Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

SAMS

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    553

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by SAMS

  1. SAMS
    1980-03-05 AJPW Dick Murdoch (c) vs. Jumbo Tsuruta NWA United National Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Civic Auditorium, Kuroiso, Tochigi, Japan Card ★★ Here’s the title rematch with Murdoch now the NWF champion. In contrast to their previous match where I thought that Murdoch had the far better performance, here I felt that Jumbo came to play much stronger. He just seemed more engaged and this certainly was his best performance of the year so far. His offense had nice energy to it, looked really good and I liked how he sold when asked to. Murdoch however didn’t have the same snap to his offense that you would expect and he was too happy to just sit in holds for my liking. Usually he’s a blast to watch when he’s working from on top, but here something was lacking. The turnbuckle bump he ate at the death was pretty brutal though and this allowed Jumbo to get him into a small package for the win. Also will say that the 1st fall was heavily clipped and we lost a few minutes in the rest of the match also which couldn’t have helped things, but with what we’ve got of it, it was an okay match but really had nothing special to it.
  2. SAMS
    1980-03-01 WWF Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zbyszko Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Card ★★★ Despite the raucous atmosphere and the nature of the feud, I would have assumed that this would be brawl city, but at least early on both men tried to work this as a straight up wrestling match, especially Sammartino. Zbyszko was overcome with his frustration as he was being outmanoeuvred and began veering more towards using punches and other strikes, but Sammartino stuck with the wrestling for the most part. I’m assuming the idea was Bruno not stooping to Larry’s level and trying to win the “right” way. Either way, in the earlier portions we got abdominal stretches and hammerlocks, which sapped some of the heat from the crowd (or at least from me anyway). When the transition came for Larry’s heat sequence it was a lot more punch/kick action, real meat and potatoes stuff, but the extended comeback from Bruno was what this match was all about. The build was slow but you could feel the tension rising and eventually Bruno just snapped and began unloading on Larry. The referee tried intervening, got clobbered by a wild Sammartino and there’s your match, disqualification. It took the referee and a number of other wrestlers to come from the back to subdue Bruno who was apoplectic as Larry made his exit. The finish here was great and Bruno’s selling and timing of his comeback was amazing but the first half where both men were trying to administer your standard wrestling holds felt at odds with the setup of the match. You could make rationalisations for it but I just felt that it was a bit odd.
  3. SAMS
    1980-02-23 AJPW Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Murdoch NWA United National Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Card ★★ I liked their opening mat exchanges and the first five minutes or so had both men struggle while in holds. However as the first fall went along they lost their way a bit and the momentum stalled. The pinfall on Jumbo came out of nowhere, and not in the good way, but I will say that Murdoch’s Brainbuster and transition into the pin was a thing of beauty. The beginning of the second fall was the highlight of the match. Murdoch was on top, carrying over his control from the end of the first, and he really looked like he was laying his stuff in really snug. When Jumbo made his comeback to level things again it kind of just happened, was very brief, and lacked anything of note. Basically a move or two and Dick was down for the count. Murdoch took the third match, and won the title, when a top rope knee drop from Jumbo caused an injury to himself and Murdoch was able to capitalise with a spinning toe hold that he leveraged into a pin which I thought looked really cool. I wish more of the match had been like the second fall. Murdoch gave a good performance, but I’ve seen better. Jumbo didn’t give a good performance and I’ve definitely seen better from him.
  4. SAMS
    1980-02-22 Houston Wrestling Tony Atlas vs Jerry Brown Card ★ Atlas and Gino were verbally sparring before the match then Gino jumps him from behind. Now at a disadvantage Jerry Brown jumped in to take control and from there the match began. Brown apparently also is a newbie to the territory. He’s sporting a brilliant bushy moustache and side parting. I was getting very strong Civil War era gentleman vibes. I’ve noticed that when Atlas is FIP, he tends to mount his comeback way too early. If it had been a quick squash match but here all it did was serve to kill any heat that Brown had managed to build up to this point. To be fair, when Brown was able to have some consistent offense he showed off only the raw basics. He did some heelish stuff, a hair pull here, an eye poke there, but it was rudimentary at best, otherwise the best he managed to bust out was a simple wrist lock. This awkward back and forth went on for over 10 minutes before mercifully Atlas put him away with an overhead press slam.
