• [WR] KBs Review: Dragnet: AEW (1/3)

    From WrestlingRumors.net@21:1/5 to All on Thu Sep 5 09:21:38 2019
    WrestlingRumors.net

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    KBs Review: Dragnet: AEW

    Posted: 05 Sep 2019 12:05 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-dragnet-aew/


    It was Wednesday, September 4, it was hot in Tallahassee. I was working the
    day watch out of wrestling division. The boss is Vince McMahon and/or Tony
    Khan depending on where your allegiance lies. My name’s KB, I type things.
    I received a phone call from the Longhorn Steakhouse parking lot to report
    a robbery. Since the only thing stolen in wrestling was usually a crowd, I actually had something to do for a change.

    The new AEW World Champion Chris Jericho was reporting that his title belt
    had been stolen. This struck me as odd because he felt like such a
    transitional champion that almost anyone would have a good shot of beating
    him for it soon enough but you never can tell with these people. After a
    little good old fashioned detective work (meaning I read the dirt sheets
    with my glasses on), I came up with a nice little list of suspects. I
    figured if I went over them again, I might get somewhere.
    Adam Page

    Main Motive: Saw a man about a horse, man demanded payment.

    Page is someone you know of if you watch Being The Elite and most AEW shows
    as he is often around. He tried to win the title in the first place when he fought Jericho but choked in the biggest match of his career because he couldn’t beat a middle aged wrestler who thinks he’s a rock star. That doesn’t make for the best visuals so maybe Page turned to a life of crime.

    Never trust a cowboy:

    [This post contains video, click to play]
    You never can tell with someone like Page. He’s already been accused of murdering Joey Ryan and imitating a main event wrestler so is stealing a
    title belt that much further down the line? He might be a bit too obvious though as cowboy wrestlers can go either the Ron Bass route or the Sam
    Houston route. Since Page already has enough problems, I think that’s
    enough to give him the Houston treatment.
    R-Truth/Drake Maverick

    Main Motive: General stupidity/A crime for passion

    These two are always bungling into something or other and it would make
    sense for them to walk into the wrong company. Maverick already knows that
    you can win a title inside of a limousine and maybe he thought that he
    could get somewhere by taking a title that didn’t belong to him. By somewhere, I mean back in his wife’s good graces, though she already has enough grace just to deal with him.

    These two bumbling goons.maybe:

    [This post contains video, click to play]
    R-Truth on the other hand…..there’s something wrong with him. He already thinks he’s the champion of the 7-11 in Europe or whatever he’s saying this week. With everything else that bumbling blockhead has done, would you
    really put it past him? You put these two together and trouble is going to follow. I didn’t say it wouldn’t be funny trouble, but that confused R-Truth and a desperate Maverick seem like good suspects.
    Repo Man

    Main Motive: Needs a paycheck

    You can do your own detective work on this one, but good luck finding him. He’s known for his mask.

    He already has a rap sheet:
    [This post contains video, click to play]
    Austin Aries

    Main Motive: Wanted to add to his collection

    How can you not look into someone known as the belt collector? That’s all this guy does: show up, complain about things and win belts. You would
    think that some promoter would get sick of him after awhile because he
    always seems to have a bad attitude but maybe the itch got to be too much
    for him. Winning those Impact titles will only get you so far and maybe he
    had an itch to scratch.

    The man loves his belts:

    [This post contains video, click to play]
    I’m kind of surprised that Aries hasn’t been mentioned in AEW in the first place as he would seem to be a nice fit for them. He’s been around almost everywhere and can more than go in the ring, but maybe his reputation has FINALLY caught up with him. That could be enough to motivate Aries to steal something for his collection, and you know he doesn’t like anyone else calling themselves the best in the world. The A Double name makes him a
    good suspect as he is aggravating and annoying.
    Chris Jericho

    Main Motive: Needed to reinvent himself (again)

    This one might seem a bit odd but would it really shock you? Jericho has
    one of the most interesting minds in all of wrestling, so would having him
    fake a title being stolen be that much of a stretch? He’s played almost
    every role there is to play in wrestling so why not one where his title is stolen? You might even remember him getting a little legal advice on this
    as he once went to the Library of Congress to look up information on WCW
    title belts. Perhaps studying up for a bigger caper down the road?

