1980s Wrestling Party #10

[goodhelmet]

Ok, had some personal stuff to attend to and Johnny Sorrow was on retreat. We are going to do a show tonight for anyone interested in listening. We'll have Sorrow, Sarp and Kris Z for sure. Feel free to join in. Once I confirm the time, I'll set up a link. These are the matches we are going to knock out tonight...

 

Col. DeBeers vs. Buck Zumhofe (2/23/86)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Larry Zbyszko (2/23/86)

Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (2/23/86)

Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Bunkhouse Match) (3/9/86)

Stan Hansen vs. Leon White (3/13/86)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Col. DeBeers (4/17/86)

Buddy Rose, Doug Somers, & Larry Zbyszko vs. Steve Pardee, Mike Rotundo, Jimmy Snuka (4/17/86)

Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham vs. The Fabulous Ones (4/20/86)

[goodhelmet]

OK, we are going to start in less than half an hour.

 

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkC...6382&cmd=tc

[Happ Hazzard]

Talkshoe doesn't seem to be working at the moment.

[goodhelmet]

We'll have the show up shortly. Johnny Sorrow, Kris Z and Doc Sarpolis joined me tonight for maybe the best top to bottom night so far. Good times had by all.

 

 

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkC...6382&cmd=tc

[Johnny Sorrow]

Tonight's show was a fucking blast, not only a night of great wrestling, but we had jokes, history lessons, and an all around fun damn show. Thanks to Will, Kris, and Sarp.

[Wahoos Leg]

I need to become independently wealthy so I can start taking part in these

[Matt D]

The Blood Diamond. I think Larry's AWA stuff is super underrated. Larry's stalling is genius since he's like a shark when he finally attacks. I LOVE Bock's charge in this match and the piledriver was huge. I think i zoned out during the Slaughter/Hansen stuff, but I agree that I would like to see the TV build for it and it's a shame we don't have it. Vader always said that he worked so stiff in his career since the first two guys they put him in with was Brody and then Hansen. I think Kris always adds a lot to the dynamic. I hate saying this but we're looking at a nitro 3 man team with the luchadors when they bring tenay in. So we have Bischoff/Mongo/Tenay. That's insulting to everyone in its own way, but I don't mean it that way. Will completely misread pissed off Bock. Johnny caught it though. Obviously I was wrong. He's Dusty not Mongo. I know you guys talk about how when you're talking about other things it means you're not as into the match, but when what you're talking about is Queen that means that the match inspired you to talk about great things. The hair ranking at the end was epic.

 

1. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Col. DeBeers (4/17/86) - My working #15 (I expect to have this higher than anyone else)

3. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Ric Flair (1/17/86) - My working #31

6. Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (2/23/86)

9. Buddy Rose, Doug Somers, & Larry Zbyszko vs. Steve Pardee, Mike Rotundo, Jimmy Snuka (4/17/86)

11. Col. DeBeers vs. Buck Zumhofe (2/23/86)

12. Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Bunkhouse Match) (3/9/86)

13. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Larry Zbyszko (2/23/86) (Loved it but it's just a matchlet)

15. Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham vs. The Fabulous Ones (4/20/86) - Working #135

[soup23]

This was a fun show. I think if you compose these shows as a "card" like Johnny has talked about, this is one of the strongest. My favorite reference during this show was the Bill Murray Kingpin joke.

 

Col. DeBeers vs. Buck Zumhofe (2/23/86) - I really liked this opener, inoffensive and DeBeers looked like a big time heel with a great performance. Probably middle of the road overall.

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Larry Zbyszko (2/23/86) - Screw it, this is in my top 20 right now. One of the best sub 5 minute matches of all time that should be talked about alongside 123 Kid vs. Owen. The early stalling is awesome to.

Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (2/23/86) - Good burly slugfest mixed in with some actual build. Even though this was ranked high by the panel and the comments on DVDVR, I think I will have this higher than most as it is currently sitting as my #5

Stan Hansen vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Bunkhouse Match) (3/9/86) - Shorter, compact version of their match but still damn good and a great ending. I have no problem calling the second match between these two that we see on the set great and the other two matches very good so overall, this series delivered for me.

