Superstar Sleeze

Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Austin Idol - Memphis 4/27/87 Steel Cage, Hair vs Hair Let’s get the funny part out of the way, which is Lance Russell continually calling Paul E., Paul Dangerly. Ton of fun bullshit to start with the ref ejecting Paul E. and Idol stating he will give a refund to every fan in attendance if he loses. Ok, now I am very intrigued about the finish and how they are going themselves out of this one. Idol is all flummoxed that Paul E. has been ejected and has really thrown if off his game. Idol tries to get out of the cage and after all this ballyhoo Lawler slams him into the cage to get this started. Repeated slams into the cage. The cage is Hell In A Cell style just with no top so there is an area outside the ring to brawl, which I prefer. Most steel cage matches are a bit too claustrophobic it feels even though I have been really digging AWA steel cage tags recently. Lawler has kicked so much ass; he wants to put a nail in the coffin with a piledriver, but Idol scurries away. Lawler has to settle for his bread and butter, punches and gnawing on head. Idol sells overwhelmed heel really well. Idol goes the chain route and nails Lawler. The selling of this is fantastic. It really is the selling that makes this match. This is not an energetic brawl, but one where they are taking the time to make each punch really mean something. Now Idol is giving The King a taste of his own medicine: using the cage and punches to dominate. He crashes down on Lawler. He goes up again and misses knee drop and great selling by Idol flopping around on the mat with his hurt knee. Lawler tries to take advantage, but eats chain again great selling. Now both wrestlers are selling their asses off. Idol tries coming down on him and misses the elbow. Top rope moves used to mean so much more. Lawler hits a diving headbutt, cool shit. The selling of this by both men is incredible and makes each moment 10000000x better. It feels like a war of attrition. Idol staggering and Lawler dazed. Idol right hook that sends Lawler over the top rope in a tremendous bump. Wow! Idol comes drown form apron on Lawler great sound from fist to face and yelp from King. Those soundbytes were great. I am really intrigued about the finish at this point. King no sells and fires away on Idol. So Idol throws him into the ref. They do multiple visual pinfalls for Lawler including a piledriver. I know Lawler is losing, but how. Tommy Rich pops out from under the ring! Oh fuck yeah! He comes out and nails Lawler with a piledriver. Spike piledriver! Double post on Lalwer’s family jewels and Idol wins! Wow! That was insane. The post-match is glorious heel heat –seeking bullshit and the promo with Dangerly, Idol and Rich is fan-fucking-tastic. Idol drops a knee on Lawler while Rich and Dangerously celebrate! A female fan scales the cage and here come the cops! Chair into gut. My one complaint is that Idol and Rich should have done the shaving to get all the heat one them Proclaim themselves the new kings of Memphis! An absolutely beautiful exhibition of the art of selling. I could see this being a ***** match, but I think another rewatch. It just did not feel at that really tippy-top level, but yes one of the all-time greatest matches in any country at any time. ****3/4

After finishing up the 2000s Japan project, I wanted a departure from puroresu and the 2000s so I decided it was a high time for me to go through 1980s in America. I have been reading about these matches for a decade plus in some cases and in others I only learned of their existence through this enriching and wonderful project. In either case, I was ready to watch some bitchin wrestling featuring my some of my favorite wrestlers from my favorite decade for entertainment, the 1980s! In my mind America, there was a power six at the start of the decade: WWF, Jim Crockett, AWA, Mid-South, WCCW and Memphis. I am starting with the last four. The one nice thing about doing this after everyone else is that I can use the results as a guide to focus on the best of the best. My current aim is to bring myself up to speed on any every era and every promotion by focusing on the classics before doing any deep dives into any on particular one. Another goal of mine since about 2012 is to determine what I believe to the greatest match of all time is. Now, of course, I can't resist a fun *** or **** match when they come up thus detours into WWF tag team scene and late 90s WCW during this time. It is not my sole focus to find the OMG GREATEST MATCH ever, but I do want to familiarize myself with the classics first so I will not be watching all 150 matches from all the sets. Instead, I will focus on 40-50 from each set that appeal to me either because of the combatants involved or the critiques given, I am about halfway through this project and have posted the match reviews in the 1980s subforum and on my blog with links provided. I though post my general thoughts on each territory thus far. Memphis Wrestling Watched: Lawler vs AWA World Champions, Lawler vs Savage, Lawler vs Idol, Rich and Bam Bam, a total of 22 matches Need to watch: Lawler vs Dundee, Lawler vs Mantell, Lawler vs Funks, Fabulous Ones, Miscellaneous Non-Lawler Classics Match Rankings Thus Far (only >=****1/4): 1. Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Ronnie Garvin - ICW 1982/1983 Steel Cage Match ****3/4 Violent. Perfect build to piledriver finish. What an awesome finish it was! 2. Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Austin Idol - Memphis 4/27/87 Steel Cage Hair vs Hair Match ****3/4 Awesome selling of punches. Great heel finish. 3. Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Bam Bam Bigelow - Memphis 9/7/86 Texas Death Match ****3/4 Masterpiece. Great David vs Goliath story 4. AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Jerry "The King" Lawler - Memphis 11/8/82 ****1/2 Lawler's big victory over Bock. 5. AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel vs Jerry "The King" Lawler - Memphis 10/12/85 ****1/2 Heel Martel! 6. AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Jerry "The King" Lawler - Memphis 6/3/85 ****1/4 Anit-workrate classic Findings: I think moreso than any other territory I have watched I feel like this is the worst way to watch this territory. This is probably pretty obvious statement for most people. but I think it needs to be stated. I really ought to watch the Memphis TV surrounding each of the matches to better appreciate the context of the matches. That being said I have done my reading and I understand the gravity of the ICW vs CWA war and how much Lawler vs Savage was a blood feud. I understand the ardent desire and journey of Jerry Lawler in facing the AWA World Champions. It is the story of your high school classmate that is the best ball player on your team and you believe he can be a major league ball player. Jerry was the King of Memphis, but when Bock or Martel or whoever it may be strolled into town, That's what made the Bock victory in '82 so special even though it was just for Southern Title, it was a victory over the AWA Champ and it was cool to see him finally get it. it was your local hero getting that crack at playing major league ball. It is a great story no doubt. Even though, I am not watching Memphis correctly per se, I feel I understand the context well enough to make my observations on match style. Jerry Lawler may be the greatest limited wrestler in history. He has right hand and his left hand he is going to ball them up and give you everything he has got. He does not create much movement on his own, but he will bump big. He is great at selling and his comeback is perhaps the greatest in the history of wrestling. There is one comeback against Nick Bockwinkel that is just so fantastic. I think his best matches are these main event style, long build through selling matches. I have liked the Memphis brawls I have seen, but none of there are really any better than great. I think the AWA and Mid-South are much better brawling territories from what I have seen. The only Lawler match ranked above, I would consider a brawl maybe the Idol one, but I ranked that mostly for the amazing selling of each individual and the awesome finish. The Lawler vs Bigelow Texas Death Match, which I think is Lawler's masterpiece so far, is rooted in David vs Goliath storytelling more than anything else. I love how committed Lawler is to his style. Styles make for matches. The homogenization of wrestling has ruined this as so many workers can't tell a story no longer of a contrast of styles. Here we can see how Lawler the puncher works against a giant like Bigelow, frustrates a technical wizard like Martel and controls a wildman like Savage. There is no adaption necessary because his style is universal and he melds it with his opponent. There is no plug n play into his spots. He responds to a wrestler's character and his opponent responds accordingly to his. I am always surprised when people say AA is Cena's road agent. Nothing about Cena matches feel very Arn Anderson to me. Cena's character is very Backlund-esque and he has power in common with Backlund, but in terms of match structure he is deeply rooted in the Lawler dynamic. He likes very short shines and likes to get that heat quickly. They both sell fantastically. Lawler was better at the comeback, but they both transition to the comeback through no selling. Lawler has the strap down. Cena has the shoulder tackles. Cena is at his best when adds the wrinkle of cutoffs ala an extended Misawa comeback because the modern style necessitates longer finish runs. Lawler had the advantage of quick finish bursts so that incredible burst of energy would quickly followed by a finish of some sort. Overall, I have enjoyed watching Memphis and think that Lawler is tons of fun to watch when he is selling his ass off and gets you amped for that comeback. There is something lacking in his pure brawls like the tags against Rude/Bundy and Idol/Rich. I don't think he is great at sprints because he is not great at movement. He has quick bursts of energy, but a 10 minute sprint is not his forte. Granted I have only watched 20 of his matches so may be I will see him rock out a good sprint brawl. Quick word on Randy Savage, dude was a fucking rockstar in Memphis. Dude would run up and down the apron and gets a huge pop when he was a babyface and mega-heat as a heel. He is one of the best character wrestlers of all time. If we were not missing a huge chunk of Lawler/Savage Loser Leaves Town I would have that much higher that is the anti-workrate classic. Awesome character work by both men. In addition, I wish we had more of his ICW stuff. He rocked it against Garvin. That was a great violent steel cage match that built and built to the piledriver finish. What a fantastic finish it was! Look forward to more Memphis and to watch some Memphis matches without The King to see what others were up to.

