Found Footage Friday: HANOVER 1981~! BRET~! ROACH~! MOROWSKI~! DIETER~! ZRNO~! STREET~!

Hanover 9/9/1981 

Moose Morowski vs. Axel Dieter

MD: Another batch of Richard Land found footage behind his patreon. Really great long draw here. I can't say enough good stuff about this one. Morowski ambushed right before the first bell and didn't look back for maybe fifteen minutes. Big shots, some big bombs like a shoulder breaker, tossing Dieter out, etc. The ref would try to intervene and Morowski first ripped his shirt and then tore it off completely. And later on, when he got a new one, he did some damage to that too. 

Dieter would get escalating bits of hope, arching Morowski over the top, blocking a posting and returning fire, eventually even outpunching him once, but he only really came back into it when Morowski tried charging in once again and he got his feet up. From there was a round or two of really glorious comeback. At one point he was so fiery he got carded for trying to use a chair. Then they worked towards the draw by throwing blows on their feet and knees til the bell rang. Morowski has maybe the only acceptable recoil shot in history as he uses it as a subtle little thing. Then after the match they slugged it out some more. Anyway, draws are almost never satisfying but this one was about as close as you can get. Great stuff. 

ER: This is one of the best matches we've seen out of these 1981 Hanover shows. This was excellent. Morowski is one of those wrestlers I don't think I even knew about a decade ago, and now he's a guy whose name always stands out on cards like this. He's a big burly Harley Race type who likes to slug it out, and that's what he does here. He ambushes Dieter (and the referee) and punches and claws his way through most of the match. Dieter is great at being the babyface who the crowd stays behind, repeatedly getting to his feet only to be punched to his back by Moose. Moose throws a variety of great punches, sometimes just using big swinging arms to knock Dieter around, other times throwing targeted left-rights to Dieter's chin. He hits a piledriver, a shoulderbreaker, and he wants at Dieter so bad that he gets into multiple collar and elbow tie ups with the ref, eventually ripping his shirt so much that the ref just removes it and works shirtless with the boys. That rules. When the ref gets a new shirt after the 2nd fall, the literal first thing Morowski does is rip the new shirt off him, and that rules even more. 

Dieter's survives Morowski's onslaught and Morowski gets tired out and then the real fun begins. The crowd gets louder than ever for Axel and Dieter starts landing more shots. Morowski isn't completely down, and can still land punches that knock Dieter down, but he is certainly exhausted and has to cheat even more to keep Dieter down. Morowski is landing several unanswered punches at the round bell, stomping his face, and they fight to the bell. I don't know that this match would have even benefitted from a definitive finish. Dieter standing alone in the ring after surviving cheap shot after cheap shot after cheap shot and coming out the other side more loved than ever. What a great showing from both, but more evidence of how cool a worker Moose Morowski was. I don't know where he stands in terms of territory draws or reputation among other peak workers, but he was completely off my personal radar even while we were diving into the thick of the 80s sets and more 70s footage became available. He's someone who everyone needs to see, and this match is as great a place as any to start. 

Pat Roach vs. Bret Hart

MD: Yes, this is a match that happened. I wish it was 93 Bret vs. 81 Roach but what can you do? This played out pretty much exactly like you'd expect. Almost exactly. There was about a round and a half of Roach beating Bret around the ring with mares and clubbers and running him into the turnbuckle. Bret got a bit of hope with a sunset flip or backslide only to get beaten down. Bret finally came back with some big shots and dropkicks only to eat the turnbuckle face first (as early as 81!) and then he got demolished by a big side backbreaker and press-slam gutbuster. Good effort and the crowd (generally always hot) was behind him, but this was more or less a mauling.

