McKeesport Vo-Tech Senior High School
McKeesport, PA
March 7, 1980
Believe it or not, the only reason this is worthy of a write-up is 2 minutes of footage found by John Arezzi of one particular match. Apparently someone in the crowd filmed a bit of Hulk Hogan vs Tito Santana so by golly we got us a write up. This is going to be quick, thankfully.
Match 1
Jojo Andrews vs "Killer" Joe Abby
As I've mentioned earlier, Jojo was only 19 when he made his WWWF debut in 1976 so he's still only 23 here. "Killer" Joe Abby was a Pennsylvania local legend who started wrestling in the 1950's and he would have been 49 years old here. He fought in the Korean War shortly after high school so he was definitely a badass in his day. Apparently Jojo Andrews got the duke in this one.
Winner: Jojo Andrews by pinfall
Match 2
Billy Berger vs "Luscious" Johnny Valiant
Jobber to the stars Billy Berger takes on Johnny Valiant in this one. Not surprisingly, Valiant got the victory.
Winner: Johnny Valiant by pinfall
Match 3
Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Gorilla Monsoon
The big rematch from WWWF television where Muhammad Ali infamously hopped in the ring to challenge Monsoon. Monsoon got the victory here.
Winner: Gorilla Monsoon by pinfall
Match 4
"The Incredible" Hulk Hogan vs Tito Santana
And now we get to only match with footage of it. Thank goodness someone brought an 8MM camera to this show and kept the footage alive for 40 years before it was converted to digital. Santana was one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions with Ivan Putski at the time, and Putski will be seen later. Ironically Hogan is in the yellow tights so its definitely weird to see essentially Hulkamania against Tito. The footage starts with Hogan locking in a chinlock on Tito but Tito fighting out of it. Santana rocks Hogan with right hands but misses a dropkick. Hogan whips Tito into the corner and poses for the irate crowd. He whips Santana into the other corner but misses a charge. Tito goes upstairs and hits a crossbody for 1....2..no, Hulk kicks out. Santana sends Hogan into the corner where a charge eats knee. Hogan covers Santana and hooks the trunks for 1...2....3 that's it. Wow, no legdrop? Then again this was still heel Hogan so he didn't need it when he could simply cheat. The footage ends with Hogan leaving and the size of the crowd is pretty small, even for that era's standards. Still, Hogan beats Santana.
Time of match: Joined in progress
Winner: Hulk Hogan by pinfall
Match 5
"Polish Power" Ivan Putski vs Bobby Duncum
The other half of the tag champs is also in singles action against the rough and tough cowboy Duncum. Apparently Duncum got himself disqualified and Putski was announced the winner. Least one of the tag champs got a victory.
Winner: Ivan Putski by disqualification
Not much to say about a long forgotten house show that looked to be in front of 200 people if that. If it wasn't for someone recording a few minutes of Hogan vs Santana, nobody would have been the wiser. If you're wondering why it was only a 5 match card, there was actually a Sam Mushnick super show going on in St. Louis that night where Bob Backlund defended the WWF title against Dick Murdoch. The main event was Ric Flair vs Jack Brisco 2 out of 3 falls.....hell that sounds like the better show. Still, this show is what it is, a house show. Can't judge it too harshly for that.
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