World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 12/10/1984
From: East Rutherford, NJ
Gorilla Monsoon and Howard Finkel are on commentary for the show. I can’t recall a time where Fink was actually doing commentary for a show before, so that’s unique.
MATCH #1: JOSE LUIS RIVERA VS. BUDDY ROSE
NOTE: Rose gets a female fan in the front row to help remove his robe and gives her a kiss before the match begins.
FINISH: Rose wins with the Las Vegas Jackpot (DDT).
Bob’s Take: Rose is pretty funny with his antics early and the crowd gives him some decent heat. Rose ability to generate heat gets the crowd to pop for Rivera and his offense more so than expected. There’s a good bit of stalling, but it’s at least done with a comedic approach. Rose gets the same female fan from earlier to comb his hair after it got messed up. They brawl to the floor where Rose sent Rivera into the railing. Rivera responded with arm control for a good bit of time. I don’t think I’ve heard a crowd this actively supportive of Rivera. Rivera ramming Rose into the corner and hitting a backdrop is good offense, but missed a splash in the corner leading to the finish. I thought this was a good opener with Rose working the crowd well and both men had enjoyable offense. This may be the most enjoyable Rivera match that I’ve seen.
Match Rating: **
MATCH #2: STEVE LOMBARDI VS. JOHNNY VALIANT
FINISH: Valiant wins following a slam and an elbow drop.
Bob’s Take: Valiant showing a bit of a brawling side as he slammed Lombardi on the floor early into the match and send Lombardi into the ring steps. Lombardi tried to fight back, but was slammed on the floor a second time. Lombardi gets a few strikes and hip toss out of the corner before managing to hit a slam. Valiant ends up winning, which is expected. This is mostly one-sided affair, but Valiant wasn’t all that boring as his brawling early kept my interest.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #3: CHARLIE FULTON VS. GEORGE WELLS
NOTE: This is George Wells televised debut for the WWF.
FINISH: Wells wins following three shoulder blocks with a leaping shoulder block finishing off Fulton.
Bob’s Take: Wells started off with a bunch of arm drags and a thrust kick for the early advantage. Wells also hit a nice standing head scissors, but then stalls awhile with an arm bar causing the crowd to actively chant their displeasure and they showed a replay during the match, which is never a good sign for good action taking place. Fulton gains control after sending Wells to the floor. Fulton got a good near fall after a leg drop off the ropes. This has gone on for far too long. Wells had a productive finish that popped the crowd, but this overstayed its welcome for me.
Match Rating: 1/2*
MATCH #4: KEN PATERA VS. JIM POWERS
FINISH: Patera wins with the swinging full nelson submission to win the match. After the match, Powers is checked on as he’s left laying on the mat selling the full nelson finisher. Powers gets to his feet and the crowd reacts with support.
Bob’s Take: Powers is not a small guy by any means even in 1984. Patera casually tosses Powers to the mat with a slam to showcase his strength early into the bout. Patera mostly dominates this encounter, as expected. Towards the end, Patera was essentially playing with Powers. Patera looked like a solid force here, I thought.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #5: BOBBY HEENAN VS. SD JONES
NOTE: Heenan tells Jones to stay out of his business and he’ll get into the ring when he wants to.
FINISH: Heenan rolls through a crossbody and grabs a handful of tights to pin Jones.
Bob’s Take: My entire wrestling fandom I have associated Heenan as a heel manager and a coward heel wrestling main event guys while in the manger role. So, it’s one of the first times I’ve ever watched Heenan as an active wrestler, and he quickly does an upside down bump in the corner that pops the crowd. Heenan also hits the ring post shoulder first through the middle rope. Jones continues to send Heenan into the post shoulder first on the floor. Heenan plays the coward heel so well especially after talking tough just moments earlier. Heenan gets cheap control on Jones with eye rakes and continued with strikes. Jones no sells being sent into the turnbuckle and goes after Heenan much to the crowds delight. The finish was nicely done by Heenan to steal a victory. I thought this was an effective undercard match.
