Tommy Rich

[NintendoLogic]

Daivari's nipples are pretty far down on the list of things that horrify me in that photo.

[shoe]

02-25 1990 OLE/ARN ANDERSON vs TOMMY RICH/RANGER ROSS - NO FINISH SHOWN MAIN EVENT

 

It says no finish shown, but we see Arn give Ranger Ross a sloppy spinebuster and it ends but I bet that is the finish. I would say this is a top 10 tag match for the promotion during the year. This says a lot because their was a lot of great tag matches that year in WCW. The crowd was molten and Tommy Rich was being treated like it was 1982 in Georgia. This is tremendous and an all action 10 minute match. We get a nice shine to start. Eventually they put Ranger Ross in FIP and they just destroy the arm. Just some great tag working on the Anderson's with blocking and the arm work. Ross gets the hot tag to Rich and he's awesome in the hot tag, and eventually gets cut off and they work him over and Rich is great at the hope spots and his fire. He gets the tag to Ross and we work to the finish where the cream rises to the top. I loved this bout.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Let me preface this with saying that Tommy Rich's career has always really interested me as he was the centerpiece of a possible Georgia national expansion. There were so many moving parts in the early 80s that from a political perspective it is easily the most interesting period to me as a wrestling fan. I have not seen much Tommy Rich, but what I have seen in Memphis against Dundee and as a tag team in the New Fabulous Ones is really good and he looks like he could be an all-time great as this thread posits. Of course, I say this because I am about to say something derogatory.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Tommy Rich - Power Hour (Taped 3/90) Shown 12/90

 

Before, I get to the match Woman is an absolute stunner in this. Any woman that appreciated Ric Flair is a-ok in my book.

 

This is a broomstick match. Flair has so many spots that they do not do all of them and actually they stick to less frequent Flair spots that it makes this really fun. I expect Flair to have a broomstick match with likes of Tom Zenk, but I thought Tommy Rich may get a little more freedom. I was wondering why it did not make the '90 yearbook given the participants, but since it is just a match that exists in a vacuum and it feels like Rich is just an interchangeable wrestler in Flair's plug-n-play format I can understand why this did not make it.

 

I really liked the opening Flair matwork and Rich's headscissors were really good. It was the usual babyface bests Flair on the mat and frustrates him, but in 1990 this was actually a pretty common sequence and Rich is really game for it. Flair goes to the corner and besides Vader may be the greatest corner wrestler of all time, but much to my surprise this is not the heat transition. See Flair still can surprise me. A reverse elbow sends Rich crashing to the floor. I love Flair out on the floor. He is just a wicked presence out there. he wraps Rich into a half nelson and throws his feet on the ropes, but to no avail. Flair busts out the butterfly suplex, my favorite suplex. Rich throws Flair into the railing. Flair's selling of this is why he is one of the best. Flair always used every inch of available real estate afforded to him that's how you make the most of your opportunities. Rich's big contribution to the match is Thesz Press down the stretch for two. The finish is a shoulder tackle where Flair knocks Rich's foot off the ropes and gets the two. They really put over Rich and the part fatigue play in wrestling with that finish. Too bad, they showed it 9 months after it was taped.

 

I am a pretty unabashed Ric Flair fan and enjoyed watching this style match of his because he would bust it out less and less as time progressed. Unfortunately, this negated Tommy Rich's ability to make his mark in this match. The only reason a match with Zenk I would consider better than Rich's is because the Zenk match had Flair do a heel turn mid-match and this match was straight heel Flair match. The Zenk match had a more interesting hook even though Rich could keep up with Flair better.

[elliott]

Surprise Deep Dive. I watched all of the Tommy Rich I could find.

Spoiler

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (NWA Mid America Memphis Wrestling on WMC – 5 – 3/20/76)

We start with a  young skinny buzz cut 19 year old Tommy Rich catching a beating, showing tremendous fire and then getting bloodied. Short and simple TV match that is a nice preview for what I fully expect to be a punch heavy blood soaked project.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (NWA Mid America Louisville Gardens – 9/14/76)

Last 6 or so minutes of what looks like an incredible match. Rich is bloodied and selling his ass off. Big upset finish. Wish we had this in full.

 

Tommy Rich & Tommy Gilbert & Bill Dundee vs David Schultz & Bill Ash & Gorgeous George Jr (NWA Mid-America Louisville Gardens – 12/12/76)

Too short to really tell much of anything.

 

Tommy Rich & Rick Martel vs The Challenger & Herb Calvert (GCW on WTBS – 1978)

Too short to really be anything at about 2.5 minutes but an amazing finish from Rich & Martel who could have been an awesome tag team.

 

Tommy Rich & The Crusher vs Ole Anderson & Ivan Koloff (GCW on WTBS – 9/16/79)

Short all action TV brawl with the babyface kicking ass and the heels running off.Would love to have seen a real match between these 4 because this was hot shit while it lasted. Unfortunately that was about 2 minutes tops. Still fun shit.

 

Tommy Rich & The Crusher vs Rip Oliver & Carl Fergie (GCW on WTBS – 9/16/79)

Another short TV tag about 3 minutes. But fun action packed enough to make you wish it was longer.

 

Tommy Rich vs Snake Brown (GCW on WTBS – 10/4/79)

Short nothing match. Rich does one sweet drop toe hold take down and hit nice Thesz press. But this is mostly him just holding Brown in an armbar for 5 minutes.

 

Tommy Rich & Tony Atlas vs Bill Howard & Car Fergie (GCW on WTBS – 10/14/79)

Another 3 minute long tag match. Fun. Rich shows good fire & takes a nice big bump. But nothing much here. Really wish some of these matches were longer.

 

Tommy Rich vs Killer Karl Kox (GCW on WTBS – 10/21/79)

Last minute of a brawl. Argh!

 

Tommy Rich & Kevin Sullivan vs Austin Idol & Roger Howell (GCW on WTBS – 12/29/79)

The best of these 3 minute long tags from 1979 GCW because of the Rich vs Idol interactions. Idol is awesome stalling and avoiding the match and finally he and Rich has an awesome throw down. Fun 3 minute match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Dutch Mantell (GCW on WTBS – 2/9/80)

Really fun short TV match. Mantell goes after Rich’s leg and there’s a hot Rich comeback. Fun stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Austin Idol (GCW on WTBS – 2/23/80)

These two have fantastic chemistry and I am very excited to see more of their matches together. This was a really hot TV match with Harley Race at ringside. Really enjoyed this for a another short 6ish minute long match.  Postmatch is fantastic.

 

Tommy Rich vs Baron Von Raschke (GCW on WTBS – 4/80)

Another really fun match about 6 minutes this time. Hard hitting great punches, great post match with more good stuff involving Austin Idol. Baron was a solid worker. I liked him a lot as a veteran ass kicker on the AWA set and this was a nice reminder how good he was.

 

Tommy Rich vs The Angel (GCW on WTBS – 5/17/80)

Really cool one. This one went about 7 minutes and The Angel brought a ton of slams and suplexes to the table and Tommy does a great job bumping around. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Kid Collins (GCW on WTBS – 6/14/80)

Another good 6 minute long TV match. Rich throws great punches, shows lots of fire, bumps a little and generally looks really good.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bob Sweetan (GCW on WTBS -  6/21/80)

Another fun 6 minute long match no finish though. All we’re really learning here is that Tommy is great at punching and selling. Which is all you really want from Tommy Rich.

 

Tommy Rich vs Dennis Condrey (GCW on WTBS – 6/28/80)

Another fine match. Nothing much to say. Both guys look fine but there’s no real substance to these matches.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bill Dundee (CWA – 8/23/80)

Finally a match with a little more substance. Awesome studio match with both guys looking sharp. Dundee In particular looks excellent. More of this please. Rich’s punching & selling are great as always but he keeps up with Dundee trading holds more. Good stuff here.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tony Boyles (CWA – 8/30/80)

Nice match. Rich is a heel officially and does a great job doing little underhanded cheating that does well in a studio like grabbing the hair working a little rougher & less flashy. Also does a great job making a lower ranked guy look good in losing by giving him some offense, stooging a little and needing to cheat to win. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Paul Ellering (CWA – 8/31/80)

Last 90 seconds or so. Hilarious ref bump.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tony Boyles (CWA – 9/13/80)

Fun squash match. Tommy is way much vicious than the last time these two had a match. He works with more disdain for the lower ranked Boyles. Good stuff. Enjoying this heel work.

 

Tommy Rich vs Koko Ware (CWA – 9/27/80)

Another fun but super short (4min) TV match with heel Rich beating the shit out of the smaller Koko but giving him a couple of spots and bumping/selling big for them.

 

Tommy Rich vs Mike Maroni (CWA – 10/4/80)

Maroni is just a total jobber & Rich beats him in quick order. This was more about the post match stuff which is fun.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Irwin & Gypsy Joe vs Bill Dundee & Tojo Yamamoto & Robert Gibson (CWA – 10/11/80)

I really enjoyed this. The kind of wrestling I really love. 6 distinct characters of varying levels of experience, skill level, & places on the cards having a logical well paced TV match. Just awesome stuff. Really makes you want to see a big Tommy Rich vs Bill Dundee match so it did its job.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tony Boyles (CWA – 10/25/80)

Back to beating the hell out of poor Tony Boyles.

 

Tommy Rich vs David Price (CWA – 11/1/80)

Heel Tommy toys with and destroys a jobber.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tony Boyles (CWA – 11/8/80)

Tommy destroys poor Tony Boyles again.

 

Tommy Rich vs David McGee (CWA – 11/15/80)

Tommy just murders another jobber in short order.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee vs Gypsy Joe & David Oswald (CWA – 12/27/80)

Good match with Dundee working the majority of the way. He looks awesome and this would be a match to note  for a Dundee project.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee & Carl Fergie vs Jimmy Valiant & Tojo Yamamoto & Dream Machine (CWA – 1/5/81)

Hot brawl with Dundee getting two face in peril segments. Dundee looks awesome in both & Rich is great on the hot tag but he’s taking a backseat to Dundee & Valiant who are the focus & the stars here. Another very good one though.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee & Carl Fergie vs The Angel & Bill Irwin & Tony Russo (CWA – 1/11/81)

Another super fun match. Dundee again works most of the way but Rich gets a couple of moments to shine including one super hot moment where he’s throwing great punches to all 3 heels at once. Rich & Dundee have a great double team that they’ve already started using. They throw a heel against the ropes and one of them hits the heel in the gut making him bend over and the other guy hits a sunset flip for a pin. It’s a hot move and Dundee & Rich have been on both sides of it already. Good stuff something you’d see the RnR’s or Fantastics do.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee vs Bill Irwin & David Oswald (CWA – 1/13/81)

Quick match. Rich & Dundee continue to work well together as a team. Would like to see a big match or feud with them teaming up.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee vs Bounty Hunters (CWA – 2/2/81)

Fantastic match & angle. Dundee gets taken out before the match. They can either forfeit the titles or Rich can take on both Bounty Hunters. Rich of course chooses to take on both Bounty Hunters and has a gallant effort. Awesome babyface schtick gets the crowd going with some good misdirection stuff. Settles into Rich out for revenge for them hurting Dundee. Eventually Rich getting taken out & cutting a big bladejob and ultimately Dundee coming back out. Truncated Tommy in peril & finish prevent this from being a real classic but this has all the elements and is an excellent bit of business definitely worth checking out.

 

Tommy Rich vs Gypsy Joe (CWA – 2/8/81)

Pretty unmemorable short match with Joe taking most of it but Tommy’s finish is hot.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee vs Bounty Hunters (CWA – 2/9/81)

Another really awesome match with the Bounty Hunters. Its JIP but Rich’s punching hand is getting worked over and that’s the real focus of this. They go after the hand until Rich can get the hot tag. Solid engaging if a bit low tech work from the Hunters is enhanced by Rich’s absolutely fantastic selling. RIch is fucking awesome here. DUndee is excellent on the hot tag. Violent & high energy. This was really good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert & Bill Dundee & Koko Ware vs Bounty Hunters & The Angel & Ali Hassan (CWA – 2/28/81)

Really terrific long studio 8 man tag. Rich doesn’t work much but he looks really good when he does. If anyone Gilbert is the star of this mostly getting worked over by the heels but gets in some good offense as well. Would highly recommend as a match & TV segment but not really something to highlight for a Tommy Rich project.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee vs Tom Stanton & Gypsy Joe (CWA – 3/7/81)

Short TV tag. Solid but unforgettable but with a really good finish. Rich & Dundee were a cool team. I wish we had more arena footage.

 

Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee vs Austin Idol & Dutch Mantell (CWA – 3/12/81)

Fantastic old school Memphis tag. So lots of punches of psychologically sound. Rich & Dundee both have great FIP sections and holy shit Austin Idol is out of this world great. Just a fantastic wrestling match. One to see.

 

Tommy Rich vs Kevin Sullivan (GCW on WTBS – 3/21/81)

Solid TV match. Sullivan looks pretty good. Although its weird seeing such a small guy dominate a larger man with punches and kicks. Still this was enjoyable because Sullivan’s offense look good and Rich’s bumping & selling is always great. Back to the Thesz press as a finish.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jim Duggan (GCW on WTBS – 3/21/81)

One of the best of these short forgettable TV matches. Duggan isn’t peak level yet but hes good & has potential and they have some really neat spots. You really wish this was a 13min arena brawl from 1984. But it is what it is.

 

Tommy Rich & Junkyard Dog vs Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts (GCW on WTBS  – 3/29/81)

Short clips. Looks like an amazing match before the big angle. I guess they’re reshowing this for some reason or are they doing the blinding angle again? Either way its looks amazing. Too bad we don’t have the full match

 

Tommy Rich & Ted Dibiase vs Harley Race & The Angel (GCW on WTBS -  4/1/80)

Fun match with Race bumping around some good offense and a hot finish. Short but sweet.

 

Tommy Rich vs The Invader (GCW on WTBS – 4/4/81)

Another one of these short perfectly fine but completely forgettable TV matches.

 

Tommy Rich vs Snake Brown (GCW on WTBS – 4/5/81)

Another short ok GCW on TBS match. Tommy Rich throwing Brown around by his hair like he’s a Moolah trainee is a definite highlight. Really looking forward to some more substantial matches eventually. These TV matches are fine but its just nothing to write home about.

 

Tommy Rich & Junkyard Dog vs Bobby Eaton & Ken Timbs (GCW on WTBS – 4/11/81)

Fun squash. Rich & JYD are an awesome babyface tag team.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bobby Eaton (GCW on WTBS – 4/25/81)

Maybe the best of these quick TV matches. Rich throws some amazing punches. Eaton brings some nice offense. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Harley Race (GCW – 4/27/81)

Clips of Tommy winning the world title. Goddamn shame we don’t have this in complete. Looks like an awesome match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Chic Donovan (GCW on WTBS – 5/2/81)

Another 4 minute long TV match. More than usual because Rich looks really good lately & Donovan is a lot of fun here. Good stuff for what it is.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buck Brannigan (GCW on WTBS – 5/16/81)

Same old same old TV match. 5 minutes. Rich looks good. Brannigan is a  big dopey looking guy. Its fine.

 

Tommy Rich vs Nikolai Volkoff (GCW – 5/17/81)

Last couple of minutes. Rich is bloody & a house of fire. Too bad we can’t see the whole thing.

 

Tommy Rich vs Greg Valentine (GCW – 5/17/81)

Last 3 minutes or so of the GA Heavyweight title tournament and goddamn I wish we had the full thing. Looks awesome. Fucking Georgia footage is so frustrating!

 

Tommy Rich & Ted Dibiase vs Harley Race & The Angel (GCW on WTBS – 5/31/81)

Same matched that aired on 4/1/81

 

Tommy Rich vs Buck Robley (GCW on WTBS – 5/31/81)

Awesome 3 minute long match. Violent sprinty little match. Would just die for a longer arena match between these two in this era. Goodness this was a fun 3 minutes. Buck Robley is awesome.

 

Tommy Rich vs Ken Patera (GCW – 6/21/81)

Last few minutes of what looks like an epic match. Great selling & punches down the stretch & a hot crowd. Goddamn one of my all time wishes this existed in full matches now.

 

Tommy Rich & Ted Dibiase vs Ken Timbs & Ed Timbs (GCW on WTBS – 7/11/81)

Another forgettable GCW on WTBS match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Masked Superstar (GCW – 8/9/81)

Last 5 or so minutes of what looks like a solid match. Rich with some nice bumps, selling & punches. Another one where you wish we had the whole thing.

 

Tommy Rich & Michael Hayes vs Dave Sierra & Bobby Garrett (GCW on WTBS – 8/22/81)

Fun match because its just a squash with Rich & Hayes dominating and Hayes fucking rules when he just gets to beat people up even as a smiley face. Fun but still one of those 5 minute GCW matches.

 

Tommy Rich & Michael Hayes & Kevin Von Erich vs Tony Russo & Snake Brown & Alex Reinhoff (GCW on WTBS – 9/12/81)

Just like a minute of this aired. Wasn’t even the finish. Damn. Look at that face team.

 

Tommy Rich vs Masked Superstar (Lumberjack Match – GCW – 9/21/81)

Finally some arena footage and it doesn’t disappoint. In fact given how this was worked I would say it slightly exceeds expectations. Its more of a clean match with a slow build based around trading holds before escalating in tone & pace and leading to a hot finish. Rich looks awesome and Eadie is his usual super solid self. Real bight spot in this sea of short TV matches. When we get a chance to see Rich have a match that has some room to breathe so he can sell and build to his comebacks he really delivers. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Professor Sonada (GCW on WTBS - 9/26/81)

Rich wins with the abdominal stretch. So if you’re needing an example of someone winning a match with an abdominal stretch, this is the one.

 

Tommy Rich vs Masked Superstar (Cage Match – GCW – 9/28/81)

Last 90 seconds of a match I would really have loved to see in full. WILD post match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Don Gilbert (GCW on WTBS – 10/24/81)

Tommy beats up a jobber and wins another match with an ab stretch. Cool! Tommy looks sharp here.

 

Tommy Rich vs Austin Idol (GCW – 11/4/81)

This is the feud of my dreams I couldn’t remember apparently because holy shit the Tommy Rich vs Austin Idol matches are amazing. This is all punching, selling, intensity and charisma. Tommy Rich is everything you want him to be and Idol is the southern fried Billy Graham in all the best ways. I need like 10 more of these matches please.

 

Tommy Rich & Mr Wrestling II vs Mike Sharpe & Rick Harris (GCW on WTBS – 11/7/81)

Another short TV tag. Forgettable but there’s enough here to tell me I’d like to see Rich & II team up against some real opponents on a house show.

 

Tommy Rich vs Masked Superstar (GCW – 11/26/81)

Last 2 minutes of a match I wanna see. Superstar hits an enormous beautiful looking superplex.

 

Tommy Rich & Dick Slater vs Tully Blanchard & Gino Hernandez (2/3 Falls – Houston – 12/11/81)

Awesome match. Tommy looks terrific. All the punching & selling you could hope for. But this is just a straight up awesome tag match. Gino & Tully were a truly great tag team & with time & a pair of good opponents youre gonna get a good match with them. Quick first fall with Rich looking great and the babyfaces pickingup the quick win. 2nd fall is longer with Slater in peril and the heels look excellent leading to a great hot tag. Gino takes a huge bump to the floor. Heels ends up cheating to win the 2nd fall in a brutal finish hanging Tommy up on the top rope. 3rd fall is Tommy in peril so of course that rules. Gino is a real bump machine. Hot tag to Slater isn’t as great as Tommy’s but its excellent and this is just start to finish a great wrestling match. One to go out of your way to see.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tony Russo (GCW on WTBS – 12/12/81)

Tommy beats a jobber in 90 seconds.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buzz Sawyer (GCW on WTBS – 1/28/82)

The best GCW TV match we’ve seen thus far. Really good stuff early from Buzz being a cocky heel. Rich controls much of the match working a headlock. Buzz fights back with vicious punches to the face. Rich’s selling is great. Run-in finish leaves you wanting more. Good stuff here.

 

Tommy Rich vs Joe Powell – (GCW on WTBS – 1/30/82)

Tommy looks good destroying a jobber. Some mat work some nice punches and the Thesz press.

 

Tommy Rich vs Rick Harris (GCW on WTBS – 2/20/82)

Another short jobber match. Tommy looks really good. It’s a nothing special match but Tommy just looks really sharp. His punches are awesome. When he gives Harris some offense, Tommy’s selling is strong. Just a fun jobber match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jumbo Tsuruta (JCP – 3/7/82)

Good match but on the dull side. A little frustrating because its wrestled clean babyface vs babyface. Lots of wrestling to a stalemate and then shaking hands. Its fine. No complaints its just dry and a little dull. And then as they work towards the finish they show they probably could have had a great match if they could do a bloody brawl. Some hot trading punches segments and a really good finishing rope running sequence leading to the finish.

 

Tommy Rich vs Rick Harris (GCW on WTBS – 3/13/82)

Oh wow another good one with Rick Harris totally different from the last one. Cool stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buzz Sawyer (GCW on WTBS – 4/17/82)

Good TV match. Classically worked exchanging holds with Tommy controlling and Buzz needing little heel tricks to get the advantage only to be reversed by Tommy. Match changes on an irish whip when Buzz just boots Tommy who takes a big bump out to the floor. From There Buzz is in control with punches and we get some great Tommy selling. Its brief before Tommy makes his firey comeback. Really fun stuff.

