Tag: wrestling

Mat Quest, Chapter 6: Late 1976

Mat Quest, Chapter 6: Late 1976

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.

MISS AN ENTRY?

Here is the full index of entries in the Mat Quest viewer guide.

WANT SOMETHING MORE CURRENT?

Check out the “Review the Kraken” series.

Mat Quest, Chapter 5: Spring 1976

Mat Quest, Chapter 5: Spring 1976

Mat Quest is a chronological viewing guide to the WWE archive on Peacock. Jump in and follow along with us!

If you have been following along to this point and your familiarity with WWE is restricted to their current television, you probably have experienced some degree of culture shock. Today, the top stars in WWE make regular appearances on TV and nearly every episode of Raw and SmackDown features competitive, hard-hitting matches. Things were, as you can imagine, quite different in the 1970s, and not just because Vince McMahon, Sr., was still the promoter. Top stars appear rarely on TV and many of the matches are one-sided squashes. These two trends continue well into the 1980s; I can remember as a kid that it was a big deal anytime Hulk Hogan had a match on free TV.

But I digress…

Watching these episodes can be a slog at times but there are still some matches and segments that grab your attention. Here’s what stood out from the available offerings in the spring of 1976.

All Star Wrestling, 3/6/76

Stan Hansen vs. Bobby Schaeffer – Worth Watching 

Hansen is back and still on the warpath. His jobber victim this week, Schaeffer, sells everything that Hansen does to him like it was death itself. This also marks the debut of Hansen using the lariat in WWWF. Hansen is just 26 years old here but he already shows the hard hitting and rugged in-ring style that made him a top talent in two continents. Hansen has an intensity and a violence to him here that is noticeably absent from the typical WWWF wrestler at this time.

Billy White Wolf vs. Skandor Akbar – Take it or Leave it

You might know White Wolf better as General Adnan, an Arabic Sheik character that had runs in both the AWA and WWF, the latter during Sgt. Slaughter’s Iraqi turncoat phase. White Wolf is actually from Iraq originally where he went to school with Saddam Hussein. Yes, that Saddam Hussein. Akbar is better known for his runs as a manager in Mid-South and World Class. There isn’t much to this match but you may find it interesting to see two guys who earned more renown as managers facing off in the squared circle.

All Star Wrestling, 3/20/76

Kevin Sullivan vs. Crusher Blackwell – Good

Competitive matches were rare on All Star Wrestling but they did happen. Case in point: this match between Sullivan and Blackwell. Sullivan is still about as bland a babyface as you can find, and far afield from the heel character he would take on just a few years later in Florida. The finish here is strange; the time limit expires but the referee awards Sullivan the win anyway. Odd, but the crowd doesn’t care and Sullivan celebrates like he just achieved a milestone victory.

Bobo Brazil vs. Bugsy McGraw (w/ The Grand Wizard & Ernie Ladd) – Worth Watching

Ladd is in Bugsy’s corner for some reason, which suggests shenanigans are afoot. Bugsy has been one of the highlights of this 1970s WWWF run for me, but what ensues here is more angle than match as Ladd jumps in and attacks Bobo after just a couple of minutes of action. Ladd once again summons Redd Foxx with his exaggerated sells of every strike, this time from Bobo, and the babyface locker room empties to provide reinforcements.

The Executioners vs. Pat Barrett & Johnny Rivera – Take it or Leave it

In the March 6 episode, Captain Lou Albano does an interview and hypes bringing in a new team that will become his fourth to win the tag titles. Their actual debut, in the March 13 episode, is not available so this is the first look at The Executioners. Who are these masked men? Killer Kowalski and a very young, rather lean John Studd. One interesting note; Barrett was one half of the tag champs less than a year ago but he gets treated as glorified enhancement talent here.

Andre the Giant vs. Ernie Ladd, MSG, 4/26/76 – Worth Watching

This is the first match featured in the Andre the Giant episode of Best of WWE on Peacock. Emanating from Madison Square Garden on April 26, what ensues in this battle of the big men cannot be called a good match but it succeeds as a spectacle. The pace is about as ponderous as you would expect; nevertheless, this is Andre at arguably the peak of his physical prowess. Ladd spends most of the match either running from Andre or languishing from clubbering blows or whatever hold Andre chooses to apply. Ladd uses the taped thumb to gain control then, in a twist, Andre uses the thumb against The Big Cat to the delight of the Garden crowd. It’s not long after that that Ladd decides he has had enough and retreats to the dressing room.

