WWF at Madison Square Garden (October 20, 1986)

 

Original Airdate: October 20, 1986

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, Gene Okerlund, and Lord Alfred Hayes

Opening Match: Moondog Spot v SD Jones: The announcers make a point of discussing just how big Jones is. But, not ‘so big you have to see him in person to appreciate how big,’ so I guess not that big. Jones dominates early on, so Spot slaps him, and then nails him when Jones takes the bait for a chase. Spot with a dive off the middle for two, and he grounds Jones in a chinlock. Spot tries a suplex, but Jones reverses, so Spot starts punching him again. Cross corner whip, but Jones reverses, only for Spot to block a headbutt by going low. A criss cross ends in both men looking up at the lights, and Spot tries a 2nd rope elbowdrop, but misses. That allows Jones to deliver a headbutt for three at 9:34, though Spot makes sure to kick out right at three. Dull stuff here. ¼*

Moondog Rex v Tama: Rex gets a headlock on right away, but Tama forces a criss cross, and wins it with a knife-edge chop. Rex tries a turnbuckle smash, but gets no-sold, and Tama throws a headbutt, then a turnbuckle smash of his own. A snapmare leads to a chinlock, but Rex escapes, and throws some rights. Tama responds in kind, however, and Rex loses that exchange. A big charge misses, though, and Tama takes a bump to the outside. Rex pounces on him as Tama scrambles to get back into the ring, and a suplex in from the apron gets him two. Rex with a series of knees on the mat, and he gets a bearhug on. Tama fights free, however, and a flying bodypress puts it away at 9:00. DUD

Brutus Beefcake v B. Brian Blair: They feel each other out to start, dominated by Blair. Beefcake bails to regroup after nearly getting pinned in a cradle, but he gets caught with a side suplex for two once coming back in. Beefcake bails again, and tries to complain to the referee about hair pulling, but it goes nowhere, so Beefcake goes to the eyes. That goes somewhere, and Beefcake goes to work, hammering on Brian. Beefcake with a corner whip to set up a corner backelbow, and a snapmare sets up a pointed elbowdrop for two. Beefcake goes to a camel clutch, and an inverted atomic drop gets him two. Back to the clutch, but he doesn’t apply it properly, and Blair escapes. Blair goes on the comeback trail, but Beefcake rolls through on a bodypress, and pins Brian with a handful of tights at 10:33. *

King Kong Bundy v Super Machine: Posturing to start, and Machine delivers a bodypress for two, after dodging the avalanche. Bundy responds with some forearm shots, and a backelbow sets up an elbowdrop, but Machine dodges. Bundy tries a backdrop, but gets nailed. Machine tries another bodypress, but gets caught, and slammed. That allows Bundy an axehandle for two, so Machine tries a corner whip, but gets reversed, and Bundy lands the avalanche at 3:18. I did not at all expect that to be over so quickly. DUD

Dynamite Kid v Jim Neidhart: Posturing to start, with Kid using speed to dominate, but eventually the big Anvil nails him, and that’s the end of the pep in Kid’s step. To the outside, Neidhart bodyslams him on the floor, and Jim continues hammering him on the way into the ring. Neidhart misses a 2nd rope splash, allowing Kid to dive off the top with a flying dropkick. Kid adds a clothesline, so Neidhart tries tossing him to the outside, but Kid hangs on, and hooks a rollup at 5:47. Decent energy, but not much to it, really. ½*

Iron Sheik v Jacques Rougeau: Sheik attacks before the bell, and goes to work. Rougeau manages a 2nd rope bodypress for two, and he hits a sitdown splash for two, so Sheik bails. Back in, Rougeau delivers a dropkick and a hiptoss, and he goes to a headlock, but Sheik escapes. Rougeau responds with an atomic drop, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Backdrop, but Sheik kicks him in the kisser to block, and Rougeau ends up on the outside. Inside, Sheik gets an abdominal stretch, and Gorilla is immediately on him about not applying it correctly, to which Gene Okerlund agrees is ‘all catty wampus.’ Good thing they’re not in a courtroom. Sheik with a gutwrench suplex for two, but a vertical suplex gets reversed for two. Sheik dumps him to the outside to buy time, but Rougeau turns it around on him by flying back in with a slingshot sunset flip for the pin at 7:31. Solid action. *

