WWWF: All Star Wrestling
January 27, 1979
Allentown, PA
Allentown Agricultural Hall

Your current WWWF champions are as follows:
WWWF Heavyweight Champion: Bob Backlund (2/20/1978)
WWWF World Tag Team Champions: Tony Garea & Larry Zbyszko (12/2/1978)

Pop Culture #1s of the Time:
#1 Movie of the Week: Superman starring Christopher Reeve & Gene Hackman
#1 Song of the Week: Le Freak by Chic
#1 TV Show of the 78-79 Season: Laverne & Shirley starring Penny Marshall & Cindy Williams

Follow along if you have the WWE Network!

The following wrestling exhibition requires discretionary viewer participation.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino. They have swapped buildings and taping dates on us. The A-show Championship Wrestling will be filmed from Hamburg while the B-Show All Star Wrestling will be filmed from the Allentown Agricultural Hall for this and the next round of TV tapings. Pretty cool to see the show in a little different venue in front of a bigger crowd.

• Victor Rivera vs. Steve Travis

Freddie Blassie is “conspicuous by his absence” here. He probably showed up at the wrong building. Hammerlocks are traded to start. The people are cheering counter holds. How simple is that. Any time Rivera can grab the ropes for the break, he does. Rivera catches Travis with a couple clinched fists behind the ref’s back and Travis gets riled up about it as does the crowd. Travis returns the favor and Rivera complains. Travis gets the better of Rivera during a sit-out routine. Rivera grabs an armbar and yanks Travis down to the mat by the hair to take control. They run the ropes and Rivera catches Travis with a few shoulderblocks, but then Travis surprises Rivera with a backdrop and armdrags him down for an armbar. Once again, Rivera gets to the ropes to get a break. Travis thinks he’s got the better of Rivera in a knucklelock, but then Rivera trips him up and forces Travis to the mat. He escapes and puts Rivera back in an armbar. Rivera rakes the eyes to take over and Travis gets his face smashed on the buckle. Crowd starts to chant “Let’s go Steve”, which you don’t normally hear in Hamburg. To shut the crowd up, Rivera tosses Travis to the floor. Rivera then grabs Travis and smashes his face into the ring steps. Back inside, Rivera continues to tear down Travis. He slowly mounts a comeback and does a great job doing it. He kicks Rivera into the corner and the crowd is going nuts. There’s a hiptoss across the ring and Rivera slips out to the floor to let Travis cool down. Back in again, we get a slugfest. Both guys collide into each other as the bell rings signaling the time-limit draw. (10:00) That’s the best Victor Rivera singles match I’ve seen. Steve Travis looked amazing here. I enjoyed it. **½

• Ivan Koloff (w/Captain Lou Albano) vs. Steve King

Vince mentions Ivan is looking especially “satanic” today with his robe. Koloff definitely resembles Anton LaVey for sure. King tries to get cute reversing wristlocks on Koloff and gets his hair pulled every time. As King applies a front headlock, Koloff backs him into the ropes where Albano grabs King by the tights so Koloff can punch him in the gut to take control. King does a backflip away from a backdrop and dropkicks Koloff into the ropes. He then delivers a headscissors and jumps on Koloff’s shoulders, but then Ivan has had enough and dumps him on the turnbuckle. He then drops King on the top rope and chokes him before clamping on a chinlock. Koloff then runs King into the buckle a few more times and backdrops him before going to the back. He puts King in the tree of woe and kicks the crap out of him. Koloff delivers a backbreaker, but lifts him up at the two-count. He gives King another backbreaker and that’s all she wrote at 4:58.

Afterwards, Vince McMahon meets with Ivan Koloff and Captain Lou Albano. Vince asks Ivan if he was surprised by some of King’s moves, but Koloff denies being surprised and says this is what happens when you put Koloff against someone who isn’t in his league. King is good, but not good enough. He and Albano are making everything go their way as they climb the ladder of the WWWF to take the championship back where it belongs. Vince wants to know why he lifted King up off the mat after the first backbreaker when King was clearly beat. Koloff educates Vince on what PSYCHOLOGY is. Albano gets on the mic and wants quiet to talk about how impressive Ivan Koloff is. This was great as Koloff is still battling Bob Backlund in the other arenas beside MSG over the WWWF title and the top babyfaces elsewhere.

• Fred Curry vs. Johnny Rodz

Fred Curry is the son of Wild Bull Curry who was a big star from the 1930s into the TV era. He’s well known for being an innovator in hardcore wrestling for using chairs and various wrestling weapons and a direct influence for the Sheik as Curry was a big star for the Detroit area. He also spent a ton of time down in Texas where he could develop his crazy style even more as he was in long standing blood feud with Danny McShain who from what I’ve read wasn’t afraid of blading.

But here we have Wild Bull’s son Fred Curry who you can’t argue with is trying to be his own man calling himself “Flying” Fred Curry. He uses more finesse moves instead of the brawling style his father is known for. He’s certainly not a young guy here either as he’s been in the business working in Detroit for the last 14 years working as a good guy against the local bad dudes like the Sheik, Al Costello, and Don Kent. Curry surprises Rodz by completely ducking out to avoid a corner charge, catches Rodz with a pair of dropkicks, and then delivers a cross body block to get the win in 3:59.

• Greg Valentine (w/The Grand Wizard) vs. Frank Williams

Vince asks Bruno if the Wizard was giving Valentine a kiss or a whisper right before the match starts. Bruno handles it well and moves on. Lots of great looking elbows and punches from Valentine. He delivers a back suplex and a pair of sharp elbow drops get the win in 2:48.

• Larry Zbyszko vs. Johnny Valiant (w/Captain Lou Albano)

Albano distracts Zbyszko long enough for Johnny Valiant to kick him from behind. He continues to hammer on Zbyszko for a bit. He finally takes his jacket off, but then misses an elbow drop. Zbyszko smashes Johnny V’s face on the buckle and whips him across for a backdrop. He telegraphs a backdrop and Valiant kicks him down to take back control. More punching and kicking ensues. Zbyszko reverses a whip into the corner, but Valiant goes right back to work. He punches Zbyszko some more and levels him with a kitchen sink knee. Valiant then grabs the traps. He elbows out, but then Valiant catches him for a slam and goes back to squeezing the trapezius muscles. Once again, Zbyszko escapes and grabs hold of the traps himself. He switches to a sleeperhold for a moment. He sunset flips Valiant, but only gets two. They both wind up on the floor for a brawl. Back in, Valiant smashes Larry Z’s face on the buckle and then tosses him back out for another brawl where they both get counted out. (6:41) Albano joins in and starts kicking at Zbyszko. Once Valiant then slams Zbyszko on the floor, Bruno Sammartino decides he needs to step in and help out as Albano and Luscious Johnny head back to the locker room. Tony Garea also comes out and picks his championship partner up off the concrete. *½

Afterwards, Vince wants to get a word from Larry Z. He thinks Albano needs to stop interfering in matches and vows to finish Albano’s career in the area. Good luck with that.

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