elliott

The feud that keeps on giving comes to a close. The cage match in this arena with no floor seating really gives off the Roman Gladiator feel that Phil Schneider has talked about in the past. Slugfest to start with the crowd reacting to every Colon punch and headbutt. Hansen is awesome flailing around the ring trying to escape and getting punched in the face repeatedly. Hansen tastes the cage first but is able to fight back with a lowblow. Hansen’s selling is fantastic again as he stumbles around trying to regain his senses while throwing brutal kicks at Colon. Now its Colon’s turn to taste the steel cage and he gets busted open. Hansen is awesome working the cut over and nailing Colon with his brutal kicks and knees to the face. Both guys are covered in blood by this point. Hansen attempts a desperate escape out the door which leads to Colon going on offense and the crowd is coming unglued as Colon blasts away at Hansen’s face and does his reverse kick to the balls signature spot. Colon kicks Hansen in the balls so hard Hansen tries to climb the ropes. Hansen manages to nail a desperation lariat and tries to climb out over the top leading to these two fighting on the top turnbuckle. Hansen is borderline Terry Funk with his stumbling around screaming in pain selling. This dude belongs on anyone’s list of best sellers ever. Right below Invader I and Sangre Chicana. Every escape attempt is so dramatic because the crowd is just living and dying with Carlos here. Colon tries desperately to go to the legwork that has done him so well in this feud and Hansen is desperate to keep Colon off the leg and stay out of the figure 4. When Colon starts dropping those elbows on the knee you know its coming and the crowd is just building and building waiting for it but Hansen keeps getting away. This is MASTERFUL. Masterful stuff by both guys. When he finally puts it on the fucking world may as well end because nothing else matters anymore. Hansen is locked into the Figure 4. THEN SOMEBODY! I Don’t know who. Comes out to try and interfere only for INVADER to run out for the save and the tons more people run out and theres the craziest brawl ever with a dozen guys outside on the floor while Hansen is locked into the figure 4 and it is one of the wildest most insane scenes/pops/moments in wrestling history. Colon leaves a crippled Hansen in the ring and rund out to join the fight. This is AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING. This might be Hansen’s best match ever. Think about that for a moment. Maybe the loudest sustained crowd reaction I’ve ever seen/heard. Invader I is left laying and bloody at the end of the video so it benefits from amazing Invader bloodloss selling. This is probably one of the 10 best matches in wrestling history and after watching it all over again its probably the single best feud in history. If you haven’t seen THIS? What the fuck?

Typical start for these two as they go right at each other blasting away in front of a yet another enormous and hot crowd. Wild shit to start with Colon tying the bullrope around Hansen’s neck and posting him. Awesome overhead shot outside the ring with Hansen face down and Colon just smashing his skull into the ground over and over again. They continue brawling around ringside and eventually back in. Hansen appears to be cut early again as these two are just stiffing the shit out of each other. Did I mention this ENORMOUS crowd is crazy hot for this match? Awesome spot where Hansen bodyslams Colon after Colon’s patented cartwheel, but Colon stays on top of Hansen. One of the great spots in wrestling is when Stan Hansen gets fed up with getting his ass kicked and cuts his opponent off with a small but brutal counter to lead to the transition. The best of which is of course the boot to Kobashi’s face in the 7/93 match. The early portions of this are just incredible. They are definitely brawling, but it feels very much like an All Japan brawl early on if that makes sense. This is like the best possible Hansen vs Tenryu or Hansen vs Choshu match for the first 10 or so minutes. I love it. I love Hansen’s desperation flying shoulder block from his knees to ward of Colon’s attack even more. Hansen selling the leg is Kawada level of rolling around clutching the knee. And Colon is relentless going after it. Hansen takes any opening he can get to get Colon off of him even if its just grabbing an arm and yanking it as hard as he can to fuck up Colon’s balance and leverage. Colon refuses to give up his legwork and the crowd goes bananas when he locks in the figure 4. The figure 4 work is amazing with Carlos refusing to break after Hansen grabs the ropes and then Colon cheating and using the ropes himself. Hansen gets thrown a crutch and smashes Colon with ti and the match gets thrown out. Hansen can barely stand from all the legwork. Colon goes crazy attacking refs with the crutch. WILD Scene. Incredible match.