    I smell a coverup:

    [This post contains video, click to play]
    Jericho has long since established himself as someone willing to try
    different things and as someone who loves the spotlight. How much more spotlight can you get than by playing the victim in a title belt heist? He
    was even filmed in a hot tub after the theft, promising to send in the world’s greatest private investigators to find the title. Are we sure he’s the victim, or is this just a mighty good cover up?
    The McMahon Family

    Main Motive: Personal animosity (Stephanie), General madness (Vince), Encroachment of television territory (Triple H), Needed shoe money (Shane)

    This one is a big group job and that makes them more interesting suspects. Jericho is the biggest defector to AEW and that is going to make the
    McMahons angrier than anything else as they certainly value their loyalty.
    How many times do you see a crime and hear about the Family being tied into
    the whole thing? The McMahons have a lot of money at their disposal and
    paying off someone to take care of a title is certainly within their means.

    These two should have had a secret love affair:

    [This post contains video, click to play]
    Think back to all of the issues that these people have had with Jericho
    over the years. He’s called Stephanie more names than anyone in history. He’s lost to Triple H more times than almost anyone. He’s never actually had a match with Vince so that’s almost overdue. Then there’s Shane, who isn’t a likely suspect but you always have to include Shane in anything WWE related because…..well that’s my next investigation.
    Peter Avalon/Leva Bates

    Main Motive: Overdue library fees/Jericho is rather loud

    I mean….it’s not like they have anything else to do.

    Can you imagine these two as criminals:
    [This post contains video, click to play]
    Kenny Omega

    Main Motive: Classic Winnipeg jealousy

    What we have here are two wrestlers with blondish hair from the same city
    who already have issues in the past. Jericho is a major wrestling star and Omega….well we’ll have to see what he can do in America actually as he’s best known for Japan. Omega likes to do his performance art in wrestling (that’s a crime in and of itself) so maybe he’s taken to performing acts of robbery.

    Maybe Omega wants to beg for a thank you:

    [This post contains video, click to play]
    Omega isn’t likely to get anywhere near the title with AEW’s win/loss record rules (which I’m sure will be completely applied at all times) so
    this is probably his best way to get to the title in the first place. AEW isn’t exactly hiding the fact that they want him to be one of their top
    stars (mainly because he is one of their top stars) so having him turn to thievery to keep up with Jericho isn’t out of the question.

    It’s such a nasty wrestling world out there that you never know who might have taken it. It might have been a wrestler, it might have been a promoter
    and it might have been a fan. That’s the trouble with this line of work:
    you have a hundred suspects, with half of them being wrestlers and half of
    them acting like wrestlers (occasionally at the same time) and they all
    want to get their hands on some gold. When they try to, I go to work,
    because I watch wrestling and type about it a lot.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
    2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30
    wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

    Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
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    The post KBs Review: Dragnet: AEW appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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    REVIEW: Wrestlefest 1988: Andre The Giant Is Eleven Feet Tall

    Posted: 04 Sep 2019 11:55 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/review-wrestlefest-1988-andre-giant-eleven-feet-tall/


    Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net, starting today. It could be anything from modern WWE
    to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using
    letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
    Wrestlefest 1988

    Date: July 31, 1988

    Location: County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Attendance: 25,866

