June 1982

This started off kind of slow, but picked up after some hard chops and some incredible looking leap frogs from Steamboat. Nowhere near what these two guys would produce later, but cool to see this match in Japan at this time. It was good. It had its moments.

This was just a total out of control brawl. This was totally hate filled. major bombs being thrown. Stomper taking these 360 spins from the Brody punches on the floor were tremendous. Chairs were used. Stomper was trying to work them, at least he was targeting the back. Brody was more than happy to waffle him. Buck Robley cheap shotting Brody was great. Both guys are a bloody mess. Stomper is awesome working the cut. Both guys throw the ref around multiple times. They're brawling all over the crowd. They spend more time on the floor than the ring. Wrestler's come out to break it up. Brody and Stomper beat the crap out of them. The match is thrown out, and sets up a wide v…

This is your match just to get Somoa over and that's what we got.

I thought this was a good meat and potatoes underneath match. I liked Monte's fire. He showed some charisma in the match. He had a swelled up Ron Glass look. I enjoyed the rope running spot where they teased a punch. Monte went after the dutchman's arm. I liked the arm work. Monte was focused on it. He did some fun jumping punches to the arm. Dutch of course was good here . He did a good job of making Monte in the loss. 2 1/4*

This is like a bizzaro world match where Duggan is the heel and Buddy not quite Nature Boy is the face. Duggan even as a heel shows the charisma that would make him loved by the crowd even to this day. He also has this Tiger by the tail energy to him. This was a fun bout. I love Duggan going for his spear right off the bat to no avail. Landell keeps Duggan off balance with arm drags. Duggans strength is too much and uses it to his advantage. The match is pretty basic,but I thought Duggan's mannerisms carried this. 2 1/2*

Harley Race vs Kerry Von Erich - WCCW 6/4/82 This is the best Harley match I have seen in a long, long time. The winner is the number one contender for Flair's world championship setting up the Flair/Kerry classic in August of 82. Kerry holds the entire match together with selling and forcing Harley to work slower and smarter. The shine is fine with Kerry getting a dropkick and a small package, before settling into a well-worked headlock. A great sequence sees Harley hits a back suplex out of the headlock and he goes for the headbutt only for Kerry to counter with the claw! Harley heads for the hills and Kerry backdrops him out of a piledriver on the floor. The transi…

This was a really good brawl, and possibly my favorite of the Borne/Rose matches thus far. The match ends too violent for TV, so a lights out match will follow with lumberjacks ... this is to contain the violence and keep them out of the crowd. Whoa, how things have changed! Borne's blood splatters onto some elderly folks that are very well dressed for this environment. You can see them wiping their mouths and trying to get blood out of their suits and off their dresses... crazy. Loved it!

Jerry Lawler vs. Kimala No Disqualification Match June 7 1982 Memphis, TN I believe this is the correct date but I could be wrong. This showed up on Rick Crane's "Jerry Lawler: Revamped and Expanded" 4 disc set. We get about 8 minutes of action and oh boy is it wild and woolly. These two had a match a few weeks prior that ended in the DQ so with the stip they can go balls out. Lawler makes his superman comeback pretty early in the game, but he can't keep the beast down long enough to win inside the ring, so the fight spills to the floor where they find lots of plunder. The finish is a callback to the Lawler-Funk match, with Jerry slowly becoming the king of the No D…

AWA Tag Titles are on the line, one fall match! Ricky Steamboat in the AWA, woohoo!! This is the first time I am seeing young Onita, pre-deathmatches. Greg and Onita start, Greg takes him down with a headlock into an armbar. Onita gets the rope break. Brunzell tags in, continues to work the arm. Tag to Steamboat, this is a treat!!! Steamboat and Brunzell test of strength, Brunzell breaks it off, armdrags Steamboat, Gagne tags in with an elbowdrop off the top onto Steamer's arm. Steamboat and Greg run and criss cross. Onita tags in comes off the top rope and superkicks Greg!!! Brunzell hits Onita with a high and perfect dropkick. Brunzell sunset fli…

This started with lots of submissions and hard chops, but I found the offense from both guys to not have any real direction. About 15 or so minutes in, Jumbo gets fired up and then the match sort of gets out of first gear when Flair starts working over the leg for the figure four. The crowd goes nuts when Jumbo puts the figure four on Flair. That was a cool spot. They really step it up after this leading to Flair taking a piledriver on the outside and Jumbo being thrown into the ring post. A questionable finish with a double pin, but I ended up enjoying the second half of the match. I'd say this is good, but I wouldn't classify as great IMO.

