Superstar Sleeze

Diamonds are forever and so is Ric Flair

I thought Crockett had bought out Central States in 86? Why do a title switch in America at that point?

So what's up with All Japan doing a tag team championship switch in KC apparently in an AWA ring between Jumbo & Yatsu vs Hansen & Gordy? According to comments this was when Bulldogs wrestled RNRs, which may make sense since Bulldogs were in AJPW. This was February 2, 1989. So who was running KC in the late 1980s? Geigel? AWA? Whats the connection here?

I wish I had more time to write responses to this podcast. I just want to take credit for starting the Kawada as the Ultimate Choke Artist/Best Loser talking point. I am up to the Top 5 and this is top shelf stuff. Also, I had Kobashi at #1 and Michaels at #14 with a spirited defense of Michaels. So I am consistent.

I went to the Smackdown tapings in Manchester last night definitely a better show than Boston. Who knew going with your Mom would be more fun than going with your friend. She was loving it. Popped big for Enzo's schtick, which was the highlight of the night for me. Flair told Nattie to kill herself, but it was clearly just him working himself up in a lather against Bret. Nattie had to stop herself from laughing when he said it. It was just an outrageous statement. Clearly you should not tell someone to kill themselves and it is insensitive but there no malice. Match of the night was a really fun Owens vs Swagger match worked around their usual spots but with interesting set ups and occasional misses (people should miss moves more often!). Owens was bumping huge for Swagger and Swagger threw a great right hand at one. Excellent pacing. That match will be on Main Event. Check it out!

Told Nattie to kill herself last night and now his behavior at Logan Airport. Cmon Naitch! I wish I could have partied with him last night

Kevin Von Erich vs Chris Adams - WCCW 9/2/85, No DQ This is the singles blowoff to the Kevin/Adams singles feud that started at last year's Cotton Bowl show and kicked off the Dynamic Duo/Von Erichs feud. Gino is suspended in a cage above the ring. It does not start off as hot as expected as Kevin goes to the bodyscissors, but once Adams takes over. He really kicks some ass and throws Kevin around. It must be exhausting wrestling Kevin, you have to stay on him to stay on top. Adams thinks piledriver, but Kevin kicks off. Kevin is thinking Claw. I love it! You hate that muthafucka you use that claw. Adams retreats to the ropes and Kevin tenaciously puts the claw on the abdomen and Adams basically has to fall out the ring. Adams throws a chair into the ring. Then match gets wicked hot. They struggle on the outside and leads to Adams choking Kevin with mic cord so Kevin puts the CLAW ON ADAMS!!! Love that escape! Kevin pulls Adams across the ring with Claw. Adams ballshots him to get Kevin off. KEVIN HITS HIS SPLASH! Wow! He almost always misses it! The ref is bumped and Gino throws down some knuckledusters to Adams, but he loses them and Kevin blasts him to win the match. The post-match is glorious, one of the best in wrestling. Lowrance had told us throughout the match that Dynamic Duo had been cutting people's hair and that was a double hair match on the table. So they pull Gino into the ring via the cage. Kevin humiliates Gino by ripping his clothes off, but Adams attacks Kevin from behind with a belt and locks him in the cage. GINO HAS SCISSORS!!! OH SHIT! Kerry of course saves and Kevin is so pissed he accepts the challenge for the hair vs hair match!!! Which will take place at the Cotton Bowl!!! AWESOME! Match is great, but not the classic I was hoping for. Just a great heated blowoff match. ****

Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs Chris Adams & Gino Hernandez - WCCW 2/22/85 Call me crazy, but I think the Dynamic Duo had better matches with the Von Erichs than the Freebirds. They were more willing to meet the Von Erichs with fire rather just feed and bump. This match felt downright Japanese. Everyone was just running into each other and breaking stuff up. It was total chaos and I loved it. The beginning was great with Adams hitting a superkick out of nowhere on Kerry. So Kerry had to scramble for the tag. I love how Kerry had the presence of mind to hold Adams for Kevin. Kevin was a total madman in this match. This match is a perfect example why I love Kevin (and at times I hate him). He goes at everyone full force, but sometime he recovers too quickly. He takes some big missed splashes. You know that lamest spot in wrestling, you know the one where, a wrestler is on his back and the opponent is coming off with a double axehandle I think and eats a boot. Like honestly what did you expect to hit. Well Kevin takes that bump with full on splash! Kevin is the man! The problem is Kevin does not sell these for long and is ready to get right back on offense. At the same time, this is just a chaotic fight. This would not feel that out of place in All Japan 1980s. Kerry nails Adams with a wicked discus punch. As soon as Kerry gets the ab stretch, Gino interferes and Kevin comes flyin in to smack Gino. There is one time where Kevin so desperately wants to attack Gino he trips over Kerry and Adams' bodies. It was awesome. Gino & Adams have to fight for their lives just to get offense in. Kerry was great at selling and definitely needed to do that since his brother just straight refuses to. I loved the kneecrusher as a set up for the abdomen claw. Adams attacks and here comes Kevin! Adams cant prevent the tag. Kevin and Adams have this great clash before a wicked Kevin dropkick. This is just gnarly how they are fighting for everything. Kevin's bodyscissors, which I love is the first time the match has not been an all out-sprint. Adams selling and Kevin working it into covers makes it a great spot. Gino finally gets tired of it and elbows Kevin. Kerry just blasts Gino. Kevin drags in Gary Hart into the ring and Adams hits Kevin hard in the back of the head. The ref calls the match off, which I totally buy because this match was a melee. Don't have a problem with that finish. As I said in the body, this feels like an 80s All Japan tag with Kevin playing the role of Hansen just an absolute madman. The offense and general story is not as high quality, but it is immensely entertaining. Adams & Gino have to fight for their lives to stay on top. They bump when they have to see Adams on that Discus punch and there are some other times, but they are willing to meet the Von Erichs toe to toe, which gives these matches more of a gritty, fight feel than the feel-good Freebirds matches. Really, really looking forward to hair vs hair now! ****1/2

Exactly, there is no way Austin thinks he is in top 25 wrestlers of all time. I almost want to send him an email to read out loud on his show just so he can say just what WingedEagle said "You all need to watch more wrestling".

BRET AND AUSTIN FINISHED OVER TAUE & AKIYAMA!?!?!? What the fuck! I love Stone Cold! He is hilarious. Besides Wargames and maybe maybe SuperBrawl II point me to these all time Stunning Steve matches! He is a committed midcard heel that's it. I say this as someone who loves the Bash at the Beach 94 match that everyone shits on. The rest of his 94 is boooooorrrrring. That's it. Dustin Havoc '91 very good. Hollywood Blonds very good. These are very good years with someone who understood basic psychology executed. Look no one takes basic psychology for granted because hell not a lot of wrestlers can do that. But that's NOT top 25 material. People pretend his 96 something great. It is better than expected Savio Vega matches, a decent match with Mero then does shit until the Bret match. 2/3s of his 97 is awesome and 2001 is great. I had him at 50 and some of that was sentimental because of the podcast. How the fuck does someone with two years of greatness get in top 25??? That's absurd!

I cant believe Bret is going to finish higher than Shawn. Bullshit. I cant wrap my head around a Bret is better than Shawn argument. Rockers >>> Hart Foundation 90s Shawn > 90s Bret Then Shawn has the entire post-comeback run to bolster his case. This is just silly.

American Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Chris Adams - WCCW 2/8/85 They tease that they are going to work that Kerry is woozy right off the bat from an enziguiri by Adams complete with selling in and out of the ring, which would have been fucking awesome (like Mutoh/Tenryu 2001 just in Texas), but what we got was pretty sweet. Kerry works the best singles front facelock sequence you will ever see. So good, really versatile and works a three spots from that base, really nice. Really makes sense for him to use that hold given the enziguiri. World Class has such strange psychology, the closest thing is WWF psychology in the Backlund era. I do like it, but there is something about it that I think prevents traditional classics from developing plus at only like 11 minutes it is hard for this to reach that status. What we get is so good. Adams heat segment is pretty good, but what makes is Kerry's selling and always fighting back. As much as I like Kevin as Scrappy Doo what makes Kerry so great is that he sells too. Ab stretch is such a great move for Kerry coming out of criss cross to put on the Claw. I love how Adams sells it, gripping his midsection throwing a chair down. Kerry is relentless trying to get the claw on. Adams fighting for dear life from him putting it on his head was so dramatic. Kerry actually goes back to the front facelock, interesting move. He misses an elbow and Adams hits a nice dropkick. Kerry applies a sleeper that move was so popular in the mid-80s. DISCUS PUNCH~! Hart gets Adams' foot on the rope in a nick of time. The finish is fucking excellent. Kerry gives pursuit to Hart and Adams nails him with a superkick on the apron. Ref reprimands Adams so Hart takes his shoe off Kerry and conks him. Kerry back in the ring dazed and confused (even he was not already) nailed with a second superkick to lose the belt. It is two best workers in World Class and this one never dragged. The finish is really good, but other than that it does not have much of a hook. I like the finish a lot. Lets go ****

