Superstar Sleeze

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Lex Luger – NWA Starrcade 1988 As great as the Total Package was in this match, Ric Flair was the undeniable man in this match. Understanding who the Nature Boy was in between those ropes as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. A lot of this was covered verbally during Part 1 of Fair to Flair, but lets go through the minutia using this match as a case study. The match begins with Flair cocky as ever going so far as to taunt the Total Package. At one point, he gets down on one knee and flexes! Flair’s goal early on is psych out the inexperienced challenger and assert himself. You see crowd Luger in the corner, but Luger’s immense power overwhelms him and sends him flying out of the ring. Now, Luger poses to a massive pop, which is a great payback spot as Flair is left doubting himself rather than the other way around. The key to Flair is that he is always going to try to win the match legitimately at first. He is only apprehensive right now, not out and out desperate. The key difference to me between Flair and Harley Race is that Flair makes you earn your shine because Flair is going to apply a hammerlock, throw a chop and try a back elbow, but the challenger fights through this offense and when they gain the upper hand it is more meaningful. Now Flair is going back to the core of his strategy: breaking the rhythm of his opponent. The challenger is going on a fast break and the crowd is hot. Flair uses the ropes like a basketball team would use a timeout. Luger can taunt all he wants, but Flair is in command. Of course, Flair can’t win the match either this way he can only slow Luger down. Now, he moves the second phase of his two-pronged strategy leverage his superior cardiovascular stamina to defeat powerful, muscular Lex Luger. He tries to turn into a track meet by coming off the ropes and we see Luger do a really IMPRESSIVE leapfrog. Luger is ready to use power via a shoulder tackle to thwart the Nature Boy. Big Press Slam! Flair is in the ropes and it is not looking good. Luger begins to try break down Flair via the arm and Flair’s verbal selling is great. He whips Flair hard into the turnbuckles who takes it shoulder first. Here comes Flair with his perpetual motion offense of chops and shoulderblocks to stop the bleeding, but nothing is working on the challenger. Finally, about ten minutes in, Flair finally thumbs Luger in the eye. For ten minutes, Flair try to best Luger and could not. Out of desperation, he finally resorted to nefarious tactics. That’s beautiful storytelling. Flair goes to his number one weapon, the chops. JR gets in a good point about chops as wearing down the opponent. Incredibly, he does NOT take it to the logical football analogy of running up the middle in the first quarter for 2-3 yards, but keep pounding the ball up the gut so that it turns into 5-7 yards in the fourth quarter. The chop is a similar strategy and in addition it is evacuating the air out of Luger’s lungs, which plays into Flair’s overall strategy. Remember, we are only ten minutes into this contest, so when Flair chops Luger they have an effect, but they have taken their true toll on the Total Package yet. The result is one of the MOST ELECTRIC NO-SELLS of all time with Luger coming out of the corner looking like a million bucks and the crowd and me losing their shit. Flair retreats to the outside and admittedly due to small ringside area things do get a little awkward with Luger trying to navigate his way to get Flair and then he wrenches Flair’s arm around the railing. Another Flair strategy is use of shortening the distance like a boxer would or what could be called crowding when he takes Luger from the armbar into the corner. Flair is an underrated puncher and I have always thought his punches look nasty. Flair tries to combat Luger’s power by using the ropes to get a running start to increase his momentum and add some wallop to his blows. Luger at this stage of the game is a Flair-seeking missile and will not be denied. I love the suplex back in the ring as it is just the perfect babyface move. Oh, you want to try to run from me, let me bring you in the hard way. Luger misses his big elbow and lets out quite the yelp. Flair pounces with a short kicks to abs and now using that running start to really topple Luger. He throws Luger to the outside for a hard, hard fall. He attacks Luger using the railing. This is when Flair is at his sadistic best. He slows down the pace and really grinds his opponent down. Kneedrop and double footstomp! This is offense that allows him to recover without expending too much energy, but at the same time non-kayfabe allows the heat to sink in and for Luger to sell. Luger gets his second wind so Flair immediately goes back to trying to create movement, but ends up in a sleeper! Again Luger earns the comeback fighting through his chops and then winning the criss-cross exchange! Flair hits a back suplex counter. He realizes he can not waste anymore time and goes for his one surefire home run, the figure-4. INSIDE CRADLE! Only two. Flair crashes down with a elbow to stymie Luger. You feel his hold on the match is tenuous at best. He wants to go up top to get some free velocity and really crash down on Luger, but he gets caught with the superplex, awesome nearfall. Luger now applies the figure-4 as a slap in the face and as a strong match-ender spot. Flair gets the ropes and now here comes the Luger home stretch. Luger accidentally hit the ref on the backswing of his punch. He gets a top rope crossbody for two only because the ref was out of position. Backslide that’s how Kerry beat Flair. Flair takes the flip in the corner. Luger suplexes him back in and PRESS SLAM! The challenger is pouring it on. Now it is up to JJ to do what Flair can’t break his momentum. Luger is on a fast break so putting himself into harm’s way distracts Luger. Flair trips Luger up and goes full psycho smashing a steel chair into the knee of the Total Package. Flair goes to town on the knee. This is an absolute clinic of how to work the knee and how to sell a knee both psychically and verbally. Flair Figure-4! Time to test the mettle of Lex Luger, who like a real man reverses the pressure. Flair is right back to the knee. He goes up top to try win the match with a cross body, but gets caught in a press slam. Luger was able to fight through pain for that one moment, but the pain is too much has to crawl to Flair and can’t capitalize. Flair desperate just throws him out of the ring. Sunset Flip by Luger! That’s how Garvin won the title. Flair tries one of those running, jumping forearms, but just bounces off Luger! It is hot baby! Luger fighting through the pain hits the clotheslines and powerslams to set up for the torture rack. In my probably my favorite finish of all time, Luger hoists up the champion only to have his knee give out and Flair lands on top, puts his feet on the ropes and wins the match. WOW! Incredible match and one that I hope I did justice. I really don’t think I can in all honesty it is something that needs to be watched. Everybody seems to like the Wrestlewar match, which I think is an all-time classic, but I have this a notch above. Clearly, the Starrcade finish is better than the Wrestlewar finish. This told an absolutely incredible story and just stayed so true to both characters. The selling was just pitch perfect. I have always seen this match ranked ****1/2. I can’t go below ****3/4 and right now I can’t think of a reason not to go the full monty. For my money, this is the perfect Flair vs power wrestler match. It is Flair’s best power wrestler opponent, Luger, putting a great selling and offensive clinic. His timing on those no-sells was great. Flair gave a heel performance in this match that I don’t know has ever been topped. I am going *****, but would love to hear arguments to the contrary.

