MAPLE LEAF WRESTLING
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
9-24-81
Maple Leaf Gardens

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

-This match almost mirrors the match that the two had one month ago here in the Gardens. Wright uses mat wrestling to his advantage, while Sato uses his martial arts and speed. Just as before Wright hits his bridging German suplex finisher just as the 20 minute time limit expires. Wright won’t accept a draw against Sato this time, however. He asks Sato and the referee for a time extension. Wright plays to the fans, who start chanting. “Five more minutes! Five more minutes!” The referee asks Sato if this is ok. Sato shakes his head yes and looks ready for action as the referee signals the restart. Sato and Wright go at it with a renewed vigor and the action flies at a lightning like pace. Wright goes for a belly to back suplex, but Sato flips backwards out of it and lands on his feet. Sato then grabs Wright into a waist lock, but Wright reverses with a go behind into a waist lock of his own. This prompts Sato to quickly go for the corner to prevent another German suplex. Wright breaks cleanly as Sato cowers in the corner. Both men start back out in the middle of the ring and the action continues again. Both men lock up collar and elbow and struggle to get the advantage. They push up against the ropes and roll to the corner, this time with Wright backed into the turnbuckle. The ref goes to break the two wrestlers up. As the ref tries to separate the two combatants, Sato hits Wright with a vicious elbow right into the German’s eye socket. The ref, tied up between the two wrestlers, sees none of this. Wright staggers out of the corner in tremendous pain. As Wright clutches his head, Sato takes advantage of his opponent by hitting him with a jumping karate kick to the back of the head. Sato covers Wright, who is still clutching at his face, to gather the pin fall.

RESULT: SATO BY PINFALL AT 23:38

KING KONG BUNDY’S $10, 000 BODY SLAM CHALLENGE

-Bundy makes his way to the ring with a brief case containing the $10, 000…

BUNDY-“Come on guys! Anyone! $10, 000 to anyone who can slam me! I want some competition! I want some competition! Ya’ll ain’t got no competition here! Do you? Come on! I ain’t waitin’ out here all day!”

-Akio Sato, who gave Bundy fits in their match one week ago in Buffalo, emerges from the back. Sato points at the brief case full of money and then points to himself to signify that he is going to win the money. Bundy gives Sato the go ahead, but Sato, who is outweighed by more than 200 pounds cannot budge the behemoth. Bundy gives Sato one more shot. Again, the results are the same. Bundy laughs at Sato as he heads to the back.

BUNDY-“Is that the best you got? I know there’s got to be someone back there bigger and stronger than that!”

-Bobby Duncum and Barry Orton make their way out to the ring with Duncum attempting to psyche up young Barry as they walk down the ramp. Duncum takes the microphone…

DUNCUM-“No disrespect to you Mr. Bundy. Me and Barry don’t have any kinda’ problems with you and believe me…we don’t want none! $10, 000 is a lot of money though and if it is alright with you, kind sir, Barry here would like to give it a shot. He’s a big, raw boned youngster and at six foot four, 265 pounds I think he’s got a good shot at it! I assure you Mr. Bundy, no funny business. Our intentions are purely honorable.”

-Bundy and Duncum shake hands in a “gentlemen’s” agreement. Orton then makes his attempt on Bundy and gets one of his legs off the ground. Orton asks for a second attempt and nearly gets Bundy up but then suddenly stops and sets Bundy down. Orton grabs at his lower back and goes back over to Duncum and apoligizes to Bobby for not being able to collect the money.

BUNDY-“So that’s it? What, no one else wants a shot? That’s what I thought!”

-Duncum goes over and says something to Bundy…

BUNDY-“Yeah, that’s right! What about everybody’s hero, Angelo Mosca! He sure does talk big when I’m not around and he has already proved to everyone what a coward he is, attacking me from behind during my matches! Mosca, If you’ve got any guts you’ll get out here right now! (Bundy pauses for a few moments…) That’s what I thought! Angelo Mosca is nothing but a…”

