Superstar Sleeze

Jerry Lawler vs Crusher Blackwell - Mid-South Coliseum 5/4/81 Literally the first thing you see is Crusher Blackwell hit a pitch perfect dropkick. This really is the perfect first match to watch Blackwell in if you are unfamiliar with him because you get to see him at his offensive best and seeing all the classic spots (weeble wobbke, taking a back drop). He moves phenomenally in this match. His huge splash in the corner, the big elbow and suplexes look tremendous. It is performances like this that put him in the Vader category of elite big men wrestlers. Of course, he is the perfect foil for our hero Lawler, who has no problem letting Blackwell introduce himself with an extended showcase for him to show off to Memphis how unique he is. When it comes time for Lawler to get come rocking back there are not much better. Lawler's rights and Blackwell webble wobble selling are a match made in heaven. In addition, it should be mentioned Blackwell is not slouch in the punching department and actually has some great right jabs. The match featured a lot of rope breaks instead of kick outs, while I think there needs to be balance I think the rope break is an underutilized tool to protect moves. I love the the tit for tat symmetry of this match. Blackwell hits a back suplex. Lawler proves his mettle by doing it to Blackwell and it totally looks credible. This plays into the finish with Lawler missing his signature fist drop, but instead of covering Lawler he goes his signature big splash and misses. Lawler does not make the same mistake instead he covers to win the match. Great little showcase match on why both men are two of the all-time greats. Blackwell at his size is an athletic marvel for his agility and quickness. He knows when to get his and he still knows how to shine up a babyface without losing his size. I can't wait for Blackwell in the AWA. Lawler is at his fighting from underneath with his punches and making comebacks. Awesome big man vs little man match! ***1/2

I wish Kevin Von Erich left Texas after 85 and tried to make it in WWF or Crockett. He was a world class asskicking babyface. Great, great wrestler.

I think it is high time to start watching some 50s wrestling. Rest in peace, Verne. Prayers go out to his family and friends.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kevin Von Erich - Parade of Champions 5/5/85 Kevin Von Erich is my favorite Von Erich! Dude is just fucking relentless. Talk about "thinking shoot, but working" he personifies it. I watched this match on a plane to Italy last summer and I was floored by it then and still am. This is just nonstop fighting between two wrestlers who hated each other and wanted to be champion. The entire match is Flair trying to figure out a way to get through Kevin's perpetual motion, which is his usual strategy. Kevin Von Erich is the epitome of a good offense is a good defense mantra. He is just always coming forward and attacking. Every other Von Erich would break on the ropes or not use a closed fist. Kevin Von Erich just flies with reckless abandon. In the beginning, Kevin frustrates Flair with an O'Connor Roll, besting him in a test of strength and fire right back at him in the corner (Flair's domain). Quickness, strength and aggression, what the hell is Flair going to do? Flair just keeps going at it and Kevin traps him in the sleeper. Flair might be the best ever at selling a sleeper at this point in his career. He looks to be at a total loss. "WE WANT THE CLAW" is the chant goes up and Flair does all he can to avoid that. Flair catches him with a running atomic drop that buys him some time, but not much as Kevin Von Erich puts on the best abdominal stretch ever I mean he hooks his foot behind his own foot. Finally, I know what Gorilla was talking about! There is a great struggle over the Irish Whip out of a corner. Everything in this match is earned. Flair is putting forth a kickass effort and is just being beaten by someone who is wrestling like a man possessed. There is two rings at this event. Flair does his Flip in the corner and falls into the other ring. KEVIN HITS A SPLASH FROM ONE RING TO THE OTHER! HOLY SHIT! There is no rest for the wicked, Flair! Kevin kicks some more ass and Flair can just Flop. Iron Claw, oh so close! Flair gouges the eyes and throws him to the outside. Finally, Flair gets a chance to recuperate. This has been a war! Wait, here comes Kevin again. Oh, hell! Flair tries to escape into the other ring. Flair gets his short knee. He is going up top, oh no, this is not going to end well. Press slam off the top! Kevin just takes his foot presses Flair's face up against the ropes. Kevin might be the most underrated asskicker of all time. Goes for the Iron Claw so Flair goes for his bridge sequence, which ends in a backslide that is how Kerry won it 1-2-NO! Texas Stadium erupted for that nearfall! IRON CLAW! They tumble to the outside. There is a melee with Flair restraining Kevin from returning to the ring triggering a double countout and retaining his title. Kevin loses his fucking shit. He decks the ref and that puts the Iron Claw on Flair and will not let go. It takes David Manning, his brothers Kerry & Mike and his father Fritz to finally convince him to let go before he kills Flair. Wow! Kevin Von Erich kicked the shit out of Flair, but it never felt like a squash or an exhibition. Kevin was determined from the outset to win the match. You truly believed that this was the most important thing in the world to Kevin and he was going to do whatever it takes to win. It was never a squash because Flair was just as invested as Kevin. He wanted to win the match and was constantly fighting back, but Kevin was fighting through his offense. It was a truly great brawl by these two badass wrestlers. ****1/2

