Grim Chronicles Wrestling History

[Bobby Barrows]

So this is a new project I've been working on for a friend who actually isn't a wrestling fan but is interested in learning more about it. So I put all my effort together to form a long history from YouTube and create a beginner's guide to wrestling history and all the important moments from the beginning of Bruno Sammartino's championship victory over Buddy Rogers all the way until Drew McIntyre winning the 2020 Royal Rumble. Follow me through this extremely extensive journey.​

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Wrestling's Most Important Moments
1963-1979



Our first moment opens up our playlist with one of WWWF's most important matches, Bruno Sammartino and Buddy Rogers battling for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. Bruno would dominate the match in a short amount of time and defeat the brutalized Buddy Rogers in less than a minute. It was a shocking victory and propelled Bruno into the spotlight, where he would hold the championship until 1971. It is currently the only important wrestling moment of the 1960s.



Up next is the infamous match between Ivan Koloff and Bruno Sammartino. At the time, Bruno had grown tired of touring all the time with the championship and sought to lose the title so that he could possibly retire. Ivan Koloff was at the time the biggest heel WWWF had, and when Koloff robbed Bruno of the belt, the crowd violently rioted.



The NWA World Title was defended in this match in 1973, where Dory Funk Jr. faced off against a young Harley Race. It would be one of the biggest shocks when Harley defeated Dory to earn his first of eight NWA World Heavyweight Championship reigns.



On a stormy night in early 1975, four wrestlers flew a Cessna 172 into Tampa Bay Airport, but missed the runway, crashing it into the bay. Gary Hart, Austin Idol, and Buddy Colt barely survived but horribly mangled, while Bobby Shane, known throughout the US as "The King" before Jerry Lawler, died on impact.



Later on, in 1975, another plane crash ended the career of two wrestlers and nearly crippled one other. The pilot of this plane died a year after the crash, but never regained consciousness. Ric Flair, Bob Bruggers, and Johnny Valentine broke their backs, while Mr. Wrestling and David Crockett came out with minor injuries. Ric Flair would return to the ring nine months later and after losing weight, reinvented his character as the Nature Boy, borrowing from his idol Buddy Rogers.



This match from December 1975 was a continuation of arguably the greatest rivalry of the 1970s, the Brisco Brothers vs. The Funks. Jack Brisco was the NWA's perennial babyface, while the Funk brothers were notorious heels of the 1970s. In this match, we see Terry Funk finally overcome Brisco to claim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.



The most notorious match of the 1970s, we have Stan Hansen, one of the greatest brawlers of all time, battling with Bruno Sammartino, who had won the WWWF Championship again in December 1973 against Stan Stasiak. Hansen is notorious for breaking Sammartino's neck, but with this steel cage match in March 1976, we get a snippet of the brutal rivalry between the two.



In this June 1976 clip, Muhammad Ali has something to say to WWWF legend Gorilla Monsoon, and Monsoon does not take kindly to Ali getting in his business. This is the first time Muhammad Ali would become involved in WWE historically, as he would later appear at WrestleMania I, but this is not the first time he would be involved in wrestling, having had a Boxer vs. Wrestler match against Antonio Inoki the year prior.



By 1977, Bruno Sammartino once again became tired of the hustle and bustle of being WWWF Champion. The broken neck sustained by Stan Hansen years earlier started to nag at Bruno as well. Superstar Billy Graham was WWWF's up-and-coming superstar heel (pun intended). In a shocking victory, Billy Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino to end his second and final championship reign in the WWWF.



Almost a year after Billy Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino to claim the WWWF Championship, the company found its new high-profile good guy, the All-American amateur wrestler Bob Backlund. Backlund was known for being legitimately a tough guy and one who could kick ass if he so chose to. Graham fought long and hard but it was simply not enough as Bob Backlund became the new WWWF Champion.



In this rare 1978 clip, we get a great match between Jack Brisco and perennial rival Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Harley Race was currently in his second championship reign after defeating Terry Funk for the title. Jack Brisco had been challenging on and off for the last two years after losing to Funk, himself. These two put on a show and despite Jack Brisco's best efforts, Harley Race came out on top.



The Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl from 1979 was one of the first real "hardcore" moments in wrestling history. Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee were facing off against Jerry Latham and Wayne Farris (known later as the Honky Tonk Man) in a match in Tupelo, Mississippi. The four men took their match outside and began brawling towards the concession stand, where it became a proverbial bloodbath of violence. It was the first proto-hardcore angle and served as an inspiration for companies like ECW down the line.



