JHawk
June 1983, Monday, Week 1
This month starts what could be a turning point for the WWF. All-Star Wrestling is officially off the air, at least temporarily, and Championship Wrestling is only airing in the Tri State area. This is both good and bad. It’s good because this saves on payroll as they don’t have to pay wrestlers twice a week to compete. It’s bad because it’s going to harder to build for the big shows, plus the guys that need extra work won’t be able to get it.
There are rumors of this Saturday’s show at the Spectrum changing locations, as they’ve increased the rent to the building and the company is desperately looking into cutting costs.
The WWF literally finished with the lowest ratings in every single territory this month, so down-scaling might be better for them from that standpoint as well.
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling is looking into extensions for Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle. This is not expected to hurt their WWF bookings.
Pedro Morales’ contract expires at the end of the month and he isn’t expected back.
Butcher Vachon is getting back in the ring, at least part time.
In an effort to cut costs, there will be no show at Madison Square Garden this month.
June 1983, Tuesday, Week 1
Sika vs. Rocky Johnson has been added to this Saturday’s show in Philadelphia. This will be the only major show in June as the WWF wants to focus on TV for the immediate future.
The Don Muraco-Swede Hanson match that was originally scheduled for Philly will not take place as Muraco was double booked.
Championship Wrestling taping (June 1983, Tuesday, Week 1)
In an extremely short match, Rocky Johnson defeated Mac Rivera in 5:08 by pinfall with a Johnson Shuffle.
Sgt. Slaughter defeated Pedro Morales in 3:26 by submission with a Cobra Clutch.
The Masked Invaders defeated Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee in 5:04 when Invader # 2 pinned Lee with a Heart Punch.
Swede Hanson defeated Johnny Rodz in 3:14 by pinfall.
In a non-title match, Don Muraco pinned Nick DeCarlo in 1:15 with a Tombstone Piledriver. Muraco looked good here.
The Wild Samoans were the guests on Buddy Rogers’ Corner, as they had a python wrapped around their necks. Generic interview, so they didn’t give any indication who their next challengers are with this.
Tito Santana defeated Masked Superstar in 3:31 by pinfall.
George Steele defeated Brian Blair in 2:12 by submission.
Ivan Koloff pinned S.D. Jones in 1:51 with a Russian Sickle. This match has happened way too often and Koloff’s shoulder is clearly not 100%, so this wasn’t good.
Pat Patterson and Vince McMahon discussed the budding rivalry between Jules Strongbow and Chief Jay Strongbow at length. This was followed by interviews with both, Patterson interviewing Jay and McMahon interviewing Jules.
In a match that had some good action and average heat, The Wild Samoans retained the WWF Tag Team Titles against Tony Garea & Eddie Gilbert in 8:09 when Afa pinned Gilbert with a Samoan Drop. Really good main event.
June 1983, Wednesday, Week 1
Last night was the usual sellout in Allentown of 1,300. We received mostly positive feedback but some feel like they’re going through the motions.
Those close to Don Muraco feel he is running himself ragged and is in dire need of a break, but he’s one of the most consistent wrestlers in the business so none of the companies he works for are likely to give him any time off.
June 1983, Thursday, Week 1
Don Kernodle did sign an extension with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, but it’s a non-exclusive deal so he likely won’t miss any time.
June 1983, Friday, Week 1
Legendary midget wrestler Sky Low Low is going to be given a tryout as a road agent. He will work through the end of the month and a decision will be made then. Originally he was going to be brought in to wrestle Little Beaver but Beaver didn’t want any sort of deal beyond three months and the WWF wanted to at least be able to use the midgets through the end of the year.
From the Hell Freezes Over files: Bruno Sammartino and Larry Zbyszko will be teaming in World Class Championship Wrestling and feuding with the Von Erich Brothers. Of course, Bruno and Zbyszko had a legendary feud in the WWF in 1980 and never made up from a kayfabe standpoint.
