ohtani's jacket

Same deal as with Jim Breaks. Marty Jones vs. Marc Rocco (9/13/78) This was the third of the Marty Jones/Marc Rocco matches that aired on The Wrestling Channel. I've been wanting to see this for the longest time as the Rocco/Jones matches are what turned my curosity over British wrestling into a wrestling love affair that's spanned a couple of hundred matches now. This was title vs. title, Rocco's British Heavy-middleweight title vs. Jones' British Light-heavyweight title, which was a pretty rare stip as far as I'm aware. The angle was that Jones dropped down to Rocco's weight but that was all kayfabed bullshit as far as I know. Mind you, not having seen Jones' 70s work for a while I was surprised by how small he was at this point. I've actually been quite of disappointed by some of the original broadcast Jones that's popped up from the early 80s, so as soon as this got going I sank my teeth into some prime Marty Jones. I really love this match-up. People who know me will know that I hate Rocco, but against Jones he's just about perfect. The closest I've seen him come to this with another opponent is that great catchweight contest he had with Pat Roach. Rocco worked heel here, but it was same kind of deal as a rudo in a lucha title match in that he was more invested in winning Jones' title than worrying too much about cheating. I haven't watched the other Rocco/Jones matches in a couple of years so I'm not sure how this compares. My gut reaction was that it was the least of the three matches, but I'd have to go back and watch the other two. What's remarkable about these matches is how ahead of their time they were. They could have easily been great matches in the 90s let alone the late 70s. It's amusing how Walton doesn't know the names for the moves they do. At one point he calls a proto-missile dropkick a "dropkick from height." I thought they'd screw us out of a finish since it was title vs. title, but they actually swapped titles on a count out. It was announced as a knock out, but it was a huge ass bump over the top rope from one of the workers. That kind of gave it away if you know these two. Strangely enough, the winner vacated the loser's belt straight away and the loser won it back again in the tournament to determine the new winner, which doesn't make much sense, but who am I to question thirty five year old booking? This was a good match.

I got a batch of new Jim Breaks I haven't seen before, much of it original broadcast stuff, so I thought I'd jot down my thoughts here. Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (4/24/79, JIP Rd 7) This was a tournament final for the vacant British Welterweight crown that aired on Cup Final Day 1979. About 17 minutes aired, so we got to see around half the match. The usual Breaks/Grey dynamic was on show here with Grey reacting aggressively to Break's punches by using the open hand to strike his nose. Breaks appeared to bleed hardway, but as usual the World of Sport camera guy avoided a close-up and instead Walton tried to sell that the smear of blood you get from a bloodied nose was Breaks bleeding profusely. This was quite a toned down performance from Breaks, though he did receive a public warning. It was mainly a battle between the Breaks Special and Grey's surfboard. Grey got in a couple of nice nearfalls, including one surfboard that seemed like it might be the match winner, but as the match began to peter out (which Walton blamed on perspiration), it became obvious that Joint were going to pull one of their favourite tricks and have the match end in a draw to set-up compulsory rematch, a trick they borrowed from the FA Cup replay presumably. Looking at the results, the replay ended in a replay as well, so they definitely got their mileage out of this tournament. The last couple of rounds were disappointing because of the looming draw, but Breaks vs. Grey is always pretty solid so this wasn't too bad.

He owns his own ramen shop.

My favourite memory of Sid was my friend's kid brother dying with laughter over this promo -- http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5es3e_si...rt#.US7TJKLIaPw He turned bright red and fell to the floor in that laughing so hard it hurts kind of way. We rewound it about a million times and by the end we were all in fits of laughter.

What was that thread that Kevin Cook started on Smarkschoice? 75 reasons why Sid rules the world or something like that. Thread needs resurrecting.

You're a year out on the date. This is from '88.

Tully Blanchard vs. Gene Ligon, World Championship Wrestling 1985 Only a squash match, but more evidence that Tully was one of the great television studio workers. Schiavone made the mistake of calling Tully "capable" in an earlier interview and Tully shows Tony just how capable he is by busting out a variety of holds on Gene Ligon. Tully's matches usually feature a lot of bumping and selling and heel shortcuts, so it was fun to watch him work the mat, though I wouldn't rate him as one of the greats in that category.

Harley Race vs. Mil Mascaras, AJPW 9/11/80 This was a styles clash to say the least, but they could have at least thought to make it interesting. The outside brawling, chair waving and table spot was the least inspired stuff I've seen this side of Gene Kiniski's reffing. Neither guy looked like they gave a fuck. Another swing and a miss for Harley in Japan.

