Rocco vs. Jones '78

Rollerball Rocco vs. Marty Jones WOS 9/13/78

ER: A fun title vs. title match that I thought was a real great Rocco showcase. I know he gets his criticisms but I think most of those revolve around him shrugging off damage to get in cool spots, and those criticisms don't apply to him here. Rocco savagely goes after Jones' knee (and it's Jones who is the one who acts like that never happened), perfectly times the action to peak for Jones right at the end of each round, and then goes down in a blaze of glory in the 8th round. Rocco gets dirty early by tying Jones' leg in the ropes at the end of the 1st, and then starting the 2nd by kicking him right in that leg and then again in the knee. I really dug Rocco's legwork, hyperextending and rolling effortlessly into kneebars, at one point working almost a short arm scissors with Jones' leg. And I dug how he would shift his head and face while Jones tried to elbow him loose, or even better when Jones had his whole boot smooshing Rocco's face (great camera shot). 

I loved how the rounds would peak in Jones' favor, and Rocco would escape without much damage right at the bell, even cheapshotting Jones in the gut one of the times. And Rocco is very generous selling for Jones' eventual comebacks, going down fast on payback kicks to the leg, and the 8th and what turns out to be final round is all Rocco flying around the ring. He tries to jump Jones on the apron to start and it backfires, and then it's Rocco bouncing all around the ring. He eats a nice missile dropkick, takes his awesome upside down bump into the buckles (such a cool bump, flying in perfectly upside down without dropping vertically onto his head), getting monkey flipped into the ropes, and then ending the match taking one of the more spectacular bumps to the floor that I've ever seen. Rocco gets tossed far over the top and lands flat on his back, obviously getting counted out, old ladies in long coats watching watching this man splat out of the sky. If you need to show me a man incapable of beating a 10 count, Rocco's fall something I'd believe would do it. And yet it still had the same grace as any of his in ring spills.

MD: So, the bugbear with this one is Jones shrugging off the legwork in Round 5. Part of it, I can actually go for. I can buy the idea that Rocco gets Jones so angry that he just pushes past it. The problem is that he pushed past it three times in a minute span: the initial damage, the redirected bump over the top, and then the missed leap into the ring. It's doubly damning because a sort of redirection over-the-top bump is the finish to the entire match, one that prevents Rocco from getting back in. It's the thing that ends a title-vs-title match, and yes, it's a hell of a bump and a hell of a visual, but so was Jones' and it was shrugged off like it was nothing. If you're going to set up a finish like that, you don't do it by crapping on the very idea of it earlier in the match.

I agree with Eric that most of the usual Rocco criticisms don't apply here. There are times where he doesn't let things breathe, but they're because he hadn't taken enough damage yet or because he's harrowed by the count (and getting over the count IS important in this one for the reasons mentioned above). It's near comedic at times, though. He's the only person I've ever seen that hits elbow drops where he's already rolling back to his feet to do whatever's next. I much prefer him on offense, to be honest, because that alarcity really does benefit the break/up British rules. He's constantly ready to hit the next thing and not allow for even the slightest momentum shift. He's able to portray himself as a craven, underhanded villain as well as someone like Breaks with tantrums and matter-of-fact hairpulls, but is such a dervish of energy that he still comes off as distinct. He definitely wrestled this match exactly as he should have. 

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New Footage Friday: French Catch, Super Boy, Rollerball,

Le Marquis/Black Shadow vs. Marcello Motta/Angelito French Catch 5/28/85

MD: All I want to talk about is the Marquis and his valet. Obviously, there was some old writ that somehow survived the Terror and Paris Commune that he was able to brandish showing that old landed gentry, of which he was one of the last, are lawfully allowed to utilize their valets in matches without any repercussion. This was some of the most acceptable and enjoyable constant cheating I've ever seen. They made an effort of distracting the ref a bit, including Motta being angry enough to hurt his own partner, but what made this sing was the total immersion. Every single time the Marquis entered or left the ring, the valet held the ropes. Every time the babyfaces got near the corner, he cheated. Every time the Marquis took a shot, he was there to dust him off. Occasionally the random mascot mocked him. It all led perfectly to the big dropkick spot that allowed enough space for the final pin. As for the work itself, it was good though maybe a notch down from some of the earlier French wrestling we've seen (though that still puts it pretty high). I liked all of the nasty side-mares. Angelito was pretty unique in look and movement but it all felt a little loose from him. I suppose the Marquis' act could get old if we had dozens of matches of his, but as this is pretty much all we have, it's gold in my book.

