MAPLE LEAF WRESTLING
Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens
8-31-1981

OPENING MATCH: AKIO SATO vs. STEVE WRIGHT (referee Terry Yorkston)

-The match starts on friendly terms as neither men have any real heat between them. Neither of these men are the stereotypical foreign heels that are a trademark of the day. Instead they are two talented and hard hitting athletes that deserve an audience. This is a clash of international proportions as Wright’s European style is matched up with the Japaneese style of Sato.

Both men engage in a quick shake of the hands shortly after the bell rings and then begin to circle one another. Both men work a solid scientific match with Wright looking to take Sato off his feet and work over a leg, while Sato uses his quickness and martial arts abilities to negate this. At about the 10 minute mark the pace of the match starts to pick up considerably. Sato uses his speed and agility to land some high flying offense but misses a dropkick off the top rope that allows Wright to take back over. Wright tries to get the submission using a half crab but Sato makes the ropes. Both men are pretty well spent by this point. Each man gets several near falls using various pinning combos. Sato tries a roundhouse kick on Wright but Wright ducks out of the way and grabs Sato in a waste lock German suplex with a bridge. The 20 minute time limit expires as the referee positions himself to count. Wright is flustered but still manages to shake hands and embrace Sato after the hard fought match,

RESULT: 20 MINUTE TIME LIMIT DRAW

SECOND MATCH: KING KONG BUNDY vs. MIKE MILLER (referee Terry Yorkston)

-Bundy’s massive girth dwarfs the tall and lanky Miller. Miller appears tenative about locking up with the bigger Bundy and pays for it with a kick to the gut. Bundy pounds into Miller with mighty forearm smashes across the back. Bundy maneuvers Miller into the corner and attempts the Avalanche, but Miller gets out of the way just in the nick of time. Miller has Bundy reeling with several big right hands and then attempts an Irish whip on Bundy. Bundy reverses the Irish whip and sends Miller into the ropes. Bundy goes for a clothesline, but Miller ducks under it and comes back off the ropes with a flying cross body block. Bundy catches Miller in mid air and then delivers a falling power slam. The referee makes the 3 count. Bundy demands that the ref count to five. The ref follows orders.

RESULT: KING KONG BUNDY BY PINFALL AT THE 2:37 MARK

THIRD MATCH: “EXOTIC” ADRIAN STREET vs. TERRY TAYLOR (referee Fred Atkins)

-Street blows a kiss at Taylor as the opening bell rings. He then approaches Taylor and acts as though he wants Taylor to kiss his hand. Taylor slaps Street’s hand out of the way and demands that the ref make Street stop the funny business. Taylor, who is clearly distracted, is shown up by Street in the early moments.

Street uses his unorthodox take downs to belittle the youngster and prances around the ring celebrating his acomplishment. The disgusted Taylor pounds the canvas and then hops back to his feet. Taylor is slowly starting to adjust to Street’s bizarre style, but Street is still keeping him off balance.

Taylor goes for a rear waist lock, but Street reverses with a go behind. Taylor runs around the ring in a circular fashion and drops as he approaches the ropes, thus throwing Street from the ring. Street gets up in a tizzy, a dumb founded look on his face. He angrily hops back up and scurries into the ring where he is met by Taylor who takes over the match.

It is now Street’s turn to be shown up by the younger Taylor. Taylor has a counter for everything that Street tries. When Taylor gets a rear waste lock on, Street has the bright idea to use the same method of escaping the hold that Taylor had used on him earlier. This time Street runs around the ring and carries his momentum to the ropes, only this time Taylor bows up and grabs the ropes, letting Street’s own momentum carry him out to the floor once again. Street is really angry now. “Alright no more mister nice guy!” he screams.

