Exposer

And I thought I was new to this board when I didn't get Matt D's Buddy Rose blow away diet joke. Man, was I wrong.

God, I hope Jericho doesn't turn heel again either. The Punk-Jericho feud was "channel changing" level embarrassing. That sobriety test segment is one of the worse things I've ever witnessed in wrestling. As a face coming back in his first two nights I think he's been outstanding.

Those lists are pretty terrible. I swear they get a lot of their "knowledge" from watching WWE Classics and DVDs. It's the only conceivable reason they make these kinds of lists. To be fair to BR though, it's a pretty decent sight for "inside news" but the opinions are totally ridiculous.

BR is predominantly a destination for "WWE fans." Anything the majority of those writers put out there is pretty biased and one dimensional.

Yeah, he did seem to be overacting a lot in character especially as a heel.

I've been reading some Jarrett discussion in the top 10 U.S. workers thread. Let's get more in depth and talk about him here. Was he only good in Memphis? Like him elsewhere? Personally, I haven't seen hardly any of his Memphis work but love the HBK match and actually enjoy some of his TNA work. So, let's talk Jarrett.

I think it was Dylan who told me that apparently he ran a 4.6 40 yard dash during the Olympic Trials or something.

A guy who holds the championship for 434 days loses to an elbow drop after having control the whole time. Rock was embarrassing tonight. He was sucking wind after the opening exchange. That's one of the worst segments I've ever seen.

Great Rumble. The surprise entrants were great. Godfather was tremendous. Slater's 360 bump ruled. There were some really great spots. Cena winning is annoying but it was fun one this year.

Team Hell No vs. Rhodes Scholars (WWE Tag Title) This was okay. There were some dead spots and Kane fucking up the swinging neck breaker was silly. I'm shocked Rhodes Scholars didn't win.

Big Show vs ADR (LMS WHC Title) Very good LMS match. Not as good as the SD one. The finish was cool and there were some nice bumps scattered in there.

I'm am one of many fans of "The grumpy, lumpy, old bastard" or whatever he's called on message boards.

I'm pretty sure Ziggler wrestled over 90 matches in 2012. 96 is possibly the exact number. Just a few shy of Sheamus.

Yet we're spending an inordinate amount of time discussing an era when they were all merely pretty good wrestlers. That's not a fair standard, because some wrestlers have to retire when they lose their physical acumen. Those wrestlers should still be considered in GOAT conversations if they had a career worthy of consideration. Jumbo Tsuruta retired when he got hepatitis. We don't know how he would have adapted. It's not fair to disqualify him from the conversation because he has no post-prime. You can assess that just fine when evaluating a wrestler's peak. If you say you're not, then I will take you at your word. I am trying very hard not to make assumptions about intentions. I am finding that difficult, but I am trying. It's not a fair standard to completely ignore the people who did adjust with age. It's not fair to disqualify someone because they did have a post-prime.

Also, I want to point out that this isn't some mean attack on Ric Flair. I love Ric Flair. And I'm with Matt here. I don't care about post-prime because it hurts Ric Flair's case either.

Sure, all three did have these things. I personally feel that Funk and Lawler in their 40s and 50s had more good than Flair in his 40s and 50s. Why can't we talk more about that?

I would say Jey Uso's prime is probably middle 2011. He has some really fun tags on Superstars from that period. After that, he still had some fun tags but they might not have been really fun. It doesn't matter though because post-middle 2011 Jey Uso doesn't matter.

Can we all agree that Dylan and Loss don't agree on this topic?

The order was slightly off here. I fixed it in my reviews. That's the proper order and allows the first two matches to make even more sense looking at the finish of both of them surrounding the loaded lariat which got Hansen the title in the first match which caused the commission to reverse the decision in the second match.

Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 1986 The opening minutes of this are fucking holy shit level great. Hansen tries to blindside Colon but gets caught. He quickly gets the upperhand though and absolutely decimates Colon. The ref tries to intervene but Hansen takes time to beat his ass too. Hansen ties his rope around Colon's neck and just chokes and slings him around. He demolishes him on the floor with the title belt and a small table literally breaking it into pieces. He takes the beating back into the ring after fans throw unidentifiable objects at him and those PR cops start flooding the ringside area. Hansen continues to crush Colon with turnbuckle charges and just a downright ass whooping. I really liked how Colon regained control with a desperation dropkick which Hansen took magnificently. Colon is incredibly pissed and bloodies Hansen following it up by working over the cut. Colon is in total control but the new ref gets knocked down. Al Perez shows up and assists Hansen with the loaded lariat and Colon walks right into it. It happened fast as fuck and looked really brutal. Hansen took the cover and won the title which really pissed off the crowd. This was really great shit and an awesome fucking ass beating from Hansen. Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 11/86 This was a really great sprint with a post-match that I fucking loved. The opening exchanges were intense as hell with Hansen getting whipped viciously by Colon with the bullrope. Colon gets maybe a little over-aggressive and misses a turnbuckle charge which results in Hansen working over his knee. This didn't last long but I loved Hansen twisting and contorting Colon's knee and trying to almost mangle him. The brawling continues into the ballpark where they smash each other against some sort of object near the stands. Hansen misses a lariat and ends up hitting the ringpost instead. Colon works on his arm pretty well and ends up ramming it into several shit in the stadium. Colon then nastily works on Hansen's cut with biting and fists. Hansen is able to get some breathing room though and nails Colon with the loaded lariat but some pro-Colon ref shows up and stops the count. Hansen goes ballistic and gives Colon a really frightening spike piledriver and then decimates the pro-Colon ref in the ballpark by giving him a sliding lariat which caused me to laugh uncontrollably. Hansen then challenged a bunch of psychotic fans only to get pelted with various objects as he sent screw you signals to every last one of them. This ruled and had a totally awesome post-match. Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - 1987 This was a totally different match than the previous two but I think that's a good thing and shows dynamics in the feud. It starts like the others with both guys going at war around the ring. Colon has control for most of these exchanges but Hansen gets in some tremendously violent chops. Colon then starts to set up for the figure four and Hansen realizes he could be in for trouble so he just starts throwing bombs and trying to get out of there unscathed. Colon takes Hansen's onslaught and keeps finding ways to attack Hansen's leg. The crowd gradually gets more excited as Colon slowly starts to edge closer in putting in the figure four. The crowd seems to be going with the flow of the match. They seem to be in tune with what Colon is doing and that is really something unique. Hansen still is able to get in some quick strikes and a few escapes but they are all for not. Colon finally gets in the hold but Hansen reaches out to the ropes. Colon goes straight to the figure four again and Hansen continues to desperately find ways to escape. He claws at Colon's free ankle, twists and turns as much as possible, and yet still can't seem to get himself free. They end up on the floor one last time after Hansen gets in a hard fought escape. I really loved Hansen just wildly flinging a chair at Colon's back when he found just enough space to get something in. That's all he had. It was like a fling of frustration and desperation. Colon is only slightly phased though and they return back to the ring where Colon once again gets Hansen set up for the figure four. Eventually, it's reapplied and Hansen is just gasping for breath and pretty much done. Then, Hansen out of sheer instinct grabs a crutch and whacks Colon to escape the match for a DQ. That finish is weird because I can see how it was a last attempt for Hansen to survive but it should have had Hansen winning in a more meaningful way. Maybe it would have been better if he had thrown some wild lariat while in the figure four that ended up giving him the win. I didn't find the finish to be as disappointing as Dylan did but I can see why there are complaints and that there definitely was a better way to end it. However, this was a really interesting match to watch and was completely different than the first two matches. It's a revenge match for Colon and shows how well Hansen can be in sort of a sympathetic heel role. It's certainly something worth checking out and might be best if watched following those first two matches to better understand it in context. Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - Bullrope Match 2/87 Wow. Just wow. What an unbelievable match. That's one of the greatest matches I've ever seen. It's very important to watch these matches in order. It makes this one that much better. These two make it essential that they destroy one another before even trying to go for the corners. It makes sense two ways but with the second being more important. The first reason is that the objective of the match is to of course incapacitate one's opponent so that they may touch all four corners. The second and most crucial reason is that these two have been beating the living shit out of each other for the past few months and hate each others guts so they won't miss out on the opportunity of once again violently mauling one another. So, in the beginning fuck winning the match right now. This is a chance to totally end someone I hate with an undying passion. Therefore, Hansen and Colon bloody one another with the cowbell on the rope and have this really great opening moments of just trying to almost kill one another. There is this great spot when Hansen's in control as he's trying to nail Colon in the head with the