WWF at Madison Square Garden: Wrestlemania (3/31/85)

This is going to be a different kind of post because the first Wrestlemania was actually the March 1985 Madison Square Garden show.  There’s a lot of backstory that went into the making of it and I’ll try to do the best I can to piece it all together. It started when Vince McMahon Jr purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling from Jim Barnett in May of 1984. GCW had been broadcast on Ted Turner owned TBS “The Superstation” for a decade and it featured classic NWA wrestling. In what would later be called “Black Saturday”, on July 14, 1984 Vince McMahon appeared on Georgia Championship and switched the programming from NWA wrestling to re-runs of WWF matches. The predominantly southern fans revolted as the difference in product between the NWA and WWF was severe. Instead of classic wrestling they got cartoon wrestling. The ratings hit the toilet almost immediately and Turner was pissed. To get back at Vince, Ted allowed a half hour timeslot for Ole Anderson’s Championship Wrestling From Georgia featuring anyone that refused to go to the WWF when first bought (among those were Jake Roberts, Gordon Solie and Ted Dibiase). Vince was pissed and felt that only he should be allowed on the Superstation. Turner told him to improve the ratings or get lost. Vince then sold his timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions for a huge chunk of cash. What did he do with that cash? That’s the second part of the story. While all this was going on, in his own company, Hulkamania was running wild. Hulk Hogan was a huge ratings draw wherever he was booked and was starting to get national attention. Something was missing though, Vince knew if he wanted to hit the big time, he needed to be in the mainstream. That’s when a lucky plane ride changed the course of wrestling history. Captain Lou Albano just happened to be on the same plane as rock star Cindi Lauper and the two struck up a friendship. Cindi then asked Lou to play the role of her father on her world famous video “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. Soon after Cindy began popping up at WWF events which led to MTV taking notice. In what would become the “Rock N Wrestling Connection” 9 days after Vince started airing his crap on GCW, MTV aired “Brawl To End It All” which launched WWF into the national spotlight. This was followed up by “War To Settle The Score” which featured Hulk Hogan taking on top heel “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (who was stolen from the NWA a year prior). Now with the mainstream attention and a huge chunk of change from the GCW sale, Vince needed a home run show. Supercards were nothing new, Starrcade 83 had been the most successful for the NWA. Vince knew he needed something bigger. Something that would revolutionize the wrestling business and how supercards should be run. TV tough guy Mr. T had befriended Hulk Hogan and Vince decided to run a supercard featuring a tag match featuring his top heels (Piper and Paul Orndorff) and Hogan/T. He had the venue set for Madison Square Garden and he had the finance, he just needed a name. Howard Finkel…yes, The Fink himself suggested “Wrestlemania” and Vince ran with it. Shown on closed-circuit television, Wrestlemania 1, the first of what would become the pinnacle of wrestling events was held on March 31, 1985 and it featured the biggest showdown of the year with television superstar Mr T along with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan taking on the biggest heel in not only the WWF but in wrestling as well "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. I'm not kidding about the heel line, even though Flair was a heel as a part of The Horsemen he was loved in his role and over in the AWA did anyone give a damn about Stan Hansen? Piper was definately the number 1 heel in wrestling at this point so to see him get his possible comeuppance from the Hulkster was something everyone wanted to see.  Also included was the famous 15,000 dollar slam match where if Andre slammed Big John Studd he'd win 15 grand but if Studd won Andre would retire. Plus we get a tag team title match between the original Un-Americans Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik against the US Express Barry Whindam and Mike Rotundo. Now before I go any further I must point out to anyone reading this NOT to judge this card like a modern day Wrestlemania. Back in these days the monthly MSG, Boston Garden and Philadelphia Spectrum shows would feature 2 or 3 good matches with cucka filling the undercard. Even though this was the first Wrestlemania, Vince still booked the show as a monthly MSG show only with a bit more pizazz. Judging the show by 2020's standards is a waste of time. This event started it all so let’s get right down to it. Vince McMahon's voice appears and runs down the card before we get sent to Monsoon, Ventura and Gene Okerlund who sings the national anthem (ugh).

MARCH 31, 1985

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

NEW YORK, NY

            

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Match 1

Tito Santana vs The Executioner

  You know.....I think its really dumb they had to hide "Playboy" Buddy Rose (The Executioner) like this, but since this was a one time appearance I guess it was justified. I still get a kick how Mean Gene Okerlund would interview both participants in the matches mere seconds after the other departed the screen...and this was back when kayfabe was still a big deal. Executioner (who clearly looks and sounds like Buddy Rose) says he's gonna go after Santana's leg while Tito says he's gonna win....arriba! Bells gone and they run the ropes adjacent from each other before Santana hits a backdrop and a dropkick on The Executioner who falls through the ropes to the outside. Ventura utters his famous "Woodstock was to rock n roll what Wrestlemania is to wrestling" line. Well put. Back inside Santana hits a headlock who walks up the rope and turns it into a headlock takeover. Executioner and Santana trade blows before Executioner takes over in the corner and hits a knee to the solar plexus. Executioner goes for a figure four but Santana blocks it, then he goes for a step over toe wrench which Santana counters into a cradle for a near fall. Santana fires away in the corner and goes for a piledriver, but Executioner counters with a back drop. He hits a bodyslam and goes upstairs but Santana catches him with a slam off the top. Santana goes for a big splash but Executioner gets the knees up just in time, then he works over the left leg on the second rope before Tito kicks him over the top rope into the time-keeper's table. Tito hits a power slam from the apron to the ring and hits the flying forearm out of nowhere. Tito drags him to the center of the ring and locks in the figure four as Executioner submits quickly though the time keeper's asleep and takes forever to ring the bell. Howard Finkel gets in the ring with the official word as Santana takes the first match in Wrestlemania history. Now for judgement sake, keep in mind this was March of 1985 so expecting Rey Mysterio vs Juventud Guerrera or Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho is a waste of time. For its time it entertained the crowd and established Tito as number 1 contender to Greg Valentine's Intercontinental championship.

Time of Match: 4:40

Winners: Tito Santana by submission

 Alfred Hays in the aisle way shills the upcoming King Kong Bundy/SD Jones showdown who sends it to Okerlund who interviews Jones first. SD "I'm gonna get down with the biggest man in town" and 5 seconds after Jones leaves in walks Bundy and Hart.....like I said earlier, this was back when kayfabe was a real big deal so we're supposed to believe Bundy let him stand there and say all this stuff? Bundy says he's gonna avalanche the poor guy and get the 5 count. Back to ringside....

Match 2

King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart) vs Special Delivery "SD" Jones

  SD Jones was your basic mid-card face at the time while Bundy was a rising monster heel, fresh from being a member of the Legion of Doom in the NWA. Jones runs into Bundy at the bell and Kong catches him in a bearhug then rams him into the corner. Jones crumples to the floor then gets up as Bundy hits the avalanche followed by the big splash for 1...2....3 and its over just like that. Monsoon and Ventura can't believe it as Howard Finkel gets on the mic. "Time of the fall....9 SECONDS...your winner King Kong Bundy" Um, what? I specifically counted 23 seconds (which Monsoon ironically says is the previous record) so this was all just hooplah to get Bundy over as Hogan's future opponent. My guess is SD wasn't supposed to fall to the floor after the bearhug in the corner so they went with 9 seconds as per plan anyway. Bottom line is Bundy is established as a mean looking fella.

Time of match: 23 seconds

Winner: King Kong Bundy by pinfall

     Back to Alfred Hays who shills the upcoming match as Bundy makes his way back to the locker room. Mean Gene interviews Borne first and he says Steamboat's too nice of a guy and he's gonna beat him up then Ricky comes in and scoffs at Borne for basically calling him a wuss and says he's gonna take him out.

Match 3

"Maniac" Matt Borne vs Ricky Steamboat

   This could be the sleeper as match of the night because Borne was more talented than he looked (and this was 8 years before he became Doink the Clown) and we all know how great Steamboat was. Borne was competing in both Portland and Mid-South when he was brought in for the match. Ventura hypes Matt's father "Tough" Tony Borne who wrestled many moons ago including an encounter with Gorilla himself. They tie up to start before Steamboat leapfrogs over Borne and goes for the double chop but Matt catches himself, then runs into the double chop anyway. Steamboat hits a snap mare and a headlock as Monsoon hypes up him and Jimmy Snuka as possible tag team title contenders. Steamboat rolls through an atomic drop attempt and hits one of his own, then mocks Borne's selling of the maneuver. Steamboat goes back to the side headlock before Borne hits an inverted atomic drop and a knee lift. Borne fires away in the corner but Steamboat hits a boot to the head (yeah yeah!) and a chop from the second rope. Steamboat hits another double karate chop as the announcers shill Ricky's physique and Borne's intelligence. Borne backs Ricky in the corner and hits a series of knee's to the mid-section followed by a BtB suplex. Matt hits a snap suplex and covers for 1..2...nope, they trade blows in the ring before Steamboat gets the upper hand with karate chops. Steamboat hits a back suplex, a reverse neckbreaker and 2 knee drops for a cover of 1..2...nope. Steaboat leapfrogs over Borne and hits some sort of double punch to the face, then he goes upstairs and hits the FLYING CROSSBODY for 1...2....three and we have a winner. Short and sweet....so much for my match of the night prediction. Then again, that's judging it by today's standards when every match was supposed to be 10 minutes because there were so many of them packed into one show. Still good for what it was.

Time of match: 4:38

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by pinfall

   Back to Alfred Hays who hypes up the upcoming David Sammartino/Brutus Beefcake showdown before sending it over to Okerlund with the pre-match interview. David says he and his dad Bruno have been training hard and he's gonna avenge Hillbilly Jim by taking Beefcake out. Hillbilly Jim got hurt a few months earlier and  Bruno says if Johnny V interferes he's gonna knock him out.  Beefcake and Johnny enter WHILE DAVID IS STILL ON SCREEN....are you kidding me? Verne Gagne would have a heart attack if he saw this going on in the AWA. Anyway Johnny V cuts a funny promo saying he'll stick his schnozz wherever her wants. Its funny how Johnny Valiant became a manager for WWF while kayfabe brother Jimmy was still competing for Crockett at this time.

