ohtani's jacket

This is the last bit of Breaks I have for the time being: Jim Breaks vs. Vic Faulkner (7/25/84) This was another fun match between these two. I liked it a bit more than the match from '82 because instead of a full on tantrum from Breaks he targeted Faulkner aggressively. The entire match aired on the original broadcast as it was a little on the short side and these guys bouts never resolved anything anyway, so it wasn't much more than you standard Breaks fare, but what probably wasn't known at the time was that it would be the last time that Breaks regularly featured on British TV. He appeared a couple of more times on ITV in '86 and '88 as part of the All-Star slot and he had a couple of matches on Screen Sport, but he was never again a Saturday afternoon fixture as he had been for so many years. The frustrating thing about that for Breaks fans is that even though he was 44 in 1984 and a thirty year vet, he showed no signs of slowing down nor was his act tired. Feels like we were robbed of extra footage. The other thing I thought about while watching this was how the key to Joint Promotions' success, IMO, was that guys like Faulkner and Breaks looked like guys you could meet down at your local pub, who instead of being good at say darts, football or pool just happened to be professional wrestlers. And the reality was that it wasn't far from the truth, as most guys had day jobs and probably enjoyed a pint or two. Breaks was the landlord of an inn and Faulkner started working for a brewery around this time. That accessibility strikes me as a stark contrast to say the WWF were guys were like superheroes come to live, Mexico where workers hide their identities or Japan where they're presented as elite athletes. Of course, as a fan I tend to ignore a lot of the gimmick stuff like Nagasaki and so on, but watching this Breaks and Faulkner really did stand out as two regular blokes.

I've heard Walton make some uncomfortable comments about race before, like the Johnny Kwango joke he loved to repeat every single time about Kwango eating an ice cream in the dark, but I think you're barking up the wrong tree here, professor. Walton always made a point to identify each wrestler for the people at home without a colour set. He doesn't say anything he wouldn't say about a pair of white guys. It just so happens that Harris has an outstanding hair style as opposed to tattoos or any other distinctive feature.

Kamala's aged well? Hasn't he had a double leg amputation? It might be worth taking a look at his work as Mississippi Mauler to judge what his work might have been like if he hadn't adopted the Kamala gimmick.

Marty Jones vs. Young David (5/13/80, JIP Rd 4) This was the rematch that Walton wanted to see, or perhaps he knew it was going to air so he put it over like that. I'm not sure how much aired, but not much survived on tape and what was shown was flatter than the June match. Seems like it was taped a month earlier than the June match and aired out of order, so perhaps they were better for having this one under their belt. Marty Jones vs. Marc Rocco (12/30/80, JIP Rd 4) These two were such great rivals. I'm not surprised that this match-up featured more times on WoS than any other. Unfortunately, we only get a couple of rounds here, but what's shown is tremendously entertaining. Rocco is all stalling and illegal tactics and Jones keeps clenching his fist and calling Rocco a bum. Jones' offence is awesome and bumping was probably Rocco's greatest strength so together they're a match made in heaven. They work this cool sequence where Jones is sick and tired of Rocco's bullshit and does that unique piledriver of his followed by an illegal senton off the top rope, which was a great way to burn a public warning. Rocco sells it for all he's worth, clutching at his rib area, sprawling to the outside, rolling back into the ring, falling out again... The ring they're wrestling in is a piece of shit and one of the boards pops up under the canvas and they end up brawling and using the raised board as a weapon. If you're the type of person who thinks the beauty of wrestling is two people who don't like each other then this is the Brit feud for you. Marty Jones vs. Marc Rocco (2/11/81, JIP) This was a special twenty minute, no rounds, one fall contest to try to determine a winner between Rocco and Jones. My version joins the action about five minutes into the bout. This felt like more of a fight than their 70s matches. Rocco was all elbows and kicks and knees to go along with his illegal tactics and Jones would get all steamed up, move the ref out of the way and go after Rocco with the world's angriest monkey flips. The match followed along the same lines as their previous fight with Jones busting out more and more of his offence (and monkey climbs) and Rocco surviving and managing to find a way to avoid a loss. This time it was held in a gym on top of what looked like a netball court or something similar, which gave them room to try dueling topes. They couldn't quite catch them properly and the WoS crew shot them from over the catcher's shoulder as opposed to a side on view, but it was cool to see. What impressed me the most, however, is that for as annoying as I usually find Rocco there isn't a single thing about him in these Jones matches that bugs me. That may be because instead of Rocco initiating his usual go-go-go style, Jones dictates so much of the pace and tempo through his fired up babyface act or it may be because Rocco tended to brawl more in these matches. Whatever the case, these Rocco/Jones matches are highly entertaining. Next up is a lengthy series of matches with Dave "Fit" Finlay, which just might be good.

