WWF Coliseum Video Collection: The Best of the WWF: Volume IV (1985)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: The Best of the WWF: Volume IV (1985)

Coliseum Video compilation – hosted by Vince McMahon. The cover of the tape features the Iron Sheik humbling someone, and promises a Steel Cage Match!

Roddy Piper v Paul Orndorff: From July 1985. Orndorff doesn't want to wait for the bell to get his hands on Piper, and the crowd is either super-jacked for this, or there's some serious sound sweetening going on. Or both. Piper's never one to back down from a fight, and they get right into a brawl around ringside, and Paul rolls him in for a flying axehandle. He slows things down with a wristlock (really working the hold nicely, too), but a cross corner charge hits Piper's boot, and Roddy levels him with a lariat. Piper goes to work (nicely selling the wrist along the way), and Paul's attempt at a backslide is blocked with an eyepoke - sending Mr. Wonderful out to the floor. Sign in the crowd: 'Orndorff smokes the Piper.' Hmm, I always thought was more Piper/Orton territory, but whatever. Inside, Roddy slaps on a front-facelock, but Orndorff just keeps coming, so Piper tries a headlock. That triggers a bridging pinfall reversal sequence that ends in an Orndorff backslide, but Piper is in the ropes. Slugfest goes Paul's way, but a bodypress sends them both tumbling over the top to resume the slugfest on the outside. Paul drags him in by the hair, but Bob Orton runs in before he can finish him, and Piper is disqualified at 8:43. Afterwards, Piper and Orton lay in a beat down, until the British Bulldogs run in for the save. Not a classic in a Flair/Steamboat sense, but really fun and really intense - just what it needed to be. *

Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Snuka v Don Muraco and Bob Orton: From May 1985. The heels attack before the bell for a brawl, but quickly get overwhelmed as Hogan and Snuka in control. The dust settles on Snuka and Orton, with Superfly going to work on the 'bad' wrist, and tagging Hogan in to hit a 2^nd rope axehandle. They take turns abusing the wrist, but Hogan gets caught in the wrong part of town, and double-teamed. Muraco with a kneelift, and we clip to later with Orton hitting a hanging vertical suplex on the Hulkster for two. He and Muraco continue to cut the ring in half, but Hogan manages to reverse a cross corner whip from Don, and gets the tag. Snuka is a hut of fire, but heel manager Mr. Fuji gets involved to distract the referee from counting the fall when he hits Muraco with a flying bodypress - allowing the tag back to Orton, with Hogan down on the floor. Orton makes use of the cast (giving us the neat visual of him beating Snuka's bloody face with it - staining the cast like a macabre signature), and we clip to Snuka reversing a cross corner whip and tagging. Hogan is a house of arson, but the heels keep double-teaming, until the referee disqualifies them at 9:32 shown. Oh, come ON! Would a clean ending have killed them? I mean, I get what they're going for, but I'm pretty sure one of those guys could afford to job to Hulk Hogan in 1985, for God's sake. I'm not sure how much was clipped so I won't rate it, but this was an average house show main event from what was shown.

20-Man Battle Royal: From June 1982, and we've got Tony Atlas, Greg Valentine, Blackjack Mulligan, Steve Travis, Adrian Adonis, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Mr. Fuji, Mr. Saito, Swede Hanson, Pedro Morales, Ivan Putski, Tony Garea, Jose Estrada, Charlie Fulton, Johnny Rodz, Laurent Soucie, Jimmy Snuka, Chief Jay Strongbow, and Jules Strongbow. Usual battle royal fare until we get down to Atlas, Valentine, Jones, and Adonis - and then they get creative as Jones and Atlas work together to get rid of the heels, but don't want to fight (they're both black), so a coin is flipped to give Atlas the win at 18:25. I liked the ending (in a goofy 80s sort of way - their celebration at the end made the beach scenes from Rocky III look butch), but I'd have been happy with just clips, because a twenty minute battle royal is not exactly my cup of tea. ¼*

