This review is dedicated to the memories of Christopher John "King Kong Bundy" Pallies and Khosrow Hossein "The Iron Sheik" Vaziri. R.I.P.
King Kong Bundy vs. "The Madman from the Badlands" Glen Osbourne, ISPW, Wildwood Convention Hall, Wildwood, NJ, July 22, 1999.
Bundy you know, and Osbourne wrestled primarily in the Maryland/Delaware area and was a 1x NWA ECW Television Champion.
Surprisingly, Bundy happily slaps hands with the fans on his way to the ring. They circle for a bit, tie up, and Bundy pushes Osbourne away. One of the commentators says that the match should be easy to call, since there won't be a lot of high-flying manuevers or dropkicks. Tie up again and another break. They tie up again and Osbourne grabs a side headlock. Into the ropes, Bundy whips Osbourne across and they collide, with neither man falling. Osbourne tries again, still nothing. Then BUNDY shows Osbourne how to knock someone down with a shoulderblock. Osbourne goes out to the floor to recover and gets back in the ring. They tie up again and go into the corner and Osbourne breaks with an eye rake. Osbourne punches Bundy in the head a few times and whips Bundy to the opposite corner. The commentator says, "And the whole ring just shifted." Osbourne runs in but Bundy knees him in the face. Bundy charges out with a clothesline. Bundy whips Osbourne into the ropes and hits him with a back elbow. Osbourne gets up in a corner and Bundy kicks him in the stomach a few times, then some forearms to the chest. Cross-corner whip but Osbourne gets out of the way of the Atlantic City Avalanche. Osbourne hits a clothesline, but Bundy barely moves. Again. A third clothesline knocks Bundy down. Osbourne drops a fist and goes for the pin, but only gets 2. Back up, Osbourne rocks Bundy with a headbutt. Osbourne chokes Bundy in the corner. The crowd starts chanting "BUNDY! BUNDY! BUNDY!" Osbourne tries another cross-corner whip, Bundy reverses, AVALANCHE! Then the big splash and the five-count at 3:24! ***1/2.
Hey, it's Bundy in New Jersey, it's all good. You can watch it here.
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King Kong Bundy vs. The Iron Sheik, ISPW, Wildwood Convention Hall, Wildwood, NJ, August 26, 1999.
The Iron Sheik goes off on a long, unintelligible rant that leads into the Persian Clubs Challenge. Sheik takes a page from Nikolai Volkoff's playbook and sings the Iranian National Anthem, to the same kind of response. The Persian Clubs Challenge eats up a lot of time so I'll just jump ahead to the actual match.
Bundy makes his way out, proclaims "BUNDY RULES!", and goes on his own hard-to-understand rant. Bundy gets a "U-S-A! U-S-A!" chant going. They slowly walk around the ring until Bundy reaches for the Clubs and Sheik hits him with the Iranian Flag. Sheik hits Bundy in the stomach with one of the Clubs. Sheik chokes Bundy on the mat while the commentators talk about how you'd think Bundy would learn after a while not to get hit with the flag. Bundy gets back to his feet and Sheik chops him back down. Sheik controls and the commentators say that he is back to his 1980s form. Sheik chokes Bundy on the top rope. Into a corner with more choking. Sheik tries for a punch but Bundy blocks it and counters with a headbutt. Sheik staggers into the corner, AVALANCHE! Then the big splash for the pin at 2:02! ***. Interestingly, NO five-count.
The odd chance to see King Kong Bundy working babyface against a fellow legendary 80s heel is reason enough to watch this, and you can watch it here.