NWF, 1983

[JerryvonKramer]

Mohammed Saed has just handed in his notice, and Don Leo Jonathan -- who seems to have a lot of heat in the locker room as a road agent -- has also requested to leave which has been agreed, both are gone from NWF. Coming in the other way is Bobby Eaton and David Sammartino back from rehab.

 

This seems a good time to take stock of the roster.

Let's look at the out-of-ring talent:

 

The Mooney / Tolos partnership is still quite a sub-par pairing for TV and I am considering transitioning Mooney into an interviewer role and bringing in a new play-by-play guy to pair with Roddy Piper on the A show with Tolos on the B show. An offer has been made to try to lure Jim Ross away from Mid-South. With Don Leo Jonathan leaving, Lou Thesz continues as the main road agent, as well as on-air President of NWF, and Dominic Denucci is an agent also. Brian Hildebrand is the only ref and Grand Wizard the only manager. As things stand more are not required.

 

Let's look at the job squad now.

 

Scicluna is still in rehab and it strikes me that there are no heel jobbers on the roster. Offers have been made to Lanny Poffo, which should make Savage happy if he comes, Paul Christy, Terry Gibbs, and Victor Rivera.

 

Next up, the midcard.

 

 

Most of these guys are currently in the tag mix with the exception of Foley and Douglas who are long-term projects. Foley is still only 17 and Douglas is 18. I want to keep them bubbling away on the undercard for a good while -- with Foley working the angle of being strange or mentally deranged.

 

There are two wrestlers who a notch above these workers:

 

Arn is still quite young here but is already tag champion with Ole, and I am not yet sure what to do with Eaton. The roster may be getting big enough to introduce a secondary singles title.

 

Finally the stars:

 

 

The promotion has been ticking over and steadily growing in its first five months with Bruno working various one-shot challengers brought in by the Grand Wizard in the Vince Sr pattern. But Bruno is 47 years old and this will not be good long-term. In the short-term this can continue ticking over, but new stars need to be built.

 

Tommy Rich and Hulk Hogan are both already popular regional stars with national recognition. Savage is less well known and Rude still virtually unknown. Piper is a pretty big star, especially in the Mid-Atlantic and South West regions, as well as in the North West.

 

The challenge will be to create some hot feuds involving these guys to build them to a point where any could be viable contenders for Bruno's title. The establishment of a secondary heel champion with babyfaces chasing him might help here.

 

Looking at the options, Rude is not yet ready for this role, so it will be between Savage and Piper. I have yet to use Piper in the ring at all, he is presenting Piper's Pit on the B show currently -- this may well get switched to the A show. That leaves Savage as the secondary champion. And I think a tournament is the obvious way to do this.

 

Perhaps Piper could form an alliance with Savage and The Andersons with a stated mission to take over the world of NWF as the true "Masters of the League of Champions". Yes, a stable! Perhaps this is where Bobby Eaton comes in as a member of this group. The stable can be called "The Five Star" -- not only a nod to the dirt sheets but also the idea that the five men form five points of a star.

 

The story will then be of Hogan and Rich both turning up to stop this group taking over and allying with the Harts. Then we have:

 

Hogan vs. Piper as the headline feud.

Rich chasing Savage for the secondary belt.

Harts chasing Andersons for the tag titles.

 

Bobby Eaton in the role of being the first obstacle to face or slotting in as tag partner where necessary.

 

All the while that goes on Bruno will continue to face villains of the month managed by Grand Wizard and defending his title almost detached from the rest of the card. Have just tried to sign Miss Elizabeth also, who will add some flavour to the whole deal.

 

 

 

 

 

[kevinmcfl]

Great job growing this roster quickly and you have created a fun read!

[JerryvonKramer]

The NWF Tour introduced the Nickelodeon audience to Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth as well as handing debuts to the Harts in the main event. Piper's Pit featured Grand Wizard hyping up the fact that he is bringing in Stan Stasiak to face Bruno. Meanwhile David Sammartino has his first match after coming back from rehab ... and he was wasted on drugs. Again!