Belgian wrestling from 1984. Franz van Buyten vs. Frank Merckx (Pirate Fight, 1984) Who would have thought that Europe would have the best chain matches? I would've thought Mexico, Puerto Rico or one of the Southern territories, but nowhere have I seen such a singular focus on the chain as weapon as in these pirate fights. I love how they'll do regular holds and have the chain pulling across the forehead, in the eyes, even in the other guy's mouth. This wasn't as epic as the Taylor/van Buyten match, but it was still pretty fucking good. The match was clipped, but there was enough shown that it felt whole. Frank Merckx was an ugly looking bugger. He had the kind of face that was made for pro-wrestling, similar to Sid Cooper in the UK. Van Buyten was hardly Rudolph Valentino, but the crowd loved him and he was a great babyface with fantastic selling. He's been a revelation the past few days. I feel pretty confident in stating he was one of the best workers in Europe during the 1980s. Franz van Buyten vs. Le Grand Vladimir (1984) Le Grand Vladimir was a slow guy who couldn't move very well, but he had these hands like a surgeon that seemed to have a vice like gripe whenever he hooked van Buyten. His holds were not only clinical, they looked as if they were excruciatingly painful to break, and van Buyten was a guy who sold excruciatingly painful well. This was also clipped, but enough was shown that you could get the gist of it. van Buyten's forearm smash comeback was so awesome as he clutched his wrist afterwards to put over the impact. Le Grand Vladimir's selling was fun as well, as his gimmick seemed to be the French based Hungarian version of Erich von Stroheim's character in La Grande Illusion and he bumped accordingly. van Buyten ended up disliking the beating he was taking from Vladimir and got DQ'ed by a dodgy ref, which lead to a bunch of protesting at ringside by the Belgian fans and a cool post-match interview where van Buyten made some point about Vladimir having busted open his eye, while young Belgian teenagers loitered around him asking questions in French. One of them looked like a young Francois Truffaut and seemed to be asking van Buyten some sort of philosopical question as the tape run out.

That was pretty amazing, especially the interview transcript. Somebody needs to get you on a podcast about Puerto Rican wrestling, ASAP. Thanks a bunch.

Well, we all know how that works. It's rare to find a top star in any country who was an all-time great worker.

German wrestling: Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse (9/27/87) Now here's a match which totally grabbed my attention. Lasartesse was this older than dirt Swiss wrestler, who was evidently one of the most hated wrestlers in Germany in the Berlin and Hamburg tournaments, while van Buyten was a Belgian wrestler of considerable skill. Most of the Belgians I've seen so far have been pretty awesome, it's like an undiscovered hot bed of wrestling greatness. This was worked differently from a lot of Euro stuff in the sense that Lasartesse basically worked van Buyten over in an almost American style until the awesome final round which was worked like a tiebreaker in tennis with knockdowns counting as points. Loved that stip. It made for some awesome visuals and was chocker full of the kind of touches we love in matches, such as jabs to the throat and Lasartesse selling inner ear damage from van Buyten's forearm smashes. Crowd was into it, including a big woman who looked like she might give Lasartesse a run for his money. The finish was really cool and a great pro-wrestling visual as van Buyten needed one more point to win and Lasartesse struggled with his equilibrium from all the blows to his ear. I'm stoked that there appears to be a series between these two. Indio Guajaro vs. Bernie Wright (late 80s) Indio Guajaro was a Columbian wrestler who did a witch doctor gimmick similar to Masambula in the UK. He had quite the afro and carried himself in the ring like Mocho Cota but without the mat skills. This was very similar to the van Buyten/Lasartesse match only Bernie Wright wasn't as good at selling as van Buyten and his babyface comebacks lacked the spark of the Belgian's. Guajaro was charismatic and worth seeing once in your life, but this didn't blow me away. Franz van Buyten vs. Dave Taylor (Pirate Fight, Hamburg 10/5/86) This on the other hand was incredible. A Pirate Fight is basically a chain match with a flag on a pole and not only was this easily the best Dave Taylor match I've seen, it was probably the best chain/strap/bullrope gimmick match ever. In part, the Black Terry Jr-esque camera work is a bit part of why the match is so great, but they also use the chain in more inventive ways than I can remember seeing from any two workers. It's quite a lengthy match, which could have been it's downfall, but it never fails to be engrossing and for a match of this sort without any blood the selling really makes it compelling. The tugging on the chain to stop each other from claiming the flag is epic and it's just another great van Buyten gimmick match. It actually has a chance at being No.1 on my Euro ballot when we get to that stage, I found it so captivating.

Who rates Inoki?

Tully Blanchard vs. Dory Funk, Jr., SCW Tully seems to the face here with Funk playing the heel. Apparently, Funk's idea of playing heel is gently, I mean mercilessly, throwing them into the ring post. Christ, were there ever two brothers who were less alike? You are a plodder, Dory Funk, Jr. Tully Blanchard/Gino Hernandez vs. Terry Funk/Ivan Putski, SCW This was just some bullshit excuse for Ricky Morton and Ken Lucas to start a big fight with Blanchard and Hernandez. I hate matches like these. Funk didn't deliver anything special with Blanchard, but he was just window dressing here.

