Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 5/24/1986
From: Boston, MA
Opening Contest: Tony Garea vs. Iron Mike Sharpe: Sharpe truly believes he is Canada’s greatest athlete. They trade wrist locks but Sharpe pulls Garea down by his hair a few times until Garea knocks Sharpe to the floor. Garea went down for a monkey flip after sending Sharpe into the corner, but Sharpe didn’t come out, which was a bit awkward. Garea arm drags Sharpe several times and then awkwardly gets stuck in the ropes after trying to reach for Sharpe on the floor. Garea comes across really clumsy in this match. Sharpe misses a dropkick after a series of shoulder blocks to knock Garea down. Garea catapults Sharpe face first into the corner and keeps control with stomps. Garea counters a slam with a rollup for a near fall. They trade a few mat holds but Sharpe gets the upper hand in the corner with overhand strikes. Sharpe drops Garea throat first across the top rope. Garea comes off the ropes to hit a cross body! Garea rams Sharpe head first into the corner and attempts a backdrop but Sharpe clubs Garea over the back. Garea counters a piledriver with a backdrop and nearly wins with an inside cradle. Garea sends Sharpe head first into the turnbuckle a few times. Sharpe knee lifts Garea in the corner to counter a charging attack. Sharpe drives Garea face first into the canvas followed by overhand strikes. Garea blocks a boot and holds Sharpe’s leg before hitting an atomic drop for a two count as Sharpe got his leg over the bottom rope. Sharpe gets tangled up in the ropes and Garea pummels Sharpe with strikes. Garea locks in an abdominal stretch but Sharpe gets out sending Garea to the apron. Garea slingshots from the apron and nearly wins with a sunset flip attempt. Garea hits another cross body coming off the ropes for a two count. Garea goes for a rollup but Sharpe sends Garea chest first into the corner for the win. (*1/2. A relatively basic match, but Garea’s quick natured offense kept me mildly entertained. There wasn’t much stalling, so I can appreciate that.)
Second Contest: Bret Hart vs. Sivi Afi: Hart got a pretty good reaction from the crowd. Hart controls Sivi early on with a side headlock. Hart isn’t really hiding his cheating nature, though. Hart is pulling Afi’s hair to keep him on the canvas. Hart comes off the ropes with a shoulder block and attempts a rollup but Afi holds onto the ropes and nearly pins Hart. Hart bails to the floor to regroup. Afi hits a cross body coming off the ropes for a two count and controls the left arm of Hart. Hart battles back with an atomic drop to keep Afi on the mat and stomps away on hi. Hart snap mares Afi to the mat and follows up with an elbow drop and leg drop for a two count. Hart knocks Afi off the apron after a few stomps. Afi hits a sunset flip into the ring from the apron but Hart kicks out at two. Hart cuts Afi off with a clothesline. Hart is frustrated with the referee for not making a faster count. Hart drives Afi down with a back breaker for a two count and continues to voice his frustration. Hart boots a charging Afi in the corner. Afi doesn’t get hurt by having his head rammed into the corner and gets a second wind pummeling Hart in the corner with right hands. Afi sends Hart into the corner back first and bites his forehead. Afi comes off the ropes with a fead butt followed by a falling head butt for a near fall. Hart attempts a dropkick but Sivi holds onto the ropes. Sivi heads to the top rope hitting a cross boy but Hart rolls through and pins Afi! (**. I enjoyed the action. I wondered if we’d see that kind of finish and sure enough, there it is. Hart played his role very well, though the fans didn’t seem overly interested in booing him as he got a lot of cheers.)
