WWWF Championship Wrestling 10/1/1977

WWWF Championship Wrestling 10/1/1977

The last show we have is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/wwwf-championship-wrestling-9171977.html

The next show we have is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/wwwf-championship-wrestling-10221977.html 

Vince says there's an air of excitement at ringside. He hypes up the card and says it's Garea/Zbyszko vs Fuji/Tanaka for the tag titles tonight.

Bob Backlund vs Ali Baba

Ali shoves him off the lock-up then Bob does the same. Ali armdrags him and Bob hip throws him. Ali complains that Bob pulled the tights. Ali shoulders him over then takes a big hiptoss. Ali wants a test of strength then punches Bob in the gut. Ali chinlocks him. Bob shoulder throws him. 

Bob throws him off of him and gets into a fighting stance. Ali hits him in the throat several times and drops him. Ali chokes him then headbutts him in the chest. Bob armdrags him. They trade chest shots then Ali hits him in the throat twice. Ali traphezus holds him. 

Ali karelin's lifts him and Bob does an interesting back body drop for 2. Bob hits dropkicks and sends Ali over the top. Ali is slingshotted in and Bob elbows him in the face. Bob abdominal stretches him but Ali hiptosses him over.

Bob back body drops him for 2. Bob hits a high atomic drop and pins him.

Thoughts: Ali mostly stuck to throat shots here but he stopped before it got too old. Ali was shorter and really thick like a bulldog but he did some nice bumps for Bob. It was a different kind of match than usual and it wasn't that bad in the end. 

Ken Patera vs Juan Lopez

They lock up and Ken elbows him in the face. Ken bangs Juan's head off the buckles and knees him in the head. Ken snapmares him then chinlocks him. Ken clubs and elbow drops him. Ken stomps him. Ken swinging full-nelsons him then just grounds him with it. Juan is out and the match is over.  The result is overturned and Juan wins by DQ.

Thoughts: It was a short squash here. Ken's finisher was nice but not much else.

Ken keeps the hold on after. Johnny Rivera and two other jobbers try to stop him but get sent out. Ken puts the full nelson on Juan again. Jay Strongbow, Peter Maivia and Bob Backlund come out and Ken leaves. Juan is then stretchered out. Willie Gilzenburg, the WWF President, comes out.

Vince interviews Willie Gilzenburg. Willie says the only thing they can do is suspend Ken indefinitely. Vince says there's no room for what Ken did. Gary Capetta, the ring announcer, then announces that Ken Patera's license has been suspended indefinitely. 

Johnny Rodz vs Terry York

JR leaves the ring early on to avoid York. They lock up and JR shoves him in the corner. JR clubs him on the ropes. York's head is banged off the buckles. He hits some shots back and euros him. York snapmares him for 2. 

JR backs off and threatens the ref. York side headlocks him but is thrown down. JR drops York throat first on the ropes twice. JR clubs him off the 2nd rope. York hits shots on JR. JR knees him in the gut out of the corner. 

JR back elbows him twice and gets the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't much but strikes here and York getting dropped throat first on the top rope a couple of times. York wasn't bad as a face but JR didn't get to do his chickensh!t heel stuff here which is where he excels. 

Vince talks about Ken Patera getting suspended. 

Dusty Rhodes vs Bill Swift

DR is pretty light here for his standards. Bill backs him up on the ropes and is hit with an elbow to the head. Bill side headlocks him and is hit in the gut then the back of the neck. DR back elbows him and hits a big elbow drop. DR then pins him.

Thoughts: It was a quick one here at 1:58 and wasn't much but Dusty shucking, jiving and hitting elbows.

The Golden Terror vs Pierre Lefebvre 

GT has Capt. Lou with him. GT eye rakes and clubs PL. He kicks him in the gut then hits a weird left-arm lariat. PT hits some shots to the gut and is clubbed. GT back body drops him then elbow drops him. GT legdrops him. Albano gets on the mic and asks if we saw what happened with Patera earlier. 

PL's head is banged off the buckles. GT boots, clubs and eye rakes him. GT armlocks him. GT boots him in the gut then legdrops him. GT does a stomach claw and submits him.

Thoughts: It wasn't any good. Terror does nothing but bad strikes and Pierre got nothing in before going down. 

Terror keeps the hold on after but lets go when the ref counts.

WWF Tag Titles Tournament Final- 2/3 Falls - Mr. Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka vs Larry Zbyszko and Tony Garea

1st Fall - Fred Blassie is with Fuji and Toru. Fuji misses a chop and he back body drops Larry. Fuji kicks him then stomps him. Fuji then kicks Tony on the apron. Toru and Fuji do a double traphezus hold on Larry and then Toru keeps it on himself.

Fuji hits Larry in the gut then stomps him. Fuji armlocks him. Fuji shoulders him over and hiptosses him. Fuji armlocks Larry. Fuji stomps Larry. Larry hits him in the chest, slides between his legs and tags out. Tony gets in and hits shots on Fuji. He back body drops him then hits boots in the corner.

Tony slams Fuji then dropkicks him. Tony misses a dropkick. Fuji back body drops him then hits a clothesline. Fuji pins Tony.

2nd Fall - Fuji chops Tony's neck. Fred hits Tony in the throat with his cane. Fuji does a traphezus hold on Tony. Toru keeps it on and Fuji pulls Tony's throat down over the top rope. Tony fights out and tags in Larry. Larry stomps Toru's knee then yanks on it.

Tony elbow drops Toru's knee and stomps it. Larry yanks Toru's knee then Fuji is thrown out and takes a big bump. Larry leglocks Toru. Fred gets on the apron and Tony hits him. Toru submits to the leg lock.

3rd Fall - Larry boots Toru's knee more. Tony comes in and stomps Toru's knee. Fred gets on the apron again. Larry stomps Toru's knee then twists the foot. Tony elbow drops Toru's knee. Toru eye rakes him. Fuji and Larry get in. Larry hits shots on Fuji's gut then back body drops him. Larry slams Fuji. Larry runs the ropes and Toru trips Larry from the outside. Fuji then pins Larry to win the fall and match.

Thoughts: They went through three falls rather quick here. Fuji bumped well as usual (which explains why he moved so poorly by the late 80's). Larry and Tony were fiery and worked Toru's knee throughout most of this. The heels kind of cheated to win. It had its moments and had some boring sections like a lot of matches from this era do, but the logic and work was good. It was okay.

Vince calls the finish a controversial one and shows us a replay.

Vince interviews Gorilla Monsoon. We are told Billy White Wolf is in the hospital due to Ken Patera injuring him. Gorilla says Billy has heart for trying to come back. He says Billy was feeling better and tried to wrestle again against doctor's orders. Gorilla and Vince say the doctor was right as Billy re-injured his neck against Steve Strong. Gorilla calls the tag title match a disaster.

Overall thoughts: It was mostly a one match show though Backlund/Baba was acceptable. The main wasn't bad with Fuji bumping around well and the faces doing their job. I wish it would have gotten more time though. I would give this one a 5 out of 10 as it was pretty average overall and nothing must see.