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Jerry Lawler - Mid-South Coliseum 1/1/84 Watch this match for Lawler comeback! Like right now! Fast forward past the nine minute top wristlock! Watch Lawler unload a feverish can of whoop ass like I have never seen before! I was infected with his energy and was cheering as wildly as if I was in Mempho on New Year's Day 1984. Unfortunately, a 30 second spurt of unadulterated awesomeness is not enough to make a match excellent. The one knock you hear murmured about Bock is he will sit in a hold. It is hard to describe his nine minute top wristlock as him sitting idly, but it was not exactly exciting either. You can only do so many test of strengths and failed armdrag escapes in nine minutes before even the most old school fan will become bored. Thank God for Lance Russell! Who was just stupendous on this. Let me just digress into the modern product and apply lessons of the past on the modern product. Bockwinkel trash talks Lawler in the top wristlock saying he can't wrestle. Russell says that is a lie that Lawler is a perfectly fine scientific wrestler, maybe not at the level, but he does not possess in technical acumen he makes up for in determination, heart and one helluva right. Where the hell is this presentation with Cena?!!?!?!? Lawler is literally on commentary! Why does he not extol Cena's virtues stronger? When HHH was cutting his knees out from under him and encouraging the fans to chant "You cant wrestle" at the top babyface. Where was the entire company to say this is a boldface lie and even if it is true, Cena makes up for it with hustle and fight! Jesus! It did not have to be this way, WWE! Eventually, Lawler uses quick repeated armdrag attempts to escape the interminable top wristlock. Of course they cut to commercial and we miss Lawler kicking Bock's ass. In total, we get about 20 minutes of a 32 minute and 9 minutes of it was top wristlock. Who the hell produced this match? Bockwinkel and Lawler are giving a master class of selling in the last 10 minutes of this match. Bock is staggering using the ref to recover and finally crowds Lawler to get a kneelift. Bock is hitting these kneelifts just to keep Lawler at bay. Lawler hits a cross body and Bock presses him out to the floor. Bock is dazed and just tosses Lawler into every hard object and now both men are worse for wear. Lawler is about ready to make his comeback, but it is just a tease he knocks Bock on his ass, but he is so out of it that he falls on his. Damnit, all this selling is making up for that top wristlock. Bock sends Lawler into the ref hard. Jerry Calhoun took some serious punishment in this match and throughout his career. Bock gets a wicked eye gouge and looks to capitalize, but Lawler is pissed! What ensues is just one of the most awesome punch combinations in the history of the pro wrestling! Watch it! Bock punches the ref in a daze. Lawler floors Bock and counts his own pin. The ref calls for the bell and raises The King's hand and it is a massive pop. I hated that finish in Kevin Von Erich and hate it here! What is worst they don't reverse it immediately! Watch it for the comeback and the selling, but this is not a great match. ***1/2

Damn phone I meant dull. They were not bad per se just really boring and rote in WWF. The feud with the Garvins in Montreal I highly recommend thanks to Wrestling Culture for the initial recolmendation

Besides the Garvins and Roadies what stuff exists from Montreal?. His tag team with his brother is one of the most full and mediocre tag teams ever.

I liked the show pretty much alright as a fun excuse to shoot the shit with my brother, but nothing mind-blowing. There really was not anything bad on the show, but there was not anything great. I think I may be underrating Reigns/Show because I was enjoying talking to my brother and I was not paying attention as closely as normal. I thought it was the second best match. I actually thought Cena/Rusve was the best match, but now I am thinking I may have been distracted also during this. I really enjoy matches built around actually winning so seeing them constantly trying to win the match was refreshing, but I see the points about the lack of violence. It was the worst of their three matches no doubt. I have loved the Kane angles the past two weeks. The main event feud has seen some of their best writing in ages in terms of building compelling segments and episode-length storylines like the old days. The way they ended the segment in London was such dogshit. It is not their best comprehensive writing more just in building to a finish, but they still fuck up the finish. I liked the finish of the cage match. i am by no means a purist about respecting stips to a fault. If you have a good reason internally, then I am cool. Rollins dropkicked the cage door into the Gatekeeper Kane and Gatekeeper Kane said fuck that. Perfectly fine wrestling logic. We were swearing at the TV thinking Kane chokeslam was going to get Rollins the win, I liked Rollins winning via RKO. I hope he says it he used a Diamond Cutter tomorrow night. Nikki Bella had another good match, but that's like saying the sun will come up tomorrow. I am really tempted to do a career retrospective to see if she was secretly this good her whole career and no one noticed. What the fuck hat was Brie wearing tonight was she hunting Wabbits?

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Ric Flair - WCCW 5/11/84 Coming off his recent loss of the World Championship to Kerry Von Erich, Ric Flair is out to prove he is still The Man. Wow, does that give this match a totally unique feel compared to other Flair vs Kerry matches. Flair is wrestling with a challenger's mindset even if this is non-title and he is here for a fight. He establishes this with a slap to Kerry in the corner. He is here to fight. People want to talk about matches that do not follow the Flair Formula, well here you go because this is a sprint where Flair is crazed and desperate. His hyper-offensive mindset is a double-edged sword as we will see. More often than not, he is rushing and like my mother always says "Haste makes waste" and in his haste Flair was giving Kerry openings. It was creating his own too. We see Flair crowding Kerry early and often. He is bringing the fight to Kerry. When he sends Kerry to the outside, he is right there with a hammer elbow and then crowding him in the corner. This leads to these spirited skirmishes in the corner with each man fighting through each other. Flair's offensive control seems tenuous because in his haste he leaves himself prone to dropkicks and press slams. He is keeping the powerful Kerry off-balance with his perpetual motion. Kerry looks to put Flair to sleep, but he gets a kneecrusher. Flair quickly looks for the figure-4 again haste makes waste as it leaves him prone to the Iron Claw! He fights through it, but then here comes press slam and discus punch. The loss of the championship is clearly eating away at Flair who is not consolidating advantages, which he has had in this match. It is a very frustrating match if you were a kayfabe Flair fan. I am loving the narrative they are building here. Flair jabs at Kerry's bad knee and this time he gets the figure-4. I love how when it gets reversed, he immediately gets out and limps over to chop Kerry. There is no rest in this match he is out to prove something leg be damned! Flair goes right back to the figure-4 and Kerry shoves him off. Flair back with the hammer elbow, Flair is not giving up. Flair runs right into a press slam and now a cross body. Flair tries a hiptoss, but Kerry falls back into a banana split cradle for the 3. Flair needs to stop trying to hiptoss Kerry that's two times in a week Kerry has gotten a pinfall from that situation. He has it scouted Flair. Awesome little sprint from these two. Flair worked like a madman and Kerry was with him every step of the way. Kerry thwarted him at every pass and it just frustrated Flair more and more. I loved all the heated exchanges and there was another after the match. Flair is just ripshit he is not champion. It is awesome. Really great TV match! ****1/4

AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Jerry Lawler - Mid-South Coliseum 11/8/82 Title vs Hair No DQ match Nick Bockwinkel is at his sadistic best in this No Disqualification bout where Lawler has put his hair on the line against Nick Bockwinkel's Southern Heavyweight Championship. Lance Russell always lets us know that Lawler is a slow starter, but he picked one helluva night to have an ultra slow start. Bockwinkel absolutely creamed him in the first five minutes. It all began with Bock using the hair to maneuver Lawler into the and hitting him with a huge forearm sledge. After that, he just teed off at will and was getting in some great shots. One palm strike really messed up Lawler's vision and had him rolling to the outside. Bockwinkel was so relentless the ref had to pull him off. It is No DQ, but within reason and the ref needs to ensure the safety of both men. Just when you think, Lawler is going to lose his hair, he comes back with a headbutt that may have been a bit south of the border. Lawler does what he does best punch himself out of trouble. When he goes for some more testicular violence, the ref won't allow it. Lawler has to settle for the piledriver, but Bock puts his foot on the rope. Bockwinkel retaliates with his own punch to the netheregions. Bockwinkel works one helluva heat segment. He busts Lawler open underneath the eye according to Lance and his punches look great. He throws Lawler to the outside and bounces his head off the table and punches him so hard it sends him back into the third row. Everybody deserves a front row seat. Bock is the man! He tosses Lawler over the top rope on the other side. He sends Lawler face first into the metal post, which draws an audible gasp. It has to be mentioned Lawler is giving one of helluva selling performance. Bock wants the piledriver now that would be something. Lawler reverses and sends Bock into the ref. That weasel, Jimmy Hart, blasts Lawler with a foreign object, but no ref. Lawler kicks out at two. Lawler is absorbing Bock's punches and Lawler pulls the strap down. The crowd goes wild as Lawler starts rocking. Bock takes some huge bumps and Lawler looks great. It takes three flying fist drops for Lawler to get his first pinfall victory over the World Champion in five attempts! A little abrupt on the finish, but this an awesome fight. Bockwinkel checks the holds at the door and matches Lawler blow for blow. Lawler is a great seller and when it comes time to make that comeback, I am thinking there may be few better. ****1/2

AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs Jerry Lawler - Mid-South Coliseum 10/18/82 Let's see if this Jerry Lawler is all he is cracked up to be. I have seen a handful of Lawler matches from the 80s and they have been very good to great and am looking forward to watching him in detail. I figure much like how I started the Von Erichs off against the best. I should start Lawler off against the best, Nick Bockwinkel. Bockwinkel is master chessman in the ring and understands the use of strategy in pro wrestler probably better than any pro wrestler in history. Everything he did in that ring was internally consistent with what happened previously and what he wanted to happen that was to ensure him retaining his belt. The previous week at the Mid-South Coliseum, Bockwinkel challenged for Lawler's Southern Title and won it! In the interim, he defeated Otto Wanz for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, quite a week for Bock. However, this match is just a rematch for the Southern Championship. Lance Russell informs us early that the piledriver is legal in this match because Bockwinkel being a world traveller is more accustomed to the piledriver being legal and he used one last week to win the Southern Title. He claimed he had forgotten it was illegal. So in this rematch, the piledriver is legal. Lawler teases the piledriver early sending Bock scurrying. Bock also had a trouble with Lawler's famous stinging right. I loved Bock's selling of it and Lawler does have one of the best punches in history. Bock grinds the match to a halt with various holds to try contain the fists of fury of Lawler. Lawler lets us know he ain't just a pretty punch. He had some neat reversals for Ol' Tricky Nick including reversing a bodyscissors into a Boston Crab. I will admit the beginning of the match was slow and surprisingly unheated. I was used to Texas where literally every Von Erich spot was cheered. Lawler is shoved into the ref and this gives Bock the opening he needs to hit a piledriver and finally mount some offense against Lawler. Lawler is a mighty foe and he pulls the strap down to the roar of the crowd and fires off some wicked punches that staggers Bock. The guy in the front row signals for the piledriver or for the old lady next to give him head it is hard to tell which. Lawler is happy to oblige on the former, but Bock tucks tail and crawls away. Bock gets an uppercut that sends Lawler tumbling over the top. KING OF THE MOUNTAIN! Bock ain't letting him back in and is finally kicking some ass. Bockwinkel preps for the piledriver, but Lawler backdrops and hits a PILEDRIVER of his own! Lawler can't capitalize. Bockwinkel is convulsing looking for the bottom rope and pulls himself out. They now do reverse king of the mountain where Bock is always trying to get out so Lawler comes up with some really inventive ways to keep him like a bodyslam from the apron and a running fist to the side of Bock's head on the outside. We of course get the patented Lawler fist drop. Just as Lawler looks to have this one sewn up, Bock headbutts him in the midsection, double legs and uses the ropes to pin Lawler! HIGHWAY ROBBERY I TELLS YA! The match started slow, but they built to a fever pitch. I loved Bock's strategy of keeping Lawler on the outside and then it reversing once Lawler was in charge. Great use of the piledriver to be the transition between those two segments, ****

Here are the final three blogs from the WCW 1995-2001 viewing project. The first blog looks at the end of WCW from Russo taking over in October to the final PPV, Greed. In 2000, there seems to exactly ONE match worth looking at. Think about that in one calendar year there was only one match worth watching. I hate Russo. On its last PPV, WCW does the most WCW thing possible and debuts a brand new title (Cruiserweight Tag Team Title) and it is the last great WCW match. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-fall-of-wcw-scott-steiner-goldberg.html The second one looks at Steven Regal's fun 1996 resurgence after a year facing the Nasty Boys and Harlem Heat. On paper, a Regal and Eaton tag team has me drooling but without competition, I can't say I am going to go out of my way to watch anything. Regal vs Finlay series is one of those series that I just had never seen and was tremendous. That Uncensored match was Ishikawa/Ikeda levels of violence. The Sting and Psychosis matches were fun, it is too bad WCW did not push Regal and that his personal demons derailed him for years. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-lord-said-let-there-be-fight-steven.html One last blog looks at WCW in 1999 and features matches with Chris Benoit, who I thought was the second best American wrestler behind only DDP in 1998-99. His match with Flair is the last good WCW Flair match. His match with DDP is the best Thunder match in history. The Sting World Title bout was tremendous and was great beyond just the novelty of seeing Sting wrestle heel. It was a very dramatic encounter that made Benoit look like main event star in the match. The final match is the Owen Hart Tribute tainted by the Benoit murders, but still a powerful statement and tribute. In the wake of Russo's arrival, it turned out to be WCW's final goodbye to pro wrestling. With that, we say goodbye to WCW for now... http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/04/goodbye-wcw-bret-hart-sting-ddp-wcw-1999.html

I am leaning towards the match labelled as 10/25/82 being from either late 83 or early 84. To your second point, oh definitely! I can't wait for the No DQ match on 11/8/82 for the Southern Title!

