Found Footage Friday: BASH 85~!

Great American Bash JCP 7/6/85

Buddy Landel vs. Ron Bass

MD: A twenty minute draw, only a bit cut (we lose some of Buddy's control). I always was partial to this feud so it's nice to get a bit more of it. It filled out the midcard well, just having Bass trying to get revenge on JJ basically for picking a city slicker instead of a country guy. 

This was going long and it had a lot of Buddy getting early stalling and comeuppance. Buddy's body language is almost generational, the way that he scoots through the ropes after taking a shot or gets fired into the corner. He tries to outwrestle Bass and fails, tries to outsneak him and fails, tries to outfight him and definitely fails. When he does take over, it's about grinding Bass down and letting JJ get shots in when he can. The comeback on the floor is fiery and the crowd loves it but it's a prelude to the bell ringing for the draw. Post match, Bass gets his hands on JJ and Buddy tries to intervene only for the two to end up crashing into one another. Satisfying stuff even despite the draw.

Ole Anderson/Arn Anderson vs. Buzz Sawyer/Dick Slater

MD: This was a blast. I love the Sawyer/Slater team, even as babyfaces. Huge energy. They came in hot firing away at the Andersons, with Buzz and his fuzzy boots swinging a title belt around over his head. It was stooging fiery chaos for the first half, with Slater's windmill punches and Buzz running about biting arms and interjecting at every point. He had one charge into the corner where he shot back at high speed with a forearm that was just nuts. 

Eventually the chaos was too much and the ref got distracted so that the Andersons could take over on Slater. Super hot crowd for this as Buzz stomped back and forth on the apron. Some great hope spots and last second cutoffs where an Anderson would lock up the legs. The hot tag was sufficiently hot but things ended pretty abruptly with an elbow drop cheapshot behind the ref's back. Could have used another rotation on the finish but this lived up to my expectations.

Manny Fernandez/Buzz Tyler/Sam Houston vs. Abdullah the Butcher/Superstar Billy Graham/Konga the Barbarian

MD: I haven't talked about what we had and didn't have here but we came in during the heat on the old footage of this one. That's all beatdown on Houston who survives and survives until he's able to get close enough to draw his own guys in and win in the ensuing chaos with a roll up.

All of that is in here and it's pretty good pro wrestling, but we get the front here as well. That was Graham and Konga stooging (as once Abby got in, it would be time for the heels to take over). And it was very good. This is some of the best I've seen 80s Graham look. He was flying around way more than usual and leaning hard into the goofing. Konga did his share as well honestly. And all of that was fine because it set the stage for Houston getting destroyed. The fans absolutely loved the finish. It really seemed at this point that they could make Houston into a big deal in the years to come.

Paul Jones vs. Jimmy Valiant (Dog Collar)

MD: Previously we just had the opening feint and the finish here. The feint was great, as Jones hemmed and hawed and refused to put the dog collar on before trying to slip it on Abby instead. That didn't work but it drew attention so Abby could stab Valiant in the forehead. Previously we had commentary over that but here we got to clearly hear a scream from the crowd and that's the sort of thing that makes all of this better. 

Jones controlled, smacking a bloody valiant with the chain wrapped around his hand. He made sure to bask in it and taunt the crowd. Said crowd went up huge for Valiant's comeback as he manipulated Jones with the length of the chain. He got the sleeper on. Abby tried to interfere. Valiant was too smart for it and he got the win before Abby unloaded on him. Pretty enjoyable piece of business overall.

Russians vs. Road Warriors

MD: This couldn't have been more heel-in-peril. Not only was it Krusher and Ivan, Nikita wasn't even there because he was prepping for the main event. Even though the Roadies were the AWA champions, only the JCP titles were on the line (which given the finish made no sense anyway).

And the Warriors took the brunt of this. Maybe Ivan would get an eye rake or Krusher would get a few body shots in, but then they'd miss an elbow drop and would get swept right back under again. Animal press slammed Krusher into the top rope, then pressed Ivan off the top. Hawk got in on the action. In no case did they really get them up but the struggle made it work nonetheless. It was a bit of diminishing returns though.

They had a sort of convoluted bit to let the Russians take over and they kept control with frantic, almost desperate quick tags. Even then, when the hot tag came, it was while the Roadies were taking shots. They just didn't matter. Things devolved quickly after that as both sides used chairs. It get having the Russians finally look vulnerable but a straight up Clash of the Titans might have been more palatable. 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Aniversario 89 (For Real This Time)

Week 11: Aniversario 1989 (For Real This Time)

EB: After a three week postponement due to Hurricane Hugo, it is finally time for Aniversario 1989. It is taking place on October 7th in Bayamon and broadcasted for the first time locally on PPV. We also have a second night of Aniversario on October 8th in Mayaguez, where we have the same match lineup albeit with slightly less stakes or stipulations. However, before talking about this weekend’s happenings, we should note that there have been some changes to the card (which are likely due to scheduling conflicts stemming from the three week postponement). We’ll discuss them as we go along but there are two things I’ll mention right now that have to do with the Universal title match. First, Gorilla Monsoon will not be appearing as the special referee for the Universal title match. Second, the match is now a barbed wire match.

Now we do have a bit of a footage issue with Aniversario 89. Despite the fact that the show was broadcast on PPV, it was never released on home video. The matches we have from Bayamon were uploaded years ago back when videos were limited to a 10 minute cutoff. So only a few matches from the PPV broadcast have surfaced, even though I hope that a copy of the full broadcast is floating around out there somewhere. We also have some matches that were broadcast in later airings on tv but these are mainly from the second day in Mayaguez. Since the match lineups for both days are practically the same (outside of some stipulations), we are taking the approach of reviewing the show by intertwining matches from both nights to go over as much of Aniversario as possible in our runthrough.

Let’s talk first about the matches for which we don’t have footage for (or for which we have a small clip as part of a broader video package) from either night. There are four such matches. Unfortunately we do not have the two tag title matches or the world junior title match available. Also, for two of those matches, the challengers changed from the announced card (again likely due to scheduling conflicts or unavailability due to the hurricane postponements).

Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, hijo were set to defend the Caribbean tag titles originally against the Wild Samoans combination of Tama and Afa. However, after the postponement, it was announced that the challengers would be Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat. Unfortunately for everyone looking forward to this match (including us), we not only do not have the match footage available but the Can-Am Express did not make the event. Stepping is as the challengers are the team of the Cuban Assassin (Angel Acevedo) and Jerry Morrow, known as Los Mercenarios. And this new set of challengers actually won the Caribbean tag titles from Perez and Castillo.

Jeff Jarrett was unable to make the show for the battle of the World Junior champions. In his place was El Gran Mendoza serving as the challenger to Super Medico’s WWC World Junior title. Medico retained his championship.

One match that did not experience changes but for which we unfortunately don’t have the footage for is the World tag title match between champions Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein and challengers Mark and Chris Youngblood. This tag title match also saw new champions crowned as the Younbloods scored the win.  

For those disappointed at the Can-Am Express and Jeff Jarrett not appearing, don’t despair because Paul Jones did make it for his match vs the Junkyard Dog. There is about a minute and half of the ending stretch of the Mayaguez version of this encounter and it's mainly Paul Jones choking JYD with a chain and hitting a flurry of punches before JYD makes a comeback with several headbutts and a Russian legsweep to get the win.

