NWA On Demand

[Matt D]

I wasn't quite as high on Dusty vs Lewin as others. I thought the first half was excellent, everything to the point that Dusty came back out to the floor to fight back. Even that moment was good but I didn't feel Dusty's comeback and the finish, in a brass knuckles championship match, was really dumb to me. Why was the ref stopping Lewin? That said, the execution of the elbow from the apron in was awesome.

 

I enjoyed Guerreros/Landell vs Lothario/RnR quite a bit. I thought it was balanced well, that the heels played into the shine like champs. The ring positioning on the heat on Morton was good. Tons of attitude from the heels. And I liked the chaotic finish where it looked like the Guerreros were going to take it. I could have used a bit more Landell. They were keeping him away from Lothario to start but that really stopped mattering as the match went on.

[PhilTLL]

Is a chromecast worth purchasing? Somebody give me the nuts and bolts on how it works.

Chromecast is a little thumb drive size thing that connects to an HDMI port (and USB or AC power) and receives streams that you "throw" from other devices like Android and Chromebook. For example you pick a show on Netflix using your phone, then you click that little window icon and share it to the Chromecast (as opposed to something like Roku, which has its own apps and remote control).

 

.

[W2BTD]

.

 

I can't help you with the recording question, but I can tell you that the Chromecast is a very hit or miss product, especially depending on your WiFi/home network setup. The device can not be hardwired, so you are at the mercy of your wifi. Plus the Chromecast itself is a very temperamental device that randomly will lose connection even when picking up a strong signal.

 

I don't have a great network setup and my internet speed is sketchy sometimes, but even when I get desperate and put the router literally inches from the Chromecast to get it to function, the picture itself is still a little choppy and never smooth.

 

Check out the public reviews on various sites, they are all over the board. People either hate the thing or absolutely love it. Mine collects dusts. Can't get it to work, and doesn't work well even when I do.

[goodhelmet]

Thanks for the info guys!

[shoe]

Ric Flair vs Wahoo McDaniel 7/12/85

 

I believe this has never been seen. This was just a battle. The announcing put their history together so it made sense for this World Title Match to seem more personal. This was gritty. Both guys with brutal chops. Flair's 1st sell of the job was tremendous. His whole body gyrated from the force. Wahoo is 1st to bleed. Not to be outdone, Wahoo takes a bite out of Flair's forehead and spits the plasma out and Flair's bleeding. That was disgusting. I loved this match. A perfect example of non formula Flair. Their wasn't long heat and shine segments. This was just a fight. 4 1/4*

 

This was the card it was on.

 

7-12-85 Houston
NWA champion Ric Flair beat Wahoo Mcdaniel dq, The Guerreros beat Ted Dibiase
& Steve Williams, Hacksaw Duggan beat Kamala COR, Fantastics beat Dutch Mantell
& Tom Prichard, Ray Candy beat Frankie Lane, Al Perez beat Larry Higgins, Olapido
beat Carl Stiles

[shoe]

Jake Roberts/Duggan vs Nightmare/Lord Humongous 10/11/85

 

 

Jake was the star of the match. We don't get a finish. Jake was great at the start with teasing the DDT, he was great as FIP. He was a great rag doll gaining tons of sympathy. It was great watching him punching the mask of Humongous. Then selling the damage to his hand. Totally dug the eye poke to get seperation,

 

 

The card it was on

 

10-11-85 Houston
Butch Reed beat NWA Champion Ric Flair dq, Hacksaw Duggan & Jake Roberts beat
Humongous & The Nightmare, Ted Dibiase beat Bob Sweetan (Taped Fist match), Dick
Murdoch beat Al Perez, Hector Guerrero beat Steve Williams, Fantastics beat Dutch
Mantell & Eddie Gilbert, Dick Slater beat Steve Constance, Wendell Cooley beat El
Casario

[goc]

I bet Steve Constance took a real beating that night.

[shoe]

Magnum TA vs Butch Reed 8/31/84

 

 

I think this is another one that has never aired. This was for the NA Title that TA holds. Ernie Ladd is in Reed's corner. Sonny King was the original ref but Ladd complains and it turns into Lothario. This was a pretty basic match. TA gets the shine early. He works the arm with some basic work. Reed gets heat by working TA's neck. Reed's big cut off was a nasty knee to the stomach. They build to a comeback. Belly 2 Belly and a ref bump. Foreign objects, and a ref reversal. 2*

 

This is the card it was on.

