Lanza debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in mid-1973 as "Blackjack Lanza". His regular opponents included André the Giant, Chief Jay Strongbow, and Dean Ho. He left the promotion in December 1973. In 1975, they joined the WWWF. On August 26, 1975, The Blackjacks defeated Dominic DeNucci and Pat Barrett for the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. The match was a two-out-of-three falls match, and the Blackjacks won the match by winning the first and third falls. As part of his tenure in WWWF, Vince McMahon Sr. promised Lanza that he would receive one World singles title shot a month.
