WWF The Big Event Review

WWF The Big Event Review

November 30, 2011 (edited November 5, 2023)
By Ryan Porzl

Event: The Big Event
Tagline: The Biggest Event of All Time
Date: August 28, 1986
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Live or Tape: Live
Arena: CNE Stadium
Attendance: 64,000
Announcers: Gorilla Monsoon, "Luscious" Johnny Valiant, & "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd
Interviewers: “Mean” Gene Okerlund
Broadcast: Home Video

The Big Event was an event that the WWF held at CNE Stadium in Toronto drawing over 64,000 fans which at the time was largest attendance in wrestling history until Wrestlemania III broke the record seven months later

We start with a view of Toronto with "Mean" Gene Okerlund narrating

The Killer Bees vs. Hoss Funk and Jimmy Jack Funk (w/Jimmy Hart)- Jimmy Jack is not a Funk but Jesse Barr, brother of Art Barr. Before the match, Monsoon notes the big crowd and mentions how it's highly unlikely we will ever see it again. How wrong he was.

Blair and Hoss start with a tie up. Hoss gets a side headlock but Blair whips him to the ropes and Hoss comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. Hoss comes off the ropes, jumps over Blair, and Blair catches him coming off the ropes with a hip toss. Blair gets a bodyslam on Hoss. Jimmy Jack comes in and he gets bodyslammed. More bodyslams and the Funks bail. Back in, Hoss gets a forearm and gets Blair into his corner. Blair fights out, hits a double noggin knocker. and the Funks bail again. Tags to Jimmy Jack and Brunzell. Jimmy Jack applies a side headlock but Brunzell whips Jimmy Jack to the ropes, gets a leapfrog, Jimmy Jack comes off the ropes, and Brunzell catches him with a bodyslam. Brunzell follows with a shoulder block and Jimmy Jack bails out but not for long. Tag to Hoss. Tie up and Hoss hits a knee and several european uppercuts. Hoss whips Brunzell to the ropes but misses an elbow and Brunzell comes off the ropes with a high crossbody for 2.

Armdrag and a tag to Blair. Blair comes off the ropes with a bionic elbow and works over the arm. Blair rolls Hoss up for 1. Hoss hits a bodyslam but Blair kicks him off when he attempts to follow through. Bodyslam and back to the armbar. Tag to Brunzell who works over the arm but Hoss hits an elbow. Tag to Jimmy Jack who gets armdragged and Brunzell tags Blair who comes off the second turnbuckle with a bionic elbow to the arm. Blair gets an arm wringer. Blair & Jimmy Jack exchange hammerlocks until Blair hits a firemens carry and back to the armbar. Tag to Brunzell with Blair whipping Jimmy Jack to the ropes, drops down to canvas, and Brunzell catches Jimmy Jack jumping over Blair with a sleeper hold. Hoss comes in behind the refs back and breaks the sleeper as the referee argues with Blair. Illegal switch as Hoss comes in to hit an european uppercut and throws Brunzell out. Jimmy Jack works over Brunzell at ringside behind the refs back and bodyslams Brunzell on the floor. We clip to the Bees putting their bee masks on at ringside. Blair comes in and works over the Funks. Jimmy Jack gets whipped into Hoss and Blair hits Hoss with an atomic drop. Blair comes off the ropes with a clothesline on Hoss and then one for Jimmy Jack as he enters. Blair hooks in an abdominal stretch but Jimmy Jack breaks it up. The bees switch places as Hoss tags Jimmy Jack who gets small packaged and pinned by Brunzell at 6:53 with 6 minutes shown to a big pop.

Thoughts: ** Decent opener with some solid action but nothing outside of arm work which went nowhere in the long run and only seemed to be used to kill time. This was largely it for Hoss as he left the WWF a few days later and wouldn't return until Royal Rumble 1996. Unfortunately, with both legit Funk Brothers gone, this left Jimmy Jack a jobber for the remainder of his run.

The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. King Tonga- Tonga became more known later as Haku and Meng.

