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It's Clubberin' Time!


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In these trying times, I need something quite specific to help get me through. 

In the hopes that I am not the only one, I ask for your suggestions, to help me and those like me.

What we need a this, and only this: 5 to 15 minutes of two (or more) big tough bastards throwing down.

Punches. Forearms. Elbows. Knees. Stomps. Chops. Headbutts.

No fancy holds.No fancy moves. (Maybe an occasional arm-bar, slam or lariat).

Please no legendary epic matches. No MOTYCs.

Just straight up "1.5 to 3-star" level good old fashioned straight up clubbering. Something like this:

Or even this:

 

Thank you all, in advance.

Edited by gordi
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Oh, yeah! This is my WrestleMania! (Though I'll likely get around to watching a lot of the actual WM over the next couple of weeks)..

@DEAN I had the privilege of meeting Dump Matsumoto a couple of times. Without her makeup and with her hair down, she looks like a chubby-cheeked grandmother, the kind who bakes fresh cookies when the grandkids come over. Even with her gimmick in place, when she is posing for Polaroids or selling autographed t-shirts, she can be very sweet and pleasant. But in the ring, she was still absolutely terrifying. I mean, it was a visceral, deep-rooted, primitive type of emotion that this sweet older lady evoked the moment she brandished that kendo stick. It was pretty amazing.

@The Magnificent 7 Damn! Some of the strikes in that match. Harrowing.

@Morganti the first words out of Dusty's mouth: This is a serious clubbering situation here! ?

@Curt McGirt I love Valentine's selling in that match! 

When I first thought about making this thread, Regal vs Finlay was one of the first things that popped into my mind.

 

Thank you, gentlemen!

 

Edited by gordi
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@Execproducer I have heard about that match (maybe on a Terry Funk shoot?) but this was my first time seeing it. What a world we live in, where footage like this is freely available! Thanks.

@Zimbra Albright & Yamazaki vs Tenta & Vader is absolutely one of my very favourite (two-match) series of all time. Love it! However, I wouldn't have considered it for this thread, personally. It seems to me to be more of a character-based match. Yamazaki is a precision striker, not at all a brawler. Albright is almost purely a grappler. Tenta is the immovable object who overwhelms with sheer size (although his awesome knee lifts are nice and clubbery here) in my opinion it's really only Super Vader who delivers a lot on the straight-up clubbering front. That being said, Vader's clubbering is undeniably first rate and I really do love that match to death.

Edited by gordi
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@AxB Once again, that is a match that I really like but that I personally would not have chosen for this thread. It's definitely two big tough bastards throwing down, but  it's quite a bit longer and fancier than the 5 to 15 minutes of straight up "1.5 to 3-star" level good old fashioned straight up clubberin that  I was asking for. I think it's more along the lines of being an epic MOTYC... which, of course... I like those, too. Who doesn't like those? But there are a lot of threads for great matches. I was hoping this could be a thread for more bite-sized "just good" slugfests instead.

I love the supremely extended chop exchange. Love it. If I remember correctly, this match took place not long after the great Shinya Hashimoto passed away, and I felt at the time and still feel that Kobashi and Kensuke were paying tribute to Hash's famous G-1 match vs Tenryu. I remember - and I know this sounds goofy - but I remember being genuinely moved the first time I watched it.

However: Is that really "clubbering"?

I'd argue that it's not. Maybe I have too narrow of a definition, but in my opinion not all striking is clubbering. To me, clubbering should feel like a bar fight. Like an out of control brawl. Precision shoot style striking, then, is not usually clubbering in my book. The (awesome) strike exchange in Kensuke vs Kobashi is, to me, an extended exhibition of both men's fighting spirit. It's collaborative. They are testing their own mettle and they are testing each other's mettle. That doesn't mean it's bad. It's another thing that I enjoy a lot when it's done well. I marked out like crazy sitting in the crowd at Osaka Jo Hall when Ryu Lee and Hiromu did their version of it this year. It's just that, to me... that isn't what I'd call clubbering. However, as I said, my definition of clubbering could certainly be a lot wider.

It also might be fun to hear some other people's take on that opinion in this thread, if anyone feels like chiming in.

Also, regardless of all that I am happy you posted that match and I'm looking forward to watching it again. I haven't seen it in years, and I have some time on my hands this week now that a state of emergency has been declared in Japan. So, thanks!

Edited by gordi
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8 hours ago, gordi said:

@GojiColin Oh, hell yeah! That is exactly what I am asking for!

Originally I was going to post a Don Frye vs Norton match; but there was too much laying about in leg locks to make it a true clubbering match.  I think I'll take this opportunity to go on a Scott Norton learning excursion though.

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@Zimbra What amazes me watching those matches is how much of a reaction they get out of the crowd with such basic offense. In all seriousness, Gordy draws more heat out of the crowd with a kneedrop than your average current-day maximalist worker gets out of a top-rope Spanish fly. It's great stuff. I love how Gordy and Murdoch start out the match with such minimalist punch exchanges, and how they sell the effect of each haymaker. I like to imagine Cody and Dustin are watching matches like these with the younger guys on their roster, to teach the value of timing, execution, selling, and character work. 

@AxB That is one stiff and nasty beat-down! Was that the same Mark Starr who formed Men at Work with Kanyon?

@GojiColin w/r/t Frye vs Norton: It's amazing how often a match will seem on paper like its definitely going to be non-stop clubbering but then turn out to be something else. Like, say, John Tenta vs King Haku in WAR from Japan and you think "Oh, they are going to beat the crap out of each other!" but instead they mostly just bull each other around the ring... or Butch Reed vs Dusty Rhodes,  but they primarily work holds. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be surprisingly difficult to come up with a really good brawl by searching likely names on youtube or dailymotion or wherever. 

That was actually a big part of my motivation in starting this thread: Figuring that the crazy wresting fans here would come up with stuff I might not have thought of on my own. It's definitely paid off! I don't know if I ever would have thought of searching Scott Norton matches, for example.

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3 hours ago, gordi said:

@AxB That is one stiff and nasty beat-down! Was that the same Mark Starr who formed Men at Work with Kanyon?

I think so, yeah. Chris Champion/ Yoshi Kwan's brother iirc.

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@Control

That guy is from Finland! Boooo! Booooo! ?

The white-hot Osaka Jo Hall crowd absolutely makes this one for me. That is a pure kaiju battle. I also love how Halme's Earthquake splash counter to the sunset flip is gentle as a lamb, but then Vader just crushes Halme's rib-cage with the same move later on... and then that actually plays into the (shocking) finish! Earthquake-splash-based psychology!!

@GojiColin @Control Did you guys know that Halme and Norton fought each other in Japan? Unsurprisingly, it is an absolute walrus fight:

 

Edit: I couldn't find the Halme vs Aoyagi boxer vs karateka fight, which I have heard is ridiculous in the best possible way, but I did find this, which - Good Lord, no fooling - might be my new favourite match:

 

Edited by gordi
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@gordi The crowd is super hot for Norton, that must have been such a thrill for him. Cagematch says Norton worked a series of 4-6ish minute matches against Ray Traylor in '97, I'm trying to see if I can find those online.

 

*Edit* along my hunt I came across this Ray Traylor vs Scott Steiner match, it might be DQed for the Frankensteiner, but it was way better than I expected.

 

Edited by GojiColin
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