Wrestling Gold Disc 1

Southwest Tag Titles: The Grapplers (Tony Anthony & Len Denton) © vs. The Dynamic Duo (Tully Blanchard & Gino Hernandez) (3/21/83)

We are at the Junction in San Antonio for this rare heel vs. heel match but the Duo were getting the cheers although they still work normal. Tully works early FIP and the Grapplers take it to him with Tully bumping around the ring. Gino would get the tag and he comes in fired up beating on both Grapplers but would get kicked in the head so he tagged back in Tully. Tully would get the advantage on Grappler #2 before both made tags and Gino would get the quick advantage on Grappler #1 with there being quite a bit of switching in and out. Tully would get back in and played FIP again with both Grapplers taking it to him. Tully would eat a nice swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall before tagging Gino but Jack Howell didn’t see it. Gino would tag in and was fired up again getting a dropkick for a nearfall before tagging Tully back in. Gino would then accidentally hit Tully and countered a slam into an O’Connor Roll where the Grappler would knock heads with Tully and Gino got the win. The Duo win the titles and Tully decides to attack Gino with his title belt. Tully pounds on Gino relentlessly who blades but Gino would recover to run Tully off until the Grapplers decided to start destroying him until Gino made a comeback cleaning house on the Grapplers and Carson. This was a solid match with Gino getting over bigtime as a babyface afterwards in this legendary angle and this is a nomination.

Special Referee – Earnie Shavers: Tully Blanchard vs. Gino Hernandez (5/26/83)

This is the big singles match between the former partners at the big Southwest show at The Summit in Houston which they ran because they wanted to compete against Paul Boesch. Gino was strong on offense early but Tully was stooging in the ring and stalling outside the ring kinda like Zbyszko. Gino is really fired up as a babyface and just punishes Tully who is doing all the chickenshit heel schtick. Gino would miss a running dive into the corner and hit the ringpost which caused juice and Tully started to work on the cut. Tully would tie Gino in the ropes and started kicking him until Shavers released him. Tully would get a nearfall off a diving elbow from the middle rope before throwing Gino back into the corner where he would do the Flair bump straight to the floor really hard. Tully would attack him on the floor between going in and out of the ring smashing his head on the ringside table. Tully would go for a piledriver but Gino would reverse with a backdrop and hit a dropkick sending Tully to the floor. Gino would then grab the ring bell and bashed Tully with the bell causing him to juice as Gino is getting his fire back. Gino would pound Tully on the top turnbuckle in every corner before Tully just fell on the ringside table. Gino then used some great punches and his teeth to work on Tully’s cut before hitting him with an elbow smash for a 2.9 nearfall. Gino hit the suplex then went for his patented revesre elbow off the top rope but Tully moved out of the way. Tully then tried to tie Gino up again but Shavers pulled him off which prompted Tully to push him and he got decked. Gino then climbed up top and hit a diving splash on Tully for the victory. You know Shavers was going to get involved for the finish because that was the boxer as referee finish but still this was a damn good bloody match with lots of heat and both men working hard. Easy nomination.

SCW World Heavyweight Title Tournament – Finals: Adrian Adonis vs. Bob Orton Jr. (5/26/83)

This is the finals of their big tourney to crown a “world” champion which they created because of their tiein with USA Network. They also latched on to Lou Thesz using the original world title belt as their belt. Adonis has beaten Bob Sweetan, Wahoo McDaniel, & Scott Casey and Orton has beaten Tiger Conway Jr., Sweet Brown Sugar, & Terry Funk. Adonis isn’t obese yet so he is still a great worker. This started out with some great chain wrestling with both men trading the advantage and the highlight being Adonis breaking out a flying headscissors. Adonis would get a backslide for a nearfall causing Orton to go to the floor to gather himself and Adonis got another nearfall with a small package as his bandage from his previous match comes off. The action would start picking up with Adonis moving around the ring like Rey Misterio Jr. but Orton would ground Adonis using a wristlock before turning it into an armbar. Adonis would catch Orton in a reverse atomic drop coming off the ropes in the first real high spot of the match before trying a diving splash off the middle ropes but Orton would get the knees up. Adonis would get an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall and Orton answered with a right hand to the face that Adonis sold bigtime. Orton continued working on the cut and went for a bulldog but Adonis threw him into the corner and tried to throw him in the corner but Orton reversed and Adonis did the Flair bump back into the ring. Orton would try for the Superplex but Adonis knocked him off the ropes and fell back in the ring. Both men would knock heads on a double collision before Adonis would lock in the sleeper hold but Orton would break the move by running Adonis neckfirst on the top rope. Adonis would try again but Orton reversed into one of his own before going for a small package that Adonis would roll over for his own for the victory. This was an old school tight wrestling match with both men looking great and an ode to the era that Lou Thesz dominated. I loved this and this is a definite nomination.

Piledriver Match: “Bruiser” Bob Sweetan vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler (8/15/82)

We are at the Hemisfair Arena in San Antonio for this as Lawler was a big heel here since he had been talking shit about Sweetan on TV. Lawler does his heel schtick before the match which was great since he was a face everywhere around this time. Sweetan threatened to stomp on Lawler’s crown before the match which was pissing the King off bigtime then put it on his head for a big pop. Lawler stalls all over the place running in and out of the ring then talking shit on the mic pissing off the fans getting all kinds of heat. The story is here that Sweetan gets angry because Lawler is too slick and he can’t get his hands on him since he moves in and out. Sweetan would finally start pounding on Lawler a little but as soon as he went for a piledriver Lawler ducked back out to the floor. Lawler would start getting some offense in but Sweetan would still try for a piledriver that Lawler would scoot to the ropes. Lawler would finally turn it up and he started firing some awesome punches on Sweetan but Sweetan would start firing back and made his comeback hitting a big backdrop suplex for a nearfall with Lawler getting his foot on the rope. Sweetan would hit another backdrop suplex for a 3 count but Lawler put his foot on the rope and Jack Howell said that the foot was on the rope so the pin doesn’t count. Sweetan tried to ram Lawler in the corner but got caught in the running lights and Lawler cradled him up with his feet on the ropes for the victory. Sweetan would get up and attacked Lawler then put him in a piledriver that Lawler sold like he landed on a landmine. This was great stuff with Lawler being fucking great and Sweetan being there to dish out punishment when he could. I’m throwing this on the block.