by Denny Burkholder  
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

Nothing beats the atmosphere of attending a live sporting event. Of course, the peripherals are almost as important as the action itself. Baseball just isn't the same without a foot-long ballpark hot dog. A live football game is nothing without a bunch of fat guys wearing body paint and cheese helmets. And of course, a true highlight of any NASCAR race is the endless procession of hairy people wearing neon T- shirts and mirrored sunglasses.

The nice thing about pro wrestling is that you'll find all of the above rolled into one audience. Additionally, you'll see people waving $15 chunks of foam rubber and over-personalized signs with slogans like "JC PENNEY CAN SUCK IT" or "I SUFFER FROM ACID REFLUX."

A talented bunch, wrestling fans somehow manage to do all of this while simultaneously rocking the mullet. WE SO RULE!

All kidding aside, one of the first things a wrestling fan hears upon passing through the turnstile is an arena employee hawking the program for tonight's show. Today, the WWF program amounts to the latest issue of RAW or WWF Magazine, with an inserted piece of paper crudely listing the scheduled matches. But there was a time when most wrestling territories - the WWF included - went to the trouble of making programs with exclusive content for the live audience only, often including the full card within the printed program, as opposed to a last- second loose leaf insert.

These programs are an excellent window into the type of shows an organization was running at a given time, as well as which wrestlers they were trying to push (within the program's mini-feature articles). For the next couple of Circas, I plan to review the content of some choice programs, starting this week with a WWF program from Nassau Coliseum, June 16, 1979.

Some information about the World Wrestling Federation in 1979, and this show in particular:

• Nassau Coliseum in Long Island has been a WWF mainstay for decades, mostly because of its location in the middle of the WWF's traditional territory, and its proximity to two of the WWF's favorite places: Madison Square Garden in New York City, and WWF Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. 
• I believe this was a routine house show, because the WWF Title (then held by Bob Backlund) was not defended, and also due to the number of young, unestablished guys on the card. 
• The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) had officially changed its name to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March of 1979, about three months before this event.

The program is published on newsprint, just slightly more durable than the average newspaper. The front and back covers are in color. The remainder is in black and white. "Major League Wrestling: the Official Program Magazine Published by The Wrestling News" is the official title. Cover price: $1.00. Your editor is George Napolitano, whom you can still see scurrying around ringside snapping pictures to this day at random RAW and Smackdown shows.

The WWF logo amounts to the silhouette of a globe with latitude and longitude grids. This logo appears on the cover, with the following identification:

"The World Wrestling Federation: Hisashi Shinma, President. W.W.F. Headquarters, 7-13 Minami-Aoyama 6-Chome, Minato- Ku, Tokyo, Japan, 107."

Hisashi Shinma became the figurehead president of the WWF as part of the WWF's working relationship with New Japan in the late 1970s-early 80s. Shinma was chairman and one of the bookers for New Japan at the time. Shinma's other accomplishments included fitting Satoru Sayama with the Tiger Mask gimmick, discovering Akira Maeda, and forming the UWF in Japan after leaving New Japan (under pressure from Sayama and others who took issue with his booking). That's the short version. For the long version, please consult your friendly neighborhood puroresu fan.

Those familiar with the Bob Backlund- Antonio Inoki title switch in Japan in late 1979 will also recall it was Shinma that overturned Backlund's rematch victory for the title because of Tiger Jeet Singh's interference in the match. Inoki refused the title on the overturned decision, it was held up, and Backlund wound up winning it back soon thereafter. Shinma was also behind the creation of the 70s-80s version of the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, as a way to showcase the popular but smallish Tatsumi Fujinami. WHEW. I went of on a little tangent there. Back to the program.

The back cover is all photos: there are mug shots of Gorilla Monsoon and Dominic DeNucci, and a picture of Arnold Skaaland striking the grip 'n' grin handshake pose with Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. The headline on the front cover reads "TWO NEW FAN FAVORITES." Both men are pictured. The guy on the left is Steve Travis, the 1978 WWF Rookie of the Year. The guy on the right is a clean-shaven Ted DiBiase, recognized as North American Champion. Ted DiBiase . . . WWF . . . fan favorite. Sounds kind of strange, doesn't it?

There is a very important message on the inside cover.

