(Also Not March Madness): SECRET SANTO March 2020

[Matt D]

Hey @supremebve, what about this? The TV version was clipped. Here's the full HH that we uncovered a couple of years ago.

 

 

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

@Smelly McUgly the sense I get is that you like tag matches that feel like a fight, with a clear heel/face dynamic, and lots of heat.

Please enjoy Crush Gals vs Devil Masami & Jaguar Yokota:

 

 

 

The top one has marginally better video quality and is (arguably?) the better match but it is really long, so I am also offering a shorter alternative match from the same teams that was fought three month later (in case you are pressed for time). The bottom match has a weird spot where the face team hits a spike piledriver and the ref refuses to count, but it also has a hot finish. Both matches have white-hot crowds. If you have time I'd go with the top one. If you really have time, both are certainly worth a watch.

Probably unnecessary clarification for anyone who hasn't watched much 80s Joshi: Crush Gals are Chigusa Nagayo (red swimsuit with horizontal white stripes) and Lioness Asuka (dark swimsuit with horizontal white stripes). They also, helpfully, have their names written on the lower back area of said swimwear/fight gear. In his wildest dreams, Ricky Morton gets the kind of reaction from the teen girls in the audience that Crush Gals do.

Jaguar is wearing a white swimsuit in the top match and one with a red back and mutli-coloured front in the bottom match. Devil has a kind of V-pattern in white and blue in the top match and diagonal white and blue in the bottom one. In my opinion, Jaguar is one of the greatest workers ever. I was thrilled to meet her in September last year,

Edited April 12, 2020 by gordi

[Spontaneous]

@Super Ape, hopefully this one meets your criteria. A short pre-Hogan WCW match between Terry Funk and Ricky Steamboat from Clash of the Champions 7.

 

[SirSmUgly]

Oh, man, @gordi, I really had to think about this one because you hate modern wrestling, so I didn't want to give you something that I liked from modern wrestling because maybe it would be torture to you. 

Then, I thought, what if I pick something from the '80s that they've already seen? So, I'm going to give you this Jerry Lawler/Randy Savage cage match from 1983 that I absolutely love, but if you've seen it, I'll pick something from 2007 or whatever that you probably haven't seen, but might like less? Or I'll see if my favorite WWE match of the 2010s, Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch in NXT is on the free internet somewhere. 

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Smelly McUgly

[Curt McGirt]

@Goodear this was my favorite lucha match last year (even over Wagner/Blue Demon Jr.) and I've been wanting to give it to someone for awhile, so here you go.

Also, I hope you aren't squeamish because this is also a whole boatload of blood.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Curt McGirt

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

@Smelly McUgly I have indeed seen that match... but, 35 years ago. I traded tapes with the editors of Wrestling's Main Event magazine back in the mid-80s, and that was one of the matches they sent me. I very rarely watch Lawler matches, so this is an excellent choice for me. I remember loving this match back then, and I haven't seen it since. I am very much looking forward to seeing how I feel about it now.

I hope that 80s Joshi tag is enjoyable for you!

Edited April 12, 2020 by gordi

[Tim Evans]

I have youtube, WWE network and IWTV.  My blind spots include Japanese wrestling from the 2010's and Joshi.

For @AxB Since you like Technical style wrestling, I'm picking for you Daniel Makabe vs Tony Deppen from the 2019 Scenic City Invertaional Night 1. It's on IWTV.

[AxB]

@Tim Evans Thanks. I'll give you an IWTV match featuring a Japanese Wrestler from the 2010s.

Beyond Wrestling, Americanrana '19. Chris Dickinson vs Daisuke Sekimoto.

[supremebve]

@Matt D 

 

[supremebve]

On 4/12/2020 at 10:04 AM, Matt D said:

Hey @supremebve, what about this? The TV version was clipped. Here's the full HH that we uncovered a couple of years ago.

 

 

I watched the clipped version of this match last year and wished I could see the entire thing.  Well, today, is my lucky day.  The thing that struck me about this match is how well Big Boss Man fit into the All Japan style.  He spent most of his career as an extremely mobile big man who has a lot of fun matches, but very few great matches.  Watching this match made me think that we only scratched the surface of what his career could have been if he spent more time in Japan. 

