W2BTD Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 I have no idea how much of this has already been floating around, but Chicago Film Archives just started uploading this stuff on YouTube. Most of the matches are full length, and it features tons of all time greats & HOF'ers. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWXxP_rvXryBPpjIw7Dl9Tg/videos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 This is awesome stuff. Just watched Legs Langevin vs. Pat O'Connor. Some really fun stuff that Parv would hate since they actually wrestled on the mat and worked holds. I was a little bothered that a pretty solid match mixed in some comedy in the last third but not enough to keep me from enjoying it as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 This is awesome stuff. Just watched Legs Langevin vs. Pat O'Connor. Some really fun stuff that Parv would hate since they actually wrestled on the mat and worked holds. I was a little bothered that a pretty solid match mixed in some comedy in the last third but not enough to keep me from enjoying it as a whole. We are doing a podcast on a couple of matches on Sunday. I agree on your assessment that Parv is going to hate the headlocks. We 'll see though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted September 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 The Gagne vs Bastien match is one of my favorite matches of all time, and if Dylan or Rich watch it they'll instantly understand why. My favorite type of match is probably Japanese young lions, either vs each other or against tough veterans, and this match is clearly a template for the latter. I would have to think this is one of the earliest (if not THE earliest) Bastien matches to make tape. It's funny, because he had a match vs Buddy Rose in Portland that was probably one of his last matches to make tape, and I loved that one, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazeUSA Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 sweet find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Threads were set up for all the matches that had dates in the Match Discussion Archive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Decent amount of this stuff has been around for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthedoctor Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 I have no idea how much of this has already been floating around, but Chicago Film Archives just started uploading this stuff on YouTube. Most of the matches are full length, and it features tons of all time greats & HOF'ers. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWXxP_rvXryBPpjIw7Dl9Tg/videos I think the majority of this stuff has been out there for a good 8 or so years alough I didnt recognise the Rogers/Thesz match and as to how much of this stuff is out there I know there are 45 disks worth of footage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Crackers Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Dick the Bruiser & the Lisowski Brothers vs Verne Gagne, Wilbur Snyder & Argentina Rocca (9/14/56) I decided to check this one out because of the lineup and it turned out pretty fun. It's actually a pretty fast paced match considering when it happened. I haven't really seen a tag match from this era before so it was interesting to see the differences between the mechanics of tag matches today and back then. A lot of the action was back and forth and there were a number of heat sections. Those heat sections never really reached the crescendo I expect to see in most tag matches and there were more than you see in most tag matches. The heels did a lot of stooging and it's easy to see the traditions of AWA heel stooging here. Dick the Bruiser took some huge bumps and the Lisowski brothers walked into a number of basic double and triple team attacks. They were constantly doing those little heelish mannerisms; they were pulling hair, tights, and choking. I was surprised to see Gagne lose the first fall clean via submission but he took his win back in the second fall. We didn't get to see much of Wilbur Snyder who I wanted to see after hearing my dad talk about him for years. What we did see looked pretty promising. He had a great exchange with Stan. Snyder put on the short arm scissors in really slick fashion but Lisowski deadlifted out of it which is a classic counter I always like to see. At first I thought it was a weird counter for a heel but Stan turns to the crowd and flexes his muscles afterward and Snyder dropkicks him right over the top rope. I've only seen highlights of Rocca before and his offense was pretty fun here. As a shoot style fan it's fascinating to see him throwing palm strikes and a variety of kicks but the mat stuff he did do was wacky. Lost of bridges and handstands but mixed with flying leg scissors takedowns and other athletic stuff like that. This has got me excited to see more. Verne Gagne vs Red Bastien This was awesome. It's probably the coolest grappling I've seen from the 50s. It's really stiff and even the basic holds look like they're really being wrenched in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Decent amount of this stuff has been around for a while. As far as I know, what was around before was dubbed with Japanese commentary from the Encyclopedia of Pro Wrestling set (which I have). The VQ is nothing like this though, and of course a lot of this has original announcing. There are also quite a few matches uploaded that aren't on that set. --- Also, I really object to this idea that I don't like any matwork or guys working holds. It's just not true. I have many hours of audio reviews of me praising matwork, and a thread on Dory Funk Jr matches in which I've commented on smooth matwork many times. I just 1) don't think Backlund is very interesting on the mat and 2) don't care at all for UWF shoot style and 3) do like a suplex or two. I will not countenance casual swipes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Parv their are just styles that you way prefer to watch than mat work . I also did say let 's see . So I'm willing to let you surprise me a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 In the matches I've seen I've really enjoyed the announcing of Russ Davis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Boricua Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 