1963

Buddy Rogers defends the WWWF Title. Talk about it here

Talk about it here PART ONE PART TWO

I kind of loved this match. No knowledge of either guy going into this but it grabbed me from the start. Moose Cholak is a really intimidating presence. He towers over Chene, the referee and the ring announcer pre-match. Apparently he was only 6'4" but here he looks bigger than that. He dominates early on until Chene quite brilliantly ties Moose's shoelaces together while he's in a head scissors. He has a bit of success after, but Cholak is soon back in control and takes the first fall in dominant fashion. Chene comes back well in the second. The third fall is great, bloody and chaotic. At one point Cholak goes flying out of the ring. The crowd is really into it - you can…

Rikidozan vs Haystacks Calhoun - JWA 3/24/1963 Haystacks Calhoun is one of those wrestlers that my Dad's and uncles always, always cite as someone they fondly remember so anytime I get a chance to see him in action. I jump at the chance. I cant believe Haystacks made the trip across the Pacific in 1963! That must have been tough. Excellent David vs Goliath match. All of Rikidozan usual power spots fail because Haystacks is just too damn big. He cant throw him around. Haystacks is just absorbing his strikes. Haystacks offense is chest bumps in the corner and a full nelson and I am here for it! He wins the first fall I believe with a Full Nelson. Second fall Riki…

Killer X is Frank Townsend. Gino Marella, is of course, Gorilla Monsoon

This was a WWWF show. Talk about it here.

We only get about a minute and a half of action, but man oh man does it look incredible. There's an awesome bit where Oki runs away from Killer X, even almost hiding behind the ref, only to suck in Killer X into a Headbutt, and Oki's Headbutt is the be-all and end-all of all strikes. It's almost unreal seeing Killer X bump the way he did in a match from 1961-really gigantic pinball selling with him jumping in the air, taking a huge bump off an irish whip and swinging once he was caught up in the ropes. Killer X got back into the match by throwing some mean strikes and finishing the match off with a brutal diving knee. Hard to judge without it full thing, but what we have …

Rikidozan defends the NWA International Heavyweight Title

Rikidozan vs Killer Kowalski - JWA 5/17/63 Rikdozan clicked for me here. I enjoyed watching him pound the shit out of Kimura or figure out the riddle of Haystacks Calhoun, but I thought he was kinda one-dimensional, but there was a moment here where he roared back against Kowalski with a bodyslam and I was like I get it. He is the Bruno Sammartino of Japan. He is not supposed to be the best technically. He is the National Hero. He is rough, rugged and has dirt under his nails. Thats what makes him special. As a Bostonian, I am really looking forward to digging for more Kowalski. Cool finishes, Kowalski won one fall by countout after a bodyslam to the floor and Rikido…

2/3 falls, Rikidozan's last singles match, a few weeks before he was murdered. This is also my first full Rikidozan match so I feel a little out of my element making this post but I want to preserve my thoughts. This was really good. I'm wondering as I dive into all the available footage if Destroyer's schtick will wear on me of if my opinion will keep growing. Right now it's definitely the latter. Everything built logically with a few big payoffs. Destroyer was great on offense and defense, stalling, and still keeping the focus on getting his comeuppance despite how exciting he was to watch. Rikidozan was economical with every move he made or expression he allowed, but h…