AJS

Yes I thought I was going to hate this with a passion but I was transfixed. Seriously this is one of the most brutal bouts i've ever seen. Abdullah took an absolute pasting here, to the point where I want to change Colon's name to Carlos the Butcher. I actually felt kind of unwell throughout a lot of this. Colon digging his fingers into Abdullah face was so disgusting and painful looking that my own eye started hurting for a bit!. Butcher took such a hammering that i was begging him to stay down, but he just kept getting back up for more punishment. Add the fork and the blood on the camera and you've got one seriously crazy bout. I normally despise matches like this but I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Not sure if I could ever watch it again though!

This might be the stiffest brawl so far on the set, filled with vicious looking punches, kicks and cups, and fought at a furious pace. Like a lot of the matches on the set, I wish it was a bit longer, but what we got was great.

I've never liked scaffold matches but this one was actually very dramatic and the final bump looked brutal. I did think the moment where Starr thought he'd won was incredibly stupid, but apart from that this was much better than I thought it would be.

The discs arrived today so I dove right in. Abdullah the Butcher getting stitched up was a great way to start the set, although it did make me question my decision to start watching over breakfast! I thought I might struggle with the crazier style of the territory but I really enjoyed it. Ric Flair looked great in his first two matches (I loved the Colon match), and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Los Pastores as a team, considering how much they sucked as the Bushwhackers. There were certainly times where matches ended just as they seemed to be getting going, which was a bit frustrating, but the first disc was fun overall. Here's how i'd rank it: 1. Ric Flair Vs Carlos Colon (10/16/82) 2. The Invaders Vs Los Pastores Barbed Wire Match) (9/21/85) 3. Los Pastores Vs Jay & Mark Youngblood (Spring 1985) 4. Ric Flair Vs Tommy Gilbert (9/4/82) 5. Carlos Colon Vs Bruiser Brody (Chain Match) (Summer 1984) 6. Carlos Colon & The Invader Vs Los Pastores (Ambulance Match) (12/21/85) 7. Hercules Ayala Vs Killer Tim Brooks (Taped Fist Match) October 1985) 8. Carlos Colon Vs Tully Blanchard (1983) 9. Ric Flair Vs Dusty Rhodes (12/21/85) 10 Carlos Colon Vs Abdullah the Butcher (9/21/85) 11. Carlos Colon Vs Abdullah the Butcher (September 1981) 12. El Gran Apollo Vs Dick Steinborn (February 1983) 13. Randy Savage Vs Hercules Ayala (3/2/85) 14. Abdullah the Butcher Vs Andre the Giant (9/17/83 15. El Gran Apollo Vs Buddy Landell (5/8/83) 16. Gino Dellaserra & Pierre Martel Vs Los Mercenarios (11/27/82)

We get a Savage promo before the match in which he refers to himself as the world’s greatest athlete and the world’s sexiest wrestler. I thought that was pretty amusing. Match begins and savage tries to slam Ayala early on but can’t do it. he tries and fails again and takes a slam to the mat for his efforts. He bails from the ring and does a great job selling back pain. this is no surprise as Savage was always an amazing seller. Once back in, he’s overpowered and slammed again, which leads to another trip outside the ring. He doesn’t reenter as quickly this time, and once he does it’s the same story; another slam to the mat. Alaya goes for the pin but Savage gets his foot on the rope. Alaya continues damaging the back with punches and a back body drop. He also lays into Savage with some vicious kicks who goes to the outside yet again. Back in the ring the Macho Man begs off from an advancing Alaya and catches him with a low blow followed by a nice looking elbow to the head. Off the top rope Savage is caught in a bear hug, so he rakes Alaya in the eye to free himself. Once again the Savage tries to slam his opponent but it’s just not happening, so he kicks him instead and hits him with an elbow to the head. This time the elbow is off the top rope. Despite this, he still can’t get the upper hand and Alaya comes back with punches. Desperate, Savage pulls a chain from his trunks and lamps his opponent with it. Pin attempt but only two before Alaya gets his foot on the rope. Savage goes to the top turnbuckle again but misses and elbow. He hits Alaya with the chain, but only gets two as Alaya manages to get his feet on the ropes again. During a tussle, Alaya manages to grab the chain. He smashes Savage in the face with it and then pins him to take the victory. I was looking forward to this as i’m a massive Savage fan. It certainly had it’s moments. Savage sold well and I liked the way that Alaya focused on the back early on. The use of the chain made total sense, as a desperate Savage realised he could not beat this guy with wrestling. I was disappointed over all though. The one sided nature of the match meant that we never really got to see Savage strut his stuff and show off his repertoire. They also weren’t really in there long enough to do anything really special. Not bad but I was hoping for more.

I thought this was really good while it lasted. There was a lot of fire shown here and some great crowd heat too. Brody wrapping the chain around Colon's eyes looked brutal and Colon's punches were great throughout. I was a bit disappointed by the match length. I was really starting to get into it and then it ended quickly. I'd love to see a longer match with these two.

I figured this would be Flair bumping like crazy for Gilbert for most of the match before getting the cheap win. I was wrong. Flair was in control for a good bit of this and I thought he looked superb on offence. He's great taking and selling a beating, but I do love watching him attack an opponent when the opportunity arises. And he won the match clean, and with the figure four no less! I was not expecting that. Enjoyable match.

I enjoyed this match a lot. Some great punches from Dibiase in this, and a very good sell job from Jake.

I thought this match was absolutely fantastic. I hated Cena for such a long time but i've turned around on him a bit in recent months since being very impressed with his Punk and Bryan bouts. I thought his performance was superb here. His facial expressions after the big AJ kick out was great. I really bought in to his disbelief. I loved him playing the heel for a bit earlier on in the match and it made me realise i'd love to see him do it full time. I know a heel turn will never happen but I think he would be great at it. Not just from a character stand point but in the ring too.

