Boston Garden House Show
Boston, MA
November 1, 1986
Announcers: Announcers: Gorilla Monsoon & Lord Alfred Hayes
1) Bob Orton and Billy Jack Haynes wrestle to a time limit draw at 21:46
Cowboy Bob heads to the ring wearing a kilt and with bagpipers blaring as he mocks his former mentor, Roddy Piper. Gorilla is not impressed with Ace’s antics here as we kick things off from the historic Boston Garden. Jimmy Hart is with Orton as Alfred says what the Cowboy is doing is insulting to both Roddy Piper and the entire Scottish nation. The bell rings as Orton is still disrobing and de-kilting. Gorilla says that Orton’s kilt is sorry looking and probably cost only $3.98. He also hits his classic line that Hart doesn’t have $34.00 worth of stuff on, including his watch. We finally get a lockup which leads to a stand still shoulderblock. Haynes fires at Orton with some rights and then claps his ears, sending Ace reeling into the corner. They lockup again and Orton hits an armdrag to a chorus of boos. Ace hits another hiptoss and Jimmy Hart brags about it on the outside. Bob grabs a side headlock which eventually leads to a series of armdrags from Haynes, sending Orton scurrying to the floor. Orton complains of a hair pull and then calls for a time out. Haynes catches an Orton boot attempt and spins him around for an atomic drop, sending Orton crashing into the post shoulder first. Haynes grabs hold of the arm and starts working him over, eventually grabbing a hammerlock. Orton picks Haynes up with one arm while still in the hammerlock, which was really cool. Haynes continues to work the hold, so Orton is forced to let Billy back down. Orton finally slugs out of the hold, but Haynes catches him with a cross body and then goes back to the arm with an outside wristlock, which Gorilla points out is the most painful of all the wristlocks. Haynes smashes Orton’s head into the turnbuckle and then goes to an armbar, forcing Ace to the mat. Orton fights to his feet and scoop slams Haynes, but Billy is still holding onto the arm and flips Ace back over into an armbar. Gorilla calls Alfred the man about town in the WWF as Orton shoulders his way out of a front facelock. Ace snap mares Haynes over but misses an elbow smash which allows Haynes to return to the armbar. Billy clubs on the shoulder and works the armbar which gets the crowd going a bit. Orton gets back to his feet and plants Haynes with a reverse atomic drop. Gorilla says it was Haynes’ fault for standing in front of Orton while holding his arm, which is solid analysis. Ace slugs away at Haynes in the corner and then scoops him up, but Billy grabs the top rope and is able to pull off a small package for 2. They trade some punches, but Orton pulls Haynes out to the floor by his tights. Orton follows Haynes outside and drops him with a backbreaker and then slides back in to break the count. Haynes is back up on the apron and plants a shoulder and dives over for a sunset flip and a near fall. Orton goes to the eyes to maintain control and then just lands lefts and rights in the corner. He arches Haynes back and drops him with a modified backbreaker for 2. Ace goes to the reverse chinlock to slow things down a bit. He releases and lands a forearm in Billy’s face and then rams him into the turnbuckle. Ace rakes Billy’s eyes across the top rope and then rakes his back. Orton whips him into the corner and plants him with a nice clothesline for 2 off the rebound. The crowd is trying to rally Billy a bit, but Ace hits another atomic drop for another 2 count. Ace grabs a neck vise as Gorilla and Alfred chastise Orton for being complacent and lazy at times. Orton turns the hold into a front facelock as Gorilla critiques the hold. The crowd is rallying again and Billy is inspired and fights to his feet. Haynes fires away at the gut of Orton and hits a shoudlerblock, but Ace lands a big boot to the face and follows with a forearm drop to regain control. Haynes blocks a scoop slam and drops Orton neck first on the top rope. Gorilla thinks that could be a DQ based on the ref’s discretion. They trade blows in the corner and Haynes whips Orton across and charges, but he eats a big knee. Orton puts Haynes on the top rope to set up the superplex, but Haynes unloads on him and sends him down to the mat. Haynes comes off the bottom rope with a clothesline and is fired up. Haynes lands a pair of double thrusts and then hits a back elbow, which sends Ace hard down to the apron. Orton is back in and Billy puts him back down with a kneelift. Haynes heads to the middle rope and drops an axehandle to the chest for 2. Haynes shoots Orton in, but puts his head down