We continue to roll down the road of WWWF footage known to exist in circulation on the web. This time around we begin to move into 1974 with some rare matches featuring WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino competing on TV against the likes of foreign evils like Otto Von Heller and Mr. Fuji. We’ll also close out the year of 1973 with a clip of the WWWF Tag Team Titles changing hands. All of that will culminate with 4 big matches from the 4/29/74 MSG card.
HeelsInc notes… It’s noteworthy to mention that on the WWF Coliseum Home Video release “Villains of the Squared Circle” there’s a 90 second clip of an MSG match from 11/12/73 that features Stan Stasiak & Blackjack Lanza vs. Andre the Giant & Jay Strongbow. All that is shown is Strongbow landing a few head scissors on Stasiak. Stasiak then rakes the eyes and tags Lanza and that’s all that’s shown. On a positive note, this means that this specific MSG card is likely available in the WWE vault and may someday make it to the light of day!
Now, on with the show… We start off with a video from the web featuring the then WWWF Tag Team Champions Fuji & Tanaka taking on Dean Ho & Tony Garea.
WWWF All-Star Wrestling TV Taping 11/14/73
WWWF Tag Team Champions Mr. Fuji & Professor Toru Tanaka (w/The Grand Wizard) vs. Tony Garea & Dean Ho
A little bit of history here, this is Tanaka & Fuji’s second title reign. Their first reign lasted nearly a year before losing the belts to Garea & Haystacks Calhoun in May of ’74. Fuji & Tanaka would regain the titles 4 months later in September of ’74. Garea has found himself a new partner in Ho to seek revenge against the Orient Express…
Joined in progress, Fuji chops the shit out of Garea and flings him over the top rope to the floor, where Tanaka continues the punishment until Ho comes to Tony’s aid… Garea is able to block a backdrop from Fuji and tag out to Ho, Tanaka also tags in. Tanaka beats down Ho and flings him to the floor as well. Garea helps his partner up and tags back in, but he too has little success with Toru. Ho tags in once more and begins with some chops, but Tanaka gets Dean in the corner and goes into his trunks for some ceremonial salt… Tanaka begins to throw the salt, but Dean ducks, and Garea comes in from behind and dropkicks Tanaka face first into the corner… Dean rolls Tanaka up and takes the win to win the titles…. The match is announced as 7:31, about 3:00 is shown. I’m doubting we missed much… The fans go absolutely bonkers for the title change, as the evil Japanese duo have lost the belts for a second time!!! The fans swarm the ring, hundreds of fans surround the ring to celebrate the new champions…
WWWF All-Star Wrestling TV Taping 1/2/74
WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino (w/Arnold Skaaland) vs. Otto Von Heller
Just to note, this is a non-title match… As if it matters… Otto jumps Bruno in the corner to start the match and beats him down to the mat for some choking fun. Sammartino comes back with his basics, including the always popular whip into the ropes/boot to the gut combo… Heller back on top with more choking and whatnot. Then Bruno makes a second recovery and ties Heller in the ropes before laying in a running kick. Bruno with a pair of wrestling take downs and he tries to wrestle Otto on the mat, BUT Heller goes back to that dastardly choke hold that he loves so and eventually sends Bruno to the floor… Well that pisses the champ off, Bruno reenters the ring and goes on the offense… Von Heller’s in trouble now! Bruno whips and throws Otto around the ring, but then goes back to mat wrestling… Don’t do that Bruno, that’s not where you excel! Otto takes over yet again, knocking the champ to the mat with a tackle…. Bruno drops down under a charging Heller, and catches him off the ropes on the rebound with a powerslam to pick up the win in 6:45…. Von Heller was actually a pretty good looking bumper for a big guy, which is probably why he continued to be used as enhancement under the name Mike Hall in later years… I thought everything Bruno did in this match looked very deliberate, very believable.
WWWF All-Star Wrestling TV Taping ??/??/74
WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs. Mr. Fuji (w/The Grand Wizard)
This has been dated 1/23/74, but I just don’t see Bruno working two matches so close together on TV. Plus, Bruno worked a lot with Fuji after the dissolution from his team with Tanaka, so I’d personally guess this match is from the summer or early fall of 1974. It very well could have been 1/23, but that can’t be verified as of now…
Once again, a non-title match. You gotta pay to see the champion defend son!!! Bruno surprises Fuji with a pair of armdrags to begin, but Fooj takes over working the arm of Bruno and whipping him into the corner. Sammartino reverses an Irish whip and Fuji takes a nasty corner bump. Fuji keeps trying to get control, but Sammartino is quick to take back over. Both guys are actually looking pretty good here. Fuji bumps like a mad man, and Bruno really turns it up a notch on TV to get people to come see him at the arena shows… Bruno works Fuji’s arm for a bit, Fuji escapes and misses a butt drop on the champ… Bruno goes back to the arm of Fuji, but soon it’s Fuji working the arm of Bruno… Bruno stomps the bare foot of Fuji for a laugh, but Fuji locks in the evil underarm nerve hold on the champ. Sammartino breaks out and hits the patented Irish whip/boot to the gut combo. Fuji, now in trouble, digs into his tights for a foreign object and goes to the eyes of Sammartino… This works momentarily, until Bruno gets pissed off and comes back with some Bruno type offense. Fuji goes back into the tights and rakes the eyes of Sammartino again, this time Fuji is able to chop, stomp, and slam Bruno down to the mat… Fuji climbs to the top rope, but Sammartino is up and press slams Fuji off the top rope!!!! Bruno then lands a backdrop for the exclamation point and this match is over in 8:04.
