80s catchup thread

[JerryvonKramer]

Moving Lucha set stuff to here. Since I'm on d3 of that too, I can add it to the rotation.

 

As per usual, going in totally blind, not read any ratings but do have certain guys I'm looking out for from listening to various recent podcasts.

 

Lucha 1.1

Satoru Sayama y Gran Hamada vs. Perro Aguayo y Baby Face (4/13/80)

 

Here we go then. Nice big crowd. Pretty cool stiff opening to this. I could swear the commentators are speaking Japanese. Faces in the crowd are awesome. There's one guy in a suit that looks like he's been lifted straight out of an All Japan crowd and plonked in Mexico. I like the guy with the moustache who is wearing his hat at a jaunty angle. And the cop.

 

So far, absolutely no concerns about getting into this, it's just pro wrestling. Interesting boots on Perro.

 

I really like the dynamic that is developing here. Hamada and Perro seem to be the ones with real issues and Baby Face works like hired muscle doing a lot of the dirty work. There is a cool mix of brawling, matwork and throws on display which I can get into.

 

Sayama moves like a cat, and I like that. I don't really understand what is happening with the falls at this stage, but it doesn't feel like it matters too much. What happened with the finish here? Going to rewind it to see if I can figure it out. Has to be that massive kick to the balls, instant DQ.

 

Pretty hot opener.

 

***3/4

 

Key for rough star-rating conversion, here

 

 

Lucha 1.2

Andre the Giant & Cien Caras vs. Alfonso Dantes, Herodes y Sangre Chicana (1981)

 

Andre's face looks oddly skeletal here in the pre-match interview. Oh, he's got a shiner. The camera starts zooming in and for a moment I thought it was going for a shot of "little Andre", but no they want to check out his massive hand. I am drawn to love whoever these interviewers are.

 

Three on two handicap match here. The ref is channelling Uncle Fester. Big ass stuff from Andre to start. A lot of spots here to get over his SIZE and STRENGTH. A little gimmicky.

 

Arm wrench by Chicana on Caras. So was Herodes the Lucha version of Hercules Herndandez? Big headbutt by Andre. Dantes in. Seres of big butt splashes by Andre.

 

This situation where guys can seemingly come in and out without tagging is going to take some getting used to. This one has no real flow, still hasn't felt like it has got going.

 

Dantes goes back to the arm on Caras. Andre takes over and now the faces start working Dantes's arm. Caras misses a dropkick. Herodes does some comedy punching on Andre's stomach before being thrown out of the ring. Comedy bump off Andre's ass by Chicana.

 

Uhh ... so what happened with the finish here? He submitted to the bearhug by Caras? Random. Oh no, it continues. So that's fall number 1. 1-0 to Andre and Caras. Wasn't into this first fall. No flow. Far too disjointed. And gimmicky.

 

So they can do regular tags too. FIP sequence now with the heels working over Caras. Chicana taunts Andre. Is that wise Sangre? Andre catches him and snaps him over his knee. Chicana holds one of his legs and the three heels hold Andre to give him some punishment. Not for long, Herodes gets tripped by Caras going for a shoulder charge. BLANTANT LOW BLOW REF! That's put Caras out of action for a while. 3 on 1 comedy stooges spot with Andre now. Andre sits on Herodes and the ref is very very slow on the count. Come on Fester!

 

So what's that 2-0 now? Yes and the win. Andre bearhugs Chicana for good measure.

 

Even allowing for the fact that 90% of this match was designed to get over the message of "this man is a giant", it was too all over the place for my tastes.

 

*1/2

 

Lucha 1.3

Centurion Negro vs. Gran Hamada (2/14/82)

 

Now hold the tape. Someone tell the ref it's vertical stripes for wrestling, he can't be much worse than Fester from the last match. He looks a hell of a lot like Lou Thesz if it's not him, but I feel like I'm seeing Thesz everywhere at the moment (see Titans 4 podcast fans). Negro controls with matwork to start. I am drawn to the dude wearing all black in the crowd sipping his coffee. He sees someone he knows across the way and gives them a "cheers" with the coffee. Awesome guy. That same Japanese fan seems to be back: he's wearing a scarf today and seems to have brought a hot date with him.

 

Hamada finally breaks free only to fall prey to an arm wrench and a head scissors. I notice that several people in the crowd are drinking that coffee: there's a vendor at this arena making a killing somewhere. Cameraman is wearing a bright luminous yellow jacket. Fine moustache sir.

 

Things heat up now and this has been a pretty compelling mat sequence from Negro. I say that, I spent most of the time looking at the crowd. It's enough to get him the first fall. Hamada has been out-wrestled so far. Negro goes back to the arm. Makes sense. Explosive dropkick by Hamada sends him bailing. I have to say, Negro has a great colour scheme going on with the yellow and black.

 

Hamada takes over control now with some matwork of his own. Arm drag, Hamada eats a backdrop. Flying bodysplash from the second rope. Back suplex. That's enough for 1-1. Thought the matwork in this fall dragged. Pin felt like it came too soon.

 

I hope the pace picks up for this third fall. Negro switches up now to focus on the leg for a bit. Double underarm suplex! Keeps it locked in and goes into a birdge. That was quite neat. Snapmare. NASTY variation on the chickenwing now. Now idea how to call what Negro is doing now but it looks painful. Couple of nearfalls now. Yet another crazy submission hold from Negro. This stuff is cool.

 

Hamada takes a big backdrop to outside and Negro jumps out after him. Dropkick gets 2 but Hamada has hit foot on the rope. Another backdrop. Some awkwards spots now as Negro seems to fluff a buritto of some sort and then takes a strange bump to the concrete. Hamada dives out after him now. Huracanrana. Belly-to-back suplex. Still only 2. Negro comes back with a dropkick and a huracanrana of his own. Interesting bridging suplex now from Negro, risks pinning himself with that!

 

Sunset flip from the top by Hamada gets the 3. Hmmm, I was hoping the third fall would heat up a bit more than that. I liked a lot of Negro's matwork here but he had some awkward moments in the high spots. Second fall wasn't very good.

 

On balance ...

 

***1/2

 

Lucha 1.4

El Canek vs. Don Corleone (2/14/82)

 

Bit of a career change for Don Corleone here. I'm saying the ref is definitely Lou Thesz now. He should know better than to wear that shirt. He's been good as a ref so far though. Love this venue and watching the nighttime fall on it.

 

Lots of matwork early on here. Corleone controls mostly with a camel clutch and a reverse chinlock. The camera work is good here. Canek comes back with arm wrenches. Corleone seems to be going for a variation on the Texas Clover Leaf. Gets a bit argy bargy with Thesz. Canek hits a drop kick and a gutwrench suplex. Sick looking flying clothesline, elbow drop gets a 3. Canek did well do get the first fall after losing out to Corleone for most of it.

 

Abdominal stretch by Canek now. Works the arm now with knee drops. Match meanaders a bit here. Piledriverrrr? No, something else (no idea how to call it). Unusual. Backdrop by Canek. Big Ernie Ladd legdrop get a 2. Corleone comes back with kicks and punches now. Really stiff looking right. Dropkick. Butterfly suplex! That gets 1-1.

 

I didn't think Canek's matwork in that second fall was much cop and I can't tell if that piledriver thingy was planned or a botch.

 

Corleone starts the third fall with a running knee. Razor's Edge? No, a very very painful looking stretch. Surfboard now. Canek starts to bridge out of it. Corleone goes back to a type of camel clutch. Leg grapevine thingy now. I am hopeless at calling matwork, I don't know the names of any moves ok. Gorilla press slam by Canek now and he starts a comeback. Big dive to the outside. Then he takes a backdrop. The outside is not concrete but wood!! Planks of wood!

 

Corleone slams Canek from the top now and hits a splash for 2. Atomic drop. 2 count. German suplex by Canek for the finish.

 

Hmmm, there were positives here. Corleone did some cool shit during his matwork. I thought Canek's matwork was boring. Some good bombs. Once again, the third fall didn't pick up enough for my tastes. I want a hotter finish. About the same as the last match. Good but not great.

 

***1/2

 

Lucha 1.5

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Canek (6/12/83)

 

This ref didn't get the memo about the diagonal stripes. Matwork in the first fall felt like it drifted. I honestly don't think El Canek is a very compelling matworker. Too tentative for too long this first fall. Abdominal stretch by Canek. "He has it hooked in real good too" [/Monsoon] Dull, dull, dull this stuff by Canek.

 

Fujinami hits a slam and a dropkick. Misses a second and Canek gets an elbow for 2. Two AMAZING elbows from Canek gets the 3 for the first fall. Well that was awesome but the 10 minutes before it were like watching paint dry.

 

Second fall and early on Fujinami hits an inzuguri. High vertical suplex ("Brainbuster! brainbuster!"). Back suplex gets 3. That was short.

 

Third fall and my expectation now is that we don't get a change up in the gears. Last two matches had no discernable change of pace for the third fall or move from matwork to strikes and throws. Let's see. Test of strength to start. Canek starts with the armwork. Butterfly suplex! Gets a weak 2. Fisherman suplex! Gets a two. He didn't bridge into the pin a la Hennig but rolled over to a lateral press. Head scissors from Canek now.