Upon returning to the ring, Street is a mad man. Biting, gouging, clawing and taking every short cut in the book, The match rapidly turns into a brawl with street taking a distinct advantage. Taylor, however connects with the five-arm out of no where but is too groggy to make a cover. Both men slowly rise to their knees and start duking it out. Taylor is on the comeback trail. He whips Street pillar to post. He gets Street in the corner and starts a ten punch. The crowd starts to count along. Street pushes Taylor off of him at the count of five and executes a double leg take down. He then props his feet up on the ropes for extra leverage. The ref, not seeing this, makes the three count. Street quickly gets out of town as Taylor tries to tell the ref that Street’s feet were in the ropes.

RESULT: ADRIAN STREET BY PINFALL AT 17:41 WITH HIS FEET ON THE ROPES

FOURTH MATCH: CANADIAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP-ANGELO MOSCA © vs. BOBBY DUNCUM (referee Fred Atkins)

-Duncum attacks Mosca from behind before the bell, but Mosca fights back with big rights and lefts and then clotheslines Duncum over the top and to the floor. The crowd erupts. Duncum hops back in the ring and demands a fight. The referee slows the pace down and goes to inspect both combatants. He then signals for the bell and we are under way.

Duncum rakes the eyes and gets Mosca in a side headlock. Mosca pushes Duncum off into the ropes and meets him with a thunderous shoulder block. Duncum goes down in a heap and then scoots back into the corner to regroup. Duncum demands a test of strength. The two men feel each other out. Finally the two men’s hands lock and Mosca takes the advantage. He pulls Duncum down to his knees and then stomps on his hands for good measure. Duncum powders back to the ropes again, holding his hands in pain. This time Mosca, with the crowd solidly behind him, asks for a test of strength. Duncum and Mosca lock hands again, but this time Duncum meets his opponent with a swift kick to the gut.

Duncum uses his brawling to take over for several minutes getting to get the advantage on Mosca. Mosca then fights his way back and sends Duncum reeling with a series of football tackles. At this time Barry Orton runs into the ring and clips Mosca from behind. Both Orton and Duncum beat down on Mosca and leave him in the ring. Several preliminary wresters come out and check on Mosca, helping him to the back. Mosca is favoring his left leg.

RESULT: ANGELO MOSCA BY DQ AT THE 10:15 MARK, ANGELO MOSCA RETAINS THE TITLE

INTERMISSION:

The lights in the arena lower for intermission but the house lights do not come up immediately. The crowd begins the get a little restless and make their way from their seats when a huge fireball lets loose in the ring, a spotlight hits and when the dust settles you see the Sheik standing in the ring!

The Sheik says nothing, just standing there motionless, suddenly Toronto fans hear a familiar voice as Eddie Creechman steps from the shadows.

CREECHMAN: “Well this should put to rest all of the rumors as to where the Sheik’s alligence lies. You see Wizard, there was a reason the Sheik wasn’t returning your calls. He doesn’t want to work for you! Your old news around here buddy! Besides, who knows the landscape around here better, me or you? Now I’m sure I could go on all night about how…”

Suddenly the Sheik pounces on Creechman and begins stabbing him with a fork. The Sheik clamps on his version of the Camel Clutch and The Grand Wizard makes his way to ringside, laughing all the way down the aisle. The Wizard takes the mic.

WIZARD:”I told you! I told you! I told everybody that I had a plan that would shock the world! Creechman you worthless piece of trash! (slaps Creechman across the face while Sheik has him in the Clutch, Creechman is screaming in pain) You could never do this great man justice! The Sheik has only had the highest measure of success under one man, and that’s me!”

At this time, Creechman’s protégé, Kendo Nagasaki hits ringside. The Sheik and Wizard quickly get out of Dodge, and set up refuge on the arena floor. Nagasaki tends to Creechman, who is, by now, a bloody mess and is holding his shoulder in pain.

CREECHMAN: ”Sheik! You traitor! How could you do this! I’m not asking, I’m demanding you in the ring against my Nagasaki here tonight!”

WIZARD: “I’m sure that can be arranged, Creechman. In fact, we’d like nothing more than to take another pint of blood from your worthless carcass tonight.”

