It was on this day in 1983 that Mike Rotundo (better known today as WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda, formerly IRS in WWE) won a one night tournament at Maple Leaf Gardens to crown a brand new NWA Canadian Television Champion.

Mike Rotundo had only entered the business a couple of years prior, and was a young star being groomed in Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the Carolinas. Since 1978, Toronto’s Frank Tunney had been working in partnership with Crockett for Toronto’s booking and Toronto was a perfect place to get the young Rotundo more ring and television time. And that included some Championship Gold in the Great White North.

The main event of the evening featured the one and only Angelo “King Kong” Mosca defending his Canadian Heavyweight Championship against the maniac American villain Sgt. Slaughter, which, expectantly, ened in a wild brawl resulting in a double disqualfication. It only took Andre the Giant five minutes in the semi-main to defeat One Man Gang in a Battle of the Giants, but the crowd went home happy.

But the night was dominated by the tournament for the Canadian Television Championship, starting off with the veteran Johnny Weaver against second-generation grappler Kelly Kiniski (son of former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion and Canadian icon Gene Kiniski), but neither would advance when it ended in a double count out.

Mike Rotundo appeared in the second match of the tournament, where he faced off against and defeated Magic Dragon, who was working through North America on a break from his usual stint with All-Japan Pro Wrestling, where he competed as Kazuharu Sonoda.

In the next first round match-up, it was former WWWF World Tag Team Champion Rene Goulet (competing in Toronto as Jacques Goulet) who defeated Hamilton’s own Nick DeCarlo to advance in the tournament.

In the final first round match, it was the vicious Don Kernodle who would move on, defeating another local talent in Joe Marcus. Kernodle was slated in the tournament to face the winner of Weaver and Kiniski, but with no winner, Kernodle got a bye to the final.

In the semi-final, it was Mike Rotundo over Jacques Goulet, leading to a great showcase of diverse skills, as the athletic style of Mike Rotundo faced off against the roughhouse tactics of Kernodle, but in the end, it was Rotundo who would score the three-count and become the NEW Canadian Television Champion.

New Canadian TV Champ Mike Rotundo, Photo: Elio Zarlenga.

Mike Rotundo would hold the title for 70 days before losing it to Don Kernodle at Maple Leaf Gardens on October 16, 1983. It marked a significant title reign for the young Rotundo early in his career, before finding greater fame in the WWF in 1984, where he joined with Barry Windham in the U.S. Express to become two-time WWF World Tag Team Champions.

Check out this classic match from October of 1983 which featured three of the men from the classic TV title tournament, as Mike Rotundo and Johnny Weaver teamed up to face Don Kernodle, who was paired with Canadian legend Leo Burke.