Larry Zbyszko

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Grimmas]

I need recommendations outside of his AWA stuff. His AWA stuff, to me, is all-time great level. I need more.

[soup23]

Would definitely check out the match he had vs. Sting in March 1991. Cuts a great pace and makes Sting look awesome.

The Regal 1994 series speaks for itself. Four matches, all different. All are very good.

[PeteF3]

Zbyszko vs. Saito from the interpromotional Tokyo Dome show is another good one, and another different style of match--Larry working a Japanese-style quasi-epic.

[Lee Casebolt]

The Enforcers run with Arn Anderson. Larry more than holds his own in the "He's just a man!" match from Clash 17.

[JerryvonKramer]

Any Titans of Wrestling show on WWF in 1980 features a lot of praise for Larry Z performances. Although the feud with Bruno (one of the all-time GREAT feuds anywhere ever) is driven by promos, Larry's heel performances in the matches, his character work especially, is just great. You are watching someone elevate themselves from midcarder to main eventer.

[Timbo Slice]

I like Zbysko and he has enough top-end stuff to be considered for my list. He'd be at the bottom of it, but I think he'll be there in the end.

[Grimmas]

I like Zbysko and he has enough top-end stuff to be considered for my list. He'd be at the bottom of it, but I think he'll be there in the end.

 

His top end stuff is pretty great. The Bockwinkel matches were near the top for the AWA set for me. That Enforcers tag from WCW is one of the best of the 90's.

[BillThompson]

A no for me, I've never been that impressed with Larry. I would gladly change my mind if his AWA stuff wowed me, but his work in WCW never made me think best of all time.

[Coffey]

I'm warming up to Larry Zbyszko the more stuff I watch. Just saw his Bruno stuff & the cage match (low quality, kinda clipped on YouTube) and I'm going back to watch some AWA stuff. Great freakin' promo, man. I had no idea...

 

Looking forward to watching more of his stuff.

 

Next to The Destroyer, Zbyszko has been my biggest surprise so far.

[Grimmas]

Here is the link to the podcast on Larry:

 

http://placetobenation.com/pro-wrestling-super-show-the-wrestler-snapshot-13-on-larry-zbyszko/

[goodhelmet]

His early WWF stuff is a net positive evem.when he isn't working Bruno. His AWA run was solid with some standout performances. I loved the early WCW run with the Dangerous Alliance. Then again, that is one of my favorite eras in wrestling from any company. His Regal feud is one of the best Tv feuds of the 90s. He won't be high on the list but he will be on it for sure.

[goc]

It's Georgia TV so Larry didn't really wrestle anyone but jobbers but I watched the first few months of 1983 Georgia a few months ago and he really stood out.

 

When you watch something like Georgia TV you really start to appreciate the guys who make their squash matches interesting. Larry always did, between his interactions with the referee, the crowd, or just busting out some move you really didn't expect. I noticed the same thing with him in dying days AWA. Maybe one of the best squash match workers of all time.

 

For some people I guess that would mean absolutely nothing but to me it's pretty damn important considering how frequent squashes were back in those days.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'd agree with that goc, and it's a little bump in Ivan Koloff's case too.

[Jimmy Redman]

I've decided that I need to get serious about checking out names with which I am unfamiliar. So I've started with the first thread up that that applies to. That's not to say that I had never seen a Larry Z match before, for example, but a concentrated viewing helps me to form a picture of whether I will rank them, should consider them, or can jettison them.

 

What I really like about Larry is how great he is at playing his character. As a heel there's nothing particularly cartoonish or evil about him. He's just an asshole. A pure-bred, unadulterated, obnoxious asshole. The kind you can come across every day in life. The kind of asshole that cuts you off on the road, the kind that is rude to everyone and willing to kick off with anyone. The kind of twat that nobody likes, that everyone wishes would just get the shit kicked out of him. In wrestling terms this means a guy who will take every shortcut available, use every underhanded method, take the easy way out every time...and never apologise or even look ashamed when he does. He does what he wants because fuck you. He's an asshole.

