wrestling / TV Reports
Madison Square Garden All-Star Wrestling (10.25.1976) Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...It’s October 25, 1976.
-Your host is Vince McMahon.
-Your ring announcer can’t believe he got out of bed for this.
MANUEL SOTO vs. THE UNPREDICTABLE JOHNNY RODZ
-Rodz stalls for a spell before they put their dukes up. Rodz takes over with a whole lot of boots, so many that after the first five, it starts being predictable. Kayfabe, Johnny.
-Rodz is really, really mailing it in here, just continuing to stomp away on Soto. He heads to the second rope to vary the type of stomping that he’s doing, and then he stomps some more. He stomps to the left and he stomps to the right. Soto fights back with right hands and sends Rodz tumbling through the ropes and almost landing on Vince. Nobody ever lands on Vince, so the fact that he doesn’t is predictable. Again, Johnny, you’re the one making the claim here.
-Rodz tries going to the top rope but gets Flair-slammed. Soto backdrops him and he gets some air on it too. Soto tries to finish it, but Rodz boots him away. Soto tries Irish whipping him, but Rodz moves out of the way, and since Soto couldn’t predict that, I’ll award partial credit to Rodz. Rodz follows with a headbutt and both men are groggy at this point. Soto manages to get his head tangled in the ropes. Soto survives and connects with a dropkick and a bodypress for three. Eh, Rodz woke up after a while so I’ll twist my thumb upward for this one. 1 for 1. Ring announcer declares it a win for “Pedro Mor…Manuel Soto.”
BOBO BRAZIL vs. GASHOUSE GILBERT
-This is a do-over from the last MSG card I reviewed, where they rushed through the last two matches. “Gashouse” is defined in Merriam-Webster as a plant for the manufacture of illuminating gas, so since it’s illuminated, I think a better name for him would be Gaslight Gilbert, and he could cut promos where he tells Bobo, “You’re not gonna do that coco butt again? Geez, you ALWAYS do that!” and then Bobo second-guesses himself and doesn’t do the coco butt.
-Bobo offers a handshake, and Gashouse shakes his hand and wipes it off on the turnbuckle afterward. They have a wristlock that’s about triple the length of their previous MSG match, and then Gashouse heads to the top rope. He gets slammed off and Bobo rams him into the turnbuckles. Gashouse Gilbert takes over with gashouse-like tactics, which he probably learned from his days in the gashouse. Gashouse chokes Bobo out. Bobo tries to make a comeback with an Irish whip, but Gashouse counters it by leaping up to the turnbuckles and holy shit, Gashouse with a missile dropkick!
-Gashouse goes for a second one, but Bobo dodges and Gashouse crashes, and the coco butt finishes it. 2 for 2 for having a guy named Gashouse Gilbert in the ring post-Marquis of Queensbury.
JOSE GONZALEZ vs. TOR KAMATA
-Tor takes his time removing his robe, so Gonzalez unsurprisingly tries to attack Kamata when he’s not expecting it. Kamata does the salt ritual while Gonzalez keeps trying to attack him without provocation. They finally get started, slugging it out until Gonzalez takes the upper hand with armdrags and chops. We cut to a crowd shot while Kamata does something and Vince blurts out “Look what he did!” Vince realizes what’s happened and asks for an instant replay, and they cut to an instant replay…of Gonzalez dropkicking him. Vince sounds irritated as we go back to live action.
-Nerve hold by Kamata, which would be a great time for a crowd shot AND an instant replay, but we’re still learning in 1976. Gonzalez is smiling and discussing a spot while caught in the hold, finally elbowing it. Kamata retaliates with another nerve hold. Gonzalez breaks free again, dropkicking Kamata down. Gonzalez sends him into the ropes, but Kamata comes right back with an elbow to the throat for the sudden three-count. They took it easy in there. 2 for 3.
IVAN PUTSKI vs. STAN HANSEN
-Special guest referee Gorilla Monsoon. First man to apply an abdominal stretch is disqualified, probably.
-Putski attacks before the bell and just goes crazy with shots to the ribs. Gorilla ain’t doin’ anything about it so Putski just keeps wailing on him. Hansen fights back and elbows Putski down, driving knees into his back for two. Putski shakes it off and throws more punches before turning to a side headlock and then ramming Hansen into the corner. Putski applies a side headlock again and won’t let go. Hansen tries to break free but ends up on the wrong end of a backdrop and we’re back to the side headlock. Hansen breaks it by crotching Putski on the top rope, which gets him DQed. Hansen attacks Monsoon after the bell, but Monsoon chases him off. Hansen looked like the world’s tallest jobber in this match. And Putski bounces right up and he’s fine. Putski had a ridiculously successful career for somebody who always comes off to me as an unprofessional ass. 2 for 4.
WWWF WORLD TITLE: BRUNO SAMMARTINO (Champion, with Arnold Skaaland) vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF (with Captain Lou Albano)
Bruno’s been to a hairdresser since the last MSG show and is now sporting the incredibly awful perm that he’d have until his first retirement.
-Bruno wastes no time, booting Volkoff square in the gut and rolling him up for a one-count. Bruno takes Nikolai’s leg out and just ties him up Ron Garvin-style. They stay on the mat for a bit with neither man getting an edge. Back on their feet, Bruno tries an armdrag. Nikolai turns it into a waistlock and these guys are suddenly putting on a clinic of counters and reversals.
-Nikolai offers a test of strength and then boots Bruno down. They hit the mat again and when that doesn’t work, BRUNO is the one that turns it into a fight, kicking Nikolai a swift kick to the jaw. That kind of makes sense. We establish that these guys are evenly matched for power, so Bruno has to switch to a strike-based offense.
