Hulk Hogan vs. Nikolai Volkoff

[4.0] ""Look at that, that disgraceful in my opinion. Shining a guys country's flag on his boots"~Jesse Ventura.The crowd explodes as soon as Hogan enters the arena and stays that way the entire match. No one sits down and everyone is just screaming. That alone carries the match. Both Hogan and Volkoff are very agile for big men. Unique finish for a Hogan match where Volkoff actually fights off the big boot goes for a corner splash misses and Hogan lands the leg drop from there. Classic 80s USA vs Russia stuff which cant miss back then. Spot of the Match: Volkoff gorilla presses Hogan (wedgie and all) into a back breaker."

[6.0] "A very okay match carried by the nuclear crowd heat and the damndest fucking backbreaker you'll ever see from Volkoff here in which he just muscles Hogan up and gives him an atomic wedgie before obliterating him on the follow-through. Hogan has better underdog performances than this, even in matches this short. Also notable is Volkoff's pre-match promo where he basically says that he's going to push the button to launch the nukes if he loses. A true artifact of Cold War USA pop culture. ***"

[6.0] "Thought this was a decent little match. Calling it a flag match is silly because it's just a regular match with two flags on the ring. In general I hate America glazing in wrestling so that doesn't help matters. Also I know Russia isn't great but Hogan polishing his shoes with the USSR flag made made me roll my eyes. For being a top face he acts like such a petty bitch. But yeah the action was fine and I wish it went longer."

[5.0] "A little display of Hogan's patriotism, ridiculous now but effective at the time. A pretty decent way to kick off this show. In-ring quality: 0.5/4. Stakes: 2/2. Justification: 0.25/1. Place on map: 1/1. Suspense: 0/1. Bonus/Malus: none. Total: 4.75/10. Match seen on the WWE Network"

[6.0] "Another solid main event from Hogan. It's not too long, but it's a fun little USA vs. Russia match with the crowd hot for Hogan. Solid way to kick off the show. ***"

[6.0] "I enjoyed this more than most. It was definitely an above-average Hogan match. This was very entertaining with the slam into the turnbuckle post, the bump on the table, and the wedgie backbreaker. It is sloppy, but for an 80s match it's pretty good."

[6.0] "Hogan is rocking the all-white gear and it's such a clean look. One thing I've always appreciated about Hogan is that he knew his limitations and keeps the majority of his matches short. This was a very meat and potatoes match that had a hot crowd. Volkoff was way passed his prime. He ends up taking an incredibly safe bump onto the timekeeper table that wouldn't even hurt a baby. This had very typical Hogan finish. Hogan hulks up, Volkoff looks to fight back but ends up eating the turnbuckle and Hulk drops the leg. A very smooth finish. All the flag stuff is your usual patriotic guff, but it's easy enough to turn off your mind and enjoy this for the 80s cheese that this is."

[6.0] "03/10/85 WWF. Disgusting behaviour from Hulk Hogan disrespecting the flag of the USSR and the fans not allowing Volkoff to sing his national anthem. Pity Volkoff couldn't pick up the win here and always love the heat he generated just from being a Russian, brilliant. I actually enjoyed this match, the psychology was great especially from Volkoff and the crowd bumped it up a star, electric. They did seem to not have great chemistry, a bit disjointed and the way too short like most WWF matches at this time. 5.5*"

[3.0] "This was a very 80's WWF match, which means it wasn't that good. The "Real American" Hulk Hogan takes on evil Russian Nikolai Volkoff. These two don't really mesh. This was literally nothing special. Volkoff didn't really make a good opponent for Hogan at this time."

[3.0] "Hogan and Volkoff. The American Hero Vs. The Evil Russian. The '80s were full of crap like this. Volkoff was a clumsy oaf in the ring and never had a good match that didn't involve a tag team partner. This was the Hogan template match for the '80s in a nutshell. Thankfully, it was short, though it felt long."

[5.0] "Just a basic 80? s tv match. Nothing special at all but the crowd was extremely hot for Hogan. For 8, 000 people they sounded and looked like at least 12, 000."

[5.0] "I liked this match. Back when Nikolai Volkoff was still a challenger and not reduced to tag team jobber fodder. Poor Hogan almost got killed by Nikolai with the atomic wedgie press."

[1.0] "A terrible sight, it was completely unpleasant to watch. A standard match according to the template of those times for the Hulkster, where the overwhelming majority of the time he is beaten and he overcomes and literally rises out of nowhere and cuts an opponent in a couple of minutes. I also did not like the disrespectful attitude towards the loser's flag, but then it had to be done in the era of the Cold War between countries."

[4.0] "This was every Hogan match ever, with all the act and spot that would be done for years to come until the mid 90s. With that said, it was completely fine and exactly what it should be. [*1/2]"