Smack2k

You make me wanna quickly watch earlier in 2002 when for like three weeks Deacon Batista KILLED a brand new Randy Orton with that clothesline of his on Smackdown....

What an amazing show that was...I was pissed when it ended...I WANT MORE....You gotta do more details on the rest of the WWC feuds in the 80s - 90s, the underneath angles and other important happenings. I will be watching all PR this coming weekend...my plans to continue Jumbo's AWA title reign and get into Martel's have been put on hold!!!

Boricua, Could you do a write-up on Eric Embry's time and feuds / angles in Puerto Rico? LOVED the podcast with Kris Z and Dylan by the way...AMAZING.....you stopped my AWA / AJPW watching dead in its tracks and turned me back to WWC watching!!!

Yeah, it wasnt only Funk being more involved and taking away from it, the match never really got going or had a pace to it. It was very jumpy and didnt have any flow to it whatsoever and I hated the ending as it made Jumbo look weak holding on to Bock so he couldnt get back in the ring, saving the DCO only days after he beat Bock for the title. Looking forward to their March 84 match to see if it was better As for Robinson or Brunzell, I think watching them back to back really shows how much better the Robinson match was.

The Brunzell match finished like 20 spots higher than the Robinson match on the AWA set, so others agreed with you. I thought that Robinson brought a lot more fire to his match than Brunzell did, and Robinson also gave you the impression on several occasions that he was going to win the title. Robinson's technical skills really shown through as well and his European uppercuts looked amazing. I loved how the back injury he got early in the match when he fell over the top rope continued to be an issue the rest of the match and wasnt forgotten about as well.

Been going through Jumbo Tsuruta's AWA Title reign in 1984 this weekend... Jumbo © vs. Nick Bockwinkel - 2/26/84 - Japan - Rematch from Jumbo's win a few days earlier with Terry Funk as ref again. Not nearly as good as the title switch that I really like. Jumbo © vs. Blackjack Lanza - 3/4/84 - Chicago - Jumbo's US tour as AWA Champ begins. Not as bad a match as I was expecting and the Chicago crowd is HOT for this one..strange portion when Blackjack has his atomic noogie on Jumbo, Jumbo's arm drops three times when the ref checks it, but nothing is said or done and things just go on...thought it was an interesting spot. Jumbo © vs. Billy Robinson - 3/11/84 - Green Bay - This was REALLY good as Robinson brings the technical skills and the fire as the match goes on and gives Jumbo a hell of a match Jumbo © vs Jim Brunzell - 3/15/84 - St Lake City - This was an average AWA wrestling match to me, nothing special as Jumbo's reign continues. Brunzell's dropkick as always is a thing of beauty Next up, Jumbo goes back to Japan to face Bockwinkel again, then Greg Gagne, and a rematch with Jim Brunzell...

When it comes to Ole and Arn, my main thought is always "They are gonna call you out, kick your ass, and beat you down". No nonsense, tough motherfuckers that want nothing more than to maul their opponents and arent gonna back down like so many heel teams would do. Their interviews were great IMO, espeically Ole's parts of them. Even though he was older, he still had that demeanor about him that said "I am warning you to stay out of our way..if you dont, you are gonna lose a limb" Their locker room attack on Magnum and interview afterward is a perfect example of what they were all about. Their RNR Feud was excellent, and the cage match showed how bad ass Ole and Arn were. Ricky and Robert BARELY escaped with a fluke win after getting torn up by them so much so that it cost them the tag belts a few weeks later due to Ricky's arm being so fucked up.

This team wasnt that bad when they first got together in 89, they just fell so hard so fast. I enjoyed their tag title feud with the Steiners as they were the old guard with the belts and the new, stronger, 90's wrestlers were coming up and finally in Nov 89 ate them alive and took the tag titles. So from their getting together in Summer 89 - end of 89, they really werent that bad. Their work with their team in WarGames was decent enough as well. In 90, they started to fall fast, but also their spot on the card did. They had an OK mid-card feud with the RNR and that was their last gasp to me. After that, they werent much at all, and didnt look like they belonged anymore. Once end of 90 - 92 came, they were nothing, and shouldnt have sniffed the tag belts like they did in 91 even though it was VERY temporary. Hayes got heavy quickly, Jimmy got worse, they got like 10 people around them to try and prop them up, but it didnt matter, they were cooked. Not even a thought to me as a top 25 team.

The title win over Duncum and Lanza is a decent match to watch them work as a young, fluid team, tagging in and out and working as one. Being from 1977, the High Flyers looked ahead of their time and moved at a great pace. Check the match out. You can see an incredible improvement over their 1974 (?) match with Bock and Stevens from TV (where Larry Hennig turns face). The High Flyers are a vastly underrated team that deserves some more attention.

