Well, after a lengthy hiatus it's high time we got this show back on the road. There is plenty of content on the WWE Network for review and we may as well start with one of the older MSG shows available. This one was originally televised on some fledgling cable channel called "Home Box Office". Never heard of it.
Commentary: Vince McMahon (Junior). Flying solo as he usually did in this era.
Match #1. Mike Paidousis vs Tony Altimore.
Paidousis is the babyface here, Altimore the heel. The ring announcer butchers both their names very badly. Paidousis is 50 years old at this point, a former Central States heavyweight champion in the early 60s. He passed away in 2002. Altimore was formerly one-half of the team known as The Sicilians with Lou Albano. He is also noted as being the guy who taught a green Hulk Hogan the ropes around 1979-80. Altimore would go on to become an office guy for Vince Jr just as the WWF was going national. Altimore himself is about 47 years old for this match, looking not a day over 65. Altimore passed away in 2003 at the age of 74.
The match: A boring slog of headlocks and other remedies for insomnia. Seriously, there is not much going on for more than 10 minutes. There is not much of a moveset from either guy and the match is heatless as the crowd could care less for either one of these two. The finish comes when Paidousis puts his head down on a whip attempt, Altimore misses a kick quite dramatically and Paidousis rolls him up for the pin and victory. WINNER: Mike Paidousis. Match time: 13:05 (yikes). Rating: DUD. Post-match, Altimore threatens Vince with a beating if he airs the match. Sadly, no Jim Ross to inform him that they're live, pal.
Match #2: El Olympico vs Greg Valentine.
Olympico would be the babyface here, of course. He is a masked wrestler but because full masks were not permitted in MSG, he was an open face with a hood, which really looks ridiculous. Meanwhile, Valentine (not yet with the moniker "The Hammer") is making his MSG debut with this match. He is all of 24 years old here as the horrible ring announcer states that Greg hails from "Californyer".
The match: An vast improvement over the opener. Valentine lays in some stiff forearms until Olympico has had enough and returns the favor. Valentine does some good leg and arm work, including a crisp elbow drop to the leg of Olympico. Olympico makes the babyface comeback with some nice dropkicks and that finally wakes this crowd up. The finish comes when Olympico goes to the well one too many times with the running shoulderblocks, falling victim to a stiff back elbow to the throat while coming off the ropes and then Valentine hits him with an elbow drop to put him away. WINNER: Greg Valentine. Match time: 7:49. Rating: ***. Valentine looked fantastic here.
Match #3: Chief Jay Strongbow vs Waldo Von Erich.
One guy is a white guy portraying a stereotypical Native American, the other guy is a Canadian playing a Nazi, complete with Hitler salute. We all know Strongbow as a WWE Hall of Famer and a former tag champ in the WWF. However, Waldo Von Erich was the kayfabe brother of Fritz Von Erich Of course, this was wrestling in the 1970s as far as stereotypes are concerned.
The match: Von Erich jumps Strongbow before the bell while the Chief is still wearing his headdress. Strongbow takes an impressive bump over the corner post and to the floor where he is down for the count. WINNER: Waldo Von Erich. Match time: 0:39. Rating: DUD. Not much of a match here. Post-match, Bruno Sammartino comes down to ringside to assist Strongbow to the back for medical attention. This would set up a feud between Sammartino and Von Erich that would stretch out over the next two MSG shows.
Match #4: Sonny Boy Hayes and Little Louie vs Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo - 2 Out of 3 Falls Match.
Hayes and Louie apparently are the Midget Tag Team Champions, which was a thing back then.This is non-title however. I go on record as saying that I am not a fan of midget wrestling. It's hard to find info on Sonny Boy Hayes but Little Louie spent some time in the WWF in the 90s, appearing on an episode of RAW teaming with The Beverly Brothers against The Bushwhackers and The Macho Midget (Tiger Jackson) in 1993. He was rechristened as one of Jerry Lawler's team of midgets for Survivor Series '94 as Queasy. So there ya go. We all know Littlebrook and Tokyo, of course, as they were a part of WrestleMania III, teaming with King Kong Bundy against Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver and The Haiti Kid. They were really midget wrestling royalty. And holy shit, Littlebrook died just LAST YEAR at the age of 87.