Tommy Rich & Dusty Rhodes vs Roddy Piper & Ole Anderson (GCW – 6/20/82)

Brief clips. Was probably awesome.

 

Tommy Rich vs Abdul Zaatar (GCW on WTBS – 7/31/82)

Quick TV match. Zaatar works over Rich’s leg most of the way and Rich’s selling is really good. When Rich goes on offense he looks sharp. Good punches, a neat new finish. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Super Destroyer (GCW – 9/12/82)

Last few moments and then Buzz runs into attack Tommy and there’s a hot post match brawl. GOD I wish we had a substantial amount of GCW Arena footage.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buzz Sawyer (Falls Count Anywhere – GCW – 10/17/82)

Brief clips of what was probably an amazing match. Argh!!!

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich vs Iron Sheik & Ivan Koloff (GCW – 10/27/82)

Solid old school southern tag. Its mostly Johnny in peril and he’s good & that’s a fun heel team. Tommy’s hot tag is great. His punches were made for a hot tag. Good match but one to highlight for the Johnny Rich Deep Dive.

 

Tommy Rich & Paul Orndorff vs Masked Superstar & Super Destroyer (GCW – 11/10/82)

Another super solid old school tag match. Double face in peril with Tommy going first. His selling is great as usual. I really like Orndorff he seems like a really underrated performer because his hot tag & face in peril work was good too. Another solid heel team mostly using a small scale punch kick elbow knee based offense but they know how to do it and these babyfaces know how to sell & build drama. Fun stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW – 2/25/83)

Much better than their earlier match and a really good match. None of that wrestling to a stalemate handshake bullshit. This was much hotter from the star with Rich opening with 2 dropkicks. Jumbo brings a bunch of his offense all of which looks good with Rich bumping & selling well. He’s more toned down selling here than he would be in Memphis. Finish with Jumbo reversing the thesz press into a stun gun looks awesome & the back suplex looks great too. Enjoyable match. Better than I expected by quite a bit to be honest.

 

Tommy Rich vs Great Kabuki (AJPW – 3/2/83)

Frustrating match because they’re either trading punches and it fucking rules or they’re sitting in a chinlock. Starts good. Finishes good. Middle is blah.

 

Tommy Rich vs Larry Zbyszko (GCW – 4/17/83)

Brief clips of what was probably an awesome match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Iron Sheik (GCW on WTBS – 5/7/83)

Fine TV match. Nothing to write home about.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buzz Sawyer (No DQ – SWCW - 7/4/83)

What the fuck. This is an amazing double juice brawl with both guys looking fantastic and it being absolutely everything you could ever hope for. Great punches, selling, amazing athletic spots from Buzz. And about 9 minutes into the match a voice over comes over that says “we’re running out of time it looks like we won’t be able to finish the match. And then then just don’t. ARRGGGGGHHHHHH. This was an amazing first 9 minutes. Goddamn this hurt.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bob Roop (GCW WCW – 7/16/83)

About 2 minutes. Good enough to make you wish it was longer. Mostly trading great punches.

 

Tommy Rich vs Kamala (Mid South Superdome Extravaganza – 7/16/83)

Short clips. Looks amazing. Damn.

 

Tommy Rich vs Kamala (Houston – 7/29/83)

Really fun match. Pretty much what you’d hope for with these two. Short with some Kamala schtick, great punches from Rich, Kamala gets the advantage & bloodies Rich and then a bullshit finish. The bullshit finish was really bullshit (Akbar takes the pin lololol) but this was a total blast.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bill Irwin (Bullwhip - GCW – 8/28/83)

Just the post match angle.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bob Roop (GCW WCW – 9/3/83)

TV match but a good one. Rich makes Roop look really good before beating him via banana peel. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Ted Dibiase (GCW – 9/25/83)

Last couple of minutes.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buzz Sawyer (Last Battle of Atlanta Cage Match – GCW – 10/23/83)

One of the great gifts of the last 40 years was this match finally being released and holding up as the classic we were told. Amazing match. One of the best ever.

 

Tommy Rich vs Ted Dibiase (GCW – 11/6/83)

Really good old school match. Tommy starts off hot and controls early out of a headlock. Dibiase tries some escapes but keeps winding up back in it. Eventually Ted takes control and its good but remains sporting before Tommy gets busted open & bleeds like only Tommy Rich can. His eventual comeback is HOT and leads to a bullshit schmozz run in finish but it was really good while it lasted. Enjoyed this one a lot.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Grey (JCP World Wide Wrestling – 11/26/83)

Quick work of a jobber.

 

Tommy Rich vs Ric Flair (GCW – 12/4/83)

I kind of just dread the idea of a long Ric Flair match at this point and this is a long one but I haven’t seen it before and so I went for it. And you know, not surprisingly it’s a really good match. There are some minor quibbles that are really just about my own personal Flair fatigue (I swear to God if I see one more press slam from someone who never does a press slam because Ric just has to get caught going to the top rope I’m gonna freak out man!) because this is an otherwise good match. Well structured with both guys looking really good. I would’ve these two in an out of control brawl because the moments when they do throw down with intense punches are the highlights of this match. Its an otherwise very good traditional babyface challenging Ric Flair match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Magic Dragon (JCP World Wide Wrestling – 12/17/83)

Another quick match but Rich gives Dragon some offense & sells for him before putting him away.

 

Tommy Rich vs Roger Bond (GCW WCW – 12/31/83)

Typical 5 minute long GCW TV match with Rich just dominating some jobber.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol & Jerry Lawler vs Zambouie Express & King Konda (CWA - 2/28/84)

Short clips. Would love to see a full version because Rich, Idol & Lawler is like the all time Memphis dream team.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Norvell Austin & Stagger Lee (CWA – 3/26/84)

2 minutes of clips.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Pretty Young Things (CWA – 4/2/84)

Brief clips which sucks considering how awesome these teams are.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Pretty Young Things (CWA – 4/12/84)

Super fun Memphis tag. Rich & Gilbert are a great team & so are the PYTs so this is definitely worth your time. Some awesome punches from Rich & Gilbert early. Big bump over the top from Rich leads to a FIP segment. Its carried by Rich’s selling. Honestly the PYT’s got a little too nerve holdy. But Rich is so great selling it didn’t matter. The turn & hot tag & run to the finish are excellent. Well worth your time.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Keith Roberson & Pat Hutchinson (CWA – 4/21/84)

Tommy &Eddie make quick work of some jobbers.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Rick Rude & Jim Neidhart (CWA – 4/23/84)

Final moments of a match and the awesome post match. Famous angle where Gilbert is hung up in the ropes as Rich gets destroyed. Great stuff

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Pretty Young Things (CWA – 5/5/84)

Fun little short TV match that falls apart pretty quickly into a crazy brawl around the studio. Lots of fun while it lasted. These teams are great together.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Pretty Young Things (Falls Count Anywhere – CWA – 5/14/84)

Tremendous match. Total brawl. Mostly great looking punches but with the southern tag structure babyface shine, Gilbert In Peril, Hot Tag to Rich and then work to the finish. Only the “work to the finish” was really taking advantage of the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation as all 4 guys brawled all over the place. One of the best Memphis matches ever. Classic match.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Pretty Young Things (CWA – 5/15/84)

5 minute clips of a match & insane post match brawl. This looked incredible with Rich bleeding a gusher & these 4 brawling all over the building. Would love this whole match.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Phil Hickerson & Pat Hutchinson (CWA – 5/26/84)

Usual fun studio tag from Rich & Gilbert.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Pretty Young Things (CWA – 6/2/84)

Really good southern style TV studio tag match. Not as good as their best matches but really fun. Gilbert’s punches are just setting my world on fire at this time and Tommy looks good as usual. Tommy even comes off the top rope with his bionic elbow. Comfort food wrestling right here.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert & Batten Brothers vs The Spoiler & Nightmare #1 & Phil Hickerson & Jim Neidhart (CWA – 6/16/84)

Short sprint but Tommy is the star taking the hot tag showing a ton of fire and winning with a great looking Thesz press.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Phil Hickerson & The Spoiler (Tennessee Street Fight – CWA – 6/25/84)

Amazing bloody brawl. One of the best matches of all time.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs The Nightmare & Keith Roberson (CWA – 6/30/84)

Pretty bland studio tag. No faults everything is fine. Just a low stakes short match. Gilbert did Rich’s Thesz press & it looked great.

 

Tommy Rich vs Masao Ito (CWA – 6/30/84)

Short match before a run in finish. Its fine stuff. Tommy is jumped when he gets in the ring, Ito beats on him a little & Tommy makes his comeback with great looking punches before the Run in.

 

Tommy Rich vs Masao Ito (CWA – 7/9/84)

Solid match when Ito’s not working the nerve hold. I’ve reached the point where a lot moves that bored me as a kid & teenager & young adult like Ab Stretches, Iron Claws, Sleepers are now moves I regularly pop for in matches. But fuck a nerve hold sucks. Still this was enjoyable for a match with an extended nerve hold. Great looking punches from Rich great selling. Some run in shenanigans but it was hot and we got a good finish. Perfecly fine stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Rick Rude (CWA – 7/16/84)

Last 90 seconds. Crowd is crazy hot.

 

Tommy Rich vs King Kong Bundy (CWA  - 7/23/84)

I loved this. A little bit clipped but we get most of the match. Bundy looks absolutely vicious here. He’s doing stuff like stomping on Rich’s hands. The smallest offense from him (a back elbow or a simple knee drop) looks absolutely killer and Bundy is a good enough athlete to bump & move well but not a great enough athlete to do it a bunch of times in the match. Rich’s selling and bumping is tremendous and a big part of the reason Bundy’s offense looks so good. Jimmy Hart is fun at ringside and I enjoyed this quite a bit. Bundy is really underrated.

 

Tommy Rich vs King Kong Bundy (CWA – 8/6/84)

End of a short match with tons of interference and shenanigans. Rick Rude, Eddie Gilbert & Jackie Fargo are involved. Post match with Rich & Gilbert brawling is fantastic. Awesome angle.

 

Tommy Rich vs Eddie Gilbert (CWA – 8/13/84)

Lance promises the Grudge Match of the Year. Can’t Wait. Awesome match as it turns out to no ones surprise. All schtick early with Gilbert trying to avoid Tommy & going to great lengths to do so. Some solid leg work from Gilbert & great selling from Rich forms the base of this match and there s hot finish with these two brawling around ringside. Great stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Eddie Gilbert (CWA – 8/18/84)

Turned out to just be an angle but what a fucking angle. Go see this.

 

Tommy Rich & Dutch Mantell vs The Nightmares (CWA – 9/15/84)

Insane prematch angle as the Nightmares attempt to hang Rich with a literal noose. What the fuck. Turns into a short impromptu tag title match and its just a super fun 2 and ½ minutes. Short but awesome bit of tv.