 

I may need to retrain myself. I want to see progression from matwork to strikes to throws, but they don't work like that. He just did two suplexes which got two nearfalls went right back to the matwork.

 

Deep abdominal stretch by Fujinami now. Reverse chinlock. I still want them to pick things up a bit in this stage in the match. Figure-four by Canek. Fujinami quickly makes the ropes. Big vertical suplex by Canek. Fujinami is still selling the leg from the figure four. He starts busting out the strikes now. Hits a one-legged dropkick. Canek blocks him to the outside. Dives after him.

 

Just as the match gets going, it slows down again. This is a bit too stop-start. What happened there? Canek wins? Why? Fujinami must have been DQed but for what?

 

This one meanadered too much for me. Canek's matwork is average at best although he does some cool suplexes and those elbows were awesome. Honestly a bit confused by the finish.

 

***

 

Lucha 1.6

Kevin von Erich, Mascara Ano 2000 y Halcon Ortiz v. Coloso Colosetti, Pirata Morgan y Herodes (9/23/83)

 

Kevin von Erich and Herodes to start. What has Halcon got written across his ass? Why is Mascara Ano called "2000"? Did he have like a futuristic gimmick? Was he a Terminator before Terminator? I guess we can only speculate. Colosetti has the best facial hair of anyone so far. He looks cool and villainous, like he'd take you out with a rapier and swoosh his cape as he leaves.

 

Oh yes, the match ... Early exchanges do a good job of introducing everyone. Awkward exchange between Ortiz and Morgan. Colosetti's little "charge" thing cramps the style established by his cool goatee. I am getting more used to the idea that when someone leaves the ring, it's like tagging out. But it's still quite chaotic and hard for me to keep track of what is going on. First fall comes seemingly out of nowhere.

 

I do like how heelish the heels are here, especially Colosetti. They get von Erich isolated and work him over. Snapmare by Heredos. Triple teaming. Colosetti with some kicks. Kevin wins back advantage. Where the hell are his partners? Ortiz takes on Morgan now. Neckbreaker! Bodyslam. That gets 3.

 

Colosetti posts Kevin. And the heels heel it up to draw some heat. "Three Kings of the Mountain". Kevin posts Colosetti's leg. And now the faces have control of the ring. Ortiz and Andre 3000 get in the refs face now.

 

Ortiz finds himself in the wrong corner but Pirata acidentally knees Colosetti on the apron. He posts his shoulder and Ortiz throws him out and dives after him. Herodes and T-1000 take over. Kevin hits a flying cross body on Colosetti for a piss-poor third fall.

 

There's a theme with these third falls being a bit disappointing now. Some nice dynamics here. The heels all looked good and played their roles well.

 

***

 

Lucha 1.7

MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83)

 

First look at MS-1 here. Chicana is bloodied almost immediately after MS-1 suckers him before they even get into the ring. Fierce brawling now. MS-1 is really intense. He weirdly reminds me a bit of Paul Orndorff at his absolute best the way he's laying in the kicks and stomps. There's a real desperation about the way he's working. Big splash from the top by MS-1 for the first fall.

 

Massive punch on Chicana's bloodied head. Knee to the face. He's just a bloody mess at this point. Turnbuckle. Head smash into the edge of the apron. Headbutt. A woman in the crowd smokes a cigerette. Chicana gets in his first offense for about 10 minutes and the crowd go apeshit. Big "Chicana" chant. He's still somewhat out of it and his face is a bloody mess. Second fall via count out? The moment when he starts the comeback is amazing, they built to it so well.

 

Third fall and where can this match go from here? MS-1 swings and misses. Chicana jabs him. MS-1 is now totally covered in blood himself. Big dive to the outside from him onto Chicana. Both men look half dead by this point. Dropkick by Chicana. Big dive by him now. Back in and Chicana is hanging from the top rope just to keep himself up. MS-1 looks like he's lost a pint of blood. The ring is just a total mess. Chicana barely gets across to cover for 2. Bodyslam by MS-1. Goes for the big splash from the top again but misses. Chicana covers again. 2 count! MS-1 covers. 2 count. Half a suplex from MS-1. Misses a somersault from the top now! Big submission hold from Chicana now. He's shaking his head. Submission? Yes. Chicana is so out of it he can barely stand up.

 

Pretty awesome match. Chicana's sell job throughout is pretty amazing. He's caught on the hop right out of the gate and never quite recovers. He's almost out of it from the start but somehow finds it from somewhere to fight on. MS-1 is just a sick, desparate man doing what it takes. This is sent over the top for me by the way it built to the moment of that comeback from Chicana.

 

Post-match MS-1 has to suffer the humilation of losing his Terry Taylor locks.

 

*****

 

Lucha 1.8

Espectro Jr., Satanico y MS-1 vs. Mocho Cota, Sangre Chicana y La Fiera (9/30/83)

 

Anyone ever play Final Fight? This is like all of the goons from that come to life and fighting each other.

 

No real clue what's going on in the first five minues here but it's fun as hell. Newly bald MS-1 does a good King of the Mountain thing early on. Christ! That mask is scary! Espectro Jr could give the kids nightmares.

 

MS-1 and Espectro are like Team Evil here. Cool. They are doing a real number on Mocho Coto. Pretty soon he's busted open. And now we get a comeback. Chaos here again, stuff happening all over the place.

 

The faces start triple teaming Satanico now. Then Espectro's in trouble. Hard to know where to look with this much stuff going on. There's a big kick to the balls. I don't know what's going on. Arghhh too much chaos.

 

Cota rips off Espectro's mask and his hair! I honestly couldn't tell you what is happening. So the faces have won?

 

***1/2

 

Wild, but also alienating in that I have no fucking clue what I just saw. Bit too random for my tastes. If someone asked me "what was the story of that match". My answer could only be "well a bunch of shit happened". I'm not sold on the idea that that's a great thing. If this exact match happened in a US ring, I'd say exactly the same thing. I can imagine there'll be people who'll really love this, but I'm not one of them.

 

Lucha 1.9

Sangre Chicana vs. Ringo Mendoza (10/28/83)

 

Ringo Mendoza looks like a real thug. Much more technical style of match now from Chicana. After some early mat stuff there's a nice neckbreaker. A little later there's one that sort of misses. I've never seen someone "miss" a neckbreaker before. Still Mendoza is clearly targetting Chicana's neck here.

 

Very "scientific" stuff this. Chicana targets the upper back and shoulder area with his holds. Mendoza is trying to bend and twist Chicana's neck. That's the story of this match pretty much from start to finish -- as stories go it's a very mildly diverting one, but little more than that.

 

If you're going to work 3 falls, my preference is to make each fall standout in some way. Here all three were worked in the same pace and gear. No real transitions to speak of. And I like transitions. Will be lower-middle.

 

**1/2

 

Lucha 1.10

Atlantis y El Hijo del Santo vs. Fuerza Guerrera y Lobo Rubio (11/25/83)

 

More great 80s-looking punkish thugs here. Rubio wouldn't look out of place graffiting the subway in the background of Turtles.

 

Cool headscissors sequence to start. A lot of trips and flips and things between Gurrera and Atlantis that I won't pretend I understand.

 

This is all very fluid. Constant motion. The armdrags are unusual. They seem "airy" in someway, not seen those before.

 

Faces seem to be just too good for the heels here. Santo seems to hit what I can only call a reverse armdrag. Not sure I understand the physics, but I've never seen one before. The move actually defies science.

 

El Punko Rubio has a go now and we get more floaty armdrags. Both Atlantis and Santo look really good in this match.

 

I don't mind this variety of super-duper smooth fluid matwork, it's all rather artful.

 

Heels have had nothing in this match so far. They can't get anything going at all. Santo seems to glide rather than jump. A very graceful worker.

 

Heels finally get a bit off offense going and work over Atlantis. I feel Fureza allowed him to tag out far too easily though. Cut the ring off, basic strategy.

 

Rubio starts working over Santo now. He's the power man in this match. Nastily throws Santo to the floor over the top rope. Sick sick bump!!! Shit! The heels have been properly vicious in this segment.

 

Santo vs. Rubio now and Santo hits a nice kneelift and as Rubio charges him just trips his leg. Awesome. Have loved Santo in this match. Cool backbreaker on Fureza by Atlantis now. Rubio breaks it up.

 

Some real highflying stuff from Santo and Atlantis now in a sequence which is a little too choregraphed for my tastes. It's enough for a countout win though. Spectacular finish.

 

Dug the hell out of this. Strong finish to the disc.