ER: These kind of matches are pure undistilled joy, and I always find myself loving the surroundings as much as the joyful ring work. Every shot of the crowd brings a smile to my face, and also makes me a little sad that this type of crowd is mostly gone. This looked like a crowd of families seeing a Saturday afternoon matinee. There were older couples and elderly couples, mothers there laughing with their children, a grumpy teen who was probably dragged there by a parent and was fighting the good times, and of course a giant blue furry mascot who apparently was just sitting in the crowd. He occasionally smacks Marquis' personal butler and the crowd appears to treat him like they would any other attendee. Everybody is in a sweater or an overcoat, and this seems like a crowd who would eat simple and deliciously prepared peasant food for dinner one night, which then gets turned into a stew the next night with wine, and in the meantime they're going to have a laugh while watching the acrobatic stylings of Angelito. And that's what I did! Angelito and Marquis were highly entertaining, with Marquis almost exclusively being a base for Angelito's breathtaking monkey flips, while being regularly toweled off by his butler. He and Angelito were quite a pair, and I did not get sick of those monkey flips, the way he would approach his opponent normally, then kick his body into the air so that he was nearly vertically upside down, before pendulum whipping downward to catch his feet on Marquis' or Shadow's thighs. They were amazing. He also had some cool counters, my favorite being Marquis catching him in a press slam, and Angelito immediately kicking his leg down to kick off Le Marquis' chest, landing on his feet and uppercutting him as punishment. I loved how Marquis' butler stood on the apron the entire match, and how that built to a big moment of Angelito drilling him with a picture perfect dropkick to knock him off (it should have been a bigger moment, but the butler oddly just sold it as if he had slipped off the apron and was getting back up to save face, not a guy who just had his sternum collapsed by a hard kick). This never veers into overt violence or intensity, it keeps its pace and is pretty to look at, and I am continually fascinated at these glimpses into the wrestling cultures of our worldwide friends.

PAS: I really enjoyed this although it lacked some of the mindblowing otherworldliness of some of the other French Catch. This was pretty formula wrestling match with a fun formula attack. Angeltio and the Marquis are a fun matched pair. With Angelito whipping off cool takedowns and monkey flips and the Marquies bringing his valet and a quality amount of horseshit to everything he does. I could have totally seen this turn into a six-man tag with the Mascot joining the babyface team. This French stuff is such a treat and we clearly need to find a Frenchman to invade the archives and get us more!!

Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones All Star Wrestling 8/20/88

MD: Very cool that we got promos at the start of this, though Jones put Robert Gibson's lazy eye to shame. Rocco's hyperactive offensive bursts reminds me of the young Piper we've seen lately and now I lamented that there was never a scenario where those two could have teamed. This was really high end stuff, but it was almost too much so. They'd wrestled so many times that everything was a counter of a counter of a counter. The crowd was on board because they were familiar with them and it never felt choreographed; in a situation like that, I usually go for it. Here though, it was so metatextual, so over the top in the familiarity that some of the basic and primal stuff didn't entirely make it along for the ride. You ended up getting the blood and the DQ at the end but I felt like Jones had more reason to be angry a decade before. Here, familiarity seemed to breed contempt, not the hatred they needed to make the finish work. That's a nitpick but I still couldn't shake the feeling.

PAS: This didn't have the athleticism of the earlier matches, these guys both clearly had more wear on the tires. This had way more shortcuts then the WOS sport stuff we have from the 70s and 80s and I enjoyed the difference. Rocco tossing water into Jones eyes, removing the turnbuckle pad and Rocco bleeding by the end. Even the finish with the ref getting tossed around separates this from other stuff we have seen. It does feel a little more like two guys irritated with each other, then two guys who hated each other, and this kind of a brawl needed a bit more anger. I did love Jones wasting Rocco with the baseball slide dropkick, which is the moment it felt furious.

