Superstar Sleeze

Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs Phil Hickerson & The Spoiler - Memphis 6/25/84 Street Fight Holy shit! Memphis this is what I am talking about! Awesome, bloody brawl! Hickerson & Spoiler are dressed in their janitor blues. Rich is busted open early by Hickerson and a chain. Hickerson seems like an ornery fellow. Gilbert tries to grab a mic stand to help Tommy, but he ends up falling. Rich turns the tide on Hickerson by driving his head into the table. This is a wild, wooly affair. Hickerson bleeding buckets. There is a pool of his blood on the floor. Gilbert goes for the mask of Spoiler, but Spoiler gets his boot and clobbers him. Gilbert bleeding now. Spoiler should blade under his mask! Spoiler starts walloping Tommy with his boot, but takes three shots before it registers because Tommy Rich is in the Zone! Rich takes his boot off and starts going to town. This is an amazing Rich performance. Gilbert PILEDRIVES The Spoiler on the outside!!! WOW! Rich has a loaded mask and headbutts Hickerson for the win. One of the all-time great Southern brawls and one of the best sub-ten minutes matches in history! That is what a street fight should be. ****1/2

Fabulous Ones vs PYT Express - Memphis 6/25/84 As the biggest Sweet Stan Lane fan on PWO, gotta give my boy a hand, he was awesome in this match. Starting with the bitchin' snow leopard tights all the way to the Double DDT that ended the match in victory for the Fabs. I thought Lane & Keirn were super fun in the shine. I love a pair of fun-loving babyfaces. Lane & Keirn were both great at making the beginning of the match fun with their mannerisms and antics. I liked Lane pulling Koko away in a toehold from Norvell in circles until the ref could get to them. PYTs love their miscommunication spots, definite MX influence and I love it. Once it came down to brass tacks, very engaging heat segment. Koko was fucking on. He was just the revved up little engine that was throwing Lane all around. No Vulcan Nerve Pinches here! I thought Lane was great at selling and timing hope spots. One of the funniest bits was Koko fires off a quick string of moves and Norvell lumbers in, pauses, kicks Lane cover. Lots of double teaming and classic tag spots. Fabs switch, hey all blond, bearded white men look the same! Keirn was an awesome house of fire. I loved his punches and kicks. Double DDT ends it. Very fun standard Southern tag. ***1/2

Southern Tag Team Champions Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs PYT Express - Memphis 5/18/84 Falls Count Anywhere Now this is more like it! Super heated brawl! There is really not much to recap. For about 12 minutes, it is a balls to wall slugfest. With all due respect to Norvell and Rich, Gilbert and Koko (or should I say Stagger Lee as the announcer keeps calling him) owned this. Gilbert was a heat seeking missile for Pretty Young Things just tackling them at every turn. A Koko Ware vs. Eddie Gilbert from 1984 is a new dream match for me. Holy shit! They had insane chemistry. I loved Koko breaking a cane over Gilbert's back and then jabbing him in the throat. In fairness, Rich was a tremendous hot tag. Actually good arena brawling! Oh ECW why could you not be more like Mempho! They end up on a stage in the back of arena and Rich slugs the ref triggering a DQ. I actually booed in my chair in 2016. I was pissed! What a lame finish! It is falls count anywhere! Let there be a winner! Super fun, This is what I expected out of Memphis! ****1/4

Southern Tag Team Champions Tommy Rich vs PYT Express - Memphis 4/12/84 I could watch GIlbert & Koko punch each other day all day long, sadly that's only a small part of this match. Rich & Gilbert are working a New Fabs gimmick with Footloose as their entrance music. PYTs are Koko Ware and Norvell Austin. The match totally peaks in the shine. Ware & Gilbert slugfest is awesome and climaxes with Ware punching Austin in the face. Then Rich gets Austin in a full nelson only to turn around at the last second to have Ware blast Austin again. PYTs argue with Austin telling Ware he is supposed to hit the blond white dude not his fellow black man. They hug it out. The heat segment grinds the match to a halt lots of nerve pinch. The finish run is fun. Gilbert was a good house of fire temporarily stopped by a Koko headbutt, but a crossbody means the champs retain. Shine was fun that's it.

