September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625797 Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987. Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625807 Way high on my list because of the strong performances on the AWA set. Wahoo vs. Bock is a legendary performance. The Hennig series is legendary. Man, I wish we had even more prime Bock out there.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625819 I really feel Bock would be a No. 1 contender if we had a good sampling of his '70s work.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625824 Loved Bock on the AWA set. He'll be way up there on my list. Top 25, maybe even Top 15. Just tremendous in so many facets. The Wahoo match is one of my favorite matches of all time.
September 17, 201411 yr comment_5625868 I have two years to make an argument for Bock. When the time is right and I'm ready then I will. I think we have more than enough footage.
September 18, 201411 yr comment_5626258 I think like a lot of people, I want to rank Bock as high as I justifiably can. Watching him in those matches vs. The Funks last night reminded me of just how much I love him. One thing is that I've found that there tends to be more 70s footage out there than people sometimes expect. What would be useful is if someone (i.e. khawk, lol) could provide a list of what 70s Bock matches are out there. Whether its AWA, Japan, Luce Classics, or whatever. Because really, Bock in the 70s might be the difference between a top 10 or 15 finish for him, or a 30-50 sort of finish. Depending on how much 70s Bock is out there, he'd be someone I'd look at closely after Dory and Harley. Why? Because I have a personal interest both in seeing the slept-on 70s given a fair representation in this poll, and in Bock finishing high. Lovely hair.
September 18, 201411 yr comment_5626263 One thing is that I've found that there tends to be more 70s footage out there than people sometimes expect. What would be useful is if someone (i.e. khawk, lol) could provide a list of what 70s Bock matches are out there. Whether its AWA, Japan, Luce Classics, or whatever. Might take a bit but I'll get a list of 70's matches up here, no problem. I'll also be happy to put together a sampler set if necessary that potential voters can circulate amongst themselves if some of what is listed is not readily available on the youtubes.
September 18, 201411 yr comment_5626265 Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987. Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday. Bock was 53 in 1987. Makes his performances that year even more impressive, IMO. For as much as Bock was the high-end AWA mainstay for a large part of his career, he did travel around to defend the title more than any AWA Champ before him. Not a ton of it is available on video (I'd kill for a tape of some of is Georgia defenses, for example), but there is a body of work there that should somewhat offset that concern.
September 18, 201411 yr comment_5626268 I'll also be happy to put together a sampler set if necessary that potential voters can circulate amongst themselves if some of what is listed is not readily available on the youtubes. FWIW if there are any other AWA guys someone wants to make an argument for and video needs to be circulated, I can probably help out with that too. I have samplers of a guy like Leon White, for example, and Col. DeBeers (if Wiskoski gets any love in this thing). Vachon, of course, if he gets into the conversation. Adonis (both with Ventura and as a single), Blackwell 80-85, Slaughter as SD II, plenty more. My preference would be to send out a block of stuff to one person and have them pass it around to whoever needs it (chain mail, similar to the review process for the 80's sets). I'll leave that up to you guys to figure it out if it comes to that. For now, a Bock list is a good starting point.
September 18, 201411 yr comment_5626359 Smooth as silk......Bock was a master in the ring and could be considered the epitome of what a world champion is supposed to be. I always knew Bock was great but it was revisiting him in the AWA set that cemented that fact in my brain because he was still a superworker even at the ripe age of 43 in 1987. Bock's biggest drawback was that he stayed in the AWA for as long as he did and it's a shame that he didn't get at least one run as NWA champ in his heyday. Bock was 53 in 1987. Makes his performances that year even more impressive, IMO. For as much as Bock was the high-end AWA mainstay for a large part of his career, he did travel around to defend the title more than any AWA Champ before him. Not a ton of it is available on video (I'd kill for a tape of some of is Georgia defenses, for example), but there is a body of work there that should somewhat offset that concern. Thanks I knew 43 didn't sound right when I was typing it and yes I wish the GCW stuff was on tape especially the angle with Solie
September 20, 201411 yr comment_5626732 Bock is one of the few pure American wrestlers (Stan Hansen is clearly American, but I associate him with Japan) that I could see as my number one. I know I am just beating a dead horse, but it is the lack of footage that is hurting him. He is truly an excellent wrestler in every facet of pro wrestling.
September 20, 201411 yr comment_5626734 Are you talking about a lack of footage from the 60's and early 70's?
September 20, 201411 yr comment_5626738 Given how good post-prime Bock is, I feel very confident giving him credit for a certain assumed level of excellence over the years we don't have footage. Tentative top five for me, and I very much doubt he drops out of the top ten.
September 20, 201411 yr comment_5626751 Are you talking about a lack of footage from the 60's and early 70's? How much 70s is there? I just thought there were a handful if All Japan matches
September 20, 201411 yr comment_5626758 Obviously complete bouts are the true want, and there are some, along with plenty of film...some clipped up, some more complete. There is plenty of Luce film tags with Stevens and singles matches vs. Verne (and some of the Verne ones are pretty long), Bock vs. Jumbo in Hawaii in 1978, Bock vs. Martel in Hawaii 1978, 8 minutes of silent film from 2/11/79 of Bock defending against Baba in Minneapolis, vs. Rusher Kimura (IWE 1979), 10 minutes of film vs. Ernie Ladd in Chicago, 5 minutes of Bock vs. Robinson from a high school gym in or around 1974, Stevens and Bock vs. Bastien/Robinson from AWA TV in 1973, w/Duncum vs. Verne & Mad Dog from Minneapolis in Oct 79, Bock vs. Kintaro Oki from March 1980 in the IWE, vs, Zumhofe from AWA TV in 1979, 6 minutes of Bock vs. Greg Gagne from Minny in July 79, w/Stevens vs. High Flyers 8/10/74 TV. Plus a whole bunch of Midwestern films from the mid 70's featuring a bunch of Nick-Verne bouts, and some Heenan Family tags....might be another Robinson-Bock bout in there too, I can't remember exactly. I'm sure there is more. The shorter stuff and the heavily clipped stuff is probably better to see how he worked certain guys. Naturally there is a ton of 80's material to dive into.
September 23, 201411 yr comment_5628193 Bock is in contention for my number one. Great work across a few decades, and the type of mat wrestler I lose my shit over on a regular basis.
September 23, 201411 yr comment_5628211 Bock is a guy who will finish high for me. I've said it before, but I think him and Buddy Rose are the 2 best ever at having different type of matches, and the matches being great. He did the little things and big things well.
September 24, 201411 yr comment_5628259 I love Bock and he will rank high on my list but he could also be really boring in All Japan. He had the great Robinson match and some highlights against Jumbo but he could also kill a match dead with his "matwork".
September 28, 201410 yr comment_5629426 In my current top 5, my drawback to Bock is we do not have enough of his ''prime'' footage out there, what exactly do we have that is not AWA for him to watch?
September 28, 201410 yr comment_5629430 Probably his Memphis matches with guys like Lawler, Savage and Jarrett, along with complete matches from All Japan, Houston and Southwest.
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