ohtani's jacket

This was much better than the Orton vs. Christian match from the week before and the type of roll-out-of-bed crowd pleaser that WWE workers do so well. It was a reunion of sorts for the Edge and Christian team, which JR smartly tapped into and even Edge's hammy acting and Christian's corny Captain Charisma shtick couldn't derail the premise. Lots of quick tags, lots of exciting action, and even an RKO chant from the crowd. Was t Was the WWE wrong to turn Orton? Inquiring minds wish to know. There's no way if you tuned into this in February 2005 that you wouldn't have been entertained.

These guys didn't match up as well as I would've expected. Their strike exchanges looked phony and the Captain Charisma stuff came across as goofy. Orton was still a face here and they created this minor thing with Christian to give him something to do for February's TV, but it didn't do a ton for me.

Tommy Martindale vs Mitsu Arakawa (NWA Chicago, 10/22/1954) I don't remember seeing Tommy Martindale before. Arakawa is part of the lineage of American-born Japanese heels, but he uses a lot more holds than his predecessors and is almost like a proto version of Hiro Matsuda ("almost" -- don't get too excited.) His gimmick in the territories was that he was a Hiroshima survivor hellbent on vengeance against Americans. That was never gonna fly on Chicago TV in 1954 so this is mainly a straight up wrestling bout.

Hans Hermann vs Yukon Eric (NWA Chicago, 10/22/1954) This was a fun comedy match. Hans Hermann was making his TV debut in the territory and they worked some amusing test of strength spots. Nobody will ever confuse Yukon Eric with being a great wrestler, but he's the type of guy who grows on you and becomes one of the cast of characters in 1950s wrestling. Fun match with a neat bear hug submission. I love how old school submissions like the sleeper hold or bear hug are taken so seriously in the 50s. The urgency with which they're applied is in stark contrast to the mid-match rest holds they'd turn into.

Sandor Szabo & Wilbur Snyder vs Karl Davis & Mr. Moto (NWA Los Angeles, 02/08/1954) This was an exciting match. It may be the best tag match I've seen from the 50s, and that's saying something since I'm not a fan of 50s tag wrestling in the slightest. It starts off in typical 50s fashion playing to everything the audience enjoys and nothing that I like, but it's a great cast of characters. You've got the older-than-dirt, ex-world champion Sandor Szabo, the young, handsome football star, Wilbur Snyder, "Killer" Karl Davis (has there ever been a wrestler with the nickname "Killer" who wasn't awesome?), and Moto with his judo strikes and devastating sleeper hold. There's a great back and forth struggle between the two, leading to an awesome third fall where they do a fantastic nearfall with Szabo almost succumbing to the sleeper hold for a second time. The crowd at ringside are on their feet and the heat is sensational. We have a couple of other Szabo & Snyder tags on tape, but I don't recall any of them leaving an impression as impressive as this one. Great match.

Pat O'Connor vs Sky Hi Lee (NWA Chicago, 05/08/1953) This was out there in the wild but not easily accessible. Really fun big man vs. small man match. Pat O'Connor is the real deal. Larry Chene vs Bobby Nelson (NWA Upstate, 1950s) This was uploaded on YouTube a few years ago in better video quality.

This was a solid match. These guys had matched up so many times that there wasn't anything new they could do, but when Angle is beating on a smaller guy like Mysterio it reminds you what a beast of a wrestler he was. They were given over 15 minutes and slowed the pace down from what we're used to.

I had no idea that the WWE did an episode of RAW in the Saitama Super Arena in 2005. Smart decision to open the show with a pair of wrestlers the fans knew well. I wish the the match had been longer, but they got a decent amount of time for an opening bout and the crowd were into it.

Roy McClarity & Jack Guy vs Kimon Kudo & Walter Achiu (Clark Sports, Chicago Rainbo Arena, 09/13/50) This was already in circulation. Billy Goelz vs Jack Owens (NWA Chicago, 08/13/1960) Goelz is one of my favorite workers from the 50s. He was a bit older here but still kicked ass. This was similar to a lot of 60s wrestling we've seen where it feels like more of a studio match than an arena bout. It was a fun bout though with Jack Owens going ape shit at the end. Reggie Lisowski vs Ivan Kalmikoff (Southwest Sports, 06/23/1952) This was interesting but unfortunately it was a scrap of footage.