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions opened with a slightly new look today and two brand new hosts!

 

 

Sean Mooney had actually been improving as an announcer and had excellent chemistry with John Tolos, but the A-show needed a more "stellar" feeling commentary team and this ticks every box.

Randy Savage squashed Frankie Williams and then gave an interview to Mooney alongside Miss Elizabeth who stood around looking pretty. The Harts defeated Yatsu and Pogo again as they continue to build momentum. The Andersons cut a promo to remind everyone they are still tag champs. 

 

The biggest news on the show was the debut of Hulk Hogan who has agreed -- in exchange for significant money -- to give up his other contracts and sign on an exclusive pay-per-appearance basis with NWF. The crowd seemed stoked to see him as "Eye of the Tiger" played. Hogan defeated The Sheik who was extremely unhappy to do this job on his way out, but did it nonetheless.

 

In the main event, Bruno Sammartino made short work of Stan Stasiak who was quite rusty having been retired for some time and working color commentary for Pacific Northwest (Portland) TV. However, the Grand Wizard's relentless attempt to recreate every WWWF main event of the 1960s and 1970s will continue unabated. "The Manager of Champions" is not going to give up now!

 

[JerryvonKramer]

Unfortunately, Nickelodeon did not air this show owing to a scheduling clash, and so only the live crowd got to see it. Tommy Rich debuted and defeated Shane Douglas in the first round of the National title tournament while Hogan and Savage won sqaushes and the Andersons defended their title. Grand Wizard announced Greg Valentine will take on Bruno next week.

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions advanced the tournament another match with Rick Rude going over Don Diamond. The Harts continued to pick up steam with Bret Hart's performance particularly standing out against Doug Somers and Jerry Valiant. Greg Valentine came in for a solid match against Bruno in the main event.

 

The Ross / Piper pairing on commentary has a little teething trouble, but on the whole seems to be lifting the product.

[JerryvonKramer]

Plans for the National Title tournament are now taking shape as the entire first round is over owing to the whole card of NWF Tour on Nickelodeon being devoted to it. Here is the next round of the draw to take place in the coming weeks before the grand final at the Wrestling Classic which will take place at the end of June next month.

 

Meanwhile, David Sammartino's drug problem is getting out of hand and causing a lot of heat with the locker room. However, Bruno is very unlikely to fire him and it is likely he will be sent to rehab after his next match.

[JerryvonKramer]

The tournament continues as Piper went over David Sammartino (who will be sent to rehab again now) and Tommy Rich defeated Rick Rude who is still in the process of establishing his act and getting over. Savage had a wild brawl with the young Mick Foley who suffered his first ever singles loss in NWF.

 

But then in the main event: CHAOS. As Hulk Hogan was taking on Bobby Eaton the ring was stormed by Arn and Ole Anderson who tripped Hogan up from outside the ring. As the ref turned to look at them, Roddy Piper leaped from his position in the commentary booth, grabbed a steel chair and laid Hogan out with it. As the ref was still dealing with the Andersons, Randy Savage ran down to ringside and climbed onto the top rope to deliver his patented elbow onto the steel chair which Piper had laid across Hogan. The ref rang the bell for a DQ but it was too late, Hogan was bleeding and now Eaton, The Andersons, Piper and Savage were laying into him with cheap kicks and stomps. Doctors and officials ran to the ring and Hogan had to be stretchered out. Piper called for a microphone and started laughing manically. 

 

Piper: A new era has dawned in NWF. Ha ha ha ha. Because you see, there are five digits on this hand, there are five points on a star, and there are five of us, you see!! Ha ha ha ha. 

 

Savage: Oh yeah, the Five Star has made a statement, Hogan. Tommy Rich. Bruno Sammartino. You dig it? We have a master plan. 

 

Piper: Ha ha ha ha. It's all up here. It's all up here!

