goodhelmet

OK, I killed this thread earlier when I had the audacity to ask for actua explanations with ful lcards. However, I still think the topic is worth saving so I am going to throw out some dates with my thoughts to chew on. Crockett Cup 1987 Day 2 (4/11/87) Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger vs. Brad & Bob Armstrong (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - Blanchard & Luger worked really well as a tag team here. After watching so many matches, I think Tully Blanchard may have been one of he Top 5 best guys of the 80s. Fuck it, I said it. After 25 years of hating this guy, I am slowly becoming a monster fan. I may have done him a disservice giving him only a 3-disc comp. Nomination. Midnight Express vs. Road Warriors (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - OK, this may be the best Road Warriors match I have ever seen and it may be all due to Bobby Eaton. After watching this, along with the previous tag, it kind of pisses me off that they edited the fuck out of their commercial tapes. The fireball and interference was a little bit of overkill in the end but the fact that the Roadies were elminated was probably a big shock. I'll nominate this and see where it goes. (I saw this before I saw Starrcade 1987 which is the best Roadies match I think I have ever seen.) Rick Rude & Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez vs. Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - This is JIP with about 5 minutes gone with less than 5 minutes shown. No vote. Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger vs. Giant Baba & Isao Takagi (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - Man, this match kinda sucked. Midnight Express vs. Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - Like the Tully/Lex match before it, this was pretty anti-climatic. The MX did their shtick well and the match was inoffensive but nothing worthy of being on a set. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - I'll have to rewatch the TV match but I don't know which one I like better. I think this one may be helped by the fact that there are no commercial breaks. This should land in my Top 10 and this was another one of those matches where people should be pissed that they edit the commercial releases to hell. Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger vs. Nikita Koloff & Dusty Rhodes (Crockett Cup 4/11/87) - Magnum TA walking was such a great moment that even if this match doesn't make it on the set, Magnum's entrance will go on the EXTRAS. When Luger & Nikita started off, this was pretty slow but it picked up when Blanchard got in there. It's hard seeing Nikita as a face in peril after watching him play the monster in those Ivan tags. Still, I would rather Nikita be in the ring than Rhodes. The ending was really great with Rhodes coming off the top. I'll nominate this one but won't fight for it. EDIT: OVERALL THOUGHTS: This is another example of the high quality shit that Crockett was putting out in the mid-80s. 3 of the 6 tag matches are all going to be contenders on the future Crockett set. One may be the best Road Warriors performance of all time. The main event has the emotional return of Magnum TA which is one of those chills up the spine moments that big shows probably should have. Flair vs. Windham may contend for #1 on the 80s set and could be argued as the best match either guy ever had. To me, this is the type of show that people should be pimping when pimping greatest show type shit.

Bullshit. PY CHu Hi was high concept shit. Picasso level shit.

I am going to piggyback off Dylan's post on this point and be the little sidekick like the toadie in the Christmas Story. Not only do we expect people outside of our circle to check it out but we encourage it. Overall, these opinions aren't given at least by myself, Loss or Dylan because we read an Observer article or PWI Magazine. All of us have watched hundreds of matches by these guys, are able to recognize strengths and weaknesses and then explain why our guy was the hot shit. We also value different things in our wrestling. Why would we want people outside the circle not to check our statements out? I want more people migrating to this board. I want more people buying my comps (Flair in the Horsemen Set is an excellent choice. Already have a Terry Funk set complete. Jerry Lawler super career set on the way). I want more people to discover the stuff we have discovered and talk about it. The last thing we want is someone to dismiss an opinion because we are super fanboys.

Does this match have a reputation of being good? I thought it was slow and plodding. Parv absolutely hated it. I don't think it has a reputation at all. I just know when i watched it for the 80s nominations this is what I wrote... And Bix with his follow up...

FUCK YEAH!!!!

Christ, I didn't listen to the podcast but what was your thoughts on Nikita/Doc vs. Sheepherders?

Were you watching the commercial copy or the unedited raw footage? Because he doesn't know how to sell the leg work.

