Classic TV Review: WWF Championship Wrestling January 21, 1984

WWF Championship Wrestling: January 14, 1984 

From the Agricultural Hall Allentown, Pennsylvania Taped January 3, 1984

Vince and Gene's intro is abruptly cut off.  We're back with good ole Joe McHugh who is quickly growing on me.

Dr. D. David Schultz d. Jimmy Jackson in 2:00.

Schultz wastes no time flooring Jackson with a back suplex followed by a flurry of elbows, yelling "get up, boy!" as he drives him into the corner then hits a stiff back breaker. Another suplex as Piper claps from the outside.  Schultz hits a reverse neckbreaker (rude awakening).  Jackson tries to fight back but Dr. D isnt in the mood to give him much.  Schultz hits another slam and then his flying elbow from the top.  "Look at Piper with the kilt on!: Vince exclaims as Piper and Schultz high five each other. 

Tito Santana d. "Butcher" Paul Vachon in 2:20.

Man, it must have been depressing to be a star in the territorial era only to have it come to this once the expansion happens.  A fan has a sign that reads, "Sensational Santana".  Howard Finkel voices over a Maple Leaf Garden card hyping Piper wrestling, so I guess he's only a manager exclusively on t.v.  Santana gives Vachon a bit just as Snuka did last year, but perhaps they both realized that the notoriously tough Vachons will just take it if you don't give it.  Santana fights back after a back rake, whipping Vachon into the corner, but the ref distracts Santana allowing Vachon to take over.  He's all back rakes, drags across the top rope and bites.  A pair of dropkicks  and the flying forearm from Santana finishes off the Butcher. 

Gene with arena promos pushing a card in Buffalo.  Fuji in for an interview plugging his match with Tiger Lee challenging Atlas & Johnson for the tag belts.  Fuji says that the belts once belonged to Fuji and will again. He then brings out a samurai sword, pretending to shave himself, so at least if Atlas & Johnson lose the belts they'll get a shave out of the deal. Gene says he "gets as nervous as a long tail cats in a room full of rocking chairs" when Fuji unleashes his sword. Santana is in, he'll challenge Magnificent Muraco for the Intercontinental Title.  Santana says that Muraco is overlooking him and looking at the new champion The Sheik, so we're back to Sheik as champion here.  Sgt. Slaughter blows his whistle, holding a rolled up piece of paper in his hand.  He's facing "Andre The Maggot".  Slaughter says Buffalo is "garbage". Slaughter is calling Andre's bluff and calls himself the greatest wrestler of all time.  He says Andre will be called "the midget maggot" once Slaughter is done. Slaughter was really ahead of his time with getting a character based gimmick complete with catchphrases over.  

A Weird Angle...

The Iron Sheik d. Mike Dorsett in 1:48.

Fuji is in the ring and Vince informs us that The Iron Sheik was originally supposed to be here in Fuji's place, which immediately brings him out with Ayatollah Blassie. Blassie tries to get Fuji out of the ring while the ref mediates.  Finally Fuji bows and leaves.  What a weird kind of pointless angle.  Maybe they're trying to put over the idea of substitutions before the Hogan win that's coming up soon?  Fans chant USA vociferously.  Sheik dominates while Finkel does a voiceover offering charter subscriptions to Victory Magazine.  Sheik slams Dorsett down, stomping him the curl toed boots.  Dorsett fights back briefly but Dorsett takes a boot to the face then hits him with a back suplex and taps him with the camel clutch.  Iron Sheik takes the mike and does his "Iran Number One" schtick.  

One Of These Men Probably Killed Someone...

The Invaders d.Ken Jugan & Israel Matia in 3:31.

