The SmarK 24/7 Rant for MSG Show – March 24 1980

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The SmarK 24/7 Rant for MSG Show – March 24 1980

– Live from New York, NY

– Your host is Vince McMahon.

Bulldog Brower v. Frankie Williams

Brower is old and grizzled and dumpy and looks about as far afield of someone that would ever get hired by Vince McMahon as you can possibly imagine. Brower gets a headlock to start and stomps Williams down, then gets a variety of cheapshots and takes him down for two. We hit the chinlock and Brower slugs away in the corner, but Williams gets his minimal offense in before Brower goes back to the headlock to cut him off again. Williams keeps fighting in the corner and Brower goes a little nuts, talking to the voices in his head ala Ultimate Warrior before taking Frankie down again for two. Williams pounds away in the corner and Brower keeps begging off, but Williams has no real offense of note besides a dropkick. Brower finally elbows him down to finish at 8:13. This went nowhere. *1/2

Kerry Von Erich v. Jose Estrada

This is the WWF debut for Kerry, who was VERY young at this point. If Kerry showed up at WWE offices today looking like this, they’d lock him up to a developmental deal before he had even finished getting through the door. Lockup to start and Kerry gives the clean break, as does Estrada. Another go and this time Kerry is first with the fist, and he dropkicks Jose into the corner. Kerry catches a pair of armdrags and works on the arm as we go to a weird and rare floor camera angle, the kind of thing you rarely see on WWF TV. Estrada slams out of the armbar, but Kerry hangs on. Jose shoulderblocks out, but Kerry is right back to the arm and Vince comments that Kerry wants to take the arm home with him. I kind of wish someone would work on Kerry’s leg to see if that produces the same line. Jose stomps Kerry down, but gets dropkicked, and Kerry pounds him down for two. Jose pokes him in the eye to take over and chokes him down on the ropes, as Vince notes that Kerry is “favouring the eye”. Is there anyone who DOESN’T favour their eye? Kerry comes back with a hiptoss into a splash for two, but Estrada hits him with an atomic drop and then backs off when he realizes that he’s annoyed Kerry. Kerry monkey flips him out of the corner while he’s pleading for mercy, but Estrada gets another cheapshot and chokes him out on the ropes. Kerry suddenly tackles him, however, and starts going crazy on the leg, and a double-leg cradle gets two. Estrada kicks him a little low to slow him up again and pounds him in the corner, then follows with a shoulderblock, but another try is reversed to a sunset flip at 10:19 to finish for Kerry. Ah, back when he was young and awesome and gave a crap about his art. ***

Tor Kamata v. Mike Masters

Kamata just died recently here in Saskatoon, and a friend of mine at work went to the same church as him. Anyway, Kamata lays out Masters to start and chokes him out on the ropes, then dumps him and chokes away on the apron as well. Back in, Masters starts pounding away and Kamata doesn’t really sell any of it, so Masters takes him down with a pair of armdrags and we’re back to the start. They do the test of strength, and although Mike Masters is no Chris Masters he still does pretty well and goes back to the armbar again. Kamata uses the old martial arts to put Masters on the floor, however. Back in, and Masters is fired up again and pounds away, but puts his head down and gets hit with the KARATE KICK OF DEATH at 5:37. Basically a squash, but Masters showed good fire here. **

Bruno Sammartino v. Larry Zbyszko

This is what you call “big time”, my friends. The story is simple: Bruno takes Larry under his wing and trains him to be his protégé, but Larry decides that to be the man you have to beat the man and turns on his teacher, brutalizing him and declaring himself the new Living Legend. Honestly, I don’t know why they haven’t done it in a main event setting recently, because it’s a guaranteed money draw if it’s the right guys and the right execution. Bruno shoots in with a pair of armdrags on the cocky Larry and goes to the arm immediately, thankfully preventing any stalling. The heat here is just off the charts as the crowd wants to see Larry die painfully. Larry tries to wrestle and Bruno takes him down with ease and forces him to make the ropes. Larry tries to shoulderblock him, but Bruno takes him down again, so Larry throws an elbow instead and knees Bruno down. He tries an abdominal stretch, but Bruno reverses to the full-nelson and Larry is fading fast. Finally he breaks free and gets a cheapshot to catch Bruno off-guard, then pounds him down until Bruno gets pissed and fires back. He throws knees and Larry goes bumping all over the ring, until Bruno catches him with the bearhug and Larry has to go to the eyes to break. Bruno is right back to it, but they’re in the ropes and he has to break again. Bruno beats on him in the corner and puts him down with another knee to the head. Larry tries a headlock, but Bruno just throws him down. They collide and Bruno lands on the floor as a result, and Larry won’t let him back in. They brawl on the floor and Larry rams him into the apron a few times as Bruno takes uncharacteristic bumps off that, and Larry still won’t let him back in the ring. Finally he’s in and Larry is all over him in the corner, as he chokes away and beats on him. Bruno gets all riled up, however, and takes the punches long enough for Larry to panic and run away. Bruno keeps coming and Larry keeps hitting him from behind when does, but eventually he can’t run away in time and Bruno ties him up in the ropes and just goes CRAZY on him. The ref gets involved and calls for the DQ at 14:18 and the crowd eats up every second of it. You just know there’s gotta be a big rematch to settle this, probably at Shea Stadium or something. ***1/2