Clip to start with the two circling. Tie up to start with Muraco getting a side headlock. Tonga whips Muraco to the ropes, drops down to the canvas, Muraco jumps over, comes off the ropes, jumps over again, comes off the ropes and Tonga gets a hip toss followed by another. Tonga hits a bodyslam and Muraco bails. Back in Tonga hits several chops and a standing dropkick which sends Muraco over and out to the floor. Ladd mentions Tonga prefers to be called "Haku". Back in the ring, Tonga gets a wristlock and arm wringer. Clipped to Tonga getting an arm wringer and working the wristlock. Muraco hits a monkey flip but Tonga still holds on to the wristlock. Muraco whips out of it, drops down to the canvas, Tonga comes off the ropes, jumps over Muraco, and Fuji trips Tonga coming off the ropes to some boos. Muraco works over Tonga and hits a knee. Muraco throws Tonga out and Fuji hits Tonga with his cane several times behind the refs back.

Muraco powerslams Tonga back in and gets a trapeze hold. Clipped to the hold still being applied. I'm guessing they cut the length of the hold. Usually I'm against clipping but I'll take it here. The ref goes to drop the arm and Tonga shows signs of life as he fights out and hits a few chops. Tonga whips Muraco to the ropes and hits a dropkick. Tonga works over Muraco in the corner, whips him to another but misses a charge. Muraco heads to the outside and rams Tonga's leg on the ring post twice. Muraco hits a shinbreaker and hyper extends the leg. Muraco attempts a spinning toe hold but Tonga kicks out of it. Muraco chokes Tonga on the ropes, snaps him off the top rope, and works the leg again. Muraco drops a headbutt on Tonga's leg and applies the figure four leglock but Tonga reaches the ropes. Muraco chops the throat and climbs the top turnbuckle but takes too long and Tonga throws him off to a pop. Tonga works over Muraco with chops, whips him to the ropes, and catches him with a chop. Tonga heads to the top turnbuckle. Tonga hits a diving high cross body but the time limit expires at 20:00 with 12 minutes shown.

Thoughts: ** From what I saw, this was a bit better than I remember. The holds were dull but it had some decent action, especially as it went on.

Ted Arcidi vs. Tony Garea- Arcidi was a former powerlifter turned wrestler who was able to benchpress 705 lbs. Like Mark Henry, Arcidi had the moniker "World's Strongest Man" and like Mark Henry he absolutely sucked. Meanwhile, Garea was a former 5 time WWF World Tag Team Champion on and off from 1972-1981 teaming with the likes of Haystacks Calhoun, Rick Martel, and Larry Zbyszko but by 1986 was at the tail end of his in-ring career and was a jobber by this point. Garea later became known for being a long time road agent/producer for the WWF/WWE, a position he held for several decades. Garea is replacing "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas.

They circle and tie up to start which Arcidi wins easily by shoving Garea to the ropes several times. Garea attempts a side headlock but Arcidi whips out of it and blocks a shoulder block. Garea tries another shoulder block but it doesn't work. Garea attempts another side headlock but Arcidi makes it to the ropes to break the hold and shoves Garea across the ring. Shitty Gorilla press slam as Arcidi barely gets Garea up. Geez, you're the World's Strongest Man and you have a hard time picking up a 200 something pound guy? Arcidi whips Garea into the corner, catches Garea coming out of the corner with an elbow, and poses. Good to see Arcidi can do something without fucking up or without Garea carrying him. Arcidi rams Garea into the turnbuckle and poses some more. Arcidi whips Garea to the ropes, drops his head too soon, and Garea comes off the ropes with a kick. Garea then gets some shoulder blocks and a dropkick. Garea runs the ropes and leapfrogs Arcidi but runs into the bearhug and submits at 2:41.

Thoughts: DUD Squash match and a testament to how useless Arcidi was as he did little to nothing while Garea did all the work like bumping around for him. To no surprise, Arcidi didn't last as he was gone by October and then traveled around for Stampede Wrestling and World Class before retiring by the end of 1987.

"Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews Jimmy Hart near the entrance and brings up Adonis vs. JYD. Hart says you better believe it as this is the best night of his life cause tonight, he'll get even with The Junkyard Dog for everything he's done to Jimmy Hart like ripping his pants off repeatedly and branding him. Adonis then comes in and leaves with Hart to end the interview. Really short but fine for the length.

Junkyard Dog vs. Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart)- We're JIP as Adonis works over JYD in the corner but JYD fights out and knocks Adonis down with a punch. JYD starts punching Adonis with his chain and Adonis is busted open. JYD hits the four legged headbutts and Adonis runs into the post. Adonis gets whipped into the corner but gets the Flair Flip and falls to the outside. JYD gets another four legged headbutt. Adonis gets pulled onto the apron and JYD hits another punch followed by a headbutt. The ref tries to separate them but JYD shoves the ref which allows Hart to jump on the apron and spray perfume from the atomizer on JYD's eyes. Adonis whips JYD to the ropes, catches him with a lousy clothesline and a knee drop. Adonis gets an elbow drop and a second rope elbow drop for 2. JYD gets thrown to the outside. JYD attempts to get back into the ring but gets punched by Adonis. Hart tries to interfere and then grabs onto JYD as Adonis climbs the top turnbuckle but JYD shakes the ropes and Adonis gets crotched on the top turnbuckle. They briefly fight on the outside. Back in the ring, Adonis misses a charge at JYD, jumps onto Hart, and falls to the outside with the ref counting Adonis out (despite being out for only 2 seconds) at 4:15.

Thoughts: DUD Lousy match with nothing of note happening but not surprised given how short the match was and how both had the same struggles at the time with weight and drug issues. The rules didn't make any sense as JYD was able to use his chain without getting DQed and even Valiant keeps mentioning it, rightfully so. Not only that but JYD also shoved the referee with even Monsoon saying he's surprised it wasn't a DQ. The count out was also a joke as Adonis was out of the ring for barely 2 seconds. Maybe the referee knew the match sucked and sent it home so we could be done with it.

Dick Slater vs. Mike Sharpe- Slater had just debuted in the WWF shortly before this after having a lot of success in various NWA territories but this was his highlight in the WWF. Sharpe is best known for being the self-proclaimed "Canada's Greatest Athlete" and for being one of the first wrestlers to have a cast/brace on due to a supposed injury but was really using it as a weapon.

Circle and tie up to start with Sharpe going for an overhead wristlock but Slater reverses into a hammerlock until Sharpe gets to the ropes. Sharpe goes to the apron where he complains. Test of strength with each kicking the other in the stomach until Slater wins the exchange. Slater then sets Sharpe's hands on the canvas and he stomps on Sharpe's hands. Sharpe bails out to regroup. Sharpe comes back with a side headlock and uses his brace behind the ref with Slater complaining to the referee. Sharpe gets another side headlock and then a shot with the brace. We clip to Slater making the comeback. Slater works over Sharpe in the corner. Sharpe reverses a whip to the ropes, attempts to clothesline Slater with the cast but Slater ducks, Slater comes off the ropes, Sharpe tries a kick but gets caught, and Slater gets a swinging neckbreaker but misses an elbow drop. Sharpe tries a bodyslam but Slater escapes and hits a legsweep. Slater climbs to the top and hits a diving bionic elbow. Slater gets the jackknife pin for the 3 at 6:24 with about 2 minutes shown.

Thoughts: * Alright match, nothing bad but more of a type of match you would see on the B-TV Shows but then again, I only was able to see 1/3 of it so there's that.

