Philadelphia Arena
Philadelphia, PA
December 1, 1973
To many this seemed like a prototypical spot show just 9 days before Madison Square Garden but hooooo boy were the fans in attendance in for a surprise. The main event would be Stan "The Man" Stasiak once again challenging WWWF Heavyweight Champion Pedro Morales for the title. Joe Turco and Pancho Valdez would be going after the tag straps against Dean Ho and Tony Garea and we got a six man tag match 3 out of 5 falls....ugh. Anyway lets get to this history makin.....errr, normal spot show card.
Match 1
Frank Valois vs Jose Gonzalez
Ah, a good ol fashioned curtain jerk match to open the card here in Philadelphia. Neither one of these guys had a chance to go up against Pedro Morales in any capacity so may as well just beat the hell out of each other. Jose got the duke in this one.
Winner: Jose Gonzalez
Match 2
"Nobleman" Joe Turco and Pancho Valdez vs Dean Ho and Tony Garea for the WWWF Tag Team Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
The Italian teams with Valdez to try to take down the tag champs in a two out of three falls match which was standard for the time. Unfortunately for the challengers, Ho and Garea swept both falls to win the match.
Winners: Ho and Garea (Still Tag Team Champions)
Match 3
El Olympico vs "Iron" Mike McCord
For those that don't know, McCord was actually 24 year old.....AUSTIN IDOL! That's right, the Memphis legend was a mid-card heel managed by Captain Lou Albano at the time. His original gimmick was pretty much the strongman gimmick Ken Patera would use. It wasn't until the late 70's he became the Austin Idol everyone knows today. McCord got the win here.
Winner: Mike McCord
Match 4
Manuel Soto vs Larry "The Axe" Hennig
If you didn't know, Larry The Axe isthe father of Mr. Perfect and grandfather of Curtis Axel. He cut his teeth in his hometown Minnesota before making it big in Texas as a big rough heel. He formed a tag team with "Handsome" Harley Race in the early 60's and Race went on to stardom in the NWA while Larry bounced around the territories. He gets the win over Soto in this one.
Winner: Hennig
Match 5
Blackjack Lanza, Mr. Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka vs Chief Jay Strongbow, Victor Rivera and Andre The Giant in a 3 out of 5 falls match
If it wasn't for the title match, this would normally be the main event. Why Vince Sr didn't put this match on last I don't know but I don't want to give away what happened later. Anyway after four grueling falls.....Andre's team got the victory.
Winners: Rivera, Strongbow and Andre The Giant
Match 6
Stan "The Man" Stasiak vs Pedro Morales for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship
These two had been battling all over the territory for months and this was just supposed to be another show....until Vince McMahon Sr made an executive decision hours before the event. According to Stasiak, Vince came to him before the show and told Stasiak he'd be winning the strap that night. Dumbfounded, Stasiak said sure but why? The story goes Vince had enough of all the riots in the arenas when Morales wrestled and fans cutting heels up with knives. Vince decided to take the title off Morales with no warning and no buildup to limit the crowd reaction. After all, if Stasiak pinned Morales in the center of the ring in MSG, he might not have made it out alive. So he decided to have the title change in Philly which was always partial to the heels, even in those days. To confuse the fans, Stasiak was in a German Supex and got his arm up at three with Morales shoulders on the mat. Stasiak sprinted outside, grabbed the belt and took off while referee Barney Solomon delayed giving his decision to give Stasiak time to split. Fans started looking for the belt when the ring announcer said "Let's have a hand for Pedro Morales on his great run as champion!" Stasiak not only didn't get to pose with the belt, he technically wasn't even announced the winner. Why Vince decided to end the show this way and not have Andre on last to send the fans home happy is up to Vince Sr himself. Even if he wasn't exactly world championship material, it'll go down in the record books as Stan Stasiak defeating Pedro Morales to become the new WWWF Heavyweight Champion and fifth in company history.
Winner: Stasiak by pinfall (new WWWF Heavyweight Champion)
What a way to end a spot show. Like mentioned earlier, Vince Sr decided to take the title off Morales in a more neutral city than MSG because the fans might have killed Stasiak in New York. To this day it remains the only title change in WWE history to not have any footage at all. Buddy Rogers vs Bruno Sammartino at least had still images but this one has absolutely nothing. We got a new champion....but for how long? That question would be answered shortly but the Morales era was over. Morales was a damn good champion but was undermined by his own damn fans. That's also the reason Vince never booked a true Morales vs Bruno feud apart from their one match at Shea Stadium. The Italians and the Puerto Ricans would have burned down Madison Square Garden fighting each other. The next set of TV tapings would be in a few days where it would be announced on TV that Stasiak was the new champ. The next house show would be in Worcester on the sixth, I'll see you there.
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