 

Tommy Rich & Tojo Yamamoto vs Dirty White Boys (CWA – 9/17/84)

Short match that’s going along just fine Tommy looks really good and then Gilbert runs in and the match is thrown out. Post match brawl is really good. Fun while it lasted

 

Tommy Rich & Dutch Mantell vs The Nightmares (CWA – 9/23/84)

Another fantastic angle. Rich no shows so Dutch goes it alone. Then Rich shows up so he & Dutch get in an awesome brawl. These angles are all tremendous. The hatred and violence they get across is out of this world.

 

Tommy Rich & Jerry Lawler vs Dirty White Boys (PWUSA – 9/27/84)

Short TV match. Rich & Lawler have an easy time with the DWBs. One you wish was more substantial for sure.

 

Tommy Rich & Jerry Lawler vs The Nightmares (PWUSA – 10/6/84)

Really good studio tag. Short about 6 ½ minutes but a total blast. Nightmares look great and obviously that’s an all time great southern babyface tag team in Rich & Lawler.

 

Tommy Rich & Jerry Lawler & Jerry Oates vs Rip Rogers & Bob Roop & Ted Oates (GCW – 11/3/84)

Fine TV 6 man. Everyone looks solid. Pretty standard operating procedure stuff. Heels would work over a babyface, babyface would tag new babyface would come in with some fire before heels cutting them off rinse & repeat for 7 minutes. Fine. Enjoyable

 

Tommy Rich & Jerry Lawler vs Randy Barber & Don Sanders (PWUSA -11/3/84)

Rich & Jerry make quick work of some jobbers.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bob Roop (GCW – 12/1/84)

Solid TV match before the run in finish. Enjoyable stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Brad Armstrong vs Long Riders (GCW – 12/2/84)

Just the post match

 

Tommy Rich & Abdullah the Butcher vs Long Riders (GCW – 12/29/84)

Crazy angle with Abdullah turning on Rich immediately to no one’s surprise.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bob Roop (GCW – 1/12/85)

Usual solid match between these two. Rich controls most of the way with clean babyface stuff and Roop fights back with more rough housing techniques. Find match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Rip Rogers (GCW – 2/16/85)

Short. Like a minute. More angle than match

 

Tommy Rich vs Moondog Rex (CWA – 4/22/85)

Really cool match. Lou Thesz is in attendance so instead of working the bloody brawl you’d expect from them, these two works a clean match based around leverage & exchanging holds and its pretty goddamn good. Neat to see these two in this setting work a match in this style and it be engaging, well executed & get over with the live crowd who had to be expecting brutal violence from these two. Awesome little nugget here honestly.

 

Tommy Rich & Steve Armstrong vs The Nightmares (CCW – 6/22/85)

Terrific match. Just a lot of fun start to finish. The Nightmares are a really good team & Rich & Armstrong work really well with them. Long babyface shine is a lot of fun. I’m a huge mark for masked heel shenanigans and we get some good cheating based around that and ends up directly playing into the finish which is always fun. My only complaint was the Nightmares time in control wasn’t longer because they looked sharp but they’re also great bumping & stooging and the babyfaces are excellent showing tons of fire & energy. Just a super fun old school tag. Definitely one to see. 

 

Tommy Rich vs Nightmare #1 (CCW – 7/6/85)

Total blast. Super short but lots of action with both guys looking good. Really exists only to set up the post match which is both Nightmares beating up Tommy and cousin Johnny Rich making his big return. Tommy & Johnny are fucking awesome in the big angle. Great shit.

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich vs The Nightmares (CCW – 10/7/85)

Absolutely fantastic old school southern tag. Really the match that convinced me to get off my ass and do a Tommy Rich deep dive. This was just an awesome match. Starts crazy hot with the Rich’s meeting the Nightmares in the aisle & throwing fists right away. Extended face shine is awesome with the Rich’s looking good & the Nightmare’s bumping around like the lost heel team of the decade or something. Johnny in peril is excellent with Johnny’s selling on point & the Nightmares looking awesome. Hot tag and work to the finish is tremendous setting up the upcoming 20 lashes match. Perfect wrestling for me.

 

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich vs The Nightmares (Loser Gets 20 Lashes – CCW – 10/26/85)

Nice old school tag with Johnny getting his guts worked over & building to the hot tag. Good match with high stakes so both teams wrestle a bit more conservatively than they might have otherwise to avoid a mistake. Also smart to work it this way to build to the violence of the lashing than just coming out and having a wild brawl. Good smart wrestling.

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich vs The Nightmares (2/3 Falls - CCW – 11/9/85)

This was a 4 minute sprint of all schtick and it ruled. You wish it was longer but this was fun for what it was.

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich & Tim Horner vs The Nightmares & Alan Martin (CCW – 2/3/86)

Really fun TV 6 man. Classic structure babyfaces start hot – Johnny Rich in Peril – hot tag & work to the finish. Lots of energy with everyone looking good. Comfort food wrestling. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich & The Bullet & Bob Armstrong vs Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden & Jerry Stubbs & Mr Wrestling II (CCW – 4/86)

Fun TV match that just sort of ends. Hope ths exists in full somewhere it looks fun.

 

Tommy Rich & Steve Armstrong vs Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden (No DQ – CCW – 5/24/86)

Short but fun brawl with Tommy getting tied to the ropes and beaten to a bloody pulp. Just a total destruction of the faces by Fuller & Golden. Fun stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Steve Armstrong vs Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden (CCW – 6/21/86)

Another really good TV match. There’s a real intensity to these matches that really comes through and makes them feel a little better than they might technically be. Classic structure with Tommy in peril and he is just fantastic as the oversized Ricky Morton. Super solid stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Keith Robertson (CWA – 9/20/86)

Short match that is just set up for a run in. Great post match brawl with Tommy getting bloodied. No match but no complaints.

 

Tommy Rich vs Keith Eric (CWA – 12/13/86)

Tommy makes quick work of a jobber.

 

Tommy Rich vs Big Bubba (CWA – 12/15/86)

Last minute or so.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (CWA – 12/22/86)

Clips. Looks like an amazing match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (CWA – 12/29/86)

I think this is a borderline men’s MOTDC. Just two of the all time great punchers punching the shit out of each other. Tommy’s selling really pushes this over the top too. Give me this for eternity.

 

Tommy Rich vs Abdullah the Butcher (WWC - 1987)

This starts with Tommy hitting a monkey flip on Abdullah so we’re starting at infinity stars I see. Goes up from there as this is an insanely bloody brawl that includes Abby seemingly trying to take out Rich’s eye. Wrestling perfection.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (CWA – 1/11/87)

Last few seconds. Lawler throws a fireball at Rich. Later Rich runs back out during a Lawler vs Idol match the same night & they crush Lawler’s testicles starting the famous Lawler vs Idol & Rich feud.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs The Snowman & Soul Train Jones (CWA – 2/9/87)

Short but fucking fantastic match. Heated violent brawl with an even more heated & violent post match when Jerry Lawler runs out. Great shit. Goddamn.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler & Nick Bockwinkel (CWA – 2/16/87)

Just some clips. Bet it was fucking amazing.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow (CWA – 3/9/87)

4 minutes of clips. Looks incredible.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow (Double Jeopardy – CWA – 3/16/87)

I voted this the 60th greatest match of all time recently and having revisited it tonight, I can only imagine it rising up my list. Wrestling perfection.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow (Texas Death Match – CWA – 3/23/87)

I voted this the  41st greatest match of all time recently and having revisited it tonight, I can only imagine it rising up my list. Wrestling perfection.

 

Tommy Rich & Jerry Oates vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask II (AJPW – 3/28/87)

This is fine. Forgettable honestly but while its happening its perfectly solid.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW – 4/2/87)

Solid match. Build around a headlock earlier and then it escalates down the stretch. Rich really tones down his selling to a more realistic style in Japan and this is just a find 10ish minute long match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Davey Haskins (CWA – 5/23/87)

No match just an angle.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Billy Travis & Mark Starr (CWA – 6/8/87)

Terrific short match. About 7 minutes but a total blast. Mostly punches from both sides with the occasional suplex or neck breaker thrown in. But mostly punches. But they know how to sell and use body language to tell a story & their characters. Rich & Idol are one of the great short lived teams ever. Every match they have is compelling. Fun stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee (Scaffold Match – CWA – 6/15/87)

Clips of what was probably a classic match.

 

Tommy Rich vs ML Williams (AWA – 8/8/87)

Tommy puts a jobber away quickly.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tom Stone (AWA – 10/6/87)

Quick run in by Adonis to attack Tommy ends this one before it starts.

 

Tommy Rich & Wahoo McDaniel & Jerry Blackwell vs Original Midnight Express & Adrian Adonis (AWA – 10/30/87)

Short TV match. Adonis is bigger than Blackwell at this point. Nothing wrong with this match really and some incredible spots (Adonis slamming Blackwell & Rich back dropping Adonis) but this one kinda depressed me. Everyone in this is on the downside even while still looking ok overall.

 

Tommy Rich vs Adrian Adonis (AWA – 12/11/87)

Adonis was an amazing athlete. He did the Flair bump into the corner to the floor and he’s like 400lbs. He was a freak of nature. Short all action match with Adonis bumping around like a maniac. Bullshit ending but then Adonis flies off the top rope so it makes up for it. Kind of amazing.

 

Tommy Rich & Dick Slater vs Abdullah the Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh (AJPW – 1988)

These two teams had a few matches in the RWTL and I’m no t sure which one this is. Short and fun when Abby is in there. Not so much when its Tiger.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (CWA – 2/22/88)

Last few seconds of what was probably an awesome match considering it was these two and then the famous post-match with Lawler taking the huge fireball. Awesome.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Takashi Ishikawa (AJPW – 3/26/88)

Rich & Idol in AJPW is something I’ve been looking forward to since I started this project and saw it happened. Austin Idol Deep Dive Coming Soon. Idol does not disappoint. He comes in and rakes Ishikawa’s eyes & then throws him outside. Fantastic. Later they do a spot where Idol is irish whipped & runs into Rich on the apron & its just the perfect mix of comedy to a midcard match.  Rich looks good. Showing some real intensity each time he’s in the ring & especially after the comedic spot I described. I’m way too excited about watching all the Austin Idol matches after seeing him work better than expected in this environment. Just a fucking blast this match. I like all 4 of these guys but I wasn’t sure how this was gonna work but it somehow worked.

 

Tommy Rich & Bruiser Brody vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara (AJPW – 4/22/88)

This would turn out to be Brody’s last match in AJPW. And he’s not great. He’s such a frustrating guy because he has the look and he’d do stuff on occasion like a sweet looking body slam or a beautiful big boot and then the next second he’d throw some weak ass punch or refuse to sell. Such a frustrating guy. Anyway. This goes from good to shit based on Brody’s involvement. Instead of a hard hitting bloody brawl this is pretty chinlocky because Brody was shit. Too bad we couldn’t just get Rich vs Tenryu or vs Hara in singles match. All of them look good. Where is Austin Idol when we need him.

