Blackwell enters the ring with a board and immediately goes apeshit with it. Brody comes back and they spill the floor where Brody hits a nasty looking chairshot to Blackwell's throat. The ref is stationed outside of the ring for his safety which has the effect of every count coming late. The crowd is super into Blackwell here and his selling really makes this one fun. Pretty good nearfall as Blackwell hit one avalanche and then went for a second but Adnan based a chair to Brody and Blackwell ran into it. Blackwell comes back with a chairshot to a diving Brody and hits his powerslam but Adnan stops the count. Gagne hits the ring for the save. By no means was I in love with this match but this feels like the sort of match that might have it's fans despite its glaring flaws.

No DQ: Crusher Blackwell vs. Bruiser Brody (10/21/84)

 

Blackwell comes out with a fucking board and nails Brody with it and that meant the war was on. Blackwell was relentless here to start until they go to the floor where Brody jabbed Blackwell in the throat with a chair with both men now bleeding and this one is getting more violent. Blackwell is great here at selling the pain and the fans are nuts for his comeback attempts and he would eventually hit a big splash for a nearfall but would miss another one allowing Adnan to give Brody another chair who would use it to smash Blackwell for a nearfall. Blackwell to his credit though would again fight back and grabbed the chair using it on Brody but Adnan came in to stop him from pinning Brody. Greg Gagne would show up to counter Adnan and the crowd went nuts for all this action with the referee counting out Adnan after Blackwell hit him with a splash. HORRIBLE FINISH but this was a wild brawl and it should go on the set. Seriously FUCK that finish.

It would have had to have been a no-contest otherwise since Brody wasn't going to do the job and pinning Blackwell right after his face turn would have been asinine.

 

I never liked that finish either, but I guess it comes down to what is the lamer result as a no contest in a death match is also very LOL, IMO.

It's a Texas Death match Brody could've been KOed and not answered the 10 count after the previous 10 count.

I'm bumping a few of these up to remind myself to go to bat for them if need be. IMO this match was very important in cementing Blackwell as THE top babyface in the promotion and his handshake with Gagne at the end was an exceptionally important moment given their previous 4+year feud.

 

This match needs to be on the set, if there is any doubt going into the argument/discussion phase of things.

I have three opinions on this.

 

The first is that I'm not going to actively oppose any Blackwell on the set. As it stands he is behind Greg Gagne for the race for "third" in total representation on the set. He has a very remote chance of passing him and I would like to see that happen not because I hate Greg but because I think Blackwell is more deserving.

 

The second is the feud needs to be represented and one of the Brody v. Blackwell matches needs to make the set. I am not convinced this is the right one in terms of match quality, though I could see an argument for it.

 

My third point would be that if a second match from this feud is going to get on the set it's going to have to be a personal pick, because looking at the lay of the land I can't see building consensus around either of the other two major ones.

A feud can be represented through extras. It doesn't have to be in the set proper.

Ugh, I was all set to push this forward, then that finish happened. I killed off Debeers vs. Snuka for having a stupid finish and I am doing the same here. I have done enough of these sets to know that the finishes of these mid level matches usually drop them to the dregs. No vote.

The finish of the other match is better which is why I think it should go on. I am not going to use a personal on this feud because I just hate Brody too much. But I do think this is a feud where we will get "why wasn't this on the set?" if it isn't represented. In fact I've already had a person ask me about this feud on the set (and no I'm not talking about khawk

But I do think this is a feud where we will get "why wasn't this on the set?" if it isn't represented.

For sure.

 

...and I totally get the Brody hate, I hate him too.

 

I would not object to Blackwell vs. Brody having their own disc if the material warranted it...maybe that, and one or two other feuds that are important in the overall scheme of the AWA in the 80's but unrepresented on the set proper, like Bockwinkel-Kaissie (the no-DQ match with Baron as a ref is another that I think will be missed if it isn't on the main set), or Crusher-Bockwinkel (some good clipped stuff from early 1980).

 

If they are 4 hour discs, make one of the extras a Feuds disc with 3 or 4 feuds that have important matches that aren't on the set and that might cover the bases.

Honestly I think this is immaterial because if I know Kris, one of these matches will end up on the set proper

I still like the idea of one of the extras discs having feud matches, interviews and highlights from some of the ones that don't make the set.