Superstar Sleeze

NWA United National Champion Antonio Inoki vs Dick Murdoch - JWA 12/4/71 Two Out Of Three Falls After the Five Star Classic between Inoki & Jack Brisco on August 5th, I was salivating at the prospect of this match (ok, it has been two years since I watched Inoki/Brisco, work with me here). I am a big Dicky Murdoch mark and Inoki is someone I usually enjoy. I thought was very good, but did not quite hit the spot, but it was definitely solid and worth a watch. First Fall: Symmetry to start with leg dives and a handshake. Inoki gets an armbar, but Murdoch fireman carries out. Murdoch gets an armdrag out of a collar & elbow, but over-rotates into a headscissors. They work that for a while. Murdoch works hard to escape. He goes into a rope running spot and eats an armdrag. This leads to the story of the first half of the first fall. Murdoch starts to rush and pay for it. It is interesting in the 70s that the wrestler supplying the energy tends to be the one that comes out on the losing end. Murdoch is creating the motion, but in his impatience ends up eating the armdrag or ending up in the hold. This is far more realistic. I see this style along with the Flair style as a way for the "heel" to show he is overwhelmed, anxious at the prospect of losing and impatient. They start trying to use motion to create chaos and find an opening. They end up on the losing end. We see Murdoch ball up his fist in a top wristlock. Then he uses the trunks to shove Inoki off into the ropes. He is using more short cuts, his frustration and/or anxiety is rising. Inoki blows a headscissors takedown, but they cover for it organically and he hits minutes afterwards which is a much smarter way to cover a blown spot. I didn't love the transition to Murdoch's heat segment as I love big, epic transitions, but that is my personal, subjective tastes. Murdoch just kneelifts Inoki. I cant say I love Murdoch's reliance on the nervehold, but I did like how much he choked. I think it was the home stretch that Inoki did get the headscissors, which was a better place for the spot anyways. He nails a very nice uppercut dropkick. He misses the second time and on that crash & burn, Murdoch pounces and scoops him up into a Brainbuster (more like a vertical suplex). My favorite fall of the match. I really liked the beginning story and how they worked holds. Murdoch's heat segment was not as clinical in its proficiency & efficiency as I have seen in the past. I thought the finish run was big time. Murdoch 1-0. With New Japan ready to start in 3 months, I think Murdoch has a distinct shot of winning here, that I otherwise would not have. Second Fall: Per usual, the shortest fall of the three. We get some big bombs. Murdoch atomic drop & backbreaker. Inoki gets his big Abdominal Stretch. Murdoch hiptoses him over the top rope and they both go tumbling ass over tea kettle to the floor. Inoki bulldogs his head into the post was for the countout victory. Solid little bridge. Tied 1-1. Third Fall: Inoki is FIRED UP! Rips into Murdoch throws him face-first hard into the buckles and canvas. He quite literally knocks the snot out of him. We see that cool Murdoch sell of eating canvas. I liked Murdoch getting his elbows up on the lateral press dive. Murdoch goes back to choking. MURDOCH BRAINBUSTER 1-2-NO! Murdoch hooks him up again, but Inoki reverses into his own BRAINBUSTER FOR THREE! Is it 1971 or 2021? The whole big finish of the first fall not working in the third fall and then the finish steal left a bad taste in my mouth. I am more annoyed with the former. The first fall is worth it alone and the rest of matches has plenty of big bomb eye-candy to keep one engaged. ***3/4

Giant Baba vs Abdullah The Butcher - JWA 5/19/71 World League Final Abby looks positively svelte compared to the tub of goo that I saw in 1984. I always expect him to be taller. He is very mobile here too. This the penultimate World League as next year would be the final year of the World League as 1972 is when the split between All Japan and New Japan. I am always impressed how they could make Baba who is quite literally a Giant so sympathetic. They do it here with all the dastardly cheating from Abdullah. He starts with a throat thrusts and some headbutts. He forces Baba out of the ring and bounces him off the announce table. I thought it was Baba, who unleashed War Cry on his comeback, but I think it was a well-timed fan. Baba's chops and energy looked awesome here. He really gave Abdullah his receipt including bouncing his head off the table as payback. Abdullah reaches down into the tights; I was thinking it was the fork, but he may have not innovated yet. It looks like a hard piece of cylindrical plastic. He jabs and prods into Baba's head drawing blood. I love that Abby hides it under his armpit at one point. Baba is still about eye level even on one knee. Baba unleashes a FEROCIOUS chop on one knee. Terrific. He rips into Abby and bulldogs his head into the ringpost, which may have drawn blood hard to tell. Baba goes for the finish, big chop and then the big boot but only for two. Whips him in dropkick another two. Is it 1971 or 2021? Lol. Abby mount a comeback with headbutts, but misses a running elbow to eat the fall. The match was sub-ten minutes, but it was energetic. It could have built to more heat. I liked Baba's performance a lot especially when he was fighting off one knee. Abby was more mobile but still reliant on the foreign object. I would liked to seen him get more vicious. It really built to something. This is just plain solid, fundamental babyface vs heel brawling. Can never go wrong with that. ***1/4

The penultimate episode of the Top 25 Best of Japan 2000s with @dawho5 we break into Top Ten, #10-#6 of our lists on the Pro Wrestling Love! Lots of variety here, NOAH, New Japan, BattlArt and even MUGA! We start getting into the matches I think are ***** classics! I am really happy how my break down of the Tanahashi formula came out so take a listen. I really have grown to love Tanahashi and I came to play here. Mike gives plenty of love for early 2000s New Japan including an Inokiism classic, Hashimoto & Iizuka vs Ogawa & Murakami in an all-out fracas at the Dome. Plus lots of love for Kenta Kobashi! Check it out here and let us know what you think! https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-h5t24-fd5d6c

Couple things I want to respond to: 1. Elliot "Cornette was adding a lot to those Midnight Express matches that got Bobby Eaton such a high ranking in 2016". This smacks me as bizarre. Bobby Eaton is voted on for being tremendously fun heel in babyface shine doing a bump 'n' run style with lots of stooging and clowning spots and for being a terrific offensive dynamo during heat segments where he executed with conviction whilst ensuring drama built to the hot tag. Are we not judging Bobby Eaton's individual performance in each match? I was proudly the high voter on "Sweet" Stan Lane at #64 (see my avatar) but I had Bobby Eaton in my top 30. I clearly valued certain things Eaton did more such as I prefer his Sweet Home Alabama Right Hand to Sweet Stan's white man karate. At least for me, Eaton made my list on his own merits that was immaterial to what Cornette did or did not do. That being said I do not underestimate their chemistry. Bobby knew when during the shine to crawl on his knees over to his corner or when to hug Cornette for maximum effect. To use a Matt D term Cornette is a "tool". Of course, I dont mean an idiot, but a living prop. I dont think Eaton makes the list simply because he was part of great matches. It is what he did in those matches to make them great. 2. A couple people coming on here making some bold ass claims that they prefer great pro wrestling with shitty builds to awesome promos/builds with shitty matches. If that was the case, everyone would be huge AJ Styles fans and huge Sheamus fans and yet here we are and nobody wants to watch TNA or recent WWE! :p I do believe you, El-P because you are a champion and a glutton for punishment. Grimmas I am sure you are telling the truth too. I just dont think that really extends to most people. I say this because I had relatively recent revelation about myself: I am a fan of pro wrestling matches, but I am not sure I am a fan of pro wrestling anymore. I totally was at one point and I dont know when it happened, but it did. That's why I watch RAW & Smackdown week in & week out and am generally a positive viewer. The WWE still puts on great matches even if their storytelling is either non-existent or piss-poor. I think the average WWE match is still better than the average AEW match. When I get into Twitter arguments, no one actually argues on the merits of the in-ring work, they argue on booking/promos/character & plot development. I do believe AEW has WWE beaten in spades on booking/promos/character & plot development. I think you can incorporate the out of ring aspects of people into their matches through crowd heat & in-ring charisma. A crowd will be hotter if the booking/promos are hotter in the lead-up. Watch Cena vs Punk before Money In The Bank 2011 compared to at Money In The Bank 2011. Punk and Cena should be credited for creating a bona fide hot program that translated into a hot match even though I do think that particular match is a tad bit overrated. My point is that we should not delude ourselves into thinking that we just love pro wrestling matches, other things do influence us. I will say this I think a very important aspect of watching matches is to understand a wrestler's character. In America, the character is a combination of promos/in-ring. What is sad in post-2001 America is that those two things dont always align. I think it is just as equally as important in Japan. Certain characters are apparent the minute you watch them Choshu, Fujiwara, Kobashi and Hashimoto. They exude charisma out of every pore. Once you have seen them once, you feel like you have known them your whole life. Fujiwara is a great example for me. Never watched a Fujiwara match before 2016. I watched one and I was hooked. I'll give you the opposite examples Misawa and Fujinami. Misawa I totally get now. At first, it is non-obvious who is Misawa? As you watch more, you understand he is Michael Jordan. When the chips are down, you know he is going to pull through and his extended comeback is the stuff of legend. I will use Fujinami in a different context. I still dont know who Fujinami is. That is one of my key goals is to understand Fujinami. I think that's the point of this project. You should be able to explain Who a wrestler is at the end of the project and make a case based on those merits. I have officiated two weddings for my friends and I always include this line that I heard in Mass one day "Dont love someone for what they do for you, love them for who they are.". I think that sums up GWE to me. It is not about what moves you do, if you have great matches, or any actions. It is about who you are and comparing based on that. EDIT: Was re-reading my post as I am notorious for missing small words when I type (I dont know how you all read my long-ass reviews with all those missing words and never call me out. You are all saints and thank you for that) and I realized an incongruity. I based my rationale on why Bobby Eaton is better than Stan Lane on something he did better (an action not a trait). I think what separates the top tier my list from the bottom is definable character. I dont think I really know who Stan Lane is. I enjoy the Fabulous Ones and Midnight Express. But who is Stan Lane? How can I vote for him at #64? I would say this and some way think this is a cop-out, but honestly, most pro wrestlers suffer from either amorphous or non-existent characters and that's why the bottom half or more would be filled with people I enjoy watching or think are really great at individual facets of wrestling instead of the whole thing. I think the very best will have well-defined characters. I think someone like a Bobby Eaton will finish about as high as you can without having a strong character because he is so good at the how, when and why of pro wrestling. I am still thinking this all through. Sorry for rambling.

