Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

Holy Grails


BBscout

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 353
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Does this card exist on film? Please tell me it does

Terry Funk Presents Summer Sizzler June 17th, 1982. Amarillo, Texas

NWA World Tag Team Title Match
Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen (c) vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Dusty Rhodes

Southwest Heavyweight Title Match
Dick Slater (c) vs. Roddy Piper

Singles Match
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Terry Funk

NWA International Heavyweight Title Match
Bruiser Brody (c) vs. Giant Baba

NWA World Heavyweight Title Match
Ric Flair (c) vs. Ted DiBiase

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've seen Bret-Magee. I can't say how or send it to you, but it will be on WWE Network in 2-3 weeks. Here's my review, cobbled together from my tweet thread last night.

---

So…I’ve seen The Match.

It’s the most fully-formed Bret Hart performance I’ve ever seen from before his WWF singles runs.  It’s not a great match, but it’s not supposed to be. And aside from a couple timing issues, it definitely has less seams than any non-DiBiase Magee match. And there could very well be some minor issues that aren’t noticeable in the DiBiase match because we just have the hard cam, while Bret-Magee is a fully produced multi-camera shoot with commentary.) 

The first big thing I noticed is that DiBiase and Bret immediately figured out that you don’t let Magee punch, kick, try to work holds. or sell demonstratively. Get those things out of the way, and you can build an entertaining match out of the cool shit that he CAN do. And Magee deserves some credit, too: Bret’s account has always been that he asked him for his 5 best moves to build around. Magee was self-aware enough to know that those best moves were all flippy stuff, roll-ups, and arm drags. DiBiase figured out one trick that Bret didn’t, though: Chop him instead of punching him. It’s brilliant: Instead of making a green guy sell in an obviously green and overly “fake”-looking way, DiBiase threw strikes that, while safe, actually hurt, so Magee reacts naturally. Bret handled Magee’s less than refined selling in a completely different way: Here, it looks like he told Magee to…I wouldn’t say die on him while selling, but get much closer to that than you’d normally want a babyface to during the heat. So we don’t get any Magee flailing.

To “get" this match, you'll need to watch all the Magee footage you can find first. You have to understand what Magee matches usually looked like & how others tried to carry him. And you’ll want to keep in mind how a more typical Flair, Michaels, etc broomstick match looks. This is not Bret Hart having a match around a green guy and making it about himself. This is Bret Hart leading a green guy by the hand, constantly telling him every single thing to do, and having a match WITH him that got him over big with both the crowd and the office. I can’t wait for everyone to see this when it hits WWE Network in the next 2-3 weeks. As long as you know what you’re looking for, it’s truly a pleasure to watch and absolutely lives up to the hype of what Bret was able to do.

Oh, one more thing: It’s also a testament to Bret that he gets the crowd to react big to everything Magee does in a 1986 WWF TV taping prelim between an unknown and a mid-card tag team wrestler. They don’t react like a pavlovian, wait for the music WWF TV crowd of that era at all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Bix said:

 

It’s the most fully-formed Bret Hart performance I’ve ever seen from before his WWF singles runs.  It’s not a great match, but it’s not supposed to be. And aside from a couple timing issues, it definitely has less seams than any non-DiBiase Magee match. And there could very well be some minor issues that aren’t noticeable in the DiBiase match because we just have the hard cam, while Bret-Magee is a fully produced multi-camera shoot with commentary.) 

What would the other choices even be? The Savage SNME match and the DK singles match from the Capitol Center? Also, were there hope spots during the heat? The absolute lack of them was the most striking thing from the Dibiase match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Matt D said:

What would the other choices even be? The Savage SNME match and the DK singles match from the Capitol Center?

Didn't he also have a really good house show match against Steamboat that made tape, back when he was still in The Hart Foundation?  I think it was from Boston Garden, but I don't remember the date.  Maybe I am remembering it wrong.

EDIT:  Yeah, I found it online.  Steamboat vs. Hart from the Boston Garden on March 8, 1986.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Matt D said:

What would the other choices even be? The Savage SNME match and the DK singles match from the Capitol Center? Also, were there hope spots during the heat? The absolute lack of them was the most striking thing from the Dibiase match.

There are some roll-ups as hope spots, yes.

