Through the Booking Glass: February 1984 Week 3

 

February 1984, Monday, Week 3

There has been a ton of fallout from the events of last week, especially considering the events of the Intercontinental Title change this past Saturday.

As mentioned in yesterday’s update, booker Jared Hawkins was not made aware of the change ahead of time.  In fact, nobody was aware of it until it happened.  Apparently George Steele has been feeling burned out, which is why he hasn’t been used on TV much lately, and he decided not to kick out when Tony Garea connected with a sunset flip at the 12:30 mark.  And that is where things begin getting interesting.

Hawkins has stated that he likes Garea as a mentor for younger wrestlers as part of a teacher/student tag team pairing, which is why Garea has teamed with Eddie Gilbert and Brian Blair in recent weeks (over a year in Gilbert’s case), but that he has been typecast in that role for so long that he doesn’t feel Garea is credible as a single.  He placed a call to the arena in Poughkeepsie, NY last night to have the Garea-Ivan Koloff be announced as a title match, but Koloff refused saying planned or not, Garea deserved the reign and to have a legitimate shot at making it work.  Vince McMahon agreed and kept the match as non-title, although Koloff did win the match with a handful of tights to try to keep Garea looking strong.

Hawkins and McMahon are expected to have a meeting backstage in Allentown tomorrow prior to the wrestlers arriving in the arena, and the way it was described I wouldn’t be shocked to see a change in how future booking is handled moving forward.

Despite Steele admitting he is getting burned out, he has agreed to meet Garea in a title match at Madison Square Garden next Monday, but Garea is already scheduled to compete at the Spectrum on Saturday and given the number of last minute changes made in 1983, the WWF is at least trying to avoid making changes to already announced lineups.

February 1984, Tuesday, Week 3

We got word from the closed door meeting between WWF owner Vince McMahon and WWF booker Jared Hawkins that took place earlier today.  Here are the basics:

-McMahon told Hawkins he is very happy overall with the job he has done as booker, especially given the defections late last year that led to the top of the card being completely different from what was originally planned.

-Hawkins told McMahon that he feels betrayed at some of the decisions made without his consultation, particularly in regards to the Tony Garea Intercontinental Championship situation.  McMahon explained that while he would prefer titles change hands with cameras present and doesn’t necessarily disagree that Garea might not be the right guy, he also feels that when titles change hands too frequently it ruins the credibility of all the championships so he wants to run with Garea for the time being.  In my opinion, there is a sense among fans that the Tag Team Titles don’t mean anything right now, and we’ve seen three World Title changes in as many months, so some sense of stability is needed, but there is a fine line between how often the title changes and who actually has the title, as the champion needs to draw.  Right now, there is nobody drawing worth a damn.

-The end result is Hawkins is staying on as booker through at least the MSG show next week, but he is making no guarantees beyond that point.  Obviously McMahon would like to keep Hawkins on but the frustration is making it difficult.

WWF Championship Wrestling taping (February 1984, Tuesday, Week 4)

Mean Gene Okerlund is not in the building so Vince McMahon is calling the show by himself.

In an extremely short match, Ivan Putski pinned Samu in 2:45 with a Polish Hammer.  Samu has a title shot on Saturday and loses to Ivan Putski in under three minutes? I’ve seen better ideas.

Tiger Chung Lee pinned Salvatore Bellomo in 57 seconds with a Tombstone Piledriver.

S.D. Jones, The Tonga Kid and Steve Lombardi defeated Mr. Fuji, Jules Strongbow and Goldie Rogers in 5:23 when Jones pinned Rogers.  Fuji was the sharpest worker in this match which says all you need to know about it.

Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Frankie Williams in 1:19 by submission with a Bear Hug.  Prior to the match, Jimmy Snuka was introduced to the crowd, unable to compete due to an injury (I assume a work), and shook Williams’ hand, but Sharpe turned his back on Snuka when Snuka offered his hand.

Victory Corner was next, and Lord Alfred Hayes introduced Tony Garea as the new Intercontinental Champion. He asked if Garea would lose the title to back to Steele at MSG on Monday considering he was a five time loser of the Tag Team Titles, and Garea said he would be a fighting champion and do whatever he could within the rules to retain the title.

Ivan Koloff vs. The Great Wojo was scheduled here but never took place.  As Wojo attempted to lead the fans in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Koloff attacked Wojo from behind and beat him with a belt for several minutes.  Wojo eventually started a brief comeback, but Koloff leveled him with a clothesline and walked to the back.  Wojo is officially a babyface but the crowd didn’t react to it at all.

Jose Luis Rivera pinned Nick DeCarlo in 4:11 with a Piledriver.  I think the idea was to have a cool down match after what they thought would be a hot angle but this got no reaction.

Brian Blair and Tony Garea defeated Bob Bradley and Charlie Fulton in 2:43 when Blair pinned Bradley with an abdominal stretch into a roll up.

Howard Finkel announced Ivan Koloff vs. Salvatore Bellomo for next week’s taping.  After Bellomo lost in under a minute.  Yeah, that will put asses in the seats.

In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Bobby Bass pinned Al Madril in 8:02 with a roll up.  Nobody knew who these two guys were but I enjoyed it.

Vince McMahon interviewed Pat Patterson at ringside about the match with Samu at the Spectrum on Saturday and the rematch with Koloff at MSG on Monday.  Cookie cutter interview.

In a non-title bout that had a good crowd and good action, Pat Patterson pinned Sika in 9:24 following botched interference by Samu.  At least it somewhat builds towards Saturday’s match in Philadelphia.

