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.

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New Footage Friday: Rito Romero, Super Calo, Pedro Morales, Blackjack Mulligan, Rey Mysterio

We had a fun bunch of stuff in the queue for this week, but the network totally overdelivered, with two previously unseen old school matches and a Rey dark match from Nitro


Rito Romero vs. Danny Savich Dallas Wrestling 9/26/52

PAS: Really enjoyable bit of classic wrestling shtick. This was an underhanded cheapshot artist taking liberties with a local hero. We have multiple old ladies expressing their disgust with Savich as he threw punches and stuck his foot under the ropes on a submission hold. Meanwhile Romero would fire back with punches and even a couple of nice dropkicks. Really liked Savich's neck twist and he had a nice grumpy jerkiness, he felt like a soda shop owner who would yell at kids for just reading the comics instead of buying them. Romero is a guy with a legendary rep, and there were moments where you could see it, he took some big bumps to the floor, and had great timing. Really bummed that Savich wasn't going up for the Romero special, I was ready to mark out. The third fall was a nice look at what 1952 out of control brawls looked like, Romero kept knocking Savich to the floor, and when Savich offers his hand to keep it clean, he Fuerza's Romero and starts hurling him to the floor. The both tie up their opponent in the ropes, ending with Savich getting DQed for tying Romero's throat in the ropes and choking him, Savich even punches the ref and the seconds trying to free Romero. Felt like this would build to whatever the 50s equivalent of a big stips match was. Fun discovery

MD: I had three paragraphs written on why the stunt granny who drew Savich onto the apron at the end of the first fall was symbolically equivilent to a dive train that sets up the final bit of rope running in a lucha caida, but it felt like overkill.

Instead, I'll just point out the obvious: these guys were pretty great. Romero's legendary, of course. Savich I was less familiar with, but he was exactly the sort of gritty, underhanded stooge you'd want him to be. This worked a smart pace with a ton of build and callbacks throughout the falls. Romero was emotive and sympathetic and fiery, with punches meant for the last row; everything he did felt dynamic. Savich was mean, grabbing a goozle at a moment's notice to lock in a hold, and the diamond drill (neck) twist was an awesome little gimmick move.

There's a moment where Romero almost locked in the Romero special and it felt electric, the sort of move that we may have seen a million times, but that would have been so special for that crowd to see in that moment on that night.

Pedro Morales vs. Blackjack Mulligan WWWF 3/15/71

MD: This was pretty fascinating. It was probably more down my alley than my fellows but it was deep down mine. Minimalist, full of meaning and crowd interaction and control. Sometimes I threaten to review a bunch of John Studd matches, as I think he's one of the most misunderstood wrestlers in history. He's absolutely no great shakes from a workrate perspective but I love how he worked as a stooging heel, utilizing the dissonance between his size and his behavior in order to aggravate fans through stalling and complaining when they knew in their heart that he actually had an advantage without all of the underhandedness. It's just that we all came up in an environment where workrate was the primary metric to judge a wrestler's skill.

Mulligan works much the same way here, making this feel almost like Memphis in New York. He's got a massive size advantage, but he spends the first five or six minutes delaying lock-ups, missing charges, and constantly going for an object in his tights to load his glove. The fans pop each and every time he tries for it. Meanwhile, Pedro gets two lock-ups out of him and skillfully ducks an arm under to get a hip toss each time. When Mulligan is finally able to load the glove and get a cheapshot out of a headlock, it's established that despite his size, Pedro's the superior wrestler and that Mulligan's loathsome, whining about cheating that's not happening to him and trying to cheat himself (despite the fact he's so much bigger), but there's also the sense that if he does catch Pedro with this, the champ's in big trouble. I love all of this. It's doing so much with so little to such great effect and the crowd is completely on board, to the point that even though Mulligan's only on top for a minute or so, they become unglued when Pedro fights his way back.