 

Ole: Never before in professional wrestling have so many great minds coalesced in one place at one time for one purpose and one purpose only! We are going to capture every single piece of gold in the NWF. We are going to leave all of you pipsqueaks watching at home with no doubt at all in any of your minds who is the best thing in professional wrestling today.

 

Piper (exploding with manic energy) : Ha ha ha ha. It's all up here. It's all up here!

 

Arn: As you see this big goof Hulk Hogan being stretchered out of this building, let it be a lesson to anyone. He tried to mess with Bobby Eaton, you mess with one point of the star you mess with ALL of us! 

 

Piper: Ha ha ha ha ha. It's all up here! It's all up here!

 

[JerryvonKramer]

Tonight's NWF Tour on Nickleodeon started with Sean Mooney and John Tolos reviewing the tournament to crown the first NWF National champion. The brackets look like this:

 

 

Tolos noted that he wonders whether Hulk Hogan will be able to compete after the assault on him on League of Champions. Tolos also said it will be interesting to see what happens if both Savage and Piper win now that they are partners in the Five Star faction.

 

Just as they were wrapping up the review, Mick Foley climbed out of the crowd and put a brown paper bag on Sean Mooney's head while making manic noises. John Tolos intervened and the retired star started brawling with Foley until officials had to break them apart! It seems that Tolos has developed a strong bond with his co-host and put his formerly bad attitude behind him.

The rest of the card featured routine wins for Rick Rude, The Harts and Yatsu, and the main event saw Bobby Eaton defeat Siva Afi.

 

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions featured a "once in a lifetime" main event tonight as Harley Race challenged Bruno Sammartino for the NWF title in a match that brought the house down. 

 

In other news, the new colour commentator on League of Champions, Roddy Piper, has moved his talk show, Piper's Pit, from the NWF Tour to the League of Champions. He says that it is now "his television programme". Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan is said to be still in hospital one week after the five on one attack on him at the hands of The Five Star faction. Roddy Piper spent the entire show crowing about it on commentary.

 

The Harts beat Somers and Valiant while the Andersons defended their tag titles against Siva Afi and David Sammartino.

 

[JerryvonKramer]

NWF Tour on Nickleodeon came from a packed out arena in Brooklyn New York this week with a very special main event: Bruno Sammartino vs. Dusty Rhodes! The Grand Wizard surprised everyone by luring Dusty Rhodes to be managed by him for this one match. It seems like Rhodes has sold out to the wily manager. The crowd went wild for the match which had tremendous heat even though the in-ring action was fairly basic.

The rest of the card saw another title defense for the Andersons and Rick Rude mocking the pudgy body of Frank Williams before beating him in five minutes.

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions featured a huge announcement and debut, which is that The Grand Wizard of Wrestling has reunited with Superstar Billy Graham!!! (in actuality Graham is on a three-appearance talent trade loan from Jim Crockett Promotions). They have their sights set on Bruno Sammartino's NWF title and have challenged him to a match at the forthcoming Wrestling Classic Supercard.

Meanwhile, the main event saw the semi-final of the NWF National Title tournament, and after a wild brawl between Roddy Piper and Tommy Rich, Piper pulled out a pair of brass knucks right in front of the ref got himself deliberately DQ'd knocking out Rich in the process. Randy Savage, The Andersons and Bobby Eaton then stormed the ring and started stomping the knocked out Rich as Piper laughed and looked on. On commentary, Jim Ross speculated that this had been their plan all along: they've softened up Hogan for Savage and now they are going to serve up an injured Rich to whoever reaches the final. Hogan is still in hospital so it remains to be seen if he will even make it to the other semi-final match.

 

Elsewhere on the card, Mick Foley defeated Frank Monte, but the commentary team spent the match discussing his bizarre attack on Sean Mooney and the ensuing altercation with John Tolos. Will Tolos come out of retirement to take on the deranged youngster? There's speculation he's considering lacing up the boots and putting on the tights one last time to face Foley at The Wrestling Classic!

 

The Harts chalked up another win going over Pogo and Yatsu.

