SAMS
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1980-05-31 PNW The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) (c) vs. Rick Martel & Roddy Piper NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Sports Arena, Portland, Oregon, USA Card ★★★ Poor Luke Williams. Every time these four were matched up Martel and Piper would brutalise his left arm and this was no different. The structure of this match was very similar to their previous bouts against each other but I thought here Martel and Piper did a far better job of working the arm and keeping the momentum flowing. A lot of this was all about the man working underneath trying to get a tag, and in the first fall that was mostly Miller. Interestingly enough though, this time around the Sheepherders sussed out a weakness on Piper as he had a bandage around his left leg beneath his usual knee pads, and once they swooped in on it, it was lights out for Piper and he couldn’t fend them off. Piper was forced to submit in the first and thus was then forced to begin the second. The Sheepherders were confident in their ability to continue their strategy and it looked to be working pretty well for them early on. Piper’s selling of the leg was good, but what really worked for me was Piper’s “offense is the best defence” strategy that was completely in tune with his character. Knowing that they were going to target his leg, he went on the offensive with frantic punches and kicks in an attempt to fend them off. Ultimately he was able to make it to Martel and he had a few monster hot tags in this. Martel and Piper didn’t sway from their own strategy of attacking Luke’s arm and this paid dividends in this fall when he was eventually posted by Piper and then Martel furiously wrenched on a hammerlock to get the submission, not relenting until well after the bell had gone and Sandy Barr had insisted he break the hold. Much like how Piper was forced to start the second fall injured, Williams was forced to start the third and he looked in really bad shape. I was pretty sure we’d see Rose at some point, and wouldn’t you know, just as Martel had Williams in the sleeper, he came crashing off the rope with the flag pole and accidentally nailed Williams right in the noggin’. Despite striking his own man, Piper and Martel took the victory which I never fully understood. But this was all about the post match. Miller hadn’t seen the indiscretion, but was apoplectic when he heard from Barr what had happened. Rose feigned ignorance, but eventually the jig was up and he laid in a few more shots on a corpsing Luke while he still had the chance. Furiously Miller rushed him and we had ourselves a brawl with Rose bumping all over the place for him. Rose’s Army had finally imploded and we now pivot to Miller vs Rose down the line. All the while Luke bled buckets out onto the mat (I’m pretty sure he had Piper blade him, which resulted in such a deep cut). This was definitely the best of the tag matches between these four as they brought together all the elements that I thought worked in their previous matches and shaved off the stuff that didn’t. Piper having the injured leg was a nice touch which likely will play a factor down the line, the consistent arm work on Williams was the best it’s been, and the finish with Rose blowing up his own creation was the only way this could have gone down.
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1980-05-30 NJPW Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Antonio Inoki MSG Series 1980 Match Civic Culture Center, Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan Card ★★★★ A mouth watering MSG Series matchup here and they did not disappoint. This had that big fight feel you would want and right from the off they shook hands and then Fujinami nailed Inoki with a stiff kick to the leg to set the tone. Without veering over the line Fujinami certainly was the aggressor, and Inoki had to stave him off and keep him contained. They worked at a furious pace and the intensity was reaching a 10. It wasn’t long however before Inoki upped his game to match Fujinami and put him in his place when he started outright tattooing him with some vicious palm strikes right to the face then later on an awesome looking headbutt planted Fujinami firmly in the ropes. Fujinami looked to have the opening he was looking for as he sent Inoki through the ropes and he immediately set off to hit his tope. He hit it cleanly and found himself alone in the ring. Instead of going for the countout victory however he instead swung for the fences with a plancha on a prone Inoki. The camera didn’t catch the impact but seemingly he missed it as this time Inoki was the first to his feet and back in the ring. He caught Fujinami on the apron as he was clambering back onto the apron and hit a huge backdrop suplex, keeping Fujinami’s shoulders to the mat long enough for the three count. I really loved all of this. Inoki so far has had some okay performances, specifically against Hansen, but he hasn’t looked as much of a star as he did in this match. After he hit that headbutt on Fujinami he just stood there and preened like only Inoki can and the crowd were lapping it up. Fujinami, for his part, set the tone for this match and was perfect in his role. If this had a tad more time I definitely could go higher on this match as we barely got over ten minutes of action here, but what a ten minutes.
