the brawl to end it all
history in the making...
Capt. Lou Albano, the “walking advertisement for birth control” as Gorilla Monsoon affectionately called him, got on a plane once and brought wrestling into the mainstream. This is the short story of how the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling connection began…
Albano, then one of if not the leading manager in the WWF, got talking to Cyndi Lauper during a flight. Lauper, on the verge of her big breakthrough, asked Albano to appear in the video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” as her father. Albano did so, and struck up conversation with Lauper’s manager and boyfriend, David Wolff, who was a huge wrestling fan. This led to Lauper getting involved with the WWF, which was full-throttle into its national expansion, recently promoting cards in Minnesota, the home base of Verne Gagne’s AWA. Lauper was at the time one of the biggest pop stars in the world, with “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” hitting number 2 in America. Part of the song’s success had been its Albano-starring video, which had received heavy rotation on MTV, which at the time was new and extremely popular.
Albano, then one of if not the leading manager in the WWF, got talking to Cyndi Lauper during a flight. Lauper, on the verge of her big breakthrough, asked Albano to appear in the video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” as her father. Albano did so, and struck up conversation with Lauper’s manager and boyfriend, David Wolff, who was a huge wrestling fan. This led to Lauper getting involved with the WWF, which was full-throttle into its national expansion, recently promoting cards in Minnesota, the home base of Verne Gagne’s AWA. Lauper was at the time one of the biggest pop stars in the world, with “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” hitting number 2 in America. Part of the song’s success had been its Albano-starring video, which had received heavy rotation on MTV, which at the time was new and extremely popular.
The Brawl To End It All, then, was a timely combination of all these popular products: MTV, Lauper, and the WWF. Albano had been claiming on WWF TV that he was Lauper’s manager, and had written and produced her songs, whilst preparing her for the wide world and teaching her some “etiquette”. In a great skit on Tuesday Night Titans (a talk show-style programme that featured Vince McMahon interviewing WWF stars in a very tongue-in-cheek manner) Albano took up Vince’s offer to prove his musicality by busting out a tune on the piano. Lauper eventually appeared on an edition of Piper’s Pit, during which she asserted that Albano was not her manager. Capt. Lou barged on to the set and grew increasingly angry with Lauper, eventually telling her she should get back to the kitchen where women belonged. Lauper, whose persona was built around a strong feminist idea, took exception to this and assaulted both Albano and Piper before Wolff and WWF agents took her off the set. This was an awesome segment, and many WWE Divas could learn a lot from watching Lauper’s performance here.
Lauper would then challenge Albano to provide a female competitor to face a woman managed by Lauper herself, with the match to take place at Madison Square Garden and broadcast on MTV. Albano accepted, bringing in The Fabulous Moolah, who had sold the rights to use her Women’s championship to Vince McMahon. She was billed as holding the title for 27 years, which is or isn’t true depending on where you look. Lauper chose Wendi Richter, who had joined the WWF in late 1983. The match was set, and a major wrestling event was built around a woman’s match, which is often forgotten when talk of Trish Stratus and Lita is brought up… |
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Elsewhere? Hulk Hogan was traveling the country, facing Paul Orndorff and having a blood-soaked battle with Dr D David Shultz in Minnesota, but he hadn't started a major feud as yet that the company could be built around. Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, another AWA alumni, was seen as the guy to push the Hogan bandwagon on further, and Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan, Hogan's old AWA nemesis, was on his way to the WWF to manage Ventura. Until then, Hogan would have to make do with Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine, who had recently returned to the WWF after a few years beating the bejesus out of Roddy Piper in the NWA.
Sgt Slaughter had recently transitioned into a babyface by slightly changing the wording of his army rhetoric and targeting that evil Iranian bastard, The Iron Sheik. In addition, he had begun the Cobra Corps, a training program for younger talent, and had surprisingly turned down Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in favour of rookie Terry Daniels. Slaughter took a break from defending the American nation's honour against the Iranian to challenge the new WWF Tag Team Champions, Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch. They had beaten Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson on April 17th and were engaged in a feud with The Wild Samoans, who had actually turned face - which meant basically that they were just beating up bad guys instead of good guys.
Only the Women's title match would be shown on MTV, with everything else essentially the undercard, including Hulk Hogan's WWF Championship match...Take a second with that - The Fabulous Moolah got on to TV and Hulk Hogan warmed up the crowd for her...