and Ace lands a shot to the face to send him down. Haynes fires back again and the two trade blows as Gorilla surmises that the next man to make a mistake will lose here. Haynes slugs away at Orton, causing Ace to get caught in the ropes. The ref pushes Haynes back as Hart unties Cowboy Bob. Ace recovers to land a stiff knee to Billy’s gut, sending him out to the floor. Orton follows and tries to ram Billy’s head to the post, but Haynes shoves him into the post. Both men roll back in and Orton grabs a sleeper, but Haynes runs forward and both men crash to the floor, breaking the hold. Both men back in, and Ace tosses Haynes back out to the floor once again. Billy is back in and starts to fire away at Orton, but Bob shoots him into the ropes and lands a big knee to the face. Man, this match is a battle. Orton rams Billy to the buckle and snap mares him over for 2. Alfred says Orton doesn’t have much left and is going through the motions. Haynes fires back again and gets a snap mare and 2 count of his own. Haynes slugs away some more and we finally get the bell to signify the draw. Orton and Hart give the ref the business as Haynes grabs a mike. He says the people in Boston paid to see a fight to the finish and asks Orton to finish it off. He climbs back in the ring, but Orton catches him with a knee. Haynes reverses a whip and almost grabs the Full Nelson, but Orton slips out and takes off as Haynes celebrates to a big pop. That match was really fun until the last 3 or 4 minutes when you could tell they were just waiting for the bell as Orton kept tossing Haynes out to the floor and they traded snap mares and pin attempts. It was still a technically sound match and had a bunch of spots that I thought would be the end, so it had some drama, but it was still lacking in the climax. Grade: **1/2
2) Lanny Poffo & Raymond Rougeau defeat the Moondogs when Raymond pins Rex with a cross body block at 10:54
The ring announcer lets us know that Jacques Rougeau is out of action with a knee, but he is at ringside and in the corner of his brother and replacement. Lanny gives us a nice little poem praising the Rougeau family and tosses the Frisbees to the crowd before we kick things off. Alfred clarifies that Jacques actually has four fractures of his big toe and cracked two of his other toes, so it isn’t the aforementioned knee that is keeping him out. Ray and Rex start things off with a lockup and Ray eventually hits a monkey flip off a whip reversal. Poffo is tagged in and hits a dropkick and Senton and goes for a pin attempt, but Spot breaks it up. All four men are now in and the faces whip the Moondogs into each other, sending them both to the floor. Alfred is curious as to what the Moondogs actually discuss when they confer in the corner. Ray tags back in, but Rex grabs a hammerlock. Ray flips out and hits a big kick to send Rex down. Ray tags in Lanny as Rex tags Spot in. Lanny takes Spot down with a springboard armdrag and then hits a flying headscissors. Spot recovers to grab a headlock and then tags Rex back in. Rex hits a chop, but Lanny shoots him into the corner and hits another headscissors takedown. Lanny whips Rex into the opposite corner and mounts him, but Spot comes over and drills Lanny, sending him flying back to the mat. Rex tags in Spot, who lands a big right to the gut. He whips Poffo in and catches him with a clothesline. He heads to the middle rope and hits an axehandle smash for two. Spot hits a nice kneelift as Alfred lets us know that Spot is the faster of the Moondogs. He continues to just whip Poffo stiffly into the turnbuckle and then lands a beautiful suplex for another near fall. We see Jacques cheering on Poffo from ringside as Spot has him in a headlock. Lanny bridges out and hits the ropes, but Spot catches him with a backbreaker. Spot tags in Rex as Jacques joins us on commentary. He confirms that two of his toes are broken as Rex locks Lanny in a bear hug. Gorilla says the usual Rougeau continuity isn’t there tonight and Jacques agrees, but gives props to Lanny. Spot tags back into the match and shoots Lanny in to the ropes, but gets caught with a sunset flip for a near fall. Spot tags Rex back in as they continue to dominate Lanny. Alfred asks Jacques when he will be healthy, but he isn’t sure. Lanny makes the tag, but the referee was distracted by Spot and disallows it. Before heading back to his seat, Alfred asks about the disallowed tag and Jacques has no comment on the referee as Gorilla says the ref leaves a lot to be desired. Spot continues to dominate Lanny, but he gets a few shots in. Alfred says he is trying to do too much as Spot drags