 

[JerryvonKramer]

The contracts of Yatsu and Pogo are up, and -- unfortunately -- Baron Mikel Scicluna is set on retiring. So it's time to bolster the roster, especially at the more jobber end. To this end, NWF has signed Ken Timbs, Rick Hunter, and Jose Luis Rivera. After the upcoming supercard, it will be time to make a FORMULA for how the roster will be booked. Jos LeDuc will also be coming in as a jobber, and Killer Kowolski has signed as a road agent to replace Don Leo Jonathan. He will help Lou Thesz with the day-to-day running of shows.

The NWF Tour on Nickelodeon revolved around two storylines building into The Wrestling Classic PPV event next week. 

 

First, Mick Foley tried to attack John Tolos who demanded a match with him at the PPV. Second, and much more significantly, Hulk Hogan came back after being hospitalized by the Five Star faction and working hard in the gym to come back only to be ATTACKED AGAIN by Randy Savage who hid under the ring during his match with Doug Somers. Savage suckered Hogan as he was celebrating with a steel chair to the back of his leg. The Andersons then hit the ring and tried to break Hogan's leg. They pinned him down as Bobby Eaton hit the Alabama Jam from the top rope onto his leg. Mooney and Tolos wondered on commentary what this might mean for Savage and Hogan's upcoming match in the semi-final of the NWF National title tournament which was scheduled for next week's League of Champions TV show. Could the Five Star have put Hogan out of action?

 

Elsewhere on the card, the Anderson's defended their tag titles against a debuting Jose Luiz Rivera and Frank Monte and David Sammartino beat Ken Timbs.

 

 

 

[JerryvonKramer]

The last TV show before the Wrestling Classic PPV set up the grand final of the NWF National Title tournament, which we now know will be Tommy Rich vs. Randy Savage. The show started by showing a recap of the latest Five Star attack on Hogan who was scheduled to face Savage in the opening match. Gary Michael Cappetta announced Savage who went down to the ring for the match but when he announced Hogan, he was nowhere to be seen. After some minutes with the crowd instensely booing Savage, NWF President Lou Thesz came out and told the referee Brian Hildebrand to start counting Hulk Hogan out. He got all the way to ten without Hogan appearing and Savage went through to the final in the cheapest possible way. On commentary, Roddy Piper cackled at the genius of the Five Star plan recounting how he had gotten himself DQ'd against Tommy Rich to ensure Savage would have a clear run against him in the final. Although Tommy Rich is back in action tonight, he has been softened up. Jim Ross responded by saying there needs to be a steward's enquiry into how the Five Star have gamed this tournament, and regulations should be established to stop something like this happening again. He said he will personally write to Lou Thesz to look into this, and if he gets nowhere, might take it all the way to Bob Giegel and the top brass at the NWA.

 

Meanwhile, Billy Graham warmed up for the match against Bruno Sammartino at the PPV with a win over Don Diamond and cut a promo. Some fans wondered if Superstar had lost something, since the old elecricity seemed to be missing. Nonetheless, The Grand Wizard and Graham seemed to be happy to be back together and the segment went over well in the end.

 

The Harts beat Rick Hunter and Terry Gibbs in anticipation for their match with The Andersons at the PPV. They feel they deserve to be the tag champions now, and Jim Ross on commentary noted that they have racked up a lot of victories. Roddy Piper poured scorn and said that The Harts are children compared to the Andersons and that their old man should never have let them leave Canada.

 

Tommy Rich defeated Mr Pogo but was noticeably limping and did not seem to be at 100% fitness. Roddy Piper mocked him from his position in the commentary booth which led to several near falls in which Mr Pogo took advantage.

 

In the main event, Killer Karl Kox came in for a one shot and had a match with Bruno Sammartino that was way better than it had any right to be.  They tore it up as if it were the 1960s.

 

[JerryvonKramer]

The Wrestling Classic I at the NY Expo Centre, Madison Square Gardens!