Sgt Slaughter had recently transitioned into a babyface by slightly changing the wording of his army rhetoric and targeting that evil Iranian bastard, The Iron Sheik. In addition, he had begun the Cobra Corps, a training program for younger talent, and had surprisingly turned down Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in favour of rookie Terry Daniels. Slaughter took a break from defending the American nation's honour against the Iranian to challenge the new WWF Tag Team Champions, Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch. They had beaten Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson on April 17th and were engaged in a feud with The Wild Samoans, who had actually turned face - which meant basically that they were just beating up bad guys instead of good guys.
Only the Women's title match would be shown on MTV, with everything else essentially the undercard, including Hulk Hogan's WWF Championship match...Take a second with that - The Fabulous Moolah got on to TV and Hulk Hogan warmed up the crowd for her...
it's a happening
Gorilla Monsoon and 'Mean' Gene Okerlund are on commentary here, and it's right into the action...
samoan number 2 (or, sika) vs. ron shaw
It seems that part of turning face on Capt. Lou Albano involves competing in single matches for the Samoans. The commentators mention that Sika is a savage as he carefully folds his sarong, a notable trait of the island brute. Sika nails Shaw with a forearm and chokes him up in the ropes, showing the face turn isn't complete just yet. Shaw bails and Sika is actually quite popular with the MSG crowd. Shaw rakes the eye but still can’t take control. Shaw punches that hard foreign head of Sika and shakes his fist loose after each shot. Shaw is knocked to the mat, where Sika nails him with a falling head-butt for the three count.
tony garea vs. the iron sheik (w/ 'ayatollah' freddie blassie)
Garea’s hair looks even more plastic-like than it did in January. He is fully in jobber status now, whereas The Iron Sheik was about to sell out the Garden feuding with Sgt Slaughter. The Sheik tries to shout some abuse into the house microphone but it rises up into the rafters before he can grab it. Interestingly, Garea has tattoos, which was very unusual for the time. A real trailblazer, old Tony.
Iron Sheik stalls for a bit trying to work the crowd until they finally start chanting “USA!” and he can’t start wrestling. Garea takes control with a headlock, spicing it up with the occasional fist to Sheik’s baldhead. He nails a big powerslam that bounces everyone up in the air for a second before he goes back to the headlock. The crowd start chanting “USA!” again, and Mean Gene mentions that it probably won’t help Garea so much as he’s from New Zealand. Iron Sheik takes control with some kicks from those dangerous Iranian boots before Garea floats into a hip toss and a flying body press. His Irish whip is reversed though, and it gives The Iron Sheik a chance to catch him in a back suplex for the three count. This time the microphone stays down long enough for a shout of “Iran, Number One!”
Iron Sheik stalls for a bit trying to work the crowd until they finally start chanting “USA!” and he can’t start wrestling. Garea takes control with a headlock, spicing it up with the occasional fist to Sheik’s baldhead. He nails a big powerslam that bounces everyone up in the air for a second before he goes back to the headlock. The crowd start chanting “USA!” again, and Mean Gene mentions that it probably won’t help Garea so much as he’s from New Zealand. Iron Sheik takes control with some kicks from those dangerous Iranian boots before Garea floats into a hip toss and a flying body press. His Irish whip is reversed though, and it gives The Iron Sheik a chance to catch him in a back suplex for the three count. This time the microphone stays down long enough for a shout of “Iran, Number One!”
intercontinental title match: tito santana (c) vs. 'cowboy' bob orton
Orton had just come in from the NWA, where he had been a tag team champion with Don Kernodle and Tito was just about to embark on a highly successful feud with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Before our match gets underway, the Fink hastily corrects himself, stating that actually there is a 20-minute time limit for the match, not the hour he had previously stated. Hmm, could this be a hint towards the finish?
They start with some slick chain wrestling, swapping hip tosses, arm drags, arm bars and head scissors until Orton bails to take stock outside. After a minute there has already been more action than the entire Santana-Muraco match in January. Back in the ring, they tangle up in an outside wristlock combination and jockey for position. Tito takes advantage of Orton missing a charge and lands a flying chop before locking in an arm wringer. Tito sails up to leapfrog, but Cowboy Bob just clubs him in the back for showing off. An awkward spot ensues as Orton comes off the ropes for what seems like a flying stomp, but Santana rolls out the way, causing the Cowboy to perform almost a triple jump-like prance to finally nail the stomp. Orton starts to rub his knee into Santana’s back before realising that actually he’s giving him a massage and changing to stomping on the lower back instead.