Lanny down with a front facelock. Rex is tagged back in tosses Lanny to the floor as Gorilla inquires how Lanny became the substitute here, and Alfred says he volunteered to help out. Lanny is back in, but is still being beaten up by the Moondogs. Lanny gets another false tag and while the ref is pushing Ray back out, the Moondogs hit a double clothesline for 2. Lanny crawls over and finally hits the hot tag. He takes down both Moondogs and then whips Rex into Spot. He drills Rex with a dropkick for two and then takes him up and over with a back body drop for another 2. Lanny charges back in and all four men are going at it. The Moondogs toss Lanny to the floor and shoot Ray into the ropes. The set up for another double clothesline, but Ray ducks it and runs through. The Moondogs hit the opposite ropes, but Spot gets tripped up by Jacques’ crutch, allowing Ray to hit a cross body block for the win. We get a replay as the Moondogs jaw with the ref. Gorilla says there were just too many Frenchmen around the ringside area for the Moondogs to overcome. That was the usual solid house show tag match that stuck to formula and built a nice heat segment before the faces picked up the win. Lanny is always great and selling a beating and I grow to appreciate the Moondogs with each older show I watch. Grade: **
3) Koko B. Ware defeats Jimmy Jack Funk by disqualification at 12:03 after Funk uses the bullrope
The announcer cracks me up by announcing that Koko is accompanied by “his friend, Frankie B. Ware”. The ref forces Funk to put his bullrope down as Alfred discuss his power and strength. Koko dances a bit and Alfred thinks he would have made a good Fullback. Koko continues to dance around as Funk stalks him and finally grabs an arm wringer. Koko reverses it into a wringer of his own and holds onto an armbar. Koko snaps on the arm as Alfred and Gorilla talk about how Jimmy Jack always wears the mask everywhere he goes. Funk shoots Koko in, but he hits a leapfrog and armdrags Funk right out to the floor. Funk is back in and wants a test of strength as Gorilla tells us he once had a bird but had to get rid of it because it suffered from hypertension. Funk taunts Koko a bit more as Gorilla calls Jimmy Jack the most unpredictable Funk brother, claiming his was locked up on the Double Cross Ranch for a while before they allowed him out. We finally get the test of strength and Funk takes Koko down and gets a series of near falls. Koko fights back to his feet and gains control of the test. He hops back and forth to gain momentum and lands a huge dropkick to the face and Funk bails to the floor again. Funk is back in and grabs a top wristlock, but Koko reverses it to a hammerlock and forces him to the mat. Koko works the arm as Gorilla and Alfred talk about how colorful and different the tights have become since they were in the ring. Gorilla says they wore black, white or red and if you wanted to be stylish, you put your initials on your tights. Koko switches to an armbar but Jack kicks out of it. He whips Koko into the buckle and charges, but Koko dodges and Funk crashes into the corner. Koko garbs the arm and takes Funk back down. Jack fights to his feet and goes for a hiptoss, but Koko blocks it and gets a backslide for 2. Jack is able to grab Koko’s arm, but Koko turns out of it and grabs an armbar of his own. He rides Funk down as continues to wear down the left arm. Alfred says that short, stubby wrestlers can always give taller guys problems because they can get under them. Funk fights out of the hold and whips Koko into the ropes, but Koko hits a shoulderblock. Koko hits the ropes but gets caught with a big Funk Powerslam for 2. Jack tries to drop and elbow, but Koko rolls out of the way. Jack recovers and goes to the arm and lands a boot to the gut. He continues to lay the boots in and then drops Koko neck first on the top rope. Jack grabs Koko and tosses him out to the floor. Koko fights up to the apron, but Jack slugs away at him on his way in. Funk lands a boot and then slams Koko back down. He heads to the middle rope but misses a fist drop, which Gorilla chastises him for. Koko lands some shots to the gut and then some to the face to send Jack to the mat. Funk begs off but Koko comes right at him and punches away. Gorilla says Koko’s antics remind him of the Killer Bees and says he is like a short, fat bee. Koko stalks Funk but catches a boot to the gut and then kicked down to the mat. Jack gets a 2 count and then hits another falling scoop slam for 2. Koko fights back again and gets a small package for 2. Funk hits a boot to the gut as the crowd is getting restless. Funk grabs his bullrope and just starts beating Koko with it, but the ref doesn’t call for the bell right away. Gorilla is getting annoyed and the ref finally calls for the bell after Jack tosses him down. Funk wraps the rope around Koko’s neck and drags him around the ring. The ref finally pulls Funk off and Koko pulls the noose off his head and chases Funk out of the ring. Funk looked lost out there half of the time and at the end just kept repeating moves and stalling. Koko looked game early on, but Funk just gave him nothing to work with. Grade: *
