WWWF All-Star Wrestling (1/17/76)

WWWF All Star Wrestling
January 17, 1976
Hamburg, PA
Hamburg Fieldhouse

Its 1976 and the world is hopping mad! Just like last week, this week's edition of WWWF All-Star Wrestling is hosted by Vince McMahon Jr and Antonino Rocca after we see a brief highlight package. Vince hypes up tonight's main event which will see Bugsy McGraw take on Ivan Putski. Rocca says Putski will win. After we come back from commercial, Joe McHugh does the introductions. This hour of wrestling is promoted by Phil Zacko, supervised by the state athletic commission, the doctor at ringside is Dr. Fred Heinbach, the timekeeper is Mike Mitton, the referees are "Wee" Willie Webber & Dick Woehrle and his name is JOEEEEE McHugh.

Match 1

Sylvano Sousa vs "Superstar" Billy Graham

Graham enters the ring wearing a ridiculous fur hat & coat. He starts by posing for the crowd as a fan yells "Come on Sousa!" Rocca says Graham is "fanta-stick" as Billy clubs at Sousa in the ropes then rams his head into the buckle twice. He punches and kicks at Sousa before delivering a forearm to the back. Sousa tries to fight back but Graham kicks away. McMahon hypes up the upcoming Bugsy McGraw vs Ivan Putski showdown as Graham tosses Sousa through the ropes, but oh no! Sousa's foot is tangled up so Graham kicks at him outside before hilariously ripping off the ring mat and heaving it on top of Sylvano. Sousa crawls back into the ring where Graham whips him into the corner. Sousa runs into the bearhug and he quickly submits. Graham refuses to let go as Wizard gets in to distract the ref. Finally the ref catches Billy so he lets go. Vince goes to commercial and we break here. Standard jobber match but fun to see Graham rip the ring mat off.

Time of match: 3:34

Winner: Superstar Billy Graham by submission

Moving right along to the match.

Match 2

Bugsy McGraw (with Captain Lou Albano, The Grand Wizard and Ivan Koloff) vs Ivan Putski

Before the match, Vince questions what the hell Koloff and Albano are doing out there and Rocco doesn't like it either. Putski tells Dick Woehrle to get rid of the other two but he can't. Putski leaves but comes back with the tag team champions Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi to even the odds. Albano, Wizard and Koloff retreat to the outside as McGraw is totally irate. McGraw and Putski tie up as Bugsy is at least foot taller than Putski. Bugsy backs Putski into the corner but they tie up again and this time Ivan heaves McGraw into the other corner. Another tie up has Ivan going to the headlock and Bugsy flails around. The mic picks up Albano screaming something as Bugsy gets in a wrist-lock. Ivan almost counters it but Bugsy remains in control. Putski then uses both hands to power out of it, throwing McGraw down. McGraw regroups with Albano before attacking Putski from behind. He whips Ivan into the corner and goes to down until Putski reverses it. Bugsy then shoves Woehrle halfway across the ring and Koloff gets in, Suddenly its a pier six brawl with everyone in there as the crowd pops. The bell rings as Parisi and Cerdan beat the crap out of Albano and Koloff with Wizard standing outside. Suddenly Bobo Brazil of all people hits the ring and clears the heels out. The faces shake hands inside the ring as the heels retreat. McHugh announces the ref disqualified both men and the match is a draw. Putski grabs the mic and calls Bugsy a bum before challenging him to come back and fight. Putski calls them yellow dogs and Vince says Albano won't be coming back. If there was a Survivor Series in those days that would have been a hell of a match with Bobo, Cerdan, Parisi and Putski against Koloff, Bugsy, Billy Graham and Ernie Ladd or whatever. As it was, at least they told a story with PUtski having the presence of mind to get the tag champs to help out.

Time of match: 6:32

Winner: No one (double DQ)

After the break we're back with Vince sporting a TERRIBLE 1970's haircut interviewing Cerdan and Parisi. Cerdan says the heels are too talented to stoop that low. He calls Wizard the "weasel" and stumbles over his words. Vince asks why Koloff was there and Tony says that Albano is still mad they beat The Blackjacks. Parisi says they're gonna keep the belts for as long as they can because its for the fans. Vince hints a potential match against Bugsy and Koloff. Cerdan says they have open contracts and he wants to bust Albano wide open. Cerdan once again bitches about heels interfering and says this is the wrestling capital of the world. (Jim Crockett might disagree). Cerdan calls McGraw "quacky" as Vince brings up Jerry Blackwell and Louis Cyr as well. Cerdan says they stay in shape by playing raquetball and handball. Not exactly Celtic Warrior Workouts like today. For those crying that this was a bad promo, its 1976. Dusty Rhodes and Billy Graham were few and far between. Bruno and Backlund weren't exactly Hogan-esque on the mic either. On to the next match.

Match 3

Johnny Rivera vs Louis Cyr (with Freddie Blassie)

Yet another Canadian (to go with Koloff, Cerdan, Parisi) as Cyr takes on Rivera here. For you youngsters, Rivera would jerk a lot of curtains for Madison Square Garden shows in the 70's. Vince hypes up Ivan Koloff is up next followed by Ernie Ladd vs Pete Sanchez on last. Cyr chats with Blassie as the bell rings. Referee Wee Willie Webber tells Blassie to make like a banana and split before they lock up. Cyr throws Rivera around with hip tosses and headlocks. Rivera then locks in an arm ringer but Cyr throws him off. Cyr slams Rivera into the buckle and then does a unique move where he gets in an over the shoulder backbreaker and chokes Rivera on the rop rope. Cyr covers for 1...2...nope, Blassie says to torture him some more. Cyr drops Rivera again and covers for 1....2...nope, he pulls him up again. Cyr rakes the face of Rivera as Blassie cuts a promo to Vince and calls Cyr his Yukon champion. An uppercut drops Rivera and and pulls him up again. Rocca puts over Cyr's brute strength as Cyr bearhugs Rivera into the corner. Cyr pulls him up after another two count as the fans get bored. All of a sudden Rivera rallies with right hands but Cyr takes over with a big left. Cyr delivers a perfect gut wrench suplex and looks over to a laughing Blassie for appreciation. Cyr sends him off and delivers a big boot. Cyr does a belly to belly suplex and a shoulder breaker. Cyr covers for 1...2...3 and thankfully its over. Up close Cyr looks like a young Gorilla Monsoon from the 1960's and this match was to establish Louis as a mean old bastard. Bruno Sammartino would have his hands full if Cyr comes challenging.