And now we move on to the Garden…
WWF “All-Star Wrestling” from Madison Square Garden 4/29/74
1. Nikolai Volkoff (w/Fred Blassie) vs. Dean Ho
Fred Blassie decked all out in pink for this event. Ho is currently one half of the WWWF Tag Team Champions with Tony Garea. Volkoff is billed as “The Siberian Giant” here. Nikolai dominates early, sneaking in a choke while hooking an armbar. Ho gets in a few shots but nothing special. Volkoff dominates until he’s forced to back off Dean in the corner. Ho comes back with some chops but misses a flying splash into the corner on Nikolai… Now that was a nice bump by Ho! Dean goes down after missing the high impact move and Nikolai comes off the rope with a jumping STOMP to end it in 5:33. Ho would be far more successful on the west coast.
2. WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino (w/Arnold Skaaland) vs. Killer Kowalski (w/The Grand Wizard)
Referee here is Danny Bartfield. Kowalski gets control early on Bruno and is all over the leg of the champion. Killer has Bruno down quickly and works the leg, eventually applying a Claw to the knee, or calf, or something. Bruno dodges a double axe handle and the crowd ERUPTS. Bruno grabs an ARMBAR, and the crowd ERUPTS. Bruno throws some punches, and the crowd… you get the point….
Killer takes back over momentarily, but Bruno comes back with a bearhug… Killer escapes by biting the forehead of the champ. Bruno makes another comeback and the noise level is just absolutely off the charts ridiculous…. Bruno throws a series of punches, Kowalski sells it good, and the fans are eating this up…. Kowalski eventually takes back over when he surprises Bruno with a dropkick and then a scoop powerslam for 2…. Killer with a Double Stomp for a near fall… Kowalski locks in a Stomach Claw, then places Bruno laying across the top rope. Kowalski climbs the ropes with Bruno laying up there, pretty cool for the era… Bruno fights his way own, pummels Kowalski, and Killer takes a fall off the top rope!!!
The two men then grapple on the mat, taking turns in control. Kowalski with a chicken wing, Bruno with a leg bar. Eventually, Kowalski looks like he’s gaining the advantage, but Bruno comes back with a series of kicks to the leg of the Killer… Kowalski still manages to take over the offense. Killer works an armbar, but Bruno again escapes and starts kicking at Killer’s leg once more… The guys end up back on the mat struggling for control, trying to pin each other’s shoulders down. Kowalski lays Bruno out and goes to the top rope… But BRUNO SLAMS KILLER OFF THE TOP ROPE! Bruno with a slam to follow up and gets 2…
Bruno goes back to punching, but Killer fight him off and makes out with Sammartino on the mat… I guess he was “biting” Bruno, but it looked like he was sucking his face. Killer in control of the champ, he dropkicks Bruno from behind and sends the champion out of the ring to the floor… Back inside, Killer gets a 2 count, and then knocks Bruno out of the other side of the ring, where Miss Krieger consoles her favorite superstar… Sammartino climbs back inside, but Killer bites, gnaws and beats on the now BLOODY forehead of the champion…
Bruno begins to absorb the blows, and the fans begin to stir…. They wait patiently, and then BRUNO UNLOADS… And the GARDEN EXPLODES with noise… Bruno beats on Kowalski all around the ring, punching, kicking, a whip into the corner… Kowalski tries to fight back but Bruno keeps coming at him… AND THE BELL SOUNDS at 26:18!!!
This match is ruled a time expiration draw. But the fight isn’t over…. The two men continue to trade blows until they’re separated by the likes of Strongbow, Ho, Morales, and Skaaland. Killer eventually stumbles to the back.
3. Pedro Morales vs. Mr. Fuji
Referee Danny Bartfield out here again. Georgette Krieger tries to taunt Fuji from ringside, but he ignores her. Morales insists that Fuji has a foreign object, but the devious one repeatedly hides it from the official. The match starts with Fuji working a standing arm bar, Pedro comes back with a front facelock, but Fuji pulls out the object and goes to town… Fuji repeatedly rakes the object across the eyes of Morales… Pedro gets tossed out of the ring and when he returns Fuji goes to his throat with the object…. Pedro starts a comeback, and Fuji digs in his tights for salt…. Pedro gets the salt away from Fuji and rubs it in his eyes… Morales sends Fuji FLYING over the top rope to the floor… Damn, Fuji could bump back then, it’s no wonder he was so crippled later on. Fuji comes back in and begs off on his knees, but Pedro isn’t so forgiving and unloads on Fuji… Somehow, Fuji manages to drop Morales to the mat, and Mr. Fuji goes to the top rope…. FUJI MISSES A DIVING SPLASH… Fuji sells it by flopping on his stomach all around the ring like a fish out of water… He had to of flopped 20 times… lol… It was overkill, but funny. Fans loved it. Fuji takes a few more good looking bumps, and Pedro finishes him off with a pair of big bodyslams in 9:36.
