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Okay, back for Round 2.
First, things first; Celebrities. WM 1 had 6 that I can remember. WM 2 said "hold my steel chair", and had two dozen (24!). There were about as many celebs as there were wrestlers on the PPV. It looked like an award show.
Orndorff vs. Muraco:
Jobbers are gone this time around and things started about where we left off with Mr. Wonderful (turned face since the last Main Event). Again, fairly high pace by today's standards and more move variety than most matches from WM 1. Some good slams, and a surprisingly low tolerance for out of ring action/hijinks.
Not great, but decent enough and better than most of what WM 1 had to offer.
Savage vs. Steele (IC Championship):
Heavier on gimmick and theatrics than most of this card, mostly Macho playing heel and spending half the match out of the ring and running while George wonders around crazy, except when he stares dumbly at Ms. Elizabeth. By the time the "beauty and the beast" routine is over, the match actually ends pretty quickly. Almost no wrestling, really.
No green tongue yet for The Animal, and watching him now, I think Mankind was borrowing/inspired by this gimmick. Also, Steele had a good ape-like sort of movement here that I don't remember him doing later, maybe injuries and age stopped this bit? The trademark turnbuckle chewing is present, which I had forgotten about, lol.
This one doesn't age well, too dependent on storyline.
Roberts vs. Wells:
I don't know George Wells, and had to look up his bio. No disrespect, but he definitely wasn't a star. I'm not sure from this match what they intended with him. He comes out working The Snake right away, and fairly hard. Jake is showing off the heel sells I don't remember seeing often (showing the crowd how smart he is before he gets hit, asking for time-out, stiff-leg flip, etc.). Honestly, it looks like Jake was studying Flair and trying out/practicing some of his fan favorites.
Anyway, Wells basically beats the hell out of him until Roberts outsmarts him for a single knee, then drops (the not yet named!!!) DDT for the win. One hit, finisher, end. Snake gimmick. Nice touch of foaming at the mouth from Wells, which appears to have been his own idea.
This should have been a regular tv broadcast match in everyway.
Mr. T vs. Pipper (Boxing Match):
As a boxing fan, this was just awful. It has less place in a wrestling PPV than the bench press attempt from WM 1 did, but this ran LONNGG.
Bright spot was I did get a serious laugh when T ran his promo with a surprise black midget as a trainer.
WTH was McMahon thinking on this one?
Moolah vs. McIntyre:
Moolah vs. who? Exactly, and exactly what you would expect.
Bright spot: McIntyre had a decent a$$.
Kirchner vs. Volkoff:
I had never seen Kirchner before, and this was clearly the Sgt. Slaughter (v. 0.9) beta.
SUPER SHORT match. Volkoff doesn't have the agility for his opening move, but switches to a power/brawler set and looks decent enough for the maybe 2 or 3 minutes the whole match lasts. Blassie works heel for ~30 seconds. Kirchner cuts, but his long curly bangs hide the blood.
Actually decent, but it's over so fast it's easy to miss. Also, can't get used to "Not-Sgt.-Slaughter" out there.
20 Man Battle Royale:
Insane number. The ring looked like it was going to collapse at the beginning. About 1/3 of the participants were NFL players (not counted in my celeb number earlier, so feel free to raise it to about 30). Looking back at this, it was basically a "real" battle royale with a half dozen football players added in.
Wrestlers included: Tony Atlas, Hillbilly Jim, Iron Sheik, Big John Stud, King Tonga, The Hart Foundation (!), The Killer Bees, and Andre the Giant.
Biggest surprise to me was Bruno Sammartino coming out of retirement to join in. I'm guessing his son's match in WM 1 showed the old guy "still had it"? Sadly, he spent much of the match in the middle of the ring looking around, seemingly lost as to what to do/where to be/who to engage. There were also a few hits he didn't sell at all. I'd think this had to be the end.
I had forgotten about the B's (and they still looked good, even by today's standards), and seeing Bret with The Anvil brought back a lot of memories.
Early match is chaos. Things that stood out in my memory are Sheik going a hot run eliminating ~3 people in a row quickly and had a hand in maybe 6 overall?, Stud getting eliminated by William Refrigerator Perry on a handshake trick, and Andre ending up alone facing the Hart Foundation (which was a highlight, BTW).
British Bulldogs vs. Valentine & Beefcake (Tag Title):
Okay, first off, these days I only see reference to "The British Bulldog"; so what happened to the other Bulldog?? Which one got dropped, and why?
This was easily the best match of the event so far, and 3 of these 4 would be working today (IMO) if they were younger. The dogs had the build, speed, intensity, move variety, flying attacks, slams, & double teams off the tag. They looked great.
