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This is a 5-DVD Set that came out a few years back. I picked it up on some good recommendations from my friends but I never really watched it. I figured now would be as good a time as any. As with all 5 discs, you can choose either from the original commentary or the “special insider commentary” done by Dave Meltzer and Jim Cornette. Yeah I think you know which one I picked.
The Main Program (The Matches)
Each match is introduced by Dave and Jim themselves
1) Randy Savage vs. Rick Rude
Savage chases Rude out of the ring right away until Rude comes back in. Hart is in Rude’s corner and Angelo Poffo is in Randy’s corner. Mucho stalling to start as Savage chases Jimmy ALL THE WAY TO THE BACK. Savage finally comes back to the ring so Rude complains that Poffo is still in Savage’s corner. Hart comes back to ringside and he has a conference with Rude. Rude comes back into the ring and they lock up 3 minutes into the match. They engage in a wristlock which Rude turns it into a headlock. Savage reverses that into an airplane spin which causes Rude to get so dizzy he falls out of the ring. Savage talks trash to Rude and tosses confetti on him which Meltzer says was one of his gimmicks. Jim and Dave talk about Randy meeting Miss Elizabeth and then the ICW and how Randy and Poffo were blacklisted. Rude misses a clotheseline but hides in the ropes. Hart jumps up and distracts Savage so Rude attacks from behind and tosses him outside. Rude follows and posts Savage. Savage makes it back inside and gets punched down. He works over Savage with the usual heel offense and hotshots him over the top rope. He hits a suplex and knees him in the thigh. He whips him to the ropes and clotheslines Savage down. A Rude Irish whip is reversed and leads to a Savage back body drop. He sends Rude into the top turnbuckle ten times and tosses him outside. He goes to the top (after slipping) and hitting a double axehandle onto Rude who is still outside. He grabs a chair but Hart steals it from him. He sends Rude inside and hits a crossbody off the top but there’s no ref! King Kong Bundy (w/hair) comes in an punches Randy with the brass knucks which leads to a Rude elbow and the ref magically appears to count the pin and Rude gets the win at: 9:23. Too much stalling makes this really hard to watch as it’s about 3 minutes max of wrestling. ¾*.
2) The Sheik vs. Andre the Giant
This is JIP and Andre is looking really fit here. He dominates Sheik and absolutely towers over him. This would be the first American tour for Andre. Andre punches Sheik down and the Sheik has bladed! The ref starts counting to ten making this some type of last man standing match I believe. Man, the usual image of Andre is around the Wrestlemania III era would be really shocked to see him here. He actually was 7’4 here (he would shrink during his WWF days) and could go. The Sheik hadn’t lost in 7 years and would he lose today? The Sheik does the usual fireball in the eye trick to get the 10 count on Andre and that’s the match at 2:40. ¼*. Really old footage which was in great condition and has to be seen.
3) Pampero Firpo vs. Jeff Doney
Firpo is a wild guy I guess but honestly I’ve never heard of either. Firpo works Doney with a headlock but Doney makes the ropes. Firpo takes Doney down into a headscissors but breaks again. They lock up and Firpo takes control of Doney and puts on the claw which ends the match. I don’t know why they put a 1:57 squash match on here, but they did. DUD
4) Bruiser Brody/Scott Casey vs. Kelly Kiniski/The Spoiler
Bruiser Brody starts off with the Spoiler and Spoiler gets pushed into the corner and they break clean. Brody starts working on the leg and tags in Casey. Casey continues working over the Spoiler’s leg. Casey takes Spoiler down with a drop toe hold but not before he tagged Kiniski. Kiniski makes it in but he gets taken down too. Kiniski works over his leg now. Kiniski breaks and tags in the Spoiler. The Spoiler starts working on Casey’s leg. Casey kicks him off as Meltzer relates a story where an early in Undertaker’s career he impersonated Bruiser Brody, which Cornette didn’t know. Casey gets Spoiler in an STF but Spoiler is close enough to tag into Kiniski which he does. They do some nice mat wrestling and Casey gets a variation of the ankle lock. Kiniski reverses into a headlock in a spot I’ve seen 4 times this match already. Casey tags in Bruiser who slams his knee into the ringpost. Bruiser bodyslams him and he makes a quick tag to Casey. Casey bodyslams him and covers for one. A whip to the ropes is reversed and Casey gets kneed over. Spoiler is tagged back in who puts the claw on Casey. Heels double team so Bruiser comes in. Bruiser gets tagged in as Kiniski gets tagged in. Bruiser dropkicks him down then bodyslams him. He hits the big knee and that is good enough to finish things at 6:47. Match was a bit repetitive but there’s nothing bad about it. *.
