JHawk
So here we are, getting ready for year two. I encourage you to read everything from 1983 (48 weeks worth because Total Extreme Wrestling treats every month as a finite four week period) but I’m going to give a quick recap of 1983 to those who might not have followed every week.
Remember the original goal of this project was to keep as true to life as possible and work around defections/deaths/etc. With that said, most of the major pushed names left for other companies, or were injured in Don Muraco’s case, so not everything went according to plan. So here were the major title histories in 1983.
WWF Heavyweight Title
November 1983, Week 4: Pat Patterson defeated Bob Backlund.
December 1983, Week 4: Ivan Koloff defeated Pat Patterson.
WWF Tag Team Title
March 1983, Week 2: The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika) defeated Chief Jay Strongbow & Jules Strongbow.
December 1983, Week 4: Rough & Tumble (Rocky Johnson & S.D. Jones) defeated the Samoans.
WWF Intercontinental Title
September 1983, Week 4: Don Muraco was stripped of the title due to injury.
October 1983, Week 3: George Steele defeated Jimmy Snuka in a steel match to win the tournament for the vacant title.
WWF Women’s Title:
May 1983, Week 4: The Fabulous Moolah defeated Penny Mitchell to become the first official WWF Women’s Champion; Moolah’s belt was technically an NWA title prior to this.
July 1983, Week 2: Judy Martin defeated The Fabulous Moolah.
Wow, things couldn’t be more different than they were in real life. S.D. Jones, tag team champion? Screw you for leaving the WWF, Tony Atlas! I can’t wait until 1990 when I can Saba Simba your ass!
Anyway, let’s begin 1984 through the booking glass!
January 1984, Monday, Week 1
Just a couple of notes before we get into the 1983 Awards.
Financially, December was one of the best months for the WWF all year. They still lost money but actually came very close to breaking even.
On the downside, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Southwest Championship Wrestling have begun running shows in WWF areas, so right now the WWF is considered the number three promotion in their home area. GCW actually sold out a show at the Philadelphia Spectrum last month, something the WWF hasn’t done since August 1, 1981.
Don Muraco’s contract has expired. The decision was made not to renew his deal due to his injury, but they are hopeful of bringing him back in September when he’s expected to be fully recovered.
Now onto the year end awards. If the award has been awarded to the same person/team/company more than once previously, that number is in parentheses. For example, Ric Flair is now a two time Wrestler of the Year.
Wrestler of the Year: Ric Flair (2)
Company of the Year: New Japan Pro Wrestling (7)
Tag Team of the Year: Antonio Inoki/Riki Choshu
Match of the Year: Rick Martel vs. Nick Bockwinkel from an AWA house show in October
Show of the Year: Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling’s Halloween Havoc
Young Wrestler of the Year: The Dynamite Kid
Veteran Wrestler of the Year: Wahoo McDaniel
Female Wrestler of the Year: Lioness Asuka
Most Improved Company of the Year: Southwest Championship Wrestling
Independent Wrestler of the Year: Solar
Manager of the Year: Paul Ellering
Announcer of the Year: Gordon Solie (9)
Color Commentator of the Year: Hugo Savinovich
Referee of the Year: Dick Kroll
The only wrestler currently on the WWF roster to place in the top 10 in the Wrestler of the Year category was Adrian Adonis, who came in at number 7 on the heels of his title run in Southwest Championship Wrestling. The only other one in the top 20 was Andre the Giant, who came in at number 16.
January 1984, Tuesday, Week 1
A few contract offers were made but I’m being told the offers are nothing significant.
The WWF is in negotiations with New Japan Pro Wrestling for a talent trade. I’m told if the trade goes through it could potentially change the landscape of the company.
WWF Championship Wrestling taping (January 1984, Tuesday, Week 1)
In an extremely short match, WWF Tag Team Champions Rough and Tumble defeated Bobby Colt and Charlie Fulton in 2:37 when Rocky Johnson pinned Colt with a fast roll up.