And as for the "fully-formed Bret Hart performances before his singles runs" thing goes....yeah, I guess the ones that have been mentioned? I'd have to rewatch them, though, because I don't think of the Bret performances in those being Bret The Genius as much as Bret The Great Mechanic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Bix said:

There are some roll-ups as hope spots, yes.

And as for the "fully-formed Bret Hart performances before his singles runs" thing goes....yeah, I guess the ones that have been mentioned? I'd have to rewatch them, though, because I don't think of the Bret performances in those being Bret The Genius as much as Bret The Great Mechanic.

Bret the Mechanic is an excellent description of Bret in the steamboat match from Boston (one of my top favourite matches of all time). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to throw in a few:

Jerry Lawler & Bruiser Brody vs Randy Savage & David Schultz 5/06/85
The Monsel Powder angle
Since Dark Matches/tryouts are coming out, there was a tryout once for a guy named "Herman the German". I've been dying to know who that is for 27 years now (even though I *think* I might know)
Call me glutton for punishment, but I've always wanted to see IWF Muscle Rock Madness beyond that one oddball 30 minute commercial tape that came from nowhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, the Omni footage.

We know they have:

10/23/83 being The Last Battle of Atlanta.
We know they have at LEAST the first match of the Thanksgiving tag tournament on 11/24/83. Clips from the rest of the tournament was shown on TV. The main event of this show, by the way was Roadies vs Sawyer and Rich, with Sawyer having just turned on Ellering to protect his brother and basically challenging the Road Warriors over him. The idea of Rich and Sawyer teaming up as babyfaces is amazing. Hopefully we get it this year, maybe around Thanksgiving.
We now know that they have 12/4/83.

To me, this is a pattern. You can pick any match you want from any Omni show over, but it's a bit more reasonable to look at stuff in the range of what we know they have. Let's take a look at the shows around that.

GCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - August 28, 1983
Mr. Wrestling I pinned Joe Lightfoot with a bridge following a running knee lift
Brett Wayne pinned Bob Roop with an inside cradle
Bruno Sammartino Jr. defeated Paul Ellering via count-out when Ellering left the ring after sustaining a press slam
NWA Tag Team Champions Jack & Jerry Brisco defeated National Tag Team Champions the Road Warriors via count-out in a No DQ match after the Briscos used steel chairs on the Road Warriors and prevented them from getting back in the ring
Tommy Rich pinned Bill Irwin in a whipping match with an inside cradle; after the bout, Rich began lashing Irwin until Mid-Atlantic TV Champion the Great Kabuki, along with Gary Hart, attacked him; moments later, Ole Anderson and Pez Whatley made the save
Pez Whatley pinned Mid-Atlantic TV Champion the Great Kabuki (w/ Gary Hart) with a flying headbutt after Ole Anderson came ringside and tripped Kabuki; after the match, Whatley and Anderson celebrated in the crowd as Hart cut a promo in the ring
Buzz Sawyer (w/ Paul Ellering) defeated Dick Slater via disqualification when referee Nick Patrick caught Slater wearing brass knuckles as he had Sawyer covered following a punch; the weapon was originally used by Sawyer after the referee had been knocked down by Ellering; after the bout, Sawyer & Ellering attacked Slater and dropped him with a spike piledriver
National Heavyweight Champion Larry Zbyszko pinned Mr. Wrestling II with a sunset flip and using the ropes for leverage; the challenger came to the ring in possession of the title belt and stole it back after the decision before chasing Zbyszko out of the ring

GCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - November 6, 1983 (4,000)
Pat Rose vs. Les Thornton
Brad Armstrong vs. Joe Lightfoot
Jake Roberts (w/ Paul Ellering) defeated National TV Champion Ron Garvin to win the title
Jimmy Valiant defeated the Great Kabuki
Buzz Sawyer fought Abdullah the Butcher to a no contest
National Tag Team Champions the Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering) fought Dusty Rhodes & Brett Sawyer to a no contest
Tommy Rich defeated Ted Dibiase (sub. for NWA World Champion Harley Race) via disqualification

GCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - December 25, 1983 (2,500)
Cowboy Lang defeated Little Tokyo
Buzz Sawyer defeated the Sheik
NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion Les Thornton defeated Tommy Rogers
Brett Sawyer defeated National TV Champion Jake Roberts (w/ Paul Ellering); Roberts retained the title since the decision happened after the first 15 minutes of the match
National Heavyweight Champion Ted Dibiase defeated Tommy Rich in a loser leaves town match
Stan Hansen & Bugsy McGraw defeated the Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering) via disqualification
Buzz Sawyer defeated Paul Ellering in a lights out match

GCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - January 1, 1984
Johnny Rich vs. Pat Rose
Tommy Rogers vs. Brad Armstrong
Ron Garvin vs. Pez Whatley
National TV Champion Jake Roberts (w/ Paul Ellering) vs. Jerry Lawler
Jerry Brisco, National Tag Team Champion Brett Sawyer, & Bugsy McGraw vs. Karl Krupp & the Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering)
National Heavyweight Champion Ted Dibiase vs. Bob Armstrong
Jos LeDuc vs. National Tag Team Champion Buzz Sawyer

GCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - January 15, 1984 (4,500)
Tommy Rogers defeated NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion Les Thornton to win the title; the title change was reversed the next day since Thornton's foot was on the rope during the cover
Ron Garvin fought Pez Whatley to a draw
National TV Champion Jake Roberts fought Jerry Lawler to a double count-out
Jerry Brisco, National Tag Team Champion Brett Sawyer, & Bugsy McGraw defeated the Road Warriors & Karl Krupp when Krupp was pinned; after the bout, Stan Hansen attacked the Road Warriors with a 2x4
Johnny Rich pinned National Heavyweight Champion Ted Dibiase when Mr. R interfered
National Tag Team Champion Buzz Sawyer fought Jos LeDuc to a double disqualification at the 4-minute mark

GCW @ Atlanta, GA - Omni - February 5, 1984
Ron Garvin defeated King Kong Bundy via forfeit; stipulations stated the winner would receive a National TV title shot on Feb. 11
Mr. R defeated the Spoiler
NWA TV Champion Jake Roberts defeated Jerry Brisco
Pez Whatley & Sweet Brown Sugar defeated National Tag Team Champion the Road Warriors via disqualification
National Heavyweight Champion Ted Dibiase defeated Jack Brisco

I feel like any of that is reasonably in play. There's a lot that stands out. First and foremost would be the two Jake Roberts vs Jerry Lawler matches. I loved the Roberts vs Brett Sawyer match from 10/23/83. It was the fulfillment of the promise of master of psychology Jake. I can only imagine what he could have done with 84 Lawler. There's also another Roberts vs Bret match and Roberts vs Garvin and vs Jerry Brisco.

For Dibiase, you get two Rich matches, Bob Armstrong, Johnny Rich with Mr. R antics, and Jack Brisco.

Buzz Sawyer gets Slater, Shiek, Abdullah, Leduc. 

So there's a lot of good stuff in there.

(If we go one show later, we get Brad vs Flair. Going backwards gets us more Zbyszko and Wrestling II)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/15/2016 at 12:30 AM, elliott said:

John, what sort of Wahoo McDaniel in Japan is out there on tape/possibly on tape? Was also wondering about Johnny Valentine? Surely he had some runs in All Japan/New Japan/JWA before the plane crash?

 

Which brings me full circle to the real Holy Grail: Wahoo vs Johnny Valentine - All Matches. :)

The World league matches with Frank Hill as his partner are on DVD in comp piles. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And some more Valentine just showed up in the JWA retrospectives that aired recently. There are some '70s Wahoo matches that are known to be out there in the hands of a few collectors but not really circulating (mostly revolving around Steve Yohe's long-in-limbo Destroyer comp).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Just popped up on the Maple Leaf Wrestling Facebook group:

 

 

Youtuber "Jon Boucher" just posted it yesterday.  Full kinescope of an episode.  Card is from Feb. 17, 1957.  Features a really fun tag match with the Miller Bros, a young Red Lyons (he doesn't even have his first name yet!) in the opener, and  heel Steve Stanlee in a quick TV match with Edouard Carpentier.  I'm thinking this is a  version of the show syndicated outside of the territory, since it's titled "World of Sport" (the weekly show on CBC Toronto was called "Saturday Night Wrestling" at the time) and is just matches. 

A joy to watch, maybe just because it's my home territory and I can imagine my Grandpa and my Dad tuning this in one afternoon.  Another glimpse into what CBC might be sitting on.  Not sure if the main events were taped or aired anywhere (according to Gary Will, this card was headlined by the first  singles match between Whipper Watson and Gene Kiniski, which was the main feud in Toronto for the rest of the decade).

Paging messrs. Shoe, Sorrow and Nelson...

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...