WWWF at Madison Square Garden (5/16/77) Incomplete

May 16, 1977

Madison Square Garden

New York City, New York

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

This is going to be an incomplete write-up as nearly the entire show has been lost to time but last two matches including the main event remains. This was "Superstar" Billy Graham's first WWWF title defense after beating Bruno Sammartino for the strap the month before. Traditionally heels were transition champions as Ivan Koloff put over Pedro Morales a month after dethroning Bruno and Stan Stasiak dropped it to Bruno nine days after beating Pedro. Well this theory would be put to the test because Billy's opponent tonight would be none other than Gorilla Monsoon, one month shy of his 40th birthday. Not that Gorilla wasn't popular in New York, he'd be beloved until the day he passed, but Gorilla's time had come and gone. Could this be that Graham would NOT be a transition champion? Let's find out. The only other match that has any footage is the semi-main event as the former champ Bruno takes on old rival George "The Animal" Steele. Let's get to it.

Match 1

Carlos Rocha vs Jan Nelson

As I mentioned in a previous writeup, Jan Nelson was an up and coming wrestler that would tragically pass away a year later. Remember at the 1993 Royal Rumble when legendary Puerto Rican promoter/wrestler Carlos Colon competed in the Rumble for absolutely no reason explained? Well back in 1977 legendary Portuguese wrestler Carlos Rocha joined WWWF in his 50's for a year long run for absolutely no reason. According to the program, Rocha defeated Nelson.

Winner: Carlos Rocha

Match 2

Ron Mikolajczyk vs Doug Gilbert

No, that's not infamous Memphis wrestler Doug Gilbert, he would have been 8 years old at the time. This is Doug Lindsay, a big rough territory heel. Ron is actually THE Ron Mikolajcyzk the former New York Giants offensive lineman. Apparently he became friends with Jerry Lawler when he was playing for Memphis in the ill-fated World Football League (think XFL in 1974) so he wrestled during the off-season. Imagine him vs Ernie Ladd? Anyway Ron got the duke here.

Winner: Ron Mikolajczyk

Match 3

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs "Polish Power" Ivan Putski

Finally people we know as two WWWF mainstays square off in a mid-card showdown. Apparently the bout ended in a draw. Its a shame the match has been lost to time.

Winner: No one (Draw)

Match 4

Chief Jay Strongbow vs Ken Patera

Patera couldn't stand Strongbow or his partner Billy White Wolf so tonight he gets Strongbow one on one. Unfortunately this match has also been lost to time and apparently it also ended in a draw. The feud was just beginning.

Winner: No one (Draw)

Match 5

Billy White Wolf vs Rocky Tomayo

Speaking of White Wolf, here he is in singles action against Peruvian wrestler Rocky Tomayo. Tomayo was a big rough heel mostly working the territories. Apparently White Wolf got the win in this one.

Winner: Billy White Wolf

Match 6

Larry Zbyszko and Tony Garea vs Nikolai Volkoff and Stan Stasiak

Another match that's unfortunately lost to time is this one. Zbyszko and Garea were the top babyface tag team behind White Wolf and Strongbow and here they take on veteran heels Volkoff and Stasiak. Apparently Garea and Zbyszko won the match

Winners: Garea & Zbyszko

Match 7

Bruno Sammartino vs George "The Animal" Steele

If you thought John Cena wrestled Randy Orton a zillion times between 2001 and 2021 Bruno vs Steele may have that beat. Bruno vs Steele was a WWWF mainstay that lasted for nearly two decades. Thankfully there IS footage of this match so let's get to it. We're joined in progress as Bruno chases Steele around the ring and rakes the eyes. Bruno puts the boots to Steele and whips George into the corner who Flair flips out of the ring. Steele takes a few moments to collect himself as some old lady hits Steele with her pocketbook a whole bunch of times while George just does his thing to shrug it off. Props to George for playing around with it rather than break character and tell a security guard to escort her out like you see today's softies do. The ref leans out of the ring to tell George to get back in and George stalls for more heat. Arnie Skaaland at ringside laughs at the old lady taking swings at George as he gets back in. George does the "foreign object" routine and punches Bruno with it as the crowd jumps up to complain. George clubs away at Bruno then kicks away at him. George gets the object out and nails Bruno in the throat with it. This continues two more times and George stomps away at Bruno in the corner.  The ref tries to pull Steele off Bruno as he continues to kick Sammartino. Bruno gets to his feet and George clubs away with forearms. Bruno then does a pseudo Hulk-Up and the crowd starts to buzz. My grandfather loved this part....Sammartino finally explodes and beats the ever-loving piss out of Steele with forearms, turnbuckle smashes and right hands to the head. Bruno whips Steele into the corner and stomps away at him with the ref trying to get him off. Bruno continues to go apeshit on Steele who blades on camera with the camera focusing directly on him....whoops. Bruno continues to kick away at the bloody Steele until the ref shoves him off.  Bruno stands on Steele and the ref once again pushes him off. The ref checks on Steele and calls for the bell saying George can't continue. It was almost the exact same match Pedro Morales had against Steele in 1973. The crowd roars as Bruno is declared the winner. For those that didn't get to watch a lot of Bruno, he was a lot like Hogan where he'd take a beating the entire match then explode at the end. It doesn't seem like much today but fans in the 60's and 70's loved it.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Bruno Sammartino by stoppage

Match 8

Gorilla Monsoon vs "Superstar" Billy Graham with The Grand Wizard for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship

