Mat Memories From Madison Square Garden

On this special episode of Mat Memories from Madison Square Garden, Cary, Tim and I welcome wrestling historian - Evan Ginzburg. On June 24th, 1974 Evan attended his very first wrestling show, and we are happy to have him on this episode to talk about that night. And the card, which was a great one!

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden Monday Night June 24, 1974, 8:30 bell time (22,093; sell out)

Jose Gonzalez defeated Tony Altimore at 6:15

WWWF Tag Team Champions Johnny & Jimmy Valiant defeated Dean Ho & Tony Garea in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-1; fall #1 – the champions won; fall #2 – the challengers won; fall #3 – the champions won. No time given

Haystacks Calhoun & Larry Zbyszko defeated Otto Von Heller & Killer Kowalski at 17:14 when Calhoun pinned Von Heller

Giant Baba defeated Gorilla Monsoon via count-out at 16:34

Pedro Morales defeated Black Gordman at 4:16

WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino & Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Freddie Blassie & Nikolai Volkoff in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0; fall #1 – Sammartino & Strongbow won via disqualification; fall #2 – Sammartino pinned Blassie (Blassie’s last wrestling match at MSG)

Co-Hosts - John Arezzi and Cary Silkin

Special Guest - Evan Ginzburg

Moderator - Tim Puttre

Writer / Researcher - Ritchie Garcia

Patreon Executive Producers - Anthony Pires and Joseph Holloway

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

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Here is Episode 31 of Mat Memories from Madison Square Garden. A very special episode with a roundtable of former Ring of Honor owner Cary Silkin, Hall of Fame Writer/Photographer George Napolitano and John Arezzi discuss a wide variety of topics from back in the day! Moderated by Tim Puttre.

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – Monday night May 20, 1974 Bell time 8:30 pm attendance (17,103) about 4,000 fans away from a sell-out Larry Zbyszko defeated Mike Conrad at 8:35 Jose Gonzalez defeated Capt. Lou Albano at 14:20 Dean Ho defeated Tony Altimore at 13:01 Pedro Morales defeated Johnny Rodz at 10:29 Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Nikolai Volkoff at 7:26 Peggy Patterson & Women’s Champion the Fabulous Moolah defeated Sharon Brooks & Debbie Johnson in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino pinned Killer Kowalski at 18:14 in a Texas Death Match

Co - Hosts - John Arezzi and Cary Silkin

Special Guest - George Napolitano

Moderator - Tim Puttre

Writer / Researcher - Ritchie Garcia

Patreon Executive Producers - Anthony Pires and Joseph Holloway

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

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Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2024 Alexander Media Services, LLC

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Here is Episode 30 of Mat Memories from Madison Square Garden - where we review the wild April 29th, 1974 card that featured the brawl between challenger Killer Kowalski taking on the living legend Bruno Sammartino. Co-hosts John Arezzi and Cary Silkin go into detail on the show which featured rare run ins by wrestlers to break up the battle between a bloody Sammartino and Kowalski!

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – Monday night April 29, 1974, 8:30pm bell time (15,945)

Televised on HBO - with Vince McMahon on commentary

Jose Gonzalez fought Larry Zbyszko to a 20-minute time-limit draw

WWWF Tag Team Champion Tony Garea defeated Mike Conrad at 17:09

Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Freddie Blassie) pinned WWWF Tag Team Champion Dean Ho at 5:22

Robert Fuller pinned Ed Sullivan at 10:39 with a jumping DDT

WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino (w/ Arnold Skaaland) fought Killer Kowalski (w/ the Grand Wizard) to a no contest at 24:15 Pedro Morales pinned Mr. Fuji at 10:29 with two body slams after Fuji failed a splash off the top

Chief Jay Strongbow & Andre the Giant defeated Otto Von Heller & Don Leo Jonathan in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0:

Co - Host - John Arezzi and Cary Silkin

Moderator - Tim Puttre

Writer / Researcher - Ritchie Garcia

Patreon Executive Producers - Anthony Pires and Joseph Holloway

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProWrestlingSpotlight

Follow John Arezzi Here:

https://twitter.com/johnarezzi https://instagram.com/johnarezzi

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prowrestlingspotlight

https://www.facebook.com/JohnArezzisMatMemories

Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2024 Alexander Media Services, LLC

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here is Episode 29 of Mat Memories from Madison Square Garden - where we review the April 1st, 1974 house show from the mecca of all arenas. We welcome former owner of Ring of Honor - Cary Silkin as a co-host of the show beginning with this episode. Cary has a rich history - and attended most of the MSG shows in this era. He's a great storyteller and we are happy to have him with us for each episode going forward!

