The Crusher cuts up Mad Dog Vachon

[TheMidnightBell07]

Hey, I think he had enough pressure on it lol.

[KFAIRocks]

I was the floor director for WTCN TV that day. When I saw Vachon come up from under the ring the blood was gushing out in spurts. I knew immediately that this was an accident. I hollered into my headset "This is SERIOUS, I'm calling 911!" I rushed out into the hall, grabbed the phone and started calling when Officer O'Brian yanked the phone out of my hand and hung it up. (He was Vern's rent-a-cop, always on duty.) He threw a coat around Vachon since it was below zero and raced him out the door.

[peluchediaz22]

bullshit



[frythedeliveryguy]

Did anyone else see the ghost of Mean Gene at the beginning?

[MrNeal201]

more old awa and wwa living in il in the early 70es is all we had txs 4 post

[McRat1968]

I later saw Reggie Lisowski ("The Crusher") and Vachon as a tag-team against John Minton ("Big John Studd") and Jerry Blackwell in one of my favorite tag matches: the one where Blackwell landed wrong off the ropes and put Vachon on the shelf for a few years.

I doubt that Blackwell was truly 472 pounds, as he was billed by the announcers; but he was definitely big enough to squash someone to death the way he used to splash. ...Add a second-rope height to that mix and you've got troubles.

[Thorpe741]

Just keep pressing 7! and listen to the Crusher!!7

[MrStevestain]

I lived in the Chicago area for a year and a half - in the early 70's. Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher were awesome, as was Nick Bockwinkel. Watching Chicago-area wrestling made watching wrestling in other areas impossible - it was too boring in comparison. I stopped watching wrestling for decades. I'm glad to see that it wasn't just my memory that it was crazed & exciting.

[mjtf1113]

I am from Chester, Pa. which is a suburb of Philadelphia. I used to attend the matches at the ARENA where I saw the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Killer Kowalski, Professor Tanaka, all of them in the late 60s and early 70s. I only knew of the likes of Dick the Bruiser, The Crusher and all the others in the AWA by reading about them in the wrestling magazines. Used to watch, for a while, wrestling from Florida..........great stuff........it was "REAL" back then !!!!

[Srd1126]

2:08 or so listen to the announcer say "HEY" off the mic, they realized the blade job went bad, I don't think Crusher knew something was wrong

[RSXemperor85]

This and Eddie Guerrero at Judgment Day 2004 are the sickest blade jobs ever.

[cadlexvet]

i remember this really well and what got me hooked on wrestling forever.I remember telling my dad and older cousin that there is no way wrestling can be fake because i actually saw the blood squirting from mad dog's head...this is the coolest of all time and looked for it for years,,,,when they have classic awa on tv this is what they need to show!!!!!!!!!!

[SportsLiveInTheAtl]

A cot picking thing.lmao..Look at the Crushers face.Looks like a burnt zombie.BUT CLASSIC

[wombsquid]

'get some pressure on that right away"

awesome

[NoirFan01]

And, Crusher kept the cigar in his mouth the whole time. Fantastic! But, yeh, that was a sick blade job.

[ebf1957]

I used to hurry home from Sunday School to watch wrestling.

[Frequent2001]

for 1971 that is awesome footage, really clear

[MadisonCutlass44057]

Happens to pro boxers all the time. Cant FAKE this.

[kodermac]

It seems to me the way the Mad Dog had the blood flowing he must have taken a dozen aspirines before hitting the ring.

[Gergie57]

"This is a Bad artery cut" Classic.

[oldtones]

WOW THE OLD DAYS OF WRESTLING I WISH WAS STILL GOOD

[ClassicRockfan79]

This is the most brutal, and bloody thing ive ever seen! Its great! lol. I wish wrestling was still this good

[deqaf]

I can't believe someone had this video! Where did you get it? Thanks for posting.

[BeatleJim55]

The good 'ol days of pro wrestling...the 1970's.....a great time for this stuff...unlike the crap put out by the WWE...

[TheLettersLSB]

Serious, but awesome blade job, and who knew the earliest recorded blade job was from the Great Mad Dog

[MrNeal201]

wow grew up in this era awa wwa ruled in the midwest bring it on luv it

[htrrz]

I saw this on tv in 71, we were told the Crusher kick Mad Dog with a street shoe in the head, and it took 72 stiches to close the wound,I remember the camera went off when it got really bloody, I saw more here, when the show came back on guys were cleaning up the ring with rags, before the next match, also remember on one show the original Dr. X smashing a telephone on another wrestler's knee and the phone shattering, wrestling was as I recall much ruffer then.

[raybay30]

funniest quote of Vachon...."the Algerian Death Match; no disqualification, no referee,...the loser walks out of the ring DEAD! I heard on KMSP Mpls-St Paul tv back in the late sixties. Wish someone could find and post that interview.

[joethecabdriver]

blood blood blood!!!!

[Hamboar]

What a great clip featuring "The Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous" The late great Crusher Lisowski !!, Edouard Carpentier !!, and The Vachon Brothers. In the Milwaukee viewing area it aired on a saturday night on UHF WVTV channel 18 and as always, All Star Wrestling was replayed on sunday mornings. I remember it well. Thanks for posting it.

[LowellDevil]

One word: EPIC!!!

[bchbys]

I like how the Crusher never looses his cigar

[LoneWolfHowl1]

I feel queasy

[Bertminator]

I would love to see the interview after this "match".

[BruceWalters]

@Bertminator I remember this. Crusher, in rags and covered in Mad Dogs blood, was irate. Crusher had a very bloody feud with the Vachons over the years.