ER: I thought this was excellent, and I'm not sure it would have been better with a 1991 Bret. I loved the structure of this and felt it worked so perfectly with Young Bret, who was an absolute bump machine and ran into all of Roach's believably stiff work. Bret in 1991 would have worked this closer to equal and relied more on the big man's misses to capitalize on. Now, I love his 1991 work with Berzerker and Barbarian so put Roach in that framework and the match would be excellent. But I don't think Roach could bump as big as Barbarian and definitely couldn't bump as big as Nord, so Roach as the domineering grappler kicking a young worker in the bread basket and snapping his neck with cravat snapmares works really well. Bret was already such a polished bumper in 1981 and his work looked just as honest as it would a decade later. Roach had a lot of cool ways to slam Bret to the mat and Bret made such good use of his small comebacks and two nearfalls that I thought his backslide was legitimately the finish. Bret firing back with one big elbow smash surprised me and seemed to surprise Roach, and I came away extremely impressed by how well his flat back bumps (and huge face first bump running into the buckles) felt like responses to the exact offense Roach was giving him. His feel for everything felt so much more advanced than other early Bret I've seen. This was a must watch for me. 

Micha Nador/Gran Vladimir vs. Steve Wright/Kengo Kimura

MD: Steve Wright/Kengo Kimura is the most Lethal Lottery team I can imagine really. Of course this is a fairly young Kimura, just like Bret was fairly young in the previous match. I haven't seen much of Nador but early on he's in there, like Vladimir, to base for all of Wright's shtick, the cartwheels and bowing and a long cravat where he hung on through slams to the crowd's delight. Kimura got to join in a bit with some karate type strikes and some real fire stomping in the corner. The heels were able to beat down Wright for a bit and then Kimura, but never for too long. Wright came back with a body press mid match but when he tried to do it later, he got blocked by Nador grabbing his feet from the outside and forcing him down into a Vladimir pin which was a unique finish at least. This didn't wear out its welcome.

9/22/81

Manuel Lopez vs. Adrian Street

MD: Street was, of course, at the height of his power here in early 80s Germany, with the fans laughing again and again at every antic. He gave more here than in the last few matches we've seen him in, playing it just a bit more bumbling, where things either backfired or worked despite it all. He still got to get over on Lopez quite a bit, either rolling around like a top or poking him on the nose or just leaping into his arms and both of them sailing over because of it, but he was actually a little subdued relative to the other matches I've seen and Lopez controlled more. Maybe it was more grounded because of that but it wasn't the can't miss spectacle of the others. Still worth watching of course, but more as part of a card than something that is absolutely transcendent. 

Achaim Chall vs. Gran Vladimir

MD: These two had been wrestling off and on since the 60s. This started pretty low key, with some mares and holds out of a lockup. But Vladimir got under the fans' skin and someone threw a hat into the ring at him. At that point, Vladimir put it on and marched around the ring until Chall grabbed it, pulled it over his face and hit a jumping double knee before tossing it back out. You never know what you're going to find in these. Lots of fun bits with the ref as things went on too. Chall got frustrated as he got in his way and grabbed him, and then chopped him later, and finally, when he got in the way of the charge towards Vlad (who was tied up in the ropes), went careening into him, into Vlad, as the ref was blowing his whistle. He got carded for this but it wasn't the match.

Vlad ended up controlling for a while and he did vary up holds, but it wasn't with the same sort of brutal and vicious charm as Morowski. But the fans were very happy whenever Chall was in control and went up for all of his hope spots. He was in the midst of a comeback when the time ran out and this ended up as a draw.

Sal Bellomo vs. John Quinn

MD: I get such a kick of Quinn coming out to The Mighty Quinn. It's got a sort of chorus unlike almost any other pro wrestling theme you can imagine. I feel like it'd be super over today for instance. This was okay, they took it up and down. Quinn, despite a size advantage, would take over with hairpulls, eyerakes, and using the ref as a stalking horse in the corner. Bellomo would fire back. Eventually, Quinn tossed him and Bellomo grabbed him on the way back in and they brawled on the floor a bit. Finish had things picking up with rope running, but Bellomo ran into a foot and then a back elbow. 

9/6/81

Mile Zrno vs. Gran Vladimir

MD: Zrno is so much fun to watch. In some ways, the comparison point is Steve Wright, but where Wright has more flair and pomp to his counters, with Zrno, it's more about leverage and positioning. But nothing Vladimir puts him in works and it's all entertaining to see him get out of one thing after the next. There's a great bit where Zrno ties Vlad up in the ropes and in order to get the ref out of the way, he undoes the turnbuckle pad. The ref has to run to redo it and then Zrno charges in. Vlad does take over with clubbers eventually, but Zrno catches him with a knee off the ropes and then wins it with a body press. Very fun.