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1980-05-30 NJPW Stan Hansen vs Andre The Giant MSG Series 1980 Match Civic Culture Center, Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan Card This is part of the ongoing MSG Series tournament. The television graphics weren’t even gone from the screen and they were already rolling around on the mat. This didn’t last long at all before they bailed from the ring and started brawling in the crowd, leading to a double countout. It looked like Hansen ducked out after flinging some chairs at Andre but Andre was able to goad him back into the ring and we had them throwing full-size tables at each other (which must have been a bonkers spectacle for those in attendance) before the other wrestlers finally descended upon the ring to break things up.
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1980-05-30 NJPW Hulk Hogan vs. Bob Backlund Civic Culture Center, Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan Card ★ Wow, this had some terrible moments. At the beginning Hogan enticed Backlund into a test of strength spot and it came across like two children performing at a school play in front of an audience of disapproving parents. They pulled things together a bit during the middle portion and had an admittedly nice sequence where they quickly transitioned between 3 moves resulting in Backlund getting the upper hand and emerging with Hogan in a headlock. This might have been the high spot of the match and got the biggest pop from the crowd by far. And when a headlock is the high spot you know you’ve gone awry somewhere. Back to the bad spots though: at one point Backlund went for a reverse neckbreaker and they got their wires crossed something fierce, and Backlund visibly had to reposition Hogan a couple times just to make sure he was even facing the right way to take the move. Later, Backlund hit a backdrop suplex as a counter and Hogan immediately went for a pin out of it. By the time they did a rope run collision spot ¾ in, I think the crowd knew that this was unsalvageable. Mercifully after 20 minutes, while in another headlock, Hansen emerged from the back and chased Backlund away. Hogan attacked the referee for “reasons” and got DQ’d. It all felt like a monumental waste of time to be honest.
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1980-05-24 PNW Buddy Rose & The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) vs. Dutch Savage, Rick Martel & Roddy Piper Best Two Out Of Three Falls Six Man Tag Team Match Sports Arena, Portland, Oregon, USA Card ★★★ There’s a certain slapstick quality to the comedy up in Portland that is wholly unique to the area and often is driven by Rose and his character. This six man tag sowed the seeds of discontent within the Army while sprinkling in some good old fashioned flag humour. Savage was the main FIP and Martel and Piper were merely used as powder kegs that exploded intermittently. They brought the intensity and the fire, but each maybe had only a couple minutes in the ring as the legal man. It was really Rose that was the rug that tied the room together here, wilfully refusing to tag in early on to annoy the Sheepherders, messing around with the NZ flag between falls to piss them off some more whilst also directing the action in the ring. For example, for the first fall, Rose was the one to pull Savage from the ring, post him in the corner and then reminded Williams not to pursue him out on the floor to ensure the count out victory. The second fall ended with both Williams and Rose caught in Sleeper holds, with Williams being left unconscious for the entire break before the beginning of the second. The final had Sandy Barr distracted, allowing the Sheepherders to nail Piper in the head with the NZ flag as it looked like he might take out Rose with another Sleeper. There was a lot of post-match around setting up an upcoming Coal Miner's Glove match etc., but it all tied in and was part of the attraction. Perhaps not the best match bell to bell, but the whole presentation was solidly delivered and the ongoing feud between The Army and Martel and Piper is going along swimmingly. -
1980-05-24 CWA Paul Ellering vs Bill Dundee ★★ A really fun match. This is the best I’ve seen Ellering in singles competition as his attempts at exchanging holds looked less choppy than I’ve seen before, but it must help to be opposite a guy like Dundee. It certainly was Dundee carrying the show and this is back to back TV matches now where he’s delivered a banger performance. He walks that line between showing enough vulnerability and being a credible threat and he does it perfectly. When he wants to go for his offense it looks legit, and for Memphis at least, he’s one of the better mat wrestling guys and he’s a top tier seller. In the end it looked like Jimmy Hart was going to get involved to take Dundee out after a referee bump, but Sonny King came down and just carried Hart backstage allowing Dundee to roll Ellering up for the win. Clearly Ellering (still Heavyweight Champion) is coming up against King and they are involved in some form of ongoing feud. Finally it feels like Dundee is getting more involved in events and his TV output has jumped up dramatically. However, it’s sad that the Memphis footage has slowed to a trickle as we move towards the summer.