cowbell but Colon just Hulk's up and uses all of his might to counter. It's a really tremendous spot. Colon soon gets a good hold on things and starts wailing away some more on a bloodied Hansen. In another out of this world spot, he lassos Hansen's neck and chokes him ruthlessly. Hansen's selling is so realistic that it looks eerily similar to a graphic crime scene. Colon then starts the journey for reaching each corner. He gets the first few but doesn't have the strength to pull a larger man like Hansen. Hansen's desperate struggles as he uses all of his weight to prevent Colon from reaching each corner is phenomenal attention to detail. Hansen is able to stop Colon and beats him senselessly so that he can try to win. This part is important as Hansen is able to pull Colon whereas Colon wasn't able to pull him. Again, fantastic specifics that matter in these sorts of settings. Hansen is unable to succeed and at some point in the match there is this really great sequence on the floor where Colon whips Hansen around with all of his force and strength into the ring post and elsewhere at ringside. Specifically, there is a really awesome spot where Hansen hangs onto the refs leg and Colon just grabs Hansen by the hair and smashes him head first into the refs foot. I've never seen anything like that before. Back in the ring, both continue to gain the upper hand and yet can't seem to muster up all the strength to get to the final corner. Then, in one of the greatest spots I've ever seen Hansen easily gets the first three corners and is getting right up to the last one. Then Colon finds himself at the corner across the ring, wraps his legs around the ring post and pulls with everything he's got. Hansen fights for his life and reaches with one last heave but gets pulled back on his ass. Finally, the camera pans to Hansen's bloody face and I swear to God it's one of the greatest reactions to failure I've ever seen in a wrestling match. Hansen just sits there with his face covered in blood and screams out loud in angst, swearing like no other. It's almost like he's in tears. What does he have to do to beat this motherfucker? What a moment. Colon gets in a few really great close calls and Hansen ends up back on the offensive. Hansen gets down Colon for what it seems to be the end but Colon gets back in it only to get viciously clocked with the cowbell in a great spot. Hansen is doing everything he can to reach that final corner after knocking down Colon but still can't get it. He realizes he's going to have to brutalize him more and takes a fatal charge that sends him flying over Colon in a back body drop leaving the final corner wide open for a tremendous swan dive to end it all. Colon hits the corner and the match ends. The post-match brawl was a blast too but I can't stress how great of a match this is. Everyone needs to watch this. Do your best to watch these matches in a row because everything fits perfectly in the story being told. It's an absolute classic and one of the greatest matches ever. Watch it. Stan Hansen v. Carlos Colon - Cage Match March 1987 Well, after watching this that third matches finish comes out looking a lot better. It actually comes out looking like a good finish. It's a cage match and seems like the environment Hansen would want to have so that he may annihilate Colon to where there's no escape. This starts with the usual wild brawl and escalates into sheer violence pretty quickly. Hansen barely has the upper hand and Colon ends up taking complete control. This is the important part about this match that pertains to the third one. Hansen finally realizes he's in a bad place. No one likes him here. They despise him and want him for dead. He's got to find a way to fucking escape this madness. But, oh there in a cage which he originally thought might benefit him. Now he's in serious trouble. He tries several times to climb the cage or get through the cage door. Colon throws a really awesome calculated headbutt through the ropes that Hansen sells tremendously as he tries to escape. Then Colon remembers that third match where that redneck bastard got away from him. So he starts to set up the figure four. Hansen is absolutely terrified and the crowd is reveling in his fear. They're are enhancing his fear. There's this really great moment where Hansen finds an opening and just leaps up the cage only using his arms to climb because his leg is so damaged from Colon's onslaught. Colon manages to bring him back down and once again sets up the figure four. Hansen this time refocuses his escape to the cage door and attempts to crawl his way out. Colon is having none of that and is relentless on the leg attack. Hansen gets the best opening he's had yet and gets his boot off nailing the ever living shit out of Colon with it. He recognizes one shot isn't enough and blasts Colon again with the boot for good measure hoping it puts him down so he can get the fuck out of this madhouse. Hansen gets the closest he's ever going to get and Colon grabs the leg, drops an elbow to really bring the house down before he finally locks in the figure four. The camera pans to the crowd and suddenly we get an overview of the entire scene. Some heels backing Hansen have tried to make a run in but faces from the locker room have intervened and there's a massive brawl going on outside the cage. The crowd is one of the loudest I've ever heard. Ever. They realize this redneck son of a bitch is getting what he deserves and has no chance of escape whatsoever. Hansen is finally done and is done for good. The last seconds are amazing with ten or so guys brawling on the floor while Hansen is writhing in pain in the center of the ring. Colon finally lets go of the hold and quickly escapes the cage to join in the wild brawl on the floor. Hansen recuperates a little and gets involved too and this is one of the wildest scenes I've ever seen in wrestling. The faces win the battle but one of Colon's buddies is a bloody mess. Hansen gets in a few words before disappearing and this turns out to be one of the greatest feuds I've ever seen. I can't believe this hasn't been talked up over the years as an all-time great feud. It is seriously one of the five or so best I've ever witnessed and it was just in a three hour sitting. Everyone go watch these five matches in succession and you'll know what I'm talking about.