Okerlund interviews Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and asks what is he talking about. Heenan says in the six man tag, it'll be him, Studd, and Bundy vs. The Machines and Albano. He vows the masks are coming off tonight and later tonight, he'll be strapping the gold around the waist of the new worlds heavyweight champion Paul Orndorff. Okerlund says he thinks Heenan is letting his emotions run high and says in front of the largest crowd in wrestling history, Heenan is apart of history. Heenan says he makes history. He says there's 70,000 people here because of Orndorff, himself, and his Family and because Heenan is wrestling and wrestling is Heenan. Okerlund says he's surprised Heenan showed up and didn't “weasel” out of it. This leads to the two arguing and encouraging a “weasel” chant. Typical good Heenan promo though the weasel part was a bit eh.

King Kong Bundy, John Studd, & Bobby Heenan vs. Super Machine, Big Machine, & Lou Albano (w/Giant Machine)- Super Machine is Bill Eadie a.k.a. Ax of Demolition or The Masked Superstar, Big Machine is Blackjack Mulligan, and Giant Machine is, obviously, Andre the Giant. The Machine characters are based on Japanese legend Junji Hirata's character Super Strong Machine. This is the "Babyface gets suspended and comes back with a mask with his evil rivals claiming it's him and despite it being obviously him, the authority figure can't do anything until the heels unmask him" type storyline. In this case, Andre got suspended for missing a match in April 1986 and came back as part of the Machines. The Heenan Family would then tell everyone it's clearly Andre but would have to remove the masks to prove it and make Andre's suspension permanent. The idea for The Machines was to accommodate Andre who's health was beginning to decline at this point and was specifically struggling with severe back issues. The team was basically supposed to be what Andre's team with Haku in The Colossal Connection was years later in that Andre is put in a tag team where his partner, in this case Eadie, does 90% of the work while Andre comes in for his bits. Unfortunately, Andre's back was so bad at this point, he couldn't even do that which is why Mulligan was brought in limit Andre's ring time even more. It definitely says a lot when the 53 year old manager Albano is competing and not Andre.

We get a stalling session to start with the referee trying to figure out who's competing regarding The Machines and Albano while the fans do a “weasel” chant. Super and Studd start with a tie up and Studd muscling Super in the corner. They then push each other in the corner. Another tie up with Studd muscling Super to the ropes. Super blocks a forearm, gets some chops, and attempts a bodyslam but Studd escapes. Heenan comes in but gets admonished by the referee. He yells at the fans and gets a "Weasel" chant for his troubles. Super gets a side headlock, gets whipped to the ropes, and attempts a shoulder block but Studd blocks and Super falls to the canvas. Super comes off the ropes with a clothesline which rocks Studd, then another, and finally, a third knocks Studd down and Studd bails while Super is happy and he has a good reason to celebrate. Giant rams Studd into the apron which doesn't lead to a disqualification for some reason and throws Studd back in.

Super tries for another bodyslam but Studd escapes again. Tags to Bundy and Big. Bundy gets a side headlock and gets whipped off the ropes. Big tries for a shoulder block but no one gives. Big tries a running shoulder block but once again, no give as neither falls. Bundy misses a clothesline and Big goes to work on Bundy into the corner. Bundy reverses a whip into the corner but misses the avalanche and Big knocks him down with an elbow to a pop. Bundy comes back with a knee to the stomach and some forearms. Tag to Studd who starts working over Big in the corner with forearms and then stomps. Tag to Heenan, who gets a few stomps and tries to take the mask off but Super comes in and forearms Heenan. Heenan immediately tags back to Studd. Studd whips Big to the ropes but drops his head too early and Big comes off with a kick to Studd. Tag to Super who works over Studd into the corner with chops and mongolian chops. Super whips Studd into the corner and hits an elbow. Bundy comes in but Super elbows him but walks into a Studd elbow. Tag to Bundy who works over Super.