As mentioned earlier, heel champions didn't last very long as both Ivan Koloff and Stan Stasiak had short reigns to transition to babyface champions. Using that logic, smart fans (if there were any) were excited to see if the near 40 year old Gorilla Monsoon would be the man in New York. Meanwhile, casual fans wanted to see Graham get his ass kicked so the Garden is rocking for the main event. Monsoon stalks Graham at the bell and they tie up. Graham tries to throw Monsoon around like he does all the jobbers but Gorilla doesn't budge. Graham tries another throw but Monsoon shrugs it off. Its funny because I can hear the commentator version of Gorilla from 10 years later going "Highly unlikely you're gonna move him like that." Monsoon then heaves Graham down and catches him with a giant swing. Monsoon bounces off the ropes and HITS THE BIG SPLASH FOR 1...2.....the referee's arm goes 2/3's the way down but he correctly sees Graham's whole legs are on the ropes. The crowd thought that was it as Monsoon kicks at the air in frustration. Graham rolls to the outside to get a breather then begs off inside the ring. Monsoon catches him with chops to the head before locking in an arm-bar. Graham sells like his arm is being torn off and Monsoon revs up the crowd. Graham rakes the eyes but his shoulderblock attempt backfires as he hits the deck. Monsoon goes for an elbow drop but misses. Graham kicks away at Monsoon in the corner but Monsoon starts getting up. Monsson starts shaking off Graham's forearms but Billy catches him in the bearhug. The crowd cheers as Monsoon looks to chop his way out but he starts to fade. Finally Monsoon catches Billy with a series of chops to the head to break free. Both men are down but Graham gets up first and clobbers Monsoon. Monsoon takes a big bump off the turnbuckle as Graham stomps away. Graham then locks in another bearhug but Monsoon makes it to the ropes. Graham holds on as they fall out of the ring and he rams Gorilla into the barricade multiple times. The ref looked to have counted to 20 but it doesn't matter as Monsoon is rolled in with Graham going upstairs. Graham hits a knee drop off the top rope, rolls Monsoon over and covers. Monsoon's foot is clearly out of the ring but the ref doesn't see it....1...2....3, that's it. Graham retains in his first title defense at Madison Square Garden. That was an interesting match because Graham was in control almost from start to finish apart from the initial big splash. Guess Graham survives another month as champion for now with a victory over Monsoon.

Time of match: 9:45

Winner: "Superstar" Billy Graham by pinfall

Its a shame the first six matches have been lost to time because it would have been interesting to see the tag champs in singles action along with Volkoff and Stasiask as a team. Hell it would have been funny to see Scicluna and Putski as well. Still the Bruno/Steele match was that generation's Cena vs Orton or Rock vs HHH and it had a hell of an ending. The main event was short and sweet as Gorilla was nearing the end physically and Graham was never the best technician. Still, two matches from the card remain and as long as there's wrestling fans, they'll always remain. 

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.

WWWF Championship Wrestling (5/7/77)

WWWF Championship Wrestling
May 7, 1977
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Arena

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

The show opens with Vince Jr in the canary yellow suit running down the card. We also get an announcement from Vince that we have a new WWWF Champion as "Superstar" Billy Graham had beaten Bruno Sammartino the previous Saturday night in Baltimore. We go to Vince narrating highlights of Graham vs Bruno in Baltimore....just not the finish. We go to Gary Michael Capetta in the ring for the introductions. This hour of wrestling is sanctioned by the state athletic commission, the timekeeper is JP Venom (at least it sounds like that's his name), the referees are Dick Woehrle, Dusty Feldbaumer and John Stanley and his name is Gary Michael Capetta. Wow, no shout out to the doctor at ringside or Phil Zacko? Joe McHugh would NEVER!

Match 1

Bob Backlund vs Jan Nelson

Oh look its Bob Backlund! For you youngsters, Bob was the 190 pound Division 2 NCAA wrestling champion for North Dakota State in 1971 and finished 5th as a senior in the heavyweight division in 1972. Legendary Minnesota trainer Eddie Sharkey (the guy who trained The Road Warriors, Barry Darsow, Rick Rude, The Berzerker, Tom Zenk and Nikita Koloff) trained Backlund for the professional ranks and he started making his rounds in the territories from 73-76, especially the AWA in Minnesota, For those that don't know the story, "Mean" Gene Okerlund claims that when Backlund arrived in New York in 1976, Gagne jokingly said "Try and make HIM a star." to Vince Sr. Vince took it as a challenge and basically decided to make Backlund the successor to "Superstar" Billy Graham come hell or high water. Backlund had beaten Tor Kamata in a Texas Death Match the week before (referenced by Kamata here) so now he gets....Jan Nelson. Nelson also was an AWA trainee as he came out of Verne Gagne's camp in 1976. Tragically the story goes he OD'd and died during a Grateful Dead concert in 1978. Backlund takes Nelson down before countering out of a tie up. Backlund hip rolls Nelson as Vince says he's playing around with him. Backlund gets in a hammerlock before they reverse each other. Nelson looks in a full nelson (no pun intended) but Backlund reverses it into a full nelson of his own. Nelson reverses it and Backlund sticks his foot out and somehow tosses Nelson over his shoulders down. That's one way to counter a full nelson! Backlund and Nelson wins a test of strength then arm drags Nelson down. Nelson backs Bob into the corner and Bob backs him off by cocking a fist. Backlund reverses a headlock into a hammerlock as Vince continue to sing his praises. Nelson tries to kick Backlund who grabs the leg and takes him down before applying a wristlock. Nelson elbows Backlund in the ribs and goes to down with smashes before backdropping Backlund. He covers for 1...and Bob powers out of it. Backlund hits a backdrop of his own followed by a double underhook suplex. Backlund hits the atomic drop and covers for 1...2.....3 that's it. Backlund celebrates like he just won a title as Capetta announces the victory before Vince goes to the highlights. If you're not a fan of technical wrestling, this would bore you. If you can appreciate storytelling, you can see why Bob was a favorite for Vince Sr.