  5. SAMS
    1980-02-21 AJW Lucy Kayama vs. Yumi Ikeshita All Pacific Title Match ★ I believe this was originally supposed to be Aoyama vs Ikeshita, however Kayama was a last minute replacement for Aoyama due to injury. Things started pretty aimlessly until Ikeshita started targeting Kayama’s arm. We transitioned at the midway point to a hide-the-foreign-object routine which led to them brawling on the floor. Eventually the match was put to bed with Ikeshita nailing Kayama with a piledriver for the pin. In some classic camera work, we cut to pictures of commentary and ringside while the pinfall was occurring so we missed it entirely. Also the graphic on screen labelled the winning move as a “Filedriver”, which I presume had to be unintentional. (edit: I've seen this multiple times now so clearly that actually was its Japanese name. Has provided me with lots of unexpected giggles over the last few months). I wouldn’t be so low on this match if it didn’t last 25 minutes. At 10 or maybe 15 it would have been passable, but at nearly half an hour it definitely overstayed its welcome. I’m also having a real disconnect with Kayama. Nothing she has done has interested me and I can’t quite point to any unique quality that she has. Ikeshita was also disappointing as I thought a lot of what made her good in a tag setting was lacking here.
  6. SAMS
    1980-02-15 Houston Wrestling Tony Atlas vs Gino Hernandez Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, USA Card ★ Atlas continued his run through the territories being pushed as the hot new babyface. After popping up in Georgia and WWF in recent weeks (where they all leaned heavily into his Mr. USA title) Paul Boesch is doing the same in Houston, framing him as a classy example of what good ol’ hard work and exercise can do for you. Unrelated to this match but Vince interviewing Atlas on All-Star Wrestling had me in stitches as Atlas, in his thick Virginian drawl, kept talking about “Rasslin’” and I’m sure I could see a part of Vince’s soul die every time he heard it. Atlas’ pre-match promo and bodybuilding presentation was interrupted by Harley Race, disgruntled that he had come all the way to Houston to witness this strip-tease. Atlas nonchalantly lifted Race in the air before gingerly plopping him back to the ground. So weird to see the current World’s Champion skulk off like a little boy who’s just been scolded by his nanny. For the match itself, I don’t want to shit all over it but I thought things got pretty embarrassing, especially in the first fall. From what I’ve seen of Atlas so far in 1980, and due to the fact that he’s coming from the world of bodybuilding, I presumed he was pretty green at this point. However looking up his career his debut was in 1974 and he was wrestling pretty consistently for 6 years before this. If this is what he’s producing 6 years in, I fear that he’s pretty much unredeemable. In fact, I was probably more disappointed in Gino, due to having higher hopes of his abilities based on his reputation and the flashes I’ve seen. He hasn’t been great so far in ‘80, but he’s probably been the highlight of Houston. Perhaps carrying Atlas to a compelling 20+ minute ⅔ falls match was a bridge too far for anybody. I felt that he went too overboard with his selling and it veered into goofy and that combination with Atlas’ terrible offense meant it basically descended into a farce.
