JHawk
May 1983, Monday, Week 1
Ratings are continuing to drop for the syndicated TV, and with the TV contracts up this month, they could be in trouble. Among the various regions of the country, they fared fairly well in the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Mid South, Midwest, South West and Puerto Rico but did poorly in the Northwest, Southeast, and Hawaii. They’re the only game in town in the Tri State so it doesn’t matter there. They are still operating at a loss and essentially broke even due to the funding they receive when Andre the Giant works elsewhere.
Rocky Johnson is in the last month of his contract but has been offered an extension and is expected to sign.
Barry Hart has signed an extension with the Memphis-based CWA but will still work here. The CWA has also offered Don Muraco a contract.
With the Spectrum show being moved to the first week of June, May will feature a show at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Week 4 and a show at the Capital Centre on Saturday, Week 4. Bob Backlund will defend the WWF Heavyweight Title against Sgt. Slaughter at MSG.
May 1983, Tuesday, Week 1
Southwest Championship Wrestling has made an offer to Don Muraco.
Eddie Gilbert will be working part time for Dick the Bruiser’s WWA but is not expected to miss any WWF bookings.
The WWF has made a deal with New Japan that will give the WWF four dates on Tatsumi Fujinami while New Japan will receive four dates for Bob Backlund and Sgt. Slaughter. They also have made a deal where Dusty Rhodes will work at MSG this month in exchange for Andre the Giant working one show for CWF.
Championship Wrestling taping (May 1983, Tuesday, Week 1)
In an extremely short match, Tony Garea & Eddie Gilbert defeated Johnny Rodz and Jose Estrada in 3:45 when Gilbert pinned Estrada with a Hotshot.
Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Bill Anderson in 1:50 by pinfall with a Tomahawk Chop. These two had no chemistry at all so the match was very awkward.
Superstar Billy Graham defeated Tony Atlas in 3:37 by submission.
Mr. Fuji pinned Jules Strongbow in 2:54 with a Kamikaze Clothesline.
Buddy Rogers’ Corner was next, and Rogers interviewed Jimmy Snuka. Generic interview.
Don Muraco pinned S.D. Jones in 5:07 with a Tombstone Piledriver. Muraco’s Intercontinental Title was not on the line. This was the worst of their recent matches so it probably comes off worse than it was. After the match, Muraco attempted another tombstone onto Jones, but Rocky Johnson ran out and dropkicked him out of the ring.
A fired up Johnson stayed in the ring and won his match with Tiger Chung Lee with a dropkick in under 2 minutes.
Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Barry Hart in 2:11 by pinfall with a Running Forearm Smash. After the match, Sharpe attacked Hart, again laying him out with the forearm.
Salvatore Bellomo defeated Frankie Williams in 2:44 by pinfall with a Pizza Splash. Holy crap, did they have to tape this?
Now it was time for a series of Pat Patterson interviews. First he interviewed the Invaders, who said they are challenging the Samoans for the Tag Team Title. Next came an interview with Ivan Koloff, who discussed his match later this month at MSG against Jules Strongbow. Finally, he interviewed Adrian Adonis prior to his match tonight with Pedro Morales.
Pedro Morales defeated Adrian Adonis in 0:33 by submission. Incredibly rushed which really makes me question the Bellomo-Williams match.
May 1983, Wednesday, Week 1
Tony Parisi’s contract expired and he is gone.
Last night’s show in Allentown did the usual sellout of 1,300. Most felt the show was a downer in comparison to most recent efforts.
Pedro Morales fractured his wrist on the first move of the match against Adrian Adonis last night, which is why the match ended so quickly. They were scheduled to do about 7 minutes. Word is he can work with it if need be but I doubt he will unless someone no shows.
Susan Starr has signed a 9-month contract to work on a pay per appearance deal. She is expected to work at Madison Square Garden this month.
Highlights of the Bob Backlund-Ivan Koloff match from Madison Square Garden last week will air this weekend on All-Star Wrestling. There will also be a video package highlighting the Rocky Johnson-Don Muraco feud.
All-Star Wrestling taping (May 1983, Wednesday, Week 1)
Jimmy Snuka defeated Charlie Fulton in 4:15 by pinfall with a roll up.
In what has to be considered an upset, Victor Rivera pinned Swede Hanson in 1:50 with a Piledriver.
Buddy Rogers conducts an interview with Tony Garea & Eddie Gilbert, who discuss a match they’re about to have with The Wild Samoans.
In a non-title match that had some good action and average heat, The Wild Samoans defeated Tony Garea & Eddie Gilbert in 6:16 when Afa pinned Garea with a Samoan Drop.
In another match with a surprising result, Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee defeated The Masked Invaders in 1:57 when Lee pinned Invader # 1 with a Kiwi Roll.
Your New Heroes defeated Ivan Putski & Tito Santana in 1:31 when Ray Stevens pinned Santana with a Bombs Away. I love the focus on tag teams tonight but these matches need to be longer.
David Sammartino defeated Israel Matia in 3:59 by pinfall.
The Soul Patrol of Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas defeated George Steele and Rene Goulet in 3:39 when Johnson pinned Goulet with a Johnson Shuffle. I still hate this move but it gets over with the crowd.
Pat Patterson conducted an interview with Andre the Giant, who talked about how he loves traveling around the world to wrestle but that he’ll always consider the WWF his home.
In a bout that featured great action and great heat from the audience, Andre The Giant defeated Superstar Billy Graham in 12:13 by pinfall with a bodyslam. These two had amazing chemistry together, to the point that this might get consideration for WWF match of the year.
May 1983, Thursday, Week 1
The All-Star Wrestling taping in Hamburg last night drew a crowd of 902, mostly due to a walk up of over 100.
However, the future of All-Star Wrestling and Championship Wrestling is in serious jeopardy. The syndicated networks that distribute both shows feel the ratings have dropped too far to justify keeping the shows on the air, and historically, a new network won’t even attempt to pick up the show while it’s still on the air, so it turns into a catch 22 for the company looking for a new station. Unless they can get a new TV deal within the next two weeks, the entire future of the company could be in danger.
The World Wrestling Council has offered Don Muraco a contract. Muraco has four or five different offers on the table, and at this point there’s no way of knowing how this will affect WWF bookings until accepts one or more of the deals.
Penny Mitchell has announced she will be retiring next month, so if the WWF had any plans for her in the women’s division they are effectively shot now.
May 1983, Friday, Week 1
Victor Rivera’s contract has expired so he’s history, as well as any push Swede Hanson was apparently expecting since he did the job for him on Rivera’s way out.
Leilani Kai is being brought in and is expected to work at MSG this month.
Stan Stasiak, on record for having the shortest WW(W)F title reign in history, has announced that he will be retiring next month.
May 1983, Saturday, Week 1
Andre the Giant’s contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling has expired. The good news is that Andre will miss very few appearances for the WWF moving forward. The bad news is that the WWF was getting a lot of their operating capital from when New Japan was using Andre, so that’s a chunk of change that the WWF will no longer have to work with.
Rocky Johnson has signed a contract extension which should keep him in the WWF into 1986.
Don Kernodle, Sgt. Slaughter’s long time tag team partner in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is being brought in on a pay per appearance deal. Kernodle and Slaughter will not be used a full time tag team as they want Slaughter positioned with Bob Backlund for most of the summer.
May 1983, Sunday, Week 1
Don Muraco has signed a pay per appearance deal with the CWA in Memphis.