 

****3/4

 

Housekeeping

 

Lucha d1

 

*****

MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83)

 

****3/4

Atlantis y El Hijo del Santo vs. Fuerza Guerrera y Lobo Rubio (11/25/83)

 

***3/4

Satoru Sayama y Gran Hamada vs. Perro Aguayo y Baby Face (4/13/80)

 

***1/2

Espectro Jr., Satanico y MS-1 vs. Mocho Cota, Sangre Chicana y La Fiera (9/30/83)

Centurion Negro vs. Gran Hamada (2/14/82)

El Canek vs. Don Corleone (2/14/82)

 

***

Kevin von Erich, Mascara Ano 2000 y Halcon Ortiz v. Coloso Colosetti, Pirata Morgan y Herodes (9/23/83)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Canek (6/12/83)

 

**1/2

Sangre Chicana vs. Ringo Mendoza (10/28/83)

 

*1/2

Andre the Giant & Cien Caras vs. Alfonso Dantes, Herodes y Sangre Chicana (1981)

[JerryvonKramer]

Appears that I randomly stopped here, Lucha d2 and d3 will be next, followed by d3s of New Japan and Memphis. Then the order will go: Mid-South, Lucha, New Japan, Memphis until I finish. Vague aim is to do an hour a day minimum over the summer.

 

Have Will, Johnny and Kris plugged in for the first time watching. Comments in that thread.

 

Lucha 2.1

Atlantis vs. El Satanico (1984)

 

Like some of the stiffness in the early exchanges. The sea-saw surfboard thing was gnarly. Satanico's kicks to the gut look good. Backbreaker! And again. Nutshot for Satanico marks the transition. Big bump on the apron. Viciously goes after the mask now.

 

Atlantis is cut open pretty bad. This is quickly turning into a brawl. Satanico is cut open now as the footage goes black and white.

 

Two more backbreakers now from Atlantis. Awesome moment as Satanico just dumps Atlantis going for the victory roll. I liked that. Flying headbutt. And again ... misses! Submission win for Satanico.

 

This was really good, but for some reason I wasn't all that emotionally invested in it.

 

****

 

Lucha 2.2

Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (1/27/84)

 

Mocho Cota is one cool-looking evil son of a bitch. Some matwork to start. Really fluid matwork. Armdrag by Cota. I can't really describe any of the stuff I'm seeing but it's cool and the first fall was high quality. What the fuck??!! Cota has only 3 fingers?! Huh?! God.

 

That shoulder barge by Cota into Rocca's arm was awesome, and now a great sick-looking arm wrench thing. Cota is one nasty muthafucka. This is one of the best arm-control sequences I can remember seeing. Great, effortless, back drop. Arm drag. Really enjoying this second fall. Senton. Unusual submission hold for 1-1. Really good.

 

Things dropped off a tiny bit in this third fall until a very high dropkick and insane fucking dive out of the ring by Cota basically right into the crowd! Man, did he fly! I love this guy. Sick submission hold now. Reverse camel clutch thing now. Actual camel clutch now. Octopus. Eat your heart out Dean Malenko, this is the real man of 1001 holds right here. Ref bump. And a cheap pin.

 

Thought this was awesome. My number #2 for the set so far. Possibly also just overtaken Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson as my favourite mat-based match. Really really excellent.

 

****3/4

 

Lucha 2.3

Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (2/3/84)

 

Cota is such an awesome douchebag heel. The guy is just absolutely right up my street. The way he carries himself, the way he's just such a little fucking dick! Awesome.

 

This matwork is not quite as great so far as the first-fall of the last match. However, the face rub and heelish laughing was fucking great. Cota has been the stand-out character for me so far watching this stuff.

 

Nice bulldog. This is more of a bomb-throwing affair than the last match. Massive backdrop. Running belly-to-back suplex. Awesome Alabama Jam into the victory roll for a very flashy fall. I thought this wasn't going to be as good as the last match but that was awesome. Very different style of match too.

 

There's an interesting narrative developing with Cota having hurt the BACK of his head. I can't recall too many matches built around hurting the back of the head. Interesting.

 

Rocca's selling of that snapmare is tremendous. Neckbreaker. Rocca is great at selling. Hmmm, not sure about this draw finish. But this was still pretty great. LOVING Cota.

 

****

 

Lucha 2.4

Atlantis y Lizmark vs. El Egipcio y El Faraon (2/17/84)

 

Very sweet opening exchanges between Lizmark and Faraon to start. Lizmark just looks incredible.

 

Faraon is one stiff, bruising heel. Love how he's sticking those forearms in. Awesome butterfly suplex. Hot first fall. This disc is shaping up to be pretty great so far.

 

These heels are so fucking cool. Great slugfest between Faroan and Lizmark. Faraon is a total asskicker. Those kneelifts. YES!

 

El Egipico, on the other hand, kicks like Lou Albano!! What the hell?! Pathetic feather-lite kicks.

 

Lizmark unloads with the kicks now. El Egipico is like a chicken-shit sleazy wimp heel, Faraon is the bruiser. I get the impression that Egipico is not half the worker that Foraon is.

 

This elmination business with the double pin is interesting. So now it's a one on one match? Knee to the balls for the instant DQ.

 

This was a lot of fun, loved those heels, especially Faraon. Thought Lizmark looked absolutely awesome too. Atlantis as good as he's been so far too.

 

****

 

Lucha 2.5

El Faraon, Herodes y Mocho Cota vs. Lizmark, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar (2/24/84)

 

Oh awesome awesome awesome. Faraon and Cota teaming up! YES! And with the Mexican Hercules! Actually he looks more like a Mexican Harley Race here.

 

First fall seemed super quick. This is a great heel beatdown here. Herodes looks great nailing the shots in. Tony Salazar is being totally killed here. Awesome stuff. And that's a DQ? lol, ok. Amazing visual of Salazar dangling over the apron as the heels just dickingly still kick him.

 

Oh man, I fucking love this heel team. I fucking LOVE them.

 

Awesome knee lift by Faraon. Great little cocky sneaky dipship deadleg by Cota on Lizmark. And now they go back to bullying poor Salazar. Ha ha ha ha. This is so great.

 

Babyfaces coming back now and the crowd is pumped. TREMENDOUS bump into the turnbuckle by Herodes. Chaos breaking out now. Bodies and blood everywhere now. Oh my good, what an awesome blatant kick to the balls by Salazar for the payback, justice is done.

 

Ah fuck it, I had so much fun watching this. I'm probably way overrating it, but I don't care, this was great.

 

****3/4

 

What an awesome run of matches here.

 

Cota is a new JvK hero. Faraon is just great as well.

[JerryvonKramer]

Attempting "the new discipline": an hour a day.

 

New Japan 3.1

Tiger Mask, Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Baby Face, Dynamite Kid & Abdullah the Butcher (1/8/82)

 

Heel team feel wildly incongruous here. This is a hot match marked by some real contrasts of style. Abdullah was sort of avoiding Inoki who was gunning for him. Baby Face was working as a classic wrestling heel, bumping big and throwing bombs. Tiger Mask brought a lot of flash and Dynamite worked a million miles an hour. Fun spectacle, though ironically (given what they were going for) the match I came out wanting to see most was Fujinami vs Baby Face. 2/3 falls probably a bit long for a six man like this, but FIP sequence on Tiger Mask was good and heel beatdown on Inoki great too. Wahoo McDaniel randomly comes out kicking ass to make the save. You'll always get post-match shenanigans a plenty with Abby around.

 

***1/2

 

New Japan 3.2

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (1/28/82)

 

So, you might have heard that these two can go. That's certainly true. Dynamite has some very good selling and little heel wrinkles in his work, at one point he sneaks his hand down Tiger Mask's tights for additional leverage, then denies knowledge of it, shades of Jim Breaks or The Destroyer.

 

This match has a lot of your turn, my turn suplexes, but is also full of some very fun mat exchanges. DK tries to headstand out of a headscissors, Tiger Mask piledrives him from that position. Another time we gets Breaks style joint work by Tiger Mask, which is not what I particularly expect from him.

 

This is a bombfest with moments of matwork. Not exactly a psychological masterpiece but I dug it. It was helped a good bit by DK's character work and level of intensity throughout. Tiger Mask felt less sloppy here than he has in earlier matches, and less flashy / more substantive in his offense.

 

****1/2

 

New Japan 3.3

Tiger Mask vs. Bret Hart (2/5/82)

 

This is the actual Bret Hart, whose punches and movements are identical to his WWF self from a few years later. Tiger Mask is a bit like a wrestling Catherine Wheel, fizzes and twirls brightly, but ultimately a lot of what he does feels ephemeral. I feel a similar way about Rey, of course, and this is partly just a bias on my part against juniors / high flyers. With that said, this settles down into being quite an interesting encounter. Bret is very solid. He's methodical and ground based, but feels a lot like Bret from later in the 80s to me. A lot of this match is built around Tiger Mask working on Bret's leg, and his selling is fantastic, almost Flair-like at times because he is very vocal. They hit piledrivers almost for fun in this style, but you just have to accept that I think.

 

I really enjoyed this match. The execution on everything was crisp. Bret gave as good as he has at this time. The missile drop kick by Tiger Mask that led into the finish was really great. Probably one of Bret's top five matches of the 1980s, some fine work here. I'd put it on par with the DiBiase match from 1989.

