The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[David Mantell]

4 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

5 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

5 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

Novel idea, but apparently inappropriate and wholly dismissive as is typical of Americans (if I recall you're not American ). I guess I'll have to fall back on watching wrestling regardless of my legal and cultural citizenship.

Ha, I belong to the Commonwealth so technically I can say whatever I want. 

Amen. That's how it works here as well. For now! 

It's not really about where you're from. It's about what wrestling you were reared on as a novice fan.

[David Mantell]

Anyway:

On 5/26/2015 at 5:35 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

The Mighty Chang vs. Fuji Yamada (Amlwch, taped 2/5/87)

Absolutely horrific.

The real deal Vs the gimmick. The future Jushin Liger, fresh off having lost the World Heavy Middleweight title back to Rocco a second time, gets fed to Chang/Crusher Mason mere months before his one and only ITV appearance (see page 37) during a decades long career with opposition promoters. 

It's a pretty grotty squash match, I'll grant you, but at least Yamada doesn't take it lying down. He does get some good moments amid the clobberings, throws to ringside, bearhug, the attempt to drill a hole in his back with the belt peg and the opening backbreaker submission.  Referee Chico Roberts doesn't come off that badly either - at the end of round 1 after the big man took forever to stop for the round break, Roberts sternly follows Chang all the way back to his corner, with the camera tracking them all the way to show the referee in control!

For his pains, Yamada manages to get in some good moments against the big man. He breaks a rear waistlock and forces a hard bump from a whip.He fires off a powerful missile dropkick on Chang to the corner post. He scores the equaliser with a neat Sunset flip on the bigger man. He fires another dropkick followed by a snapmare on the bigger man!  He throws Chang to ringside and then flying bodypresses him from the top of the post to the ringside floor.

Throughout the bout the crowd are actively rooting for a DQ for Chang, chanting OUT! OUT! OUT!  (One kid waves his flag in time to the chant like it's an axe for beheading Chang!). And they get their wish but with a sting in the tail - Yamada wallops Chang with a chair, getting himself DQd on top of Chang's own well earned DQ. So DDQ it is.  At least Fuji won the fight.

Actually quite a few of Yamada's high spots in the match are worked in to title graphics, the two dropkicks in the ring, the dropkick to ringside and the chair shot.