JHawk
February 1984, Monday, Week 4
Ray “The Cripper” Stevens has announced he will be retiring shortly and is looking to remain in the business behind the scenes. With his gift of gab he could do a good job in the broadcast booth, or he could make a fantastic road agent.
Tonight is the monthly show for the WWF at Madison Square Garden, and we have a preview:
Pat Patterson vs. Ivan Koloff for the WWF Heavyweight Title: The title is in desperate need of stability so I’m betting on Patterson retaining.
Tony Garea vs. George Steele for the Intercontinental Title: We’ve gone over the IC Title situation in depth, so I have to believe Garea retains.
Jimmy Snuka vs. Samu: Snuka should win fairly easily.
Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Brian Blair: I would assume Blair would go over here but neither of them is exactly in line for a major push.
Jose Luis Rivera vs. Charlie Fulton: The real winners for this one will be the people running concessions as they should do a lot of business in this match.
I’ve been told five more matches will take place on the card.
Live coverage from Madison Square Garden (February 1984, Monday, Week 4)
Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes are doing play-by-play for the MSG network.
Jose Luis Rivera pinned Charlie Fulton in 7:20 with a Piledriver. The crowd gave this one absolutely no chance as neither guy wins on TV pretty much ever. After the match, Rivera gave a promo thanking the fans for supporting him, which was a million times better than the match.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Brian Blair in 9:52 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. So much for Blair’s push.
Afa pinned The Tonga Kid in 11:49 with a Samoan Drop. This was probably too long given who was involved but not bad at all.
Vince McMahon interviewed Sika backstage, but Lou Albano isn’t here to do the talking for the Samoan so this went all over the place.
Sika defeated Eddie Gilbert in 4:48 by submission.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Jules Strongbow and Don Kent defeated Nick DeCarlo and Invader # 2 in 11:08 when Strongbow pinned Invader with a Powerbomb. This match was fine but you see the depth issues they have when this match is even booked, much less this high on the card.
Tony Garea defeated George Steele in 17:26 by count out to retain the WWF Intercontinental title. Too long for Steele, who was blown up by the end, but this is the best match of the show so far.
Vince McMahon interviewed Andre the Giant backstage about his match tonight with Jose Estrada.
Vince followed that up with an interview with Estrada. These two interviews were like night and day.
Andre The Giant pinned Jose Estrada in 6:38 with The Bodyslam. This match was shockingly great and Estrada made Andre look like a million bucks.
Pat Patterson defeated Ivan Koloff by countout in 12:02 to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title. While I liked it, the crowd seemed burned out by it. I’m not sure if it’s because Andre vs. Estrada was so good or because this is the third straight month this crowd has seen this match.
In a match that had some good action and average heat, Jimmy Snuka pinned Samu in 9:42 with a Superfly Splash.
Ivan Putski, Chief Jay Strongbow and S.D. Jones defeated The Great Wojo and Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee in 5:42 when Putski pinned Fuji with a Polish Hammer after Wojo leveled Fuji with an argument and walked off to the back. Wojo had been arguing with Chung Lee on the apron, leading to the finish.
February 1984, Tuesday, Week 4
The show at MSG drew an abysmal 2,634 last night.
Congratulations to WWF booker Jared Hawkins, who booked his 100th show last night. He is in Allentown for TV tonight but as of now only Ivan Koloff vs. Salvatore Bellomo has been announced for the taping and most of the talent isn’t sure if they’re even booked for the show.
Andre the Giant and Jose Estrada received Match of the Night bonuses.
A number of people close to Pat Patterson feel he’s spreading himself too thin, which may be why his match with Ivan Koloff fell flat last night.
WWF Championship Wrestling taping (February 1984, Tuesday, Week 4)
Gene Okerlund is back with Vince McMahon tonight.
Tony Garea pinned Goldie Rogers in 1:37. Andre the Giant made an appearance before the match and shook Garea’s hand, presumably congratulating him on winning the Intercontinental Title.
Okerlund interviewed Andre, who congratulated Garea on his title win and said Garea would be a champion to be proud of.
Don Kent pinned The Tonga Kid in 1:46 with a Bulldog.
Samu and The Wild Samoans defeated Eddie Gilbert, Frankie Williams and Nick DeCarlo in 4:38 when Sika pinned Nick DeCarlo with a Headbutt.
Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee defeated Steve Lombardi and Jimmy Snuka in 2:28 when Lee pinned Snuka with a Tombstone Piledriver. I am absolutely shocked that Snuka took the fall here.
Victory Corner was next, and through Lou Albano, Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Tiger Chung Lee. I think he issued a challenge to Pat Patterson here but who knows when it comes to Albano.
Ivan Koloff defeated Salvatore Bellomo in 1:50 by submission. After the match, Koloff attacked Bellomo until The Great Wojo made the save. Wojo then grabbed the mic, said he was declaring war on Koloff, and led the crowd into the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ivan Putski pinned Rene Goulet in 1:58 with a Polish Hammer.
Jose Luis Rivera pinned Bobby Fulton in 2:36 with a Piledriver. Wow, there are a lot of piledrivers on this show. After the match, Howard Finkel announced Rivera vs. Iron Mike Sharpe for next week’s show.
In a bout that had solid in-ring action and average heat, Adrian Adonis and George Steele defeated S.D. Jones and Brian Blair in 7:46 when Adonis pinned Blair with an Adorable Dog. Pretty solid main event.
February 1984, Wednesday, Week 4
Leilani Kai was originally scheduled to work the show against WWF Women’s Champion Judy Martin last night, but the match was pulled after Kai got into a fight with a fan outside the Agricultural Hall in Allentown last night.
The WWF has uncovered some footage of Tony Garea’s Intercontinental Title win that was recorded by a fan and will be showing highlights to open this weekend’s show. There will also be a video highlighting Bobby Fulton and his workout regimen. Why they’d do a Fulton video only for him to lose the match is beyond me.
As always, a sell out crowd of 1,300 at the Agricultural Hall in Allentown last night.
February 1984, Thursday, Week 4
When the WWF returns to Philadelphia on March 1994, Saturday, Week 4, the Wild Samoans will defend the WWF Tag Team Title against Mr. Fuji and Tiger Chung Lee. That should be very interesting.
February 1984, Friday, Week 4
Added to next month’s show in Philadelphia will be The Great Wojo vs. Don Kent, building off of their argument/altercation at last week’s show.
February 1984, Saturday, Week 4
There are rumors of the WWF instituting a Women’s Tag Team Title in the near future. Considering they never use the Women’s Title they have, I don’t understand why this is even a consideration, but there you go.
February 1984, Sunday, Week 4
TV ratings, such as they are, held steady this week.