October-November 1983 (7 Episodes)...Watched these last night. The last thing I ever watched on the Network was Paul Jones & Assassins cutting a promo on Dory Funk Jr. What a run we had! I will miss The Network. Babyfaces *Heels Ric Flair & Wahoo McDaniel Roddy Piper Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Charlie Brown From Outta Town Rufus R. Jones & Bugsy McGraw Angelo Mosca Mark Youngblood Dick Slater &Bob Orton Greg Valentine Jack & Jerry Brisco Great Kabuki w/Gary Hart Assassins w/Paul Jones Sullivan & Lewin w/Gary Hart *Harley Race Travelling World Champion October 8, 1983 Greensboro: Singles Match Rufus R. Jones defeats Dory Funk Jr. Tag Team Match Bugsy McGraw & Mark Youngblood defeat The Assassins (Assassin #1 & Assassin #2) Tag Team Match Charlie Brown & Roddy Piper defeat Baron von Raschke & Gary Hart Tag Team Match Bob Orton Jr. & Dick Slater vs. Ric Flair & Wahoo McDaniel - Double DQ October 16th Six Man Tag Team Match Bugsy McGraw, Dory Funk Jr. & Mark Youngblood defeat Paul Jones & The Assassins (Assassin #1 & Assassin #2) Singles Match Wahoo McDaniel defeats Dick Slater by DQ Singles Match Ric Flair defeats Bob Orton Jr. Starrcade 1983: Tag Team Match The Assassins (Assassin #1 & Assassin #2) (w/Paul Jones) defeat Bugsy McGraw & Rufus R. Jones (8:12) Tag Team Match Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin (w/Gary Hart) defeat Johnny Weaver & Scott McGhee (6:42) Singles Match Abdullah The Butcher defeats Carlos Colon (4:29) Tag Team Match Bob Orton Jr. & Dick Slater defeat Mark Youngblood & Wahoo McDaniel (14:46) NWA Television Title Vs. Mask Match Charlie Brown defeats The Great Kabuki (w/Gary Hart) (c) (10:35) - TITLE CHANGE !!! Dog Collar Match Roddy Piper defeats Greg Valentine (16:08) NWA World Tag Team Title Match (Special Referee: Angelo Mosca) Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat defeat The Brisco Brothers (Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco) (c) (12:59) - TITLE CHANGE !!! NWA World Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match (Special Referee: Gene Kiniski) Ric Flair defeats Harley Race (c) (23:49) - TITLE CHANGE !!! 1. Starrcade 1983 - When you watch week to week TV before Starrcade and then watch the build to Starrcade 1983. It is night and day. I had never seen such a singular purpose in their TV. Everything from the first week of October to the event was completely geared towards Starrcade. Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont think there was a show like this before. Every single match on the card (except Abby/Colon) had build from the TV. This was the birth of modern day pro wrestling TV with its singular focus on Starrcade. You could tell from the outset they planned on making this an annual tradition and were getting fans to think of it that way so that Starrcade could start to sell itself in the future. It is pretty amazing that Dusty & Crockett beat Vince to the punch in doing this style of booking. At one point, Dusty explains where the name comes from. We dont live in deCADES we live in a starrCADE. LOL! Only to the Dream would that make sense! They put as much effort into building Starrcade up as a brand as they do the show. That is genius! They have all the promoters bid on the Flair vs Race dream rematch and then Crockett names it Starrcade. Just like today cities actually bid on WrestleMania. They hype the specific date and location. Then each week they add a match to the card. Up until this point, you generally knew who was feuding, but you didnt know if it would be a tag team match in Greensboro and the blowoff in Charlotte, or vice versa, what permutation you would get in Norfolk or Greenville. This was the first time they really spelled who was going to face who and that this would be the blowoff to a lot of angles. I guess people say Final Conflict was the inspiration for Starrcade. Unfortunately, I didnt get to watch January/February 1983. I did watch March 1983. At least the night of the Final Conflict, there was not even a peep about Steamboat/Youngblood vs Sarge/Kernodle or any other matches. I am not saying Final Conflict was not absurdly successful. It was. The promotional level for Starrcade for on a whole another planet. 2. Dory Funk Jr turns on Paul Jones. Dory was the only big name not to appear on Starrcade 1983 and what makes it weirder is that he sticks around throughout 1984 so I am surprised him & Rufus did not take on the Assassins. Jake The Snake has left the territory poor timing, bud. Paul Jones has taken on the Assassins Rufus had beaten Dory for the Mid-Atlantic Championship which was part of the reason for the split. Rufus & Assassin I had a tremendous headbutting contest. Basically they took turns headbutting each other and the loser was the person that took a bump. Great weeble wobble selling and of course Assassin loads the mask up for the win. 3. Gary Hart continues to have his troubles with Charlie Brown from Outta Town. I love how he says Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown From Outta Town I love that name so much. He ends up wrestling the Great Kabuki at Starrcade in a title vs mask match even though Kabuki never appears on TV. Gary Hart hypes up Baron Von Raschke who appears on some house shows but never on TV. Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin do appear in TV. Mark Lewin is fucking stacked, brutha. Holy shit. Gary Hart and Kevin Sullivan are like oil & water. I sensed some legit heat there in the promos. Sullivan & Lewin spiked Angelo Mosca Jr in Florida and for some reason they took this feud on the road to the Carolinas. They showed the spiking footage and they were cutting promos against each other. 4. Briscos vs Steamboat & Youngblood was pretty boilerplate. They swapped the titles in October with Briscos going into Starrcade as the Champions. Jerry Brisco is a very entertaining promo. I cant put my finger on it. I loved him as a stooge Mr. MacMahon. I think it is the accent and that he talks on the slower side and he seems so mischievous. The Briscos say they are scheduled to defend the World Tag Team Belts against the High Flyers in KC on the night of Starrcade so sorry everyone, but no can do. Crockett bought out their contract and signs the match! 5. Piper vs Valentine - there was a pretty good Piper & Wahoo vs Valentine & Slater TV match that ended with the heels powdering for a countout loss. Wahoo wants Indian Strap matches and Piper wants the Dog Collar. Piper hands Bob Caudle a gift to give Valentine. Caudle is in his element with his "Aww shucks, Roddy is on the up & up" and the way he withstands the Hammer's grilling. I fucking love Bob Caudle. The present is of course a dog collar. Valentine has a glorious conniption fit. The drama is all about whether they can make it a dog collar match and Crockett makes it so for Starrcade but only because it is FUCKING STARRCADE! I love it. 6. We end on the Man. The false retirement speech was fine. Lets get to best thing I watched in all these episodes I saw, FUCKING UNHINGED, BAT-WIELDING, MANIAC, LUNATIC RIC FLAIR TRYING TO CAVE IN SLATER'S AND ORTON'S SKULLS! Flair's promo the first and second weeks of October is some of the best shit he has ever done. He was a VENGEFUL PSYCHOPATH and it was glorious. When they show the clip of Bob Orton holding David Flair promising to protect his Daddy from any harm from the bounty was awesome! Then Bob Orton saying he would have dumped the kid on his head too if it meant $25,000. HOLY SHIT! Honestly, I was way more excited at the prospect of Bob Orton vs Ric Flair than I was Harley Race. Race was a mediocre at best promo. Orton was a damn good promo and with the heat from the turn. If Flair was not a travelling world champion, December/January should have been nothing but title defenses against Orton. I got to see if we have any film of Flair vs Orton that shit would be good even if there was no angle attached. Flair delivered two of his best promos of all time. Orton damn good promo. I want to learn more about Slater. He definitely didnt wow me on the stick. Since it was Slater & Orton, Wahoo stepped up and tagged with Flair which was a good pairing. Wahoo is a pretty shitty promo. He never seems to know what to say and really just looks confused. The one other thing to catch is the Flair exhibition/workout against Scott McGhee, Dory Funk Jr and Angelo Mosca! There is some really, really good shit here. Flair/McGhee go on the mat and it looks fantastic. Dory works some rope-running/workrate spots that are awesome and there was one really unique spot someone should crib...Flair shouldertackled through a reverse elbow, great bump & sell by Dory. Looked like a million bucks. Then even the Angelo Mosca segment had a cool spot. Mosca hooks up for a suplex, but Flair not only blocks but sweeps the leg for a back heel trip right into the Figure-4! Lots of really good shit packed in there. Highly recommended! Ric Flair is The Man!

September 1983 - Watched this a couple days ago, but didnt have time to write it up. Only two real angles but they are doozies! Babyfaces *Heels Ric Flair Roddy Piper Wahoo McDaniel Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Rufus R. Jones Charlie Brown From Outta Town Bugsy McGraw Mark Youngblood Dick Slater Greg Valentine (-Maybe-House of Hump) Bob Orton Jack & Jerry Brisco Dory Funk Jr. & Jake The Snake w/Paul Jones Great Kabuki w/Gary Hart Assassins *Harley Race Travelling World Champion September 18th Greensboro: Tag Team Match Bugsy McGraw & Charlie Brown defeat Dick Slater & The Great Kabuki Lumberjack Match Wahoo McDaniel defeats Greg Valentine NWA World Tag Team Title Match Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat defeat The Brisco Brothers (Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco) (c) by DQ 1. Ric Flair bounty angle. Harley put a $25,000 bounty on the head of the Nature Boy. They have the best Flair vs Harley match I have seen to this day on 8/31/83 only for Dicky Slater and that traitor Bob Orton to collect the bounty with a spike piledriver and neck crank. They devote an entire episode of TV to the match and the angle. I love how they get everyone's reactions after. Jimmy Crockett is fuming. He only fines them $5000. So they still have $20000. I love that Bob Orton's response to all this is that Flair now knows he is only worth $5000 to the Crocketts. Orton is great in these heel promos. Honestly, I feel like Slater & Orton have way more heat on them and they should be the Tag Champions going into Starrcade. They were crushing it as promos especially Bob Orton. 2. Charlie Brown From Outta Town maybe my favorite wrestling name of all time! The gist is as I understand him and Kabuki were feuding over the TV title in a Loser Leaves Town match. Gary Hart & The Briscos pulled some shenanigans with the tape that would have exposed a Kabuki loss but instead Valiant lost. Here comes Charlie Brown From Outta Town! This is the one angle I disagree with all wrestling fans about. These angles are so much fun! It is painfully obvious that is Valiant but that is the fucking point! You want to see the heels get frustrated and lose their cool. You point and laugh at the heels and you cheer their your hero who was wronged is still able to compete. It is pro fucking wrestling. Sometimes I think wrestling fans are just literal cranks.