Actually, I think that Bradford match may be the last time that Breaks and Grey wrestled on television. I believe we have seven of their matches; three that aired on The Wrestling Channel and four from the original broadcasts. That makes Grey/Breaks easily the most documented Breaks feud. The one feud I think it's a pity we don't have more from is the Breaks/Ryan rivalry as a lot of older British fans seem to recall it fondly.

Jim Breaks vs. Vic Faulkner (11/3/82, JIP Rd 3) The first Jim Breaks match I ever saw was his 1977 match against Vic Faulkner, which was the perfect introduction to Breaks as these two had the sort of chemistry that brings out the best in Jimmy Breaks. Faulkner came across as a bit of a smart arse at times, but he was very good at switching from all smiles and laughs to pissed and ready to take matters into his own hands. This was a bit of a childish bout and only really consisted of Breaks and Faulkner antagonising each other, but there were some entertaining scuffles and a few funny moments. Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (4/7/83, JIP Rd 2) I really liked this one. If I were awarding points for originality, it wouldn't fare too well as it was extremely similar to their title switch from a year before, but one of the standout features here was the Colne crowd. Grey had this cheerleading section in the front row who were, to put it politely, mental. Think Misawa fan, only as a bunch of older parents in a tiny hall in Lancashire, England. Breaks spent a lot of the match working over Grey's arm both legally and illegally and receiving his usual public warnings. At point, the ringleader of the Grey group appeared to attack Breaks with his coat leading to a bit of a skirmish between rounds. The finish here was almost identical to the Wolverhampton match from '82, but all of the heat and tension and animosity, along with the smattering of great wrestling, made this one of their more memorable bouts for mine. Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (aired 5/28/83, JIP Rd 3) How good a heel was Jimmy Breaks? Even in his hometown of Bradford the crowd were against him. This rematch from a few weeks after the Colne match features more of the same tension between the workers, which was pushed as North vs. South by Walton and presumably the promoters. Grey being a Londoner doesn't really matter, however, as he was such a fantastic babyface that everyone pulled for him wherever he went. The rematch continues the theme of Breaks working over Grey's arm, which Grey sells extremely well, and in a neat piece of booking Breaks is down a fall and has used up his two public warnings but it's unclear whether Grey will be able to continue. The finish is screwy, but it's a neat bit of selling by Breaks who reacts by trashing the flower bouquet given to Grey. Walton cracks me up claiming Breaks has ruined a beautiful flower bouquet and that Grey could have given it to his wife. Unfortunately, this is the end of the Breaks/Grey footage and the only major Breaks feud we have documented from here on out is the feud against Danny Collins, who I loathe and despise, but this was a fun way to go out.

Jon Cortez vs. Keith Haward (11/5/80, JIP Rd 1) These two were just so far beyond what everybody else was capable of. This was a 25 minute match that resembled shoot style more than it did the Euro style. The Lincoln crowd found it a bit hard going at times, but they did give a hearty round of applause at the end. Cortez got on the mic and praised Haward for being unbelievable for a guy with little over a year's experience as a pro, and you could tell he enjoyed wrestling him. Television was a personality contest and Haward never had much of one, but with his amateur background he was arguably the finest wrestler to ever grace the British small screen and this was phenomenonal at times. If you like your holds and your grappling you're in for a treat.

