WWE Vintage Collection Report: 18th April 2010
By Shaun Best-Rajah.com Reporter
Hosted by: Mean Gene Okerlund

Welcome aboard. This week’s show is a repeat from the July 20th 2008 show, featuring a card from Madison Square Garden in October 1986.

All of the matches bar one have been recycled once more, which is plain lazy considering the size of the archive library at WWE’s disposal.

On the plus side, the Hart Foundation and British Bulldogs are featured, alongside a $50,000 Tag Team Battle Royal on hand for the Main Event. Let’s recap once more.

Announcers for the show are Gorilla Monsoon, Lord Alfred Hayes and Mean Gene Okerlund.

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart vs The Dynamite Kid
No partners or managers at ringside. Matilda the dog is though, albeit kept on a tight leash by a handler. Both grapplers exchange shoves. Anvil takes the cheap way out of a test of strength with a boot. Dynamite sends Anvil out of the ring with a cross body. Dynamite invites a shoulder tackle after his own attempts fail. Anvil takes the bait, running straight into a drop toehold followed by an armbar. Anvil shifts the momentum by targeting the back, utilising several hair biels and a slam on the hard concrete floor. After front facelocking Dynamite in the second rope, Anvil slams once more and misses a high risk splash. Dynamite quickly launches into action with a missile dropkick and running clothesline. A headbutt sends Anvil into the ropes. Dynamite misses a spike and gets tangled up – or so he has Anvil believe. Anvil turns away, as Dynamite quickly unhooks himself up and rolls Anvil up from behind for the 1-2-3. Matilda comes in after to celebrate and keep Anvil at bay. This one barely went five minutes. These two only just scratched the surface. Not a bad opener, but would have been better with a few more minutes. Winner: THE DYNAMITE KID.

Haku vs Nikolai Volkoff
We join this match in progress with Volkoff tossing Haku to the floor. Haku is part of the babyface Islanders tag team at this point, while Volkoff is part of a tandem with the Iron Sheik. Vladimir the superfan appears in shot looking like he’s having a good time. Volkoff tries to keep Haku outside, so the Islander grabs a leg and posts it. Back inside, Haku applies a leg grapevine. Volkoff knees the gut, before mistakingly ramming Haku’s hard cranium into the corner. As Haku gets fired up, Volkoff pulls a foreign object out of his trunks to stun Haku. Before the referee can act, Volkoff has stuck the object back into his soviets. Haku escapes a rollup, dodges a Volkoff corner charge and gets the pin after a bungled rollup of his own. Volkoff’s shoulders are clearly not down, but the referee still counts. Holy crapfest Batman! This is the only match on this week’s show which hasn’t been shown before, taking the place of the much better Iron Sheik/Jacques Rougeau scrap. Winner: HAKU.

Bret “Hitman” Hart vs Raymond Rougeau
Bret gets a bit full of himself posing in front of Raymond so Raymond pulls off Bret’s sunglasses and stomps on them. As Monsoon brings up the danger of glass in the ring, Raymond sends Bret outside with a couple of armdrags. A ring hand clears the ring and Okerlund brings up a wager between the two combatants regarding their respective hockey teams, Calgary and Montreal to explain the reasoning for the match. Bret opts for a second breather after being caught with a monkey flip. Sick of one fan’s jibes, Bret questions rather loudly what they know about wrestling. After seeing his own attempt at a monkey flip thwarted, Bret suckers Raymond in to rake the face and deliver an inverted atomic drop. After tossing Raymond to the floor and working over him in the corner, Bret continues with a backbreaker and chinlock, tugging the hair to keep Raymond grounded. Raymond escapes and nearly wins it with a sunset flip. Bret throttles Raymond in the corner, but gets distracted by yelling at the referee, allowing Raymond to retaliate with kicks and chops. Bret tries to beg off to no avail, as Raymond hits him with a hiptoss, dropkick and piledriver. Raymond irish whips, Bret goes for a kick, but Raymond catches Bret’s leg, turning the Hitman around for an atomic drop. Sensing trouble, Bret desperately resorts to a double leg pickup and rests his feet on the ropes to pick up the cheap 1-2-3. Winner: BRET “HITMAN” HART. This was a fun little matchup. Nothing spectacular, but solid nonetheless.