With those matches we don’t have out of the way, let’s talk about the ones for which we have at least one version from either Bayamon or Mayaguez. We originally had Kerry Von Erich scheduled to face Abdullah the Butcher but as we saw previously, Kevin Von Erich had stepped in to replace Kerry for the original Aniversario date.  Kevin is here for this new date and let’s see him in action vs Abdul… never mind, Abdullah wasn’t able to make it to Aniversario on the new date.  Well, let’s go to the match and see who Kevin Von Erich’s opponent is…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDA3xYmfIaQ

It’s Ron Bass, making what I believe is his CSP debut. Kevin also is making his first in-ring appearance for the territory since the late 70s if I’m not mistaken. The commentary team of Hugo, Carlos and Profe spend a lot of the match talking about the Von Erich legacy and talk about what a privilege it is to have wrestlers of this renown (referring to Kevin and Bass) competing in a WWC ring (“it adds prestige and signals to the rest of the world the caliber of competition we have”). Profe also complains about how someone with a German last name can claim to be Texan (“it’s like saying a Perez is English“) and hopes Bass comes out triumphant to show what a real Texan is. This match is a good showcase for the local crowd in seeing Kevin’s wrestling style. Kevin is in control for most of the match, although Bass gets a bit of a control segment in the middle due to some cheating and roughhouse tactics. Kevin tries to get the claw on Bass, and despite Bass initially holding him off, he manages to get a stomach claw on Bass. Ron Bass manages to fight out of the clawhold but an attempt to hit Kevin with his boot misses, which Kevin takes advantage of to roll up Bass for the pinfall win.

MD: This definitely wasn’t Kerry vs Abby. Bass is a guy who definitely drops off the radar early in 1989. He finished up with WWF in March and after this, works for Dusty in Florida and some Guam tours and who knows what else. He’s basically done by 91 when he was early into his 40s. He had a big frame and had put a bunch of wear and tear on it though. He wasn’t very mobile here even if he still had solid timing, decent presence, and a good punch off the ropes. Kevin was Kevin, bare-footed, aggressive, a tried and true babyface and the crowd got up for him winning with a roll-up, even if they weren’t into much else. This didn’t outwear its welcome but it would have been better five or six years earlier.

EB: We also have a match between semi regulars in the territory as Jimmy Valiant takes on Kareem Muhammad. This match is the one from the second night in Mayaguez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXQdVk7FSnM

We have Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Colon and Chicky Starr on commentary for this match (suggesting this is from a Campeones airing). Hugo asks for their thoughts on who has the advantage here in a styles clash of opponents and Carlos makes the remark that if Jimmy Valiant manages to hold out for five to six minutes then he should have the advantage since Kareem gets tired due to his conditioning after about ten minutes. Valiant takes the initial advantage by choking Kareem (which Hugo makes note of) and maintains the attack for the initial moments of the match. Kareem rakes the eyes to take control of the match. As Kareem continues his attack, the camera cuts to El Profe who is posing and mugging for the cameraman (showing off that kilowatt smile). Chicky makes the comment that with the attack Kareem is doing on Valiant at the moment he’s probably forgotten how to dance by now. Valiant tries to gather himself on the outside and get the crowd into it but Kareem keeps knocking Valiant off the apron when he tries to get back in the ring. Jimmy does manage to get back inside and launch an offensive flurry but Kareem manages to counter with a clothesline and an elbow drop for the pin (although Valiant got his leg on the rope at two, Kareem pulled it away before the ref saw it). Kareem leaves with El Profe as the ref helps Valiant to the back.

MD: They were in and out under five minutes here. We came in with Valiant choking Muhammad with his bandana and poking at the eyes, but it’s not long before he’s overpowered and tossed out. The rest of the match is a king of the mountain sequence with Muhammad knocking Valiant off the apron and Valiant walking around ringside clapping and interacting with fans. He finally hits a shoulder to the gut to get back in and mounts a bit of a comeback before running into Muhammad’s outstretched arm and is squashed. He does make sure to get his foot on the ropes for a second to protect himself in defeat. There wasn’t a whole lot here. I imagine Valiant could have a pretty entertaining match against El Profe (alternatively, Paul Jones was right there and from the minute of footage we have, could still punch, stagger, and eat headbutts pretty well) and Muhammad could be a useful foil for Colon or Invader but this wasn’t either of those things. It was still nice to see Jimmy walking and clapping and hanging out with the crowd, I guess.

EB: We finally get a match from the main night of Aniversario in Bayamon and it’s the long awaited revenge match featuring Invader #3 facing off against Manny Fernandez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDt9YVFnxWk

Manny is in the ring with Chicky Starr as the music for Invader #3’s entrance begins playing. Invader #3 rushes out and runs to the ring holding a large stick. He jumps Manny from behind (Manny was posing on the turnbuckle looking towards the crowd) and proceeds to hit several blows with the stick on Manny (including one blow that hits Manny right in the mouth). The crowd goes crazy as Invader #3 continues his attack on Manny on the outside . Manny is chased back inside and, as Invader #3 gets back in, Chicky reaches out and manages to yank the stick away from the fired up Invader #3. This does not stop Invader #3, who continues his attack on Manny undeterred. Eventually, Manny manages to lift Invader #3 up in a desperation move and hotshots him on the top rope to stop the attack. On the PPV broadcast, Hector Moyano and El Profe are on commentary and talking about how Invader #3 is looking for revenge for the infamous attack and injury that Manny Fernandez had done to him. Manny checks his bleeding mouth and proceeds to focus his attack on Invader #3’s throat and neck area. Manny slows the pace down as he continues his focused attack, including a headscissor submission hold which Chicky reaches in to help with the leverage (and El Profe on commentary acting like he’s not seeing the cheating going on). As Chicky walks around at ringside, you’ll notice that the ring is on a raised platform here in Bayamon, so one misstep and someone could take a tumble. Manny continues working the submission hold as Moyano makes a comment about how Manny is bleeding from the mouth quite noticeably. Manny starts getting frustrated at not being able to put Invader #3 away and starts punching him around the throat area. Invader #3 manages to get some distance between him and Manny and, as the crowd starts ramping up, begins to land some hits on Manny from a kneeling position. They exchange a few blows but Manny manages to knock Invader # 3 down again and regain control. Manny works a chinlock but Invader #3 responds to the crowd cheering him on and fights out of it, ramming Manny’s head into the turnbuckle. Manny counters out of the corner with a charge and proceeds to adjust his kneepad. Manny then makes his way to the top turnbuckle as the crowd gets worried, remembering that this was how Invader #3 had been gruesomely injured. Invader #3 gets up though and catches Manny on the top turnbuckle, slamming him to the mat. Invader #3 goes on a punching spree but, when he attempts to monkey flip Manny out of the corner, Manny grabs on to the ropes and Invader #3 crashes onto the mat. An attempted dropkick off the ropes by Invader #3 is also countered by Manny holding onto the ropes. Manny proceeds to grab Invader #3 from behind and hold him so Chicky can get up on the ring apron with the stick. As Manny tries to shove Invader #3 into Chicky and the stick, Invader #3 ducks out of the way and it is Manny that takes the hit. Invader #3 dropkicks Chicky off the apron, sending the stick flying into the ring. Invader #3 makes the cover but Manny surprisingly kicks out at two. Invader #3, seeing that the ref is holding the stick, immediately runs toward him to try to grab the stick. As the ref and Invader #3 play tug of war with the stick, Manny attacks Invader #3 from behind and it looks like Invader #3 may have hit the stick on impact. Manny grabs Invader #3 and hits his flying burrito maneuver, which scores the pinfall win. Invader #3 got some satisfaction in attacking Manny for what had happened a year and a half ago but in the end Manny gets the win. Manny and Chicky celebrate as they leave the ring.

MD: One fun part about this entire project for me is that I have no idea what’s coming next. I’ll say this, though. I see the Chicky/Manny act and I just see money. There’s no reason why these two together couldn’t have drawn into 1990 or 1991. Invader #3 came in hot as you’d expect, with a baseball bat in hand. He wanted blood and he got it quickly, even after Chicky got the bat away, opening up Manny from the mouth. He was overexuberant though, which was the story of the match, and flew right into a hotshot on the top rope. That let Manny work the neck, most especially with headscissors (with Chicky assisting at first and then, after a hope spot, by grabbing the ropes himself). Invader would come back and even get a huge nearfall after ducking a bat shot from Chicky, only to lose sight of the goal by trying to get the bat from the ref instead of staying on Manny. That let Manny hit the flying forearm and steal the win. Lots of heat just like you’d want. I’m half surprised this didn’t cause a riot. Hopefully he sticks around.