Third Contest: Tony Atlas vs. King Kong Bundy: Bundy shoves Atlas across the ring into a corner but doesn’t follow up with the advantage. Bundy takes Atlas down to mat with a top wrist lock. Atlas powers his way up to his feet but Bundy nails Tony with a strike to the ribs. Bundy shoulder blocks Atlas as Tony tried to come off the ropes with a shoulder block of his own. Atlas gets Bundy down with a cross body and nearly wins. The fans are going nuts for that and Bundy is pissed he was knocked down. Bundy misses a clothesline and Atlas delivers a head butt. Bundy works over Atlas with strikes and a kick to knock Atlas down. Atlas goes for a sunset flip but Bundy blocks being knocked down. Bundy continues with an elbow drop but Atlas powers out at two. Bundy back elbows Atlas to the canvas but misses a big splash. Atlas works over Bundy with overhand strikes staggering Bundy. Atlas knocks Bundy down again with a standing dropkick! Atlas comes off the middle rope with a head butt! Atlas has Bobby Heenan and head butts Heenan off the apron. Bundy takes advantage splashing Atlas in the corner followed by an elbow drop for the three count. (**. I actually enjoyed this, as well. Atlas was given the chance to be a viable challenger and there was doubt for a moment. They got the crowd to buy into the action and made for a good viewing.)
Fourth Contest: David Sammartino vs. Tiger Chung Lee: Early on, they keep it rather slow with Lee controlling Sammartino with a wrist lock until that is countered. It’s almost like this is designed to calm the crowd down or something. I think I’m right with that. Lee scoop slams Sammartino late in the match but can’t get a three count. Lee is arguing with the referee. Sammartino counters a slam with an inside cradle for the win. After the match, Lee is a sore loser and scoop slams Sammartino. The fans weren’t very vocal for the match and I’m fairly certain this was just filler. I suppose the Bundy/Atlas crowd popped the crowd pretty good for an undercard match.
Fifth Contest: WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage: I was quite surprised to see this was going on fifth. I was under the assumption that this was going to be the main event, but clearly I was mistaken. Hogan chases Savage to the outside at the start. Savage tries for a sneak attack but Hogan senses it and Savage again bails to the floor. Savage is taunting the fans while standing on the middle rope. Hogan uses his power advantage to toss Savage to the canvas. Savage bails to the floor and controls Hogan with a side headlock. Hogan shoulder blocks Savage and wants some more but Savage doesn’t oblige. Savage decides to slide to the floor after spitting on Hogan. Savage returns to the ring and is talking smack to Hogan while showing off his muscles. Hogan spits on Savage and decides to slide to the floor and taunt Savage. Savage also goes to the floor when Hogan returns so they are stalling for a bit now. Hogan doesn’t want to shake hands and knocks Savage down a few times. Hogan comes off the ropes with a forearm strike and a scoop slam. Hogan connects with a few elbow drops before playing to the crowd. Hogan atomic drops Savage sending him to the floor. Savage returns to the ring and tosses Hogan to the apron after a knee lift. Hogan comes back with a choke hold lifting Savage into the air. Hogan clotheslines Savage into the corner to regain control. Savage crashes to the canvas and Hogan has the crowd heavily behind him. Hogan takes Savage down to the canvas with a vertical suplex. Savage rolls to the floor to regroup but Hogan follows him before they return to the ring. Savage gets the cheap advantage due to getting in first and chokes Hogan over the middle rope. Savage comes off the top and nails Hogan with a double axe handle for a two count. Savage tosses Hogan to the floor and comes off the top rope to axe handle Hogan on the floor. Savage sends Hogan into the barricade and it topples over with Hogan laying in the front row. Hogan is rolled back into the ring and Savage comes off the top to hit another axe handle. Savage goes for the cover but Hogan pops his shoulder up at two. Savage clotheslines Hogan but Hogan powers out at two. Savage thinks he has won after another near fall and once again goes to the top rope. Savage hits an elbow drop for a two count! Hogan is starting to get a second win. Savage tries to punch Hogan but it’s doing nothing. Hogan goes for a big boot but Savage bails to the floor to avoid Hogan. Hogan again goes to the floor even with Elizabeth checking on her man. Hogan moves Elizabeth out of the way and rolls Savage into the ring. Savage kicks Hogan to regain control. Hogan misses a clothesline hitting the referee on accident. Savage knee lifts Hogan to the floor as the referee is laid out. Savage goes to the floor to grab the championship and hits Hogan over the head with it! Savage puts the title on Hogan and the referee begins to count out Hogan. Hogan is busted wide open. Savage has won the match by count out. (***. A solid match between these two and the finish totally sets up another match between these. It keeps Savage strong having gotten the champ bloodied. I think the fans would be rabid to see Hogan get revenge.) After the match, a bloodied Hogan grabs Savage and carries him to the ring to beat on him. Hogan goes to hit him with the title but Savage crawls to the floor to escape any further punishment.
