Official Wrestling

WWF Showdown at Shea 1980

Part 1

A brief history of Showdown at Shea

Before the 'Show of Shows' Wrestlemania that we know of today, Showdown at Shea was the WWWF's original Stadium show, featuring a super card of wrestlers in front of up to 36,000 fans. Originally held every 4 years, the 1980 edition was to be the last showdown held at the stadium. The first, held in 1972, drew over 22,000 fans to see Pedro Morales defend his WWWF Heavyweight Championship against the Living Legend, Bruno Sammartino in a battle that lasted over 1 hour, ending in a curfew draw. (God I would LOVE to see this match please WWE!)

The 1976 edition of the show was put on to promote the infamous boxer-vs-wrestler match between Muhammed Ali and Antonio Anoki, which was shown on a big screen in the stadium. Also on the card was another boxer-vs-wrestler match, where Chuck Wepner took on André the Giant, who defeated him in round 3 after a countout. Also on the card was Bruno Sammartino, who successfully defended his WWWF Heavyweight Championship against Stan Hansen.

The final show 1980 was undoubtedly the largest show the now-WWF had put on the show, with 36,000 fans in attendance to witness a staggering 13 bouts - so this is going to be a long post which'll probably be spread into 4 parts.

An interesting fact about the 1980 show also, is that the ring announcer was none other than THE Vince McMahon, who was filling in for Howard Finkel as he was doing another show for Jim Crockett Promotions (Which would later become WCW). The version I'm watching also has Michael Cole & Mick Foley doing commentary for a 2008 release to commemorate the closing of Shea Stadium.

Vince McMahon leads the proceedings

Match #1

Singles bout

Jose Estrada	-vs-	Angel Marvilla
231 lbs	Weight	234 lbs
Puerto Rico	From	Santo Domingo

Match Stipulations: 1 fall with a 20 minute time limit

The bout starts with a handshake between the participants, transitioning into collar & elbow holds before each trading hip tosses, with both men quick to get their feet after each toss. Another collar & elbow hold before Estrada pushes his opponent to the ropes, with a clean break ensured by the referee. They go back into the collar & elbow and Estrada once again pushes Marvilla to the ropes, this time the break is followed with a club to the chest on the part of Estrada, which angers Marvilla.

Estrada then gets a headlock on Marvilla in order to wear him down, before being pushed to the ropes and into a dropkick by Angel Marvilla, which sends Estrada out to the ring apron, and now the advantage is in Marvilla's favour. After getting back into the ring, Estrada is whipped into the turnbuckle and covered, but only a 2-count goes in Angel's favour.

A dropkick by Mavilla sends Jose Estrada reeling

Both men then continue to trade blows and holds, before Estrada gets his opponent in an aeroplane spin-type hold, before flapjacking him onto the top rope.
 
Jose's dominance continues until a failed senton allows Angel Marvilla to regain control and hit a flying headset for a 3-count and the pinfall victory in what is otherwise quite a slow-paced match.

Result: Angel Marvilla wins via Pinfall in 7:26

Match #2

Singles bout

Baron Mikel Scicluna	-vs-	Dominic DeNucci
262 lbs	Weight	253 lbs
The Isle of Malta	From	Venice, Italy

Match Stipulations: 1 fall with a 20 minute time limit

Both men start this bout circling one another, before trading a number of throws in what is already a faster paced match than the preceding bout. DeNucci is sent to the ring apron by a kick, but manages to hang on whilst Scicluna tries to ram the vulnerable DeNucci's head into the ring post. DeNucci then manages to get back inside the ring, but Scicluna dominates until a swift punch to the abdomen gets him down.

DeNucci hangs on as the Baron is scalded by the referee

Both men go to the ropes, with a shoulder tackle and a hip toss on the part of each man, but a sharp punch leaves Scicluna stunned, enabling DeNucci to attempt a pinfall which barely gets a 2-count.

At this point, Scicluna attempts to get a hidden object from his trunks and regains control of the match until a fiery DeNucci starts fighting back, with both men trading blows until an attempted headset by Scicluna gets him down for a 2-count pin.

Following this, a full nelson by Scicluna slows the pace of the match down, which works in his favour until a sunset flip by Dominic DeNucci gets the Baron down for a 3-count and the win.

Result: Dominic DeNucci wins via Pinfall in 6:39

Match #3

Singles bout for the WWF Jr Heavyweight Championship

Chavo Guererro	-vs-	Tatsumi Fujinami (c)
221 lbs	Weight	216 lbs
Mexico City, Mexico	From	Japan

Match Stipulations: 1 fall with a 20 minute time limit

Back in 1980, a match like this would have been something that a lot of the New York population would likely have never seen before, mixing technical mat-based action with high flying manoeuvres. The match the two men had was thrilling from bell to bell, with high-octane action seamlessly mixing with slower, methodical power wrestling.

The match picks up quickly, with both men starting the match with collar & elbow holds, which quickly transition into throws & go-behinds. The amateur mat-based style of wrestling really dominates the opening minutes of the bout, with Chavo Guererro (Now better known as Chavo Classic) getting an early advantage with a leg grapevine, managing to hold Fujinami's shoulders down to the mat for a 1-count.

With both men back to their feet, Fujinami gets a headlock on Guererro in an attempt to wear him down, before being pushed to the ropes, where the hold is released and both men hit the ropes and trade leapfrogs, and incredibly, both men manage to get consecutive flying headscissors on each other!

Both competitors then get swiftly back to their feet, with an armbar by Fujinami resulting in a rope break and a chop from Chavo. Following this, Fujinami is thrown to the ropes, which he converts into a cross-body and a pin for barely a 2-count, and both men once again are quick to get to their feet.

The bout stays fairly evenly matched at this point, until a combination of a snapmare and a dropkick sends Guererro tumbling to the grass, at which point Fujinami shocks the crowd by performing a suicide dive through the ropes onto his opponent on the outside!

Fujinami wows the crowd by hitting a suicide dive to Guererro

As both men crawl back into the ring, Fujinami tries to keep his advantage, but Guererro gives himself some breathing room by throwing his opponent out of the other side of the ring, almost of top of the ringside photographers. He then goes for a suicide dive of his own, but manages to catch himself in the ropes after Fujinami scouts it and moves out of the way to get back into the ring.

The pace of the match slows down a bit now, with Guererro locking the champion in almost like a surfboard-type hold, but after Fujinami refuses to submit, Guererro takes him down to the mat and attempts to weaken the arm by performing a headstand. This enables Guererro to keep control of his opponent, and following a back body drop, manages to get a 2-count on Fujinami who gets his foot on the bottom tope to break the pin.

After trading back and forth, Fujinami breaks his opponents advantage by picking up Guererro for an aeroplane spin before slamming him down to the canvas, and as both men gingerly get back to their feet, they wow both the live crowd and commentator Mick Foley by meeting with a double dropkick to each other!

Camera bulbs flash as both men go for a dropkick

Following this, Guererro attempts a swanton on the champion, but misses and reverses a suplex into a rollup for an unsuccessful 2-count, which Fujinami immediately transitions into a bridging pin and gets a 3-count on Guererro for the win.

The match gets a really good reaction from the crowd, who for many have just had their first taste of fast-paced action tonight.

Result: Tatsumi Fujinami retains his championship via pinfall at 10:28


This concludes Part 1 of my look at the Showdown at Shea 1980, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be uploading additional parts to this with matches such as Hulk Hogan vs André the Giant, Pat Patterson vs Tor Kamata, and the main event of Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zbyszko in a steel cage match still to come, so stay tuned!

All images © WWE