WWF World Tag Team Champions North-South vs Jack & Jerry Brisco – MSG 12/28/84 This is one of the weirdest matches to ever take place in WWF ring for my money. Three of the four of these guys (Murdoch, Briscos) just seem so not WWF wrestlers. It is totally crazy seeing this match in MSG. Finally got around to watching this match as it is probably the 80s WWF tag team match with the most hype that I have never watched. This is the Dick Murdoch show through and through. For the first ten minutes, I was totally lost on why this is considered a classic. It just seemed like one of the all-time funniest performances by an individual wrestler. You had Captain Redneck just falling on his ass all over the place and that sell of Jack’s punch just needs to be seen. Otherwise, it was just kinda meh armwork, but Dicky Murdoch was keep me entertained. Finally the match gets going when Murdoch having taken a funny bump to the outside whacks Jerry with a metal box. Adonis starts throwing the bombs. As a weird aside, Jerry Brisco really likes to kick out at 1. Little Brother Complex? The heat segment does not last long as Adonis tries for a figure-4, but ends up in one. Adonis tags out and Murdoch pounces with big elbows, but alas is sent reeling from Jerry’s punches. Now Jerry has the figure-4 on Murdoch and Adonis saves so Jerry tags out. The Briscos work over Murdoch’s legs and at least there is more movement in this babyface control. There is an incredibly funny bit with Murdoch trying to tag Adonis while Jack holds his foot. Adonis needed to flip over that top rope to make it one of the all-time great comedy spots. When Murdoch falls flat on his face and sells it, I lost it. Eventually he tags out and Adonis falls prey to the drop toe hold and Murdoch is just sitting slumped in the corner selling the beating, awesome! Adonis bullies Jerry into the corner and here comes the Murdoch barrage with Demolition Decapitation, neckbreaker, brainbuster (which of course fucking Gorilla thinks is a botch). Murdoch bodyslam into an Adonis top rope elbow now the place is rocking. Jack saves and Jack comes in with the sleeper. There is a mad scramble from the Briscos to put Murdoch away but Adonis keeps saving. Nice German Suplex from Jack! Adonis has seen enough and turns the match into a donnybrook. Adonis slams Jack’s head into a chair and Murdoch has a telephone slams into Jerry’s head. The Briscos recover and apply a double figure-4, but it is too late the match was thrown out as a no contest. Once it got going, this match rocked. Murdoch absolutely killed it in this match with a ton of really fun comedy spots. Then he also probably the best offensive series too. The Briscos worked fine, but I did not feel like they had much charisma or fire until the very end. Fun finish stretch with the Briscos trying to put away Captain Redneck to win the World Tag Team Titles only to come up short. ****1/4

