Pro Wrestling vol. 30: Best of Mid-South Wrestling 1983-1987 (Ted DiBiase, Jim Duggan, Butch Reed)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 30:

The Best of Mid-South Wrestling/Houston Wrestling 1983-1987

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This thirtieth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the conclusion of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Mid-South Wrestling between 1983-1987. The time period is set because this was the peak of the territorial era in regards to footage. Footage before 1983 in regards to American wrestling is a dicey proposition. There are some gaps after 1983, but for the most part from 1983 on we have everything. The countdown ends in 1987 when Jim Crockett buys out the Universal Wrestling Federation from Bill Watts and then ultimately shuts it down at Starrcade 1987. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Top Six Matches of Mid-South Wrestling 1983-1987

#6.  Mid-South North American Champion Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed - 10/14/85

I watched this way back when with the September match, but never got around to writing a review for this. I remember liking this as much as the September match and I liked that a whole lot.

First 15 minutes: Reed's TV title is only on the line for the first 15 minutes. I don't know why Watts insisted or who insisted Reed work holds. He is not as good as everyone else at it. He would be great as a power wrestler. They trade side headlocks early with good struggle. A battle over a top wristlock leads to Reed grabbing an armbar. This would be the hold du jour. Reed's arm work is good, but not great like Murdoch's in the previous encounter. I did like this way better than the headlock Flair match. Murdoch's facial expressions and struggle make this a lot better. He is looking for the ropes and really sells the pain once it is released. He is trying to combat Reed with big elbows to the top of the head. Everytime they lock up, Reed punches the bad arm and Capn Redneck is getting pissed! 5 minute time call and Murdoch avoids the punch and grabs a small package. I love that spot. Reed grabs the arm and this all makes sense. Reed is trying to wait out the 15 minute time period while setting himself up to win the North American Title later. Really smart strategy. Murdoch finally makes in roads with elbows to the top of the head, but Reed sits out of the front facelock to grab a hammerlock. Murdoch backs Reed into the corner and reigns down heavy blows while selling the bad arm. Reed is discombobulated. Atomic drop. Only one minute remains! Murdoch cant get the pin, big punch in the side headlock. He is whacking Reed in the back of the head. Feigns brainbuster for another small package. They standoff and Murdoch resigns himself to not winning the TV Title. If the match ended here as a draw, I would say this was easily great. Reed dominated with arm work, Murdoch sold and fought back and they worked to a strong finish. The match does not end here. Murdoch has a bad wing and it is not just his title on the line.

Last 15 Minutes: Holy Shit! This was what I am talking about! World-Class Selling throughout. For limb psychology marks like myself, it does not get better than Murdoch working the leg in response to Reed working the arm. It is an absolute war of attrition. Before the dueling limb psychology there is a really fun tit for tat piece of psychology I got to point out. Murdoch had been really clobbering Reed and up until that point Reed had restrained himself. On a criss cross, Reed popped him one good. Murdoch's selling is I don't know I don't have words to describe it. Perfect. That what it is. It is perfect. Watch this match for that one moment. Mrudoch gets his receipt on the next criss cross and Reed sells great like a babyface should. Murdoch uses the bottom rope to stomp Reed before finally zeroing in on his target, Reed's leg to take away his power. Reed is incredible selling this. He is trying to fight back in the corner, but he looks helpless. Love this. Murdoch grabs a toehold and Reed starts to kick at the bad arm. Oh Fuck Yes! Reed starts yanking at the bad arm and Murdoch collapses in pain. Reed collapses with a knee on Murdoch's bad arm and then sells his own knee. Another time, he kneelifts Murdoch and Murdoch sells his face so well while Reed has to sell his knee. This is why I love pro wrestling! Reed attacking the arm and Murdoch is attacking the leg each trying their best to gain the advantage. Murdoch applies the figure-4 and I actually feel like this could be the finish because of the selling! Reed breaks it with raw power and uses the ropes to hold himself up to kick Murdoch away. Murdoch hits a knecrusher for two. Reed hoists him up for a powerslam, but bumps the ref. Murdoch gets an O'Connor Roll, but no ref, now Reed gets his own and wins the CHAMPIONSHIP! The crowd goes insane for this!!! Murdoch shows his respect for the new champ.

The last 15 minutes were wrestled at a ***** level. I thought finish was just slightly weak and the first 15 minutes while they set up last 15 minutes well just weren't there.  A definite must watch. Every aspiring wrestler NEEDS to watch the last 15 minutes of this.

#5. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich - 4/28/85

This match is just lean and mean. Flair is at his best when he goes long so he can flesh out his narrative. There are plenty of times even at 20-25 minutes where he feels rushed. However, that is not the case here. Here his spot calling was pitch perfect. This is stripped down Ric Flair at its finest.

