New Footage Friday: DiBiase, Race, Lawler, Kerry, PS Hayes, Boogie Woogie, John Paul?

Harley Race vs. Ted Dibiase AJPW 10/31/83

ER: This was one of those matches that, for me, highlighted the structural problems that both of these guys have. Race and Dibiase are two guys who do a ton of things I like, but sometimes they do them in a way that does not make me care very much about those things. So we get fistdrops and kneedrops and headbutts and powerslams and brainbusters and big bumps to the floor, and a lot of the time it just feels like stuff they're doing on the way to filling their allotted time, and the transitions often feel like "alright that was fun, now it's my turn to try something!" Everything they do LOOKS good, the order of these things just feels off. I liked how tenacious Dibiase was, as it looked like he was trying to find ways to finish Race early, and before long he was trying to lock in sleepers and a figure 4, and I liked how that would lead to Race anchoring himself and sending Dibiase sprawling. A sleeper leads to Race ducking his body weight and flinging Dibiase to the floor, a figure 4 inevitably leads to Race kicking him off and Dibiase taking a great bump over the ropes to the floor. But a lot of this stuff that looked cool felt like both guys trying to get their cool stuff in, regardless of when it made sense. Race hits a brainbuster on the floor, but misses a headbutt off the apron. The headbutt off the apron could have been missed at any point, why do it when it requires somebody to get up right after you gave them a brainbuster on the floor? Both guys don't seem fazed by piledrivers or powerslams, and even Dibiase going for figure 4s so late in the match only read like a prop to set up him losing and not like an actual match long plan. It was much more "try to powerbomb Kidman" than "I'm wearing down his legs to win". I like both guys, I liked how everything looked, but the order of that everything made me feel disconnected from the match.

MD: There is a new 1983 AJPW TV set out there from Dan over at PWO (go get it!) and while we expect it'll take a while to figure out what's new and what's not (anyone who feel like they have a great sense of what's been out there and what hasn't, reach out), this one jumped out immediately.

We lose just a scant two minutes of this, which were mainly headlocks I imagine. It's a pretty strange creature, feeling ten years before it's time, and not necessarily in the best way. Once they really get going, which is only about four minutes in, it's bombs, bombs, and more bombs. It's hard hitting (especially the headbutts and strikes) and everything looks great, but the whole affair is pretty jarring for the time as a NWA title match. It's purely back and forth with nothing really settling for long. The spectacle and the struggle makes it stand out: you're not going to forget Race hitting that brainbuster to the floor or missing the subsequent headbutt plunge off the apron anytime soon and standing tall babyface Dibiase is the best Ted Dibiase, but this was not some high watermark of storytelling. All that said, if you're going to get a Harley Race title match, you'll probably want this one, where he does a bunch of stuff and fights real mean, instead of something where he gives up 75% to his opponent.

PAS: I imagine if we saw this as a music video in 1983 (maybe set to The Warrior by Scandal) we would thing it was the coolest fucking match ever and be begging to see the whole match. As a whole match though, I thought this was actively stinko. Eric hits it on the head, they just did a bunch of cool stuff totally disconnected from any structure. Cool bumps to the floor, huge moves, but no selling, no progression, no actual wrestling match. That brainbuster on the floor, leading to the missed headbutt by Race is about as bad as it gets. For two hall of famers who are considered all time great workers, this felt like a match you might see two rookies work at an indy fed somewhere, where they want to hit every video game spot they practiced until the arbitrary finish. Man I bet Meltzer would love this if he saw it.

Cactus Jack/Bad Company/Rock and Roll RPMs vs. Jeff Jarrett/Rock n Roll Express/Top Guns AWA 9/18/88

MD: This was a nice showcase for both sides. The 10 man tag format allows for a lot of energy in the shine since everyone gets to move in and out, with the babyfaces working together even in unique pairings and all looking good except for Rice who seemed to puff his cheeks up weirdly with every punch. The heat was all on Paul (who I initially thought was a weird choice) and I thought he looked surprisingly good, bumping high on a back body drop, selling well, fighting back in the most direct way possible and leaping across the ring for the hot tag. I thought Gibson getting cut off without chicanery almost immediately after the hot tag was a weird way to have everything break down. It would have been better if Page grabbed a leg (which would have protected the AWA champs) or even if the heels all rushed in when he had the advantage. Everything else basically worked though.

PAS: Got to give John Paul credit, he takes the biggest back body drop bump in a match with Cactus Jack, Ricky Morton and fucking Pat Tanaka. He had to be a -800 in Vegas betting for biggest back drop bump. This had moments, but kind of sputtered out instead of building to a big finish. Pat Tanaka was such a ball of energy back them, and he brought a lot of the pizzaz to this match. No big bump by 1988 Cactus which was a shocker, you figure if he had a chance to be on ESPN he would land tailbone first on the concrete or something.

Jerry Lawler/Jimmy Valiant vs. Kerry Von Erich/Michael Hayes AWA 9/18/88

MD: Weirdly, this felt more iconic to me than the Superclash title match. I think that was trying too hard to be something specific and this was lower stakes and allowed Lawler and Kerry to just be themselves. That meant they traded struts after lock ups or shoulder blocks. It meant that they got to work fun little spots around the discus punch or the fist drop or dropkicks or just double punches. It was loose and fun and really highlighted how equal they were. Extremely smartly put together to accomplish what they were trying to do. Immediately, this feels like one of the most enjoyable match-driven builds to a babyface vs babyface match I've ever seen.

If you're going to have guys working the apron or around the margins, Valiant and Hayes are pretty much the best ever. They had a little moment of playing to the ground with stomps at the beginning. Just good, charismatic stuff. This was a great little piece of color with a heated post match.

PAS: This was nifty. Totally perfect way to set up a big PPV match. We get just enough of Lawler vs. Von Erich to wet your whistle. Some face offs, some big shots, but nothing definitive. We get Hayes and Valiant being rock stars on the apron, and having a wild punch out on the floor. We have Lee Marshall and Frank Dusek making drinks and steaks bets on commentary, and we get an awesome pull apart at the end. Lawler unloading his punch combo on Kerry in the corner is all time great stuff, no one can put it together the way Jerry Lawler can.