Eight of the 20 wrestlers in the competition were sent packing after the first two rounds in the losers’ bracket. Three of the Four Horsemen advanced here, including Ole Anderson with a pair of minor upsets, the only two that took place during this segment. Road Warrior Animal also made it through.
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Losers’ Bracket First Round
(16) Ivan Koloff vs. (18) Khrusher Khrushchev: In an unfortunate pairing, the two stablemates get matched up here. Khrushchev is still hot at his fellow Russian, blaming Koloff for costing him a victory and what would have been a huge upset over Dusty Rhodes in his last match. And Khrushchev took it out on Koloff, negating his early advantage and having control throughout. Eventually, the slugfest spilled to the outside of the ring, and the two Russians kept brawling all the way to the back of the house. The referee isn’t sure what to do, as there aren’t supposed to be double-DQs in this tournament. But they don’t return, and so he is forced to eliminate both of them. Double-disqualification at 45:00.
(19) Robert Gibson vs. (20) Dennis Condrey: The tag team rivals were evenly matched as singles competitors, but this one was all Gibson. He took control early and maintained it throughout, and eventually put Condrey away with the Figure Four. Gibson def. Condrey by submission at 32:00.
(15) Bobby Eaton vs. (17) Rick Rude: A very short match saw a lot of action. Eaton immediately threw Rude out of the ring, but when they got back in, Rude hit his DDT and went for a pinfall. It didn’t work, but then Rude’s stablemate Manny Fernandez went to work as Rude distracted the referee. Again, Eaton kicked out. Rude got in some more damage, but then Eaton surprised Rude with a roll-up that was good for the three-count. Eaton def. Rude by pinfall at 8:00.
(13) Jimmy Garvin vs. (14) Ole Anderson: The fans weren’t enamored this match as it went more than an hour with armbar after armbar. Anderson took control early and maintained his grip on it. The fans perked up midway through when Garvin used hair spray on Anderson’s face, then hit his Brain Buster and went for the finish. Anderson kicked out though, and all those armbars would eventually pay off when he got Garvin to submit. Anderson def. Garvin by submission at 61:00.
Losers’ Bracket Second Round
(7) Arn Anderson bye: Anderson is the lucky beneficiary of the double-DQ between Koloff and Khrushchev, and moves on to the next round without having to do anything.
(11) Animal vs. (19) Robert Gibson: Animal handled this one pretty easily, putting a lot of damage on Gibson while avoiding any big counter moves. A clothesline ended this one after a half-hour. Animal def. Gibson by pinfall at 31:00.
(8) Tully Blanchard vs. (15) Bobby Eaton: Blanchard put in a workmanlike performance as the second member of the Midnight Express was eliminated. Blanchard wore Eaton down and finished him off with the Slingshot Suplex. Blanchard def. Eaton by pinfall at 32:00.
(12) Jimmy Valiant vs. (14) Ole Anderson: An even matchup resulted in a marathon battle. Valiant slapped on a sleeper hold multiple times, but couldn’t finish Anderson. As he did in his last match, Anderson sought to wore down Valiant with a variety of armbars and other holds. It was a successful endeavor, as he finally got an exhausted Valiant to tap out well after an hour of action. Anderson def. Valiant by submission at 72:00.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 