JerryvonKramer

Just speaking for my own usage in reviews, "technical" wrestling refers to a style, mat-based, clean breaks, sticking to the rules, working a gameplan, generally fewer strikes and more holds. Treating wrestling like a fair sporting contest. This is "technical" wrestling. Lou Thesz was a technical wrestler. Verne Gagne was a technical wrestler. Using a closed fist, punching and kicking, bending or stretching the rules. Treating wrestling as a fight -- all of this sort of thing would come under "brawling". Abdullah the Butcher is a brawler. The confusion comes when you have guys like Race, Flair, Jumbo and so on from the late 70s onwards who worked a more bomb-heavy style. Emphasis on bumping and moving and motion and throws. This is not "technical" work in the strictest sense, in my view, but what you might call a more "workrate heavy" style. Work rate being the extent to which guys are throwing themselves around. This is the style fathered by Race, Flair and Terry Funk, among others. I think Billy Robinson is more like this too, even though he excelled at "techincal" work. Then you have "high flyers". Then you have, for lack of a better term, "WWF main event types", which is somehow none of the above. Think Hogan. I guess the point of this post was that in my mind "technical" does have a very firm definition.

Watch Dick Slater later in his career and you'll see what I'm talking about. Here he was emulating Funk only to the extent that any gajin junior partner in AJ would emulate the senior to fit in with the team (see also, Ted or Gordy with Hansen). Slater is not emulating crazy Terry as he would do later.

Last match before I have to go: Terry Funk and Ted DiBiase vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Ray Candy (5/1/80) I don't think I've ever seen DiBiase in All Japan prior to the tour in 1983, so this is a real treat for me. This wouldn't be that long after Ted's WWF run. He had actually started with Watts in Mid South, and was also still working spots for the dying Amarillo some. He'd been to AJ before in 77 and 78, but as far as I know, we don't have him on tape there. Funk gives Ray Candy a piledriver on the concrete while Abby mauls Ted and slams his head on a table. Abby gives Funk a back suplex in the ring as Ted nails Candy with a chair. Spinning toehold on Abby. Is he going to tap? Is he fuck. Candy breaks the hold. Ted brings a chair into the ring. Double headbutts by the heels on Funk. Spinning toe hold on Candy. He escapes, but Funk gets the inside cradle for the pin. Bobby Jaggers comes in the ring for some reason and Funk punches him until he leaves. Random. Jaggers goes to walk away with Abby and he slams his head into the post! Ha ha. This was pretty much a cluster fuck but cool to see Ted in AJ so early on. *1/2

Terry Funk vs. Rocky Hata (4/10/80) Hata really does have a naff look. Absolutely nothing about him says "star". He looks like an overgrown student who has just got out of bed. Sort yourself out Hata, you're a disgrace! Anyway, roly poly to start. Funk takes over and moves through the gears of his offense. I always like guys hitting two or three of their signature moves in a row. I love stretches of offense like that. Hata breaks it with some slaps. Piledriver by him. Funk comes back with a shinbreaker. Hata applies a headlock. Second shinbreaker by Terry. Spinning toe hold! spinning toe hold! And that's it. Post-match, Abby runs in with a chain. Seems like it doesn't matter who Funk is facing, Abby will run in after the match and beat him up. He wraps the chain around his throat and chokes him out. I seem to recall Funk mentioning this angle in his book. Terry is bloodied. Six young boys hit the ring to try to get Abby off. DiBiase comes out to check on Terry who is convulsing after the attack. Neat threads, Teddy. Height of fashion for 1980 that. They try to revive Terry with water, he seems like he's having an epileptic fit. Dick Slater is out now as well. Terry is swinging wildly now, doesn't know where he is. Notice how Jumbo is not out to help, neat detail. It might have been post-match Abby attack number 243 but this one was quite memorable. Not only for the attack, but also for Terry's outrageous OTT selling antics. Every Terry Funk match I see, I feel like I'm seeing at least one small thing I've never seen before. Match itself was a solid competitive squash against an average opponent. Post-match compelling. Seems impossible to give any Terry match in this setting less than ... *** Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Tiger Toguchi (4/12/80) Tiger Toguchi is Kim Duk aka Tiger Chung Lee aka the guy you can see in The Golden Child and Red Heat. Funk and Slater cut off the ring well and isolate Toguchi. Slater looks good here, his execution is great, he works at a good pace. His and Funk's sequence on offense against Toguchi was a joy to watch. At this point in his career, Slater wasn't yet a Terry Funk knock off. I think that was a fair bit later. Here he has some similar moves, but just seems like a smooth worker to me. His vertical suplex and piledriver are both excellent. They basically destroy Toguchi in the first fall and pin him while jumbo watches on. This continues into the second fall. Toguchi is in desparate need of a tag, but it's a lot of fun watching these guys tear him apart. After watching so many Funks tags, it's interesting to see Terry as the senior parted on the team. Toguchi gets his tag and Jumbo comes in with three different suplex variations on Terry. Back, gut wrench, butterfly. Beautiful. He carries on. Tiger knee. Backbreaker, holds it. I think Jumbo is such a fantastic offensive worker. Especially when he had an opponent like Funk bumping around and selling everything perfectly. Slater in now and he eats some native double teaming. Shoulder breaker by Toguchi gets the second fall for 1-1. Brainbuster by Terry on Toguchi to start the third fall. This match has had a shit load of action and puts paid to any notion that All Japan in 1980 was matwork heavy. This has been a ton of bombs. Funk and Slater work over Toguchi some more. He comes back with slaps. Jumbo in. Boston crab. Funk accidentally nails Slater going for a double team. Atomic drop by Jumbo. A little comedy spot now as the gajins collide and hug each other, crowd laugh. Toguchi gets to work on Terry. He's looked perfectly fine in this match and hasn't brought it down one iota. Big argument with Joe Higuchi now who shouts very loudly at him. Awesome. Footage gets choppy in the last two minutes. But Terry starts his high pitch yelling and jabbing. Slater and Toguchi take an awkward tumble outside. Piledriver outside by Slater! All four men end up outside, I can see where this is headed ... Yep, the bell goes. Man, this was awesome. The Funk-Jumbo mini feud of April 80 looks like it was really heated and great. I loved this, as much as the singles match. Great great stuff. Slater looked awesome here, but man, Jumbo's doomsday stretch of offense on Terry was magnificent. Loved Funk and Slater tearing Toguchi a new one in the first fall too -- I watched Steiners vs. Fujinami and Iizuka again last night for WTBBP and I thought this match had some of the same intensity as that one, only without the recklessness. On balance, I enjoy them about the same. Seeing Slater here makes me even more gutted that we don't have more of his legendary team with Bob Orton Jr on tape. He looks fantastic. ****1/2 Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (4/18/80) Third of four Funk-Abby matches from the uploads. Says something about Terry's stardom in this period that he was feuding with Jumbo and Abby at the same time. Abby starts out on top here. Same old stuff, head butt, foreign object, dump, post. Terry of course is bleeding in no time. Abby has been more dominant here than in previous matches. Terry had blood in his right eye and seems half blinded. He goes to the eyes as an equaliser. Texas jabs. Fist drop onto the top of the head. And again from the top rope. More punches to the top of the head. Abby bleeding now. More fist drops. With respect to Mr. Funk, he's not Ted on these fist drops. Shinbreaker! Wow, Funk got Abby up for a shinbreaker. That's 400lbs! Pretty epic. Spinning toe hold! Spinning toe hold! Man, is Abby going to tap? No. Fans start chanting Terry Terry. Action goes outside. Funk rams a table into Abby. Both men very groggy. Abby posted. I think we're heading into double count outs-ville. Yep, I bought the ticket back at the table shot. Oh no, match is continuing. Ref surely wasn't counting. Back in and spinning toe hold! Is Abby going to tap? Come on tap! No. He rolls out of the ring. And takes the count out. They continue to fight. This was a good brawl and the best of the Abby matches so far. ***3/4

