WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling – May 9, 1965: The Great Great Grandfather (Includes Full Show)
WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling
Date: May 9, 1965
Location: Capitol Arena, Washington D.C.
Commentator: Ray Morgan
Well this is a little out of my normal range. This is basically the WWF grandfather, as it’s the promotion that would morph into the WWF several years later. I’ve done some of these shows before and they can be very interesting, though something this old is going to be more than a bit different. Let’s get to it.
Ray Morgan welcomes us to the show and says it’s the second half of the show, though this seems to be about the regular length. We hear the card with some familiar names, with Morgan casually holding a cigarette because 1965 was a very different time.
Before the first match, we get the card for an upcoming live event, which sounds rather awesome. The announcer also references something that happened here “tonight”, which has me wondering how this show worked.
Tomas Marin vs. Bill Watts
Yes that Bill Watts and the fans DO NOT like him to put it mildly. Watts jumps him from behind to start and hits a forearm to put Marin on the floor early on. The knee drop sets up some jumping stomps and Watts sends him hard into the corner. Marin is tossed over the top as commentary says this is the second hour of the show.
Watts drops him onto the apron and then kicks him outside, leaving Watts to shout to the crowd in a great heel touch. Marin’s comeback lasts all of three seconds as he misses a dropkick and gets kneedropped again. The bulldog (called a bulldozer) gets two, as Watts pulls him up, followed by some elbows to the back (“50,000 watts” according to Morgan in a good line). Another bulldog finishes Marin at 5:06.
Rating: C+. Yeah it’s easy to see the greatness in Watts, as he clearly got the idea of connecting with the fans. The people clearly hated him and let him know, which made for some great moments. The match is just a squash, but Watts looked like a star, which is why he was such a big deal for such a long time.
Chief Big Heart vs. Tony Newberry
Big Heart is your traditional Native American and Newberry is billed as a Big Game Hunter. Newberry jumps him from behind to start but Heart fights back and pulls Newberry’s vest over his face. The big chops send Newberry outside where he yells a lot before coming back inside. Newberry tries to get the vest off again and Heart fires off more chops, much to the crowd’s approval.
A big chop sends Newberry back to the floor, where he finds…what looks to be a foreign object but Heart beats him up again. Newberry takes the leg down to finally get control and a leglock keeps Heart down. Heart chops his way to freedom and Newberry hides in the ropes, meaning it’s time for more chops.
A half nelson (you don’t see that very often) has Newberry in more trouble but he gets in some judo shots. That just fires Heart up and the war dance is on, meaning even more chops. One heck of a chop puts Newberry down and the Bow And Arrow makes him give up at 8:25 (with Newberry tapping, though that didn’t mean anything for almost thirty years).
Rating: C+. I liked this more than I was expecting, with the deal with the vest being a nice touch. The thing is that while they were both rather gimmicky, you could instantly understand what you’re getting. It might be a bit more simplistic than most matches but it was easy to understand. That’s a nice feature and it helped the match overcome its only so great action.
Argentina Apollo vs. Bob Boyer
Apollo takes him down by the arm to start and they go to the mat. A fight over what we would call a Tombstone results in Boyer being sat on the apron and a pat on the head. Back in and they go back to the mat to grapple over the leg. That’s broken up with a grab of the ropes and the fans seem to appreciate the clean break. Well that’s rather nice of them. Apollo takes him down by the arm for a change so Boyer grabs the leg and twists for a smart break.
Boyer works on the arm and it’s time to talk about upcoming shows. A backdrop puts Apollo down but he misses a splash, allowing Apollo to crank on the arms. They both go to the mat and tie their legs together with neither being able to get anywhere. A rather painful looking leglock has Boyer in more trouble, with Boyer having to turn it over to make the rope for the break.
Well kind of as they’re so tied up that it takes a bit longer than usual. Even the referee is confused about what to do as they’re really that stuck. Apollo finally stands up and grabs Boyer’s leg, spinning it around to get him back up. Boyer has to rub some feeling back into his leg before they shake hands and we’re finally back to normal.
Apollo cranks on the leg again and then cartwheels around into another leglock for a nice sequence. The half crab goes on, but Boyer slaps him on the back, which makes Apollo let go as he thought it was the referee. Eh smart move. A snapmare puts Apollo down and some jawbreakers make it worse. Back up and they run the ropes until Apollo hits a crossbody for the pin at 14:22.
Rating: C. There was a good match in there but the extra time hurt it. I liked the technical aspect of things here, with the referee getting confused about untying them being something that felt realistic. It’s easy to see why Apollo got a following, as he was quite the athletic star. Cut off about five minutes and this is far better.
Post match….they actually keep fighting, which isn’t something you would often see back in the day.
Chief White Owl vs. Steve Stanlee
Stanlee strikes away to start but Owl goes into the war dance and knocks him out to the floor rather quickly. Back in and Stanlee knocks him into the ropes for some slow kicking but Owl gets it into the corner. Owl’s clean break earns him a kick to the ribs so he ties Stanlee up in the ropes. Stanlee gets loose and charges right into a forearm to the chest. Well that didn’t work. Back up and Stanlee hammers away in the corner so Owl fires off some dropkicks. Owl fights back but the time runs out for the curfew at 6:05.
Rating: C. You can only do so much with the short run time and it was only going to be so good in the first place. It also didn’t help that we already had a Native American gimmick on the show. Commentary mentioned that White Own and Big Heart were a team, but it doesn’t work so well when you have both of them fighting on the same show. Stanlee is someone I’ve seen before and I still don’t quite get the appeal.
Post match Owl chops him down and is declared the winner by referee’s decision.
Morgan talks to an older fan on a cane to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. While this is basically the great great grandfather of modern wrestling, I had a good time with the show. You can easily tell the good guys from the bad guys and the action is fine at times. No you won’t be seeing any of the high flying stuff of today, but it’s straight up pro wrestling and it still works. While I wouldn’t want to watch a ton of it, there is something to be said about seeing the origins of what we watch today.
Results
Bill Watts b. Tomas Marin – Bulldog
Chief Big Heart b. Tony Newberry – Bow And Arrow
Argentina Apollo b. Bob Boyer – Crossbody
Chief White Owl b. Steve Stanlee via referee’s decision
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WWWF New York City House Show – August 7, 1976: In Which Stan Hansen Gets Squashed
WWWF House Show Date: August 7, 1976 Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 22,000 Commentator: Vince McMahon
This was added to the Network recently and I almost always enjoy these older shows. There’s something about going this far back into history and seeing how things really were back in a different era. The main event, or at least the featured match as the last match wasn’t always the biggest, is Stan Hansen challenging Bruno Sammartino in a rematch of their original rematch at Showdown at Shea. Let’s get to it.
A note on the Network says this isn’t the complete show. I’ll try to let you know if anything is missing as far as I know.
Vince welcomes us to the show and explains the main event.
Johnny Rivera vs. Jose Cadiz
The ring announcer says there are nine matches on- the card but I can only find eight. Maybe something is missing from the records or maybe they’re counting a 2/3 falls match as two matches. He also has some of the worst charisma I’ve ever heard. It’s also weird to see the referee in khakis and such a dark atmosphere.
Rivera grabs some armdrags to start and Cadiz is already frustrated. A headlock slows things down a bit and this is just such a culture shock compared to modern stuff. Cadiz fights off the mat and puts on a fireman’s carry with some choking at the same time. That’s not cool with a fan who is seemingly well known to both Vince and the rest of the crowd. Rivera flips over the back and dropkicks him to the floor for a breather.
Back in and something like a Wasteland gives Cadiz two but Rivera spins up into a sunset flip for two. Rivera misses a flip splash and gets covered for one as this is trying to speed up a bit. A few snapmares set up a chinlock from Cadiz as Vince is surprised that someone can do this well in their Garden debut. Rivera fights up and gets the better of a full nelson before a not terrible ankle scissors gets two. Cadiz grabs a headscissors on the mat but Rivera just backs away for the escape.
Back up and Rivera snaps off a hurricanrana but misses a dropkick, allowing Cadiz to bite his face (no reaction from Vince on that). With nothing else working, Cadiz ties him into the ropes for a running knee to the ribs. How dastardly of him. Rivera slips out and gets in a dropkick before grabbing a chinlock of his own. That’s finally enough as Rivera hits a few dropkicks and a high crossbody for the pin at 10:41.
Rating: C. These are going to be on a slightly sliding scale as there’s such a difference in eras at this point. The match wasn’t horrible but it would have been better served with about three minutes cut out. Rivera had some nice high flying (for its time) stuff and Cadiz was more of a vicious heel than I was expecting. Not terrible here but Rivera kept slowing down instead of stringing much together.
SD Jones vs. Johnny Rodz
Rodz is more famous as the trainer of Tommy Dreamer and the Dudleyz among others. They trade control on the mat to start with Rodz likely choking to take over. We hit the armbar for a bit and Rodz pulls whatever he can to stay in control. Jones finally shoves him off and Rodz backs off in the corner like a good heel should. Some stomps and a middle rope kick to the back of the head gives Rodz a one count but he hurts his hand punching Jones in the jaw.
Rodz wants time out so Jones delays a bit before sending Rodz into the corner. That’s kind of nice of him in a rather mean way. Rodz gets in a cheap shot and some middle rope elbows to the neck but Jones shrugs it off and knocks him into the corner without much effort. They very slowly slug it out (it’s only been eight minutes) until Rodz tries a bridging German suplex but Jones lifts his shoulder to pin Johnny.
Rating: D. This really didn’t work as they didn’t have much to offer other than punching each other. Jones looked like someone who was there for charisma (a common trait back in the day) because all he seemed to do was throw punches and then counter a suplex for the pin. Rodz was billed as Unpredictable but he wasn’t much outside of the norm. Pretty dull match and the fans didn’t seem to care until the ending.
Tag Team Titles: Executioners vs. Jose Gonzalez/Dominic DeNucci
Two out of three falls and DeNucci (Mick Foley’s trainer) and Gonzalez (the guy who murdered Bruiser Brody) are challenging. The Executioners are your standard monsters in masks but they’re played by Killer Kowalski and Big John Studd. Gonzalez and we’ll say #2 (normally Studd and that’s clearly him) start things off with #2 grabbing a headlock and grinding the much smaller Gonzalez down.
It’s off to #1 vs. Dominic with the rather popular DeNucci getting cheered as he chops and slugs away. Double teaming keeps Dominic down and we have a double stomach claw to show that it really is 1976. The champs slowly take turns hammering on Dominic in the corner and it’s off to another stomach claw. Dominic finally gets over for the hot tag off to Gonzalez as everything breaks down.
The Executioners are whipped into each other for a BIG reaction and Gonzalez slams #1 for two. A sunset flip gets the same and it’s back to Dominic for some double arm shots to the back. #1 gets tied in the rope and Dominic goes for the mask but can only get it over the chin. A catapult sends #1 into the corner and #2 gets slammed for two as everything breaks down again. The referee gets Gonzalez out of the ring and that means a double backbreaker puts DeNucci away for the first fall at 10:12.
After a brief breather, DeNucci bails into his corner and almost seems scared of the Executioners, which makes them quite the imposing force. #1 sends DeNucci’s back into the corner over and over before stomping away as the champs have a target. Now it’s a back claw, which makes it look more like a massage than anything painful. Gonzalez finally comes in to try for a save, only to not be there when Dominic gets over for a tag. Man you had ONE JOB.
A top rope stomp to the back doesn’t even get a cover and DeNucci gets over for the tag, which is allowed despite clearly not being seen. Gonzalez cleans house and dropkicks one over the top as the referee has no idea who is legal (fair enough in this case as save for a bit of hair sticking out, the Executioners are nearly identical). With regular strategy not working, Gonzalez just unloads on #1 and keeps ramming him face first into the mat. Simple stuff often does it better. DeNucci comes in to hammer away with some more of those double shots, followed by an airplane spin of all things to tie it up at 19:12 total.
There’s a quick break (which might have been missing tape) and we come back with DeNucci punching a dizzy #1 into the corner as the crowd is losing it over this stuff. A backdrop is enough to allow a tag off to #2 and the match just kind of stops for a bit as #1 can’t get back up.
We settle down to Gonzalez being backdropped but #1 can’t even get up to the top out of exhaustion. It’s back to Dominic to slug away on #2 and load up the airplane spin, only to have #1 make the save. Gonzalez and starts cleaning house again but a slam on #2 is broken up by a kick from #1, causing #2 to fall on top to retain at 25:37 total.