-We go a test of strength. Volkoff gets the upper hand initially, but Bruno breaks free with a kick to the stomach. Bruno takes Volkoff off his feet with a wristlock and switches it to an armlock. Volkoff makes it to the ropes and they trade shoulderblocks, with Bruno getting the worst of it. Volkoff tries another one but gets armdragged and Bruno works the arm again. He goes for a series of pins, which Volkoff breaks by bridging. They go back to the test of strength. Bearhug by Volkoff, which Bruno reverses by applying his own bearhug and lifting Volkoff off the mat. I know, this recap reads like one resthold after another, but it’s better than that because they’re not just taking turns falling asleep on top of each other. There’s a story here. Volkoff is decisively proving that he’s stronger than Bruno, while Bruno just wants to wear down the arm and take the power away.
-Volkoff rakes the eyes immediately to break the hold. Shoulderblock that wipes out both men. Bruno revives first and goes right for a pin that gets two. He rams Volkoff into the mat a few times and just stands there, waiting for him to get back up. And when he finally does, Bruno gives him a boot to the head. Well, that was certainly worth the wait. Bruno kicks Volkoff out to the floor. Volkoff makes it back in and gets greeted with a flurry of punches. Volkoff headbutts Bruno down and works the midsection with a series of boots, yelling “Come on, you son of a bitch, get up!” Two-count and he tries a side headlock. Attempted Irish whip is reversed by Bruno and he rolls up Volkoff immediately for three. 3 for 5. I liked this better than the edited down version on Coliseum Video, which removed the opening mat wrestling exhibition that led to Bruno deciding to switch to moves with impact, which led to Volkoff trying to overpower Bruno, which led to Bruno trying to wear down the arm. The full match had a nice flow to it.
-Vince invites us to watch HBO through the month of November 1976, when HBO will be bringing us several NWA cards from across the country. Wait, what?
VICTOR RIVERA vs. BARON MIKEL SCICLUNA
-Scicluna immediately crashes on an attempted corner charge. Scicluna pulls a weapon out of his tights and hides it under his arm, and Vince gets a great line here, pointing out that the smell alone is enough for it to be a potent weapon at this point. Scicluna starts going to work with the weapon, jabbing Rivera’s neck repeatedly with it. Scicluna keeps using the weapon and I have a feeling this is going to be the entire match.
-Rivera gets fired up, ramming Scicluna into the turnbuckle and punching him down. Rivera goes into Scicluna’s tights and pulls out his weapon, popping him in the eye with it, and Scicluna does a hilariously awful Bluto-like sell of it, leaping in the air and sticking both feet out before crashing down to the mat and getting pinned. 3 for 6.
THREE OUT OF FIVE FALLS: ANDRE THE GIANT, CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW, & BILLY WHITEWOLF vs. BRUISER BRODY & THE EXECUTIONERS
Fall #1: Big John Executioner hammers down Billy Whitewolf of the Iraquoi tribe and brings in Brody, who sends Whitewolf into the turnbuckles. Executioner #2 tags in and puts the boots to him. Executioners gang up on Whitewolf, which brings in the partners. Referee clears the ring while the heels triple-team Whitewolf. Whitewolf scurries away and tags out. Strongbow runs right into a Brody bearhug. And we stay on that bearhug for a while before Strongbow finally slips out and tags in Andre. Headbutts for everybody!
-Andre applies a bearhug and Brody does a funny “Aww, damn it!” sell of being trapped in the hold. Executioners scurry in to help break the hold, so Andre just goes over and kicks both of their asses on the apron while the Not-ive Americans take free shots at Brody. Weird spot where they try to do all three babyfaces avalanching one heel in the corner, but the referee gets in the way and accidentally gets splashed by Strongbow. Even odder, the referee totally no-sells it and plays it as a comedy bit when he should be dead from that.
-Andre can only take on three guys for so long, and Executioners finally get the bright idea to take out his legs, and before long, Andre is on the mat writhing in pain. Andre manages to crawl over and make the tag to Whitewolf. Whitewolf instantly eats a boot, and a pair of big kneedrops by #2 gets the three-count.
Fall #2: Executioners go nuts on Whitewolf’s throat. Hot tag Strongbow who goes on his war dance and cleans house with it. Whitewolf tags back in and chops #2 down for a quick three-count to tie the match.
Fall #3: Executioners try a switcheroo, wanting to start the match with a fresh Executioner, but their body types are just different enough that the referee spots it and makes them switch back. And then karma from Fall #2 comes back to haunt the heels, as Andre & Company thriple team #2 in the corner while the referee is trying to clear the other heels from the ring. Strongbow tries to finish with a sleeper, but a melee breaks out and the referee gets fed up and calls for the bell…and awards the falls to the faces, even though all six guys were in the ring. Even Vince seems puzzled by that, and the WWWF loved booking 3 out of 5 fall matches and that would actually be a pretty typical finish booked for them–they’d have a fall go to a double-DQ and declare that it meant both sides would be awarded a fall, which would allow everyone to skip a fall. But Vince is still harping on it and seems genuinely really, really confused about why that fall was given to the faces. Fascinating to think of a time when he didn’t have the final say on this stuff and could actually be left in the dark about something.
Fall #4: Strongbow is your face in peril to start until he slips out and tags Andre, and once Andre’s in there, they finish up like it’s time for pie. Bodyslam, big boot, splash, Andre and The Gang win it. 4 for 7. Fun match overall.