EB: We unfortunately do not have the chain match for the Puerto Rico title between Ivan Koloff and Invader #1, but we do have their match from Mayaguez the next day. It’s a rematch for the Puerto Rico title that Invader #1 won in the chain match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BTjhMS_Qio

This match is taken from a tv airing a year later, so the commentary is not focused on what was happening back in 1989. We start the match as Invader and Koloff face off and then lock up, exchanging holds. Tempers flare and soon they start exchanging punches and blows, but Invader uses an arm wringer and drop toehold to regain control of Koloff on the mat. So far this match is different from how I’m thinking the chain match went in terms of being a fight, this is more of a straight wrestling match between Koloff and Invader. As they continue exchanging holds, you can see in a zoom in on Koloff that he has a bandage on his head (again I’m guessing from the chain match). We go to commercial break as Koloff has Invader in a full nelson and come back to them fighting outside of the ring and Koloff using some bolted together chairs to attack Invader. The crowd also looks to have tried to get closer to the wrestlers on the outside, so I’m wondering what have we missed for the match to switch up from where we were before the break. Koloff gets back in the ring and taunts the crowd as Invader recovers on the outside. Invader gets back in the ring and both wrestlers proceed to exchange a flurry of chops, punches and kicks, Invader hits an eye rake on Koloff and rolls him up for two. Koloff attacks Invader and hits him with a back elbow, and for some reason also hits the ref with a back elbow which looks to be deemed inadvertent since there is no dq called. Hugo protests that should have been a disqualification. Koloff rolls up Invader and tries several pin attempts while holding Invader’s tights. Invader keeps barely getting a shoulder up on the different attempts as Koloff keeps trying to get the pin. Invader manages to kick Koloff off of him and takes control with a headbutt to Koloff’s midsection and a dropkick. Invader tries a pin attempt but Koloff gets his leg on the rope. The match continues as time starts winding down. An inside cradle gets a two count for Invader and the wrestlers continue fighting in the ring. A series of punches on the turnbuckle by Invader opens up Koloff’s cut on his forehead. A crossbody from Invader gets a near fall. A backslide attempt gets two. Invader manages to get a sleeper on Koloff but it’s just as the bell rings as the time limit expires. Invader gets the moral win by putting Koloff to sleep but the match ends in a draw.  

MD: I found a post from over ten years ago where our old pal Dylan was lamenting about the chain match not being available. I too shall lament about this. What we do have is this, with a hotter, angrier crowd than the one in Bayamon for Invader #3 vs Manny, and it’s this weird cross section of a riot scene and a title match with all the trappings of a title match. They start with chain wrestling, to a degree, with Invader controlling with a hammerlock. We come back from a break with Invader on the outside hurting and Ivan leans on him hard with the crowd throwing things into the ring to express their displeasure. Invader comes back, in part by using some sort of sharp, dangerous object that someone did throw in to rake at Ivan’s eyes and then they go into full Steamboat vs Savage mode with roll ups and near-falls. There’s an awesome back elbow cut off by Koloff here which might be the best back elbow in the history of wrestling (and one to the ref too for good measure). He does another one to the ref just for the hell of it too. The finish is a big Invader sleeper with the great visual of Koloff reaching desperately for the ref but Esteban let me know that the time ran out making it just a spiritual victory for Invader. So yeah, these two matched up really well. It was a title match though, even if it was a heated one, and it just whets the appetite for what that chain match could have been. Someone has to have it, right? If you’re reading this, help us out and do some digging.

EB: As mentioned earlier, the Universal title match is now a barbed wire match. Carlos Colon gets his first chance to avenge his shoulder injury against Sadistic Steve Strong and looks to regain the Universal title in the process. We go to Bayamon for the ring introductions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjWvgb7M4z4

You can tell it’s a big match as each competitor heads to the ring with an entourage. Sadistic Steve Strong is accompanied by his manager Chicky Starr and by Manny Fernandez carrying the U.S.A. flag. Garbage starts pelting them as they head to the ring. The Spanish version of My Way plays as the tecnicos come out. We have Invader #1 carrying the Puerto Rico flag, accompanied by TNT and the Youngbloods as the crowd grows loud with cheers and air horns go off. Carlos Colon follows the tecnicos out, accompanied by his trainer Barba Roja (looks like he did take Hugo up on the invitation to visit sometime) and also by our backstage interviewer Lysette Santiago. Strong has entered the ring and is waiting for Colon. Eliud Goznalez starts the ring introductions but stops because we haven’t yet played the national anthems. We first hear La Borinqueña (Puerto Rico’s national anthem), followed by The Star Spangled Banner. Strong remains in the ring throughout all of this. Carlos gets in the ring as the ring introductions are made. Carlos gets some final instructions from Barba Roja just before the match begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKm7Ha3fdyQ

Carlos immediately charges at Strong as the bell rings, attacking him and trying to drive Strong’s face into the barbed wire. Strong manages to hold Colon off, but Carlos goes back on offense including biting Strong in the face. Carlos keeps the pressure on and continues trying to rake Strong’s face in the barbed wire. Strong continues to fight Carlos off, managing an unsuccessful attempt to send Carlos face first into the barbed wire. The first hit of barbed wire occurs when Carlos shoves Strong backwards into the ropes and Strong briefly makes contact as the crowd cheers. Carlos is not letting up and continues on the offensive trying to again smash Strong’s face into the wire. However, Strong manages to gain control and starts fcusing his attacks on Colon’s left shoulder (the one that had been injured). Strong continues putting pressure on and attacking the shoulder as we can see Strong has some cuts on his back and Carlos is bleeding from his forehead. Strong grabs Colon’s left arm and wraps it around the rope (and the barbed wire) to inflict more damage. Strong continues to control the match despite some attempts by Carlos to counter and run Strong into the barbed wire. A choke lift is countered with an eye rake by Carlos and he goes on the offensive as the crowd cheers on. Strong manages to avoid a back bodydrop attempt and hits a DDT on Colon. Carlos ducks a clothesline attempt (remember that training session we saw where part of the strategy was ducking the clothesline?) and both men hit each other with a clothesline. Colon immediately falls down, followed by Strong after a delayed reaction. Colon hits a slam and tries a legdrop off the middle turnbuckle but Strong moves out of the way. Strong hits a slam and tries to come off the middle turnbuckle with an elbow, but this time it’s Carlos who gets out of the way. Carlos starts attacking Strong’s leg to set up the figure four leglock as the crowd cheers on. Strong manages to throw Colon off on his first attempt at the figure four, but Carlos immediately attacks Strong's legs again when he stands up. Strong falls and immediately starts crawling away so Carlos can’t get the figure four on him. Carlos keeps attacking the leg and Strong’s leg buckles on an irish whip attempt due to the damage done. Carlos is almost successful in getting the figure four on but Strong yanks Colon by the hair in order to push him away. Colon dodges a Strong tackle and finally gets the figure four on. It looks like Strong may give up but don’t forget Chicky is at ringside. As the ref is asking Strong if he will submit, Chicky reaches into his jacket and pulls out a spray can. He moves close to where Carlos is and sprays Colon right in the face. This causes Carlos to squirm in pain and the hold is broken. Barba Roja chases Chicky around the ring and catches up to him, trying to get the spray can Chicky had hid once more in his jacket. However, Chicky starts attacking Barba Roja! As Chicky is attacking Barba Roja, Strong adjusts ‘Damian’ on his arm and hits Carlos straight on with a clothesline. Strong gets the three count! Chicky is kicking Barba Roja at ringside when we see a chair fly out at the crowd and hit Chicky. TNT then shows up to go after Chicky and help Barba Roja. TNT grabs Chicky and holds him as Barba Roja finds the spray can in Chicky’s jacket.  As Barba Roja shows the referee the spray can, Chicky runs to the other side of the ring, grabbing a chair and using it to defend himself from other chairs that are being thrown at him. The ref restarts the match after seeing the spray can and, as the match restarts, if you look at the top right corner you’ll see security jumping on the ring platform and shielding Chicky from the crowd. They immediately take off running to get Chicky out of there before the situation gets worse. Back in the ring, Strong immediately had started punching Carlos as the match restarted. Strong throws Carlos on the ropes but Carlos ducks the clothesline and hits a back suplex (once again, remember the planning session we saw, one of the moves they worked on was ducking the clothesline and hitting a back suplex).  Carlos gets the three count and wins! The crowd goes wild (and we even see a chair get thrown in the ring) as Carlos has regained the Universal title. The tecnicos come out to celebrate but as Carlos tries to leave he gets blindsided and attacked by an angry Steve Strong. In a bit of an unintentionally funny visual, one of the Youngbloods is spraying champagne in celebration as Carlos is getting attacked by Strong. Carlos manages to leave the ring and is surrounded by El Ejercito de la Justicia to celebrate his win, as champagne is sprayed everywhere. Strong remains in the ring throughout the celebration as El Ejercito de la Justicia heads to the locker room.

