Superstar Mal Sanders, can I learn to love a blue eye?

[ohtani's jacket]

As some of you might know, Mal Sanders is among my least favourite World of Sport workers. It's not really Sanders' fault, it's just really hard to like a genuine blue eye. But with footage drying up and Sanders having so many matches against workers I either like or want to see again, I decided to bite the bullet and get a Mal Sanders comp made. I know, I can hardly believe it either.

 

Welp, without further ado...

 

Mark Rocco vs. Mal Sanders (6/25/80)

This was a stock performance from Rocco. He started off a little subdued and Sanders got the better of him with some flashy counters and a nice dropkick, then started with the rule bending and the inside moves. He gradually increased the tempo and before too long had the crowd behind Sanders. Rocco's peak was in '78, and while I've criticised him a lot in the past, I really do think he was sensational that year. This wasn't bad, though. Sanders was up a fall and doing pretty well when Rocco nailed him with a great looking piledriver. Really a highlight for me on this whole batch of WoS I got in. And that was Mal Sanders done.

Mal Sanders vs. Alan Dennison (11/8/80)

Dennison was a dick in this match. He kept doing his strongman shtick and taking the piss. Even when was supposedly putting Sanders over for scoring a fall, he couldn't help but draw attention to himself.

Mal Sanders vs. King Ben (6/16/82)

This was very good. A really athletic, enjoyable contest. I don't usually find myself enjoying King Ben matches that much, but these two worked well together and got into a nice rhythm.

Mal Sanders vs. Johnny Kidd (2/9/83)

It was Sanders' turn to take the lead here since he was facing someone younger than himself. It wasn't as compelling as watching one of the great heels, but it wasn't bad for a blue eye. Considering how bad these types of matches usually are this was a feather in Sanders' cap.

Mal Sanders vs. Mick McManus (8/2/78)

Sanders made his television debut in November of 1977 and was immediately pushed as a newcomer with tremendous potential. Whoever had the book at this point decided to give him the mother of all pushes by having him beat McManus on television. Only a handful of people ever beat Mick on TV and Sanders doing so earned him a title shot for the European Middleweight Championship, which Mick had held for seven years. This was the title bout complete with flags and everyone rising for the national anthem. It was a pretty good McManus bout but not at the level of his best stuff. The big surprise was that Sanders took the title, but he did it on a disqualification after McManus threw him over the top rope. The crowd didn't seem to mind as they crowded the ring apron, but I thought it was a cheap way for McManus to put Sanders over even if two television losses to the same wrestler was historic. If you want a star to be born, that's not the way to do it. And sure enough, McManus got his win back later that year with a KO victory over Sanders. Despite putting the belt on Sanders, he never really took over and you can tell in his 80s bouts that he hasn't progressed. The booking here certainly didn't help him any. This is what I'm talking about when I say McManus wasn't looked at critically prior to his Hall of Fame induction.

Mal Sanders vs. Dave Bond (3/14/79)

Because Sanders was the lighter man, Bond started this bout with a one fall handicap. It seemed like it was over early in the second round when Sanders appeared to be counted out, but it was just a tease and the ref overturned the result. That fooled me as I thought this was dud footage. The bout continued and it was pretty good though questionable of why Sanders was being put in this position. They gave him the win, but again by DQ to protect Bond's credibility. Bond was amusing here claiming that Sanders was a pipsqueak and that he wanted a bigger man like Haystacks.

Bitching aside, Sanders is faring pretty well so far. I'm not sure I'm ever going to love him, but the bouts have been solid thus far.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Ok, Ill bite, what's a blue eye? Is it just a person with blue eyes?

[Matt D]

I think it's the sort of person Flashman always complains about.

[Graham Crackers]

Ok, Ill bite, what's a blue eye? Is it just a person with blue eyes?

Like a Brit Wres babyface. Finlay's dad explains it in their documentary that most matches have blue eyes facing villains.

[ohtani's jacket]

Sorry, should have been more clear about that. It's the British term for babyface.

