Best of WWF April-June 1981

Alley Fight: Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter (5/4/81)

Patterson wearing the I Love NY shirt with a Yankees hat and cowboy boots was a nice touch. This is a legendary match because you didn't see street fight matches like this in WWF and of course you had a extremely hot angle to build it up and a tremendous crowd at the Garden who went nuts for everything involved. The action itself was really strong as both men just beat the piss out of each other and taking wild bumps which these two were famous for. Slaughter tapping a gusher and Patterson going nuts attacking the cut was awesome before Wizard ran out to save him by throwing in the towel was a great finish. This may not be as great as some people say it is but still it's a tremendous match and a slam dunk nomination.

"King Kong" Angelo Mosca vs. "Quick Draw" Rick McGraw (5/20/81)

McGraw goes and gets Bob Backlund to second him to neutralize Albano's presence at ringside. The fans are hot for McGraw but Mosca roughhouses him until McGraw starts fighting back. Albano would trip up McGraw leading to Backlund running in the ring to get attacked by Mosca who spat on him numerous times before being run off by Garea, Martel, & Mascaras. Vince would try to interview Backlund afterwards and he was extremely angry yelling out for Mosca to get his ass out there. Good angle.

Magnificent Muraco vs. "Quick Draw" Rick McGraw (4/28/81)

Muraco was in tremendous shape here and this was his peak era as a worker. McGraw was a good opponent for him as a showcase and he got quite a bit of offense in as well. Muraco takes the fight to the floor where he would slam McGraw on the ringside table then dumped him off on the floor but McGraw would fight back and gave Muraco the same treatment which drove the fans wild. Muraco got the control back but not for long as he would miss a running shoulder block into the corner allowing McGraw to get a sunset flip from the apron back in for a nearfall. Muraco would catch McGraw flush with a right hand and would cradle McGraw for the pin. This was one of the best WWF TV matches of this era and was very fun but this set is so loaded it has no chance to make it.

Next we get the return of Andre the Giant on crutches where he talks about making his return very soon and will be coming for Killer Khan which brings out Freddie Blassie who is hilarious talking shit on Andre who goes after him before Khan comes out to hit Andre with the crutch. This is a slam dunk extra. (6/9/81)

WWF Heavyweight Title: Bob Backlund © vs. "King Kong" Angelo Mosca (6/8/81)

Pat Patterson was the referee here so angle alert. Backlund is on fire to start here just taking the battle to Mosca giving him everything he has got. Mosca makes a comeback and uses his power offense on Backlund even keeping up with the pace that Backlund set at the start of the match. Mosca gets pissed at Patterson so he shoves him then Backlund catches him with a cross body block with Patterson giving a fast count as Mosca had his foot on the bottom rope which Patterson saw. Mosca was extremely pissed and then attacked Patterson after the match. This was a pretty good match before yet another crappy finish.

WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Title: Pedro Morales © vs. Sgt. Slaughter (6/8/81)

They knew their time was short so they went at it at a fast pace with Sarge taking shots from Pedro while stooging around grabbing something out of his tights to use on Pedro. Sarge would rough up Pedro for a bit before going up top where Pedro would slam him down. Pedro then comes back with some punches and this is a slugfest with Sarge being fun at selling his punch drunkness. Sarge then would grab Dick Kroll and punch him right in the face before falling on his face in a total comedy finish. The match was over but the fighting wasn't as Sarge then really hit Kroll and even put him in the Cobra Clutch until Morales chased him off. Fun end to a fun show.

WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Title: Pedro Morales © vs. Magnificent Muraco (6/20/81)

This had a methodical pace to it with lots of restholds and really dragged the match down. Pedro finally would make a fiery comeback which woke the fans up but it led to a spot where Pedro hit Muraco who also hit the referee then Pedro who thought he had Muraco finished would get nailed by a foreign object by Muraco and got pinned to lose his title. Dick Graham interviewing Pedro after the match was hilarious. The last couple of minutes of this was fine but the rest stunk.

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Rick McGraw (6/20/81)

Sarge is on his way out so he is working guys like McGraw and this was a fun little match with McGraw being really good working as the spunky underdog. McGraw also getting juice from Slaughter early after working an old cut was awesome and got the Spectrum rocking. McGraw would take a hard bump over the top to the floor allowing Sarge to make a comeback and he is pissed for McGraw making him bleed. Slaughter just nuked McGraw with the Slaughter Cannon but he kept on fighting until he ate another one for the finish. Slaughter kept pounding on McGraw afterwards making him eat a Tombstone Piledriver and a Cobra Clutch for his troubles. This was on the original WWF set and is probably the best McGraw looked in his WWF run so I'll pass this forward as a low-end nomination.

WWF Heavyweight Title: Bob Backlund vs. George "The Animal" Steele (6/20/81)

Steele is in for his yearly run during the off school period and the series with Backlund never produced what you would say were good matches but there were some fun ones. Steele was fun here getting the fans pissed off at him especially one dude who had to be stopped by security. The match itself was Steele dominating with his tactics then Backlund making a spirited comeback before getting the win.

Mil Mascaras vs. Sgt. Slaughter (6/27/81)

This is from the Capital Centre with Victor Quinnones working as the referee which is great. Interesting match on paper but this was pretty much dominated by Mascaras with Slaughter doing a great job of making him look good.