The crowd get behind Tito, urging him to make a comeback. Instead, Orton hits a big backbreaker, followed by a miniature fisherman’s suplex (which he performs on his knees as if he was playing with baby Randy Orton in the garden) for two. Orton makes the fateful mistake that all 80s heels made, climbing up to the top rope and trying a Vader/Swagger Bomb, only to land on Tito’s knees. Santana unleashes a knee for two and we get a wonderful close-up of Tito’s spit dangling out of his mouth. He puts Orton in an abdominal stretch, but the Cowboy reverses it, locking his own hands behind his back for extra leverage. They exchange two counts, Orton from a back suplex, and Tito from a small package. Orton ducks from the flying forearm but then takes a huge bump in the corner that gets Tito another two.
Both men are growing tired now, and they duke it out on their knees. Orton sets Tito up for a piledriver, but Santana back drops his way out of it and then mounts the Cowboy for the turnbuckle punching spot. Orton escapes with a lame atomic drop, but is too discombobulated to make a cover. Orton starts dropping elbows as the bell rings. As was the custom for a non-finish, both men start brawling as the refs break them up and we wait for the official announcement. It is of course a time limit draw. Monsoon and Mean Gene want the match to continue, and that wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, as this was far superior to the headlock spot that was Tito’s match with The Magnificent Muraco.
They start with some slick chain wrestling, swapping hip tosses, arm drags, arm bars and head scissors until Orton bails to take stock outside. After a minute there has already been more action than the entire Santana-Muraco match in January. Back in the ring, they tangle up in an outside wristlock combination and jockey for position. Tito takes advantage of Orton missing a charge and lands a flying chop before locking in an arm wringer. Tito sails up to leapfrog, but Cowboy Bob just clubs him in the back for showing off. An awkward spot ensues as Orton comes off the ropes for what seems like a flying stomp, but Santana rolls out the way, causing the Cowboy to perform almost a triple jump-like prance to finally nail the stomp. Orton starts to rub his knee into Santana’s back before realising that actually he’s giving him a massage and changing to stomping on the lower back instead.
The crowd get behind Tito, urging him to make a comeback. Instead, Orton hits a big backbreaker, followed by a miniature fisherman’s suplex (which he performs on his knees as if he was playing with baby Randy Orton in the garden) for two. Orton makes the fateful mistake that all 80s heels made, climbing up to the top rope and trying a Vader/Swagger Bomb, only to land on Tito’s knees. Santana unleashes a knee for two and we get a wonderful close-up of Tito’s spit dangling out of his mouth. He puts Orton in an abdominal stretch, but the Cowboy reverses it, locking his own hands behind his back for extra leverage. They exchange two counts, Orton from a back suplex, and Tito from a small package. Orton ducks from the flying forearm but then takes a huge bump in the corner that gets Tito another two.
Both men are growing tired now, and they duke it out on their knees. Orton sets Tito up for a piledriver, but Santana back drops his way out of it and then mounts the Cowboy for the turnbuckle punching spot. Orton escapes with a lame atomic drop, but is too discombobulated to make a cover. Orton starts dropping elbows as the bell rings. As was the custom for a non-finish, both men start brawling as the refs break them up and we wait for the official announcement. It is of course a time limit draw. Monsoon and Mean Gene want the match to continue, and that wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, as this was far superior to the headlock spot that was Tito’s match with The Magnificent Muraco.
bob backlund vs. 'butcher' paul vachon
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Backlund had slid down the card after dropping the WWF Championship, his jutted-out bottom the only thing stopping him from completely disappearing. He had refused the chance to turn heel and face Hulk Hogan in a main event feud, making himself irrelevant to the new world of sports entertainment. Luckily, sex and steroid scandals erupted eight years later, and squeaky-clean Bob got the call to come back. Vachon was also at the tail end of his career, having headlined all over America and Canada throughout the 1970s. His brief WWF run was memorable for his Tuesday Night Titans appearances, which included a surprisingly good singing turn and an on-screen wedding.
