Superstar Sleeze

Chavo Guerrero vs Mr. Olympia - Houston 6/24/83 Chavo Classic had all the tools on offense. He shows off his ability to fly (dropkicks, plancha), submissions (upside down surfboard and a lucha submission), hot strikes and suplexes (German). He is ripshit because Olympia/Akbar put him on the shelf for two months. He starts off hot with punches and three dropkicks to send Olympia to outside. This is match of levels and is incredibly well-executed. Olympia never really fully takes control, but slowly earns his heat segment. He takes advantage of each mistake by breaking Chavo's momentum with a trip to outside or sapping his energy with a chinlock. In fact most of Olympia's offense in this is a chinlock. Normally, I would dislike that but it makes logical sense because how hot Chavo is and the need to cool him off to set up your own moves, We see that each chinlock takes more of its toll at first Chavo is able to resume control, but it as the match wears on Olympia's offense is more sustained. Olympia's first major opening is when Chavo was yanking him by the mask into the turnbuckles and on the third one he sent Chavo in hard into the turnbuckles. He followed up with his first big offense of the match a kneedrop and backbreaker neither negotiated the fall. Now instead of going back to the chinlock, he Irish Whips Chavo this is dumb because Chavo feeds off movement this allows Chavo to hit a crossbody, yank him out by the mask and then a plancha. This was perfect face wrestling and plays right into the movement vs power story. Chavo loses it in the corner with strikes and when the ref pulls him off Olympia loads the boot and dropkicks him to the floor. Olympia cant get the win again so it is back to the sleeper. They tease the three arm drops and Chavo powers up to a big pop and drives Olympia into the corner. Olympia misses the top rope elbow. Big rush by Chavo ends in a German suplex for the win! He wants to take the mask off so he gives him another. Almost gets the mask and here is Akbar and now DiBiase. Hell beatdown commences until the save, I loved Chavo's fire in this and commitment to always fighting back. He played the perfect vengeful face. He did a great job mixing up his stuff. Olympia gave a a really simple, but effective performance. I didnt mention this but he was great bumping for Chavo. Match of Olympia/Stubbs career and maybe the best Chavo match on tape. ****1/2

The Fabulous Ones vs The Guerreros - Houston 1/24/86 Mexican Death Match I didn't know the Fabs worked heel and guess what they were absolutely fabulous at it. Easily one of the top tier heel tag team performances I have seen so far even outclassing the MX performances so far. Stan Lane was such a great obnoxious dick mocking the Guerreros while Keirn was the mean, sadistic prick that loved flipping off the fans and telling Guerreros to kiss his ass. I loved Lane at the beginning saying i have never heard of this stupid Mexican match, you can make all the Mexican rules you want and we are going to kick your butt. Really should said Mexican butt. Mexican Death Match is a Texas Death Match. Compared to other non-NWA World Championship matches, this was a long match going almost a half hour. Lane and Keirn kept it entertaining throughout. The Guerreros work better as faces because of all their offense and Lane is great at stooging. I like Lane trying to turn it into a track meet to only get caught with a dropkick. Lane looks a lot like a shorter Lex Luger in this with the hair and stacked upper body. Keirn is also ripped. Lane takes the shine in this and gets his ass kicked. The first fall goes to the Guerreros with a piledriver. Lane does not take Chavo's overhead suplex, but takes his gutwrench suplex. Lane throws Chavo into the Keirn who snaps his neck across the top rope and tags himself in. Keirn is incredibly ornery and violent in this. He fishhooks him and then flips off Hector. Really nice backbreakers by Keirn followed by kiss my ass. He throws some of the stiffest headbutts of the 80s and bites Chavo until he finally cuts him. He spews blood from his mouth. The Fabs do a great job setting up double teams where they throw a ton of punches. Stan Lane throws one of the best butterfly suplex really driving him to the mat. This really was an all-time great heel performances from the Fabs in terms of offense, sadism, obnoxiousness and general unlikeability. Chavo breaks free, but goes to the wrong corner and Kerin bites at his cut and spews blood. If looks could kill, Keirn would obliterate Hector as he stares daggers into him during a fall, but only gets two. Lane gets the first fall for the Fabs with a back heel kick to the head. Wow! Great stuff from the Fabs so far. They keep kicking at Chavo like a revolving door keeping Hector on the move as he tries to intercept them. Hector exhorts Chavo, but the Fabs are too much for him. Keirn has placed a chair on the apron. As Chavo tries to wander to his corner, Lane stops him by his hair. Chavo takes a nasty Flair Flip bump. At the exact right moment, Keirn picks up the chair and Lane throws Chavo head first into it. Wow! I am digging this. As you would expect Chavo begins to mount his comeback with some big rights. Keirn sells this perfectly even with phantom punches. Chavo rolls to Hector. Hector is a pretty decent hot tag and slamming Keirn repeatedly into the top turnbuckle is great babyface wrestling. Hector splashes to get the Guerreros a much needed fall. Keirn gets up and lights may be on, but no one seems to be home. Lane throws a quick karate kick to Hector to stymie Guerreros run. They double team Hector, until Chavo saves. Lane drags him out to the floor and physically cuts him open with a point of a chair. Keirn gets a suplex, but is clearly discombobulated and still gets a fall. Hector is a bloody mess, but still gets to his feet. Keirn is stalking his prey and lands a massive right! BIGGGGGG BACK BODY DROP! Lane and Keirn smother Hector. Keirn hits rapid fire heabutts while Lane gets on the house mic to mock Mexican music. Keirn hits a nice piledriver for another fall. If the Fabs got an extended heel run somewhere, they would be an all-time great heel act. Lane as the character and Keirn as the muscle. Hector somehow gets up and Lane with a karate kick, but misses three elbow drops. Hector rolls to tag Chavo and it is breaking loose in TUL...HOUSTON! They ram the Fabs heads together. Keirn grabs a chair from the floor and breaks it up to crack Chavo. Then Keirn goes fucking BEZERK on Hector. I mean absolutely goes to town on Hector with some violent chairshots. Wow! He drives the chair into the throat and now swinging chair at Chavo. Chavo comes in wildly with a chair to chase them off. Countout finish! Super lame. This was awesome! The Fabs knocked it out of the park in their performance. You could not ask much more from a heel team. I love the Midnights as much as anyone, but sometimes I wish they could be a bit more violent. This was like an even edgier, meaner, more sadistic MX. This version of the Fabs would have over huge in the 90s. Guerreros were fine babyfaces and bleeders in this, but this was all Fabs for me. The finish really marrs this for me and I would have liked to seen more babyface fire to match the awesome Fabulous Ones. ****1/4

