Best of the WWF Volume 4

It’s time for another classic Coliseum Home Video recap. Next in this great library is The Best of the WWF Volume 4, and this box is bright red with a great shot of the Iron Sheik locking on a camel clutch. Also featured on the box is Big John Studd, Andre the Giant and King Kong Bundy. This tape comes to us around the summer of 1985, with Hulk-a-mania continuing it’s rise to the top of the business. After that last tape anything has to better then 80 minutes of those damn hillbillies, so I expect greatness on this tape, let’s hope I’m right.

WWF Amazing Managers

 After a brief hiatus, I’m back with the next tape in the Coliseum Home Video Library. Got briefly delayed watching the WWE Legends of Wrestling roundtable series, highly recommended viewing. They had some great stories and amazing clips, a great way to learn more about the history of the business. Anyways, back to the CHV series, today’s show is “WWF Amazing Managers”, a tape that will showcase the managers of the World Wrestling Federation. The box features Mr. Fuji, Grand Wizard, Bobby Heenan, Freddie Blassie, Jimmy Hart and Lou Albano. There was a time in wrestling when almost every heel had a manager, and it was a great way to help get guys over who could not speak. Without a manager where would Kamala, George Steele, Demolition, Killer Khan, and all the other great monsters have gone. Managers are seriously lacking the business today, and it’s a shame, managers would help guys like Husky Harris, Alex Riley, Mark Henry and others. With that let’s see what we get on this tape, I expect just a series of promos and highlights.

Best of the WWF Volume 3

It’s time for another classic WWF Home Video, as we continue through the 80s with the Best of the WWF Volume 3. This tape should cover matches from late 1984 into 1985. The box for this volume features the Junk Yard Dog, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka, and advertises a Battle Royal, Fijian Strap Match, the return of Bruno Sammartino and the best of TNT. Nothing more entertaining then a battle royal and this one includes Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Big John Studd and others, should be awesome. Following the classic WWF Home Video opener we’re greeted by Vince McMahon, and sadly he’s not wearing a pink suit just a plain tuxedo. Vince goes over tonight’s matches and we have a tag match coming up with the Hart Foundation facing the British Bulldogs, that should be awesome. The battle royal is for thirty thousand dollars, doesn’t seem like much these days. Vince sending it to the ring for our opening match.

WWF Rowdy Roddy Piper’s Greatest Hits

We come to one of my favorite wrestlers of the eighties Coliseum Video, Rowdy Roddy Piper. This should be a lot of fun, as no one could fire up a crowd like Piper, and most of the current crop could learn a lot from Piper. Whereas Sheik, Volkoff and Blassie could get heat by playing to the USA hatred of Iran and Russia in the eighties, Piper got heat by just being a major jerk. The front of the box features Piper with a blue background, and features Piper interviewing himself, plus a match with Hulk Hogan, Piper’s pit with Andre the Giant, Mr. T and more matches. Let’s hit play and get to the show.

WWF Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest

It’s time to continue our trip through the eighties with the next WWF Coliseum Home Video release, Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest. This looks like another compilation tape, much like the first WWF Video, Bloopers, Bleeps and Bodyslams. The box for this one is bright purple and features George Steele, Ivan Putski, Jesse Ventura, a Moondog, Andre the Giant and Big John Studd. If this is only clips, I won’t bother recapping the matches, just a quick rundown of what’s featured. Let’s see what we get.

WWF Andre the Giant

I’m really burning through these tapes, which shows how good they are. I can’t stop enjoying these classic shows, they’re just so fun. Although I think the match quality on this tape is going to be bad. It’s Andre th Giant, never known for mat classic, but should be still be a fun tape. This is the second tape dedicated to just one person, the previous being Hulk-a-Mania, and they picked a legend for this one. Andre the Giant was one of the most famous wrestlers of the era, and a true superstar. The box shows Andre squashing someone in the corner and advertises the famous haircut match, a match with Ken Patera and a three on one handicap, plus a boxing match with Gorilla Monsoon. Should be interesting, so let’s get the tape rolling.

WWF Most Unusual Matches

The next release in the Coliseum Home Video library is called the WWF’s Most Unusual Matches. Should be interesting to see what WWF considered to be unusual in 1985, compared to nowadays. This volume’s box features footage of a battle royal, and it looks like Brutus Beefcake in the center and one of the Moondogs hanging on the top rope. I guess this means we get a battle royal on this tape, which makes me very happy. Also advertised on the box is a ten man tag match, a cage match between Superfly Snuka and Don Muraco, an Indian Strap match, a ladies battle royal, a lumberjack match and more. Should be a fun series of matches, hopefully they can keep the clipping to a minimum, as this tape clocks in just under ninety minutes.

Best of the WWF Volume 1

The third entry in the WWF Coliseum Home Video library is the Best of the WWF Volume 1. This was a very successful series, as the made twenty of these over the years, featuring some amazing matches. The matches were taped at TV Tapings, and were the bonus matches for the live crowd. At this point this was the only way to see the main event matches/wrestlers unless you were there live. The box cover features on of the most popular wrestlers in the WWF at the time, Jimmy Snuka, the father of current diva Tamina. The cover lists Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and Andre team up, Big John Studd, Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter, and Muhammad Ali versus Gorilla Monsoon. Looks like a great lineup, as it features all the big names.

Saturday Night’s Main Event #24 – November 25, 1989

Tonight’s SNME comes to us only five weeks after the last episode. This one was taped before the Survivor Series, but was aired two days after. By this point Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard had been fired from the WWF and Tully was removed from the PPV, replaced by Bobby Heenan. So, tonight marks the final appearance of Arn & Tully as they face long time foes the Rockers. One correction, I said the last SNME was the final appearance of Akeem and I was wrong. He was pulled from the PPV, and replaced with Bad News Brown, but he was in the Royal Rumble 1990 and faced Big Boss Man at Wrestlemania VI. I thought I had heard he was fired before the 89 Survivor Series, maybe he was and then brought back by the Rumble, not sure. Either way he wasn’t at the Series but was back by the Rumble. According to Wikipedia he was with the WWF till October 1990 and then left, as he was scheduled to be on the Mercenaries team facing The Alliance, but was gone by that year’s Series. Anyways, this is the final SNME of the 1980’s as we roll into a new decade and we head to Wrestlemania VI. Tonight’s show is headlined by Warrior facing Andre and Hulk Hogan defending the World title against Lanny Poffo, let’s get to it.

Saturday Night’s Main Event #20 – March 11, 1989

 

   While I wait for my copy of last night’s Elimination Chamber PPV, let’s continue our journey through the Saturday Night’s Main Events. Tonight’s episode comes to us from Hershey, PA and is about three weeks before Wrestlemania V, the Mega Powers explode. Last month on the Main Event, Randy Savage attacked partner and friend Hulk Hogan and accused him of having eyes for Elizabeth. Hulk was knocked silly with the World title and left laying by the Macho Man, and stormed the backstage area looking for him. At Wrestlemania the Mega Powers will face off for the World Title and Miss Elizabeth! But before we get to Wrestlemania we have to go through SNME 20!