Loss

The match makes me also miss customized airbrushed wrestling trunks made for a specific event. Rick Rude and occasionally Warrior were great for this, and someone really needs to bring the trend back.

I seem to recall that getting a massive pop, but maybe I'm wrong. I know at the time no one ever expected Flair to wear the belt again.

Lizmark v El Satanico - EMLL 12/02/83 There are many good things you can say about this match. The first, and most obvious, is that some of the matwork and exchanges are really awesome. Both guys are very skilled on the mat and do all sorts of cool things that are much better seen than described. Where the match disappoints is in giving both guys plenty of time to show what they can do. This match is almost entirely Lizmark and suffers from being too one-sided much of the time. Aside from ending up on the favorable side of a few mat exchanges early on and getting a dumb luck win at the end, Satanico, who walks out of this match with the NWA Middleweight title, gets almost nothing. He doesn't look like much of a champ when it's over. Even the second caida, which was catching Lizmark in a quick powerbomb out of a huracanrana attempt after getting no offense at all to build to it, and the finish, which was Lizmark pinning himself on a surfboard pinning combo, did pretty much nothing for him. This may have been meant to be the early stages of a feud, and for all I know the idea was to make Satanico look like he didn't deserve to hold the belt. There are lots of things you'll enjoy about this match, but the layout keeps it from not being more than just a very good match. ***1/2

I still think it's an excellent match as well. Different wrestling matches strive to do different things. One thing Ray said about this once that I thought summed it up well is that it's basically a fairy tale -- a comic book hero going against the evil king. I've probably watched this once a year or so since it happened and it never loses anything for me.

Blame the street team.

For most of these, I had no idea WWE had them under contract.

Sangre Chicana, La Fiera & Mocho Cota v MS1, El Satanico & Espectro Jr - EMLL 09/30/83 A companion of sorts to the MS1/Chicana match a week earlier. This is a really good, intense match, but it's more of a quick brawl to get over all the top feuds in EMLL at the time than it is a great match. Still, worth watching to put everything in context with the time. The story is that the rudos are trying to isolate each of the technicos individually and destroy them while keeping the teammates at bay. It works for the majority of the match, until the technicos finally come back and the roof blows off the place when all six are brawling. Definitely worth watching, and tons of fun. More very good in the sense that it's a terrific TV show main event, but not great in the grand epic sense like the hair match. Still, see this. ***1/2

I understand that an MMA fighter can be more important to his company than a pro wrestler can be to his, or vice versa, but a wrestler's importance to his company is something sought out. Everything the wrestler does -- the performance aspect -- is to get himself over as important to his company's success. An MMA fighter's goal is to win a fight. An MMA fighter may try to get himself over in that way as well, but it's more of a byproduct of his own success than it is something specifically calculated. Two different things with different goals. The only thing wrestling and MMA really have in common is the way they sell shows, so I do think you can compare promoters, but you can't really compare the stars to each other. I'm not sure how they parallel each other.

