WWWF All-Star Wrestling Review 11-19-77

1977 – Part 1 of 2. Retro Rasslin’ Review!

WWWF ALL-STAR WRESTLING 11-19-77 (11-12-77???)

All-Star Wrestling is taped from the Fieldhouse in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
Taping date is November 9, 1977.

We’re treated to a new opening video. Get used to it, it’s gonna be around for a while…

Your hosts is Vince McMahon. Sadly, the legendary Antonino Rocca would pass away in March of 1977.

The Network dates this episode as November 12th, however I’ve also seen November 19th on the net. Since both the Network and the net have been known to be wrong when it comes to show dates I’ll leave them both up here. You can make your own judgment but the 19th seems more likely to me.

Joe McHugh is really starting to stress every syllable here. The opening intros to this show seemingly take forever.[spacer height=”20px”]

 

 

 

 

 

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MATCH #1: CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW & “HIGH CHIEF” PETER MAIVIA VS. JOHNNY RODZ & JOSE ESTRADA

Maivia has some fun with Rodz as we get going, running the ropes right alongside Johnny. The heels do manage to double team Peter for a moment before Strongbow tags in and goes on the warpath against both men. Rodz accidentally boots his own partner to save himself. LOL. Rodz distracts Strongbow to try and allow Estrada to land some cheap shots, but Chief Jay is too smart for them and remains in control. The heels finally work Strongbow into their corner, but the Chief is doing a lousy job of selling the double team. Jay finally stumbles to his corner to tag in Maivia. The High Chief comes in and drops Rodz, then does a forward roll and ends up in the heel corner where he sends Estrada off the apron. Nice. Jose tags in but winds up being put to sleep quickly by Strongbow after 6:23.

Following the match, Maivia also locks an interfering Johnny Rodz to sleep before Johnny ultimately escapes. Referee Willie Webber makes Maivia wake Estrada back up in comedic fashion.

Winners are Strongbow & Maivia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]Notes: Maivia and Strongbow made for an interesting team to look at, but outside of Chief Jay being over as hell he added nothing as a WRESTLER in 1977. It’s always cool to have another Peter Maivia match made available and there were a couple of fun spots, but overall this match was a miss. I expected more from Rodz and Estrada as a team, but they can only do so much when their opponents aren’t selling.[spacer height=”20px”]

 

MATCH #2: “POLISH POWER” IVAN PUTSKI VS. “CONTINENTAL NOBLEMAN” JOE TURCO

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]Hah, YES, I got me some Joe Turco on my screen! Putski screams POLISH POWER on the mike before this match gets going. Some shenanigans early on sees a frustrated Turco arguing with referee Dick Woehrle more than wrestling. Putski works a Superstar Graham style chinlock to show off his biceps. Ivan sells nothing, then scoops Turco upo out of nowhere into a bearhug for the win in 4:51.

Winner is Ivan Putski

Notes: This match was 99% stalling by Turco and then a bearhug. NOTHING of a match.[spacer height=”20px”]

 

RINGSIDE INTERVIEW WITH JAY STRONGBOW & PETER MAIVIA

Vince McMahon feels this duo will have long tenured success. Strongbow admits they’d like to win the Tag Titles from Fuji & Tanaka. Maivia shares similar thoughts. Strongbow thinks that they are the better team because they care about each other. On the other end, Blassie is only worried about his money and sometimes the Japanese team doesn’t get along with Freddie. Maivia goes out on a limb and refers to themselves as “scientific wrestlers”. There is NOTHING scientific about Jay Strongbow’s arsenal. While it seems like this team was a sure bet to become the tag team champions it wasn’t meant to be. Strongbow would eventually go on to win the titles with Billy White Wolf as his partner by the end of the year and Maivia would eventually turn heel the following year.[spacer height=”20px”]

 

MATCH #3: “BUTCHER” PAUL VACHON (w/LOU ALBANO) VS. STEVE KING

The Butcher gets a manager here. I never hear the bell but the action does begin. Vince mentions Albano’s current stable, which includes Vachon, as well as the Golden Terror, and Ken Patera. EGADS, except for Patera this may be the weakest group Albano ever managed. Vachon is the innovator of choking here, finding various ways to wrap his hands around King’s throat. King actually fights his way back resulting in the Butcher discussing plans with his manager. The time out works as Vachon gets back on top. King grabs Butcher by the beard, but it’s an ill fated attempt to gain control. Vachon lands a big boot to the chest and a SPLASH ends the match after 4:06 (according to McHugh), it was more like 3:45.

