Ronday Rousey v Ruby Riott (RAW, 2/18/19)
This was the only match from the Elimination Chamber PPV that I was bothered about so naturally it only lasted a couple minutes and was mostly about the post-match (which was pretty great as an angle, tbf. Becky sure laid it in with those crutch shots). I'm glad they decided to give them some time for a rematch because it was mighty fun. You knew there was going to be some Riott Squad interference in this, but I thought they did it in a way that made Ronda look like a killer who most folk can only beat with shenanigans while keeping it below the point where Ruby looked TOTALLY out of her depth. The interference itself was pretty inventive as well, especially when Morgan and Logan just yanked Ruby out the ring to prevent the armbar, which then led to Ronda hitting that wild cross body where she was all elbows and knees at awkward angles. Some of Rousey's execution is still raw enough that a couple strikes will whiff completely, but on the flipside of that everything else has the recklessness of a legit fighter trying to find her feet pulling off all these pro wrestling moves. Plus her bumping always looks rubbery and she'll often launch herself face-first into things like a nutjob. I liked how she sold the ribs here as well. Riott never went after them for any real length of time, but she threw some knees and bailed herself out with a spear, so Rousey sold it as an injury that hampered her in the first half of the match before it ceased to be a problem. Basically it was a nice example of middle gear selling lots of people don't bother with. Some of my favourite parts of Ronda's matches now are when she'll throw out an awesome bit of offence we haven't seen before and this time it was when she reversed the dragonrana by launching Ruby into the turnbuckle. Her throws at the start also looked great and the armbar setup as she scaled Ruby's body was badass. I dug this.
Monday 18 March 2019
Friday 15 March 2019
NWA Classics 24/7 #25
The Sheepherders v Bruise Brothers (Houston Wrestling, 1/24/86)
Talk about making an entrance. This was the Sheepherders' debut in Houston and it was more of an angle than an actual match, but if you want to set yourself up to get rabid crowd heat wherever you go then I guess this is the way to do it. They jump the Bruise Brothers and stab them in the face with a flag pole, wave that New Zealand flag proudly and walk out as security restrains enraged fans. It was like four minutes all told and did exactly what it intended to do.
The Sheepherders v Bruise Brothers (Chicago Street Fight) (Houston Wrestling, 1/31/86)
Man, Williams and Miller are certifiable. People already wanted their blood after last week, now Williams is raving pre-match about how the Sheepherders have won titles and flown the New Zealand flag high in thirty six countries. They come out to the ring as someone chucks a pitcher of beer and then waltz around ringside waving the flag to absolutely nuclear heat. Williams gets on the house mic and tells everyone to shut up as two guys in the crowd who are very likely several sheets to the wind are shouting right in his face. Would I fuck be pulling that in front of several thousand drunk rednecks who want to stab me, especially when the security in charge of stopping them from doing so look like they would also like to stab me. This didn't last long either, but the Bruise Brothers got to look competitive for a few minutes before the crazy New Zealanders put them to bed. The Sheepherders looked really strong in both these matches and in about fifteen minutes total they've managed to become two of the most hated wrestlers in Texas. As Tracy Smothers would say: that's calling working, motherfucker.
Talk about making an entrance. This was the Sheepherders' debut in Houston and it was more of an angle than an actual match, but if you want to set yourself up to get rabid crowd heat wherever you go then I guess this is the way to do it. They jump the Bruise Brothers and stab them in the face with a flag pole, wave that New Zealand flag proudly and walk out as security restrains enraged fans. It was like four minutes all told and did exactly what it intended to do.
The Sheepherders v Bruise Brothers (Chicago Street Fight) (Houston Wrestling, 1/31/86)
Man, Williams and Miller are certifiable. People already wanted their blood after last week, now Williams is raving pre-match about how the Sheepherders have won titles and flown the New Zealand flag high in thirty six countries. They come out to the ring as someone chucks a pitcher of beer and then waltz around ringside waving the flag to absolutely nuclear heat. Williams gets on the house mic and tells everyone to shut up as two guys in the crowd who are very likely several sheets to the wind are shouting right in his face. Would I fuck be pulling that in front of several thousand drunk rednecks who want to stab me, especially when the security in charge of stopping them from doing so look like they would also like to stab me. This didn't last long either, but the Bruise Brothers got to look competitive for a few minutes before the crazy New Zealanders put them to bed. The Sheepherders looked really strong in both these matches and in about fifteen minutes total they've managed to become two of the most hated wrestlers in Texas. As Tracy Smothers would say: that's calling working, motherfucker.
Thursday 14 March 2019
Here's to the Wrong Turn that Takes You to a Little Dive Bar in Mid-South
Dick Murdoch & Hacksaw Duggan v Kamala & Kareem Muhammad (7/14/85)
How's that for an all-star babyface team? It may be the best North-South Connection there never was. In some alternate universe we probably get an awesome Duggan/Murdoch North-South Connection v Koko/Eaton Midnight Express match that Joel Watts left the film reel of in his car to be destroyed by Louisiana sunlight. There were very many Dick Murdoch and Jim Duggan punches thrown in this, a bunch of different variations, from body shots to jabs and straight rights and Murdoch's awesome fist drop. The beefies provided some fun beefy moments and I completely blanked on Kamala hitting a splash off the top rope. The parts where we got two fatties crashing into each other looked great and morbidly obese Kareem Muhammad taking big bumps through and over the ropes will always look impressive. Duggan stamps his foot while Murdoch does his little hoedown jig, then Akbar's stable hits the ring as Duggan throws haymakers and Murdoch pops folk with a knuckle duster. Fun little brawl with a raucous crowd and you never scoff at that Murdoch/Duggan team.
Dick Murdoch v The Nightmare (7/14/85)
This was sort of the babyface version of Murdoch v Afa; not as much of a total carry job as Nightmare is a plenty fun stooge and holds up his own end fine, but it's largely built around Murdoch shtick and working towards big payoffs to it. First few minutes are all about him going to punch the Nightmare and the ref' stopping him. He cocks his fist, the crowd are ready...and Fergie steps in to remind him that a closed fist is illegal. Nightmare survives again and again because the ref' is trying to enforce the rules. Murdoch isn't happy about it but he plays along and tries to do things clean. Of course the Nightmare doesn't care about that and throws a bunch of cheap little forearms and punches out of tie-ups. After a little while the crowd are itching for Murdoch to just throw a punch and the heat for him repeatedly being stopped just builds and builds. You could probably argue that it put more heat on the referee than the Nightmare, because folks were very loudly booing Carl Fergie, but you forget all that when Murdoch leapfrogs an onrushing Nightmare, cocks his fists and then pops him in the mouth on the way back. Nobody works like that anymore and I know it's because wrestling isn't remotely the same in 2019, but it's always fun to see one single punch draw a bigger reaction than most nearfalls today. They also do the spot later where Murdoch winds up the arm for one big shot, then as he goes to throw it the ref' grabs the arm so Murdoch casually pops Nightmare with the other hand. Murdoch grabbed him by the eye holes in the mask and peppered him with punches, spun the mask around so Nightmare couldn't see and wound up falling out the ring, Murdoch sporadically ducked out to the floor so he could chase Eddie Gilbert; he ran through a bunch of hits and it's a show I'll never get tired of. I love as well how babyface Murdoch in Mid-South wasn't afraid to acknowledge his salty past. He tried to play it by the book earlier, but when Gilbert came in swinging that cane you knew Murdoch wouldn't be above using it himself if it fell to him. He did it nonchalantly, with a shrug of the shoulders, like Gilbert should've known better than to think ol' Dickie wouldn't stoop to his level.
Mid-South Project
How's that for an all-star babyface team? It may be the best North-South Connection there never was. In some alternate universe we probably get an awesome Duggan/Murdoch North-South Connection v Koko/Eaton Midnight Express match that Joel Watts left the film reel of in his car to be destroyed by Louisiana sunlight. There were very many Dick Murdoch and Jim Duggan punches thrown in this, a bunch of different variations, from body shots to jabs and straight rights and Murdoch's awesome fist drop. The beefies provided some fun beefy moments and I completely blanked on Kamala hitting a splash off the top rope. The parts where we got two fatties crashing into each other looked great and morbidly obese Kareem Muhammad taking big bumps through and over the ropes will always look impressive. Duggan stamps his foot while Murdoch does his little hoedown jig, then Akbar's stable hits the ring as Duggan throws haymakers and Murdoch pops folk with a knuckle duster. Fun little brawl with a raucous crowd and you never scoff at that Murdoch/Duggan team.
