WWWF Championship Wrestling 5/21/1977

WWWF Championship Wrestling 5/21/1977

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/wwf-championship-wrestling-5141977.html

Vince McMahon is our sole host.

We see more clips of Bruno Sammartino losing his title to "Superstar" Billy Graham but we still do not see the finish.

Ivan Putski vs Jan Nelson

Jan hits elbows to the neck to start then hits shots to the gut. Ivan hits shots to the gut and drops him. Ivan side headlocks him and Jan hits shots to the gut. Ivan side headlocks him. Jan hits knees to the gut and big clubs to the chest. 

Ivan chops him on the chest and Jan does a nice sell job for it. They do a test of strength. Ivan puts him down to the mat and releases it. Jan side headlocks him and Ivan backdrops him to break it. Jan begs off. 

Ivan snapmares him then chinlocks him. Jan rakes the eyes then clubs him. Jan is slammed down hard then Iva hits shots to the gut. Ivan bearhugs him and Jan taps out.

Thoughts: It wasn't bad. Ivan got his fire-up spot in when he flurried Jan in the corner. Jan's a bigger guy and he moved well here along with having decent looking offense. Jan really shouldn't be used for jobber fodder. 

Ken Patera vs Don Serrano

Captain Lou Albano is with Ken. Don side headlocks him, Ken misses an elbow and is dropkicked. Don gets his fists up and Ken backs up in the corner. Ken clubs on Don and wristlock takeovers him. Don kips up and Ken armlocks him.

Ken hits shots on Don then kicks his arm while it's tied up in the ropes. Ken armlocks him again. Don hits shots to the chest and hits punches to the gut. Don clubs Ken's chest. Ken clubs Don's neck. Don slides through the legs. Ken elbows him and kicks him down for 2.

Ken elbows Don in the back of the neck and bangs Don's head off the buckles. Don is caught coming off the 2nd rope and is put in a bearhug. Don then submits.

Thoughts: Don was a fun jobber here. He was scrappy and had a nice comeback before being put down. He could move pretty well too. Ken didn't do a lot but shots to the neck and really has yet to impress me much.

Ken keeps the hold on for a bit after the bell as Albano argues with the ref. 

Ken is interviewed after by Vince. Vince talks about him winning and Ken says he wins every week. Ken says when he speaks, he speaks with knowledge and not garbage like everyone else. Vince says Jay Strongbow wants to face Ken. Ken says Jay's at the end of the road and wants to prove he has guts. Ken says he will accept his challenge. Ken says he will crush him like a grape. He says Jay is going back to the reservation ti string beans and take care of his wigwam because that's all he's good for.

Tony Garea and Larry Zbyzsko vs Pete Austin and Frank Rodriguez

Pete and Tony go at it. Tony armdrags him twice and armlocks him. Tony shoulders him over then armdrags him again. Larry armlocks Pete. Larry jumps over him on a drop down then armdrags him.

Tony armlocks and arm throws Pete. Tony dropkicks Pete then armdrags him again. Frank tries to help Pete but Tony just circles him. Larry hammerlocks Pete. Pete escapes and takes a hip throw. Frank gets in and takes armdrags from Larry.

Larry holds Frank and Tony hits a top rope diving sunset flip to win.

Thoughts: It was just a quick one with the faces doing armlocks and various armdrags. The heels got nothing in here.

Professor Toru Tanaka vs Steve King

They take a bit to get going. King ducks lock-ups. TT hits him in the gut and throat. TT kicks and knees him in the body. TT rakes King's face. Blassie says he wants to show how fast TT is on commentary and said he imported King in to show that.

TT chokes King on the ropes. TT sticks his hand in King's armpit. TT throws him down by the arm. TT top wristlock takedowns him then armlocks him. King hits shots to the gut then is chopped in the throat. TT cobra clutches him and release him. TT then pins him.

Thoughts: It wasn't that good. TT just did short strikes to the body and throat and King got nothing in.

TT throat chops King after.

"High Chief" Peter Maivia vs Rocky Tamayo

PM grabs him and gets rolled. PM escapes a front facelock and throws RT off. PM single legs him, cartwheels off the ropes and dances. RT eye pokes him and hits shots in the corner. PM headbutts him down. PM drops him with another punch then punches him while he's down.

PM bangs RT's face off the mat. RT tries to buy time in the corner RT eye rakes him and hits shots to the body. PM euros him over the top to the floor. PM headbutts him down inside then does battering rams. PM then submits him with a stump puller.

Thoughts: Tamayo wasn't bad (he took a nice bump off a euro out of the ring) and Maivia does have a likeable charisma to him but the match was just average.

Baron Von Raschke, Gashouse Gilbert and Johnny Rodz vs Bob Backlund, Billy Whitewolf and Chief Jay Strongbow

Rodz hits Jay before it starts then kicks him in the back. Jay and Bob go after Baron. Baron is sent into Jay's boots in the corner. Rodz does his running away bit as usual and runs into Jay's boot. Bob wristlocks Rodz. Jay kicks Rodz in the arm. Billy chops Rodz's arm. Rodz bangs Billy's head in the corner and Billy gets triple teamed in the corner.

GG elbows Billy's head and Rodz top rope clubs Billy twice. Baron hits shots on Billy. He knees and stomps him. GG and Rodz then come off the top together and club Billy. Rodz hits shots on Billy in the corner. Billy hits Rodz in the gut.

Jay gets in and kneelifts Rodz. He then hits the other heels on the apron. Bob 2nd rope elbow drops Baron from the buckles and hits kneelifts on him. Baron hits Bob from behind and hiptosses him. GG stomps on Bob then beale throws him. GG flying headscissors him. Bob slams GG. 

Jay gets tagged in. He takes a dropkick from GG. GG is catapulted into the buckles. GG clubs Jay's chest. Rdoz boots Jay in the back. Jay moves and then Rodz cortches himself in the ropes. Rodz is beaten up in the faces corner. Baron jumping kicks GG on a failed double teamed. Rodz is sent into Baron. Billy chops Rodz down and butt drops him.

Billy chops Rodz and wristlocks him. Rodz eye pokes him. GG headbutts Billy then elbows his neck. GG hits shots on Jay's body. Bob is tagged in. He hits Rodz off the buckles and all 6 men fight. The heels are all sent into each other. Bob atomic drops Rodz and pins him to win.

Thoughts: It was a short but entertaining bout. Rodz bumped big as usual and Gashouse moved around well. Billy didn't have that great of offense in this one and Bob came off as dorky like usual. 

Overall thoughts: The main was the best thing on here which wasn't a surprise. Putski/Nelson wasn't bad and Don Serrano looked decent against Patera. Tanaka's squash wasn't very entertaining and was the low point of this episode. There's nothing you need to see here but it was acceptable for a 1970's era TV show.