-Bundy stops in mid sentence as Angelo Mosca makes his way down the ramp. Maple Leaf referees Terry Yorkston and Fred Atkins come out and try to talk Mosca out of it. Mosca continues on ignoring their pleads. Mosca then points to Duncum and Orton and tells the officials that he wants them out of the ring. Orton and Duncum protest but eventually relent and retreat to the arena floor, with Mosca never once taking an eye off of them. He then makes his way into the ring and sizes up Bundy. Mosca takes his eyes off of Bundy for a slit second to see what Orton and Duncum are up to and this allows Bundy to try a cheap shot on the Canadian Champion. Mosca’s attention turns back to Bundy in just enough time to block the punch and retaliate with a series of rights and lefts of his own. Mosca rocks Bundy and then whips him into the corner. Bundy comes staggering out of the corner and Mosca attempts a body slam. He hoists Bundy up and is about to slam him when he is attacked by Orton and Duncum. Duncum clocks Mosca with his boot and then Duncum and Orton stretch Mosca out on the canvas. Orton holding Mosca by the feet and Duncum holding him by the hands. Duncum then demands that Bundy splash the downed Mosca! Bundy bounds off the far side ropes and then comes down on Mosca with all of his 400 plus pounds. Duncum demands that Bundy to it again! Bundy does it again! Mosca now appears to be spitting up blood. He looks to be in real pain. Duncum demands that Bundy splash Mosca yet again! Again, Bundy’s weight comes crashing down across the Canadian Heavyweight Champion’s chest. Duncum takes the mic, laughing maniacally.

DUNCUM-“Hahahahaha! So you were all wondering who put up the money for the $10, 000 body slam challenge were you? Well, It was me! Ahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha! How ya’ feelin’ over there An-ge-LO!

-Duncum takes a couple of cheap shot kicks at Mosca for good measure and then goes over to Bundy and presents him the brief case full of money. A smiling Bundy accepts and takes a pat on the back for the job well done. The payoff is complete!

DUNCUM-“I’ll win that Canadian title in no time flat now! Hahahaha!”

-Just then Blackjack Mulligan, dressed in street clothes, storms the ring with a steel chair and clears house! Bundy, Duncum and Orton all scatter in different directions as Mulligan looks over the fallen Mosca and calls frantically for help to come out. EMT’s make their way to the ring and Mosca is carted off in a stretcher. Mulligan grabs the mic…

MULLIGAN-“Duncum, Bundy, Orton, I’ll get ya’ll for what you’ve done here tonight! In fact, I was supposed to take on Barry a little bit later on tonight, but after all of this I don’t see any point in waiting!”

SECOND MATCH: BLACKJACK MULLIGAN vs. BARRY ORTON (referee Fred Atikins)

-Orton, Bundy and Duncum say that they are leaving and start walking down the ramp away from the ring, but the group is met by referee Fred Atkins, who orders Orton to take his match right now! Orton still refuses and continues walking. Atkins runs to the ring and begins a 10 count. Orton, not wanting the loser’s share of the purse rushes back to the ring narrowly avoiding a count out. The angry Mulligan batters Orton all over the ring from pillar to post. Mulligan dominates Orton with rights and lefts, clotheslines and a big atomic drop that sends Orton reeling over the top rope and onto Bundy and Duncum! Duncum tries to argue for a over the top rope DQ but the ref will hear none of it. Orton, Duncum and Bundy get in a huddle on the floor in an attempt to regroup, but Mulligan reaches through the ropes and bangs Duncum and Orton’s heads together! Once Orton makes it back in the ring, Mulligan picks up where he left off. Duncum hops up on the apron, but Mulligan catches him with a right that sends him to the arena floor. Mulligan goes back to work on Orton and catches him in the dreaded CLAW HOLD!. Bundy circles around to the other side of the ring and hops up on the apron. Bundy distracts the ref while Duncum slides back in the ring with Bundy’s brief case full of money and clocks Mulligan in the head with it, drapes Orton’s arm over Mulligan and then slides out of the ring. The referee then turns around and makes the three count.