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – Monday night April 1, 1974 bell time 8:30 (22,090; sell out)

The scheduled Butcher Brannigan vs. Manuel Soto match did not take place

Jumbo Tsuruta pinned Johnny Rodz

Otto Von Heller fought Jose Gonzalez to a 20-minute time-limit draw

Larry Zbyszko defeated Ed Sullivan at 7:29

WWWF Tag Team Champions Dean Ho & Tony Garea defeated Prof. Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji via disqualification

WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino pinned Nikolai Volkoff at 13:09

Gorilla Monsoon pinned Don Leo Jonathan at 14:07

Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Stan Stasiak at 7:15

Pedro Morales pinned Larry Hennig at 11:04

Host - John Arezzi

Co-Hosts - Tim Puttre and Cary Silken

Writer / Researcher - Ritchie Garcia

Patreon Executive Producers - Anthony Pires and Joseph Holloway

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProWrestlingSpotlight

Follow John Arezzi Here:

https://twitter.com/johnarezzi https://instagram.com/johnarezzi

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prowrestlingspotlight

https://www.facebook.com/JohnArezzisMatMemories

Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2024 Alexander Media Services, LLC

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Here is Epsisode 28 of Mat Memories From Madison Square Garden, reviewing the house show I attended at the Mecca of all arenas on March 4th, 1974.

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – Monday Night March 4, 1974 bell time 8:30pm (22,091; sell out)

The scheduled bout between Don Leo Jonathan and Ed Sullivan did not take place

Donna Christianello & Women’s Champion the Fabulous Moolah defeated Peggy Patterson & Barbi Dahl in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match

Mr. Fuji defeated Johnny Rodz at 10:14

Prof. Toru Tanaka defeated Jose Gonzalez at 8:59

Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Capt. Lou Albano (sub. for Stan Stasiak) via count-out at 4:35 when Albano left ringside

WWWF Tag Team Champions Dean Ho & Tony Garea defeated Larry Hennig & Stan Stasiak (sub. for Mike McCord) in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0; fall #1: the champions won via disqualification at 14:20; fall #2: the champions won at 8:25

Pedro Morales defeated Otto Von Heller at 7:51

WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino fought Nikolai Volkoff to a curfew draw at 53:07

Host - John Arezzi

Co-Host, Producer - Tim Puttre

Writer and Researcher - Ritchie Garcia

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

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Follow John Arezzi Here:

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Order a signed and numbered copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here:  https://py.pl/1SjMeX

Copyright: 2024

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Tim Puttre and I review the first title defense for newly re-crowned champion, Bruno Sammartino at Madison Square Garden.

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – Monday night January 14, 1974 bell time 8:30 sellout crowd (22,147)

Butcher Brannigan defeated Mike Pappas at 11:15

Otto Von Heller defeated Tony Altimore at 9:55

Jose Gonzalez & Manuel Soto defeated Pancho Valdez & Joe Turco in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match at 18:40

Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Mr. Fuji via disqualification at 9:41

Nikolai Volkoff defeated Gorilla Monsoon at 4:00

WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino pinned Don Leo Jonathon at 17:44

WWWF Tag Team Champions Dean Ho & Tony Garea defeated Larry Hennig & Mike McCord in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match at 18:20

Pedro Morales defeated Stan Stasiak at 14:45

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

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Follow John Arezzi Here:

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Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2024

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Here is episode 26 of Mat Memories From Madison Square Garden.  A very special episode that reviews the night Bruno Sammartino re-captured the WWWF Heavyweight Title to begin his 2nd reign as champion.  Bruno beat Stan Stasiak before a delirious crowd at the sold out Garden. John Tolos also makes his first appearance ever at the "new" MSG.  A historic show!  Former owner of Ring of Honor - Cary Silkin joins us to discuss the show and those memories from this era of wrestling, still near and dear to us.  