For the record, heel Demolition in 1988 is quite good. The fact the face teams always had to double up their move and tag in and out is awesome. You are totally correct. My malfunction is 1989 babyface Demolition, which is dreadful. You know how Parv complains about Bob Backlund, babyface Demolition is infinitely worse. 1990-91 Demolition they were washed up., but still there is a Rockers match that timeframe that is decent and I liked the Warrior/Road Warriors six-mans.

Now I have never felt closer to Matt when he couldn't remember the Spanish name for the Atlantis move and said he is from Boston as why he couldn't pronounce it. it is so true people from Boston (my father and myself especially) cant pronounce shit. All in one podcast, Matt D taking me on that ride.

Matt, my parents have been waiting for me to settle/calm down for 26 years and all I got to say is ain't happening, brutha! WOOOOOOOOO! I would be totally happy to Tom Zenk to Kelly's Ricky Martel. You can take your technical proficiency, all about getting paid & laid. Smash is yucky.

I knew Demolition/Brainbusters would come up at some point with you two. I never feel more distant with you both than on that awful, awful series of matches. Im actually excited and dreading those matches for Tag Teams Back Again. Excited to see what Kelly thinks and dreading because they suck.

SAMOA JOE JUST WON NXT CHAMPIONSHIP IN LOWELL!! HOLY SHIT MARKING OUT! JUMPED UP AMD DOWN FOR JOY

I need to get Classics! Bockwinkel vs Morton. That's a dream match!

Pete, excellent review. Taylor really upped his game against Flair and he never rose to the occasion again. Flair is so great at gradualism within match. I love it NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor - Mid-South, Houston 5/3/85 Fantastic match! I love how this is the more fleshed out version of the 4/28 match, just with 10 extra minutes & some better Flair spot calling they take a great match and make it a total classic. I really like Flair for his high-energy take on wrestling that is not to say go-go-go or working too fast, but everything is energetic. This may be his best low-energy performance. Now low-energy Flair is pretty much everyone else's normal energy level. This match was a great example of Flair gradualism. The shine was better than the previous match because there was a little more struggle, Flair got in some more control and Flair argued with the ref. All these things made the shine seem more consequential. Again, Flair did not get over as a bumping machine, but rather established himself as good, but then Taylor started to get the better of him. Flair does the handshake and goes for amateur takedowns, but this does not lead to the heat instead they work a great headlock sequence with Flair trying everything he can to get out of it so Taylor has to struggle to keep it on. Flair is getting pissed starts throwing hiptosses, but he gets blocked after a couple. He starts shoving Taylor, but Taylor will NOT be intimidated! Flair crowds in the corner and looks like he is ready to take over. PSYCH! Taylor comes roaring back with punches. However, the ref tries to stop the punching and Flair gets a knee to family jewels of Vero's Hero. Now, finally Flair finally takes over. Flair had to do so much to get to the heat segment and Taylor looked world class by overcoming him at every turn. Really great extended shine even if it was not a typical one. Flair throws Taylor around with a butterfly suplex and blasts him with chops. Taylor was really good at selling. Again, Flair shows how great he is working the arm and Taylor meets him with an inspired selling performance. Even on a shouldertackle with the bad arm, Taylor sells his bad arm. Taylor starts firing away with punches as Flair tries to grab the hair. Again, Flair shows a great sense of gradualism. Taylor has to overcome a Flair sleeper and an attempted Flair piledriver before Taylor finally gets his own sleeper. It is not one move, but a collection of spots that transitions you to full control. I love that! Throughout the finish stretch, you feel like most men are spent. Flair loves the cheapshots low to the abdomen while Taylor is selling his ass off and trying for whatever hope spot he can like all the Flair staples: sunset flip, bridge into backslide, slam him off the top rope. Flair loves the ropes in Houston. Saves him on the sleeper and a suplex. Is there anyone better at selling discombobulated down a finish run than Flair. They knock heads with Flair falling on top. Taylor gets his feet on ropes, but Flair pulls them off to win the match! I feel like this is exemplary in the how they gradually they build throughout the match. Nothing is abrupt. Everything is earned by attrition and effort. To me this match is representative of the greatness of Flair spot calling because of his ability to layer a match with his spots that is meaningful in every way. Also throughout the match (it is documented in the matches with the Von Erichs) he is constantly struggling and making the babyfaces earn their controls. It is not a typical high energy, bump-a-thon by Flair until late in the game so it makes it different enough for diehard Flair fans like myself to see something unique. Love this match! ****3/4