I probably won't rank him unless I see more, but holy shit was he great in the three matches I have seen. He is a total crazed, bloodlust lunatic. The Nagata/Murakami 2002 should be seen by all. Crazy energy and a perfect heel invader shooter beat down followed by a kick ass Nagata comeback. My 2002 match of the year.

High Flyers vs Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito - 3/7/85 All these great AWA matches and I have not even watched one Bockwinkel in the lot. God I love the AWA! They had great characters, brawls and technical matches. After all those bitchin' cage match brawls, this is exactly the break I needed with a fantastic pure tag team match. Who better to watch than the High Flyers, Bockwinkel and "Mr. Torture" Mr. Saito. A little background, the Road Warriors are now the tag team champions and I was informed that Brunzell and Gagne were injured for most of 1984. The High Flyers have been a tag team for about 12 years at this point. Comparatively, Bockwinkel lost the AWA World Championship in 1984 and has not been able to regain it from Martel even though he has had multiple chances and Bockwinkel and Saito are a relatively new team. After Heenan's departure, Saito became Bock's running buddy. The winners of this match become the number one contender. This is just a great fundamentals based tag team match worked by experienced veterans. Bockwinkel takes the shine as the Flyers work the arm. Bockwinkel is great at selling and the Flyers are moving in out thus it never gets boring. I liked Gagne's kneedrop on arm and Brunzell just stomping on the arm. These three have been wrestling each other since 1973 so the High Flyers know Bock's tricks and there is no love lost here so Flyers have no problem being a bit chippy with Bock. Bock gets nasty going for the eyes and bullying Brunzell into Saito. Saito kicks ass with some wicked chops and nasty biels. Saito can't get Scorpion Deathlock and settles for a standing figure-4. Bock pushes with his foot on his ass and Gagne is pissed. Bockwinkel comes in with a inverted Deathlock. Loved Bock raining down the forearms only for Brunzell to fire up with awesome punches. Bock holds on for dear life to Brunzell's foot until Saito comes in to yank him over.Larry Nelson's righteous indignation was perfect. Saito tags in and applies a Boston Crab. Bock stands on Brunzell's head. I love it. The ref keeps catching them which causes the break. Bock & Mr. Torture move to the bearhug and some of the best bearhugs sequences ever made great by Brunzell fighting back and the false tags. On the second false tag, Gagne sells it perfectly and the crowd is pissed! It really builds the tension to the hot tag. Love Gagne tagging Bock at one point during this. It is fundamentals-based, but still chippy. The last struggle within the bearhug where Brunzell just loses it and goes for the eyes and punches Bock while in the bearhug and Bock trying to hang on is awesome. Saito crashes down on Brunzell and Gagne is losing his mind breaks it up. Brunzell scurries through Bock's legs. GREG GAGNE HOUSE OF FIYAH!!! Smashes Bock's head into the turnbuckle. Great movement and energy with Gagne flying around and the heels bumping big. Repeated kneedrops to Bock's back. Gagne is totally focused on Bock's back and Gagne applies Boston Crab. Brunzell is incensed posting Saito's leg. There is a tug of war between ref and Brunzell and the ref. So the ref misses the Boston Crab. Gagne crashes down on Bock twice on the ropes. Nasty kick to the midsection and wicked forearm to Bock's back. Greg is kicking ass. Things are slowing down. Brunzell in, dropkick and a beauty into the figure-4! Saito saves! Brunzell tries for the cover. Bock finally tags out and Brunzell has the presence of mind to immediately tag out to Ggane. Perfect psychology by Brunzell! GAGNE CHOKE! Saito throws Bock a foreign object and Bock blasts him. Bock throws the salt into Saito's eyes by accident. Gagne leg scissors roll up wins the match for the High Flyers! When you think of an ideal tag match with shine->heat->finish and strong face/heel dynamics and snug work this is it. There is nothing absolutely spectacular about this in terms of one specific spot or unique thread of psychology, it is just perfect execution of formula and making sure to do all the little things. Gagne is a great hot tag. Brunzell is trying so much harder here than the Bees and he is great at face in peril. Bockwinkel and Saito are a consummate heel tag team. My one complaint is they let the action cool a little too much before the finish, but overall they delivered a great old school tag match. ****1/4

Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell vs Mad Vachon – AWA 5/22/83 Algerian Death Match As one would expect, an Algerian Death match is a Texas Death match complete with pinfalls necessary to trigger the ten count. The Mad Dog and Blackwell promos before this match are must see as Mad Dog promises to Blackwell in the pine coffin he is building. Also, it is important to note Mad Dog has been out for 2 years due to Blackwell so the feud culminates here in this Death Match. Also a cool outcome of the last match in this feud is that Verne fulfilled his promise that the High Flyers would not have to worry about Blackwell & Adnan as contenders because Adnan has been transitioned into a managerial role. What they did not count out on was the Sheik’s oil money snagging the contract of Ken Patera who fill the void as Blackwell’s partner. Interesting, they go the no shone route and immediately hit the heat. I think you can only do that when both wrestlers and their feud are firmly established. Since this was AWA’s hottest feud and two of their biggest stars this is fine. Mad Dog charge, but gets caught up attacking the other Sheiks, who hold him and Blackwell splashes him in the corner. Blackwell hits the powerslam/splash combo to gain the first fall and again for second fall. I have not seen much of cocky Blackwell, but it was fun to watch him count along. He is shocked Mad Dog has made it up twice. Mad Dog tries to make his comeback and Blackwell unleashes some stiff heabutts to bust him open. Blackwell gets another splash in the corner I expected him to miss and it looks bleak for our hero. Until he starts to rev up, one punch huge bearpaw swing after another has Blackwell rocking and reeling. He gets Fatwell down! He starts to bite. Blackwell tries to escape, but you cant escape the hatred of Mad Dog. There is a great struggle over a post shot. Blackwell takes it fucking hard. He blasts Blackwell with the chair, horse collaring him. Mad Dog swings it at the ref! Wow! Mad Dog sends him back in the post and bites Blackwell in the ring. Blackwell is a bloody mess. Blackwell gets a desperation knee up. Blackwell sensing his own end is imminent looks to pull the trigger on his big bomb the top rope splash. When will he learn as this has been his demise so many times, but it would be certain victory in his defense. Blackwell crashes and burns. Mad Dog is up! The crowd roars! Top rope kneedrop seals the victory. The Texas Death Match stip both helped and hurt this match. I liked Blackwell getting those early falls as I really thought that built up the drama. The fact it took 40 seconds for Mad Dog to get his win did hurt the heat in my opinion, which is a fait accompli in a Texas Death Match. I loved the work in this match. I thought this was an awesome blowoff brawl. Blackwell kicked some major league ass and Mad Dog was wild in the middle. Could have used some more Blackwell bumps in the middle. Short, sweet and spirited brawl! ****1/4