Rey Misterio Sr./Ultraman/Piloto Suicida vs Mercurio/Fobia/Super Boy FLL 2/15/95

MD: I came late in life to lucha libre, so obviously, I wasn't tapped into this vein like those who were part of the community twenty years (or more) ago. This, to me, feels like much more of a counter-culture scene than ECW. Maybe that's just hindsight but ECW was just a stylized, dirtied up version of what we always knew. This was something else entirely. At the base of it is just good lucha libre: majestic and valiant and scummy and tricked out, larger than life. They hit their spots cleanly and clearly. The primera exchanges were crisp and engaging. The segunda beatdown did a great job with crowd control, feeling organic instead of forced. There wasn't that moment of climax of a comeback. A lot of it happened between the segunda and tercera with a chairshot on the outside, but the finishing stretch hit all the marks, with a Estrella/Rana combo actually finishing the match instead of being a nearfall, which I'm not sure I've ever actually seen. Ultraman was quizzically over (he might not have been the guy I expected the crowd to go for the most) and he played into it well. How great must it have been to be a local during this period, right? The rest of the country was watching the Dungeon of Doom and Million Dollar Corporation and you got this.

PAS: Superboy is this total 90s cult figure, he would show up every year or so in Michinoku Pro as this short really fat incredibly graceful highflyer. He worked the WCW Lucha pilot which never went anywhere and then kind of faded away. So cool to see him in his So-Cal lucha home. The moment where he was working these incredible primera caida armdrag sequences with Rey Sr. were a true highlight. The opening sections off this were pretty great with all six guys getting a chance to shine. I thought the Segunda and Terecera lacked some of the Primera's focus, it was pretty aimless brawling leading into the Estralla finish of the third fall. The promise of that first fall never really delivered. That is a very lucha libre thing though, you will sometimes get this awesome individual fall in an otherwise pedestrian match, and those glimpses of brilliance are well worth it.

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New Footage Friday: French Catch, Rollerball Rocco, Marty Jones, Choshu, Saito, Inoki

Kader Hassouni/Claude Rocca vs. Bernard Caclard/Albert Sanniez French Catch 3/20/76

MD: There's so much here that I'm not sure how you can talk about it except for as anything but generalities. It honestly reminds me a little of when I was trying to get into lucha and I'd watch one of those long, straightforward trios form the 80s where you'd get so dazzled by the exchanges and the tricked out matwork and the rote spots and the comedy and how they shifted gear that there's no way you could find the forest for the trees. I wish we had a hundred of these matches, not just because they're so spectacular, but beacuse it'd make patterns easier to find. I do think that's the best sort of comparison. I've seen our pal Jetlag harken this to some other athletic peaks of pro wrestling, and I can see that, but to me there's just an undertone of ritual and craft here and that's what stands out the most. I just haven't worked out all of the ritual yet. It's remarkable how they're able to shift from acrobatics to comedy to pummelling one another on a dime.

Some stuff is universal though. It just takes a little bit to get there. When they finally start registering what's going on (and they take their time to do so, but that's fine in such a long match with the ability to tag frequently). All of the reversals feel so fluid and natural while being complex; all it takes is just one touch, one grasp, one connection between one body and another to create a flip or a twist or a throw, but due to the speed, the way they throw themselves into it, the lack of hesitation and the immediate follow up, it feels like it's exactly how reality should be. Once things begin to settle, the heels start to play into some great repetition and oneupsmanship spots (two powerbomb like flips only to get back body dropped on the third, a face giving a body part to clown the heel only to have the heel try it and again get clowned).

Finally, things settled down even further as the heels take over with frustrated hairpulling and roughousing and doubleteaming. The faces come back with a big ring-rope shaking spot and a big miss dived, and start a whole new section with them using creative double teaming out of the corner (mainly trips) until they get a fall. The rudos comeback with tight offense out of their corner for the second fall. Then, with some miscommunication, it goes into a big rousing comeback including table bumps, brawling on the outside, crazy rope running, and more clowning. You know the old adage that a wrestling card should be like a circus? That it should have a little of everything. This match had a lot of everything.

PAS: This was pretty incredible, a lot of the French Catch stuff I have seen has had incredible exchanges, but doesn't build to a coherent finish. This is really a spectacular match which works as a standard tag match. It is pretty crazy that INA just puts up a random show on youtube and the match is of this quality. Calcard and Sanniez look like an all time tag team, nasty forearms and kicks, incredible basing for all of the tricked out takedowns and headscissors, killer bumping and stooging (there was a spot where Sanniez just dives off the rope and belly flops right on the mat), we even get an angle with Calcard shoving Roger Delaporte the promoter and getting clocked and thrown into the ring. I really liked Rocco throwing these cross armed chops to the throat and Hasssouni had some really fun WOS style mat reversals. As always with French Catch there was a dozen crazy flips and take downs which look like they are from 20 years in the future not 40 years in the past. I can just imagine the quality of the stuff sitting in their archives, hopefully it keeps dribbling out.