The match: The usual midget hijinks are kept to a minimum here, with the one comedy spot being the "dogpile on the referee" spot. The first fall comes to a finish at the 12:01 mark when Tokyo kicks down Hayes and grabs a handful of tights for the pin, 1-0 Littlebrook/Tokyo. Surprisingly, it's not horrible so far. They're snapping off some basic moves with some energy. The second fall sees the shenanigans kick up a notch with the referee spanking Tokyo after another dogpile and heel miscommunication leading to Hayes pinning Littlebrook at the 16:26 mark to even the match 1-1. Third fall hijinks see Hayes and Louie using Tokyo as a battering ram and the referee taking the brunt of it. The finish sees Littlebrook hit Louie with a shoulderblock and getting the pin. WINNERS: Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo. Total match time: 18:59. Rating: *1/2. Booking midgets to go 20 minutes? No wonder this usually hot MSG crowd is dead.
Match #5: Bruno Sammartino (w/ Arnold Skaaland) (c) vs Spiros Arion (w/ Freddie Blassie) - Greek Death Match - WWWF Championship.
Greek Death rules apparently mean submission only. Arion had turned heel not long before this feud with Bruno. The crowd most definitely wakes up for this match, as it gets good heat from beginning to end.MSG really hates Blassie, as just his introduction gets the biggest reaction of the evening until the end of this match. The shitty ring announcer introduces Skaaland as a "great guy". However, the match itself is not all that great.
The match: Bruno wasn't known for his technical expertise in the ring and Arion had a similar style. A punchy-kicky affair with the action switching back and forth. Whenever Bruno makes a comeback, the crowd gets into it. The finish comes when Arion misses a kneedrop off the top and Bruno takes advantage by stomping the injured knee before slapping on a half-crab for the submission. The crowd explodes for the win. WINNER and STILL CHAMPION: Bruno Sammartino. Match time: 14:58. Rating: **. Post-match, Bruno adds salt to the wound by kicking Arion some more. Hey! Would the IWC have called this a burial back in 1975? Arion refuses the stretcher and tries to walk back under his own power.
Match #6: Edouard Carpentier vs Joe Nova.
Yikes, both Vince and the ring announcer call Carpentier "Eduardo". Carpentier is French-born and moved to Canada in the 1950s and was a legit war hero for France in WWII. He held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1956-57 and was known as the first AWA World Heavyweight Champion when the AWA split from the NWA. Carpentier is just shy of 49 years old here and would pass away in 2010 at the age of 84. Joe Nova was better known as Butcher Brannigan and held various NWA titles around the globe, mostly tag titles. Here he's a youngster compared to most of the roster at a spry 27. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 61.
The match: Carpentier shows off some impressive agility while maneuvering out of a wristlock. Nova is just completely embarassed by the "old man" who gets the better of him at every turn with his quick feet and agility. Nova himself takes an impressive big man bump when whipped into the corner. The finish comes when Carpentier rolls off three straight sentons for the pin. WINNER: Edouard Carpentier. Match time: 9:16. Rating: **1/2. Entertaining, if not spectacular, match. Carpentier was in great shape and very impressive aerially.
Match #7: Victor Rivera vs Bobby Duncum (w/ The Grand Wizard).
Rivera is 31 years old here and still with us today. The Puerto Rican has won titles in several different territories, mostly successful in NWA Hollywood. In the WWF, he is a former tag champ with Dominic DeNucci, which actually happens the very next month. Duncum is also still with us today, but sadly, he would outlive his son, Bobby Jr. He would win titles in various NWA territories, especially down in Championship Wrestling from Florida. The Grand Wizard, of course, is a WWE Hall of Fame manager, getting his start in the 1960s as the manager of The Sheik. The Wizard would pass away in 1983 of a heart attack at the age of 57.
The match: Competently wrestled, as both men were adequate in the ring. However, they were booked to go to curfew, leading to some wasted time in the ring with restholds. Nothing exciting happens, and the match is just there, with one of the highlights being Rivera getting a near fall after a sunset flip from the apron. The finish comes when the bell rings out of nowhere, signalling that curfew is upon us. Thus ends the match. WINNER: Curfew draw. Match time: 16:00. Rating *1/2.
The final say: A couple of takeaways from this show: Greg Valentine looked great. Midgets should not be booked to go twenty minutes. Bruno Sammartino knows how to wake up the fans at MSG. The WWWF roster was mostly pretty shitty in this era. I wouldn't recommend this show at all unless you're curious. Make some coffee and avoid watching this late at night.
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