Crusher Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter vs Sheik Adnan, Masked Superstar, King Tonga - AWA Starcage 4/21/85 Steel Cage Match I love AWA tag team steel cage matches! I love Crusher Blackwell! I love Blackwell & Sheik in a cage! This is when the other shoe drops. Perhaps, I overhyped myself, but given the level of hype this match got I would say this was disappointing. It was just as great as Mad Dog/Blackwell Death Match and it is a great babyface revenge match. Hell, I even watched the Brody & Abby turn on Blackwell after a battle royale to get myself pumped, but I felt like I watched a great cage match, not an OMG ALL-TIME CLASSIC and that's why I am disappointed. Superstar, Tonga and Slaughter just dont feel AWA. I would have loved to seen Blackwell team with an old rival like Da Crusher or Mad Dog to take on Sheik's army. I get Sheik just pays off mercenaries, but it lacked that personal feel with those two. In addition, the other awesome AWA steel cage matches had a ton of intoxicating energy. Either it was Greg Gagne or Shawn Michaels flying around like madmen or Blackwell and Sheik taking bumps at a million miles per hour. This felt like a violent tag match with cage shots and some revenge for Blackwell at the end. If you are going to do that I wish they would had more of a story. I know the hook is Blackwell finally getting his hands on Sheik, but they did not enough in the match to really make that payoff huge. Where was Sheik running around like a coward at the beginning? In the middle, there were some slaps, but he needed to be more dastardly. The finish was spot-on perfect. Like best possible finish, so I want to give them huge kudos for that. Superstar seemed to bump more here than I remember he did as AX, but he was getting long in the tooth by the time he was in Demolition. The lack of movement is noticeable from the beginning. I know Blackwell can provide that as a heel, but he was not providing much as face and there is no one in the ring, who seems like they can. Not they necessarily had to. Superstar sends Blackwell into the cage and bust him open. Transition was fine, but it seemed abrupt and out of nowhere. I thought the shine was very lacking in this match. Blackwell was a great face in peril, fighting back at the right times. Haku, Superstar and Sheik were suitably violent working the cut and gnawing at it. Like I said, I would have liked to seen Sheik run scared more and just be more of a dick. For instance, Blackwell sends Sheik into the cage and Blackwell does a great zombie sell that he cant make it back and Sheik keeps coming at him. Eventually, he retreats to Haku, but I felt like he could have made a bigger deal out of it. Slaughter was pretty useless trying to help Blackwell. Blackwell's strikes to send Superstar down were awesome. The funniest moment of the match is on Sarge's house of fire, he tries to go all Superfly and ascend the top of the cage. Then he kinda gets stuck, realizes how far down it is, says fuck it and comes off the top rope. I wouldnt take that bump either Sarge. They bust Sarge open and I thought this part of the match was pretty ho-hum. He sends Sheik into the cage, which sets up the awesome finish run! Splash in the corner on Sheik, powerslam and YES BABY FINALLY BLACKWELL HITS THE TOP ROPE SPLASH!!! This is an indisputably a great match and a great babyface revenge match. The finish run is awesome and Blackwell finally hitting the top rope splash to win had me marking out. I just don't think it is a top ten AWA match of the 80s. I will definitely revisit to make sure I am not crazy. ****1/4

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs Crusher Blackwell - AWA 6/28/86 I am just so glad Blackwell vs Hansen exists even if it is just a TV angle match! Imagine Blackwell vs Flair or even better Blackwell vs Hogan in like 1985, HOT DAMN! MSG would have been rocking on that night. Blackwell was supposed to get his title shot last month, but had an ankle injury. Hansen cut a great promo calling him lily-liver and then attacking him. Hennig saved Blackwell to set up this match, which was just a set up for the house show loop, I would reckon. This would a good bloody hoss battle to get you revved for them coming to your town. Hansen tried to jumpstart the match, but at 472 lbs Blackwell is not one to be bullied and he comes back with stiff headbutts. He busts Hansen open early. It is just two bulls clashing. Blackwell settles into the bearhug and eventually the ref gets sammiched. Blackwell hits the big splash, but there is no ref. Surely, he would have become AWA Champion in that moment! Alas! Hansen takes advantage by taking his cowboy boot off and slugging Blackwell repeatedly bloodying him. Eventually another ref is enough to distract Hansen for Blackwell to get the boot and send him scurrying. Good TV match to make you want see the house show matches. ***

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs The Guerreros - Mid-South 2/13/85 Really fun TV tag team match between these two teams. Who was the commentator with Jim Ross? He was fucking awful. He started to imitate Jim Ross's emotional calls towards the end so Jim tried to yell louder over him. It was a clusterfuck on commentary, but these two teams are pros. The Guerreros who fit right in today's wrestling culture and not only keep up, but add some psychology. Heel, we know from Chavo Classic's brief run on Smackdown! in mid-2000s he could still outwork half the roster. That catch of Ricky Morton into an overhead suplex was insane! They are former babyfaces so they have a ton of offense and they still work in ways to hit, but keep their heel heat. The early part saw Ricky Morton turn the disadvantage of being in a headscissors into an advantage by tagging out and allowing Gibson to apply stepover toehold. I think it should be illegal to tag out of a hold personally because of situations like that personally, but I guess it does not matter in the grand scheme of things. I liked the mini-brawl that broke out before commercial. The aforementioned overhead suplex takes us to the heat segment where they focus on Morton's back, which I liked. Chavo had a nice Boston Crab. Again, the Guerreros telegraphed a back drop this allowed a hot tag to Gibson. They do a double criss cross sequence, but oddly Gibson only gets the sunset flip. The reason for this asymmetry is that Chavo Classic clubs the ref. He splashes Gibson on the outside. This leaves Morton prone to a double surfboard, but Gibson leaps onto both of them for the fall! Loved the finish! Really cool and unique. Very similar to the Fans match, just a really entertaining fundamentals tag. Definitely check out for the finish. ****

Shoe and I reviewed this match as a part of our tribute to Tommy Rogers for Tag Teams Back Again Episode 6. Link is here. I had forgotten most of the match (the finish stuck with me) so I rewatched it and liked a lot more this go around. I was having a hellish time at work when I first watched it and am on vacation right now so I am going to chock it up to that. http://placetobenation.com/tag-teams-back-again-episode-6-special-edition-tommy-rogers-tribute/ The Fantastics vs The Guerreros - Houston 10/12/84 The Guerreros were big stars for Houston Wrestling. There are people way more qualified to explain Houston wrestling, but in simplistic terms it is similar to St. Louis in that it is a wrestling town unto itself not associated with a larger territory (for history buffs this is like the free cities of the Holy Roman Empire). A town would align itself with a larger promotion to draw on its talent. Houston at this time was aligned with Mid-South as Bill Watts is doing the commentary and this is being presented on Power Pro Wrestling. It is also a No. 1 Contender's match for the MId-South Tag Titles held by the Rock N Roll Express (which kinda gives away the finish). Paul Boesch, a highly respected figure, was the promoter for Houston and would also bring in figures as diverse as the AWA Champion, Dusty Rhodes and Andre The Giant and align himself with WWF and Southwest. The Guerreros and Jose Lothario were some of the biggest Houston mainstays. Watts explains that Guerreros were babyfaces up until recently until Hector, who is a bit of a loose canon caused some friction with local hero, Lothario and Chavo had to step in to defend his brother's honor, but in the process turn heel. The Guerreros are the heels and the Fans are the faces. Hector throws a wild boot at Fulton while he is high-fiving fans and we are off to the races. Awesome raucous start that sees the Fans sending the Guerreros packing. I really liked the story at the beginning of the match that Guerreros are quick, but the Fantastics can play that game too and were always one step ahead. There were some fun chain sequences that saw the Fantastics get the best of it. This was until Rogers missed a dropkick and the Hector pounced. I really liked Watts righteous indignation about the ref counting after the ref counted a fall that resulted from a Hector suplex from the apron to the ring. I have always agreed with Watts that enforcing the rules helps sell wrestling. Just like great selling helps sells the moves. Tommy Rogers is doing a great job selling the Guerreros awesome suplexes. Rogers double sunset flip was a great hope spot. I thought the transition to the tag was well done with Rogers really stepping through his kick on Hector who telegraphed a back drop and then falling back into the tag. Fulton was a great house of fire. It should be mentioned that he was a great on the apron constantly urging on Rogers and interacting with the crowd. He was really bringing it to the Guerreros and even through miscommunications keeping the sequence together. He gets the visual fall on the bodyslam, but the ref is distracted trying to get Tommy back into his corner so one of the Guerreros hits a swanton bomb and the other Guerrero rolls him up for the win. Great finish! This is a perfect fundamentals-based tag with a great shine that proved the Fantastics were every bit as fast as the Guerreros, a fun heat segment with some cool moves and an explosive finish run. Really good 80s tag wrestling. ****

My defense of ref's is that their presence in No DQ matches is ensure the well-being of the wrestlers. Even though anything goes, the ref is there to make sure no one is killed or maimed. The chair shot in the 80s could be considered career-ending so I can see why the ref is doing it. That being said, yes, let them fight is how I feel. I am pretty sure that is the comeback I am talking about. It is truly incredible. I watched the Mantell matches around the time Lawler had a heart attack and really liked them, cant wait to revisit them. Lawler vs Blackwell is a good sprint brawl because I am convinced a bad Blackwell match does not exist (two more Blackwell matches to watch tonight!). Lawler had some good sprint brawls, but it just does not seem like his forte. They are not as great as his long matches..

