Superstar Sleeze

IWGP Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 1/4/24 Wrestle Kingdom 18 The hunt for a halfway decent New Japan 2024 match continues. Granted, I am doing this with express purpose of watching wrestlers I will watch in Japan at Korakuen Hall on April 22nd so watching Danielson in New Japan does not do me much good. Plus I am super familiar with Danielson so I dont need to watch him to prep for him even if he was to wrestle on that night. Anyways, never have been a Naito guy and nothing has really changed for me. He does not have much in the way of charisma nor does he do anything unique. Destino may be the worst finish of all time. It is so clunky and ugly. SANADA is like the most almost athletic wrestler of all time. Watch him try to do Misawa Tiger Feint at the beginning or the Poisonrana at the end, he just barely accomplishes them and they are ugly as sin. There's enough wicked athletic wrestler in this day and age, it is a losing battle for him. He should focus on something else. Honestly, the finish run basically mindwiped me and I cant really remember what I wanted to say even though I finished this match about ten minutes ago. Opening: Weak chain wrestling. The feign some dives. The match opens up with Naito hitting some hard back elbows to the neck and a hiptoss where SANADA's neck lands on Naito's knee. SANADA sells this well, even going to one knee on some hope spot chops. He moves into position a little early on the Slop Drop into some Lucha submission. As I expected, this match had like 20 minutes left so SANADA clearly oversold here as what was to come. Second segment: SANADA all of sudden has a ton of energy and moves out of the way a charge. Dropkick to the knee. Does some leapfrogs, dropkick. Splash to the outside. This would have been a great shine. Or he could not sold so much at the beginning. SANADA drops down into a Dragon Sleeper. He goes for the Moonsault early. Lands on his feet. He scrambles for another move but Naito sweeps the leg, dropkicks him and then a Reverse Neckbreaker off the guardrail to the floor for an 18 count. That sequence from the missed Moonsault->Neckbreaker on the floor was TREMENDOUS! It was the best sequence of the match. It demonstrates they could wrestle a great match, but they could NOT put it together. Third Segment: Naito snaps off a Top Rope Frankensteiner. SANADA hits a dropkick and then they tussle and he hits a Magic Killer off the top rope. They pissed away a lot of good work in that sequence. I think this is where the Poisonrana comes in. Moonsault eats the knees. First Destino and we enter the Finish stretch Finish Stretch: This was dreadful. First it is JIP wrestling. You could just JIP right to the missed moonsault and you would have missed nothing. The first 15-18minutes of this match do NOT matter. It is just a bunch of my turn, your turn finishes. Oh they steal each other finishers! Naito hits a bajillion Destino's. SANADA has an inverted Sister Abigail he hits plus some Shining Wizards and Moonsaults. It is pretty much mindless shit. I think when I enter Korakuen Hall I will be so overwhelmed by emotion I wont care what is put on in front of me, but New Japan looks fucking washed from where I am sitting.

Yota Tsuji vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 3/20/24 New Japan Cup Finals I am so excited to see pro wrestling in Korakuen Hall that New Japan could deliver a total shitburger that I will still be elated, but if I am to be objective, this has been very disappointing to see what is going in New Japan. I heard the Finals would be a lot better than Semifinals, but I am still not seeing it. Besides his big ass smile, I dont see what Tsuji has going for him. I am only two matches in so I will keep an open mind, but there is nothing about him that jumps off the page. He is just another dude that does the same things as everyone else nowadays. Goto is Goto. He is old stalwart. First highspot came about five minutes in, it was a suicide dive by Tsuji. The opening 5 minutes of customary New Japan feeling out was nothing to write home about. No fire in the lock ups or takedowns. Tsuji's control segment was pretty by the book. Bodyslam, body scissors. I found it funny Goto was doing these desperation chops and fall down to one knee after about 7 minutes of action, a suicide dive and a bodyslam. I mean credit for doing a traditional hope spot, a dying art, but dude how about you wait for Tsuji to do something actually devastating. Goto caught Tsuji with a lariat on criss-cross. He did his standard Goto spots. There was absolutely terrible criss-cross spot that was just so overly complicated and unnecessary. Pretty bad New Japan strike exchange. The finish run was not very good. Usually I expect the finish run to save this match and justify the lavish praise heaped upon these mediocre matches, but this was not even good by Cena/Owens standards of 2015. It was my turn, your turn dreck. Tsuji hits his one cool move that weird jumpy thing that leads to double stomp to Goto's head. Guess what next move Tsuji hoists Goto on his shoulders guess what Goto comes alive and puts Tsuji in a sleeper. Man, could they at least come u[ up with a better transition. The headbutt strike exchange was good. I think this may have been earlier after the terrible criss-cross, but there was a terrible moment where Tsuji just hopped up on Goto's shoulders to eat a move. The actual finish was decent. Goto went for some Rainmaker variation and Tsuji hit a spear which was cool. I am not thrilled with yet another wrestler using the Spear but Tsuji does his more look like a spear takedown. If you like today's style of wrestling, I am sure you will like this. I am not here to rain on anyone's parade. I just call em as I see em. It was a disappointing match.

