JerryvonKramer

What match was this? I might drop in at some point later.

Just spotted this, Terry vs. Bock from 83: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waV8hjefiBo Courtesy of "the man".

Dory vs. Bock from 1980, 30 mins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQIJkX0KUjE From "the man".

It wasn't just Hogan fucking over WCW though, everyone did it. Savage did it. Nash. Hall. Sid. Every fucker who was there. If Vince had been in control, none of it would have ever happened. Vince had basically the SAME locker room and it didn't happen. There were politics and backbiting, sure, and issues and problems -- but Vince was the boss, and if push came to shove, guys were shown the door (straight to WCW). Bischoff and WCW management much much more to blame for everything in WCW than Hogan. Was Hogan a selfish asshole? Yes. Did Hogan think more about himself than the interests of his company? Yes. Was Hogan also the biggest star in the history of wrestling? Yes. Should he have done more jobs? Probably as a heel, he should have. Should he have put over Sting clean? Definitely. But these are little things. Overall, he just behaved exactly as you would expect someone in his position to. Vince always knew these things. He understood "the boys". He understood Hogan. Kevin Sullivan understood those things too, but Kevin Sullivan wasn't the boss. Even Eric Biscoff wasn't "the boss". There were a million bosses. TNA? lol

Also, Bruce, any more Funks in the 70s? Terry Funk's NWA title run has very little footage that I've seen. I am probably the biggest Dory fan around too, so would be cool to see anything from those guys. Dick Slater too. Just a stud worker, I'd love to see more of.

^ I should say though (to Bruce) that *most* fans are not really like us and won't be familar with a lot of Mid-South, so it is GREAT that all of that stuff is up and a huge amount of it none of us have seen before too. I've still not watched the Fantastics vs. MX match, but it's stuff like that that has made the service GOLD.

I am admittedly more excited by the 70s / early 80s material, just because a lot of us are familiar with Mid-South era, whereas the older stuff I feel like there are a small handfull of guys who have really sought it out and so much of that comes from Japan or else garbage tapes / duplex reels without sound / crappy Omni clips etc. The prestine condition of the Andre / Race match suggests that whatever 70s stuff is there is going to look good -- and it's the prospect of other people discovering workers from that period -- as well as seeing more footage myself of course -- that excites me most.

Wow, how much did Ivan crop up in Houston?

What was this?

Bruce, if you are around, did you see a lot of Ray Stevens as a kid? A lot of the old timers talk about Stevens as if he was the greatest wrestler ever to lace them up, but from everything I've seen he hasn't been all that at all -- he already seems like he's past it in the mid-70s, and Bockwinkel seems like he was carrying that team. Just interested if you saw much of him or have any views?

Blaming Hogan is like blaming a lion who bites your hand off if you put it in its mouth. It's not Hogan's fault. If the inmates take over the asylum you can't blame the inmates.

I'm not involved in this, but would like people to praise Yatsu.

Mil jobbed?!

In terms of his overness you have to see late 70s stuff, but I'd go along with his late WCW run being more satisfying that early 80s, especially his All Japan runs. Steamer was kinda boring in Japan. And, well, WWF is WWF.

