And I’m Like… (Going Old School with Tuesday Night Titans June 11th 1984)

We are jumping to June 11th 1984. Not much happened in between episodes that is worth noting. Well, the longest game in Major League Baseball history begins at 7:30 PM between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox . The game is played over the course of 2 days, lasting 25 innings, with a total time of 8 hours and 6 minutes. Outside of that though? Not much.

Tuesday Night Titans

We hear the epic drums and triumphant horns which means another episode of Tuesday Night Titans.

Vince welcomes us and introduces “The Queens crown jewel” Lord Alfred Hayes. His Lordship talks about how big John Studd is and McMahon says we will be back with Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff.

When Vince puts over a person he can do it with the best of em. He flubs Mr. Wonderful by being sort of dyslexic. Vince covers it up by saying Mr. Wonderful is the type of guy who wouldn’t stand for McMahon screwing his name up. “No matter how you pronounce his name, he is a tremendous athlete in the ring.”

Vince says we will see a good match of two competitors trying to establish themselves as title contenders.

S.D. Jones vs. Paul Orndorff

Paul Orndorff- was written about here

S.D. Jones- Before becoming a wrestler, Conrad Efraim worked at a telephone company. While there, he began training under Johnny Rodz in the sport of professional wrestling. Upon completion of his training, he quit his job and began working for NWA Mid-Atlantic under the name “Roosevelt Jones” in a tag team with his partner and kayfabe cousin Rufus R. Jones .  On January 17, 1975, after leaving the Mid-Atlantic area for California , Jones won his first of three tag team titles, combining with Porkchop Cash. Jones also continued to wrestle in the WWF as a mid-card babyface who would give the heels a hard time but end up losing. He did, however, win quite a few matches on smaller cards against lower card or fellow mid carders like Ron Shaw and Johnny Rodz . Jones was often featured in tag team matches partnered with Tony Atlas , and the two challenged Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito for the WWF Tag Team Championship several times in 1981. Jones seemed to never rise above the lower mid-card for the rest of his career.

Before the match gets underway, Orndorff stalls to take his robe off. We see signs of “Paula in the crowd. A lot of signs actually. All very homemade, I believe one is on a cardboard box. Fans bringing signs to the arena was like OG Twitter. Notice the blowup doll and chicken.

Mean Gene says “When ever Mr. Wonderful is called ‘Paula’ he loses it” S.D. Jones leads the crowd in chanting “Paula”. There isa bit where Orndorff is stalling and jabbing with the ref. “I’m Mr. Wonderful, don’t you know that?” Paul says to the referee, who replies, “I heard it from everybody Paula” The crowd starts laughing and is totally LOVING this. Huge smiles.

These two haven’t touched and the crowd is so hot! The match starts with both men running at each other and S.D. getting the better of The Wonderful One. Minimal movements to maximum crowd reaction. Mean Gene says “if Orndorff stays cool and calculated he is one of the best.”

Orndorff rakes Jones’ eyes along the rope and the crowd boo’s vigorously. Jones tries to figh back but Paul throws punches and elbows to stay in control. I’m shocked at how engaged the crowd is with how little action is going on. Guys today would have already taken multiple high impact bumps and the crowd would be dead.

Jones turns the match around by punching Orndorff in the gut, while Paul is on the top rope. He throws a flurry of punches and a headbutt too! Jones intends to execute a back body drop but Orndorff drops an elbow on S.D.’s head. Orndorff hits a jumping piledriver and wins the match.

As Orndorff is celebrating, he is rubbing some of his body as if to “get Jones, germs off of him.”

And I’m Like… Masterful! Orndorff is a treasure. He can get the crowd so riled up from doing so little. Less is more. The heel stuff works so well, even the brushing off of the germs. His arrogance makes you want to see him get beat so bad.

McMahon says Orndorff will be a force to reckon with and it’s mostly because of his work out regime. Lord Alfred Hayes says that S.D. Jones was a disappointment.

Paul Orndorff in the gym

First things first says Orndorff. “You will never look or have a body like me.” He says listen to what he says and eat what he tells you. He tells one lady to eat less and another to eat more.