So obviously we have to go to Ribera. I see there are two locations. Which one is better from a pro wrestling history & memorabilia perspective?

Yota Tsuji vs EVIL - NJPW 3/18/24 New Japan Cup Semis Same crowd as Sanada & Goto, a bit more energy for this match particularly Yota who I have never seen or heard of before. Is Yota a candidate to be the next Ace? He seems solid. Between him & Sanaa’s I don’t see a huge difference, Yota may be a bit more charismatic. Never EVIL before but heard of him. I liked this better than Sanada/Goto but it wasn’t without its faults. This one told a clear story: the dude named EVIL is well Evil. He pulls hair, he exposes turnbuckles, he ball shots, he has friends (is that Dick Togo? It is Dick Togo) beat up Tsuji. So Tsuji has to fight from underneath and overcome the odds and has his own friends help him out. The issue was with the execution. A lot of it felt heatless like they were just going through motions like it was a dress rehearsal. Both beatdowns at the beginning and the end were atrocious. I’d be ashamed to be apart of that. Both some oomph behind those stomps, sneer, do something. The crowd clearly liked Yota but the match did him little favors. Once the match was officially started after the first beat down. There was a buzz to Yota’s offense. EVIL stymied that with a HARD shove into the railing that toppled the ring announcer. I like the hair pulling and the exposed buckles but the way Yota was going into them was ginger. Yota got his hope spots in with a couple stomps. EVIL took back over don’t remember much and I just watched the match. EVIL took the Bret Bump into the exposed buckles which I LOVED! EVIL hit him hard. This should led to fiery comeback but they pissed around with a terrible strike exchange. Yota hit his big finish but nailed the ref with it. Here comes Evil’s boys and this beat down sucks too. They focus on Tsuji’s testicles but Evil can’t pin him. SHINGO I believe comes out cleans house and Yota wins. This could have been great all the pieces were there but it was so heatless in execution.

I was watching Beetlejuice for the first time on the plane back from Dublin. Noticed there was a pro wrestling match while the mom was sleeping, what match was on?

UPDATE: I bought tickets using BuySumoTickets and received confirmation they purchased tickets for me to go see New Japan in Korakuen Hall!!! I am so excited that I am getting to see pro wrestling in Korakuen! We are also going to Sumo too, which should be pretty cool. I watched a New Japan match from a week ago and noticed that 2/3rds-3/4ths of the crowd was in masks. Should I expect to wear a mask at all times in Japan or only when I am sick? Thank you everyone for the recommendations! I am so excited for this trip!

SANADA vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 03/18/24 New Japan Cup 2024 Semis I leave for Japan on April 13th. Time to get my ass in gear! Hirooki Goto still wrestles?!? Wow! SANADA has a great look, not sure he has IT. I thought he was perfectly solid just didn’t jump off the page for me. I thought he’d be a lock to win since he was a recent champion & Goto is a vet but they went with the upset. It is still cold in Boston so this is going to be short. Pretty heatless match overall. Nothing bad per se but nothing great. Standard New Japan start with Mat wrestling which I appreciate. Looks like Goto is going to take control first with a clotheslining Samara over the top rope but very All Japan transition here with drop toe hole into the guardrail and then piledriver on the floor. That was the peak of the match. Lame Sanada control. Lame Goto transition on a lame cross cross. Stock Goto stuff. The criss cross stuff in this match was not good. SANADA who I believe is a Mutoh student at the very least he worked Wrestle-1 with Mutoh uses a lot of Mutoh moves such as the Shining Wizard & Moonsault. I did like the Dragon Sleeper with a body scissors. There was an especially bad New Japan strike exchange breakdown. The finish stretch was pretty standard New Japan does 90s All Japan style bomb throwing. This came off well and heated. The crowd finally got into it. I liked Sanada’s use if quick pins to discombobulate and set up offense but eventually he got caught by two big moves from Goto. I’m probably harsher sounding on it than I felt while watching. I didn’t think either guy really stood out and they didn’t tell a real story. It was not like one guy was fighting from underneath (SANADA was on top more I reckon), no limbo psychology, no tempo psychology. It was just hit your spots with weak transition and a standard finish run. Nothing bad, nothing great. It just was.

Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 8/13/23 Woah Sleeze is reviewing a match after 2015, what the fuck?!? Look, New Japan could present a shitburger in Korakeun Hall and I would still be on Cloud 9 watching pro wrestling in Korakeun. I get chills and emotional just thinking about the fact I will get to do that, BUT I might as well do a little research and see what is going on in New Japan to enhance the experience. I figured I'd start with last year's G1 Climax Final. Naito is definitely the more over of the two. I watched this while walking in 32F weather, it is a 34 minute match, so rather than a blow by blow account. These are the thoughts I had while watching it. Pros 1. Pacing. I thought both Okada & Naito did a great job pacing this 34 minute match 1a. Segmentation was really well done. They had significant control segments with clear transitions in momentum. Action had consequences 1b. Tempo was a double edge sword, as you will see it will be in the Con section, BUT I did appreciate they took their time. This was not a perpetual motion match. Neither Okada nor Naito was running the whole time. They let things breathe. It did not feel like they were do a rehearsed choreography or stage blocking. 1c. They took what their opponent gave them. Nothing drives me nuts more than an opponent getting into position for the next move. Here that did not happen. I am so appreciative of it. They used a snapmare or a bodyslam to position their opponent how they wanted them. Or if thats where the opponent was that is how the spot flowed. 2. Neck Psychology - The neck psychology was strong throughout. It was a good touchstone for the match. 3. Highspots - Okada has his highspots down pat. The dropkick to the wrestler sitting on the top rope, the Tombstone, the standard dropkick, Emerald Flowsion and the Rainmaker. He is a Bret Hart style wrestler. You know the beats, you look for the beats, the beats are safe and any deviation to the beats is interesting. As you will see in cons there was not much in the way of deviation. I think Naito has improved since I last watch him, but in all honesty he does nothing for me. Besides Tranquilo, what does he do that shows charisma or anything of the way sparking excitement? Cons 1. Transitions while clear were neither interesting nor eye-popping. Okada seems to like catching a charging Naito as his transition which is fine. A charging opponent should lose that battle 9/10 times, but it was not something that excited me. It was just ok we are transitioning to the next segment. Naito seemed to like to use running and speed to create his transition such as the swinging DDT. This kinda goes into my #2 point. I think the match could have been edited so that some of the selling was not oversold so much to make some of the transitions more meaningful 1a. The lack of missed moves also hurt the match. Missed moves are easy ways to create openings for the wrestler working underneath. The first meaningful missed move was 30 minutes into the match and was the Stardust Press which levelled playing field for the finish run. 2. Modulation of selling. They oversold too quickly in the beginning which undercut some of the early transitions. 3. If they were going to wrestle downtempo, they needed to tell a more interesting story. I love a good midtempo jam such as Tenyru/Mutoh '01, but you can NOT be hitting every single highspot cleanly. You need to deviate from the norm. 4. Individual Charisma - This was a pretty soulless match. I am not the biggest Okada fan, but he has some money matches against Tanahashi. That's because Tanahashi is the paint to his blank canvas. Okada has a formula/structure (Tanahashi does too) but Tanahashi brightens it with his colorful charisma. These two are just as vanilla as they come. 5. Finish Run - This is what I was most shocked about. I expected the last 5 minutes for them to go all out and then I'd be like yeah the first 30 minutes was solid, but in typical Japanese fashion that last 5 minutes rocked hard, but even that felt pedestrian. Pretty standard Okada finish run with the swing your partner round & round bullshit which can be good or can be lame. It was more the latter this time. It is not really a bad match per se. It is just kinda there. I am interested to see what people give it as a rating. I bet it was lower than your normal New Japan match. My estimate would be 4 stars which is low for New Japan. I am going three myself. I am going too look up what was considered their best last year and give that a shot. *** UPDATE: VOW MOTY Rankings had this at #16!?!??! WOW! Ok so I am way off base. I need to know what others think about this match.

Hey yo, so I got married recently and we are taking our honeymoon to Japan. I cant go to Japan and not see 1-2 wrestling shows while I am over there. Not to worry my wife is going to AEW Big Business in March and both nights of WrestleMania, she has definitely become a fan during the course of our relationship. So I had a couple questions about seeing pro wrestling live in Japan. 1. How do you see when & where upcoming shows will be? I figure my best bet to see wrestling is in Tokyo or Osaka. We will also be going to Kyoto, which I assume is not exactly a pro wrestling hotbed. So I know I cant be picky if New Japan is not running in Tokyo or Osaka when I will be there, I am definitely willing to watch All Japan, NOAH or DDT, what have you? 2. How do you buy tickets for the event? 3. Any tips or tricks either for entering the venue or watching? Any other advice is appreciated. Oh we are going from April 13th-28th. Thank you in advance!

WWA World Heavyweight Champion Baron Von Raschke vs Andre The Giant - WWA 10/23/72 A rare full match! TV match it seems from the worlds tiniest wrestling ring. WWA was Dick The Bruiser’s Indianapolis promotion where he was champion for most of the 60s and last champ in 1971. Bruiser did wrestle in St. Louis and AWA around this time. Baron seems like he was the main heel as he was on his third title reign, the first being in 1970. He has Bobby Heenan but before he was the Brain he was the pretty boy. Wilbur Snyder the innovator of the Abdominal Stretch is out to protect Andre because Andre doesn’t speak English. Baron clocks Snyder with brass knuckles before the bell, busting him open this leaning Andre on his own. Of course the gargantuan Andre needs no help. My big takeaway from this match is most Giants are miscast as heels. They should be babyfaces used to bash in your most hated cowardly scoundrel to roaring applause. Omos, the dude with Apollo Crews and Satam Singh would all benefit from babyface runs at the outset of their career to establish them as forces of nature and only later turn them heel to feed then to the Ace Babyface. Andre is a lot of fun to watch at this point. It is a lot of the Andre staple spots. Stepping and standing on his opponent is always impressive. Surprised Baron got a kick out after a backbreaker. Heenan trips Andre. Baron takes the eyes. Snyder recovers and applies the Abdominal Stretch twice but Heenan breaks it up. On third one, Andre chases Heenan off to a roaring crowd. Not a great match but a cool historical curiosity.

