This review is dedicated to the memories of all the featured wrestlers who have died. R.I.P.
Special thanks to Memphis Wrestling History 1959-1993 for the Memphis dates.
This tape is a compilation of matches and interviews from the major non-WWF territories of the mid-80's, focusing primarily on Memphis, World Class, and the Mid-Atlantic. The matches range from Race-Dory from 1973 to the Road Warriors-Fabulous Ones from Memphis. It is also the very first wrestling videotape.
Your hosts are "The Dean of Wrestling Announcers" Gordon Solie and then-Pro Wrestling Illustrated editor Bill Apter, with various announcers during the different segments.
Opening match: The Junkyard Dog vs. The Missing Link (w/Gen. Skandor Akbar) From the First David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, Texas Stadium, Irving, TX, May 6, 1984.
Akbar was the manager of Devastation Inc., the premiere heel stable in Texas for years. Link attacks with punches before the bell, but gets wiped out almost immediately by JYD. JYD dominates, allowing the Link to bump like, well, a freak. JYD chairs him a few times, but it doesn't go anywhere because of how hard the Link's head is. JYD continues the attack with headbutts and kneelifts. Link bangs JYD's head against the turnbuckle, but JYD no-sells it, so Link bangs his own head against the turnbuckle. JYD gets down on all fours and hits a few charging headbutts. Link tries for the diving headbutt (not a Dynamite Kid swandive; it's done by standing on the second rope and twisting around) but it misses. JYD covers but Akbar breaks up the pin. Link hits the diving headbutt and Akbar holds onto JYD's leg for the pin. Clipped to a second ref, Bronko Lubich, reversing the decision. JYD tosses Link to the floor, where he picks up the wooden steps and bangs them against his head a few times. Winner: JYD by DQ. 1 for 1.
Dog-collar Chain Match: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. From NWA Starrcade '83, The Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC, November 24, 1983.
OH YEAH BABY! The angle is that Valentine damaged Piper's ear, causing partial hearing loss, and Piper wants revenge. Valentine was the NWA United States Heavyweight Champion at the time, but the match is non-title. This is a vicious, bloody brawl, and a damn good one. Piper is the face here. Piper destroys Valentine with punches to start. Greg comes back with punches and elbows. Greg wraps the chain around Piper's eyes, head and throat. Piper hits a kneelift to begin the comeback. Piper wraps the chain around Valentine's mouth and nose. We're clipped to more Valentine punishment. Both guys bleed, and there's blood on the mat as well. Valentine attacks the bad ear, causing Piper to lose his balance. Solie is doing PBP here, and talks about how Piper's equilibrium could be gone. Greg hits a second rope elbow. He tries again, but Piper pulls him off with the chain, punches him a lot, and pins him. Huge pop for that. Great fight with great heat. Inside Wrestling's "The 100 Greatest Wrestlers of the Century" picked this as Piper's greatest match, and deservedly so. This is probably the best Piper match I've ever seen. 2 for 2.
Gordon and Bill talk about the development of flamboyance in wrestling. This leads to the next clip: Old TV footage of Gorgeous George's pre-match ritual, involving his valets spraying special air around the ring and an elaborate costume removal. Has to be seen to be appreciated. 3 for 3.
The discussion of George leads to a profile of "Exotic" Adrian Street, whose elitist, androgynous persona was ripped off by WWE for "Adorable" Adrian Adonis and, later, Rico. No footage of him wrestling though, which would have been better. Still, interesting if you've never seen him before. 4 for 4.
The discussion goes in an entirely different direction, as they now talk about football players who become wrestlers. Solie mentions Stan Hansen, Bobby Duncum (Sr.), and JYD. This bring us to our next clip, featuring Chief Wahoo McDaniel. McDaniel is shown in a tag-team match, where one of his opponents is Bob Orton, but I can't recognize anyone else. Still, this was OK. 5 for 5.
"The Madman from the Sudan" Abdullah the Butcher vs. Carlos Colon. From NWA Starrcade '83, The Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC, November 24, 1983.
OH HELL YEAH! This was probably the longest-running, bloodiest and greatest feud of all time. These guys fought each other for decades in the World Wrestling Council promotion in Puerto Rico, with one bloodbath after another. Colon is one of the promoters of WWC, the father of Carlito and Primo (Eddie) Colon and the uncle of Orlando (Epico) Colon. He also assisted in the coverup that allowed Jose "Invader I" Gonzalez to get away with murdering Bruiser Brody in Puerto Rico on July 17, 1988. This one is about blood and brutality, plain and simple. Colon actually dominates Abby at the start of the clip, busting him open with some kind of weapon, and hitting elbows, legdrops and knees. Abby kicks out of a pin, causing a ref bump. Abby goes for the Sudanese Meat Cleaver (elbow drop), but hits the ref instead, which gets a face pop. Colon makes the comeback and gets a figure-four. However, Colon's old rival Hugo Savinovich, Abby's manager in the WWC, interferes and strikes Colon with a weapon, which breaks up the figure-four and allows Abby to get the pin. 6 for 6, easy.
The discussion about feuds continues. Solie mentions that one way to end a feud is with a loser-leaves-town match. This goes into the next clip, a Jerry "The King" Lawler-"Superstar" Bill Dundee Loser-Leaves-Town match from Memphis. Hey, what a surprise, Lawler wins. 6 for 7.
Footage from the Jerry "The King" Lawler-Andy Kaufman feud, including Kaufman getting beat up in the ring and Kaufman cutting a great "I'm from Hollywood" anti-Southern heel promo in April 1982. Great feud. 7 for 8.