4) Ricky Steamboat defeats Randy Savage by countout in 14:46; Savage retains WWF Intercontinental Championship
Savage and Elizabeth get a nice little ovation as they head out and Gorilla talks about how Savage stole the title in this very arena back in February. He does say Savage has been a fighting champion, though. Steamboat comes out to a good pop and we should be in for a treat here at the Garden. Alfred says he has no sympathy for Elizabeth and says she is part of the conspiracy and she helps Savage keep his title because too many people do sympathize with her and count her out during the matches. Savage ducks out to the apron and poses on the top turnbuckle as the match officially gets underway. Macho gets back in and we get a lockup and a break in the corner. Savage hits the floor again and jaws with Monsoon for a moment. He gets back in and grabs a side headlock, but Steamboat shoots him in and hits two leapfrogs and follows with a hip toss. He trips up Savage and hooks on an armbar as Gorilla says he looked like a race horse there. Savage tries to fight out, but Ricky wrings the arm and continues to work it over with fists and knees. Monsoon reminds us that we have an hour time limit for this match, so Steamboat can work over a body part if he wants to. Savage works out of the hold but misses a charge in the corner and Ricky takes him back down with another drop toehold and then goes back to the armbar. He tries to work the arm into a half nelson and is able to roll Savage to his back for a 1 count. Both men get back to their feet and Savage is able to break the hold. He whips Steamboat in to the ropes, but Ricky comes back with a cross body for 2. Alfred asks what is it that keeps Savage the Champion and Steamboat the Challenger and Gorilla answers “the belt,” which makes all the sense in the world. Ricky whips Savage over with a really nice arm drag and goes right back to work on the arm, eventually working into a top wristlock. Savage fights back up, but Steamboat picks him up in the air by his wrist and drops him back to the mat. Randy grabs a handful of hair and pushes Ricky to the ropes and is able to knee him in the kidney. Savage goes to ram Steamboat to the buckle, but he blocks it and Savage eats the buckle instead. Ricky chops him and Savage falls back and gets tangled in the ropes. Steamboat punches Savage’s head until he falls loose and then he pastes him with another chop. He shoots Savage into the ropes, but Macho is able to land a sunset flip for 2. Steamboat rolls through and gets a near fall as well. Ricky gets a scoop slam for another 2 count and then follows with another arm drag to set up another armbar. Savage crawls to the ropes, forcing Ricky to break the hold, and then rolls to the floor. Elizabeth comes over to console Macho, but Steamboat yanks him up to the apron and snaps his arm over the top rope. Randy turns around on the apron and goes to his tights and pulls something out. The referee is pushing Steamboat away which allows Savage to come over and pop Ricky in the face with the object. Gorilla says it was reminiscent of how Savage beat Tito Santana for the IC belt right here in Boston. Savage hits a sharp sit out clothesline for a 1 count. He goes to pick Steamboat up, but Ricky gets a small package for 2. Steamboat charges and eats an elbow, allowing Savage to get 2. Savage heads up top and comes off with an axehandle, but Steamboat lands a fist to the gut at the same time and both men collapse. Randy gets another 2 count as the crowd is trying to rally Steamboat. Randy picks Ricky up and lands a big right hand, sending the Dragon to the floor. Savage follows him out and slams him down on the floor and then rolls back in. The referee is on 6 and Savage scoots over and kicks Steamboat in the head to break the count. Savage pulls him up to the apron and tries to suplex him in, but Dragon shifts his weight and falls on top for 2. Steamboat can’t capitalize and Savage lands a boot to the head. Randy goes for a Piledriver, but Steamboat blocks it and takes him over with a back body drop. The crowd is