NWA World TV Champion Nikita Koloff vs Dick Murdoch - NWA 1/16/88 I think I am going to like this Dicky Murdoch character. I really like camp in my wrestling and find Murdoch’s selling entertaining without affecting the gravity of the contest too much at least in this match, but I can see if he kicked it into overdrive he could undercut the match. The match turns the standard TV title defense on its head with Murdoch (the heel & Jim Cornette’s mercenary) pouring the offense on late to win, but because it was started with a Cornette racquet shot (the ref was decked by an errant Russian Sickle) you are left rooting for Koloff to be resilient and withstand this barrage that was brought about by nefarious tactics. Murdoch is deceptively big especially tall as he is bigger than Koloff and really throws him around towards the end especially with some big bombs like the piledriver and Brainbuster. He does have a nice punch that Koloff sold nicely. Having Dusty & Windham come out along with the MX added to the drama down the stretch. Earlier in the match, I thought it was weird they teased Koloff punching Murdoch in the corner and paid it off so late that it got no pop. Murdoch just went into a really nice heat segment centered around the arm without paying the punch off. It was during the heat segment you could tell Murdoch can be a great mat wrestler. Koloff’s comeback mostly for Murdoch’s facial expressions of cowardice. I loved him slumping down in the corner after Koloff rocked him with punches and his facial expression before taking the press slam off the top. I am looking forward to watching his Mid-South classics. I thought I would watch some of his TV matches to get a feel for him first and liked what I saw. ***3/4

NWA US Champion Lex Luger vs Dick Murdoch – NWA 11/89 If anybody still has any doubts about Luger’s being a phemnomenonal worker between 1988-1991, they will be effaced by this consummate heel performance. He put over Murdoch very strongly in the beginning selling well and constantly looking to break his rhythm by powdering. By constantly fighting out of Murdoch’s arm work with strong rights, he made Murdoch earn his shine. Murdoch did so with gusto really letting his hands fly and show great babyface fire. JR did his job so well putting Murdoch over as a legit challenger and how seriously Murdoch was taking this match. I really liked Luger going after the arm only to be tripped up and then have Murdoch work over the leg. Luger’s verbal selling was tremendous and added so much to the match along with his great leg selling. Luger was able to hit a powerslam, but was too close to the ropes to hoist him into the Torture Rack. From there, Luger put on a clinic over how to work over the lower back with power and the Boston Crab. Some really good build on the Boston Crab. Murdoch was great at selling and a really strong babyface. I loved Luger putting his head against the turnbuckles for extra leverage. As Murdoch started firing back with the rights to the midsection (awesome verbal selling) Luger would try to get his feet on the ropes any chance to get the pin but Nick Patrick always caught him. The match broke down into a donnybrook in the corner with both men laying their hands on Nick Patrick triggering the Double DQ. I love that was a collar-elbow tieup ten minutes after this match started those are the little things that remind me I am watching a pro wrestling match not an gymnastics exhibition. Overall, this was a great match that showcased a serious, firey side of Captain Redneck and Lex Luger at the height of his powers. ***1/2

I really love the Eddie-Rey SD match from '04 for the title, even more than their '05 SD match in the middle of the legitimate epic that was that feud. I was at the 2004 match live and completely love it. The 2005 match is even better. Can't believe I forgot those two. It is possible the 2009 Jericho and the 2010 Punk matches could match the the Eddie matches. I don't think Liger is better than Rey Rey on great matches alone. I just thought Liger relies more on classic matches and Rey Rey relies on a bevy of good to great TV matches. Rey's offense works because it is rooted in context. He takes what is given to him and works in smart ways to get his offense in. There is very little my turn your turn in his greatest matches. He uses an up tempo, full court press to win matches but his moves are high risk leading to some pretty spectacular ass kickings.

Listened to this a while back on a long plane ride, did not get a chance to comment until now, which means unfortunately I have forgotten a good chunk I wanted to say. First thank you for giving me the kick in the ass to finally watch Cena vs Umaga for the first. Holy. Shit. I will be shocked if there is a better WWE 2000s match. That may be the single best David vs Goliath match ever. Just wow. Loved it. Also this spurred me on to finally watch Flair vs Garvin in the cage in Detroit. Tremendous war of attrition. I, like Parv, LOVE the TV match and this cage match was badass. Next, I rarely get emotional watching wrestling, but 2003 Misawa/Kobashi is one of those matches that always tugs on the heartstrings. I just love Kobashi so much and to watch his long ascent to the top and be with him every step of the way it is just the perfect culmination. In a lot of ways as a fan it is a very bittersweet moment. I would liken it to finally beating your Dad in baseball, basketball or what have you. You finally scaled that mountain, but part of that means you have to accept you own father's mortality. It is sad. Especially when the fans the start chanting for Misawa late and you just know this is Kobashi's time and things just don't last forever. It is one of the most emotionally moving matches I have ever seen. For Chad to say he needed 10 minutes to reflect on the match and was late for work, I understand that notion completely. Just Chad talking about and me writing about it now, causes me to get emotional and get goosebumps. I did correctly pick your number 1, because you have tipped your hand previously. Now that being said I did not know why that was your number one and just how deep your emotional connection is with that match. It was a perfect description of why pro wrestling and by extension any form of entertainment can mean so much to a person. I echo all the comments before these are two of the greatest pro wrestling podcasts ever produced. Congratulations.