Match 4

Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny Valiant) vs David Sammartino (with Bruno Sammartino)

    Poor David, the old man's shoes were too big to fill and even when matched up against someone like Beefcake, he STILL gets laughed at. There's no referee in the ring so they stall for a while as Monsoon and Ventura discuss the possibility of Beefcake being "Luscious" Johnny Valiant's son. They exchange tie-ups after the bell before David hits a drop-toe hold as the camera pans to Bruno outside. They exchange go-behinds and takedowns before Brutus slides under the ring and regroups with Valiant. Back inside David hits a series of old school takedowns and goes to the front headlock, a Sammartino trademark. Beefcake threatens to pound the ref before David counters a scoop slam with an arm-bar. David drops a leg on the left shoulder before Beefcake gets up and hits a high school style headlock for 1...2..nope. Brutus hits a shoulder-block and an arm=drag but Sammartino nips up and catches Beefcake with a double toe-hold. Beefcake powers out of it but David catches the leg and applies a step-over. Brutus counters a figure four attempt but Sammartino continues with the leg lock as Beefcake doesn't even sell it....seriously, he adjusts his arm pads and barely looks like he's in pain. Beefcake gets a thumb to the eye and hits a backdrop before hitting a series of forearms to the sternum. Beefcake hits a scoop slam and goes back on offense with elbows in the corner. Beefcake hits a hard irish whip into the corner, poses, then hits a series of knees to the mid-section. Bruno gets the crowd to chant for David as Beefcake runs straight into a back body-drop. Sammartino rallies with clubbing right hands and jabs before hitting a weak looking boot to the mid-section. David hits a big knee to the head and a snap suplex then covers for 1...2..negative. Beefcake throws David out of the ring where Valiant pounces and slams him on the concrete floor...causing the old man to toss Valiant in the ring for an ass kicking. Bruno waffles Johnny with a series of forearms before Beefcake pounds away to stop the momentum. David comes over and all 4 men go at it as the ref calls for the bell before the Sammartinos clean house. The crowd erupts but then boos when Finkel announces the match is a draw. The first and last appearance of David Sammartino on any major WWF event as Beefcake was just getting started. For those wondering why a Wrestlemania match ended in a draw, see previous explanations.

Time of match: 11:40

Winner: No one...double DQ

    Back to Alfred Hays who shills the upcoming IC title match before sending it over to Gene Okerlund for the pre-match interviews. Valentine says he's the master of the figure four and he's gonna hammer JYD before Dog comes in and says he's going to get his hands on Jimmy Hart. Back to ringside with Gorilla and Jesse.

Match 5

Junkyard Dog vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

    JYD, one of the most popular black athletes in wrestling history, gets a title shot here. JYD had come over from Mid-South wrestling (damn near crippling the promotion as he was the top star) for this one. Valentine enters first as Another One Bites The Dust hits and JYD enters. I should point out JYD is the first person to use entrance music as everyone else to this point didn't have any. They fake hitting each other as JYD jukes and jives to the crowd's delight before hitting an arm twister. Valentine whips JYD off but Dog catches the foot then catches Greg with a right hand. Valentine hits a knee and an elbow but misses a forearm so JYD hits his trademark headbutts on the ground before the camera pans to the Garden crowd. Monsoon says Hart is now the manager of Jim Niedhart, Bundy and Valentine before Valentine goes back on offense. Greg hits a forearm to the back of the neck and an elbow drop to the mid-section before going over the right leg of JYD. Valentine goes for a half-crab and stretches the knee as the crowd begins to roar for JYD. Valentine hits a headbutt to the midsection but JYD counters the figure four attempt and sells the injury well. Valentine works him over in the corner before Dog rallies with right hands and headbutts as Valentine does the flop. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron and Dog grabs him but moves out of the way causing Valentine to hammer Jimmy to the floor. Dog backs Valentine in the corner with forearm and a headbutt before Valentine rake the eyes and scoops the legs with his feet on the rope for 1...2...3 and Valentine wins it. All of a sudden Tito Santana hits the ring and tells the ref Valentine had his foot on the rope. I don't know what kind of magic power Tito has but the ref calls for the match to continue making him the smartest ref in the history of wrestling up to this point. Unfortunately Valentine wants no part of it and stays out of the ring. Dog wins by count-out but the title does not change hands on a count-out so The Hammer is still the champ. Santana and Dog taunt Valentine in the ring as Greg teases getting in to fight them before walking to the back. That was supposed to be a 1 hour time limit and it didn't even go 7 minutes. This had the pace of a 1998 Monday Night Raw card and this was 1985.

Time of match: 6:53

Winner:  Junkyard Dog by count-out (Valentine retains the title)

   Back to Hays who shills the upcoming tag team title match before sending it over to Okerlund for the pre-match interviews. Iron Sheik says down with America while my favorite manager of all time "Classie" Freddie Blassie says we're looking at the next champions. Gene says "Ok commie...er comrade" and Nikolai Volkoff says "I came, I saw, I conquer". After the heels leave, Captain Lou Albano walks in with a beer in his hand and says the US Express is gonna win, now THAT'S confidence.

Match 6

The Un-Americanz (Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik) with Freddie Blassie vs The US Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo) with Captain Lou Albano for the WWF Tag Team Championship

  The men who would become IRS and The Stalker (and father to Bray Wyatt & Bo Dallas) take on Sheik and Volkoff here. The Express had beaten the North/South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch) for the belts two months prior. Before the match Nikolai does his pre-match ritual by singing the Soviet National Anthem as the Garden crowd heaves garbage in the ring. Sheik "RUSSIA NUMBA VUN....IRAN NUMBA VUN...AMERICA HACK PATOIE!" Born in the USA by Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen hits and the Express make their entrance. With 3 out of the 4 wrestlers in their prime, this could be the sleeper that Borne/Steamboat wasn't. Rotundo starts off with Sheik as Ventura says you'll see bad world series and superbowls but not Wrestlemania....yah wait until Wrestlemania 11. Rotundo hits an armdrag, dropkick, a scoop slam and a headlock takedown as Ventura shills. Windham makes the tag and hits an elbow from off the top rope then hits a boot to the mid-section. Sheik backs Barry back in the corner and Volkoff holds, but Windham escapes and Sheik dropicks Volkoff instead. Volkoff tags in and the camera shows an instant replay of the dropkick before going back to live action where Rotundo hits a back elbow smash. IRS...er Mike locks in an arm-bar then tags in Windham who once again comes off the top onto the elbow. Rotundo follows with the same elbow drop before Nikolai takes over and rams Rotundo's head into Sheik's legendary loaded boot. Sheik backdrops Rotundo and hits an elbow drop for 1...2...nope, near fall. Iron Sheik executes a gut-wrench suplex and covers for a deuce before Rotundo blocks a snap suplex and hits one of his own. Nikolai tags in and drops him throat first on the top rope as Blassie shouts "Kick em!" Rotundo switches out of a hammerlock as the crowd gets a USA chant going. Mike hits a sunset flip for 1..2...noooo, Volkoff quickly gets up and puts the boots to him. Volkoff hits a knee to the mid-section and boots before ramming Mike's head once again into Sheik's boot. The heels double team Rotundo before Sheik applies an abdominal stretch as the camera pans to Blassie and Albano trading invectives. Rotundo escapes and Volkoff tags in but Mike finally makes it to Windham, who fires away at Nikolai with fists and a dropkick. Windham hits the bulldog and covers for 1..2...nope, Sheik cuts him off. Rotundo gets in and dropkicks Sheik to the floor but Blassie sneaks the cane into Sheik's hands. The ref is distracted by Rotundo as Sheik breaks the cane over the back of Windham who crumbles to the floor. Nikolai rolls him over and covers for 1....2...3 and we got new tag team champions. Iron Sheik becomes the first superstar since Bob Backlund to be both World champion and Tag champion in their careers. I should point out that Barry left the company not long after this and Windham wouldn't compete in another Wrestlemania for 12 more years. Meanwhile Rotundo resurfaced 7 years later as I.R.S. Again, crash style match and it was good for 85 standards.

Time of match: 6:51

Winners: The Un-Americanz by pinfall (New Tag Team Champions)

    Mean Gene interviews the new champs and scoffs at Blassie for using the cane. Freddie "Cane? What cane? I didn't have no cane!" Sheik says Gene Mean and spits at the US again as Okerlund sends it back to Monsoon and Ventura who goes over what we just saw. Back to Alfred Hays who shills the upcoming $15,000 slam match who sends it back to Okerlund for the pre-match interviews. Big John Studd and Bobby Heenan enter with the duffel bag of money and its funny to see Okerlund try to stick his hand in as Heenan swats it away. Heenan "There's only 2 people that are gonna see this money, me and Studd....make it 3, the teller at the bank when we deposit the money." The next segment is shilling Wrestlemania merchandise which makes no sense because the announcer dude says "pick it up in the corridors" which is an insinuation people watching this commercial is at the Garden? Whatever....on to the match.

Match 7

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan) in a $15,000 Slam Match

 Ok, the rules are simple.....if Andre bodyslams Studd he wins 15 grand but if Studd slams Andre then say goodbye to the Giant. Studd attacks Andre in the corner as the bell rings before Andre rallies with chop and a big headbutt. Andre boots Studd to the outside of the ring and John regroups with Heenan, back inside Andre taunts Studd until backing him into the corner. Andre chokes Studd in the corner and Ventura asks where the ref is, but this isn't a standard wrestling match so there are no DQ's to speak of. Andre hits a knee to the head and big hamhock to the head before executing avalanches in the corner. Studd goes for a bodyslam but Andre blocks it then chops away at Studd before hitting a bearhug. The fants chats for Andre to slam as Ventura says "25,000 strong chanting".....thought the building only held about 17,000 but nevertheless it is a sell out. The bearhug spot is worked for 2 full minutes before letting go and hitting a forearm to the back as Ventura says this could be the last time we could be seeing Andre. Andre hits a headlock and hits another hamhock to the mid-section as the crowd erupts. Andre whips Studd off and catches the foot, then hits another right hand to the face. Andre blocks a back elbow smash before chopping John in the corner. Andre kicks away at Studd's leg and I'll let Monsoon handle this one. "Andre now going to work on the leg, LOOK AT THIS...ANDRE PICKS EM UP...HE SLAMMED HIM!!!" This one's over and Andre wins the match with the big scoop slam. The crowd erupts again as Finkel hands Andre the bag of money. Andre begins throwing money into the crowd before Heenan sneaks up, steals the bag then runs to the back with Studd. Ventura "They don't call him The Brain for nothin Gino!" Andre poses in the ring and his career will resume....for a few more years anyway. I look at this match not for the catch-as-catch-can but for the drama and the storyline because in 1985, 15 grand or retire was a big deal so this match certainly was legendary.

