Muraco wrestling while eating a meatball hero is one of the funniest memories. What a great heel and man can he cut a promo. So entertaining. Once of the greatest of all time
I went to the first two Snuka Muraco matches at the Garden ,July and August 1983 . Back then they skipped September shows at the Garden. I would have loved to have gone to the cage but it was school time in Oct . Jimmy no showed two shows I went to . Word had it he was mess . Don was a great ring worker. I still remember the first time I saw him wrestle Sept 1981 vs Pedro
Still love The Magnificent Muraco to this day. His promos and wrestling are legendary. Still watch them. Glad to see him still around and doing these interviews. We love you Don!!!
His matches against Snuka were incredible! I saw them fight at the Philadelphia Spectrum. We were all waiting outside and Snuka showed up in a Pink Cadillac and shook our hands. Great memories 💪🏽
It’s really refreshing to hear from one of my favorites who’s not bitter about the business. He isn’t throwing guys under the bus. He doesn’t speak about things he didn’t witness first hand and he doesn’t presume to know what was on someone else’s mind. I’m really enjoying these videos.
Muraco sacrificed his body and life for that Superfly 15ft off the steel cage move. Remember Muraco is the wrestler taking the high risk move. Snuka weighed over 250 lbs back then. It's high risk for both wrestlers but Muraco gets let's credit as the heel.👍🏽👍🏽💪🏾💪🏾
Don Muraco was a great tactician , he was second to none when it came to ring psychology . I saw him in 1986 at the Sydney entertainment centre and then in 1993 at the hordern pavilion in Sydney. Don Muraco should of been the wwf heavyweight. Wonderful entertainer and was one of the best heels around.
What were the matches like ? Did they tailor them to meet the same style as in world championship wrestling in Australia 66 to 74 or were they typical wwf at the time matches ?
In my opinion, Don Muraco was the first guy to make the intercontinental title a prestigious title in the WWF. He drew so much heat as a heel in his first run as IC champion, Muraco and Bob Backlund had title vs title matches with each other. I saw them have a match with each other at the Philadelphia Spectrum that lasted almost 40 minutes with Backlund winning although Muraco's foot was on the ropes. I thought Muraco was the greatest IC champion of all time until Curt Hennig won the belt.
He delivered his evil with a smile. That’s what I remember about Muraco. Especially when he’d put the ref between himself and his opponent, the referee gets clobbered, and he just would smile!
I met a guy in 86' who filled in as a referee for a the wwf for a short time. I picked his mind about the whole thing. Don was one of my favorites so I asked him about Don. He said Muraco was one of the Nicest human beings that he ever met anywhere period.
Muraco was my favorite heel as a kid. He was great at the role. I loved his fued with Pedro. I was lucky enough to see Muraco live twice. Including a cage match vs Snuka at the Boston Garden. Snuka dove off the top of the cage and landed on Muraco. It was great!
Remember when they showed Pedro vs Muraco on TV. Most TV matches were squashes back then, so it was a rare treat. Pedro had him in the corner and kept punching Moraco until the ref stopped the match and gave the victory to Pedro, rather than DQing Pedro.
I always remember whenever one of my favorite face wrestler at a particular time won a championship (Usually the IC belt) I was so happy when he got it, but then I was soon nervous about him losing it sooner then later. Snuka was like Piper, he was so over he didn't need a championship. There is too much emphasis on championship belts these days. in my opinion.
When Stuka tore the suit off of Muraco, destroyed the mic, it was great because it didn’t present as story. It looked real. Muraco left in his undies and 1 shoe for crying out loud!
Your theory about making sure Snuka was not as popular as Hogan is an interesting one. There are also arguments to be made Vince this did as well to Wendy Richter.
The murder combined with Jimmy's serious cocaine addiction permanently shook Vince's confidence in Jimmy as a top guy. It's as simple as that. Read a little bit about Snuka. He was profoundly unstable. Really, how many other businesses would give this sort of person a second or third chance? And yet he continued to work steadily . . .
@@WaitingtoHit I heard from wrestlers themselves in Hamden, CT at the gym in 1984 that Snuka killed his girlfriend. I also heard it from a guy he shared an apartment with.
It was Argentino’s death, plain and simple. Vince sent his team of lawyers to get the charges dropped and somehow they succeeded. Despite that, it still made the news and Snuka was convicted in the court of public opinion. Vince soon realized he was more trouble than he was worth and let him go.
I loved this guy. From the first moment I saw him in the wrestler magazine as a surfer dude guy. He was slim and muscler. I was just a kid now I'm 63. Great to see this the stories relate.
You stated you were new at wrestling podcasts. Very impressed with you knowing Larry Hennig teamed with Harley Race in the AWA back in the day. Growing up in AWA country when they teamed i know AWA fans who didnt know that. You have done your homework.
Interesting listening to Muraco speak about interviews. He gave one of the best promos. The one right after Backlund lost the title and gave the “what about my promises” promo. Muraco came out will Albano at ringside and was interviewed by Vince Jr. and gave his “boo-hoo he hurt his shoulder” interview. Played the asshole to perfection. One of the best ever.
Don Muraco was always a fantastic outstanding heel because he had pizzazz and charisma, he did very entertaining great promos. Similar in talent to Billy Graham, Jesse Ventura, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair. They all kissed the Blarney Stone when it comes to doing promos. Jimmy Snuka was just, hey brother, you know brother, Etc. Jay Strongbow would put me to sleep listening to his promos. He sounded like Mumbles from the Dick Tracy cartoon.
