January 1983

Usually, the best expiration-of-time matches don’t strike me as just filling time, even though that’s all they are doing even in kayfabe presentation. But this never really shifted gears past the usual and became a back-and-forth wrestling match. The action was fine – Jacques showed some athletic promise and Jesse Barr looks like a very good early 80s worker -- but they didn’t build much heat until over halfway into the match, and when they did, it didn’t last. It’s hard for me to get into 80s matches where the heel doesn’t get some real time to dominate the action and work the crowd into a frenzy. Barr works the lion’s share of the match for his team, but Adrian Street s…

Two expiration of time matches on the same show? I take it one of the dates is off, but I’ll still go with 1/1 for both until or unless I’m corrected. Eaton and Ware are a heel workrate machine as a tag team, although I think part of it is the overall sense of urgency. This is rushed since it seemed like they wanted to get in the body of the match before the show went off the air, but it’s very good all the same, and the benefit is that they do get in opening shine, heat on Taylor and a hot tag to Rougeau, so the match doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything. I’d love to see these teams in a longer arena match. ***1/4

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Roddy Piper - MACW, Charlotte 1/1/83 Based on the result of a pinfall victory by Flair and the fact that Piper was full on babyface, I believe this to be the New Years Day 1983 matchup between the two because according to Hisa all other defenses by Flair against Piper in the Mid-Atlantic area were decided by DQ. This was a revenge match for Piper because Flair/Valentine teamed up to rub Piper's face into the mat. This is the proto-Flair/Morton, which I think is the greatest match in pro wrestling history. So I liked this one, but needed more Flair heat. Flair was in total let me get my ass kicked, which is fun, but puts a ca…

A match where the end rating can be deceiving. This was a very good match that featured good grappling, brawling and some excellent highspots. The downside were that the finishes were disappointing and the face team seemed to gain the advantage too easily and then take it home with the finish in fall 1. Similarly, Devil is a bloody mess in fall 3 but gets the win easily after a mundane move compared to the crowd brawling on the ground. Overall, a good match but also one where with people like Jaguar and Devil and looking at them through GWE prisms, this didn't really elevate either in my eyes. ***1/2 (6.7)

WWF & NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi - NJPW 1/6/83 Pretty cool that Tiger Mask was both NWA & WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion at the same time. Absolutely night & day between this and his awesome UWF stuff, Tiger Mask is just throwing shit out there and seeing what sticks. I now understand why he gets a lot of hate from fans because there are just a lot of awkward portions in this match. People standing around waiting to be kicked. Building to a finish run and plopping into a short arm scissors. At least Tiger Mask had awesome spots to draw on, Kobayashi could not decide what he wanted to do. It was a mess that did coal…

Starting the Freebird run in WCCW with the most microscopic look I have given it and one match in, we have some flaws. I understand Buddy is the loss post of the Birds and he didn't lose here (match is a draw), but there is no reason he shouldn't have pinned Adias in the later stages of the match. Adias is up and coming and the narrative of him lasting 9 minutes with Buddy could have been built up effectively on commentary. Bad booking aside, the match was fun with Buddy as the ring general. Simple stuff like asking the ref to check the pinfall allowing him to cheat and other underhanded tactics that are revolved around him working a hold and feeding into the comeback and…

Really quick clip of the match but a great angle. Jimmy Hart had been on ringside wrapped head to toe in a bandage for the first couple weeks of the year. Here he is tied to Dundee and tries to interject into the match. When that happens, Hart runs out in his regular attire and distracts King allowing Bock to "regain" the AWA title. The person dressed as Hart is revealed to be Andy Kaufman and they do an amazing gloating promo in the back

A good litmus test for 1983 NJPW and the quality of the promotion overall. This didn't make the DVDVR set and I agree with that sentiment but I thought it was a ton of fun especially seeing MDM beat the shit out of their opponents and them having to utilize flash to counteract that. Tiger Mask is someone I seem to have more tolerance on than his biggest detractors here but I thought he was really effective mixing in his high spots and selling when needed. An enjoyable tv match overall. ***1/4

I am going to talk a little about this match but the thread really works to signify the differences Mid South tv had compared to other territories so far in my 1983 watching. Angles seem hotter in WCCW and Memphis but they do have the usually collection of bizarre heels ala Sabu. Mid South felt more straight laced with one occasional segment for that type of heel involving Kamala and Kabuki. THis tv episode has a Matsuda vs Wrestling II match and Bob Roop expertly on commentary talks about the precision and craftiness that Matsuda has that can be unassuming given his speed. Guerrero vs Gino was the tv main event and they went out there and gave them 9 minutes to cra…

What a great match. This was snug, realistic and competitive. By a notch or two, more violent than the average Joint Promotion bout, especially after the first few respectful rounds. Dynamite was trained by Jones, so he struggled because his opponent knew him quite well; him looking down on UK rules was a great heel move, he collected warnings, but thankfully there was no disqualification. The crowd (and the usually very composed announcer) were heavily into this, the drama of the roll up finish also added to the contest. Often, Joint Promotions matches are technically sound, but they lack heat: it's not the case here, at all ***3/4

Talk about it here.