I absolutely loved doing this podcast about Ric Flair and strategy. So much is said about Flair's running around like a chicken with his head cut off or getting stuff in or lack of psychology. I assert quite strongly to contrary that Flair's strategy is 100% consistent with his character, his place of being the champion and his number one physical attribute (his outstanding cardiovascular ability). Listen to the podcast, and please let me know if you agree or disagree. Kayfabe strategy is my number one favorite thing to discuss and would love to hear people's opinions. Parv, thank you for having me on. I will definitely listen to your solo venture on Flair's WWF promos.

I agree with Loss. I love Rey a lot, but today I was thinking of a great American Rey match that could match Rey-Eddie and couldn't think of much. I need to rewatch the Jericho and Punk stuff. While I can rattle off 5 matches maybe 10 matches of Liger around the level of Rey-Eddie. Ok let's see if I can, Sano '90, Sammy '92, Sasuke '94 x2, Ohtani '97, I'm lower than most on NOAH tags, but at least one I thought was a MOTYC. I feel like I'm missing other high end Liger matches. Liger and Rey Rey will probably be both in my top ten.

At Beyond a Wrestling, running round robin with Busick, Thatcher, Gulak and Edwards. Missed Busick/Gulak and arrived halfway through Thatcher/Edwards. Holy shit was Thatcher and Busick awesome live. You can see the strain during each hold. I don't think the first throw or strike was attempted until Ten minutes in. The way they worked every hold as a test of strength was riveting. Thatcher arm work was tremendous and Busick comeback was fucking awesome as always. Perfect escalation to a great finish! More updates as the next three matches unfold.

WWE Champion John Cena vs Shawn Michaels - Wrestlemania XXIII Once Shawn Michaels was committed to wrestling as the heel in this match, this was excellent and a top flight performance by both wrestlers. Michaels is clearly at a size and power disadvantage, but he is accustomed to that and he chooses to battle this by taking out one of Cena’s wheels. Now, Cena is never out of any match because he has a puncher’s chance. Similarly, Michaels can always fall back on Sweet Chin Music. It is Cena’s ability to avoid Sweet Chin Music that pays dividends, but when he gets hit with it the question becomes can he bounce back? The weakest part of the match is the beginning, which I thought Michaels took way too much of it. Michaels wants a handshake with his co-Tag Team Champion. Cena hesitates so he slaps him. Cena takes some wild swings, but Shawn ducks. Shawn punches and a big chop sends Cena reeling. Michaels is in Cena’s head and using speed. HBK is the veteran and even though Cena has been champion for 20 of the past 24 months, there is a lot of pressure to vanquish a former champion like Michaels. Michaels outwrestling Cena with headlocks and again ducks punches and punches of his own and chop. Cena is clearly frustrated. HBK looks to build some speed and finally Cena nails a big clothesline. They establish Cena’s power game is Cena’s key to victory. Big Boos for that clothesline. Michaels hiptosses Cena from ring to the floor and then Asai Moonsault. This is way too rough of a start for Cena. HBK goes full heel here and the match kicks into a next level goes into heat segment with chops in corner and then big sledge to the straight leg., Goes to work on the leg with great selling from Cena all the usual stuff from HBK (chopblocks, ropes wrenching, kicks). Really fucking well done. Great selling by Cena and there is some really cool corner work. They spend a couple minutes just in one corner with Cena trying to battle out and Michaels trying to suffocate him. I loved the chess moves here. Cena starts landing bombs and always has a punchers chance. Big one sends Michaels tumbling back, but he bulrushes Cena back into the corner to trap him there. Cena fights back for survival. Michaels tries to drive the shoulder again, but Cena collapses to the side and Michaels head strikes the post and is bleeding. Awesome transition! Michaels is wobbly. Cena recovers and smokes him with a big clothesline. Here comes that big power Cena offense getting on top and ground n pound. Big boos. Shouldertackles. Knee is messed up. Five Knuckle shuffle. Michaels avoids FU. Michaels is now desperate and thinks the match is slipping through his fingers so he pulls the trigger on Sweet Chin Music, but nails the ref. Cena looks FU, nope, DDT. This levels playing field between the bloody HBK and exhausted Cena. Michaels hits a PILEDRIVER ON THE STEPS! Total Mark Out by me! No ref, here comes one running down the ramp and only a two count. Michaels does his comeback sequence now. Michaels sneering and looking mean as hell. He wants to polish Cena off with Sweet Chin Music. Massive Cena clothesline turns the tide! Big time slugfest and Cena nails the FU, but only two. He wants to up the ante with the super FU, but Michaels knocks him off top rope. Crossbody, roll through FU NO! I totally bit on that as the finish. Michaels lands on his feet and tries Sweet chin music, but Cena ducks. Now Michaels is off balance making him vulnerable for the STFU. There is an awesome struggle that leads into a HBK cradle, but a missed Enziguri finally leads into the STFU. That should have been the finish. The STFU struggle was really well-done. Yes, that is criticism #2 they long just a bit too long. Ref and Cena argue and BANG! Sweet Chin music, Michaels down and he crawls over for only a 2 count. They take an 8 count to get back up each leaning on the other for a long time. This is clearly Shawn’s flair for the dramatic shining through. Cena tries the FU, no, but applies a good-looking STFU for the win. Excellent chess match that stayed true to both men’s character. I have no clue what was up with the beginning as it was way too much Shawn and the match did not seem to climax at the right spot. There was a lot more heat for the first STFU. The long double count late in a match is a cool idea to milk a spot, but the whole leaning against each other and then rather pedestrian final finish sequence did compare as well as the previous STFU stretch. The knee psychology was awesome and the stretch run was totally engrossing. Too many issues to be match of the year, but still an excellent match. ****1/2

