Tackling the 80s

[kjh]

It's such a blessing that we have a list obsessed person like you on this board Loss (I know that while you are working on this you are always working on other non-wrestling related lists). I believe that you are the only person I know who I can see organizing humongous collections of media like this.

 

Not to disrupt the thread, but are these DVD collections, or just stuff from your thousands of discs that you are watching in order? (Sorry if I missed the explanation somewhere)

They're the matches from the DVDVR/goodhelmet's Best of the 80s sets that have been released so far.

[ohtani's jacket]

What are these other Loss lists we aren't privy to?

[tim]

Does Loss have a list?

[Loss]

I'm a big listmaker in general. You are all on it.

[Matt D]

I am ranked #8.

[Loss]

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Slater (AJPW 05/01/80)

 

I've never really been a big fan of Dick Slater but he won me over with this one. I love some of the matwork he does, especially the near Indian deathlock and the leg spread thing he did to Jumbo, which was reminiscent of El Dandy vs Negro Casas. Everything he did was basic and looked really stiff. What an awesome performance. There are so many unique spots here. I also loved the pin attempts where they ended up rolling out of the ring.

 

In some ways all the well-timed nearfalls and increasing desperation and crowd heat in the last ten minutes or so of the match looked like a template for some of the better All Japan matches we'd see in the 1990s. My favorite match of 1980 at this point.

[Loss]

Greg Gagne vs Super Destroyer Mark II (AWA 05/01/80)

 

What kind of name is Super Destroyer Mark? Solid match with really good babyface fire and selling from Greg, but nothing that I'll remember much tomorrow. He spends too much time selling outside the ring and the match tests my patience. This also has an odd layout because you would think Greg's comeback would lead right into the finish but Mark comes back with more offense. Good stuff in this for sure, but a bit all over the place.

[Loss]

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Chavo Guerrero (NJPW 05/09/80)

 

My expectations were sky high for this and it was a good match with great athleticism and intensity from both guys. Really good stuff between two guys who were perfectly matched for each other. The last few minutes were especially great, and from what I can gather, Fujinami's tope was the hottest move in wrestling in 1980. Just the tease of it gets a huge pop.

[Loss]

Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 05/09/80)

 

While I didn't dislike the previous Hansen/Inoki match, I was dreading another one, but this was really good. Of the three matches they've had so far, this one was really the one where I thought they had the most chemistry and I think that's because this is Inoki's best performance so far. I prefer Hansen as a crazy madman swinging his cowbell and stiffing anything that moves (and this is the closest he's come to that guy so far) but he's a pretty strong mat wrestler too.

[Loss]

Bill Dundee vs Paul Ellering (Memphis 05/24/80)

 

Wow, a good Paul Ellering match! Bill Dundee is a marvel. Ellering isn't particularly good but Dundee and Jimmy Hart make this worth watching. Dundee has all sorts of tricks, my favorite of which happens right at the beginning when he just drops Ellering out of a collar and elbow tie-up and lets him fall flat on his face. Fun finish in what has been a stoic year to this point too.

[Loss]

Bill Dundee & Tony Boyles vs Wayne Farris & Larry Latham (Memphis 06/07/80)

 

Really good tag match full of the type of heel miscommunication stuff that Dundee excels at setting up -- like the double bump from the criss-cross sequence and Latham continuing to stomp and finally elbow drop his own tag team partner after being set up by Dundee. This match is full of similar spots and really shows Dundee at his best. I think the heels are pretty solid in this, and Boyles is fine as a warm body, but Dundee is the star. Classic Southern tag layout and the match acts as a tribute to the milage of the style as much as it does a match that succeeds on its own merits.

 

After the heels get a relatively clean pin, Jimmy Hart hits the ring and they do a number on Dundee and Boyles in a beatdown that sees Dundee juice, then they go to Lance Russell and brag about it. We cut to commercial and after coming back, Dundee tells Lance he wants more of these guys and goes back to the ring. Manager Danny Davis dares show his face and Dundee attacks him. He takes some great rapid fire bumps bumps! Eddie Marlin ends up running in and pulling the returning heels off of Dundee and gets powder in the face for his troubles.

