The SmarK Rant for Coliseum Video presents The Best of the WWF Volume 20

The SmarK Rant for Coliseum Video presents The Best of the WWF Volume 20

And so our journey through the Best of the WWF series concludes with another Jim Duggan video cover. There’s a lesson there, I think.

Also thank you to everyone who sent in kind words of congratulations on the sale of the site. Everyone is being spectacularly cool about the whole thing and I really appreciate it.

So in one last change to the format before they kill the series, this one starts with a MONTAGE of the stars of 1989. A musical montage, no less!

Your host is Sean Mooney, with the gimmick this time being a “20^th Anniversary” celebration for the Best of the WWF series.

Red Rooster v. Brooklyn Brawler

And what a way to kick off the last tape in the series, with a match that is no doubt a main event in any arena! I’m not sure which house show this is from, but they wrestled 80 million times anyway. They slug it out and Rooster wins that battle, but the Brawler rakes the eyes before missing an elbow. Rooster slams him for two and works a top wristlock on the mat, working for a chicken wing I’d assume. Brawler fights out of that, but misses a charge, and Rooster drops a knee and indeed goes for a chicken wing. Brawler throws him out, showing that Roosters can indeed fly, but Rooster gets his feathers all ruffled and comes back in to pick a fight. Sadly he’s too cocky and Brawler runs him into the post to take over. Back in the ring, Brawler puts the boots to him, pounding him out and tenderizing him, and then rakes his face on the ropes before going to a chinlock. Rooster escapes with a backdrop suplex and gets a small package for two. Backslide gets two. Rooster with a neckbreaker, but Brawler slugs him down again before Rooster finishes with a sunset flip at 9:00. Shouldn’t he use a SUNRISE flip instead? Because…well, never mind. 0 for 1.

Brother Love joins Sean and crashes the party.

Brutus Beefcake v. Bad News Brown

This one is from the Boston Garden, and Bad News attacks before Brutus can even get his jacket off, choking him out and dropping an elbow on his throat. Brown necksnaps him on the top rope and slugs away on him, but Brutus makes the comeback and fires back before chopping him down and dropping an elbow on him. Brutus fights back and slugs away in the corner. HOLD ON A SEC – Has anyone pitched AEW bringing in Brutus to scissor with the Acclaimed? I bet he knows Billy Gunn. Brown slams him and decides to go to the top rope (?!?) and Brutus slams him off and slugs away on the mat. This sets up the sleeper, but Bad News runs him into the corner to break and then hits a lariat to put him down. Sadly, Bad News stops to cut a promo and then steals Brutus’s scissors, but Brutus rolls him up for the pin at 7:54. They were just sleepwalking through this one. 0 for 2.

Meanwhile, Brother Love continues annoying Sean Mooney.

King Haku v. Hacksaw Duggan

From Superstars, and the crown is on the line, just like in days of yore. Rather fitting that yesterday was July 4, because it’s like a microcosm of 1776 playing out before our eyes, when Benjamin Franklin hit King Hitler with a board to win the Korean War and make America free from the tyrannical rule of Russia’s King. Jesse rightly points out that Haku is the only one risking anything here, although Vince counters that Duggan will fall down in the rankings a little bit if he loses. What is this, AEW? They throw shoulderblocks to start and it goes nowhere, and Duggan slugs away and chases the King out of the ring. Back in the ring, Haku goes for the arm, but Duggan reverses and takes him down with the wristlock before going back to punching again. Haku clotheslines him, but misses a senton and Duggan gets the three point stance to finish and claim the crown at 3:33. Short bad match. 0 for 3. Haku actually ended up in a pretty good spot by the end of 1989, though.

And then the next week, Duggan is crowned King by the babyfaces, including some two-faced TRAITORS who were there for Haku’s coronation but have now switched sides. Also, Tim Horner. WTF? Thankfully we’d get a true regent soon enough. Also he might be a working man’s King, but he still makes jobbers carry his throne, so obviously it doesn’t take long for absolute power to corrupt absolutely.

Meanwhile, Brother Love continues getting drunker.

16 Man Battle Royale:

We’re in Hamilton and Akeem is thrown out within 10 seconds. Basically a bunch of tag teams and a few singles stars in there, so I’m assuming this is Mr. Perfect’s to lose. Bunch of the usual punching and laying on the ropes with nothing particularly interesting. Bossman throws out Ax and Jim Powers, and Smash tosses Honky Tonk Man. Richard Charland and Blue Blazer both get thrown out, and so does Brooklyn Brawler, really cutting down all of the big guns. Valentine goes to the apron and Red Rooster is so useless that he can’t even knock him off, and in fact he charges and gets backdropped out. And then Tito takes care of business for him and knocks Hammer off and out. Smash and Bossman eliminate each other, leaving a final four of Perfect, Martel, Bret Hart and Tito. Hell of a tag match there if they wanted to go that route. The heels retreat to the corner but of course Tito goes after Martel while that beef was still fresh, and everyone slugs it out before Bret and Perfect collide. Tito beats on Martel and tries to push him out, but Perfect dumps Tito, leaving Bret alone. So the heels double-team him, but Tito returns and pulls the top rope down to eliminate Martel, and Bret tosses Mr. Perfect for the win at 11:04. Well I can’t agree with the methodology but the results were effective. The finishing sequence was good enough for a point. 1 for 4.