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1980-05-23 NJPW Hulk Hogan vs. Antonio Inoki Civic Gymnasium, Hasama, Miyagi, Japan Card ★ It was very interesting to see how Inoki tried to tackle this giant. Hulk had the better of the early stages using his raw strength and power advantage, manhandling Inoki around the ring. Everything was pretty rudimental but it bluntly got across the intended effect. Eventually Inoki unloaded some stiff leg kicks to get the big man off his feet and Hulk was reeling. Before they could really get going though Hogan ran Inoki halfway across the arena towards a lurking Hansen and they went ahead and double team posted him with a ball shot. Dusty ran down to chase Hansen and Hogan off before he and Inoki shook hands. I was into how they worked the first five or so minutes but this just didn’t have enough meat before the shmozz took over and we got the DQ.
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1980-05-23 NJPW Dusty Rhodes & Stan Hansen vs. Bob Backlund & Tatsumi Fujinami Civic Gymnasium, Hasama, Miyagi, Japan Card ★★ The US invasion continued with the WWF crew arriving as well. Dusty and Hansen were the odd couple considering their match opposing each other only a week prior and this was worked around their complete lack of compatibility as a team. Backlund, due to his incredibly unique style, sticks out in this setting, even among a majority US collection, but within the New Japan setting it feels fresh and the crowd certainly seem keen to see more of him. His matchups with Hansen were interesting and mostly had him befuddling Hansen with escapes from any of his hold attempts. My main issue with Backlund here is that I don’t think he’s as good a technical wrestler as he thinks he is, and he mostly just moves his limbs around real fast and then spins out the way. My favourite matchup amongst these four guys was Hansen and Fujinami and that’s certainly a match I would be keenly interested to see. The size disparity works really well and Hansen was just pounding on him. Fujinami would do a great job working from underneath against this monster. Before long the cracks began to show as Hansen accidentally nailed Dusty with a Lariat on the apron then, in turn, Dusty accidentally hit an elbow drop on Stan. Things eventually boiled over and they ended up going all out with Hansen posting Dusty. Backlund and Fujinami looked on bemused before Hogan and Andre, sporting a stylish man bun I must say, followed suit and started attacking Backlund and Hansen respectively. It must have been a sight to see for a Japanese audience in 1980 to see this many gigantic foreign wrestlers in the ring at once, and these are some big dudes no doubt. Ultimately this ended in a no contest. The match didn’t have a lot of substance, but was an interesting spectacle for how long it lasted and the post match logically leads into a few upcoming bouts.
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1980-05-19 WWF Bob Backlund (c) vs. Ken Patera WWF Heavyweight Title Texas Death Match Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA Card ★★★★ Finally we get the rematch that they had been building towards since January and this time around Patera is also the IC champion. I have my reservations on having the two top title holders match up, potentially leaving the rest of the card lacking, but it obviously provides a huge main event, especially considering the inconclusive end to their previous match together. Billed as a Texas Death Match, which in a 1980 WWF context merely means it’s a no DQ match. There was no pretence at all about delivering some scientific wrestling as this was essentially two guys throwing bombs at each other for 20 minutes straight. They went right to the brawling from the off before we transitioned into the middle stretch where Backlund nailed a HUGE atomic drop. Patera taking an Atomic Drop from Backlund might be one of the best examples of two wrestlers executing a signature spot. Backlund has a great Atomic Drop but it looks just that much better when Patera is the one taking the bump. And here he nearly clears the ropes and ends up several rows deep. Backlund then hit his patented Piledriver, which looked amazing as always, while Patera countered with a Bear Hug, a Full Nelson and some massive body slams. I really liked the finishing stretch as Backlund, opened up earlier from a nasty beatdown by Patera using the title belt, returned the favour by posting Patera. Patera then went for the kill by bringing a chair into the equation. He struck Backlund from the outside as he clambered back into the ring, but once inside Backlund turned the tables and clobbered Patera in the face a couple times for a crazy two count!?! A flying cross body off the top however sealed the deal for Bob. For the finish both guys were gushing blood and this inclusion of blood and the intensity of the belt and chair shots pushed this up a level. I thought the opening brawling was a bit by the numbers, especially considering the match stipulation. Bob was decent, but I thought this was driven by Patera no question. Disregarding the fact that he was a heel, is it crazy to say that he could have done an equally good job as Backlund as the top guy in the company? I feel like as a total package he’s probably a little better. The crowd had major heat and the pop for Backlund’s victory rivals the reaction Bruno was receiving in his matches against Larry but I think I would have preferred a little more violence in the earlier stages. This was revving at a solid 7/10 for 15 minutes with a 9/10 finish, but dipped below the standard for outright greatness for the majority of the match. I think in the context of 1980 WWF this would have stuck out by a mile; every bit the epic main event they were going for.