Rating: C+. I liked this more than I was expecting as Gonzalez was a good fast paced guy while DeNucci, with that odd double strike style, made for a good veteran presence. The Executioners were a good team and would have been better off with Lou Albano talking for him, though he wasn’t here for some reason. Good match here and the time didn’t actually bother me all that much, which is rather surprising.
Bruiser Brody vs. Kevin Sullivan
Sullivan is billed as popular (right) and Brody is #1 contender in his MSG debut. Brody wastes no time in hammering away on Sullivan whose shots to the ribs have no effect at all. A whip into the corner allows Brody to pound away even more, followed by some no selling of the right hands. Brody throws him up in a rack for the submission at 2:29. Total squash and Brody did little more than forearm/punch until the end. He looks AWESOME though and that’s all that matters.
Chief Jay Strongbow/Billy White Wolf vs. Baron Mikel Scicluna/Rocky Tamayo
Strongbow and White Wolf are a big time team and #1 contenders. Tamayo and Strongbow start things off but hang on a second as we have to wait for the microphone to be raised. Jay starts a crisscross before sliding between Tamayo’s legs for a fairly fast paced spot for these days. An armdrag sends Tamayo down so it’s off to the Baron, who gets caught with a foreign object. The nitwit of a referee doesn’t actually take it away from him so Baron gets in a cheap shot with the object to take over.
Tamayo kicks away from the apron and more foreign object shots have White Wolf reeling as well. It’s back to Tamayo as the slow beating continues. The Baron allows White Wolf to roll over for the hot tag to Strongbow and that means it’s time for the chops. Everything breaks down and the good guys clean house, capped off by a double chop to put Tamayo away at 5:56.
Rating: C. This was straight Memphis with the foreign object before the Indians (which they were called over and over again during the match) started picking up the pace. That was the most entertaining part of the show so far and it was a face paced ending. I could have gone for more here, which I didn’t expect to say in the slightest.
WWWF World Title: Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen
Bruno is defending inside a cage with elimination only to win. Hansen has long blond hair here and it’s a very weird look for him. Bruno takes a bit for his entrance and the fans get more and more excited until he finally comes out, getting easily the biggest reaction of the night so far. As you might expect, Stan jumps Bruno as he gets in and the fight is on in a hurry. The place just goes NUTS for Bruno’s comeback though and it’s easy to see why he stayed on top for so long with this kind of reaction.
A knee to the ribs cuts Bruno off and Hansen stomps away, only to get sent into the cage. The wall rocks backwards, which makes for a cool visual compared to the rigid cage you see today. Bruno kicks away and even blocks the lariat, sending the crowd into an even bigger frenzy. Hansen elbows and forearms his way to freedom but Bruno is right back with knees to the back to set up a reverse chinlock (which Vince calls a Boston crab).
A quick attempt to escape gets Hansen beaten up even more and Bruno just chokes away. Stan hits him in the throat and goes up as a drunk fan is carried out through the entrance. There’s a low blow to Stan as this is almost all Bruno so far. Hansen elbows the cage (which Vince calls the lariat) and Bruno keeps kicking away. Stan goes for the door again and earns himself another beating.
Some shots to the back have Bruno in the closest thing to trouble he’s had all match but he sends Stan into the post for his efforts. Hansen is busted open and Bruno takes off Stan’s elbow pad (which may have been loaded) to go after the cut. Bruno just unloads on him with shots to the head and Hansen is DONE. Sammartino looks at Hansen as he’s draped over the ropes and then walks out to retain at 10:33.
Rating: B-. Sammartino was getting vicious here but this was basically a squash as Hansen only got in a few brief bursts of offense. Other than that it was Bruno kicking the stuffing out of him for about nine out of the ten and a half minutes. It was rather odd to see Hansen destroyed like this but it gives Bruno the definitive win, which is probably the idea they’re going for here.
Hansen poses on top of the cage and then collapses backwards in a funny bit. Even Vince says this was annihilation.
Bobo Brazil vs. Doug Gilbert
Brazil is 52 years old here because I don’t think he was ever actually young. Gilbert jumps Brazil before the bell and hammers away but a kick to the head and the Coco Butt (headbutt) send Gilbert outside for the countout at 35 seconds. Were they running REALLY short or something? Bobo never even took his vest off.
Ivan Putski vs. Skandor Akbar
Before the match, Putski says he wants Hansen. Akbar is far more famous as a manager but he did wrestle too. He looks a bit like Rusev. Putski grinds on a headlock to start and hits him in the face a few times. Grabbing the trunks doesn’t get Akbar out of trouble but raking the eyes does.
Vince admires Putski’s thighs and calves as Akbar chokes on the ropes. Putski shrugs it off, hammers away, hits the Polish Hammer (running ax handle to the chest) and hits a seated senton for the pin at 2:56. My guess is they had to wrap it up early for the sake of the curfew (in MSG you had to be done in a hurry or the match would be stopped).
I’m not sure what was up with the announcement about the show being in its most complete form as every match was there according to every card I can find.
Overall Rating: C. I liked the show well enough but it was only going to be so good. The version on the Network runs about an hour and forty minutes, though the intermissions to put up and take down the cage are of course gone. There’s some good wrestling on here but the 1970s were a VERY different time and it was all about the personalities instead of any of the in-ring work. It’s still cool to see all these famous names in their primes though and it’s so awesome that the Network is there to let us see all these things. Check out some of these old school shows, if nothing else just to say you saw them.
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Today we’re looking at the most evil foreigner of all time: Ivan Koloff.
Ivan got his start in 1961 as an Irish wrestler named Red McNulty. Then the Canadian found out that he was really Russian and became the Russian Bear Ivan Koloff. Funny how that sort of thing works. Anyway, he became a regular challenger to Bruno Sammartino’s WWWF Title and changed the world on January 18, 1971 in MSG.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Ivan Koloff
The footage is very old and of low quality so the details might be sketchy here. Also the match itself ran about fifteen minutes but only eight minutes of footage exists. Koloff grabs a quick headlock to start but is backdropped down as the champion escapes. A slam and an armbar put Koloff down but he grabs a headscissors to escape a cover. Bruno gets monkey flipped down but takes over with an armbar.
We’re clipped to later in the match and another armbar by Bruno. Either that or the referee has developed the powers of teleportation. We’re clipped again only seconds later to Koloff holding Bruno in a bow and arrow hold. For the third time in about 30 seconds we’re clipped to Bruno trying to escape the hold but Ivan holds him in place. Again we’re clipped to Ivan cranking on the hold even more. Bruno finally escapes the hold and turns it into one of his own but Ivan makes the rope.
They circle each other a bit and we’re clipped to them circling each other again. Bruno grabs a headlock but gets shoved off and shoulder blocked down. Koloff grabs another headlock and we’re clipped to Bruno being shoulder blocked down again. Bruno hooks a drop toehold into a leg lock but we’re clipped to further in the same hold. The champion stomps on the leg but we’re clipped to Koloff choking away. We’re immediately clipped again to Koloff stomping on Bruno before sending him hard into the corner.
Ivan keeps punching and kicking away and we’re clipped to him doing more of the same. This is one of the most clipped matches I’ve ever seen but for footage over 42 years old, there’s not going to be a much better option available. Koloff pounds away even more and we’re clipped to Bruno making his comeback with right hands to the ribs and a kick to the same place. A slam by Sammartino gets two and we’re clipped to him holding Ivan in a chinlock. We’re clipped again to a cover by the champion but Koloff is too close to the ropes.
We’re clipped again to Bruno hammering away and getting two off a punch to the ribs. Another clip takes us to Ivan in a chinlock again and another clip takes us to later in the same hold. The hold gets two and we’re clipped to Ivan sweeping Bruno’s leg out. We’re clipped yet again to Ivan doing the same thing before we’re clipped to Ivan kicking Bruno in the chest.
A fourth clip in fifteen seconds sees the referee accidentally being knocked down by Koloff in the corner but he’s right back up. Ivan slams Bruno down in the corner and goes up top, dropping a knee in the stomach of the champion. He covers Bruno and history is made as we have a new world’s champion for the first time since 1963.
Rating: C. The rating is based on what we were able to see. While it’s certainly not as intricate or flashy as the matches we regularly see today, there was definitely an energy to the match and nothing looked terribly bad. The problem here of course is the ridiculous amount of clipping, but from what I understand we saw about half of the match here, which is more than I’ve ever seen before.
From 21 days later in the same building.
Ivan Koloff vs. Pedro Morales
Obviously the commentary (performed by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross) was recorded later as this was on an official WWE DVD. Pedro is another of those ethnic heroes, this one of Puerto Rican descent. Koloff is absolutely loathed while Pedro is as over as free beer in a frat house. Pedro loads up his big left hand to start but Koloff backs away to the ropes. I believe there’s a clip there but it might have just been a camera angle switching. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.
Ivan doesn’t want to get into a fist fight with Pedro so he keeps locking up with him. They continue circling each other and we might have another clip to later circling. Pedro grabs a headlock and the fans lose their minds. Things speed up with Morales kicking Koloff off of him and taking the champion down with a headlock takeover. Koloff fights up after being held on the mat for a few moments. They stand up but Pedro keeps the hold on Ivan, causing the champion to grab Morales’ hair or trunks whenever he can.
Koloff finally escapes the hold and takes Pedro down with a kick to the ribs. The champion hooks on a chinlock and we’re clipped to later in the hold with the referee forcing a break due to thinking it was a choke. We’re clipped again to another chinlock by Koloff, this time with him using the strap from his singlet to choke Pedro. Morales fights up and hits some trademark left hands to the ribs. We’re clipped again to Ivan begging off in the corner and asking for a handshake.
Morales will have none of that but accepts a test of strength. The powerhouse Koloff takes him down but Pedro outsmarts him, hooking a monkey flip to send Koloff into the ropes. Another possible clip occurs and Pedro wants to throw fists. Instead he gets caught in a bearhug which is one of Koloff’s signature moves. After being in the hold well over a minute, Pedro comes out of it with a slam which only seems to make the champion angry.
Ivan pounds away on Morales with punches and forearms but they collide off a double shoulder block and both men are down. It’s the champion up first but he misses a running splash. Pedro still can’t follow up so Koloff slams him down and tries the top rope knee drop that won him the title. His challenger rolls away though and it’s Pedro going up top now, hitting a top rope cross body for two. Koloff whips Pedro into all four corners before trying what we would call a German suplex. All four shoulders are down but as the three count comes down, Pedro raises his right should, giving him the pin and the championship.
Rating: C+. This was a nice back and forth match with a huge ovation for the title change. The fans wanted to see someone take the title from Koloff and the fact that it was another of their heroes made it all the better. Pedro was already the United States Champion so he had a strong resume coming into the match. Again, the match wasn’t great by today’s standards but it did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Due to the time period we’ll have to skip ahead to December 15, 1975 in MSG.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Ivan Koloff
This is inside a steel cage and is called the first ever cage match in Madison Square Garden. You can only win by going out of the cage. Koloff attacks to start the match but Bruno fires off right hands to send Koloff into the cage. Bruno sends him chest first into the buckle and fires off some knees to the face to keep control. Vince calls Koloff the favorite to win the match for some reason. Bruno pounds away even more and sends Ivan face first into the cage wall again.
Bruno stomps away on the back of the head before sending him into the cage again. All Bruno so far. Ivan comes back with a kick to the stomach to take over and now Sammartino tastes the steel. The champion comes back with more right hands and sends Ivan into the cage yet again. Bruno fights back with right hands and pulls Koloff back in as he tries to escape. The ring is especially loud in this match. Ivan goes face first into the cage three times in a row and make it four.
Koloff gets a boot up in the corner to put Sammartino down before dropping the top rope knee onto the champion’s ribs. Ivan is bleeding from the forehead. Bruno pounds away and hits a knee to the chest to keep Ivan in trouble. They seem to mess up a spot before colliding in the ring. A knee to the ribs staggers Ivan and Bruno sends him into the cage once more. Koloff is rammed into the cage again and again before being sent hard into the corner.
Ivan is now between the cage and the ring as Bruno turns up the aggression even more. He sends Koloff head first into whatever metal object he can find before choking with his boot. The champion rakes his boot over Koloff’s eyes and sends him into the cage yet again. There are two more shots into the cage before Bruno climbs out of the cage to retain his title.
Rating: D+. This was a rather short cage match and it was a glorified squash at the same time. Koloff was soundly defeated here which was the entire point of the match. Still though, it wasn’t incredibly exciting as the majority of the match was Bruno ramming Ivan into the cage over and over again. That being said, the fans loved Bruno and that’s the point of the game.