I've been plowing through it since I got it several weeks ago. I'd been writing it up as I went along waiting for the subforum to go up and then went out of town for work right when they appeared. So I had a lot of shit to post. That wasn't all one amazing sitting. Although, I challenge someone to watch 12 straight hours of Puerto Rico and catch up

I love the ear attack because its unique, brutal, and fucks up your equilibrium. A monster like Abby is going to ignore/only be further angered by something like arm work. Abby isn't some mere mortal so you have to approach him differently from a normal wrestler. Ear work fucks up his balance and his ability to think clearly (well as clearly as Abby can). I dug it. And Colon was so focused and forceful attacking the ear. I haven't seen a single Abby/Colon match yet that would contend for my top 5, but I've really liked every one of them and they take different approaches to each of their matches which you wouldn't expect.

I posted reviews for the first 3 discs. Here's a spoiler: I like it.

I’m excited for all Invader matches at this point. This is by far the smallest crowd we’ve seen so far. But Invader works no less hard at the start taking control of Jason by going right after the big man. Invader keeps the big man grounded doing some fun babyface armwork. This is pretty cool actually early on because Invader is working more like tag match Invader where he’s working clean spots of the flashy rope running, arm worky, roll upy, variety and its all really good but the things you’ve come to love about Invader are his brawling and selling. This is cool because it helps paint a picture of Invader as a more complete worker. Invader is usually such a big worker but this is a nice “small” match early on. Invader is good early on in control and I dig it, but I’m really just waiting for Jason to go on offense so Invader can sell and make comebacks. He eventually does take over but it is really chinlocky and they really do just sit around in it. Invader eventually makes a comeback starting with a dropkick that sends Jason outside. Invader meets him with an awesome flurry of punches when he gets back in the ring. A lot of Invader’s hope spots in this are things like drop kicks and sunset flips instead of PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH, which I actually really appreciate. This is pretty fun match that I want to rewatch not in the context of this freaking disc because this has been as good a disc as there is on 80s sets with classic after classic. But this is a lot of fun and its cool to see Invader work this way after showing himself to be the king of the brawls. We still get awesome punching and good selling. But this is definitely different from the classic Invader matches from earlier.

So the amazing 1986 comes to a close and Puerto Rico not to be denied in 1987 starts of with THIS fucking match. Crowd is enormous and hot as shit, which is the norm on this set. Hansen tires to jump Colon at the bell but Colon was ready for it and Colon has the brief early advantage. But Hansen IMMEDIATELY goes straight to choking Colon with the rope, which stopped the previous match. Colon gets some early payback by choking Hansen with the bullrope as the crowd goes INSANE. Colon is completely in charge early on and busts Hansen open. Hansen’s selling is awesome. Wounded Dog comeback as Hansen sees an opening and knees Colon in the face but its short lived. Hansen makes a real comeback when Colon goes to tap the turnbuckles and Hansen cuts him off. This spills back to the outside with Hansen cracking Colon with the cowbell and using the rope to whip him around. Back in the ring and now Hansen is choking Colon with the cowbell. This is so fucking awesome I hate doing a play by play. Hansen’s selling is beautiful. I know we like to joke that he only sells for the boss. But MAN is he selling for the boss. Hansen is actually in the conversation for best seller ever, people just don’t realize it. Colon is amazing on offense here just blasting away at Hansen. Seriously the crowd is off the charts. The tug of war spots as Colon goes for turnbuckles is terrific and I love how Hansen uses it to his advantage taking over and making comebacks when Colon is focused on going for turnbuckles. Hansen is stronger than Colon so its easier for him to drag Colon around so I love the way Colon combats that strategy as well. I love the spot where Colon smashes Hansen’s head into the ref’s foot. The way they use the rope in this match is just brilliant. The selling, the violence the heat, this is a tremendous match. I presume that everyone who is getting this set or reading this has seen this match so I don’t really need to put it over. But it is just incredible. 2nd best match on the set so far and the gap between this and the Invader/Starr match is small. This is an all time match and performance.

Wild brawl to start with Colon & Hansen going right at each other and Huracan Castillo Jr and Chicky pairing off. One thing to note because I haven’t really said it much if at all in these reviews. This is a fucking ENORMOUS crowd they’re working in front of. PR comes across as hot as any wrestling company in the 80s. Colon gets isolated early when this settles down. Hansen works him over before Chicky comes in. Colon starts to make a comeback so Starr lowblows him and tags out to Hansen. Hansen works him over for a bit before tagging back out. This is all perfectly solid Colon in peril but not really earth shattering stuff. Colon gets his pay off by kicking Starr in the balls twice before tagging out to Castillo. Everyone ends up in the ring brawling. Chicky gets busted open as Hansen & Colon spill to the outside. Colon is ALL over Hansen outside the ring busting him open, kicking him in the balls etc. Hansen manages to fight back and ties Colon in the tree of woe so the heels can double team Castillo. But Colon gets free eventually and makes his big Colon comeback. But Hansen manages to get his bullrope and he ends up tying colon up by the neck and hanging him over the top rope. Fuck! This was another good but not really earth shattering match. But it does set up the next match.

Any time Invader I and Ron Starr are matched up I want to see it. Invader III has been fantastic on the set. Terry Funk had an unbelievable 3 day stretch earlier in the year. I actually think Mil is underrated as a worker as I tend to like him. And this also has Dory Funk Jr participating. It’s a tag match so Invader I is wearing his mask which is such an awesome running psychological trope. CAN I PLEASE GET INVADER VS TERRY FUNK! PLEASE! That’s the new ultimate holy grail. This starts with Invader III vs Dory Jr, which is certainly the most bizarre pairing possible in this match. Babyfaces all tag in and out quickly doing the classic babyface armdraggy tag work. The Invaders are awesome at this stuff and Mil is slower but he knows what to do. You really wish this was Terry or Ron Starr in there because the selling would be so much more theatrical. Dory is basically just existing in there early on. Invaders do the fun masked partners switching places spots. Finally Dory manages to tag out to Terry and Invader I tags in! YES! Dream with me. They do the boxing spot and since its Invader I, Funk sells big with a quick knockdown before spilling outside the ring. Invader I tags out and my heart breaks. But Invader III comes in and he is pretty damn awesome. He slams funk into the turnbuckle and Funk does the awesome spot where he keeps slamming his head into the turnbuckle after Invader III has stopped because of the momentum. Love it. Ron Starr comes in and we get some more great babyface shine spots. Starr’s selling is ridiculously over the top in the way that absolutely hits the spot for me. This eventually devolves into a pier-6 brawl with everybody in the ring and the match getting thrown out when the ref loses control. Really fun match. I couldn’t help but think if you replaced Mil with Colon and Dory with Eric Embry and gave this 5 more minutes it could have been a classic. But this was still really fun. The babyfaces basically forced the opening Dory section to be interesting as Dory just stood there and let them do stuff to him. Funk & Starr were on point as usual.

El Profe (I think? And will find out later) in a cage being hung above the ring. This is one of my favorite gimmicks ever; manager in the cage so he can’t interfere. This starts fast like their last match with both guys going right after each other in a slugfest. TNT has the early advantage and its pretty ok. I like him bumping around more and right as I say that they work into a hope spot and TNT just kills Colon with a sidekick. They’re working from an armbar base and TNT isn’t real great at it but Carlos keeps things interesting and moving along from a defensive position. TNT has a great look but I’ve always been a mark for face paint. Crowd is super hot for Colon’s comeback. Usual awesome punches and TNT some enormous bumps off of back body drops. This turns back into a back and forth slugfest and really picks up. Colon gets busted open and TNT just starts killing Colon with headbutts. I gotta say, as samey as Colon’s comeback routine is, the crowd is so into it and there is so much energy that I always get into it. Colon does more of his totally wild cobra clutch reversal attempts as the crowd goes totally fucking nuts cheering him on to get out of it. Fortunately for Colon, one of his trademark spots is the reverse mule kick to the nuts. He’s perfected it over the years so he fucking blasts TNT and the crowd explodes as he gets out of it to build a comeback. This spills to the outside with TNT blading these two slugging it out to the tune of a double countout. Really fun match that I’d like to rewatch in a vacuum because this Disc has been so loaded with Top 5 on the Set contenders/locks that this is hard to fairly rate. At times I thought it was a little flat but it really built to a wild and chaotic end to the point where I’m thinking “OH fuck this rocks too!” The video ends with El Profe forgotten and left alone in his cage shaking his masked head with his hands on his hips thus cementing that it was indeed a great match J