Time of match: 5:48

Winner: Louis Cyr by pinfall

Vince sends us directly to the next match.

Match 4

Pete McKay vs Ivan Koloff (with Captain Lou Albano)

Ironically it was McKay who lost to Louis Cyr last week and now he gets an angry Koloff who's not too happy about getting bumrushed by Bobo Brazil earlier. Albano stands directly in front of McHugh as he does the introductions and steals his mic to yell at the fans. The bell rings as Dick Woehrle tells Albano to make like a tree and leave. Albano finally makes his exit and yells at some old man in the crowd. The former WWWF champ drops McKay as Vince mistakenly calls Koloff "Bugsy McGraw" then saves himself by saying Bugsy was on earlier. Koloff locks in the iron claw early as Vince asks Rocca if Koloff is the same man that beat Bruno 5 years earlier. Rocca says he's faster than he was five years earlier and has a new system of training that lost a bit of muscle. He asks if Bruno is the same and Rocca says Bruno is smarter than five years ago. Albano runs over and asks what about him and Rocca yells at him that he's gonna "put censorship on television". Albano cuts a promo on Rocca as Koloff backdrops McKay. Koloff tosses McKay and delivers a big forearm to the back. Ivan taunts the crowd as Vince agrees that Ivan has lost some strength. Albano yells at McMahon for that as Vince puts over Cyr, Bruno, Putski, McGraw, Graham, Ernie Ladd, Brazil in terms of strength as Ivan drops a series of elbows and knees. The crowd gets bored as Ivan puts a foot on the chest for 1...2..nope. He takes his foot off and goes upstairs. He drops a knee and covers for 1...2..3 and its over. Vince hypes up the next bout as Koloff continues to stomp away after the bell. Koloff drops another knee as we cut here. Koloff proving he's still nasty five years later.

Time of match: 5:12

Winner: Ivan Koloff by pinfall

We go right to the final match

Match 5

Pete Sanchez vs "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd

Sanchez had beaten Johnny Rodz at Madison Square Garden the month before but now he's in the ring with the 6 foot 9 giant. Ladd comes to the ring wearing a cowboy vest and hat and hands his vest to the attendant. He squishes the hat on top of the attendant's head and the crowd laughs. Ladd drops to his knees to mock Sanchez for being so short and Pete dropkicks him much to the crowd's delight. He takes over Ladd with an armdrag as it should be noted the crowd really had nothing to cheer for all night apart from the Putski match. The crowd chants "Go Pete go" as Ladd complains about tights pulling. Another armdrag on Ladd has the crowd popping and thank goodness Ladd is letting Pete get some stuff in because everything has been boring so far. Ladd taunts the irate crowd and Vince says don't turn your back on Pete. Ladd backs Sanchez in the corner but misses a big forearm. Sanchez dropkicks Ernie in the back and Ladd falls on the top rope allowing Sanchez to gets a few kicks in. Sanchez rallies with right hands and sends Ladd head first into the buckle. Sanchez goes to work with right hands as Ladd reaches into his tights for something. Ladd slips on the tape for his thumb and nails Sanchez in the throat with it. Ladd nails Sanchez in the throat again as Willie Webber continues to give Ladd shit for using the thumb. Ladd slips the tape off and rams Pete's head into the buckle. The crowd chants "Go Pete Go" as Pete rallies with left hands and nails Ladd in the ribs to drop the big guy. Sanchez stomps away at Ladd but eats a headbutt to the ribs. Ladd starts stomping away and chokes Pete on the top rope. Vince praises Pete's effort as Ladd goes to ram Sanchez's head into the buckle. Vince says next week's feature match is Dominic DeNucci vs Ivan Koloff as Sanchez blocks Ladd's attempt and rams Ernie into the buckle instead. Sanchez rallies with right hands and whips Ladd into the other corner. Sanchez charges but right into the thumbs of Ladd. Ladd slips the tape on and nails Sanchez in the throat that sends Pete through the ropes to the outside. The ref counts out Pete and Ladd takes the coward's win. McHugh announces Ladd the winner as the end credits hit. That was actually a little bit of fun to see Sanchez hold his own with Ladd and Ernie having to resort to cheating tactics to win. Better than the straight jobber matches, that's for sure.

Time of match: 6:02

Winner: Ernie Ladd by count-out

Once again it would be unfair to rate 1970's shows by today's standards but some of it was a little fun. Putski bringing in Parisi and Cerdan as backup, Albano and Rocca yelling at each other, Graham ripping the mat off and Ladd bumping for Sanchez were the highlights for sure. Have to remember this was still a territory with guys coming and going so you'd be seeing a lot of these guys around the area for months on end. The Blackjacks dropped the belts and went somewhere else the same as Cerdan and Parisi will do the same eventually. As for the show, again, it had its moments but standard mid 70's action. It was all designed to get you to go to the house shows. Unfortunately next week's show has been lost to time so we won't get to see DeNucci vs Koloff. I know, can you believe it? Oh well.