Time of match: 5:52

Winner: Andre the Giant

   Back to Okerlund who interviews Andre who says in his booming voice that he doesn't care about the money and tries cutting a promo but is cut off as we send it back to Monsoon and Ventura. The man just saved his career, let him speak dammit! We send it back to Alfred Hays who tries to shill the upcoming women's match but is cut off by Fabulous Moolah who kisses him on the lips. Alfred "Good gracious!" then Leilani Kai kisses him before he finally sends it to Mean Gene. Okerlund interviews Cyndi Lauper and Richter then Cyndi in her thick Brooklyn accent she's gonna get her hands on Moolah. Richter says she's gonna get her belt back as the camera cuts off allowing Moolah and Leilani to enter....why couldn't they have done that all night to make it look like they weren't standing next to each other. Moolah is wearing flamboyant glasses and Okerlund says don't tell Ventura about them so he doesn't get any ideas. Back to ringside for the match.....

Match 8

Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolfe) vs Leilani Kai (with Fabulous Moolah) for the WWF Womens Championship

   Ironically this match was more hyped up than the previous seven (Andre included) because of the involvement of Lauper on MTV. Richter had originally dethroned Moolah and Moolah trained Leilani to get the belt back, which she did. Richter, Wolfe and Lauper come running out to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun as the crowd goes crazy for the trio. Cyndi gets in Leilani's face before the bell and Kai motions that she's crazy, haha good one. I don't know whether it was because I was a weird kid or not but when I first saw this match I thought Leilani was much more gorgeous than Wendi but Richter was the better wrestler. Monsoon says Cyndi stole her outfit out of Ventura's dresser as we get underway with the big title match. They tie up and roll around the ropes before Leilani backs Wendi in the corner. Wendi punches Leilani halfway across the ring then hits an armdrag but Leilani nips Richter off her. Kai hits an armdrag but Wendi turns it into a hammerlock before THROWING her in hammerlock position a good 3 feet in the air, how Leilani didn't tear a shoulder in the process I don't know. Leilani reaches back and hits a series of snapmares as Cyndi shouts encouragement for Wendi. Leilani goes back to old school holds, a tribute to Moolah I'm sure.  They trade blows in the ring before Leilani grabs Wendi by the hair and throws her into the corner, then hits a snapmare before choking her down. Wendi applies a body scissors from sex position and Leilani shows how strong she is by pulling her all the way to her feet but Wendi hits a forearm to the chest. They appear to go for the same gut-wrench suplex but Wendi being taller falls forward into a lateral press for 1...2....nope. Leilani holds on to the hair then snapmares her over as Ventura speculates what its like to be on the receiving end of something like that. Kai throws Richter in the corner but a charge eats double boot then Wendi covers for a near fall. Leilani distracts the ref so Moolah chokes Wendi on the bottom rope before Cyndi runs over to save the day. Leilani whips Wendi off and hits a boot to the mid-section but Wendi rallies with a forearm and a New Delhi Devastator (and this is 1985 no less). Wendi splashes on top for 1....2..nope, near fall. Wendi whips Leilani into the corner where she goes for a splash but Kai gets the knees up in time. Leilani puts the boots to Wendi and hits a backbreaker for 1....2..NOOOO, that was close. Leilani hits a scoop slam then goes upstairs and hits a flying crossbody, but then Wendi rolls through it for 1....2......3 and we got a new WWF Women's champion! Cyndi runs around and strangles Moolah with the towel before she trips getting into the ring. A funny spot that I find funny is Cyndi tries to pick up Wendi but can't and Wendi picks up Cyndi effortlessly. They then do a dose-do dance as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun once again blares to the Madison Square Garden crowd.  Monsoon goes to the replay of the finish and speculates when Leilani came off the top she hit her head on the canvas allowing Wendi to roll on top......good explanation but anyways we got a new champion. I should point out this would be the last Women's title change at a Wrestlemania for 16 years.

Time of match: 6:13

Winner: Wendi Richter by pinfall (New Women's champion)

   We go back to Mean Gene in the locker-room who interviews the new champ, where she says she beat "Leilani Cow". Captain Lou makes his way into the picture as Gene asks "Did Moolah get in your way Cyndi?" Wendi "Are you crazy??" Cyndi "Yeah she's bigger than me but I took care of her" before sending it to Howard Finkel in the ring. Fink turns things over to New York Yankees manager Billy Martin who is the special guest ring announcer. He gets a standing O from the crowd which is weird considering how many times he's been hired and fired as manager. He then introduces Liberace as the special guest time-keeper (who dances a jig with the Rockettes in the ring) Billy then introduces the special guest referee Pat Patterson and special guest enforcer former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. Jose Torrez the former light-heavyweight champion leads Ali to the ring as the crowd gives a much deserved applause for the duo. Now its time for the main event......

Match 9

"Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton) vs Mr T and Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Snuka)

 A Bagpipe band makes their way to the ring signaling the arrival of wrestling's number one heel ROWDY.....RODDY....PIPER!!  The Rowdy one makes his entrance with Mr Wonderful and "Ace" Bob Orton. Not to nitpick, but couldn't this have been a six man tag match since Jimmy Snuka was equally as loved in the Garden as Hogan and Orton was Piper's bodyguard...ah well, no use squawking about it now. Mr. T, Snuka and Hogan make their entrance to Eye of the Tiger as the Garden crowd goes nuts. They take FOREVER to start before Liberace stands and rings his custom made bell to start the main event. Hogan and Orndorff start jawing each other as the tension builds. Orndorff teases going at it before tagging Piper in. Mr T hops up and down saying let me have him so Hogan tags him in. Piper made it clear on his DVD compilation he never liked Mr. T so this feud was more personal than it was business. Piper hated Mr T, Orndorff and Hogan hated each other so this maybe an out and out shoot by the end. Piper and T staredown nose to nose before they exchange slaps to the face before hitting a go-behind takedown. T tries to sit-out/turn in but Piper maintains the ride. Mr T finally switches out of it as Orndorff fires up Piper in their corner. Mr T puts Piper into a fireman's carry then drops him like yesterday's newspaper (Monsoon's words not mine). Piper backs T into his corner where Orndorff gets in then a melee ensues when all 4 men brawl into the corner. Muhammad Ali and Bob Orton get in the ring as Snuka goes upstairs. Ali throws a punch that sends Piper out of the ring then takes a swing at Orton who retreats to the ground. The heels regroup outside as the camera shows Billy Martin laughing his ass off at the proceedings. Piper motions that they're outta here as Monsoon scoffs and the heels actually leave the area. Patterson counts up to 8 before Hogan stops him and motions for them to come back and the heels in fact do walk back to ringside. Piper and Paul get in the ring to attack Mr T and Hogan but the faces clean house. They hit a double noggin knocker on the heels before Hogan clotheslines Roddy in the corner. Hulk hits a knoggin knocker on Piper and Orndorff before hitting an atomic drop on the rowdy one. Piper and Hogan trade blows before Hulk makes the tag to Mr T then they hit a double clotheslines. T hits a scoop slam on Piper and an arm-drag on an interfering Orndorff. T hits another slam on Piper and headbutts Orndorff before ramming Piper's head into Hogan's knee. Make no mistake about it, in terms of physical condition Mr T has the physique that is better than half the WWF roster so had he went into wrestling, he couldn't have been any worse than anybody the AWA put out in the late 80's. Hogan rakes the eyes and big boots Piper over the top rope to the floor. Mr Wonderful interferes and clotheslines Hogan out of the ring so Piper grabs a chair and waffles the Hulkster with it. Muhammad Ali chases Piper back in the ring but Orndorff sneaks out and throws Hogan into the ring. Piper puts the boots to Hogan as Orndorff sneaks in a cheap shot of his own. Mr T interferes so Piper and Orndorff double team the Hulkster. Piper and Orndorff execute a double atomic drop on Hogan as Muhammad Ali gets in the ring to chase Piper out. Fans may not be pleased with Ali's constant interference but from a kayfabe standpoint he's supposed to be the enforcer and that's exactly what he's doing. Patterson has to beg Ali to get out as Orndorff works over Hulk. Orndorff hits a snap suplex as Ventura says he's the x-factor of this match being the most technically gifted of all 4 men involved.....well 6 including Snuka and Orton outside. Piper tags in and hits windup punches then a knee lift for 1...2..nope, Hogan kicks out. Piper holds Hogan as Paul tags in and hits a forearm to the back of the neck.....One of the unwritten laws of wrestling is not to hit moves on the back of the neck because you're more prone to actual injuries, but Orndorff would ROUTINELY do this to Hogan in their matches, pissing off the Hulkster legitimately in the process. Paul covers for a near-fall before hitting a nice backbreaker before going upstairs. Orndorff goes for another forearm off the top but misses, before Hogan makes the hot tag to Mr T. T cleans house before Orndorff is able to take him down. Mr T and Orndorff go high school style as Mr T goes for a roll but Paul wizzers to make sure that doesn't happen. Piper makes the tag then hits a front headlock on B.A. Barabus before T tags Hogan in.  Both heels interfere so Hogan hits a double noggin knocker on them then headlock punches Orndorff until Wonderful counters with a back suplex. Piper interferes but Patterson cuts him off so both Jimmy Snuka and Cowboy Bob get in the ring. Snuka hits a jumping headbutt that sends Orton over the top to the apron. Patterson is distracted by Snuka as Orndorff puts Hogan in a full nelson. Piper and Mr. T go at it as Patterson turns his attention to him as Orton goes upstairs. Orton comes off the top but Hogan moves and Ace catches Orndorff in the back of the head with the cast. Hogan covers as Snuka roughs up Orton and Patterson gets in position..1......2.....3....its overrrrrrrr!!!!  The ring becomes chaos as everyone gets in the ring before Piper knocks out Patterson, spits at Orndorff and takes off with Orton in tow. Back inside Mr T tends to Orndoff as Billy Martin announce Hogan and Mr T the winner. Orndorff springs to life as Snuka, T, Patterson and Hogan back off. The faces celebrate in the ring as Orndorff doesn't have a clue what happened before heading to the locker-room. Hogan, Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, Pat Patterson, Snuka, Liberace and Billy Martin all pose and celebrate in the ring. Monsoon and Ventura go to the instant replay before sending it back to Mean Gene to interview the winners. Mr T says he trained hard,as Hogan shills Snuka and T before Superfly does the same thing.  Back to Monsoon and Ventura who sign off and thanks the fans for tuning in.

