Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,
Even though I was born in 1989, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes is a huge part of my life and I was deeply devastated by his sudden, unexpected passing a few days prior. Within the past week, I was having a rather rough work week like we all have had in our lives. I was walking the trail outside my work in the evening to clear my head and get ready back to grind out another report. I called my buddy up and we started to chit chat. Subconsciously, I just started doing a Dusty impression to answer one of my friend's questions and as a non-wrestling fan she was like what the fuck. I just did that for the rest of the phone conversation for like half an hour to amuse myself. She could barely understand DaAmericanDreamDustyRhodes wax philosophic about "waffle-legging" and "repetenda" and was growing quite pissed , but I was laughing my ass off. It was the best I had felt in weeks and was ready to get back knock out some more work. Thank you for all the memories and all the inspiration, Big Dust! He is one of the few wrestlers that every single time I would see him on the TV screen, I would smile just because his mere presence was enjoyable. To honor Dusty Rhodes, I will continue to live my life just like he did, on the end of a lightning bolt! Rest in peace, Dusty and condolences to all his family and his friends. Even though he may have passed, the American Dream will live in the hearts of every wrestling fan. I love you, Big Dust & Gold Bless You!
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| Busty Dusty! :p |
This wrestling death is the one that has hit me the hardest since the passing of my favorite wrestler, "Macho Man" Randy Savage. I have watched Macho Man's big time runs to death, but his ICW and Mempho runs remained unseen and it only furthered his cause to be ranked among the greatest wrestlers of all time. What this particular run really shed light on was Macho Man's irresistible charisma and how it was already present well before his WWF run. In a short year and half, he proved he could be the most hated villain against Jerry Lawler infuriating fans with cowardly antics, his incessant cheating and downright despicable behavior. With a flip of a switch, he could channel that effusive energy to being cheered rabidly by the Memphis faithful. You will be hard pressed to ever find a wrestler as over as Randy Savage was on September 10, 1984 at Mid-South Coliseum. It is something that should be seen to be truly appreciated. As literally every movement caused a raucous ovation for the Macho Man, who was even more over than his tag partner, The King, dare I say. Memphis is a very fun promotion, but rarely did they ever possess a true star of Randy Savage and it was just incredible watching someone with Hogan, Dusty like charisma just ignite the promotion.
With all this praise for his Memphis, the best match I actually watched for this blog was for his father's outlaw International Championship Wrestling based out of Lexington, KY. The footage for the ICW is scant, but one match we do have is Randy Savage, the star of the promotion, defending his championship against Ronnie Garvin in a fabulously violent steel cage match that is a must see for all wrestling fans and one of the greatest American wrestling matches of the 80s and maybe Randy Savage's best match. That is high praise, but deserved praise for one roller coaster of a match. Definitely check that one out!
ICW Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Ronnie Garvin - ICW Steel Cage 1982/1983
Best babyface Savage performance of his career besides the Savage/Flair GAB '95 match. Savage is an all-time great as a heel by being a totally despicable human and someone who always makes the babyface look like a million bucks. As a babyface, he relies a lot on his selling (he is world-class), but there is not much in the way of offense. The selling keeps it from feeling like an exhibition, but still I wish there would be more struggle in his babyface matches. I think that this cage match with Garvin really shows babyface Savage in a violent war over the ICW Championship. This should go down as one of the all-time great cage matches and reminder how great the stipulation can be. From the outset, they let us know that this is going to be a street fight with the way they were tussling over a front facelock and how they were clawing and choking each other. There was nothing pretty about it, but it was incredibly compelling. Unlike so many cage matches, it never felt claustrophobic, they were still able to brawl and use the cage as a weapon. We get double juice as these two just hate each other. Of course, this match features Savage's amazing trademark selling as he is staggered and collapsing after each hope spot. I love how the piledriver is treated like such a kill shot and each is doing all they can to avoid the other's. So much talk about Savage, but Garvin was awesome on top using the cage at will and choking Savage. He was a true heel. The best part of the match is in the middle of the match, a boxing match breaks out and two of the best working punches going at it. Down goes Garvin! Savage scampers on his knees to pin, but only two. I love the urgency! They are looking to end it in a most violent way, piledriver, but neither can get it. Savage misses his top rope elbow. Ruh roh! Garvin throws him into the ref and gets the belt and blasts Savage. He is hanging Savage and this match just ventured into classic territory. Savage kicks him off as a survival tactic. Savage throws the belt at Garvin to stop the top rope knee drop. HE PILEDRIVES HIM OFF THE TOP ROPE! THAT IS HOW YOU PAY OFF TEASES, BITCHES! Savage vs Lawler, here we come! ****3/4
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AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs Randy Savage
Memphis, Mid-South Coliesum 12/12/83, Steel Cage Match
"EVERYONE DIES!" Randy Savage's verbal ravings during the match.