Was watching a bit of WWE 2000s and All Japan 1970s finally got it up in blog form. First looks at WWE 2002 and second Jack Brisco against Baba and Jumbo. 2002 WWE Match of the Year Rankings ****1/2 1. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker - No Mercy 2002 Hell In A Cell ****1/4 2. Shawn Michaels vs Triple H - Summerslam 2002 3. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs Edge & Rey Mysterio - No Mecy 2002 WWE Tag Team Titles 4. The Rock vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan - Wrestlemania XVIII **** Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown! 10/3/02 Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio - Summerslam 2002 Other matches watched: Eddie Guerrero vs Edge No DQ Smackdown! and Rock vs Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2002 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/09/no-mercy-brock-lesnar-undertaker-rock.html and Jack Brisco I watched and ranked all at ****1/2 NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco vs Jumbo Tsuruta -AJPW 1/30/74 2 out of 3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco vs Giant Baba - AJPW 12/2/74 2 out of 3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Champion Giant Baba vs Jack Brisco - AJPW 12/5/74 2 out of 3 Falls. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Jack Brisco - AJPW 8/28/76 NWA United National Heavyweight Tournament Final http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/08/okie-dokie-best-of-jack-brisco-in-japan.html

Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Austin Idol - Memphis 4/27/87 Steel Cage, Hair vs Hair Let’s get the funny part out of the way, which is Lance Russell continually calling Paul E., Paul Dangerly. Ton of fun bullshit to start with the ref ejecting Paul E. and Idol stating he will give a refund to every fan in attendance if he loses. Ok, now I am very intrigued about the finish and how they are going themselves out of this one. Idol is all flummoxed that Paul E. has been ejected and has really thrown if off his game. Idol tries to get out of the cage and after all this ballyhoo Lawler slams him into the cage to get this started. Repeated slams into the cage. The cage is Hell In A Cell style just with no top so there is an area outside the ring to brawl, which I prefer. Most steel cage matches are a bit too claustrophobic it feels even though I have been really digging AWA steel cage tags recently. Lawler has kicked so much ass; he wants to put a nail in the coffin with a piledriver, but Idol scurries away. Lawler has to settle for his bread and butter, punches and gnawing on head. Idol sells overwhelmed heel really well. Idol goes the chain route and nails Lawler. The selling of this is fantastic. It really is the selling that makes this match. This is not an energetic brawl, but one where they are taking the time to make each punch really mean something. Now Idol is giving The King a taste of his own medicine: using the cage and punches to dominate. He crashes down on Lawler. He goes up again and misses knee drop and great selling by Idol flopping around on the mat with his hurt knee. Lawler tries to take advantage, but eats chain again great selling. Now both wrestlers are selling their asses off. Idol tries coming down on him and misses the elbow. Top rope moves used to mean so much more. Lawler hits a diving headbutt, cool shit. The selling of this by both men is incredible and makes each moment 10000000x better. It feels like a war of attrition. Idol staggering and Lawler dazed. Idol right hook that sends Lawler over the top rope in a tremendous bump. Wow! Idol comes drown form apron on Lawler great sound from fist to face and yelp from King. Those soundbytes were great. I am really intrigued about the finish at this point. King no sells and fires away on Idol. So Idol throws him into the ref. They do multiple visual pinfalls for Lawler including a piledriver. I know Lawler is losing, but how. Tommy Rich pops out from under the ring! Oh fuck yeah! He comes out and nails Lawler with a piledriver. Spike piledriver! Double post on Lalwer’s family jewels and Idol wins! Wow! That was insane. The post-match is glorious heel heat –seeking bullshit and the promo with Dangerly, Idol and Rich is fan-fucking-tastic. Idol drops a knee on Lawler while Rich and Dangerously celebrate! A female fan scales the cage and here come the cops! Chair into gut. My one complaint is that Idol and Rich should have done the shaving to get all the heat one them Proclaim themselves the new kings of Memphis! An absolutely beautiful exhibition of the art of selling. I could see this being a ***** match, but I think another rewatch. It just did not feel at that really tippy-top level, but yes one of the all-time greatest matches in any country at any time. ****3/4