ER: Fantastic. This solidifies Vladimir as a great opponent for small fliers and acrobats, a role he seems to relish more than his work against other heavies. Against other heavyweights he can work like a spry Baron von Raschke, bumping like a tall man of size and nothing beyond, but against a fire starter like Zrno he's bumping constantly, feeding far quicker than I expected. It's not just Vlad going over for armdrags, it's that he knows how to bump and feed for all of Zrno's complicated unique unrelenting juniors offense and it feels like Akira Taue taking way too much Marufuji offense in the way he makes it look like none of this offense should work and this big man just keeps falling over. Now, Marufuji's offense was the shittiest offense on a roster of 40 men and Zrno's offense is revolutionary and moves like nobody else, but Vlad takes it the same way I would imagine Taue credibly selling really bad juniors offense. The stumble, the look of "this man shouldn't be taking most of this", the way it looks like he's not so much taking the moves as trying not to take the moves, like it's an issue of balance. 

Special note must be made about the incredible work of the referee trying to wrangle this confusing mess, specifically when he gets roped into a bump over the top to the floor when Vladimir is trapped in the ropes like Andre. Zrno is hitting crossbodies while Vlad is trapped, the ref is trying to untie him, and Zrno comes in hot with another crossbody, and the momentum send the ref over the top with it like a man getting hit with a wave while leaning out of a boat. I thought this match was great and worked in a way that I was not expecting. A match doesn't have to surprise me for me to like it, but I do like surprises. 

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Found Footage Friday: HANOVER 1981~! STREET~! WRIGHT~! HART~! NEIDHART~! ZRNO~! TSURUMI~! ROACH~!

MD: Another Richard Land (@maskedwrestlers) special. Another pretty amazing find. Go check out his patreon if you want access. 

John Quinn vs. Pat Roach

MD: It's definitely a mood to watch the darkened picture as Quinn stands in the ring waiting for Roach as the entirety of The Mighty Quinn by Manfred Mann plays in 1981 Hanover, Germany. This was exactly what you'd expect it to be. They started slow with Quinn holding on to an inner chicken wing/armbar for the entire first fall and into the second as Roach tried to get out with increasing desperation before finally powering out. Then they crashed into each other for a while. And things ultimately built to a massive slugfest with two giant bruisers just going at it. Quinn had more sweeping blows, over the top, from the side. Roach hit from underneath or straight on. Occasionally they'd get a move off the ropes or a slam. Occasionally they'd both go down. It went round after round until it looked like Roach might win it with a slam and then a backbreaker but a foot was on the rope for the first and the bell ran on the second and as they called it a draw, he just stormed out of the ring, a professional ready to move on with life. Hard to fault a match where two guys hit each other as hard as these two hit each other here.

Jim Neidhart vs. Goro Tanaka (Tsurumi)

MD: Straightforward stuff with Tsurumi directing traffic. When they were doing shtick it was a lot of fun, things like Neidhart breaking out of the full nelson and calling for it again only to get dropkicked in the back or eating chops or running into the corner. He had some pretty good clubbering offense too. This didn't go more than three rounds, and had a lot of Neidhart taking liberties and getting admonished by attacking after rounds. More importantly, it didn't wear out its welcome. Tsurumi had a real attraction feel to him where he leaned hard into the chops and the sumo stretching. I'm not sure Neidhart would work as well against one of the real technical guys at this point of his career but he was a good foil for Tsurumi.

------

Jim Neidhart vs. Bret Hart

MD: This was a lot of fun actually. They worked extremely hard against one another Neidhart (Who is the one who has Racey's Some Girls as his theme, not Wisokwski!) charged in right at the start with a killer tackle in the corner and didn't look back for a while. The ref got a big pop by pulling him off with a hairpull. Whenever he tossed Bret in, Bret flew in harder than anyone. That's both against the ropes and into the corner. Bret finally started to fire back and get some revenge. They'd get chippy with one another at the end of the falls. Anvil was using this great Oklahoma Stampede as his finish here and he also did a bodyslam variation that I've never seen before. Bret fought valiantly but he got tossed out one too many times and Neidhart was able to just pick him up from the apron and hit the stampede after crashing into two corners. This was good though. Neidhart had lots of zing and both guys really crashed around for each other.

