WWF: Philadelphia Spectrum
December 13, 1980
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Spectrum

Your current WWF champions are as follows:
WWF Heavyweight Champion: Bob Backlund (2/20/1978)
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Pedro Morales (12/8/1980)
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Tony Garea & Rick Martel (11/8/1980)

Pop Culture #1s of the Time:
#1 Movie of the Week: Stir Crazy starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor
#1 Song of the Week: Lady by Kenny Rogers
#1 TV Show of the 80-81 Season: Dallas starring Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, and Patrick Duffy

Your hosts are Dick Graham and Kal Rudman.

One match is not shown on my copy of this show. Here is the result of that match courtesy of TheHistoryOfWWE.com:

• Johnny Rodz defeated Rick Stallone at 9:32.

• The Moondogs vs. Rick McGraw & Steve King

Moondogs going NUTZ on the fans before the bell – barking away at them. King threatens everybody with the bone before we can get this match going. Dick Graham has no idea which Moondog is which. Moondogs are absolutely ruthless with Steve King. Rex drops Steve King on the top rope and the beatdown continues, but then McGraw gets a tag behind the ref’s back and the REF ALLOWS THE TAG. Whoops. Anyways, McGraw runs wild, but then Moondog King gets tagged in and starts pounding on McGraw. Tag to Rex, he catches McGraw with a back elbow and gives McGraw an atomic drop. Whoops again. Seems like that move wouldn’t be allowed since it’s Backlund’s finish. We get another battle of the Kings and Steve King is quickly cornered on the wrong side of town. Looks like we’ve got Jeff Jarrett from the future in the front row. The top buckle pad comes off in the Moondogs corner. Steve King eventually reaches McGraw for a tag. He slips out of a slam and O’Connor rolls Rex, but Moondog King saves the day. Back over to Steve King, he’s beaten down in the Moondogs corner again. McGraw comes over to help out, but that hurts Steve King even more as the ref backs McGraw away. The Moondogs use the tag rope to tie King’s in their corner. It never quite works out for Steve King as even once he’s loose, the Moondogs are right there to nab him. This continues until Moondog Rex powerslams Steve King while Moondog King splashes him for the three-count. (14:12) The Moondogs know how to get heat on these white meat babyfaces and I’m REALLY looking forward to see what they do with Martel and Garea in the future. McGraw is a national treasure, btw. **½

• Sgt. Slaughter vs. Dominic DeNucci

Slaughter lets the crowd know they are a bunch of boy scouts, but he’s a MARINE. For some reason, Dick and Kal discuss Slaughter losing to Bruno Sammartino recently in MSG. WHY? Dominic headlocks Slaughter and punches him one good time. They do the routine again with Slaughter in control, but DeNucci sees it coming and whacks Slaughter back. Slaughter puts DeNucci on the mat with a wristlock and puts his knee over DeNucci’s neck. They play around with the wristlock for a bit. Slaughter corners DeNucci and puts the knees to him. DeNucci then reverses a corner whip on Slaughter and Slaughter starts to get on his bicycle to stay away from DeNucci. Back in the ring, DeNucci starts stomping the back and smashing Slaughter’s face off the buckle. He then whips Slaughter across and charges, but Slaughter brings up the knees and knee drops the neck for the three-count. (9:17) Another good win for Slaughter as he continues to go after Backlund. *½

