WWF The Big Event

WWF The Big Event

Venue: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Date: 28/08/86

Attendance: 64,100

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Johnny Valiant & Ernie Ladd

The Big Event was a pay-per-view exclusively for Canada and took place in font of a then record crowd of 64,100 at the outdoor CNE Stadium in Toronto. The draw for the giant audience was the showdown between WWF Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff at the height of their famous feud. The event was later released on Coliseum Video in North America.

 

The massive crowd at the CNE Toronto



Review

The Killer Bees defeated Hoss (Dory Jr) & Jimmy Jack Funk in a decent opener. As they often did, The Bees donned masks towards the end of the bout to enable them to switch places undetected by the referee and win the match. I always felt a move like this should be employed by heels as the faces shouldn't be relying on cheating to win... Don Muraco and King Tonga (Haku) fought to a boring time limit draw. The match just never got going... Ted Arcidi easily beat Tony Garea in a squash... The Junk Yard Dog beat Adrian Adonis in an awful contest. Inexplicably JYD was declared the winner by count out even though Adonis re-entered the ring before him! I can only presume the announcement was a mistake and it should have been a disqualification, but even then that wouldn't make much sense as JYD should have been disqualified for shoving down the referee... Dick Slater downed Iron Mike Sharpe in an average bout... The six man tag team match featuring Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy and Bobby Heenan versus Big Machine (Blackjack Mulligan), Super Machine (Bill Eadie) and Lou Albano was barely tolerable. The faces were disqualified when Giant Machine (Andre the Giant) interfered. The story was that Andre had been suspended for failing to show up for an event (in reality he had been allowed time off due to health problems) and during the suspension Giant Machine made his debut. While obvious to everyone it was Andre, Heenan had to prove it actually was the Giant under the mask in order for him to be banned for life. Yes it was a daft storyline... Ricky Steamboat pinned Jake "The Snake" Roberts in their "Snake Pit" grudge match, basically a no disqualification match. It was a good battle in which Steamboat bladed after a slingshot into the ring post... Billy Jack Haynes beat Hercules with a back slide in an okay match-up. Their feud led to another meeting at Wrestlemania 3... The Rougeau Brothers upset The Dream Team in a good old school tag team bout. They would also meet again at Wrestlemania... The Harley Race/Pedro Morales bout didn't amount to much. Race pinned Morales with his feet on the ropes... The huge crowd who had been quiet for most of the night finally woke up for the main event. Paul Orndorff had recently turned on Hulk Hogan who he had befriended after the original Wrestlemania. It was the culmination of a brilliant gradual heel turn which led to a very profitable feud between the two. The match was a good quality brawl only let down by the ending which saw Orndorff disqualified after Bobby Heenan interfered. The Hogan/Orndorff feud would rage on into early 1987.

 

Jake Roberts stalks Ricky Steamboat in the "Snake Pit" match

 

Overall

Three good matches out of eleven is not a good ratio. It was a disappointing card for sure and while the huge crowd made for great visuals, they did not contribute much to the show in terms of sound. A good crowd has the ability to make a average card seem much better than it actually is. The complete version of this show is not easy to come by (Note: Actually it's probably on the WWE Network now) but don't worry you aren't missing much. The Coliseum Video version is cut down to less than two hours and it's probably for the best. If want to see the best of this show you can find the Hogan/Orndorff bout on the Hulk Still Rules DVD and the Steamboat/Roberts match on Jake The Snake Roberts: Pick Your Poison DVD.

 

Paul Orndorff is in control of Hulk Hogan in the main event

Results

1 The Killer Bees def Hoss Funk & Jimmy Jack Funk by pinfall (6:53) **1/4

2 Don Muraco fought King Tonga to a time limit draw (20:00) *

3 Ted Arcidi def Tony Garea by submission (2:41) 1/2

4 The Junk Yard Dog def Adrian Adonis by count out (4:15) DUD

5 Dick Slater pinned Iron Mike Sharpe (6:24) *1/2

6 Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy & Bobby Heenan def Big Machine, Super Machine & Lou Albano by disqualification (7:49) 3/4

7 Ricky Steamboat pinned Jake Roberts in a "Snake Pit Match" (10:17) ***

8 Billy Jack Haynes pinned Hercules (6:08) **

9 The Rougeau Brothers def The Dream Team by pinfall (14:51) ***

10 Harley Race pinned Pedro Morales (3:23) *

11 Hulk Hogan (c) def Paul Orndorff by disqualification to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (11:05) ***

Rating

18/55 = 32.73%