Superstar Sleeze

Best of NWA 1983-1987 Part 2 However, what is free is of course Pro Wrestling Love! This time we discuss a match that is on the short list for the absolute Greatest Pro Wrestling Match Ever in History. It pits the World Champion Ric Flair vs teen idol Ricky Morton in a battle of what it means to be a man. There is a lot about Ric Flair the character that is cool: the jewelry, the bravado and the ladies it attracts. It reminds me a lot of Wolf of Wall Street. Leo DiCaprio's character has that same cockswagger that can be very appealing and intoxicating. What the movie does so well is it obliterates that fantasy. The fun & games are over. You are left seeing a small, insecure, and abusive man. In reality, that is who Ric Flair the character is. It is all Woos and struts, until someone threatens him and his sense of self. He lashes out. He tries to permanently disfigure Ricky Morton by rubbing his face into concrete. Why? Because Ric Flair is a small, petty, sorry excuse for what a man should be. That's a great fucking heel! Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton is the pinnacle of wrestling storytelling and its climax inside a steel cage on July 6, 1986 is perhaps the Greatest Match Ever. Also, inside you will find two of Ric Flair's classics against Barry Windham, a hidden gem against Kerry Von Erich in Hawaii and two very famous bloody brawls: Greg Valentine vs Roddy Piper in a Dog Collar match and then many other's pick for the greatest match of all time Tully Blanchard vs Magnum TA in an I Quit Steel Cage match. It is a loaded edition of Pro Wrestling Love because it is the Best of the NWA 1983-87! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2019/03/pro-wrestling-love-vol-39-best-of-nwa.html

Best of the NWA 1983-1987 Part One When I was 8 years old, my Dad bought me the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Almanac 1997. I literally ripped that book cover to cover. Seriously, I still have it and the book spine is held together by blue electrical tape. I have always been fascinated by history and the rich history of pro wrestling was no exception to my childhood hunger for historical knowledge. One thing, I always remember was the passage on The Last Battle of Atlanta. How EPIC does that sound! Now imagine being 8 and you come to find out there is no footage of this bloody cage match that pits Tommy "Wildfire" Rich and "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer. That made the match was THE Holy Grail. All the conspiracy theories surrounding how the footage of the match went missing. It was something that captured my imagination as a child. Then it happened, the tape of the match was found in 2016. It was something truly special that basically unified hardcore wrestling fans from the 80s and 90s together. The Holy Grail had been found. Now it was put up or shut up time, would it live up to the massive hype? Well dont just sit there, click and find out! Also inside so much amazing Crockett goodness, Nature Boy Ric Flair engaging in stiff, manly fights against the Hands of Stone Ronnie Garvin Let me tell you about the ROCK N ROLL! All this and much more inside, it is the Best of the National Wrestling Alliance 1983-1987, thank you Dad for indulging my love of history! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2019/03/pro-wrestling-love-vol-38-best-of-nwa.html