WWF at The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ August 23rd, 1983 Your host is Gorilla Monsoon. Gary Michael Capetta with the introductions. Gorilla: Jammed packed to the rafters here at The Meadowlands, we have a sell-out crowd for one LOADED event. It is a-happening. WWF Intercontinental Champion, Ricky Steamboat, takes on Macho Man Randy Savage once again. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race takes on the man of a thousand masks, Mil Mascaras. Bob Backlund faces Dick Murdoch in a loser-leaves-town CAGE MATCH, only pinfalls and submissions can win! WWF Heavyweight Champion, Nick Bockwinkel takes on The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, who has set his heart on ending Bockwinkel’s reign of evil here. And in our special main event, WWF Tagteam Champions Jack and Jerry Brisco take on their oldest and most hated rivals THE FUNKS, Dory Funk Jr, and Terry Funk, it’s set to be a barnburner. It’s WWF at THE MEADOWLANDS. And now over to the world’s most dangerous announcer, Gary Michael Captetta! Ricky Steamboat © vs. Macho Man Randy Savage for the WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: The match ended in a no-contest with both men brawling to the back at the 15:00 mark. The match was worked at a phenomenal pace, with Steamboat hitting EIGHT arm drags in the early going, and Savage coming back with a flurry of suplexes and moves from the top rope. They both tumbled outside the ring when Savage was going for an elbow drop and Steamboat beat him down. He went for a superplex only for Savage to break free and throw Steamboat down to the outside. He dived from the top to the outside, and the two men brawled until they were both counted out. Quotation from announcer: “These two have been lighting up the ring for weeks now, and this one looks set to run and run. Has Steamboat met his match in Randy Savage?” Harley Race © vs. Mil Mascaras for the NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Mascaras defeated Race by count out, after Race accidentally head-butted the ring post in 16:40. This was a spirited match with both men using a variety of strikes and throws, a less technical match than their previous encounter. Quotation from announcer: “Mil Mascaras, of course, famous around the world, and especially in Mexico. Harley Race a world-class competitor, who wears that title with pride.” Bob Backlund vs. Dick Murdoch, Loser-leaves-town Cage Match Cappetta: “And by order of WWF President Mr. Shinma, Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan have been barred from ringside!” Match: Backlund made Murdoch submit in 17:55 with a sleeperhold after Murdoch had passed out through excessive blood and his arm dropped for a third time. This match was a very wild brawl, with both men taking multiple shots to the cage. At one point Murdoch gave Backlund THREE piledrivers in a row, but he wouldn’t stay down and Mudoch seemed demoralised. Backlund came back with real brutality and rammed Murdoch’s head repeatedly into the cage, and then punched him repeatedly in the face until it was a bloody mess. Blood was splattered all across the ring as Murdoch passed out. Quotation from announcer: “This match has been a long time coming, and something has SNAPPED in Bob Backlund! Someone needs to stop this match before we have a police case on our hands here. This is legalised murder! Backlund is going to kill him! Bobby enough!! If Murdoch takes another punch to the face … SLEEPER!! And that’s it! Dick Murdoch is outta here, he’s history. But boy, did he take a beating here. BACKLUND, one step closer to Nick Bockwinkel” INTERVAL as the ring is cleaned up and cage removed. Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Dusty Rhodes for the WWF Heavyweight Championship Bockwinkel is accompanied to the ring by Bobby Heenan Match: Dusty Rhodes won by countout in 13:40 after Nick Bockwinkel picked up his title and left the arena. The match saw Dusty light up the crowd with bionic elbows, and his usual jiving antics. Bockwinkel was not able to get much offense in, and what he did execute, Dusty quickly countered or reversed. Bobby Heenan tried to interfere many times, but was ejected at 6:45 by referee Mario Savoldi. Soon after, Blackjack Lanza came running to ringside, but he too was evicted by Salvodi! After a nearfall, Bockwinkel bailed, grabbed his belt and left. Dusty was left in the ring shocked and appalled, and the crowd were incensed, booing loudly and throwing rubbish into the ring. Quotations from announcer: “That no-good snake Heenan up to his old tricks … and he’s outta here. Referee says he’s gotta go and GOOD RIDDANCE!” “Who’s this now? That stooge, that creep Blackjack Lanza here to do Heenan’s bidding. Why can’t Bockwinkel fight fair?” “And ha, ha! Lanza is outta here too! Mario Salvoldi should win referee of the year for this if you ask me.” “Dusty Rhodes now! With a cover. One, two … and, almost. Almost! Bockwinkel, now, rolls out of the ring. And … oh are you kidding me? GIMME A BREAK! He’s leaving! Nooo. No. Referee no! Ah, of all the, he’s just left? There’s got to be some sort of injunction against this sort of thing, he’s bringing the belt into disrepute. All these fans here, Dusty Rhodes. This cannot and should not be allowed to contine!” SECOND INTERVAL as trash is cleared from the ring. Gorilla Monsoon is with Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk Gorilla: I’m standing here with the Funks, who are set to take on Jack and Jerry Brisco, the WWF Tag Team Champions, who had some very strong words for you two on Superstars this past weekend. Terry: JACCCKKK. JERRYYYYYY. Do you feel it? Do you feeeeellll that? That sensation right now is called adrenaline. And it’s what you yella bellied egg-sucking dogs is feeling as ya CACKED YA PANTS the minute you found out that me and ol’ Junior were riding into town. Let me give you a little history lesson .We whooped ya down in Amarillo. We whooped ya in Florida. We whooped ya in Atlanta. And you come hiding up here and boys we’re gonna whoop ya