This is in relation to the Memphis set. I just watched Lawler vs Bockwinkel from the Mid-South Coliseum 10/18/82 for the Southern Heavyweight Title that Bockwinkel was holding and he had just won the World Title back from Wanz. The next week (10/25) Lawler is challenging for the World Title, which makes no sense to me. Then we see clips of this match in the 1984 feud over the World title. Was this match actually from 1984 and mislabelled? Or did they just randomly switch the title Lawler was challenging for? Sorry if this was covered years ago when the set came out.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich - Parade of Champions 5/6/84 Great match? Not really. Awesome moment? OH HELL YEAH! I have seen this match a handful of times, but watching after seeing the other Von Erich bouts in order really hit home for me last night. I was as excited as every one of those 32,000 people in Texas Stadium (announcer claims 50k and the largest audience ever in attendance to watch pro wrestling) to see Kerry Von Erich capture the World Championship achieving his dream and honoring his late brother. The entrance was perfect with Kerry coming out with the Yellow Rose and wearing "In Memory of David Von Erich" on his jacket and the yellow trunks. The crowd starts up with a Go Kerry Go! Even though they are in stadium, the crowd is just as rocking as an intimate arena crowd. Flair does not seem psyched out, but maybe he is as he is brings the fight to Kerry trying to go for amateur takedowns. Or maybe it is the fact that he can lose title by DQ thus stripping him of his champion's advantage and forcing him to wrestle more like a challenger. I think he knows the moment and he needs to hush the crowd and bring Kerry down. On May 6, 1984, Kerry would not be denied. Kerry in a criss cross stops on a dime and hits a nice dropkick. Flair breaks his rhythm by retreating to the corner. We are getting the more standard Flair vs power wrestler here. Kerry gets the big punches and huge press slam that is such a great picture and gets a huge pop. It makes sense to work a bigger match in front of a stadium crowd. They work their usual spots like the sleeper and the tussle over the ab stretch. Flair tries to create motion to get something going, but Kerry gets the CLAW out of nowhere for the big pop! Flair knee to gut and then press slammed off the top and Flair Flip as we get now trademark Flair spots. He is desperate looking for the figure-4 with no prep work to salvage this match, but Kerry kicks him off twice. They go through the hiptoss sequence, but Kerry gets a backslide and 1-2-3! WOW! WHAT A POP! One of the loudest pops you will ever hear. Just an amazing moment for Kerry and his family after the heartbreak of the loss of David. It serves as the climax to the first half of Flair's reign as he transitions away from the travelling champion to Horsemen Flair. It is also a satisfying conclusion to the Flair/Von Erich program. Of course, Kerry would drop title back in Japan and Flair/Von Erich would continue in other territories, but this was a great moment for this series. ****

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kevin Von Erich - WCCW 4/1/83 It is always Kerry, Kerry, Kerry and David, David, David, what about Kevin Von Erich!!! Kevin is an aggressive offensive dynamo. He is not going to take any shit and quite frankly does not give a shit. He is going to punch and claw his way through any situation. He does not wait for Flair to cheat, he just attacks. I love it! Kevin Von Erich does not believe in clean breaks. He believes in winning goddamnit! I love that spunky, high energy babyface of the 80s and Kevin was probably the best because he had the cool moves, he laid his shit in and he had the aggression. Kevin is telling Flair to put up his dukes early and is totally crowding the Nature Boy. I think Flair the master of the corner in setting up a transition is really thrown off by Kevin not giving him a clean break. Their brawl out of the corner is a great heated exchange. Kevin also adds dropkicks and flying headscissors to make him a dual threat. Kevin was definitely the best brawler of the family. Flair punches Kevin right in the face and Kevin yelps "I think my nose is broke!" Flair is in the ropes and Kevin calls for the Claw. The other brothers would be dissuaded not Kein who applies and yanks Flair out! Flair desperately gets out only to be put in a sleeper, he rakes the eyes. Great selling by Kevin! We get our first Flair press slammed off the top rope. On a kick out, Kevin lands on Bronco and when he moves Flair elbows the ref. Flair sends Kevin over the top and they do a great job teasing the countout. Flair works in his high impact blow like that nasty elbow. In the middle of a backbreaker, Kevin just punches Flair in the side of the head. This is a fight! Kevin kicks him legs up, but Flair has it scouted. Kevin starts teeing off on Flair. I love when the Von Erichs grab Flair by his mane and just start going off. Kevin runs through the ref. Kevin sends Flair over the top, but that is not the right side because the ref ain't over there so Flair gets him to toss him over the other side. Back in, Kevin hits a tremendous reverse crossbody. 1-2-3! THE CROWD GOES WILD! I am so confused and excited at the same time! Of course, Bronco reverses the decision since he saw Kevin dump Flair over the top. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! That is just cruel to do that with your fanbase. I hate, hate, hate those finishes. I am usually very open minded when it comes to a finish if a DQ or countout sets something up that is a good finish. This is cruel and stupid. Great match otherwise, I am so, so, so looking forward to more Kevin Von Erich. Everything he does is perpetual struggle. Him and Flair could have some Flair vs Garvin level encounters if they really let them go. I love the dynamic with Kerry being able to wrestle that long championship style while Kevin wrestles these high energy sprints. Flair is of course a master of it all. The finish brings the match down, but the work beforehand was World Class! ****1/4