The Hammer is a cardio monster. This match was up beat for over 10 minutes, and while the dogs tagged in and out often and looked a little winded at points, Greg stayed in the ring for AT LEAST 90-95% of the match. No disrespect intended, but he was clearly carrying Beefcake in this duo. Brutus had the look, but not the ability of the other guys around him.
Possibly the best match of the entire event, along with a dramatic finish setting up a rematch.
(Elvira shows up here
)
Steamboat Vs. Hernandez:
Again, two guys that could probably make it today. Great shape, great tempo, moves match abilities.
Hercules channels some heel very smoothly into the match (like posing during the pin attempt). He works some good exaggeration into his sells (like the face he makes being Irish Whipped). He had a pretty awesome physique, too. I have to admit I had pretty much forgotten about him, but he was clearly a star in the ring. I'm guessing his promos must have been weak or he was injured early in his career, or he would have had more prominence.
The Dragon looks better than before, and he was one of the brighter spots of WM 1. Still fairly jacked, and very quick on the arm drags, hip tosses, and such.
No real lulls in the match and the outcome was uncertain. I'd happily watch them square off again. Another contender for best match of the night.
Adonis Vs. Elmer:
WTF am I watching?
Another pure gimmick match with virtually NO wrestling at all. Adonis runs, Elmer stands in his overalls and yells. Adonis gets his dress ripped off and the middle-aged overweight man in coveralls sits on him. If I were Hillbilly Jim, I'd be pissed at whatever "Uncle Elmer" was supposed to be. Adrian made a good heel in a homophobic era, but it's pretty hard to see this sort thing selling today (at least anything short of Gold Dust).
Terrible. Amongst the very worst of what pro wrestling can be. I rank it slightly below some Tom & Jerry highlights.
Funks Vs. JYD & Tito:
I didn't know Terry worked the WWF. I've always associated him with other circuits and Crockett, so it was a bit odd to see him here. Not his "natural habitat", IMO. Too clean.
Anyway, Terry was the star of this show. JYD looked WAY better than WM 1, and I'm inclined to attribute Terry. Dog's crazy moves looked much better with a believable sell. Tito spent a lot of the match getting beat on, just like his jobber match in WM 1. I'm guessing there is a reason he plays it like that? Maybe he likes to show resilience? Or likes to help put over the heel as effective and dangerous in an era when they often looked like harmless clowns? I don't know, and I need to watch more of Santana's matches to get a better guess because his offense is really solid and gets the crowd reacting.
Hoss was kind of the background player in this match, with his brother shouldering the load.
A+ for Terry, A-/B+ for Tito, B for JYD, and C for Hoss.
Decent enough match, but nothing special.
Hogan Vs. Bundy (Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage):
Let me get this out of the way, I automatically roll my eyes when WWF used a cage, or anything remotely extreme in their matches. It just wasn't their family friendly style, and after spending all those years watching NWA, Mid-Atlantic, etc., it looked almost silly.
This one wasn't too bad though. Not GOOD, but not BAD.
A Hogan back injury was played up before and throughout the match. It essentially was the complete focus of the match, in hindsight. They worked it better than I expected, with Bundy using the bandages to strangle Terri for awhile. Hulkster let Bundy bring it to him and work him over quite a bit, jusssttt finding the strength to battle through the pain (for all those Hulkamaniacs out there, brother!) and stop Bundy from escaping the cage a few times. Hulk rallied (que crazy-eyed look ... you all know exactly what I mean), and Bundy took a forehead cut on steel cage throw (which I did NOT expect from WWF).
One of the more notable parts of this match was Elvira as co-commentator, and it was clear she did not understand the art as she legitimately started to panic calling for the match to be stopped. A short silence from her later, and she was cracking jokes. I understand, but part of me wants to believe Jim Ross would have kept his mouth shut and let her cry until she left while Arn Anderson had his faced raked across barbwire by Dusty Rhodes, but I digress.
As a bonus for the crowd, Hulk slapped Bobby Heenan around a little at the end, which was kind of fun seeing him trapped in the cage.
I kind of wonder what happened to King Kong Bundy. He had the look to be a great heel, but it almost seemed his heart wasn't in it. I also think the WWF was the wrong venue for him, as I'm thinking he would have gone over better paired in that cage with someone like Lawler.
Much better event than the first, but the celebrity participation is totally out of control. 3 matches here were better than anything in the first event.
Also, this was a great reminder of how deep the tag team talent pool was in that era. The Killer Bee's would be stars at anytime, but they had SO many competitors, they kind of just blended in. Nice to see Bret & The Anvil!