    Commentators: Sean Mooney, Billy Graham, Lord Alfred Hayes
    This is a big show with a huge double main event. In addition to the aforementioned Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant cage match, Randy Savage will
    be defending the World Title against Ted DiBiase in a rematch of the main
    event of Wrestlemania IV. DiBiase is one of the best heels of all time and
    at the top of his game here so the match should be a gem. Lets get to it.
    The announcers welcome us to the show but the shot looks weird, like theyre
    not really in the stadium. You can see the people moving but it looks more
    like a green screen than anything else.
    Also of note: the stadium looks full to capacity which would mean about
    53,000 people. The official attendance is less than half of that though,
    which makes me think either someone goofed or the outfield bleachers are completely empty.
    Big Boss Man vs. Scott Casey
    This wasnt on the home video release, likely for time reasons. Casey is a pretty basic guy from Texas who later trained Booker T. Boss Man is well
    known enough and is just HUGE here, weighing nearly 400lbs. They trade wristlocks to start with the fans entirely behind Casey. Well its probably
    more about being anti-Boss Man which is just as good for someone in Caseys position.
    Caseys wristlock keeps Boss Man in trouble before a backbreaker plants him down. The announcers talk about Boss Man wrestling at Summerslam 1988 in another match that was clipped for some reason. A bearhug (you cant even
    see Casey behind Boss Man) is broken up with some ear slaps but Caseys
    sleeper is broken up even faster. The Boss Man Slam (a bad one at that)
    puts Casey away at 4:15.
    Rating: D. Boss Man would get WAY better once he lost about 100lbs and
    started wrestling a much faster paced style. He certainly had charisma
    though as his feud with Hogan drew ridiculous money soon after this, even without the title on the line. This was a sloppy match though with Boss Man just being too big to do a lot of stuff properly but the fans were in it. Hercules vs. Brutus Beefcake
    This was also clipped from the tape and Beefcake is now a barber and a good guy. They lock up to start with Beefcake actually pushing him into the
    corner for a surprising power victory. A slugout goes to Brutus as well and Hercules is knocked out to the floor. We hit the stall button for a bit
    until Hercules gets back in and has his head rammed into the buckle a few times.
    Brutus starts throwing lefts and rights at the same time, only to get sent
    out to the floor to slow things down again. That means its time to hit the chinlock for a bit before a hard knee to the ribs drops Brutus one more
    time. Back to the chinlock until Brutus fights up and slugs away. The full nelson is broken up and Brutus grabs a rollup for the pin at 9:37.
    Rating: D+. This was a little better but still nothing worth seeing, which
    is probably another reason it was cut off the video. Brutus was certainly
    not a great performer but he had so much charisma that he could carry a
    match to at least passable. Wins like these kept him in the
    Intercontinental Title hunt for a good while even though he never really
    won anything on his own.
    Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. Killer Bees
    The Rougeaus are now heels and the Bees wear long tights. Brunzell and
    Raymond trade some basic arm stuff to start until Raymond bails to the
    outside. Back in and some headlocks are countered by Brunzells headscissors before its off to Jacques vs. Blair. A monkey flip puts Blair down and
    Jacques stops to hug his brother. Hayes suggests that the Bees are too overweight to be successful (based on their physiques he might not be too
    far off) but Blair runs Jacques over to show the weight might have
    something to it.
    Its back to Brunzell who is quickly taken down by the leg so the Rougeaus
    can spin it around a bit. Blair comes back in and starts kicking at
    Raymonds knee, followed by a double spinning toehold as this is taking its sweet time. Raymond gets over for a tag but Jacques pauses to try and help
    his brothers leg. Now its Jacques having his leg worked on until he grabs
    the ropes to escape a Boston crab.