He tweeted he was retiring. Becky Lynch tweeted that he should join her in WWE (Irish connection, that's it). So it is off to the races

I am shocked Angle is finishing ahead of all these people. Crazy.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Wahoo McDaniel - Mid-South 7/26/85 Got to love when Flair finds himself in a fire fight. Flair's reaction to the first Wahoo chop is priceless, a mixture of shock, anger and fear. Flair mans up and says you want some muthafucka, come get some. They just unload on each other. Wahoo getting the better of Flair on the first two exchanges. Flair crowds him in the corner. It is a straight right to the nose that gives Flair the upper hand. Flair has an underrated working punch, very nice. Flair gives as good as he got. I know Flair arm work goes nowhere, but damn if he aint great at it. Of course, Wahoo makes his comeback by blasting away at Flair's chest with overhand chops. The finish run features some great Flair cheating and Wahoo just kicking ass. I really liked instead of slamming Flair off the top he chops him as he comes off the top. Flair tries to take it to the outside, but ends up eating the steel to bust him open. I liked Wahoo getting three nearfalls with each being broken up by the ropes. Wardance got a nice pop. Flair headbutts him low and gets the pin with the feet on the ropes. How poetic of a finish run! The ropes bail Flair out of losing and give him the win. Now that is some nice psychology. I love Flair versus a hard-hitter, not quite the Garvin level, but still damn good. ****1/4

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor - Mid-South 4/28/85 It is interesting they choose Taylor to be the first (I think he was the first) challenger to Flair's title. Duggan and Reed (Reed was a face I think by this point) were much bigger stars, but I imagine Watts thought Taylor was more apt to work the NWA World Championship style and also elevate him in the process. I agree Taylor is a great Flair opponent because he can go on the mat and he can ball up his fist and haul off on the Champ. Flair plays the babyface champion role early. He is reserved and subdued. It makes for not the best shine. He is respectful of Taylor getting the best of him on the mat. Taylor likes the hammerlock. Flair sits him up on the top rope and gives him a handshake. Flair now tries to go on offense with amateur takedowns but loses him on the mat. Flair is getting frustrated. You wont like him when he is frustrated. He throws Taylor out of the ring. Holds the ropes open for him and BAM! Chop! Now we go to school. The way he set up the heat actually makes up for the lackluster shine. Flair kicks the holy hell out of Taylor, who is a pretty good white meat babyface seller. The women in the crowd are calling Flair an asshole. He is having fun using the ropes to work Taylor's arm. There is a great spot with Flair kneeing Taylor in the balls in corner when he is trying to come back and then fucking with the ref. It is just so Flair and so fucking awesome. Taylor comes back with punches and then a sleeper to a big pop. Flair was right that sleeper was a money spot. I thought Taylor did a great job adding his own touches to the Flair match. I liked him working over the leg a lot and the Boston Crab. I did not agree with Flair's move to transition out of this into his standard set of spots to finish a match. Taylor was progressing the match nicely and it would have been cool to explore that. This was a short stretch because I thought the real finish run was actually quite novel for a Flair match and really well-built. Flair hit a kneecrusher to stop Taylor's momentum and went to work on the knee in compelling fashion. He got kicked off the figure-4, so wrapped it around the post. Taylor was valiantly fighting it off and it was a really nice struggle. As they brawl on the outside (Im thinking double countout), they get back in the ring and Taylor's foot gets caught in the ropes. Flair kicks at it mercilessly in a great spot of hopelessness. Flair wraps on the figure-4 and wins the match! Not a perfect match, but a really entertaining and interesting one. I liked Taylor as a Flair opponent as he is multi-faceted. He is not as good at any one thing as Garvin or Steamboat, but by combining striking and mat technique he was a versatile opponent. Also he was not gobbled up by the Flair formula as he added his own touches. The initial Flair heat segment was great, I really liked Taylor's comeback and the final finish stretch was gold. Really, really liked this one. ****1/4

I love that Flair/Foley promo from TNA. The best thing Foley did in that promotion by far, not even close. Flair/Lethal promo exchange would be number one for Flair in TNA. Flair gets to kiss Becky, I am jealous. Great heel tactic and Becky got her receipt. Flair eating the Rock's offense only to have Rock mock the strut in the most awesome possible fashion is winning. So yep, Ric Flair is still The Man!