After finishing up the 2000s Japan project, I wanted a departure from puroresu and the 2000s so I decided it was a high time for me to go through 1980s in America. I have been reading about these matches for a decade plus in some cases and in others I only learned of their existence through this enriching and wonderful project. In either case, I was ready to watch some bitchin wrestling featuring my some of my favorite wrestlers from my favorite decade for entertainment, the 1980s! In my mind America, there was a power six at the start of the decade: WWF, Jim Crockett, AWA, Mid-South, WCCW and Memphis. I am starting with the last four. The one nice thing about doing this after everyone else is that I can use the results as a guide to focus on the best of the best. My current aim is to bring myself up to speed on any every era and every promotion by focusing on the classics before doing any deep dives into any on particular one. Another goal of mine since about 2012 is to determine what I believe to the greatest match of all time is. Now, of course, I can't resist a fun *** or **** match when they come up thus detours into WWF tag team scene and late 90s WCW during this time. It is not my sole focus to find the OMG GREATEST MATCH ever, but I do want to familiarize myself with the classics first so I will not be watching all 150 matches from all the sets. Instead, I will focus on 40-50 from each set that appeal to me either because of the combatants involved or the critiques given, I am about halfway through this project and have posted the match reviews in the 1980s subforum and on my blog with links provided. I though post my general thoughts on each territory thus far. Memphis Wrestling Watched: Lawler vs AWA World Champions, Lawler vs Savage, Lawler vs Idol, Rich and Bam Bam, a total of 22 matches Need to watch: Lawler vs Dundee, Lawler vs Mantell, Lawler vs Funks, Fabulous Ones, Miscellaneous Non-Lawler Classics Match Rankings Thus Far (only >=****1/4): 1. Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Ronnie Garvin - ICW 1982/1983 Steel Cage Match ****3/4 Violent. Perfect build to piledriver finish. What an awesome finish it was! 2. Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Austin Idol - Memphis 4/27/87 Steel Cage Hair vs Hair Match ****3/4 Awesome selling of punches. Great heel finish. 3. Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Bam Bam Bigelow - Memphis 9/7/86 Texas Death Match ****3/4 Masterpiece. Great David vs Goliath story 4. AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Jerry "The King" Lawler - Memphis 11/8/82 ****1/2 Lawler's big victory over Bock. 5. AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel vs Jerry "The King" Lawler - Memphis 10/12/85 ****1/2 Heel Martel! 6. AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Jerry "The King" Lawler - Memphis 6/3/85 ****1/4 Anit-workrate classic Findings: I think moreso than any other territory I have watched I feel like this is the worst way to watch this territory. This is probably pretty obvious statement for most people. but I think it needs to be stated. I really ought to watch the Memphis TV surrounding each of the matches to better appreciate the context of the matches. That being said I have done my reading and I understand the gravity of the ICW vs CWA war and how much Lawler vs Savage was a blood feud. I understand the ardent desire and journey of Jerry Lawler in facing the AWA World Champions. It is the story of your high school classmate that is the best ball player on your team and you believe he can be a major league ball player. Jerry was the King of Memphis, but when Bock or Martel or whoever it may be strolled into town, That's what made the Bock victory in '82 so special even though it was just for Southern Title, it was a victory over the AWA Champ and it was cool to see him finally get it. it was your local hero getting that crack at playing major league ball. It is a great story no doubt. Even though, I am not watching Memphis correctly per se, I feel I understand the context well enough to make my observations on match style. Jerry Lawler may be the greatest limited wrestler in history. He has right hand and his left hand he is going to ball them up and give you everything he has got. He does not create much movement on his own, but he will bump big. He is great at selling and his comeback is perhaps the greatest in the history of wrestling. There is one comeback against Nick Bockwinkel that is just so fantastic. I think his best matches are these main event style, long build through selling matches. I have liked the Memphis brawls I have seen, but none of there are really any better than great. I think the AWA and Mid-South are much better brawling territories from what I have seen. The only Lawler match ranked above, I would consider a brawl maybe the Idol one, but I ranked that mostly for the amazing selling of each individual and the awesome finish. The Lawler vs Bigelow Texas Death Match, which I think is Lawler's masterpiece so far, is rooted in David vs Goliath storytelling more than anything else. I love how committed Lawler is to his style. Styles make for matches. The homogenization of wrestling has ruined this as so many workers can't tell a story no longer of a contrast of styles. Here we can see how Lawler the puncher works against a giant like Bigelow, frustrates a technical wizard like Martel and controls a wildman like Savage. There is no adaption necessary because his style is universal and he melds it with his opponent. There is no plug n play into his spots. He responds to a wrestler's character and his opponent responds accordingly to his. I am always surprised when people say AA is Cena's road agent. Nothing about Cena matches feel very Arn Anderson to me. Cena's character is very Backlund-esque and he has power in common with Backlund, but in terms of match structure he is deeply rooted in the Lawler dynamic. He likes very short shines and likes to get that heat quickly. They both sell fantastically. Lawler was better at the comeback, but they both transition to the comeback through no selling. Lawler has the strap down. Cena has the shoulder tackles. Cena is at his best when adds the wrinkle of cutoffs ala an extended Misawa comeback because the modern style necessitates longer finish runs. Lawler had the advantage of quick finish bursts so that incredible burst of energy would quickly followed by a finish of some sort. Overall, I have enjoyed watching Memphis and think that Lawler is tons of fun to watch when he is selling his ass off and gets you amped for that comeback. There is something lacking in his pure brawls like the tags against Rude/Bundy and Idol/Rich. I don't think he is great at sprints because he is not great at movement. He has quick bursts of energy, but a 10 minute sprint is not his forte. Granted I have only watched 20 of his matches so may be I will see him rock out a good sprint brawl. Quick word on Randy Savage, dude was a fucking rockstar in Memphis. Dude would run up and down the apron and gets a huge pop when he was a babyface and mega-heat as a heel. He is one of the best character wrestlers of all time. If we were not missing a huge chunk of Lawler/Savage Loser Leaves Town I would have that much higher that is the anti-workrate classic. Awesome character work by both men. In addition, I wish we had more of his ICW stuff. He rocked it against Garvin. That was a great violent steel cage match that built and built to the piledriver finish. What a fantastic finish it was! Look forward to more Memphis and to watch some Memphis matches without The King to see what others were up to.

I probably won't rank him unless I see more, but holy shit was he great in the three matches I have seen. He is a total crazed, bloodlust lunatic. The Nagata/Murakami 2002 should be seen by all. Crazy energy and a perfect heel invader shooter beat down followed by a kick ass Nagata comeback. My 2002 match of the year.

High Flyers vs Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito - 3/7/85 All these great AWA matches and I have not even watched one Bockwinkel in the lot. God I love the AWA! They had great characters, brawls and technical matches. After all those bitchin' cage match brawls, this is exactly the break I needed with a fantastic pure tag team match. Who better to watch than the High Flyers, Bockwinkel and "Mr. Torture" Mr. Saito. A little background, the Road Warriors are now the tag team champions and I was informed that Brunzell and Gagne were injured for most of 1984. The High Flyers have been a tag team for about 12 years at this point. Comparatively, Bockwinkel lost the AWA World Championship in 1984 and has not been able to regain it from Martel even though he has had multiple chances and Bockwinkel and Saito are a relatively new team. After Heenan's departure, Saito became Bock's running buddy. The winners of this match become the number one contender. This is just a great fundamentals based tag team match worked by experienced veterans. Bockwinkel takes the shine as the Flyers work the arm. Bockwinkel is great at selling and the Flyers are moving in out thus it never gets boring. I liked Gagne's kneedrop on arm and Brunzell just stomping on the arm. These three have been wrestling each other since 1973 so the High Flyers know Bock's tricks and there is no love lost here so Flyers have no problem being a bit chippy with Bock. Bock gets nasty going for the eyes and bullying Brunzell into Saito. Saito kicks ass with some wicked chops and nasty biels. Saito can't get Scorpion Deathlock and settles for a standing figure-4. Bock pushes with his foot on his ass and Gagne is pissed. Bockwinkel comes in with a inverted Deathlock. Loved Bock raining down the forearms only for Brunzell to fire up with awesome punches. Bock holds on for dear life to Brunzell's foot until Saito comes in to yank him over.Larry Nelson's righteous indignation was perfect. Saito tags in and applies a Boston Crab. Bock stands on Brunzell's head. I love it. The ref keeps catching them which causes the break. Bock & Mr. Torture move to the bearhug and some of the best bearhugs sequences ever made great by Brunzell fighting back and the false tags. On the second false tag, Gagne sells it perfectly and the crowd is pissed! It really builds the tension to the hot tag. Love Gagne tagging Bock at one point during this. It is fundamentals-based, but still chippy. The last struggle within the bearhug where Brunzell just loses it and goes for the eyes and punches Bock while in the bearhug and Bock trying to hang on is awesome. Saito crashes down on Brunzell and Gagne is losing his mind breaks it up. Brunzell scurries through Bock's legs. GREG GAGNE HOUSE OF FIYAH!!! Smashes Bock's head into the turnbuckle. Great movement and energy with Gagne flying around and the heels bumping big. Repeated kneedrops to Bock's back. Gagne is totally focused on Bock's back and Gagne applies Boston Crab. Brunzell is incensed posting Saito's leg. There is a tug of war between ref and Brunzell and the ref. So the ref misses the Boston Crab. Gagne crashes down on Bock twice on the ropes. Nasty kick to the midsection and wicked forearm to Bock's back. Greg is kicking ass. Things are slowing down. Brunzell in, dropkick and a beauty into the figure-4! Saito saves! Brunzell tries for the cover. Bock finally tags out and Brunzell has the presence of mind to immediately tag out to Ggane. Perfect psychology by Brunzell! GAGNE CHOKE! Saito throws Bock a foreign object and Bock blasts him. Bock throws the salt into Saito's eyes by accident. Gagne leg scissors roll up wins the match for the High Flyers! When you think of an ideal tag match with shine->heat->finish and strong face/heel dynamics and snug work this is it. There is nothing absolutely spectacular about this in terms of one specific spot or unique thread of psychology, it is just perfect execution of formula and making sure to do all the little things. Gagne is a great hot tag. Brunzell is trying so much harder here than the Bees and he is great at face in peril. Bockwinkel and Saito are a consummate heel tag team. My one complaint is they let the action cool a little too much before the finish, but overall they delivered a great old school tag match. ****1/4

Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell vs Mad Vachon – AWA 5/22/83 Algerian Death Match As one would expect, an Algerian Death match is a Texas Death match complete with pinfalls necessary to trigger the ten count. The Mad Dog and Blackwell promos before this match are must see as Mad Dog promises to Blackwell in the pine coffin he is building. Also, it is important to note Mad Dog has been out for 2 years due to Blackwell so the feud culminates here in this Death Match. Also a cool outcome of the last match in this feud is that Verne fulfilled his promise that the High Flyers would not have to worry about Blackwell & Adnan as contenders because Adnan has been transitioned into a managerial role. What they did not count out on was the Sheik’s oil money snagging the contract of Ken Patera who fill the void as Blackwell’s partner. Interesting, they go the no shone route and immediately hit the heat. I think you can only do that when both wrestlers and their feud are firmly established. Since this was AWA’s hottest feud and two of their biggest stars this is fine. Mad Dog charge, but gets caught up attacking the other Sheiks, who hold him and Blackwell splashes him in the corner. Blackwell hits the powerslam/splash combo to gain the first fall and again for second fall. I have not seen much of cocky Blackwell, but it was fun to watch him count along. He is shocked Mad Dog has made it up twice. Mad Dog tries to make his comeback and Blackwell unleashes some stiff heabutts to bust him open. Blackwell gets another splash in the corner I expected him to miss and it looks bleak for our hero. Until he starts to rev up, one punch huge bearpaw swing after another has Blackwell rocking and reeling. He gets Fatwell down! He starts to bite. Blackwell tries to escape, but you cant escape the hatred of Mad Dog. There is a great struggle over a post shot. Blackwell takes it fucking hard. He blasts Blackwell with the chair, horse collaring him. Mad Dog swings it at the ref! Wow! Mad Dog sends him back in the post and bites Blackwell in the ring. Blackwell is a bloody mess. Blackwell gets a desperation knee up. Blackwell sensing his own end is imminent looks to pull the trigger on his big bomb the top rope splash. When will he learn as this has been his demise so many times, but it would be certain victory in his defense. Blackwell crashes and burns. Mad Dog is up! The crowd roars! Top rope kneedrop seals the victory. The Texas Death Match stip both helped and hurt this match. I liked Blackwell getting those early falls as I really thought that built up the drama. The fact it took 40 seconds for Mad Dog to get his win did hurt the heat in my opinion, which is a fait accompli in a Texas Death Match. I loved the work in this match. I thought this was an awesome blowoff brawl. Blackwell kicked some major league ass and Mad Dog was wild in the middle. Could have used some more Blackwell bumps in the middle. Short, sweet and spirited brawl! ****1/4

The Sheiks (Sheik Adnan & Crusher Blackwell) vs Da Crusher & Greg Gagne - AWA 3/25/84 Steel Cage Match Da Crusher is the pride of Milwaukee and along with Verne, Mad Dog, and Baron form the old guard of the AWA that the crowds of the Midwest still love to death. I have heard Da Crusher described as a precursor to Stone Cold and having watched a still down interview with him. I definitely agree with comparison. He was a champion of the blue collar, beer-drinking average Joe. He was a man's man. He loved drinking beer, smoking stoogies and large women that do the polka! That's my kinda man. I dare say Da Crusher is the coolest man to ever rock the bowl cut. This is shot like the High Flyers vs Sheiks Cage Match with a single handheld outside the ring looking up and no commentary. It really adds to viscera, chaotic feel. Holy Greg Gagne! This is his career performance he was on absolute fire during this match. We are talking Shawn Michaels Brawl In St. Paul levels of piss and vinegar! He is ripping through the Sheiks early on coming off the top rope and throwing everyone into the cage. I don't think there are better cage match workers than Adnan & Blackwell. Sheik Adnan blasts him with the cast and they try to work over Greg. Greg just keeps fighting back. It creates this sense of awesome struggle. Finally beating his way out of the Sheik's corner, he tags Da Crusher on his knees. The crowd is so behind Da Crusher! Crusher slams Blackwell into the cage repeatedly and the crowd counts along. Greg wants in on this and walks the ropes to get his kicks in. Blackwell is busted open and Crusher starts hitting stiff jabs to the cut. Now it is Sheik's turn to get his ass kicked. I love Crusher's short little jabs to the face, Holy shit! Crazy Blackwell back drop into a cage and Greg runs up to hit a knee drop and boom see ya later Kenny P. Blackwell eyerake on Da Crusher allows him to slam him into the cage. There is a great moment that demonstrates the raucous mayhem of this match as you get the camera close up of Patera holding Blackwell as he slams Crusher and the ref getting pissed. The ref did a really good job only to have Greg holler he is coming and just lights up Blackwell. Crusher and Sheik brawl. Blackwell goes for top rope splash! Crashes and burns! Greg Gagne top rope splash! He is not the legal man, but who the hell is! It is CHAOS BABY! Crusher back drops Blackwell and calls for the BOLO PUNCH~! Blackwell throws a stiff left and a FUCKING DROPKICK~! BATSHIT INSANITY~! Sheiks maul Da Crusher in the corner, but he fights out and Greg IS RIPSHIT! He DESTROYS Sheik Adnan! He sees Blackwell out of the corner of his eye and blasts him in the face! WIND UP...BOLO PUNCH TO SHEIK ADNAN! Tremendous bump off the cage by Blackwell. Greg Gagne scales to the top of the cage and drops with the knee on the leg. AWESOME MATCH! Patera bum rushes the ring with the chair slamming Greg and Blackwell holds the door, but AWA babyfaces with Brunzell saves. Loved Greg Gagne's performance. I am a total mark for energy and this is was such a great energetic performance. Blackwell and Sheik Adnan are ultimate cage match workers. Da Crusher is definitely bets utilized in a cage setting. The Sheiks vs Old Guard feud was delivered some great brawls. AWA is holding their own with any other territory as a brawling territory. Really great! ****3/4

Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Austin Idol & Tommy Rich - Memphis 3/23/87 Texas Death Match Rematch in the Mid-South Colseium after the brawl from last week. This time Texas Death Match rules! Bam Bam is pissed and throws steps into the ring and manhandles the ref and that’s how you start a Texas Death Match baby! Not fucking cartwheels, brutha! Lawler & Bam Bam commence to kicking ass. Rich charges at Lawler and just gets punched in a fun spot. Idol has a 2x4, but has no effect on Bam Bam. You cant hurt steel BABY! Idol hits a ballshot on Lawler and goes behind Bigelow to hit a ballshot on him. Gotta love that testicular psychology. Idol uses extension cord and ring bell to maintain control, while Rich goes low to keep Bigelow down. Lawler fires up. Tie Idol up. Make a big deal out of posting Rich as revenge and that wins the fall and win the match. Short, sweet and to the point. The babyfaces get their revenge. Post-match Bam Bam goes BEZERK~! Posts him again. Throws ringsteps and then almost posts the ref. He has the ringbell and I actually believe Lance that he may kill Rich. Bam Bam Bigelow is a really convincing out of control maniac. Better brawl than last week with a more satisfying finish, but nothing I would call as classic just good violent fun. ****

Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Austin Idol & Tommy Rich - Memphis 3/16/87 Double Jeopardy A double jeopardy match for those that don’t know, like myself, before watching this match is essentially a two-ring circus. It is two singles matches going on simultaneously in rings side by side where partners can switch off whenever they want and two men of the same team can only be in the same ring at the same time for 60 seconds. I don’t like three ring circuses. I like my attention squarely focused on one thing and don’t like the idea I am missing something. I thought overall that was mitigated by them constantly interacting with each other. The face shine focuses on Bigelow, who is portrayed as a monster babyface helping out hero Lawler dispatch the asshole heels. He busts Rich open early. This allows double teams on Idol. I would be remised not to mentioned the wretched, ugly nude-colored tights on Lawler. Only made worst by pairing it with mustard colored boots. Hands down one of the worst wrestling outfits ever. Maybe that is what was distracting me. Rich breaks up this double teaming. The dreaded falling headbutt lands on Rich, who falls to outside. Falling headbutt for Idol and then one on his nuts. It turns out the angle that kickedstarted Lawler vs Idol & Rich was Idol & Rich trying to ensure Lawler could not have any more kids by crushing his balls against a ring post. This explains a lot of the nut shots. Idol grabs a mic and starts to punch Lawler with it as Rich and Bam Bam go toe to toe. Idol grabs a board with a nail in it and cuts Lawler open and throws him into a table. I will admit that was pretty gruesome. Throws the board to Rich who attacks Bigelow with it. I like that it takes a nail in a board to take down the beast. This is the best presentation of Bam Bam in his carer. They double team Lawler and once again they crush his balls on a post. Bieglow comes around the corner and attacks like a ferocious bear. Big face comeback and lots of revenge nutshots. Bigelow falling headbutt on Richs balls and Lawler ties up Idol and punts him in balls. They are going to post Rich, but Idol comes in with a blackjack from Lord Humongous and whacks the both of them. Ref calls for the bell?!?!? Wicked lame finish. They can use all that other shit and now you call for the bell. They wrap a noose on Lawler and handcuffed Bam Bam to ropes. This is a really good heat segment to set up next week’s Texas Death Tag match. Bigelow tries to hulk up. Jarettt leads face locker room for the save. Bigelow’s bull in a china shop routine after the match is a sight to behold. Honestly, the match felt lukewarm to me. I did not get that feeling of real hatred or heat. There was just not that electricity of a great brawl. I am always down for revenge nutshots so this is a very good match, just not a great one for me. ***3/4

Jerry Lawler vs Bam Bam Bigelow - Memphis 9/8/86 Texas Death Match I knew I was watching something special once Bigelow starting working the ribs and Lawler’s selling really kicked in. It was during Lawler’s comeback I realized the greatest David vs Goliath match may be happening before my eyes. I was rooting for the Lawler piledriver to end it so badly. I think this maybe Jerry Lawler’s masterpiece. The Mantell/Funk/Dundee matches he had a great dance partner and are amazing brawls. Here he weaves an amazing story with a green as grass, fresh out the kitchen, Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow came here to play and he never once had a mis-step. It is probably depressing that this the greatest match of his career and he never even came close to replicating it. That’s why Jerry Lawler is the King because he could make people look like a million bucks. The match is so fucking good that I don’t want to bring this up, but God it was just too funny. The first image of this match is Bam Bam Bigelow doing decent cartwheels. When I think of Texas Death Matches, I think of cartwheels. I get it the cartwheels are supposed to show the Bigelow is not your typical lumbering giant he is also aigle, but c’mon cartwheels and not even very good ones at that. They were like his moonsault a little bit off to side. This is the case with Bigelow in a lot of ways he was decent at lot of stuff, but not excellent at any way and he gets lumped in with the greatest big men, but for me he is definitely a level down. Jerry Lawler brought out some disc jockey to counteract Larry Sharpe (Bigelow’s trainer turned manager) the DJ does a cartwheel into a back handspring into a split. Yep, shown up by a chump. Don’t let the lame start fool this, this match is fucking bitchin! The layout of this match is so perfect that is a bit of a shame the finish was not definitive. Bam Bam is the monster and Lawler is the undersized hero that just has his fists and his wits to level the playing field. It is a story as old as time and I don’t know if it was ever told better than during this match. Bam Bam establishes power game with biels out of the corner. Lawler’s methodical, stand up style plays right into Bigelow’s strategy. Let’s see how Lawler can combat the Beast from the East. When he gets the monster angry with some quick crosses and Bigelow started to charge allowing The King to side step him. However, Lawler cannot create that movement on his own and ends up getting trapped into a corner. I would love to see Lawler against a high flyer, who could create that movement for him and see how Lawler would react. Amazing selling of those punches by Lawler. Wrestlers should be trained on how to throw and sell punches by watching tapes of Jerry Lawler. On the outside, Bigelow punches the post and this creates an opening for the King. Great selling of the hand by Bigelow by putting his good hand forward. I loved the stand up battle and Lawler luring him into a test of strength only pop him one. Bigelow chokes Lawler and uses headbutts to ribs to win first fall. Lawler is up holding the ribs and Bigelow buries his hands deep into the ribs and another falling headbutt scores the fall. After two straight falls, Bigelow is cocky; Lawler comes over and punches Bigelow right square in the mouth, what a great punch. Bigelow buries hands deep into the midsection again, but misses headbutt! Lawler covers and scores a fall. Russell says it a morale victory and I say it is 20 extra seconds of rest for Lawler. Lawler presses the advantage with big punches. Bigelow is very dazed from his own headbutt. Bigelow is bumping and selling ala Brock Lesnar of today. Really good shit! Flying fist drop gets Lawler his second fall and more rest and more momentum. Lawler is staggered but buoyed with recent success looks to punch himself out of trouble but is falling over himself. He misses a fist drop and Bigelow immediately falls on him with a headbutt on the midsection. Perfect responseby Bigelow. Bigelow punches Lawler so hard he falls forward. Bigelow lays with all his weight on Lawler and hooks in a sleeper. This is such smart wrestling by Bam Bam. Bigelow is wrestling like a ten year vet right here, wow! Gnaws at Lawlers head and busts him open. Bigelow sleeper puts Lawler out and he looks in real danger. Larry Sharpe screams is “There a Doctor in the house” Bigelow is surprised he got up and gouges at cut and the eyes. Lawler gets a sleeper of his own and Lance’s call of it is amazing. Listen to it. He slowly becomes more and more encouraged until you can hear the elation that Lawler has sunk it in. Bigelow gets up and snapmares him off. Bigelow elbow gets the three. It was Pyrrhic Victory. Lawler strap down! Lawler’s comeback is phenomenal. Bigelows bumps are incredible! Huge bump over the top rope. Lawler slams him to railing. Piston punches. Bigelows kicks him in midsection. Tries to turn tide and Irish Whips him into ref. Bigelow pin with a dazed ref. Kinda lame. Larry Sharpe horse collars Bam Bam with chair by accident. Ref counts both men down. First man up wins. Lawler wins. After the match, Sharpe berates Bam Bam so he gives chase and turns face. Up until the finish, this looked to be the greatest David vs Goliath match I have ever seen. However since there was a need to protect Bam Bam since he was turning face they finish was a bit off. It was not so much the fact they went with the first man gets up to his feet wins. It was that Lawler was knocked out via the bump with the ref that seemed kinda lame. Enough complaining, this match fucking rules. Easily one of the best of the 80s, check it and see! Lawler's masterpiece! Bigelow's best match of his career! One of the best of Memphis! One of the Best Texas Death Matches Ever! ****3/4

So much to say, hope I don't forget anything. I love Chad starts his list off with a bang with an exploding bomb death match and Parv goes the political route with the Savage vs DiBiase cage match. Chad, the Cena/Punk match was a watershed moment in my fandom also. I was in the doldrums in 2009-2010. I was just watching out of habit and had stopped watching older footage and puroresu altogether. That match spurred me to go to the next Wrestlemania as a graduation gift to myself, which totally rejuvenated my fandom. In the weeks, leading up to Wrestlemania, I was watching more older footage again and I decided I wanted to figure out what the greatest match to ever happen was. That journey led me here and I have never been the same. I am still on that journey. I recently rewatched the Cena/Punk match and it did not hold up as well for me either, but I am no hater like Parv. Thanks for the shout out! Really appreciate the kind words! I rate Savage/Warrior at 5 stars also and I ranked it the third best WWF match of the 90s when I watched every major 90s WWF match a couple years back. That post-match may be the best post-match angle in wrestling history. I think this is the pinnacle of Vince McMahon's booking and is one of the best demonstrations of his booking genius. I don't think he ever topped himself after this. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and had a hard time going back to sleep so I played the match that I think will be your number one and most assuredly will be in your top ten. i don't want to spoil anything, but God it is really not fair to compete with the All Japan boys. They are so freaky good. I don't blame you one bit for all the All Japan love. I marked out for Misawa/Ogawa vs KENTAFuji. Awesome match! I think I would have Misawa/Akiyama even higher than you did. I am way higher than everybody else it seems on this match, but dont sleep on Kobashi/Takayama 5/26/00 as the last great All Japan classic before the split. I hope Kobashi/Ogawa makes your list if not I recommend a rewatch. Parv, loved the AWA picks. Yes, you picked the correct Martel/Bock match, awesome selling in that one! Where's the World Class love, guys? Freebirds/Von Erichs! Hayes/Kerry! Flair/Kerry! Really looking forward to part two!

Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon vs Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse - AWA 4/24/83 We get the angle that brings Verne out of retirement to be Mad Dog's partner to wrestle the Sheiks to main event Super Sunday. Super Sunday features the one of the infamous screwjobs of Hulk Hogan out of the AWA World Championship. Verne's early shine shows he is better on offense than most wrestler everything was landing crisply and snugly. Blackwell was the perfect person to sell and bump for him. We get all his specialties: the Bret Bump, weeble wobble and the back body drop. Sheik uses the cast to get Mad Dog down. Mad Dog tries to use the bell, but that gets knocked out his hands and he throws in a mic stand. This gets him popped and busted open. Mad Dog doesnt give a fuck and throws in a chair. For 1983, these are some pretty snug chairshots. Mad og just starts no selling and throwing some wicked punches. The crowd begins to roar and for the hot tag to Verne they explode. Verne kicks some serious ass and throws a better dropkick than his son. Verne telegraphs a back drop and Blackwell hits a powerslam, but misses his splash. Then misses the splash in the corner. SLEEPER!!! Sheik Adnan sees his opening and Mad Dog intercepts him. Mad Dog slams Sheik's cast into Blackwell. Yes! Verne and Mad Dog become fixed on getting the cast off. They smash the cast over the Sheik's head. MAD DOG CRACKS BLACKWELL IN THE SKULL WITH A CHAIR! HOLY SHIT! Verne kneedrops Sheik's arm while Mad Dog holds it for the win! That chairshot was a straight late 90s chairshot to the head. Wow! From the hot tag to the finish this was gold. It was a little weird how he went for the sleeper and then they just became fixed on Sheik Adnan. It was almost like two finish stretches. It did not have meat for me on he Mad Dog heat segment. It was a pretty fun match. ***3/4

Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse vs Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke - AWA 3/13/83 I want to take a second to run down the other matches on this card: Hulk Hogan & High Flyers vs Heenan Family (Patera, Ventura, Heenan) and a main event of World Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Rick Martel. Thats stacked. World Class may have the hottest single feud in 1983, but AWA was actually pretty damn deep in 1983. I actually am excited for The Sheiks vs Old Timers feud. You thought the crowd was hot for Hogan earlier. Holy shit! This crowd was losing its mind for two of the weirdest looking human beings ever to walk this planet, Baron & Mad Dog. This was Von Erichs/Freebirds level of sustained heat from beginning to end they were engrossed in this match. The story of this match is the Shieks have one of each of their arms in casts so to combat this Mad Dog and Baron have their fists taped. This is just violent old man asskicker goodness. Baron and Mad Dog tear into Sheik who plays the overwhelmed scumbag so well. It is funny that 400 lbs Blackwell is the one who creates the movement in this match. He comes in to take a couple hard Bret Bumps and some awesome weeble wobble selling while they tee off on him. The whip Blackwell into Sheik and later on when Blackwell tries to send Sheik Adnan he accidentally splashes his own partner. This St. Paul will not be satisfied with just an asskicking they want BLOOD! Mad Dog punches Blackwell repeatedly (the crowd counts along) then does not stop working the cut by continued punching and then biting. Baron keeps that up. It has been five minutes of an absolute beat down and the crowd is loving it! That's my kinda crowd, 100% behind their heroes. They don't care if the match is equitable or some bullshit. If their favorite team wins by a blow out, all the better! Unfortunately, there is a clip and when we come back, Baron is busted open and a bleeding Blackwell is rolling him back in the ring. I dont think I have ever seen a Baron match, but he was really effective selling and really building the heat towards the hot tag. I loved him falling on his ass to sell a cast punch from Sheik and Sheik bititng at Baron's cut. Baron clawing for a tag only to be cut off was great face in peril work. Then a brawl erupts between Mad Dog and Blackwell on the outside! Blackwell lands an elbow on Baron and you actually each the entire arena collectively lose their breath with the Baron. That was so cool. Then a Blackwell slam and again the air evacuates the lungs of the St. Paul crowd. The stand up, staggered strike exchange between Baron and Blackwell is so dramatic. HOT TAG TO MAD DOG! Mad Dog kicks ass and the Baron is back in for the CLAW ON BLACKWELL! The CROWD EXPOLDES! Sheik Adnan blasts Baron in the back of the head with the cast and Blackwell splash for the 1-2-3! Perfect, perfect, perfect heel booking to set up the next match. Mad Dog is red hot and beats the shit out of each Sheik until he gets a bit too greedy and Blackwell splashes him in the corner. They thrown the ref down and eventually the numbers game gets to Mad Dog. Here comes Verne and they kick Verne's ass! The St. Paul is fucking pissed and throwing so much shit in the ring. The rematch is going to be molten. In the aisleway, Greg takes some wicked shots at them. Wow, awesome post-match angle to set up Mad Dog & Verne teaming. Mean Gene yelling for paramedics was perfect for the moment. Loved this match. Baron had one of the best FIP segments of the 80s. The babyface shine was perfect awesome violence. The crowd was electric. I loved the finish and the post-match killed it. 1983 was badass year of wrestling. ****1/4

AWA World Tag Champions The Sheiks (Patera & Blackwell) vs High Flyers - AWA 11/24/83 Ray Stevens Special Guest Ref This is the co-main event of the AWA Thanksgiving show for 1983 with Bockwinkel defending the World Championship on the top of the card against Mad Dog Vachon. Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie has been moved into a more of a managerial role instead of Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell's partner with a cast gimmick. I believe the Sheik with all his oil money bought the contract of Strongman Ken Patera from Bobby Heenan to form The Sheiks. I am a total mark for white men embracing the Sheik the gimmick. There is something very amusing about a fat man from Georgia pretending to be a Sheik. Man, did Patera let Blackwell down in this match. Patera was the main target of the opening babyface shine turned heel in peril and never really recovered. His weakened state lost the Sheiks the control of the match and caused Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse to trigger the DQ by blasting Ray Stevens with cast. The story of the match was Blackwell's splash. Missing it proved disastrous for his team, hitting it gives them total control. Early on, Blackwell misses the splash the early and they go for arm wringers. He tags out to Patera who bumps huge for the High Flyers as they work his legs over. Brunzell, who is red hot for this match, tries to apply the figure-4, but off camera Blackwell splash him. Brunzell does a great job selling. Patera tags out and holds Brunzell for a big running splash. There is such a dread that overcomes you watching Brunzell being held for his doom. Pretty good heat segment follows with Brunzell doing a good job alternating between selling and fighting back. Patera is clearly still exhausted and was having trouble maintaining control. When in trouble, Blackwell would quash Brunzell's comeback with a splash (like the one in the corner). Blackwell looks to finish him off with a top rope splash and he misses! Brunzell goes for the cover! 1-2-NO! Patera saves. Blackwell holds Brunzell and Patera crashes down. Gagne saves. Dropkick! Patera is out of it and Brunzell scurries through for the tag! Greg Gagne whips Blackwell into Patera. The dreaded Blackwell splash crushes Patera and the High Flyers using that weapon against them is awesome. Gagne rocks n roll and applies a sleeper on Blackwell. Sheik Adnan realizing the end was imminent blasts Ray Stevens and then eventually Greg for the DQ. The crowd is pissed and so is Brunzell and Gagne that rip the cast off Sheik Adnan nail each of the Sheiks. Loved the story of Blackwell's splash and Patera's long term selling. The DQ finish was pretty lame. Brunzell has been awesome in these matches. Really enjoyed this. ****