Post match we get interviews with Steve Strong (wanting a rematch in whatever match Colon wants after feeling he was cheated out of the win) and Carlos Colon with Barba Roja (celebrating the win in a tough match thanks to the crowd and Barba Roja’s support). And as the interview with Carlos ends, Lysette says we’re headed back to the ring for our next match. Wait, we have another match to go?

MD: This was a massive spectacle, starting with the huge entrances with retinues. Manny was with Strong and Colon had the Youngbloods (I think) and Invader waving the flag. I’ve mentioned it before but the joy of barbed wire matches isn’t necessarily the blood but instead the constrained lack of space and the anticipation of the wire becoming part of the match. Sometimes that can play out as long minutes of people just pressing each other’s head towards it. Here it was more dynamic. Colon rushed in early and had an advantage until Strong started on the damaged shoulder. Using that as a wedge he bloodied Colon first. Carlos came back with some grisly headbutts. It’s striking to see him fight so violently considering how soft spoken he’s come off in the bio and other appearances, but that’s why he’s the national hero I suppose. Strong cuts him off only for Colon to come back hot, working on the leg and trying and trying for the figure four until he finally gets it. Chicky asserts himself then, spraying Colon in the face. That leads to a moment of true darkness where Barba Roja rushes around the ring only to get battered by Chicky, and Colon, blinded and despondent gets flattened by the loaded armguard of Strong and pinned for three.

We’ve seen before how matches in Puerto Rico often had finishes overturned against the heels in the moment. It’s a very Memphis thing to do. The times I can think of it happening in WWF and AEW were times that Lawler or Jarrett were involved, for instance. It ratchets up the heat, sweeps the rug out from under the crowd, and then gives them hope at the last second. It’s the sort of thing that can’t be done too much because it makes it harder to accept any time a heel does cheat to win later. Here, though, it put everyone in exactly the right state of crazed mania to create pure elation with the true finish. For instance, just when everything was at its worse, you could see a chair come flying in from off the side of the screen to clock Chicky. It wasn’t that flying chair that would save the day but another fan favorite: TNT came out to rescue Barba Roja and assault Chicky. The ref was informed of what happened and allowed the match to continue.And, with the light obscuring him as if he was some sort of celestial figure, Colon ducked a shot and hit a belly to back suplex for three. Strong, furious, stomped at Carlos but the champagne was already flowing. He may have had a point, as all good heels do, and may have been protected, but Carlitos had scored a legendary win nonetheless. A big match with a big match feel. I am left wondering how Gorilla Monsoon would have factored in however.

EB: To close out Aniversario here in Bayamon, we have a match for the rights to the TNT name and gimmick. It’s TNT taking on the Original TNT, the man Chicky Starr had brought in claiming to be the actual TNT and that our TNT was an impostor. But… we have our last no-show of Aniversario as the Original TNT did not appear. Luckily for CSP, we have Chicky Starr, the man who masterminded and was the driving force and instigator behind the Original TNT plot (including outing TNT’s real identity and constantly calling him an impostor). In a change that may have occurred that same day (and who knows if it was announced during the event itself), we now have TNT taking on Chicky Starr in a five minute challenge match. The stipulations are TNT’s name and paint (basically the rights to the TNT identity) vs Chicky Starr’s hair. And the key stipulation in the five minute challenge is that TNT has to defeat Chicky within the five minute time limit in order to win. However, if Chicky lasts the full five minutes without losing then Chicky wins and TNT loses his identity. It’s a ploy Chicky has tried twice before vs Invader #1, first as a 15 minute challenge and then in a rematch as a 10 minute challenge. You can probably guess why the third time is now with 5 minutes as the time limit. Back to Bayamon we go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H7fGogrY18

After their altercation during the Universal title match, Chicky and TNT are going to face off once more this evening.  Chicky, after having to run for his life near the end of the Universal title match, is back out here in his crown and robe (and with Leper Messiah as his entrance music). The crowd wastes no time in throwing garbage at Chicky as he waits for his opponent. TNT’s music plays as he comes out in full TNT garb and with the TV title around his waist. TNT takes his gi off as Eliud Gonzalez does the introductions (mentioning it’s the TNT name and paint vs Chicky’s hair and TNT has to defeat Chicky in five minutes or less). The ref checks both combatants for foreign objects and we are underway. TNT has five minutes to win or else he loses his identity.  Moyano on commentary mentions that the clear disadvantage is for TNT since he has to win while Chicky just has to run out the clock. And this is apparent right off as Chicky just takes off, weaving in and out of the ring as TNT gives chase. Man, the ring mat is just full of garbage from earlier. Chicky continues running from TNT, including crawling under the ring with TNT giving chase (and the cameraman follows them too!). The only offensive maneuvers we see from Chicky so far are quick blows to get TNT to back off and Chicky immediately gets to running away again. Eliud Gonzale calls out that one minute has elapsed.

TNT and Chicky exchange strikes on the outside, but when it looks like TNT is going to take control Chicky bites TNT in the face and runs off again. Chicky maintains his distance from TNT outside of the ring while pointing at his wrist signaling the time ticking away. TNT finally manages to cut through the ring and grab Chicky, dragging him into the ring by his hair. They immediately exchange strikes, with Chicky surprisingly gaining the advantage and maintaining the offensive attack. We are past the two minute mark. TNT hits a bodyslam and immediately goes for the pin but Chicky kicks out immediately. An eye rake by Chicky gives him the advantage again. Chicky hits a DDT as Eliud Gonzalez calls out the time and reminds fans of the stipulations. Chicky again starts mockingly pointing at his wrist. Chicky continues on the attack as the fans start to make noise to encourage TNT. The commentators are talking about why someone would sign up for these stipulations (with Profe calling TNT an idiot) but, as we’ve seen from the build-up, Chicky had really been insulting TNT and put his safety at risk by revealing his real identity. Chicky goes for a pin but gets up at one and dismissively signals he doesn’t want to pin TNT. The attack by Chicky continues as the time keeps ticking away. We have reached the 4 minute mark as Chicky comes off the turnbuckle with an axe handle onto TNT. A pin attempt gets two as the count is at 55 seconds remaining. Chicky hits a body slam with 40 seconds left, covers but again quickly changes his mind and forgoes the pin attempt. Chicky punches TNT with 30 seconds left and hits a back body drop with 20 seconds left. TNT is in real trouble. Chicky points at his wrist as 15 seconds are left and he decides to go to the top again as TNT gets up. However, this axe handle attempt is met with a dynamite kick right to Chicky’s face. TNT quickly covers him as the countdown is at 6 and a quick three count later we have a winner. The crowd starts cheering as TNT has defeated Chicky with about three seconds remaining on the clock. Chicky now will lose his hair. Two refs and Super Medico hold Chicky down as TNT starts cutting some of Chicky’s hair with a pair of scissors. Profe starts having a meltdown on commentary over what is happening to Chicky. We end with Chicky fleeing the ring as security surrounds him while they run to the back, as fans pelt them with garbage. Outside of Manny Fernandez getting the win, not a good night for Chicky (or Profe for that matter having lost the World tag titles and the Puerto Rico title).

