No Destination in This Life Borga Lives

Ludvig Borga vs. Phil Apollo WWF Raw 9/27/93 - FUN

ER: Borga is one of the few squash match workers during this era of WWF TV to work different style squash matches. Not Different Style, but he doesn't work every one of his squashes the same, and there's some offense that he doesn't use every match. Here he hits a great spinebuster and hard side slam, which he didn't use at all in his match on Challenge the day before, and here he doesn't use his diving clothesline finisher that he typically uses. He storms his way to the ring, shoves Finkel out of the way during the ring intros and just bullies Apollo into the corner with knees to the ribs. He throws body shots, hits a 12 second vertical suplex (that would have gone longer had Apollo not started to tilt), and throws Apollo hard to the floor. Apollo takes a fast bump through the ropes and Borga makes sure to point out a Finland flag sign that someone has in the crowd. Borga's squashes at this point are cool and violent enough that he's getting heat from most of the crowd, while clearly drawing supporters who just like to see ass kickings. That's like the perfect wrestler storm right there. 

Ludvig Borga vs. Sonny Rogers  WWF Superstars 10/2/93 - VERY GOOD

ER: This was going pretty normally for a Ludvig Borga squash. He entered the ring, walked directly over to Rogers and shoved him with both palms into the corner, then spent the next couple minutes working over Rogers' midsection with punches. Borga's body work is a really cool feature for a WWF heel to have, and since arriving here he's only been getting better at making them look more punishing. Rogers is a fun floppy bumper, going legs in the air on clothesline bumps. Borga hits his longest vertical suplex to date (16 seconds)...and comes up bleeding from the hairline. I have no idea how he got busted open, but it's weird to see someone bleeding out of their head on a 1993 episode of Superstars! Borga wipes it off and flings some at the camera, then goes back to work hard on Rogers with more body shots and a big elbowdrop. In addition to the very surprising color, there's another little wrinkle as Borga misses a corner charge, takes a dropkick from Rogers (but doesn't go down), takes a lariat from Rogers (but doesn't budge an inch and flexes and yells his way through it). Rogers actually goes up for a crossbody but Borga catches him and plants him with a powerslam. Borga is really standing out as a presence at this point, and they're doing a good job of making him feel more special by keeping him mostly separate from any big names. He feels more like a rogue free agent and I'm excited to see him run everything Luger stands for into the ground. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LUDVIG BORGA