Time of match: 13:21

Winners: Mr T and Hulk Hogan by pinfall

     From an in ring standpoint this was on par with a lot of WWF action from 1985 and historically it did great numbers on closed circuit television. WWF was taking over the country and this would be the greatest year in wrestling (until 1998) for the AWA had their second wind after losing virtually their entire roster to McMahon, the NWA was awesome with the Horsemen against Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA and of course WWF's Rock n Wrestling was a big seller. This was more of a modern day crash event with only two matches going over 10 minutes but that's basically how long WWF stars could go and still be entertaining. If you're looking for an in-ring classic ppv like Great American Bash 96 don't bother, but if you want a drama filled time capsule of fun then definitely get your hands on this priceless classic. Seriously, whoever was old enough to remember what wrestling was like during this time period can agree that this was ground breaking. As for this one, 4 stars out of 5 for the significance and a point off for the crash style. Some of them deserved to be longer.

WWF All-American Wrestling (9/11/83)

Welcome to this week's edition of WWF All-American Wrestling. Last week Vince McMahon Jr presented the inaugural episode as an hour long tribute to WWF Champion Bob Backlund. This week's show will be centered around the most popular star on the roster, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. No disrespect to Bob Backlund but he was considered "boring" by today's standards with monotone interviews and mat based wrestling. Jimmy Snuka was the opposite with cocaine fueled promos and death-defying dives to make him a hot commodity in wrestling. Not to mention unlike Backlund, he came to WWF as a heel and had a great story arc for his face turn. I'm sure this episode will cover all of it. Unlike the first episode, my copy of this one has no commercials so it should transition more smoothly.

Host/Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

We don't even start with an intro by Vince, we actually start with a highlight. Jimmy Snuka's WWF debut on January 25, 1982 on Championship Wrestling where he hits the Superfly Splash on Jeff Craney. THEN we go to Vince wearing a horrible plaid suit who welcomes us to the show. Vince runs down what we're about to see including his face turn. When we come back, we'll go to Jimmy's debut that the clip in the intro was from.

Match 1

Jeff Craney vs "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka (with Captain Lou Albano)

Commentators: Vince McMahon Jr and Pat Patterson

This was the WWF debut for the Superfly from the WWF Championship Wrestling shown on January 26, 1982. Craney was a local New York/Pennsylvania jobber and we all know Snuka by now. Bell's gone and Patterson praises Snuka's ability. Snuka is actually wearing wrestling boots as he chops Craney down. He drops a few knees on him before slugging away at Craney in the corner. Snuka snapmares Jeff and drops a fist. Patterson says there's plenty of Samoans in wrestling but Snuka's the only one from the Fiji Islands. Jimmy headlock punches Craney then delivers forearms in the corner. Snuka scoop slams Craney and drives a knee to the chest. Snuka then hops up top and nails the Superfly Splash for 1....2....3 and that's it. The crowd cheered the splash but booed the outcome. Albano gets in the ring to celebrate with Jimmy as Joe McHugh announces Snuka the winner. To put Snuka over even more, Craney is stretchered out to make it look like the Superfly Splash is dangerous. Vince says Craney was a mile from the corner and Snuka still hit the splash. Patterson says that's why he's called the Superfly.

Time of match: 2:58

Winner: Snuka by pinfall 

Back to Vince who says Snuka was amazing but was a different man then. He says Albano not only controlled Snuka financially but his mind as well. When we come back, we're going to see the infamous cage match between Snuka and WWF Champion Bob Backlund. Vince brings up last week's show where Bob said he's never met anyone like Snuka. Vince gives the rules of the cage match and says Snuka pulled off an incredible feat but thankfully doesn't give away what it was. Let's head to the match.

Match 2

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka with Captain Lou Albano vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship in a steel cage match

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

We're joined in progress from the cage match on June 28, 1982 between Snuka and Backlund. This would be the height of Snuka's heel run as his unorthodox style was making him a fan favorite despite being a heel. One of the many cases throughout history where fans simply refused to boo. We're at the part where Snuka sends Bob off the ropes but Bob reverses the whip and sends Snuka face first into the cage. Snuka blades and Backlund slingshots Snuka into the cage as the crowd pops. Bob rakes Snuka against the cage and pounds away at the bloody mess. Vince says Snuka is getting the beating of his life as Bob continues the onslaught. Snuka fights back with chops to the throat but Bob sends him into the cage again. Bob goes to leave the cage but Snuka grabs Bob's ankle and hits him with a thrust kick. Snuka drops Bob with a a series of chops and scoop slams him. Snuka goes up to the second rope and drops a knee. Snuka drops an elbow as Vince says a pin will get you nowhere in this match. Snuka drops a knee to Backlund's head and hits a vertical suplex. Snuka climbs to the top rope then goes to the top of the cage. He goes for the Superfly Splash but Backlund rolls out of the way for a tremendous pop. Backlund crawls out of the cage to win the match and retain the title. Even though this was only a clip, the high flying tactics if Snuka didn't go unnoticed. He was prime for a face turn and after coming up short against Backlund, it was only a matter of time. Snuka diving off the cage was talked about for a long time after even though Bob won the match.

Time of match: Joined in Progress

Winner: Bob Backlund (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince who insinuates it was Albano's call to have him jump off the cage. Vince says Albano poisoned the mind of Snuka but one man felt that Jimmy was being manipulated. That man was the first ever WWWF Champion "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. By 1982, Rogers was semi-retired and hosting a segment on WWF television called Buddy's Corner. It was there in October of 1982 where Buddy had Jimmy and Captain Lou on to discuss the way Albano was handling Jimmy. Buddy "Today my guests, one is invited and the other I don't give a darn about." Hahahahaha. Buddy says Albano doesn't need an introduction and what goes around, comes around. Buddy reveals he looked into Snuka's contract with Albano only to find there is no contract and Albano is legally not his manager. Albano screams that he's a liar and storms off while Snuka just sits there. Rogers tells Snuka that he's a free man but his money is gone. Rogers and Snuka stand up and hug each other signifying Snuka's face turn. Jimmy himself says he doesn't say much but he wants Rogers to be his manager. Rogers says he'll give him an answer shortly. Albano comes back to shout at Buddy but Buddy takes his jacket off.

Snuka then heads to the ring to face Ray "The Crippler" Stevens managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie and Jimmy gets a huge face pop. Joe McHugh announces the match but Albano hits the ring and starts shoving Jimmy. Snuka unloads on Albano but he's attacked from behind by Stevens. Stevens uses Blassie's cane to choke Snuka while Albano pulls something out of his pants to hammer Jimmy with it. Blassie cheers the two of them on as Albano hammers away. The camera shows Snuka is busted wide open and they throw him over the top rope to the concrete floor. Stevens then hits a piledriver on the floor as Patterson says we won't be seeing Snuka for a while after that. We cut here as Vince says revenge would be Snuka's. Snuka would get his hands on Stevens at Madison Square Garden and we cut to that.

Match 3

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka with Buddy Rogers vs Ray "The Crippler" Stevens with Freddie Blassie

Commentators: Vince McMahon Jr and Gorilla Monsoon

The Buddy's Corner/Ray attacks segment was from October of 1982 and Snuka now gets Stevens at MSG on December 28, 1982. They slug it out to start but Snuyka gets the upper hand with a jumping headbutt that has Stevens begging off in the corner. Snuka unloads in the corner and snapmares him to the center of the ring. Snuka nails a second rope fist-drop and Stevens bails to the outside. Ray goes to get back in but Jimmy kicks him in the head back down. Snuka rams Stevens' head into the apron. Back inside Ray begs off as Snuka stalks him. Monsoon makes a dated reference by saying the winner gets all the purse money as Stevens looks to have hit a low blow on Jimmy. Ray takes over with right hands then chokes him on the middle rope. Ray gets a thumb to the throat and starts hammering away with forearms. Ray goes for the piledriver but Snuka backdrops him out of it. Snuka drops Stevens with a right hand then rams his head into the mat. A chop to the throat floors Stevens and a knee to the forehead causes Ray to wither around. Stevens gets away with another low blow as Monsoon asks if the Superfly will fly tonight. Ray slugs away at Snuka in the corner then hits a snapmare. Ray goes upstairs for Bombs Away but Snuka catches him and slams Ray off the top rope. Snuka gets all fired up as the crowd explodes. Snuka beats the crap out of Ray with right hands and sends Ray flair flipping over the top to the floor. The ref counts and Ray can't make it back in, Snuka wins it by a count-out. Kind of a lame blow-off for a feud that started with a piledriver on the floor but they didn't want to make Ray look too weak since he was Bob Backlund's next opponent. Superfly gets his revenge and it was on to 1983 for him.

Time of match: 6:50

Winner: Jimmy Snuka by count-out

Back to Vince who says Stevens was one of the toughest opponents Jimmy has ever faced. Next up for Snuka would be the WWF Intercontinental Champion Don "The Magnificent" Muraco. The feud started because Muraco was jealous of the attention Jimmy was getting despite being the IC champ. We're shown a highlight from May 31, 1983 where Snuka was about to wrestle a match when Muraco just spit on Snuka. Snuka just smiled at him and told him to bring it. When Muraco was on the floor taunting, Snuka plancha'd over the top to the floor onto Muraco back before planchas were a thing in the US. Snuka ripped Muraco's clothes off and beat the crap out of him as the crowd goes crazy. The jobbers had to hold Snuka back but Muraco uses the distraction to beat Snuka in the head with a microphone. They continued to slug it out as even Snuka's scheduled opponent tried to break the fight up. Snuka is busted wide open as we get a big red X with the word "censored" on it because apparently a bit of blood was too much. Vince in the studio said Snuka finally got his hands on Muraco in the Philadelphia Spectrum in our final match on this show.