Sixth Contest: Scott McGhee vs. Hercules: As you might expect McGhee didn’t really have a chance here as it was likely just a way to get Hercules some momentum. Hercules prevailed following a back breaker. To his credit, McGhee did get a few moments of offense but that just wasn’t going to be enough to defeat Hercules.
Seventh Contest: Jim Neidhart vs. Lanny Poffo: Poffo shared a poem that insulted Neidhart as being weird. Late in the match, Poffo goes to the top rope but misses a swanton bomb. Neidhart wins the match following a middle rope forearm drop. There wasn’t much to that, really.
Eighth Contest: Cpl. Kirchner vs. Nikolai Volkoff: They are battling with the US and Russian flags. Volkoff attacks Kirchner before the match with his flag to get the cheap advantage. Kirchner took the early offense and stopped Volkoff with an atomic drop. Kirchner attempts the Samoan Drop finisher but Volkoff hangs onto the ropes and gets down. Kirchner dropkicks Volkoff to the apron and kicks him to the floor. Volkoff avoids a dropkick attempt by hanging onto the ropes and Kirchner crashed to the canvas. Kirchner gets out of a bear hug but is slammed on the floor. Kirchner counters a slam into the ring with an inside cradle and pins Volkoff. I didn’t have much interest head into this, really. It’s just the typical US vs. foreign country and US prevails type of deal. After the match, Volkoff drops Kirchner across the top rope groin first.
Main Event: WWF Tag Team Champion Davey Boy Smith, Dan Spivey & Pedro Morales vs. Greg Valentine, Johnny V & Brutus Beefcake: If anyone has any suggestion as to why this would have been the main event to this match feel free to explain that to me. Early on, Morales controls Valentine not allowing Valentine to get any momentum in his favor. Eventually, Valentine takes Morales down to the canvas but Danny Spivey gets tagged in and Valentine backs away. Spivey is sporting all yellow for his attire, looking like a young Hogan, really. Spivey backdropped Valentine before tagging out to Smith. Valentine sends Smith into his corner and Smith is getting worked over. Beefcake tags in and controls Smith with a front face lock. The referee is distracted while Smith is double teamed in the corner by Valentine and Johnny. Smith continues to be worked over for a few moments often with the referee being distracted. Valentine attempted a piledriver but Smith countered with a backdrop. Beefcake entered and controls the legs of Smith before tagging in Valentine to drop an elbow. Smith kicks Valentine away to avoid a figure four attempt. This leads to the referee getting distracted and Smith gets stuck in the figure four by Valentine. Spivey gets the hot tag and hammers away on Johnny. Morales is in as well knocking Beefcake to the floor as Spivey drives Johnny down with a bulldog for a near fall as Valentine made the save. Smith works over Valentine with strikes. Morales plants Johnny with a backbreaker and Spivey makes the cover to win the match as Beefcake couldn’t make the save in time. (*1/2. This just didn’t feel like a main event and should have been swapped with the Hogan/Savage bout.)
Final Thoughts:
Hogan/Savage was easily the best thing on the show which also featured a couple of average undercard matches with Atlas/Bundy and Bret/Sivi delivering some decent action. I find myself interested in the Hogan/Savage feud and would likely go to the next show that they were on top. The action and the angle advance it were nicely done, so that’s really effective booking/promoting. As for a whole show, I’ll say it’s average at best. There’s a few filler matches the main event was really weak.
Thanks for reading.