GSR

Predictably the worst His reasoning for not even considering the Anderson's is frankly pathetic.

So you experienced his extremely bad handwriting on tapes too then? I'm kinda surprised in hindsight that I never had a parcel go missing from Glen, it must've been a nightmare for Royal Mail back then! The post it notes that he used to put on the videos to label them were often so illegible that I would have to put the video in to the machine to find out what it was.

No idea what became of GWI. I purchased one video from them after they took over Rob's business, wasn't happy with the quality so started using Glen and stuck with him until he called it quits. There was the added bonus with Glen that he would continue to sell you WWF and WCW videos 'under the table' so to speak! Interesting to hear on the podcast that Rob had an address list of around 1,000 names of people who'd purchase tapes from him, and doing the maths he probably made somewhere in the region of £1,500 on The Night The Line Was Crossed alone. He must've made an absolute packet back in the day! Really enjoyed this by the way Allan, especially the contributions from Rob and John.

I always thought that Breaks would be a shoe in for being my top ranked WOS wrestler, though I'm not convinced as I once was. Cortez currently has my favourite WOS bout in the 70s (vs Jim Breaks on 05.26.76) and 80s (vs Steve Grey, 07.27.81), and he has every chance of usurping him the more that I see.

Steve Grey vs Jon Cortez (07.27.81) Prior to this match Johnny Saint comes into the ring as this is to be an eliminator for a shot at Saint's World Lightweight title later in the year. This is fought at a much quicker pace than the previous bout with Cortez having the advantage in the first round, even going for a pin attempt when turning a Grey back hammer escape into a sunset flip. At the end of the first we see Grey lose his temper thinking Cortez's attack came after the bell. Into the second and a front head chancery by Cortez which Grey spins out of and again Cortez is not breaking when on the ropes. Great action towards the end of the second as Grey tries to keep hold of a wrist lever whilst Cortez does all he can to escape. Full nelson by Cortez which is reversed by Grey, which Cortez then turns it into a crucifix for another pin attempt, but he's not happy with the referee thinking he's slow with his count. Cortez goes for a straight arm lift submission and then continues to concentrate on this hold, applying it a second time and when he goes for it a third (which could well get him the submission) Grey responds with a forearm smash that drops Cortez who has a look of 'Well the f____, so it's like that is it?' on his face. The bell rings to end the third but the two continue to argue after the bell with Cortez not happy at all about how Grey got out of the hold. Both are sweating considerably at this point with Cortez again looking at the left arm of Grey. Another straight arm lift but Grey escapes the fingerlock, stands on Cortez's shoulder, leaps to the canvas and hits a dropkick. Cortez barely beats the count and looks shattered. He bides his time trying to rest in the corner and slowing the pace whilst Grey beckons him to come in to the centre of the ring to continue. Leg grab from Grey and a kick to the thigh of Cortez and he isn't happy, complaining to the referee again. Grey has him backed up to the ropes and Cortez strikes him which prompts Grey to retaliate with a forearm to the chest and another kick to the leg. They again continue arguing after the bell and butt heads this time. The penultimate round and Grey looks for the surfboard, but has to give up when he can't get Cortez's arms. Cortez continues to suffer and sells the surfboard attempt nicely with his legs seemingly giving way. Monkey flip attempt from Cortez and Grey lands on his feet, tries it again but to his dismay he again lands on his feet. Goes for it a third time, but Grey drops him down for a folding press and Cortez just about kicks out in time and yet again there is more argy after the bell with Grey slapping Cortez. With one round left, Cortez jumps Grey immediately. Grey ends up getting his legs caught between the bottom two ropes and falls backwards hanging upside down outside the ring. The Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance come to help Grey, but the bout is called off with him unable to continue and Cortez is the victor by TKO. This is a great, great match, and is probably the best match I've watched from 80's WOS so far. It doesn't have the high impact moves of Haward vs Myers, but I feel is a better match. The bout is really heated with both being more aggressive than normal (you rarely see Grey like he is in this one), as the added incentive of the title shot against Johnny Saint for the winner gives an added dimension to the contest. It'll take something special to beat this for my WOS match of the decade.

Bix made a fantastic 10 disc comp of them many years ago which I imagine would be worth getting hold of for the purposes of this.

Finally listening to this now and just up to where you are talking about Stately Wayne Manor and you mentioned a poem that was pretty amusing. I just remember one section from that to this day: 'In Asia wrestles Tony St. Clair, Has this guy ever won a match over there, By Hase, by Muto, by Dr Death, He's even been beaten by the substitute ref!' No idea why that is ingrained in my memory! Have to say that the SWM was the one part of the magazine that I always used to skip over each month. As another aside, I had the first 11 issues of SOW at one point then when clearing out my magazines ended up trading them with Glen Radford for a bunch of videos.

