WWA 3/28/1962 - Freddie Blassie vs Rikidozan

WWA 3/28/1962 - Freddie Blassie vs Rikidozan

Simple, but you don't see it often. Blassie chokes, then switches it to a legit hold as he sees the ref.

An old lady takes a shot at Blassie

Blassie loses the fall by countout

"HE'S BITING THAT MAN'S HEAD!" - The Announcer

"...and the new champion..." - The announcer | "Wait a minute. HE DID NOT WIN IT. HE DID NOT WIN IT." - Blassie

Rikidozan beat Freddie Blassie one fall to none when the curfew time limit expired to win the WWA title. The match went a little longer than it needed to, but it wasn't bad. The story of this was Blassie cheating in various ways for the entire match and Riki refusing hit him when he was down and not ready, usually before Blassie hit him low. They pretty much repeated it all match with Blassie taking big heel bumps in between. It was pretty simple stuff but the crowd was into it. Blassie was so good at basic heel tactics here, like getting your back to the ref and then grabbing hair or turning headlocks into chokes when the ref wasn't looking. I know it doesn't sound too impressive, but the crowd bought into it and after him breaking the rules for so long, it was pretty hard not to get behind Riki.

After the match, the ref awarded the bout to Riki and Blassie was having none of it, going after the announcer and the ref, even ripping the ref's shirt off. He then yelled over the mic while they cut the lights and power out from him, which was pretty cool.

They then did an interview after:

"I'm gonna take this up to the World Wide Wrestling Association president. If that ain't enough, I'm gonna take it up to the comission. And if that ain't far enough, I'm gonna take it up with my great friend, President Kennedy"| "This was the dirtiest trick that's ever been pulled." - Blassie

"And there's a new heavyweight champion."  - The announcer | "Don't you tell them we have a new heavyweight champion. Freddie Blassie is still the world's heavyweight champion and don't you forget that." - Blassie

"Here is what he came 6,000 miles for. " - Riki's translator