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich - Christmas Star Wars 12/25/82 Steel Cage match, Michael Hayes Special Guest Referee They had two different gimmicks to establish in this match plus they needed to get Kerry's revenge in, needed to have a championship style match and run the one of the biggest angles in the history of pro wrestling. I think that was the biggest hindrance to this match was they were trying to accomplish so much in one match. With three lesser men, this would have been a clusterfuck. In the hands of Flair, Kerry and Hayes, they still manage to present an excellent match even if it is at the level of the first Kerry vs Flair bout. Unlike David, Kerry does not have to worry about disqualifications and he goes after Flair's leg immediately in retribution. Flair establishes he has nowhere to run due to the cage. Something I have noticed in watching five Flair vs Von Erich matches already is that he does not take many walks to break rhythm. He does beg off or back into a corner, but is not powdering as much as I remember from him. He definitely fight back more at this point with more hair pulls, tight-pulling and eye-raking to set up his chops and short knees. The other gimmick gets established early and often that is even if there is no disqualifications, Michael Hayes will not let one wrestler beat the other senseless in the match to the point where they can defend himself. So Hayes is very forceful in pulling the men off. This is a more logical and better approach than the fucking Kinski performance a year later. Hayes was introduced to the territory in mid-October as a friend of the Von Erich, but he has been even in actions. Kerry Von Erich grabs the sleeper and a huge pop happens because they remember that was the move that should have won him the first fall. Flair becomes incensed at getting his ass kicked, but Kerry is looking CLAW. They did a good job establishing the cage as nowhere for Flair to hide, they did not tease going into the cage. Regardless, when Kerry sends Flair head first into the cage and grates his forehead it gets a huge pop. This is Flair in his element bleeding and hollering. The verbal selling here is just top notch. Hayes throws Kerry off, but he still signals for The Claw and the crowd is pumped! Flair goes to his best weapon kicking Kerry in his bad leg and he takes Kerry to school. Kerry is pushing Flair off as a last ditch effort and throws him into the cage. It is around this time that it feels haphazard. They want to get Kerry's revenge in on Flair because he is not going to win the title tonight, but at least he will get his licks in. Yet, Flair is still trying to work in a championship style and perpetual motion. Again, trying to accomplish too much. Flair finally applies the figure-4 and when it is reversed we get some really classic Flair selling. He is so great at selling the struggle and then upon reversing it, just wow! Kerry Von Erich is just beating Flair senseless now and it does not look like the champ has a chance to survive. Hayes is trying to keep thing somewhat safe by pulling Kerry off. CLAW! Flair drapes his leg over the rope and Hayes pulls him off to big BOOOS! That was lame. One thing to keep Flair safe another to force a rope break. While Hayes and Kerry get into it, Flair hits a high knee sending Kerry into Hayes. Flair and Hayes go at it and Hayes decks Flair. Kerry won't take the pin and Hayes pulls him by the hair on top of Flair, but Kerry won't take it. Again Flair gets a high knee that makes it seem like Kerry shoved Hayes out of the cage. So the "Guardian of the Gate" (TM HHH), Freebird Terry Gordy has had enough of Kerry's shit and blasts him with the steel cage door! With that shot the Freebirds vs Von Erichs begins! Flair covers Kerry and Hayes comes back in counts a quick three even though Kerry had kicked out. The match actually continues, which I think is all for the better because we get some amazing staggering Kerry selling. You really get a sense of how much Kerry is hurt. I am not sure you would get the same feeling if it was Kerry knocked out, Flair pin and then Von Erich brothers swear revenge. Here you get to see Kerry's injury plus how sadistic Flair is in this situation. I love Kerry flailing around in the cage trying to get away from Flair and try to mount a comeback, but he is just too injured. Kerry is able to get a last resort Discus Punch, but he collapses and David Manning has not choice, but to call it. The announcer is worried about a concussion and the Von Erich brothers are worried and pissed. It was a great finish to keep Kerry looking strong and really show how much the Freebirds cost him the match. The world famous angle and the finish stretch ensures this match's place in history. There is never a boring moment in this match, but early on there is just too many things going on for this to be considered on the level of the first Flair vs Kerry match. I still think it was an excellent heated championship match. I have just slightly below the Flair/David match. ****1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs David Von Erich - World Class Championship Wrestling 10/11/82 World Class was really obsessed with Star Wars, who knew Fritz was such a huge nerd! Flair and David both enter to instrumentals from the Star Wars movie. After Kerry came within just one controversial referee call from winning the world championship, Flair did what any champion in the early 80s would do he put out a bounty on Kerry. Gary Hart Presents The Great Kabuki did the dirty deed, but not dirt cheap by breaking Kerry's leg. An incensed David is out for revenge for BountyGate 1982. David might not be built like his brother, but he is one big boy. This is the first David singles match I have ever watched and was intrigued to see how he would do. He has struck me as the least entertaining of three main Von Erich brothers in the six mans I have watched. I love Kerry as the golden boy power wrestler with great selling and Kevin Von Erich as the crazy, violent dynamo. Of course, i keep an open mind at all times and you can ask for better circumstances to look better than Flair in 1982. Flair is the master tactician. He knows David is hot about what happened to his brother. So he forces David to cool down with stalling tactics to force the match into a more championship style encounter. In a short brawl, anything can happen and as the champion he can't afford that especially with a big angry Texan out for blood for his brother. He wants to dictate the pace and be in control. David points to his leg and then lets Flair know he is going to snap his. Flair is not phased strutting, pec-bouncing and letting David cool off. David know what is at stake here. If he goes overboard, he will get disqualified and not win the championship. Is the ultimate revenge the championship or breaking Flair's leg? Early on the answer to that question is the championship. That being said, who says they have to be mutually exclusive. When Flair tries a whip out of the corner, it is he who is whipped and shoulder first. Flair sells this jammed shoulder like he has been shot. David just pounces and never lets go. David tortures the arm of Flair, he is focused, but you know he is enjoying it. The strategy for Flair is to create separation, movement and chaos. He needs to get out of this predicament by any means. At first he tries rifling out of it with chops, but David tenaciously holds onto the wristlock and pulls him down into a hammerlock. Then Flair tries pulling the tights into him to get that nasty short knee (somebody needs to crib that). Flair tries to create some movement but gets caught in a drop toehold and it is back to the hammerlock. David is not charismatic, but he is wrestling a smart match. He is not getting flustered by Flair's constant cheat and his singular focus is the left arm of Flair. Flair finally scores that bit of a chaos he needed. He does a seemingly innocuous dropdown on a rope running sequence, but pops up quicker than expected and chases David down to throw him out the ring. Wow! That is a genius spot. It is worth pointing out Flair never cowered in this early portion of the match. He took an unlucky bump and paid the price. David worked a smart strategy and Flair was cheating and selling, but never cowering. Once Flair is on top, he is sadistic. He hits these nasty little hammer elbows on David's face and then gnarly punches to David's face. David really shows his first glimmer of something extraordinary. His selling of the face is just spot on and some of the best work I have ever seen. The way he is covering up and reacting to Flair's punches is so great. Flair's punches taking their toll allow Flair to facelock David and regain his energy. This is the slowest part of the match and where it loses a bit of steam. There is some fun stuff like Flair telling the ref to watch the hair only to pull David back down by the tights, but overall it is dull though smart work. David throws his game plan out and just starts throwing live rounds. Flair does not want to get into a slugfest with David. but he obliges and is left cowering. David throws Flair into the Flair Flip. Flair looks to stop the bleeding with a suplex, but he is reversed. Flair grabs a desperation sleeper, but David dives and Flair takes a header into the turnbuckle. David goes for his jumping knee which scored him a point early, but this time he hits the top turnbuckle. Ruh roh! An injured knee in a Flair match, Flair goes right for the figure-4, but David pushes him off twice. Flair says fuck it and sit back into a toehold then converting into a deathlock. I LOVED THAT SEQUENCE! Kerry on crutches shows up, guess it is endgame. David rolls to the outside and Kerry coached him up. At first, I am confused if this was any later this would clearly be telegraphing a Kerry heel turn, but since it is 1982, I believe he is earnest. I can't figure out what Kerry is saying. Go for a side headlock?!?!?! David rolls back in and Flair goes for the figure-4 and it is an inside cradle!!! That's what Kerry told him to do! He was playing possum! HOLY SHIT! That was so cool! Flair throws him to the outside and rams him into the post repeatedly. David is wearing a crimson mask. I really bit on the countout finish. Flair starts jawing with Kerry and then he decks him. He stomps on the injured knee! OH THE HUMANITY! David grabs the world title and smashes Flair knee with it. Sick! Flair's head into the crutch and it is a five alarm blade job that must have been one helluva splinter. David is now wrapping Flair's leg around the post. It is a knee for a knee if he can't have the championship he is going to break his leg. Of course, the ref threw this whole fracas out, but wow that was one helluva angle. I loved how you morph from a great championship match to a hot and I mean double hot angle to set up the HUGE Kerry Von Erich Cage match for Christmas. Great booking! This was an excellent match that accomplished so much in a quick 30 minutes. David looks like a viable challenger. He kept his cool and wrestled a strong match early. Not very charismatic, but Flair is so good at keeping things moving that it was still very exciting and dramatic. His selling of Flair's punches to the face was his standout moment. The finish run was awesome with David rearing back and going for broke, but hitting the top turnbuckle with his knee. He did everything he could to keep the figure-4 off him and then some great coaching from Kerry almost got it for him. Flair was just the man in this match. Seriously, why do people need drugs when you have Ric Flair. I get a personal high watching his matches. I feel like I can take on the world after watching him kick ass in that ring. The angle was pitch perfect to get you pumped for the rematch and give the Von Erichs a taste of revenge to whet your appetite. On to Christmas at the Reunion Arena in the CAGE! ****1/2