fired up as Steamboat stalks Savage, but Randy goes into his tights again and turns in time to go to the eyes to stop the momentum. Savage hits a high knee, sending Steamboat into the middle rope. He charges again, but Steamboat moves and Savage crashes into the ropes and flops back to the mat headfirst. Steamboat hits a clothesline for 2 and then follows with a suplex for another 2. Ricky gets another 2 off an atomic drop and then comes off the top rope with a chop and follows with a shoulderblock for 1. Ricky gets another shoulderblock for 2 but Savage avoids his next charge and tosses him out to the floor again. Savage goes up top and goes for an axehandle, but the Dragon moves and Randy crashes hard to the floor. Steamboat rolls in the ring to beat the count, but Savage can’t recover in time and is counted out. The crowd is pretty pumped up as Steamboat celebrates the moral victory. Elizabeth is tending to Macho on the floor as the announcer explains that the title did not change hands. Steamboat heads to the floor and shoots Savage back inside. He goes to the middle rope and comes off with a chop and then pounds away on Savage as Alfred chastises him for allowing the count out to happen. Gorilla says that he has done serious damage to the champion. Hayes does admit that Steamboat has set himself up for another title match with the win. Gorilla thinks Savage may have a fractured fibula as we watch the replay of Savage crashing to the floor. That was a fun and really fast paced match. You can see the basic template for the Wrestlemania III classic, as they never slowed down and had a bunch of near falls. They would piece in a few more big spots and a hot finishing sequence in time for March, but the seeds for the feud and major blowoff bout were sown here. Grade: ***
5) Hercules defeats Salvatore Bellomo by submission with the Backbreaker at 3:27
Hercules actually gets a smattering of cheers as Sal is booed heartily. Gorilla makes a note of Hercules’ haircut and Alfred wonders why his beard has been trimmed as muses about why he would suddenly have concern for his looks. Gorilla thinks that Bobby Heenan purchasing Herc’s contract from Slick as the reason for his new look. Alfred also notes that he is no longer wearing the leather harness that he once had. Herc just shoves Bellomo down to the mat, but Sal rebounds and grabs a side headlock. Herc shoots him in and lands a big shoulderblock, which staggers Sal back to the mat. Sal grabs another side headlock, but Hercules pushes him back to the corner and buries his shoulder in Bellomo’s gut. Sal shoots Herc into the opposite corner and follows with a dropkick. He goes for a snap mare, but Herc blocks it and shoves him off. He slugs Bellomo down to the mat and then picks him up and rams him into the buckle. He clubs Sal back down as Gorilla wonders were Bobby Heenan is. He wonders if Bobby needed a second job after shelling out all the cash for Hercules. Herc continues to pound on Sal, but Bellomo catches him off guard with a dropkick. Herc staggers, but stays on his feet and is able to bury a knee on a Sal charge. He drills him in the face and then hits a scoop slam as Gorilla notes that Herc looks like he is ready to polish this off. And his prophecy comes true as Hercules locks Bellomo in the Backbreaker and gets the submission win. That was nothing more than a quick squash for Herc, but it worked on that level. Grade: *
6) Roddy Piper defeats Don Muraco with a roll up at 7:20
Muraco heads out with Mr. Fuji and, just like Orndorff earlier, he is wearing a kilt and enters to the bagpipe music to further mock the Hot Rod. Muraco is sporting a thick and very unflattering beard here. The bagpipe music just keeps playing through as Piper heads out to a loud ovation. Alfred questions if Piper is 100% ready to come back after his injury as he makes his way out. Muraco holds up his knock-off kilt as Roddy slowly gets on the apron and de-kilts. Gorilla points out that Piper’s leg is still heavily taped. Roddy wastes no time and tosses his kilt in Muraco’s face and then jumps on him and pounds away. He stomps away furiously as the crowd is erupting. He tosses Muraco into the buckle and then slugs him down. Piper keeps on the offensive and the crowd is just wild for Roddy. Alfred says that Piper is dominating Muraco like Muraco usually dominates his opponents. Piper lands a dropkick, which sends Muraco careening onto the top rope. Piper runs and kicks him off the rope and onto the apron and then slugs him down to the floor. Roddy follows him outside and grabs a chair and rams Muraco into it head first. Piper slides back in as Muraco