Superstar Sleeze

WWF Martial Arts Champion Antonio Inoki vs Mr. X - NJPW 2/6/79 What a shitshow! In a quest to recapture the magic of Muhammad Ali has a bunch of terrible pro wrestler vs martial arts fights. This seems like a precursor to the Different Style Fights they use a Round system. Mr. X is a black man under a mask with a gi and boxing gloves. Mr. X is the shits. Terrible punches and is very uncoordinated. Inoki gives pretty much the whole first round to this chump more than he would give his peers lol. He does the sliding kicks like this guy is Ali or something lol. Eventually Inoki ends the farce with a straight right, Enziguiri and Octopus Stretch which of course gets fucked up because X can’t hold his balance. This goes to a third round. Inoki armdrag and cross armbreaker finishes with no fanfare. Terrible match. Do not watch this.

Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh - NJPW 1/9/76 What if I told you a match had double juice, one dude getting busted open by a sword, the other by a glass bottle or some sort of tank, punches to the cut, biting the cut, steel chairs, guard rails, choking. Sounds killer. These two I don’t know what it is but they just don’t have it together. I love Inoki so it seems like a Singh problem. Does Tiger Jeet ever wrestler anyone else? The What and Why are there but the How is just heatless and no vim or vigor. It is weird because a verbal description would sound badass but it was anything but. There would be glimpses of that could be great but nothing sustained. The biggest pop was a fan nailed Tiger Jeet with a paper ball. Inoki was brutalized for the first ten minutes, made his comeback, double countout and then sent Tiger packing by kicking his ass. Maybe if it was more back and forth. It is probably just everyone is right, Tiger Jeet just kinda sucks. After contemplating this s’more this is a pretty decent brawl it is just not what I wanted it to be but it is good. ***

Antonio Inoki vs Tony Rocco - NJPW 2/2/79 Tony Rocco is a name I have heard associated with British wrestling but never seen. This is a weird addition to the New Japan World Catalog as it is pretty much a nothing match that’s about 8 minutes long. They work It like they are going Broadway, it is three holes and then a finish. The holds are well-done. Rocco takes Inoki down with a double wristlock and scissors the head. The amount of effort it took for Inoki to escape the hold was refreshing. Then Rocco got him a fisherman cradle but the ref refused to count. Inoki barred the arm. From there Inoki threw a couple DROPKICKs, Rocco atomic dropped him on the ropes into a backslide to get his nearfall. Inoki won with a Saito Suplex. A total nothing burger not good or bad. Just no meat on the bone.

I am pretty sure Inoki won the match by countout after a top rope flying knee to the floor. Antonio Inoki vs Seiji Sakaguchi - NJPW 4/21/78 MSG Series The opening match in the MSG Series, successor to the World League and precursor to the IWGP & G1 Leagues. Don’t be fooled by New Japan World this is not the Final, the final pits Inoki vs Andre on 5/30. I have not seen too much of Sakaguchi. It is his size that leaps off the page but not much else. Perhaps as I watch more of him, I will grow to appreciate him more but he seems like a solid hand. The match started as a pretty good Ace vs Second Banana technical contest with tempers flaring but they progressively lost steam down the stretch so this settled into the good, not great territory. The opening 30 minutes was surprisingly very Sakaguchi heavy on offense. Inoki really could not get much started. Besides an open salvo Saito Suplex that caused Sakaguchi to powder and some leg work, Sakaguchi stymied Inoki at every turn using his size, technique and most importantly his willingness to bend the rules and roughhouse to his advantage. The holds and amateur style takedowns and defense are a wrestling Purist dream. There is a great back heel trip by Sakaguchi on a rope break. That’s what I mean by blending the purity of amateur style with the storytelling of the professional style showing gamesmanship. There’s early warning signs. Each man chokes the other a little bit ;) but the ref is on it. Sakaguchi romps and stomps. Inoki wants to pull Sakaguchi out to the floor but can’t pull the trigger. It is Sakaguchi who finally lets it rips with strikes and wiping Inoki out with two wedgie style piledrivers. The ref doesn’t not count the pin because used the tights illegally to execute the move. God bless 1978 Japan! Sakaguchi hits an Atomic Stomp and even grabs the Octopus Stretch as time expires at the 30 minute mark. I thought this was great. I do have some issues with Inoki’s selling. He was doing a lot of not selling which is different than no selling. He was NOT registering the pain of the previous move or hold. He was just living onto the next one. On the flip side, Sakaguchi registered the pain of the Saito Suplex powdered acknowledged Inoki almost got him, realized it was kill or be killed and came back stronger. That’s a proper register. Inoki was being dominated but he was not very compelling underneath. They restart the match and this 10 minute stretch is not very good. They lose all the steam and storyline thread of the previous 30 minutes. Predictably it is Inoki’s turn to get on top. He dominates with holds and a Bombs Away Knee. It feels really heatless. He does clock Sakaguchi with a sick mule kick. This ten minute overtime ends with an Inoki figure-4 as time limit expires. I am assuming since they finished with Sakaguchi applying Inoki’s hold in the first period that the figure-4 is Sakaguchi’s hold? Am I right? Third reset not surprisingly this is quick. Inoki does his famous sliding kicks to the big man as they go out the ring. Inoki shoved him into the post and hits a BOMBS AWAY KNEE DROP FROM THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! Sick finish. Normalize countout finishes again in pro wrestling. There is some good stuff no doubt but it is hard to call this more than good. The heat just isn’t there and there is a lack of progression. The Bombs Away Kneedrop At the end is sick but feels tacked on. They had not worked the match to a fever pitch yet. ***1/4

NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Kintaro Oki - NJPW 10/10/74 Jet lag is a bitch (no not that Jetlag, he’s a boss) I am in Japan lying awake after that bitchin’ Inoki/Kobayashi let’s do another. The other thing is I got a cold a couple days ago before I left and it has complicated things. My nose was like faucet on the plane today. Now I’m congested as fuck. Heard the name Oki, don’t think I have seen him wrestle. I knew he was Korean. I didn’t realize he was the same class as Inoki and Baba was basically their third wheel. I thought this was fantastic. Inoki fucking clocks Oki before the bell; dude still had his robe on. The real Jetlag pointed out Oki wouldn’t shake his hand, which I didn’t catch. I just thought Inoki was being a dick. Was this interpromotional? Was Oki IWE? The hate between these two is palpable. This is brutally uncooperative in the best way possible. They are just tussling but can’t land anything. Inoki is looking to end this early with two Octopus Stretch attempts both stymied by Oki.’When Inoki does take Oki down he just grinds his forearm into Oki’s jawbone. It is nasty shit like that. Each pops off a great Suplex into a pin. Then what makes the match unique Oki goes low into the breadbasket with a couple butts. Then he follows up with a headbutt that rocks Inoki. A curious thing happens…Inoki does not immediately go back on offense. He takes probably four or five more brutal headbutts before one of them knocks him Out of the ring to a BIG reaction and Oli celebrates like his victory is academic. Inoki is trying to fire himself up but Oki is pouring on the headbutts. For once Inoki looks in danger, Oki hits a headbutt for two. He winds up and cracks Inoki with a headbutt which busts Inoki open. INOKI FIRES THE FUCK UP!!! Huge punch, Saito Suplex for the win! Awesome match really unique and entertaining. I am wondering if they were trying to open Inoki up hard way because he kept checking himself for blood (it also looked he was trying to blade himself a couple times). I think it was too perfect on the windup headbutt that was the one that drew blood so it was probably a blade. Anyways killer finish! Definitely give this match a spin. ****

NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Strong Kobayashi - NJPW 12/12/74 Konnichiwa from Japan! Writing this from Hakone, jet lagged six ways from Sunday. I had Naito vs Tsuiji all teed up from Sakura Genesis and I was like is that what I really want to watch? Look I know that’s what I am going to get come next Monday but fuck it I fell in love with Japan because of shit like this. This matches rules. HARD~! Hot Take: Wrestlers nowadays sells way too much. They undercut the credibility of their comeback and can grind matches to a halt with their overselling. I went to WrestleMania last weekend and I thought Gunther vs Sami Zayn was a top match of the weekend on the back of a hot closing stretch but that beginning was pretty bad. Zayn was selling two minutes in like they were in minute twenty. There are levels to this, brutha. Watching this match was a breath of fresh air. It was all register, register, register. They would register to get the crowd hot and fire up. The heat was explosive in this match. Very fun Inokiist opening to start with Inoki nailing two Big DROPKICKs to start, 1-2-3! Just like that the match is over. No wait Kobayashi had his foot clearly over the bottom rope since like one but ref was locked in on the shoulders. Big brouhaha leads to the match restarting. From there, it is just brilliant 70s wrestling. Kobayashi is the roughhouser extraordinaire. Kobayashi is competent on the mat but would rather by romping and stomping. While Inoki is working holds with vim & vigor. Inoki starts throwing feigned closed fists. Kobayashi retaliates with a top wristlock takedown into stomps to Inoki’s head to force him to powder. Inoki doesn’t oversell. He sells it enough so you know what you watched was roughhousing. It was not illegal but it was not clean either. Inoki comes roaring back with a Butterfly Lock and a Cravate. The ref breaks up the Cravate because Kobayashi is claiming choke. Again the way Kobayashi collapses sells the choke. Inoki defends himself by putting the hold on the ref. I love it. Inoki goes to crowd Kobayashi in the corner but Kobayashi cheap shots him and again uses punches and stomps to force Inoki to powder. Inoki comes back again working holds like his signature Indian Deathlock weigh Back Bend which Kobayashi uses chokes to get out of. Inoki converts that into a Bow & Arrow but they are in the ropes. Kobayashi crowds in the crowd with shoulder tackles and in his best near fall hits a Billy Robinson Backbreaker for a two count. Here is my one criticism this is where Inoki did need to sell more and let Kobayashi pour it on to take this to the next level. Instead we have Inoki double legging and taking it back to a Boston Crab. I know this is what drives some people crazy about Inoki is that he does not sell enough. I can appreciate early in that he registers and fires back but I do wish there was a 2-5 minute stretch in the back end where he’d give more to his opponents. Anyways that’s a nitpick because the FINISH FUCKING RULES! Inoki just clocks Kobayashi with a punch. Kobayashi walks away and just punches the turnbuckles as if to say to the ref what fuck are you going to do about that when he realizes nothing they just slug it out in awesome fashion. This ain’t no 21st Century New Japan Strike Exchange this is an old school out and out brawl! It gets even better from there! Inoki goes for a flying head scissors but Kobayashi falls backwards into the ropes and they take a NASTY bump. Inoki slams Kobayashi’s head into post. Teasing the Countout win which I would have loved. Kobayashi is busted open comes back in the ring pissed off and ready to throw down. Inoki cleans his fucking clock with a right and two Octocpus Stretches later wins! What a fucking fight! This has everything you want: well-defined characters that act according to their traits, struggle, urgency, a shit ton of heat and memorable plot points that rage to a climax. Call me an old crotchey man, call me crazy but they don’t make pro wrestling matches like they used to BABY~! ****1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 1/4/24 Wrestle Kingdom 18 The hunt for a halfway decent New Japan 2024 match continues. Granted, I am doing this with express purpose of watching wrestlers I will watch in Japan at Korakuen Hall on April 22nd so watching Danielson in New Japan does not do me much good. Plus I am super familiar with Danielson so I dont need to watch him to prep for him even if he was to wrestle on that night. Anyways, never have been a Naito guy and nothing has really changed for me. He does not have much in the way of charisma nor does he do anything unique. Destino may be the worst finish of all time. It is so clunky and ugly. SANADA is like the most almost athletic wrestler of all time. Watch him try to do Misawa Tiger Feint at the beginning or the Poisonrana at the end, he just barely accomplishes them and they are ugly as sin. There's enough wicked athletic wrestler in this day and age, it is a losing battle for him. He should focus on something else. Honestly, the finish run basically mindwiped me and I cant really remember what I wanted to say even though I finished this match about ten minutes ago. Opening: Weak chain wrestling. The feign some dives. The match opens up with Naito hitting some hard back elbows to the neck and a hiptoss where SANADA's neck lands on Naito's knee. SANADA sells this well, even going to one knee on some hope spot chops. He moves into position a little early on the Slop Drop into some Lucha submission. As I expected, this match had like 20 minutes left so SANADA clearly oversold here as what was to come. Second segment: SANADA all of sudden has a ton of energy and moves out of the way a charge. Dropkick to the knee. Does some leapfrogs, dropkick. Splash to the outside. This would have been a great shine. Or he could not sold so much at the beginning. SANADA drops down into a Dragon Sleeper. He goes for the Moonsault early. Lands on his feet. He scrambles for another move but Naito sweeps the leg, dropkicks him and then a Reverse Neckbreaker off the guardrail to the floor for an 18 count. That sequence from the missed Moonsault->Neckbreaker on the floor was TREMENDOUS! It was the best sequence of the match. It demonstrates they could wrestle a great match, but they could NOT put it together. Third Segment: Naito snaps off a Top Rope Frankensteiner. SANADA hits a dropkick and then they tussle and he hits a Magic Killer off the top rope. They pissed away a lot of good work in that sequence. I think this is where the Poisonrana comes in. Moonsault eats the knees. First Destino and we enter the Finish stretch Finish Stretch: This was dreadful. First it is JIP wrestling. You could just JIP right to the missed moonsault and you would have missed nothing. The first 15-18minutes of this match do NOT matter. It is just a bunch of my turn, your turn finishes. Oh they steal each other finishers! Naito hits a bajillion Destino's. SANADA has an inverted Sister Abigail he hits plus some Shining Wizards and Moonsaults. It is pretty much mindless shit. I think when I enter Korakuen Hall I will be so overwhelmed by emotion I wont care what is put on in front of me, but New Japan looks fucking washed from where I am sitting.