I have seen this before, but never in full and honestly I have been underwhelmed by this match. Mostly because I was expecting OMG LAWLER VS SAVAGE~! and instead it was just a great match. I will say this match definitely features the two of the best working punches in history. I love Savage's windup right hand almost like how a pitcher in baseball wind ups before delivering a fastball. Savage is in full Memphis heel mode running away and stooging for Lawler's punches. Lawler starts the match off unusually red hot with furious punches. Savage spits on Lawler to get him so riled up that he makes a mistake and Savage applies a chinlock to quell his momentum. Lawler throws him into cage, which is set up to go to the floor and Savage is staggered and falls ass first to the outside in a great bump. Savage starts to fiddle with his tights so here comes the foreign object playing that is a hallmark of the Mempho territory. Savage rakes eyes maybe with the foreign object it is hard to see and now he just suffocates Lawler. Awesome working punches, the double axehandle to the floor and ramming him into the cage. Lawler is coming back with punches and wrestles the foreign object away from Savage and he drives into Savage's eye, naaaasty. Now, we get the problem with the match, if there was ever a Memphi/Lawler spotfest this is it. That sounds weird because Memphis is almost as anti-spotfest as you get, but here they are start just throwing out spots against each other. Savage misses an Elbow from the top of the Cage and that is just another spot in the middle of the match! Lawler thinks better of going to the top of the cage instead hits a flying bodypress for two. Savage is just up flying into the middle rope and then he is doing a tremendous airplane spin. The airplane spin would be so over in today's hipster culture, but I guess the Giant Swing is that, but more athletically impressive. They are both come out staggered and Lawler tags with a right! Like most Memphis matches, it is all about piledriver teases which I love, Savage headbutts him in the balls to stop one. Savage throws him into the cage, but STRAP DOWN~! Lawler with furious punches only to Jos LeDuc trigger the DQ in the cage match. That was a super lame finish, but it is tough to start the first match of a series off with a cage match. They really had to though because this feud was already so hot from Savage's promos on ICW TV and the interpromotional feud. So you had to do the cage match, but you wanted to get more out of the feud so you needed the shitty ending. It is all action, but it is just all over the place. Savage missing the top of the cage elbow was crazy, but treated like just another spot. Still a great match that should be seen, but it was no Savage vs Garvin. ****
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AWA Southern Champion Jerry Lawler vs NWA Mid-American Champion Randy Savage Lexington, KY 4/9/84
Lawler ventures to Savage's home turf, but crowd seems split as Jimmy Hart is in Savage's corner and Savage is in total heel mode. I loved the beginning with Savage using the hair only to have Lawler really whip him down by the hair and Savage throws a hissy fit. Savage is really into taking walks to break the rhythm of the King. Savage is such a great character. If this was 1997, he would have decked a camera man or ring announcer that was all that was missing. Definitely one of all time favorite stallers. I wish wrestling had more bullshit stalling in it today. There is a great moment where if you pay close attention to Savage's face you see how terrified he is of Lawler's closed fist so he quickly yanks him down by the hair. Fear is a powerful driver and I love how that pushes him to cheat to avoid the dangerous Lawler right. Lawler does some real nice technical mat wrestling with a back heel trip into a headscissors into a sort of mini-piledriver. Very cool. Savage crawls out of the ring while in the headscissors and he is takes advantage to cheapshot Lawler and sends him into the post. Everything is focused on the head of Lawler and Savage is just relentless hitting him in the head whenever. He would run himself ragged to set up different ways to stomp or punch him in the head. The double axehandle to the floor is such a perfect move of the character Savage had cultivated. There was literally no place you were safe from this wildman. Lawler has to resort to throwing a drink into Savage's eyes and blasts him with a right one after another. They trade misses, first Lawler misses a fist drop then Savage misses elbow drop and then