February 1984

This wasn't as good as the match they had the previous week, but it was still a very good one. I liked the storytelling progression, as Rocca was still angry about being screwed out of the title, so he was more aggressive and driven against poor Cota, who tried in vain to wrestle a more friendly bout. The first caida had great matwork, but then things weren't as exciting, as they failed to keep the very high bar they set. Cota gets another tainted victory in a fun finish, but the last fall felt rushed and poor, especially if compared to the meticulous way this match started ***1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Chris Adams - WCCW 2/3/84 Definitely a more standard Flair match and with only 15 minutes it does not reach the usual great levels of his other matches as he works a condensed version of his world championship touring style. Also, either the heat segment was cut or straight up didn't have one, which was weird. Flair because he is always fighting back always makes his matches feel competitive so does not necessarily need a heat segment, but I think they help. Pretty standard Flair shine with Adams getting the best of Flair on the mat and lots of verbal selling by Flair. I did like Flair hoisting Adams into a Fireman's Carry a…

From the Omni in Atlanta. Available on the Network, Collections, Million Dollar Man Priceless "Wrestling Heritage"

David Von Erich's last televised match, RIP 2/10/84

The best part of the match was early on we got some fun cat and mouse. Gordman's punches were wicked, and Gordman shit talking the crowd. For the most part though the match felt flat. 2*

This is match #2 in their feud. This time it feels more personal. The Anvil's offense is worked more personal with the ground and pound. Hammer punches are thrown. Reed delivers a pile driver on the floor that busts open the Anvil. Anvil posts Reed and he's busted open. Both guys work the cuts. Reed in particular was great at it. Anvil pulls out a knuckle duster for the win. Good stuff. 2 3/4*

This was a solid match.This was helped by the hot crowd who loved them some JYD. I liked JYD's early back work softening it up for his Big thump. We saw JYD do slams and even headbutts to the back of Darsow. Darsow was just kind of there. He seemed to be carried by JYD. Basic story telling that didn't need bells or whistles to get over. 2 1/4*

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum TA vs Midnight Express - Mid-South 2/10/84 After exacting some revenge from Butch Reed by taking his tag team titles, fans and Magnum TA thought it would be a sweet honeymoon for the beloved teacher/student partnership. However, as Magnum star grew, the fans clamored for him to get a North American Championship shot and jealousy reared its ugly head. Let me say, green is not a good color on Mr. Wrestling II. In the meantime, a new heel tag team from Memphis burst on the scene and would go down as perhaps the greatest tag team in the history of wrestling, Jim Cornette's Midnight Express and this version is "Lov…

This was weird. The match wasn't too heated, but the finish had the crowd nuts, along with the post match angle. As the match itself I thought it was boring. Taylor's opening shine was fun with the arm work. Volkoff on top conisted of front facelocks and headlocks. We get a heated Taylor comeback. Still the work was paint by the numbers. 1 3/4*

Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas defend the WWF Tag Team titles. Aired on "WWF Wrestling at the Chase, 2/18/84" Vince & Mean Gene are on commentary. Johnson comes into the match with his head bandaged and already bleeding. The doctor has advised him not to defend the titles here tonight, but he insisted upon it. Adonis & Murdoch attack the champs before the bell, but are sent out of the ring packing. Adonis takes a big bump off the turnbuckle, and the match hasn't even started yet!!! It is very strange to hear Vince calling Johnson, "The Rock". Finally the referee restores some order and the match begins. Adonis & Atlas start off, they tie…

This got better as the match went on. The best part about the match is just the fact it's these two guys facing each other. I thought it was good/solid. Nothing here really blew me away. ***

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW Budokan 2/23/84 Special Guest Referee Terry Funk It had been almost four years since Giant Baba had won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Harley Race. While Jumbo had been challenging for the NWA World Title since the mid-70s, the pressure must have been mounting for him to follow in Baba's foot steps and finally win the big one. All Japan, NWA and AWA were booked in a tough position where the American promotions did not want to a Japanese wrestler representing them, but All Japan needed to prove to their fan base their ace was a legitimate world class pro wrestler. In 1984, it was high t…

