WWECLASSICS.com Showcase
September 2010

Sorry for the delay. I hate to always have the same old story for being SO incredibly late with these things: school, work, and trying to have a life in between those two all getting in the way. And we begin!

• Kevin & Mike Von Erich vs. The Dingo Warrior & Rick Rood (w/Raven) – (WCWA 10/12/86)

Why is the Dingo Warrior billed from QUEENS? Do I really need to go into how ridiculous that is if your name is the DINGO Warrior? In case I do, dingoes are AUSTRALIAN CANINE. Also, Scott Levy was one time a blonde valet for World Class? Who knew! But seriously, it is interesting to see Rick Rude and Ultimate Warrior team up years before they would fight over the WWF World and Intercontinental titles. Rood doesn’t take kindly to all the “Go Kevin Go” chants, so he aims to do something about it with a test of strength. That doesn’t work too well as Kevin walks up the ropes to gain the leverage to armdrag Rood away. Rood complains of hair-pulling, but those Von Erich boys would never possibly cheat. The Von Erich boys take turns working over the arm until Kevin whips Rood in the corner to tag in the Dingo Warrior. He grabs a bearhug on Kevin and wears him out. Back over to Rood, he cheats using the tights during an ab stretch, but Kevin hiptosses him away. Instead of tagging his little brother, Kevin tries to be a hero and ends up getting stuck on the wrong side of town. Naturally, he fights back and clamps the IRON CLAW on Rood. Before Rood’s arm drops for the third time, he punches the ref away for the DQ. (8:35) Afterwards, Dingo Warrior turns babyface and CHOKE LIFTS Rood on the outside. He doesn’t like cheaters, but didn’t seem to mind the double-teaming earlier. Rude and Warrior make an interesting tag team combination if nothing else. In the weeks to follow, the Dingo Warrior would win the WCWA tag belts with the one Von Erich who basically killed the territory off for good when everybody found out that he wasn’t a Von Erich. *

• WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs. AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler – Title Unification Match (WCWA 10/1/88)

This all started because of a kayfabe “open door policy” that World Class implemented to say that any and all challengers could come and show them what they got against their best wrestlers. Also, the date is two years behind considering Kerry had his motorcycle accident in June 1986 and Nick Bockwinkel was still the AWA world champ in 1986. This is one of many WCWA-AWA world title unification matches as well. Not to spoil the ending because it’s a TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD match, but the belts were finally unified at the AWA show Super Clash III in December 1988. Moving on. After a few tie-ups, Lawler catches Kerry with a bunch of clotheslines and struts all around the ring. Von Erich gets dumped, but he slingshot splashes back in onto Lawler’s knees as we take a commercial break. When we return, Kerry can’t hiptoss Lawler out of the corner, so Lawler reverses and gives Kerry a hiptoss and a dropkick. Strange considering that’s a babyface spot anywhere else and we’re in the Dallas Sportatorium for crying out loud. Lawler throws a punch, which means he gets it back THREE TIMES as bad. After some stalling from Lawler, he challenges Von Erich to a boxing match. Lawler gets knocked onto his back side and cries for a DQ because closed fists are illegal. HA! Quick small package by Lawler gets two. He yells at the ref that it was three, which allows Kerry to come back with a big right hand to score a nearfall and set up another commercial break. When we return, Von Erich has locked on the IRON CLAW, but Lawler is in the ropes. Lawler hits a PILEDRIVER and Fargo struts away, but doesn’t see that Kerry has ROAD WARRIOR HAWK’D the piledriver. Kerry pounds Lawler in the corner and hits him with the DISCUS PUNCH. Down comes the strap. Oh man, Lawler is PISSED. He dares Kerry to punch him in the jaw, but blocks the blow and fires back. While these two are trading punches, the ref gets pushed aside by both men. Eventually, they punch him down together and that’s a double-DQ if I ever saw one. (13:36 shown) The locker room empties out to get these two separated. One of the WCWA figureheads Frank Dusek announces that under WCWA rules, titles change hands on a DQ, which means BOTH guys lose their belts. Entertaining enough, but you could tell about half way through that there wasn’t going to be any real title unification. It felt like it was just another match and not the big deal it was intended to be. **¼

• WWF World Champion Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) – (Prime Time Wrestling, 9/14/92)

