The best matches from the territory days...

[ajsmith_7]

Hey guys, I'm currently trying to watch as much pre-WWE domination american wrestling as I can and putting together a list of the greatest matches out there and could really use your help with recommendations of any 'must see' stuff from AWA, NWA, WCCW and WWWF (or pre-wrestlemania WWF).

 

So far I've got:

 

1977-12-11 Harley Race vs Jerry Lawler (NWA World Heavyweight Title) (Mid-South)

1980-05-19 Bob Backlund vs Ken Patera (WWF Championship – Texas Death Match) (WWF)

1980-08-09 Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zbysko (Steel Cage Match) (WWF)

1981-03-21 Bob Backlund vs Sgt. Slaughter (WWF Championship – Steel Cage Match) (WWF)

1981-03-23 Jerry Lawler vs Terry Funk (No DQ) (Mid-South)

1981-04-06 Jerry Lawler vs Terry Funk (Empty Arena Match) (Mid-South)

1981-04-21 Pat Patterson vs Sgt. Slaughter (No DQ, Alley Fight) (WWF)

1981-09-04 Ricky Morton & Eddie Gilbert vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl) (Mid-South)

1981-09-21 Bob Backlund vs Don Muraco (WWF Championship – Texas Death Match) (WWF)

1982-03-29 Dutch Mantell vs Jerry Lawler (Southern Title – Barbed Wire Match) (Mid-South)

1982-06-21 Bill Dundee vs Sweet Brown Sugar (2/3 Falls Scaffold Match) (Mid-South)

1982-12-25 Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich (NWA World Heavyweight Title – Steel Cage Match) (WCCW)

1983-03-12 Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood vs Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle (NWA Tag Team Titles - Steel Cage Match) (NWA)

1983-10-17 Don Muraco vs Jimmy Snuka (Intercontinental Title – Steel Cage Match) (WWF)

1983-11-24 Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine (Dog Collar Match) (NWA)

1983-11-24 Harley Race vs Ric Flair (NWA World Heavyweight Title – Steel Cage Match) (NWA)

1984-01-23 The Iron Sheik vs Hulk Hogan (WWF Championship) (WWF)

1984-06-16 Sgt. Slaughter vs The Iron Sheik (Boot Camp Match) (WWF)

1984-07-04 The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Von Erichs (Bad Street Rules) (WCCW)

1984-11-22 Terry Gordy vs Killer Khan (Texas Death Match) (WCCW)

1985-03-30 Ted DiBiase vs Jim Duggan (Loser Leaves Town, Tuxedo, Coal Miners Glove On A Pole, Steel Cage Match) (Mid-South)

1985-06-03 Randy Savage vs Jerry Lawler (Southern Title – No DQ, Loser Leaves Town Match) (Mid-South)

1985-09-22 Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed (North American Title) (Mid-South)

1985-11-06 Ric Flair vs Ted DiBiase (NWA World Heavyweight Title) (Mid-South)

1985-11-11 Jim Duggan vs Buzz Sawyer (Mid-South)

1985-11-28 Tully Blanchard vs Magnum T.A. (United States Title – I Quit, Steel Cage Match) (NWA)

1985-12-30 Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (Southern Title – Loser Leaves Town vs Hair Match) (Mid-South)

1986-02-14 Ric Flair vs Barry Windham (NWA World Heavyweight Title) (CWF)

1986-04-19 The Sheepherders vs The Fantastics (NWA)

1986-07-05 Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton (NWA World Heavyweight Title – Steel Cage Match) (NWA)

1986-09-01 Ron Bass vs Barry Windham (Florida Title) (CWF)

1986-09-02 Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs The Midnight Rockers (AWA Tag Team Titles) (AWA)

1986-10-12 Abdullah The Butcher vs Bruiser Brody (Steel Cage Match) (WCCW)

1986-11-27 The Road Warriors vs The Midnight Express (Scaffold Match) (NWA)

1986-12-25 Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs The Midnight Rockers (Steel Cage Match) (AWA)

1986-12-31 Nick Bockwinkel vs Curt Henning (AWA Heavyweight Title) (AWA)

1987-03-27 The Midnight Express vs The Fantastics (NWA US Tag Team Titles) (NWA)

1988-12-13 Jerry Lawler vs Kerry Von Erich (Title Unification Match) (AWA)

and the late 1989 Flair/Steamboat trilogy.

 

I think thats a pretty good looking list but there must be loads more out there I have either forgotten all about or just aren't aware of or just don't know the details of the dates/matches, for example I know Piper and Snuka had a red hot feud but don't know what their best matches were?

 

Any input is much appreciated...