Rollerball Rocco vs. Marty Jones WOS 12/30/80

MD: We get the last few rounds of this. Jones is, of course, the ultimate opponent for Rocco. Rocco's over the top, stooging, complaining, endlessly abrupt and endlessly dangerous. Jones is the most "solid" wrestler in history, maybe, endlessly sounded, a stable presence in all of our lives, dynamic but never garish, a true hero of Brittania. While not rising to the level of some of the other footage we have of them, this actually dodged a lot of my major Rocco criticism, which is that he's so go-go-go that nothing ever sets in or has meaning, that he only ever pauses to sell meaning instead of stopping to do so. Here, he was really leaning into the post-exchange stalling and then letting it transition forward to him getting an advantage. This is good stuff, but it'd obviously be better served if we had the feeling out from the early rounds. It's almost all the payoff here. As always, I love how suddenly a fall can end in this style, that sort of sport over cinematic story feel. Rocco's menacing presence on the ropes is absolutely iconic (and hey, he hits a grounded double axe-handle which is always good to see in a world of people getting their feet up every single time), and Jones' missile dropkick is one of the best moves in the world in 1980. The ring falls apart as they're careening towards the brawl, so they just stay on their knees and punch one another, which is a perfectly fine way to end a wrestling match.

PAS: This was a juniors sprint, without much selling but it was a pretty dope one. If you are going to do a match full of spots, have them be cool spots. Rocco is the guy with the rep as a before his time spot guy, but I thought Jones had cooler shit. He was decapitating Rocco with dropkicks, they looked like Gaea Girls level, it wouldn't have shocked me to see Rocco spitting out teeth. Jones also hit an absolutely flattening flip senton, he landed full force on Rocco's ribs. I loved the finish, as the ring starts to break apart because of the force of Rocco's bumps, so they just wail away on each other, with punches and short forearms, great way to finish off a time limit draw. We miss the opening rounds, so this may have been more of a meal in complete, but it was a hell of a snack.

ER: Man I thought Rocco ruled here. I know we're supposed to act like he's British Kurt Angle, but that's starting to feel like pretty reductive criticism the more matches like this we see. Rocco feels like the perfect opponent for Jones, and I don't think Angle was a perfect opponent for anyone. I think Jones looked great here, but I don't think the match would have been nearly as interesting without Rocco leaning in to every single thing Jones threw at him, while coming back every single time with cheapshots. And Rocco's cheapshots were all nasty strikes, a headbutt to the gut, a close range shoulderblock to the collarbone, and all those awesome short rushing punches. I loved all of it. There's no way Angle would have made those dropkicks or huge senton mean as much as Rocco did here, leaning chin first into a running dropkick and stooging for all the fans at ringside after getting spatchcocked by that brutal senton. Amusingly, their end run was nearly identical to a 1978 Jones/Rocco match I watched earlier today, Rocco trying to run Jones into the turnbuckle from the apron, getting punched instead, getting nailed with a Jones missile dropkick, and then getting thrown vertically into the turnbuckle (I love that vertical hands free corner bump of Rocco's so damn much). The ring literally falls apart which robbed us of a decent ending, and we already missed the first part of this one, but damn was what we got killer.

Antonio Inoki/Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Masa Saito/Riki Choshu NJPW 8/2/83

MD: This felt big and epic, all the way from the Inoki chants as he was coming out to the post match lariats. It was full of grit and struggle. I really liked how Saito and Choshu worked together. They were constantly driving their opponent back into their corner. They had some fun tandem moves. Everything looked good. Everything looked dangerous, from the backbreaker/second rope shot to something as simple as Saito coming in to stomp Inoki so that Choshu could turn him into the Scorpion Deathlock.

Basically, every momentum shift in their favor was thought out and meaningful. The first few in Inoki/Fujinami's favor were fickle. Saito would hit his suplex, get a two count, and Fujinami would be up first to dropkick him twice in the face before making the tag. It was a great dropkick, and there's the ever-present sense of toughness in refusing to stay down, but man do they just wilfully refuse to tap into the everpresent emotion existant in tag team wrestling by not building to actual comebacks.

