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: Hogan, Bockwinkle, High Flyers, Blackwell, Hennig, Tito

The Network delivered a tidal wave of AWA this week, with a lot of new stuff, including a real gem.

High Flyers vs. Jerry Blackwell/Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie AWA 12/25/81

MD: This was basic and straightforward but just so well executed. Shine/Heat/Comeback/cheating heel finish. It's JIP so we lose some of the shine. If there was double heat on this, that'd probably where it would have been. It's hard to say. You get a complete picture here though. It's striking just how much stuff Gagne has a ton of stuff. If you need someone to control a heel's arm (even one as big as Blackwell), Greg's the guy to go with. Brunzell is more fiery than you'd think working the apron. The Flyers do feel like a big deal here, but that's not surprising. They always somehow do. All of this felt iconic, pure, distilled AWA.

PAS: Really solid main event tag team match. Blackwell and Adnan are a bruiser tag team, Kasie almost seems like too much of a bad ass to work as a heel manager. Blackwell has fists like hams, and a demolishing fat guy elbow. Greg was a great in this, I loved his wild punch combos to Blackwells body to make space for the hot tag, and he had some nice looking offense, including some nasty shots to the Shiek's knee. I totally buy a sneaky Blackwell splash ending anyone, that is a fat dude right there.

ER: I love Blackwell so much. He's the fattest version of Haley Joel Osment and is a guy I'll watch in anything. It feels like we've gotten a ton of fresh Blackwell in the past couple years, from Japan handhelds to stuff like this. And it's all great, I love how he moves, you get to see awesome elbowdrops and big fat guy bumps and painful avalanches and great missed splats on splashes, and after the match he lands an absolute curb stomp of a running stomp. Guy comes off like a total killer. Greg Gagne is a guy I like that really got a bum rap for years. He's a great babyface and always brings good determination, his blow up fired up punches are great and he's a good face in peril. I now get excited when new Greg Gagne footage shows up. Brunzell is a durable guy with a fantastic dropkick who can hang with bigger guys, and Adnan does amusing older guy heel stomps and reactions and backrakes. Plus we get some great regional folksiness on commentary, my favorite being "Greg Gagne just folded like a carpenter's rule." You picture James Stewart saying something like that in "Fools' Parade" and it sounds right. This is the kind of pro wrestling I like to watch.

Tito Santana/Hulk Hogan vs. Bobby Duncum/Ken Patera AWA 12/25/82

MD: There's a lot to really enjoy here. Hogan is an absolute bully, going out of his ways to poke Patera in the eyes when he doesn't have to, all of that. The fans love it. Santana works as rudo as I've ever seen him, faking the tags and cheating left and right. Tito Santana! Hogan's a bad influence. Patera really shines in this one. There's just real star power there. Everything he does has extra oomph and energy. It's patently ridiculous that this ends not in a double DQ but in Hogan getting DQ'd because he was getting in the way of the heels cheating. It might have been to set up Patera/Duncum as contenders but it just felt like punishing the fans for no reason.

PAS: Really fun to watch the two babyface icons of my early wrestling fandom team up. Hogan and Tito have barrels of charisma and I really enjoyed all of the babyface scheming early. Tito is a really good face in peril, and Hogan is an all time hot tag. Tito breaks out a Gibson leglock and takes a great semi flip bump on Duncum's lariat. I loved we got a couple of big Heenan bumps and didn't mind the double DQ as it had the kind of Katie Bar the Door finish you got a ton of in the 80s. This was a nostalgic match, so I dug the nostalgic finish.

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Mad Dog Vachon AWA 12/25/83

MD: Just watch Bockwinkel rush in for the attack. Always a game plan. Always a purpose. Mad Dog wasn't going to do any topes in 1983, but his stuff looked nasty and credible. He'd bite your nose off if you weren't careful. Or, in this case, he'd fishhook your mouth and all but suplex you with it. Bockwinkel stooges and feeds and makes this feel like a right and proper main event for an end of the year show. This had a pretty goofy Dusty finish but the pop on Mad Dog getting the apparent win is huge. It's a testament both to the AWA crowds and to Bockwinkel that you could put almost anyone up and down the roster in there, from Brunzell to Rheinghans to the Baron to Robinson and the crowd completely believed that the title change could happen and that they might witness history.

