The SmarK 24/7 Rant for MSG Show – April 6 1981
– Taped from MSG
– Hosted by the late Vince McMahon.
Yoshiaki Yatsu v. Irish Terry Gunn
Hey, maybe it’s Billy and Bart’s dad! Like, really, every wrestler with red hair from 1950 until 1985 was “Irish”, let’s have some originality here. They trade leglocks on the mat after a takedown from Yatsu, but head into the ropes for the break. Wikipedia says that Yatsu was a protege of Riki Choshu and went on to big success in Japan. This would be shortly after his debut. Yatsu works on the arm, fighting off reversal attempts from Gunn, and he wins a slugfest before they collide. Yatsu takes him over with a belly to belly suplex for the pin.
(Yoshiaki Yatsu d. “Irish” Terry Gunn, suplex — pin, 4:58, *) Quick and uneventful.
Killer Khan v. Dominic DeNucci
DeNucci of course is much more famous for training Shane Douglas and Mick Foley than for anything he did in the ring, although he certainly had some success on his own. Khan attacks and chokes away, then stomps Dominic down on the ropes. Going back to Wikipedia, apparently Khan owns a restaurant in Tokyo today. Hopefully he doesn’t use the Asian mist to season the soup, because that’d be a lawsuit waiting to happen. DeNucci slugs back, but Khan does what appears to be “got your nose” and uses a Nash choke in the corner to take over again. A chop to the throat gets two. Khan chops him down for two, but DeNucci goes low and then launches himself off Khan’s crotch to rub it in. However, cheaters never prosper, as Khan evades a charge and then finishes with the kneedrop.
(Killer Khan d. Dominic DeNucci, kneedrop — pin, 5:19, *1/2) Pretty kicky-punchy.
Intercontinental title: Pedro Morales v. Moondog Rex
Pedro wins a slugfest to start, so Rex tries working the arm instead. He takes Pedro down with a hammerlock on the mat and stomps away on the arm, as Vince declares Pedro close to losing the title. Pedro fights up, so Rex knees him out of the ring. Back in, a nice backdrop and elbowdrop get two. Pedro makes the big comeback, slugging him down with the Popeye Punch, and Rex goes to the corner looking for a tag. Pedro hits him again instead, and slams him. Small package finishes him.
(Pedro Morales d. Moondog Rex, small package — pin, 9:58, **1/2) Perfectly acceptable wrestling. Pedro, as usual, spends the whole match laying on the mat and selling a hammerlock, but it was a totally watchable match.
Pat Patterson v. Sgt. Slaughter
This is not the famous fight between them, but it’s getting close to it. Pat chases him around to start, and then finally catches him with a forearm to stun him before slugging away in the corner and whipping him into the corner for the patented Slaughter Bump. He sends him into the post in rather nasty fashion and chokes away on the mat, then slugs Slaughter right over the top. The Sarge’s hand is tied in the ropes, so Patterson bites it. Back in, Slaughter begs for mercy, but Patterson whips him into the corner and backdrops him out to set up a Boston crab, then changes his mind and slingshots him into the corner for two. Another try at the crab succeeds, but Slaughter makes the ropes. They exchange punches on the mat, but since Patterson is in his element on his knees, he wins that battle, and Slaughter is forced to toss him. Patterson is out on the floor, so Slaughter goes up and teases something pretty awesome before wimping out and simply stomping him from the ring apron instead. Patterson’s back on his knees, but takes a big post to the mouth and he’s all loopy. He fights back in and Slaughter gets a backbreaker and kneedrop for two. He goes up and misses a kneedrop, and that sets up a figure-four from Patterson. Luckily, Slaughter isn’t the submissive one, and he makes the ropes. Patterson goes to work on the leg and they fight outside, where Patterson hits him in the leg with a chair. Back in, Pat gets all worked up and shoves the ref. What a drama queen. Slaughter takes over and slugs away, and he also shoves the ref, and you’d think that’s enough for this ref, but amazingly he won’t even call for the bell after they both toss him out of the ring! Finally Slaughter gets the cobra clutch and boots the ref down in frustration when Patterson fights out of it, and that’s enough to draw the DQ.
(Pat Patterson draw Sgt. Slaughter, both disqualified, 13:33, ***1/4) A wonderfully hateful and venomous brawl from these two, foreshadowing even better and more violent matches.
Mil Mascaras v. Moondog King
Mascaras gets a flying forearm quickly, ala Starman in NES Pro Wrestling (now THERE’S an old school reference for ya) and knocks King out of the ring with it. Back in, Mascaras wins the test of strength and stomps on King’s hands, then takes him down with a drop toehold. He stays on the leg with a stepover toehold. King comes back with a bearhug, but Mascaras hiptosses out. King takes over with a cheapshot and goes for the mask, but Mascaras evades him in the corner and goes up, finishing with a high cross.
