World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 6/2/1984
From: Philadelphia, PA
Dick Graham and Gorilla Monsoon provide commentary for the event.
MATCH #1: STEVE LOMBARDI VS. SAMULA
FINISH: Samula wins following a middle rope diving headbutt.
Bob’s Take: Lombradi probably should be a babyface here over Samula, but he’s greeted with jeers, too. The commentators noted they weren’t sure who got booed more, and that’s kind of funny to me. The crowd is cheering Samula’s offense on Lombardi, but he is in fact still a heel. For some reason the fans do not want to give Lombardi any sort of sympathy. Samula beats on Lombardi sending him into the railing, which kind of stands out because it’s not a common occurrence at this point in the WWF. Samula could have won at one point after a leaping headbutt, but pulled Lombardi up. Samula tries to run the ropes, but gets caught in the ropes prompting laughter. The crowd seems to be connected to Samula far more than I thought they would be, and I enjoyed his offense for the most part.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #2: ISRAEL MATIA VS. TONY GAREA
FINISH: Garea wins following a leaping crossbody off the ropes.
Bob’s Take: A slow start to the match and a notable lack of interest compared to the opening bout. A lot of the focus is working headlocks and it’s rather boring. They showed a timer of the match being over five minutes and they hadn’t done anything of note other than a headlock, which is an incredible thing to witness and the crowd becoming disgruntled with the lack of action. This is one of the most boring matches I’ve seen in 1984 WWF.
Match Rating: DUD
MATCH #3: WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION TITO SANTANA VS. DAVID SCHULTZ
FINISH: Santana counters a slam attempt into the ring with a cradle to pin Schultz and retain the title.
Bob’s Take: Another slow start to the match with both men stalling and teasing strikes that they don’t deliver for a bit. Schultz tries to steal the belt by holding the tights on a rollup, but Santana is too smart to lose the strap in such a manner. I do enjoy Schultz heel antics and a lot of his offense is strike based. I’m not even joking when I say the only thing Santana pulled off offensively was the cradle finish. Kind of a dull match for the most part, but the fans loved Santana pulling off the victory.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #4: RON SHAW VS. SALVATORE BELLOMO
NOTE: The commentators are laughing hysterically because Bellomo startled the ring announcer by jumping in the ring.
FINISH: Bellomo wins following a sunset flip from the apron into the ring.
Bob’s Take: Bellomo tends to be a fan favorite in Philadelphia, and Bellomo gets a bunch of arm drags in at the start, but the crowd was a bit quiet for the flurry of offense. I’m actually shocked that Bellomo is dominating the match as I feel like he’s usually an enhancement guy. The crowd is chanting boring for the match, and that’s a bit shocking since Bellomo tends to be cheered quite a bit I’ve noticed. The finish was a bit sloppy. This wasn’t all that good.
Match Rating: 1/2*
MATCH #5: WWF WORLD CHAMPION HULK HOGAN VS. IRON SHEIK
FINISH: Hogan clotheslines Sheik followed by the leg drop to retain the title. After the match, Sheik takes off his boot and attacks Hogan. Hogan gets up and Sheik bails to the floor.
Bob’s Take: Iron Sheik got the biggest heel reaction of the night to this point and it shows that there’s still some interest in him as a heel against Hogan despite it being six months since Hogan won the strap. Hogan wastes no time going after Sheik going after the challenger while his music still plays. That added a level of intensity to the match and crowd interest. Hogan rams Sheik into the ring post shoulder first to give this a hot start. Hogan keeps his flurry of offense on Sheik and the crowd continues to eat it up. Sheik cuts off Hogan with an eye rake to get control of the bout. Sheik gets some revenge ramming Hogan into the railing and commentary table face first. Sheik whacks Hogan with a chair over the back, but the referee keeps the match going. Sheik’s offense is mostly basic stomps and nothing too damaging. The finish is very decisive and I would have figured the end of Sheik challenging until the aftermath.