Steven Regal vs. Shinya Hashimoto 9/21/96 -This isn't as epic as the 1995 match but if that one was a war then this was the chess match. While I disagree with NL's assertion that Regal wasn't good at the big picture, he absolutely does the little things right in this match. You have to pay attention to every limb, to every joint, to every digit. At first, Hash is working a headlock but you are tuned into Regal's hands as he palm thrusts Hash in the stomach to break loose. Regal applies a wrist lock but you are paying attention to his knee scraping across Hash's face. At the end, when Hash starts breaking out the big moves, you feel he has earned the victory and guys like Phil and Eric should go out of your way to see this match. Those who aren't high on Regal to begin with, why bother?

So if we don't like the current New Japan product then we are out of step? If we think Davey Richards is a robot who is incapable of stringing two logical sequences together, we are out of step? If being exposed to so much wrestling means that I can see a promotion as overrated because I have seen so much better wrestling... I'll be happy to be out of step.

I have made this point before but maybe you missed it. It isn't a knock on Flair as much as it is a feather in the other guys cap. And Tenryu was pretty awesome from the get go. I know Jerry didn't think so but the DVDVR panel was on his jock early.

I don't think he took part in the Memphis set.

1982 and 1985 are looking really, really strong.

Flair matches 1980-1985 Nominations... Ric Flair & Dewey Robertson vs. Jimmy Snuka & Roddy Piper, Maple Leaf #1 Pretty great tag match. Alot of stalling early on but when Piper gets Flair in the corner, he just unloads with some great shots. Piper played heel-in-peril for awhile and Robertson catches him with a beautiful cross-body from the 2nd rope. The end stretch is just great give and take between Flair and the heels. However, Robertson dropkicks Flair on top of Snuka for the pin. Great match and definite nomination. Ric Flair vs. Jack Brisco, Lynch Mid Atlantic 1.2 Really good TV match that has Brisco pin the champ. Flair is irate! I know Flair didn't have too many TV matches but when he did, he usually delivered. This needs to be on the set with interviews included. Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper, Lynch Mid Atlantic 2.2 Nice! We get 10 minutes plus of a Piper-Flair match and Flair made Piper look great, selling and stooging and brawling. Piper buts Flair open and works over the cut. For a minute, it looked like Piper was going to win the match but a cross body block is rolled through by Flair who gets a pin with the feet on the ropes. This was fun and a nomination. Ric Flair vs. Greg Valentine, Early 1981 Former partners clash. For the first ten minutes, Flair controls and they take their time in setting the tone. However, with a few well-placed, vicious elbows from Valentine, he turns the tide. While Flair worked the arm when in control, Valentine is working the neck and head. The last 8 minutes or so had both guys throwing everything at each other in an attempt to put the match away. Flair wins the match by countout but it was actually a pretty cool ending. They were battling on the apron outside the ropes. Valentine knocks Flair over the ropes with a hard blow but falls off the apron at the ten count. This was a great match and an easy nomination. Ric Flair vs. Ole Anderson (Indian Strap Match), Late 1981 Both guys are pretty reserved in the early part with Flair trying to get Ole on the ground and Ole grabbing onto Flair's arm. It picks up midway through with more brawling and incorporating the strap into the match. This started off slow but the 2nd half makes this a keeper. Nomination. Ric Flair vs. Harley Race, 8/31/83 (Aired 9/10/83) Race takes it to Flair early but each time he goes for a big punishing move (falling headbutt, big elbow drop), Flair moves out of the way. Flair briefly gains control but Harley regains it with a sweet clothesline that Flair sells like death. There were also some small touches I really got a kick out of like Flair's boot to Harley's head or Flair chopping Harley so hard he bounces off the ropes and falls to his knees or Flair's elbow drop. The end interference sucked but the Orton piledriver on Flair makes up for it. I like this one so much more than the Starrcade match. I have a feeling the Starrcade match will be voted higher but this might be my favorite American Race match. Maybe someone can refresh my memory on the great American Race matches. Maybe it just happens that I am tired of seeing the Starrcade match on every DVD release. This was just point/counter-point and who could capitalize the most off the other guy's mistakes. Awesome match and definite nomination. Ric Flair vs. Harley Race (Cage match), Starrcade 11/24/83 This is one of those matches you have to include but it isn't one of my favorite matches from either guy. You had the obligatory blood, great moves from both guys and the focus on the bad leg but I think the match may have gone too long. Cut ten minutes form it, lose Gene Kiniski (I thought it was Angelo Mosca) as ref and this match becomes so much better. I'll nominate it and we'll include it but I am not excited about it. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, 3/17/84 SHOE: I'm not sure of the date on this one but I just took what the DVD put out. This bout goes the whole time limit and the crowd is crazy for it the whole time. Both guys would take the crowd up, and then take them down. The 1st half of the bout Steamer just cranked on Flairs neck and would work some spots around the headlock. The crowd would just go nuts over the highspots. Steamboat's dropkicks looked breathtaking here. They worked a babyface bout for the 1st 30 or so minutes till Flair heeled it up some. Flair worked over Steamboat's back and ribs. I gotta say both men sold for each other hard. The finish was super hot. I'm sure they ran rematches with 90 minute time limits after they ran this bout around the horn. It wasn't at the level of the 89 stuff, but still really great stuff and worthy of a nomination. I mean the bout told a story, kept the crowd the whole way, had a finish to build to rematches, and involved 2 of my favorite wrestlers doing a broadway (another thing I like to watch). The Striker/Steamer commentary hurt the bout. I mean it was cool to have that option, but I wish they would have offered one w/o commentary. Ric Flair vs. Sam Houston, 5/18/85 I know Loss keeps referring to the Flair vs. George South match (which I have never seen) but I think we should start referring to Flair giving more to a lesser opponent as the Flair-Sam Houston match. Flair gives a ton to Flair who seems more concerned with showing off to Magnum TA on the outside than putting Houston away inside the ring. Houston doesn't have interesting offense but Flair is so great that he makes vanilla wrestlers like Houston look like they have a chance of getting the upset. Flair eventually damages the leg, does his leg work and puts Houston away with the Figure-4. This was a one man show and may not make the final cut but deserves some consideration at showing how great Flair can be. After the match, the Flair-TA saga continues as Magnum makes Flair break the submission. Even if this does not make the cut, it will go on as part of the Flair-Magnum feud. If it goes on, we'll include the pre-match and post match interviews as part of the match. Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes, Starrcade 11/28/85 KRIS Z: This is maybe the most historic matchup in this feud and one of those matches that even though it wasn't the greatest match, it was a polarizing match of the era. These two had already met at Starrcade 84 with a shitty finish there so this a rematch and unlike that one there was an actual blood feud going here. I was at the Omni that night although being 6 years old I still remember how heated this was and how just about everyone wanted to see Dusty kill Flair. The work of the match was the basic Dusty/Flair stuff except no blood from Dusty although Flair would juice of course. The main focus of the work was on Dusty's left leg of course and Flair did a good job working on it. The ref bump was par for the course for this series and the Andersons interfering was pretty much a lock but Dusty coming back and beating the odds to pin Flair was great. The fans live left thinking Dusty won the title and the Omni was jumping then of course the decision was announced on TV two days later but it didn't stop the people from coming because IIRC their first rematch at the Omni which was on Christmas Day another show I was at, had more people and was even more heated. This wasn't the best match on this show as for as in the ring work but it was in a different world as far as historic significance. I know Will didn't nominate this but there is enough in the match to warrant the nomination and the historic significance demands a nomination. Ronnie Garvin vs. Ric Flair, 12/28/85 PHIL SCHNEIDER: Garvin had alot of weird athletic spots at this time, headscissors, big sunset flips, jumping headbutts. Of course this had alot of really violent chops, which is what you want from Garvin v. Flair. Garvin had great punches, but you forget Flair could throw hands too. Excellent stuff, not as good as their later series, but an easy pick ++++++ PORTLAND Nominations... Ric Flair vs. Brett Sawyer (2/3 falls), 4/10/82 First fall starts off working Flair's long match formula. No rushing, headlocks, tests of strength, etc. However, the crowd is just going nuts for this match. Still, pretty solid with only one botched spot I could think of where Flair they collide and neither man could figure out who was supposed to sell the shot. Sawyer takes a nice bump off a Flair knee to the midsection where he drops headfirst to the concrete. This was setup all because Flair took advantage of Sawyer when Saywer thought Flair would break because he was on the ropes. Flair takes over and spends the remainder of the fall abusing Sawyer, tossing him around, throwing him outside the ring, executing moves designed to put Sawyer away like the shoulder breaker and gut wrench suplex. At the end of the fall, Flair is trying to put him away with the Figure 4 but Sawyer small packages him to score the upset