[ohtani's jacket]

Brian Maxine vs. Mal Sanders (4/23/79)

 

Turning Maxine face was an ill advised idea. Who wants to see Brian Maxine as a blue eye? Not me says the guy who slowly grew to love him as a heel. The trouble with giving Sanders a title when he was in his early 20s was that the veterans still didn't want to put him over cleanly so he either gets tainted wins or an unfortunate injury as was the case here.

 

Mal Sanders vs. Young David (2/2/81)

 

But then we have this bout where Sanders should have some kind of seniority over Davey Boy Smith but instead is wrestled with total parity. That bothered me a bit as it was another example of what little thought Joint put into their booking. They had this stacked array of talent, but didn't really do anything with it. To be fair, this was part of one of those Davis Cup style team competitions they loved to run so they were going for a draw, but it rubbed me up the wrong way. The match was a typical non-Jim Breaks Young David match. Nothing else he did in England came close to that trilogy.

 

Mal Sanders vs. Keith Haward (3/17/81)

 

These two matched up well, though ultimately Haward ran rough shot over Sanders and Mal kind of came out of the match-up looking second best, but this is the kind of pairing I would have written off without a second thought five years ago. I need to revisit their title match now as this was your classic title shot earner. Haward always blows me away that there was a guy like him in 1981. He's like a pro-type Ken Shamrock. Really something.

 

Mal Sanders vs. Sid Cooper (9/29/81)

 

This was the final of a knockout tournament to decide the Mike Marino Memorial Shield; Marino having died in August that year. Now I like Sid Cooper, and if people like Breaks he's another obvious guy to check out, but his rule bending here was ridiculous by any standard. I like the odd bout where the rule bending gets totally out of control, but it didn't fit the occasion here and detracted from what could have been a pretty good match. The final fall where Sanders was clutching his rib cage and went all out to win the shield was exciting, but a technical contest would have been a better homage to Marino in my eyes. Sanders winning did feel like a big moment, though. I could be wrong, but I think Sanders was with Marino when he died on the side of the road. They were definitely traveling together that night. So there was a bit of emotion there behind Mal's win.

 

Sanders isn't doing too badly. I'm starting to warm to him so much I'm calling him Mal.

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Steve Grey vs. Mal Sanders (11/9/82)

 

This was a one fall bout that was over before it had really begun, but again Grey showed he could fit it with just about anyone in the country and give them a career match. For the time that it lasted, this was an all-action affair with both men going all out to score the winning fall, and if it had continued at that pace it would have ranked among Sanders' top few bouts. I've got to say now though that I was surprised to see the lighter man Grey go over Sanders in a catch weight contest. When you're only on television a couple of times a year that can't do your reputation any good.

 

Bobby Barnes vs. Mal Sanders (6/28/83)

 

Bobby Barnes' image change in the early 80s has got to rank as one of the worst in wrestling history. Not many of you will understand what I mean by that so let me try to explain. Barnes was the ex tag team partner of Adrian Street and for a long time did the same gimmick as Street. He was a quality worker. Maybe not as good as Street, but excellent in his own right. Street left for the indies and was off TV for most of the 70s, so we have far more Barnes available than we do Street. He worked his exotico gimmick up until 1980, and I want to say into '81, then he cut off his long hair, returned it to its natural colour, grew a moustache, starting wear a t-shirt to cover his flab and mixed and matched an odd assortment of tights, trunks and boots. He changed his working style to more of a brawling rule-bending, put tints in his hair and basically looked like some punk version of the Bobby Barnes we used to know. He was a shell of himself in the ring as well. This was okay, but not engaging. Sanders got another cheap DQ win and seemed dead in the water in terms of what they planned to do with him.

 

Jim Breaks vs. Mal Sanders (2/2/84)

 

Criminally short five minute bout from some knockout tournament. Cruel tease of a possible Breaks/Sanders match.