 

8-31-84 Houston
Magnum TA beat Butch Reed, Hacksaw Duggan beat Hercules Hernandez (Coal Miner's
Glove match), Terry Taylor beat Steve Williams, The Fantastics beat Midnight Express,
Sonny King beat Buddy Landell, Jose Lothario beat Krusher Darsow dq, Ernie Ladd beat
Art Crews, Adrian Street beat Rick Mccord, Brickhouse Brown beat Hans Schroder

[goc]

I also watched that the other day and I bet that felt like a pretty flat main event in the building after some of that undercard. I think I've watched all the Butch Reed stuff now except for the 6 man tag I said I was going to watch 3 days ago...

[sek69]

So from what's available, has anything come up to disprove my theory that Mil Mascaras is like an inverse Hulk Hogan in terms of effort put forth outside his home country? 95% of the US based matches I've seen him in were underwhelming and probably most of his quality Mexico stuff was in the era before footage was widely available.

[goc]

This topic is another reminder why this is the best wrestling message board. I have a headache after reading the NWA Classics topic over on wrestlingclassics where about 95% of the posts are about aspect ratio & site navigation complaints.

[sek69]

Navigation complaints I can kind of understand (look at WWE Network still being clunky on most devices), but aspect ratio? Surely people weren't expecting 16:9 on 40+ year old footage.

[PhilTLL]

Without looking, I suspect the complaint is that they *are* 16:9, though nothing significant appears to be missing from the frame and who really cares, especially when the picture quality is so well-cleaned. The stereo audio mix (or lack thereof, to be precise) is a bit weird, but easy to fix, and I can't imagine caring at all after I saw the actual content. Holy cow. Forest for the trees.

 

(And the sound that is there is great. Listen to the ring sound and chatter in Andre/Harley.)

[goc]

Without looking, I suspect the complaint is that they *are* 16:9, though nothing significant appears to be missing from the frame and who really cares, especially when the picture quality is so well-cleaned. The stereo audio mix (or lack thereof, to be precise) is a bit weird, but easy to fix, and I can't imagine caring at all after I saw the actual content. Holy cow. Forest for the trees.

Yes somehow the footage is stretched to the point of being unwatchable. The really weird audio mix is more annoying but I didn't even see anyone complain about that.

[PhilTLL]

(This was just wrong and I deleted it.)

[shoe]

Wahoo McDaniel vs Terry Funk and the winner faces Gino Hernandez 2/6/81

 

As a segment this was off the charts. We start off with Wahoo and Terry. Right off the bat Terry lays waist to Wahoo's headdress. We get some stiff brawling with some plunder. Wahoo is bleeding and Terry is just beating him. They tease a hope spot that gets cut off before it even starts. Finally Wahoo stuns Funk with a chop and gets a roll up. Gino is out and Funk and him puts the boots to Wahoo. Funks leaves and is all over Wahoo's cut. He's really taking it to Wahoo.Wahoo just sells and sells. Finally he makes a comeback and Gino is superballing for him. The crowd is nuclear here. Both men are bleeding pretty fierce. Wahoo goes over and gets a shot with Harley Race. Again this is a gem that we've never seen. 4 1/4*

[shoe]

Duggan/JYD/Tito vs Reed/Volkoff/Kruschev 1/27/84

 

This was an elimination match with the guy who gets eliminated last must leave for 60 days. This was mediocre at best. Just a lot of random brawling. The guy who looked the best was eliminated 2nd. JYD was super over though. I think this was another match not in circulation. 1 3/4*

 

This was the entire card

 

1-27-84 Houston
Butch Reed & Krusher Darsow & Nikolai Volkoff beat JYD & Hacksaw Duggan & Tito
Santana (elimination match), Jose Lothario beat Black Gordman, Midnight Express
beat Mr Wrestling II & Magnum TA dq, Jim Neidhart beat Butch Reed dq, Terry Taylor
beat Tom Lentz, Brian Adidas beat Larry Higgins, Masao Ito beat John King

[shoe]

Dick Murdoch vs Al Perez 10/11/85

 

 