Black Panther vs Gene Stanlee (1950s) You wouldn't know it from this newsreel footage, but the Black Panther Jim Mitchell was an important figure in the history of pro-wrestling becoming the first African-American superstar. Instead, the focus is on pretty boy Gene Stanlee, one of the original blond main eventers and early TV stars and the changing image of wrestling in the 1950s. Which would have been great if the voiceover commentary hadn't been such cornball crap.

He's a teenager in those bouts, so you have to compare him to other wrestlers his age. He's okay, but not exactly a protegee. Breaks had a knack for pulling those types of performances out of young workers and did it on more than one occasion. Davey also had a great match with Dave Finlay, but ultimately it's a case of another guy who left before it was clear how good he could be in a UK ring. The matches certainly don't hurt his case, though. He could have totally stunk but he holds up his end.

Angelo Poffo vs Tony Morelli (NWA Los Angeles, 07/16/1951) This is basically the finish. Poffo was working as a babyface in the LA territory and had a brief flurry before the end. Morelli was a tough as nails worker. Sonny Boy Cassidy vs Farmer Pete (Capitol Wrestling, 1950s) This was already in circulation. It's a newsreel film of midget wrestling. Ruffy Silverstein vs Mr Moto (Jiu Jitsu) (NWA Chicago, 1950s) This was new. Russ Davis calls it a jui-jitsu match, but it was more commonly referred to as a judo jacket match in other territories. The Chicago Film Archives has a number of these matches in their collection which haven't been digitally preserved yet. It's basically a submission match with both guys wearing gis. It's not a particularly exciting match, but it's a chance to see Ruffy Silverstein again. If you remember, he was in a Thesz match that notable for them working fairly stiff. Interesting find if nothing else.

Danny McShain vs Bulldog Plesches (Southwest Sports, 1950s) This was already in circulation but McShain is always fun to watch and Paul Boesch gives us a decent history lesson. Mike DiBiase is at ringside wearing a straight jacket so that he can't interfere in the match.

Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen (WWF, 4/4/81) I felt this cage match worked with respect to the finishes in the previous matches between the two, but I would have liked to have seen Backlund earn his victory a bit more. I liked the way Hansen bumped and flailed to allow Backlund to walk through the door, but they could have beat on each other more. I did like Hansen hamming it up after the loss. Hansen in New York is now a thing in my mind even if he never goes full Hansen. FWIW, there's an amusing part at the beginning where Finkel screws around trying to get them to lower the MSG house mic again so he can remind people of the WWF cage match rules and Vince is like, "We already knew that." Early savage Vince!

Verne Gagne vs Roy McClarity (NWA Chicago, 08/06/1954) The Chicago Film Archives uploaded the first fall of this, but this is the complete three fall match with about 20 minutes of additional action. This was an excellent match. The struggle to apply the sleeper hold was epic. I can't recall a more titanic battle over the sleeper hold than in this bout. The finish was awesome as well and extremely well done. The crowd seemed to be for McClarity and booed Gagne at times, which Verne leaned into. Even Pappy Davis liked this one. Don Leo Jonathan vs Jack Moore (NWA Chicago, 10/22/1954) This was uploaded by the CFA in better quality.

Pat O'Connor vs Ivan Rasputin (NWA Chicago, 01/15/1954) This was uploaded by the Chicago Film Archives in better video quality.

Don Arnold vs Larry Hamilton (NWA Los Angeles, 08/31/1953) This was the final few minutes of a three fall bout. We have have footage of both guys against other wrestlers but not against each other. There was a nice headscissors sequence, and I liked how Hamilton sold the airplane spin after the bout was over. Emil Dusek & Ernie Dusek vs Wild Red Berry & Great Togo (NWA Los Angeles, 08/13/1951) A while back there was another Dusek brothers tag posted with Tony Morelli in place of Wild Red Berry. This was a similar sort of bout except that there was a lot more showmanship by the heels. The bout itself was mostly guys mugging each other. That gets boring after a while, but I don't mind Togo when he's stepping forward and using some of his judo style offense, and Red is one of the premier entertainers of his era. It amuses me that you have these Nebraska boys talking about cat fish while in glitzy Hollywood, California.

Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen (WWF, 3/16/81) This was a rinse and repeat of their first match although I thought it was structured slightly better. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Andre the Giant (WWF, 3/16/81) This was a ridiculously fun bout. I wish they'd booked more Andre bouts like this.