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham - Crockett Cup '87 FINALLY Superstar Sleeze has finished his review of Ric Flair vs Barry Windham at the Crockett Cup! I like my original review as something if I was writing an article on Ric Flair, but I think it was missing the point of this match. Flair is usually seen as the overconfident champion, but up until 85-86 he was wrestling his peers: Steamboat, Dusty and Kerry. In the mid-80s, new faces cropped up. I think he became even more confident. You dont see him Woooing in the middle of top wristlock sequences with Steamboat or chopping Kerry's chest and retreating just to toy with him. Flair respects his opponents, but he does not respect Barry Windham. He wrestled Barry's dad in bloody brawls. To him, Barry is a wet behind the ears kid. The kid did take him to limit in Florida and on Worldwide, but this is Flair so he can be delusional. Flair seems more confident than ever. He is trying to get into the mind of the youngster as I said Wooing in the top wristlock and then chopping & retreating. He was getting BW's dander up. I like the spot where on the third Barry charges the corner, mounts, balls his fist up, looks for approval, but he also knows it is the wrong thing to do. Goody-two-shoes! He climbs down. Flair goes for a cheapshot...block...Windham fires off a punch! Here we go! Dropkick and a nearfall. I like it was an underhanded Flair tactic that finally set off the ultimate good guy, Barry Windham. Flair then tries to use motion to discombobulate Windham, but Windham does not fall for it. He falls into a side headlock and then almost gets a drop toehold as Flair powders. Flair is still pretty calm on the outside. Back in Windham makes a rookie mistake of charging and Flair hotshots him. Here we go! Textbook Flair, heavy chops, pitch him to the outside, do plenty of damage out there with the steel and his heavy hands. They time Windham hope spots well. I like how Windham gets a fast break with those big punches in the corner he promised earlier and now delivers. Then when he goes for the dropkick it misses and Flair wastes no time for the figure-4. Normally, Flair would wait, but now he is freaked out. He thought he had the big youngster where he wanted him, but when Windham showed him he would not fold, he freaked out and went for his big weapon. Flair gets caught using the ropes and I love that immediately went back to Windham hope spot. Surviving Flair's biggest shot should be followed up by another win and this comes in the form of an explosive lariat from the corner, however due to the figure-4 he cant capitalize. There is a small cut here to the floor where Flair is going for the piledriver on the floor, but does not get it. Back in the ring, they do a barrage of nearfalls for Windham and Flair's reaction is to powder and take a hike. Again, I love Flair's fight or flight instincts. First time he is in trouble it is figure-4; second time it is just to leave. Windham gives chase but Flair comes back under his own volition. Flair's strategy upon re-entering the ring is to try to engage Windham in a fist fight and this goes poorly for him, but it is great for the fans as it is very exciting. I like him doing a backwards Flair Flop off the final Windham punch as that gets a two count. Windham gets some rapid fire punches and I love that this leads to a floatover suplex for two. Very scintillating nearfall! The match loses some luster here. Flair is just adamant about not having a heat segment even though there are three massive opening. Windham misses an elbow drop off the top rope, Flair backdrops him on the concrete and the most egregious Flair hits him in the balls. All three spots, Windham is able to counter Flair's next move easily and win control back. Very disappointing because those were great transitions and it hurts the match that Windham is put in a position especially no-sell a ballshot. Now a fourth time, Windham eats knees on a splash after an extended sleeper by Windham on Flair. Flair goes to the top rope and Windham pops up and hits a press slam. Why is this happening? I appreciate making a babyface earn his offense, but it does not feel like Windham is fighting through something rather the preceding moves dont have consequence. Now Windham is applying the figure-4 usually that is at least set up by Flair missing a kneedrop. Flair rakes the eyes so of course Windham hits the next move which is a powerslam for two. Windham has a ton of bombs such as the missile dropkick and the lariat both times Flair gets his foot on the bottom rope. You would think Windham would hook the leg. The first one Tommy Young actually counts three to a pop but realizes his mistake which is a good spot and he sells it well. Windham goes for an O'Connor Roll and Flair reverses for the win with the tights. Flair just does not do championship matches under 45 minutes well. He is fine in a short sprint brawl, but he tries to pack way too much in at the detriment of his own offense. He wanted Windham to shine so badly he forgot to create obstacles for Windham to overcome. The first 15 minutes is EXCELLENT! It had a cool vibe of cocky, veteran champion vs. young, inexperienced challenger. Then it became Windham blows off selling to hit his next bomb for 15 minutes. This was quite disappointing, it is still fun, but I was expecting it to be on the level of the other Flair vs Windham matches. To me something like Flair vs Sting from Clash I crushes this and that has a bum rap now. This is overrated at the all time level more like ****.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich - Hawaii 2/13/85 Flair vs Kerry is probably my favorite US feud of all time. I have never seen these two have a bad match. This match does have a bit of rep and at the same time is overlooked because it happens in Hawaii as opposed to one of the major territories of the time. The contenders in my opinion for the greatest Flair vs Kerry match is the WCCW August 1982 match and the Watt Mid-South match from April of 1985. I have seen this before as it has been on Youtube for a long time. It is currently in five parts please let me know if there is a more complete version out there but I suspect because this is filmed for TV there will just be chunks that we will never have. Pretty routine Flair vs Kerry opening. I have to say I really liked how Flair incorporated amateur wrestling into his matches in 1985. You see the same work with Terry Taylor in 1985. Kerry is able to escape when Flair tries to ride with him, but when Kerry takes Flair down Flair cant escape and is forced to get the ropes. Then he gets pissed and loses a shoving war. It is little stuff like that that make Flair so good. He is so petty that he gets upset after being shown up one time. Kerry looks like a million bucks with his fists cocked and ready to go. From there we get some top wristlock tests of strength that Kerry wins. Kerry works an armbar and a double wristlock as Flair hollers and tries to maneuver out, but to no avail. Kerry moves into the side headlock. They cut a tremendous pace for a sixty minute Broadway. Flair tries crowding in the corner. He seems to make some in roads with his heavy hands. Anyone who has watch a lot of vintage Flair knows he likes to hurl his opponent to the outside. This has the double effect of making his opponent take a nasty fall to the concrete and give himself some time to recuperate. Here we see Kerry land on his feet and immediately jump back in the ring. Flair tries to take the offense right to Kerry but in all the commotion ends up in a beautiful Military Press Slam and now it is Flair with powder. I love that symmetry. There is some really good stand up exchanges here and Kerry does get an early nearfall off a discus punch. Kerry works a front chancery and it is very entertaining with Flair struggling hard against it and them both doing interesting work. We get to around the halfway mark according to the announcers (who are probably an unreliable source) when Kerry misses a dropkick and maybe pulls a muscle in his abdomen. Flair goes to work punting the challenger. Kerry is on point here with his selling really good. If you love crazed Flair, this is good stuff. After getting his ass kicked, he has snapped and is just straight choking Kerry by throttling his throat. Flair begins a King of Mountain sequence. This is a heavy Flair heat segment. Just big, thunderous shots. The apron work is really good. The ref breaks it up and this affords Kerry the opportunity to shouldertackle and go for the Sunset Flip, good hope spot. Kerry lands some punches, but Flair fights through it. Flair is desperate and goes off the ropes and Kerry applies the IRON CLAW to the stomach. Flair should not have given his man that much space. An assuredly fatal mistake if he had not raked the eyes. Kerry sells this so well. This is why wrestling in the 1980s is so good because the eye rake feels like such a big deal. He uses it to escape certain defeat and Kerry sells by writhing in pain. Flair goes to the sleeper, but cant finish his man off. Of course, Kerry applies his own sleeper. Flair sells the sleeper so well fading right next to the ropes with his fingertips grazing the ropes. Kerry goes for the big Kevin-esque splash but eats knees. Flair hits a nice short knee as a follow up to the midsection, but Kerry re-applies the sleeper. This time Flair hits a back suplex and both men are out. Flair misses his Flair Flip in the corner and comes crashing back to the mat. That was gnarly. The second time Kerry whips him he clear the top turnbuckle but tumbles to the floor also gnarly. Flair staggered re-enters the ring and Kerry applies the IRON CLAW~! TO THE HEAD! Wait! He does not have it fully applied. Flair short knee and chops Kerry down. Flair goes for his patented kneedrop but Kerry moves and Flair hurts his knee on the move. FIGURE-4! I love the announcer marking out saying he has never seen this before. Either he is a great liar or he is never watched a Flair match before. Kerry is relentless getting the hold twice, but on the second time Flair rakes the eyes. This time Flair is too hurt to press his advantage. IRON CLAW TO THE KNEE!!! Ok, I am marking out for that too, Dunbar! Kerry drags Flair to the post and wraps his knee around the post. This is excellent! Kerry is working the leg, but misses an elbow drop to the knee. Then he misses a kneedrop to the head. Kerry sells this like death. The next two minutes is incredible. They do a great job selling their respective knee injuries as Flair starts to mount his comeback while hobbling. I like how Flair just moves a step back and lets Kerry miss a dropkick before nailing a PILEDRIVER for two! Back from the commercial, they stop selling the knee injuries, which bums me out, but they are still selling attrition and exhaustion. Kerry gets a series of nearfalls as hope spots as Flair is working on him heavy. Kerry gets Flair up for a big suplex, but only gets two. Here comes the Grand Finale, Flair ballshot, Flair press slam off the top, big bump over the top rope by Flair off a standing dropkick, Flair Flip -> IRON CLAW which popped me huge! The last two minutes of the clock is spent wondering if Flair can last in the Claw and of course he can, but boy oh boy did Kerry come oh so close to recapturing the NWA Championship. Definitely up there with the two other classic Flair/Kerry matches I mentioned. Some really great selling by both men, top notch all the way around. Very exciting, breezy ~40 minutes that we see. The majority of the match was Kerry and you dont think of Kerry as someone with a lot of offense to fill this amount of time, but he does a great job mixing in some big nearfalls and the Claw teases. Flair is a master of just making these long matches thrilling and really putting over his opponent. I think missing as much of the match as we do I cant give it the full five and I think I would put the World Class match over it, but this has some really thrilling moments and it is highly recommended. ****3/4

Thanks, brutha! Well lets keep the party going! With the Top Six Matches of the Bob Backlund Era! Again, dedicated to the Titans of Wrestling: Parv, Pete, Kelly and Johnny! I met Bob Backlund at Survivor Series 2013 (November). My brother came back from getting concessions and told me he was just in the concourse. I had just started watching classic Backlund matches earlier in the year. I was pretty excited but also had no clue what to say to him. It was a total trainwreck of a conversation. He was hollering at me how he wanted to make a comeback and that the McMahons were stopping him. I was trying to ask him about how it was working Greg Valentine and Ken Patera. It was a total oil & water conversation. I got to say thank you and I got to shake his hand. His grip was just as crazy strong as you would believe. In the picture in the blog, that is Bob Backlund deadlifting Hulk Fucking Hogan from a crazy, awkward position. Backlund was just one of those freaky strong people. This is the top six WWF matches of the era and it features Bob Backlund against the biggest names of the era: Hulk Hogan, Sgt Slaughter and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, but there is one match that does not feature Bob Backlund that makes the list...click the link and find out what it is! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2019/03/pro-wrestling-love-vol-37-best-of-wwf.html

