Tackling the 80s

[Dylan Waco]

I would argue that Patera is at least someone you could make a case for. He'd probably be my number three after Buddy and Fujinami

[ohtani's jacket]

I would make the case for Breaks in the top 5, since he spent the entire year on television being saddled with Alan Dennison and being saddled by Alan Dennison is like being saddled with a rock, but he still made it work.

[Loss]

OJ, if the fast-paced style of Saint and Grey is what I've liked best so far, what do you think I'll like best in other years?

[jpchicago23]

I only glanced at the list but this is an awesome reference point for great matches. Is the only non 80s set stuff the Portland and British matches? Is there any Puerto Rico?

[Dylan Waco]

PR from the early 80's is hard to come by. Most of the footage that exists is studio footage, and while I have enjoyed that stuff more than KrisZ has, there is little to nothing from it that would stand up as a high end match. The earliest WWC matches outside of that setting I can think of are Colon v. Abby from Trindad in 81, which is fun mainly for the setting (it is one of their weaker matches really) and Abby v. Andre from the 83 Anniversary show which is a really fun super hero v. super villian clash

[ohtani's jacket]

OJ, if the fast-paced style of Saint and Grey is what I've liked best so far, what do you think I'll like best in other years?

Joint Promotions is like the territories in that it's still good up until the mid-80s and then there's a huge drop off. I would say Grey carries the ship for the type of wrestling you enjoy. Guys like Saint, Breaks and Rocco jump ship to All-Star and are off TV for a few years and Joint replaces them with their boy apprentices who are Young David-esque and you're basically left with Steve Grey vs. Clive Myers being the premier workrate feud.

[shoe]

I would argue that Patera is at least someone you could make a case for. He'd probably be my number three after Buddy and Fujinami

 

Dylan I'm enjoying Patera's run as we go through 1980 right now . Parv isn't feeling the love quite as much. We've seen 3 Backlund matches, we'll see 2 Patterson matches, a couple of Pedro matches on the horizon. Their is that fun tag of Black and Blue Express vs. Andre /Patterson. I also know he has a good match with Bruno in late 1980. Is their anything else to pimp to Parv?

[Dylan Waco]

Off hand that covers it fairly well. I enjoy the atlas match from Shea, but it isn't high end, or the sort of thing that will change minds about him as a worker. To be honest I wouldn't expect parv to be a big patera fan .

[shoe]

I thought Parv would have appreciated Patera character a bit more than he has.

[jpchicago23]

PR from the early 80's is hard to come by. Most of the footage that exists is studio footage, and while I have enjoyed that stuff more than KrisZ has, there is little to nothing from it that would stand up as a high end match. The earliest WWC matches outside of that setting I can think of are Colon v. Abby from Trindad in 81, which is fun mainly for the setting (it is one of their weaker matches really) and Abby v. Andre from the 83 Anniversary show which is a really fun super hero v. super villian clash

 

 

What about the rest of the 80s in PR? Just some offhand standout matches. Doesnt have to necessarily be a great match either, I enjoy spectacles as well

[Dylan Waco]

There a lot of great matches from Puerto Rico in the 80's, including some of my favorite matches of the decade. The Hansen v. Colon feud would be the apex

[jpchicago23]

There a lot of great matches from Puerto Rico in the 80's, including some of my favorite matches of the decade. The Hansen v. Colon feud would be the apex

 

Yea I've seen you mention that feud so ill definitely check that out. The only PR I've ever seen is Brody/Abby and while I don't like either guy that much I did like the atmosphere they created and the spectacle of it all. I'll have to search out some WWC

[Loss]

I added a ton of 1981 matches. I'll watch as many as I can find online:

 

Buddy Rose vs. Jay Youngblood (1/3/81)

Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver & The Destroyer vs. Jay Youngblood Sr., Jay Youngblood Jr. & Joe Lightfoot (1/10/81)

Johnny Saint vs. Steve Grey (1/13/81)

Johnny Saint vs. Jackie Robinson (1/13/81)

Jim Breaks vs. Johnny Cortez (2/2/81)

Marty Jones vs. Marc Rocco (2/11/81)

Johnny Saint vs. Steve Grey (2/11/81)

Rip Oliver vs. Jay Youngblood (2/14/81)

Dalibar Singh vs Ray Steele (2/24/81)

Mimi Hagiwara vs. Yumi Ikeshita (2/25/81)

Jon Cortez vs. Bobby Barnes (3/31/81)

Buddy Rose vs. Jay Youngblood (4/11/81)

Greg Valentine vs. Sweet Ebony Diamond (4/29/81)

Wahoo McDaniel & Ivan Putski vs. Eddy Mansfield & Tank Patton (April 1981)

Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (5/12/81)

Buddy Rose vs. Tough Tony Borne (5/30/81)

Buddy Rose vs. Matt Borne (6/6/81)

Brad Armstrong, Ken Lucas & Mr. Olympia vs. Ron Bass, Jimmy Golden & Stan Lane (6/13/81)

Terry Rudge vs. Alan Kilby (6/18/81)

Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver vs. Roddy Piper & Steve Regal (6/20/81)