LINEUP & SUMMARY 

All Star Wrestling, 3/6/76

Crusher Blackwell vs. Al Williams
Bobo Brazil vs. Johnny Rodz
Vince McMahon interviews Lou Albano & Freddie Blassie
Stan Hansen (w/ Freddie Blassie) vs. Bobby Schaeffer – Worth Watching
Pete Sanchez vs. Johnny Rivera
Billy White Wolf vs. Skandor Akbar (w/ Freddie Blassie) – Take it or Leave it

All Star Wrestling, 3/20/76

Pat Barrett & Johnny Rivera vs. The Executioners (w/ Lou Albano) – Take it or Leave it
Frank Williams vs. Johnny Rodz
Vince McMahon interviews Louis Cerdan & Tony Parisi
Pete Sanchez vs. Skandor Akbar (w/ Freddie Blassie)
Kevin Sullivan vs. Crusher Blackwell – Good
Bobo Brazil vs. Bugsy McGraw (w/ The Grand Wizard & Ernie Ladd) – Worth Watching

UP NEXT

A personal favorite feud of mine enters the spotlight as we wrap up 1976 with a pair of cards from Madison Square Garden.

MISS AN ENTRY?

Here is the full index of entries in the Mat Quest viewer guide.

Review the Kraken: Episodes 9-11

Review the Kraken: Episodes 9-11

Welcome back to Review The Kraken. This article will review the second TV taping for Kraken Pro Wrestling, which covers Episodes 9-11 of their show on Youtube.

Still about five months behind the current Kraken product and trying to catch up … Kraken places an emphasis on building long-term stories and these three episodes are more about building that narrative than any major developments. I think the episodes also suffered somewhat from some of my favorite Kraken talents being absent: Trever Aeon, Michael Walker, Lamar Diggs, and Trey Shaw all are nowhere to be seen.

Here are some general observations on these three episodes…

Probably the biggest development for the overall story in Kraken is the reveal of a new general manager, Robert Vien. On-screen authority figures are pretty played out but Vien plays things right down the middle (so far), which is as close as you can come to a fresh take on this trope in the 2020s.

These episodes also include the third edition of the Cash In, Cash Out Scramble. This is a fun concept where wrestlers put money into the pot and the winner takes all. One unique addition is revealed here; the match goes to the time limit, the pot rolls over to the next scramble. This scramble involves Will Huckaby, Jak Myles, and two newcomers to Kraken: Edward Draven and CJ Shine. The previous scrambles had six wrestlers, not four, and the match was much more cohesive with the lesser number. They also timed the finish perfectly with the three count right after time expired.

Kevin Kantrell stood out during the Kraken Classic set of episodes. He returns here to face Charlie Kills, who was called Charlie Anarchy during the initial set of tapings. Kantrell is a top-tier talent on the Kraken roster for me and scores an impressive win, making Charlie — who seems an unstoppable monster at times — tap out in the middle of the ring, clean as a sheet.

With some of the aforementioned names absent from this taping, several new faces make their debuts in Kraken. Two of the newcomers jumped out: the H-Town Hittas, a power tag team consisting of two twin brothers. They win an absolutely one-sided squash match and their opponents, Tyreke Robinson and Luke Stone, deserve credit for making the Hittas look so dominant.

The big highlight from these three episodes is the main event of Episode 11, with Jay 2 Strong facing Brother Azriel for the Kraken Title. Justin Kayse, Jay’s attorney and manager in the The Business stable, technically holds the title and Jay is defending it on his behalf. Azriel steps in after Aeon, the originally scheduled challenger, is mysteriously absent with The Business highly implied as the culprits behind his vanishing act.

Jay has stood out as, arguably, the best wrestler on the Kraken roster at this early stage of the promotion. His Kraken Classic final with Michael Walker remains the best match yet on Kraken TV, but this one comes close to overtaking it. Azriel has a unique look and a fine power game, also displaying much more agility than you would expect from just looking at him. Jay makes Azriel look especially strong in defeat and the home stretch is very good with a bait-and-switch finish that hearkens back to the heyday of territorial wrestling. If the goal is to inspire the fan base to want to see Kayse dethroned as champion, mission accomplished.

You can check out all three episodes here:

Mat Quest: The Master Index

Mat Quest: The Master Index

A chronological viewing guide to the archive of wrestling content currently uploaded to Peacock:

Introduction (How the project will work and why it is being done)

1973 — A prologue installment

Madison Square Garden (3/17/75 & 4/14/75)

All Star Wrestling (9/13/75, 1/10/76, & 1/17/76)

February, 1976 (MSG, 2/2 & All Star Wrestling, 2/28)

Spring, 1976 (All Star Wrestling 3/6 & 3/20; Andre the Giant vs. Ernie Ladd from MSG on 4/26)

Wrapping Up 1976 (MSG, 8/7/76 & 10/25/76; Bobo Brazil vs. Bruiser Brody from MSG on 11/22)

Review the Kraken: The Kraken Classic

Review the Kraken: The Kraken Classic

Pro wrestling is more accessible than ever. Between streaming services, in-house online broadcasts, and good old-fashioned TV deals (a few still exist), fans have more ways to watch more wrestling from around the world than at any point. 

