WWWF All Star Wrestling 12/31/1977

WWWF All Star Wrestling 12/31/1977

 
Vince McMahon welcomes us to the show. 

Larry Zbyszko does a PSA with a kid about juvenile diabetes.

Tony Garea vs "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe 

LS hammerlocks him and is reversed. Tony armdrags him down. LS trips him and ties his legs up. Tony side headlocks him then takes him over. LS headscissors him and the ref says Ls pulled the hair. Tony takes down LS by the wrist then LS hammerlocks him. 

LS tries to pin him with it. Tony does a nice roll from the bridge and tries his own pin. Tony hiptosses him then side headlocks him. Tony shoulders him over then side headlock takeovers him. 

Tony shoulders him over then misses a charge in the corner. LS stomps his arm and punches it around the rope. LS armlocks him. Tony goes for the armdrag but LS hangs on and armdrags him twice. Tony trips him and hits shots to the head. Tony side headlocks him, leapfrogs and dropkicks him. Tony side headlock takeovers him again. 

LS rolls him into a pin attempt. LS hiptosses him and misses an elbow drop. Tony hits punches to the head. Tony sunset flips him for 2. Tony hits punches and gets a 1 count. Tony side headlocks him with more punches and the bell rings for the 10 minute time limit draw. The ref Dick Woehrle awards the bout to Tony Garea.

Thoughts: It was all armlocks and headlocks here. There was nothing wrong with it but it was only so exciting. I don't think I've seen a draw end in a referee's decision before. 

Larry beats up Tony after, hitting him from behind. He back body drops Tony and stomps him. Larry then bends over and is kicked. Tony dropkicks him out and Larry takes a nice bump for it.

Bob Backlund vs Terry York

They lock up. York rope breaks on a waistlock. York side headlocks him then Bob wristlock takedowns him. York ropebreaks again. Vince says York refused to come in during a tag match a few weeks ago, lacking intestinal fortitude. Bob fireman's carry takeovers him and York ropebreaks again.

York punches him off a side headlock. Bob kicks him in the butt when he hides in the corner. York begs off. Bob arm wringers him, throws him over and legdrops the arm. York backs up in the corner again. 

York punches him off the side headlock then clubs on him. Bob hits him in the chest and drops him. Bob squeezes his head with his own legs and jumps down. York is thrown into the buckles and begs off more. Bob whips York's arm around and takes him down.

Bob wristlocks him. York is sent chest first into the buckles and Bob back body drops York. Bob atomic drops him and pins him.

Thoughts: York was really entertaining here as the pansy. He was a total coward, backing off and being afraid from the start. That made for an interesting bout as no one does anything like that today. I liked this. This time period had so many interesting jobbers.

Vince McMahon interviews Fred Blassie, Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji. Fred is asked about the pills he gives to his men. Tanaka says it's ginseng but Fred says it's not. Vince accuses him of lying to Tanaka. Fred says he's not as they are giving him ginseng with something a little extra. Fred says Toru doesn't know that but he's just stretching the truth a little. Vince asks if he stretches the truth when it comes to the bank account. Fred then shows off his diamond jewellery. 

Fred tells Liberace to eat his heart out and says he doesn't have the class and finesse that he does. Fuji says it's an honor for them to work for Fred. He says Fred should be Manager of the Year. Fuji says they give him everything. Tanaka says Fred is a #1 Hollywood man and is very famous there and in Japan. Fred says he's been to Japan 17 times and he goes to Premiere Tanaka's house in Japan. Vince says he was indicted. Fred says he was not and is not a thief. Vince asks if Fuji is related. Fred says Fuji's ancestors made Hawaii a well known place. He says the fans don't know the history of Hawaii. He says Curtis Iaukea's uncle was a king in Hawaii. He says his men comes from a long line of bankers. Fred says they have a big conglomerate there  and says if you pulled his family's money off the Japanese stock market, it would collapse.

Thoughts: This was a hilarious interview as usual with Blassie and got a good laugh out of me.

Mil Mascaras vs Frankie Williams

They lock up. FW oddly clean breaks him. Mil side headlocks him and is put in a top wristlock. Mil takes him down and wristlocks him. FW reverses it. Mil trips him 

FW punches him and front facelocks him. Mil trips him and leglocks him. Mil half crabs him and FW ropebreaks. FW trips him and leglocks him. Mil bodyscissors him and tries a pin out of it. 

FW ropebreaks then armlocks him. Mil trips him, ties up the legs and pulls on the chin. FW bites the fingers as he escapes. Mil side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Mil slams him. Mil sits on his shoulder and pulls his arms back. FW ropebreaks.

FW uppercuts him then slams him. Mil top rope twisting crossbodies him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was all competitive technical wrestling here. Frankie got a lot more in than I expected and it was simple, but that's alright.

Ken Patera vs Pete Austin

Ken has Lou Albano with him. Ken gets whistles as he takes off his pants and he yells at the fans. 

They lock up and Pete goes so far back his leg slips out of the wring. Ken stomps him and takes him over. Ken hits boots. Pete side headlocks him. Ken chest clubs him and slams him. 

Ken hits forearms and back body drops him. Ken elbow drops him then bearhugs him. Pete submits and Ken wins.

Thoughts: It was a quick one. Like most Patera squashes, it wasn't that interesting. He won without Pete getting much in here.

"Dynamite" Jack Evans vs Dominic Denucci

Jack hits him from behind and clubs on him. Jack continues to club and stomp him with both guys still having their entrance gear on. Jack chokes him. Dom headbutts and double chops him. Dom rocks him with punches and hits him in the gut. 

Jack takes a rolling bump out. Jack gets back in and begs off then covers up in the corner. Dom hits him in the chest. Jack begs off more. Dom chops him downwards in the nose then punches him. 

Dom side headlocks him and traps his arm. He then punches him in the face. Dom shoulders him over. Jack hiptosses him and is upkicked. Dom punches him in the face again. Dom shoulders him over and is slammed. Dom upkicks him then punches him in the face. 

Dom shoulders him over and is back body dropped. Jack misses a legdrop. Jack does a trapezius hold. They trade shots. Dom double chops him then punches him in the chin. Dom kneelifts him then shoulders him over. Jack throws the ref into Dom's way and the ref is knocked over. Dom helps the ref up. The ref yells at Dom and calls for the bell. Joe McHugh comes in and Jack Evans has been disqualified.

Thoughts: They almost had me there. I wouldn't have been shocked if Jack won by DQ, but it wasn't done in a way that would have sold that well enough. This wasn't bad. Jack  did a nice job begging off and Dom was a bit dirty with various punches. It was an even and competitive match and sometimes that as much as you can ask for here.

They fight after. Jack hits shots to the gut, gets headbutted then runs for it. Jack teases getting back in but doesn't.

Overall thoughts: This episode was fine for 1977. We got some competitive bouts and a great Freddie Blassie interview which was the highlight of this. Frankie Williams head his own against Mil Mascaras and things got fiesty in the Evans/Denucci match. I'd recommend checking out the Blassie interview but not much else here. I liked it for 1977 standards but the episode was a bit slow.