WWWF All-Star Wrestling (2/11/78)

WWWF All-Star Wrestling

Hamburg Fieldhouse

Hamburg, PA

February 11, 1978

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

Ring Announcer: Joe McHugh

We are days away from the big Madison Square Garden showdown between WWWF Heavyweight Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham and number one contender Bob Backlund. This was taped on February 1st but broadcasted today. Vince runs down today's card then sends us to Larry Zbyszko with a special message to donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Larry says they can't take on diabetes alone and needs help to fight against it. Larry looked uncomfortable cutting this promo, the WCW Larry would have nailed it. On to our first match after Joe McHugh's introduction. Captain Lou Albano pantomimes jumping rope during Joe's introduction and Butcher Vachon is laughing hysterically.

Match 1

Pete Austin and SD Jones vs Butcher Vachon and Baron Mikel Scicluna (with Captain Lou Albano)

Last week Jones and Scicluna settled nothing in a time limit draw so now they're on opposite ends of a tag team. The bell rings and Albano immediately runs into an SD Jones right hand much to the crowd's delight. Albano bails and Scicluna starts with SD.....nevermind, its Butcher. Butcher tags in and locks up with Jones then shoulderblocks him down. Jones hits a backdrop and Butcher bails to the outside. Vachon gets back in and tags in Mikel Scicluna. Jones locks in an armringer and Austin tags in to take over with it. Scicluna backs him in the corner and hammers away on him.  Scicluna hammers away again and Austin fights out of it with forearms. Scicluna hits forearms to the chest against the rope then sends him into Vachon's knee. Vachon tags in for an open handed chop against the chest. Vachon rakes the back and Jones tags in. Buther begs off and Jones rallies with left hands and a whip to the corner. Vachon whips Jones in the corner and tags Baron in. Scicluna snap mares Jones and Baron stomps away on him. Jones goes for the blatant choke and the ref tells him to break it. Vince says Baron is usually a loner but doesn't mind teaming with Vachon. Jones rallies with a headbutt that dazes Scicluna to tag out to Vachon. Jones headbutts Vachon down and Austin tags in....and just walks around Vachon. He then covers him for a 1 count as even Vince says Austin has no idea what he's doing. Austin locks in a chinlock with Vachon's foot clearly out of the ring but the ref doesn't see it. Austin hits some of the worst forearms I've ever seen and whips Butcher into the opposite corner. A charge eats boot and Butcher tags out to Scicluna. Baron hits a series of forearms and sends him into the corner where Vachon tags back in. Butcher hits a double stomp to the chest and tags out to Scicluna. Baron hits a kneedrop and covers for 1...2...3...to win the match. Vince says SD Jones did well individually to further drive home the point Austin sucks. Butcher and Scicluna did their jobs as heels with their rugged styles but Austin hampered that match. Maybe SD will choose a better partner next time.

Time of match: 5:35

Winners: Scicluna and Vachon by pinfall

After the match, Vince hypes up our main event up next as we go to break. Back from break we go right to the next match.

Match 2

"High Chief" Peter Maivia vs Stan "The Man" Stasiak (with The Grand Wizard)

Former WWWF Champion Stasiak takes on the Samoan chief Maivia here. Vince says Peter doesn't take kindly to Grand Wizard. Bell's gone and they lock up to start. Stasiak starts with a waistlock and Peter reverses into a front headlock. Maivia lets go just to yell at Wizard some more. Maivia armdrags Stasiak and goes for the waistlock. Stan tries a wristlock but Maivia lifts him off the mat onto the top rope. Stasiak regroups with Wizard and avoids a headlock by grabbing the rope. Maivia headbutts Stasiak in the mid-section but Stan rallies with right hands. Stasiak works over Peter in the corner and applies a nervehold. Maivia has the crowd cheer for him to get up and he steps through the ropes. Stasiak continues to hammer away and goes for the heart punch, but Maivia blocks it with some chops.  A European uppercut drops Stasiak and Maivia kicks him out of the ring, literally. Stan regroups with Wizard and gets back in. Maivia taunts him as Vince says Peter will mix it up. Maivia goes to the full nelson but Stan can't break it. Stan gets a foot on the rope and gets in a punch to the ribs. Stan pounds away in the corner and goes for the heart punch. Maivia blocks it again with a headbutt. An uppercut sends Stasiak over the top rope to the floor much to the crowd's delight. Wizard distracts Maivia allowing Stasiak to get the upperhand. Stasiak chokes Maivia against the second rope before stomping away at him. Maivia falls to the floor and Stan repeatedly keeps him from getting back in. Maivia pulls him out and starts beating the crap out of him. They both get counted out as Peter didn't make it back in to beat it. Joe McHugh delivers the bad news to the crowd as Stan shouts "Bull" to a nearby camera. That was pretty good for a 1978 TV match. The uppercut to the floor popped the crowd.

