August 1985

Antonio Inoki vs Bruiser Brody - NJPW 8/1/85 It was an Inoki vs Brody match from April of 85 that reignited my love of pro wrestling a couple weeks ago! Will wonders ever cease! I was reading a review I wrote about Brody many years ago and you know what I think Brody gets a bum rap. If you think of him as Frankenstein as opposed to a Wildman Brawler I think that helps. Also, I think he is unfairly maligned in his bumping style. I think there are way too many bumps in wrestling to begin with. I have no problem with him being stingy with the bumps. As you will see when he does finally bump for the Enziguiri it gets a far bigger reaction from me and the crowd. I do…

Don Arakawa has been an underneath guy for most of his career at this point, and he gets a rare chance to fight for some gold. He's seriously outclassed by The Cobra, but he gets in a number of hope spots in this ten minute bout. Within minutes of the bell ringing, he lands a perfect bridging German that sends the fans into a frenzy. He might actually pull this one off after all! The Cobra has been established as the top junior in NJPW now that Tiger Mask has left. He looks the part of the ace of his division and brings the punishment to Arakawa. That tombstone spot was brutal, but they completely devalue it within seconds as Arakawa gets up and brushes it off. There's so…

This has a slow start, with Choshu trading holds with Jumbo and Tenryu. After seeing a number of Choshu tags, I was starting to worry that he might not as good as I thought he initially was after loving his short and explosive singles matches for many years. He's just much better when he's throwing bombs and not working holds. I did love Choshu struggling to attempt his Scorpion Deathlock on Tenryu, a spot that was used in their classic singles match in JWP earlier in the year. Thankfully, it's not long until they up the intensity as Jumbo bleeds a gusher after taking a ring bell shot for Killer Khan. The arm that Choshu worked on during the opening is brought back into p…

I really thought this was fun. I bet wrestlers loved working with Gilbert. He bumped big. He fed for Reed. He stooged his ass off to get Reed over. Reed was super over and got over big. A fun match. 2 1/2*

Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol vs Fabulous Freebirds - Memphis 8/5/85 The Freebirds invade Mempho! Lance Russel explains that yet again the Birds have entered a territory well-intentioned, but have been turned heel due to a miscommunication. Lawler was fending off some heels and Hayes came to the ring to help. The King wanted to send these guys packing so he was ready to throw a fireball and accidentally burned Hayes' face/neck. How this turned the Birds heel? Well it is Memphis! Quit your bitching and moaning, Hayes and bow down to the king. I have seen like one Idol match before this so let's see how he does. Basic jumpstart by heels only to be whipped into …

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Butch Reed - Mid-South 8/10/85 Long match, you know the drill. First twenty minutes: This is all Butch Reed! Ric Flair try as he might cant overcome the power & might of the awesome Hacksaw Butch Reed. Flair tries everything short of outright cheating in the first twenty minutes. There was crowding the in the corner. Vertical suplex. There was turning it into a track meet with rope running. Side headlock. The first 15 minutes was dominated by the cranking of the headlock by Reed and Flair's inability to counter it. Lots of escapes, movement and back into the headlock. It kept things fresh. Flair tried to turn into a …

The Nightmare (Randy Colley) also known as Moondog Rex and original Demolition Smash, won the North American Title from Terry Taylor on May 22, 1985 and decided from that point that he was officially changing his name to "The Champion". He is accompanied by Lord Humungous at ringside. Murdoch charges towards The Champion at the bell, fakes a collar and elbow tie up and starts punching and elbowing Colley's head. The Champion escapes to the outside, but Murdoch follows and rams his head twice into the apron. Back in the ring, Murdoch whips him to the corner and nails him with a big forearm, he gets a one count. Murdoch gets his opponent in a twisting arm-wrin…

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Nikita Koloff - JCP 8/11/85 "The Road To Moscow Will Be Paved In Gold" In the Summer of 1985, Ric Flair was in feud with the Russian Nightmare for the World Championship down in Mid-Atlantic. It is weird to think of Ric Flair as the patriotic babyface going up against the foreign menace. However, when you think about who is a better representation of Capitalism than the OG himself, The Nature Boy. Ric Flair as the babyface against a monster heel is a great pairing and he really makes it work here. They are clearly building to a steel cage match as Tony brings it up many times and the match ends in a double countout. Th…

Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol vs Fabulous Freebirds - Memphis 8/12/82 Badstreet Match It is Badstreet vs Beal Street! Hotlanta vs Mempho! It is cookin'! Lawler looks pretty badass in a leather jacket and badass is not a word I would use to describe Lawler too often. Michael Hayes is just a cool muthafucka. The strut and moonwalk on the apron was so bitchin. Great wild start with chairs and fists flying. Everybody knows they want to see weapons and they leave the wrestling at home. The Birds use belts (choking and whipping) and boots to gain an advantage, but each time the faces turn it around against them. The fists were flying between Gordy and Lawler. Lawler pi…

From the Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford NJ, Ric Flair defends the NWA World Heavyweight title. Available on the Network, Vault, Hidden Gems. 1985 "Sarge's Hunt for Gold'. Talk about it here

From the Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford NJ, Hawk, Animal & Paul Ellering take on Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts Available on the Network, Vault, Hidden Gems. 1985 "Sarge's Hunt for Gold'. (Starts at 45:05) Talk about it here

Hulk Hogan vs Tiger Chung Lee WWF All Star Wrestling Aired August 17, 1985 (Taped July 29, 1985) Availability WWF All Star Wrestling - August 17, 1985 WWE Hulk Still Rules DVD

Aired on WWF Championship Wrestling 8/31/85 and also on WWF Prime Time Wrestling 10/1/85. Not currently on the Network

AJW 8/22/1985 - All Pacific Title - Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami I did a full review on this here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/all-japan-womens-8221985-all-pacific.html Some shots from the match: My review of it: They had went to a double knockout draw at 36:52 when neither could answer the ten count. Epic match. The first half was all about the selling and the second half was about Chigusa working the sharpshooter, while they stood toe to toe and brawled like boxers.They didn't do a ton of fancy stuff here and there weren't that many crazy moves, but they fought for everything and made it look like a fight all the way through. I loved th…

AJW 8/22/1985 - WWWA Title - Jaguar Yokota vs Lioness Asuka Full review here:http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/all-japan-womens-8221985-wwwa-title.html Some shots from the match: My review of it: Jaguar Yokota beat Lioness Asuka with knee clutch backdrop. This was something and must have been insane for 1985. The crowd was nuts for Asuka all match. They started out working the figure four and a leglock along with a keylock on the leg. Really good leg work and lots of awesome facial expressions as you can see above. They did it for a significant portion of time and it didn't get stale one bit. They started going into spots from there with less focus …

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Rick Martel defends the AWA World Heavyweight Title

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Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 8/23/85 BODYSLAM OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! HOT DAMN THATS HOW YOU START A MATCH! No this is not as good as their 82/83 output, but holy shit is it awesome still! Just a great sprint brawl. Every single moment saw them fighting each other for every single hold or move. It was just a struggle between the two toughest sons of bitches that ever lived. I thought this match Funk felt a bit more like an equal. Hansen dominated the first three minutes after the bodyslam to the floor just suffocating him with nasty shots and whipping him into hard objects. Funk wipes out the press. It felt like two of the baddest gunslingers dueling it ou…

WWF Tag Champs US Express vs The Dream Team - Philly 8/24/85 I am glad I went back and watched these two Dream Team matches because they could contend with the Islanders as my favorite heel tag team in 80s WWF. I will say one of the disappointments of Valentine sticking in one promotion for so long is that we did not get stuff like Valentine vs Windham one on one at length. Also, what I do not understand is why Beefcake seemed to suck so hard in '86. I mean Valentine barely let Beefcake wrestle in Wrestlemania II. He wrestled pretty decently in these two matches. He is still only the fourth best wrestler in these matches, but he is not sucking out loud. I love…

Maybe the most emotional match in the history of pro wrestling. Never have I ever seen a crowd that emotionally invested in a match, excluding maybe only Atlantis vs. V3. It has some issues that prevent it from being absolute top tier but it is one of those definitive must see matches. **** 1/2