Mile Zrno vs. Achaim Chall

MD: Two masters being absolutely masterful. We really didn't have much Chall before so it's nice we have a few more matches now, even towards the end of his career. Zrno, on the other hand, is one of those rare wrestlers where you want to see every exchange just to see how he gets out of it. He was the slicker and more agile with Chall being more the one to put on holds so he could get out but Chall certainly held his own with some bigger and trickier spots.

They told a dozen little stories in here, one going to the next. It might be Zrno clapping Chall's ear on an escape and Chall following up with a facewash before cooler heads prevailed, or both escalating things into some nasty shots. They did a short arm scissors exchange with gotch lifts. They had this amazing up and over with dragon sleepers (1981 remember) until they got lost in the ropes. And Chall had the armhook rana mid match where Zrno did a great bridging escape, only to go for it again at the end and get folding pressed for the loss. Definitely a treat to see these two ply their trade.

Moose Morowski vs. Bob Della Serra (UFO)

MD: Another very long Morowski match where they start by trading a round of holds (headlock, armbar) each, before things start to get heated and never really look back. This includes some great exhausted selling as time goes on too, as well as a few sojourns to the floor and a Morowski pile driver (jammed on the second attempt), and his share of cheapshots. The crowd was behind Della Serra with plenty of UFO chants and Moose got (and deserved heat). Not too much to say about the specifics except for that once they started pounding on each other it got quite good but didn't really build to anything meaningful.That didn't mean it wasn't enjoyable for what it was though.

Goro (Tsurumi) Tanaka vs. Ed Wiskowski

MD: These two worked well enough together that I'm sad Wiskowski didn't bring Tsurumi back to Portland to face Buddy Rose (though the timing of that may be off anyway). Wiskowski would get a cheapshot in to take over, Tsurumi would work from underneath with some big karate chops. Wiskowki would run head first into things while bumping for them. Wiskowki would take back over by tossing Tsurumi out and fighting him on the outside. And it would all repeat. Very fun stuff with some unique bit of stooging out of Wiskowski until it got called off and he got DQed. Tsurumi wasn't at all happy with that and wanted to keep fighting but the ref awarded the match to him anyway.

Paco Ramirez/Karl Dauberger vs. Kengo Kimura/Caswell Martin

MD: This didn't go super long even at 2/3 falls but it was a lot of fun. For one thing, I'm not sure I've ever seen Kengo Kimura in a comedy match but he was working as Martin's second banana and there was one clear sequence where he did some fun 2 s 1 stuff. He had a headlock, got hit a with a gut punch from outside, put it back on, and then did the headscissors/headlock combo takeover with a big pumping arm to get the crowd going. They also did a bit where Martin catapulted one into the other while he was holding Kimura so Kimura got out of there at the last second. Stuff like that. All fun. Martin, as always, was confident and creative. He had one bit where he was in a leg stretch and kept making his legs wider to force Ramirez to try to keep up (he failed). We had seen Ramirez as a stylist in the later French Catch stuff so nice to see him get so into this stooging role.

Adrian Street vs. Steve Wright

MD: I cannot begin to do this justice. I could tell you how all wrestling is symbolic and that this was a comedy spotfest with one hilarious bit after the next. I could explain how Steve Wright usually eats up his opponents and here he was up against someone who made fools of them (at least in Germany). I could tell you how they bridged that gap by having both wrestlers menace the ref, with Wright doing it more and more as the match went on and countering more and more of Street's antics by giving it back to him, or how he spent the entire match with a sort of wild whimsy you wouldn't expect. I could explain how the crowd was laughing uproariously the whole time but how they still built to big moments. I could explain specific spots including maybe the funniest ref bit I've ever seen. But, none of this does it justice. No even close. I can't do it with words. Maybe someone could. Not me. This match was buried for decades in a private collection. It only got transferred because it was at the very end of a tape with Bret vs Neidhart on it, an unlisted match from a different card. I think it might be the funniest pro wrestling match ever, though don't show it to your grandmother.