First and foremost, he’s a great athlete.  He moves around the ring like someone half his size, and he uses his athleticism in ways that make sense.  There is a sequence when he ducks out of the ring, Kobashi chases him around the ringpost, and back into the ring where it feels like Boss Man is 100 miles per hour when he finally smashes Kobashi with a clothesline.  It feels like he’s an 18-wheeler that takes a while to build up speed, but once he gets up to speed, he’s absolutely unstoppable. 

Another great thing he does in this match is sell.  Selling is one of those things that takes matches from good to great, and I think this match is a perfect example.  There is a spot where Misawa hits him with a diving clothesline, and instead of falling he leans backwards, trying to catch balance.  As Misawa is trying to follow up, Boss Man is able to regain his balance, and cut him off.  It’s a spot that Misawa does in every match, but it really puts over how big and strong the Boss Man is, because it doesn’t take him off his feet.  Then the rest of the match Boss man is getting hit with big moves and is repeating the same mannerisms but is unable to keep his feet.  It makes every strike that takes him off his feet feel much more effective, because we know that if they don’t hit him hard enough, he’s big enough and strong enough to not go down. 

For my money, All Japan in the 90s is the absolute peak of professional wrestling.  This isn’t one of the better-known matches of the era, but it’s undeniably great.  Misawa, Kobashi, and Dr. Death were great as usual, but Big Boss Man is the treat in this match.  It felt like he was trying to prove that if given the chance he could hang with the best in the world, and on this night he did just that.

[Goodear]

@Curt McGirt  Have some Buddy Rose in WWF against Bob Backlund

 

[Goodear]

On 4/12/2020 at 1:48 PM, Curt McGirt said:

@Goodear this was my favorite lucha match last year (even over Wagner/Blue Demon Jr.) and I've been wanting to give it to someone for awhile, so here you go.

Also, I hope you aren't squeamish because this is also a whole boatload of blood.

Látigo vs Atomick Star

I don't know, I'm just coming to the place in my life where I won't ever get lucha and I'm tired of trying. This was okay in that there are some good moments that require closer inspection. I really like that at one point Látigo pulls the referee down in a pinning combination because he's gotten beaten down for a while. I like Látigo's selling of blood loss where it feels like he's on roller skates while trying to fight back. Látigo's plancha into the rudos at his first rally was insane when he knocked them over the guardrail. The finish was slickly executed.

But the lucha tropes get in the way. Our participants could be labeled Technico and Rudo and you'd know everything to expect from them as they become ciphers in the roles. The structure is court mandated rudo beats up the technico to no resistance for the first half and it is marred by a second rudo helping the whole time. This guy starts out in a skeleton mask and then removes it to show that he's actually luchador Shrek which ... okay? He then evaporates after the previously mentioned plancha to be replaced by another guy who beats up Látigo. That guy gets dragged off and ANOTHER third guy shows up to second Atomik Star. They do some more brawling at this point and this is the strongest segment of the match and Star seems to be bleeding from everywhere at once from assorted stuff bouncing off his head. 

I'm not opposed to blood but I want it to serve a purpose.  In this match, it does in some instances like Látigo's selling but some of it feels gratuitous like when the referee blades very late in the match. I just don't get the purpose of a referee bump so, I guess, we can do the tombstone and low blow because those are super illegal in a match where there's been interference and weapon shots all match long. 

I could see a lucha head liking this but it's lost on a non fan like me who doesn't like the rigidity of the style. This is a match for someone who likes lucha brawls specifically but I don't see it converting anyone to the style or making someone a follower of the participants as they fail to distinguish themselves from the typical luchador roles.

**

[Curt McGirt]

I appreciate your honesty, and you're not wrong. The seconds were really egregious and the structures were firmly in place. But I dug how they were able to construct a match with a total of four actual moves, made it seem like a total fight even though it could have easily felt like a rambling wreck, and let's be honest... they left bloodstains all over Arena Naucalpan. For real. Any match with all that PLUS That Dive, and ending on a legit honest to gawd Martinete that still gets played up as illegal works for me. 

And speaking of That Dive, everyone should probably cut to 7:45 and watch it, it's gotta be the wildest dive you'll see all year. Definitely gif-worthy. 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Curt McGirt

[Spontaneous]

just skipped to the dive, might go back and watch the full match. Wow, great dive!

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

The Jerry Lawler vs Randy Savage cage match, which @Smelly McUgly gave me to review, is a really good old school angle advancement match. The commentator (I'm assuming it's Lance Russell) says it's only their second time meeting in the ring, ever. How crazy is it to have a feud basically begin with a cage match? Their feud was essentially worked as an invasion angle, and from the clips I found online it seems like they did one hell of a job building this up. 