I look forward to WM 3.
First, things first; Celebrities. WM 1 had 6 that I can remember. WM 2 said "hold my steel chair", and had two dozen (24!). There were about as many celebs as there were wrestlers on the PPV. It looked like an award show.
Orndorff vs. Muraco:
Jobbers are gone this time around and things started about where we left off with Mr. Wonderful (turned face since the last Main Event). Again, fairly high pace by today's standards and more move variety than most matches from WM 1. Some good slams, and a surprisingly low tolerance for out of ring action/hijinks.
Not great, but decent enough and better than most of what WM 1 had to offer.
Savage vs. Steele (IC Championship):
Heavier on gimmick and theatrics than most of this card, mostly Macho playing heel and spending half the match out of the ring and running while George wonders around crazy, except when he stares dumbly at Ms. Elizabeth. By the time the "beauty and the beast" routine is over, the match actually ends pretty quickly. Almost no wrestling, really.
No green tongue yet for The Animal, and watching him now, I think Mankind was borrowing/inspired by this gimmick. Also, Steele had a good ape-like sort of movement here that I don't remember him doing later, maybe injuries and age stopped this bit? The trademark turnbuckle chewing is present, which I had forgotten about, lol.
This one doesn't age well, too dependent on storyline.
Roberts vs. Wells:
I don't know George Wells, and had to look up his bio. No disrespect, but he definitely wasn't a star. I'm not sure from this match what they intended with him. He comes out working The Snake right away, and fairly hard. Jake is showing off the heel sells I don't remember seeing often (showing the crowd how smart he is before he gets hit, asking for time-out, stiff-leg flip, etc.). Honestly, it looks like Jake was studying Flair and trying out/practicing some of his fan favorites.
Anyway, Wells basically beats the hell out of him until Roberts outsmarts him for a single knee, then drops (the not yet named!!!) DDT for the win. One hit, finisher, end. Snake gimmick. Nice touch of foaming at the mouth from Wells, which appears to have been his own idea.
This should have been a regular tv broadcast match in everyway.
Mr. T vs. Pipper (Boxing Match):
As a boxing fan, this was just awful. It has less place in a wrestling PPV than the bench press attempt from WM 1 did, but this ran LONNGG.
Bright spot was I did get a serious laugh when T ran his promo with a surprise black midget as a trainer.
WTH was McMahon thinking on this one?
Moolah vs. McIntyre:
Moolah vs. who? Exactly, and exactly what you would expect.
Bright spot: McIntyre had a decent a$$.
Kirchner vs. Volkoff:
I had never seen Kirchner before, and this was clearly the Sgt. Slaughter (v. 0.9) beta.
SUPER SHORT match. Volkoff doesn't have the agility for his opening move, but switches to a power/brawler set and looks decent enough for the maybe 2 or 3 minutes the whole match lasts. Blassie works heel for ~30 seconds. Kirchner cuts, but his long curly bangs hide the blood.
Actually decent, but it's over so fast it's easy to miss. Also, can't get used to "Not-Sgt.-Slaughter" out there.
20 Man Battle Royale:
Insane number. The ring looked like it was going to collapse at the beginning. About 1/3 of the participants were NFL players (not counted in my celeb number earlier, so feel free to raise it to about 30). Looking back at this, it was basically a "real" battle royale with a half dozen football players added in.
Wrestlers included: Tony Atlas, Hillbilly Jim, Iron Sheik, Big John Stud, King Tonga, The Hart Foundation (!), The Killer Bees, and Andre the Giant.
Biggest surprise to me was Bruno Sammartino coming out of retirement to join in. I'm guessing his son's match in WM 1 showed the old guy "still had it"? Sadly, he spent much of the match in the middle of the ring looking around, seemingly lost as to what to do/where to be/who to engage. There were also a few hits he didn't sell at all. I'd think this had to be the end.
I had forgotten about the B's (and they still looked good, even by today's standards), and seeing Bret with The Anvil brought back a lot of memories.
Early match is chaos. Things that stood out in my memory are Sheik going a hot run eliminating ~3 people in a row quickly and had a hand in maybe 6 overall?, Stud getting eliminated by William Refrigerator Perry on a handshake trick, and Andre ending up alone facing the Hart Foundation (which was a highlight, BTW).
British Bulldogs vs. Valentine & Beefcake (Tag Title):
Okay, first off, these days I only see reference to "The British Bulldog"; so what happened to the other Bulldog?? Which one got dropped, and why?
This was easily the best match of the event so far, and 3 of these 4 would be working today (IMO) if they were younger. The dogs had the build, speed, intensity, move variety, flying attacks, slams, & double teams off the tag. They looked great.
