Koko Ware Retrospective #1: The Babyface Years

I've started watching every Koko Ware match that I can find, from his debut in Memphis up through the middle of 1982 (so far). 

Koko Ware & Pat Hutchinson v Bill Irwin & Larry Latham (Memphis, 11/1/80)

Pretty great studio tag. It's one-sided, but you don't mind when the one-sidedness results in such a total destruction of Pat Hutchinson (or anyone, really. Nothing against Pat Hutchinson). Irwin and Latham just mollywhop him for about nine of the 10 minutes, barring one minute where Koko comes in and absolutely rules it hitting big dropkicks and punches. Irwin foolishly decides to headbutt Koko and rears back dazed like he's about to topple, so Koko stares at him bemused for a second before sending him on his way with a dropkick. But really, yer man Pat gets stomped out completely. Irwin was actually a super fun bully and had a great time beating on him, hitting one pump kick to the sternum where he took off from about six feet back. Latham was just murdering the poor guy with kneedrops to the back of the head, pure Super Tiger to Fujiwara style while Hutchinson was quivering on the canvas. Irwin picks him up and spears him into the corner where Pat lands hard on the middle turnbuckle and a bit later Latham hits an Oklahoma Stampede! A Koko hot tag would've pushed this into classic studio tag territory, but as it is it's one heck of an extended squash. 

Koko Ware & Bill Dundee v Roger Kirby & Guy Mitchell (Memphis, 11/29/80)

I had no recollection of Roger Kirby being a Nature Boy. Which begs the question - how does one even become a Nature Boy? How is the moniker earned? Is it simply a blond hair thing? Is it bestowed upon you by the original Nature Boy? Was Buddy Rogers running around siring Nature Children like some pro wrestling Robert Baratheon? This was shorter and a bit more hectic and nobody got their tail beat like Pat Hutchinson did, but Kirby and Mitchell were fun enough bruisers and we got a nice extended heat segment on Dundee. Mitchell is someone I haven't seen a lot of but he was determined to keep the ring cut off and you can't help but appreciate that. He also had no qualms about waltzing over and stomping someone in the neck to halt any momentum. Koko got to come in off the hot tag and wouldn't you believe it but he hit both Kirby and Mitchell with gorgeous dropkicks. The heels hitting a fucking Demolition-style backbreaker/elbow drop off the middle rope was wild and Koko about got snapped in two with the thing. 

Koko Ware, Bill Dundee, Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert v The Bounty Hunters, The Angel & Ali Hassan (Memphis, 2/28/81)

This got a ton of time, like 25+ minutes, which is a rarity for the studio. You could maybe tell the wrestlers knew they had half an hour to fill because it wasn't worked with the same sort of franticness that was the norm. There were still lots of quick tags and guys rolling to their own corner before getting swarmed, but the opening stretch was much more like an extended babyface shine you'd see in the arena. Eddie Gilbert was the most featured of the babyfaces in the first fall and it was him who eventually took the beatdown for his team. 20-year-old white meat babyface Gilbert is a different kettle of fish from weasel heel Gilbert but he was perfectly capable in his role, which you probably expect. Dundee was really great here, bringing all sorts of neat touches and doing something worthwhile basically every other second. He went for a running elbow drop at one point and the intended recipient moved, maybe a little earlier than planned because it looked like the elbow was set up to be missed, so rather than do it anyway like most might've Dundee course-corrected and jumped on whoever it was with a facelock. There was lots of fun spots around Dundee causing miscommunications, like covering a guy and then moving at the last second when someone tried to break it up, effectively goading that someone into stomping his own partner. One of the Bounty Hunters holds Dundee in the ropes to get punched, but Dundee ducks and the Bounty Hunter gets popped in the mouth by a teammate. When Koko then holds one of the heels for Dundee to hit him, Dundee fakes the punch, the heel ducks and glances around to see if Koko got cracked, then turns back around into that Dundee roundhouse. If we're ranking the all time best studio match workers then the Superstar is right there in the discussion for #1. 

Koko Ware & Ron Sexton v Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Memphis, 5/16/81)

This was another fairly one-sided thing, but Fuchi and Onita certainly took it to the babyfaces and brought a nice level of viciousness while they were at it. They'd evidently been watching Guy Mitchell and Nature Boy Roger Kirby because they really made an effort to cut the ring off and keep an opponent in their corner. Usually that opponent was Ron Sexton, who took a proper whooping here. Fuchi and Onita would cut Ron and Koko off by just clawing at their eyes and hitting overhand chops to the sternum. This was real nasty face-clawing and eye-gouging as well, digging fingers in there like they were trying to peel an orange. They'd back Sexton into the corner and whoever was on the apron would grab him by the hair so the other guy could chop him or put the boots to him with impunity. By the third fall they're even biting Sexton's forehead, then Fuchi hits a mean neckbreaker where he keeps hold of Sexton's head after they hit the ground. Sexton goes rigid like he's in the throes of death so Onita comes in and ends his suffering by chopping him dead in the face. Koko doesn't get much offence or anything but he was clearly rated highly in the territory. He doesn't eat either of the pinfalls and wipes out both heels with some dropkicks, which Fuchi and Onita obviously bump big off of. Lance and Dave mention between falls as well how Sexton has really struggled against a well-oiled team but Koko has looked really good despite the losing effort. They obviously knew they had something with him and I like how they subtly tried to protect him even in defeat. 