[FLIK]

Goodhelmet & others have put together several best of 80's sets for various territories. I'd suggest heading over to the DVDVR board and looking through the various ranking threads to get more ideas on stuff you should seek out

 

http://board.deathvalleydriver.com/forum/4...-project-forum/

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm on my phone but my initial thought is that you need more Ronnie Garvin and less scaffold.

 

More Wargames too.

[ajsmith_7]

Thanks FLIK I will check that out in a bit, looks like a lot of good stuff there!

 

JerryVonKramer, which Ronnie Garvin matches would you recommend?

[JerryvonKramer]

Any time he faces Ric Flair or Tully Blanchard.

 

I'm on ny phone so I can't link but if you click on "Where the Big Boys Play" in my sig and go to the awards from the menu myself and soup23 go through what we think is Match of the Night on every NWA supercard from 83 on.

 

Someone should also link you to the DVDR Top 150 rankings -- you could do worse than watch the top 10 from every territory.

[ajsmith_7]

Sweet I'll check that out, thanks for the help man

 

And you can't really go wrong anytime anybody faces Ric Flair or Tully Blanchard!

[jdw]

Any time he faces Ric Flair or Tully Blanchard.

Tully would be after JCP went national. Flair in the studio is cutting it close, and the later Flair matches would clearly be during their national period.

 

John

[jdw]

1984-01-23 The Iron Sheik vs Hulk Hogan (WWF Championship) (WWF)

1984-06-16 Sgt. Slaughter vs The Iron Sheik (Boot Camp Match) (WWF)

The WWF was a national promotion at this time, not a territory.

 

 

1985-11-28 Tully Blanchard vs Magnum T.A. (United States Title – I Quit, Steel Cage Match) (NWA)

It's hard to draw a clear line on when JCP went from being a Territory to being a National promotion. They ran Philly several days before this, and St Louis the day after. They had been running Philly monthly since March. They effectively took over the old GCW territory in April/May which expanded the territory to include not just GA/SC but also OH. Starcade was NC & GA. I think it would be safe to call this as being during their national expansion.

 

1986-07-05 Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton (NWA World Heavyweight Title – Steel Cage Match) (NWA)

1986-11-27 The Road Warriors vs The Midnight Express (Scaffold Match) (NWA)

1987-03-27 The Midnight Express vs The Fantastics (NWA US Tag Team Titles) (NWA)

and the late 1989 Flair/Steamboat trilogy.

All when JCP was a national promotion.

 

John

[Loss]

"Territory days ...", not necessarily territory matches.

[NintendoLogic]

These seem to be the most glaring omissions:

 

Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine (2/19/79) (WWWF)

Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantell (3/22/82) (Memphis)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (8/28/82) (WCCW)

Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (6/6/83) (Memphis)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (10/12/85) (Hawaii)

Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol (4/27/87) (Memphis)

 

There's also a Lawler/Dundee match from 1977 on tape, but I'm not sure of the date. I think it's August 5.

 

Also, you're using Mid-South to refer to both Memphis and the Bill Watts territory. The main arena in Memphis was the Mid-South Coliseum, but Mid-South as a territory refers to Wattsland.

[jdw]

"Territory days ...", not necessarily territory matches.

So Jumbo vs Tenryu from 1989 would count because it was in the "territory days"? Really?

 

 

John

[Loss]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloquialism

 

This would also apply to "Southern tags" and "shoot style".

 

And it's obvious he means U.S.

[ajsmith_7]

Thanks for the input so far guys, to be clear I didn't mean just matches from the territories, maybe I gave the thread a bad title, I just really mean the best matches in America pre 90's before it all became WWF or WCW and I'm pretty clued up about the 90's and onwards, looking to see a lot of great 70s and 80s stuff that I haven't seen yet!

 

There hasn't been many additional matches added to check out, any more suggestions? Really lacking on stuff from the 70's!

[Ricky Jackson]

The Dusty Rhodes vs Superstar Graham matches from MSG (9/26 1977 and a Texas Death Match on 10/24 1977) are not exactly "great", especially compared to a lot of the other matches already thrown out, but in terms of capturing a big mega-clash between two of the top stars of the era at one of the top arenas for wrestling, they should be seen at least once. The crowd heat is off the charts, and it really showcases just how hot Rhodes was as a babyface in the 70s. There are also several Sammartino matches from the 70s out there that are similar--not masterpieces, but fun to watch for the heat and often for the heel he is matched up with (try the Sammartino vs Arion Greek Death Match from 4/14 1975). Backlund matches too, of course, as have been mentioned. And a young Vince on commentary for these matches adds to their appeal.

[Dylan Waco]

If you are looking for high end 70's matches, a lot of the best stuff is outside of the U.S.

 

Or you could just watch any 1970's Portland

[FLIK]

Really lacking on stuff from the 70's!

