NWA On Demand

[shoe]

Butch Reed vs Dick Slater 11/29/85

 

This is for the North American Title. I enjoyed this, but not as much as the bounty match. Though they had a lot of themes playing off the previous match. I'll get to those in a bit. First off it was fun to see Reed revert to some of his heel tactics by using his body to shield the ref. Tommy Gilbert's looks really made it work. Matt and I were talking about how great Reed was at getting the crowd with him through his energy. Some of the call backs was Slater going back to work on Reed's neck which was his game plan last week. Another call back spot was Reed using the Figure 4 which is a revenge spots of sorts. Their was some neat small stuff in this too. Like when Slater was using the ropes to increase pressure on his headlock the ref sees the ropes move. So Dark Journey moves up and grabs the ropes causing the ref to think it was her. So that was nice on 2 fronts. The finish was set up to build a rematch so it was what it was.

3 1/4*

[shoe]

Mongolian Stomper vs Scott Casey

 

Man I'm excited. Another Stomper match and it goes another 30+. He's a guy that nwaondemand.com has put footage out there and he has delivered. I absolutely loved the 1st fall. I'm a big fan of guys working a good headlock and these guys worked a great one. On top of it the headlock was step one in the story of the match. Then Casey is working over the neck. He starts throwing elbows at Stomper's neck. Then Casey throws double knees to Stomper's face. That was straight MMA stuff. I loved the finish of the 1st fall where Stomper in a nice revenge spot works over Casey's neck and puts him down with a Cobra Hold. I also loved the mat work here, and totally dug the Stomper's ears hurt from the crowd, along with Carson's Mongolian speak.

 

The 2nd fall was some more fun stuff. Stomper taking it to Casey early on. He's teasing the claw. Casey catches him in an Adominal stretch . This transitions into Casey working over the back which is a natural transition. When Casey has him in the Camel Clutch, the fight from the Stomper is so full of drama. I liked the finish of this fall too.

 

The 3rd fall had the finish we needed, but the fall lacked the dynamic the other 2 had. 3 1/4*

[sek69]

I'm sure he can't talk about it, but I'm hearing HHH had a meeting with Mr. Tharpe about buying the Boesch library, I hope this doesn't mean all the gems that have been unearthed will end up collecting dust in the WWE vaults.

[shoe]

Muhammad Farouk vs Tommy Seigler 7/22/77

 

Farouk is the Iron Sheik. These guys had a feud over the NWA British Commonwealth and Seigler would retire in 78 with injuries. This match takes place at the Astro Arena. I attended a WCW show in 97 there. This was your 15 minute broadway match that was a trend in the 70's and 80's at houseshows for usually one underneath match. My favorite spot was Farouk doing a cart wheel, celebrating, and then eating a drop kick to the back and taking a big bump to the outside.

[shoe]

2 Ring Battle Royal

 

We get an Andre interview which didn't have a wrestling feel to it. Then a Gino one which was awesome, and a text book wrestling segment. This was fun, and had a cast of characters. I thought Wahoo and Gino were the stars here. They did a good job of pushing a feud between them.

[Matt D]

Quick catch up:

 

1.) I was upset the Bounty Match did so poorly on the mid-south set until Pete told me what we had previously was clipped. The title match wasn't quite as good but that's more of a testament to the bounty match. Babyface Reed is someone I have a lot of time for and he matched up really well with Slater. I think there's something a little unconventional and Houston-y about Reed as a babyface. You don't quite shine/heat/comeback as much, but there's a lot of the crowd getting visceral kicks through him getting revenge.

 

2.) For Stomper vs Casey, it's still a bit of getting used to Stomper's vulnerability for a monster. It's a great act but it's one that would wear out its welcome fairly quickly in a territory, I think. Boesch really shined on commentary again helping through the long falls. I was cool with them working the holds but was glad to have Paul with us for it.

 

3.) Haven't seen the Sheik match yet, but it does feel like the sort of history we take for granted with this footage. How much 77 Sheik do we have? How much Tommy Seigler? Someone on youtube named Brandon Seigler posted two matches (one from Georgia in 72 one from Gunkel in 73) but we don't have a lot, right? It's not Funk vs Race but there's a lot to learn in almost every match that gets posted.

