World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 8/3/1985
From: Boston, MA
MATCH #1: LES THORNTON VS. JOSE LUIS RIVERA
FINISH: Thornton rolls through a middle rope crossbody to win the match.
Bob’s Take: Early on, the action is quite slow and plodding with mat wrestling based approach, which is to be expected. It’s a slow and plodding match that I didn’t care about, at all. I feel like the WWF usually puts almost unknowns into the first match instead of starting off the show with excitement.
Match Rating: DUD
MATCH #2 GEORGE STEELE VS. TIGER CHUNG LEE
FINISH: Steele hit Chung Lee with an illegal object in the corner.
Bob’s Take: I almost feel like they are trying to torture fans this month in Philadelphia. Steele is all character work and he’s not going to provide compelling in-ring action. Chung Lee has zero steam and had been on the losing end to his former partner Mr. Fuji, but by the looks of things they are both still heels. Steele tossed a table into the ring to show he’s a crazy man, but it’s not used. Steele rips open a few turnbuckle pads. This was horrible.
Match Rating: DUD
MATCH #3: GEORGE WELLS VS. BRUTUS BEEFCAKE
FINISH: Beefcake avoids a splash in the corner and deliver a knee strike to the back and pins Wells for the win.
Bob’s Take: Wells football tackles Beefcake several times after being hip tossed out of the corner and Beefcake reeled to the floor, which got a decent pop from the crowd. Wells continued to work over Beefcake on the floor, but got sent into the ring post. Beefcake continued to work over Wells arm for a lengthy amount of time. They trade strikes from their knees and the crowd seems to be supportive of Wells. Wells tried to do a head scissors, but Beefcake wasn’t going to do the proper bump for it. Beefcake seems to be avoiding bumping for Wells offense. At least there was some actual offense to the match and the crowd was into the battle.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #4: PEDRO MORALES VS. MR. X
FINISH: Morales forces a submission with the Boston Crab.
Bob’s Take: Pretty obvious that this is just another extended squash for Morales to be showcased. Mr. X decided to stall for quite a bit. It sure seems like most of the wrestlers thus far had zero interest in wrestling on the show. Mr. X delivered a flying clothesline off the ropes, but Morales quickly manhandled X and got the submission quickly. 95% of this match was stalling.
Match Rating: DUD
MATCH #5: RODDY PIPER VS. PAUL ORNDORFF
FINISH: Piper decks the referee, but they brawl backstage leading to the end of the match. Orndorff technically wins by disqualification. It’s announced a double count-out.
Bob’s Take: The crowd is far more invested into this match than anything else on the card to this point. They started off with a brawling focus and they went to the floor to continue their brawl. They hit each other with a table at ringside, which makes for an even hotter atmosphere. Piper gets part of his butt exposed, but continued the match with some exposure. This a pretty good back and forth battle with a hot crowd throughout the whole match. At one point, they crash over the top to the floor on a crossbody by Orndorff. The cheap finish by Piper decking the referee is the typical finish to drag out the feud and avoid a clean finish. I enjoyed this quite a bit, though.
Match Rating: ***1/4
MATCH #6: RANDY SAVAGE VS. SALVATORE BELLOMO
FINISH: Savage pins Bellomo in the middle of the ring following a top rope elbow drop.
Bob’s Take: The way Savage carries himself makes him feel like a bigger deal than almost anyone else on the show. Obviously, Piper and Orndorff are a bit bigger at this point, but Savage is on the rise. Savage knee lifts Bellomo into the railing and sneaks on the floor by crawling to ram Bellomo into the railing again. Savage hit a top rope axe handle to the floor, which is probably the biggest spot of the night thus far. This is just an extended squash for Savage, but he’s quite enjoyable and he alone carries this from being dreadful.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #7: TERRY FUNK VS. RICK MCGRAW
FINISH: Funk finishes McGraw off with a sleeper hold. After the match, Funk uses his branding iron on McGraw. The iron isn’t hot, by the way.
Bob’s Take: McGraw gets some offense early on including a slam. Funk must be taking McGraw a little seriously as he had bailed to the floor to regroup. Funk misses a spear in the corner and hit the post. McGraw focused his attack on the shoulder with a shoulder breaker for a near fall. Funk dumps McGraw to the floor with his legs and then tried to do a handshake, which is a bit odd. McGraw gets some action delivering an atomic drop and continued to beat on Funk outside the ring with brawling. McGraw delivered an airplane, which is a bit funny since he’s much, much shorter than Funk. Funk’s sleeper hold finish isn’t all that memorable, and obviously I’d expect something a bit more devastating from Funk. Funk’s antics are entertaining, but the match here was a bit dull.
Match Rating: *
MAIN EVENT: DON MURACO & MR. FUJI VS. RICKY STEAMBOAT & THE JUNKYARD DOG
FINISH: Steamboat pins Fuji following a top rope crossbody. After the match, Fuji and Muraco attack Steamboat by throwing salt into his eyes. They proceed to just leave the ring.
Bob’s Take: They start off with brawling in the ring with Steamboat and JYD getting the control. It’s a better start than most of the matches on the card. Steamboat is almost hanging Fuji in the corner. Muraco is worked over quite a bit by Steamboat as Steamboat hit a top rope strike. Fuji is not providing much assistance for Muraco. Fuji does manage to get some offense on Steamboat including a headbutt to the groin. Steamboat is worked over a bit by Muraco and Fuji to get their extended heat segment. JYD gets the hot tag and cleans house on the heels. JYD and Muraco collide heads stopping JYD’s momentum. Steamboat gets the hot tag and cleans house with strikes and quickly finished Fuji off with a crossbody. At least there was some level of action here and it wasn’t a snooze fest. Fuji eating the pin was rather obvious. The crowd had some decent energy for this, so it wasn’t a chore to get through.
Match Rating: *1/2
Final Thoughts:
Piper vs. Orndorff is the best match on the card and it’s not even remotely close. Aside from that and seeing Savage, there’s not much going on here for entertainment purposes. I’ve got to give this a thumbs down and recommendation to avoid.
Thanks for reading.