June 1983

Uhh.. it's Inoki and Hogan working MUGA. And it rules!! The crowd is molten hot, and Hogan does all these awesome technical transitions, totally holding up his end. The hold for hold stuff is basic but effective, with Inoki carrying himself like he could escalate and snap Hogans arm any minute. The Figure 4/Indian Deathlock sequence was great and so was Hogan folding himself up when Inoki threatened to go for the Octopus Hold. No doubt Hogan fully understood how to work this kind of match. I loved Inoki eating the axe bomber and slowly getting up "well, let's get back to wrestling". Add in some really well timed suplexes and a cool finish and you have a great contest. Thi…

AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Bill Dundee vs Jerry Lawler - Memphis 6/6/83 Loser Leaves Town The Little Aussie, Bill Dundee, sure did cause a big stink with his dyed jet black hair and his bad reputation. The King was trying to be diplomatic and amicably part ways with his former tag partner citing irreconcilable differences. Dundee wanted to make sure those differences were known and that was he tired of living in the shadow of the King and he was sick of everyone taking the King's side. So the King tells you all I am a nice guy so you like me and now that Lawler tells you I ain't you don't like me very much. Personally, I agree with Dundee that's a bit fucked up…

One of the all time great 1 hour draws and also easily the best Jumbo vs. Flair match ever. **** 1/4

This match was exclusively filmed for Japan TV. The whole show appears to be All Japan vs Mid Atlantic, and all the matches are on video. Chavo Guerrero vs Masa Fuchi, Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu vs Jake Roberts & Jerry Grey, Terry Funk vs Barry Horowitz (calling himself Brett Hart), Rufus R Jones vs Dory Funk Jr, Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Bob Orton and Jimmy Valiant, and Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta. The ring announcer tells us that Ric Flair does not have his belt is that he was defeated by Harley Race "last week in St Louis". Some woman in the crowd yells "Noooooo!!!!!" It was actually 2 days earlier. Flair also defended his title on Jun…

Fabulous Ones vs Moondogs - Memphis 6/13/83 Simply awesome! The Best ECW match ever happened in Memphis in 1983! For its entire existence, ECW wanted to be Memphis and they never touched this. Public Enemy eat your heart out. Tables, chairs, ring bells, you name it, it ended up in the ring. The match actually got thrown out like two minutes in because the Moondogs kept belting Calhoun. He takes a ton of punishment in this. They keep brawling for another 8 minutes and it is glorious. No need to do a recap just know it is bloody and violent. It is one of the all time best barroom brawls as a wrestling match. It never lets up. Without a satisfying finish, cant rank it mu…

Nick Bockwinkel defends the AWA World Heavyweight Title.

Available on the Network, Vault, WCCW, 1983. Episode 78, June 25, 1983

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race vs Kevin Von Erich - WCCW 6/17/83 Going into the 80s rewatch, this was my pick for Harley's greatest match and still feel that way. If only Harley would only wrestle Von Erichs in Texas! I think the fact that Von Erichs constantly fight back forces a lot of Harley's bad tendencies out of him. Kevin is such an unusual wrestler. I really cant think of anyone like him. My number one issue with him is that he just doesn't sell. He sells his ass off well rather his arm off here. You combine Kevin's "think shoot, but work" mentality with amazing selling you have a recipe for success. Harley keeps his bad bumping (that bump …

This is for Jumbo's United National Title. We are at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. The champinship proclamation is read by Fritz Von Erich. It appears this is the only time that DiBiase ever appeared in WCCW. They have faced each other before, in All Japan five years ago. There is a handshake before the match. Ted tries to lock up with Jumbo, but Jumbo circles around him, reverses and escapes. Ted gets a single leg takedown and immediately rolls up Jumbo for a one count.. They lock up again, Jumbo drops Ted with a fireman's carry into an armbar, but now Ted quickly escapes. Ted takes control of Jumbo's left arm. Ted with a shoulderblock, Jumbo with a hip tos…

Chavo Guerrero vs Mr. Olympia - Houston 6/24/83 Chavo Classic had all the tools on offense. He shows off his ability to fly (dropkicks, plancha), submissions (upside down surfboard and a lucha submission), hot strikes and suplexes (German). He is ripshit because Olympia/Akbar put him on the shelf for two months. He starts off hot with punches and three dropkicks to send Olympia to outside. This is match of levels and is incredibly well-executed. Olympia never really fully takes control, but slowly earns his heat segment. He takes advantage of each mistake by breaking Chavo's momentum with a trip to outside or sapping his energy with a chinlock. In fact most of Olympia…

***SPOILER*** I believe this is the wrong date because on 6/26/83 Bockwinkel pins Wahoo, there is no reverse decision or anything. On 7/24/83 it is declared a no-contest.

Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell defend the AWA World Tag Team Titles against Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera. 5 minute interview, then the match...