Somehow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this match before. Good pick! It’s the only WWF world title change I haven’t reviewed from Hogan to Diesel because I mean what’s the point in reviewing the Diesel-Backlund match. Just a quick recap: if you’ll recall at SummerSlam, Ric Flair beat Randy Savage’s knee with a steel chair to get him all banged up for this title match. And you can pretty much figure out the story here for this match. Flair has only one thing on his mind and that’s to work the leg for all its worth while Savage does anything he can to keep Flair away from his knee. Perfect plays an awesome distraction constantly grabbing under the bottom rope to get at Savage. After Flair kicks at the knee, Savage gets a desperate press slam. He applies an ab stretch, but that exposes his knee for Flair to pound on it. Flair delivers the stalling suplex and hits the Rolling Knee Drop. In a cool spot, Savage rides the ropes into the corner and pulls off an inside cradle for 1-2-NO! Flair tosses Savage to the floor to jar his knee as we go to commercial. When we come back, Savage meets Flair as he crawls back into the ring to string a few moves together. They head back outside where Savage whips Flair into the guardrail and threatens Perfect with a steel chair. Flair walks into a backdrop on the floor and we go back inside as Savage delivers the Flying Double Sledge, which is of course hard on your knees. Razor Ramon heads down to ringside. Perfect distracts Savage while Flair dropkicks Randy to the floor! WHAT. While the ref is with Flair, Razor comes by, kicks on Savage’s knee, and then heads back to the locker room. Back inside, Flair locks in the FIGURE-FOUR. Savage puts up a great fight and lasts in the hold for nearly THREE minutes until his shoulders are pinned to the mat for the 1-2-3. (15:57 shown) Ladies and gentlemen, Ric Flair has regained WWF gold. Not the greatest wrestling match in the world, but they told a great story with Flair, Perfect, and Razor bullying Savage to the point where he had to lose the title. ***¼

• Sting vs. Steve Austin (w/Col. Robert Parker) – (WCW Saturday Night, 4/8/95)

After WCW Commissioner Lloyd Bridges err…Nick Bockwinkel stripped Vader of the US title, a tournament was started, but first there must be a match to find who gets the #1 seed. LOADS of mat work to start with mostly Sting getting the better of Austin. A splash off the ropes from Sting hits knees. Go figure, amirite? Austin works the ribs and then locks in a Boston crab to work over both sides. He uses the ropes for a little leverage, but doesn’t PULLING on the ropes in a Boston crab reduce your leverage? Anyways, Sting fights back and hooks on a sleeper that takes them both on the floor. Austin eats the ringpost, but avoids a flying splash. What’s funny about that is, so does Austin. Sting wins a multiple tombstone reversal battle for 1-2-NO! Austin baits Sting out to the floor and back inside, but comes off the ropes into a backdrop. With Austin doubled over, Sting secures an Oklahoma roll for the 1-2-3. (12:58 shown) Of course, Sting would go on to defeat Meng in the U.S. title tournament finals while Steve Austin would lose to Randy Savage in the second round and then get fired by Eric Bischoff via Fed Ex. **½

• NWA World Television Champion Great Muta vs. Arn Anderson – (NWA Power Hour, 1/12/90)

Jim Ross and Jim Cornette are on commentary. I could listen to them call NWA matches all day long. Muta had just suffered his first pinfall loss at the hands of Ric Flair at Starrcade. Now he goes up against fellow Horsemen member who recently returned from the WWF. This is during the two-month long period when the Horsemen were acting like babyfaces to sucker Sting into a mega huge beatdown, which was a great angle. Very tentative start. They trade wristlocks, leading to Arn being tempted to stomping Muta in the balls. Here comes the rest of Muta’s J-Tex Corporation buddies: Buzz Sawyer and the Dragon Master. Buzz is a nut. That’s all you need to know. Muta rakes the eyes on Arn, but misses a spin kick and receives a suplex for his error. Crowd wants Sting, as Arn clamps on a headlock. The camera takes a look at the Dragon Master and JR says, “Are there any nice looking oriental guys?” WHAT. Now JR takes a shot at the WWF. Muta gets another kick caught, but readjusts himself with a mule kick. Powerdrive Elbow connects. Muta takes Arn to the floor for some guardrail action. Back in, Muta hits a HUGE flying double ax handle. Muta lands the Handspring Elbow and then hooks on CATTLE MUTILATION~! Arn manages to power and shoulder butt out. From there, he mounts Muta and unloads! Oh, but then Muta nails Arn with a jumping back kick. Muta proceeds to ravage Arn in the corner for a while. He climbs up in the corner to pound on Arn, but he brings Muta out with an inverted atomic drop. Arn gives him one more atomic drop for good measure. Hammerlock Slam! Off an Arn Anderson ab stretch, they tumble over the top rope to the floor. Muta whips Arn into the guardrail while Dragon and Sawyer laugh at him. Inside the ring, Muta telegraphs a backdrop and gets his face raked across AA’s boot laces. Spinebuster to Muta! Dragon Master distracts the ref and Arn while Buzz flies in and lowers the boom on Arn. Cover by Muta, 1-2-NO! When that doesn’t finish off Arn, the MOONSAULT will. Too bad Muta hits knees. With Muta doubled over, Arn nails him with the DDT! Cover, 1-2-3! (13:10) Arn wins his second TV title. Match had so much heat, you could fry an egg. Muta would hang around in the state for about another month before heading back to revolutionize New Japan. ***½

