WWF All American Wrestling – February 12th, 1984

To February of 1984 this week, where who knows what was happening at this time. Am I doing that right?

Hosted by Vincent “Cosell” McMahon.

Clips from backstage at MSG following the victory of Hulk Hogan over the Iron Sheik, giving him the WWF championship for the first time. Looks like this was being serialised over a few weeks, with this segment showing him celebrating with his mom and dad. Hulk certainly didn’t get his rap from his dad.

Butcher Vachon & Charlie Fulton vs. Andre the Giant

Butcher is a case of having a look and no skill and Fulton no look and all skill. The heels rush Andre and get brushed off quickly. Charlie gets a nice right that Andre doesn’t even flinch at. Butcher gets a shot in from behind to take him down to his knees, so he gets a double bearhug to cut them off. Andre slams Fulton onto Butcher, then sits on them both, with Fulton taking the arse in the face for the double pin. That’s Andre for you! He stops by to talk to Gene “Cosell” Okerlund after the fact about new champ Hogan and reminds people of their history and teases a possible match in the future, as if! Am I doing that right?

Billy Jack vs. The Scorpion

From Florida, with Vince previewing the match with talk of Don Owen training the soon-to-be Billy Jack Haynes. I believe Billy did have a 1984 WWF run that he flaked out on, if you can believe that. Am I doing that right? Billy uses his power to break out holds, so masked jobber Scorpion pounds away until Billy stops selling “smiles rather sardonically”, as per Gordon Solie, and flexes to scare him off. The hardest ear clap I’ve ever seen, intense side headlock and a vicious clothesline. Billy follows with a legdrop and just plants Scorpion with a press slam. Full nelson puts him out of his misery. Billy looked awesome and a total star here, but as per himself could only spoil it. Don’t know about him giving young Fonzie a smack on the ass after the victory.

Tito Santana vs. Ivan Koloff

From MSG, with the reverse angle, as per shows like WrestleMania X and Summerslam ’98. This is from the night where Bob Backlund lost the belt, which I’ve never realised was the night after Christmas, just to lower the mood. I guess a big present was coming late that year. Am I doing that right? Scary that Uncle Ivan JUST missed the Hulkster, because while not on the level of Hogan/Nikita would still have been a nice crossing of eras. Tito gets a full nelson and rams Ivan’s head into the turnbuckle. Not a lot going on in between brief blasts of action, which is disappointing considering the credentials of both men. Just as I type that, Tito does the over-torque of a headlock and Ivan collapses out of it, so Koloff goes low twice for two. Clothesline on the ropes and Patterson goes into the methodology of wrestlers counting with the referee on pinfall attempts, apparently to confuse their opponents, but he loses his train of thought and gets confused as to why too. Tito gets a side headlock on the mat, which gives the chance for the director to zoom in on Ivan’s scarred head, which Gorilla and Pat go on about. Back suplex out, but he misses an elbow and Tito goes back to it. Gorilla mentions that they’re going to be back on January 23rd for the first show of 1984. Wonder if anything happened there. Am I doing that right?

This dull one drags on as Ivan breaks with a bite while Pat talks about meeting Tito’s aunt and family at the airport recently. Ivan atomic drop for two, backbreaker for the same. Bearhug for a few minutes. Tito breaks and goes to the legs, with a follow-up splash hitting Ivan’s good knee. Ivan whips him in for a back elbow, which misses, and Tito hits the flying forearm for the win. Disappointing match, but Ivan really put Tito over to make him a rising star while his own was in final descent.

Piper’s Pit with Eddie Gilbert, which even eighteen months later would be a totally different scenario. Eddie looks about sixteen at twenty-two, chubby cheeks and natural hair colour and all. Roddy as normal builds Eddie up to knock him down, calling his dad stupid for putting him into matches he’s not capable of winning at this stage, such as the Masked Superstar, especially considering his car accident and neck injury. Eddie tries to defend himself, sounding country as fuck, so Piper calls him stupid too and blows him off. Not one for the ages, but Piper is always a joy to watch at this point going a mile a minute.

The Iron Sheik vs. Steve Lombardi.

Babyface Brawler, with a pink jacket and frills. Sheik gets announced as the former champ to rub it in, with the fans chanting Hogan, so he suplexes Lombardi, puts him in the Camel Clutch, breaks his back and makes him humble, while Pat Patterson cries somewhere behind the scenes. Am I doing that right?

Sgt. Slaughter vs. John Callahan

So, after a fade out we come back to Sheik still in the ring with a new jobber there as the Marine Corps Hymn plays, meaning a big angle is coming. The Sarge walks out, not totally a heel at this point but not a babyface either, and crosses paths with Sheiky baby, neither yielding right of way as Gene goes crazy on commentary at the prospect of a confrontation. And they start getting in one another’s face as Fred Blassie moves Sheik around then gets in Slaughter’s face himself as the crowd chants USA. Sarge gets to the ring for the introductions, then immediately wipes the floor with Callahan. Slaughter Cannon sets up the Cobra Clutch for the win.

Sign off from Vince, discussing the potential of Sheik and Sarge meeting again, as if that would happen. Am I doing that right? Sheik will be back on the show next week, as well as a 1981 match between Curt Hennig and Dick “The Bulldog” Brower, midgets, and Eddie Gilbert, Special Delivery Jones and Tony Garea against Roddy Piper, Dave Schultz and Paul Orndorff.

The red, the white and the blue: Worst bit was the disappointment of the Tito/Koloff match for me. Best bit was the first seeds of dissension between Sgt. Slaughter and the Iron Sheik. Weirdest bit… Billy “Whack”, why did you have to be so awesome and such a nutter too?