    Raymond comes in instead and puts on his own Boston crab to bring us into a more standard formula of working on Blairs back. Jacques grabs an abdominal stretch so Raymond can kick Blair in the ribs for two. A monkey flip is countered with an atomic drop and the hot tag brings in Brunzell to take
    over. Jims Figure Four goes nowhere so he hits that great dropkick of his
    for two as everything breaks down. With the referee distracted, Raymond
    punches Brunzell so Jacques can fall on him for the pin at 13:58.
    Rating: D. WAY too long here, especially for a match that is opening the
    tape. Its not the worst match in the world by any means but the Bees looked horrible here (which probably has something to do with this being their
    last major match as a team) and didnt have anything resembling the fire and energy that made them so entertaining for years.
    Bad News Brown vs. Bret Hart
    Brown is a very angry man from Harlem who was a legitimate Olympic medalist
    in judo. He also eliminated Bret to win a battle royal at Wrestlemania to
    set this up. Hart is still just a tag wrestler at this point so Brown
    should be a heavy favorite. Brown sends him into the buckle to start but
    Bret jumps over him in the corner and hammers away before stomping on
    Browns ribs. The offense works fine until Bret charges into a boot.
    Brown tries to go up but gets slammed down for two, followed by a legdrop
    for the same. A hard clothesline out of the corner puts Bret down again,
    only to have Bret duck the Ghetto Blaster (running enziguri) and backdrop
    Brown to the floor. We get a high spot for the time as Bret planchas over
    the top, getting the crowd much more into things. Hart gets two off a
    sunset flip but his OConnor Roll is countered into another rollup with Bad
    News pulling the tights for the pin at 6:27.
    Rating: B. That was actually a heck of a match with Bret showing what he
    was capable of doing if you gave him the chance. It would be a long time
    before he could really show off but it was clear that there was a lot of potential. Most importantly here though was Bret going from nothing at the beginning of the match to someone the fans wanted to cheer by the end.
    Thats really impressive for just seven minutes and it was a sign of things
    to come.
    Post match Brets partner Jim Neidhart runs out to protest before helping
    Bret beat Bad News up a bit.
    Intercontinental Champion the Honky Tonk Man (Champion for over a year
    despite getting beaten from pillar to post by every opponent because he
    would cheat to escape with the title like few villains could ever dream of doing.) and manager Jimmy Hart promise to embarrass Jim Duggan (Im pretty
    sure you know him).
    Intercontinental Title: Jim Duggan vs. Honky Tonk Man
    Duggan is challenging of course and Honky Tonk hides on the apron to start.
    An early chase sends Honky Tonk around the ring until Duggan starts
    slugging him down with the ten punches in the corner. Mooney: “Id like to
    see him go to eleven once just to throw everyone off.” Eh worth a chuckle.
    A big clothesline drops Honky Tonk but he gets in a knee to the head and
    some right hands of his own. Duggan comes right back with an atomic drop
    and elbow but Hart grabs Duggans leg for the DQ at 4:37.
    Rating: D. Another match where the time took away anything they could have done, but when you think about it this was about all there was anyway.
    Honky Tonk wasnt going to be worth anything on offense so just have them do
    the quick match with Duggan destroying him until Honky Tonk got
    disqualified or counted out or whatever it was that night.
    Post match Duggan avoids the guitar and chases the villains off. He even
    gets the guitar away from Honky Tonk and smashes it with his 24.
    Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks
    The Powers of Pain (Barbarian and Warlord) are big bruisers and Road
    Warriors knockoffs. Theyre new around here at the moment and actually faces
    for now. The Bolsheviks are Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov in your
    standard evil Russian team. The Russians are destroyed to start and knocked
    out to the floor before we settle down to Volkoff vs. Barbarian.
    This doesnt exactly go well for Nikolai so its quickly off to Zhukov who
    eats a powerslam. Warlord comes in for a test of strength with Volkoff
    which is much more to the Russians liking. Boris gets in a cheap shot from behind to keep Warlord down before both guys tag out again. This time Boris
