The Richard Land YouTube channel recently posted a WWF show filmed at the Meadowlands on 1/5/87. In one of the matches, Paul Roma acted as jobber to Mr. Wonderful, Paul Orndorf.
This match is fun to watch because of both wrestlers’ powerful bodies, but also because they would later become a Tag Team known as “Pretty Wonderful.”
It’s plain to see who is the more powerful Paul.
Clearly both Pauls in this match have jaw-dropping bodies. I’m sure the reason they even booked this bout was to give boners to the many fans who get off on muscle vs muscle.
But a contrast is soon drawn between Orndorf whose muscles are effective, damaging, and destructive, and Roma whose muscles are pretty to look at but ineffective at harming the stronger Mr. Wonderful. (BTW, I agree that he should be called Mr. Wonderful once I saw him in all white gear.)
The match is a fairly short Squash Job with Orndorf soon wasting Roma in his devastating Pile-Driver. Nice selling — look at Roma bounce on his head and then flop around like a fish out of water! The brevity of this “fight” — the ease of his victory — further emphasizes Orndorf’s strength and power relative to the other body-builder.
THAT was too easy!
It even looks vicious in slow-motion replay.
After Orndorf pins his prey, we are treated to a replay of the Piledriver from another angle. Hot damn, that’s a good one — Roma has an orgasm.
I wonder if Orndorf would treat Roma so brutally if he knew, five years hence, that they would become partners? Is it possible that this match turned Orndorf on to Roma — maybe he dug the look and feel of this buff stud and lobbied to get Roma as his partner? I used to fantasize about scenarios like this — wrestlers forming romantic interests during their matches together (or maybe I still do fantasize about that…)
You sure don’t want to be seen taking a beating from a jobber like Lombardi!
The match is over, Orndorf leaves the ring, and the officials nurse Roma’s injured neck. The next match is set to begin and Steve Lombardi is called to the ring.
Get out of my ring, bitch! He proceeds to whip the injured hunk over the top rope and down to the floor where his neck is further destroyed. WHY Lombardi?! Why would you, a fellow jobber, do this to Roma? Why would the WWF promoters do this to Roma?
I can’t explain why this additional humiliation happened (but I was surprised and excited when it did.) Lombardi looks like a hairy-chested Manly-Man, but he was actually a fairly winless jobber — not even worth feuding with. I suppose the message sent by Lombardi’s unnecessary assault is that hunky guys like Paul Roma are just fun to beat up — they deserve to have their necks broken and their sexy speedo-clad bodies tossed out to the floor. Speaking of pretty wonderful, it sure is pretty wonderful to see a gorgeous young He-Man degraded by a beefy old jobber.
Even in the world of jobbers, I guess there’s a hierarchy. I love the dynamic that young muscle is nothing against a hairy macho man. It certainly turns this squash into something special for me. Thanks!
Lombardi tossing him out of the ring was like a wimpy kid who finally gets to beat on the football quarterback or something. There’s no way he could EVER beat Roma in the ring so he lives out his fantasy by tossing the injured muscleman out, looking like he actually caused the beating. Showing how dominant he is over the more handsome gymstud. But my favorite part is that Roma has pit hairs here and Orndorff doesn’t. Boy, you can tell it’s the 80’s just from that detail. They both shave their stud bods but Roma keeps that masculine hair, which look so great on display during the piledriver. Perhaps that is why he got punished so hard?
I remember reading something about “the backstory” of pro-wrestling or maybe it was a “shoot interview” with Roma and it was when Alex Wright, the German teen broke into the wresting circuit and Roma warned him specifically “Listen kid, there are plenty of people in the hierarchy who are just looking to get into your pants.” He was warning him and was probably speaking from life experience.
Great posting! I wanted to pose a contrary opinion, though, regarding Steve Lombardi. First off, as a Doughboy admirer, I find Lombardi to be at his most appealing in his jobber matches from the early 80’s with his doughy physique, shaved chest and retro hair style, tossed about the ring helplessly by the likes of Jesse Ventura and Sgt. Slaughter. He was always a favorite of mine in the ring! I have to take issue, though, with the previous comment “There’s no way he could EVER beat Roma.” Take a look at this tag-team match from the same year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd5_sRrmvNU. Check out 2:25 to 2:45 and 3:20 to 4:00. Lombardi totally dominates Roma! By ’87, the year of the match in this posting, Lombardi was in top form, meaner and leaner and certainly a worthy match for Roma!
D.W. – I stand corrected! What a wonderful Muscle vs Doughboy match, especially when Lombardi/Horowitz go over Roma. Thank you for introducing me to that.