Holy shit, Brody's murderer on 1984 WWF TV.  Guessing this was some sort of talent trade deal between WWF and WWC.  Weird absence of commentary at the beginning of the match.  Jobbers are playing heel here as Matia who is bald claims one of the Invaders pulled the hair.  Matia gets bounced around the ring with a bunch of hiptosses.  Quick tags in and out from the Invaders. Vince seems to be building a rivalry between Invaders and Samoans based on how difficult each team is to tell apart from each other.  C'mon, Afa and Sika don't look THAT much alike.  You even bothered to give them their own names unlike Samoan #3.  Vince announces Paul Orndorff versus Tony Garea for next week.  In a finish I've never seen before, Invader#1 hooks Jugan under the arms like a double arm chicken wing while invader#2 comes off the top onto Jugan with a swanton splash for the pin.  The camera strangely focuses on some guy returning to his seat holding concessions.

Hot Rod Berating A Poor Jobber

Paul Orndorff d. Rudy Diamond in 3:41.

Somehow McHugh butchers "Rowdy" when introducing Piper as Orndorff's manager.  Vince keeps pushing Piper's prowess as a wrestler, so perhaps the plan wasn't always for him to stay as a manager.  Orndorff and Piper warn the coat boy to take care of his robe as the crowd chants "Paula" drawing Ordorff's ire.  Diamond is barefoot which I don't think I've ever seen in a jobber.  Finkel does a voiceover that is so quiet as to be barely audible.  Orndorff viciously stomps Diamond then tosses him from the ring.  He is a really great brutal heel, the total jock jerk who picks on everyone.   He hammers Diamond who falls back into the ring and stomps him more. Piper yells loudly at Diamond from inside the ring.  Diamond tries to fight back with headbutts, the go-to for every black wrestler back in the day.  Orndorff drops Diamond with a suplex but pulls him up at 2 at Piper's behest.  Orndorff hits his excellent piledriver, pinning Diamond with his foot.  Piper yells at McHugh causing McHugh to chuckle as he announces Orndorff as the winner.  

Jose Luis Rivera d. Frankie Williams in 2:35.

Williams of course will become the first victim of Piper in the Pit when it debuts next week, I believe.  He is indeed announced as being from "Columbus, Ohio."  They lock up and Rivera grabs a headlock which Williams reverses into an arm bar.  Another inaudible voiceover from Finkel.  There is more parity in this match then I've seen in an enhancement match this side of Primetime Wrestling. They push the Orndorff-Garea in a loser becomes an agent match.  Vince announces that Hogan will be here, no doubt to push the title win that happens Monday.  Williams swings at Rivera, who ducks and picks Williams up in the fireman's carry for the pin.  This was pretty much just a filler segment to get other stuff over on commentary.  A graphic for next month's feature bout of Orndorff vs. Garea.  

And the episode weirdly cuts off.  No Victory Corner this week, which is just as well I suppose as the Pit is coming soon and is a 100x improvement.  This seemed like a filler episode as it was the last of the taping set.  If I didn't know better I'd say there were only like 10 people on the roster as over the past three weeks they've only put over a select few guys.  Next week should be focused around the debut of Piper's Pit and the announcement of Hogan as the new champ.   

Before I review the Janaury 28 episode, I'll review the MSG Show from January 23 where Hogan wins the title, so be on the lookout for that soon.  

Classic Wrestling TV Review: WWF Championship Wrestling January 14, 1984

WWF Championship Wrestling: January 14, 1984 

From the Agricultural Hall Allentown, Pennsylvania Taped January 3, 1984

The copy I have cut out the opening, so we start out with our trusty geriatric ring announcer Joe McHugh. 

Sgt. Slaughter d. Mike Dorsett in 3:43.

Slaughter comes out to the "The Marine's Hymn," one of the few on the roster to have music played for their entrance which really sets him apart. I think the story goes is that The Freebirds were the first to employ music in the entrance, Slaughter second and Hogan third.  A fan in the crowd holds a sign that reads: "Gomer Is A Maggot".  Gene uses a favorite phrase of his: "Forty Miles Of Bad Road", describing Dorsett's eventual fate in this match. A heel fan has a sign that says "Join The Cobra Corps in 84" while another holds Sarge's photo from the calendar, so he's already starting to catch on with the crowd.  Slaughter pinches the ref's belly and Vince states he prefers everyone to stay "slim and trim" which is funny considering the pot belly he was rocking when he returned in 1990 for his title run.  That said, Slaughter is in pretty good shape here.  He basically just beats the shit out of Dorsett.  Another forty miles of bad road" from Gene.  Slaughter slingshots Dorsett face first into the turnbuckle with Vince calls "the slaughter cannon".  Dorsett tries to fight back but Sarge no sells it until Dorsett rakes the eyes.  However, this just pisses Sarge off and he cuts Dorsett off and drops him gut first on the top rope before finishing him with the cobra clutch.  After the match Sarge lifts Dorsett to his feet only to knock him back onto his ass with a stiff clothesline. 

