Adrian Street

[BRobb123]

Disclaimer: I enjoy Kamala "for what he is," and don't expect good matches. Poor matches or not, I thought the gimmick, as originally created, worked very well in Memphis and Mid-South. At the time, I'd never seen a Kamala match, and was excited that he was coming back to the WWF in 1992. Hey, I was 11.

 

That being said, I just don't get Adrian Street at all. He's more than decent in the WOS stuff I've seen, but my God, I've just found his in-ring work awful in Continental, Memphis and JCP.

 

For a guy who's well-schooled in mat work, I would kind of expect him to pull out some of the crazy British matwork, but it doesn't play a big part in his matches. And he has the worst European uppercut in the history of our great sport.

 

As for the gimmick itself, clearly in went over well in the South. For a very flamboyant, glamourous man such as Street was portraying, his stuff looks really homemade (which it was, of course). To me at least, it just doesn't work with what he's trying to portray.

 

So, anybody want to try and sell me on Street? Are there any great matches from Stampede or L.A. early in his trip on this side of the pond I'm missing?

[WingedEagle]

Would love to try and show you the light, but you pretty much summed about my thoughts. I don't see the appeal.

[Tim Evans]

I enjoyed what I've seen of him in Alabama. As a heel vs Wendall Cooley and as a babyface vs Rip Rogers. Of course you got the Dundee matches from the Memphis set with Street. I also liked his tag team with Todd Morton. However, Miss Linda is better than Street was. She's like a minor league Sherri.

[goodhelmet]

I loved his autobiographies. Makes me want to seek out more of his World of Sport stuff. Having said that, his 4 books haven't even reached the 1970s yet so I have no idea if I will ever get his thoughts on working stateside.

[Graham Crackers]

He's more than decent in the WOS stuff I've seen

You seem to be asking for more American recommendations but have you seen his match against Jim Breaks from 2/12/72? I haven't seen a ton of WOS but this is one of the better 70s matches I've seen and I'd call it way better than decent. Obviously it's a great Breaks performance but Street's character adds a lot to the match and his forearms didn't look bad to me in that one.

[ohtani's jacket]

I loved his autobiographies. Makes me want to seek out more of his World of Sport stuff. Having said that, his 4 books haven't even reached the 1970s yet so I have no idea if I will ever get his thoughts on working stateside.

Unless the WWE buys the tape library, there are only three Street matches on tape.

[BRobb123]

Yeah, the WOS is as good as his stateside work is bad. Other than having to eat his way to 200 pounds just to get work in the U.S., Street seemed to take good care of himself. It's really odd that he used the gimmick, but still was a good technician in Europe, but then he comes here, and other than his rolling armbar escape and a couple of leglocks, he shows none of that. I think he could've gotten farther if he had.

[tomk]

I wish I could find what I wrote on the MTV2 Lucha Libre USA show. Lucha Libre USA had Allan Funk working an exotico gimmick of Chi Chi paired up with the woman who played Rhaka Khan working as Leona Caliente. Allan Funk who has worked other “gay” gimmicks in the past was doing a full on tribute to Adrian Street’s shtick (strutting, pouting and flouncing like Street with no references to the shtick of any other exoticos). But watching his act you really realized how much the bookers and Funk missed the point. Funk did a bunch of British matwork mixed with the shtick and well there was nothing particularly remarkable about a guy doing flamboyant fruity shtick and flamboyantly fruity embellished mat work.

 

He also was working tiny femme bottom to Caliente’s giant butch top. Again this seemed to completely miss the point. I watch a ton of Silent movies and read a lot of early 20s comic strips: tiny effeminate man being bullied by his giant battle axe butch wife is an old comedy trope. Think Chaplin with Phyllis Allen. What Street and Miss Linda did that was different was that they had tiny effeminate Street as abusive member of relationship. Turned it from comedy to sadism. And that I think is the whole key to Street in the U.S.-he’s a flouncy sadist.

 

If you watch his matches in Mid South with Terry Taylor or Bobby Fulton, Street isn’t a guy who works an arm or a leg…he works the inside of opponents cheek or does finger/digital manipulation. He isn’t wild savage working the cheek and hand nor is he cheat-to -win guy who relies on cheap shots…he is full on Khmer Rouge, guy who is knowledgeable in multiple ways to torture and hurt. He doesn’t do a lot of technical cooperative matwork but instead he does these really violent and quick nasty takedowns. He’s not a technical dandy, he’s a sadist dandy. He is a guy who is working femme gimmick who had fewer playing bitch spots in his matches then probably Hansen or Race. When Ross puts him over as tough---that sadism is the key to toughness.

 

I’d also say it’s worth watching his matches roughing up jobbers. He doesn’t rough up jobbers the way Manny Fernandez will stiff a jobber. He’ll stretch, takedown at will and nastily work extremities. I’d recommend both the jobber matches from Midsouth as well as some of the stuff against guys who aren’t trained enough to be able to take a snapmare in Continental.

[DownNDirtyTN]

Sadist in Sequins, Merchant of Menace. I loved his gimmick and character. I was a kid in the mid 80s (5 in 1985) but for some reason I always gravitated towards Street. He was different and I enjoyed different. Why he didn't have more of a run in the later 80s in the NWA boggles my mind. He would have been perfect in the lower midcard, even as a TV Title contender.

 

I really enjoy his books. I've read I think 3 of them so far. He goes into so much detail that it's amazing that he could remember all of these things. I can't point to any Street match that would bring someone into the Street corner that wasn't already there but I think he is a polarizing figure in wrestling. Everything in me was programmed to hate the guy growing up but I really loved all of his stuff. I was probably the only 7 year old at the Knoxville Civic Center heckling Wendall Cooley calling him Gwendolyn.

[JNLister]

His latest volume (the sixth of a planned seven) deals with his first few years in the US. I didn't enjoy it as much as the earlier volumes though as it feels a lot more kayfabed, even though I don't think that was the intention.

[goc]

This is by far my favorite Adrian Street match. This is just after he turned babyface in Continental.

 

https://youtu.be/0oF0WcMU7TM

[kingliam]

Having watched a couple (literally a couple) of his matches, I sought out this topic as I wanted to see if Street had been discussed. I find him intriguing as much as anything else. He has an odd ruggedness about his offense, where he seems to take potshots at his opponent and just scrap away at them. I like his use of his knees in his offense, but I'd struggle to actually name many moves he does outside of the running splash.

[Sidebottom]

Off topic, but if anybody wanted an insight to Street's life this is a good shout: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/21353-the-jim-cornette-experience/page-9&do=findComment&comment=5628679