Pro Wrestling Vol. 36: Best of Bob Backlund Era WWF 1978-1983 Dedicated to the Titans of Wrestling, Kelly, Pete, Parv and Johnny! So I wanted to write here a little about linking Roller Derby's popularity in the 1970s-80s to this article on pro wrestling from 1978-83, but holy shit is the history of Roller Derby confusing as all get out. I think the only thing more confusing is the game itself! If you have a chance to go see a Roller Derby match live. DO IT! I did this past Saturday and it was awesome! It is raucous mayhem! Very physical and energetic. You wont know what the hell is going on, but you will love it. The peak of Roller Derby's popularity aligned with the Bob Backlund era of the WWF. Overshadowed by his incredibly famous predecessor (Bruno Sammartino) and his even more famous successor (Hulk Hogan), Bob Backlund's reign as champion is usually forgotten and overlooked. This is a crying shame because Bob was an incredible champion and very versatile in the ring. He was able to have classic championship style matches, bloody brawls, energetic workrate style matches and stiff standup fights. Backlund was a renowned amateur wrestler and just plain freaky strong. I think he has one of the more innovative takes on pro wrestling. He was the babyface hero that truly believed "Anything you can do I can do better". This made for very different matches and he would tailor his matches to his opponent. Eleven out of the top twelve matches are Bob Backlund matches and this first set features matches against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Sgt. Slaughter, Olympic Strongman Ken Patera, Adrian Adonis and Ivan Koloff all inside Pro Wrestling Love vol. 36! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2019/03/pro-wrestling-love-vol-36-best-of-wwf.html

I called Scott Keith out on a Twitter for clickbait headline that read "Meltzer is accusing Roman of faking cancer" and if you click the link, he says that is not true and Meltzer has been defending the legitimacy of Roman's illness. This pissed me off even more! Because so many people would just read the headline and think Meltzer actually believe it is a work. Keith himself says Meltzer is not doing that. I have felt indebted to Keith because he was the free PPV reviewer when I was a kid. If it was not for him, I would never have gotten into the rich history of pro wrestling, but after this incident fuck that guy. To me Meltzer on Twitter has been unequivocally clear that Roman's cancer was legitimate and he as been fighting trolls that think it is a work. I dont listen to his audio, but it seems like he does himself no favors, but to me it is very obvious he believes in Roman. As for the disconnect with current critics of pro wrestling, normally I take a "WWE is very mediocre" approach and that extremists on both sides blow it out of proportion. I thought last night was a good-to-great in-ring night, but from story perspective was a total bomb and can believe I saw so many positive tweets from a booking perspective. Shane/Miz has been booked really well and besides Miz's Dad being a total dud and severely undercutting the gravitas of the story with his no selling and they booked it to a logical next step. Besides Shane/Miz, there was nothing. The Handicap match was stupid and pointless. They cut off Owens' and Ali's balls. It was great to see The Big Dog back, but Ambrose should have turned heel. RAW women's main event has become an insane Heyman ECW 2000 angle. People bitch about Russo, but watch Heyman in 1999-2000 in ECW, it is just as bad. Tons of shitty worked shoot promos, Cyrus using insider language. This has Heyman's finger prints all over it. Point is Meltzer has every right to call this WCW 2000 trash because it is flirting with it.

I just rewatched this and I think that this match does so well is be so competitive without being "my turn, your turn" everything is earned. It is two combatants just throwing everything they have at each other. There is no waiting for the other to make a comeback you gotta go take it. It also never feels like a blowout. Steamboat takes an early lead but Flair is a master of breaking momentum. I like gradualism of the heat segment with Steamboat slowly losing that fire as the match wears on only to finally break through. If there is one flaw in the match it is the transition to Steamboat's comeback. To me this is the pinnacle of 80s workrate. I think there are better examples of Flairism as a style as this tones down a lot of the Flairism tropes in favor of being a workrate spectacle. We talk 5, 10 minute sprints, these two had a 20+ minute sprint. Insane!

The only wrestling autograph I have ever gotten was from King Kong Bundy at a local NWA New England show when I was a kid. RIP King Kong Bundy.

American Heavyweight Champion The Spoiler vs Wahoo McDaniel - Houston 4/21/79 Wahoo informs us in the pre-match promo that "Indians like shiny things" and that this is a stepping stone to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. I was really impressed by The Spoiler in his match with Jack Brisco and had to check this out. He is a big dude and very agile. First Fall: No shine, we go right to heat. Apparently Wahoo comes from the Jerry Lawler school of slow starting. Spoiler is back into a corner, but he walks up the buckles and comes crashing down on Wahoo. It is just rope assisted knees galore and throwing Wahoo out. If you watch very closely, you will see him monkey with the mask. I thought he was loading and I was confirmed as correct because when he headbutted Wahoo it split him wide open. Gary Hart calls for THE CLAW~! and Spoiler applies it the to bleeding Wahoo. This is when Wahoo comes storming back. Big time chops and blows that has The Spoiler reeling. Spoiler yanks him hard out of the ring and Wahoo hits the concrete hard. He rams Wahoo's head into the steel post. Wahoo then yanks him out of the ring. Wahoo hits a wicked chop, make sure to check the out girl's reaction in the front row for that. Wahoo returns the favor and slams Spoiler's head into the post and the table. Then he grabs a chair and slams Spoiler with that. This is a WAR! Wahoo hits a vertical suplex, but only gets two. Wahoo misses a kneedrop and Spoiler races up the turnbuckles to hit a double axehandle to win the first fall. Blood, foreign objects, hard chops and brawling. What more do you want? Spoiler 1-0 Second Fall: Spoiler tries to cautiously zero in on the groggy Wahoo who is coming to his feet. Wahoo lashes out with a series of chops, but the Spoiler comes back with some rope-assisted strikes on his own. He goes to his bread & butter the CLAW~! Wahoo is able to make to his feet and send Spoiler into the turnbuckle. Spoiler out of control charges hard into the post. Spoiler is so explosive and a big bumper. I like this dude. He takes a crazy bump off Wahoo's chop and it is all knotted up! Tied 1-1. I am excited for the 3rd fall. Third Fall: I love the selling by The Spoiler at the beginning of this feels so realistic. This is basically Wahoo's Chop vs Spoiler's Claw. They are just going hammer and tong with each other. Great, realistic brawling, neither man giving an inch. I love how Wahoo keeps going after the mask. Another great moment is Spoiler tries to do his trademark of using the ropes for extra force on his blows and Wahoo catches him with a chop. Spoiler finally gets the Claw cinched in. Wahoo is chopping and chopping, but fading. Then in a very memorable awesome finish, Wahoo turns the mask sideways so he cant see anymore! The loosening of the mask mattered. Spoiler puts the Claw on Gary Hart who was trying to help! I love it! Then he puts the Claw on the ref! This is great! Bronco comes out and calls the match for a DQ, but that was a cool finish. Spoiler ends up smashing Wahoo with the mic and the belt. Awesome war of attrition brawling and great selling. Spoiler has looked great in both matches. He was 39 here so the 1960s-1970s were his decades too bad we dont have more. Loved the finish! Do we have the rematch where Wahoo wins the title in May? ****1/2

NWA United States Champion Ric Flair vs Blackjack Mulligan - MACW 10/23/78 Texas Death Match I dont know how long the actual match is, but we got is fucking fun as hell! Flair is the heel and Blackjack is the asskicking giant babyface. Blackjack is wicked over. Listen to the pop he gets when he nails Flair with a punch and signals for the Claw. The Claw puts Flair down for the first fall we get to see. Flair was classic here. I really wish we had Flair from '77-'81 in full. If he wasn't the GOAT before, he would be after we saw all that. He is bumping like a madman. I love how he lunges at one point to strike Blackjack in the throat. The second fall is economical. Blackjack misses the top rope kneedrop (a high risk move that would have ended the match, but now puts him at a disadvantage), the ref gets bumped and Flair pulls out a foreign object. I like how he tosses it in the air and catches. It lets everyone all the way to the cheap seats know he has something. He wails away on Blackjack with it. I like how he gets fall punching Blackjack with it, but since Mulligan's shoulders on down the ref counts anways. Steamboat comes out and chops Flair so hard the object comes flying out of his hand. Blackjack gains control of it and busts Flair wide open. Flair taps a fucking gusher in this. PILEDRIVER! You can count to 100, Gorilla! That's all she wrote. I dont think I can give it a fair rating, but everyone should watch this. It is fun, old school babyface vs heel wrestling.

NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Champion Gino Hernandez vs Chavo Guerrero - Houston 5/22/81 SGR: Lou Thesz You want to be confused check out the history of Junior Heavyweight Championships. This is what I have surmised in my reading. Nelson Royal retires in 1979. There needs to be a new Junior Heavyweight Champion. The NWA was interesting because things are kinda aligned by Japan. You have this loose affiliation of New Japan, WWF, Florida and Los Angeles. While the rest of the NWA and the AWA are aligned with All Japan Pro Wrestling. NWA World Junior Championship (Southeastern Title) basically becomes Les Thornton's title in the early 80s and he defends it in the Southeast. He loses the title to Tiger Mask in New Japan. Then title gets caught over there and the promoters in the US stop recognizing Tiger Mask and continue to recognize Thornton. Then in 84 when Vince buys Georgia, Thornton goes North and the Southern promoters revolt again. They again stop recognizing the current champion. This is as bad the Great Schism of the 14th-15th century in the Catholic Church. Denny Brown ends up the champion, but over in Japan they are still recognizing their lineage. Somehow, Cobra wins the title but I guess New Japan abandons their claim. Denny Brown wins a tournament and is officially recognized as the undisputed NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Now to make matters worse that is not even the title we are talking about in this match. The former title was the title of the traditional NWA, but remember I said there was that loose affiliation of New Japan, Florida, WWF and LA, well they decide they want their own. What is strange is the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title already existed and Tatsumi Fujinami was the champion. Steve Keirn wins this version called the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title right after Nelson Royal retires in 1979. He loses the title to Fujinami. Fujinami comes to Florida to drop the title to Mike Graham. Graham loses the title back to Fujinami in Japan, but then Fujinami gets injured. Chavo Guerrero defeats Kengo Kimura so that is how the title gets to Houston and why this match exists. But then to matters more confusing, Chavo switches allegiances to All Japan Pro Wrestling so now Onita wins the title and defends it in Mexico. Truly International! This ends up becoming All Japan's Junior Heavyweight Championship, but then is abandoned when Misawa moves to Heavyweight and they unveil a new title as All Japan's relationship with America becomes strained. Crazy! Damnit, I forgot what happened in the match now I have to rewatch it. Bear with me. Ok, I rewatched it, good thing it was a great match. First Fall: Gino literally has to fight his way into the ring. He gets into a scrap with a fan. He is definitely a lot more cocky than in the Lothario match. By 1982, this is the Gino we all loved to hate. Chavo lost his championship back in February and he wants it back. Really strong first fall. Chavo wins the quickness battle, but Gino stifles him with a front facelock. Excellent psychology against a fast-paced, explosive babyface challenger. Chavo does a great job struggling. Backbreaker, but Gino pounces on the front facelock. Nothern Lights back drop, Gino pounces on the front facelock. Fireman's Carry, Gino pounces on the front facelock. The more Chavo fights the more energy he expends. It is exciting because the babyface is creating so much movement and you want this to be the spot that gets him free, but Gino is relentless with the front facelock. This is very similar to the Benoit vs Eddy Guerrero sleepers match from Japan in 1996. Of course, Chavo does break free (but it means so much more that it took him four tries instead of one and modern wrestlers should take heed of this) and he applies a wicked tight surfboard. Not upside down just vertical. With this being 2 out of 3 Falls, I bit on this as a finish. You could believe that hold was actually exhausting to Chavo to apply so when he relinquished the hold, he did not look like an idiot, it was just fatigue did him in. Then he got one of those crazy pretzel submissions on Gino's arm, man I thought he was going to break Gino. Gino made it to the ropes. Chavo telegraphs the back body drop and gets punted. Gino hits his Russian Legsweep, which he used as a finish in the Lothario match to pick up the first fall. Didnt love the finish, but the rest of the work was superb. Finish came out of nowhere and I would have liked if Gino cheated more to earn it. Gino 1-0! Second Fall: As is customary, the second fall is short and sweet. Gino hurls Chavo out of the ring and as Chavo is trying to get his wits about him, Gino blasts him from behind and then rams him into the post. Gino does a little Gorgeous George strutting. Gino gets a back body drop for two. I didnt like the transition it was too abrupt. Chavo just hulked up and started punching Gino and kicking ass. He showed great fire, but the transition just wasnt there. It felt like now it is my turn. Chavo hits his finish the German Suplex with a sloppy bridge for three to knot it up. Tied 1-1! Third Fall: Gino is in a bad way. He is clutching the back of his neck. He is asking for time. He is being a baby. Taking refuge in the ropes. So Lou Thesz says if you want to act that way, I will give Chavo the third and deciding fall. That was the ultimate Dad move! Chavo is ROARING! Gutwrench suplex for two! Somersault splash for two! OH NO CHAVO MISSES A DROPKICK! Gino elbow drop for two! Gino is bouncing Chavo around. The action is fast & furious. Tenryu style top rope elbow drop from Gino 1-2-LEG ON THE ROPES! Gino is going for his finish the Russian Legsweep...Chavo blocks...Chavo hits his own Russian Legsweep...1-2-3! He had the tights! The crowd goes crazy, they rush the apron. It is Bedlam! Gino is furious. He attacks Chavo with the belt and draws blood! It BREAKING LOOSE IN HOUSTON! He is going to leave with the belt. NOT ON LOU THESZ'S WATCH! Lou has him by the hair. Tiger Conway Jr retrieves the Championship for Chavo and Gino is left throwing a temper tantrum as the crowd goes nuts for Chavo! Amazing finish that feels like an All Japan bomb throwing war with great transitions. I love Chavo throwing all of Gino's shit in his face. The post-match is great. Awesome babyface vs heel championship match! ****1/2