Gene with some arena promos. In an incredible slip up, Gene announces Hogan as beating Sheik for the title in the Garden in the match that doesn't even happen for another 9 days.  Ivan Putski comes in to plug the Battle Royal at the Olympic Auditorium in L.A.  Putski isn't much without the polish accent.  Halfway through the promo Gene informs Putski that the purse for the battle royal has been raised from 30 grand to 50 grand which compels Putski to exclaim loudly before charging away.  Next is Sheik and Ayatollah Blassie. "Listen, that pencil neck geek can't even count to fifty thousand," Blassie insists referring to Putski. Blassie then refers to Sheik losing the belt to Hogan as well, so someone fucked up here and dropped the wrong week's promo into this slot. I can't imagine the coronary Vince would have these days if someone made such a mistake.  Tito Santana comes in.  Tito panders to the L.A. fans and talks about watching the Rams win the Superbowl recently and compares the Battle Royal to the Superbowl of wrestling.  Now we have Andre, who was on Letterman just a few days before this.  Andre and Gene surmise that there will be 6 thousand pounds in the ring.  Andre seems to think that Battle Royals are called "Royal Royals" but that just might be his accent.  

They keep teasing ads for the WWF Calendar but whoever clipped this episode cuts it out. 

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka d. "Butcher" Paul Vachon in 2:55.

Up until last week, Snuka was the most over face in the company. He's still quite popular here, though there are a few audible boos in the crowd so perhaps they were hip to his recent "troubles".  Vachon dominates early, taking Snuka down with punches, Snuka selling quite a bit probably just out of respect for the veteran.  Vachon is classic old school heel down to the eye rakes.  Vachon beats Snuka in the corner then choking and biting Superfly.  Snuka fights back, pulling Vachon to the middle of the ring and knocking him down with a headbutt, then climbing to the top and rather than hitting a splash hits another awkward looking headbutt.  So Snuka's offense consisted of two moves. 

Victory Corner with Dr. D David Schultz

Host Robert DeVord joined by guest Dr. D David Schultz, sans Roddy Piper. Schultz says he's here for competition naming all the top faces, then confesses that he wanders the streets going into honky tonks and bars looking for a fight. He says when he can't do that he sits at home and turns on the tv and dreams about fighting the wrestlers on there.  He then threatens DeVord who brushes Dr. D off and quickly ends the segment.  Wrestling needs more guys like Schultz who just come off like a dude who would try to fuck you up in a bar if you looked at them wrong. 

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (with Roddy Piper) d. Hercules Vasquez in 4:41.

Piper reaches in and grabs the ref by the belt towards the rope, insisting he give Orndorff more time to prepare before starting the match. Fans are immediately on Orndorff with the "Paula" chants.  Vince reads a letter from a fan mentioning Orndorff's tendency to stall at the beginning of his matches.  Piper takes his time helping Orndorff with his robe.  Yet another full minute of stalling and Vasquez is getting restless. They finally lock up and Orndorff pushes him into the ropes, teasing a clean break then beating Vasquez down.  Orndorff slams him down hard and drops a knee across the throat, then jumps off the top with an elbow.  Orndorff drops Vasquez with another fist before rocking Vasquez with the most legit looking piledriver in the business.  How he doesn't fucking kill guys on this I'll never know but that's the magic.  Vince drools a little over Orndorff's physique ("Oh my!").  

Magnificent Muraco d. Special Delivery Jones in 4:30.