I’ve never seen Savio as TNT so I’m excited for this. I didn’t realize how long he’d been wrestling. How far into his career was he by this point? This starts off fast with a slugfest. Crowd is super hot for this as Colon has the early advantage with headbutts leading to a backdrop. TNT manages to cut him off though with throat thrusts, a leg drop, and a superkick. Very throat based offense early on by TNT. TNT is pretty damn fun getting his ass kicked and bumping all over the place for Carlos. I LOVE Carlos’ attempts to reverse the cobra clutch. They kinda fuck up the 3rd attempt but they took a risk on that one. But that’s what I liked about them. They weren’t super clean reversal attempts. El Profe interferes after a refbump and nails Colon with a briefcase and back in to the cobra clutch. The ref wakes up long enough to see Colon passed out in the Clutch and calls for the bell. Super fun, if very short, match. If nothing else I’m excited to see more from TNT.

And now more Colon vs Hansen! GODDAMN Disc 3 has to be the best disc ever conceived. This time Colon meets Hansen at the bell with a headbutt and punches and is all over him at the start. No doubt trying to avoid a repeat of the previous match. Hansen is awesome stumbling around trying to get his jacket off as Colon beats the crap out of him. Awesome part about these matches is that Hansen works so much of them in his chaps because these two are all over each other. Hansen blades early but manages to take back over. This spills back outside quickly and Hansen blasts Colon into the dugout wall and rubs his face into the fence. Both guys are bleeding now as Hansen posts Colon. Hansen sets Colon up against the post to go for a lariat of death by Colon moves at the last second and Hansen destroys his arm giving Colon an opening. More payback spots as Colon smashes Hansen’s arm into the dugout and posts it. I gotta say I love Hansen taking backdrops. If you watch closely you can see the way Hansen hits the ropes when he’s running at them himself is different than the way Hansen hits them when his opponent Irish Whips him. I’m serious no bullshit. Watch closely your next Hansen match. When he hits them he is forceful and coordinated. Yet when his opponent whips him into the ropes he is clearly giving off a more out of control vibe which really points to an incredibly aware/in control wrestler. Basically Matt D is wrong. Hansen is a genius J Oh right the backdrop. This can all be seen beautifully in this match with Hansen taking the backdrop. I LOVE how he takes backdrops. Totally out of control. Conversely, my biggest criticism of El Dandy is the way he takes backdrops because he takes everyone the same: Like a high board diver. They’re beautiful and graceful and would create no splash in the pool. When Hansen takes a back body drop, everyone is getting wet. Back to the match as Colon keeps on top of Hansen but Hansen manages to load up the elbow pad AGAIN and just destroy Colon. Knowing this is Puerto Rico, payback is going to be a bitch. Somebody…the commissioner? Comes out to stop Hansen and call him out for cheating but he eats a lariat too. Hansen in this setting is perfect perfect perfect. But this makes two Hansen vs Colon matches not as great as that Al Perez match. And the thing is, these Hansen vs Colon matches are GREAT!.

Al Perez is one of those guys I’ve seen wrestle probably dozens of times but can’t remember any of his matches and have no opinion of him whatsoever. Invader I has been the overall star of the set so far. So maybe some magic will happen as the impossible to remember squares off with the utterly unforgettable. We are joined in progress with Invader in command. This is one of the coolest arenas ever. I love the no floor seating but the floor itself has the absolutely delightful multi-colored square pattern. It’s how I imagine old ABA basketball courts. I absolutely believe there was a Virginia Squires vs Pittsburgh Condors game from 1972 played on a floor exactly like this. Invader is just killing Perez at the start of this with Perez busted open already and the crowd going crazy. I love when Perez gets a big punch in and Invader shakes his head really fast to get out the cobwebs. Invader’s charging punch is one of my new favorite spots in wrestling. It is such an awesome babyface comeback spot. Perez takes over by posting Invader and just blasting him with punches. This leads to more of Invader’s awesome stumbling around selling which at this point is probably one of the 5 greatest thing in wrestling as far as I’m concerned. Perez keeps up the attack slamming Invader into purple and teal sections of the marvelous floor and Invader is busted open only further ensuring that this is going to be great. The crowd pop when Invader kicks Perez in the balls. Holy shit. The devastation when Perez kicks him back in the balls is glorious. SERIOUSLY INVADER SELLING AND THEN CHARGING AT DUDES IS THE BEST THING EVER! HOLY FUCK! Both guys on their knees on the floor blasting each other in the face and Invader hits the worlds biggest headbutt. The fight continues on the floor and this is another completely out of nowhere holy shit level match. The sound cuts out for a little bit but comes back on just in time for a great Invader hope spot. This arena is really unique because the wrestlers walk up a little stairway from underneath the floor to get out to the ring. Well the crowd is absolutely mortified when Perez attempts to throw Invader down the stairs and in an amazing spot Invader is hanging upside down above what looks to be a 6 or 7 foot drop as Perez continues to wail on him. Invader manages to get his hands on a chair and just bashes the shit out of Perez as the crowd goes insane. Perez crossed a line with the stairs so Invader’s like “You wanna throw me down some stairs, I’ll throw YOU down some stairs motherfucker!” But Perez manages to get away. The heat for Invader’s comeback is totally bonkers. And THEN INVADER THROWS HIM DOWN THE FUCKING STAIRS! YES! FUCK THIS IS SO GREAT! EVERYTHING gets paid off in Puerto Rico. EVERYTHING. Perez eventually just runs away from Invader to end the match. What a match. Perez didn’t even get fucking nominated for GWE and Invader had a match like this with him??? Invader has got to be a strong candidate for the best wrestler on the planet in 1986. This was an incredible match. I mean, the Ron Starr match came out of nowhere and I think was better than this. BUT MAN. This match REALLY Came out of nowhere. I mean its fucking Al Perez? This was easily better than the first Hansen vs Colon match. Better than the Martel vs Funk match. You’re not going to believe how good this is until you watch it.

