World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 5/18/1985
From: Boston, MA
MATCH #1: SALVATORE BELLOMO VS. MOONDOG SPOT
FINISH: Spot wins following a shoulder breaker.
Bob’s Take: The Boston crowd is cheering for Moondog Spot while they are booing Bellomo, which is a bit bizarre and it’s noted by commentary for being unexpected. Bellomo tries to cheat by pulling hair at one point, which isn’t what Bellomo tends to do at all. The crowd gets loud with a boring chant. Spot throws Bellomo through the barricade sending Bellomo into the crowd, which I was not expecting for that barricade to fall apart. The finish was nicely done as Spot spiked Bellomo well with the shoulder breaker. I’m a bit caught off guard by how well the crowd cheered for Spot.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #2: SWEDE HANSON VS. STEVE LOMBARDI
FINISH: Hanson wins following a big splash.
Bob’s Take: Not much interest in this on the undercard. Hanson hasn’t done anything to impress me in his previous outings and Lombardi hasn’t developed a personality to standout. It’s a bland bout between these two for an extended period of time. Lombardi’s offense consists of strikes and nothing much more of substance. Hanson finished off Lombardi rather easily.
Match Rating: DUD
MATCH #3: BIG JOHN STUDD VS. ROCKY JOHNSON
FINISH: Johnson tries for a slam, but Studd held onto the ropes and landed onto Johnson to steal the victory.
Bob’s Take: Johnson has so much energy and nearly slams Studd within twenty-seconds of the match, but Studd avoided it. The crowd seems to buy into Johnson as a threat to Studd. It’s a bit of a odd match since there wasn’t a lot of moves, but their action held my interest and the crowd was heavily invested and responding very well to it.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #4: BRUTUS BEEFCAKE VS. TITO SANTANA
FINISH: Johnny V causes a distraction and Beefcake decks Santana to the floor. On the floor, Santana brawls with V until Beefcake came over and strikes Santana. Santana gets into the ring first and wins by count-out. Santana is bloodied by the end of the segment.
Bob’s Take: Beefcake has a little bit of momentum after recently taking out Hillbilly Jim, which commentary takes about a bit. Santana is a big time opponent for Beefcake. Santana kept control on Beefcake on the mat until Beefcake reached the ropes to break it. Beefcake halts Santana’s offense with an atomic drop. Beefcake is generating a stronger heel reaction than I have noticed previously. Beefcake decks Santana with a middle rope forearm strike to continue his control on Santana. Beefcake cuts off any hope spots by Santana rather quickly. Santana gets momentum ramming Beefcake onto the mat face first and hit a top rope elbow strike. The finish is a little bit of a trope for WWF, but I thought this was a good undercard match. Probably one of the better if not the best Beefcake singles match since his arrival.
Match Rating: **1/2
MATCH #5: KEN PATERA VS. TONY GAREA
NOTE: Prior to the match, Garea pokes fun at Bobby Heenan for Paul Orndorff firing him.
FINISH: Patera delivers an elbow drop and has a handful of tights to win the match.
Bob’s Take: Patera has the early advantage working over Garea on the mat with basic offense. Patera missed s running knee strike in the corner to give Garea some hope, but couldn’t lock in an abdominal stretch. Garea almost won following a sunset flip from the apron. Patera sends Garea into the corner chest first leading to the finish. There wasn’t much going on here to be excited about.
Match Rating: 1/2*
MATCH #6: WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION GREG VALENTINE VS. JUNKYARD DOG
FINISH: JYD tries to slam Valentine into the ring from the apron, but Valentine counters with a cradle and a handful of tights to steal the victory.
Bob’s Take: The crowd is heavily behind JYD as he looks to win some gold tonight. A slow start to the match until Valentine went right after JYD with strikes and elbow drops. Valentine controlled JYD on the mat with a hammerlock for several moments. They trade blows until JYD took Valentine down and delivered his crawling headbutts, which always get a good crowd reaction. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron to distract JYD, who missed a falling headbutt. Valentine tried for a figure four, but got kicked into Hart for a near fall. Valentine prevailing is the right call, and the finish protects JYD. There wasn’t a ton of action, but what they did kept the crowd invested and they popped for the finish. That seems like a protective segment to me.
Match Rating: **1/4
MATCH #7: BARRY O VS. IVAN PUTSKI
FINISH: Putski wins following the Polish Hammer.
Bob’s Take: It’s a bit odd early on with some awkward action where at one point Putski randomly hit the ropes throat first even though Barry was just sending him into the ropes. This is literally a squash.
Match Rating: SQUASH
MATCH #8: MARIO MANCINI VS. PETE DOHERTY
FINISH: Doherty prevails quickly following a leg drop and elbow drop.
Bob’s Take: This is a match that I didn’t see on any card reported on the internet, so this caught me off guard when reviewing this event. This is a quick one-sided bout for Doherty who didn’t let Mancini get much of anything on him.
Match Rating: SQUASH
MAIN EVENT: WWF WORLD CHAMPION HULK HOGAN & JIMMY SNUKA VS. BOB ORTON & DON MURACO
FINISH: Orton decks Hogan with his arm cast causing the disqualification. After the match, Hogan and Snuka brawl with Muraco and Orton on the floor before returning to the ring and celebrating their win. Snuka hit Orton with a chair at one point.
Bob’s Take: All four men are in the ring brawling with Hogan and Snuka getting the better of the exchange. Snuka and Orton legally start off the bout with Snuka controlling Orton. Hogan doesn’t waste too much time going after Orton in the corner after hitting an axe handle and sent Orton into the post. Hogan continued to control Orton with an atomic drop, but Orton managed to get Hogan in the corner to allow Muraco to gain the advantage. Muraco drops Hogan with a knee lift and rams Hogan into the corner. Orton drives Hogan down with a delayed vertical suplex to showcase his powerful offense. Snuka gets the hot tag and cleans house on the heels. Fuji distracts the referee as Snuka tried for a crossbody on Muraco, but Orton decked Snuka with a shot with his arm cast. Snuka has been busted open from the cast shot. Muraco sends Hogan into the ring post. Snuka manages to make the tag to Hogan, who cleans house with strikes, but Orton decked Hogan with the cast causing the disqualification. I thought it was a fine tag match with Muraco and Orton looking good with the DQ loss. The crowd ate this up as expected. I wouldn’t have minded Muraco pinning Snuka to add some momentum for Muraco as he’s challenging Hogan for the title.
Match Rating: **1/2
Final Thoughts:
There’s a hot crowd, and a couple of solid matches on the show. The runtime is barely over an hour and a half, so it was a breeze to get through the show. It’s not must-see, and it felt like a secondary level card for the Boston Gardens. But, if you’re a fan of mid-80s WWF it will be a fun time.
Thanks for reading.