Aldo Montoya vs. Tony Williams WWF Wrestling Challenge 07-30-1995
I'll never say a bad word about Aldo Montoya/PJ Walker/Justin Credible/PJ Polacco.
It was July 1995, ironically three days before this match aired. For my birthday, my grandfather had arranged for myself, my father, and my grandfather to travel to Cohasset to see a WWF House show at the South Shore Music Circus. The Music Circus is basically a summer venue, an open air amphitheater with permanent seating, but a big tent over it. He took us to an Italian restaurant and I ate Spaghetti and Meatballs. I felt like I was living the life of luxury. Spaghetti and Meatballs was not a typical out to dinner meal for young Ben Pasco, so this...this was special. It was a very special night and I thanked my grandfather for it.
What I didn't know is he was sick.
My grandfather was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few months after this .I've never gotten the clear story ( I don't think my dad likes to talk about it), but I think this was him wanting to make sure he had at least one memory of the three of us together. He didn't really care about wrestling, other than being a big fan of Fit Finlay beating up Steve Regal once because you know...... Irish. All he cared about was spending time with his son and his grandson and because I was such a huge fan, wrestling was the move. Now, I had made a strategic decision that I was going to get tons of autographs and so I wore a blank white t shirt. Well, it was white when I left the house but by the time I arrived to The Music Circus it was mostly white with a few red meatball stains. So imagine my joy when I realized, we were almost on the aisle! There were two guys on the aisle seats, but right after them was us. This was going to be great, I was going to so close to everyone and I'll just reach over and ask if they'll sign it. I thinka nice gesture can stick with you for a long time. How you can do one kindness and for 25 years someone can think about that. Those two guys saw there was an excited kid, surveyed the family dynamic going on and said..."you guys want to trade seats?". It took something that nice and thoughtful and simple and now...here I was
ON THE AISLE
The very first segment featuring Skip and Sunny, who called everyone in the audience "Fat and Out of Shape" while my grandfather yelled " So WHAT!". That was the theme of the night, they may not have cared about wrestling but my dad and grandfather enjoyed the silliness of it all. I loved seeing them have fun, except for when they cheered for a heel Bob Backlund. That....that was some bullshit. Skip's opponent that night was Aldo Montoya. Unfortunately Aldo didn't win that night, but coming back up the ramp ...it happened. He saw me, saw the marker and he signed my shirt. I flipped out. I was so excited. Aldo was the only guy who signed my shirt that night, but I didn't care because ALDO MONTOYA SIGNED MY SHIRT. Since that moment, I've been ride or die with Aldo. To have a formative, memorable experience with a wrestler at such a young age will stick with you. I've been to a lot of wrestling shows, and I've seen a lot of great matches....but that night with my dad and grandfather will always be special and Aldo Montoya is a big part of that.
Now let's see if he kicks this jobber's ass
Tonight it's WWF Wrestling Challenge and Aldo Montoya is facing Tony Williams. This match is sponsored by Stridex which I haven't thought of in twenty years. Tony is a smaller wrestler, but unlike most WWF jobbers he's actually wearing real gear and in shape. I don't know a lot about Tony other than he wrestled in Memphis, so I'm guessing he's just one of those guys who had the unfortunate luck of being too small to get a run in one of the big companies. He is jacked though. The dude looks like a travel sized Lex Express Lex Luger. Aldo with lots of classic babyface offense early. Bodyslams, Dropkicks, going to punch while Tony drops and stooges off to the outside. Aldo with a springboard, but it's a fake out as Aldo lands on the apron and then delivers a dropkick off the apron to Tony on the outside. I got super nervous that Aldo was going to die, but the dropkick was about as safe as possible. A nice cool little move. Back inside the ring and after some dull rest holds, I am nothing if not consistent, Tony gets some offense in. He also gets his underwear fully up his ass. Just in time to start working in front of the hardcam. Tony actually takes control for a little bit before Aldo comes off the second with a crossbody splash. He then kills Tony with a dropkick. Aldo Montoya is just going through the undercard WWF babyface moveset checklist here. All he's missing is an armdrag really. Some clotheslines follow and then Aldo does a rotating bulldog off the second rope for the victory. A very cool little move there.
Look it's fine. If it was anyone else I'd make fun of it more, but it's Aldo Montoya and he's a national treasure. I can't stress the weird bond I find with Aldo Montoya. It's not just weird, it's not just unique
It's just incredible
TLDR Review
Portugese Man of the Year. Tony Williams is to-go version of Scott Putski. I didn't like my dad cheering Backlund
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