WWF Sam Houston Coliseum 11/6/86

AHH May 19th!~

Dan Spivey vs. Moondog Spot - 3

Between Spivey's flowing locks of mullet-y blonde hair and the shear abundance of dead skin cells residing on the face and head of Moondog Spot, I can't imagine what to expect here. I noticed that Spot's selling was really held back because it's very difficult to see his face. He may as well be wearing a mask. Luckily, Spot was able to come through with a few nice sells, particularly after receiving a head to the turn buckle and bouncing down to one knee. Spivey played the babyface here, but whatever kind of positive heat he garnered from the fans seemed rather forced. The in-ring wasn't all that great as it was rather slow, and not the good kind of methodical slow, either.

Butch Reed vs. Steve Gatorwolf - 2

Reed's presence in the ring reverberated to the cheap seats. This guy was just must-see. I really enjoyed his character and heel persona. Going up an enhancement talent like Gatorwolf showed Reed's ability to get himself over with the crowd as an arrogant prick, too, as he was able to take liberties with Gatorwolf. The match really showed nothing in terms of in-ring except that Gatorfield can do a job and that Reed's persona is rather incredible, but if I were rating this strictly due to the match quality, it was bad.

Tito Santana vs. Jake "Don't Do Drugs" Roberts - 6

After seeing the placings on the Queue Slayer, I'm definitely looking forward to this. You can't expect a bad match from these two during this period of time, so I'm quite pumped. Jake's selling of Tito's strikes were great. He'd clutch at his face like his eye popped out. This match was a very typical yet good 80's style wrestling match featuring a clear cut heel and face. Jake did such a great job by pulling out heel tactics like illegal holds, using the ropes for leverage, etc. On the other end, Tito's exhausted performance really put over the fact that the 20 minutes that the match went was 20 minutes of hell for Tito. The squirms of his body while Jake cut off his air supply were to die for. Well done.

Dino Bravo vs. Dick Slater - 4

This match was interesting. It started off slow, but as time moved on, Slater started to get this really nice brawling attitude and started to take it to Dino harder and harder as the match moved on. I enjoyed Dino's offense because he looked taken aback by the tenacity of Slater. The finish came out of nowhere, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but even the ref looked confused. Now that is bad. Dino looked so top heavy during the match that I got the impression every breath he was taking was a battle in and of itself.

Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs. Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik - 5

This was fun as well. The face team of Kid and Smith got some great sympathy, particularly Kid, as he was isolated from his partner and was being picked apart by the evil foreigners... yeah I said it. Smith's hot tag was hotter than hell and looked great. Volkoff & Sheik played up the heel tactics very well and got such insane heat from the crowd. Kid had some great offense, in particular this rolling pin combination that looked really slick on such a big guy as Volkoff. Sheik looked good as usual, but I can't watch him put a camel clutch on anymore without hearing him mention sodomy in my mind. Both teams took their time and made sure to lay it all out there in the ring in a nicely-paced match that flowed very well.

Mike Rotundo vs. Moondog Rex - 3

This match struck me as more of a buffer in between the two title matches. I can't really say that this match had much bearing or impact on the event, but it was just one of those matches that was just there. I think that the audience felt the same way judging by their reactions... or lack thereof. This isn't to say that Rotundo didn't look good. He looked fine. Think of it this way: a space shuttle getting ready to take off, the engine's start smoking, but no fire comes out and we get nowhere. Yeah.

Randy Savage vs. Junkyard Dog - 3

In a match that I was sure was going to end this event strong, I was let down by the heel persona of Macho Man being much more important than the actual match itself. Macho Man's main point here was to get over the fact that he was a champion of cowardice by hiding behind Elizabeth in multiple attempts to avoid JYD. I mean, this really isn't the way you want to close a show, leaving such a sour taste in the mouths of the people who paid money to see this. The match ended in a double count out, but Savage laid in a great double axe handle that tickled my fancy; however, see rocket ship simile above.