All Time MOTY List Head to Head 1980: Rose/Wiskoski vs. Martel/Piper VS. Morowski vs. Dieter

Moose Morowski vs. Axel Dieter CWA 10/5/80

PAS: This was a no DQ loser leaves town match where the only way you can win is by KO or tapout and was worked in a real hard hitting epic style. Morowski was a revelation, he was a real hard hitting bruiser who took huge bumps. Every shot resonated like Greg Valentine, and you can see Dieter having to step up his brawling to match up. Meanwhile Morowski also took a bunch of really insane flying bumps out of the ring to the floor, imagine Ronnie Garvin if he bumped like Jerry Estrada. Dieter meanwhile is trying to lock on holds, and just hope the bigger man punches himself out. The round breaks really added to the grueling feel of the match as both guys would slump in the corner like they were near death. Hadn't seen either guy before, and really loved this.

ER: Phil liked this one more than me, but this still delivered. It's a long match and a kind of one man show, but it's certainly worth being seen by more people, if only to get our only extended shot of Morowski that I know about. He turned up under a mask teaming with Jack Brisco in that AJPW motherload last year (that no longer exists online), but otherwise I had never seen him before. This will certainly act as his best showcase until new footage emerges. Dieter doesn't seem like much, his offense is pretty lousy and he's kind of sloppy, but it's undeniable how much the crowd is into him, and the ever-present "AXEL" chants make him a pretty easy guy to get behind. Moose beats him all around the ring with giant meaty fists and pretty much from the get go Dieter is just trying to survive. Dieter has pretty flimsy offense so they were smart to have his few comebacks come from using Moose against himself, most memorably knocking him off the top all the way to the floor. Moose takes a wild bump to the floor and it's a great way to buy him being weakened. The mat stuff in the middle is a little dull, but had some great bully moments from Moose as he would simply roll onto Dieter with his weight and try and crush or choke him. Did not love the finish, as I didn't fully buy Dieter surviving the Moose stampede, and it didn't help that his crossbody off the top to almost KO Moose looked bad, AND he really sloppily applied the finishing sub. But overall the match was a real fun Moose drawn out beating, and I'm real glad it exists for our viewing pleasure.

Portland Tag Review

Verdict

PAS: This was really close, I loved the German match, and it is the kind of cool discovery which I enjoy most about doing this blog. However, I think that the tag match had four great performances, while the German match was pretty much a Morowski showcase, great showcase, but I think the tag match inches past it.

ER: The Portland tag feels like it could be beaten, but this wasn't the match to do it. It was, however, a nifty find, and I plan on diving into some more Moose Morowski because of it.