Enter Hansen. Hansen jumps Carlos at the bell and is all over him with punches, stoms, slams and starts choking him with the bullrope. Ref tries to stop Hansen so Hansen destroys the ref including posting him. The energy Hansen brings is insane. He is just all over the place storming around like a Wildman. He posts Colon by whippning him into the post with the bull rope wrapped around Colon’s neck. Hansen is using any and everything he can get his ands on to just destroy Colon. They eventually get into the ring and Hansen continues his assault on the now bloody Colon (gross). Hansen is just a force of nature in this. Colon is phenomenal selling. He isn’t even close to Invader’s level at Invader’s best. But Colon is much more understated which is nice after watching Funk stumbling around. I love that all of the offense Colon is able to mount comes by using Hansen’s wild man momentum against him. Almost all of Colon’s hope spots are based on things like Hansen charging into the corner and Colon moving at just the last second. Or Hansen actually hitting the lariat and pulling Colon up at the count of 2 setting up Colon’s comeback. Hansen’s selling when it is time to sell is fantastic as it always is. Colon gets some payback posting Hansen and busting him open and working in his kick to the balls before continuing to work the cut with punches. . Al Perez sneaks out and loads Hansen’s elbow pad and Hansen kills Colon with a lariat as the ref counts the 3. Phenomenal match. This is 11 minutes of fucking spectacular.

I’m really excited for this one. Funk is on an amazing roll in PR and the last several matches have been tremendous. Awesome promo before the match with Funk calling Puerto Rico full of pigs and going crazy in general. He’s already referring to himself as Middle Aged and Crazy and this is 29 years ago. Amazing. “I wanna talk to the Puerto Ricans. I know a foreign language. Oink Oink.” Holy fuck. Funks vows to win the title and never return to the island. Great stuff. Match starts on the slower side with Colon getting the early advantage and Funk getting tied up in the ropes yet again before spilling outside and charging into the stands. Cops are running around trying to keep people away from Funk, which makes for a great scene. Funk gets the worse end of another boxing exchange but manages to slow down Colon with some chops and elbows in the corner before tossing Colon outside. Funk hits another piledriver on the floor, which has been his go to move during this tournament it seems. He lays the boots to Colon on the outside. This run of Funk matches is just about the only thing that could have possibly followed Invader vs Starr. Funk is still working some fun Fuerza-lite spots into this, but as it is the tournament final he is a lot more serious than in the previous matches. Funk hits the reverse mule kick to the balls which is a Colon spot and we see Colon’s busted open already. Funk keeps on him with a sleeper and they do an awesome job selling it on both ends. Colon finally fights back with is own lowblow and we get some classic Funk selling. Colon’s firey comeback mixed with Terry’s all over the place selling really makes me wish we had about 10 Funk vs Colon matches because Colon on top has been delightful. Colon gets his receipt and piledrives Funk on the floor and continues his attack. Lots of outside of the ring brawling as Funk is just getting his ass kicked. He oversells a lowblow so the ref will turns his back and Funk can get some knucks out of his trunks but Colon cuts him off before he can use them, makes his comeback and works the knee to set up the figure 4. Funk is awesome as you’d expect putting it over as you’d imagine and great selling it after the fact unable to stand and collapsing on a suplex attempt. Funk’s selling of his knee is one of the best tropes in wrestling. Dory Jr comes in to blast Colon with a cowboy boot but Colon is too close to the ropes. Funk is AMAZING throwing headbutts while staggering around. This is yet another awesome match. It isn’t as good as the previous Funk matches but it really isn’t that far off and was a totally satisfying finish to what looks like one of the best tournaments in the history of wrestling. I wanna see all of these matches. I’m even more convinced that Funk is the Greatest of All Time. And by this point in the set Colon would have been a lock for my GWE top 100. This dude just churns out good-great match after good-great match.