 

****

[PeteF3]

Funny, the match I wanted to see the most coming out of that 6-man was Abby vs. Tiger Mask.

[JerryvonKramer]

New Japan 3.4

Tiger Mask vs. Steven Wright (4/1/82)

 

I want to study at the school where Dory Funk is the maths teacher, Verne is headmaster and Steven Wright teaches geography.

 

This match is almost worked in the World of Sport style, and there are tons of swank counters and clever escapes. I think it's a real feather in Tiger Mask's cap (mask?) that's he was able to work a match like this with a guy like Wright working a completely different style. This is really an exhibition type match, but it has some really cool moments including that one sequence someone turned into a gif.

 

 

Wright has some good European uppercuts and works with intensity. Has a range of interesting bumps and some good offense. Would love to see him vs. Breaks, but I don't think that match exists.

 

One small thing about Tiger Mask is that he definitely wasn't an execution guy, pretty sloppy delivering various suplexes here. His gutwrench is horrible.

 

Nonetheless, this is a pretty cool match well worth tracking down.

 

***3/4

 

New Japan 3.5

Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan (4/1/82)

 

We'd seen these two before in WWF. Khan had put Andre out of commission. Here Andre has a beard and looks mean as hell. Arnold Skaaland is with him. Andre's character work is absolutely superb. Khan is working as de facto babyface, which is a bit weird. It really is a bit of a shame that this wasn't the Andre who got to headline Mania 3.

 

This match is just tremendous, basically perfect storytelling. Khan is outgunned and outsized against the giant until he gets an eye poke in and targets the leg, which is his equalizer throughout the match, but it's still not enough to stop the angry big man.

 

Andre's performance is phenomenal here. This should be the text book entry for how to play the monster heel. Constantly jawing at and bullying the ref. Ensuring that Khan always felt the full impact of his size advantage. He busts out some big bombs here too. What I particular liked was the heel touches to the performance, he bailed to break momentum, he went over to strategise with Skaaland, he told fans to shut up, and when he won he felt exonerated and validated by it and wanted to shove it in the face of the fans. Awesome moment too when Dusty comes and gives him a big bottle of beer.

 

One of Andre's very best. Don't want to sell Khan short here either, he still was basically a heel even though the crowd was on his side, but he worked a totally logical match. This is really the Andre show though. He is just so good. Wonder if Big Show has ever sat down and watched this.

 

****3/4

 

New Japan 3.6

Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger (5/26/82)

 

This is like an episode of Thundercats. Remember the blue Tygara? Black Tiger is, of course, Mark Rocco.

 

I really didn't care for this. Not my thing. A lot of flash and not a lot of substance. I will say that Rocco's execution is very good, and he was busting out some pretty innovative offense with some big and wild bumps. I'm really done with Tiger Mask at this point though. No interest in stuff like this to be honest. Rocco vs. Steven Wright would be something I'd want to watch though.

 

*1/2

 

New Japan 3.7

Hulk Hogan vs. Abdullah the Butcher (5/26/82)

 

Now this seems an unusual match up and intriguing. Vince never brought Abby in as a Hogan opponent, even though he'd seem a natural one. Hogan is pretty over with this Japanese crowd.

 

Pretty epic glade job by Hogan here and even a suplex from Abby. Other than that, your typical Abby match really, spliced with your typical Hogan match, but more typical Abby including the double CO.

 

Fun.

 

**1/2

 

New Japan 3.8

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/6/82)

 

Murdoch punts the flowers into the crowd and manhandles the ref at the start of this, which is pretty funny.

 

This match featured Dick Murdoch, blood, and a brainbuster outside the ring. It has Good Ol Will from Texas written all over it. So why wasn't it as exciting as all that? Too much time on the mat, simple as that. Highlight of this was Fujinami's explosive tope onto the outside which somehow results in Murdoch bleeding. Solid enough, especially after they broke out some bombs, but still have yet to really see what all the fuss is about with Dick in Japan. Post-match Murdoch destroyed the trophy. If anything pre- and post- match were better than the match.

 

***

 

New Japan 3.9

Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs. Bret Hart & Dynamite Kid (7/16/82)

 

This is mildly interesting, to see Bret and DK tag here in 82. This is where Bret claims that he and DK invented the modern style, thereby exposing his own ignorance.

 

This is pretty hot to start. Bombs flying everywhere, well executed. Cool gutwrenches, suplexes, backbreakers etc. Then we get a tombstone outside which Tiger Mask basically treats like a bodyslam. Suplex back in and barely a two count. Tiger Mask is pretty annoying.

 

DK runs through his catalogue of state of the art offense here, including a Tiger Suplex. Match is at its best when Kimura is in the ring as FIP, because some of the Tiger Mask shit is egregious. Honestly I absolutely loved Hart and DK on offense here, beating the crap out of Kimura, great execution, cool moves, decent logical pace, moves had real impact. Match took a nose dive every time Tiger Mask came in, no selling, doing his flashy shit, and taking any semblance of reality out of the match. He hits a terrible looking piledriver at one point too that wasn't just ugly but dangerous. Tiger Mask is basically awful.

 

Hart and DK team looked fantastic. And I think it's a bit of a shame that DK was married to Tiger Mask during this run, because I can imagine him having an amazing match with the right opponent. Mechanically as sound as anyone who ever set foot in the ring.

 

***3/4

 

New Japan 3.10

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/23/82)

 

Very heated start to this but then, naturally, they take things to the mat. A lot of arm work. Murdoch does a weird thing of slapping his own hand with pain. This is one of those things Will might point to as a neat little detail that keeps things engaging, but I think it's just a bit strange. Murdoch matches have a habit of grinding to a total standstill like this, he's working an older style. Does some nice little punches while applying a leglock here, but the match has virtually no movement at all by this point.

 

Things pick up outside, and then back in they escalate the throws and strikes before moving into an abdominal stretch sequence which sends both men outside again. Cool running power slam by Murdoch back in the ring, but then they go back outside where he tries a brainbuster but it gets reversed and he eats the post. Fujinami gets the count out win.

 

Again, solid but nothing to go out of your way to see. Marginally better than first bout, lack of blood notwithstanding.

 

***1/2

 

New Japan 3.11

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (8/5/82)

 

Here we go again. Got to the point where all I want is for DK to kick Tiger Mask's head in. Hate the guy.

 

This is a famous match up and when you see some of the bombs fly, you can understand why, but Tiger Mask is so damn sloppy and botchy. Horrible suplex to outside. Horrible side salto. And then they hit the deck for five minutes. If ever a match didn't need matwork, this is one.

 

Later, DK hits a tombstone and his diving headbutt and moments later Tiger Mask is doing a flying tope over the top rope and a shoulder breaker as if nothing has happened at all. He's the definition of go go go, but isn't even good at execution, bumping, selling or any of those those core mechanics. Continue to enjoy DK a good bit. Frustrating match up.

 

**1/2

 

New Japan 3.12

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiro Hamaguchi (9/24/82)

 

Animal Hamaguchi, classic old school Japanese wrestler.

 

This was a really enjoyable bout with solid action, good matwork, building up to some decent throws. It's the sort of match that shows that Fujinami really could do it all, any style, any opponent. I thought this was more engaging than the Murdoch matches. Just such solid work.

 

I've said that Harley Race is a real contender for best in the world for 1982, Fujinami is definitely a contender too.

 

***3/4

 

New Japan 3.13

Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (11/4/82)

 

This is red pants Kobayashi who would crop up later in the 80s in All Japan. I pretty much want to go back in time and kill Tiger Mask and then laugh in the faces of all the crying Japanese kids. Horrible worker. Would be impressed if Red Pants can get anything out of him.

 

He brings the ground game here which gives this match a real sense of strategy missing in, well, practically every other Tiger Mask match. All the strategy -- and therefore psychology -- is coming from Kobayashi though. He wants to keep Tiger Mask from doing his shit and so we get a sense of build towards said shit. So the flying crossbody or arm drag exchange sequence feel like they have actual impact because Tiger Mask has had to work to get to them.

 

He also tries to rip the mask off. And has some really stiff strikes. I like Red Pants. I feel like in another time and place he would have had a great match with Lo Ki. PERFECTPLEX! Also an awesome moment where Tiger Mask does a 619 thing and then jumps over the top rope only for Kobayashi to slam him into the floor. Count out finish, but Kobayshi lays out some young boys, and things get really really heated post match.

 

Red Pants is awesome! This felt like the best match up for Tiger Mask on the set to this point, if not the best match. Really heated, well worked, and well laid out match.

 

***3/4

[JerryvonKramer]

Housekeeping

 

New Japan d3

 

****3/4

Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan (4/1/82)

 

****1/2

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (1/28/82)

 

****

Tiger Mask vs. Bret Hart (2/5/82)

 

***3/4

Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs. Bret Hart & Dynamite Kid (7/16/82)

Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (11/4/82)

Tiger Mask vs. Steven Wright (4/1/82)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiro Hamaguchi (9/24/82)

 

***1/2

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/23/82)

 

***

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/6/82)

 

**1/2

Hulk Hogan vs. Abdullah the Butcher (5/26/82)

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (8/5/82)

 

*1/2

Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger (5/26/82)

 

Back to the Future time travel message to Phil Schneider, Will and the boys back in 2008: please, enough with the Tiger Mask already! Although looking at it, some decent matches here despite him being in them.

[Phil Schneider]

Believe me we are no Tiger Mask fans, but sometimes matches have to make sets because of rep. Those DK v. TK matches were so highly considered that it would have been bad to leave them off.

[Childs]

Yeah, we had that conversation at the time, and in retrospect, I think we might have picked one or two too many (the Black Tiger one probably didn't need to make it, for example). But at the same time, I actually did end up enjoying a lot of the tags he was in, even if I didn't like his work in them. Anyway, I'd recommend you keep plugging away on New Japan. Business is about to pick up with the Fujinami-Choshu feud, which is essential viewing for GWE purposes.

 

That probably remains my favorite '80s set for all its messy grandeur.

[funkdoc]

yea tiger mask is canonized in the WON lore & japan, and even among the workers & hardcore fans in mexico. it was seen as mandatory to have a bunch of him

[Dylan Waco]

Seconding Childs here, but the NJPW set is easily my favorite of the 80s sets.

[ohtani's jacket]

It seemed unlikely to me that Breaks and Wright ever fought since they were different weight classes, but looking through the WoS results I was surprised to learn Wright only appeared on TV a dozen or so times from '69-72. That's far less than I would have expected.

[JerryvonKramer]

Memphis 3.1

New York Dolls vs. Steve Regal & Spike Huber (10/4/82)

 

We have seen a good deal of Rick McGraw on Titans, a much underrated worker who has consistently impressed in that plucky underdog babyface Sam Houston role he had in New York. Very interested to see him as a heel here. Jimmy Hart the manager of course. WWA tag team titles on the line.

 

McGraw seems ever more jacked here than he was in WWF, has that distinctive squat frame. Different colour hair here. Big suplex by him now. Neckbreaker. Dream Machine (Troy Graham) in. Elbow drop. McGraw in. Elbow. Decent face in peril sequence on Regal this.

 

Tags in and out, they've cut the ring off, and Regal is both semi blinded from Hart's powder and injured in the neck. This is some classic Southern tag psychology, and the formula works for a reason. Very enjoyable stuff this.

 

Machine puts his head down for a back drop, Regal with a kick, just a hope spot, Machine cuts off the tag. McGraw in. Standing drop kick by him. Very impressive looking. Have to say I'm loving the pounding these guys are dishing out to Regal. And this has been a good performance in the FIP role by him, much better than he was on the AWA set here.

 

He gets the tag, but the ref doesn't see it, and that allows the heels a spike piledriver, and Huber loses it getting himself DQ'd after hitting the ref. Another piledriver now on Huber. Post-match we get a heel beatdown.

 

This was really solid stuff and I loved it. Just your basic Southern tag, but executed extremely well. McGraw and Regal in particular had real standout performances. Great stuff.

 

***3/4

 

Memphis 3.2

Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (10/18/82)

 

This is for the Southern title and Bock had won it here just weeks before Lawler was due to face Flair for the big one. If Bockwinkel retains, Lawler doesn't get the shot. Lance Russell explains all of this very well. Piledriver is also legal for this match.

 

Full nelson by Bock, always find that an unusual move for anyone to do, like it was old fashioned even in 1982. I'd have been less than a month old here btw. Still with this Full Nelson. Lawler almost goes for a stunner but drops down instead and kicks up. Neat escape. Top wrist lock. Elbow and collar tie up. Body scissors by Bock.

 

Want to take time out here to mention a woman in the front row who couldn't be more stereotypically Southern Dame. Remember that Miss Prissy that Foghorn Leghorn used to chase?

 

 

She's dressed pretty much like that only without the bonnet.

 

Meanwhile, Lawler has taken over. Backbreaker. Big right hand by Bock, a real sock in the mouth. Collision spot. Ref bump. Piledriver by Bock. Now see, why did he do that when the ref was out if it is not a DQ? Old habits die hard I guess, ha ha.

 

Fifteen minutes gone. Bock slams Lawler in the corner. Knee drop across the back. He's really targeting the upper back and neck, which makes perfect sense after that piledriver. Choke over the bottom rope.

 

Lawler comes back now. The strap comes down. A couple punches. But Bock rolls out of the piledriver attempt. Lawler gets slammed into the ring apron, which knocks the wind out of him. Bock goes for a piledriver. Blocked. Lawler goes for one now. Hits it! Bock slithers out of the ring before he can cover. Lawler follows him outside. Slam on the table. Posts him. Bodyslam back into the ring. Fist drop from the second rope. Cover gets two only.

 

Miss Prissy hasn't moved through any of this. Atomic drop by Lawler. Cover is still two only. Running fist by Lawler as Bock is hanging off the apron. Cool spot that. And again. Rolls Bock in. Another second rope fist drop. Still can't get the pin and Bock sneaks over and steals a pin using the rope for additional leverage for the win. So Lawler doesn't get to face Flair and Bock has come out on top. As he celebrates, Lawler comes in with a huge velocity punch.

 

This was a good match between two psychologists in the ring. It was told around the piledriver for large portions, and it was interesting that that didn't play into the finish at all. I felt Bock's heat sequence maybe didn't go on long enough for the comeback to be as great as Russell was making it out to be here. The strap came down pretty early on, and in terms of who took most of the match, probably Lawler. Given that Bock was going over, I understand why, but I'd have liked a bit more of that heat Bock was developing, especially that work on the upper neck. But this was still a good and well worked match, and I didn't see that finish coming.

 

***3/4

 

Memphis 3.3

Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (10/25/82)

 

This time Bock is AWA world champ again.

 

Hammerlock into a top wrist lock to start by Bock and he's really syncing it in. Bock shouts loudly "this is a wrestling hold!", the intimation being that Bock is teaching this southern brawler how to wrestle. This has been an exceptional top wrist lock so far, this is how you work a hold in my view. Bock really excels at this sort of thing. He's one of my favourite wrestlers on the mat.

 

Lawler tries to escape with an arm drag, but Bock keeps it locked on. Down to a pinning predicament now, but still in this wrist lock. Lawler tries to prise himself out but

Bock shoved him back down to the canvas. I've found this whole deal quite compelling. It's scientific wrestling by Bock.

 

Arm drag escape attempt again, a couple of times more. Bock changes tac now. Turnbuckle spot. Knee to the gut. Snap mare. Great punch by Bock. Finally Lawler hits a flying crossbody to gain a bit of respite. Just a hope spot though and Bock socks him with another great punch. Two head shots to the turnbuckle. Lawler feeling the second wind now. Three rights by Lawler. Slams into the turnbuckle. As Lawler is winding up some more, Bock pushes him into the ref with real force. Cheap heel move! Elbow from the top by Bock. Lawler then able to dump him. Table shots outside the ring.

 

The comeback starts in earnest now back in the ring and holy shit, these are amazing punches by Lalwer, punch after punch after punch. Massive punch sends Bock down ref is out again. Ref rings the bell, but I think it's by DQ isn't it. Man that flurry at the end on Bock by Lawler was something else.

 

I really thought this was a tremendous matchup, better than the previous one by a fair bit. Bock got more time in his heat sequence, which is what I wanted, and I loved that opening ten minutes of the wrist lock. And then I liked the several moments he cut off the comeback. He was able to build this match perfectly to the point of the comeback and when that comeback finally did come it was explosive as hell, like a Tazmanian devil had been let lose. Heat really good too. Really a very well told story here, and Bock the wily so and so getting away with the belt again. Lawler wins the battle but not the war. Great stuff and one of the best Memphis matches I've seen to this point.

 

****1/2

 

Memphis 3.4

Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (No DQ) (11/8/82)

 

This must be the blow off then and this has been a compelling in-ring feud so far. If Lawler loses, he loses his hair. Bock starts aggressively here, he's come to fight. Three or four punches. Bock is probably in my top 5 or 10 punchers. Goes to the eyes. Jabs left and right. Kick to the gut. Hard right. I love that Bock can brawl as well as he can work scientifically. Foot to the throat. Happy to play as dirty as it gets. This has been an ambush.

 

Kicks to the face and chest. Big forearms to the chest. Bock literally standing on Lawler's throat now. Snap mare. Cover gets two. Roundhouse right. Spear by Lawler grabs some respite. King on top now. Snapmare. Rabbit punches. Ref needs to get the fuck out of the way here. Go away Jerry Calhoun. Rights by Lawler. Left. Left. Left. Big right. Another right. Chokes him with the towel. Fist drop. Piledriver. Cover gets ... Bock has a leg on the rope. Bock slips out of the ring.

 

He comes back a bit now. Some rights by him. Tide has turned again. Kicks to the gut. Right. Lawler has colour now, bleeding from the eye. Dumps him. Bock goes after. Table shot. Slam onto the table. Head slammed onto the table. Hard right. Lawler lands in the front row. This is a real assault by Bock. Level of viciousness very high. Back in and then he dumps him over the top rope again. Grabs a rope stand. Ouch, slams his head on the top of that stand. Jerry Calhoun needs to back off!

 

Lawler back in. Turnbuckle spot. Punch after punch by Bock. Goes for a piledriver, but Lawler reverses it into a backdrop. But he lands on the ref. Jimmy Hart sneaks in and nails Lawler in the back of the head. Bridging pin by Bock but ... Two only!

 

The strap comes down. Five straight rights. Sixth. Bock is down and again. Second rope first drop. Cover gets barely a two. Slams the head back to the mat. Another fist drop. And another. And that gets three! Lawler is Southern champ again.

 

This was a really good brawl. For me, I found the 10/25 match more compelling, where there was more wrestling mixed in with the fists. But this is really good, with Bock's assault on Lawler satisfyingly brutal, without being over the top. I honestly thought this comeback wasn't quite as hot as the one from the previous match and that made the finish feel a bit sudden. But it's a great brawl nonetheless.

 

****

[dawho5]

That 10/25/82 comeback is ridiculous kinds of good. Only better one is in the 1986 Lawler/Dundee LLT match. I kind of wish they had skipped a lot of what had come after it and gone to the finish faster because I still like the Bock match better overall, despite the better comeback.

[JerryvonKramer]

Memphis 3.5

Jackie Fargo vs. Jimmy Hart (11/8/82)

 

I don't think I can recall seeing Hart in a one on one match before. This should be interesting. Well, it wasn't really. All schtick as can be expected. Fun I guess, but not my sort of thing.

 

DUD

 

Memphis 3.6

Fabulous Ones vs. The New York Dolls (2/3 Falls) (11/13/82)

 

Only Vince would be obnoxious enough to think "Florida ... Everglades ... Skinner!" I think it's pretty easy to forget about that run by Keirn when seeing him in the territories.

 

One advantage of sticking to formula pretty rigidly is that the occasions on which it is broken, stand out. Here they start your standard southern tag, but then all hell breaks loose after Hart hits Keirn with his cane. We get some juice and some neat brawling, but the finishes are awful here. Double DQ for the first fall, DQ for the second fall. Weird. An instance where the finish does hurt the match significantly.

 

**

 

 

Memphis 3.7

Bill Dundee & Bobby Fulton vs. Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar (11/15/82)

 

I always think Sweet Brown Sugar sounds like it should be a girl's name. Early clash here between future rivals Eaton and Fulton.

 

Eaton's punches are already excellent here, and it seems like he learned from Dundee. Eaton is also already tremendous at stooging. It's 1982 and the guy is already awesome. Sugar holds his end up too. Possibly a teensy bit too much schtick here for my tastes, but it's an enjoyable match. Dundee has never failed to impress me and looked great. Fulton was pretty green here and it showed but honestly I thought Eaton carried this.

 

***

 

Completely ridiculous skit now featuring Apocalpyse! Holy hell, what the fuck! LOL Reading around and Apocalypse was apparently "The Hippie" Mike Boyette who was a minor star for Gulf Coast in the 1970s before being basically a jobber for Watts in the 80s. But here he is in this absurd mercenary gimmick. Ha ha ha.

 

Memphis 3.8

Bill Dundee & Jerry Lawler vs. Adrian Street & Apocalypse (11/27/82)

 

Street is in full glam mode here. Apocalypse is quite a big guy. Cornette is there as a manager along with Linda of course. Street is from the Forrest of Dean where I had my wedding.

 

Street's forearms look great here, as do his uppercuts. Lawler mocks Street with some general prancing. I'm not a schtick guy it has to be said. Russell name checks Billy Robinson. Style seems to have got more schtick heavy here in 1982 as compared with what we've seen in 80-81, where we got more wrestling I thought.

 

Another dq finish for first two falls, which go in quick succession.

 

Dundee: "That to me is like a fat joke: if you're fat you don't laugh at one!" Ha ha

 

Dundee and Lawler do double full arm drag and twists on Apocalypse. He comes back on Dundee. Lawler in as FIP. Comes back. Finish extremely lazy as Lawler just rolls him up for the win as Street is distracted. Post match Street hits Linda, which I've never been keen on.

 

Never quite got going this.

 

**

 

Memphis 3.9

Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Dutch Mantell & Terry Taylor vs. Bobby Eaton, Sweet Brown Sugar, Rick McGraw & Sabu (12/4/82)

 

No, it's not that Sabu, it's a guy also known as Cocoa Samoa who worked Portland and Central States some.

 

This was fun but not much more than that. I liked some of McGraw's offense and very surprising to see a guy like him stand out in this company. Eaton continues to impress. A little underwhelmed by Lawler in a lot of these tags.

 

**1/2

 

Memphis 3.10

Ronnie Garvin vs. Lanny Poffo (ICW 1982/83)

 

This has Lanny himself on commentary, which is quite funny because he still has his Genius voice.

 

Garvin kicks the shit out of Poffo here, just abuses him. This is definitely more towards my tastes than a lot of the things I've been seeing on this disc so far. I love seeing heels get a real heat sequence and I love Ronnie Garvin so hardly a surprise that I loved this.

 

Pretty surprised to see this finish as low as 65 in the final DVDR voting results. I would have been a high vote for sure. I definitely preferred this to some of the Mantell matches that finished top 10. Poffo, for his part, was great. Sold all of Garvin's stiff and was surprisingly snug when he had to dish it out. Garvin was a great heel, willing to show ass, and juice and make Poffo look great in the comeback. Fantastic performance from him. I was surprised by how good this was and how low the voters were on it.

 

****

 

Memphis 3.11

Ronnie Garvin vs. Randy Savage (Cage Match) (ICW 1982/83)

 

I actually preferred the Lanny match to this. It started slow, and they used the cage well. Both Garvin and Savage were really good, but something missing for me. There's blood and violence, but this isn't up there with the best Garvin or the best Savage stuff for me. Like, I'd without doubt put DiBiase vs Savage MSG cage match over this one. I did dig Savage's ring attire though, interesting to see how close he was already to his 1986 WWF incarnation. Disappointing.

 

***1/2

 

Memphis 3.12

Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Jacques Rougeau & Terry Taylor (1/1/83)

 

Completely random to see Jacques Rougeau here, without his brother and tagging with Terry Taylor. Once again though this was the Bobby Eaton show, and honestly Sugar has looked pretty impressive as part of this tag team. They are pretty kick ass working the heat and the easy highlight of the match is a sweet double team spot where Eaton catapults Rougeau into a power slam by Sugar. The MX-style innovative offense is already there. Faces were just there really, but I thought this was super fun.

 

***

 

Memphis 3.13

Bill Dundee vs. Adrian Street, Miss Linda & Jim Cornette (Lumberjack Strap Match) (2/6/83)

 

This is really well worked, Dundee is three on one, and even though two of his opponents are a woman and Jim Cornette you always feel like Dundee is up against it fighting the odds. They work this very smartly with it being more or less a Street vs. Dundee match with comedy and chicanery going on around it. Once Dundee gets his hands on Cornette, he gives him a real pasting too. But it is really building to Dundee getting his hands on Linda. This has probably been the best Street has looked on this set so far, intimate house show environment, heated and stiff work with a little bit of everything thrown into the mix. Dundee was fantastic as the fired up babyface here.

 

 

This was so much better than it had any right to be.

 

***3/4

 

Absolutely FANTASTIC footage to close out the disc with Lawler beating Bock for the world title and Bockwinkel just freaking out and ranting. Brilliant performance from Bock where he mixes in poor loser, poor sportsmanship, smug intellectual superiority complex, anti-Southern classism and all round dickishness. How awesome is Bockwinkel! Love how much he's whining about a small technicality, he's a brilliant heel.

 

Some of the other extras are great too, but that rant from Bock is the pick of them.

[JerryvonKramer]

Housekeeping

 

Memphis d3

 

****1/2

Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (10/25/82)

 

****

Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (No DQ) (11/8/82)

Ronnie Garvin vs. Lanny Poffo (ICW 1982/83)

 

***3/4

New York Dolls vs. Steve Regal & Spike Huber (10/4/82)

Bill Dundee vs. Adrian Street, Miss Linda & Jim Cornette (Lumberjack Strap Match) (2/6/83)

Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (10/18/82)

 

***1/2

Ronnie Garvin vs. Randy Savage (Cage Match) (ICW 1982/83)

 

 

***

Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Jacques Rougeau & Terry Taylor (1/1/83)

Bill Dundee & Bobby Fulton vs. Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar (11/15/82)

 

**1/2

Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Dutch Mantell & Terry Taylor vs. Bobby Eaton, Sweet Brown Sugar, Rick McGraw & Sabu (12/4/82)

 

**

Fabulous Ones vs. The New York Dolls (2/3 Falls) (11/13/82)

Bill Dundee & Jerry Lawler vs. Adrian Street & Apocalypse (11/27/82)

 

DUD

Jackie Fargo vs. Jimmy Hart (11/8/82)

[JerryvonKramer]

New Japan 4.1

Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan (12/9/82)

 

We saw a few Hogan vs. Andre matches on Titans and they were very disappointing. Let's see how this compares. Should be interesting, Hogan is babyface here I believe since Andre was pure heel. I kinda wish he'd have been heel for his whole career, he was so good at it.