• Larry Zbyszko vs. Tony Atlas

Zbyszko does the stalling thing to start – and the crowd is ready to kill him. After nearly four minutes, Atlas finally gets a hold of Zbyszko and smashes his face on the buckle. Zbyszko bails out, but quickly gets back inside the ring. Atlas presses Zbyszko, but then puts him down and settles for a headbutt to put Zbyszko back on the floor. CROWD IS GOING ABSOLUTELY BANANAS. Back inside, Atlas wins a slugfest and again Zbyszko is out on the floor. He trips Atlas up and starts wailing on him before taking him over to Dick and Kal’s table. Zbyszko hops back in the ring and waits for Atlas to rolls back inside as Zbyszko puts the boots to him. The crowd is just waiting for the comeback. Atlas gets FIRED UP and beats Zbyszko to the floor. Zbyszko goes to the eyes and whacks Atlas over the head with a chair to stun Atlas again. Atlas makes it back inside the ring and goes crazy on Zbyszko. Ref Dick Whorle gets shoved down by Atlas and Zbyszko. This match is out of control so Whorle calls for the bell for a double-DQ. (11:13) Philly LOVES Tony Atlas and they HATE Larry Zbyszko. Atlas ain’t finished and they will meet again in January for one of Larry’s final televised appearances in the WWF. ***

• 2/3 Falls for the WWF World Tag Team Championship: Tony Garea & Rick Martel (c) vs. The Wild Samoans

FIRST FALL: Kal Rudman is absolutely in LOVE with Garea and Martel. The Samoans pearl harbor the new tag champs. Garea gets dumped and Martel is double-teamed. When the Samoans won’t stop beating on Martel, the ref DQs them in 28 seconds.

SECOND FALL: Of course, this leads to Martel getting beaten down for a few. Tag to Garea, he runs wild and goes after Sika’s knee. The tag champs twist the leg, the tag champs splash the leg, and they stomp the leg. When Martel comes in and nails Afa on the apron, Sika is able to go to the eyes and now Garea is in trouble. Afa starts delivering falling headbutts and a big backdrop. We get a false tag spot done right this time, which gets Garea beaten down by both Samoans. Martel gets a hot tag and runs their heads together. This would be a NO-SELL by the Headshrinkers. Martel catches Afa with a jumping dropkick for two. The bell rings and it wasn’t supposed to. Whoops. The match breaks down as Garea and Sika go to the floor. As Afa gets back into the ring, he collides with Sika and Martel jumps on top of Afa for the three-count. (13:34 total) Garea and Martel have chased the Samoans out of the territory until they come back around in late 1982. **½

• WWF Intercontinental Championship: Pedro Morales (c) vs. Ernie Ladd

This is the first televised appearance of Pedro as the NEW IC champ. Ladd is wearing a tight elbow wrap on his right arm. They trade blows on each other until Ladd chops Morales to the floor. Out comes the foreign object, which is bad news for Pedro. The fight continues down on the floor as Ladd elbows Morales over the railing into the front row. Back inside, Morales catches the big boot and cranks up the windmill punch. Ladd is bumping all over the place. While Ladd is on the apron, he grabs hold of Pedro and chokes him on the top rope until the ref DQs him. (9:44) The action continues as Morales beats Ladd to the floor and makes him wear a chair around his neck. Fun little brawl. *½

• Bruno Sammartino vs. Ken Patera

Patera tries to jump Bruno, but of course Bruno was ready and beats him out of the ring. Patera throws a chair in the ring and Bruno whacks him. No DQ I guess since it’s Bruno. Patera catches Bruno with a knee lift and starts hammering him. As Patera gets in some offense, the crowd is chanting for BRUNO. Sammartino runs Patera into all four corners to break free from a front headlock. We see the punches and kicks Bruno is known for here. Patera takes back control and calls for the Full Nelson, but Bruno runs him into the post and applies his own full nelson. Patera makes the ropes and hammers Bruno down some more. While Bruno runs the ropes, he knocks Patera over the top rope to the floor where Patera wrenches his knee. Back inside, Bruno stomps the knee and it looks like Patera is done. Patera goes to the eyes and tries a slam for some reason, but his legs give out and Bruno falls on top for two. When Patera can’t even stand, ref Dick Whorle calls for the bell. (7:51) Patera grabs the mic away from Capetta and says he never quit and wants more, but Bruno isn’t interested. **

Final Thoughts: This was a fun 2-hour card. The Philly crowd was HOT and that elevated these matches. Atlas and Zbyszko is a fun one as the crowd is still pissed at Zbyszko for what he did to Bruno. Thumbs in the middle for the Spectrum 12/13/80 card.