The Sheiks (Sheik Adnan & Crusher Blackwell) vs Da Crusher & Greg Gagne - AWA 3/25/84 Steel Cage Match Da Crusher is the pride of Milwaukee and along with Verne, Mad Dog, and Baron form the old guard of the AWA that the crowds of the Midwest still love to death. I have heard Da Crusher described as a precursor to Stone Cold and having watched a still down interview with him. I definitely agree with comparison. He was a champion of the blue collar, beer-drinking average Joe. He was a man's man. He loved drinking beer, smoking stoogies and large women that do the polka! That's my kinda man. I dare say Da Crusher is the coolest man to ever rock the bowl cut. This is shot like the High Flyers vs Sheiks Cage Match with a single handheld outside the ring looking up and no commentary. It really adds to viscera, chaotic feel. Holy Greg Gagne! This is his career performance he was on absolute fire during this match. We are talking Shawn Michaels Brawl In St. Paul levels of piss and vinegar! He is ripping through the Sheiks early on coming off the top rope and throwing everyone into the cage. I don't think there are better cage match workers than Adnan & Blackwell. Sheik Adnan blasts him with the cast and they try to work over Greg. Greg just keeps fighting back. It creates this sense of awesome struggle. Finally beating his way out of the Sheik's corner, he tags Da Crusher on his knees. The crowd is so behind Da Crusher! Crusher slams Blackwell into the cage repeatedly and the crowd counts along. Greg wants in on this and walks the ropes to get his kicks in. Blackwell is busted open and Crusher starts hitting stiff jabs to the cut. Now it is Sheik's turn to get his ass kicked. I love Crusher's short little jabs to the face, Holy shit! Crazy Blackwell back drop into a cage and Greg runs up to hit a knee drop and boom see ya later Kenny P. Blackwell eyerake on Da Crusher allows him to slam him into the cage. There is a great moment that demonstrates the raucous mayhem of this match as you get the camera close up of Patera holding Blackwell as he slams Crusher and the ref getting pissed. The ref did a really good job only to have Greg holler he is coming and just lights up Blackwell. Crusher and Sheik brawl. Blackwell goes for top rope splash! Crashes and burns! Greg Gagne top rope splash! He is not the legal man, but who the hell is! It is CHAOS BABY! Crusher back drops Blackwell and calls for the BOLO PUNCH~! Blackwell throws a stiff left and a FUCKING DROPKICK~! BATSHIT INSANITY~! Sheiks maul Da Crusher in the corner, but he fights out and Greg IS RIPSHIT! He DESTROYS Sheik Adnan! He sees Blackwell out of the corner of his eye and blasts him in the face! WIND UP...BOLO PUNCH TO SHEIK ADNAN! Tremendous bump off the cage by Blackwell. Greg Gagne scales to the top of the cage and drops with the knee on the leg. AWESOME MATCH! Patera bum rushes the ring with the chair slamming Greg and Blackwell holds the door, but AWA babyfaces with Brunzell saves. Loved Greg Gagne's performance. I am a total mark for energy and this is was such a great energetic performance. Blackwell and Sheik Adnan are ultimate cage match workers. Da Crusher is definitely bets utilized in a cage setting. The Sheiks vs Old Guard feud was delivered some great brawls. AWA is holding their own with any other territory as a brawling territory. Really great! ****3/4

Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Austin Idol & Tommy Rich - Memphis 3/23/87 Texas Death Match Rematch in the Mid-South Colseium after the brawl from last week. This time Texas Death Match rules! Bam Bam is pissed and throws steps into the ring and manhandles the ref and that’s how you start a Texas Death Match baby! Not fucking cartwheels, brutha! Lawler & Bam Bam commence to kicking ass. Rich charges at Lawler and just gets punched in a fun spot. Idol has a 2x4, but has no effect on Bam Bam. You cant hurt steel BABY! Idol hits a ballshot on Lawler and goes behind Bigelow to hit a ballshot on him. Gotta love that testicular psychology. Idol uses extension cord and ring bell to maintain control, while Rich goes low to keep Bigelow down. Lawler fires up. Tie Idol up. Make a big deal out of posting Rich as revenge and that wins the fall and win the match. Short, sweet and to the point. The babyfaces get their revenge. Post-match Bam Bam goes BEZERK~! Posts him again. Throws ringsteps and then almost posts the ref. He has the ringbell and I actually believe Lance that he may kill Rich. Bam Bam Bigelow is a really convincing out of control maniac. Better brawl than last week with a more satisfying finish, but nothing I would call as classic just good violent fun. ****

Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Austin Idol & Tommy Rich - Memphis 3/16/87 Double Jeopardy A double jeopardy match for those that don’t know, like myself, before watching this match is essentially a two-ring circus. It is two singles matches going on simultaneously in rings side by side where partners can switch off whenever they want and two men of the same team can only be in the same ring at the same time for 60 seconds. I don’t like three ring circuses. I like my attention squarely focused on one thing and don’t like the idea I am missing something. I thought overall that was mitigated by them constantly interacting with each other. The face shine focuses on Bigelow, who is portrayed as a monster babyface helping out hero Lawler dispatch the asshole heels. He busts Rich open early. This allows double teams on Idol. I would be remised not to mentioned the wretched, ugly nude-colored tights on Lawler. Only made worst by pairing it with mustard colored boots. Hands down one of the worst wrestling outfits ever. Maybe that is what was distracting me. Rich breaks up this double teaming. The dreaded falling headbutt lands on Rich, who falls to outside. Falling headbutt for Idol and then one on his nuts. It turns out the angle that kickedstarted Lawler vs Idol & Rich was Idol & Rich trying to ensure Lawler could not have any more kids by crushing his balls against a ring post. This explains a lot of the nut shots. Idol grabs a mic and starts to punch Lawler with it as Rich and Bam Bam go toe to toe. Idol grabs a board with a nail in it and cuts Lawler open and throws him into a table. I will admit that was pretty gruesome. Throws the board to Rich who attacks Bigelow with it. I like that it takes a nail in a board to take down the beast. This is the best presentation of Bam Bam in his carer. They double team Lawler and once again they crush his balls on a post. Bieglow comes around the corner and attacks like a ferocious bear. Big face comeback and lots of revenge nutshots. Bigelow falling headbutt on Richs balls and Lawler ties up Idol and punts him in balls. They are going to post Rich, but Idol comes in with a blackjack from Lord Humongous and whacks the both of them. Ref calls for the bell?!?!? Wicked lame finish. They can use all that other shit and now you call for the bell. They wrap a noose on Lawler and handcuffed Bam Bam to ropes. This is a really good heat segment to set up next week’s Texas Death Tag match. Bigelow tries to hulk up. Jarettt leads face locker room for the save. Bigelow’s bull in a china shop routine after the match is a sight to behold. Honestly, the match felt lukewarm to me. I did not get that feeling of real hatred or heat. There was just not that electricity of a great brawl. I am always down for revenge nutshots so this is a very good match, just not a great one for me. ***3/4