Terry Funk and Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Kintaro Oki (7/14/79) Abby's partner is named as Kim Li by the uploader, but the only record I can find of Terry tagging with Jumbo on this tour has Oki as the partner. Looking at images, it definitely looks like an older Oki. Abby was really begging around for partners when Sheik wasn't around. I reckon Tor Kamata was generally the best one for him. Jumbo and Oki start out and despite fire, Jumbo finds himself if trouble. Then Terry does and it looks like he's our FIP, which is generally good news. I might take that back about Kamata, because Oki looks mobile and decent. Jumbo is a very dynamic worker and it shines through during this match. Crowd is very hot for him and Terry, here. He even powers Abby over for a suplex. His elbow drops are great too. Jumbo was a terrific performer in the 70s, don't care what anyone says. This was a fun 15-minute match with your typical BS finish. It's almost a given if Abby is in the match. Jumbo outshone Terry a bit here. *** Terry Funk vs. Ray Candy (3/28/80) Ray Candy is a black guy, probably better known as Kareem Muhammed, one half of the Zambuie Express. He doesn't look as big as that here. More of a Rufus R. Jones type build. In fact, it looks like he was more or less a direct replacement for Jones on this tour. Why did Abby need to have a slightly out of shape black guy as his ally? He works over Funk with basic offense here. Stomps, headbutts, that sort of thing. Candy really doesn't look very good to me at all. Bearhug. The crowd solidly chants "Terry Terry" through most of this. I have no complaints about this structure, I makes absolutely perfect sense for the babyface to spend the majority of the match getting his arse kicked, and Terry is so good at bumping and selling that he can play that role perfectly. Big transition is when he hits a back suplex. Now the Texas jabs. Left sends Candy down. Body slam, leg drop. Still only two. Swinging neck breaker. Still just two. Thesz press! And that's three. Perfect structure, Terry great in all he does. Candy a very limited opponent. Post-match Abby sneaks in for a beatdown, but Dick Slater is out to make the save. *** Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (4/4/80) So what we see in context now is how much Jumbo was an ally to the Funks through their wars weigh Abby and the Sheik. So this is like a true babyface vs babyface match. At the start of this we get the end of some Abby and Ray Candy shenanigans against Funk, Slater, Jumbo and Baba. Slater looks like he was the regular Dory replacement on some of these tours. I'm guessing his was busy booking in the U.S.? Jumbo has different music from the theme we'd know from later on. Of course, Terry comes out to "Spinning Toe Hold". Jumbo is over, but Terry is more over is what I'd say from the fan reaction. He seems like a real superstar here. Early on Jumbo works a headlock. He is very expressive, crank it, uses his body weight well, it's a very good headlock, but it is still a headlock. Airplane spin from Terry, back suplex from Jumbo. Butterfly suplex. Side salto. Sets up for a second butterfly but seems to turn it into a modified abdominal stretch, that was an unusual spot. But I dug the offensive stretch before it. Crowd seems very solidly behind Terry. Big body slam by Jumbo. Knee drop and driving the knee into the back. Reverse chinlock in the Rick Rude manner, but he's really pulling on this. Wow, this is a great chinlock. And I'm not kidding. Structurally, Jumbo has been working de facto heel in this match. This is basically a heat sequence, and Terry is the face. While I don't think matwork is Jumbo's strongest suit, he's really cranked his holds in this match. Don't see how people could call him a bland worker when he has stuff like this in his locker. Most of the stuff after the chinlock, I can't really call because I don't know if those holds have names. Funk gets into a position to do his Indian deathlock. He does a series of squats before diving backwards. Cool Indian deathlock spot. Dory tends just to fall back multiple times, not seen the squats before. Jumbo escapes eventually and we get an exciting nearfall. He continues to sell the leg for a while after this. Strike exchanges now, and Terry gears up for his Texas jabs. Chop suey and stiff, culminating in Jumbo's Tiger knee. I don't care if it wasn't called the tiger knee, it's the exact move Sagat did. This sends Terry out of the ring. Piledriver by Jumbo now, and an awkward one. Two only. Another piledriver, and a a beautiful one. Two only. Great elbow drop by Jumbo. And a second. And a third. Backbreaker. He holds it over the knee. This has been pretty exciting. I've been popping for these nearfalls. Outside the ring and Terry misses a drop kick. Suplex by Jumbo. Two only! Massive back suplex by Terry. Cover gets two. He should have hooked the leg Jess. Now we get the Texas jabs. I'd say the crowd is 100% pro-Funk. Sunset flip! Two only! Butterfly suplex by Terry. Two only! Man, I'm into this. Cheap swivel nose stomp by Terry. Back slide by Jumbo. Two only! And the bell goes, time limit draw. Man this was awesome. Exciting, action, built tremendously to the end, escalation of intensity and bombs from the early mat work. And post-match we get a shoving match before the hand shake. Respect but an undercurrent of resentment bubbling under. They want to keep fighting, but the ref says no. I'm not sure how high I can go here, it doesn't have that definitive finish you want and a bit too much headlock for me in the early going, but it was sheer awesome from the reverse chinlock onwards. Loved it, loved it. I am unapologetically a mark for both guys. And I was popping for the nearfalls, which takes a lot to do these days. ****1/2

Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik (12/1/79) This comes directly after the Terry / Jumbo vs. Abby / Oki tag on the video, but didn't take place on the same day, even though the video makes it seem like they did. Abby is there and him and sheik ambush Dory on the way to the ring. So he's bleeding even before the match begins. This pisses Dory off, so he comes in fighting. Back and forth uppercuts and punches, before Sheik dumps Dory. Abby sneaks in an elbow drop on the floor, and I think the ref ejects him for that. Abby leaves escorted by a lot of young boys. But ... Sheik pins Dory! Oh my gosh. A SECOND Dory pinfall finish on this footage. You never see Dory getting pinned ever and now I've seen it twice in two days. He really is busted open heavily here. Oh right, it's 1-0, they are working two out of three falls. Sheik is just stabbing this cut with the pencil. Dory is bleeding a lot here. Sheik is cheating so openly I wonder if the ref is blind or if this is no DQ. Fans are throwing trash into the ring. Terry who has his head bandaged has come out. Jumbo and others try to prevent him getting in the ring. Abby strolls back to ringside, the bell has gone and ... Has Dory somehow won the second fall? Either way, Sheik alternately kicks Terry while stabbing Dory. And oh .... Wow. Sheik takes a pinfall!! It's 2-1 Dory wins. How often did Sheik ever take a pin? Jumbo is in the ring now two and he and Funks battle Abby and Sheik. Well, well, Dory and Sheik both taking pins in the same match. Sheik didn't even take a pin from Andre in Detroit. Seen it all now, I'm half expecting the uploader to find a match where we finally see Mil Mascaras take a pin. This was your usual Sheik / Abby style chaos, but Dory's blade job here looks like he's had a bullet in the head. After the match, the fans surround the ring and reach towards the Funks and Jumbo, they shake hands with as many of them as they can. Awesomely cool to see this. ***

Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/15/78) I'm fairly curious to know what Abby will do in a longer singles match. I suspect the answer will involve a boatload of cheating and a significant post-match. Sure enough, Terry is bleeding within the first six minutes and foreign objects and chairs have featured. This is almost like watching one of those old PWI articles with bloody pics, only the images are moving. Abby doesn't have a lot of ideas. See diagram. Terry shows a lot of brutality in his comeback. Lays on good chair shots. Very very over with the crowd. Of course Abby is bleeding by now too. We get a break in the match while Abby won't get in. Lord James Blears gets involved. Dick Slater comes out. I think The Sheik also. Finish was either no contest, count out or DQ. I think count out with Funk winning. Yeah, Abby has run away. Terry goes crazy and starts screaming "right now! Right now in the ring!" Actually, I think Blears has stopped the match for excessive bleeding. So the match was about 15 and post-match shenanigans 15 ha ha. I think you've got to expect that. We get to see the commentators here and everything. Cool. This is another chapter in this classic feud. Fun to watch. *** Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/28/78) Dramatic increase in VQ for this one compared to last match. Terry starts on top in this one and beats the crap out of Abduallah, knee drops his leg and applies the spinning to hold. Abby is dazed and Terry bites his head! Holy HepB. Texas jabs. But Abby comes back with karate thrusts. Of course, the foreign object comes out now. Dick Slater is at ringside to protest. Bearhug now. Both men are bleeding a lot by the way, as if it needs to be said. Terry tries to headbutt his way out of it, which is mental. After quite a long time, Terry comes backdown the Bob and weave and the fancy footwork. Series of running stomps. Trouble with Abby is that you can't really throw him. Terry goes for the eyes with a blatant and nasty looking gouge. Series of elbow drops. Almost all the motion and movement in this match is coming from Funk, he's almost wrestling himself. Randomly, the match ends with Funk getting counted out. Someone is outside the ring, who is that is it Bobo Brazil? No, it's Rufus R. Jones! Holy randomness. There's some sort of George Steele like figure there too, who is that? I'll tell you trivia fans: it is a chap called Wild Don Wayt --- looks like he worked Calgary some, but he was a Texas guy who also worked Amarillo and Kansas, and I'm guessing the connection is there through Jones. Dick Slater and Jumbo are there too. There are a lot of different conflicts going on. Typical BS finish, but this one had a bit more of a match to it than the last one, and a great example of what a prime Terry Funk could do against a severely limited opponent. ***1/2 Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Rufus R. Jones (7/21/78) For whatever reason, it looks like Dory wasn't on this tour and Slater was the Terry partner replacement. Of course, some haters here would say that's a significant upgrade. I'm not getting into that, but I will say that any and all Slater we can get from the late 70s is a bonus. I find Jones being Abby's partner in crime here so random. VQ is excellent. When Flair says he wrestled Jones for an hour in the 80s, maybe if you saw him here you'd respect exactly what he's talking about. Even in 78, Jones is an older guy, who has started to sag. Sort of barrel shaped. Think Bobo Brazil and you're half way there. He has very weird strikes and movements. I get the impression he didn't always work like this and is channeling Abby. Terry plays FIP here in the early going. But then Slater takes over. Essentially they are working double heat. Funk at one point hilariously tries to get Jones up for a butterfly suplex, as if that was EVER going to happen. Ha ha. They do get him up for a double atomic drop though. Jones is the workrate guy for his team! And Funk does get him up for an airplane spin!! Jones does a lot of headbutts. Slater does a body slam on him. Jones was actually only in his mid-40s here, but he seems older. Post-match the tracking goes funny but we get a bloody brawl. And lots of bell ringing. Not as bad as I imagined it might be. End of the tape is pretty choppy. **1/2

Yes

Anyone know the name of the mustachioed ring announcer? Seems like he was in AJ for years, like a Japanese Howard Finkel.

