[1970-12-03-JWA] Giant Baba vs Gene Kiniski

[Jetlag]

Ah, that old 60s/70s style of matwork. I remember years ago when I was obsessed with this stuff and downloading everything from Ditch I could find. If you've seen lucha title matches, british matwork or really anything modern this stuff will seem rather prehistoric to you, but there's lots of good stuff here. The star of the bout was Gene Kiniski as he has such a simple, yet cool style. He did a number of nifty holds and all of his offense was extremely painful looking. It was almost like incubatory ground and pound, as he would get Baba on the mat and then just stomp and knee drop him into oblivion. He does have really great stomps and knee drops and he was constantly attacking Baba's throat. His selling for Baba was also off the charts. Baba - well, I am not the biggest fan of this guy. He is a good wrestler - much better than you expect a weird giant with matchsticks arms to be, but watching him against these legendary guys I always wonder what they could do against someone a little more gifted. Also, no matter what they do on the mat, his matches always turn into Baba throwing a guy around with his signature offense and chops. To his credit, I liked his use of his freaky long legs to reverse Kiniski's holds, busting out the flying headscissor which is a pretty crazy spot for him. The famous "Smart Baba" was also present as this 2/3 falls match had 3 very good, genuinely surprising finishes and some dramatic selling in the last 3rd. Very fun contest if you can stomach watching something slow.

[Superstar Sleeze]

NWA International Champion Giant Baba vs Gene Kiniski - JWA 12/3/70 Two Out of Three Falls

Kiniski has since lost the World Championship to Dory Funk Jr and it has been about three years and some change. Kiniski is already over 40! Big Thunder still looks great. 

First Fall: We lose about 5 minutes at the beginning. Kiniski works a sitting crucifix that I didnt find all that interesting. Lots of similar stuff to what we saw in the 1967. Attacking the windpipe although not as much throttling. Some really good heavy hands. The footage quality of this a lot higher so the sound is crisp. Baba stands and bangs with him and that sends Kiniski scurrying although he doesnt leap over the top rope like last time. Like last time he uses a little assplay to get Baba down at one point. It is a lot of figure-4s around the head. Baba loves to work from underneath and he is a great seller. The crowd is all over Kiniski for using leverage and the ref is all over Baba when Baba breaks a hold applies his own but Big Thunder is already in the ropes. At about the 15 minute mark, business picks up as Baba starts to build momentum. He gets a really nice, forceful, organic headscissors that popped me. He has him tied up in that. Baba's second headscissors is even better and it pops the crowd too! He gets a third headscissors. This match is pretty fucking boring otherwise. I have a lot of patience and high tolerance for matwork but it is not really going anywhere and it doesnt look good. It is a lot of them 69'ing each other for lack of a better term and getting one counts. The ref is pretty frustrating in this match as there is a clear time Kiniski has Baba in a banana split but the ref never counts do they never get any heat on the hold. There was another time this happens but I forget the details. Around the 30 minute mark, shit picks up, Baba slaps the piss out of Kiniski. Kiniski slashes with some nice chops. This is pretty heated. Baba DROPKICK! One count! Baba dropkick 1-2-3! Pretty boring first fall. Lets see if they can salvage this. Baba 1-0.

Second Fall: A marked improvement. Kiniski works the armbar to start, Baba morphs that into his own abdominal stretch. I love how Kiniski sold for Baba as Baba stomped a hole in him. He really looked like he wanted no more. Baba goes for the ab stretch again, but too close the ropes. Baba is pouring it on. He goes for the Giant Chop, but Kiniski holds onto the ropes. Baba says no one makes him look like a fool and he ties Kiniski up in the ropes. He comes charging in like he is a Big E, but Big Thunder moves and GIANT BABA BASICALLY SUICIDE DIVES TO THE FLOOR WITH NO ONE TO CATCH HIM! HOLY SHIT WHAT A BUMP! That woke my ass up! I thought he would just eat the countout finish. Big Thunder hits the Bombs Away kneedrop from the apron. Shockingly, Baba beats the count but succumbs to the backbreaker. Alright that was much better. Tied 1-1.

Third Fall: Another very good fall. Forget to mention Kiniski has Johnny Valentine with him and a blond wrestler. They congratulate him as he continues to attack Baba in between falls. Baba is in really bad shape. He starts the third fall down and Kiniski is just beating the tar out of him. Another backbreaker for two. Baba is fighting from his back and knees, but Kiniski is in the driver's seat. As expected, the hero, Baba builds some momentum and even a Big Boot. It looks like he is going to vanquish another foreign foe. When out of nowhere, Kiniski gets behind Baba and DRILLS HIM WITH BACK DROP DRIVER! Baba sells this like a million bucks. 1-2-3! WHAT THE FUCK NEW CHAMPION?!?!

Ok, I was spoiled on this as I was looking up the International Title history for the Bobo Brazil match and saw Kiniski had won it. Brazil and Kiniski are the only two men that beat Baba for the title so this was pretty crazy. This is like the end of a Nitro as the crowd is throwing all their garbage into the ring. Surprisingly they do not riot. They just pelt Kiniski with garbage. Last two falls are much better but that first fall is a snorefest. ***