August 1982 (3 episode) - Massive Month of Transition - Highly recommend checking this out as there a lot of major shift. Piper turns babyface! Wahoo/Sarge is Blown Off! Humperdink leadsthe heel side! Paul Jones turns heel! Flair vs Brisco on TV! All this and much, much more! Babyfaces *Heels Wahoo McDaniel Jack Brisco Jimmy Valiant Ricky Steamboat Roddy Piper Jay Youngblood Sgt. Slaughter Paul Jones Ivan Koloff/Jos LeDuc (House of Hump) Leroy Brown (House of Hump) Greg Valentine The Privates *Ric Flair Travelling World Champion August 7th Greensboro, NC: Tag Team Match Angelo Mosca & Gene Anderson defeat Jay Youngblood & Johnny Weaver Singles Match Ricky Steamboat defeats Leroy Brown by DQ NWA Television Title New York Street Fight Jimmy Valiant (c) defeats Ivan Koloff by DQ NWA World Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match Wahoo McDaniel defeats Ric Flair (c) by DQ [2:1] - McDaniel besiegt Flair (14:00) - Flair besiegt McDaniel (26:00) - Flair wird disqualifizert August 21st Greensboro: Six Man Tag Team Match Jerry Brisco, Mike Rotunda & Roddy Piper defeat Paul Jones, Ric Flair & Sir Oliver Humperdink Siberian Glove Match Jimmy Valiant defeats Ivan Koloff Non Title Lumberjack Match Wahoo McDaniel defeats Sgt. Slaughter 1. Lots of blowoffs in the first week of August. Jack Brisco defeats Piper for the Mid-Atlantic Championship and Valiant wins the TV Title from Ivan Koloff 2. Piper rips up a contract from Humperdink after Hump says he wouldnt lost if Hump was in his corner. Piper starts teaming with Valiant and Steamboat. I didnt know I needed "Boogie Woogie" Jimmy Valiant and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as a tag team in my life, but I am sure better having born witness to it! Their promo after was sheer madness. Piper did have a good line "Leroy Brown, gets himself a earring, very becoming, becoming an idiot." I popped for that. We missed the August 14th episode but it wasnt the hottest angle ever, but Piper was ready to be babyface. Babyface side is stacked. Slaughter/Valentine are more than enough to keep the scales even. 3. There was another turn this month as Paul Jones jumped Jack Brisco at the behest of Hump and will win the Mid-Atlantic Championship the first week of September. Mike Rotundo chocks it up to all the self-improvement books Paul Jones had been reading. Popped me huge! Never did trust those books. 4. Sarge vs Wahoo was blown off in August. Sarge tore up the headdress and wants to "scalp" Wahoo in a Title vs Hair match. That's a big money stipulation they run it in Charlotte on August 22nd and Sarge drops the title and get suspended for 30 days for cutting chunks off of Wahoo's hair anyways. Sarge would be cycled into the tag division for the remainder of his run. While, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (member of the House of Hump) would take up is mantle and feud & win the US Title from Wahoo. 5. Jos LeDuc has debuted and he is fast becoming a favorite of mine. He is taking the Ivan Koloff role and will be feuding with the "Boogie Boogie Man" (LeDuc's words not mine). 6. Last but not least, the angle of the month was Ric Flair vs Jack Brisco! What a month Flair had in August of '82, the awesome Memphis angle with Jerry Lawler (he busts out Country Jive in both angles), the insanely awesome match with Kerry Von Erich and then this one. This made a Flair WWE DVD set so I have seen it before, but had never seen the angle. Flair is hootin' hollerin' about beating up Wahoo and he will never face him again and that Jimmy Crockett cant do anything about it. Flair is supposed to wrestle a jobber but says it aint happenin'. Wahoo/Steamboat come out and he says he will wrestle the guy in the ring, but the jobber has been replaced by Jack Brisco! Awesome! I have seen the match before and it is good stuff!

July 1982 (5 episodes) Excited for this month to see the red hot Piper & Brisco angle: Babyfaces *Heels Wahoo McDaniel Jack & Jerry Brisco Jimmy Valiant Ricky Steamboat Jay Youngblood Jake The Snake Roberts & Paul Jones Sgt. Slaughter Roddy Piper & Don Muraco Ivan Koloff (House of Hump) Leroy Brown (House of Hump The Great Kabuki/Ninja (House of Hump The Privates *Ric Flair Travelling World Champion July 3rd Greensboro: Tag Team Match Jake Roberts & Paul Jones defeat Gene Anderson & The Ninja NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title Match Jack Brisco (c) defeats Roddy Piper Non Title Steel Cage Match Ivan Koloff defeats Jimmy Valiant NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Ric Flair (c) defeats Wahoo McDaniel by DQ July 17th Greensboro: Singles Match Paul Jones defeats Angelo Mosca NWA United States Heavyweight Title Match Sgt. Slaughter (c) defeats Wahoo McDaniel by DQ Tag Team Match The Brisco Brothers (Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco) defeat Don Muraco & Roddy Piper 1. I detailed the Piper/Brisco angle in the Piper vs Brisco match thread, July 10, 1982. They started building to Piper/Muraco vs Brisco Brothers, with a returning Jerry after he was put out of action by Piper. Almost no Piper promos after July 17th. They said he was in Hawaii spending Brisco/Wahoo/Steamboat's money. I dont know how Piper is a babyface by September. No signs of a babyface turn yet. On July 31st, they announce the return of the Nature Boy to the territory to be Piper's tag partner against Jack Brisco & Wahoo McDaniel. That's a star-studded lineup! 2. Sarge vs Wahoo is the other big feud in the territory. You see Wahoo got a crack at Ric Flair in Greensboro. It is clear that he, Jack and Steamboat are carrying the babyface side. Sarge had a good match with Iceman Parsons. I loved him tackling Parsons out of the sky on a dropkick attempt and then a Beautiful Slaughter Cannon. They are building to stipulation matches like Indian strap matches. 3. My Boy, Greg Valentine has re-debuted. I watched him beat the piss out of Keith Larsen. Valentine is so damn good. He brings up beating Backlund for the WWF Championship, breaking Wahoo's leg and busting up Flair's nose. He vanishes in the second half of the month, but excited to have him on the show. 4. Humperdink debuts on TV as he was on none of the June episodes. He is managing Ninja and Ivan Koloff. Koloff's promos are quite humorous especially against the Boogey Man. They are going to have a Siberian Salt Miner's Glove on a pole match, there are spikes on the glove. They demonstrate how it can cut through newspaper. The big angle at the end of the month is that "Bad, Bad" Leroy Brown has joined the House of Hump. I like Leroy as a promo. He is going to be paired with Steamboat. 5. Jake The Snake is languishing in a midcard tag team with Paul Jones, time to head for greener pastures for better grazing, Snakeman!

NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco vs "Rowdy" Roddy Piper - NWA-MACW 7/10/82 It is the last day of the Network and I am using it dig into 1982 Mid-Atlantic Championship. Chad sang the praises of this match and I must echo them. This match rocks. Piper had lost his Mid-Atlantic Championship title to Brisco back in May. At some point, Piper injured Jerry Brisco by crashing down off the top rope onto Jerry's leg while he was applying a figure-4. Furthermore, Piper did a similar thing to Jack but landed on his body. The week before this match, Piper had stolen the belt was parading it all around. At the top of this show, Piper said he wouldnt face Brisco, who is the legitimate champion, even though Piper has possession of the physical belt, unless Brisco put up $10k. David Crockett gives Piper the money but there is not enough. The way Piper calls David "Scum" is uncomfortable. He does a great job being pissed. Wahoo & Steamboat bail out Jack by offering up the balance, $4000. The match is terrific. I think I am one of the few people that prefers Piper as a wrestler to his promo work. The dude was the Tasmanian Devil in the ring. He is so scrappy and so organic. I loved all the lock ups. I loved the shine so much and how much as Piper showed. Piper couldnt take Jack over with the abdominal stretch and Piper is pissed. Then Jack takes him down and he is even more pissed. I am a mark for amateur ride sequences and this was a doozy. Some great reversals, Piper gets frustrated and has Jack by the hair, but Jack uses the Bret Hart buck off sequence to send Piper on his ass to the floor. I just loved for Jack was showing him up. Piper was selling the frustration and embarrassment so well. Nice stiff clothesline by Jack. Then Jack works one of the best headlock sequences you will ever see. He really wrenches it and is so tenacious never letting go. Piper sells it so well. Jack climbs the ropes and takes him back over in ferocious fashion. On the second time, Piper right at the apex of the move shifts the weight and drops back with a back suplex. Terrific momentum swing. Piper works his front facelock so well. They trade sleepers down the stretch. In all this chaos and especially at the end, they were trading leather with the best of them. Piper was swinging for the fences with these overhand chops. Great sound. Brisco has a great punch. I love how heated and chippy this felt. The camera work was so tight so they had to work snug. Damn I love that. Finish was great. Jack drops with a punch. Piper has to go into his tights for the roll of coins. Jack drops him again on the apron, but the ref is pushing him back. BANG! Love the visual of the coins scattering across the ring. So everyone knows he cheated and that's the only reason Jack was KO'd. Piper gets the pin and the championship. Piper's post-match promo, on his ass, sweaty, disheveled with the championship was bitchin'. Some of his best work ever. I dont know how on God's Green Earth this dude was a babyface inside of 6 weeks as this was the best damn hot angle I have seen so far on Mid-Atlantic TV and the best one until the Flair bounty angle in 1983, I do believe. Character, angle, promos and a killer match! Yes please! ****

There’s one thing for sure and that’s Parv pops the territory, baby! Welcome back, Brutha, hope it is for an extended run. Not much to add, I always thought all of ‘89 was the Flair-led booking committee but it sounds like that was post-Clash VI up until what Wrestlewar ‘90 and then it is an Ole-led booking committee? A couple questions: 1. Did George Scott intrinsically think the Midnight Express were NOT draws or did he feel that way about all tag teams? 2. Did George Scott influence Vince on not pushing tag teams? Vince Jr had a fuller tag team scene than his father but his father ran the most singles-oriented company in the US of the 70s. Did Vince Jr already feel that way about tag teams and it just so happen his Booker agreed?

