Strongbow/Garea vs Yukon Lumberjacks from 7/15/78 ends with a pretty fun wild brawl outside the ring with the fans getting out of their seats and surrounding the action like a fight at school or in a prison yard

So what was the deal with Piper's brief 79 run? Was it just a case of the locker room not liking an upstart punk kid? I vaguely remember Piper said something about pissing off one of the managers...

I know Piper claimed Albano and Blassie didn't like him, or at least ribbed him by putting toilet paper in his bagpipes. Other than that I can't recall what the deal was. He definitely came off as a star and was over in Hamburg

I checked Patterson's book and he has it essentially right. Patterson came on to do the series with Backlund. He stuck around, eventually they made him an agent

Pat did still do some work in the AWA after that run and maybe a few other places.

I imagine the context of turning into an agent was different before 84 and all that.

Good on Vince for recognizing that Pat had some additional talents he could make work for the WWF as time went on.

So clearly I've become obsessed with this TV show which is ridiculous but I can't help it. If they don't upload more - is there a lot of Championship Wrestling or All-Star Wrestling from 81-83 out there. You don't have to tell me where unless its super obscure, I can do my own research, just curious if it exists.

I wish I could quote Khawk's post, for some reason the work browser I'm forced with doesn't allow me.

 

Patterson did work some spots outside WWWF in the early '80s. Looking at his matches on Wrestlingdata.com he did Japan tours, worked Montreal, AWA, San Francisco, etc. Except for Japan, never for more than a week at a time. His primary role for Vince Sr. for a time was commentary, so a taping schedule would've allowed Pat to do that kind of work. Pat tells a story in his book of getting booked for Verne in San Francisco for a battle royal, and Roy Shire pitching a fit and getting Pat booked for him as well. When Vince Jr. takes over, it looks like the outside bookings dry up, except for Montreal.

 

So what was the deal with Piper's brief 79 run? Was it just a case of the locker room not liking an upstart punk kid? I vaguely remember Piper said something about pissing off one of the managers...

I know Piper claimed Albano and Blassie didn't like him, or at least ribbed him by putting toilet paper in his bagpipes. Other than that I can't recall what the deal was. He definitely came off as a star and was over in Hamburg

 

 

 

It always seemed to me that they thought they were just hazing the new kid and Piper not being the kind of guy who would react well to that.

So clearly I've become obsessed with this TV show which is ridiculous but I can't help it. If they don't upload more - is there a lot of Championship Wrestling or All-Star Wrestling from 81-83 out there. You don't have to tell me where unless its super obscure, I can do my own research, just curious if it exists.

Yes, and some of it it is a bit obscure

I wish I could quote Khawk's post, for some reason the work browser I'm forced with doesn't allow me.

 

Patterson did work some spots outside WWWF in the early '80s. Looking at his matches on Wrestlingdata.com he did Japan tours, worked Montreal, AWA, San Francisco, etc. Except for Japan, never for more than a week at a time. His primary role for Vince Sr. for a time was commentary, so a taping schedule would've allowed Pat to do that kind of work. Pat tells a story in his book of getting booked for Verne in San Francisco for a battle royal, and Roy Shire pitching a fit and getting Pat booked for him as well. When Vince Jr. takes over, it looks like the outside bookings dry up, except for Montreal.

 

Thanks Al, appreciated

The Valiants were just workhorses for this company at this point, weren't they? All over TV and house shows. I always love Vince interviewing them and Lou.

So I'm guessing Vince and Lou had a falling out at some point? Vince is clearly getting a kick out of his antics at this point, but Lou's admitted he took advantage of being one of the guys Vince Sr promised his son would take care of and of course his run ins with Shane.

So I'm guessing Vince and Lou had a falling out at some point? Vince is clearly getting a kick out of his antics at this point, but Lou's admitted he took advantage of being one of the guys Vince Sr promised his son would take care of and of course his run ins with Shane.

Heyman's interview on the Observer site when Lou died was amazing. Heyman must have so many stories that we'll probably never hear. But based on the interview, man, Lou was nuts, I can see a falling out happening.

He was nuts and had a huge alcohol problem which is a very bad combination. Maybe the second thing lead to the first or vice versa, who knows.

So I'm guessing Vince and Lou had a falling out at some point? Vince is clearly getting a kick out of his antics at this point, but Lou's admitted he took advantage of being one of the guys Vince Sr promised his son would take care of and of course his run ins with Shane.

