New Footage Friday: The Sheik, Bull Curry, Mad Dog Vachon

The Sheik vs. Juan Humberto Texas Wrestling 12/14/54

MD:Very cool to see the Sheik in his earlier stages of development. We have a decent amount of footage of him but it's mostly from the 70s or later when the act and the man had both calcified. Here he was downright spry. Humberto was another heel, generally, I think, so this has some of the same issues that Curry vs Savich had. The fans seem fairly reluctant to get behind Humberto. It was sort of a tale of two matches. While Humberto's stuff was all pretty good, Shiek wasn't very interesting in taking any of it. On the other hand, when the Shiek was in control, he was unrelenting and wild. There was a definite sense of danger. He kept going for chairs or the microphone and would come in at odd angles. I think he ended up, in later years, as a wrestler who didn't end up feeding much or taking much and just judging from this match, that was probably the right decision.

PAS: I didn't love this, there were moments of wildness with the Sheik which were compelling (although unfortunately that coincided with the worst of the VQ), but much of the in-ring stuff was a little dull, and I didn't get much of a sense of Humberto at all. You can see the Sheik working on his act, and I would still like to see more of the Detroit stuff when he was a super over star, but I still haven't really enjoyed a Sheik match as much as him and Sabu almost burning themselves alive in FMW when he was super old.

Wild Bull Curry vs. Danny Savich Texas Wrestling 2/22/55

MD: Of the three matches, this was the one I was most interested in on paper. The 69 Curry vs Valentine match was one of the real highlights of the Houston footage, which is saying a lot. This was Curry a decade and a half younger. Some things are obvious from the get go. Curry is a hell of a puncher. We only have a few data points, but it's very striking just how much he accomplishes with his fists alone. In 69, he was an older, more sympathetic figure. This, as best as I can tell, was more heel vs heel, where you had a cheating, low-down heel vs a mangy, nasty heel. It meant that while the match was entertaining, the crowd were only going to get so far behind Curry. If this was part of a turn, it was effective. If this was to get over the difference between Curry and Savich and get Savich's second (and Texas Main Eventer, Duke Keomuka) over as cheaters, it was effective. Savich was apparently bleeding here but we didn't get a great look at that. The cheating felt novel, though I have no idea how many years they were doing this sort of thing. The ref didn't seem to have any idea how to handle it, as if a disqualification rule for interference by a manager just didn't exist. Curry generally fought off both guys whenever he was on the floor but he ultimately had his arm paralyzed by Keomuka which let Savich finish him off. The nature of the match sort of held it back, but I'd love to see more Curry. Against the right opponent, you can just tell he'd be great. The Diamond Drill Twist remains the best finisher of the 1950s.

PAS: I loved this. Minimalist punch out between a pair of ugly mean pricks is pretty much narrowcasted towards my interests. Curry looks like a hairier Abe Vagoda and is clearly an all time great punch and kick wrestler, a real variety of hard looking thudding shots, which Savich sells like he is being hit by sledgehammers. Savich gets opened up over the eye in a cut which looked like it was seeping into the hair in his eyebrow. Really cool finishes to all three falls, with Savich using his Diamond Drill Twist, which was a Stooges like neck twist, which Curry sold like he broke his neck. The second fall had Savich taking big bumps outside the ring and Curry King of the Mountaining on both Savich and Duke Keomuka. I loved the third fall finish with Keomuka locking in some sort of paralyzing nerve hold on the floor, which left Curry unable to move his arm and defend himself against hard clean shots to the jaw. The little glimpse we have of Texas Wrestling is great stuff, seems to be a promotion built around violent brawls, which is a real shift from the other 50s wrestling we have seen.

Mad Maurice Vachon vs. The Amazing Zuma Texas Wrestling 3/19/57

MD: I thought this was excellent. I wouldn't call Vachon a total package, but he was maybe 90% there and what he didn't have, some of the outright technical savvy you like to see in this era, he didn't even need. Zuma brought a ton to the table; he was full of charisma and had a lot of fun stuff including the 'rana flurry at the end. Lots of crazy quick throws too. What I loved the most about this though was how engaged both wrestlers were. Zuma was constantly talking and strutting and hovering in and out. Vachon reacted to everything, jawing (and scraping) with the ref, selling surprise after a kickout or if Zuma got a shot in, diving out of the ring in response to the Zuma cartwheel. We're talking Mark Henry levels of negative space usage here. This was constant motion (as opposed to constant moves) in the best way.

PAS: This was a lot of fun. Vachon was a really vicious bastard in this match, constantly crowding Zuma in the corner, pummeling him, ripping at his nose and eyes. Zuma was clearly the local version of Antonio Rocca, and he had a great looking dropkick, and some really awesome looking ranas to take the final pin. He did seem a little weird taking offense though, and at points seemed awkard just moving around the ring. Vachon was really great at pushing pace, and you could totally see why he would go on to be such a big star.