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The two start with Backlund using his speed to avoid getting trapped by the larger Vachon. He uses his ring smarts to counter some attempted holds by the Butcher before lifting him up in to a slam position and showing his strength of by carrying Vachon around the ring for a bit before dropping him to the mat. One cross-face chicken wing later and it’s over. It would be hard to tell from this match that Backlund had recently spent five years as the face of the company, and compared to Hogan, who was sweating charisma at this point, there was no chance of Backlund getting that spot back.
Mean Gene has dashed backstage impressively quickly to talk with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, who says that Hulk Hogan will “feel the wrath of Valentine”. The Hulkster, on the other hand, is very excited, and says that New York won’t need electricity tonight because the glow of his Hulkamaniacs will keep the city alight. Obviously they have been following their leader to the sunbed.
WWF CHAMPIONSHIP: HULK HOGAN (C) VS. GREG 'THE HAMMER' VALENTINE (W/ CAPT. LOU ALBANO)
Greg Valentine had been a big star in both the NWA and the WWF in the early 1980s, even having a top-line feud with Bob Backlund over the WWF title in 1981-2. He had gained a reputation for stiff, intense, physical matches, and was remembered well enough in the New York area to be considered a decent threat to Hogan, who was still 'Incredible' here.
Hogan is super-over here, causing Lou Albano to descend into a truffle shuffle as a result. Hogan explodes out of the blocks with big punches to The Hammer, leading Valentine to beg off. Hogan atomic drops Valentine, which gives the Hulkster very visible pleasure, and he then slams his opponent back into the ring from the apron, which is a nice show of strength. Valentine escapes a side headlock and lays some elbows into Hogan’s back, setting up a “partial” camel clutch. Hogan easily powers out but Valentine stays on the offensive with stiff forearms. The Hulkster counters a suplex and the two find themselves on the outside, where Hogan nails another atomic drop. Valentine takes advantage as they both roll back in to the ring, which Mean Gene puts down to him being a “capitalist…he’ll take advantage whenever he can.” The communists were right all along! And it seems that Mean Gene was a double agent espousing Soviet propaganda on the MSG network…
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Valentine begins to wear the Hulkster down as Gorilla and Mean Gene debate whether or not The Hammer can apply his figure four leglock as Hogan’s legs are like tree trunks. Valentine decides to try, pulling Hogan’s legs out of the ring and throwing a chair at them, in full view of the referee, but doesn’t get disqualified. Inside the ring, Valentine grinds his foot into Hogan’s leg, but gets kicked off repeatedly when trying to lock the figure four in. An elbow from the second rope starts the Hulk Up, and Valentine is caught coming off the top rope with a clothesline. Hogan hits the legdrop (only using the leg Valentine wasn’t working on, which is nice selling) for the three.
WWF MARTIAL-ARTS CHAMPIONSHIP: ANTONIO INOKI (C) VS. CHARLIE FULTON
The World Martial-Arts Championship was created by the WWWF to be presented to Antonio Inoki upon his arrival in the territory in December 1978, and was defended occasionally in shoot-style matches in New Japan or the WWF until 1985 when Vince split from Inoki and the title became solely a NJPW strap. Inoki gets some polite respect from the MSG audience, but nothing akin to his reception in Japan, of course. Charlie Fulton looks like Chuck Norris, which would have been more of a challenge for Inoki.
Inoki uses a leg take down to get Fulton on the mat where he applies a nasty-looking leg lock. Fulton has a brief flurry of forearms and a snapmare before clamping a headlock in. Inoki breaks out easily, kicks Fulton a few times, and then hits an enziguri for a quick three count.
Inoki uses a leg take down to get Fulton on the mat where he applies a nasty-looking leg lock. Fulton has a brief flurry of forearms and a snapmare before clamping a headlock in. Inoki breaks out easily, kicks Fulton a few times, and then hits an enziguri for a quick three count.
WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: ADRIAN ADONIS & DICK MURDOCH (C) VS. SGT SLAUGHTER & TERRY DANIELS
Adonis had been part of a hugely successful tag team with Jesse Ventura in the AWA, and had seen some success in the WWF in 1981-2. As Ventura was being prepared as a big challenge for Hulk Hogan, Adonis teamed up with Dick Murdoch as the North-South Connection, winning the tag titles from Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson on April 17th, 1984. Slaughter had recently turned face and created the Cobra Corps, where he was to train young wrestlers in his image. But I thought Slaughter fought Cobra…Terry Daniels was the first inductee, an agile smaller wrestler who was getting a rub from the Sarge here, who also had bigger fish to fry with The Iron Sheik at the time.