regroups on the floor. Roddy pulls him in by the hair and then bites his forehead and rakes his eyes. Muraco slowly climbs through the ropes but gets tangled in between the top and middle ropes, allowing Piper to waffle him a few times. He lands a chop to the throat follows with a bulldog, which leaves Muraco quivering on the mat. Alfred is impressed by Piper breaking out a new move and says he should use it more often. Roddy pushes Muraco into the corner, but when he goes to punch him, the ref hooks his hand which allows Muraco to poke Piper in the eye. This ref, who looks like Chris Parnell, has been annoying all night long. Muraco tosses Piper out to the floor and distracts Parnell, which allows Fuji to jam his cane into Roddy. Don heads out and rams Piper headfirst into the post and then rolls back inside. They show a replay of the post shot, and Piper took a direct shot right to his skull which looked pretty nasty. Muraco keeps the ref distracted as Fuji lands another cane shot. Piper keeps trying to get back in, but Muraco kicks him back out. He finally slips in and mounts Muraco and flails away at him as the crowd goes banana. Piper is busted open from the post shot and looks like a crazed animal as he beats on Muraco. Piper bites Muraco and he is now busted open as well. Piper lands some jabs and sends Muraco crashing to the mat. Roddy takes Muraco over with a suplex and gets 2 as Gorilla wants the ref to take a look at the cuts and decide if the injuries are too serious. Fuji cracks Piper with the cane from the floor and Muraco gets a 2. Fuji hops on to the apron and Piper goes over and starts choking him. Muraco charges, but Roddy sidesteps him and he crashes into his manager. Piper rolls Muraco up from behind gets the win to a deafening pop. Piper heads right to the dressing room as Muraco flips out in the ring. The match was as basic as it gets, but the brawling was stiff, the blood was flowing and the heat and hatred was off the charts. Grade: **1/2
7) Leilani Kai & Judy Martin defeat Penny Mitchell & Candice Pardue to retain the WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship when Kai pins Mitchell after a Martin powerbomb at 9:33
Martin & Kai are ready for action to defend their titles as Alfred tells us that the champs have a big advantage in experience. Gorilla wonders if Candice is any relation to Frank Purdue. I am guessing no. He also explains how Kai finally found a partner to help get her some gold. Alfred says that Candice holds world weightlifting records as she starts off with Kai. Alfred believes that Kai is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world as Candice takes her down into an armbar. Kai slips out into a hammerlock and turns it to a leg grapevine. Candice is out and backs Kai off a bit. Kai comes back with a step over toehold, but Pardue reverses it and works the leg. Martin and Penny take turns entering the ring and reversing the toehold. Penny comes in without a tag and stays in as she works Kai’s leg some more. Kai tosses Penny off and grabs a double leg takedown into a choke. Penny turns it into a body scissors but almost pins herself with it. Penny turns into a leg submission but Kai grabs the ropes. Kai reaches up and tags in Judy, but she gets caught with an atomic drop. Kai comes back in and she catches an atomic drop too. Candice tags back in, but Judy turns her in the corner and slugs away. She whips Candice into the ropes, but Candice ducks a charge and then misses a dropkick. Candice rolls through a slingshot and hits both Kai and Martin with a dropkick. Kai and Martin send their opponents into each other but then clothesline each other when Penny and Candice duck. Candice goes for a cover but Kai just shoves the ref to prevent a 3 however, much to Gorilla’s consternation, it does not draw a DQ. Candice misses a flying headscissors and Martin sends her flying with a hairwhip. Martin mares Candice over and tags in Kai. Kai hits a nice Northern Lights suplex for 2 and then follows up with a scoop slam and boot. Kai sends Candice into Martin’s boot and then tags Judy back in. They hit a double team and then Kai tags back in for another double team. Candice fires back with some fists, but Kai clubs her down to keep control. The crowd is getting restless as Kai tags Martin back in. Martin drops a headbutt and then taunts Penny. The crowd is just crapping all over them now and it is starting to get ugly. Alfred plays it off as the crowd is angry with Kai and Martin, but they are chanting “boring”. Candice gets a sunset flip for 2. Kai tags in and goes for an axehandle but Candice moves out of the way and she