Jack Brisco

[shoe]

I've made a start.

 

My initial impressions are that Brisco is SAFELY in contention for "best wrestler of the 70s". He's silky smooth, very athletic, great high dropkicks, deep armdrags, fastest figure-four ever, big bumps, terrific at selling, good fire, good timing, great connection with the crowd. He just seems to be everything that you'd want a pro wrestler to be.

 

I'd recommend trying to find that Terry Funk match from St. Louis. It is clipped and there's no sound, but you can tell that was a great match.

 

My basic plan from here on out is to alternate between Dory, Brisco and Race in between all the other stuff I'm watching. I am "saving" the Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr series for last as a kind of finale.

These are some of my thoughts on matches that Parv 1st looked at.The clips are interesting to see how Jack works, but again for the most part we're dealing with clips Bobby Shane looked like a fun heel to watch.. I thought the Terry Funk match looked amazing. It makes you sad that one doesn't exist in full. The Flair match looks like they too have a MOTY contender in them. It looked very Steamboat/Flair esque. The Brisco/Irwin t.v match shows how great of around performer he is. We get a taste of him working holds, we see him sell for a bit, and his charisma was on display.

[shoe]

I look at more Jack.

Jack Brisco vs The Gestapo (1978)

This is a showcase match for Jack. His quickness is on display. We get a taste of his mat work. He really comes across as the best in the world.

We get an interesting tag match next.

Jack Brisco vs. Austin Idol (07/06/79)

First up I'll agree with Parv that the talking head is Keirn, but not sure. Secondly, he's wrong about the finish. That was a false finish. The wrestlers kept going afterwards, the ref didn't deliver a 3 count. "Keirn" called it but was wrong. So he blew it or the promotion told him to so to give Idol a big win on t.v.

The match itself was a blast. Idol was a real fun heel with loads of charisma. They can't work a technical masterpiece, but can work a great match none the less. We see some great hair pulling spots by Idol. He gets by with some fun heel tactics.Idol is great at working the crowd here. Jack uses the headlock to keep Idol at bay. He mixes the headlock up with high spots. Now both guys are attempting their Figure 4's and various spots to work the leg. The crowd totally eats the match up. We build to the finish that isn't really a finish .Brisco gives Idol an outside in belly to back suplex while Idol hits him with a foreign object that Parv and Keirn thought was the finish. I'll go 3 1/2*. This is a perfect example of Brisco looking like Steamboat when it came to working a match. Parv I thought you'd give Idol more credit for engaging the crowd.

[shoe]

Major batch of Brisco today, and I don't see how there are 20 better workers than Jack Brisco.

 

I'd like to see someone make a case that there have been twenty better guys than him, because right now, less than half way through my viewing of him, he's looking like a lock for the top 20, maybe even top 15.

 

Guy has absolutely everything: fire, charisma, intensity, workrate, selling, bumping, great punches, great execution, great psychology, great crowd control. The guy is just the total package. The real deal.

 

I'd be interested to know what other people think of Brisco. I surely can't be alone in thinking he was just phenomenal.

I viewed some of what Parv watched.

 

I looked at these matches a few hours ago.

Jack Brisco and Paul Jones vs. Buddy Colt and Johnny Valentine (06/05/73

It was a fun clip, but you don't get a lot out of it.

Jack Brisco vs. Killer Khan (1979??)

Here Jack gets a nice win in the studio. The match told a story and made perfect sense.

Jack Brisco and Jimmy Garvin vs. Mike Fever and Gerald Finley (1980)

This was interesting. Finley looked good, I wonder if he ever got an opportunity anywhere.

Jack Brisco vs Mike Hammer (1980?)

The commentary here is pretty great. Another squash.

Jack Brisco and Jimmy Garvin vs Frank Monte and Geoff Portz (1980)

Kind of funny seeing Garvin in the protege roll. I guess it's Garvin's amateur background.

Jack Brisco vs. Buzz Sawyer (1981)

I liked this a little more than Parv. I dug the quickness and opening shine of Jack getting the best of Buzz. You Jack lock on a Figure 4 arm bar. Then he would do a roll with it. I'm a mark for that move. Sawyer works the arm for a bit. It's not as fun as Jack's but it pushes the story forward. The finish was pretty great, and gets over Jack as like a pinning master. 2 1/2*. Clearly these guys have a great match in them.

We get some more clips, and a squash.