Murdoch and Daniels start out, but Murdoch is unable to pin Daniels down, and the rookie slaps an arm bar on. The commentators put over Slaughter’s training methods as Daniels holds on through an arm drag and keeps the move applied. The crowd pops for the introduction of Slaughter, who became a massive babyface very quickly. Adrian Adonis is just as able a bumper as Sarge, and willingly flies around from Slaughter’s big right hands. Slaughter then does some rolls and flips to escape an arm bar, almost Owen Hart-esque. Daniels and Adonis move energetically and athletically around the ring, with Daniels landing on his feet following a monkey flip. Adonis makes the tag to Murdoch, but he walks straight into an arm bar. Mean Gene: “Speaking of impressive, Gorilla Monsoon you look great in a tuxedo.” Adonis nails a big elbow and the heels now take control of the young upstart Daniels. Murdoch whips Daniels into the turnbuckle but Slaughter lies over the corner to break the impact. He shortly tags in and whips the champs into one another. In a very nice and believable spot, Slaughter throws Daniels on his shoulders for extra weight as he drops a knee on Murdoch. Adonis is tagged in, and in a wonderful bit of psychology, is more apprehensive to take on Daniels, who has been built up throughout the match as a credible threat. Adonis does take control, however, dropping knees and knife-edge chops. He nearly breaks Daniels’ neck with a mistimed running powerslam as the heels beat down the youngster, riling up Slaughter to distract the referee and allow them a chance to double team Daniels. A dropkick allows Daniels the chance to make the hot tag, and Slaughter clears house.
The Cobra Clutch is locked in, but Adonis knees Slaughter in the back. Daniels dropkicks Adonis a few times and nearly gets a three from a high cross body, Murdoch’s interference making sure he doesn’t. A brawl erupts between all four at this point, allowing Adonis and Murdoch to nail what would later be called the Demolition Decapitation on Daniels to get the win to a big chorus of booing. Slaughter clears house after the match to give the fans something to cheer about.
Murdoch and Daniels start out, but Murdoch is unable to pin Daniels down, and the rookie slaps an arm bar on. The commentators put over Slaughter’s training methods as Daniels holds on through an arm drag and keeps the move applied. The crowd pops for the introduction of Slaughter, who became a massive babyface very quickly. Adrian Adonis is just as able a bumper as Sarge, and willingly flies around from Slaughter’s big right hands. Slaughter then does some rolls and flips to escape an arm bar, almost Owen Hart-esque. Daniels and Adonis move energetically and athletically around the ring, with Daniels landing on his feet following a monkey flip. Adonis makes the tag to Murdoch, but he walks straight into an arm bar. Mean Gene: “Speaking of impressive, Gorilla Monsoon you look great in a tuxedo.” Adonis nails a big elbow and the heels now take control of the young upstart Daniels. Murdoch whips Daniels into the turnbuckle but Slaughter lies over the corner to break the impact. He shortly tags in and whips the champs into one another. In a very nice and believable spot, Slaughter throws Daniels on his shoulders for extra weight as he drops a knee on Murdoch. Adonis is tagged in, and in a wonderful bit of psychology, is more apprehensive to take on Daniels, who has been built up throughout the match as a credible threat. Adonis does take control, however, dropping knees and knife-edge chops. He nearly breaks Daniels’ neck with a mistimed running powerslam as the heels beat down the youngster, riling up Slaughter to distract the referee and allow them a chance to double team Daniels. A dropkick allows Daniels the chance to make the hot tag, and Slaughter clears house.
The Cobra Clutch is locked in, but Adonis knees Slaughter in the back. Daniels dropkicks Adonis a few times and nearly gets a three from a high cross body, Murdoch’s interference making sure he doesn’t. A brawl erupts between all four at this point, allowing Adonis and Murdoch to nail what would later be called the Demolition Decapitation on Daniels to get the win to a big chorus of booing. Slaughter clears house after the match to give the fans something to cheer about.
