March 17, 1975
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY
Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr
The beauty of the territory days is you have no earthly idea what you're going to get month to month at Madison Square Garden. This card on Peacock Plus advertised Chief Jay Strongbow against Paul "The Butcher" Vachon, Dean Ho and Tony Garea challenging WWWF Tag Team Champions The Valiant Brothers in 2 out of 3 falls, Victor Rivera taking on Killer Kowalski and the main event, "Golden Greek" Spiros Arion takes on Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship. There was a huge storyline with Arion going on where Arion turned on Chief Jay Strongbow in a match against the Valiants in late 1974 and when Bruno came in to ask what's his problem, Arion clocked Bruno too. Tonight Arion faces Bruno in a Texas Death Match for the strap. Unfortunately only five matches remain on this eight match card. Strongbow vs Vachon, Bruno vs Arion, Kowalski vs Rivera, Ho & Garea vs The Valiants and Ivan Putski vs The Wolfman. The tag match is not on Peacock but it is on YouTube.
Match 1
"Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz vs "Wild" Bill White
For those that don't know, Johnny Rodz was the original "jobber". He put over pretty much everyone for damn near 20 years and a lot of people respected him for being able to work with everyone. He paved the way for guys like Barry Horrowitz, George South and Duane Gill to make a living doing jobs. His opponent "Wild" Bill White was an amateur wrestling coach in Florida that caught the eye of Eddie Graham. He worked the territories from the 60's to the 80's. Apparently Johnny Rodz won this match, so much for him always losing.
Time of match: 11:31
Winner: Johnny Rodz
Match 2
Mike Paidousis vs Jack Evans
If you have no idea who Paidousis is, not even your parents would probably know either. "Iron" Mike began his career in 1950, TWENTY FIVE years before this match. He was 51 years old going into this match and most of his career has been lost to time, unfortunately. His biggest success was in the old Central States territory. As mentioned before, Evans was a veteran jobber for Vince Sr and was one of the masked "Mr. X" in the late 70's. According to the report, Paidousis won this match. Not bad for a 51 year old!
Time of match: 5:43
Winner: Mike Paidousis
Match 3
Manuel Soto and Pete Sanchez vs Hans Schroeder and Joe Nova
Talk about what could have been a fun tag match. The faces we already know while Schroeder was a Memphis mainstay who sometimes worked for Vince Sr as a German heel. He's best known for being the original Undertaker, a name he used in Memphis in 1989. Nova was a well traveled territory veteran working as Joe Nova or Butcher Branigan. Here he was Nova. Apparently Sanchez and Soto got the duke.
Time of match: 22:05
Winners: Sanchez and Soto
Match 4
Chief Jay Strongbow vs Paul "Butcher" Vachon
Our first match we can actually watch might be interesting. We all know Strongbow as the fake Native American but he's got the legendary Butcher Vachon as an opponent. The ref checks each guys and the bell rings. They criss cross and Jay fakes out Butcher. Jay stalks Butcher around the ring and makes fun of him. They stall for a bit before exchanging right hands following a tie-up. Butcher chops Strongbow in the chest but Jay serves it back to knock Vachon down. Strongbow unloads on Butcher in the corner but Butcher counters with a punch to the throat to knock Jay down. Vachon goes for the nervehold but Jay powers out and scoop slams him. Jay hits another scoop slam and Vachon bails to the outside to regroup. Back inside Vachon locks in a sideheadlock and turns it into a blatant choke. Vachon rams Jay in the buckle, bites then rakes his back. Strongbow then goes on the warpath as the crowd gets progressively louder with each kneelift. Jay charges Vachon in the corner but eats boot. Vachon sends him off the ropes and hits a big boot. He covers for 1...2...no, he pulls Jay up and says one more time. Uh oh! Sure enough, Butcher sends Jay off for another big boot but Jay counters with a Thez Press for 1,2,3 to end it with the fast count of the century. Rather than chase the ref for more heat, Butcher just leaves as Strongbow is declared the winner. Not much you can expect from these two. Clearly Strongbow's style bothered Butcher so Vachon had to resort to cheating tactics. Pulling up Jay was the mistake that cost him the match. Vince says our main event is next.