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs Davey Boy Smith
Once again, we join a match in progress. Both exchange bearhugs and knucklelocks on the mat, with each trying to pin the other. Valentine takes over with a shoulderbreaker and suplex. Smith counters a figure four attempt into a small package for a nearfall. Valentine goes after a leg, with Monsoon pointing out Valentine taking out Chief Jay Strongbow by using the same tactics. Smith turns the tables, and slaps on a Sharpshooter. Clearly a move not yet made famous, Okerlund calls it a figure four, while Monsoon refers to it as a Boston crab. Valentine makes it to the ropes. Smith finds resistance to a suplex, before managing to get Valentine up. Smith delivers a running powerslam, but the savvy Valentine maneuvers a foot onto the bottom rope. Valentine leads Smith on a chase around the outside, ambushing the Bulldog with stomps upon re-entering the ring. Valentine calls for and cinches in the figure four. Smith struggles, gets to the ropes, and Valentine only releases the hold at the last possible second. Tensions boil over as each wrestler pounds and slaps the other. Smith seemingly has things in hand after dropkicking Valentine, but the wily veteran utilises a double leg takedown and holds the top rope for leverage and the second cheap finish in a row. That being said, it’s been the best match on the show so far. Winner: GREG “THE HAMMER” VALENTINE.

$50,000 Tag Team Battle Royal
Featuring: Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Rougeau Brothers, Killer Bees, Moondogs (Rex & Spot), Islanders (Haku & Tama), Dream Team (Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake), Machines (Big & Super), Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd, Mike Rotundo & Special Delivery Jones (subbing for the injured Dan Spivey), and Chief Jay Strongbow & Steve Gatorwolf.

The rules state that when one man has been eliminated then his partner has to leave as well. The Moondogs get tossed at the start, followed by Special Delivery Jones (off camera). Rotundo stays in for a bit before reluctantly leaving. Sheik and Volkoff eliminate Chief Jay Strongbow before a Machine dumps Sheik, who busts his head open after taking a spill onto the concrete floor. Dynamite Kid and Bret Hart take each other out, prompting a heated brawl on the floor between the Bulldogs and the Harts.

After a commercial break, Jumping Jim Brunzell is eliminated by Brutus Beefcake to put paid to the Killer Bees’ hopes. Big John Studd backdrops Jacques Rougeau out and a Machine does the same to Beefcake. Super Machine has Studd up for a bodyslam, but Bundy saves his partner, eliminating the Machine by blindsiding him with a clothesline. The heavily favoured giants are left with just the Islanders now. The Islanders take the fight to both out of the corners, but Bundy wipes Tama out with an avalanche in the corner. Haku avoids a second avalanche and Bundy sends Studd out. Big upset win! Haku jumps up and down before checking on Tama. Winners: THE ISLANDERS.

Other happenings on the card included:-
A Piper’s Pit with Paul Orndorff and Bobby Heenan to setup a tag match for the following month, which included King Harley Race and Hulk Hogan.

SD Jones pinned Moondog Spot with a headbutt.

Tama pinned Moondog Rex with a flying bodypress.

Brutus Beefcake pinned B. Brian Blair by holding onto the tights for leverage after the momentum of a crossbody by Blair put Beefcake on top.

King Kong Bundy pinned Super Machine with the avalanche.

Jacques Rougeau pinned the Iron Shiek with a sunset flip into the ring.

Mike Rotundo fought Jim Brunzell to a double count-out.

This card was an interesting one, mixing the Tag Teams up and seeing how they squared off in individual matches. Damn I miss my Tag Teams in today’s environment. It’s a crying shame that WWE doesn’t invest in more tandems, so they can try this project again. It would certainly make for some interesting TV.

Hopefully the re-runs were a one week oversight by the WWE Production staff and we get some fresh Vintage action next week. See you Sunday. Shaun.

Comments/praise/feedback/criticism/discussion points please direct to [email protected].