You Are, As We Say In Latin, An Orndorkus Malorkus

Hulk Hogan (c) VS Paul Orndorff - WWF Championship 7/7/1984

JJZ: I believe when I was a kid I liked the idea of Hulk Hogan. Larger than life hero that can overcome all odds. I remember renting WrestleMania 7 from West Coast Video to watch Hogan VS Sgt Slaughter. I came out of that show loving Savage VS Warrior and being bored to tears by the main event. This is the total opposite of that Hogan match. The crowd is hot as fuck and this is one of the most vicious Hulk matches I've ever seen. Now it ain't Joe VS Necro but for a 80s WWF match it's pretty snug. It's not your normal Hogan match at all. And Paul plays a great goddamn heel. The crowd is foaming at the mouth to see Hulk rip his head off. Hope you enjoy CJD. I know Orndorff never won the title but in this match I honestly believed he could have. His "I'm going fuck you up" attitude really made me feel like he was equal to the Immortal Hulk Hogan.

CJD: By 1984 standards that chairshot was no joke! The more we get into this mid 80s WWF time period the more I'm realizing how little I've seen. I've always read about how limited the "New York" style was. While that may be true you can see them start to put the formula together that is going to create a cash generating monster and a lot of that is boiling things down to their most basic elements. If that's your strategy a big 3 of Hogan, Piper, and Orndorff is about as perfect as you can get. They all work best in broad strokes, although with Orndorff I'm realizing he does a lot of little things better than I ever gave him credit for. You mentioned his attitude and he is great here at not just projecting that to the back row but also in fighting and clawing his way back into this match no matter how much Hulk tries to eat him up. Hogan brings the heat too, that running elbow was a beaut. As a brawl I liked the Piper match better, but as a Hogan title defense this was a fun ride. And "I believe when I was a kid I liked the idea of Hulk Hogan" is one of my favorite sentences you've ever written.

For Everybody

Roddy Piper VS Paul Orndorff - WWF 7/27/1985

CJD: I play forward matches to you that often leave you wanting more. Well this match left me wanting more. I almost didn't go with it, but it stuck with me for a few reasons. One, yet another great Spectrum crowd (although I don't know who this local jabronie they have on color is). Two, as a pure heated brawl, it's damn good for what it is. And three, the Stone/Valentine/Goto/Kojima Effect. Orndorff is a guy I've never really given a fair chance. We're all about looking at someone you have a preconceived notion about with fresh eyes and I can't wait to see what you come back with from his career. I love what bad asses both of these guys feel like here, total seeds of the double turn that would come for both soon after. What says you, did they get a lot out of a little, or is this pier 6 brawl a lot of very little??

JJZ: Love the music in the beginning. Jesus this starts out hotter than the 2020 heatwave. Is it weird I'm surprised that Paul is the face? Hot Rod is a natural heel but I always view him as a face for some reason. Gotta show some love for Mr. 1derfuls tights. You weren't kidding, this crowd is rocking. I'd love to see the rematch to this. They really were building to one hell of a blow off. I think this is what is missing from modern wrestling, matches with this much heat where the sole purpose is to build to a bigger match. In WWE I mean. I honestly have never seen Orndorff this aggressive. That's saying something. It really opened my eyes to him. I've been burning through WCW Saturday Nights recently and just watched a match between him and 2 Cold Scorpio that I really enjoyed because of Paul's technical work. I didn't know he had that in him either. It's funny how you can not really notice someone then all of a sudden they turn the corner for you. For Piper this is really up his alley. That man is pure heat. Very nice pick CJD.