again! We’re gonna get us some lassos and tie ya down and whoop whoop whoop, that’s the sound an INDIAN makes when he’s crying and hollering and wishing that his daddy had never met his mommy so that he was never born! Ya talk about the figure-four Jack Brisco. Do you remember the spinning toehold? Spinning toehold! The move I used to end your reign as the world champion! The move Junior here used to beat Gene Kiniski in 1969. The move you see in your nightmares. The move that keeps you up on all those lonely nights. When you’re looking in the mirror, when you’re looking at that fat Indian nose across your face, boy. All you can think about again and again. Spinning toe hold ! Spinning toe hold! NEW World Champion Terry Funk. NEW TAG TEAM champions Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk. And when the kids in the crowd and crying their eyes out and the girls have lost their voices cos they can’t scream any more and the men are all in jail because they’ve tried to break down the barriers to get at me and Junior. And your lying in a puddle of your own blood. What are you going do Jack and Jerry? What are going do when The Funks walk out of here and prove to THE WORLD that there’s only one family in wrestling, ONE set of brothers in wrestling to end em all! Gorilla: Dory? Dory: Let’s go Terry. Jack and Jerry Brisco © vs. Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk for the WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Funks won the match after Jack Brisco made Terry Funk submit with the figure-four leglock but would not release the hold after 24:55. Early on, Terry Funk jawed something to Jack Brisco that seemed to put him over the edge. The match saw the Briscos gain advantage early working over Terry Funk. Fireman carry take over by Jack. Suplex. Jerry Brisco in with a dropkick and backbreaker. They worked over Terry’s back for several minutes. Eventually he hit a tag to Dory who came in with European uppercuts. He managed to isolate Jerry and hit a big delayed butterfly suplex. Terry had recovered by this point and they settled into a face in peril sequence, cutting the ring off with frequent tags in and out working over Jerry with a mixture of matwork and throws, they started to focus on the leg by alternating Indian deathlocks, and teased the spinning toehold several times. Eventually Dory hit the spinning toehold, but Jack came in to break it. Terry erupted in anger at this and dived at Jack with a brutal assault of jabs. The action went outside and Terry used a chair on Jack and then two on Jerry knocking him out. Back in the ring, and Jack Brisco, at this point bleeding from the chairshot, was a house of fire and levelled Terry with a shinbreaker. Dory came in to break up the momentum, and Brisco punched him clean in the face. The referee appeared to lose control as the Funks doubled teamed Jack with a double shoulder charge. Jack came back with a block shot on both Funks however taking out their legs. Jerry recovered outside the ring and got on the apron which distracted the ref. As his back was turned Terry charged into the ref, knocking him out and sending Jerry crashing back to the outside. Dory had a chair now and tried to hit Jack with it, who blocked the chair shot and gave him one back, sending Dory crashing to the outside. Terry tried to attack Jack from behind but got a chairshot too. And now Jack used the chair to stab and Terry’s leg, which Terry sold with agony and screams of pain. The ref was still out. Jack used a variety of kneedrops and chair shots on Terry’s leg before applying the figure-four. The ref came too and Terry submitted. But Jack would not let go, shouting in anger as Terry screamed in pain. “LET GO! LET GOoooo” Jack applied the hold even more intensely. Referees and officials streamed out from the back to try to get him off. Dory recovered and tried to get him off, but Jerry cut him off and the two of them brawled. Terry continued to scream in pain. “LET GO DAMMN YOU!” Jack wrenched and wenched the figure-four, it was as if Terry’s knee might come out of its socket. Eventually, he let go, and Terry writhed around in agony in the middle of the ring. EMTs had to come out with a stretcher to carry Terry away, and Dory looked on with a mixture of shock and anger. He went for Jack several times only for security and various referees to hold him back. Dory punched two referees out. And threw a security guard out of the ring. But there were two many of them. Jack Brisco, face bloodied, and sweating with sheer aggression, put his tag belt over his shoulder and tried to go for Dory. Jerry at this point was trying to hold his brother back. Dory started shouting “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Quotation(s) from announcer: “Terry Funk has said something to Jack Brisco that seems to have put him into overdrive. This is an Oklahoma bull, and he’s seen red here. Of course, no love lost between Jack and Terry’s brother, Dory, who go back a long, long way. I don’t know if any men hate each other more in all of wrestling than the Briscos hate the Funks, and vice versa.” “Jack Brisco! With the chair!! Oh not like this Jack! FIGURE-FOUR!! And that’s it surely. Referee is up, and forget about it, he’s done. Terry Funk has submitted. But Brisco isn’t releasing the figure-four! Jack!!! Someone needs to speak to him, he’s lost it here!” “Jack Brisco STILL with the figure-four applied. He’s going to break his leg! That could end a man’s career! Jack Brisco wants to put Terry Funk out of wrestling for good! Whatever he said at the start of this match, seems to have really upset Brisco here.” “And look at Dory now!! He wants Jack Brisco bad! It’s pandemonium here! Referees all lost control, this is madness!” “Dory now!! Jack wants a piece of him still. Well, as much as I’m not a fan of his tactics, I have to say that I hope Terry Funk is going to be able to walk again. And by the looks of Dory, I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this, not by a long shot!” “Breath-taking night here at the Meadowlands”