Time of match: 7:04

Winner: No one (Draw)

Back from break we get another interview with "Classy" Freddie Blassie and Spiros Arion. Blassie looks at some fat dude in the front row and Blassie says Arion would beat him easy. The sanitation department forgot to remove him the last time they cleaned the place. Vince calls him absurd and Arion says Gorilla Monsoon, Haystacks and fat guys like them are offensive. Blassie says the guy stinks and the flies keep circling over him as Vince is noticeably cracking up, so the camera zooms on Arion. Arion claims he's nothing but class as Vince complains about Blassie making fun of the fans and Blassie doubles down on it. Blassie says his walking stick is custom made while everyone else has 5 dollar canes. Blassie says he makes nothing but money and Vince asks if Arion is okay with Blassie profitting off him taking the beatings. Arion counters that he doesn't take beatings and the fans pay Blassie, not him. Arion says in 1978, he'll be WWWF champion. On to the next match.

Match 3

"Iron Greek" Spiros Arion vs Dennis Johnson and Pete Reeves in a Handicap Match

Arion gets two jobbers here. That is NOT Seattle Supersonics star point guard Dennis Johnson by the way. Usually handicap matches are for big guys like Haystacks or Andre The Giant, but then again....Arion was 6 foot 5 which was a giant in those days compared to other guys. Arion bumrushes the jobbers at the bell and rams their heads together. Arios stomps on Johnson and gets a knee to the chest. Arion kicks away at Reeves and rakes the eyes of Johnson. Arion whips the jobbers into each other and gets a full nelson on Johnson. Reeves punches away that Arion totally ignores. Arion throws Reeves through the ropes and Johnson gets dropped with a headlocked punch. Arion stomps on Johnson and hiptosses him. He covers for 1...2..no, Arion pulls him up. Arion drops both men with forearms and Spiros chokes Johnson on the top rope. Blassie goes over to Vince's table and cuts a promo saying Arion is the best since he's bored. The two jobbers start punching away on Arion as the crowd starts to make some noise. They whip Arion to the buckle and punch away again. Arion grabs both men and ram their heads together. Arion drops a knee to the groin of Johnson and scoop slams Reeves. Arion covers for 1...2...no, he pulls him up. Arion throws Reeves outside and he punches away at Johnson. Blassie chokes Reeves outside with the cane as Arion gets in the overhead backbreaker. The bell rings before he even gets Johnson all the way up and this one's over.

Time of match: 4:48

Winner: Arion by submission

We go straight to the next match

Match 4

Dominic DeNucci vs "Nobleman" Joe Turco

Another battle of the Italians after Turco met Dino Bravo last week on Championship Wrestling. They circle to start and Dominic pushes Turco back who complains of a hair pull. They lock up again and Turco gets in a forearm to the chest. DeNucci gets in a wristlock but Turco makes it to the ropes. Turco locks in a headlock and pulls the hair but DeNucci lifts him up by the leg. DeNucc reverses into a wrist lock and punches the left arm. Turco goes for a bear hug but Dominic bell rings out of it. DeNucci does a go-behind but Turco grabs the hair and forearms Dominic in the chest. Dominic gets mad and chases Turco around the ring before dropping him with a toe hold. Turco and makes his way to the ropes and they tie up again. Turco applies a wristlock and pulls Dominic down by the tights. Turco takes him down a second time and DeNucci bridges to avoid a count. Turco shouts "I got him now!" but DeNucci makes it to his knees. Turco bites the hand and takes him down by the hand. Turco forearms Dominic against the ropes and sends him off. DeNucci sunset flips Turco for 1...2...3 to win the match. DeNucci outsmarted Turco in an incredibly slow match.

Time of match: 5:48

Winner: DeNucci by pinfall

We cut to Vince shilling the same WWWF Wrestling Action magazine from last week with spreads on Bruno Sammartino and Andre The Giant. GPO Boc 1256 New York, New York 10001 if you're interested. On to the final match.