We see footage of people working out in the gym. Orndorff yells at someone doing the machine wrong and tells the guy he should just leave the gym. Orndorff says you gotta think about squeezing your biceps while you go down. “That’s how you get a perfect bicep”

He tells one bodybuilder to put more weight on and then tells him to cut his hair and that Orndorff’s grandma could lift more. He says “this is what the most wonderfulest body looks like.” He tells us to not shoot our goals so high if we want to be like Orndorff. He legit flexes for 40 seconds with the camera zoomed in.

The overweight lady is trying to buckle herself into the machine. Orndorff chastises her for how she looks and how she probably “has never been on a plane, that’s why you can’t buckle the seat belt. He gives her credit for having teeth because “I have never seen a fat woman with teeth. No pride in theirselves or their bodies.” Bets her that every night she gets out of bed to eat from the fridge. “when your husband yells at you to leave the table, you argue don’t you? It’s because you want to keep eating.” She tries to touch his body and he FREAKS OUT “Get off of me you fat pig. DON’T YOU ever put your hands on me YOU HOG.”

More of the same from Mr. Wonderful to the next few guys he talks to. He calls the workout crew to watch him pose as the video closes.

And I’m Like… “No matter how rude he was, he is dedicated and a superior athlete” says Lord Alfred.  I took from it, that Paul thinks he is better than everyone and no one will ever work out as hard as he does. He is an arrogant ass with a small moral compass. His Lordship puts over how amazing it is that he can lift so much weight on so many machines. It made the Orndorff character deeper, that is a plus.

Salvatore Bellomo Interview-

Salvatore Bellomo- Working in North America under various ring names of Italian derivation, Bellomo started out portraying a mild-mannered, clean-cut fan favorite with respectable technical wrestling skill. In later years, Bellomo would portray a wildman in the ring, thought to be unpredictable and/or brutal by wrestling audiences. The list of titles he has held over the years is almost as colorful and includes everything from the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship to the WXW Heavyweight Championship . Bellomo’s solid in-ring work eventually landed him a stint in the growing pro-wrestling empire of Vince McMahon . At first, his record was actually quite favorable – particularly in Pennsylvania throughout 1983 and 1984, where the then- World Wrestling Federation put him over the likes of Johnny Rodz , Tony Colon and Butcher Vachon on a regular basis.

McMahon says Salvatore’s name has a certain amount of flare. McMahon says he speaks five languages all together. McMahon says it puts most Americans to shame.

Vince says before coming into the WWF Salvatore has made a name in different promotions all over the world. Vince says the European style is what helps Bellomo most in the ring. Vince says this next match will show Salvatore try and transition from the European wrestling style.

Ron Shaw vs. Salvatore Bellomo

Ron Shaw- Cannot find one thing on this Ron Shaw

The match starts with Shaw attacking with punches and bodyslams right off the bat. Slavatore fights back just as fast.

The crowd is not nearly as hot for this match as they were for Jones and Orndorff. We see some hold trading and a scientific style match.

Shaw got his leg on a rope so Bellomo hooked it. Shaw then put his other foot on the rope and Salvatore lets him up. Salvatore does the butterfly leg stretch, then he does body splashes on Ron’s groin.

Salvatore does a leap frog then hits a crossbody block for the win.

And I’m Like… I don’t get that match. There wasn’t much of a story or reaction.. so let’s see the rest of his interview.

McMahon says Sal did a great job in the match. He says he wants to know about Salvatore’s ship building hobby. Bellomo is building a ship from all the old WWF Magazines… lol.

Vince is taking us over to the art work. Alfred Hayes can not believe that wrestlers can handle things that delicate. Salvatore says that the whole ship is built out of old magazines. McMahon says “that is truly amazing, when do you have time for that?” Salvatore answers with “we spend a lot of time traveling and waiting in hotel rooms.” Hayes cracks a joke to no laughter and says “I’ll get a better one later.”