I'm not sure that post-86 is the right time frame. It seems like '88 is the year he started doing the same schtick in every match.

Harley Race vs. Randy Savage, WWF 9/18/87 This was a lot more fun than I remembered. The match layout is almost embarrassingly simply for workers of their standard, but it allowed them to focus on some pretty solid looking offence for this era of the WWF. It never ceases to amaze me the bumps Harley was prepared to take during this run, especially the shit he was doing over the top rope or off the apron. Looks may be deceiving when it comes to Race at this stage and his King gimmick, but he really was one of the better workers in the WWF at the time and didn't seem to compromise his move set like so many others did. Despite his age, he was treated pretty well by road agents and the like. He could have easily come across as a joke, but for the most part he was still Harley Race, peppering opponents with elbows and strikes, stiffing them on clotheslines and making folks work hard when they got in the ring with the king of professional wrestling. They did about as much as they could without acknowledging his history as a multiple times World Heavyweight champion, though Gorilla would occasionally mention that he'd done everything there was to do in the business, which was about as close to an acknowledge of past history as you got back then. They even treated him pretty respectfully when booking him to job. No elbow from the top from Savage here, as he misses and is forced to dig a little deeper into his bag of tricks. I don't know what Harley has to say about his time in the WWF, but considering the fun Vince had with Rhodes and Taylor there doesn't seem to have been any monkey business on Vince's part when it came to Race.

That Harley/Koko match sure ain't worth picking at scabs.

Tully Blanchard vs. Dusty Rhodes, NWA 6/6/87 As a match this wasn't much chop, but with Dillon and Dark Journey at ringside along with Magnum TA guarding the one hundred thousand and Tommy Young getting involved you knew this would have enough bullshit to fill in a half an hour of TV time. I suppose Tully bumped, sold and stooged well, but it didn't strike me as one of his more memorable performances and Dusty was pretty lame compared to those Harley Race clips I watched recently. I don't think they really milked the bullshit for what it was worth, either, although I've always thought of Dillon as a pretty weak performer when it comes to managers. The finish was meant to be a debacle and it was, but there's fun debacles and then there's crap that makes you wish you hadn't sat through a match and this was in the latter category for me.

Harley Race vs. Ricky Steamboat, AJPW 12/7/82 I really liked this. 1982 is like the peak of Harley Race as a worker as far as I can make out. Steamboat was all about the headlock to begin with, which wasn't thrilling at first, but they reached this point where instead of dropping the headlock like they'd usually do to go onto more exciting spots, they fought over it like buggery. At one point it seemed like Harley was going to snap Steamboat's neck off, but Steamboat wouldn't release the hold and I had to applaud them for going all the way with the headlock. Once they dropped it, the work had some pretty smooth holds and rope work. Steamboat/Race was a match-up that never totally worked for me, but this was fun stuff.

Watched this while listening to the AWA podcast and a jazz album, but I thought it was perfectly fine. I don't think people are coming at these Joshi matches from the right perspective on the early yearbooks. This was a transitional period they were going through and none of the workers were on Bull's level. The fact they got some good-to-great matches out of this Bull/Aja feud should be seen as a plus rather than watching and waiting for something the workers weren't capable of. Kyoko being erratic in this match may be annoying, but it works in the sense that she's kohai to a much stronger senpai and being so young makes it understandable. I really didn't care that her timing was out on a lot of her leaping spots anymore than I cared that the weapon shots weren't laid in, because none of those spots really meant jack in the overall scheme of what they were doing. Besides, the hair cutting and the chain section were violent enough if that's what you want to see. I really liked Bull's selling of the no-selling of Aja's trash can shots. That was great stuff. If I had one criticism of the match it would be that instead of changing the pace and mixing things up once the match got rolling it had no brakes. This is pretty common in Joshi puroresu, but it would be nice to see them take things down then pick up the pace a bit. Bull working over Bison had a lot of potential, but there was never a point in this match where they stopped and isolated any one exchange. To their credit, they were able to keep the match moving despite the fact they worked the same rhythm throughout, but I think it would've helped to have worked the match in a more typical fashion. Joshi pro often fought to distinguish itself as something separate from other forms of wrestling, however, so I won't begrudge them their decision to be an all-out, offense-based style.

The moral of the story is don't watch Bret Hart or Ric Flair matches from 1999.

Antonio inoki vs the lions.

soup, Steamboat does have the Clash return from 11/91 and some Dec TV matches that year.

Jingus, the Big Daddy match is on YouTube. I think it shows that Big Daddy got away with being bad as opposed to being utterly incompetent.