Jkeats

Yeah, I really forgot how quick and sudden Savage was when he was in his prime. He moved around the ring like few others.

For my overall, as it stands right now only halfway through the 4th disc, the Lawler-Mantel (barbed wire) just eeks out over Lawler-Dundee (LLT 83) as my number one. Something about the Mantel match that just really hit me on a gut level the first time I saw it. I had heard so much about the Dundee match over the years but the Mantel one I just happened to see on this Arena Bouts disc I traded for and it was like an undiscovered gem for me.

It sounds promising. It's hysterical because I had a screenplay about a pro wrestler called 60 MINUTE BROADWAY and it was shopped around to the various studios. 20th Century Fox came really close to buying it but the general consensus was always "wrestling movies just don't do well" and READY TO RUMBLE was always cited. As if that was a great movie that just never got a chance. A buddy of mine and I ended up trying to adapt it as a comic book but ended up with the same resistance from comic companies. I'm glad that the barrier seems to be broken down as the backdrop is great for telling stories in a unique atmostphere. I just wish it was my script first

Here's my Disc Three rankings. I had a really hard time with this disc...there were no runaway winners for me: I'm with S.L.L. in that I'm a big fan of the Lawler-Bock feud. I love Bock on the mic and enjoy his smoothness in the ring. Just really good solid action all the way through this disc and it was a really difficult one to rank. I'm not sure if any of these will make my overall top 10. Lawler-Mantel Barbed Wire is still holding on strong to #1. Also, Poffo's "minimalist" style of commentary cracked me up.

Question on the "expiration of time match" format. Is it simply 2/3 falls with TV time remaining or is it whomever has the most falls before TV time ends? It's a very cool concept.

For some reason it only plays the first few seconds of it on my disc and then cuts off and loops. I'll have to seek out the song.

Here are my rankings for Disc Two: Some thoughts: ...I loved the Barbed Wire match and this is probably the third time I've watched it. Really good psychology and Lance's commentary is a treat. I love how the barbed wire is important but it's not the WHOLE story of the match. The Lawler-Mantel series from this time remains a favorite. This would be my number one match for the two discs. The Loser Leaves Town TV match is one I hadn't seen yet. Memphis really did refine the "fake face turn". ...I loved the angle and promos surrounding the Flair-Lawler match and I would have put it at 3 or even 2 but I had a problem with the 10 minute match. It didn't seem urgent enough. I would have liked to see Lawler be more aggressive and trying to get the win quickly. The overall story, though, is a blast. What a way to use a visiting wrestler to spark storylines. ...I'm not a fan of scaffold matches but this was definitely the best one I've ever seen. I can't believe they made the guys had to fall off TWICE for a finish. ...LOVED the heat for the Sugar/Eaton vs. Mantel/Cobra match. Some great chickenshit heel stuff and I laugh every time someone does the "heel hugs his manager" spot. One of my favorites. The hot tag to Mantel was electric. ...I actually liked the Louisville Brawl even more than the Tupelo Concession brawl that was in the voting here on this disc. It seemed much more intense and wild to me. A great disc. Again, I find it so hard to rank past one or two because if something is ranked at the bottom of the list, it doesn't mean I didn't like it.

I just watched the Ware/Lane vs. Gilbert/Morton and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was a great, classic tag match and we even got to see the first signs of Morton "playing Ricky Morton". I loved the comedy and one upsmanship at the beginning and thought the match was a lot of fun as it progressed. I'm right up to the Lawler-Mantel matches now. I have these two (and the one before it that leads into the No DQ match) on a Memphis Arena Matches disc that I got a few months ago and they are among my favorite Memphis matches. I have never seen the Loser Leaves Town one though so I'm looking forward to it. For me, I do factor in the angles as they really put the matches in context for me and get me hyped up about it. I've always been a fan of seeing the build around the match and have always had a hard time when it's just match-match-match. I like to get the whole flavor.

I got a chance to rewatch both King vs. Morton and Dundee vs. Yamamoto/Farris and would change their rankings somewhat. I would move King-Morton to 10. It was a realistic match and the work was top notch but I felt like it was in second gear the whole time and never advanced into third. I forgot about Dundee checking the time and using the clock against his opponents in his handicap match. This was actually one of the only handicap matches that was actually wrestled like a guy with a disadvantage. For that alone it deserved higher. I would put this at #3. Apparently, I do crack sometimes. I'll edit the OP to reflect it (the change, not the crack). This is my deficiency with ranking stuff...other than the top stuff the rest always fall into "I enjoyed that" or "I didn't like that".

