New Footage Friday: 1976 UWA TV

UWA 5/1/76

MD: Whenever an old reel gets found and converted and we get more 70s studio wrestling, it's worth talking about. This episode has a lot going for it, since it's a pretty rare promotion, has Lou Thesz promoting and announcing, and gives us a timely look at a few wrestlers we don't have a lot of in 76. It was very much of its era, down to the stars on the ring ropes and Buzz Benson's announcing (Zam!; Zap! Right into the midsection). It was a fun package with a complete match to start, a couple of flashy squashes with big characters, and a hot angle at the end.

Tommy Seigler vs. Bruce Swayze

MD: Seigler I know best from the one 73 Dick Steinborn match we have and he was positioned as babyface here with Swayze billed from Florida, with goofy tights and working the inside moves. Thesz fingerprints are all over this as they worked it like they were hired by Thesz, paid by Thesz, and knew Thesz would be announcing their match. They worked it tight and snug, giving Thesz opportunities to talk about leverage technique, about his own evenness in matchmaking. In the first half, Swayze focused on the arm with underhanded, well-hidden cut offs. Seigler sold well, able to come back with fiery shots but too standup a wrestler to really be able to capitalize when the ref was holding him back. They were working towards a draw so when Swayze finally took over, it was with a headlock but it was still well worked as he held on through Seigler's attempt to cheat. It opened back up as the time headed towards expiration but never quite went over the top. Good TV draw that was interesting for how Thesz looked at is as much as anything else.

The Islanders (Afa and Sika) w/ Gentleman Saul Weingeroff vs. The Mighty Yankee/Troy Graham

MD: Afa and Sika felt pretty young here, Sika especially. Afa I'd call relatively young since for the most part, we always knew him in his late 30s and older. Here, he was mid-30s with almost a literal babyface. Most interesting here was the amount of wrestling they still did, but how they added in the chops and shoulder blocks and shots. The base of what they were doing was the wrestling, putting on a hold and taking a guy over, but they twisted it (a nerve hold) and added to it (the headbutt and splash) to make it seem more exotic (for 76 at least).

Dale Mann vs. Mario Leone

MD: Leone's gear was amazing. It was an orange singlet and tights, with red boots, black kneepads, and black trunks with a little orange trident/pitchfork on the back, the sort of thing that you'd picture 76 Satanico potentially wearing but only if Peña booked AAA existed in 76. Somewhat less wrestling here and more Leone comically bumping himself over the top long, long after Mann moved out of the way while Cora Combs joins in on the announcing and lets us know she'll be wrestling next week. I'm not super familiar with Mann, but he was big, with decent presence, sound fundamentals, and a bowlcut. He ended up promoting in KY a little later, but I don't think we have a lot of 70s footage of him. You definitely get the sense he could be a local attraction. Post match (and airplane spin), Leone trips over the mic cord. What a worker.

Cowboy Ray Parker (Scott Elmore)/The Spoiler ("The Angel" Frank Morrell) w/ Al Costello vs. Luis "Arriba" Martinez/Lorenzo Parente

MD: The heels take out Parente with a chair before the match. Spoiler with the mask/hat combo was quite the look. Thesz then turned it into a handicap match, which is really more of a gauntlet, the idea being that Martinez would face Parker and then Spoiler. Martinez came out with the stereotypical latin fury with Parker bumping around the ring for him. I have a ton of time for Costello's act with the boomerang: after a Spoiler distraction, he was able to whack Martinez in the leg with it, hit him over the head, AND choke him in the ropes by putting it over his head. That's a versatile weapon. Ultimately after a comeback and (another) airplane spin, the heels rushed the ring and worked over Martinez, bloodying him with Spoiler's claw, until Parente rushed back with a steel pipe and made the save. Post match, Martinez had a great bloody promo about how he wasn't an animal ("The bible says no revenge!") but how they were driving him to it.