BruceTharpe

Here's my analysis of the MAGNUM TA - WRESTLING II match - or at least what I liked about it: 1 - Notice how the match starts out nice and slow. So different from the matches I've seen lately with meaningless spotfests and wrestlers that almost seem nervous at the beginning. Its psychology - a word that I'm going to repeat a lot in this analysis. 2 - Wrestling II cheats with a cheapshot forearm on the ropes - establishing himself clearly as the heel just by body language / into a nice armdrag - hiptoss - bodyslam sequence before Wrestling II scoots out of the ring - again classic heel psychology establishing that the babyface is better and the heel has to escape the ring - Wrestling II hits the guardrail and shows the crowd he is frustrated - its the little details like these that matter as the match comes together - and II is able to achieve all this without facial expressions - because he's wearing the mask! What a master technician! 3 - Crowd is already into the match at 1:30 mark - listen to how they are screaming for Magnum! TA is really over here. 4 - LOVE the way Wrestling II re-enters the ring perched / balanced on that second rope. 5 - Great leg scissors takedown by II / Magnum escapes and draws a fist - Wrestling II registers! Great stuff! This is a match that all young wrestlers should watch. 6 - Nice headlock by Magnum at the 2:45 mark - what a great looking young babyface Magnum was! He literally had it all - no wonder why the NWA was looking at him for a World Title run. He would have made a great World Champion. 7 - GREAT how Wrestling II repeatedly goes to the ropes trying to escape the headlock - and Magnum hangs on. And watch closely because II is hanging on too / LOVE how well these guys are working together. I'm sure II was calling the match. Johnny Walker is such an old pro - hard to believe that he started wrestling in the late 50's. 8 - Nice headlock sequence in TA's shine - Magnum looks terrific. 9 - Notice how Wrestling II tries to escape Magnum's headlock - using WRESTLING . . . sometimes I think this is forgotten these days. 10 - II escapes the headlock with a knee to the face - great escape - believeable - then II starts the heat with cheapshots and punches behind the referee's back. Wrestling II is such a great heel here because he has soooooo much experience. 11 - Wrestling II with a headlock of his own / Magnum gets a head scissors and shines a little more - notice how LONG II sells that head scissors and tries to escape. Really makes the hold look believeable. 12 - at the 5:50 mark - look at the build on Magnum TA! He was definite star material here. 13 - Just like II worked that headlock - look how II works the head scissors. Very slow escape into a monkey flip - TA continues the shine as II is knocked to the floor. Wrestling II is really selling TA and getting him over. These are guys who are definitely interested in getting the match over - not "getting all their shit in." 14 - TA chases Wrestling II around the ringside floor - great watching II play the chicken - then TA eats the kneelift as he gets back in the ring. Wrestling II is back into the heat. 15 - Great selling by Magnum TA now - more cheap shots by II - love the psychology / storytelling in this match. II works the arm as TA gets the crowd behind him - and a hair pull by Wrestling II! Again - great psychology. And ANOTHER hair pull by II - so simple yet effective! 16 - LOVED Wrestling II's kneelift on the shoulder / arm of Magnum TA. 17 - At the 9:30 mark I couldn't help but notice Johnny Walker's gray chest hair! This really gives me an appreciation for him performing so well at his age - obviously in his mid-50's here. 18 - Wrestling II grinding that elbow into Magnum's shoulder. More great psychology here. 19 - TA with some forearms in a hope spot - Wrestling II thrown into the turnbuckle - then TA runs right into the kneelift - Wrestling II's heat continues. Would this type of match work today? my answer is HELL YES. And I challenge some of the young wrestlers to experiment with thi style to see if it works. 20 - Wrestling II really working the arm. Comeback by TA. Big dropkick / false finish. 21 - They go right into the finish at the 14:00 mark - brilliant idea how II loads his mask then drops the foreign object where all the fans can point it out to the referee. Audience participation in the finish! 22 - TA looks strong at the end as he mounts a short enough comeback to force II out of the ring - because it's a DQ Wrestling II keeps the belt so they can have return matches. Notice how II immediately goes a grabs his belt - and hugs it - as he makes his way out. This was a GREAT match in my opinion. Hope everyone enjoyed it half as much as I did!

