wrestling / Video Reviews

WWWF All-Star Wrestling (6.17.1978) Review

February 17, 2021 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
WWWF All-Star Wrestling 6-17-1978 Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
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WWWF All-Star Wrestling (6.17.1978) Review  

-Originally aired June 17, 1978.

-Your host is Vince McMahon.

IVAN PUTSKI vs. SYLVANO SOUSA

-Putski day by day is morphing into his more familiar look and has discovered the sun in recent months. Putski flexes his way out of a full nelson. Sousa tries throwing a punch but hurts his hand. Putski clamps on his side headlock, and Sousa teases just walking out of the match because he’s so frustrated.

-Back in, Putski lets Sousa do some stuff for a minute, but he no-sells all of it and knocks him to the floor with a big right hand. Back in, another right hand puts Sousa away. Post-mkatch, Putski apparently goes into business for himself and grabs the mic, demanding that George Steele AND Spiros Arion both get in the ring right now to fight him, but they won’t because they’re both cowards and they can’t win.

SPIROS ARION (with Fred Blassie) vs. FRANK WILLIAMS
-Arion with just a straight-up beatdown on Williams and hangs him in the tree of woe. Arion refuses to pin him, instead clamping on a body vice to get the submission.

-Vince talks to Tony Garea, who is just back from a tour of Japan and puts over Japanese wrestlers and fans for their commitment to wrestling. He also notes that Japanese wrestlers tend to be in better shape than American wrestlers. Ya don’t say. He announces that after years of focusing on tag team wrestling, he’s going to switch over to singles competition to see what he can do.

TONY GAREA vs. STAN STASIAK (with The Grand Wizard)

-Garea gets Stasiak on the mat for headscissors and the Grand Wizard freaks out about it, accusing Garea of turning it into a chokehold, and Vince astutely says that’s impossible because legs are so large that it’s impossible to choke people with them. Well, yeah, Vince, that’s just science.

-Stasiak, at his size and at his age, actually does a kip-up to get out of a wristlock. Hammerlock by Stasiak, followed by a bearhug. Garea keeps starting to break and Stasiak smacks him and reapplies the hold. Vince expresses surprise that Stasiak is applying a bearhug because he’s not very strong. Vince the Commentator would make Vince the Boss shit himself.

-Stasiak looks to end it with the heart punch, but Garea blocks it and gives him a shot in the ribs. Stasiak fights back with more punches, and Stasiak has some skill when it comes to getting noise from his worked punches. Garea apparently downs a concealed can of spinach and just goes nuts on Stasiak for a bit, but they end up on the floor, and Garea ducks the heart punch again. Stasiak punches the ring post and Wizard tends to his man’s injury while Garea heads back in to take the victory by count-out. Match was fine, and again, Stasiak’s seemingly bottomless supply of star power from being champion for a week elevates Garea.

LUKE GRAHAM (with The Grand Wizard) vs. DAVE DARROW

-Luke targets the facial area, or “face” to the layman. Graham ties up Darrow with a facelock and a hammerlock at the same time. The world’s sloppiest splash finishes. This took six minutes. I had that little to talk about.

CHIEF PETER MAIVIA vs. MOOSE MONROE

-Fans are pretty energized for Maivia. Maivia, freshly showered with not a towel within 20 miles of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, works the arm for a bit while Vince tells us, brace yourselves, that we really need to see WWWF wrestling in person to appreciate how big these guys are. Moose clamps on a side headlock and chokes Maivia. Maivia comes back with tackles, and he slams “all that beef and potatoes” to finish.

4.0
The final score: review Poor
The 411
Meh.
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