pin. If this fall were its own match, I would not have nominated it. Secoond fall, Flair is pissed and takes it to Sawyer. Flair goes for a knee drop on Sawyer's head but Sawyer grabs the leg with his hands and applies his own Figure 4 in a spot that made the crowd erupt. Sawyer attempts a flying body press that ends up being reversed by Flair for the pin. I must have missed it but the match either cut off after a fall apiece or I missed a fall inbetween somewhere. As it stands, it is a nomination but I want to know if I have the complete match. I'll have to rewatch it. Ric Flair vs. Brett Sawyer (2/3 falls), 10/2/82 The first fall has Flair abusing Sawyer throughout, very similar to the first match but with a little more viciousness. Flair even breaks out a grounded leg stretch (I have no idea what this is called) from the abdominal stretch. After that, he follows up by punching Sawyer square on the bridge of the nose. Sawyer looks dead in the water when he fights back and ends up putting Flair in the small package but it is reversed for a Flair pin. The second fall is much more back and forth with each guy trying in vain to get the win. In something I don't think I have ever seen before, Sawyer gets Flair to submit to a Figure 4!!! Shit, that is huge. Did Dusty ever beat Flair with the Figure 4 and I am just not remembering? Anyone else? In a nice touch, before the third fall, Sawyer is still selling the nose and I can't imagine him not bleeding before this thing is over. Sawyer must be feeling lucky because he goes right back to working on Flair's legs. To his credit, Flair sells the legs the rest of the way. In a nice spot, Flair gets a double knee lift from Sawyer who tries to follow it up with adropkick but Flair gets out of the way. After some back and forth, Flair drops Sawyer with a stungun and gets the clean pin to win the match. Just a great match and an easy nomination. Ric Flair v. Magnum T.A., Portland 9/24/85 DYLAN WACO: The opening feeling out stuff is really good stuff. I really liked the arm wringer exchange a lot, the spot where both guys blocked the suplexes and pretty much everything else that set up the eventual "Flair gets frustrated that he can't win fair" stuff with Flair taking Magnum down by the hair off of wristlocks. They finally come up for the "big spots" and of course Flair goes to the floor after being overwhelmed. This is all textbook Flair stuff but it is really well done. Flair is reeling and on the ropes but comes back with a low blow and then does a double stomp which is a move that I absolutely love in any context. There is a real gear shift here as Flair slows the match down and works really deliberately which makes a lot of sense as every time the pace picks up Magnum gets the upper hand. Flair is also really awesome jawing with fans here a few of whom start throwing shit toward the ring. Flair takes Magnum to the floor and drives his shoulder into the post. Flair goes to the work on the arm and Magnum tries to comeback but Flair yanks him down by the hair. Magnum gets a great nearfall when Flair is distracted by a fan and they go into the shoving ref schtick which leads to Flair getting locked by Magnum in the figure-four. Magnum ends up going for another figure-four after the first one is broken but Flair escapes. Awesome moment as Magnum takes the Dustin Rhodes style missed crossbody bump to the floor allowing Flair to take back over. Flair misses a leg smash and Magnum comes back and Flair reels off his staple bumps. Flair is reeling and Magnum rattles off the nearfalls you would expect at this point in a Flair match. Magnum gets caught coming off the ropes with the double knees on a splash attempt and the crowd lets out a collective gasp. Magnum ends up chucked to the floor and they do a really awesome slow motion sunset flip spot which Flair always excels at. Flair locks on the figure-four dead center. They end up on the floor again and Flair goes to post Magnum but Magnum reverses. Back and fourth, ref bump, belly to belly, no ref, nearfall! Time runs out right on a backslide near fall from Magnum. Very much a touring Flair match, but a really good one. Ric Flair vs. Billy Jack, 5/21/85 Billy Jack hooks Flair in a head scissors and Flair knows how to work a hold, constantly struggling to get out. BJ hooks on the headlock and they work out of that for awhile, once again, Flair doing the work, keeping things going. If BJ had a clue, he could do a lot more with the headlock than hold on by dear life. See, watching this match, this is the definition of a Flair match. Big muscle head who needs some guiding so flair guides him through the whole process getting his stuff in along the way. Having said this, once they ran through the headlock segments early on, this was pretty enjoyable. Really nice stretch run with Haynes throwing some nice punches and getting caught in a knee buster helping Flair set up the figure four. Nice setup for the full nelson as Flair goes to the top, gets thrown off and gets hooked. Rip Oliver comes in to ruin the match. I think we owe it to watch all of the Flair matches since they are so popular but I would not fight for this to stay on.