Match 4

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka with Buddy Rogers vs Don "The Magnificent" Muraco for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

Commentators: Dick Graham and Gorilla Monsoon

The previous clip was in May and now this match was from August 13, 1983 at the Spectrum. Gary Michael Capetta does the introductions as Snuka gets a great pop. Muraco throws the belt at the feet of Snuka as special guest referee Swede Hanson holds the belt up. Muraco throws it at him again and Snuka goes crazy on him early. Snuka beats the crap out of Muraco in the corner and locks in a chinlock. Muraco powers out of it with elbows to the stomach then floors Snuka with a shoulderblock. Snuka leapfrogs over Muraco twice and nails him with a big chop. Snuka splashes Muraco and covers but Muraco gets his foot on the rope. Jimmy snapmares Muraco into the center of the ring and locks in another chin-lock. Muraco grabs the hair but Swede yells at him "watch the hair!". Monsoon says neither Muraco or Snuka was the type to surrender as Muraco makes it back to his feet. Muraco sends Jimmy off but eats a shoulderblock followed by a flying dropkick. Snuka snapmares Muraco again then goes back to the chinlock. Muraco gets back to his feet again and catches Snuka with a low blow. Hanson never saw it and Muraco takes over with a sleeper hold of his own. Snuka then serves it back to Muraco with a low blow of his own. Snuka chops Muraco then drops him with a jumping headbutt. Jimmy goes up to the second rope and flies across the ring with a headbutt. Muraco is busted wide open as Snuka sends him head first into the ringpost. Jummy snapmares Muraco again and lands a diving headbutt. Jimmy heaves Muraco over the top to the floor. Snuka lands and axehandle smash to Muraco on the floor and Swede starts to count Muraco out. Muraco slides back in only for Jimmy to do another jumping headbutt. Dick Graham asks how much more can Muraco take as Jimmy does another diving headbutt. Jimmy then goes to finish off Muraco with a Superfly Splash but Muraco pulls Hanson in the way, Jimmy landing on both of them. Muraco low blows Snuka again then steals Hanson's belt. Muraco whips Snuka with the belt but Jimmy grabs the belt and pelts Muraco with it. Jimmy sends Don off the ropes and Snuka whips him in the gut with the belt. Snuka hands another headbutt to send Muraco over the top to the floor. Hanson calls the match off as Muraco bails to the back, Jimmy winning by disqualification. The fans in the Spectrum are mad as we cut here. This was just a preview of the mayhem that these two would be causing at Madison Square Garden down the road. For now, Muraco escapes with the belt....barely.

Time of match: 11:24

Winner: Snuka by count-out (Muraco retains)

Back to Vince who says Muraco hasn't heard the last of Snuka....that's for sure. Vince says when we return we'll have an interview with Snuka himself. Back from commercial, Vince says he started out under Albano and asks what that was like. Snuka says he didn't know what Albano was doing and he doesn't feel good about letting Lou swindle him. Vince says the man took his money and misguided him, only to leave him for Ray Stevens. Vince says Stevens failed to put Snuka out and Jimmy says he can't explain how he felt but he didn't give up. Finally Vince says Muraco is going to get his and thanks Jimmy for his time. Vince says Snuka will be in action next week on All-American Wrestling as there will be a profile on Andre The Giant. We're shown a clip of the Wild Samoans battling Snuka and Andre at MSG including Snuka doing the Superfly splash off Andre's shoulders for the three count. Way to give away next week's show for those who hadn't seen that match before!

That wraps up the second edition of All-American and it was definitely better than the first. The first was trying to cram as many Bob Backlund highlights into 45 minute program as they could while this one kept it to a few matches, plus Snuka was far more entertaining. Bit of a side tangent but there was a question a while ago that asked if Hulk Hogan never came to WWF, who would have replaced Backlund as champion? The logical answer would have been Snuka as he was the number 1 babyface in the company by 1983, especially after what he would do at MSG a month from now. But, with the arrival of Hogan, that pushed Snuka to the side and he'd never again be the top face. Andre The Giant was making bank as an attraction around the country and Japan so he didn't need to be tied down by being WWF Champion. The next MSG show wouldn't be until October 17 and it just so happened to have the next Muraco and Snuka match. Stay tuned for that.

WWF All-American Wrestling (9/4/83)

Welcome to the inaugural episode of WWF All-American Wrestling, Vince's foray into cable television. Long before Monday Night Raw, Vince got his start on the USA network with All-American Wrestling. Rather than make it must see TV, Vince came out of the gate with the first episode being a greatest hits montage of WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund. Nothing says make your debut on cable with matches people have already seen before. This would be theme for All-American's entire 11 year run to be honest. Let's get to the show.

Host/Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

We start with Vince's voiceover of Backlund's victory over "Superstar" Billy Graham on February 20, 1978 before going to Vince in the studio welcoming us to the premier of All-American. He comes out and says this entire show is a Bob Backlund tribute. Vince makes long pauses during the intro, maybe he was nervous. We cut to commercials and the first one is an ad for Playboy Magazine....I don't remember THAT being plugged 10 years later. 12 issues for only $18.50, a rare bargain. Let's get to our first clip.

Match 1

Bob Backlund vs "Superstar" Billy Graham for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship

We're joined in progress for Backlund's title match with the Superstar on February 20, 1978 at Madison Square Garden. Graham gets a go-behind but Backlund reverses it causing Billy to retreat to the ropes. Backlund pulls Graham to the center of the ring but the ref makes him break the hold. Billy stalls but Bob gets a headlock in. Graham sends Bob off but Backlund counters with a sunset flip for 1...2...nope. Graham locks in a full nelson as Vince says this will be hard for Backlund to break out of it. Backlund almost effortlessly breaks it and Graham complains to the referee. Graham gets in a headlock but Bob sends him off the ropes only to eat a shoulderblock. Graham comes off the ropes again and Backlund hits the rolling prawn hold for 1...2....noooooo. Somehow Graham kicked out of Backlund's finisher and Backlund goes to the side headlock. Graham rakes the eyes and hits a bodyslam but Backlund counters with an inside cradle for 1...2...nooooo. Bob whips Graham into the corner and Billy begs off. Bob sends Billy into the ropes but misses a dropkick. Graham kicks away at Bob then drops a forearm to the neck. Graham sends Bob into the ropes then applies a bearhug. Vince Jr on commentary says its over but Backlund refuses to give it up. Backlund somehow breaks the bearhug and hiptosses Graham in the process. Graham goes back to the bearhug but after a few minutes Bob not only breaks it but applies one of his own. Bob actually gets Graham to the mat and ref counts 1...2....no. Graham rakes the eyes to break the hold but Bob locks in an abdominal stretch. Billy counters with a hiptoss but Backlund catches Graham with an atomic drop. Bob covers and the ref completely misses Graham's foot on the bottom rope for 1..2.....3 that's it. BOB BACKLUND IS THE NEW WWWF CHAMPION! We cut here for this TV show's purpose. This was the changing of the guard as Backlund became Vince McMahon Sr's pet project while the Superstar was never the same again.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by pinfall (new WWWF Champion)

Back in the studio Vince says Bob is still the champ to this day but he'd be tested again and again. Vince says one of Bob's best challengers was Ken Patera who had even more strength than Graham. He says we'll see Patera's match with Backlund after commercial. The commercial is a record for The Great Singalong which is all country music.....yeah. We also get a trailer for the movie Natural Enemies starring Hal Holbrook. USA Hot Spots will be airing on 10 PM on Monday Night's.....gee, wonder what's on Monday nights on USA these days. Let's get to the match.

Match 2

Ken Patera vs Bob Backlund for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship

We're joined in progress for the title defense by Backlund against Patera on January 21, 1980 at Madison Square Garden. We're at the point where Patera has a bearhug on the mat and nearly pins Bob with it. Backlund then rallies to get back to his feet but Patera brings him back to the mat for another two count. Backlund battles back to his feet and literally deadlifts Patera with the hug still applies into a reverse atomic drop to break the hold. Backlund rallies with right hands but they both shoulderblock each other only for Patera to fall on Bob. Vince shouts "OH NO!" as the ref counts 1....nope, Backlund didn't even let the drama build. Bob rolls on top for a 1 count of his own then counters a Patera suplex with one of his own. Bob gets a one count then Patera covers for a one count. They keep trading pin attempts then Patera hops up to the second rope. Patera nails an axehandle smash then gives the sign for the full nelson. Bob counters the attempt and Patera swings and misses with a right hand. Bob lands the atomic drop and covers for 1....2....nope, this time the ref sees the foot on the rope. Bob and Ken slug it out until Patera shoves Backlund into the referee. The ref is out as Patera applies another full nelson but there's no ref. Backlund kicks off the ropes to break the hold as another ref gets in to ring the bell. Backlund and Patera slug it out in the center of the ring as the locker room empties. Backlund and Patera throw guys out left and right before order is restored. We cut here with no winner or loser declared on the clip, but the match did end in a draw. Backlund vs Patera kept the feud going throughout most of 1980.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: No one (Draw: Backlund retains)

Back to the studio, Vince gives the folks at home a PO Box to write in to see what they think of All-American. Vince says 1982 was a "rough year" for Backlund and sends us to commercial for Globe Life Insurance. Back to Vince says Freddie Blassie introduced The East/West Connection of Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Adrian Adonis to take down Backlund. For some reason Vince sends us to the Adonis match first despite Ventura getting the first crack. Oh well.

Match 3

Adrian Adonis vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship

We go back to March 20, 1982 at the Philadelphia Spectrum to watch the East half of the East/West Connection take on Backlund. We're joined in progress with Adonis cowering in the corner. Backlund whips Adonis into the corner where he flips himself in a tree of woe. Backlund chops him down and delivers a piledriver. Backlund covers but Adonis kicks out. Adonis locks in the Goodnight Irene sleeper as Vince says no one has ever escaped the hold and pretty much gives a eulogy to Backlund's title reign. Backlund then powers up and gets to his feet with the crowd in a frenzy. Adonis goes for the rolling prawn out of the corner but Backlund reverses it for 1.....2....3 and Backlund wins it. Short and sweet compared to the previous matches but since they only had an hour for the show including commercials, they had to keep it short from here on.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by pinfall (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince in the studio who says Backlund had many close calls in 1982. Vince sends us to Jesse Ventura's title shot which was actually six days before Adonis at Madison Square Garden.

Match 4

Jesse "The Body" Ventura vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship (Ivan Putski is the guest referee)

We're joined in progress at Madison Square Garden on March 14, 1982 six days before the Adonis title defense. Ventura locks in a bearhug then lands a reverse atomic drop to put Backlund on the mat. Jesse drops a knee on the throat of Backlund. Putski almost refuses to count Bob's shoulders down so Jesse goes to a piledriver. Jesse covers for a very slow 1 count and even Vince Jr on commentary admonishes Putski for that. Jesse hits an atomic drop and covers for a 2 count then puts Backlund in the Body Breaker. Vince says we have a new champ but Backlund kicks off the ropes into a modified northern lights suplex for 1...2....nooooo. Jesse goes for another Body Breaker but Bob reverses it into the rolling prawn hold for a very fast 1, 2,3 by Putski to end the match. Kind of weird to have Backlund essentially needing Putski to win but a win is a win.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by pinfall (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince who admits Puski gave Jesse a fast count. Vince says 1982 was a very tough year for Bob and next up was a challenge from "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

Match 5

"Playboy" Buddy Rose vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship

This match was from the August 30, 1982 show from Madison Square Garden also joined in progress.  Rose hits a scoop slam then goes upstairs and jumps down but notices Bob has moved out of the way. Rose lands a dropkick and covers for 1...2..nope. Rose goes for a suplex but Bob counters with the crossface chicken wing. Rose desperately tries to break it but can't. The ref calls for the bell and Bob is the winner. Guess we're going to run through these opponents due to time constraints.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by submission (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince who puts over the crossface chicken wing, ironic as the hold would be much more deadly a decade later. Vince says when we're back from commercial, we're going to a rematch between Billy Graham and Backlund only this is the karate pants Graham that gets the title shot. We go to a 5 record Mo-Town collection of 50 hits commercial.....long before 2 cds, there were 5 records. If you're into Mo-Town, its actually a damn good collection for only 19.95. Back to Vince who admits that Graham's foot was on the rope when he lost the title. Vince then says he went from a bodybuilder to a karate master to get his belt back. We're actually shown the angle that sets up Billy's rematch with Backlund. Bob was wrestling Swede Hanson when Graham came out to ringside and grabbed Backlund's belt. Hanson repeatedly stops Bob from getting at Graham as Billy cuts a promo saying Bob doesn't deserve it. Bob wins his match with the rolling prawn hold but Hanson continues to keep Backlund occupied long enough for Graham to nail Bob with the belt. Graham then smashes the world title belt and rips it apart. Vince Jr asks what he's doing and Graham just continues to smash the belt. Arnold Skaaland inside the ring revives Bob and we cut here. There was actually more to this but we're under time constraints. Back to Vince who says Graham would face Backlund in a series of matches and enjoy every single moment (Ha!). We now go to a lumberjack match held at Madison Square Garden.

Match 6

"Superstar" Billy Graham vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship in a Lumberjack Match

This was from the December 28, 1982 show at Madison Square Garden. We're joined in progress with Backlund getting Graham in an arm-ringer. For whatever reason Swede Hanson is the guest referee and Backlund goes for a shoulderblock only for Graham to pull Swede in the way. Swede shockingly doesn't attack Backlund but rather yells at Billy for pulling him in the way. Backlund jumps into Graham who pulls him outside into the heel portion of the ring. The faces run over and throw both guys back in the ring. Buddy Rose and Tony Garea yell at each other as Graham gets in a karate chop to the throat. Billy hits another chop to the throat which sends Backlund down in front of Rocky Johnson. Graham lands a third chop before shoulderblocking Bob in the corner. Vince says Graham abandoned his power moves for his karate arsenal. Bob tries to get his foot outside but Rose pushes it off right in front of Hanson who tells Buddy to beat it. Graham sends Bob off and locks in the bearhug but Bob punches him off. Billy goes for another bearhug but Bob counters with the crossface chicken wing. Mr. Fuji looks on concerned as Hanson calls for the bell. Bob refuses to let go and we cut here. I bet the extra curricular activity was fun with Backlund getting revenge for Graham destroying the title belt. Normally lumberjack matches are complete poo but since we only watched a few minutes, its all good.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by submission (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince in the studio who says as the calendar turned to 1983 it only got tougher for Backlund. Vince says when we return we'll go to a match between Backlund and Magnificent Muraco. The commercial is for waterproof gold chains called Marigold for 19.95 with a lifetime guarantee. Also we get a preview for Miami University vs Florida University tonight at 9 PM. Fun fact, Florida led by running back Neal Anderson beat Miami that night. Miami then went undefeated the rest of the season winning the NCAA title in dramatic fashion over Nebraska University on the final play of the national championship game. Last commercial is for Thursday night baseball with the New York Yankees playing the Milwaukee Brewers (back when the Brewers were in the American League) and the Cincinnati Reds face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Back to Vince who says Don Muraco started to rise through the ranks and earned a title shot against Backlund as the current WWF Intercontinental Champion.

Match 7

WWF Intercontinental Champion Don "The Magnificent" Muraco vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship in a Texas Death Match

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon

We go back to March 20, 1983 in Madison Square Garden for Backlund vs Muraco one year to the day after Bob faced Adrian Adonis in Philadelphia. Once again we're joined in progress with Backlund getting Muraco in a side headlock. Monsoon says Monsoon always visits hospitals and schools to see the kids. Muraco sends him off the ropes and Backlund shoulderblocks him down but falls through the ropes. Muraco tries to slam Bob back in but Backlund rolls through and hooks the leg for 1...2...nope. Backlund scoop slams Muraco and we cut here. There was only 10 minutes left in the show and we still had two more matches to cover. For anyone that cares, Backlund won the match by pinfall.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Not shown (Backlund won it)

Back to Vince who says Backlund survived Muraco's challenge and moved on to Philadelphia to meet "Iron" Mike Sharpe. Its easy for us to laugh at the idea of Sharpe being a contender but you have to go back to 1983 long before he became a hall of fame jobber to understand why he got a title shot. Let's get to the match.

Match 8

"Iron" Mike Sharpe vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship

Commentator: Gorilla Monsoon

We're joined in progress on April 30, 1983 at the Philadelphia Spectrum for Mike Sharpe getting a title shot at Backlund. Bob covers Mike for a two count and goes for a piledriver but Sharpe backdrops him out of it. Sharpe turns his forearm pad around and goes for a lariat but Bob does his rolling prawn with bridge for 1....2...3..to win the match and we cut here. At this point they're just blowing through highlights due to time constraints.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by pinfall (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince who says Backlund has been enjoying success but now runs into former WWF Champion Ivan Koloff. When Koloff defeated Bruno, he was 289 pounds but was down to 237 when he faced Backlund in the Philadelphia Spectrum. This will be the final match/highlight on the show.

Match 9

"Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff vs Bob Backlund for the WWF Heavyweight Championship

Commentators: Dick Graham and Gorilla Monsoon

We're joined in progress on June 4, 1983 in the Philadelphia Spectrum for the soon to be 41 year old Koloff trying once again to regain the heavyweight crown. Koloff does a backbreaker and covers but Backlund kicks out at one. Koloff sends Bob off and gets a boot to the ribs before locking in the bearhug. Monsoon says its like having a python wrapped around you as Graham has no idea how Backlund will get out of it. Bob grabs Ivan's head and slowly pushes him down to get both knees up to break the hold. Backlund is sent into the buckle but Bob ducks under a clothesline and locks in the crossface chicken wing. Ivan gives it up and Backlund is the winner.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Backlund by submission (still WWF Champion)

Back to Vince who says he hopes everyone is enjoying this edition of All-American Wrestling and if they have any suggestions they should send a postcard to WRESTLING, PO Box 1538, Greenwich, CT 06836. Write them today and see what happens! Vince goes to one last commercial before Backlund will join us for an interview. The commercial is for Consumer Reports Buyer's Guide. Basically long before the internet existed, you had to buy books and magazine to see what places had the best deals. All for just $14 dollars, my how times have changed. Back to Vince with Bob Backlund himself holding the green & gold belt. Bob speaks in a low voice and says he's been an underdog his whole life, coming from the wrong side of the river. He started wrestling when he was 10 years old and talks about how he was never expected to be successful yet still won the NCAA Wrestling championship. He thought he had it made when he turned pro and he started at the bottom, sleeping in the trunk of his car because he couldn't afford a hotel. He had to work out with kids at the YMCA to keep in shape then fought and climbed for the WWF title. He appreciates all the friends and fans he's made in the last 5 years and doesn't want to let anyone down. Vince thanks Bob for joining us for this episode and signs off by saying next week's episode will be centered around the Superfly himself, Jimmy Snuka. 

Well that wraps up the first ever episode of WWF All-American Wrestling. It was definitely a choice showing Bob Backlund highlights and next week is going to be nothing but Jimmy Snuka highlights. At least Snuka may be more entertaining depending on which highlights they choose to showcase. There's not much to say on this other than Backlund was champion for five years at this point and Vince was expanding into cable television. Unfortunately Bob's monotone delivery and mat based matches weren't what Vince was thinking when he needed a larger than life star to move the needle. But that's a story for another day. The next Madison Square Garden show wouldn't be until October 17 and it just happened to be one of the most important in wrestling history. Until then, yay for Bob Backlund.

WWF at McKeesport (3/7/80)

McKeesport Vo-Tech Senior High School

McKeesport, PA

March 7, 1980

Believe it or not, the only reason this is worthy of a write-up is 2 minutes of footage found by John Arezzi of one particular match. Apparently someone in the crowd filmed a bit of Hulk Hogan vs Tito Santana so by golly we got us a write up. This is going to be quick, thankfully.

Match 1

Jojo Andrews vs "Killer" Joe Abby

As I've mentioned earlier, Jojo was only 19 when he made his WWWF debut in 1976 so he's still only 23 here. "Killer" Joe Abby was a Pennsylvania local legend who started wrestling in the 1950's and he would have been 49 years old here. He fought in the Korean War shortly after high school so he was definitely a badass in his day. Apparently Jojo Andrews got the duke in this one.

Winner: Jojo Andrews by pinfall

Match 2

Billy Berger vs "Luscious" Johnny Valiant

Jobber to the stars Billy Berger takes on Johnny Valiant in this one. Not surprisingly, Valiant got the victory.

Winner: Johnny Valiant by pinfall

Match 3

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Gorilla Monsoon

The big rematch from WWWF television where Muhammad Ali infamously hopped in the ring to challenge Monsoon. Monsoon got the victory here.