Jack Brisco vs Sweet Brown Sugar (1984?)

This was a fun little match. Sweet Brown Sugar is Skip Young. Parv covers the match pretty good. Brisco clearly was working heel. He kinda had a stare of an assassin. I thought it cheapened Brisco a bit that he needed the Spoiler to help him get control of the match. Brisco did work a bit more rugged here as a heel. 2 3/4 *.

Jack Brisco vs Brad Armstrong (1984?)

This went maybe 4 minutes but it's a great 4 minutes. It looks like Brad is selling a neck injury. I loved how he showed up Jack with 2 Fireman Carry Takeovers. Armstrong controls with a headlock and we see him deliver a great drop kick. Jack goes after Brad's injury. The leg drop on the neck was great. The mean streak Jack shows here was great. Not enough to rate. Damn good stuff though.

Some thoughts here as we see Jack in the 80's. He's lost a step, but clearly has a great psychology and is fun in his heel role.It's cool listening to announcers always referring to him as a former NWA World Champion. It really gave him a special aura.

[shoe]

I got through Jack's matches in Japan in his prime. It's in the microscope. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/19164-jack-brisco/?p=5640050

The Brody match is post prime. I really wish we had more prime Brisco on tape. I have one Funk Jr match in his prime from Florida to look at. Between the complete matches and highlights he looks like an incredible worker. He doesn't have a long career, and doesn't have that long of a prime. Even the complete matches from Japan, and the Florida Dory; he has only 4 opponents in the 7 matches. So the pool is shallow when getting a feel of what he can do with a mediocre or bad wrestler. Jumbo,Dory,and Baba will all get a vote or get lots of votes. Bobo Brazil is the only poor wrestler he faced in complete matches. I'll be looking at his post prime and tag work in the next few weeks.I've seen most of it, but will revisit it for clarity. Every fiber in my body wants to vote him high in this poll. I'm just not sure their is enough variety out there. He will be on my list though. He truly is a stud.

[Matt D]

1. How much Jack and Jerry teaming do we have? I've seen the well regarded match vs Adonis/Murdoch.

2. How much Jerry do we have in general and how is he generally thought of?

[shoe]

I'm not sure about Jerry. The Briscos have 3 tags against Adonis/Murdoch on tape. One of them is a handheld. The matches with Steamboat/Youngblood are 3. Starcade and 2 studio bouts,Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Stan Hansen/Ole Anderson ,Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Road Warriors (Texas Tornado Match) , Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Johnny Weaver/Bob Orton, Jr.,Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Jimmy Valiant/Bob Orton, Jr,and some matches with the Funks I'm not sure how complete. Their are squashes, and some highlights of marquee matches.

[JerryvonKramer]

I have three discs of Brisco brothers, but there'll be a lot of clips I'm assuming. This will be the same assortment of Florida TV, Mid-Atlantic, GCW etc. as we've been watching with the singles stuff + the WWF run.

 

I will be reviewing all of these tag matches before the final denouement of getting to the Dory vs. Brisco series. Although Pete tried to steal my thunder, I'm maintaining that as the final end point of my Jack and Dory watching.

[shoe]

I wanted to knock out all of his matches in his prime at once. I'm going to be looking at his post prime and tag work in the next week or 2. Then moving onto Billy Robinson or The Destroyer.I was afraid of waiting in case Dory put you to sleep .

[shoe]

I just went through Brisco's post prime matches in the Microscope. He still was pretty damn good. He knows how to work a leg or arm and make it really interesting. He might not be as athletically gifted as he once was but he still has plenty in the tank, and his storytelling is still damn good.

[JerryvonKramer]

Two thirds of the way through Jack and Jerry on tape now, (see here). And one match at ****1/2 which I thought was awesome vs. Jimmy Valiant and Bob Orton Jr from 12/6/83. It has Japanese commentary but is actually a Crockett match, which I hope will make that set.

 

From what I've seen so far, the Briscos were a very good face team but a GREAT heel one when they can turn up their viciousness, dictate the offense, and be proper dicks in the post-match. I'd put them up against most teams from the 80s truth be told, they have everything: psychology, selling, offense, heat, intensity, innovation. You name it. Jerry is a really good worker too. The sizzle to Jack's steak.