Albano argues with the ref which allows Heenan to choke Super. Bundy accidentally runs into Studd and Super shoulder blocks Bundy twice but a third attempt is thwarted by a Studd knee. Bundy gets a knee drop but Big breaks the pin up at 2. Tag to Studd who whips Super into the ropes and catches him with an elbow. Tag to Heenan who starts talking to Studd and Bundy allowing Super to roll over and tag Albano to a big pop. Monsoon screws up claiming Albano is a former World Tag Team Champion when he was really a former United States Tag Team Champion. Albano whips Heenan into the corner. Heenan attempts to flip on the turnbuckle but gets caught and Albano works over the Brain. Heenan rakes the eyes and tags Studd. Studd knocks Super and Big off the apron and the Heenan Family triple team Albano until Giant comes in to save the day and clean house to a big pop but giving the Heenan Family the disqualification win at 7:49. After the match, the Machines and Albano clean house and celebrate even after The Fink announces The Heenan Family won by DQ.

Thoughts: **1/2 Decent and fun hoss match with the Machines, Studd, and Bundy rightfully wrestling most of the match while Heenan and Albano were used correctly. The crowd was also into it and the finish was well done with Giant coming in to save Albano from a 3-on-1 beating. Given The Machines were fairly new, I'm not sure why they didn't win other than maybe WWF knew it was short lived and there was no point in Studd and Bundy eating pins for a short lived act. The Machine gimmick would be dropped less than three months later making room for Andre to turn heel and set up his legendary showdown with Hogan at Wrestlemania III while Eadie formed the Demolition team as Ax. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on Albano and Studd as both left by November.

Snakepit Match: Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts- A Snakepit match is no DQ and anything goes. The storyline here is Roberts was supposed to wrestle Steamboat on the May 1986 Saturday Night's Main Event only to DDT him on the concrete floor and gave him a legit concussion. From there, Steamboat starting bringing in a "komodo dragon" to counter Jake's python Damien.

Roberts jumps Steamboat and snapmares him into the ring. Left jabs but Roberts misses the short arm clothesline and Steamboat comes back with chops. Steamboat whips Roberts to the ropes and catches him with a back body drop. Roberts bails to regroup. Back in, Steamboat works over Roberts, whips him to the ropes, and hits a chop for 2. Steamboat gets a wristlock and back body drops Roberts with it. Steamboat continues to work the wristlock and whips him off the ropes missing a chop but hits a second time and pins for 2. Steamboat works over the arm and applies a hammerlock. Roberts gets up but misses a punch which allows Steamboat to hit a chop and a side kick. Roberts bails and Steamboat follows. Roberts rams himself into Steamboat's stomach. Roberts bodyslams Steamboat on the outside. Roberts positions Steamboat on the platform and drops several knees. Roberts tries to get a chair but Steamboat punches Roberts and grabs it himself hitting Roberts two times with it to a pop.

Back in the ring, Steamboat hits a diving karate chop for 2. Steamboat applies an armbar as the fans chant "Jake" which shows Roberts' growing popularity at this point despite being a heel. Steamboat gets an arm wringer, rams Roberts into the turnbuckle, and hits mounted chops in the corner. Roberts reverses a whip into the corner and Steamboat flies out of the ring. Roberts slides out and slingshots Steamboat into the ring post and Steamboat is busted open. Roberts follows up by ramming Steamboat on the guardrail. Steamboat gets rammed into the platform and thrown back in the ring. Roberts jabs the busted forehead and hits the short arm clothesline. Roberts attempts the DDT but Steamboat rams him into the corner only for Roberts to counter with a knee lift. Inverted Atomic drop and a gutbuster follow. Roberts attempts a nonchalant pin but Steamboat reverses into his own pin to win at 10:17 to a pop.

Thoughts: ***1/2 Really good match mostly when Roberts was on offense as he took advantage of the no DQ stip. Steamboat had his moments but at times, especially with the chair but I would've liked to see a bit more and his arm work was dull though he bled well. Honestly, I find this somewhat hard to rate as it's good but I probably would've appreciated it more in the late 80s as it comes off quite tame compared to 21^st Century wrestling.

