February 27, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Massive Ivan Koloff bio, death of George “The Animal” Steele, tons more
Monday January 18, 1971, for Northeast wrestling fans, started as a day, just like every other day.
There was a wrestling show that night in Madison Square Garden headlined by a WWWF world title match, but that happened about once a month, although interest was certainly above usual levels at the time.
At that time, there were few things you could count on. Sports had their dynasties, but the Yankees hadn’t gone to the World Series since 1964. The Green Bay Packers had dominated the NFL for years, but their last Super Bowl win was in 1968. The Celtics stopped dominating the NBA in 1969.
But that was the beauty of scripted entertainment. John Wayne still won his climactic scene fights. You could always count on that. The Bay Bombers in Roller Derby (and the Los Angeles Thunderbirds in Roller Games) almost always won the world championship on the last jam. And nobody beat Bruno Sammartino.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.