Sleeze goes back to the greatest decade this world has ever experienced, the 1980s, BABY! We start in style with the big profile championship match as Ric Flair defends against his strongest challenger of the first half of the decade, Kerry Von Erich. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich August 15, 1982 Wrestling Star Wars Dallas, TX 2 Out Of Three Falls The below review is from my third viewing of one of my favorite matches of all times. It focuses mainly on the layout and Flair's performance and I agree with everything I wrote. However, on this viewing, I intentionally focused on the Modern Day Warrior. The common knock on men like Von Erich and Luger is that they are broomsticks that are plugged into the Flair formula and out pops a classic. It can't be further from the truth. I can understand you can be distracted by the glistening He-Man physique and that horseface, but if you watch as intently as Kerry laid one on that young girl at ringside then you will see Kerry was a phenomenal seller. Early on, Flair does his usual bridge escape out of a headscissors and watch Kerry's face, he flinches in pain. Or when he has a headscissors on Flair, he conveys the internal struggle not to ball up his fist and punch Flair to the audience. During the match, Flair is always struggling looking for an opening with short knees or chops and Kerry is great selling the immediate pain. He gives Flair these brief openings, but always fires back up. In the second fall, Kerry is just excelling at writhing in pain from Flair's leg work and really expressing how close he is to giving up. Now, Flair is no slouch as he is tremendous in his verbal selling especially when Kerry reverses the pressure. This entire match is a master class in selling by both men. Each man really is thinking shoot while they are working. They respond to each other and moments in the match in a real sporting manner. Each time, I discover new spots and elements that make it a better match. Such as during the abdominal stretch, Von Erich makes a point to exaggerate his gesture that he is looking to put on the Claw, which really whips the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd was nuclear for Kerry from the get-go and totally rabid at the prospect of him dethroning Ric Flair especially after defeating previous Champion Harley Race in a de facto No. 1 Contender’s match just months previous to this. Flair, as usual, is a cardio freak, but my favorite moment is how he slowly ramps up his heelishness. At first testing his strength and clearly being bested, he resorts to hair pulling to win an over the top wristlock. Another thing, I love is that when Kerry has Flair in a head scissors in the beginning, they do not just lie on the mat. Flair is very broadly attempting to escape the hold, but cant. This does two things, it puts over Kerry’s strength and most importantly, keeps the audience engaged. Flair does a lot of things really well, but he is exceptional at keeping the audience engaged even during perfunctory matwork. The beginning is all about putting over Kerry’s strength. This is accomplished by holding multiple head-scissors, winning over the top wristlocks and a visually impressive arm wrench that Flair bumps wells, which the crowd pops loudly for. Flair gets some offense in the corner, which is Flair’s domain. Besides Vader, I do not think there is a wrestler that is better in the corner than Flair. Flair takes over with a knee-lift and begins taking shortcuts like the aforementioned hair pull. Off a missed elbow, they do a well-executed tussle for the ab stretch I brought up earlier. I love how they made each other work for it with Kerry ultimately winning. An eye-rake (Flair shortcuts) breaks it up, but Kerry hits two pretty impressive dropkicks. Flair’s next shortcut is to hold the rope down as Kerry crashes to the floor, which leads to Flair’s big flurry of offensive: dropping Kerry across the top rope, knee drop and piledriver. Kerry catches Flair with back body drop, but Flair blocks the corner. Flair pushes the ref, but as Kerry winds up for the discus punch he catches the ref in the head. Kerry puts on the sleeper, BUT THERE IS NO REF, here he comes and now the bell is ringing. KERRY WINS THE FIRST FALL!!! Right!?!?! Right!?!?!? The original referee disqualifies Kerry for the punch much to the dismay of the crowd and to relief of a visually exhausted and desperate Flair. I liked the finish to the first fall even if it was a clusterfuck because Kerry was clearly put over as more dominant than Flair. Flair’s escape with a DQ finish in the first fall allows for Kerry to once again be perceived as the underdog as he has the unenviable task to win two straight falls against The Man. Another great element is that all of Flair’s control segments were initiated by shortcuts thus always making Kerry look better in comparison. The second fall rules all and by itself would probably be one of my favorite matches of all time. Flair is still coughing from the sleeper hold and begs off immediately. Kerry and the crowd smell blood. Kerry slaps on the sleeper, but Flair makes use of the Bret leverage move to send Kerry crashing to the floor. Flair capitalizes this by wrenching Kerry’s leg across the apron. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair is absolutely crazed during this control segment as he clearly a desperate champ doing anything to take down the physically superior Kerry Von Erich. Flair hits the shinbreaker to a physically diminished Von Erich side-headlock. After Flair works over the leg, it is time for the Figure-4 Leglock whipping the crowd into frenzy. Just minutes ago, they thought their hero had the first fall in the bag and now it looks he is about to lose two straight falls. WAIT!!! Kerry had reversed the pressure and now Flair scrambles for the ropes. Flair tries to go back to the knee, but Keryr blocks with the vaunted Von Erich Claw. Flair blades like a champ off the claw and eventually is pinned. Flair’s control segment was fuckin awesome and Kerry sold his knee like champ. Then when it came to the hit finish everyone erupted when the claw was slapped on just when it seemed like Flair had this one in the bag. Flair is drenched in sweat and blood and looking for a fight with the universal sign of “Put up your dukes”. A spirited two-minute intense brawl breaks out and the ref loses control of the match. At first, I was disappointed by the finish, but in retrospect it is a really good to put over the intense nature of the match and it would ultimately setup the Huge Christmas Day 1982 Cage match. The basic idea of the Flair formula was executed, which is to make your opponent look like a million bucks and keep the audience engaged. However, Flair was not always a chickenshit heel as he vacillated among begging off, desperation and crazed. There was an urgency to each fall. Kerry felt like he NEEDED to win the first one and came out hot, but was robbed. Kerry NEEDED to win the second one or he lost, but by the same token Flair felt he NEEDED to win based off Kerry’s stellar performance in the first fall. Kerry played his part well and definitely added more than just his Texas star power. He sold well and worked hard to keep up with Flair and sell the importance of the match. I LOVE this match because there is never a dull moment and the match builds perfectly on itself until the wild brawl at the end. Just a little too much bullshit in the first and last fall to go all the way, but damn this is going to be a hard match to beat in World Class. ****3/4

Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 10/04/99 Owen Hart Tribute Match I don't want to take anything a way from the true intention of this match, which was to honor Owen Hart, but in a lot of ways this was WCW saying goodbye to classic pro wrestling. In a couple weeks, Russo would take the helm and nothing on WCW TV ever really resembled wrestling again. Here just a scant few weeks before, WCW put on the most classic wrestling match seen in America probably since Hart/Austin at Survivor Series '96 (I might be omitting something obvious). There was a great build in this match with great counter moves swinging the match in Bret's favor for longer and longer periods of time, before Benoit big one last gasp match. The match really had the feeling on Benoit trying to prove himself to Bret. Bret would hold back and pick his spots to strike. If we ever got a Bret vs Owen match with the dynamics reversed (Bret as the heel, Owen as the face), I think it would have been similarly laid out to this. I loved the different tests of strength early and how they chained around them. Benoit asserts himself, Bret sees an opening and accelerates with the Russian Legsweep. I liked Bret using the Russian Legsweep as go to counterhold as later in the match after Benoit misses an elbow, he hits again overcoming Benoit's struggle. I thought Bret worked the match a little too heelish with the punches to the head, boot choke and working his general heel heat segment. It is not a strike against him more of a weird setting for this type of work. Benoit was great at timing his hope spots and at first they are more frequent and he gets more. You see the nasty spike tombstone. My favorite seqeunce of the match is Bret takes his classic bump into the ropes and sells it by going to the floor and Benoit follows with a wicked dive. But as the mistakes and Bret's offense accrue they become roll-ups and are fewer and farther between. They do so much of the little shit right in this match. Bret wants a superplex, but you should never give your opponent the high ground and initially he pays for it. However, since he is the fresher of the two, Benoit takes too long to capitalize so Bret cuts him off and then gets the superplex. Taking the extra minute to properly set up the superplex enhances the viewing experience greatly. The Hitman thinks he has Benoit primed for the Sharpshooter, but we get a really sweet counter into the Crossface. Benoit is feeling it and rattles off three snap suplexes and signals for the diving headbutt to big boos. It hits, but kick out. The fans right on cue start a Lets Go Bret chant that is really good work by the wrestlers. You knew they wanted to transition to the Bret finish run and the crowd was totally in sync with them. Benoit hesitates because he does not what shot to hit next so Bret capitalizes with a wicked back elbow and then a piledriver, but he is too close to the ropes. Benoit fights back with the chops and looks for the Rolling Germans. Benoit wants to bring him down into the Crossface, but Bret is able to wrangle Benoit's legs into Sharpshooter. Watching the Kansas City slowly realize that Bret is applying the Sharpshooter is a cool sight. People slowly are rising to their feet inquisitive, there is a rising noise and then when he turns him over a great pop. There were points of this that were a little dry or mechanical, but overall they put together a strong meat and potatoes match with Benoit peppering in some great hope spots and Bret timing his hope spots immaculately. The finish run built to a perfect climax. Really strong stuff and one last great match for Bret Hart. ****1/2