Jerry Lawler vs Bam Bam Bigelow - Memphis 9/8/86 Texas Death Match I knew I was watching something special once Bigelow starting working the ribs and Lawler’s selling really kicked in. It was during Lawler’s comeback I realized the greatest David vs Goliath match may be happening before my eyes. I was rooting for the Lawler piledriver to end it so badly. I think this maybe Jerry Lawler’s masterpiece. The Mantell/Funk/Dundee matches he had a great dance partner and are amazing brawls. Here he weaves an amazing story with a green as grass, fresh out the kitchen, Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow came here to play and he never once had a mis-step. It is probably depressing that this the greatest match of his career and he never even came close to replicating it. That’s why Jerry Lawler is the King because he could make people look like a million bucks. The match is so fucking good that I don’t want to bring this up, but God it was just too funny. The first image of this match is Bam Bam Bigelow doing decent cartwheels. When I think of Texas Death Matches, I think of cartwheels. I get it the cartwheels are supposed to show the Bigelow is not your typical lumbering giant he is also aigle, but c’mon cartwheels and not even very good ones at that. They were like his moonsault a little bit off to side. This is the case with Bigelow in a lot of ways he was decent at lot of stuff, but not excellent at any way and he gets lumped in with the greatest big men, but for me he is definitely a level down. Jerry Lawler brought out some disc jockey to counteract Larry Sharpe (Bigelow’s trainer turned manager) the DJ does a cartwheel into a back handspring into a split. Yep, shown up by a chump. Don’t let the lame start fool this, this match is fucking bitchin! The layout of this match is so perfect that is a bit of a shame the finish was not definitive. Bam Bam is the monster and Lawler is the undersized hero that just has his fists and his wits to level the playing field. It is a story as old as time and I don’t know if it was ever told better than during this match. Bam Bam establishes power game with biels out of the corner. Lawler’s methodical, stand up style plays right into Bigelow’s strategy. Let’s see how Lawler can combat the Beast from the East. When he gets the monster angry with some quick crosses and Bigelow started to charge allowing The King to side step him. However, Lawler cannot create that movement on his own and ends up getting trapped into a corner. I would love to see Lawler against a high flyer, who could create that movement for him and see how Lawler would react. Amazing selling of those punches by Lawler. Wrestlers should be trained on how to throw and sell punches by watching tapes of Jerry Lawler. On the outside, Bigelow punches the post and this creates an opening for the King. Great selling of the hand by Bigelow by putting his good hand forward. I loved the stand up battle and Lawler luring him into a test of strength only pop him one. Bigelow chokes Lawler and uses headbutts to ribs to win first fall. Lawler is up holding the ribs and Bigelow buries his hands deep into the ribs and another falling headbutt scores the fall. After two straight falls, Bigelow is cocky; Lawler comes over and punches Bigelow right square in the mouth, what a great punch. Bigelow buries hands deep into the midsection again, but misses headbutt! Lawler covers and scores a fall. Russell says it a morale victory and I say it is 20 extra seconds of rest for Lawler. Lawler presses the advantage with big punches. Bigelow is very dazed from his own headbutt. Bigelow is bumping and selling ala Brock Lesnar of today. Really good shit! Flying fist drop gets Lawler his second fall and more rest and more momentum. Lawler is staggered but buoyed with recent success looks to punch himself out of trouble but is falling over himself. He misses a fist drop and Bigelow immediately falls on him with a headbutt on the midsection. Perfect responseby Bigelow. Bigelow punches Lawler so hard he falls forward. Bigelow lays with all his weight on Lawler and hooks in a sleeper. This is such smart wrestling by Bam Bam. Bigelow is wrestling like a ten year vet right here, wow! Gnaws at Lawlers head and busts him open. Bigelow sleeper puts Lawler out and he looks in real danger. Larry Sharpe screams is “There a Doctor in the house” Bigelow is surprised he got up and gouges at cut and the eyes. Lawler gets a sleeper of his own and Lance’s call of it is amazing. Listen to it. He slowly becomes more and more encouraged until you can hear the elation that Lawler has sunk it in. Bigelow gets up and snapmares him off. Bigelow elbow gets the three. It was Pyrrhic Victory. Lawler strap down! Lawler’s comeback is phenomenal. Bigelows bumps are incredible! Huge bump over the top rope. Lawler slams him to railing. Piston punches. Bigelows kicks him in midsection. Tries to turn tide and Irish Whips him into ref. Bigelow pin with a dazed ref. Kinda lame. Larry Sharpe horse collars Bam Bam with chair by accident. Ref counts both men down. First man up wins. Lawler wins. After the match, Sharpe berates Bam Bam so he gives chase and turns face. Up until the finish, this looked to be the greatest David vs Goliath match I have ever seen. However since there was a need to protect Bam Bam since he was turning face they finish was a bit off. It was not so much the fact they went with the first man gets up to his feet wins. It was that Lawler was knocked out via the bump with the ref that seemed kinda lame. Enough complaining, this match fucking rules. Easily one of the best of the 80s, check it and see! Lawler's masterpiece! Bigelow's best match of his career! One of the best of Memphis! One of the Best Texas Death Matches Ever! ****3/4

So much to say, hope I don't forget anything. I love Chad starts his list off with a bang with an exploding bomb death match and Parv goes the political route with the Savage vs DiBiase cage match. Chad, the Cena/Punk match was a watershed moment in my fandom also. I was in the doldrums in 2009-2010. I was just watching out of habit and had stopped watching older footage and puroresu altogether. That match spurred me to go to the next Wrestlemania as a graduation gift to myself, which totally rejuvenated my fandom. In the weeks, leading up to Wrestlemania, I was watching more older footage again and I decided I wanted to figure out what the greatest match to ever happen was. That journey led me here and I have never been the same. I am still on that journey. I recently rewatched the Cena/Punk match and it did not hold up as well for me either, but I am no hater like Parv. Thanks for the shout out! Really appreciate the kind words! I rate Savage/Warrior at 5 stars also and I ranked it the third best WWF match of the 90s when I watched every major 90s WWF match a couple years back. That post-match may be the best post-match angle in wrestling history. I think this is the pinnacle of Vince McMahon's booking and is one of the best demonstrations of his booking genius. I don't think he ever topped himself after this. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and had a hard time going back to sleep so I played the match that I think will be your number one and most assuredly will be in your top ten. i don't want to spoil anything, but God it is really not fair to compete with the All Japan boys. They are so freaky good. I don't blame you one bit for all the All Japan love. I marked out for Misawa/Ogawa vs KENTAFuji. Awesome match! I think I would have Misawa/Akiyama even higher than you did. I am way higher than everybody else it seems on this match, but dont sleep on Kobashi/Takayama 5/26/00 as the last great All Japan classic before the split. I hope Kobashi/Ogawa makes your list if not I recommend a rewatch. Parv, loved the AWA picks. Yes, you picked the correct Martel/Bock match, awesome selling in that one! Where's the World Class love, guys? Freebirds/Von Erichs! Hayes/Kerry! Flair/Kerry! Really looking forward to part two!

Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon vs Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse - AWA 4/24/83 We get the angle that brings Verne out of retirement to be Mad Dog's partner to wrestle the Sheiks to main event Super Sunday. Super Sunday features the one of the infamous screwjobs of Hulk Hogan out of the AWA World Championship. Verne's early shine shows he is better on offense than most wrestler everything was landing crisply and snugly. Blackwell was the perfect person to sell and bump for him. We get all his specialties: the Bret Bump, weeble wobble and the back body drop. Sheik uses the cast to get Mad Dog down. Mad Dog tries to use the bell, but that gets knocked out his hands and he throws in a mic stand. This gets him popped and busted open. Mad Dog doesnt give a fuck and throws in a chair. For 1983, these are some pretty snug chairshots. Mad og just starts no selling and throwing some wicked punches. The crowd begins to roar and for the hot tag to Verne they explode. Verne kicks some serious ass and throws a better dropkick than his son. Verne telegraphs a back drop and Blackwell hits a powerslam, but misses his splash. Then misses the splash in the corner. SLEEPER!!! Sheik Adnan sees his opening and Mad Dog intercepts him. Mad Dog slams Sheik's cast into Blackwell. Yes! Verne and Mad Dog become fixed on getting the cast off. They smash the cast over the Sheik's head. MAD DOG CRACKS BLACKWELL IN THE SKULL WITH A CHAIR! HOLY SHIT! Verne kneedrops Sheik's arm while Mad Dog holds it for the win! That chairshot was a straight late 90s chairshot to the head. Wow! From the hot tag to the finish this was gold. It was a little weird how he went for the sleeper and then they just became fixed on Sheik Adnan. It was almost like two finish stretches. It did not have meat for me on he Mad Dog heat segment. It was a pretty fun match. ***3/4

Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse vs Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke - AWA 3/13/83 I want to take a second to run down the other matches on this card: Hulk Hogan & High Flyers vs Heenan Family (Patera, Ventura, Heenan) and a main event of World Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Rick Martel. Thats stacked. World Class may have the hottest single feud in 1983, but AWA was actually pretty damn deep in 1983. I actually am excited for The Sheiks vs Old Timers feud. You thought the crowd was hot for Hogan earlier. Holy shit! This crowd was losing its mind for two of the weirdest looking human beings ever to walk this planet, Baron & Mad Dog. This was Von Erichs/Freebirds level of sustained heat from beginning to end they were engrossed in this match. The story of this match is the Shieks have one of each of their arms in casts so to combat this Mad Dog and Baron have their fists taped. This is just violent old man asskicker goodness. Baron and Mad Dog tear into Sheik who plays the overwhelmed scumbag so well. It is funny that 400 lbs Blackwell is the one who creates the movement in this match. He comes in to take a couple hard Bret Bumps and some awesome weeble wobble selling while they tee off on him. The whip Blackwell into Sheik and later on when Blackwell tries to send Sheik Adnan he accidentally splashes his own partner. This St. Paul will not be satisfied with just an asskicking they want BLOOD! Mad Dog punches Blackwell repeatedly (the crowd counts along) then does not stop working the cut by continued punching and then biting. Baron keeps that up. It has been five minutes of an absolute beat down and the crowd is loving it! That's my kinda crowd, 100% behind their heroes. They don't care if the match is equitable or some bullshit. If their favorite team wins by a blow out, all the better! Unfortunately, there is a clip and when we come back, Baron is busted open and a bleeding Blackwell is rolling him back in the ring. I dont think I have ever seen a Baron match, but he was really effective selling and really building the heat towards the hot tag. I loved him falling on his ass to sell a cast punch from Sheik and Sheik bititng at Baron's cut. Baron clawing for a tag only to be cut off was great face in peril work. Then a brawl erupts between Mad Dog and Blackwell on the outside! Blackwell lands an elbow on Baron and you actually each the entire arena collectively lose their breath with the Baron. That was so cool. Then a Blackwell slam and again the air evacuates the lungs of the St. Paul crowd. The stand up, staggered strike exchange between Baron and Blackwell is so dramatic. HOT TAG TO MAD DOG! Mad Dog kicks ass and the Baron is back in for the CLAW ON BLACKWELL! The CROWD EXPOLDES! Sheik Adnan blasts Baron in the back of the head with the cast and Blackwell splash for the 1-2-3! Perfect, perfect, perfect heel booking to set up the next match. Mad Dog is red hot and beats the shit out of each Sheik until he gets a bit too greedy and Blackwell splashes him in the corner. They thrown the ref down and eventually the numbers game gets to Mad Dog. Here comes Verne and they kick Verne's ass! The St. Paul is fucking pissed and throwing so much shit in the ring. The rematch is going to be molten. In the aisleway, Greg takes some wicked shots at them. Wow, awesome post-match angle to set up Mad Dog & Verne teaming. Mean Gene yelling for paramedics was perfect for the moment. Loved this match. Baron had one of the best FIP segments of the 80s. The babyface shine was perfect awesome violence. The crowd was electric. I loved the finish and the post-match killed it. 1983 was badass year of wrestling. ****1/4

AWA World Tag Champions The Sheiks (Patera & Blackwell) vs High Flyers - AWA 11/24/83 Ray Stevens Special Guest Ref This is the co-main event of the AWA Thanksgiving show for 1983 with Bockwinkel defending the World Championship on the top of the card against Mad Dog Vachon. Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie has been moved into a more of a managerial role instead of Sheik Ayatollah Blackwell's partner with a cast gimmick. I believe the Sheik with all his oil money bought the contract of Strongman Ken Patera from Bobby Heenan to form The Sheiks. I am a total mark for white men embracing the Sheik the gimmick. There is something very amusing about a fat man from Georgia pretending to be a Sheik. Man, did Patera let Blackwell down in this match. Patera was the main target of the opening babyface shine turned heel in peril and never really recovered. His weakened state lost the Sheiks the control of the match and caused Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisse to trigger the DQ by blasting Ray Stevens with cast. The story of the match was Blackwell's splash. Missing it proved disastrous for his team, hitting it gives them total control. Early on, Blackwell misses the splash the early and they go for arm wringers. He tags out to Patera who bumps huge for the High Flyers as they work his legs over. Brunzell, who is red hot for this match, tries to apply the figure-4, but off camera Blackwell splash him. Brunzell does a great job selling. Patera tags out and holds Brunzell for a big running splash. There is such a dread that overcomes you watching Brunzell being held for his doom. Pretty good heat segment follows with Brunzell doing a good job alternating between selling and fighting back. Patera is clearly still exhausted and was having trouble maintaining control. When in trouble, Blackwell would quash Brunzell's comeback with a splash (like the one in the corner). Blackwell looks to finish him off with a top rope splash and he misses! Brunzell goes for the cover! 1-2-NO! Patera saves. Blackwell holds Brunzell and Patera crashes down. Gagne saves. Dropkick! Patera is out of it and Brunzell scurries through for the tag! Greg Gagne whips Blackwell into Patera. The dreaded Blackwell splash crushes Patera and the High Flyers using that weapon against them is awesome. Gagne rocks n roll and applies a sleeper on Blackwell. Sheik Adnan realizing the end was imminent blasts Ray Stevens and then eventually Greg for the DQ. The crowd is pissed and so is Brunzell and Gagne that rip the cast off Sheik Adnan nail each of the Sheiks. Loved the story of Blackwell's splash and Patera's long term selling. The DQ finish was pretty lame. Brunzell has been awesome in these matches. Really enjoyed this. ****