MD: Just so interesting that they finished with this. For one thing, I’m still boggled by what Action Jackson had to do that was more important than this match. I guess in part, they had to finish with this because otherwise you don’t have Chicky at ringside for the Strong match. Sending fans home happy with two major celebratory wins is a pretty good way to deal with a natural disaster. Chicky had to survive five minutes with TNT. If he did, TNT had to lose his name and take off the facepaint, to give the gimmick to the “Original TNT” basically. If Chicky lost in those five minutes, he’d lose his hair. Esteban likely will get into more detail past that, but it was a pretty transcendent heel performance by Chicky. He came out to Leper Messiah by Metallica and played defensive early, running around the ring, running under the ring (with the camera following TNT and Chicky, which is something I’m not sure I ever saw before). Eventually he got a cheapshot and took over for the brunt of the remainder of the match, refusing to even try to seriously pin TNT, just playing out the clock in control. The best defense was a good offense despite his hubris. The fans were throwing things in there but they weren’t near-riotous as time ticked down like you might expect. I think they had faith in TNT and faith in pro wrestling in general. Heels win, but not before the babyface at least tries to get a comeback in. It’s ritual and they knew it well. Chicky was poised to beat the clock, with an advantage, with fifteen seconds left. He could have hit the floor and ran it off. But instead he went up top and flew right into TNT’s kick. It was definitely a choice to give him all of it, but when you have only five minutes after a grueling war like Colon and Strong just went through and you have a heel charismatic and hated like Chicky to make it work, this wasn’t at all a bad choice at all.

EB: And that’s a wrap for Aniversario 89 from Bayamon. We’ve seen four titles change hands and TNT retain his identity. However, it remains to be seen if Steve Strong is truly done with Carlos Colon and if we'll see Chicky and Profe retaliate for the losses they’ve taken.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we’ll see the fallout from Aniversario as we start heading toward the end of 1989.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List

Read more!

Found Footage Friday: WWF IN MLG~! HULK~! HAKU~! HENNIG~! RUDE~! BRUNZELL~! BOSS MAN~! SHARPE~!

MD: This last week there were a bunch of new MLG House Shows that showed up on Peacock, with never released matches on them. We plan on going through them now and again over the next several weeks/months.

ER: Would it have been too much to ask for Ted Dibiase/Koko B. Ware? Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be happier that we got Iron Mike Sharpe/Tommy Angel, but that one match is very conspicuous by its absence. 

WWF House Show Maple Leaf Gardens 9/18/88

Mr. Perfect vs. Jim Brunzell

MD: Hennig still had some remnants of Cool Curt here. No real holds. No real offense outside of punching, kicking, stomping, clotheslines, but there was a nice methodological way he went about things and he was definitely working the crowd. He also played king of the mountain a bit which is the most AWA thing ever. Brunzell is always competent but even Gorilla was ragging on him for not getting fiery enough soon enough. Hennig survived the dropkick by ending up in the ropes. Solid opener though Hennig wasn't quite established yet and no one bought Brunzell as a singles.

ER: Maybe I'm easy, but I thought this kicked ass. I love Cool Curt, and I thought this was a...well, Perfect...blend of late AWA Cool Curt and big bumping heel Mr. Perfect. It had a nice methodical build where Curt would just walk slowly, cockily around the ring, like someone with a back injury who couldn't bend down, or like someone holding something up their butt. This was barely 20 matches into Curt's Mr. Perfect run, and I love seeing early versions of famous characters, seeing what they were working on and what direction they were testing out, see what offense they were using that you know they wouldn't be using a couple years later. The build on this was strong, starting slow (slow enough to actually get a few Boring chants, in 1988 Toronto!) and leading to a great section of Hennig keeping Brunzell on the floor while he corncobbed around the ring, kicking Jim off the apron, punching him in the jaw, a long build with a great payoff of Brunzell fighting his way back into the ring and tossing Hennig to the floor (one of only "Hennig" bumps of the match). By the end of the match both guys were throwing legit potato shots to the face. I mean both guys were flat out slugging each other down the home stretch, and the Maple Leaf Gardens cameras give it this awesome "in the ring" feel where you could really see how hard these punches were landing. I don't think of Brunzell as a guy who punches people in the face, but he and Hennig had loaded fists that were cracking jaws in ways I wasn't expecting. Just look at how hard Brunzell was hitting Hennig with mounted punches, and how Hennig paid him back. No way you would expect that. 

Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Tommy Angel

ER: Canada's Greatest Athlete gets to pose and flex for his adoring countrymen, and I like this Sharpe/Angel pairing because it's a cool look at a mainstay WWF undercarder vs. someone who I think of as a perennial WCW job guy. Tommy Angel looks like the Cars' touring keyboard player and it takes Sharpe at least 3 or 4 minutes to finally lock up with him, and the more Sharpe goes for rope breaks and teases knuckle locks while WHOA WHOA WHOAing, the louder the fans get. It's house show beauty. This is all of the Sharpe greatest hits, and they all work. Everyone knows he's going to cheat when he backs up and begs off into a corner, the way he sells strikes verbally while mostly ignoring them physically, and they react when he runs headlong into arm drags. Sharpe is a big guy and a heavy bumper, and it's impressive that while he stalls a ton he can also be good at taking a big heavy bump and feeding quickly into another one. I think my very favorite piece of commitment from Sharpe is when he gets tied up in the top and middle rope like Andre, and after he manages to fend off Angel with a boot to the stomach he still demands the ref help get him untied. 

The commitment to do a silly spot like get tied up in the ropes and wailed on only works if it looks like you cannot actually get yourself untied from the ropes, and Sharpe understands that the bit doesn't really work if you just walk away after kicking your opponent off. No, this goofball who can't take a step without making noise understands that he is STUCK in those ropes, and him kicking Angel away only gives the referee time to help him finally do his job. Commitment to the bit is 90% of Sharpe's gag, so I always love seeing moments where he could have skipped a step but didn't. He's good at making Angel's nearfalls look like actual nearfalls, too: when Angel got a late match sunset flip there was a 50-50 shot that was going to be enough to walk away with a win, and Sharpe reacted like he knew those odds. For a guy who was mostly bullshit, Sharpe clearly understand what made that bullshit work, and how to pay that bullshit off. 

Brutus Beefcake vs. Ron Bass

MD: It's a new match and I thought maybe, just maybe, there might be some heat to it since it was after the X'ed out angle. Plus, Bass is more than solid all the way from 77 to 85 in at least a few territories. My professional review of this is that Beefcake maybe had one minute worth of viable stuff and then I literally fell asleep while watching it. We tend to find value in most wrestlers somewhere or another and Beefcake was over as a viable star with a connection to the crowd, but this was bad, at least the parts I can remember.

ER: Beefcake did look mostly bad on offense, and I'm pretty sure every single punch he threw landed somewhere past Bass's head. Whatever match there was, was made by Bass occasionally cutting Brutus off. Bass had a nice big kneelift and I liked how he popped Brutus in the eye with the handle of ol Betsy. Gorilla was already setting up the lawn trimmers vs. spurs hair vs. hair match that was still 4 months away, so that was kind of cool. It feels like we should have had more interesting Ron Bass matches from his WWF run.  

Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks

MD: It's always weirdly fascinating to see the Powers of Pain as a babyface act. The best part of it is always Barbarian doing sort of a primal scream with his arms out as part of a comeback or demolishing guys. They tried to make a real match out of this, which was a mistake. Barbarian let Warlord work most of it, not tagging even when you'd expect him to. Bolsheviks' only credible offense was shots off the second rope from behind as the ref was distraction. Part of me thinks that Barbarian could have had a singles babyface run but this wasn't quite meshing and it makes sense they do the double turn so soon after.