Mike Rotundo v Jim Brunzell: Joined in progress, with both guys trading off in babyface exchanges. Hard to tell how far along we are, as Rotundo is already covered in sweat, but that’s par for the course for him ten seconds after the bell, so who knows. Jim with a few cradles for two, but Mike blocks a figure four, and nails him with an uppercut. Backdrop, so Jim uses a sunset flip, but Rotundo blocks with a punch, officially taking on the heel role for the evening. Rotundo with a bodyslam for two, but Jim counters another one with a small package for two. Jim with a pair of uppercuts and an abdominal stretch, and once again Gorilla has a problem with it. It’s not ‘catty wampus’ this time, though, for those keeping track. Rotundo reverses, and Gorilla actually compliments the execution, though Gene criticizes it. It’s bizarro world! Both guys collide for a double knockout, and Brunzell is up first with a sleeper. Rotundo quickly escapes, but Jim counters a suplex with an atomic drop. Bodypress, but Rotundo catches him, and both guys end up tumbling out of the ring for a double countout at 5:05 of 9:10. This was fine. *

Davey Boy Smith v Greg Valentine: They feel each other out a bit to start, dominated by Davey. Greg manages a backbreaker for two, and a series of axehandles to the lower back is worth two. Bearhug, but Bulldog reverses, so Greg pops him in the eye with an elbowsmash. Chop puts Davey down for a headbutt drop to the groin for two, and he works a double-knucklelock, but Davey reverses. Valentine throws kicks to escape, and he dumps Davey to the outside, but Bulldog beats the count to the apron, so Greg welcomes him with a forearm across the chest. Valentine with a shoulderbreaker for two, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Figure Four, but Bulldog counters with a cradle for two, so Valentine goes after the leg, pounding it. He works a few variations of a toehold, but Smith manages a leg-feed enzuigiri to flop the Hammer. Smith with his own headbutt drop to the groin, and he actually locks on a sharpshooter, well before Bret Hart was ever associated with the move. Valentine makes the ropes, so Bulldog gives him a hanging vertical suplex for two, and it's Running Powerslam time, but Greg is in the ropes to break the count. He bails, but Bulldog is on his tail, chasing him around ringside. Greg rolls in and suckers him into chasing, and the Hammer puts the boots to him to grab control. Snapmare sets up a pair of elbowdrops, and it's back to the Figure Four, but Smith won't quit. He manages to grab the bottom rope to force a break (with Valentine milking it for as long as he can, complete with great selling from Davey), and Greg keeps mercilessly pounding on the leg. Bulldog catches a second wind and tackles Valentine for mounted punches, however, then adds a dropkick. Piledriver, but Greg counters to a cradle - using the ropes for leverage at 12:36. Fun match here. ** ½

Nikolaki Volkoff v Haku: Haku attacks with a dropkick during the anthem singing, and Volkoff has a fit on the outside. Back in, Volkoff manages to pound him down, and a kneedrop gets him two, but Haku fights him off as they get vertical. Haku bashes his leg into the post and delivers a headbutt drop to the groin, so Volkoff tries a turnbuckle smash, but that promptly gets no-sold. Volkoff responds by pulling out a weapon, and that gets him some traction. Volkoff with a rollup for two, but an avalanche misses, and Haku schoolboys at 4:54. DUD

Bret Hart v Raymond Rougeau: Raymond stomps Bret’s sunglasses before the bell, triggering a charge from the Hitman, but Rougeau is ready with a backdrop. Criss cross ends in Rougeau delivering a monkeyflip, so Bret bails to regroup. Back in, Hart forces another criss cross, but gets stomped while trying a monkeyflip of his own. Bret goes to the eyes to buy time, and he manages an inverted atomic drop to capitalize. Pointed elbowdrop follows, and Hart dumps him to the outside, then hammers him in the corner when Raymond scraps back in. Bret with a backbreaker for two, so he tries a chinlock. Rougeau escapes with a sunset flip for two, but Hart cuts him off, and delivers a few turnbuckle smashes. Rougeau fights back with a piledriver for two, and Raymond goes on the comeback trail. Atomic drop leaves Hart in a heap in the corner, but the Hitman manages to sweep Rougeau into a leveraged pin at 8:33. Nothing much to this one. ½*

Main Event: $50,000 12-Tag Team Battle Royal: We've got: WWF Tag Team Champions The British Bulldogs, The Islanders, King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd, The Moondogs, Mike Rotundo and SD Jones, Chief Jay Strongbow and Steve Gatorwolf, The Hart Foundation, The Killer Bees, Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, Big Machine and Super Machine, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, and the Dream Team. We get down to the Islanders against King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd, and both teams stop to strategize. The strategy: slugfest! Bundy catches Tama with an avalanche, but a double team on Haku backfires, and Bundy ends up accidentally knocking Studd over the top at 5:18 shown of 10:20. I can safely call this a DUD

 

BUExperience: The Bulldog/Valentine match is something of a hidden gem, but it's not that good, and definitely not good enough to carry an entire show.

 

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