Koko Ware v Chic Donovan (Memphis, 5/30/81)

I've said this on here before and I'm sure most/all of the other places I regularly talk to people about wrestling, but 80s Memphis might be my ultimate pro wrestling comfort food. The DVDVR Memphis set was the first deep dive I ever did into a territory and I blazed through every disc in like six weeks, something I would never be able to do today, 15 bastard years later. The whole aesthetic with the purplish background, Lance and Dave narrating everything from the desk, guys like Lawler and Dundee and Mantell and then Jimmy Hart running around like an idiot, there's probably no wrestling easier for me to sit and immerse myself in. And the pre-match here wasn't quite full over the top MEMPHIS, but it was still very Memphis, with Tojo Yamamoto in his broken English introducing his new charge, Lance groaning like Marge Simpson at "Mr Lance Russell, I have something for you today." Tojo has found someone who's going to be the next Southern Heavyweight Champion, the greatest singles wrestler in the world. I could not tell you the last time I watched a Chic Donovan match but I'm shocked he wasn't calling himself Nature Boy. I'm guessing was TRYING to cut himself from the same cloth as Flair, a bit more shredded than Ric but lacking somewhat in presence. As an actual contest this was seven minutes of what could've been an awesome 14-minute match. The roles were maybe a wee bit backwards as you had Donovan working an armbar from the start, Koko coming up for air before being taken back down into it, but I guess the goal was to establish Chic as a solid hand (or the greatest singles wrestler in the world, as it were) so why not. He's sort of clunky at times, probably not surprising for someone who's only been wrestling for about three years, but he threw at least a couple mean forearms that might rattle your brains. The arm work is fine enough as well and Koko is all energy when he has his hope spots. Loved the bit where he took Donovan over with a leaping headscissors and Donovan planted himself on top of his head like it was a fucking piledriver, then got up and turned around into THE Koko Ware dropkick. This is the earliest picture perfect Koko dropkick I've seen - before he had the crazy spring but the landing didn't look as graceful, where he'd come down almost on his back. This time it was gorgeous and it most importantly hit Donovan right on the button. He even hit a second one and Lance and Dave popped huge. "THERE'S that Koko Ware dropkick!" Donovan kind of no-selling it was rubbish though, and then he goes straight to some approximation of the figure-four and I'm wondering if he wasn't going by Nature Boy after all. The shift to that from having worked the arm early was maybe a little jarring, but it is what it is. I enjoyed the whole lot of this. 

From Badstreet (Atlanta, GA) to Mid-South

Terry Gordy v Dr. Death (12/28/86)

Fun TV match version of the usual Gordy/Williams hoss fight. It's mostly Gordy in control while Ross screams like a madman on commentary about how physical everything is. Gordy works over the back and I liked how any time Williams started building up a bit of steam Gordy would just take him to the floor and chuck him into the barricade. He did that twice, then on the third attempt Williams reversed it and Gordy went flying. Both of them took blade to forehead and by the end they were throwing soup bones while some scrubs emptied from the locker room to break it up. They one and all were thrown around like bags of potatoes and Jim Ross was beside himself. 

Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death v Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes (Badstreet Match) (1/9/87)

My main takeaway from this is that Michael Hayes was fucking great. It wasn't even a spectacular Hayes performance, not a standout one, not one of the first you'd point to as a reason why people 30 years ago were on some bullshit when they said he was kind of crummy. It's just been years since I've watched any Hayes in Mid-South/Houston and this made me wish Watts especially decided to use him more in the ring. I also watched some 2023 AEW recently and I didn't really enjoy any of what I watched not involving Ricky Starks. There was something about the way Starks moved, how he was vicious and at times reckless and not all that graceful. It felt authentic and I bought him as someone who would poke you in the eye and wallop you with a shoe and then strut across the ring in celebration. Hayes is authentic, maybe even magnetic if you want to wax a wee bit poetic. He was not at all down to get punched in the face by DiBiase or Williams here and let me tell you, both of those guys really wanted to punch Michael Hayes in the face. Hayes didn't WANT to engage, because he knew getting punched in the face was a very likely outcome of doing so. But he still did it, backed into a corner - or at least the confines of a sanctioned match - as he was, and before long he leaned all the way into it. There's something satisfying about someone going fuck it and shedding all (most) caution and just whomping someone in the face with their cowboy boot. Maybe he was a craven at heart, but he was a vicious one and he didn't always need Gordy to bail him out. 

