October 31, 1972 - Madison Square Garden - New York, NY

Baron Mikel Scicluna and Baron Von Raschke defeated The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) when Raschke defeated G. Gagne when G. Gagne passed out in the Claw in 0:09:03.
Rating: ** 1/2

Baron Mikel Scicluna & Baron Von Raschke want the World Tag Team Titles, and Lou Albano has been desperately trying to get them their opportunity. They came close recently, but an unexpected loss to Dominic DeNucci & Tony Garea derailed that possibility. The Barons could move up the ladder by beating the rookie team of the High Flyers, who have been on an incredible roll as of late. Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell took to the air early trying to get the much larger Scicluna & Raschke to the mat, but after the Barons grounded the high-flying arsenal of the Flyers, this one was all Barons. Von Raschke got the Claw on Gagne, and when he stopped responding, this match was over.

Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Snuka defeated Crusher & Bruiser (The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser) when J. Snuka pinned Crusher with the Superfly Splash in 0:15:08.
Rating: **

Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher are getting the short end of the stick over Bobby Heenan and his troops, most notably with Heenan himself getting a highly controversial win over the Bruiser. Bruiser & Crusher were back teaming this show to take on Heenan & Jimmy Snuka. Bruiser & Crusher were chomping at the bit to get a hold of Heenan, causing Snuka to wrestle most of this match by himself. This seemed like bad strategy, but Heenan had a plan - a large masked man ran out late in the match while Heenan had the attention of referee Terry Taranova, knocking Crusher's block off with a huge clothesline. Bruiser tried to get into the ring, but this masked individual cut him off with a big boot right to his face, knocking him to the floor. The masked man exited the ring while Snuka hit the Superfly Splash on Crusher to steal yet another victory away from the former 6-time tag team champions. The question we are still left with though is who is this masked man? If Bruiser & Crusher find out, it is not going to be pretty.

Carlos Colon pinned Toru Tanaka with the Figure-Four Leglock in 0:13:42.
Rating: ****

Madison Square Garden was buzzing for the debut of a man who has already made a huge name for himself in his native Puerto Rico, Carlos Colon. Colon is known for being able to take a beating and keep coming back for more, and we saw some of that against Professor Toru Tanaka. Tanaka took on this match as his partner Mr. Fuji was granted a shot at the World Title later in the show. Colon has that same fiery temper that has helped make Pedro Morales so successful in GCW, and after taking the offense of Tanaka, Colon snapped and came back with a fury on Tanaka, getting him locked in the Figure-Four Leglock which garnered him a pinfall win. What a way to debut for Carlos Colon.

Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Ernie Ladd by disqualification in 0:00:29.
Rating: *

The match in Baltimore was so competitive that a rematch was signed between Chief Jay Strongbow & Ernie Ladd for tonight. Mr. Ladd apparently didn't think Strongbow was worthy of a rematch as it only took him 29 seconds to get disqualified for not releasing a chokehold. Ladd choked Strongbow until he started turning blue in the face before someone ran from the back and tossed Ladd out of the ring. When we got a better look at him, we saw that it was SPIROS ARION making his return! Arion is a former World Tag Team champion and showed a lot of class by not sitting idly by while Ladd inflicted perhaps permanent damage on Strongbow. Strongbow was appreciative as the two shook hands as Ladd and The Grand Wizard went to the back, vowing revenge.

The Cripplers (Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens) defeated Dominic DeNucci and Tony Garea when Bockwinkel pinned DeNucci with the Piledriver in 0:25:57.
Rating: *** 1/4
(The Cripplers won the GCW World Tag Team Titles.)
[Bobby Heenan interfered against Dominic DeNucci.]

Our World Tag Team Title match was also a return match from Baltimore with Dominic DeNucci & Tony Garea defending the gold against The Cripplers. The match ended in a double countout last time when a pier six brawl erupted, so this match was held to determine a clear winner. This was about as technical a tag team match as you would ever see, with both champions and challengers employing flawless tag team strategy. The crowd was treated to a match brimming with holds, counter holds, and nearfalls galore. Many times it looked like Bobby Heenan was going to have a heart attack on the floor when either Stevens or Bockwinkel was nearly pinned. His heart would get at least a little more time being healthy though, as the more experienced Cripplers would pull out the win after Stevens caught DeNucci in the back with a knee from the apron, leading to Bockwinkel drilling him with the Piledriver for the 1-2-3. The Cripplers are now two-time World Tag Team champions. Heenan's prophecy has come to fruition.

Interview:
Pedro Morales has an unexpected challenge to make.

Pedro Morales is out for a bit with a torn ligament in his knee, but that didn't stop him from showing up at MSG. Morales came out and went on a long list of his supposed trials and tribulations from the past couple years, from as he says being cheated out of the World Title by Bruno Sammartino to the fans turning on him all the way up to his current injury. Morales said while he has been laid up recovering from his injury, he's done a lot of thinking and he can trace all of his troubles back to one man - MIL MASCARAS. Morales told a story of Mascaras cowardly attacking him in the locker room of this very building back during the very first Grand Prix of Wrestling tournament back in 1969. Morales said his promising career has never been the same since. Some would argue this point as since then, Morales has held the US title twice and nearly dethroned Sammartino to be World champion, but it's hard to argue with a madman. Morales said he will be back in the ring by the huge 10-year anniversary show on New Year's Day, and that if Mil Mascaras is any kind of man, he will wrestle him one-on-one.