There was little to no build up to the two shows in the next few days and that was desperately needed. Good show in-ring though.

February 1984, Wednesday, Week 3

The show in Allentown drew the usual sellout of 1,300 last night.

I’ve heard reports that the Victory Corner segment with Garea was excellent and the best thing on the show, so at least from a promo standpoint, Garea might be able to do something with the Intercontinental Title.

February 1984, Thursday, Week 3

Samu vs. Jimmy Snuka has been added to Monday’s show at Madison Square Garden.

February 1984, Friday, Week 3

Jose Luis Rivera vs. Charlie Fulton has been added to Monday’s show at the Garden.  Well, they can’t all be winners.

February 1984, Saturday, Week 3

The WWF returns to the Philadelphia Spectrum tonight, so here’s a preview:

Pat Patterson vs. Samu for the WWF Heavyweight Title:  Samu lost to Ivan Putski in under three minutes on TV this weekend.  While standard procedure is to lose before winning the title to establish some future challengers, this leads to 95% of the roster being viable challengers.  Patterson retains.

The Great Wojo & Don Kent vs. Andre the Giant & Jimmy Snuka:  Andre will pin someone, probably after some miscommunication since Wojo’s face turn aired in Philadelphia earlier this morning.

Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee vs. Tony Garea & Eddie Gilbert:  This could change since there was talk earlier this week of Garea being moved into a title defense, but current policy is to keep the advertised lineups as much as possible.  If it happens, I’d expect Garea to get a pin to push him as the Intercontinental Champion.

Jules Strongbow vs. Brian Blair:  Blair seems in line for a push and most people forgot Strongbow was still with the company, so Blair should win.

Jose Luis Rivera vs. Steve Lombardi:  Does it matter? I’ll predict Rivera since he’s at least won a few matches here and there.

Live coverage from the Philadelphia Spectrum (February 1984, Saturday, Week 3)

Lord Alfred Hayes and Gorilla Monsoon are doing commentary for the PRISM Network tonight.

Gorilla Monsoon conducted a backstage interview with Brian Blair, who talked way too long about his match with Jules Strongbow.  From what I understand there was an issue with one of the turnbuckles so they were still getting the ring up at bell time.

In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Jules Strongbow drew with Brian Blair in 20:00 when the time limit expired.  This was way too long and there wasn’t much chemistry but it was technically adequate.

Jose Luis Rivera pinned Steve Lombardi in 7:30 with a Piledriver.  This was horrible.

In an unadvertised title defense, The Wild Samoans defeated Frankie Williams and S.D. Jones in 9:59 when Sika pinned Jones with a roll up.  I’m amazed this was this good but obviously they have no plans for Jones now that Rocky Johnson is gone.

Johnny Rodz pinned The Tonga Kid with a piledriver in 9:28.  Just because you’re allowed to book lengthy matches on these shows doesn’t mean you should.

Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee defeated Tony Garea & Eddie Gilbert in 12:01 when Lee pinned Gilbert after Fuji threw salt in Gilbert’s eyes.  Easily the best match of the show so far and they did a good job protecting Garea.

It’s intermission time inside the arena, so it’s interviews on parade.  Monsoon conducted interviews with Andre the Giant and Jimmy Snuka, Samu and Lou Albano, Tony Garea, and Pat Patterson.  During the interview with Garea, Monsoon announced that Garea would defend the Intercontinental Title next month at the Spectrum against Iron Mike Sharpe.  That show will take place March 1984, Saturday, Week 4.

In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Pat Patterson defeated Samu in 10:28 by disqualification when Samu hit Patterson with a foreign object that Lou Albano handed to him.  Samu tried to attack Patterson after the match but Patterson cleared him out of the ring.

Salvatore Bellomo pinned Bobby Bass in 1:23 with a fast roll up.

Monsoon interviewed The Great Wojo and Don Kent about their match with Andre and Snuka.  They began arguing during the interview with The Grand Wizard trying to calm them down and get them on the same page.

Andre The Giant and Jimmy Snuka defeated The Great Wojo and Don Kent by countout in 3:45.  Early in the match Kent held Snuka for Wojo to get in a cheap shot but Snuka ducked and Wojo hit Kent.  Kent refused to tag the rest of the match and began to walk to the back, so Wojo left the ring and began to brawl with him on the floor until the bell rang.  After the match, Wojo entered the ring and demanded Kent get in the ring before he turned and saw Andre behind him.  Andre extended a hand and we got the handshake to cement Wojo as a face in case anyone missed TV this weekend.  Well done match and segment but Wojo as a face has no legs.

February 1984, Sunday, Week 3

The stress and tension appear to be getting to booker Jared Hawkins, as some feel he overreacted to an incident backstage before the show.  Eddie Gilbert was spreading rumors backstage about Bobby Bass, and Bass confronted him about it.  Hawkins is normally a cool head in trying to settle these sorts of disputes but he came in screaming at Gilbert, saying he’s tired of trying to put shows together and having to deal with these sort of issues.  Gilbert nodded and said he would try to control himself better in the future but most feel it was lip service to diffuse a bad situation.

Johnny Rodz brought enough alcohol backstage last night to float a battleship.  Most felt Hawkins should have had some but he refuses to drink until the show is over.

Hopefully he drank heavily at the end of the show, as the card drew just 2,865, the smallest crowd in the building since August and absolutely abysmal in an 18,000 seat arena.  On top of that, TV ratings dropped in the Tri State area this weekend, so they’re rapidly losing what little fanbase they have left.

Match of the night bonuses went to Mr. Fuji, Tiger Chung Lee, Eddie Gilbert and Tony Garea.