Jose Lothario vs Gino Hernandez - Houston 1/19/79 Texas Death Steel Cage Match Lothario was a major find of the Houston footage as an asskicking avenger. Hernandez is someone who left us way too soon, but outside the short World Class run and the limited Southwest Championship Wrestling footage, we dont have much. I was going to remark on Hernandez interesting short cropped Caesar-esque hair style as sticking as a sore thumb in the big hair of the late 70s/early 80s, but we find out he had lost hair in a hair vs hair match with the balding Lothario. That's a pretty good deal for Lothario. However, Hernandez did break Lothario's arm at an earlier date. In a neat bit of psychology, Lothario is trying to rip off Gino's arm in response. Gino is the first to send Lothario into the cage out of desperation. But Lothario comes storming back and he lives up to the hype as a badass asskicker, punching his way out of trouble. I like that Gino's response to Lothario first throwing him into the cage is to try to escape. However, we are informed that nobody has ever successfully scaled the cage. Boy, would that change! Gino wins the first fall with a series of Russian legsweeps. This is a one minute respite followed by the ten count. Lothario is able to send him hard into the cage. The crowd screams on for more! Lothario drops fists and knees and legs on the head of Gino until he picks up a fall. At the start of the third fall, Lothario presses, but Gino sends him into the turnbuckle. Now he is punching his forehead, biting, sends him hard into the cage. Lothario comes up bloody. Gino pummels Lothario in the open wound, hits the big splash from the middle rope and picks up the third fall. The fourth fall is short, it is purpose is to show Gino is in dominant position in a about minute's time he pins Lothario just from beating on him. Things look bleak for our hero. Gino is pounding on him, but he is getting a bit cocky. Lothario on his knees and he applies the STOMACH CLAW~! Gino is in a world of hurt and tries to climb the turnbuckles, but Lothario drags him down. Lothario beats his ass from pillar to post. Combination of cage shots and punches bust the Handsome Half-Breed wide open! Lothario picks up the fifth fall. Just as the fourth fall was short to show Gino in dominant so was the sixth fall for Lothario. He picks Gino like a lawn dart drives him hard into the cage face first, a fist drop and he picks up the sixth fall. It is now tied 3 falls apiece. Now Lothario is looking to rip off the arm of Gino. Full on Fujiwara armbar, I am going to take this home with me. Gino submits to end the seventh fall. Lothario is pissed. He does not want to let go. He wants this to be the end of the match. I am loving how Lothario is selling this. Lothario hooks him in a guillotine choke in the eighth fall, but Gino hoists him up as if he to do a superplex, but the cage is in the way and Lothario takes a gentle bump to the canvas. Gino wins the eighth and final fall and I gotta say that was a LAME FINISH! It was lame because it was not cool, it did not look like hurt, the heel won, but it really was not that underhanded, Lothario was not protected. It was lame, lame, lame. It is a bummer because the match up until that point was a badass match. I thought Lothario outperformed Gino. Gino had his moments of strutting and cockiness, but this was the mature, refined product you see against the Von Erichs. He was not yet that heat-seeking heel. Lothario made up for him by kicking ass and taking names. The armbar at the end did a great job connecting the end of the match to the beginning. His comeback in the 5th fall was glorious. This pales in comparison to the greatest traditional Texas Death Match of all time, Chris Harris vs James Storm in TNA, but it was cool to finally see Jose Lothario. ***3/4

Terry Funk vs Mark Lewin - Houston 4/27/79 Mark Lewin is billed as Maniac Mark Lewin, but he is more weird than he is vicious. I guess Idiosyncratic Mark Lewin wouldnt sell. I know Mark Lewin mostly from being the Purple Haze in Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness in Florida. Also, I know he was a big star in Australia, but never seen any of that. Great body I will say. First Fall: Lewin proves how much of a maniac he is by going into the fetal position in the ropes and sticking his ass out a lot. He is more of a maniac in the sense of a Shinsuke Nakamura than a violent heel. Funk tries to use a top wristlock but Gary Hart keeps interfering. On the outside, Lewin uses a chair to attack Funk's left arm. This is definitely a 100% Funk carry job as he is uses his great selling to keep you interested. Lewin is slashing at the arms with chops and working wristlocks and hammerlocks. Funk keep it interesting by selling and mixing it up. He tries to turn it into a boxing match. When that does not work he goes for headbutts in the clinch. That only serves to hurt him too. He dives for the ankle and picks it. He goes for the Spinning Toehold, but Gary Hart distracts and Lewin hits an illegal karate chop uppercut to the throat with the point of the fingers jutting into Funk's throat. Great finish. The heel panics because the babyface almost puts on is finish so the manager distracts and the heel hits a devastating cheapshot for the fall. Good shit. Lewin 1-0! Second Fall: As is customary a short fall. Lewin begins the fall as expected by working on the arm. He gets Funk outside and bounces his head off the table. Funk slows him down some kicks to the mid-section. He dives for the leg and picks it. This screws up Lewin's leg and he is selling. Funk hits an atomic drop and does his spinning boot rake. Gary Hart sensing danger hands Lewin a foreign object which temporarily swings things in his favor, but Funk with dogged determination gets the Spinning Toehold to win the fall. Gary Hart comes in to get Funk to release the hold and massage Lewin's leg. Solid fall to tie it up. Tied 1-1 Third Fall: Funk wants to that Spinning Toehold again just like Lewin was going after the arm after the first fall. Lewin sells the leg really well. Lewin was using the ropes and Gary Hart to try to keep the Funker at bay. At one point, Terry pulled Lewin and Hart to the middle ring, great spot. Also great was when Lewin went to the eyes, Funk bit his nose. Funk settled for a leg lace, but Lewin got a hold of a foreign object which looked like a ring for a lack of a better term. He started raking Funk's eyes. Funk's selling here is magnificent. Then he started going for those illegal karate thrusts with the point of the fingers, but only got two. Funk came back picked the ankle and applied the Spinning Toehold. Here comes Gary Hart. Never liked Gary Hart always thought he was lame for not bumping for anyone. Funk puts him in the Spinning Toehold, partially I think because he was blinded by all the eye-raking. Lewin grabs a sleeper and the ref calls for a DQ because he knows Lewin wouldnt have managed that sleeper without Hart's distraction. Amazing Funk performance both selling and on offense. Lewin besides his leg selling was pretty useless. It was good heel offense, but he did not have that larger than life feel. Funk is so unique in his selling and it was really credible in the match. I loved how dogged he was in trying to get that Spinning Toehold. This is a great match to show why Funk is a great wrestler more than it is a great match in its own right. ***3/4