PAS: I really enjoyed this, classic wrestling trope of over as fuck babyface taking out a sneaky heel champ. The Crusher is accompanying Vachon as a counter to Heenan, and has an unlit cigar in his mouth and another two in his pocket. Vachon tears Bockwinkle up, bumping him all over the ring, with Bockwinkle only getting brief moments of offense, when he can sneak in a cheap shot. Vachon really comes off as a vicious tough guy and Bockwinkle sells his ass off. The ending was super dumb as the ref just stops counting to DQ Bockwinkle before Heenan does anything. We do get some fun postmatch with Heenan taking a classic insane Heenan bump to the floor, but I can see why this kind of booking BS eventually doomed the fed.

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig AWA 12/25/84

MD: Nick Bockwinkel vs Curt Hennig is one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history. Maybe before I'd say it was one of the greatest feuds of the 80s. Before we didn't have this match. It slots in so perfectly and it's one of those things that I don't know how we, as wrestling fans, ever lived without.

This was during the period where Martel, not Bockwinkel, was champion, where Hennig was coming into his own as a singles mid-carder and occasional contender. Remember, just two years earlier he was reffing the Christmas show. It would still be a couple of years, and the tag run where he was to make Scott Hall a star, before they'd feud in earnest. This match was full of sparks that would ignite years later.

People praise Bockwinkel for a lot of things, for his promos, for his matwork, for his bumps, for his presentation as the perfect heel champion, and I love all of those things. What I love the most, however, is that he is always absolutely in the moment. He is entirely in to every moment, not as a performer hitting spots, but as a method actor who's completely dropped into what he's doing. It's the little things. There's a moment early on after he took over with an unclean lock up off the ropes where Hennig bumps out of the corner, selling. Bockwinkel does this tiny, enthused pump of his arm. It's the smallest thing but there's not another wrestler out of a hundred that would have chosen to show that emotion in that moment and it is absolutely everything when it comes to immersion. Bockwinkel believes. You believe.

This shifts to a great King of the Mountain and subsequent revenge from a fiery Hennig after that (the transition being wholly logical and warranted as Bockwinkel decided to play to the crowd and mime having the belt once more; everything always makes sense with Nick Bockwinkel). From here it's back and forth with Bockwinkel able to bully his way to advantages and Hennig selling the damage tremendously. Ultimately, after a second sunset flip hope spot (one that Bockwinkel struggled on much more than the first), Nick goes after the leg, locking in a string of figure-fours until the Hennig, toughing it out, somehow rolls him up for the pin and the win. Post-match, Bockwinkel is behind himself and beats Hennig to a pulp, coming back in again and again with no one able to stop him. You can't watch this and not think about what would happen two years later when a frustrated Hennig would turn heel on Bockwinkel. This was great on its own it's all part of an even greater whole and it's a whole that we've got an clearer picture of today.

PAS: Getting a new Bockwinkel vs. Hennig is like getting a new Santo vs. Casas or Dundee vs. Lawler, another chance to see a legendary match up, with all time greats who are always going to give something different. It was neat to see this version of the rivalry with Bockwinkle so dominant and Hennig still a young boy. Bockwinkle is so vicious and dismissive, tossing Hennig to the floor,  and really kicking the shit out of him when Hennig tries to get back in, it is the ultimate in dismissiveness. This kid doesn't even belong in the ring with me, and I refuse to treat him like an equal. It is what makes the reversal of fortune so satisfying, with Hennig constantly knocking Bock to the floor. The figure fours looked great, and I loved how Bock snapped after Hennig gets the sneak pin. Brutal onslaught, and Bockwinkle does really come off unhinged, like he can see all of his glory slipping away and was going to hold on tight with both hands.

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