    is smart enough to stay away from Barbarian by avoiding a charge in the
    corner to send Barbarian into the post. The double teaming doesnt work
    though and its back to Warlord as everything breaks down. Warlord
    powerslams Boris and Barbarian adds a top rope headbutt for the pin at 6:47. Rating: C-. I liked this one more than I was expecting as the Powers looked good, though its very clear that they would be a lot better as heels. The Bolsheviks are one of the least interesting teams that you could find and
    it was pretty obvious that they were never going anywhere. At least the
    Powers looked good and were never in the slightest bit of trouble.
    Jim Neidhart vs. Lanny Poffo
    Poffo is Randy Savages real life brother who would write poems on Frisbees
    and send them into the crowd. Ive heard worse ideas. Poffo slams the bigger Neidhart (also known as the Anvil) to start and tries a moonsault (a big
    spot at the time) but only hits knees. Some shoulders to the ribs have
    Poffo in trouble and a powerslam puts him away at 2:37.
    WWF World Title: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase
    Savage is defending and this also isnt on the tape for reasons that Ill
    never understand. DiBiases bodyguard Virgil goes after Ms. Elizabeth to
    start and thats just not going to fly with Savage. The distraction lets
    DiBiase hammer away to start until Savage drops him with a running
    clothesline. A running knee sends Ted out to the floor and its time to be frustrated.
    Back in and DiBiase counters a sunset flip to take over and takes it right
    back outside. He sends Savage face first into the timekeepers bell before sending the champ inside for two off a clothesline. Hayes is WAY too calm
    for a match this big and its kind of distracting. DiBiase gets in a
    backbreaker but Savage reverses a suplex into one of his own.
    They slug it out from their knees (which Mooney says looks like “A midget boxing match.”) before DiBiase grabs a very long chinlock. The champ breaks the hold but DiBiase avoids a running knee in the corner to keep himself in control. Back up and Savage punches him out of the air as things turn
    around. DiBiase is sent head first into the turnbuckle a few times and a
    top rope ax handle drops him again.
    Virgil offers a distraction to give Ted a break but it only gets his boss rolled up for two. The second attempt works a bit better with Virgil
    getting in a chair shot behind the referees back for a very near fall.
    Hayes thinks the referee should have at least heard that and hes probably
    right for a change. DiBiase goes to pick Savage up but gets small packaged
    for the pin to retain Savages title at 14:52.
    Rating: B. Quite a good match here but it wasnt as strong as it could have been. It was like they didnt have much of a formula to follow here and it brought things down a bit. As in DiBiase would do a few moves but it didnt
    feel like it was building towards anything. Still though, this was the only logical opponent for Savage, even though DiBiase has cooled off a good bit since the loss in the title match.
    DiBiase and Virgil go after Savage post match but the champ clears them out without much effort.
    Terry Taylor vs. Curt Hennig
    Again, not on the tape. This is the debut for both guys for all intents and purposes. Taylor is a talented guy who had success around the territories
    and Hennig would of course become Mr. Perfect. Feeling out process to start with Taylor dropping Curt before snapping off some armdrags. A hard
    shoulder puts Hennig down again and its off to a hard headlock. Taylor gets
    two off a backslide before Curt snaps off a knee lift, only to have the
    fans ignore the match and look at something opposite the camera. Taylor
    slugs away but eats a hard running forearm to the head for the pin at 4:52. Rating: C. This could have been good with some more time but the ending was really weird as Hennig just hit him with a forearm for the pin. Taylor
    would have his career crippled soon after this with the Red Rooster gimmick while Hennig would become a star as Mr. Perfect. Allegedly Taylor turned
    down the Mr. Perfect character and was given the Rooster gimmick as a
    result, which goes to show you that things arent always as they seem. Well
    that and that Hennig was much better than Taylor.
    Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude