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race vs Andre The Giant - Houston 1/7/79 Probably the most famous match to be uncovered by the NWA On Demand Streaming Service of Houston Wrestling. First Fall: Andre kicks Harley's ass with a variety of holds!?! Yes The Giant acquitted himself as a master of arm psychology. Lots of great pro wrestling technique coupled with gargantuan size makes for an impressive visual as he is wrenching the arm of the champion. Harley does a great job putting his size over and the challenge of wrestling a giant. He takes a big back body drop early and powders. Pretty much any time he can break free of the Giant's grasp he powdered. He was really good at verbal selling while in the holds, really hollering. I thought he may have an opening when Andre hit a vertical suplex early and rung his own bell, but the Giant recovered and went back to work on the arm. I loved the butterfly suplex by Andre. Andre DIVES for the cover, but Harley evades. Andre crashes and burns hurting himself. I love the psychology when a behemoth can only hurt himself. Outside the ring, Harley hits him with a chair and then HARLEY RACE BODYSLAMS ANDRE THE GIANT! HE DID THE IMPOSSIBLE! That's the sound of millions of Hulkamaniacs feeling betrayed and lied to. Harley takes the first fall by countout. Race 1-0 Second Fall: Andre is looking amazing in this. In this fall, we see a lot more badass offense from the big man. As the fall begins, Andre is recovering on the outside. Harley tries to press the advantage and is met with a Giant-size headbutt that sends him flying. Andre gets back in the ring. Harley starts using some nice uppercuts. Then he bearhugs Andre. It looked like Andre called the spot to me. It has been pointed out this looks ridiculous and it does, BUT Andre does sell the hell of it and that makes it great. Harley gets Andre on his back with the bearhug to get some nearfalls and Andre uses his tree trunk legs to wrap him up in a bodyscissors. This is where it gets good. Harley is hollering as Andre squeezes. Andre gets him over for a nearfall and Harley makes the ropes. Andre works over the back. He is just chucking Harley around but his mobility has been compromised by his bad back (slam on concrete and bearhug). Also everytime, he hits a big move, Harley powders so he cant cover. On the third time, he goes out after the champion and brings him back in by BODYSLAMMING HIM OVER THE TOP ROPE WHILE ON THE FLOOR! That is impressive! Andre leaps with a big splash and this time he nails it to tie it up! Tied 1-1! Third Fall: Is a bit of a letdown. Andre works over the back (he injured with bodyscissors) with some clubbing blows. Harley tries punching his way out of trouble, but that only makes the Giant mad. Andre hits headbutts and big only meaty rights. He even sits down on Harley. You knew the screwy finish was coming. Harley powders. Andre gives chase. Harley stops Andre from re-entering. Double Countout. I am all for screwjob finishes, but this one was just alright and the rest of 3rd fall was just alright. They did not finish on a high note. The first fall was cool seeing Andre work a bunch of NWA-style championship holds. The finish to the first fall was excellent; Andre hurts himself and Harley uses the outside to win. Second fall was a great Andre comeback fall. Andre has better matches in New Japan and Harley has the Funk match as the best match from Houston thus far, but this is still worth tracking down. ****1/4

Jack Brisco vs The Spoiler - Houston 7/27/79 The Spoiler could be my new favorite wrestler. Helluva performance from him against the former world champion. He works a ***** headlock against Brisco. Check out how wide his base during the hold. The announcer does a great job pointing out that rather than having his fingers clasped he was holding on above his wrist for extra leverage and a tighter hold. Brisco was selling like a million bucks in the hold. Tons of great struggle. Seriously this was five minutes of excellent headlock work. Maybe my favorite headlock work ever. Brisco gets some holds and shots in here and there, but cant really build any momentum. Spoiler is a great heel. Jaw-jacking with the ref. Tons of cheating. Knee on the throat. Using the ropes for leverage. A great top rope move. He looked awesome in this. I know we dont have much Spoiler but thats a shame because he looked great here. Spoiler's finish is The Claw! Again great Claw work they really milk it and make you believe Brisco is in trouble. Brisco gets a kneecrusher. Now it is a race. The Claw vs Figure-4. Spoiler blocks the Figure-4 ends up in a single leg crab. Amazing selling by Spoiler, high drama. He reaches back and uses the hair to pull Brisco down back into the Claw. Gary Hart is Spoiler's manager and he has been liberally interfering and distracting. Brisco breaks the Claw because Spoiler does not have a good angle. FIIGURE-4! Lots of drama. I love how the Spoiler pulls the ref to him and is totally freaking out. Hart attacks Brisco but the ref sees and calls for the bell. First fall goes to Jack on DQ. Brisco beats up Hart (who should really bump better) and O'Connor Roll....1-2-3! Brisco sweeps 2-0. Great structure. The submission work at the end was top notch. The headlock sequence at the beginning should be shown to every aspiring wrestler on how something so simple and can be so effective and entertaining. Eye opening match in how good Spoiler potentially was, great heel in every sense of the word. ****

Brusier Brody vs Mongolian Stomper - Houston 6/4/82 Where has this Brody been? Best kind of brawl, short, spirited and bloody. No selling. Just two asskickers, kicking ass and bleeding. I have never seen a Stomper match before. Hell, I dont even think I knew what he looked like. Brody threw some amazing punches in this match. Damn where has that been? It was said in a different review but what made this match work is Stomper wrestled just like Brody, no bumping and no selling. He just kept attacking. So it felt like a real street fight, barroom fight. This was a way better version of ECW. Stomper threw some weak chairshots, but holy shit Brody was swinging for the fences. In 1982, that is insane. He connected with some pretty wicked shots. The fight in the front row was insane. They were each picking up two chairs at a time. They do the chair fight a decade before ECW and FMW. The match actually ends only after five minutes. The ref takes a lot of abuse and calls for a double disqualification. Brody and Stomper have an insane pull apart. This is the one time Brody lives up to the hype of a kick ass brawl! ****

Andre The Giant vs Crusher Blackwell - AWA 11/2/80 Bodyslam Challenge BLACKWELL BACK BODY DROPS ANDRE! That was insane. It is amazing how Andre dwarfs Blackwell in this. Insane. Blackwell goes for the slam, but gets squashed. Andre had some trouble lifting big 'ol Blackwell but slams him. He wins the money but the match continues and he throws Blackwell over the top. Triggering the DQ.

Crusher Blackwell vs Da Crusher - AWA 8/17/80 The Battle of the Crushers! Da Crusher is a fantastic promo! The only thing that was missing was Crusher saying Blackwell couldnt do the polka. Like 3 minutes of action, but a good slugfest. Blood, bolo punches and chairshots. I wish we had all of this stuff!

