Magnum TA v Nikita Koloff (JCP, 1/19/86)
Clipped a little, but there was still enough here to get a handle on things. It was fun and I was kind of surprised at the cool touches both guys brought. I suppose most people have come around to the idea that Magnum was actually pretty damn good, but I'm not sure anybody has gone to bat for Nikita being anything more than a decent hoss. While I will not be the one to present that case he at least brought a few of those cool touches. This was a story of Magnum fearing no man, no matter how big and mean they are. He faced all of Nikita's intimidation tactics head on and went at him full steam ahead. My favourite bit of this was when Nikita challenged him to see who had the hardest shoulderblock, like your territory era dick-swingin' chop battle. Magnum had no time for it whatsoever and just elbowed him in the mouth instead, which sent Nikita to the floor in a rage. Magnum's work on the arm was all good and I loved him sawing the bicep with his forearm before dropping headbutts. Nikita takes over when Magnum crashes and burns off a missed cross body, but it was the setup by Nikita that was great. As Magnum hits the ropes Nikita throws his arms up as if he's going devour Magnum like a big old bear, almost baiting Magnum into making a move, then as soon as Magnum leaves his feet Nikita is ready to just duck out the way.
Arn Anderson v Ron Garvin (World Championship Wrestling, 3/1/86)
This was alright, though more of a teaser for something much better. It started with Garvin going to throw that hand of stone and Arn bailing immediately out the ring, so for the rest of the ten minutes Garvin stuck to throwing every other kind of strike instead. Once or twice he threw a punch, probably out of habit more than anything else, but it was headbutts and chops and slaps for the most part. Maybe he was sick and tired of these Horsemen trying to imply he was nothing more than a sucker punch artist and this was his way of proving otherwise. Arn was fun enough on the back foot and Garvin will always be good at roughing someone up. At one point he had Arn in a sort of grounded abdominal stretch and started slapping him across the face. Arn working the bearhug wasn't amazing or anything, but Garvin raking his back while in it was a nice bit of grittiness that usually wouldn't - or shouldn't - work as a babyface spot. Naturally Arn stalls for the time as the 10 minutes are almost up and you wonder if next time maybe Garvin just punches the jaw off him to begin with.
Arn Anderson v Ron Garvin (World Championship Wrestling, 4/5/86)
Yeah, this was better. It was more even but felt appropriately rough. Arn controlled early with the headlock and liberal use of the trusty hair-pull, which annoyed Garvin very much. I liked Arn being in no hurry to force the issue whenever Garvin's temper flared. He'd just drop out the ring and eat up some of the clock. The second time he did it to try and sucker Garvin into a cheapshot, but Garvin saw it coming and popped him in the mouth. Garvin stretching him out afterwards was obviously good because it never looks like being on the end of a Garvin beatdown is anything other than awful, and really that's what you want to see from a babyface who's supposed to be a tough wee bastard. Right? As it went on Arn really only created openings through questionable means, sometimes subtly (using Garvin's tights to yank him into a shoulder to the midsection), sometimes blatantly obvious (poking him in the eye so Garvin will let him go). And even if the DQ finish might leave you feeling shortchanged initially, the post-match angle with Tully trying to break Garvin's hand with his cowboy boot is some wonderful TV.
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