Last Battle of Atlanta

[goc]

 

 

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses.

 

The finish was a standard slam into the side of the cage. Weak sauce. Better finish would be the slam into the side of the cage then a big piledriver from Rich, assuming he didn't do the piledriver earlier.

Maybe throw a Frankensteiner or two in there too right?

 

I didn't mind the finish but the post match was really weak. I got no sense that it was the end of a long feud because they didn't shake hands afterwards or start crying and take bows to the crowd.

[JerryvonKramer]

 

 

 

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses.

 

 

The finish was a standard slam into the side of the cage. Weak sauce. Better finish would be the slam into the side of the cage then a big piledriver from Rich, assuming he didn't do the piledriver earlier.

Maybe throw a Frankensteiner or two in there too right?

I didn't mind the finish but the post match was really weak. I got no sense that it was the end of a long feud because they didn't shake hands afterwards or start crying and take bows to the crowd.

First time around the finish did take me a bit off guard and it is a little abrupt. But expecting definitive finishers in 1983 just wasn't how they tended to work. For example, the blow off to the epic Bruno vs. Larry feud is just Bruno walking out of the cage.

 

What's the finish of Final Conflict? Kernodle has Youngblood covered and Sarge is tied up with the ref while Steamer goes over and rolls Youngblood on top. The finish isn't really what you remember, it's the massive bump from Sarge and the huge amounts of blood,

 

Here the finish isn't what you remember, it's them laying in shots on their knees, and again the colour.

 

Magnum vs Tully has a really memorable finish, but I can't really recall off-hand finishes for Sarge vs. Patterson or Sarge vs. Sheik. Doesn't Sarge just whack him with a boot one last time or something like that?

 

The idea of attritional damage and being exhausted / worn down through brutality was bigger in the early 80s than it would be later when it's all about the impact of one big move.

[Loss]

Wrestling has morphed from having really good beginning and middle sections and weak finishes to having really weak beginning and middle sections and strong finishing stretches.

[goc]

Well the Sarge/Sheik finish was a big payoff to the whole thing as a big part of the feud was Iron Sheik kicking Sarge with his "loaded" boot and then the final match ended with Sarge taking Sheik's boot away from him and hitting him with it. So I would put that one in the iconic finish category. Taste of your own medicine and whatnot.

[JerryvonKramer]

Well the Sarge/Sheik finish was a big payoff to the whole thing as a big part of the feud was Iron Sheik kicking Sarge with his "loaded" boot and then the final match ended with Sarge taking Sheik's boot away from him and hitting him with it. So I would put that one in the iconic finish category. Taste of your own medicine and whatnot.

You get the point though, if that match had happened even two years later it would have had Sarge teasing that boot a lot more than he did before the point of impact, and also the camera lingering on it with Vince emphasising the plot points, etc. etc.

 

Of all the things that took the longest to get used to for me going back and watching late 70s / early 80s stuff, the abrupt finishes were the hardest thing to get used to. Like in so many matches the piledriver looks devastating, but it doesn't finish the match and then they get the pinfall off a basic slam or whatever. Not saying it is a good thing, just saying that in that era expecting really definitive finishes is a bit of an anachronism.

[NintendoLogic]

Slaughter/Patterson ended when the Grand Wizard threw in the towel because Slaughter had lost too much blood. I'd classify that as iconic. And the loaded boot in Slaughter/Sheik was iconic enough for Slaughter to do a callback to it in the Desert Storm Match with Hogan. Basically, I think any match finish centered around a MacGuffin (like the boot or the coal miner's glove in Duggan/DiBiase) qualifies as iconic.

[Superstar Sleeze]

TL,DR: Ole/Ellering was fucking awesome and on par with Last Battle of Atlanta proper. Rich/Sawyer was a excellent bloody war of attrition. Great middle/ending! Thought it was missing a real beginning. Almost like they JIP'd to the heat segment. Would have liked some more energy or just a spark. Nitpicking there, bloody, great selling and love the Mad Dog cross body to cage and leads to finish! Definite top 100 US match of 80s!

 

 

Tommy "Wildfire" Rich vs "Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer - Last Battle of Atlanta

 

"It's gotta be. It's going to be." - "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer waxing philosophic in the face of The Last Battle.

