February 25, 1976 - Convention Hall - Atlantic City, NJ

Billy Graham pinned Dino Bravo after a powerslam in 0:04:49.
Rating: * 3/4

The Grand Wizard signed singles matches between the Graham Brothers and the World Tag Team champions to show that these wins Larry Zbyszko & Dino Bravo are getting over them are just flukes. Billy Graham did his part to prove that with a powerslam-aided victory over Bravo. We'll see if Luke Graham has the same luck with Zbyszko later in the evening.

Dean Ho and Tony Garea defeated Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka when Garea pinned Fuji with the High Cross Body in 0:12:42.
Rating: ****

On their third try, Dean Ho & Tony Garea have gotten their first victory as a team, defeating former World Tag Team champions Mr. Fuji & Professor Toru Tanaka. Ho & Garea had been close before, but they were finally able to put one away. After this loss, Fuji & Tanaka have decided to head back to Japan for awhile and wrestle there. Ho & Garea, in the mean time, look to keep this momentum going.

The Heenan Family (Blackjack Lanza, Blackjack Mulligan and Hiro Matsuda) defeated The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy Valiant and Johnny Valiant) and Johnny Rodz when Matsuda pinned Rodz after a gutwrench suplex in 0:07:30.
Rating: *** 1/4
[Bobby Heenan interfered against Jimmy Valiant.]

An odd mix of talent in this match as members of the Heenan Family took on the Valiant Brothers & Johnny Rodz, who "unpredictably" wore a wig to match the long blond locks of Jimmy & Johnny. The Blackjacks & Hiro Matsuda all have the same manager, Bobby Heenan, and that helped them in strategizing for this match. The Valiants, on the other hand, seemingly wanted nothing to do with Johnny Rodz, and that lack of teamwork ultimately led to the Heenan Family taking the win.

Luke Graham pinned Larry Zbyszko with the Thumb to the Throat in 0:03:59.
Rating: *** 1/4

Much like his brother Billy earlier, Luke Graham was victorious in his match against one half of the World Tag Team champions, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko was game and ready for the match, but Luke Graham is one of the most decorated competitors in GCW history, having held championship gold on 8 different occasions. The Thumb to the Throat put this one in the record books. With their wins tonight, the Graham Brothers will get one more shot to regain the tag titles on March 11 at Madison Square Garden. GCW officials have decided that to keep this a fair fight and keep The Grand Wizard out of it, it will be a cage match! As great as the story of Zbyszko & Bravo has been, I think this Cinderella tale is coming to an end at MSG.

Killer Kowalski pinned Billy Robinson after a flying kneedrop in 0:11:32.
Rating: *** 1/4
[Bobby Heenan interfered against Billy Robinson.]

After accidentally ripping part of Ernie Ladd's ear off last month, you would think that Killer Kowalski would show a little compassion for what he did this month. Then we remembered it was Killer Kowalski. During his match with Billy Robinson, Kowalski constantly mocked Ladd's injury, a despicable act to say the least. Robinson wasn't impressed and did his best to keep the big man off his feet, but Kowalski locked on the Claw and incapacitated Robinson. Kowalski could have put Robinson away right then, but he chose to go to the top rope and hit Robinson with a flying kneedrop, the same move that injured Ladd in the first place. Luckily Robinson avoided injury, but the intent was clearly there. Bobby Heenan just laughed the entire time. What a bunch of creeps.

Interview:
Peter Maivia wants answers from Ivan Koloff.

As he said he would, "High Chief" Peter Maivia called out Ivan Koloff, wanting answers for Koloff costing him a match against Nikolai Volkoff last month. Koloff, to his credit, did come out like a man and faced Maivia. Koloff explained that he had no choice - he has to do whatever Captain Lou Albano tells him to do. Maivia said that wasn't good enough, and that if he was a real man, he would do the right thing instead of what a piece of scum like Albano tells him. Koloff said it wasn't that simple - there were reasons why Koloff couldn't do that. Maivia wanted to know those reasons, but before he could get them, NIKOLAI VOLKOFF was in the ring and beating down on Maivia. Koloff intervened and pulled Volkoff away, but Albano demanded that Koloff stand back and let it happen. Koloff looked pained, but he did as he was told, watching Volkoff squeeze the life out of Maivia until officials broke it up.

