horrorfan_1986

Greg Valentine (c) vs Tito Santana - Steel Cage Match - July 6, 1985
This is from the Hall of Fame 2004 DVD. The match was taken from a live event with Gorilla Monsoon providing commentary I assume for a Coliseum Home Video release. Valentine and Santana had been battling on and off ever since Valentine defeated Santana for the title over a year before. Gorilla Monsoon mistakenly calls this the first ever IC title match inside of a steel cage. It's pretty sad especially considering one of the most well known IC title matches occurred in a steel cage less than two years prior to this. Very basic match without the frills and spots of modern day cage matches. For the most part, it's just punches, battling to escape the cage and Valentine throwing Santana against the cage a few times busting Tito open. The end sequence came with Valentine slowly crawling through the cage door while Tito climbs up over the top. Seeing that Valentine was close to escaping, Santana kicks the door into Greg's head and Santana wins by dropping down. I'm not sure if this is the first time this spot was done, but it has to be one of the early examples of it. The post-match has Valentine destroying the IC title out of frustration. This would led to the IC title (1985-1998) being created. Besides some weak looking shots, my only major issue with the match was Gorilla Monsoon. Typically, I love Monsoon as a commentator, but he sounded extremely bored and ruined several spots by calling what happens before it does. Overall, it's a simple, yet grudge filled match which had the steel cage do exactly what it was designed for - to end a feud. Throw in some historic events with the title being destroyed and you have an easy thumbs up. Not bad for the "First ever IC steel cage match." 3 Stars.

Tito Santana (c) vs Randy Savage - February 8, 1986
Upon arriving in the WWE, Savage had started challenging WWE World Champion, Hulk Hogan and IC Champion, Tito Santana to title matches. Sooner or later, the up-and-comer would get in a win. The referee for the match is Danny Davis. That will become important later on down the road. However, for the purpose of this review, it doesn't matter. The idea of the match is that Savage is becoming one of the best wrestlers in the WWE, but Santana uses his veteran knowledge to keep it even. Savage misses a knee drop near the end, injuring himself. This sets Santana up to lock in the Figure Four Leg Lock. Even with the bum knee, Savage is able to make it to the ropes to get the break. Savage begins messing with his tights, trying to produce a foreign object. Santana attempts to suplex Savage back into the ring from the apron, but Savage nails him with the foreign object and easily covers Tito for the win and the title. In some ways, this was ahead of it's time with how fast pace it was. While it's not to the caliber of the Steamboat matches, it clearly shows that Savage had a long and bright future in the WWE. Fun fact, in the history of the IC title up to this point, the title had only changed hands once in February or in Boston. Ironically, Tito's first IC title reign started almost two years to the date in this very arena. 3 1/2 Stars.

__________________