I thought this was a real fun match showing what a ring general Murdoch is. He led Perez through a good match. I enjoyed their matches in 1988 from JCP as well. Murdoch uses basic story telling by working over the arm, and using the base to work spots around. Murdoch timed it well by giving Perez nice hope spots and some close nearfalls. This is one of those meat and potato matches I like. 2 3/4*

[shoe]

Gino Hernandez, Gran Markus & Killer Brooks vs. Jose Lothario, El Halcon & Mil Mascaras

 

I couldn't find a date on this match. It's the same 2 ring tag bout they run here in Houston. Gino again looking like one of the best workers in the world . He's bumping big and carrying the load for his team. They made Killer Tim Brooks an honorary Mexican by giving him the name Gonzalez. So we got action, and some comedy. Lothario threw some wicked punches. We got mask pulling. We even saw the star, the spot we saw all the time in WCW done by the luchadors in the mid 90's. This is a great match . 4*

[pantherwagner]

Gino Hernandez, Gran Markus & Killer Brooks vs. Jose Lothario, El Halcon & Mil Mascaras

 

I couldn't find a date on this match. It's the same 2 ring tag bout they run here in Houston. Gino again looking like one of the best workers in the world . He's bumping big and carrying the load for his team. They made Killer Tim Brooks an honorary Mexican by giving him the name Gonzalez. So we got action, and some comedy. Lothario threw some wicked punches. We got mask pulling. We even saw the star, the spot we saw all the time in WCW done by the luchadors in the mid 90's. This is a great match and a big find by nwaclassics.com. 4*

 

 

Shoe, this match has been around forever. I remember having a 6th generation (at least) copy of it back in the day.

 

I'm looking forward to more Halcon matches - he supposedly was the best Mexican heavyweight in the pre-Dos Caras era.

[shoe]

 

Gino Hernandez, Gran Markus & Killer Brooks vs. Jose Lothario, El Halcon & Mil Mascaras

 

I couldn't find a date on this match. It's the same 2 ring tag bout they run here in Houston. Gino again looking like one of the best workers in the world . He's bumping big and carrying the load for his team. They made Killer Tim Brooks an honorary Mexican by giving him the name Gonzalez. So we got action, and some comedy. Lothario threw some wicked punches. We got mask pulling. We even saw the star, the spot we saw all the time in WCW done by the luchadors in the mid 90's. This is a great match and a big find by nwaclassics.com. 4*

 

 

Shoe, this match has been around forever. I remember having a 6th generation (at least) copy of it back in the day.

 

I'm looking forward to more Halcon matches - he supposedly was the best Mexican heavyweight in the pre-Dos Caras era.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll clean my post up.

[PhilTLL]

I get it, I'm a video nerd and a film buff who knew what aspect ratios were before a lot of people--hell, I was buying widescreen VHS tapes when I was a kid. But it's not quite the same bag because the nature of old wrestling production and discovery makes it closer to unearthed home movies than a classic film archive. I'm so used to watching files and discs of many, many good and bad quality levels that it doesn't faze me anymore.

 

Now, I agree that stretching them was completely unnecessary and misunderstanding of his target market, which is more likely to crave correct AR. It just doesn't override the actual footage for me.

[goc]

It has been brought up. Bruce Tharpe has stated a couple different times he's working on getting a Roku App.

 

The amount of flack NWAClassics has taken for technical isues is kind of astounding to me. It's not like WWE Network was flawless from the start (or even flawless now) and they have a lot more resources at their disposal. The matches look great to me.

[shoe]

I get it, I'm a video nerd and a film buff who knew what aspect ratios were before a lot of people--hell, I was buying widescreen VHS tapes when I was a kid. But it's not quite the same bag because the nature of old wrestling production and discovery makes it closer to unearthed home movies than a classic film archive. I'm so used to watching files and discs of many, many good and bad quality levels that it doesn't faze me anymore.

 

Now, I agree that stretching them was completely unnecessary and misunderstanding of his target market, which is more likely to crave correct AR. It just doesn't override the actual footage for me.

This is where I'm on it. I'm enjoying watching the stuff any ways. The intent of this thread is to talk about the good wrestling available to us.

[shoe]

I set up a complaints thread for the complaints on NWA Classics. This thread is to discuss the matches, and history. The more positive aspects of the service. People who want to complain you have every right, but keep it in that thread.