Imagine telling the you from two decades ago – even the you from 10 years ago – “some day there will be so much wrestling available to watch that you will never be able to keep up with it all.” And yet, today, WWE puts out six hours of content per week – and that doesn’t count the feeder shows like Main Event and Level Up. AEW cranks out five hours of TV wrestling each week — and that does not include the weekly Ring of Honor episodes. If there is a pay-per-view / premium live event that week, tack on another three hours. Full shows are available from a host of international promotions, especially in Japan, but those are usually three hours or more, requiring a real investment of time if you intend to watch the whole thing. 

And so, the approach that Kraken Pro Wrestling has chosen feels fresh in its convenience. This neophyte promotion located in southern Georgia breaks down its live events into snack-sized installments of TV for its YouTube channel. Each episode lasts 30 minutes, at most. A couple of episodes clock in closer to the 10-minute mark. 

But, with so many wrestling promotions out there, is Kraken worth watching? I think it is. And hence, welcome to my efforts to Review The Kraken! We kick off this endeavor by looking at the first eight episodes of TV, where the first Kraken champion was crowned in an eight-man tournament called the Kraken Classic. 

These shows happened back over the summer and so given that fact, I won’t attempt to bore you with a match-by-match or segment-by-segment breakdown. Instead, I wanted to take a look at some of the standout wrestlers on these early Kraken shows. They all have one commonality – each left me wanting to see more of them, whether it be here or elsewhere.

Big Business – This three-man faction comprises the top heel act in Kraken. The manager, Justin Kayse, actually came out of the tournament holding the title, as Jay 2 Strong won the Kraken Classic only to see Kayse declare himself as the champion. Jay was incredibly solid in his three tournament matches and the final against Michael Walker is the best match of the tournament. Lamar Diggs is the enforcer of the group and has the physical presence and requisite menace to fill that role. You could plug him right into the middle of the Mid-South territory in its heyday and he would fit right in with those sluggers. I like the concept of a heel manager holding the title everyone is chasing but, through these first eight episodes, I found Kayse somewhat lacking both as a talker and during interference spots sometimes self-sabotaged by poor timing. We will see how Kayse rises to the occasion in future installments.

Michael Walker – Probably the purest babyface on the roster through these first eight episodes. He acquitted himself well in all three tournament matches, all against opponents of different styles, including both wrestlers in Big Business. His match with Diggs was a fine example of one of my favorite tropes, pitting a smaller, speedy wrestler against a powerhouse. Even with the loss in the finals, Walker emerged from the Classic portrayed as a fine never-say-die underdog who you wanted to root for.

Trever Aeon – I have seen Aeon in person a couple of times and followed his work online in recent years. He is one of the more underrated wrestlers on the Southeast scene to me and stands out through his look, his versatility, and the explosion he demonstrates in some of his offense. 

Trey Shaw – I knew nothing about Shaw before his first-round match in the Classic (found in episode 4 of Kraken), but immediately was impressed. Again, these are short episodes, but in the span of about 15 minutes, he stood out with his combination of look, size, promo ability, and snug offense. 

All Star Special – Will Huckaby and Hold My Beer Hanson are one of the more popular teams in Georgia and probably the merch champions of the independent scene in that state. Hanson is also the promoter of Kraken, something that is readily acknowledged on commentary. While this is hard to deny when Hanson is doing local TV spots to promote Kraken using his real name, I emerged from these eight episodes unsure if this was a little too much “behind the curtain” for me. A tip of the cap to Hanson and Huckaby (who is the booker) and not following in the footsteps of so many of their predecessors and making themselves the focal point of the shows.

Kevin Kantrell – Kantrell is not part of the Kraken Classic but he stands out with a rugged, intense style. In his one match in the first eight episodes, he carries a green opponent to a solid effort and then, after the result does not go his way, beats down the referee like the official handed him a light envelope at the end of the night. I came away wanting to see more of him, for sure.

Kody Madden – Having done wrestling commentary in the past, I know how difficult the job is. Kody is the lead broadcaster for Kraken and does a good job with the juggling act of calling the action, telling a greater story, and directing traffic in a three-man booth – although the other two members of that booth are both heels and have similar-sounding voices.

One of the most common, widespread — and often deserved — criticisms of professional wrestling as we sit almost halfway through the 2020s is the sameness of it all. Matches up and down the card, regardless of whether the promotion is located on the globe, see everyone working a similar style. Hanson and Huckaby have done a solid job assembling a roster of different characters with different styles. I will keep watching through their archive of episodes and came away from these first eight shows wanting to see what happens next, and really, isn’t that the first goal for any wrestling promotion?