Stretcher Match: Andre the Giant v Killer Khan: From November 1981. Andre totally destroys him at the bell (and for the duration, really), blasting him with everything from forearms to big boots to splashes until the referee tries to stretcher him out. Khan rolls off, so Andre gives him a piledriver for being a smartass - only to miss a falling headbutt. Khan capitalizes with a series of stomps, and he ties Andre up in the ropes to allow him to kick at the ankle (the angle going into this was that Khan had broken the Giant's ankle). Khan with a pair of kneedrops off the middle rope, and he demands the referee stretcher this fool out, but moving Andre is easier said than done, and the Giant decides to beat Khan with the stretcher instead. More headbutts, and we clip to Andre hitting a series of sit-down splashes (a long series - something like ten of them), until Khan is a grease stain, and gets stretchered out at 6:49 shown. Good blowoff, but this feud was well before my time, so it didn't really resonate with me, or anything.

Cage Match: Andre the Giant v Big John Studd: From September 1983. Joined in progress, with Andre tossing Studd into the cage. Studd blades after Andre bits him, but a big boot misses, and Studd knocks him over with a clothesline. He goes for the door, but the Giant drags him back for a sit-down splash and a casual bodyslam (which kind of makes their showdown at the first WrestleMania all the more ridiculous) before finishing with a truly impressive flying seated senton at 3:00 shown of 10:04. I won't rate it, but it was short, and had a really, really cool finish, so it's worthy of inclusion.

Andre the Giant v King Kong Bundy: From September 1985. The initial tie-up goes Andre's way when he gets Bundy into the corner for a chokehold, and King Kong bails to the floor as we clip to them exchanging chops and Bundy taking a pretty good bump out to the floor. Great moment, as when Bundy falls out of the ring, some asshole in the front row actually THROWS HIS CHAIR at him. And the best part is that security pretty much goes 'shame on you,' and leaves it there. Wow. But at least people actually cared enough to throw furniture back then... I don't think there's been a heel in years that people have even cared enough to actively boo let alone risk getting arrested for assault. Clip to Bundy controlling with a chokehold, but Andre blocks the Avalanche with a big boot to setup a sit-down splash, but in runs Big John Studd to break up the count (and get Bundy disqualified) at 4:30. Hmm, should have really put that cage match right after this and sold it as the blowoff. Heavily clipped, and thank God.

Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake v Tito Santana and Ricky Steamboat: From April 1985 - Beefcake and Valentine not yet technically the Dream Team yet, this still testing the waters for the pairing. Beefcake starts with Steamboat, and a big criss cross ends with Ricky hitting an armdrag and following with a flying tomahawk chop. Tag to Tito, and Santana traps Brutus on the mat in a front-facelock - though only briefly. Brutus with a slam ahead of tagging Valentine, but the Hammer misses an elbowdrop, and Tito knocks him out onto the elevated ramp way. Inside, Valentine wins a slugfest, but a criss cross ends in Santana clotheslining him. Tito with a headbutt downstairs, but Valentine blocks the figure four, and blows him low. A kneedrop gets a pair of two counts, and Beefcake tags in to help cut the ring in half - the future Dream Team wasting no time working in the cheap heel tactics. Tito manages to slip through Beefcake's legs to get the tag to Ricky, and Steamboat is a house of arson! Sleeper looks to put Brutus away, but a cheap shot saves him, and he tags Valentine. Steamboat tries to slow him down with chops, but Greg rakes the eyes and gives him a stomachbreaker for two. They get back to cutting the ring in half - this time on Steamboat - but Ricky blocks the figure four with a small package for two. Valentine goes berserk on him in the corner, but Ricky fights off a double-team, and gets the tag to Tito. Santana is a casa of fire to trigger a four-way brawl, and Greg takes a figure four to give the faces the victory at 15:31. Good, well paced, NWA-ish tag match (down to the ring design, the elevated ramp way, and even the camera angles) here - it was given time, and shown unclipped, which is always a plus. * ¼

BUExperience: What, no Sheik? He wasn’t missing much anyway, as this was certainly not one to run and tell mama about. The tag match and the Piper/Orndorff brawl that bookend the tape are good, everything else is not. Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.