Time of match: 9:10
Winner: Strongbow by pinfall
Match 5
Spiros Arion (with Freddy Blassie) vs Bruno Sammartino (with Arnold Skaaland) in a Texas Death Match for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship
Like I mentioned in the intro, Arion came to New York a huge fan favorite but made a shocking heel turn by attacking Strongbow and Bruno in a match against The Valiants. Now he's gunning for the strap and he's got a Texas Death Match! What's that you ask? Just a street fight, no rules just pinfall or submission. The announcer says "Texas style match" and calls everyone "great guys" during introductions. Bell rings and Arion does the slow head turn to revel in the boos from the crowd. The ref checks Arion first but when he checks Bruno, Arion jumps Sammartino! Arion kicks at the fallen Bruno who bails. Bruno gets back in the ring and unloads on Arion with punches, kicks and forearms. Bruno scoop slams Arion and covers for 1....2, nope. More forearms to the back of Arion and football tackles in the corner stuns Spiros then he locks in a bearhug. A bellringer by Arion breaks the hold but Bruno goes back to knees to the head. Arion then gets his own kicks in before he whips Bruno into the corner. Arion punches the back of Bruno with Bruno falling into the ropes. More punches and kicks stun Bruno and he makes a cover...1....2..,no, Bruno kicks out. Bruno then gets in more punches and kicks to back Arion down. They slug it out in the center of the ring but a big right hand knocks Arion through the ropes to the outside. Bruno rams Arion's head into the apron and then to the buckle. Back inside Arion takes him down and kicks him directly in the balls. The crowd did NOT like that one as they boo loudly. Arion continues to kick away at Bruno then scoop slams him. Arion covers for 1...2..no. Arion goes for an atomic drop but Bruno counters with headlocked punches. Bruno attacks the back of Arion with forearms and and a big kick to send Arion through the ropes to the outside. Some fan reaches over the guardrail and it looks like Arion got a piece of the fan with a right hand. Back inside Bruno uses a side headlock then punches away at Arion who drops to the ground. Bruno revs up the crowd then stomps on Arion. Spiros begs off but Bruno is having none of it, ramming his head into the canvas. Bruno goes for the rear-chinlock then stomps away at the back of Arion. Arion staggers to his feet and Bruno punches away at Arion and Spiros counters with a right hand of his own. A big right hand by Bruno drops Arion who bumps to the other side of the ring. Bruno stalks Arion but Spiros gets in a boot as Vince on commentary says Bruno took too long. Arion takes control with kicks and stomps. Arion sends Bruno off the ropes and punches him in the ribs. Bruno goes down and Arion kicks away at the fallen champion. Arion goes for another atomic drop but Bruno counters with a hiptoss and a bodyslam. Bruno covers for 1..2...nope. Bruno eats a knee to the ribs and Arion continues to stomp away. Arion sends Bruno off the ropes but Sammartino counters with a big kick. He scoop slams Arion and covers with Arion's foot on the rope. The ref doesn't notice it and counts 1...2....3 its over. The crowd cheers as Arion rightfully is pissed that he just got screwed. Even Vince on commentary says Arion got robbed as Spiros bitches to Bruno that his foot was on the rope. The announcer declares Bruno the winner as Vince goes to the replay where clearly Spiros' foot is on the rope. This meant another MSG match was in the works, most likely next month. As for this match, this was a brawl. Two guys beating the daylights out of each other, wrestling holds were mostly out the window. This is what the fans wanted in 1975 and the pops Bruno got for his comebacks were loud. As for now, Bruno is still the champ in a controversial decision.