And some more: Crusher Blackwell vs. Da Crusher (No DQ) (2/26/84) I didn't find this to be great by any means but it was definitely fun. The brawling was really good at times and weak at others. Crusher had some good punches to start but I hand Blackwell enormous credit for selling them like they were cannon balls hitting his face. The table spot was my favorite use of a prop in this. I loved Crusher choking Blackwell with a ridiculously over-sized piece of equipment. Blackwell's chair shots on Crusher were pretty nasty including one that I could here through the crowd noise and video clutter. I didn't really like the exchanges once they got back into the ring. That's where I thought Crusher's weaknesses were pretty well exposed. It got better again when they returned to brawling on the floor. Blackwell was really posting Crusher. I knew something big was going to happen when he set up for that Avalanche. Man oh man, did that fat son of bitch rock the ring. He just fucking bolted full speed into it and missed with no protection. That has to be one of the best big man spots I've ever seen. I enjoyed the suspense of both guys brawling in the darkness as they carried their fight into the aisle. When we return, Adnan has gotten involved and giving the Crusher some sort of beating. Blackwell quickly comes in and pins Crusher. The finish was bizarre more than bad but it did leave some good suspense into how Crusher got so beaten considering the action that had preceded the finish was taking place in darkness. The post-match brawl and chaos was great and wanted me to see another match between these two even though I wasn't blown away by this. I did like this for some of the wild brawling, Blackwell's performance and massive bump, and the post-match. There was a few minutes that fell flat for me but this isn't necessarily going to be a bottom ten or even bottom fifteen on my ballot. Crusher Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Blackjack Mulligan & Jerry Lawler (3/4/84) Blackwell was outstanding in this match. It is just incredible how good he was and yet he is really just now being discovered by a large audience. Lawler did the work for his team and was typically great. I loved Blackwell talking shit before the match only to get his face beat in by Mulligan and later Lawler. He took a tremendous bump into the corner and sold Mulligan and Lawler's punches like he was getting hit in the face with a hammer (With Lawler he kind of was). Lawler misses a leg drop from the top rope and takes an awesome bump on it. Blackwell takes advantage and gives him a devastating Samoan Drop. That ruled. Lawler is of course great at FIP so this portion of the match was excellent. I loved the hope spot where Lawler and Patera both connected with punches at the same time. That was a really unique and cool way to do a hope spot. Lawler got his back worked on for the most part and he sold both of the heels bear hugs really well. Blackwell hit these really impactful delayed headbutts that Lawler sold awesomely. Lawler got squashed with a Blackwell splash but Mulligan made another save for Lawler as he had been doing the whole match. Blackwell misses a delayed headbutt and Mulligan gets the hot tag and throws a few punches before he tags Lawler back in who bludgeons Blackwell with absolutely vicious punches that knock the big man down. Then Lawler does some rapid fire fist drops that look nasty as hell. Mulligan gets back into the match and gives Blackwell the Lariat which Blackwell sells tremendously. However, Adnan nails Mulligan in the head with his cast arm and Blackwell covers Mulligan to retain the tag titles and win the match. Lawler and Mulligan beat on the heels post-match, Mulligan slams Blackwell, and they count their own three to appease the upset crowd. This was really a Blackwell showcase as he brought everything to the table including some terrific offense. Lawler was excellent as FIP as he almost always is and Patera played his role perfectly well. Mulligan was detrimental somewhat to the this and the finish was iffy but overall this was a great southern tag style match.

