WWWF: All Star Wrestling
November 18, 1978
Hamburg, PA
Hamburg Fieldhouse

Your current WWWF champions are as follows:
WWWF Heavyweight Champion: Bob Backlund (2/20/1978)
WWWF World Tag Team Champions: The Yukon Lumberjacks (6/26/1978)

Pop Culture #1s of the Time:
#1 Movie of the Week: The Lord of the Rings starring William Squire & Christopher Guard
#1 Song of the Week: MacArthur Park by Donna Summer
#1 TV Show of the 78-79 Season: Laverne & Shirley starring Penny Marshall & Cindy Williams

Follow along if you have the WWE Network!

This show is incomplete and missing two segments.

• Ivan Koloff (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) pinned Frank Williams at 4:58
• Chief Jay Strongbow, Dino Bravo, & Dominic DeNucci defeated Moose Monroe, Luke Graham, & Baron Mikel Scicluna at 11:20 when Bravo pinned Monroe

The following wrestling exhibition requires discretionary viewer participation.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

• Larry Zbyszko vs. Bob Culter

Culter looks like huge, but in an ex-football player kind of way. In other words, he doesn’t “jiggle”. Zbyszko applies a headscissors on the mat and Culter escapes with a head stand. Culter corners Larry Z and grabs a headlock, but Zbyszko counters with a back suplex and bridges for two. Zbyszko stays on top of Culter while Bruno lets us know this guy is still very much a rookie. The dude is just so strong. Okay, that’s enough. Zbyszko hiptosses Culter out of the corner and a crucifix hold on the mat gets the win over Culter in 4:39.

• Crusher Blackwell (w/The Grand Wizard) vs. Steve Cooper & Fireball Robinson

Blackwell destroys these two boys as if there was any doubt. Nothing fancy – just total domination as Blackwell has his way with these scrubs. Blackwell does a cool one-armed slam on Robinson. He then lays them out beside one another and delivers a legdrop to finish off the two of them 5:21.

Vince McMahon meets with the Grand Wizard and Crusher Blackwell at ringside. Wizard wants the promotion to keep adding more guys in these handicap matches so Blackwell can at least begin to get a workout. Blackwell is sick and tired of getting put down by Vince. HE WANTS SOME REAL COMPETITON. Vince is probably getting a chubby with Blackwell screaming in his face daring him to get in the ring and fight him. He mentions he’s even beaten one of the WWWF’s top stars in 9 seconds. Blackwell is referring to Tony Garea whom he beat a few weeks earlier at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Blackwell even goes as far as to say he’ll give anybody $5000 if they can body slam him. NOW BRING THEM ON, MCMAHON. Wizard says this open challenge even goes out to Bruno Sammartino of all people. There’s no hiding. There’s no ducking. COME GET HIM. This is so good that it feels like a shoot.

Next thing we know, we go to a match from a previous episode of Championship Wrestling.

• “The King of Wrestling” Ernie Ladd (w/the Grand Wizard) vs. Fred Marzino – (Championship Wrestling, 9/9/78)

No mention or reason given as to why this match was shown, but here we are. I know Ladd wasn’t in the territory full time at this point, but he was still working MSG and a few other big market shows so they needed to occasionally have him on TV. It just looks weird seeing two different arenas on the same show without explanation. Ladd has no problem whooping Marzino and hits a big boot followed by the BOOM DROP for the win in 3:00.

After the bell, Vince grabs a quick word with the Ernie Ladd and the Grand Wizard. Ladd says he’s come back to the area to beat up Bruno Sammartino and threatens Bob Backlund.

That’s gonna do it for this week. Until next time, so long for now.