WWWF Championship Wrestling 5/3/1977

WWWF Championship Wrestling 5/3/1977

Last week's show doesn't exist anywhere. The show from 2 weeks earlier is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/09/wwf-championship-wrestling-4231977.html

We see clips of the Bruno Sammartino vs Superstar Billy Graham title change from Baltimore 4/30/1977.

Bob Backlund vs Jan Nelson

Bob takes him down by the leg. Jan is pulled into the ropes. Bob hip throws him. They trade hammerlocks and Jan ropebreaks. Jan full-nelsons him. Bob reverses it then Jan reverses it. Bob grabs his own leg and flips Jan forward in a cool escape.

Bob monkey flips him then hits two armdrags. Bob armlocks him. Bob hammerlocks him. Jan ropebreaks and avoids Bob. Bob catches Jan's kick, takes him down and armlocks him. Jan hits shots to the gut and elbows him in the head. Jan back body drops him for 1.

Jan is sent into the buckles and is back body dropped. Bob butterfly suplexes him then Bob hits an atomic drop for the win.

Thoughts: It was a decent technical match here. Bob's full-nelson escape was nice and they made it look like a real contest at times. Jan was a bit bigger and moved well here. 

Professor Toru Tanaka vs Johnny Rivera

TT throws salt in the corners and Vince puts over the size of TT's shoulders.

TT hits him in the gut in the corner then I guess rakes him on the ropes. JR chest forearms him. TT does a choke hold and sends JR face first into the buckles. TT front facelocks hm. Fred Blassie gets on the mic and asks what Vince has to say now. He says he's the greatest wrestler of all time. JR hits chest forearms and punches to the body. 

TT chops him in the back of the neck and the side of the face. TT pulls on his arm and shoulder. TT cranks the head. JG's head is banged off the buckles. JR hits punches to the body and bangs TT's head off the buckles. 

TT hits him in the gut then JR hits more gut punches. JR shoulders him then runs into a kick. TT chops him in the neck then does a cobra clutch. He lets go and drops JR to pin him.

Thoughts: Toru didn't do much but various chops here which was only so interesting. JR showed some some good fire though and got some nice punch combos in.

Billy Whitewolf vs Frank Monroe

Billy evades his lock up. Frank clubs and kicks him in the butt. Billy's head is banged off the buckles. Frank clubs and knees him more. Frank punches and clubs him. Billy's head is banged off the buckles. 

Billy starts to high step and Frank slides outside to stall. Frank is slingshotted in. Billy boots and chops him. Billy double chops him down then butt drops him. Billy then pins him.

Thoughts: It was a short squash and wasn't that interesting. Billy got nothing in but chops. Frank did a good job pounding on Billy though.

Frank falls into the ring announcer in the ring then falls out of the ring down the stairs. 

George Steele vs Don Cervano

They say GS is a throwback to the neanderthals. GS grabs him and bites him in the corner. GS then clubs him and takes his shirt off.

GS armlocks him and pulls him down by the hair. Don's arm is banged off the buckles. GS armlocks him then stomps the arm. GS armlocks him on the ropes and GS has to break. GS lifts him for a hammerlock and Don submits.

Thoughts: It was a quick one. George had good logic here as he worked the arm before winning with a lifting hammerlock.  

"Superstar" Billy Graham vs Mike Mondero

Billy poses outside during his entrance. The Grand Wizard rubs Billy down and it takes a while for this to start.

Billy lays Mike on the ropes and elbows his throat and chest. The ref makes him break. Billy boots him and sends him into the buckles. Billy stomps him then slams him. Billy stomps him more. Mike is thrown out over the top. Mike gets back in and is thrown out again. 

Billy throws him in from the apron. Mike falls back into him, Billy falls back and turns it into a waistlock takedown. Billy then pins him.

Thoughts: The finish got messed up here for sure but Billy covered it so well that wouldn't know. Billy won with ease here as Mike got nothing in.  

Stan Stasiak and Baron Von Raschke vs Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko

Nice, a stars vs stars tag match. Baron is introduced as the European heavyweight champ. 

Larry and Stan lock up. Stan kimura's him and punches Larry's shoulder. Larry top wristlocks him and eventually gets a hammerlock. Baron comes in. Baron clubs on Larry then kimura's him. Baron then punches Larry in the shoulder and clubs him. 

Baron armlocks Larry. Stan stomps Larry's arm and shoulder. Baron clubs Larry's shoulder and armlocks him. Larry back body drops and armdrags Baron.

Tony is tagged in. Tony hits shots on both heels and back body drops Baron. Tony slams Baron for 1. Tony bends over and is kicked by Baron. Tony stops Stan's heart punch and hits him in the body. Stan bangs Tony's head off the buckles. 

Stan misses another heart punch and punches the buckle. Baron bangs Tony's head off the buckles when he gets in. Baron hiptosses him then misses an elbow drop. Stan and Larry get in. Larry is fired up and hits a bunch of shots on Stan, tying him up in the ropes. Larry knees Baron in the gut and Baron also gets tied up in the ropes. Larry and Tony jumping boot the heels while they are in the ropes. 

Baron is then sent into Stan while Stan is stuck. Larry hits punches to the gut of Stan then Stan punches him in the face twice. Larry is thrown out. Baron backbreakers Larry on Stan's leg. 

Baron stomps Larry and punches him in the head. Larry is held for a double kick. Stan misses another heart punch and punches the mat instead. Larry is sent chest first into the buckles. Larry takes shots and punches back. Larry is double teamed and Tony comes in to help. The bell rings. The faces dosey-do and nail the heels. Larry stomps on Stan and the heels run to escape. We are told this was a draw as they wrestled to curfew.

Thoughts: It's 1977 wrestling. We weren't getting a clean finish in a star vs star match. This only went to a draw at least instead of some stupid dirty finish. I liked the work here. The heels targeted Larry's shoulder. The faces made their comeback and were nice and fiery. I also liked the spot where both heels were tied up in the ropes together at the same time. This was fine.

Overall thoughts: The opener and main were fine which helped things but the rest of the show was all squashes. There's nothing must see here and I wouldn't recommend this one.