For the 80s, we are almost there. For the 90s, we can do it easily.

From the 80s sets we have done, here are the Flair matches we have put on the sets. I am also going to post nominations for other territories as well as my thoughts on some of those matches. Ric Flair is the fucking man. Mid South... Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (4/28/85) Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (4/28/85) Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85) Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/4/85) Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (6/1/85) Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel (7/12/85) Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (8/10/85) Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (10/11/85) Ric Flair vs. Ted Dibiase (11/6/85) Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (11/8/85) Ric Flair vs. Jake Roberts (11/24/85) Memphis... Ric Flair vs. Jerry Lawler (8/14/82) Ric Flair vs. Koko Ware (11/18/85) World Class... Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (2/3 falls) (8/15/82) Ric Flair vs. David Von Erich (10/11/82) Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (Cage Match) (12/25/82) Ric Flair vs. Terry Gordy (2/4/83) Ric Flair vs. Kevin Von Erich (4/1/83) Ric Flair vs. Chris Adams (2/3/84) Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/6/84) Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/11/84) Ric Flair vs. Terry Gordy (1/11/85) Ric Flair vs. Kevin Von Erich (5/5/85) All Japan... Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (2/3 falls) (10/9/81) Ric Flair vs. Ric Steamboat (6/4/82) Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (6/8/82) Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (6/8/83) Ric Flair vs. Harley Race (5/22/84) Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/24/84) Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu (2/3 Falls) (9/12/84) Ric Flair vs. Rick Martel (10/21/85) AWA... Ric Flair vs. Magnum TA (9/28/85) Ric Flair vs. Nick Bockwinkel (1/17/86)

I am thinking it was the drugs and alcohol.

To be fair to Flair, almost all of his TV featured matches in the 80s were pretty awesome. The difference is that he wasn't featured on TV a lot because he was the champion you had to pay to see. I think Flair's best TV work was the early 90s when he would pop up quite often on the B-shows or random Saturday Night and have good to great matches nearly every time.

I am probably in the minority on the Bam Bam match because in the same thread, Loss voted no.