Mean Gene is with Capt. Lou Albano and Women’s champion The Fabulous Moolah - it's MTV time! Albano is bubbling with energy and charisma, whilst Moolah does her best to suck all that back with a very uncomfortable promo. Albano states that Moolah has been champion for 12 years, and is quickly corrected to 27 by the lady herself. Mean Gene sarcastically comments that Albano was “close.”
wwf women's championship: the fabulous moolah (c) (w/capt. lou albano) vs. wendi richter (w/cyndi lauper and david wolff)
Richter and Lauper are a neon explosion, Richter’s massive acrylic earrings and Lauper’s multi-coloured hair a sign of things to come for the WWF. Albano is again distraught as the fans cheer his charge’s opponent. This may be the biggest reaction you’ll ever see to a WWF/E women’s match, as Madison Square Garden is rocking for this one. David Wolff joins Gorilla and Okerlund on commentary, as Mean Gene becomes a completely different person for the duration of this match, which was the wrestling part broadcast on MTV. He’s not the only one, as both he and Albano spring to life and do everything they can to draw attention to themselves. Good old Gorilla just gets on his with job in the same way he has done all night.
Albano, silent for the Hogan-Valentine match earlier, spends the match shouting from ringside, calling David Wolff a “pre-fabricated dog biscuit,” which surely must be one of the world’s greatest ever insults. Moolah begins with a flurry of snapmares and then throws Richter onto the announce table, which delights Mean Gene, who gleefully offers to help Richter up. In the ring, Moolah chokes Richter out before Wendi gets a shot to the breadbasket in. Richter follows an arm drag into an arm bar. Albano is very audible. Richter nails a head-butt and Moolah gets her feet caught in the top rope, being suspended upside down inside the ring for an age as no one really tries to free her and Richter doesn’t really try to take advantage either. Before she is freed, Richter literally (in the dictionary definition sense of the word) stomps Moolah’s ass.
Albano, silent for the Hogan-Valentine match earlier, spends the match shouting from ringside, calling David Wolff a “pre-fabricated dog biscuit,” which surely must be one of the world’s greatest ever insults. Moolah begins with a flurry of snapmares and then throws Richter onto the announce table, which delights Mean Gene, who gleefully offers to help Richter up. In the ring, Moolah chokes Richter out before Wendi gets a shot to the breadbasket in. Richter follows an arm drag into an arm bar. Albano is very audible. Richter nails a head-butt and Moolah gets her feet caught in the top rope, being suspended upside down inside the ring for an age as no one really tries to free her and Richter doesn’t really try to take advantage either. Before she is freed, Richter literally (in the dictionary definition sense of the word) stomps Moolah’s ass.
Richter applies a weak full nelson, and Cyndi Lauper hops up to threaten to hit Moolah. She does on a second appearance on the apron, but there is no DQ as a result. A Richter dropkick gets 2, and a close up of Wendi gets an “Oh, look at that. Mmm…” from Mean Gene. Moolah regains control with a monkey flip and she tries a full nelson of her but is unable to lock her fingers due to the volume and solidity of Richter’s hairspray-laden 80s hairdo. Albano tries to replicate Lauper but misses his punch comically. Moolah with a rolling German suplex (again, quite literally, as she rolls on her bottom with Richter softly falling along with her) and the ref counts three. Crucially, Richter’s shoulder is up before the three count, and she is announced as the new champion, as Moolah’s shoulders had stayed down. The crowd celebrate wildly as Moolah dropkicks the referee in anger and the replay shows the referee was quite right with his decision.
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Backstage, Mean Gene is celebrating with the new champion, Cyndi Lauper, David Wolff, and others. Lauper actually cuts a very decent promo on how she has triumphed over Albano, his wrestler, and his sexist views. Richter thanks Lauper for her help in getting the title, which apparently included showing her how to put on make-up and introducing her to new dress styles. If only Bobby Heenan had been paying attention, he wouldn’t have spent all those years watching his Family fail to unseat Hogan as WWF Champion. David Wolff tries several times to interject, finally getting the chance to do a little pro-feminism speech before Sgt Slaughter enters to celebrate with the new champion and cop a feel of Lauper’s bottom. Hogan enters to hit on some people, too, but he mostly focuses on the “Marilyn Monroe of the WWF”, Wendi Richter. Albano stampedes in like a madman and is met with a Hogan punch for his troubles.
