Busterira

Got to have some Jerry Lawler on there whether its one of the Dundee or Mantel matches. My personal fave is the Idol cage match myself. You should go really old school and how they used to build up a great angle that took weeks to unfold like the four flat tires angle. That or the Ole turn in the cage against Rhodes.

In the issues of the UWF/PWI tournament and the Original ME vs the Cornette Express they actually try to explain how they got the covers for both shots. It's been a long time since I have read the issues but I remember for the UWF tournament they said they had the fan favorites on one side of the room and the rule breakers on the other side and were going to do individual photos with the trophy which was on a table in the middle of the room or something like that. They said Terry Taylor was looking at the trophy and then picked it up and one of the rule breakers came over and said that's mine or something. Then they all started grabbing the trophy and of course that's how they got the cover photo. Hey I believed it when I was 12.

I actually have this. I actually kept all of my Apter mags and they are all in very good shape. Have a ton of them from 83-90.

This was a lot of fun. I was always a fan of the Mr Perfect and "the Genius" combination. Its not on the set because I think it happened in late 89 but when "The Genius" beat Hogan by a count out and he and Perfect took Hogans belt and destroyed it backstage was hilarious. I just found them entertaining. But I completely agree with Johnny Sorrow with the gimmick names and all that bullshit. It was just getting ridiculous and would only get worse in the next couple of years. As I watch this set unfold I realize how much I hated the Warrior back then and do to this day. I find him unbearable. I was 18 at this time and like Johnny it was at this point I just started checking out of wrestling. From 90-94 I barely watched wrestling beyond watching Wrestlemania. Then I started watching ECW and slowly started getting back into it.

Buzz was great here but in order to realize how great Buzz was or could have been you have to watch Buzz from 82-86. The guy was a wrestling machine. He just had so many demons and was certifiably insane. He was also brutal to jobbers. Here he is against someone named Mulley from Georgia in 1983. I actually think it could be Randy Mulkey not sure thou. Sawyer absolutely destroys him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJtyIv6aFls

I am a huge fan of Robert Fuller and he never fails to deliver. This was a really funny segment. Dave Browns reaction to Fuller putting BJT in the same breath as Elvis was priceless. If you enjoyed Fuller here and have not seen him in Southeastern/Continental, do yourself a favor and try to check it out. Robert along with his brother Ron and cousin Jimmy Golden, were amazing and just tore up Alabama for years in some of the most fun wrestling I have ever seen. I think Alabama is one of those great lost territories. Unfortunately, there just isn't a lot of footage available. But what we do have Kris Z is tearing thru it for the DVDVR set and from what I can tell is having a blast going thru it.