 

Vince Jr. and Albano had a love-hate relationship as much as Albano had with Vince Sr. He couldn't stand Albano when he was drunk and thought he was a slobby loudmouth (but otherwise did get a kick out of Albano's schtick). Larry Zbyszko tells a great story in his timeline of all of the guys (Vince Jr. and Sr., Blassie, Bruno, Gorilla, Albano, etc.) being together for a late night dinner and Albano is just completely hammered and cursing out the McMahons and chewing them out over absolutely nothing while everyone besides Bruno and Vince Jr. is just sitting there totally ignoring it with a straight face.

 

Observers from around when Albano retired in 1986 seemed to indicate that Vince wasn't happy with how Albano was finding success outside of wrestling with his acting and various pop culture ventures and that he was more than happy when Albano announced his retirement in November 1986. Vince felt that Albano was getting too big for his britches. They always had a complicated relationship. He almost brought Albano back in to manage The Nasty Boys when they were turned babyface in late 1992 and then Albano did something again that caused another rift.

Albano was on TV as late as the mid 90s with the Headshrinkers right.

Yeah. I forget the reasoning behind it but they brought him back for their tag team championship run and then he was one of the guys they cut for budget reasons in 1995. He also cameo'd on an episode of RAW in 1994 or 93 picking a fight with Blassie.

So why did Bruno go pretty much silent on commentary by the time you're watching 86 Superstars? I think he's great here. Was he fighting with Vince? Didnt like all the gimmicks? Didn't like Jesse?

He was pretty much relegated to only commentating over the replays. Not sure if he was told not to speak during the body of the match or not

Oh my god, Vince interviewing Blassie on 9/22/79 at around the 16 minute mark. Outside of Memphis, it just doesn't get better than this. Anyone who is a fan of WWE or the Mr. McMahon character needs to watch this. I can't believe I'm enjoying Vince this much but I guess it makes sense that the biggest figure in wrestling history was able to be a fun territorial announcer.

So why did Bruno go pretty much silent on commentary by the time you're watching 86 Superstars? I think he's great here. Was he fighting with Vince? Didnt like all the gimmicks? Didn't like Jesse?

 

Definitely isn't about disliking Jesse IMO. Jesse and Bruno did matches together for Prime Time in 1987-88 and Bruno is shockingly really good and had some great chemistry with Jesse. I think Bruno had a harder time having a voice in the three man booth era with Jesse in there to talk over Vince and after awhile just decided that he didn't need to bother anymore. Jesse used to have to guide him into saying anything sometimes by basically keying him to call the instant replay. I swear there's an episode of Superstars in 1988 where Bruno says one thing the entire broadcast. I like Jesse but you cannot do a three man booth and have Jesse Ventura in there. You won't get a word in.

 

I will say Bruno didn't like all the gimmicks. There's a story George Steele told about how Bruno went up to him in 1985 or 86 around when he was finally quitting teaching and joining the WWF full time. Bruno vented to him about how cartoonish the WWF was becoming, and then after viewing Steele's match Bruno went up to him and said "you're one of them too!!"

 

But also I imagine Bruno had little motivation to keep working for Vince after David left anyway. When did David have that fight with a fan in 1988? Wasn't it around the same time Bruno bounced from the WWF?

Bruno only came out of retirement to work matches and do commentary as a favor to Vince in return for David getting a push. I think Bruno always felt like Vince just used David to get Bruno back, and that was really the source of his grudge against the company all those years. David and Bruno had a falling out IIRC and I wouldn't be surprised if Bruno blamed Vince indirectly for it.

Vince/Blassie interviews are becoming my favorite thing this side of Russell/Hart. Vince so appalled at Swede Hanson doing moves targeting the neck. Why can't he be doing armbars or figure four leg locks? Because Blassie wants the opponents crippled!

Bruno only came out of retirement to work matches and do commentary as a favor to Vince in return for David getting a push. I think Bruno always felt like Vince just used David to get Bruno back, and that was really the source of his grudge against the company all those years. David and Bruno had a falling out IIRC and I wouldn't be surprised if Bruno blamed Vince indirectly for it.

 

Yup, he did blame Vince for the falling out; David had talked about it in the past. As far as I know they still don't speak to each other.

I've just finished the episode(march 10th,1979)where Greg valentine "breaks" chief jay strongbows leg with the figure four. I've never seen the full match and I just remember gorilla monsoon in purple pants coming out to help. It's brilliant pro wrestling gaga. The next match goes ahead with the ring drenched in water. It's glorious stuff. Also Vince and Bruno have a discussion for at least two minutes about how being heavier then your opponent isn't always a good thing unless it's good weight. This is Vince McMahon talking FFS.

IIRC, it wasn't until Hogan came around that Vince turned into the muscle loving gym rat we know and love today.