And I’m Like… I enjoy those segments. It’s amazing that Vince is letting wrestlers talk about their outside lives. He is bringing up other promotions.. What happened to this man? I have watched two episodes of this now and can’t believe how great McMahon is at developing characters. It’s sad that that skill didn’t evolve with the times.

Roddy Piper vs. Ivan Putski

Ivan Putski- Putski was born in Kraków and migrated to the United States at a young age. He and his family arrived in Texas , where Putski began his professional wrestling career. He stood 5 ft 6 in and weighed around 225 lbs. In his earlier days, he was weighed in at the 250 lb mark. Putski won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship with Jose Lothario twice in 1973. Putski was a fixture on the Dallas-Ft. Worth wrestling scene and was one of its most popular personalities. He was routinely the feature act at The Sportatorium, a wrestling-only arena in an industrial section near Downtown Dallas. Putski’s act consisted of being a happy-go-lucky, often aloof buffoon, who would “miraculously” pin his opponent. Putski was often introduced as a former concentration camp survivor, only adding to his sympathetic appeal to audiences of all ages. In mid-1974, Putski worked with the American Wrestling Association . Prior to leaving the AWA, Ivan dropped most of his weight by getting into bodybuilding. Ivan kept himself fairly trim at the 215 – 220 pound mark. Putski debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1974. While in the WWWF, Putski feuded with many wrestlers, including Bruiser Brody , Stan Hansen and Ivan Koloff . On June 25, 1976 at Showdown at Shea , Putski defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna . Four years later on August 9, Putski was again victorious at the event’s sequel , defeating Johnny Rodz . On October 22, 1979, Putski teamed with Tito Santana to defeat Johnny and Jerry Valiant to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship . They held the title for six months before losing it to The Wild Samoans . Putski worked in the renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1980s, primarily feuding with Roddy Piper and Sgt. Slaughter . He began to slow down his career in the 1980s. He won his last tag team championship in May 1981, teaming with Wahoo McDaniel .

Roddy Piper- was written about here .

Roddy’s music is playing for a while and Piper finally comes out. The crowd is kinda pulling for him. Just seeing this entrance shows how much charisma Roddy Piper had.

As Piper was jaw jacking with the crowd Putski ran at him and got him kicked to the outside.

Piper taunts and Putski attacks with punches, vicious punches. Piper throws even harder punches and these guys are GOING AT IT and no selling. Piper hits a headbutt and knocks himself to the ground. Now Piper is just getting HIT so hard. The entourage comes out and starts playing Pipers entrance song, which powers Roddy up and he finally knocks Putski down.

Who would have thought Piper was doing a match New Jack style 20 years before it actually happens. This music will not stop either. Piper is just dancing and kicking ass. This is unprecedented from my experience of viewings.

Ivan grows so angry and throws punches.. he even punches the referee in the face. Piper gets out of the ring and the bell rings while Pipers music is still playing. Piper wins by DQ.

And I’m Like… Alfred Hayes is surprised by how skilled Piper is in a wrestling match. There is speculation that Piper took a weapon out of his tights.

MailBAG!

Alfred Hayes says McMahon hird the worst mailmen.

We come back while Salvatore works on the ship. He looks super serious too.

Alfred reads a question. “Will Captain Lou manage the Samoans again? and will Don Muraco get a shot at Hogan now that Albano is behind Don?” Vince answers that Captain Lou has problems with Albano and that The Samoans don’t really like him anymore. McMahon says Muraco has a long hard climb to the top of the ladder because he took a break and say on the beach.

Alfred reads the next one. “Did Hulk Hogan wrestle five years ago in California’s Olympic Stadium? and did he play guitar for a band?”  Vince says we will have a surprise later in the show, but Hulk plays bass guitar and is quite an accomplished musician. He is also the most accomplished professional wrestler at this juncture.

Vince decides to bring out Freddie Blassie. McMahon asks why Freddie is so enduring. Blassie says it is because he doesn’t drink or smoke, and he works out in the gym with the guys he manages. Blassie says some of his talent was helped by God but most of his talent is Fred Blassie. He asks if the camera is big enough to look at this 16 karat ring.

McMahon takes us to a Fred Blassie match.

