April 1982

Wow, this was great! Andre doing a basic chinlock or suplex looks like death. He has so much offense that would be so completely hokey in anyone else's hands but works well for Andre. This really picks up when Khan makes the comeback and goes after Andre's leg. I've never seen Khan work as a babyface, so him having so much fire surprised me. This feels kinda like a man in the wild trying to take it to a bear caught in a trap and having some success but still being overmatched. Still, they get over the damage Khan has been able to do in short spurts, because Andre sells and is wobbly even when he's in control. I love him covering himself so he can't feel Khan's punches any…

One of the very first videotapes I got my hands on when I discovered that bootlegging was a thing was a Best of Tiger Mask commercial release that included this. I REALLY loved it at the time, but I'm curious how I'll see it now. Steven Wright is incredible. I want to see hundreds and hundreds of Steven Wright matches. I like how he's outclassing Sayama both in his ground game and in flash. The flips working in and out of the cravate are just awesome. There's so much to love about his style, and they take a great approach to this in putting Wright over so convincingly because that gets the match over. The repeated theme is that standard counters just don't work against Wr…

These guys had a feud over in SWCW. At the time Blanchard supplied talent to Houston. This is pretty much a fight. I loved the opening sequence where the pay off was a Wahoo chop. Tully was ducking and moving. Taking his spots on Wahoo. Wahoo just attacked Tully with vigor and a ruggidness. I'm really digging the fighting. Tully sucks Wahoo in, and Tully works the leg. Wahoo fights and trys to bully his way out. They take it outside and Tully rams the leg again. In a revenge spot Wahoo smashes Tully's forehead on the apron. Wahoo pins Tully but his foots on the rope. It's restarted and Tully stuns Wahoo and pins him with his feet on the rope. Crowd is booing big tim here.…

On paper this looks to be a strong match. It doesn't fail. I thought they did a good job establishing things in the 1st fall that would carry over into the other 2 falls. We get some fun grappling early. Slater transitions into working the arm. Moves into a key lock. Getting personal with a slamming of the head into the mat. Bock starts after the leg. We see him hook on a Figure 4.I love Bock's Indian Death Lock It goes to the outside and Bock wraps the leg on the ring post. Bock stuns Slater with a whiplash on the top rope for the fall. The 2nd fall Slater is looking for revenge. Here in some revenge spots Slater goes after the leg. A big elbow finishes Bock off. …

AWA World Tag Team Champions High Flyers vs Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey - AWA 4/18/82 Steel Cage Match This was shot from a handheld below the ring really close to the cage and gave a really cool, unique view. Within a minute, you think all 400 lbs of Crusher Blackwell is coming through your video screen only to meet a hard stop at the hands of the steel cage. All the work is really tight. They were not working stiff, but everything was landing. I love hearing a woman from the crowd scream "You pussy, Sheik!" Brunzell was great fighting during his shine and then taking a beating at the hands of the Sheik and Blackwell, the top two heels besides Bock…

NWA International Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk Jr vs Bruiser Brody - AJPW 4/21/82 This was randomly on volume 6 of the St. Louis Wrestling at the Chase comp that is available on Impact Wrestling's Streaming Network. The only rationale I can come up with is that it is because Larry was a massive Brody mark. The key with all Brody matches is just check all preconceived notions of Brody as a wildman brawler at the door, he just wasnt. Once you have seen enough of Brody and dont try to force him to be something he is not, he becomes a lot better. I actually like how stingy he is with the bumps as it makes them mean more. This finished #134 on All Japan 80s set which se…

Holy shit, this is great!!!