This is a football helmet match. This was loads of fun. They mixed in some fighting with climbing the poll. I loved how it was the gimmick that finally busted Anvil open. Reed was great at doing the football drills. Post match angle got super heated and looks like a Terry Taylor feud is imminent. 2 3/4*

Gordman and Goliath are a very famous team in Texas and California. They were the Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr of their time. They were qreat at generating heat, and even in the twilight of their career they could still get it. This was really well done. The structure almost feels more modern in the many momentum shifts. We start out with a nice 5 minute shine. The heels start to get heat for 3 minutes, then we'd see a shine for 3 minutes etc. So we get this back and forth action. The difference here the crowd isn't educated to that structure. So everytime the faces got the shine the crowd would go crazy, and vice versa on the heat. Thy weren't use to that and treat…

This wasn't anything much. I loved when Ito threw salt in JYD's eyes and then Ito started bowing as a sign of respect. Still Dog is so over.

This is where each member of the losing team gets 5 lashes. This is pretty great and is worked differently because of the stip. We open up with a brawl and the baby faces are standing tall. Then the bout slows down. Magnum TA grabs Eaton and tosses him over the top rope. Cornette and Condrey are besides themselves. That is until the over the PA we get the announcement this is a no DQ match. Magnum teases doing it again, but Condrey is on the floor waiting . So TA reverses course and tosses him over the top on the other side. We get a long shine sequence.To make sure we still remember this is no DQ Eaton attacks 2. In a nice payback spot the MX toss TA over the ropes to se…

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs Nick Bockwinkel - AJPW Osaka 2/26/84 This is the oft-forgotten about rematch from the same tour that Jumbo initially won the title. There is a reason it is forgotten, it turns out. I had every intention of rewatching Jumbo's title victory, which I really liked, but I just selected the Jumbo vs Bock match from February 1984 without paying much heed. In retrospect, the fact the match was in Osaka and it did not begin with a Jumbo cross-body should have told me I was watching the wrong match. In my defense, Terry Funk was also the special guest ref in this match, which added to the confusion. If you ever wanted to see how …

From the Omni show recently uploaded on WWE Vault. So much to appreciate about this one. Probably the best Jake Roberts match I've seen, with his performance largely making the match's structure and building to the payoff in Garvin's punches. I didn't realise his ribs were taped underneath the shirt before Garvin pulled it up, but he made sure to remind me every step of the way thereafter with his selling and general movement. Loved the way Roberts found unique and interesting ways to gain leverage and work on top before Garvin powered his way out each time. Ellering's interference spots were also always great. Cathartic last few minutes of Garvin landing his fists i…

This is in fact, the first ever meeting between these two teams, which was broadcast on Mid South TV on March 10, 1984, episode 235. RnR's just debuted in the territory 3 weeks ago and on their second show, they already got involved in a big angle with Terry Taylor and The Russians. They helped Terry paint Krusher (Darsow) Kruschev because he was a "Pinko Commie" now and doused him with pink paint!!! (More on this later). This is from Irish McNeil's Boys Club in Shreveport, Jim Ross is on commentary. A 22 year old Jim Cornette takes the microphone from Reeser Bowden and starts ranting about this other team calling themselves The Express. "Who are these two…

Jesus this really was awesome. From the opening we get some very good matwork with everybody working nice exchanges with each other. Everything is so smooth and effortless without appearing fake in any way. This eventually transitions into a Rudo dominant sequence that caps the first fall. And this is where things start to get really great. I don't exactly know what I was expecting but it wasn't this. Obviously for 1984 this had to be incredibly state-of-the-art action. I will cop to not being able to keep straight who was who at certain moments but there were so many standout spots as The Space Cadets take it to the rudos in the segunda. Unbelievably crisp action on…