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Found Footage Friday: Hanover 1981

Hanover 1981

MD: Another Richard Land (@maskedwrestlers on twitter) find. He has a ton of these from a recent haul that he'll slowly go through. We've already seen the next and it's full of great stuff. If you are, however, let's say the biggest Adrian Street fan in the world, do feel free to reach out to me. Some things really need to be seen.

Achim Chall vs. John Quinn

MD: Quinn had a size advantage here and could pepper in shots from almost any angle whenever he wanted. Chall was obviously skilled, both generally and in kayfabe, presented as such. He was able to score clever takedowns and get in jumping knees. The problem is that Quinn gave him no room to breathe. He was constantly being admonished by the ref for picking Chall up too early or kicking at him while he was down or stepping on him. When he hit moves, it was dropping him throat first on the ropes. He would put illegal holds on and hide punches with a headlock. You could hear the announcer mention some slight he did every few seconds. Eventually the ref had enough and red carded him, awarding the match to Chaim. It wasn't satisfying but because of those little glimpses of Chall's skill maybe it was effective in getting Quinn heat for the tour overall, allowing Chall to beat him without hurting Quinn at all (even if it didn't help Chall a ton) and reinforcing the rules, always important in the grand scheme of things.

Adrian Street vs. Francisco (Paco) Ramirez

MD: Street's song is so effective at making him stand out, even in 1981 Germany. It just transfers anywhere and is so unique relative to everyone else's presentation even though people tend to come out to music here. But he was going to stand out anyway. This was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen. He was a babyface at times in the States but he was still the Other and it was much more about seeing the heel get embarrassed in the South by someone who you'd never invite to dinner. This was different. It was celebratory in the most German way. It was Cabaret. There was pure elation for everything he did, whether it was using Ramirez' arm to mimic sexual acts while in an armbar or dancing with high kicks between falls or menacing the ref. Street may or may not have been the best wrestler in the world on this night in 1981 but he was the most appreciated and maybe the most alive. I've never seen him quite so free to be this over the top in everything he did but the fans absolutely ate it up. It was on Paco Ramirez, one of our old friends from the later French footage to play the straight man. Yes, Street was over the top, but it took incredible skill and understanding of pro wrestling (including, yes, the mechanics) to make this all work. No one could have done it quite like him and we've never had footage of him doing it quite like this.

PAS: Killer stuff, the decadent Weimar Germans are eating up his act with a spoon, really reminded me of a crowd super into an all timer lucha exotico like  Pimpinela or Cassandro. Really made me wish we had an epic bloody lucha Adrian Street apuestas match. Not a ton of actual wrestling in this, but you could tell that Street was a master of that part of it all as well.  This was a couple of years after Bowie moved to German, but it had that Bowie spirit. This isn't the kid of thing which encourages a lot of written scrutiny, bit what a delight.

 

Alex Dieter vs. Moose Morowski

MD: There's a noted classic 1980 match between these two that I'm not nearly familiar enough with, but I can say safely that these two were familiar with one another here. Dieter attacks right from the start and controls for the entire first round and the fans chant his name and love it. You get the sense that Morowski deserves it as well. Nothing flashy but a thorough beating. Then Morowski returns the favor in the second round with violent, rudimentary offense incensing the fans. After tossing Dieter out of the ring, a fan decides to take matters into his own hands and tosses a chair in. Morowski immediately beelines towards the ropes and charges at him and that's basically all she wrote for this one. We see the camera trying to track what's going on but it's hopeless. Completely unexpected. Totally wild. True heat and immediate consequence. Pro wrestling, everybody.

PAS: I loved the 1980 match

https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2016/11/all-time-moty-list-head-to-head.html

This felt like a house show version of the epic 1980 match, and clearly had some building to do until the fan chucks the chair at Moose ending the match. Would have loved to see the beating Morowski clearly put on that dude, and that is certainly a legit memorable finish. 