Yota Tsuji vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 3/20/24 New Japan Cup Finals I am so excited to see pro wrestling in Korakuen Hall that New Japan could deliver a total shitburger that I will still be elated, but if I am to be objective, this has been very disappointing to see what is going in New Japan. I heard the Finals would be a lot better than Semifinals, but I am still not seeing it. Besides his big ass smile, I dont see what Tsuji has going for him. I am only two matches in so I will keep an open mind, but there is nothing about him that jumps off the page. He is just another dude that does the same things as everyone else nowadays. Goto is Goto. He is old stalwart. First highspot came about five minutes in, it was a suicide dive by Tsuji. The opening 5 minutes of customary New Japan feeling out was nothing to write home about. No fire in the lock ups or takedowns. Tsuji's control segment was pretty by the book. Bodyslam, body scissors. I found it funny Goto was doing these desperation chops and fall down to one knee after about 7 minutes of action, a suicide dive and a bodyslam. I mean credit for doing a traditional hope spot, a dying art, but dude how about you wait for Tsuji to do something actually devastating. Goto caught Tsuji with a lariat on criss-cross. He did his standard Goto spots. There was absolutely terrible criss-cross spot that was just so overly complicated and unnecessary. Pretty bad New Japan strike exchange. The finish run was not very good. Usually I expect the finish run to save this match and justify the lavish praise heaped upon these mediocre matches, but this was not even good by Cena/Owens standards of 2015. It was my turn, your turn dreck. Tsuji hits his one cool move that weird jumpy thing that leads to double stomp to Goto's head. Guess what next move Tsuji hoists Goto on his shoulders guess what Goto comes alive and puts Tsuji in a sleeper. Man, could they at least come u[ up with a better transition. The headbutt strike exchange was good. I think this may have been earlier after the terrible criss-cross, but there was a terrible moment where Tsuji just hopped up on Goto's shoulders to eat a move. The actual finish was decent. Goto went for some Rainmaker variation and Tsuji hit a spear which was cool. I am not thrilled with yet another wrestler using the Spear but Tsuji does his more look like a spear takedown. If you like today's style of wrestling, I am sure you will like this. I am not here to rain on anyone's parade. I just call em as I see em. It was a disappointing match.

So obviously we have to go to Ribera. I see there are two locations. Which one is better from a pro wrestling history & memorabilia perspective?

Yota Tsuji vs EVIL - NJPW 3/18/24 New Japan Cup Semis Same crowd as Sanada & Goto, a bit more energy for this match particularly Yota who I have never seen or heard of before. Is Yota a candidate to be the next Ace? He seems solid. Between him & Sanaa’s I don’t see a huge difference, Yota may be a bit more charismatic. Never EVIL before but heard of him. I liked this better than Sanada/Goto but it wasn’t without its faults. This one told a clear story: the dude named EVIL is well Evil. He pulls hair, he exposes turnbuckles, he ball shots, he has friends (is that Dick Togo? It is Dick Togo) beat up Tsuji. So Tsuji has to fight from underneath and overcome the odds and has his own friends help him out. The issue was with the execution. A lot of it felt heatless like they were just going through motions like it was a dress rehearsal. Both beatdowns at the beginning and the end were atrocious. I’d be ashamed to be apart of that. Both some oomph behind those stomps, sneer, do something. The crowd clearly liked Yota but the match did him little favors. Once the match was officially started after the first beat down. There was a buzz to Yota’s offense. EVIL stymied that with a HARD shove into the railing that toppled the ring announcer. I like the hair pulling and the exposed buckles but the way Yota was going into them was ginger. Yota got his hope spots in with a couple stomps. EVIL took back over don’t remember much and I just watched the match. EVIL took the Bret Bump into the exposed buckles which I LOVED! EVIL hit him hard. This should led to fiery comeback but they pissed around with a terrible strike exchange. Yota hit his big finish but nailed the ref with it. Here comes Evil’s boys and this beat down sucks too. They focus on Tsuji’s testicles but Evil can’t pin him. SHINGO I believe comes out cleans house and Yota wins. This could have been great all the pieces were there but it was so heatless in execution.

I was watching Beetlejuice for the first time on the plane back from Dublin. Noticed there was a pro wrestling match while the mom was sleeping, what match was on?

UPDATE: I bought tickets using BuySumoTickets and received confirmation they purchased tickets for me to go see New Japan in Korakuen Hall!!! I am so excited that I am getting to see pro wrestling in Korakuen! We are also going to Sumo too, which should be pretty cool. I watched a New Japan match from a week ago and noticed that 2/3rds-3/4ths of the crowd was in masks. Should I expect to wear a mask at all times in Japan or only when I am sick? Thank you everyone for the recommendations! I am so excited for this trip!

SANADA vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 03/18/24 New Japan Cup 2024 Semis I leave for Japan on April 13th. Time to get my ass in gear! Hirooki Goto still wrestles?!? Wow! SANADA has a great look, not sure he has IT. I thought he was perfectly solid just didn’t jump off the page for me. I thought he’d be a lock to win since he was a recent champion & Goto is a vet but they went with the upset. It is still cold in Boston so this is going to be short. Pretty heatless match overall. Nothing bad per se but nothing great. Standard New Japan start with Mat wrestling which I appreciate. Looks like Goto is going to take control first with a clotheslining Samara over the top rope but very All Japan transition here with drop toe hole into the guardrail and then piledriver on the floor. That was the peak of the match. Lame Sanada control. Lame Goto transition on a lame cross cross. Stock Goto stuff. The criss cross stuff in this match was not good. SANADA who I believe is a Mutoh student at the very least he worked Wrestle-1 with Mutoh uses a lot of Mutoh moves such as the Shining Wizard & Moonsault. I did like the Dragon Sleeper with a body scissors. There was an especially bad New Japan strike exchange breakdown. The finish stretch was pretty standard New Japan does 90s All Japan style bomb throwing. This came off well and heated. The crowd finally got into it. I liked Sanada’s use if quick pins to discombobulate and set up offense but eventually he got caught by two big moves from Goto. I’m probably harsher sounding on it than I felt while watching. I didn’t think either guy really stood out and they didn’t tell a real story. It was not like one guy was fighting from underneath (SANADA was on top more I reckon), no limbo psychology, no tempo psychology. It was just hit your spots with weak transition and a standard finish run. Nothing bad, nothing great. It just was.

Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 8/13/23 Woah Sleeze is reviewing a match after 2015, what the fuck?!? Look, New Japan could present a shitburger in Korakeun Hall and I would still be on Cloud 9 watching pro wrestling in Korakeun. I get chills and emotional just thinking about the fact I will get to do that, BUT I might as well do a little research and see what is going on in New Japan to enhance the experience. I figured I'd start with last year's G1 Climax Final. Naito is definitely the more over of the two. I watched this while walking in 32F weather, it is a 34 minute match, so rather than a blow by blow account. These are the thoughts I had while watching it. Pros 1. Pacing. I thought both Okada & Naito did a great job pacing this 34 minute match 1a. Segmentation was really well done. They had significant control segments with clear transitions in momentum. Action had consequences 1b. Tempo was a double edge sword, as you will see it will be in the Con section, BUT I did appreciate they took their time. This was not a perpetual motion match. Neither Okada nor Naito was running the whole time. They let things breathe. It did not feel like they were do a rehearsed choreography or stage blocking. 1c. They took what their opponent gave them. Nothing drives me nuts more than an opponent getting into position for the next move. Here that did not happen. I am so appreciative of it. They used a snapmare or a bodyslam to position their opponent how they wanted them. Or if thats where the opponent was that is how the spot flowed. 2. Neck Psychology - The neck psychology was strong throughout. It was a good touchstone for the match. 3. Highspots - Okada has his highspots down pat. The dropkick to the wrestler sitting on the top rope, the Tombstone, the standard dropkick, Emerald Flowsion and the Rainmaker. He is a Bret Hart style wrestler. You know the beats, you look for the beats, the beats are safe and any deviation to the beats is interesting. As you will see in cons there was not much in the way of deviation. I think Naito has improved since I last watch him, but in all honesty he does nothing for me. Besides Tranquilo, what does he do that shows charisma or anything of the way sparking excitement? Cons 1. Transitions while clear were neither interesting nor eye-popping. Okada seems to like catching a charging Naito as his transition which is fine. A charging opponent should lose that battle 9/10 times, but it was not something that excited me. It was just ok we are transitioning to the next segment. Naito seemed to like to use running and speed to create his transition such as the swinging DDT. This kinda goes into my #2 point. I think the match could have been edited so that some of the selling was not oversold so much to make some of the transitions more meaningful 1a. The lack of missed moves also hurt the match. Missed moves are easy ways to create openings for the wrestler working underneath. The first meaningful missed move was 30 minutes into the match and was the Stardust Press which levelled playing field for the finish run. 2. Modulation of selling. They oversold too quickly in the beginning which undercut some of the early transitions. 3. If they were going to wrestle downtempo, they needed to tell a more interesting story. I love a good midtempo jam such as Tenyru/Mutoh '01, but you can NOT be hitting every single highspot cleanly. You need to deviate from the norm. 4. Individual Charisma - This was a pretty soulless match. I am not the biggest Okada fan, but he has some money matches against Tanahashi. That's because Tanahashi is the paint to his blank canvas. Okada has a formula/structure (Tanahashi does too) but Tanahashi brightens it with his colorful charisma. These two are just as vanilla as they come. 5. Finish Run - This is what I was most shocked about. I expected the last 5 minutes for them to go all out and then I'd be like yeah the first 30 minutes was solid, but in typical Japanese fashion that last 5 minutes rocked hard, but even that felt pedestrian. Pretty standard Okada finish run with the swing your partner round & round bullshit which can be good or can be lame. It was more the latter this time. It is not really a bad match per se. It is just kinda there. I am interested to see what people give it as a rating. I bet it was lower than your normal New Japan match. My estimate would be 4 stars which is low for New Japan. I am going three myself. I am going too look up what was considered their best last year and give that a shot. *** UPDATE: VOW MOTY Rankings had this at #16!?!??! WOW! Ok so I am way off base. I need to know what others think about this match.

