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Post by marc91 on Aug 7, 2024 15:07:09 GMT 1
#0237 NWA World Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Steel Cage Match Ric Flair (c) vs Kerry von Erich (WCCW 25.12.1982) I always had a love-hate relationship with this match and I still do, despite the good parts dominating the bad ones. Most of the bout was amazing: I loved the recalls to the spots of their previous encounter, the energic brawling, Flair bleeding like a drunk fighter after their slugfests, Kerry's comeback and implementation of the claw. The cage door spot is still a classic and I even loved the **** finish, playing on Kerry's concussion despite his desperate attempts to finally win the World Title (and thus starting one of the best feuds ever). I hated Michael Hayes interjections, not just for the final spot, but he was annoyingly stopping the match every now and then. Why would a referee get involved so often in the action when there are no disqualifications?! It never made sense and still kind of spoils the match to this day, which is a shame because these two put on a clinic ***3/4 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 8, 2024 14:33:43 GMT 1
#0238 WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match Tiger Mask (c) vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (NJPW 06.01.1983) The more I rewatch stuff, the more I am convinced that Tiger Mask's best series was with Kobayashi, not Dynamite Kid. This was really nice and well grounded, maybe a bit too long, but overall a snug, solid and at times very electric Juniors match. Mask was much appreciated when he focused on the challenger's arm, while Kobayashi's offence was hit and miss at times, I don't know why he would kick a body port and then work on another one. A bit of non-selling from Mask, which affected the match. The non-finished rule, a countout makes perfect sense after such a snug german suplex on the floor, especially after the previous countout tease
***1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 9, 2024 11:02:32 GMT 1
#0239 Gran Hamada, Kantaro Hoshino & Tiger Mask vs El Signo, El Texano & Negro Navarro (NJPW 14.01.1983) Tiger Mask didn't get involved that much here, as he received a beatdown before the match and mostly stood on the apron for this one. This was fun I guess. The rudos murdered Hamada and worked quite well together, despite a few arguments. Ironically, Mask's segments were probably the worst ones of the match, because they looked quite choreographed compared to the rest of the action. The others were quick enough in the first few minutes, but the selling later on was never that good or consistent. Decent flashy finish, at least
**1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 10, 2024 11:39:40 GMT 1
#0240 Marty Jones vs Dynamite Kid (JOINT PROMOTIONS 19.01.1983)
What a great match. This was snug, realistic and competitive. By a notch or two, more violent than the average Joint Promotion bout, especially after the first few respectful rounds. Dynamite was trained by Jones, so he struggled because his opponent knew him quite well; him looking down on UK rules was a great heel move, he collected warnings, but thankfully there was no disqualification. The crowd (and the usually very composed announcer) were heavily into this, the drama of the roll up finish also added to the contest. Often, Joint Promotions matches are technically sound, but they lack heat: it's not the case here, at all
***3/4 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 10, 2024 14:48:26 GMT 1
#0241 Southwest Heavyweight Title Tully Blanchard (c) vs Eric Embry (SWCW 31.01.1983) This was a very fun squash, more of an angle than a regular match. It was a way to build Blanchard's story with Bob Sweetan, while Blanchard was taking advantage of poor Embry. Embry had some time to shine at the beginning, but was mostly there to be beaten and sell. The images of the bleeding Embry were quite strong and this was the right way to give even more heat to the champion. Not much of a challenge towards the finish, but this served its purpose really well *** |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 11, 2024 11:38:29 GMT 1
#0242 Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Masa Saito & Riki Choshu (NJPW 03.02.1983) A very positive double skirmish match, that enhanced both programs and was a good match as well. I liked the "laissez faire" way Inoki was coaching Fujinami, while the heels didn't hesitate to cheat every time they had an issue. Solid start, but a bit dull at times, surprisingly it happened mostly when Fujinami was in; at times, he didn't seem able to be on the other guy's page. Inoki was very generous here, selling his leg against the heels for several minutes in a row and doing it quite well too. The clean finish was quite good, a desperate move from Inoki, right when a normal script would include a hot tag
***1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 12, 2024 13:45:00 GMT 1
#0243 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Ric Flair (c) vs Terry Gordy (WCCW 04.02.1983) This was pretty good, but not a great match by any means. Despite Gordy getting a mixed response from the crowd, Flair was working babyface here and that kind of hurt the match because he couldn't be in the driver seat all the time. Still, him slowly taking down a big man was fun as always, despite Gordy being clearly so green in singles bouts at this point; some of his stuff didn't look very clean to begin with. Also, the finish was quite dull, despite being a decent idea in theory. Surely a different flavour from the Flair formula here, but not an excellent one
**3/4 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 13, 2024 11:36:08 GMT 1
#0244 NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title Match Kerry von Erich (c) vs Greg Valentine (ST. LOUIS 11.02.1983) Slightly clipped. This was a very good match, as they both excelled in their respective roles and put on a very solid and interesting bout from the very beginning. This was quite slow at times, to be fair, but it was physical enough and the slow pace helped build the finishing stretch. Valentine held the strings really well with his snug limb work, but I wasn't really a fan of how quick and high Kerry dropkicked him after such a long legwork segment. Despite this, the crowd was really into the final comeback and even the flashy pinfall was well done
***1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 14, 2024 12:17:43 GMT 1
#0245 NWA World Heavyweight Title Two Out Of Three Falls Match Ric Flair (c) vs Bruiser Brody (ST. LOUIS 11.02.1983)
This went for 60 minutes and 10 were clipped from the file. Man, props to Flair for doing this with Brody. You could tell Brody actually cared here and tried his best; he was lacking major selling/pacing skills as usual, but Flair sticked to his formula and got a good match out of him. Brody was massively over, which surely helped, as Flair made him look good with his selling and dosing Brody's cardio correctly thanks to the rest holds. The finish of the second fall was quite silly, in full 80s spirit, thus stopping the good momentum before the last few minutes. Not a very strong Flair broadway match, but not a bad one
*** |
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Post by marc91 on Aug 15, 2024 11:17:16 GMT 1
#0246 Lumberjack Match David von Erich, Kerry von Erich & Kevin von Erich vs Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (WCCW 18.02.1983) A few minutes were clipped. Really nice match with an amazing crowd that chanted "go home Freebirds" with a lot of energy, with these fans the scheme was really easy as all they did worked. They didn't even rely too much on the usual lumberjacks spots, as the 6 men on the ring guaranteed enough action anyway. The von Erichs thrived on a double babyface in peril situation, with Kevin doing it better than anyone else here. Liked this all around, including the finish, despite not being completely satisfactory there will be time for better endings in this feud
***1/2 |
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