The Evil History Of Pro Wrestling: Heroes Of Wrestling
Sheik was so slow, a moustachioed frigate, that when he strode in at long last to interfere, Bushwhacker Butch had to stall in order to distract the referee. Butch did the “Do I have to punch the ref to knock some sense into him?” motion for about a full minute.
The Bushwhackers were not much better. Luke took a bump from a Volkoff big boot - which, naturally, he could only aim as high as the gut - no less than two seconds later.
The match was as legendarily awful as its reputation indicates.
Tully Blanchard, all but blackballed elsewhere, was in good cosmetic shape for his match against Stan Lane. A man once considered one of the best wrestlers in the world was determined to make something of a rare opportunity. His chassis wasn’t willing; he couldn’t do much except clunk through his old routine. Squint, and you could see the old working magic, but it was difficult to pinpoint where the worked struggle began and the real struggle ended. Abdullah the Butcher and the One Man Gang knew how to get a reaction - by covering nothing at all with lashings of blood - and this was the moment promoter Bill Stone began to regret his choices.
In the semi-main, Jimmy Snuka defeated Bob Orton, Jr., which was when the deeply ironic ‘Heroes of Wrestling’ moniker morphed into something truly bleak. Snuka was no hero. Not that it matters, but the match was yet another arthritic mess in which Snuka was so gassed that he couldn’t take himself over the top rope off an Orton clothesline. He simply belly-flopped onto the mat; the antithesis of his famous cage leap at Madison Square Garden.
Jake Roberts, in various TV spots, said that he was clean and determined to clean up the image of pro wrestling at a time when it was on a lewd, shameless path to CTE. Stone took his word for it. Roberts suffered a relapse.
Roberts was meant to wrestle Jim Neidhart, and then King Kong Bundy was meant to wrestle Yokozuna. This double main event was combined into one impromptu tag when it became clear that Roberts was in no condition to perform.