Hey yo, so I got married recently and we are taking our honeymoon to Japan. I cant go to Japan and not see 1-2 wrestling shows while I am over there. Not to worry my wife is going to AEW Big Business in March and both nights of WrestleMania, she has definitely become a fan during the course of our relationship. So I had a couple questions about seeing pro wrestling live in Japan. 1. How do you see when & where upcoming shows will be? I figure my best bet to see wrestling is in Tokyo or Osaka. We will also be going to Kyoto, which I assume is not exactly a pro wrestling hotbed. So I know I cant be picky if New Japan is not running in Tokyo or Osaka when I will be there, I am definitely willing to watch All Japan, NOAH or DDT, what have you? 2. How do you buy tickets for the event? 3. Any tips or tricks either for entering the venue or watching? Any other advice is appreciated. Oh we are going from April 13th-28th. Thank you in advance!

WWA World Heavyweight Champion Baron Von Raschke vs Andre The Giant - WWA 10/23/72 A rare full match! TV match it seems from the worlds tiniest wrestling ring. WWA was Dick The Bruiser’s Indianapolis promotion where he was champion for most of the 60s and last champ in 1971. Bruiser did wrestle in St. Louis and AWA around this time. Baron seems like he was the main heel as he was on his third title reign, the first being in 1970. He has Bobby Heenan but before he was the Brain he was the pretty boy. Wilbur Snyder the innovator of the Abdominal Stretch is out to protect Andre because Andre doesn’t speak English. Baron clocks Snyder with brass knuckles before the bell, busting him open this leaning Andre on his own. Of course the gargantuan Andre needs no help. My big takeaway from this match is most Giants are miscast as heels. They should be babyfaces used to bash in your most hated cowardly scoundrel to roaring applause. Omos, the dude with Apollo Crews and Satam Singh would all benefit from babyface runs at the outset of their career to establish them as forces of nature and only later turn them heel to feed then to the Ace Babyface. Andre is a lot of fun to watch at this point. It is a lot of the Andre staple spots. Stepping and standing on his opponent is always impressive. Surprised Baron got a kick out after a backbreaker. Heenan trips Andre. Baron takes the eyes. Snyder recovers and applies the Abdominal Stretch twice but Heenan breaks it up. On third one, Andre chases Heenan off to a roaring crowd. Not a great match but a cool historical curiosity.

AWA World Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens vs Dr. X & Andre The Giant - AWA 10/7/72 It is just to pleasant to watch Nick Bockwinkel. At less than 5 minutes, there’s not much to analyze. It seems like Andre is a surprise guest. They do a fun spot where Bock rapidly u-turns from Andre into an X headlock. They run an X FIP. Andre’s hot tag is phenomenal. It is amazing how agile and fluid he is. Andre wins. A cool curiousity.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco vs Harley Race - CWF 6/8/74 An abridged walk today. Looking for something short & sweet. At 8, 9 minutes of footage no rating but still very revealing. Coming off watching so much WWWF footage from the mid-70s. This is night & day. I think what is most revealing is the Southern workrate style is pretty much fully realized at this point. Compared to the WWF style of romp em stomp em with power holds, in 90 seconds you’ll see a back body drop, piledriver, and a missed diving headbutt. You see some big bumps. I counted three different Suplex variations. Superstar Graham brought the big bumping North so that’s not uncommon but the offense is very different compared to WWWF. The other thing to note is how fully realized Harley Race. This is 1974 so he already did his stint as the transitional champion between Junior and Jack but all the Harley staples are there. Big bumps, begging off, tons of bombs and high spots. He does the Harley bump booking the top rope and the press slam off the top. These clips show you there is not much novelty to what Flair and Steamboat were doing in the Mid-Atlantic in the late 70s through the 80s. BUT ORIGINALITY IS OVERRATED! Watching Harley here there are so many Flair spots but it is how Flair does them that makes him better. It is Flair charisma, his unique organic fight or flight reaction to pro wrestling that underpins everything he does that makes him the GOAT and makes Harley look stilted and forced. It is not a Lu what you do. It is how you do it. That’s why Originality is overrated. Sadly we don’t get the finish. Cagematch says Brisco wins but not how. Interesting clips.