Here's my reviews of Blackwell matches from the AWA set that I've seen so far: Jerry Blackwell & Big John Studd vs. High Flyers (2/20/81) Very good tag match. I liked the back work here on Greg. He did a nice job working underneath. Blackwell was extremely entertaining in this weeble wobbling from dropkicks and getting high as fuck at a dropkick attempt of his own. This is like the third match I've watched in two days where a bear hug has worked in a match. I liked that Greg was fighting through it the whole time. Studd seemed motivated in this match. He moved around fairly well. I loved Brunzell's offensive flurry and his brutal fucking dropkick at the finish. The miscommunication finish wasn't all that great but this ended up being a very good tag with fine structure. Jerry Blackwell vs. Billy Robinson (12/3/81) I liked this match more than most although I didn't see it any better than merely good. The mat work was really good in the opening minutes. Blackwell seemed comfortable there which shows his versatility. Blackwell's heeling was great here albeit the work wasn't particularly compelling. I liked the near falls off of Robinson's elbow and neck breaker. The finish sucked I thought but I still enjoyed parts of this. So yeah, not by any means a great match but a good example of Blackwell doing mat work and showcasing his dynamic skills. Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie vs. High Flyers (Cage Match 4/18/82) Tremendous match that was hurt by somewhat poor editing. The structure of this match was fine. That leg work on Adnan late in the match felt more like Brunzell setting up for the figure four to put him away. It's not like they worked on his leg half-assed. The Flyers viciously worked on his leg including a sickening top rope knee from Greg. I'm confident that's pretty heated and filled with hate. I don't think I would find getting my leg whipped around and violently worked on happy go lucky and laughable. Anyways, Blackwell was the star for me in this match. His bumping was incredible. I mean he's terribly obese. No fat man should logically be taking bumps like he did. Also, him spewing blood all over the camera was gruesome as hell. The missed splash from the top rope followed by a couple of absurd cage bumps from Blackwell were the highlighted spots for me in the match. I did love the camera shot of a pissed off Brunzell on the apron with one side of his face covered in blood. Greg was excellent in this match as well. His FIP segment was terrific. All of his bumps into the cage were violent and extremely impactful. I loved his hot tag to Brunzell as well that was started by an awesome roll to his corner. I forgot to mention how I really enjoyed Brunzell's offense at the start of the match. It was fucking sweet and those uppercuts were snug as fuck. The finish to this was tremendous with the double dropkick seemingly killing Adnan. And shit if the post-match didn't kick ass too. Brunzell climbing over and down the cage back into the ring meanwhile fighting Blackwell and Adnan mid-climb was fucking great. The pop for Verne was something else and I loved him cleaning house. The fans all swarming the cage including a few attempting to join the fray by starting to scale the cage ruled. My only beef with this was the few editing spots which bothered me a little bit. I didn't like that first cut particularly well because I felt like I may have missed something big or important in the match. With that said, this was a tremendous match with awesome heat, blood, hate, good structure, and several great performances. Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon (Taped Fist Match) (3/13/83) Awesome match. The pre-match heat is great with Wally Karbo making a deal with Mad Dog and Baron that they can have their fists taped but not their entire arms like the cast on Adnan and Blackwell. I loved the faces immediately working on the cast arm of Adnan. They were at a disadvantage and wanted to take that away as quickly as possible. Then Blackwell came in not long after that. He was outstanding in this match. The corner bumps he took were really great and I loved the struggle Mad Dog and Baron had at taking him down. It was really awesome when they finally got him off his feet. Eventually, the faces taped fists come into play and Blackwell is bleeding crimson. Mad Dog is excellent at