The cage itself is an unusual, rickety-looking structure made of two by fours and chicken wire fencing. It extends to the floor, and there is a narrow gap between parts of the ring and the cage, where a lot of the action in this bout will take place. 

Savage's look and character are already fully formed here. At two or three points during the match, he yells at the audience that "Everybody dies!!" I wonder if Murderhawk Monster Lance Archer liked this match when he was a kid.

Lawler takes an early advantage but Savage turns it around by spitting on Lawler causing the king to lose control, in both senses. There is a longish segment, maybe eight minutes or so, where Savage is working on top using a combination of basic wear-down holds (chinlock, side headlock, wristlock...) and subtle cheating (pulling hair, getting an object from his trunks) when referee Jerry Calhoun isn't looking.

The action escalates as Savage hits a double axe handle from the top rope to Lawler, who is standing in the narrow gap between the cage and the ring. Then the beat-down really picks up some steam. Back in the ring, Lawler finally regains control, whips Savage into the cage, and grabs the object from Savage. 

As soon as Savage is able to cut off Lawler's comeback, he climbs to the top of the cage... but Savage misses the jumping elbow drop. Lawler, strangely,. does not immediately go for the pin, but he punishes Savage a little, bodyslams him, and gets a two-count with a splash off the ropes. A vertical suplex gets another two. Lawler goes for a piledriver but Jerry Calhoun stops him, which allows Savage to re-take control. Savage give Lawler a long airplane spin after which both men comically stumble around the ring. 

Then it's back to brawling around the cage and the momentum switches back and forth. Finally Lawler goes for another piledriver but Calhoun stops him again, and this time Savage savagely smashes the back of his head into Lawler's crotch, which is some pretty creative heeling. Savage beats Lawler down again but now the crowd is really hot and their support gives Lawler the fire he needs.... the strap comes down and Savage is really in trouble... but here comes Joe LeDuc, over the top of the cage, to interfere and cause the DQ. 

LeDuc and Savage beat Lawler down something fierce, including a nice flying elbow from Savage, until the cavalry arrives to run them off. 

Like with the Blackwell vs Hansen brawl, this was a very effective big TV match and I am sure it helped put lots of asses in seats as this very memorable feud progressed. The psychology was first-rate, the selling was generally excellent, and my only nit-pick is that I wish they'd made a bigger deal out of the missed elbow from the top of the cage.

Edited April 15, 2020 by gordi

[SirSmUgly]

The broke-ass looking cage really added to the "uncivilized pit fight between two men not fit for proper society" feel of the whole thing.

 

I saw this match once in the '00s and then again maybe six months ago on one of the Pluto channels, on some show that just played random '70s and '80s matches from Memphis, Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc. Enjoyed it both times. Agree on the whiffed elbow needing to have more of a role in the match.

[Pete]

40 minutes ago, Smelly McUgly said:

I saw this match once in the '00s and then again maybe six months ago on one of the Pluto channels, on some show that just played random '70s and '80s matches from Memphis, Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc. Enjoyed it both times. Agree on the whiffed elbow needing to have more of a role in the match.

Whoa, what Pluto channel? Or did you mean Roku?

[SirSmUgly]

4 minutes ago, Pete said:

Whoa, what Pluto channel? Or did you mean Roku?

No, it was a channel on Pluto, but here's the rub: I don't know which one it was. I was just flipping through. They showed the match that I posted above and then an Eddie Graham match in FL and then something from I think San Antonio or El Paso? Whichever was Southwest, anyway, with Kevin Sullivan in it. 

It was a long show, like three hours, titled something like "Classic Wrestling Matches," but it wasn't on one of the branded wrestling channels (AAA or TNA). I honestly don't know if the show/channel still exists. Maybe it was on one of the Sinclair channels on Pluto or something. I was watching at like midnight, so I guess I was too tired to remember the next day. 

