[1938-11-18-Philadelphia, PA] Bronko Nagurski vs Jim Londos

[Loss]

 

[fxnj]

I've long thought of this as the first great match on film and, though I'm not sure if I'd still say that, it is easily my favorite match pre-1950's. It's also the only one feel comfortable giving a rating to as it's near-complete and in good quality. The main thing I remembered before this rewatch were those vicious forearm shots thrown by both guys in the lock-ups, but what struck me as well this was the intensity with which they locked up even before they started throwing those shots. It really makes the match stand out right from the beginning after seeing most guys look loose and relaxed in other matches, and it sets the tone for this as a tense match where every move feels meaningful. Even things that feel entirely mundane today, such as someone trying to block a snapmare or doing headbutts to a guy in the corner feel like a huge deal in here. Since it's a Nagurski match, we also get some sweet looking tackles towards the finish with Londos take some hard bumps for them. He manages to come back by capitalizing off an arm injury to Nagurski and win with a body slam to cap this off. ****1/2

[G. Badger]

This was a physical all action match that is still captivating all these years later. There's no goofiness or corniness that creeps its way in during the TV era. Its kinda like a Stan Hansen match 45 years early. Great stuff

[Microstatistics]

A truly fantastic match. Super intense and gritty work here as there is struggle over everything. I liked how compact it was, really well paced and put together. It was built around some really interesting strategy from both and the finish was great. ****5/8

[paul sosnowski]

This match is for the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship, original lineage.  Bronko Nagurski defends against Jim Londos

[cactus]

This was a surprisingly good match. Being 80 years old, I expected this to be a slower worked match with not much here for modern eyes, but there's some good stuff to found. The grappling and hold trading had a lot of intensity. The pace is quick and both guys look like they are technically solid. Nagurski throwing out the big football tackles looked good and made sense given his background. 

★★★½

[squidlad]

By some distance (about twelve years) the earliest 'great' match I have seen. Love that finish of just smelling blood in the water and viciously attacking your opponent's weak point until you've won. ****