Mr. Olympia vs. Mike Jackson (7/4/81)

Dory Funk Jr. vs. Mike Graham (7/8/81)

Marc Rocco vs. King Ben (7/15/81)

John Naylor vs. Bernie Wright (7/15/81)

Steve Grey vs. Jon Cortez (7/27/81)

Tully Blanchard & Gino Hernandez vs. Terry Allen & Scott Casey (July 1981)

Buddy Rose vs. Steve Regal (8/15/81)

Jerry Brisco vs. Les Thornton (8/19/81)

Tully Blanchard vs. Mike Graham (9/9/81)

Buddy Rose, Kim Song & Stan Stasiak vs. Matt Borne, Steve Regal & King Parsons (9/19/81)

Marc Rocco vs. Chris Adams (9/29/81)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Manny Fernandez (September 1981)

Buddy Rose & Stan Stasiak vs. Matt Borne & Steve Regal (10/3/81)

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Jay Youngblood (10/4/81)

Buddy Rose & Mike Masters vs. Matt Borne & Steve Regal (10/21/81)

Buddy Rose vs. Steve Regal (10/24/81)

Buddy Rose vs. King Parsons (11/7/81)

Buzz Sawyer vs. Jack Brisco (11/18/81)

Dynamite Kid vs. Marc Rocco (11/18/81)

Johnny Saint vs. Vic Faulkner (11/18/81)

Sid Cooper vs. Steve Grey (11/30/81)

Buddy Rose & Matt Borne vs. King Parsons & Rocky Johnson (12/5/81)

[Loss]

Buddy Rose vs Jay Youngblood (PNW 01/03/81)

 

This was an incredible match. Three days into 1981, and this just might be the best thing I see all year. Buddy starts by going after Youngblood's arm, which sets the tone for the entire match, as they keep going after each other's arms to shift momentum. I love the "submission" finish of Youngblood just pounding Buddy's arm until he can't take anymore and gives up. I guess you could argue that it's a bit lame that punching an arm while applying an armbar was enough to end a fall, but it was built up so much that I didn't have a problem with it. Jay potatoes Buddy at one point and he starts bleeding from the mouth. Buddy is the master. He does so many interesting things - both in selling and working arm holds - and leads the way in crafting a brilliant match. The story here is that Buddy was the early aggressor and picked a fight that he looked to have under control in the beginning until he got too much of his own medicine. Some may complain about the repetitive nature of this, but I really thought this worked. Buddy avoids the humiliation of tapping in two straight falls by punching the ref in the face to get himself DQ'd. Awesome! Great, great match.

[ohtani's jacket]

#3 - Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver vs Jay Youngblood & Joe Lightfoot (PNW 11/15/80) ****3/4

#11 - Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver vs Jay Youngblood & Joe Lightfoot (PNW 11/15/80) ****1/4

You've got these listed as being the same date.

 

Portland is tough going for me at times, mostly on the mat where I find a lot of the holds literally put me to sleep, and Rose never bowls me over like he's supposed to, but the first two falls of the title match I found rewarding. Long, but rewarding. The third fall was amazingly shitty, however, and killed my enthusiasm for the match. And Sandy Barr is just inexplicably bad at reffing, and that's coming from someone who can barely tell a good ref from bad. I'm sure I would like this stuff more if it was one fall. It's weird having falls that are like a match unto themselves with a FIP segment and everything, and then turning around and doing it again in the next fall. I still can't get used to that.

[Loss]

Thanks, I will correct that. The confusion comes from the bad labels on YouTube. I liked the 11/15 match better than the 11/8 one. I will make the edit.

[NintendoLogic]

I'm kind of in the same boat as OJ when it comes to Portland. There's way too much sitting in holds (or working of holds, to put it more charitably) for my liking. The 11/8 (I think?) tag is no exception. Buddy Rose tried to keep things interesting, but when Rip Oliver was in there, it was chinlock city.

[Matt D]

I do think there's a lot to say about the 2/3 fall structure in Portland because it's this crazy combo of them using it and them having to pull it out almost weekly in front of the same crowds, so they had to switch up structures and stories and finishes and format. This is true in both tags and singles.

[Loss]

The fall thing doesn't bother me. Why is it an issue in Portland and not in lucha libre?

[Matt D]

I don't think it is an issue at all, but something to examine and really look at, in part because we do have so much weekly tv so we can see how it was utilized and handled on a week to week basis.

[ohtani's jacket]

It would be weird in lucha to have a rudo fall with a technico comeback followed by a rudo fall with a technico comeback.