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1980-05-17 PNW Rick Martel (c) vs. Buddy Rose NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Sports Arena, Portland, Oregon, USA Card ★★★ Martel is the PNW champion and it seems like I didn’t realise that he had already won the belt before their previous match. Seems like he won the belt in late March (not on tape). This may be the loudest that I’ve heard the Sports Arena and they were really behind Martel, unsurprisingly. In the first five minutes Martel was using a side headlock consistently. While in the hold things got a tiny bit dull, but they punctuated that period well with blocks of intense action before settling back down again. The transition from Martel on top to Rose was so-so, with Martel going for what looked like a Spike Dudley style bulldog off the ropes, but Rose managed to convert it into a backdrop suplex. Then he put him away with a Billy Robinson backbreaker. The beginning of the second fall was easily the best portion of the match. Rose immediately started targeting the lower back of Martel with kicks and clubbing blows, even posting him on the outside at one point. The viciousness of his attacks was much needed and it was logical for him to continue targeting the back considering he won the first fall with a backbreaker. Martel’s comeback was nice, his offense always looks good, and of course he’s a top tier fire guy. He nailed Rose with a suplex, then did an amazing bounce off the ropes into a forearm smash that sent Rose for a loop. The finishing touch was using the sleeper to knock Rose out. The third fall was fine but lacked a bit of substance. Martel looked to have the sleeper on Rose for a second time but the Sheepherders came down and laid Martel out for the DQ. The post match action ratcheted up the intensity and easily surpassed the in ring action that preceded it. The Sheepherders had a NZ flag and nailed Martel right in the throat with it a couple times and he sold it like death. Any angle that involves somebody getting their throat attacked always seems to hit for me as it just comes across as super gruesome. Roddy Piper flew down to the ring too and we got chaos as all five guys were whizzing in and out of the ring. If you’re gonna do a fuck finish, then you might as well get your money’s worth of post match quality.
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One of the worst things I've ever seen and easily the worst TV match for 1980, for any promotion.
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1980-05-16 NJPW Stan Hansen vs. Dusty Rhodes MSG Series 1980 Match City Gymnasium, Kariya, Aichi, Japan Card ★ This was a pretty nothing match. We started off with Dusty’s usual schtick for the crowd, and after some perfunctory opening hold exchanges they ended up brawling in the crowd. Dusty was posted and ate a Lariat on the floor. When he tried to get back in he ate a second Lariat to the back of the head and then was counted out. This was quite short and I don’t think either man showed anything we haven’t seen before or really anything that shows them off in their best light either.