One more shot at the title on August 28, 1978, again in MSG.
Bob Backlund vs. Ivan Koloff
Bob is defending and Ivan has Captain Lou Albano, an old heel manager with him. Backlund has only been champion about six months at this point. The name graphic leaves the A out of Backlund’s name. Backlund backdrops him to start as the crowd goes very silent for some reason. A headscissors puts Ivan down and Backlund holds on with a leg vice around Ivan’s head. They go to the mat and Backlund bridges up in a nice power display.
Ivan puts him on the top rope but gets kicked away. Off to another standoff and it’s test of strength time. Backlund goes down but comes back with a top wristlock, only to get caught in a headscissors. This goes on for a few minutes until Bob does a reverse nipup to escape. He dropkicks Ivan down and hooks a headscissors of his own as this is getting repetitive. Then again this is the way a lot of these matches went back then so this would be considered a big deal back then.
Backlund takes him back down again but gets caught in headscissors #4 of the match so far. Backlund finally gets out of that one as well and works on the knee a bit. Somehow we’re over fifteen minutes into this despite almost nothing happening other than headscissors so far. Bob stays on the leg and hooks a hold on for a few minutes. That’s another sign of the times: holds stay on FOREVER. I mean this one has been on for nearly four minutes at this point.
It finally gets broken up and Ivan suplexes him down for two. The idea of selling an injury must not have been invented yet. Or maybe it just doesn’t translate into Russian. Ivan hooks a short arm scissors but Bob shows off his surprising strength by lifting Ivan up into the air and over his head, slamming him down onto the mat back first to break the hold.
Bob puts him on the top rope to counter and hooks something like a spinning toehold. Thankfully this one lasts less than the usual two hours with Ivan kicking him in the ribs. Ivan sends him into the ropes but they ram heads, sending Bob to the floor. Koloff is smart and breaks up the count so he can still win the title. Backlund gets rammed into the post and a backbreaker gets two.
Ivan goes up top for the biggest pop from the crowd(and possibly the only one so far) of the match but his top rope knee drop misses. Backlund sends him in but gets kicked down again, this time back to the floor again. Koloff breaks up the count again, this time by going up top and jumping down onto the apron, kicking Bob in the head on the way down. That would be considered a big spot back then.
Backlund is busted open and we have to have the doctor look at it. That doesn’t work so the fight continues. Backlund goes off as he is known to do and Ivan is in trouble. A backdrop puts the challenger down…and the match is stopped because of the cut. Trash fills the ring and I can’t quite say I blame them for that.
Rating: C-. The ending was stupid but it had more to do with the athletic commission rather than the booking or anything. That being said, it made no sense to say Backlund can’t continue when he was beating the tar out of Koloff but whatever. Also, this match was fairly boring as I was looking for things to talk about during those rest holds which went on forever. I know it’s a different era, but that doesn’t make it any less dull.
We’ll jump ahead to his run in the NWA, starting at Starrcade 1984.
Keith Larson/Ole Anderson vs. Nikita Koloff/Ivan Koloff
Larson and Anderson have Don Kernoodle with them for no apparent reason. Ok so apparently Kernoodle is Larson’s brother (despite having different names) and the Russians injured him. Makes as much sense as anything else. The Americans jump the Russians to start and the beating is on fast. We finally start with Ivan vs. Keith and the Russian’s arm being worked over.
Off to Ole to crank on the arm like an Anderson can. Both good guys stay on the arm and there’s the hammerlock slam from Ole. Off to an armbar as it’s clear we’re in for a long one tonight. Back to Keith again for a wristlock as this match keeps going. At least it doesn’t have headlocks though. The good guys make probably their eighth switch as Larson comes in to crank on the arm. Ivan finally gets some separation and goes up, only to be slammed off the top for two.
Anderson and Larson stay on the arm before Ivan FINALLY drags Anderson over to the corner for a tag off to the monster Nikita. He pounds Anderson down and puts him in a bearhug as momentum has completely swung the other direction. As is the custom tonight, the hold stays on for several minutes before Ole smacks Nikita in the head to escape. Back to Ivan who gets two off a slam.
Back to Nikita to break up a hot tag and puts on another bearhug. Anderson finally punches out of it and makes the hot tag off to Larson. Keith speeds things up but gets run over by a Russian Sickle (hooking clothesline). Everything breaks down and Kernoodle is knocked down. As Ole and Nikita fight on the floor, Ivan pins Larson off a chain shot to the head.
Rating: D+. The frustrations continue here as the heels win AGAIN. Not only does Kernoodle not get his revenge, but we have to sit through fifteen minutes of arm work to get there. It is indeed a story, but it’s a dull story. Somehow this is probably the best worked match of the night though which says a lot.
From the next year’s Starrcade against some better opponents.
World Tag Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Ivan Koloff/Nikita Koloff
The Rock N Roll Express are two pretty boys named Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson who could fly around a ring as well as any pair of guys you’re ever going to be lucky enough to see. They’re also challenging here and this is in a cage. I believe you win by pin or submission only. Ricky and Nikita start things off and the fans are already chanting USA. Ricky, a far smaller man, is shoved down by the more powerful Nikita. Morton fires off a quick dropkick and we’re at a standoff.
Nikita pounds Morton down and kicks him in the ribs before bring in Ivan. Ricky starts speeding things up by flying around and hitting a quick cross body. Ivan crotches him on the top rope and it’s time for Morton to play Ricky Morton. For those of you unfamiliar, Morton was so good at being beaten down and making a comeback that the beatdown leading to the hot tag is called Playing Ricky Morton.
Actually scratch that as Robert comes in for a quick rollup and a double chop to the head gets two on Ivan. Robert sends him head first into the cage and Morton does the same. The Express starts doing their double teaming jazz as is their custom. It’s off to Nikita though and there’s the bearhug on Robert. Nikita rams him into the cage back first and does the same with Robert’s head for good measure.
Back to Ivan who is busted open as well. Robert is sent into the cage yet again and an elbow drop gets two for Ivan. Off to Nikita for some biting to the head before Ivan comes in for some slow power offense. Robert rolls away from a legdrop but Nikita comes in for a chinlock. Gibson is busted open as well, which seems to be a requirement tonight.
A kick to the back keeps Gibson down and Ivan gets two. Back to Nikita for some more choking but Ricky makes the save. Don Kernoodle, the Express’ second, starts a USA chant as the referee is knocked down. He can’t make the count on Robert but as he gets back up, Ricky makes a blind tag and rolls up Ivan for the pin and the titles out of nowhere.
Rating: B. Good old fashioned tag match here with the Express getting destroyed until the very end where they won on a pure fluke. The fans were WAY into the Express at this point and Morton would even get a program with Ric Flair. The Russians were a great old school tag team idea with both guys looking like monsters and acting like it as well. Also this was nice to see a change in the usual Express formula with Gibson getting beaten down instead of Morton.
Here’s a match from February 2, 1986 on a special called Superstars on the Superstation.
Road Warriors vs. Ivan Koloff/Nikita Koloff
The third Russian is Krusher Khrushchev, more famous as Smash from Demolition/Repo Man. Animal starts with Nikita and it’s the Russian diving off the middle rope, only to be caught in a bearhug. That’s scary power. Animal misses a legdrop but pops back up for a staredown. Off to Hawk for some tieups that go nowhere. All four guys are major powerhouses here so don’t expect much besides brawling.
Ivan comes in and avoids a charge but jumps into a punch to the ribs. A shoulder breaker and big boot drop Ivan before it’s back to Animal for a gorilla press. Animal drops an elbow for two as Baron Von Raschke is at ringside and apparently is a replacement for an injured Krusher. Back to Hawk who gets caught in the Russian corner for some evil Commie double teaming. Hawk comes back with a running clothesline and everything breaks down, including Baron coming in to lay out Hawk but it only gets two. Nikita trips Hawk up and Baron comes in for the DQ.
Rating: D+. The styles didn’t mix here but the fans were WAY into this feud as it was tugging at the heart strings of America which is a tried and true way to fire up the fans. Baron was far past his prime here but at least he was another foreigner that could play Krusher’s role very easily. Not a good match but the fans liked it which is what matters.
From Starrcade 1986 with Ivan trying to prove Soviet superiority.
US Tag Titles: Krusher Khrushchev/Ivan Koloff vs. Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawks are Bobby Jaggers and Dutch Mantell, the latter of which would eventually join the WWE under a variety of names, including Zeb Colter. This is a rematch of a tournament final where the Russians won the belts and there are no disqualifications. Dutch and Ivan start things off but it’s quickly off to Jaggers to pound away on the older Russian. Ivan actually busts out a rollup for two but it’s quickly back to Dutch to work on the arm.
Krusher gets a tag in and it’s time for some stalling. Mantell pounds away on the forehead and the Jayhawks choke away in the corner before it’s off to Jaggers again. That goes nowhere so here’s Dutch again, but those sneaky Russians trick him into some double teaming. The power of AMERICA saves him from the Russians though and Dutch fights both guys off with relative ease. Ivan sends Dutch to the floor though and into the barricade to shift control.
Off to Krusher for some double teaming, but Dutch fights back with a double clothesline and there’s the hot tag to Jaggers. Some AMERICAN right hands have the Russians in trouble and a clothesline gets two on Ivan. Everything breaks down but there’s nothing the referee can do because it’s no disqualification. Ivan goes up top but gets hit by Dutch’s whip to bring him down. Krusher is sent to the floor but sneaks back up onto the apron to hit Jaggers in the back of the head with the chain, allowing Ivan to get the easy pin to retain the titles.
Rating: C. Another basic tag match here but it was at a slightly faster pace, making it a more entertaining match for the most part. The Russians continue to be a perfectly fine midcard heel act as the Cold War was still going on at this point. The Jayhawks never did much of anything as a team and would fade into obscurity pretty soon after the start of the new year.
In a violent match at the first Clash of the Champions.
Road Warriors/Dusty Rhodes vs. Powers of Pain/Ivan Koloff
Koloff and the Powers of Pain are the Six Man Tag Team Champions but the titles aren’t on the line here. This is a barbed wire street fight. Animal (teaming with his regular partner Hawk and Dusty) had his face injured by the Powers (Warlord and Barbarian) and Koloff while doing a weightlifting demonstration so tonight is about revenge. The barbed wire is around the ropes and while it’s not the at the level you might expect today, this was a BIG deal back in 1988.
The heels finally crawl under the ropes but Animal chases Warlord out to the floor to send him into the post. Most of the guys stay clear of the barbed wire and fight in the middle of the ring. Ivan and Dusty send each other into the wire and draw blood but Dusty comes back with right hands to Warlord and a big DDT to Barbarian. Hawk comes off the top with a right hand that mostly misses Warlord before Dusty kicks Barbarian to the floor. Animal powerslams Warlord and Barbarian’s top rope headbutt hits his partner by mistake, giving Animal the pin and revenge.
Rating: D+. The match wasn’t much to see but the barbed wire was a nice touch, even though it wasn’t used all that much. It probably is better that they kept this match short and energetic as none of the six guys were known for their stamina. The Powers of Pain would jump to the WWF less than two months later so this was the blowoff to the feud.
Time for a “specialty” match at Clash III.
Ricky Morton vs. Ivan Koloff
This is a Russian chain match, meaning they’re attached at the wrist and you win by touching all four corners in a row. If your momentum is stopped, you lose any buckles you’ve touched. Koloff pounds away to start and chokes with the chain but can only get to two corners before Morton makes the save. Ivan throws him outside but gets pulled into the ropes to put him down. A punch with chain around the hand has Ivan in more trouble and Ricky goes after the Russian’s knee.
Morton whips Ivan with the chain instead of going for the buckles but Ivan easily stops him anyway. A middle rope ax handle puts Ricky down again, though he’s able to pull Ivan from the top rope. Ricky can’t pull the big Russian and Ivan whips him with the chain to take over. Koloff gets three straight but Morton makes another save to break the momentum. Ivan goes up so Morton pulls him down again, only to have them collide and put both guys down. It’s Ricky up first and getting three buckles but Ivan’s manager Paul Jones helps him make the save. Morton keeps pulling though and gets the fourth buckle for the surprise win.
Rating: D+. This was all about the angle but the fans were WAY into Morton to help carry things. Ivan was old and banged up at this point and it made for a boring match. The gimmick didn’t help either as it made the match even slower. Morton doing his usual great selling before making a comeback and winning with a sunset flip would have worked just fine here.