And the beautiful things is - we've released less than 10% of the collection! By our estimation we have 1200 - 1500 individual matches. But according to the records I've seen here - with the years that we have - we might have closer to 3000 matches to release! We've released less than 200! And we find matches all the time that aren't listed on the run sheets. So this is exciting for me too. I am really happy that I can do my part - in a small way - to help preserve wrestling history - and appreciate the talents of those of who paved the wrestling highway for the rest of us. And today we will be posting CHAVO GUERRERO vs. JACK VICTORY in a singles match! Enjoy!

Thank you guys SO MUCH for the excellent reviews. Really appreciate your interest and help with the website. I am loving these matches so much myself! I will post a couple of my own analysis today so you can see what jumps out at me when I watch these matches.

There have been too many ridiculous debacles disguised as "Monday Night Sports Entertainment" it would take forever to list them all so I won't even go there. I will say the Fritz Von Erich worked "heart attack" in the ring.

Legion of Doom with Sunny / and Paul Ellering with that ridiculous ventriloquist dummy.

Huge GRUDGE MATCH Online TODAY at NWAClassics.com! MR. WRESTLING II vs. MAGNUM TA - One on One!

Great review! Thank you!

HUGE Main Event Match Online TODAY at NWAClassics.com! ONE MAN GANG vs. HACKSAW DUGGAN in a Chain Match!

Super Spectacular MAIN EVENT Match Online Today at NWAClassics.com! STING vs. SAVANNAH JACK for the UWF Title!

Super Sunday TAG-TEAM Special! Online TODAY at NWAClassics.com! PORKCHOP CASH and BILL DUNDEE vs. MIDNIGHT EXPRESS with Jim Cornette! What's going to happen in this one? Watch the Full Match NOW!

Love all of the reviews of the matches and really appreciate everyone's interest in these classic matches. We have only scratched the surface and released maybe 10-15% of what's in the collection. I also appreciate the fact that we all may be seeing different things in these matches which adds to the beauty of discussion. Speaking of which I have set up an NWAClassics.com Discussion page on FaceBook that I invite everyone on here to check out - join and participate in. In the meantime I thought you might be interested in what I impressed me in certain matches. Because I truly love watching ALL of them! Let's start with JOSE LOTHARIO / BUDDY MORENO vs. GORDMAN / GOLIATH! Observation #1: Gordman is bald! He must have just lost a hair match in LA to someone? Experts please help me here. 2 - I am impressed with the shape that Buddy Moreno / Omar Atlas is in! He was always in tremendous physical condition but he really showed it in this match. Early on he actually resembles Carlos Colon in build. 3 - Amazed at how light Goliath is working - such a pro - and in classic lucha libre style which was so different for American fans at the time. I also remember how cool it was to see guys who had graced the cover of Apter mags to appear LIVE in your area! To me - Gordman and Goliath fit that category. I remember when they made a quick shot in Florida and it was so cool to see these guys walking to the ring from the dressing room - that you had only seen in magazines and heard about their matches at the Olympic Coliseum in LA. 4 - Notice how although this appears to be a very simple match - the crowd is really into it. Crowd pops for just about every bump and high spot. To me - this is notable because I am always comparing the classic wrestling product that I prefer - to the "sports entertainment" product of today which - admittedly I watch very little of. If I'm not watching NWA - it's Japanese wrestling I am watching. 5 - Funny how right before the 5:00 mark Gordman scoots out of the ring and scares the ring announcer right out of his chair! Then he tries to act all cool about it . . . Announcer has funny facial expressions. 6 - Impressed by what a smooth match this is between four seasoned pros. 7 - Heat starts when Moreno tags in - nice hot tag to Lothario then heat continues with Jose - really nice armdrag off the top turnbuckle which was a revolutionary move back in the day - then Moreno gets his chance at a little hot tag. 8 - At about the 10:40 mark where Moreno starts the comeback - Goliath goes to the corner and Buddy sort of hesitates - did Goliath say kick me? 9 - Very simple finish - yet effective! Why can't finishes be this simple today? Those were just the observations that I had about this match - and I know that everyone sees matches differently. Let's hear from everyone else on here! Take a few notes as you are watching the match and tell us what you liked - didn't like - and what impressed you the most. Then let's share these on the NWAClassics.com Discussion page on FaceBook!