Mid-South Project

A foray into 2023 AEW

FTR v Bullet Club Gold (AEW Collision, 7/16/23)

I probably would've liked this more if I knew going in that it was four hours long. Actually that's not true. I think if I knew how long it was I would've skipped it altogether, or at least held off on watching it for several years. Probably. I mean I figured it would've been long anyway, maybe about 35 minutes, which even at that was kind of pushing it for me, but then it hit 35 and it kept going and going and I really wanted Bullet Club to win in two straight falls just so it would be over. Look, there was good stuff in this, at the very least from an execution standpoint. They had big ideas and I guess they followed through on them. The audience they were working to ate it up. There was just never a point where I was actually all that bothered about what was happening. I already know that I sound old and grumpy and like one of those old heads who doesn't think there's been any good wrestling after 1987, but I wasn't into any of the heat segments and I didn't care about any of the finisher-trading. This was in Canada so of course we got some Hart family CALLBACKS~ from FTR, who wear their influences on their trunks. Those parts were kind of on the nose - I say that as someone who actively enjoyed some of that when Punk was doing it last year - and mostly took me out of the moment. Actually there was one cool bit where I half expected a 1994 Royal Rumble, where Cash Wheeler had been worked over and made a comeback, but rather than making the tag he tried to go it alone, got shut down again, and I really hoped Dax would turn around and kick Wheeler's leg out of his leg. To be honest it's probably because I haven't really watched any wrestling in a couple months, but I could never shake the sense I was watching a performance that had been planned out to the letter. Nothing really felt organic. They all did a reset spot towards the end so the crowd could give them the standing ovation and it was all very manufactured and I wanted to watch Buck Robley stomp someone on the ankle instead. The best part was when Jay White started tuning up the band for some Sweet Chin Music, then went into a Sharpshooter instead and it got some actual heat. Ah fuck it, I know this is what modern wrestling is so I can hardly shit on the crowd for being excited about stuff I'm not excited about. I'd maybe like to see more Jay White because he has a real pre-HGH Conor McGregor face and could definitely use that to rile folk up.

The Playboy in Portland

Buddy Rose v Frank Dusek (Portland, 2/16/80)

A ridiculously fun Buddy Rose performance. It's not like it even needs to be said at this point, but the way he'll throw in a bunch of different wrinkles for every match he wrestles is really remarkable. Sometimes those wrinkles will be small, some will be broad (so more than a wrinkle?), all will be worthwhile. Dusek wasn't amazing here and maybe he never was, but Rose was at the peak of his powers and didn't need much to play with. Actually, Dusek was fun in the first fall. He wasn't mere hand luggage and he was enough of a canvas for Rose to work off. He'd just recently turned babyface and in Portland you could've been the most hated bastard walking but five minutes opposite the Playboy and the fans would be on your side regardless. Bonnema mentions on commentary how Dusek said in an interview that he wasn't about to change the way he wrestles just because he lives on the other side of the tracks now, and sure enough he had no issue cutting corners in the first fall. He never tried to hide it, would throw cheapshots, had zero interest in being a good sport, and Buddy was almost bewildered that people were somehow cheering the fella because of it. Buddy would hesitate to engage and Dusek would keep forcing the issue, popping Rose in the mouth with a jab as Rose tried hiding behind Sandy Barr. Then Rose tried to skirt around the apron by holding onto the post so Dusek just punched him in the fingers and Buddy toppled back. When Dusek comes out after him he grabs a chair and chases Rose around ringside, then Buddy scoots back in the ring and tries to slingshot Dusek in from the apron, but Dusek flips it and slingshots Buddy out to the floor. At one point Dusek basically hit a fucking Slingblade! I mean it was a clothesline and not a particularly well executed one but it had enough VIGOUR that we can't help but wonder if Frank Dusek wasn't years ahead of his time. Then he makes the mistake of lifting Rose's shoulders off the mat on a 2-count. He should've taken the win when he had the chance because eventually he eats a backdrop on the concrete and Buddy zeroes in on the back to win the first fall. The second fall isn't as compelling because Dusek himself isn't as compelling working from underneath, but I always find Rose engaging when working a heat segment. There was actually one great bit that I'm going to give Dusek the benefit of the doubt on and say he meant it. Buddy had been working over his neck and Dusek went for what looked like a back suplex, which wound up being a sort of Russian leg sweep. Hell maybe he was trying for an ACTUAL Russian leg sweep and I'm giving him even less credit than he deserves. The cool part was how he hit it and immediately grabbed his neck, unable to follow up, which allowed a groggy Rose to capitalise first. Piper and Ron Bass get involved in the third fall and Rose hollering about how Piper shoved him in the gluteus maximus was amazing. Rose is in that real god tier of wrestlers where I feel like literally every match they've ever had is worth watching. Rose, Tenryu, Funk, Han, Fujiwara, the Tonga Kid...it's a hell of a club to be a part of.