Black History Month DAY 8

Abdullah the Butcher vs. The Sheik
AJPW - 1980

One of my favorite sub-five minute matches ever. Well, the match itself is pretty inconsequential. You just want to see the madness that always surrounded these guys, especially when they were in the ring together. It was that sense of constant danger that really made these guys. Like Mick Foley in later years, these were two great brawlers who didn't really have a whole lot going for them in terms of actual brawling offense. Their strikes were good enough for pro wrestling, but Abdullah the Butcher isn't The Necro Butcher. He's not a guy who was going to impress on offense alone. Mick made up for that deficiency with foreign object shots, charisma, psychotic bumping, and impeccable timing. These two made up for it with foreign object shots, charisma, and the ability to convey the feeling that they would tear the arena to the ground trying to kill each other. They brawl around ringside as a herd of ring crew boys try to separate them. They're not doing anything more devastating than choking each other, but the illusion of violence is surprisingly potent. Fuck, at one point, they just happen to take the brawl to a side of the ring where a bunch of photographers can take snapshots of them choking each other while surrounded by the ring crew, who's trying to separate them just enough that they don't actually ruin the picture. Now that's professionalism. This won't make you forget Onita/Funk or Honma/Yamakawa or Necro/Joe, but it's a ton of fun, and a great illustration of how a little can go a long way in wrestling.

Read more!

Black History Month DAY 7

Kareem Muhammed + Kamala v. Dick Murdoch + Hacksaw Jim Duggan 7/14/85

This match is interesting from a sociological standpoint. You get to see your two real archetypes of fat black dudes in wrestling. In some ways they don't make much sense as a tag team. Kamala is working a minstrel African Savage gimmick, you expect him to try to boil Bugs Bunny in a pot. Meanwhile Kareem Muhammed is an American black man who has embraced Black Militancy. The Zambuie Express were formed when Ray Candy and Leroy Brown abandoned their slave names and joined to fight for justice against a society based on White Supremacy. You would think a forward thinking positive brother like Kareem Muhammed wouldn't have anything to do with Kamala.

This match has your pair of black wrestlers getting their ass kicked by a pair of white rednecks while the crowd goes nuts. Man do those guys take an asskicking though, and no one dishes it out like Duggan and Murdoch. This was Mid-South wrestling and its Mid-Southiest, crazy brawling, nutty crowd heat, great punches, big bumps, just go-go wrestling. Kamala is pretty damn underrated, flies around great and his top rope splash is about as great looking a move as you will see in the 80's. Muhammed is pretty fun at flying off of Duggan and Murdochs fists, although his offense wasn't as good.

Read more!