WWWF at Jaffa Shrine Center (1/23/71)

Jaffa Shrine Center

Altoona, PA

January 23, 1971

The big news around the country was who was tapped to face Ivan Koloff at Madison Square Garden on February 8th. None other than the US Champion Pedro Morales would be facing Koloff in a champion vs champion, title vs title showdown. Talk about a monster match, but until then we still have business in Altoona PA. We got a pretty stacked card with former champion Bruno Sammartino taking on George "The Animal Steele", The tag champs The Mongols defend against US Champ Pedro Morales and Gorilla Monsoon, Ivan Koloff defends the Heavyweight crown against Chief Jay Strongbow and Bulldog Brower takes on Manuel Soto in a big contenders match. This is the opposite of North Attleboro so let's get to the action.

Match 1

"Jumpin" Johnny DeFazio vs Baron Mikel Scicluna

The Junior Heavyweight champion takes on the evil Baron from the Isle of Malta to open the show. DeFazio's title is not on the line as Baron is 6'3 and 250 pounds. The difference might have been the difference in the match as Baron CHEATS to pull out a victory! What a heel.

Winner: Scicluna by pinfall

Match 2

Dominic DeNucci vs Jos LeDuc

The insane LeDuc takes on DeNucci in a big grudge match for no apparent reason. DeNucci's tactics seemed to have angered LeDuc more than usual because LeDuc got himself disqualified for excessive violence. 

Winner: DeNucci by disqualification

Match 3

Manuel Soto vs Bulldog Brower

This match has big implications depending on who walks out of Madison Square Garden the Heavyweight Champion. If Morales pulls it off, Brower needs a win to get a title shot. If Koloff wins, Soto would move closer to another shot. Well Bulldog may be cheering for Pedro on the 8th because he won this match.

Winner: Brower by pinfall

Match 4

Bruno Sammartino vs George "The Animal" Steele

In match number 700 of 7,000 between the two of them, once again this has big implications depending on who walks out of MSG the champion. Bruno somehow didn't get a rematch and Pedro Morales was tabbed as the next one in line so he needs a big win. If Morales were to win, Steele would want a crack at him like he had chances against Bruno. Well the bad news was both men beat each other to a pulp and the ref threw the match out.

Winner: No one (Draw)

Match 5

WWWF United States Champion Pedro Morales & Gorilla Monsoon vs The Mongols (Beppo & Geeto) for the WWWF International Tag Team Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match.

Now this was a monster match. Monsoon and Chief Jay Strongbow had been chasing The Mongols the whole month of January and now Monsoon is with the US Champ and number 1 contender. The Mongols struck first when Geeto clobbered Monsoon from behind allowing Beppo to the get the pin. The faces rallied when Pedro Morales beat Beppo almost unconscious and pinned him to even the fall. Then it was a pier six brawl and the ref threw the match out, ending it in a draw. Usually that was pretty normal but it was telegraphed as Morales would have two titles with a potential third had he won. That was uncommon at the time.

Winners: No one (Mongols retain)

Match 6

Chief Jay Strongbow vs "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship

Finally some real competition for Koloff who had been facing the lower card faces in the days following his win over Bruno. Strongbow had momentum on his side but Koloff had a date with Morales in 16 days. Fans went home happy as even though Koloff won the match, Strongbow chased him out of the arena with the champ running for his life.

Winner: Koloff by pinfall (still WWWF Champion)

That was a MSG worthy card and it was held in Altoona, PA. The news of Morales being tapped to face Koloff rather than a rematch with Bruno was shocking since Pedro was US Champion at the time. Still, Pedro was more than worthy of a title shot and we got 16 days to hype up the showdown. The Mongols got lucky against Pedro and Monsoon but luck doesn't last forever. The win by Brower over Soto meant Morales had to keep his eye on him if he walked out the champ and Koloff has to worry about Bruno if Morales fails. Things were heating up around here and the group would now travel to Maine for the next show, see you there.

WWWF at Punxsutawney High School (1/21/71)

Punxsutawney High School

Punxsutawney, PA

January 21, 1971

We're in the dawn of a new era in the WWWF as Ivan Koloff is the new WWWF Heavyweight Champion. 3 days after Koloff defeated Bruno Sammartino at Madison Square Garden, he would have his first title defense at the Punxsutawney High School in PA. His challenger? None other than....Tony Marino. Yes, the ex-Battman would get the first crack at the new champion. Other matches include Bruno himself taking on Jos LeDuc in a comeback match after losing to Koloff, Dominic DeNucci against Baron Mikel Scicluna and a novelty tag match between ladies and lady midget partners. Sounds like a party so let's get right to it.