Yes

Here are some matches we have nominated for the Territory and Crockett 80s sets... FLORIDA Barry Windham vs. Harley Race - This is probably the earliest example of Windham showing what he can do. Both guys bring the offense and they both even blade for our sick pleasure. In the shocker of all shockers, Barry pins Race in the middle of the ring on a roll up off the ropes. Harley tries to take Windham out after the match but Dusty saves. For his troubles, Harley piledrives Dusty on the concrete. The whole thing was pretty damn awesome and a nomination. Barry Windham vs. Ron Bass - Famous match where Windham defeats Bass but Bass beats Windham up after the match, puts the saddle on Windham and "rides" him. The match itself was pretty good with both guys dishing out punishment. Bass had a small cut so we got a little bit of blood out of it as well. I don't like the actual match as much as the Windham-Race match (that may change in the future) but this is an easy nomination and one of the better known Florida matches. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Battle of the Belts 2) - The first 15 minutes or so are controlled by Barry. It may just be me but this match is flying by as Barry is keeping things going at a faster pace than I am accustomed to in Flair matches. Flair takes control after Barry runs into the corner and meets a Flair low-blow and they go outside which ends up with Barry being busted open. Inside, Barry turns the tide and puts Flair in the Figure-4. There are 2 ways you can look at it... either a typical Flair spot for the opponent to use Flair's move on him or a nod to the 1st Battle of the Belts. The last 15 minutes are just great back and forth action where the momentum keeps shifting and there are about 6 or 7 points where you think... this match is over. THe biggest problem might be that people knew there was no chance in hell that Barry was going to win but this was Florida and maybe it was possible he got a KVE run with the belt. This is an easy nomination but the big question now is which Flair-Windham matchup is the best. I think I may enjoy this one more than the 1/20/87 match (which was hurt by commercial breaks) but not as much as the Crockett Cup match. I'll have to revisit these when the sets are made. CROCKETT Barry Windham & Ron Garvin vs. Midnight Express, TV 12/86 Early on, the story is that when Windham is in, he controls the match but when Garvin is in, the MX gain the advantage. It stays this way for about ten minutes until Windham gets a knee from Bobby but even when he gets the tag, GArvin still gets roughed up by the MX. I remember watching this match 20 years ago live and thinking how the MX were such a better team because of how long they controlled the match. I know Tim Cooke will disagree but I really like these studio matches because the intimate setting allows smaller things like headlocks and arm bars and eye rakes to feel a little bit more painful to the viewer because you are right up on the action. The match ends in a time-limit draw but Condrey thought he had Garvin pinned. The MX is upset and Cornette lays Garvin to waste with some racquet shots. This match was the beginning of the Garvin-MX feud that would last through the next year and peak with the fire incident. This is a personal favorite but I think it stands on its own and warrants a nomination. THe fact that Garvin was being abused by the MX the entire match and laid out after only makes it more interesting in my view. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham, 1/20/87 (Ultimate Ric Flair) Another must-have stone cold lock. The match structure isn't so much a Flair match as it is a classic wrestling match structure (face shine, heel takes over, hot end run) although Flair did this a lot. Windham takes control early on. Flair gets frustrated but plays the methodical "I know I am going long" game. The biggest mark early on is that the commercial breaks hurt the flow but we see that a ton. Flair tosses Barry outside mid-match and takes over. The end run has Flair and Barry going back and forth and I remember watching this in 1987 thinking "Barry is going to win it!" I always hated the ending as this could have been Barry's big moment. However, I think this compares favorably to the Flair-Taylor series and may be comparable to the best of the series. Ron Garvin & Barry Windham vs. Dick Murdoch & Ivan Koloff, TV 3/87 Murdoch rules. Seriously, he has Garvin and just mouths off the entire time which is entertaining in itself. Koloff and Dick take turns working the neck lock which doesn't seem that interesting (besides Murdoch's jawing) but makes sense if the goal is to setup for the brainbuster. When the heels take over on Windham, it is much more interesting with Murdoch just laying in the kicks and punches. After about ten minutes, the match picks up with Windham and Murdoch going to town on each other. Great visual of Murdoch missing a punch but the last 8 minutes or so is just back and forth MOVES with Murdoch going to the top with the driving knee, Barry crotching Ivan on the top rope and capitalizing with a leg drop to the groin and Windham hitting his big clothesline finisher. Some shenanigans as hell breaks loose, Petrov tries to interfere but as the ref is taking him out, Cornette and Eaton come out of nowhere, pop Garvin on the head with the racquet and Dick & Ivan are the champs! The post match interview is great and needs to be included. Definite nomination and one of my favorite studio matches. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham, Crockett Cup 4/11/87 I'll have to rewatch the TV match but I don't know which one I like better. I think this one may be helped by the fact that there are no commercial breaks. This should land in my Top 10 and this was another one of those matches where people should be pissed that they edit the commercial releases to hell. Midnight Express vs. Barry Windham & Ron Garvin, TV 5/16/87 If you see the way people are talking about Chavo in the Mid South thread now, that is how people are going to talk about Ron Garvin after this set. One of the minor complaints I have about these NWA matches is a reliance on armbars, headlocks and other restholds but usually the formula is so solid that the wrestlers get their story told anyway. One of the little things I love about this match... Garvin gives Bobby a backdrop on the concrete. Later on, Windham delivers a powerslam to Bobby. If you remember the backdrop, you think that Bobby's back is toast but Barry picks him up before the count so Bobby doesn't have to kick out of the damaging situation. Hell, Bobby takes more damage tothe back after a Barry superplex. Then, later on, when Bobby is tagged in during a Windham FIP section, he is still selling the back. So awesome. The finish is also memorable and too convoluted to explain so just watch this match and tell me what you think. Nomination. Midnight Express vs. Barry Windham & Ron Garvin (Handheld), Pittsburgh 7/10/87 This also takes a