Match 5

Frankie Williams and Joe Marcus vs Mr. Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka

The tag champs are in action in a non-title match against hall of fame jobber Williams and Joe Marcus. Marcus is a local Indiana guy and relative to Bob Marcus. Tanaka throws the ceremonial salt and bows in the corner and there's no Mrs. Krieger to wipe it away. Tanaka backs Williams in the corner to start and takes him down by the leg, choking him on the first rope. Tanaka chokes Frankie against the ropes and tags in Fuji. Fooj rams Frankie's head in the buckle and forearms him down. Williams rallies with right hands to stun Fuji and wake up McMahon. Williams applies a chin lock and tags in Marcus. Joe applies a headlock but Fuji powers out of it with a chop to the chest. Fuji scoop slams him and drops a leg. Tanaka tags in and applies a wristlock. Tanaka chokes Joe with his left hand while the ref isn't looking and rams his head in the buckle. Fuji tags in as Vince says he's the more vicious of the two. He was the bigger ribber for sure. Fuji applies a front headlock and walks into the wrong corner so he backs into his own for Tanaka to tag in. Tanaka elbows Marcus in the throat and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. The problem with too many squash matches is they're relatively boring. Luckily this was the last one on this card.

Time of match: 4:48

Winners: Fuji and Tanaka

We sign off and that was strange not to promote the Madison Square Garden show this Monday night. Backlund vs Graham is the main event but this show just showed us that Spiros Arion is a mean looking fella. Also telegraphing the winner of the MSG match because why would you build up a heel like Arion if Graham were to retain? Unless Billy Graham was about to turn face which would have been a smart thing to do considering how entertaining he is on the microphone. Still, this show served its purpose to set up the next potential contender and showcase how mean & nasty Fuji and Tanaka are. Our next show after this is the house show tonight at the Baltimore Civic Center. I'll see you there.

WWWF Championship Wrestling (5/14/77)

WWWF Championship Wrestling
May 14, 1977
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Arena

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

When we left off last week, Vince shilled SD Jones vs Ken Patera, Billy Graham vs Bruno Sammartino highlights and a women's match featuring Kitty Adams and Sheila Sheppard. This week Vince in the canary yellow suit tells us what we know but we also got Ivan Putski, Peter Maivia and George Steele on the card as well. Gary Michael Capetta doesn't even bother with the introductions, we go right to the first match. Joe McHugh would be appalled.

Match 1

George "The Animal" Steele (with Captain Lou Albano) vs Frankie Williams

Two weeks in a row we got Steele and he's got Frankie Williams as an opponent. For you youngsters, Frankie was yet another Puerto Rican jobber but was based out of Columbus, Ohio. Steele gets in the ring and just stares at Frankie before circling....and circling....then consultation from Albano. Steele continues to look quizzically as Vince calls him an "ugly individual". I'm sure his wife Pat would take an exception to that and so does George who immediately grabs Frank by the face. He belts him with a left forearm before biting the top of his head. Steele continues to choke and bite Frank before breaking. Vince continues to comment on Steele's appearance as George bodyslams Williams. George pulls at the face and sticks his green tongue out. Vince says someone may bite it off someday. Albano applauds George's tactics as George bites the bicep of Frankie. George takes Williams down with an armbar and uses the ropes to kick at it. George continues to bite the left arm and Frankie sells it hilariously. Apparently Steele is biting him for real because the camera pans on Frankie's arm bleeding and Vince acknowledges it. Finally George gets Frankie in the big hammerlock and Williams gives it up. Steele continues to bite Frankie for more heat with Albano distracting the ref to avoid a decision reversal. Finally George lets him go and Albano laughs at the poor Williams. Capetta announces George the winner who continually bites the arm. Vince "Steele absolutely out to lunch!" The point was to get Steele over as a crazy bastard and it works every time.

Time of match: 4:13

Winner: George Steele by submission

We go right to the next match

Match 2

"Polish Power" Ivan Putski vs Jose Estrada and Sylvano Sousa

The last match was designed to get the heel over while a handicap match is designed to get the face over as Putski takes on two men here. Sousa we all know but this is a "first appearance" on this timeline for Estrada who'd become a jobber mainstay in the early 80's. Funny thing is Estrada doesn't have the jacked up physique in 1977 he'd later have in 1982. Thankfully Capetta gets the hell out of dodge before Putski can shout into the mic. Putski has one of those 6-pack AND beer gut combos going on as he starts with Sousa. He heaves Sousa across the ring and Estrada gets in to be tossed around as well. Estrada and Sousa each grabs an arm and Putski rams them both together effortlessly. Putski gets double teamed but Putski fights them off with right hands and hiptosses. The opponents huddle and try a sideswipe attack but Putski whallops Estrada then scoop slams Sousa. Putski headbutts both men before no-selling Estrada's forearms. Putski throws Estrada over the top rope then continues to hammer away on Sousa. Putski sends him across both corners multiple times before scoop slamming him again. He rams both heads together and tosses Sousa off the ropes before rocking him with THE POLISH HAMMERRRRRR. Putski picks up Estrada and powerslams him on top of Sousa, covering both men for the 1...2...3 and that's it. Short and sweet for Putski who makes quick work of them, possibly a feud with Steele was coming up. Too bad there's not enough footage from this time period to get an idea of consistent feuds apart from Graham vs Bruno.