Watched this for the first time in a LONG time last night. Those cage shots were incredible, all 4 of them took the cage hard, but man, Greg Gagne just gets tossed hard into that cage and takes a hard bump each time afterward. You nailed the match perfectly, so I wont do that but some thoughts from me: Blackwell's bump near the end over the turnbuckle into the cage and then down to the floor was nasty and amazing to see for such a big dude. Watching Verne jump in and go nuts on the Sheik and try to get at Blackwell for attacking Greg two on one was pretty cool to see and the crowd ate it up BIG time. Blackwell and Sheik were a GREAT heel team and they were HATED by that crowd. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but wouldnt go as high as you, I'd say ***1/2 myself.

From all the PWUSA shows in 84 - 85, what good TV matches are worth seeking out? I have all the shows, but looking for some ideas of what to watch instead of going through it all as I dont want to watch all the jobber matches...

Just watched this and LOVED it...Tenryu's lariats on Anjo (both of them near the end) were awesome.. Anjo is such an asshole, its great to watch and there was a point I though Tenryu might tap out, but not to be.. Anjo's dickhead antics and pissed off Tenryu worked great together...I wanted to punch Anjo in the face!

Watched this last night for the first time in years and HOLY SHIIT is it awesome...there are some STIFF fuckin shots in this one...Shawn's early stuff looked really good, including his cross body over the top onto Vader that looked great and looked like it hurt. Ahmed's clothesline on Vader about 2/3 of the way through to save Shawn from a pin is AJPW type shot (He CRUSHED him with it). Ahmed's spine buster and pearl river plunge on Davey didnt look good as Davey landed on his shoulder both times, but that's Ahmed for you, and it still looked great. All of Vader's stuff looked great, stiff and typical good Vader. Sid was awesome in his limited action and man did he relish being a babyface, and the crowd ate him up. Sid's clotheslines looked great and hard as hell. Owen and Shawn's interractions were really good as usual. Even the end was great, as Cornette holds Shawn's feet and Vader fuckin buries Shawn with a splash in the corner, leading to the Vader bomb and the win... The only negative was how fast Shawn recovered from the splash and Vader bomb post-match to do the plancha onto Vader.... Really Really good match...

Great show Parv....I'm making sure my BetaMax got the footage complete and in great condition as I wanna see this one again!! The dish got the show, just hoping the BetaMax recorded right.. Damn, Snuka has become unreal as the champion....he is having phenominal matches with anyone...wonder if he just had a jobber match on TV if it would still get a B- region grade...that dude is MONEY, and getting other ready for him can only mean good things! Love the tag title going to a draw....that feud is now in high gear.... Wonder what would have happened if you jobbed out Bruno again to Ted??

Way to go El Boricua... OK Parv, lets go!!

Best? - To me, easy: NOTHING better for a wrestling music video BAD? Here's a shit cover of the same song:

Foley getting tossed off the cell at KOR 98 as I was 6 rows back in the section where he hit the table...that visual you see on TV me and my buddy got to see live...it was crazy. The crowd didnt know what to do at first...some were cheering, some were shocked, some were actually booing that the match was already over and went to quick...When Foley comes back out, the pop was amazing... And then the choke slam through the top, being ring level you could really see how hard he hit that mat and the chair knock him out....again, we were all just mystified by it. Seeing the cell raised with Taker on top while they were checking from grond level was a cool site too.... Also Random Nitro in 99 in State College as another buddy of mine tried to jump at Gene Okerlund as we had 4 seats tight on the aisle way and Gene made a Penn State joke to us as he walked by (which was cool cause he stopped to talk to us), but my drunk ass buddy went to dive and we had to grab him before he could..moron....Little note also from that show, the previous night, Stevie Ray and Brian Knobbs were at the Allen Street Grille (PSU Alums know where I mean) eating a table away from us, so we talked with them for a while....they left NO TIP for the waitress....assholes.....always remember that. One Final one for me.. RAW in State College in 2000 when Jericho "beat" HHH for the WWF Title...I was a HUGE HHH fan at the time and the people were all over me when that change happened (we had amazing seats near the black rails around the ring....that was WAY better in person as that crowd went NUTS when Jericho won...seeing HHH get it back later was cool to....also, Edge and Christian came out of the crowd right beside us, which was pretty bad ass to...

Where did you find HD TV in 1983?? You must have the hook-ups for that shit.... Now I feel all cheap with my 20 ft round 80's dish here.....

I'm adjusting my big-ass dish in the backyard in preparation for Summerslam.....

Great link Parv, thanks a ton.... Saito / Bockwinkel were a underrated team that just didnt last that long, but man I loved them together... Parv nailed all the good stuff in his post above... Saito's AWA title win vs. Larry Z is a match I enjoy as well and that is in 1990, so Saito had staying power as well...