I NEED to see Butch Reed vs Crusher Blackwell

My childhood has been ruined. Psicosis' hair was part of the mask

Six-Man Tag Team Champions Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez & Jake The Snake Roberts vs Kerry, Kevin & Mike Von Erich - WCCW 12/31/84 This is my first Gino Hernandez match. Honestly, he did not do much and what he did do he seemed kinda awkward. I know he has a rep as a real heat-seeking heel like a Piper, but did not get that feel. I will keep an open mind. I don't think I have ever see Jake bump so much. Well it is World Class and the Von Erichs will make you for bump for them. That being said you could see when he was wrestling Mike how he was literally leading him through everything. So that was nice of him. The hook for the match was the big Chris Adams/Kevin Von Erich feud. Before the match, Kevin dove on Adams, but cooler heads prevailed. Adams/Kerry had a nice exchange with Adams getting the better of Kerry with a nice superkick and then piledriver. He missed the splash. Kerry tries to drag him to the corner so Kevin can get his hands on him. Kevin is so hell bent on attacking Adams he charges right into the ambush. One thing I really like about World Class is the chaotic, borderline uncooperative nature of the matches because of how the Von Erichs struggle against everything. They are always fighting back. Jake drops Kevin throat first on the top rope and Adams gets his licks on Kevin. As soon as he gives Kevin some breathing room, Kevin is fighting back so this forces a lot of quick tags on the heels. Kevin gets the claw on Gino so he dives back and gets a tag. Again, we see this Kevin will start fighting back against Kevin so he retreats to the corner forcing the numbers. It is not a selling-focused heat segment, but a highly compelling one. Plus there is the hook that you really want to see Kevin haul off and smack Adams, but Adams keeps avoiding him. Kevin gets the Claw on Adams, but it is in the wrong corner. Nothing shows the chaotic nature of World Class like when Adams accidentally superkicks Jake The Snake. Like Jake was just trying to get out of the way and Adams knew that Kevin never stays put so he just pulled the trigger. Even though the constant struggle heat segment is interesting I think the hot tags are not as dramatic or heated. Maybe it is just because it was Mike. Adams fucking nails Mike with a Superkick. That was gorgeous. Adams is really good. Hits the piledriver goes for another top rope move, but misses. Should go for cover. I love Kerry's big loopy rights on Jake. Adams interferes and Kevin comes flying across. I love Kevin's tenacity and aggression. Jake sleeper on Kerry, but Kerry makes it to Mike. Jake DDTs Mike! Kerry punches Jake and Jake trips over Mike is rolled over for three. Wow! Lamest finish ever. Like the match was actually super hot. But that finish sucked out loud. Other issue was that Kevin never really got a chance to really get his hands on Adams. I liked this better than most of the Birds matches because the heels actually forced themselves on top in this match. Kevin worked really hard underneath. Still that finish keeps it from the classic status. ****1/4

So why did Chris Adams join Gary Hart in the first place? Kevin Von Erich vs Chris Adams - WCCW, Cotton Bowl 10/27/84 It seems that Adams has already semi-turned heel by joining Gary Hart. However, he is still wrestling clean for the most part, but he seems on edge. There are a couple fans with Benedict Adams signs. Pretty standard wrestling at the beginning with Kevin getting the best Adams at every turn with amateur wrestling and Adams getting more and more pissed. Then on a break out of the corner Adams hits a cheapshot. Adams then proceeds to wrestle like its 2016 with one of the best superkicks of all time to jaw of Kevin and then a suicide dive! Wow! WCCW continues its innovative streak. Kevin's selling leaves a lot to be desired. He just kinda acts like nothing happened. Kevin gets Adams in an O'Connor Roll to win the match. Kevin asks Adams to leave Gary Hart and he will act like nothing happened. Instead Adams attacks him with a chair and then double stomps the chair into him. Is there anybody better than David Manning at the "We are going to need an ambulance". More of an angle than a match.