  7. SAMS
    1980-02-13 Joint Promotions Pat Roach vs Pete Roberts Southend, Essex, United Kingdom ★★★ Pat Roach really is a big boy. His getup makes him look like a wrestling caveman. He definitely has the physical tools but I actually think that I preferred Roberts here. Roberts comes across like an accountant dressed up in wrestling gear. And his gear (a turquoise leotard with a lightning bolt down the front) just makes him look like a complete dork. But his selling was pretty sympathetic and I may have just preferred his role within this match. Roach has the size and presence of somebody you feel should just steamroll almost any opponent and it’s his job to walk that fine line in making it believable that he might lose. Here I felt that kind of missed the mark a bit. The periods where Roach lost control felt a little contrived and I wasn’t buying that he was in any trouble. Ultimately Roach managed to dispatch Roberts with a press slam variation. Roberts’ timing in beating the referee’s ten count here was impeccable then his stumble into the ropes to sell the residual damage was really well done. Upon seeing this the referee called it and the decision was Roach by KO. Pat Roach looks like a guy that could be amazing, I’m just interested to see how he harnesses the tools that are available to him. Often I think the hardest role in wrestling is being a super heavyweight matched up against someone smaller so I want to see him in more of these matchups to see how he handles them. Also wouldn’t say no to seeing him in a good old fashioned hoss fight either.
  8. SAMS
    1980-02-13 Joint Promotions Jim Breaks vs Young David Southend, Essex, United Kingdom ★★★★ This is the third in a series of matches between the two with Young David (a 17 year old Davey Boy Smith) grabbing a surprise win over the veteran in at least one of the previous two. Coming into WoS pretty blind, this was the one matchup that I was aware of and I was eagerly anticipating it. This is my first look at Breaks, who has the highest of reputations, and a glimpse at an incredibly young British Bulldog. This began as a slow burn with things on a gentle simmer for the first two rounds. It was roughly even between the two but maybe with the edge to Breaks, but the pressure began to build and build as Breaks increasingly started working David’s ankle. While that ankle work never resulted in a submission or fall, he managed to wear David down. David managed a phantom fall following a press slam (the referee counted to 3 but Breaks’ leg was under the ropes and the call was overturned by the MC) and this gave Breaks more motivation to torment the upstart and he switched his approach and relentlessly started to target the arm instead. Over the next few rounds Breaks continued this strategy, continued to build the tension, and just ground David into literal submission. In the penultimate round he got what he was looking for and David was forced to give in, the damage to his arm just too much to resist any further. With only one round remaining David required a knockout decision for the victory, but instead of going for that killer blow he lulled Breaks into a false sense of security, feigning an injury long enough to lure him in close before rolling him up for the tying fall and the moral victory. This didn’t have the all-round top tier technical work from a Grey vs Saint match, but I would point to this as a tour de force performance from Breaks honestly. I don’t want to take much away from David, but clearly Breaks was the driving force behind the match and David was along for the ride. However, credit where credit is due, he had the talent and ability to be carried to a great match, not just a good match, which can’t be said for just anybody. Breaks was such a force of nature and personality. Breaks is such a force of nature and personality. It really was something to see him weave comedy, the back and forth with the crowd, the berating of Smith while he’s in holds, with the actual wrestling. It never felt like he was doing it for the sake of a laugh or purely for his character, but it had a purpose. He was doing it to gain the upper hand. It served the purpose of winning the match. That’s something I’ve rarely seen, even from the best and it really stood out here. I’m unwilling to go too far in overrating this match too much given how little of WoS I’ve seen so far, but I can’t praise Breaks highly enough and if Smith was a bit more seasoned I could have seen this as a real classic. Thoroughly entertaining throughout.
  9. SAMS
    1980-02-08 NJPW Antonio Inoki (c) vs. Stan Hansen NWF World Heavyweight Title Match Card ★★★ I can’t get over how Inoki just looks like a cartoon character come to life. He has this massive head, including perhaps the most glorious chin in the history of wrestling, then he slims a bit with a smaller but still stocky torso, then his body mass seemingly disappears with his super slender legs and ankles. Honestly don’t think he would look out of place appearing on Cartoon Network on a Saturday morning. Inoki’s strategy was to wear the big monster down and then keep him grounded and controlled. He threw out some left handed jabs to daze Hansen then the subsequent series of Indian Deathlocks and headlocks kept him subdued. When Hansen had his opportunities on offense he was far less controlled and opted to go for more high risk manoeuvres. These missed more often than they hit and allowed Inoki to maintain control. Hansen wasn’t necessarily working basic, but he had a certain simplicity to his approach, but the key with Hansen is his presence, which I think comes from his ability to move and work in a way most heavy/super heavyweights just can’t. Also, to state the obvious, his obvious carries “weight”; any clubbing blow, elbow shot and of course the lariat, come with extreme kinetic value. Inoki embodies his own kind of aura, and while that means I don’t find him as boring as some, I have to admit that how he works on offense is less than interesting, especially in comparison. It was Hansen’s lariat that provided the victory, albeit from a countout. Inoki was hanging out on the apron and Hansen just crushed him with it. Somehow this countout victory warranted a title change which I thought was highly unorthodox but it importantly established Hansen as the immovable object, the great obstacle for Inoki to overcome.
