Donnie watches WWWWF 1979

[BigVanDonnie]

Pole AND Bill Berger? Colombian Jaguar too!! WWE try desperately to create interesting ring names for NXT guys when they already peaked in the 70s.

Babyface DiBiase in New York is kind of surreal sounding, would very much like to go through it one day.

POLE vs VON WAGNER is a Mania main event in any country

 

[Chris]

Babyface DiBiase was fun from what little I've seen. There was also a time in Mid-South in the 80s where he was already heel af but Flair came to the territory to defend the title against him so he worked baby for that one night or so and it was fucking great

 

[GARBAGE]

I had to google Von Wagner, thought it was another one of those Chikara or Scottish wrestlers you invent to try to make me look foolish. POLE ANT.

Yeah I'd assume 79 DiBiase's more or a less seasoned version of his babyface Mid-South self. That Flair match/angle is total magic as a tv segment, booking perfection.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

Babyface DiBiase was fun from what little I've seen. There was also a time in Mid-South in the 80s where he was already heel af but Flair came to the territory to defend the title against him so he worked baby for that one night or so and it was fucking great

Woah, i never knew that. Gotta watch Mid-South at some point.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

I had to google Von Wagner, thought it was another one of those Chikara or Scottish wrestlers you invent to try to make me look foolish. POLE ANT.

Yeah I'd assume 79 DiBiase's more or a less seasoned version of his babyface Mid-South self. That Flair match/angle is total magic as a tv segment, booking perfection.

Pole Ant is a post shutdown Chikara gimmick we don't talk about.

 

[Chris]

Woah, i never knew that. Gotta watch Mid-South at some point.

I've mostly only seen the mid-80s stuff, 84 and 85 (mostly 85 if I'm remembering right) but man it was fucking great. They were basically the first weekly TV to feel like a modern wrestling show instead of just squashes and shit. I'm not a big Bill Watts guy and some things about his stuff still irked me but I can't deny how good it was

 

[BigVanDonnie]

I've mostly only seen the mid-80s stuff, 84 and 85 (mostly 85 if I'm remembering right) but man it was fucking great. They were basically the first weekly TV to feel like a modern wrestling show instead of just squashes and shit. I'm not a big Bill Watts guy and some things about his stuff still irked me but I can't deny how good it was

I've seen a little from the 70's but none of the really famous stuff, so i might make a new project once i get a few years into the 80's for WWF.

Thank you for the rundown, and also letting me post these reviews.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWWWF WORLD CHAMPION: BOB BACKLUND- Since 20/2/78
WWWWF WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: THE VALIANT BROTHERS-Since 6/3/79
WWWF NORTH AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: PAT PATTERSON-Since-19/6/79

WWWF All Star Wrestling
July 14th, 1979
Hamburg, Pennsylvania

TONIGHT; DIBIASE VS JIMMY VALIANT

Match#1 Ted DiBiase vs Jimmy Valiant w/Capt Lou Albano
So, hey, Jimmy is a terrible wrestler as we all know, but it means nothing when he's one of the most charismatic dudes ever. He does a lot of stalling and over the top reactions whenever Ted beats him up. It's funny stuff, but it doesn't make for a good match. Jimmy's control is horrible and feels like it goes on forever, despite it only being a couple of minutes. He ties Ted in the ropes and keeps beating him until the ref calls for a DQ
1/2*

Post match, Ted beats them both up and they bail.

Bruno interviews him and cuts the stock standard babyface promo. Can't wait for him to make some money and be a cunt.

Match#2 Nikolai Volkoff w/Classy Freddie Blassie vs Steve King & Johnny Rivera
Normal horrible outing from the big man. Bearhug does it.
1/2*

Post match, Vince interviews them. Blassie talks shit about Bruno being afraid of fighting Nikolai and is now a drunk because of the fear. He challenges Backlund to put the title on the line. Big Nik yells in Russian and crushes some apples to show his power.

Match#3 Tito Santana & Pete Sanchez vs Gypsy Rodriguez & Johnny Rodz
Booooo, i wanted my rematch. This is a decent showcase for the faces, but there is so much more we could have gotten, you know? Sanchez gets his ass kicked for a while before Tito goes insane on the hot tag and ends it with a crossbody
**

Match#4 Pat Patterson w/The Grand Wizard vs SD Jones
Another wonderful squash from Pat. All the stooging and bumping to make SD look amazing before he kills him. Kneedrop does the deed
**1/2

Match#5 Swede Hanson w/Classy Freddie Blassie vs Frank Williams
Swede is a massive, massive dude that beats the fuck out of jobbers without a care in the world. He looks like the old guy you see on a worksite that everyone knows not piss off, but they also send a stupid kid to try. Source, i was the kid. He wins with a gross piledriver that would make RVD spike 50ft in the air.
**

 

[Chris]

Jimmy is a terrible wrestler as we all know, but it means nothing when he's one of the most charismatic dudes ever.