Grand Vladimir vs. Caswell Martin

MD: Pretty enjoyable stuff! Vladimir is very funny at first, doing everything over-the-top sporting to Martin and the crowd's surprise. A lot of raising his hand and shaking his hand and really making a show of it. Martin returns the favor by holding on to a cravat for the entirety of the second round despite every attempt by Vladimir to escape. One idea executed perfectly. In the third round, Vladimir goes for another handshake and then hits a gutshot and tosses Martin out as the ref is distracted and it's lovely payoff to all of the build. He ultimately gets disqualified but then is run off post-match. 

Goro Tanaka (Tsurumi)/Kengo Kimura vs. Cowboy Ed Wiskoski/"American Football Star" Jim Neidhart. 

MD: Goro totally gets it. He does a big sumo introduction including a split where Kimura bounces on his back. Wiskoski comes out with a cowboy hat and to "Some Girls" by Racey which is not a song I had ever heard before but it's quite the entrance overall. This is two out of three falls but none of the falls get a lot of time. Tsurumi is working for the last row and Neidhart is a tank. He catches Kimura off the ropes for a stampede to end the first fall. Second fall ends with them doing a bunch of silly karate moves on Neidhart, with the third ending abruptly with a dropkick to reverse a bodyslam into a pin. Things were simple and straightforward here, with one inversion instead of six, but it was all very effective. Just a weird match on paper and in practice though.

Moose Morowski vs. Pat Roach

MD: Roach took the first quarter of this by controlling the arm with a double wristlock and all sorts of other offense. But once it opened up, they absolutely pounded on each other and never looked back. Just a total war of attrition. It spilled out multiple times and came back in. There were cheapshots at the end of the round and then cheapshots to counter the cheapshots at the end of the next round. I don't think there's a whole lot to say about it, but that it's just great pro wrestling, blurry, gritty, full of animosity, with the most believable late match selling you'll see. Of course they were exhausted. Of course they could barely get up. They'd been going for minutes upon minutes just laying it in on one another. You could get parts of a match like this today but not, I think the total sum of it.

 

Achim Chall vs. Bret Hart

 

MD: This being on the tape was why it was prioritized and I'm glad it was for the Morowski matches and the Street match, but there's not a lot here. Chall is obviously very skilled at doing simple things extremely well. This is all Bret working the arm and Chall countering with some fun cravat stuff. They'll work up to their feet and crash into each other and go back down into the holds. Perfectly solid stuff. The highlight was probably Bret doing one of those bridge arounds to keep the hold that always look so slick and that I've never seen him do before. It ends just as simply with Chall falling on Bret for the pin.

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RIP Bullet

Bob Armstrong/Eddie Graham vs. Dick Murdoch/Bob Roop Florida 12/28/74

ER: This is only a 6 minute clip, but there is so much value in these 6 minutes that of course you have to see it. It's one of those tags where the ref never seems to have control, with all four combatants and Gary Hart running around potatoing each other at will. Armstrong is too much fun to watch in this, as he wiggles and glides and dances his way into and out of the ring, firing downward punches and elbows, giddily hopping and bopping into the action. All of the bumps in the match are cool and off balance, more guys spiraling away and stumbling out of punches than guys taking back bumps off strikes. Eddie Graham was a good staggerer and great at coming in with a well timed punch, and I loved seeing he and Roop grapple. All of their standing lock ups look tough as hell, constant struggle, and Roop crushes Graham with his shoulderbreaker down the stretch, which looks just as violent in 2020 as it did in 1974. Murdoch was a major standout, as while Bob is wiggling and punching his way through things, Murdoch is working everything. His belly is big but he is fast, and he runs this entire show. He's a great heel bumper here, not over stooging, but in there to be a threat while also making the babyfaces look like a threat. I loved him and Bob fighting over a brainbuster, how Murdoch's legs wobble when he's eating Armstrong's punches or getting a chair shoved into his face, how athletically he spills to the floor while not looking at all athletic. A lot of this was a battle on just who to focus on, because these guys all do interesting things when they're not even in the match.