ER: Haters piled onto Gorilla Monsoon's commentary, but I think Monsoon spending 5+ minutes talking about the haircut choices of all the wrestlers in this match was perhaps the only thing that made this worth watching. It all started with Monsoon considering adopting Warlord's haircut as his own, since he "doesn't have much on top to work with any longer" and humoring Mooney's requests to also get a tattoo. "And Nikolai over there can't seem to decide whether he wants hair or wants to be completely bald," just really going through the benefits of a pronounced horseshoe vs. keeping two days of growth up there. It's bizarre to work this match in such a bland "these teams are equal" style, and more bizarre to have Warlord in there for the bulk of the match. The fans only really came alive during PoP's entrance and the match finishing Warlord powerslam/Barbarian diving headbutt (and Barbarian really flew 2/3 of the way across the ring on that headbutt), but the best parts of this were probably Zhukov's excellently timed axe handle into Volkoff's head, and Volkoff's fun bump over the top onto the ring announcer's table at the finish. Beyond that, enjoy marveling at how bad Warlord's kicks and stomps look. 


Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude

MD: Sometimes it comes down to what they're trying to accomplish. Here, they wanted their cake and to eat it too and it wasn't nearly as good as if they just stuck to the path of least resistance. Rude was excellent here, every reaction just great. More than solid at leaning on Jake. He ducked the short arm clothesline early and took over for most of the match. The underlying story was that he'd pull down his normal tights for the Cheryl Roberts ones when Jake wasn't able to see, so you figure they're building to Jake finally seeing and then going nuts for a comeback right? Well that doesn't happen. They work it towards a more conventional comeback, then a ridiculous ref bump (he somehow got squashed *under* the DDT). A Rude Awakening got Rude a phantom pin while the ref was out, and then a quick roll up Roberts finish. It's only after the match when Rude doesn't care anymore that Jake sees the tights and rushes back in with Damien (the ref gets the snake in the chaos instead). By that point, Jake had already won, so while it's great for Rude to get menaced by the snake and all for the insult, everything would have been so much tighter and more visceral if they kept it within the confines of the match. Hell, have Jake lose it from seeing the tights, come back, get DQed for not letting up on Rude, and THEN bring the snake out to get over on both Rude and the ref. While the match was going on, there was a real sense of anticipation and build over a guy's tights of all things, so it's too bad that it didn't come to fruition. 

ER: Matt is spot on about this match and the one thing I want to add is more emphasis on just HOW stupid that DDT ref bump was. The referee just DOVE underneath the DDT before Jake executed it, and there is just zero reason for any person to do what the referee did in that scenario. I have never seen this done, and after seeing it here there's good reason for that. Jake grabs for the DDT, referee literally dives onto his stomach in between Rude and Roberts, Rude takes the DDT onto the ref. The physics of it don't even begin to make sense, the referee's motivation doesn't make sense, it just looked like a man who was actively trying to get another man to land on him. This referee was clearly a pervert who would see a woman readying herself to sit down on a chair, and then slip underneath real quick just so she would briefly sit on his lap. Derelict behavior. 

Big Bossman vs. Jim Powers

MD: This was for International Challenge so we might have had it before but it's found, if not new. It was very good too, with Bossman really asserting himself, and Powers trying to get shots in but getting cut off. Bossman had a ton of presence, jawing with his opponent and the crowd, shrugging off Powers' stuff, giving him just enough to keep up hope. Finally, Powers was able to knock Bossman back, stagger him, finally dropkick him into the ropes. When he went to finally knock him down, Bossman caught him in the slam and dropped him. This was balanced just right for what it was trying to do. Another point: yes, Monsoon spent a lot of the match giving Powers grief for trying too much power stuff against a massive opponent, but what he accomplished by doing so was making Bossman look big and forboding and unstoppable or at least very difficult to stop. He didn't make Powers look great, but Powers wasn't supposed to look great; Bossman was. He tore apart Powers' strategy but not the reality of what we were watching. It was because of that reality that he was tearing it apart. Just something to think about as we deal with grumpy announcers who manage to bury just about everything but themselves these days. Monsoon, believe it or not, was better than that here.

ER: Boss Man was so good. He really didn't have to give Powers a single thing here, and while he didn't give him anything big, he still treated literally every strike as something that he actually felt, something that at minimum moved him. Boss Man is so much larger than Powers, but I love how much offense he set up by being the one in motion. Powers wasn't sticking and moving so much as just moving, avoiding various Boss Man advances and sneaking in a punch. Boss Man would charge in and get punched in the face, and was so good at selling that a Jim Powers punch to the face would hurt even a gigantic man. Boss Man's timing and speed were so impressive, that when you combine that with high end physical selling it really makes a super worker. Not many were better at just putting the palm of his hand against their teeth and showing pain. Powers never had a chance in this match, but Boss Man made him look like someone who could at least leave a mark, and he did it while also making the middle rope nearly touch the apron when he threw all his weight over it and Powers. That finish run Boss Man Slam timing is the stuff of legend. 

Hulk Hogan vs. Haku

MD: Hogan was between his series of matches with Dibiase and with Bossman here. Haku had recently enough been made King. This was "War Bonnet" Hogan and Heenan was at ringside. It was a one off but it's a fairly unique house show match up. It's been a while since I saw the 88 Hogan act. It has a lot going for it: the reverberation at the start of Real American to get the crowd buzzing, the ridiculousness of the helmet but it also working as a prop to keep things different, and maybe some overall freedom since Hogan didn't need to be in title matches.

Hogan gave Haku a ton here. He wiped out both Heenan and Haku with the helmet pre-match (with a great Heenan bump and him being disheveled for the next fifteen minutes), but then got swept under by a bunch of Haku shots. Having not seen 88 Hogan for a bit, he was excellent working from underneath early, constantly crawling and scrambling back as he recoiled from the shots, retreating so as to try to create some space. Then, when he came back later, it was with a lot of hair pulls and cheapshots. It's all what you'd expect someone like Buddy Rose to do in that situation, but Hogan was a face. For all the talk of whether he was a bully or not, his physical actions here were very "heel coded" but they were also incredibly over with the crowd. He had three or four little hulk ups/comebacks in this but was cut off due to either Haku getting a shot in or Heenan interfering. They went into deep chinlock/sleeper land but they worked in and out of it at least a little bit. The finish, which had Hogan getting the helmet from Heenan and hitting the legdrop with it on his head felt pretty iconic for the time. I'd say overall this felt relatively fresh due to the unique opponent and showed at least a little reinvention for Hogan.

ER: Hogan vs. Haku from the SNME a month after this match was actually the first Hulk Hogan match I ever saw, and also the first episode of SNME I ever saw. I have basically no original memories of that match, but it's cool seeing an earlier, much better version of that match here. Hogan working from underneath is a much more interesting Hogan. Heenan is great at spacing out the distractions to keep Haku's control rolling, from his opening side flip bump after getting nailed by the helmet, to getting knocked off the apron with a punch, to coming in right at the finish and getting punched into the ring trying to get the helmet to Haku. Heenan may have been the best ever at using the ropes to facilitate his bumping. Haku's strikes looked a lot better than Hogan's, and I loved all of his trust kicks and big swinging arm attacks. Hogan had some nice stuff too, and I really missed his elbowdrop when he mostly dropped that from his offense by '89. Dropping two nice elbows and starting a third, only to wave it off and just scrape his boot across Haku's bridge is a great spot (whether it's heel-coded or not). His running elbows and clotheslines look light as hell but Haku gave them a lot of heft with his bumps. I think the best part of Hogan working underneath was it forced him to use speed, and it was cool seeing him move around real quickly here. His little blocks and reversals were really good, like early on when he blocked a 1-2 combo and threw punches of his own, or when he went with a Mongolian chop (!) after blocking a Haku strike later. This is a fully fleshed out, much better version of their SNME match the next month, and it's kind of amazing how different that Hogan was from this Hogan. 

Read more!

Found Footage Friday: PIPER IN LA~! ROCK 'N' ROLLS VS. TN VOLS~! 83 EL DANDY~!