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1980-05-10 WWF Bob Backlund (c) vs. Hulk Hogan WWF Heavyweight Title Match Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Card ★★★ This was really very good. Easily the most I’ve seen Backlund work from underneath as Hulk took basically all of the first 10 minutes. First he used his strength advantage to get Bob on the back foot and then strategically worked to keep Bob grounded with a series of arm bars. He used leverage and his own weight to make a reverse Hammerlock look interesting and Bob got in a few hope spots of his own with flash pin attempts to pop the crowd. Eventually Backlund managed to gain a foothold and produced some consistent work on Hogan’s leg for a few minutes. Hogan’s leg selling may have been a bit awkward but it was consistent and did a good job of showing some vulnerability and highlighting Bob’s offense. I really liked his desperation attempt to get a scissor takedown with only 1 leg, which was unsuccessful, but was a genius idea considering he was on the back foot and knew that in a stand up challenge in that moment that Backlund would easily take him down. Things started to even up as Backlund wasn’t able to keep working on the leg and Hogan’s best chance came when he locked on the Bear Hug. I think Hogan’s version is one of the better ones, as he’s able to really lift Bob off the ground which highlights their size difference, and in general Bob is one of the better Bear Hug sellers, as he allows his arms to float around instead of being too static and limp. Finally Backlund popped off a few punches (which he’d held off using earlier), broke free and a series of dropkicks sent Hogan over the ropes. Hogan got his leg caught on the bottom rope, leaving him suspended upside down while the referee continued to count him out and Backlund took the victory. Unusual match structure for Backlund, but this made Hogan look even more of a legitimate challenger as he had a very strong early period working over Backlund. The escalation was organic and natural, and while this never built to a grand climax and had a somewhat limp ending, this was very solid and presented both men in a very good light.
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1980-05-09 NJPW Antonio Inoki (c) vs. Stan Hansen NWF World Heavyweight Title Match Sports Center, Fukuoka, Japan Card ★★ Another match in their long running series and I have to say that each of their matches has undoubtedly had that big match feeling. I can’t pinpoint what I thought was lacking here but it just didn’t grab me. I think there may be an issue here pitting two guys who work styles that involve little selling against each other. Hansen probably sold considerably more than Inoki here anyway, which is strange considering the matchup. I don’t find Inoki offensively boring and he has moments that I like, but there is something lacking with him, at least in terms of delivering an enjoyable satisfying match. In the end Hansen was kicking the shit out of Inoki on the ring apron and the referee got in the way. A typical DQ finish and Hansen stood tall despite the blood rushing from his forehead. This series has been decent, but I would like to see them matched up against different moving forwards. So fingers crossed the next match is the decisive blowoff.
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1980-05-09 NJPW Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs. Chavo Guerrero WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match Sports Center, Fukuoka, Japan Card ★★★ Here we had another challenger attempting to dislodge Fujinami at the top of the junior heavyweight mountain. This match had a nice flow, moving from crisp matwork and struggle for holds at the beginning, then Chavo managed to catch Fujinami with a Romero Special, Fujinami escaped and returned the favour with a bow and arrow hold of his own, then we transitioned into a more strike heavy portion of the match. The technical work was good, it looked organically uncooperative and they didn’t spend too long on any one thing in particular, then when it came for the rough housing, both gave as good as they got, with some solid stiff strikes from both men. Chavo legitimately looked like he could pull off the upset, nailing some killer bombs near the end, before Fujinami nailed him with a bridged German Suplex. They were working towards a series of tope’s but both men had the other’s scouted and their moves were abandoned mid-flight each time. My only gripe would be that I would have preferred a more overt narrative through the match, but that’s more of a personal preference than anything else.
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1980-05-09 Houston Gino Hernandez vs Sicodelico NWA Texas Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA Card ★ I’ve never heard of Sicodelico before but apparently he’s the brother of Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras. Gino was accompanied to the ring by Gary Hart. They worked some Lucha spots into this and the first fall had some fun moments that flowed into each other well. I wouldn’t say I was a fan of either guy’s offense here, it was incredibly light and co-operative at times. The most impressive thing was Sicodelico’s selling, both after being posted during the second fall and then later during the break between the second and third. He definitely went above and beyond in indicating his weakened state and his woozy sell job was excellent. He even went so far as to intentionally botch a jump back into the ring, falling flat on his face. Otherwise this was incredibly lacklustre and any good will Gino had built up with me earlier in the year is running out as he continues to have dud after dud with a variety of opponents. Gino was disqualified for some reason after repeatedly breaking up his own pins of Sicodelico and then after the final bell rang Mark Lewin stormed the ring, clearly continuing an ongoing feud between the two men.