Bruno Sammartino vs Superstar Graham - WWF MSG 10/23/78 The epilogue to their famous 76-77 feud. Backlund is champion, Bruno has been absent from MSG for half a year, Graham has been doing jobs on his way out to Dusty & Backlund. Bruno and Superstar bring out the best in each other. Not their best match together but they stick to the formula and it’s fun. Their specific formula is taste of your own medicine. Graham applies a hold, Bruno reverses and applies the same hold. Graham does some quick headlock punches so Bruno returns the favor. Graham does a poor head arm triangle, Bruno says fuck that…reverse waist lock and full Nelson instead. Bruno charges and slams his knee into the buckles. Graham does leg work so you guessed it Bruno retaliates with just that. Their bread & butter is the test of strength and Bearhug exchange. The Bearhug exchange gets the biggest pop and harkens back to yesteryear and I loved it! Bruno slams Superstar’s head into the exposed turnbuckle drawing blood. He tees off on the cut. He doesn’t want a pin he wants to KO Superstar but the ref calls the match and Bruno gets a measure of revenge on his archrival. They have better matches together but this is still fun. ***1/2

Bruno Sammartino Vs Ken Patera - WWF MSG 8:29:77 Texas Death Went to type Bruno as the champion but this is the beginning of Bruno wrestling as the Living Legend which means when he is on the card you get a double main event. Fourth match between these two in 1977 as they reprise their first quarter feud This is definitely one of WWWF Texas Death Matches that leaves you scratching your head as to why it is a Texas Death match. Besides a ballshot, it is very non-violent and it is not even a decisive finish. Taking the stipulation out of this, I thought this was a good not great match. It was much more a slam bang workrate match. It was a vast departure from a standard Bruno match. No tests of strength, bear hugs and only the Full Nelson was at the end. Patera tries to start hot but goes up top too soon and misses an elbow. Bruno comes roaring back with fists. They go all Mid-Atlantic with headlocks, throws into ropes, Patera leapfrog, Bruno says New York can play this game too and nails a DROPKICK sending Patera careening through the ropes. Bruno works the back with knees and stomps. Patera takes over shortly lame transition and the work wasn’t much. Bruno is hitting atomic drops, bodyslams and back body drops like he is working the Greensboro Coliseum. Patera throws a wild ballshot and again his heat segment is ineffectual. He slaps on the Full Nelson. Bruno doesn’t really sell it consequently it doesn’t feel like a big deal. Bruno mule kicks off the buckles and it is the double pin but Bruno gets his shoulder up. Patera contests the decision but Bruno sends him packing with a knuckle sandwich. Bruno was great on offense. Patera was so basic and blasé on offense. Bruno’s selling of the full Nelson hurt the finish big time. Call me crazy but I wish this had more tests of strength and bear hugs. ***

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ernie Ladd - WWF MSG 3/1/76 I don’t know if I have seen an Ernie Ladd match before actually I think saw one on the Mid-South Set. I am sure playing pro football took its toll on him but he is not the most spry man. He relies more on cheating and his gimmicked thumb. Bruno starts off surprisingly with arm drags seems weird for someone as big as Ladd to go over so easily but his legs are so long it necessitates rope breaks. Ladd closes the gap with a Bearhug and a choke. A pretty languid beginning. Bruno starts to fire up with great strikes and a back body drop. Ladd uses the gimmicked thumb to turn the tables. Bruno comes back but eats the buckles on a charge. Ladd does a couple three point stance shoulder tables not as good as Duggan. Ladd does a couple leg drops not as good as Hogan. Ladd misses the big splash and Bruno pins him but lets up a little early to protect Ladd. One of the worst Bruno matches I think that was even worse than Arion matches. No heat, no energy, no urgency. What makes Bruno matches great are fists of fury and a high energy heel. Ladd has a languid cool factor but doesn’t translate well into this type of pro wrestling. Avoid.

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera - WWF MSG 3/7/77, Special Referee: Gorilla Monsoon Unfortunately, we do not have the February Match but we do have this gem. One poster said this is the best Bruno singles match on tape. I do prefer the Bruno/Hansen Cage Match and some of the Superstar matches but this is a dandy. Probably my favorite Kenny P singles as I liked some of his AWA tags more. Bruno has two more titles defenses in the Garden against surprising challenger Baron Von Raschke, a unique AWA crossover opponent. I thought this really built on the strong foundation of the January match. I liked that they started with a more traditional shine. Bruno combines boxing and speed to send Patera powdering and stymieing him at every pass. I just find the over the top style of Superstar Graham more entertaining than Patera. Patera looks to have openings on a head knocking collision or on a press to the ring. Bruno thwarts him with a mule kick from his back. Patera finally makes in-roads with a headlock which looks impressive with his massive arms. Bodyslams ensue as Bruno tries to battle back. Then the dreaded Bearhug. They roll around on the mat each getting near falls whilst Patera maintains the clench of the Bearhug. They roll into the ropes and Monsoon breaks it up. Bruno crawls away clutching his back while Patera hits a nasty elbow drop right on the back. Back to the Bearhug! Bruno headbutts out! Bruno tries to fire up but a butt to the breadbasket looks to set up the dreaded Full Nelson as Patera looks Bruno fires back! Great use of the Full Nelson to generate drama and spur on the Bruno comeback. It is all Bruno down the stretch slamming Patera’s head into the turnbuckle to bust him open. Patera gives a valiant effort but he is swinging at air. Bruno tees off but Patera is out on his feet not defending himself and Monsoon calls the match. Great Bruno shine, I enjoyed the heat segment around the Bearhug and threat of Full Nelson. A great WWF fuck finish. I’m a hallway camper. ****