Fred Blassie vs. Baron Leone

Freddie Blassie- was written about here

Baron Leone- Leone was trained by Hugh Nichols around 1952.
“Baron” Michele Leone had a contract with Doyle that called for the latter’s agency to receive 30 percent of Leone’s earnings over $200 a week.  Doyle’s office made $15,000 a year for four years for Leone’s contract alone. After Leone became the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Doyle’s office and later the California Wrestling Office, retained control of his contract.  However, Leroy McGuirk (NWA member in Tulsa) got Leone’s booking rights. In May 1955, Doyle advised Department of Justice investigator Stanley Disney that he
interview Leone.  He “created” Baron Leone, he told Disney, and “made a lot of kinescopes and films of him, booking him as champ.” Leone had unparalleled success during the early 1950s.  Outside of the ring, he was hired to offer advice to couples on his own television show on ABC called “Advice to the Lovelorn,” and it ran for 13 weeks.  Additionally, his book, “Road to Health and Happiness” sold in excess of 25,000 copies.  He was even hired to appear in a few television films, however, the latter didn’t go as planned.  On July 17, 1953, Leone sued Maurice Kosloff Productions, Inc. (Maurice Kosloff and Louie Diaz) in Municipal Court for $3,000, claiming that he had a contract for the three TV films in which he’d portray a detective, but that the movies were never made.

This is some OLD footage. Blassie is pounding on Leone. I hear “yes sir we promised you a great main event tonight” which is something I swear I have heard before. He has a head scissor on Baron and does the face smash thing that Charlotte does when she has a leg scissors applied. This is a crazy pinning attempt. Leone can’t get the two so he does a powerbomb of sorts and Blassie holds on to continue the scissor. Blassie with punches to Leone’s head now. You can hear the crowd yelling at Blassie, calling him a chicken and loser.

I’m Some crazy sequence happens where Fred rolls onto his stomach and Leone tries to get out of the scissors by doing a head stand and trying to kick Blassie’s head. Blassie grabs Leone’s feet and has a pretty good submission on. Baron is able to turn it into a leg lock. Leone tries to turn that into a Texas Cloverleaf of sorts and the crowd is frightened at what is happening. Freddie fights out of hit, hits a shoulder block, three snapmares and finishes it up with a neckbreaker for the win.

And I’m Like… That was a small snippet but I was entertained throughout. The innovation coming out of that clip was astounding. Powerbombs, cloverleaves, neckbreakers, crazy submission attempts. All in the right context and looking real as hell. Love it. Really love it.

We come back to the studio and Blassie is sitting with a belt on his lap. He tells McMahon that Vince caught him by surprise. That match was from 1952 says Blassie. He didn’t think anyone had footage to that and Vince kind of does a fanboy smirk. Blassie shows off the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title. Blassie says he won so many titles in his life but he was never able to win it, the World Wrestling Federation championship belt. He said he wanted that more than life itself. He mentioned that he was finally able to get the belt by proxy through the Iron Sheik. Vince cuts to a clip of earlier in the year where Hogan beats Sheiky for the belt. I assume that is the surprise Vince was alluding to earlier.

Freddie was super pissed he had to see that. He says “keep saying it McMahon, I failed, I failed, I failed” McMahon says I am not saying that “I am just saying that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Blassie says he wants to be called Ayatollah Blassie because the Ayatollah of Iran told Iron Sheik to tell Blassie he is the Ayatollah of America now.

Blassie really lived the life. He was able to wrestle all throughout the world, he was able to end his career in WWF and lived his dying days involved in wrestling. Honestly, I can only dream and work hard to be so lucky.

A gong went off and Blassie was scared! Vince said we are out of time and Blassie got gonged. Because Gong Show

Mr. Fuji Interview

McMahon calls Fuji the greatest Japanese wrestler of all time. Fuji laughs and says “hold on, Salvatore! What’s wrong with you?” Salvatore looks up from his boat making. Fuji says “what you have no girlfriend? I feel so sorry for you” I can not understand the rest of what he says.