AWA World Tag Team Champions High Flyers vs Crusher Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey - AWA 4/18/82 Steel Cage Match This was shot from a handheld below the ring really close to the cage and gave a really cool, unique view. Within a minute, you think all 400 lbs of Crusher Blackwell is coming through your video screen only to meet a hard stop at the hands of the steel cage. All the work is really tight. They were not working stiff, but everything was landing. I love hearing a woman from the crowd scream "You pussy, Sheik!" Brunzell was great fighting during his shine and then taking a beating at the hands of the Sheik and Blackwell, the top two heels besides Bockwinkel in the AWA. The camera cuts and we don't see how Greg gets tag. Greg is ramming Blackwell hard into the cage repeatedly and I have no clue he did not knock the wall. Blackwell was throwing himself into that hard. Sheik is exasperated and at the last second moves and Greg runs into the turnbuckles. I am really digging the camera angle. The presentation is so gritty. Blackwell fucking throws Greg into that cage and the camera is right underneath to catch it. This is blowing the East-West Connection cage match outta the water. Greg is taking some crazy bumps. This is some great violence. Brunzell is a great house of fire. You can see it etched on his face how incensed he is. He rakes Sheik's face across the cage and drives Blackwell's head back into the cage repeatedly. Sheik escapes some leg work and Blackwell immediately tries to put the match away with a HUGE splash off the top rope. He then takes a MASSIVE bump over the top turnbuckle. Excellent double dropkick for the win! After the matches, the heels try to railroad the Greg Gagne in the cage while Brunzell had left early, but Daddy Verne makes the save and kicks some Sheiks ass to a huge ovation. Verne was rocking it. Verne & Old Timers vs the Sheiks was a huge feud at this time. The Sheik & Blackwell felt like a huge, hot act. This was a molten match. It had a big cage match feel with each time look to dish out some serious punishment. The Sheiks took advantages of some High Flyers' mistakes and kicked their ass, but could not hold them down. When the babyfaces were on top, they were firing on all cylinders with a ton of energy and always looking to drive the Sheiks into the cage. The Sheiks were not shy about bumping. One of the best tag team cage matches ever! ****1/2

Hulk Hogan & High Flyers vs Jesse Ventura, Ken Patera & Bobby Heenan - AWA 3/13/83 Hulk Hogan vs. the top two WWF heel commentators is a dream match and it happened in the AWA! The electricity for Hogan is off the charts. The ring announcing by Mean Gene gets so much face and heel heat is it is incredible. The heels try to jumpstart the match and my God Hogan no-selling on Jesse is so badass. I loved the strut on the apron and then high-fives with the High Flyers. He was feeling it. He removes Jesse's bandana to reveal a very shiny bald head without his usual trademark long bleached blond hair. Very fun stuff. After all the blood feud brawls of the 80s, this type of fun popcorn match is exactly what I needed. Hogan was great at the opening shine having fun with Jesse and Patera pinballing for Hogan and the High Flyers. Big Weasel chant! AWA is cooking baby. There is a small cut and no commentary for this match. Patera drives Brunzell into his corner into a tree of woe. Now Bobby the BRAIN comes into get his licks, but stays in a bit too long and takes a big bump into the top turnbuckle. He tries to scurry away, but here comes Greg to work on his leg and punch Heenan's cohorts. Heenan backs into the wrong corner and pays the prices. Heenan splaying himself on the mat after a Gagne chop is a thing of beauty. They trap Gagne into the wrong corner and start double teaming (Heenan is dead) and choking him. With power guys like Patera and Ventura, it is bearhug time. Gagne's offense is pretty weak. Get Brunzell or Hogan in there, BABY! They do a couple ref didn't see it tags. Patera wants the piledriver, but Gagne powers out and Gagne on his heads and knees makes the tag, Brunzell and Patera scuffle and Brunzell is cooking. Ventura, nice bump off the turnbuckles and Brunzell is thinking Figure-4, but broken up and Patera vertical suplex. For the short time, Brunzell has been there way more entertaining. Patera lets him get way too close to Hogan. Hogan is running wild and unbridled. He destroying everything that moves and a big melee ensues. They whip Ventura and Patera into each other. Hogan hits a massive legdrop on The Brain for the win. The epitome of a super fun, action blockbuster with the heels bumping and the babyfaces thumping. It dragged a bit during the Gagne heat segment for this to be a great match for me. It was tons of fun for the couple minutes Hogan and Brunzell were in. ***3/4

High Flyers vs East-West Connection - AWA 3/22/81 Steel Cage Match Before the match starts, we get promos from both teams and the East-West complains that they were snookered into this cage match with a promise of the tag titles being on the line, but now Stanley Blackburn won't allow the titles to be on the line a steel cage match. That sounds like some serious BS and personally I think it babyfaces the heels a bit too much, but I guess it was a different time. The Brunzell promo was brutally boring and uncharismatic. Gagne was actually pretty convincing as a serious babyface. JIP. Gagne is getting double teamed and thrown into the cage and is busted open. He fires back and tags out to Brunzell who is a great house of fire. He nails a dropkick on Adonis who bumps into the cage. Adonis is looking for any reason to bump into the cage as he bumps off a double noggin knocker into a cage. Ventura is stiff in the sense in that he just is not athletic or agile so his bumps look weird so thankfully Adonis can bump for two. Venture makes up for with a gory bladejob. They both rake Jesse The Body's face into the cage. They go for a fall on The Body after some cage shot, but Adonis saves and then atomic drop into cage. Ventura wants none of Greg's weak ass punches. Adonis cowering and trying to escape from Brunzell. Brunzell is feeling it: legdrop, suplex and he goes for the dropkick again, but Adonis has seen this story before and hooks the rope. Brunzell sells the dropkick like death and Adonis goes to the eyes. This is an all-time great heel performance by Adonis. He is outworking everyone. An explanation of galvanization of steel by the announcer has me laughing. Brunzell is bleeding I believe and piledriver! Ventura bearhug, man, I will say Adonis is exposing Jesse in the ring, but on the pre-match promo The Body blew Adrian out of the water so at least they both served their purpose. Brunzell begins to fight back so Adonis tags in and looks to ram Brunzell's head into cage, but Brunzell gives Adonis a taste of his own medicine. Adonis falls on top of Brunzell damn he was not even that fat. Brunzell completes his comeback with what else, a dropkick and Adonis bumps huge into cage. The crowd is revved up for Greg Gagne. Adonis is great at selling and takes the Flair Flip and is bumping huge into the cage for Greg. Greg with worst dropkicks this side of Erik Watts. Gagne Choke gets a big pop! Ventura breaks it up and Adonis scales the cage! Adonis is thinking Superfly instead it is SuperCrash and Gagne picks up the win. That was a really fun, entertaining cage match. Gagne's offense looked pretty weak, but he showed good fire and the crowd was into him. Brunzell was great selling and on offense. I wish he was trying this hard when he on Killer Bees. Adrian Adonis was the MVP of this match. It was a great match, but I would not call it an all-time classic cage match. Check it out for Adonis bumping like a pinball and the big ending. ***1/2