 

This tag stuff has actually helped Jack's case rather than hindered it. They work a tremendous pace. Just as it looked like Jack was slowing down, he becomes a tag worker and picks it right back up again. I also think turning heel gave him a new lease of life. Locking a lock for my Top #25 at the very least at this stage.

 

I'm also starting to think about Jerry as a top 100 guy. I've seen a few very good to great singles matches with him, incuding one vs. Dory Jr., I just wonder what else he has out there. Might be hurt for footage. But he's been great in the tag team, especially after the heel turn.

[Tim Cooke]

Gerald's tag w Patterson in May 1999 against Mean Street Posse is a glimpse of the fire and charisma you could assume showed up sometime during his career that may not have made tape.

[goodhelmet]

Two thirds of the way through Jack and Jerry on tape now, (see here). And one match at ****1/2 which I thought was awesome vs. Jimmy Valiant and Bob Orton Jr from 12/6/83. It has Japanese commentary but is actually a Crockett match, which I hope will make that set.

 

My thoughts on the match...

Jack and Jerry Brisco v. Bob Orton Jr. & Jimmy Valiant (6/12/83) (Savannah, GA)

- I don't know if this match will go far but I have really grown to appreciate Bob Orton. He has some nice-looking offense but he is also a bumping machine. His reactions or movements after a generic Brisco move make this match more appealing than it should be. It also helps that Orton works the majority of the match while Valiant provides color and a chance for the crowd to get excited when he gets involved. The ending was anti-climactic with a tag team bodyslam getting the clean pin but the match was interesting enough to move forward.

 

Zellner...

This had the psychology I've been looking for all day and was very fun with everyone being solid in their roles. This moves forward.

 

Shoe...

We start out with a brawl to start. It settles down and we get a normal tag with the Briscos working over Orton double time. The heat they get on Orton is sick. Eventually Valiant gets the hot tag and runs wild. Then he gets cut off and is worked over till he makes a hot tag to Orton. The finish was a little flat. I'll go no. Even if this goes on the viewers will crap all over that finish.

[Parties]

Been enjoying the Brisco that I’ve seen lately. He wasn't even on my radar originally (as I sort of put him in the same realm as Race, but JVK's hype has served as a good reminder. He'll definitely make my list, but where exactly will depend on what I watch.

 

Brisco vs. Black Jack Slade in Australia was awesome: great selling from Jack. Not sure what the year on that one was, but he seemed in his athletic prime here and was a very believable champion. The Big Bad John promo at the end was really good too, to the point that I had to research Big Bad John afterwards as he was someone I'd barely ever heard of. Brisco-Inoki from ’71 was excellent and definitely felt like an instance where Brisco brought an opponent to his level through generous, smart work. Kind of an ideal use of amateur-tinged stuff where you have the suplexes and takedowns as a means toward effective matwork, rather than the other way around. The clips of the ’73 match in Florida with Terry Funk are great, but more an instance of why Terry should be #1. Same deal with the clipped eight minutes of Terry-Jack from St. Louis in ’76. The Muraco match from Mid-Atlantic TV in ’82 is very good wily vet face vs. younger heel stuff, as they focus on taking out Jack’s injured knee, but even in what's supposed to be his prime, Muraco didn't seem like much of an opponent. And as an aside, low-voiced monotone heel Roddy Piper trying to sound Machiavellian on commentary with Caudle is one of my least favorite Roddy Pipers.

[elliott]

I ranked Jack Brisco 48th in 2016 and I feel great about that. Its Jack Brisco . He's highly regarded. No one is going to question seeing him on a list. I can say "Oh I only ranked him 48th because of lack of footage." But I honestly have no opinion of this ranking because I haven't watched a Jack Brisco match in 5 years or even thought about him. Someone I want to refamiliarize myself with because I know I watched a decent amount in the last project and liked it well enough to rank him this high. Would welcome recommendations for brawls especially. If I want to find technical Brisco that will be easy enough. 

[JerryvonKramer]

I seem to remember Brisco being more heelish and brawl-y around 1981 sort of time. There's a Piper match.

[elliott]

Oh good call on that Piper match I remember liking that one. I'll poke around that era more. 

[KinchStalker]

Neither are particularly revelatory, but YouTube recently saw uploads of Jack's 1981 Champion Carnival matches against Baba and Jumbo, albeit both with some clipping. I thought both were minor but enjoyable little nostalgia trips. I don't think that Jumbo's UN title defense against him from soon after made tape, though, which is a real shame.