AWA World Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens vs Dr. X & Andre The Giant - AWA 10/7/72 It is just to pleasant to watch Nick Bockwinkel. At less than 5 minutes, there’s not much to analyze. It seems like Andre is a surprise guest. They do a fun spot where Bock rapidly u-turns from Andre into an X headlock. They run an X FIP. Andre’s hot tag is phenomenal. It is amazing how agile and fluid he is. Andre wins. A cool curiousity.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco vs Harley Race - CWF 6/8/74 An abridged walk today. Looking for something short & sweet. At 8, 9 minutes of footage no rating but still very revealing. Coming off watching so much WWWF footage from the mid-70s. This is night & day. I think what is most revealing is the Southern workrate style is pretty much fully realized at this point. Compared to the WWF style of romp em stomp em with power holds, in 90 seconds you’ll see a back body drop, piledriver, and a missed diving headbutt. You see some big bumps. I counted three different Suplex variations. Superstar Graham brought the big bumping North so that’s not uncommon but the offense is very different compared to WWWF. The other thing to note is how fully realized Harley Race. This is 1974 so he already did his stint as the transitional champion between Junior and Jack but all the Harley staples are there. Big bumps, begging off, tons of bombs and high spots. He does the Harley bump booking the top rope and the press slam off the top. These clips show you there is not much novelty to what Flair and Steamboat were doing in the Mid-Atlantic in the late 70s through the 80s. BUT ORIGINALITY IS OVERRATED! Watching Harley here there are so many Flair spots but it is how Flair does them that makes him better. It is Flair charisma, his unique organic fight or flight reaction to pro wrestling that underpins everything he does that makes him the GOAT and makes Harley look stilted and forced. It is not a Lu what you do. It is how you do it. That’s why Originality is overrated. Sadly we don’t get the finish. Cagematch says Brisco wins but not how. Interesting clips.

Bruno Sammartino vs Superstar Graham - WWF MSG 10/23/78 The epilogue to their famous 76-77 feud. Backlund is champion, Bruno has been absent from MSG for half a year, Graham has been doing jobs on his way out to Dusty & Backlund. Bruno and Superstar bring out the best in each other. Not their best match together but they stick to the formula and it’s fun. Their specific formula is taste of your own medicine. Graham applies a hold, Bruno reverses and applies the same hold. Graham does some quick headlock punches so Bruno returns the favor. Graham does a poor head arm triangle, Bruno says fuck that…reverse waist lock and full Nelson instead. Bruno charges and slams his knee into the buckles. Graham does leg work so you guessed it Bruno retaliates with just that. Their bread & butter is the test of strength and Bearhug exchange. The Bearhug exchange gets the biggest pop and harkens back to yesteryear and I loved it! Bruno slams Superstar’s head into the exposed turnbuckle drawing blood. He tees off on the cut. He doesn’t want a pin he wants to KO Superstar but the ref calls the match and Bruno gets a measure of revenge on his archrival. They have better matches together but this is still fun. ***1/2

Bruno Sammartino Vs Ken Patera - WWF MSG 8:29:77 Texas Death Went to type Bruno as the champion but this is the beginning of Bruno wrestling as the Living Legend which means when he is on the card you get a double main event. Fourth match between these two in 1977 as they reprise their first quarter feud This is definitely one of WWWF Texas Death Matches that leaves you scratching your head as to why it is a Texas Death match. Besides a ballshot, it is very non-violent and it is not even a decisive finish. Taking the stipulation out of this, I thought this was a good not great match. It was much more a slam bang workrate match. It was a vast departure from a standard Bruno match. No tests of strength, bear hugs and only the Full Nelson was at the end. Patera tries to start hot but goes up top too soon and misses an elbow. Bruno comes roaring back with fists. They go all Mid-Atlantic with headlocks, throws into ropes, Patera leapfrog, Bruno says New York can play this game too and nails a DROPKICK sending Patera careening through the ropes. Bruno works the back with knees and stomps. Patera takes over shortly lame transition and the work wasn’t much. Bruno is hitting atomic drops, bodyslams and back body drops like he is working the Greensboro Coliseum. Patera throws a wild ballshot and again his heat segment is ineffectual. He slaps on the Full Nelson. Bruno doesn’t really sell it consequently it doesn’t feel like a big deal. Bruno mule kicks off the buckles and it is the double pin but Bruno gets his shoulder up. Patera contests the decision but Bruno sends him packing with a knuckle sandwich. Bruno was great on offense. Patera was so basic and blasé on offense. Bruno’s selling of the full Nelson hurt the finish big time. Call me crazy but I wish this had more tests of strength and bear hugs. ***

