JHawk
Sorry for the delay this week. Worked more hours last week than I have in months, and the jobs I get paid for kind of trump my hobbies. So if you want to assure I’m never late for an article, send money. Preferably 20s.
October 1983, Monday, Week 2
Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Tito Santana has been added to next week’s show at Madison Square Garden.
Due a water main break at Agricultural Hall in Allentown, the building is not available to TV this week. A deal has been made to hold tomorrow’s taping at the WNEC Living Center in Springfield, MA, which seats about 2,000.
October 1983, Tuesday, Week 2
Paul Ellering quit New Japan Pro Wrestling last night. Details are sketchy, but apparently there was a major disagreement between Ellering and Antonio Inoki, and Ellering is not expected to be welcome back.
Local advertising in Springfield has been heavily pushing the George Steele-Tony Atlas match tonight. It’s the first time they’ve taped TV in New England since the 60s, so I’d expect close to a sellout. The winner of that match will take on Jimmy Snuka in a steel cage at Madison Square Garden on Monday night to determine the new champion.
WWF Championship Wrestling taping (October 1983, Tuesday, Week 2)
In an extremely short match, Ivan Putski pinned Bob Bradley in 4:01 with a Polish Hammer.
In an extremely short match, George Steele defeated Tony Atlas in 3:15 by pinfall to advance to the finals of the Intercontinental Title tournament.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Invader # 2 and Mike Graham defeated Rene Goulet and Buddy Rose in 6:24 when Invader pinned Buddy Rose with a Heart Punch. Invader and Graham have no chemistry as a team, so their timing was all over the place.
Iron Mike Sharpe pinned Curt Hennig in 3:21 with a Running Forearm Smash.
Samu and The Wild Samoans defeated S.D. Jones, Swede Hanson and Steve Lombardi in 4:59 when Samu pinned Lombardi with a Powerslam. Afa looked good but Lombardi looked every bit as green as expected.
Buddy Rogers’ Corner was next. Rogers asks about Backlund’s training regimen, and Backlund talks about the exercise wheel, which is great cardio training that can be done just about anywhere. He says he will attempt to use it next week for the entire hour, and that he hopes it helps inspire Eddie Gilbert to come back and return to the ring.
Ivan Koloff pinned Brian Blair with a Russian Sickle. I wish this would have gone longer because Koloff and Blair clearly have amazing chemistry.
After the match, Ivan Koloff demanded interview time with Pat Patterson. Koloff accused Patterson of being a biased American, claiming he lies to the people by saying Koloff is a cheater. Patterson defends himself saying he praises Koloff but won’t lie to the fans about what he sees, and Koloff slaps him in the face and walks off. An irate Patterson tears his jacket off as several officials try to keep him under control.
Jimmy Snuka defeated Tiger Conway Jr. in 1:25 by pinfall with a Superfly Splash. Snuka seemed a step off. After the match, Patterson, still clearly shaken up, briefly interviewed Snuka regarding the match this coming Monday night at MSG with George Steele.
Judy Martin pinned Susan Starr with a small package in 2:30 to retain the WWF Women’s Title. Martin’s foot was briefly on the bottom rope during the cover but referee Dick Kroll didn’t see it. Finish was bad.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Bob Backlund and Nick DeCarlo defeated Jose Estrada and Jerry Valiant in 14:25 when Backlund defeated Estrada by submission with a Cross Face Chicken Wing. Weird combination of teams but the match was fine.
October 1983, Wednesday, Week 2
Mike Graham suffered a torn MCL last night in his tag team match, and there is some heat backstage with Rene Goulet as many feel Goulet’s carelessness caused the injury. The injury appeared to occur when Goulet was working on Graham’s left knee and was dropping knees on it. Nobody in the crowd picked up that Graham was hurt, but we received multiple reports of Graham’s timing being off which were being attributed to his chemistry with Invader #2. Graham is going to try to work through the injury, as he is currently one half of the Florida Tag Team Champions.
To follow up on Ross Hart taking over Calgary Stampede Wrestling, he has named Ronnie West as his new booker.
The taping in Springfield sold out to the tune of approximately 2,000 paid last night.
October 1983, Thursday, Week 2
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Ivan Putski has been added to Monday’s show at Madison Square Garden.
October 1983, Friday, Week 2
Curt Hennig defeated Brutus Beefcake in Anchorage, AK last night to win the Pacific Northwest Television Title.
October 1983, Saturday, Week 2
It was just a matter of time. Knowing that Vince McMahon’s ultimate goal is the complete domination of professional wrestling, the AWA, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and Southwest Championship Wrestling are getting their defenses set up for what promises to be a hostile few years in the industry.
What does this mean? Possibly nothing. Potentially everything. Vince McMahon Sr. always tried to keep a positive relationship with most companies, knowing that he would need them to trade talent. With Vince retiring in a few weeks and Vince Jr. looking to expand nationwide at some point, a lot of the talent agreements have gone by the wayside.
How quickly this boils over will be dependent on how quickly Vince McMahon tries to expand his company and the financial states of all four companies.
October 1983, Sunday, Week 2
TV ratings held steady this weekend. There was hope they might increase in New England since it was the first TV taped in the area, but it was not to be.
Rene Goulet’s contract with Maple Leaf Wrestling has expired, but he is still giving the AWA priority over his WWF bookings.