(Mil Mascaras d. Moondog King, crossbody — pin, 8:00, **) Pretty much a squash for Mascaras, but totally watchable, with some neat stuff for the period.
WWF World title, Steel cage match: Bob Backlund v. Stan Hansen
Hansen’s trashtalk while waiting for Backlund to enter is great stuff. He attacks Bob on the way in, but Backlund sends him into the cage right away. Hansen responds in kind and pounds him with elbows, but Backlund sends him into the cage again and follows with a piledriver. He tries climbing, but Hansen brings him down and drops an elbow. They ram each other into the cage a few times and Hansen gets the worst of it, cutting him open. He fires back with a kneelift and they slug it out, as Backlund blatantly kicks him in the junk. Well, it’s a cage match, why not? Bob can’t make it to the door, and Hansen is good and pissed now, elbowing him down before going up with an elbow that misses. Backlund slugs away on the mat and backdrops him, but Hansen drops a knee and goes for the floor. Backlund grabs his leg to keep him in and then tries to dive out himself. Man, he’s all about the cowardly way out tonight, isn’t he? Hansen just unloads on him and tries to climb, but Bob pulls him down by the tights and then climbs up himself. They slug it out on the top rope and both guys go down hard, but Stan recovers first and climbs. Backlund yanks him down into the top turnbuckle to knock him out, and offers him a little trashtalk of his own before walking out the door to retain.
(Bob Backlund d. Stan Hansen, escape from cage, 8:46, ***) Pretty fun while it lasted, but it was a lot shorter than you’d think for these two, although high energy all the way.
Baron Mikel Scicluna v. SD Jones
Truly we’re bringing out the star power now. Scicluna takes him down with a leglock to start, but Jones reverses to a bodyscissors. Scicluna escapes and goes to the vulcan nerve pinch as his resthold of choice tonight, and that goes on for a bit before Jones fights out of it. Mikel makes the mistake of ramming him headfirst into the turnbuckle, and that allows SD to make the comeback and hit the chinlock. Jones slugs away and the Baron gets tied in the ropes, and kicks him down for two. Scicluna comes back with a kneelift for two. Jones finishes with a sunset flip and a REALLY fast count. Reverse racism!
(SD Jones d. Mikel Scicluna, sunset flip — pin, 8:50, *1/2) Just time-filler.
Fabulous Moolah & Leilani Kai v. Jill Fontaine & Suzette Ferreira
I can’t imagine this going too long. Kai is introduced as being from Samoa, which sounds pretty ridiculous for someone who is clearly 100% Caucasian. Kai evades a whip from Fontaine and pounds on her, being pretty vicious for a chick. Moolah adds the hairtosses, but Ferreira gets the tag. She dropkicks Kai and takes her down with a flying headscissors. Fontaine comes in and dodges a splash from Kai, and it’s breaking loose in Tulsa! Kai and Moolah confer in the corner, and Kai holds an armbar on Ferreira, switching off with Moolah behind the ref’s back. Fontaine gets the tag and a snapmare on Kai for two, but Kai puts her on top with a toe-handed choke and slams her off. Fontaine comes back with a dropkick for two. Moolah pounds her down and everyone’s in again as the ref loses control, which allows more double-teaming from the heels. They get a double faceplant on Fontaine and Moolah gets the pin.
(Moolah & Kai d. Fontaine & Ferreira, Moolah faceplant — pin Fontaine, 7:08, 1/2*) Sloppy as hell.
Larry Sharpe & Johnny Rodz v. Rick Martel & Tony Garea
Should be a quickie to finish off the show. Martel wins a lockup battle with Rodz, but Sharpe comes in and pounds away in the corner. Oddly the heel jobbers here both went on to train much bigger stars in the sport. Garea works an armbar on Sharpe and hiptosses him, and the faces work the arm over in their corner. Rodz comes in with a kneelift on Martel for one, but Martel comes back with a dropkick. Rodz takes him down, but misses an elbow, and Garea gets the hot tag. He quickly misses a blind charge, however, and Rodz slams him and drops a knee. Knee to the gut puts Garea down again, but Rodz misses a kneedrop. Back to Sharpe to prevent a tag, and he drops a knee for one and an elbow for two. Garea brings Martel back in, and it’s BONZO GONZO. The heels collide and Martel pins Rodz to finish the show.
(Martel & Garea d. Sharpe & Rodz, Martel double underhook — pin Rodz, 7:08, *1/2) Again, just filling time before curfew.
The Pulse: Couple of pretty good matches, but nothing worth going out of your way to see this time.
