nostalgia
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bRET HART V MR PERFECT
As good as Bret Hart was, Mr Perfect was every bit as good. The depth of
talent pool
made..ahem...perfect match-ups like this very easy for Vince McMahon. Performers that worked well with each other could easily be paired up to make exciting undercard bouts.
bOb bACkLuND V ADRIAN ADONIS
Bob Backlund is a very important cog in the WWF’s 1980s wheel. Backlund provided an ‘All American boy’ image to the WWF title that countered the more rough, tough image that previous champions had given it. Backlund was also the popular champion who would lose the title to the nefarious Iron Shiek, who would go on to lose to the birth of Hulkamania. Adonis is himself an example of how a solid performer was given a gimmick in his later run. Some of these gimmicks worked. Others, and Adonis is one example of this (as we will see in later parts of this series, guys like Duggan and the Bushwhackers are others), were more of a
detriment to them. Biker Adonis is pretty awesome as a heel. Flower Shop Adonis not so much.
GREG VALENTINE V RONNIE GARVIN
One of the things that is absolutely terrific about the WWF in the 1980s are the feuds. These weren’t feuds based around who gets the best shampoo commercial or who can rap the best. These weren’t feuds around comedy. These were believable feuds between two competitors you really believed hated each other. So Hogan gets beaten up by King Kong Bundy. The Hart Foundation screw over the British Bulldogs or, in this case, Greg Valentine and Ronnie Garvin have a real rivalry in the ring based on little more than ‘who is the better man’. It wasn’t always the case that 1980s WWF did feuds well (see the ‘Bossman’s mother’ routine) , but when they did they did them really well and made you believe and care. Something today’s WWE might try harder to do sometimes!
GLAMOuR GIRLS V JuMPING bOMb ANGELS
Women’s wrestling has been a hotly debated topic over the past few years. It’s a Marmite effect in that you either love it or you hate it. With the current crop of Divas in the WWE, hatred is unfortunately far too easy as we are ‘treated’ to botchery and ‘bowling shoe ugly’ matches. But in the 1980s, the WWF had some stellar performers in the women’s division. From Sherri Martel to the Jumping Bomb Angels, WWF Women’s matches in the 1980s had a real ability to shine and to excite. Let’s not forget the Glamour Girls either. Judy Martin and Leilani Kai were another duo who showed that women’s wrestling could be far more than just about preening and posing.
RICky STEAMbOAT V JAkE RObERTS
A master of psychology, Jake Roberts was a tremendous addition to the WWF. A man who could use the tiniest inflection in his voice or twitch of an eyelid to make you either love him or fear him, Roberts was a tremendous mental performer in the ring and on the microphone.
14 WoRlDWiDe WReStlinG MAGAZine tWP
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