working cuts because he just bites, claws, and scratches the wound.....like a mad dog. The spot where Blackwell crushes Adnan in the corner is tremendous. And I loved when both heels were tossed onto the ringside table. We get an annoying clipping that misses the start of Baron's FIP segment and what caused him to bleed but what we got was great. Blackwell's fat man elbow and power slam were frightening and looked like they may have killed Baron. Mad Dog off the hot tag was done very well too. He came in and threw some stiff strikes. Baron got back in and clawed Blackwell's bloody head which ruled but Adnan hit him with his cast arm. Blackwell then gave Baron a splash that look incredibly devastating for the win. The post-match was a true fucking spectacle. The heels demolished the faces until Verne makes the save. There is extreme tension at this point and then Blackwell and Adnan go back into the ring and pummel Verne. All of the sudden debris is flying into the ring and the crowd is edging closer to the ring. Curt Hennig clears them from the ring and they go to the back. On their way to the back fucking fans start decking them and one breaks free and starts brawling with Blackwell and Adnan. It was totally surreal shit. Those fuckers finally got to the back and we pan to the ring again with Okerlund screaming, "For God's sake! Someone bring out the paramedics!!!!!" That fucking ruled and was probably the best then Gene has ever said or done. We end this insanity with Verne, Mad Dog, and Baron being helped to the back. This was a really intense and heated brawl followed by a unique spectacle post-match. This was really some unbelievable shit. Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon (4/24/83) This was a really fun, violent, and spirited brawl. Blackwell was awesome early here selling his ass off to Verne's offense. I thought Mad Dog's FIP segment was excellent. I love that Adnan beat him savagely with his cast arm, the ring bell, a mic stand, and a steel chair. Mad Dog bleeds pretty well and gets into some back and forth striking with both Adnan and Blackwell. Blackwell's power slams ruled in this. I also loved his bumping and have become a big fan of his bump into the turnbuckle when he misses the running splash. The chaotic ending was fucking great. All four guys are just fighting each other at this point. Mad Dog destroys Blackwell with a chair shot and Blackwell's blade job is gruesome as hell. I really liked Verne removing Adnan's cast, hitting him with it, then working on his arm that was followed up with a brutal knee from the top rope on it to get the win. This was really an awesome brawl with very strong performances from Mad Dog and Blackwell. Verne and Adnan played their roles to near perfection as well. This has been a great feud. Crusher Blackwell vs. Mad Dog Vachon (Algerian Death Match) (5/22/83) This is Blackwell's best performance so far on this set. I don't think I like this match quite as much as Dylan does but I did enjoy a good bit and thought it was a great match. The match is brilliantly put to together with Mad Dog almost immediately finding himself in trouble. I love that he gets himself pre-occupied with Adnan and Patera instead of the obese challenger on the other side of the ring. Blackwell's offense of gluttony was tremendous too. I loved how Mad Dog sold all of the offense. Blackwell standing in a corner cracking jokes with Adnan and Patera was awesome as the ref would count on the beaten Mad Dog. The reaction on Blackwell's face when Mad Dog gets up after the second fall was hilarious. This is the turning point of the match as far as Blackwell putting out a phenomenal performance goes. His weeble wobbly selling is outstanding. He's the best at that selling I've ever seen. Mad Dog posting him on the outside was great and Blackwell's entire right side of his face was crimson before the end of the match. The fish hook, eye gouge, and graphic biting all ruled. I agree with Dylan that the finish was awesome too. Blackwell finally escapes Mad Dog's angry onslaught but arrogantly goes to the top rope only to miss a big splash and take a really unique but believable bump off of it. Mad Dog's top rope knee crusher to Blackwell's breathing tubes was a really violent and believable finish. I thought Blackwell nearly making it before he was officially counted out improved the