Time of match: 14:51
Winner: Sammartino by pinfall (still WWWF Champion)
Match 6
Victor Rivera vs Killer Kowalski (with The Grand Wizard)
Talk about a treat. Latin sensation Rivera takes on 48 year old Walter "Killer" Kowalski in MSG. By now Kowalski was at the end of the line but could still sell a house with his presence. Kowalski towers over Rivera, the referee and Wizard as the bell rings with Wiz taking a hike. Kowalski ties up and....breaks clean? What are these shenanigans? Kowalski ties up, breaks clean....and slaps Rivera. Rivera unloads with roundhouse rights as Kowalski leans through the rope to stall. Kowalski gets a go-behind and starts kicking at the left leg. Kowalski applies his claw hold to the left leg and punches away at it. Vince says this is classic Kowalski to torture a body part. Kowalski misses an axehandle smash and Rivera lands an armdrag takeover. Kowalski powers out of it and goes back to work on the left leg. Rivera punches Kowalski but Killer goes back to the claw. Killer sells his arm hurt by Rivera's punch as he continues to claw away at the left leg of Rivera. Rivera punches again but Kowalski headlock punches him. Killer kicks away at Rivera and continues to punch away at the leg. Rivera gets back to his feet and takes him over with a wristlock. Rivera tosses him around the ring with control of the wrist and pounds away at the left shoulder. Rivera continues to punch as the crowd doesn't even pop, they're bored. Kowalski goes back to the claw on the leg and bites it but he misses another axehandle smash. Rivera grabs the ear of Kowalski to make him break the hold, hahahaha. Rivera drops Kowalski with a right hand but Kowalski lands a perfect single leg takedown to once again go back to the claw. Rivera grabs the ears and backs him into the corner where Kowalski rakes the eyes. They forearm each other down and Kowalski goes for the stomach claw. Rivera's shoulders are down and the ref counts 1..2...no. Rivera gets back to his knees but Kowalski kicks him then reapplies the claw to the stomach. Kowalski stomps the ribs then reapplies the stomach claw. Vince says the crowd is trying to encourage Rivera but they're silent. Rivera gets up and whips Killer into the buckle before dropkicking him into the buckle. Kowalski goes for another claw but Rivera is in the ropes to cause a break. Killer favors the left shoulder and kicks away at Rivera. Rivera continues to counter the claw hold with right hands and a big uppercut takes Kowalski nearly out of his boots. Kowalski tries to crawl away but Rivera throws him to the mat and applies a nerve hold in the ropes, utilizing the 5 count. Hey two can play that game! Rivera jumps on Killer's back and applies a sleeperhold. Kowalski gets him off in the corner but Rivera ties up Killer on the top rope Andre style. Rivera forearms Killer and hits a running tackle on him. He stands on the other rope to apply pressure but Killer breaks free. Kowalski makes a mad dash but Rivera drops him with a forearm. Rivera locks in a nervehold but Killer bites out of it. The ref warns him as Rivera swings wildly. Killer misses a right hand and gets mad, slugging it out with Rivera. Killer bites his nose again but Rivera returns the favor. Killer goes back to biting and the ref actually counts to five....that's it. Rivera bites Killer and he bails to the back. The announcer declares Rivera the winner by disqualification. To show how bad that match was, not even 1975 fans got into it. The reason why Killer vs Bruno worked in those days is Bruno would make the big comeback to blown the roof off whereas Rivera wasn't like that. Oh well, Rivera gets the duke
Time of match: 15:58
Winner: Victor Rivera by Disqualification
Match 7
"Polish Power" Ivan Putski vs The Wolfman.