The Hart Foundation v. The Rougeau Brothers

Brother Love is the special referee here, with another dark match from the Main Event 2. I’m sure he’ll be calling it right down the middle. Brother Love goes on a hilarious run to annoy the crowd before the match, while the Harts get all worked up waiting for the match to start already, and it turns into a Sideshow Bob rake deal where it’s funny to start and then tiresome and then gets funnier the longer it goes. And then finally Neidhart grabs the microphone and demands that the bell ring to start the match. Man, poor Bret always someone telling the timekeeper when to ring the bell. Bret and Jacques fight over a lockup before Bret gets a headlock and they criss-cross into a Bret bodypress, but of course Brother Love very deliberately checks the shoulders and only counts one. Man, poor Bret, always running into biased referees. Bret cradles Jacque for a very slow two count, but Jacques reverses for a super fast two. At least he’s not pretending to be fair like heel referees these days. Raymond comes in and Anvil puts him down with a shoulderblock, prompting Jacques to give him a soothing neck massage in the corner while Love holds off the Harts. Anvil rolls up Raymond, but he somehow makes the ropes within the three seconds and escapes. Anvil goes to a bearhug, so Love tends to Bret and makes sure he’s holding the tag rope tightly, allowing the Rougeaus to switch off and do some damage in the corner with preposterously blatant cheating. Jacques goes to a chinlock on Anvil while Love gets in his face and tells him how much he loves him and I’m 100% sold on this match. These are some great pro wrestlers doing some goofy tomfoolery and I’m THERE FOR IT. Jacques with the abdominal stretch on Anvil while Tony notes that Brother Love could just go to the timekeeper and ask for the bell to be rung. COME ON. How likely is it that a biased referee would cost Bret Hart a match by telling the timekeeper to ring the bell in a match involving people from Montreal? Like, odds must be 100-1. Maybe more. Bret is still forgetting to hold onto the tag rope, so Brother Love chastises him while the Rougeaus post Neidhart and Raymond goes to a leglock while Jacques just stands on the apron kicking him in the head. This is so wonderfully stupid and the crowd is eating it up. The Rougeaus continue double-teaming him, but Anvil fights his way to the corner, and Brother Love of course turns his back at the last second and won’t let Bret in there. So the Rougeaus blatantly cheat again, but Neidhart finally outsmarts them and makes the hot tag. Bret beats on Raymond and hits them both with atomic drops before ramming them together and dropping the middle rope elbow on Jacques for one, two…I LOVE YOU. MILLION BILLION STARS. And then Jacques rolls him up and Love fast counts Bret for the pin at 12:54. This was some high concept nonsense and it was tremendous and justified the whole tape. And then of course the Harts get their revenge, hitting Brother Love with the Hart Attack, and this was some tremendous pro wrestling. I loved this so much I’m giving it TWO POINTS. 3 for 5.

Meanwhile, Brother Love is so upset that he wants to go eat some cake. But then Kevin Dunn makes another cameo and demands to know where the guests are because they’re running out of tape, and dispatches the crew to eat the snacks.

WWF title: Hulk Hogan v. Ravishing Rick Rude

Yup. This is their famous only televised meeting from the Boston Garden in January 88, as they did one match here (and one match a week later in Vancouver that I was probably in attendance for!) and then never wrestled again in any form. And yeah, this has the spot to start where Rude challenges Hulk to an arm-wrestling match on the mat, which is actually a fun and unique bit of business. And Joey Marella even gets in on it, diving down to check the arms on the mat, and Hulk has a mini-Hulk up and flashes Rude three times to win that battle after selling for a bit. With Rude stunned at that turnaround, Hulk slugs away in the corner, rams him into the turnbuckle, and tosses Rude to the floor after beating up poor Bobby Heenan for literally no reason. Rude works the arm, but Hulk takes him to the corner and follows with a suplex before missing an elbow. Rude drops elbows on the neck and goes to the corner for more abuse, but Hulk fights him off and then chases after helpless Bobby Heenan again just to be a jerk. Rude attacks from behind on the floor and uses a chair behind the ref’s back, but that only gets two. Rude with the chinlock and he turns it into a sleeper spot on the mat while Rude has a LONG conversation with the ref about something. Were they planning supper for later or something? Hulk fights out, but Rude catches him with the body vice and thinks he’s won the title. So he stupidly releases Hulk with no bell and goes up to hit a flying fistdrop for good measure, but Hulk of course makes the comeback and drops the leg at 11:44. Too bad we never saw it again, it was a fun bit of business that was different from the usual big boot and legdrop formula match and they were a natural pairing. 4 for 6.

And Brother Love throws the cake in Sean Mooney’s face as he promises Volume 21, but then Tony Schiavone stops by and reveals that the party is actually in the next room.

And that’s the Best of the WWF series! A good finish to this tape, I think.

NEXT TIME: We cover the title history tapes and start with The History of the Tag Team Champions!