 

To further this point, he's great at building frustration, at cultivating that feeling in an audience, the feeling of just wanting this guy to get the shitkicking he so richly deserves. The King of the Mountain stuff he does is really effective for that (as it is for Bock and anyone else who uses the tactic to great effect). The way he runs out and around the ring, using the space for distance when things get the slightest bit tough...I love it.

 

His character is what makes the turn on Bock so great. I may be reading way into footage that I haven't seen, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears to me like there wasn't really a build up to it. Larry just kind of snapped in the heat of the moment. And it fit perfectly, because it wasn't a turn for shock value or slowly built to logically or whatever. It was a brain explosion. The minute that Bock tried to hold back Larry, tried to stop him from doing whatever the fuck he wanted, Larry snapped and beat the shit out of him, because fuck you! He's an asshole. Tag team partner or not, nobody gets in his way.

 

I really like the Regal TV match as well, I may need some more recs from that early 90s time period. But Larry is definitely a guy that I'm open to.

[Badlittlekitten]

Redman is spot on about Larry's character. One of those gobby, grotesque, sniveling little shitbags that talks like he's the toughest kid in school but runs home and escapes a beating. He's totally selfless with his work, lacking any kind of cool, a surprisingly rare trait for heel performers. He often reminds me of Tully although I think Zbyszko has the edge on him in that side of the game. I like how he is constantly vocal in the ring especially the 'oww!'s and 'ahh!'s he blurts out during a battering. I'll need to watch some more of his big matches but I'm certain he'll make my bottom twenty. One of those guys that's fun to watch in any and every situation.

[Timbo Slice]

I forgot to update this list after we did the Larry Z show a few months back on the PWSS. Yeah, Larry seems like a lock for my list now, just because he had such high end stuff. He doesn't have more than a lot of the other guys on this list as far as quantity goes, but when he was on, there were few heels better, if any. And his fiery babyface stuff against Regal is absolutely top notch. I'm gonna have him on there without a doubt.

[Matt D]

For anyone on the fence, Dotdokins just posted two Larry matches, one vs Martel (and the video length is around 30 so who knows) and one vs Steve O that seems to go closer to 15.

[JerryvonKramer]

Did we watch the Martel one before?

[Matt D]

New to me, probably not to Khawk. I might try to watch it in eight hours of so.

[JerryvonKramer]

Looks like it didn't make the set but was considered.

[Reel]

Larry rules, and I think his reputation, at least generally, that he's some stalling Memphis heel to the Nth degree, is mostly bullshit and makes people write him off. He is good in 1970s WWWF, he has a good match with that sack of flour Stan Stasiak in 77, he's good in his tags with Garea after that, good in squashes with the likes of Rodz and Rivera, and the the Bruno feud is godhead. 

His Georgia stuff has some praise in this thread, which I haven't seen, but I'm sure it is at least good. He has the Bockwinkel feud, the stuff with Saito, good matches with Slaughter. The WCW run has standout stuff pre and post Dangerous Alliance, the Regal stuff of course, and even when he comes off the golf course to wrestle Scott Hall in 1997, he's still good.

Criminally underrated in my view. 

[MichaelZ]

I always had a soft spot for Larry. All time great vocal seller and trash talker and a master at heating up feuds and getting the crowd worked up. His team with Arn is one of my favorite short-term teams. 

[El Dragon]

Larry was a defensive highlight of the AWA set and I enjoyed every second I had with him there. The last Bock match was pitch perfect, one of the best performances around. My working assumption is Larry Z makes my list somewhere in the 50-75 range, just have to see it be proven elsewhere.

[Tetsujin]

Another relatively new wrestler to me I wanna focus on. I love the tag match with AA against Dustin and Steamboat and the first Bruno match from 1980, but for some reason I've never considered to dive deep into Larry Z's work before. I'll start by checking the Bockwinkel matches, more of his Enforcers run, the Sting match and the Regal series. For what I've seen, he has the potential to be one of the greatest chicken shit heels ever.