RESULT: ORTON BY PINFALL AT 7:59 AFTER HELP FROM DUNCUM AND BUNDY

THIRD MATCH: THE ROUGEAUS vs. THE VALIANTS (referee Fred Atkins)

-The Valiants come out first with the same tiny American flags that they came out with last month. Fan boo the brother duo as the make their way out. Now it is the Rougeaus turn to come down the ramp. They make their entrance with a huge Canadian flag to the delight of the fans. Jacques and Raymond hit the ring and the Valiants bail out to the floor. The Rougeaus then make their way around all four corners of the ring waving the flag proudly. The flag is placed on the post in the Rougeaus’ corner and the bout begins. After seeing how riled up the Rougeaus are, the Valiants go into stall mode almost immediately, but the Rougeaus come at them full steam ahead. The match turns into a brawl at the outset with the Rougeaus throwing their wrestling knowledge and athleticism out the window. This style more favors the Valiants, who take over the bout after a couple of minutes. The Valiants work over Raymond in their corner. The matter is only made worse by Jacques, who is so hyped up that he continues to get in the ring and distract the refs attention away from the action. This allows the Valiants to take advantage of the rules. It looks as though Raymond has made the tag, but the ref did not see it. Finally, Jacques can take no more and forces his way into the ring, shoving down the referee in the process. The ref calls for the bell as all four combatants brawl in the ring with the Rougeaus cleaning house this time. The Valiants bail out of the ring and in the process grab the Canadian flag. The Rougeaus chase the Valiants to the back but are unable to regain the flag. .

RESULT: THE VALIANTS BY DQ AT 9:27

FOURTH MATCH: “EXOTIC” ADRIAN STREET vs. TERRY TAYLOR (referee Terry Yorkston)

-Taylor enters the ring first and gets a nice reaction from the fans. Next, Adrian Street makes his way out onto the ramp and he is accompanied by Harley Race! Last week on Maple Leaf TV, Race had said that Taylor had not seen the last of him. I guess this is what he meant. The match starts off scientifically with neither man gaining a solid advantage. The match continued in a similar fashion until Race involves himself, tripping up Taylor as both combatants crisscrossed in the ring. Taylor wasn’t completely tripped up and walked over to Race and grabbed him by the hair. This allowed Street to take advantage with a jumping knee to the back of Taylor, who had turned his attention from the ring. Street worked over Taylor on the mat with a variety of submission holds. He then set Taylor up for a bulldog, but Taylor countered by shoving Street off into the corner. Street staggered out of the corner backwards and Taylor then caught him with a sleeper hold. Street struggles to get a foot on the ropes but Taylor pulls him off. Street backs Taylor into the corner hard, but Taylor doesn’t let go. Street goes to the ropes again and both men fall out to the floor. Amazingly, Taylor still has the sleeper clamped on tight. Race comes up from behind and nails Taylor from behind to break the hold. Taylor is down on all fours from the blow as Street scampers back to the ring. As Race goes to lift Taylor up off of the concrete, Taylor retaliates with a right hand to Race’s gut! Caught off guard, Race doubles over in pain. This allows Taylor a chance to get back up on the ring apron. Street charges at Taylor, but Taylor catches him with a shoulder to the mid section. Street doubles over in pain and Taylor goes for an outside/in sunset flip. Taylor tries to get Street over but Street struggles for the ropes. Street reaches for the ropes but is just out of reach. Race hops up on the apron and grabs Street by the wrists to prevent him from being pinned. Suddenly the crowd erupts as Race is pulled from the apron by Ric Flair! This allows Taylor to complete the pinning combonation on Street and get the three count as Race and Flair brawl on the floor. Officials come out and pull apart Race and Flair. As we go into intermission Flair slides into the ring with Taylor and dares Race to get in the ring right then and there. Street “holds back” Race preventing him from getting in the ring.

RESULT: TAYLOR BY PINFALL AT 22:16 WITH AN OUTSIDE/IN SUNSET FLIP

INTERMISSION

FIFTH MATCH: VANCOUVER ALL-STAR CANADIAN TITLE-MARK LEWIN © vs. LEO BURKE (referee Terry Yorkston)

