The ruggedly handsome young good guy in black trunks, future WWF road agent Tony Garea, has been having a rough time. George “The Animal” Steele, bald and mouth agape with the classic hairy back look and a red stripe down his black trunks, has been beating him up. It’s not very interesting – there’s a lot of stomping and standing around – but then Steele tries a bulldog and Garea throws him into the turnbuckle… AND THE CROWD. GOES. MENTAL. People are clapping, cheering, pumping their fists. Steele takes a HUGE bump, convulses on the mat, and Garea proceeds to just STOMP him to a major reaction. The crowd is DELIGHTED.
As I write this, there are only four shows on the WWE Network available from the 1970s. With a show from ’75, ’76, ’77, and ’78, the Network provides a brief glimpse into where the WWF’s head was at as they moved towards the 80s. In short: Bruno, Billy, and Bobby. These are the thoughts of one man who’s been watching wrestling for quite a bit and hasn’t even scratched the surface. Vaguely aware of 70s history, near-clueless as far as 70s footage. These are my reflections.
The ring announcer’s microphone hangs from the ceiling. Slow-paced matches based on mannerisms and rarely taking a bump. Guys hiding shit in their tights and wrist tape. 2/3 falls matches with minute-long falls. Crowds hot for the superstars, but willing to boo bad finishes. Ring announcers repeating guys’ last names. The names of the referees occasionally announced. Main events in the middle of the show followed by an announcement for the next card’s main event. A lot of screwy finishes: double DQ, double countout, or your occasional stoppage due to blood. Guys testing the ropes, or described as “popular” or a “good guy.” Everything is generally just casual as fuck.
Vince McMahon Sr. still owned the company at this point and Vince Jr. was just a guy commentary waiting for his opening. Vince here is perfectly solid at commentary and isn’t afraid to troll the match as it’s going on, something it appears has not left him, calling out refs for crap work or occasionally commenting on a match not having much action. At one point he’s clearly disturbed at how boring a Louis Cyr/Francisco Flores from MSG 2/2/76 is and openly says that Cyr isn’t using the strength he is “supposed” to have. It’s kind of interesting to reflect on what the young Vince McMahon Jr., as he sat at ringside, decided to keep and discard.
The matches are pretty much 100% about working the crowd versus working the TV viewer. There aren’t a ton of close-ups and the crowd seems to be going mad for a lot of stuff. As the old cliche goes, good guys were good guys and bad guys were bad, though if you were a really dorky good guy you weren’t really good and if you were a heel who could bump and beg off the people were just OVERJOYED watching you get your ass kicked.
What was going on in the 1970s? Watergate. Carter. Vietnam. Roe vs. Wade. Elvis died. Star Wars premiered. The Sears Tower was built! VCRs were introduced!
At the time of this writing the mid-1970s were 40 years ago and this is certainly professional wrestling taking place in the confines of a bygone era. Some of its’ aspects are timeless, other aspects it is clear that the times have passed it by. It’s interesting, but any comparison to the modern era or even the 1980s is a little unfair… you had to respect guys’ ability to get away with nothing and maximize every bump. WWWF, though, was also a pretty stodgy company to begin with, and had already established the heroic babyface wrestling a rotating cast of heels for years upon years formula.
Everything is about damn race here… Francisco Flores announced as a “popular Mexican heavyweight,” Putski spouting Polish catchphrase, Sammartino holding up Italian flags.
The managers are all tremendous and used to perfect effect, though most of the time they are escorted to the back before the match begins. The Grand Wizard, Freddie Blassie, Captain Lou – god damn legends. At one point before the Flores/Cyr match a guy holds up a skeleton to Blassie and laughs at his accomplishment. It made me nostalgic for a simpler time.
It’s kind of pointless to discuss any wrestlers in-depth as this is really just a few matches at most from them, so I’ll just run down the shows here.
One thing I can say something about is Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. Bruno is the classic heroic babyface in the vein of a Hogan or Cena – tremendously over, always protected, and eventually tiring. There’s a lot of stomping and kicking and long holds but the crowd is engaged and it is way over, and he is really really fired up, bumps huge when it calls for it, and all his mannerisms are BIG.
Though Bruno was into his holds, it’s interesting to see Vince choose his next babyface as a skinnier technical guy versus a big heroic asskicker. The Bruno to Bob thing interests me. Bruno and Bob are similar in the heroic babyface vein, but a completely different type of wrestler. Is it an example of Vince’s muscular superstar/technical wrestler cycle (Bruno, Backlund, Hogan, Bret/HBK, Austin/Rock, Benoit/Eddie, Cena/Batista, Punk/Bryan, Cena/Reigns)? Something else? Did Vince Sr and eventually Jr just like how insane Backlund is?? It’s completely different from Bruno, very technical and Bob treats everything it like it’s some snakepit shoot. It’s a little goofy but it’s also way over the top sometimes and I dig it.