  10. SAMS
    1980-02-05 NJPW Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs. Dynamite Kid WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match Card ★★★ Maybe to some, but to me it was no surprise that Dynamite was an upgrade on Keirn here as he just brought more violence and intensity to his attacks which added a different dimension to the previous Fujinami/Keirn match. Fujinami still has the same cut on his forehead and here it opens up much earlier and much more innocuously. Kid works from on top for the majority of the match with Fujinami trying for flash pins, which actually ends up being the finish. Kid misses a diving headbutt which allows Fujinami to mount an attack and he pulls off his patented bridge pin for the win and DK is furious. I thought in general the work was good, which pulled it up to a certain level, but there was no real clear sense of escalation or narrative development, so mostly just doing ”stuff” for twenty minutes before the finish which led to it feeling a little dry and lacking that extra je ne sais quoi to push it to the next tier. Side note: I really hate that falling headbutt move that Dynamite Kid does. In general I hate diving headbutts but the one that both Kid and Harley Race do from a standing position is up there as one of my least favourite moves ever.
  11. SAMS
    1980-02-05 Joint Promotions Jon Cortez vs Jeff Kaye Walton on Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom ★★★ Cortez once again is matched up against a heavier opponent in a catch-weight contest. This was one of those high sportsmanship matches, leaning hard into the technical aspects, locking on holds and putting the onus on their opponent to find an escape. Several times they found themselves in a stalemate and we had a break and reset due to no advantage for either man. I wouldn’t say that there was a lot of “comedy” but the tone was very lighthearted between the two. Cortez had his moments but these moments were mostly instigated by Kaye. It would be interesting to know if there was a significant difference in personalities of WoS wrestlers based on where they were from. Cortez was from the South (Dulwich, London) while Kaye was from the North (Yorkshire). Are more of the comedic guys from the North than the South? Cortez once again came back from a fall down to snatch the victory with two flash pins in back to back rounds. Generally I’d say that the pins come across as the “sloppiest” moves in WoS so far. The intricate mat work and build to the pins is so good that often the pins themselves feel a bit deflating and unsatisfying. This would be my biggest criticism of the style at this point. (Note: itvwrestling.co.uk has the listing for this as 1980-03-05)
  12. SAMS
    1980-02-05 AJW Yumi Ikeshita & Mami Kumano vs. Nancy Kumi & Lucy Kayama ★★★ Ikeshita and Kumano are “The Black Pair” and are the current tag champions. Their name just hits the nail on the head. The best way I can describe them is a couple of jackals. They did an awesome job patrolling the apron when an opponent was on the outside, waiting to attack when they attempted to climb back in. Honestly at points in this match I felt that there were more than just the two of them based on how they kept swarming. If you’ve seen baby spiders hatch and consume their mother, that was the closest comparison. Kayama was the poor soul here getting destroyed and she barely had a chance. When Nancy Kumi was able to get in on the action I was really impressed with her. Her offense had serious weight and it looked really crisp. I would definitely be intrigued to see her in a singles setting. The Black Pair dominated the first fall and, after their hellacious beating on Kayama, she couldn’t hold out any longer and was out for the count. The second fall carried on where the first left off until Kumi couldn’t take it any longer and rules be damned she was coming in to save her teammate. The ferocity of her attacks were able to disperse the Black Pair long enough to get one isolated, nail as many bombs as possible and steal the pin before the other could recover. Pissed at losing the second fall the two women just stalked the opposite corner the entire break between falls. Kayama looked shaken up from the beating she had endured up to this point and as soon as the bell rang the BP employed their pack attack mentality with vicious intensity, pouncing on their weakened prey. The chaos spilled to the outside and I was sure we were heading towards a double countout, but lo and behold, the unlikely one Kayama was able to slip into the ring just before the count and sneak the victory. We have new champions! The brawling during the third fall devolved into random chair shots and these really were feather light. I’m all for working safely, but if they are going to be so light with the chairs I’d rather they skip them entirely. I don’t think I would go as far as saying this was a great match, but I am very comfortable saying that this was a great performance from the Black Pair. Just an excellent display of bully tag team wrestling. Their look combined with their style perfectly and they just seemed so at ease in the ring and in what they were doing. Really impressive.
