Rants

The SmarK Rant for “Stampede Wrestling” – 02.14.85

By Scott Keith on 28 November 2025

The SmarK Rant for Stampede Wrestling – 02.14.85 (?)

Originally written 11.27.25

Yes I got emails about this immediately after it dropped, don’t worry.

https://youtu.be/hQlbjUrc6gc

Taped from Calgary, AB, from the completely empty Victoria Pavillion. There’s maybe 100 people there at the start and it barely fills anymore as the show progresses. Really sad to see.

Your hosts are Ken Newell & David Pratt. I do not know who these people are. This wasn’t produced by Ed Whalen or aired on the usual station, although the visual presentation of the show looks very similar to the original version of the show.

We start with some arriving stars, like SWEET DADDY SIKI, as they build this one up as the Valentine’s Day Massacre. I wasn’t 100% sure of the context here, as they’re treating it like Stampede has been gone for a while. This wouldn’t make any sense given the date on the video of “1980”, however based on how old people are on this show, it’s clearly an episode from 1985 that’s been mislabeled. After Vince bought the promotion from Stu Hart and took the Bulldogs and Hart Foundation, another group with no connection to the Harts rebooted Stampede and ran shows with whatever leftover talent they had, and it died a rapid death and then got replaced by the real thing again in October 85 after Vince reneged on the deal with Stu. I know, Vince break a contract with a Hart, what’s the odds of THAT?

So this is the zombie Stampede, which is still fascinating to see archived. Also I believe Bret Hart said that Bruce was behind this version, which is the least surprising thing ever.

Mike Shaw v. Antonio Ricco

Shaw is of course the future Makhan Singh, just kind of a generic heel at this point. This is another giveaway that it’s not 1980, because Shaw was only an active wrestler after 1981 and even then wasn’t any kind of pushed guy until years later. Joined with Ricco working the arm, but Shaw beats him down and then misses a splash. Shaw gets a thumb to the throat to put him down, and keeps doing it while the ref runs around trying to see it happen, and finally he calls for the bell at 3:00 shown.

Bad News Allen and Sweet Daddy Siki join us and Sweet Daddy has a pair of mirrors to admire himself while Bad News does the promo. Allen has had a lot of partners who let him down, but he absolutely trusts Siki. Also of minor note, Bad News calls himself “The Ultimate Warrior”, which had me confused in 87 when Warrior debuted in the WWF because I thought it was Bad News Allen debuting. And then Bad News did come to the WWF. So everything worked out. Siki does a promo that sounds like he’s having a stroke, talking about Quebec wrestlers that they’re facing tonight and how they only eat pea soup.

Bill Jodoin v. Gerry Morrow

Morrow just died recently and I was pretty sad about it. Joined with Morrow working the arm, but Jodoin drops him on the top rope to take over and goes to work on the knee. Morrow gets a piledriver for two and comes back with a pair of flying forearms and a bodypress for the pin at 6:27.

Kerry Brown and Duke Myers join us and Duke has HAIR?! They slag the Canadian dollar but they’ll still take the 71 cents that it’s worth.

Kerry Brown v. Brian War Eagle

War Eagle takes him down and works the arm with a hammerlock, while we get a look at Killer Karl Krupp at ringside, trying to hold a monocle in his eye while taking notes. Kerry beats him down in the corner and tosses him to the floor before necking him on the way in. Kerry drops the big elbow for the pin at 5:20.

Leo Burke & Don Gagne join us to stand up for Quebec. Don is better known as Frenchy Martin.

Bobby Bass & Cuban Assassin v. Chris Pepper & Siva Afi

Cuban and Bass take turns working Pepper over in the corner and Cuban gets a half crab, before Afi comes in to break it up. Afi is YOKED here and it’s no wonder he quickly got a job with Vince. The announcers slip up and call Cuban “Angel” instead of his relatively new Cuban Assassin name, although they quickly adjust. Bass switches in and continues on the leg, but Afi gets a hot tag and immediately gets creamed by the Cuban. Afi gets a small package for the pin, however.

Duke Myers v. Phil LaFleur

Joined with Duke working him over in the corner, but LaFleur (aka Dan Kroffat, aka Phil LaFon) comes back with a samoan drop off the middle rope for two. Bolo punch gets two and he goes up to the middle rope with a splash for two. The announcers talk about the upcoming tour of Western Canada that absolutely did not happen. In fact there’s not even any documentation of THIS show! Myers tosses LaFleur for a nice bump to the floor and puts the boots to him on the apron, but Phil pulls him out and they brawl to a double countout at 6:27 shown. LaFleur showed a bit of energy here but that’s about the highest workrate on this dire show so far.

Siva Afi joins us, playing a Hawaiian instead of a Samoan, and you know he’s Hawaiian because he says aloha. He promises to get rid of all the rubbish guys like Duke Myers and Bad News Allen.

Bad News Allen & Sweet Daddy Siki v. Don Gagne & Leo Burke

Joined with Bad News chinlocking Burke, and Siki comes in with a forearm for two. These days Siki is best known for introducing Adam Copeland to the business, among others. Bad News slams Burke and goes up for a flying knee that misses, and Gagne gets the hot tag and slugs away. Yeah Frenchy Martin is the hot tag, that’s what we’re dealing with here. Leo gets the sleeper on Siki as Bad News and Gagne brawl on the floor, with Gagne hitting a piledriver on the concrete in a crazy spot, leading to the countout win for the babyfaces at 6:16 shown. And then Myers & Brown storm the ring and attack the babyfaces as the announcers just ignore it and plug the tour, wrapping the show up.

And we cut to Bad News Allen doing one last quick promo for some reason and we’re done.

This was what I would classify as fascinatingly terrible. There’s no real redeeming value here as a wrestling show and frankly it’s kind of an abomination that didn’t need to exist in the first place. But there’s literally no documentation of it even existing, and the “promotion” died two weeks later anyway, so it’s invaluable to have this archived from a historical perspective and I’m glad they posted it and I’m happy to review it to make sure people know about it. Honestly it’s for a very specific category of wrestling nerd and I’m exactly that category. For everyone else, YMMV.