Posted December 14, 200717 yr comment_5425252 Super fun match with Dusty actually taking it to the mat and Backlund making him look like a million bucks. Sounds like a styles clash, but it really works. Also great to see Dusty as a heel in New Japan because it's so weird. It's a shame the matches with Inoki were just a few months too early. Definite nomination.
April 24, 200817 yr comment_5430844 Bob Backlund vs. Dusty Rhodes (WWWF Title) (5/27/80) - Dusty focuses on the leg early on and we have a couple of cool sequences. In the first, Dusty has a leg lock applied so Bob tries to stretch Dusty back into a pinning combination. In another sequence, Dusty grabs Bob’s leg and starts hammering on it. Bob hops up on Dusty and gives him a monkey flip to escape the predicament. However, Dusty goes right back to the leg. Once again, Bob is grounded and has to find a way to escape. He eventually turns the tables and applies an Indian death lock on to Dusty and now Bob is working the legs. Like the Hogan match, Dusty applies a chinlock and Bob sells the move but the match momentum just dies. Thankfully, they pick it up with Bob hitting the big moves and Dusty trying to survive. When Bob hits the atomic drop, Dusty grabs the ropes and wraps himself around the bottom rope because he knows he is in trouble. Nice touch. The end is sort of a mess. First, we get a ref bump which served no purpose. They brawl outside where Bob gets busted open and Dusty puts him in the Tree of Woe when he gets back in. The ref tries to stop the attack and Dusty shoves him for the DQ. I enjoyed the match and thought it was a surefire nomination up until the ending. I’ll still nominate it but it dropped several notches even though the work was pretty great throughout. (NJC 88)
August 5, 200916 yr comment_5442539 I found a lot of the working of holds boring, liked the hot stretch leading to the finish and hated the ending. All in all, it's not a match I care to see again, so no vote. As much as I've tried to appreciate Backlund over the years, there's some fundamental disconnect that keeps me from getting excited about most of his matches.
August 29, 200916 yr comment_5443501 Yeah I thought the matwork was pretty dull too, the brawling was okay, but this is smoked by Backlund v. Hansen and this doesn't feel like a top 250 match to me, much less top 175. No vote
