Throwback Match Reviews: Barry Windham vs Ric Flair (CWF) (02/14/1986)

 Barry Windham vs Ric Flair (CWF) 02/14/1986

This is my first time watching a Barry Windham match. I have always heard great things about him and his matches, particularly those with Ric Flair. This match is critically acclaimed. Going in with all this knowledge may not have helped this match for me. It could have easily been a victim of high expectations. 80s American wrestling isn’t exactly my favorite era so you can imagine why I might doubt this match. Needless to say this match delivered. Watching this match helped me understand Windham’s hype, at least through 1980s eyes. 

It excelled in many ways. The work was outstanding. The pace of the match made the 40+ minute run time fly by. The performances from both wrestlers were phenomenal. Flair as a shifty heel complimented Windham’s intensity and brutality. The crowd was into it the whole time which makes the atmosphere great and the match feel very important. The match flowed smoothly. Each transition was brilliantly done and perfectly led into each control period. The action itself for the most part was done well. They really laid into each other. It was hard-hitting and bloody. It was a war. Flair’s early mat work was great and it built up to Windham’s comebacks. The selling from both wrestlers really emphasized the violence of the match. The match never struggled to come back from the very few slow periods.

Despite how much I loved this match, it wasn’t perfect. The finish of the match, while not completely being a letdown, leaves a little to be desired and not in a good way. I understand why the match ended the way it did and if there had to be a non-finish, a double count-out is the best way to go. A double count-out actually makes a little sense given how the match was structured. Both men destroyed each other and a 10 count wasn’t going to stop them. That is why I don’t have much of a problem with the finish but a clear winner would have been better. I mentioned earlier that the action was mostly great but there were a few instances where filler and fatigue showed. Some of the slow periods in the match were a little dull. They took the selling a little too far and it just looked like they were killing time. During these slow periods the punches looked very weak and fake. There was one instance where Windham was punching Flair on the mat but he missed every single punch, by a mile. It was very clearly a filler spot and I feel like they should have shot that spot from behind Windham instead of in front of him. 

Final Rating - ****½

Throwback Match Reviews: Yoshiaki Yatsu and Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW) (01/28/1996)

 Yoshiaki Yatsu and Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW) 01/28/1986

Yoshiaki Yatsu and Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta is one of the greatest tag team matches I have ever seen. In this match we had four distinct but outstanding performances from each wrestler. They all played their role to perfection. The structure of the match was sound. The action was intense and stiff. The crowd remained hot throughout the entire match. Yatsu and Choshu were outsiders in this match. They played great heels but as the match progressed the dynamic naturally changed. The hate between both teams was clearly on display. There were points when one wrestler would break a fall or a hold and the illegal wrestler on the apron on the opposing team wouldn’t go after the other illegal man but would just beat down on the legal man instead. It happened a few times with both teams and it was awesome. 

Yoshiaki Yatsu was my favorite part of this match. His performance here is what I’d call a star-making one for that All Japan crowd. I’ll get into more of his AJPW career but he obviously did not make much of a lasting impact, at least in the West. He was fiery and intense from the start. As the match progressed he gained sympathy and support from the crowd. Apart from his great offense you can accredit that to his selling. He took a great beating from Jumbo and Tenryu. His comebacks were great and he returned some of that brutality to the home team.

Riki Choshu had a similar performance to Yatsu. It differs slightly whereas Yatsu was a level lower than everyone so the heat came from beating him down, Choshu was indisposed because of his rib injury. He masterfully sold those ribs throughout the entire match. The best example of it was when he had Jumbo in the Scorpion Death Lock and he broke the hold because he simply did not have the stamina or breath to maintain it. The rib injury came into play there and he immediately went to sell the ribs as he tagged out to Yatsu. His attacks, especially on Jumbo, were hateful and brutal. You could really buy into the hate there.

Jumbo Tsuruta was a great figurehead for All Japan. To these outsiders he was a means to make a name for themselves in this promotion. By taking out the top guy they wanted to prove themselves. Jumbo did a great job defending his spot. He was just as nasty and vicious with his offense, especially with his knee lifts. They stopped all momentum and they looked great. 

Genichiro Tenryu was a proper dickhead in this match. I like that Jumbo remained more of a pure babyface in this match while Tenryu was the one that had to be more of an asshole to the outsiders. It not only gets the heat on Yatsu and Choshu but it also demonstrates the relationship between him and Jumbo. He is aggressive and brutal with his lariats. The exchanges between him and Choshu makes you clamor for a singles match between the two. 

I almost can’t find anything that is wrong with this match but it felt like it was missing a little bit of something. Maybe a more elaborate finishing stretch, maybe a little bit more heat on the outsider team. I’m not saying it’s those things. I don’t really know what it would be but if it had it I’d go a quarter star higher but it’s still a classic.

Final Rating - ****¾

Throwback Match Reviews: Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard (Mid-Atlantic) (11/28/1985)

 Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard (Mid-Atlantic) 11/28/1985

This was the famous I Quit Steel Cage Match for the United States Title. I can see why it was considered great for its time but it definitely does not hold up. It was a nice little brawl. The match is a victim of expectations for sure. The blood helped a lot. The match was 14 minutes and 44 seconds long but it honestly felt much longer than that. At times it felt as though they were fighting underwater. The “brutality” was tame even for its time. The match just wasn’t very good. The crowd helped a ton but it could not save it. It wasn’t a bad match. I was left unimpressed. This is one of the most overhyped matches of all time. My review for this is so short because I honestly did not feel a single thing from this match. Not joy, hate, anger, satisfaction nothing.

Final Rating - **¾

Throwback Match Reviews: Rick Martel vs Ric Flair (AJPW) (10/21/1985)

Rick Martel vs Ric Flair (AJPW) 10/21/1985

Unfortunately for the match I knew the result from the start but not because I was spoiled, but because you could see the finish coming from a mile away. It was a title unification match. Martel the AWA Heavyweight Champion against Flair the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. It is also 80s All Japan so add that to the mix to the politics of the match and some sort of “creative” finish is apparent. With all that said the match was pretty great. 

Both wrestlers’ performances made the match. Martel fit the fiery babyface role to perfection. His offense was intense and explosive and his control periods were pretty good. There was one early in the match when he had Flair in a side headlock, which is usually a boring spot, but he put some extra torque in the headlock which made it look like he was trying to rip Flair’s head off his shoulders. His comebacks were hot and his strikes were powerful. Flair’s offense was the opposite (in a good way). He was more precise with his holds. Every strike was well placed to get the maximum effect. For example whenever Martel would make a comeback he countered with some well placed knees to the abdomen in order to shut him down. Not only did they knock the wind out of Martel but they knocked the wind out of his comebacks. 

The back and forth battles were as you would expect from a Flair match. They were heated and intense and well executed. The early mat work was real crisp. Both wrestlers looked world champion caliber. The transitions improved the flow of the match and made sense whether it was a flurry of offense from Martel or a clever counter from Flair. 

There were a few spots, especially early in the match, that dragged a bit too long. There wasn’t really anything bad in those sections but they could have definitely been removed and it would not have taken anything away from the match. One of these spots in particular happened right before the climax of the match, which definitely hurt the flow.

The finish, predictably, saw both guys get counted out. It was the best way to do one of these non-finishes. I still would have preferred for a clean winner but what are you gonna do. The crowd was hot for the most part except in those slow periods as I mentioned before.