 

4.) I love Battle Royals. There was a tease of Wahoo vs Andre in this, just twenty seconds or so in ring #1 towards the end and I was way too excited for it. The final four in Ring #2 were a lot of fun. I wish we had another minute or two of Gino interacting with Andre but that's ok. The interview was very cool. Talk about history. Five minutes of Andre answering questions that weren't the typical ones.

[shoe]

Gino vs Ken Lucas

 

We open with JYD getting crowned King of Houston. This brings out Gino and Tully in an incredible segment. Yes their is tons of race baiting and insults, but it's a part of wrestling history.

Now onto the match. Gino is a heels heel. He gets heat in this match with just a look. He gets heat by putting his feet on the rope, he gets heat with a strut. To sum it up he's a master of getting heat. I loved how Gino timed his kick to Lucas right when the bell rang. That was pretty cool. Gino was good at pushing the action and generating heat. Ken Lucas was a good southern baby face going after Gino's arm. He'd get cut off and Lucas would find his way back to the arm. I like how Gino did payback spots on the arm. He did a great a job of destroying the arm. At the finish Gino cheats his ass off for the win. I enjoyed the whole segment. Gino is such a great heel. 3*

[shoe]

Tully vs Diamond

 

 

We get an interview with Diamond pre match. Diamond looks like a Sweat Hog or a character from the original Meatballs. Well what do you know, they have a really good meat and potato match. We start with a shine by Diamond. He's showing fire by working a headlock. Tully counters by going after the leg. Tully's leg work was good. We are set up by time cues. This is to tease a draw. Diamond mounts a comeback only for us to be swerved . Tully steals the win with his legs on the rope 2 3/4*

[goc]

I've always been intrigued by Don Diamond, he looks like one of those guys ala El Gran Apollo who had a good enough look for a babyface that he should have done more but instead just kind of disappeared. I never have really found out the story on why Apollo quit the business but apparently Don Diamond ran into legal problems.

[BruceTharpe]

BRUISER BRODY vs. MARK LEWIN Online Now!

[Matt D]

Pete's itching to get home from work and watch that one.

[shoe]

Brody vs Lewin

 

The big stip of the match is if Brody wins he gets 5 minutes with Hart. Both of these guys are big draws all over the world. With that said I'm not a fan of either guys work. I feel both guys are overrated as great brawlers. Though they have their moments. Here at times they have some fun stuff. My favorite part was Lewin's and Hart's work with each other. Hart came across as a smooth operator. I thought this was the best Hart has looked on the Houston footage.

[BruceTharpe]

What an awesome day. First of all we have uploaded a really historic match from the late 70's: KILLER KARL KRUPP (with Gary Hart) vs. SWEET LEROY BROWN (seconded by Dusty Rhodes) - and this is a historic match just to see the way Dusty interacts with the crowd. And talk about being politically incorrect . . . Dusty leads the crowd in a chant of "Honky Hart" while Leroy Brown has the biggest grin I think I've ever seen. This is a match that will just really make you smile. Clearly we are seeing the origins of "sports entertainment" here.

 

Secondly - we heard from Barbara Goodish today - the widow of Bruiser Brody. She was amazed that people "still remembered Frank."

 

I gave her free access to NWAOnDemand and told her that Frank would never be forgotten . . . in the US or Japan. It's days like these that make this effort so much worthwhile.

[BruceTharpe]

And Bronko Lubich is dumped over the top rope after the finish? He takes a decent bump!

[sek69]

What an awesome day. First of all we have uploaded a really historic match from the late 70's: KILLER KARL KRUPP (with Gary Hart) vs. SWEET LEROY BROWN (seconded by Dusty Rhodes) - and this is a historic match just to see the way Dusty interacts with the crowd. And talk about being politically incorrect . . . Dusty leads the crowd in a chant of "Honky Hart" while Leroy Brown has the biggest grin I think I've ever seen. This is a match that will just really make you smile. Clearly we are seeing the origins of "sports entertainment" here.

 

Secondly - we heard from Barbara Goodish today - the widow of Bruiser Brody. She was amazed that people "still remembered Frank."