This was recently added to my blog, as I'm doing LUCHA LIBRE WEEK there, but I wanted to include it here as well to make sure everyone saw it. MS1 v Sangre Chicana - CMLL 09/23/83 - Hair Match This may very well be the greatest singles match of all time. It certainly takes the best elements from other great matches -- the fire and underdog spirit of Hokuto/Kandori from Dreamslam I, the hatred of Flair/Funk from Bash '89 and the nuclear heat and emotion of a typical Hulk Hogan match in the 1980s -- and puts them all in one place. Where this match ultimately succeeds, however, is in creating its own identity through the participants. The match starts with MS1 arrogantly taunting the crowd and attacking Chicana prior to the bell. Chicana is still wearing his gear and he's punching and kicking the hell out of him and smashing his head on the ring mat from outside and just generally torturing him however possible. The referee's attempts at restraining MS1 are in vain. MS1 hits the ring to celebrate and we finally get intros as Chicana is bloodied outside. Every time Chicana is close to getting in the ring on his own power, MS1 cuts him off. He only finally lets him in the ring when he carries him, symbolizing that this match is going to take place under his terms. A bodyslam and top rope splash later and we finally have the first *pinfall* decision of the match. Up until this point, the match has been a brutal, effective squash (I THINK MS1 was DQ'd for attacking Chicana early, but I'm not sure about that.) Things really change as we enter the third fall. MS1 attacks Chicana yet again and catches him with a NASTY kick ot the face. The crowd is now chanting Chicana's name and Chicana's selling here is amazing, and up until this point there has been no babyface comeback even teased. MS1 is still cutting him off with headbutts, stomps and punches that get the job done but Chicana finally gets in his own punch and the place erupts, and MS1, hypocrite that he is, immediately begs off. We get the first floor dive of the match from Chicana at this point and the crowd continues to chant his name. This really shows how far booking one guy to be stronger than another before flipping the situation will go to get a match over. They could have gone back and forth without building any heat and the match would have lost something. This part of the match -- MS1 brutalizing Chicana for what seems like an eternity before Chicana finally gets the strength to fight back -- is probably the best build for a babyface comeback I have ever seen in any wrestling match. Chicana is now doing the Hogan-esque finger shake and pointing to MS1, and the crowd erupts again, knowing that they're about to see what they came to see. It's time for revenge! What's great about this is that Chicana sets out to attack MS1 in almost exactly the same way he was attacked up until this point. The punches and stmops, the head being smashed into the ring mat, the punch ducking -- this is a receipt in every way possible. MS1 is now bleeding in the same way he made Chicana bleed. Showing that he's not done yet, MS1 cuts off this change in momentum with a knee to the gut and now does his own tope suicida to the floor. The match has now become a case of each guy getting an idea of how he wants to beat the shit out of the other guy saying, "Fuck that! Two can play at that game!" and trying to beat his opponent using the exact same tactics. It's that pride and sense of ownership over the destiny of each wrestler's own destiny and his opponent's destiny that mirrors Funk/Flair in a rivalry, but at the same also easily exceeds it. MS1 makes the first pin attempt of the final fall, showing his goal since the beginning was always to start and finish the match on his own terms, but Chicana will have none of it and kicks out. Desperation sets in as MS1 makes the first real attempt at a wrestling move in the match and tries to cradle Chicana, but he kicks out again! So he tries a butterly suplex into a bridge and adds a third tope suicida tot he floor to try to win that little battle of wills. They're back in and the tope battle continues with Chicana taking MS1 outside and setting him up for the move yet again. Not to be outdone in the battle of who can be more stubborn, MS1 tries another top rope splash, but it costs him as Chicana moves and we have a *very* close nearfall with MS1 kicking out at the last millisecond. One of the better false finishes you'll ever see in a match. After they both fight to their feet, MS1 takes him down again and this time tries a senton bomb from the top rope but misses yet again, leaving him prone to a submission and defeat. Showing that the hate between these two will never die, Chicana can't help but take shots at MS1 while he's having his head shaved. This sounds like a giveaway statement, but it's one that should be made nonetheless. There were two things in place that made this match such a success -- MS1 and Sangre Chicana. I know, obvious, but had either guy not been able to fully deliver on his side of the match, the match would have felt lopsided and wouldn't be viewed 24 years later as the classic it is. Chicana displays some really brilliant selling that would have been meaningless had MS1 not been able to deliver a really ruthless attack. It's chemistry, and it's something that is sometimes hard to find in pro wrestling, even among great workers. Some wrestlers, like Flair and Steamboat, or Jumbo and Tenryu, or Misawa and Kawada, seem like they were born to wrestle each other. MS1 and Sangre Chicana should be talked about in that same category. This is an unbelievable match. It works well as a lucha libre introduction in some ways, with a catch. It works in that it's going to challenge the conventions of anyone who thinks Mexican wrestling is all highspots and WCW Monday Nitro-style specials. I think it's a great first lucha experience for a fan to have, and will definitely leave them wanting to see more. At the very least, the curiosity of the viewer will be piqued. The catch is that there are numerous styles within Mexican pro wrestling -- as you watch more, you'll notice there's a little of everything, such as heated brawls like MS1/Chicana, but also elements of the style that will remind you of everything from Stampede to All Japan to Memphis to Mid South to the NWA to Joshi. It's all here, and it's mostly beautiful. A wise man once told me to look at lucha libre not as a style, but as a description of wrestling from Mexico. It was good advice. MS1/Chicana is a classic rivalry, a rivalry that deserves to be talked about alongside any feud ever. It would be great to see more matches between the two to see what led them to this great moment, but even without that, this is pitifully easy to watch and enjoy, and I think any wrestling fan owes it to himself to see this. *****