 

Tommy Rich & Austin Idol vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Hiroshi Wajima (AJPW – 4/24/88)

JIP with Yatsu in peril. Rich & Idol are doing a Memphis Anderson brother routine cutting off the ring and working over Yatsu’s leg with lots of quick tags. Really good focused stuff. Not the sort of stuff you’d expect from these two, but they’re really good at it. Wajima comes in for the finish. This was pretty fun up until then!

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert & Bruiser Brody vs Abdullah the Butcher & Buck Robley & Dick Slater (SCW – 7/9/88)

That is an all time great face tag team and Bruiser Brody. Against an all time awesome heel team and Dick Slater. Any this was pretty damn fun. Just a solid old school tv tag match that eventually breaks down into a wild brawl. Forgettable but fun when you’re watching it.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (CWA – 8/22/88)

Closing moments of what was probably an awesome match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jimmy Valiant (CWA – 9/19/88)

Short. Like 2 and ½ minutes but fucking amazing. Violent brawl with a crazy hot crowd good bumping & selling. This fucking ruled. Loved it.

 

Tommy Rich & Jimmy Golden & Robert Fuller vs Bill Dundee & Jimmy Valiant & Jeff Jarrett (AWA – 10/22/88)

Fun match. Fast paced TV 6 man. Rich does some nice bumping & stooging but isn’t in the match as much. He looks good when he’s in and everyone all around looks good. Fun stuff if you like punches and old school schtick.

 

Tommy Rich & Dick Slater vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW – 11/28/88)

JIP about 10 minutes of a really good looking tag match. Everyone looks really good. Rich twice in this match disdainfully throws Kawada into the corner so Tenryu can tag in. Some great moments with Rich & Tenryu just trading blows. Rich looks awesome and I’d love for a singles match with Tenryu from this era. Really good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs The Masked Invader (SCW – Late 80s)
Really fun old school match. Lots of schtick. You got Tommy controlling and Invader ducking out of the ring a lot. You’ve got Invader playing hide the foreign object before finally nailing Tommy. Tommy bleeds only Tommy can & this jumps up a level in intensity and focus. Tommy is amazing selling the loss of blood & ass kicking. Invader is really fun on top. Just love this kind of wrestling. Simple and logical. Great shit.

 

Tommy Rich vs Steve Lawler (SCW – Late 80s)

When I saw this I was like “I wonder if Steve Lawler is a guy doing a Jerry Lawler cosplay routine” and holy shit it’s a guy doing a Jerry Lawler cosplay routine. Tommy as a pretty easy time with this wannabe beating the shit out of him & bloodying him. Tommy is busted open in the post match angle and bleeds like a maniac. Ok match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Terry Gordy (SCW – 1/10/89)

Tommy is playing a back peddling chicken shit hide the foreign object heel and it’s a lot of fun. Overall though this match is a pretty big disappointment once they get beyond the early schtick. You see these two in an 8 minute long match and best case scenario it’s a hard hitting double juice brawl but Gordy is doing Riki Choshu tribute spots. Its great to tease a sharpshooter and then switch it to a single leg crab when you’re Riki Choshu working against Tatsumi Fujinami in NJPW but when its Tommy Rich in a dying territory it just doesn’t come across as well. Some stuff to like in this one but also a letdown.

 

Tommy Rich vs Brad Armstrong (SCW – 5/89)

This is an awesome match. Its short but well structured & they pack a ton into it. Brad gets a nice babyface shine, Tommy cuts him off and his offense is absolutely brutal looking with Brad taking some great looking bumps. Seriously Tommy’s kicks are positively Stan Hansen-esque in this. Brad gets a hot firey comeback. We even get a good finish. Heck of a short match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bill Irwin (WCW – 7/1/89)

Fine match. Nothing really special or memorable. Some good punches, a great looking sideslam from Irwin and a hot finish from Rich. Fine while you’re watching it but nothing to write home about.

 

Tommy Rich & Brian Pillman & Scott Hall vs Iron Sheik & Bill Irwin & TJ Meadows (WCW – 7/21/89)

Ok enough match. Hall does a couple of nice looking spots (side slam & a big dropkick) but he otherwise looks pretty shitty. Pillman works most of the way and looks good. Couple of nice moments from Rich but he’s mostly on the sidelines here.

 

Tommy Rich & Scott Hall vs New Zealand Militia (WCW – 7/22/89)

Scott Hall in peril is a choice. Hall works most of the way and Rich just comes in for the finish.

 

Tommy Rich vs Eddie Gilbert (WCW – 7/28/89)

Terrific babyface vs babyface match. Lots of clean exchanging of holds. Logically built. Not what you’d expect on the surface from these two but that makes it more impressive. I would have loved a hard hitting bloody brawl between these two but its pretty cool to watch these two go out and work a clean match with each other based on exchanging holds. One brief flare up where you think they might start popping off at each other, but they get back to working a clean match. Cool stuff with a cool finish.

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Rich & Davey Rich vs The Skyscrapers & Norman the Lunatic (WCW – 7/29/89)

Tommy gets some shine on Norman but this is the Rich’s getting treated like jobbers. Spivey brings some great looking moves to the table and is impressive and Sid looks like absolute dogshit. Who watches Spivey do a tilt a whirl slam and then comes in and does a 3 minute nerve hold.  I will never understand the Sid love. Even ironically. Anyway this is surprisingly fun for an extended squash because of Spivey’s offense & the Rich’s bumping around.  Tommy is great working the apron.

 

Tommy Rich vs Iron Sheik (WCW – 7/30/89)

Pretty blah match. Tommy looks good but Sheik’s got very little in the tank.

 

Tommy Rich & Brian Pillman vs Ron Simmons & Cuban Assassin (WCW – 8/12/89)

Fun match. Rich is more of a background player as Pillman is the star here. He works most of the way getting to hit lots of flashy spots. There’s a brief Tommy in peril that leads to Pillman’s hot tag. Simmons & Assasin are fun together. Simmons hits an amazing spinebuster on Pillman. Like even more badass than you’d expect. Solid match. Good enough that you wouldn’t mind a series between these two teams. I wish Tommy was a bit more involved, but this is still worth your time.

 

Tommy Rich vs Lex Luger (WCW – 8/18/89)

Excellent TV match. Both guys look really good. Luger is in the middle of his career year and he just looks fantastic here. Great on offense, great bumping & stooging for Rich while remaining strong. Luger’s 1989 is soo good. Tommy is awesome here as aa classic babyface. He knows how to bump & sell, set up Luger and work his offense in effectively without undercutting Luger. Terrific stuff. Cool finish from Luger.

 

Tommy Rich vs Terry Funk (Anything Goes - WCW – 8/19/89)

Broke my damn heart. This ended up being 90 seconds of Rich vs Luger and then Funk & Luger beating up Rich. It’s a great angle but goddamn I wanted an anything goes match with Rich & Funk from 1989!

 

Tommy Rich vs Cuban Assassin (WCW – 8/25/89)

This is a good match with two guys I definitely like. Tommy is super solid at these face vs heel TV matches that are just like go out there and have a match to fill time. Rich has issues with Luger at the moment so no real storyline here. Just two good workers going out and having a good match.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Ron Simmons & Cuban Assassin (WCW – 8/27/89)

Solid match. Long babyface shine where they take turns controlling with arm work. Gilbert goes shoulder first into the ring post to lead to a short Gilbert in peril before a quick hot tag and then a quick cut off for Rich in peril. Assassin does most of the heel work. Babayfaces had a pretty easy time getting to their comebacks but looked great when they were on offense.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bill Irwin (WCW – 9/1/89)

Another solid match. Traditional clean TV match. Some babyface fire, hip tosses, arm drags, dropkicks, criss cross rope running that sort of thing. Irwin gets some good looking offense in that Rich sells well for but nothing too crazy. Nice finish with the babyface outsmarting the heel.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bill Irwin (WCW – 9/9/89)

Replay of the last match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Lex Luger (WCW Clash of the Champions VIII – 9/12/89)

Even better than their match from August. This is an excellent match with both guys looking great. Luger brings a ton of fantastic looking offense and Rich bumps and sells like a champ. Rich gets just a few spots in but they build to them well so they have more impact than they would otherwise and makes the match feel more even when its mostly Luger dominating. There’s a really terrific rope running spot which you might not expect from a Lex Luger match. Great match both guys come out of it looking better.

 

 Tommy Rich & Brian Pillman vs Ron Simmons & Cuban Assassin (WCW – 9/16/89)

Replay of their match 8/12/89. I’ll remember that spinebuster forever.

 

Tommy Rich vs Dick Murdoch (WCW – 9/16/89)

This is right there with the Luger match and maybe even a little better as Rich’s best match in WCW so far. Just a terrific 15minute time limit draw TV match. Starts off clean with them trading arm work leading to a great Murdoch punch, a great Rich retaliation and then a reset and back to a mostly clean style with some more punches mixed in. This is like peak Murdoch going over the top  with this selling but it really worked for me and I loved his performance going from vicious to goofy. At one point Murdoch does a kip up into a Fujiwara armbar. Rich is really good here and looks very good as usual but Murdoch really stole the show and you can’t keep your eyes off him here.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Skyscrapers (WCW – 10/14/89)

Weird match because Rich & Gilbert are so good and the Skyscrapers are so bad. Well Sid was. Spivey is ok but Sid is just the worst. Gilbert works really hard here and there are some nice moments that the Rich & Gilbert team set up & build to nicely. Some solid stuff from Spivey. Then Sid comes in and its like what it this guy doing. So stupid.

 

Tommy Rich & Scott Hall & Richard Sartain vs Samoan Swat Team & Samoan Savage (WCW – 10/27/89)

Ok match. Rich is barely in it. This is mostly Scott Hall in peril and then Richard Sartain gets the hot tag. Samoan’s are a fun team. It does get a little nerve holdy at times but other than that the Samoan’s look sharp. You wish this was Rich in peril.

 

Tommy Rich & Ranger Ross vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin (WCW – 11/3/89)

Very good match here. They get about 15minutes to build a match. There’s a really good extended babyface shine to start the match. Both babyfaces look good and Hayes looks amazing stooging an bumping around like a maniac. Short but good FIP section with Tommy getting cut off & worked over. They mix in some nice hope spots too. Tommy spends more time in the ring than he has been lately in these tags and looks really good both on offense & when he’s getting worked over. I liked the finish too. Good stuff worth your time if you enjoy schtick and simple psychology.

 

 Tommy Rich & Ranger Ross vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin (WCW – 11/4/89)

Incomplete version of the previous match. Has Jim Ross on commentary instead of Lance Russell so in addition to not being complete it doesn’t come across as well.

