[1981-07-15-Joint Promotions] Keith Haward vs Clive Myers

[GSR]

I think this might be quite early into Myers' transition to the karate fighter gimmick as Kent Walton is rather taken aback by Myers' snazzy and sharp yellow pants and headband! Sadly the second round was cut from the broadcast, but the first two televised rounds sees both wrestlers go back and forth exchanging holds and trying to gain the advantage. There is a super quick sequence of snap mares and wrist levers between the two in the first and the third there is a unique set of pin reversals that I haven't seen before. One man has the other covered, then the one on the bottom powers up and rolls over and this continues for four or five times eventually with Haward getting the advantage and at this time Myers has to bridge up to avoid being counted down. Haward tries to pull the back of Myers' head to flatten him out, but using his neck strength he holds the bridge and slowly slides towards the ropes forcing the break. The fourth round sees Myers bring out all sorts of big moves as he looked to gain the first fall, from a straight arm lift, to a double underhook suplex, hip toss cross press, some strikes before a second double underhook suplex finally scores the pin. Haward gets the equaliser in the next round following a beautiful tilt a whirl slam, before both men go all out in the final round to try and get the winning fall. Double leg nelson from Haward which Myers counters, a third double underhook suplex, Fireman's carry takedown countered in to a headscissors, a side surfboard by Haward before the bell rings signifying that the match is over and it's a one fall draw.

 

This was a really good bout, and the last round especially was great with both men going all out trying to get the win and them constantly countering and reversing each other. Plenty of high impact moves and a great showcase for both of them.

[tcg91]

Thanks for recommending this!

This was a great match and what one should expect from a Joint Promotions bout. I liked the idea of a slower pace, with a great set of counters and an impeccable matwork, then picking up when Myers tries to hit his opponent with a few strikes. They also mastered the idea of creating a stalemate and an equal match, without getting to the predictable "my turn, your turn" sequences. It's a shame that Haward doesn't have a lick of charisma, because Myers does and this was just missing a bit of spice here and there. This was starting to die towards the end anyway, I really wanted to see a finish but we got a draw and no resolution for the constant stalemate
***3/4