Basically, this set probably won’t blow you away but it sure is fun to watch.
WWWF at MSG 3/17/75
This show only has 4 matches on it and is really only interesting for a pretty early Bruno Sammartino title defense. First match is Butcher Vachon vs. Chief Jay Strongbow, who was known more to me (and I assume many fans) as an agent in the 90s that Steve Austin refers to a lot on his podcast. It’s a decent basic match, with the real stand-out being Strongow’s expressive and dramatic babyface selling. The Bruno match is the second match of the show, as he defends the WWWF Heavyweight Title against Spiros Arion in a good old-fashioned Texas Death Match (in New York City) where they don’t use the stip at all. Crowd is hot though, as they usually seem to be for a Bruno match – even him getting covered for a pin gets a gasp. There’s a lot of stomping and kicking but it’s over as fuck, and a dastardly foot on the ropes seals it. Spiros was a pretty solid (a bit more on him below), and Bruno is pretty awesome in a prototypical WWF main event guy (even back in the 70s) kind of way… it’s nothing flashy, but he’s over and loud with all his movements and selling and he’s all fired up when it’s time for the comeback.
Sensational Victor Rivera vs. Killer Kowalski (with the Grand Wizard, a legendarily awful name given to the Jewish guy who played him) is such a boring basic face/heel match that it wills you to love it. You’ve got Kowalski just punching and biting Rivera’s knee and the crowd screaming any time he approached him from behind. Kowalski sells his ear and works a stomach claw for way too long and I kind of love it. A young, fired up and beer-bellied pre-“nutrition” Ivan Putski goes on last against THE WOLFMAN, who’s in a headdress and furry boots and sells like a wacky inflatable arm-flailing tube man. This like most of these matches is a long match with guys who aren’t very compelling in long matches, but they have the crowd anyways so it’s tough to say it completely stunk. The dead spots are dead, but any time they move it’s HOT. McMahon loves him some Ivan Putski – “look at the size of that belly on him!” Putski to his credit works to the crowd like a mofo and all his comebacks are all fired up and whatnot.
WWWF at MSG 2/2/76
This is a bigger and longer card than the previous with a Bruno/Billy match, a Battle of the Ivans between Ivan Koloff and Ivan Putski, a super young Kevin Sullivan, Bobo Brazil, Jerry Blackwell, and a bunch of other undercard nonsense. I really liked the casual vibe of Vince announcing a card re-shuffle on commentary during the show… was nice that his daughter and Mick Foley didn’t come out at the start of the show and explain it for 20 minutes. Card originally had Kevin Sullivan vs. Irish Patty Barrett, but Cerdan was in an accident before the show so the card had to be reshuffled. Arion demanded a match so he got it with Sullivan while Barrett took on Baron Mikel Scicluna, and Bobo Brazil took Cerdan’s place in the main event. One thing I like about watching these shows is the Google searches it brings up – for instance, Cerdan (real name Gito Brito) was a Canadian wrestler who got involved in the Canadian mob (and also crossed paths with the ill-fated Dino Bravo). The intrigue!!!
Pete Sanchez vs. Fabulous Frank Monti opens the show and is not a very good match, though Monti is a pretty funny heel – terrible headlock, but bleached blonde hair, fun bumps and classic begging off. Sanchez’ strikes all stink and the finish (Monti just catching Sanchez with a boot in the corner and Sanchez kicking out at 3) is super weak.
Francisco Flores and Louis Cyr have a pretty terrible match that nonetheless I found super interesting. Flores has zero urgency behind anything he does and is super boring, while Cyr is a guy who wears a coonskin cap to the ring and couldn’t exist anywhere but the pre-80s. I guess nothing was expected of them – 70s WWF didn’t need no hot midcard because motherfucking Bruno Sammartino and Andre the Giant were about to show up, but still. At one point Vince utters, “not a lot of action in the ring at the moment” – not at all.
A young not-so-babyfaced Kevin Sullivan is all fired up and has a good headlock vs. Spiros Arion, who plays off him well. Arion is strangely prominent on these shows for a guy I did not know of beforehand. He seemed like a pretty big deal in the 70s – he’s World Title opponent for Bruno and Backlund on the only WWF shows from the 70s, and I see on the Internet he was a former protege of Bruno who turned heel on Chief Jay Strongbow. Looks like he got stabbed in the chest leaving the ring one night, so guess that got over. He retired in 1979.