little while to get rolling but this was pretty damn great. Early on, Garvin and Windham shine including a great punch by GArvin outside that forces Eaton into the guardrail. The MX is frustrated early on and even tease a turn on each other. Then for some unknown reason, the match cuts out and it looks like someone was taping a bad B-flick and reralized they were messing with the MX tag. Windham plays FIP and the MX break out some good double teams and it seems like the Lane-Eaton duo is really starting to gel. DOn't get me wrong, both are such pros that they were having good matches early in their run but they were hitting a stride. Big Bubba interferes for what appears to be an MX pin but the ref sees BUbba's hat and gives the match to Windham & Garvin. I don't like the finish but this is a match worth watching. Barry Windham vs. Lex Luger (TV 9/87) - This starts out with Barry shining and outsmarting Luger. The rest of the match was a nice back and forth where no spots really stood out but where you were still interested in who would get the upper-hand. This has a bad ending as Windham is tripped up and Luger kind of stumbles onto him and then drops an elbow. A ref runs in to stop Tommy Young from counting the 3-count and Arn Anderson comes in and attacks Barry. I'll give this a low-level nomination but there are so many better matches out there. Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson, TV 9/87 This is for the Western Heritage Title and so much better than their Supertowns match. Arn starts early, showing his genius by claiming Barry had grease on his body after Barry used Arn's momentum to fling him out of the ring. This has some cool matwork sections, great selling, a heated crowd and some cool spots including Barry lifting Arn while Arn has a leg grapevine applied and ramming Arn into the ringpost. In the end, this goes to a draw but Arn is pissed he didn't win the title and lays out Barry. Good, solid nomination. Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, Clash 3/27/88 I have seen this match a dozen times and it still rules. Tully gets his ass handed to him and then Arn and Tully work over Windham all working up to the hot tag. Shit, when Tully got Windham in the Slingshot Suplex, I thought it was either over or Luger would save. I can't recall anyone kicking out of it. When Luger got the tag, it actually meant something as the former Horseman gets his revenge. Great ending with Arn getting knocked loopy by the chair. Strong nomination. Barry Windham vs. Tully Blanchard, 4/10/88 NWA Main Event SHOE: This is booked as a result of the 6 man tag the prior week. This had a real grizzly feel to it. Both guys had you believing that they don't like one another. Blanchard was great with all of his cheapshotting throughout the match. Windham took some holy fuck bumps to the outside. My favorite cheapshot of Tully's was when they were both on the outside. Tully starts to run from him. Barry follows, and Tully stops and pivots and nails Barry with a wicked clothesline. What a great cross up of a traditional wrestling spot. The finish was chaotic but well executed. Overall another high end nomination from 2 of the NWA's best. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard vs Steve Williams/Barry Windham, 4/17/88 NWA Main Event SHOE: This was a real solid tag. The early face shine really didn't do much for me, but I did love how Windham fed Tully to Doc for just a sick looking press slam. Now the FIP work by Windham was really great . Plus the heels just doing some real fun work on Windham's arm. Arn in particular was really great at working the arm. Hot tag was a lot of fun. Finish was telegraphed, but oh well. I give this a low-end nomination. Lex Luger, Dr. Death & Nikita Koloff vs. Ric Flair, Barry Windham & Arn Anderson, Houston 6/10/88 The faces just massacre the Horsemen early on and the crowd is going nuts. Doc, Luger and Nikita ll get the chance to shine as the Horsemen just bump and stooge, making the power guys look like a million bucks. It also helps that the crowd is eating it up. The tide turns when Flair draws LUger into the Horsemen corner and Arn Anderson racks him while the ref is not looking. Luger ends up playing face in peril and the Horsemen all look excellent in attacking him like sharks. Flair makes the mistake of going to the top rope because Luger just launches him across the ring. He gets the tag to Nikita but that doesn't do much good as Anderson just blasts him in the ribs and the Horsemen go to work on him as well. Eventually all hell breaks loose and it ends in a double countout but this was rocking while it lasted. Easy nomination. Sting vs. Barry Windham (Clash 9/7/88) - Goddammit, this was going great until Sting no-sold the back suplex. Anyway, really good solo Sting match with someone not named Flair. For awhile there, Sting wasn't shining, he was squashing Barry. However, when Barry was in control, the match was solid. Hell, Barry even juices. I didn't like this as much as the Nikita/Doc tag but I'll give it a low-level nomination. Midnight Express vs. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash 12/7/88 Flair & Windham were such an awesome team. It is too bad that Dusty was booking at the peak of the Windham turn so he could feud with Windham because they should have put Flair and Windham together long before this. Hell, they could have done variations of Luger & Sting vs. Windham & Flair for the entire summer and Bash tour. I actually like faux-face Midnight Express since Stan Lane has fan-friendly offense and Eaton was never a guy you hated anyway. Condrey & Eaton couldn't have pulled it off but it works just fine here. I do have a couple of gripes in this match. During the Flair flip corner run, Flair ran right to the MX corner and Lane just stood there. Lane should have shook the ropes or pushed him off or grabbed a leg... anything. Also, Eaton had Flair pinned for more than a three count but Tommy Young stopped counting becasue Lane entered the ring and it took Windham forever to knock Eaton off of Flair. Still, there was too much good stuff here not to nominate it. Barry Windham vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, Starrcade 12/26/88 This is much more like it for a Windham match. Barry was bouncing around like a pinball for Bam Bam's offense. I loved the Bigelow gutbuster but compared to the other famous moves of the day, I don't know why he wasn't using it as a finisher. My only complaints were Bigelow was inconsistent in selling his knee and the countout finish was weak. Still, this is an easy nomination. Barry Windham vs. Lex Luger, Chi-Town Rumble 2/20/89 This became a feud about 8 months too late as Dusty and Barry feuded throughout the summer and fall. These guys match up really well without each other. This one was action-packed and I love how Windham hurt hs hand on the ringpost, preventing him from fully applying the claw. Windham gives Luger a vicious piledriver after the match and I am nominating this match.

