Chicky Starr vs. Invader III (Scaffold Match) (May 1986)

[El Boricua]

Chicky Starr vs. Invader III (Scaffold Match) (May 1986)

[elliott]

Before getting the PR set, the only matches I’d ever seen from PR were this match and the Hansen vs Colon series. I loved this when I first saw it years ago so I’m excited to rewatch it. GODDAMN that scaffold is really high and it is ROCKING back and forth violently. This is incredibly intense because of the scaffold. Every little thing they do is enhanced. Their over the top selling is incredible. Stumbling around up their in a mask like Invader III is fucking nuts with the scaffold swaying like that. Invader III really just takes it too Chicky up there busting him wide open. OH FUCK INVADER’S DROPKICK AND CHICKY’S BUMP FROM IT! HOLY FUCK! This match is so stressful. Chicky is just covered in blood up there. Invader’s got the mask on. There’s no reason one of these dudes shouldn’t accidentally fall off of this thing that looks completely unstable anyway. THE SUPLEX. And then the body slam attempt/blocking of the bodyslam. That is some crazy crazy shit. These two are totally insane and I’ve never been more terrified watching a wrestling match. This took years off of my life. Million stars. Everyone should see this.

[AJS]

I've never liked scaffold matches but this one was actually very dramatic and the final bump looked brutal. I did think the moment where Starr thought he'd won was incredibly stupid, but apart from that this was much better than I thought it would be.

[Willninho]

This was awesome! I don't recall if I've ever actually seen a scaffold match before or it's just not a match that sticks with me but this was really great. I thought all the teases were great and they really laid it in up there. And that final bump is/was nuts. 9/10.

[KB8]

Well damn. I never thought we'd get another scaffold match on the level of Dundee/Koko from the Memphis set, but this was a pretty fucking tremendous scaffold match. They also took it in a totally different direction from Dundee/Koko. That was mostly about shtick and Dundee using the tricks he learned working the high bar in the circus to scale and move around the platform. It was a little whimsical at times with some comedy thrown in. They never exactly beat the shit out of each other, because who in their right mind would want to have an actual wrestling match, never mind a full on brawl, up on a scaffold platform? Invader III and Chicky Starr, that's who. This started out a bit tentatively as you'd expect, with Chicky begging off and showing fear at being all the way up there, but pretty soon he gets busted open and it's like the blood forces him to cut loose. He knows that if he doesn't step up he might actually die, because that scaffold platform is HIGH and the guy he's on it with wants to throw him off it. Some of the stuff they did was batshit crazy. I've never seen anyone hit a dropkick in a scaffold match before, but sure enough Invader hits his all-time level dropkick and Chicky bumps himself almost to the edge of the platform. Invader hits a big vertical suplex, then they fight over a body slam at the shaky scaffold's edge and it's genuinely one of the most intense moments in a wrestling match I've seen in a while. I mean, if that goes wrong they are fucked. Chicky prematurely celebrating might've been a bit dumb, but Invader hanging on and dragging himself back up was impressive and Chicky's bump at the end was insane, like Batman dropping Sal Maroni off a balcony.

[WingedEagle]

Just an awesome scaffold match. It is so high and rickety, but at least looks wider than normal giving them some room to maneuver. We get blood even up high on a scaffold, and some great teases. They even work in a suplex which on any scaffold, but especially this one, feels like sheer madness. Invader finally takes an insane bump bump into the ring as he basically lands on his feet.

 

Given the limitations this was pretty incredible. Not sure how you could do much more without inviting serious injury.

 

***1/4

[Migs]

I generally don't like scaffold matches, but I like here that the platform seems a bit wider, so the balance of the wrestlers is a bit better, which allows stuff like Invader's drop kick. They still stick mostly to a brawl, but keep a good pace.

 

I didn't like Chicky thinking Invader had gone down - it strained credibility. Wouldn't he have seen him hold on? Wouldn't he have assumed he held on if he didn't hear him land?

 

***

[dawho5]

Chicky assuming Invader fell is the only thing working against this. If you can show me a better, more intense and legitimately scarier scaffold match than this I would be surprised. Chicky bumping after that dropkick so close to the edge of the scaffold had me jumping out of my seat. That suplex was probably one of the stupidest (but holy shit amazing and craziest) things I have ever seen. That scaffold did not look like it was built well enough to take something like that. The struggle over the slam near the edge was another moment I was doubting the sanity of both. Chicky's fall was pretty damn scary too. I'd say the blade job Chicky did is pretty nuts for being 20+ feet in the air too. What if blood loss fucks with your balance at the wrong time? And yeah, Invader 3 in the mask. There are so many reasons they should have never done this and it would just not be allowed today. But those are the same reasons that make it great. The brawling was pretty good too with Chicky getting more and more aggressive as the match went on to stave off Invader 3. It's just those aren't the moments you are going to take away from this match. I respect both of these insanely talented wrestlers for doing this, but I also think they should have been forced to take a psychiatric evaluation afterwards. It truly is a wonder neither or both were not seriously injured or killed.

[Jetlag]

Scaffold Match. What a fucking stupid stipulation. Putting the utter absurdity of all things relating to two guys having a wrestling match on a scaffold aside (those being, how come anyone stay on the scaffold longer than 2 minutes when in a regular match dudes get bumped around the ring within seconds? how anyone who's halfway dangling off of a scaffold can hang on while another grown man is punching and kicking him? why didn't he just suplex him straight off of that thing? etc.) this was pretty good mostly due to Invader's excellent punches and the wobbly selling mentioned above. Chicky doesn't have punches as good or very interesting tactics but what do ya want, he was busy having a wrestling match while not falling to his death. Altough I gotta admit I do not take kindly to this kind of idiotic spectacle. Also, even while 30 feet in the air heels aren't safe from having trash flung at them, so that's great.