November 2023 Wrestling Talk

[J.H.]

22 hours ago, zendragon said:

The world almost got Hogan v Bruno at one point but Hogan had a Japan date

Actually, I really want to see that Laverne Defazio v. Demon match. I'm hoping Laverne wins after a bottle of milk and Pepsi explodes in The Demon's face leading to a roll-up of some sort. Post match beatdown by The Big Ragu!

Jamez

Edited November 20, 2023 by J.H.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

3 minutes ago, J.H. said:

Actually, I really want to see that Laverne Defazio v. Demon match. I'm hoping Laverne wins after a bottle of milk and Pepsi explodes in The Demon's face leading to a rill-up of some sort. Post match beatdown by The Big Ragu!

Jamez

My lifelong insomnia thanks you for this Nick at Nite-ass reference

[J.H.]

12 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

My lifelong insomnia thanks you for this Nick at Nite-ass reference

I do it for the kids! 

We know Shirley actually throws a mean punch. It dawned on me that if Deuce and Domino were more Lenny & Squiggy and less Grease they would've gotten over... or not

James

 

[Hamhock]

45 minutes ago, J.H. said:

Actually, I really want to see that Laverne Defazio v. Demon match. I'm hoping Laverne wins after a bottle of milk and Pepsi explodes in The Demon's face leading to a roll-up of some sort. Post match beatdown by The Big Ragu!

Demon no-sold Laverne's finisher, the Vo-Dee-Oh-Doh.

[J.H.]

Hence the Milk & Pepsi finish!

James

[zendragon]

5 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Is there any footage of Lou when he was in The Sicilians? I know I've seen pictures, but not sure about video. 

I saw some on Tubi

[Elsalvajeloco]

8 hours ago, Mister TV said:

Saw this and I’m really bummed we never got a team of the Captain & the Baron on the regular.

WWF @ Beaver Falls, PA – Geneva College Metheny Fieldhouse – March 9, 1981
The Red Demon pinned Jim Grabmire at 13:02
Dominic DeNucci pinned the Hangman at 14:36
Suzette Ferrera pinned Betty Clark at 10:47
Bill Berger pinned Bill Dixon at 5:37
WWF Tag Team Champions Rick Martel & Tony Garea defeared Baron Mikel Scicluna & Capt. Lou Albano at 15:09 when Martel pinned Scicluna

It’s kind of odd that the Captain worked matches at two spot shows on the far end of the promotion, at this point I thought he was just working the big arenas once or twice a year. 

For those uneducated like myself, what would qualify as the WWF territory in terms of ends of said territory? I am guessing NYC and the tri-state area is the north end? 

[SirSmUgly]

I would never have guessed that the W(W)WF had gone into West Virginia. I would have been certain that it'd be part of Charlotte's domain.

Then again, IIRC Gary Hart talked about booking that promotion and noted that he and two other bookers took a state for themselves (VA/NC/SC). WV is sort of in a weird place location-wise, up against Capitol Sports, JCP, and the Tennessee promotions. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

2 minutes ago, SirSmUgly said:

I would never have guessed that the W(W)WF had gone into West Virginia. I would have been certain that it'd be part of Charlotte's domain.

Then again, IIRC Gary Hart talked about booking that promotion and noted that he and two other bookers took a state for themselves (VA/NC/SC). WV is sort of in a weird place location-wise, up against Capitol Sports, JCP, and the Tennessee promotions. 

I was going to say this in my earlier post, but Georgia Championship Wrestling running in Ohio is a weird one if you don't research as to why they were.

[Cobra Commander]

45 minutes ago, SirSmUgly said:

I would never have guessed that the W(W)WF had gone into West Virginia. I would have been certain that it'd be part of Charlotte's domain.

Then again, IIRC Gary Hart talked about booking that promotion and noted that he and two other bookers took a state for themselves (VA/NC/SC). WV is sort of in a weird place location-wise, up against Capitol Sports, JCP, and the Tennessee promotions. 