This match was a total blast. The announcer is long time World Class Championship wrestling announcer Marc Lowrance. Some people like him, some don't. I am a big fan of his. He had some great moments in World Class. Found a few of his great calls on wikiquotes: "The Devil has emerged at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium; the Fabulous Freebirds, have hit the ring!" --Marc Lowrance, late-1985 during a commercial break when the Freebirds emerged to attack the Von Erichs "This match is now X-Rated!" --Marc Lowrance, during a 1984 bout between Adams and Garvin "Gino is thrown into David MANNING...MY GOD HE'S CHOKING!!!!" --Marc Lowrance losing his voice as referee David Manning is hung between the ropes after taking a bump from Gino Hernandez; July 1985. Gino's got the bottle, look out! We may see some hair...OH NO!!!" --Lowrance when Hernandez throws black substance into Adams face during that same bout Fritz Von Erich, is a hero to these fans...at Reunion Aren...WAIT! WAIT! Fritz Von Erich has collapsed! Here right in front of me...Kerry wants everybody back...GET THE PEOPLE BACK for crying out loud! Move 'em back!" --Marc Lowrance following the four-on-one gang up on Fritz Von Erich; December 25, 1987. Look out, here's Terry with the piledriver...OH MY! I hope Kevin's alright. Look at Gordy laughing with pleasure, on a move that is so dangerous, the dreaded piledriver." --Marc Lowrance during a Freebirds-Von Erich match, early-1988. This feud evidently dates back to previous days in another organization, and (Terry) Taylor came in here and pulled a wool over me and everybody else...another piledriver on Gentleman Chris Adams, who's going to be in dangerous shape I'm afraid." --Marc Lowrance during a surprise attack on Adams by Taylor. Here's Cactus Jack Manson from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, a guy wio's really way out of here; the moon is the first stop for him" --Marc Lowrance commenting on Mick Foley during his bout with Chris Adams, late-1988 "(Skandor) Akbar's got a chair! HE'S GIVING THE CHAIR TO HAROLD HARRIS!! OH NO!!! And he cold-cock's Frank (Dusek) across the head! OHHH this is absolutely sickening, and I've been told never to use that word!" --Marc Lowrance, following a four-on-one attack by Devastation Inc. on WCCW matchmaker Frank Dusek, early-June 1989 "General Skandor Akbar can kiss my ass!" --Lowrance shortly after the gangup on Dusek during a bout between Kerry Von Erich & Jeff Jarrett against Cactus Jack & Gary Young. "Down goes Percy (Pringle), down goes (Bronco) Lubich, and this is a disgrace! This is an absolute disgrace!" Yamamoto is making a mockery of the sport of wrestling; I think this is horrible! There he hits his own referee! Yamamoto hit his own referee! It's a new low!!! --Marc Lowrance, during another Devastation Inc. attack; with Tojo Yamamoto involved; June 1989 If I had a swingset like that, I'd never leave my back yard." --Marc Lowrance, referring to valet/manager Tessa during a match between John Tatum and Kevin Von Erich. "All right, ladies and gentleman; I think I can speak for you, when I say that not only was that the worst disgrace and abortion I've ever seen; you're a disgrace to wrestling and to yourself! --Marc Lowrance in an interview directed at Tojo Yamamoto, June 1989

I got a late start on the 90s set, so I am only on the second disc. But so far my favorite stuff is the USWA TX stuff. Its just amazing stuff. I am not a Jeff Jarrett fan at all but he was tremendous in this. Like Loss said, this had match of the year potential if it had gone longer. And of course the continuing revelation of my new favorite wrestler.....Billy Joe Travis. Their really isn't enough superlatives for this guy and cant wait to see more of him

I am in the exact same boat. I have only seen very little of Billy Joe Travis and I love what I have seen so far. What a discovery. He is awesome, I actually just posted in the 90 set about that video of him and the guitar. That was hilarious. I actually was saying the same thing. His resemblance to the Fuller's is uncanny. What a great addition to the Stud Stable he would have been. I think the Stud Stable is the most underrated/under-appreciated stable in the history of wrestling. This is what makes PWO so great. A week ago I would never have thought about Billy Joe Travis. Now I want to go digging for all his matches. An amazing find.

I had never seen this video of Billy Joe Travis before...hilarious. What a find. I can't wait to see more of him. He looks like the long lost brother of Robert and Ron Fuller.

Will, this is the set I sent you that you recently sent to Kris. I can't remember how many discs I sent you but I know it was most of this set. I know you had been looking for a matchlisting for it.

Big fan of Bob Armstrong, like Will and Dylan said we just don't have enough footage of him at his peak. I would also love to see what Tim is watching. I am a huge fan of Alabama/Southeastern wrestling. How much of his heel run do you have Tim? I have the heel turn, a couple of his promos from this time and they are pretty great. Here is Bob Armstrong's heel turn. He was a special referee in a NWA title match match between Ron Fuller and Ric Flair.

Well there goes that.... sorry I completely forgot.