I understand wanting to take the talk in a different direction but I thought i'd post my thoughts after saying I would yesterday. I watched Magnum and Tully today. I felt that I should after it was rightly pointed out to me that I needed to expand on my original one sentence. I enjoyed the match a bit more than the last time but I still didn’t see the 5 star classic that many do. What I saw was a decent brawl. I certainly didn’t feel the hatred and intensity that I get from watching Flair vs Funk. Speaking of that match, I decided to watch it today as well and compare the two. I felt that if I could pin point why I liked one, it would help me to explain why i’m not so fond of the other. I should say too that i’ve never been a great fan brawls as I find that they can be a bit one dimensional. I always appreciate it when wrestlers get away from the punch fests and be a bit more creative . I felt that Clash match succeeded with this and the Starcade match didn't so much. Magnum-Tully was mostly punching and whacking each other with microphone with the occasional slam into the cage. It all got a bit samey after a while. There was more going on in the other match. Flair used the knee drop, suplex and figure four. He was able to bring these moves into this intense war in a way that felt very organic to me. I felt that Magnum and Tully were actually restricted by the cage. They were confined to the ring whereas flair and Funk fought around ringside and in the aisle. It made things more varied and interesting. Then there’s the usual moment pointed out by NintendoLogic: SAY IT NOOOOO SAY IT THUNK I admit to chuckling when it first happened in Magnum Tully. That probably says more about me than the moment but i’m really sick of that spot. I guess it was fresher in 1985 but i’ve just seen in too many times. Flair and Funk had this too of course but again, I felt they were more creative with it. Instead of the guttural yelling from Tully Blanchard, Terry Funk insults Flair by calling him an egg sucking dog and taunts him before hitting the piledriver. This brought something extra to the familiar pattern and a proper intensity lacking in the Starcade match for me. I was also disappointed not to see the slingshot suplex. I’ve never been a major Blanchard fan but I’ve always loved that move. I think the fact that couldn’t use it is the main reason i’m prejudiced against the match . Damn the cage!!! To end on a positive note, I thought the ending was strong. the wooden spike looked nasty! I actually felt a bit sorry for Tully by the end and The look on Magnum's face after the match was the most intense moment in the whole thing. Andrew

I'm Intrigued. I'll definitely look out for this.

If you have the Network, the 1985 episodes of World Championship Wrestling they have provide at least the immediate context in the weeks leading up to the match. Thanks Migs. It's been so long since I watched anything on the network, that i'd forgotten what was available. I'll be sure to check those episodes out.

Thanks Matt I appreciate your comment. I'm actually looking forward to going back and checking it out again. I'm thinking i'll go to youtube first and see if I can find angles/promos of the feud to give me some context before I watch.

Whilst comparing the Magnum-Tully Match with Flair-Funk in my mind, i'm thinking context and investment in the wrestlers comes into play for here. I remember seeing Funk attack Flair after the Wrestlewar match, piledriving him through a table and calling him a horse toothed banana nosed jerk. Also vivid in my mind is Flair with the neck brace, the bag over his head and the Bash 89 match. By the time they got to Clash IX, i had seen all the important moments that had led them there and it meant so much more. I also love Flair and Funk as performers so I'm excited for the match because they are in it. I could say the same thing about the Hart-Austin feud. But I watched Magnum and Tully in isolation and I didn't see the angles and promos that led them to that moment. I've also never particularly been a fan of either. Perhaps all this affected my view of the match. I'm also not a fan of the gimmick, mainly because of the standard pattern a previous poster mentioned. Flair-Funk worked for me because I love seeing Flair in ass kicking baby face mode, and Hart-Austin was a success because it moved away from the usual formula. I do remember listening to those podcast discussions and enjoying them very much. Unfortunately the match didn't grab me in the way it did you guys. I guess i'll see what I think tomorrow. Andrew

Show your work. As I said in a previous post it has been a while since i've seen seen the match. I know it has been talked up by many as a classic but I just didn't get that when I watched it. i get that this is completely vague and i'm going to watch the match again tomorrow and post thoughts after. Who knows perhaps i'll love it this time.

I agree, and it usually makes me laugh which is surely not the intended reaction. Thirded. One reason the Austin vs Bret match is so great is that they really didn't work it that way. Totally agree.

I agree, and it usually makes me laugh which is surely not the intended reaction.

I haven't seen it in ages, but yeah, that's what it seemed to be the last time I watched it. Wasn't blown away at all. It's been a while since I saw it too. I didn't thing it was bad by any means, it just didn't strike me as being a great as a lot of people say it is. one problem is that I went in to it with unbelievably high expectations and it just couldn't live up to them. I actually prefer Tully's match with Steamboat from the year before. As far as I quit matches go, I think Flair Vs Funk and Hart vs Austin are both much better than Tully and Magnum.

Tully Blanchard Vs Magnum TA I quit is a good match but not great.

I remember being Intrigued when Alberto Del Rio made his WWE Debut. If memory serves, his first match was against Rey Mysterio and I was very impressed with his heel work and timing in that match. I thought I was watching a major star of the future. Of course most people look great if there working with Rey and he never lived up to my expectations going forward, but it was a fine debut. Brian Pillman showing up in ECW was a great moment. Angle in TNA. the place went crazy when the announcement was made.

A great match on the whole but I wish Jumbo had done a better job selling the arm considering Bock was attacking it for so long and so aggressively in the first half of the match. I thought Terry Funk did a pretty good job as ref and didn't distract too much. I enjoyed seeing him and Bock arguing during the match.