Match Rating: *1/2
Backstage, Paul Orndorff is interviewed and says he’s going to win because Slaughter thinks he’s GI Joe. Orndorff calls Slaughter a big donkey who runs his mouth. Orndorff would be insulted if he was an marine. Orndorff knows that Slaughter is playing up the marine persona to connect with the fans. Orndorff notes that he played in the NFL with the Saints for five years, which Slaughter hasn’t accomplished. Orndorff has a full set of hair and teeth along with a great body, and knows that the fans don’t like it. Orndorff claims to have many woman knocking on his door. Orndorff admits to the Paula chants getting under his skin. Paul says that every time he hears that someone gets carried out of the ring. I thought this was a very good interview by Orndorff.
MATCH #6: SGT. SLAUGHTER VS. PAUL ORNDORFF
FINISH: Late in the match, the referee is knocked down and Orndorff decks Slaughter with a weapon. Slaughter recovered and strikes Orndorff before grabbing a chair, but Slaughter got into the ring before Slaughter could leading to a count out victory. For the record, the count should have restarted, but it didn’t.
Bob’s Take: The crowd loves Slaughter and Orndorff had a great heel interview they didn’t see, but it helped the interest in the match for the viewer at home. Orndorff does a great job freaking out about the Paula chants, and the crowd loves chanting it to piss him off some more. Slaughter wore Orndorff’s robe while decking Orndorff to the floor. Orndorff rams Slaughter into the post shoulder first in the corner and keeps control as Slaughter got busted open from hitting the post. Orndorff kept his offense to jabs, but Slaughter fought back rubbing Orndorff’s eyes over the ropes. Orndorff sends Slaughter over the corner to the floor, which is always a great Slaughter spot. Orndorff prevents Slaughter from getting back into the ring with several knee lifts. Slaughter knocks Orndorff into the referee late in the match causing a ref bump. Slaughter recovering from the strike on the floor got the crowd invested into the match, but the quick finish after that felt like a missed opportunity.
Match Rating: **1/2
MATCH #7: TONY COLON VS. JOSE LUIS RIVERA
FINISH: Rivera picks up the win following a rollup out of the corner.
Bob’s Take: The crowd is crapping on this in less than thirty-seconds of it starting. I feel like the Philadelphia crowd knows when they are being given filler crap and that is what this before the main event and right after a heated Slaughter/Orndorff segment. These guys honestly never had a chance to win over the crowd. At least this was kept fairly short and to the point.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Backstage, Bob Backlund is interviewed regarding how much time he spends with the fans. Backlund has been talking with the kids about not doing drugs, drinking and respect for their parents now that he’s not the WWF World Championship. Backlund doesn’t deny an autograph request. Backlund respects the people and loves the people. Backlund doesn’t know if he’ll get another shot at the WWF World Championship and says the promoters have been ignoring him for another shot. Backlund wants to be Bob Backlund and doesn’t want to be anything else. It’s why he doesn’t have long hair or colorful outfits. Backlund considers himself to be just like the people and wants to be a champion for the people.
The ring announcer promotes the July 7th event. Mr. Fuji and Tiger Chung Lee will take on The Wild Samoans. Salvatore Bellomo will wrestle Don Muraco (doesn’t happen). B. Brian Blair will team with Bob Backlund to take on the WWF Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch. Big John Studd competes against Bobo Brazil in singles action. Greg Valentine will be in action against Ivan Putski (doesn’t happen). The main event will see WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defending against Paul Orndorff and the title will be on the line. In a special bonus attraction, Roddy Piper will be in action against Rocky Johnson (doesn’t happen).
MAIN EVENT: BOB BACKLUND VS. SAMULA
NOTE: Mr. Fuji was originally supposed to compete against Backlund, but didn’t pass a physical causing Samula to wrestle a second time tonight.
FINISH: Backlund wins with a backslide out of the corner.
Bob’s Take: Backlund shows off his wrestling ability by leg sweeping Samula at the start a few times. The crowd is noticeably quieter for this main event than I would have expected. I wonder if the popularity and style of Hogan has kind of put a negative vibe towards Backlund for the WWF audience. Anyway, there’s not much to this and the finish was rather abrupt.
Match Rating: DUD
Final Thoughts:
A mostly underwhelming Philly show this month. Hogan’s presence is always a positive and the Orndorff/Slaughter segment was very entertaining, but it doesn’t save the show from being a thumbs down overall. The July show does appear to be stronger, though.
Thanks for reading.