[Bertminator]

@BruceWalters Wow, would have loved to see that interview!

[WillIsSoAwesome]

AWESOME. I've heard about this angle a lot of times throughout the years and it's awesome to finally see it.

[Dietpepsivanilla]

Bless you!!!  I haven't seen this since I was a kid in Iowa. I remember this!!! Da Crusher!!!

[Chrisdrumz]

This is back when people who knew it was scripted thought they just used "fake blood".

[elc1960]

Artery cuts can be a bitch. Matt Hardy got an artery cut on an episode of Smackdown from Rey Mysterio - Mysterio hit a huricanrana on Hardy, and a rough edge on one of Rey's boots cut Matt on the right side of his forehead near the hairline. As soon as Hardy sat up, blood poured down his face. Also, Jay Strongbow got one from Freddie Blassie on All Star Wrestling, but his was caused by Blassie biting his head. Vince has forgotten how blood can be an important tool, if used the right way.

[88guilly88]

This was one of the first things I remember when I started watching wrestling on TV. After that, I was hooked. Great old AWA footage.

[1976Cordoba]

I saw this once when I was a kid -- AWESOME to see it again! Growing up in Milwaukee da Crusher was a local legend -- "The man that made Milwaukee Famous" with his 100 megaton biceps!!!

[1976Cordoba]

I saw this once when I was a kid -- AWESOME to see it again! Growing up in Milwaukee da Crusher was a local legend -- "The man that made Milwaukee Famous" with his 100 megaton biceps!!!

[cstomp1]

Crusher had to realize something was seriously wrong, yet I love that he breaks away a couple times to get some additional shots on the Mad Dog. This is the kind of stuff that drew me into wrestling when I was young. Classic!

[MrNeal201]

i 1st started watching awa and wwa in the early 70es thats all we got back then txs 4 post more old stuff please

[vegas4170]

This is a priceless find! The last time I saw this I was 10 years old when it aired on Sat. nights. This was shocking for its time. This incident lead to probably one of the largests turnouts for any event at the local fieldhouse. Several weeks later Mad Dog and the Crusher faced each other here at the fieldhouse. The buildup of this match was insane-with Mad Dog vowing to get revenge.

I was told this resulted in over 6,000 inside the fieldhouse and another 4,000 outside trying to get in.

[tkungfool]

thanks so much for posting this, I thought this clip might have been lost. I've been looking for it for years now. Great quality, also.

The visual of the Crusher with his smashed cigar double choking Mad Dog is so great.

[melbz1266]

awa had some great wrestleing back in the 70's.

[kustomchainwerks]

Growing up in Minnesota those were definetely the best days of wrestling.

[patubo]

My God!

I saw this only once before -- I was only 10! when it was shown on Sunday Morning All Star Westling -- we couldn't believe what we were seeing, the CHAOS! I remember somewhere toward's the end of this, our station put a "Technical Difficulties" card over the video -- this only enhanced the Insane Appeal . . I can't believe you have it here, HOW DID YOU DO IT? Thanks so much for posting, I've come full circle in my life now . . .

[muta157]

Thank you for posting this. I grew up in Minnesota and there has never been anything close to the kind of emotion and energy that the AWA could produce.

I love how the Crusher puts him up in the double choke hold and never loses the cigar. Classic.

[classicNHLfights]

watching this reaffirms my belief on what a piece of crap the W.W.E. is... everybody looks the same... everybody is on steriods...nobody has any charisma... just crap a bunch of boring crap, thank god for old classic clips like this...thanks dude

[AngelofAnguish]

@classicNHLfights I agree! Thank God for YouTube-and Lord help those who watch, or STILL watch, today's WWE! In my opinion, the ONLY POSITIVE THING(S) coming from today's WWE are the DVDs featuring the "old school" matches and interviews!

[1400deadwood]

@classicNHLfights ~ Excellent post. Like you, I miss the good old days of pro wrestling. Today's generation just does not know what it is missing. How I long for those great old days!!

[brizilla72]

@classicNHLfights I couldn't agree with you more!!!!!!!!

[jpcfit]

I remember watching this live with my older cousin, a nurse. I'll never forget her reaction, "OMG, OMG! They gotta get that bleeding stopped!" As others have noted, the cut was far worse than what was planned.

[brian7301975]

At 2:11 that was a young Blackjack Mulligan holding back da crusher. The one wearing the pink like shirt.

[DotDotkins]

Sure enough, Bob Windham was trained by Verne and he started out there as a jobber under the name Jack Mulligan.

[daredevilpre]

@DotDotkins

Wow, that is cool. I thought it was Don Leo Jonathan at first.

Crusher choking Vachon off the ground looked like a horror movie.

[DavidFullam]

That was a serious, sick blade job.

[DotDotkins]

It was a blade job that went wrong, while Mad Dog was on the floor blading the Crusher kicked him and the blade cut much deeper than it should of.

[DavidFullam]

I was wondering about that. Never kick a guy while he's doing the blade job.

[lovesheidi]

@DotDotkins yeah but it sure did make it look good though..although i hope it really didn't injure mad dog to much

[DotDotkins]

@lovesheidi Mad Dog lost a lot of blood and had to be rushed to the hospital.

[oldschool6804]

@lovesheidi he got 40 stitches this was real!

[RJBFIRECHIEF1]

@DavidFullam There no artery in the forehead! Scalps bleed freely, that why auto accident victims bleed from hitting a windshiled.

Roger!

[mongomartin1]

And "Da Crusher" never even lsot his cigar