ohtani's jacket

I'm being slightly facetious when I call Rudge the GOAT, but he is one of my favorite WoS workers. Let me see if I can dredge up the list.

Episode 2 is fun. The timeline is all over the place and it leans heavily into fictionalized drama, but the wrestling is great. Love Jackie's outfits. They went pretty soft on the bullying, but I guess that was to be expected. The Jaguar Yokota/Jackie Sato stuff was silly. Toshikuni Matsunaga never looked as cool as Takumi Saitoh, and I don't think he was pulling the strings as much as the show makes out. I did love Takuma Oto as Shiro Abe. Shout out to the luchadoras as well.

I don't remember the dates of his best matches off the top of my head. It's more of the transformation into the bald head and moustache look that marks the beginning of prime Rudge. He spent a lot of time working overseas, especially in Germany, Austria and Japan, so he's not a staple on TV. He probably doesn't have the personality that you like from workers, except for when he's at his grouchiest. The reason people like him is because he taught guys like Finlay and Regal everything they know about being real sons of bitches in the ring.

I have some 60s footage of Howes, Wall and Riley that show promise. The Howes match, in particular, is one of the better bouts from the 60s. The others are guys with big reps. I'm sure there are other workers I haven't considered. A lot of talent appeared on the small screen in the 60s. Terry Rudge s the GOAT, but his early 70s work is kind of bland. The first really great bout is the one against Marty Jones from '76, IIRC.

I've never seen Young Rock, but it takes a lot of liberties. Most of them are for the sake of the script. It's only 5 episodes long, so they need to tie a lot of things together quickly.

Watched the first episode. It's good, but I've got to say it's a highly fictionalized account of Dump Matsumoto's life. I hope people don't view it as a history lesson. Some of the scenes are based on actual events, but almost nothing happens the way it occurred in real life. It's a dramatization so that's understandable. I just hope fans don't get confused by it. The wrestling choreography looks great. They use a lot of sound effects, but the actual wrestling is better than I expected. For the most part, they get the retro stuff correct, though it's difficult for them to create the exact atmosphere of the wrestling matches. There also exterior scenes that are clearly not 1970s exteriors, but that can't be helped. The haircuts and clothes are awesome and the interior scenes look great. The way they present the inner workings of the wrestling business will cause a few eyes to roll, especially the unnecessary explanation for the Jackie Sato vs. Maki Ueda retirement match. The Matsunagas did manipulate the wrestlers' feelings a lot and cause dissension among them, but the locker room scene between Jackie and Maki is silly. The acting is good. Yuriyan does a terrific job as the lead. Some cool cameos from Devil Masami and Monster Ripper in the first episode.

Solar vs Flama Azul (Arena Naulcapan 1991) It's not every day a Solar apuestas match falls in your lap. Solar isn't quite as good at brawling as some of his contemporaries, but he makes up for it by making his offense look extra nasty. This wasn't structured like a blood feud. Instead, it was more of a Solar showcase, but I did like how the tercera was a straight up scrap instead of both men trading big moves. Azul's haircut was one of the best I've seen in a while.

She was basically talking about the feelings she had while playing the role. She talks about how hated Dump was by everyone in Japan, and a scene they shot where the audience were cheering for Chigusa and screaming for Dump to go home. Backstage Dump's hands were shaking, but she went out there and put on a show. Yuriyan says that she could understand how Dump must have felt at the time and was incredibly moved by it. I'm sure it will become clearer when you see the show. None of those heels wanted to be villains. They all wanted to be popular idols like their heroes. It was tough on them playing the heel.

Bull Power vs. Steve Wright & Eddy Steinblock (Wien, Summer '87) This was a handicap match that starts getting fun when the CWA guys work over Vader's arm. The Vader vs. Wright exchanges were cool. It breaks down in the end, but you get a great view of the fired up fans at ringside and Wright and Steinblock are super over with the fans.

Rambo vs. Otto Wanz (Wien, Summer '87) This was mislabeled as Rambo vs. Bull Power. The CWA Rambo is really lame compared to the lucha Rambo. Otto sleep walks through this bout. My interest in Otto definitely depends on his opponent. The crowd was annoying here. The horns were so loud that I had to mute the video. I guess this was he main event on the last night of the tournament. Afterwards there was a trophy ceremony where the wrestlers received flowers and awards. Indio Guajaro and some of the other lads wore suits. Billy Samson looked pretty fly. Leon looked like he couldn't afford a decent suit at this point. I was hoping that he'd attack Otto and destroy the trophy but instead he gave him a dirty look.

This Wien version of Bull Power wouldn't have been allowed on TV. I honestly think Vader would have been a better fit for All-Star since they had a wilder product. Regardless of whether Vader could take Big Daddy in a shoot, he would have made him work and I don't think the big guy would have liked that. Whatever people think of Wanz, he didn't shy away from trading blows with Vader.

He wasn't much of a babyface. Just another victim of the Bull Power drive-by. Vader vs. Big Daddy sounds like a very bad idea for Big Daddy's health.