There's 2 parts of WV that likely got WWWF TV for a long time. The Eastern Panhandle gets TV from Washington DC. Morgantown (WVU) gets TV from Pittsburgh. Back then, the Eastern Panhandle was a lot less populated (over recent decades, people have moved from MD/VA/DC to far eastern WV, including elected officials) and for whatever reason, college towns were not exactly strong wrestling markets for territories. 

But of the places which a link to Pittsburgh, the Wheeling WV/Steubenville OH TV market would be the places to have such a link.

CageMatch has 3 Bruno matches in Wheeling. One in 1968 (Bruno/The Battman vs Bull Ramos/Kentucky Butcher) and two in 1981 (the Slaughter match, and this card a few months later)

Quote

Wheeling, WV – Civic Center – June 7, 1981
Johnny DeFazio pinned the Red Demon at 9:50 with a roll up
Mike Mihalko pinned Jim Grabmire at 11:10 with a splash
Bruno Sammartino pinned Baron Mikel Scicluna (sub. for Killer Khan) at 14:35
Bill Dixon fought Bill Berger to a 20-minute time-limit draw
Dominic DeNucci & Bruno Sammartino Jr. defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Moondogs via disqualification at 18:40

for whatever reason, Wheeling kept having their Bruno matches change at the last minute.

Next time they were in Wheeling, Bruno had retired and the main event was Backlund/Angelo Mosca and they got Muraco/Morales and DeNucci/Killer Khan in what was probably a bit of a make-good for previous experiences.

Steubenville is also the home town of Dean Martin and Jimmy the Greek, so I'd think there was at least a little bit of a fanbase there that would be into Bruno.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[Infinit]

Did Bruno and Killer Khan have many matches?

[Cobra Commander]

2 minutes ago, Infinit said:

Did Bruno and Killer Khan have many matches?

one match in the Boston Garden in May 1981

Quote

WWF @ Boston, MA – Boston Garden – May 30, 1981 (8,414)
Pete Doherty fought Don Serrano to a 15-minute draw
Dominic DeNucci defeated Johnny Rodz at 10:30
SD Jones defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna at 10:30
WWF IC Champion Pedro Morales defeated Angelo Mosca via disqualification at 17:40
Bruno Sammartino pinned Killer Khan at 9:25
Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated Fred Marzino at 7:35
Rick McGraw defeated Frank Savage at 9:20
Tony Garea & Rick Martel defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Moondogs via disqualification

the thing with Khan at this time is that Andre broke his ankle after a match with Khan (in his hotel room) and they were able to make money with Khan against Andre that summer

[Mister TV]

6 hours ago, J.H. said:

Actually, I really want to see that Laverne Defazio v. Demon match. I'm hoping Laverne wins after a bottle of milk and Pepsi explodes in The Demon's face leading to a roll-up of some sort. Post match beatdown by The Big Ragu!

Jamez

There is a Laverne & Shirley wresting episode, sadly I couldn’t find any clips on YouTube. 
 

The Red Demon(Chuck Martoni) live down the street from my grandparents! He also had a Ph.D, was President of a Community College, a County Councilman and Mayor. His opponent on the Wheeling card Johnny DeFazio was also on the Allegheny County Council with him in the 90’s & 2000’s. 
 

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/long-time-allegheny-county-councilman-former-pro-wrestler-charles-martoni-dies/

[Hamhock]

11 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Is there any footage of Lou when he was in The Sicilians? I know I've seen pictures, but not sure about video. 

The Sicilians vs. Sweet Daddy Siki and Art Thomas, Chicago, 1961.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Hamhock

[Zakk_Sabbath]

17 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

For those uneducated like myself, what would qualify as the WWF territory in terms of ends of said territory? I am guessing NYC and the tri-state area is the north end? 

 

16 hours ago, SirSmUgly said:

would never have guessed that the W(W)WF had gone into West Virginia. I would have been certain that it'd be part of Charlotte's domain.