It's in Kitami, Setagaya, close to Seijogakuen-mae station. You can also access it from Futako-Tamagawa station. http://orenooudou.com/ Bull runs a bar now in Nakano near Shinjuku. Here's a random ass youtube video showing how to find it -- Thanks! Been to either place? I have watched that video and it looks like it's only a block or two away from where it used to be, or it may actually be the same location. I'm not sure as I found it for the first time ever randomly exploring the neighbourhood. I had absolutely no idea she had a restaurant until I stumbled upon it. Not yet. My daughter takes up most my time these days.

Marty Jones vs. Dynamite Kid (11/13/79) This was from the original broadcast but it was a six round match shown in full. These guys had a match in 1983 that in my opinion is one of Marty Jones' finest and probably the best match of Dynamite Kid's career. This couldn't live up those lofty heights, but it was a decent contest. Walton couldn't stop remarking over how much muscle Dynamite Kid had gained since the last time he was in the UK and out of the blue he named dropped Vince McMahon, mispronouncing his name in the process. I think he was talking about senior, but still it was surreal to hear McMahon's (mispronounced) name on British TV like that. Then he spun some bullshit about how McMahon wanted Dynamite Kid to headline Madison Square Garden against Nelson Royal. Match was worked like it was going to a double knockout, sold like it was going to a double knockout, and sure enough, went to a double knockout. That was pretty much the standard Dynamite Kid finish when he was over in the UK so I could live with it. There aren't many of his matches on tape, but Dynamite's British work seems to be the best of his career, IMO. I look at Marty Jones as the kind of worker Dynamite Kid could have been if he hadn't moved to Calgary. Marty Jones vs. Young David (6/25/80, JIP Rd 2) This was your typical "young guy goes longer than experienced guy would have expected" WoS bout. It was face vs. face so there wasn't the same edge to it that you get from a Breaks or Cooper putting over a blue-eye. The wrestling was good, albeit a little soft as Jones released a lot of holds to give the boy a fighting chance. Walton put the match over quite a lot, piping in on how much he'd love to see a rematch between the two. If you've never seen a 16/17 year-old Davey Boy Smith it's quite surreal to think he was wrestling some of the greats of the sport at that age. It's amazing how much of a boy he looks like. He looks completely like a high school student, or college student as we say in British English.

Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (6/27/79) This aired on The Wrestling Channel and was part of the Wembley Arena show headlined by Quinn vs. Big Daddy. After two failed attempts to decide a British Welterweight champion, the stipulation here was a thirty minute time limit and if there was no winner referee Szakacs would determine the winner on points. As a result, there were no rounds here and this was a straight one fall contest. Given it was (probably) the biggest stage they'd ever worked on, they put on their version of an epic title match. Breaks vs. Grey is a bit of a strange one to me. They were obviously two of the most gifted wrestlers of their generation, lightweight or otherwise, but neither of them was the other man's best opponent and despite the fact we have half a dozen or so of their matches on tape they never really hit one out of the park. It's strange because the dynamic between them is quite good. Grey seledom hides his frustration at Breaks' clenched fists and usually gets his tail up, and Breaks is generally entertaining, but for some reason they don't produce the same level of outstanding wrestling as you see them perform against other guys. It's good, but not blowaway good like that 1980 Saint vs. Grey match and Saint is one of my least favourite name workers. In fact, I kind of enjoyed the Breaks/Szakacs interactions more than the match itself, which was a bit of a distraction. But it was a big stage, with lots of people, and the atmosphere was memorable. So was the finish, but not for the right reasons. As the time limit approaches, Breaks is taking a bunch of bumps from Grey's "headmare with spin out" and then inexplicably Grey does a spin out of his own, flinging himself out onto the table in front of the ring. Presumably he was dizzy or something, but it was a shitty, shitty payoff to three matches worth of championship deciding wrestling. I don't know if it was mistimed or what, but it was odd as Breaks was nowhere near Grey and Grey just suddenly span and fell out of the ring like a man possessed. Needless to say, it probably coloured my disappointment in the match. Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (4/6/82, JIP Rd 6) This was from the original broadcast. I've noticed that they usually showed about half of a twelve round match like this one and pretty much the entirety of anything that went six rounds or less. This was a seemingly rare occasion where Breaks didn't have a belt so this had the usual competitive edge between the two. I can see people preferring the more serious, athletic side of Breaks, but I think I prefer a stronger dose of comedy. Nevertheless, this was one of their better matches and the Wolverhampton crowd was right into it. Plenty of paying customers made their presence felt at ringside, that's for sure. The best thing about it, however, was that amid the endless mar of shitty finishes this had a clean pinfall. As much as I love British wrestling, I don't agree with the Dusty philosophy of give 'em crappy finishes so the clean ones stand out. I can live with it, but it takes some getting used to and I know Childs had a hard time with it. This had a really fantastic penultimate round and while they didn't milk the actual pin for as much as they could have in terms of nearfall and excitement, instead springing it as you might see in a legitimate sporting contest, it was a neat surprise.

