Before the match Bob Uecker is backstage, he talks about going to find Vanna White, which brings along Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart. Honky Tonk Man says he's going to beat Beefcake but Bob Uecker thinks Jimmy Hart's getting a haircut tonight. Honky Tonk Man talks about doing a backstroke down the Mississippi river before backstroking out of shot, which was a pretty cool moment. Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura are on commentary for this match. Greg Valentine is already in the ring, but we see Ricky Steamboat come out to the ring with his son, Ventura asks if he'll tag out if he gets into trouble. Ricky hands young Richard over to his mother and the camera man is RIGHT THERE hoping the kid will call out spots or some shit.
GREG VALENTINE VS. RICKY STEAMBOAT
WWE Wrestlemania IV (27th March 1988)
They lock up and Valentine shoves Steamboat away, they lock up again and the same happens. On the third lock up Ricky Steamboat puts on a headlock but gets sent off the ropes. Monsoon says both of these guys could easily wrestle 90 minutes and it's obvious to me he's talking through the tournament but Ventura brings up the 15-minute time limit to the match. Valentine goes prone and Steamboat jumps over him twice then baseball slides and takes him over with a hip toss. He follows with an armdrag and Steamboat always makes that look crisp. Valentine gets to his feet but Steamboat works the arm wringer and knocks him down with a hook kick and an open palm strike, Steamboat hits a legdrop for a nearfall. Ricky Steamboat gets an arm wringer but Valentine sends him off the ropes, only to get knocked down by a shoulder tackle for a 1 count. Ricky Steamboat hits another shoulder tackle and covers but Valentine kicks out at 2. Ricky Steamboat hits the ropes again but this time Greg Valentine sidesteps and helps him along, Steamboat skins the cat as Valentine talks to Hebner about Superbowl XXII giving Steamboat a chance to hit him with a dropkick from behind. Valentine hits the ropes and it looks like Steamboat was meant to roll him up but Valentine just fell backward so Steamboat covered and got a 2 count.
Steamboat puts on a wristlock but is kneed in the midsection by Greg Valentine. He knocks Steamboat down with right hands and an elbow to the top of the head. Valentine with more elbows to the head and a chop, knocking Steamboat down. Valentine chokes Steamboat near the ropes, Hebner is pretty slow with the 5 count. Valentine drops his knee onto Steamboat and chokes him with his shin. Ricky Steamboat grabs the top rope, trying to get to his feet but Valentine alley-oops him back away from the ropes, hitting the back of his head. Gorilla Monsoon gives it a technical name and Jesse is all of us in saying “what?” Greg Valentine hits the ropes and drops a forearm, covering for a 2 count. Ricky Steamboat flips out of a back suplex attempt and rams Valentine's head into the top turnbuckle, he hits a knee drop and puts Valentine in an armbar, but Greg Valentine gets back to his feet and escapes with an inverted atomic drop, knocking Steamboat down with a clothesline.
Greg Valentine gets more elbow shots to the top of Steamboats head, then hangs him over the apron for some knife-edge chops to the throat. He gets back in the ring and Steamboat tries to fight to his feet with a right hand, but Valentine measures him up with jabs and puts a stop to that as we see Donald Trump gazing into the distance in the front row. Ricky Steamboat fights out of the corner with chops and covers for 2. Greg Valentine pulls off the smoothest counter from a scoop slam into a body press, landing on Steamboat for a 2 count. Valentine hits him with right hands and hits a gutbuster. Greg Valentine pulls Steamboat away and headbutts him in the midsection, he tries a Figure Four but Steamboat pushes him into the turnbuckles. Steamboat chops at Valentine, who answers with another right hand. Steamboat with another knife-edge chop, Valentine goes for the overhand variation, but doesn't want to exchange chops for too long, leaning back into the ropes for momentum on a forearm shot. Steamboat is knocked across the ring, bouncing off the ropes and hitting Valentine with a chop so hard he loses his own balance.
Valentine stalls the sell before falling, Steamboat chases him almost looking for a facebuster and covers for 2 before getting poked in they eye, Valentine hits a shoulder breaker but only gets 2. He hits an ax handle off the top rope and signals for the Figure Four, but Steamboat grabs his hair and knocks him back with a right hand. He slams Valentine's face into the mat and sends him off the ropes into a jumping back elbow. Steamboat goes to the top rope, hitting an ax handle for a nearfall. Ricky Steamboat starts slamming Valentine's head into the top turnbuckle as the crowd counts along, the referee has to physically restrain Steamboat and gets shoved to the side. Ricky Steamboat hits a crossbody from the top rope, but Greg Valentine rolls through 1, 2, 3!
WINNER: GREG VALENTINE
This was a good match, they weren't preserving their energy enough to make this a slog but they left plenty in the tank for the next 3 rounds. There were a couple of mis-communications and on a personal note Valentine's waiting before he dropped to the floor became old pretty quickly, but no major issues and it kept the tournament going nicely..– As a match, it's **½ but personally, I'd rate it 5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment