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Post by marc91 on Jan 29, 2024 22:26:51 GMT 1
#0048 Two Out Of Three Falls Match NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles Rick Martel & Roddy Piper vs Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskoski (PNW 02.08.1980) The titles are vacant and this match feels like a fairly big deal. At times the heels' selling is almost ridiculously exaggerated, but the crowd loved it and so who am I to judge. I don't remember seeing much of Wiskoski's work, but he's a good fit and of course Martel rules as usual, his back selling carries two thirds of the match and the crowd never gets tired of chanting his name out loud. Piper is amazing during his hot tag, but unfortunatel we get a double count-out and the furious brawl continues. A great angle advancement, but a great match by itself as well ***3/4
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Post by marc91 on Jan 30, 2024 1:20:28 GMT 1
#0049 Ringo Rigby vs Johnny South (JOINT PROMOTIONS 05.08.1980) Another good World of Sports contest. Rigby reminds me of a very green late 80s Owen Hart, he's got that nice flashiness and smoothness on the mat, a bit rusty at times but that is what makes him "real" and all of his action never feels forced. On the other hand, South seemed a lot like a Dick Slater, as he uses his size but is also not afraid to get his hands dirty on the mat. However, they are lacking the personality to get this to next level, as the crowd is never 100% into it. Quite original to start a few rounds with Rigby still selling on the floor, I have never seen enough of it so far. It went quite well and Rigby also went over clean, which never hurts ***1/4
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Post by marc91 on Jan 31, 2024 0:05:33 GMT 1
#0050 Steel Cage Match Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zbyszko (WWF 09.08.1980) I had to watch this twice, because the only available version has Michael Cole & Mick Foley on commentary and it's so bad that I decided to revisit this without sound on. It's a good blowoff after all, but definitely not the best match of the series and so that's a bit disappointing. The blood increased the drama, the crowd was into it (but their supported was disturbed by Cole's idiotic comments) and the finish was simple, yet very effective. However, it all looked too simplistic and the match lacked a more suitable structure: after months of really nice storytelling, all they did was simply brawling in the cage for 12/13 minutes and Bruno's victory never seemed in jeopardy. In a nutshell, a good match, but a huge disappointment ***
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Post by marc91 on Jan 31, 2024 19:53:07 GMT 1
#0051 Two Out Of Three Falls No Disqualification Match NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title Rick Martel (c) vs Buddy Rose (PNW 09.08.1980) Much like the Sammartino/Zbyszko cage match, this was a really good match but, as it's the blowoff of a great feud (their loser leaves town was never taped), I was expecting a bit more from them. It's these two and a hot crowd, so Rose's control and Martel's flashiness are still a joy to watch. I like the idea of using the No DQ stipulation as just an excuse to hit each other harder, but a decisive spot would have been nice. Even the "hairy mask" removal was just teased again and it didn't take place. There is an issue with the tape during the second fall, so yeah even that damaged the match a bit ***1/4
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Post by marc91 on Jan 31, 2024 21:23:50 GMT 1
#0052 Tommy Rich vs Bill Dundee (CWA 23.08.1980) This was a 12/13 minutes TV match and they never skipped a beat. By 1980 standards (and Memphis), it's impressive how crisp and fluent this was. For somebody who watched lots of 45 minutes Impact episodes, this is how X-Division matches were supposed to go when they only had 5 minutes: creating a good pace and a solid story, without doing as many moves as they could in that little time. It's a babyface match and so there are no shortcuts, apart from Rich "casually" hitting Dundee low to get the victory. Apart from advancing the angle quite well, I can't remember a single mistake, if not for Rich not jumping enough on a monkey flip. This didn't set the world on fire, but I am happy I watched it ***1/2
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Post by marc91 on Feb 1, 2024 21:46:30 GMT 1
#0053 Texas Death Match Ivan Putski vs Larry Zbyszko (WWF 23.08.1980) This was really good! Putski looked like a million bucks, not only because he was ripped, but Zbyszko sold big time for him and the crowd couldn't wait for the heel to receive more and more punishment. I have never seen anyone claim that the Polish was a great worker, but this was so simple and yet so well presented that he had to step up. At one point, Zbyszko got stuck between the ropes and you could tell how scared he was, standing there defenceless against the furious Putski. A cheap pinfall for Zbyszko is not the biggest deal, especially with this stipulation, but they both end up looking good and so it was a smart compromise ***1/2
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Post by marc91 on Feb 1, 2024 22:14:51 GMT 1
#0054 Two Out Of Three Falls Match Bruiser Brody vs Gino Hernandez (HOUSTON WRESTLING 29.08.1980) I wasn't really sure what to expect here, as this looked like a proper mismatch on paper. However, they did alright despite a lot of overbooking and it's pretty much all due to Gino bumping all over the place for Brody, bleeding from his forehead and still trying to get the job done. Brody looked good, even though he didn't sell much and this ended up hurting Gino's chances to win in my eyes. All three falls are consequence of an interference and the Gran Markus' involvement didn't work that well, but it was quite unoffensive and the crowd loved it anyway **1/2
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Post by marc91 on Feb 3, 2024 11:40:45 GMT 1
#0055 Angelo Mosca & Ric Flair vs The Great Hussein Arab & Greg Valentine (MLW 06.09.1980) This was an enjoyable match, plus a good skirmish of the Flair/Valentine and Mosca/Hussein (Iron Sheik) respective feuds. It's quite funny to see Flair as a courageous babyface that wants revenge on Valentine for breaking his nose, but he's the one that ends up bleeding and selling for most part of the bout, which of course ruled. Mosca did his bits quite well and the crowd was into it, especially when he had to respond to multiple cheap shots from Hussein. While this wasn't a match of the year contender or anything like that, it worked perfectly well as a 20 minutes international main event, with good action, heat and a clean finish to boot ***1/4
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Post by marc91 on Feb 3, 2024 13:02:06 GMT 1
#0056 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Giant Baba (c) vs Harley Race (AJPW 09.09.1980) They worked this quite smartly, keeping it short and sweet because Baba didn't look in great shape. Race goes straight to the point in an aggressive way, leaving no space to mat work, which is probably for the best (and the crowd appreciates it too). Baba's comeback is a bit goofy but alright, Race bleeds to add some drama and needs the ropes' help to save himself a couple of times. The finish is clean but a bit silly, Race knocks Baba from the top rope and pins him in an anticlimactic way, even though it's still a World Title change and a few fans pop. Not great, but watchable **3/4
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Post by marc91 on Feb 4, 2024 14:16:43 GMT 1
#0057 WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs Tony Rocco (NJPW 11.09.1980) I didn't know Tony Rocco, but he looks like a solid old school European grappler, so him versus Fujinami seems like a natural pairing. It's hard to criticize their matwork, as it was clean and solid. However, some of the action came across a bit dull and that is probably why this match is not considered an all time classic, as the fans were really quiet until the final sequence. While good, the work was bland and they never took the armwork to the next level, so in hindsight it never meant that much. The last few minutes got some heat, thumbs up for the stalemate clean finish ***
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