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules Hernandez- Monsoon is doing solo commentary for this match which is probably not a bad thing Valiant has been lousy and Ladd is ok. They start with a few tie ups and Haynes gets a side headlock. Hercules whips him off the ropes but Haynes comes back with a shoulder block. Haynes runs the ropes, jumps over Hercules, comes off the ropes, Hercules leapfrogs, Haynes comes off the ropes, leapfrogs over Hercules, comes off the ropes, and Hercules catches him with a clothesline. Clip to Hercules getting a bearhug. Haynes escapes by the ear clap. Hercules comes back with a few punches and drops a few elbows for 2. Haynes reverses a whip to the corner but both run into each other and play dead while the crowd acts dead. Haynes comes back with kicks and a knee. Haynes whips Hercules to the ropes and hits an elbow. Haynes hits a pendulum backbreaker. Second rope elbow drop gets 2. Haynes tries for the full nelson but Hercules fights out of it with a lowblow behind the referee. Hercules knees Haynes and throws him out of the ring. Hercules taunts but the fans are so dead they can't bother to react. I feel bad for these guys. After Haynes gets on the apron, Hercules forearms the sternum 2 times and suplexes Haynes back in for 2. Clothesline get 2 as Haynes gets his foot on the ropes. Hercules thinks he's won it which allows Haynes to get a schoolboy for 2. Hercules gets some shots and tries for a neckbreaker but Haynes reverses into a backslide for the win at 6:08 with about 5 minutes being shown.

Thoughts: 1/2* Match was dull, lifeless, and the fans couldn't have cared less. I felt bad for these guys as they weren't horrible but this was dull. Haynes and Hercules would continue to feud into Wrestlemania III.

The Rougeau Brothers vs. The Dream Team- Valiant and Ladd are back on commentary. Beefcake and Valentine jump the Rougeaus to start and work them over in the corner. Beefcake gets an inverted atomic drop on Jacques. The Rougeaus start fighting back and we get a slugfest. Raymond and Valentine are legal. Tag to Jacques as Raymond whips Valentine to the ropes, catches him with a punch to the stomach and Jacques gets a slingshot sunset flip for 2 while Raymond dropkicks Beefcake coming in. Jacques whips Valentine to the ropes and catches him with an elbow. Jacques hits a snapmare and drops a knee. Tag to Raymond, who gets a superkick to the stomach and a knee for 1. Raymond drives a knee into Valentine's back. Tag to Jacques with Raymond whipping Valentine to the ropes and Jacques catches him with an jumping elbow for 2. Jacques hooks an abdominal stretch but Valentine escapes and hits a snapmare. Tag to Beefcake, who hits a powerslam for 2.
Jacques manages to tag Raymond. Raymond whips Beefcake to the ropes and catches him with a chop. Raymond gets a snapmare, and a seated senton for 2. Beefcake gets Raymond in the corner and hits several knees. Beefcake rams Raymond into Valentine's boot and tags Valentine who climbs the top turnbuckle. Valentine hits a diving forearm on Raymond, cheap shots Jacques, and hits another forearm for 2. Valentine whips Raymond off the ropes, misses a chop, and Raymond gets a high cross body for 2. Raymond rams Valentine into Jacques boot and tags Jacques. The Rougeaus double team whip Valentine to the ropes and catch him with a double dropkick. Jacques gets a jackknife pin for 2. Valentine comes back with chops in the corner and tags Beefcake. Dream Team double team ram Jacques back first to the turnbuckles. Beefcake hits a chop and tags Valentine with the two hitting another double ram to the turnbuckles.

Snapmare on Jacques but Valentine gets kicked off. Valentine hits an atomic drop and tags Beefcake, who gets a stomp on the stomach. All four are in the ring and start fighting. Dream Team try to ram the Rougeau's heads into each other but the Rougeau shove the Dream Team into each other. Tag to Raymond and the Rougeaus hit the Quebecer Crash but Valentine breaks the pin up. Beefcake throws both Rougeaus out and Valentine rams Raymond's back into the apron. The Dream Team double team ram Raymond back first into the apron. Valentine hits a forearm as the fans chant "Go Raymond". Big Backbreaker gets 2 for Beefcake. Tag to Valentine, who gets a running knee. More "Go Raymond" chants as Valentine forearms the back and Valentine pins for 2. Tag to Beefcake as Valentine hits an inverted atomic drop and Beefcake hits several jumping stomps. Raymond tries to fight back but Beefcake hits a suplex and pins for 2.