This wasn't a bad match, but did anyone really want to see Undertaker wrestle Orton in a Hell in a Cell match? Maybe I'd have felt differently if I'd watched the buildup, but nothing about the entrances or the commentary sold me on the premise. I swear Cole and Taz were reading from the same script that JR and King used whenever they introduced a Hell in a Cell match. The buzzword this time was "Devil's Playground." There was no way Orton was going to climb the cage or take a crazy bump, so instead they worked one of those Hell n a Cell match where they brawl around the outside of the ring. Orton bled big time. Undertaker tried to get his hands on Orton Sr throughout the bout and finally got some payback at the end. From what I can tell, this was a blow off match, so the result was never in doubt. It never really felt like Taker was in any serious jeopardy. Orton tried, but perhaps a different stip like a Buried Alive Match or a Casket Match would have suited them better.

Bull Power vs. John Quinn II (Wien, Summer '87) It's a shame we don't have this in full as it looked like a great brawl, especially when they were fighting on the outside. Vader beat Quinn pretty bad here.

No worries. I fixed a few of them.

Bull Power vs. John Quinn I (Wien, Summer '87 The summer of Vader continues. I'm not sure S&M style gear fits Born in the USA, but you can't go wrong with this bout. Quinn gets some nice licks in, Vader hits him back even harder, and then Big Leon assaults the ref. The ref blades, which sends the crowd into a frenzy. Vader gets on the mic and a woman attacks him from behind. Wild scenes in Vienna. Can't wait for the rematch.

Fascinating to see the same venue in the 60s.

Bull Power vs. Tony St. Clair (Wien, Summer '87) I think it's fair to say that brawling with behemoths like Vader isn't really Tony's forte, but he does an outstanding job here and shows more fire than in a lot of his 90s bouts. Rene Lasartesse vs. Tony St. Clair (Wien, Summer '87) Tony gets the shit beaten out of him by the legendary Rene Lasartesse then gets a little payback. Great selling from Tony. He looks awesome here, which I guess is no surprise since it's closer to his prime than the 90s was. He celebrates his win over Rene like he's won the entire tournament.

If you're wondering what the heck is going on, Booker T injured himself at a house show and Teddy Long allowed him to choose a substitute in the Best of Seven Series. Orton was coming off a beating at the hands of the Undertaker in their Hell in a Cell match, and Book convinced Orton that he could repair his reputation by helping Booker win the United States title. Book would keep the tile, but Orton would get all the glory. The match was short but technically sound. Booker and Sharmell joined the commentary table, and while they were good on the stick, Cole couldn't stop bickering with Booker and talking over the match. I kind of wish Booker had bitch slapped him. The finish was confusing at first. Rather than allowing Orton to tap the crossface, Sharmell hit Benoit in the head one of Booker's crutches (better than a broom) and caused a DQ. Orton RKO'ed Benoit afterward while nursing his arm from the crossface, which was nice selling. I guess Sharmell felt that they had a match in hand and could soften Benoit up for the next bout. Jesse Ventura would be proud of that logic.

Have you seen Steinblock vs. One Warrior Nation? Apparently, it has the lowest rating of any match on Cagematch.

Bull Power vs. Eddy Steinblock I (Wien, Summer '87) Bull Power vs. Eddy Steinblock II (Wien, Summer '87 I'll tell you this much -- Vader was over in Wien in 1987. He was challenging the audience to step in the ring with him for cash and jawing with the fans. In the second bout, a kid spat on him as he made his way to the ring. It's a good thing Vader didn't notice or he might have taken a swing at the kid. He wasn't a polished performer yet, but he projected an aura of violence and danger. When he cut loose, you were never quite sure how many of his blows were landing. He took some fun bumps, including a great bump to the outside where they began brawling in front of the fans. It was nice to see the crowd for a change. They were going ape shit, which you never really see in other footage. I'm not sure what Matt has against Steinblock. He was a perfectly good poor man's Tommy RIch/Barry Windham in these clips.

John Quinn & Rolo Brasil vs. Indio Guajaro & Axel Dieter (Wien, Summer '87) This was a shorter clip than usual but it gave you a general idea of the flow of the match. I dunno why they couldn't film the entire match. Dieter was working heel here. I suspect that changed on a nightly basis depending on the card. We got a little Quinn vs. Dieter, which was the match up I wanted to see.

Yes, however as a rule I prefer the Bull Blitzer version of Steve Wright to the Wonder Boy stuff.

Steve Wright vs. Axel Dieter (Wien, Summer 1987) This got good as soon as Wright stopped doing his cutesy shit and began rocking Dieter with forearm smashes and vicious stomps. That's what I like to see from Steve Wright. Dieter struggled to get his licks in, at least in the clips, but it was fun watching Wright pummel him. I wish we saw this Steve Wright more often.

Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs (WWF, 5/19/86) There are a million Dream Team vs. Bulldogs matches. This is the first one I happened to watch. It was a brisk and entertaining match. We got to see Valentine vs. Dynamite Kid, which was exciting. In the right setting those two could have had a match where they beat the shit out of each other. Fun finish with the heels thinking they'd won the title only for the ref to screw them.