Time of match: 5:32

Winner: Bob Backlund by pinfall

We go straight to the next match after the commercial break

Match 2

Johnny Rivera vs Professor Toru Tanaka (with "Classy" Freddie Blassie)

Good to see Tanaka again and this time he's got Blassie with him. In real life, Blassie loved Tanaka and claimed he was the more professional of the duo of Tanaka and Mr. Fuji. By now Tanaka was 47 years old and on the downside of his career (but he had plenty of movies to be in) but the fans still throw stuff at him on the way to the ring. Tanaka throws the ceremonial salt in the corners and ties up with Rivera. Tanaka chops away at Rivera and rakes him across the top rope. Tanaka gets in a front headlock as Blassie goes over to yell at McMahon. He calls Tanaka the greatest Japanese wrestler of all time and they're going to the top. Rivera rallies with right hands but a chop by Tanaka stops him. Tanaka gets in a nerve hold and twists the neck much to Blassie's delight. Tanaka rams Rivera into the buckle as McMahon says Tanaka hasn't been around in a while. Rivera rallies with right hands and rams his head in the buckle. Tanaka cuts him off with a chop to the throat but Rivera continues to rally with forearms. Rivera shoulderblocks Tanaka but it barely fazes him but a second attempt eats a karate kick. Tanaka applies a cobra clutch before throwing Rivera to the mat. He covers for 1...2...3 and that's it, Tanaka wins. Later on that would be a submission hold but Tanaka settled for a pinfall. Blassie distracts the ref as Tanaka kicks at Rivera for some more heat. They were building Tanaka as a solo here, maybe he would be fed to Backlund this time. Either way he disposes of Rivera.

Time of match: 5:27

Winner: Tanaka by pinfall

We go straight from commercial to our next match.

Match 3

Billy White Wolf vs Moose Monroe

You're not gonna believe this, the "Native American" White Wolf is none other than the Iraqi born Adnan Al-Kassie. Yes GENERAL ADNAN. 13 years before he was Sgt Slaughter's manager, he was Billy White Wolf. His opponent Moose Monroe was your standard brawling, tough looking fella. Billy was one half of the tag champs at the time with Chief Jay Strongbow.....another fake native American. They stall to start with Monroe yelling at the crowd for some heat before Monroe goes to work with forearms to the back. Monroe rams Billy's head into two different buckles before continuing to pound away with forearms and kicks. Monroe rams him into a third buckle which fires up Billy. Monroe begs off and take a breather but Billy fires away with forearms and chops to the chest. White Wolf picks up the legs and jumps between them to deliver an Aftershock to Monroe. Wolf splashes Monroe and covers for 1...2....3 that's it. Pretty pathetic to lose to that kind of combo after taking no damage the entire match, but that's jobber matches for you. Capetta shakes referee Dick Woehrle's hand after the bell for no reason but that's okay.

Time of match: 2:45

Winner: White Wolf by pinfall

We come back from commercial straight to the next match

Match 4

Don Serrano vs George "The Animal" Steele (with Captain Lou Albano)

Half man, half animal....even as a heel The Animal was always very entertaining. Here he gets to feast on another Puerto Rican jobber (is Vince Sr ever going to get over the Pedro Morales riots?) and he bumrushes him in the corner to start without taking his signature black & red shirt off. Steele bites the poor guy and lands a forearm before throwing his shirt off. Steele attacks the left arm with a ringer and some kicks before being taken down. Steele continues to work over the left arm by standing on it with one foot and stomping with the other. Captain Lou nods in approval and applies the hammerlock. Serrano gives up and that's it, Steele wins easily. Steele starts playing dumb and bites into the turnbuckle. Vince Jr says he has a "fetish" for the buckles as Steele bails to scare some fans outside. Vince goes to the replay before going to commercial. Steele had turned 40 years old the previous month but he was still an attraction for sure.

Time of match: 2:08

Winner: George Steele by submission

We go from commercial straight to the next match.

Match 5

Mike Madera vs WWWF Heavyweight Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham (with The Grand Wizard)

Graham is making his TV debut as the new champion against yet another Puerto Rican jobber. Graham poses for the crowd with the belt and gets a huge pop from the crowd. Graham poses some more as Capetta says this is a NON-TITLE match. Grand Wizard shows the belt to the crowd and they cheer. If you think Vince Jr is behind the times these days, the fans were cheering FOR Graham and Vince Sr refused to turn him face. Legend has it that Vince didn't think fans would get behind him as a face because of his build. Hulk Hogan seven years later proved otherwise. Wizard slathers oil all over the Superstar which no doubt will make Madera happy to have to roll around with Graham in it. Wizard leaves and the bell finally rings with Graham towering over his opponent. He delivers forearms to the chest then stomps away on the guy. Graham rams Madera's head in the buckle and stomps away some more. Graham scoop slams Mike and stomps away at him. Graham heaves Madera over the top rope to the floor as the crowd cheers. Madera crawls back in only to get thrown over the top rope on the otherside. Madera gets snapped back inside and Graham totally botches a German suplex. Graham rolls over and covers Madera for 1....2...3 that's it. Graham wins it and poses for the crowd some more.

Time of match: 2:17

Winner: Billy Graham by pinfall

We go to commercial then straight to the main event

Match 6

Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko vs Baron Von Raschke and Stan "The Man" Stasiak

