"Hello, Vince! What's up?"![]()
Bob Backlund vs. The Iron Sheik: WWE Championship Match - December 26, 1983
The Iron Sheik challenges Bob Backlund for the WWE Championship at Madison Square Garden on the day after Christmas of 1983 in a bout that would change the course of WWE history.www.wwe.com
I learned just last week that Saito and Fuji were only a tag team for like 18 months. I think of them as a mainstay of 80’s wrestling.I have you buy 10 years so these may pre-date you, but WWF was fantastic in the '80s.
Great personalities like the Macho Man, Jimmy "Super Fly" Snooka Jake the Snake, Paul Orndorf.
Great villains like Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Ric Flair, Adrian Adonis, The Iron Sheik, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.
Even better were the managers. Jimmy Hart, The Grand Wizard, Lou Albano and my favorite was Classy Freddy Blassie.
It was also the golden era of Tag Teams too. Saito and Fuji, Tony Garrea and Rick Martell, the Moon Dogs, British Bulldogs, Strongbow Brothers.
And don't forget the referee Danny Davis, banned for 99 years! LOL!
That's a sign of their greatness, I believe. I was lucky to see them close up at Stamford High. Great match that ended (by mistake I'm sure) when Rick Martell went through the ropes instead of off them. He was still on the ground when the crowd was leaving.I learned just last week that Saito and Fuji were only a tag team for like 18 months. I think of them as a mainstay of 80’s wrestling.
Dads know things.Every time Chief Jay Strongbow would come on, my old man would say "He's no Indian, you know. He's a ginny garbage man from New Jersey."
There was no internet back then. I just assumed somehow he knew something. A few years ago, I was telling that story and checked it out. Sure enough, he's italian and from New Jersey! No idea if he was a garbage man or not, but at this point, I have to believe my old man there! LOL
Gonna drop this here rather than the movie trailer thread, might be of interest to some. No chance any of the actors got roided up for this, right?
You left out Ivan Putski and (billed as his cousin, no idea if they were related) the Mighty Igor.My early recollections of wrestling were WWWF on Saturday mornings. Andre the Giant, Baron Miguel Secluna from the Isle of Malta, Haystack Calhoun, Bruno Sammartino. I remember they put a big red X on the TV when Killer Kowalski applied the abdominal claw. Stan the Man Stasiak and the Heart Punch. Tony Garea and either Dean Ho or someone else against Mr Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka and throwing salt in their opponents eyes. Great stuff.
80's great stuff. In the 90's I was losing interest until I saw this crazy wrestling at 1am. ECW was amazing. Story lines, etc. So many OMG moments. They incorporated tables, lucha style, etc with crazy characters.
It's such a sad story, though.This actually surprisingly looks very good
I found this shirt online and bought it for my friend's birthday. He can wear it the next time he's in Malta.Very fun thread. When I was a kid in the late '70's, my best friend and I would try so hard to stay up until midnight on Saturday night to watch Championship Wrestling (WWWF) on WOR-TV, Channel 9. Don't think we ever made it through an entire show before falling asleep. My favorite was Ivan Putski, the Polish Hammer. A few years ago, my friend had the opportunity to travel through Malta. He kept asking folks if they knew Baron Miguel Sicluna. Nobody got the joke.
I remember attending wrestling matches at Stamford Catholic and Stamford High School. We got to see Don Muracco, Baron Von Raschke, Chief Jay Strongbow and even the Fabulous Moolah win a seven-woman over-the-top match. In later years, we moved on to Hulk Hogan and Macho Man and continued watching through the Attitude Era. I used to get a kick out of Stone Cold and the Rock. By that point, I enjoyed their work on the mic as much, if not more, than their skills in the ring.
Let us know. I just read that it excludes one Von Erich brother entirely because it would have made the story even sadder.I haven't been to see a movie in the theater post-COVID, but thinking about catching "The Iron Claw" on Monday before I eat Chinese food.
For the longest time I wondered why the headliner of the first WWWF card in the new Hartford Civic Center was Bruno Sammartino versus Stan Hansen. Bruno hardly wrestled by then and the champ lived in Glastonbury at the time. I finally figured it out the match was for all those Hartford fans who had to drive to New Haven or Springfield to see Bruno when he had the belt. I remember you could get tickets at the newstand across from the train station. Anyway, the promo to that match contained my favorite Vince question, "Bruno, what are you going to do if he breaks your neck again?"I have found some of this guy's videos to be a nice trip down memory lane.
Unfortunately, Baileys & Coffee/3 Mimosa breakfast scored a decision by pinfall over my intentions to see the 12:50 pm screening of The Iron Claw. But I definitely will see it in the theater soon!Let us know. I just read that it excludes one Von Erich brother entirely because it would have made the story even sadder.
Andy Kaufmann storyline