Why aren't Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta nominated? They should be. Hell of a team.

I've dated up a lot of the stuff which I'll keep updated here: Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/15/78) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/28/78) Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Rufus R. Jones (7/21/78) Dory Funk Jr vs. Blackjack Lanza (12/13/78) The Sheik vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (7/6/79) Dory Funk Jr and Masanori Toguchi vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Roger Kirby (7/26/79) Terry Funk and Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Kintaro Oki (7/14/79) Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik (12/1/79) Terry Funk vs. Ray Candy (3/28/80) Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (4/4/80) Terry Funk vs. Rocky Hata (4/10/80) Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Tiger Toguchi (4/12/80) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (4/18/80) Terry Funk and Ted DiBiase vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Ray Candy (5/1/80) Dory Funk Jr vs. Abdullah the Butcher (6/29/80) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (12/2/80) Terry Funk and Billy Robinson vs. The Avenger and The Asteroid (10/22/80) Terry Funk vs. The Asteroid (10/29/80) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Tor Kamata (12/5/80) Harley Race vs. Dick Murdoch (2/12/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Jack Brisco and Killer Tim Brooks (4/23/81) Jack Brisco and The Avenger vs. Terry Funk and Jumbo Tsuruta (4/27/81) Dory Funk Jr vs. Abdullah the Butcher (4/27/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody and Alexis Smirnoff (10/24/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda (11/27/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/8/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Harley Race and Larry Hennig (12/9/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen and Jimmy Snuka (4/16/82) Harley Race and Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (4/21/82) Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba (4/26/81) Terry Funk and Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen and Ron Bass (8/26/82) Terry Funk vs. Crusher Blackwell (9/2/82) Terry Funk and Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen and Crusher Blackwell (9/8/82) Dory Funk Jr vs. Bruiser Brody (10/26/82) Harley Race and Dick Slater vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/13/82) Dory Funk Jr. And Terry Funk vs. Harley Race and Genichiro Tenryu (4/28/83) Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel vs. Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody (11/23/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and Mike Shaw (11/25/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu (11/28/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura (12/4/84) Dory Funk Jr. And Terry Funk vs. Nick Bockwinkel and Harley Race (12/12/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka (2/12/87) Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba and Andre the Giant vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (2/29/92)

I got a message from the youtube uploader, who I reached out to. Here's what he said. I love him!!!

Here :https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV0UiazosYuXyLKN6A6pR5A He's also just added this, which I've added into the OP: Terry Funk and Ted DiBiase vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Ray Candy (5/1/80)

