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GCW 11/4/83

PAS: You have to love that the network is throwing stuff like this up now, instead of some OVW match which was already on Youtube. This is completely new, and full of intriguing match ups, and a rarely seen match up between two all timers

Mike Jackson vs. Bob Roop

PAS: This was a cool match on paper between two of the maestros of 80s regional wrestling. It had a moment or two, but was mostly worked as a match to let people settle in their seats. The headlock takeovers had some snap, and I dug Roop's stampede shoulderbreaker, but this was basically skippable.

Johnny Rich vs. Chick Donovan

PAS: I am amused at them running a Tommy Rich cousin against a fake Nature Boy on the undercard of Wildfire vs. Flair. Chick had some nice straight punched to the temple, but this was pretty forgettable as well. Rich just kind of rolls him up after some basic dropkick/armdrag stuff.

Ronnie Garvin vs. Cy Jennigan

PAS: Another short match, but a bit more nip and tuck then the first two. No I idea who Jennigan is, but he was pretty aggressive, backing Garvin into the corner and landing some nice looking body shots. Garvin puts him out pretty quickly with a big punch and elbow drop.

Jake Roberts vs. Pez Whatley

PAS: This is a match with a bunch of individually cool things in it. Roberts is a great sleazy heel, and they build nicely with his cheapshots and Paul Ellering interference. Whatley is pretty exciting babyface and times his comebacks well, including some really sweet dropkicks. Still this goes to a 30 minute draw, and they had about 15 minutes of stuff to fill time with. At no point did they really work to a finish, and the match ended up feeling like someone was stuck in traffic and they were told to stretch. Ended up being pretty tough to get through.

Ted DiBiase vs. Buzz Sawyer

PAS: One of the weird and cool things we have gotten with the Hidden Gems on the network is a much wider view of Buzz Sawyer. We got to see his most legendary match ever, The Last Battle of Atlanta, work an awesome Battle of Dogs against JYD and now a rare bit of babyface Buzz taking on DiBiase. As expected this had a lot of great looking right hands by both guys, and Buzz using his traditional heel mannerisms and awesome babyface mannerisms. There were a couple of time killer chinlock spots (this was a DiBiase match after all) but after Buzz gets cut it is a pretty energetic brawl including an awesome post match where DiBiase throws a chair at Buzz who catches it, sits down and gives him an evil grin. Fun stuff.

MD: I really, really like fiery babyface Dibiase. Heel Dibiase though? Kind of the shits as often as not. I'm presuming he called this match and he called it to come off as a vulnerable champ. Buzz had JUST turned face and they were going to have to count on him to draw for the next few months, but that lengthy babyface sleeper sequence was unforgivable. I say that even with the pop Sawyer got after Dibiase hope spotted his way out of it only to get caught off the ropes again. It just went on forever. It's a shame too because there was a lot of good stuff. The early clowning was great because the crowd desperately wanted to cheer Buzz and he could really milk it. When Dibiase finally took over, all of his offense looked really good. The finish was pretty heated brawling. But man, vulnerable heel champion or no, you don't want an endless babyface sleeper that they barely work. Even a 1983 Georgia crowd knew that wasn't going anywhere. They were just polite enough to cheer along.

The Road Warriors vs. Buzz/Brett Sawyer

PAS: This was a total blast, Buzz comes out to save his brother and the crowd goes nuts. Brett has a broken arm and his cast and Buzz's insanity even up the match. Animal gets busted open and Hawk has a bandaged ear, and this is the most I can remember the Roadies looking vulnerable, which really helps the match. Shockingly good selling by both guys, and I am wondering if I need to revisit the Roadies. Their offense looks great too, they are both amazing power wrestlers, their slams looks so effortless and their bearhugs look rib cracking. Great heat on Brett and a big hot tag by Buzz and we actually have the Warriors go down clean.

MD: I loved this. Earlier in the day I doubled back and caught a lot of what we have of GCW TV from November. That meant I saw the Buzz Sawyer turn. The pop when he ran back to the ring to team with his brother here was huge. They had delayed this one show with the injury angle on Brett. There was just a buzz and that initial shine with the revenge cast shots and the fans reacting to every shot was great. Considering how little the Road Warriors would give a few years later, they were great at doing what they had to here. They were completely protected by the weapon-like nature of the cast and the sheer babyface fury that Buzz brought. I thought the bearhug control bits were actually really effective, which was a testament to Brett's selling and how badly the crowd wanted the Sawyers to get revenge and the finish was pretty triumphant. The perfect match for this crowd and this moment. Between this, the Last Battle of Atlanta and the Thanksgiving show, plus some stuff we know they have back in August from previous releases, we're starting to get this real picture of the territory just like we were able to with Houston a few years back.

Ric Flair vs. Tommy Rich

PAS: This is the first match we have between these two legends (outside of a Power Hour match in 1990) and I really wanted it to be a classic. Instead it was a good match, with two good wrestlers putting on a show for the fans up into a bad finish. Rich has those great looking straight punches, and Flair bumps all around the ring for them. I really enjoyed the king of the mountain section with Flair constantly knocking Rich to the floor. I thought the big Flair bladejob was a bit desultory, and Flair just checking it off his list. That belt shot at the finish of the match was really weak looking and left me with a bit of a bad taste. Still there was a lot to enjoy in the meat of this match, I imagine if we every get another matchup between the two it will fulfill more of its promise.

MD: This is just a very solid Ric Flair match. Nothing was over the top exceptional but everything seemed to hit, even if loosely. I think a lot of that has to do with the opponent, not necessarily any actual skill that Rich brings to the table, but just from who he was and where they were. Rich was established so Flair didn't have to establish him. It meant that he was able to take a good chunk of the match. Rich was over so Flair could make use of that to get heat. It meant that Flair could go back to the well again and again with the cheating and get reactions. Rich wasn't a one trick pony so Flair didn't have to fall into formula. They worked this pretty broadly. There were attempts at legwork and then actual legwork but it didn't dominate the match. Rich had plenty of comebacks but Flair got to use a lot of his great offense. I especially liked the pile driver and the subsequent comeback reversal. Finally, they got to do a fairly complex finish with a roll up and a belt shot and both guys came out of it looking pretty good. Maybe Rich would get him next time, right?