7 for 7: A project within a project

[Dylan Waco]

Because there are things I want to get to but need the extra shove, I decided to recruit the board to help me with this. I have posted the key things I want/need to revisit/watch in the Priorities thread. For the time being I would like this thread to focus on what is in that thread, though it does not exclusively have to be the case, and I anticipate things changing going forward. Basically what I want out out of this thread is simple - every week I am going to try and watch seven matches that fit my "needs." Rather than get lost in a sea of YouTube, or cherry pick what I think will be best, I am asking that you guys pick the matches for me. This will be first come, first serve, so whoever responds first with seven matches (one person doesn't have list all seven, but they can if they want), those are the ones I'm watching. For my sanity late entries will not role over, so if you want to pick part/all of the seven for next week drop something in here at 7pm next Saturday. I would prefer the matches be available on Youtube, but Dailymotion is workable as well if that's the only option.

 

I have no clue if this will work or fall on it's face, but I'm turning things over to you the board at this point. Lets see if we can get seven matches on my docket.

[KrisZ]

Do you have specific guys in mind you want to see

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm keen to get other people's views on Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78), since I dropped 5 stars on it, and feel like it's up there in terms of "beyond wrestling-ness" with Magnum and Tully. Winged Eagle didn't like it as much as me but still gave it ****1/4. I suspect most people have watched it before at some point or other, but it's not a bad place to start for a re-evaluation of at least three of the guys involved. Career performances from Dory and Sheik, and possibly also Abdullah. For some reason the 79 match gets a lot of the press (it is also awesome), but I thought 9/19/78 is one of the best matches I've seen in years. Struck a chord with me.

[WingedEagle]

Abby was definitely the surprise of the Funks' matches. I can't imagine he has any kind of run that gets him in consideration here but I'd love to know what else is worth seeking out. But man did everyone look great in those matches. Can't go wrong with any of them.

[Matt D]

You should probably list your priorities again and maybe break out what you HAVE seen in each at least in a small way.

[NintendoLogic]

Part of me wants to see you review the Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue broadway, but I'm not enough of a sadist to actually nominate it myself.

[ohtani's jacket]

Some suggestions if they interest you:

Pre-1980s -- Michel Allary vs. Jack de Lassartesse (1/22/60)

Joshi -- Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiromi Yagi (3/3/96)

90s Lucha -- Pierroth Jr vs. Mogur (1/12/90)

Europe -- Steve Veidor vs. Gwyn Davies (5/26/76)

[TRMD]

As someone new to the forum, this is the absolute perfect thread. I pretty much joined because I want to watch good wrestling that I've never seen. So, with the GWE Poll starting up again, I figured this is the place to be.

 

Out of the matches listed, I think I'm going to watch these matches right off the bat. I'm not familiar at all with the any of the wrestlers in the Lucha or British Wrestling matches. At least, not any of their work.

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78)

 

Pierroth Jr vs. Mogur (1/12/90)

 

Steve Veidor vs. Gwyn Davies (5/26/76)

[Jmare007]

I agree with Matt, I think it would be easier if you repost your priorities and most importantly, point out what you have seen so we don't end up suggesting stuff you've already watched.

 

It's gonna be hard as hell to find links for U.S Indies too. Too bad megaupload and fileserve went down because 2-3 years ago almost everything worthwhile was at least downloadable.

 

I'm keen to get other people's views on Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78), since I dropped 5 stars on it, and feel like it's up there in terms of "beyond wrestling-ness" with Magnum and Tully. Winged Eagle didn't like it as much as me but still gave it ****1/4. I suspect most people have watched it before at some point or other, but it's not a bad place to start for a re-evaluation of at least three of the guys involved. Career performances from Dory and Sheik, and possibly also Abdullah. For some reason the 79 match gets a lot of the press (it is also awesome), but I thought 9/19/78 is one of the best matches I've seen in years. Struck a chord with me.

 

I always thought the 77' RWTL match was their most talked about encounter. With Terry having one hell of a performance. Not sure if I've watched the 78' match. Good look.

[Dylan Waco]

Listing what I've already seen would be impossible, but reposting my priorities is probably not a bad idea.

 

1. Pre-1980 wrestling (excepting Portland where I have seen all of the 70's footage fairly recently, and to a slightly lesser extent WWWF).

2. Joshi

3. 90's Lucha

4. FMW

5. U.S. Indies (really selected matches more than anything)

6. 00's Japan (see U.S. Indies)

7. Europe

 

To answer KrisZ's question I have a long road to go so the particular wrestlers matter less to me in starting off than that I am actually getting the ball rolling.

 

By my count there have been five matches picked for this week- four from OJ and one from Parv. Let's see if we can get two more

[BillThompson]

I'll toss a Joshi your way, Bull Nakano vs. Manami Toyota (04-18-1993) from Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project. It's on YouTube.

[Grimmas]

2000's Japan:

Kawadda & Fuchi vs Nagata & Iizuka (12.14.2000)

 

One of my favourite matches of the 2000's.

