Mat Quest is a chronological viewing guide to the WWE archive on Peacock. Jump in and follow along with us! In this installment, we clear off another year of footage… with many more years and a mind-boggling amount of footage still to go. I continue to wonder about the future access of this archive. WWE has been rather active putting content on YouTube as of late, both through its pre-existing Vault channel and new channels for NXT and WCW. There’s also a healthy helping of back episodes of NXT now available through Tubi.

What does that mean for the future of the agreement with Peacock, which currently is set to expire about a year from now?

Not the foggiest idea.

No time to speculate, friends… we’ve got a lot of footage to get to still, so let’s get to it as we wrap up 1976. Before we dive into the Peacock content from the latter half of 1976, though, a quick detour is in order.

Get ready for the first “side quest” in the viewing guide.

Bruno Sammartino defends the WWWF Heavyweight Title vs. Stan Hansen, 4/26/76 – Standout

I dipped into the private cache for this one, first because it involved an all-time favorite in Hansen; and also because it sets up the main event for the August 1976 event at Madison Square Garden. A young Hansen, looking rather unlike himself with his shaggy mop of blond hair, challenges the beloved Sammartino for the title. The historic value here is high because Sammartino legitimately breaks his neck during the match, the first step in a series of events that eventually leads to him dropping the title because he can no longer maintain the required schedule. What available footage we have joins the match in progress and the crowd is pipin’ hot for the action. Hansen is using a “loaded” elbow pad during this WWWF run and uses said pad to lariat Bruno in the face. Sammartino bleeds buckets and the referee stops the match. This is pretty action-packed by the standards of the time and definitely worth watching if you can find it.

MSG, 8/7/76

GREAT

Cage Match: Bruno Sammartino defends the WWWF Heavyweight Title vs. Stan Hansen

More than 22,000 fans packed the Garden for this event, headlined by Bruno getting his revenge against Hansen, who received storyline credit for breaking the neck of the champion. The fans are so eager for this one that a mere mention that the cage match is next sends a ripple of excitement through the crowd prior to the introductions for a real snoozer of a bout between Victor Rivera and Baron Mikel Scicluna.

This version of the cage match is where escape is the only way to win, and it was a pretty standard way for Bruno to blow off a feud during his salad days; the other was a Texas Death Match, like his battle with Spiros Arion from the prior year. Bruno is at his best when he is full of fire and throwing punches and kicks in bunches at his opponent, and this match has plenty of that. The packed crowd goes wild at his opening salvo and maintains that energy. Sammartino dominates this match, and Hansen’s strategy seems to be to try and run away and get out of the cage before Bruno can stop him. It’s the type of structure that, if it was used today, probably would provoke podcast hot takes and lengthy written diatribes about how Hansen got “buried.” Any changes to the way the match played out would have distracted from Bruno’s violent retribution, and the crowd’s shared schadenfreude in the pummeling of the burly challenger from Texas. After using Hansen’s own loaded elbow pad to beat him to a bloody pulp, Bruno tosses the gimmicked object to the mat with disdain and calmly walks out of the cage like a boss — after getting a couple extra shots in for good measure, of course. Once exited, Bruno casually heads right back up the aisle like he’s got somewhere better to be.

It’s also worth noting that Hansen emerges from his time in WWWF using the supposed loaded elbow pad by using an incredibly stiff lariat that knocked the dogshit out of hundreds of wrestlers in the ensuing quarter century or so he remained active.

Worth Watching

2/3 Falls: The Executioners defend the WWWF Tag Titles vs. Dominic DeNucci and Jose Gonzales

This card is basically built around that one match, as most of the other offerings are too short to be memorable (much less good) but this is a solid tag bout. As mentioned in our last installment, the Executioners are a towering duo of masked men and the rulebreaking champions du jour in the stable of Lou Albano, following in the footsteps of duos like the Valiant Brothers and the Blackjacks. Killer Kowalski and John Studd are underneath those hoods. The challengers include Gonzales, who gains greater fame in his native Puerto Rico as Invader #1 and then permanent notoriety for stabbing Bruiser Brody to death in a locker room in Puerto Rico in 1987.