clobbers Martin. Candice finally tags in Penny and she hits a one leg dropkick on Martin. She takes Judy over with a back body drop, but Judy is able to tag Kai in. Penny slams her and gets a 2 count. Penny picks Kai up in a fireman’s carry and then falls forward, slamming Kai to the mat. All four ladies come in and the ref is distracted. Martin kills Penny with a Powerbomb which allows Kai to get the win. Alfred says the move is called a “Drip Dry” in England. Well, the crowd shit all over it but it was actually a pretty good match. It never slowed down and they did some neat spots, including Martin busting out a Powerbomb. Kai looked really good out there and I can see why Alfred was pumping her up early on. Grade: **1/2
8) Sika defeats Scott McGhee with a Samoan drop at 4:39
Sika has the Wizard at his side as he climbs in the ring for our next match. Gorilla calls them both “awesome creatures” and Alfred agrees. Gorilla reminds us that the Wizard claims to be at 40,000 feet most of the time, which is where the Grand Wizard resides. Sika has control early, but McGhee fires back. He tries ramming Sika to the buckle, but that doesn’t work. Scott lands a pair of dropkicks but gets caught on a cross body block leading to a Sika Powerslam. Sika clubs away at McGhee as Gorilla tells us of Scott’s career threatening back injury as only he can. Sika hits a back elbow as Gorilla tells Alfred that anatomy and kinesiology were his favorite subjects. Wizard comes over to talk to Gorilla and says that Grand Wizard told him to come to Boston Garden for reasons that I can’t understand. Gorilla thanks him but says he doesn’t appreciate Wizard spitting on his arm. Sika continues to dominate McGhee with a variety of basic strikes. A chop to the throat sends McGhee to the floor as Alfred says Sika is oblivious to pain. Scott comes back in but Sika slams him down hard upon his return. Sika chokes Scott and then whips him to the buckle. He charges, but Scott ducks it and hits a dropkick. McGhee hits the ropes but Sika catches him with a Samoan Drop for the win. That was a pretty boring squash as it was just Sika chopping and punching, but Sika did look like a beast throughout. Grade: 1/2*
9) British Bulldogs defeat the Hart Foundation to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship when Davey Boy Smith pins Jim Neidhart with a roll-up at 13:58
The Harts are in first to some good heat followed by the Bulldogs and Matilda coming down to a nice pop. Gorilla wants Matilda to take a chunk out of Jimmy Hart’s leg here tonight. Bret taunts Matilda a bit as the ref gives the instructions. Matilda goes after Hart and he bails from the ring. He tries to get back in, but Matilda goes after him again and he goes running. It happens again and Gorilla starts taunting Hart. Jimmy comes over and talks to Gorilla and says that Matilda is a German shepherd. Matilda and Hart finally head outside the ring and we are ready to go. Dynamite and Bret kick things off in our main event of the evening. We get a couple of lockups to start, each ending with a clean break. The third leads to a Bret punch to the gut. He pushes Dynamite into the corner where Anvil starts clubbing on him as well. Kid turns the tables and fights out of the corner, beating on both men before slipping free. Hart bails to the floor as Dynamite tags in Davey. Bret climbs back in and confers with Neidhart. He locks up with Smith and whips him in to the ropes. Smith catches a boot and lands an atomic drop. Smith charges in the corner, but Bret floats over and gets a roll up for 2. Smith kicks out and sends Bret right out to the floor. He slides back in and tags Neidhart. We get another lockup and Smith gets a side headlock and then lands a dropkick. He goes back to the headlock. Anvil shoves him off and we get a couple of shoulderblocks with no movement by either man. Smith hits the ropes again and tries a cross body block, but Anvil catches him and hits a Powerslam. He tags Bret and slingshots him on top of Smith for a 2 count. Bret hits an inverted atomic drop and then drops an elbow. Bret scoops Davey up and hits a perfect backbreaker. He stomps on Smith and then tags Anvil in. He pulls Davey up by the head and then spikes him back down. Anvil distracts the ref so Hart can hit an elbow. Anvil puts Smith on his knee and Hart comes off the middle rope with an elbow drop. They get a near fall but Dynamite breaks it up. Anvil chokes Smith in the corner and then distracts the ref again so Hart can choke Davey as well. Anvil shoots Davey into the ropes, but Smith ducks a clothesline and then gets kneed in the back by Bret on the rebound. Anvil