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RIP Superstar Billy Graham (1943-2023)


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I'm in my mid 30s and fell in love with wrestling during the attitude era.

I've not gone back as far as Superstar's era but watching the clips in here you can see so many little bits and pieces.

His cadence and voice sound so much like Dusty Rhodes.
His language is a combo of Flair and Hogan.
His persona is all Big Poppa Pump.

It's actually incredible.

May he RIP.

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My first memory of Superstar was Prime Time Wrestling airing footage of his hip (or knee?) surgery that was shockingly graphic! I may be misremembering, but I swear they showed the doctor making the incision.

His matches with Dusty were eye-openers for me on both guys. I think that's a very underrated great rivalry.

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1 hour ago, Log said:

My first memory of Superstar was Prime Time Wrestling airing footage of his hip (or knee?) surgery that was shockingly graphic! I may be misremembering, but I swear they showed the doctor making the incision.

His matches with Dusty were eye-openers for me on both guys. I think that's a very underrated great rivalry.

It was his hip.  

If you're AT ALL squeamish about surgical footage, do not watch this.   They actually remove the ball of his hip on camera.  

There's carny, and then there's having stuff cut out of your body for a Saturday morning show.   Also, is that... no that can't be Sean Waltman at the very end there??

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3 hours ago, Log said:

His matches with Dusty were eye-openers for me on both guys. I think that's a very underrated great rivalry.

I loved reading in Graham's book how he and Dusty would stay up on the phone all night listening to Bob Dylan records and trying to decipher the lyrics - kind of wholesome/relatable when you compare it to some of the stories of Dusty and Murdoch living together

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1 hour ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

It was his hip.  

If you're AT ALL squeamish about surgical footage, do not watch this.   They actually remove the ball of his hip on camera.  

There's carny, and then there's having stuff cut out of your body for a Saturday morning show.   Also, is that... no that can't be Sean Waltman at the very end there??

Waltman said he was a huge Superstar fan, but he would've been... 15 for this, so probably not.

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Yeah between the Graham DVD and the Dusty DVD set, they put three of the MSG matches between them out, and they were eye popping. Not technical classics, but God damn great wrestling. I had never seen pre-80's Dust and had never really seen Graham wrestle before but knew his rep like Matt was saying as all look and promo. Turned out the two of them tore the Garden down repeatedly.

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4 hours ago, Happ Hazzard said:

Superstar Billy Graham vs Ivan Putski - YouTube

One of the biggest pops in wrestling history, for the Polish Hammer. RIP Superstar.

The entire match is fantastic fun and was one of my favorite "2020 stuck in the house" viewing finds. The overall match structure is super-minimalist, just two dudes trading strongman moves like full-nelsons and forearm smashes (Superstar gets Putski in a full-nelson, Putski reverses into his own full-nelson, and so on) and the crowd eats it all up on every reversal from Putski until finally THAT pop.

 

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That match is a masterclass in selling. Billy knew, you don't have to do anything as long as you work it tight and sell it to death. 

Also, the Sullivan/tied up in the desert promo is one of my favorites ever but kinda hurt by that clip not showing Sullivan slapping the shit out of his valet and then Billy blading like a freak. 

RIP

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1 hour ago, For Great Justice said:

Back when we had the THIS IS PRO WRESTLING MOTHERFUCKER thread, I think there were net more pictures of Superstar than any other guy.

I'm curious about the "net". Did some people have negative photos posted?

I should probably say something about Superstar, but I haven't seen much of him. I really should track down those Dusty matches, that sounds awesome.

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6 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

"Net" just means the amount of photos.

It's more specific than that, though. It means the amount after you deduct whatever should be. Hence my questioning whether somebody had negative photos. (Which was probably poorly worded, as "negative photos" could easily mean "photos that make their subject look bad".)

And yes, technically if there's nothing to deduct the "net" is just the simple total. But it's an odd word to use in that case.

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The hiss of tape is something burned into my musical memory. I was one of the last of the actual metal tape traders when I was a kid, and I still have all those dubs. Nowadays I buy them because I finished with digital when I realized I could "own" anything in that form from Soulseek. So, my vinyl collecting took off like mad. As far as tapes go, they're a supplement when I can't afford a vinyl copy, or something is an exceptional demo, or something is only ON tape -- and they're sitting right on top of my shelves of records, right where I can get to 'em. 

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On 5/18/2023 at 3:04 PM, Web Conn said:

Houston seems like it almost operated in its own parallel universe in relation to the other Territories.

*chuckles* You have no idea. That's what made Houston Wrestling so great, and like Bruce Prichard and Booker, I'll never stop singing it's virtues.

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9 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

*chuckles* You have no idea. That's what made Houston Wrestling so great, and like Bruce Prichard and Booker, I'll never stop singing it's virtues.

Hope your listening to Greg Kleins pod that's partially about Houston.

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On 5/20/2023 at 12:46 PM, tbarrie said:

I should probably say something about Superstar, but I haven't seen much of him. I really should track down those Dusty matches, that sounds awesome.

So I watched a Texas Death Match between them, which I would assume was the final of a series. Good stuff with an iffy finish. One thing I found interesting was Vince talking about how it might be mind games when Superstar was begging off and that he might be playing possum when he was selling.  Did Vince disapprove of how much Graham was giving Dusty? Or did Vince always say that in Graham's matches?

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18 hours ago, odessasteps said:

I can understand the renaissance of vinyl. Tape. Not as much 

Here's hoping that I will live long enough for my CD collection to have even a theoretical (monetary) value once more! The sentimental and emotional value will always remain for me, anyway.

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