Match 1

"Jumpin" Johnny DeFazio vs John L Sullivan

DeFazio's Junior Heavyweight title wasn't on the line as he battles Sullivan in the opening contest. As per norm, the bout ended in a 20 minute draw. Weren't fans sick of opening match draws by then?

Winner: No one (draw)

Match 2

Sharon Joy and Little Darling Dagmar vs WWWF Women's Champion Fabulous Moolah and Diamond Lil

Remember the women's midget match in Bangor where there were four prominent lady midgets? Well we saw Cuddles Anderson and Celine Fontaine then but now we have Little Darling Dagmar and Diamond Lil. Dagmar was basically a fun-sized Marylin Monroe who was the midget version of popular 50's women's wrestler Darling Dagmar. Midget women really haven't been an attraction since the 70's which is peculiar since men's midget wrestling continues today. Sharon Joy was another Moolah girl from the early 70's. Diamond Lil was born Katie Glass, moved in with Moolah when she was 17 and was her lifelong friend. She even lived with Mae Young when Mae came around creating the dynamic we knew in the late 90's. As for the main attraction, what can be said about Fabulous Moolah? Born Lillian Ellison in 1923, she unfortunately lost her mother to cancer when she was eight years old. She had to work on a cotton farm to make money to make up for the lost income but her father brought her to see women's champion Mildred Burke which inspired her to take up wrestling. Moolah then became one of the biggest draws in wrestling from the women's side starting in 1949. In 1956, she won a battle royal to become the Capitol Wrestling women's champion which later morphed into the World Wide Wrestling Federation where she's still the champ 15 years later. Not surprising but Moolah's team won.

Winners: Moolah and Lil

Match 3

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Dominic DeNucci

With Ivan Koloff as champion now, DeNucci needs a big win to be a future contender against the Baron. Koloff himself told Baron to take care of Dominic so he never becomes a contender. Fortunately for Ivan, Scicluna got the duke.

Winner: Scicluna

Match 4

Jos LeDuc vs Bruno Sammartino

After dropping the WWWF title to Koloff just 3 days earlier, Bruno begins his comeback trail against the dangerous LeDuc. Koloff sent LeDuc to take out Bruno so Bruno doesn't get a rematch. Unfortunately for the heels, Bruno wins the match.

Winner: Bruno

Match 5

Tony Marino vs "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff for the WWWF Heavyweight Champion

The new champ's first defense would be against the former Battman. It was a good move by Vince Sr to have Koloff go against a lower card babyface so when his next MSG opponent could be announced on Saturday, they didn't have to sacrifice anyone beforehand. Naturally Koloff got the win and kept the title.

Winner: Koloff (still WWWF Champion)

What a difference a week makes. When Bruno was champion all the talk was which heel would he be facing next after Ivan Koloff but the unthinkable happened, he lost. Now the question is who will be Koloff's first MSG defense going to be against? It sure as hell wouldn't be any of the heels since that was taboo back then and it wasn't going to be Tony Marino. Guess we'll have to just find out on Saturday. Still, it would have been nice to see the women's tag match just for the novelty of it. The next show would be the big Friday night show in North Attleboro, see you there.

WWWF at Pittsburgh Civic Arena (1/15/71)

Pittsburgh Civic Arena

Pittsburgh, PA

January 15, 1971

While half the WWWF roster was performing at Witchi's Sports Arena in North Attleboro, MA.....the other half was at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena for a great card of wrestling three days before Madison Square Garden. WWWF and adopted hometown hero Bruno Sammartino teams with Dominic DeNucci against the dastardly Baron Mikel Scicluna and George "The Animal" Steele in the main event. Other matches include a young John L Sullivan taking on Jim Dillon, Gorilla Monsoon teaming with Victor Rivera against number one contender Ivan Koloff and the insane Jos Le Duc, and "Nobleman" Joe Turco taking on Bobby Hunt. Let's get to the matches.

Match 1

Frank Holtz vs Mike Conrad

Check it out, its Frank Holtz! I said this before but he was a local Pennsylvania police officer who was booked when the WWWF came to Pittsburgh from the 60's all the way to 1976. As per norm, this was a 15 minute time limit draw.

Time of match: 15:00

Winner: No one (Draw)

Match 2

Jim Dillon vs John L Sullivan

Talk about two guys who would go on to greatness. For those that don't know, Jim Dillon is none other than James J Dillon the future architect of the Four Horseman in the NWA. Back then he was a 28 year old "rookie" just getting into the business. He was doubling as referee and enhancement talent. John L Sullivan would later become Luscious Johnny Valiant. He was born Thomas Sullivan and was good friends with Bruno Sammartino in the Pittsburgh area in the late 60's. It was Bruno that helped Johnny get into the business in Detroit, being trained by Al Costello and working for The Sheik. In 1969, he came to New York as the babyface John L Sullivan basing his name off 19th century boxing champion John L Sullivan. Seeing these two great managers in their prime would have been fun to see. Sullivan got the duke when Dillon was counted out.

