[1984-08-04-WWF-Philadelphia, PA] Bob Backlund vs Salvatore Bellomo

[peachchaos]

Worth watching as a historical document and a social study on wrestling audiences. The Philly sports crowd is infamous of course, but Backlund had his detractors in every market by this point. It's not a majority of the fanbase in any sense, but a vocal minority at times is palpable. At this stage in the game, though, with Bob long since associated with the strap and working opening spots in face-vs-face exhibitions, it just comes off as fickle behavior from spoiled fans. Bellomo keeps up around on the mat with Backlund and they do some entertaining work, almost lucha comedy stuff, with both guys trying to out-nice the other. The action is therefore very tenuous since there won't be any level of violence, which draws boring chants from some of the audience. Heckling, I'd say. None of the action is outright terrible and a good deal of the crowd is into this, whether they're for or against Bob, they get into the match well enough for it not to overstay it's welcome. Bob wins with a bridge. *3/4

Quote

(Backlund's last WWF match for 8 years)

And he goes out not with a bang, but with a hug as he and Bellomo embrace out of respect. Bob gets on the mic and says he's "ready to get that belt back any time", which is a real downer to go out on if not for the fact that he does actually get the belt back...in time.