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera- WWF MSG 1/17/77 Bruno was in the twilight of his second reign and his prime. He would drop the belt to Superstar in three months or so. His last major challenger is Ken Patera. Kenny P has the physique of Superstar Graham with the athleticism of Nature Boy Ric Flair. He looks and feels like the wrestler of tomorrow compared to Bruno but there is one problem. He is not very charismatic. I have tried hard to get into Patera and his status of a major National main event star of the late 70s and early 80s is undeniable but I can’t get into his matches. I just find him dull. He had good matches but has he ever had a great match. I thought this was a good but not great match. Interesting there is no babyface shine. In a lot of ways it is a heel shine. Before we get to that Albano is Kenny P’s manager and Bruno sends him packing with a right. Larry Zbyszko is introduced as Bruno’s protege starting that angle. Back to the match. Bruno didn’t need a shine. Patera has these incredible arms but other than that he won’t have instant heat like a Koloff or a Graham. He needs this shine more than Bruno. He does a leapfrog, he throws Bruno around to establish he is the wrestler of tomorrow and how can Bruno keep up with someone who is not just strong but is also agile. Patera cheats of the rest of strength and works the Bearhug. Bruno resorts to a headbutt but his back is so fucked up he can’t capitalize back to the Bearhug. Bruno headbutts again. He is selling his back like a million bucks. He busts out all sort of non-Bruno offense. A mule kick in the corner. Back body drop. All to give his body a chance to heal. Bruno starts to rev up for fists of fury but Patera stymies him in the corner. Patera threatens the dreaded Full Nelson but Bruno immediately falls down Mule Kick and starts kicking ass. I love this desperate Bruno. He knows he was within a hair of losing so he is gotta give all he has got, this is where the match grinds to a halt because it was really good up until this. They just start rolling a round and choking, doing random clubbering to waste time until they knock heads outside. The crowd gets into the brawl. Patera clobbers Bruno with a chair in plain view of the ref but somehow this a count out victory for Patera and not a DQ victory for Bruno. Loved the beginning! Told the story of a waning Bruno being overwhelmed by the younger, strong more athletic Patera. Bruno’s selling which is not his strong suit was so good here. He overcomes Patera with one thing that he has more than anyone: heart. Once that Full Nelson almost is applies he comes to life. It is so bad they ran out of things to do before the finish and the finish also sucked because this was on the way to being the best Patera singles match I have ever seen. ***1/4

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff - WWF MSG 12/15/75 Steel Cage I am up at my future in-laws house in Quebec, coincidentally the homeland of the Russian Bear, and they have a treadmill! So the odds are good for more walk & reviews! Not much to say about this one. The first steel cage match in MSG history and a big money feud for the WWF for obvious reasons as Bruno vanquishes the man who beat him for the Championship in 1971. These type of brawls do very little for me. It is repetitive and gratuitous. Koloff tries to attack as Bruno enters the ring but is stymied. Bruno whips him into the cage 8 bajillion times. Look I love a babyface shine and I love a babyface kicking some serious ass but I like a sense of escalation, progression, cause & effect. This was just very flat. I would have liked to seen more fists of fury. Koloff bleeds of course. Besides an Uncle Ivan atomic stomp, he got no offense. I am not exaggerating he got the move to set up the atomic stomp and the atomic stomp. Bruno prevent him from leaving. He starts slamming him into the post and that’s it. He exits and exacts his revenge on the Russian Bear. It was not bad but it didn’t do much for me. Your mileage may vary, I’ll give it *** because I’m a sucker for Bruno kicking ass but it was a letdown.

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff - WWF MSG 11/17/75 This has Vince on Commentary with Gorilla Monsoon as the SGR. Looks like for Coliseum Home Video or Primetime as Bobby Heenan introduces the match. We get the last 7-8 minutes of a 21 minute match so I won’t rate it but you get into a rhythm watching this. Bruno roars back with fists of fury after a collision spot knocked him out of the ring. Bruno is so great as the fiery comeback. Things settle down into a test of strength which Koloff knees into breadbasket and sends Bruno back out. Bruno grabs a hold of a Bearhug in the ropes and then brings him into the center. Call me crazy but I think someone working a strong man gimmick someone the size of a Mark Henry could bring back the Bearhug. Koloff gets out with a punch. Bruno keeps going for it. They trade bodyslams. Koloff gets two. Bruno gets two. Bruno sends Koloff out of the ring. They brawl on the apron. Monsoon distracts Bruno with the count and Uncle Ivan WAFFLES BRUNO WITH A CHAIR! Triggers DQ! Good finish for the second match of the series. Looking forward to the Steel Cage Match!