Dick Murdoch v The Nightmare (7/14/85)
This was sort of the babyface version of Murdoch v Afa; not as much of a total carry job as Nightmare is a plenty fun stooge and holds up his own end fine, but it's largely built around Murdoch shtick and working towards big payoffs to it. First few minutes are all about him going to punch the Nightmare and the ref' stopping him. He cocks his fist, the crowd are ready...and Fergie steps in to remind him that a closed fist is illegal. Nightmare survives again and again because the ref' is trying to enforce the rules. Murdoch isn't happy about it but he plays along and tries to do things clean. Of course the Nightmare doesn't care about that and throws a bunch of cheap little forearms and punches out of tie-ups. After a little while the crowd are itching for Murdoch to just throw a punch and the heat for him repeatedly being stopped just builds and builds. You could probably argue that it put more heat on the referee than the Nightmare, because folks were very loudly booing Carl Fergie, but you forget all that when Murdoch leapfrogs an onrushing Nightmare, cocks his fists and then pops him in the mouth on the way back. Nobody works like that anymore and I know it's because wrestling isn't remotely the same in 2019, but it's always fun to see one single punch draw a bigger reaction than most nearfalls today. They also do the spot later where Murdoch winds up the arm for one big shot, then as he goes to throw it the ref' grabs the arm so Murdoch casually pops Nightmare with the other hand. Murdoch grabbed him by the eye holes in the mask and peppered him with punches, spun the mask around so Nightmare couldn't see and wound up falling out the ring, Murdoch sporadically ducked out to the floor so he could chase Eddie Gilbert; he ran through a bunch of hits and it's a show I'll never get tired of. I love as well how babyface Murdoch in Mid-South wasn't afraid to acknowledge his salty past. He tried to play it by the book earlier, but when Gilbert came in swinging that cane you knew Murdoch wouldn't be above using it himself if it fell to him. He did it nonchalantly, with a shrug of the shoulders, like Gilbert should've known better than to think ol' Dickie wouldn't stoop to his level.
Mid-South Project
Sunday 10 March 2019
Casas/Dandy v Cota/King!
Negro Casas & El Dandy v Mocho Cota & Silver King (CMLL, 3/18/94)
1994 CMLL is a strange beast. There are things like the Dandy/Llanes feud and...for the longest time that's pretty much all anybody had talked about in any great detail. Basically nothing else. Even then it's been about ten years since I watched the title match and I barely remember a thing about it now. Then a while back the Casas/Cota hair match got some pimping. Cota was a revelation on the Lucha 80s set and since then I've checked out some of his post-prison run. By the mid-90s the ship had probably long sailed on him having something like the Rocca title match, but he was still a ton of fun and the apuestas with Casas is one of those matches I've been looking forward to for a while. I guess this was where the feud started. I don't know what Cota did to get under Casas' skin but before the bell even rang Casas had him dragged to the floor. It promised a hate-filled brawl that they never really delivered on, at least not during the primera. They never quite went for each other's throat, instead settling down a bit and trying to work a semi-clean match. The exchanges were still rough though, and more than once tempers flared and someone would come in to take a swing. Cota was such a weird looking guy at this point in his career. He had the incredible afro, the signature hand gesture with missing finger on the front of his singlet, chicken legs and dinner lady arms, he looked like a malnourished Conway Twitty who'd stab you for a sandwich. In addition to his beef with Casas he didn't particularly care for Dandy, or his own partner, or pretty much anybody in the general vicinity. When he took an accidental dropkick from Silver King he'd had all he could take. You knew something was about to go down when he came back out scowling a minute later, and sure enough he brought with him a knuckle duster. Match ends in a DQ when Casas takes it from him and gives him a shot to the head (after Cota had given Dandy a whack in the ribs and laid out Silver King with a right hook), but the post-match with Casas trying to maul him was probably the best part of the whole thing. If Casas wasn't yet the untouchable king of Arena Mexico he'd become you couldn't tell from the way the people were behind him. When Casas was out for blood, the people were out for blood, and the referees could get fucked as well. Dandy grabbing both of them by the ear and dragging them away so Casas could continue the beating unimpeded was an awesome little touch, particularly when you consider the history of those two. That they stood raising each other's hand in the middle of the ring while Cota looked on bloody and bitter was a pretty good indication of how much piss he'd boiled.
1994 CMLL is a strange beast. There are things like the Dandy/Llanes feud and...for the longest time that's pretty much all anybody had talked about in any great detail. Basically nothing else. Even then it's been about ten years since I watched the title match and I barely remember a thing about it now. Then a while back the Casas/Cota hair match got some pimping. Cota was a revelation on the Lucha 80s set and since then I've checked out some of his post-prison run. By the mid-90s the ship had probably long sailed on him having something like the Rocca title match, but he was still a ton of fun and the apuestas with Casas is one of those matches I've been looking forward to for a while. I guess this was where the feud started. I don't know what Cota did to get under Casas' skin but before the bell even rang Casas had him dragged to the floor. It promised a hate-filled brawl that they never really delivered on, at least not during the primera. They never quite went for each other's throat, instead settling down a bit and trying to work a semi-clean match. The exchanges were still rough though, and more than once tempers flared and someone would come in to take a swing. Cota was such a weird looking guy at this point in his career. He had the incredible afro, the signature hand gesture with missing finger on the front of his singlet, chicken legs and dinner lady arms, he looked like a malnourished Conway Twitty who'd stab you for a sandwich. In addition to his beef with Casas he didn't particularly care for Dandy, or his own partner, or pretty much anybody in the general vicinity. When he took an accidental dropkick from Silver King he'd had all he could take. You knew something was about to go down when he came back out scowling a minute later, and sure enough he brought with him a knuckle duster. Match ends in a DQ when Casas takes it from him and gives him a shot to the head (after Cota had given Dandy a whack in the ribs and laid out Silver King with a right hook), but the post-match with Casas trying to maul him was probably the best part of the whole thing. If Casas wasn't yet the untouchable king of Arena Mexico he'd become you couldn't tell from the way the people were behind him. When Casas was out for blood, the people were out for blood, and the referees could get fucked as well. Dandy grabbing both of them by the ear and dragging them away so Casas could continue the beating unimpeded was an awesome little touch, particularly when you consider the history of those two. That they stood raising each other's hand in the middle of the ring while Cota looked on bloody and bitter was a pretty good indication of how much piss he'd boiled.
Saturday 9 March 2019
NWA Classics 24/7 #24
Gino Hernandez & Tully Blanchard v Junkyard Dog & Tiger Conway Jr. (Houston Wrestling, 9/25/81)
This was full chickenshit stooge Tully Blanchard. The Dynamic Duo tag from the previous week was more of a Gino show, but this was Tully at his craven, backpedaling best. All of his bumps were super quick and allowed him to amplify those moments of stooging. What I mean is, when he'd take a surprise hip toss he'd almost roll through straight back up to his feet, and as he did it he'd find himself nose to nose in the corner with JYD. He didn't just take the bump, stand up in the opposite corner and realise he was in the wrong part of town. He wound up in that wrong part of town so quickly that he never had the time to register where he was, so the way he almost jumped backwards out his boots as he saw the Dog's fist not but six inches from his face was a reaction of genuine shock and terror. He certainly earned those reassuring hugs from Gino ("a real touching monent," Boesch comments sarcastically). Gino was really fun doing his thing as well and I loved him doing his Ali shuffle when he wanted a boxing match with Conway, who naturally rocked him with a big flurry. I haven't seen a lot of Conway Jr., but he took a nice beating here and had a few cool hope spots. His flip out of a backdrop where he landed on his feet was especially impressive, though the mid-match angle with Bockwinkel attacking JYD meant Conway was left on his own for a while. When he made it to his corner for the tag only to find it empty I half expected him to turn on the Dog. If this was the WWF he'd have thrown him through a barber shop window or strangled him with his own chain. But he weathered the storm long enough for JYD to recover, and when it was time for that hot tag the Dog came in like a man possessed. The way he looked at Gino would put the fear of god in any man and you could see Gino thinking about cutting bait then and there. I'm wondering if the Gino/Tully Dynamic Duo wasn't even better than the Gino/Adams version, even if the latter is probably the more famous.
This was full chickenshit stooge Tully Blanchard. The Dynamic Duo tag from the previous week was more of a Gino show, but this was Tully at his craven, backpedaling best. All of his bumps were super quick and allowed him to amplify those moments of stooging. What I mean is, when he'd take a surprise hip toss he'd almost roll through straight back up to his feet, and as he did it he'd find himself nose to nose in the corner with JYD. He didn't just take the bump, stand up in the opposite corner and realise he was in the wrong part of town. He wound up in that wrong part of town so quickly that he never had the time to register where he was, so the way he almost jumped backwards out his boots as he saw the Dog's fist not but six inches from his face was a reaction of genuine shock and terror. He certainly earned those reassuring hugs from Gino ("a real touching monent," Boesch comments sarcastically). Gino was really fun doing his thing as well and I loved him doing his Ali shuffle when he wanted a boxing match with Conway, who naturally rocked him with a big flurry. I haven't seen a lot of Conway Jr., but he took a nice beating here and had a few cool hope spots. His flip out of a backdrop where he landed on his feet was especially impressive, though the mid-match angle with Bockwinkel attacking JYD meant Conway was left on his own for a while. When he made it to his corner for the tag only to find it empty I half expected him to turn on the Dog. If this was the WWF he'd have thrown him through a barber shop window or strangled him with his own chain. But he weathered the storm long enough for JYD to recover, and when it was time for that hot tag the Dog came in like a man possessed. The way he looked at Gino would put the fear of god in any man and you could see Gino thinking about cutting bait then and there. I'm wondering if the Gino/Tully Dynamic Duo wasn't even better than the Gino/Adams version, even if the latter is probably the more famous.