A big dose of Pro Wrestling Love coming directly into your ears. Shoutout to @dawho5 for joining me for the third consecutive episode to discuss the middle of our pack, #15-#11 of the Top 25 Best Pro Wrestling Matches to take place in Japan between 2000-2009. The boys use Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada, New Japan vs All Japan dream match as a case study in pro wrestling pride, Kawada as a chameleon, the difference between “how” vs “why” in wrestling and the very famous Kobashi vs Sasaki Dome match that didn’t make either of our lists, but was worthy of discussion. Wikipedia says Hiro Saito invented the Senton, but this seems off to Mike & Marty. So Pro Wrestling Lovers who invented the Senton? Let us know! FUJITA JR HAYATO Makes his Pro Wrestling Love debut in all his reigning glory! Marty tells his story or how he met Stan Hansen. Pro Wrestling Love ends on a high note of the raucous mayhem of Nagata vs Murakami! If you have not seen this match, drop what you are doing and watch it now! Click think, download and enjoy…let us know what you think! We love to hear! https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-s62dm-fd5d67

June 1983 (Three Episode, missing last week of June) *Babyfaces Heels Roddy Piper Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Jos LeDuc Rufus R. Jones Jimmy Valiant & Bugsy McGraw Mike Rotundo Bob Orton Greg Valentine (-Maybe-House of Hump) Jack & Jerry Brisco Dick Slater (House Of Hump) Dory Funk Jr. & Jake The Snake w/Paul Jones Kelly Kiniski & One Man Gang (House Of Hump) Great Kabuki w/Gary Hart *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion Mid-Atlantic didnt run Greensboro in June. Ill use the July 2nd date. Singles Match Dick Slater defeats John Bonello Tag Team Match Jimmy Valiant & Rufus R. Jones defeat Gary Hart & The Great Kabuki Tag Team Match Dory Funk Jr. & Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper & Wahoo McDaniel - No Contest NWA World Tag Team Title Match The Brisco Brothers (Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco) (c) defeat Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Harley Race (c) defeats Ric Flair by DQ 1. Greg Valentine vs Roddy Piper – Awesome Valentine promo gloating about maiming Piper's ear. They show the arena footage clip and it is as gruesome as it is awesome! When you dont think it can get any better, Roddy Piper cuts one of the best babyface promos I have ever heard in my life. There is no guffawing, no bluster. It is 100% sincere. He is worried about never being able to wrestle again. That Valentine, the doctors, the promoters are trying to take away the only thing he loves, the only thing he knows. Total home run. 2. Ric Flair is hyping a World Championship match against Valentine, which I think happens before he does lose the Championship to Harley Race. It looks like Flair is back as a babyface as he we begin the build to Starrcade. On June 18th, they announce the title switch to Harley. 3. Steamboat & Youngblood went to Oklahoma where Youngblood was awarded an Indian headdress. The Briscos, proud Oklahoman Indians themselves, didnt think they earned it so Jerry punks out Youngblood and steals the headdress. It was a good angle, but it kinda cut off the babyfaces balls. The Briscos had been babyfaces for so long I think they had to do this. 4. Good God they have put Kelly Kiniski with One Man Gang. Kelly Kiniski has stopped saying "And Stuff" at the end of each sentence, but he is still the drizzling shits. Why is Humperdink not talking? After trying the Tug of War, they are going to old bodyslam challenge. I loved it with Big John Studd in the WWF. C'mon Zack Galifianakas is definitely McGraw's son, right? This is the midcard shit with Bugsy McGraw and Mike Rotundo. Jos LeDuc is paired with Dicky Slater, but he has been suspended. Bob Orton is not doing much but he is babyface. 3. Paul Jones has a massive portrait of himself. He is asking for all the ladies to write in letters. He is reading the letters out loud. While Rufus R. Jones is reading the letters that Jones has thrown away. There is a lot of time devoted to this. I will say it is all very campy and pretty much anyone can guess what the contents of the respective letters are. I think Rufus stuff isnt that great, but some of the over the top adulation of Paul Jones is pretty funny. I would say more hit than miss. 4. Great Kabuki is TV Champion - not much else of note.

March 1983 (only three episodes missing first week) I watched March & June close together hopefully I dont blend the two months. Looking through the results on Cagematch, Mid-Atlantic ran Newton, Mass, very close to Boston (where Boston College is). That seems really weird. Jerry Brisco and Dory Funk Jr was the main event. March 1983 is the month of the Final Conflict March 12th. Babyfaces *Heels Roddy Piper Jack & Jerry Brisco Jimmy Valiant & Bugsy McGraw Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Mike Rotundo & Sweet Brown Sugar Greg Valentine (-Maybe-House of Hump) Dick Slater (House Of Hump) Dory Funk Jr. & Jake The Snake w/Paul Jones One Man Gang (Def House Of Hump) Great Kabuki w/Gary Hart Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion 1. Greg Valentine vs Roddy Piper – Hot little angle on the same TV airing date as the Final Conflict. Piper does commentary for a Valentine squash (boy did Valentine look good squashing this jabroni). Piper says its easy to be the Greatest US Champion when you never defend it. Valentine takes exception and challenges him to a match on the TV show in the main event, which is obviously a huge TV match. I watched the match and did a review in the matches section. It is quick but explosive. Rubbing Piper's face in concrete from late 1982 is not mentioned. The ear injury angle has not yet happened. 2. Ric Flair vs Masa Fuchi - the one time you want Flair to have a competitive match and he obliterates his opponent. Oh well! 3. Andre The Giant is coming to town and they are programming him with Humperdink's One Man Gang, which makes sense. It seems like Humperdink has the Paul Jones role of feuding with the Boogie Woogie Man who has Bugsy McGraw, who reminds me of Zach Galifianakas in both looks and sensibilities. They do a Tug of War angle that kinda sucks; OMG just lets go of the rope instead of doing the job. I much preferred the Boombox angle. That had emotional weight to it. 4. The Jos LeDuc shit is great! He is apparently been gone for five weeks. I think the Boogie Woogie Man did him in. LeDuc just stiff arms Hump, his ex-manager. "Don't buddy me" and he just keeps shoving him out of the shot. Hump says he lost money due to all of LeDuc's no-shows. Jos basically tells him to fuck off. He is here to kick Valiant's ass and win back HIS TV Title from Dicky Slater (a resident of the House of Hump_ which he never lost. He had a match with Dicky Slater the next week that I want to watch. 5. Paul Jones is bringing in Jake The Snake Roberts and they show a TREMENDOUS angle from Florida. Jake the Snake is poised to win a match against BW with his big Million Dollar Kneelift but cant get the job done inside of the time limit. Jake snaps that he deserved a longer time limit. He has tried for years to be a moral, good solider and work inside the rules but he basically says fuck it. Knee lifts Windham to hell and Barry takes a characteristically awesome bump through a wooden barricade. The angle is enhanced by watching 1981-82 Jake who was this goody two shoes, moralizing idealist who belonged on 7th Heaven not in wrestling. AWESOME ANGLE! Paul Jones is also managing Mid-Atlantic Champion Dory Funk Jr who I like as a squash match worker because I really like takedowns and he has some novel takedowns. Paul Jones mentions that he did a throwing a title belt off a bridge angle reminiscent of Stone Cold/The Rock, which you can read about here...http://wrestlingclassics.com/cgi-bin/.ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=065253 6. Steamboat & Youngblood defeat Sarge & Kernodle at Final Conflict in a Cage and perhaps not so surprisingly to wrestling fans this is NOT the Final Conflict rather they are taking the their steel cage feud on the road and doing the loop which makes sense might as well get every red cent out of Slaughter before he leaves. The Brisco cut a promo that they are looking for the tag belts. Foreshadowing that impending feud. The Final Conflict NWA Television Title Match Roddy Piper defeats Dick Slater (w/Gary Hart) (c) (14:15) :::: Not recommended yet. :::: NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Ric Flair (c) vs. Greg Valentine - Time Limit Draw (60:00) :::: Matchguide Rating: 8.20 based on 14 votes. :::: NWA World Tag Team Title Steel Cage Match (Special Referee: Sandy Scott) Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat defeat Don Kernodle & Sgt. Slaughter (c) (32:43)

NWA US Champion Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs "Rowdy" Roddy Piper - MACW TV 3/12/83 Of course the one time you want Ric Flair to have a competitive match, he goes ahead and obliterates his opponent. Flair vs Masa Fuchi on this episode of Mid-Atlantic TV had me salivating. Why you gotta do me dirty like that? This was good in-ring episode of Mid-Atlantic. Greg Valentine and Dory Funk Jr had really good squashes on this show. After Valentine got finished with his squash, he came out to confront Piper who says "It is easy to be the greatest US Champion when you never defend it". Valentine gets hot and challenges him to a match on this episode of TV in the main event. Back in November of 1982, Valentine & Flair rubbed Piper's face in the cement, but that was not mentioned. It is also unclear if Valentine is still managed by Humperdink. On this show, Humperdink was managing Slater & One Man Gang and was more focused on promoting OMG vs the incoming Andre. This was a really good, hot TV angle match. It is so rough 'n' tumble and in the melee, Piper backdrops Valentine over the top rope. The referee calls for the bell. Gary Hart who is promoting Great Kabuki says the match is over and is insufferable as the match restarts saying this is not fair, but Valentine wanted it. I love how these two are just two rams locked up. It is flesh on flesh, man on man, close-quartered grappling. Nice crazy Thesz Press from Piper. The ref plies Piper off in the ropes and a nice wicked kneelift by Valentine. Loved it. Awesome Atomic Drop! Wicked. Great gutbuster from The Hammer. I love Valentine! I missed him so much. Figure-4...but Piper is blocking...Valentine applies but Piper turns over. He tries again but Piper pushes him off. PIPER KNEELIFT! Bob Caudle says we are going off the air, but Dicky Slater comes out and triggers the DQ. A really fun TV main event that makes you want to tune in next week or go to the matches in your area. ***1/4 '