@@allanjones1680 especially when Don Muraco was managed by Captain Lou Albano. The grand wizard of wrestling Ernie Roth really crack me up also. Bobby Heenan with Gorilla Monsoon doing color commentary, these were second to none.
@@allanjones1680 Don Muraco was hilarious and very correct about using Pat Patterson interviews as a cure for insomnia. Bob Backlund interviews will be for extreme insomnia.
Underrated heel and a good performer. Used to hate him as a kid, which means he was good at his job. Seems like a genuinely good guy, too - and it's funny how many heels I've met over the years that are just the nicest dudes you could ever meet. Ted DiBiase - who was one of the most horrid, hated characters ever, is maybe the nicest wrestler I've ever met in person.
Morocco was the best ever at the interviews. I was into wrestling about 2 years when I was 11 and 12 and a friend of mine and I went to msg every month. We loved Snuka. We were there for the cage match. We went to garden that night 100% positive our idol was finally gonna win a belt. I remember when Morocco went accidentally out of cage I knew immediately we were screwd again lol my friend didn't want to believe it but then Snuka drags him back in and went off cage on him. McMahon knew what he was doing cause that did make up for the loss. Years later I hear this is a classic match to wrestling people. We were at all of them when Iron shiek beat Backlund it was shocking but then it came into focus when they announced Hogan would fight Shiek next month we were at that one too we ran down and touched hogan on his way out or in don't remember but I remember wiping sweat off his arm lol love to hear these shoots about what was really going on backstage. I picked a real golden Era to be into wrestling for 2 yrs. A little after hogan won belt we grew out of it
Don should have been given a World title run during the Excessively long title reign of Boring Bob Backlund. 6 months would have been appropriate. Don was incredible.
My favorite wrestler in the ring but especially on tbe mic. Go back and listen to the interviews back then. They all took a little something from "Mag-ni-fi-cance"!!!
I heard from wrestlers themselves in Hamden, CT at the gym in 1984 that Snuka killed his girlfriend. I also heard it from a guy he shared an apartment with.
My dad wasn't a big pro wrestling fan and only watched it when I put it on, but he loved Muraco. Muraco was his favorite. Don looked like a guy who could really kick some ass, yet he had no qualms about doing the move where he'd get his head and neck caught in the twisted top and middle ropes. I definitely think Muraco is underrated historically. And as a kid, Snuka was my favorite until Savage got the call-up to WWF. Don comes off very wise here as he realizes what many of today's fans (and even pseudo-journalists online) don't...just because someone doesn't get the title or takes a few losses here and there mean that they're "buried." Hell, I see some sites cry "buried" after a guy takes two losses in a row. Everyone can't be champ. There are far too many talented guys and not enough time to give everyone a turn at the top. So, you have to find other ways (storyline-wise) to keep them relevant.
@@dwade6322 David Schulz was definitely tough for sure & little bit nice but definitely not very nice he kept to himself quite a bit & I heard he had good sense of humor but you didn't want to piss him off
My dad loved Legends of Wrestling 2. Any time I tried to play (as Owen Hart), Don Muraco would kick the piss out of me. Went back and watched old tapes not long after and he's been one of my favorite Wrestlers since
Seen muraco n Snuka in the Boston gardens -even as a kid i knew it was special-the worlds come to the point where we want to go backwards ..that can’t b good
Never got to meet the Rock but always heard good things from the boys about him! Was around Superfly a lot a real character... gave me some philosophy in the hotel one night... to know is to know but to be is to really know! LOL 🤣💯😁
That dive ended up not helping with his health as time went on. We didn't know about head injuries back in the day. He was nothing less then sensational. The crowd would rise when he entered the isle.
Post Wrestlemania 1 Steamboat and Snuka were being set up to be your next big face team as the South Pacific Connection. They looked great together in their two or three TV appearances . By around this time Vince realizes the whole hotel room thing is probably a bit to much and what a coincidence.. Jimmy disappears for a few years and turns up in the AWA 2 years later. #VinceKnew
@@chadk890 it was obvious that they were being groomed to be the next top face team after Windham and Rotundo ...Snuka dissapears for two years and resurfaces in the AWA without any explanation (we now it was probably because of the hotel thing) ..Steamboat gets repackaged as the Dragon and The Bulldogs get this spot.
Wrestlers who hold titles need to be clean outside the ring. They can't be coked up guys that go around beating up women. Bring too much b.s attention to Vince. Between the steroids, sex abuse, and other cover ups... Vince had his hands full. Jimmy also has zero promo skills. With Vince getting other top guys from other territories, jimmy was expendable.
Snuka was no different than any other wrestler with a belt. Exception Bob Backlund. Coke was everywhere in the 70's and 80's. You haven't heard or can present 1 wrestler interview that talks bad about Snuka.
Snuka never really a title to be an attraction . Tito needed to win the title to get the shine and make his character of the underneath baby face fighting from behind interesting .
Piper n Jimmy snuka had a fued because Piper hit him with a real coconut and it's like a rock and piper said it wasn't fixed so he hit him with and it blew apart that's how hard he hit how it didn't knock him out I don't know he might have been out on his feet and moving on instinct.
I know of piper saying heat came from hitting snuka with a coconut full wack and in Fiji and other Pacific island nations its an insult to be hitting an islander with a coconut and snuka hyped up would charge at piper in hotel rooms apparently. Snuka did have an opportunity to be bigger then hogan he was more popular then hogan in the early 80s but that thing with Nancy and rumours about vince paying off police about it and snuka getting too deep into drugs made jimmy snukas push for having a belt. I still think snuka could have been used more in runs and the match with Ricky the dragin steam was a shock snuka started to be seen has a the heel then ricky steamboat