[Loss]

I'll toss a Joshi your way, Bull Nakano vs. Manami Toyota (04-18-1993) from Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project. It's on YouTube.

 

That's actually Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami. And it's a fantastic pick for something like this.

[BillThompson]

 

I'll toss a Joshi your way, Bull Nakano vs. Manami Toyota (04-18-1993) from Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project. It's on YouTube.

 

That's actually Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami. And it's a fantastic pick for something like this.

 

 

You're right, I looked at my review real quick, saw the Masami and thought Manami.

[Dylan Waco]

Alright cool. I've got my seven matches for this week:

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78)

Pre-1980s -- Michel Allary vs. Jack de Lassartesse (1/22/60)

Joshi -- Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiromi Yagi (3/3/96)

90s Lucha -- Pierroth Jr vs. Mogur (1/12/90)

Europe -- Steve Veidor vs. Gwyn Davies (5/26/76)

Kawada & Fuchi vs Nagata & Iizuka (12.14.2000)

Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami (04-18-1993)

[WingedEagle]

Back from dinner and enjoying the suggestions. Funks vs. Sheik & Abby is great and highly recommended. I watched Abby vs. Billy Robinson earlier on a rec from Childs and it was both different and very good. Would love any further Abby recs.

 

I've queued Ozaki vs. Yagi and am looking forward to that in the morning. Based solely on '90s joshi I can't see Oz coming in lower than my #2 or #3 in that genre but we'll see how things hold up.

 

Kawada & Fuchi vs. Nagata & Iizuka is also great and a legit MOTYC in the mold of an AJPW classic but with a different cast that adds a very different dynamic.

[Dylan Waco]

Would note that I have seen some of these, but I think the most reviewing of any of these was about three years ago (Funks tag)

[TRMD]

So, I watched the 3 matches I said I was going to earlier.

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78) - This was fantastic. I try not to give star ratings because I find that I'm too strict on matches, but this would be a 4+ star match. The Funker was really the star of this one. When he starting screaming at Abdullah, i was going nuts. Absolutely superb match.

Pierroth Jr vs. Mogur (1/12/90) - I wasn't a fan of this one. It was smushed in-between 2 matches absolutely dripping with passion, and this one seemed to lack it. Seemed like the guys we're sleep walking through the match. GIVE ME SOME INTENSITY.

Steve Veidor vs. Gwyn Davies (5/26/76) - This one, to put it mildly, was mind blowing. This is no hyperbole when I say that it is one of the best matches I've ever seen. It did David v Goliath WAY better than the actual David v Goliath. As amazing as Veidor was, Davies is the star of this one for me. HIs "You really think you have a chance you little shit?" attitude mixed with his actions that said "This little shit really has a chance" was psychology at it's peak. Literally, from the first 2 times they touch, they set the blueprint for how the match was gonna go. Davies is the overpowering brute. It's obvious why he's held the tittle for so long. Veidor is the smaller, more agile and craftier wrestler who wants the belt so god damn badly that he's willing to get absolutely dismantled to win it. What an amazing match.

[soup23]

Thanks for the writeups, I will seek out that Veidor vs. Davies match for sure.

[JerryvonKramer]

So, I watched the 3 matches I said I was going to earlier.

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78) - This was fantastic. I try not to give star ratings because I find that I'm too strict on matches, but this would be a 4+ star match. The Funker was really the star of this one. When he starting screaming at Abdullah, i was going nuts. Absolutely superb match.

I find it interesting that you make Terry the star of that match, because I thought the real star turns were by Dory and The Sheik. My review is here.

[TRMD]

 

So, I watched the 3 matches I said I was going to earlier.

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (9/19/78) - This was fantastic. I try not to give star ratings because I find that I'm too strict on matches, but this would be a 4+ star match. The Funker was really the star of this one. When he starting screaming at Abdullah, i was going nuts. Absolutely superb match.

I find it interesting that you make Terry the star of that match, because I thought the real star turns were by Dory and The Sheik. My review is here.

 

 

I should preface it by saying that everyone involved was great. Maybe I was higher on Terry than you were because I'm guessing you've seen literally 100x's as much 70's and 80's Terry Funk than me. Him being awesome is probably so regular for you that you kind of expect it, so you look elsewhere for your MVP. I feel like that happens sometimes with guys who are consistently so great and entertaining (Flair, Austin, Lawler, Funk, and maybe Hansen for guys who have watched a lot of him) Or maybe you just genuinely thought Dory was better. Which is probably the case.

 

But, even saying that, Dory was awesome. And there is certainly no real argument from me for saying he was the MVP.

 

That was a great review, by the way.