Captain Lou Albano is notable by his absence here. The green title belts in this era was an odd choice.  Fans chant "beach bum" at Muraco who is just mr. cool here.  Muraco backs Jones into the corner but backs off, seeming incredulous that the ref would even think he would do something cheap.  S.D. tries for a test of strength but Muraco backs off.  Jones tries to fire up and slaps Muraco who smiles. Jones continues to slap Muraco, finally drawing him in allowing Jones to get the best of him as Muraco finally sells the slaps.  Jones grabs a headlock After some selling Muraco counters with a reverse snapmare then stomps Jones on the mat.  Muraco comes off the ropes with an asian spike to the throat and a kneelift to the face as Jones staggers back to his feet.  Muraco downs Jones with an elbow to the back of the head then taunts him, drawing fists to the gut from Jones who backs Muraco into the corner.  Muraco counters a charge, then climbs to the top and drives his knee into Jone's head as he does a free fall from the top driving his knee into Jones' head.  As they climb to his feet Jones hits a quick suplex, but Muraco counters this into a cradle as they land and cinches Jones in for the pin. 

Jose Luis Rivera d. Tony Colon in 3:10.

Color me shocked that Joe McHugh pronounced "Colon" properly because he had no idea with "Jose Luis Rivera".  Colon tries some funny business but immediately gets sent out of the ring.  Rivera keeps taking Colon down with arm drags, sending him out again.  Rivera grabs a headlock, taking him over to the mat.  Gene puts over the "maturation process" that has occurred with Hulk Hogan in the past few years.  Vince calls Hogan "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" and "300 pounds of hunk".  Rivera works Colon down with a leg hold. Colon tries to whip Rivera into the corner, but Rivera counters by leaping over the top, swinging around the post and knocking Colon's head into the turnbuckle before climbing back in.  Rivera whips Colon in for a high dropkick, then drops him in what looked to be an attempted fireman's carry, immediately trying again and turning it into an airplane spin, dropping him to the mat for the pin.  I think that has to be the first time in my life i've ever seen a match end with an airplane spin.  Rivera is fine but in a world where you also have Tito Santana as a latin babyface he doesn't stand much of a chance. 

We now cut to a clip taken from WWE Classics on Demand from this episode in much higher quality than the rest of the video, as Gene interviews Hogan and Backlund.  Based on the commentary in the previous match, I think this originally aired at the beginning of the episode but whoever put this together saw fit to put it on the end. Hogan and Backlund shake hands.  Hogan says that the reception he got coming back made him feel like a babe in new arms.  He said he's been training hard with Backlund and "the excitement he puts off gives me chills" which is a stretch, to say the least. Backlund said nothing here, which is just mean. If he didn't see the writing on the wall here, he's a fool, whether or not he can rattle of the names of all the U.S. Presidents in order.

Hulk Hogan & Bob Backlund d. Mr. Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee in 4:12.

McHugh confirms that this is the opening match.  Backlund starts off of course, gotta make the fans wait for Hogan.  Lee pushes Backlund into the corner, but Backlund crawls beneath his legs and quickly tags Hogan.  Fuji grabs an armbar but Hogan reverses it, bringing Lee back in.  Hogan and Backlund essentially just work Lee's arm, tagging in and out frequently.  Lee works Hogan down with some blows to the ribs until Hogan just decides to no sell them and gives him the Hulk-up face. Hogan backs Lee into the corner with punches them tosses him into the other corner, downing him an atomic drop, Fuji breaking up the pin. Backlund is back in, but Lee quickly takes control, and he and Fuji work the arm. Gene states that "the past few weeks must have been terribly traumatic" for Backlund in light of his title loss.  Did Backlund fire Skaaland in story line due to the finish of the Sheik match or did he just appear in his corner for arena matches? Hogan is back as a house of fire, quickly sending Fuji out then quickly defeating Lee with the trademark clothesline-bodyslam-legdrop combo.  

Paul Orndorff d. S.D. Jones in 5:45. 