-Both men square off with the same amount of intensity that they displayed in their meetings in All-star wrestling in the previous weeks. Without help from his cronies Lewin still proves to be a tough challenge, but Burke proves up to the task. Both men brawl and exchange holds with neither man gaining a solid edge in a see saw battle. Lewin looks to have the match won with a Canadian back breaker at about the 12 minute mark, but he wanders too close to the ropes. This allows Burke to push off the ropes with his feet and escape the hold. Burke flips forward and lands on his feet. He then clamps Lewin up for the belly to belly suplex but the crafty Lewin bites Burke on the nose to escape the hold. Burke whips Lewin into the far side ropes. Burke executes a drop down as Lewin runs towards him. Referee Terry Yorkston is caught in the crossfire and is inadvertently knocked from the ring by Lewin. As Yorkston is down on the floor Lewin and Burke continue to duke it out in the ring. Burke charges at Lewin who reacts by ducking and back dropping Burke over the top rope and to the floor. Referee Fred Atkins makes his way out and appears as though he is going to go and check on Yorkston. Burke is shaken up as he slowly makes his way back up onto the ring apron. Lewin grabs Burke and executes an outside/in vertical suplex and then goes for the cover. Atkins sees this and slides into the ring to make the three count. Atkins awards Lewin the belt and raises his hand in victory, but wait, what’s this! Yorkston, the referee of decision, is back on duty. He walks over to Lewin, lowers his hand and then takes the title belt away from him. Yorkston is awarding the match to Burke! He has just given Leo Burke the Vancouver All-Star Canadian title belt! Lewin protestes and gets Atkins to raise his hand in victory again. This prompts Yorkston to go over and explain to both Lewin and Atkins that he had seen Lewin back drop Burke over the top rope. Yorkston explains that in the All-star promotion that titles change hands on a DQ. Atkins goes over and raises Burke’s hand in victory as well! Lewin cusses at the referees and stalks after them, but both Yorkston and Atkins bail out of the ring and raise Burke arm in victory one final time to solidify their decision.

RESULT: BURKE BY DQ AT 16:35, BURKE IS DECLARED THE NEW ALL-STAR CHAMPION!

SIXTH MATCH: WWA TITLE MATCH-BOBO BRAZIL © vs. THE SHEIK (referee Fred Atkins)

-Just as you might expect, another wild brawl between these two long time rivals. The Sheik attacks Brazil well before the opening bell and stabs at him with a pencil. Brazil is rendered a bloody mess and the Sheik goes on the attack. The Sheik kicks and stomps away at Brazil in the corner as the referee finally signals for the bell. Brazil fights back with a series of head butts that have the Sheik reeling. The Grand Wizard hops up on but gets clocked by Brazil to the delight of the fans. Brazil nails the Sheik with a series of rights and lefts. He then winds up and delivers a big right hand that sends the Sheik over the top rope and to the floor. Brazil plays to the crowd and then follows the Sheik to the outside where the Sheik takes back over by raking Brazil’s eyes with his pointed boot. The Sheik pulls out a fork and widens the opening on Brazil’s forehead. He then shoves the fork back in his boot and throws Brazil back in the ring. The Sheik is now in control as he clamps the camel clutch on Brazil. Brazil relents however and musters up every ounce of strength that he has to make it to the ropes. Brazil fights back on adrenaline alone. He has the Sheik reeling yet again with another series of punches, kicks and head butts. The Sheik tries to fight back with a wild right hand but Bobo ducks and hits the wild man from the middle east with and atomic drop that sends the Sheik out of the ring once again. The Grand Wizard makes his way around to the Sheik in an attempt to console him. What’s this? It looks like the Wizard has handed the Sheik something! The Sheik makes his way back into the ring as the Wizard ties up the ref. The Sheik clocks Brazil with the foreign object and tucks it away in his tights. The ref turns around the three count. We have a second title change in as many championship matches! Wait a minute, Andre the Giant is making his way down to ringside. Andre is point for the ref to check out the Sheik’s tights. The Sheik is saying no that he won’t allow the ref to check him. As the Sheik argues with the ref (the same one he attacked), Andre comes up behind the Sheik and grabs him. The Wizard beats Andre on the back but Andre shrugs him off like a fly. The Sheik is trying to escape but he can’t! The referee reaches in the Sheik’s tights and finds the object! He then goes over the Brazil and raises his hand in victory! Andre lets go of the Sheik who attempts to fight back only to have Brazil and Andre hit him with a double head butt that sends the Sheik from the ring one final time. The Sheik and Wizard regroup on the floor as Andre raises Brazil’s hand.

