[1980-02-13-Joint Promotions] Jim Breaks vs Young David

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[SAMS]

1980-02-13
Joint Promotions
Jim Breaks vs Young David
Southend, Essex, United Kingdom
★★★★

This is the third in a series of matches between the two with Young David (a 17 year old Davey Boy Smith) grabbing a surprise win over the veteran in at least one of the previous two. Coming into WoS pretty blind, this was the one matchup that I was aware of and I was eagerly anticipating it. This is my first look at Breaks, who has the highest of reputations, and a glimpse at an incredibly young British Bulldog.
This began as a slow burn with things on a gentle simmer for the first two rounds. It was roughly even between the two but maybe with the edge to Breaks, but the pressure began to build and build as Breaks increasingly started working David’s ankle. While that ankle work never resulted in a submission or fall, he managed to wear David down. David managed a phantom fall following a press slam (the referee counted to 3 but Breaks’ leg was under the ropes and the call was overturned by the MC) and this gave Breaks more motivation to torment the upstart and he switched his approach and relentlessly started to target the arm instead.
Over the next few rounds Breaks continued this strategy, continued to build the tension, and just ground David into literal submission. In the penultimate round he got what he was looking for and David was forced to give in, the damage to his arm just too much to resist any further. With only one round remaining David required a knockout decision for the victory, but instead of going for that killer blow he lulled Breaks into a false sense of security, feigning an injury long enough to lure him in close before rolling him up for the tying fall and the moral victory.
This didn’t have the all-round top tier technical work from a Grey vs Saint match, but I would point to this as a tour de force performance from Breaks honestly. I don’t want to take much away from David, but clearly Breaks was the driving force behind the match and David was along for the ride. However, credit where credit is due, he had the talent and ability to be carried to a great match, not just a good match, which can’t be said for just anybody.
Breaks was such a force of nature and personality. Breaks is such a force of nature and personality. It really was something to see him weave comedy, the back and forth with the crowd, the berating of Smith while he’s in holds, with the actual wrestling. It never felt like he was doing it for the sake of a laugh or purely for his character, but it had a purpose. He was doing it to gain the upper hand. It served the purpose of winning the match. That’s something I’ve rarely seen, even from the best and it really stood out here.
I’m unwilling to go too far in overrating this match too much given how little of WoS I’ve seen so far, but I can’t praise Breaks highly enough and if Smith was a bit more seasoned I could have seen this as a real classic. Thoroughly entertaining throughout.

[tcg91]

Man, Davey Boy was so slim and athletic... it's so sad. This was really good, Breaks is a great heel (the other JP matches I have seen so far had no real heels, so this is refreshing) and keeps messing with the crowd, using all the dirty tactics he knows and always cheap shotting David at the end of each round, until David finally fires back for a great pop from the crowd. What stops this match from being an all time great is how long it takes them to get the focus on David's arm, but when they do it's great stuff because he sells it well and also wears some bandage to get more drama. We get a nice non-decisive finish, as David finally gets a pinfall but he just gets a draw and so the title doesn't change hands
***3/4