  13. SAMS
    1980-02-01 NJPW Tatsumi Fujinami vs Steve Keirn NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title / WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Two Out Of Three Falls Match Card ★★ I think that both Fujinami’s WWF Light Heavyweight and Keirn’s NWA Junior Heavyweight belts are on the line here. Fought under NWA rules (hence the 2⁄3 falls stipulation) The first half of the match is basically a write-off. Lots of dull matwork with Keirn mostly “working” the leg. Things only pick up once they get into some standing strikes. Fujinami ended up on the floor outside, then we went straight into Keirn working over an existing cut on Fujinami’s forehead, laying in a series of punches while Fujinami was in the ropes. The referee called for the bell and Keirn was DQ'd due to ignoring the ref’s count to break the hold Fujinami does a solid job at selling the beating Keirn just gave him and he’s got a decent amount of blood pouring from his forehead now. The second fall is Keirn capitalising on his opponent’s weakened condition and going all-out, hitting all the bombs in his arsenal to put Fujinami away. However Fujinami will not be conquered and he pulls out a German Suplex into a pin to snatch the second fall and win the match 2-0. Presumably this positions Fujinami as the pre-eminent junior heavyweight in the world, holding both the WWF and NWA versions of the belt? Unless a Lucha or WoS titleholder is able to lay claim to that instead I think it would have to be the case. This had a good second half but that first half was dull as ditchwater, dragging the whole thing down.
  14. SAMS
    This is from sometime in January 1980 and is the earliest I’ve seen from either guy. The work between the ropes was solid enough from both men but the setting just screamed low rent and the commentary (which included Lanny Poffo) gave the impression that everything was inconsequential. They maybe had 10-15 people sitting at ringside and I can’t recall a single person reacting to anything that happened, including Orton nailing Garvin with a chain and drawing blood. The finish soured an otherwise inoffensive match as Orton’s manager blatantly tripped Garvin in full view of the referee to trigger a DQ and then Orton went straight to the chain, however he inexplicably tried to conceal it from the referee despite the match already being over. Pretty forgettable all round. ★
  15. SAMS
    There’s a brief Wahoo promo beforehand that indicated some previous between these two. Tully assumes he’s competing against El Texano, but right before the bell Wahoo makes the switch and Tully is not apoplectic. This was a quick 8-10 minute sprint. It was great fun just watching both guys lay their stuff in and everything both guys dished out looked really good. I was surprised by how good Tully was this early. He had the chickenshit heel thing down pat and his bumping was insane. Perhaps he went a little overboard at times but it was no less than dynamic. Eventually he’d taken enough of a beating and he took his belt and went home to give Wahoo the countout victory. Great short match that delivered on what it was trying to do. ★★★
  16. SAMS
    This was a middleweight matchup. Maxine was being talked up as a reformed “heel”, he clearly had a reputation for blowing his lid and they had this narrative thread simmering throughout as he didn’t resort to outbursts in situations he would have done previously. So I found out that the senile ring announcer from the previous match is John Dale, Promoter of Dale Martin promotions which is under the Joint Promotions umbrella. He makes another gaf here after the first fall as he clearly has no idea what he’s supposed to be announcing and somebody from the crowd shouts out “You should have watched the match!”. There was more comedy here than in previous matches; McMichael got caught in a splits hold that he clearly doesn’t have the flexibility for (McMichael is a husky boy to say the least). Later on he apparently steals one of Maxine’s pet moves and scouts Maxine dropping to the mat during a rope running weave sequence and plops himself down beside him to take the piss. Another had McMichael throw a headbutt, dazing himself in the process and agreeing with Maxine that they wouldn't be doing any more of that. The end was a bit of a damp squib as they collided during another rope running sequence and the collision rendered McMichael incapacitated due to a “dislocated shoulder”, giving Maxine the win. The newly reformed Maxine declines such a win and instead it’s determined a no-contest. I thought overall this was a really good match. They sprinkled in the comedy at the right times without doing too much, there wasn’t any down period at all and Maxine did a good job of straddling that line between face and heel that I thought he was successful in what he was aiming for. ★★★