4. Two Out Of Three Falls: Andre the Giant & Chief Jay Strongbow vs. Don Leo Jonathan & Otto Von Heller
Fall #1: Andre and Jonathan exchange some words before the match, but Strongbow and Heller start things off, but Andre is quick to tag in and rough up Otto. Von Heller quickly tags in big Don Leo to counter the Giant. The two collide and nobody moves. Andre gains the advantage momentarily and Chief Jay tags back in and has some fun with dancing and belly chops. WTF? Jonathan catches Jay in a bear hug for a while, Chief escapes and tags back to Andre, and now Andre hooks Don in a bear hug… Strongbow back in and on the war path… The Chief locks in the SLEEPER on Jonathan!!! But Heller jumps in to break things up…. Andre comes in to chase Otto off and the bell randomly sounds at a reported “6:51”. Andre and Chief are awarded the fall, but even Vince McMahon has no idea why… Vince assumes it’s a DQ due to Otto’s interference… I guess… If Vince doesn’t know, I sure don’t.
Fall #2: Chief & Jonathan start it off. Chief goes right into his dancing, rope running, sliding under the legs routine. Chief Jay lands some big chops and throws Don Leo right into a big chop from Andre. Jonathan finally manages to get Strongbow back to the heel corner and distracts the ref while Otto chokes Chief with the tag rope. Heller tags in and chokes down Jay, but Strongbow crawls under his legs and hot tags to Andre!!! Andre blasts Jonathan on the apron and then scoops Heller up into a bear hug…. Jonathan comes off the ropes with a double axe handle to break the hold, but unlike the last fall the team isn’t DQ’d… Whatever. Andre goes back to the bear hug, Jonathan again comes off the ropes to break the hold, and again no DQ. Andre simply shrugs it off and waives his finger at Don Leo “no-no”, the crowd loves it. Andre shoots Otto into the ropes… BIG BOOT, BIG SPLASH, Chief Jay intercepts Jonathan and the fan favorites score the win in back to back falls. This fall went 4:51.
* Other matches on this show that are not known to publicly exist included Jose Gonzalez fought Larry Zbyzsko to a draw, Robert Fuller defeated Ed Sullivan at 10:39, Tony Garea defeated Mike Conrad at 17:09. Side note, very interesting to see a Gulf Coast match on this card with Sullivan vs. Fuller.
BJack’s Thoughts: Nothing special to the tag title change from 11/73. The crowd response was far more amazing than the actual match. It really made the title change feel special… The pair of Bruno TV matches were okay. They picked Bruno a pair of good bumpers to make the champ look good on TV, smart move there… Both matches had their good moments and bad. I think I enjoyed the Von Heller match more because Bruno really moved well and Heller sold like a champ… The Fuji match wasn’t bad, but the second half of the match felt blah…
As for the 4/29/74 MSG show… Volkoff basically gets a squash win over a tag team champion to build him up. Fuji’s bumping MADE the Morales match, this one wasn’t bad and it shows you how good Fuji was. The closing tag match was a fun bone to throw the fans for the fan-favorite Andre and Chief. Andre and Jonathan were both great for their size, and this match was fun, as is most 1970’s Andre matches. The WWWF Title match with Bruno & Kowalski had some down moments, but pretty much every match from this period will have that. In general, the Bruno/Killer match was enjoyable and likely one of the better challenges for Bruno from around this time. It was enjoyable if you are into this era.
HeelsInc Thoughts: On the TV matches, the fans went bonkers for the tag title change rushing the ring to congratulate the new champions. It was a pretty cool sight to see. Every time I see Bruno I’m so shocked as to how he was ever so popular. The guy wasn’t good in the ring. His go-to move was to Irish whip his opponent and then just kick them, how is that even a thing? Neither of the Bruno matches were bad or anything I just don’t care for his work.
Moving on to the 4-29 MSG show. I would like to point out that Volkoff was victorious with a fucking running stomp. How that gets you a win is beyond me. The WWWF Title Match was pretty brutal, these two guys went after each other with some fire. Jack pointed out that they made out during the match I had the same notes before reading his review so it was pretty clear that that’s what they were doing, haha. Kowalski has one of the weirdest shaped bodies I have ever seen, and ahead of hair that looks like the world’s worst toupee. Kowalski’s claw to the leg of Bruno looked like he was just massaging him. Aside from making fun of some stuff in this match I really enjoyed it nevertheless. The bump Fuji took over the top rope in his match with Pedro was SICK and him flopping after the missed top rope move was pretty awesome. Did Fuji ever hit a top rope move?