After spending most of his career in the territories, Ivan Putski makes his Madison Square Garden debut according to Vince. Born Jozef Bednarski, he actually made his name in Dallas at the Sportatorium portraying a concentration camp survivor (he would have been 4 years old in 1945). He was basically the big dumb babyface brute that Jim Duggan and Rick Steiner would play in later years. Now he's in WWWF and he's loud, obnoxious and a hit with the fans. Putski grabs the mic away from the announcer while he's trying to make the introductions and screams "POLISH POWAAAA". Vince calls him a "one man gang", ha! Wolfman doesn't wait for the introductions, he just bum rushes Putski to cause the ring announcer to head for the hills. Putski counters with a right hand and the ref manages to get Wolfman in the corner long enough to finish checking them. The bell finally rings as Putski grabs him with a headlock and punches him before catering to the crowd. Putski levels Wolfman with legit elbows to the jaw coming off the ropes and Wolfie bails to regroup. Back inside Wolfman bites and claws at Putski before hitting forearms to the upper chest. Wolfman continues to pound away until Putski powers out of a nervehold attempt and headbutts him down. Putski then hits a right hand and another headbutt to drop Wolfman. Wolfman goes for the bearhug but Putski counters it with a forearm to the back. Wolfman then bites the back of Putski and he yells to the crowd that he bit him. Wolfman goes to do it again but Putski returns the favor to a small pop. The ref warns both guys as Wolfman goes back to the bearhug. Putski powers out of it with forearms to the back. Putski applies a front facelock and then hits the Polish Hammer to the back of Wolfman to break another bearhug. Wolfman rakes the eyes and bites the forehead of Putski before attacking in the corner. Finally Putski has enough and goes wild on Wolfman with 20 forearms on the poor guy. He sends him off the ropes and applies a big bearhug of his own. Wolfman gives it up and this one's over. Putski refuses to let go until the ref threatens to reverse the decision. He lets go and the ref raises his arm in victory. The microphone lowers but Putski grabs it. Wolfman kicks at him and Putski hammers him out of the ring. The announces Putski the winner as some fan hands Ivan a beer. Putski chugs it as the announcer and the ref raise his arm simultaneously. Long before the Austin beer celebrations, we had Ivan Putski haha. Typical 70's WWWF match with the babyface explosion at the end.
Time of match: 6:21
Winner: Putski by submission
Match 8
Dean Ho and Tony Garea vs The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy and Johnny) in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the WWWF Tag Team Championship
Ah the legendary Valiant brothers. For those that don't know, just like the Graham family, there were 3 kayfabe brothers in the Valiant family. Handsome Jimmy, Luscious Johnny and Gentleman Jerry. As mentioned before, Jimmy made his WWWF debut in 1971 while Luscious Johnny met Jimmy in Ontario working for Dave McKigney and later became his storyline brother in Dick The Bruiser's WWA in Indianapolis. On May 8, 1974 the Valiants defeated Dean Ho and Tony Garea to become WWWF Tag Team Champions. Because people moved from territory to territory in those days, tag team champions didn't last very long.....but the Valiants are still the champs almost a year later in March of 1975. Who are their opponents? Dean Higuchi was a Hawaiian bodybuilder in the late 50's and opened his own gym in 1958. Some pro wrestlers while they were working in Hawaii for Ed Francis would drop by to work out including Rene Goulet and Karl Gotch. Someone convinced Dean to turn pro himself and he did in 1962. He was given the name Dean Ho because Japanese heels were very common in those days but Dean was a babyface. Francis wanted him to sound Chinese instead of Japanese. Know who else was an American Hawaiian of Chinese descent? Professor Toru Tanaka. We all know who Garea is obviously. The purpose of this match was to settle the year long feud once and for all. Vince says the brothers are wasting time to start the match, haha. Jimmy grabs Dean to start the match and rams him into the buckle. To tell them apart, Jimmy has "sweet heart" on his tights and Johnny has "Super Hero" on his. They double team Dean in their corner but Garea comes in to no avail. Johnny and Jimmy make frequent tags to pound away on Dean. Dean fights out and makes a mad dash to his corner to tag Garea in. Garea beats the crap out of Jimmy and locks in an abdominal stretch but Johnny comes off the top to smash Garea down. Jimmy misses a big right hand and Garea locks in another abdominal stretch. Garea spots Johnny heading upstairs again and this time cuts him off by press slamming him. He covers Johnny despite him not being the legal man with Dean chasing away Jimmy for 1...2...3 and just like that, the first fall goes to the challengers. The announcer declare the challengers the winners of the first fall as Vince says one more to go.