5) King Kong Bundy/Rick Rude vs. Jerry Lawler/Randy Savage
This would be the blowoff to the first match on this disc. This is weeks before Savage left for the WWF. Lawler and Rude start things off and Lawler sends Rude into a few Savage elbows and Rude is doozy already. Rude tags in Bundy who would later go on to main event Wrestlemania 2. They lock up and Bundy punches him in the corner. They break and Bundy pushes Lawler to the corner again. He goes for the big right but Savage jumps in and blocks that and follows with an elbow. Bundy pushes Lawler to Rude who holds him while Bundy charges. Of course, Lawler moves and Bundy knocks Rude to the ground. Savage sneaks up to get some cheapshots in before going back to his corner. They lock up and Bundy takes control. He sends Lawler to the corner but misses a blind charge. Rude gets tagged back in as Lawler tags in Savage. Rude bails, of course. They join back together and lock up. Savage goes for the right but it’s blocked so Savage sends him face first into the turnbuckle then Lawler’s boot. Lawler is tagged back in and dumps Rude outside. Savage does his double axehandle from the top to the outside. Bundy is less than pleased with this who grabs a chair and threatens Savage with it. Lawler and Rude lock up and Rude rakes the eyes. He goes for the piledriver but Savage saves. We clip to Rude and Lawler locking up and Lawler being pushed into the heel corner where very heelish double teamin’ takes place. Lawler makes a big comeback and both heels bail. The faces now double team on Rude and knock him over. Meltzer and Cornette say how Lawler was the best speaker in wrestling history. Savage hits the airplane spin and Rude is dizzzzzy. He tries to tag in Lawler (being disorientated and all) and Savage atomic drops him. They mention how they should bring some of these moves back and I think Eugene was not what they had in mind. Bundy gets tagged in and Savage slugs away on the lumbering oaf. He crossbody’s him over and covers but Rude breaks the pin. Savage tags in Lawler and he locks up with Bundy who pushes him to the corner and pounds away. He clotheslines him down and drops a knee. He covers but that only gets a two. The heels do some more double teaming and Bundy hits another clothesline on Lawler. Rude is tagged backin and draws Savage in to allow more double teaming. Rude hits the swinging neckbreaker as the heels double team again. Rude hits the piledriver and Lawler should be dead. Lawler makes the miracle comeback and just misses the tag. Bundy comes in and drops an elbow on Lawler and covers for two. Savage comes in to attack the heels and he does that. Lawler was in the corner but Savage isn’t there. Bundy misses a splash but he starts pounding away on Lawler. King won’t sell though and Savage is tagged in. Pier-Six develops as both teams go to the outside. The ref calls for the bell as I guess it’s a double DQ at: 15:04, but they continue brawling all the way to the back. Decent match that had a little too much stalling but the pyschology and build was there. Good ol’ fashioned Memphis brawl. ***.
