Card #1: A Tournament for a Champion
Nov. 11th at the Cow Palace in Daly City, CA
The show opens with Gordon Solie coming out to announce to the crowd that the tournament will decide the inaugural WCPW World Heavyweight Champion. All matches will be one fall, no time limit, with disqualifications resulting in removal of the tournament. Solie then exits the ring as the first match gets set to begin...
Round 1 Match: Stan Hansen vs Big Van Vader
A brutally physical match to kick things off, with both men going to their big offensive moves early with little strategy mixed in. This one was always going to be about who landed the biggest move first, and it ended up being Hansen, putting the big masked man down with a thunderous Borger Slam.
Winner: Stan Hansen
Round 1 Match: Randy Savage vs Roddy Piper
Piper took control of this one early, but Savage never seemed to be in too much danger, and eventually he was able to hit an axe handle to the floor, roll Piper into the ring, and hit his patented Savage Elbow from the top rope for the victory.
Winner: Randy Savage
Round 1 Match: Bruiser Brody vs Nick Bockwinkle
This was the most surprising match of the first round. Bockwinkle, a special guest for the tournament, was overwhelmed from the start- with Brody jumping all over him early and never letting up. Bockwinkle looked to be out cold after Brody nailed him with his finishing knee drop for the win.
Winner: Bruiser Brody
Round 1: Ted Dibiase vs Harley Race
Race controlled the majority of this match from the start, but he seemed to lose his cool at some point, throwing DiBiase out of the ring and slamming him on the ring announcer table. When the referee came over to clean things up, Race threw the official to the ground, grabbed a chair, and nailed DiBiase in the back. The ref had no choice but to disqualify Race and end the match.
Winner (via DQ): Ted DiBiase
After the first round of matches had concluded, Gordon Solie came back out to announce the next show would be at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, tickets are still available...
Semi-Final Match: Stan Hansen vs Randy Savage
A competitive back and forth match as a contrast of styles played out, Hansen's brawling vs Macho Man's speed and agility. Savage seemed to be building momentum to finish Hansen off, who seemed to be getting winded from the increased pace of the match, when out of nowhere Hansen rolled up Savage and got the pinfall- earning a spot in the finals.
Winner: Stan Hansen
Semi-Final Match: Bruiser Brody vs Ted DiBiase
Dibiase never really stood a chance in this one- still obviously feeling the effects from the Harley Race chair shot, and Brody fresh from a short first round match- this one seemed pre-decided... except everyone forgot to tell DiBiase. The man would not stay down, and got Brody agonizingly close to passing out from the cobra clutch... but Brody managed to hold on, and hit the big knee drop to punch his own ticket to the finals.
Winner: Bruiser Brody
A short intermission where upcoming Cow Palace events were advertised including a rodeo, the circus, and a trade show, before the main event could get under way.
MAIN EVENT: Tournament Finals- Stan Hansen vs Bruiser Brody
Hansen started off hot on offense, but Brody countered- seemingly controlling the match as Hansen's endurance after two matches seemed to be wavering. Brody easily turned away a Hansen comeback, threw Hansen into the turnbuckle where it looked like he would set up Hansen for the end of his night and be crowned the World Champ. Except it never happened, for the second time in as many matches, the big Texan surprised the building with a quick roll up for the pin fall
Winner AAAAAAND NEEEEEEEW CHAMPION- Stan Hansen
After the match, Brody tore apart the ring area- tossing chairs and tables, with crew members clearing the area to avoid his anger. After he finally stormed out, Gordon Solie came out with the belt- Hansen raised it up to the crowd and celebrated to the back.
As people started to file out, the card for San Francisco was announced (card subject to change):
The Fantastics vs The British Bulldogs
Dan Severn (special guest) vs "Dr Death" Steve Williams
Curt Hennig vs Magnum TA
The Road Warriors vs The Rock N Roll Express
MAIN EVENT: Ray Stevens vs Harley Race