• Bret Hart vs. Tiger Mask II – (Tokyo Dome 4/13/90)

Yes, Tiger Mask II is Mitsuharu Misawa towards the end of his tenure as an incarnation of the Tiger Mask character. Seems like it would be a pretty rare thing to have any gaijin (in this case, Bret) to have wrestled both Tiger Mask I and Tiger Mask II. Early on, Tiger Mask works the arm a lot. Bret slips out of an armbar, but takes a dropkick to the floor. The crowd thinks it is time for a suicide dive from Tiger Mask, but he totally fakes them out and lands on the apron. Back to the arm for Tiger Mask. During this segment of the match, Striker actually mentions how Misawa went on to create his own wrestling company known as Pro Wrestling NOAH! WHAT! Not only that, but he encourages people to CHECK OUT Mitsuharu Misawa on the internet! Such blasphemy! Bret backs Tiger Mask into the corner. Tiger Mask tries a crossbody out of the corner, but Bret rolls through for a two-count. Bret gets a chance to grab a chinlock. Tiger Mask escapes a headlock and makes Bret whiff a dropkick. He follows up with a catapult in the corner, but then chills out with a wristlock. Tiger Mask wants a crucifix, but Bret puts a stop to it and falls back on him. Tiger Mask escapes another chinlock and sends Bret to the floor to him with a plancha! Back in the ring, Tiger Mask grabs a cross armbreaker. Bret makes the ropes, but gets stuck in the armbar again. Bret feigns a knee injury off a leapfrog and then runs Tiger Mask over with a clothesline. Backbreaker gets two. Bret continues to knock Tiger Mask around before dumping him out to the floor so he can pose without interruption. Back inside, Bret hits a Russian Legsweep for two. Back to the chinlock. Tiger Mask comes back with a quick slam, but then Bret gives him a NASTY atomic drop. Suplex gets two. Another chinlock by Bret. When that doesn’t get the submission Bret wants, he changes over to an abdominal stretch. Tiger Mask reverses, but Bret takes him over with a hiptoss. Tiger Mask runs into a boot, but avoids a flying elbow drop from Bret. Tiger Mask climbs up top and hits a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! The sternum-first bump earns Tiger Mask another nearfall as the time limit expires. (20:15) This one had a slow build, but never really picked up to anything all that special like it should have. It had the feel of a short time-limit draw. Still, we got some interesting commentary to make the match more interesting than it was. **¾

• The Natural Disasters (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Rockers – (WWF Wrestling Challenge, 11/3/91)

Boy, talk about a mismatch. Typhoon and Shawn start us off. Shawn uses his speed advantage to thwart an attack, but he leapfrogs into a bearhug. Shawn BITES out and the Rockers do a little schoolboy move on Typhoon to take him off his feet. Tag to Marty, and the Rockers make-a-wish. Marty gets cornered in the ND corner, but again uses his speed to screw around with the Earthquake. Jannetty misses a corner charge (yeah, really) and receives a powerslam. Here comes the EARTHQUAKE SQUASH, but Shawn grabs a leg from the floor to stop him and allow Marty to get back to his feet. Typhoon tries one too many elbow drops, which allows Marty to roll past him for the HOT TAG TO SHAWN! It takes both Shawn and Marty to deliver the Double Noggin Knocker. Marty hits a flying bodypress off a cornered Typhoon, but gets caught. Shawn comes by with the assist to knock Jannetty over on top of Earthquake for 1-2-NO! With Shawn taking care of Earthquake in the corner, Marty tries to stop Typhoon by giving the guy a dropkick INTO Shawn, which sandwiches Michaels in between ND. Oops. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron to bait Jannetty all the way backstage. IDIOT. Meanwhile in the ring, the EARTHQUAKE SQUASH followed by a RUNNING SPLASH by Typhoon scores the pinfall on Michaels. (4:36) And the seeds are planted for the worst predicament to come to any tag team – betrayal. People try and help Shawn afterwards, but he throws a tantrum and refuses any kind of medical assistance. Short, fun match. *½

• Bret Hart vs. Dean Malenko – (WCW Monday Nitro, 11/23/98)

Off topic, but I believe this is the night where Kevin Nash KILLED Wrath. The nWo beat the heck out of the Four Horsemen earlier in the show and since the attack resulted in Malenko injuring his knee, the jerk Eric Bischoff made this match after the fact knowing Bret’s game plan is usually to dissect legs. I don’t know, maybe I’m giving WCW late ’98 too much credit. Anyways, it is a sort of technical dream match to many fans. Immediately, Bret does what we all expect and that’s work on the knee. Dean gets a little fired up and fights back, but his knee is HURTING, folks. Some awkward wrestling ensues including a rolling leglock, and Bret hits the floor. Commercials! When we return, Malenko is in control with a ten-count corner punch. He hits a suplex, but that jars his injured knee. Delayed cover gets two. Bret tries a slam, but Malenko shifts his weight and falls on top for two. Bret attempts a suplex, but Malenko counters *that* into a small package. Jackknife rollup gets two from Malenko. Alright? Bret chokes Malenko to get him to stop all those random nearfalls. Backbreaker connects, but Bret misses the elbow drop. Meanwhile, Tony tries to correct Tenay over some Four Horsemen trivia concerning Barry Windham and still gets it wrong. Malenko grabs a sleeper and stays adamant with it even after a back suplex from Bret. Okay, an eye rake will break that up. After Bret heads to the floor, Malenko follows him back in and corners him for a beatdown, but that’s just to sucker Dean as Bret kicks him in the knee and we’re back in business. Malenko stops all that with an enziguri and sets Bret up top for a superplex, but forearms him to the floor instead. Back in, Malenko hits the Jumping Leg Lariat – ignores the pain – and applies the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF. Bret makes the ropes and fights off another Cloverleaf attempt with a poke to the eyes. A chair gets brought into the ring. While Bret and ref Charles Robinson play tug-of-war, Malenko flies in with a missile dropkick. Slow cover gets 1-2-NO! As Malenko tries a leapfrog off a whip, Bret doesn’t duck and Malenko falls down funny on his leg. Bret posts the leg real good and then delivers the DIAMOND CUTTER on the chair for the DQ. (13:39 shown) He goes to do more damage to Malenko, but here comes DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE for the save. Lucky for him, Bret escapes just before he gets BANGED. DDP dares him to get back in the ring with him, but Bret decides to keep walking while DDP calls him a wuss from fifty feet away. OH SNAP. Yeah, Bret would beat DDP the following week thanks to the Giant to win back his U.S. strap. As for this Bret-Malenko match though, just a weird match with no chemistry at all. **

• WWE Undisputed Champion The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton – (Smackdown, 5/30/02)

It’s amazing at how much of a VIRGIN Randy Orton looks like here with only half a dozen or so tattoos. Why is UT giving this virtual unknown rookie and all around good kid (HA!) a WWE undisputed title shot? It’s his duty (huhuhuh) to demonstrate why the WWE is the ‘land of opportunity’. Dang, this wasn’t that long ago, but it just FEELS old. Randy Orton a rookie, UT a biker, and Teddy Long still just a referee, playa. They shake hands at the bell. Pretty basic start with headlocks and shoulderblocks. Out of nowhere, Orton delivers a hiptoss, an armdrag, and a BAAAACK BODY DROP all in succession. With UT up against the ropes, Orton clotheslines him out only for Taker to land on his feet. With UT nonetheless still staggered, Orton dives out with a pescado! Back in, Orton flips out of a suplex and rolling leg cradles UT for 1-2-NO! UT shuts Orton down with a clothesline and goes over to untie a top turnbuckle. He throws Orton some soupbones, but Orton fires back and hits a pair of dropkicks. Orton wants another backdrop, but UT sees it coming and counters with the Running DDT! Cover, 1-2-NO! Uh oh, Taker lifts him off the mat at two. He takes Orton back over to the corner to screw with him only for Orton to reverse the whip into the exposed corner! Orton hits the OVERDRIVE, but Taker kicks out at one. Now he’s pissed. Snake Eyes sets up the Big Boot for 1-2-NO! Orton kicks out on his own that time. As UT walks away to scold the ref, Orton sneaks up behind with a schoolboy for 1-2-NO! Now UT whips Orton into the ropes and gives him a HUGE Chokeslam for the 1-2-3. (5:22) After the match, Triple H comes down and beats up the Undertaker before challenging him for the Undisputed title at the King of the Ring in another BAD Undisputed title match in a long string of them. I’ve watched enough wrestling to know when a match is going to be bigger and better than they are letting on and this was one of those moments. **½

