Posted January 15, 201114 yr comment_5462014 Steve Lawler & Dick Steinborn vs. Tony Colon & Victor Jovica (September 1982) JIP and this one of the better TV matches from this time period as it was really competitive plus you had Steinborn bleeding from the ear but he bounces back and wins with the figure-four over Colon. The Invader vs. Gene Lewis (September 1982) Lewis was of course The Mongol in World Class and has hair here. This was okay. Johnny Rivera vs. Pedro Valdez (September 1982) Spotlight match for Rivera. Mr. Kareem Muhammad vs. Anibal Rodriguez (September 1982) Squash. Steve Lawler & Dick Steinborn vs. Tony Colon & Gerald Finley (September 1982) Lawler & Steinborn were a decent team and they give the tecnicos some offense before putting them away. Next we get another young barefoot Abby squash from Sheik's TV with Lord Layton on commentary. This was fun. King Tonga vs. Pedro Valdez (April 1983) Squash. Ox Baker vs. Keith Larsen (April 1983) Squash. Next we get a Sheik squash from TV post Lord Layton. This looks like it was from 77. "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell vs. Angel Diaz (April 1983) Squash. El Gran Apollo vs. Frank Ruiz (April 1983) Squash. The Moondogs (Rex & Spot) vs. Gerald Finley & Victor Jovica (October 1982) The Dogs take their time here putting away the tecnicos but they conquer them in the end. Next we get a Sheik/Charlie Cook match from San Antonio circa 77 from Sheik's TV and this is a rare San Antonio match from this era on film. Ox Baker vs. Angel Maravilla (April 1983) Squash. El Gran Apollo & King Tonga vs. Domingo Robles & Mr. X (April 1983) Squash. Goro Tsurumi vs. El Aguila (April 1983) Squash. Next we get clips from an Ox Baker/Carlos Colon match from one of the stadiums where Colon would suplex Ox to regain his Universal title. Then we get a video for Kendo Nagasaki who is coming into the territory. Ox Baker & Goro Tsurumi vs. Victor Mercado & Isaac Rosario (April 1983) Squash. Ox Baker & Goro Tsurumi vs. El Aguila & Victor Mercado (May 1983) Squash. "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell vs. Angelo Rivera (May 1983) Squash. Terry Gibbs vs. Angel Diaz (May 1983) El Gran Apollo came in before the match wanting to face Gibbs so Landell follows then King Tonga making the rudos walk out. Tonga & Apollo leave so Gibbs comes back to squash Diaz. Next we get a Kendo Nagasaki squash from Mid-South. Johnny Rivera vs. Mr. Tempest (May 1983) This is JIP and Rivera gets a upset win kinda.
October 20, 201311 yr comment_5568191 Steve Lawler & Dick Steinborn vs. Tony Colon & Victor Jovica I was less high on this than Kris oddly enough, as generally I think he has been a bit hard on some of this stuff. To me this felt like one of those Animal Hamaguchi tag matches, where you've got this little ball of energy running around doing tough and/or impressive looking stuff, but the difference here is none of these guys were as good as Animal and it was short the crazy pacing wasn't building to anything bigger. This wasn't awful or anything, but it's probably not even a top ten studio match I've watched from PR so far. The Invader vs. Gene Lewis I liked this more than Kris, though Invader kind of blowing off a piledriver pissed me off. Still I thought for a short studio match, this had some interesting elements. I continue to be impressed with Invader as a worker. When I inevitably do a top 500 of all time he'll make it. Johnny Rivera vs. Pedro Valdez Pretty decent match, with some solid enough matwork, but neither of these guys stand out at all. I continue to enjoy Kareem Muhammed squashes more than I should. Steve Lawler & Dick Steinborn vs. Tony Colon & Gerald Finley Now see this was more like one of those Hamaguchi matches in a good way. Lots of quick tags, mean intentions from the heels, guys struggling to maintain control, heels frantically trying to escape, et. This is very much a workratish match, but it has a great energy to it and some really fun spots. Finley looked sharp and this was the best I've seen Lawler look so far. The big problem here is that this needed to be a few minutes longer to reach nomination level, but it was still good for the style they were working. Abby, Tonga and Sheik squashes were fun, I skipped over Ox cause fuck him. Landell squash was solid. The Moondogs (Rex & Spot) vs. Gerald Finley & Victor Jovica I so wanted this to be a wild brawl and it wasn't. Still this was a pretty fun mauling, with the Dogs being particularly vicious to Finley. San Antonio footage here was odd. El Gran Apollo & King Tonga vs. Domingo Robles & Mr. X I watched this because early Mr. X was really moving and I thought this might have a chance to be a pretty good competitive squash. This ended up being fun to watch to a degree because of Tonga, but I could have just as easily skipped over it. Ox Baker/Colon stadium clip feels like it could be an extra. This wasn't as exciting as the Sheik clip from the other disc, but it's unique footage and after the match Baker attacks Colon. Nagasaki video might be an extra I guess, but I don't feel strongly about it. The rest of this disc is pretty worthless, though I did like the Landell squash
