Found Footage Friday: HOGAN~! JYD~! ORNDORFF~! ADONIS~! BABY TAKA~! TERRY BOY~! SASUKE~! DELFIN~!

Hulk Hogan/Junkyard Dog vs. Paul Orndorff/Adrian Adonis WWF 8/27/86

MD: Very interesting match from the very first Challenge taping (including Lord Al doing the ring announcing). Both Hulk and Orndorff came out to Real American, though they had very different people to come out with. Hart, Heenan, and Orton were with Orndorff and Adonis though Heenan really was subdued for most of this. 

I saw some people saying it was sloppy, but to me, it was wild and out of control. There were bodies going everywhere at the start and if people seemed out of position at times, that just added to the feel and it certainly kept the crowd going. This didn't feel rote or rehearsed. It felt like it was all over the place because people kept coming at Hogan and JYD from every direction and they just threw fists and anything that moved. I'm not sure you'd want that every night for every match but here it clearly worked. 

Adonis bumped all over the place, including into the corner multiple times in interesting ways. Orndorff stooged like a maniac. After one punch he wobbled around the ring for long enough for Hogan and JYD to switch so he could finally eat a shot and fall down. They ended up working over JYD after some chaos with everyone getting involved again (with Hogan being choked with a cord on the outside so he couldn't stop it).

They had a nice bit where Adonis held down JYD so Orndorff could leap off the top on him, a sort of nothing axe handle type move. Later on Adonis help cut JYD off and got a shot in but didn't hold him down so when Orndorff went for it he met an outstretched fist. That set up Hogan getting back in, Hart getting involved, and the leg falling nonetheless. Chaotic and enjoyable. I'm glad this one showed up. 

Super Delfin/Terry Boy vs. Great Sasuke/Taka Michinoku Oriental Pro 1/20/93

MD: This was very early into Teioh and Taka's career and it's definitely an interesting look at their early development. They were matched up for a couple of exchanges before switching dance partners with a few minutes left in the match. I'd say Terry Boy was further along maybe, though some of that might have been that he was framed as the aggressor and had the gimmick to fall back on. Their first exchange was primarily young lion matwork, but it got more interesting from there. I do think Teioh was more explosive and just struck at things a little harder, with Taka a bit more reactive. The punches were over and the spinning toe hold was definitely over (even if Sasuke hit a springboard dropkick to break it up).

Delfin and Sasuke worked well together, very quick matwork exchanges which had a lot of headsprings and kip ups but that still felt competitive. There were a couple of teased dives until they switched partners, at which point Sasuke hit a couple of moonsaults and Delfin crunched Taka with a plancha. Sasuke flew into no man's land on the outside at Terry Boy to set up the finish. Really, them working with Taka and Teioh was mostly a chance for them to hit stuff more cleanly and sharply than against one another, but it was effective nonetheless. Just a fun, well-balanced tag all around even if it was clear that Taka especially was working it all out.

Yoshihiko Abe vs. Katsumi Hirano Oriental Pro 1/20/93

MD: They say styles make fights, and Katsumi Hirano's style was to get kicked in the face. That sums this up pretty well. It went two rounds before Hirano's corner literally threw in the towel and it was a minor miracle that he survived the second round. His great hope here was to catch Abe's kicks and take him down and do something, but every time he tried either the bell rang to end the round or Abe ended up in the ropes or it just didn't work and Hirano ate more strikes. Really a mauling with Abe coming in at every exchange guns firing and Hirano having no answer. Abe wore a gi and he lost it between the second and third rounds. That was a prelude to him just pressing Hirano in the corner with strike after strike until his corner gave up. Post-match was almost more interesting than the match itself as everything got chippy with the seconds and Abe but even that petered out pretty quickly.