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chief jay strongbow vs. 'mr wonderful' paul orndorff
These guys are in the Divas cool-down slot, after the Divas…Orndorff again stalls for more than two minutes until Strongbow can’t wait any longer for Mr Wonderful to put on his elbow pads and jumps him. Lock-up into a headscissors, but Orndorff slips out and puts the Chief into a headlock. Strongbow slides under Orndorff during a criss-cross and locks in the sleeper hold, but Orndorff manages to escape. The two butt heads and Strongbow stumbles around outside for quite awhile. He recovers enough to start his war dance, and lands some chops and knee lifts. Orndorff pushes Strongbow out of a headlock into the ropes and lands the same awkward clothesline that the Masked Superstar had used in January to get the three on Strongbow.
samoan number one (or, afa) vs. rene goulet
Question: How did the Samoans decide on the ranking? Obviously Samula would be number three, because he's the newest, but how did Afa get number one? Meanwhile, Goulet has a honest-to-goodness Michael Jackson studded white glove. Afa attacks early with a big backdrop and a bear hug. Goulet manages to put on a loaded glove and wails around on Afa with it. Goulet runs right into Afa’s backside – “the immovable object” – and is knocked off his feet. Mean Gene is not here anymore, obviously having too much fun with his new celebrity friends. Gorilla will be with us until the bitter end, however, as he would rather call the action between a Michael Jackson-impersonating Frenchman and a wild savage than drink champagne with rock ‘n’ roll’s finest. Goulet takes control by stomping on Afa’s bare toes and applies his claw hold finisher. Gorilla thinks that is not the best move, however, as Afa’s foreign head is too big for it to be effective. Agreeing, Goulet changes his focus, karate chopping Afa and biting his stomach. Goulet makes the mistake of head-butting the savage and hurts himself, leaving him dazed and a few attempted moves later Afa nails the Samoan Drop for the three count.
20 man battle royal
Your participants: Antonio Inoki, Sika, Jose Luis Rivera, Paul Vachon, Tony Garea, Chief Jay Strongbow, Afa, Steve Lombardi, Dick Murdoch, Bob Orton, Adrian Adonis, Rene Goulet, Ron Shaw, Charlie Fulton, Terry Daniels, The Iron Sheik, Tito Santana, Paul Orndorff, Samula, and Sgt Slaughter.
Pandemonium of course breaks out as the bell rings. A notable difference to later battle royals and Royal Rumbles is that there are a lot of very similar trunks in there, making it difficult from the long shots to figure out who is battling who. Lombardi is the first out as a result of Slaughter. Gorilla tries his best to call the action, but it’s tough with very few camera angles to go from and he calls some eliminations erroneously throughout the match. Three guys to the delight of the crowd throw out Paul Orndorff. The Iron Sheik is out after a brief skirmish with nemesis Slaughter, before Rene Goulet tries to throw Samula out via his little Samoan. Slaughter then manages to eliminate both of the tag team champions and himself, much to the crowd’s disappointment. The top two ranking Samoans are gone shortly, followed by Tito Santana. Goulet doesn’t need his MJ glove to eliminate Terry Daniels, and Antonio Inoki sends Samula high into the air with a back body drop that sees him sail over the top rope. Inoki and Bob Orton tussle, before Inoki nails an enziguri that sends Orton to an elaborate, staggering all the way along the apron elimination. Tony Garea is next out from Goulet. That leaves Inoki versus the not very formidable pairing of Rene Goulet and Ron Shaw. Shaw holds Inoki for Goulet to strike, and of course he ends up being knocked out of the ring when Inoki ducks. One enziguri later and Goulet is gone, leaving Antonio Inoki as the winner to little reaction.
Pandemonium of course breaks out as the bell rings. A notable difference to later battle royals and Royal Rumbles is that there are a lot of very similar trunks in there, making it difficult from the long shots to figure out who is battling who. Lombardi is the first out as a result of Slaughter. Gorilla tries his best to call the action, but it’s tough with very few camera angles to go from and he calls some eliminations erroneously throughout the match. Three guys to the delight of the crowd throw out Paul Orndorff. The Iron Sheik is out after a brief skirmish with nemesis Slaughter, before Rene Goulet tries to throw Samula out via his little Samoan. Slaughter then manages to eliminate both of the tag team champions and himself, much to the crowd’s disappointment. The top two ranking Samoans are gone shortly, followed by Tito Santana. Goulet doesn’t need his MJ glove to eliminate Terry Daniels, and Antonio Inoki sends Samula high into the air with a back body drop that sees him sail over the top rope. Inoki and Bob Orton tussle, before Inoki nails an enziguri that sends Orton to an elaborate, staggering all the way along the apron elimination. Tony Garea is next out from Goulet. That leaves Inoki versus the not very formidable pairing of Rene Goulet and Ron Shaw. Shaw holds Inoki for Goulet to strike, and of course he ends up being knocked out of the ring when Inoki ducks. One enziguri later and Goulet is gone, leaving Antonio Inoki as the winner to little reaction.
let me tell you something, mean gene...
