Jackie Turpin vs. Jim Breaks (broadcast 7/31/82) - Turpin was apparently the nephew of boxer Randy Turpin, who fought Sugar Ray Robinson. The people seemed really into his quest to upset Breaks and earn a title shot. They spent much of the match battling over arm submissions, with each guy earning a fall that way. At the finish, Turpin took a showy bump to the floor off a missed dive but then popped back into the ring to surprise Breaks with a roll-up. The crowd and Breaks' schtick made this worth watching. I'm on the fence, but OJ might want to take a look given his appreciation of Breaks.

 

WOS V2 3

This is definitely worth consideration, especially if any other good Jackie Turpin crops up or if the Steve Grey title match makes for a nice little narrative.

 

I thought the match was really good. According to Walton, the winner became the number one contender to take on Steve Grey for his British Lightweight title. Turpin came from a famous boxing family and had been a boxer himself from the late 60s through to mid-70s. His uncle Randolph Turpin was famous for defeating Sugar Ray Robinson for his World Middleweight title in 1951 (a victory that later had tragic consequences for his uncle who committed suicide some years later.) For a guy who wasn't a natural wrestler, he was pretty good. He had a bit of a strange physique for the sport, but he made up for whatever shortcomings he may have had with plenty of enthusiasm and this was a nice mix of Breaks' schtick and actual wrestling. Turpin had some nice high spots and the booking was really good. Breaks wound up jobbing for Turpin and when Breaks jobbed it always meant something. Now I really want to see Turpin's match with Steve Grey.

 

The date I have for this is 6/15/82.

This seems to be it: