July 1983

Available on the Network, Vault, WCCW, 1983. Episode 80, July 9, 1983

Harley Race vs Barry Windham - CWF TV 7/4/83 Harley is the World's Heavyweight Champion at this point, but this is non-title. The beginning is the usual Harley bombfest with no rhyme or reason, tons of momentum shifts, no struggle. It just feels like an exhibition. Barry was great at selling and firing up, but Harley just refused to take advantage of this. Barry tried. I would say between this and the Bass match that by 83 you could safely call BW a great wrestler. After the first commercial break, the moves started to matter and the drama built. You got that real sense of veteran champion against young upstart. Harley bashing his head into the post and really followi…

Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 7/4/83 2 Out of 3 Falls Huge July 4th event! Freebirds come out to “Georgia On My Mind” and the first mention of Georgia draws a lusty chorus of boos! Georgia vs. Texas is in full swing! The Freebirds have their Confederate sequined robes and the Georgia state flag. They sure know how to make an entrance. The places blows up for the Von Erichs. This is the loudest, most sustained heat I have ever heard. The crowd LOVES the Von Erichs and HATES the Freebirds. This is the ultimate wrestling atmosphere. The opening of this match is about as basic as you get but they were popping for every Von Erich of…

Having grown accustomed to one another’s style and offense, the fourth match in their series feels more like a game of strategy. There are little things that occur to add depth to the bigger story, like Fujinami now hooking his leg to prevent Choshu’s habitual backdrop counter, or the way Choshu is able to slip out of the bow-and-arrow attempt. While Choshu wrestles seemingly off the cuff, Fujinami primarily targets Choshu’s leg with the figure-four leglock and rolling legbars. Fujinami goes all out here to regain his title, suplexing Choshu from the top rope and even utilizing Riki’s own signature offense. When he hits that lariat and puts on the sasori-gatame, the crowd…

Good to know I can STILL thrust myself from 6 years ago. This was awesome, bloody and ass-stomping indeed. The cool thing about these 80s main events from germany/austria is that you get to see guys like Slaughter stretch out and do these ultra simplistic carnage ladden main events with no fluff whatsoever. So, after some warm up stalling and heat mongering, this is largely Slaughter wasting Wanz with punches and awesome knees on the ground. We also get Slaughter throwing chairs and bashing a bloody Wanz's head into the glass barrier. The announcer was telling the fans to stay in their seats for their own safety at that point. Wanz didn't get a lot of offense which is not…

Harley Race defends the NWA World Heavyweight Title. Available on the Network, Vault, WWE Hidden Gems, 1983. "The Race to Starrcade". Talk about it here

Jack & Jerry Brisco defend the NWA World Tag Team Titles. Available on the Network, Vault, WWE Hidden Gems, 1983. "Battling the Brisco Brothers". Talk about it here

This is from the network and part of their hidden gems. This is a hot feud in the Carolinas. Valentine is hated, and Piper is loved. This is non title. The opening strike exchange was boss, and has the crowd buzzing. Valentine rocking Piper with forearms. Piper right back at him. Hate filled fight with strong story telling. The ear punching is glorious. Piper fights back. He's measuring Valentine and picking his shots. Valentine is busted open. Piper choking Valentine with rope. Match is thrown out. What a hate filled match. The finish is out of control. 4 1/4*

Excellent technical match with awesome leg selling by Terry and aggression by Bock.

This match is from Chitose, Hokkaido Sports Center. There is something different about Jumbo....ohmygosh...he's wearing the legendary black jacket and black trunks. He looks mean and...surly. What happened to the happy-go-lucky babyface of years past? He's only 32, but he looks so angry! Nick Bockwinkel comes to the ring wearing bright yellow trunks and the majestic AWA World Title Belt. This is a one fall match, and it is COMPLETE!!! They shake hands before the bell. They circle around a bit, lock up, Bockwinkel gets behind, Jumbo quickly reverses it, neither man gets control, so they are back to their feet. Bockwinkel gets a standing full nelso…