Final Rating - ****¼

Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (09/11/1985)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 09/11/1985

This was a great match to continue this rivalry. Super Tiger had defeated Fujiwara in the previous two bouts. The story of the entire match was that of Fujiwara trying to tame this wild animal and his flurry of attacks. From the start we get Tiger unleashing his devastating kicks. Fujiwara goes right after the left leg. Fujiwara’s attack on the leg was intense. He smoothly transitioned from hold to hold with great focus and intent. Tiger did an excellent job selling the leg while still throwing kicks with his right leg. Both wrestlers were consistent with their work. The match had great escalation that was properly done throughout. This first stage set the groundwork for the next phase.

Tiger countered Fujiwara’s leg attack by absolutely battering him with kicks with his other leg. He kicks him everywhere: on the legs, on the torso and on the head. These were some nasty kicks. At one point he does a spinning kick right to Fujiwara’s face while Fujiwara is backed up in a corner. I replayed the spot about five times. He also begins to kick him with his left leg in the torso in an act of defiance. It was a great no-sell but at the same time was still able to sell the leg. When Tiger would kick the torso with the right leg Fujiwara would go down with one or two kicks. With the left leg, Fujiwara took like four kicks but still did not go down. The kicks with the left leg were not as effective as the ones with the right leg. It’s a clever way to no-sell and sell at the same time. 

The escalation continued onto this third phase. Here it seemed both wrestlers have had enough of each other’s BS and just starting throwing suplexes and some nasty strikes. It was Tiger’s frustration that got the best of him here. He drifted away from what was working for him earlier in the match. At one point he even tried to do a Fujiwara armbar which Fujiwara easily escaped. The finish saw Fujiwara reverse a suplex attempt with an elbow to the face and some other type of armbar (I’m bad with move names). It was a bit anticlimactic even though I understand what they were going for. They wanted to go for the quick “gotcha” victory in order to show Tiger’s mistake. They could have reincorporated the leg here to really hammer home the point they were trying to make. Fujiwara finally gets the win against Tiger and did so by staying consistent with his plan.

Final Rating - ****¼

 

Throwback Match Reviews: Jaguar Yokota vs Lioness Asuka (AJW) (08/22/1985)

Jaguar Yokota vs Lioness Asuka (AJW) 08/22/1985

This was an amazing match with excellent performances from both wrestlers. The selling in this match was superb, especially from Asuka. Her selling made the slower periods of the match where she was getting her leg worked over interesting. Yokota was great at selling too. They had an exchange of leg holds for a great portion of the match. It was a back-and-forth battle but with leg holds, it was very unique and well done. The execution of the submission holds was great. The transitions were smooth. The offense was incredible. Both wrestlers showed they are top tier workers. The crowd was hot throughout the entire thing, even during the mat work. That proves that the story they told with the exchanging of holds really paid off. After those exchanges they went into a battle of harder moves like suplexes and powerbombs. Everything looked viscous. The transition from the first portion to this second one was flawless. It made the entire match flow effortlessly.

The one critique that brings this match down for me is how they forgot about the leg work towards the end of the match. Now I’m not usually one of these selling fetishists but there was almost no reincorporation of the leg work. They did bring it back for the finish when Yokota did a sort of leg crusher and then hooked the leg during the german suplex. This saved the match from being any worse. 

Final Rating - ****½

Throwback Match Reviews: Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase (Mid-South) (03/22/1985)

Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase (Mid-South) 03/22/1985

This was a nice little brawl. I had to read up on the history of this match to find out what was going on with the tuxedos. It did not ease my mind at all. This was a blood feud but it looked so ridiculous with both men wearing tuxedos. They looked like high school teachers chaperoning prom. Duggan is the weird history teacher that has no control of his classroom and everyone does what they please and DiBiase is the ex football star at the same school but is now a washed up gym teacher that hits on the female students. They got into the spiked punch bowl and started fighting. It did not fit the intended tone of it all. It was a loser leaves town cage match street fight. I thought I was going to get something visceral. The rest of the match was your typical southern heel/face dynamic with all the possible tropes: blading, gimmicks on a pole, powder thrown in face. Duggan’s punch with the coal miner’s glove was pretty awesome though.

Final Rating - **¾