Ivan had to deal with Paul Jones’ Army, including this match at Clash IV.
Ivan Koloff vs. Paul Jones
Jones is a manager but also a former United States Champion. Koloff has his arm tied behind his back to make this a little bit more fair. Ivan grabs Jones by the throat and Paul bails to the floor. Back in and Jones sticks and moves which just angers Koloff even more. They circle each other for a few minutes as there has been almost no contact here. Koloff finally gets him into the corner and rams him into all four turnbuckles, sending Jones to his knees to beg for mercy.
More choking ensues with Ivan using his hands and Jones using the rope around Koloff’s shoulder. They head outside with Koloff being sent into the post a few times to give Paul his first real advantage. Ivan comes back with a few right hands and Jones bails to the floor to pull out a foreign object. He knocks Koloff down with a few shots but drops the object, allowing Ivan to take it away and knock Jones out (from his knees) for the pin.
Rating: D-. While the second match was too long, this one was too boring. It’s definitely there for the storytelling more than the wrestling, but that doesn’t make it interesting. The match runs a little over eight minutes and is all choking, punching, and then the good guy cheating to win the match. The whole feud never worked as Jones wasn’t the most interesting of a manager. This would have been better had it been Koloff against one of the Russian Assassins in a regular match.
Ivan turned face with Nikita Koloff as his partner but when Nikita left, this is what they came up with. From Starrcade 1988.
Russian Assassins vs. Junkyard Dog/Ivan Koloff
This is a thrown together tag match and if the Russians lose, they have to unmask. The Dog is recently here from the WWF where he wasn’t a huge deal but he was a big deal in the UWF. Dog starts with we’ll say Assassin #1 and the masked man is sent into the corner for a quick two count. Off to #2 who is almost immediately knocked to the floor with a big right hand. Paul Jones, now a Russian sympathizer, pulls #2’s leg onto the ropes for the break.
Off to Ivan with a hard clothesline and he chokes #2 down to the mat with ease. #2 charges into a boot in the corner and there’s a middle rope clothesline from Ivan for two. JYD and Ivan hit a double clothesline on #2 but #2 comes back with a headbutt of his own to put Dog down. Everything breaks down for a bit until Dog gets a near fall on #1 off a clothesline. The Assassins double team JYD but #2 misses a splash in the corner. Ivan comes in to clean house as everything breaks down again. In the confusion, the Russians load up a foreign object in their masks and a headbutt ends Ivan.
Rating: D. This wasn’t any good. I have no idea why Ivan and the Dog teamed up for this match and I didn’t even know the Assassins were a team anymore at this point. This came off like a long filler match which isn’t something you should have to use on a card with just seven matches.
One more match from right before Ivan retired. From Slamboree 1993.
Thunderbolt Patterson/Brad Armstrong vs. Baron Von Rashcke/Ivan Koloff
It was supposed to be Bob Armstrong but he’s hurt so it’s his son instead. He’s in street clothes but whatever. Total brawl to start as Armstrong is about 25 years younger than everyone else in the match. Raschke gets sent to the floor and the young guy’s team rule the ring. Let the stalling begin! The Baron runs from Patterson a lot and we get a very basic match which doesn’t look to last that long.
Koloff vs. Armstrong now as we talk about Sammartino losing the WWF Title to Koloff. Naturally that name isn’t used but you get the idea. There’s the Claw to Armstrong but Patterson breaks it up. Patterson gets a hot tag and beats up the bald bad guys a bit. What I think was supposed to be a double chop to the Barron ends this.
Rating: D+. Yeah this was pretty worthless. Patterson looked like he was about 95 years old and was probably the second best looking guy in the match. Bob helped a bit but with only four and a half minutes to work with, how much can you really complain here? Not much of a match but it wasn’t supposed to be anything that good.
Koloff is a guy famous for one thing but talented enough to do far more. He had another solid run as part of the Russian trio in the 80s which fit perfectly with the times. There’s something about a big strong foreigner that is always going to work and that’s exactly what Ivan did over the years.
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Today we’ll look at the first ever WWF Triple Crown winner: Pedro Morales.
Morales got his start in 1959 but as you can guess, it’s borderline impossible to find stuff from way back then. Instead we’ll jump ahead to December 16, 1970.
Gorilla Monsoon/Pedro Morales vs. The Mongols
The Mongols are way old school and named Bepo and Geto. Monsoon is HUGE. He’s the Asian Champion and Pedro is US Champion (the WWF version which was gone by the 70s). This is 2/3 falls and we’re joined in progress. It’s in Philly and from sometime in the late 60s. The Mongols are bald other than ponytails. This is the WWWF also. Monsoon is sent to the floor by the International Tag Team Champions.
Geto, the smaller one, drops a bunch of knees off the top on Gorilla to win the first fall. Clipped to the second fall and Pedro is in trouble. One of those Mongols looks a lot like Nikolai Volkoff. And I’m right as he’s Bepo. Bear hug by Gorilla but Bepo makes the save. This isn’t incredibly good. Pedro watches Monsoon getting his teeth kicked in. The Mongols get disqualified for double teaming so we go to the third fall.
Monsoon’s back is hurt so FINALLY we get Pedro. He throws some decent dropkicks which gets the pin on Geto. The film starts messing up and looks like it’s being played in fast motion. The third fall was either clipped or lasted 18 seconds. Pedro looked good if nothing else I guess.
Rating: N/A. Haven’t used one of those in awhile. This really isn’t fair to grade with all the clipping and lack of any story at all. It’s not too bad and Pedro looked great. Monsoon was a freaking load and the Mongols were nothing special. Then again it was the 60s so how angry can I really get with it?
Pedro would quickly become a bigger deal, earning a World Title shot in MSG on February 8, 1971.
Ivan Koloff vs. Pedro Morales
Obviously the commentary (performed by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross) was recorded later as this was on an official WWE DVD. Pedro is another of those ethnic heroes, this one of Puerto Rican descent. Koloff is absolutely loathed while Pedro is as over as free beer in a frat house. Pedro loads up his big left hand to start but Koloff backs away to the ropes. I believe there’s a clip there but it might have just been a camera angle switching. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.
Ivan doesn’t want to get into a fist fight with Pedro so he keeps locking up with him. They continue circling each other and we might have another clip to later circling. Pedro grabs a headlock and the fans lose their minds. Things speed up with Morales kicking Koloff off of him and taking the champion down with a headlock takeover. Koloff fights up after being held on the mat for a few moments. They stand up but Pedro keeps the hold on Ivan, causing the champion to grab Morales’ hair or trunks whenever he can.
Koloff finally escapes the hold and takes Pedro down with a kick to the ribs. The champion hooks on a chinlock and we’re clipped to later in the hold with the referee forcing a break due to thinking it was a choke. We’re clipped again to another chinlock by Koloff, this time with him using the strap from his singlet to choke Pedro. Morales fights up and hits some trademark left hands to the ribs. We’re clipped again to Ivan begging off in the corner and asking for a handshake.
Morales will have none of that but accepts a test of strength. The powerhouse Koloff takes him down but Pedro outsmarts him, hooking a monkey flip to send Koloff into the ropes. Another possible clip occurs and Pedro wants to throw fists. Instead he gets caught in a bearhug which is one of Koloff’s signature moves. After being in the hold well over a minute, Pedro comes out of it with a slam which only seems to make the champion angry.
Ivan pounds away on Morales with punches and forearms but they collide off a double shoulder block and both men are down. It’s the champion up first but he misses a running splash. Pedro still can’t follow up so Koloff slams him down and tries the top rope knee drop that won him the title. His challenger rolls away though and it’s Pedro going up top now, hitting a top rope cross body for two. Koloff whips Pedro into all four corners before trying what we would call a German suplex. All four shoulders are down but as the three count comes down, Pedro raises his right should, giving him the pin and the championship.
Rating: C+. This was a nice back and forth match with a huge ovation for the title change. The fans wanted to see someone take the title from Koloff and the fact that it was another of their heroes made it all the better. Pedro was already the United States Champion so he had a strong resume coming into the match. Again, the match wasn’t great by today’s standards but it did exactly what it was supposed to do.
We’ll move ahead to this title defense at some point in 1972.
WWWF World Title: Pedro Morales vs. Mr. Fuji
Fuji starts fast and throws the champion over the top and out to the floor. He rams Morales face first into the apron a few times before doing the same with the turnbuckle. Morales gets all fired up as is his custom and sends Fuji over the ropes. The evil Hawaiian is sent into the steps before they head back inside. Fuji slams Pedro down a few times but takes his sweet time going up top, only to get slammed down ala Flair. Pedro grabs a quick rollup for the pin.
Rating: D. To say Morales didn’t exactly have the most in depth psychology is an understatement. It was basically just random slams and chops before a rollup got the pin. Then again a four minute match was a rarity back then so I’d assume he’d be more comfortable with a lot more time.
Back to MSG on June 30, 1973.
WWWF World Title: Pedro Morales vs. George Steele
Pedro is all ticked off before he’s even in the ring. For some reason the champion is introduced twice. Steele charges at him but Pedro hammers away and sends him over the corner and out to the floor. Back in and Steele nails him in the ribs with a foreign object to take over. He stomps away and slams Pedro down but stands in the corner instead of following up.
Pedro gets back to his feet but is a bit calmer this time, opting for an armdrag instead of wildly swinging. Steele bails to the apron again but snaps Morales’ throat over the top rope. He rams the champ’s head into the buckle a few times, only to have Pedro do the same to him. Steele is busted open and Pedro bites at the cut until the referee finally stops it for the blood.
Rating: C. Better match here with the story making sense: Pedro did his usual brawling but got in over his head until he came back with using Steele’s own evil tricks against him to win. This was before Steele was an Animal and it’s really odd to see him as just a regular and even at times smart heel.
Pedro would lose the title in December of 1973 so we’ll head over to July 22, 1974.
Killer Kowalski vs. Pedro Morales
Talk about legends. Now Kowalski was the big time brawler of his day. He also trained HHH so there’s his biggest contribution to wrestling more than likely. This would be about 8 months after Pedro lost the world title, putting it in late July of 74. We’re in MSG here of course. Jesse Ventura is alone on commentary here. That’s a new one on me. Kowalski used the Claw on various body parts so he uses it on the leg here. Pedro’s leg problems seem to be a theme on this tape.
Clipped to more leg work. Jesse doing play by play is a very odd thing. He doesn’t shut up but keeps things fresh somehow. It’s more like a radio broadcast. The Claw is something that needs a good announcer to put it over because just from a visual perspective, it looks really stupid. Pedro comes back with some left hands and grabs Killer by the ears. Back to the knee and Pedro is in trouble again. How did this guy win the first triple crown?
They trade punches to the ribs and Morales takes over. Jesse is surprisingly good at play by play. Morales is left handed if that gives you a better mental picture of this. Morales grabs the Claw on the ribs. Clipped to a double stomp by Kowalski. This commentary has been recorded far later as Jesse talks about Kowalski like he’s retired, which he would have been. Kowalski bites the face and Pedro bites back. Killer takes him down but misses a double stomp. Off to the Claw on the stomach again and Pedro is in trouble. They brawl to the floor and it’s thrown out. WEAK.
Rating: D. I love old school stuff and I’ve always liked Pedro, but this was boring. The Claw is one of those moves that works as a quick finisher but having it in there all the time like this got really boring after awhile. At least it wasn’t very long. Kowalski is a guy that seems like he’d be better in quick spurts. This match felt like it would have been better for a live crowd, which is fine, but it does bring into question why it’s on a tape.
More MSG on February 17, 1975.
Pedro Morales vs. Butcher Vachon
They brawl in the corner to start and Vachon isn’t sure what to make of someone that can hang with him in a fight. Both guys send the other into the corner before Morales backdrops him down. Vachon cranks on the arm a bit and looks bored in doing so. Morales comes back with more left hands and the stalling continues. A big clothesline drops Morales and a shoulder to the ribs does it again. Vachon tries the same thing but gets caught in a sunset flip for the pin.
Rating: D+. I’m starting to get Pedro at this point and it’s an idea that works for the most part. It’s nothing great but the whole learning from your mistakes works well enough and shows some thinking in the ring. Vachon was better known as a brawler than as an in ring worker and that’s what we got here.
