Posted July 28, 20223 yr comment_5986809 History of Pro Wrestling #74 (04:37:33) Matches from December 1971-January 1972 DORY FUNK JR. vs SEIJI SAKAGUCHI (12/09/1971; JWA World Champion Series; 00:36:38) Sakaguchi was a last-minute replacement for Inoki, who disappeared from the tour after he and Baba dropped the NWA International Tag Team Titles to the Funks two nights earlier. More of a Dory special than the matches against Baba and Inoki but he makes this an excellent NWA title defense. 3 3/4* SEIJI SAKAGUCHI & MICHIAKI YOSHIMURA vs DORY FUNK JR. & DICK MURDOCH (12/12/1971; JWA World Champion Series; 00:36:38) Sakaguchi also filled in for Inoki in this match. By this time, Inoki was expelled from the JWA, as months earlier, he and Baba attempted a coup to take over the company and Inoki ended up as the fall guy, leading to the founding of New Japan Pro Wrestling a few months after this match. I mention this because Inoki and Sakaguchi were the All Asia Tag Team Champions, but the titles were vacated, and this match was to crown new champions. LE PETIT PRINCE & MICHEL SAULNIER vs GUY RENAULT & BOB GENELE (12/13/1971; French Catch; 00:30:40) Segunda Caida review of the match. THE STOMPER & BEN JUSTICE vs FABULOUS KANGAROOS (12/18/1971; BTW Detroit, MI; 00:13:40) Always a pleasure to see the Kangaroos, one of pro wrestling’s first top heel tag teams. TIBOR SZAKACS vs JOHN HENRY YEASLEY (12/18/1971; Joint Promotions; 00:17:52) PAT PATTERSON vs ROCKY JOHNSON (12/26/1971; Big Time San Francisco; 00:04:50) RAY STEVENS & PEPPER GOMEZ & PETER MAIVIA vs RIPPER COLLINS & PAUL DEMARCO & HARU SASAKI (12/26/1971; Big Time San Francisco; 00:02:53) DON CALOT vs LESAGE (01/03/1972; French Catch; 00:09:23) TONY CHARLES vs TERRY RUDGE (01/05/1972; Joint Promotions; 00:32:06) Terry Rudge still has hair here. TERRY RUDGE vs LES THORNTON (01/12/1972; Joint Promotions; 00:20:32) HARLEY RACE vs JOHNNY VALENTINE (01/14/1972; St. Louis; Kiel Auditorium; 00:03:47) FRANZ VAN BUYTEN vs JACQUES DE LASARTESSE (01/17/1972; French Catch; 00:34:42) Segunda Caida review of the match. Good and worth watching, but not everything you’d hope for based on how it looks on paper. BATTLE ROYAL (01/22/1972; Big Time San Francisco; 00:03:45) HAYSTACKS CALHOUN vs SUPERSTAR GRAHAM & ROGER KIRBY (01/22/1972; BTW San Francisco, CA; 00:03:15) RAY STEVENS & ROCKY JOHNSON & PEPPER GOMEZ & PETER MAIVIA vs RIPPER COLLINS & HARU SASAKI & PAUL DEMARCO & PAT PATTERSON (01/22/1972; Big Time San Francisco; 00:03:12) MARCEL MANNEVEAU vs LE SAMURAI (01/31/1972; French Catch; 00:23:30) Segunda Caida review of the match. Special thanks to Cameren Lee for helping with background information on the Japanese matches.