ECW Champion John Morrison vs CM Punk - ECW 9/4/07 John Morrison cutting faux-Jim Morrison promos is way more entertaining psychobabble than Bray Wyatt. Why did they ever drop that gimmick? It makes Morrison's incredibly wooden delivery actually bearable. Then again I am a total Jim Morrison mark so maybe I am alone. In addition, to this I was shocked how good Morrison's offense looked in this. I was expected Kofi-levels of lightness, but his kick to Punk when he was on the apron and then that dropkick was actually pretty nasty. I decided to review this mostly because this is considered Punk's first great WWE match and it was indeed very good. It is the ideal Punk match in that it is fundamentals-based with strong escalation and investment in his character. The year 2007 had a lot of great wrestling for WWE, but due to the polarizing nature of Cena, there have been few feel-good matches. This was a great feel-good match and Punk was wicked over with the crowd. For my money, he was the most universally accepted babyface in 2007 for WWE. The first highspot was a springboard dropkick for Punk and he immediately goes for the cover this put over the need to win this match because coming up empty handed means no more championship matches. Punk gets some nice kicks in and then a simple suplex punctuates the segment with another pinfall cover. Morrison uses the trunks to pull Punk into the ropes. Morrison wants a sunset flip powerbomb, but Punk hits an Asai Moonsault. Awesome psychology heel comes up short on his awesome move and the babyface gets to hit his sweet move to send us to break. Back from break, Morrison catches Punk trying his springboard clothesline and powerslams him. Tazz points out that Morrison and Punk have had a lot of matches and this was a case of Morrison knowing what was coming, well-done. Joey Styles has improved from ECW, he now speaks in complete sentences and does not just shout out random move names. Morrison gets a little chinlocky, but he does connect with his offense. The finish run is over like rover. The superplex is used to level the playing field and both men take a standing 8 count to get up. Knee/bulldog combo gets a lot of love from the fans. Morrison gets his finish combo of Pele/Starship Pain for two. Has a split-legged anything ever looked good? Morrison wants the Moonlight Driver then tease G2S only for Morrison to O'Connor Roll, grabs the tights and ropes. The crowd is totally on his case. Is this 2007 or 1987??? I love this crowd. Proof that MORE cheating is needed in wrestling. Tons of heat for Punk's response roll up. The Go 2 Sleep and pinfall get a huge pop! Awesome wrestling. This is wrestling 101, but laid out perfectly. We need more wrestling like this, very, very entertaining. ***3/4

I'll consider it for a future go around. My main focus is 1980s wrestling, but I am using the 2000s WWE to break it up and I am longing for Dicky Murdoch and Von Erichs already. The following from 2007 have been watched and I just need to edit the reviews : Cena vs Umaga Cena vs HBK - Mania & Raw Cena vs Orton - SSlam Punk vs Morrison

