World Wrestling Federation - The Beginning of the Empire

[murphy42782]

Been kicking around this idea for awhile, with AWE being so quick to run cards I'm going to try and start where Vincent K. McMahon Jr. started his empire. He completed the purchase of the company from his father sometime in 1982 and began his hostile takeover of the industry. Rocky III hasn't come out yet but is set to release in May. WrestleMania isn't coming for another few years, but WWF still had two weekly TV shows. I'm going to be running Championship Wrestling which was the dominant show as well as several TV specials that aired on the USA network or MSG TV that I saw ran in 1982. They weren't Saturday Night's Main Event, but I may give them a slightly bigger feel then ordinary TV. I will also be running some big house shows. So with out further ado...
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Madison Square Garden
and
The World Wrestling Federation
Want to invite you to a jam-packed night of action
Live January 18th, 1982

WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Bob Backlund will headline the show defending his title against one of Freddie Blassie's biggest and baddest in the form of KILLER KHAN!

also on the card:
WWF Intercontinental Champion, Pedro Morales
WWF World Tag Team Champions, Masa Saito and Mr. Fuji
Plus Many, Many more Stars in the world of Professional Wrestling


But first tune in every Saturday Night at 7 p.m. to Championship Wrestling

This Saturdays Episode includes:

A Ringside interview with Bob Backlund and Arnold Skaaland,
S.D. Jones and David Sammartino attempt to topple the East-West Connection, Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis,
"The Polish Powerhouse" Ivan Putski, Dominic DeNucci, Capt. Lou Albano, and many more.
And in a special MAIN EVENT:
Pedro Morales will defend his belt against Sika of the Wild Samoans

[murphy42782]

Agricultural Hall
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Saturday, January 2, 1982


Dominic DeNucci defeated Johnny Rodz with the Airplane Spin in 6:01.
Match rating: *** ¾
Our First bout of the evening was company stalwart Dominic DeNucci taking on a particularly fiery Johnny Rodz. Rodz fought the good fight but in the end DeNucci and the Airplane spin was just too much to handle.

Following the bout
Immediately after DeNucci and Rodz cleared out Vincent K. McMahon stepped into the ring and WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Bob Backlund, and his manager Arnold Skaaland stepped into the ring. It was announced that Bob Backlund would be defending his WWF World Title against Killer Khan at MSG on the 18th. Backlund put over Killer Khan as a big powerful foe, but noone is better conditioned for the grind of a championship bout like him. Arnold Skaaland seconds that and says that the Golden Boy backs him 100% and if Freddie Blassie wants to stick his nose in he's gonna sock em right in it.

Ivan Putski defeated Pete Mitchell with the Polish Hammer in 3:01.
Match rating: * ¾

Baron Mikel Scicluna defeated Jerry Johnson with the The Fistdrop in 3:36.
Match rating: ¼ *

Jimmy Snuka defeated Pete Doherty with the Superfly Splash in 1:36.
Match rating: * ¼

Putski, Scicluna, and Snuka all looked impressive in their bouts tonight, but "The Superfly" Jimmy Snuka looked particularly menacing. Captain Lou Albano had his charge so fired up this match was over before it began. Post match Albano dumped the ref and held poor Pete Doherty down for a second Superfly Splash.

Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura defeated S.D. Jones & David Sammartino in 12:36, when Ventura defeated Jones with the Body Breaker.
Match rating: * ¾

Young David Sammartino hoped to get his career going here in the WWF with a win, looking to follow in the HUGE footsteps of his father, Bruno. The Younger Sammartino looked fairly good here mounting a lot of strikes on Adonis to open the bout. However, the tide shifted when Jesse "The Body" Ventura got the tag. Ventura bounced David from post to post and hit a huge clothesline. As "The Body" taunted the Agricultural Hall crowd Sammartino crawled to the corner tagging in the wily vet, S.D. Jones. Special Delivery got returned though. Ventura and Adonis worked quick tags and isolated S.D. from his corner. After several minutes of courageous fighting Jones fell victim to the Body Breaker. Sammartino chased the East-West Connection from the ring as the more experienced duo almost mocked their opponents much to the dismay of the crowd. Ventura did alot of posing and posturing with the fans as they exited.

Pedro Morales defeated Sika with The Boston Crab in 14:36
Match rating: * ½

Captain Lou was in a jovial mood as he led his 2nd charge of the night out to battle for the Intercontinental strap. His mood would eventually sour as the fiery latino blood in Morales was brought to a boil. Morales has always given the fans what they want and tonight, that would be a successful title defense. Despite Capt. Lou's best attempts to help Sika wrangle the title away from Pedro, Morales managed to lock in a deep Boston Crab getting even a battle hard veteran like Sika to tap. Post match there was about to be a real bad situation as Afa and Jimmy Snuka rushed the ring. The Champion looked outnumbered 3 to 1 until a couple of Company mainstays in Pat Patterson and Dominic DeNucci made the quick save. The Fans begged and pleaded for the babyfaces to deliver a bit of comeuppance to the Wild Bunch but Albano thought better of it and pried his men away from ringside.

Overall card rating: * ¾

Vince McMahon thanked everyone at home for tuning in and advertised next weeks show, highlighting the Main Event of "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas taking on Jesse "The Body" Ventura and a 2nd feature bout with Pat Patterson taking on Greg Valentine in a #1 Contenders Match, with implications for the Intercontinental Title. Other stars scheduled include the WWF World Tag Team Champions, Saito & Fuji, Rick Martel, and Killer Khan.

[jacklarkin]

Very nice start, looking forward to seeing some more, and love the nostalgia factor.

[kingofoldschool]

This is great, keep it coming!