I'm watching a Wilbur Snyder vs. Angelo Poffo match because I was curious if I could see any similarities between Poffo and his sons. It's interesting because I see some Lanny as the Genius in Angelo's prissy act, but those moments when he gets mad and does a quick punch flurry reminds me of Randy. It's interesting how the rope break works in this match. It's not grabbing the ropes, you have to get part of your body outside of the ring ropes area. And I'm also enjoying Russ Davis on commentary so far. He reminds me of the Balladeer from the Dukes of Hazzard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Russ Davis is suddenly thrust into the discussion of best commentators ever. He's now in my top four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Mr. Davis has proven to be quite polarizing in the initial commentary I've seenacross the boards on this footage. Most of the comments until now have revolved around people wanting to get in a time machine and go back in time to punch him in the face because of his commentary on these gems. It's not like Davis is a new, unheard voice, but it is new that there is a specific body of work everyone is checking out at the same time, which is concentrating the reactions here and elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 To me, it sort of feels like one of those old Goofy cartoons, where he was trying to do sports, and you'd have a narrator commenting after every mishap but mostly silent otherwise. Or those black and white shorts like "So you want to be a...?" Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxnj Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 "Goofy cartoon" is a good way of describing his style. What makes this so interesting to me is to finally get to see greats like Thesz/Gagne/Rogers laying the ground work for the later NWA and AJPW styles by working stiff and serious matches. Davis basically shits all over the tone those guys were going for, though, by calling a mini-war like Gagne/Bastien with the same tone he'd use for a comedy match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 This footage does not feel like I'm watching something from the 1950's. So crisp! The world is a good place sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted September 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Davis casually refers to Bearcat Wright as a "young negro boy". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 I watched Verne vs Bastien and it was tremendous. As Graham (or Crackers?) said above it's a young lion vs veteran match, with plenty of fast paced athletic matwork. The second match I saw was Buddy Rogers vs Haystacks Calhoun. Of all the stuff, that's what I watched, yes. It was what it was (and I didn't expect otherwise) but I don't think I had ever seen Calhoun so I was curious, and I have seen Rogers once that I can recall. Calhoun was a total gimmick you can do only once every few months but he was also a lot more mobile than I expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 I watched Verne vs Bastien and it was tremendous. As Graham (or Crackers?) said above it's a young lion vs veteran match, with plenty of fast paced athletic matwork. The second match I saw was Buddy Rogers vs Haystacks Calhoun. Of all the stuff, that's what I watched, yes. It was what it was (and I didn't expect otherwise) but I don't think I had ever seen Calhoun so I was curious, and I have seen Rogers once that I can recall. Calhoun was a total gimmick you can do only once every few months but he was also a lot more mobile than I expected. Do you think the Rogers/Calhoun match was gimmicked ? We reviewed this match for Titans of Wrestling and we were split 2-2 on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthedoctor Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Decent amount of this stuff has been around for a while. As far as I know, what was around before was dubbed with Japanese commentary from the Encyclopedia of Pro Wrestling set (which I have). The VQ is nothing like this though, and of course a lot of this has original announcing. There are also quite a few matches uploaded that aren't on that set. --- Also, I really object to this idea that I don't like any matwork or guys working holds. It's just not true. I have many hours of audio reviews of me praising matwork, and a thread on Dory Funk Jr matches in which I've commented on smooth matwork many times. I just 1) don't think Backlund is very interesting on the mat and 2) don't care at all for UWF shoot style and 3) do like a suplex or two. I will not countenance casual swipes! Not for me. The set I picked up 8 or so years ago didnt have any Japanese commentary. Cant remember who I bought from but the quality was fantastic for 1950s footage. I could have sworn though I saw similar footage being sold through Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 I watched Verne vs Bastien and it was tremendous. As Graham (or Crackers?) said above it's a young lion vs veteran match, with plenty of fast paced athletic matwork. The second match I saw was Buddy Rogers vs Haystacks Calhoun. Of all the stuff, that's what I watched, yes. It was what it was (and I didn't expect otherwise) but I don't think I had ever seen Calhoun so I was curious, and I have seen Rogers once that I can recall. Calhoun was a total gimmick you can do only once every few months but he was also a lot more mobile than I expected. Do you think the Rogers/Calhoun match was gimmicked ? We reviewed this match for Titans of Wrestling and we were split 2-2 on it. We can't really know unless we start seeing more Calhoun, but the headlock spots (which I liked), the choke, the rope breaking... I'd say it was a patterned gimmick they probably had done quite a few times before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 I think he was referring to the ropes breaking when Calhoun tumbled to the floor, and whether that was gimmicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Just putting this out there ... it may not be a bad idea for someone to cap all of these, if they haven't done so already. I'd hate for them to disappear and be gone forever because no one saved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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