 

Andre is very dominant and works a ground game. Crowd pops huge for a clothesline on Hogan's comeback. But we end with an all too predictable count out. It was interesting to see Andre as kind of the "ring general" in the match, and this was better than their WWF matches, but not by much.

 

After the match, Hogan slams Andre which he had done at least 100 times before. He also juices. Post-match we get a fiesty brawl.

 

**

 

New Japan 4.2

Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (1/6/83)

 

On the one hand, I am thrilled with Kobayashi's Elvis hair, on the other I'm very disappointed by the lack of red pants. Naturally, I am not thrilled to be seeing another Tiger Mask match, even if this has been one of his better opponents so far. Thinking about it, in terms of his general look, he has a passing resemblance to Kenta Kobashi.

 

Opening exchanges are really cool here. Kobayashi's leg sweep is awesome. As a general observation, I think the New Japan crowds are more chirpy than the All Japan crowds of this period. More chanting and stuff.

 

This was a great match, fast-paced, well-executed, great action, exciting, told a good story, there is absolutely nothing not to like here and I think this is one of the very best matches on this set to this point. Better than the Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid match from 1/28/82. This would likely make my top 100 matches of all time based on the rating I'm about to drop. If you haven't seen this one, recommendation to go out of your way to seek it out.

 

****3/4

 

New Japan 4.3

Gran Hamada, Kantaro Hoshino & Tiger Mask vs. Missionaries De La Muerte (1/14/83)

 

I am not that familiar with MDM or Hoshino. Hamada has cropped up in a number of different settings and has never looked more nor less than "solid" to my eyes.

 

There were a lot of things I did not care for here: the miscommunication spots from the MDM were egregious, excessive and altogether over done. Just way too much of that. To make things worse, Tiger Mask was at his most choreographed-looking here, which compound those Lucha trios elements of which I'll never be a fan.

 

On the plus side, all of the MDM's offense, when they were hitting their opponents as opposed to each other, looked kick ass and was well executed. But I actively didn't enjoy this.

 

*

 

New Japan 4.4

Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Gran Hamada (2/10/83)

 

This was worked a million miles an hour and I've been digging the hell out of Kobayashi, he's been a revelation to me on this set. For some reason, everything Tiger Mask does looks more swank when he's around. Business really picks up when they try to rip off the mask. This had great action and was super heated for what it was.

 

***1/2

 

New Japan 4.5

Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura vs. Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr. (3/4/83)

 

Inoki in the match = anticipation -10

 

Bob Orton Jr in the match = anticipation +10

 

So we are batting a 0.0 average going into this one. Adonis has probably gained about 50-60lbs since we saw him on Titans in 1982 working for WWF.

 

In practice, this worked out absolutely perfectly. As in, if I had booked this match, I would have wanted it worked EXACTLY like this. Namely: a southern tag with Kimura as FIP absolutely getting his ass kicked by Adonis and Orton busting out their state of the art offense as Inoki gets increasingly pissed off in the corner. When it is time for Inoki, the heels and Adonis in particular bump like madmen for him, making him look appropriately like a super man. But this is all about the heels on offense. I absolutely LOVED it. Wicked finish too.

 

****1/2

 

New Japan 4.6

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/3/83)

 

I believe this is the first time I'm seeing Choshu on this set.

 

They start out on the mat for an extended portion but it is worked at a pretty fast tick and the crowd is just mental. It's a real cliche to say it but you just know when Riki Choshu is in the building. I thought this had a lot of energy, the matwork wasn't brilliant but it did have a certain intensity. I enjoyed the escalation of violence here and the finish was hot. Hopefully a good omen for things to come from this feud. Choshu's crew with Saito there just look bad ass as all fuckery too.

 

***3/4

 

New Japan 4.7

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/21/83)

 

Here we go again, have had one tremendous match from these two and a bunch of more disappointing stuff. I believe this is actually the "famous" match that was pimped for so many years. And one of the very first that got the Dave Meltzer five-star rating.

 

Honestly, I thought the work in this match was fantastic. They cut a frantic pace, hatred, violence, intensity, spots galore, and all in all I did not feel it's running time. Tremendous match up and at least as good as 1/28/82. Yes, it tends towards spotiness and may not have the best psychology ever, but my view is that that is more than compensated for by the levels of intensity on display. And both guys really really work their arses off. I rate this on about the same level as my favourite Steiners tags.

 

****1/2

[Dylan Waco]

God damn you, I really don't want to have to watch that awful DK v. TM match again.

[goc]

God damn you, I really don't want to have to watch that awful DK v. TM match again.

Consider it your penance for forcing the rest of us to watch a stupidly long Buck Zumhofe/Steve Regal match.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'd go back and watch the Kobayashi match instead, blow away good I thought and best Tiger Mask match I've seen.

[Matt D]

I do intend to get the NJPW set at some point, but mainly for the Choshu's army stuff.

[JerryvonKramer]

On TM vs.DK my main issue was disjointedness, especially with the stops and restarts. But I thought the work was strong enough to paper over structural issues.

[JerryvonKramer]

New Japan 4.8

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/21/83)

 

General NJPW style grappling and struggle in the early going that never really gives way to the all out war I want to see. There's a lot of jockeying for position over holds which I can see some people loving. All too Inoki-ish for me, and not typically the sort of thing that gets me excited.

 

They do eventually start trading suplexes, but Choshu always wants to go back to that Scorpion. If you are someone who likes the idea of a single move being put over as deadly, this is one for you because much of the first fifteen minutes concerns the battle over the scorpion. The suplexes are not ends in themselves but rather moves towards applying or escaping the scorpion -- and if you are someone who plays chess, you can see that idea of executing a move that gets one closer to achieving a wider goal. It is cool to see how things escalate as part of that narrative -- and there's a very coherent one being told -- I'm just not entirely convinced that it's all that compelling. Generally I'm a bigger fan of limb psychology than move psychology. Fujinami does have his leg taped up here, but the storyline is centred on the scorpion, not the injured leg. I mean there are lots of other narratives available too, but this one is low down my list of stuff I find interesting. Disappointing finish to boot. Even if it does show Choshu getting frustrated and opting for a cheap way out.

 

Choshu does show a lot of viciousness in his pursuit of Fujinami, who gives us a decent babyface performance himself, but so far this is a style that hasn't resonated with me like the AJ 85-86 stuff. Can see this being more of interest to guys who gravitate towards the shoot stuff and the general concept of "struggle". The matwork is simple and painted with broad brush strokes, not intricate, it's all about buying into the chess narrative I outlined above. So definitely watch if that sounds like it would be your thing.

 

***3/4

 

New Japan 4.9

Akira Maeda vs. Killer Khan (5/17/83)

 

I recently saw Meada take on George Steele about a year after this, so interesting to see him here against another crazed opponent, albeit a much better wrestler.

 

Khan really gets to go through the gears here, which is something I love to see a heel do -- basically he runs through pretty much every move in his repertoire but can't put Maeda away and gets more and more exasperated. I was talking about compelling narratives, this one is always an entertaining one. Sometimes the old ways are the best.

 

I got nothing from Maeda to be honest, he was bland. Gritty but bland. But Khan gave a perfectly acceptable performance here. Good for what it was.

 

***

 

New Japan 4.10

Hulk Hogan vs. Antonio Inoki (IWGP League Final) (6/2/83)

 

Quite the all-star matchup here and talk about a big atmosphere. As this starts, I can tell this is going to be an Inoki match rather than a Hogan match which is probably bad news because it entails lying on the mat for god knows how long.

 

Still, it's interesting to see Hogan work a match like this. He's a guy you'd associate more with being in the hold than working a hold himself. The crowd is absolutely mental, which helps emphasise the importance of the attritional exchanges.

 

This gets bogged down in far too much Inoki boringness for me. I mean you've got that huge and hot crowd, you've got Hulk fucking Hogan there and, yeah, let's sit in a leglock for twenty fucking minutes. Couldn't hate him more.

 

Hogan does do his best to generate interest out of this, but it is sapped by that void of excitement that is Inoki. Hogan does some great character stuff towards the end, milking the near falls, showing shock to the crowd, and generally doing stuff to engage us. Inoki, on the other hand, seems to have zero interest in doing anything but lay there. Probably my least favourite worker in terms of the positions he was in and the performances he gave.

 

Eventually Hogan hits a suplex and drops the big leg. But this isn't WWF in 1986 so Inoki kicks out, and then hits a drop kick. Back in for a back suplex by Hogan. Dumps Inoki and plays King of the Mountain -- he learned that from Nick Bockwinkel. Crowd is white white white hot. And it's a count out as Inoki seems to be cold knocked out from the fall. Young boys and paramedics attend to him.

