Tracking the Territories 1984- Volume Three

by Liam Byrne

  A duckdown by Kerry sees both men collide in the middle of the ring, whilst both men attempt a dropkick at the same time which sees them both crash into the canvas. Hernandez tries to head to the top but is caught with a slam, with Kerry then using a more orthodox press slam to dump Hernandez on the canvas. A stalling suplex earns Von Erich a two count, but Hernandez blocks a big splash with his knees to halt Kerry’s momentum. Hernandez sends Von Erich face first into the turnbuckle and then through the middle ropes before indulging in some more posing in the center of the ring. Von Erich stalks the outside as Hernandez does his best to keep his opponent at bay, but a slingshot splash after some brawling in the ropes again sees Von Erich collide with his opponent’s knees.

  Seeking to put the match to bed, Hernandez goes for his top rope back elbowdrop, only to miss completely. Von Erich is fired up, punching Hernandez in the face several times and sending him up over the ropes with an Irish whip into the corner. A charging Kerry ends up taking out David Manning by mistake, allowing Hernandez to pull out a foreign object. Kerry initially avoids it, but a punch from Hernandez is enough to keep Von Erich down for the three count. A really fun match that kept Hernandez strong whilst giving the fans a reason to continue to dislike him. There are few wrestlers in the country right now who are more unlikeable than Gino Hernandez.

  With the brawl at the start and two big matches up top, this episode of WCCW absolutely knocked it out of the park in terms of quality. When the only thing you can knock it for was a brief Link versus McCord match that wasn’t bad but somewhat played out, you know you’ve watched a good show.

  WWF Championship Wrestling 28.07.84

  We get to enjoy another chunk of footage from Ontario with both Vince McMahon and Tony Garea once again helming the commentary. The Iron Sheik, Tito Santana and a match between Tiger Chung Lee and ‘Superfly’ Jimmy Snuka are the attractions this week, alongside a special Piper’s Pit.

  Tito Santana is definitely over in Ontario as he waves his Intercontinental Title in the air prior to a contest with Rene Goulet. The bell doesn’t immediately signal the start of the match as Goulet puts his glove on, with McMahon and Garea instantly questioning the likelihood of it being a weapon. Goulet is a step up in terms of jobber from some that the WWF use, but Santana has the early success with a monkey flip and a flying headscissors down to the canvas. Goulet escapes and whacks Santana in the face with a slap, which only serves to annoy the champion who executes a nifty reverse on a hiptoss to roll through and take Goulet back down to the mat once more.

  Goulet lands a knee to the breadbasket after a shove into the ropes, following up with a slam and a double foot stomp targeting the stomach area again. Goulet even gets a two count with a suplex, with a claw applied shortly afterwards to earn him another set of near falls. Some punches allow Santana to fight his way out of the hold, but Goulet telegraphs a dropkick and sees his opponent crash hard on the mat. Two elbowdrops lead to a second claw hold and have the fans getting fully behind Santana. He channels their energy into breaking the hold again, landing a back body drop and a flying forearm in quick succession for the victory. This was a weird case of them trying to fit a Goulet match into the constraints of episodic television, leading to a match that felt like it was going long before abruptly ending. Still, a decent contest to open this week.

  In one of the local promos, Freddy Blassie joins Mean Gene Okerlund to talk about his new acquisition, ‘The Ugandan Giant’ Kamala, who Blassie helpfully tells Okerlund was found in Uganda. Blassie is a hoot here as he talks about not speaking ‘Uganda language’, thus needing the help of Man Friday. This is all to promote a match with Chief Jay Strongbow, as Blassie promises Kamala will eat him, feathers and all.

  We cut to Ivan Putski (who is actually in St Louis for this footage, rather than Ontario) flexing his muscles in the middle of the ring as it looks like he is about to meet Jesse Ventura in an arm wrestling contest. I feel like I’ve missed some footage as this seems like it deserved somewhat of a higher profile, but perhaps it just didn’t warrant much more promotion than this. This is a typical arm wrestling contest spot, with Ventura taking his time to engage and breaking away when he finally does to do some more warming up. Like Santana, Putski is also hugely over with the crowd, who are not happy with Ventura’s behaviour. Turnabout is fair play however when Putski decides to do the same, earning him the cheers of the fans.