World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs Undertaker - Survivor Series 2007 Hell In A Cell I did not realize how dead the crowd was until they finally chanted along with Batista during a ten count punch about 3/4 of the way through the match. It was a Miami crowd combined with a face vs face match so perhaps that explains it. This is a weird match as it worked part Clash of the Titans and part blood feud. Also, Taker took a huge chunk of the match, which telegraphed that he was going to lose, but it is Taker so you know there will be protection. I thought the beginning was similar to the Mania with their sprint Clash of the Titans. Taker teased chokeslam and the triangle choke, but was generally in charge. In the coolest spot of the match, Taker drives Batista throatfirst into a chair. That is a sick spot and they sold with Batista doing the internal bleeding. Much like the table spot, Batista actually started a run offense pretty soon after catching Taker off Old School with a spinebuster. That is a visually impressive power spot, but the moves felt out of order. You take us to this visceral high of internal bleeding then move to a very cool powerslam. The narrative seemed off. Batista throws Taker around, which is always cool visually. Taker is like fuck this, if I am going to job, I am going to kick your ass and whips him back into the steps. Rams him head first into the cage and then A FUCKING WICKED CHAIR SHOT to the head. Batista blades big time. Taker is working this like a blood feud and Batista is working it like a power match. That just clicked for me. I think that's the disconnect. Taker climaxes with the Triangle Choke, but we get a rope break. Ref where the fuck were you earlier if you are going to assert yourself be consistent. Taker does the lamest suicide dive this side of Dean Ambrose, in his defense with the cage that close I wouldn't do it either, but then just dont do the spot. Batista kicks the stairs into Taker and he finally gets into the blood feud aspect crashing the steps into Taker, who is now bleeding. Here comes the finish run they trade finishes with Batista Bomb on Table being pretty cool. Batista kicks out of a Tombstone!??!?!? Tombstone on the stairs. BALL GAME! Then Edge blasts Taker with the camera and puts Batista on top. Who knows the fuck why? It was entertaining, but it did not have the fight feel. You know guys really clashing like bulls. It was more of a Taker asskicking, but Batista is not a very evocative seller and is totally useless at bumping. Stick with the great Mania match instead of this clusterfuck.

Hardyz vs MNM - Royal Rumble 2007 Man, I forgot Melina was like all boob. Such a small lady with such big breast implants, her and Jillian were the end of an era. This was set up after the infamous TLC match in December of 2006 where Mercury got smashed into the face with the ladder that broke his nose and looked like a murder scene happened on his face. Mercury and Nitro tried to exact revenge with a Snapshot (one of the better tag team finishes) on the concrete, which dislocated Matt's jaw. Mean while Jeff Hardy, the then IC Champ was feuding with Nitro over the IC title. I'm kinda surprised this gets hyped. It is a perfectly serviceable double face in peril tag. The only notable element would be the cool the jaw psychology used against Matt. Nitro hit a really nice right hand to Matt's jaw to set up the first heat segment. I had just watched the Punk/Morrison match from 2007 and he is better than I remembered. I recalled him working Kofi light, but he was laying in his stuff in both matches maybe he got more gymnastic-y in later years. Mercuy vacillated from good punches to some that missed by a mile. He was totally useless. I have never been high on Matt, just seems like a serviceable worker. He punches Mercury in his surgically reconstructed face to set up Jeff's hot tag. I have always had a soft spot for Jeff and he does bring the excitement. I dug his hot tag even if it is spots I have seen a million times. Nitro gets his legs up on a splash to set up Jeff's heat segment, which is fine. It is more directionless without the the jaw psychology. Again, I was surprised at how well Morrison worked on top. Morrison crashed into Mercury to set up the finish run. Matt actually a pretty fun run of moves. They tease the Snapshot before the Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb finish. It was an entertaining formula-based tag. I was just left scratching my head about why there is any hype. ***