Friday 8 March 2019
Headin' Down to Mid-South, Money and Guitar in My Hand, on a One Way Ticket to the Promised Land
Midnight Express v Rock 'n' Roll Express (6/30/85)
I way undersold this going through the set the first time. At the time I thought it was a fun if middling version of this pairing, but it's much better than that and probably somewhere in that second tier of your MX/RnR matches. So comfortably awesome, but a step below classic. The first half is a little slower than usual, takes a little longer to get going, and they work in more stalling than I'm used to seeing from them. Of course it was good stalling and some of the shtick was great. Morton hits this awesome delayed hurricanrana out the corner and Eaton complains about hair-pulling that clearly never happened. He tells Carl Fergie to ask one section of the crowd and naturally they tell him Eaton's full of it. Eaton gets him to ask another section, same result. And then another. Everyone is in agreement that Bobby Eaton be lying. So Eaton points to Condrey and Condrey confirms that Morton did in fact pull the hair. Every Midnights v Rock n Rolls match has a spot I've never seen before and this time Condrey grabbed hold of Gibson in the corner as Eaton tried to fly into a monkey flip, but of course Gibson moved and Eaton's momentum led to him monkey flipping his partner. This came after both MX members had already been monkey flipped by Morton, just to add another cool layer. When the Midnights take over they go to work on Gibson's throat and I'm always going to be a sucker for obscure body part work. It was mostly chokes and illegal blows under the chin, but you had distractions from every angle and the crowd being whipped into a frenzy. We also got a Bobby Eaton top rope legdrop and my goodness is Bobby Eaton's top rope legdrop a thing of beauty. Molten hot tag, hectic little finishing run, humongous pop at the end -- a fitting last go-around for this match-up in Mid-South. Luckily they wound up in Crockett together and we got one or two more.
Ted DiBiase v Terry Taylor (7/3/85)
Super energetic studio match, ultimately not the most memorable but the kind of thing you can never really complain about when it happens on a weekly episode of TV. Taylor working the arm early was solid stuff and I liked him keeping hold of it as he's body slammed, rolling DiBiase through with his momentum and going back to the armbar. Ted taking over with a killer right hook was a perfectly viable transition anyway because it looked so good, but I liked how it established that even a clean punch from DiBiase will turn the tide. So you know that when he loads up that glove it's curtains. I could've done without Joel Watts screeching towards the end, but I guess it put over how imperative it was for Taylor to mind the right hand.
Thursday 7 March 2019
More Horsemen, More Flair (clearly not enough has been written about them already)
Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson v Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA & Manny Fernandez (World Wide Wrestling, 12/28/85)
This has to be one of the all-time great wrestling crowds. The heat is completely off the charts from word one and doesn't let up for a second; just nuclear screaming and hooting and everybody popping wildly for everything, booing heels out the building, getting fully behind the babyfaces. The action itself is good because, you know, look at the names, but a hot crowd will make everything feel a little more special and you could see the wrestlers feeding off it. Dusty was gyrating his hips inside three seconds and people were losing their minds. I've never seen a crowd react to a leapfrog like they did for Manny Fernandez hopping over Arn's head and catching him on the rebound with a forearm. And of course they're primed for some Flair v Dusty, going bonkers when it finally happens and even more bonkers when Flair gets put on his backside. You can criticise Flair for plenty of things, but he's a sucker for the pop and he won't deny the people when it's there to be had. It's a shame we miss the transition out of the babyface shine, but Magnum is a fun, brief face in peril, then we get a run of Manny being beaten on which is even better. The Andersons and Flair are just great at making it feel like it's a concerted effort to keep Manny in their own corner, always making sure the guy tagging out grabs hold of some tights so he can't scoot away before the next guy comes in. David Crockett isn't a great commentator, but I find it hard to be too annoyed by him since he's clearly so into everything. It's a bit like when Piper did commentary or even Ranallo now (who I seem to be irritated by way less than the majority). While it can be grating, it's pretty infectious. When Arn whacks Manny in the head with a chair there's something about Crockett shouting "he waffled him...heeeeee WAFFLED him!" that just feels right.
Ric Flair v Ron Garvin (World Championship Wrestling, 12/28/85)
I'd somehow never seen this. I've seen Flair v Garvin as a pairing enough times that it's not exactly fresh anymore, but I was looking forward to this after watching the build up on TV. The previous week as Garvin was doing a post-match interview at the booth, Flair came out doing his usual bit about being the world's heavyweight wrestling champion and that Garvin should know better than to interrupt his interview time (even though it was Flair who interrupted Garvin's). Flair talked up Jim Crockett as being the best wrestling promoter in the world but questioned how great the SuperStation Championship Challenge Series really could be when the world champ wasn't wrestling on TV. Garvin said he'd be up the challenge if Flair really wanted one and so Flair said he'd buy the full hour next week just to beat up Garvin on TV. Then earlier in this show Flair came out in his robe, talking about all the women who want to be with him, saying he's so high on being Ric Flair every day that he might just keep doing this for another twenty years (boy he wasn't kidding, was he?). He's in high spirits and loving life as Jim Crockett Promotions heads into the year 1986, with him as the heavyweight champion of the world. Then we get to this at the end of the show, and what a way to close out the year. I thought it fucking ruled. My favourite Flair is the one who gets pissed off and surly. The one who knows his title's in jeopardy and will fight to keep it. The one who's beyond begging off and ready to scrap with whoever he's up against. Sometimes we'll get brief glimpses of it during those longer title defences where he rolls into town and wrestles the local babyface. Sometimes he'll abuse Ricky Morton and punch him in his broken nose. Sometimes him and Terry Funk will tear each other to ribbons. This was about 90% that Flair and it felt as much like a fight as anything he was ever in. There were a few moments where they'd set up a rope-running spot by grabbing a headlock, Flair took his upside down turnbuckle bump and once he did in fact beg for mercy as he backed into the corner...but for the most part they tore strips off each other. It had a bit of Garvin working a keylock early and there was a little Flair arm work that was inconsequential...but for the most part they lit each other up. Flair was agitated from the start and every strike exchange felt violent; not just the chops and punches but the parts where they were rolling around on the mat clawing at each other's face or tearing hair out. Garvin was throwing some awesome heabutts, Flair threw his knees to the gut, Garvin bit him in the forehead, Flair dropped his shin on Garvin's face. Flair's mounted strikes were great, the way he had his whole weight high across Garvin's chest as he pelted him with these nasty little rabbit punches. At one point Garvin just wrapped his hands around Flair's throat and dragged him to the mat, then slapped him really hard across the face. It was gritty and uncooperative and they never gave each other a second's peace. When Flair shouts that it's time to go to school it doesn't feel like his usual shit-talking. He's had enough of Garvin and now we get to see why he's the world champ. Too often that Flair - the one who looks every bit The Man he says he is on a microphone - will make only fleeting appearances, and it's a shame because he's exceptional when he's beating the brakes off someone. Towards the end he never bothered trying to set up the string of babyface nearfalls, never bothered having Garvin put him in his own figure-four, never bothered getting slammed off the top. They just stuck to the brawling and it was all the better for it. Great little fight.
This has to be one of the all-time great wrestling crowds. The heat is completely off the charts from word one and doesn't let up for a second; just nuclear screaming and hooting and everybody popping wildly for everything, booing heels out the building, getting fully behind the babyfaces. The action itself is good because, you know, look at the names, but a hot crowd will make everything feel a little more special and you could see the wrestlers feeding off it. Dusty was gyrating his hips inside three seconds and people were losing their minds. I've never seen a crowd react to a leapfrog like they did for Manny Fernandez hopping over Arn's head and catching him on the rebound with a forearm. And of course they're primed for some Flair v Dusty, going bonkers when it finally happens and even more bonkers when Flair gets put on his backside. You can criticise Flair for plenty of things, but he's a sucker for the pop and he won't deny the people when it's there to be had. It's a shame we miss the transition out of the babyface shine, but Magnum is a fun, brief face in peril, then we get a run of Manny being beaten on which is even better. The Andersons and Flair are just great at making it feel like it's a concerted effort to keep Manny in their own corner, always making sure the guy tagging out grabs hold of some tights so he can't scoot away before the next guy comes in. David Crockett isn't a great commentator, but I find it hard to be too annoyed by him since he's clearly so into everything. It's a bit like when Piper did commentary or even Ranallo now (who I seem to be irritated by way less than the majority). While it can be grating, it's pretty infectious. When Arn whacks Manny in the head with a chair there's something about Crockett shouting "he waffled him...heeeeee WAFFLED him!" that just feels right.