  Some pantomime yay/boo responses to Putski’s pointing finally lead us to the actual contest, with Ventura using the table to shift the momentum as it appears he might lose whilst the referee is out of position. In something that will shock no-one who has seen these types of angles before, Ventura decides to attack rather than lose, hitting Putski with a chair several times and pushing the referee to the canvas for good measure. These segments are never good per se, but this is heated and puts Ventura over whilst keeping Putski somewhat strong, or at least not having him pinned in the process.

  In some more local promotional interviews, Bob Backlund pops up on television for the first time in a while to talk about his involvement with the United States Olympics Wrestling Team. It is possibly the dullest delivery to a promo that I’ve seen this year, with Backlund’s monotone voice not exactly selling his excitement. He also isn’t there to promote a match, so a strange segment to include.

  The Iron Sheik is next up against Ron Hutchinson and draws the already heated fans’ ire. A slam and a turnbuckle smash has the Iron Sheik in control from the opening exchanges, with a gutbuster brutally dropping Hutchinson across his knee. The crowd in attendance are chanting for Sergeant Slaughter as the belly to back suplex sets up Hutchinson for the camel clutch submission. Completely dominant for the Iron Sheik, who rarely gives his opponents any notable offense. The Sheik grabs the microphone after the match and asks for ‘that fat soldier’, seemingly willing to take on Slaughter.

  We get another WWF Review spot this week after what appeared to be its debut the previous week. The music video focuses on a number of wrestlers, though it is anchored by a Big John Studd versus S.D. Jones contest of all things, with Jones almost slamming the giant. B. Brian Blair against Paul Orndorff, a tag match with Sergeant Slaughter and Private Terry Daniels and Bob Orton Jr. taking on Billy Travis also get some time, with the montage finishing at a time which made it look like Blair beat Orndorff rather than showing the actual finish of the contest.

  More interesting promo choices as we join S.D. Jones as he talks about getting revenge for himself and the Soul Patrol over Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis. There is nothing bad about his promo necessarily, he just rambles aimlessly on until promising to get them. It might be that he is going to be teaming with Rocky Johnson to take on the tag team champions, but even that wasn’t particularly clear. There is a reason Jones wasn’t often left with the mic.

  Tiger Chung Lee is in the ring awaiting the arrival of ‘Superfly’ Jimmy Snuka as we return from the break, with Lee waving a kendo stick around and forcing Snuka to disrobe at ringside. Collar and elbow tie-ups send both men into the ropes, with Lee making the mistake of not making a clean break on the second go round and getting chased to the outside. He doesn’t make the same mistake again on a third break, moving away and bowing to show respect. Lee does take initial control, aiming some illegal strikes to take Snuka to his knees. However, Snuka fires up, using two leapfrogs to allow him to catch Lee with a chop across the chest.

  An illegal strike to the throat allows Lee to drop Snuka once more, but Lee decides to go to the top rope for some unknown reason. Snuka capitalises, sends him down to the mat with a throw and follows it up with his top rope headbutt for the three count. A pretty boring match – the fans are absolutely in love with Snuka, so they got what they want in seeing him soaring through the air in victory.

  The WWF Update this week is a strange one as Vince McMahon speaks somewhat abstractly about the Madison Square Garden show and the match between The Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Richter. The show was earlier in the week, yet th
e reveal of the result won’t take place until next week. We also get a Piper’s Pit which has Piper repeating his promise to have the winner on the Pit the following week, as well as reading out the letter from ‘Jimmy Snuka’ that we heard last week.

  The last promotional interview gives us another…noted orator…in Mr. Fuji, who is there to promote George ‘The Animal’ Steele against Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Title, with Fuji teaching Steele martial arts in preparation. What is perhaps more interesting is that we get the first mention of the Freebirds wrestling in the WWF, which may see some disruption over in Texas.

  In ring, a decent enough show with a hot crowd throughout. The choices of promo and interview were a little odd to say the least, but it has been a refreshing change to have the Ontario footage, with the change in tone and atmosphere that that has brought.

  August

  Mid-South Wrestling TV 3.8.84

  We have a new opening to Mid-South this week that showcases wrestlers such as Magnum TA, Butch Reed and Terry Taylor, whilst using some interesting graphical features for a wrestling show in the 80s. It isn’t surprising that Jim Ross thanks Joel Watts for the opening as he has become front and center in terms of producing video content for the promotion. The main event this week will see a Mid-South Tag Team Championship match as Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Junkyard Dog try and win the gold from the Midnight Express.