finish because it protected him and didn't make his offensive attack look too weak from earlier in the match when Mad Dog beat the count in a close call. This is definitely going to finish high on my ballot and on this disc. As I said before, I maybe didn't like it as much as Dylan but I still thought it was a really great brawl and a career performance from Blackwell. Crusher Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Dino Bravo & Steve O (8/28/83) Very Good tag match. Blackwell was excellent in this. It's just amazing how impressive he is at weeble-wobble selling. It's easily the most believable I've ever seen. His bumping is great too. It wasn't showcased as much in this match but minor big bumps liked the missed turnbuckle splash and the missed splash on the mat were both equally terrific bumps. I love the opening of the match. Bravo just throws bombs on Blackwell and Patera. The crowd really loves it too. Patera had his arm worked over and did a great job of being the stooge of the team. Steve O was just there but he was sympathetic enough when he was FIP. The clip that missed the transition into the heat segment was troublesome but not as bad as some can be. I really enjoyed the creative way they had Steve O get the hot tag to Bravo. It made the match unique. Bravo was tremendous off the hot tag. He threw some more wild bombs with the biggest being a massive body slam on Blackwell that Blackwell bumped and sold magnificently. The finish to this was fantastic with Blackwell fucking leg sweeping Steve O who was in mid-airplane spin with Patera. Blackwell followed it up with a bone crushing big splash and laid Patera over the prone body of Steve O for the win. This had another brilliant performance from Blackwell and an inspired one by Bravo. Patera was a great stooge and Steve O was just there for the ride. Overall, it was a very good to great tag match but was hurt by the clipping and a somewhat underwhelming heat segment with Steve O as FIP. Crusher Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. High Flyers (11/24/83) Awesome tag match. What was so great about this match I thought was how balanced it was. The face shine segment was extended but it transitioned into an extremely effective heat segment that built really well to the finish. Therefore, the structure was outstanding. Blackwell was really terrific in this as he has been excellent in every match he's been a part of on this disc and really anywhere on this set. I loved his "fuck you" slam to Greg at the start and the tremendous facial expression he had when Ray Stevens prevented a punch while he was in an arm hold. The arm and leg work on Patera was really good. Greg and Brunzell were really ferocious as they targeted Patera's leg especially. Greg's leg lock and Brunzell's figure four are awesome combinations to work on an opponent's leg. They've done it several times in their matches and that's usually my favorite part of their shine segments. The FIP and heat segment was very well put together and well timed. Blackwell's devastating turnbuckle charges to Brunzell's spine were sickening. All of Brunzell's comebacks and hope spots were tremendous teases and really made one believe that he would finally tag Greg. My favorite tease was when Blackwell missed the big splash off the top rope but it only led to a near fall and cut off spot. The hot tag was great here but could have definitely been better if it were Greg working underneath and Brunzell coming in off the tag. I think those two work better that way. Greg still did a good job as he threw some dropkicks and punches towards both Blackwell and Patera. Greg gets the sleeper on Blackwell and Brunzell dropkicks Patera out of the ring. Blackwell slowly starts fading in the hold but Adnan nails Ray Stevens with his cast arm. Greg gets rid of Adnan and goes for the cover on the passed out Blackwell but the referee Stevens is still hurt from Adnan's previous blow. Adnan comes back in and hits Greg with his cast arm and Stevens disqualifies The Sheik's for outside interference. The post-match is great though as Greg and Brunzell beat the shit out of Adnan, Blackwell, and Patera with Adnan's cast. This was a brilliantly structured and put together tag with excellent work to boot. The only issue I really have is the aggravating finish but this will definitely finish high on my ballot.