 

Mal Sanders vs. Steve Grey (9/16/86)

Steve Grey vs. Mal Sanders (9/3/86)

Steve Grey vs. Mal Sanders (10/15/86)

This was a three match series from '86 that was one of the best things on television that year and another feather in Grey's cap. Sanders had turned heel by this stage and was doing this odd gimmick where he came to the ring in an American football helmet and jersey (complete with shoulder pads.) Don't ask me why. The first match I had actually seen before. Here's what I said about it at the time:

 

"I can't stand Sanders but he went full on rudo in his match against Grey and got some good heat. Not much of a match but entertaining."

Insightful!

It was actually a pretty good match. Sanders was arguably a bit corny with his heel act, but it worked for me. In the first match from 9/3, he had beaten Grey by 2 falls to 0 and the 9/16 rematch was supposed to be a title bout for Grey's British Lightweight title. Instead, they decided to milk it for one more match by claiming that Sanders was over the weight limit. He won 2-0 again and trained down to the lightweight limit for what was a hugely entertaining title fight. Sanders had been doing this shtick where every time Grey tried to put him in his surfboard he'd force a break in the ropes. In a bit of inconsistent rule keeping, the referee was on his back about these tactics, and Grey milked it for all it was worth with surfboard teases and the inevitable submission. Women in the crowd were on their feet willing Grey to lift him in the surfboard and tensions were pretty high all round. For some reason, the president of the AWA Stanley Blackburn was in attendance to award the winner the belt. Walton managed to butcher his information in true Walton fashion. They pulled a bit of a Dusty finish at the end, and these two women, who I can only assume were Mal "Superstar" Sanders fans, approached the ring screaming at Grey that he still hadn't beaten Mal. Sanders to his credit was a pretty entertaining heel on a sort of Paul Orndorff level, but this was great television for '86 and another example of Grey bringing out the best in folks.

[JNLister]

NFL got on Channel 4 (the then newest UK network station) when it launched in 1982 and became a big cult deal around 85-86, to the point that the 49ers are still disproportionately popular here based on their 1984-5 season. I vaguely recall Sanders had the helmet to use as a weapon at live events, but obviously couldn't get away with that on TV.

[ohtani's jacket]

Supplementary Sanders!

 

Mal Sanders vs. Pat Patton (1/8/87)

 

Man, I'd noticed Sanders' premature balding in the feud against Grey, but he'd lost even more hair by the time '87 rolled round. Patton himself had a beer gut, and if you compare this match to how it would have looked in 1981 you've got a pretty vivid depiction of how far wrestling had fallen. Walton sounded completely jaded and could barely muster any enthusiasm. Loved the producer/director cutting from the first round to the fourth. Did anyone give a shit at this stage?

 

Kid McCoy vs. Mal Sanders (7/22/87)

 

This was the final of the Golden Grappler Trophy for 1987. Whoever booked Joint Promotions sure loved a good TV tournament. All they seemed to book was TV tournaments. Walton always seemed to push them as ongoing annual events, but by the time the next year ran round there'd be a whole bunch of different tournaments. The only tournament that seemed to last was the Royal Albert Hall Heavyweight Trophy Tournament, which in the 60s and 70s was a prestigious event. To be fair, the Golden Grappler Trophy was run in each of the final three years, but it was pretty lame. For some reason, maybe John knows, the semis were held in March and then the final was all the way in July. Richie Brooks had defeated Sanders in the first semi, but as injured and couldn't compete in the final. I can only assume they were waiting to see if Brooks would recover.

 

Anyway, the one thing this had going for it as that the Bridlington crowd were hot. Sanders was pretty much in Ric Flair mode here -- begging off, jawing with the crowd, and taking dramatic corner post bumps. It wasn't exactly vintage WoS, but it riled the women up at ringside. Don't mess with Bridlington women that's all I can say. The place was ready to come unhinged at a Kid McCoy victory, but they wanted to do this shtick where it went to a points decision. McCoy still won, but they would've tore the roof off the sucker if he'd pinned Sanders. Why Joint routinely avoided booking payoffs like that is beyond me. Avoid the comments section of this match at all costs unless you want some insight into when submission wrestling is a turn on and when it's not.

[JNLister]

Not sure if it was the real reason, but holding off to see if Brooks would recover was definitely how it was explained on TV.