Ric Flair v Ron Garvin (World Championship Wrestling, 12/28/85)
I'd somehow never seen this. I've seen Flair v Garvin as a pairing enough times that it's not exactly fresh anymore, but I was looking forward to this after watching the build up on TV. The previous week as Garvin was doing a post-match interview at the booth, Flair came out doing his usual bit about being the world's heavyweight wrestling champion and that Garvin should know better than to interrupt his interview time (even though it was Flair who interrupted Garvin's). Flair talked up Jim Crockett as being the best wrestling promoter in the world but questioned how great the SuperStation Championship Challenge Series really could be when the world champ wasn't wrestling on TV. Garvin said he'd be up the challenge if Flair really wanted one and so Flair said he'd buy the full hour next week just to beat up Garvin on TV. Then earlier in this show Flair came out in his robe, talking about all the women who want to be with him, saying he's so high on being Ric Flair every day that he might just keep doing this for another twenty years (boy he wasn't kidding, was he?). He's in high spirits and loving life as Jim Crockett Promotions heads into the year 1986, with him as the heavyweight champion of the world. Then we get to this at the end of the show, and what a way to close out the year. I thought it fucking ruled. My favourite Flair is the one who gets pissed off and surly. The one who knows his title's in jeopardy and will fight to keep it. The one who's beyond begging off and ready to scrap with whoever he's up against. Sometimes we'll get brief glimpses of it during those longer title defences where he rolls into town and wrestles the local babyface. Sometimes he'll abuse Ricky Morton and punch him in his broken nose. Sometimes him and Terry Funk will tear each other to ribbons. This was about 90% that Flair and it felt as much like a fight as anything he was ever in. There were a few moments where they'd set up a rope-running spot by grabbing a headlock, Flair took his upside down turnbuckle bump and once he did in fact beg for mercy as he backed into the corner...but for the most part they tore strips off each other. It had a bit of Garvin working a keylock early and there was a little Flair arm work that was inconsequential...but for the most part they lit each other up. Flair was agitated from the start and every strike exchange felt violent; not just the chops and punches but the parts where they were rolling around on the mat clawing at each other's face or tearing hair out. Garvin was throwing some awesome heabutts, Flair threw his knees to the gut, Garvin bit him in the forehead, Flair dropped his shin on Garvin's face. Flair's mounted strikes were great, the way he had his whole weight high across Garvin's chest as he pelted him with these nasty little rabbit punches. At one point Garvin just wrapped his hands around Flair's throat and dragged him to the mat, then slapped him really hard across the face. It was gritty and uncooperative and they never gave each other a second's peace. When Flair shouts that it's time to go to school it doesn't feel like his usual shit-talking. He's had enough of Garvin and now we get to see why he's the world champ. Too often that Flair - the one who looks every bit The Man he says he is on a microphone - will make only fleeting appearances, and it's a shame because he's exceptional when he's beating the brakes off someone. Towards the end he never bothered trying to set up the string of babyface nearfalls, never bothered having Garvin put him in his own figure-four, never bothered getting slammed off the top. They just stuck to the brawling and it was all the better for it. Great little fight.
Wednesday 6 March 2019
NWA Classics 24/7 #23
Gino Hernandez & Tully Blanchard v Mil Mascaras & Manny Fernandez (Houston Wrestling, 9/18/81)
I've been watching a bunch of Tully lately, mostly in singles during the peak Crockett run, so I wanted to check out some Tully/Gino Dynamic Duo stuff and see where he was at in '81. By the US title run he was a perfect little weasel who always managed to come across as dangerous and legit at the same time. He'd go after a guy like a swarm of angry bees and even if you wanted to smack him in the mouth there was no question he was as good as he said he was. He hadn't quite perfected that at this point, but you could see the makings of it. Interestingly he was sort of placed in the Arn role here as Gino worked this as a sniveling coward who wanted no part of Manny and even less of Mil. Gino's shtick was totally over the top and awesome and, other than one bit where he and Tully shared a reassuring embrace outside the ring, it was Gino who garnered most of the heat on his own. He'd come in to throw a cheapshot, then the babyface would spot him and so he'd just bolt out of the ring. He wanted a piece of Mil, then when Manny obliged and tagged him in Gino ran straight over and tagged in Tully. At one point Mil chased him all around the ring and ringside area as Gino scarpered for his life. Mil was really fun in this as well. He had a great double noggin-knocker spot, threw a bunch of cool flying forearms, had Tully locked in tight with his headscissors and those nifty spinning headstand takeovers, then he played face in peril for a bit and gave the heels more than I was expecting. Mil even doing the job at the end was a bit of a holy shit moment because I don't know if I've ever actually seen that before. When Tully and Gino were setting up the finish I thought for sure it was going to be reversed, but then they went all in on it and not only did Gino escape without receiving his comeuppance, he pinned Mil himself (well, with a little help first)! Post-match Mil cuts a scathing promo in Spanish - like an angrier, teary-eyed version of your Onita classic - and I'm assuming there was a blowoff to this that's buried somewhere in that Houston footage we'll probably never see. Pre-Crockett Tully is kind of a blind spot for me so I guess I should watch a bunch of Dynamic Duo tags now?
I've been watching a bunch of Tully lately, mostly in singles during the peak Crockett run, so I wanted to check out some Tully/Gino Dynamic Duo stuff and see where he was at in '81. By the US title run he was a perfect little weasel who always managed to come across as dangerous and legit at the same time. He'd go after a guy like a swarm of angry bees and even if you wanted to smack him in the mouth there was no question he was as good as he said he was. He hadn't quite perfected that at this point, but you could see the makings of it. Interestingly he was sort of placed in the Arn role here as Gino worked this as a sniveling coward who wanted no part of Manny and even less of Mil. Gino's shtick was totally over the top and awesome and, other than one bit where he and Tully shared a reassuring embrace outside the ring, it was Gino who garnered most of the heat on his own. He'd come in to throw a cheapshot, then the babyface would spot him and so he'd just bolt out of the ring. He wanted a piece of Mil, then when Manny obliged and tagged him in Gino ran straight over and tagged in Tully. At one point Mil chased him all around the ring and ringside area as Gino scarpered for his life. Mil was really fun in this as well. He had a great double noggin-knocker spot, threw a bunch of cool flying forearms, had Tully locked in tight with his headscissors and those nifty spinning headstand takeovers, then he played face in peril for a bit and gave the heels more than I was expecting. Mil even doing the job at the end was a bit of a holy shit moment because I don't know if I've ever actually seen that before. When Tully and Gino were setting up the finish I thought for sure it was going to be reversed, but then they went all in on it and not only did Gino escape without receiving his comeuppance, he pinned Mil himself (well, with a little help first)! Post-match Mil cuts a scathing promo in Spanish - like an angrier, teary-eyed version of your Onita classic - and I'm assuming there was a blowoff to this that's buried somewhere in that Houston footage we'll probably never see. Pre-Crockett Tully is kind of a blind spot for me so I guess I should watch a bunch of Dynamic Duo tags now?
Tuesday 5 March 2019
Arkansas River, Sallisaw Blue, This Town Never Seen Nothin' like Tenryu
Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada v Dan Spivey & Leo Burke (All Japan, 1/27/89) - SKIPPABLE
Spivey's mullet is wild. He looks like a bad extra in a Mad Max film. The wasteland has not been kind to him and that forehead might've been run over by one of those big fuck off monster trucks. He was pretty raw here and at first I thought this was going to be a real slog, but he grew into his role of towering bruiser as the match went on and by the end he was having some fun exchanges. It's still weird seeing Kawada as quasi-junior with the flying wheel kicks. He liked that spin kick to the gut as well, though in a few short years he'd be trading it in for straight punts to the eye. I haven't seen much of Burke at all. He was already a twenty three year pro by this point and I guess over the course of that career he'd become a master of the backslide because he went for it like twelve times (or twice). Tenryu never kicked anyone in the spleen or punched them in the eye but he threw some chops and hit a nice suplex. You don't really need this.
Genichiro Tenryu v Randy Savage (SWS, 4/1/91) - GOOD
There was pretty much no way I wasn't going to love this on some level. These are two of my ten favourite wrestlers ever and no matter how drastically my tastes in wrestling have shifted over my stupid life, one of the rare constants from the very beginning has been my adoration of Randy Savage. The first half of this was basically Savage working full Memphis main event. It ruled very much. We got all the Memphis horseshit -- him getting on the mic and telling everyone he's "GONNA GET TENRYU!", throwing his jacket at Tenryu, the stalling, the hiding behind the ref', the cheapshot, the bailing to the floor as soon as Tenryu lands an offensive move. One suit in the front row even gets in his face and tells him to get in the ring and fight. Initially Tenryu takes it all in pretty amicably, doesn't let it get to him and as Savage is bouncing around on the top rope Tenryu looks at him like "absolute state of this guy." Then Savage slaps him in the corner and Tenryu's had about enough. He doesn't slabber Savage like he would if it was one of the natives pulling that nonsense, but he chops him hard and Savage is mighty relieved he wore that vest to the ring. For someone whose approach to wrestling is so regimented and meticulously planned, I think Savage can still make it feel like a match is chaotic and off the cuff. Part of that is his personality and energy. It led to a couple moments of awkwardness here though, as one spot clearly didn't go to plan, maybe due to the language barrier, and so he just picked Tenryu up and did it again. When it didn't work the second time either you kind of wish he was more of an ad-libber. In the back half this almost turned into the battle of the top rope elbow. It was pretty amusing seeing the crowd react huge for Savage kicking out of a couple reckless falling elbows, then pop somewhat mildly for Tenryu kicking out of two Savage elbow drops. There are lots of American wrestlers with massive personalities who toned it way down when working Japan, but Savage wasn't one one of them and he worked this like it was MSG or the Mid-South Coliseum.