The counter argument is that when Inoki finally gets to fight back, he gets a little build. A sunset flip gives him the space to hit the back brain kick out of nowhere, then he has to reverse a posting on the outside (immediately thereafter) before hitting another one for the win. I don't think that moment was made any larger for it being the first meaningful comeback in the match though. I get that you just have to accept it as part of the style and appreciate the good (and there was plenty of that) but they always leave such good stuff on the table when there's no reason they can't have their cake and eat it too.

PAS: I liked how uncooperative the early grappling looked, no one was letting anyone grab anything, ever throw or grip was contested. Choshu and Saito were really rough and rugged throwing hard punishing chops and stomps, and some pretty cool double teams. I am an Inoki and Fujinami fan, but I had some issues with them in this match. Fujinami popping up after the Saito suplexes was pretty bad, Saito has amazing suplexes and Fujinami basically no-selling them was bush league it felt like indy wrestling shit. Inoki did his thing where he just decides to end a match. Saito beats on him and stretches him and Inoki just decides to hit a couple of enzigiris and get the pin. Choshu and Saito are a hell of a heel tag team, and it is cool to see them in a big star tag, and there were some real moments here, just don't think it totally came together.

ER: This was one of those cool as hell tag matches where it looked like the file was sped up, everybody moving at 1.5x asskicking speed. I dug everyone in this to some degree, but especially loved the viciousness of Saito and Choshu. Saito especially was so spry, so quick, and looking at all times as if he'd be able to lift and throw all three men in the match at once. He had a couple suplexes here that looked like we should be able to gif him throwing Inoki and Fujinami out of the building. I loved Saito and Choshu picking apart Fujinami, hanging him upside down in the corner and kicking at him, suplexing him, and I liked how they treated Inoki with total disregard. But yeah, gotta concur with everyone, seeing Fujinami pop up after one of those vicious Saito suplexes made me want to see Saito just suplex him over and over and over until he couldn't hit a dropkick. 

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All Time MOTY List HEAD to HEAD: Killer Karl Kox v. Dick Murdoch V. Marty Jones v. Mark Rocco

Marty Jones v. Mark Rocco World of Sport 6/30/76

ER: Cool match that exceeded all expectations. It gets a bunch of time and it ramps up real nicely. As the match goes on Rocco starts acting like more and more of a jerk, really riling up the fans by sneaking in cheapshots or slamming Jones into the ropes. The opening couple rounds have a bunch of  cool cravate reversals and wristlocks and hammerlocks, both guys wrenching stuff in nicely and tricking the other into reversals. We get some cool tricks and show off spots, really like both guys breaking out flashy handsprings out of snapmares, leading to Rocco getting blitzed by a dropkick after getting up from one. Both guys start picking away at limbs, looking for an opening. Jones yanks on Rocco's legs in cool ways, and Rocco is the one who starts going after Jones' arm, and the more he picks away at it the cooler Jones' subtle selling gets. I loved moments where they'd be separated, and you'd see Jones' left arm hanging more than his right, or little ways he would hold it closer to his body. Rocco keeps picking cheapshots and Jones resists, firing back instead with really nice dropkicks, and eventually flat out uppercutting Rocco with some awesome uppercuts. It did seem like they had Rocco dominate for too long to have such a relatively quick comeback win from Jones, but I suppose they were trying to express that Rocco tired himself out quicker by being an aggressive asshole. This was among my favorite Rocco matches I've seen. Later on he kind of became the WoS Kurt Angle, but here he was on point and vicious. This is a Rocco you could grow old with.

PAS: Really great escalation, as the match starts with some friendly grappling and really devolved into this vicious street fight. Rocco really showed great aggression going after the arm and Jones did a great job of selling the injuriy. Classic match of the virtuous babyface walking though hell to defeat a dastardly villain. I did think the ref got a little involved which hurt the flow of the match, I get that is the style, but having the ref in the faces of both wrestlers got annoying. I have no problem with the public warning system as a storytelling device, but here it was overshadowing the work in the match


Kox v. Murdoch review

Verdict:

ER: I wasn't really expecting this to be a close challenge, but it turned out to be fairly close. Kox/Murdoch gets the nod from me still, as two guys punching each other for 20 minutes is going to be tough for me to vote against, but this was a real blast, makes me want to see more 70s Rocco.