Stan Hansen vs. Leon White (3/13/86) - Fucking incredible match and my #2 currently. Nasty ass arm work that kept building and was mixed in with stiff shots. The finish was also brutal. I got a Regal vs. Ambrose vibe from this match. Certainly Vaders first great match and the biggest surprise for me on the set in just how good it was. I may need to watch again but its a contender for my favorite Hansen US match ever.

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Col. DeBeers (4/17/86) - Great Bockwinkle performance again. I thought DeBeers here was a little awkward as pointed out by the panel but as far as TV matches go, I liked this a lot more than something like the Bock vs. Rhengians stuff from earlier.

Buddy Rose, Doug Somers, & Larry Zbyszko vs. Steve Pardee, Mike Rotundo, Jimmy Snuka (4/17/86) - Really fun 6 man that gave us a glimpse of whats to come with Rose/Somers. Zbysko looked really weird here with his tan, hair, and tights. Pardee looked really good as FIP and this is one the better Snuka performances I have seen in a while as the annoying stuff was kept to a minimum.

Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham vs. The Fabulous Ones (4/20/86) - Solid stuff but will be probably bottom 50 on my ballot due to me not being too excited by a lot of what was going on. I was mildly disappointed in this and it seemed like Kiern in particular was sort of on auto pilot.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dammit Chad, how can you POSSIBLY have overtaken me?

[soup23]

This weekend I locked myself in the spare bedroom and it was a steady diet of:

 

Study 2 hours > watch 30 mins of AWA, rinse and repeat

[JerryvonKramer]

Alright, Sarp in the house!

 

Col. De Beers vs. Buck Zumhofe

 

Not sure what to expect from De Beers and things can only get better for Buck. I liked the Colonel's backbreaker where he held Zumhofe over his knee. De Beers's movements are very deliberate. He looks and moves like a guy from a 1940s cartoon.

 

Nice suplex. De Beers looks really decent here. Very unexpected inzuguri.

 

Not bad at all.

 

C+

[JerryvonKramer]

Bock vs. Larry Z

 

Zybysko's wildly OTT bumping was pretty cool. The slam into the post was viscious as hell. Bock has turned up the brutality here and Larry is making him look like a million dollars.

 

Fuck! Bock looks like he's smashing Zybysko's nose in with some of those shots. MASSIVE piledriver! Holy shit.

 

I don't know what to do here, this was short, but how awesome was it!

 

Ummm ...

 

B+, should finish quite highly considering how short it is.

[JerryvonKramer]

Hansen vs. Slaughter (2)

 

Hansen's kicks and knees are just so nasty-looking. The psychology is good here: great focus on the leg by Hansen, great selling of the leg by Sarge. BIG lariat. Slingshot! Cobra clutch!

 

The missed cannon that sees Sarge take a bump to the outside is great.

 

Some great work here, but not top tier on this set for my money. Expect it to finish around #15-20 sort of range.

 

B+

[JerryvonKramer]

Hansen vs. Slaughter (3 - bunkhouse)

 

While very solid, this feud has not been delivering at quite the levels I was hoping for. This work is very good, great even, but I'm really looking for stuff in the ****1/2+ range with these two and none of these matches are quite there.

 

This one is not quite as good as the other two. On balance I liked the first one the most.

 

B

[JerryvonKramer]

Hansen vs. Leon White

 

Amazing that Johnny Sorrow saw this live, despite his misgivings. White weirdly looks like he has more like "old man saggy" fat than the sort of big beast look that he has as Vader.

 

Slow headlock stuff to start here. Hansen's knee drops on White's temple are insanely brutal. Hansen does enough to keep the headlock from being too dull, but things really pick up when he takes over on offense.

 

Big strikes and great armwork from Hansen. The wristlock looks very painful. Stamping on the wrist! Smashing the fingers on the turnbuckle too.

 

Christ, he's just stamping on the wrist and hand here. This is one of the greatest limbwork segments I've ever seen.

 

MASSIVE lariat.

 

Great match this. This was all Hansen schooling a green White. Should be top 10, possible top 5.

