October 8, 1974 - Madison Square Garden - New York, NY

Bobby Duncum pinned Mr. Wrestling I with the Full Nelson Slam in 0:06:06.
Rating: *** 3/4

In our opening contest here at MSG, Bobby Duncum was wrestling with an obvious chip on his shoulder as he took on Mr. Wrestling I. Wrestling I flustered the rowdy cowboy with his technical prowess, but this seemed to only anger Duncum more, who nearly took I's head off with a lariat. Not long after, he hit the Full Nelson Slam for a dominant victory.

The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy Valiant and Johnny Valiant) defeated Gorilla Monsoon and Dino Bravo when Jimmy Valiant defeated Bravo when Bravo passed out in the Sleeperhold in 0:03:37.
Rating: * 3/4

The Valiant Brothers continued their impressive showings in the tag team ranks with a quick win over Gorilla Monsoon & Dino Bravo. After the match, the Valiants announced that they have made their decision on who will be their new manager to lead them to greatness, and that will be revealed on November 11 when we debut in Providence, Rhode Island.

Ernie Ladd pinned Baron Mikel Scicluna with the Thumb to the Throat in 0:08:54.
Rating: * 1/2
[Lou Albano interfered against Ernie Ladd.]

Ernie Ladd got a much needed win by defeating the now seemingly hapless Baron Mikel Scicluna. Ever since his contract was bought out by Lou Albano, Scicluna hasn't had much luck in the singles ranks. Word has it that Albano's patience is wearing thin.

Billy Graham defeated Jimmy Snuka by countout in 0:07:36.
Rating: * 1/4

In what some people are considering a bit of an upset, Jimmy Snuka beat Billy Graham in our debut at the Nassau Coliseum. Superfly doesn't consider any win of his to be an upset, thus he had no problem accepting this rematch against the Superstar. Snuka's speed and agility once again bothered Graham. Sometimes a wrestler will just have another wrestler's number, and it looked like this was the case with Snuka & Graham. However, Snuka made an uncalculated risk, jumping to the floor to attack Graham, but the Superstar moved and Snuka crashed and burned. Snuka was hurt and couldn't get back in the ring in time, resulting in a countout victory for Billy Graham. GCW officials are not convinced that this match had a convincing conclusion, and thus have signed a rematch for November 11 in Providence!

Johnny Rodz defeated Nikolai Volkoff by disqualification in 0:00:09.
Rating: DUD
[Lou Albano interfered against Johnny Rodz.]

Well, Johnny Rodz got his first victory, but I don't think this is the way he wanted it to go down. Before his match with Nikolai Volkoff, a man who was probably going to kill him, Rodz's "unpredictable" act was to spit in Volkoff's face. All this did was anger the Russian, who grabbed a chair from ringside and clocked Rodz with it for a fast and furious disqualification. Captain Lou, luckily, calmed Volkoff down before any more damage was done, but a lesson was learned here - don't spit in Volkoff's face.

Billy Robinson and Harley Race battled to a draw in 0:40:00.
Rating: **** 1/4
(Harley Race retained the GCW United States Title.)

Billy Robinson has been a thorn in US champion Harley Race's side for the past several months, and he had one more chance to get the title away from Race in this match. Just like the other matches have been, this one was a wrestling clinic from both sides. They've gotten to know each other so well at this point, that the match featured a plethora of counters and great wrestling holds. The match was winding down to the 30-minute time limit, and at the end, Race was firmly in control. Race was about to put the match away when the bell rang. With Robinson in such a precarious position, Race demanded that 10 more minutes be added to the match. Referee Terry Taranova granted the request, but Robinson recovered and turned the tide. As the 10-minute overtime period was coming to a close, Robinson was the man in control. Robinson hit the Double-Arm Suplex, but the time limit again expired. Robinson asked for the another overtime period, but Race refused it, taking his title and retreating to the back to a huge chorus of boos. There's your fighting champion.

Baron Von Raschke defeated Pedro Morales by disqualification in 0:09:50.
Rating: * 3/4
[Mr. Fuji and Toru Tanaka interfered against Baron Von Raschke.]