This is fucking awesome! Huge ups to you as I really need to relive 00s. How did you cull this list together? Personal preference? A general consensus from other boards?

More WCW cruiserweight goodness: This blog looks at the short-lived 1998 resurgence in the cruiserweight division with fresh faces of Juvy Juice and Billy Kidman. Juvytud is one of the best offensive wrestlers of the late 90s and it is a shame he did not get a push the size of Rey Rey. Kidman was actually a really smart counter-wrestler and was much better than I remembered. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-juice-runs-nitro-juventud-guerrera.html The following blog looks at the tres bitchin Rey vs Malenko 1996 series that featured two WCW MOTYCs and also the badass Mysterio/Psychosis, which I thought was their best match outside of Mexico. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-mysterious-king-rey-misterio-jr-dean.html

Akiyama did win in July to win the title from Misawa so I don't think that was horrible. What I don't understand is why if they were going to use Takayama in gaijin heel transitional role why have the Ogawa reign. Yes, Rat Boy is awesome but I think the reign did more harm than good.

See, Charles, I disagree with you because I feel like the presentation was to make Benoit a star. Tony and Bobby were talking him up. He got two visual falls on Sting before Luger came in and ragtagged him with that bat. Benoit felt like a pretty big deal in this match to me. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 9/20/99 Sting doing a kneelift cutoff was more surreal than seeing Sting in a WWE ring. After years upon years of Sting getting cutoff by heels, it was just so strange for him to finally do the kneelift. Then I was just as discombobulated when Sting's kneelift was reversed into a cradle, it was just so wrong. Overall, I loved this match, it felt super dramatic and Sting just has a huge presence in this match. The weird part of this match was that Sting worked the early portion as a babyface. He would hit these big spots and Benoit would have to bail on the outside to catch his breath. They were working this like a Clash of the Titans match for a Mania or a Dome it was really neat. Sting looked great in this match everything had purpose and an energy to it. The crowd reaction was definitely mixed for the Woos. It almost feels like they are doing an interesting evolution of the Sting character. Yes he did something rotten at Fall Brawl, but that is not going to change who he is in the ring, but it changes the crowd response. That would be some high-end booking if that was the plan. Benoit picks an ankle starts to go to work on the legs of the Stinger. Benoit gets in a nice bridging Deathlock, but he goes for the dropkick on the Tree of Woe one too many times and Stiing posts Benoit. AT this point, Sting does his mid-match turn and starts breaking down Benoit with really well-timed elbows and chinlocks. Benoit is just great at the chippy, upper midcarder with thee short bursts of energy, but Sting always has a cutoff. Sting hits a huge front suplex. They are building great drama on every nearfall. I am really blown away how food this is right now. The commentary is really putting over Benoit. Sting goes for out of control top rope splash and eats knees. Sting tries to recover quickly, but ends up eating turnbuckle on the Stinger Splash. Benoit signals for the heatbutt and he hits it! WOAH! 1-2-NO! Double hot sequence right there! Benoit pours it on with rolling snap suplexes and now the Crossface, but too close to the ropes. Sting is disoriented and desperate shoves Benoit into the ref. Benoit looks powerbomb, but goes piledriver WOW! Count to 1000, but there is no ref and the crowd is counting along for Benoit. Benoit now with rolling Germans and again gets the visual fall, but Luge comes comes in and cracks a bat across his exposed abdominals. Benoit sells this like a champ and Sting retains. Here comes Flair who looks great throwing punches in the corner. DDP here to help heels as Hogan clears the ring. Tony hypes Hogan/Hart/Flair vs Sting/Luger/DDP. You know, as a WCW mark, I would have loved to see where this was going without Russo's interference. It may not be the most inspired or unique booking, but definitely piqued my interest. I really liked this match and thought both Sting and Benoit looked king-size in this. Sting looked great as King of the Hill, which he has shown flashes of in his career, but this is unique as he is a heel in this match and he plays the finish so well. This was the perfect match for Benoit to be having at this point of his career taking a heel champion to the limit and within a year finally climbing that mountain if this was a normal company. Really strong TV match. ****

Definitely check out the Morishima/Sasaki title switch. It is Morishima's best match of the 00s in my estimation. It is probably Sasaki best individual performance of his career. He makes Morishima look huge in ways that no one else had. Which brings me to my next point, we can talk booking all we want, but at the end of the day he has to deliver in the ring. Morishima was an uneven performer especially at projecting size. Sometimes you think KENTA or Marufuji were the same size from a match layout. He would also go through the motions for large portions of the match. What I mean is he knew during this part of the match he should Suplex the shit out of someone, but it was translating emotionally. Finally the long NOAH epic match style did him no favors. Working at a brisk 10-15 minutes would have shaken up the stale NOAH style and played to Morishima's strength of quick bursts of energy. All above statements should be qualified with fact I have never seen his ROH work.