@superstarsleeze

Second half of the War of 1983: Go Home Freebirds! Kerry Von Erich & Michael Hayes rip it up in a perfectly booked blowoff match! Match Listing: Six-Man Tag Team Champions Von Erichs vs Fabulous Freebirds - WCCW 8/12/83 ****1/4 Epitome of struggle in the early going. Awesome fuck finish. Buddy Roberts is the consummate heel. Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin & Terry Gordy vs Kevin & David Von Erich ****1/2 Total war as Kevin seeks vengeance. Garvin is at his obnoxious best. One of Kevin's best performances. Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - 9/5/83 ****1/4 Best Freebird heat segment of the War of 1983. Action packed sprint Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 11/21/83 Elimination Match ***1/2 Got plenty of time, but doesnt feel like much happened. Too start/stop. Great finish run. David at his best. Kerry Von Erich vs Michael Hayes - 11/24/83 Loser Leaves Town Steel Cage Match ****3/4 THIS IS HOW YOU BOOK A BLOWOFF!!! Violent and perfectly paid off! Watch This! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.pt/2015/09/war-of-1983-vol-2-go-home-freebirds.html

Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin & Terry Gordy vs Kevin & David Von Erich - WCCW 8/15/83 2 out of 3 Falls Kevin is PISSED at Garvin for parading the American Championship that he stole (I did not watch the rematch, but it is clear Garvin won the held up title). Ring jackets aren’t even off and he just pulverizes Jimmy Jam sending him packing. Then they send Gordy packing again and again. Red hot start! Garvin, Gordy and Sunshine regroup. Garvin is antagonizing the crowd and Von Erichs. Even getting his ass kicked, he won’t let up. Gordy wants him to calm down figuring otherwise he was going to have clean up his mess. Gordy whipped into buckles and dropkicked out. Garvin is only making things worse with his attitude. Kevin takes a swipe at Garvin and then headscissors on Gordy. Garvin wont shut up. Easy to talk when you ain’t in the ring, Jimmy Jam. David lays one in on him try speaking with a knuckle sandwhich in your mouth. Kevin in the headscissors still clawing towards Garvin and shooting daggers at him. Awesome! Kevin is the man; he is a constant state of pissed off. He is the Tito Santana of World Class. Gordy makes the tag and holds him down while Garvin repeatedly knees him. Kevin headscissors on Garvin and the girls in the front row lose their shit for a headscissor. Imagine that today! Again, Kevin gets in wrong corner and they stomp away on him prone. Kevin makes it to David in and bombs away. Garvin sells well for David. David kneedrop for two, but misses next one and Garvin tags out and lets Gordy take care of him. Garvin single leg pick up and Gordy presses advantage. Gordy gets knees up in corner and flying kneedrop takes the first fall! Birds 1-0. Relatively clean win for the Birds. Garvin and Sunshine are such a great heel act. Gordy was at his best being the muscle, but also realizing he cant fight the Von Erichs two on one so shut up, Jimmy! The Von Erichs rage was very entertaining. Surprised how clean the fall was. Gordy & Garvin celebrate. Garvin picks up where Gordy left off and kneedrops on David. David tags but ref doesn’t see it. Garvin hits the chinlock. Gordy goes a clubberin’ with David fighting back. Kevin blasts in and Kevin is the man! Gordy overwhelms dumps him to outside with trunks. Kevin keeps comin’. Hot shot by Gordy. Gordy Tags Garvin. Kevin keeps comin’! Love how chippy this is. Fighting in corner. Criss cross and Kevin tags in David hits a high knee and wins second fall. 1-1 Tied. Kevin constantly fighting back is what pro wrestling is all about. I love exasperated the heels were they just could not keep this fucker down. Great stuff! Wild start to the third fall. David thinks piledriver then Gordy is inspired and thinks the same thing. Neither can wrangle it on the other. David applies the claw and Garvin saves and Kevin obliterates Garvin. Fight over suplex and David wins. David applies Claw and Garvin rakes eyes. Kevin attacks Garvin again. Double sleeper and ref rings the bell. Von Erichs win?!!?!? Double dropkick on Gordy after bell. Double DQ! Booooooooooooooo. Shitty finish aside, this was a fucking war. The second best tag match of the Von Erich vs Freebird war after the Independence Day match. What an incredible fucking year and feud for these seven men! Watch as much Freebirds/Garvin vs Von Erichs in ’83 as you can. Cant wait for ’84 and beyond! ****1/2

Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol vs Fabulous Freebirds - Memphis 8/12/82 Badstreet Match It is Badstreet vs Beal Street! Hotlanta vs Mempho! It is cookin'! Lawler looks pretty badass in a leather jacket and badass is not a word I would use to describe Lawler too often. Michael Hayes is just a cool muthafucka. The strut and moonwalk on the apron was so bitchin. Great wild start with chairs and fists flying. Everybody knows they want to see weapons and they leave the wrestling at home. The Birds use belts (choking and whipping) and boots to gain an advantage, but each time the faces turn it around against them. The fists were flying between Gordy and Lawler. Lawler piledrives the fuck out of Hayes. Gordy comes in and piledrives the fuck out of Lawler. It is lawlessness on Badtsreet USA! Freebird miscommunication brings in Idol who romps and stomps with Hayes getting him tied up. HERE COME THE SCISSORS!!! OH SHIT! I will admit marked the fuck out for that. Hayes sells this perfectly. The money that would be made on Hayes Hair vs.Hair matches would be insane! Gordy saves and now Hayes has the shears. Idol, who is a Universal Heartthrob, definitely prides himself on his hair. Lawler grabs a cane and starts knocking people around and together with Idol drill Gordy. They chase the Birds to the back. Really fun brawl, but I can't stand a Street Fight without a finish. I hope when I get to Badstreet matches against the Von Erichs they are even better. That's what was missing from the '83 chapter of the war was a Katie Bar The Door Pier-Six Brawl! ****

Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 11/14/83 Elimination Match This match is a few days before the big Kerry Von Erich vs Michael Hayes Cage Loser Leaves Town match so this serves as the tag team blowoff to the 1983 war between Georgia vs. Texas. JIP. We see Gordy and Kerry in the midst of an awesome stand up slugfest. I am really looking forward to their Championship match. Gordy wins the battle and here becomes Buddy Jack. Kevin and David have enough and attack. Assholes! Kevin is incensed tries to pull Kerry to his corner, but loses battle. Hayes in and Kerry no sells perfectly. He bashes Hayes head into turnbuckles and Hayes is busted and they brawl, Ref loses controls DQs both of them perfect way to save them for their big blowoff in a few nights. Kerry is pissed and takes it out on Hayes so runs to the back. It is down to 2 v2, Kevin & David vs Gordy & Buddy Jack. Kevin and David beat up on Buddy. Buddy turns the tide with the loaded Headbutt on Kevin. Gordy bodyslam, but Kevin pops up to press slam him. This is a common Gordy spot and cant say I like it. Kevin applies the claw on Gordys midsection. Broken up when everyone comes in and they both tag out. David hits a high knee on Buddy, which is probably his best move. Buddy kicks David and Gordy with a big heabutt dazes himself. David reaches Kevin with fingertips and Kevin is a house of fire from time call missed first four minutes of action. Melee and Gordy presses Kevin onto Buddy Jacks knee for a gutbuster and elimination! David is down 2 versus against the Freebirds. Based on the typical Texas booking pattern, it does seem likely David was in line for shots against Flair. David employs an interesting strategy try to use Buddys helmet to his advantage by repeatedly slamming Gordys Head into it, but only gets two! Sleeper! Buddy in and saves. Buddy comes crashing down on Gordy by accident. Still two! Oriental Sleeper! David gets the claw at the same time. Thats awesome, just a really cool moment. Buddy interferes. High knee by David sends Buddy over top top rope and eliminating him according to the ring announcer. Gordy grabs a high vertical suplex. Gordy goes spike, but David intercepts with the claw and throws him over the top rope. It was a bit too stop-start with all the eliminations. They never really got into a good flow. It was a disappointing blowoff for this chapter of the war. The finish stretch with David was pitch perfect and really did set him up for big things in 1984 before tragedy struck. ***1/2

Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol vs Fabulous Freebirds - Memphis 8/5/85 The Freebirds invade Mempho! Lance Russel explains that yet again the Birds have entered a territory well-intentioned, but have been turned heel due to a miscommunication. Lawler was fending off some heels and Hayes came to the ring to help. The King wanted to send these guys packing so he was ready to throw a fireball and accidentally burned Hayes' face/neck. How this turned the Birds heel? Well it is Memphis! Quit your bitching and moaning, Hayes and bow down to the king. I have seen like one Idol match before this so let's see how he does. Basic jumpstart by heels only to be whipped into each other and cleared. Babyface shine consists of Lawler press slamming Gordy and Idol taking a cane from ringside and using it for testicular hijinx. Gordy was especially good at stooging and bumping. Idol is so proud of himself, he shakes his booty! There needs to be more booty shaking in wrestling. It would definitely get heat one way or the other. The heat segment is on Lawler and it is better than any one on the Von Erichs because the Birds actually can get their stuff in. Hayes throws Lawler to the outside and Gordy suplexes him to the floor. All the while, Hayes is strutting and moonwalking! Take that Idol! Hayes bulldog! Hayes and Lawler trade sleeper. Hayes tags out in the midst of the sleeper and when the ref's back is tuned, Gordy nails a piledriver! Lawler kicks out! He powers out of the next one and clotheslines both Birds down! Lawler sold really well throughout this. Melee ensues Lawler accidentally throws a fireball at the ref. Lawler really should not play with fire if he can't hit the target. Hayes whips him like a dog and Gordy manhandles Randy Hales to get his shoe. The faces fire up and send both packing to set up the Badstreet match. Good fun stuff to set up the big brawl next week. ***

Kerry Von Erich vs Michael Hayes - 11/24/83 Loser Leaves Town Steel Cage Match Off the top of my head, I can't think of a better sub-ten minute match! Absolutely electric match that pays off the entire angle in one incredibly climax! They met in the very structure that caused this blood feud a steel cage and after a year it is time for the ultimate blowoff, a Loser Leaves Town match. Kerry and Michael play their roles to perfection and cut a terrific pace. Michael never once backs down from Kerry and this makes for one helluva fight, Those fists were flying early and love the early attempt at the Claw. Hayes throwing Kerry into cage and choking him with the bandage was perfect heel wrestling, Even better was Kerry using these tactics against Hayes and Hayes is busted wide open. I love the Sleeper in the 80s it is such a BIG move in the sense of a titanic struggle. Hayes applies it first to break Kerry's momentum only to see Kerry power up and apply his own. I love this tit for tat, taste of your own medicine wrestling. Here comes the big Hayes push for victory, suplex, bulldog and piledriver in succession, but Kerry gets foot on ropes. I think thats lame in a cage match. It is Loser Leaves Town just hotshot everything BABY and kick out of the piledriver BABY! Kerry nails a suplex out of a suplex struggle. Here comes BAM BAM! The very man that slammed the door into Kerry's head in shot heard round the world. Head collision and both are out. Buddy Roberts scales the cage and tosses in knux. Hayes catches them, but Kerry nails a discus punch and the knux go flying. Fritz slams Gordy into the table. Kerry obliterates Michael Hayes. Buddy climbs to the top to save Michael, but crotches himself on the cage and falls pathetically to the ring. Love it! Kerry 1-2-3! Banishing Michael from Texas! Fritz slams the door on Gordy to tie up that loose end and finally Von Erich vengeance is achieved! The match is a little too short and there are a couple details I did not like that keep this from being absolutely perfect like DiBiase/Duggan. In terms of blowoffs and paying off multiple elements of a blood feud, this is hard to beat and it is like the DiBiase/Duggan of World Class! Really fucking awesome and not talked about enough! ****3/4

Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 9/5/83 The Freebirds must think the Confederate soldiers are their lucky charm as they repeat the entrance from when they won the titles. Per usual, there is massive heat. Buddy Jack Roberts is cocky because the Von Erichs cant put the Claw on his head due to his headgear, the very loaded headgear that won the Birds back their titles. So David puts it on his stomach. Great set up and payoff! Love Buddy Jack! Hayes drives Kerry into the allegedly loaded helmet. Again it is through Buddy the heat segment starts. They work a strong heat segment on Kerry, who is the best seller of his brothers. Gordy hits a really cool somersault splash. Kerry fires back, but misses a Tenryu elbow. Again, he is driven back into Roberts’ helmet. He picks the ankle and tags out to Kevin, who comes flying off the top with a kneedrop, then headscissors and finally TRIPLE DROPKICK! Great face offensive sequence! Kevin is headbutted by the loaded helmet and writhes in pain. Gordy comes crashing down on him and then the big boot. Freebirds getting in a lot more offense and I am really liking what they are doing. Head collision and they both tag out, poor choice for a transition given Buddy’s helmet. Kerry hot tag with a wicked sweet dropkick and slams heads together. The ending is a total fun clusterfuck of raucous mayhem. Explosive Double dropkick on Buddy Roberts! Claw on Hayes! Von Erichs throw Gordy out. Kevin & Kerry try to get the headgear off Buddy Roberts. Gordy Oriental Spike on Kerry while Hayes is in the Claw! In the fracas, Hayes ends up on top of Kerry for the win. Too short to be an absolute classic, but this was my second favorite of their six man tags so far. I loved that Freebirds got more time on offense. Gordy looked great and Buddy is such an asshole I am really hoping that this is comeuppance comes in the elimination tag team match I am about to watch. They have really been piling the heat on him. ****1/4

I fell behind again, ugh! I have so many reviews to organize! Here is the first half of the War of 1983! It is Georgia vs Texas! Freebird vs La Grange! Piledriver vs Claw! It is the best sustained crowd heat I have ever heard. I analyze Buddy Jack Roberts underappreciated role in the Freebirds and draw conclusions based on his in ring work. The match listing and link is below: Match Listing: Michael Hayes vs. Kerry Von Erich (2/7/83) ***1/2 Great first match in a feud. Does not give too much a way and leaves you wanting more. Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 2/18/83 Lumberjack Match **** This was a Von Erich revenge match through and through. Long and hot shine. Fabulous Freebirds/Jimmy Garvin vs Von Erichs/Iceman Parsons 5/27/83 Elimination Match ****1/4 Mayhem. Awesome finish stretch with Kerry/Kevin vs Hayes/Buddy Jack Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 7/4/83 2 Out of 3 Falls ****3/4 Insane crowd heat! Probably the best match in World Class history! Watch it! American Heavyweight Champion Kevin Von Erich vs Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin - WCCW 7/18/83 ****1/2 Great championship style 2 out of 3 falls match. Perfect ending that suits all THREE characters. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.pt/2015/09/war-of-1983-vol-1-freebirds-on-my-mind.html