Posted November 9, 201014 yr comment_5458127 Boris Zukoff v. Jobber Nothing match though Hayes was entertaining on commentary. Stanley Blackburn interview Crusher v. Nick Bockwinkel JIP. "Classic match." This was tough to get through. Crusher really does nothing interesting and is not a good guy for Bock to play off of. There was some decent hand work by Bock but it went nowhere. Blah. Larry Zbyszko promo on Rick Martel Larry Zbyszko v. Rick Martel Pre-match is funny as Zukoff comes out and stares down Martel and Blackburn has to come out and coax him out of the ring. Larry tries to ambush Martel at this point and takes an early beating. Martel eventually ends up taking a corner charge bump and then gets smashed face first into the ringside table. Larry follows that up with a knee drop to Martel's head as it lays on the table. Larry with an ab stretch. I thought Martel's comeback run on offense was actually sort of low key and uninspired but the cut off with Martel eating the knees on a slingshot splash attempt was really well done as was the subsequent suplex struggle spot that led to a Martel nearfall. Martel takes a cool stunned bump off of a kick to the face that Larry threw out of desperation after eating a pretty nice looking gutwrench suplex. Martel ends up working the Bob Backlund spot as Larry keeps him at bay by knocking him down every time he tries to get up on the floor which gets Martel heated. This segment really goes on needlessly long and when Martel tries to come back with punches it seems flat. Martel comes back off of a missed Zbyszko dropkick and bumps Larry throw the ropes and kicks him in the head. Martel wins with a cradle off of a suplex from Larry. This was structured really awkwardly and the heat section didn't have heat and went to long. There were good spots in it but that I thought it was easily worse than the Larry v. Steve O match I watched earlier today and can't see it as a serious pick for this sort of set. Post-match attack by Boris Zukoff with Martel being stretchered out was funny. Larry Zbyszko v. Scott Hall Hall clapping and getting everyone fired up early and Larry just bolts the ring and starts screaming in annoyance. This repeats itself forever with Larry actually walking half way down the aisle at one point. Once Larry takes over on offense this match actually gets a lot less interesting. Not that it's bad, but the stalling was entertaining and a front chancre, armbar and poorly executed backbreaker aren't really good substitutes. Hall punches Larry who does a great sell job and then eats another for his trademark middle rope back bump. Hall's airplane spin was pretty cool. This went to a draw right after Hall hit his bulldog. Decent match, but nothing especially good. Nick Bockwinkel v. Verne Gagne JIP. Another classic match. Basically all that is shown is the finish. Boris Zukoff v. Rick Martel Martel immediately opens up on Zukoff but quickly gets cut off. Zukoff ends up focusing in on Martel's arm. Zukoff is working a hard head gimmick so a lot of this arm work consists of headbutts to the arm which Martel does a good job selling like death. The arm selling from Martel really makes this and builds the tension very well. Great nearfall with Martel landing a perfect looking back cradle for a nearfall. The heat in this one is really great. Martel finally makes a comeback and hits some great punches. He's got Zukoff reeling but ends up eating knees on an out to inside slingshot splash. Zukoff's manager ends up tossing something into the ring and Zukoff gets decked with it and takes a big bump to the floor with Martel getting DQ'ed. For a match that is 80% arm work from a really uninteresting worker this was WAY better than it should have been.
November 9, 201014 yr comment_5458155 Larry Zbyszko v. Rick Martel Pre-match is funny as Zukoff comes out and stares down Martel and Blackburn has to come out and coax him out of the ring. Post-match attack by Boris Zukoff with Martel being stretchered out was funny. Glad I remembered this right (as per my comments in the individual match section). Nick Bockwinkel v. Verne Gagne JIP. Another classic match. Basically all that is shown is the finish. The most interesting part of this was that it was Verne's last match in Winnipeg (4/19/81), and they had a reverse-decision instead of a clean pinfall for Verne (as I remember it). I'd ahve expected a return bout clean pinfall for Verne to have happened, but it never did.
September 28, 201114 yr comment_5483657 Boris Zuhkov vs. Brian Jewel (7/17/85) Squash. Then we get a Stanley Blackburn promo. Next is clips of a Bock/Crusher match. Then we get a Zbyszko promo about Martel. AWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Martel © vs. Larry Zbyszko (7/18/85) Zuhkov comes in the ring before the match and stares down Martel until Blackburn makes him leave. Larry tries to attack Martel as this is ending but Martel catches him and pounds on him even using a piledriver then grabbing the belt ready to use it until the referee steps in. Martel is rabid here working over Larry before he takes a hard bump into the ringpost trying to deliver a shoulderblock. Larry then methodically works over Martel before going to the abdominable stretch which Martel would eventually break free from and started his comeback throwing punches. Martel then hits a backbreaker but as he tried his slingshot splash Larry got his knees up which didn't stop Martel though as he kept the offensive advantage until they had a double collision sending Rick to the floor. Larry works him over on the apron and these guys are really throwing bombs here as both men just trade big shots with Martel looking especially good throwing shots. This is a no frills slugfest until Zbyszko hits a suplex which Martel counters on the mat by keeping Larry's shoulders down for the pin. Larry is angry at the finish so Zuhkov comes back out and lays out Martel for good measure. I liked this way more than Dylan because of how nasty Martel was here. I think this deserves another look because it wasn't your normal Martel match with high spots galore but a total slugfest. Scott Hall vs. Larry Zbyszko (8/22/85) Hall is green as grass here and the only thing that was good about this was Larry's effort in stalling like a motherfucker. Next is clips of a Verne/Bock match. AWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Martel © vs. Boris Zuhkov (8/22/85) Martel coming out to Glory Days by Springsteen and waving the Canadian flag was great. Martel is pissed from what happened last month so he takes the battle to Boris throwing punches and working over his left leg but Boris would soon get the upper hand and worked on Martel's left arm for what seemed like forever. Martel is great here selling the pain as Boris headbutts the arm. Martel makes a fiery comeback and works over Boris until he eats all knees on his slingshot splash and as this happens, Chris Markoff distracts the referee so he could throw something to boris but Martel takes it and uses it to knock Boris over the top rope for the DQ. This was all Martel as he made the match interesting but I preferred the Zbyszko match to this one although I think this also deserves a look.