 

Wildfire vs Mad Dog. Precious Paul above it all. A Flood Of Blood To End It All. In a match so concerned about finality, the beginning is neglected. It felt like we joined the match in progress in my opinion. They just jumped right into the heat segment and everyone selling a war of attrition. It was an incredible heat segment and one helluva finish, but it was missing that spark. I think it was because they cut out a red hot babyface shine or even if was just a red hot slugfest to start it out. I liked the cautious beginning with each man afraid of punching the cage or going into the cage. Instead of it breaking loose, Rich's arm gets smashed into the cage and Buzz goes to work.

 

I like to tuck my complaints in the back end of a review, but because my sole complaint was about the beginning I thought I stick it there. What follows is incredible, violent, bloody war of attrition. Mad Dog was nominally in control of the majority of the match attacking the arm at first, but then switching to smashing Rich's head into the cage followed by biting and working the cut. Rich was great with the desperate hope spots like going for the balls and then just all out slugging Sawyer. I loved the one where he just grabbed Sawyer and piledrove him. At every turn Buzz because he established a lead early on that he was able to cutoff Rich in some fashion with an eye poke, going to the arm or the cut. Rich eventually busts Sawyer wide open on a cage shot. These just are totally bleeding buckets. The rules were a bit unclear at first. There is no ref in the ring. Over the PA, an official is counting at first I thought it was Last Man Standing, but pinfalls were permissible. There was an all-time great slugfest from their knees. The ultimate Oh Shit Highspot was Buzz hurling his own body into the cage as Wildfired ducked out of the way. Rich repeatedly slammed Sawyer's head into the cage. I liked how Rich collapsed and the official was counting both men down and then Rich kinda just flopped his body on Buzz Sawyer for the win.

 

Impressive heat segment and finish. Absolute war of attrition with great selling, lots of struggle (loved Rich's desperate hope spots and Buzz's dickish cutoffs) and a very final finish. Still felt like it lacked energy. Absolutely great match and worth the 33 year wait. ****1/2

 

Ole Anderson vs Paul Ellering - Last Battle of Atlanta

 

In a bonus match that is almost as great as the Last Battle of Atlanta, Ole and Precious Paul tear the house down! Love how Ellering cupped the back of Buzz's head when he got into the cage. Crimson Mask is an understatement here. You can barely make out Mad Dog's face. Ole comes in street clothes and just hands Ellering's ass to him. He even tears his jeans hardway!!! Incredible babyface shine this is what the above match needed. Just so much energy with Ellering playing pinball and Ole killing him at every turn. So that when Ellering finally manages an inverted atomic drop crowd, the crowd is molten for Ole. Ellering works a great heat segment on Ole busting him open and choking him. Ole's comeback is so awesome. He is such a great Walking Tall babayface. He just keeps moving forward with some great body punches and then firing them off into the face. I loved the headbutt finish completely with Ole walking through it and covering. Jake The Snake and Ellering whip Ole like a dog to set up the next show. Awesome bloodbath match with more energy, but didn't have the same hatred as the previous. Still a total classic in my opinion. ****1/2

[BrianB]

 

 

 

 

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses.

 

The finish was a standard slam into the side of the cage. Weak sauce. Better finish would be the slam into the side of the cage then a big piledriver from Rich, assuming he didn't do the piledriver earlier.

Maybe throw a Frankensteiner or two in there too right?

I didn't mind the finish but the post match was really weak. I got no sense that it was the end of a long feud because they didn't shake hands afterwards or start crying and take bows to the crowd.

First time around the finish did take me a bit off guard and it is a little abrupt. But expecting definitive finishers in 1983 just wasn't how they tended to work. For example, the blow off to the epic Bruno vs. Larry feud is just Bruno walking out of the cage.

 

What's the finish of Final Conflict? Kernodle has Youngblood covered and Sarge is tied up with the ref while Steamer goes over and rolls Youngblood on top. The finish isn't really what you remember, it's the massive bump from Sarge and the huge amounts of blood,

 

Here the finish isn't what you remember, it's them laying in shots on their knees, and again the colour.

 

Magnum vs Tully has a really memorable finish, but I can't really recall off-hand finishes for Sarge vs. Patterson or Sarge vs. Sheik. Doesn't Sarge just whack him with a boot one last time or something like that?

 

The idea of attritional damage and being exhausted / worn down through brutality was bigger in the early 80s than it would be later when it's all about the impact of one big move.

 

 

I agree with almost all of that. However, the match still would have been stronger with a more solid finish. I'm a little leery of calling that ahistorical aesthetic criticism because it's also not like most old school wrestlers didn't put a lot of importance on properly working the finish. Plus, this is a big match booked with a clear finish, rather than a non-finish or a screwy finish.