WWF at Agricultural Hall in Allentown, PA (TV Taping for WWF Challenge) Aug 10th, 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! SD Jones vs. Tony Colon Match: Jones defeats Colon after 6:09 with an elbow drop. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Graham) “I always liked that Special Delivery Jones, Monsoon, brother” (Gorilla) “SD Jones is one of the nicest guys here in the World Wrestling Federation” (Graham) “Hey, but you know Gorilla, sometimes it ain’t always the nice guys who get ahead, you know what I’m saying?” Victor Rivera vs. Steve King Match: Rivera wins in 3:50 after a drop kick. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Graham) “Hey Monsoon, has Steve King ever won a match?” (Gorilla) “I believe he does have some victories to his name, Superstar” (Graham) “Oh yeah? Who’d he beat?” (Gorilla) “Do I look like Howard Finkel to you?!” (Graham) “Jeez, I’m only asking …” (Gorilla) “Well now you mention it, I believe I saw him beat Jose Estrada one time in Philadelphia. Maybe in 1978” (Graham) “That was a great year, Gorilla Monsoon. Do you remember who was champion in 1978?” (Monsoon) “How could I forget …” Video highlight reel of Philadelphia Spectrum show, including clips of Steamboat vs. Savage, Briscos vs. Hansen / Brody, Backlund vs. Murdoch and Bockwinkel vs. Inoki. Runs about 15:00. Bret Hart vs. Swede Hanson Match: Hart makes Hanson submit to the sharpshooter in 12:44. The match was hard fought. Hanson ambushed Hart to start and was in control for the first 4-5 minutes, but Hart was able to transition with a well-time drop toehold. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Gorilla) “I call this man, ‘The Excellence of Execution’, because he executes every move perfectly” (Graham) “He is one of the brightest things in the WWF, that’s for sure, brother. … Don’t count out Swede Hanson though, his name was once feared all around the country” (Gorilla) “Oh the Hitman! Bret Hart with an impressive victory here on WWF challenge!” Bobby Eaton vs. Dominic Denucci Match: Eaton defeats Denucci in 5:44 with an inside cradle. Denucci was slow in this match and Eaton proved too quick for him. He fell to the inside cradle after going for an airplane spin, but Eaton slipped down behind him for the pin. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Gorilla): “It’s not Dominic’s day today. Bobby Eaton is going up, and maybe Denucci’s best days are behind him” (Graham) “Do you know he had several shots against me for the WWF title?” (Gorilla) “I hope you wrestled him for longer than 10 seconds, unlike Nick Bockwinkel …” (Graham) “Dominic was a tough competitor, the fans still love him.” Ricky Steamboat © vs. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams Match: Steamboat pins Williams after a superplex and a frog splash from the top rope in 12:00. Williams gave Steamboat two gorillia press slams, a running powerslam and the Oklahoma Stampede during this match, but Steamer came back with fire and intensity for the win. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Graham) “I think I say this every time I see him, but Ricky Steamboat might just be the best wrestler I’ve ever seen” (Gorilla) “I think you have to start asking how long it is until he starts thinking about swapping that Intercontinental title for the WWF title.” (Graham) “This Dr. Death has got real power, Gorilla, we could be seeing an upset here, brothers.” (Gorilla) “Ricky Steamboat! Steamboat now, SUPERPLEX! He’s going to the top rope. Look at him fly! And forget about it!” (Graham) “That right there is the man to beat in wrestling today, Monsoon. If I was Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan, I’d be keeping a close eye on him” (Gorilla) “Well that’s exactly what Macho Man Randy Savage will be doing next Tuesday in Boston …” WWF at Agricultural Hall in Fieldhouse in Hamburg, PA (TV Taping for WWF Superstars) Aug 10th, 1983 Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura Vince: It’s WWF SUPPPPERRSTARRS! Yes, I’m Vince McMahon and I’m here with the one and only Jesse “the Body” Ventura! Jesse: You’re excitable tonight McMahon … Vince: We’ve got one whale of a show in store you tonight. Jesse: And I’m ready to share a special feature on the manager of the WWF Champion, Bobby Heenan. Vince: What is it this time? Jesse: You’ll have to wait and see McMahon, I’m just glad I ain’t Bob Backlund. Vince: Without further ado, let’s get to the first match-up ladies and gentlemen. Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson vs. Jack Carson and Jack Armstrong Arn and Ole are accompanied to the ring by Gene and Lars Match: The Andersons destroy Carson and Armstrong in 3:43 by annihilating Armstrong’s shoulder, which may have been separated. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Jesse) “The Minnesota Wrecking Crew! Yes, and I have to say that Minessota is very proud to have them. Arn Anderson might be my favourite wrestler, McMahon. But I like all of them.” (Vince) “You would … “ (Jesse) “Look at this McMahon, Arn and Ole going to work with laser precision. They have a gameplan, they follow that gameplan. It’s like watching two artists go to work, artists in destruction.” (Vince) “They’ve clearly beaten the man, why don’t they pin him. Is that a good plan is it Jesse?” (Jesse) “The Andersons can end the match whenever they want” (Vince) “Jack Armstrong might never wrestle another match …” (Jesse) “Yeah, they are doing him a favour …” Video highlight reel of Philadelphia Spectrum show, including clips of Steamboat vs. Savage, Briscos vs. Hansen / Brody, Backlund vs. Murdoch and Bockwinkel vs. Inoki. Runs about 15:00. Jesse is in his “journalist” outfit again, but this time backstage. Jesse: I have gotten top secret behind-the-scenes access, to the most premier dressing room in the world of wrestling. I’m going to the headquarters of Bobby Heenan and the WWF Champion Nick Bockwinkel. Bobby Heenan and Nick Bockwinkel are sitting in their dressing room, Blackjack Lanza is in the background sleeping under a cowboy hat. The WWF title is sitting in front of a mirror surrounded by lights, in the manner of old-school broadway. Heenan and Bockwinkel are huddled together. They startle when Jesse walks in. Jesse: Hey, Bobby, I’m are you ready. Heenan looks shiftily around. Heenan: Yes, yes, Jesse, come in my friend. Jesse: What are you watching there? Heenan: Oh nothing, nothing. Jesse tries to peer over to see what’s on the screen. Bockwinkel leans over so that he can’t see the screen. Heenan: It’s top top secret preparation. Mr. Bockwinkel is the most scientific wrestler in the world. And that requires research on all his opponents. He knows every single move that every single wrestler can do. Jesse: I understand, I would not want to interrupt that work. Heenan: Well let me show you something else. Bockwinkel presses “eject” on the video and puts in another tape. Bockwinkel: I think you’ll enjoy this Ventura. Jesse: Let’s take a look … As he does, we are treated to a highlight reel of Dick Murdoch in Japan and Ted DiBiase in Mid-South Wrestling. Footage courtesy of those promotions. We see clips of Murdoch vs. Abdullah the Butcher in a bloody encounter and DiBiase beating up El Bracero and Steve O. Heenan: So you see Jesse, Bob Backlund has no chance, NONE of ever facing this man right here for the WWF title. Bockwinkel: Backlund really is a blockheaded imbecile. He thinks that just because he held that title, he deserves to step into the ring again against me. He doesn’t understand that in this world, there is such a thing as hierarchy, such a thing as a pecking order. With me at the very top. Jesse: But it’s true isn’t it, that he’s technically getting a title shot by the Tuesday, September 6th? Heenan: Well, yeah, it’s true, but there’s a very big “IF”, Jesse. Bockwinkel: A very big “if”. Jesse: And what’s that? Bockwinkel: It’s IF Mr. Backlund is still with the company. Heenan: Because you see, I’ve been talking to my lawyers again. And they’ve been working with the office of Mr. Shinma. And we inserted an IF clause into Backlund’s contracts, the contracts HE SIGNED when he agreed to take on Murdoch and DiBiase in one vs. one matches. Bockwinkel puts on his glasses and picks up a piece of paper and reads, in an official voice. Bockwinkel: “If … “ ahem. “IF, Bob Backlund loses any match against Dick Murdoch or Ted DiBiase by pinfall or submission …” Heenan: Mr. Shinma did insist on that part … Bockwinkel: “He will not only lose the match, but will have to leave the COMPANY of the World Wrestling Federation” Bockwinkel and Heenan start laughing to themselves. Jesse cannot hide how impressed he is. Heenan: And just to make sure, we know that at least one of Backlund’s matches against Murdoch and against DiBiase will be in a CAGE. With special rules: there is no escaping over the top or through the door. The winner can be by submission or pinfall only. Bockwinkel: The plan is fullproof. Nothing can go wrong. Jesse: Ha ha! You gentlemen are the smartest men in wrestling, I’ve said it before. Well, I will leave you to your research. Thank you so much, for this latest exclusive SCOOP. This is Jesse Ventura, signing off, over to you Vince McMahon. Heenan and Bockwinkel go back to the screen. Heenan points to something as Bockwinkel strokes his chin and nods knowingly. Tommy Rogers vs. “The Duke of Dorchester” Pete Doherty Match: Rogers pinned Doherty after a back suplex in 6:57. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Jesse) “Well McMahon, what do you think of my exclusive?” (Vince) “I think if there’s any justice in this world that no matter how much the cards are stacked against him, Bob Backlund will prevail” (Jesse) “You give him ANY chance against Murdoch or DiBiase? These are hardened veterans, McMahon, not only some of the best wrestlers in the world, but two of the deadliest. And DiBiase is specialised in the cage match!” (Vince) “Well, I don’t know about that. What I know is that we’ve seen Bob Backlund win many cage matches.” (Jesse) “Yeah, when he can just walk straight through that door, but there’s no escape when he has to face Murdoch in two weeks. We don’t even need to talk about DiBiase, he won’t beat Murdoch” (Vince) “They’ve counted Backlund out before, and he’s proven a lot of people wrong” (Jesse) “Why don’t you concentrate on the action McMahon?! You’re paid to call this action not speculate on the outcomes of future matches. Be a professional” (Vince) “Well YOU brought it up” (Jesse) “I’m not the one paid to call the action, you do your job” (Vince) “You’re impossible!” (Jesse) “Beautiful back suplex by Rogers. And that’s a … 1, 2. He got him …. See, McMahon, if you’re not going to call the action, I guess I’ll have to.” (Vince) “Stop it Jesse!” (Jesse) “You’re in a very sour mood tonight, McMahon” Bob Backlund vs. Mr. Fuji Match: Backlund destroys Mr. Fuji in 1:34 after an atomic piledriver and a massive atomic drop. Backlund wastes no time and gives Fuji a suplex, two huge arm drags, a pile driver and an atomic drop before Fuji can even get his robe off. Quotation(s) from announcers: (Jesse) “Oh you call that fair? That’s your hero McMahon!” (Vince) “Bob Backlund! He hasn’t lost a thing! Don’t ever count this man out!” (Jesse) “Fuji wasn’t even ready McMahon, you condone that?” (Vince) “Backlund! He’s so determined, never count him out!”