    Another Wrestlemania rematch but in this case theres another big story
    added. Rude did a thing where he would kiss a random woman in the audience.
    He tried that on another given woman but it turned out to be Roberts wife Cheryl, triggering a huge feud during which Rude was stripped “naked” on TV. Rude talks about how his hip swiveling has Cheryl going crazy so heres
    Jake to the ring to take over fast.
    A gutbuster sends Rude to the floor, even though the abs are always a
    strong point for him. Back in and Rude loads up the posing, only to have
    the threat of a DDT send him bailing outside again. Rick tries to head in
    again and this time grabs a chinlock, which could go on for a good while if their Wrestlemania match is any indication.
    Thankfully its only a few moments this time before Rude drops an elbow for
    two instead. Its already back to the chinlock with Rude throwing his feet
    on the ropes. The referee sees it but just lets the match keep going after giving Rude a not very stern warning. The hold stays on for about two
    minutes until Roberts gets to his knees and spins his head around, making
    it more like a cheeklock instead. Well at least its something different.
    Rude is finally driven into the buckle to break things up but Roberts cant follow up. Instead its Rick coming off the top with a fist drop to the
    face, only to have Jake get up and tell Rude to bring it. Rick does just
    that by going up top so Jake can crotch him down for the comedy spot of the night so far. The fans want the DDT but have to settle for some fast
    punches and a knee lift. Rudes tights are pulled WAY too far down before
    the DDT, which somehow crushed the referee in the process. That means no
    count so Rude bails, only to have Jake follow for the double countout at
    15:23.
    Rating: D. For some reason these two are incapable of having a good match together. This was very similar to their Wrestlemania match as it kept
    dragging on longer and longer, mainly due to a rest hold, before the draw finish. This kind of thing gets annoying in a hurry and its a shame too as these guys should have been able to have some very entertaining matches
    against each other. Rude was till a goon at this point though and that was going to hold him back to a strong degree, but this was just awful.
    Post match Jake throws the snake on Rude, causing it to wrap up tightly in
    a good looking visual.
    King Haku vs. Sam Houston
    Haku is now the King of the WWF (a title that didnt last long) and Houston
    is a cowboy. Houston gets pounded down by the much bigger Haku to start but
    Sam comes back with an armdrag. Of course that means the armbar because
    what else is Houston supposed to do? Haku throws him throat first onto the
    top rope and stays on the throat by catapulting him into the bottom rope. A hard clothesline sets up a nerve hold but Haku misses an elbow. Sam fires
    off some right hands and a clothesline, only to eat a superkick and jumping headbutt for the pin at 5:04.
    Rating: C-. Completely acceptable power vs. speed match here with Houston trying but having no chance against someone like Haku. Theres always a
    place on the card for a simple little match like this and it helps that
    they didnt waste all their time in that nerve hold as I was expecting them
    to do.
    Ultimate Warrior vs. Bobby Heenan
    This is a Weasel Suit match where the loser has to wear said suit. Yeah
    this isnt exactly a complicated idea and I think you know where its going. Warrior stomps on the suit before the match and its off to an early chase. Heenan runs to the floor and gets chased in circles, only to have Warrior
    duck low and surprise him with a clothesline to get the beating going. Back
    in and Heenan gets a few foreign object shots to Warriors throat. This has about the effect you would expect as Warrior starts ripping off some chops
    and a hard whip to send Bobby into the corner. A sleeper of all things
    knocks Heenan out at 4:56.
    Rating: D. Ok yeah the wrestling was nothing but that wasnt the point here.
    The fans got to see Heenan get beaten up and then the post match stuff is
    the real attraction. As mentioned earlier, Heenan is able to take a beating like this and then bounce back with a simple promo later on. The wrestling
    was worthless but thats not the point here, which is just fine.