How stripped down are talking? At the five minute mark, Flair is already getting heat and there was barely any shine (Flair Flop off a Discus Punch, glorious). It is on! Ref hooks Kerry's arm and Flair hits his short knee. He throws Kerry to the outside. Kerry is such a great Flair opponent, combining the power of Luger, likeability of Sting and selling of Steamboat (on this night he was that damn good). If he had Windham's offense, Good Lord that just would have not been fair. Flair rips into him on the floor, Kerry's selling is Godly and then plays a little King of the Mountain. Love Kerry trying to pull himself up on ropes, missing the desperation dropkick and then selling the ribs. The Flair sleeper complete with arm drop is the climax of this segment before Kerry falls into turnbuckles ramming Flair's head. Love Flair grabbing his jaw after this.

I love how lean Kerry's comeback is at this point. Discus punch->Comeback started. Press Slam->Highspot. Stomach claw->False finish. You just ride such a high during that segment.

Kerry has Flair down, but cant get cover. He gives up to hit a splash, but eats knees to injured midsection. AWESOME! Flair tosses him out to get a breather. Now we get the sunset flip and backslide fun, which is a rush. Flair Flip to the outside. Flair looks discombobulated, but he grabs Kerry's ankle and wrenches it across the apron. He goes up top and I thought this would be the best set up ever for the press slam, but he actually hits a axehandle!!! Flair misses knee drop and it is into the figure-4! Great setup. They have done a great job generating excitement with neither man really in control, but everything feeling organic. Kerry is clearly coming from underneath, but is getting big time false finishes.

Flair makes the ropes and Kerry stays on the leg. Kerry goes to elbow the leg, but Flair moves and he hurts his mid-section. WOW! Flair punches to midsection. BIG BOY CHOPS! Flair selling the leg, before an elbow drop for two. Butterfly suplex, love that move for two. Two great Flair heat segments, love it. Flair hits rapid fire punches in the corner and Kerry collapses in the corner. Knee to the injured midsection. It is the press slam off the top that is the transition to the comeback (Flair did take a long time). Flair Flip runs across apron off the top into IRON CLAW~! FUCKING AWESOME! I POPPED LIKE A MADMAN FOR THAT!

Flair hiptosses Kerry outside the ring and that's a pretty big bump as Flair brings him in the hardway with a vertical suplex. Flair is in full desperation, don't fuck around mode and applies the figure-4. Kerry sells like a million bucks. Kerry powers out because he is ALL MAN! Flair big chop and it is a slugfest! Lots of movement leads to a Kerry sleeper. They stick with the sleeper and it is a pretty convincing finish with the armdrops, but Flair gets his foot on ropes. Kerry is incensed punching Flair on the ropes throwing the ref away. Flair using the ropes to hold him up throws a big chop. Flair sends Kerry into the ref, here we go. Kerry gets a cross body and sleeper, but no ref and Flair drops him balls first on the top rope. Kerry get his foot on the rope to protect him (very Mid-South Flair finish), but a very strong 80s finish.

Call me a Flair mark. Call me a Kerry mark. I don't care the fact this was only #49 on Mid-South Set means Im calling YOU CRAZY!!! This was FANTASTIC! Ric Flair at his absolute best. Flair is pretty restrained in this by his standards. He works more on top than usual. Kerry killed it in the selling department. The spot calling was incredible. Just everything flowed perfectly. Flair ripped into Kerry when necessary. Kerry worked so well from underneath. When he was making his comeback, everything felt tenuous, but at the same time credible. Those claw attempts/figure-4 were home runs shots, but he didn't have enough to really chip into Flair's lead, he needed to a big bomb to close this out because his midsection was giving out on him. You see Flair really feel in control here when he usually does not. It is only a brief part in the middle does he feel frantic and the end when it does look like Kerry has him beat. I really liked that finish. Just did not feel like ***** when I was watching it, cant put my finger on it, but this is a classic right up there with Hawaii & Texas 8/82 matches.

#4. Mid-South North American Champion Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed - 9/22/85

I would conjecture that this was to give Reed more practice in the classic NWA World Championship style as he already had one match against Flair and would have a couple more. It would establish Reed as the lead championship material babyface whereas Duggan was the brawling, blue collar babyface. Reed is able to convey not only brute strength in this match, but a great amount of technique, stamina and also some great verbal selling. On the flip side, there is always talk that Murdoch would have been NWA World Championship if it had not been his propensity for comedy and lightheartedness in his match. This series with Reed gives us an inkling of what it would have been like if Captain Redneck was The Man.What a great reign it would have been! I had watched a good amount of Murdoch before this and liked him, but this match totally sold me on him. He is an absolute torture master. Then when it comes to selling he is just so spot on. I don't know how to explain it, but it is exactly what I think you should do. It is the perfect blend of entertainment and conveying pain.

