[1972-02-08-CWF] Dory Funk Jr vs Jack Brisco

[ethantyler]

https://youtu.be/wOGte6HRCRI

Extensive highlights, about half of this 1 hour draw, shown during the weekly TV show alongside retrospective commentary from Gordon Solie, Jack Brisco, and John Heath. If treating pro wrestling like a real sport is your thing, then the commentary here will be heaven to your ears. John Heath in particular is a wealth of knowledge as the color guy.

[Rjhabeeb]

I wanted to love this soo bad. Mechanically its very good. The unique way its presented in edited form with voiced over commentary including Jack Brisco is on paper brilliant. Sadly it just doesnt work for me. Everything about it seems great until I watch it and then Im just underwhelmed. Think Im too conditioned to the way wrestling has been presented for the last 50 years because this just doesnt work despite two great workers having a very good match. Match ends in a time limit draw after 60 minutes. **

[Superstar Sleeze]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk Jr. vs Jack Brisco - CWF 2/8/72

If we have heard it once, we have heard it a million times “well this isn’t Funk/Brisco”. So we know what is not Funk/Brisco let’s find out what is.

First 20 minutes: It is amazing we have as much as we do as outside of Japan this much footage is not readily available until the late 70s really. Gordon & Eddie Graham hype this as the first World Title match on TV. Solid immediately spoils the result saying they went to a one hour draw so they need to split it up. It seems like the JIP’d twenty minutes as this twenty minute stretch is pretty complete. It doesn’t hit the highs of Brisco/Inoki but few matches do. It is excellent championship style wrestling. Junior going for the Spinning Toehold is the first thing we see. Jack clamps on a tight headlock. It is Backlund-esque the way he rows and wrenches it. Junior hits two kneecrushers. Watch how Jack registers the pain but fights through it. Junior needs to slam Jack head into the turnbuckle and a back Suplex to gain the advantage. He attacks the arm but Jack returns the favor snapping the arm over the top rope. Junior wrestled very heelish, boot rake, crowding in the corner with his really nice tight European Uppercuts. Jack has two great flash nearfalls a backslide and a sunset flip. His commentary on the Sunset Flip is genius. He explains Junior set to early on the back body drop attempt and Jack read the play and applied a sunset flip. I would have never seen it that way but that makes perfect sense. I love defensive wrestling. Another great defense spot is Junior goes back to working the arm and Brisco applies a very tight Body Scissors. The way he catches Junior with it is perfect. Junior not to be outdone converts into a Boston Crab. This is very high end pro wrestling. It is shame it is not complete but this is great stuff to watch. 
 

Second Twenty Minutes: There’s two clip in here so hard to say where we are at any given point in the match. Jack is cooking. Double stomp love that move. Boston Crab. Backbreaker. Junior resorts to throwing him over the top rope to stop the bleeding. Bombs Away Kneeedrop by Junior. He telegraphs a move and Jack gets behind for a German and Jack throws him over the top rope so he tastes his own medicine. Junior’s foot gets stuck in the ropes. Jack is relentless as the ref pries the ropes sort releasing Junior’s foot. Jack applies the Figure-4! I popped. Junior breaks free and wrenches the leg against the apron and goes for the Spinning Toehold but Jack reverses into a figure 4 attenpt. The red is bumped and Junior hits his other finish the Butterfly Suplex. I want to mention you can really tell where Steamboat drew his inspiration from in how to sell. Jack is selling like million bucks. Junior goes to the top rope and gets press slammed off of it. I love that this is a tradition of NWA Champions. Jack tries to pour it on but Junior monkey flips him out of the ring to waste clock. The clock is Jack’s biggest enemy. Junior keeps blocking the figure-4. Jack with abdominal stretch and he converts into a cradle. It is a race against the clock. Can he negotiate the pinfall? He cannot.

I loved the presentation in some ways, the scientific explanations were great. It just sucked that they had to tell you the finish at the outset of the match. I don’t think this would be 5 stars but 4.5 stars is not out of the realm of possibilities. Excellent championship style wrestling match.