80's WWF Expansion

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-spectrum-101384/

Philly fans were treated to a wild tag team encounter featuring the JYD and Sgt. Slaughter clashing with Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik (I linked the video - it's that good), plus World Champ Hulk Hogan attempts to bully the massive Big John Studd, the undercard sees Ken Patera, Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake battle some underdogs, plus and early appearance from David Sammartino.

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wccw102784/

WCCW presents a big card from the Cotton Bowl which sees Kevin Von Erich clash with Chris Adams, Mixed tag team shenanigans as trucker Stella Mae French teams with Mike Von Erich to engage in battle with Nicola Roberts and Gino Hernandez, Kerry Von Erich teams with Mike to face off with the Dynamic Duo and Jake the Snake, plus the Missing Link, the Fantastics, Butch Reed and other top stars of the era appear. The fans are HOT and the show features some unique showmanship as well as a dramatically executed kayfabe injury angle!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-meadowlands-101484/

The WWF presents another rather horrible series of matches with Brutus Beefcake, Mr. Fuji, Big John Studd, David Sammartino and Moondog Spot all taking part in dreadfully dull singles matches. The tag team scene carries the day as Andre the Giant teams with Sgt Slaughter to clash with the foreign fanatics consisting of the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. The WWF tag champs Adonis and Murdoch put on a show to carry Afa and Sika to a fun outing and the Brisco Brothers make a rare WWF appearance in a squash match.

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-october-1984/

We set the wayback machine to October of 1984 as we travel to each major territory to examine the happenings. This month includes an NWA feud being settled on WWF TV, Roddy Piper gets rowdy with the Tonga Kid, several more major stars jump to the WWF, St. Louis fans are spoiled by having two top caliber main events go down in one night as NWA legends clash with the AWA's top stars, 3 promotions promise to trade talent to fend off the WWF invasion, Brody no shows a ton of scheduled AWA main events, the AWA crushes Vince in Chicago, Verne screw over his paying audience intentionally, a glimpse of "Psycho" Bob Backlund is seen, an infamously poor wrestler gets a Memphis push, the Von Erichs headline a stadium show, a famous Mid-South feud restarts, JCP has to rearrange their title scene after losing more talent to the WWF, Starrcade is set up and much more!!

 

[NickTheGreek]

WWF expansion ruined wrestling.
I remember being a lil kid and watching one territory after another fall....and then putting on WWF and seeing Cindy Lauper and Mr. T.....
Right then, I walked to kitchen, grabbed one of my pops beers out the fridge,popped the top n poured one out for the homies.....I knew right there that it was all over....

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-madison-square-garden-11261984/

A wild night at MSG sees the return of Jimmy Snuka as he joins his cousin The Tonga Kid for a bout with Roddy Piper, accompanied by Ace Orton. Tito Santana and Greg Valentine steal the show with an intense 25 minute war of attrition, plus David Schultz has bizarre bout with Rocky Johnson, Bruno Sammartino returns to aide his son David against Ken Patera, plus Barry Windham debuts and more!

 

[TankAbbott]

https://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-back-in-the-day-november-1984/

November of 1984 sees an exodus of talent from the WWF, plus Snuka returns from hiatus to go after Piper, Andre gets an unplanned haircut, the WWF runs a card with NINETEEN cage matches(!), Bruno returns to MSG, Bruiser Brody and Ric Flair tangle in St Louis, The Omni plays host to a big tag team tournament, The AWA beats the WWF in a head to head battle for the Twin Cities, Wrestlers not showing up to work continue to haunt the AWA, the WWF messes with Pro Wrestling USA's touring plans, Jerry Lawler takes on monster heels, Kerry Von Erich heads to Hollywood, The Von Erich Family finds an unlikely friend, Mid-South heads back to the Superdome, Bill Watts books a major babyface turn, and Starrcade goes down in JCP - plus more news, notes and results!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-back-day-wwf-meadowlands-12101984/

The Meadowlands plays host to Hulk Hogan defending his WWF title against Big John Studd. Plus Jimmy Snuka butts heads with Bob Orton Jr, and JYD clashes with Mr. Wonderful. Roddy Piper is on hand to provide a race baiting promo. Bobby Heenan wrestles in possibly one of the worst matches of his career. Ken Patera, Johnny Valiant, George Wells and Buddy Rose face off with jabronis and a women's tag match sets the bar for boring...

 

[Deleted member 405583]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-september-1983/#.V0hue5ErLIU

September of 1983 sees Ric Flair retiring due to injury, Dusty Rhodes finally ends his war with Kevin Sullivan, Masked Superstar tries to cripple Bob Backlund's friend, Vince's expansion plans start to become very evident, Duggan and Dibiase reach a climax in Mid-South, Andre faces monsters across the wrestling landscape, The Heenan Family implodes, plus an EPIC Dusty promo and lots of other news and notes!

C'mon aren't all of dusty promos epic?

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/msg122884/

We return to MSG for a historic night of action as the first "Road to Wrestlemania" begins as Roddy Piper storms into a Capt. Lou Albano and Cyndi Lauper ceremony and causes chaos. The Hulkster battles the Iron Sheik, Jack Brisco competes in one of his final matches as the Briscos grapple with Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis, Tonga Kid and Superfly Snuka have a wild match with Bob Orton and Roddy Piper, top international junior heavyweights the Cobra and the Black Tiger try and win over the crowd, JYD has some unexpected issues with a jobber and more action!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wccwstarwars84/

Kerry Von Erich enjoys a home field advantage as NWA World Champ Ric Flair comes to Dallas to take up his challenge. Kevin Von Erich seeks revenge against Chris Adams in a "lumberjack" match, Mike Von Erich teams with Billy Jack Haynes to meet the menace of Jake the Snake and Gino Hernandez, plus the Fantastics duel with the Midnight Express, and the Freebirds butt heads with Akbar's Army!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrestlinghistory19831984/