 

Eventually, Jerry Jarrett comes in and tries making the save and he gets beaten up too. But he gets wise and takes his belt off and starts whipping them, so they eventually bail. This match is good, but the whole scene elevates this to something great!

 

We close out with another interview from the heel team. It's amusing to hear Honky Tonk Man talk about how long he has wanted to get his hands on Jerry Jarrett because he didn't like his bookings.

[Loss]

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

 

IWE! This was an amazing match. It almost felt like it had everything about Michinoku Pro without the flying, if that makes any sense at all. Some really beautiful mat exchanges, stiff chops, crowd heat and brawling with great body language and expressive selling to accompany it all. All four guys bring something cool to the table, and the drum beating in the background just adds to the quirkiness of this. I'd love to talk about this match more, but I don't know who is who, so that makes it difficult. Still, bring on more IWE! So much more lively than All Japan or New Japan.

[Loss]

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

 

I don't know that this match is really wrestled in a big, grand enough way for a baseball stadium main event -- why do the detail work of grinding knuckles on your opponent's knee when working in such a big venue? -- but there is some really cool matwork and Bockwinkel sure can cut a pace. I'm impressed at how well they keep this match moving, but I didn't really get into this. Verne going for Bock's hair in an attempt to break holds is a little ass backwards for a babyface too.

[Loss]

Mighty Inoue & Higo Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber & Rocky Brewer (IWE 07/25/80)

 

Cage match! I thought this was awesome from the opening bell. Nice slow build for a match that felt like a true main event. They took their time building to the cage being used as a weapon and Inoue took a hell of a beating from two great heels. Huber and Brewer work really stiff and vicious, and Inoue does some great selling and staggered bumping to put over the attack, building huge sympathy along the way. Hamaguchi finally gets a hot tag and looks terrific, but he's overmatched quickly by these guys who just refuse to be deterred at all. I'd love to see a series of tag matches between these teams as I thought they matched up exceptionally well and this was a phenomenal match. The aggression was just off the charts from Huber and Brewer and they payoff the long attack in the final few minutes really well with all the cut biting, great visuals and big heel bumps. Inoue and Hamaguchi are a super babyface team. My match of the year right now and a true classic. Everyone should check this out. I wish I had seen this before the cage matches podcast.

[Loss]

Bill Dundee vs Tommy Rich (Memphis 08/23/80)

 

Somebody say sumthin' about Wildfire! Really cool fired up mat-based match between these two. I could have been tricked into thinking this was in a full arena based on how much heat there is for this one too. I like how they put the Southern title over as something so important based on these guys just fighting so hard for a shot at it. Rich locks in a nasty looking armbar which Dundee sells like death a little over 10 minutes in. Dundee is the victim of an accidental groin shot and Rich decides to capitalize and takes the win. I loved this!

 

Rich turns heel with his post-match interview, going over the top by calling out the still-injured Jerry Lawler who was doing commentary on this with Lance Russell. He claims when Lawler was around, Rich never got any title shots but those days are over. He ends up shoving Lawler to the floor for good measure. Good stuff and great overall presentation.

[Loss]

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

 

This had its moments. There were more "moves" in this one than a lot of wrestling during this time but there wasn't really anything pulling it all together beyond that. Just "my turn, your turn" wrestling. This just felt like a bunch of stuff happening that was all sold pretty much the same way. It was cool to see some big offense from Giant Baba, though.

[Loss]

Giant Baba vs Harley Race (AJPW 09/09/80)

 

Now THIS was the type of bombfest that is cool to watch if we're going to see these two do one. More crowd heat, more fury with Race pissed off over losing the title and more urgency. Baba's neckbreaker looks great, as do Race's wide assortment of moves and big bumps. This feels more like an exciting TV match than an NWA World Title change, but it's still a very good match.

[Loss]

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Rocco (NJPW 09/11/80)

 

I've never seen or heard of Tony Rocco, but he's a really fun powerhouse wrestler who can rip up the mat. This was different from any of the other Fujinami matches so far this year, which is a credit to both of them. Fujinami really did have incredible versatility at this point, and the juniors division was showcasing so many different styles. All the struggle from Rocco to execute the Russian legsweep was cool and it was the first time I've ever seen that move as anything more than a transitional spot. The spot where Rocco bumped upside down into the ringpost, got his ankle stuck and Fujinami freed him with a dropkick was pretty awesome too. They really have a great finishing stretch of nearfalls as well.