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1980-05-03 PNW Rick Martel & Roddy Piper vs The Sheepherders NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Sports Arena, Portland, Oregon, USA Card ★★ Much like their previous matches the first fall here was Williams getting isolated and Martel and Piper working over the shoulder. I wasn’t particularly enthralled to see the same thing again and I don’t think that they did anything very interesting in terms of actually working the arm. However, I did like the fact that this constant work actually led to the fall, as Williams eventually just relented as he couldn’t withstand the pain any more. Yes, the work wasn’t that good, but having a constant focus on the arm ending up with an actual submission is good match layout regardless, so credit where credit is due. The high spots of the match were probably Piper’s hot tag in the second fall and Martel’s in the third. This showed both off in their element and I wish they had more opportunities to work in this manner. The second fall ended on a strange count as it looked like it might have been broken up before the count of three. The finish saw Sandy Barr take a really crazy bump right over the ropes of an accidental Martel dropkick, then Barr counted both Williams and Piper for pins simultaneously. After some deliberation the decision was made to hold up the tag belts once again. There were flashes in this for sure but the structure didn’t do it for me. Every time I see Miller hit his reverse elbow I love it even more; Piper, when he’s allowed to go into a frenzy, is a joy to watch; and Martel really does have moves galore, but they weren’t able to harness these elements here into something that I found really satisfying.
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1980-05-02 AJPW Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Sheik Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Card ★★★★ The match itself didn’t even go 4 minutes but what a wild ride. It started out violent, with Sheik going right for the head with his hammer/spike thing and just viciously stabbing away. The referees tried to install some order but to no avail and both guys were DQ’d. What followed was 15 minutes of two guys just tearing at each other all over the arena. The crowd were soooo into this. It felt like they were a single organism with a hive mind - first they would swarm around the two competitors and then break apart, fleeing contact whenever they got too close. All the while Abby and Sheik were basically just straight up double choking each other. This didn’t feel like a choreographed fight, this felt like two guys in the playground who have snapped on each other being cheered on by the whole school. Every time the other AJPW wrestlers managed to separate them they would come back again and just collide into each other, without it feeling contrived at all. I remember being surprised the first time I felt that Abby was being cheered as a face, but this preceded those matches and boy was he really over with the crowd. The triumphant posturing post match that I saw in these two’s match later in November was present here as well, arms aloft in the ring this time as Sheik retreated.
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1980-05-02 AJPW Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dick Slater & Terry Funk Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Card ★★★★ ¼ You could tell from the opening minute that Terry came to play here. His energy levels were through the roof and he was pulling out all the spots. I think Funk’s performance here might be my single favourite performance of the year to this point. This was only 16 minutes, but that gave them the opportunity to work at an increased pace without any chaff. Slater & Funk were really in sync and I thought Slater was on his A-game also. This match obviously wasn’t a blood feud and was probably more of an exhibition type deal so I felt the more comedic, goofy elements of Slater and Funk’s tag teaming worked really well in this setting. It’s incredible how over Funk is in Japan, at one point Baba got him in an Abdominal Stretch and the crowd began a LOUD Terry chant. Jumbo did a great job playing off of Terry’s antics and when it came to exchanging blows he didn’t hold back. His uppercuts were particularly vicious and while he wasn’t the standout I thought this was a very good performance from him and he definitely seemed to have more bounce in his step than usual. I just wish Giant Baba looked like he gave a shit honestly. Everybody else really seemed pumped for this and Baba just seemed like he was going through the motions. I’ve been really underwhelmed with him so far. He’s supposed to be the ace of the promotion and the top guy and he really doesn’t come across as special to me, even in how they present him. There haven’t been many instances where I felt like guys were going above and beyond to sell for his stuff, so apart from his alien-rific body, he doesn’t stand out to me. I can’t overstate how amazing Terry was here, just dominating the tone of the match and controlling the whole flow of events. Everybody seemed to take their queues of him and he delivered in terms of great offense, selling, bumping and the tiny intangible things too. Truly top tier stuff.