From matches involving Dory, these are ones I've given ***3/4 or above to: Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Rocky Hata (2/12/77) **** Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen and Jimmy Snuka (4/16/82) ***3/4 Dory Funk Jr. And Terry Funk vs. Harley Race and Genichiro Tenryu (4/28/83) **** Dory Funk Jr. And Terry Funk vs. Nick Bockwinkel and Harley Race (12/12/84) ***3/4 [come on this is a DREAM match] All of those are worth going out of your way for. Not listed above because I reviewed them in Dory thread. Everyone probably needs to see that Bock / Race one, just because there are so many legends are in it. 3 NWA champs and the long-time AWA champ.

Harley Race vs. Dick Murdoch (2/12/81) Girls with flowers, cheesy 70s keyboards, this can only mean one thing! It's AJPW. Race has his moustache and is in a cool robe. Murdoch is in a red AJ tracksuit like a young boy. Race is NWA champ here, obviously. Hip toss. Headlock takeover and into a headlock. Murdoch on offense. Gorilla press slam by Murdoch. Back to the headlock. Couple of punches and another gorilla press slam. Back to the headlock. I'm honestly not trolling on Will but I do find Murdoch boring at times. Doesn't connect with me as a worker, at least not when he's working in this 70s technical mould. Action goes outside and several weird chair shots now where it is clearly Race who his hitting himself with the chair and Murdoch barely helping. Weird. Some of the worst chair shots I've ever seen, and I've watched WWF in 1979. Race goes for a suplex but it gets reversed. Comes back with headbutts. Dumps him. Back in and Murdoch nails a piledriver. Sleeper. Race goes for a piledriver ... Reversed. Of course this is NWA champ Harley so he can't hit a single move of offense. Yawn. Atomic drop outside the ring by Murdoch. Race comes back and they brawl into the crowd. Double count out. Man, this was crap. How disappointing. Harley on NWA title defense autopilot and Murdoch brought very little to this heatless affair. Easily the worst match I've seen from the new uploads. **