I had DiBiase at #41, I was one spot too high. The only three people from my Top 25 have dropped Bob Backlund, Rick Martel and Greg Valentine. I had a boring list.

PARV having the same wrestler twice is still funniest thing on a GWE podcast. But I legit just lost my shit that Dean had Rufus R Jones over Fujinami. That's ducking awesome

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Koko Ware - Memphis 11/18/85 You forget how big Ric Flair is because he very rarely gets to wrestle people he is larger than. This is a chance for Flair to bully his opponent like he did with Morton. The beginning of the match is all about establishing Koko as a challenger. Lance does a great job narrating this story. Stating Koko is nervous about this opportunity and that he is starting with fundamentals (headlock) to get himself a rhythm and credits Dusty with this advice is fucking excellent. That's what commentary should be! Lance states Flair thinks he has himself a cakewalk, but beware of Koko (pun intended). After the headlocks, Flair tries to intimidate Koko with some shoving, but Koko shoves him right back in a great spot Flair takes a bump. . "I think Flair was thinking he was just dealing with another local yokel" - Lance Russell, best commentator ever. Flair and Koko have an excellent slugfest. Flair chops and Koko hits him with those sweet Mempho punches in an absolutely electric segment. Flair Flop! Koko more punches and another nearfall! Crossbody! Flair tries a different tact, amateur takedowns, but ends up embarrassed falling out of the ring. Flair meets him with a kick to the midsection on a test of strength and BIG chop. Not the best transition to heat, but Flair works an excellent heat segment on the arm. He was really good at arm work. Koko tries punches and chops, but Flair is able to bully Koko in a way he cant with a smaller opponent. I like that wrinkle a lot. Koko gets the sleeper! The more I think about the sleeper is a great way to get out of the heat. It allows the babyface to get his energy back and sap Flair's energy. Smart spot calling by Flair! Flair cuts off again with a suplex into a DOUBLE STOMP! My favorite Flair move. Figure-4, baby! Dusty cheers on Koko and Koko reverses the pressure! Flair was really good dynamic wrestling. It never feels my turn, your turn, but no one has complete and utter control over the other person. Flair is always fighting back and Koko is too. I think that's what makes Flair matches so great. Ok, fun spot even if it is anachronism was when Flair punched Koko's head on the sunset flip and hurt his hand. Flair kneedrop missed! Good setup for Koko figure-4. Koko stays on the leg and starts throwing some serious chops. Fire fight! Koko is coming back and DROPKICK that Lance was hyping. Another dropkick! Here comes Dundee! Flair comes crashing into a distracted Koko with a knee from behind to win the match. Dusty & Koko clear the ring. Really great finish and Flair gets to over. Great Flair vs underdog match and even though Flair spent so much time as champion we don't have a lot of these matches. The first third is great at establishing Koko as a threat. The middle third is Flair kicking ass, but always letting Koko get his hope spots. I think that is so crucial. Flair never just dominates a segment. His opponent fight back and he has to cheat by grabbing the hair or knee to the midsection to maintain advantage. It is these transient moments that keep the match engaging because there is a real sense of struggle. I loved the set up for each of the figure-4s. I think sometimes Flair just calls them randomly on his own opponent, but this time his timing was great. Koko had just made a decent comeback and he looked to extinguish with his figure-4 and Koko was set up by him missing a knee drop. Perfect finish run with Koko getting two dropkicks right before Dundee fuck finish, but Flair still gets the pin to get us a real finish but protect Koko. Excellent Flair match in a year of fucking greatness. People talk about 1989, but holy shit 1985, what a year for Flair! ****1/2

Southern Tag Team Champions Sheepherders vs Fabulous Ones - Memphis 8/6/85 Steel Cage The world's flimiest and shortest steel cage surrounds the ring for this violent tag team match. Nowhere near the best of the best AWA tag team steel cage matches that have become my favorite genre in wrestling, but still pretty fun. I thought Rip Morgan was better in this, but still kinda load. They start outside the ring. Nice story with Morgan being the bigger being able to get the upper hand on Lane and throw him into the cage. Keirn, the asskicker of the Fabs, kicked Boyd's ass. Keirn/Morgan was kinda stalemate with Keirn faring well. It looks like someone forgot to put a door on the cage. Keirn rips one side of the cage open to throw Morgan in. Keirn doing pretty well against Morgan, until Boyd rips open the cage and now the numbers game gets to Keirn. Finally Lane gets up and has to enter the ring the same way. Lane's kicks looked more violent. I think Lane had not figured out a way to work his kicks so that they looked great and violent without shoot kicking someone in the face. Now with the sides even, the babyfaces start to kick ass. Boyd has been busted open previously so it Morgan now. They work the cuts and lots of punching. The one spot I remember is Boyd ballshots Keirn and just lingers there for an awkward amount of time. There is a cut and Morgan is gone. The Fabs are destroying Boyd. They start throwing the ref around so you know what is going to happen. The ref scales the cage and Lane throws him over the cage. That was pretty sweet. Ref calls the whole thing off. Lame finish. Pretty fun cage match nothing too memorable happens, but crowd was hot. ***1/2

