Boston Idol 1980

Boston Idol 1980 Ken Patera vs. Pat Patterson (4/21/80) - Absolutely loving the early arm work and the way they are working in spots only for Pat to regain control through the arm. Nasty looking knee drops on the arm, stiff Patera forearms, right back to the arm lock, capped off by a nice senton on the arm. When Patera takes control, he beats the shit out of Pat including throwing him over the top rope. Also really smart of him to keep Pat on the outside so he can pose and regroup the early work. Gotta take points off for a weak looking bodyslam on the floor. Keep an eye out for Patera’s elbow on top of Pat’s head as he tries to get in the ring. NASTY! Patera goes to work on the back with a backbreaker, nasty knees to the back and an irish whip to the corner setting up a bearhug. Crowd is going nuts now. Last stretch has Patterson attacking Ken’s leg to set up the figure-4. Ken reaches the ropes so Pat works the legs some more and hooks it again. Great spot where PAtera is standing in the corner with his leg outside the rope but Patera uses it to attack the leg again. Finish was a good idea but sort of awkward in practice and Patera wins the IC Belt. Still, this was a pretty great match. SOLID NOMINATION

Ken Patera vs. Bob Backlund (5/19/80) - These dudes come out fighting and nail each other with some stiff shots. Bob’s elbow to the head looks nasty. Great spot where Ken hooks in the Full Nelson early and Bob breaks it while ramming Ken’s head in the turnbuckle piggyback style. Ken gets the back work in motion and this is the part where Phil makes fun of Bob’s facial expressions… goofy as fuck. I love seeing Bob cheat, using the rope, eye rakes, punch to the throat. This sets up the atomic drop but Ken gets outside the apron then KILLS Patera with a SICK SICK SICK piledriver. Bob has one of the best piledrivers. Patera gets the advantage and starts working on Bob’s throat… tree of woe choking, clothesline, throat drop across the rope and tries to pin him while choking. At this point, Ken escapes a n ab stretch by tossing Bob over the top and beating the shit out of him on the outside, busint him open and attacking the cut. I LOVE THAT SHIT. Bob makes his comeback and beats the shit out of Patera on the outside. Now Patera is busted open and Bob beats the shit out of the cut. The end had Bob ram Ken into a chair only for Ken to pick it up and nail Bob with ot as he gets in the ring. Ken looks to put it away with the chair but Bob nails Ken with it a couple of times and wins with a flying body press. This has to be the best match either guy has ever been in and probably a lock for my Top 5. EASY NOMINATION.

Bob Backlund vs. Larry Zbyzsko (10/11/80) - Nice, Bob Backlund haters in the audience with the Larry #1 signs and Bob is a Wimp. Early on, Larry plays the stalling game and you can see why people would criticize his stalling. It takes a good ten minutes for this to get going and when it does, Larry applies a sleeper. It picks up with Bob working on Larry’s knee that is taped up and Larry makes his comeback. I like the idea of Bob working the leg but he is working the leg like he forgot to apply a figure four correctly even though it was just a leg crank. In the meantime, Larry grabs a foreign object from his trunks and naild Bob in the stomach to change the tide. Stretch run and Bob still has one of the sickest piledrivers ever. However, he applies an airplane spin that knocks out the ref. Larry nails Bob with the foreign object and Bob takes the outside jump that Phil loves so much. Still, weakest match on this disc by far so far.

Ken Patera vs. Pedro Morales (10/20/80) - Fucking Pedro was OVER! Pedro punching and choking Patera early on to huge cheers. Follows a similar pattern like earlier Patera matches where Ken gets the advantage and keeps Pedro on the outside after throwing him over the top rope. Patera is beating the shit out of Pedro. He slows it down with a front face lock and Pedro actually reverses it with a back body drop. Looked better than it sounds. Pedro’s comeback is so full of energy I can see why crowds went crazy for him even if he wasn’t a great wrester. You want to root for him. When Ken puts him in a bearhug, Pedro waves his finger letting the crowd know it isn’t over and milks it for all it is worth. Nice spot where Pedro falls on Patera while still in a bearhug and Ken almost gets pinned while holding onto the bearhug. Maybe the most entertaining bearhug sequence I have ever seen start to end. These two milked it for almost 4 minutes and I was perfectly fine with it. When Pedro finally breaks it, Ken is pissed and beats the shit out of Pedro. The ref gets in the way of these two battling and they end up getting disqualified. Maybe the best match I have ever seen Pedro morales in and Patera is having a helluva 1980. SOLID NOMINATION

Ken Patera vs. Bruno Sammartino (11/8/80) - Wrestled differently than the other Patera matches since it is a power vs. power match-up so you see both guys trying to outpower the other. Early on, Patera establishes he has to cheat to overpower Bruno. When Bruno takes over, Patera bumps and stooges for him and Bruno starts to attack the arm topped off with a nice bodyslam from a hammerlock that looked nasty. Man,Patera fights back and applies the full nelson but I think Bruno broke it was too fast. Still, Brno’s arm work was pretty great. Knowing he can’t win with one arm, Patera grabs a chair and gets DQed for his troubles. Not as strong as the other Patera 80s matches but well worth watching. I wouldn’t be surprised if people like this more than me. LOW LEVEL NOMINATION