This is a match that ended up on the end of this tape somehow. Monsoon is on commentary with Gene and they inform us this is from the All-American Wrestling episode that aired the next day. Wasn't going to review this match since it wasn't actually from the show, but then I fast forwarded and saw that there is a Piper promo afterwards and there isn't any point in history where I'm not going to watch a Roddy Piper promo from 1984 if I come across one. Short story here is that Orndorff destroys Jones with piledriver. 

Piper & Orndorff join Gene at the interview set. "M-o-o-s-e! M-o-o-s-e!" Piper exclaims discussing the women who are gawking at Mr. Wonderful's body.  He say the men who call Orndorff Paula "all weigh 280 pounds and the girls next to them weigh 20 pounds more!" Piper says all the women need are "antlers and fur".  Gene cuts off the promo as Piper continues to go on and on.  

This was a fine episode, not as legendary as last week. There is definitely a select groups of guys they are trying to get/keep over (Hogan, Orndorff, Dr. D & Piper, Muraco, Santana, Sheik, Slaughter). Hogan's arrival has turned the entire promotion upside down, and in 15 months the two top faces before he arrived, Backlund and Snuka will be gone. It will be interesting to see how that lineup expands in the next few weeks. 

Classic TV Review: WWF Championship Wrestling January 7, 1984

I recently finished Tim Hornbaker's excellent book, Death Of The Territories, which chronicles Vince McMahon's WWF's incredible rise to the wrestling promotion of choice in the national marketplace and the subsequent, seemingly inexorable decline of territorial wrestling system that was beaten into submission by Vince's brilliant, cunning and at times Machiavellian business practices.  There are in-depth reviews of the book to be found around the net so I'll simply say that it carries my recommendation as the wrestling book of 2018, at least until I finish up the new Nitro book. 

I'm always looking for new wrestling to re-watch, especially older stuff that I might've missed the first time around.  While I've seen most of the big stuff from 80's WWF from about 1985-on, but as I didn't start watching regularly until November 1987, I thought it might be fun to go through starting with January 1984 and review the weekly WWF  TV to track the story in real time.

WWF Championship Wrestling January 7, 1984 

This is the legendary episode where Hulk Hogan, Gene Okerlund, David Schultz and Roddy Piper (Hogan, Okerlund & Schultz all infamously poached in the middle of the night from the AWA) all made their first appearance in what can be only viewed now as nothing less than a very strong "statement of purpose" from Vince McMahon as to where the tone and timber of his rapidly expanding promotion was heading.

I have never understood why in the Backlund-era intro to this show the shot of Snuka doing the Superfly splash with no boots in from one side of the ring suddenly cuts to a different shot of him jumping from the other side of the ring with boots on?  Either way, he absolutely KILLS the dude on impact.  Also the clip of pre-buzz cut "recite every President or I won't give you an autograph" high school assistant principal Bob Backlund is a testament to the fact that he was indeed over at one point before Billy Graham destroyed his belt, he cut his hair and became a lot less likable.

From the Agricultural Hall  Allentown, Pennsylvania Taped January 3, 1984

We open with an ever broad-shouldered 38 year old Vince McMahon in a powder blue suit who introduces the debuting "Mean" Gene Okerlund as his "sidekick". They push the debut of "Dr. D" as well as the first appearance of The Iron Sheik since defeating Backlund for the WWF Title in Madison Square Garden on December 26. They announce that Backlund will be taking on "Samoan #3" in a bout that was "originally supposed to be a tag team match, more on that later" (Spoiler: it's never explained why it was changed for a tag match).

Joe McHugh, who throughout this program has a curious affinity for mispronouncing names, is the ring announcer.  He also can't be anywhere south of seventy years old which makes me sad for Howard Finkel.