World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs Undertaker - Wrestlemania XXIII One of those WWE 2000s matches that got a lot of hype, but I have not seen until now. Undertaker worked his ass off here. Being in the third slot behind, Cena/HBK and McMahon/Trump coupled with some lame Mania performances, I think really lit a fire under Taker to rip it up. I will say of all 2000s wrestler no one inspires more apathy from me than Big Dave. He is just there. He is really clunky in the ring, which makes for poor bumping. His offense is wicked bland. I even prefer Orton over him because at least Orton is athletic so he can bump and is a pretty solid hand. I will Batista's saving grace was he was really at playing a 2000s WWE babyface on the mic and probably the best ever until Cena finally got his shit down. I am talking that combination of smart ass and tough guy (Rock/Austin mix). It torpedoed Sheamus' career and Reigns' is still recovering. Big Dave was definitely the best at handling that material and still coming off as cool. Still, I never really gave a fuck about it. Unless his Hell In A Cell match with HHH is better, this the best match of Batista's career. This is a total bomb-throwing sprint. It is just two hosses looking to give each other their best shot. I loved the dynamic they went for. Even though, Batista is champion because he is facing Taker and his Streak at Mania, he is wrestling like the challenger with something to prove and we even see him bust out a top rope shouldertackle. It was like they were doing Clash of the Titans sprint style. I have never really seen that before and it was a cool vibe. They escalated it well with each of them hitting their little bombs first and then shaking it off, which gave it that Clash of the Titans feel. Then when Taker goes for the Chokeslam it is Oh Shit time and Batista goes for the knee to the gut to break. Taker busts out his cool as fuck Tope on Batista. That is the climax of Taker's shine as Batista whips him hard into the bellkeeper's stand and then drills him through an announce table. It takes him a while to get him, which probably cost him the three count. Batista pounds away and now he is looking for the Batista Bomb, nothing doing and instead when he mounts the top rope to deliver punches, Taker hits the Last Ride. This triggers the big finisher-trading, but they don't go overboard, they trade set up moves, Batista Bomb connects, but gets two thats the big false finish. Clearly, Batista should go for it again, he does, but Taker reverses and after some teases nails the Tombstone to win the championship and go 15-0. Really fun heavyweight spotfest. Part of me is annoyed with stuff like announce table being just another spot. It is funny how Batista Bomb >>> Announce Table. I just think it should have triggered more of a heat segment, but really could Batista work that, probably not. This was perfect they all-out with the action. It was a spotfest, but it had a weight and drama to it. It never devolved into my turn, your turn as there a sense of earning the move and proving themselves to each other. Definitely check it out. ****

Undertaker vs Finlay - WWE Smackdown 3/9/07 I loved the tension of this match you always felt Finaly's control on the match was tenuous and just never knew when Taker was going to explode and destroy Finlay. I don't think I have seen Taker so explosive. When I say I am talking about a scary combination of power and acceleration. Brock Lesnar has it and Dr. Death had it in his heralded 1994 run. Taker was on in the run up to Wrestlemania 23 with Batista. I think he had a chip on his shoulder to show he could still go and from the ring of the bell he was totally focused. I loved the little things like Taker cutting the ring off the moment the bell rang. The bruising, tough guy Finlay had nowhere to hide. Taker landed some huge bombs and everything had snap. His big boot on the outside was sick. The best part of this match was Finlay's reliance on nefarious tactics to stay in control. First, it was an eye rake to get him outside from there Hornswoggle distracted Taker and the ref long enough for Finlay to jab a chair into Taker's ribs and that was the story of the match. Throw Taker rib first into objects. Taker would time his hope spots perfectly and just as well Finlay would find a way to attack the ribs to cut him off. I loved Taker gaining momentum, but on an Irish Whip clasping at his ribs only to have Finlay drive those ribs into the apron. Taker, like Jerry Lawler, was focused on punching his way out of trouble. Once. he got those bombs going, it set up for his finish run, unlike Rey Rey he did a better job fighting through the pain. They actually got me to bite a false finish for Finlay they went all in with a Hornswoggle distraction to have Finlay hit with the Shillelagh in the ribs and then head. I was thinking that it would set up a rematch, but they went with the kick out and SIT UP~! I have to say as far as no sells go, the SIT UP~! is pretty badaass. Chokeslam, Tombstone, BALLGAME! Great TV match for Taker going into Maina showing he was ready to rock and Finlay was a good hurdle. ***3/4

Rey Mysterio vs Finlay - WWE Smackdown 11/09/07 Remember when Cole & JBL were an entertaining commentary team, I do and this match reminded me why they were great. JBL was great praising Finlay's wherewithal during the fog of war and Cole told the story of the match and asked thought-provoking questions to JBL. There was no interminable bickering. JBL even made me laugh when he said "I won't translate what Rey said because I don't use such bad words." If you love a great ass kicking, this match is for you. Finaly opens a can of whoop ass on Rey Mysterio in this TV match after FInlay had a lost stretcher match to Rey at the last PPV. I remember really digging Finlay's WWE run, but I don't remember any standhout matches so I am glad this one was recommended because he ruled the ring in this one. I could not believe how over Finlay was in terms of heel heat! More Finlay Sucks chants than Pro-Rey ones early on. Rey played an absolute pitch perfect babyface for the first 2/3's of the match. He was always fighting back and looking for his openings modulating his selling beautifully to match the events of the match. Finlay was the ultimate bully heel. Rey's downfall was his determination to go fist for fist with the bruising Finlay. Rey landed some good, stiff shots, but that was playing right into Finlay's hand, who could quash any momentum at a moment's notice with a gnarly clothesline. Rey's shine came from using his agility and movement to keep Finlay off balance without his balance Finlay could not smoke him. Rey went back to punches to and Finlay kicked him in the head. Rey was out to prove that he could play Finlay's game and it was not working at all. Rey tried to restart again with a hurricanarana, but Finlay caught him and disaster struck for Rey when he launched into the turnbuckles. Finlay demolished Rey's back. Jumbo Tsuruta-level bodyslam and a nasty Boston Crab. He chucked Rey hard into the barricade. My major malfunction with the match was it felt too disjointed. The transition to Rey's comeback was Rey taking a headfirst shot to an exposed turnbuckle, ref going to fix that, and then Rey dropkicking Finlay when he had the Shillelagh in his hand. Then Rey starts flying around and don't get me wrong his flying around was awesome and definitely energized the crowd, but it did not fit the ass kicking he just received. I think Finlay making a mistake or Rey hitting with the Shillelagh is warranted with a slower build to a high octane comeback. During Rey's comeback, the match is turned on its head with Rey working a smart match with lots of movement and trying to set up the 619 while Finlay is trying to blast Rey. The one thing that redeems the match is the finish. FInlay is able to knock Rey off the top rope during a springboard and hit the Celtic Cross for the win. I like FInlay won after dominating the match and the back psychology played into the finish. Finlay lays down a wicked beatdown including Rey taking my favorite bump his belly first one. It is a tale of two matches, each fleshed out would be great, together it is disjointed. Still highly enjoyable work, check it out! ***1/2