" The problem here was his [Harley Race] lack of personality and lack of expression" - OJ nailed it. This has become a major hangup I have with Harley in a lot of his matches. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race vs Terry Funk - Houston 7/1/77 Holy Grail is an understatement as anything from Terry Funk in the 1970s especially a long traditional NWA Championship bout is a huge prize. Race defeated Terry Funk in Toronto for the World's Championship in Februrary of '77 and now five months later Funk is challenging for the belt. First Fall: If you watch closely, Funk is reviewing the rules with the ref and makes a specific point about how chopping to throat is illegal but below is not. First move of the match, a chop by Terry Funk! The first 15 minutes focused on matwork. Terry Funk looked great working the arm. The best part was definitely how he set up the arm stretcher by stepping on Harley's face. I dont mean he placed his boot on Harley's face. He put both his feet right on the face of the champion. It was some nasty work. Harley made sure to add some movement. Funk hit not one, but two press slams on Harley. I dont think I have ever seen Funk do that. The first one was a beauty and an emphatic way to regain control. There is 4 minutes of clipping and we come back to Harley working a tight headlock. Very similar to a tight Backlund style one with plenty of wringing. Great struggle from Funk. Funk is able to earn an armbar but quickly loses control to a headscissors. Race is working his holds very well, very tight. Great pressure on the headscissors. Funk stands up with Race draped over his back, but Race maintains the hold and Funk falls forward. Funk hits a couple lefts while in the headscissors and stands up with it and this time gets out. I like how this does not start the Funk immediately instead Funk is still selling so it is Race landing the blows. Race goes for an arm wringers, but Funk starts throwing right-handed chops and eventually Funk breaks Race's clasp and starts to mount a comeback. I really enjoyed Race totally whiffing on a straight left closed fist only for Funk to punch him in the face. I love Funk's reaction to the ref to throw his hands up like he is innocent. Stuff like that makes closed fists feel so much more important. Funk wants the spinning toehold, but cant apply it. Then it is Race with a figure-4 attempt but he cant get it. Funk takes a nasty spill to the floor when Race side-steps him on a criss-cross. Race bring back in the hardway with a vertical suplex. Funk does an excellent job selling the back. Abdominal Stretch gives Race the fall. I have watched thousands of pro wrestling matches and never seen the abdominal stretch earn a fall and now I have seen it twice. Great first fall. It really puts Funk on display. He is so innovative and unpredictable. If that is something you value, then he is your man. Even little things, like how he falls through the ropes on his apron and re-enters the ring feels different. This is the best possible Race as he is toned down not throwing out too much. He is sticking to the fundamentals. He is still a blackhole of charisma but everything looks tight. Race 1-0. Second Fall: Even though Harley won the first fall. It was not definitive. Funk came back strong in the opening of the second fall. Backing Harley into a corner and slapping him around. This drew the ire of Race. Who charged into a bodyslam. Funk came over, but Race butted him in the abdomen. Great transition. Race went back to work on the back as that is how he won the first fall. Funk eventually wrestled a headlock on Race. They break free and Race wants an abdominal stretch, but Funk gets a backslide for two. Funk urgently pounces and hits a piledriver for three. This has been the Terry Funk show. Great individual performance. Characteristically short second fall. Tied 1-1. Third Fall: Excellent fall, ***** stuff here. Harley decides that he wants to make this match a battle of fisticuffs. He is hitting harder than in the Wahoo match. Funk blasts him back! Atomic Drop! 1-2-NO! Both feet over the ropes. Dont leave anything to chance. Funk lays a clever trap. He takes a knee over by the ropes. Baiting Race to come over and Funk picks the ankle. SPINNING TOEHOLD! Race starts punching him in the face. He keeps punching until he busts Funk wide open. Great bladejob. This was great drama. It was Funk's Spinning Toehold vs. Race working the cut. I loved the spot where Race hits a kneedrop on the cut, but comes up clutching his bad knee. Funk has one last gasp in the Spinning Toehold, but Harley grabs him by the hair Funk tries to block the left hand, but Harley breaks free and starts taking wicked shots to the cut. Funk gradually loses his strength each punch taking more of him until he finally succumbs to collapse, bloody and convulsing he takes a wild swing at the ref who calls for a blood stoppage because he knows Funk has lost it. Wow! Damn great finish to set up a big time rematch. Race starts headbutting Funk in the cut while announcer calls for a doctor. Wild! Little bit of overhype calling this the greatest NWA Championship of all time aside, this match is fantastic and a terrific Terry Funk performance. So many little touches that are unique to Funk and so many innovative spots that I dont think have been seen since 1977 and were seen before. The third fall was high drama and you always want to peak at the finish and these two did just that. ****3/4

NWA United States Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat- MACW 12/10/78 This is the first time I am checking out any of the Cornette Garbage Tape footage. My God, Ric Flair is good. After watching two Harley Race matches, holy shit is Flair good. Flair is much more entertaining. The jaw jacking, bravado, the urgency, the excitement. Another thing is that a lot of Race's strikes look light as feathers. We dont say it enough Flair hits fucking hard. He is a stiff dude. Everything looks so snug and tight. The crowd is in frenzy for all ten minutes we get. Steamboat sells like a million bucks, but HOLY SHIT THAT COMEBACK! Steamboat was built more like Snuka at this point like a body builder. Seeing all those muscles flex at once. He looked so badass. Chop galore! Flair is bumping and hollering. Torture Rack by Steamboat I love it. The Dragon has the champion reeling, but Flair hits an uppercut to the throat to force the DQ. Steamboat tackles Flair after the match as Flair scurries away with the belt. Not enough footage to rate, but this is tremendous fun. Stuff like this makes me think the Greatest Match Ever was watched by a couple thousand people in North Carolina at a random house show.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race vs Wahoo McDaniel - Houston 2/10/78 2 Out of 3 falls First Fall: Harley by the numbers. Working in and out of holds. Lots of spots and movement. Not as soulless as that Backlund match performance as there is some stooging here, but still there is just not a lot of character work. Wahoo is great in this. Asskicking babyface. The crossbody block was a good nearfall. I really liked his chops and the butterfly suplex was a great throw. They were working in and out of headlocks. Harley would butt his head or throw a southpaw punch and Wahoo would roar back. I really, really liked Harley nasty headbutts up against the ropes towards the end of the first fall. Wahoo comes firing back. Harley is able to hit an Atomic Drop that sends Wahoo into the buckles. Harley finishes him off with a series of kneedrops to the head (looked great) and a vertical suplex?!? Man I have seen an abdominal stretch and a vertical suplex decide a fall today. The Late 70s were a strange time indeed! The finish felt anti-climatic even if it was logical. Harley 1-0. Second Fall: Harley looks to press the advantage, Wahoo tries to comeback, but Harley butts him in the stomach. Harley gets a couple kneedrops into the abdomen. I really wished this went somewhere as Wahoo was doing some great selling. Harley gets two on a piledriver. Then he settles into a front facelock. Sensible he got two nearfalls but wanted to sap more of Wahoo's energy. Wahoo's comeback began with a knee to the head to break the hold and then some vicious chops! He was lighting Harley up! Harley goes over the top and Wahoo sends him into the post. Wahoo is killing. Harley takes a couple big bumps off the chops and Wahoo takes the second fall. I know this is 1978 but these falls are not exciting. It is not the moves. There is a good way to a simple, logical finish and make it exciting. These feel very logical, but not exciting. Tied 1-1 Third Fall: The best fall! A fire fight breaks out. Excellent chops, punches and lots of shots to the midsection. There are a lot of momentum shifts but they are all earned. It is two men that are battling for the richest prize in the sport and they are scrapping. The action spills to the outside. Harley slams Wahoo's head into the post. Again, NO, block...Wahoo slams the Champion's head into the post drawing blood. There is an incident in the stands and the police swarm a fan. In the ring, Harley is wearing the proverbial crimson mask. Wahoo is pouring it on. Chops galore and another beautiful Butterfly Suplex. I love Harley puts both feet over the bottom rope he wants to make sure the ref sees it. Leave nothing up to chance! Wahoo his thunderous chop similar to the one that won him the second fall, BUT as he leaps for the cover he eats the knees of Race. Harlye tries to mount a comeback...O'Connor Roll by Wahoo...Harley grabs the trunks and 1-2-3! That finish is always a great heel finish. Definitely one of the better Harley outings, some good offense. Wahoo roared in this match. I wish we had so much more prime Wahoo. The finishes in the first two falls were a bit anti-climatic. Solid NWA Championship title defense. ****