We’ll actually jump to the NWA for a bit here on Worldwide in 1979. I believe this is from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Paul Jones/Baron Von Raschke vs. Pedro Morales/Steve Regal
No not that Steve Regal. Steve and Jones get things going and they trade shoulders to no avail. Some armdrags take Jones down and it’s off to Pedro to crank on the arm. Off to an armbar but it’s off to the Baron who easily takes Regal down. The announcer is giving us one of the most in depth bios I’ve ever heard, including favorite sports, hobbies and astrological signs.
Baron, a Leo who enjoys raising rats for scientific studies, cranks on Regal’s arm, which once had a tryout for the Washington Redskins. Jones comes in to work on the arm as well before it’s back to the Baron for a shoulder breaker. Regal tries to get a rollup but gets beaten down and caught in Baron’s claw. Pedro tries to make a save but the hold stays on and Regal gets pinned.
Rating: C-. It’s very strange to see Pedro as just a guy instead of one of the top stars in the promotion. He wasn’t treated like anything special and this was basically a squash. The NWA was a totally different world from the NWA and this is a good example of why. Also, things were so much calmer here than in the WWF matches and it helped things a bit.
Back to the WWF with Pedro facing Baron Mikel Scicluna on TV in 1980.
Baron Mikel Scicluna vs. Pedro Morales
Baron hammers away to start but Pedro shoves him away and claps a lot. The Baron cranks on a top wristlock to no avail as Pedro shoves him down again. With the holds not working, Baron hammers away and takes Pedro into the corner. Morales takes him down to the mat for an armbar but Baron gets into the ropes. Now it’s Baron cranking on the arm and they hit the mat for some grappling. It’s Morales working on a leg lock before they get back up for some…brawling? Pedro grabs a backslide for the fast pin.
Rating: D+. This was a very different kind of match and the grappling was very odd to see from a brawler like Morales. Scicluna is a guy that I just do not get the appeal of as he’s never shown me anything. Naturally he’s in the Hall of Fame because if you wrestled in the 70s you’re an automatic candidate.
Pedro would appear at Showdown at Shea in 1980.
Tag Titles: Bob Backlund/Pedro Morales vs. Wild Samoans
Backlund is world champion and this is 2/3 falls. Basically this would be Cena/Orton vs. the tag champions if the tag titles were a big deal. Backlund is way over as is Morales. Vince says in the corner to his left are the champions. The corner is empty but who cares about little things like those? According to Foley it’s FAR more interesting to talk to Backlund than to Afa, which doesn’t surprise me at all.
As far as the relations here, Afa and Sika are brothers I believe. Afa’s kids include Samu and Manu while Sika’s son is Rosey and he has another son in FCW. More or less picture it like this: if they’re Samoan and a wrestler, they’re probably related to each other. Cole talks about Pedro being a former WWE Champion which makes me think of him holding the spinner belt. We get some discussion of the New York curfew which meant that no wrestling could happen after 11. Matches would just stop at that time due to state laws. Imagine a big match just stopping at that point.
This is being written hours after the final NXT show on Syfy and there was a This Week in WWE History segment about a Cactus Jack vs. HHH match. Oddly enough Foley and Cole discuss that very match here in a very funny story about Captain Lou wandering down to ringside while the two guys were brawling in the crowd. Apparently Vince and Cole were in the gorilla position (Cole’s words) and Vince looked at him and said “Did Captain Lou just walk to the ring?” “I believe he did.” “Just checking.” Far funnier than it sounds.
We get the famous Samoan nerve hold on Backlund as this has been far more interesting and far more modern of a style match. We get a good example of what a manager can do as he holds Backlund’s tights to keep him in the corner so Sika can beat on him. Foley gives us a rather interesting history of managers. He really knows what he’s talking about as this is the area and company he grew up with. Backlund gets the Atomic Drop (his finisher. It was a much simpler time obviously) and Morales gets an O’Connor Roll (run the other guy into the ropes and roll him backwards into a rollup. You’ve seen it a thousand times. Bret likes to do it.) for the first fall.
Vince flat out screws up and says we have new champions prompting a very interesting question from Foley: who yells at Vince when he screws up? Vince booked the match, Vince made the announcement and he’s told the referee made it 2/3 falls. HUGE BS chant starts us off. The Samoans beat up Morales before the second fall. THE FREAKING COPS TAKE ALBANO OUT! In the biggest city in the country in the middle of the summer, there was NOTHING better for them to do???
Foley starts having a sandwich because he saw Don Muraco do it as everything goes insane. Backlund gets a Piledriver on Sika to bring in both other guys. The commentary here is cracking me up. Backlund goes for a belly to back on Sika but Afa hits him in the head, prompting Backlund to…..fall backwards and drive Sika into the mat in a belly to back suplex. Pedro hits a dropkick on Sika so Backlund can pin him. They would have to forfeit the titles because Backlund couldn’t hold the tag and world titles so the Samoans got them back.
Rating: B. Most fun any of the matches so far tonight have been with the crowd being WAY into it and the guys having a great time out there. This worked as all four guys were pretty solid if not very good in the ring. The booking is a bit odd if they were just going to give the titles back to the Samoans. Why not a disqualification or something like that?
Pedro would become one of the first Intercontinental Champions. Here’s a defense in MSG on June 8, 1981.
Intercontinental Title: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pedro Morales
They shove each other to start before it quickly turns into a slugout with Sarge taking him down to the mat. Pedro comes back with a hard left hand and sends Slaughter into the corner. Back up and Morales lays in more left hands but Slaughter pulls out a foreign object. Some American. He doesn’t even buy domestic. Slaughter loads it into his elbow pad and knocks Morales silly but doesn’t cover. Morales can barely get up so Slaughter goes up top, only to get slammed down as Pedro was goldbricking. The champ hammers away so Slaughter nails the referee for the DQ.
Rating: D+. These Morales brawls are kind of hard to sit through in a long stretch. This didn’t have much time due to the lame ending but I’m assuming it was to set up a rematch down the line. Slaughter was rapidly becoming a huge deal at this point though it was still a few years away.
Another defense in Philadelphia on February 22, 1982.
Intercontinental Title: Pedro Morales vs. Jimmy Snuka
Snuka has only been around for a few months at this point but the fans are loving him, despite him being a heel. The announcers aren’t sure what to do with him because they know he’s popular but he’s supposed to be the evil savage. He has a thing for flowers apparently. Snuka wrestles barefoot which is another thing that made him different. The fans here are split which is a weird sight.
They fight over a top wristlock to start and Snuka complains of a hair pull. Snuka takes it to the mat with arm control and Dick Worhle is the referee. He died a few days ago so that’s kind of sad to see. Now Snuka pulls the hair to keep the advantage. See how easy a heel move that is? Such little things like that one are just lost in modern wrestling.
Snuka runs him over and headbutts Pedro down as the fans applaud. Now keep in mind: Pedro is a very popular guy. He held the IC Title forever and was a former world champion. However, Snuka was a totally different kind of guy and the fans, especially the Philly crazy people, took notice and loved him. Pedro is in trouble and gets knocked to the floor by a forearm. All Snuka so far.
Out to the floor and Pedro goes into the apron. Back in and Pedro is almost knocked right back out. Off to a chinlock for a few moments and Pedro FINALLY gets up. He hits his first decent offense of the match in the form of a backdrop but Snuka takes him right back down again. A middle rope headbutt half kills Pedro and you would think that Snuka was the top guy in the company based on the fans’ reactions.
That only gets two though and Snuka has a headache from the headbutt. Pedro grabs the face and works it over (that’s not something I’m used to typing) and starts his comeback. He hits his big left and Jimmy looks like he’s dancing. Out to the floor and Snuka tastes the steel. A BIG left hand sends Snuka flying into the ropes.Snuka rakes the eyes which doesn’t really do much good. Pedro hits a knee to the chin and then shoves the referee because of that firey Latin temper of him. Now Pedro throws him to the floor and it’s a LAME DQ.
Rating: C+. Well it wasn’t a classic or anything as Pedro was way too fond of just throwing the left hand but the crowd was very energetic for this as they were both very popular guys. Notice that the match is very similar to the rest of them but the names are bigger. There wasn’t much variety in this era and it shows badly at times.
Another title defense on March 14, 1982.
Intercontinental Title: Pedro Morales vs. Adrian Adonis
Since Adrian never held this title, Pedro is defending. Joined in progress (again) as this is an Archives match. They slug it out and the fans are of course way into Pedro. He knocks Adonis to the floor and is slow even here in what I think is about 1980. They ram each other into various things and Pedro misses a shoulder back inside. That ring sounds very metallic. The American hits a German on the Puerto Rican and they do the suplex but one guy gets his shoulder up in time spot to keep the title on Pedro. Too short to rate but bad as always on this tape.
Against a fellow Hall of Famer in MSG on January 22, 1983.
Intercontinental Title: Pedro Morales vs. Don Muraco
This is from MSG in January of 83. Morales had taken the title from Muraco over a year ago. See, back then title reigns were VERY different. The title was introduced in 1979 and Ricky Steamboat was the 11th reign in 1987. In 8 years, the title changed hands 10 times. Think about that. Of the first ten reigns, the shortest was five months. Today, that would be a long reign. Back then it was by far the shortest. Three of the first ten lasted over a year. Think about that for a minute and now compare it to today.
As for this match, Muraco jumps the champ in the corner but Morales fights back quickly. Morales rips half of the shirt off Muraco and the challenger is in trouble. Corner sunset flip gets two for Morales. Muraco has a sleeve of his shirt still hanging off his arm. Pedro knocks him to the floor and this is all Morales so far. Muraco does a Flair Flop off the apron to the floor.
Pedro goes up top but doesn’t dive onto him as Don hides under the floor. That was pretty smart. Muraco tries to hide as Morales stalks him. Boot to the back of the head and it’s all Pedro. Gorilla criticizes him for not going for the kill, which is pretty good analysis. And there’s a low blow by Muraco and both guys are down. Still using the t-shirt, Muraco chokes Pedro with it in the corner, only to get low blowed as well.
Ok NOW the t-shirt is finally gone. A running knee in the corner misses for Morales though and he might have blown it out. There’s a lot of blowing in this match. Muraco moves in on it with a leg snap out of the corner. Clipped to a spinning toe hold being countered by Pedro. Morales, ever the genius, tries a backbreaker (despite sending Muraco’s shoulder into the post on the counter) and reinjures his knee. Boston Crab (Pedro’s finisher) is quickly broken by the ropes. Pedro tries a slam but the knee buckles and Muraco falls on top for the pin and the second title change in two matches on this tape.
Rating: C-. Not great or anything but again it’s really cool to see these rarities as you always hear about how these legends held titles but you never see how they won them. Pedro was far better in the 70s than 80s as he was washed up at this point, but he could still put people over, which is what he did here. Decent stuff, although a lot of stalling hurt it.
Pedro would leave for awhile before returning in the mid 80s. Here he is on January 11, 1986.
Pedro Morales vs. Terry Funk
We’re in Boston here in I’d guess early 86. Gene tells us about Morales holding what we would now call the Triple Crown. Morales is at the end of his career here but he was still big enough of a draw to be brought into the big New England crowds. Morales hammers away and Funk is all messed up early on. Then again he might just be Terry Funk. Funk comes back in and throws Pedro onto the announce table.
Morales may have injured a hamstring on the fall. Funk hammers him in the head and does a little Ali Shuffle. He keeps peppering Morales and they go out onto the table again. Funk actually pulls the headset off of Gorilla who implies a showdown later on. That could actually be worth seeing. Or maybe that was Jimmy Hart. Pedro goes shoulder first into the post and this has been totally one sided so far.
Funk pulls some tape out of his tights and chokes away. Morales gets it though and here comes the firey Latin temper that he was famous for. He knocks Terry around as Jimmy is freaking out on the floor. Funk gets knocked to the floor and the steps get turned over. He goes head first into them and hides under them like a true cowardly heel. Pedro teases jumping off the top but settles for drilling Funk upside the head. Funk does a perfect Flair Flop off the apron to the floor.
I don’t think I’ve seen anything other than punches in this match so far and that’s made it awesome. Funk is all over the place, looking either drunk or old. In other words, he’s perfectly fine. Back to the floor again and Terry finds a wooden chair under the ring but it doesn’t get used. Instead Pedro punches him some more and kicks him in the back. Funk gets his trunks pulled down and that’s an image I really didn’t need to see twice in one night. Jimmy slips Funk the Megaphone and a shot to the head ends this.
Rating: B-. This was a great old school brawl from two great old school brawlers. Funny how something like that works isn’t it? Pedro was more or less done after this and it’s not like Funk ever did much in his run in the WWF. At least after this he went back to the NWA where he was much more successful.
