Loss

Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs Ricky Steamboat & Chavo Guerrero (AJPW 09/06/81) This had some terrific, hard fought wrestling exchanges, but despite the work being excellent at times, something was missing to keep it from getting over the hump. It was lacking in hate, but it was ultra competitive in a way where this never really felt like an exhibition. It’s the kind of match that I think people would rave about if it happened today, but I think it went a little long for the type of match that it was. Perhaps it’s that the match feels like randomly grouped singles matches instead of a tag team match. Steamboat works the lion’s share of this for his team. There are “tag team” moments like the great full nelson/senton combination that Steamboat and Chavo used to win the first fall, but those moments are rare. Chavo and Dos had excellent chemistry and Steamboat looked great in this. Just shy of a great match, but top notch work all the same. The luchadores have some great flashy spots, but seem to understand the Japanese psychology really well and build to those big moves instead of just giving us a steady stream of flying. Part of me wants to backhandedly call this the 1981 version of the Indy Respect match, but I don’t think that would be fair. It doesn’t feel like they’re working tribute to something that was done better elsewhere. But it also doesn’t feel like much is at stake except pride.

Funk's Grill was replaced with the Louisville Slugger, which will now be on both the Friday and Saturday shows as an interview segment.

It goes nowhere.

It's interesting how John Cena takes all the hate in stride, and how Punk seems pissed off by all the love.

This is a good one. I'd say the same thing about any wrestling in Chicagoland, actually. I enjoyed your participation in the 1994 Yearbook threads. Any chance you'll pick a year and make a grand return? Someone is ambitious! Welcome! Glad you've found a place you like and hope you'll stick around. Drinks in the fridge.

Wow, thanks for the logo, the praise ... everything.

Top 500 wrestlers, right?

Do you want to watch more wrestling? Watch less wrestling? Focus on specific things? Read certain books or learn more about certain promotions or time periods? Follow current stuff more? Here are mine: - Work with goodhelmet to finish and release the 1998 and 1999 Yearbooks, along with the 90s Errata set - Begin counting down the top 500 matches of the 90s and post them here w/mini-reviews on each of the matches - Watch more current wrestling and for Christ's sake, try to smile while doing so (at least once in a while) - Become more knowledgeable of the names of wrestling moves - Continue doing Wrestling With The Past podcasts and thinking up new topics

While we're on that subject, is there such a thing as a Northern Lights Bomb? Does it differ from a duplex?

Well yes, but I don't think anyone out there except Wade Keller is capable of fleshing out an interview like this. I don't disagree with your points, but the bar is low for thoughtful questions in wrestler interviews. This isn't great or anything, but it's no worse than most wrestler interviews out there.

Is there something inherently wrong with that Q & A that I'm missing? It read like a decent interview.

Atsushi Onita, Masa Fuchi & Tojo Yamamoto vs Rick & Robert Gibson & Roy Rogers (Memphis 09/05/81) A lesser version of the previous excellent multi-man tag, but still good and worth checking out. The Gibsons both put on excellent performances in this, and the terrific Fuchi/Onita run in Memphis continues. Check out how seasoned Fuchi and Onita have gotten at working US tags as heels in a short period of time. Fuchi is already positioning the referee to cheat and cutting the ring in half. The Onita/Rick Gibson martial arts stuff being teased right at the finish is awesome. Sadly, the match was just heating up when time expired.

Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Pete Roberts & El Solitario (NJPW 09/04/81) There were a few sloppy moments from Tiger Mask, but otherwise, this was a wonderful tag match with some really beautiful mat exchanges and highspots. I always like watching Pete Roberts pop up. Fujinami takes to the air and is pretty terrific. He’s a more modern wrestler than most modern wrestlers, if that makes any sense at all. I’m really impressed at the hard pace they cut in this one. The action never really stops. I don’t think Sayama is horrible here, but he is the worst of the four, for whatever that’s worth. Fujinami is a machine and is looking like the best guy in the business in 1981 too.

Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Memphis 09/04/81) I wish we had the entire match proper, because the finish in the ring was very heated and well-worked. I love Fuchi and Onita in Memphis and don’t ever want it to end. But the action ends up spilling (quite literally spilling) into the concession stand, which was a staple of wrestling in Tupelo when gates started to suffer by this point. This is of course a crazy brawl - one of the best ever - as they throw stiff shots at each other, all four guys are juicing and the plunder is flying all over the place, including a nasty spot when Morton shatters a mustard jar on Tojo’s head. Eddie Marlin ends up involved and taking some crazy bumps too. Apparently, the woman who was involved was never clued in that this was a work and she freaks out. Wild, wild scene that is carried by intensity and great brawling more than the stunts that would eventually define this style.

Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Memphis 08/01/81) Lawler and Dundee are such a great babyface tag team - in terms of how they work, they really come across as the spiritual predecessors to the Rock & Roll Express. Fun seeing Onita and Fuchi in this style, especially because they really understand it and know what they are doing. They feed all sorts of fun payback spots like blocking the Irish whip into the turnbuckle and the always tremendous arm wringer switcheroo. They fail at every attempt to wrestle Lawler and Dundee, so Fuchi turns the tide by simply grabbing Lawler’s face until he screams (What? They think they’re wrestling the Championship Carnival final in 1995?) and suddenly the heat in the studio is comparable to an arena. Chaos takes over when Jimmy Hart shows up and the locker room clears in a huge brawl. Not really sure what the finish was and we never got a real face in peril segment to pay off the early stuff, but I’m glad I saw this really fun match.

Mil Mascaras vs Ricky Steamboat (AJPW August 1981) They pulled off some impressive chain wrestling here and I like the styles clash of Mascaras doing lots of standard lucha matwork against Steamboat doing lots of standard American matwork. The Santo-like headscissors by Mascaras looked great, especially with Steamboat struggling so much to counter it. After dropping the second fall, Steamboat goes after Mascaras with increased urgency in the second fall and that twisting armbar stuff looks really painful. Steamboat evening the falls surprised me for some reason, as I didn’t expect Mascaras to eat a fall at all. Despite enjoying the work, I didn’t think this ever got better than “good”, mainly because it didn’t feel like they were wrestling much differently in the first five minutes than in the last five. It was kind of a sideways match where you got to see a lot of cool mat exchanges, but no real long-term consequence to any of it. Crap finish too, but that’s to be expected.

I see the potential here for this to blow up, so let me be perfectly clear. I loved Funk vs Lawler. Loved it. There was great heat and emotion. It fell just short of classic status for me because it was pretty much entirely punches and kicks. Now, I think timing and pacing are what makes a match as much as anything, and that they built such a great match around so little is extremely impressive. So please don't take this as me dogging Funk vs Lawler. I don't want the perception to be that I don't like that match. But I do think they would have benefitted even more from throwing in a little more wrestling to go with the brawling. That would have elevated it to classic status for me. Since everyone thinks I'm bonkers, I'll re-watch Steamboat vs Snuka before compiling year-end rankings, but what I saw was a match that really stood out in a 1981 setting because it didn't look like anything else I've seen this year. I thought it had the same emotion and intensity of Funk vs Lawler AND some fun wrestling moves mixed in too. Now, that doesn't mean there aren't flaws. I pointed out a botched Snuka dive, but there were other clumsy moments like that. It's far from a perfect match. But I respected the effort behind it, and I enjoyed that they made great bloody visuals and thought Steamboat did a great job of just continuing to sell until they had the crowd where they wanted them. They had to earn it but they got them hot.

Bill Dundee, Steve Keirn, Rick & Robert Gibson vs Dream Machine, Nightmare I & The Heartbreakers (Memphis 07/25/81) They cut a breakneck pace in this one with some great highspots by today’s standards, much less by those in 1981. Also check out Dundee’s freaky amateurish takedowns and the high elevation he gets on his back body drops. Nightmare catches Dundee with a wicked elbow off the ropes at one point. This is like the Michinoku Pro version of Memphis wrestling, with Dundee delivering another stellar performance. I was pretty blown away by this.

Stan Lane vs George Takano (NJPW 07/24/81) Well I could have watched this all day. We only get a little over 10 minutes of action, but they do so much with it. Lane looks particularly brilliant in this, to a point where I wish we could have seen more of this side of him throughout his career. His performance here combining the mat stuff and the great kicks wouldn’t really leave him looking outclassed against any mat wrestler I can think of. Takano looks great too. Seriously, Lane is such a smooth, chain wrestling fool. Not really competitive enough to be something I’d rate highly, but what a display. Awesome stuff.

I never said that.

That match is great too, but it lacked actual wrestling moves.

Adrian Adonis vs Jim Brunzell (AWA 06/28/81) Lots of neat counter wrestling and mat stuff in this one. Adonis drops some nasty looking kneedrops and works over Brunzell’s arm, hand and wrist. The holds mean more than they normally might because Brunzell sells them so much. He can’t string together too much offense, but when he does, it’s focused around attacking Adonis’s leg. It’s pretty refreshing to see a heel so dominant who wins with a *relatively* clean pinfall as well. Quite the rarity in 80s wrestling. This was a real treat. Adonis had some excellent and unique offense which Brunzell sold like a champ. It was held back a little by being more of a competitive squash than a match between equals, but I liked the work enough that it didn’t matter too much.

I'm surprised by this. I loved the match. I even thought it was better than the more acclaimed Funk vs Lawler brawl earlier in the year.

Not every wrestler acts that way though.

I agree with that, but he seems perpetually annoyed.