[1980-02-15-Houston Wrestling] Tony Atlas vs Gino Hernandez

[shoe]

We start with an interview with Atlas. Race interrupts and gets pressed over Atlas's head. We go to the match and this is a boatload of fun. Gino is full of charisma here. He is so great bumping and stooging for Atlas. Gino got all of Tony's stuff over. This wasn't just a one man show though. Atlas showed a lot of athleticism. Atlas took the match 2 out of 3 falls. This was so entertaining. This was worked totally different than the Atlas-Boc match, but worked just as well. 3 1/4*

[SAMS]

1980-02-15
Houston Wrestling
Tony Atlas vs Gino Hernandez
Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match
Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA
Card
★

Atlas continued his run through the territories being pushed as the hot new babyface. After popping up in Georgia and WWF in recent weeks (where they all leaned heavily into his Mr. USA title) Paul Boesch is doing the same in Houston, framing him as a classy example of what good ol’ hard work and exercise can do for you. Unrelated to this match but Vince interviewing Atlas on All-Star Wrestling had me in stitches as Atlas, in his thick Virginian drawl, kept talking about “Rasslin’” and I’m sure I could see a part of Vince’s soul die every time he heard it.
Atlas’ pre-match promo and bodybuilding presentation was interrupted by Harley Race, disgruntled that he had come all the way to Houston to witness this strip-tease. Atlas nonchalantly lifted Race in the air before gingerly plopping him back to the ground. So weird to see the current World’s Champion skulk off like a little boy who’s just been scolded by his nanny.
For the match itself, I don’t want to shit all over it but I thought things got pretty embarrassing, especially in the first fall. From what I’ve seen of Atlas so far in 1980, and due to the fact that he’s coming from the world of bodybuilding, I presumed he was pretty green at this point. However looking up his career his debut was in 1974 and he was wrestling pretty consistently for 6 years before this. If this is what he’s producing 6 years in, I fear that he’s pretty much unredeemable.
In fact, I was probably more disappointed in Gino, due to having higher hopes of his abilities based on his reputation and the flashes I’ve seen. He hasn’t been great so far in ‘80, but he’s probably been the highlight of Houston. Perhaps carrying Atlas to a compelling 20+ minute ⅔ falls match was a bridge too far for anybody. I felt that he went too overboard with his selling and it veered into goofy and that combination with Atlas’ terrible offense meant it basically descended into a farce.