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1980-05-01 AWA Greg Gagne vs Super Destroyer II Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Card ★★ We’re missing the first 5 minutes of the match. Lots of cheating from the Super Destroyer combo of he and Heenan, as to be expected. Heenan was constantly angling to get in a cheap shot wherever he could. I thought Greg was pretty lively here. His offense had energy and Destroyer made his offense look really good. Considering Greg’s size though, I thought the level to which Destroyer bumped for his shoulder checks was a bit too much. He must outweigh Greg by a solid 70-100 pounds and there’s no way he’d be getting bounced that hard by that type of move. I loved both how Greg locked on his sleeper hold and how Destroyer hit his clothesline. They both almost let the man go past them before catching them by the neck. It gives a bit more of a whiplash effect that I thought looked really good. Destroyer was nailing move after move on Greg at the end (this also was a bit much as these were pretty killer moves and Greg seemed to be handily kicking out of them) then Super Destroyer 3(!) came out for the distraction, allowing Greg to send him face first into the turnbuckle (wicked bump here as it really snapped back his neck on impact) and get the pin. Considering how much punishment Greg took in the minutes preceding this, a single turnbuckle bump putting Destroyer II away felt a bit cheap in comparison as he didn’t roll him up or hook the leg at all on the pin. Nice little match that I thought showed both guys in a positive light and highlighted a lot of their strengths but I thought Super Destroyer made Greg look a little too strong at points.
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1980-05-01 AJPW Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dick Slater Champion Carnival 1980 Final Match Kyushu Electric Power Memorial Gymnasium, Fukuoka, Japan Card ★★★ Dick Slater is wearing an eye patch over one eye due to taking that powder shot from Abby before. Jumbo and Slater worked this in the classic NWA style with all that entails. The opening stretch had some mat work and working for position. It was fine but nothing to rave about. Then Slater took a big bump to the outside which was the catalyst for the pace to pick up. From that point onwards they worked at closer to sprint speed and the bombs started flying. I liked this much better and they never let up until the last. In the end Jumbo won it with a picture perfect German Suplex. I really enjoyed Slater doing his Terry Funk cosplay and Jumbo I thought was really bringing it, especially late on. This wasn’t a stone cold classic by any means but I thought they delivered for a tournament final.
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[1980-04-26-Portland] Buddy Rose vs Rick Martel (2/3 falls)
SAMS replied to Loss's topic in April 1980
1980-04-26 PNW Rick Martel vs. Buddy Rose Non Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Sports Arena, Portland, Oregon, USA Card ★★★★ Damn I missed the hair match between Piper and Rose. Here Rose is already wearing that mask with the wig attached to keep the fans from seeing him bald. This was all about the targeting of body parts. Rose showed off some nifty rope running moves before taking Martel down to the mat and from there it was a clinic in targeting his leg. I loved how intermittently Rose would pull the mask up to show his face and every so often they would tease Martel getting a grip on the mask, but the whole while he was in complete control, just working over that leg. Eventually, after being locked in a leg scissors and getting it rammed against the ringpost several times Martel had to succumb to a Single Leg Boston Crab. When he returned after the break with a massive limp, it made perfect sense. From here on Martel’s selling of the leg was excellent. At first it looked like he couldn’t even walk on it. He barely made it back into the ring and as the second fall started you knew that Rose was going to target it for all it was worth. After a few close escapes Rose finally managed another take down and all looked lost for Rick, but while getting his leg posted once again he managed to turn the tables and ram Rose’s head into it as well. From here we had a long sequence of Martel repeatedly coming down from the ring, breaking the referee’s count and beating down on Rose on the floor. As time went on he sold the leg less and less and eventually was able to lift Rose enough to ram his lower back into the post as well multiple times. As they transitioned back into the ring things went from Rose targeting Martel’s leg to Martel turning the tables and targeting Rose’s back instead. He nailed a backbreaker a couple times, even switching to using his stronger right leg for the second delivery, and eventually Rose went for a body slam and couldn’t take the weight on his back. Martel then did the same and put Rose away to tie things up. The third fall was pretty brief but essentially worked entirely around them getting caught up in the ropes and Martel slowly peeling back the mask until eventually he dislodged it. The Sheepherders had made their way down to the ring and they were able to cover his head with a towel before anybody got a good look and he raced to the back, essentially forfeiting the match by countout. I loved Rose’s offense throughout his heat sequence in the first fall. Playing with the mask, milking that gimmick, and the crispness with which his attacks worked over the leg. Then this was all paid off by Martel selling the hell out of that leg for the entire second fall, but that sequence from the start of the second fall until he was able to post Rose that first time was truly amazing. We didn’t get a clear finish, but obviously they are drawing out this mask/wig angle and we got ¾ of an absolutely killer match regardless. Both guys were on top of their game and I’m incredibly excited for a full scale blowoff. -
1980-04-26 CWA Sonny King vs Ricky Morton ★ I didn’t really care for this at all. Felt more like two guys scuffling about than a professional wrestling match. They spent a lot of time prone on the mat trying to lock on holds with neither one able to gain any advantage. The most notable events were King taking his sweet time to break holds or get to his feet when they ended up in the ropes. Ended up in a 10 minute time limit draw which was far too long for the match they had laid out.
