WWF: All Star Wrestling
April 12, 1980
Hamburg, PA
Hamburg Fieldhouse

Your current WWF champions are as follows:
WWF Heavyweight Champion: Bob Backlund (2/20/1978)
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Pat Patterson (9/1/1979)
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Ivan Putski & Tito Santana (10/22/1979)

Pop Culture #1s of the Time:
#1 Movie of the Week: Coal Miner’s Daughter starring Sissy Spacek
#1 Song of the Week: Another Brick in the Wall, Part II by Pink Floyd
#1 TV Show of the 79-80 Season: 60 Minutes hosted by Mike Wallace

Follow along if you have the WWE Network!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino.

• Tor Kamata (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Angelo Gomez

Kamata shows off his jumping kicks on Gomez this week. Gomez catches Kamata with a dropkick, but there’s little chance of him actually hurting Kamata here. He slams Gomez and comes off the top rope with the FLYING SPLASH for the win in 3:26. Gomez gets carried out on a stretcher. Bruno thinks something should be done about this INSANITY~!

• The Wild Samoans (w/Captain Lou Albano) vs. Steve King & Frank Williams

Frankie had no luck against the Samoans last week and he doesn’t fair any better this week. Tag to King, he gets absolutely destroyed. The Samoans are all about the Stomach Claw. In comes Frankie, he takes TWO SAMOAN DROPS for the win. (7:11) Vince and Bruno have all but declared these boys as the next WWF tag champs.

Vince McMahon talks with Captain Lou Albano and the Wild Samoans. They are ready for the tag belts and Albano puts them over as the best duo he’s ever managed. Albano confesses that he only negotiates their contracts. He admits the Samoans are a throwback to the Neanderthals and can’t be held responsible for what the Samoans do. Vince asks Albano if sometimes his Samoans go too far in the ring. Albano says his Samoans have schizophrenic, suicidal, homicidal tendencies. Would you say even genocidal tendencies as well? Albano mentions the Samoans will buy shells. He’s either brilliant or completely insane. Vince cuts him off because we are out of time.

• Bobby Duncum (w/Captain Lou Albano) vs. Jose Estrada

Duncum gets the better of Estrada down on the mat cranking on the neck. Albano comes by to brag on Duncum. Meanwhile, Estrada sends Duncum to the floor with a couple dropkicks. Back inside, Duncum goes back to the neck. Estrada eventually runs Duncum off into the corner hoping for a comeback. Duncum punches back and sends Estrada into the ropes for a back elbow. He delivers a couple knee drops to the neck, but Estrada kicks out at two. Albano sneaks over again and brags on how tough Estrada is. Next thing we know, Duncum puts the boots to Estrada and hits a RUNNING BULLDOG for the win. (7:19) Duncum is just not that interesting to me. ½*

• Dominic DeNucci & Rene Goulet vs. Baron Mikel Scicluna & Frank Savage

It doesn’t get much more 1970s WWWF than Baron Mikel Scicluna and Dominic DeNucci now, does it? Scicluna controls the ring to start. He lets Savage take over and he FAILS. Goulet gives him a slam and an elbow drop. I’m guessing there’s no relation between Frank and the Portland hero Dutch Savage. Anyways, DeNucci and Goulet keep Savage on their end of the ring. They even do some borderline heelish things like pulling his legs and balls into the ringpost. Savage manages to reach Scicluna for a tag. He’s brought the tag rope into the ring and starts choking DeNucci and eventually Goulet. The ref naturally never sees the rope. Back over to Savage, Goulet whips him into DeNucci for a shot. Goulet grabs Savage for an inside cradle to get the win. (8:21) Some of these tag finishes are just straight shit. ½*

• Hulk Hogan (w/Freddie Blassie) vs. Marc Pole

This was all Hogan. BEARHUG gets the win in 1:36. After the match, Vince McMahon speaks with Freddie Blassie who seems quite pleased with what Tor Kamata has been doing lately. Blassie says the splash is totally legal. Wrestling is the “survival of the fittest” and if you can’t take it, don’t sign the contract to wrestle Tor Kamata. If the splash gets barred, Blassie says he will go as far as the UNITED NATIONS to get that decision reversed because no one is going to stop Tor Kamata. He continues to ramble on until they end the show.

Until next time, so long for now.

OH WAIT, HERE’S A SPECIAL BONUS MATCH~!

• WWF Heavyweight Title: Bob Backlund (c) vs. Hulk Hogan – (Philadelphia Spectrum, 4/12/80)

From Hulk Hogan: The Unreleased Archives DVD. At this point in Philly wrestling history, they weren’t so much as a smart crowd as they were really hot for everything. Hogan might have been a heel, but he still shakes Bob’s hand before the match! And the seeds are planted for RING OF HONOR! *clap-clap clap-clap-clap* Hogan obviously overpowers Backlund to start. Later in the ’80s, Hogan always wrestled guys as big or bigger than him, and Backlund makes Hulk look HUGE in this match. Backlund’s a little hunched over to make Hogan look taller, but I mean Backlund is 6 foot 1! That’s not very short IMO. Backlund and Hogan trade waistlock takedowns with Backlund coming out on the winning end of that. Hogan hits the floor and takes a powder. Back in, Hogan wants a test of strength. Of course Backlund can’t win, so he breaks free and rolls out to trip up Hogan. Backlund grabs a headlock and he STICKS with the headlock. They play around with that for a few minutes. That’s one thing that guys in those days knew how to do. They could keep your attention with a headlock. Very few guys can do that now. Finally, Hogan backbreakers out of the hold and hits a Oklahoma Stampede! I’m not kidding. Backlund kicks out at one. For some reason, Hogan starts working the arm. He grabs a short-arm scissors and Backlund tries to lift Hogan up and slam him down! He can’t get him up on the first try, but he does on the second try and puts Hogan in the corner for a good pimp slap across the face. HOLY MOSES! Hogan charges into a powerslam, but reverses a corner whip and grabs a bearhug. Backlund collapses and nearly gets pinned. He manages to fight up and right out of the bearhug he delivers a piledriver to Hogan. Cover, 1-2-NO! Splash hits knees, so Hogan hits a suplex for 1-2-NO! He tries another, but Backlund reverses into a suplex of his own for 1-2-NO! Now Backlund misses a jumping legdrop (IRONY~!) and takes a Airplane Spin from the future Hulkster. After 25 minutes, that move really doesn’t do any favors for either man. Just as I say that, Backlund grabs Hulk and gives him the Airplane Spin! They both tumble over the top to the floor where Backlund continues to spin Hulk around. When he’s close to being counted out, Backlund puts Hogan back in the ring. Oh but he’s just too exhausted. Backlund falls down on the floor and gets counted out, giving Hogan the victory. (29:00) Extremely impressive match on both parts, but especially Hogan because you just don’t think of the man going thirty minutes with anybody and it coming out on a positive note. So many people forget that he could really work outside of his Hulkamania act. ***¾