PAS: Yeah I liked this a bunch, but it didn't grab me anywhere near as much as KKK v. Dick

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Fire Fundraiser: Fit Finlay vs. Marty Jones

Fit Finlay vs. Marty Jones, World of Sport 11/84

Fellow SCer Matt D kindly and gently donated money to the cause, but then has such a good heart he asked me to watch and review a Finlay match. That's like buying a guy dinner or paying for his tank of gas. "Here's money for your friend, now YOU have to go watch FINLAY!" And it was awesome. Watching Finlay matches from 30 years ago is like watching old Negro Casas matches, in which you've grown accustomed to how great the elder versions of Finlay/Casas are, that you forget they were awesome in entirely different ways back then. They were super fast, bumped differently, moved differently, threw strikes differently, just different versions of the same awesome wrestlers. Finlay even has his John Oates permullet here so he and Casas even had the same old curly exotico hair. So yeah, "young" Finlay is a total treat. He bumps like mad, really fast and low, like he's aiming to hit the mat as quick as possible. He was always good at taking offense, but this was different. This was like Dynamite Kid with match structure. Marty Jones is a good hand. I think a lot of people use that term really low, tantamount to a guy being mediocre (while at the same time using mediocre as tantamount to bad), but I think being a good hand is impressive. Jones knows when to lay back and let Finlay be Finlay, knows when to step up and get the crowd into himself. He has great instincts and  knows his strengths, really seems like a guy who would be able to work with anybody (you know, like Finlay).

My favorite thing about this was the pinpoint strikes by both men. They did plenty of strike exchanges throughout, but none were mindless, and most were attacking specific body parts to then capitalize on different body parts. A Jones kick to the knee would buckle Finlay, allowing Jones to sweep Finlay's other leg. A Finlay front kick would drop Jones right into a Finlay elbow to the jaw. Both men threw gorgeous and violent elbows. They cut low, kept arms close to the body and exploded on follow through. At one point Jones hops on a buckle for momentum before launching his elbow low at Finlay's chin and sending him sprawling. Finlay bumped all over for him, a couple huge ones to the floor, a lightning fast one through the ropes after Jones' awesome dropkick (Jones may have a top 3 all time dropkick if you didn't know) that looks like Finlay got shot out of a cannon, super high backdrop bump, a flapjack bump that sent him down dangerously headfirst, just Finlay as wild Dynamite bumper. Finlay still does all my favorite "not letting a guy rest on his laurels" type stuff, constantly kicking and goading and smacking Jones while Jones is on the mat, little annoying mocking kicks to the cheek, temple, rib points; at one point Jones is on his hands and knees, and Finlay casually strolls up and kicks out Jones' left arm, the same way you'd kick out a kickstand on your bike. Holy shit. We also get Finlay's leaping knee to the head established as a near fatal move, with him taking an early fall by blindsiding Jones with one. And it was truly a beautiful flying knee strike. Finlay is a dick the whole time, really playing smart with his use of public warnings. Weighing the damage you can do to make it worth a public warning is smart business. If you can do something illegal that does more damage than something legal, it's kinda worth it as long as you don't care what the fans think about you (which Finlay clearly does not). The World of Sport fans themselves are glorious, women in their cable knit sweaters, men in their sweater vests. The whole lot is just so impossibly British and it's really my favorite thing about territorial era wrestling, that feeling of being part of a community while watching it.

Anyway Finlay abuses his public warnings and even risks doing things that could easily get him warned, like headbutting Jones immediately at the end of a fall trying to do things behind the ref's back. Finlay also does some hilarious things to goad Jones into snapping, like always dilly dallying at the start of each round, making sure to kiss Princess Paula while Jones is just waiting to gallantly fight.  Eventually it does lead to Jones snapping and getting TWO public warnings (though Finlay gets himself DQ'd right after, which is a rather LAME way for a match this awesome to end). These two matched up really great, which is not a shock as both guys match effortlessly up with most wrestlers, and really the only downside of the match was that it was JIP in the 4th fall (couldn't find a full version) and had that lame DQ title change ending. But this was all great pro wrestling. There are dozens of things I didn't even mention, as literally every exchange looked great and many of them had notable moments. It would have been a full novelization had I gone into more detail.

Thanks again to Matt for not only his donation, but for FORCING me to watch one of my all time favorite pro wrestlers.