September 1982 - MAJOR Game Changer Month - Revamped Heel Roster - Sir Oliver Humperdink and the House of Hump are her Babyfaces *Heels Wahoo McDaniel Jack & Gerry Brisco Jimmy Valiant Ricky Steamboat Jay Youngblood Roddy Piper Greg Valentine (House of Hump) Paul Jones (House of Hump) Jos LeDuc (House of Hump) Leroy Brown (House of Hump) Abdullah The Butcher (House of Hump) Sgt. Slaughter (On Suspension) *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion September 18th 1982 Singles Match Ricky Steamboat defeats Leroy Brown :::: Not eligible for the matchguide: unknown match length. Click here to send us the missing information. :::: Tag Team Match Greg Valentine & Paul Jones defeat The Brisco Brothers (Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco) :::: Not eligible for the matchguide: unknown match length. Click here to send us the missing information. :::: Two On One Handicap Match Wahoo McDaniel defeats Abdullah The Butcher & Oliver Humperdink 1. The House of Hump is here, daddy! The Slaughter, Piper & Ole show is no more! Between July and September, Piper has turned babyface as he teamed with Wahoo, but he was not on the last three weeks of TV. Ole is long gone. Slaughter is serving a one month suspension for beating up Wahoo and disgracing his Headdress. Wahoo is the current US Champion. Valentine is the number one heel in the territory and the Ace of the House of Hump. They have brought in Abdullah The Butcher to soften up Wahoo. 2. The first big angle of the month is Paul Jones defeated Jack Brisco on TV for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight belt. The feud between the House of Hump and Wahoo & the Briscos is borderline problematic. Wahoo/Briscos definitely do not hide the fact they are all Indian. So it is natural for heels to go after that. I dont mind a couple heel jabs here and there, they are HEELS. Valentine saying Paul Jones beating an Indian with their own Indian Deathlock would be great. Paul Jones corrects him that the Indian Deathlock was invented by the white man to torture Indians was a little too dark. 3. The other big feud is against the Boogey Woogie Man. Jos LeDuc is carrying the torch for House of Hump on this one, first breaking his cassette player. Then all the babyfaces get together and buy Boogey Woogie a real nice Panasonic Boombox. What happens? LeDuc cracks Valiant with it to win the Television Title and then smashes it over the ring post. Really strong midcard feud! 4. The roster is a little thin even if the House of Hump vs Wahoo/Briscos/Valiant is red hot. So a lot of no-names get promo time. Each was worse than the next. No one was as bad as Kelly "And Stuff" Kiniski.

March 1982! *Babyfaces Heels Ricky Steamboat Jake The Snake Roberts Jack & Gerry Brisco Jimmy Valiant Blackjack Mulligan Jr. Jay Youngblood Ray Stevens Sgt. Slaughter Roddy Piper Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen Ivan Koloff Austin Idol The Great Kabuki/Ninja The Privates *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion March 13th Greensboro: Tag Team Match Jake Roberts & Jerry Brisco defeat Austin Idol & John Studd Singles Match Jack Brisco defeats Roddy Piper by DQ NWA World Tag Team Title Match Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen (c) defeat Dusty Rhodes & Ray Stevens by DQ Non Title Match Ricky Steamboat defeats Sgt. Slaughter NWA World Heavyweight Title Indian Strap Match Ric Flair (c) defeats Wahoo McDaniel March 27th Greensboro: Singles Match Jerry Brisco defeats Steve Sybert Singles Match Blackjack Mulligan Jr. defeats Pvt. Don Kernodle Singles Match Jack Brisco defeats Austin Idol Tag Team Match Jake Roberts & Wahoo McDaniel defeat Pvt. Jim Nelson & Sgt. Slaughter NWA World Tag Team Title Match Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen (c) defeat Dusty Rhodes & Ray Stevens 1. I would say the major angle without a doubt this month is that the Nature Boy is coming home, daddy! Flair was defending his title against Steamboat and after the match Sgt. Slaughter & His Privates jumped Steamboat. Flair came to the rescue, cementing his babyface status. The following two weeks Flair sent in tapes that he wanted a piece of Slaughter, Pipe and Ole. I guess they were running a nationwide angle that Ole was following Flair around the country, Miami & New Orleans and jumping Flair. That first Flair promo was amazing fired up babyface Flair with bandages all over his face and a splint on his pinky. There are some great promos in this territory but Flair is on another level. 2. Other than that, I thought this was a pretty aimless month. They have a fucking stacked territory. Slaughter, Piper and Ole & Hansen are a murder's row for the heels. Steamboat, BW, Jake The Snake are no slouches either. It just felt all the babyfaces are feuding with all the heels. The promos were just generally targeted in catch-all terms. I love the idea of seeing some Stan Hansen on US soil. 3. I would say the one clear cut feud is Ivan Koloff vs the "Boogey Man" Jimmy Valiant. I love when Ivan calls him the Boogey Man or the disdain in his voice when he says Boogie Woogie. They actually put Valiant over huge one week letting him clear the ring of both Ole & Stan. 4. Jake The Snake as this goody two shoes, moral compass is insane given what he would become. He does it really well. It just feels strange. He really is this idealist. When does he become corrupted? It is very interesting. 5. They are continuing their expansion into Michigan. The announcer doing it has real trouble with Rowdy Roddy Piper's name. Piper vs The Dream in 1982 has me salivating. Also this dude is supposed to be hocking a Mid-Atlantic bumper sticker. He clearly has no clue what the fuck a Bumper Sticker is, calling it attractive and a keepsake. 6. Ole & Stan vs Stevens & Dusty makes sense as Stevens had started his feud with Ole back in late '81. Dusty is a touring national attraction. This explains why Ole keeps name-dropping Dusty even though he is not on the TV show. 7. Wahoo has not been on TV, but a good showing for him getting the title shot and also teaming with "Moral Crusader" Jake Roberts who seems to be beefing hard with Slaughter. 8. Almost forgot on the first week of March TV, The Brisco Brothers come back to town and they plant the seeds for the feud with Piper that I saw unfold in June. Jerry says Piper is better suited for commentary. Piper takes exception to that and says they ought to be afraid of him. See how nice this slow burn is. They didnt fucking just run Piper beating up the Briscos just because. There was a snide comment. They are going to let it fester and snowball and build. I love this stuff.

Jumping around s'more. June 1982 Depth Chart Babyfaces *Heels Wahoo McDaniel Jack Brisco Jay Youngblood Ricky Steamboat Jake The Snake Roberts Paul Jones Jimmy Valiant Porkchop Cash & Iceman King Parsons Kelly Kiniski & Mike Rotundo Sgt. Slaughter Roddy Piper Don Muraco Ivan Koloff The Great Kabuki/Ninja King Kong Mosca The Privates *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion Two Shows in Greensboro in June 1982, Tag Team Match King Parsons & Mike Rotundo defeat Gene Anderson & The Iron Sheik Singles Match Paul Jones defeats The Ninja NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title Match Jack Brisco (c) defeats Roddy Piper NWA United States Heavyweight Title Canadian Lumberjack Match Wahoo McDaniel (c) defeats Sgt. Slaughter June 19th Singles Match Jay Youngblood defeats The Monk Singles Match Angelo Mosca defeats Johnny Weaver Tag Team Match Jake Roberts & Paul Jones defeat Gene Anderson & The Ninja Tag Team Match Don Muraco & Roddy Piper defeat Jack Brisco & Wahoo McDaniel by DQ: NWA Television Title Match Jimmy Valiant (c) defeats Ivan Koloff by DQ 1. As we kick off June, it looks like Wahoo McDaniel has freshly defeated Sgt. Slaughter for the US Championship. This ruffles the Magnificent Muraco's feathers as Wahoo made a pact with Muraco to win the World Tag Team Titles, which have kinda shelved by an injury to Gene Anderson and there really were not an champions. It is kinda confusing. Wahoo says he is a man of his word, but he didnt expect to win the US Champion it just sort of happened. He sounds like a man who has cheated ended up with a lovechild. What ends up happening is Piper, who is still the straw that stirs the Mid-Atlantic drink, pays Muraco to injure Wahoo. This forces Wahoo to vacate the title and Crockett awards the belt back to Slaughter which is kinda lame. I wish Slaughter pinned an injured Wahoo. You can see the two Greensboro show those are two of the key main event matches. First Wahoo successfully defending the US Title against Slaughter and the other night teaming with Jack Brisco against Piper & Muraco, which leads me to Piper & Brisco. 2. One thing Chad really built up during the PTBN's Greatest WCW Match Ever Project was the Jack Brisco vs Roddy Piper feud. It seems it all started because Brisco beat Piper for the Mid-Atlantic Championship. Piper retaliated by injuring Gerry Brisco when Brisco had a jobber in the figure-4 and Piper splashed onto the entanglement of legs from the top rope. Furthermore in a Jack Brisco vs Don Muraco match (that I should watch), Piper again jumped off the top rope crashing into Jack while in a figure-4. This time tried to crack him open with a chair. I would say this is the hottest feud in the territory right now. I love Jack Brisco's voice, just so smooth and deep. 3. Paul Jones has been calling King Kong Mosca, Ding Dong Mosca, which is not that funny when Paul Jones says it but how Mosca reacts to it is amusing. I like Mosca. He seems like your loud Italian uncle. He has been aligned with the Ninja/Kabuki which I guess why Paul Jones wrestled the Ninja. Jake Roberts has not been doing much. 4. The Privates (Don Kernodle & Jim Nelson) vs Iceman King Parsons & Porkchop Cash midcard Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Title feud got a shit ton of airtime. I like Porkchop Cash a lot. The Privates had recently lost the belts at the beginning of the month but regained them before the month is up. So Sarge & his Privates are at full strength! 5. Kelly Kiniski & Mike Rotundo got a massive amount of promo time and are god-awful. Kelly Kiniski blows chunks. Rotundo looks like he has not slept in a month as usual and looks like he would rather be anywhere else.

