[1985-11-28-JCP-Starrcade '85] Krusher Kruschev vs Sam Houston

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Tim Evans]

Decent opener for the Mid Atlantic title. I didn't realize how big Kruschev was around this time. He make Houston look like a mini.

[Makai Club #1]

This was an interesting match choice to kick off Starrcade, with it being one of the more famous pairings of the era, despite their low card status. Kruschev aka Barry Darsow has always praised Sam Houston for being a wonderful opponent for him, and you can certainly see that chemistry. It's what you want from an opening match, getting the crowd hot and heavy immediately while not doing much past the basics, not affecting later matches down the show. Sam Houston is tall, being the son of Grizzly Smith after all, but the sheer mass of Kruschev is impressive and makes Houston more of an underdog than he usually is. Houston is very over with the Greensboro crowd and is able to get them rocking with punch/kick combos followed by dropkick. Kruschev is able to cut Houston off at several key moments though and is able to recover quickly after getting pinned with his foot on the rope to hit the Russian Sickle for the three count. Solid bout. ***