WWF Championship Wrestling 1/3/1981

WWF Championship Wrestling 1/3/1981

Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson are our hosts. Pat has a unibrow here. Pat says Fred Blassie's dream is to be the manager of a world champ and says Killer Khan is on his way to doing that. He says Khan put a wrestler in the hospital with his knee drop off the top. Pat says SD Jones is an experienced wrestler who does a lot of traveling. Pat says the new Hulk Hogan is an idea of Fred Blassie's. He said he heard he lost weight and is in better shape. Pat says we will have to see what he does.

The ring announcer introduces the timekeeper and ringside doctor.

Sgt. Slaughter vs "Big" Jim Duggan

That's a much thinner Duggan who looks taller for some reason and is wearing red/black. Sarge comes out with The Grand Wizard who is wearing colorful clothes as always. Sarge argues with the fans at ringside and gets it into it with a fan who Vince calls "rotund". Sarge mocks the fan and shakes his butt at him. Pat says Jim should make his move while Sarge is distracted.

Sarge backs him up and chest clubs him then Jim fires back. Sarge misses an elbow in the corner and Jim chest forearms him. Sarge hits more chest clubs and punch flurries him on the ropes. Jim's head is banged off the buckles.

Sarge hits more chest clubs. Jim fires back and they trade shots. Sarge chest clubs him and knee drops him in the neck. Sarge chops him down. Sarge is whipped into the corner and Jim hits chest forearms. Sarge knees him out of the corner and hits a nasty looking piledriver. Sarge hits a tombstone then submits him with the cobra clutch.

Sarge doesn't let go after the match ends and the ref starts counting. Sarge then breaks.

Thoughts: It was a bit of a stretched out squash here and wasn't that interesting. It was pretty much all chest clubs.

SD Jones vs Jose Estrada

They trade waistlocks and Jose ropebreaks. Jose side headlocks him and shoulders him over. SD leapfrogs and Jose can't flip over then SD tries to flip him with his feet. SD chinlocks him.

SD shoulders him over. Jose tries to flip him with his feet but is booted and takes multiple armdrags. Jose hits forearms and a shot to the gut. SD knocks him down with punches and headlock takeovers him. SD side headlocks him.

Jose eye rakes him and bangs his head off the buckles. Sd no sells it and dances. SD hits shots to the gut and chest. SD throws and dropkicks him for 2. SD chinlocks him. Jose boots him in the gut and eye rakes him. SD shoulders him over then Jose hits a nice slam. SD hits a swinging neckbreaker and wins.

Thoughts: It was a real basic match here and went longer than it needed to. There was only one botch here and nothing else looked awful or anything, but we didn't get much besides eye rakes, forearms and boots. I wouldn't say it was bad but it was not the most interesting thing and was about as average as it gets.

"The Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz vs Charlie Brown

Rodz hits him immediately and goes on the attack. Rodz definitely knees him low and then in the chest. Brown's head is banged off the buckles and Rodz clubs Brown's back. Rodz boots him in the back then back elbows him.

Rods knees him in the body. Brown does a low knee and hits some punches. Rodz eye rakes him and hits punches. Rodz stomps his throat then foot chokes him. Rodz chokes him with the forearm. Brown fires back with punches to the gut then takes a punch.

Rodz back elbows him and suplexes him. Rodz hits an elbow drop and wins. Vince rips him for not hooking the leg after and said he only pinned him because he beat the daylights out of him.

Thoughts: Not too much of note here. Rodz was the heel and used various shots to the throat and eyes. There wasn't a lot of wrestling in this one and the crowd didn't really buy into Brown's comeback.

Killer Khan vs Steve King

Freddie Blassie is with Khan. Steve is about the size of the ref and they say he's giving away 100lbs to Khan. Khan backs him up in the corner then hits chops and boots. Khan knees him in the gut and backbreakers him. Khan knee drops the back.

Steve tries shots to the gut and gets nowhere. Khan boots Steve's back. They talk about Khan not being handsome and Pat says they have seen some beauties here with Khan, The Samoans and Khan. Khan chokes Steve on the ropes then stomps his back.

Khan knees him in the back. Khan bow and arrows him. Khan drops him on the ropes neck first. Khan double throat thrusts him then knee drops him for the win. Khan has a giant loogie hanging out of his mouth after.

Thoughts: It was pretty much all stomps, clubs and knee drops. Khan moved well and they put over him being a force to be concerned about, but it went longer than it needed to and wasn't super interesting.

Pat Patterson interviews Fred Blassie after. Pat asks Fred to have Khan wipe his mouth and show some manners. Fred said Khan could care less. He says all he cares about is winning and getting more camels. Pat asks if Fred is interested in money and he says he is. He says what the people make in one year, he spends in 2 days. Pat asks Fred if he's counting Khan's money and Fred gets mad saying it's an insult to say he's holding money back. Fred says Khan is here to hold the title and says he will use any people who get in his way as stepping stones to the title.

Thoughts: This was a great promo here and was easily more entertaining than anything in wrestling in 2024. 

Pedro Morales vs Frank Savage

Pedro is the Intercontinental champ here. Frank looks like a smaller version of Big John Studd. Frank side headlocks him and Pedro armdrag him down. Pedro does an armlock then armdrags him. Frank chest clubs Pedro, Pedro fires up and Frank hopes out of the ring.

Pedro backs him up on the ropes and gets a shot to the gut in. Frank goes out again to stall and Pedro teases going after him. Frank hits a punch on Pedro. Frank is sat on the top rope and Pedro hits him. Frank lays on the apron and Pedro goes up top.

Pedro bangs Frank's head off the buckle. Pedro slams him in. Frank goes out to stall again. He gets back in and eye rakes Pedro. They trade shots and Pedro hits a wind-up punch. Pedro crabs him and Frank submits.

Thoughts: Frank did a ton of stalling here and there was much but basic shots. It was not that interesting but thankfully was a little shorter than the other squashes. 

Hulk Hogan vs George Rosello

 

Hulk has his colorful robe on and his ichiban black trunks on. Hulk clubs on George then hits a big slam. George is sent into the buckles chest first then dropped throat first on the ropes. Hulk suplexes George but George falls out early. Hulk  hits some clubs and hits kicks to the chest.

Hulk elbows him and George takes a rough looking back elbow. Hulk hits a nice lariat and pins him with a knee on the chest.

Thoughts: George was a real sympathetic jobber here. He looked like was he dying after Hulk did anything to him. I thought he did a good job. Hulk really was a unit here and was just super thick and muscular. It was a quick squash with George getting nothing in.

Overall thoughts: This was all squash matches and one interview. It was not very exciting to watch and the squashes had little but punches, kicks, boots and clubs. Blassie's interview about Khan was the best thing on here and George Rosello was the standout on this one. I wouldn't recommend this.