This is pretty paint by numbers at times, but the crowd is engaged and elevates what’s happening in the ring. When DeNucci and Gonzales tie the match at one fall apiece, the fans erupt. Gonzales has a good showing of himself and I enjoyed some of the little touches; in the third fall, Kowalski sells the attrition of the rather lengthy match by being to fatigued to climb the ropes in his corner.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Bruiser Brody

The Madison Square Garden debut for Brody, who makes quick work of Sullivan in less than five minutes. This is noteworthy for the historic value, and if you just enjoy watching Sullivan continue to work his later established type as the blandest of fan favorites.

MSG, 10/25/76

Standout

Special Referee Gorilla Monsoon: Ivan Putski vs. Stan Hansen

Hansen definitely is a highlight of the available 1976 catalog from WWWF. He stands out through his appearance, his willingness to make things appear snug, and a general rugged offense that is quite different from the typical wrestler on this roster in this time. Here he takes on the beloved Putski, who usually produces pretty skippable matches. Not so here, as from the moment he steps through the ropes, Putski comes at Hansen with fists-a-flyin’ in a red hot start. These two don’t overstay their welcome and engage in a pretty high-energy brawl with a couple of holds worked into the mix. Bonus points for Gorilla Monsoon, who continues to show surprising spryness for a man of his heft and height, sliding into position to make three counts or check submissions like he’s the size of Mark Curtis and not a super heavyweight.

Good

3/5 Falls: Andre the Giant, Chief Jay Strongbow & Billy White Wolf vs. Bruiser Brody & The Executioners

Sit back, fire up your streaming device of choice and feast your eyes on what is believed to be the only existing footage of a match that pits Andre the Giant against Bruiser Brody. That alone would qualify this match for the Worth Watching tier, but the ensuing bout is pretty damn solid. With six wrestlers involved, there are enough moving pieces to keep things interesting. Highlights include a very fun hot tag by Andre in the first fall and cleaning house in the fourth and decisive fall. Watching a nimble Andre in his prime wreck shop is a treat and also a testament to his sad decline as age and his condition caught up to him. Meanwhile, all of the interactions between Andre and Brody feel solid, likely in part because these are the only ones we have to review. I definitely recommend seeking out this one.

Jose Gonzales vs. Tor Kamata

Gonzales eats a pretty quick loss in a match designed to position Kamata as the new dangerous rulebreaker in town. Vince McMahon touts Kamata as “undefeated and untested”. He provokes the crowd well with an exaggerated and prolonged pre-match salt ceremony. Once the bell rings, he has some good facial expressions and, despite lumbering at times, good explosion on strikes to both take control and win. I probably liked this more than most would.

Other Stuff

If you are a Bruno Sammartino completist, he defends against Nikolai Volkoff as part of this same card but the match is such a slog I cannot recommend it.

MSG, 11/22/76

Once again stepping into the set of compilations released on Peacock to pluck something from the archive, as Bobo Brazil faces Bruiser Brody. The biggest positive to this is that it provides more rare footage of Brody in the WWF. The match itself is downright boring and when the bell rings to signal a time-limit draw, I was honestly pretty glad it was over.

LINEUP & SUMMARY 

MSG, 8/7/76

Johnny Rivera vs. Jose Cadiz
SD Jones vs. Johnny Rodz
WWWF Tag Titles-2/3 Falls: The Executioners (Ch) vs. Dominic DeNucci & Jose Gonzales – Worth Watching
Kevin Sullivan vs. Bruiser Brody (w/ The Grand Wizard) – Worth Watching
Chief Jay Strongbow & Billy White Wolf vs. Baron Mikel Scicluna & Rocky Tomayo
WWWF Hvwt Title-Cage Match: Bruno Sammartino defends vs. Stan Hansen – Great
Bobo Brazil vs. Gashouse Gilbert
Ivan Putski vs. Skandor Akbar

MSG, 10/25/76

Manuel Soto vs. Johnny Rodz
Bobo Brazil vs. Gashouse Doug Gilbert
Jose Gonzales vs. Tor Kamata – Good
Special Referee Gorilla Monsoon: Ivan Putski vs. Stan Hansen – Standout
WWWF Hvwt Title-Bruno Sammartino (w/ Arnold Skaaland) defends vs. Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Lou Albano)
Victor Rivera vs. Baron Mikel Scicluna
3/5 Falls: Andre the Giant, Chief Jay Strongbow & Billy White Wolf vs. Bruiser Brody & The Executioners – Good  

UP NEXT

We jump ahead to the summer of 1977, and a new Heavyweight Champion.

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