6) Chief Jay Strongbow vs. Bulldog Don Kent in a Cage Match
I don’t really like Strongbow and I never heard of Kent. This is not a cage match, it’s a shark cage match. There’s a shark cage and the two end up fighting in there. Basically, all they can do is punch and grind their head into the cage due to the cage being so small. Strongbow chokes Kent and punches him. This match sucks. I guess you have to escape and the door keeps flying open at random. Don almost makes it out but Strongbow grabs his tights. The referee tries to keep the door shut as I grow incredibly disinterested. Strongbow lifts up Kent to smash his head into the top of the cage which is a little cool. Kent chokes Strongbow as the match trudges along. Strongbow makes the big comeback as Cornette says he’s surprised that Vince Russo never thought up of this idea since it makes no sense. Anyway, Mark Lewin runs in and wraps string around Kent’s neck that allows Strongbow to exit the cage (or phone booth as Cornette calls it). Bad bad bad match. DUD. Luckily I don’t give negative stars.
7) Randy Savage vs. Austin Idol
This is coming to us from Memphis Tennessee. Savage attacks Idol with a crutch to start and Savage absolutely kills him. He dumps him and does the obligatory axehandle from the top to the outside. He brings him inside and hits another axehandle off the top. Idol gets dumped again and Savage continues the brutalizing. Savage decides to kick some Idol ass in the ring now and that’s where he are. He bodyslams Idol and covers for two. He bodyslams him again and drops an elbow for two. Angelo Poffo is outside the ring in crutches. Savage shows why he was awesome in 84 and continues killing Idol. He bodyslams again for two. He argues with the referee so Idol rolls him up for two. Savage does the good ol’ take him by the head and jump over the top to the outside causing person’s throat to hit the top rope. Cornette says Bob Eaton taught it to Savage. Savage hits a double axehandle from the top for two as Cornette talks about the tapes they have and more Wrestling Gold will come. Idol blocks a back body drop attempt and Savage and Idol collide. Savage is up first and punches away but Idol starts no selling. He kicks Savage down to a huge pop and he starts pounding Savage from pillar to post. He sends him to the corner and the punches in the corner. Always an 80’s staple. Cornette and Meltzer say Idol blew it with only 9 punches and Cornette says he can’t count. Idol sends Savage to the corner but Savage blocks the atomic and tries one of his own which Idol blocks. He grabs Savage’s leg and hooks on the figure four. Savage actually submits at 7:04 and Idol wins the International Title which I guess was up for grab. Great classic match and I don’t think we’ll ever see Savage submit again. ***1/2.
8) Terrible Ted the Wrestling Bear vs. Gene DuBois
This is in black and white and probably VERY old. Gene DuBois is the bear’s trainer. Meltzer complains about how the bear can’t do highspots. I really don’t know what to say about this. I guess if you’ve never seen a bear vs. human it’s worth a look. The bear hits a snapmare and holds onto Gene. Shit, that bear knows more wrestling moves than half of the WWE main event roster! They roll around a bit until Gene pushes the referee into the bear. Gene goes for a victory roll but the bear rolls through it! The bear decides to attack the ref but the ref doesn’t call a DQ! If that was Hebner, he would’ve DQ’ed him or knocked him out. The bear again attacks the ref so the ref taps out then covers him and Gene counts the pin. Gene decides to continue wrestling the bear and covers but as Cornette says, the bear doesn’t have any shoulders. Meltzer says the bear is better than Hogan and Cornette mentions he has more moves than Hogan and Nash. The bear pins Gene at about 6 minutes or so and is a horrible “match” but it’s watchable thanks to Cornette and Melter’s commentary. No way I can rate this though.
9) Tommy Rich vs. Rick Rude
The VQ is pretty bad here just to let you know. Rich is on his way out and Rude was on his way up at thisp point in their careers. Rude has Angel and Jimmy Hart in his corner while Rich has Tojo Yamamoto in his corner. He works the headlock on Rich until Rich breaks with the usual. Rude misses a punch so Rich counters with an atomic drop that sends Rude over the top rope. Rude makes it back in and gets caught right away in a full nelson. Rude lowblows him to break while the ref’s back is turned. Rude atomic drops him and kicks away. He hits another atomic drop and covers for only one. He sends Rich face first into the turnbuckle and bodyslams him on the mat. He goes to the second rope and he slips off the ropes. Oops. Rich takes advantage and hits an ugly dropkick. Rich grabs him in a sleeper but Rude backs him into the turnbuckle. Rude whips him to the ropes and Rich shoulderblocks him down. Rich with a headlock but Rude ducks a flying forearm which hits the referee. Hart tries to interfere but Tojo chases him out. Angel runs in to give Rude something but Lawler comes in and hits the double noggin knocker. He grabs the chain and nails Rude for it alowing Rich to get the pin and the win at: 6:17. The original announcing had it listed at 11:48 which means they cut the match almost in half. The blown spot hurt a lot but it’s not as bad as some of the other Rude matches on here. *1/4.
10) Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel
This would be for the AWA title in Memphis. Bockwinkel is of course the champion and they do some nice mat wrestling to start followed by a standoff. This would be from 83 sez Cornette. Bockwinkel takes Lawler down and starts working on the arm of Lawler. Lawler turns around while Bockwinkel has the arm and grabs him in a side head lock. Bockwinkel punches him in the gut and continues with the hammerlock. Bockwinkel turns it into an armbar. Bockwinkel still works the arm of Lawler as I watch one of the greatest Game 7’s in NHL history, one which I had the pleasure of watching on TV back when it happened (StL vs. Det 1996) featuring one of the best goals I’ve ever seen. Lawler arm drags Bockwinkel over but he still holds onto the arm. Lawler does it again and this time he releases it. Quick clipping to Lawler backing Bockwinkel into the corner. Bockwinkel takes over and nails Lawler’s head into the turnbuckle. He snapmares him over for two. Whip to the ropes and Bockwinkel punches him in the gut and a cover gets two. Bockwinkel whips him to the ropes but misses a punch and Lawler follows up with a crossbody. He covers but Bockwinkel pushes him off and outside. Bockwinkel bashes Lawler’s head into the turnbuckle and rolls him into the ring for two. Bockwinkel punches him down and sends him headfirst into the turnbuckle. Lawler starts making the big comeback and punches away on Bockwinkel. Lawler tosses him viciously backwards into the turnbuckle and whips him to the opposite corner and bounces off into a big Lawler right hand. Lawler gets pushed into the referee by Bockwinkel and Bockwinkel goes to the top (which was illegal there) and hits a standing elbow but Lawler kicks Bockwinkel out to the outside. Lawler sends Bockwinkel headfirst into the table and rolls him inside for the cover but Bockwinkel’s foot is on the rope. Bockwinkel gets a cheapshot rake to the eyes and and rubs his head into the top rope which I haven’t seen in years. Bockwinkel sends him headfirst into the turnbuckle but Lawler is a house of fire and off the comes strap. He punches away like crazy and pushes the ref off twice. Bockwinkel comes back with a big swing but it hits the referee. Lawler hits a big haymaker and covers but the ref DQ’s Bockwinkel at 12:10 so Lawler wins but doesn’t get the belt. Damn, what a match. I’d love to see an unclipped version as the match built perfectly and the fans were really feeling it. Lawler grabs the belt anyway and walks off with it. ****
11) Randy Savage vs. Austin Idol
This match is notable for the Cornette impersonation of Savage in his and Meltzer’s introduction. Again from 84 and I think this was the rematch. Poffo is again in the corner of the Macho Man. Randy bails immediately. Savage makes it to the ring and spits at Idol so a chase ensues. Of course, Savage makes it back to the ring and smashes his head into the turnbuckle. He slams him and goes up top. He hits a flying elbow which gets a two. Randy didn’t do the flying elbow as well as he would in later years as this one was pretty ugly. Savage punches away and dumps Idol. He goes for the axehandle off the top but Idol remembers it from last match and catches Randy on the way down with a shot to the gut. He chops away and sends Savage into the ring post. He rolls Savage back inside and Savage begs off. Idol punches away and dumps Randy again. He follows and works over Savage outside. Randy with a convenient eye poke then clocks Idol with the belt as Poffo had the referee distracted. The ref begins the count on the knocked out Idol who has now bladed and Savage goes outside to break the count and elbow Idol down. They make it back inside and kicks him down and covers for two. Savage bodyslams Idol and drops an