"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: THROWING OBJECTS AT A SPORTING EVENT IS A COWARDLY ACT, AND ANYONE CAUGHT WILL BE ARRESTED AND PROSECUTED BY THE WRESTLING CLUB. THE THROWING OF ANYTHING, REGARDLESS OF HOW SMALL, CAN INJURE SOMEONE. FANS ARE URGED TO CLAP HANDS, TO HOLLAR, TO CHEER, TO EVEN BOO, BUT NOT TO THROW ANYTHING. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS, FANS, AND RESTRAIN YOURSELVES IN THE FUTURE."

The next page is an ad for The Wrestling News, which claims to be "The only magazine now recognized as official by The Wrestling Writers Association of America." What? Of whom did that group consist? Apter, where can I submit my dues? The yearly subscription cost was $12. For the magazine, not the writers association membership.

Next is the card for the Nassau Coliseum show, Saturday, June 16, 1979. Here's the lineup:

The Mysterious Mr. X vs. Gypsy Frank Rodriguez

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs. Mark Pole

Tony Altimore vs. Dominic DeNucci

Tito Santana vs. Frank "Moose" Monroe

Special Ladies Match
Kitty Adams vs. Julie Smith

North American Heavyweight Championship
Ted DiBiase (Champion) vs. "Luscious" Johnny Valiant

"Handsome" Jimmy Valiant vs. Steve Travis

The Main Event
"The Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino vs. 
"Gentleman" Jerry Valiant

DiBiase, Travis, and Santana were all relatively new to the WWF scene. Santana (Mercid Solis) and DiBiase had actually played football together at West Texas State years before this, and DiBiase would write in his autobiography "Every Man Has His Price" that one of the best parts of his first WWF stint was getting to hang out with Santana again on the road. DiBiase would leave the WWF in late 1979, wrestling his last match at MSG against newcomer Hulk Hogan, in Hogan's first ever match at the Garden. DiBiase was still the babyface, and Hogan was the heel. When DiBiase returned to the WWF in 1987, those roles would be dramatically reversed, and the WWF Title would hang in the balance.

The Valiants were billed as being from New York City, which explains their presence on the Nassau show (and in fairness, the Valiants were a big part of all WWF shows during their peak). Jerry Valiant is the real-life brother of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. And if you need any explanation as to why Bruno Sammartino was main eventing in New York, you have some serious catching up to do.

More interesting notes in the fine print below the card:

"W.W.F. regulations require an 11:00 P.M. curfew. No wrestling is allowed after 11:00 P.M. This program is subject to change. . . . These professional wrestling matches are sanctioned by the New York State Athletic Commission, with approval of the World Wrestling Federation, Hisashi Shinma, President."

File that under "My, how times have changed." The curfew in 1979 used to mandate that wrestling events had to end by 11 p.m. with no exceptions, even for a regular house show. Nowadays, the WWF goes out of its way to EXCEED the 11 p.m. hour, ESPECIALLY on television where time is the most crucial, by at least five minutes every week. Give them an inch, they take a mile.

An ad reads "Exciting! Action! In full color! All the stars! See All Star Wrestling on TV. WNUJ-TV Channel 47, Tuesday at 11:00 p.m., Friday at 11:00 p.m. WOR-TV Channel 19, Saturday at 12 midnight."

• An article details the WWF Tag Team Title reign of the Valiants, Johnny and Jerry. A photo shows the "brothers," along with Jimmy, and manager Lou Albano. It is said that the team is nearly impossible to beat thanks to Jimmy's constant interference. What's more, Jimmy has vowed to add Ted DiBiase's North American Title to the Valiant family, and then to challenge Backlund for the world title.
    
• Another article shows a photo of Fred Blassie's impressive new charge, Hossien the Arab (later known as The Iron Sheik). Sheik is thin and muscular in the photo, swinging his trademark clubs around his head. Blassie is quoted, challenging anyone to swing the Iranian clubs better than his "Wild Man from Iran," for a prize of $10,000. Who knew this guy would become WWF Champion one day?
   
• In other news, London's Mickey Duff has been appointed Vice President of the WWF. According to the article, Duff is the top boxing and wrestling promoter in England. He steps into the VP position formerly held by Shinma, who was promoted to president. The article actually lists Duff's mailing address at the end. Did they expect him to get fan mail or something?
   
