January 1979

This is the first-ever match for Monster Ripper (aka the future Bertha Faye) and you could easily make the argument that this is the best debut match ever. This was a total war with an insane amount of heat. Ripper and Kumano look like two of the nastiest school bullies and Sato and Ueda are over like Hulk Hogan in 1985. This wasn't pretty, but I'd say that is part of this match's charm. This isn't sloppy in a 90s AJW way, it's sloppy because these girls fucking hate each other and they don't need their shit to look pretty. Everything reaches boiling point during the final fall. I love the double-team moves of Ripper and Kumano. Monster Ripper uses her Monster Ass to caus…

I'm not convinced on this date (clawmaster's stuff says this was in Richmond with the opposite result). This is JIP after the introductions. We get a King of the Mountain control segment, a Mulligan comeback that goes to the outside, Studd taking back over after ref intervention with a cheapshot elbow, a heel control segment in the ring which culminates with a Studd bearhug,Mulligan doing what he does best by teasing the claw, that moment just being a quick second to free himself, and a cross body for the pin. Post match Studd gets his heat back with a beatdown and the prelim guys come out so he'll leave. The crowd's amazing. There are two clear moments of comeba…

Short bloody nasty little affair. It almost feels like a match made so Dusty would make the cover of seedy wrestling magazines, as two minutes in Dusty has a spiderweb of blood on his face and in his blond afro. Lewin does his best to win a bleeding contest too, as he is covered very quickly. They smash each other into posts and tables, and Lewin brings in a 2x4. Finish is great with Dusty bionic elbowing Lewin right in the brain stem, knocking him down for one more elbow and the pin. Could have used a couple of more minutes, but a treat to see an old fashioned clubberin from the American Dream

This is exactly the kind of match I was hoping would show up when the NWA on demand service was pitched. Two absolute legends, guys with limited footage in their primes having an old school 35 minute 2/3 fall World title match. I am pretty sure there is no other footage of Andre wrestling for the NWA title, and I am also pretty sure this is the only version of this match up we have. First fall was pretty interesting with Andre really doing some nasty arm work, lots of twisting and pulling, a nasty looking hammerlock submission, the Anderson brother hammerlock body slam ect.. Harley gets dominated most of the first fall, but is able to get Andre to the floor and hit a nast…

Ha, Dory is so lazy he almost forgets to bump for a Mascaras armdrag during the opening exchanges. This was worked like one of those AJPW 70s tags, but a really efficient one and none of the stuff they did came across as dated. The Funks are a heel duo here and really good one at that. Christ, can you imagine running this match in 2016? If it happened today Terry would come in with a MAGA trucker hat and tell Lothario to go back while patting him on the shoulder. Terry was really great here like I expect a guy I placed in my All Time Top 5 to be. He came across as a hotheaded bull even during the hold sections and he was a total prick to the babyfaces all the way through.…

Snuka & Orndorff defend their newly won NWA World Tag Team Titles

Wow I really enjoyed this. I've always been a guy who prioritized story over athletic ability. Here these guys tell a great story. One of the things that I really appreciate about the service is being able to really discover guys or seeing guys you have heard about. In this match we have Lothario who has been a real revelation. Conway Jr has solidified himself as a really good baby face. Hito and Sakurada have been put over by Bret Hart so I was really excited to check them out. True to form they had great psychology. These guys went close to 30 minutes and it was so good. Pre match we have the Japan flag out. Conway has the U.S Flag and now it's really hot. The h…

Steamboat defends the U.S. Title

Jose Lothario vs Gino Hernandez 1/19/79 This is a Texas Death match in a cage and it's amazing. Lothario threw a great punch. Gino shined him up real good.Lothario working the arm was great. Gino bumped big,had a good elbow. This was super hate filled. Gino's knee drops were vicious. Watch this match Asap if you're a fan of smart work. They did an amazing job of miliking the drama. 4*

This was mostly hold-for-hold wrestling so of course it was impossibly cool. You kind of forget that outside of all the flipping around and piledrivers on the floor, Dynamite Kid could really go on the mat. And Mr. Wrestling lived up to his name. This was DK before all the roids, and he was this skinny long haired punk, who was fast on the mat, but could also get aggressive and go nuts with the dropkicks. The announcer rightly points out the dynamic is DK is a snotty brat and Mr. Wrestling is the old school class act teaching this rascal some manners, including a funny spot where he slapped him like the uppity little shit he was. There is some niggle with guys being aggre…

Long junior tag from 1979! Hard not to love a match that has these stocky juniors doing all their awesome offense. Awesome takedowns, knee drops, punches, sumo slaps and flying headbutts a plenty. Match also had a really smart layout and clever use of double teams. Starts in a rush and then turns into a long uphill battle. The 2nd fall of this match alone as better than a lot of 1 fall singles matches. I guess the match peaked early when Inoue and Hoshino get into serious fight in the middle of the match, but that was an amazing moment and the rest of the match was still impossibly cool.

This match is the opener in a tournament to crown the new British Welterweight Champion. The tournament took its time to play out, starting here and not ending until late June. The rounds system allows these two to keep up a brisk pace and on occasion when one man is stringing together a combination on offensive maneuvers the end result holds its own against the majority of today’s fast-paced, super-athletic style, even if the moves being used would be considered basic by modern standards. And what is done here looks good. And at less than 12 minutes, I would recommend this match as an introduction to the format of European rounds if you are unfamiliar with this styl…