Rock N Roll Express vs Dirty White Boys - Mid-South 5/11/85 The Rock n Roll Express were over like rover! Crowd was red hot for them the whole time. I said DiBiase & Doc worked like the MX during their heat segment. Dirty White Boys worked like MX in their shine. I am smiling ear to ear the whole time. If you took this shine with the DiBiase & Doc heat segment, you have an all-time Southern tag classic. Definitely check out this for the shine. The heat segment was fine, lots of cheating and double teaming. Great bumping and selling by Morton, but that's like saying the sun is going to come up. Dirty White Boys could have switched up from the sleeper more. I did like some of the strike exchanges between Morton and Tony Anthony. I thought Denton was the better White Boy in selling and bumping. The crowd erupted for the hot tag. A little disappointed about the DQ finish due to Gibson being thrown over the top rope. Really great shine, everything else was very good execution of the RNR formula. ***1/2

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death - Mid-South, Houston 5/3/85 I thought DiBiase & Doc worked like MX better than MX worked in Mid-South (Re-watch 2019: I think this sentence was that the offense was better. DiBiase & Doc were NOT better at stooging and heat-seeking). Great offense coupled with awesome psychology. Doc uses his awesome power to back suplex Morton. Morton hits a cross body, but accidentally lands on the bottom rope (2019 re-watch: great spot). This knocks him a little loopy so DiBiase picks him up and slams him back first to the post. Everything that follows is badass offense to the back. Backbreakers, Boston Crab, the best bearhug spots ever and an awesome Doc leg drop on the back. Morton tried a bodyslam on DiBiase and failed. Morton was so great at selling as we all know and timed his hope spots well. In a Doc bearhug, he clapped his hands and Doc missed elbow and thought it was best to tag out. DiBiase went charging into the corner. Morton dives for the hot tag. Gibson was great. Really good chaotic finish run, I liked the double dropkick only for DiBiase to blast Gibson with the loaded glove to win the tag titles. Short, but kickass tag team. One of the best heat segments in a Mid-South tag team match I have seen. The shine was kinda lame. Doc being a stooging heel just did not work for me, probably would have been best to have DiBiase in that role. Doc & DiBiase put on an offensive clinic and a great finish to get the tag titles on the heels. (2019 rewatch: Honestly thought I had never seen this match before and I reduced my original rating based on the fact that this was an excellent heat segment & finish but I didnt think there was an extra oomph to call it something truly special). ****

Midnight Express vs Rock N Roll Express - Mid-South 6/30/85 The Rock N Rolls were just weeks away from jumping to Crockett and lifting the belts off the Russians in their debut match. This is the swan song of Part 1 of this famous rivalry. I thought this is the best Eaton/Condrey vs. Rock N Rolls match I have seen. I still hold that Wrestlewar '90 match is the pinnacle of these two teams. Midnights were at their stooging, clowning best early. Eaton could not get anything right. H plowed his foot through Condrey's midsection and then accidentally monkey flipped him! The bit with Eaton asking the crowd if his hair was pulled and being met with unanimous no's only to ask Loverboy Dennis & Corny to get some yes' was funny. Condrey tripped up Gibson when the ref was distracted and MX's go to work. Where I think this loses out to the Wrestlewar matches is that MX settle for a lot of choking in this. Except right at the beginning when Eaton hits the Alabama Jam. The fans go nuts at this flagrant cheating! God bless this crowd! It becoming apparent to me that amount Morton played Ricky Morton is overstated, Gibson did his fair share in the FIP role and was quite good at it. With the MX going for less offense, it was his selling that was engaging. He is always good for the slow wandering will or will he not make it. I thought the superplex on Eaton was a great transition and the hot tag was molten. Usual quick RnR finish run with Morton hitting some punches and then melee sunset flip call it. I find these RnR hot tag finish runs to be unsatisfying frankly, but I loved the shine and heat segment. I would say right in the same ballpark as the Fantastics match. ****1/4

