Sometimes one induction on the site naturally leads to the next one. Such is the case today, as the last one I did was Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n Wrestling: the Live Action Skits. When I was doing that one, I thought, “Is there anyone on planet earth besides myself that could possibly be interested in this?” Shockingly, it turned out to be one of the most well-received write-ups I’ve done in a while, so what the heck, we will stay in that same era…especially since it was while I was penning that cartoon skits one that I learned that there was once a match featuring Big John Studd taking on Ted Arcidi.
HO. LEE. CRAP.
I know for years the so-called holy grail of lost wrestling matches was Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee, but even as big a fan as I am of the Hitman, for me ain’t nothing coming close to what you’re looking at just above from the old Boston Garden. A bit of backstory I suppose for the uninitiated. Although he pretty much vanished prior to WrestleMania III (save for a cup of coffee return in late 1988/early 1989 which included a baffling Royal Rumble win!), odds are you’ve at least heard of Big John Studd. A member of the Bobby Heenan family, Studd was best known for a feud with Andre the Giant to determine who was the REAL giant in the WWF. The apex of that feud was likely when Studd and running mate Ken Patera double teamed Andre and cut his hair. It was a hot rivalry to be sure, but the matches were uniformly atrocious. By that time Andre was already starting to run of fumes and Studd was…well…let’s just put it nicely and say he was pretty daggum horrrible.
But Studd was (insert your favorite technical wrestler’s name here) in comparison to Ted Arcidi. In fact, for years I dare say I viewed him as the worst wrestler I’d ever seen. A strongman in every sense of the word, Arcidi was short but completely gigantic, with arms that made Hulk Hogan’s mighty 24″ pythons want to burrow underground. That’s great and all, but the guy was so musclebound he could barely move. He also got gassed super quickly, which isn’t a surprise at all considering just how much mass he was carrying on his frame. So yeah, the idea of Studd vs. Arcidi is pretty much my dream.
After spending a good forty-five seconds or so circling each other, we get our first high spot: a test of strength! Now you may not consider that an exciting maneuver, but believe me, it’s amongst the best action we’re getting here. I also hope and pray you like a test of strength because this one lasts in the three minute range. Studd takes the early advantage, which makes sense since he’s like a foot and a half taller than Arcidi. There’s such a height difference I’m shocked Arcidi didn’t need a step stool to reach Studd’s hands.
Eventually though Arcidi starts to Ted Up, pushing Studd back into the ropes. Sensing he’s starting to lose the battle, Studd knees Arcidi in the gut…but never releases the hold! That’s dedication (to a horrible match) right there!
Arcidi attempts to fight back by jamming his head into Studd’s crotch. Which is an interesting tactic I suppose but doesn’t seem to help his cause much.
Eventually he does get the advantage (I mean, he was billed as the World’s Strongest Man, so I would hope so) and has Studd ready to fall, but John knees Arcidi right in the breadbasket. Arcidi counters with knees of his own, then attempts to slam Studd, which would have been huge. You see, Studd was doing a gimmick where if you body slammed him you’d get $15,000. This schtick was over so it helped to wake up the crowd from their knuckle lock induced slumber.
Able to escape the slam attempt, Studd bulls Arcidi back into the corner and starts giving him these ridiculous overhand punches. Arcidi finally blocks the blows and uh oh…he lowers the straps! Yep kids, that thing that Powerhouse Hobbs does is over 40 years old!
At this point the match starts to fall apart as it’s obvious Ted’s not sure what he’s supposed to do. Studd basically begs him to attack and attack he does with what I can only call hammer of Thor forearm shots. Those look absurd and I LOVE them!
Blam blam blam Arcidi goes with the most delightfully comical blows. How could I ever have thought this man was the worst wrestler ever? This is fantastic stuff.
And he’s just getting started, as he hits Studd with a double axe handle that puts the big guy on his knees. Arcidi loved that so much he runs from rope to rope to deliver two more. I have no idea how bouncing off the rope then coming to a full and complete stop before dropping the third one made it more effective, but who am I to question Ted Arcidi?
Arcidi nearly jumps right of his Ponys delivering yet one more before making the cardinal mistake of dropping his head. Studd takes over again, attempting to punt Arcidi out of the ring…only to get completely hung up in the ropes in the process.
Studd waylays Ted with a mighty forearm that causes Arcidi to fall to the floor, presumably ok with getting the win by countout.
Arcidi has other plans though, pulling Studd out of the ring like Ted himself is the horse pulling a wagon. Ain’t never seen that before, ain’t never gonna see it again. ALL HAIL TED ARCIDI!!
Of course the two battle on the outside and we’ve got us an old fashioned double count out. Seriously, you thought you were going to get a clean finish here?
Fascinatingly, Arcidi would claim years later that this match sold out Boston Garden. Now normally I would research this and explain how that wasn’t remotely true, but who am I to question Ted Arcidi, especially when he tells us in the same interview that the crowd was going “sh*thouse” for this battle? I mean, he just wrote the punchline for this article for me!