No managers for the heels so this is going to be straight up as Larry starts with Stasiak. Stan gets in an arm lock and uses his taped right hand to punch him when he's not looking. Larry reverses it and Stan tags in Baron. Rascke backs Larry into the rope and hammers away with forearms. Baron works on the pectoral muscle before locking in an armbar. Vince Jr says his signature brainclaw has helped him and Stan have been undefeated as a team since forming. Baron and Stasiak make frequent tags to keep Larry in their corner but Larry finally backdrops Raschke. Zbyszko arm drags Raschke and makes the hot tag to Garea.  Garea pummels Raschke in the corner and backdrops him. Tony scoop slams Baron and covers for a 1 count. Garea puts his head down and eats a boot to the head. Stasiak tags in and goes for the heart punch early, but Garea blocks it with a punch to the gut. Stan recovers and rams Tony's head into the buckle. Stan clubs away and goes for another heart punch but instead punches the buckle. Stan sells it like he broke his hand and tags in Baron. Raschke hip tosses Garea but misses an elbow drop. Stan tags in but Larry gets the hot tag to clean house. Stan does the Andre spot on the top rope and Baron gets caught as well. Tony and Larry pummel the tied up heels much to the crowd's delight before Raschke is freed. Garea and Zbyszko send Baron crashing into Stan before Stasiak is free. Stasiak turns it around with right hands to the head of Zbyszko. He covers for 1....2...nope, Garea breaks it up. Stan heaves Zbyszko threw the ropes to the outside but Tony helps him back in. Rachke then takes control of Larry with punches and kicks before tagging in Stasiak. They both kick him in the chest and Stan misses the heart punch again, this time punching the mat. Stasiak continues to manhandle Larry around the ring but Larry finally comes back with roundhouse rights. Raschke tags in but Garea gets in as the bell rings. Gotta love old era curfews, folks. The crowd doesn't explode out of their seats and sprint to the exit like MSG but the match is over with the faces beating up the heels. Garea and Zbyszko clean house as Gary Capetta announces the match is a draw. Garea raises Zbyszko's hand as the crowd cheers before we go to the replay of the chaos at the end. Would have been nice if they could have been given more time since the story being told was the faces trying their best to avoid the heart punch. Oh well.

Time of match: 8:33

Winners: No one (Curfew draw)

As the credits roll Vince quickly advertises next weeks card. Kitty Adams takes on Sheila Sheppard in a women's match, SD Jones takes on Ken Patera and more highlights of Graham vs Bruno from Baltimore. Normally this one would be a standard show but Graham having just won the title and becoming just the sixth man (7th champion) to hold the championship since 1963 was big news. Compare that to the title changing hands 9 times from 2020 to 2022 until Roman Reigns unified it. Fans were wondering who the new champion was going to be since traditionally heels were just transition champions but boy were they in for a surprise. Sadly Vince Sr already had his new champion in mind and when he'd be crowned but it wouldn't be for another year. There was no secondary title just yet so for the next two years it was just whoever Graham was facing and whatever tag teams Vince brought into the territory. Buckle up everyone for a lot of tire spinning. Then again, that's not fair to judge 1977 WWWF by today's standards where every match is supposed to be important or at least lead to something. Back then with guys coming and going it was a rarity for a non-title match to have importance. Bruno vs Zbyszko being a huge exception. Anyway it was May of 1977 and Graham is the new champ.

WWWF Championship Wrestling (4/23/77)

WWWF Championship Wrestling
April 23, 1977
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Arena

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

The show opens with the trumpet intro with Vince McMahon Jr wearing a canary yellow suit in the intro saying viewer discretion is advised before running down the card. Tony Garea teams with Larry Zybysko against Tor Kamata and Johnny Rodz. Ivan Putski vs Jo-Jo Andrews with the return of "High Chief" Peter Maivia. Howard Finkel handles the pre-show introductions before the first match. This hour of wrestling is promoted by Phil Zacko sanctioned by the state athletic commission....you know the rest. The referees are Dusty Feldbaumer, John Stanley and Dick Woehrle and he's Howard Finkel. On to the first match.


Match 1

Sylvano Sousa vs "High Chief" Peter Maivia

Sousa is in the red singlet with blue tights and Peter's in the white trunks. Vince calls Peter a "real bull". His grandson became a Brahma bull but that's a different story. Peter armdrags Sousa twice before chilling on the top rope. Sousa charges but Maivia somersaults away. He catches Sousa with a back elbow smash as the camera focuses on the tribal tattoos Peter has on his legs that were applied with a chisel, hammer and ink with no painkillers. I challenge anyone to get tats like that these days. Maivia gets in a headlock as Vince explains the ritual. Maivia snapmares Sousa and poses while Vince says "If you live through the ritual, you deserve to be Chief." Maivia whips Sousa into the corner where Silvano bumps to the ground. Maivia goes to the arm-bar and Sousa counters by ramming Peter's head into the buckle....no effect. Sousa goes to headbutt Maivia and hurts himself instead. Snap mare by Maivia is followed by two flying headbutts to the midsection. He applies a sidebackbreaker and gets the submission with a stump puller. He does the "I love you" sign and leaves as Vince says we'll be seeing more of him in the future. We certainly will.


Time of match: 5:16

Winner: Peter Maivia by submission



Match 2

Tor Kamata and Johnny Rodz vs Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko

Johnny has the green singlet with Tor in cammo swish pants. Larry is in the black trunks with Garea in his standard. Fink barely finishes the introductions when Rodz and Kamata attack. Kamata lays waste to Garea with Johnny taking out Zybysko in opposite corners. Eventually Garea fights back against Kamata and Larry gets the upper hand of Rodz. Larry whips Johnny and Garea hits a clothesline. Rodz literally runs around in the ring before bailing outside to regroup with Kamata. Vince "Johnny trying to find a place to hide." Garea and Larry isolate Rodza but Kamata repeatedly runs into the ring. Rodz begs off and Larry shows mercy. Zybysko takes his eyes off Johnny for a split second and Rodz kicks him. Kamata tags in and holds Larry for Johnny to come off the top twice with boots. Kamata kicks away at Larry before dropping him with a dropkick. Tor makes the cover but Garea throws him off before the three. Johnny and Kamata double-team Larry and Kamata covers for a two count. Kamata and Johnny exchange tags with moves before covering only for Garea to break up the count. Garea gets the hot-tag and cleans house but he's overwhelmed by Rodz, applying a chicken wing. Vince says Garea and Zybysko are undefeated as tag partners. Garea drops Johnny with a shoulderblock but eats an armdrag. Kamata tags in and works over Tony before Johnny once again comes off the top with a smash. Rodz drops the big leg but only gets a two count on the cover. Rodz misses the big splash. Larry nails Johnny for his trouble but on the other side Kamata chokes Garea. Kamata and Rodz completely botch a spot when Rodz holds Garea in a full nelson. Garea was supposed to duck when Kamata hits the big chop but he didn't move fast enough, so Kamata chopped Garea on the top of the head before Tony slid down. Kamata on the fly chops Rodz when Garea was already down and Vince says "Wonder why he did that." Kamata pretends to be shocked but Rodz picks up Garea and they re-do the spot. This time Garea ducks, Rodz gets dropped and Larry attacks Kamata. Garea covers Rodz for 1...2...3 and its over. Kamata acts shocked again as Rodz is irate. After the faces leave Kamtata knocks out Rodz and gets a chorus of boos in the ring. They shouldn't have re-done the spot because it made Kamata a lot more incompetent, but he shouldn't have clocked Rodz after Garea had already slid down.

