[1980-01-04-Houston Wrestling] The Spoiler vs Ox Baker

[shoe]

This is an incredible Spoiler performance. Baker is a great character but a terrible worker. The psychology and storytelling is a masterpiece. They work around all of Baker's limitations. and push the story forward. I want to say I dug Baker's cross arm choke. Baker's strikes looked poor early, but they were fine towards the end.The story boiled down to Spoiler going for the claw throughout/ Baker focus was a 3 pronged attack. One he went for the Spoiler's mask, secondly he would work over Spoiler's back. and also would work over Spoiler's claw hand. I loved how Spoiler would try to get seperation when Baker went after the mask. They also built to a fun draw. Again this was strong storytelling, and really smart work. 3*

[AstroBoy]

Spoiler really makes the claw work in a theatrical way. He maximizes it and draws as much out of a simple hold as he can. His reaction to Ox catching his claw attempt is fantastic with him looking at his hand in disbelief. He does a great splay-armed sell falling back into the ropes off a simple strike that plays big. Ox didn't show much here but helped fire up the crowd a ton by bashing himself with a chair and sort of kicking the match into a more urgent space. The ropes are really loose here midway through the match but it doesn't seem to affect what they do too much. I wasn't super keen on the match overall but Spoiler did show some of those really nice moments.

[Jetlag]

"Big Ox Baker... redundant to call him big... almost redundant to call him an Ox..." I love Boesch. This was old school heel as you had battles of the Claw vs. The Bearhug, Stomach Claw, Heart Punch, etc. I love how Spoiler wipes his hand on the mat after Baker slips out of the claw. Some clever spots here such as Spoiler flying right into a bearhug, Spoiler blocking the heart punch, Baker working over Spoiler's hand here etc. Spoiler can do this kind of entertaining intimidating big dudes fight in his sleep.

[drew wardlaw]

Really digging this Houston show so far. This is another example of simple, effective storytelling and sound psychology. The Spoiler is constantly going for his patented claw, and Ox is trying to stop him. Not too much to add other than whats been said already, but the slugfest leading to the draw at the end was an added treat. Nice match here.

[soup23]

Ox sucks really bad. Just awful bumping and selling overall. Spoiler is strong as methodical but dangerous especially in how he worked the claw. **1/4 

[SAMS]

Ox Baker has an amazing look with big bushy mutton chops that meet up with his moustache and continues to droop down into a sort of mutton chop fu-manchu. It’s a shame that his in ring skills don’t match up to his facial hair game. Generally the match was worked around Baker trying to dislodge Spoiler’s mask or gripping him in a bear hug and the Spoiler applying claw holds. I think Paul Boesch was on commentary and he spent a LOT of time explaining the moves and how they were effective. This is a red flag to me that what the guys in the ring are doing looks like shit and needs camouflaging somehow. Definitely wouldn’t call this dynamic. Ended in a time limit draw. The most exciting part was the brief back and forth blows that came after the bell. Generally a pretty dull match.

★