Von Erichs vs. Freebirds (7/4/83)

2 out of 3 falls Six Man Tag Match for the WCCW Six Man Trophy: The Von Erichs (Kevin, David and Kerry) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael "P.S." Hayes, Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy and Buddy Roberts)

WCCW Saturday Night Wrestling - July 4, 1983

After the Freebirds screwed Kerry Von Erich out of the world title in December, a war started between the two factions that launched Texas wrestling into the stratosphere. They fought all throughout the year and this match is their biggest one to date. 12,000 fans jam packed the Dallas Sportatorium to witness a 2 out of 3 falls match for the Freebirds Six Man Trophy. The Freebirds enter to "Georgia On My Mind" by Willie Nelson to piss off the Texas crowd and it works like a charm. The crowd sounds like they're gonna kill the Freebirds. The mood immediately changes though when The Von Erichs enter to "La Grange" by ZZ Top and the crowd explodes. Seriously, there are so many girls gleefully screaming that it's like the Beatles are entering the ring. They barely get through the crowd because they're so swarmed with people.

This match is old school southern wrestling at its best. The crowd is insane the whole match and they just keep getting louder. It's a fun, fast paced match with no gimmicks and no frills. The Freebirds cheat like dirty bastards and the Von Erichs use their athleticism and pure skill to outwrestle them. It's a classic battle of good vs. evil. As David Von Erich said, "It's not about Von Erich vs Freebird. It's not about Texas vs. Georgia. It's about decency vs. filth."

Link here.

Hogan vs. Inoki (6/2/83)

1983 International Wrestling Gran Prix Tournament Final: Antonio Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan

New Japan Pro Wrestling - June 2, 1983

Antonio Inoki is God in Japan. He founded New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, fought Ali in a wrestler vs. boxer match in '76 and made "The Greatest" look like a fool, and won every major tournament and title in NJPW over the last 10 year period. Now he's up against a young new sensation. An extremely charismatic American named Hulk Hogan who has captured the hearts of the Japanese audience. This is the finals of the inaugural International Wrestling Gran Prix, a tournament designed to decide who is not only the best in New Japan, but the entire world. The prize is a huge trophy and a brand new shiny IWGP belt.

This is a battle of seemingly invincible men. It's a brutal heavyweight match not unlike a boxing main event. The biggest star in Japan, a world class veteran in a prime that seems to never end versus the man who would become the biggest star in the United States and the entire history of wrestling. Inoki brings his martial arts influenced "strong style" and Hogan brings his power and even takes Inoki to the mat and succeeds at Inoki's own game. If you want to see what Hogan was like before Hulkamania, this is as good a place as any to see it.

P.S. I must admit, Hogan was pretty handsome before he had peroxide hair and the skin of a hot dog.

Link here.

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/23/83)

NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship: Tiger Mask (c) vs. The Dynamite Kid

New Japan Pro Wrestling - April 23, 1983

In 1981, The Dynamite Kid was already well established in Canada from his feud with a young Bret Hart. So he went to Japan to show off his hard hitting European style in front of new audiences and make a lot more money. After establishing himself there, a flashy young newcomer came along. The extremely skilled Satoru Sayama was put under a mask and played a character adapted from a children's cartoon series. Tiger Mask immediately made an impact by defeating Dynamite and thus sparked an absolute war. These two feuded for the next two years, putting on an absolute classic every time they were in the ring together. And Dynamite could never beat Tiger Mask. Now, this is their final meeting. With Dynamite desperate to finally win, he'll pull out every trick in the book.

When you consider where everyone else was at in wrestling at the time, you realize how innovative these two were. They were doing moves that people wouldn't be regularly doing for another 10 years. They invented junior heavyweight wrestling together. With Dynamite's brutal European style and vise-like submissions mixed with Tiger Mask's flashy aerial moves and razor sharp kicks, you can see the foundation being laid for wrestling as we know it today. A legendary match between two legendary men.

Links: part 1, part 2,  part 3

Steamboat/Youngblood vs Slaughter/Kernodle (3/12/83)

Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood

MACW Final Conflict - March 12, 1983

Today we go from one cage match in one territory to another. Slaughter and his army had been terrorizing the Mid-Atlantic territory for months and Steamboat and Youngblood were a hot young tag team with a bright future ahead of them. After a back and forth battle of wills, it finally came down to this. Both teams locked inside of a cage. Winner takes all. If Steamboat and Youngblood win, they get the belts. But if Slaughter and Kernodle win, the babyfaces must split up and never team again. This match starts slow, with lots of headlocks and technical wrestling. But once it gets going it gets intense. Brutal cage bumps, tons of blood and Sgt. Slaughter (of all people!) diving off the top of the cage like he's Jimmy frickin' Snuka. A hell of a match if you're patient enough to get through the opening sequence. By the way, you can totally tell Steamboat was destined to be a wrestling god here. And Youngblood wasn't far behind, but he tragically died only a few years after this.

Link to the whole event here.

Welcome/Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (12/25/82)

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I am an extremely bored person with too much time on my hands, too much knowledge about professional wrestling than is considered "socially acceptable", and too much enthusiasm over that fact. I'm going to be exploring matches throughout wrestling history, explaining the storylines behind them and offering my opinions on the match and why you should watch it if you haven't already. So without further ado, this is the first match I'll be reviewing.

Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs Kerry Von Erich

WCCW Christmas Star Wars - December 25, 1982

In June of 1982, wrestling legend and 6 time world champion Harley Race was the clear number one contender for the world title. He came to Texas' WCCW to defend that claim against the young second generation Kerry Von Erich. In a fairly shocking upset Kerry defeated Race, thus cementing himself as number one contender and a definite star in the making.

The next challenge would be even tougher though, as the champion was arguably the greatest wrestler of all time, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Only in his first reign, Flair was only beginning to enter his prime and he was already the best wrestler in the world. The two finally faced off in August in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the title with a specially appointed NWA referee to prevent supposed "bias" from the local referees towards Kerry Von Erich. In the decisive fall of the match, Kerry accidentally struck the referee, resulting in a disqualification and a victory for Flair. Due to the controversy surrounding the match, Kerry's father Fritz lobbied for a rematch.

The match was finally signed for that December. And to avoid another controversy, the match was made to be contested in a Steel Cage. And to even further assure a fair match, Kerry's buddy Michael Hayes was appointed as special guest referee. Hayes also brought his Freebird tag team partner Terry Gordy to be a special outside enforcer and guard the cage door.

The match was a stark contrast to their technical match in the summer. It started that way, but it quickly devolved into a bloody war. At some point in the match, Hayes cheats on Kerry's behalf to ensure his victory. The straight laced, humble Von Erich doesn't take too kindly to that refuses to win the world title that way. Hayes doesn't take to kindly to that. And Gordy doesn't take too kindly to Von Erich not taking too kindly to that. And the Von Erich family doesn't take too kindly to that. And one slam of a cage door on Kerry's skull later, the most brutal blood feud in Texas history began.

If you like old school 'rasslin, you'll love this match. The best is yet to come, but I figured this was a good starting point. Plus you get to see the beginning of one of the greatest angles in wrestling history. And that's always fun.

WWE Network link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31314737

Thanks for reading this blog. I've thought about doing it for a while and I finally got around to it. Spread the word. :)