Posted August 30, 201015 yr comment_5455173 NWA International Tag Titles: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta © vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy & Michael Hayes) (1/20/84) I loved the Gordy/Jumbo interplay early with the shoulderblock standoff then Baba comes in and Gordy tries on him but Baba holds the ropes. I also loved the Hayes ode to Missing Link by bangng his head into the corner then hitting a nice jumping headbutt on Jumbo before ramming him right into Gordy. This soon turned right into a straight southern tag match with the Birds working over Jumbo who was FIP before Baba gets the hot tag and it turns into a 4-way brawl but the Birds would soon resume control working over Baba then again on Jumbo when he got back in. The Birds looked good here and were put over really strong as they dominated on offense and it was a different kind of domination not like the Brody/Hansen domination where it looked like a squash. This was more give and take and they actually sold well especially Hayes of course. They did botch the backdrop/powerbomb combo on Jumbo as Gordy lost him and Hayes had to help get him up but that happens. It would soon break down into a 4-way brawl again with Baba sending Hayes to the floor with a big boot and he would eventually get counted out juicing in the process. I liked this one more than Will did and I think it deserves consideration as a low-level nomination at least.
August 30, 201015 yr comment_5455188 Shoehi Baba/Jumbo v. Michael Hayes/Terry Gordy (01/20/84) - The fans don’t really respond to the Freebirds and that is a shame because they do some really good stuff here with Jumbo playing FIP. Still, there was lots of resting in a match where they didn’t need to and the holds weren’t really worked in a meaningful way. I would hope there was a rematch somewhere down the line to see if these teams could do more in a more enthusiastic setting.
September 19, 201015 yr comment_5455990 I enjoyed the early theatrics from Hayes, and the Freebirds did an excellent job of cutting the ring off on Jumbo. The problem was that the crowd never responded as if Jumbo was in danger, so his eventual tag to Baba didn't feel like any big deal. The scrum at the end was fun too, with Jumbo showing a lot of fire and Baba giving Hayes his comeuppance on the outside. This was definitely a well-worked match, but it was built on a formula that relied on crowd investment. And that investment never came. I'll go a reluctant no because I can't see it making the final 150.
