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| Mil Mascaras |
16. Dory & Terry Funk Vs. Mil Mascaras & Jose Lothario (1/7/79)
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I have limited exposure to 3 out of the 4 men here (and I'm not even truly that well-versed in Terry Funk), so this is exciting on paper. Bruce Tharpe is on commentary again, which I alternate between loving and loathing, loving because he is a pretty high quality commentator, loathe because it happens to take me out of the actual "vintage" feel at times, especially with the shilling of the service I am already paying for. Lothario and Dory Funk both look pretty old here, Lothario in particular is quite flabby and rapidly balding. Mil and Terry both look like total studs. It's pretty amazing in
general that Dory Funk Jr. looks so old here, 36 years ago and I've managed to see matches of him wrestling in 2015 (though he is essentially a skeleton). The match starts and there is no real justification for why there are 2 refs, though they play a huge part in this match, nor is there a mention that this is a 2 out of 3 falls match - I guess I was just supposed to know. Match starts with Jose working over Dory's left arm and shoulder with a series of wringers and locks, before Terry gets tagged in and gets his head worked over. Jose wrenches particularly tight on Terry, blocking every escape attempt, including an interesting attempt at an irish whip, where Jose just holds to Terry, results in almost a bulldog. This happens for the first 10 minutes of the match. I'm no "ring psychology" expert, but this is definitely too long for a head/face lock. Terry gets out at some point, is able to get the spinning toe hold maneuver on for half a second before once again being capture in a headlock, this time by Mil Mascaras. Dory eventually gets tagged in, and him and Terry work over Jose, repeatedly double teaming, heeling it up and tossing him to the floor. In the ring, Dory hits a very simple body slam, elbow drop and gets the first fall.
During the intermission, Tharpe sells the "amazing camera work" during the instant replay of a body slam. The second fall has the most fire, with Terry and Dory working over Mil pretty hard, in the corner, with facelocks, etc - until Lothario comes back with his typical fiery right hands. Jose gets a really simple, "vintage" leg lock on Terry, works a couple of tags, and Jose winds up hitting a russian leg sweep on Dory before the pin. Quick fall, but much more fire than the previous. The third fall starts with Jose and Terry, with the Funks really ramping up their heel work. Terry will complain about closed fists and then Lothario with repeated jabs, it is very entertaining. Mil gets a quick 10-second shine with a headscissor and flying corssbody, Jose gets thrown outside, Terry hits a piledriver on the floor, thrown back in and gets a piledriver from Dory in the middle of the ring, kickout. Terry does an Okada roll on Mil in the corner, but is caught holding tights, ref tells him to break it up, Mil does the same Okada roll with tights on Terry and gets the win!
A decent match, but not great. Was entertaining from the mere fact of watch 4 actual living legends in the ring, knowing how to get heat. The ring work was minimal, the psychology wasn't too exciting and the crowd wasn't even truly that hot. That all said - it was 30 minutes and thus a lot of match was worked, and most of it enjoyable. The big take away for me is just how awesome piledrivers are. I know this, yet since we don't see them as often in 2015, I always forget. Love a piledriver. 2.75 stars
Apparently not, as it's revealed at the end of the match that Duggan (who is the final elimination, courtesy of Reed) is the one to leave town. I don't know how this makes a lick of sense, that he can outlast 4 other people, but because he takes the final fall is the loser? Bizarre 80s gimmicks, ladies and gents. Tito is the star here, honestly, having a few hot tags, great reversals and moving at a speed that puts the rest to shame. Kruschev/Darsow actually looks pretty decent from an image perspective, but still can't work well. Has a couple of good punches, but doesn't do much else. Volkoff is a mess, Butch heels it up nice, playing a chickenshit throughout the match, even though he is clearly the most ripped dude by a wide margin. Duggan has a lot of fire, but his movements are just so awkward, like he's always about to fall over his own feet. He does a flying crossbody early in the match and he lands on the mat like 3 times in one move, in a way that only Duggan can. People get elimated via countout and DQ (Boo), and ultimately Duggan loses because of interference. The only "clean" elimination is when Tito pins Volkoff after a BOTCHED knee/apparent kickout. The match is a mess, but at least the crowd is hot. 1.5 stars
general that Dory Funk Jr. looks so old here, 36 years ago and I've managed to see matches of him wrestling in 2015 (though he is essentially a skeleton). The match starts and there is no real justification for why there are 2 refs, though they play a huge part in this match, nor is there a mention that this is a 2 out of 3 falls match - I guess I was just supposed to know. Match starts with Jose working over Dory's left arm and shoulder with a series of wringers and locks, before Terry gets tagged in and gets his head worked over. Jose wrenches particularly tight on Terry, blocking every escape attempt, including an interesting attempt at an irish whip, where Jose just holds to Terry, results in almost a bulldog. This happens for the first 10 minutes of the match. I'm no "ring psychology" expert, but this is definitely too long for a head/face lock. Terry gets out at some point, is able to get the spinning toe hold maneuver on for half a second before once again being capture in a headlock, this time by Mil Mascaras. Dory eventually gets tagged in, and him and Terry work over Jose, repeatedly double teaming, heeling it up and tossing him to the floor. In the ring, Dory hits a very simple body slam, elbow drop and gets the first fall.During the intermission, Tharpe sells the "amazing camera work" during the instant replay of a body slam. The second fall has the most fire, with Terry and Dory working over Mil pretty hard, in the corner, with facelocks, etc - until Lothario comes back with his typical fiery right hands. Jose gets a really simple, "vintage" leg lock on Terry, works a couple of tags, and Jose winds up hitting a russian leg sweep on Dory before the pin. Quick fall, but much more fire than the previous. The third fall starts with Jose and Terry, with the Funks really ramping up their heel work. Terry will complain about closed fists and then Lothario with repeated jabs, it is very entertaining. Mil gets a quick 10-second shine with a headscissor and flying corssbody, Jose gets thrown outside, Terry hits a piledriver on the floor, thrown back in and gets a piledriver from Dory in the middle of the ring, kickout. Terry does an Okada roll on Mil in the corner, but is caught holding tights, ref tells him to break it up, Mil does the same Okada roll with tights on Terry and gets the win!