Next up was a feud to get the Intercontinental Title back, including this match in MSG on August 25, 1986.
Intercontinental Title: Randy Savage vs. Pedro Morales
Randy grabs a headlock to start but Pedro shoves him away to freak Savage out. A shoulder block gets two for Pedro so Savage throws a chair in. Back in and Randy gets a foreign object to rake Morales’ eyes. Pedro is sent into the barricade and Savage drops the top rope ax handle. A suplex back in is good for two but Pedro gets in a left hand to knock Savage out of the air. Back in and a sunset flip, small package and backslide get two each for Pedro before a big left hand knocks Savage to the floor. Savage misses a chair shot and gets counted out.
Rating: D+. This was part of the Savage vs. Legends tour as he had a feud with Sammartino over the Intercontinental Title as well. There wasn’t anything to see here but the fans in MSG were going to get behind the legendary Morales. This was the usually dull Morales match and not much more.
Off to the Big Event a few days later.
Harley Race vs. Pedro Morales
They’re both old and they’re both fat. They’re also rather slow and it’s not interesting at all anymore. The main event is next so this is likely Hogan’s effort to make people forget the previous good match so that he looks good next. He did it to the whole company in about 8 years with WCW. The referees have more or less sucked all night as they never count fast enough. Race gets a double leg trip and uses the ropes for the easy pin. Nothing match.
Pedro would hook up with Title Santana for a brief run at the end of his run. Here’s one of their matches on Superstars, January 31, 1987.
Tito Santana/Pedro Morales vs. Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik
WOW there are a lot of stereotypes in there. Morales is a guy that I haven’t gotten to comment on much but he’s a straight up legend. He’s the first Triple Crown winner if nothing else. Volkoff’s singing was a great gimmick. I love that. The heels get jumped like good heels should and the Latin stereotypes take over. Morales and Volkoff start us off and Morales is put simply old and fat.
He’s still firey though so I can give him that one. Sheik’s in ring work is underrated I think. For no apparent reason we get no mention of Sheik and Morales being former world champions. That would be a big selling point to me if nothing else. Slick swings the cane but I think it hits Volkoff by mistake. It’s not really clear though. Tito beats up Slick and that might be a DQ.
Rating: C+. They were feuding so it adds up at least. Yeah the faces win on a DQ…I guess because of Slick interfering? Butch Reed comes out which I guess sets up…Koko vs. Reed at Mania? Actually what we saw here was pretty good. Nothing great but for four guys that are ok and two of which are over the hill, not bad at all. I guess Reed is feuding with Santana now. Whatever.
Morales is an interesting case as he certain has the credentials (first Triple Crown winner and longest combined reign ever as Intercontinental Champion) but has basically been forgotten. When is the last time you heard his name mentioned in modern WWE? You just do not hear about him anymore and it’s kind of interesting to see. His in ring work certainly wasn’t the best but he could get a crowd behind him and that’s all he needed to do, especially if people came to see him.
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Today’s wrestler is the original WWF superstar: Bruno Sammartino.
Bruno started in 1959 and the earliest I can find for him is 1963 in what might be the WWWF in Buffalo. I’m assuming this is the whole match.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Hans Schmidt
Bruno easily wins a forearm battle to start and knocks Schmidt out to the floor. Back in and Schmidt chokes with the tag rope and pounds away in the corner. Bruno is stomped down and has his head rammed into the buckle. He fights back but gets his hair puled to put him right back down. Some big forearms put Hans back outside and the stalling begins. He comes back inside and they slug it out until the bell rings, presumably for a time limit draw.
Rating: C. This is a hard one to rate as we didn’t see most of the match (fairly obvious given how fast the match ended) but what I saw wasn’t all that great. The interesting thing here though is how aggressive both guys were. This could have passed for your modern power brawl if you didn’t know what era it was from, which says a lot when this is over fifty years old.
We’ll jump ahead to the end of Bruno’s WWWF Title reign for this match from July 25, 1970 in Philadelphia.
Bruno Sammartino vs. George Steele
Gorilla Monsoon, the host of the tape this is from, says this is from sometime in the 60s but isn’t sure exactly when. That would likely be because it’s from the 1970s but he’s close enough. Back then Steele was a top heel so this would have been a big time fight. The cage is weird looking as it’s more or less wire walls rather than a traditional cage. Steele has riot gear police officers bring him out. This is still escape rules. Naturally the commentary is from the 80s rather than back in the day as there likely wasn’t commentary done for this originally.
This is clipped to an extent. Bruno hammers him as this is probably the culmination of what was a major feud. Steele looks identical to what he would for the rest of his career. Steele actually gets a low blow before eating a turnbuckle. He rubs the stuffing into Bruno’s eyes which blinds him but George won’t just leave. Apparently Styrofoam stuffing is blinding. This is in Philadelphia according to Monsoon.
Bruno gets rocked by Steele for a good while as the camera and lighting is really different here but of course at the time no one knew what to do from a production standpoint as this was a very new idea back then. Bruno Hulks Up as Steele pounds away and then runs as Bruno can’t be hurt. Sammartino destroys him by ramming him into the cage a bunch and then climbs out.
Rating: C-. Nothing great here but seeing something from this far back in time is always cool. Steele didn’t change a bit in about twenty years and was still completely awesome the whole time. This was a pretty ok match but the clipping didn’t help. Bruno was completely awesome in cages and this worked ok but at six minutes shown, how into a cage match can you get?
Here’s a fairly famous match from MSG on January 18, 1971.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Ivan Koloff
The footage is very old and of low quality so the details might be sketchy here. Also the match itself ran about fifteen minutes but only eight minutes of footage exists. Koloff grabs a quick headlock to start but is backdropped down as the champion escapes. A slam and an armbar put Koloff down but he grabs a headscissors to escape a cover. Bruno gets monkey flipped down but takes over with an armbar.
We’re clipped to later in the match and another armbar by Bruno. Either that or the referee has developed the powers of teleportation. We’re clipped again only seconds later to Koloff holding Bruno in a bow and arrow hold. For the third time in about 30 seconds we’re clipped to Bruno trying to escape the hold but Ivan holds him in place. Again we’re clipped to Ivan cranking on the hold even more. Bruno finally escapes the hold and turns it into one of his own but Ivan makes the rope.
They circle each other a bit and we’re clipped to them circling each other again. Bruno grabs a headlock but gets shoved off and shoulder blocked down. Koloff grabs another headlock and we’re clipped to Bruno being shoulder blocked down again. Bruno hooks a drop toehold into a leg lock but we’re clipped to further in the same hold. The champion stomps on the leg but we’re clipped to Koloff choking away. We’re immediately clipped again to Koloff stomping on Bruno before sending him hard into the corner.
Ivan keeps punching and kicking away and we’re clipped to him doing more of the same. This is one of the most clipped matches I’ve ever seen but for footage over 42 years old, there’s not going to be a much better option available. Koloff pounds away even more and we’re clipped to Bruno making his comeback with right hands to the ribs and a kick to the same place. A slam by Sammartino gets two and we’re clipped to him holding Ivan in a chinlock. We’re clipped again to a cover by the champion but Koloff is too close to the ropes.
We’re clipped again to Bruno hammering away and getting two off a punch to the ribs. Another clip takes us to Ivan in a chinlock again and another clip takes us to later in the same hold. The hold gets two and we’re clipped to Ivan sweeping Bruno’s leg out. We’re clipped yet again to Ivan doing the same thing before we’re clipped to Ivan kicking Bruno in the chest.
A fourth clip in fifteen seconds sees the referee accidentally being knocked down by Koloff in the corner but he’s right back up. Ivan slams Bruno down in the corner and goes up top, dropping a knee in the stomach of the champion. He covers Bruno and history is made as we have a new world’s champion for the first time since 1963.
Rating: C. The rating is based on what we were able to see. While it’s certainly not as intricate or flashy as the matches we regularly see today, there was definitely an energy to the match and nothing looked terribly bad. The problem here of course is the ridiculous amount of clipping, but from what I understand we saw about half of the match here, which is more than I’ve ever seen before.
We’ll jump ahead again to a tag match from some point in 1973.
Bruno Sammartino/Dick the Bruiser vs. Baron Von Raschke/Ernie Ladd
Baron and Bruiser get things going here with Von Raschke hiding from Dick’s right hand. Some shoulders put Baron down and a middle rope stomp is good for two. Ladd makes the save and Bobby Heenan is losing it. Bruiser hooks a chinlock and we’re clipped to Bruno coming in to face Ladd.
Bruno sends the much bigger Ladd into the buckle and knocks him over the top with a single right hand. He puts the boots to Ladd but gets shoved down by the Baron. Bruiser grabs Von Raschke by the face and sends him to the floor before doing the same to Ladd. Back in and Heenan breaks up a cover before Bruiser backdrops Baron. A cover gets two but Von Raschke gets his foot on the ropes…..which the referee pulls off and counts the three for a pin.
Rating: C+. Again better than I expected here though I’m assuming the referee was a bit crooked. This was a very different era where you could win a match on a backdrop and no one would think anything of it. Again I really like the energy out there and it made for a more entertaining match than I was expecting.
Here’s another match from the WWWF in 1974 on TV from Philadelphia. Bruno is champion again but I think this is non-title.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Mr. Fuji
Some armdrags put Fuji down to start and he looks shocked by Bruno’s speed. Fuji goes to the eyes like a true heel should, only to get whipped hard into the buckle to keep the champion in control. A slam puts Bruno down but he kicks away and grabs an armbar. The hold stays on long enough that we get a replay of the last few moments. Fuji comes back with another slam but misses a running splash.
We’re in the third armbar in five minutes and it’s time for another replay. Fuji comes back with a pectoral claw so Bruno just nails him in the jaw. It’s foreign object time and a rake to the eyes with whatever Fuji has is enough to take over. Bruno again comes right back with a knee to the ribs so Fuji goes to the eyes again. Vince: “There’s no telling what’s in the tights of Mr. Fuji.” Fuji goes up top but gets slammed down for two. A backdrop is enough to pin the evil Hawaiian.
Rating: D+. See what I mean about the times being different? If nothing else, the lesson we learn here is don’t get backdropped in the 1970s. The match was pretty dull with armbars that were long enough to air replays. To be fair though this was just a TV match so not a lot was going to happen.
Here’s the first ever cage match in MSG on December 15, 1975.
WWWF World Title: Bruno Sammartino vs. Ivan Koloff
This is inside a steel cage and is called the first ever cage match in Madison Square Garden. You can only win by going out of the cage. Koloff attacks to start the match but Bruno fires off right hands to send Koloff into the cage. Bruno sends him chest first into the buckle and fires off some knees to the face to keep control. Vince calls Koloff the favorite to win the match for some reason. Bruno pounds away even more and sends Ivan face first into the cage wall again.
Bruno stomps away on the back of the head before sending him into the cage again. All Bruno so far. Ivan comes back with a kick to the stomach to take over and now Sammartino tastes the steel. The champion comes back with more right hands and sends Ivan into the cage yet again. Bruno fights back with right hands and pulls Koloff back in as he tries to escape. The ring is especially loud in this match. Ivan goes face first into the cage three times in a row and make it four.
Koloff gets a boot up in the corner to put Sammartino down before dropping the top rope knee onto the champion’s ribs. Ivan is bleeding from the forehead. Bruno pounds away and hits a knee to the chest to keep Ivan in trouble. They seem to mess up a spot before colliding in the ring. A knee to the ribs staggers Ivan and Bruno sends him into the cage once more. Koloff is rammed into the cage again and again before being sent hard into the corner.
Ivan is now between the cage and the ring as Bruno turns up the aggression even more. He sends Koloff head first into whatever metal object he can find before choking with his boot. The champion rakes his boot over Koloff’s eyes and sends him into the cage yet again. There are two more shots into the cage before Bruno climbs out of the cage to retain his title.
Rating: D+. This was a rather short cage match and it was a glorified squash at the same time. Koloff was soundly defeated here which was the entire point of the match. Still though, it wasn’t incredibly exciting as the majority of the match was Bruno ramming Ivan into the cage over and over again. That being said, the fans loved Bruno and that’s the point of the game.
Another title defense from March 1, 1976.
WWWF World Title: Bruno Sammartino vs. Ernie Ladd
Ladd is a 6’9 former football player who was a powerhouse in his own right. The video is labeled as being from Madison Square Garden but it doesn’t look like that arena whatsoever. Ladd has a taped up thumb that the referee wants to take a closer look at. A quick armdrag by Bruno sets up an armbar but Ladd makes the rope. Bruno tries the same combination again and gets the same result. Ernie grabs a quick bearhug and Bruno is in some early trouble.