WWF @ Phoenix, AZ - 8/19/83 Card included Baron Mikel Scicluna vs. Dominic Denucci and Mr. Fuji vs. SD Jones. WWF @ Johnstown, PA - Cambria County War Memorial Arena 8/18/83 Bob Backlund defeated Victor Rivera and Jose Luis Rivera in a two-on-one handicap match after he made Victor Rivera submit to the crossface chickenwing in 14:55 WWF Tag Team Champions Jack and Jerry Brisco defeated Abdullah the Butcher and The Sheik by DQ in 7:33 after Abdullah the Butcher threw a chair into the ring. NWA Wolrd Heavyweight Champion Harley Race defeated Mil Mascaras by countout in 18:00 Also on this card: there was a Women's battle royal involving The Fabulous Moolah.

WWF at Agricultural Hall in Allentown, PA (TV Taping for WWF Challenge) Aug 17th, 1983 Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Superstar Graham. Joe McHugh: Promoted by Phil Zacko. Supervised by the State Athletic Commission, the honourable JJ Benz Chairman. And Francis Walker is the Executive Secretary. And the officials assigned: Deputy Commission Peter Lash. The doctor in attendance at ringside, Dr George Zahorian. The timekeeper at the bell: Mike Griffin. The referees for this hour of wrestling: Billy Capouto, Alberto Roman, Dick Woehrle. And my name is …. Jooeeeeeeeeee McHugh! Bret Hart vs. Victor Rivera Match: Hart wins in 7:50 with a sharpshooter. He dominated most of the match with Rivera only getting in token offense. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Gorilla) “I called this man, the excellence of execution, Superstar” (Graham) “You always did have a way with words Gorilla, brother. And this kid is surely going to be a big star some day” Recap of events at Boston Garden, including clips of Steamboat vs. Savage, Briscos vs. Hansen and Brody, Backlund vs. Murdoch and JYD vs. Bockwinkel. Runs for 20:00 Dean Ho vs. "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty Match: Ho pins The Goon in 9:22 after a karate palm thrust. This match was so slow it resembled a glacier drifting past the Titanic. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Gorilla) “What a night at the Boston Garden this past week. If you ask me Nick Bockwinkel should be stripped of the WWF title, because him and that weasel Bobby Heenan are giving everyone the run-a-round here. Junk Yard Dog just the latest in a long line of people they have swindled out of that title, Superstar” (Graham) “Well, Monsoon, I can’t condone their tactics, brother, but I know from experience that when you are that champion everyone wants a piece of you, and it’s by hook or by crook, brother. You know what I mean? You got to do what it takes to stay on top, and that’s why Nick Bockwinkel is the champion right now, whether we like or not.” (Gorilla) “Well I think it’s STINKS. Week after week now, we’ve been watching them two give poor Bobby Backlund the slip while cheating and hoodwinking every challenger Mr. Shinma has thrown at them. Not to mention the attacks on myself and Kal Rudman, who was in hospital for two weeks Superstar. Can you really say that was necessary?” (Graham) “Well some of their actions have sickened me to the pit of my stomach, and I’ll be the first one to say that none of that is necessary. But as a former champion, I can’t condemn a man for doing what he thinks is best for his own business.” Dr. Death Steve Williams and Bobby Eaton vs. The Animals (George Steele and Crazy Luke Graham) Match: Williams pins Steele in 10:33 after a splash. Williams and Eaton showed excellent teamwork in the body of this match-up. Steele and Graham did their usual confusion over tag rules. Quotation(s) from announcers: “I tagged with Luke Graham many times over the years, Monsoon, he’s my brother, don’t you know brother?” “In all those times, Superstar, did you ever explain to him the rules of tag wrestling?” “He ain’t as dumb as he seems, Gorilla, although if you put him in there with George Steele and make him the brains out of the outfit, maybe it’s like uh … y’know contagious” “Steve Williams and Bobby Eaton with another impressive win here on Challenge!” WWF at Agricultural Hall in Fieldhouse in Hamburg, PA (TV Taping for WWF Superstars) Aug 18th, 1983 Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura Vince: WWF SUPERSTARS!!!! YES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I’m Vince McMahon and with me as always, Jesse “The Body” Ventura! Jesse is wearing a peacock feather in the side of a bandana and a leopard-skin jacket. The feather sticks 5 or 6 feet into the air. He’s also wearing a pair of shakes. Vince can barely look at him without cracking up. Vince: And Jesse, might I say that you’re the picture of sartorial elegance tonight … Jesse: McMahon, please, you’re going to be sarcastic about MY fashion sense? Mr. WWF Red Jacket? Mr. Always Wears the Same Boring Blazer? Why don’t you talk about something you have a clue about? I don’t know what subject that would be though, since it’s evident to me that you also have no clue about WRESTLING or anything else. You’re a joke a man! Vince: A bit defensive aren’t we Jesse? Jesse: Why don’t you get to the first match? As if it wasn’t painful enough to spend an hour in your company, I have to stand here and be insulted by you as well? Vince (smiling): Let’s go to Howard Finkel. Baron Mikel Scicluna vs. Tommy Rogers Match: Scicluna wins with a handful of tights in 11:23. He used a hidden foreign object throughout, but the main body of the match saw him on the back foot, with Rogers dominating much of the action. The finish saw Rogers hit a flying crossbody, but his momentum brought Sciclina on top who then grabbed the tights in a fortuitous win. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Vince) “The Baron using a lot of … questionable tactics.” (Jesse) “No don’t you be questioning Baron Scicluna. He needs to do what it takes to win. What business is it of yours how he does it?” (Vince) “Well, he hasn’t exactly been having a lot of success with it lately …” (Jesse) “You leave the poor Baron alone. Look at THAT! Close fist from Tommy Rogers! That should be an instant disqualification McMahon!” (Vince) “So it’s alright when Baron Scicluna does it?” (Jesse) “The Baron makes sure the referee can’t see, there’s a difference!” (Vince) “It’s called cheating Jesse … (Jesse) “You’re so blinkered and biased McMahon, you’re impossible!” (Vince) “Rogers with the crossbody!!! One, two, and ohnowhat’s this. HEGOTHIM!” (Jesse) “AHA! NO! Baron Scicluna thinking quickly turns the cover over for the three count. That’s called being a veteran. That’s smart!” (Vince) “That’s lucky more like.” Recap of events at Boston Garden, including clips of Steamboat vs. Savage, Briscos vs. Hansen and Brody, Backlund vs. Murdoch and JYD vs. Bockwinkel. Runs for 20:00 Ole Anderson vs. SD Jones Match: Anderson wins by pinfall after a flying kneedrop from the top rope in 8:45. Anderson dominated for the most part, but Jones did mount a brief comeback to some murmurs from the crowd at around the 7-minute mark. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Vince) “So Jesse, I suppose he condone the actions of the WWF Champion, Nick Bockwinkel, and his manager, Bobby Heenan this past week at the Boston Garden?” (Jesse) “Well, the first thing I want to say McMahon, is that the match between Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat and Macho Man Randy Savage is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It was a real treat for the wrestling fans, y’know.” (Vince) “Yes, Jesse, it was a fine match, but what about this business with Bockwinkel and Heenan yet again? First they interfered in Backlund’s match with Dick Murdoch, giving him a terrible beating, and then they cheated the Junkyard Dog out of the title!” (Jesse) “McMahon, listen to yourself. Do you know what ‘naivete’ is? Do you know what that means?” (Vince) “Of course …” (Jesse) “Well that’s what you are. You’ve got to get real in this world. Bobby Heenan and Nick Bockwinkel are going to protect their business interests. That means doing what is takes.” (Vince) “How does using a pair of brass knucks on Bob Backlund represent that in any way? What business did Bockwinkel even have being out there when he was facing Murdoch? He had his own match to attend to.” (Jesse) “You don’t understand strategy McMahon. There’s tactics and then there’s strategy. Heenan and Bockwinkel are playing a long game of chess with Backlund and currently, he looks like he’s about to find himself CHECK MATED, AHA!” (Vince) “Ole Anderson there with an impressive win over SD Jones …” Vince McMahon is with Jack Brisco and Jerry Brisco now Vince: Gentlemen, you have fended off some very tough customers defending your WWF tag titles these past few weeks: Steve Williams and Bobby Eaton, The Andersons, Abdullah the Butcher and The Sheik, Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody. Next week at the Meadowlands you’ll be squaring off against a team with whom you have a lot of history, THE FUNKS. How do you prepare for a match like that against rivals who you know so well. Jack: Well Vince, I want to tell you this. First of all, Dory Funk Jr, you know that wherever you are, wherever you go, you won’t be able to duck me. Bringing that lunatic brother of yours up here to New York, you think you’re going to be able to hide from me? You’ve been hiding from me since 1973 boy. And it doesn’t matter if it’s in a tag match with Jerry here, or in singles matches, but I’ve been waiting for that receipt for a decade. And you know what I’m talking about boy. Jerry: The Funks. The Briscos. When you look up tagteam wrestling. When you look up Family Feud. When you WANNA KNOW THE MEANING OF HATRED. You see Brisco vs. Funk up in that headline. And Jack here is right: these Texas boys been duckin and cheatin us for as long as we been around. IT’S GONNA END. And we’re gonna end it right there in that squared circle. Jack: JUNIOR, BOY, JUNIOR. You ain’t got no daddy makin’ excuses for ya in 1983. I’m break ya leg. You’re gonna feel why the figure four made me the world champion! You’re gonna know the meaning of pain. And New Jersey is a long way from Amarillo boy. You ain’t got nowhere to run. No daddy cry to. Jerry: The Briscos never forget. Oklahoma has never forgotten. And by the time we’re through with you, Vince McMahon here and all of these fans in the WWF will never forget!!! Vince: Well you heard it here, ladies and gentlemen, Jack and Jerry Brisco will defend their WWF Tag Team Championships against Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk on August 23rd at The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey! Tickets still available! But be quick, because they are selling like hotcakes! Ricky Steamboat © vs. Mr. Electricity Steve Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Steamboat wins after a frogsplash in 8:44. Steamboat impressed with armdrags early on, until Regal went to the eyes and say in a chinlock during the middle portion of the match until Steamboat came back with a delayed vertical suplex and frogsplash from the top for three. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Jesse) “I have to give credit where credit is due, Ricky Steamboat is very impressive. But I don’t see him beating the Macho Man at the Meadowlands next week” (Vince) “And as you heard in that explosive interview with The Briscos there fans, Tag team championships also on the line as they take on The Funks” (Jesse) “And McMahon, they are speaking the truth: you will never forget it when the Funks and the Briscos lock up in that squared circle!” (Vince) “MEADOWLANDS, AUGUST 23rd!”

