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd: We get the closing moments of the match, where Andre works over Studd, who is busted open, and finishes him off with a bodyslam, then a butt splash from the top rope! I think Andre is gonna have no problem walking out the door. 1 for 1 for the finish.
* Andre the Giant vs. Kamala: Again, we get the closing moments of the match, with Andre having bladed in this match, where Kamala gets slammed, and then Andre goes to the top rope…AND HE WALKS ALONG THE ROPE TO DO THE BUTT SPLASH! Well, sure, he grabbed the top of the cage, but it was still an impressive spot. 2 for 2 for that butt splash alone.
* Intercontinental title match: Magnificent Muraco vs. Jimmy Snuka: Yes, it's THAT match. If you still don’t know what I'm talking about, think back to Mick Foley's autobiography and the one match at Madison Square Garden where he skipped college classes and hitchhiked to New York just to see it. The match is joined in progress, with Snuka busted open. I'm trying to see if I can spot Foley in the stands, but I can't see the fans well enough to spot a guy in a familiar flannel shirt. Snuka makes his comeback, and Muraco blades as well. Snuka goes to the second turnbuckle, and drops a forearm the second rope. Snuka comes off the ropes, knocking Muraco with a headbutt that sends him over the ropes and through the steel cage door…and that means Muraco wins the match. Crowd is mightily pissed at this decision, so what does Snuka do to send the fans home happy? He proceeds to drag Muraco back into the cage and beat the shit out of him, finishing him off with the famous Superfly splash off the top of the cage to a MONSTER pop from the crowd. For the record, I think I saw a guy in the stands who may have been the young Mick Foley (he's wearing what appears to be a flannel shirt over a white T-shirt, near the front row, raising his arms), but I wasn't positive it was him. Regardless, this was a great example of classic booking. 3 for 3.
* Tito Santana and Bruno Sammartino vs. Randy Savage and Adrian Adonis: The rules are in order for one team to win, both team members must exit the cage. This one took place shortly after Savage took the Intercontinental title from Santana, so as you can guess, there's some big issues to settle here. The heels jump the faces to start, but the faces mount the comeback. It's just non-stop action during the match, with the wrestlers doing a fine job of timing spots where one or both guys on a team try to escape, but are stopped. For example, Savage tries to climb out, but Bruno and Santana both stop him, so Adonis tries to sneak out the door, with Santana rushing over to stop him. In another spot, Adonis is barely over the top of the cage, but stopped by Bruno, while Savage tries to crawl for the door, and Santana barely stops him. Santana and Savage both blade, and Adonis tries to pull a section of the wooden steps into the ring with him, but the referee takes it away. Adonis tries to leap off the top of the cage onto Bruno, but he misses. Savage and Santana fight on top of the cage, with Santana knocking Savage off the cage and onto Adonis. This allows Bruno to bolt for the door and Santana to climb over the top and out of the cage for the win. Post-match shot of Savage shows his face is RED, which I'd say makes it a .3 Muta bladejob. Good match. 4 for 4.
* Intercontinental title match: Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana: Greg took the title from Santana, and this is the final rematch between the two. As Gorilla explains it, Greg saved the title by getting counted out during matches with Santana, so Santana requested the cage match. We join the match in progress, with Santana knocking Greg into the cage as he attempts the figure four leglock. Santana tries to escape, but Greg goes after him, only to get knocked down from the cage. Greg decides to go for the door instead, but because Santana is close to it, he uses his leg to kick the door in Greg's face, knocking him out, then dropping to the floor to become the new Intercontinental champion. Neat finish to the match, which makes it 5 for 5 in my book.
* World title match: Bruno Sammartino vs. George "The Animal" Steele: Gorilla says this match is from"20 years ago" which is likely an exaggeration (well, back when this tape was produced in 1987, anyway), but still, this one dates earlier than the 1980's. Match is also joined in progress, but what we get of the match really drags, with much of it being Steele ripping open the turnbuckle and shoving the stuffing into Bruno's eyes. Bruno finishes it by ramming Steele into the corner post, then exiting the cage. 5 for 6.
* Bruno Sammartino vs. Roddy Piper: This match is being held in Boston Garden, and it's just after Super Bowl XX, so Piper comes prepared…he not only wears a Chicago Bears T-shirt, but he also tapes up posters of Jim McMahon and William "The Refrigerator" Perry inside the cage. Man, Piper, that's just MEAN. Bruno comes into the cage and just beats the hell out of Roddy. No less than two minutes into the match, Piper is busted open. Bruno grabs the posters and shoves the one of Perry into Piper's face, and the one of McMahon into Piper's tights. He rips off the "Hot Rod" shirt Piper wears and chokes him with it. Bruno tries to go out the door, but Piper gives him a low blow. Piper goes to work on Bruno, and the crowd is vociferous in their support for Sammartino. Piper tries twice to go out the door, but Bruno stops him each time. Bruno pulls down Piper's trunks on another escape attempt, meaning Piper is now mooning the crowd. Piper tries to climb out, but Bruno nails him with a low blow, allowing Piper the opportunity to give us the OVERSELL OF DOOM. Bruno crawls for the door, but Piper grabs him. However, Bruno drags a chair into the cagea and smacks Piper with it twice, then escapes the cage. Fun match. 6 for 7.
* World title match: Bob Backlund vs. Pat Patterson: Gorilla points out that Backlund has hardly any experience in steel cages, but Patterson has an extensive background in them. I'll refrain from making any Patterson jokes that might come up here. Both men frequently tease escape attempts over the cage and through the door, which works to keep the fans paying attention and getting hot for every false finish. Both men fight for several minutes at the top of the cage, with each one teasing an escape, only to be stopped by the other. Match gets clipped to a latter portion of the match, where Backlund has bladed. Both Backlund and Patterson simultaneously try to escape, but Patterson changes his mind and goes over to stop Backlund. Backlund slingshots Patterson into the cage, and now Patterson is busted open. Patterson tries to escape, but gets caught by Backlund and atomic dropped. Backlund tries to escape, but Patterson pulls brass knuckles from his tights and catches Backlund on top of the cage. Backlund blocks the attempted shot and knocks him down, but Backlund loses his balance and falls to the mat. Backlund crawls for the door, and Patterson tries to stop him, but Backlund kicks him away and escapes. Worked for me. 7 for 8.
* World title match: Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy: Yeah, yeah, I've seen this one before…it's the one from Wrestlemania 2, so if you want all the details, check Scott Keith's Retro Rant for the show. You know who wins, don't you? 7 for 9.
Final Analysis: A really enjoyable tape. It offers a nice sampling of some of the cage matches from many years ago, with the Snuka/Muraco match being a definite hit. Worth a look if you can find it anywhere.
Of course, the matches on these tapes aren't at the level of matches today, what with the bar constantly being raised, but some of the highlights on these tapes offer some classic moments from back in the early 80's. For those who didn't watch wrestling back then but are interested in some of those moments, you can get a good sampling from both.
But just avoid the part with Mean Gene wrestling, OK?