Afa the Wild Samoan v. Dominic DeNucci

DeNucci is the guy who trained Shane Douglas and Mick Foley, so you can blame or thank him depending on your tastes. DeNucci is a little worried about the nuttiness of Afa, probably rightfully so. He has trouble getting Afa to lock up, and when they finally do, Afa bites him and starts choking in the corner. He goes to a nerve hold pretty quickly and that goes on for a while, as Dominic tries to fight out a couple of times and gets nowhere. Finally he manages to slug out and Afa does his goofy selling while not really showing the effects, and casually headbutts DeNucci and pins him at 9:23. This was 7 minutes of a nerve hold, seriously. *

WWF World title: Bob Backlund v. Sika the Wild Samoan

Backlund was taking a lot of flak in magazines like PWI around this time because he was mainly booked in “main events” against the Samoans, which made the WWF title look like a bit of a joke compared to the NWA World title. Backlund controls with armdrags to start and gets a dropkick, which makes Sika back off. Sika tries the choking, but Backlund goes back to the arm again and then dodges a blind charge before going to work again. Sika chokes to escape, but Bob is back to the arm with nothing else to work with here. And this stuff with the arm goes on FOREVER, as he does the “row the boat” armbreaker spot for the better part of five minutes until Sika slams him and applies a stomach claw. And that goes on EVEN LONGER. Backlund finally fights up, but tries a headbutt and knocks himself out, allowing Sika to go back to that damn stomach claw for another 3 hours. How is this strategy supposed to get him the win, exactly? Even Vince McMahon is questioning the wisdom of not doing something a bit more on the offensive side. Backlund escapes with a piledriver, but can’t get a cover. Sika comes back with a slam, but a splash hits the knees. They slug it out and Sika finally gets a big move with the samoan drop, and he follows with the flying headbutt for two. Back to the top, but Bob slams him off and pins him at 18:27. Thank god. I’ve seen Dusty Rhodes matches with more action and drama. *1/4

Ken Patera & Bobby Duncam v. Pat Patterson & Andre the Giant

Andre chases off the heels to start and then catches and rams them together, handling them without too much trouble. He beats on Duncam and it’s over to Patera, and Patterson slides in between Andre’s legs and cheapshots Patera in a great spot. Andre tosses him back in the corner and it’s over Duncam again, and he manages to boot Andre out of the ring. Back in, Patera chokes him out and uses a nerve hold, and the heels switch off behind the ref’s back and do some double-teaming in the corner. Duncam tries his big boot again, but Andre catches it and takes him down, allowing Pat Patterson to come in and go to work on the leg. Andre sits on Duncam’s chest and Patterson gets on his shoulders, and they tease a chicken fight as everyone’s having fun tonight. Patterson catapults Duncam into Andre’s fist, but gets led back into the heel corner and Patera comes in with an elbow for two. Patterson comes back with an armbar after Patera gets too close to Andre and freaks out, but the heels work him over in the corner and Duncam gets two. Patterson runs Duncam into the corner, but can’t make the tag to Andre. That doesn’t stop him, as he cleans house anyway and then makes the hot tag for real. He gives Duncam a pair of MONSTER headbutts and catches Patera with a bearhug, and Patterson gets the figure-four on Duncam, as Andre adds a splash for the pin at 11:00. Tremendous fun! ***1/4 Vince questions the legality of the pin, but I wouldn’t argue with Andre, would you?

Rene Goulet v. Baron Mikel Scicluna

The Fink informs us that this jobber match will be followed by an “all star contest”. Ouch, take that, Rene and Mikel. Goulet gives the Baron a clean break to start and then grabs a headlock, but Scicluna punches him down and they trade wristlocks as Scicluna cheats to gain the advantage. So Goulet gives him more of the same, but Scicluna takes him down and works on the leg. Baron stomps away and runs Goulet into the corner, but misses a charge and goes knee-first into the corner. Goulet works on the leg as a result, but Scicluna gives him the bootlaces and pounds him in the corner. Goulet finishes with a sunset flip. Next. *1/2

The Fabulous Hulk Hogan v. Tito Santana

Santana was half of the tag champs with Ivan Putski at this point, and Hogan was a very young and very green heel with all his hair. I’d have guessed it’s his MSG debut given the theme, but apparently it’s a rematch according to Howard Finkel, and I know that Hogan had other squash wins at MSG before this anyway. Hogan, vile heel that he is, attacks Tito before the bell and beats on him in the corner, then gets a pretty impressive clothesline and a back elbow as Tito just bumps like crazy for Hulk. Hogan runs him into the turnbuckles with an Oklahoma Stampede, and drops a knee. Yes, Dr. Death may have stolen his finisher from Hulk Hogan, how about that? Slam, but the elbow misses, and Tito fires away to come back. Dropkick puts Hulk down and Tito goes to a chinlock, then starts working the arm. Hulk escapes with a hiptoss and gets that elbowdrop, but Tito repeats that sequence himself and gets two. Back to the arm, but Hogan pounds his back and sends him to the floor. You can see the differences in Hogan’s offense from here to his glory years, as his movements here are REALLY stiff and lumbering, as opposed to his overly-loose style that he worked once he became a star. Hogan hits the chinlock when Tito gets back in, and Hulk really cranks on it, as everything just looks like he’s doing it with too much force for real. Tito fights out and goes for the monkey flip out of the corner, but Hogan blocks and drops another elbow. Suplex gets the pin at 8:11. Young Hogan was a very interesting worker, for sure. **1/2

Overall: Definitely worth checking out for a lot of reasons. Fast forward through anything Samoan-related, however.