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American Heavyweight Champion Kevin Von Erich vs Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin - WCCW 7/18/83 Zack Galfinkas clearly took his grooming cues from the sleeziest man in wrestling, “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin. Garvin and Sunshine were a tremendous heel act and perfect as the top singles heel down from the Freebirds and as their ally. My love for Kevin Von Erich is well-known and one of the first matches I ever watched of him was this one. I was excited to re-watch it and it did not disappoint. Kevin outclasses the preening, cocky Jimmy Garvin in the beginning with a dropkick out of chain sequence then bodyscissors. Kevin Von Erich is one of the wrestlers that has a credible body/…

Ken Patera and Jerry Blackwell defend the AWA World Tag Team Titles

This is an epic feud in the old Mid-South Territory. Because of this service we have gotten 2 gimmick matches between the 2. They were awesome. We've seen the angles now we've got the matches to back up the feud. This is an easy top 5 feud of the year candidate. This match isn't as great as the gimmick matches, but it does set them up really well. The opening of this is great with JYD blocking all of Reed's punches and gives them right back. He tops it off with a headbutt. This is all about these guys not liking each other.JYD is all about the punches,Kicks, and headbutts. So his shine is basic, but gets across his hatred of Reed. On Reed's heat he uses some athleticism w…

I really liked this. It's a perfect mid card match. It's all action with Chavo looking great using a ton of hot moves most wrestlers don't have in their moveset in 1983. Barr was fun in this too using his strength and some of his mat wrestling skills to have a fun match. Chavo is so ahead of his time. This footage could be a make or break for him in the GWE poll. Eddie was so influenced by him. 2 3/4*

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase – Mid-South, Houston 7/29/83, Street Fight In order to maintain his rule over Mid-South, Ted DiBiase turned to the evil Skandor Akbar and his menagerie of wildmen to destroy his foes. This upset his friend Hacksaw Duggan, who while not a nice guy did not care for Akbar’s brand of evil. He told DiBiase he was going to wage war with Akbar, but they did not necessarily have to come to blows. Duggan tore Akbar’s clothes off to humiliate him and Akbar swore revenge and wanted DiBiase to exact, but he seemed reluctant to attack his former friend. However, in a Duggan match against Kendo Nagaski, he attacked Duggan setting off a red hot feu…

I liked this match. The psychology and just working the crowd was 1st rate. Their wasn't a lot of moves, but both guys played a role. Garvin the babyface with the hands of stone. Link the heel . Originally this was supposed to be Garvin vs. Mr. Olympia. Early in the bout we get a lot of movement. Garvin hits Link with a drop kick while Link was on the top rope. Link takes a big bump. Link eventually cheats his way into control.He begins to work the arm and is awesome positioning himself and Ron rthe ref so he can pull the hair. This happens a few times to great heat. Garvin sells that arm wonderfully. When he makes his comeback he still sells it pretty good. Link was grea…

This was a fun match. We start off with both guys throwing hands at one another. Tommy starts sticking and moving. Playing a game of cat and mouse.Tommy even mimmicks Kamala a bit. Finally Kamala is able to get Rich to try a test of strength. Kamala busts Rich open and works the cut with chops. Kamala is even licking at the blood. Tommy starts his comeback and the crowd is solidly behind him. Finally Wildfire knocks Kamala down and the crowd goes nuts. Then it erupts. Akbar, Johnny Rich is in the ring. Friday is in the ring, the crowd goes nuts and it's Hacksaw. Rich pins Akbar with the Thesz press. Of course this makes 0 sense. I loved the match up till the chaotic finis…

They show us an angle from last week which was pretty hot. Here the Briscoes are in the ring with their belts. Steamboat and Youngblood are coming out with a contract in their hand. In a nice touch Bob Orton Jr joins the commentary team to tell the audience that the babyfaces bought the contact of the Briscoes opponents. What a nice piece of business that I though t was really neat, and adds a layer to their matches. Faces attack at the bell. Steamer controlling Jack early. Jerry in but no luck. The faces have all the answers. Babyfaces using fun double teams. Steamboat after Jack into the corner and misses. This sets up the heat. Big stomach buster by Jack. J…