Could rattle off a lot of recomendations for Japan & England but 70's US I don't know too much about. From the little i've seen I really liked these 2

 

Memphis 6/11/1979 Bill Dundee vs Tony Charles

AWA? 5/25/1973 - (2 out of 3 Falls) Dick The Brusier & Wahoo McDaniel vs Ernie Ladd & Superstar Graham

 

And pre 70's but I thought this was a great match as well

 

Chicago 6/30/1961 (NWA Title - 2 out of 3 Falls) Pat O'Connor © vs Buddy Rogers

[NintendoLogic]

How far back do you want to go? Because there's a 1969 match between Giant Baba and Fritz Von Erich from LA that I liked quite a bit.

[PeteF3]

"Territory days ...", not necessarily territory matches.

So Jumbo vs Tenryu from 1989 would count because it was in the "territory days"? Really?

 

any 'must see' stuff from AWA, NWA, WCCW and WWWF (or pre-wrestlemania WWF).

Was the criteria really too complicated?

 

Most of the complete matches available from the '70s are from the WWWF, the Japan promotions, and Great Britain because that's mostly who kept the footage or even had long arena footage to start with. The Mid-Atlantic "garbage" tapes are all fascinating even though very little is complete.

[Dylan Waco]

"Territory days ...", not necessarily territory matches.

So Jumbo vs Tenryu from 1989 would count because it was in the "territory days"? Really?

 

any 'must see' stuff from AWA, NWA, WCCW and WWWF (or pre-wrestlemania WWF).

Was the criteria really too complicated?

 

Most of the complete matches available from the '70s are from the WWWF, the Japan promotions, and Great Britain because that's mostly who kept the footage or even had long arena footage to start with. The Mid-Atlantic "garbage" tapes are all fascinating even though very little is complete.

 

Kind of repeating myself, but there is a solid amount of 70's Portland out there.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm going to mention again that I enjoyed Classie Freddie Blassie vs Baron Leone from 1952.

 

Here are some matches I really enjoyed from Mid-South:

 

 

Mr. Olympia vs. Chavo Guerrero (6/24/83)

Magnum TA vs. Ted DiBiase (No DQ) (Tulsa 5/27/84)

Rock N Roll Express vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (2/13/85)

The Fantastics vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (10/12/84)

Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan (No DQ) (3/8/85)

The Fantastics vs. Midnight Express (OKC 8/9/84)

Ted DiBiase vs. Brad Armstrong (2/10/85)

Magnum TA vs. Ted DiBiase (7/6/84)

 

I don't have dates but from WWF but:

 

Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine feud through 84-5

More Savage in general, I like his matches from MSG and Wrestlefest with DiBiase in 88 (more than anyone else here )

 

For NWA:

 

Scaffold matches all suck, all of them do (although I seem to recall one involving Koko B. Ware being pimped, I think from Memphis) -- with the Rock n Rolls and Midnights, better to try to find normal matches. R n R have a great match at Starrcade 86 with Ole and Arn.

 

Also, given that you have the Steamboat trilogy:

 

Luger vs. Flair matches in 88

Funk vs. Flair matches in 89

 

-------

 

I'd also look for some more Rick Martel matches from the 80s.

[EricR]

Scaffold matches all suck, all of them do (although I seem to recall one involving Koko B. Ware being pimped, I think from Memphis) -- with the Rock n Rolls and Midnights, better to try to find normal matches. R n R have a great match at Starrcade 86 with Ole and Arn.

1982-06-21 Bill Dundee vs Sweet Brown Sugar (2/3 Falls Scaffold Match)

 

He had it listed, and the match is fucking great. It was my #1 match on the Memphis 80s set. Great match and incorporates the scaffold perfectly. Tons of drama with guys hanging, great comebacks, and the storyline being that Dundee had SBS right in his wheelhouse because he used to not only be a circus performer but also did high-rise construction. Dundee whipped around that scaffold like a monkey and the match was one of the most dramatic, stunning spectacles I've ever seen. Perfect match.

[Childs]

But was it as good as Abby vs. Wajima, Eric?

[ajsmith_7]

Thanks again guys, some great suggestions, I'm really loving all the Ted DiBiase stuff from Mid-South! Gona check out a lot of the other stuff you listed today aswell, my favourite thing about these older matches that someone else mentioned earlier is the heat that they get, its incredible and at a level that todays WWE will probably never come close to getting again! Looking forward to watching the Dusty/Graham matches as my list had no Dusty on it and that was a travesty.

 

Anyone have any opinions on what was the best match of the Piper/Snuka feud?

[ajsmith_7]

Sorry for double posting, I forgot to ask Dylan if there are any stand out performers from Portland in the 70's that I should particularly look out for?

[Al]

Well there's one guy he's mentioned a couple times, forget his name though.