 

15 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

There's 2 parts of WV that likely got WWWF TV for a long time. The Eastern Panhandle gets TV from Washington DC. Morgantown (WVU) gets TV from Pittsbu

Out of total coincidence, I had a lot of the same questions yesterday when it came up so I was doing a little reading on it - I still had this tab open, not a bad resource:

https://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/pittsbuffclev/pittsintro.htm

[odessasteps]

Some people would prob be surprised that Montreal had parts of New England as the territory. 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

6 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Some people would prob be surprised that Montreal had parts of New England as the territory. 

Wow, yeah - I had no idea about that.

Trying to phrase this gently:

Did Dino have, uh, business dealings there?

I always thought NE was firmly (W)WWF territory - not just the lower part where Titan actually is, but for example, I remember reading years ago about Vince owning a building up in Maine

[Technico Support]

21 hours ago, FourPostMassacre said:

Pretty sure he stopped eating fast food after he almost died on TV yet I could be wrong but the other two things I’m sure he still indulges in.  

Thanks.  Now I'm imagining Lawler trying to kick fast food and relapsing, looking like Pookie in New Jack City, all wearing an American flag shirt and bawling in front of a McDonald's bag.

[FourPostMassacre]

17 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Thanks.  Now I'm imagining Lawler trying to kick fast food and relapsing, looking like Pookie in New Jack City, all wearing an American flag shirt and bawling in front of a McDonald's bag.

This happened but it was a Burger King bag with a picture of his ex the Kat behind it. 
 

“Keeps calling me”

[SirSmUgly]

3 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Some people would prob be surprised that Montreal had parts of New England as the territory. 

I could see Montreal making its way down into Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. That's not totally surprising in the way that Georgia running parts of Ohio is, as someone mentioned. 

There's at least a little cultural fit there for Montreal in New England.

Now if you told me Montreal ran farther south in, like, Massachusetts, now that would surprise me. 

Edited November 21, 2023 by SirSmUgly

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

2 minutes ago, SirSmUgly said:

I could see Montreal making its way down into Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. That's not totally surprising in the way that Georgia running parts of Ohio is, as someone mentioned. 

There's at least a little cultural fit there for Montreal in New England.

Now if you told me Montreal ran farther south in, like, Massachusetts, now that would surprise me. 

Montreal to Burlington, Vermont is only like a two hour drive. Totally reasonable.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

Oh yeah let me clarify, I'm not surprised about Montreal running NE based on the geography, but moreso by my own (apparently) uninformed assumption that NE was all WWF. If anything I would've thought they got Grand Prix TV from Nova Scotia (which, I JUST learned in researching for this post is not the same promotion as the older Montreal territory of the same name...)

[odessasteps]

Yeah, I knew they ran Vermont. I didn't want to be more specific without having time to do the research.  Also, you had different offices in Montreal (including a war in the 1970s) so you'd need to check look at them all. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

It still shocked me that the east end of the Mid South territory was running my area. They couldn't have been making money. Greenville, MS is a decent sized town, but we were stuck in the weird part of the state that's not one of suburbs of Memphis but it's not anywhere near Jackson, MS. So for Mid South to be running that area while also running Jackson but not go north and try to go against Jarrett in places where they actually decent venues is a bit strange. Ironically, I believe the Smackdown crew this past weekend did part of the Memphis loop (Evansville for SD and then Tupelo and Jonesboro over the weekend). The latter two cities are in a cluster of towns where it's more feasible to travel back and forth and you have to go through Memphis. There is NOTHING between my area of the state and Jackson metro area. There is like Yazoo City (home of the Philadelphia Eagles' Fletcher Cox) and random out of the way towns where you can find some rest stops. That's about it. Then, once you get past that it's like Vicksburg. That's about it. It's still a decent drive before you get to New Orleans or Shreveport or Alexandria. Moreover, I believe Southeastern/Continental was running eastern Mississippi and the gulf portion of the state. That's three separate offices in a state with not that a big population but a lot of nice scenery to look at while traveling.

[odessasteps]

I know for a while, I think when McGuirk owned it, they had two crews, one northern and one southern. Maybe with those extra people, you could run smaller towns than if you had just one crew running that giant territory.