Alan Sarjeant vs Clay Thomson (06.06.73) I'm not going to even attempt to call this as there was so much going on, but this was a fantastic, technical match between the two. Lots of chain wrestling, unique reversals and Sarjeant demonstrating his flexibility on a number of occasions. There is a wonderful escape and counter escape from a Japanese stranglehold, firstly by Sarjeant and then by Thomson who turns it into an armlock in his advantage, whilst there is an amazing sequence in the third round that sees Thomson have a Boston Crab on Sarjeant who escapes in a way that needs to be seen, going over on his face to turn it into a pin attempt. The finish comes as Sarjeant attempts to backflip his way out of a side headlock, something that he had done on two previous instances (it's to avoid any potential follow up) but he doesn't execute it properly with being so close to the ropes and takes a bad landing hurting his neck and the bout is stopped. The St John's Ambulance folk show up and Thomson helps carry Sarjeant to the back after refusing to accept the victory that could have been his by TKO (Jim Breaks wouldn't be happy!). I found this a total joy to watch between two technical wizards, it's just a shame that we have so little footage of either of them.

Steve Grey vs Jon Cortez (12.13.73) This is one of the earliest Grey bouts on tape, with the only one earlier that I could find being a match against Eddie Capelli from the year prior. It is also during this bout that Kent Walton informs us how Grey teaches handicraft to OAPs and the handicapped! Nearly the entire first round of this contest was worked around a headlock, firstly with Cortez in control and then Grey. After two rounds of straight wrestling Cortez starts to get more aggressive in his offense, firstly palming Grey in the face and then hitting him with a great sounding uppercut. He cartwheels out of a headmare immediately throwing a dropkick and Walton is not happy with Cortez losing his cool thinking that it could spoil the contest. Cortez continues to be the aggressor into the fourth giving Grey a shot whilst he is on the ropes and another uppercut. Grey responds with a dropkick of his own which catches Cortez in the chest. He does a nice sell job as though he's been winded, even delaying releasing Grey when they are in the ropes on the next move to give him a little bit more time to get his breath back. Grey lands on his feet from a monkey flip and when Cortez tries it again Grey holds on to the knee as he goes over to take it with him. The finish comes after Grey again lands on his feet from a monkey flip and surprises Cortez with a dropkick, he follows up with a headmare but Cortez comes back with a cross body for the pin. A slow burner of a bout as I went in with pretty high expectations from these two. It really picks up from the third round and it's interesting to see them work for so long just off a headlock. I've another Grey/Cortez match to come (from eight years later) so it will be interesting to see how it compares to this one.

Really? If I'm not voting DDP I'm certainly not voting Warrior. The retirement match with Savage at Wrestlemania VII was a fantastic spectacle from start to finish, but that was all Savage's doing and is much more a feather in his cap than Warrior's. I'd be interested to see who nominated him and why?

Not a hope of being in my 100.

Actually Shamrock was going to be on the ballot in 2005, but was taken off the ballot with Don Frye (who almost got in the prior year) when Dave Meltzer decided to start an MMA HOF, which lasted one year, before someone asked him to knock it off. What's the story with this? I remember Meltzer doing his MMA Hall of Fame and about four guys got elected one year. Dave started on doing the write ups and bios, did one or two of them and it was never mentioned again. He didn't even finish on those who got elected.

Dropping a nomination for Clay Thomson vs Alan Sarjeant (06.06.73, WOS). It's on YouTube in two parts and I rewatched this earlier today. It'll give a nice primer for what Sarjeant is all about and I'll pop a review up in a day or so.

Gwyn Davies vs Steve Veidor (05.26.76) Plenty has already been wrote about this one, but I will say that I don't think I've ever seen a crowd so into a match as they were this one. They are totally behind the undersized Veidor as he tries to dethrone Davies for the British Heavyweight title, and they come unglued when Veidor gets the first fall to the point that Kent Walton even comments on it. Davies gets the equalizing fall with his suspension hold, and when he goes for it later in the match but this time Veidor manages to escape from it, well maybe the upset is on? Davies gets a second and final public warning from an illegal punch, and Veidor does an incredible job selling it. Davies at this point is all cocky and posturing around the ring, he then charges at Veidor and posts him into the turnbuckles but Veidor reverses the situation and starts unloading with forearms to Davies face who has amazing facials here (also check out the facials when they have the double interlock and when Veidor has him in the wrist lever early in the bout!). The bout comes to a halt after Davies throws Veidor into the ropes, but he goes head first through the top and middle getting tangled up in them and the referee stops the match. Veidor does a tremendous job post match, pleading and begging for the match to continue but the official was having none of it. This was some match and showcases Davies is this big, bad ass, bullying heel and Veidor as the plucky undersized, sympathetic babyface. Heaven knows what the crowd reaction would have been if they had gone full on title change here?