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ernie Ladd - WWF MSG 3/1/76 I don’t know if I have seen an Ernie Ladd match before actually I think saw one on the Mid-South Set. I am sure playing pro football took its toll on him but he is not the most spry man. He relies more on cheating and his gimmicked thumb. Bruno starts off surprisingly with arm drags seems weird for someone as big as Ladd to go over so easily but his legs are so long it necessitates rope breaks. Ladd closes the gap with a Bearhug and a choke. A pretty languid beginning. Bruno starts to fire up with great strikes and a back body drop. Ladd uses the gimmicked thumb to turn the tables. Bruno comes back but eats the buckles on a charge. Ladd does a couple three point stance shoulder tables not as good as Duggan. Ladd does a couple leg drops not as good as Hogan. Ladd misses the big splash and Bruno pins him but lets up a little early to protect Ladd. One of the worst Bruno matches I think that was even worse than Arion matches. No heat, no energy, no urgency. What makes Bruno matches great are fists of fury and a high energy heel. Ladd has a languid cool factor but doesn’t translate well into this type of pro wrestling. Avoid.

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera - WWF MSG 3/7/77, Special Referee: Gorilla Monsoon Unfortunately, we do not have the February Match but we do have this gem. One poster said this is the best Bruno singles match on tape. I do prefer the Bruno/Hansen Cage Match and some of the Superstar matches but this is a dandy. Probably my favorite Kenny P singles as I liked some of his AWA tags more. Bruno has two more titles defenses in the Garden against surprising challenger Baron Von Raschke, a unique AWA crossover opponent. I thought this really built on the strong foundation of the January match. I liked that they started with a more traditional shine. Bruno combines boxing and speed to send Patera powdering and stymieing him at every pass. I just find the over the top style of Superstar Graham more entertaining than Patera. Patera looks to have openings on a head knocking collision or on a press to the ring. Bruno thwarts him with a mule kick from his back. Patera finally makes in-roads with a headlock which looks impressive with his massive arms. Bodyslams ensue as Bruno tries to battle back. Then the dreaded Bearhug. They roll around on the mat each getting near falls whilst Patera maintains the clench of the Bearhug. They roll into the ropes and Monsoon breaks it up. Bruno crawls away clutching his back while Patera hits a nasty elbow drop right on the back. Back to the Bearhug! Bruno headbutts out! Bruno tries to fire up but a butt to the breadbasket looks to set up the dreaded Full Nelson as Patera looks Bruno fires back! Great use of the Full Nelson to generate drama and spur on the Bruno comeback. It is all Bruno down the stretch slamming Patera’s head into the turnbuckle to bust him open. Patera gives a valiant effort but he is swinging at air. Bruno tees off but Patera is out on his feet not defending himself and Monsoon calls the match. Great Bruno shine, I enjoyed the heat segment around the Bearhug and threat of Full Nelson. A great WWF fuck finish. I’m a hallway camper. ****

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera- WWF MSG 1/17/77 Bruno was in the twilight of his second reign and his prime. He would drop the belt to Superstar in three months or so. His last major challenger is Ken Patera. Kenny P has the physique of Superstar Graham with the athleticism of Nature Boy Ric Flair. He looks and feels like the wrestler of tomorrow compared to Bruno but there is one problem. He is not very charismatic. I have tried hard to get into Patera and his status of a major National main event star of the late 70s and early 80s is undeniable but I can’t get into his matches. I just find him dull. He had good matches but has he ever had a great match. I thought this was a good but not great match. Interesting there is no babyface shine. In a lot of ways it is a heel shine. Before we get to that Albano is Kenny P’s manager and Bruno sends him packing with a right. Larry Zbyszko is introduced as Bruno’s protege starting that angle. Back to the match. Bruno didn’t need a shine. Patera has these incredible arms but other than that he won’t have instant heat like a Koloff or a Graham. He needs this shine more than Bruno. He does a leapfrog, he throws Bruno around to establish he is the wrestler of tomorrow and how can Bruno keep up with someone who is not just strong but is also agile. Patera cheats of the rest of strength and works the Bearhug. Bruno resorts to a headbutt but his back is so fucked up he can’t capitalize back to the Bearhug. Bruno headbutts again. He is selling his back like a million bucks. He busts out all sort of non-Bruno offense. A mule kick in the corner. Back body drop. All to give his body a chance to heal. Bruno starts to rev up for fists of fury but Patera stymies him in the corner. Patera threatens the dreaded Full Nelson but Bruno immediately falls down Mule Kick and starts kicking ass. I love this desperate Bruno. He knows he was within a hair of losing so he is gotta give all he has got, this is where the match grinds to a halt because it was really good up until this. They just start rolling a round and choking, doing random clubbering to waste time until they knock heads outside. The crowd gets into the brawl. Patera clobbers Bruno with a chair in plain view of the ref but somehow this a count out victory for Patera and not a DQ victory for Bruno. Loved the beginning! Told the story of a waning Bruno being overwhelmed by the younger, strong more athletic Patera. Bruno’s selling which is not his strong suit was so good here. He overcomes Patera with one thing that he has more than anyone: heart. Once that Full Nelson almost is applies he comes to life. It is so bad they ran out of things to do before the finish and the finish also sucked because this was on the way to being the best Patera singles match I have ever seen. ***1/4