Tag to Valentine, who applies a bearhug. Raymond fights out of it but Valentine drops a forearm and applies the bearhug again. Raymond tags Jacques but the ref doesn't allow it for some reason and the Dream Team double team as Beefcake hits a double ax handle on Raymond while Valentine still has the bearhug. Beefcake now comes in despite not having tagged. So wait. Jacques tags and the ref doesn't allow it yet the Dream Team can switch without tagging, how does this make sense? Anyway, Beefcake attempts the pin several times but doesn't get it. Beefcake hits a scissors stomp. More illegal double teaming from the Dream Team as Jacques argues with the ref. Valentine comes in illegally and misses a few elbows as Raymond finally hot tags Jacques to a pop. Jacques hits both Beefcake and Valentine with several dropkicks and bodyslams Valentine. Bodyslam on Beefcake. Jacques and Valentine brawl. Beefcake comes in and the Dream Team hit a double team whip but miss a double team clothesline and Jacques dropkicks both as Valiant is losing it watching his team fall apart. Jacques misses a second turnbuckle elbow drop. Valentine tries for the figure four leglock but Jacques kicks him off. Valentine applies it on the second attempt but Raymond comes in to break the hold. Beefcake comes in and start fighting with Raymond. Valentine let's go of the hold to attack after Raymond with a knee to the back. Beefcake tosses Raymond out and follows him. Valentine works over the leg and tries the figure four again but Raymond and Beefcake come back in. As the referee sends Beefcake back, Raymond gets a sunset flip on Valentine for the win at 14:51 to a nice pop and Valiant is pissed.

Thoughts: ****1/2 Awesome match as both teams had great moves, good double teaming, and great chemistry. Being in Canada definitely helped as the Rougeaus were in their home country so the fans were high on them. My only complaint is the use of a false tag and illegal switch spots. Don't mind one or the other but not both as it doesn't make sense. If only one was used, I give this the full monty but sadly, I can't. The Rougeaus were criminally underrated and matches like this make me wish WWF did more with them. This feud would continue into Wrestlemania III.

Harley Race vs. Pedro Morales- Talk about a dream match 5-10 years too late. Race had just come to the WWF shortly before this and won the 1986 King of the Ring tournament by defeating Morales in the finals. I think most know Morales and his achievements, specifically being WWF's first triple crown winner but by 1986, he was in the tail end of his career.

Tie up to start with Race getting a knee. Morales gets a few punches and Race falls out of the ring. Race pulls Morales legs and set him up on the apron and hits several elbows on the chest. Race pulls Morales off the apron and rams him on the timekeepers table. Race returns to the ring to break the count but comes out again and drops a headbutt. Race goes back to the ring to break the count, goes back out, and rams Morales into the ring post. Back in the ring, Race tries for a suplex but Morales blocks and hits his own. Morales small packages Race for 2. Race whips Morales in the corner but Morales catches Race charging and sunset flips him for 2. Morales works over Race in the corner but Race rolls him up with his feet on the ropes to win at 3:23.

Thoughts: 1/2* Another blah match that mostly served as a popcorn break before the main event but it did serve it's purpose by giving Race a WWF Legend to beat giving him credibility to the WWF fans since they didn't want bring up his former NWA accomplishments. Not exactly sure why Race had to cheat to win since they were trying to get him over and Morales didn't need protecting by this point in his career.

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Paul Orndorff (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan)- This feud is of course one of the biggest of the 1980s. Story here is Orndorff was tired of the heels mocking him for supposedly being in Hogan's shadow and having gone soft. After a misunderstanding where Orndorff couldn't reach Hogan on the phone, he turned on Hogan following a tag match again Bundy and Studd on the July 19, 1986 Championship Wrestling and rehired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his manager.