Abby’s head is bandaged to start. Hmm. I wonder if they will open up that wound. Abby stabs Colon with something right away. Probably remembering the severe ass kicking Carlos served him up last time they met. Abby keeps on Colon from the start with some great headbutts and standing on top of him for way too long for such a fat man and staring out into the crowd. More great headbutts and fork stabbing continues. Colon is busted open by this point as you can imagine. He tires to fire back with punches but Abby keeps on top of Colon focusing on the cut. Biting him, chopping and punches and headbutting him. Colon is really good selling all of the damage here. This is like the opposite of their last match with Abby completely dominating Colon early on. Colon makes his comeback though and the crowd goes fucking nuts. Colon starts blasting Abby and tears into him and I swear to god I saw part of Abby’s brain for a split second. Colon basically confirms my suspicions that his kick to the balls is a signature spot and kicks Abby in the balls. Abby does his unbelievable see-saw through the ropes as Colon continues the assault. This is another really good match between these two. Damn. Abby gets back in and Colon continues beating on him with his jumping headbutts and finally a big punch off the ropes to take the monster down. Crowd goes nuts as Colon starts making attempts at the figure 4. Another gross close up of Abby’s bloody face and I’m pretty sure I see brain again. Gary Hart slips Abby what looks like a fork and Abby stabs Colon in the dick! HOLY SHIT! HE STABBED HIM IN THE DICK! WTF ABBY! A man must have a code. You can’t go around stabbing dudes in the dick. Fortunately, Colon has nuts of steel apparently as he’s back up suplexing Abby within seconds. It turns out Colon had his own fork and he ends up stabbing abby in the face with it for the win. Whoa! Beatdown of Carlos post match but he’s saved by a group of babyfaces. Damn. This was another really good Abby/Colon match other than the unnecessary dick stabbing at the end.

Terry Funk vs. Rick Martel (9/20/86) I don’t recall ever having seen this before so I’m really excited. Funk had that Windham match the day before so I know he’s on fire and Martel is still at his peak as great worker. So I have high hopes. Can we get 3 in a row? Slaps to start and Funk bails out of the ring. Instead of wearing the hat like Windham, Rick Martel elbow drops and knee drops Funk’s hat. Hahahahaha! Great start! While this is happening Funk’s chaps fall down so he just stands there with his arm raised. Hat freshly knee dropped and pants haven fallen off. Everyone laughs at him and he tries to rip off the chaps but has a little bit of trouble so he gets even angrier. This is fucking beautiful. Funk finally gets in the ring but Funk stalls and pushes the ref out of the way saying “let us box.” Martel gets the advantage boxing and takes over early on with Funk stumbling and falling all over the place. Love it. This is just Terry Funk at his Fuerza Guerrera best making a complete fool out of himself including crotching himself on the top rope. He actually starts throwing chairs into the audience, which is pretty freaking insane, and squaring off and threatening to punch the commissioner, getting caught up on the ropes and Martel pulling his pants halfway down. Funk Doesn’t realize his ass is hanging out and gets back in the ring and circles around so everyone can see and laugh at him. He finally realizes what is going on and gets embarrassed again. I’d say Fuerza never went this far but he wrestled his entire career with his ass hanging out. But this is such a blast. Funk decides to make the ref shake his hand. This is the most ridiculously great comedy match ever at this point. This settles down a bit with both guys trading headlocks and Funk using his to shield the ref from seeing Funk kick Martel in the balls. Funk goes from goofy to crazy as he drags Martel outside and piledrives him in the grass. Funk is firmly in control beating the crap out of Martel. Throwing him into the folding chairs and sauntering around like a badass. Funk stays in control with a sleeper and wraps a chain/rope around Martel’s neck as well. Martel finally reverses it and gets some payback choking Funk and getting his own sleeper. Funk breaks it up by spilling over the top rope and these two start brawling outside. HOLY SHIT SPOT where Funk gets his head caught in the chair again and gets caught in the ropes again but not before Martel PILEDRIVES HIM with his head stuck in the chair. INSANE. This was another incredible match. 3 in a row for sure holy fuck. I’d need to look through all the other sets but these might be the best 3 matches in a row of on any 80s set. They’d be 3 of my top 4 matches on the set so far actually. Right this second my top 5 on the set it: 1. Invader 1 vs Ron Starr 9/19/86 2. Terry Funk vs Barry Windham 9/19/86 3. Invader 1 vs Eric Embry June 86 4. Terry Funk vs Rick Martel 9/20/86 5. Sheepherders vs Youngbloods Spring 85