 

A

[JerryvonKramer]

Re: Queen, I don't think they took the commerical nosedive here in the UK that they did in the US in the mid-80s.

 

For me, and most of my friends, however, Queen are the sort of band you discover when you're 14, think are fantastic at that age and then don't listen to or take seriously once you're an adult. They aren't a band you'd typically admit to liking.

 

Bock vs. Col. De Beers

 

Crowd looks very noticeably thin here. Really liking De Beers, he's got that schtick down very well and his work is very solid.

 

Transition from Bock is fantastic with the GREAT viscious forearms as he has the Gagne lock in.

 

Very good back and forth match this. Love the spot where De Beers slams Bock's head on the mat and Bock ends up coming 180 over, then the Harley Race headbutt.

 

Disappointing finish, but this was a lot better than I thought it would be.

 

B

[JerryvonKramer]

Rose / Somers / Zybysko vs. Rotunda / Snuka / Pardee.

 

First look at Rose and Somers here. I'll admit that I have no clue who Pardee is, never heard of him.

 

Wasn't really expecting to see Rotunda on this set either.

 

The face side is really RANDOM.

 

Rose couldn't look anything less like a "Playboy" if he tried.

 

Rose's schtick stuff at the start is awesome.

 

Doug Somers looks like Tommy Rich gone wrong.

 

Great little moment as Somers goes to tag Rose and he wants no part of it, so he tags Larry in instead.

 

Crowd is nuts for Snuka.

 

Pardee really quite good during this FIP sequence.

 

Great shots of 80s AWA fans during Rotunda's hot tag. As well as a sly one of Sherri's ass.

 

Very enjoyable, fun match.

 

B

[JerryvonKramer]

Windham and Rotunda (US Express?) vs. The Fabulous Ones

 

Hearing Rotunda's whiny, nerdy voice as a face feels wrong to me. He's in much worse shape here than during his Varsity Club days too.

 

This match just felt kinda there and completely dead crowd didn't help. Work is solid but unmemorable. The definition of middling.

 

Quite a loud pop for the pin though.

 

C

[Johnny Sorrow]

Hansen vs. Leon White

 

Amazing that Johnny Sorrow saw this live, despite his misgivings. White weirdly looks like he has more like "old man saggy" fat than the sort of big beast look that he has as Vader.

 

Slow headlock stuff to start here. Hansen's knee drops on White's temple are insanely brutal. Hansen does enough to keep the headlock from being too dull, but things really pick up when he takes over on offense.

 

Big strikes and great armwork from Hansen. The wristlock looks very painful. Stamping on the wrist! Smashing the fingers on the turnbuckle too.

 

Christ, he's just stamping on the wrist and hand here. This is one of the greatest limbwork segments I've ever seen.

 

MASSIVE lariat.

 

Great match this. This was all Hansen schooling a green White. Should be top 10, possible top 5.

 

A

To clarify, I was at A Hansen/ White match, not this one.

[JerryvonKramer]

I figured that out later on Johnny. For a while I thought you were talking figuratively as in "the match I saw" = "the way I remember this".

 

I should explain that I write my comments in quite a haphazard way, the first sentence and last sentence might be written 20 minutes apart. I don't do any editing to try to make myself look more in line with other people either: so if I think something is boring or great or whatever at that moment, and everyone else thinks something else, it stays that way as a snapshot genuine reaction.

 

Would do my Disc 6 rankings but DVDR is still down and has my ratings for some of the matches. Every time I want to do something AWA related, DVDR seems to go down.

[Smack2k]

Just hearing this ep for the first time...

 

Queen's best moment to me was the opening of the '86 Wembley Show and their version of "One Vision" there...to me, the best song they every had and the best performance of it. It is RARE I like live versions of a song over the studio, but this one I do...

 

Also, cool stat I heard...Parv can confirm...Queen was voted in Britain as the #1 band to listen to in the car ever today, and by a landslide..

 

Dont remember the report, but that was cool to hear and surprising over some other British bands that may have been, you know, kind of Big and influential in music....not sure who though!!!