Orndorff jumps Hogan with a clothesline and starts stomping him. Orndorff starts punching Hogan but Hogan rolls on top and starts punching to a pop. Slugfest and Hogan comes off the ropes with a punch. Orndorff bails as the crowd is going crazy. Frustrated, Orndorff shoves Heenan and heads back into the ring. Orndorff charges, Hogan drops down to the canvas, Orndorff comes off the ropes, and Hogan catches Orndorff with an elbow. Orndorff bails again, this time pulling Hogan out of the ring too. Orndorff rams Hogan on the apron but Hogan reverses a second attempt into one of his own. Back in the ring, Hogan whips Orndorff to the ropes and comes off the other side with the ax bomber followed by an elbow drop. Hogan hits a headbutt. Orndorff gets whipped into the corner and Hogan follows with a charging clothesline. Heenan gets a cheapshot on Hogan while the ref is checking on Orndorff but it doesn't work as Hogan gets an atomic drop and chases Heenan around ringside but Orndorff catches Hogan coming back in.

Orndorff drops a few knees from the second rope and clotheslines Hogan out of the ring. Orndorff goes out and hits a suplex on the floor and goes back to the ring to mock Hogan. Hogan tries to get back in the ring, but Orndorff gets a running knee. Orndorff positions Hogan on the apron and hits a few elbows and drops one off the apron. Fans chant "Hogan" as Orndorrf positions Hogan on the ropes and forearms the chest. Orndorff drops a knee for 2. Bodyslam and elbow drop gets 2. Orndorff climbs to the top turnbuckle and gets a diving punch to the sternum. Orndorff attempts the piledriver but Hogan back body drops Orndorff off. Orndorff starts biting Hogan. Hogan tries for a side headlock but Orndorff hits a belly-to-back suplex and goes for a pin but Hogan's foot is under the rope. Orndorff starts celebrating as Hogan Hulks up. Hogan hits a running jumping knee on Orndorff who falls into the ref to a pop. Hogan gets Orndorff up, raises his hand, and clotheslines him the same thing Orndorff did to Hogan. Hogan attempts the piledriver to a big pop but Heenan comes in and hits Hogan with a wooden stool. Orndorff goes for the pin but the ref doesn't count and Orndorff & Heenan believe Orndorff's the new champion with Orndorff even putting the belt on but Orndorff is disqualified at 11:05. After the match, Onrdorff attacks Hogan until Hogan makes the comeback.

Thoughts: ***1/2 Very good match that went back and forth with good crowd heat and good chemistry between Hogan and Orndorff. The DQ finish made sense since this feud was far from over.

We get the ending credits

Final Thoughts and Verdict
The Big Event is quite an interesting and weird event to say the least. There are some solid to great matches on here as the Rougeau Brothers/Dream Team match is excellent and a Match of the Year Candidate while the Snakepit match and Hogan/Orndorff are very good and the six man tag is fun. There are some lousy matches but thankfully, most are very short. The roster and matches are odd as you got your share of stars but there were some notable absences like Savage, The Bulldogs, The Harts, Sheik and Volkoff all the while you got some interesting names like Garea, Arcidi, Slater, Morales, etc. I get WWF did two shows in one night at the time but still weird. Still, the names are something as you got Garea and Morales having their last big appearances before retirement while Arcidi and Slater's runs pretty much peaked here. Even the announce team is odd as Monsoon is a no brainer but Valiant and Ladd didn't work too much as Ladd was solid but barely spoke while Valiant just doesn't do it for me. The atmosphere was great. While big stadium shows are common for WWE in the 21^st Century, it was something to behold in 1986. There's good matches to be had here and those are worth a look. Overall, I say see it at least once for curiosity.

Recommended

The Big Event Facts

First time a Snakepit match was used.

The Big Event held the largest crowd in the history of North American wrestling until Wrestlemania III.

Tony Garea replaced Tony Atlas as Ted Arcidi's opponent