Tagged: Jay Strongbow
Mr. Fuji, perennial tag champ and star of ‘Fuji Vice,’ dies at 82
Many of us growing up in the Boston area during the 1970s and ’80s will best remember Mr. Fuji as a tag team champion wrestler who held the WWWF and WWF Tag Team Title five times with Professor Toru Tanaka and Mr. Saito.
For me, however, Fuji will stay forever in my mind for his slapstick comedy in skits with Magnificent Muraco, such as “Fuji Vice,” a parody of a hot TV show at the time called Miami Vice. If you’ve never seen “Fuji Vice,” then you must watch it right now below as an homage. I just did.
Fuji, whose real name was Harry Fujiwara, died on August 28 at the age of 82.
He had lengthy runs in the WWF as an active wrestler and then became the manager of stars such as Continue reading
The 1984 steel cage card in Hartford that I never heard of
I like to think of myself as having a vivid memory of 1980s WWF wrestling, and I can recall most angles and wrestlers from that decade. The last time I was truly surprised by something I never knew from that era was the original Royal Rumble that One Man Gang won in St. Louis.
But my friend, Ed, who is another long-time fan, mentioned to me a card he had just learned of from the early ’80s at the Hartford Civic Center that featured an unusual array of steel cage matches.
I’m not sure how or why I’ve never run across this, but sure enough, the great The History of WWE website lists the results as part of a show called “Steel Cage Turmoil,” which took place on November 23, 1984.
The highlight was a 19-match steel cage gauntlet, in which the winner of each contest kept advancing until they lost or won the whole thing. In the end, Big John Studd beat Continue reading
Transcript of my interview with John Cena, Sr. about the first WrestleMania and Bruno Sammartino
I recently posted a podcast with John Cena, Sr. — the father of WWE superstar John Cena, who headlines WrestleMania 29 against the Rock — who talked to me about the first WrestleMania in 1985, Bruno Sammartino going into the WWE Hall of Fame, and his memories of the wrestling cards at the old Boston Garden. For those of you who were unable to hear the podcast or didn’t have time, below is the complete transcript of the interview. Continue reading
One of the most exciting moments from WWF Saturday morning wrestling: When Atlas and Johnson won the tag titles
If you want to see a small crowd go crazy for a title switch at a TV taping, check out the ending sequence of this match from late 1983, when Tony “Mr. USA” Atlas and Rocky Johnson defeated the Wild Samoans for the WWF Tag Team Title.
The match was big because Atlas and Johnson were the first African-American tag team to win the belts in WWF history. At least one African-American had held gold before in the WWF Continue reading
Chief Jay Strongbow dies: Former tag champ who came up with the name “Duke of Dorchester” for Pete Doherty
The death of Chief Jay Strongbow on April 3 will no doubt set off some memories of long-lost wrestling fans who watched him in the WWF in the 1980s (and the WWWF in ‘70s).
Strongbow — who was actually Italian — became synonymous with the WWF due to his tenure there. Many of us who grew up in the ‘80s best remember him for his tag team with “brother” Jules Strongbow, and the duo won Continue reading
Jay and Jules Strongbow refused to leave the ring until they got their tag title rematch
I was a little embarrassed when I recently realized that this blog had virtually no mention of the Strongbow Brothers, Jay and Jules.
Well, they weren’t really brothers, and Jay wasn’t really an American Indian (I’m not sure about Jules). But as a tandem, these guys were quite popular when they defeated Continue reading
Boston Garden Balcony 