  We first head to ringside with Bill Watts who is with Terry Taylor. After spending some time complaining about a miscarriage of justice in the Olympics that saw an American winning a match on the mat but losing it in the boardroom, Watts uses this example to effectively remove the Television Medal from Steve Williams and give it back to Taylor. We see Williams’ words from the previous week in which he promised to hand the medal back if Taylor beat Kruschev, as well as seeing Williams’ involvement in the match as he runs Taylor into the ring post and the finish as Taylor hits a roll-up out of the corner to retain the gold. However, Williams clocks Taylor around the head and walks off with the medal instead. Watts then hands the medal back to Taylor, who vows to defend it for the fans.

  Jim Cornette is in a good mood as he introduces his charge, Hercules Hernandez, as $10,000 fines will be levied for use of two by fours (Jim Duggan), chains (Junkyard Dog) and chairs (Sonny King). He isn’t as happy with the ban on the tennis racket as a little racket never hurt anyone, yet he will agree and also join the commentary to offer an unbiased opinion on Hernadez versus Rocky Smith. Smith offers a handshake, but Hernandez turns it down and is quickly on top with a kick to the stomach followed by a slam. A huge back suplex has Smith writing in pain as Cornette explains the origin of the shininomake to Jim Ross on commentary. Hernandez uses a chinlock and a neckbreaker to set up for his finisher, which follows moments later to finish the match. The shorter squashes continue to make Hernandez look better in the ring as he swallows up Smith with ease.

  The stricter rules continues to be the topic of conversation amongst the commentary team, with Ross throwing over to a pre-taped interview with Bill Watts and Sonny King. Watts lists the various gimmick matches that have been used to settle scores in the past, including the Texas Death Match, Bullrope Match and Bunkhouse Match, before we once again see the post-match altercation that has left King injured: a two by four attack by Hernandez. King talks about how this three weeks of inaction proves that wrestling is real for all those naysayers, with his concerns also being about how wrestlers have outgrown the rules. Watts reiterates that the fines will be levied for any weapon use outside of the aforementioned gimmick matches. King leaves us with a tease as he won’t reveal as to when he will return from injury in order to use the knowledge to his advantage as he seeks revenge against those who hurt him.

  We have tag team action next as the Fantastics take on Tim Horton and Bob Owens, with the fans firmly behind the tuxedo wearing faces. Bobby Fulton hits Owen with an early monkey flip out of the corner and a quick tag to Tommy Rogers allows him to land a beautiful dropkick. Joel Watts is on commentary wishing Kerry Von Erich the best of luck in his efforts to regain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as Fulton almost gets caught in the corner by the heel team. However, he moves away, slams Horton (the new legal man) and Rogers comes off the second rope with a splash for the incredibly quick win. The fans are happy, even if they didn’t exactly get to see much of the Fantastics at all.

  The reaction for Steve Williams is somewhat mixed as he steps into the ring to take on Rick McCord. McCord actually has some early success with some armdrags and a side headlock takedown, though an attempted shoulderblock on a much bigger man isn’t the best idea. McCord hits a ropey dropkick, only to miss a second attempt and eat a big forearm across the back. Williams lands a suplex and several shoulder charges in the corner, whilst a throw into the middle of the ring allows him to hit a running tackle. McCord ducks a clothesline and tries to hit a crossbody, only to get planted into the canvas with the Stampede for the three count. A nice enough airing for Dr. Death as he gets a chance to showcase a few moves and overcome some adversity en route to an easy win.

  The big main event is up next, but as Jim Cornette went to introduce the Midnight Express, Krusher Kruschev enters the ring. Cornette breaks off to publically give money to both Kruschev and Hernandez, who then proceed to leave the ringside. With The Express and the team of the Junkyard Dog and Jim Duggan in the ring, Boyd Pierce reminds us it is no disqualification as Ross promises us one of the greatest main events in Mid-South history. The action starts quickly as he pitches Eaton across the ring and hits a trademark headbutt, forcing Eaton to head to the champion’s corner for the quick tag. Condrey doesn’t have much more success as Duggan gets into the ring and sends him several times into the turnbuckle before nailing him with a clothesline.

