WWE Vintage Collection Report: 31st May 2009
By Shaun Best-Rajah.com Reporter
Hosted by: Mean Gene Okerlund

Welcome aboard. To mark the one-year anniversary of Vintage Collection, Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat are all promised, as we take a look back at four MSG matches from 1986 and 1987. The first two matches come from the November 24th 1986 show, match three is from January 19th 1987, while our Main Event comes from February 23rd 1987. Let’s begin.

Kamala w/Kim Chee & The Wizard vs George “The Animal” Steele
Okerlund calls these “two monsters that the WWE Universe won’t forget.” I doubt many of today’s young fans will remember either. Steele likes the taste of Kamala’s chest paint following a quick sample with his finger. Kim Chee constantly distracts Steele from the apron. Steele stamps on both of Kamala’s feet. Steele knocks Kim Chee and Wizard off the apron, but the latter passes Kamala a metal horn. Kamala uses the horn to floor Steele, splashes him, then pins him after a splash from the top rope. Kamala hits another splash after the bell and Kim Chee steps in to stop his protégé from being disqualified. Winner: KAMALA.

Hulk Hogan & Rowdy Roddy Piper vs
Harley Race & Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff w/Bobby Heenan
Longtime rivals Hogan and Piper were teaming for the first time, uniting against two rivals in the Heenan family. They were anything but friends. Both nearly go at it before ripping their shirts off. Hogan uses Piper’s feet to batter both heels. Race gets his arm worked over with frequent, albeit hesitant tags by both Hogan and Piper. Race manages to send Piper into Orndorff’s knee then turns the tide with a belly-to-belly suplex. Orndorff lands a forearm off the top rope. Piper is hit with a couple of clotheslines then powerslammed by Race. Orndorff holds a chinlock as we go to a break. Following a Race suplex, Hogan tries to help Piper, but is forced out by the referee. Piper manages to leap past Race into a tag. Hogan clotheslines Race, sends him into Orndorff, then delivers an atomic drop, clothesline and legdrop. Orndorff breaks up the cover. Hogan focuses on Orndorff then Heenan, leaving Piper open for a double team. Orndorff’s intended clothesline for Piper hits Race by mistake and Piper covers for the 1-2-3. Lord Alfred Hayes on commentary notes Piper wasn’t the legal man, but the decision stands. Piper signals in no uncertain terms that Hogan can stick it and leaves him to get assaulted. Hogan mounts a comeback, clears the ring and sends Heenan into the ringpost. Winners: HULK HOGAN & ROWDY RODDY PIPER.

The Dream Team w/Luscious Johnny V vs The Can-Am Connection
The Dream Team were Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake, while Rick Martel and Tom Zenk made up the Can-Am Connection. Martel and Zenk both sported long hair and looked alike, apart from the fact that Martel sported tassles on his boots. The match is joined in progress. Valentine hotshots Martel across the top rope to gain control for his team. Beefcake hoists Martel up for a Valentine fist, quickly followed by a backbreaker. Martel escapes a Beefcake chinlock and nearly snatches victory with a backslide. Johnny V briefly commandeers the commentary booth to boast of an imminent Dream Team victory. Valentine cuts off a Martel fightback by reversing his Irish whip attempt. Following commercials, Zenk is now the Can-Am in trouble. Zenk survives a Valentine front facelock, abdominal stretch and gutbuster. Both heels step across Zenk’s chest. Beefcake delivers an inverted atomic drop, but Zenk refuses to let Beefcake pin him down and drives his knees into Beefcake’s gut. Zenk and Valentine cancel each other out with clotheslines. Beefcake places Valentine on top of Zenk for a nearfall. The referee twice misses Zenk tag out while trapped in a front facelock, thanks to Beefcake. Martel is thrown out the ring, while Zenk receives a double back suplex. Valentine slaps the figure four on Zenk. Martel leaps in over the ropes onto Valentine, rolls Zenk out of the way and scores the 1-2-3 with the referee fooled. The Dream Team protest Martel not being the legal man, but the referee isn’t interested. The crowd pop for the finish, which came as a nice surprise. Many were probably waiting for the hot tag, following a prolonged period of the Dream Team in control. Winners: THE CAN-AM CONNECTION.

Six Man Elimination Match
Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Junkyard Dog vs
Adrian Adonis, Macho Man Randy Savage & Harley Race
This match was a tester for the Survivor Series concept which was born later in the year. It was also a preview of the upcoming WrestleMania III card, as all six were feuding (Piper/Adonis, Steamboat/Savage, Dog/Race). Slick is calling the action with Gorilla Monsoon. Slick claims JYD is illiterate as he sends Race to the arena floor. Race hits a belly-to-belly suplex on JYD before Savage chokes him. Savage steps off the top rope to go at it with Steamboat. Adonis spits at Piper, prompting a six man brawl. Adonis and Race give Piper a back suplex. Steamboat pulls Adonis off of a cover. Adonis and Piper briefly trade sleepers. JYD escapes a Savage waistlock to slam. JYD misses a tackle on Adonis and falls outside. All six men fight again, this time on the floor. Piper attacks Adonis with a chair, but instead of a DQ, Howard Finkel rules that JYD and Adonis (the two legal men) have been counted out. Steamboat is next to go. While he has Race in a small package, Savage rolls Race on top and the Dragon is pinned. Steamboat wishes Piper well to get the crowd behind him. Piper survives a double team to send Race over the top rope and onto a ringside seat. Piper stops Savage from hitting him with a chair, so Savage resorts to a choke along the top rope and double axehandle from the top rope. Piper fights back, then starts to bite Savage, prompting Slick to ask if he’s hungry. Race powerslams Piper, Piper reverses a gutwrench suplex, but Savage is on hand to break up the pin. Piper dodges a Savage double axehandle, Race takes the hit and Piper pins him. Race refuses to leave, so Piper throws Savage into him to send the King packing. Savage is planted with a running bulldog, before Piper nearly bites his hand off. Savage spits on Piper, baiting him in for a chase, which ends in Savage gaining control momentarily. Piper shifts his weight across to thwart a slam and fall on top of Savage for a one count. Both throttle the other, Piper delivers a tree slam and several punches to the head. A collision knocks Savage out of the ring. Piper plays possum on the mat. Savage is fooled and misses his patented top rope elbow, allowing Piper to snare him in a small package for the 1-2-3. This was a good match, which the crowd were into. Piper sold Adonis and Savage spitting at him expertly. His facials were brilliant. Slick and Monsoon also played off each other well. Slick could have been a good heel announcer in addition to Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura. Sole Survivor: ROWDY RODDY PIPER.

Okerlund signs off until next week.

A good show this week from the larger than life superstars of the 80s. Here’s to the next Vintage year. See you next weekend. Shaun!

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