 

The show started with Gary Michael Cappetta introducing Jim Ross and Sean Mooney as tonight's hosts, because both John Tolos and Roddy Piper were in high profile matches tonight.

 

Then to everyone's surprise, Hulk Hogan walked out on crutches and the crowd cheered. He said since he can't wrestle, he wants to join Ross and Mooney on commentary for the night. They were only too happy to have him.

 

 

The opener featured the legendary John Tolos coming out of retirement to face the deranged youngster, Mick Foley who has been harrassing Sean Mooney on the NWF tour for weeks. Tolos dominated the match, but Foley managed to surprise him with a quick roll up for an upset victory. During the match Foley tried to dive from the top rope to the outside and sustained a legit injury by straining his thigh muscle as he landed awkwardly. Tolos was injured in the match also. The crowd seemed to come alive for it, 

 

Ric Flair came to this special supercard to defend the NWA title against the top contender: Roddy Piper! Flair was carrying an injury so this only went ten minutes. Hulk Hogan got his revenge on Piper for orchestrating the attacks that got him injured by continuously distracting him from the commentary booth.  Hogan agitated Piper so much that he could not resist going over to jaw with him but winded up getting counted out in the process. 

 

 

Piper was absolutely furious with Hogan for costing him his big opportunity to win the NWA World title and had a massive hissy fit much to Hogan's -- and the crowd's -- amusement.

 

The Grand Final of the NWF National Title tournament between Tommy Rich and Randy Savage was finally upon us. The match went for almost 40 minutes and there was some terrific wrestling on display. After a lot of near falls, Rich seemed finally to be getting the better of Savage when bailed from the ring. Rich followed him and he hid behind Miss Elizabeth -- the crowd booed this loudly. When Rich went for him again he threw Elizabeth at him and slid back into the ring. Elizabeth fell to the floor and Rich tried to made sure she was okay when Bobby Eaton stormed into the ring and suckered him from behind with a chair and rolled him back into the ring. Savage dropped the elbow for the three count to become the first NWF National Champion! 

 

Rich came to as Savage was celebrating and was so angry that he gave him piledriver and then hit him with the new belt! Savage had to be carried from the ring with Miss Elizabeth looking on concerned, but even as Savage was being carried out Rich attached him again! The crowd was hot for this, after Savage and his Five Star group had cheated so much and assaulted so many to get to this point. On commentary Hulk Hogan was beside himself with what had transpired.

 

Bret and Bruce Hart finally got their shot for the NWF tag titles against Arn and Ole Anderson. The Harts seemed to be coming out on top of the match when Bobby Eaton ran in rammed Bruce Hart into the steel post. Bret Hart had to go for another 5 minutes two-on-one. He managed to eliminate Ole Anderson by throwing him out of the ring, the landing outside on the concrete seemed to take it out of Ole. Bret was left with Arn Anderson to defeat. He hit his patented backbreaker and started setting up for his sharpshooter, but Arn had seen enough and pulled out a set of brass knucks blatantly in front of the referee, knocked Bret out and got himself disqualified. The fans were almost in riotous mood at this. Has there ever been a faction to bend the rules as much as Five Star? The Andersons lost the match but kept the belts! 

 

And in the main event, Bruno Sammartino defeated Superstar Billy Graham in an excellent match. Although the crowd just over 1,000 strong, they made so much noise you'd have thought there was twenty times that many there. Bruno won the match with a sleeper hold, putting Graham to bed.

 

After the match Bruno celebrated with the title, and the commentary put over his 20th title defence against his old rival "historic". Jim Ross said this was one of the greatest nights in the history of this great sport. 

 

Around 27,000 people bought tickets to the show on Closed Circuit television.

 

Such was the success of the Wrestling Classic that the NWF grew from "small" to "regional" status.

[JerryvonKramer]

 

 

With the step up in size, the time has come to get down some booking formulas and structure. Thus far Brian Hildebrand has refereed every single match. Earl Hebner is currently a free agent, so NWF has made an offer for him to come in as another referee. As such, there will be a core crew to work League of Champions TV show and a core crew to work the NWF Tour on Nickelodeon. Stars are free to float between the two shows.

