In the spirit of watching mid-80s WWF action, I decided to throw in this golden oldie. Greatest Matches (and I should put “greatest” in quotes) was a Coliseum Video released in 1986 as part of a collector’s series. It also just so happens to be the very first Coliseum Video I ever rented! As a very young kid I was enthralled with all the wrestling tapes, and would stare at the boxes whenever we were in the video store. We used to rent those weird pre-laser disc things. My dad finally ditched that piece of shit disc player and got a VCR in early to mid 86 I believe, and I immediately wanted to start renting wrestling, He-Man and the other tapes I had been staring at over the past several months. I vividly remember the Coliseum Video boxes, all lined up on the shelf at Home Movie Rentals, all promising to show me matches I had never seen before! This tape would help launch an obsession that’s still going strong some 27 years later!
The other big memory of this tape is that I bought it used over 10 years ago from somewhere in Ontario – Wawa I believe – when I was on that crazy vacation with my family that lead us to staying in places like Dayton, Ohio. A video store was closing down and I bought all of their Coliseum Videos, which I watched shortly after getting home from the trip.
This tape really is nothing special. As a little kid though it seemed great, as it was only 45 minutes long and a lot of exciting stuff happens. I have no idea why they felt the need to call this “Greatest Matches” since it’s just four random matches, two of which happen to be historic title defenses, but really nothing on here can be considered all that “great”.
Vince McMahon himself opens the tape and sounds ridiculous as he goes on and on about the “greatest matches” from the WWF in his over the top delivery. I miss the old control center from this era, and I definitely miss McMahon the announcer. His personality made even the dumbest idea sound like it was going to be great.
1) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Paul Orndorff when the momentum of a crossbody by Orndorff put the champion on top (04/21/85 Toronto, ON)
I looked up all the dates and locations for the matches after I watched this tape, to give me some context of where and when they took place. This was the main event of a Toronto house show, shortly after Wrestlemania. During the early to mid 80s, all of the house shows in major cities, like Toronto, Philly, East Rutherford, NYC, etc. were considered special, and had big main events, title changes and angles. I guess this all started changing as TV and national exposure grew starting around early 87. All the matches on this tape have “weero” parts, but I don’t think too much is missing from the matches. This was an energetic battle; Hogan and Orndorff really tear it up and have a great match. Hogan resorts to brawling and the like, and surprisingly wins this match by rolling through a cross-body. Ventura questions whether Orndorff’s shoulders were down, and I agree. I should mention that Jesse sounds strangely hoarse and subdued throughout this video.
2) Macho Man Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) pinned WWF IC Champion Tito Santana to win the title at 10:29 after Savage hit Santana in the head with a foreign object while in the middle of a back suplex (02/08/86 Boston, MA)
This is a match we’ve seen many times, and it’s definitely one of the most historic in WWF history. After many months of chasing Tito, Macho finally is able to wrest the belt away from him with the help of a really stupid looking foreign object. The match itself is excellent – very fast-paced, snug mat wrestling, and cat-and-mouse tactics from both wrestlers. Later in 87 they tried to pretend that Danny Davis intentionally screwed Tito with the finish of this, but at the time, it’s just a case of Macho being sneakier and catching Tito with a foreign object shot to the face. They get a close-up of the object on the floor, and Ventura suggests it’s “cold rolled steel” (huh?) but it looks like a small plastic tube. Kind of a cheap finish if you ask me.
3) The Iron Sheik (w/ Freddie Blassie) defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund (w/ Arnold Skaaland) at 11:50 to win the title when Skaaland threw in the towel as Backlund was trapped in the Camel Clutch; moments prior to the finish, Backlund attempted his roll up into a bridge but was unable to keep it applied due to his injured neck (12/26/83 NYC)
And so ends the era of Backlund. After five years of wholesome, sportsmanlike title defenses, the Iron Sheik becomes the transitional champ to kick off the rock n’ wrestling era. I was excited to see this match, but man it’s a disappointment. It’s slow paced, even with a couple weero parts, and it’s just all wear down holds and Backlund selling his injured neck. I’m actually really surprised to see Backlund on a WWF release from 86, since he must have been long gone from the company by this point. Sheik’s clutch is awesome, but it’s only applied for 30 seconds before Skaaland throws in the towel. Kind of a cheap finish, and a weak ending to a historic title reign. No wonder Backlund was pissed! I wonder why the Sheik of all people was chosen to be the transitional champ?
4) WWF Tag Team Champions Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine (w/ Johnny V) defeated Uncle Elmer & Hillbilly Jim at 4:29 when Beefcake pinned Elmer after Valentine came off the top with a double axehandle as Elmer had Beefcake caught in a bearhug, with Beefcake then falling on top for the win (12/30/85 NYC)
Uhhh… why is THIS on a “Greatest” Matches tape? This match sucks, and mercifully it’s only five minutes long. Uncle Elmer is so useless, but geez McMahon had a hard-on for hillbillies in the mid-80s.
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