INTERMISSION PROCEEDS AS NORMAL:

FIFTH MATCH: WINNER GETS WCFL TAG TITLE SHOT ON 9-17 IN BUFFALO-ROUGEAUS vs. VALIANTS (referee Terry Yorkston)

-The Valiants make their way to the ring carrying mini American flags. They quickly get on the house microphone and talk about how much they hate Canada and how they would rather be back at home in New York city. The then request that everyone rise for their rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. This incites even more boos from the crowd. The Rougeaus now make their entrance to the cheers of their native fans. They look ready to fight.

The Valiants are caught off guard early by the Rougeaus acrobatic style. They slow things down by powdering out of the ring several times and consoling each other in the corner. Eventually the Valiants take over on Raymond and work him over. Raymond attempts to make the tag a few times but the Valiants play the referee like a fiddle and each time he misses the call. Finally the hot tag is made and the Rougeaus explode! The take charge with a series of dropkicks and body slams and then they whip Jerry and Johnny into one another.

Action spills out onto the floor and a wild brawl erupts. Jerry nails Jacques on the floor with a vicious chair shot. Meanwhile, Johnny is gloating in the ring, running around waving the little American flags and bad mouthing the crowd. Raymond sees what is going on and crawls under the ring. Jerry sees this happening and after a few seconds decides to follow Raymond under the ring. Raymond pulls Jacques, who is still knocked out from the chair shot, under the ring and then quickly hops up on the apron and plays dead. Johnny, who is busy bad mouthing the fans on the opposite side of the ring, never sees this happen. Johnny turns around and goes to pick up the Rougeau, but Raymond catches him off guard with the small package and the ref gets a 3 count.

Jerry makes it out from under the ring in just enough time to watch his brother get pinned. The Valiants try to argue with the ref that the guy who wasn’t legal made the pin fall but the referee stands by his decision and goes outside the ring to raise the Rougeaus’ hands in victory once again. The Valaints pitch a temper tantrum in the ring over their loss.

RESULT: THE ROUGEAUS WIN WHEN RAYMOND PINNED JOHNNY VALIANT AT 13:57, THE ROUGEAUS GET A WORLD TITLE SHOT IN BUFFALO ON 9-17-81 * note Raymond was not the legal man.

SIXTH MATCH: ANDRE THE GIANT vs. LEO BURKE (referee Fred Atkins)

-The match starts with Burke attempting to work over Andre’s legs. Burke isn’t able to get the Giant off of his feet in the early going but he does slow him down considerably. Andre usually swats Burke away and keeps on the defensive early on. When he gets an opportunity Andre takes to the offense using body slams and head butts.

Burke finally manages to get Andre off his feet when he manages to get behind him and execute a double leg take down. Burke takes advantage kicking and stomping away at the downed Giant. Andre battles back and looks to have the match at hand, but Burke clamps on a sleeper hold out of nowhere. The Giant is starting to fade and looks as though he may be going out. Andre manages to push his gigantic foot off of the top turnbuckle in one of the corners and uses the momentum to fall backwards on top of Burke. Burke, caught off guard, is no match for the Giant’s weight and gets his shoulders counted down.

RESULT: ANDRE THE GIANT BY PINFALL AT 8:01

SEVENTH MATCH: THE SHEIK vs. KENDO NAGASAKI (referee Terry Yorkston)

-The Sheik enters first with Wizard to considerable boos from the Toronto crowd. Then Nagasaki and Creechman make their way in to moderate fan support. Creechman has his head bandaged and his holding his shoulder. Nagasaki quickly gets into the ring and attacks the Sheik before he can get his entrance gear off.

Both men fiercely brawl back and forth. They go in and out of the ring, ripping, clawing and using anything they can get their hands on. Sheik then goes for his trusty fork, but Nagasaki kicks the Sheik low, grabs the foreign object and carves up the Sheik’s forehead. The Wizard gets in the ring and trys to pull Nagasaki off of The Sheik, but Creechman comes up behind the Wizard and pulls him down to the canvas.