In an awful match that was completely devoid of heat, Great Goliath defeated Steve Lombardi in 2:07 by pinfall. After the match, Gene Okerlund interviewed Goliath, who virtually nobody was able to understand. I thought this interview was done exclusively for Mexico until I remembered the WWF doesn’t even have TV in Mexico.
Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Ivan Koloff, who bragged about his title victory over Pat Patterson.
In an extremely short match, WWF Heavyweight Champion Ivan Koloff defeated Nick DeCarlo in 1:46 by submission.
In an extremely short match, Tony Garea defeated Bob Bradley in 1:42 by pinfall.
Rene Goulet defeated The Tonga Kid in 50 seconds by submission. These two didn’t look like they’ve ever spoken to each other, and I don’t mean that in a kayfabe sense. Horrible.
Lou Albano was interviewed by Okerlund. Albano said he would not allow his Samoans to take on a mystery opponent, but said Samu would take on Pat Patterson one-on-one instead.
Vince McMahon announced George Steele vs. The Tonga Kid for the Intercontinental Title at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Week 4. This can’t be good. He also announced Ivan Koloff defending the WWF Heavyweight Title in a rematch against Pat Patterson for that same show.
In an extremely short match, Pat Patterson defeated Samu in 5:19 when Samu was disqualified when Afa and Sika ran in and attacked Pat Patterson. They continued to beat Patterson down until HULK HOGAN showed up and cleared the ring. The crowd went nuts for this. After the match, Okerlund interviewed Patterson and Hogan. Patterson put over Hogan, saying he has changed his ways and left Freddie Blassie, while Hogan told Patterson he would have his back and thanked the fans for their support. I’m not sure why they name dropped Blassie since he hasn’t been there in months, but I appreciate that they acknowledged previous run here.
Mr. Fuji pinned Eddie Gilbert in 2:26 with a Kamikaze Clothesline. So much for the push Gilbert was going to get coming off the Masked Superstar angle.
Howard Finkel that we’ll be seeing Hogan and Patterson vs. Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee next week.
In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, Hulk Hogan defeated Chris Carter by disqualification in 9:19 when Chris Carter when Afa and Sika ran in and attacked Hulk Hogan. Pat Patterson made the save after the match.
The Hogan surprise made the show. Everything else was kind of there.
January 1984, Wednesday, Week 1
As you can tell if you read the spoilers from last night’s sold out taping in Allentown (the usual 1,300 in attendance), Hulk Hogan has returned to the WWF after a three year absence. Hogan’s return is part of a talent trade agreement between the WWF and New Japan Pro Wrestling. New Japan will get eight appearances each from Iron Mike Sharpe and Andre the Giant, while the WWF gets eight appearances with Hogan, the first of which being last night. The idea is to use the working agreement with New Japan more in 1984 to help bolster some of the bigger shows, with the idea of Antonio Inoki working Madison Square Garden several times this year.
The Haiti Kid has signed a deal to work on occasion over the next four years. Since the only other midget on the roster is a road agent, expect to see Haiti work maybe twice over the length of that contract.
Kurt Von Hess has been bulking up recently and is now being classified as a light heavyweight.
January 1984, Thursday, Week 1
Barry Hart and Kurt Von Hess both had their contracts expire overnight so they are history.
Lou Winston has signed a one month deal and will most likely be doing TV jobs for the time being.
January 1984, Friday, Week 1
Susan Starr signed a three year extension with the WWF that will have her making infrequent appearances into 1987.
January 1984, Saturday, Week 1
Steve Regal has been offered a contract extension with the AWA, and I doubt he’ll turn it down since he is only in the WWF short term.
Israel Matia has been offered a contract with Central States Wrestling but isn’t expected to miss any WWF dates, not like anybody would miss him if he left for good.
“Bulldog” Don Kent is coming in on a short term deal, presumably to put over full time talent.
January 1984, Sunday, Week 1
In a follow up from our story yesterday, the WWF announced they will not pursue an extension of Steve Regal’s contract. Billy Red Lyons is also in the last month of his deal and while they’d like to bring him in for a planned expansion into Canada later this year, they likely will let him go for now to cut costs.
TV ratings continue to hold steady.