Lawler misses his top rope fist drop. I really like that sequence. This time Lawler is ready for Savage as he is coming off the top rope and nails him in the midsection with a fist. The King looks for the countout victory, but Savage has too much pride in his hometown to go down like that. This time it is Lawler with the low bridge to stop the Savage piledriver. STRAP DOWN~! Levels the Macho Man! Fist drop, but no ref thanks to Angelo & Jimmy Hart, Savage nails a piledriver. Still no referee and Savage gets frustrated leading to a Lawler roll up for the win. That was a very modern WWE finish. Again, I just did not feel like Savage vs Lawler reached that next level. I have seen their loser leaves town match a couple years ago and really liked that. Early on, I liked this better than the cage match because it was Savage and Lawler just ripping it up as their characters, but they have not put together that next level finish stretch. Both of them are coming back at will and trading spots with out that level of struggle and consequence that makes a match a classic. Still, again there is enough action that this is a quick watch and super entertaining. Still waiting for Lawler vs Savage the classic, but next up they actually tag up against Rick Rude & King Kong Bundy. 1984 Memphis was stacked! ****
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Randy Savage & Lanny Poffo vs Rock N Roll Express - Mid-South Coliseum 6/25/84
SAVAGE PILEDRIVES MORTON THROUGH THE TABLE! When I was a kid, we rented some video or found some TV show that had this angle on the tape. I literally remember nothing else on the video just Savage piledriving Ricky Morton through the table at ringside. Eat it, ECW! Talk about a hot and I mean double hot angle!
Absolutely tremendous! For what we got, this was on pace to be one of my favorite Memphis Wrestling matches of the 80s and on pace to be better than both Savage vs Lawler matches I have watched so far, but a premature DQ ending makes for a fun match rather than a classic. Wow, were these two teams made for each other! Savage and Poffo were perfect heel stooges for the Rock n Rolls and of course RnRs excel at giving the early crowd pleasing spots. I am such a mark for high-octane movement in the ring that ends with the heel either on his ass or falling on his face. There are plenty of those with Poffo and Savage trying to get one up on RnRs and failing spectacularly. My favorite spot was RnR did their normal spot of rolling through a banana split and decked Savage on the apron. They go to do it again, but Savage has learned his lesson so he jumps off the apron. He gets back on the apron and showboats only to be decked again. Popped huge for that! The transition to the heat segment was awesome with Gibson running into the top turnbuckle, but it was a fake out. In the ensuing fracas, Morton gets rammed into the post by Angelo and the short heat segment is worked perfectly. Savage and Poffo's control feels tenuous at best, which gives a really exciting feeling of when Gibson will make a tag, but Morton is out of it that it is hard for him to make a tag even when he gets a hope spot in. I know this is stating the obvious, but Morton sold perfectly in this match just enough to get sympathy, but was still active in trying to tag out. Great stuff! Savage is great at working a nasty heat segment with his wicked punches and full court press offense. Gibson finally gets in, but before he can do any really damage, Angelo pulls down the top rope and he goes tumbling out for the premature DQ. At a scant nine minutes of awesomeness, I am definitely left wanting more to the point where the finish is frustrating. I am of the opinion that I rather get twenty minutes with this finish than just ten with this finish leaving the match feel underdeveloped. A brawl develops at ringside and this is where Savage piledrives Ricky Morton through the table. These two teams absolutely rocked it and I look forward to the rematch. ***3/4
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Randy Savage & Lanny Poffo vs Rock N Roll Express - Mid-South Coliseum 7/4/84