Elimination Tag: Roddy Piper/Ron Bass/Moondog Mayne vs. Black Gordman/Alex "KO" Perez/Tommy Sawyer LA 1977

MD: A massive tape of Spanish Language TV LA/SF went up a few weeks ago. It's timestamped to a degree but don't look too closely at that or else you'll think there's a Piper vs Race match we've never heard of before; it's just the set up. This, however, we do get in full and it's a lot of fun, another good look at West Coast 70s heel Piper and especially Moondog Mayne, and it also gives us babyface hero Black Gordman which is not a role we usually think of with him. Perez was a legendary puncher for who I don't think we have a lot of footage and Sawyer is not Buzz Sawyer but a territory babyface from the late 70s. At this point, Bass and Piper were the Americas Tag Champions and Mayne was positioned as the centerpiece. The VQ is terrible. The sound's off. It's still history and worth watching.

Piper got it already, feeding into armdrags and then keeping the face in his corner at first opportunity. We only see a minute of Perez in here but Piper eats his punches perfectly before making him slip on a banana peel to eliminate him on a roll up out of a slam attempt. Mayne was running from Gordman throughout here. It was hard to get a great sense of Sawyer but he had decent fire. Piper managed to eliminate him too by tricking the ref into thinking he tossed him over the top. After that, Mayne had a great moment of getting his partners down to the mat and drawing out strategy to his finger now that it was 3 on 1 but the 1 was a guy that none of them wanted to face. Gordman is sort of a reverse Ricky Steamboat, someone I've pictured as a lifetime heel but he was pretty great destroying everyone here until the numbers game got the better of him. There's a straight up Piper/Bass vs. Gordman/Sawyer tag in this footage too and I want to check that out later if this was any indication.  

El Dandy/Rey David vs. El Climax/El Modulo EMLL 9/20/83

MD: 17 minutes, a little clipped, and without a finish, but think of what we do get instead! Young experimental rudo Dandy matched up with a very game Modulo. Climax's cool gear. An obviously dangerous granny on the outside who is going to jump up out of her chair with the promise of unfilled violence multiple times. I'm not kidding about the experimental bit either. Climax was in one or two matches on the DVDVR 80s set, if I remember correctly and here he and Modulo have nice, flowing exchanges, but they're not who we're here to see. 

Dandy and David worked a little tighter. I'm fairly certain Dandy wasn't even twenty here but he had a real slickness and precision in how he moved from one hold to the next and a ton of agility and flexibility. They did the hold where both guys end up on their head facing each other with their legs tied up. Sometimes you get punches out of that but here Dandy rolled out of it in way I don't think I've ever seen. When things broke down, there were some double spots with David taking down both Dandy and Modulo that didn't look quite right but that popped the crowd anyway, so either they were novel for the time or the crowd just wanted to go along with whatever. And to be fair, there were other spots that seemed a few years before their time that absolutely worked as they were meant to.

This gets cut off but not before we see Dandy get tossed all around the ring, taking turnbuckle bumps like a champ. It's pretty obvious that he was a special talent even so early into his career.

Rock 'n' Roll Express vs. TN Vols (Reno Riggins/Steven Dunn) MCW 1997

MD: The advent of DVD burning allowed for a shift in how we watched wrestling. It became easier to collect and share whole swaths of it. With that, there was a chance to reevaluate instead of just follow along or cherry pick the very best. The DVDVR sets are a great example of this, driving reevaluations of Brody or Tiger Mask or Crusher Blackwell or Greg Gagne, sometimes negatively, sometimes positively. The WWF set was the first and one thing that came from that was a reevaluation of the previously lionized 80s tag scene. It still pokes at the edges of conventional wisdom, the idea that the Hart Foundation and British Bulldogs and Rougeaus and Rockers and Killer Bees and Can-Ams and Strike Force were a part of some sort of golden age. Instead, around the time of the set, the phrase "heel-in-peril" was pretty easily thrown about. If you spend the first half of the match (or even longer) making fools out of the heels and constantly keeping them on their toes, there's far less relative time to get heat and build to the hot tag and the comeback. The fans in the arena might have found it entertaining, but they wouldn't be emotionally invested like they should be. The balance is all off for that. One could argue that the point of these matches on their placement in WWF cards was actually to drive that level of entertainment, but it certainly didn't match up with the conventional wisdom that remained twenty years later. And the worst guy in the world when it came to this sort of structure was Dynamite Kid, especially, as you might imagine, post-injury.

So what does all of that have to do with this? I don't think any of the teams listed above could really make it work. I've maybe only ever seen one team that could, and that's the Rock 'n' Rolls. They had fun, quick, offense, tandem in the set up if not the delivery, but a lot of teams can be entertaining in a shine and a lot of teams had a connection with the crowd. Really, it comes down to Morton's ability to sell. One minute of him getting beat on, fighting for a hope spot, getting cut off, getting beat on some more was worth three or four minutes of almost anyone else. There's a moment in here where he is just reaching out towards the camera as if asking everyone at home for help; we see it on that camera just for a second before things switch back to the wide shot and you can watch him working and garnering sympathy like no other. And he could manage both that and playing to the live crowd at the same time, because he's Ricky Morton in a tag match. 

That's not to say the shine wasn't a lot of fun and that the Vols didn't stooge like crazy, because it was and because it did. They were nice and measured with it, setting up a spot, playing on the fact the Vols had only recently formed, paying it off with some miscommunication or just getting outquicked or outwrestled, having them take a powder and sell what happened, then set up the next spot and repeat. The Vols did their power: For instance, Riggins hit a big shoulder block showing off his strength and then ate an inverted atomic drop and sell it all around the ring. The shine lasted about two-thirds of the match, but Morton, after he missed a corner charge, more than made time with his selling with Gibson helping things along by working the apron. When it was time for the hot tag, the fans went up for it and things petered out to a non-finish because this is a TV match after all.

I only wish we had some of these old R'n'R vs Nikolai Volkoff (which happened early in their Mid-South run but weren't taped) or Ivan Putski (which didn't at all happen and were just a baffling suggestion) matches that Michael St. John and Billy Joe Travis were inexplicably talking about as they got confused about former opponents. (I also hope someone filmed one of the Wolfie D vs King Mabel matches that were advertised for live shows during the break). Still, no one's going to complain that we got an 18 minute 97 R'n'R match against game opponents.

Read more!

New Footage Friday: Hollywood Blondes, Dusty, Slater, Black, Dustin, Corino

Tommy Siegler/Roberto Soto/Argentine Apollo vs. Hollywood Blondes/Assassin ASWA 12/28/72

MD: This was a really interesting match from the Ann Gunkel promotion in Georgia. We have plenty of 70s footage but this feels more alien, if only because we don't usually see this Assassin and Roberts as a Hollywood Blond and Siegler's pretty rare, footage wise. Apollo looked great here, definitely the world's best Superfly Sifi Afi. Even if he was just aping parts of Rocca's act, he was doing it so well, that it didn't matter in the least. The guy died young of a heart attack, but it still feels surprising we didn't see him more into the early 80s. He could certainly go here. The Blonds were, of course, great stooges, but I thought everyone looked really good here.

This had a long shine with a few teases of the heels taking over. Past Apollo cartwheeling all over the place, and the heels stooging well, this was mostly notable for the announcers going out of their way to call Ann Gunkel the prettiest little girl promoter you ever did see.

The heat was equal parts boring and interesting. They ran through headscissors spots with all three babyfaces working from underneath. It felt a little like a lucha momentum shift instead of a classic face-in-peril. They were hot for all the tags but not as hot as they might have been. At one point the Assassin cut off Soto by turning a headlock into a belly-to-back which doesn't feel like a 70s spot at all no matter how common it'd be in, let's say 1990s AJPW (and both guys sold it as an impact too which was interesting). Siegler was the babyface that fought out of the headlock the best. I'd like to see more of him. After the final hot tag, this played out like a lucha comedy match from the 80s, with a few heel miscommunication spots and a lightning pin. Fun relic that showed off some elements that felt either experimental for the era or maybe connective tissue between what came before and what would come.