Attempting "the new discipline": an hour a day. New Japan 3.1 Tiger Mask, Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Baby Face, Dynamite Kid & Abdullah the Butcher (1/8/82) Heel team feel wildly incongruous here. This is a hot match marked by some real contrasts of style. Abdullah was sort of avoiding Inoki who was gunning for him. Baby Face was working as a classic wrestling heel, bumping big and throwing bombs. Tiger Mask brought a lot of flash and Dynamite worked a million miles an hour. Fun spectacle, though ironically (given what they were going for) the match I came out wanting to see most was Fujinami vs Baby Face. 2/3 falls probably a bit long for a six man like this, but FIP sequence on Tiger Mask was good and heel beatdown on Inoki great too. Wahoo McDaniel randomly comes out kicking ass to make the save. You'll always get post-match shenanigans a plenty with Abby around. ***1/2 New Japan 3.2 Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (1/28/82) So, you might have heard that these two can go. That's certainly true. Dynamite has some very good selling and little heel wrinkles in his work, at one point he sneaks his hand down Tiger Mask's tights for additional leverage, then denies knowledge of it, shades of Jim Breaks or The Destroyer. This match has a lot of your turn, my turn suplexes, but is also full of some very fun mat exchanges. DK tries to headstand out of a headscissors, Tiger Mask piledrives him from that position. Another time we gets Breaks style joint work by Tiger Mask, which is not what I particularly expect from him. This is a bombfest with moments of matwork. Not exactly a psychological masterpiece but I dug it. It was helped a good bit by DK's character work and level of intensity throughout. Tiger Mask felt less sloppy here than he has in earlier matches, and less flashy / more substantive in his offense. ****1/2 New Japan 3.3 Tiger Mask vs. Bret Hart (2/5/82) This is the actual Bret Hart, whose punches and movements are identical to his WWF self from a few years later. Tiger Mask is a bit like a wrestling Catherine Wheel, fizzes and twirls brightly, but ultimately a lot of what he does feels ephemeral. I feel a similar way about Rey, of course, and this is partly just a bias on my part against juniors / high flyers. With that said, this settles down into being quite an interesting encounter. Bret is very solid. He's methodical and ground based, but feels a lot like Bret from later in the 80s to me. A lot of this match is built around Tiger Mask working on Bret's leg, and his selling is fantastic, almost Flair-like at times because he is very vocal. They hit piledrivers almost for fun in this style, but you just have to accept that I think. I really enjoyed this match. The execution on everything was crisp. Bret gave as good as he has at this time. The missile drop kick by Tiger Mask that led into the finish was really great. Probably one of Bret's top five matches of the 1980s, some fine work here. I'd put it on par with the DiBiase match from 1989. ****