RESULT: BOBO BRAZIL BY REVERSE DECISION AT 8:05

SEVENTH MATCH: CANADIAN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE-ANGELO MOSCA © vs. BOBBY DUNCUM (refereee Terry Yorkston)

-It is now time for the Canadian Heavyweight Title match. The referee makes his way out to the ring, but he is followed close behind by Maple Leaf Wrestling President Frank Tunney. Mr. Tunney is demanding the ringside microphone….

TUNNEY-“Fans, I regret to announce that due to the attack on Angelo Mosca earlier in the evening that he will no longer be able to defend the Canadian Heavyweight Title here tonight. The severity of Angelo’s injuries are not yet known but what is known that he will be out of action for at least a couple of weeks. This would put Mosca’s shot at the WCFL World Heavyweight Title, scheduled for the London show on October 8th in jeopardy. I am afraid that I have no other choice than to forfeit Mosca’s title shot and award it to the winner of the Ric Flair vs. Harley Race match to be held a little bit later on in the night. Furthermore….”

-Bobby Duncum and Barry Orton make their way out to the ring. Duncum is holding a piece of paper with him…

DUNCUM-“Where’s Angelo? Where’s your champion now? Has he got a booboo? Hahahaha! President Tunney, I’m out here to rightfully claim my Canadian Heavyweight Title. Right here is the contract that ole’ An-ge-Lo and myself signed for this match, and look it clearly states that should one wrestler not show up for this here match that the other guy will win the match and the title by forfeit. Now where’s my belt?”

TUNNEY-“If you would have let me finish I would have told you where your Canadian Title belt is…”

DUNCUM-“Where’s that?”

TUNNEY-“It’s around this man’s waist!”

-Blackjack Mulligan makes his way out to the ring wearing the Canadian Heavyweight Title!!!

DUNCUM-“What!?!?!”

TUNNEY-“I promised the fans a Canadian Title match tonight and I don’t plan on letting them down! So for tonight only Blackjack Mulligan will be defending the Canadian Heavyweight Title on Angelo Mosca’s behalf! Further more, to ensure that we don’t have another scene like we did out here earlier in the night, I am banning Barry Orton from ringside!”

-Duncum hops up and down and throws a fit in protest as Orton is taken off to the back. As he turned around he is clocked by Mulligan with a big right hand. As Tunney flees the ring, Mulligan rocks Duncum, who was again unprepared for the big Texan, with several big rights. Mulligan then whips Duncum in the ropes and goes for the claw! Duncum, seeing the claw coming, holds onto the ropes for dear life and pulls himself out of the ring to regroup. Duncum looks lost on the outside without Orton to run to. He gets back in the ring and tries to take over on offense but that is short lived as the enraged Mulligan fights back. Nothing seems to be going right for Duncum as Mulligan looks well on his way to victory when King Kong Bundy comes lumbering to the ring with what appears to be Barry Orton’s boot. The ref stops Bundy on the ramp way next to the ropes and argues with him. Bundy slyly reaches around the ref and tosses the boot into the ring towards Duncum. The boot overshoots Duncum and goes right into the hands of Mulligan who clocks Duncum with it, tosses it out of the ring and then covers Duncum. The ref turns around and makes the three count.

RESULT: MULLIGAN BY PINFALL AT 12:15, MULLIGAN RETAINS THE CANADIAN TITLE ON ANGELO MOSCA’S BEHALF

EIGHTH MATCH: KEN PATERA vs. ANDRE THE GIANT (referee Fred Atkins)