This is nominally face vs face at the beginning, but Murdoch will be playing de facto heel. They do tit for tat armdrags to establish face vs face. We get the long Reed side headlock, which is custom for Reed in his matches with Flair. Murdoch is right there with Ole & Arn for best at working the arm just incredible at making everything look painful (wristlock while stomping on head and ribs) and takes his time. Reed uses power tries for pin and then goes right back to the headlock. We get that sequence for a bit and it is very logical and very entertaining. I think it was great to have Reed creating the movement. The match is getting more and more heated with them both working hard. It crescendos to both men cocking their fists and the ref intervening to stop this classical match from getting out of hand. Perfect tease. Reed takes a powder from all the arm work and he psyches himself up, which is a really cool spot. The ref tries to cool him down. I love we get a collar and elbow tie up this late into the match. It is a nice reset without forgetting the past. He levels Murdoch with a forearm and classic Murdoch face down selling. Perfect. Murdoch elbows the top of head to get to a hammerlock bearhug with nasty punches to the ribs. Murdoch throws out classical wrestling and just starts throwing nasty strikes to Reed that causes him to slump into the ring. In a criss cross sequence, Reed finally clock Murdoch and Capn Redneck is reeling. Murdoch drags him to the outside and slams him on the concrete. They tease the countout finish. Piledriver, knee drop, Murdoch is pouring it on, but only gets two after each. The selling in this match is amazing. With each men selling this war of attrition and trying to fight through the pain. Reed was great at selling the face, being doubled over and then fighting through all that finally kicks some ass in a great comeback. Murdoch does his great job selling with his weak windmill punches. Murdoch tries to fight from his ass, awesome! Reed just starts to choke him. It is breaking loose in Tulsa! I hope it is Tulsa! They start trading punches and atomic drops and Reed's final atomic drop was a DOUBLE HOT nearfall! Dicky Murdoch rolls to the outside. Reed is exhausted and they both collapse from all this fighting! Reed applies the figure-4, hey now you cant say Flair made him do that spot! 

Murdoch is in the ropes and Reed is relentless and the ref is trying to get Butch to back off. Of course, this causes Reed to eat a boot. Now Reed is fighting from his back and punching the bad knee. Wow! Murdoch tries a bodyslam, but his knee is so fucked they both topple over the top rope. Double countout. Badass classical American title match. Reed shoves ref as he is trying to give Murdoch the belt. I smell rematch.  He punches Murdoch and throws him into the belt. He decks ref. It gets scrappy and they finally break it up. Butch promo and this becomes a wicked brawl. I loved this match. Awesome selling, really built well to Reed's comeback and Murdoch is excellent at all facets of wrestling. 

#3. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer - 11/11/85

"Kiss my fucking ass!" - Hacksaw Jim Duggan to Buzz Sawyer in the post-match fracas from Hell.

Hacksaw Duggan is for real! His run in Mid-South should go down as one of the best "everyman" brawler types in the history of Mid-South. The DiBiase matches are exceptional, but you can point to them being propped up by the angle the matches with Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer are just unadulterated violence. At this time, Dicky Slater & Buzz Sawyer were the lead heels in the Mid-South territory soon to be Universal Wrestling Federation and Duggan and Butch Reed were among the lead faces. While Slater & Reed were feuding over the North American title, Duggan was left to face Dicky's gatekeeper, the crazed Mad Dog.