Bob Armstrong vs. The Mongolian Stomper NWA Mid-Atlantic 9/9/75

ER: This was a ton of fun but stopped right when things were getting great, but what we got rules. It's a hot Mid-South Coliseum crowd and Lance Russell is calling the action, meaning it sounds the exact way wrestling should sound. Stomper is an absolute physical specimen. Armstrong is also as in shape as he always was, but Stomper looks like a final boss. It's based nearly entirely around the tightest side headlocks you've seen, with both men using their big arms to try and separate each other's melons from their shoulders. Stomper gets shot into the ropes, Bob leapfrogs over and flies backwards with a back elbow, with Stomper slipping to the floor to avoid the big elbowdrop. Back in, and there is a ton of super engaging Armstrong side headlock work. Armstrong has the most apropos surname ever, and Stomper is a master at being an oversized heel going through all the physical throes of being trapped in a snug headlock. When Stomper finally gets loose of it he flings Armstrong into the corner, Armstrong leaps gracefully to the middle buckle and hits an axe handle. Stomper is super generous here (no doubt building to running this match back a few times) and just stooges all over for Bullet, never managing to block a single kick, punch, or chop, and falling prey to every single leapfrog. There's a great theatrical ref bump where Armstrong runs the ropes so fast that Stomper runs him right into the ref after a dropdown, and the ref flops around fantastically after taking an Armstrong shoulderblock. If that shoulderblock is enough to send a mountain like Stomper to the mat, what would it do to a mere referee? Armstrong gets the pin after a big elbow, but Stomper grabs his belt and Gulas sets up the title match that I don't think I have access to. Armstrong knew how to make the most out of the most basic pro wrestling movements, and Stomper is the same thing, heel category. It's a special thing seeing them play off each other.


Bob Armstrong vs. The Mongolian Stomper NWA Mid-America 9/16/75

ER: This is under 5 minutes, not a full match, but it's essential. It's the final few minutes of a rowdy bloody match for Stomper's Southern Heavyweight title, and we get it before the blood starts flowing. They throw big swinging punches and constantly have to be separated before throwing at each other more. Armstrong gets busted open and Stomper doesn't go for anything other than working that cut for the rest of the match. Armstrong's face is covered and Stomper has Armstrong's blood on his legs and body. Bob is not someone who grows squeamish at the sight of his own blood, and it just inspires him to bust Stomper's head open. Not long in, and this loses all pretense of a wrestling match and it becomes a fight. It's so great, just the two of them clutching at each other's heads and refusing to break holds as they strangle each other on the apron. This was an expertly done non-finish, the kind of bloody realism that made you forget there had even been a match happening.


The Bullet/Adrian Street vs. Robert Fuller/Jimmy Golden Continental 9/1/86

ER: Not a Bullet showcase by any means, but a showcase in strange bedfellows. I don't know how much babyface Adrian Street I've seen, but a Bullet/Street babyface team is a fun idea, especially with Fuller and Golden to bump around acting confused by Street's wiles being turned on them. Street freaks everyone out, goes after the ref, goes after Golden and angers him by making him feel things, really gets under the skin of Kevin Sullivan on commentary, is constantly backing Golden up on his heels. Everybody was confounded by street, and the dichotomy was more amusing because of how much Golden and Fuller towered over him. Bullet was the guy saving Street throughout, and I liked the few moments they worked together. Bullet hitting Golden with an atomic drop, sending him flying forward into a Street kiss, sending Golden bumping wildly backwards (selling the kiss 4x as much as he sold the atomic drop) is pro wrestling. Bullet basically worked this match as Street's groomer, dragging Golden to their corner to be assaulted, and punching him in Street's direction for more kissing. Fuller and Golden finally cut Street off from Bullet, and I loved Fuller choking Street from the apron, Bullet getting a hot tag but the ref missing it, and finally Bullet going after Fuller on the floor. Tom Prichard runs out and things get gross with him forcing kisses on Miss Linda while Sullivan talks about how she's getting it finally from a real man. Luckily Steve Armstrong runs the heels off, wearing a neck brace and short white OP shorts.

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