Loss has somehow come across a bunch of 50s and 60s footage. Some of it has been in circulation before, some of it is new, and some of it is longer versions of footage that already exists. Jim Londos vs Ivan Rasputin (Clark Sports, Chicago Rainbo Arena, 09/13/1950) I've long sung Jim Londos praises and argued that he should be in the top 100 of the GWE regardless of how limited the footage is. This isn't a game changer in that argument, but it does give us a fun maestro performance to add to his resume. I enjoyed his interview at the start (probably more than the match itself, if I'm being honest.) He showed a keen sense of humour and I liked those flashy grins. The match was a typical Chicago bout. Ivan is a fun worker but this was by the numbers. Londos reminded me of Blue Panther after he lost his mask. Nothing really surprised me about this having watched just about more Chicago than most people have had hot dinners, but it was entertaining for what it was.

This was billed as tecnicos vs rudos. I can understand Hector Garza working as a tecnico in Monterrey, but that's a pretty short memory when it comes to Zumbido. This was more of a typical scrappy, bullshit Monterrey match than the trios from the week before, but it had its moments. A large part of the match seemed to be about Garza's physique, which wasn't great, but they loved a good size comparison during this era of Monterrey. Zumbido had one awesome flurry but was stuck on the sidelines for most of the bout. Halloween and Damian were engaging but there was a lot of smoke and mirrors. My ad\vice is to watch the other bout.

This was an awesome, grimy Monterrey trios match. It was supposed to be rudos vs. rudos, but as we all know, Super Parka is our hero. La Familia de Tijuana were one of the best trios units of the early 00s and their matches are always worth watching. I wouldn't have imagined that when all I knew of them was WCW job guys + Super J Cup Damian impressions, but it's the God's honest truth. Watching them square off against Zumbido was a treat. That dude is low key one of the best lucha workers of the 00s. This match set up the Super Parka vs. Nicho singles bout, but it was far better than that bout.

Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen (WWF, 2/16/81) This was better than I remember Stan being in New York. There were some wonky moments where he had to stand around pretending to work a hold and some power spots from Backlund that would have been more effective later in the match, but once Bob started bleeding it turned into the type of wild spectacle you expect from a Hansen match.

Bob Backlund vs. Masked Superstar (WWF, 10/17/83) I haven't watched much Masked Superstar as there's something off-putting about the gimmick for me, but I thought this was really good. The beginning was mostly focused around Backlund striving to get revenge for Masked Superstar assaulting Backlund's protégé, Eddie Gilbert. I believe Superstar gave him a couple of reverse neck breakers in the ring then gave him another on the concrete. Backlund was extremely good at playing the pissed off babyface. He was better at that role than the smiling All-American babyface. He knew how to inflict pain better than most heels do. Things heated up when Superstar took over on offense, and I thought the finishing stretch was exciting. This set up a return match that wasn't televised and then the following month Backlund dropped the belt to the Sheik. There's no indication here that Backlund is about to be dethroned, but they definitely aren't doing him any favors.

Being shunted around in late night TV slots is not really my idea of high profile. There's no evidence that Catch was even consistently shown on French TV in the early 80s. If it was, the archives are missing plenty of episodes. It doesn't pass the eye test either, as the drop off in quality from the 50s & 60s to the 70s and 80s is striking. Was there a US territory with television that was worse than French Catch at the time? ITV had a higher profile, but after the Wembley shows there was a noticeable downturn. If you compare 1983 Japan to 1983 Joint Promotions, there's no comparison. The buzz around wrestling in Japan at that time was closer to the buzz around wrestling in the UK during the 60s. I have no problem calling European wrestling one of the major centres of pro-wrestling along with Japan, Mexico and the US, especially with the research that Phil has been doing into other European countries like Greece and Spain, but not the centre.

What was special about Japanese wrestling in the early 80s wasn't that they had network deals (Japan is a much smaller country than the US and had no cable television at the time.) The impressive part was that for a small pocket of time, wrestling made into the prime time TV hours. It didn't last that long but it was impressive by pro-wrestling standards. However, I don't think there's a straight connection to be made between US wrestling and overseas territories because of the share size of America and how many different affiliate stations the US had. Not to mention cable. The UK and France are also much smaller countries. I don't think France any high profile wrestling TV of any sort in the early 80s. The UK was struggling at the time. The afternoon WoS spot didn't really compare to the Japanese prime time slots as far as I'm aware. Japan was arguably the biggest wrestling mecca in the world in the early 80s. The UK was minor. France was irrelevant for the most part.