 

I'd take Hogan over Inoki any day of the week and twice on Sundays, and a match like this ably demonstrates why. Big-chinned twat. Pretty good performance from Hogan and he made it a watchable match despite the aforementioned boring bastard. Genuinely hope he never gets up from the KO. Even watching him get treatment for the concussion is boring, the post-match angle goes on forever, like legit twenty minute of Inoki out cold. His performance in this match was far far below the magnitude of the occasion. This must have put Hogan over HUGE in Japan.

 

**1/2

 

New Japan 4.11

Dick Murdoch vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/7/83)

 

I've probably seen enough Abby to last me a lifetime, but at least we know what we're going to get from him, so the microscope will be on what Murdoch can make out of that here. Here's my all-purpose Abby diagram in case you missed it:

 

 

Murdoch is bleeding soon enough. There is a legitimate holy shit moment where Murdoch goes for a brainbuster and Abby's head slips from his arm as it is about to hit the mat. Wow, could have been a dead Abby there. One for the botchemania reels.

 

After watching so many Terry Funk vs. Abby matches, I felt this was disappointing and lacked the energy and sense of danger that a lot of their encounters have as par-for-the-course. Also less bloody and exciting than those matches. Dory has a couple of singles matches with him that are better than this too.

 

I was expecting this to be better than it was. Putting it on Murdoch.

 

**

 

New Japan 4.12

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (7/7/83)

 

Fujinami comes out fighting here, and is clearly the aggressor going into the match, which makes sense given how the last one ended. He controls for portions with the figure four, which is a neat parallel to the last match where Choshu controlled with the scorpion.

 

Fujinami targets the left leg, but I thought there was a great sense of Choshu working hard to counter and cut off momentum here. Maybe it is more compelling for whatever reason, when Fujinami is the guy leading the action and Choshu is selling / reacting. Certainly it has been that was for me so far when compared with 4/21. Choshu gives more moments of explodion when countering.

 

As I say that Choshu takes over and works a very boring hammerlockto a very boring headscissors as if to demonstrate the point. Fujinami tries to come back with a surf board,b up Choshu shows a lot of urgency in fighting to get away from that. I do think he's better reacting to rather than controlling the action.

 

Several nice Greg Valentine-ish elbow drops from him now. Into a headlock. Fujinami back with a dropkick, but Choshu drops him with a lariat which gives him an in for the scorpion. I liked how quickly he went for that scorpion after the lariat, it had a hint of desperation around it, and got over the opportunism of it all. Fujinami manages to get off a superplex as part of a comeback but Choshu levels him with a back suplex. But then Fujinami comes back with his own lariat and applies the scorpion himself, crowd lifts the actual roof off. Nice symmetry to that whole sequence with Fujinami not only putting on Choshu's move but also hitting the set up we'd just seen from him.

 

Bell goes and a big old scrap breaks out with young boys and NJ guys fighting with an enraged Kimura raising Cain as Fujinami won't let go of the scorpion as if he were Bret Hart in the mid-90s.

 

This was easily my favourite match between these two. Twenty minutes, great storytelling, not too much time on the mat, and what they did do on there was mainly driving a central narrative, good action, good heat, and a very cool finish that would sadly lead to endless iterations of Chris Benoit doing ankle locks on Kurt Angle or Kurt Angle doing crippler cross faces on Chris Benoit years down the line. But here, it didn't feel at all contrived and was great pay pack for what we saw in 4/21, very cool. I don't know which of their matches is most famous, but I feel it should probably be this one.

 

****1/2

[JerryvonKramer]

Housekeeping

 

New Japan d4

 

****3/4

Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (1/6/83)

 

****1/2

Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura vs. Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr. (3/4/83)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (7/7/83)

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/21/83)

 

***3/4

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/21/83)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/3/83)

 

***1/2

Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Gran Hamada (2/10/83)

 

***

Akira Maeda vs. Killer Khan (5/17/83)

 

**1/2

Hulk Hogan vs. Antonio Inoki (6/2/83)

 

**

Dick Murdoch vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/7/83)

 

*

Gran Hamada, Kantaro Hoshino & Tiger Mask vs. Missionaries De La Muerte (1/14/83)

[JerryvonKramer]

Mid-South 4.1

Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (4/28/85)

 

Flair looks like the ultimate world champion in 1985, before the match has even started. His robe, aura, way he carries himself, don't think it's ever been equaled and I'd include Bock in that statement. Flair at this moment in time is the picture of what a champion should be.

 

The women in the crowd basically wet themselves when Kerry takes his top off. Fair play, he did have a picture perfect body. Definitely someone getting laid tonight, no matter which locker room they ended up at ... So that's either two minutes with Kerry before he passes out or all night long on space mountain.

 

Flair controls a lot of the early going. He's not giving Kerry his formula big man match. Kerry was a perfectly effective babyface in the mid-80s who could bump and sell. Tonight Flair is cutting him off a lot on his comebacks and hope spots. He even connects a forearm from the top rather than taking the slam. Let it not be said that Ric never hit that!

 

Kerry gets in the figure four and I swear he loudly just calls a spot and tells Ric to reverse it. Bizarre! If so, one of the loudest called spots I've ever seen. I can't think from a kayfabe standpoint what else he might have been saying, he gestures for the reversal! Flair sells the leg like a champ during this next offensive stretch. Knee drop. Butterfly suplex. Snapmare. Okay, now he gets slammed off the top. Flair flip. Comes off the top and lands the forearm again. Twice in one match, ha ha. But doesn't connect it well and both men groggy. 20 minutes gone.

 

Figure four by Flair now. Kerry wild in his selling. Crowd gets going. Reverses it. Quick break from Ric. Flair chop sends Kerry down. Knee lift. Shoulder charge. Gorilla press by Kerry. Sleeper. Ref goes down. Kerry hits a cross body. Counters a suplex attempt with a sleeper, and Flair drops him on the top rope. Elbow drop by Ric. Flair covers and gets the three count with Kerry's leg blatantly on the bottom rope. Poor refereeing there.

 

Solid 27-minute match that never really tears the house down.

 

***1/2

 

Mid-South 4.2

Rock N Roll Express vs. Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death (5/3/85)

 

I'm hoping we get to see my boy Ted go through all the gears on Morton in this one. Let's see.

 

As we settle into the FIP, big back suplex by Williams. Some nasty shots by Williams. Ted in. Here we go. Backbreaker. Cover gets two. Knee drops. Bodyslam. Boston crab. Three moves in a row targeting the back. Psychology you see. Doc back in. Bear hug. Drops him. Back to the bear hug. Ted in. Big boot. Puts his head down allowing Morton in for an inside cradle. That's called a hope spot.

 

You can't really go wrong with two good heels working over Morton can you?

 

Hot tag comes to Gibson and he cleans house. Double flying body presses. Drop kicks by Gibson. Double dropkick on Ted. Gibson has Doc pinned as the ref is tied up with Ted and Morton. DiBiase gets the glove out and socks Gibson with it. Yeah, take that jobber! 1, 2, 3. And they win the belts.

 

Really fun match made by the FIP sequence. I mean it's a Rock n Rolls match against DiBiase and Williams, you can't go wrong really. A bit short I guess.

 

***3/4

 

Mid-South 4.3

Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85)

 

This is from Houston with Paul Boesch on commentary. We've got to know him well on NWA Classics. This one seems like it is going to go long, somehow has long match written all over it. I've yet to be convinced by Taylor so let's see how he does against my boy here.

 

Ten minutes gone and not a lot has happened so far.

 

Second ten minutes, more action, back and forth chops. Big butterfly from Flair. Takes it outside. Posts him.

 

Third ten minutes. Taylor has Flair in a sleeper and I'm the one losing consciousness around the thirty minute mark. This has been a snoozefest. Taylor hits a suplex. Flair dumps him.

 

Ric, when is business going to pick up? Please! Side headlock takeover by him now. Backslide. Flair chop. Slammed off the top. Taylor misses a fist drop and hurts his hand on the canvas. Flying cross body by Taylor. Flair flip. Bails to the outside. One thing people don't talk about enough with the Flair flip is how many options it gives Ric. This match is boring the shit out of me so let me go into those options:

 

Option 1: run over to the next turnbuckle for another move from top (which can connect or he can be slammed off)

 

Option 2: run on the apron and drop down to outside and bail.

 

Option 3: just the big bump over the turnbuckle to the outside

 

Option 4: eat a clothesline running across apron

 

It's not just a spot that pops the crowd, it's one that presents options for him as a worker and which gives you a lot of neat transitions. People talk about a "deeper appreciation" of the art form. Let me tell you that it's not quibbling over what workrate means, or any other pseudo-intellectual bollocks, it's THIS.

 

Anyway, rant over. Similar finish to the Kerry match where Taylor had his leg on the rope but Flair gets the pin. This is one of the most tedious Flair matches in existence. Not at all recommended.

 

**

 

Going to do something else for a bit, get the taste of this one out of the mouth.

[Tim Cooke]

Wait for the RnR vs. DWB from 5/11/85.

 

Most under talked about match ever.