The Sheiks (Blackwell & Patera)

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[khawk20]

I liked them as a team but they really didn't do anything outstanding as a team. The "Sheik's Army" concept when you add Kaissie into the mix made them a team that could drive many angles in a positive direction, and both Patera and Blackwell being powerhouse wrestlers with high-end pedigree made their team believable as a Championship tandem.

 

Outside of the High Flyers, most of the teams they were paired with were makeshift in nature (Dino Bravo/Steve O, Bruiser/Mad Dog Vachon, Jerry Lawler/Blackjack Mulligan, Baron Von Raschke/Mad Dog Vachon, Vachon/Rick Martel). Outside of the Lawler/Mulligan match, I'm not even sure how many complete matches we have of them. There are few that are "long enough", but not nearly as many as I would want to make a real call on them as a team.

 

At the end of the day, I don't know if there is enough available matches to accurately judge their body of work which, as a team, was pretty short to begin with (May 1983 through May 1984). I would probably have a hard time including them on my list. I love how they came together, the hatred they generated as a team in the AWA, and I thought their timing in getting the belts was just about perfect. As far as making this list, I'm not so sure.

[victory]

I recently saw them against the Rock n Roll Express in Memphis. Of what was shown looked good, unfortunately it was such a short clip. Really would've liked to have seen the entire match due to the different atmosphere.

 

I liked them as a team. Patera during this time frame was my favorite wrestler when I was a kid for about a month or so. Rewatching some of their stuff now still holds up pretty well. Especially the High Flyers stuff. Overall just not enough footage to make the list.

[khawk20]

Yeah footage..."enough" matches, in terms of length, is problematic.

 

That R and R clip is maddening because it's so short and I think the full match would have been a lot of fun.