I don't think I've ever known anyone that's watched him who doesn't have this exact same opinion of Jimmy Valiant lmao

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWWWF WORLD CHAMPION: BOB BACKLUND- Since 20/2/78
WWWWF WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: THE VALIANT BROTHERS-Since 6/3/79
WWWF NORTH AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: TED DIBIASE-Since-13/2/79

WWWWF-All Star Wrestling
July 21st, 1979
Hamburg, Pennsylvania

Match#1 Bulldog Brower w/Capt Lou Albano vs Marc Pole
Fuck yes. Another wonderful madman squash from this lunatic. Pole takes a tremendous beating and makes Brower look even cooler than normal, and my man is pretty fucking cool. He wins with a gross knee drop
**

Match#2 The Valliant Brothers (c) w/Capt Lou Albano & Jimmy Valiant vs Scott Putski & Steve Travis (WWWF Tag Team Championship)
GODDAMN IT. Poor Travis is tasked with carrying 3 massive bags of shit for nearly 12 minutes, and it's not good. Lots of terrible clubbing and lazy chinlocks and fucking nerve holds from the champs, and Putski is a fake muscle head that hits like an old person. Fuck him, and fuck Vince for making anyone watch him or his dipshit son. After an eternity of hell, a massive fight breaks out and the ref calls a double DQ.
Catching crabs

Post match, Vince interviews them at ringside. Another terrible promo where they challenge everyone. The only good part is when a very drunk Albano rips his shirt off and challenges a fat to fight him. King.

Match#3 Greg Valentine w/The Grand Wizard vs Frank Williams
HAMMER IS FINALLY BACK. He beats the everloving shit out of this goon and it's the best thing ever. Nasty elbows and knee work for a while before the Figure Four does the deed
**

Match#4 Chief Jay Strongbow vs Jose Estrada
Makes all the sense for him to follow Greg's squash, but that's not saving this from being horrible SIX minutes. Who the fuck did Strongbow kill and when did Vince cover it up?
Battleground 2017

Post match, Bruno interviews him about his shitty leg and shitty life and shitty career. lots of shit, basically.

Match#5 Swede Hanson w/Classy Freddie Blassie vs Steve King
Another great one from the big fella. Piledriver does the job
**

 

[BigVanDonnie]

LIVE EVENTS JULY 21st, 1979

Pat Patterson (c) w/The Grand Wizard vs Ted DiBiase (WWWF North American Championship)
Another massive fight breaks out right away and it rules a ton. Ted has so much fire already and Pat is an amazing pinballing stooge dying for everything, but also throwing great shots of his own. Ted bears the fuck out of him and goes after the knee to try and nullify the kneedrop in a great piece of work. Great stuff on it and Pat's selling rules a ton. Ted gets too overzealous and Pat ducks under a knee to send him flying to the floor. He beats the shit out of him with amazing offence like punches and trying to rip his eyes out. Really grimey shit. Ted has to crotch him on top just to stop it and it fits the entire feeling so well. Ted goes nuts on offence and keeps battering him but he can't put him away. He gets overzaleous again and misses a crossbody and lands on the top rope and flies back on the mat and Pat quickly covers for the win. That rocked
***

Chief Jay Strongbow vs. Greg Valentine
This one is on Youtube and was rec'd by Garbage, so let's see how this goes. Also, i learnt that Strongbow isn't really a Native American, so fuck him for that on top of everything else. Before the bell rings, Greg unloads one THE most hateful looks I've ever seen

GOOD FUCKING LORD. Strongbow tries one back and he looks like an asshole, and i refuse to screencap it. Greg goes insane right away and a big fight breaks out between them. It's night and day in terms of skill as everything Greg does on offence and selling looks amazing, while Strongfake looks washed as hell. He gets attacked with a microphone stand and bleeds buckets and his concussion selling is INCREDIBLE. Struggling to to his feet and falling over when he tries to punch or kick him. Just a masterclass of pro wrestling. Strongbow beats him with a wooden chair and he sells it like death, and makes this old man look like he's about to put him in the ground. Greg finally goes after the leg to cut him off and i legit shouted "BREAK IT" Loads of amazing ugly work on it, and Strongbow actually kind of sells it. Like, he clutches and grabs at it and can't fully do his war dance. It doesn't last long, but points for effort. Greg dies on the comeback and makes all the bad offence look killer as he bumps all over the place. They ram heads and Hammer takes a gross bump to the floor and Strongbow follows him out, but Hammer kicks him away and jumps back in the ring to steal it off a countout!!! One of the finest carry jobs I've ever seen
***

 

[GARBAGE]

It takes a leg break angle for Strongbow to actually sell something decently lmao. I want to watch the match again sometime soon because I thought it was borderline great thanks basically entirely to Valentine.

Strongfake :gaga (aw)

 

[BigVanDonnie]

It takes a leg break angle for Strongbow to actually sell something decently lmao. I want to watch the match again sometime soon because I thought it was borderline great thanks basically entirely to Valentine.