NWA World Heavyweight Title: Dory Funk Jr. (c) vs. "Handsome" Harley Race. Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS, March 24, 1973.
Clipped to the third fall of the match. Dory hits a Butterfly Suplex for two, which the announcer calls a "full-nelson reverse suplex." (Actually, that's a Dragon Suplex.) Race hits a Belly-to-Back Suplex, but misses the falling headbutt. Dory covers, but only gets two. Dory argues with the ref about the count. Race comes back, knees Dory and hits a vertical suplex for the pin and his first NWA title. Seven more would follow. Harley gets a big face pop for the pin. 8 for 9, easy.
NWA World Heavyweight Title Cage match: "Handsome" Harley Race (c) vs. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. From NWA Starrcade '83, The Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC, November 24, 1983.
OH HELL YEAH! Clipped to show the best moments. Flair is the face here. Race controls, sending Flair headfirst into the cage. Race hits an over-the-shoulder powerslam for two. Both guys bleed. Flair lets out a "Whoo!," hits a kneedrop, then struts to get himself going again. Flair hits a piledriver for 1. Flair blocks Race's vertical suplex and hits his own. Flair's elbow drop misses. Race gets mad and headbutts special referee Gene Kiniski. Flair escapes Race's attack and hits a top-rope bodypress for the pin and title #2. Classic stuff. 9 for 10.
Clip of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard. There's no commentary. Tully dominates for a bit. We're clipped to Dusty's comeback with his usual crappy offense before he gets the figure-four for the win. 9 for 11.
WCCW World 6-Man Tag Team Title: The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy/Michael "P.S." Hayes/Buddy Jack Roberts) (c) vs. The Von Erichs (Fritz/Mike/Kevin). From The First David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, Texas Stadium, Irving, TX, May 6, 1984.
One of my favorite World Class matches ever. It's basically a brawl, with the usual awful Birds offense. Hayes pulls off a whopping TWO wrestling moves, a bodyslam and a clothesline. Fritz whips Hayes with a belt, and goes for the Iron Claw, but Gordy blocks it. Hayes comes back and uses his boot. Roberts demonstrates his usefulness by doing something that involves thrusting his belt buckle at his opponent's head. Fritz gets Iron Claws on Hayes and Roberts, until Gordy breaks up the hold. More chaos. Hayes bleeds. Finally, Kevin hits a flying bodypress on Roberts for the pin and the titles. 10 for 12.
Performance of "Heaven Needed a Champion" for David Von Erich, from the same show.
NWA World Heavyweight Title: "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) vs. "The Modern-Day Warrior" Kerry Von Erich. From The First David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, Texas Stadium, Irving, TX, May 6, 1984.
My other all-time favorite World Class match. Clipped to the end. Kerry goes for the Claw, but Flair knees him to escape. Flair goes to the top, and, of course, gets slammed off by Kerry. Flair, of course, begs off in the corner. Incomplete Flair Flip. Flair tries the figure-four twice, and Kerry kicks out both times. Kerry hits a backslide for the pin and his only NWA Title. Huge pop and a great match. 11 for 13.
Clip of Ricky Steamboat vs. Tully Blanchard. Again, no commentary. However, Steamboat on a tape gets an automatic point. 12 for 14.
NWA World Heavyweight Title Rematch: "The Modern-Day Warrior" Kerry Von Erich (c) vs. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. From AJPW Grand Champion Carnival II 1984, Yokosuka City Gym, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, May 24, 1984.
Clipped to the finish, as they go through a series of pinfall reversals until Flair gets a reverse rollup for the pin and title #4. 13 for 15.
Hair vs. Mask: "The Boogie-Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant vs. Assassin #2 (w/Paul Jones), Boogie Man Jam '84, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC, March 17, 1984.
This was another match in the seemingly endless feud pitting Valiant and various allies against Paul Jones' Army. Clipped. Valiant hits the Elbow Drop of Doom for the pin. He then unmasks the Assassin, and it's Ray Fernandez, better known as Hercules. Again, no commentary. Pointless. Valiant sucked anyway. 13 for 16.
The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) vs. The Moondogs (Rex and Spot) (w/"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart) From the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN, January 9, 1984.
Match is a total brawl. The Moondogs throw the Fabs into tables in the ring, but they don't go through them. The Fabs come back and do the same to the Moondogs. Belts get involved. Keirn bleeds. Cool spot as the Moondogs whip Keirn into the ropes while holding a belt, and Keirn breaks through the belt, causing the buckle to come loose and wipe out the Moondogs. More chaos. We don't get to see the ending, though. Still, the Fabs are one of my favorite teams ever, so 14 for 17.
Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Lanny Poffo (w/"Mr. 6033" Angelo Poffo) vs. The Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson). From CWA Star Wars '84, the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN, June 25, 1984.
Clipped to Savage piledriving Morton through a table. This was one of the first ever table spots, and Solie warns the viewer about it beforehand. 15 for 18.
The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) (w/"Precious" Paul Ellering). From the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN, July 23, 1984.
A huge wild brawl, but there's no ending. 16 for 19.
Solie and Apter recap the show.
Closing montage set to George Thorogood and the Destroyers' version of "Willie and the Hand Jive." Includes everything from "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin's valets Precious and Sunshine getting into a catfight to the Great Kabuki blowing red mist into JYD's face. (For the record, Kabuki did that gimmick first, and the Great Muta's gimmick was meant as a tribute to Kabuki.) Flair and Steamboat clips bring the goodness. Way too much Dusty and Valiant though. Still, a fun mix. 17 for 20.
The Bottom Line: A fun tape with a good mix of old and then-current wrestling action. Recommended- if you can find it.