Rotunda's tag work in Money Inc. was really good and his drop toehold was a thing of beauty, but you'd have to be a masochist to enjoy his out of ring IRS stuff.

Any wrestler worth their salt is good at their role. There's been hundreds of good workers in the history of professional wrestling. It's not some rare thing that only a few people get right. And the aging thing is nonsense. If all things were equal it would be a fair point, but they're not. Villano III is a broken down shell of a worker, if he can even work these days at all, but that doesn't mean he "got it" any less than Navarro or Terry or Solar or Casas or Panther.

Marty had a style of working where if he got fired up enough and it turned into a forearm smash contest he could have a great match with just about anybody, but he was a hell of a worker besides that. I might be inclined to pick Grey as the most versatile, however. Marty Jones vs. Tony St. Clair (9/26/78, JIP Rd 2) These catch weight contests often produce gems, but this was a bit more special than usual as it was the British Heavyweight champion vs. the British Light-Heavyweight champion, so Jones was giving away a fair bit of size. I can't imagine a heavyweight champion in any other promotion putting over a lighter wrestler as much as St. Clair did here. I've never given St. Clair much credit as a worker, instead praising him as a babyface foil for the likes of McManus, Kincaid and Bond, but I thought he was excellent here. Whoever booked this did a great job as they fooled me twice. St. Clair stayed down during the break between rounds with a shoulder injury and I thought maybe we were going to see a bullshit World of Sport injury finish that put Jones over for whatever reason, but St. Clair shrugged off the pain and the two men put on the best round I've seen on these discs to date. Really fantastic wrestling that had the crowd on their feet. Then they did a head clash spot that I thought for sure would lead to a double knockout, but the match kept going. For as shitty as WoS finishes can be, when they decide to pull a swerve or two it works really well. The match was a cracker and both guys came out of it looking good. Why more wrestling can't be booked like this is a mystery.

