Posted March 6, 201114 yr comment_5466648 Big Daddy vs. Giant Haystacks 6/20/81 - This might be a good extra to show how shitty and yet how over Big Daddy was. Kwick Kick Lee vs. Giant Haystacks 1/29/83 - Well, this was certainly a bizarre match-up. It was kind of fun when Maeda tried to chop the big man down but certainly nothing that belongs on a set. Sammy Lee vs. Jim Breaks 7/18/81 - The basic story here was that Sayama outwrestled Breaks in all the early sequences, so Breaks started cheating. If Breaks hadn't succumbed so easily on both falls, I might have considered a nomination. The Brits really hotshoted Sayama, and I'll say this -- the fans certainly responded to him. Sammy Lee vs. Mark Rocco 4/4/81 - Some spectacular athletic stuff here, but Rocco got himself disqualified before it could really build into anything. Sammy Lee vs. Johnny England 2/14/81 - I sort of enjoyed England as a cocky little powerhouse who tried to ground Sayama. But I can't endorse a match in which the heel lost by just walking out of the ring and back to the dressing room. Sammy Lee vs. Sid Cooper 10/8/80 - Of all the Sayama vs. cheating Brit matches, I probably liked this one the best. First of all, Sayama came out in the Bruce Lee yellow jumpsuit. Then he popped the crowd by doing all kind of crazy kicks in the first round. I dug the way Cooper responded with all these nasty little punches to the liver and kidneys, just out of the ref's view. As with all the other matches of this type, I felt Sayama went over a little too easily in the end. But I'll nominate it as the best representation of what WOS chose to do with the Japanese sensation. Pat Roach vs. Magnificent Maurice 3/21/83 - I had no expectations of this going in but rather enjoyed it. They did a nice job of struggling over basic holds, with Maurice, especially, making the simplest chinlocks look painful. I liked Walton putting over how surprised he was that Roach, the giant, couldn't outwrestle his skinnier foe. For his part, Roach came off as quite a force when he finally got his offense going -- an unbottled hurricane. Solid nomination.