Vince asks Fuji to rank himself against all WWF competition. Fuji says he is NUMBER 1!! McMahon says “let’s see for ourselves with this footage”

Mr. Fuji vs. Nick DeCarlo

Nick DeCarlo- Much like his one-time partner Frank Monte, Nick DeCarlo managed to ascend the NWA territorial ranks as a tag-team specialist before making his jump to the major promotions. During his time on the terrirotial circuit, DeCarlo and Monte managed to capture NWA’s Southeastern Tag Championship three times and the Mid-America Tag Championship once. In addition, DeCarlo also secured the Canadian International Tag Championship with Dominic DeNucci. Yet when DeCarlo finally made his WWE debut, he was used as an enhancement talent for the duration of his WWE tenure. Though DeCarlo was revered and respected among Canadian wrestling fans, that didn’t manage to translate into mainstream success at the major level.”

Mr. Fuji- Fuji was mainly used in singles competition and teamed on and off with Tiger Chung Lee , but they had little success in the ring. In a brief angle, Fuji turned on Chung Lee in a match at the Philadelphia Spectrum against The Wild Samoans in 1984. In a grudge match to settle the feud, Fuji defeated Chung Lee. Afterward, Fuji continued to wrestle on his own until his in-ring retirement and Chung Lee remained as a preliminary jobber.

Vince says DeCarlo is a veteran in his own right.. I’m not quite sure how to take that.

Fuji does a pre-match ritual. Fuji is smiling all throughout the opening stages of the match. He does clean breaks from a collar and elbow and smiles wide. I am trying to think of a time that Fuji was not smiling. ALL THE TIME WITH THIS GUY!

McMahon says “look at his face you know he is guilty of something. Perhaps the most devious wrestler of all time.” The crowd is very quiet for this. Fuji does a Vader Bomb type move and McMahon says “a Banzai type maneuver”.

And I’m Like… Too fast to make an opinion outside of THAT DUDE SMILES A LOT.

McMahon asks why Fuji takes risks from the middle rope. Fuji says he likes to punish people and make Americans suffer. He says “it make me so happy! I love to hear American suffer. I just giggle.” Fuji makes the greatest facial expressions and says that he is bringing in a surprise. Japanese music hits real loud and we shoot over to a video.

It begins with a Japanese girl dancing to Japanese singer/songwriter music. It is quite whiny… Vince is considered a racist in 2016 but look when he spent a good percentage of this show dedicated to some Japanese lady dancing… This is legit at the one hour mark, which if you think about it is one of the most coveted television time on Raw.

We come back from commercial and Lord Alfred is siting in the Japanese room. Fuji tells McMahon he has to remove his shoes to make sure the room is very very clean. McMahon tried to say this was most unusual but Fuji told McMahon to “shut up” lolol.

Vince gets dressed in a silk robe as Fuji groans happily. Vince says thank you to the geisha. Fuji says “never say thank you to a lady, it is her honor to dress my friends.” Vince also has to remove his socks and Alfred laughs. “find something humorous Alfred” asks Vince.

This is WEIRD!!

The sock won’t fit on McMahons foot and he gets a little perturbed. Now thy are all sitting down to drink Saki. McMahon says he is flabbergasted that Fuji is so vicious in the ring and so laid back outside of it. Fuji yells at McMahon to drink Saki in honor of the Japanese Emperor. Vince looks uncomfortable drinking.

McMahon tries to ask questions but Fuji keeps cutting him off saying things like “you not like Japanese custom?” Fuji does not like that American husband do everything for American wife. He likes Japan where
“woman do everything for man” Fuji is making them drink more and more. Geisha lady drops the Saki and Fuji tries to beat up the Geisha girl but McMahon holds him back…. Alfred and Vince try to say it is alright and Fuji says “she will be punish, with salt.” He then beats up the tea table.

And I’m Like… Vince is building heels by having them be domestically abusive and irrationally violent. I think that is smart because you can’t really cheer for that type of behavior, even if they are “cool”.

Vince says he likes to see Fuji as a manager more than a wrestler, we are now getting footage of Fuji with Muraco.