THIS IS A BLOODBATH! Duggan jumpstarts the match with fists of fury that sends Buzz packing. I love the Duggan Superman pose juxtaposed with his goofy ass face. Duggan obliterates Sawyer's face into the guardrail and busts him WIDE open. Buzz does his best Chris Webber is asking for a timeout, but there are NO TIMEOUTS in wrestling, you fool! Hacksaw continues the onslaught of punches to the head. The ref takes pity of the pathetic bloody heap that is Buzz Sawyer and tries to hold Hacksaw back. Ruh roh! Buzz tries to claw Duggan;s eye out and then kicks him in the balls. Hacksaw takes an equally wicked bump into the barricade and now he is busted WIDE open too. Buzz slams a table on him! I love this raucous mayhem. There is no real story other than two guys kicking the absolute shit out of one another. Hacksaw is trying to mount a comeback, but does not have much in the tank. When Hacksaw stops Sawyer from slamming his head into the turnbuckles, this feels like the most important thing in the world given the amount of effort both men are putting in. Hacksaw wins out and hits a back elbow. WEDGEBUSTER~! The Mad Dog heads for the hills and the crowd is on his case. Buzz ain't yellah; he races back into the ring and blasts Duggan. The ref throws this chaos out. Buzz wants to maim the hero of Mid-South with a piledriver , but Hacksaw reverses and kicks ass. The wrestlers come to break it up, but they are just getting started. Duggan breaks free and jumps Buzz in a crazy moment! Crowd is chanting bullshit. This is incredible! We see Buzz get dragged back to with his friends and he is moaning and groaning. Then Hacksaw is coming to the back and Buzz breaks free again. Holy shit an absolutely nuts brawl breaks out again! Hacksaw is screaming kiss my fucking ass as Buzz Sawyer is left wailing. The whole shebang is the epitome of pro wrestling. All the stars in the world for this! Hacksaw Duggan is my hero! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! 

#2. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor - 6/1/85

My recollection is that this a contender for one of the best matches of the 1980s and is one of my all-time favorite Flair matches lets see how it holds up.

First Twenty Minutes: Fuck yeah, this holds up. Incredible opening twenty minutes. I love how Flair always starts off clean against Taylor before working himself up into a lather. I think he underestimates Taylor and thinks he can take him by conventional means only to realize he is in for one helluva fight. I love Taylor's body language in this. He is confident and you believe in him to become the world champion. Taylor grabs a couple headscissors early out of a Flair headlock. Flair is bit annoyed, but he goes back to his strategy of taking it to the mat. Taylor rides a hammerlock. There a ton of little details to watch for in this match. Flair is selling the arm and pulls the ropes to try to loosen it up. Watch closely you will watch Taylor try to pick up that arm, but cant quite find an opening until Flair forces his hand by coming in with a collar elbow tie up trying a suplex attempt, but Taylor blocks twice before Flair gives up. Flair takes him down twice with drop toeholds, but both times cant hold Taylor. Taylor/Flair now work a side headlock sequence that blows the Reed one outta the water. Tons of interesting stuff. Taylor cranking to stop Flair from getting a knee crusher. Flair tries movement to gain an advantage, but on the second attempt Taylor does not even humor him and drops down into a headlock when Flair drops down. Smart, conservative wrestling. Taylor wrenches the front facelock and I love how Flair goes for a suplex and Taylor wrenches hard and the way Flair hollers and then falls it is just so perfect. These are the things that make him better than everyone else. Flair drives Taylor into the corner three times and finally forces a break. Now tempers flare and a fire fight breaks out. Taylor to his credit does not back down. He goes blow for blow with the heavy-handed Flair in just a great sequence. I love Flair feigning with the left only drop low into the midsection with the right. Just a great spot. He throws Taylor out and he rushes back in the ring. Vero's Hero is here to fight, muthafucka! They fire off into the corner, love how Flair bullies him in the crowd only for Taylor to rifle back. The ref interferes and hooks Taylor's arm and Flair nails that short knee to the family jewels of Vero's Hero. With that the twenty minute mark is reached and the Nature Boy is finally in control. I loved, loved how they built into this fight. You see Flair goads him into this. He knows that in the chaos there will be opportunities to sneak in a cheapshot. He got Taylor off his smart, conservative gameplan and he is reaping the benefits. I am so excited for the next twenty minutes!

Final Twenty Minutes: They don't relent for one second in this match. Flair punches Taylor right in the face and I love Taylor grabs his face and sells it. Flair is incensed and is choking Taylor. He grabs an arm and they work a good armabr sequence. Flair uses the ropes and hair to control Taylor. Flair goes for chops in the corner, but loses control and is sent flying into the opposite the turnbuckle. Flair tries to get a suplex quickly, but Taylor drops down the back and it is a sleeper. Taylor actually gets a suplex in before eating knees. Taylor don't quit. He is up and rocking Flair with rights until the Flair Flop. This portion feels like an up and down the court basketball game as they start throwing out nearfalls until Flair thumbs him in the eye to finally stymie Taylor. Flair, who clearly realizes he is starting to get in over his head, applies the Figure-4 hoping to end the match. Taylor reverses the pressure. Flair is still nominally in control as Taylor is selling the leg, but misses the kneedrop and he ends up in the figure-4. Flair pushes Taylor off on the second attempt. He thinks now is the time, it is the time to fly. RUH ROH! He sure does go flying. Taylor is on fire with the punches and general intensity. Taylor rattles off nearfalls again, crossbody, backslide. Flair grabs a sleeper on a criss cross, but cant hold Taylor who drops down and kicks him off into the ref. So when Taylor gets another backslide there is no ref. Flair rakes the eyes and throws Taylor over the ropes. He needs to get the ref to count him out! Doesn't work out. Flair suplexes him back in and a big elbow to Taylor he is trying to get up only gets two. Taylor slugs it out with Flair just throwing bomb after bomb. Flair flops on his face. Taylor just needs that one big move. O'Connor Roll will this be it...Flair reverses he has the tights...1, 2, 3!