Only the Women’s title match was shown on MTV, but it did enough to gain MTV its biggest rating to date, and demonstrate to the wider public that the WWF was on the rise. The match itself was not so great, with some of the spots, especially the finish, looking not so good. The difference in performances demonstrated by Mean Gene and Albano once the MTV cameras were on was very striking. To be fair to the Captain, the Hogan-Valentine match was good, and Hogan was so over that there was no need for Albano to do anything extra in that match, whereas the Moolah-Richter match needed a little salt and pepper and had been built around his feud with Cyndi Lauper. As a means to get a foot into the mainstream, there could be no argument that this was a success, and one that is perhaps unfairly overlooked in Official WWF History, which usually tends to jump straight from Hogan's title win to WrestleMania.
As for the rest of the card: The two squashes for the Samoans that bookended the show were short and uneventful, but showed that the “savages” were surprisingly over with the New York crowd following their babyface turn…The Iron Sheik was still a heat machine at this point, and did well enough with Tony Garea, keeping himself the top evil foreigner in preparation for his summer feud with Sgt Slaughter…It was kind of sad to see Bob Backlund looking like just another guy on the card considering he had been headlining MSG for the previous five years, but the fact that he did look like just another guy would explain why this would be his last major WWF appearance for more than eight years…
As for the rest of the card: The two squashes for the Samoans that bookended the show were short and uneventful, but showed that the “savages” were surprisingly over with the New York crowd following their babyface turn…The Iron Sheik was still a heat machine at this point, and did well enough with Tony Garea, keeping himself the top evil foreigner in preparation for his summer feud with Sgt Slaughter…It was kind of sad to see Bob Backlund looking like just another guy on the card considering he had been headlining MSG for the previous five years, but the fact that he did look like just another guy would explain why this would be his last major WWF appearance for more than eight years…
Title-wise, Antonio Inoki was not so over with the New York audience, and by the next year his and New Japan’s working relationship with the WWF would be over…Intercontinental champion Tito Santana was over with the crowd, and had a markedly better match with Bob Orton than he had done with The Magnificent Muraco. In fact, the Santana-Orton bout was probably the best of the night, and certainly featured the widest array of moves than any of the other matches, mostly from the ‘Cowboy’…Sgt Slaughter was very popular in his and Terry Daniels’ losing effort to the North-South Connection, which was another decent match, although perhaps a shade too long. Daniels and Adonis both looked pretty good, and Slaughter was received like a major star – nothing like the Slaughter who would headline WrestleMania VII as an Iraqi sympathiser.
Finally, Hulk Hogan, who did get to appear on MTV by hitting on Wendi Richter post-match, was again insanely over as he beat Greg Valentine. This was a decent match, again aided by keeping it shorter than some of the other feature matches and the massive roar of the crowd. The projected feud with Jesse Ventura would not happen, unfortunately, as Ventura was struck down with blood clots in his lungs that effectively ended his in-ring career, despite a few attempted comebacks in 1985-86. This again left Hogan without a major feud, as Big John Studd stepped into the breach, also taking Bobby Heenan as his manager, and had a short run with Hogan. By the time the WWF returned to MTV the next February, however, Hogan would finally have found a challenger and feud that could give the WWF the kick to the next level they needed…
Finally, Hulk Hogan, who did get to appear on MTV by hitting on Wendi Richter post-match, was again insanely over as he beat Greg Valentine. This was a decent match, again aided by keeping it shorter than some of the other feature matches and the massive roar of the crowd. The projected feud with Jesse Ventura would not happen, unfortunately, as Ventura was struck down with blood clots in his lungs that effectively ended his in-ring career, despite a few attempted comebacks in 1985-86. This again left Hogan without a major feud, as Big John Studd stepped into the breach, also taking Bobby Heenan as his manager, and had a short run with Hogan. By the time the WWF returned to MTV the next February, however, Hogan would finally have found a challenger and feud that could give the WWF the kick to the next level they needed…