I watched this all unfortunately a couple nights ago so my memory is not as fresh but here is... November (2 episodes) & December 1981: *Babyfaces Heels Jay Youngblood Ricky Steamboat Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Mulligan Jr. Ray Stevens Wahoo McDaniels & Jake The Snake Roberts Jimmy Valiant Sgt. Slaughter Roddy Piper Big John Studd Ole & Gene Anderson Ivan Koloff The Great Kabuki/Ninja *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion Thanksgiving Night 1981 Greensboro Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Jake Roberts defeats Mike Davis Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Ivan Koloff defeats Keith Larson Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Blackjack Mulligan Jr. defeats Carl Fergie Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Ricky Steamboat vs. Roddy Piper - Double DQ Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Angelo Mosca defeats Buddy Landel Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Greg Valentine defeats Tony Anthony Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament First Round Match Sgt. Slaughter defeats Johnny Weaver Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament Semi Final Match Angelo Mosca vs. Greg Valentine - Double DQ Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament Semi Final Match Ivan Koloff defeats Jake Roberts Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament Semi Final Match Blackjack Mulligan Jr. defeats Sgt. Slaughter by DQ Thanksgiving Night Cadillac Tournament Final Match Blackjack Mulligan Jr. defeats Ivan Koloff Lights Out Match Blackjack Mulligan vs. John Studd - Double DQ (17:00) NWA World Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match Ric Flair (c) defeats Ole Anderson (26:00) 1. Sandy Scott was promoting this on the episode of TV we have directly before Thanksgiving. That he wanted to bring in new talent and he asked two different announcers in two separate segments to guess what would incite top talent to come to the area. You could tell both Bob Caudle and the other guy know it is a car but know they shouldnt guess so they just stumble and fumble until Sandy Scott says it is a Cadillac. From Cagematch it looks like a 14-man tournament? Steamboat/Piper was a big feud so it makes sense they go to Double DQ. So that wittles it down to six. Greg Valentine is back, but not yet on TV. Him and Mosca (ties through Toronto/MLW). I like the Blackjack Mulligan Jr (black hair Barry Windham) win for the tournament. 2. His dad has a big match with Big John Studd which bleeds into next month's TV. 3. Ric Flair and Ole Anderson had been feuding it sounded like before Flair left so it makes sense that Ole gets the title match on the biggest night. Again, it is interesting that on the biggest wrestling night of the year...Crockett is the one who gets the World Champion. Flair does not appear on TV at this time. I still need to see the Flair vs Ole strap match from Buffalo we have on tape from around this time. There are two December Greensboro Shows (December 13th): Singles Match Jim Nelson defeats Don Kernodle Singles Match Paul Jones defeats Mike Miller Singles Match The Ninja defeats Ron Bass Non Title Match Jake Roberts defeats Ivan Koloff NWA United States Heavyweight Title Vs. Cadillac Match Sgt. Slaughter (c) defeats Blackjack Mulligan Jr. Tag Team Match Ray Stevens & Ricky Steamboat defeat Ole Anderson & Roddy Piper Key On A Pole Cage Match Blackjack Mulligan defeats John Studd 1. Ron Bass has been de-pushed. Off TV, lost his champion to Uncle Ivan and is jobbing to Kabuki. Maybe because the Blackjacks have rolled into town and only room for one cowboy gimmick on top. Just speculation. 2. I dont recall much Jake vs Ivan interaction in the build to this show. Ray Stevens had started feuding with Ole so that kinda fucked Jake. I thought the Crippler and the Snake would join forces, but that has not happened yet. 3. Sarge has been by far the best act on Mid-Atlantic TV in December. He is US Champion, he has Pvt. Jim Nelson and the $1000 Cobra Clutch Challenge. He has mostly been feuding with Jay Yongblood. Like any good bully heels when he is tasked with facing a true challenge he chickens out. He draws out the Challenge so long that TV time runs out. Then he goes too far when demonstrating the hold on Tony Anthony (yes that Tony Anthony) and hurts him in kayfabe. Sandy Scott, who is a good authority figure, tells him there will be a lottery to face Sarge in the Cobra Clutch Challenge. He rattles off the names and starts with the jobbers...Sarge oh yeah of course Keith Larsen deserves a shot but then as he builds to Youngblood and Mulligan Jr. (Windham), Sarge blows a gasket. The Sarge/BW Cobra Clutch Challenge is just great pro wrestling TV that everyone should watch. That being said this December Greensboro show would have taken place before the Sarge/BW Cobra Clutch Challenge. There was no mention of the US Title vs Cadillac stipulation on TV but that sounds like a great angle! 4. Ray Stevens and Ole Anderson have been feuding sounds like one of those old timers just wanting to feud with each other because they have been buds for so long. Ray Stevens just does not look like an athlete at all. It is shocking that he purportedly innovated the Flair-esque workrate style. He is not much better of a promo. I guess Stevens came in as an Ole tag partner but Ole tried to just use and abuse him. So Stevens will have no of it. Ole says the other babyfaces cant trust Stevens. Steamboat and Piper have been feuding. Pretty solid feud nothing too memorable. 5. Blackjack and Studd have been feuding general Giant vs Giant feud. I think Studd may have tried to hurt Mulligan Jr. thats why Blackjack is so pissed. I have no idea what the key on the pole unlocks. It was not mentioned on TV. So they double dipped in Greensboro in December and here is December 27th, 1981: Singles Match Keith Larson vs. Tony Anthony - Draw Singles Match Terry Taylor defeats Tony Russo Singles Match Jimmy Valiant defeats Carl Fergie Loser Leaves Town Match The Ninja defeats Paul Jones Singles Match Ricky Steamboat defeats Roddy Piper Elimination Six Man Tag Team Match Blackjack Mulligan Jr., Jake Roberts & Ray Stevens defeat Ivan Koloff & The Andersons (Gene Anderson & Ole Anderson) by DQ NWA United States Heavyweight Title Match Sgt. Slaughter (c) defeats Blackjack Mulligan 1. Ninja vs Paul Jones has not been built up at all. Ninja has moved from being under Jimmy Holliday (had never heard of him) to being under Gene Anderson 2. Steamboat vs Piper was a big match. The Contract Signing was a good angle. I would love to see what those two did together. 3. Stevens & Jake as partners against the Andersons make sense given their beefs with Ole. Mulligan Jr and Uncle Ivan feel shoehorned in there. Mulligan Jr was either with his dad against Studd or against Sarge so that's weird. Uncle Ivan was not featured too prominently. 4. I covered Sarge's TV run above. I guess this match makes sense since Sarge was beefing with Blackjack's kid and Blackjack is more of a proven draw at this point. 5. The only other thing I want to cover is that Mid-Atlantic is moving into a new market: Ann Arbor, Michigan! Go Blue! As many of you know, I am a Wolverine! I found these promos to be comical. It is clear none of these guys had been to Michigan before. They all readily admit that and have no clue what to say. It is hilariously awkward. Jake The Snake at one point says he flew over Michigan once to get to Canada and he is sure is a great place. It was so funny.

October 1981 (Only two Episodes on the Network): Greensboro 10/10/81 (Cagematch) NWA United States Heavyweight Title Match Sgt. Slaughter (c) defeats Sweet Ebony Diamond Singles Match Leroy Brown defeats Ole Anderson NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title Match Ricky Steamboat defeats Ivan Koloff (c) - TITLE CHANGE !!! Singles Match Wahoo McDaniel defeats Roddy Piper *Babyfaces Heels Wahoo McDanie & Jake Roberts Jay Youngblood Leroy Brown Ricky Steamboat Ron Bass Jimmy Valiant Ole & Gene Anderson Roddy Piper Sgt. Slaughter Ivan Koloff The Grappler & Super Destroyer The Great Kabuki/Ninja *Ric Flair – Travelling World Champion 1. Ric Flair does not appear and I do not think was mentioned. 2. I really need to go back and watch Piper vs Jay Youngblood 3. Jake The Snake cuts one of the best damn promos I have not seen. He was on the verge of tears talking about how the Andersons were ruthlessly going to continue their beatdown of #1 Paul Jones and it really moved me. Great stuff! Big angle of the month was Jake The Snake was hounding the Andersons for a Tag Title shot saying Ole & Gene had not defended the titles in 2 months. Ole needed a sub and got Super Destroyer to wrestle. They show most of the match I think it was on Worldwide on the show. Gene came out in a Super Destroyer getup after Super D went behind the curtains. Gene loaded the mask and won. Ole & Gene of course lied & denied. Gene was suffering from uncontrollable, involuntary body movements. The dude wrestled until 1985. He was only 42 at the time! The dude looked 62! Wow that was a rough n tumble life. He died at 52, which is sad. Jake The Snake and Wahoo are a badass tag team and what the babyface side needed. 4. Rejoice & Be Glad! The Boogie Woogie Man is here! It really does not feel like Crockett without Jimmy Valiant. Was the Boogie Woogie Elbow the inspiration for the People's Elbow? 5. Great Kabuki debuts and looks badass. Jimmy Holliday, learn something new, never heard of this guy says he will henceforth known as The Ninja 6. Ron Bass takes a backseat in the episodes I watched. 7. Sgt. Slaughter adopting Jim Nelson as Pvt. Nelson is a genius addition to the gimmick. Love that they strapped him up so soon. The United States Champion of the World was a funny gaffe. I need to go back and watch him vs Kernodle, also.