This final clip from 1979 is an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match from the WWF. What is the NWA doing in the WWF? The two entities were on friendly terms at this time and shared talent between each other, which helped lead to this title match in Madison Square Garden with Dusty Rhodes challenging Harley Race, who was in his fourth title reign.​

 

[Apoho Creed]

Pretty cool concept here Grim. It is always great to look at the past to see where we've come from. I love that Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl Tag Match all they needed to go is the Bathroom to put it over the top.

 

[Chris]

Yeah I actually hadn't heard of the Tupelo thing

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Wrestling's Most Important Moments
1980-1983



Our first clip of 1980 is the infamous angle where Larry Zbyszko finally turns on The Living Legend Bruno Sammartino. It was the beginning of Zbyszko's rivalry with his mentor and friend Bruno. Zbyszko would become a huge heel star wherever he would go, eventually culminating in winning the AWA Heavyweight Championship in 1990.



We get the famous Showdown at Shea steel cage match between Larry Zbyszko and Bruno Sammartino. Considered one of the most brutal matches of 1980, the crowd at Shea Stadium were fevered throughout the entire match as Larry and Bruno battled in a hotly contested match that saw Bruno Sammartino come out on top against his former protege.



Our third match here is the most famous proto-hardcore match of all time, a no-holds-barred alley fight between Sgt. Slaughter and Pat Patterson. Slaughter and Patterson had been feuding for months and this served as the culmination of their feud inside the grandeur of Madison Square Garden. With street clothes on and determination to kill one another, they put on a bloody clinic. Patterson would stand tall with the crowd behind him.



This NWA Championship match from June 1981 served as the second great culmination of Dusty Rhodes' main event push against Harley Race, who at this point was in his 6th reign with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The image of Race being hoisted up by fellow wrestlers and a crowd pouring into the ring in celebration of The American Dream.



Later on, in 1981, Ric Flair would climb to the top of the mountain as the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This was among the first meetings between Dusty Rhodes and Flair and would mark a lifetime rivalry that would control much of the 1980s. This was the first of Ric Flair's 16 world championships that spanned the NWA, WCW, and WWE.



In 1982, comedian Andy Kaufman would become one of the biggest heels in professional wrestling as he would challenge women all over the country and crowned himself the "Intergender Champion of the World". This drew the ire of Jerry "The King" Lawler, who did not take kindly to Kaufman treating wrestling like a side-show. This would be one of their more notorious matches, where Kaufman faced off against Jerry Lawler with the help of Jimmy Hart. Although Kaufman came out on top here, Lawler would later break Kaufman's neck with a double piledriver.



We have one of the most notorious mainstream moments in wrestling history from mid-1982. Kaufman and Lawler would join the Letterman show where they traded barbs with one another. Lawler would slap Kaufman on live television after Kaufman threatened to sue him. This led to one of the very first expletive-filled tirades to be broadcasted on national television. It was not known at the time (until at least the '90s) that Lawler and Kaufman planned the whole thing out to get their feud over.



Rocky III would be the true debut of Hulk Hogan into wrestling's mainstream stratosphere. His friendship with Sylvester Stallone started in this match and it also created Mr. T's rise to prominence within pop culture. It was the first time, outside of "The Wrestler" that wrestling had a presence in Hollywood. Hogan's appearance on Rocky III caused him to be fired from the WWF by Vince McMahon Sr. Hogan would later sign with the AWA and become a huge star there.



In this Mid-South Wrestling match, we would see the two biggest stars, the Junkyard Dog going up against Ted DiBiase for the Mid-South North American title. During this time, Ted DiBiase was a face and so was JYD. During the course of the match, with Bob Roop commentating, Ted DiBiase turned his back on the fans and on everything he fought for to win the North American Championship and keep his job. This heel turn was permanent for the rest of his career.



We see the Super Sunday match between AWA World Heavyweight Championship Nick Bockwinkel and incredibly popular challenger Hulk Hogan. It was the second major match between the two and would prove to be one of the final nails in the coffin for Hulk Hogan in the AWA. After being denied an AWA Championship title reign once before, Hogan battled his ass off to prove himself to Verne Gagne, but his efforts would fall short of the mark, as once again, Nick Bockwinkel retained the title. Hogan would become disenfranchised with the AWA and by December 1983, he joined the WWF.



We have a rare 1983 interview with Hulk Hogan, who talked about how the fans and how he let them down after Super Sunday, but coming back with a vendetta and a purpose. It was here we see the reason Hulk Hogan became such an icon of not only wrestling, but pop culture, as his words and deeds speak for themselves, he speaks with conviction and makes an emotional connection to his fans.