Time of match: 11:40

Winner: Sullivan by count-out

Match 3

Victor Rivera and Gorilla Monsoon vs Jos Le Duc and Ivan Koloff

This is an interesting matchup as Koloff was three days away from challenging Bruno Sammartino for the heavyweight crown and here he is teaming with the lunatic Jos Le Duc against Rivera and Monsoon. The heels got themselves disqualified.

Time of match: 13:08

Winners: Rivera and Monsoon by pinfall

Match 4

"Nobleman" Joe Turco vs Bobby "Hurricane" Hunt

Hurricane Hunt was a local Pittsburgh wrestler and he had the hometown advantage against the dastardly Turco. Hunt pinned Turco to win the match.

Time of match: 10:33

Winner: Hunt by pinfall

Match 5

Jim Grabmire vs WWWF Junior Heavyweight Champion "Jumpin" Johnny DeFazio

What's that you ask? Believe it or not the WWWF did have a rarely used Junior Heavyweight title for the smaller guys of the time.  This would be a non-title match as Jim Grabmire was 6 foot 6 and 242 pounds. DeFazio pinned Grabmire to win the match.

Time of match: 13:19

Winner: DeFazio by pinfall

Match 6

Baron Mikel Scicluna and George "The Animal" Steele vs Dominic DeNucci and WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino in a 2 out of 3 falls match

The champ is here and he's teaming with DeNucci to take on Scicluna and the insane George Steele. The first fall went to the faces as Sammartino pinned Steele but George got mad and belted Bruno with a chair rendering him unable to continue in the second fall. The third fall went to the faces when Scicluna and Steele were disqualified for doubleteaming Bruno. Back then house shows weren't really talked about on TV but these days they could play up Bruno taking a beating at the hands of Steele & Scicluna just days away from his battle with Koloff. Still, the Pittsburgh Italians win it.

Winners: Bruno & Dominic 2 falls to 1

We're just days away from the big MSG showdown and both the Heavyweight and US champion took beatings at the hands of the heels tonight. Once again, WWWF had only local syndication on the weekends so Friday night Smackdown didn't exist in 1971, otherwise you could play up Morales and Sammartino getting beat up days before their title defenses. Still there was a lot going on that's been lost to time. A younger JJ Dillon duking it out with the future Johnny Valiant and the Junior Heavyweight Champion Jumpin Johnny. There's only one house show left before MSG so we'll see you in Philadelphia.

WWF at Cambria Country War Memorial Arena (1/5/71)

Cambria County War Memorial Arena

Johnstown, PA

January 5, 1971

This is going to be a very short writeup as only one match exists from this card. I don't mean footage either, apparently the entire card has been lost to time including who was on it except for the main event. The only notable fact is the Cambria County War Memorial Arena was where they filmed the movie Slapshot.

Only match

Jos Le Duc and Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Dominic DeNucci and WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino

Apparently this is the only match from this card that's been confirmed. So who are these guys? Jos Le Duc was born Michael Pigeon in Montreal and suffered through living in an orphanage when his parents separated and his mother couldn't afford custody. He eventually worked for the Quebec Provincial Police then became a wrestler. He was mostly known as a crazed lumberjack when he broke into Stampede Wrestling in 1968. Not only did he act crazy, anyone who's ever seen him knows he LOOKED crazy as well. Scicluna and DeNucci we all know, obviously. Bruno was born in Abruzzi Italy before immigrating to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1950. Since he was sickly and poor, he got bullied in high school which caused him to take up wrestling and weightlifting. Bruno actually competed in the 1956 Olympics for power-lifting and actually set a then world record for bench pressing 565 pounds. In 1959 he made his debut as a wrestler and became a top star for the NWA. When Vince Sr wanted Buddy Rogers as NWA champion and was outvoted to keep the title on Lou Thesz, he broke from the NWA to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation and named Buddy his champion. When Buddy started having minor heart attacks, Vince and his partner Toots Mondt made the decision to take the belt off Buddy. The two choices were 41 year old Antonino Rocca or 27 year old Bruno. They both went with Bruno and he beat Rogers in May of 1963. Nearly 8 years later Bruno is still the champ and he enlists the help of DeNucci to take on Scicluna and the deranged Le Duc. Apparently Bruno and DeNucci won the match

Winners: Bruno and Dominic

Who knows what was on the rest of the card but that tag match must have been wild. Without watching I can see Jos Le Duc beating up Bruno only for Bruno to explode and go beserk on him. Anyway, one match is better than nothing. Bruno had a date with Ivan Koloff in two weeks. The drama was building.