AWA World Tag Team Champions High Flyers vs Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey - AWA 4/18/82 Steel Cage Match This was shot from a handheld below the ring really close to the cage and gave a really cool, unique view. Within a minute, you think all 400 lbs of Crusher Blackwell is coming through your video screen only to meet a hard stop at the hands of the steel cage. All the work is really tight. They were not working stiff, but everything was landing. I love hearing a woman from the crowd scream "You pussy, Sheik!" Brunzell was great fighting during his shine and then taking a beating at the hands of the Sheik and Blackwell, the top two heels besides Bockwinkel in the AWA. The camera cuts and we don't see how Greg gets tag. Greg is ramming Blackwell hard into the cage repeatedly and I have no clue he did not knock the wall. Blackwell was throwing himself into that hard. Sheik is exasperated and at the last second moves and Greg runs into the turnbuckles. I am really digging the camera angle. The presentation is so gritty. Blackwell fucking throws Greg into that cage and the camera is right underneath to catch it. This is blowing the East-West Connection cage match outta the water. Greg is taking some crazy bumps. This is some great violence. Brunzell is a great house of fire. You can see it etched on his face how incensed he is. He rakes Sheik's face across the cage and drives Blackwell's head back into the cage repeatedly. Sheik escapes some leg work and Blackwell immediately tries to put the match away with a HUGE splash off the top rope. He then takes a MASSIVE bump over the top turnbuckle. Excellent double dropkick for the win! After the matches, the heels try to railroad the Greg Gagne in the cage while Brunzell had left early, but Daddy Verne makes the save and kicks some Sheiks ass to a huge ovation. Verne was rocking it. Verne & Old Timers vs the Sheiks was a huge feud at this time. The Sheik & Blackwell felt like a huge, hot act. This was a molten match. It had a big cage match feel with each time look to dish out some serious punishment. The Sheiks took advantages of some High Flyers' mistakes and kicked their ass, but could not hold them down. When the babyfaces were on top, they were firing on all cylinders with a ton of energy and always looking to drive the Sheiks into the cage. The Sheiks were not shy about bumping. One of the best tag team cage matches ever! ****1/2

Hulk Hogan & High Flyers vs Jesse Ventura, Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan - AWA 3/13/83 Hulk Hogan vs. the top two WWF heel commentators is a dream match and it happened in the AWA! The electricity for Hogan is off the charts. The ring announcing by Mean Gene gets so much face and heel heat is it is incredible. The heels try to jumpstart the match and my God Hogan no-selling on Jesse is so badass. I loved the strut on the apron and then high-fives with the High Flyers. He was feeling it. He removes Jesse's bandana to reveal a very shiny bald head without his usual trademark long bleached blond hair. Very fun stuff. After all the blood feud brawls of the 80s, this type of fun popcorn match is exactly what I needed. Hogan was great at the opening shine having fun with Jesse and Patera pinballing for Hogan and the High Flyers. Big Weasel chant! AWA is cooking baby. There is a small cut and no commentary for this match. Patera drives Brunzell into his corner into a tree of woe. Now Bobby the BRAIN comes into get his licks, but stays in a bit too long and takes a big bump into the top turnbuckle. He tries to scurry away, but here comes Greg to work on his leg and punch Heenan's cohorts. Heenan backs into the wrong corner and pays the prices. Heenan splaying himself on the mat after a Gagne chop is a thing of beauty. They trap Gagne into the wrong corner and start double teaming (Heenan is dead) and choking him. With power guys like Patera and Ventura, it is bearhug time. Gagne's offense is pretty weak. Get Brunzell or Hogan in there, BABY! They do a couple ref didn't see it tags. Patera wants the piledriver, but Gagne powers out and Gagne on his heads and knees makes the tag, Brunzell and Patera scuffle and Brunzell is cooking. Ventura, nice bump off the turnbuckles and Brunzell is thinking Figure-4, but broken up and Patera vertical suplex. For the short time, Brunzell has been there way more entertaining. Patera lets him get way too close to Hogan. Hogan is running wild and unbridled. He destroying everything that moves and a big melee ensues. They whip Ventura and Patera into each other. Hogan hits a massive legdrop on The Brain for the win. The epitome of a super fun, action blockbuster with the heels bumping and the babyfaces thumping. It dragged a bit during the Gagne heat segment for this to be a great match for me. It was tons of fun for the couple minutes Hogan and Brunzell were in. ***3/4

High Flyers vs East-West Connection - AWA 3/22/81 Steel Cage Match Before the match starts, we get promos from both teams and the East-West complains that they were snookered into this cage match with a promise of the tag titles being on the line, but now Stanley Blackburn won't allow the titles to be on the line a steel cage match. That sounds like some serious BS and personally I think it babyfaces the heels a bit too much, but I guess it was a different time. The Brunzell promo was brutally boring and uncharismatic. Gagne was actually pretty convincing as a serious babyface. JIP. Gagne is getting double teamed and thrown into the cage and is busted open. He fires back and tags out to Brunzell who is a great house of fire. He nails a dropkick on Adonis who bumps into the cage. Adonis is looking for any reason to bump into the cage as he bumps off a double noggin knocker into a cage. Ventura is stiff in the sense in that he just is not athletic or agile so his bumps look weird so thankfully Adonis can bump for two. Venture makes up for with a gory bladejob. They both rake Jesse The Body's face into the cage. They go for a fall on The Body after some cage shot, but Adonis saves and then atomic drop into cage. Ventura wants none of Greg's weak ass punches. Adonis cowering and trying to escape from Brunzell. Brunzell is feeling it: legdrop, suplex and he goes for the dropkick again, but Adonis has seen this story before and hooks the rope. Brunzell sells the dropkick like death and Adonis goes to the eyes. This is an all-time great heel performance by Adonis. He is outworking everyone. An explanation of galvanization of steel by the announcer has me laughing. Brunzell is bleeding I believe and piledriver! Ventura bearhug, man, I will say Adonis is exposing Jesse in the ring, but on the pre-match promo The Body blew Adrian out of the water so at least they both served their purpose. Brunzell begins to fight back so Adonis tags in and looks to ram Brunzell's head into cage, but Brunzell gives Adonis a taste of his own medicine. Adonis falls on top of Brunzell damn he was not even that fat. Brunzell completes his comeback with what else, a dropkick and Adonis bumps huge into cage. The crowd is revved up for Greg Gagne. Adonis is great at selling and takes the Flair Flip and is bumping huge into the cage for Greg. Greg with worst dropkicks this side of Erik Watts. Gagne Choke gets a big pop! Ventura breaks it up and Adonis scales the cage! Adonis is thinking Superfly instead it is SuperCrash and Gagne picks up the win. That was a really fun, entertaining cage match. Gagne's offense looked pretty weak, but he showed good fire and the crowd was into him. Brunzell was great selling and on offense. I wish he was trying this hard when he on Killer Bees. Adrian Adonis was the MVP of this match. It was a great match, but I would not call it an all-time classic cage match. Check it out for Adonis bumping like a pinball and the big ending. ***1/2

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