[Dylan Waco]

Joshi -- Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiromi Yagi (3/3/96)

 

I liked this match, but I can't call it great. To be fair I'm not sure that's what they were going for, but I still found it lacking in a few major ways. The big positive to me was that I am generally a mark for matches like this where you have someone working a more targeted, mat/limbwork attack, against a more powerful and impactful performer. The big spots in this from Oz really jumped out at me as the delivery of them was really nasty, almost like she was annoyed that Yagi was even winning points against her. Having said that - and recognizing that the match had a clear hierarchical element to it - I was annoyed by Oz's refusal to sell any of the limbwork at all and some of her counter spots saw her complete blow off damage to set something up. Down the stretch her selling was good and the finishing run itself was really strong. Still this is kind of a weird match to jump back into Joshi with, as Ozaki was one of my favorites years ago, and I came out of this thinking Yagi was the better wrestler in the match (or at least the more consistent of the two).

[JerryvonKramer]

Steve Veidor vs. Gwyn Davies (5/26/76)

 

Being a Welshman I simply had to watch this because "Gwyn Davies" might just be the most Welsh name ever. I don't know why I've waited till now to watch some 70s British wrestling, I love watching British TV from the 70s, so it should really be right up my street in terms of presentation and "feel". And my first impressions are exactly that, immediately feel "very at home" watching this which is probably more important to me than most fans. Love the voice the ring announcer has. Love the hair styles. Love Weidor's 70s sideburns.

 

Veidor's gay floaty cartwheel thing at the start was a little distracting, but immediately we establish two very different characters here. Weidor the young buck, who has some flash, giving up about thirty pounds in weight and half a foot in height to Davies, the established veteran and champion who is not going to be taking any shit from this prancing upstart.

 

I'll admit that I've never heard of Gwyn Davies but he's tremendous here. Consummate heel, starts off fairly subtle but becomes more and more overt as the match progresses until he's just an open dick by the end. His smug, self-satisfied face is great. During this match we get to see some truly world class limb work from Davies. The way he pounds on the arm while he's working it is really nasty and this is exactly how I like matwork to be done. Totally engrossing. But Davies also throws some of the sickest forearm elbow smashes you'll ever see. He's masterful here controlling this crowd and feeding Weidor his hope spots. Some of this stuff is not very complicated -- the sneaky hidden punch to the face while in a headlock spot is a very well-worn heel trope, and a staple, for example, of Baron Mikel Scicluna's offensive arsenal. But Davies does it possibly better than I've ever seen it done here. When he connects with those punches it feels like a massive moment. Especially once Weidor is caught and starts bleeding (hard way?) from the mouth.

 

I feel like I've sold Weidor's performance a bit short in that write-up but I really thought this was all about Davies. He has Nick Bockwinkel levels of self-satisfaction and by the end everyone in the room -- including both the commentator (I assume this is Walton) and, hilariously, the ring announcer -- have turned on him. The 30 minutes fly by. I loved this and immediately want to watch more 70s WoS.

 

****1/2

 

I did want to say a few general things about the rules. First of all, the round system is quite exciting to me. Rather than being alienating, it seems much more like an intriguing storytelling device where you can build in more layers than a one-fall match. I guess it's taking the possibilities of the 2 out of 3 falls to the next level. But this match, for example, used those rounds to tell a great story.

 

Second, I absolutely LOVE the idea of a "first public warning". Three strikes and you're out (and seemingly the belt changes hands too). That brings a whole new dimension to the notion of cheating in a match. The ref can catch you, but you've essentially got three lives, and Davies in that match exploits that as if it's a glaring loophole. The digust of the crowd and the officials is palpable. What's so great about that though is that the "public warning" system brings the rules front and centre, so breaking them is a really big deal. The British despise cheating. Even now, there's an undercurrent in football that "those cheating foreigners might dive but we play FAIR", and so the system is absolutely perfect for the crowd. I'm looking forward to following up on some of OJ's recommendations in his various British Wrestling threads.

[PeteF3]

I was pimping that Veidor/Davies match years ago on DVDVR to anyone who would listen. I stumbled across it going through a huge mass of WoS DVDs and was blown away by it. Seeing the love for it now is like seeing your favorite local bar band hitting it big.

 

What also helps the public-warning system is that rules matter and have consequences. The referee doesn't just ineffectively tell guys to "open them up"--if a wrestler's caught throwing a punch, it's a DQ. Even hair pulling, or Davies yanking on Veidor's fingers, would end a match at least eventually. Outside of Bill Alfonso-type referee angles, that's never done.

 

Not only are there only 2 other Davies matches circulating, but one is against Giant Haystacks. It's still interesting to view because despite taking place at virtually the same time, Davies is naturally the babyface and works as a total bouncing gladhanding one. Fun to see, but it's still Haystacks and there's only so much that you can do. The third match, with Dennis Mitchell, was rather disappointingly straight-laced and dry.

[ohtani's jacket]

I thought I'd do some of the homework too. The Funks tag did just about nothing for me. The visual of both Funks bleeding was strong and I liked their comeback, but the heels weren't domineering enough for me and I thought it was odd that Dory ended up being more psychotic and vicious than either of them. I'm not sure it was even a match, to be honest. It was as though the match never really started and just descended into an out of control brawl. I can appreciate Parv's review and his feelings on the match, but I don't really see how the stakes were high enough for Dory to go so crazy in the match.