The Sheik has now recovered the fork and is using it on Nagasaki. Both men are bleeding heavily. The referee can stand no more and calls for the bell, DQ’ing both men. Nagasaki and The Sheik brawl to the back with Creechman and Wizard both trying to gain control of their respective men.

RESULT: DOUBLE DQ AT 7:12

MAIN EVENT: RIC FLAIR vs. HARLEY RACE (referee Fred Atkins)

-Both men tear into each other and the match quickly turns into a brawl. Flair takes the early advantage and gets Race caught in a teeter totter situation between the ropes. Several Flair rights and lefts later, Race finds himself out of the ring and on the cold arena floor.

Flair follows Race to the outside but it turns out to be a mistake. Race rakes Flair’s eyes and then sends him into the ring post shoulder first. Race throws Flair back in the ring and begins to work over his arm. This continues for several minutes with Race getting a near fall with a shoulder breaker.

Flair goes on the comeback trail by chopping his way out of one of Race’s various arm locks. Flair is a house of fire with punches and kicks. He then whips Race into the ropes, but sets too soon for a back body drop and Race takes back over the match. Race continues to go after the arm which Flair is now heavily favoring. Race executes a vertical suplex on Flair to get a two count. Race goes for a second one, but Flair blocks it and hits a vertical suplex of his own.

Now Flair is the first man to his feet. As Race starts to get to his feet both men start trading punches. Back and forth they go. Eventually, fewer and fewer shots are being answered by Race, who falls down on his backside in a punch drunk fashion. Flair immediately goes after the leg of Race, draping it over the bottom rope and coming down on it with all of his weight. He then drags Race over to the ring post and does even more damage by sending Race’s leg into the steel.

Flair drags Race to the outside and rams him into the steel guard railing. Race is now bleeding. Flair then goes after a chair but the referee prevents him from using it. This allows Race to take back over with a cheap shot to Flair’s gut. Race takes the action back in the ring and attempts a butterfly suplex, but Flair counters in by standing up and sending Race over his back. Flair lands on top of Race for a two count but Race is able to break the pin by striking Flair in the ribs.

Both men start to get to their feet, but Flair trips up Race with a single leg and goes for his patented figure four. Race counters this by raking Flair in the eyes. Race picks up Flair, body slams him and then follows up with a falling head butt. He only gets a count of one. This angers him and prompts him to drop a series of knees on Flair. Race goes for the cover again and gets a two count. He reaches back and hooks the leg this time. Once again only a two. Race stands up and argues with the ref over a slow count. This allows Flair to roll Race up from behind to get a near fall.

Both men are tired now as Race takes back over the match. Race slams Flair to the mat and then goes up to the top rope. He attempts a falling head butt from the top but Flair rolls out of the way! The Nature Boy then hops to his feet and signals to the crowd that it is time for the figure four. Flair clamps on the figure four in the middle of the ring. Race screams in pain and nearly has his shoulders counted down a couple of times before making it to the ropes to break the hold.

Flair continues to work over the leg by kicking Race in the back of the knee as he attempts to get up. Race is limping. Flair then sets up Race in the corner and lights him up with some chops. Flair attempts to whip Race into the opposite turnbuckle, but Race reverses it. Flair flops over the turnbuckle and runs the apron to the opposite corner, mounts the ropes and uses a flying cross body block on Race. Flair’s feet catch the ref on the way down and the ref is knocked groggy.

It looks as though Flair has the match won, but there is no ref. Flair picks up Race and action resumes. Race rakes the eyes and clamps on a side headlock as the ref is trying to regain his senses. Flair pushes Race off into the far side ropes and the two men bump heads on the rebound. Flair falls flat on the canvas, while Race falls back into the ropes. The ropes then spring Race forwards and he does a header right into Flair’s crotch. Flair is doubled over in pain with Race’s limp body on top of him. The referee craws over and makes the three count.

RESULT: HARLEY RACE BY PINFALL AT 35:17