Our final match of 1983, we have WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund defending the title against Iranian amateur wrestler Iron Sheik. With Hulk Hogan's arrival in the WWF, the original plan was for Backlund to lose the title to Hulk Hogan, but Backlund refused, citing that Hogan was not an amateur wrestler. The Iron Sheik was well respected as one of the most legitimate amateur wrestlers of his time, being a bodyguard for the Shah of Iran before becoming an AAU Champion and Olympic Champion for the US Team. Here we see The Iron Sheik attain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship by locking Backlund in the Camel Clutch, forcing manager Arnold Skaaland to throw in the towel.​

 

[Chris]

Christ I love 80s rasslin

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Wrestling's Most Important Moments
1984



Our first clip comes from January 23, 1984, as WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Iron Sheik defends the title against Hulk Hogan. It was the culmination of Vince McMahon Jr.'s vision of the future of wrestling. Vincent James McMahon had purchased the WWF from his father Vince Sr. in late 1982 and brought back Hulk Hogan in December 1983 to be his champion after Verne Gagne and the AWA refused to give Hogan merchandising royalties and a championship run. Weeks before the match was to be contested, The Iron Sheik was contacted by Verne Gagne and supposedly offered a bounty to betray Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, and the WWF and jump ship with the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to the AWA. The Iron Sheik refused, believing in loyalty to his employer, and helped usher in the Rock & Wrestling Era by losing the title to Hulk Hogan.



On February 10, 1984, a young wrestling star by the name of David Von Erich died from Acute Enteritis at age 25. He was a member of the famed Von Erich wrestling family, headed by father Fritz Von Erich. It was the second of tremendous and heartbreaking tragedy for the family, but arguably the most consequential. Less than 10 years after David Von Erich's death, three of his brothers would commit suicide, leaving the second son Kevin Von Erich and parents Fritz and Doris as the only ones left. The death of David also shook Texas wrestling and started a downward spiral for World Class Championship Wrestling that it could not save itself from.



Our next clip is an infamous moment from Roddy Piper's talk show segment "Piper's Pit". This started Piper and Jimmy Snuka's rivalry throughout much of 1984 and played a part in making Roddy Piper the de facto top heel of the mid-1980s. The segment is noted for being incredibly racy for the time and potentially would never see air-time in today's society.



Three months after David Von Erich's death, WCCW would put together the biggest show in the history of its company: the "Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions". Taking place in a sold-out Texas Stadium, we would see Kerry Von Erich facing off against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair. This would be the Von Erich family's greatest triumph as Kerry Von Erich realized the family dream and became the only member to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.



On July 14, 1984, the wrestling world would change forever. TBS, originally known for airing Georgia Championship Wrestling, sold its timeslot to Vince McMahon's WWF, which caused an uproar to the audience that was used to traditional southern wrestling instead of Vince's "Sports Entertainment" style of wrestling. Here we have the entire episode of what is known as "Black Saturday". Georgia Championship Wrestling owners Gerald and Jack Brisco had sold their shares to Vince McMahon, while tertiary owner Ole Anderson was not made aware of the deal, and tried to continue onwards before joining Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985. The lower-than-expected ratings for WWF's programming later caused Vince McMahon to sell the timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions a year later in 1985.



Our next clip is the build-up to Starrcade 1984, known as "The Million Dollar Challenge" between NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. It showed a tense rivalry between the two that had been broiling for over three years by this point. Dusty Rhodes looked to have stood tall in this clip, but will Starrcade be a different story?



The main event of Starrcade 1984, another bump in the road for the feud between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. In one of the best matches of 1984, Flair and Rhodes duked it out for almost 15 minutes. The ending left a lot to be desired, however, as "Smokin'" Joe Frazier, the special guest referee, called for the bell after Dusty Rhodes is busted open badly over the eye. Flair once again stood tall over his rival of many years, but will he get his revenge?



One of the most shocking moments of the 1980s, John Stossel's December 1984 20/20 segment on the ins and outs of wrestling nearly proved that the sport itself was fake to a national audience. After Eddie Mansfield, a low card player in Championship Wrestling from Florida, showed how wrestlers make themselves bleed safely, Stossel asked WWF's midcard star David Schultz whether wrestling was fake. Schultz would assault Stossel by slapping him hard in the face twice. Following this incident, Schultz was blackballed by many wrestling companies; Schultz himself would claim that Vince McMahon had told him to hit Stossel.​