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And Sorrow's Native Son Regal Will Not Smile For Anyone

Roy Regal v. Marty Jones WOS 10/11/86-GREAT

This is Regal's television debut and he is rocking a spectacular blond mullet like the keyboardist for the Cutting Crew. This is a handicap match, with Regal being spotted a fall, like you would spot your little brother ten points in a game of one on one. Really cool to see Regal this early as he was damn agile and worked WOS style reversals really well. This was worked with the veteran Jones teaching the youngster a lesson, and they worked in some nice moments of offense for Regal, even a couple of near falls, although Jones remained firmly in control of the match. Finish was pretty great with Jones landing a Meiko Satomura in GAEA Girls level dropkick right to Regal's mouth which kept him down for the 10 count. It is hard to work a credible KO spot on a dropkick, but they sure as heck did.

Lord Steven Regal v. Tony Pena WCW 11/25/96-GREAT

Tony Pena is an unmasked Villano IV (pre Villanos in WCW, rocking the IV tights) given that name I assume as a Konan based shot at Antonio Pena. Very WCW match, two guys delivering a hellacious match, cut short, while Zbyszko and Schiavone talk about the NWO. This was only about five minutes, but it was an asskicking five minutes. We get some very pretty, very intesne matwork, with Regal really wrenching in the holds and Pena hanging right with him, we also get some nasty brawling. Pena clocks Regal with a clothesline and a Sano spinkick to the face, and Regal responds by pushing VIV into the corner and unloading with an awesome violent five punch combo. Heck of a sprint with both guys looking world class, really makes me want to seek out all Regal v. Villanos, that really should have been a hair v. mask match in Arena Mexico.

William Regal v. Steve Austin WWF 11/29/01-EPIC

PAS: This is a strap match from Smackdown and just a hellacious brawl. Regal has the strap to start and he taunts Austin Bugs Bunny style by pulling it away from him when Austin tries to grab it, after the third time, Austin flips out and just attacks, and it goes at that pace. They brawl into the crowd with Austin viciously strapping Regal up and down the stairs. Regal takes control after backdropping Austin off the announce table, which is a nutty bump for a guy with a broken neck to be taking on TV. Vicious brawling Regal is one of my favorite of his approaches, and he just lays into Austin with forearms and strap shots when he get an opening. Austin was amazing in this too, I hadn't watched a Stone Cold match in so long, you forget what a charismatic motherfucker he really was. He stops mid brawl to toast Earl Hebner with a beer, and then smashes it on Regals head. I even liked all of the four corner spots, which is usually the problem with strap matches. Austin was awesome at the end countering all of Regal's attempts to stop the turnbuckle slapping, before the third buckle he nuts Regal, and pulls him into a stunner before the fourth. I didn't remember this match at all, and it was totally awesome.

ER: Austin was my favorite wrestler in the world in 2001, and I had never ever seen this match before. This must have been right after he turned face after the year long heel turn (which I loved but you know how much it fucked everything up). The Regal C&A is going to be real fun because up until Finlay joined WWE, Regal was a guy who I don't remember having a lot of great WWE non-Benoit matches. I remember the RVD Wrestlemania match being way better than I expected, and there was a 90 second Lance Storm match where Storm botched a dropkick and Regal kicked the shit out of him...a Dick Togo match....There has to be other stuff. He's a guy who's been in WWE at total of 12 years, but I just can't think of much. You start thinking there must be all of these hidden gems, and then you "discover" a "hidden" gem of a match between him and fucking Steve Austin, the most popular wrestler in the world. It's not exactly crate digging, but it's like finding a live Television album that you didn't know existed, but had been out for apparently 10 years. This was a GREAT match, worked at a nice brisk pace, and both guys looked killer. Austin was taking some of the most insane weekly bumps on TV during this time period. While Christian and Rey Buccanero were having weekly contests to see who could bump over the top to the floor the most times during one match, Austin had a busted neck and was taking Germans and doing superplexes and taking high backdrops on all surfaces. Fucking insane. Their crowd brawling is spectacular as it never sinks to Shane Douglas "loosely grabbing a guys head and walking around" levels. Austin punches Regal through the crowd, then whips his fucking face with a belt through the crowd! Everything about this rules. Regal's chest welts up, Regal's forearms look nasty, Regal gets dumped on his head when Austin tugs the strap between his legs, neither guy does a slo-mo crawl to touch all four corners, Regal whips back HARD and makes the Stunner look amazing, crowd loudly hates Regal, all the leverage spots look legit, just awesome. It's odd to find a hidden gem featuring the most popular wrestler in the world, from free TV, from the most popular promotion in the world...but this was it and it was so damn awesome.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE REGAL

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