Love me some Big Cat Ernie Ladd, on this show known as either “King” Ernie Ladd or Daddy Ladd. Guy just pops off the screen, sells well, puts his tall feet on the top rope for pinning leverage, and his time-out shtick is hysterical. Also plays up using his taped thumb as a weapon and it is sooooo over. His match with Dominic DeNucci (Mick Foley’s trainer) is pretty boring, but Ladd is a blast and he cheats to win with the thumb really subtly, and then a grandma tries to hit him with her purse to a big pop so overall this match is the best.
Ivan Putski vs. Ivan Koloff is a legitimate COLLISION, two power guys named Ivan working a match around shoulder tackles and tests of strength. Putski’s charisma and taunting is great fun, and at one point he lifts Ivan onto his shoulders out of a test of strength to a MAJOR pop. Delightful!
There’s a 2/3 falls midget match (Billy the Kid and Little Johnny vs. The Coco Kid – listed as Bobo Johnson – and Little Louie) that goes 20 fucking minutes. I mean midgets doing shtick with the ref for a hot minute is harmless fun, but with 20 minutes tacked on top of it it is downright offensive.
The Bruno WWWF Heavyweight Title match on this card is a defense versus Superstar Billy Graham and it’s great fun just joined-in-progress and pretty short. The crowd is going apeshit for Bruno the whole time – he gets a MASSIVE pop for reversing an armbar – and Graham sells and begs off like a madman. Superstar’s offense is not the most exciting but man does he just pop off the screen and bump all over the place, including a fun one where his legs get tied in the ropes. He bleeds at one point and he and Bruno wildly swinging at each other as blood flows down Superstar’s face is great stuff.
Irish Patty Barrett vs. Baron Mikel Scicluna has some decent selling by a Barrett but a really trash beatdown by Baron, and then it ends when Barrett runs into the turnbuckle. Astounding.
They run down the card for the return show IN FULL, featuring Ernie Ladd vs. Brunno Sammartino as the main event (which I now want to see). Also announced is “one of the most outstanding wrestlers in the United States, a real star, I reference to Ric Flair, out of Minneapolis.”
The main event is for either two out of three falls or until the 11 o’clock curfew because 1976. It’s Bobo Brazil & Tony Parisi vs. Bugsy Mcgraw & Crusher Blackwell. Busy McGraw pre-Texas as a scary-looking heel sure is something. This had a couple fun spots and a well put-together finish but otherwise wasn’t much. Bobo does a damn headlock/headscissors takeover on Blackwell and Bugsy and Parisi holds onto the beard of Crusher to keep a headlock on which is a blast, but there was also a really really really really long bearhug – there is only so much time left on earth.
At the end of the show, Vinnie Mac runs down the next card, puts his headset down and hops into the ring, hustling to the back among catcalls from the crowd, looking ever-so-awkward at the ripe age of 31. A human moment from Mr. McMahon.
WWWF at MSG 6/27/77
This is actually a really fun show and probably the best thing here, with some solid matches and a peak at guys you’ve might have heard about but haven’t seen much of. You’ve got a couple legit solid matches, Tony Garea vs. heel George “The Animal” Steele, young babyface Larry Zbyszko, a fun Andre tag, another good Bruno vs. Superstar match, Baron von Raschke vs. Ivan Putski, Chief Peter Maivia, and Mr. Fuji. Plus Vince is on commentary, a mid-20s Fink is ring announcing, and the opener is the guy who killed Bruiser Brody against a guy who died soon after the match from a drug OD. This is professional wrestling!
Jose Gonzalez vs. Jan Nelson is like 90% Nelson keeping Jose in an armbar and pulling his hair/tights to keep him down and is so completely rock solid. Early in the match Nelson misses a punch on Jose on the ropes for a non-clean break and Nelson just FLIPS OUT and claims a hair pull as there’s a big audible “HA-HA!” from the crowd. Nelson was actually pretty good as a bad guy – scuzzy, mean, bumbling around, and Jose was a serviceable and over good guy before he stabbed Bruiser Brody in a shower.
Young babyface Larry Zbyszko looked OK against Rocky Tamayo who I have already forgotten. Liked Larry wrenching the arm for max effect – match wasn’t anything special but you could tell why Larry of all the guys on these shows went on to make a name in wrestling. True highlights were a fan yelling “Come on ya gonna dance all night?” as Tamyo inexplicably stalled and Vince shitting on the ref’s slow counts.