AMAZING TAG MATCH Online Today at NWAClassics.com! BUTCH REED and JIM NEIDHART vs. MR. WRESTLING II and "DR. DEATH" STEVE WILLIAMS! Plus - Special Added BONUS Match: KRUSHER KRUSCHEV vs. GEORGE WEINGROFF!

Watch the match again. And this time around watch for the little details that make this believable - as opposed to what we are seeing on TV today. Don't fall into the trap that you are watching so much wrestling - that you fast forward through it and miss the most salient parts. Quality over quantity. What I'm talking about is this - go back to the finish. What I like most is that - 1 - babyfaces win - so the people go home happy - 2 - yet the heels keep their heat because of the post-finish attack / classic psychology - the people FORGET that the heels lost the match because they kept their heat at the end (ALL young wrestlers today should understand this) 3 - Superman (in the form of JYD) comes back in and clears house - 4 - but the best part - and watch this closely - is at the end where referee Ronnie West is selling the ref bump like he legitimately dislocated his shoulder - and the babyface JYD shows concern - says hold on a minute - let me take a look at it - and JYD pops the referee's dislocated shoulder back onto place! Who saw that? Who noticed that? So I respectfully disagree that this was Wrestling II's good bye tour - it actually set up the series of matches he had with Magnum. Guys - it's little things like that - in opinion - that add to the "magic" that makes the product appear to be real. And that's what's lost today. Let's look beyond the "matches" when we watch NWAClassics.com - and analyze the psychology! To me - that's what's fun about watching these great matches.

Unfortunately we have not made much progress on Roku because development of an app for a FREE service vs. development of an App with a paywall are two different matters completely. But we have something really big we are working on that will revolutionize the website IF we are able to close this deal. In the meantime - Google Chrome is only $30 and works fantastic.

We have received more 80's material up front because it was the easiest to transfer - and had less problems to correct. Also I wanted to get as many matches on the database as quickly as possible. We have close to 200 now and all have been very well received. Just this week I contact the company in Indianapolis and requested that they now concentrate on transferring the oldest matches first. So start looking for that. However - I do understand that we have about 150-200 matches on hard drives that have already been transferred and are ready for upload to the NWAClassics site - however as the older matches are received - I will DEFINITELY put them up. Remember - we have an estimated 1200 to 1500 matches in the collection. And you have seen less than 200! That's exciting - even to me.

And tomorrow we will be uploading a brand new DUGGAN - DiBIASE match!

David Arquette

A Awesome match online today at NWAClassics.com: ROCK n ROLL EXPRESS vs. JAKE ROBERTS and NORD THE BARBARIAN!

Super Spectacular Sunday Main Event Matchup on NWAClassics.com! This Battle of Giants is ONLINE NOW! ONE MAN GANG vs. HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN!

ANGEL OF DEATH VS. "DR. DEATH" STEVE WILLIAMS in a Chain Match! Online TODAY at NWAClassics.com!

Does anyone know what the attendance was in Taiwan? And did they hold two events or just one?

DON'T MISS this Spectacular Match - Online TODAY at NWAClassics.com! The Main Events just keep coming! THE FABULOUS FREEBIRDS - with Sunshine face TERRY TAYLOR and THE MISSING LINK - with Dark Journey!

Psychology of the finish was to prevent Kamala from losing his heat with a clean finish. By pinning Akbra - Tommy Rich gets his hand in the air - the house show crowd goes home happy - and Kamala didn't get pinned. I don't think there was more analysis than this back in the day.

SPECTACULAR Main Event Matchup ONLINE TODAY at NWAClassics.com: "WILDFIRE" TOMMY RICH vs. KAMALA "THE UGANDAN GIANT!"

Yes. We are looking for Harley Race vs. El Halcon - but we should have it!