Ricky Jackson

Watched a bunch of Verne matches last night for an upcoming Titans show. Three matches from the 50s and two from the 70s. Verne in the early 50s was an awesome fired up babyface, climbing the ladder and chasing the NWA title (vs Hans Schmidt in 52, but also of course against Thesz in a match we reviewed last year). After becoming the United States TV champ around 1953 Verne's style seemed to change, as evidenced in matches against Don Leo Johnathan in 1955 and Edouard Carpentier in 1958. Here, Verne is no longer the young lion chasing a title, and his style is more mat-based and conservative. As a result, I found the Johnathan and Carpentier matches rather dull. On the other hand, grizzled Verne in 1974 against Billy Robinson was awesome and that is a great match (from the IWE in Japan). Every hold is a struggle and the match builds to a great crescendo. Overall, I still prefer young, firey Verne and need to see what else is out there from the early 50s. Verne - Billy from 74 is a must watch though. Here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGfELeWXeVo&index=4&list=PLp4lsXgSXkFDQS8JnpYZV-M4mah0y0pAM

Business actually slumped in most of North America during Brisco's reign after record setting years during Dory's run, but the reasons for the slump had nothing to do with Jack. A lot of places were burnt out on the blood and guts booking of the early 70s for one reason

The payoff part may be true, but the timeline doesn't match up. Wahoo last worked in NYC in, I think, 1965 and Strongbow didn't arrive until 1970.

Paradise Alley

A masterpiece

I can still hear crickets chirping from that one Anyway...here is the complete playlist for the two Fuji shows https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0BU1a6Snab1xk55NMKk5hNi

Cool. I need to check that out later

I've seen it written (probably Meltz) that Flair was BOTH the highest drawing champ (1980s) and the lowest drawing champ (early 90s)

That is one of the worst things ever written, wrestling or otherwise

Haha...totally!

You haven't lived until you've close listened Dick and Kal, man

I watched it the other night for the first time after listening to the show and thought it was a very good match, but execution of the finish (I didn't buy the ref having his back turned for the interference spot) knocked it down a notch for me.

Never mind my post if it's limited to just those 3 options

Hmm...works on my phone but not on my laptop. Thanks for sharing

Vince as promoter and commentator for sure. Booker would be three, but im not sure how to lay that out as a HoF case for him. Performer would be four if you want to be generous.

That's just a link to the main Youtube page

RIP Verne was an amazing wrestler when he was young. This match with Thesz from the Chicago Archives is awesome

You can't not like a song where the singer rhymes Amarillo with pillow

Cool stuff. I think we need to do an all-Sheik show someday

If you like your rings orange, your crowd noise piped in, and your stars cutting promos for shows they won't appear on, this territory is for you!

Usually I stream these shows illegally, but I'm going to purchase Summerslam because I want the full crystal clear HD experience for this extravaganza.

Yeah, I stumbled on this a while back. My favorite track is "Axaboomba". Here's a link to a review http://www.lostturntable.com/?p=2438

Very interesting info. Thanks for sharing man

No conspiracies. Just talent. In fact, I'm issuing an open challenge for anyone around here to meet me on Brainbuster. I'll take on all comers.

WWF actually was a member of the NWA until 1983