    This one speaks for itself:
    [This post contains video, click to play]
    The unconscious Heenan is put in the suit and Graham hopes theres something
    in there with him, such as itching powder or a snake. Heenan wakes up and
    sees that he now has a tail, sending him into a spiral until he falls down
    for a good laugh from the fans.
    Tag Team Titles: Demolition vs. British Bulldogs
    Demolition (Ax and Smash), with Mr. Fuji, is defending and this is one of
    the last runs for the Bulldogs. Smash and Davey get things going with Smith taking over off a wristlock and bringing in Dynamite, who is easily carried into the corner. Ax comes in for his quick ax handles and the fans are
    clearly very entertained. The champs start taking turns on Dynamites back
    until Ax slaps on a nerve hold.
    Graham thinks that Hayes should manage the Bulldogs because all British
    people are the same and get along. Hayes has actually thought about it and wants them to be more ruthless. Back to Smash for the bearhug but Dynamite escapes and dives over for the tag to Davey as everything breaks down. Ax
    knees him in the back though and its already back to Dynamite. A press slam sends Dynamite onto Smash with a headbutt as Mr. Fuji gets on the apron.
    The distraction lets Smash blast Dynamite with Fujis cane for the pin to
    keep the belts at 7:03.
    Rating: C-. Certainly not bad again here but you can see that the Bulldogs arent exactly trying. That being said, the point here was to put Demolition over and thats exactly what they did. Im sure this would have been a
    frequent match on house shows but it still wasnt exactly thrilling. For a
    big house show with no story though, this was fine.
    Dino Bravo vs. Ken Patera
    Both are strong men and Patera used to be an Olympian weightlifter but a
    jail stint destroyed his career and hes a shell of himself here. Hes a
    shell that jumps Bravo at the bell though and a slam sends Dino outside.
    Back in and Bravo grabs an atomic drop to set up some choking because hes a villain and thats what he does. Things settle into a basic squash formula
    with Bravo sending him into the buckle but eating an elbow for two. Patera misses a charge though and Bravos side slam (yes a side slam) gives him the
    pin at 3:28.
    Rating: D-. Patera was so bad at this point that the announcers were
    telling him to retire a few weeks after this. These power vs. power matches rarely work and this was no exception with Bravo, a career midcarder who
    never had much success in the WWF, working circles around Patera here. Bad match and something that really didnt need to exist here.
    Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan
    Inside a cage, which is only about a foot taller than Andre, meaning the
    Giant stands about 14 feet tall. Hogan slugs away to start but gets choked
    with his own shirt. Well thats what he gets for being so aggressive. Graham thinks Hogan looks normal compared to Andre. So in Grahams mind, most
    people are orange and wear yellow trunks? Hogan hammers away in the corner
    as the announcers discuss how to win for the second time in two minutes.
    Hulk starts with the ten punches until Andre just grabs the arm for the
    block. Thats not something you ever see but Andre can pull it off. Andre
    ties Hogan to the cage with the shirt, which works as well as you would
    expect it to. Hogan puts on something like a standing chinlock as they
    fight over taking off a buckle pad. As Graham says, why bother doing that
    WHEN YOURE SURROUNDED BY STEEL???
    Its Hogan going face first into the exposed buckle and weve got blood. A headbutt makes things worse for him but Hulk is still able to grab Andres
    leg to keep him inside. Back up and Hogan clotheslines him, followed by a
    bunch of right hands to finally put Andre down. Theres the big leg but
    Heenan comes in for a distraction. Andre TRIES TO CLIMB OUT but Hogan ties
    him in the ropes, beats up Heenan a bit, and climbs out at 10:04.
    Rating: D. Eh its a stadium cage match. Theyve done these things for years
    and its not like anyone was expecting a masterpiece here. Hogan going over
    to send the fans home happy was the only way to end things and its not like Andre was going to be able to do anything special in the ring at this point anyway. It wasnt good but it was really all you could expect.
    [This post contains video, click to play]

    The announcers wrap it up.
    Overall Rating: D+. Theres some good stuff on here but the home video
    editing was just weird. We get Bravo vs. Patera and Neidhart vs. Poffo but
    cant get the World Title match? It wasnt a very good show as it was of
    course and thats all you can expect here. Basically this was a big extended (FIFTEEN MATCHES) bunch of Wrestlemania rematches and other stuff to fill
    out a card which isnt going to work all that well, especially when the wrestling is mostly awful. Theres some watchable stuff here but you would
    be better off just picking and choosing a few matches.

    Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
    over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
    2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30

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