Strongfake :gaga (aw)

It's legit all because of Greg just being Greg and refusing to let this be bad.

 

[BigVanDonnie]

Hey, folks, sorry for not touching this in nearly a year, but life and TNA got my attention. Let's get back to it. Also, i can't thank everyone enough for reading this nonsense.

WWWWF WORLD CHAMPION: BOB BACKLUND- Since 20/2/78
WWWWF WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: THE VALIANT BROTHERS-Since 6/3/79
WWWF NORTH AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: TED DIBIASE-Since-13/2/79

WWWF-All Star Wrestling
August 4th, 1979
Hamburg Pennsylvania

Match#1 Andre The Giant vs Jose Estrada & Johnny Rodz
Fuck yeah, awesome Andre squash. He murders them for being stupid enough to fuck with him, and it's always a blast watching peak Andre fuck someone up. He crushes Estrada with his giant ass to win
**

Match#2 Swede Hanson w/Classy Freddie Blassie vs Columbian Jaguar
Another fun one for the big man. He wreaks the kid with gross strikes and whatnot, and the jobber does a great job of dying for him. Piledriver ends it
**

Post match, the jobber is taken out on a gurney and Vince and Bruno sell it like his neck is broken, BUT NEVER MIND THAT SHIT, SWEDE DROPS A KNEE ON THE KID AND BREAKS THE GURNEY IN HALF. FUCK YES.

At ringside, Vince talks to them about this heinous attack. Freddy says Swede hurting people warms his heart. He says Swede is from North Carolina which is STILL part of the confederacy, so he's not managing any Americans. AMAZING. Swede talks about being a young punk who got chased out years ago because he didn't know as much as he thought, and now he's back and meaner and readier than ever. He's an ugly, ugly man, and he's got no problem becoming even uglier if it means winning the title.

Match#3 Johnny Rivera vs Gypsy Rodriguez
Again, i don't make the names up, it was the fucking 70's. This is a fun back and forth between two solid dudes for a few minutes. Nothing incredible or anything, but good pro wrestling. Gyp beats his ass for a while and he's a dirty fighter with eye rakes and rabbit shots, and Rivera sells really well. He makes a quick comeback and wins with a fucking Swanton in 1979. WILD
**1/2

Match#4 Ted DiBiase & Steve Travis vs Scicluna & Andrews
Pretty fun showcase for our heroes. They do their best to make the heels look like they aren't boring assholes for the most part, and they do it well enough. DiBiase is again a great face and shows a ton of fire as he beats their asses. Travis is awesome as well, and i wish they had won the tag titles. Ted wins with an Abdominal Stretch.
**3/4

Match#5 Greg Valentine w/Grand Wizard vs Bill Berger
God, i missed Hammer blasting the fuck out of losers. One of the best squashers ever. Just a nasty mean piece of shit. Elbow drop does the deed
**1/2

 

[BigVanDonnie]

WWWWF WORLD CHAMPION: BOB BACKLUND- Since 20/2/78
WWWWF WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: THE VALIANT BROTHERS-Since 6/3/79
WWWF NORTH AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: TED DIBIASE-Since-13/2/79

WWWWF-All Star Wrestling
August 11th, 1979
Hamburg, Pennsylvania

Match#1 Pat Patterson w/Grand Wizard vs Steve King
Great squash from Pat. He's mean as hell while still being a stoging dickhead. Flying Kneedrop ends it
**1/2

Match#2 Tito Santana vs Jojo Andrews
Hell yeah. Tito is full of fire and anger and poor Jojo get killed. Flying Forearm does the deal
**1/2

At ringside, Tito talks to Bruno about being voted the young wrestler of the year. He's very proud and he's ready to show the fans their support is worth it.

At ringside, Vince talks to Strongfake, and i refuse.

RODDY PIPER MAKES HIS DEBUT AND PLAYS THE BAGPIPES, AND ESTRADA ATTACKS HIM. BOOOOOOOOOOO

Match#3 Roddy Piper vs Joe Estrada
Young babyface Piper is an insane thing to see, but it works as he bumps like a lunatic and shows a shit town of fire on his comebacks. Cap Lou comes out to watch, and to start something that won't be finished until 85!!!! Estrada works a bearhug for a while and it's good shit as he's always doing something mean, and doesn't just sit in it. Piper dramatically fights out and tackles him, BUT ESTRADA GRABS IT BACK ON AND KEEPS ATTACKING. Piper is very young and dumb and is going to need to get a little dirty if he has a chance. He punches at the kidney's and finally gets out and makes an awesome comeback. He keeps on him but the time limit expires!!
***

Awesome, awesome way to debut the kid. Can't wait to get to the 80's.

Match#4 Chief Jay Strongfake vs Moose Monrowe
The only good thing about the lack of footage from this era is being saved from this moron. Jesus, one of the worst to ever do it.
Catching Covid

Match#5 Ivan Putski vs John Schmidt
OH COME ON.
Christian Cage calling you a piece of shit