Microscope Match of the Week

Welcome to the Microscope Match of the Week. This note serves two purposes. I think for this week the second is more important than the first. The first is to discuss the Ron Garvin vs Big Bubba match from Starrcade 86. It's a contentious match on the board namely because Dylan touts it and Will completely and utterly decries it. I understand that not everyone has immediate access to the match so I hope at least we can have Will (or any other detractor) list what elements/specifics they think are faulty in the match and then someone will try to counter that argument. Or vice versa. That said, I have a feeling this week will not be the indication of the success or fa…

Grimmas takes us as far away as last week's pick as possible. Well, it's still a tag setting. Survivor Series was my favorite PPV as a kid mainly for two reasons. One is that it's like an alternate reality where moves that normally wouldn't win a match could. It's a little more exciting and even realistic because we're not longer stuck in a finisher paradigm. Suddenly a well placed kick or knee drop or flying body press can win a fall. The second reason is that you get interactions you wouldn't normally see. For instance, Warrior with the Rockers and Neidhart. Even Neidhart with the Rockers has a certain novelty that's cool. And though they were in the same faction for th…

You know, late 1987 is a bit of a black hole for me too, so I had no idea this match existed. I also didn't realize Simmons was around so early. Moreover, I didn't realize he was teaming with Gilbert like this. So the story here is that this match was supposed to be Sheepherders vs Fantastics. There had been a semi-final tournament match with Simmons/Gilbert vs the Sheepherders which is out there to watch too but I didn't have time to see it. Sheepherders won though. Then they went to New York to be the Bushwhackers and that meant Simmons/Gilbert end up in the finals. Parv would tell you that this was a very good thing indeed. To me, this is a match just full …

These are my original thoughts on the match when i watched it for the 80s nominations... My new thoughts... Early on, Garvin is punching Bubba square in the face. To get over how tough he is, Bubba is no selling the Hands of STONE! Bubba tries a new strategy trying to goad Bubba into a test of strength, Garvin pops him a couple of times and Bubba goes tumbling out of the ring. Back inside and Bubba tosses Garvin out of the ring a couple of times. Bubba's clubbering looks pretty weak but he sells the shit out of the water splash and Garvin's subsequent punches. His wobbling, collapsing giant sell was pretty great. When Bubba takes over on offense, he runs through …

I think this was Chad's pick. It is not hard to find, but keep in mind you're looking for the 5/18/94 match. I'll have more opinions later but I do want to point out a few things. We're good for the next few weeks but people should fill in their first pick if they haven't already. When I think we're tapped, or if we're getting closer to the end of what we have, I'll ask for a second round of them. I've seen very little All Japan from this era. I know it is sort of the high watermark of workrate style wrestling, the whole King's Road thing, but this was all completely new to me I'm not sure I've ever seen a Kikuchi match and I've seen very little Ace in Japan, and pro…

Will's match. To me, the best part about the PR I've seen is how well they utilize the gimmicks at the center of the gimmick matches. I'm not a violence junkie. I'm not a vampire. But if i'm watching a gimmick match, I want the gimmick to matter, and I want it to matter logically. Well, there's no real way they can't make this gimmick matter; look at how high up the scaffold is. Look at how that thing rocks. Look at how they're not afraid to take bumps on it. Holy crap. The story is real simple. Invader #3 is stronger in every way. He'll bite, punch, stomp, and keep going back to a front facelock for control. Chicky comes back with low blows and eyerakes and t…

Alright, I think interest has petered out a little bit over the last two weeks, and here I am dropping this one on you. I think it's an awesome match though, definitely the best thing I've ever seen Zenk involved in and one of the best non-straight up Southern Tag Formula stories I've ever seen in a tag match. Also, yeah, it's really something that only sort of works WITH Tom Zenk or someone very similar. I'll include my full write up from a couple of months ago later, probably when this poor bastard needs a bump, but I'll shoot out some talking points quickly. This is one of those matches where you really see Rick Martel, worthy champion, sort of like the Flai…

Dylan's pick. Also one of his favorite matches ever. Context is king here and he might write up a paragraph for us to help prime for the match. For now though, all I've got is that Hansen dominated the first match and left Colon laying in the second, so this is the big revenge blowoff. It's also probably the best strap/bullrope match I've ever seen. Colon dominates, easily. There's one point in the middle where it becomes a little tedious but just one and it's right before he really tries to win the thing. With a bullrope match, like a last man standing match, you can sort of buy that since you really need to incapacitate your opponent. I know Will is go…