Rick Martel did not best Ted DiBiase, so sad.

Southern Tag Team Champions Fabulous Ones vs Sheepherders - Memphis 6/22/85 "The bloody rulebook is my Bible." - Lord Jonathan Boyd The Sheepherders in question are Boyd and Rip Morgan. Morgan sucks. Lane cuts a "Love it or leave it" promo before this and Keirn says that Fabs feel their hands are forced to put up the tag titles on TV. So we get a studio TV match. Different shine than we were seeing before. PYTs are in the mold of MX with bump, schtick and stooge. Herders are definitely more gritty and ornery. I like Boyd he looks like a scummy, scrappy asshole. Lots of headlocks from Fabs. Morgan is just useless, no presence, he is just a big body. Keirn has nice offense. He bumps to the outside and Boyd jabs him with the New Zealand flag busting him. Awesome bladejob by Keirn. The heat segment drags for two reasons. Morgan is boring. Keirn, while good at selling and the blood helps, just has no hope spots. I can only see Morgan stomp for so long. Have Morgan cut you off to add some dynamics. Boyd is great as that old school heel that claws at the cut and bites it, but neither more. I loved the finish! We get the false tag and then when it looks we will get the real hot tag the Boyd wallops him with a foreign object. Morgan sucks and does not cover him. Boyd comes in and covers him. Morgan not covering him kinda dilutes the impact. Marlin & some other dude are out to strip the Herders of the belts. Boyd is great in this and some chump lawyer tries to get in good with the Herders. Fun angle, lots of blood, but not much to the match. ***

Hit me up with some match recommendations and I will check it out.

Rock N Roll Express vs The Nightmares - Memphis 1/18/85 The Nightmares are Ken Wayne and Danny Davis. I only know Danny Davis through Stone Cold who said he had a stiff chop and was a good mentor. They are a couple short dudes. Mempho was definitely the short man's territory. RNRs must be on loan from Watts. They looks so good here. Awesome, awesome shine. I am loving these Memphis tag team match shine. Just so many fun spots. Just watch it. Cant describe them all. If you don't smile, well then you just have no soul. I thought the heat segment is what brings this above the PYT/Fabs matches as the Nightmares are more focused on Gibson's knee and do some great work on it. I loved the Boston Crab with assist. Morton is a great hot tag, awesome punches. He gets nailed with a cane. One Nightmare backbreakers him, but the other misses the diving headbutt to lose the match. RNRs were typically awesome. Nightmares were a couple Koko's great offense but even more focus. The PYT matches have had minutes where the match drags. This one never did. All action. Good fun! ***3/4

Southern Tag Team Champions PYT Express vs Fabulous Ones - Memphis 4/22/85 Best spot ever! Stan Lane steps on Norvell Austin while he is in an armstretcher to jaw with Koko and then steps on him on the way back. So Koko gives pursuit and steps right on Norvell and then does it on the way back! I laughed out loud! One of the funniest spots I have ever seen. Koko is a dynamo! Holy shit! Could he go! Takes a ridiculous bump off a monkey flip. The armstretcher did go on too long, but once in the heat segment. Koko was flying all over the place kicking Lane's ass. Koko missed his true calling as a hot tag in a big time babyface tag team. Loved the double teams, the cane shot and hell even Norvell had some good power offense (backbreaker, shoulderbreaker). Koko had a great fistdrop, dropkick and a ton of offense. Ware goes to the eyes to cut Lane off but misses a flying headbutt. Keirn is a great ass kicking hot tag. Wicked lame finish with Lanny Poffo should strolling into the ring and attacking the Fabs. Really similar to the '84 match just with a way worse finish. This one did have that really funny spot. Koko is awesome! ***1/2