A decent match, but not great. Was entertaining from the mere fact of watch 4 actual living legends in the ring, knowing how to get heat. The ring work was minimal, the psychology wasn't too exciting and the crowd wasn't even truly that hot. That all said - it was 30 minutes and thus a lot of match was worked, and most of it enjoyable. The big take away for me is just how awesome piledrivers are. I know this, yet since we don't see them as often in 2015, I always forget. Love a piledriver. 2.75 stars
17. Junkyard Dog, Jim Duggan & Tito Santana Vs. Nikolai Volkoff, Krusher Khruschev & Butch Reed (1/27/84)
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I've already established that I believe Butch Reed has potential to be one of my favorite dudes from around this period, though he hasn't really shown it yet. Tito Santana is already one of my favorite dudes of the 80s - perhaps THE perfect babyface, of the mid-late 80s, full of fire and easy to sympathy with. Doesn't cheat like Hogan, but just uses his athleticism and skill to win people over. I've also read on a message board that this is a pretty bad match. Spoiler: it is. From an entertinament standpoint, the match is actually pretty good. You have a lot of star power here, people who can work the crowd, work each other and a bunch of good brawlers, but there just seems to be a lot of miscommunication from everyone involved. Blown spots, unclear eliminations, and more. The match is announced as being a match in which the "loser must leave town for 60 days", but it is a 6-man elimination match. So does that mean everyone eliminated has to leave town for 2 months?
Apparently not, as it's revealed at the end of the match that Duggan (who is the final elimination, courtesy of Reed) is the one to leave town. I don't know how this makes a lick of sense, that he can outlast 4 other people, but because he takes the final fall is the loser? Bizarre 80s gimmicks, ladies and gents. Tito is the star here, honestly, having a few hot tags, great reversals and moving at a speed that puts the rest to shame. Kruschev/Darsow actually looks pretty decent from an image perspective, but still can't work well. Has a couple of good punches, but doesn't do much else. Volkoff is a mess, Butch heels it up nice, playing a chickenshit throughout the match, even though he is clearly the most ripped dude by a wide margin. Duggan has a lot of fire, but his movements are just so awkward, like he's always about to fall over his own feet. He does a flying crossbody early in the match and he lands on the mat like 3 times in one move, in a way that only Duggan can. People get elimated via countout and DQ (Boo), and ultimately Duggan loses because of interference. The only "clean" elimination is when Tito pins Volkoff after a BOTCHED knee/apparent kickout. The match is a mess, but at least the crowd is hot. 1.5 stars
18. Jerry Grey & Eddie Gilbert Vs. The Fantastics (7/26/85)
I was actually very excited to see this was coming up on my watch list because over the past couple of months, I have been compiling a list of Fantastics matches to watch since they are a team a lot of people are high on and are totally off my radar. Also - I love Eddie Gilbert's character work. But not to spoil anything - Jerry Grey is the one who stole my heart during this mediocre match.
The video itself is about 17 minutes long, but it feels like about 10 of those minutes are spent on The Fantastics entrance (to "Sharp Dressed Man"), where they seem to kiss and hug every single woman and child in the audience, while simultaneously high fiving every dude. I've been racking my brain trying to find people as over at this and am having a hard time coming up with many answers - I know they get called "Blow-Job Babyfaces" and what not, but it's like a boy-band has arrived, and that's not something I have seen much of in wrestling (and yes, I have watched very little of the Von Erich's in Texas). It's interesting to see the team lean into the crowd just barely and women literally kiss them on the mouth. Livin' the life in some sparkly vests, boys.
Grey and Bobby Fulton start and in the first few lockups, I'm loving Grey, who looks like a smaller, more sleazy Ted DiBiase. He immediately accuses Fulton of yanking on his hair to the ref, over and over - getting the crowd into a roaring frenzy. Fulton eventually does get to work him over, and taunts Grey a couple of times with some ass shaking. Gilbert is tagged in out of frustration, but Fulton lands a huge punch combo that knocks Gilbert out cold, the selling reminding me of a knockdown in Punchout! Tommy Rogers finally gets in and is a freak of nature. Looks like Chris Benoit or Dynamite Kid or Paul Orndorff, just ripped to the gills and amazingly quick. As the match goes on, Grey begins to remind me of Gene Wilder with muscles and gets some nice knee drops in. They brawl to the outside, Grey drops Fulton across his throat on the bottom rope and the heels double team them. Grey misses an elbow drop, Fulton gets the hot tag to Rogers, and the Fantastics hit their finish of a front facelock/sunset flip combo for the win.
This is a match with a lot of talent and heat, but doesn't deliver on the match quality front. I know there are other matches featuring the men here, but as for now - this was mostly about character work and entertainment for me. 2.25 stars,
Sorry it took so long to get these out. I'm working on a new system, trying to find my voice, catching up with modern things too. I'll be back.
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