TKG: Was that Assassin Jody Hamilton? Cause damn he was once a lightheavy workrate machine. I mean still clearly doing "cerebral" gimmick but just workrate "cerebral". Kind of really the star of the heel team. Grey had an insane knee to the face, but Assassin was doing the more intricate stuff. The whole banged himself up a little loopy sell after hitting the big suplex to set up the reversal spot totally worked for me in the way that a lot of "I hit a big move then will be reversed next" signature 80s stuff doesn't. A lot of this was faces winning exchanges stuff and I thought they worked out a neat almost lucha hierarchy in how they set that up. Siegler gets the pin and was clearly being pushed here but was at the same time very clearly the low man on the totem pole. Apollo clearly captain (and the one guy to do the muga handstand escape out of the reverse headscissors that both other faces attempted to pull off) and Soto was an amazing workhorse who clearly was #2 guy on team. Soto is a machine on this and I need to see if there is much WWF Invaders on the network to look at. He also has a permanent thousand yard stare where his whole body communicates babyface but yeah mask makes sense.

PAS: The Assassin had Jody Hamilton's nose, so I am assuming it was him. Never thought I would see Jody Hamilton ripping off dropkicks and headscissors. I really enjoyed Apollo in this, he was clearly doing a tribute act, but he still had some really impressive agility and acrobatics. I loved his lightning fast one foot dropkicks. I would have liked to see a little more Buddy Roberts to get a better sense of him pre-Freebirds, but he seemingly had the least ring time of anyone in this match. Really enjoyable 20 minutes, which works as both a historical document and an entertaining wrestling match. 

Dusty Rhodes/Dick Slater/Ricky Steamboat vs. Black Bart/Ron Bass/Tully Blanchard MAW 12/25/84

ER: You knew this was going to be absolute fire because everyone shows up dressed like they just got done with some yard work and Dick Slater wears a gigantic foam cowboy hat to the ring like he was Turd Ferguson. We don't get a finish to this, they're all out of time folks, but we get these six guys punching each other for 12 minutes and that's definitely something you want. Tully is the ultimate punching bag in this, falling all over the ring for everyone, and at one point Dusty and Dick are holding onto his belt while taking turns punching him, not letting him fall over the entire time. Black Bart stooges around the same way Necro Butcher does, which checks out as I believe he trained Necro. Ron Bass keeps spending time on the floor avoiding action, then entering only to get knocked right back. This was heavily controlled by the faces, but we do get a couple nice moments of Steamboat taking a beating, including a cool post-piledriver sell where he pushes himself backwards while on his knees looking lost in a fog, and he takes a monster bump over the ringpost to the floor. Not sure how much is missing or what this whole thing built to, but I loved every bit of it that we got.

TKG: Steamboat's superplex is so purty and Tully and Steamboat are great as I guess the Kikuchi and Fuchi's of this. Well that's all backwards as Jumbo, Taue, Fuchi are the face punishing heels heels while Dusty, Slater, Steamboat are the heel punishing faces. But AJPW should've done some touring bunkhouse matches. I was just watching the July 4, 81 Slater v Tiger Jeet Singh and Slater is so good at the babyface pacing of horseshit brawling and moves well between communicating moments of being a guy who just enjoys being in a fight and guy in a fight and then back.

MD: So this is more rare than found. It's a classic JCP TV match from the very end of 84. It's so cool to see Steamboat tag with Dusty and even just for Steamboat to interact with Bass. This was to establish Magnum as much as anything else. He's on the outside keeping JJ at bay. Just over the top bunkhouse brawl action with a crowd that was absolutely overjoyed to see every second of the bad guys running into the good guys' offense. Dusty looked like the biggest star in the world with his affectation-laden offense. Slater was a wild man, kicking, scraping, biting, using his boot to the fans' delight. This has the BS "We're out of time folks!" ending but sometimes you need a shot of that particular sort of disappointment in life just to remind you that you can't have everything you want. What we do have of this is way better than just being character building.

PAS: One thing I love about Slater and Dusty is that they always look like they are super excited to be in a fight. The opening seconds with Dusty in his bunkhouse gear, and Slater with the novelty foam cowboy hat just put a giant smile on my face. The smile didn't leave me until the cut off at the end of the match (this was a commercial tape for fucks sake, those things were expensive). Almost all chaotic brawling, with the heels mostly getting their comeuppance, flawless bit of business all around.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Corino UWF 6/8/07

MD: This is wilderness era Dustin, when he wasn't quite in the best shape. I had actually looked into this stuff not that long ago when a PR match popped up from 07. UWF was a TNA-affiliated promotion that was venturing north into the ECW Arena for some reason. There's actually a lot of potentially fun Dustin matches from this run, including matches with Scott Steiner and Aries and Damien Wayne and Bobby Houston. Probably the neatest thing about this, past the fact it simply exists is that Corino feuded with Dusty. Both guys got to cut promos. Corino brought out Mitch Williams, Philly's poor man's Bill Buckner, who at least seemed to have a blast out there as his heater (though he never got his comeuppance). The match itself was a decent enough brawl for their current physical state. It needed a few more minutes, but they bled early and hit each other hard and had a few imaginative spots with the bell. I liked how they sold the usually terrible finish to a bullrope match as Dustin having learned the tropes well from watching his dad. Now I just have to convince Phil to buy the Dustin Rhodes, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Kirby Mack & TJ Mack vs. CW Anderson, Steve Corino, Hernandez, Homicide, & Elix Skipper double cage match from this promotion.

PAS: I am amused at the cheap heat use of Mitch Williams in Corino's corner, I wonder how much money you have to pay him to come out in a giant mustard colored dress shirt to get people to boo him. Pretty surprised we didn't get a Dusty elbow on him, but I imagine that would have cost more. Both Corino and Dustin are all time great bleeders and Corino especially seemed to blade two or three separate times. I enjoyed the dumbness of having to touch all the turnbuckles in a six sided ring. There were a couple of rude chair and cowbell shots, and this felt like a fun houseshow brawl, nothing all time great, but delivered what the crowd wanted.

Read more!

All Japan Motherload - Stan Hansen/Ron Bass vs. Terry Funk/Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 4/1/83

ER: Another match with my favorite pairing, Funk vs. Hansen. These two are alway magic with each other and this is no different. I challenge you to find me a better elbow drop than Hansen's. After Hansen caves in Funk's sternum with one in the first 30 seconds it didn't even matter what else happened, this was going to be guaranteed gold. Then you see Hansen's sky high knee drop and you know you've never seen shit better than this in your life. Bass throws nice short uppercuts and does a good poor man's Hansen throughout all of this (very possible Bass would be a guy whose stock would go up if we had more non-WWF footage of him) and Hansen/Funk just keep building and seething and eventually coming to a head with Funk throwing wild windmill punches as Hansen clobbers him with rights, Funk fighting for the spinning toehold while Hansen kicks his face. Tenryu slaps Hansen and then scrambles to tag Funk, scared like you've never seen Tenryu before. Finish is cool as Hansen nails the Western Lariat on Tenryu, who KICKS OUT but cannot get to his feet after the kickout, just had enough muscle memory for the kickout. Hansen punishes him by dragging his lifeless corpse up for a piledriver before kicking his limp body to the floor. This was 10 minutes of the best kind of wrestling.

PAS: I have never seen Ron Bass do much worth in a match, but he was a fine Dan Hansen (Stan Hansen's fake little brother in a regional fed I made up). Hansen v. Funk is one of the best match ups in wrestling history and every time they are in the ring together is gold, Funk take a couple of crazy high Pat Tanaka backdrops which isn't something I think as a Terry Funk thing. Tenryu isn't Tenryu yet, it is weird to see him as young boy, but I loved the Flair flip into the Hansen cheap shot. Young Tenryu also had some neat looking enzigiri's as opposed to what ever old Tenryu did. Count out finish was normal AJ 80s BS but it was at least clever. Fun shit.

Read more!