Second fall starts with Johnny still selling getting thrown off the top. Garea starts with Jimmy and Jimmy gets the upperhand. Jommy headlock punches Garea and brings him into their corner where the heels double team. Garea makes a comeback and beats up both of them but a charge in the corner eats boot. Dean grabs Jimmy's hair but Jimmy gets a headlock on Garea. Johnny tags in and picks up where Jimmy left off. Johnny rams Garea into the knee of Jimmy and tags Handome back in. They go for a double clothesline but Garea ducks under and punches both men down. Dean Ho gets the hot tag and cleans out both Valiant brothers before beating the crap out of Jimmy. Johnny tags in and Dean chops him around. Garea tags in and whips Johnny off the ropes but Johnny hits a sunset flip for 1...2...3 and the Valiants even it at one fall apiece. Heels rarely used a sunset flip so that was definitely surprising. The announcer says the Valiants have taken the second fall.
Third and deciding fall begins with all four men in the ring. Garea and Johnny pound each other before Jimmy hits Johnny by accident. Garea locks in an armbar and pounds on it before Dean sneaks in and takes Tony's place without the ref noticing....serving payback to the Valiants. Garea and Dean continue to switch off with Johnny throwing a fit in his corner with Vince hamming it up on commentary. They continue to double team Jimmy using heel tactics and Jimmy almost makes the tag but Garea stops him much to the crowd's delight. Jimmy powers out of it and hiptosses Garea, making the tag to Johnny. Johnny runs into an armdrag by Garea before he tags out to Dean. Dean holds Jimmy and Garea clocks him, causing Jimmy to stagger. Dean holds him again but Tony nails Dean by accident....RUH ROH! 9 times out of 10 this means a heel turn and Garea gets in to check on him. Jimmy grabs Dean and throw him into their corner for a doubleteam. Dean rams both their heads together and locks in another armbar. Dean tags Garea back in....so much for the heel turn. Garea gains control with a wristlock on Jimmy and Tony tags in Dean. Johnny comes in and the faces get double armbars in before ramming the brothers together. Tony leaves and Dean is left with Johnny. They pound each other but Garea tags in. Johnny cuts him off and throws him into Jimmy who tags in. Garea catches Jimmy with a rolling prawn for 1...2...nope, Johnny kicks him off. Dean gets in and stands on Jimmy for good measure before he leaves. Garea sends Jimmy off but their heads collide to knock them both down. Valiant gets to his feet first only to flop down. Garea hits a sunset flip of his own for 1...2, nope, Johhy kicks him on again. Garea hits a crossbody for 1...2., Johnny again breaks it up. Johnny tags in and Garea hits a backslide for 1...2, no. Jimmy saves him this time. Garea makes the tag to Dean Ho but the bell rings.....whoops. The faces forgot about the time limit and this one's over. The Valiants bail as the announcer declares the bout a draw at one fall apiece due to the curfew. How do ya like that? It wasn't the Valiants or a devious manager that prevented Dean and Tony from winning, it was New York City's curfew. Either way the Valiant's retain. Pretty entertaining match and they kept everyone strong by having it end in a draw.
Time of match: 12:13
Winners: No one: Time Limit Draw (Valiants retain)
Standard 70's show all things considered and people at the time loved it. Bruno and Arion beat the crap out of each other in an all out brawl while the Strongbow/Kowalski/Wolfman matches were more the babyface overcoming the crazy heel. Its a shame the entire show isn't available because seeing the first three matches would have been interesting. As of now Bruno & The Valiants are still the champs. If you're judging this show by today's standards, you're gonna hate it. The Kowalski match dragged a bit but that was because of mismatched styles. Watch Bruno vs Kowalski, THAT was more like it. I had a good time watching, on to the next show.