 

Tommy Rich vs Norman the Lunatic (WCW – 11/10/89)

Tommy looks really good here bumping & selling and shows great fire & punches while on offense but it’s a 5 minute long Norman the Lunatic match. Its not what you want.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Midnight Express (WCW – 11/12/89)

UGHHH. Every bit as awesome as it is on paper but only 10 minutes. Rich & Gilbert got more time with the goddamn Skyscrapers than the Midnights. Its awesome while it lasts and worth checking out. Gilbert in peril rules and the Midnights are obviously awesome working on top. Rich’s hot tag rules. I mean this rules but you can’t help but wish it was 20 minutes longer.

 

Tommy Rich & Ranger Ross vs Doom (WCW – 12/2/89)

Solid old school match. Doom bumps & stooges a lot more than you’d expect and this is a fun little TV match with everyone looking solid. Mostly babyface shine but a brief Rich in peril section and he’s really good as usual selling & eating offense.

 

Tommy Rich vs Mike Rotunda (WCW – 12/9/89)

Perfectly solid work I guess but I can’t in good conscious recommend a match with Mike Rotunda and Jim Ross on commentary. Rotundo is so boring some of the lights went out and the referee bumped and just never got up again.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Buzz Sawyer & Dragon Master (WCW – 12/16/89)

Short but pretty fun match. Sawyer looks great and obviously has special chemistry with Rich. Gilbert looks great in 1989. Just a fun 6ish minute tv tag match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Mike Rotunda (WCW – 12/23/89)

At least this was shorter than the other one. Nothing wrong with it other than Rotunda being boring.

 

Tommy Rich & Ranger Ross vs Cactus Jack & Ned Brady (WCW – 12/30/89)

 Fine match. Rich & Ross pretty much just destroy Brady with quick tags in and out and traditional babyface work. Not much from Cactus. Cactus turns on Brady post match. More memorable because Foley talked about it in his book.

 

Tommy Rich vs Cactus Jack (WCW – 1/6/90)

Short but fun match. Some really strong flashes and some poorly timed stuff from Foley. You could see these two having a really awesome brawl together if Cactus had a few more years experience.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buzz Sawyer (WCW – 2/10/90)
Terrific quick TV match. Hate filled and intense in moments. Awesome to see they still have their great chemistry

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin (WCW – 2/10/90)

JIP last few minutes. Looks like a good match. Tommy’s hot tag is awesome.

 

Tommy Rich & Ranger Ross vs Arn Anderson & Ole Anderson (WCW – 2/25/90)

This was a really awesome 10 minute match. Hot babyface shine a really awesome Ranger Ross in peril section with the Anderson’s looking really good. Terrific hot tag with Tommy. Super hot crowd. Really fun match. Exceeded expectations. 

 

Tommy Rich vs Ric Flair (WCW – 3/9/90)

Usual good to very good Ric Flair match. Tommy looks really good. Flair is Flair.

 

Tommy Rich & Ranger Ross vs Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan (WCW – 3/16/90)

Another good tag match. I really like the Rich & Ross team. They’re a perfectly solid mid card babyface team. They can both bump & sell and know how to work a match. Nothing spectacular but they’re just churning out fund matches. I like the Cactus & Sullivan team.

 

Tommy Rich vs Rip Morgan (WCW – 3/17/90)

Tommy looks good as usual. Great all world punches. Good timing. Willing bumper & great babyface seller. Rip Morgan doesn’t look very impressive but this is pretty ok match thanks to Tommy. Morgan spends too much time I s chinlock for such a short match but otherwise enjoyable for what it is.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs The Wild Samoans (WCW – 3/24/90)

I loved this for a 6ish minute long match. Classic southern tag structure with everyone looking sharp. Rich & Gilbert are fantastic babyface tag workers and can do a good match like this in their sleep & they have great chemistry with the Samoans. I really would’ve liked to see this go for 10 more minutes easily. Fun stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Johnny Ace vs Samu & Cuban Assassin (WCW – 3/30/90)

Well this is a weird matchup. Solid match though. Johnny Ace is a big goof but everyone else looks solid. Its Ace in peril which is kinda just so so but Tommy is really good working the apron. Samu & the Cuban Assassin are a fun team. Enjoyable overall I must say.

 

Tommy Rich vs Joel Deaton (WCW – 4/6/90)

Really fun little TV match. Both guys look good. Tommy gets plenty of shine and controls with basic babyface stuff. Head locks, arm drags, head scissors that sort of thing. Deaton looks good bumping & stooging and when he gets to go on offense things look sharp. Fine little 10 minute TV match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Joel Deaton (WCW – 4/8/90)

Awesome TV match. Hard hitting almost like a blood bath without blood. Starts hot with Tommy on top but he’s going after Deaton with more aggression than in the previous match. Deaton looks really sharp on offense. Some nice flying for a  big man. Rich’s selling is on point. This is really good and you with it was a different time so they could use blood. Great stuff. Enjoyed this.

 

Tommy Rich vs Mean Mark Callous (WCW – 4/13/90)

Quick match with FutureTaker squashing Rich. Taker looks green but really impressive athletically. Rich bumps around well for him. Cool to see. FutureTaker is better than Sid already.

Tommy Rich vs Joel Deaton (WCW – 4/14/90)
What in gods name is happening. Another match between these two and they just keep getting better and better. Deaton looks tremendous here really dominating Tommy with brutal looking offense. Tommy is terrific at babyface underdog selling as usual. Heck of a 10 minute TV match. Lots of energy. Terrific shit. I’d love these two to get 15ish minutes to have a bloodbath. They have great chemistry.

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Samu & Joel Deaton (WCW – 4/22/90)
Fun TV Match. Mostly Rich in peril and Rich looks fantastic selling and getting his ass kicked. He was really born for it. Joel Deaton continues to impress. The Rich vs Deaton rivalry has been a real pleasant surprise. Good shit Worth your time.

Tommy Rich vs Joel Deaton (WCW – 4/28/90)
Another good match between these two. They must have loved working together because they work hard and put real thought into it to keep things different and fresh. Fast paced hard hittinga s usual. Deaton pretty much dominates the whole way but with a few Rich hope spots mixed in throughout. Good stuff. I endorse this rivalry at this point. These are fun TV matches.

 

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert & Johnny Ace vs Dutch Mantell & Samu & Lee Scott (WCW – 5/19/90)

Blach match. Ace in peril.

 

Tommy Rich vs Cactus Jack (WCW – 5/20/90)

Good match that played as a backdrop for the Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan pairing. I would love to see these two have a focused blood feud but it was obviously not to be. Cactus tries some fun stuff (“jumping” knee) and Tommy does a good job putting guys over before beating them. This was fun.

 

Tommy Rich vs Bam Bam Bigelow (WCW Clash of the Champions XI – 6/13/90)

This is an awesome short match. These two obviously have some history so they’re working hard. Rich throws his great looking punches and bumps like a champion. Bigelow looks like an absolute killer. Bigelow hits the most devastating inverted atomic drop ever. This ruled. Wish it was twice as long.

 

Tommy Rich & Tim Horner vs State Patrol (WCW – 7/7/90)

This was your typical good solid TV tag that you’ll see in a Tommy Rich deep dive. Basic stuff from Tommy, great looking punches lots of arm wringers doing the smiley babyface routine. Horner in peril is fun because State Patrol has a nice offense and they look good. Finish rules with Rich hitting the Thesz press for the pin and Horner springboarding off of Tommy for a flying elbow to stop the pin break up attempt. Its really well executed. That finish helps this stand out more than the usual run of the mill tag. Good stuff overall.

 

Tommy Rich vs Harley Race (WCW Great American Bash – 7/7/90)

Well this fucking rules. Sub 7 minutes but just go after each other bumping around like maniacs working a sprint. Terrific stuff. One of the more fun Harley matches.

 

Tommy Rich vs Stan Hansen (WCW – 7/14/90)

Obviously this rules. Hansen looks like a killer. Rich is awesome getting beat up & throws some killer punches. Fun shit.

 

Tommy Rich & Tim Horner vs Midnight Express (WCW – 7/27/90)

Another solid TV tag. Midnights basically can’t have a bad match as long as they’re match up against even semi-capable wrestlers. Rich obviously is really good and Horner is as well if a little dry. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buddy Landell (WCW – 7/29/90)

Good match. Pretty much what you’d expect. Landell does his Flair routine, Tommy is Tommy. Just 9 minutes of solid work.

 

Tommy Rich vs The Hitman (WCW – 8/4/90)

Obviously that is not Bret Hart. He’s a squat Italian looking guy with a rat tail that Tommy beats the shit out of for 6 minutes. Tommy looks sharp.

 

Tommy Rich vs Mean Mark Callous (WCW – 8/10/90)

Fun match. I gotta say, Mean Mark is more fun than I rememer. FutureTaker is obviously super green but still physically really impressive. Tommy works his ass off to make Taker look good and they have good chemistry. These aren’t like hidden gems or light the world on fire matches or anything, but I’ve been surprised by the quality of these few glimpses of Mean Mark during this process.  Tommy’s great working with younger workers who have physical tool

 

Tommy Rich vs Bill Irwin (WCW Clash of the Champions XII – 9/5/90)

Well this fucking rules. Short match like 4 minutes but they go balls to the wall. A few sequences that’ll blow your mind. Where the fuck did this come from. Both guys look fucking awesome.

 

Tommy Rich & Greg Sawyer vs Nasty Boys (WCW – 10/14/90)
Short squash for the Nasty’s. Rich barely works. Sawyer just gets destroyed by the Nasty’s.

 

 Tommy Rich & Terry Taylor vs Nasty Boys (WCW – 10/20/90)

Really good TV tag match. Simple formula. Babyface shine, face in peril (Taylor) and hot tag before the work to the finish. Bu teveryhing is really well done. The Nasty’s are aawesome and look fucking sharp. They are seriously underrated. Rich & Taylor play their roles well. Fun. Stuff. The sort of thing I can watch all day.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Nasty Boys (WCW – 10/20/90)

Another awesome tag match against the Nasty Boys. Nasties look fucking awesome and obviously Tommy & Ricky are a great working babyface team. This has Tommy in peril and he looks great eating the Nasty’s brutal looking offense. Just smart psychologically sound wrestling combined with all the hard hitting physicality you’d want from a match like this. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Midnight Express (WCW  Halloween Havoc – 10/27/90)

Rich barely works but this might be the single greatest face in peril match ever? Ricky Morton looks like the best wrestler on Earth again. Just an amazing performance. As fun a wrestling match as there is. Not something you’d point to for a Rich project, but Morton is a god here.