  Eaton breaks up a pinfall on Condrey which leads to some brief offense by the Express, only for Duggan to take advantage of the rules and throw Eaton over the top rope. A bodyslam that sees Duggan spin around several times before planting Eaton has the champions in trouble, though he is lucky enough to fall back into his partner’s corner after an attack by the Dog. Condrey loses a test of strength and has to kick out of a powerslam that looks like the Dog’s finisher (Eaton also looked out of place as he scaled the second turnbuckle before heading back to the apron), but a trip by Eaton on an Irish whip finally allows the Express some concerted offense.

  The champions try to use quick tags to keep the fresh man in, but Condrey and Junkyard end up colliding in the middle of the ring so as to allow Dog to tag out to Duggan. All four men are in the ring as Dog hits the Thump on Eaton, but Cornette breaks up the pin with powder to the eye. As Duggan tries to chase Cornette, Eaton cuts him off. The referee takes a bump during the scuffle, leading to Cornette hitting Eaton with a mistimed elbowdrop as Duggan moves out of the way. Duggan lifts Cornette into the air with a chokehold, yet in doing so turns his back on the entrance. Hernandez, with Kruschev’s coal miner’s glove on his hand, hits the ring and clobbers Duggan, leaving him easy picking for the Express three count. A very fun brawl with the type of convoluted finish you might expect from a television match with four men like these.

  After the commercial break, Cornette and Hernandez are with Ross at ringside, with Cornette’s interpretation of the rules changing from his demeanour at the beginning of the show. He tells Ross they are pointless, but that they also made no mention of gloves being used, so he took advantage. This interview seemingly replaces a Tony Torres versus Hans Schroeder match, not that I imagine anyone is complaining.

  In the very brief time remaining, we have another match that looks fun on paper – The Pretty Young Things versus Buddy Landell and Krusher Kruschev. The reaction for the PYT isn’t what it was in recent weeks, with the crowd noticeably muted in response. The two teams will be lucky if they get three minutes, with Joel Watts on commentary making it clear that Grizzly Smith has said if the match went to a draw, he would aim to rebook it at another time. Ware takes out both Kruschev and Lan
dell hiptosses, whilst an Austin snapmare earns the PYT Express a one count. Austin slaps on a side headlock, but Kruschev grabs a handful of hair to bring Austin into the heel corner for a tag. However, Landell is quickly halted as he misses a charge into the corner, with Austin hitting a slam and a big kneelift.

  Considering how little time is left, Austin goes back to a side headlock, though as the time heads under one minute, Landell drops Austin throatfirst on the top rope. This should put the heels in charge, but Austin manages to scoot through Landell’s legs to tag to Ware who takes the fight to both of his opponents. A sunset flip on Kruschev earns Ware a two count as the match effectively finishes with all four men brawling in the ring. A decent wetting of the appetite for a repeat match probably the following week.

  A good show this week, with the Mid-South Tag Team Title match a highlight. Nothing felt out of place, tacked on or pointless – even the brief final match working well to build to a rematch - so they left no grounds for complaint whatsoever. The lack of Magnum TA and Ernie Ladd are the only real negatives, though it has allowed other storylines to shine in the process.

  AWA All Star Wrestling 4.8.84

  As always, we are thrust straight into the action as Martin Escaberro, a portly and amiable looking chap, awaits the arrival of Mr. Saito, who is accompanied by Bobby Heenan. Rod Trongard is joined on commentary by Greg Gagne as Saito does Japanese heel 101 work by doing a salt ceremony pre-match. Funnily enough, the crowd ‘woooahhh’ as Saito lifts his leg, sumo-style, with Gagne noting how vocal they are tonight. Saito bundles Escaberro over, with a hip block takedown to follow and a modified biel leaving Escaberro down on the canvas. The jobber tries to build some momentum, but charges straight into a kick to the stomach, before a turnbuckle smash and two chops to the throat have Escaberro in trouble. However, he manages to avoid the scorpion deathlock, much to the surprise of Saito. After some consultation with Heenan, Saito uses a side headlock takedown, but Escaberro does back Saito into the corner moments later with several strikes. Saito isn’t fazed for long, hitting a boot to the torso and eventually sending Escaberro out of the ring with two chops to the chest. A Mongolian chop is followed by the Saito suplex for a three count. An interesting match primarily due to the colourful nature of Escaberro compared to most other jobbers at this time.