Kamala vs. Butch Reed (1/18/85)

 

It starts out in a wild brawl but Kamala slows the pace down and starts pounding on Reed. Kamala uses a nerve hold off and on for what seemed like forever before finally hitting his big splash but Reed kicked out. Reed makes a comeback but hits the ref with his shoulderblock and then goes to work on Akbar before Hercules Hernandez distracts him before Kamala knocks him down and hits the big splash for the pinfall.

 

Street Fight: Hacksaw Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (7/29/83)

 

This is a come as you are street fight and it’s a great brawl. Lots of great punches thrown here by both men and both men use the other’s clothes such as shirts, belts, & boots as weapons. Akbar comes in and distracts Duggan so that DiBiase could get the advantage but Akbar accidentally hits DiBiase with a terrible chairshot. Duggan then starts to beat the hell out of Akbar and DiBiase accidentally hits Akbar with it before Duggan picks it up and uses it on DiBiase for the win. Good heated brawl and I’ll put it down as a definite.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85)

 

I’ve watched two of these matches so far so let’s see how this one stacks up against them. This match starts out like the Oklahoma City match 5 days earlier with some really solid matwork but not as extensive as that one though. As the match goes on it really resembles the OKC match with Flair giving Taylor a handshake every now and then but then eventually they start pushing each other and the pace picks up with Flair becoming more aggressive although not heeling it up like the OKC match. Flair & Taylor start trading shots in the corners with the crowd starting to get into it and Taylor’s punches once again look great. Flair starts heeling it up a little here shoving the referee around but still not as much as the OKC match and as soon as I say that Flair throws Taylor to the floor and throws him into the ringpost. Flair then takes a page out of the Andersons playbook and starts working on the arm which is totally different from the OKC match and I am digging this because it isn’t the same formula. Flair works on the with an armbar and everytime Taylor tries to get up Flair takes him down by the hair. Flair continues with the armwork for a few minutes but Taylor breaks free where he starts his comeback. Taylor throws Flair arm first into the corner and then he starts working on Flair’s arm but Flair catches Taylor in a sleeper hold that Taylor gets out of not long after. Taylor then locks in his own sleeper hold, which Flair gets out of. After a suplex by Taylor that hurts both men, Flair throws Taylor back to the floor but Taylor gets on the apron and uses a great looking sunset flip to get a nearfall. Taylor then hits the backslide for another nearfall but Flair chops him back down to the mat. Taylor then press slams Flair off the top rope and now we are in the Flair formula part of the match. Taylor gets another nearfall with a cross body block after a missed chop by Flair. They trade chops and Taylor throws Flair into the corner where he does his Flair bump to the floor and Taylor brings back into the ring with a suplex for another nearfall. Taylor still with the advantage on Flair throws him into the ropes and Flair hits him with a shoulderblock and falls on top of him for a 3 count where the object was that Taylor was supposed to get his foot on the rope but wasn’t seen by the referee. Taylor put his foot on the rope barely as Flair took it off the rope and the fans on the front row got up and immediately started crying to the referee that Taylor had it on there. This was another different Flair/Taylor match from the previous two and I liked this one just as much as the Superdome match and almost as much as the OKC match. A definite DVD pick.

Kamala vs. Butch Reed (1/18/85)

 

You really want this to be crazier for two guys in face paint in a battle of the savages, disapointing

 

Street Fight: Hacksaw Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (7/29/83)

 

I thought there were some crazy chair shots in this and Duggan's final punch was pretty awesome. Still not much blood hurts this, and this was the least of the three Houston DiBiase v. Duggan brawls. Goes on for now, but we will see.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85)

 

This is the first of the three I have seen, and I really dug it, it is cool to see a Flair match where he doesn't work the leg at all. The punches to the underarm were great, and you get the sense if Flair had a Kimura he could do an entire formula match around the arm. I liked all of the mirror stuff too, this was great, although I don't know about three Flair v. Taylor matches on a set, I will have to see how the other two are.