Jim Breaks vs. Jon Cortez (5/26/76) This aired on The Wrestling Channel and was absolute vintage Breaks in front of a hot Royal Albert Hall crowd. Cortez was one of the best lightweights of the early 80s and I thought this would be a chance to see him when he was a bit younger, but as usual with a bit of research I was dumbfounded to discover that he'd made his debut in the early 60s and was a twenty year vet in those 80s matches I like. It never ceases to amaze me how old these British workers are and how good they remain into their 40s and 50s. I've always thought that luchadores age the best, but I'm inclined to think it's the Euro workers. Breaks was at his best here. He had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Cortez, for his part, added some fun spots, but this was the Jim Breaks show and possibly my favourite Breaks match ever. It wasn't one of his "story" matches such as his bouts against Young David (Davey Boy Smith), and thus when it came time to end it ended somewhat abruptly, but for Breaks comedy, and Breaks comedy that gets killer heat, I'm not sure it can be beat. Probably my favourite part was the way the crowd would react whenever Breaks tried to sneak up on Cortez from behind. A huge wail would break out letting Cortez know what Breaks was up to. Breaks was also in fine form with his one-liners. He managed to crack Walton up on several occasions, though they did lose me on one occasion when Breaks asked a woman "did you miss the bonfire?" and Walton said you could tell Breaks was from Yorkshire from that line. Uh, no Ken, I can't. I know Guy Fawkes was from Yorkshire, but I don't really get it. Easier to understand was the visual comedy, and there was a great spot where Breaks tried to imitate Cortez's roll out of a head mare. Comedy gold. I love the way Walton calls moves as well, "head mare with a spin out." In between all the fun and games there was some classy wrestling, but this was geared more towards entertainment than serious wrestling. Apparently, Cortez hadn't been on TV for two years and Walton kept reiterating that he had thought Cortez may have retired, so this was something of a return match and was highly successful despite Cortez putting Breaks over a bit too easily in the end. Match was a lot of fun, had great heat and Breaks was on form.

It's in Kitami, Setagaya, close to Seijogakuen-mae station. You can also access it from Futako-Tamagawa station. http://orenooudou.com/ Bull runs a bar now in Nakano near Shinjuku. Here's a random ass youtube video showing how to find it --

Same deal as with Jim Breaks. Marty Jones vs. Marc Rocco (9/13/78) This was the third of the Marty Jones/Marc Rocco matches that aired on The Wrestling Channel. I've been wanting to see this for the longest time as the Rocco/Jones matches are what turned my curosity over British wrestling into a wrestling love affair that's spanned a couple of hundred matches now. This was title vs. title, Rocco's British Heavy-middleweight title vs. Jones' British Light-heavyweight title, which was a pretty rare stip as far as I'm aware. The angle was that Jones dropped down to Rocco's weight but that was all kayfabed bullshit as far as I know. Mind you, not having seen Jones' 70s work for a while I was surprised by how small he was at this point. I've actually been quite of disappointed by some of the original broadcast Jones that's popped up from the early 80s, so as soon as this got going I sank my teeth into some prime Marty Jones. I really love this match-up. People who know me will know that I hate Rocco, but against Jones he's just about perfect. The closest I've seen him come to this with another opponent is that great catchweight contest he had with Pat Roach. Rocco worked heel here, but it was same kind of deal as a rudo in a lucha title match in that he was more invested in winning Jones' title than worrying too much about cheating. I haven't watched the other Rocco/Jones matches in a couple of years so I'm not sure how this compares. My gut reaction was that it was the least of the three matches, but I'd have to go back and watch the other two. What's remarkable about these matches is how ahead of their time they were. They could have easily been great matches in the 90s let alone the late 70s. It's amusing how Walton doesn't know the names for the moves they do. At one point he calls a proto-missile dropkick a "dropkick from height." I thought they'd screw us out of a finish since it was title vs. title, but they actually swapped titles on a count out. It was announced as a knock out, but it was a huge ass bump over the top rope from one of the workers. That kind of gave it away if you know these two. Strangely enough, the winner vacated the loser's belt straight away and the loser won it back again in the tournament to determine the new winner, which doesn't make much sense, but who am I to question thirty five year old booking? This was a good match.