Winner: Gorilla Monsoon by pinfall

Match 4

"The Incredible" Hulk Hogan vs Tito Santana

And now we get to only match with footage of it. Thank goodness someone brought an 8MM camera to this show and kept the footage alive for 40 years before it was converted to digital. Santana was one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions with Ivan Putski at the time, and Putski will be seen later. Ironically Hogan is in the yellow tights so its definitely weird to see essentially Hulkamania against Tito. The footage starts with Hogan locking in a chinlock on Tito but Tito fighting out of it. Santana rocks Hogan with right hands but misses a dropkick. Hogan whips Tito into the corner and poses for the irate crowd. He whips Santana into the other corner but misses a charge. Tito goes upstairs and hits a crossbody for 1....2..no, Hulk kicks out. Santana sends Hogan into the corner where a charge eats knee. Hogan covers Santana and hooks the trunks for 1...2....3 that's it. Wow, no legdrop? Then again this was still heel Hogan so he didn't need it when he could simply cheat. The footage ends with Hogan leaving and the size of the crowd is pretty small, even for that era's standards. Still, Hogan beats Santana.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Hulk Hogan by pinfall

Match 5

"Polish Power" Ivan Putski vs Bobby Duncum

The other half of the tag champs is also in singles action against the rough and tough cowboy Duncum. Apparently Duncum got himself disqualified and Putski was announced the winner. Least one of the tag champs got a victory.

Winner: Ivan Putski by disqualification

Not much to say about a long forgotten house show that looked to be in front of 200 people if that. If it wasn't for someone recording a few minutes of Hogan vs Santana, nobody would have been the wiser. If you're wondering why it was only a 5 match card, there was actually a Sam Mushnick super show going on in St. Louis that night where Bob Backlund defended the WWF title against Dick Murdoch. The main event was Ric Flair vs Jack Brisco 2 out of 3 falls.....hell that sounds like the better show. Still, this show is what it is, a house show. Can't judge it too harshly for that.

WWWF at Madison Square Garden (10/23/78) INCOMPLETE

Madison Square Garden

New York City, New York

October 23, 1978

Commentator: Vince McMahon Jr

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

After 4 weeks of hype its time for the big monthly show at Madison Square Garden. We have a loaded card and its finally time to settle some issues. We got a big overdue rematch between Bruno Sammartino and "Superstar" Billy Graham. WWWF Champion Bob Backlund defends against the 6'9 Ernie Ladd and the tag team titles are on the line with "High Chief" Peter Maivia and "Chief" Jay Strongbow taking on the champs, The Yukon Lumberjacks. Unfortunately some of the matches are missing. Let's get to the action anyway. Howard Finkel is our ring announcer and he welcomes everyone to the show. He gives the run down of the state athletic commission, the doctor at ringside, the timekeeper, Isaac Padilla the referee and himself.

Match 1

"Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz vs "The New Zealand Flash" Del Adams

Rodz we all know but who the hell is Del Adams? Apparenly he was also known as Jim Ray. Adams is in the beige trunks with Rodz in the blue. Rodz refuses the handshake and aggressively attacks Del. Johnny hiptosses the guy but Adams returns the favor. They lock up and Adams locks in a full nelson before Rodz eventually breaks it. A second attempt is thwarted by Rodz and he locks in an armbar as Vince runs down the card. Rodz continues to work over the left shoulder with forearm smashes and a hammerlock. Eventually Adams backdrops Rodz but Rodz takes Del down and drops a second rope knee on him. A right hand drops his opponent as Padilla admonishes him for the clenched fist. Rodz continues to punch and kick before dropping an overhead forearm. Rodz whips Adams in the corner and continues to punch/kick him. Adams reverses a whip into the corner and punches away at Johnny. A terrible looking right hand to the mid-section drops Johnny and he begs off in the corner. Adams chokes Johnny in the corner with his boot before the ref breaks it up. Adams tells Rodz to get back to the center and they exchange strikes. A headbutt by Adams drops himself harder than Rodz sells it. Another right hand by Rodz drops Adams and he lands a leg drop. Adams recovers and dropkicks Rodz down where he begs off again. Adams drops Rodz with a knee to the midsection and goes for a single leg crap but Rodz makes it to the ropes. Rodz continues to attack with strikes and kicks before completing a second rope stomp. Rodz lands two elbow drops but misses a third. Adams goes on the offense with strikes and a hiptoss but a cheapshot by Rodz gives him the upperhand back. He floors Adams with an elbow but misses another elbow drop. Adams hits a sunset flip and Adams pops up like popeye. Rodz begs off but Adams whips him into the buckle. He whips Johnny into the opposite corner but misses the charge, eating ringpost. Rodz pounces on him and hits a double underarm suplex. Rodz rolls over and covers for 1...2....3? Yes...Johnny Rodz wins! ITS A MIRACLE!


Time of match: 9:39

Winner: Johnny Rodz by pinfall


Vince Jr and Gorilla Monsoon present an award and honors the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. We have kids and board members in the ring. Gorilla presents a check of 17 grand to the chairman. She thanks the crowd and gets a nice ovation from the crowd. Once this is over we go to the next bout.

Match 2

Victor Rivera vs Dominic Denucci

This match wasn't recorded for some reason but Rivera wins it.

Time of match: 4:11

Winner: Rivera by pinfall

On to the next match

Match 3

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs SD Jones

SD is in the white trunks and Scicluna is in standard attire. Vince says Scicluna is known to bend the rules as heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner has a ringside seat for tonight's show. Scicluna was Gorilla Monsoon's opponent when Muhammad Ali hit the ring and Ali fought Chuck Wepner before.....useless information I know. Scicluna stalls to start before they roll around the ropes. Baron gets a right hand to the ribs and an arm ringer to start. Scicluna takes over with a chinlock and milks it for several minutes. Finally SD takes over with his own arm ringer and Vince on commentary gets so bored he starts talking about Bob Backlund against Ernie Ladd coming up. Scicluna reaches for the ropes but he's yanked back down by Jones. Scicluna takes a swing but Jones ducks and continues to wrench the wrist. Scicluna goes for the ropes again only this time he rakes the eyes. Scicluna gets in another punch to the ribs and takes over with another neck twist. Vince is trying to say anything he can to keep from falling asleep as Scicluna's nerve hold has SD flat on the mat. Suddenly Jones springs to life and powers out of it....only for Scicluna once again grabs the neck and drops Jones down. This time Jones attempts and eye rake and the fans love it. Scicluna recovers to stomp on Jones and re-apply the nerve hold. God this is getting ridiculous, at least switch up the holds. The referee catches Scicluna pulling the tights and sticks a finger in his face, but doesn't make him break the hold. Jones gets to his feet and elbows Scicluna off but the Baron recovers to re-apply the hold. Even Vince goes "Ahhh, not again." Jones knocks Scicluna off only for Baron to re-apply the same damn nerve hold. Jones elbows out of it again, kicks Baron in the ribs and hits a headbutt to a HUGE pop. Jones threatens to kicks Baron in the junk but lets him go. Baron takes Baron down and covers for a delayed two count. Baron begs off in the ropes then begs off in the corner. SD grabs Mikel and goes for the arm-bar followed by another headbutt. Jones rams Mikel into the buckle and covers for 1...2...nope. Jones locks in a chin-lock but Baron powers out of it. Scicluna gets a few right hands in and uses the five count to blatantly choke Jones. Scicluna lands forearms to the neck and goes back to the nerve hold from earlier. Scicluna then pounds away with forearms to the neck again but Jones starts to power up with left hands to the ribs. Jones hits an aftershock and covers for 1...2....no. Jones hits Scicluna with a left but Baron mule kicks him. Jones gets a side headlock but Jones lets go with a big left hand. Jones hits a big headbutt that stuns Scicluna so hard that Jones gives him a big hug to keep him from falling. Jones hits another headbutt and hugs him again much to the crowd's delight. A third headbutt has Scicluna falling face first Greg Valentine style and Jones covers for a deuce. Scicluna sends Jones off the ropes and they collide. Jones takes a bump while Scicluna windmills to the ground. Jones rallies with left hands and covers for two with the referee out of position. Jones rallies with left hands and headbutts and covers for another two count. Chuck Wepner looks on as Scicluna misses a knee drop and Jones covers for a deuce. Jones is whipped off and sunset flips for a one count. The bell rings out of nowhere and this one's over. The time limit has expired but they're not done yet. They trade punches and Scicluna raises his hand thinking he's won. Howard Finkel announces a draw and we cut here. Bad, bad match but the crowd loved it, especially when Jones rallied and Scicluna kept dropping like a dead deer.


Time of match: 20:00

Winner: No one (time limit draw)

Match 4

Chief Jay Strongbow and "High Chief" Peter Maivia vs The Yukon Lumberjacks (Eric and Pierre) for the WWWF Tag Team Championship

Days earlier Maivia turned heel on Arnold Skaaland and Bob Backlund but was still scheduled to team with Strongbow against the Jacks. Vince says before the match starts that Strongbow must have patched things up. Right off the bat Strongbow argues with Peter on who starts the match. Bell's gone and Strongbow still yells at him at the apron. Strongbow and Maivia go nose to nose then Jay says to hell with him and heads to the middle of the ring to face Pierre. Pierre backs him into the corner and backs off. Strongbow goes to meet him but Maivia decks Jay from behind. He leaves to a chorus of boos and apparently we got a handicap match. Pierre stomps away on Strongbow but he rallies in the corner until Eric tags in. Eric punches away on Strongbow and rams his head in the buckle. Eric sends him off and Strongbow runs into a big boot. Eric covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Kind of academic after Maivia left as Vince says it was more or less 3 on 1. Fink announces the Jacks are still the champs as the fans are mad. The match itself was nothing special but it was more or less to show Maivia's heel turn was for real.

Time of match: 3:04

Winner: Yukon Lumberjacks by pinfall (still WWWF Tag Team Champions)

Match 5

Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell vs Tony Russo

Blackwell is billed from Stone Mountain, Georgia the eventual hometown of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Vince calls Blackwell a rotund individual. Blackwell was the Mike Shaw of his time, a very mobile big man. Bell's gone and Russo eats a shoulderblock. Russo dropkicks him and hits a shouldertackle to move Blackwell into the corner. Blackwell hits a forearm and sends him into the buckle. Jerry whips him into the other corner but misses the avalanche.  Russo tries to whip Jerry but Jerry knocks him down with a right hand. Another right hand drops Russo and a snap mare leads to more boots. Russo tries a headbutt but Blackwell lands two forearms. Blackwell with a snapmare and drops a leg to the back. Blackwell stomps Russo in the ass and applies a bearhug. Russo tries a bell ringer but Blackwell doesn't budge. Blackwell backs Russo in the corner and hits the big avalanche. Back to the bearhug but Russo won't give it up. Russo powers out of it, kicks Blackwell in the gut and sends him into the buckle twice. Russo rallies with forearms and Blackwell teases falling but moves out of the way of Russo's dropkick. Blackwell hits a diving headbutt and a scoop slam. Blackwell hits a first rope big splash and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. That was a complete squash for no other purpose than to put over Blackwell as a mean looking fella. Vince says our main event is next.

