Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndoff 08/28/86

Where: Toronto, ON

Backstory:

One of the tried and true Hulk Hogan formula's would be that his friends would turn on him out of jealousy, and the Hulkster would have to get his revenge. Paul Orndoff went this route as he and Hogan had a really hot feud that stemmed from Mr. Wonderful getting sick of playing second fiddle. He turned on Hogan and they worked against each other on house shows all over the United States in front of large crowds. Business was so good that Orndoff decided to continue working with a major neck injury because he couldn't turn down the money he was making off this feud. This match took place in Toronto in a card billed, "The Big Event" and is for Hogan's WWF Title.

In Ring Analysis:

Orndoff shows his heel pedigree by attacking Hogan before the bell while the ref is checking him. Orndoff works Hogan over with punches and stomps. They roll around on the mat and Hogan gets the advantage and starts punching out Orndoff to a big pop from the crowd. This is during a time period where closed fist punches might not be tolerated so the referee pulls Hogan's hair to get him off Mr. Wonderful.

They stand up and start trading blows which Hogan naturally wins. Hogan then runs to the ropes and hits a big right hand to Orndoff's head which floors him. Hogan then uses his tremendous charisma to show his excitement which draws a big pop from the crowd. Hogan knocks Orndoff outside the ring, but Orndoff drags him out too. They take turns slamming each other's heads to the mat, and Hogan throws him back in the ring. Hogan back in, and Irish whips
Orndoff and comes at him with a clothesline. Hogan then throws him into the turnbuckle and hits a clothesline there too. He poses to the crowd again which they are eating up. You have to admit, at least Hogan knows what he can do in the ring, so he makes crowd interaction a big part of his match since he's not a four star worker.

When Hogan goes back to Orndoff, he hits him with a shot to the gut, and as Hogan stumbles to the ropes, Bobby Heenan slaps him. Hogan no-sells it and stares down Heenan. Bobby Heenan was great because he understood that his job was to add to the match whether it be cheating to get heat on his wrestler or taking a beating from the face. He avoided trying to make himself look like a threat or a star because that's not the manager's job.

Hogan turns his back on Orndoff to persuade Heenan to get in the ring, but Orndoff isn't able to take advantage. Hogan punches him out again, and give him an atomic drop. Hogan then goes outside after Heenan, and chase him into the ring where Orndoff catches Hogan on his way inside. Orndoff does a good job of cheating as he uses the ropes for his attacks, and never takes advantage without using underhanded tactics.

Orndoff then knocks Hogan outside the ring and hits a suplex outside the ring. Orndoff gets back inside and starts mocking Hogan. Hogan crawls back but Orndoff drapes him over the apron and hits elbows to Hogan's throat. Hogan back in the ring and Orndoff gets a 2-count off a pinfall attempt. He then gives Hogan a bodyslam and an elbow drop. He then goes to the top rope and hits a punch to the throat. Orndoff goes for a piledriver (his finisher), but Hogan backdrops out. Orndoff recovers first and starts rubbing his forearm into Hogan's eyes. He then does even more cheating by biting Hogan around the eyes. Orndoff then hits a belly to back suplex and goes for a pin attempt. He thinks he has a three count, but Hogan put his foot under the bottom rope.

Hogan then Hulks up and recovers to hit a kneelift to Orndoffs back.The ref also gets bumped when Orndoff's momentum makes him collide. Hogan then mimics Orndoff's betrayal of Hogan by lifting his arms up in celebration before knocking him down with a clothesline. That was actually somewhat higher in psychology then I was expecting from this period in the WWF. Hogan then motions for the piledriver which the crowd sees as the ultimate sign of revenge, so they cheer wildly. This was before it was more common for a lot of guys to use their opponents finishers against them in big matches. Hogan gets Orndoff up, but Heenan comes back in the ring with a chair to Hogan's back.

Orndoff goes for the cover, but the ref is still out which would give Orndoff a reason to expect a rematch should he lose here. The ref recovers enough to go up to Orndoff but instead of tapping the mat, he taps Orndoff's shoulder three times. Heenan and Orndoff
celebrate as if they've won and grab the WWF title. The ref then rings the bell. Apparently he saw the interference and called for the DQ.


Winner by DQ in 11:05: Hulk Hogan **


Orndoff, still wearing the title, attacks Hogan after hearing the results, but Hulk comes back and punches and clotheslines Orndoff down. He then hits his big boot and Orndoff bails out of the ring.

Overall a decent match. The wrestling wasn't great, but the WWF had a money-making formula that didn't require wrestling, so it's hard to fault both guys to not go for more in what it essentially a house show even though it drew 60,000 people.