Match Rating: **1/4
MATCH #6: WWF WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DESIREE PETERSON & VELVET MCINTYRE VS. PEGGY PATTERSON & PENNY MITCHELL
FINISH: Velvet pins Peggy following a sunset flip after the heels were sent into each other.
Bob’s Take: I don’t recall ever seeing these two tag teams let alone these four women in any singles matches. So, admittedly I don’t have a ton of interest in this encounter based on that alone. The early portions of the match consists of mostly rest holds and they don’t do much of anything to actively hold attention of the viewer. Velvet got a good pop for when she got the hot tag and hit a nice spin kick on Penny at one point. Once they get going there’s a much faster pace than I expected from them. It’s a bizarre match for me because at first I didn’t care, but by the end of it I had far more appreciation and enjoyment of the match than I expected to have. Velvet notably stood out for me in the match.
Match Rating: **1/2
Backstage, Kal Rudman interviews George Wells. Rudman wants to get to know Wells. Wells gives his background in playing football. Wells had a record for sacks with 28-times a year. Wells played in the Canadian Football League. Wells was drafted by the 49ers, but went to Canada instead. Wells talks about learning his football moves working well in the wrestling ring.
Backstage, Kal Rudman interviews Brutus Beefcake and Johnny Valiant. Valiant puts over Beefcake making a name for himself. Beefcake hilariously made sure he was in the background when Valiant started to cut the promo. Valiant claims everyone is talking about Beefcake. Valiant continues to put over Beefcake as a gifted athlete. Rudman mentions Beefcake is single and anyone would need to get through Valiant first.
Backstage, Kal Rudman interviews Bobby Heenan and Big John Studd. Rudman puts over Heenan for helping Studd’s career. Studd disagrees and says they got together because they make things better. Heenan says Studd needed a business agent and that’s what he’s doing. Heenan considers Studd to be the only giant. Studd promises tonight is Hogan’s last night as champion.
MATCH #7: JUNKYARD DOG VS. PAUL ORNDORFF
NOTE: Heenan grabs a microphone to remind the fans Orndorff’s name is Paul, so they naturally yell ‘Paula’ towards him.
FINISH: Orndorff tries to slam JYD into the ring from the apron, but JYD counters with an inside cradle and gets a three count! After the match, Orndorff attacks JYD. Orndorff sends JYD into the ring post. Orndorff grabs a chair and rolls JYD into the ring. Orndorff whacks JYD over the head with the chair! JYD is bleeding quite a bit as he’s helped backstage.
Bob’s Take: JYD got a good babyface reaction and Orndorff continues to draw great heel heat simply based on the Paula name. Early on, JYD controls Orndorff with a headlock and it’s one of the rare times that the crowd is actually entertained by it because they hate Orndorff that much. JYD pops the crowd with his crawling headbutts to send Orndorff reeling to the floor. Orndorff stopped JYD’s momentum with a side suplex, and it clearly impressed the crowd showing off that level of strength. Orndorff keeps control with a top rope forearm drop, but can’t put JYD away. I can appreciate the actual attempt to provide compelling offense and not rely on rest holds. JYD stopped the momentum with a strike as Orndorff came off the middle rope. Orndorff spiked JYD with a piledriver causing JYD to roll to the floor to regroup. Orndorff followed up with a slam on the floor. I was not expecting JYD to steal a victory here whatsoever. Orndorff is over enough as a heel that this isn’t going to hurt his momentum, so it’s not bad booking. There was a ton of crowd interest and it was an enjoyable match. Watching a match between an over face and an over heel on the undercard provides great entertainment. I feel like a feud between Orndorff and JYD would be a fun one and it would have legs considering the aftermath.