tosses Davey to the floor, where Bret drops down and slams him on the floor. Anvil pulls Davey back in and takes him over with a snap mare into a reverse chinlock. The crowd is rallying Davey Boy as he tries to fight out of the hold. Anvil turns the hold into a front facelock. Davey pushes towards Dynamite, but Bret comes flying in and knocks Dynamite to the floor. Bret whips Anvil shoulder first into Davey’s gut for a two count. The Harts double team Smith a bit. Bret whips Davey in, but he ducks a clothesline and gets a crucifix for 2. Bret pops right back up and hits a pair of Legdrops and then tags in Anvil. Anvil stands over Davey and yells at him to get up. He finally pull him up and then clubs him back down. Davey tries to fire back, but Anvil goes back to the front facelock. Davey pushes towards his corner again, but Bret hops back in and pulls Davey back across the ring. Dynamite comes in but the ref pushes him back to his corner. The Harts hit a double team DDT for a near fall. Hart hits a nice uppercut as Gorilla proclaims that we will have new champs if Davey doesn’t tag. Bret hooks on a tight sleeperhold but Davey keeps his arm up on the third attempt. Davey stands up with Bret on his back and rams him into the corner. Bret charges but Smith military presses him and drops him crotch first on the top rope. Davey crawls over and tags Dynamite, which draws Anvil in. Kid hits a double noggin knocker and the lands a clothesline on Bret and a headbutt on Anvil. He whips Bret into the corner and then hits a beautiful snap suplex. He drops a headbutt and then pulls Bret back up as Alfred chastises him for not going for a cover. Kid shoots Bret in and grabs a sleeperhold. Anvil runs in and charges into both men, taking out the ref in the process. He tosses Smith to the floor and places Bret on top of Kid. Anvil wakes up the ref who counts a slow 2 and a half. The crowd was nervous on that one and erupted when Kid kicked out. Alfred is freaking out right now. Anvil comes back in and slams Kid down hard and puts Bret on top of him again. The ref crawls over and counts an even slower near fall. The crowd and Alfred are exasperated. Anvil is pissed and yelling at the ref and never sees Davey come from behind. Smith rolls Anvil up and a slow 3 count later, the Bulldogs are victorious. Gorilla says the Bulldogs are fortunate and Alfred says they were lucky. The Harts are berating the referee and then attack the champs. Hart lands a stiff Piledriver on Kid but Davey Boy runs the Harts off before they can inflict any more damage. Gorilla claims the ref lost control and should have just thrown the match out. We head to the announce table where Monsoon and Hayes wrap up the night for us, reminding us that both Savage and the Bulldogs barely escaped with their titles tonight. The match was really good and the Harts worked the old school WWF tag formula to perfection. Davey Boy sold like a champ and the crowd stayed into it all the way through. The ending was looking epic for a bit when Dynamite kept kicking out and the crowd and announcers were flipping out, but the final pin was a bit anticlimactic, especially with the really slow count. Still, the work until the last 5 or 6 seconds was really good and was a nice example of a classic WWF tag match. Grade: ***
Final Analysis
We got a pretty good outing this time as we only had a couple of flat matches in the Koko/Funk and Sika/McGhee matches. The opener was a surprising little gem and the Moondog tag match was a fun watch as well. The Hercules squash was quick and inoffensive. Even the women’s tag was decent enough and I was quite impressed with Leilani Kai’s work and the Powerbomb finish. This show, however, was carried by three big matchups and all three delivered. Piper/Muraco was a basic brawl, but the fire and crowd heat was phenomenal. Savage/Steamboat was fun and you could see them building their Wrestlemania 3 match template here. I liked the ending as the injury to Savage’s leg made the match itself seem like an important part of the angle. The main event was really good too as it kept a nice pace and made the Harts look awesome and a major threat. Gorilla and Alfred were great to listen to as always, as the work together a nice mix of comedy, information and storytelling. If you have some time to kill, are in the mood for some classic 80s WWF and have this show, it is worth checking out just for the three major matches. Final Grade: B+
MVP: Hart Foundation
Runner Up: Ricky Steamboat & Randy Savage
Non MVP: Jimmy Jack Funk
Runner Up: Sika
Review Date: February 2008
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