June 1983, Saturday, Week 1
With Don Muraco booked elsewhere and thus cancelling his Intercontinental Title defense against Swede Hanson, only three matches have been announced for tonight’s show at the Philadelphia Spectrum.
Bob Backlund vs. Ivan Koloff for the WWF Heavyweight Title: Backlund will probably win here as he’s scheduled to feud with Sgt. Slaughter all summer. The question is how well Koloff can do as he’s still nursing the injured shoulder.
Afa vs. Jimmy Snuka: Snuka should win this easily.
Rocky Johnson vs. Sika: I also expect Johnson to win easily. One would think these matches would mean Snuka and Johnson would be the next to receive a tag title shot, but I’m hearing they have other plans in store for Snuka.
In other news, Giant Baba had his retirement match last night in Shikoku, teaming with Jumbo Tsuruta to defeat Stan Hansen and Terry Funk. Also retired officially is Professor Toru Tanaka, who won multiple WWF Tag Team Titles with Mr. Fuji in the 1970s.
Spectrum Wrestling coverage (June 1983, Saturday, Week 1)
Gorilla Monsoon and Howard Finkel are on commentary.
In an extremely short match, Butcher Vachon defeated David Sammartino in 5:13 by pinfall.
In a bout that had solid in-ring action but not much in the way of heat, Samu defeated Don Kernodle in 9:13 by pinfall with a Flying Headbutt.
In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Sgt. Slaughter defeated Chief Jay Strongbow in 11:35 by submission with a Cobra Clutch. Strongbow was tiring near the end but the match was good.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Jules Strongbow pinned Swede Hanson in 13:24 with a roll up.
Jimmy Snuka defeated Afa in 2:54 by pinfall with a Superfly Splash.
In a bout that had great heat and great wrestling action, Bob Backlund retained the WWF Heavyweight Title, beating Ivan Koloff in 16:40 by submission with a Cross Face Chicken Wing. Even with the shoulder injury this was one of Koloff’s best matches this year.
Bill Anderson had an interview with Howard Finkel, hyping his upcoming singles match with Andre The Giant. Anderson is a shockingly good interview.
In a match that had some good action and average heat, Andre The Giant pinned Bill Anderson in 17:31 with a Bodyslam. The match was way too long but Andre looked good. After the match, the two brawled to the back.
Salvatore Bellomo defeated Iron Mike Sharpe in 5:43 by disqualification when Sharpe hit Bellomo with his loaded forearm pad; referee Dick Worhele saw an object sticking out of the pad and called for the bell. Sharpe laid Bellomo out with the pad after the match as well.
They announced the next show at the Spectrum (and the next major show) will be on July 1983, Saturday, Week 2, with Bob Backlund vs. George Steele for the WWF Heavyweight Title and an eight man tag team elimination match featuring all three Samoans teaming with Jules Strongbow against Andre the Giant, Rocky Johnson, Chief Jay Strongbow and Ivan Putski.
Rocky Johnson pinned Sika in 2:41 with a roll up.
Bob Backlund is interviewed backstage by Gorilla Monsoon, he hypes upcoming singles match against George Steele next month.
In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Adrian Adonis and George Steele defeated Pedro Morales and Tito Santana in 14:07 at two falls to one after winning the first, with the final fall happening when George Steele defeated Pedro Morales by pinfall. Santana and Morales worked horribly as a team.
June 1983, Sunday, Week 1
David Sammartino showed up to the Spectrum late last night and was fined his entire payday.
The paid attendance last night at the Spectrum was 3,540, one of the lowest in the history of the building. With them already announcing two fairly big matches for the next show, I’d expect they’re going to pull out all the stops for that card. The good news is the show got largely good feedback, so hopefully that translates into a bigger crowd next month.
While not a surprise at all, Championship Wrestling did a poor rating by syndication standards, although it is on fewer stations and in poorer time slots.
