Lawrence "Larry" Whistler (born December 5, 1951) is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s.
Zbyszko's ring name has in the past been misspelled Zbysko or Zybysko. The correct spelling of the name, Zbyszko, is derived from the name of Polish wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko.
Whistler trained under Bruno Sammartino and debuted in 1973 as the babyface "Larry Zbyszko", with his name a tribute to 1920s Polish American wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko. He initially wrestled in the Pittsburgh area, appearing on the local wrestling program Studio Wrestling, before receiving bookings in Vancouver. He spent three years in the World Wide Wrestling Federation before traveling to California in 1975.
Zbyszko was one of the attractions in the 1976 Latin America Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight championship, held in Guatemala City, under Jose Azzari promotions. Three days after the end of the tournament (Mil Máscaras won the title, defeating Jose Azzari in the final), an earthquake destroyed much of that Central American nation.
Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
In NWA/WCW, he was a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Television Champion, a one-time Western States Heritage Champion, a four-time NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ron Garvin. In WWF, he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion with his brother-in-law, Mike Rotunda. On March 31, 2012, Windham was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Horsemen.
Windham was trained by his father Blackjack Mulligan and popular world champion Harley Race. He debuted on November 27, 1979 against J.J. Dillion in Odessa, Texas when he was 19 years old. Much of his early career was in the NWA's Championship Wrestling from Florida territory where Gordon Solie was the head announcer. He was a fan favorite for most of the early and middle periods of his career, having great success in singles and tag action. Windham had notable feuds with Kevin Sullivan and his army. With his brother-in-law Mike Rotunda, Windham formed a tag team in 1984. The duo captured the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship three times between March and May 1984.
Plot
Steel Cage Match (non-title): WCW Champion Hollywood Hogan vs. Roddy Piper, WCW United States Title: Curt Hennig vs. Ric Flair, WCW Cruiserweight Title (Belt vs. Mask Match): Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr., Sudden Death Match: Randy Savage vs. Dallas Page, Scott Hall vs. Lex Luger (special referee Larry Zbysko), Disco Inferno vs. Jacqueline, Chris Jericho vs. Gedo, Yuji Nagata vs. Ultimo Dragon, Alex Wright vs. Steve McMichael
Keywords: baseball-bat, cage, cage-match, disco, female-athlete, handcuffs, hit-with-a-baseball-bat, hulk-hogan, luchadore, man-woman-fight
Plot
Sting battles "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff in a Russian Chain Match, struggles to overcome injury as he defends the WCW United States Heavyweight Title against "Ravishing" Rick Rude, challenges former friend "The Total Package" Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Title, leads his Squadron into War Games against the Dangerous Alliance, tackles Cactus Jack in a falls-count-anywhere, defends the WCW World Heavyweight Title against Big Van Vader, vanquishes Jake "The Snake" Roberts in a Coal Miner's Glove match, and faces Vader two more times, including the "White Castle of Fear" leather strap match.
Keywords: 1990s, blood, cage, cell-phone, chain, champion, communist, face-paint, glove, hero
Plot
World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack; World Television Champion Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (No Disqualification); Sting, Nikita Koloff, and The Steiner Brothers vs Big Van Vader, Rick Rude, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and The Super Invader (Elimination Match); Butch Reed and The Barbarian vs Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes; Greg Valentine and Dick Slater vs Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton
Keywords: world-championship-wrestling, wrestling
The Tradition
Plot
WCW Title (2 out of 3 Falls Match): Lex Luger vs. Ron Simmons, Chamber of Horrors Match: Sting, The Steiner Brothers & El Gigante vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Cactus Jack, The Diamond Studd & Big Van Vader, WCW Tag Team Titles: The Enforcers vs. The Patriots, WCW Television Title: Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes, WCW Light Heavyweight Title: Richard Morton vs. Brian Pillman, The Halloween Phantom vs. The Z-Man, Bill Kazmeier vs. Oz, Bobby Eaton vs. Terrence Taylor, Big Josh & PN News vs. The Creatures
Keywords: african-american, american-dream, argentinian, arm-in-a-cast, blood, bodyguard, brother, butcher, cage, champion
Chamber of Horrors
Plot
This video features highlights of some of the matches from the Third Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup tag team tournament. The tournament took place from April 22-April 23, 1988. Most of the matches of this large tournament are left out, and a lot of the matches are edited pretty short to fit on a two hour tape. Teams included on the tape are The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal), The Midnight Express (Eaton and Lane), The Four Horsemen (Anderson and Blanchard), The Fantastics (Rogers and Fulton), Lex Luger and Sting, The Jive Tones (Whatley and Conway), Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch, Larry Zbyszko and Al Perez, The Varsity Club (Rotunda and Steiner), The Powers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian), Jimmy Valiant and Mighty Wilbur, The Sheepherders (Miller and Williams), Kendall Windham and The Italian Stallion, and Ron Simmons and Steve Williams. I won't tell the matches as that will give away the winners (since this was a single elimination tournament). Other matches on the card are NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Nikita Koloff, The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes) vs J.J. Dillon in a bloody Texas Bullrope Match, and Jimmy Garvin vs Kevin Sullivan in a Prince of Darkness Death Match (both wrestlers had hoods over their heads and couldn't see). Finally, the tape goes back to January 24, 1988 for the finals of the Third Annual Bunkhouse Stampede. Battle royales had been held at several house shows in the weeks leading up to this event, and the winners of each battle royale entered this battle royale final, held inside a steel cage. The match is joined in progress on the tape, so I don't know if some wrestlers had already been eliminated. The wrestlers on the tape are Arn Anderson, Road Warrior Animal, The Barbarian, Tully Blanchard, Ivan Koloff, Lex Luger, The Warlord, and the winner of the first two Bunkhouse Stampedes, Dusty Rhodes.
Keywords: pro-wrestling, wrestling