Time of match: 8:07

Winners: Garea and Zybysko by pinfall


Vince catches Kamata on his way to the back. Kamata says "no mo tag team!" He's going solo from here on. Vince asks about Bob Backlund's challenge the previous week and Kamata says he only wants a Texas Death Match. There's your main event for next week's show.



Match 3

Haiti Kid and Hillbilly Pete vs Little John and "The Six Million Dollar Midget" Billy The Kid

Good grief, midgets. Vince gets a kick out of the 6 Million Dollar Midget monniker. Little John and Haiti Kid start and Kid takes advantage with a dropkick. John covers and Kid kicks out where John lands on the ref. The midgets pile on the ref and John eventually sunset flips the ref with Billy making the mock three count. Ha...ha...ha.... Billy makes the tag as Hillbilly does as well. Hillbilly mule kicks Billy but Billy drops him throat first on the second rope. Right hands drop Hillbilly before Little John tags in and hits a big backdrop. A scoop slam is followed by a right hand but Hillbilly makes the tag. Haiti Kid ass bumps both opponents down before going to work on John. Haiti hits a backdrop and headlocked punches before a headbutt. Haiti slingshots John into the center of the ring before slingshotting him into an interfering Billy. Hillbilly gets in and puts Billy in an airplane spin while Haiti puts John in an airplane spin of his own. Hillbilly and Haiti Kid cover their opponents and the ref counts the double pin 1....2....3 and its over. A dazed Billy puts John in an airplane spin after the match not realizing who was in the spin.

Time of match: 3:02

Winners: Hillbilly Pete and Haiti Kid by pinfall


Back to Vince, he says still to come Putski vs Andrews as well as Ken Patera in action.



Match 4

Pete Austin vs "The World's Strongest Man" Ken Patera with Captain Lou Albano

Austin is in standard attire with Patera in the Olympic singlet. A svelte looking Albano shouts at the fans before the action begins. Patera goes to work with elbows to the nose on the top rope. Forearms to the back are followed by ramming the head into the buckle. Albano tells Vince that Pete is a psycho case. Patera gets in a side-headlock as Vince says Patera was a great athlete but then Albano got a hold of him, poisoning his mind. Patera continues to land forearm smashes as Vince blames Albano for his heel tactics. Patera scoop slams Pete and drops a few elbows. Ken poses for the irate crowd before landing a backbreaker. He covers for 1..2..nope, he pulls him up for more punishment. Ken locks in a bearhug and Pete gives it up. Albano gets in the ring as Patera drops his overmatched opponent and screams "Woooooooo!" Who does he think he is, Ric Flair?

Time of match: 4:19

Winner: Ken Patera by submission



Match 5:

JoJo Andrews vs Ivan Putski

Before Fink can finish the introductions Putski grabs the mic away and screams "POLISH POWAHHHH!" He tries to cut a promo but somehow Fink gets the mic away so he can finish. Jojo Andrews was born Jimmie Lee Banks and got his start as an 18 year old for The Sheik's Big Time Wrestling in Detroit in 1975. He would have been about 20 years old here. Putski is in standard trunks and he starts with a headlock. Putski drops the big guy with a shoulderblock while going back to the headlock. Jojo gets in a few thumbs to the throat as Vince brings up last week's encounter. Putski serves the same punishment back as referee Dick Woehrle admonishes him back. Putski gets in a rear chinlock and screams "Yes sir!!! Polish powahhhh!!! Andrews powers out of it as Vince says they sellout everytime. Wait 14 years Vince. Putski whips Andrews off the ropes and hits the Polish Hammer. He does the aftershock and covers for 1...2...3 its over. Putski gets the duke and once again rips the mic away from Fink to scream into it after the match is over. We get it Ivan, we get it!

Time of match: 4:43

Winner: Putski by pinfall


Match 6

Johnny Rivera and SD Jones vs Baron Von Raschke and Stan "The Man" Stasiak (with The Grand Wizard and Freddie Blassie)