Two of my favorite wrestlers. Windham is probably in the beginning stages of his career peak while Funk is the GOAT. I lied earlier when I said I’d only seen the scaffold match and Colon/Hansen series. I’ve seen this before too and always really enjoyed it. This starts with Barry grabbing Funk’s hat off the ground and putting it on proudly. This starts with them circling each other and locking up a few times feeling each other out. Windham starts out in command with Funk taking a wild bump over the top rope. Funk tosses a chair in the ring and Windam grabs it with one hand, which was badass. Awesome comedy spot from Funk as he hits the ropes and almost spills over the top rope and is flailing like a fish but manages to right himself. Good stuff after the wild brawl before it on the show. Shoving match in the corner and Funk spits at Barry leading to this spilling to the outside. Barry’s anger gets the best of him as Funk posts him and piledrives him on the floor. Awesome stuff with the veteran psyching out the bigger, stronger faster younger guy. Barry manages to fight back so Funk plants him with another piledriver on the floor. Funk you Harley Race. That’s how you do it. Barry crawls his way back to the ring and Funk in control with his world class punches even on his set. Lowblow by Funk and he stays in control. Barry is awesome selling in this. He’s very Ricky Steamboat over the top which is a style of selling I really like in 80s matches. Funk is awesome in control with punches and headbutts. Beautiful Terry Funk twist on the double knockout transition as Funk wildly bumps to the outside. Barry ends up posting Funk and they brawl on the outside for a while. Funk’s selling is typically awesome and Barry gets some payback with a piledriver in the ring and throws Funk outside for a piledriver on the floor. Barry pants Funk with a 2nd one after Funk wildly spins around right into it. WOW! This fucking rocks. Even after the last match this comes across like an awesome match. I like this more than I ever have before. These guys seem inspired by the last match as they are leaving everything out there. Funk in particular is having an absolutely classic performance. I love beyond words the spot where Funk tries to hit a neckbreaker but Barry holds onto the ropes. Barry is such an amazing athlete. These two should have had a mega feud in the NWA because this is one of the best Barry matches ever and wouldn’t look out of place to me on a list of Funk’s best either. The spot where Funk gets his head caught in the chair and tries to get in the ring but can’t is the most beautiful Terry Funk moment ever. What a match. What a one-two punch on the set.

Really fun opening section with Invader controlling Starr with hiptosses. Starr apparently invented Naoya Ogawa’s gimmick because he hits a nasty STO and goes into a side headlock. Invader shows he isn’t Hashimoto by getting out of it pretty easily to continue controlling the opening moments. Awesome moment with Starr covering up to avoid a punch in the corner and then bailing out to avoid another one off the ropes. Starr works in some great punches of his own and attempts a DDT and Invader hits an awesome counter at the last moment. Starr takes over with a footstomp on a rope running spot. We come back from commercial as Starr tosses Invader out of the ring, and Invader gets blasted by some blonde woman with a chair. Invader is busted wide open and bleeding all over the place. From here this match goes from being really fun to being beyond all words as Invader’s stumbling and bleeding all over the place selling is one of the single greatest sell jobs I’ve ever seen. He fires back with punches and chops but continues selling and it is just…I mean I don’t know what to do with something like this. Anything I say is going to come across as completely over the top hyperbole. But this is one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen. I don’t mean to sell Ron Starr shot by not mentioning him at all because he is awesome in this and fast becoming one of my new favorite workers. But this is all about Invader. Utterly fucking mindblowing performance. Best match on the set so far and one of the best matches I’ve ever seen on the strength of that performance.