Complete & Accurate Tenryu
Spivey's mullet is wild. He looks like a bad extra in a Mad Max film. The wasteland has not been kind to him and that forehead might've been run over by one of those big fuck off monster trucks. He was pretty raw here and at first I thought this was going to be a real slog, but he grew into his role of towering bruiser as the match went on and by the end he was having some fun exchanges. It's still weird seeing Kawada as quasi-junior with the flying wheel kicks. He liked that spin kick to the gut as well, though in a few short years he'd be trading it in for straight punts to the eye. I haven't seen much of Burke at all. He was already a twenty three year pro by this point and I guess over the course of that career he'd become a master of the backslide because he went for it like twelve times (or twice). Tenryu never kicked anyone in the spleen or punched them in the eye but he threw some chops and hit a nice suplex. You don't really need this.
Genichiro Tenryu v Randy Savage (SWS, 4/1/91) - GOOD
There was pretty much no way I wasn't going to love this on some level. These are two of my ten favourite wrestlers ever and no matter how drastically my tastes in wrestling have shifted over my stupid life, one of the rare constants from the very beginning has been my adoration of Randy Savage. The first half of this was basically Savage working full Memphis main event. It ruled very much. We got all the Memphis horseshit -- him getting on the mic and telling everyone he's "GONNA GET TENRYU!", throwing his jacket at Tenryu, the stalling, the hiding behind the ref', the cheapshot, the bailing to the floor as soon as Tenryu lands an offensive move. One suit in the front row even gets in his face and tells him to get in the ring and fight. Initially Tenryu takes it all in pretty amicably, doesn't let it get to him and as Savage is bouncing around on the top rope Tenryu looks at him like "absolute state of this guy." Then Savage slaps him in the corner and Tenryu's had about enough. He doesn't slabber Savage like he would if it was one of the natives pulling that nonsense, but he chops him hard and Savage is mighty relieved he wore that vest to the ring. For someone whose approach to wrestling is so regimented and meticulously planned, I think Savage can still make it feel like a match is chaotic and off the cuff. Part of that is his personality and energy. It led to a couple moments of awkwardness here though, as one spot clearly didn't go to plan, maybe due to the language barrier, and so he just picked Tenryu up and did it again. When it didn't work the second time either you kind of wish he was more of an ad-libber. In the back half this almost turned into the battle of the top rope elbow. It was pretty amusing seeing the crowd react huge for Savage kicking out of a couple reckless falling elbows, then pop somewhat mildly for Tenryu kicking out of two Savage elbow drops. There are lots of American wrestlers with massive personalities who toned it way down when working Japan, but Savage wasn't one one of them and he worked this like it was MSG or the Mid-South Coliseum.
Complete & Accurate Tenryu
Monday 4 March 2019
Tully v Magnum: The REAL Brawl to End it All!
Tully Blanchard v Magnum TA ('I Quit' Cage Match) (Starrcade, 11/28/85)
One of the definitive brawls in wrestling history. This is just a nasty, gritty, seedy masterpiece of a thing. It's only, what, fifteen minutes long? If that? Yet by the end it feels like they've come through a war that lasted a lifetime. It feels so violent and visceral because they don't really work it like a traditional brawl with the kinds of momentum shifts and exchanges you usually see. I actually prefer the Duggan/DiBiase stips match if we're ranking classic US brawls, but that was a pro-wrestling match with the set ups and payoffs slotted in where you'd probably expect. The real set up to this was done in the months leading up to it with Tully being a first class weasel and the payoff was the sort of attempted murder Magnum had been promising all along. This never had your traditional brawling exchanges. The punches were great but they weren't really the driving force. Instead Tully tried to gouge Magnum's eyes out and Magnum tried to bite chunks out of Tully's arm. When they were rolling around on the mat it was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a fight where two guys were trying to kill each other, especially after the exhaustion had set in. The selling was off the charts from both of them but Tully was unbelievable as a man who'd been forced to find a side of himself he never knew existed. He'd never explored these depths of himself before and he really came across as a guy who would maim Magnum or worse if he needed to. Say what you want about him, but he was the US champ for a reason, he was the top drawer athlete he said he was, and at this point he was sick to death of everything about Magnum TA. The part where he goes for a cover out of instinct is a pretty great example of his mindset. It's like he's sleepwalking through this hell he's been forced into, not really taking in just what exactly he's doing, almost going on muscle memory at points before realising that wrestling acumen ultimately doesn't count for shit if he wants to end this. Then there are the parts where they're shoving the mic in each other's face with all the roaring and screaming. Tully almost sounds like he's pleading with Magnum but of course Magnum is never going to quit, so Tully just cracks him in the head with the mic. Baby Doll covering her face in horror as Tully refuses to quit is such an incredible visual. And that whole ending sequence is pretty much iconic. I mean Tully smashing a chair to bits and trying to stab Magnum in the face was fucking insane, but the finish itself was even wilder than I remembered. I hadn't seen this in about fifteen years and I didn't recall it being so gruesome. After all the shit Tully and Baby Doll had pulled over the last few months you knew Magnum would take it as far as he needed to, but I don't think anybody expected him to try and cut Tully's face off. Just a ridiculous finish and holy cow did Magnum look like the most unfuckwithable human being on the planet afterwards. The way he stood there with that chair leg staring down Tully, Tully rolling around trying to hold his eyeball in place, Baby Doll distraught in the corner...and Magnum drops the weapon, throws his new title over his shoulder, walks out head held high, the people in raptures.
One of the definitive brawls in wrestling history. This is just a nasty, gritty, seedy masterpiece of a thing. It's only, what, fifteen minutes long? If that? Yet by the end it feels like they've come through a war that lasted a lifetime. It feels so violent and visceral because they don't really work it like a traditional brawl with the kinds of momentum shifts and exchanges you usually see. I actually prefer the Duggan/DiBiase stips match if we're ranking classic US brawls, but that was a pro-wrestling match with the set ups and payoffs slotted in where you'd probably expect. The real set up to this was done in the months leading up to it with Tully being a first class weasel and the payoff was the sort of attempted murder Magnum had been promising all along. This never had your traditional brawling exchanges. The punches were great but they weren't really the driving force. Instead Tully tried to gouge Magnum's eyes out and Magnum tried to bite chunks out of Tully's arm. When they were rolling around on the mat it was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a fight where two guys were trying to kill each other, especially after the exhaustion had set in. The selling was off the charts from both of them but Tully was unbelievable as a man who'd been forced to find a side of himself he never knew existed. He'd never explored these depths of himself before and he really came across as a guy who would maim Magnum or worse if he needed to. Say what you want about him, but he was the US champ for a reason, he was the top drawer athlete he said he was, and at this point he was sick to death of everything about Magnum TA. The part where he goes for a cover out of instinct is a pretty great example of his mindset. It's like he's sleepwalking through this hell he's been forced into, not really taking in just what exactly he's doing, almost going on muscle memory at points before realising that wrestling acumen ultimately doesn't count for shit if he wants to end this. Then there are the parts where they're shoving the mic in each other's face with all the roaring and screaming. Tully almost sounds like he's pleading with Magnum but of course Magnum is never going to quit, so Tully just cracks him in the head with the mic. Baby Doll covering her face in horror as Tully refuses to quit is such an incredible visual. And that whole ending sequence is pretty much iconic. I mean Tully smashing a chair to bits and trying to stab Magnum in the face was fucking insane, but the finish itself was even wilder than I remembered. I hadn't seen this in about fifteen years and I didn't recall it being so gruesome. After all the shit Tully and Baby Doll had pulled over the last few months you knew Magnum would take it as far as he needed to, but I don't think anybody expected him to try and cut Tully's face off. Just a ridiculous finish and holy cow did Magnum look like the most unfuckwithable human being on the planet afterwards. The way he stood there with that chair leg staring down Tully, Tully rolling around trying to hold his eyeball in place, Baby Doll distraught in the corner...and Magnum drops the weapon, throws his new title over his shoulder, walks out head held high, the people in raptures.