• Steve Travis is getting better all the time, and here's a photo of Vince McMahon interviewing him on TV to prove it. A brief article quotes Tony Garea as saying he thinks Travis may be WWF Champion someday. Not if Hossien the Arab has anything to say about it. . . .
   
• North American Heavyweight Champion Ted DiBiase Speaks Out: "I want to face every challenger. I can't wait to get guys like Greg Valentine, Hossien the Arab, Pat Patterson, the Valiants, and Bulldog Brower in the ring and show the fans on the east coast why I am the North American Heavyweight Champion."
   
• A photo filler page called "Brutes in Action!" shows us Bulldog Brower smacking himself in the head with a wooden chair, Greg Valentine applying a headlock, Pat Patterson executing a bodyslam, and Hossien the Arab smashing Tito Santana's face into his spiked boot.
   
• Another photo filler page: this time, the babyfaces. We see Ted DiBiase applying an armbar, Steve Travis in a fighting stance, "The Polish Hammer" Ivan Putski posing for a photo with an unidentified child (presumably a fan), and Chief Jay Srongbow wearing his feathered head dress.
   
• "OFFICIAL WRESTLING CHAMPIONS as recognized by the WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION": A quick-reference page showing mug shots of each WWF recognized champion. WWF Heavyweight Champion: Bob Backlund. WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion: Tatsumi Fujinami. WWF North American Heavyweight Champion: Ted DiBiase. World Martial Arts Champion: Antonio Inoki. WWF Tag Team Champions: Johnny & Jerry Valiant. WWF Ladies Champion: The Fabulous Moolah. The WWF Intercontinental Title did not exist until September 1979, so your number two champ by default would have been DiBiase.
    
• A brief article about Bulldog Brower quotes his manager, Lou Albano, as saying Brower will crush Backlund (called "Howdy Doody") for the world title very soon. A photo of Brower dropping a knee on S.D. Jones accompanies the article.
   
• "Tonight in the Coliseum" by Wally Kaldens is up next, as Mr. Kaldens calls the Nassau card listed above "one of the very best wrestling card ever presented here, or in any other arena in the world at any time for that matter." Boy, it's getting mighty thick in here. Kaldens follows up with a long-form re-listing of the Nassau card, making sure to mention that if Johnny Valiant won the North American Title from DiBiase that night, it would make him one of the few men to ever hold two major titles at the same time.
   
• "Nassau Wrestling News" by Darlene DeSantis has the results from the last Nassau Coliseum wrestling card, for those that missed it. On May 18, 1979, S.D. Jones wrestled Johnny Rivera to a draw, Baron Mikel Scicluna pinned Mark Tendler, Hossien the Arab beat Dominic DeNucci with the loaded boot/knee drop combo, and Bruno Sammartino pinned Johnny Valiant with an inside cradle in a 15 minute match. AFTER the main event, Cowboy Lang and Tiny Thumb beat Little Tokyo and Butch Cassidy in a midget tag team match, and Ivan Putski beat Bulldog Brower with the Polish Hammer.
   
• A full-page feature is dedicated to Bruno Sammartino, "The Triumphant Return of The Living Legend." It notes that before the May 18 Nassau Coliseum show, Sammartino's last appearance at the venue was in April 1977, while he was still WWWF Champion. He beat Ken Patera that night. A detailed account of Bruno's match with Johnny Valiant in May rounds out the rest of the feature.
   
• The final two pages are an ad for back issues of The Wrestling News and some very special magazine file cases you can purchase to safely store your collection. Among the available back issues: The AWA photo book (Nick Bockwinkel vs. The Crusher on the cover), The NWA photo book (Harley Race and Nelson Royal on the cover), The WWA picture book (Dick the Bruiser on the cover), a special edition on Bruno Sammartino, the WWF 1978 Annual (Sammartino, Backlund, Andre the Giant and Superstar Billy Graham on the cover), the 1979 WWF Annual (Backlund), The History of the WWF, and The History of the AWA. Back issues cost $2.00 each including postage, the regular file case is $7.50, and the DELUXE file case (with a drawer!) is $10.00. To take advantage of this amazing offer, please send all your money to George Napolitano, then go and sit by your mailbox for about a month.

Next time: either the Missouri territory in 1972, or Florida Championship Wrestling in the mid-80s. If you have a preference, drop me an e-mail.

See you next time.

Rest in peace, Chief Wahoo.

E-MAIL DENNY  
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