1979 Match of the Year

The Spoiler vs. Wahoo McDaniel NWA Houston 4/21/79

PAS: This match is a big reason I am totally in love with the NWA Classics service. One of the cool things about being a wrestling fan is that you can still discover hidden classics 30 years later. There is no hidden 70s Scorcese movie or unreleased classic Joy Division album, but here is The Spoiler v. Wahoo McDaniel from 1979 and it is unbelievable.

Awesome 2 out 3 falls war. Very cool match structure which actually reminded me of MS1 v. Sangre Chicana (aka the greatest wrestling match ever). Spoiler blitzes Wahoo from the start, just beating on him from pillar to post, with nasty elbows to the head and neck and a big headbutt which splits Wahoo open. Nothing fancy here, but every stomp,elbow and slam was just brutal. Spoiler isn't a fancy highflyer, but he is really agile, and gets to the top with tremendous ease, really the first time I have seen the Spoiler and gotten the hype, he was so good here. Wahoo doesn't hit an offensive move for the first five minutes or so, but turns the tide with a huge chop to the head, you totally buy Wahoo as a guy who has one shot power like that.. After Wahoo gets on track it is back and forth brutality for 3 falls. We get a great BS finish with Wahoo countering the claw hold by turning around the Spoiler's mask, and the blind Spoiler claws Gary Hart and then the ref before getting DQed. Loved the idea of the blind bear just mauling everyone. Such a great match, and a hell of a discovery.

ER: Things get off on a great note during the Wahoo/Boesch pre-match interview, when Wahoo says he wants to win the title because his people "like shiny things". Boesch almost completely no sells it so Wahoo makes sure to repeat it to make sure it lands. Clearly not Boesch forcing Native American stereotypes on Wahoo, just Wahoo awesomely going "hey you know how much we love beads and shiny things and getting drunk a 9 AM on a Tuesday!" while Boesch just moves on. And this is pretty much my favorite Wahoo match ever, and Spoiler seems like a guy whose every second of available footage needs to be soaked up, by me. They gel perfectly and what's maybe most impressive is they really aren't stiffing the hell out of each other. I love a crazy violent brawl with dudes clonking each other in the nose and forehead, but something like this is equally impressive. Look at Spoiler's stomps and all of his kicks at Wahoo's face as Wahoo is yanking him to the floor. Those are worked stomps, and they look amazing! You can tell Wahoo isn't just getting kicked directly in the eye. Spoiler is no Kurisu, Spoiler throws all sorts of great worked stomps and still comes off violent. I love loaded mask spots and Spoiler seems like a guy with a lot of great shtick around loaded masks, and seems like a guy who could work great schtick around tons of things. After he busts open Wahoo with the mask (and Wahoo blades for all of the people in the back to see) he does a killer job going after that cut, with Wahoo clawing at Spoiler's mask to stop it. All the attempted mask removals look really violent, as mask removals always look nasty. Here Spoiler's mask keeps getting hung up around his upper jaw and Wahoo yanks it around in super painful ways. Wahoo and his big ol face take a mean post shot, Spoiler takes a bunch of silly dramatic bumps off chops, and Wahoo's falling chops to the face look like they'd leave Jardine cross eyed, and this was all great.

ALL TIME MOTY LIST