AWA World Heavyweight Nick Bockwinkel vs Jumbo Tsuruta - Hawaii 2/14/79 I watched this years ago and have totally forgotten it. My only memory is that I liked it a whole lot. I loved the ceremony before the match complete with laying. It makes it feel Big Time! First Fall: We lose about 5 minutes due to a clip. Bock and Jumbo are jostling for position and Bock pops him with an elbow in the ropes. Bock makes a big show that is legal because it was an elbow, but that's not the point. It was not a clean break so Jumbo is pissed and his fist ball. Bock is backpedalling and asking the ref to make Jumbo open up the fist. The next time in the ropes, Bock pops him again, but he lingers and Jumbo fires back to a huge pop. Yeah this match is pretty badass. Jumbo works the arm for the majority of the match using holds such as armbar, hammerlock and double wristlock. Bock is the one creating the movement in the match but Jumbo is being tenacious. Solid work. In the double wristlock, Bock starts working over the midsection with punches and eventually he makes in-roads and Jumbo goes down. From there, it is just a textbook clinic from both men. Bock is using big kneelifts and stomps to keep the challenger at bay while Jumbo writhes in pain. He drives his face hard into the top buckle. Jumbo bounces back with a big punch. Here comes Jumbo, no more holds, it is all about blows to the face and European Uppercuts. He wants the Buttefly Suplex to end it, but he hoists the champion up twice but cannot get him all the way over. That must have been painful for Bock. Bock rakes the eyes. Lots of good heel offense by Bock here throwing him into the buckles and the ropes and choking. He throws him out. You are going to get some classic King of the Mountain. Jumbo comes roaring back! The crowd goes crazy for Jumbo as he kicks ass. He goes for the Big High Knee in the corner, but crashes and burns, knee-first into the buckles. Bockwinkel is brimming with confidence now. He works over the knee to set up the figure-4. I love how they go back and forth on the reversals. It is not just one reversal and done. It is a struggle. A struggle that Jumbo ends up losing. Excellent first fall. Bock 1-0! Second Fall: Rocks just as hard as the first fall. I love that Jumbo is selling the leg the whole time even if Bock has abandoned the strategy mid-way through this fall. Bock picks right up where her left trying to apply the figure-4. This would have spelled the end for Jumbo but he chops his way out of trouble from his back. Bock settles for an Indian Deathlock, but Jumbo flips to his back and chops to break the toehold. Jumbo starts to mount his comeback. I like that the control segment begins with the Boston Crab (a Jumbo favorite) and that leads to more attacks to the back rather than the Boston Crab being the final hold. This is when the selling gets really good. You have Jumbo collapsing after every move and Bock staggered. I loved the Atomic Drop and then the abdominal stretch and they collapse into the ropes. Bock has been a great heel in this match. He really sells Jumbo's offense well but like a heel. It is a way that does not elicit sympathy but rather makes you want to see more. Bock abandons the knee, but Jumbo keeps selling. Bock decides to go to his favorite spot: King of the Mountain and it is a good one. Bockwinkel really knows how to ratchet up the heat and be a nasty heel. Not a lot of spots/moves in this match, he is out to inflict pain to the head. Eventually, Jumbo turns the tables from the low ground and drapes Bock over the apron and starts dishing out some punishment. The crowd is pumped. Irish Whip! Is he going to go for the High Knee again? Nope, he has learned and is too injured. He settles for smashing Bock's head into the buckles so much that he comes up bleeding! Jumbo is pouring it on. Butterfly Suplex! 1-2-NO! C'mon ref that was three! Slow count and you were out of position! Abdominal stretch and Bock passes out from the pain! Wow I think that is the first time I have seen the ab stretch get a fall in anything. They built on the strong foundation of the first fall and delivered a second fall. Bockwinkel is giving such a great fundamental heel performance. Flair is a speedball, but here Bock is relying on selling and character work rather than bumping to convey that Jumbo is kicking ass. Bock is not trying to show he is a great wrestler in this match. The majority of his offense is driving Jumbo's head into the turnbuckle. He is not trying to be the hero or the cool wrestler. He is a heel's heel. Jumbo got everything you want from a babyface fire and selling. Really strong stuff! Tied 1-1 Third Fall: This reminds me so much of Flair vs Kerry. Bock is beaten, battered and bloody slumped by the ropes. The difference is Flair is so loud and Bock is understated, but the point is the same the heel champion is in serious trouble. I like Bockwinkel's strategy of staying by the ropes at all costs. Any time he is free to move, he is moving towards the sanctuary of the ropes. Jumbo wants his Butterfly Suplex, but settles for a piledriver! His knee gives out and he struggles to cover. 1-2-NO! Huge nearfall and the Hawaii crowd bites on it hard! I dont know why Jumbo convulses right there bit over the top. Atomic drop, but on the bad knee. Abdominal Stretch! This is how he won the second fall. Bock clubs the ref! BOOOOOOOOOOO! It is 1979 so the shitty finish was expected, but regardless this is tremendous. Great understated performance by Bock where he was not trying to be cool just trying to survive. Heel selling is a lost art and more heels should watch this match and Bock in general to see how you can sell in such a way that you invite the fans to want to see more. It is a classic championship style match that takes you on a great roller coaster ride. ****1/2

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race - MSG 9/22/80 I have been dreading this match for quite some time due to its rep, length and participants. However, I felt like it was such an important match I needed to watch it. It is far, far better than the Backlund vs Muraco one hour snoozefest. Surprisingly, it actually turned into a pretty good, dramatic match down the stretch. The first 25 minutes or so are boring as piss, but the last ten are pretty good. Backlund vs a bumper can be an awesome match see anything with Sgt. Slaughter. What this match is missing is energy and charisma. Race is just letting himself be bodyslammed and be countered, but he is not being entertaining. He is just going through the motions. Even Bob who I think had quirky charisma is pretty subdued, but he is the more charismatic of the two. They work the side headlock a lot and the crowd gets restless around the 12 minute mark. There was a spot they they did twice which was really good where Race would grab the chin of Backlund in the headlock pull Backlund down into a bridge and Backlund would bridge out and slam Race back to the mat in the headlock. It really showed off the strength of Backlund. Like I said the crowd was getting restless, they popped huge when Backlund hit a textbook vertical suplex. This crowd is a lot nicer than today's. If you like suplexes this match is for you, Backlund hit them all: gutwrench, vertical, German and a tremendous Butterfly that actually had some struggle. Race never got a real heat segment. He usually hit one move and then get countered. He did have on stretch of kneedrops and headbutts. Like I said the individual spots were fine. It was the connective tissue and character work that was missing. This was actually a pretty classic Bob layout. Anything you can do, Bob can do better! That worked with Hogan, Valentine and Patera to great results, but a great layout is meaningless without entertaining execution. This was a soulless performance. I loved Backlund's piledriver (as a counter to Race's attempt) and his big atomic drop to the floor. Classic Backlund! The other weird thing is Bob kept selling like he had been through this war. Just that epic exhaustion selling, but Race really did not do a number on him so it felt weird and forced. Just bad overselling. Down the stretch when Bob was hitting these bombs it was more exciting. They double juice. Good slugfest, I love Backlund's punches. They slip into a sleeper and Race punches the ref in the sleeper to draw the DQ. You knew in an unification match it would have a shit finish. Like I said the last ten minutes are pretty good. The action is there, but needed a lot more character work. It is not a good match per se, but it is not that bad either.

Yeah I dont know why I lowballed the rating. I didnt read my review before watching. Came away thinking it was awesome. Then read my review and agreed with myself.I guess I didnt like the finish, but I gave high marks to the lead-in matches to the Patera & Slaughter gimmick matches. Weird. Yes, this is ****1/2