June 6, 1964 - Bruno Sammartino’s championship belt lost some of its luster last month when he was held to a 70-minute draw by Gorilla Monsoon. Tonight, however, before 16,781 wrestling fans at Madison Square Garden, Sammartino stormed out of his corner and won the first fall in 24 seconds.
The second fall went to the 345-pound Monsoon, a Manchurian, in 14:12. Then, 11 minutes 36 seconds later, the 262-pound Sammartino, from Abruzzi, Italy, pounced on Monsoon for the deciding fall.
The gate, in the first Saturday night of Garden wrestling this season, was $52,179.
In other matches, Don McClarity of Omaha, 254, defeated Bulldog Cannon of Hamilton, Ont., 335, in 5:28, and Pedro Morales of Puerto Rico, 223, beat Boris Malenko of Tampa, Fla., 228, in 10:14. Miguel Perez of San Juan, P.R., 221, was the winner over Lou Albano of Mount Vernon, N.Y., 238, in 7:45.
In tag team matches, Ernie (Cat) Ladd of San Diego, Calif., and Bobo Brazil of Benton Harbor, Mich., total weight 600, defeated Hans and Max Mortier of Nuremberg, Germany, 520, and Jerry and Luke Graham of Phoenix, Ariz., 594, defeated the Kentuckians (Jake Brown and Luke Smith), 615.
Killer Kowalski of Detroit, 257, drew with Cowboy Bill Watts of Oklahoma, 294.
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