Match Rating: **1/2
Piper’s Pit hosted by Roddy Piper is up next in the ring. Junkyard Dog was scheduled to be guest on the segment, but he’s obviously hurting. Piper comes out with Bob Orton. Piper talks about wrestling Andre The Giant last time and notes that nobody wants to fight him now after that match. Piper insults the people for living in New Jersey. Piper notes the fans support a football team from New York. Fans are pelting the ring with trash as Piper continues to insult the crowd. Piper wants to talk to two people from New Jersey. Piper brings a fan into the ring named Jack. Jack is born and raised in New Jersey. Jack corrects Piper’s grammar, which is hilarious. Piper also talks to a woman name Rosemarie and Piper finds out she’s from New York and knew he couldn’t find a pretty woman in New Jersey. Piper asks her who her favorite wrestler all-time is and she proudly says Hulk Hogan. Salvatore Bellomo makes his way out to Junkyard Dog’s music, and the crowd quickly dies down. Piper tells Bellomo he wasn’t looking for a pizza. Bellomo says he’s there for JYD because he’s hurt. Piper tells Bellomo that he’s not the same color as JYD and questions their friendship. They have a seat and Bellomo says JYD is hurt, but Piper already knows that. Paul Orndorff comes back out to join the segment and now Bellomo is outnumbered three to one. Orndorff pretends to feel bad for JYD. Orndorff claims JYD got a little scratch on his forehead and he ran away like a no good dog. Bellomo gets shoved by all thee men as they bully him a bit. Orton drops down and Piper shoves Bellomo over Orton. Junkyard Dog runs back down into the ring with a chain and chases the heels away. JYD has a bandage on his head. The crowd went nuts for that.
MATCH #8: BOB ORTON VS. JIMMY SNUKA
FINISH: Snuka and Orton fall over the top to the floor on a Snuka crossbody causing a double count out. After the match, Orton works over Snuka and sends the referee to the floor. Orton tried for a superplex, but Snuka knocked Orton off, but Orton bailed to the floor to avoid a splash.
Bob’s Take: Orton got the cheap advantage attacking before the bell, but that momentum didn’t last long as Snuka rebounded quickly. Snuka worked over Orton with a chop focused offense, but Orton cut Snuka off with an atomic drop. Snuka hit a crossbody sending himself and Orton over the top to the floor and that caused a quick double count out finish. Despite it being a very short segment, it popped the crowd and I’d be interested in seeing a rematch between the two.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #9: BRUTUS BEEFCAKE VS. SALVATORE BELLOMO
FINISH: Beefcake prevails following a high knee strike.
Bob’s Take: There’s something about Beefcake in a singles heel role that just doesn’t connect with me and I find myself not overly interested in his matches. Bellomo gets some momentum by dropkicking Beefcake from behind and dumping Beefcake to the floor, but that momentum is short-lived upon Beefcake’s return to the ring. I’m glad this was rather short and to the point.
Match Rating: *
MAIN EVENT: WWF WORLD CHAMPION HULK HOGAN VS. BIG JOHN STUDD — BODY SLAM CHALLENGE
NOTE: The championship is on the line.
FINISH: Big John Studd is counted out of the ring and Hogan retains the title.
Bob’s Take: I think this is the first time I’m seeing Hogan wearing red and yellow in 84, and this is obviously going to be his go-to color combo. Studd taunts Hogan to try and slam him. Early on, they both try to slam each other, but neither makes much progress. Hogan staggers Studd several times and tries for a slam, but Studd continues to avoid being slammed. Hogan gets Studd really close to a slam, but Studd held onto the ropes and they end up on the floor where Studd rammed Hogan face first onto the announcers table and ring post. Hogan clearly grabs a blade out of his wrist tape by the announcers table. Hogan is busted wide open. Studd nails Hogan with a top rope overhand strike to Hogan’s back to keep the advantage. Hogan slammed Studd on the concrete floor and the crowd loses their mind! Monsoon clarifies that Hogan will not get the money because it was not in the ring. I am actually stunned that Studd was slammed as it felt like the main point of the angle was for Andre to accomplish the feat. I don’t know how doing it on the floor protects Studd in any capacity. Regardless, this was a hot main event. The crowd loves Hogan and they did a good job to keep the viewer invested. Hogan bleeding added to the match.
Match Rating: **1/2
Final Thoughts:
There’s not one singular standout match, but there’s some good wrestling on the show throughout. I enjoyed the whole Orndorff/JYD/Piper match and segment. Women’s tag became far better than I thought it would be and the main event between Hogan and Studd had a hot crowd and a fairly big moment of seeing Studd get slammed. I’ll consider this an average show overall, but leaning towards a thumbs up.
Thanks for reading.