One thing about the television format that I do think helped the ratings is going to most of commercial breaks on some type of cliffhanger. The few times they've done this since the glory days (they were doing it in every segment in 2003 when Kane lost his mask), the ratings have increased quite a bit. That's Television 101, really, but there's rarely a hook these days when they go to commercial.

As far as I know, there's no heat, but Hays always picked strange times to side with the heels over the babyfaces. It was never consistent.

Also, a December match has never won MOTY the following year to my knowledge, despite there being some cases (like '97) where a 12/96 match should have taken top honors. I don't think most of the voters remember to take that into consideration.

He's combining them? Yes, that's ridiculous. Fighters fight to win and wrestlers wrestle to entertain. WHY does Dave seem to have such a major problem accepting this?

I occasionally hear someone say they saw it at a bar, but I've yet to come across a bar that shows pro wrestling PPVs. I want to say that publicly showing PPVs is illegal here, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

As far as names, Rude's Brood was the coolest team name they ever had.

Sure.

I'm going to pin this. I'm also going to pick up all of these shows.

What got you into wrestling?

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks a million, Rudo!

I honestly think Giant Baba is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. The only reason something looking flimsy or fake matters is if it somehow affects a wrestler's ability to get over or have good matches that engage the audience. There's nothing about Baba that prevented him from having good matches or getting over. If you look at sheer volume of top-level matches and great performances, there are only a few guys he would fall below, and most of those guys were wrestlers he made stars anyway. In everything I have seen him in, Baba has always worked hard and always worked at having a match. He's huge and unlike many guys his size has never really been the type that thought he had a license not to sell as a result. I will admit to having only seen a few of his matches from the 60s and early 70s, and sometimes a small sampling can skew things better or worse than deserved, but Baba appears to have had a long prime full of good matches against a wide variety of opponents, and he was still capable of being an important part of a good match after his best days were over.

I'd say the following matches are musts: * Flair v Magnum - TBS 5/85 - the 10-minute $1,000 challenge match with Arn & Ole running in * Flair v Nikita -- Omni 10/29/85 - this was also on the Flair DVD. It has to be here at least in clipped form. The big angle that finally made Flair a full-blown heel after months of playing both sides and put the wheels in motion for the Horsemen * Flair v Morton -- highlights of the feud and a complete match would be nice, but it isn't necessary. But the Horsemen v Rock & Rolls was the first official Four Horsemen feud * highlights of Luger replacing Ole * War Games - Bash '87, already discussed * highlights of Luger being tossed, leading to Windham turn. I really think this match and angle deserves to be shown in full. The rest they can mix and match any singles, tags and six-mans from the era, but if they include it with all the stuff above, it should be a killer set regardless.

I have no idea what kind of questions to ask to get the answer I want, basically. I want to give it all a chance.

That's why comments are there. And I'll still post the match reviews in the appropriate place.

I know we harp on TNA a lot, but I think this is a valid point. Is there anyone in TNA -- anyone -- that has a successful track record in the past 10 years of putting together programs that draw money and also of producing consistently good matches for any sustained period of time? Serious question not intended to be a troll. Sting and Angle have both have had moderate success, and Nash was part of a big turnaround for WCW, but I'm talking everyone in terms of people both in and out of the ring. When I look at the whole TNA group, I don't really see a group of people that have a track record of success. Russo, for the purposes of this argument, should be excluded because we've already had that debate. Dutch Mantel had a strong run as a booker in Puerto Rico, but either what works there and here are night and day, or Mantel didn't bring what helped him become successful in Puerto Rico to TNA.

Unpinning since I moved this to my blog on this board.