Lawler Flair Rose Savage Terry Funk Gordy Bock Blanchard Windham Hansen Guys just missing out, Arn,Morton and Eaton. Another guy who I am not sure how most people feel about is Piper. The guy was amazing. I think his ringwork kind of gets forgotten about because when you bring him up all you think about is Piper's Pit and his insane promos. As for a a foreign guy born in another county but worked mostly in the states...Chris Adams

Here in Chicago we were lucky enough to get cable around 1980. My first recollection of watching wresting was Ga on TBS around 81-82. Me and my little brother would watch TBS every Sat for years. We were very confused when Black Saturday happened but we still watched. We didn't watch much WWF up until that point but then we started watching whatever WWF was on the WOR channel out of New York. Eventually by 1985 I watched a lot of WWF. The other promotion we watched was the AWA which was on every Sun morn at 10 am followed by an hour of Bob Luce which would show those old clips from the International Amphitheater. I dont remember World Wide or Mid Atlantic shows popping up here till 85 or so. I don't know if they were on and we didn't watch them or if they just popped up with the huge expansion of televised wrestling by 85-86. Every Week, I would watch NWA,WWF, UWF, World Class and a little AWA. 1986 World Class sucked but they would have their weekly show, then an hour of older footage from 82-85. This wasn't the Legends show that were on ESPN a couple of years later. I think they were just reruns of the older shows from what I can remember. I had only heard and read about the Freebirds-Von Erich feud so this was a great way to catch up and see what actually happened. I would keep up with the goings on of the other territories by getting the Apter magazines. For example in Chicago we never got Memphis. The first Memphis match I ever saw was the Lawler-Idol cage match in 1987 on the Pro Wresting this Week show and was blown away. To this day its one of my favorite wrestling matches ever. I would have to say I was (and even more so today) a bigger NWA fan then the WWF but my favorite wrestling show and promotion back then was Mid-South/ UWF.

I love Bob Orton Jr. Its a shame most people really only think of him as Piper's stooge with the cast on his arm. He was a phenomenal wrestler. I think he is one of the most underrated guys of all time. There is always theories as to who else was on this mythical list of possible NWA champs. Bob Orton would have been a great choice at some point. There is just very limited footage of him during his prime( which is probably 76-84) so we are just left with this image of him standing behind Piper for a couple of years.

Nikitas wife was dying in 1988 and he has made no secrets about his steroid use and has freely admitted he had basically stopped using them around this time. While I loved him coming out with Dusty after Magnum's accident. I think in the end it hurt his career. I just thought he was better as a monster heel. But that was a great moment thou. Never really thought very highly of Nikita as a wrestler. He did have some good moments from 85-87 in JCP. I cant really be objective about Terry Gordy. I am probably the biggest Terry Gordy fan on the board other then Rob Naylor. He would be in my top 10 favorite wrestlers of all time. I thought he was amazing. The guy for the size he was would bounce around the ring like a human rubber ball. He was also among the best brawlers of all time. Like Dylan said, his career would probably have to be divided into 2 sections. 1980-1986-The JYD blinding angle, four flat tires, the great short lived team with Jimmy Snuka, Von Erich feud, his battle against Killer Khan and being the first UWF champ when the UWF was on fire in 1986. The second would be 88-92 while he was mostly working in All Japan where him and Dr Death were tearing it up. Its hard to believe he was only 30 years old when he had that overdose.

One of my favorite wrestling moments. Ole is perfect here, Its the best turn ever in my opinion. I always thought Ole was pretty underrated on the mic.

Buzz Sawyer vs Tommy Rich. I dont think its hyperbole when people say that they were never the same after this feud. I believe it to be true. I think it aged them 10 years in the 2 year feud. If you go back and watch it now you can actually see them breaking down right in front of you. Of course they both had a ton of personal demons. Buzz Sawyer was a phenomenal wrestler, he was a wrestling machine and just brutal. But his demons got the best of him. Watch his promos from this time and you can sense he was really a tortured soul. He was literally insane.