[1977-12-06-AJPW] Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffmann

[Jetlag]

Haven't seen this one in a few years. It was a pretty solid match with well worked holds and a few impact moves from the europeans. Billy Robinson tries escalating the match a few times but kind of hits a brick wall in Dory Funk Jr who is exactly as bad as I remember him being. Funks work over Robinson's back a bit leading to a few well timed reversal segments and nothing more. Funk and Billy get on eachothers grill leading to lots of amusing mugging and a nice punch combo from Robinson. Hoffman is pretty good landing an awesome throw on Dory, busting out stiff shots on Terry and has a variety of great knee attacks. Robinson busts out his backbreaker and the Gotch style tombstone piledriver on Dory which Dory doesn't react to at all. Just kicks out, then reverses the next hold and doesn't even make it look like he needs to tag out. Matwork isn't very special. Lots of moments where there's a little mingling on the ground, then a tag out. Really hot last minute before the 45 minute draw with finisher attempts, reversal etc. There's probably worse ways to spend 45 minutes but I wouldn't recommend anyone to watch the full fight.

[Clayton Jones]

I thought this was a low key classic, really light and breezy for its length. I'd seen the Funks VS Baba/Jumbo from this RWTL before, and that's also great, but on first watch I liked this match even better. The hierarchy and the different exchanges each pairing brought were fascinating. This felt like a sporting contest in a way few matches do, with pride, strategy, and luck all playing factors. I could see some of Jetlag's criticisms of Dory after the fact but in the moment watching the match his performance felt just right as the elder statesman of his team and probably the highest ranking wrestler in the match. I would say this is a great way to spend your time if you like more methodical technical stuff and have the time to invest!

[fxnj]

I think I lean more towards Jetlag here. The first third or so with mat exchanges and some nice pin attempts from Hoffman was pretty nice, but things screech to a halt in the middle third with Dory's never ending Boston crab and then Terry's never ending bear hug. Though the match picks up a bit in the final third, it still lacked the urgency you'd want from the finishing run of a match of this length and it sort of just limped to the end. I think this match exposes Dory and Terry a bit on the mat because most of the entertainment comes from Robinson and Hoffman with their offense and reversals. The Europeans' stuff looks snug and features some nice details, but the Americans don't really show anything special. I have to give credit to Dory for eating what looked like a ridiculous tombstone piledriver towards the end, though. I didn't think Terry going cartoon mode helped things and kind of undermined the atmosphere they'd built of it as a serious sporting contest. The initial faceoff between Billy and Terry on the outside was great tension building, but the payoff when they fought in the ring of Terry quickly going to his cartoon selling wasn't very satisfying.