[Curt McGirt]

Bob Backlund vs. Buddy Rose 11/25/82

So this is a Lumberjack Match with S.D. Jones as special guest ref. Buddy takes the mic and says "When I come to the ring you shall rise!" which gets immediate heat from the Philly Spectrum crowd. Two of the lumberjacks are a very young Eddie Gilbert and a very young Curt Hennig! Had no idea he was in New York that early. Howdy Doody... er, Bobby Backlund comes out all pumped up and Buddy is begging the crowd not to cheer for him. Priceless. A sign in the crowd reads "FATGIRL BUDDY ROSE". Buddy's on fire here, making a show of his ring girls taking off his robe, doing the swishy hand gesture to suggest Arnold Skaalund may be gay, immediately trying to bail on multiple sides of the ring and being pushed back in. Bob immediately starts working the arm and Jones is fast-counting Buddy every time both shoulders hit the mat. So much for unbiased officiating. Buddy takes over and Bob flops all over the place getting thrown back in the ring and we get a slew of counts from both guys, Buddy doing a kneedrop that the camera unfortunately gives away as being inches away from Bob's head, Buddy hitting five elbow drops in a row, but Bob unceremoniously put on the Crossface Chickenwing and after a brief struggle Buddy gives. Bob sells way too much for the little exertion these two actually had in the ring. After the match Bob and Arnold have a super low-key interview where they announce he's got a match against Don Muraco coming up. I feel like this could have gone way longer, though of course I could watch Buddy stooge for years. It makes me regret not having watched more of the Portland set; I think I've still got like nine whole discs worth of it. Bob was working super basic '70s style too but that's Bob for you. I prefer him as a heel. 

 

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

5 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

The broke-ass looking cage really added to the "uncivilized pit fight between two men not fit for proper society" feel of the whole thing.

 

Yeah, it looked like something you might see in the "our heroes accidently walk into a tough guy bar" scene in a mid-80s action comedy.

Edited April 16, 2020 by gordi

[NikoBaltimore]

14 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

No, it was a channel on Pluto, but here's the rub: I don't know which one it was. I was just flipping through. They showed the match that I posted above and then an Eddie Graham match in FL and then something from I think San Antonio or El Paso? Whichever was Southwest, anyway, with Kevin Sullivan in it. 

It was a long show, like three hours, titled something like "Classic Wrestling Matches," but it wasn't on one of the branded wrestling channels (AAA or TNA). I honestly don't know if the show/channel still exists. Maybe it was on one of the Sinclair channels on Pluto or something. I was watching at like midnight, so I guess I was too tired to remember the next day. 

I believe it's Fight channel on there, channel 509.  I say that because right now I'm watching GLOW on there.  So if that's on then it's a safe bet the stuff you saw would air there as well.

[Matt D]

On 4/13/2020 at 7:03 AM, supremebve said:

@Matt D 

 

I'll admit that my 90s NJPW knowledge isn't as complete as you might think. I've watched a lot of HHs in the last couple of years but that pulls me at the margins while I'm lacking the center. My major point of reference here is seeing a bunch of TNT in PR and knowing about the 92 Hase vs Muta match. This one gave Hase some motivation for that one, if you ask me. Muta and TNT were a formidable pairing, both coming out with masks and mist and setting up each other's offense well (handspring elbow into TNT's awesome spin back kick where he lands on the floor, for instance). The real story here was Muta dismantling Hase on the floor with a pile driver on a table and a chairshot, before working the wound with the bell hammer back-end on the inside. When done, Muta sheathed it hilariously and tagged TNT in to destroy Hase with huge offense. It's crazy that no one picked TNT up earlier than the Savio run. I would have loved to see him as a Sting rival in Summer 92 WCW for instance, or as a Bret opponent in 93 WWF. Hase's a guy I've tended to avoid for some reason. Maybe Parv was too high on him? I don't know. I think I had the preconceived notion he was all bombs, but in what I've seen of him lately, his charisma and selling really stand out. Here, the latter is excellent. He staggers around the ring even in the midst of comeback attempts and just sells the brutality that's been inflicted upon him. The director loves Muta and hates everyone else, basically, so we miss TNT's mist spit at the beginning and the big comeback moment where Hase buys time to make the tag. I didn't love the end quite as much. There were a few bits where they didn't seem entirely on. TNT crashed into Muta at one point, but still hit what he was trying to do. Hase got his hands on Muta but only to give him a Scorpion, which was fine and fit but not quite the ideal response to a violent bloodying. So I could have used a bit more focused payoff in the end, but everything up until that was very enjoyable.