 

I will say that everyone saying it's just a whipping a guy face first into the cage, to me that seems a little bit wrong. Really, it's picking him up and doing that 2x. And it's 2x after Rich gets advantage after Sawyer's failed crossbody and a couple other face first throws into the cage. (I liked this aspect because I'm so tired of the WWE standard routine of...omg shocked face! he kicked out!? stall or let other guy get his offense coming back, instead Rich is just going to keep fighting through exhaustion and do it again!)

 

I liked the finish for helping to play into the major idea for the match of playing into the attrition and exhaustion aspect of the match. However, even on a few re-watches, it strikes me as a minute or two too soon for that, even considering all the blood gushing and how yes, guys will gas out very quickly in a real fight. I think the crowd, while satisfied, was ready for either more or a more definitive stamp moment to it. Along those lines, and finally, I think they could have tried to work something out to make that final blow into the cage more impactful looking because everyone probably will remember that missed crossbody that kicked off the prior nearfall sequence more. Maybe even something like Sawyer barely getting a shoulder up and an exhausted Rich, who can hardly stand, just gets a mount type position on him, hits him a couple times, and headbutts him a few times before almost collapsing into the final pin. With all the blood and Rich's hair, I think that might have been more impactful.

 

 

Couple points

 

-- re: Rich and arm selling (to BrianB's post) - Sawyer stopped working the arm fairly early so it would make sense that Rich would get the feeling back and not be selling as much later.

 

-- I think it's probably fair to say the Ole match had more heat from the crowd, which is definitely interesting given the historical recounting of the build to the LBOA. I think it was Kris that said they fired this feud back up to blow it off and turn Buzz babyface (hence the team-up the next month) so maybe this is the crowd showing they weren't as invested as maybe they would have been a year earlier.

 

-Re: Sawyer and Rich and the arm. Somewhat. But it is awful fast, even for wrestling logic. Sawyer definitely stops being as focused on it, which makes sense, because he wants to beat Rich's ass, bash his skull in, and bite his face off, so that makes sense psychology-wise. Especially since in Rich's desperation to protect his arm (it's his only strong punching arm ), he ball shots Sawyer early in the match. That attack focus shift is ultimately to turtle belly Sawyer's detriment because Rich has more gas in the tank and enough dog in the fight to outlast him in a brutal man-o-man brawl. I liked that psychology of the match.

 

I also was impressed with the Ole match. I wouldn't put it above the cage match, but it was an awesome bonus of similar quality.

[Tabe]

 

 

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses.

 

The finish was a standard slam into the side of the cage. Weak sauce. Better finish would be the slam into the side of the cage then a big piledriver from Rich, assuming he didn't do the piledriver earlier.

Maybe throw a Frankensteiner or two in there too right?

 

Yeah, that's clearly what I'm advocating.

[JerryvonKramer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses.

 

The finish was a standard slam into the side of the cage. Weak sauce. Better finish would be the slam into the side of the cage then a big piledriver from Rich, assuming he didn't do the piledriver earlier.

Maybe throw a Frankensteiner or two in there too right?

I didn't mind the finish but the post match was really weak. I got no sense that it was the end of a long feud because they didn't shake hands afterwards or start crying and take bows to the crowd.

First time around the finish did take me a bit off guard and it is a little abrupt. But expecting definitive finishers in 1983 just wasn't how they tended to work. For example, the blow off to the epic Bruno vs. Larry feud is just Bruno walking out of the cage.

 

What's the finish of Final Conflict? Kernodle has Youngblood covered and Sarge is tied up with the ref while Steamer goes over and rolls Youngblood on top. The finish isn't really what you remember, it's the massive bump from Sarge and the huge amounts of blood,

 

Here the finish isn't what you remember, it's them laying in shots on their knees, and again the colour.

 

Magnum vs Tully has a really memorable finish, but I can't really recall off-hand finishes for Sarge vs. Patterson or Sarge vs. Sheik. Doesn't Sarge just whack him with a boot one last time or something like that?

 

The idea of attritional damage and being exhausted / worn down through brutality was bigger in the early 80s than it would be later when it's all about the impact of one big move.

I agree with almost all of that. However, the match still would have been stronger with a more solid finish. I'm a little leery of calling that ahistorical aesthetic criticism because it's also not like most old school wrestlers didn't put a lot of importance on properly working the finish. Plus, this is a big match booked with a clear finish, rather than a non-finish or a screwy finish.