WWF Tag Team Champions Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas d. Bill Dixon & Charlie Fulton  in 3:12.
Perhaps already figuring out that the jobbers are wrestling Johnson & Atlas, they are booed by the contingency here in Allentown. Johnson looks like he's eyeing someone in the crowd before the bell rings, perhaps a young Rock was in the crowd?  Throughout the program each match features an overdubbed advertisement from Howard Finkel pushing a different house show card.  Gene describes an armdrag from Johnson to Dixon as "some kind of armbar", which is why he's a better interviewer than commentator. Johnson escapes from a leghold at the hands of Dixon with an impressive reverse roll up onto his feet in one smooth movement. Atlas is decidely less graceful, dominating their opponents with power moves.  The finish off Dixon with a graceful doubleteam as Atlas whips Dixon tagging Johnson, allowing Rocky to catch him with a sunset flip on the rebound for the pin.

"Dr. D." David Schultz (with Roddy Piper) d. Steve Lombardi in 1:48.
McHugh announces Lombardi as "Lombardo" which Gene repeats throughout the match.  Though Piper is a heel, he is cheered by a fair portion of the crowd, probably a sign that they were tape traders or at least read the magazines and knew that Piper was the hottest baby face aside from Ric Flair in Mid-Atlantic before being lured by McMahon just a month after Starrcade 83. Vince calls Piper "a wrestler extraordinaire apparently now trying his hand as a manager".  It seems as though Piper was brought in to take The Grand Wizard's spot after his death a few months earlier.  Schultz puts the hurt on "Lombardo" clearly trying to get over strong in his first appearance, finishing him off with a backwards elbow off the top.  Schultz goes back onto the apron to have his hand raised by the referee.

Schultz and Piper cut a promo with Gene immediately following the match.  Whatever goodwill Piper might've had with the fans when he was first introduced was quickly erased with his classic aggravating, rapid fire, quick witted master heel interview.  That said, as good as Piper was, Schultz didn't really need a manager as he could get over pretty well on his own with his redneck shtick, so this was a good example of the old WWF philosophy of every heel needing a manager proving itself to be a bit out-dated.

Gene does some promos with Sgt. Slaughter, Tito Santana and The Samoans with Capt Lou Albano plugging a Battle Royal in Los Angeles, which I believe was the first WWF card held in Los Angeles.

WWF Heavyweight Champion The Iron Sheik (with "Ayatollah" Fred Blassie d. John Callahan in 2:14.
Well, the fans HATE Sheik, except for the one smart ass teen aged heel fan who is displaying Sheik's pic from the WWF 1984 calendar. As tasteless as it is, I can't help but get a kick out of "Ayatollah" Fred Blassie, complete with Arabian head scarf, grinning like the Cheshire cat.  Fans begin chanting "We Want Backlund" as Sheik makes quick work out of his opponent, finishing him off with the camel clutch. We see a shot of a fan holding a sign that reads: "Backlund Is My Champion".

More arena promos with Gene promoting the MSG card later that month where Hogan will replace Backlund and win the title from The Sheik.  Gene brings in Sheik and "Ayatollah" Blassie who calls Arnold Skaaland Backlund's "Chicken liver manager" who threw in the towel and informs us that "they'd have to kill the Sheik" before he'd willingly sacrifice the title. Sheik gives praise to the real Ayatollah, compelling Blassie to look to the heavens and proclaim "Bali Bali!" Tito Santana comes in for his second promo of this show, building up his challenge to Magnificent Muraco for the Intercontinental Title. Muraco was pretty much the perennial champion in the early days of the title, but Santana was about to begin a solid 2 year off and on run with the strap.  Muraco and Albano follow, with Captain Lou delivering some butchered Spanish to insult Santana's fan.  Muraco delivers a great promo about how when you come to MSG  you don't come to see the Stones, you come to see Jagger.  When you come to see wrestling you come to see Magnificence. He does a great job starting out very mellowly before becoming quite animated as he gets into the promo, compelling Albano to howl with laughter and proclaim proudly, "He's sick, my man is sick"!  I haven't seen much of heel Muraco but he seems pretty great.