  17. SAMS
    Saint is the World Light Heavyweight Champion and Grey is the British Lightweight Champion and apparently Grey has a recent victory over Saint so the formbook is in his favour. I’ll admit that there was just too much going on to give a blow by blow account of the action, but essentially Saint had an arm/wrist hold for the majority and no matter the intricate reversals or escapes that Grey attempted, Saint was always able to maintain that hold. They maintained a relentless pace basically from bell to bell, with counter following counter and any time they stayed in a hold it was being worked for what it was worth. Saint grabbed the first fall, he baited Grey into false security by curling up into a ball in the centre of the ring, and from then on Grey was desperately trying to make up for the lost ground. His attacks became more high risk and this got him in hot water as he missed a knee drop and Saint immediately targeted his leg. At this point I was really caught up in the match. I truly didn’t think Grey could make it back from 1-0 down, his leg was being ravaged and a 2-0 clean sweep by Saint just seemed a foregone conclusion. Grey began to look more and more worn down however miraculously he managed to sneak pinfalls of his own in consecutive rounds in the 6th and 7th. His victory now sets up a title match the next time they meet. ★★★★ ½
  18. SAMS
    This is a mixed weight match, with Cortez giving up 3 stone (42lb) on Lapaque. I get the sense that in these types of matchups, the lightweight is the more skilled and they’re going up a weight to test themselves. And that is exactly how they worked this, Lapaque didn’t work how I would imagine a heavyweight to work necessarily, but the way the match developed it was clear that Cortez wouldn’t be able to get the upper hand with strikes, and any time he tried they were brushed off a lot easier than in the reverse. Cortez perhaps had the better of the match before the first fall, but any rolls or moves he got in ultimately ended up with both men in or near the ropes thus precipitating a break. Lapaque took the first with a sunset flip and from there it seemed like Cortez had the uphill battle. He tried more of the aforementioned strikes but it seemed like the match was slipping away before a nice little rollup against the run of play tied things at one apiece, then a beautiful dropkick followed by Cortez folding up Lapaque took the match entirely. ★★★
  19. SAMS
    John “the Bear” Elijah is from Walthamstow and his hobby is the study of evolution! Amazing stuff. The poor ring announcer seemed to be going a bit senile. For two of the three falls he got the round number incorrect and ditto for the final result. Hart is one of the Hart brothers and at first glance he seemed pretty unremarkable. In the first fall he basically got nothing and when he did try something offensive, in this case a flying crossbody, he got caught and slammed for the first fall. He seemed a bit like a fish out of water and they did play up that this was his UK debut, so perhaps that was the intention and he did grow into the bout as it went along. He was decidedly more underhand than Elijah. Getting in a punch behind the ref’s back at one point, taking advantage of Elijah’s sportsmanship at others, and generally, without going overboard, coming across a bit more like a brat after being so thoroughly handled in the early stages. Elijah finished him off with some sort of sideways bearhug variation. It was nothing to brag about but if this is the middling stuff for World of Sport then I have high hopes for the top tier stuff to come. ★★
  20. SAMS