Time of match: 3:46

Winner: Ivan Putski by pinfall

We go right to the next match.

Match 3

Kitty Adams vs Jan Sheridan

We get an ultra rare women's match this time as Adams takes on Jan Sheridan instead of Sheila Sheppard. Adams was a 36 year old veteran who made her debut in 1958 and is famous for being the wife of Mark Tendler, the man who trained Sonny Blaze and ECW alumnus The Sandman. Sheridan was also a vet that worked with Fabulous Moolah in 1973 in Madison Square Garden. Adams bum rushes Sheridan at the bell and beats her up in the corner. Adams stands on Sheridan's back, chokes and pummels with forearms. Adams does the Moolah snapmare and yells at the referee. Vince calls them both tough athletes as Adams continues to snap mare and hair pull. Vince says wrestling was one of the first sports to let women participate, guess he forgets the All American Girls Baseball League in the mid 1940's. Vince says one of these girls may knock off Moolah herself, yeah no. Adams gets in a front headlock and reaches behind her back to pull the hair. Adams with a big forearm to the chest and Sheridan pounds the mat and says that's it. Sheridan goes apeshit on Adams, heaving her across the ring then monkey flipping her to the other side. Adams gets in a punch to the ribs to quell the momentum. Adams goes for a scoop slam but Sheridan counters with a small package for 1...2....3 and that's it. Adams didn't even try to kick out as Sheridan wins with a flurry. Adams bitches her hair got pulled but the referee is having none of it, Sheridan wins. That was a hell of a story of how for 3 minutes Adams beat Sheridan from pillar to post but Jan pseudo hulked up to win it. That was a fun 3 minutes.

Time of Match: 3:06

Winner: Jan Sheridan by pinfall

Vince says up next is the WWWF Champion himself Superstar Billy Graham in a non-title match, don't go away! 

Match 4

Ted Adams vs WWWF World Heavyweight Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham

Non-title match for the new champ. Ted Adams was a standard jobber at the time and he jobbed to Ken Patera the night Graham won the title. Rather than face equally powerful Patera, naturally Graham faces the 221 pound Adams here. Graham poses before getting in the ring as Wizard is wearing a hilariously bad green suit. Wizard takes the belt off and shows it to the irate crowd before slathering Graham with oil. That's gotta suck for the opponent. Referee Dick Woehrle tells Wiz to hurry up and get to steppin. Wizard then combs Billy's hair as Woehrle gives them a glare. Finally Wiz leaves and Graham circles with Adams. They tie-up and Adams gets thrown across the ring before Graham rams his head in the buckle. Billy tosses Adams through the ropes to the outside. Graham snaps Adams backs in and puts the boots to him. Graham gets in a chin-lock as Vince says Adams hasn't put up a fight at all. Billy rams Adams head into the buckle again before snap maring him into another chinlock. Vince promises more footage of Graham vs Bruno next week as Graham scoop slams Ted. Vince speculates how long Billy will have the belt since traditionally heels had very short reigns. Ivan Koloff ended the 8 year run of Bruno Sammartino in January of 1971 but one month later dropped it to Pedro Morales. In December of 73 Stan Stasiak ended Pedro's nearly 3 year run only to drop the belt 9 days later to Bruno. To give an idea the belt was going nowhere, 2 days after this show Graham was scheduled to face Gorilla Monsoon at the Garden. Graham sends Adams off the ropes and catches him in a bearhug. Adams quickly gives up and Billy wins it. Graham refuses to let him go and Wizard gets in to distract the ref so he doesn't reverse the decision. Finally Graham lets him go and poses for the irate crowd. Like I said a minute ago, Graham's first title defense at MSG would be against Monsoon two days later. The match itself is on Youtube but not the whole show.

Time of match: 6:15

Winner: "Superstar" Billy Graham by submission

Vince promises "High Chief" Peter Maivia when we come back. Oh joy!