Don Muraco vs. Billy Travis

Don Muraco- Muraco was born at Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii in 1949.A Hawaii state amateur wrestling champion in 1967, Muraco chose professional wrestling over football . He spent the first year of his career learning the ropes in Vancouver , Portland , Florida and Los Angeles before getting his first big break, for Verne Gagne ‘s American Wrestling Association (AWA). Wrestling as a face , he often tag teamed with Jimmy Snuka , against wrestlers such as Larry Hennig , Ivan Koloff and Dusty Rhodes . In 1973, tired of life in Minneapolis , (dick) he left the AWA for Roy Shire’s San Francisco NWA territory. In 1974, Muraco moved to Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF). He was frequently compared to the NWA World Champion Jack Brisco , whom he physically resembled. In a match between the two on May 28, 1974, Muraco reversed Brisco’s finishing move, the figure four leglock . Though Muraco lost the match by disqualification, this feat made him a star. After brief stints in Texas and Georgia , Muraco returned to California in 1975 and won his first singles title, the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship . From 1977 through 1981, Muraco shuttled several more times between Florida, San Francisco and his native Hawaii. In Florida, he was involved in two high-profile angles . In 1979, a masked villain called “The Magnificent M” appeared in the territory. Though it came as little surprise when he was eventually unmasked as Muraco, his bald head shocked the audience. Then, in 1980, he feuded with Barry Windham , in which the bigger and more experienced Muraco piledrove the rookie on the concrete floor. Windham eventually got his revenge, in the process becoming a credible wrestler in the eyes of the fans. In 1981, Muraco debuted in the WWF, where he would have his greatest success. Managed by The Grand Wizard , he captured the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on June 20, 1981, from Pedro Morales .  That year, Muraco wrestled WWF World Champion Bob Backlund several times, including a 60-minute draw on October 24. He split 1982 between Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (where he partnered with Roddy Piper for a time), Georgia Championship Wrestling (where he also wrestled under a mask as Dr. X) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (where he wrestled in the annual MSG League tournament), before returning to the WWF that fall. Now managed by Captain Lou Albano , Muraco regained the Intercontinental title from Morales on January 22, 1983. That year, Muraco feuded with Albano’s former protégé, Jimmy Snuka . The feud culminated on October 17, in a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden . Snuka lost the match, but afterward dragged Muraco back into the ring and hit his finisher, the Superfly Splash , from the top of the 15-foot cage. In the crowd at the Garden for this match was future WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley . During his two Intercontinental title reigns, Muraco had bloody feuds with Bob Backlund , Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson . He portrayed an arrogant villain who angrily demanded respect, while engaging in disrespectful behaviour himself; in one match, he brought a submarine sandwich to the ring and ate it while dominating his outmatched opponent. Later, he would preface his matches by dedicating his impending finishing move, the piledriver, to either the heel commentator or whomever he was feuding with at the time. Audiences regularly mocked Muraco and his Hawaiian origins with derisive chants of “beach bum”.

Billy Travis- Billy Joe Travis was a serviceable tag/mid-card wrestler at the regional territorial level who could handle preliminary duties at the major level. Travis got his break in the WWE, where he was used as a preliminary wrestler. Travis then went to the Continental Wrestling Association; honing his craft to earn multiple tag team titles across several promotions with a myriad of partners (which included winning the CWA Tag Titles twice with Scott Steiner and the AWA Southern Tag Titles five times – once with Mark Starr and four times with Jeff Jarrett. ) After earning the CWA Tag Titles once more with Action Jackson, Travis embarked on a successful tour of Puerto Rico; earning the WWC Junior Heavyweight Title and the WWC Tag Title alongside Gran Mendoza. Travis would return stateside and resume wrestling for USWA, but the organization’s visibility declined from its heyday; making his USWA World and Tag title reigns notable but not esteemed.

The match starts and we can see how the crowd feels about Muraco. Alfred says “look at his body, you think he really is a beach bum? Absolutely not.”

We get a voice of Gene Okerlund graphic but not one for his Lordship. Muraco throws Travis to the outside and Fuji with his top hat and cane ridicules the young boy. Muraco does a powerslam and Fuji makes Don pick but Billy at two.

