If you think you know what it means to be over, well, let me tell you something, brother.
Better yet, let me show you — and make sure you have your volume turned up.
WWE Vault dropped another rare but precious gem Friday on YouTube: an unseen dark match from the first Wrestling Challenge taping. Filmed Aug. 27, 1986, the Hartford Civic Center was buzzing as Hulk Hogan teamed with the Junkyard Dog to take on Paul Orndorff and Adrian Adonis in a match that shows what it means to be truly over.
The Backstory
Earlier
that summer, Orndorff, after being manipulated by Adonis and manager Jimmy Hart, betrayed Hogan, sided with Bobby Heenan, and stole Hogan’s entrance theme, “Real American.”
This match came a day before The Big Event, a house show in Toronto, Canada, that drew around 60,000 to 70,000 fans to the CNE Stadium to see Hogan battle Orndorff one-on-one. It helped serve as a final “dress rehearsal” for the two headliners.
One would think this was the big event based on the crowd reaction. Instead, it was a dark match — it never aired on television, nor was it released on any of WWE’s home video offerings.
The pairings made sense: Orndorff and Adonis had history that led to Orndorff’s betrayal, and the Junkyard Dog had been an ally to Hogan before, and was a featured character on the animated series Hulk Hogan’s Rock ’n’ Wrestling.
The Match
Once the babyface duo entered the arena, hysteria took over. At one point, a fan grabbed Hogan during his entrance, causing him to briefly snap out of character, trying to shake them off.
Once the bell rang, the four men involved, and their seconds — Hart, Heenan, and “Cowboy” Bob Orton for the heels — didn’t have to do much to get a reaction. Orndorff got the jump on Hogan early, prompting immediate chants of “Hogan! Hogan! Hogan!”
The Hulkster quickly turned the tables, unloading a barrage of right hands that sent the crowd into a frenzy. The roar held steady as JYD came in and peppered the heels with a series of headbutts. The biggest bump of the match came when Dog sent Adonis into the corner and flying over the ropes.
Other than that, there were no wild spots — and none were needed. With all four men so over, many in the crowd stayed on their feet the whole time. Eventually, JYD made a classic hot tag to Hogan, who finished Adonis with the leg drop. The crowd got even louder after the three-count.
From there, it was the iconic Hogan pose down, with a little dance with JYD to cap the celebration.
The Final Bell
As I always tell modern fans: don’t judge classic matches by today’s standards. Watch the character work, the selling, the bumps, and the crowd. When everyone is that over, wrestlers don’t need fancy moves — they just have to give the fans what they came to see. In this case, it was to see the bad guys get beaten up — to their credit, Orndorff and Adonis played their parts well.
For performers, this is the level of popularity to aspire to: maximum results with minimal risk. For fans, it’s the sweet spot — where the only thing that matters isn’t the degree of difficulty or workrate, but living and dying with every move your favorites make.