 

Tommy Rich & Terry Taylor vs Barry Horowitz & Moondog Rex (WCW – 10/27/90)

Typical fun TV tag match. Everyone plays their roles well. Tommy in peril looks good as usual. This is sort of worked like Tommy is busted open without Tommy actually getting busted open. Fun match

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Jim Corbett & Pat Rose (WCW – 11/3/90)

Short little squash that exists more to advance Rich & Morton vs Freebirds.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin  (WCW – 11/17/90)

Short match. Simple but perfectly fine 4 minutes.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin (WCW – 12/1/90)

Replay of the match from 11/17

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Tom Zenk vs Fabulous Freebirds & Bobby Eaton (WCW – 12/8/90)

Fun match. Another night off for Rich mostly and another night of Ricky Morton looking awesome.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Fabulous Freebirds (WCW Starrcade – 12/16/90)

Another fun match. Morton works most of the way again but Tommy gets a little more run than he has been. He has really good chemistry with Hayes and I would’ve liked a singles match with them at some point.

 

Tommy Rich vs Michael Wallstreet (WCW – 12/22/90)

Thankfullly short. Nothing really wrong as usual just a typical boring Rotunda match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Buddy Landell (WCW – 1/6/91)

Fine 5 minute match. Rich looks perfectly fine and Landell has his Flair routine down pat.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Arn Anderson & Barry Windham (WCW – 1/26/91)

Another typical good 8minute TV tag match. Rich works more than he usually does teaming with Morton and looks good. Basic babyface tag stuff. Drops kicks, nice punches, good schtick. Can’t help but wish these teams had a substantial feud with each other because this is good.

 

Tommy Rich & Allen Iron Eagle vs Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin (WCW Clash of the Champions XIV – 1/30/91)

Rich looks good working with the Freebirds and they set him up well for some good shine. Its mostly Iron Eagle in peril and not very good though.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Arn Anderson & Barry Windham (WCW – 2/2/91)

Disappointing match when I saw it was a 20minute video. I was hoping for a hidden classic but its merely a good to very good match. Rich looks like the worst worker in the match if we’re being honest but still looks solid. Morton looks awesome as usual.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jack Victory (WCW – 2/16/91)

Tommy looks solid. Jack Victory is awfully chinlocky. Some good schtick & babyface work from Tommy though. Definitely a watchable match even though Victory leaves something to be desired.

 

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs Arn Anderson & Barry Windham (WCW – 2/23/91)

Replay of the 2/2/91 match. Damn

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Junkyard Dog vs Bobby Eaton & Buddy Landell & Terry Taylor (WCW – 3/3/91)

Another night off for Rich for the most part but this is worth watching because Morton & Eaton literally can’t be involved in a bad match together.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Junkyard Dog vs Bobby Eaton & Buddy Landell & Terry Taylor (WCW – 3/10/91)

Surprisingly not a replay. We actually got JYD in peril and it was not great as you’d imagine. Everyone else looks good. Not a lot of substance in this match but ok while you’re watching it

 

Tommy Rich vs Arn Anderson (WCW – 3/30/91)

Good TV match. Sound mat based stuff. Not gonna blow your mind but very well done. Good stuff.

 

Tommy Rich vs One Man Gang (WCW – 4/20/91)

Short. Less than 2 minutes. Tommy is all punches and then Gang just plants him.

 

Tommy Rich vs Nikita Koloff (WCW SuperBrawl – 5/19/91)

Quick and basic. Forgettable

 

Tommy Rich & Junkyard Dog vs Fabulous Freebirds (WCW – 6/2/91)

We get a nice rope running sequence between Hayes & Rich to start. But this is over in 2 minutes.

 

Tommy Rich vs Diamond Studd (WCW Clash of the Champions XV – 6/12/91)

Short match about 2 ½ minutes. Tommy looks solid putting Hall over and bumping around. Rich takes a great bump off of a Hall chokeslam and the Razor’s Edge looks good to. Hall stll looks green and not really ready for prime time, but Tommy is good working with those guys and works hard to make Hall look strong.

 

Tommy Rich & Brian Pillman & PN News & El Gigante vs Ric Flair & Barry Windham & Nikita Koloff & One Man Gang (WCW – 6/15/91)

Fun start with Rich & Windham. Nice Pillman vs Flair matchup. Then El Gigante gets in and he immediately press slams Ric off the top and hits him with a suplex. Flair vs Pillman matchup is really good. The fans are going nuts for it.  Rich vs Flair is hot too. Quick match that is more about pushing Sting vs Nikita but everyone plays their roles well and works hard & fast & looks good. WOuldn’t have bothered me if we got 10 more minutes of this as long as Rich, Pillman Flair & Windham workd most of the way.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Robert Gibson & Tom Zenk (WCW – 8/10/91)

Tommy’s first match with the York Foundation. One of these endless solid WCW tag matches. Really good while its happening. Gibson doesn’t look that great but everyone else looks really good. Tommy is great as a heel so this is an easy transition for him. Dustin looks really great in this setting and Terry Taylor whips out a freaking gut wrench powerbomb just outta nowhwere. Fun match.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Fabulous Freebirds & Badstreet (WCW – 9/14/91)

Bizarro world wrestling with everyone in the wrong role except for Rich. Perfectly solid work but the Freebirds are fucking lame as faces and while Morton transitioned extremely well to being a heel, he’s still a generational babyface. Fine but weird. Taylor is the most hit or miss wrestler of all time an he shows it here going directly from a fantastic looking gut wrench powerbomb directly into a chin lock.  Rich is awesome right away as a stooging heel. This was a much needed change both for him and for me. Heel team looks great honestly. Babyfaces aren’t ideal.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh & Tom Zenk (WCW – 9/22/91)

Typical fun WCW tv 6 man. Classic structure with Dustin in peril so its really good. Too short to really be memorable when there’s just a million matches like this but still enjoyable.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh & Tom Zenk (WCW – 9/28/91)

Replay of the last match.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh & Tom Zenk (WCW – 10/5/91)

Usual fun basic 6 man tag. York Foundation looks good. Dustin looks really good.

 

Tommy Rich vs Brian Pillman (WCW – 10/5/91)

Honestly a little disappointing. Short and more Pillman sitting around with Rich in an armbar than you’d expect.

 

Tommy Rich vs Brian Pillman (WCW – 10/19/91)

Oh this is the match I was hoping for with the last one. Shorter than I’d hope with these two (about 5min) but all action. Some good rope running sequences leading to Rich taking a big bump off a hip toss or drop kick. Some nice bumping & stooging from Rich. A great looking neck breaker. Pillman flies around some. Reallly fun 5 minute match.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Bobby Eaton & Big Josh & Mike Graham (WCW - 10/19/91)

2 minutes over before it really starts.

 

Tommy Rich & Terry Taylor vs Brian Pillman & Mike Graham (WCW – 10/26/91)

A terrific sequence with Pillman involving both Rich & Taylor early on. Pillman looks good as a flashy young exciting worker. Rich is really good stooging and bumping off of extended rope running sequences. Graham is pretty bland but the other 3 look solid. Really enjoying the York Foundation stuff more than I expected.

 

Tommy Rich & Terry Taylor vs Bobby Eaton & Big Josh (WCW – 10/26/91)
Another quick tag match about 4 minutes. No complaints with the work just unsubstantial.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh & Tom Zenk (WCW – 11/3/91)

Typical solid 6 man match. Rich working heel is such a breath of fresh air. He seems to be reinvigorated bumping & stooging and also being extra vicious on offense. Enjoyable.

 

Tommy Rich & Terry Taylor vs Bobby Eaton & Big Josh (WCW – 11/9/91)

Short and sweet tag match. About 5 minutes and everyone looks good & cuts a fast pace. Enjoyable. Rich & Josh have a really fun sequence with Josh blocking Rich’s punches & firing back with his own. Fun stuff

 

Tommy Rich vs Arachnaman (WCW – 11/9/91)

Way better than I expected. Tommy is awesome bumping & stooging around and then is vicious when he goes on offense. Great neckbreaker & lariat. Tommy sets up all of Arachnaman’s offense really well. Shockingly fun.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Bobby Eaton & The Patriots (WCW – 11/9/91)

Typical old school tag structure. Best case scenario since its Eaton in peril. Tommy looks great here. I love him as a heel. He’s great as a bumping, stooging punching old school heel. Fun match.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh & Tom Zenk (WCW – 11/10/91)

Typical really good TV match. York Foundation is really fun. Babyfaces look good. Can’t complain about any of these matches. Sound psychological match with everything making sense and everyone looking good. Not really memorable but just fine.

 

Tommy Rich vs Arachnaman (WCW – 11/16/91)

Replay of the 11/9/91 match

 

Tommy Rich vs Sting (WCW – 11/16/91)

Quick Sting squash.

 

Tommy Rich vs Big Josh (Lumberjack Match – WCW Clash of the Champions XVII – 11/19/91)

Great start to this with Tommy trying some punches to no avail and trying to stooge and bail out only to realize there’s nowhere to go. Great job getting the stipulation over immediately. Josh really beats the shit out of Rich until Rich can toss him outside really quick. Some heel lumberjack cheating gives Tommy the advantage. Smart stuff. Tommy takes over and its more vicious offense than his previous dropkick armdrag stuff. Here he’s throwing elbows and raking the face choking with tape that sort of thing. Really fun brawling style match. Good use of the stipulation. Smart logical work. Really enjoyed this one.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Big Josh & Tom Zenk & Arachnaman (WCW – 11/23/91)

Fine. Nothing memorable but starting to lead to the breakup of the York Foundation.

 

Tommy Rich vs Van Hammer (WCW – 11/30/91)

Mercifully short.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Young Pistols vs Brian Pillman & PN News & The Patriots (WCW – 12/7/91)

Just sort of your typical WCW multi person tag match. Classic southern structure. Fine as usual. Seems like we’re headed towards a Brian Pillman vs Ricky Morton match which sounds great.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & Terry Taylor vs Dustin Rhodes & Tom Zenk & Big Josh (Cage Match - WCW – 12/8/91)

Short cage match. Weird. Zenk in peril. Tommy hits a nice neckbreaker and lots good overall. He seems the most comfortable of all the heels in the cage.

 

Tommy Rich vs Van Hammer (WCW – 12/14/91)

Replay of the 11/30/91 match.

 

Tommy Rich & Buddy Lee Parker vs Big Josh & Mike Graham (WCW – 12/14/91)

Short tag match. About 4 minutes. Good when its Rich vs Josh in there since they have good chemistry.

 

Tommy Rich vs Mike Graham (WCW – 12/14/91)

Better than I expected. Pretty hard found grappling. Rich is in more ass kicker mode than bumping stooging heel mode. Probably pissed that he’s jobbing clean to Mike Graham in 1991.

 

Tommy Rich vs Big Josh (WCW – 12/21/91)

Really fun hard hitting match. Worked like a bloody double juice brawl without actually being that since its TV. Fun though.

 

Tommy Rich vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW – 12/28/91)

Fun match. Worked like you would expect. Rich is a more aggressive heel and Steamer comes back with chops, roll ups that sort of thing. Really good selling. Good match. Short about 6 minutes but fun.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jerry Lawler (USWA – 1994)

Short match but obviously super fun. All punches and schtick but these two are masters so its fun while it lasts and the post match is really good.

