WWF Championship Wrestling (February 16, 1985)

 

Original Airdate: February 16, 1985 (taped January 22)

From Poughkeepsie, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino

Tony Atlas and Junkyard Dog v Terry Gibbs and Carl Fury: One guess why these two guys got paired up. Atlas gets to score the pin here at 2:57. DUD

Lord Alfred Hayes is in the studio for Update, giving us a look at how Big John Studd likes everything ‘big.’ Also, he’s studying the art of cutting hair. No wonder Bobby Heenan hated Brutus Beefcake so much! He stole the gimmick! 

Brutus Beefcake v Mario Mancini: This was still the cool Beefcake, no infringement. Beefcake with a high knee at 1:56. What’s his excuse for finishing up so quickly? He didn’t even have any haircut to cram into the segment! DUD

Gene Okerlund catches up with WWF Tag Team Champions The US Express, who are looking for revenge on Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. They both look insanely young here, but Mike Rotundo in particularly looks like a child

Ivan Putski and Bret Hart v Charlie Fulton and Gino Carabello: Now this is quite the interesting pairing! Of course, all the focus is on Putski, as Bret is just some kid at this stage. He doesn’t even have the light tights or the singlet yet. It’s so odd to see. Hart with a sleeper at 3:20. I enjoyed this for the novelty. DUD

Okerlund catches up with… himself. Just some general hype

Jesse Ventura v Steve Lombardi: Vince notes that Ventura holds some ‘controversial’ viewpoints. No. I’m shocked. He also reveals that Jesse had a Schwarzenegger obsession, even then. Jesse with a backbreaker rack at 2:05. Ventura wasn’t a great worker, but I always enjoyed seeing him in action, as opposed to just as a commentator. DUD

Recently, Roddy Piper invaded the set of the A-Team, where he harassed Mr. T

Tito Santana v Jeff Craney: Hillbilly Jim is hanging around at ringside, because he’s cool. Tito with the figure four at 3:14. DUD

Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff v Tony Garea and Aldo Marino: Volkoff pins Marino with a press-backbreaker at 3:27. DUD

Roddy Piper doesn’t care that he’s smaller than Hulk Hogan, he’s got more fight in him

BUExperience: A peppy episode, though not much really happened. With just six weeks, or so, until the first WrestleMania, you’d expect more fireworks.