I had no idea that there were that many Haward/Cortez matches on tape as what WOS I have, is stuff that was recorded off the Wrestling Channel and there is only one of their matches in the listings at itvwrestling.co.uk. Steve Grey vs Keith Haward (02.05.85) This was fought at catchweight and Haward, the bigger of the two, has the early advantage until Grey slowly starts to get back into things. One thing that I've noticed is what a great seller Haward is, everything it so understated, but at the same time looks so legit and as though he is hurting or trying to shake off a bit of pain. He demonstrates this again as Grey focuses his attention on Haward's leg and then when Grey tries to get him up for the surfboard, but with it being early in the bout Haward has the strength to fight the move off so Grey just jumps up and slams Haward's tied legs into the canvas. The first fall was actually a carbon copy of what happened in his match with Chic Cullen, as Grey grabbed the leg and in one move Haward leaped over him and rolled him up from behind. The next round sees a beautiful straight arm lift on Grey with great elevation, but he fights back to get the equalizing pin after a lovely set of reversals. Haward went for the same move as he got the first fall, however this time Grey counters and spins round sitting on top of him, Haward then hooks the arms bringing him back down to the canvas but Grey rolls through and gets a folding press for the pin. The action really heats up from here with Grey finally getting the surfboard on Haward in the centre of the ring but he manages to hold out, and Haward hitting a modified powerbomb before the time limit expires with the match tied at one fall apiece. This was another good bout and similarly to the one with Myers, they seem to move things up another level when it's tied at one fall each. There is also something slightly heelish about Haward, that I can't put my finger on. He's not a flagrant rulebreaker in the Sid Cooper category, but give him an open hand slap, a forearm across the face and you can noticeably see the anger levels rise in him and I do think there is some sort of cold, charisma with him. I've got the European title match with Mal Sanders to watch next, in what I think is the first of three matches between the two that I have.

I like what I've seen of Ken Joyce, but that is two bouts at most. I've got some Szakacs and Marino on disc but never watched them and I'm probably higher on Clive Myers than yourself.

Steve Logan looked like such a hard bastard who you wouldn't want to mess with in the slightest. Nice to see he's sporting the moustache in the match with Bert Royal above, though I was always kind of surprised when another Steve Logan emerged in the 80s. Anyway, here's a great photo from Mick McManus' obituary in the Daily Telegraph.

Keith Haward vs Clive Myers (07.15.81) I think this might be quite early into Myers' transition to the karate fighter gimmick as Kent Walton is rather taken aback by Myers' snazzy and sharp yellow pants and headband! Sadly the second round was cut from the broadcast, but the first two televised rounds sees both wrestlers go back and forth exchanging holds and trying to gain the advantage. There is a super quick sequence of snap mares and wrist levers between the two in the first and the third there is a unique set of pin reversals that I haven't seen before. One man has the other covered, then the one on the bottom powers up and rolls over and this continues for four or five times eventually with Haward getting the advantage and at this time Myers has to bridge up to avoid being counted down. Haward tries to pull the back of Myers' head to flatten him out, but using his neck strength he holds the bridge and slowly slides towards the ropes forcing the break. The fourth round sees Myers bring out all sorts of big moves as he looked to gain the first fall, from a straight arm lift, to a double underhook suplex, hip toss cross press, some strikes before a second double underhook suplex finally scores the pin. Haward gets the equaliser in the next round following a beautiful tilt a whirl slam, before both men go all out in the final round to try and get the winning fall. Double leg nelson from Haward which Myers counters, a third double underhook suplex, Fireman's carry takedown countered in to a headscissors, a side surfboard by Haward before the bell rings signifying that the match is over and it's a one fall draw. This was a really good bout, and the last round especially was great with both men going all out trying to get the win and them constantly countering and reversing each other. Plenty of high impact moves and a great showcase for both of them. Keith Haward vs Chic Cullen (03.05.84) This is a more aggressive match than the one Haward had with Myers and is all ground based. They get so much out of the simple things such as arm and wrist levers here. The third round sees Cullen start to focus his attention to Haward's left leg and we see some really nice selling from Haward, nothing too over the top, just believable. Cullen continues to concentrate on the left leg in to the fourth, however as both wrestlers are on their feet and he has hold of it, Haward leaps up over the top of Cullen and rolls him up from behind for the pin. Haward gets fired up after Cullen stamps on his hands in the next round following a knucklelock posting him hard into the turnbuckles, so hard in fact that referee Ken Joyce loses his footing. A second posting from Haward, but Cullen comes out and catches him in a small package to tie things up. The aggression continues into the third fall predominantly from Haward, and when Cullen has him in a side headlock Haward belly to back suplexes him over the top rope to the floor. Unfortunately, Haward then proceeds to throw himself over the top rope to the floor and Ken Joyce informs us that both wrestlers are injured and the bout is stopped and ruled a draw. Despite the shitty finish (primarily the bump from Haward, as if they'd just had Cullen take the fall from the belly to back and announced he was injured and couldn't continue it would have been far more plausible. They could even have then done that Haward didn't want to take the win that way, and still declared it a draw) this was a solid match. Very different to the one with Myers as it is less high impact, but if you enjoy matwork, isolating a body part, selling, you'll enjoy this. Just prepare for yourself for the terrible ending! Two out of two with Haward and both different styles of match, with my preference being for the match with Myers purely down to such a rotten finish in the Cullen one.