 

With the other juniors matches in 1980, I can form a direct relationship to the 90s stuff, or at least see how Fujinami's matches served as a template to the future. But Liger never had an opponent quite like this so this stands out from the pack. Great match -- probably my #2 for the year right now.

[Loss]

Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 09/11/80)

 

This match again. I guess I'm glad because Hansen vs Inoki and Hansen vs Baba will be interesting comparisons as the decade progresses. I thought I had fatigue on this matchup, but this was really good and different enough from the previous two matches that I still enjoyed it. This had a hot start and then some really cool holds from both guys on the mat. Inoki looked really good in this one, and doing the bridge up spot with Hansen is really impressive because of Hansen's size. They also drop bombs almost as high-end as Race and Baba did, but with a better build to each spot and better stuff in between the big moves. I popped for the Argentine backbreaker - Hansen never quite gets the hold locked in, but stubbornly tries a few times.

[Loss]

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Londos (NJPW 09/19/80)

 

Very cool to watch Fujinami take on all comers in so many different styles. This is again unique to the other matches in how much snap there is in the execution of everything and how stiff all of the shots are. Awesome little sprint. More of a Nitro special by the standards of New Japan matches at the time, but a nice change of pace all the same.

[Loss]

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura (NJPW 09/25/80)

 

Awesome mat clinic with some incredible drama at the end. I appreciated that they managed to keep a 25 minute match that was worked entirely on the mat pretty compelling, and also that they kept this as "pure" as possible. This really had the feel of an actual sporting contest more than any match I've seen so far in 1980. I don't think it's something for everyone simply because of the almost complete lack of highspots for most of this but I thought it was cool that we could watch them struggle, hear them breathe and see them sweat. So much intensity that teases boiling over a few times, but never really does until the last few minutes when the match is off the charts. The countout false finish was really terrific because I was so ready to complain that a match this great really needs a pinfall finish. The draw we got - while not ideal - is preferable to that. You could argue that this was the genesis of the perfunctory aspects of the juniors style - lots of early matwork followed by a hot finishing stretch - and you wouldn't be incorrect. But this doesn't feel like a routine formula at all. A great tribute to the pro wrestling art form, in the top five matches of the year at this point, and something that should be talked about as an all-time great New Japan juniors match.

[Loss]

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

 

Kimura was a capable wrestler, and I'm glad I saw this match because Fujinami looks to be the best guy in the world in 1980 from the footage I am watching. Not that Chavo is a "lesser" guy, but I wanted to see how he'd hold up against someone else. He looked good. I didn't care for this match much, especially the cheap finish. It was an interesting glimpse into two guys that I like, but for whatever reason, it didn't all add up.

[Loss]

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

 

Fujinami was good here, but I didn't think Ron Starr was all that good, so I didn't get into it that much unless Fujinami was the one on offense. I think I'd like Starr more in his natural habitat, as i just don't think he's cut out for Japanese wrestling.

[Loss]

Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 09/30/80)

 

Backlund's zany mat stuff gets over great in Japan and I really enjoyed this match. A lot of these spots are regular Backlund specials, but seeing him do the power lift with a guy the size of Stan Hansen and put him on the top rope is especially impressive. When he slaps him after setting him on the top rope, it's even better. While I've really liked some of the Hansen/Inoki matches, it was cool to see Hansen face a different opponent and thus produce a very different type of match -- one with a faster pace and believe it or not, an opponent with a more dynamic and engaging personality.

[Loss]

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

 

Based on pre-match protests from Bockwinkel and Heenan, Bobby's weasel suit will NOT be on the line in this match. Bobby was a hell of a worker and the crowd popped so much every time the babyface team got any offense at all on the guy. He takes nice bumps and moves around the ring really well. I thought this went a little long for the type of match it was which was evident in the heat slowly declining throughout the match, but they worked the tag formula really well. That said, this match really didn't need a double heat. After the match, Heenan and Bockwinkel try putting the weasel suit on Greg Gagne until Super Destroyer makes the save with a loaded mask. This knocks Heenan out and gives the fans what they wanted all along - the guy in the weasel suit.