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff - WWF MSG 12/15/75 Steel Cage I am up at my future in-laws house in Quebec, coincidentally the homeland of the Russian Bear, and they have a treadmill! So the odds are good for more walk & reviews! Not much to say about this one. The first steel cage match in MSG history and a big money feud for the WWF for obvious reasons as Bruno vanquishes the man who beat him for the Championship in 1971. These type of brawls do very little for me. It is repetitive and gratuitous. Koloff tries to attack as Bruno enters the ring but is stymied. Bruno whips him into the cage 8 bajillion times. Look I love a babyface shine and I love a babyface kicking some serious ass but I like a sense of escalation, progression, cause & effect. This was just very flat. I would have liked to seen more fists of fury. Koloff bleeds of course. Besides an Uncle Ivan atomic stomp, he got no offense. I am not exaggerating he got the move to set up the atomic stomp and the atomic stomp. Bruno prevent him from leaving. He starts slamming him into the post and that’s it. He exits and exacts his revenge on the Russian Bear. It was not bad but it didn’t do much for me. Your mileage may vary, I’ll give it *** because I’m a sucker for Bruno kicking ass but it was a letdown.

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff - WWF MSG 11/17/75 This has Vince on Commentary with Gorilla Monsoon as the SGR. Looks like for Coliseum Home Video or Primetime as Bobby Heenan introduces the match. We get the last 7-8 minutes of a 21 minute match so I won’t rate it but you get into a rhythm watching this. Bruno roars back with fists of fury after a collision spot knocked him out of the ring. Bruno is so great as the fiery comeback. Things settle down into a test of strength which Koloff knees into breadbasket and sends Bruno back out. Bruno grabs a hold of a Bearhug in the ropes and then brings him into the center. Call me crazy but I think someone working a strong man gimmick someone the size of a Mark Henry could bring back the Bearhug. Koloff gets out with a punch. Bruno keeps going for it. They trade bodyslams. Koloff gets two. Bruno gets two. Bruno sends Koloff out of the ring. They brawl on the apron. Monsoon distracts Bruno with the count and Uncle Ivan WAFFLES BRUNO WITH A CHAIR! Triggers DQ! Good finish for the second match of the series. Looking forward to the Steel Cage Match!

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff - WWF MSG 10/13/75 Clipped to hell but you get about ten minutes. Sounds like this was used on a Coliseum Home Video or Prime Time Wrestling as Gorilla Monsoon is doing commentary and he is peddling lies saying Bruno is trying to regain the championship from the man who beat him. No Bruno is the champion and is trying to get his win back from the man who beat him. This was an easy money match for the WWWF. It drew huge at MSG as expected but would Bruno get his revenge in his first match back or does Uncle Ivan have his number. It is too clipped to get any sort of rhythm. I didn’t really anything stood out, it was pretty standard Bruno. I have seen a good number of Uncle Ivan matches and enjoy his work against Backlund and in the 80s. Here I thought he was serviceable but no great shakes. Lots of usual 70s Bruno stuff, collision spots, punching, stomping, tests of strength, slamming into the buckles. I liked Bruno back dropping Koloff and immediately working the back into a Bearhug. The finish was Koloff busting Bruno open in the corner -doctor checks on him. Bruno hulks up and unloads on Uncle Ivan with fists of fury! Koloff takes a wild swipe and hits the referee, on purpose or by accident we will never know. Wrestlers flood the ring to break up the melee. The finish was hot. The body of match was solid but the clipping hurt it.