I got a batch of new Jim Breaks I haven't seen before, much of it original broadcast stuff, so I thought I'd jot down my thoughts here. Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (4/24/79, JIP Rd 7) This was a tournament final for the vacant British Welterweight crown that aired on Cup Final Day 1979. About 17 minutes aired, so we got to see around half the match. The usual Breaks/Grey dynamic was on show here with Grey reacting aggressively to Break's punches by using the open hand to strike his nose. Breaks appeared to bleed hardway, but as usual the World of Sport camera guy avoided a close-up and instead Walton tried to sell that the smear of blood you get from a bloodied nose was Breaks bleeding profusely. This was quite a toned down performance from Breaks, though he did receive a public warning. It was mainly a battle between the Breaks Special and Grey's surfboard. Grey got in a couple of nice nearfalls, including one surfboard that seemed like it might be the match winner, but as the match began to peter out (which Walton blamed on perspiration), it became obvious that Joint were going to pull one of their favourite tricks and have the match end in a draw to set-up compulsory rematch, a trick they borrowed from the FA Cup replay presumably. Looking at the results, the replay ended in a replay as well, so they definitely got their mileage out of this tournament. The last couple of rounds were disappointing because of the looming draw, but Breaks vs. Grey is always pretty solid so this wasn't too bad.

He owns his own ramen shop.

My favourite memory of Sid was my friend's kid brother dying with laughter over this promo -- http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5es3e_si...rt#.US7TJKLIaPw He turned bright red and fell to the floor in that laughing so hard it hurts kind of way. We rewound it about a million times and by the end we were all in fits of laughter.

What was that thread that Kevin Cook started on Smarkschoice? 75 reasons why Sid rules the world or something like that. Thread needs resurrecting.

You're a year out on the date. This is from '88.

Tully Blanchard vs. Gene Ligon, World Championship Wrestling 1985 Only a squash match, but more evidence that Tully was one of the great television studio workers. Schiavone made the mistake of calling Tully "capable" in an earlier interview and Tully shows Tony just how capable he is by busting out a variety of holds on Gene Ligon. Tully's matches usually feature a lot of bumping and selling and heel shortcuts, so it was fun to watch him work the mat, though I wouldn't rate him as one of the greats in that category.

Harley Race vs. Mil Mascaras, AJPW 9/11/80 This was a styles clash to say the least, but they could have at least thought to make it interesting. The outside brawling, chair waving and table spot was the least inspired stuff I've seen this side of Gene Kiniski's reffing. Neither guy looked like they gave a fuck. Another swing and a miss for Harley in Japan.

Belgian wrestling from 1984. Franz van Buyten vs. Frank Merckx (Pirate Fight, 1984) Who would have thought that Europe would have the best chain matches? I would've thought Mexico, Puerto Rico or one of the Southern territories, but nowhere have I seen such a singular focus on the chain as weapon as in these pirate fights. I love how they'll do regular holds and have the chain pulling across the forehead, in the eyes, even in the other guy's mouth. This wasn't as epic as the Taylor/van Buyten match, but it was still pretty fucking good. The match was clipped, but there was enough shown that it felt whole. Frank Merckx was an ugly looking bugger. He had the kind of face that was made for pro-wrestling, similar to Sid Cooper in the UK. Van Buyten was hardly Rudolph Valentino, but the crowd loved him and he was a great babyface with fantastic selling. He's been a revelation the past few days. I feel pretty confident in stating he was one of the best workers in Europe during the 1980s. Franz van Buyten vs. Le Grand Vladimir (1984) Le Grand Vladimir was a slow guy who couldn't move very well, but he had these hands like a surgeon that seemed to have a vice like gripe whenever he hooked van Buyten. His holds were not only clinical, they looked as if they were excruciatingly painful to break, and van Buyten was a guy who sold excruciatingly painful well. This was also clipped, but enough was shown that you could get the gist of it. van Buyten's forearm smash comeback was so awesome as he clutched his wrist afterwards to put over the impact. Le Grand Vladimir's selling was fun as well, as his gimmick seemed to be the French based Hungarian version of Erich von Stroheim's character in La Grande Illusion and he bumped accordingly. van Buyten ended up disliking the beating he was taking from Vladimir and got DQ'ed by a dodgy ref, which lead to a bunch of protesting at ringside by the Belgian fans and a cool post-match interview where van Buyten made some point about Vladimir having busted open his eye, while young Belgian teenagers loitered around him asking questions in French. One of them looked like a young Francois Truffaut and seemed to be asking van Buyten some sort of philosopical question as the tape run out.