WWF on MSG Network, New York, NY
This is on the Rampage ’91 Coliseum tape. The referee conducts a coin toss before the match to see if it’ll be Paul Roma or Hercules to wrestle Animal. It’s Roma.
Roma jumps Animal from behind and lays in with forearms and right hands. Animal reverses a whip, Roma ducks a clothesline, Animal does a leapfrog like a regular Keith Lee oh my god can you believe this large man can jump then Roma lands a right, Animal off the ropes, Roma with a leapfrog, second leapfrog is caught and Animal hits an inverted atomic drop. Then Animal headbutts him in the dick.
Animal’s offense for this match is groin-based so far.
Animal with a 10-punch in the corner, but Roma dumps him out to the floor after five land. Roma distracts the referee with complaints while Hercules gets a cheap shot in outside. Roma with a kick from the apron, then down to the floor and he rams Animal’s back into the apron.
Roma back in, count is on against Animal. Hercules hanging around close. Back in and Roma hits a dropkick, then taunts and Gorilla and even Heenan criticize the wasted time. Roma shows off his power with a trio of backbreakers, holding Animal up the whole time, stringing them together.
Roma up top, flying single axhandle drops Animal. Animal back with an overhand right, and another. He ducks a shot from Roma and hits a back suplex. Roma hits a piledriver.
Gorilla: “He’s gotta keep his eye on Romeo, he’s gotta keep his eye on Herc, he’s gotta keep an eye on you, too, Brain.”
Heenan: “Then he needs Duggan, the guy with four eyes. Ya get it? He needs Duggan, the guy with four eyes!”
Roma doesn’t immediately pin after the piledriver, then he drapes an arm over Animal and gets two, but Animal is ready to ANIMAL UP. Two rights are shaken off, and Roma is backing down. Right blocked, Animal lands one. Animal reversed into the corner, but he gets a boot up on Roma coming in hard. Roma staggers away and Animal drops him with a clothesline to the forehead.
Animal taunts, Heenan notes HE’S wasting time now. Roma begging off, tries to reverse a whip, but gets re-re-re-reversed and whipped into the referee in the corner. Animal hits a dropkick and a jumping shoulderblock. He’s got this won, but there’s no referee. Hercules comes in with an elbowdrop, then scampers away, then comes back when he realizes the ref is still down.
Herc back in, Roma goes up top with Animal being held by his partner, and misses a missile dropkick, hitting Hercules. Roma off the ropes, caught with the powerslam, and that’s that.
Rating: 2.5/5. Five minutes of logical action. Nothing at all to get excited about but worth a look to see Animal in singles action, which is fairly rare, not super duper rare but fairly rare. Roma is someone my generation unfairly maligned, too; he didn’t work out as a Horseman in WCW, but he wasn’t a bad wrestler at all. He had a good look, moved well, nice in tags, competent in singles. A solid 6-6.5/10 pro wrestler all around, really.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 
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