Savage vs Morton needed to happen! Just another one of those on paper classics that never happened. Plus instead of these shitty finishes, they could have put RnRs over in a tag setting, but with Savage going over clean one on one. Oh well, another great match from these two teams, but not quite on the level as the last match. The babyface shine featured what you expected with the RnRs getting the best of the Poffos, but there was not as many fun spots as the previous match and a lot of was just fun stalling. They gave more time for the heat segment in this go around and Randy Savage just looked huge here. Randy Savage looked like a colossal star in this match. 1984 had to be when Memphis was the most loaded with talent. The mid-80s definitely feels like the highwater mark for pro wrestling in terms of starpower in every territory. Today feels downright shallow compared to the depth of the 80s. Savage was all over the place as Lance Russell said in this match. Off a blind tag, Savage was able to sneak a quick jab to Morton's ribs and then threw him out only to come crashing down with the double axehandle. I loved Savage sneaking around the ring and coming up from behind to blast Morton. The entire heat segment was just potshot after potshot on Morton from the entire Poffo family including Angelo. Morton would do his best to use his movement to create opportunities to tag, but the Poffos always grabbed him at the last second. The highwater mark of this heat segment was Savage going for the piledriver on the table only to be back body dropped onto the table! He's hardcore! He's hardcore! He's hardcore! Finally Gibson comes in and is a house of fire climaxing with a nice superplex, which I actually thought would be the finish, but Savage/Morton brawl on the outside distracted the ref meaning Angelo came in and hit with the boot. The ref called for the bell. Morton came in and wrestled the boot out of his hands. Then there was a quick Savage/Morton brawl before the video cut out that looked fantastic. Oh! To have lived in Mempho in 1984! I preferred the June match, but this was still tons of fun. I just wish we got the classic that was clearly present with these two teams. Frustrating, but still happy we got what we got. Looking forward to more Savage and more Morton throughout the 80s! ***1/2
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Jerry Lawler & Randy Savage vs. King Kong Bundy & Rick Rude - Memphis 9/10/84
Randy Savage was over like all get out! He was more over than fucking Lawler! It was insane; literally every movement got a huge reaction from the crowd. He could have blown his nose in the middle of the ring and gotten a pop. He came over like a massive star in this match as time would tell he would go to be arguably the second biggest wrestling star of the 80s (Andre would be the only one in contention). It was just irresistible not to have fun while watching this match especially the awesome shine to start the match. Savage's wildman antics are hilarious and garnering a huge pop from the audience. The posedown with Rude gets tremendous heat. Did they ever lock up in WWF? That would have been one helluva combination. Against Bundy, when Bundy grabbed a chair, he grabbed the steel post that sectioned off the fans from the wrestlers. Gotta love Savage! The stall-o-rama here wears on me. Savage executes a crazy airplane spin, probably the more rotational speed I have ever seen. The shine finally ends with Bundy catching Lawler with size. It is shocking to see Lawler get outshined, but in this match Savage just had the extra je ne sais quoi that it was hard even for the King to compete with. Rude and Bundy actually make for a badass tag team combination. Rude gets a piledriver and is a heat machine. Bundy is very agile for his size and he should have been a bigger star. The crowd wants Savage in so bad. Bundy misses a kneedrop and Lawler fires up to tag out to the Macho Man. Savage nails the fucking ref in the fracas. There is a great post-match brawl between all four with Savage pinning Rude down with the steps and Lawler hitting Bundy with the chair. The beginning was the best part, but it was heated throughout and set up the No DQ match a week later really well. The big story here is that the Macho Man is ready for primetime and has a star power that only few like a Hogan or Flair possess. ****
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Jerry Lawler & Randy Savage vs. King Kong Bundy & Rick Rude - Memphis 9/17/84, No DQ