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham vs Bruno Sammartino- WWF MSG 8/1/77 Rare Saturday bonus review. The fiancé is making a Tiramisu for Christmas Eve tomorrow. Double bonus bitchin’ Tiramisu and a bitchin Graham/Sammartino match! Headed to Quebec on Tuesday to see the in-laws glad I could finish all the Graham title defenses in MSG. Graham vs Bruno is night and day from Graham vs Dusty. Bruno just brings out the best in Graham. This is a total departure from their formula of Graham applies a Bruno breaks the hold and applies the same hold as Graham. This is wrestled like a blood feud street fight with Gorilla Monsoon as the Special Referee. Superstar jumps him at the bell but Bruno battles back and the first half is all Bruno punches and stomps. Great Superstar bumps on the back drop and the high knee miss on the turnbuckles that leads to a single crab near fall. Superstar tries to grab a rope to choke out Bruno but Bruno gets a hold of it and chokes him out. Monsoon is call this down the middle but letting shit fly. Superstar ball shots Bruno and busts him open with the Championship belt. This shit is great, he misses the top rope flying knee. Bruno misses a charge. Superstar tries to capitalize but Bruno powders. Bruno comes roaring back! Slamming Superstars into hard metal objects until he bleeds. BEARHUG~! Graham flails and whacks Monsoon as he tries to break the Bearhug. It is a slug fest with Bruno winning! Then Wet Blanket Gorilla Monsoon calls the whole thing off due to too much blood from both men. Vince said he was there two referee from a wrestler’s perspective make sure there is a winner. What a little weenie Monsoon is even if he did get slugged by Superstar. Now why all the heat is on Monsoon, you know there would still be a fuck finish but this doesn’t take away from how awesome of a brawl this is! I have really been loving their series and this is such a departure from the rest of their matches which I love. You need to watch the whole series to appreciate this and appreciate how kick ass both wrestlers are! ****

Superstar Billy Graham vs Dusty Rhodes - WWF MSG 8/28/78 Texas Bullrope Billy Graham is on the Superstar jobbing tour since nobody could have a chance to beat him in 1977. He takes losses to Dusty, Bruno and Backlund all in short order as he is leaving the territory. I would’ve watched this on the Dusty Rhodes WWE DVD but have no recollection not even Chief Jay Strongbow as the ref. I enjoyed this match but I prefer Bruno as a Graham opponent. Pretty standard shine. Graham wouldn’t put the Bullrope on as Strongbow is trying to corral him Dusty blasts him with the bell. It is bell shots, Elbows, Graham trying to run away. Graham gets a rope rake to the eyes. Chokes with the rope, hits Dusty with the bell to trigger double juice. The Bearhug is the climax of the heat segment. Bionic Elbow breaks the hold. Graham tries to go up top Dusty yanks him down. Bell and elbow shots do Superstar in. Strongbow constantly trying to intercede gives Dusty the opening to blast Graham out of the ring into next week to win by countout/knockout. It is fun stuff but I thought they could have capitalized on the high spots to build more momentum it was a lot of start-stop. Superstar & Dusty is always fun. ***

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham vs Dusty Rhodes - WWF MSG 10/24/77 Texas Death It is 35 out on my walk & review think this will be short & sweet. I don’t believe I have ever seen this match. This is a rematch from the previous month’s Dusty countout victory. I liked this better for sure compared to last month. I know a lot of people including myself can be frustrated and flummoxed by Texas Death Matches during this era of WWF as they do NOT utilize the stipulations to the extent Southern wrestling would. I will say by WWF standards this is pretty good. There’s at least double juice and a bull rope. So it is more violent than most WWF Death Matches. Dusty attacks before the bell. It is finger-wagging’ and booty-shaking time! I love it! Again Dusty feels like the bigger star even though I love the Superstar. Lots of Superstar powdering. He tried to bulldog Dusty into the apron but is shoved off. A butt to the breadbasket allows Graham to smash Dusty into the post & railing drawing blood. Superstar grabs a rope chokes Dusty and applies the Bearhug Dusty of course uses the Bionic Elbow to break it, he hangs Superstar with the rope excellent visual. He draws blood. Dusty tries to win with his feet on the ropes I mean it is no DQ but not falls count anywhere. In a very anticlimactic finish Graham collides with Dusty falls on top for the pin. Dusty kicks out at 3 and beats Superstar up back to the dressing room. Texas Death was usually the blow off for Bruno, Pedro or Backlund so it was weird to book it for Graham as champ, as he wasn’t going to lose and due to the stipulations harder to do a fuck finish. I really enjoyed the body of the match but lame finish I was shocked Dusty let himself be pinned. ***1/4

WWWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham vs Dusty Rhodes - WWF MSG 9/26/77 Apparently, I have this before a bunch because this made the Dusty Rhodes WWE DVD set, but I could have sworn I watched the Texas Death Match (2nd) and Bullrope Match (3rd). I am sure of the Bullrope, but apparently it is the Texas Death match I have not seen because that made the Superstar DVD. It is really interesting when you watch one wrestler consistently for a period of time and you really learn his tendencies and then watch as other bring different things out of him. You could feel much more Southern Style this is. There is a lot more action, but it also a lot more chaotic than a typical Graham match. Dusty is just throwing shit out there. You can really tell the difference between Southern Style and WWF style having watched a lot of Bruno and Graham. There is a certain rhythm to a Bruno or Graham match that I can appreciate. This match is much more hectic. Dusty never applies the same hold back on Graham. He does not do a Bearhug or a Full Nelson. Also because Dusty's thing is a boat load of Charisma you can tell Graham kind of scales it back in his bumping and stooging as this really becomes the Dusty show. The babyface shine blows Vince's mind as he cant believe the "rolly-pollie" Dusty is throwing Graham around. I agree it was an unexpected start, but Dusty doing all that booty-shaking makes me a happy man. We need more booty-shaking babyfaces. Graham lures him into a test of strength, but Big Dusty proves that Graham's muscles are for show and his muscles are for dough, BABY! Graham gets in some basic heel offense like chinlocks and stomps. Dusty just lets the Bionic Elbows fly! Graham applies a Bearhug, but Dusty revvs up and nails the Elbow. He misses a charging elbow into the corner. ARGENTINE BACKBREAKER! Now thats something different. Dusty escapes kicking off the top. A barrage of elbows follows! He misses on. Graham up top. PRESS SLAM OFF THE TOP! If that does NOT say Southern-Fried I dont know what does. Dusty keeps the elbows coming. Graham tries to fight back with an eye rake and Dusty back drops him over the top to win via Countout. It takes the ref forever to call it. Dusty really milks the Dusty Finish here. He is posing with the belt, he even puts it around his waist. One has to wonder what this to get Photos in the Magazines with him wearing the belt to drum up controversy and aggrandize his star. It was a very Dusty move. The crowd fucking loves him. I think for most people this was probably their introduction to Superstar Graham. I dont think he is bad per se, but he is subdued. He is NOT the star of the show. He is the flip side of the same coin as Dusty. Whereas he and Bruno are both very charismatic but in different ways. I think Graham and Bruno really complement each other whereas Dusty & Superstar are redundant but it doesnt mesh quite as well. I thought this was a very uptempo match. Dusty brings not only a lot of charisma but a lot of energy. He was not fighting from underneath for long, this was a lot of Dusty on top. I feel like it was the Dusty show through and through. Not a bad thing per se, but not as much a blending of two styles like Mascaras more just the spotlight on Dusty. Solid match. Excited for the rematches. Like I said I knew I have seen the Bullrope, but I dont think I have seen the Texas Death match. ***

WWWF Champion Superstar Billy Graham vs Mil Mascaras - WWF MSG 12/19/77 Bonus review today to make up for the lack of reviews this week! Never seen a Mil Mascaras match before, but I was present for his Hall of Fame Induction ceremony where he claimed he could speak Japanese: "Toyota, Sony, Mitsubishi" not the most tasteful thing to remember but it got a good laugh. I remember hearing on a podcast back in the day the big three babyface travelling stars of the 70s were Dusty, Andre and Mascaras. It is cool that we got Dusty and Mascaras back to back series after Bruno was done. I would have loved to seen Andre vs Graham in MSG. That would have been something! I thought this was a very entertaining blend of Superstar's style and what I believe to Mascaras' style as I have not seen some of these highspots in other WWF matches as to be expected. Grand Wizard is out with Graham and is staying at ringside. So Mascaras goes to the back and fetches MY BOY, Bob Backlund! Oh how I have missed you so! So the push begins. Wizard gets thrown out mid-match to a pop and neither he nor Backlund play into the finish. Mascaras starts off with the usual fast break offense as a shine which has Graham bumping and stooging. No one will confuse Superstar with Barry Windham, but just because a guy is not graceful does NOT mean he is not an effective, entertaining bumper or stooge. Graham in the 70s has made up what he lacks in natural athleticism with effort and charisma! That is important. I get it if he is lazy or phoning it in. Lets dog him for it, but I enjoy his style. Mascaras gets an early Surfboard complete with a foot to the back which really shows off Graham's definition and physique. Unlike in other Graham matches, it is NOT Superstar putting the hold on first sometimes it is Mascaras as we see with the Surfboard or the Abdominal Stretch later. Mascaras also fares well in the Greco-Roman Knucklelock Test of Strength. Where Mascaras shines is adding in those wrinkles of Lucha Libre to keep Graham and the WWF audience off their feet such as headscissor, armdrag or dropkick. Mascaras himself will not win any awards for grace himself but the high spots are appreciated. Graham does add in his usual staples: the Full Nelson and the Bearhug and true to form Mascaras reverses each of those into his own. I also liked the wrinkle mid-match that Graham was so overwhelmed that he powdered and came back and choked out Mascaras that was a very nice heel touch. Along with trying to take off the mask which I am sure is a staple of Mascaras matches. The finish was excellent! Mascaras bangs Graham's head off the steel post outside to trigger the bladejob. Graham has the juice flowing. Mascaras hits his big finish, a crossbody headbutt! Big pop! Ref waves the match off as Mascaras makes the cover. It is PANDEMONIUM IN THE GARDEN! THE REF RAISES MASCARAS HAND AND THE CROWD ROARS! Alas he only won by blood stoppage and thus the title does NOT change hands. Boo! Call me crazy but I dug this! I really thought this was neat melding of these two's distinct styles. I know both are regarded as poor workers but I thought both had great charisma, styles meshed well and an excellent finish! It wont have you writing home to Mom about what a great match you just watched, but it was very enjoyable. ***1/2