Sunday 3 March 2019
Flair & The Horsemen
Ric Flair v Sam Houston (World Wide Wrestling, 11/16/85)
This whole thing was great, from Flair's pre-match interview to the post-match angle with Dusty. Crockett asks Flair if he hears footsteps, if he might be afraid of the returning Dusty Rhodes, and for a second there I thought Flair might actually smack the little goof. Who does he think he is? Flair's the world champion and he doesn't fear anybody, not Dusty Rhodes and especially not his protege Sam Houston. The match itself was a quality little nine minutes. Flair was at the absolute peak of his powers in '85, really made Houston look like a million bucks here, but he didn't give him seven of the nine minutes, there was no begging off in the corner, no pleading with God for a reprieve from the mighty Sam Houston. Houston obviously got his offence in, but most of it came off of reversals or when he played up his quickness, sort of catching Flair by surprise. You can even construct a narrative if you like that Flair was taking his challenger too lightly. Either way Houston was really snappy when grabbing a headlock, quick to catch Flair getting to his feet with a dropkick, dropping behind him off a suplex attempt for a roll-up, never afraid to lay into him when Flair would throw chops. There was a cool bit as well where he took Flair down with a really slick drop toe hold, and when you're thinking it's time for the spot where Flair's opponent puts him in the figure-four, Houston just dropped the knee across his leg a few times instead. It was a little thing, but one you appreciate when you've seen twelve thousand Flair matches. That Flair actually sold the leg right through til the end was a nice touch as well. For his part Flair was really fun getting annoyed and throwing Houston out the ring, treating him with a sort of disdain because Sam Houston shouldn't be giving the world champ this much trouble on TV. The finish ruled too. Flair had already gone for one suplex and almost got caught, but then Houston went for broke with a cross body and wound up crashing. Flair really soaked in the moment before hitting that big vertical suplex, shouting something at a fan before holding Houston up there for a few extra seconds. He was still limping a little, but he showed Houston how you really go after a guy's leg and it was somewhat of a rarity that the figure-four was applied with no build up. It was treated as a match-ender and Flair wielded it as a weapon. The post-match with Dusty coming out wearing his special boot was molten, too. He gave Arn a kick in the ribs and would've done the same to Flair if he hadn't hightailed it. Sam Houston is one thing, but maybe he's not quite ready for a pissed off son of a plumber. Crockett was red hot at this point and they were going through one of those periods where everything was clicking. They couldn't have built up the main matches for Starrcade any better.
Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson v Terry Taylor, Ron Garvin & Pez Whatley (World Championship Wrestling, 11/16/85)
Super energetic six-man tag. It got lots of time and everyone was working a hundred miles an hour, but it didn't feel messy, we got two strong extended babyface heat segments, and the speed they were working at gave lots of it a sense of desperation. When Taylor tried to make that hot tag you knew Flair or Arn were going to have to get over there quickly to cut him off, or Ole would really have to trap his leg so he couldn't crawl away. The Flair opponent putting Flair in the figure-four moment also worked as a great hope spot here. Taylor could've and probably should've made the tag, but the opportunity was too good to pass up even if ultimately it cost him. Flair was a pretty awesome cheapshotting bastard, getting his licks in from the apron and dragging Taylor out to slam him on the floor. He and Garvin lit each other up more than once and I loved Garvin headbutting him clean in the face. Flair really made that finish work by holding Whatley's feet down as well. A simple trip from someone standing on the floor shouldn't really be enough to put a guy out, but it's way more difficult to kick out when Arn is pinning down your shoulders while Flair has a hold of your legs.
Ric Flair v Koko Ware (Memphis, 11/18/85)
This was my #10 on the Memphis set, became one of my favourite Flair matches ever and was maybe the best of Koko's career. I'm a broken record about watching lengthy Flair title defences against guys he matched up with regularly. I'd rather watch him work shorter studio matches (like the Houston match) at this point, but when it's a match against someone he rarely wrestled my interest will shoot up a bit. Koko is one of those guys and this was still a blast. Flair is in bully mode for the first ten minutes, breaking clean a couple times more because he doesn't take Koko all that seriously as opposed to being a good sport. He gets in Koko's face and shoves him around, throws some chops, doesn't really get anything rolling on offence but you never get the sense he's worried. It's Memphis and it's little Koko Ware, why SHOULD he be worried? Koko is having none of his shit though and controls things with the headlock, shoving Flair back and popping him in the mouth when Flair starts with the chops. Then you start to see Flair getting agitated and even gets into a shoving contest with the ref'. Koko peppers him with an awesome punch combo and Flair takes his first Flair Flop, then he comes right back for more, Koko gives him another awesome combo, and Flair takes his second Flair Flop. Flair tries to take him down and actually wrestle, but Koko is too slippery and Flair can't get a handle on him, eventually spilling out through the ropes. And now he's really pissed. The chop that gained him control looked like one of those you'd see in WAR and from there he ramped up the aggression. His armbar was super tight, really torquing it at the shoulder joint, sitting high up on Koko's back so he couldn't escape, even digging his face into the mat while he shit-talked Dusty at ringside (Dusty was out as Koko's second, which was a cool touch). Flair doing the nasty double stomp to the gut is something that he stopped using at some point, and I really wish he didn't because it always looked great. This time it had a little extra mustard behind it like he hadn't forgotten that early humiliation. As they head towards the finish the heat builds and builds, Koko gets to look good surviving the figure-four, gets to apply it himself, all that good stuff you get with the Flair Formula. There's an amusing spot as well where Flair tries to fight off a sunset flip by punching Koko in the head, but of course Koko, as a black man, has a brick solid cranium and Flair dings his knuckles. Finish is what it is, but the build to the dropkick before it was good stuff and if you're going to give me TWO motherfucking Koko Ware dropkicks then you can run whatever finish you damn well please! Also, Lance Russell was so good on commentary during this whole thing. He got over the story of Flair taking Koko lightly, added a bunch of neat little observations throughout, suggested that Koko using the headlock early was to ease his way into a rhythm because he was nervous about his first title shot (and that Dusty may have advised him to do so), put over Flair perfectly, just a great call all around. He was an absolute treasure of a commentator and the best there's ever been. This held up great.
This whole thing was great, from Flair's pre-match interview to the post-match angle with Dusty. Crockett asks Flair if he hears footsteps, if he might be afraid of the returning Dusty Rhodes, and for a second there I thought Flair might actually smack the little goof. Who does he think he is? Flair's the world champion and he doesn't fear anybody, not Dusty Rhodes and especially not his protege Sam Houston. The match itself was a quality little nine minutes. Flair was at the absolute peak of his powers in '85, really made Houston look like a million bucks here, but he didn't give him seven of the nine minutes, there was no begging off in the corner, no pleading with God for a reprieve from the mighty Sam Houston. Houston obviously got his offence in, but most of it came off of reversals or when he played up his quickness, sort of catching Flair by surprise. You can even construct a narrative if you like that Flair was taking his challenger too lightly. Either way Houston was really snappy when grabbing a headlock, quick to catch Flair getting to his feet with a dropkick, dropping behind him off a suplex attempt for a roll-up, never afraid to lay into him when Flair would throw chops. There was a cool bit as well where he took Flair down with a really slick drop toe hold, and when you're thinking it's time for the spot where Flair's opponent puts him in the figure-four, Houston just dropped the knee across his leg a few times instead. It was a little thing, but one you appreciate when you've seen twelve thousand Flair matches. That Flair actually sold the leg right through til the end was a nice touch as well. For his part Flair was really fun getting annoyed and throwing Houston out the ring, treating him with a sort of disdain because Sam Houston shouldn't be giving the world champ this much trouble on TV. The finish ruled too. Flair had already gone for one suplex and almost got caught, but then Houston went for broke with a cross body and wound up crashing. Flair really soaked in the moment before hitting that big vertical suplex, shouting something at a fan before holding Houston up there for a few extra seconds. He was still limping a little, but he showed Houston how you really go after a guy's leg and it was somewhat of a rarity that the figure-four was applied with no build up. It was treated as a match-ender and Flair wielded it as a weapon. The post-match with Dusty coming out wearing his special boot was molten, too. He gave Arn a kick in the ribs and would've done the same to Flair if he hadn't hightailed it. Sam Houston is one thing, but maybe he's not quite ready for a pissed off son of a plumber. Crockett was red hot at this point and they were going through one of those periods where everything was clicking. They couldn't have built up the main matches for Starrcade any better.
Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson v Terry Taylor, Ron Garvin & Pez Whatley (World Championship Wrestling, 11/16/85)
Super energetic six-man tag. It got lots of time and everyone was working a hundred miles an hour, but it didn't feel messy, we got two strong extended babyface heat segments, and the speed they were working at gave lots of it a sense of desperation. When Taylor tried to make that hot tag you knew Flair or Arn were going to have to get over there quickly to cut him off, or Ole would really have to trap his leg so he couldn't crawl away. The Flair opponent putting Flair in the figure-four moment also worked as a great hope spot here. Taylor could've and probably should've made the tag, but the opportunity was too good to pass up even if ultimately it cost him. Flair was a pretty awesome cheapshotting bastard, getting his licks in from the apron and dragging Taylor out to slam him on the floor. He and Garvin lit each other up more than once and I loved Garvin headbutting him clean in the face. Flair really made that finish work by holding Whatley's feet down as well. A simple trip from someone standing on the floor shouldn't really be enough to put a guy out, but it's way more difficult to kick out when Arn is pinning down your shoulders while Flair has a hold of your legs.
