Carlos Colon v. Bruiser Brody - Chain Match 1983 or 85 ???

 

 

Maybe I've lost my fucking mind, but I'm starting to think that Carlos Colon is a lost great worker. I'm sure someone will come along to tell me hundreds of smart fans have been pimping him for years and I somehow missed it and hell maybe that's true. But I've watched a fair amount of WWC before and I have no memory of him being so good. This is a gimmick I usually don't like, with a wrestler I usually don't like and despite the b.s. finish I would call this a good match. To be fair Brody looked better here than he usually does as he was bumping and selling far more than usual. Sure he bladed in a ridiculously egregious way, but if that's the most annoying thing Brody does in a match I can live with it. Lots of big punches from Colon that were over huge with the crowd. Also thought he made great use of the chain and he is the master of struggle spots in these sorts of matches. Also thought the spot with Brody pulling the chain up into his eye sockets was sick as fuck. This was structured with Brody pinballing around at first, then Brody cutting down Colon, then Colon taking back over and run-in finish with the two seconds of each men, foreign objects and Hugo Savonivich bloodied. A run-in like this would usually kill a match like this to me but the PR atmosphere is so great that it was remarkably easy to forgive.

Call me crazy, but I think this match is actually from 1984. I don't believe it's 1983, because Hugo is a face (he runs in at the end and goes after Barrabas). I think he was still a heel manager going into 1984. The other reason I don't think it's from 1983 is that Carlos Colon is announced as the Universal champion during the ring introductions. The match that created the Universal title was on Dec. 18, 1983, the last show of the year.

 

On the other hand, I don't think it's from 1985. Carlos would lose the Universal title to Dory Funk on Feb. 25. And apparently, Brody was on tour for All Japan from February 22nd through March 14th. Hugo by that point (I think) had settled into his host/commentator duties (so he wouldn't be getting involved in any matches), and I'm not certain how long Barrabas was around in 1985. It might be from January of 85, but I understand the Brody-Hansen vs. Colon-Abdullah series ended in October of 84 with a cage match and I don't think they'd wait 3 months for a singles blow-off. Plus, the Hugo appearance and scuffle with Barrabas really makes me doubt it's from late 84-early 85.

 

So, that leaves 1984. That was the year Brody and Hansen had their run, where Carlos turned to Abdullah for help and the teams first faced off on September 14 at Aniversario 84. At that same event, Hugo took on Barrabas in a lumberjack match. If I had to guess, I think this is from the summer of 1984, before Aniversario 84 happened.

I thought this was totally awesome, and maybe the best Brody match I have seen. I guess he sells when he is wrestling the promoter, because I didn't have any problem with his offense, and I loved the chaotic feel of the run in. I think this is a Slam Dunk Nomination, and will finish pretty high on peoples ballots

Chain Match for the Universal Heavyweight Title: Carlos Colon © vs. Bruiser Brody (January 1985)

 

They give the date of 2/23/85 for this but Brody was in Japan so I'm going with January to be safe. Colon was all over Brody to start but Brody would soon take control and used the chain to batter Colon inside and outside the ring forcing juice from Colon. Colon is spirited as shit though and batters Brody bloody as the fans go nuts as Colon touches the corners but Brody would stop him at 3. Brody does more selling than normal here which makes sense since he is facing Colon and he is into this like he would be facing Baba. The finish saw Hugo & Barabbas get involved but it was fine and the fans loved it as Colon won. The heels beat on Hugo until Colon broke free and cleaned house. Very fun match and this moves forward fairly easily.

NEED TO FIGURE OUT DATE