 

I will say that everyone saying it's just a whipping a guy face first into the cage, to me that seems a little bit wrong. Really, it's picking him up and doing that 2x. And it's 2x after Rich gets advantage after Sawyer's failed crossbody and a couple other face first throws into the cage. (I liked this aspect because I'm so tired of the WWE standard routine of...omg shocked face! he kicked out!? stall or let other guy get his offense coming back, instead Rich is just going to keep fighting through exhaustion and do it again!)

 

I liked the finish for helping to play into the major idea for the match of playing into the attrition and exhaustion aspect of the match. However, even on a few re-watches, it strikes me as a minute or two too soon for that, even considering all the blood gushing and how yes, guys will gas out very quickly in a real fight. I think the crowd, while satisfied, was ready for either more or a more definitive stamp moment to it. Along those lines, and finally, I think they could have tried to work something out to make that final blow into the cage more impactful looking because everyone probably will remember that missed crossbody that kicked off the prior nearfall sequence more. Maybe even something like Sawyer barely getting a shoulder up and an exhausted Rich, who can hardly stand, just gets a mount type position on him, hits him a couple times, and headbutts him a few times before almost collapsing into the final pin. With all the blood and Rich's hair, I think that might have been more impactful.

Yeah, great post. I don't disagree. I think the finish being the way it was probably fed into Ole vs Ellering as the ultimate pay off for this.

 

Ellering was in the cage and wasn't the stip that if Rich won, Ole would get to face Ellering in there?

 

The crowd, to me at least, seemed even more pumped for that. And it seems like we have to view the two matches back to back, which is why I'm guessing WWE released it that way.

 

Seems to me that the booking was pointing towards the second match. If all of that detracts from Last Battle as a stand alone match, I think that's fair criticism. The real heat seems to come from Ole kicking the shit out of Ellering, even as over as Rich was.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I don't get the dislike of the finish as I thought it worked perfectly and made both guys look like badasses.

 

The finish was a standard slam into the side of the cage. Weak sauce. Better finish would be the slam into the side of the cage then a big piledriver from Rich, assuming he didn't do the piledriver earlier.

Maybe throw a Frankensteiner or two in there too right?

Yeah, that's clearly what I'm advocating.

Yeah, sorry for snark earlier. Not deserved.

[Tabe]

Yeah, sorry for snark earlier. Not deserved.

Apology accepted!

[Al]

I enjoyed that Ellering had wrestling tights on and Ole Anderson didn't. Talk about having/not having faith in your respective wrestlers!

[The Russian Daydream]

I thought this was pretty awesome. It isn't quite a perfect 5-star match for me, but it is ultra memorable. I feel like there are moments and visuals in Thierry which I'll remember forever.

 

I totally bought into the hatred in the match, the blood was absolutely fitting and I thought Sawyer as the psychotic animal type was brilliant (the aforementioned tugging on the roof was a perfect touch). As for the finish, I could totally buy that the beating inflicted could be enough to render a man unconscious, so it worked for me.

 

That piledriver by Rich was a weird one. I had to wind back and check I'd not lost concentration and missed something, it just came from nowhere and didn't really go anywhere either, like they paused precedings for a quick piledrivers before resuming the match.

 

As for the crowd, you could hear the crowd were into it, although it wasn't miked like at a modern professionally shot show. The problem was the fans opposite the camera in the front row, hardly moved. I don't think they were really a reflection of the whole crowd, but that half-dozen do bring the atmosphere down a touch.

[rzombie1988]

Thought it was eh. Compare it to Lawler/Dundee or even switch them and you can tell the quality wasn't there. It felt rushed, likely because of the match after it, the crowd wasn't there and the work wasn't anything special.Sawyer sold well though.

[ragemaster]

Wasn't impressed at all with the match, Not on the same level as the final conflict cage match.

Don't get me wrong its a good match, but not to the level of hype it received.

 

I hadn't seen the Bret vs Austin match from south Africa before.

So I put it on afterwards, thought this blew the last battle away.

 

Surprised I've not heard more hype for it, better than there match at the In your house ppv.