[Loss]

Revised listing with addition bold and in black:

 

#1 - Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey (Joint Promotions 01/28/80) *****

#2 - Jim Breaks vs Young David (Joint Promotions 02/13/80) ****3/4

#3 - Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver vs Jay Youngblood & Joe Lightfoot (PNW 11/15/80) ****3/4

#4 - Nick Bockwinkel vs Billy Robinson (AJPW 12/11/80) ****1/2

#5 - Mighty Inoue & Higo Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber & Rocky Brewer (IWE 07/25/80) ****1/2

#6 - Buddy Rose vs Rick Martel (PNW 08/09/80) ****1/2

#7 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura (NJPW 09/25/80) ****1/2

#8 - Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs Roddy Piper & Rick Martel (PNW 08/02/80) ****1/4

#9 - Buddy Rose vs Rick Martel (PNW 05/17/80) ****1/4

#10 - Jon Cortez vs Peter Lapaque (Joint Promotions 01/28/80) ****1/4

#11 - Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver vs Jay Youngblood & Joe Lightfoot (PNW 11/08/80) ****1/4

#12 - Buddy Rose vs Rick Martel (PNW 04/26/80) ****1/4

#13 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Rocco (NJPW 09/11/80) ****1/4

#14 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Slater (AJPW 05/01/80) ****1/4

#15 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Steve Keirn (NJPW 02/01/80) ****

#16 - Jon Cortez vs Jeff Kaye (Joint Promotions 02/05/80) ****

#17 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid (NJPW 02/05/80) ****

#18 - Strong Kobayashi & Haruka Eigen vs Mighty Inoue & Isamu Teranishi (IWE 06/29/80) ****

#19 - Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn (NJPW 01/18/80) ****

#20 - Ringo Rigby vs Johnny South (Joint Promotions 08/05/80) ****

#21 - Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 09/30/80) ***3/4

#22 - Ricky Morton vs Sonny King (Memphis 04/26/80) ***3/4

#23 - Satoru Sayama & Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo & Babyface (UWA 04/13/80) ***3/4

#24 - Mighty Inoue & Animal Hamaguchi vs Carlos Plata & El Doberman (IWE 11/27/80) ***3/4

#25 - Ken Joyce vs Tony Costas (Joint Promotions 01/09/80) ***1/2

#26 - Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs Dory & Terry Funk (AJPW 12/11/80) ***1/2

#27 - Jeff Kaye vs Tony Walsh (Joint Promotions 01/28/80) ***1/2

#28 - The Sheik vs Ricky Steamboat (AJPW 12/09/80) ***1/2

#29 - Bill Dundee & Tony Boyles vs Wayne Farris & Larry Latham (Memphis 06/07/80) ***1/2

#30 - Buddy Rose vs Butch Miller (PNW 06/07/80) ***1/2

#31 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Murdoch (AJPW 03/05/80) ***1/2

#32 - Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 05/09/80) ***1/2

#33 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Steve Keirn (NJPW 11/06/80) ***1/2

#34 - Roddy Piper vs Buddy Rose (PNW 09/13/80) ***1/4

#35 - Harley Race vs Giant Baba (AJPW 09/09/80) ***1/4

#36 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Londos (NJPW 09/19/80) ***1/4

#37 - Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 04/03/80) ***1/4

#38 - Chavo Guerrero vs Kengo Kimura (NJPW 11/03/80) ***1/4

#39 - Pat Roach vs Dalibar Singh (Joint Promotions 04/21/80) ***

#40 - Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 09/11/80) ***

#41 - Bill Dundee vs Tommy Rich (Memphis 08/23/80) ***

#42 - Bill Dundee vs Paul Ellering (Memphis 05/24/80) ***

#43 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Chavo Guerrero (NJPW 05/09/80) ***

#44 - Gran Hamada vs Babyface (NJPW 04/03/80) ***

#45 - Harley Race vs Rick Martel (PNW 01/12/80)

#46 - Carlos Plata, El Doberman & Goro Tsurumi vs Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Mach Hayato (IWE 11/12/80)

#47 - Bobby Heenan & Nick Bockwinkel vs Greg Gagne & Super Destroyer Mark II (AWA 10/03/80)

#48 - Carlos Plata & El Doberman vs Mighty Inoue & Mach Hayato (IWE 11/01/80)

#49 - Harley Race vs Giant Baba (AJPW 09/04/80)

#50 - Verne Gagne vs Nick Bockwinkel (AWA 07/18/80)

#51 - Charly Verhulst vs Mile Zrno (CWA 07/12/80)

#52 - Bill Dundee vs Larry Latham (Memphis 04/19/80)

#53 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Murdoch (AJPW 02/23/80)

#54 - Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 02/08/80)

#55 - Sammy Lee vs Sid Cooper (Joint Promotions 10/08/80)

#56 - Chavo Guerrero vs Kengo Kimura (NJPW 09/30/80)

#57 - Lord Alfred Hays vs Bobby Heenan (AWA 01/13/80)

#58 - Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ron Starr (NJPW 09/30/80)

#59 - Greg Gagne vs Super Destroyer Mark (AWA 05/01/80)

#60 - Rusher Kimura vs Alexis Smirnoff (IWE 11/22/80)

 

Ken Joyce vs Tony Costas (Joint Promotions 01/09/80)

 

This is really more of a happy-go-lucky exhibition of all the tricks in Ken Joyce's arsenal than it is a great match, but those tricks are abundant. This is some really creative and fun matwork for sure. What an inventive and clever worker. Some of the counters he pulls off are pretty intricate, and some are so simple that you sort of wonder why no one else ever thought to do them. Everything here is played for comedy, but I could see some of these sequences getting over in a serious setting in the right hands too.