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/14/77) Funks work over Jumbo's arm to start. Greco-Roman knuckle locks by both Funks. They aren't just working his arm, but on his shoulder joint, trying to separate it. Double chicken wing by Terry. Dory's uppercuts are really connecting here, which is always nice to see. Hammerlock by Terry. Double forearm smash, a Funk special. Several more minutes of arm work, Jumbo is getting frustrated. Terry nails a side salto. Jumbo reverses a gut wrench suplex for a hope spot. Cut off with a headlock. Dory comes in busting out strikes and uppercuts, Irish whip into Baba's big boot by Jumbo and there's our transition. Dory is Funk in Peril for a while -- match lags a bit here -- but he gets a tag and Terry comes in raging on Baba. Ever wily, he hits a slam, wriggles out of the spinning toe hold attempt and rolls over to tag in Jumbo. Terry goes for the big butterfly, but Jumbo powers out of it with a back drop, that was great struggle. He works Terry's arm some now. We're around the twenty minute mark and this is some fierce arm work. Baba goes to the top and hits a double ax-handle. Then Jumbo hits an elbow on the top. Massive chest smacking chops from Terry now and three headbutts to come back. But Jumbo goes back to the arm. Baba comes in and dives on the arm with an arm take down. Must hurt. Natives have cut this ring off now. Terry is already the third person to be "in peril" in this match, but this stretch is extended. This is all fun stuff, with Terry trying various escape attempts but cut off every time. Dory comes in now though and gets Jumbo in his weird high Boston crab before turning it into a half crab. Indian deathlock now. Funks have switched focus to the leg. Terry back in. Takes over the Indian deathlock. What's amazing is that The Funks have near identical move sets but are two totally different workers. Dory comes in to block an escape attempt. Tags in and out now. Double Indian deathlock! Elbow drops into the groin by Dory, that's one of the setups for ... Spinning toehold! Baba comes in to break. Another type of leg lock from Dory now. As the ref's back is turned Terry sneaks in and drags Jumbo back to the middle. Hamstring snap by Dory, another set up for ... No, back to the Indian deathlock. STF. As Dory transitions into a headlock Jumbo sells the leg some more, good long term selling. He manages to get the tag, and Baba hits swinging neck breakers on both Funks. Drop kick in Dory, two count only. Terry grabs Baba and slams him on the table. He's getting angry. Baba into a headlock on Dory now. But Terry comes in and they hit a double suplex on the giant. Abdominal stretch for the fifth "in peril" sequence of this match (one on each Funk, two on Jumbo and now one on Baba). Side Russian leg sweep by Baba gets him the chance to tag out. Belly to belly suplex by Jumbo! Two count. Wow that was cool, don't see Jumbo do that one too much. Side salto. Another two. Turns Dory over for the Boston crab. Terry in to punch him in the face. Big vertical suplex by Dory into the ring. Terry in. Piledriver! Goes for another but gets backdropped out of the ring. Dory across to protect. Neck breaker by Jumbo. Piledriver. Body slam. Baba from the top with a stomp. Terry sells this like death. Big uppercut by Jumbo. Cool spot now as Jumbo goes for a second piledriver, Terry half reverses but carries him over to Dory who gives him a back suplex. Side salto. Slam. Knee drop from top. Awesome offensive sequence from Dory, that side salto was hit with tremendous velocity. Back slide by Jumbo gets a cheeky two, Dory misses an elbow and Baba is in with the big boot. Announcer gives the five minute call. Side salto by Dory again. That's such a cool move. Baba with chops now. Terry in and he wants to do the Texan jabs. Gets kicked over the top rope. Comedy selling by Terry back in the ring now. Cover gets two. Double big boot. Terry is in trouble here. High drop kick by Jumbo. Very close near fall. Dory in. Tiger knee by Jumbo. Piledriver by Dory on Baba. Uppercuts. Terry in. Slug fest. Snapmare by Baba, but the time expires. This was a long match during which there was never really any sense that either team would lose. What we got was a whole loads on "in peril" stretches and an escalation to the big bombs towards the end. It's very very solid work but was a bit to your turn, my turn and a meandering for me. Didn't tell any story beyond "here are two great teams". Then again, when the work is this good, it's almost enough to compensate. **** Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/8/81) VQ is not crystal for this, but I'm not complaining. I'm grateful to however many traders copied it from tape to tape in order for me to be sitting in front of it right now. Might even be a handheld. Seem to be some school girls in the crowd. First fifteen mins or so involve natives working over Dory. He manages to escape eventually with a shin breaker. Terry comes in with a sleeper on Jumbo. Then an abdominal stretch. This early portion of the match hasn't been the most engaging. Dory gets Jumbo into a pinning predicament that has him doing head stands. Hip toss by Jumbo. Backslide by Dory. Terry back in. Chop soey now. Dory wants to clam Terry down. Jumbo hits a tiger knee to tag out. Big boot and neck breaker by Baba. Roly poly around the ring now. And that results in the first fall. Piledriver by Jumbo on Terry. Back suplex by Jumbo. Cover gets two only. Some more offense by Jumbo now. Backbreaker and holds Terry across the knee. Long Funk in Peril stretch this, double suplex by natives. And I believe that's 1-1. Jumbo with a butterfly suplex now. He's worked a lot of this match by himself. Dory in. Uppercuts. Big butterfly. Match seems to hit some down time now as both teams regroup. Baba vs Dory as we restart. Dory catches the big boot and goes straight into a spinning toehold, which Baba counters. Neat sequence. Action spills outside and we go to a double count out. Actually, no we don't, ref restarts the match for some reason. Jumbo gets a Boston Crab on Dory. Baba in and eats the double forearm smash. Terry knocks himself out in a comedy spot with a headbutt. These 1981 Japanese fans with the camcorder found that really funny. Dory in with an Indian deathlock. Baba lands on top of him going for a slam. Jumbo in. Crazy strength now as he gives Dory three dead lift backbreakers in the Steve Williams fashion. Terry in with a leg drop. A lot of rope running now. No idea where Baba has gone, he appears to be missing from the apron. Atomic drop by Jumbo sends Terry packing outside. Now Baba reappears. Piledriver. Cover gets two. Dory in. Double suplex on Baba gets two. Slug fest now as Jumbo come in vs. Terry. Series of nearfalls as the bell goes for a time limit draw. This match match is closer to the disappointing 1980 match than to their 70s classics. It felt a bit too stop, start for me. Although there were some cool moments, and the ten minutes after the restart were better than the forty odd minutes that preceded them. Better than 1980 match but not quite as good as 73, so all in, about ... ***1/2

For the next hour and a half I'm going to complete the Funks vs. Baba and Jumbo series. For my money one of the best tag match ups in wrestling history. They kind of met each other every year in the RWTL, so always a special occasion. For fans of snow flakes, just a reminder of my ratings for the other matches in this series: Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Tomomi Tsuruta (10/09/73) ***3/4 Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (03/13/75) ****3/4 Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/15/78) ****1/2 Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (11/30/79) ****1/2 Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/11/80) *** I'd been putting the 77 match off for some time, but with the emergence of the 81 one, I want to complete the set. Reviewing forthcoming.

There is an existing Terry Funk thread, but I am planning a "deep dive" on the Funker in chronological order soon. However, since there have been all these new matches uploaded, I'm going to get a kick start by starting with that stuff. Then I plan to go from 70s all the way to 00s. Obviously, any and all Funk tags will be reviewed in the brother Dory thread. Dates for remaining Terry matches from new uploads (for my own reference): Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/15/78) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/28/78) Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Rufus R. Jones (7/21/78) Terry Funk and Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Kintaro Oki (7/14/79) Terry Funk vs. Ray Candy (3/28/80) Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (4/4/80) Terry Funk vs. Rocky Hata (4/10/80) Terry Funk and Dick Slater vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Tiger Toguchi (4/12/80) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (4/18/80) Terry Funk and Ted DiBiase vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Ray Candy (5/1/80) Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher (12/2/80) Terry Funk and Billy Robinson vs. The Avenger and The Asteroid (10/22/80) Terry Funk vs. The Asteroid (10/29/80) Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba (4/26/81) Terry Funk and Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen and Ron Bass (8/26/82) Terry Funk vs. Crusher Blackwell (9/2/82) Terry Funk and Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen and Crusher Blackwell (9/8/82) (Playlist: )

Dates for remaining Harley matches from new uploads (for my own reference): Harley Race vs. Dick Murdoch (2/12/81) Harley Race and Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (4/21/82) Harley Race and Dick Slater vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/13/82) Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel vs. Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody (11/23/84)

Dates for remaining Dory matches from new uploads (for my own reference) Dory Funk Jr and Masanori Toguchi vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Roger Kirby (7/26/79) Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik (12/1/79) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody and Alexis Smirnoff (10/24/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda (11/27/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/8/81) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and Mike Shaw (11/25/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu (11/28/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura (12/4/84) Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka (2/12/87) Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba and Andre the Giant vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (2/29/92)

I am very boom bust, not just about wrestling but with everything. I've been working 10-15 hours a day recently trying to get this book finished so my wrestling watching has been minimal. I also have "super human" abilities to stay up all night which have been severely on the wane recently, probably the combination of aforementioned long work days plus the fact I started doing spin cycle classes, which are really draining. This has also affected my viewing time, which is often late. But then something can trigger, like that youtube channel being found and I watched matches from there for about five hours straight from 3am to 8am. These binges, I think, which come from time to time, probably over-represent my watching. Chad and Charles or anyone who did DVDR, or who who has done podcasts with me, can tell you that I'm usually the last one to get through footage. Most weeks I'm struggling just to watch the stuff for podcasts. I also have a girlfriend, just so happens she went to New York this week. Now, while she's more understanding about my podcasting habits than my ex-wife was -- who would literally just come in the room and glare and wait there until I wrapped up -- she's still a woman at the end of the day, and so when she's around that curtails possibilities of watching too. And she has done the anti-podcast routine once -- you can even locate it on the end of that show I did with Will on two 70s matches, you'll notice I go real quiet at the end -- but to be fair it was 3am and she said I was keeping her up. But she doesn't live here (at least not yet). One thing I'm grateful for is that I have a job that allows me to pick my own spots most of the time. It's not like a 9-5, so I can work around things more. But I do not think I will watch more wrestling than the average here in any given week. I completely don't watch any current stuff. Sometimes a PPV.