The Hammer is a cardio monster. This match was up beat for over 10 minutes, and while the dogs tagged in and out often and looked a little winded at points, Greg stayed in the ring for AT LEAST 90-95% of the match. No disrespect intended, but he was clearly carrying Beefcake in this duo. Brutus had the look, but not the ability of the other guys around him.
Possibly the best match of the entire event, along with a dramatic finish setting up a rematch.
(Elvira shows up here
)Steamboat Vs. Hernandez:
Again, two guys that could probably make it today. Great shape, great tempo, moves match abilities.
Hercules channels some heel very smoothly into the match (like posing during the pin attempt). He works some good exaggeration into his sells (like the face he makes being Irish Whipped). He had a pretty awesome physique, too. I have to admit I had pretty much forgotten about him, but he was clearly a star in the ring. I'm guessing his promos must have been weak or he was injured early in his career, or he would have had more prominence.
The Dragon looks better than before, and he was one of the brighter spots of WM 1. Still fairly jacked, and very quick on the arm drags, hip tosses, and such.
No real lulls in the match and the outcome was uncertain. I'd happily watch them square off again. Another contender for best match of the night.
Adonis Vs. Elmer:
WTF am I watching?
Another pure gimmick match with virtually NO wrestling at all. Adonis runs, Elmer stands in his overalls and yells. Adonis gets his dress ripped off and the middle-aged overweight man in coveralls sits on him. If I were Hillbilly Jim, I'd be pissed at whatever "Uncle Elmer" was supposed to be. Adrian made a good heel in a homophobic era, but it's pretty hard to see this sort thing selling today (at least anything short of Gold Dust).
Terrible. Amongst the very worst of what pro wrestling can be. I rank it slightly below some Tom & Jerry highlights.
Funks Vs. JYD & Tito:
I didn't know Terry worked the WWF. I've always associated him with other circuits and Crockett, so it was a bit odd to see him here. Not his "natural habitat", IMO. Too clean.
Anyway, Terry was the star of this show. JYD looked WAY better than WM 1, and I'm inclined to attribute Terry. Dog's crazy moves looked much better with a believable sell. Tito spent a lot of the match getting beat on, just like his jobber match in WM 1. I'm guessing there is a reason he plays it like that? Maybe he likes to show resilience? Or likes to help put over the heel as effective and dangerous in an era when they often looked like harmless clowns? I don't know, and I need to watch more of Santana's matches to get a better guess because his offense is really solid and gets the crowd reacting.
Hoss was kind of the background player in this match, with his brother shouldering the load.
A+ for Terry, A-/B+ for Tito, B for JYD, and C for Hoss.
Decent enough match, but nothing special.
Hogan Vs. Bundy (Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage):
Let me get this out of the way, I automatically roll my eyes when WWF used a cage, or anything remotely extreme in their matches. It just wasn't their family friendly style, and after spending all those years watching NWA, Mid-Atlantic, etc., it looked almost silly.
This one wasn't too bad though. Not GOOD, but not BAD.
A Hogan back injury was played up before and throughout the match. It essentially was the complete focus of the match, in hindsight. They worked it better than I expected, with Bundy using the bandages to strangle Terri for awhile. Hulkster let Bundy bring it to him and work him over quite a bit, jusssttt finding the strength to battle through the pain (for all those Hulkamaniacs out there, brother!) and stop Bundy from escaping the cage a few times. Hulk rallied (que crazy-eyed look ... you all know exactly what I mean), and Bundy took a forehead cut on steel cage throw (which I did NOT expect from WWF).
One of the more notable parts of this match was Elvira as co-commentator, and it was clear she did not understand the art as she legitimately started to panic calling for the match to be stopped. A short silence from her later, and she was cracking jokes. I understand, but part of me wants to believe Jim Ross would have kept his mouth shut and let her cry until she left while Arn Anderson had his faced raked across barbwire by Dusty Rhodes, but I digress.
As a bonus for the crowd, Hulk slapped Bobby Heenan around a little at the end, which was kind of fun seeing him trapped in the cage.
I kind of wonder what happened to King Kong Bundy. He had the look to be a great heel, but it almost seemed his heart wasn't in it. I also think the WWF was the wrong venue for him, as I'm thinking he would have gone over better paired in that cage with someone like Lawler.
Much better event than the first, but the celebrity participation is totally out of control. 3 matches here were better than anything in the first event.
Also, this was a great reminder of how deep the tag team talent pool was in that era. The Killer Bee's would be stars at anytime, but they had SO many competitors, they kind of just blended in. Nice to see Bret & The Anvil!
I look forward to WM 3.
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