-Brute strength vs. pure size was the story in this one as the World’s Strongest Man took on the World’s Largest Athlete. The bout started slowly with Patera letting his ego get the best of him. The strong man attempted several power holds early on with absolutely no success. He went for a top wrist lock on numerous occasions only to have the Giant toss him away like a rag doll. Patera then decided to rework his strategy and went to breaking the rules. He repeatedly gouged Andre’s eyes and when the action spilled to the floor he was able to hit the big man in the back with a steel chair. Once action got back inside the squared circle Patera did his best to work over the big man’s back. Patera went after the Giant with a bear hug that seemed to zap Andre of his strength. Andre fought back however using head butts to break the hold. The Sheik and the Grand Wizard slowly make their way out to ringside. Patera tries once again to go straight at the weakened Giant, but is doesn’t have any luck against the psyched up Giant. Patera throws a punch at the Giant and Andre shakes it off! This continues with Patera growing more visibly shaken with each in-effective punch. Patera begins to beg off. Andre lurches at Patera but Patera pouters to the outside. Andre follows Patera and chases him around the ring where he is caught with a Sheik fire ball! The Giant clutches at his eyes in pain. The referee has seen nothing as Patera had distracted him by sliding back into the ring. The referee questions the Wizard as to whether or not he or the Sheik were involved but the clever Wizard knows that the referee has no proof and calls his bluff. Patera demands that ref begin the count and the referee finally does so, counting Andre out of the ring and awarding the victory to Patera. Patera leaves with the Sheik and Wizard as the Giant stumbles around the ring side area. Bobo Brazil makes his way out to try and help the Giant, but the blinded Andre takes a wild swing at him not quite sure who it is. Bobo eventually gets the Giant to trust him and leads him to the back.

RESULT: KEN PATERA BY COUNT OUT AT 10:50

MAIN EVENT: WINNER GETS WCFL WORLD TITLE SHOT ON 10-8-81 IN LONDON-RIC FLAIR vs. HARLEY RACE (referee Terry Yorkston)

-With all that has went down recently, one would figure that Race and Flair would tear into one another. This wasn't the case however as both men were very tenative in the early going with a shot at the WCFL World title on the line.

Both men begin wrestling, but things get rough when Race goes to brawling and rule breaking after being shown up by Flair in the early going. The match goes out to the floor after several minutes and both men bust each other open on the railing. Once action continues in the ring, both men doggedly go after one another's legs. Flair and Race continue to abuse each other as the match becomes even more brutal. Race's chest is bright red from all the chops and Flair is flopping all over the place!

Both men are in rough shape now. Weary and limping they crawl towards each other, meeting in the center of the ring. Flair and Race duke it out with each other from their knees. The two warriors trade blows too tired to block one another's punches. Race rakes Flair's eyes, but is too tired to follow it up. As Flair grabs his face in pain, Race slumps to the canvas.

Both men make it to their feet and then Race scoops Flair up for a body slam. What's this? Race is going up top. He struggles to pull his tired body up the turnbuckle and then dives at Flair with a head butt. He missed! Flair rolled out of the way in just the nick of time! Both Flair and Race roll around on the canvas as the referee begins to count. Race starts to stir. He's rolling over. Wait, Flair just hopped up to his feet!

Flair whales away at Race with chops and punches. He backs Race into the corner and unleashes a flury of punches to Race's mid-section. Flair shouts out to the crowd as Race positions himself so that he is facing towards the turnbuckle. Flair goes back towards Race but Harley ducks between the ropes. The referee moves in to separate the two men, but the crafty Race mule kicks Flair low. Flair drops to his knees as the referee questions Race. Race then begins to go to work on Flair. The ring announcer announces that there are five minutes remaining in the time limit.

Race executes a side salto suplex on Flair for a near fall. He then goes to work on Flair's already weakened leg. Race mocks Flair as he kicks away at the leg. He then shouts out one of Flair's signature phrases; "Now we go to school!" as he clamps Flair's own figure four leg lock! Flair calls out in pain; "No, nonono!" as he shakes his head!

With three minutes left, Race puts on even more pressure. Flair falls back to the canvas in pain. The refree almost gets a three count, but Flair is back up at the last second. Flair begins to pull himself to the ropes. He inches closer and closer only to have Race pull him back to the center of the ring. Race is playing Flair's own game perfectly!The referee continues to ask Flair if he wants to give in. Flair still says no! There is a little more than a minute left in the match and Flair is trapped in the middle of the ring. Flair begins rocking back and forth. He is attempting to reverse the hold! He's done it! Flair has rolled over, reversing the hold's effects! Now it's Race's time to scream. Race is begging for mercy but he's trapped in the center of the ring! The bell rings! The bell rings! Look, Race is saying yes! Race has given up! Wait, the referee is saying that Race didn't conceed until after the bell and is ruling this match a time limit draw! So who get's the title shot on the 8th?

RESULT: ONE HOUR DRAW