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – December 10, 1973 (22,000)

El Olympico pinned Tony Altimore at 7:15

Jose Gonzalez pinned Joe Turco at 10:35

WWWF Tag Team Champion Dean Ho defeated Pancho Valdez at 11:05

Don Leo Jonathan defeated Manuel Soto at 14:45 when the match was stopped due to blood

John Tolos fought Victor Rivera to a 20-minute time-limit draw

Pedro Morales defeated Larry Hennig in a lumberjack death match with the Boston Crab

Bruno Sammartino pinned WWWF World Champion Stan Stasiak at 12:14 to win the title after three consecutive body slams; prior to the bout, Sammartino was escorted to the ring by Arnold Skaaland and the Grand Wizard escorted the champion

WWWF Tag Team Champion Tony Garea pinned Mike McCord at 12:35

Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Blackjack Lanza at 7:15 

Host - John Arezzi

Co-Host - Tim Puttre

Special Guest - Cary Silkin

Patreon Executive Producers - Anthony Pires and Joseph Holloway

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProWrestlingSpotlight

Follow John Arezzi Here:

https://twitter.com/johnarezzi https://instagram.com/johnarezzi

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prowrestlingspotlight

https://www.facebook.com/JohnArezzisMatMemories

Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2023

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Here is episode 25 of Mat Memories From Madison Square Garden, covering the MSG house show I attended on November 12th, 1973.

Lots of stories from this night are shared by John Arezzi about his breakthrough in being able to finally sit in the front ringside seats at the Garden, and tales about that night, which would turn out to be Pedro Morales's last title defense of the WWWF title (Pedro would lose the title on December 1st 1973 in Philadelphia against Stan Stasiak).

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – November 12, 1973 (16,148)

Televised on HBO – included Vince McMahon on commentary:

Jose Gonzalez defeated El Olympico at 15:22

Dick Slater defeated Mike Pappas at 6:20

Iron Mike McCord fought Manuel Soto to a 20-minute time-limit draw

Dean Ho defeated Pancho Valdez

WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales defeated Larry Hennig at 12:45 when the match was stopped due to blood

Don Leo Jonathan defeated Tony Garea at 18:45

Verne Gagne defeated WWWF Tag Team Champion Mr. Fuji at 12:16

Chief Jay Strongbow & Andre the Giant defeated Blackjack Lanza & Stan Stasiak in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0

Host - John Arezzi

Co Host - Tim Puttre

Researcher and Writer - Ritchie Garcia

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProWrestlingSpotlight

Follow John Arezzi Here:

https://twitter.com/johnarezzi https://instagram.com/johnarezzi

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prowrestlingspotlight

https://www.facebook.com/JohnArezzisMatMemories

Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2023

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Here is Episode 24 of Mat Memories from Madison Square Garden. On this episode, Tim Puttre and I review the house show I attended at the mecca of all arenas on October 15th, 1973

WWWF @ New York City, NY – Madison Square Garden – October 15, 1973 (22,102)

Vicki Williams & Joyce Grable defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions Toni Rose & Donna Christianello at 17:07 to win the titles

El Olympico fought Mike Pappas to a draw at 13:33

Manuel Soto defeated Tony Altimore at 8:07

Jose Gonzalez defeated Pancho Valdez at 10:27

Ron Fuller defeated Frank Valois at 9:02

Tony Garea defeated WWWF Tag Team Champion Mr. Fuji at 3:54

Victor Rivera defeated Mike McCord at 1:35

Andre the Giant defeated Blackjack Lanza at 10:51

Dean Ho defeated WWWF Tag Team Champion Prof. Toru Tanaka at 11:30

Chief Jay Strongbow fought Don Leo Jonathan to a 20-minute time-limit draw

WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales pinned Stan Stasiak in a Texas Death Match at 7:36

Host - John Arezzi

Co-Host - Tim Puttre

Writer/Researcher - Ritchie Garcia

Patreon Executive Producers - Anthony Pires and Joseph Holloway

JOIN THE PATREON PAGE FOR THIS PODCAST AND EXPERIENCE 50 YEARS OF HISTORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WRESTLING HISTORIAN AND CO-AUTHOR OF THE BEST SELLING BOOK MAT MEMORIES HERE:

https://www.patreon.com/JohnArezzi

Subscribe to the show's YouTube Channel Here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProWrestlingSpotlight

Follow John Arezzi Here:

https://twitter.com/johnarezzi https://instagram.com/johnarezzi

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prowrestlingspotlight

https://www.facebook.com/JohnArezzisMatMemories

Order a copy of John Arezzi's best selling memoir "MAT MEMORIES, My Wild Ride in Pro Wrestling, Country Music and with the Mets" here: https://a.co/d/4TXWVAv

Copyright 2023

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On this Bonus episode of Mat Memories from Madison Square Garden - Tim Puttre and I welcome Cary Silken, former owner of RING OF HONOR to talk about an interesting list of wrestlers who NEVER wrestled at Madison Garden.  Lots of names that will surprise you.

Host - John Arezzi

Co-Host and Producer - Tim Puttre

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