elbow for two. Savage bodyslams him again and this time drops a knee to the throat for two. Savage with another bodyslam and he covers for two. Savage elbows him over and bodyslams him again for two. Savage punches away at Idol and again goes for the slam but Idol channels Ricky Steamboat and cradles him for two. Savage is pissed and hits a double axehandle off the top. Savage covers but Idol grabs the rope. Savage pulls him arm in and covers again but Idol again makes the ropes. Savage tries once more and again is foiled so he does what any person would. Bite Idol’s wound. He chokes him over the top, knocks him over and covers for two. Savage boxes away on Idol but Idol starts making the big no sell comeback. Savage tries to bail but Idol grabs him in by the tights and punches Savage down. He kicks him in the gut and follows with a bodyslam. Idol goes to the second rope and hits a flying elbow, covers but picks Randy up at two. He snapmares him over and punches away. Idol bodyslams him but misses an elbow drop. Savage goes to the second rope but misses a knee thus injuring his leg. Idol kicks his leg out from under him and softens up the knee. He goes for the Las Vegas leglock but Angelo distracts Idol. He tosses some brass knucks to Savage while the ref is distracted and nails Idol with them to get the pin and the win at 11:44. Really good match that is actually better than the one shown before. ***3/4.
12) Bobby Heenan vs. Bob Ellis
Heenan hobbles to the ring in crutches but I don’t think it’s a legit injury. He can’t wrestle of course but he wanted to show people he has good intentions and he wanted to wrestle and beat that farmer Bob Ellis. He wants to postpone the match for say 5 or 6 months. The referee’s force Heenan to wrestle so Heenan sneaks up and tries to Pearl Harbor Ellis with the crutch. Ellis takes out the Blackjacks with the bulldog (his finisher) and Heenan bails. He gets counted out of course. The match was like a minute long and not much too it. ¼* because Heenan rules.
DVD Features
A) Extras
1) Check This Out
Three stills shown for Wrestling Observer, eYada.com, and VCI Home Video
2) Chapter Menu
You know what it is!
3) Select Audio
Allows you to select from the original commentary or Daves and Jims.
B) Audio/Visual
It’s presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. It doesn't really come into play since most of the main source is Jim and Dave speaking. The video is about the best you'll find. It varies by match but since some of this stuff will be almost impossible to get in quality like this.
C) Liner Notes
For some reason, discs 1-3 have no liner notes while disc 4 and 5 do. Whoa, settle down there, it’s not much. It’s basically a booklet of all the B-Level movies that VCI has to offer. As they say, all VCI DVD’s have interactive menus, chapter search and Biographical Info.
Wrestling Gold Disc Four: No More Mr. Nice Guy DVD Review
1) Randy Savage vs. Rick Rude (3/4*)
2) The Sheik vs. Andre the Giant (1/4*)
3) Pampero Firpo vs. Jeff Doney (DUD)
4) Bruiser Brody/Scott Casey vs. Kelly Kiniski/The Spoiler (*)
5) King Kong Bundy/Rick Rude vs. Jerry Lawler/Randy Savage (**)
6) Chief Jay Strongbow vs. Bulldog Don Ken in a Cage Match (DUD)
7) Randy Savage vs. Austin Idol (***1/2)
8) Terrible Ted the Wrestling Bear vs. Gene DuBois
9) Tommy Rich vs. Rick Rude (*1/4)
10) Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (****)
11) Randy Savage vs. Austin Idol (***3/4)
12) Bobby Heenan vs. Bob Ellis (1/4*)
Overall Review
Really good disc. I think it might be my favorite of the set. The average match ratings were 1.52ish but anytime you can get a **** match and two near **** matches on a 2 hour show, it’s good. Highly recommended. The best disc of the five.
9.0
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