Loss Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 I'm in the early stages of creating some DVD histories for most of the major promotions, and I'm wondering if someone can tell me what some of the major era-defining angles were for this company in this time period so I can attempt to track them down. Obviously, the matches featuring title changes from Bruno to Koloff, Bruno to Graham and the early days of the Backlund era are what is talked about the most, but what are some of the other big angles and big matches during this decade that no WW/W/F/E history would be complete without? This is part of a massive goal I have to do an in-depth DVD history of the company from the earliest available footage to the present, covering all the key moments, good matches and big angles. It's going to take a few years to complete, but I'm hopefully I can be at least halfway through the 80s by the end of the year, but we'll see. I'm also planning on doing this for other promotions, but I want to start with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 I'm in the early stages of creating some DVD histories for most of the major promotions, and I'm wondering if someone can tell me what some of the major era-defining angles were for this company in this time period so I can attempt to track them down. Obviously, the matches featuring title changes from Bruno to Koloff, Bruno to Graham and the early days of the Backlund era are what is talked about the most, but what are some of the other big angles and big matches during this decade that no WW/W/F/E history would be complete without? This is part of a massive goal I have to do an in-depth DVD history of the company from the earliest available footage to the present, covering all the key moments, good matches and big angles. It's going to take a few years to complete, but I'm hopefully I can be at least halfway through the 80s by the end of the year, but we'll see. I'm also planning on doing this for other promotions, but I want to start with this one. There was the whole Backlund/Inoki/Title Belt controversy in late 1979... Showdown at Shea 1972, with Morales vs. Sammartino, and Monsoon vs. Ernie Ladd on the undercard... I'd be interested if you could find any footage of the 70s version of the World Wrestling Federation Junior Heavyweight Title (January 1978 - March 1979), Fujinami held it twice... This site might be useful. I'd put a condom on your computer first, though, just to be on the safe side: http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/results.htm History of WWWF MSG matches in the 70s: http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/70smsg.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Graham's site can also be accessed via http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com. The '76 Stadium show has Sammartino/Hansen and Andre/Wepner. Andre/Wepner is no classic, but it's a famous match that inspired the Thunderlips scene in Rocky III. Sammartino/Hansen is famous for the previous match where Hansen accidently injured Sammartino's neck. Now that I think of it, Pro Wrestling Illustrated published a 40th anniversary WWE issue along with a timeline. Here's what they noted from the 70s. June 16, 1970: Manager Tony Angelo trades Ivan Koloff and the Mongols to Lou Albano for Crusher Verdu and cash (hopefully Angelo got a lot of cash). January 18, 1971: Ivan Koloff pins Bruno Sammartino for the title. February 8, 1971: Pedro Morales pins Koloff for the title. June 1971: Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler defeat the Bruiser and the Sheik to win the vacant tag team titles. July 1, 1972: Fabulous Moolah defends womens' title against Vicki Williams at MSG, as the NYSAC lifts a ban on womens wrestling. September 30, 1972: Pedro and Bruno wrestle at Shea. December 18, 1972: Mil Mascaras makes MSG debut, first masked wrestler to compete at MSG. December 1, 1973: Stan Stasiak wins title. May 9, 1975: Bruno Sammartino battles PWF champion Giant Baba in a unification match in Tokyo. Match ends in no-contest. April 26, 1976: Match between Sammartino and Hansen is stopped due to blood. It is later revealed that Hansen broke Sammartino's neck with a lariat. (I've seen the clip, it was actually a botched bodyslam.) June 25, 1976: Shea Stadium card. April 30, 1977: Superstar Graham wins title. January 23, 1978: Tatsumi Fujinami wins WWWF Junior Heavyweight title. The title becomes a fixture in Japan and eventually joins the J-Cup. January 25, 1978: Superstar Graham battles NWA champion Harley Race at the Orange Bowl. February 20, 1978: Bob Backlund wins title. March 25, 1979: Backlund battles AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel. April 1979: WWWF becomes WWF. June 19, 1979: Pat Patterson defeats Ted DiBiase for WWF North American title. Title evolves into intercontinental title later in the year. September 1979: Patterson recognized as first IC champion. November 30, 1979: Antonio Inoki defeats Bob Backlund for WWF totle. Their matches of the year: 1970: Bruno Sammartino vs. Crusher Verdu 1971: Ivan Koloff vs. Bruno Sammartino 1972: Pedro Morales vs. Bruno Sammartino 1973: Tony Garea & Haystacks Calhoun vs. Professor Tanaka & Mr. Fuji 1974: Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant & Haystacks Calhoun vs. The Valients & Killer Kowalski 1975: Bruno Sammartino vs. Spiros Arion 1976: Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen 1977: Superstar Graham vs. Bruno Sammartino 1978: Bob Backlund vs. Superstar Graham 1979: Bob Backlund vs. Pat Patterson Some of those are pretty vague, Backlund/Patterson had many matches in 1979. Sammartino/Arion is worth noting, as Arion's heel turn was a big deal at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Thanks for the help, guys! Yeah, I knew about Cawthon's site and just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything huge. One thing that I'm hoping exists on tape is the angle where Greg Valentine broke Jay Strongbow's leg. I've watched a few of the matches they had after Strongbow came back seeking revenge, and most of them are actually pretty fun, but I haven't had a chance to try to find the original angle that started it all yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I don't know how far you've gotten, but one big one I missed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4OiBbEditM Muhammad Ali meets Gorilla Monsoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 Is there any footage of Bruno vs Koloff? All I've ever seen is the photo of Ivan in mid-air delivering the winning kneedrop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHawk Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 Is there any footage of Bruno vs Koloff? All I've ever seen is the photo of Ivan in mid-air delivering the winning kneedrop. Koloff pins Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I know there's a better quality video around. It certainly exists in any case, and I wonder why WWE never uses it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted May 7, 2007 Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 I know there's a better quality video around. It certainly exists in any case, and I wonder why WWE never uses it. They didn't shoot it themselves. The only fan-shot footage they ever used was the Clique curtain call for the "DX is trying to get fired" angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted May 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 This is still in progress. Will add what was mentioned to the list of stuff I'm needing to seek out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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