Hot damn. I wasn't expecting this. This was just a really sprited stiff brawl. Pretty much what you need in a 5 minute fight. Both guys really brought it.

This is some really fun stuff. I enjoyed Bock's stalling in this. So when JYD got his hands on him the crowd erupted. JYD bleeds, Bock works the cut. You strip this down to its core it's simple, but effective. The Heenan stuff is pure gold. 2 1/2*

Available on Classic St Louis Wrestling, Volume 11 DVD

This match was fought under slightly different rules as there were no rounds, just a straight 20 minute match with two falls required to be declared the victor. The focus here was Breaks working on Turpin's arm in all manner of ways to try and soften him up for the Breaks Special submission. All sorts of bending and manipulation of the arm and wrist the wrong way, 'snapping' them, even tying Turpin's arm up in the ropes to weaken it, then weakening it even more under the guise that he was trying to untangle the said arm. Intermixed are some obligatory Breaks mouthing off at the crowd with one woman shouting 'get his ears Jackie' to which Breaks responds 'shut your fat …

We open with JYD getting crowned King of Houston. This brings out Gino and Tully in an incredible segment. Yes their is tons of race baiting and insults, but it's a part of wrestling history. Now onto the match. Gino is a heels heel. He gets heat in this match with just a look. He gets heat by putting his feet on the rope, he gets heat with a strut. To sum it up he's a master of getting heat. I loved how Gino timed his kick to Lucas right when the bell rang. That was pretty cool. Gino was good at pushing the action and generating heat. Ken Lucas was a good southern baby face going after Gino's arm. He'd get cut off and Lucas would find his way back to the arm. I like…

This is short for 3 falls but it blew away my expectation level. This was all action. You'd think this would be a styles clash, but it worked. I don't know if was because Duggan isn't a polished worker, or if Mil was just laying in receipts a lot of this was snug. It was easily the most credible I've seen Mil's offense. Duggan ate his dropkick right in the mush, his flying headbutt looked liked it ko'ed Duggan, and Mil's palm strikes looked stiff as hell. The story was speed and technique versus strength. Good stuff. 3*

This is the first of 3 singles matches they had in Japan in 82. Andre comes to the ring accompanied by Arnold Skaaland. He's a malicious monster heel, shoving and screaming at the crowd. Hogan and Andre start shoving each other before the bell. Andre drops a hammerfist and takes Hogan to the mat, controlling his arm and shoulder. He starts smothering Hogan with a face palm, Hogan backs Andre into the ropes for a break. But Hogan starts hammering Andre, a big chopping fist to the head, but the Giant does not budge. Andre grabs Hogan and nails him with a huge headbutt and Hogan goes to the outside. But wait, Hogan recovers and sneaks back in, whips Andre across …

El Canek wants to start the match against Hogan, but Andre starts screaming at him to GET OUT! The chants for Hogan are deafening. Hogan quickly turns Andre around into a double armlock, but Andre starts climbing the ropes with his feet as Hogan holds him. The ref calls for a break so Hogan just drops him. Andre is not happy and lays on his back, howling in pain. Collar and elbow tie up, Andre gets Hogan in a gigantic headlock. Hogan drops down to the mat and Andre leaps over him! Giant slap from Andre in the corner, Andre turns around and starts shoving Hogan in the corner with his giant butt. Canek tags in, kneelifts and dropkicks Hogan. Canek starts c…

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Bob Orton – Philly 6/82 Lumberjack Match Backlund has the exact same strap from the last match. After the ass kicking he got the last time, there would be no way I would want to be in the ring with angry Bob Backlund. Backlund is whipping, choking and even throwing Orton using the strap and Orton is stooging and bumping like a change. Orton is discombobulated trying to escape but it is a lumberjack match BABY! He rakes Backlund’s eyes with the buckle. ORTON OFFENSE! Backlund dropkick and PILEDRIVER~! Well that was short-lived. Orton does manage to string some offense together in form of a reverse atomic drop and his awesome w…

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Jimmy Snuka - MSG 6/28/82 Steel Cage Match Everytime, Snuka even touches a turnbuckle, MSG goes bonkers. Snuka, like a great stripper knows how to stoke those flames, first it is a middle rope knee drop and then a chop. Each tease gets more and more of a reaction. Before we discuss the climax, lets talk Superfly's style. It has been a long time since I watched this match and Snuka wrestled in a really engaging style. He was a stalking heel almost in the vein of a horror movie monster similar to early Undertaker. He is the exact opposite of Adonis with almost no bumping until the one super duper bump. At his best Backlund could…