It is not often the place-setter match for the wild brawl outshines, but unfortunately that is the case here. I was all revved up for a raucous, bitchin time. Don't get me wrong the match was good, but it was not the classic brawl that I think that these four could have. It is Texas Tornado style. I love the name Texas Tornado whoever came up with that is a genius. Bundy gets a chair broken over his head in the first big spot of the match, while Rude is earning his money with his excellent stooging. Savage comes flying out of the sky to the floor with a double axehandle twice. Rude hits an atomic drop, which is not as cool as him taking one. Bundy and Rude are able to isolate Lawler and beat him down. In the sequence of the match, Rude bounces Savage's head off the table and THROWS a table at him! However, The Macho Man came prepared with a chain and is able to nail Rude with it. In the ring, Bundy lays a table on The King and just stands on it. OW! Savage saves with his handy, dandy chain. STRAP DOWN~! Lawler has the chain and nails Rude. Piledriver! Lawler fist drop onto Bundy with the chain, but that snake in the grass Jimmy Hart grabs the ref's hand as it is falling. Savage hits a back suplex on Rude, but pins himself!?!?!?!? WTF, MATE! That's a finish for a classic championship match or a TV title match nearing a draw not for a heated brawl. Very lame finish for the context of the match. There were some nice spots, but I did not think this had the intensity it needed to overcome such a lame finish. ***1/2
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AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Jerry Lawler
Memphis, Mid-South Coliesum 6/3/85, Loser Leaves Town, No DQ
This is the anti-workrate classic. It proves that you don't need flashy MOVEZ~! and action every second to deliver a highly entertaining bout for the ages. In the first five minutes, there are only three punches thrown, but that is all they need to tell their story. In interim, you have the lunacy of Savage taking center stage, jawing with the crowd, spitting and throwing chairs in the ring. Savage is such a despicable, cowardly human in the outset that he works everyone in Memphis into lather. When he does eventually lock up with The King, Lawler is smart enough to know he is not going to get a clean break in the ropes. He blocks the Savage right and nails him right in the nose. The crowd roars and Savage sells it beautifully. They work this sequence again and on the third time when Savage thinks he has it figured out, Lawler ducks and puts him on his ass with a right cross. It is electric. Savage gets up pissed, humiliated and discombobulated. He puts arms out like an X over his forearm to defend himself and looks ridiculous. When Savage does manage to get control, Lawler immediately low blows him. He is not taking any chances in a high stakes Loser Leaves Town match. At this point, there is a cut in the action and thanks to Lance Russell’s time calls, it seems we are missing 13 minutes of this match, which is about half the match. The best spot of the match is when The King is trying to recuperate on the apron and Savage comes crashing into him with a high knee, which sends him flying onto the table in a Holy Shit bump! Lance lets us know that he has a cut around his eye. Later on in the match, we get a feel of just how nasty this cut is. Savage is a damn animal working that cut and torturing Lawler, who is screaming and staggering. The drama is really building that Lawler may lose because there seems no way out. Then just when you think all hope is lost, Lawler seems to be absorbing the punches. You think you have seen this story before, but then Savage really rears back and unleashes a devastating barrage of punches onto the eye of Lawler and then gnawing it. Savage forced the hand of Jerry Calhoun, senior Memphis ref, to save Lawler’s vision and call the match off. The crowd was in shock and Lawler was appalled. He got on the house mic and said Savage would have to pin him to the mat 1-2-3, his eyesight be damned! Lawler was granted his wish and Savage pounced on his eye, but now The King’s dander had been raised and he was really fighting on adrenaline. He unleashes one helluva comeback. Having watched a good chunk of Lawler, his comeback is what makes him truly special. It is absolutely insanely great energy! It is onslaught of fist drops and then a fatal PILEDRIVER~! That sends Macho Man out of Mempho out the door to the Big Apple and The King continues his reign!
The first half of this match is an excellent exhibition of how you can work a compelling match without MOVEZ~! And focus on character work. The second half is one of the most dramatic and violent endings to any match. The big problem is we are missing 13 minutes of 28 minutes, if we had it this match may be a candidate for the greatest match of all time. As is, I have a problem with deeming it a classic with really what is a disjointed because of the massive cut. What see is truly awesome and is a must see for any wrestling fan! ****1/4
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