 

I gave her free access to NWAOnDemand and told her that Frank would never be forgotten . . . in the US or Japan. It's days like these that make this effort so much worthwhile.

 

 

Maybe it's a side effect of being "in the bubble", but it's amazing she'd think he'd ever be forgotten. If the only thing historians and old time wrestling nerds like us ever accomplish is keep footage of guys like Brody in circulation, I'd say that's a worthy endeavor.

[shoe]

What an awesome day. First of all we have uploaded a really historic match from the late 70's: KILLER KARL KRUPP (with Gary Hart) vs. SWEET LEROY BROWN (seconded by Dusty Rhodes) - and this is a historic match just to see the way Dusty interacts with the crowd. And talk about being politically incorrect . . . Dusty leads the crowd in a chant of "Honky Hart" while Leroy Brown has the biggest grin I think I've ever seen. This is a match that will just really make you smile. Clearly we are seeing the origins of "sports entertainment" here.

 

Secondly - we heard from Barbara Goodish today - the widow of Bruiser Brody. She was amazed that people "still remembered Frank."

 

I gave her free access to NWAOnDemand and told her that Frank would never be forgotten . . . in the US or Japan. It's days like these that make this effort so much worthwhile.

That's an awesome story.

[Matt D]

I do think that Brody has looked better in Houston than in other places. Some of that is having him younger. Some of it is how he had to be a certain way in Japan where we previously had most footage.

[shoe]

This was more angle than match to set up a tag match. Dusty was incredible with his dancing. Leroy was great in his role. The kids dancing, the crowd going nuts. Gary Hart was the perfect foil. A super entertaining angle.

[Matt D]

It kills me that in the Brown match, he starts his comeback right when Boesch was about to say who the last person to use music to come out to was. It was an effective shtick for the time certainly, like 1978 New Jack. Dusty was great at conducting traffic there.

 

Now, then, the Dusty vs Brody match. First of all, Pete and I both think this is the only Dusty vs Brody singles match we have. There's 7 mins of a FL tag with Dusty and Reed vs Brody and Studd, but this is one of the most historical things that On Demand has given us as of yet, strictly on paper. 17 minutes, 2/3 falls. I've relatively liked what I've seen of 78 heel Brody, before that first face turn. He stooges, he sells, he gives. He uses his lanky body to full effect tumbling this way or stumbling slowly down or flailing his arms about, or even positioning them up menacingly. I do think the match died a bit when he was on offense, but Dusty was quick to come back.

 

In short, Dusty was electric with every little thing he did, and he did a few things I've never seen him do before, like the double axehandle that he fell down on or setting up for the Shattered Dreams '78 (which was the transition to Brody taking the first fall). I got such a kick out of him polishing off Brody's head before punching it and the sheer intensity that he took the second fall with was amazing to see. It's funny, but this was sort of worked like a modern CMLL Title match, with a back and forth first fall that ended with some escalation, a quick second revenge fall, and the a third fall with a lot of selling. The finish was a heat-saver but the post match had Dusty, again, being electric and I bet everyone went home happy.

 

Unless I'm missing something, I'd call this hugely historical footage even if it wouldn't be the first match I'd suggest to people on the service. I'm very glad we have it.

[shoe]

I want to say the video player that is used, or how it was uploaded the last 2 matches have been the best when it comes to running it on my computer to the tv with HDMI cable.

[shoe]

This to Matt's and mine knowledge the only singles match between these 2 ever to make tape. 1978 Dusty is loaded with charisma and is in pretty good shape for Dusty. He even throws an awesome drop kick in this. I enjoyed early in the match Brody's stooging. Dusty's charisma carried this. Their were moments where Brody would turn it on and came across as a force of nature. Their have been better matches on the service; but this is a true treasure and a piece of history. 2 1/2*

[BruceTharpe]

Scheduled for release today: 1970 Chicago Street Fight - Paul Boesch vs. Gary Hart.

[NickH]

 

Tell me Boesch taped the main event as well.

[shoe]

Oh my

[BigBadMick]

That's interesting about Brody-Dusty. I think I've a photo of a bullrope match between them...