September 1981 - Just getting a lay of the land by jumping around. September 5, 1981 Greensboro show (Courtesy: Cagematch): Jake Roberts defeats Jacques Goulet NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title Match Leroy Brown defeats Ivan Koloff (c) by DQ The Grappler & The Super Destroyer defeat Frank Monte & Jay Youngblood Abdullah The Butcher & Roddy Piper vs. Ron Bass & Wahoo McDaniel - No Contest Texas Bullrope Match Ric Flair defeats Ole Anderson (17:00) Babyfaces Heels *Ric Flair Wahoo McDaniel Ron Bass Ricky Steamboat Jay Youngblood Jake The Snake Roberts Leroy Brown Ole Anderson Roddy Piper & Abdullah The Butcher Sgt. Slaughter The Grappler Super Destroyer Ivan Koloff *Wins NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship This Month 1. Ric Flair does not appear but is mentioned that he had been feuding with Ole Anderson. David Crockett & Bob Caudle are stoked to announce he has won the World Championship. He is clearly a babyface in the Carolinas at this time. 2. Ron Bass has just won the TV title. I would say he is the main spokesman of the babyfaces. He is paling around with Steamboat, Youngblood and Jake The Snake and Leroy Brown. Jake looks like a young Marlboro Man. Steamboat bless his heart tries to cut a promo and Bass bails him out. Bass is very adequate. The babyface side feels midcard. Steamboat is an awesome worker dont get me wrong, but with Flair off gallivanting winning the World Title and Wahoo kayfabe not around. They are missing some firepower. 3. Roddy Piper & Abby vs Wahoo. That sounds like a killer feud. David & Bob say they have banned both from the TV set because of all the hatred. Piper and Ole are aligned. What an oil & water odd couple. Ole cuts a great meat & potatoes promo. Piper is a killer on the mic here. This is damn good Piper. I dont want anyone to know just how bad I is until its too late. Damn straight. They tag together against Paul Jones & a chump. I am surprised Paul Jones was used a job guy as I thought he was a big deal in the Carolinas until the end. Also we get a really short, but fun Ole vs Jay Youngblood match that I watched. Ole is great against they young, workrate guys. The Grappler interferes. The Grappler is a legendary promo that people often forget about because he did not work in the big territories often. I could see his potential. I thought his conviction and cadence was great. 4. Sgt. Slaughter debuts. He does not have a dance partner yet but he promises to win a major title and he does. He wins the US Title in October in a tournament final since Wahoo had to vacate it due to Piper & Abby injuring him. 5. Heel side seems absolutely stacked. Ole, Piper, Abby, Sarge are all #1 heel candidates with Grappler, Super Destroyer and Ivan Koloff give great depth to the midcard. With Flair and Wahoo out, the babyfaces need to pick it up to keep up. I know Steamboat is over as a wrestler, but I want some good promos to match the heels.

Advancing One Year to December 1983, fresh off the heels of Starrcade 1983. Here is the card of Starrcade 1983, courtesy of prowrestlinghistory.com: The Assassins beat Rufus R Jones & Bugsy McGraw (8:06) when Assassin #1 pinned McGraw. Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin beat Scott McGhee & Johnny Weaver (6:38) when Lewin pinned Weaver. Abdullah the Butcher pinned Carlos Colon (4:27). Dick Slater & Bob Orton, Jr. beat Mark Youngblood & Wahoo McDaniel (13:50) when Orton pinned Youngblood. Charlie Brown (Jimmy Valiant) pinned The Great Kabuki (13:33) in a "no DQ, no time limit" match to win the NWA TV Title. Roddy Piper pinned Greg Valentine (16:06) in a "dog collar" match. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood beat Jack & Jerry Brisco (12:48) in a "no DQ" match to win the NWA Tag Title when Youngblood pinned Jerry. Angelo Mosca was the special referee. Ric Flair pinned Harley Race (23:46) in a "steel cage" match to win the NWA World Title. Gene Kiniski was the special referee. Here is the December 1983 Depth Chart: *Babyfaces Heels “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (outgoing) Wahoo McDaniel (kayfabe injured) Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Jimmy Valiant Angelo Mosca Rufus R. Jones & Mark Youngblood Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (outgoing) Dick Slater & Bob Orton Road Warriors w/Paul Ellering (incoming) Assassins w/Paul Jones Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin (Outgoing) w/Gary Hart Ivan Koloff & Don Kernodle (Incoming) w/Gary Hart *Ric Flair is travelling World Champion Key Takeaways: 1. Crockett does a good job memorializing Starrcade! I was kinda surprised that they were savvy enough to push how big of a deal Starrcade was after the fact. They had Piper hock Starrcade shirts and magazines. Instead of just moving on to the next card, by making Starrcade a big deal now, this investment will pay dividends the next year. A wise move from a normally unwise promotion. 2. Greg Valentine is still United States Champion. He cuts a pretty good promo at one. It feels like him and Piper are spinning their wheels. Piper cuts a good promo about sometimes it is about how you lose. It is important to get back up. Piper beat Valentine at the Dog Collar Match, but the title was not on the line. Valentine would lose the US title curiously to a heel Dick Slater who was gloating about beating Rufus R. Jones for the Mid-Atlantic Championship. After Slater won the US Championship, he relinquished the Mid-Atlantic Championship directly to an incoming Ivan Koloff. Neither his US Title Victory or the Mid-Atlantic Title transfer was mentioned on TV in December. Slater is a good promo and I like Bob Orton's voice a lot, good delivery. Oh, Slater & Orton injured Wahoo's arm, at Starrcade, I think and that's why Wahoo has not been on TV. It looks like once Piper and Valentine leave that Slater and Wahoo will be the top program. No offense, to Slater and Wahoo, but it does feel like they would need more oomph, so going out getting Tully Blanchard was a huge pick-up and shot in the arm. 3. Steamboat & Youngblood, thank God they were great wrestlers and good looking dudes, because they could not cut a promo to save their lives. Steamboat was fumbling. Youngblood made a weird joke that Road Warriors were only 20lbs heavier than them. Briscos did not appear at all this month. The sale of Georgia to Vince is soon so they will be headed North in 1984. The Road Warriors had a squash and one promo. Hawk and Animal looked "more normal" for lack of a better term at this point in their careers. I dont think they stick around long. 4. Jimmy Valiant vs Paul Jones: the Hatfields and the McCoys have nothing on The Boogie Woogie Man and Number One Paul Jones. Jimmy Valiant is mostly unintelligible but I gotta admit his energy is infectious. He defaces a portrait of Paul Jones. Boy, oh boy, Paul Jones would give Lana a run for her money in how fucking wooden he is. This should be so easy. Just get mad. Just get big mad. Nothing. Bob Caudle was awesome in these segments. I love Bob Caudle. 5. Angelo Mosca vs Gary Hart. Mosca saved McGhee & Weaver at Starrcade from Sullivan & Lewin, but in the process took a giant Golden Spike to his arm. I know Mosca has a rep as an atrocious promo, but as pissed of angry Italian dad he was a pretty good promo. I usually like Gary Hart, but his promos were just kinda annoying this time. Sullivan and Lewin were playing bodybuilders not Satan-worshippers which bummed me out. They were out of the territory in just two weeks and replaced by Ivan Koloff and "Pride of the Carolinas" Don Kernodle. He doesnt say it here but I fucking love when Uncle Ivan says "Pride of Carolinas". Don Kernodle got shunted down the card quickly 1985. I am surprised he didnt try to find greener pastures. 6. Kelly Kiniski. Oh boy. Talk about somebody who was not suited for pro wrestling. With no inflection, he tries to turn heel. The first week he says any parent would be proud to have as a kid. Then he calls Jay Youngblood a cheap imitation. If it was not for Bob Caudle pointing stuff out, you would just think he was going about his business. 7. No Ric Flair this month. 8. The majority of the promos were focuses on Valiant vs Paul Jones and Mosca vs Gary Hart. It feels like they were letting the midcard shine while they were getting all their ducks in a row for next year.

After just one episode of Mid-South TV, I am switching gears to Mid-Atlantic. I am bit of overwhelmed trying to squeeze years of watching the Network into a couple weeks. I was such a fool! I cant believe I took this treasure trove for granted. Instead of watching all these squash/competitive squashes, I am just going to watch the promos so I can get a feel for the characters & the angles of the timeframe. By understanding the roster, I can understand the possible permutations of the wrestlers in matches and then use different search tools to see what I can find. Starting randomly in December 1982: Depth Chart December 1982 Babyfaces *Heels “Rowdy” Roddy Piper Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Jack Brisco Sweet Brown Sugar Mike Rotundo “Cowboy” Bob Orton Jimmy Valiant Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (House of Hump) Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle Paul Jones (House of Hump) Dory Funk Jr. Leroy Brown (House of Hump) Jos Le Duc (leaving)/One Man Gang (debuting) (House of Hump) Sir Oliver Humperdnk (House of Hump) Thanksgiving 1982 Card Greensboro (15.5k) Credit: Cagematch: Mike Davis defeats Masa Fuchi Bob Orton Jr. defeats Pvt. Jim Nelson Johnny Weaver defeats Ken Timbs Frank Monte defeats Ron Ritchie NWA Television Title 10.000 Dollar 22 Man Battle Royal (vakant) Leroy Brown defeats Bob Orton Jr. and Frank Monte and Gary Black and Bill White and Gene Anderson and Ricky Harris and Sgt. Slaughter and Jerry Brisco and Jim Dalton and Johnny Weaver and Keith Larson and Ken Timbs and King Parsons and Masa Fuchi and Mike Davis and Mike Rotunda and Pork Chop Cash and Pvt. Jim Nelson and Rick Rood and Ricky Harris and Ron Ritchie - TITLE CHANGE !!! Three On Two Handicap Steel Cage Match Abdullah The Butcher & Jimmy Valiant defeat Jos LeDuc, Paul Jones & Sir Oliver Humperdink Non Title Match Jack Brisco defeats Greg Valentine (23:00) NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Ric Flair (c) defeats Roddy Piper by DQ (24:00) Key Takeaways: 1. Roddy Piper was a really big fucking deal in Mid-Atlantic. Definitely there top babyface star from 1982-1983. Although I need to look back deeper in 1982. As a person born in 1989, became a fan in 1997, this is not something you think of at all. I thought of Piper as a Portland dude that catches fire in the WWF in 1984. I had seen the Dog Collar Match at Starrcade ;83 in my teen years in the mid-00s as a part of the Greatest WWE Stars of the 80s DVD comp. I loved the match but never thought much of it. Perhaps because Flair is such a big deal as the draw to Starrcade 83. Piper/Valentine had been going a 1+ year at this point and that clearly the week-in/week-out feud of the territory that was drawing the Carolinas while Flair was off gallivanting. It is very interesting to see that Piper is the one that gets the World Championship title on Thanksgiving night and even more interesting that Crockett was able to finagle getting the World Champion for their Thanksgiving show over all the other territories at this point. Learning about this stuff, definitely heightens my appreciation for Piper and makes him feel like a massive star. The Thanksgiving Night World Championship match up until WrestleMania was probably the highest honor in pro wrestling. This really speak volumes to Piper's status. Although, if someone wanted to undermine, they could say that Crockett was just awarded the match because Flair was a Crockett boy, which is plausible. Piper was still the #1 babyface of a major US territory for at least a year and that carries a lot of weight for me. The angle in December 1982 is that Flair & Valentine did the concrete face rub angle that they did with Steamboat in the the 70s and Ricky Morton in 86 to great effect. Piper's promos can be hit or miss with me, but I thought these from this month were effective. He was banned from the studio because of what he did to Humperdink and Valentine. Valentine sold his return really well and Piper clobbered him. Valentine did a great job shrinking from the moment when Piper was present like a cowardly chump and then when Piper leaves he becomes a real Big Man challenging Piper to a fight. Excellent heel psychology. Greg Valentine is the US Champion so the top week in/week-out champion and is aligned with Humperdink. Piper/Valentine would be linked for another entire year without losing any heat which is an amazing feat in any era. 2. Sir Oliver Humperdink - I have seen so little Hump. I know the Bam Bam Bigelow stuff and the Big Daddy Dink. I always associated Hump with Florida, which I have not really seen. I thought he was great. He is the top heel manager like The Brain in AWA or the Mouth of the South in Mempho. He manages all the heels save for Sarge & Kernodle. Hump is a great talker and has a great look especially the flaming red mullet. He also looks hipper than everyone else. It is 1982, but everyone is still stuck in the Disco 70s with the wide collars and no belts through the pants. Hump has the cool shades, leather jackets and 80s jewelry. He looks more in touch with the upcoming heavy metal revolution which would get going the next year. Very cutting edge for pro wrestling which is usually 2-3 pop culture cycles behind. The House of Hump is kinda rag tag motley crew. Valentine is a great centerpiece. Leroy Brown is a big, big man never seen him before, good promo too. What happened to him? Jos LeDuc shows up and then is replaced by a debuting long-haired One Man Gang. Paul Jones is still wrestling and is just as mediocre as ever on the stick. They are feuding with Piper & Friends. Piper does not use this term, but Bob Orton calls their group, Piper's Palace and he is building a Palace that will outshine the House of Humperdink. Orton is good on the stick. 3. Ex-World Champions in the Midcard - they are able to effectively use Jack Brisco (babyface) as the Mid-Atlantic Champion feud with #1 Paul Jones. I love Jack's voice, just so smooth. They use Dory Funk Jr as a heel against Sweet Brown Sugar, raving about conspiracies because some boxer is gonna be the Special Ref for their match. Junior is a pretty good heel better than I expected. I think it is harder to transition someone like a Hulk Hogan into this midcard role, but I like their use of Brisco and Funk in the promotion. 4. Sarge & Kernodle vs Steamboat & Youngblood - interesting they didnt have a match on the Thanksgiving. It could be that Sarge/Kernodle took Youngblood out before Thanksgiving. They show clips numerous times of Sarge "nearly killing" Youngblood with the Cobra Clutch in an arena in the post-match after a tag title match. This sets up the big Steamboat/Youngblood return on TV as they ambush the heels. Sarge & Kernodle are great. At one point Sarge starts quoting Don Henley's Dirty Laundry for no reason. Lol. That feud is red hot going into Final Conflict in March/April of 83. 5. Why does Mike Rotundo invariably always look like he has not slept for a month when ever I see him?

