Randy Savage & Jesse Ventura vs. Saturday Morning Jobbers

If there's one thing that I pop for, it's old school throwbacks to Saturday morning wrestling from the early/mid-80's. As a kid, I'd wake up, jump in front of the tube and watch these guys WRESTLE (not entertain) with pure psychology. It was not about the MATCH - not the promo, or the storyline, or the corny inside jokes.

The other thing I popped for was the tag team pairings for no rhyme or reason. Sure there was some type of connection between the teammates, but there were some times where i was scratching my head wondering you put this shit together. the thing is that it wasn't shit. it was classic. it was rare. It was fantasy booking that I might have thought up myself when I wrestled with my G.I. Joes. Yeah - I had matches with my Joes. With the swivel arms and bending knees, I could do a lot more than with those big rubber bulky fuckers LJN put out.

Anyway - this sends me back in time because it makes me recall my first ever live wrestling match in 1985. I begged my father to take me to Madison Square Garden, but there were no shows scheduled for that time - so we ended up going to Nassau Coliseum in Long Island instead. The main event had Hogan defending the strap against Jesse Ventura. Pretty solid match for its day. Ventura was considered an overrated jabrone at the time, but it was a match that wasn't heavily billed or not much stock put into it. What I didn't understand at the time is that Ventura was being used to get somebody else over...and it wasn't Hogan.

Hogan and Ventura wrestled right before intermission. Hogan won by DQ after Randy Savage ran in and busted Hogan open with the title. Blood everywhere and as Gorilla Monsoon would say, "Pandemonium!". Intercontinental champion Tito Santana raced down tot he ring and made the save.

Savage had just arrived on the WWF scene and I knew NOTHING about him. On this night, he wrestled the "popcorn match" - which is the match immediately after intermission. So naturally, I was missed most of the match because I was getting ....you guessed it, popcorn (and probably a foam finger - ever try fingering a girl with one of those things??? That's a whole other story!)

When I was getting back to my seat mid-match, I look down and see Savage climbing the turnbuckle about to deliver his infamous elbow drop. I was hooked! In one night, this dude beat down Hogan, busted him open and flew off the top rope with a vicious elbow as his finisher! Yeah - I was an instant Macho Mark! But just as I'm popping my father's ear off after that elbow drop, Savage grabs the house mic and says, "If Hulk Hogan could see me now!". I fucking lost it! He busted Hogan open with strap giving the champ a blinding crimson mask - and now Savage makes reference to the severity of the blood in this five second promo! WOW! Blown-the-fuck-away!

Later that night, The Fink comes out to announce the card for the next event which was... you guessed it...Hogan/Santana vs. Savage/Ventura!!! I begged my father for tickets and he said, "You know how much that shit costs? We'll catch another one at The Garden."

I didn't get to see the tag match and always wondered what a Savage/Ventura pairing would be like. What would their heel chemistry be? Who would hit their finisher an score the pin for the team? Well, after nearly 30 years of waiting... I finally got to see it through this video. So walk with me down memory lane. Sure, it's not against Hogan and Santana - but beggers can't be choosy. And for those wondering, I just emailed this post to my father with the subject line saying, "Look what I fuckin' missed in 1985!!!"