Ric Flair v Koko Ware (Memphis, 11/18/85)
This was my #10 on the Memphis set, became one of my favourite Flair matches ever and was maybe the best of Koko's career. I'm a broken record about watching lengthy Flair title defences against guys he matched up with regularly. I'd rather watch him work shorter studio matches (like the Houston match) at this point, but when it's a match against someone he rarely wrestled my interest will shoot up a bit. Koko is one of those guys and this was still a blast. Flair is in bully mode for the first ten minutes, breaking clean a couple times more because he doesn't take Koko all that seriously as opposed to being a good sport. He gets in Koko's face and shoves him around, throws some chops, doesn't really get anything rolling on offence but you never get the sense he's worried. It's Memphis and it's little Koko Ware, why SHOULD he be worried? Koko is having none of his shit though and controls things with the headlock, shoving Flair back and popping him in the mouth when Flair starts with the chops. Then you start to see Flair getting agitated and even gets into a shoving contest with the ref'. Koko peppers him with an awesome punch combo and Flair takes his first Flair Flop, then he comes right back for more, Koko gives him another awesome combo, and Flair takes his second Flair Flop. Flair tries to take him down and actually wrestle, but Koko is too slippery and Flair can't get a handle on him, eventually spilling out through the ropes. And now he's really pissed. The chop that gained him control looked like one of those you'd see in WAR and from there he ramped up the aggression. His armbar was super tight, really torquing it at the shoulder joint, sitting high up on Koko's back so he couldn't escape, even digging his face into the mat while he shit-talked Dusty at ringside (Dusty was out as Koko's second, which was a cool touch). Flair doing the nasty double stomp to the gut is something that he stopped using at some point, and I really wish he didn't because it always looked great. This time it had a little extra mustard behind it like he hadn't forgotten that early humiliation. As they head towards the finish the heat builds and builds, Koko gets to look good surviving the figure-four, gets to apply it himself, all that good stuff you get with the Flair Formula. There's an amusing spot as well where Flair tries to fight off a sunset flip by punching Koko in the head, but of course Koko, as a black man, has a brick solid cranium and Flair dings his knuckles. Finish is what it is, but the build to the dropkick before it was good stuff and if you're going to give me TWO motherfucking Koko Ware dropkicks then you can run whatever finish you damn well please! Also, Lance Russell was so good on commentary during this whole thing. He got over the story of Flair taking Koko lightly, added a bunch of neat little observations throughout, suggested that Koko using the headlock early was to ease his way into a rhythm because he was nervous about his first title shot (and that Dusty may have advised him to do so), put over Flair perfectly, just a great call all around. He was an absolute treasure of a commentator and the best there's ever been. This held up great.
Saturday 2 March 2019
The Return to Puerto Rico!
I never finished the set back in 2016. I may finish it by 2026.
Steel Cage Battle Royal (March 1988)
I wouldn't expect this to work as a concept anywhere other than Puerto Rico. Even then I figured it might be rough, because logistically it seems like a bit of a nightmare. You eliminate someone by throwing them out the door, but the problem is there's only one door. In any other battle royal you can be eliminated from anywhere so there's always that lingering danger or sense that someone could get tossed at any moment. In this I guess you could just stay away from the door. If you're over in the other corner there's no danger of you being thrown out. That would maybe kill the inherent drama of a battle royal, though. People are more likely to pay attention to whatever's happening over by the door and forget about the other stuff, so in theory you'd end up with a bunch of guys not doing much because they're not really "involved." Except in Puerto Rico everybody bleeds and brawls and so you can't really help but pay attention to what's happening over in that other corner. Muta and Kendo Nagasaki might be trying to boot Invader III out the door but over to the right there Bobby Jaggers is trying to scalp Chris Youngblood. Even the eliminations worked better than I'd have thought. Nobody got thrown out without a fight and a few times it took more than one guy to eliminate someone. You had folk trying to grab hold of the ropes while two assailants tried to kick him out. I don't even know who all participated, but it was hectic and it was Puerto Rico.
Super Black Ninja v Invader I (Street Fight) (4/2/88)
Prior to getting the Puerto Rico set this is the only match from the territory I can clearly remember seeing. I think it was on an old Schneider Comp, but at that point I hadn't been exposed to the greatness of Invader and never cared for Muta anyway, so I probably wasn't as invested. Since then the bloody Invader brawl has become one of my favourite things in wrestling. This is masked Invader which means we lose a bit of what makes him so great in these kinds of fights, some of the EMOTING and facial expressions, but you know he bled like crazy and I thought it turned out pretty awesome, albeit a step down from the truly high end slobberknockers. Muta was more than fine here; he'll always bring the energy and he was pretty fun working Invader over with his belt, choking him with his t-shirt, bonking him over the head with his boot, etc. There were also some first class payback spots, including the low blows as this is Puerto Rico and no good ball shot goes unpunished. Muta's was especially great as he was falling back when he did it, really made it feel like a desperation move. By the end Invader has the awesome half-crimson mask thing going on and the pop for him smashing Muta with the briefcase was wild. Badass match.
Chris & Mark Youngblood & Rock n Roll Express v Bobby Jaggers, Dan Kroffat, Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki (5/21/88)
Nifty 8-man tag with a red hot crowd. The early babyface shine is super fun and Kroffat was real fun getting bumped around for everything. Chris Youngblood never hit any of his cool pump kicks, but he and Mark rolled out a really cool double team where Mark hit a legdrop across the back of Kroffat's head while Chris had him in a sort of bow and arrow. Sometimes there was too much going on, so during the heat segment you'd have a babyface come in hot expecting to get sent back out, only he'd have to walk reeeeally slowly over to the heel corner waiting for the ref' to spot him and hold him back. I did like how the heels made a point of keeping Youngblood in their own corner the whole time. Hot tag leads to everyone going at it and we get the double RnRs dropkick for the huge pop. I'll never ever complain about getting eight minutes of this.
Miguel Perez Jr. v Super Black Ninja (Hair v Hair) (5/21/88)
This didn't do a whole lot for me, surprisingly. Muta's been pretty enjoyable on the set and they worked this at a nice pace, but I couldn't really get into it. Perez had a bunch of neat offence, though. His low blow to start the comeback obviously ruled, but his big back suplex looked great and he was all over Muta early. Muta's legdrop was swank as hell too, just crazy height and it's not totally surprising his knees got absolutely blown to bits later in his career. Commentary was also in Spanish here and I think Savinovich said Muta was the Great Kabuki's son, which of course rules.
Steel Cage Battle Royal (March 1988)
I wouldn't expect this to work as a concept anywhere other than Puerto Rico. Even then I figured it might be rough, because logistically it seems like a bit of a nightmare. You eliminate someone by throwing them out the door, but the problem is there's only one door. In any other battle royal you can be eliminated from anywhere so there's always that lingering danger or sense that someone could get tossed at any moment. In this I guess you could just stay away from the door. If you're over in the other corner there's no danger of you being thrown out. That would maybe kill the inherent drama of a battle royal, though. People are more likely to pay attention to whatever's happening over by the door and forget about the other stuff, so in theory you'd end up with a bunch of guys not doing much because they're not really "involved." Except in Puerto Rico everybody bleeds and brawls and so you can't really help but pay attention to what's happening over in that other corner. Muta and Kendo Nagasaki might be trying to boot Invader III out the door but over to the right there Bobby Jaggers is trying to scalp Chris Youngblood. Even the eliminations worked better than I'd have thought. Nobody got thrown out without a fight and a few times it took more than one guy to eliminate someone. You had folk trying to grab hold of the ropes while two assailants tried to kick him out. I don't even know who all participated, but it was hectic and it was Puerto Rico.
Super Black Ninja v Invader I (Street Fight) (4/2/88)
Prior to getting the Puerto Rico set this is the only match from the territory I can clearly remember seeing. I think it was on an old Schneider Comp, but at that point I hadn't been exposed to the greatness of Invader and never cared for Muta anyway, so I probably wasn't as invested. Since then the bloody Invader brawl has become one of my favourite things in wrestling. This is masked Invader which means we lose a bit of what makes him so great in these kinds of fights, some of the EMOTING and facial expressions, but you know he bled like crazy and I thought it turned out pretty awesome, albeit a step down from the truly high end slobberknockers. Muta was more than fine here; he'll always bring the energy and he was pretty fun working Invader over with his belt, choking him with his t-shirt, bonking him over the head with his boot, etc. There were also some first class payback spots, including the low blows as this is Puerto Rico and no good ball shot goes unpunished. Muta's was especially great as he was falling back when he did it, really made it feel like a desperation move. By the end Invader has the awesome half-crimson mask thing going on and the pop for him smashing Muta with the briefcase was wild. Badass match.