Tito Santana d. Bob Bradley in 2:40.
Bradley is a perennial jobber in the Duane Gill and Reno Riggins category up into the early 90s on WWF TV.  Finkel does voice over promo for a bunch of house shows, all which take place in New York state which speaks to the density and incredible financial windfall that the area provided.  Vince reads a question from a fan, "What's the highest that Jimmy Snuka has ever leaped and has anyone ever leaped any higher?" Vince refers to the cage dive that Snuka did in MSG, incorrectly referring to the match as a "victory" (he lost to both Backlund and Muraco in those cage matches).  Vince informs us that Mildred Burke wrote in to correct and errenous comment from Pat Patterson a couple of weeks before where Pat claimed that Moolah beat Burke for her Women's title.  Tito knocks Bradley out with the flying forearm.

Victory Corner with The Iron Sheik and Ayatollah Blassie
Very odd to see the set that would become Piper's Pit later in the month.  Sheik states that Iran is known for two things: "Oil and wrestling."  He uses his shoot name and refers to his Olympic experience.  It's kind of funny that they give Sheik a manager, presumably due to his accent but he, not Blassie ends up carrying most of the promos.  Blassie didn't say a word here.

Masked Superstar d. Victor Mercardo in 1:17.
McHugh calls Puerto Rico "Puerto Rica".  Wrestling needs more masked gimmicks that aren't just luchadores.  Superstar finishes Mercardo off quickly with a swinging neck breaker.  Some fans in the crowd wear grocery bags on their heads with stars written on them.  Vince slips up and announces that we'll find out "why we won't see Backlund in the title match, er, the tag team match rather", showing their hand on the angle where Hogan replaces Backlund against Sheik in the Garden.

Bob Backlund d. Samoan #3 by disqualification in 4:34.
For some reason they didn't bother to give the future Samu a name.  Afa & Sika along with Albano keep trying to grab at Backlund from outside the ring, so he quickly goes back and brings in Hogan to an enormous pop.  All I can say watching this is that I hope Backlund saved his money and if he didn't see the writing on the wall here then he needs to get his eyes checked because this was like walking from one dimension into another.  Okerlund reminds us of Hogan's appearance in "Rocky 3". Quickly enough, it all breaks down and The Samoans and Hogan all run in.  In a very subtle but telling spot, Backlund punches Albano who merely does the windmill sell, but when Hogan punches him he takes a bump which is very rare for Albano. It's those little touches that you don't see in wrestling anymore, these days they hit you over the head with everything. The fans stand and crane their necks to watch Hogan and Backlund as they leave, absolutely electrified.  Vince seems like he's going to blow a gasket. "That's 300 pounds in there!"

Hogan and Backlund join Gene.  The fans loudly chant "Hogan!" Backlund assures us that Hogan's "changed his ways and won't have Blassie around anymore," referring to Hogan's heel run in 3 years earlier.  Imagine them referring to story lines from 3 years ago today. Turns out if you treat that stuff like it matters, it well, and your angles and characters will have more depth and resonance.  Hogan thanks the fans and so overwhelmed with excitement that he just has to tear his shirt off, sending the fans into a frenzy of excitement.

More promos for the January MSG show.  Backlund comes in.  Maybe it's because I mainly know him from his heel run in 1994, but his hushed, charisma vacuum delivery just makes him come off like your boring Uncle who tries to read you bible verses after dinner.  Bob says the worst day of his life was having to tell his daughter that he was no longer the WWF Champion and she said simply, "Dad, we have to get that back."  Backlund promises to be champ again, which he was though it took him almost 11 years to do so.

Mr. Fuji d. Denny Hill in 2:19.
Hill is announced as "Dennis" Hill.  Fuji is winding down here and will take Albano's spot as heel manager when Albano turns face later this year.  He's one of those workers that you watch today and shake your head wondering "how did people think this was real?"  Fuji is about as phony as it gets with weak kicks and chops that the much larger Hill has to sell unbelievably.  Vince announces Fuji & Tiger Chung Lee vs. Hulk Hogan & Bob Backlund for next week.  Fuji pins Hill after a running back splash.

As simple as it was, this one was of the best hour long wrestling shows I've seen.  The debut of Hogan was like switching from black and white to color when comparing him with Backlund.  Frankly, I was excited when the show was over to see what was in store for next week.  WWF is off to a great start in 1984.