Jerry Lawler pinned Johnny Valentine after a backslide in 0:18:06.
Rating: ** 3/4

Twice Jerry Lawler has tried to beat Johnny Valentine and twice the King has come close, but no cigar. Valentine gave Lawler one more try, but said that this one would be it. Lawler was primed to take full advantage of the opportunity, having learned a lot from the previous two contests. Things Valentine had done successfully the first two times, Lawler had counters for. In the end it would be a counter by the King that would pick up the win for him, ducking a Valentine clothesline and catching him in a backslide for the 1-2-3. Lawler was beaten up, but he stood victorious. After the match Valentine went after Lawler and it looked like it was to attack him, but Valentine surprised us all (no one more than Lawler, though) and shook Lawler's hand. Valentine may not like losing, but Lawler has gained his respect.

Bruno Sammartino defeated Mr. Fuji by disqualification in 0:12:53.
Rating: ** 1/4
(Bruno Sammartino retained the GCW World Title.)
[Arnold Skaaland interfered against Mr. Fuji.]

Bruno Sammartino had a World Title challenger tonight that he didn't know too much about, as Mr. Fuji has primarily wrestled in tag team affairs in his GCW stint. Sammartino was clearly still suffering the ill effects of his brutal streetfight with Billy Graham in Baltimore and he had to wrestle a more conservative match than he would have liked as a result. Fuji smelled blood in the water and was relentless on his attack, primarily focusing on Bruno's neck and traps. Bruno has held the title for a record amount of time now, just surpassing Lou Thesz's 840 day reign, and he wasn't about to see it come to a close tonight. Fuji got frustrated that he couldn't finish Bruno off, and opted instead to spit a blue mist into Bruno's face! The match was over in a disqualification, but the bigger story was the intense amount of pain that Bruno was in. There were worries of possible serious injury, but thankfully Bruno is eventually going to gain his eyesight back to 100%. Sammartino should take a bit of time off, but he wants a piece of Fuji in the worst way and has challenged Fuji to a blindfold match on November 15 in Philadelphia. How this match will work is that both competitors will be forced to wear blindfolds during the match and have to feel each other out to try to win the match. If that isn't bad enough for Fuji, it will also not be for the title as the Championship Committee made it clear they didn't want to reward Fuji for his heinous actions.

Billy Robinson and Luke Graham defeated Billy Graham and Wahoo McDaniel when L. Graham pinned Wahoo with the Thumb to the Throat in 0:31:01.
Rating: *** 3/4
[The Grand Wizard interfered against Billy Robinson.]
[The Grand Wizard interfered against Luke Graham.]

Our main event was tag team action featuring singles wrestlers as United States champion Billy Robinson teamed with Luke Graham to take on Wahoo McDaniel and Luke's younger brother, Billy Graham. Billy was taking the place of the injured Pedro Morales, and only took this match to once again get under the skin of his brothers Luke and Eddie. Before this match even started, we learned that on November 15, Wahoo McDaniel will once again get a shot at the US Title based on how good his last match with Robinson was. This was a great tag match and an exciting way to end another fantastic MSG show. The teams matched up very well, and we got to see the next chapter in the long sibling rivalry between Luke & Billy Graham. In the end though, Billy decided he wanted no more of brother Luke, walking out on the match and leaving Wahoo to eat the Thumb to the Throat and end this match. Word has it that Wahoo McDaniel is not happy with Billy Graham or The Grand Wizard and a match may be in order between the two soon. But next, Wahoo has to worry about trying to regain the US Title.

Card rating: ** 3/4

Match observations:

After the show was over, a press conference was held in regards to the 10 year anniversary show to be held here at the Garden on New Year's Day. The big news from the press conference was the announcement of the main event for the 10th anniversary show. Provided he is still the champion by then, Bruno Sammartino will defend the World Heavyweight Title against former champion and huge international star, ANTONIO INOKI! To my knowledge, this is their first meeting, and is sure to be a classic. If that's not enough, a title match of this epic nature needs a special referee to ensure it goes off without a hitch, and that man will be wrestling legend LOU THESZ! Not only that, but we have since learned that Mil Mascaras has accepted the challenge of Pedro Morales from tonight, and that these two will try to settle their deep seated hatred for one another on January 1!

But before we get to that huge show, we still have shows in Philadelphia and Chicago! The Philly show, taking place on November 15, has the following matches signed thus far:

BLINDFOLD MATCH - Bruno Sammartino (World champion) vs. Mr. Fuji
UNITED STATES TITLE - Billy Robinson (c) vs. Wahoo McDaniel
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES - The Cripplers (c) vs. Dominic DeNucci/Tony Garea
Chief Jay Strongbow/Spiros Arion vs. Ernie Ladd/Billy Graham
Plus… Lou Albano reveals his new protégé'!

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