Winner is Butcher Vachon

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]Notes: Eventually, the Butcher would become a lower level TV competitor while his brother, the Mad Dog, continued to flourish in the AWA. This was TV fodder if there ever was any.[spacer height=”20px”]

 

MATCH #4: LARRY ZBYSZKO VS. STAN “THE MAN” STASIAK (w/THE GRAND WIZARD)

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]Stasiak is the former transitional WWWF Champion, having beaten Pedro Morales for the title, only to lose it to Bruno Sammartino several days later. This is our first look at Zbyszko on this group of All-Star episodes. Stasiak starts off in control, but Zbyszko doesn’t take long to take over and go to work on the left arm of Stasiak. Unfortunately, Stan uses the RIGHT HAND for the Heart Punch finisher. Stasiak briefly escapes the hammerlock but Larry manages to land a monkey flip and hook the hold back on. Stasiak again escapes, but a really nice scoop slam by Larry a moment later and it’s right back into the hammer lock. Stasiak finally reaches the ropes for a break. Vince puts Zbyszko over as the only wrestler trained by Bruno Sammartino.

Stasiak finally takes control and tries to keep Zbyszko on the floor for a count out. Larry finally has enough and pulls Stasiak to the floor for a wild battle. Larry rams Stan into the ringside table and beat the crap out of Stasiak who lays across the table. The bell sounds as both men are counted out, but the fight isn’t over.

The two men take the action back to the ring where Larry throws a flurry of punches before Stasiak finally retreats. Match went 6:40.

This match ends in a double count out

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]Notes: This was good story telling, with Zbyszko going back to the arm repeatedly AND it was done in a way that didn’t make the match boring. They abruptly took the match home but Zbyszko showed quite a bit of fire during the brawl on the floor and post match. This was enjoyable for the time period. One of the better Stasiak matches I’ve seen, probably because Zbyszko had all the offense.[spacer height=”20px”]

 

MATCH #5: WWWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS MR. FUJI & TORU TANAKA (w/FRED BLASSIE) VS. DEWEY ROBERTSON & JOHNNY RIVERA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]And we get the full trifecta as all three “wise men” managers appear on the same program this week.

Some of you may know Dewey Robertson better as the 1980’s wrestling gimmick “The Missing Link”.

Tanaka stalls with Robertson early as he goes corner to corner to throw the ceremonial salt. Dewey locks in a full nelson in the early going. Tanaka escapes with a nice judo throw but Dewey holds on with a head scissors. Robertson tries for another take down, but Tanaka decides not to sell for Robertson and doesn’t go along with the move. Dewey soon tags out to Rivera, and Johnny comes in with a somersault senton on Tanaka for a COUNT OF ONE. Tanaka takes over with his deadly chops and Fuji tags in with more of the same. And it wouldn’t be an Americanized Japanese match without the dreaded trapezius nerve hold applied by Tanaka. Rivera finally manages a tag to Robertson who is a house of fire on both of the champions. Robertson locks Fuji into an abdominal stretch, but Tanaka breaks the hold with a chop to Dewey’s head. Rivera tags back in but quickly eats Fuji’s KAMIKAZE CLOTHESLINE OF AWESOMENESS and this match is over after 5:34.

Winners are Fuji & Tanaka

 

 

 

 

[spacer height=”20px”]Notes: A by the numbers tag team squash. Nothing wrong with it. I expected more from Robertson but his run here wasn’t much to speak of. I love Fuji’s bumps. His clothesline finisher was a thing of beauty.[spacer height=”20px”]

Closing Thoughts: This was one of the more lackluster shows overall. I do recommend the Zbyszko vs. Stasiak match if you’re into pre-80’s style New York action. The brawl on the floor was pretty cool. Nothing wrong with the Fuji and Tanaka match, though it was basically a squash. The rest of the show I could have easily done without.