Who are these dudes? WILD INSANE BRAWL TO START. HOLY FUCK THIS IS SOME HOT SHIT. Crowd is going nuts as these dudes go all Don Frye vs Takayama on each other. Holy shit this was intense in the opening moments. I don’t know who these guys are. They both have on long white tights and white masks. Fortunately the crowd and announcers can though. Crowd is going crazy for this from the sound of things. I don’t really have any idea how to review a match like this since the wrestlers are basically identical. I can figure out who is who at times but overall not really. I enjoyed this though. Fun stuff and the opening is bonkers. Hugo & Jaggers would have made this great I’m sure of it.

You know, I love wrestling matches on baseball fields. When I used to watch football, I always enjoyed fooball games on baseball fields. You know what I hate on baseball fields? Yep. Baseball. This starts with both guys brawling around in foul territory with Invader in control to start. These two brawl up into the bleachers! YES! This is loads of fun but we kinda get lost in a sea of chaotic fans for a bit. We find our boys again and the wild brawling continues. They end up going basically half way around the stadium it seems like (probably not really but they traveled a long way) and end up brawling on a dugout to the delight of the crowd until Starr takes over. Punching, kicking and taking off his belt and whipping Invader with it. Invader fights back with his amazing punches and manages to get the belt. Crowd is going nuts. They fight back into the stands briefly but end up back on the field. They get lost again for a second before showing back up directly in front of one of the cameras and brawling on top of what I assume is the other dugout. Brutal posting by Starr on Invader leads to some vicious built whipping. But Invader kicks Starr in the balls and gets the belt himself. Crowd is going insane. One of the fans tries to hit Starr with his umbrella as little kids are going crazy for Invader. Finally back in the ring this is a pure slugfest with both guys on their knees punching and kicking the other guy. This is really good stuff. Invader goes for a splash but ends up eating Starr’s knees. Beautiful doublearm suplex by Starr. Predictable but spectacular testicle crushing based transition but the crowd eats it up and its different than usual so that’s good. We also get a double knockdown spot for a more delayed transition. SECOND DOUBLE KNOCKDOWN but this time both guys are counted out! WHOA! Actually a really cool finish with both guys selling they’re out and the doctor coming in. This wasn’t as good as Invader I vs Embry but was another great Invader match who has had a hell of a 1986.

This starts off with the Herders saluting the NZ Flag which is always fun. Slugfest to start with Invader 3 getting the advantage over Luke Williams and some fun babyface shine armwork. The Invaders are a really fun tag team. Again their early babyface in and out tag work is about as fun as anything you’ll see from the top babyface teams of this era. The arm work, the distraction of the ref etc is all just fantastic. Cut off by the Herders is AWESOME as Butch hits a knee to (I think) Invader I’s back as he hits the ropes too close to the Herders corner. I actually like the Herders more in these sort of classic southern tag style matches than things like the barbed wire match earlier. Well, I’ve liked lots of their more brawling matches too. So maybe I just didn’t like that barbed wire match from disc 1 because this is another great match by the Herders. I want to see some Herders vs Rock n Roll’s matches. I’m excited to rewatch/watch for the first time some of their stuff on the Portland set. This really picks up after the hot tag and the run towards the finish is really fun. This set is really living up to its billing at this point.

I’m glad to see Abby survived that Colon match. Jaggers isn’t as great early on as he was in the tag tournament. He’s laughing at his own jokes way too much. Hugo continues to be terrific. I’m convinced he’s better than Jim Ross by this point. Jovica is bloodied early but manages to get control beating the crap out of Abby. Abby is awesome slowly falling back through the ropes. Abby takes back over stabbing Jovica with something. Both guys are bloody as fuck. Abby does a really good job selling in this. Its cool because its so different than in the Colon match where he was selling shock. Here he’s selling pain. Abby is awesome. Gosh these guys are just covered in blood. It is insane. They take turns just whipping each other with the chain. This is pretty dang fun actually with all of the blood, heat, and stiffness. Fun stuff