    Portland really loves a heel in peril sequence. A large chunk of the first fall had Piper and Martel completely control Williams using a series of headlocks. Honestly, it was a little lacklustre but things started picking up when the Sheepherders gained control and Miller specifically made a strong impression. I really liked how the Sheepherders consistently integrated choking into their offense. It doesn’t need to be an extended stretch or really lead to anything in particular, as it didn’t here, but by blatantly adding in stuff like this it adds a bit of authenticity to their heel work; being a heel vs playing a heel. Specifically Miller had a nasty move where he forced Piper into the ropes and then yanked it back, pulling the ropes straight through Piper’s throat and sending him flying across the ring. In the deciding fall Williams showed a sliver of vulnerability to the lower back and Piper and Martel really jumped on it. After Martel had hit a backbreaker and PIper had hit an atomic drop, I thought it was all over but things quickly spiralled out of control with Miller sending the referee flying over the top rope, Rose interjected himself into the events and Piper got his ear worked over pretty badly. We get an interview with the referee afterwards and he’s decided to keep the belts and the championship is vacated. Martel gives one of the best promos I’ve seen from him and Piper just put the cherry on the cake as, right in the middle of a usual Piper promo, he turned to look at Martel and disturbingly said “I don’t think I can hear anything”. That subtle change of tone added a level of verisimilitude that you rarely get from a wrestling promo. Really good stuff. The match itself delivered while not quite being great but I’m pumped for the rematch. ★★★
  21. SAMS
    I think this is Atlas’ debut in Houston. Lewin plays up the Maniac moniker by twitching a lot. Lewin’s offense revolves around similar style chops and finger jabs to the throat that we saw Billy Graham use on Dusty a few days earlier. And well, it all looks pretty shit. Atlas is super expressive with his body movements when he’s on offense. Not a compliment. He looks like an overgrown child “playing wrestler”. Either way, his beatdown on Lewin, and he really is allowed to beat down on him, puts him over incredibly strong with the crowd. Lewin tries to use a foreign object but Atlas turns the tables. In the struggle Lewin ends up flying over the top rope and Atlas takes a DQ loss. The match puts Atlas over super strong but a flat ending to a pretty poor match ★
  22. SAMS
    Zbyszko finally has cajoled Sammartino into participating in a scientific exhibition match. It only lasts 10-15 minutes but they pack a lot into this time frame. Every time Larry tried something Bruno had a counter. Every time Bruno got the jump on Larry, he released the hold. Bit by bit you could see the frustration in Larry growing. When Bruno opened the ropes to allow him back in after he had tumbled to the floor it was the final straw. In a fury he viciously assaults Bruno, flings the referee out the ring and lays Bruno out with three chair shots, Bruno bleeds profusely over the floor and we’re done. Such a well packaged segment that is enhanced by the pretty amazing promos each guy had delivered leading up to it. This has to be the early frontrunner for best feud of 1980 no question. ★★★★
  23. SAMS
    It’s really interesting to see Brody and Hansen running such similar gimmicks simultaneously in Japan. Brody gives off more of a weirdo vibe than menacing. Hansen always exudes violence whereas Brody is just the guy you’d move away from on the bus. I will say that I liked Brody’s knee drops and he bleeds well. His selling however is pretty atrocious. The closest he came was kind of cradling his head while walking around real fast. I can’t say I was more impressed with Baba here either though. Because Baba works so light he kind of needs somebody who sells well opposite him and here that wasn’t the case. Also, when he was working underneath (which was a lot of the time here, especially when he was getting choked out with a chain) he was pretty static and I don’t think he did a good job of garnering the necessary sympathy or getting across any sense that he was under threat. Often I think he can get away with it because he’s Giant Baba and that means something to the fans, but it was a miss here. I can’t even remember the result. ★
  24. SAMS