What are your thoughts on the OP Chad? WWF vs. WCW 95?

Les probably the best guest to date.

Savage stuff was interesting on this show. Puts Vince's view of him in 94 in a whole different light.

Again, we don't have any great insight into him sticking with something he set his mind on. We don't really know how far into the future he plotted stuff out. It's clear that he had elements of 1993 blocked out in Carny '93 and coming out of it. But everything through the rest of the year? Not terribly clear. I am talking on a more macro level, such as when to pull the trigger on a certain guy going over against the ace. See Jumbo, Tenryu, Kawada, Kobashi, etc. There is reason to believe Misawa was rushed because of Tenryu's exit.

It's a fair statement, but to me it's not surprising. I am a computer engineer. I have been working with the same technology for a decade and a half - basically my entire professional life. When I am home the last thing that I want to do is to study other technologies, to read about technology or to have anything to do with computers other than to fool around like most regular people do (internet, email, etc.). I don't see why wrestlers should be expected to be different to regular people. I will say that it seems shocking at first that Ric Flair didn't know that Steve Austin was the Ringmaster before Stone Cold, or that Sting hadn't seen the Montreal Screwjob until many years after the fact (even though he obviously knew about it). However, when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. These guys literally live and breathe wrestling, I assume that whatever free time they have they want to spend it with friends, family, girlfriends, fishing, hunting or at the bar... not watching wrestling tapes. There's that famous Terry Funk quote: if I was a plumber I wouldn't want to watch somebody else fixing a toilet and doing a lousy job, or even worse, fixing a toilet better than me. This makes sense but Funk's analogy could be picked apart pretty easily. Plumbing isn't an entertainment form meant to be watched. Do actors not watch movies? Actors not having seen all the movies is a common problem during Oscar season. That's why the compaigning by the likes of Harvey Weinstein has been so effective, sometimes it's just a case of getting the voters to actually watch the stuff.

Mulkeymania?