Dory Funk Jr. made Jimmy Snuka submit to the Texas Cloverleaf in 0:14:36.
Rating: ****

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is committed to being a successful singles wrestler, but there are bound to be some potholes and speed bumps along the road. Snuka has looked good so far, but he ran into one of those speed bumps in Dory Funk Jr. Funk is wanting to get himself back into contention for the Intercontinental Title, and this win over Snuka helps in that quest. Funk dodged the Superfly Splash and quickly locked on the Texas Cloverleaf to get the submission win in New Jersey.

Harley Race pinned Sgt. Slaughter with the Piledriver in 0:13:51.
Rating: ** 1/2

The World Title may not have been on the line, but rookie Sgt. Slaughter had a huge opportunity never the less as he took on World Heavyweight champion Harley Race. Gorilla Monsoon, Slaughter's tag team partner, was not in the building tonight but we had heard he had advised Slaughter against taking the match, but it's hard to convince a youngster out of wanting to go against the World champ in an effort to proof himself. Slaughter had a lot of youthful spirit, and on a couple of occasions looked like he was going to pull off the upset. But the window for the miracle quickly closed as Race hit the Piledriver and got the pin. Race wasn't happy with how close the match was though, and decided to teach Slaughter a lesson. Race hit Slaughter with another Piledriver, and looked to go for a third when he was stopped by LOU THESZ. Race cowardly attacked Thesz at the year end show in New York, and Thesz was back out for revenge. Thesz, the former World champion, will have the chance at ultimate revenge for we have found out that Thesz will challenge Race for the World Title on March 11 at Madison Square Garden!

Jack Brisco made Mr. Wrestling I submit to the Figure-Four Leglock in 0:08:41.
Rating: *** 1/2

It was nice to see Mr. Wrestling I back in action tonight after he had been on the shelf for several months with an injury. He was back for a great wrestling match with Jack Brisco. Mr. Wrestling looked good, but he was admittedly a bit rusty, having not competed since last September. He fought valiantly though, but in the end, he was caught in the Figure-Four Leglock and had to submit. After the match, Brisco offered Mr. Wrestling I a handshake, but Mr. Wrestling was tentative and just walked away! This is very unlike Mr. Wrestling. What has gotten into him?

Bobby Duncum pinned Don Muraco after a powerslam in 0:17:12.
Rating: ** 3/4
(Bobby Duncum retained the GCW Intercontinental Title.)

Don Muraco wanted to do what his partner couldn't do and that's win the Intercontinental Title, but to do that he'd have to beat Bobby Duncum, something that has become increasingly difficult to do. Muraco put the heat on Duncum, but in the end, he got his Flying Crossbody finisher reversed into a powerslam that drove the air out of his lungs and let Duncum keep the gold.

Texas Death Match:
Dusty Rhodes and Pedro Morales defeated The Dirtbags (Dick Murdoch and Stan Hansen) when Dusty Rhodes pinned Hansen with the Bionic Elbowdrop in 0:26:04.
Rating: *** 1/4

The feud between Dusty Rhodes & Pedro Morales and the Dirtbags had to come to an end sooner or later, and what more vicious way for it to do so than in this Texas Death match. As this war waged on, we weren't exactly sure who was going to win, but we did realize that no matter what, the winner was going to be clear and decisive. It was obvious the crowd was solidly behind Rhodes & Morales, and though it was nip and tuck throughout, they would get their wish as Rhodes hit a bloodied Stan Hansen with the Bionic Elbowdrop for the decisive fall, and a finish to this violent, bloody feud.

Card rating: *** 1/4

Match observations:

Madison Square Garden is already sold out and ready to go for our big show on March 11!

WORLD TITLE - Harley Race (c) vs. Lou Thesz
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE CAGE MATCH - Larry Zbyszko/Dino Bravo (c) vs. The Graham Brothers
Bobby Duncum/Billy Robinson vs. Dory Funk Jr./Don Muraco
Peter Maivia vs. Nikolai Volkoff
Jimmy Snuka vs. Killer Kowalski
Jack Brisco vs. Mr. Wrestling I
Dean Ho/Tony Garea vs. The Dirtbags
Gorilla Monsoon/Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Valiant Brothers

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License