    Backlund, unsurprisingly, works on top for large stretches of this match. The early portion had him working either a headlock or the arm, and his row-the-boat motion when on the arm is a great example of Bob’s trademarked goofiness. This was also a spot that he went back to three separate times, which definitely got stale. Vince on commentary is playing this up as Backlund’s wrestling acumen vs Patera’s strength. This then gets flipped as Backlund, while in a headlock, is able to hoist Patera off the ground and just plonk him on the top rope. When I was in primary school, we used to play-fight in the playground during break. There would always be that one kid that, no matter what, wouldn’t take any “damage”. Somebody punches them and nothing. A kick? Nothing. They would take move after move and just power through them until they pissed everybody off and we stopped playing. That is Backlund. He’s the goofy kid who always thinks he’s the main character, thinks he’s Superman. In regards to Bob, it’s not strictly a criticism, just an observation, but he absolutely forces his opponent to earn their time on top. Back to the match, after a somewhat pedestrian first half, things picked up on the back nine. Bob countered a headlock with an Atomic Drop that Patera sold like pure gold and was probably my match highlight. Patera actually looked like he might be able to steal it at a couple points, once from a bear hug that transitioned into a pin and the second when they collided mid-ring and Patera fell onto Backlund. Backlund rarely taking a 2 count has been beaten into the ground at this point, and it doesn’t bother me most of the time, but I feel like he could have milked one of these for a near fall, instead we got two 1 counts. The match ended as a draw after a referee bump. Patera locking the Full Nelson on Backlund with the referee down provided the impetus for a rematch as Patera can point to having the match won. Finally things descended into chaos with wrestlers coming from the back to break things up. Overall I was a bit disappointed in Patera to be honest, Atomic Drop sell aside, he didn’t offer much. But I know that these two have better stuff coming later in the year. ★★
  25. SAMS
    I’ve seen some Fujinami from 78-82 before and I remember there being a bit of a disconnect for me, so I’m hoping this watchthrough brings more of his greatness to the surface. His partner Hoshino looks like an overgrown baby with tiny legs sprouting out of his stocky torso. This contrasts so starkly with Fujinami who is one of the most proportional wrestlers I’ve ever seen. Keirn, who I’m unfamiliar with, is the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion and works more as the “heavy” to Dynamite’s speedy approach. The first fall was unsurprisingly at its best when Fujinami and Dynamite were matched up but also Fujinami did some great work on the apron, his frustration growing as the gaijin team were able to isolate Hoshino. The finish actually had Fujinami get caught up in a double team himself and falling to a Dynamite diving headbutt. A pindrop could be heard in the arena. Interestingly this was generally a very quiet crowd. I’ve read before about the differing crowd demographics at each Japanese promotion, but I can’t remember what the composition of the New Japan one was supposed to be at this time. It felt very high brow, like a theatre show rather than a wrestling show, especially compared to the AJW crowd from earlier in the month. Second fall has Fujinami flip the script and nails a brainbuster on Kid. One note I had was that Hoshino nailed Keirn with a very stiff dropkick and when Keirn and Kid worked him over while tied up in the ropes later on, I couldn’t help but feel that they were giving him a receipt for that. Just feels like something Kid would do. The finish to the third, and the match, had Fujinami using his tope to clear the ring and set up the 1v1 with Hoshino and Keirn. Hoshino went for a cross body off the top rope. Keirn catches him in mid-air and nails him with a shoulder breaker for the win. I’ve seen it multiple times before, but it’s been so long since I’ve watched a Fujinami match that I had forgotten, but his tope is surely one of the most exciting moves in wrestling, and particularly in 1980. Even as he revs up to deliver it you can sense the electricity in the crowd and the velocity he generates as he zips through the ropes, truly extraordinary. The match overall was kind of “you-get-what-you-expect” from Fujinami and Kid. Hoshino however was a nice surprise. He packs some punch and is really agile for a man with his body composition. Keirn was definitely an afterthought here. ★★★★
×
×
  • Create New...