I nominated him on the back of matches against Steve Grey and Alan Sarjeant. Agree, he's not Breaks, Haward, Jones, Cortez etc but he's worth a second look for a project like this, even more so when you see some of the names who have been nominated. With the possible exceptions of Johnnny Kidd and maybe Mike Jordan, I can't think of any other WOS guys who I would nominate from now.

I watched two matches of his last night; one versus Clive Myers from 07.15.81 and the second against Chic Cullen from 03.05.84, both were really good (save one terrible finish) and completely different styles. I'll put up reviews later, but the Ken Shamrock analogy by OJ is a really good one. I've not seen any of his UWF stuff and I need to get a copy of his match against Jon Cortez as I think that could be something pretty special.

Kamakazi vs Jim Breaks (10.07.81) Breaks starts before the bell has even rung, annoyed that Kamakazi was introduced first he informs MC Brian Crabtree that as he is a champion shouldn't he be introduced first? Kent Walton informs us that Kamazaki is oriental, when he is in fact a masked Maurice Hunter. This is probably one of the worst matches that I have seen involving Breaks and I can only put that down to Kamakazi, who has some nice spots but that is pretty much it. Masked wrestlers were quite a novelty over here, but even that can't disguise how bland and boring Kamakazi is. A round is edited out and as the bout is tied at one fall apiece, Kamakazi takes a tumble to the floor appearing to have fallen between the top and middle ropes as he tries to come off them. The match at that point is then stopped with Kamakazi unable to continue, a lacklustre finish to what was a lacklustre match in general. The highlight is probably after the bout when referee Jeff Kaye points out Kamakazi did injure himself and it was nothing to do with Jim Breaks, and in this instance the opponent has the option of accepting the decision (ie taking the win) or refusing it (so the bout is declared a no contest). Crabtree asks Breaks what he wants to do, and in a heartbeat he accepts the win.

Jim Breaks vs Jackie Turpin (06.05.82) This match was fought under slightly different rules as there were no rounds, just a straight 20 minute match with two falls required to be declared the victor. The focus here was Breaks working on Turpin's arm in all manner of ways to try and soften him up for the Breaks Special submission. All sorts of bending and manipulation of the arm and wrist the wrong way, 'snapping' them, even tying Turpin's arm up in the ropes to weaken it, then weakening it even more under the guise that he was trying to untangle the said arm. Intermixed are some obligatory Breaks mouthing off at the crowd with one woman shouting 'get his ears Jackie' to which Breaks responds 'shut your fat mouth!', and some rule breaking behind the refs back. Turpin gets the first fall after Breaks riles him up with an open handed slap, the angered Turpin goes after Breaks who then proceeds to drop to his knee, gets up and then does this a second time. Breaks then catches him with a head mare, Turpin at this point drops to his knees, Breaks looks to Max Ward and whilst he's not paying attention Turpin gets him with the folding press pin. Breaks equalizes sharpish after the resumption, going back to working the arm and getting the submission with his signature move. At one fall each Breaks again focuses on the arm and for a second time applies the Breaks Special, however Turpin holds out and Breaks has to put him down as he an no longer keep him lifted turning it into a hammerlock. Turpin escapes then runs off the ropes and goes for a flying cross body, though Breaks ducks and Turpin goes sailing over the top rope to the floor in a great bump. Usually when anyone takes a bump to the floor it is usually match over (see Haystacks vs Daddy) and potential injury angle (see Rocco vs Dynamite), yet to my surprise Turpin managed to beat the count and get back in the ring. Breaks charges at him, Turpin sidesteps him and rolls him up for the three count and the win. Breaks is clearly not happy and proceeds to attack Turpin on a couple of occasions after the match. This was a real good TV bout, with a surprise ending that I wasn't really expecting both in Turpin beating the count after the bump to the floor and then getting the win over Breaks.

Keith Haward Zoltan Boscik http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/15983-the-beginners-guide-to-british-wrestling/

There was one match he had with Cesaro in Chikara that was really good, with Cesaro being a perfect base for all of Ricochet's aerial offense. It's really not relevant, but I will add that he looks so much better now than he did in his early days when he had the long hair.

I recommended this one in the Johnny Saint thread as one of the matches worth checking out for Saint in his comeback stint from the past several years.