AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta © vs. "Jumpin" Jim Brunzell (3/15/84)

 

Cool to see Brunzell getting a title shot here. Bock & Heenan are out before the match challenging the winner and I loved Heenan shit talking Jumbo. There was some really solid MUGA style matwork going on here with Jumbo working like fucking Nishimura here with his headstands and counters. Brunzell fighting the Boston Crab was really good and made that move look more menacing than what it was. This is nothing fancy but just two guys working holds tightly and seeing who is the better wrestler. Jumbo throwing chops being a heel move after working all holds was awesome as the fans were booing him and Brunzell responding with forearms was just as great. The intensity has now picked up and both men are throwing some nice strikes especially Jumbo who hits a nice high knee for a nearfall. Jumbo would work on Brunzell's back using a bearhug then taking it to the ground getting nearfalls before going to a camel clutch which Brunzell would pick him up from to ram him into the corner which was sweet. Brunzell now makes his comeback which was fun getting nearfalls off of an atomic drop and his sweet dropkick before going to a figure-four. The fans are going nuts as Jumbo is selling the pain like a champ and he turns over the hold to get it broken. Brunzell kept working over Jumbo's left leg but Jumbo hit a fucking huge backdrop suplex out of desperation to get the win. That was an awesome finish and this match was really damn good. Easy nomination.

I thought this was saved by the last few minutes. That is not to say that this was a bad match up to that point at all and I am normally a fan of slow build. But for a title match that was relatively short by AWA standards this was almost too old school for me in the early portions. Things picked up with the high knee and the bearhug was as decent a bearhug spot as you could reasonably have. Still I was thinking "low end at best" on this up until the finishing run. Everything from the point where Jumbo takes the piggyback bump into the turnbuckle is just really great stuff, with the crowd rocking and Brunzell actually looking like a believable threat to the title. Finish itself with Jumbo escaping the figure-four and hitting the backdrop as a last resort was really well done and absolutely fitting. I still don't see this as a slam dunk match, but it's another one in the "solid" comp and with Kris endorsement I see it as something that should be on the set.