Appreciate that, brutha. Yeah I am definitely no minmalist, but I can appreciate a worker like Lawler or a performance like Olympia in the Chavo match. As long as you tell a good story, I am game to go along for the ride. I got to the halfway point on AWA. I will post my findings later. I would say of the four territories it is my favorite. I love the characters! How can you not love the Sheiks, Mad Dog and Da Crusher! That coupled with classic Bock and Martel it is the most well-balanced promotion of the 80s that I have watched. It feels like the WWF if the WWF did wrestling better.

AWA World Tag Champions Midnight Rockers vs Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton - AWA January 1988 The Rockers have returned to AWA, which has now become a refuge for hangers-on and older timers like Adonis, Orton, Manny Fernandez and Wahoo McDaniel. It has been picked apart by WWF and is now in total free fall. Leave it to the Rockers to have probably the last great AWA Classic. Orton and Adonis were fun Backlund opponents last time I saw them bumping and stooging for them. I am excited for them to unleash some offense on the Rockers. It is 1988 and yes Adrian Adonis is humongous, but still moves around pretty well. First thing is first, Donna sucks! She was brutal on commentary. Who is she? The face shine was pretty mundane and all on Orton. Orton tries to keep it entertaining by staggering and running into Adonis. They work a side headlock base. Jannetty takes both over in a cool spot. Match gets real good in the heat segment. Orton catches Michaels backbreaker tags out to Adonis hits Elbow. Michaels looks to use his speed runs into a HARD elbow to start the heat segment. Adonis elbows and back rake. Orton hits a butterfly suplex. Cheating with choking. Hard elbow smashes. ROCK N ROLL CHANTS! Orton wicked short arm clothesline to stymie Michaels. Orton and Adonis are super fun to watch. Adonis swats Michaels out of the air. Orton and Adonis are on fire and Michaels is his typically great FIP. Adonis eats knees on splash. Michaels cant make tag because of previous offense. Orton rides him down with knee. Adonis is in with no tag, asshole, and when Marty protests Adonis chokes him. Shut him up! They do a false tag and ref calls it back and tosses Micahels over top rope. More distracting Orton throws him into post and then wicked rapid fire punches. Some of the best punches ever. This is one of the Great, great heat segments of the 80s. In the ring, Adonis misses the splash into turnbuckles. Adonis is the new Blackwell! Shawn hits bodyslam and then misses splash. Adonis wicked back body drop. Orton hits the best fist drop ever! Holy shit! Watch it! Michaels reverses Irish Whip and kicks him so he crotches himself. After all that badass offense, Marty wants to show off too. Adonis does a Flair Flip and then into collides with Orton. Action spills to the outside. Orton with the best punches ever! Action overwhelms ref and it is a DCO! Double Superkick on Orton and falls outside to the ring. All-time great offense in this match. Orton’s punches rule so hard. Definitely belongs in a top ten or top five punchers list. Adonis looked like a whale, but moved pretty damn well and kept right up with Orton and was taking some big bumps. Shawn ruled as a FIP and timed his hope spots well. Tack a better beginning and finish on this and this is an all-time classic. The heat segment, which is the majority of the match, secures its places as a great tag team match. ****1/4

Looking forward to this. Seen a smattering of SMW, but need to watch more. Sounds entertaining.

I could see the Fabs being in my Top 5 for sure based on this performance. Cant wait to see their classic Mempho stuff!

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. ***