• NWA World Television Champion Arn Anderson vs. Dusty Rhodes – (NWA Pro, 9/9/86)

I would love to have me some NWA Pro shows from 1986 and 1987. Seems like there was a bunch of forgotten title matches on that show. In his own way, Johnny Weaver explains the backstory here as to why Dusty Rhodes is going after each individual member of the Horsemen. The Horsemen injured Dusty’s leg, so he injured Ole’s leg. Now he’s going to take something away from AA. Headlocks and shoulderblocks to start. Arn sells a shoulderblock from Dusty like he might have suffered a concussion. Sunset flip fails as Dusty punches AA and sends him retreating to the floor. Where’s JJ Dillon at? Back in, Dusty goes after AA’s leg. Again, AA heads to the floor to end any and all momentum. Back in again, AA grabs an armbar and yanks Dusty down to the mat by his tights. One of many simple things you should be able to do to incite the crowd. While AA stays on the arm, we take a commercial break. AND WE’RE BACK! Arn has changed over to concentrating on the knee. Even Dusty resorts to illegal stuff here as he pokes Arn in the eye to get him off his knee. Arn tries a spinning toe hold, but Dusty elbows him back. Dusty thinks it would be cute to lock in the Figure-Four on one of the Horsemen, but that’s hard on his knee. Arn goes right back to the knee until Dusty kicks him away and throws him through the ropes. We see some guardrail action, but Dusty knee drops Arn, which is a STUPID thing to do. Back in, Dusty catches Arn coming off the top rope with a clothesline for 1-2-NO! The ref gets bumped and Arn finds himself a nice shiny chair. He misses a swing on Dusty’s knee and instead takes a DDT right onto the chair. Out goes the chair and Dusty covers Arn for the 1-2-3 to regain the TV title. (10:16 shown) Pretty standard Dusty Rhodes match with Arn selling like crazy. *½

How about one MORE TV title change!

• NWA World Television Champion Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon) vs. Nikita Koloff – (NWA Pro, 8/29/87)

Nikita is ALL over the champ to start. How else can I explain it? Commercials! When we return, Nikita is mauling Tully while he’s got him in a hammerlock. Blanchard backs Nikita into the corner and gets a hand from JJ as he grabs hold of Nikita’s tights to keep him where he’s at. That’s not enough though as Nikita fires back. Tully heads out and baits Nikita back into the ring, but he ends up in a bearhug. Blanchard eye rakes his way, but gets caught in the Russian Hammer. Now Nikita tries the RUSSIAN SICKLE, but Tully hits the mat and Nikita goes flying to the floor. That gives JJ a chance to get in a swift kick to the gut. Back inside, Nikita hits the RUSSIAN SICKLE. Lucky for Tully, JJ has the ref’s attention. Always a pro. Delayed count gets 1-2-NO! Nikita continues to pound away as we take another break. When we come back, Nikita is fighting out with a chinlock only to be dumped out to the floor. Tully beats on him pretty good and brings Nikita back inside for a two-count. Headlock takedown into the backslide ensues as Nikita scores a nearfall. Nikita delivers an atomic drop followed by a suplex for two. Tully buries a knee and starts firing away, but Nikita begins to NO-SELL and absorbs Blanchard’s attempt at the Russian Sickle. Hilarious. Man, ANOTHER commercial break. When we return, JJ Dillon crawls into the ring and pokes Nikita in the eye to break up a figure-four. Nikita delivers another atomic drop and as Tully reaches under the ropes, JJ Dillon gets pulled in for a Double Noggin Knocker. Back suplex by Nikita knocks ref Earl Hebner over in a terribly contrived spot. Wait a sec, Arn Anderson is out and he hands Tully some taped knux. BAM! Nikita goes down and Tully covers, but Barry Windham comes in out of nowhere and slides underneath the count to chat with Hebner. AA comes over and yanks Barry out. Meanwhile, Nikita nails JJ with the RUSSIAN SICKLE, retrieves the taped knux, and blasts Tully for the win and the TV title. (16:54 shown) Tully is just like Arn in that he’ll sell like crazy to put those babyfaces over the top. It’s that simple cooperation in the ring that’s sorely lacking in wrestling today because it’s all about getting your moves in and nobody knowing how to draw heat. It’s a sad state of affairs. ***