Muraco misses a dropkick and the footage cuts away.

And I’m Like… Why do a background on these guys if they are on the show for 30 seconds? I do hard work over smart work sometimes.

McMahon introduced Big John Studd by saying “not an ounce of fat in this man.”

Big John Studd Interview

Studd shakes McMahons hand and says “how does it feel to shake a mans hand? I am the first man you’ve seen all day huh?” Big John Studd says “we see a thousand slams a night, a thousand pins a night.” He says he has never been slammed or pinned but he feels like their are two wrestlers good enough to step in the ring with him is Andre and Hulk Hogan.

Big John Studd vs. Salvatore Bellomo

Salvatore Bellomo- I wrote about him at the beginning of this blog entry.

Big John Studd- Studd was trained by Killer Kowalski . He debuted in 1972 under the ring name “The Mighty Minton”, wrestling on the Los Angeles independent circuit , where he formed a tag team with “Superstar” Billy Graham . In mid-1972, Studd joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation under the ring name “Chuck O’Connor”, facing wrestlers such as Chief Jay Strongbow and Gorilla Monsoon . On September 12, 1972, Studd unsuccessfully challenged Pedro Morales for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship . Later that month at Showdown at Shea , Studd lost to El Olympico by disqualification. He left the WWWF in February 1973. In 1974, Studd joined Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling , where he wrestled as “Chuck O Connor”. In 1976, Studd returned to the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where he donned a mask and performed as “Executioner #2”, teaming with Executioner #1 as The Executioners . On May 11, 1976, The Executioners defeated Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship . They held the championship until October 26, 1976, when they were stripped of the titles after a third Executioner interfered in a title defense. Studd left the WWWF once more in early 1977. From 1980 to 1981, Studd performed for the A merican Wrestling Association . In early 1982, Studd gained several unsuccessful title shots at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , which was held by “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair at the time. Studd jumped to the World Wrestling Federation in late 1982, and was paired with manager “Classy” Freddie Blassie . Studd quickly became a monster heel , adopting a gimmick of bringing a stretcher to the ring and beating his opponents so badly they would be taken out on the stretcher. While Studd became a top challenger for the WWF World Championship, held by Bob Backlund , it was his feud with André the Giant that earned him main event status. Studd and Blassie had issued a “Bodyslam Challenge,” offering $10,000 (and later, $15,000) to any wrestler that could slam him before boasting that he (Studd) could not be slammed. After several wrestlers were unsuccessful in answering Studd’s challenge, Andre accepted and was about to slam Studd before Blassie attacked Andre from behind (as Studd grabbed the ring ropes to prevent himself from being slammed). The Andre-Studd feud raged throughout 1983 and Andre got the upper hand and slammed Studd several times, once with enough force to collapse the entire ring. Several times, the two met inside a steel cage, where André not only slammed Studd, but used a sitdown splash from the top rope onto his chest to knock him out. Despite this, Studd began declaring himself the “True Giant of Wrestling,” all while continuing to insist he could not (and had never been) slamme d.

There is a crowd shot and some fan has a picture of Studd in a magazine as his sign. Bellomo has kind of been treated like a goober all episode.

Salvatore gets a hammerlock on Studd and taunts John a bit. Alfred said that will cost him. Studd hit an elbow… ONE ELBOW.. and wins.

And I’m Like… yeah. I think this show uses matches to teach us what the finishing moves are for these guys.

McMahon asked if Studd could win if he resorted to scientific wrestling. Studd said he did one move so he doesn’t think it would be too hard. Bellomo looks up from his boat making to say something but Studd says to McMahon to just ignore him.

McMahon brings up Andre and if John Studd will do anything to The Giant. John Studd says he will break the mysticism of Andre. He said outside of Andre The Giant no one is as big as Studd. Which makes me think, if Andre wasn’t in wrestling would John Studd be considered more of a legend?

McMahon points out that Andre is still undefeated. Big John Studd says he is working out and getting ready to break the myth of wrestling while Andre is drinking gallons of wine.