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[1980-04-21-WWF-MSG, NY] Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zbyszko
SAMS replied to Loss's topic in April 1980
1980-04-21 WWF Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA Card ★★★★ Their arena shows have been building on each other beautifully and they’ve ranged from very good and at times verged on great. I think that this might be the best one yet and all it needed to solidify its classic status was blood and a stronger finish. Zbyszko jumped Bruno at the bell and he was like an attack dog right from the off. Larry’s stomps haven’t looked better as there was a crispness and a viciousness that I think may have been missing before. This match also gave Larry the opportunity to explore his in-ring character work. Considering he was on top for so much of the first half having blindsided Bruno, he had time to gloat, goad and taunt a prone Bruno and I thought he did this masterfully. My only issue with this part was that when Bruno ended up on the floor to the outside, I didn’t find it engaging at all for Larry to keep kicking him off the apron. In contrast to later on when the roles were reversed and Larry sprinkled in some stalling when getting into the ring, this constant delay of the action was quite boring. The switch of momentum occurred on a flailing kick from Bruno that caught Larry down low and Bruno was in the ascendency from then on. After getting battered to the outside one too many times Larry took his sweet time in returning and this kind of stalling I thought was really effective. Larry’s character again really shone through and the whole time Bruno was frothing at the mouth to get Larry back in the ring. Once action finally did resume it was a pure beatdown. Larry couldn’t get anything going and it was just Bruno laying in those kicks and punches for all they were worth. Finally Larry had had enough and he took his ball and went home. The finish obviously wasn’t decisive, but I’m sure their next matchup is at Shea Stadium, so it makes sense to leave things on a cliffhanger of sorts. Overall I thought they managed to reach a strong peak early and really never dropped that standard for the whole match. The crowd were on fire for Bruno and those moments where he played up to them generated such amazing responses. It wasn’t on the cards but if this had been the blowoff and they had committed to a decisive finish, it very well could have been a MOTYC. For what it was it wasn’t that far off anyway. -
1980-04-21 WWF Pat Patterson (c) vs. Ken Patera WWF Intercontinental Title Match Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA Card ★★★ I thought that this dragged on for the first 10 minutes or so. They worked some hold exchanges and Patterson took the lead with an armbar but nothing was grabbing me. I do love how when Patera does his version of begging off, it’s not a sign of weakness but instead a projection of his arrogance. He gets into the ropes, turns his back to his opponent and dismissively waves his opponent away. It’s a real “we’re doing this on my terms” dick move and it fits his character perfectly as going down the more snivelling route would show too much weakness for him specifically. Patterson was sent to the outside and they tried to milk this for all it was worth with Patera constantly kicking him back to the floor. Finally, after several minutes, they got back in the ring. At this point Patera locked on the Bear Hug and this is when the match came alive. Patterson flipped a switch and from hereon in it was a masterful performance by him for a variety of reasons. Firstly, this Bear Hug, with Patterson lifted off the mat, looks much more impactful than when they were doing the standing cuddle version, secondly, Patterson sold this like death and then began the slow burn comeback. When he finally got loose and began wailing on Patera the place was on fire. Patera’s selling was so spot on, there’s big bumps sure, but I think he aligns it with his strong man gimmick to a tee. At the death we had a referee bump which led to the win for Patera. The woozy referee was on the wrong side of the action and missed Patterson resting his leg on the ropes and Patera got the pinfall victory. As far as fuck finishes go, this one I didn’t mind at all and now Patera gets the much coveted gold. If the first half of the match had been the same standard as after the Bear Hug, this would have been a real classic. From that point onwards I thought both men delivered top tier performances and I just wish that there had been more substance in those first ten minutes or so.