• WWF World Champion Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine – (MSG, 10/19/81)

This is kind of an infamous match and you’ll see why at the end. In February 1979, Greg Valentine took the WWWF champ Bob Backlund to the limit in MSG in a 60-minute draw. A month later, Backlund defeated Valentine in the rematch and Valentine hadn’t received a WWF title shot in MSG ever since. Here we are over two years later and now Greg Valentine is back for another shot at the still WWF champ Bob Backlund. Valentine gets off some basic moves to start, but Backlund fires back with the same and gets a backslide that ends up in the ropes. Valentine hammers on the champ which pisses him off, so he shoulder butts Valentine while they’re up against the ropes. Valentine knees Backlund down during a knucklelock and elbows the head. With Backlund down, Valentine locks in a half crab to wrench on the knee. Backlund manages an escape and monkey flips Valentine away. That’s not enough to get Valentine off his game plan though as he starts twisting the knee. Backlund rolls away from the pressure, but Valentine keeps him close with an ab stretch. He reverses, but an ab stretch leaves Backlund’s knee vulnerable. Valentine threatens the FIGURE-FOUR, so Backlund kicks him away. Once they’re both to their feet, they trade forearm shots. Backlund hits Valentine so hard with a headbutt, they both simultaneously timber over to the mat! AWESOME. Backlund tries a slam, but his knee gives and Valentine falls on top. Could we see the FIGURE-FOUR? Nope. Backlund kicks him away, but Valentine hammers down on Backlund anyway. Here comes the FIGURE-FOUR again, but Backlund counters to an inside cradle for 1-2-NO! Valentine tosses Backlund out, which gives his knee a real bad time. Back in, Backlund catches Valentine with a right hand to trigger the Valentine Flop. Backlund tries to dish out a little payback while working on Valentine’s knee, but Valentine comes out of the corner exploding with forearm shots. Backlund nails Valentine coming off the ropes for 1-2-NO! Valentine hits a suplex, but Backlund counters with a stalling suplex of his own. Delayed cover gets two. Valentine goes back to the knee, but the FIGURE-FOUR ends up in the ropes. Out of nowhere, Backlund delivers a desperation PILEDRIVER. He misses a legdrop, but kicks away the FIGURE-FOUR again. Valentine whiffs on an elbow drop from the second rope. After they trade headbutts, Backlund teases the RUNNING ATOMIC DROP and delivers the back suplex instead. Valentine catches Backlund coming out of the corner in an airplane spin which knocks down the ref. As Backlund shifts his weight up on Valentine’s shoulders, Valentine collapses with Backlund on top for the 1-2-3. (19:33) Here’s what they are trying to sell: since the ref was all dazed from getting kicked in the head from the airplane spin and both men were wearing black tights and Valentine stood up first with his hands raised trying to convince the ref that he scored the pinfall, the ref awards Valentine the WWF world title since Backlund was shifted in such a way that the ref couldn’t see his face either. Valentine knows the truth and gets the heck out of town with the WWF title before any decision can be changed. Pretty stupid swerve if I do say so myself. After much discussion amongst the refs and anger shown by Backlund, Howard Finkel announces that the NY State Athletic Commission and the WWF will have to meet before any title change can be decided. Therefore, this match is ruled a no contest and the WWF title belt will be held up until a decision is made on what to do next. If I’m not mistaken, this “title change” only affected the NYC crowd as Backlund continued on as the champ in all the other towns. Anyways, this would all be straightened out in the Backlund-Valentine MSG rematch the next month. **½

And that is all for today. I’m still planning on doing some WCW Saturday Night episodes from the site, so be on the lookout for that. Until next time, hope you guys enjoyed this edition of WWECLASSICS Showcase!