Chris & Mark Youngblood & Rock n Roll Express v Bobby Jaggers, Dan Kroffat, Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki (5/21/88)
Nifty 8-man tag with a red hot crowd. The early babyface shine is super fun and Kroffat was real fun getting bumped around for everything. Chris Youngblood never hit any of his cool pump kicks, but he and Mark rolled out a really cool double team where Mark hit a legdrop across the back of Kroffat's head while Chris had him in a sort of bow and arrow. Sometimes there was too much going on, so during the heat segment you'd have a babyface come in hot expecting to get sent back out, only he'd have to walk reeeeally slowly over to the heel corner waiting for the ref' to spot him and hold him back. I did like how the heels made a point of keeping Youngblood in their own corner the whole time. Hot tag leads to everyone going at it and we get the double RnRs dropkick for the huge pop. I'll never ever complain about getting eight minutes of this.
Miguel Perez Jr. v Super Black Ninja (Hair v Hair) (5/21/88)
This didn't do a whole lot for me, surprisingly. Muta's been pretty enjoyable on the set and they worked this at a nice pace, but I couldn't really get into it. Perez had a bunch of neat offence, though. His low blow to start the comeback obviously ruled, but his big back suplex looked great and he was all over Muta early. Muta's legdrop was swank as hell too, just crazy height and it's not totally surprising his knees got absolutely blown to bits later in his career. Commentary was also in Spanish here and I think Savinovich said Muta was the Great Kabuki's son, which of course rules.
Friday 1 March 2019
The Fabulous Ones (x2)
Fabulous Ones v The Moondogs (Memphis, 6/13/83)
A total riot. There was no slow build here, none of the Fabs' usual entrance with the bow ties and tuxedos, high-fiving fans as 'Everybody Wants You' blared through the Mid-South Coliseum. They stormed the ring while the lights were still off and for the next ten minutes these guys tried to murder each other. I had this at #15 on the Memphis set, but as a match it barely goes two minutes. As soon as the bell rings it's carnage, then two minutes later Jerry Calhoun gets hit with a chair and a plank of wood and the match is thrown out. I guess everything after that is technically the post-match. Still, like your concession stand brawls and empty arena fights it was included on the set as a match, it was ranked as a match, and so it's only fair I judge it as a match. I don't make the rules. But yeah, it's mayhem from start to finish. Everybody gigs and gets assaulted with bits of furniture, including Calhoun who is walloped about a dozen times by everybody involved. He keeps trying to interject and ends up getting smacked with a chair or stabbed with a table leg. I don't think I've ever seen a match make better use of a table, in fact. Nobody took a bump through it, instead it got hurled in the ring early and from there everybody kept coming back to rip a piece off and use it as a weapon. At one point a Moondog just dropped the full thing on Steve Keirn's back, and you know it sucked because it was clearly one of those bulky fuckers that weighed a ton. Like the mahogany dining table your granny had, just dropped clean on top of someone. Randy Hales was furiously ringing that big bell to try and stop the madness and Steve Keirn grabbed it like "mate will you shut the fuck up with that?" and bonked a Moondog in the head with it. Lane diving off the apron onto a Moondog's back was amazing, perhaps only slightly topped by Keirn trying to gouge an eye out with a splintered 4x4. Memphis did these out of control alley fights better than anybody and this was right out the top drawer.
Fabulous Ones v Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito (AWA, 10/18/84)
Christ, is Gene Kiniski the worst guest referee in history or is Gene Kiniski the worst guest referee in history. It's like he can't decide if he wants to get in everybody's face and be overly authoritative or be blind as a bat and miss all the shenanigans going on around him. Sometimes you get both at the same time, which is really when he's at his worst. I'm usually not bothered about ex-wrestlers trying to grab a bit of spotlight when they're on referee duty, but Kiniski is super awful. Then again, I kind of love how both teams used his woefulness to their advantage at various points in the match. As soon as he got in Bockwinkel's face you knew Saito was coming over to stand on Keirn's neck, really doing it in a way where you knew HE knew he shouldn't be doing it at all, then when Kiniski would spend four hours threatening to pop Saito Bockwinkel would choke away. The Fabs pulled some phantom tag shtick as Bock would bitch away at Kiniski, always making sure to clap loudly so it sounded like a tag was made. Bock was about ready to flip so Keirn dragged Saito into the corner and gave Lane a big exaggerated tag, just to show Kiniski they were playing it by the book (of course Kiniski didn't allow it and made them do it again because I guess Lane's foot was touching the rope or something). At other points you'd get both Saito and Bockwinkel in the ring at the same time and Kiniski would be like oh no stop only one of you can be in here, then Lane would make the tag and Kiniski would disallow it for whatever reason. He's the Mike Dean of pro-wrestling guest referees. Saito was probably my favourite guy in this. You knew we were getting a Saito/Lane martial arts showdown. You knew Saito was gonna try and pull some funny business. Both happened and I loved Saito grinning like an idiot as he bowed in respect, but of course Lane wasn't having it and Saito was left fuming. There was also a great bit where he caught one of Lane's kicks and turned it into a perfect dragon screw, which I'd guess was one of the only times this AWA crowd had seen that move in person. Lane basically no-sold it, but he rolled through quick enough that I guess you could say he went with the momentum so the leg never got twisted, plus it led straight into an enziguri that bumped Saito to the floor. The finish with Lane and Keirn doing the switcheroo came off great as well, and Keirn's small package looked perfect. Nobody was getting out of that.
A total riot. There was no slow build here, none of the Fabs' usual entrance with the bow ties and tuxedos, high-fiving fans as 'Everybody Wants You' blared through the Mid-South Coliseum. They stormed the ring while the lights were still off and for the next ten minutes these guys tried to murder each other. I had this at #15 on the Memphis set, but as a match it barely goes two minutes. As soon as the bell rings it's carnage, then two minutes later Jerry Calhoun gets hit with a chair and a plank of wood and the match is thrown out. I guess everything after that is technically the post-match. Still, like your concession stand brawls and empty arena fights it was included on the set as a match, it was ranked as a match, and so it's only fair I judge it as a match. I don't make the rules. But yeah, it's mayhem from start to finish. Everybody gigs and gets assaulted with bits of furniture, including Calhoun who is walloped about a dozen times by everybody involved. He keeps trying to interject and ends up getting smacked with a chair or stabbed with a table leg. I don't think I've ever seen a match make better use of a table, in fact. Nobody took a bump through it, instead it got hurled in the ring early and from there everybody kept coming back to rip a piece off and use it as a weapon. At one point a Moondog just dropped the full thing on Steve Keirn's back, and you know it sucked because it was clearly one of those bulky fuckers that weighed a ton. Like the mahogany dining table your granny had, just dropped clean on top of someone. Randy Hales was furiously ringing that big bell to try and stop the madness and Steve Keirn grabbed it like "mate will you shut the fuck up with that?" and bonked a Moondog in the head with it. Lane diving off the apron onto a Moondog's back was amazing, perhaps only slightly topped by Keirn trying to gouge an eye out with a splintered 4x4. Memphis did these out of control alley fights better than anybody and this was right out the top drawer.
Fabulous Ones v Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito (AWA, 10/18/84)
Christ, is Gene Kiniski the worst guest referee in history or is Gene Kiniski the worst guest referee in history. It's like he can't decide if he wants to get in everybody's face and be overly authoritative or be blind as a bat and miss all the shenanigans going on around him. Sometimes you get both at the same time, which is really when he's at his worst. I'm usually not bothered about ex-wrestlers trying to grab a bit of spotlight when they're on referee duty, but Kiniski is super awful. Then again, I kind of love how both teams used his woefulness to their advantage at various points in the match. As soon as he got in Bockwinkel's face you knew Saito was coming over to stand on Keirn's neck, really doing it in a way where you knew HE knew he shouldn't be doing it at all, then when Kiniski would spend four hours threatening to pop Saito Bockwinkel would choke away. The Fabs pulled some phantom tag shtick as Bock would bitch away at Kiniski, always making sure to clap loudly so it sounded like a tag was made. Bock was about ready to flip so Keirn dragged Saito into the corner and gave Lane a big exaggerated tag, just to show Kiniski they were playing it by the book (of course Kiniski didn't allow it and made them do it again because I guess Lane's foot was touching the rope or something). At other points you'd get both Saito and Bockwinkel in the ring at the same time and Kiniski would be like oh no stop only one of you can be in here, then Lane would make the tag and Kiniski would disallow it for whatever reason. He's the Mike Dean of pro-wrestling guest referees. Saito was probably my favourite guy in this. You knew we were getting a Saito/Lane martial arts showdown. You knew Saito was gonna try and pull some funny business. Both happened and I loved Saito grinning like an idiot as he bowed in respect, but of course Lane wasn't having it and Saito was left fuming. There was also a great bit where he caught one of Lane's kicks and turned it into a perfect dragon screw, which I'd guess was one of the only times this AWA crowd had seen that move in person. Lane basically no-sold it, but he rolled through quick enough that I guess you could say he went with the momentum so the leg never got twisted, plus it led straight into an enziguri that bumped Saito to the floor. The finish with Lane and Keirn doing the switcheroo came off great as well, and Keirn's small package looked perfect. Nobody was getting out of that.
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