Posted February 11, 201312 yr comment_5534598 Total hidden gem, sort of a dream match you didn't know you dreamt about. Rudge is a gritty British veteran very much in the vein of Finlay, Taylor and Regal. I imagine he could have been an awesome 3rd Blue Blood. Opening part of the match is Rudge working a nasty headlock which Regal works his way out and puts on a top wrist lock. That doesn't sound that exciting, but these are a pair of guys who know how to put on a headlock and wrist lock. Rudge gets more and more brutal laying in a beating worthy of Regal himself, he absolutely root canals Regal with some uppercuts, along with short headbutts and thumbs to the eyes. There was this amazing moment where Rudge puts on a hammerlock and with Regal's arm trapped, Rudge unloads on his rib cage. Regal fires back too, although he was more of an overwhelmed babyface showing grit and fire. It is a role I haven't seen much of and one he is great at. A hell of a match and something pretty awesome to show up in my youtube feed.
February 12, 201312 yr comment_5534844 I back this wholeheartedly. In a nice twist, you see Rudge treat Regal the way Regal taught unsuspecting opponents over the years... with total abuse. Weird to see Regal fighting from beneath but it works well. EASY NOMINATION.
February 13, 201312 yr comment_5535073 This is pretty clearly making the set. Cut and paste thoughts: "I've been waiting to see this for a long time and it didn't disappoint. Rudge was awesome during this period where he grew a moustache and worked the German tournaments. Regal worked from underneath but you'd expect that given that Rudge was one of the premier asskickers of the era and Regal was relatively inexperienced. I've been super impressed with how Regal looks in these late 80s handhelds compared to the bollocks TV matches he had with All-Star, but this was more of a Rudge showcase. That hammerlock spot was out of this world good." I'm excited at the prospect of the latter part of the set being made up of Terry Rudge matches in Germany and Regal stuff. Someone needs to find out whether that Regal/Brookside match is from '88. All of this stuff is a lot better than what made TV.
