Ricky Jackson

Valentine also has strong MSG bouts against Bruno and DeNucci. Pat Patterson is another WWF guy from 79. Top stuff with Backlund but also with a young Dibiase over the North American title. Plus great promos

That was my first thought when seeing this list too. Everyone, save for Theory, has been around wrestling in one way or another FOREVER

One of the great mysteries of the universe. Same spot, same clothes, for every big show for God knows how many years now

Oh and great reviews btw. Just noticed this thread this morning. Keep it up

Backlund has a very good 1981, probably the best year of his reign IMO. 1982 is quite strong as well. The well begins to dry up opponents wise in late 82, and 83 is clearly a "past its expiry date" situation, although with some highlights (still need to see that match vs Koloff from MSG). By the time you get to the buzz cut, singlet and loss of muscle, the bread has turned green with mold

I need to check out that July 80 Larry Z vs Putski. I see they also wrestled on the June Spectrum show, which was apparenly televised but doesn't seem to be out there

As someone who doesn't watch AEW, what is the context of the pic on the Baker T shirt?

Definitely a lot of classic WWF matches from 85-87 MLG, particularly involving the combination of Steamboat, Savage or Santana. Great unique look and atmosphere. Toronto fans were pretty rowdy. In fact, the famous ramp was first installed in (I believe) the late 40s because heels were getting abused so badly on their way to the ring, including stabbings

I believe it was because of a misunderstanding in translation dating from the beginning of Americans wrestling in Japan and it just stayed that way, kinda like the 60 feet 6 inches distance from the mound to home plate in baseball, which came from a misreading of a 0 as a 6 in the original write up

Sky Hi Lee was a major star in Calgary in the 50s. I've always loved the name, like a Dick Tracy villain or something

I don't think there is any Bruno v Hansen 1981 footage. The Rocky Raymond Boston footage ends around 1980 I believe. Boston, even more so than New York, really was Bruno's city. Pedro had trouble drawing consistently there in the early 70s (they even brought in the Sheik for a shot to pop a house when he was basically banned from the rest of the territory) and Bruno would often work the main event feud in Boston instead of Backlund, against Maivia, Patterson, and Slaughter, in addition to Hansen. Not to mention his 85-87 old man run where he was used in Boston on top way more than in any other major city

That match caused a bunch of folks here to lose their minds insisting it was the closest we've come to transcendent brilliance in wrestling or something. 2016 was kinda a weird time for this board

There is a reason this place is called Pro Wrestling Only. Let's can the political bs. We get it, the world is full of a bunch of pussies these days, blah blah blah

So basically we had the "Levesque Spring" and now Vince and the tanks have rolled in and crushed all hope

I think it has a pretty good chance of being a very interesting read. It's completely free of any Vince involvement afaik, so it should be a no holds barred look. The excerpt from the publishers site suggests it will be thorough if nothing else https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ringmaster/Abraham-Riesman/9781982169442

Bravo

I've made that mistake before. I think many/most non-Americans think it is an independent country

Probably Bruiser Bedlam

If you never post again, you have still contributed one of the greatest things I've ever read on this board

Blassie was on with Ali hyping the Inoki match in 76, but that was with McLean Stevenson guest hosting

Also, even if there was a plan to crown Sami, it would mean a lot more in the end if it came after he tried and failed to beat the champ a few times before finally getting over the hump

I haven't watched this yet, but here is a fascinating bit of history that just popped up on my YT feed. Apparently the first ever scaffold match, from 1971! I always thought Dundee and Koko from 1982 was the first scaffold match

Should be an all-timer for a crowd reaction. Awesome to see a great historical wrestling town like Montreal get a moment like this in 2023

The Genius gimmick was inspired by his father Angelo's similar "Graduate" gimmick from the 70s, down to the gown and mortarboard

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/former-wwe-star-lanny-poffo-passes-away-at-68-years-old Too bad he didn't get to work the New Gorgeous George gimmick in mid 90s WCW. At least he was paid 6 figures for like 5 years to do nothing