I'm surprised by this. I loved the match. I even thought it was better than the more acclaimed Funk vs Lawler brawl earlier in the year.

That match finished 148 in the overall voting. Everyone I can think of had it bottom 5, including me. Very interesting that you are this high on it.

Wow, I don't even have the match that high. Better than Funk-Lawler? That match is a classic.

Adrian Adonis vs Jim Brunzell (AWA 06/28/81)

 

Lots of neat counter wrestling and mat stuff in this one. Adonis drops some nasty looking kneedrops and works over Brunzell’s arm, hand and wrist. The holds mean more than they normally might because Brunzell sells them so much. He can’t string together too much offense, but when he does, it’s focused around attacking Adonis’s leg. It’s pretty refreshing to see a heel so dominant who wins with a *relatively* clean pinfall as well. Quite the rarity in 80s wrestling. This was a real treat. Adonis had some excellent and unique offense which Brunzell sold like a champ. It was held back a little by being more of a competitive squash than a match between equals, but I liked the work enough that it didn’t matter too much.

Wow, I don't even have the match that high. Better than Funk-Lawler? That match is a classic.

That match is great too, but it lacked actual wrestling moves.

A lack of wrestling moves doesn't mean it isn't a wrestling match.

I never said that.

I know. Making sure it is established though when we discuss it on our next podcast

Stan Lane vs George Takano (NJPW 07/24/81)

 

Well I could have watched this all day. We only get a little over 10 minutes of action, but they do so much with it. Lane looks particularly brilliant in this, to a point where I wish we could have seen more of this side of him throughout his career. His performance here combining the mat stuff and the great kicks wouldn’t really leave him looking outclassed against any mat wrestler I can think of. Takano looks great too. Seriously, Lane is such a smooth, chain wrestling fool. Not really competitive enough to be something I’d rate highly, but what a display. Awesome stuff.

Bill Dundee, Steve Keirn, Rick & Robert Gibson vs Dream Machine, Nightmare I & The Heartbreakers (Memphis 07/25/81)

 

They cut a breakneck pace in this one with some great highspots by today’s standards, much less by those in 1981. Also check out Dundee’s freaky amateurish takedowns and the high elevation he gets on his back body drops. Nightmare catches Dundee with a wicked elbow off the ropes at one point. This is like the Michinoku Pro version of Memphis wrestling, with Dundee delivering another stellar performance. I was pretty blown away by this.

I'm surprised by this. I loved the match. I even thought it was better than the more acclaimed Funk vs Lawler brawl earlier in the year.

 

Wow. If we did Observer year end awards here. Like biggest shocker of 2013 on PWO would be Loss liked Steamboat/Snuka more than Lawler/Funk. LOL

I do think "lack of suplexes" is a valid criticism for a match though.

I do think "lack of suplexes" is a valid criticism for a match though.

Of course you do.

WTF?

Parv. Suplexes has nothing to do with story telling in a match. Each match has the opportunity to tell a different story. I've never left a match and went not enough suplexes.

I know all of this. But I still perfer to see a suplex or two than no suplex. A match without high spots is like a sentence without a verb. Try telling a story without any verbs and see how good that story is.

It's more like an action movie without explosions. Sometimes you get a thriller instead?

 

Are you even being serious with us?

So a suplex is better than a high back body drop or a big lariat or a body slam even? It has to be a suplex?

I know all of this. But I still perfer to see a suplex or two than no suplex. A match without high spots is like a sentence without a verb. Try telling a story without any verbs and see how good that story is.

 

Worst comparison ever. In telling a match a punch could be a highspot. It all depends on how you present it.

I see the potential here for this to blow up, so let me be perfectly clear. I loved Funk vs Lawler. Loved it. There was great heat and emotion. It fell just short of classic status for me because it was pretty much entirely punches and kicks. Now, I think timing and pacing are what makes a match as much as anything, and that they built such a great match around so little is extremely impressive. So please don't take this as me dogging Funk vs Lawler. I don't want the perception to be that I don't like that match. But I do think they would have benefitted even more from throwing in a little more wrestling to go with the brawling. That would have elevated it to classic status for me.

 

Since everyone thinks I'm bonkers, I'll re-watch Steamboat vs Snuka before compiling year-end rankings, but what I saw was a match that really stood out in a 1981 setting because it didn't look like anything else I've seen this year. I thought it had the same emotion and intensity of Funk vs Lawler AND some fun wrestling moves mixed in too. Now, that doesn't mean there aren't flaws. I pointed out a botched Snuka dive, but there were other clumsy moments like that. It's far from a perfect match. But I respected the effort behind it, and I enjoyed that they made great bloody visuals and thought Steamboat did a great job of just continuing to sell until they had the crowd where they wanted them. They had to earn it but they got them hot.

Whoa. I'm obviously being faceious here. Hold your horses. I do like suplexes though.

Whoa. I'm obviously being faceious here. Hold your horses. I do like suplexes though.

 

I was about to get the pitchforks, and fire and rally the villagers to run you out of town.

Mil Mascaras vs Ricky Steamboat (AJPW August 1981)

 

They pulled off some impressive chain wrestling here and I like the styles clash of Mascaras doing lots of standard lucha matwork against Steamboat doing lots of standard American matwork. The Santo-like headscissors by Mascaras looked great, especially with Steamboat struggling so much to counter it. After dropping the second fall, Steamboat goes after Mascaras with increased urgency in the second fall and that twisting armbar stuff looks really painful. Steamboat evening the falls surprised me for some reason, as I didn’t expect Mascaras to eat a fall at all. Despite enjoying the work, I didn’t think this ever got better than “good”, mainly because it didn’t feel like they were wrestling much differently in the first five minutes than in the last five. It was kind of a sideways match where you got to see a lot of cool mat exchanges, but no real long-term consequence to any of it. Crap finish too, but that’s to be expected.

I know all of this. But I still perfer to see a suplex or two than no suplex. A match without high spots is like a sentence without a verb. Try telling a story without any verbs and see how good that story is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Train_de_Nulle_Part

Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Memphis 08/01/81)

 

Lawler and Dundee are such a great babyface tag team - in terms of how they work, they really come across as the spiritual predecessors to the Rock & Roll Express. Fun seeing Onita and Fuchi in this style, especially because they really understand it and know what they are doing. They feed all sorts of fun payback spots like blocking the Irish whip into the turnbuckle and the always tremendous arm wringer switcheroo. They fail at every attempt to wrestle Lawler and Dundee, so Fuchi turns the tide by simply grabbing Lawler’s face until he screams (What? They think they’re wrestling the Championship Carnival final in 1995?) and suddenly the heat in the studio is comparable to an arena. Chaos takes over when Jimmy Hart shows up and the locker room clears in a huge brawl. Not really sure what the finish was and we never got a real face in peril segment to pay off the early stuff, but I’m glad I saw this really fun match.