Another Barry review: Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman (3/23/91 WCW Main Event) This was a hell of feud in my opinion and I'm a fan of all their matches during this period. Pillman is wearing a brace for an injured shoulder and Barry immediately targets it to start. There's some really cool stuff in here like Pillman getting a crucifix pin early but on the way down shaking his injured shoulder in pain. Pillman's aggressiveness on Barry's knee was great and Barry sold it like a champion for the rest of the match. Pillman eventually gets slammed shoulder first into the turnbuckle and Barry gets a hold of the hurt shoulder and beats on it senselessly. At one point he stretches Pillman's bad shoulder out and does a bulldog to it. That was awesome. The match soon turns to chaos and their having a wild brawl on the floor which results in Arn coming out and further damaging Pillman's shoulder. The match ends in a double count out and the Steiners come to the aid of Pillman. The selling and pacing of this was really good stuff. The heated brawl at the end was a lot of fun too.

I enjoy at least one of the Savage-Dibiase cage matches a good bit but the WrestleMania match was an occurrence last time I watched it. It happened and was okay really only because of the moment. However, saying those matches are better than Barry-Luger at Chi-Town 89 is something I can't see at all. Barry's selling of the hand in that match is really excellent and one of my favorite Barry performances in a singles match.

A few more Barry reviews: Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs. Midnight Express (COTC 4 12/7/88) This was a very good big time tag match with some great heat. Eaton and Flair’s exchanges are the best part of this with both guys duking it out and throwing some tremendous strikes. Stan Lane’s offense is so weak but Flair and Windham did a terrific job of selling all of it. Flair and Windham were bump machines as well in this just taking everything from the MX and selling their offense wildly and awesomely. Eaton gets dropped on the railing and plays FIP pretty well here. Barry is given the job of working over Eaton which he does quite well using some good offense like a vertical suplex and powerslam. The hot tag to Lane is fun and the final few minutes are insanely molten with crowd heat. Eaton hits his leg drop on Barry but Flair nails Eaton with J.J.’s shoe behind Tommy Young’s back to score the win for the Horsemen. The Chattanooga crowd is livid afterwards. This was a very good and fun 80s JCP/WCW tag with an awesome crowd and showed some of Windham’s ability to control a heat segment. Barry Windham vs. Dustin Rhodes (12/29/92 Philadelphia Handheld) This is shortly after Barry’s heel turn on Dustin but the crowd doesn’t care. They’re all for Barry, chanting his name and wishing for Dustin’s arm to be broken. Barry gets on the mic when Dustin comes out and talks shit starting a really awesome brawl on the floor. Dustin gets in some face shine time before Barry catches him with the leaping DDT. Barry hits his vertical suplex/pin combo then starts working on Dustin’s arm. There’s one point where Barry just jabs Dustin in the arm before executing a hammerlock slam. That’s attention to detail that I really enjoy. Barry is very methodical offensively but he keeps me interested. The bizzaro crowd refuses to get behind Dustin but it’s kind of an entertaining novelty. Dustin gets a little comeback in him and goes up top but misses an elbow drop on a tremendous bump to continue selling the arm. Barry regains the upper hand momentarily until Dustin inadvertently shoves him into the referee. Dustin hits the bulldog and covers Barry but the ref is out. He tries to revive the ref; meanwhile Barry gets ahold of one of Dustin’s boots and totally creams him in the back of the neck with it. That was a hell of a boot shot. Barry gets the win with that and the crowd is elated. I really enjoyed this feud when watching it for the WCW SC poll and continue to do so. This was a really good house match with some awesome intensity in parts.