Ladd gets him down to the mat for a two count with the hold and puts his feet on the ropes for extra leverage. He gets caught too many times though and the referee finally breaks the hold. This time Ladd starts choking away but moves around fast enough to avoid the referee from seeing him. A big slap to the face puts Bruno down again. The champion comes back with a bunch of right hands including one that knocks Ladd out to the floor.
That goes nowhere so Bruno pulls him back in and whips Ladd into the corner. A backdrop puts Ernie down and there’s a boot to the head. Ladd is on the mat holding his head before getting back up and hitting the champ in the throat. A headscissor takeover gets two for Ladd but Bruno comes back with punches and knees to the ribs.
Sammartino rams Ladd into the buckle a few times but misses a charge into the corner. Ladd hits a football tackle to drop the champion and then does it again. A slam puts Bruno down and drives the taped thumb into Sammartino’s throat. Ernie goes up top for a splash but only hits canvas though, giving Bruno the pin to retain the title.
Rating: C-. While this was a somewhat more energetic match than some of the other ones that we’ve looked at, it’s still a pretty slow paced affair. Ladd was a huge power guy which doesn’t quite work against a smaller (5’10) powerhouse like Bruno. The match was decent enough though and it got a good reaction from the crowd, but it was still kind of dull to sit through. It’s a very different kind of wrestling that not all fans are going to like which is understandable.
Time for another pretty famous moment from Baltimore on April 30, 1977.
WWWF World Title: Bruno Sammartino vs. Billy Graham
The ring is especially wide here for some reason. They feel each other out a bit and Graham easily shoves Bruno around. Now Bruno shoves back and grabs an armbar for good measure. Graham makes the rope and heads to the floor for a bit before returning for a test of strength. Bruno goes down to his knees twice and even gets his shoulders counted a few times. The champ fights back and sends Graham to the floor to reset things a bit.
Back in and they fight over a top wristlock with Billy taking control again. Bruno fights back again and takes over with an armbar of his own. The challenger fights up and hits a knee to the ribs, sending Bruno down for some more stomping in the process. Graham goes to the throat to keep the advantage but misses a running knee in the corner. Bruno pounds away and Graham is busted open.
Billy comes back with a whip into the corner and it’s off to a bearhug on the champion. Bruno is in trouble all of a sudden but he fights up from his knees on the much taller Graham. Right hands to the head break the hold and there’s a hard whip into the corner by the champion. Now Sammartino hooks a bearhug of his own but Billy gets a rope. They fight in the corner with Bruno in full control. The referee tries to break it up though, allowing Graham to trip Bruno’s legs out from under him and roll Bruno up with his feet on the ropes for the pin and the title.
Rating: C. This wasn’t too bad but more importantly it showed what Graham could do in the ring. He was insanely powerful and had a flashy look as opposed to the bigger than average but still relatively normal look that dominated wrestling in the 70s. This was Bruno’s last match as champion and he went out in a pretty good way.
And a rematch on August 1, 1977.
WWF Title: Bruno Sammartino vs. Billy Graham
Gorilla is the guest referee for this one and good night is he huge. He shoves Graham around for trying to jump Bruno before the bell. He has no issue with Bruno doing the same though. Gorilla is also doing the voiceover thing here and says that more or less anything goes here. For the second time he says he’s 423lbs at this point. He won’t count Graham out because he says he’s not ending a title match with a count out.
Bruno was limited in his offense but at the same time that’s all you have to do. I think this is in Toronto but I’m not sure at all. Graham gets the feet and gets something from under the ring. Ah it’s a rope. Bruno chokes him with it and Gorilla isn’t as adamant about stopping that. According to Gorilla this is in MSG also but there’s no way given how this arena looks.
The idea here is that Bruno just wants the title back and Graham is trying to find a way to escape with it as his power isn’t working this time as Bruno might be stronger and is at least just as strong. Bruno works on the knee and hooks a half crab. We get a clip again as the hold is broken. That kind of sucks the drama out of matches and I’m not a fan of it at all.
Graham throws in a low blow and Gorilla seems to be ok with it. On the commentary he claims it might have been in the thigh. Yeah the hand being up around the trunks of Bruno really looks like a thigh shot Monsoon. Graham goes up top and misses a knee and Bruno is all fired up again. Ok never mind as he eats post. Billy goes out and gets the belt which Gorilla steals as well. Shame he didn’t do it before the belt hit Bruno’s cranium.
Bruno is BUSTED WIDE OPEN as I channel my inner Gorilla. Graham hits the floor to leave so Gorilla throws him back in the ring. Well you can’t say he’s not active. He says if you look hard enough in the rule book it’s in there. Graham might be busted too and now he can’t get back in the ring.
Gorilla won’t count which is kind of funny. Bruno is ALL FIRED UP and there’s the bearhug again. And there’s a shot to Gorilla but still no DQ. Now that Gorilla’s shirt is just covered in blood he has no real choice but to stop it. It’s kind of hard to question that and he points out that he didn’t have much of a choice.
Rating: B-. Another brutal fight here with all kinds of blood out there. Feuds back then were based more on what happened in the ring rather than what happened on the mic so it’s a very different kind of style. This was a pretty fun match though as Bruno just beat the living tar out of him and Graham kept trying to cheat no matter what he could do. I liked it though.
Time for one of the biggest feuds ever at the time. Starting on January 22, 1980.
Larry Zbyszko vs. Bruno Sammartino
Now THIS is some legendary stuff. This is the original match where it’s more of an exhibition than a match. Basically Bruno is the teacher who taught Larry everything he knows but Larry wants to prove he can hang with Bruno. This is from January of 1980. This is going to be all feeling out/nice guy stuff until the very end. Sammartino takes him to the mat with a drop toehold and has dominated the entire match so far.
Bruno keeps putting holds on Larry and then lets them go which is an odd choice of offense. Larry grabs an abdominal stretch but Bruno powers out of it. Half crab goes on Bruno but Larry lets it go. Sammartino grabs about his fifth hold and lets go of it too. They try a crisscross and Larry gets tossed over in a hiptoss. He’s getting very ticked off here.
Apparently Bruno said he’d only wrestle defensively in this match. Larry heads to the floor to cool his head and Bruno looks the other way for some reason. Larry comes back in and in the biggest heel turn ever at this point, DESTROYS Bruno with a wooden chair. There is blood all over the place. This was shocking and came out of absolutely nowhere. It also set up the hottest feud of the year which we’ll get to the blowoff of in a second.
Rating: C-. The match itself means nothing as the heel turn is the whole thing. This was one of the biggest angles ever and is still a huge turn that works to this day. They would feud over the summer and would blow it off in front of about 40,000 people in the infield of Shea Stadium. We need to get to that now.
Now the blowoff from Showdown at Shea. For this match, bare in mind that it’s from the WWE 24/7 version. Michael Cole and Mick Foley did not do commentary for a match in 1980.
Larry Zbyszko vs. Bruno Sammartino
Wrestling 101 here: Bruno was the mentor, Larry decided he had surpassed the teacher, teacher kept being the star, student attacks the teacher, they go to a baseball stadium and have a wrestling match in front of 36,000 people in a box with no lid on it. Tale as old as time. Old school cage here, as in the kind they have now. NUCLEAR heat on Larry. Bruno gets the only entrance of the night.
We even get clips of Zbyszko’s heel turn which is WAY rare. Bruno jumps him to start and Larry hits the cage 3 times in about 5 seconds. You can only go through the door here and not over the top for no apparent reason. Apparently Larry talks about this match to the point of annoyance. Low blow gives Larry a chance to breathe as this has been very intense so far.
Foley makes another interesting point: Bruno headlined all three Shea shows and only once was world champion at the time. That’s saying a lot. This is the first match with an angle and the crowd clearly knows it. We get into a discussion about whether Bruno would be successful today and the commentators say yes because he was the people’s man. You know, like that blue collar guy that represented the hard working everyman who didn’t like his boss. Someone you could have a beer with. Or maybe a case of them if you get what I’m talking about. Yeah I think Bruno would have worked today.
Almost all Bruno so far. Now we talk about Stan Hansen inspiring Foley to sleep with his wife. Ok then. We hear about Larry and Foley driving together and Cole says how would they get a word in edgewise? Foley says he only talks over Cole because he’s smarter than Michael is. Nice line! Bruno’s arm is bleeding so Larry punches away at it. After nearly ten minutes Larry makes the first attempt at the door, naturally not getting there.
We get into a semi-argument over whether or not Foley ever worked out. Foley seems genuinely ticked off about that and I can’t say I blame him. Bruno wakes up and beats the heck out of Larry, kicking him in the head one more time and walking out to win it definitively. Bruno beats on him some more after the match ends
Rating: C+. Solid match for what it was supposed to be which was a big time brawl. The fans loved it and Bruno decisively won. What more can you ask from them? This was a blowoff to a feud and that’s what they did. There’s nowhere for this feud to go from here and it ended. That’s what gimmick matches are for. LEARN THIS RUSSO!
We’ll jump ahead to Bruno returning to the WWF after a few years away. Here’s a grudge match inside a cage on February 8, 1986.
Adrian Adonis/Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana/Bruno Sammartino
Wild brawl to start with Adonis vs. Santana and Bruno vs. Savage. Savage is the IC Champion at this point. You only win with both guys getting to the floor. They’re MOVING out there. Apparently the door is only going to be opened upon request. So it’s like a shave around the ears? Bruno, an old veteran of cage matches, stops Savage from trying to escape.
Even Adonis is running so you can tell they’re serious here. Bruno is beating the tar out of Savage here. I love the way he throws boots. This was actually a hot feud as Bruno came out of retirement to feud with Savage which in reality was a way to get his son some spots on TV. Tito makes a nice save to keep Savage in the door and Bruno crotches Adrian just because it’s fun. Gorilla says his wish just came true. I don’t want to know what that means. Tito is busted and it’s not bad.
It’s kind of odd to see someone use a kick as their main offense when you’re so used to seeing punches being the main thing. Savage goes for a double axe from the top but runs into the fist of Santana and the heels are in trouble. Savage is bleeding BAD. He manages to stop Santana though.
Adonis goes up and dives off the top, hitting Sammartino with a knee drop. Unfortunately that’s because he botched it for the most part and kind of fell off the top of the cage onto Bruno. Savage gets a leg over the top but runs into the taco salesman from Tijuana. The heels are slammed together allowing Bruno to get out the door and Santana over the top to end this.
Rating: A-. Sweet goodness this was a war. They beat the living crap out of each other and none of the four ever stopped at all. Bruno could bring on the violence when he wanted to and apparently he wanted to do so here. This was a very good match with all four guys working very hard and never stopping once in about ten minutes. I liked it.
Another cage match on July 12, 1986.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Roddy Piper
Not a title match here as this is from the mid 80s. We’re in Boston here. Gorilla and Jesse talk about the experience you get in cage matches. Jesse wonders what you can actually learn in there which makes sense. Piper wears a Bears shirt which is around the time that the Bears beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He also hangs posters in the cage which is a nice touch.
Bruno comes out and goes straight for Piper, sending him into the cage. Piper is bleeding maybe a minute in. Bruno shoves the poster in Piper’s face as this is a big beatdown. This was another big feud as Piper had totally not respected Sammartino as most young heels didn’t so Vince set this up before cutting almost all ties with Bruno. Granted that was mutual so that’s not a fair criticism.
Piper gets a low blow to save the match and barely has his shirt off yet. Sammartino has to make a big save to keep Piper out as he might be busted open too. Piper seems more like he’s just trying to escape while Bruno wants punishment. And there go Roddy’s trunks. Ok then. Bruno kicks away and they slug it out. Jesse has kind of stopped talking here.
Roddy goes up and Bruno pounds on his supple Scottish balls. That’s not quite enough for Bruno to get out but Bruno grabs a wooden chair as he’s trying to leave and blasts Piper in the head with it to win. Jesse says that was cheating but it’s a cage match so whatever I suppose.
Rating: B-. Not bad here and a bit longer than the previous one. Bruno was fun to watch and the fans always reacted to him. This was a veteran giving the young loudmouth a beating and that’s something that is always going to work. Nothing great but a fun match either way.
We’ll wrap it up with a match in Boston on January 7, 1987.