Last four matches before I do pass out. Dory Funk Jr vs. Blackjack Lanza (12/13/78) Believe we miss the first couple of minute of this, but get most of it. Lanza is a more spry figure than Mulligan, tall, but same sort of weight class as Dory. Presently, Dory has a leg lock on him. Moves over to a headlock. Leans his weight on this headlock. Lanza struggles and grunts. Tries to get Dory into a pinning predicament. We get a clip. Dory is setting up for spinning toehold, elbow to groin, hamstring snap. But Lanza applies the claw! The claw! With the gloved hand. This I've always thought it a pretty lame move. Things look bleak for Dory. He's already got his head plastered because this is not long after the Sheik / Abby encounter days earlier. But Dory manages to get free and applies the spinning toe hold and Lanza submits. This was a short one, we only lost about two minutes through clipping, but it was still short. Dory out wrestling Lanza as his finishing move comes out on top. ** Dory Funk Jr vs. Abdullah the Butcher (6/29/80) This is actually from Toronto, but has Japanese commentary. Ernie Ladd and The Sheik are both there too. Ladd is wagging a finger at Dory which allows Abby a sneak ambush. Not long before Abby is bleeding here just from kicks to his cut up forehead. Dory in with nasty shots. Wow, he suplexes the big man! Elbow drop. And again, and again. This is your spirited brawling Dory. Forearm smash. And again. Sleeper. Abby is bleeding badly from the forehead. There are Canadian sailors in the front row. Abby breaks with a palm to the throat. Headbutt. Dumps him onto the ramp. Big ramp in Toronto. Uppercuts and forearm smashes from Dory. As they brawl in the ramp, the ref calls a no contest. Dory is intent to beat on Abby as the ref stops him and Abby just leaves. Not bad at all, but a bit too short to go much higher than ... **1/2 Dory Funk Jr vs. Abdullah the Butcher (4/27/81) Another new one. Looks like it will be as shot as the last one. Dory is spirited once again. Abby in his black trousers here. This was the semi final match for the NWA International Title, which of course Dory would go on to win in the final against his brother. Dory gives Abby four straight elbow drops at one point and seems really up for this. Terry comes down to ringside to ward off Brody who has come as backup for Abby. Brody knees Dory in the back as well as the ref, which results in an instant DQ. Dory progresses to the final, but he's been hurt by Brody. His back took Brody's full weight on the knee, so it seemed to be very inured, Terry is on hand to check on him. Didn't care for that finish, but some neat stuff before hand. About the same as last match. **1/2 Dory Funk Jr vs. Bruiser Brody (10/26/82) Uploader has this slightly mislabelled as being from November. Brody is one of Dory's best singles opponents, believe it or not, their 81 brawl is really good. So high hopes for this. Brody comes in with the huss huss taunts. He's international champ here. Dory badly needs a haircut here, and so looks more dorky than normal. Stupid test of strength spot, why would chessmaster Dory accept that challenge with such a big man? Brody dumps him. Outside and he mashes about six chairs on him. Dory posts him. Brody has colour now from that. Dory goes for a suplex. Blocked. Gut wrench suplex. Hits. Boot to the face by Brody. Snap are by Dory. Uppercuts. Boot by Brody. Standing powerslam. Elbow drop. Cover gets two. Uppercut by Dory. Goes for a piledriver, no dice. Bites by Brody. Double ax-handle from the top. Decent heat sequence for Brody this. Splash. Dory gets foot to the ropes. That's what four years of being NWA champ teaches you. Spinning toe hold! Rolling cradle. Two only. Action goes outside and of course it's the crushing inevitability of the double count out. Brody attacks with chairs. Chair duel now. Brody attacks young boys. Brawling over the arena now. Dory gets colour. This was not up to their 81 match, but Brody always sold for Dory because he respected him. Some good stuff. ***

Jack Brisco and The Avenger vs. Terry Funk and Jumbo Tsuruta (4/27/81) Again this is listed as "live event" rather than TV, but has commentary. Where has this stuff been, I wonder? The Avenger is Moose Morowski under a hood. I wonder where Jerry was in 1981, Jack doesn't have the biggest name partners on this tour. But is clearly working heel. Avenger manages to gain advantage over Terry and tags in Jack. Jumbo in. Abdominal stretch by him. Sunset flip. Avenger in. Great shinbreaker by Jumbo on Avenger. Terry in. Avenger is a very vocal seller, he's almost Iron Mike Sharpe loud. A lot of yelling and agony. Terry with an Indian deathlock. Avenger's selling is really pretty good here. Jumbo comes in and takes over on the Indian deathlock. Boston crab now. Jack in. He's so wily and wiry as the grizzled heel in the 80s. Terry in. Beautiful drop toehold by Jack. Into an arm lock now. Knee into the thigh. Jack was a great technical wrestler, shines through in his mat work. Awesome spot now where he goes for the drop toehold a second time and Terry leaps over it, and then gets on his own drop toehold, brilliant payback spot. Jack dumps Terry now, allowing Avenger to get in some cheap shots. Avenger in with clubbing blows. Terry comes back with Texas jabs. Jumbo in with the running tiger knee! Spinning toehold! Avenger taps, that's it. Really fun match, with the Jack-Terry exchanges being exceptional, sort of chemistry you can only build up with someone you've wrestled 100s of times. Very enjoyable watch. Avenger looked really solid too. ***1/2