 

Stars

 

Bruno Sammartino

Hulk Hogan

Randy Savage

Roddy Piper

Tommy Rich

Arn Anderson

Ole Anderson

Bret Hart

Bruce Hart

Bobby Eaton

Rick Rude

Mick Foley

Shane Douglas

 

League of Champions Core Crew

 

Play-by-Play: Jim Ross

Color: Roddy Piper

Ref: Earl Hebner

Road Agents: Dominic Denucci, Lou Thesz

 

Pure Jobbers: Frank Monte, Frank Williams,  Paul Christy, Terry Gibbs

JTTS: Siva Afi, Jose Luis Rivera, Baron Mikel Scicluna (until he retires), Mr Pogo (until he leaves)

 

NWF Tour on Nickelodeon Core Crew

 

Play-by-Play: Sean Mooney

Color: John Tolos

Ref: Brian Hildebrand

Road Agent: Killer Kowolski

 

Pure Jobbers: Don Diamond, Ken Timbs, Mike Jackson, Rick Hunter

JTTS: Jos Leduc, David Sammartino, Doug Somers, Jerry Valiant, Johnny Valiant (has just joined), Yatsu (until he leaves)

 

League of Champions Formula

 

Jobber vs. Jobber

JTTS over Jobber

Star over Jobber

Piper's Pit

Star over JTTS (single or tag)

NWF Title defence [Bruno vs. villain of the week]

 

NWF Tour on Nickelodeon Formula

Jobber vs. Jobber

JTTS over Jobber

Star over Jobber

Interview

Star over JTTS (single or tag)

NWF National title defence [Savage vs. whoever]

 

There is a logic to the formula as follows:

 

Week 1

Jobber 1 goes over Jobber 2

 

Week 2

JTTS goes over Jobber 1

 

Week 3

Star goes over JTTS

 

That means the JTTS should pick up at least one win before a loss, and the jobber they beat will be coming off a win. This should help to keep stars feeling more special. Looking at things, there likely needs to be a greater number of JTTS in each crew, maybe a couple more heels for League of Champions and a couple more faces for the Tour.

[JerryvonKramer]

The first show using the new formula showed that more depth is needed in the JTTS ranks, and possibly one more jobber also.

 

Not much happened on this show beyond Savage picking up his first title defence in a heel vs. heel match against Doug Somers -- that shows that new recruits are needed.

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions show and not much to note, just bedding in the new formula. Frank Williams vs. Paul Christy ten minute time-limit draw is a match practically no one wanted to see!

 

The challenger for Bruno this week was Waldo von Erich who shocked fans by doing a Nazi salute during Piper's Pit. At 49, Waldo showed some ring rust but the main event was fine.

 

 

Meanwhile, NWF have been in touch with a lot of wrestlers about coming in either as jobbers or JTTS:

 

Nick de Carlo is a former tag partner of Dominic Denucci, while Joe Savoldi is friends with Bruno and Dominic also. Some good hands here to help rotate the lower card a little more.

 

Bids for Dean Malenko, Wayne Ferris, and the Spoiler all failed. Second bids have been made to bring them in on shorter contracts.

[JerryvonKramer]

Updated:

 

League of Champions Core Crew

Pure Jobbers:

Faces: Frank Monte, Frank Williams, Italian Stallion

Heels: Terry Gibbs, Doug Vines, Buddy Lane

JTTS:

Faces: Siva Afi, Nick DeCarlo, Joe Savoldi, Jose Luis Rivera

Heels: Paul Christy, Dr Jerry Graham Jr, Baron Mikel Scicluna (until he retires), Mr Pogo (until he leaves), Joe Malenko, Dean Malenko

Siva Afi, Jose Luis Rivera,

NWF Tour on Nickelodeon Core Crew

Pure Jobbers:

Faces: 

Don Diamond, Mike Jackson, George South

Heels:

Ken Timbs, Rick Hunter, Dusty Wolfe

JTTS:

Faces:

David Sammartino, George Wells, Hercules Hernandez, Mike George, 

Heels:

Jos Leduc, Doug Somers, Jerry Valiant, Johnny Valiant, Yatsu (until he leaves), Chris Colt

 

This should give decent depth going forward.