[Cap]

The first time I watched this match I felt underwhelmed, but I kept wanting to like it more because of its historical significance. I felt a real dissonance between what I saw and what I felt and it was clear to me that my first watch was just functioning to shed my expectations and get that whole "this is it" out of my system. I watched it again and the second watch was almost completely different. The whole thing made more sense to me. Buzz did feel like a crazed animal in the match, trying to figure out what he was working with. That really set a tone for me. The first time I watched it I also felt a little lack of energy and a little lack of urgency, but on second watch that early part read very different to me. These are two big bad dudes in a fist fight behind the bleachers. They know how to fight. This isn’t their first rodeo and they are showing their experience early on. They don’t get worked up. The match builds beautifully from there. First Buzz cuts everything off well on the way up, then Tommy's comebacks build on one another wonderfully. They devil is really in the details to me. I love how Tommy works around the arm in parts. I love how Buzz uses his cutoffs. I loved that final jab when Tommy missed off the top. It felt like the bad guy had really gotten the best of him. It made the finish that much more special. Tommy goes all in and it feels like there is finality here to me. Like some, the finish snuck up on me and felt flat on the first watch, but again, the second watch was totally different. After I pealed away those expectations I thought the finish actually made sense. I could have dealt with 3-5 more minutes, but that is just because I liked the match so much and wanted more.

 

I think this is every bit the match Duggan/DiBiase is and it ranks up there with the best of Memphis. I probably like it more than the Sgt. Slaughter canonical bouts with Patterson and Sheik. This is pretty elite stuff in my book.

[Eegah]

I enjoyed the hell out of this. A rare feeling of surreal with how much Ive wanted to see it over the years but was always thought to be out of grasp. Double juice brawl that didnt linger to long, add in the Ole/Ellering post match and as a whole I thought it was tremendous.

[drew wardlaw]

What a great match! I ate a whole sleeve of Oreos during it!

 

This felt really mean-spirited and joyless, even in victory for Rich. Totally disturbing visuals in this match, from the opening shot of the two cages, to Ape Man Sawyer marauding around before the bell, to the wrestlers seemingly losing consciousness while stumbling around trying to fight. There's a really isolationist feeling here, where the roof really separates the crowd from the wrestlers, and with only the announcer counting over the PA it feels almost like a scifi movie or something, like the crowd could be aliens and this is the entertainment.

 

As for the work, the cage came into play early and a mis-timed punch lets Sawyer take advantage of a hurt arm, and he goes from there. Rich sold it appropriately well I thought, Like someone else said, it wasn't the sole focus of the match and it was over fairly early, totally believable to me. Sawyer takes a crazy crossbody bump, and from there Rich sees a way to hurt him as he tries to outlast. I thought the finish was great, not flat at all to me. Both guys are totally spent, bleeding everywhere, they are both collapsed, and Rich can just barely crawl over to cover Mad Dog. Awesome stuff.

[Ricky Jackson]

We broke down the match and everything around it last night on Titans

 

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-67-the-last-battle-of-atlanta/

[JKWebb]

Listening to he podcast now, and really enjoying it. One thing I'll say is that I miss finishes like this. I know there are some complaints to it being anti-climatic, but I prefer this finish to someone taking 5 attitude adjustments before they can't kick out at the last possible second anymore ... If you're conditioned to think that someone might not kick out of a punch or a slam into a cage then you hang onto these pinfalls just like you might do in a modern day match when the "finishers" sequence starts kicking in... Except it feels less predictable this way ... For me anyway

[Tabe]

Listening to he podcast now, and really enjoying it. One thing I'll say is that I miss finishes like this. I know there are some complaints to it being anti-climatic, but I prefer this finish to someone taking 5 attitude adjustments before they can't kick out at the last possible second anymore ... If you're conditioned to think that someone might not kick out of a punch or a slam into a cage then you hang onto these pinfalls just like you might do in a modern day match when the "finishers" sequence starts kicking in... Except it feels less predictable this way ... For me anyway

This is a fair point. One of my favorite finishes of all-time is the Steamboat/Youngblood vs Briscos match from Starrcade '83. The finish isn't some huge move/finisher but rather the culmination of damage. Do a move, 2.8 count, do another - 3 count. It makes sense and it worked in that match.

 

That said, I just feel like a match like LBOA needs a bigger ending. Pull Rich's piledriver from earlier in the match and stick it after the slam into the cage for your finish.

[shoe]

I don't think they wanted a defenitive finish. I think they wanted a finish that could have gone either way. I thought both leaving with help worked in spades.

[clintthecrippler]

If there was a cage match on the next WWE Network special where the only allowed moves were punches and ramming your opponent into the cage, that would probably be my most anticipated match of the year.

 

Tommy and Buzz were bleeding like stuck pigs. Tommy managed to ram a woozy blood loss-stricken Buzz into the cage one more time than his opponent the other way around. And because of that, Tommy won.

 

I have no complaints.