Midnight Express vs Bill Watts & Stagger Lee - Mid-South 4/22/84 Watch the video package that hypes this match. Other than Duggan/DiBiase feud, my favorite build. Watts talking about taking the Law into your own hands is one of the best Walking Tall promos and going out to find the Dog to be his tag partner is great. The ultimate heat-seeking, work around people's limitation, feed and bump match. The first five minutes is an excellent use of all parties involved. Junkyard Dog picks up an MX member and feed him into Watts to be punched. The Midnight Express bump and stooge for the babyfaces. My favorite one is Eaton actually bumps onto the top turnbuckle only to be punches off the top turnbuckle. Condrey may even have been better at selling with his face than Eaton these punches. Both MX members blade off these punches. Watts tries to punch Condrey on the apron, but gets walloped from behind by Eaton. The heat segment is insane. The crowd is on fire. The MX triple team with Corny getting his licks in. Watts is great at the whole trying to make the hot tag. The false hot tag erupts the building. JYD thumps Eaton, but Cornette gets him a racquet to throat shot him. Meanwhile, Watts punts Condrey in the balls and then kicks a bag of powder into Eaton's face. He thumps Eaton for a MASSIVE POP! Like you would be hard pressed to hear a bigger pop. Apparently, the pre-match stipulation was if the MX loses that Cornette has to wear a diaper and it is as entertaining as it sounds as he is humiliated. Great popcorn match. Super fun. ****1/4

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Midnight Express - Mid-South TV 5/23/84 Can you smell That Smell? Fun, little TV match. It was NO DQ and early on the RNRs are throwing that in MX faces with double teams and throwing them over the top rope. Basically throwing all the MX shit back in their faces. Morton misses a dropkick. He then is rammed into the post and finally a powerslam puts him into the FIP. I love how modulated his selling and it took him three moves before going into the FIP. He is thrown over the top rope. He comes back in and then tags in Gibson. This kicks off one of the best finish runs I have seen in a tag match in a wild. It is total chaos. Gibson goes flying over the top rope when Cornette pulls it down. Watts tells us that how he was injured before, but Eaton goes into the post and is busted open. Back in the ring, Morton has Condrey in a spinning toe hold, but he gets shoved into ref and Gibson. Gibson's leg is busted. Condrey is on the top rope and Morton dives on Gibson to save his partner. I fucking love it! Gibson back drops Condrey over the top. Eaton crashes into Gibson, but Gibson gets a sleeper and Eaton kicks the ref. Cornette gets a chloroform rag and knocks Gibson out. MX wins the match. If that is not awesome enough, Cornette's post-match promo is awesome in explaining away his blatant cheating. Up until the finish run, the match was nothing much. But woah boy, hold onto your seats once Gibson gets tagged in that is about the most exciting two minutes of pro wrestling I have ever seen. Definitely check it out. ****

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Mid-South OKC 8/9/84. You want to hear the roof come off a joint, listen to the reaction to the hot tag to Bobby Fulton! That's how you build to a hot tag, people. Cornette and Eaton take the embrace for heat one step further with Cornette giving him a peck on the cheek. Rogers/Fulton work a headlock base for their shine. The best sequence was when Condrey gets three shoulder tackles in a row, on the fourth he gets bodyslammed and then shouldertackled four times. His reaction was priceless. The Fantastics drive the MX crazy by switching out on their arm bar illegally. However with the ref distracted, the MX doubleteam Rogers doing a number on him and play King of the Mountain with him. The ensuing FIP is excellent! Condrey is that dick heel going for the throat using knees and elbows, coming off the ropes always looking to double team. Eaton is mechanically so proficient everything he does looks great. Eaton/Condrey were a heel's team, Eaton/Lane had more flash which lent itself to more workrate, but Eaton/Condrey were heat magnets. They cheated their asses off. Rogers was money as an FIP. Selling was great and timed his hope spots so well. The MX had so many good cutoffs with each one seemingly more cheap than the previous. I thought Fulton was excellent. So often I think the hot tag is lame for just standing on the apron. He was very active throughout the FIP and it made a better match for it. Rogers gets a reverse elbow and tags in Fulton decks em all. Rogers trips up Eaton from the outside allowing Fulton to crossbody Condrey for the win. Southern Tag formula executed to perfection with all four men working hard. Just did not think there was anything exceptional about the match. That sort of hook or spot you will always remember. They just took the formula and nailed it. ****1/4

Just watched the match that made the Mid-South set (three weeks before this one) and loved it. I gotta get Classics.

Not in a world where Angelo Poffo exists. Posts of the year! Undertaker can now say he is the centerpiece of a ***** thread

That was the post of the year. Laughing so hard right now.