Studd says that Hogan is peanuts compared to him. He says that he is the only guy to defeat Hogan for the belt. “If you count on luck, it gets you nothing.” Bellomo starts jibber jabbing. Studd says “you only belong putting boats together.” Studd is running down everyone and braggin about how muscular he is.

McMahon says that we are gonna look up at the new up and comers. First Jesse The Body Ventura. Alfred says “most of the top wrestlers are coming from California lately, not the east coast.”

Jesse The Body Ventura Showcase

Jesse Ventura- Near the end of his service in the Navy, Ventura began to spend time with the “Dago” chapter of the Mongols motorcycle club in San Diego. He would ride onto Naval Base Coronado on his Harley-Davidson wearing his Mongol colors. According to Ventura, he was a full-patch member of the club and even third-in-command of his chapter, but he never had any problems with the authorities. In the fall of 1974, Ventura left the bike club to return to the Twin Cities . Shortly after that, the Mongols entered into open warfare with their biker rivals, the Hells Angels . Ventura attended North Hennepin Community College in suburban Minneapolis in the mid-1970s. ^[21] At the same time, he began weightlifting and wrestling . He was a bodyguard for The Rolling Stones for a time, before he entered professional wrestling and changed his name to Jesse Ventura. He created the stage name Jesse “The Body” Ventura to go with the persona of a bully-ish beach bodybuilder, picking the name “ Ventura ” from a map as part of his “bleach blond from California” gimmick . As a wrestler, Ventura performed as a heel and often used the motto: “Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!”, even going so far as having himself a T-shirt made with the words printed on the front. Much of his flamboyant persona was adapted from Superstar Billy Graham , a charismatic and popular performer during the 1970s–1980s. Years later, as a broadcaster, Ventura made a running joke out of it claiming that Graham stole all of his ring attire ideas from him. In 1975, Ventura made his debut in the Central States territory, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he wrestled for promoter Don Owen as Jesse “The Great” Ventura. During his stay in Portland, Oregon , he had notable feuds with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title twice (once from each wrestler) and the tag team title five times (twice each with Bull Ramos and “Playboy” Buddy Rose , and once with Jerry Oates). He later moved to his hometown promotion, the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota, and began teaming with Adrian Adonis as the “East-West Connection” in 1979. The duo won the promotion’s World Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980, on a forfeit when Verne Gagne , one-half of the tag team champions along with Mad Dog Vachon , failed to show up for a title defense. Shortly after losing the belts, the duo moved on to the World Wrestling Federation where they were managed by “Classy” Freddie Blassie . Although the duo was unable to capture the World Tag Team Championship , both Adonis and Ventura became singles title contenders, each earning several title shots at World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund . Ventura continued to wrestle until September 1984 when blood clots in his lungs ended his in-ring career.

We see that Ventura is in the corner as the footage starts. Mean Gene says Ventura is fighting Ron Shaw. Okerlund is sure to point out how good at cheating The Body is.

This is about the last 4 month of Ventura’s career. He looked pretty evil. We see Shaw get thrown out of the ring and we come back to the studio.

And I’m Like… I HATE THIS!! Why show Ventura throw a guy out of the ring and then cut away. How does that teach me anything about The Body?

We get a clip of Rocky Johnson and after a few arm drags we get this…

Alfred Hayes puts over how Rocky would be a top athlete in any sport. It’s cool that Soul Patrol is against Adonis and Dick Murdoch but before anything happens it cuts away again.

McMahon asks about the tag champs Adonis and Murdoch. Alfred says “we don’t talk much about tag teams.” Vince takes us to footage of the tag champions Murdoch and Adonis…. WE JUST SAW FOOTAGE OF THEM!! You should have just shown the damn match. It is like 50/50 booking without booking!!!

And I’m Like… This show always starts off good, has very entertaining bits, but I HATE how it ends all Mid-Southy with tons of clips of matches but nothing you can really sink your teeth into.

Until next week. Keep it old school. and here is the finished boat!

Please like and share, this is like 30+ years old, so not too relevant. The more shares the better. Thank ya much.

Have a good one everybody

-Jake