Intercontinental Title: Randy Savage vs. Bruno Sammartino
Savage hides behind Liz to start and Gorilla is freaking out on commentary. Bruno finally gets in a shot and sends Savage into the corner to put the champion in early trouble. Some right hands put Savage down and he hides behind Liz again. Bruno of course won’t swing with a woman in front of him so Randy gets in another cheap shot to take over.
A top rope ax handle drops Bruno on the floor and another drops him in the ring. Bruno comes back with his standard kicks to the ribs and Savage is in trouble. Another kick to the ribs drops Savage but Bruno ducks his head and takes a kick to his own face. A collision sends Savage to the floor and he brings in a chair for the DQ.
Rating: D+. This was just a brawl for the most part but the live crowd would have liked it a lot more than someone watching nearly thirty years later. Bruno was just a nostalgia act at this point but he certainly didn’t embarrass himself. It was entertaining enough though and that’s all this was supposed to be.
I don’t know what you want me to say. The guy sold out MSG something like 200 times. I think that speaks for itself.
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WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling – January 13, 1966: Sometimes Simpler Is Better
WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling
Date: January 13, 1966
Location: National Arena, Washington D.C.
Commentator: Ray Morgan
I’ve got another show here from the same era and the main change here is that Bruno is in the house. He’s not in the ring but just seeing him in his early glory years is a very rare thing, when you consider the only match most of you have seen of his is likely the battle royal from Mania 2 or the Showdown at Shea cage match. Anything from this era, even not as a wrestler, could be interesting. Let’s get to it.
After an intro about the card tonight and hearing about the card for Monday’s house show, we’re ready to go.
Steve Stanlee vs. Curtis Iaukea
Stanlee is called Mr. America here. Iaukea is a heel and a big fat islander. He also has someone who might be the top heel manager in Bobby Davis. Curtis starts fast with big clubbing blows to send Stanlee out to the floor. Back in and Iaukea stomps him down again, allowing Davis to choke away a bit. Off to a chinlock followed by a headscissors by the guy that weighs nearly 400lbs. Back to the floor as the squashing continues. We head back in and Iaukea hits a splash for the pin.
Rating: D. Just a long squash here as Stanlee disappoints America. Iaukea would be a pretty successful monster heel over the years, often getting title shots against Sammartino. You might remember him from 1995 WCW, portraying the Master in the Dungeon of Doom. Why they picked him I’m not sure but whatever. Match was nothing of note.
Hector Serrano vs. Tomas Marin
This is 2/3 falls. Ok Serrano is the shorter one. Got it. I’m pretty sure Marin is the face here but I’m not quite sure. Feeling out process to start with Serrano hitting a forearm when he should be breaking clean. Marin headlocks him down and Hector is ticked off. Serrano shakes his hand and declares himself a gentleman before smacking Marin in the face. Now there’s a good heel.
Marin takes him down by the knee and cranks on it for a bit. Serrano comes back with a kind of monkey flip before being taken right back down again. Hector grabs Serrano’s arm to take over and politely asks the referee to not bother him. Marin fights up and is ready to fight now so Hector hides in the corner. We get a crisscross culminating in a one footed dropkick and a crossbody by Marin for the first fall.
The second fall starts with Serrano taking Marin down with a snapmare and dropping some knees. Apparently Freddie Blassie has sent Bruno Sammartino a telegram saying he’s coming for the title. Sammartino ripped it up and Vince McMahon is trying to set up the match. See how easy it is to set up a match? Tomas puts on a chinlock followed by a rolling body vice. Serrano comes back with a shot to the knee and throws Serrano out to the floor. I guess that’s not a DQ here.
From the apron, Marin shoulders Serrano a few times and his a decent looking slingshot splash for two. Hector chills on the floor for a bit. By a bit, I mean he walks around for like three minutes. He finally gets back in and is immediately knocked right back outside. They do the exact same thing again as the announcer talks about driving safely.
Back in finally and Serrano runs a bit more…..before heading to the floor for the fourth time. Oddly enough when Hector comes back in he GOES OFF on Tomas, hitting a bunch of headlock takeovers. The fourth one or so though is countered into a belly to back suplex to give Marin the pin and the win.
Rating: C-. Decent match here and Serrano did a good job of getting heat from the crowd, but at the same time it was a REALLY long match that didn’t need to go as long as it did. Neither guy was anything special and odds are they were there because they were Puerto Rican. That was a common idea back then: have guys that are there to play to an ethnic group. It worked really well for the Italian people with Sammartino.
Tony Altimore vs. Antonio Pugliese
Bruno is in his cousin Antonio’s corner. This is odd: the announcer talks about Antonio having just arrived from Italy, despite him being in a match last week. Odd indeed. This is one fall to a finish. Antonio controls the arm to start and puts on a full nelson. Altimore keeps countering but Pugliese keeps putting the hold right back on. Back to the arm as the match continues a relatively slow pace.
Off to a chinlock by Antonio as he makes Tony crawl for the ropes. Antonio puts on a bearhug but Altimore is against the ropes. Tony: “WE BREAK CLEAN IN THIS COUNTRY!” Antonio speeds things up and flips over Tony’s back before hitting a pair of dropkicks to send Altmiore to the floor. Back in and Antonio cranks on the arm a bit more before Tony comes back with a forearm in the corner. This fires up Pugliese and he pounds away on Altimore in the corner before hooking a quick side rollup for the pin.
Rating: C. Decent main event here with Antonio continuing to look strong soon after debuting. Apparently he would later wrestle under the name of Tony Parisi who is someone I’ve heard of. Anyway, not bad here as the fans were WAY into Antonio because of his relation to Bruno. That’s called giving a rub and you hardly ever see it again.
Post match Tarzan Tyler (future half of the first ever WWF World Tag Team Champions) comes out….and does nothing at all.
Post break Altimore and Tyler say they think Bruno is in trouble against Baron Mikel Scicluna.
Overall Rating: C+. Another pretty fun show here which flew by. It only runs about fifty minutes and we got three pretty long matches out of that. Even though we didn’t see Baron and Bruno interact, they did a decent job of building up the match later in the month. It’s pretty clear how the TV shows were used to set up the major house shows and that system would work for years. Pretty fun stuff here.
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WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling – January 6, 1966: Wrestling TV From Nearly 50 Years Ago
WWWF Heavyweight Wrestling
Date: January 6, 1966
Location: National Arena, Washington D.C.
Commentator: Ray Morgan
To give you an idea of how old this is, when this aired my girlfriend’s mother hadn’t been born yet, the original world tag team titles were about six years away, and Vince was twenty years old. This is by far the oldest show I’ve ever reviewed and I have absolutely no idea what to expect from it. This is a completely different era and the ratings are going to be a little bit lighter because I have no idea what’s going on for the most part. Let’s get to it.
I’m pretty sure this aired live and it would have been on a Thursday night.
After the announcer runs down the card for tonight, we spend a few minutes standing around before we’re ready to go.
Antonio Pugiliese/Arnold Skaaland vs. Angelo Savoldi/Tony Altimore
This is 2/3 falls. Antonio is billed as Bruno Sammartino’s cousin, which is an old tactic to give people a head start to getting over. Before the match, the announcer praises Vince McMahon (senior) for making up next week’s card already. We also hear the term dark match on television, as we hear of Bruno appearing in a tag match at the end of the taping next week. Skaaland’s team is the crowd favorite here.
Altimore and Skaaland get things going here with Tony trying to lure him into the heel corner. This goes nowhere until Arnold slaps him in the face and hooks an armbar. Savoldi tries to come in so the faces change without tagging. The referee throws Savoldi out so the good guys cheat again, resulting in Arnold hooking another armbar. Altimore counters into a front facelock/choke which he keeps getting admonished for.
Antonio comes in and hooks a cravate on Altimore. He lays Altimore on the mat and pulls on Tony’s arms with his feet on Tony’s shoulders in a submission hold which gets a bunch of two counts. Antonio literally rides around on Altimore as he crawls on all fours. Tony finally gets up and yells a lot, nearly punching out the referee. Antonio takes Altimore down again and hits a flying headscissors to bring Savoldi in as well.
Antonio snap mares Tony down as Savoldi tries to cheat some more, only to get hit in the chest. I don’t think Savoldi has been in yet at all. Naturally as I say that he gets tagged in, only to run away, landing in the wrong corner. Skaaland, ever the nice guy, holds Angelo in the corner so Antonio can hammer away. The heels double team Antonio in the corner as I guess we’re waiting on a hot tag to Arnold.
Scratch that as well as Antonio clotheslines Angelo down and brings in Skaaland for a full nelson. Altimore’s cheating fails as he hits Savoldi in the exposed chest. Savoldi backdrops Skaaland and I think we get a botch, as Angelo looks surprised that it worked. Immediately thereafter, they do the same spot with Skaaland hooking a sunset flip for the pin and the first fall.
It’s Skaaland vs. Altimore to start the second fall with Arnold hitting a quick monkey flip. The thud on the map sounded like thunder going off. Tony starts choking and is immediately caught, but it’s enough to let Savoldi get in some choking. Skaaland avoids a shot in the corner and the heels nearly have a fight over it. The legal guys circle each other for a bit before Altimore grabs Arnold’s arm for some cranking.
Savoldi tries to come in but Antonio literally chases him away. Everything breaks down for a bit until we get back to normal with Altimore punching Skaaland down. Unfortunately he punches him into Antonio who picks Tony up and lays him on the top rope. Antonio pounds Altimore over and over again in the face before dropping some knees to the head for the jackknife pin.
Rating: C+. For a match that ran over twenty minutes, I had no problem with this at all. It wasn’t exactly the Midnights vs. the RNRE, but this certainly wasn’t boring. A lot of the moves are ones you would see today and it was clear who the good guys and bad guys were. The ending with Altimore getting beaten down and pinned was fine stuff. This wasn’t boring at all and I’m rather surprised by that.
Post match Altimore is out of it, taking a bit swing at the air and falling down in a heap.
Pete Sanchez vs. The Beast
Beast has body hair that would make George Steele jealous. I think he’s supposed to be a savage or something like that. Beast immediately charges at Sanchez and the brawl starts fast. We hear about Beast getting a shot at Bruno in February which sounds pretty awesome. Beast pounds Sanchez down and sends him into the corner for stomping and choking by his manager, Bobby Davis.
One of the buckles has come undone and Beast does nothing about it. Ok then. You can hear individual fans shouting to the referee that Davis is cheating which is a true sign of the times. Beast really likes forearms to the back. He hooks a chinlock followed by a bearhug and a Boston Crab to make Sanchez give up.
Rating: D. This was a somewhat extended squash and they did a good job at making Beast look good here. The problem is that about 90% of his offense was forearms to the back. Sanchez would be around for years as he was Ric Flair’s first opponent in Madison Square Garden, and Flair didn’t start wrestling until the 70s.
Beast takes awhile to let go of the hold, making Davis smile a lot.
Smasher Sloane vs. Ronnie Etchison
This is Etchison’s debut and Sloane is your villain. Ronnie starts with a top wristlock which goes nowhere so he takes Sloane to the mat. They fight over the wristlock for a good while as this is boring stuff so far. Sloane takes him to the mat so Etchison shoves him away. A chop gets two on Sloane so he rolls to the floor. Back in and Sloane pounds away in the corner to take over. Ronnie comes back with a monkey flip and some knee lifts, followed by a front facelock.
They brawl a bit more with Sloane taking over via evil means. He keeps choking Ronnie against the ropes followed by some hiptosses. Etchison hits a kind of spear followed by some dropkicks to send Sloane back to the floor. Sorry for all the play by play but it’s not like I have much to talk about here. I’ve heard of Sloane before but that’s it for both guys. Oh and you have until a 20 count to get back in. The match ends with a curfew draw. Yeah back in the day, wrestling couldn’t go past a certain time in a lot of areas so matches legitimately had to be stopped.
Rating: D. Another dull match here which is annoying given that this was supposed to be a big debut. Like I said though, the curfew thing was something that happened back in the day and annoyed everyone. The match itself was really boring as it was all punching and kicking, which is a staple in wrestling. Nothing to see here and the fans back in the 60s didn’t seem thrilled with it either.
The announcer wraps things up.
Overall Rating: C-. The last two matches weren’t all that great, but man alive the opening tag match was solid stuff. Considering it ran nearly half the show, that’s a great sign. Obviously you can’t compare the show to a modern one, but this worked really well all things considered. A lot of people would get bored by it because they have no idea who is who, but it’s definitely not terrible. I have next week’s show also so I’ll check that out too.