[JerryvonKramer]

NWF Tour on Nickelodeon went to Charlottesville, NC for the first time drawing a solid crowd of 1,000. Randy Savage is away doing a NJPW tour so Roddy Piper headlined against George Wells making his debut. The main storyline on the card was Piper seeking revenge on Hulk Hogan for costing him the NWA title against Ric Flair at the Wrestling Classic. Piper wanted Hogan to come out but Hogan was nowhere to be seen as he was still recovering from the injury at the hands of the Five Star faction.

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions featured Mark Lewin making his debut for NWF on a three-month contract. He worked the main event against Bruno Sammartino in a losing effort for the NWF title. 

 

Elsewhere on the show Mick Foley appeared on Piper's Pit wearing a t-shit that read "I beat the legend John Tolos" and claimed to be a "legend killer". He called out NWF President Lou Thesz, who did not appear, and said that it doesn't matter how long Thesz was world champion or how many titles he has, that he -- Mick Foley -- can take down any legend.

 

Tommy Rich went to visit Hulk Hogan who was training at his gym, and says he is almost fit again. Hogan has Roddy Piper squarely in his sights while Tommy Rich seeks a rematch with Randy Savage for the NWF national title.

[JerryvonKramer]

NWF Tour went to Orlando, Florida for the first time and saw Randy Savage defend his NWF National Title against Hercules Hernandez. The big news was that Hulk Hogan was back in action and he has his sights set squarely on Roddy Piper. In backstage news, Chris Colt was reported to be wasted on drugs as well as being drunk by Killer Kowolski, and it is expected that he will be severely fined by NWF owner Bruno Sammartino on both counts. He has since walked out of the company.

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions saw the debut of The Spoiler who -- like Mark Lewin -- has signed a 3-month contract. He is being managed by The Grand Wizard and lost against Bruno Sammartino in a bid to win the NWF title.

 

Elsewhere on the show, Piper's Pit was essentially a massive circle jerk for The Five Star faction as Piper was joined by his stablemates Randy Savage, The Andersons and Bobby Eaton. Savage and The Andersons showed off their belts. Savage bad mouthed Tommy Rich and Piper berated Hulk Hogan.

 

Yatsu worked his last date for NWF with Mr Pogo already having walked out. 

 

[JerryvonKramer]

The NWF Tour on Nickelodeon drew its biggest ever gate in the McCann Ice Arena, Poughkeepsie, New York. Chris Colt, who has already handed in his notice and massively fallen out with the management team was buried on the show as Bobby Eaton defeated him in less than 30 seconds.

 

Dominic Denucci made a surprise appearance to challenge Randy Savage for his NWF National title while Mick Foley continued his demented attempts to wrestle NWF President Lou Thesz, who has yet to respond to the challenge.

[JerryvonKramer]

League of Champions saw Bobby Eaton get a big chance to add to the Five Star gold collection by challenging Bruno Sammartino for the NWF title in what many are already calling the match of the year. The match ended with Roddy Piper running in from the commentary both to try to hand Bobby Eaton a pair of brass knucks, but it backfired as Bruno spotted him and rushed for Eaton and in the confusion Piper accidentally clobbered him. Earlier they had appeared on Piper's Pit in a tease for what was to follow.

 

Meanwhile, Denucci's in-ring return continued with his old partner Nick DeCarlo coming back in an unsuccessful bid to win the NWF tag titles. Denucci and DeCarlo had been tag champions in Canada in the 1970s. DeCarlo had also tagged with NWF star Frank Monte and perhaps the two of them will reunite in the future to try to recapture their old success.