[Spontaneous]

I never got assigned a match for this week so I'll review one I just watched this week, Verne Gagne vs Dick the Bruiser in a 2/3 falls match. I'm unclear on the date but I believe it is from 8.8.1958 NWA Chicago. I have never seen either wrestle before, this is the first match on a dvd I bought titled History of the AWA Championship. I think this is the oldest match I have ever watched.

After a lengthy back and forth Bruiser submits Gagne in a odd looking backbreaker rack hold. Looked more like he was setting up for a piledriver. Gagne wins the second fall with a sleeper hold submission. Third fall goes to Gagne after reversing the backbreaker into a pin. For being an older match I was surprised at how fast paced it actually was. They told a story in the ring with Gagne trying to find reversals and quick holds to counter Bruiser's more aggressive actions.

Russ Davis is the solo commentator for this match and I found him to be funny. His scolding of Dick the Bruiser through out the match was great. "No, no, Richard you know you can't do that" It was like a disappointed dad. He doesn't commentate for much of the second fall, stating he wants fans to enjoy the action.

Hopefully @Super Ape is feeling better after his last post in here.

[Curt McGirt]

Just when I say I'm done with Muta in Japan, you put him with Savio and Hase and now I gotta watch it. 

[SirSmUgly]

Crush Gals vs. Devil Masami and Jaguar Yokota

Let's talk '80s(?) Joshi as assigned by @gordi.

This match started with Yokota doing a somersault crossbody off the jump right at the bell, so immediately, I was in for some continuing fuckery. 

The Crush Gals are OVER AS FUCK, like mega-over in a way that is rare. 

I wouldn't say there's a feeling-out process in this match, which is okay because everybody has decided that it's time to get their wild-ass offense in at high-speed, and it's entertaining. If you're going to do a spot-fest, throw bombs. There are punches, kicks, headbutts, wrenching armdrags, and people doing flips before throwing wrenching armdrags. The thing about it is that it still feels like a fight. People are struggling to get to the ropes and the punches are being thrown like it's a brawl - to the face, to the neck, to the gut, wherever. 

Masami and Yokota get the advantage and grind down Asuka, who has to keep fighting from underneath, then gets a tag and has Chigusa come in and go apeshit before getting subdued and working from underneath again. The faces are not beyond doing shit like having the illegal partner pull the hair of an opponent to break a hold. 

The match has a very loose pattern here of heels getting on top and grinding away, and then the faces doing some cool shit to fire up - exchanging hard slaps and winning the contest, for example. Every face tag out is basically a hot tag where the fresh Crush Gal comes in and beats the shit out of anything that's moving. The crowd goes nuts while the faces do top-rope clotheslines or high-angle back suplexes or giant swings. It's great, basically, is what I'm saying. 

I think Masami and Yokota deserve a lot of love for working on top, wrenching holds, subtle cheating, and basically grinding down their opponents. There are some gnarly spots like Jaguar, IIRC, standing on the wrists of one of the Crush Gals and just grinding her boots down onto them. I love nasty joint work like that so much; it's one of my favorite things about pro wrestling. It works so well, especially with such a hot crowd that is dying for the Crush Gal who is getting that work and then that explodes with every new burst of offense from the faces. 

Along with some of the spots I mentioned above, here are some other things that I thought were cool:

• Chigusa throwing multiple kicks right behind the ears of her opponents off of a reversal and then a desperation tag between Masami and Yokota 
• Jaguar pulling a bunch of suplexes out of her playbook late in the match trying to get a three-count and only getting a series of two-counts
• Double-sharpshooter spot for the faces, followed by an eventual reversal and a double-super-underhook-suplex spot for the heels, like come on, this shit is wild

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that it ends in a time-limit draw as Asuka barely powers out of a backbreaker and a cover right at the final bell, but this was really a match that was about giving the fans a release of emotions every time the faces would fire up and do some crazy shit after fighting out from underneath. 

This was a fucking spectacle. I wouldn't grade it as a match so much as a raw, visceral sort of experience. I watched the whole thing and the brawling, the bomb-throwing, and the hot crowd all worked in concert to get my brain to start pumping endorphins. That's sort of what wrestling is all about, really, isn't it? 

I can only imagine how I'd have felt if I had some sort of emotional investment in the Crush Gals and had been following their career and feuds up to this match in real time. Even just as a one-off out of context, though, it's really, really great. Any minor flaws that it might have (like, you could argue, that it could be ten minutes shorter and be just as effective) are offset by all of the positives. 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Smelly McUgly