Found Footage Friday: OTTO VS ANDRE II~!

Bremen 12/19/87 

MD: So this was the end of tournament season in Bremen in 1987. They thank the City Hall as they introduce the wrestlers so part of me wonders how much of this is subsidized as a tourist attraction (or maybe it's just staged there?). Before the celebration, they have a local dance crew do two numbers, with a comedian in the middle. We have all of this on this tape. We did have some of this footage previously, but it was with terrible VQ and occasionally clipped. This is a big step up.

Plus we get to see things like the opening celebration where they give the babyfaces gifts. It's crazy to me to think that Baron von Raschke is there (wrestling Billy Samson). He gets booed pretty badly. I'm not sure if fans/sponsors gave the gifts/flowers. Not all the babyfaces get them but someone bought billed Australian heel John Harris flowers and he refuses them. They tease the French ref too with a balloon full of hot air or some such. It's all great fun with a wry sense of humor.

Steve Wright vs. John Quinn

MD: It's funny to me that Quinn is billed as a lumberjack from Alaska here. Thankfully, he does come out to The Mighty Quinn. He has the US flag sewn into his robe. This does have cuts but they don't seem actually to remove the action. They're more wipes or fades into just a different angle on what's happening maybe?

Wright is, of course, as always, an amazing showman. He'd let Quinn get him down with a wristlock or some such and then do his six kip up bound through the leg over and around takedown and pump up the crowd after the fact. An absolute menace like always. Eventually, Quinn gets sick of it and starts using inside shots.

It's really wonderful ritual. Quinn will do two shoulder blocks and get clowned on the third. He'll put on a full nelson and Wright will lift him up as the fans chant along to the motions until he finally gets him over. In the third, Quinn leans hard on him, really taking over, but that just builds to a fiery comeback and a nearfall at the bell. Then in the fourth, Wright fights back again and hits an airplane spin to pick up the win and ensure the crowd's delight. Two guys who really knew what they were doing.

Masa Chono vs. Mile Zrno

MD: Of course Chono comes out to Japanese Boy, just like his Japanese predecessors did in 1981/2. Some things lasted the whole decade in Bremen, I guess. Again this his a huge VQ upgrade from what we had, which is what you want when watching the "super-technician" Mile Zrno.

This was clean and sporting. Lots of Chono putting on holds and Zrno slicky getting out of them as you'd expect. Chono came off like a slightly more imaginative NJPW young lion, rather as you'd expect. He had a proto-slingblade which was interesting, but also an octopus and bow and arrow, and Scorpion attempt. He even did Muto's handspring into the corner. Zrno had an answer to everything.

Things did a get a little chippier with claps to the ears and what not punctuating moves and Zrno hit three twisting headscissors in a row sending Chono. But it never boiled over. That wasn't what it was meant to do. Zrno won it with a butterfly suplex and they embraced after the match. This was probably quite good for Chono's development in general. Better than being in Ohio or whatever?

Billy Samson vs. Baron Von Raschke

MD: Very important to note that the good Baron, goosestepping and all, was billed from the USA. He got a ton of heat immediately. Don't mention the war and all that. He was having a grand time stalling and stooging and forcing rope breaks whenever he got into trouble. That is until he got fined for it to a big pop.

This was him backpedaling, constantly getting tied up in holds, or in the ropes (the ref went flying over too when he tried to stop Samson; big pop). They also did a very fun spot where the ref got caught under his legs in the corner and Samson kicked at the rope to cause chaos. The Baron would come back with little chokes and things but never for long. I'm not sure if he was afraid of getting heat in this environment (festive as it was) or just wanted to make everyone happy.

Finally in the third, he did get the claw. Samson had one good hope spot where he got free and whacked Baron's hand against the ropes, but it wasn't until into the fourth that he came back with a big headbutt to set up the win. A crowd-pleaser certainly.

Dave Taylor vs. Tony St. Clair

MD: Face vs face. Brit vs Brit. Wristlocks and escapes. Rope running and dropkicks and hammerlock escapes over the top. Up and down.

They had fun bits like Taylor trying to use a cravat three times to take St. Clair over only to stop, pat him on the shoulder, and then immediately do it. The first round ended with a St. Clair headstand escape out of a headscissors. Then the second started with Taylor backflipping out of a wristlock. They followed that by Taylor accidentally cross body-ing the ref (Mick McMichael?) when St. Clair got out of the way. Then the ref got revenge by shouting "Eich!" at the top of his lungs when St. Clair let his shoulders fall to the mat on a submission causing him to jump. It was that sort of match.

In the third, they did a fun bit where Taylor, in a hold, kicked St. Clair in the back and then blamed the ref. After a couple more comedic roll up bits that followed, they finally got serious with Taylor taking over after a huge back body drop. He was poised to win with the armdrag slam into a pin but St. Clair deftly (as deftly as I've ever seen it actually) turned it over in a fluid motion and got the pin. So far, everyone had to be pretty well entertained.

MD: After this, they do another ceremony in the ring with pictures and flowers and more dancing. Then we get a firebreather and the comedian again, because of course we do. It's interesting how separated these acts are from the wrestling. At this point, we are missing, of all things, a match between Leon "Bull Power" White and Rambo. It's out there elsewhere but very blurry. I am going to pass. It makes me appreciate the VQ upgrade here.

Eddie Steinblock/Hansi Rooks/Hercules Boyd vs. Indio Guajaro/John Harris/Crusher Mason

MD: This was a 3 fall six man tag. Steinblock has terrible, terrible dropkicks. That's my biggest takeaway. The fans were still into him when he tied everyone up in the ropes though. They did the battering ram spot. I do love the battering ram spot. Anyway, forget the three falls things. The heels got dqed for swarming here.

Andre the Giant vs. Otto Wanz

MD: This wasn't as long as the 86 match but it was about as epic. The trapping were all there. The meat king of Bremen was one of the special guests. Another group gave Otto a giant sausage for good luck. Andre had The Baron seconding him. 

This went six rounds and they built it up and down. Andre stalled at times, frustrated by the crowd, but he got his holds early, controlling for the first fall with that giant cobra clutch. For him to even do a standing double wristlock felt larger than life because he had a massive wrist to do it to. In the second round, after Andre got fined for stalling and locking in a bear hug, Otto fired off on him in the corner and Andre slumped and the place went wild. As the match went on, Andre would have huge, huge shots, chops and a hamhock overhand shot. When Otto took him down with blows in the corner, he could just grab a leg and take back over. He was just too big, too strong, too much. Otto would put great holds on him, ones that would crush a lesser man and it was all just a matter of time before Andre shifted muscle and sinew and mass and shoved him off.  

The most memorable things in this were those exchanges in the corner. It could be Andre just sitting on him or hitting the butt crush or throwing a massive shot, or Otto firing off as the place went crazy, but they made every trip into the corner special. Otto finally wore him down and Andre barely beat the count, but beat it he did. When he tried to throw a headbutt in the ropes, Otto dodged and knocked him over the top, scoring a countout and the adulation of the crowd. I don't think this was quite as epic as the 86 match but the blows in the corner might have been more memorable. Surely, the fans left happier.

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