A smidgen higher than Pete, but yeah this is nothing you have to drop what you are doing to see even though Ric Flair vs Tommy Rich on paper caused me to do just that. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Tommy Rich - GCW Omni 12/4/83 On paper, this got me from six to midnight in a flash but ended with me right back where started after 20 or so minutes of action. It never quite reached OMFG RIC FLAIR VS TOMMY RICH~! levels. Flair has just won the World Championship at Starrcade. He is a babyface in Mid-Atlantic, but plays de facto heel here. He is more of a heel in the sense that he is the one getting thwarted & bested at the beginning and then in control in the middle. He is not super heelish until the end. The shine is fine. It is Rich working holds...headlock, headscissors, abdominal stretch as Flair gets bested. Flair 101. The only cool wrinkle is on getting out of the headscissors, Flair has an opportunity to go for the Figure-4 and he takes it only to end up in the Inside Cradle. I like that spot was in the first five minutes as opposed to the last five minutes as a change of pace. It is worth noting that Rich properly applies the abdominal stretch with his toe grapevining the leg. Since fucking Gorilla has beaten it into my head to look for it, I might as well mention it. One thing that irked me about this match and I dont think I have ever seen Flair do this before, but he was selling like he had been in a 25-30 minute war after only three holds and 5 minutes. It was really strange. I dont think I have ever seen oversell like this before. They tease heat but it is only after a Rich Sleeper that gets turned into a side headlock and then a kneecrusher does Flair take over. Good Flair heat segment, Butterfly Suplex, big Vertical Suplex back in the ring, a rare Boston Crab, the usual kneedrop and all that jazz. Not a chop heavy Flair match. I think there was only one, maybe two firefights in this match. If I had to classify which formula Flair was using, I would say this was sort of similar to how he would wrestle Magnum TA. It is very Flair 101. Rich is a solid hand, but I dont think this was a good way to get a feel for him. He has a decent punch in this, but nothing that stands out in the South where a good punch is a dime a dozen. A random headbutt was cool and he used the Bionic Elbow. Flair misses an elbow drop and back body drop out of a Piledriver. That's when we see what Rich has to offer which I mentioned before. Flair ends up wrenching the leg across the apron. Figure-4 on Rich gets good heat. Flair and Rich brawl on the outside. Flair gets cut and is bleeding. Flair tries to flee with the Championship. Lame finish. Rich gets the O'Connor Roll, but Flair lovetaps him in the back with the Belt for the win. Flair 101. Rich really did not add much to the match in my opinion. I thought Flair looked great on offense here. Flair's choice of selling big early and throughout was weird. I would say everything between Flair's kneecrusher to the Figure-4, which was about 15 minutes of action was really strong. The finish leaves a lot to be desired. Ric Flair will appreciate this analogy, he is like sex, even mediocre Ric Flair is pretty damn good.***1/2

Pro Wrestling Love is coming back at you with @dawho5 as we continue our countdown on the Top 25 Best Japanese matches to take place between 2000-2009. This was born out of Ditch's project in the early 2010s and we are here in 2021 to report back our findings. This is Part 2/5 and we are in the #20-#16 portion of the list. This is Mike's first podcast venture. He has been a valuable contributor on here for close to a decade. I am glad he was on and he could share his interesting insight. Plenty of great puroresu discussed and come listen to Mike pontificate. https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-e7xtm-fd5d60

I was thinking what would be the best use of my limited time with the Network I think it to binge as much 1985 Mid-South as possible. I feel like such a fool for taking the Network for granted for so long. 6-Jan-1985 One thing I didnt notice (surprisingly mind you) until I watched some random Mid-Atlantic episodes was that there were NO promos at all on this show. It was all matches and Watts was narrating the stories for the viewers. It was an interesting style. Was Mid-South always like this? Was it typical? Or was this an atypical show? R'n'R Express regain the tag belts from DiBiase & Dr. Death a the end of 1984. Skandor Abar basically manages all the heels. The main heels are Kamala, Ted DiBiase, Dr. Death, Hercules, and Buddy Landell. I love the music video to get the RNRs over. They look so cool. We need more packages where babyfaces are just filmed doing cool things that people do in modern pro wrestling. Iceman Parsons is someone has only seen very little of. Good athletic babyface. I liked the second rope lariat finish. Watts tells us that Parsons has left Dallas to come here so that he can continue his feud with Akbar who has fled to Mid-South. I love that touch. The Guerreros are here and they being programmed with the RNRs. Great heels. They beat up Horner & Shawn Michaels in short order. It is pretty amazing that Horner looks like the prospect and Michaels looks like the dweeb. Michaels easily could have been the jobber whose name you can never remember based on his look here. The Guerreros are so crisp. The wrestling on this TV show is very similar to Crockett. It is 80s workrate heavy. It is slam, bang action. Perpetual motion pro wrestling. Everything is fundamental. It does not look overly cooperative which I like. I like that it is overwrought or over-chereographed. However it is not perfect. I think they could give time for things to breathe more. Let the wrestlers react. It is not very sticky wrestling like it does not stick with you. I thought the Guerreros finish a forward roll while the other traps the opponent was not as cool as they thought it was. Chavo looked fantastic here. TV Champion Buddy Landell vs Terry Taylor - This is the big angle of the show as there is a title switch. A very Watts/Graham finish in the sense that the devil is in the details and it is very tight. The ref has to duck to get out of the way an opponent running the ropes who hurdles the ref. The first time Taylor does it; Akbar trips Taylor. The ref admonishes Akbar and then counts for two. They repeat the spot with Landell doing the running and Iceman Parsons trips and this leads to the title change. Both times the ref couldnt see the trip because he was too busy trying not to get run over. A good finish that should be stolen. The work before was solid. I liked the hiptoss directly into a lateral press for two and how Landell sold it. That was one of the few times someone really reacted to something on the show. Buddy took over promptly smashing Taylor's face into the turnbuckle. Solid heat segment. Good match. ***1/4 Ted DiBiase/Dr. Death vs Hacksaw Duggan & Terry Daniels - Duggan is a fucking star! He is just dripping with charisma and he seems like a way bigger deal than anyone else on this show. Great Duggan performance. DiBiase bumps & feeds like a champ for Duggan and he is a strong #2 to Duggan's #1. Doc is fine here, Watts says his football helmet is banned. Another angle. Daniels is there as the fall guy and gets punked out with the Black Glove. Duggan looks like a rockstar. On commentary, it is noted that Butch Reed has turned face and his own man does not need Akbar. North American Champion Brad Armstrong vs Hercules - Brad Armstrong is kind of a bottom of the barrel North American Champion, no? He feels more like a TV Champion-level dude that should be mixing it up with Taylor & Landell while Duggan, Reed and DiBiase work on top of the card. What's up with BA as champion? Admittedly, I may have only seen one or two Herc matches before this. He seemed ok. Nothing stood out about him. How I feel about Brad Armstrong is how most people feel about Terry Taylor. BA was a fine mechanic, but he was NOT a cant miss prospect. Parsons/Akbar feud continues as they get involved and trigger a schmozz finish. Herc had a Cobra Clutch applied looked like is finish and the ref got bumped as BA was flailing. Nothing spectacular from BA. Quick Kamala and Jake The Snake squashes close out the show. Interested to see who Jake gets paired with. Kamala is with Iceman. Iceman was pushed pretty hard on this show as the new babyface in town, figuring into both title match finishes and winning his own match. Taylor vs Landell was match of the night. Duggan was the Star of the Show in my opinion. Looking forward to more.