The last time these two wrestled, Pedro Morales' pre-match attack backfired and Baron Von Raschke won the match in a mere minute. Morales learned from his mistake in the rematch, taking his time and realizing he has to pick his shots against someone like Raschke. The Baron is simply too big and too scary to overrun - you have to be smart against him. Morales also spent the match working on Raschke's hand to neutralize the Claw, which is great strategy. However, it ultimately did him no good as Raschke managed to get the Claw on, but not for long before MR. FUJI & TORU TANAKA ran in to brutalize Raschke - and cause the disqualification. Fuji & Tanaka beat down Raschke and were later joined by Morales in a cowardly 3-on-1 assault. Thankfully, GORILLA MONSOON & DINO BRAVO ran down to make the save, chasing off the heels. This also sets the stage for a 6-man tag team match in Providence.

The Texas Outlaws (Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch) defeated The Cripplers (Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens) when Dusty Rhodes pinned Bockwinkel with the Bionic Elbowdrop in 0:22:29.
Rating: *** 1/2
(The Texas Outlaws retained the GCW World Tag Team Titles.)

Bobby Heenan is still walking around embarrassed that The Texas Outlaws, the reigning World Tag Team champions, turned down his services as a manager, and has said he will stop at nothing until he gets the titles off of Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch and into the camp of the Heenan Family. The Cripplers were looking to become 4-time champions, and the title reign of the Outlaws was in serious jeopardy because Ray Stevens & Nick Bockwinkel are two of the best in the world. These two teams couldn't be more different in their lifestyles and in-ring style, but both are highly effective and successful in the ring. The game plan of the Cripplers was obvious - take out the knees of the much bigger Outlaws. Rhodes & Murdoch were in a lot of trouble throughout the match, but they showed tremendous heart by fighting through the pain and refusing to give up. This tenacity would pay off as a miscommunication by The Cripplers opened the door for Rhodes to hit the Bionic Elbowdrop on Bockwinkel to retain the titles. After the match, Heenan berated The Cripplers for failing to capture the titles. This didn't sit well with Stevens or Bockwinkel, but everyone went to the back with no further incident.

Carlos Colon defeated Blackjack Lanza by countout in 0:14:18.
Rating: *** 3/4
[Bobby Duncum interfered against Blackjack Lanza.]

If things weren't bad for Bobby Heenan before, they got a lot worse in our next match, pitting Heenan's Blackjack Lanza against Carlos Colon. The rivalry between Colon & Lanza is reaching epic levels, and this next chapter only added to it. We expected the knockdown, drag out fight we got, but what we didn't expect was the shocking conclusion to the match. Lanza was firmly in control of the contest and had Colon on the outside of the ring. After throwing him into a ringside table, Lanza threw Colon back into the ring. While referee Danny Bartfield checked on Colon's condition, he didn't see BOBBY DUNCUM grab Lanza by the hair and throw him into the ring post! Bobby Heenan was furious that a member of the Family just knocked Lanza out, causing him to get counted out. We tried to get a statement from Duncum, but he left the building before anyone could talk to him. Something is definitely rotten in the Heenan Family.

Ivan Koloff pinned Luke Graham with the Russian Sickle in 0:15:27.
Rating: ** 3/4
(Ivan Koloff retained the GCW World Title.)

After the mutual respect shown in their first encounter last month, Luke Graham wanted one more shot to see if he could best Ivan Koloff and wrestle the World Heavyweight Title away from him, and the Russian Bear was more than willing to oblige in our main event. Graham seemed to have a chip on his shoulder as at this point in his career, this could be the last opportunity he has to become the World champion. Graham came very close, even hitting the Thumb to the Throat, but Koloff landed too close to the ropes and got his foot over the bottom one when Graham made the cover. Graham was furious when senior referee Dick Kroll noticed this and stopped the count. Graham almost seemed unstable after this moment, obviously highly frustrated that he didn't win the match. Graham couldn't get his focus back, which opened the door for Koloff to hit the Russian Sickle and retain the title. Afterwards, Koloff again offered a handshake to Luke Graham, but this time, Graham was too upset to accept it and walked away to the back, garnering a few boos for that action. Koloff didn't seem okay with this, but he needs to let it go, because his next challenge is going to be the United States champion, HARLEY RACE!

Card rating: ** 3/4

Match observations:

GCW continues to expand into new markets, next debuting at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI! This event will take place on November 11, and the card is going to be huge!

WORLD TITLE - Ivan Koloff (c) vs. United States champion Harley Race
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES - The Texas Outlaws (c) vs. The Valiant Brothers
Baron Von Raschke/Gorilla Monsoon/Dino Bravo vs. Pedro Morales/Mr. Fuji/Toru Tanaka
Jimmy Snuka vs. Billy Graham

And also, Blackjack Lanza will call out Bobby Duncum!

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