90s WWF agent Tony Garea against 90s WWF agent George “The Animal” Steele is really god damn awesome. HUGE reactions for both guys. The stuff mentioned at the start of this really is tremendous; it’s a fun match even if not much happens. Heel Steele is a hoot – big time mannerisms that the crowd goes wild for. He gets DQ’d for some reason – looks like he pulled something from his tights to hit Garea as Garea had him in the corner. I dunno. There was an energy crisis; America had a lot more shit to worry about.
Andre the Giant and Chief Jay Strongbow vs. Ken Patera and Nikolai Volkoff is a ton of fun. If Lou Albano ducking, dodging and freaking out when Andre and Strongbow get in the ring before he is ejected doesn’t have you smiling, this pro wrestling thing is not for you. Fun spots here like Chief putting Patera in a full nelson and Patera fighting out and mugging to the crowd, then Andre coming from behind and putting him in another full nelson, or Andre trapping Patera and Volkoff in the corner and Strongbow piggybacking over him for a crossbody. Strongbow is a surprise, he was clearly charismatic opening up the ’75 show but he’s tremendous here with great facial expressions and shaky-ass selling. Andre is tremendous in his role, and Patera and Volkoff are great at being dastardly but bumbling heels. When Patera and Volkoff they get offense on Andre, they just wail away at with strikes. Crowd is going bonkers for everything too. Great stuff.
Stan “The Man” Stasiak worked a fun match around boring Lenny Hurst. Stasiak is a fun old man wrestler – pulling hair, covering up closed fists, giving the ref a death stare on a 2 count. Bumps and reacts big any time he gets hit too. Respect.
Superstar vs. Bruno once again is fun though short and ends in another DQ. Before the match, Vince Jr. interviews Superstar whose diction recalls Dusty Rhodes. Guy has CHARISMA. He again begs off brilliantly and bumps huge. Bruno for his part takes some major, expressive bumps too. They work a long full nelson spot here and when Bruno reverses it IT. IS. HUGE.
Ivan Putski vs. Baron von Raschke is not good. Lots of loooooong holds and the stupid thing goes to a time limit draw. When Ivan gets fired up it’s alright, but man was this rough. Ivan asks for another minute and the crowd cheers because no one knew that wrestling matches could actually be interesting.
Chief Peter Maivia actually has his MSG debut here and it’s in a weirdly decent minute-long match with Baron Mikel Scicluna. No wasted movements, establishes the Chief – they got in, got over, and got out.
Main event is Haystacks Calhoun and Domic DeNucci vs. Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka. Tanaka is announced from fucking Hiroshima. Strikes and chops and shit. The crowd is half-empty at this point anyways. A spot where the ref tries to hold back Haystacks who just stands there unaffected is the best part. The match goes to the 11 o’clock curfew with one fall done, so the Japanese win. Imagine ending a show like that.
WWWF at Philadelphia Spectrum 3/25/78
This one is pretty straightforward: two good not great #TopGuy matches and a squash from when Nikolai Volkoff was Mongolian. Plus Gary Michael Cappetta ring announces.
Bob Backlund vs. Spiros Arion for the WWWF Heavyweight Title happens just days after Backlund won the title from Superstar Billy Graham. Backlund is referenced as being part of the New Era, which I found amazing. Old Bobby works this thing like a shoot – lots of holding down, overpowering and tricking his opponent versus stomping and kicking. Arion is again a reliable bad guy, working over Backlund for a bit. Backlund fighting out of a Canadian backbreaker is sooo goofy, and then I think they blow a backslide, and then Backlund does a comeback that Arion bumps huge for, including a great piledriver sell. Then the ref gets bumped and they fight to a double DQ just because. Then you get a bunch of 70s WWWF cameos to pull them apart as they wildly swing at each other and it’s kind of really fucking cool.
Bruno Sammartino vs. Ken Patera has a couple really long holds (chinlock, front facelock, TWO bearhugs) that slow it to a crawl and but otherwise it’s really good stuff. Patera goes right at Bruno at the start, then Bruno fights back and Patera takes an awesome tied-up-rope fall to the outside after an armdrag. Bruno is reliable, but Patera is the standout here, awesome and really athletic – there’s a leapfrog followed by a knee smash spot he does that’s just beautiful. His wild swings at Bruno are awesome too. Oh and Bruno uses a CHAIR!
Then Haystacks Calhoun squashes Mongolian Nikolai Volkoff. It isn’t good, but be honest: you want to see it.
You can find detailed matchlists and recommendations on the WWE page.