Match 5

"High Chief" Peter Maivia vs Baron Mikel Scicluna

Only took 5 matches to get to one that should be competitive after the first four were straight beat-downs (despite Kitty Adams losing, she was in control the whole time). Scicluna looks great for 47 years old while Maivia had just turned 40. Maivia teases throwing his tribal spear at Scicluna, hahahahaha! Vince brings up the tribal tattoos Peter has to showcase what a badass he was. Apparently they were done with just ink, stone and chisels, none of this tattoo gun stuff you see these days. Maivia locks up with Mikel and Scicluna misses a wild right forearm. Peter locks in a top wristlock as Vince calls Scicluna an underrated wrestler. Again, looking great for 47. Vince says Maivia is undefeated since he returned to Championship wrestling as Peter no-sells a forearm to the top of the head, a Samoan tradition. Mikel goes to the "foreign object" to finally get Maivia to sell. More forearms are followed by Peter rallying to get Baron to retreat. Maivia headbutts Scicluna down then chills on the top rope, something Shawn Michaels would do almost 20 years later. Maivia rolls out of an armbar and locks in a headlock before dropping him with shoulderblocks. A headlock takeover has Scicluna bent out of the shape and kicking the ropes. Another "foreign object" thrust to the throat drops Peter and Baron kicks away at him. Peter starts a "Hulk Up" and rallies with right hands followed by a headbutt. Scicluna goes back to the object to drop Maivia but misses a forearm. Maivia then hits what looks to be running headbutts to the mid-section before hitting a flying bodypress for 1...2....3! Scicluna kicks out at 3 1/4 but its too late, Peter has won it. Scicluna can't believe it as Peter girins from ear to ear. Vince calls him a very happy young man (a spry 40 at the time) as we go to the highlights. Finally a good match, what took them so long?

Time of match: 7:21

Winner: Peter Maivia by pinfall

Vince sends us to our main event after commercial break

Match 6

"Special Delivery" Jones vs Ken Patera (with Captain Lou Albano)

Our final match to curfew should be another competitive match with Jones taking on the strongman. Patera removes his bright red warmup gear that looks more like what Honky Tonk Man wears 10 years later while Vince says he's going to be tested by Jones. Albano threatens some fans while Patera is hilariously mismatched with a red singlet and bright neon green boots. Patera begs off in the corner after a tie-up then Jones locks in a side head-lock. Patera sends Jones off and hits a knee to the midsection. Patera heaves Jones outside of the ring and screams "Woooooo!" Patera repeatedly knocks Jones off the apron as Vince says watch for Albano lurking around. Woehrle turns around to see Albano kick Jones in the butt but doesn't throw him out or call for the bell. Instead Jones pulls Patera outside and headbutts him. Patera gets thrown in the ring but he quickly bails to catch his breath. Jones turns the tables on Patera by knocking him off the apron when he tries to get back in. Finally Patera gets in and nails Jones with forearms to the back followed by stomps. Patera goes for a headlock before hitting a punch. SD then hits a sunset flip for 1....2....NOOOO, Patera barely got the shoulder up as Albano was halfway in the ring. Jones sends him off and goes for a scoop slam but loses his balance. Patera ends up on top for 1...2...,nope. Patera hits two running elbow drops then covers for 1...2...3, that's it. Kind of a lousy finish but they were up against the clock. Patera wins it as Vince goes to the highlights only for the credits start rolling causing Vince to talk real fast. Too bad they didn't have more time because that got good at the end.

Time of match: 5:13

Winner: Ken Patera by pinfall

I don't know if it was just the recording I saw but there were absolutely no promos at all, or even hints dropped by Vince that a big house show was coming. Madison Square Garden's big show was 2 days away and it wasn't even mentioned. Again, that could just be because this particular upload was devoid of commercials or interviews. Either way there's only one match available which I'll get to next time. As for this show, finally got to see some competitive matches rather than your standard squashes. Behind the scenes Vince Sr already had his successor to Billy Graham picked out but it would be a long time before he could properly build that guy. On camera, Graham looked unstoppable since his bodybuilder physique was unmatched by anyone at the time. Jesse "The Body" Ventura had come out of the Navy in 1975 but wasn't nationally known yet while Terry Bollea wouldn't make his wrestling debut until August of 77. Still, can't judge a show like this by today's standards but would have been nice to have gotten some info on what was going on at the time besides Graham knocking off Bruno. 5 years later it was impossible to miss what was coming up since every show had promos for upcoming MSG, Spectrum and Boston Garden shows. Just have to trudge our way there slowly but surely. Still fun to see Patera, Maivia, Scicluna, Putski, the managers, George Steele and the ladies do their thing.