No, it's ok, you spoke for me That's pretty much the vibe I had on it. It's not like it was bad or anything, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the other stuff. It was a good solid match and in hindsight or upon rewatching may rank a little higher on the first disc. This was all my one watch first impression of what stuck with me. Actually, it should be ranked higher than the Dundee-Ellering match at least. I liked the Blackwell match and had seen it before...but the finish fell really flat for me. For some reason, and I can't put my finger on it exactly, I really dug the Dundee-Latham match. Something about it I just really enjoyed and connected with. EDIT: I think I'll have to go back and rewatch the Dundee-Yamamoto/Farris handicap match seeing as how high you guys rated it. I think I watched that on Friday night right before going to sleep so I may have to give it a second watch.

Just finished the first disc and those Terry Funk promos are KILLER. This is how I rank the first disk:

I started watching a bit of it last night and am having a blast. I'm thrilled that angles and promos are included on the match discs as it really gives a sense of context. Some nice, solid meat and potatoes wrestling in the first few matches. I got as far as the Tommy Rich-Dundee match and the angle that follows it was a blast to watch.

I would also recommend the Freebirds vs. Idol/Sullivan storyline from the GA set as a good jump starter. I always found that story a blast to watch unfold and it always makes me remember what I love about pro wrestling.

I was just watching some of Patera's work in 1981 GCW and I never realized...he's a hell of a promo. His interaction with Gordon Solie was excellent.

Man, that's definitely true. I remember my Dad taking me to the Boston Garden when I was younger. One of my favorite moments of the show was right before the main event when they would announce the matches "already/just signed" for next month. I'd bug my Dad "but we HAVE to come back...Roddy Piper is going to be there!!". He'd always pick up tickets.

I got the set this weekend and I'm going through the first disc now. Just a fantastic collection. Just some brief observations. I was surprised that there wasn't anything from the Mr. Wrestling II-Magnum TA "grumpy mentor" storyline. I guess that was more of a long build over a couple of months and would have been difficult to include. I was thrilled to see the infamous Loser Leave Town tag match that JYD lost after having only read about it in the Apter mags. Mr. Olympia is awesome. I've never really heard much of him before (other than in the Total Extreme Wrestling sim) but he's great as a face or a heel. It's too bad he didn't become bigger. Having looked at a couple of the extras, one of my favorites is the Dusty-Volkoff confrontation. I love Dustyisms and he has a doozy here. During his promo he screams "Russia is not in my repatenday!!" Repartoire? Repartee? Who knows what word he was going for! It was just pure Dusty promo goodness.

I saw that match at the Boston Garden growing up. I remember being really excited that I would get to see Race (who I'd only read about out in the Apter mags) live. It was a good match, if I remember correctly and I was far from a Hogan fan at that point. In fact, I think they did a two match series with the second being a Texas Death or No DQ match. I could be mistaken on that as the majority of my wrestling memories are from live shows and I don't have the tape evidence to back it up.

That's cool. As I said, it may have just been my perception from the matches I've seen and I could be wrong. I open to every side of it. I never felt it was a "if you like Race you can't like Lawler" kind of thing. As Will also mentioned, one doesn't negate the other. I think Race was very good in his role as champion. I'm not a huge fan of watching his matches but it's just a preference thing.

I had always thought that Harley's matwork was one of his weak points. He actually didn't seem to have a whole lot to do down there. Not sure he was appreciably better mat wrestler than Lawler. Not sure he was particularly more athletic than Lawler either. Neither guy was doing moonsaults or anything, but they both did moves off of the top, both were big bumpers, hell, Jerry was probably more energetic in his matches than Harley was...not seeing how Harley was more athletic, at least not significantly so. See, I always felt he was. That's cool though, I could be wrong and I can take it Again, though...All of this is coming from the fact that I agree that Lawler was a significantly better worker overall than Race was. I really enjoy watching Lawler matches and with Race, not so much.

I'm a little confused as to the condescension in your replies as I'm on the same page with you feeling Lawler is a better all around package. I think Race is a better athlete than Lawler (and would think that Lawler would be the first to admit that. He has joked about his athletic ability all the time). I don't know how I can prove that to you and don't think that's even necessary, it's just an opinion. From the matches I've seen of him, he's good at move/counter move and that actual on the mat wrestling portion. Pure wrestling. It was just an observation, not a condemnation of Lawler. They're completely different styles and acts. Lawler's appeal was never the athletic content of his matches. It was his promo ability and the way he could connect with an audience before and during the match. He has impeccable timing

Yeah I think that's the problem with a lot of guys working today. It's amazing how much I'd rather watch old Georgia or Mid Atlantic stuff over a lot of stuff today as a lot of the matches blend in together and become a blur of amazing moves. I think Angle could have learned that but now he's in a position where he's the teacher instead of learning from better workers. So now he'll keep doing what he does.