The Wrestling War in 1983/84 is gone over month by month in this look at all the noteworthy news, gossip and results. Tidbits include: Ole Anderson's attempt to expand nationally without the NWA's blessing, the Grand Wizard's death causing a break in kayfabe, Mr. T almost heads to Memphis for a Jarrett show, the AWA is attacked by the IRS thanks to McMahon's meddling, the WWF teases a WORLDwide expansion, the Von Erich's draw everywhere - but Papa Fritz doesn't want to leave Texas, The Freebirds locker room fight with two legendary tough guys, Bruiser Brody gets the AWA kicked out of an arena, Bobby Heenan's surprising plans had the WWF not come calling, Buddy Rose plots to screw over Don Owens, Vince running out of money and nearly loses the war by default, the hall of famer the AWA tried to bring in to replace Heenan, and more!!!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslinhistorydecember84/

December of 1984 sees Cyndi Lauper return to the WWF for a wild angle, a major babyface leaves the WWF, Roddy Piper's DUI causes a break in Kayfabe, TNT features an infamous wedding(!), a drunken Capt Lou injures another wrestler with a knife, 20/20 reveals (GASP) wrestling is fake, Lou Thesz returns to St. Louis, a legendary heel joins the babyfaces in Georgia to battle Jimmy Hart's goons, Dusty Rhodes teams with Ole Anderson- again..., the AWA loses another star, Brody pulls his no showing stunts again, a fan threatens the life of Ted Dibiase, the Russians maul another JCP babyface and more!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwfatmsg12185/

The WWF charges into MSG with a card featuring a triple main event of sorts as Andre the Giant collides with the mighty Ken Patera, JYD aligns with Jimmy Snuka to tangle with Roddy Piper and Bob Orton in a Texas Tornado tag team bout, plus Tito Santana grapples with IC champion Greg Valentine. The rest of the card is brutally bad as Bret Hart, Don Muraco, Blackjack Mulligan, the Spoiler, Big John Studd and others face lesser talents in uninspiring encounters.

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-january-1985-part-one/

January of 1985 sees the WWF lose a main eventer while he's in the middle of a hot program, Hogan discovers a giant new opponent in Japan, a nearly 60-year-old legend returns to the ring on WWF TV, a 1970's dream match goes down in St. Louis, Verne Gagne cons the fans, the Road Warriors get into a locker room fight after a jobber stops selling for them, a WWF headliner jumps to the AWA, Brody gives Verne more headaches, Pro Wrestling USA nearly falls apart as the promoters squabble, the WWF battles against some loaded cards from the competition in key cities, plus more news, notes and results!

 

[ThunderL1ps]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrestlinghistory19831984/

The Wrestling War in 1983/84 is gone over month by month in this look at all the noteworthy news, gossip and results. Tidbits include: Ole Anderson's attempt to expand nationally without the NWA's blessing, the Grand Wizard's death causing a break in kayfabe, Mr. T almost heads to Memphis for a Jarrett show, the AWA is attacked by the IRS thanks to McMahon's meddling, the WWF teases a WORLDwide expansion, the Von Erich's draw everywhere - but Papa Fritz doesn't want to leave Texas, The Freebirds locker room fight with two legendary tough guys, Bruiser Brody gets the AWA kicked out of an arena, Bobby Heenan's surprising plans had the WWF not come calling, Buddy Rose plots to screw over Don Owens, Vince running out of money and nearly loses the war by default, the hall of famer the AWA tried to bring in to replace Heenan, and more!!!

I never knew about Mr. T almost going to Memphis.

I do know that WCCW did a tour of Israel before with the Von Erichs. I can't recall if it was more than one tour or not, but I remember that that info from a 1980's PWI magazine that I used to have, maybe sometime in the 1986-88 time period. Their syndicated program was shown in Israel.

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-back-day-january-1985-part-two/

The second part of January 1985 includes a look at the death of legendary promoter Eddie Graham and some of the root causes of his suicide, Kerry Von Erich competes in perhaps the most infamous match of his career, a talent swap between Bill Watts and Fritz Von Erich leaves Jim Crockett out in the cold, the WWF attacks all over the country once again, Jerry Lawler and Eddie Gilbert brutalize one another, The WWF marches into Mid-South's region with JYD headlining, Tully Blanchard's "Perfect 10" is revealed, JCP brings in 3 former NWA World champions to compete, Crockett invades a WWF town only for the fans to rebel against their product, AWA and NWA champions collide on a loaded JCP mega show, plus more news and notes!!

 

[TankAbbott]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-back-day-wwf-philadelphia-spectrum-2161985/

Philly fans are treated to the Hulkster colliding with Brutus Beefcake with the World title at stake, plus Bruno Sammartino returns to the ring to team with his son against Bobby the Brain and Mr. Wonderful. Barry Windham tangles with Dick Murdoch in the match of the night, with Nikolai Volkoff, Tony Atlas, Mike Rotunda, Hillbilly Jim and others taking part in action with lesser competition.

 

[Stargazer Rex]

Are you the guy that does those murder threads in the Mayberry?

 

[TankAbbott]

Are you the guy that does those murder threads in the Mayberry?

....yes.....


http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-msg-2181985-war-settle-score/

"The War to Settle the Score" sees Hulk Hogan battle "Rowdy" Roddy Piper inside of the mecca that is Madison Square Garden. MTV aired the match live as part of a special that also saw a plethora of celebrities add their opinion on Piper's recent antics. Plus Cyndi Lauper's charge Wendi Richter suffers a major setback, A Donald Trump dream match is booked, Tony Atlas shows his support for female masturbation, plus many bad bad bad matches.... bad.....