Guest commentator: Gorilla Monsoon

For those that don't know the bad guys, Jim Raschke was a star wrestler and football player for his hometown Nebraska University from 1959-62. Verne Gagne loved amateur wrestlers so he convinced Raschke to be an AWA referee in 1966. Since Raschke was very odd looking, Verne convinced him to be Baron Von Raschke, an evil German who goosestepped around the ring not unlike Waldo & Fritz Von Erich. Raschke made a whole career of being a vicious heel. Ironically Bruno Sammartino's last successful title defense was beating Raschke before losing to Billy Graham.  Stasiak still drew as a heel so he was paired with another rough heel in Raschke. Stasiak was managed by Wizard with Raschke managed by Blassie, lot of fashion in the ring with those two managers. Jones is in the purple singlet with Johnny in standard trunks. Stasiak and Baron are in their standard attire. Referee Dick Woehrle tells Wiz and Blassie to hit the bricks so we can start. Stasiak starts with Rivera and the size difference is incredible. Either Rivera is really short or Stasiak is taller than advertised (6'4). Rivera gets the wristlock in and Stasiak quickly retreats where he tags in Raschke. Baron applies the fireman carry takeover before getting the armbar. Monsoon sits in on commentary and Vince asks him about Backlund/Kamata. Rivera gets the upperhand on Raschke and he retreats before Stasiak tags back in. Rivera applies a head scissors while Monsoon says the Pennsylvania state athletic commission has sanctioned the Texas Death Match for....next week on Championship Wrestling. Wow, couldn't wait for the Garden huh? Well then again it would make next week's show less boring. Raschke interferes and nails Rivera, allowing Stasiak to throw the poor guy over the top rope. Raschke gets in as Vince says the rules are, there are none in a Texas Death Match. SD Jones gets the hot tag and cleans out the heels until Wizard props Stasiak back on the apron. Monsoon leaves as SD blocks the heart punch and delivers a headbutt, but Stasiak locks in a bearhug. Raschke tags in and delivers a bearhug of his own. Stasiak tags in and nails SD with the heart punch. The cover gets 1....2...3 and goodnight Jones. The heels celebrate their win as Blassie taunts Jones for good measure. We go to the replay of the heart punch.

Time of match: 8:24

Winners: Stasiak and Von Raschke


The ending credits appear as Vince says next week we got a Texas Death Match between Backlund and Kamata. That's it for this week's show, not much going on. What wasn't talked about is within a week would be Bruno Sammartino defending the WWWF Championship against Superstar Billy Graham. Any guesses on how that turns out? The next show after this one is tonight's house show at the Providence Civic Center. I'll see you there.

WWWF at The Boston Garden (4/10/76) Incomplete

Boston Garden

Boston, MA

April 10, 1976

We're back once again with an incomplete writeup as footage for only one match exists from the WWWF house show at the Boston Garden on April 10, 1976. The night after the Boston Bruins blanked the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the NHL playoffs but tonight its time for wrestling. This was a pretty stacked card considering this was the exact same day the WWWF ran the Baltimore Civic Center with a completely different crew. The only match filmed was the main event, a Russian Chain match featuring former WWWF Champion Ivan Koloff taking on Bruno Sammartino for the strap. Koloff beat Bruno in 1971 so he's gunning for him again.

Match 1

Jose Gonzalez vs Baron Mikel Scicluna

Back in 1976, Jose was usually one half of The Invaders tag team only this time he's going solo under his real name against the Baron. This match ended up being a draw.

Winner: No one (Draw)

Match 2

Pat McGuinness vs Man Mountain Mike

McGuinness was a territory villain, usually working Memphis and Florida. Mike was 6'4 and legitimately almost 600 pounds just like his partner/rival Haystacks Calhoun. Mike was born Gary Fletcher and he played 2 years of college baseball before The Great Bolo found him at a buffet (no lie) and trained him to be a wrestler. Unfortunately Mike will always be known as the opponent for "Iron" Mike Dibiase when Dibiase died in the ring of a heart attack. If Haystacks was the big friendly hillbilly, Mike was the big rough heel. Apparently Pat was a sub for Gene Dundee and Mike got the win.

Winner: Man Mountain Mike

Match 3

Louis Cerdan vs "Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz

One half of the tag champs in Cerdan takes on Rodz in this one. His partner will be facing "Superstar" Billy Graham later. Not surprisingly, Cerdan got the victory.

Winner: Louis Cerdan

Match 4

Pete Sanchez vs Kevin Sullivan

Sullivan and Sanchez were going on tour in a rare face vs face showdown and apparently they brought it to Boston on this night. There was no way Sullivan was losing in his hometown and he didn't.

Winner: Kevin Sullivan

Match 5

Pat Barrett vs Rocky Tomayo

Barrett was still hanging around after dropping the tag belts with Dominic DeNucci back in August. Now he's got Rocky Tomayo one on one in the Boston Garden. Boston sure loves their Irishmen and the fans were definitely happy when Pat got the duke.

Winner: Pat Barrett

Match 6

Tony Parisi vs "Superstar" Billy Graham

The other half of the tag champs, Parisi, takes on the Superstar. Unfortunately for Parisi, he gets beat by Graham.

Winner: "Superstar" Billy Graham

Match 7

Ivan Koloff (with Captain Lou Albano) vs Bruno Sammartino (with Arnold Skaaland) in a Russian Chain match for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship

Finally we're at out main event which is the only match with footage existing. As I mentioned earlier, Koloff dethroned Bruno back in 1971 and the premise is he's gonna do it again. We got the Russian Chain gimmick because Bruno is going to have to overcome Koloff at his own game if he wants to keep the title. Albano attacks Bruno before the bell and Bruno kicks him down before scoop slamming him. Albano flees to the outside and Koloff does nothing about it. The chain is attached to both men and Koloff bashes him in the head with the chain instantly. They engage in a tug of war and Bruno gets the upperhand, bashing Koloff with it and choking him.  Bruno uses the chain to whip Koloff to the corner and wraps it around Ivan's neck. John Stanley can't DQ Bruno because there aren't any. Bruno kicks and punches Koloff before using the chain to whip him into the corner. Bruno again chokes Ivan with the chain but Ivan gets a thumb to the eye. Now its Ivan's turn to choke with the chain in the corner. Koloff hits him with the chain then whips Bruno in the corner. Bruno reverses a whip and sends Ivan into the corner before kicking at him. Bruno sends Koloff into the corner, wraps his fist with the chain and starts beating Koloff down, busting him open. Bruno continues the onslaught in the corner and caters to the crowd. Koloff staggers to his feet and Bruno continues to punch away with the chain around his fist. Koloff finds a way to drop Bruno with the chain and choke him with it. The action spills outside where Bruno sends Koloff into the guardrail. They smash each other with wooden chairs but Koloff puts the boots to Bruno as first man in the ring. Koloff chokes Bruno with the chain but Bruno punches and kicks him. Bruno then wraps part of the chain around Koloff's neck in the corner and stretches it from the outside like a makeshift noose. Koloff gives it up and Bruno is your winner! Angelo Savoldi and Sylvano Sousa help Koloff to the back as Bruno stands tall in the ring. Chain matches have been done to death over the years but in 1976 Boston Garden it must have been a lot of fun.