This repeats, with Mulligan taking over with a cheapshot and the crowd getting incensed again. The best part of that was Mulligan breaking a hand-claw (yes a hand claw), due to getting hit with a soda (I think) to the head. It was a dangerous precedent to sell that so much but the fans loved it. Honestly? I think at that point, Pedro locked in a long headlock and chinlock (that they still worked and worked in and out of), just to cool the crowd down a bit. Whatever happened, it was pretty fascinating to watch. They went back to the heat/object one last time, but everything seemed on fast forward at this point so that they could go home. Pedro played a trick to make Mulligan think he was thw winner, hit a great super-heated dropkick, followed it with a dive off the top and the quick win and big celebration. Mulligan lost but got to escape with his life intact. I get that sometimes I may read too much into a match but I'm pretty sure I'm spot on there and this wasn't the match they thought they'd be working that night (there would have been a lot more Mulligan control with the claw). Really interesting stuff with an amazing crowd.

PAS: Minimalist is the perfect way to describe this match, up until the finish the biggest move was probably a hip toss, but man did they have the crowd lathered up and ready to go to war. This is super early footage for both guys, we mostly have post prime on both guys, and you can see why both guys were such big stars. Mulligan selling the soda to the head was a great bit of wrestling improv, although I could see being pissed if I was sharing a locker room with him "Now these fuckers are going to chuck things at us every show." Really liked Pedros fake out at the end too, when he tapped Mulligan on the back to make him think he won only to get dropkicked and bombs awayed for the win, totally a spot I could see Eddie Guerrero stealing thirty years later.

Rey Mysterio vs. Super Calo WCW 9/23/96

MD: This was a hell of a nitro-style lucha spotfest actually. If you're going to watch a match like this without a lot of flash and little substance, this is as good a choice as any. Calo was a little over-exuberant on offense (which cost him in the end) but otherwise based really well. Rey was Rey. They did everything imaginable in about six minutes until Calo wrecked his arm or his ribs or something on a stupid top rope turning legdrop. He was an immobile target after that and Rey adapted somewhat (I doubt the finish was a second split legged moonsault) but they still tried a 'rana which really didn't go well. This match was the sweetest candy and it ended with Calo on the mat ridden with cavities.

PAS: Calo was working most of this match as a straight rudo, which is something I hadn't seen from him before. When talking about Super Calo, the first thing that comes to mind isn't his great Buzz Sawyer powerslam or his spinebuster, but he hit both of them. 1996 Rey was crazy, he is in a dark match and still taking a sunset powerbomb on the floor and hitting a great quebrada. Calo is the guy who crashes and burns, and he misses a flipping dive of some sort, and clearly breaks his arm (you can see the bone cracked) it goes off the rails obviously after that, broken armed Calo can't catch a springboard rana. Up until the disaster, this was good stuff though, and I hope we get more dark matches or house show stuff from that era of WCW.

ER: I also thought it was interesting Calo was working actual rudo, instead of a tecnico/tecnico. He and Rey were pretty frequent partners in AAA, so I like WCW instantly making Calo a Rey opponent upon bringing him in. Rey was fairly new to WCW himself, but had the benefit of several showcase PPV and Nitro matches in his first couple months, so was already getting a big reaction from fans in Alabama. Fully agree with how nuts Rey was, there's just no need to be taking a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor in a dark match. It was 1996. I don't think this was something I would have even seen at that point, and here's this crazy small guy getting torched with one in a match that wasn't even going to be seen for another 20+ years? Bless him. Rey really had the feeling of being a guy about to do something that you hadn't seen, and Calo was there with him taking big falls. Calo gets to break out a bunch of tricks, including his nice somersault headscissors off the top, and I didn't actually notice the moment where he got hurt. I saw the weird twisting legdrop (that I still thought hit pretty well, looking more like one of Waltman's low quick slashing legdrops, only off the top rope), so I had no clue what was going on when Calo rolled over selling and Rey was the one dragging him to his feet. The rana was unfortunate, but again I was still confused as to what happened, and I'm happy those fans didn't crap all over the weird finish. It's awesome how immediately the luchadors were accepted by WCW fans. I guess it helps when you have someone like Rey leading the way, but it's cool to watch smaller guys get big reactions while they try to break their necks in dark matches.

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