Time of match: 5:01

Winner: Blackwell by pinfall

On to the next match.

Match 6

"The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd (with The Grand Wizard) vs Bob Backlund (with Arnold Skaaland) for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship

Maivia was going to be the next big challenger for Backlund after turning on him so the writing was on the wall with this one. Ladd was one month away from his 40th birthday as well. Bell rings and they shake hands to start. Ladd gets a go-behind but Backlund counters it, sending Ladd to the ropes. Ladd and Backlund exchange reversals but Ladd makes it to the ropes. Ladd goes for the bearhug and yanks the tights for leverage but Backlund makes it to the ropes. Ladd hammers away with chops and forearms then throws Backlund down. Ladd and Backlund exchange chops and Backlund kicks the left leg to knock the big man down. Backlund slingshots Ladd to the middle of the ring and drops the leg on the left knee. Bob twists the left leg and tries for a leglock but the much taller Ladd snatches him and rolls over out of it. Backlund kicks away at the leg again and Ladd wants another hand shake. Backlund refuses and goes behind Ladd again before grabbing the left leg. He kicks the right leg to drop Ernie and goes back to work with a leg lock. Again Ladd uses his height to yank the tights to get free. Ernie shoulderblocks Backlund in the corner and hammers away. Ladd whips Backlund in the corner but misses the charge. Bob kicks away at the left leg and brings him to the center of the ring. Backlund jumps on the hamstrings of Ladd and applies another leg lock. Backlund then jumps on the leg before once again twisting it. Ladd makes it to the ropes and bails to the apron to get the circulation back. Ladd stalls for more heat and Ernie goes for the waistlock, but Backlund counters out of it and once again controls the left leg. Backlund rows it like an oar and Ladd takes the two count near fall. Backlund keeps pushing Ladd down with his own left leg to get Ernie's shoulders to the mat. Ladd kicks Backlund with his free leg and takes over with forearms and a chop. Ernie scoop slams Backlund and rams Bob's head into the buckle. Ernie does a hiptoss but Bob rallies with right hands and tries a headbutt to the leg that Ernie doesn't sell. Ernie then does the taped thumb routine by repeatedly punching Backlund with it, the second time sends Bob to the apron. The referee goes to check Ladd who makes sure he doesnt check the tights. Ernie sends Bob off the ropes and hits a big boot. Ernie does a double leg drop and covers but Bob powers out of it at 1. Ernie chops Bob in the throat, does a snap mare and a blatant choke. Ernie poses for the irate crowd and goes back to the thumb to the throat. He covers for 1.....2...the referee notices Ernie's feet are on the ropes and makes him break it. Ernie kneels on Backlund's neck and yells at the fans some more. Bob rallies with right hands and wghips him on the corner. He backdrops Ernie and drops a leg before covering for 1...2....nope. Backlund does his in between the legs atomic drop and Ernie falls into the ropes Andre The Giant style. Backlund charges but eats boot. Ladd backdrops Backlund and hits another taped thumb shot to the throat. Backlund bails to the apron but is brought in the hard way. Bob gets his own thumbs to the throat but is sent off the ropes. Backlund shoulderblocks Ladd down and Ernie leapfrogs (!!!) and hits a dropkick (double !!!). Ernie covers for 1....2....nooooo. Ernie whips Bob off the ropes and hits another big boot. Ernie hits a big leg drop but misses the big splash. Bob hits the big atomic drop and covers for 1......2.....3 to win the match. For 1978 standards that was damn good. They tried to be as realistic as possible with wrestling holds and the taped thumb. The crowd goes nuts as Backlund is declared the winner and still champ. This kind of match would be frowned upon today with its slow pace but this was highly regarded in its time.

Time of match: 17:24

Winner: Backlund by pinfall

Moving right along to the next match.

Match 7

Larry Zbyszko vs Spiros Arion (with Freddie Blassie)

This another one of those matches that isn't on Youtube or on the official MSG broadcast. Apparently Larry won after Arion was disqualified.

Time of match: 6:12

Winner: Zbyszko by DQ

Now we move to the other half of our double main event.

Match 8

Bruno Sammartino vs "Superstar" Billy Graham

This was the big rematch from Baltimore when Graham won the heavyweight title a year earlier. Now that Graham is no longer the champion, Graham got his ass kicked by Dusty Rhodes in August, didn't emphatically beat Strongbow in September and he desperately needs this win to get another crack at Backlund. They circle to start and Bruno throws Billy backwards to start. Billy gets a right hand in but Bruno applies a sideheadlock punch to drop the ex-champ. Bruno poses for the crowd and Billy Goes for a neck vice. He tells the ringside photographers here's your next cover and they snap pictures accordingly. Bruno powers out of it and punches Graham down. A big kick to the chest has Billy reeling and Bruno then goes for the waistlock. Bruno turns it into a full nelson but Billy gets his foot on the rope. The ref doesnt make Bruno break it for whatever reason and Billy goes down to the mat. Billy manages to crawl to the ropes and bails to the apron to stretch. Back inside Bruno whips Graham into the corner but the flying knee misses. Billy goes to work on the right knee with stomps and a leg-lock. Vince on commentary says Bruno has been all over the world which is why he hasn't been seen in a while. Bruno reverses the hold and rams Billy's knee into the mat. Billy crawls to the apron and out of the ring to stall for time. Billy crawls back in and they do the test of strength spot. Billy wins it at first then Bruno makes the big comeback. Graham sells his ass off and then hooks the bottom rope with his leg to break it. Bruno backs Billy into the corner but Graham whips Bruno into the other corner. Billy stomps away at Bruno and whips him again in the corner. Billy covers for 1...2..nope. Billy stomps away on him again and locks in a bearhug. Bruno breaks the hold and locks in a bearhug of his own. Billy makes it to the ropes but Bruno rams Graham into the ringpost. Billy blades on camera and Bruno attacks the cut forehead with fists. Bruno scoop slams Bruno and covers him for two but gets up before three. Bruno wants to make an example of him and continues to pound away as Graham is a bloody mess. Bruno stomps away in the corner and the ref checks Billy. Ref says let's go and Billy swings wildly. THIS causes the ref to hold Bruno back and call it off. Bruno wins it by referee stoppage. Typical Bruno match of his era where he beats his opponent to a bloody pulp much to the crowd's delight. Storyline wise, Graham has lost it. He got beaten senseless by Dusty Rhodes and now Bruno in return matches. Usually that's a clue the guy is leaving the territory. If you like bloody fistfights, this match was for you.

Time of match: 12:24

Winner: Bruno Sammartino by stoppage

This was actually NOT the last match on the card. We got two more although they're not on the official broadcast.

Match 9

Tony Garea vs "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff

Speaking of ex champions, here's Ivan Koloff. Bell's gone and Koloff goes to work with forearms but misses a charge in the corner. Garea armdrags Koloff but eats a knee to the back. Koloff works on the back with punches and forearms then rams him into the corner. Koloff continues to pound away on the lower back and covers for just 1. The relentless Koloff continues to work the back and kicks Garea in the head. Garea catches the leg and kicks Koloff in the hamstring. A right hand stuns Koloff and Tony whips him into the corner. Tony hits a running knee then rolls him over for a two count. Garea pounds away in the corner and hiptosses him. Tony hits a dropkick then locks in an abdominal stretch. Vince points out Tony didn't have the toes around the ankle and Koloff hiptosses him. Tony shoulderblocks Koloff down but runs into a scoop slam attempt. Garea rolls out of it and goes for the O'Connor Roll for 1....2..noo, Koloff pulls the tights to reverse it for 1...2...3 to win the match. Short and sweet and Koloff gets the duke while Garea is irate. Koloff points to his head after the match to taunt the crowd as Garea wants more. Koloff leaves as Garea protests. That was a crash style match two decades before that became commonplace.

Time of match: 3:16

Winner: Koloff by pinfall

Let's go to our final match.

Match 10

Dino Bravo vs "Crazy" Luke Graham

Our final match has the demented Graham taking on Italian babyface Bravo. Bell's gone and Bravo pushes Graham against the ropes. Dino gets a side headlock as Graham waves a finger saying "No." Graham switches to a front headlock but Bravo turns it into a hammerlock. Graham drops to one knee and snap mares Dino over. Graham gets a punch to the face and rams his head into the buckle. Graham unloads in the corner and goes back to the front headlock. Graham goes for the foreign object and waffles Bravo in the throat with it. Problem with doing the same gimmick is it loses its luster, especially after Ernie Ladd did it earlier. Graham does a blatant choke and bites the forehead of Dino. Luke scoop slams Dino and covers for 1...2..nope. Luke for some reason thinks he's won and raises his arms in victory. Dino dropkicks him into the corner and rolls him up for 1...2....3 to win the match. What the hell was that? Luke still thinks he's won after Dino leaves as the crowd begins to fill out. Guess they were pressed for time after all the important matches were over and they had to keep this short and sweet. Fink says the match was over 5 minutes which is BS but oh well.

Time of match: 3:24

Winner: Bravo by pinfall

Vince runs down the card we just saw and tells us we'll return to MSG on November 20th. Tomorrow night the New York Knicks will meet the Atlanta Hawks as well. The Knicks ended up winning that game 113-109 with Ray Williams leading the charge with 23 points. Useless information, so what? As for the show, standard MSG card with your ups and downs. Those were big ups though with Backlund/Ladd being great and Bruno beating the hell out of Graham. That time limit draw between Jones/Scicluna was the shits and the final matches were rushed due to the time constraints. Now that Billy Graham has been beaten into oblivion and Ernie Ladd failed to beat Backlund, its on to Peter Maivia. Its all but given that Maivia will get the next crack at Backlund on November 20th. Our next house show is tomorrow night in Spotswood, New Jersey. I'll see you there.