Time of match: 7:10

Winner: Bruno Sammartino by submission (Still WWWF Champion)

Would have been nice to see the rest of the card but we should all be thankful the main event has been restored. Would have been great to see a young Sullivan in the Boston Garden or Man Mountain Mike back when attractions like him came around once a blue moon. Bruno and Koloff had their wars, no doubt about it and they all drew a bunch of money. There's always going to be footage unearthed of matches that aren't available today so its a good time when something like this is found.

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.

WWWF All-Star Wrestling (1/10/76)

WWWF All Star Wrestling
January 10, 1976
Hamburg, PA
Hamburg Fieldhouse

Its 1976 and the world is hopping mad! This edition of WWWF All-Star Wrestling is hosted by Vince McMahon Jr and Antonino Rocca. Vince Jr says Bobo Brazil will be in action along with the tag champs Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi. We also got Bugsy McGraw and Crusher Blackwell against Francisco Flores and a 26 year old Kevin Sullivan.....yes THAT Kevin Sullivan. Vince says they'll be right back before we get started with the first match. Joe McHugh says this hour of wrestling is promoted by Phil Zacko and sanctioned by the state athletic commission. The doctor at ringside is Dr. Fred Heinbach, the timekeeper at the bell is Mike Minton, the referees are "Wee" Willie Webber and Dick Woehrle and his name is JOEEEEEEE MCHUGH!

Match 1

Davey O'Hannon vs WWWF United States Heavyweight Champion Bobo Brazil

O'Hannon was a well respected wrestler in his day. He was a fan in the stands when Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers to win the WWWF title and felt it was an honor to share the same ring with him in Davey's own capacity. The 41 year old Bobo Brazil needs no introduction for his contributions to wrestling. Davey is in the gold tights and the legit 6 foot 6 Bobo is in the purple trunks. They shake hands to start and Brazil and Davey clean break at the ropes. Davey backs Bobo in the corner and once again breaks clean. Brazil gets in an armbar before locking in a headlock. Vince Jr says Davey pulled the hair and Davey tries to forearm Brazil against the ropes...but Bobo no-sells it. Brazil stops another attempt by making a fist as Rocca puts over Brazil as a great wrestler. Bobo wins a test of strength and stomps on the hands of Davey. Bobo wins another test of strength and locks in another arm-bar. O'Hannon rakes the eyes and Bobo gets mad and punches him a bunch of times before throwing him across the ring. O'Hannon begs off but Bobo backs him into the corner before clubbing him with a forearm. Bobo rams his head into the buckle three times but Davey counters with right hands. Bobo counters with a headlocked punch and an elbow to the head. Bobo gets a front headlock in the corner but the ref makes him break. O'Hannon rallies with right hands and into a headlock but Brazil sends him off the ropes. Bobo back drops Davey who retreats to the apron where Bobo slingshots him back in. Davey begs off but then goes for the blatant choke. Bobo counters with the headbutt and another toss across the ring. Bobo hits the jumping headbutt and covers for 1..2....3 and its over. Standard 1970's match with ring psychology that would make zoomers fall down and cry, but back then it told a story. Davey couldn't hang with Bobo so he resorted to cheating tactics. After the match they shake hands again, isn't that nice?

Time of match: 7:40

Winner: Bobo Brazil by pinfall

Vince goes to commercial and we return to our next bout

Match 2

Pete McKay vs Louis Cyr (with Classie Freddie Blassie)

Who are these two? Pete was a standard jobber at the time while Cyr was supposed to be the Canadian version of Ken Patera. The name "Louis Cyr" comes from the turn of the century Canadian strongman Louis Cyr. Useless information I know. Blassie is wearing the purple suit and Cyr has a nanook of the north hat. McKay throws Cyr into the ropes but Cyr takes him over with a headlock. McKay gets in a sideheadlock but Cyr drops him with a knee to the ribs. A big right sends McKay down and Cyr drops him again and again. Rocca says Cyr has a "European style" as Blassie walks over and interrupts Antonino to say Cyr is the greatest ever. Blassie in his book said wrestling Rocca was a trip because the crowd would pop for everything he did. Cyr stomps on McKay's hands then punches him in the corner. Cyr heaves McKay across the ring and Rocca praises Cyr's ability. Cyr chokes McKay on the bottom rope then whips him into the other corner. McKay reverses a whip but runs into a big boot. Cyr suplexes McKay then hits a shoulderbreaker. Cyr covers for 1...2....3 and that's it. Impressive win by Cyr who attacks McKay after the bell for some more heat much to Blassie's delight. Standard jobber match that serves its purpose. Cyr is a mean looking fella, look out Bruno!

Time of match: 4:32

Winner: Louis Cyr by pinfall

Vince sends us to commercial and when he comes back he's got Ernie Ladd with him. Vince asks him how he's going to fare against two men in a handicap match. Ladd is mad that he wanted Ivan Putski and Bobo Brazil and he got two jobbers instead. The crowd boos so Ladd tells them to shut up. He says he can beat Bobo and Putski by himself and that's the match he wanted. Vince asks what happened and Ladd says the promoter saved Bobo from embarrassment. Ladd says Putski and Bobo aren't athletes like he is and he has no regard. Ladd puts over Superstar Billy Graham, Spiros Arion and Ivan Koloff as real athletes. Ladd says in the Superbowl, give him a front four of Graham, Koloff and himself and they'd win the Superbowl. Ladd challenges McMahon to do something about him shouting in his face. Hahaha wait 22 years there Ernie. Ernie heads to the ring for his match. 