I love the SN match between Regal and Larry. That might be a match I would consider on that level. It is easily my favorite Regal match ever. Their other matches are very good to great but not incredibly great. I like the Arn match and think it gets an unfair label but I wouldn't call it off the charts. That Regal-Finlay feud was something I actually didn't like as much as others on first watch. I thought they were good and maybe very good but not great. I like Regal a lot mind you and he's someone who'd definitely finish high on a top 100 list when I do one again. Plus, if I ever get an income maybe I'll purchase your Regal comp and possibly find gems that constitute what I call a really great and tremendous match. He has too many good/very good/ and a fair number of great matches. With the exception of the Larry SN match which is something I would consider, I don't think he has anything really great or tremendous. What hurts Regal is that he doesn't have the "big match" setting to a lot of his matches. I think Regal has many great matches, but they aren't driven by powerful storylines or tons of t.v. time to get over the feud that is being pushed. I am not super high on his initial t.v. title run because I think he was pretty bad about telegraphing that his matches were going to draws (in contrast to Arn for example who was better at making you believe things hung on a thread at any moment), but the work was solid and he was still green in the States. He has some periods when he got fat where he wasn't sharp. But there is more meat to Regal than he gets credit for. I think the Hash match is great, the Finlay matches, the Larry Z SN match, the Arn match in question, the best Benoit matches, the Ambrose match, the Christian matches and other things. But again they don't have a transcendent feel because the promotion wasn't pushing him hard. That lack of big time feel can be hard for some people to overcome. It's a reason I 've seen some people sell Buddy short in the past. Fuck this, I am starting a Regal thread and am going to review Regal matches from my comp. Also, a friend of mine was talking to Regal the other day and Regal said if you enjoyed the 1995 match that the 1996 match would blow you away. I did not realize I had the 1996 match until I looked for it so that may pop up on a future Schneider comp. Anyway, Regal talk going into the Regal thread.

For Regal, I thought the entire Regal vs. LArry feud was legit great as well as the "Boring" Arn vs. Regal PPV match. I would also call half the Finlay matches macro great. Regal is the next guy I dive into revisiting my comp to discover more gems.

Back to Buddy rose... you guys can show me some man comp love in the shilling folder 3 best feuds... I am going off vague memory... Adonis, Piper and Hennig. Still, can't go wrong with the Army tags and 6 men or the Matt Borne stuff either. All great stuff.