December 1979

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Greg Valentine - NJPW 12/4/79 One of the sad things about this world is that The Hammer didn't work Japan more. I just typed "Tatsumi Fujinami vs" into Google to see what cropped up and saw this and said Hell Yeah! Dream Match totally lives up to the hype. Stiffness to the max. Tons of great cat & mouse spots. Both dudes are super motivated. Very energetic and urgent. Valentine brutalizes and works the leg. Fujinami dishes it out as good as he gets. I really love how Fujinami stands up for himself. Valentine does Timbahhh and isn't afraid to stooge. FUJINAMI DIVES ON VALENTINE!!! AAAAHHHHHHH!!! And we get a clean finish! My only com…

I'm sure it is common knowledge to many but I had no idea Wahoo worked All Japan. I was worried about this because of Abdullah but it ended up totally ruling. Abdullah has maybe two or three moves he can do right and he sticks to them here, I do love his goofy selling though, and Wahoo's brutal chops totally make you buy into the combination of the two. I love how Wahoo grabbed Abdullah's chin when they locked up and two minutes in both guys were bleeding, slamming each other into the timekeeper's table and doing epic strike exchanges. Finish kind of sucked as they went out of the ring for no reason for the dreaded double count-out buh man oh man you can FEEL Wahoo is an …

WWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Bob Backlund - NJPW 12/6/79 Inoki was presented as the champion so he will be given that designation in this review even though WWE disputes his title reign. There is something therapeutic to me about watching championship style wrestling. It can be sat and enjoyed. You can process it and look for details and watch for facial expressions. I really enjoy the human game of chess as Larry Z would call it. A great example of this game of body positioning was Backlund looking to grab a leg while in the midst of a side headlock. Inoki dropped to his back and executed a monkey flip to discombobulate Backlund and then reassert …

This is from the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis, TN. Lance Russell tells us that this is title vs title, AWA vs Jerry Lawler's "CWA world title". Lawler is a heel and has Jimmy Hart in his corner. The last time Bockwinkel and Lawler faced each other in August, it was a 60 minute draw. This match has a 90 minute time limit. We are JIP at around the 20 minute mark. Lawler is reeling, Bockwinkel hits him with two uppercuts to the midsection. Bockwinkel spins around and hits another, he follows Lawler to the corner and slams his head twice into the turnbuckle. He runs him across the ring and slams him again into the opposite corner. Bockwinkel takes a sw…

Two tag team partners collide in a sensational wrestling contest. Really, just look at that opening exchange! Aoyama is a lunatic, leaping to the tope rope with no hands on a 70s ring with really loose ropes. Aside from the state of the art offense, these two just engage in some tight, hard-fought wrestling, including a great lock up. A great LOCKUP! Absolutely loved Aoyama's comeback dropkicks – beautiful looking and fit her tall, lanky frame. Insane car crash finish where a blown spot actually adds to the match. Were it not for the commercial break and clip in the middle of the bout, this would be deserving of legendary status.

The conclusion to both teams' rivalry over the years, as well as the first of their matches - whether singles or tag - to have a decisive finish. Terry puts on an all-time great babyface performance, getting pummeled and maimed far worse than their 1977 outing, which makes for some incredibly cathartic payoffs. Dory also takes a good beating of his own, and the heels put every dirty trick to work before one costs them the win. Easily a classic from All Japan and still one of the best Tag League finals that there's ever been. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY5wtCuzOg4

I’m loving the proto-shoot-style of these late 70’s junior heavyweight matches that feel like transition pieces into the 80’s mentality of “more is better”. Kengo Kimura is awesomely aggressive throughout, staying on Fujinami like salt on pretzels. He tries overwhelming him with offense right out of the gate and then works to keep him grounded, utilizing a great Indian deathlock and the grounded headscissors. Fujinami plays defense for much of the match but his reversals are slick per usual. They pick up the momentum midway through with a fun little snapmare exchange and Kimura starts tapping his cache, hitting a plancha to the outside, backdrop suplexes (including one on…

Available on the Network, Vault, Old School, 1979. MSG 12/17/79 (full show)

NWA TITLE DEFENSE at the Garden!!! Available on the Network, Vault, Old School, 1979. MSG 12/17/79 (full show)

Hulk Hogan vs Ted DiBiase December 17, 1979 New York, NY Availability WWF on MSG Network - December 17, 1979 WWE Hulk Still Rules DVD

This was interesting. It had a lot of stuff I liked in it. I understand where Matt D thought the Full Nelson would be more dramatic in the 3rd fall. It makes sense though to use a bear hug to counter a headlock. Strengths 1. Jimmy Snuka's athleticism. His high spots really stood out. He seemed to ape a lot of Steamboat spots. My favorite spot was when Patera tossed Snuka off, and Hulked up only to eat a Snuka drop kick. 2. The little nuances that Patera brought to the table. 3. Patera's heel work. 4. Cool to see JJ with Patera 5. Both guys charisma screamed superstar. 6. Patera was the glue to the match. Weaknesses 1. Booked too long. I…

This was pretty good. The story of the match was interesting though the layout of the match made Conway Jr. look like a patsy quite a bit. Lothario would sell and play FIP then get the hot tag to Conway Jr. Only to get cut off. Gino was pretty great. I got the Flair vibe off him too. Matt is right I will spoil it . Tiger does a big time Tope'. I was shocked. The crowd bought into the story. 3*

This was a hard match to get a feel for. When thy announced the time limit at 15 it was really obvious we were getting a broadway. With no clear finish planned I thought the match lacked a strong narrative. It told a story, but if it was building to a finish I think the work would have been better. I thought Spoiler here was incredible with the teases of the claw. The actual claw, and all of the different variations of moves off the top ropes. I think I marked out the most when he was in the armbar and pretty much flipped out of it like a 160lb luchador. For Patera, I liked his charisma. I loved how he sold the avoiding of the claw. I loved how he ate all of Spoiler's off…