Match 3

Sylvano Sousa and Tito Torres vs "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd

Ladd starts with Sousa and extends a hand. They shake hands and Ladd backs him into the ropes then locks in a bearhug before executing a hiplock takeover. Ladd works over Sousa in the corner when Torres interferes. Ladd stacks them up in the corner and picks them both up in a double bearhug. That's impressive. Ladd snapmares both of them before scoop slamming Torres. Ladd hits the big boot on Sousa before pressing Torres onto the top rope before clubbing away with forearms. Sousa then attacks from behind and clubs away. Sousa whips Ladd into the corner and Sousa presses the attack to get a pop from the crowd until Ladd drops him with a headbutt. Ladd uses his thumb to club Sousa before nailing Torres in the throat with it. Ladd tosses Torres to the outside and kicks away at Sousa. Ladd hits Sousa in the throat with the thumb and kicks away at him. Ernie gets in a blatant choke but Torres cuts him off. Ladd chops Torres then throws him out of the ring again. Another thumb to the throat of Sousa drops him and Ladd drops the big leg. Ernie puts his hands on Sousa's shoulders and the ref counts 1...2...3 even though Ladd was just setting up for a knee drop. Whoops! Ladd stomps Sousa for more heat as McHugh gets in to announce Ernie the winner. Ladd drew a ton of money as a heel and he'd be featured prominently in New York.

Time of match: 4:48

Winner: Ernie Ladd by pinfall

When we get back from commercial, we go right to the next match.

Match 4

Baron Mikel Scicluna and Vincente Pometti vs Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi (WWWF Tag Team Champions)

What a treat. The champs had beaten The Blackjacks for the tag belts the year prior and now take on Scicluna and Pometti in a non-title match. Captain Lou Albano makes his way to ringside to shout at the champs. Both faces are in red trunks with Scicluna in the royal blue. Parisi starts with Scicluna and armdrags him twice. Cerdan tags in and locks in an armringer but Pometti kicks him off. Vince hypes up the main event after this match as Cerdan goes back to the arm-ringer. Vince asks Rocca about Bobo earlier and Rocca says he looks "veddy veddy good". Cerdan armdrags Scicluna a few more times before Parisi walks in to help Cerdan bring Mikel to the corner. Parisi tags in and picks up where Cerdan left off on the left arm. Parisi swings and misses and Scicluna scoop slams him. Mikel covers for 1..2...nope, Parisi throws him off. Cerdan tags in and Scicluna meets him with boots to the mid-section. Pometti tags in but Cerdan throws him into the corner where Parisi tags in. Parisi grabs Pometti by the beard and referee Willie Webber breaks the grip which causes Pometti some agony. Cerdan tags in and literally steps on Pometti before tagging Parisi back in. Vince asks Rocca to say something and Antonino puts over the frequent tags made by the champs. Cerdan sends Pometti into a Parisi forearm and they repeat the sequence with Cerdan. Parisi tags in and drops an elbow before making the cover. Scicluna stands there and the ref counts 1..2...3 and its over. Baron picks up Pometti and leaves as McHugh annnounces the champs as the winner. That was as boring as it gets apart from a few comedy spots with the referee but that was the standard back then. Jobber matches on TV and the big house shows at MSG, Boston Garden and the Philadelphia Spectrum.

Time of match: 6:03

Winners: Cerdan and Parisi by pinfall

Vince goes to commercial and we get back, the final match is up next

Match 5

Kevin Sullivan and Francisco Flores vs Bugsy McGraw and Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell (with The Grand Wizard and Classy Freddie Blassie)

Lot to unpack here. Sullivan was just 26 at the time while Bugsy was managed by Wizard with Blackwell the protégé of Blassie. Bugsy was one of the top heels in Florida while Blackwell would eventually be a star in the AWA. Sullivan needs no introduction as Flores was billed as the "Mexican Heavyweight Champion". Sullivan starts with Blackwell and its funny how they were both born in 1949 but Blackwell was 6 months older. Blackwell misses a big punch by "a country mile" as said by Vince but gets in a headlock. Sullivan charges twice but is shoulderblocked down twice. Sullivan does catch Blackwell with an armdrag and tags in Flores. Flores works over the left arm as McGraw can't reach him. Sullivan brings Blackwell over and makes the tag to work over the left arm. Blackwell again reaches for the tag and this time McGraw gets it. Its funny how McGraw is 6 foot 3 but towers over everyone because Sullivan and Blackwell were notoriously short. McGraw drops Sullivan twice with two shoulderblocks but a big chop by Kevin sends Bugsy flying. Blackwell tags in and drives Sullivan into the corner. Bugsy tags in and goes to work on Sullivan in the corner. McGraw whips Sullivan to the other side, puts the boots to him then does a snapmare. McGraw throws Sullivan through the ropes who drops McGraw with a shoulderblock but Sullivan's foot gets caught in the middle rope. The referee counts to 10 and apparently Sullivan was counted out. Kind of a BS ending but it kept the heels heat intact without squashing the faces.

Time of match: 5:38

Winners: Blackwell and McGraw by count-out.

We go to Vince at ringside who says next week it'll be McGraw against Ivan Putski. He asks Rocca who's gonna win and Rocca picks Putski to win. Vince says Blassie may interfere as we go to the credits. It would be unfair to judge the show by todays standards because NOBODY was working fast pace crash style in 1976 but for what it was, its still boring. Not every show was this lackluster as next week at least has a featured match. Still, with Vince Sr running the business it was still old school territory wrestling. Hopefully there will be a big event coming up soon.