 

Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert vs Fabulous Ones (USWA – 1995)

Oh wow this fucking rules. Such a breath of fresh air after the endless WCW TV matches. This is a fantastic old school southern tag. Just a ton of great schtick and bullshit. All psychology & working the crowd mixed with great punches and basic old school work. Total fucking blast. Thi sis the sort of setting that Rich really excels in and he looks awesome here stooging for the Fabs. Ruled.

 

Tommy Rich vs Tony Atlas (AWF – 1995)

WTF! Pretty goddamn fun! I really prefer Rich as a heel and he’s a stooging heel doing his best to put over Atlas’ power. Even little things like shaking hands and Rich selling it like Atlas is breaking his hand. This is small basic stuff. All psychology, character & basic work. Tommy looks good here and this was enjoyable.

 

Tommy Rich vs Wolfie D (USWA – 8/96)

Short studio match. Tommy looks good stooging for the smaller Wolfie and also kicking his ass. Good stuff. Wish it was longer.

 

Tommy Rich vs Doug Gilbert (Falls Count Anywhere – IWA-MS – 11/28/96)

They brawl all over the arena and outside. They go outside like immediately. Difficult to follow whats happening out there. Tommy throws some good punches but this is difficult to get a sense of

 

Tommy Rich & Tracy Smothers & Ricky Morton vs Doug Gilbert & Ian Rotten & Mad Man Pondo (Handcuff Match – IWA-MS – 12/26/96)

Tommy Rich vs Bull Pain (IWA-MS – 12/26/96)

Tommy Rich & Ian Rotten vs Tracy Smothers & Mad Man Pondo (IWA-MS – 1/9/97)

These were nearly impossible to follow because of camera work & crowd brawling.

 

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton vs The Gangstas (ECW – 1997)

It’s a Gangstas match. You know what you’re getting. Rich & Morton break up & fight after the match. Woul’ve preferred they just worked a match.

 

Tommy Rich vs Terry Funk (ECW – 2/1/97)

The sort of match I have trouble rating because its just a personal favorite. This is an amazing example of schtick, comedy & violence. Really masterful performance from both guys. Tommy is AMAZING here. About as fun as pro-wrestling gets. Even Joey Styles shuts up and just sits back and enjoys this one at times.

 

Tommy Rich vs Doug Gilbert (IWA-MS – 2/20/97)

Greatly enjoyed this. This was a really fun throwback old school Memphis style brawl. This is the sort of match I wish we had throughout the project instead of so many run of the mill WCW TV matches. Bloody double juice brawl that went all over the arena. Great mixture of heated violent brawling and schtick. Really enjoyed this one. Rich still looks good. Sort of reminds me of a lucha maestros match only if the style was violent southern brawls instead of old school lucha mat work. Good shit. Glad I made it this far.

 

Tommy Rich vs Jake Roberts (ACW – 1998)

Not great but better than I expected. Mercifully short and all punches. Tommy bleeds. These two know ow to work an all punches match so this is fine while it lasts until Greg Valentine and Mable run in. Jeez.

 

Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert vs Charlie Haas & Russ Haas (JCW – 10/20/00)

I swear to God when I compared Rich to a Lucha maestro in the last match I hadn’t read the thread about this match yet and saw the soup said the same thing about Rich! Great minds think alike my friend! I got that impression here again only instead of an old school brawl this is more of an old school traditional southern tag and it rules. I love a style clash & flashy youngsters vs experienced vets is always a great one for me. Rich & Gilbert know all the tricks and they have a terrific face in peril section. Lots of cheating behind the ref’s back working the crowd. Really enjoyable. These last few matches really put into perspective that we have the wrong footage of Rich’s career for him to really shine. The arena footage we have he is great. Even this late. The rote everyday forgettable TV matches are a difficult place for him to highlight his strengths. Anyway. This was one of the bigger surprises of the project in terms of my expectations going in and how good it ended up being.

 

Tommy Rich vs Sabu (Cleveland All Pro Wrestling – 2/01)

Not sure of the date but its somewhere around here. Starts slow with Rich doing classic stalling bullshit. Lots of fun. Uses his stalling tactics to take Sabu off guard and get the early advantage once they do start wrestling. Rich mostly controls with his greatlooking punches and Sabu eventually makes his comeback doing Sabu stuff. Using the chair, flying around. Its fun. Rich is great taking it and also reacting to Sabu’s escalation. Eventually Sabu pulls out a spike and busts Tommy open. This is really fun stuff. I love these styles clash match ups. Sabu is a fun styles clash with anyone but I really love him with an old school style worker like Tommy. Bullshit finish but its ok old school stuff as far as I’m concerned. Not every match needs a clean finish. Sabu is awesome getting over his character in the post match. Really liked this.

 

Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert & Tracy Smothers vs Sabu & Ricky Morton & Bobby Blaze (Cleveland All Pro – 2/11/01)

Oh wow this is a total fucking blast. Just an awesome old school match with lots of schtick and FIP work. That heel team is just awesome so this is a lot of like old school Memphisy fun. Even Sabu’s kinda relaxed until he’s like fuck it and throws a chair and goes for a big dive. This settles back down to Blaze in peril and just continues as just really fun old school work. Sabu gets the hot tag and goes crazy. Fucking loved this match Its not like a hidden classic MOTYC or anything. But very good and very fun that exceeded expectations and is one of those styles clashes on paper that ends up working together beautifully.

 

Tommy Rich vs James Storm (USA Championship Wrestling – 6/9/01)

Short. Fun match. Good schtick from Rich who actually shows he can still get up and down for some nice bumping for simple babyface stuff like quick armdrags and hip tosses. Rich does his great neckbreaker & DDT. Fun for what it was but too short to be anything memorable.

 

Tommy Rich & Chris Ganz vs Jason Valentine & Air Paris (NAWA – 6/5/08)

Tommy’s not in this very long and looks super washed up. He knows it and is really just doing a lot of schtick and he can throw a punch but he can’t do much else at this point.

 

Tommy Rich vs Casey Kage (TCW – 7/4/09)

Outdoors with people sitting on a firetruck, their own beach chairs. It’s quite a setting. Tommy is a happy smiley babyface here and its just not what you want.

 

Tommy Rich vs Terry Lawler (10/26/10)

Tommy is a happy smiley clappy babyface. This is short and all schtick. Family show lots of kids running around. Nothing to write home about. Basic. Tommy is really washed up by this point.

 

Tommy Rich vs Steve Corino (PWX – 4/28/12)

Well this is awesome. This is an all over the arena brawl, Corino was really great and Tommy can still punch and bleed and so he can work this kinda match still with this kind of opponent. Really enjoyable match.

 

Tommy Rich & Pretty Boy Floyd vs Dem West Ga Boyz (OSW – 5/12/17)

Pretty Boy Floyd ain’t so pretty. Athletic youngsters vs Old Grizzled Vets is just a classic story. This is short and the vets are washed up but its ok since they keep it simple and everyone knows what to do. Pretty much proof that the southern tag structure can’t really go wrong.

 

Jerry Lawler vs Tommy Rich (Jonesboro, AR – 10/2017)

Holy shit is that Austin Idol??? This is something that I really enjoyed but I wouldn’t really recommend to just anybody. You have to be a fan of these guys and understand and accept their limitations. Its sloowwww but its all punches and character work & psychological know how. Lawler is treated like a returning hero hugging little kids and old women. Rich is a stooging slimeball heel. Fucking Austin Idol gets involved and they try to recreate the 1987 angle of the year by smashing Lawler’s nuts but outside interference helps Lawler gets his revenge. Better than I’d hoped. HOLY SHIT IS THAT BILL DUNDEE? Good lord. This is a lot of hair dye. This feels like a good place to stop even though I’ve got one more match…

 

Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert & Matt Riviera vs Jerry Lawler & Rock n Roll Express (Cage Match - 9/26/20)

This is kind of hard to see at the start but Lawler comes out on horseback so I’m gonna give it a try. Honestly the camera is too far away. IF thise was like 1987 or even 1995 I’d put in more effort but not for 2020 pandemic wrestling

 

 

[Phil Schneider]

There  is a Lawler vs. Rich match from a GA indy fed which is worth tracking down, I think it was on Will's Lawler set so it is out there

[KB8]

That Lawler match is also on a Schneider Comp from like ten years ago! And it's awesome; absolutely worth tracking down. 

Anyhow, that's an amazing post and it's convinced me to jump in on some of this stuff. That match where Tommy has to go it alone against the Bounty Hunters after Dundee gets clobbered with a shoe is fucking awesome. As is the Rich/Dundee v Mantel/Idol tag title switch from 3/81. Man, evidently there's a whole bunch of Rich that I haven't seen. So that's pretty exciting. Although I'll also echo the disappointment from so little GCW arena footage being out there. I watched just about all of the TV from 1981 a couple years ago and the studio wrestling was pretty fantastic as far as studio wrestling goes, but at the same time so much of it left me pulling my hair out because they'd mention or even show clips of things from Omni shows that looked balls out incredible. And I guess nobody will ever see it because maybe Ole gave it to Joel Watts and Joel Watts left that in his car to melt as well. Probably. 

[elliott]

Awesome! I'm gonna look for that RIch vs Lawler match. You really can't go wrong with those 2 together. 

[khawk20]

Is that Lawler-Rich match you speak of the one where Tommy has some biker friends at ringside, for the AWA title?

[KB8]

Rich has at least one meth dealer with him, yes. Little Donnie or something, he's called. 

[khawk20]

Ah yes. I have that on a disc called "The Tommy Rich Story". I can't remember if it's complete or not:

4018       SCW Presents The Tommy Rich Story                    90 min              VG+/EX-

               A kayfabed interview/match retrospective on Tommy Rich in the Southern

Championship Wrestling area, with studio interviews with Rich included. Angles and matches include Rich reacts after Scott Armstrong is voted Most Popular

Wrestler, Tommy Rich vs. Joel Deaton (loser gets ten lashes), Tommy & Johnny Rich

Vs. Jamie Kyle & John Michaels (confro. w/Ranger Ross & Wrestling II), Jerry Lawler

Int. for SCW as AWA Champion on upcoming bout with Tommy Rich (includes

Highlights of Hair match in the cage in Memphis between Idol and Lawler), The

Bullet (SCW Champion) vs. Tommy Rich, Rich interview with new Biker friends,

Jerry Lawler (AWA World Champion) vs. Tommy Rich, Bruiser Brody & Tommy Rich

Vs. Doug Somers & The Executioner

[KB8]

Actually, I think that match against the Bullet was on the same Schneider Comp as the Lawler match. I'm pretty sure I've seen it either way (and that it's worth watching). 

[Rah]

Jerry Lawler v. Tommy Rich 10/2/88

Is the match in question.