Incredible match. I think what I like the most about is the intensity of both combatants. You really believed that this match was the most important thing in the world. The sense of urgency was very high throughout the match and never relented. Taylor was really awesome in this. He was firing off some great shots. The back half once Taylor made his initial comeback was Flair cheating like a muthafucka to win the match. Eye thumb sets up the first figure-4, but Taylor persevered through that. Then the rake of the eyes and throwing him over the top rope. Taylor survived and overcame. However, you could tell he just did not have much left in the tank and Flair yanked the tights to win. It was a war of attrition and they fought like hell. It is matches like this that are the reasons I love pro wrestling.

#1. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase - 3/22/85

Tuxedo, Coal Miner's Glove, Loser Leaves Town Steel Cage Match 

Mid-South Match of the Year, 1985

Believe the hype! This is one of the best matches of 80s and a perfect culmination of their intense, bloody feud. Clearly, the cage was needed to keep DiBiase's running buddies out and so DiBiase would have nowhere to run. After all the blood that was spilled, Mid-South was just not big enough for the two of them thus loser leaves town. DiBiase was famous for his loaded glove so they upped the ante with a coal miner's glove hanging from a pole in the corner this would actually be DiBiase's downfall. The one odd stipulation is the fact they wrestled this match in tuxedos. Definitely seek out the video package they play before this match to get you up to speed and see how the Best Dressed in Mid-South becomes an essential part in this feud.

It is hard to come by definitive, feel-good blowoffs in the 80s and in wrestling in general, but on this night you not only get a great match you get a great ending to a historic rivalry. DiBiase really elevated his game in this match by upping the chickenshit factor and also getting even nastier. Duggan was wrestling at already high level, but now DiBiase was meeting him there and they were making magic together. DiBiase stalling at the beginning then trying a sneak attack only get caught by Duggan jabs and then the horror of realizing he was trapped inside the cage with this lunatic. I thought going into this that I was going to have trouble taking Duggan seriously as a number one face, but au contaire I am disappointed Duggan did not last longer in a lead face role because he is an excellent, bleeding, asskicking babyface brawler from Hell. DiBiase manages to pull Duggan into the cage head first and bust him open. Duggan's blood flowing like a bloody Niagara Falls (thanks Steel Panther) on his pristine white tuxedo. This is where we see DiBiase strategy go awry. He is constantly angling for the Coal Miner's Glove, which puts his back to his opponent thus he is in a prone position for Duggan to yank him down. The first couple times DiBiase is able to work the cut and claw away to stymie Duggan. Duggan gains a head of steam and DiBiase is in tatters being slammed into the cage. Duggan retrieves the glove! DiBiase has one last trick and it is powder. DiBiase wins possession of the glove, but try as he might, he just can't hit Duggan with it. Duggan is able to slam DiBiase's hand into the post, gains possession of glove and SMOKES DIBIASE RIGHT IN THE HEAD! 1-2-3

Awesome, awesome brawl! The fact it had such a great finish puts it over matches like Flair/Kerry and Bock/Martel #2. It is tighter than Savage/Garvin. The only that comes close is Duggan/Sawyer, which is another bitchin' Mid-South brawl, but that lacks a finish. As of right now, this is the best match of the 80s, I have watched so far. Both wrestlers delivered all time great performances in their respective roles and have great chemistry with each other. Like I said earlier, in wrestling it is hard to come by awesome blowoffs and so when you see one it is extra special.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 29: Best of Mid-South Wrestling 1983-1987 (Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, Butch Reed)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 29:

The Best of Mid-South Wrestling/Houston Wrestling 1983-1987

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This twenty-ninth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Mid-South Wrestling between 1983-1987. The time period is set because this was the peak of the territorial era in regards to footage. Footage before 1983 in regards to American wrestling is a dicey proposition. There are some gaps after 1983, but for the most part from 1983 on we have everything. The countdown ends in 1987 when Jim Crockett buys out the Universal Wrestling Federation from Bill Watts and then ultimately shuts it down at Starrcade 1987. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Does this picture scream Mid-South Wrestling or What?

Honorable Mentions

The Fantastics vs The Guerreros – Houston 10/12/84

The Fabulous Ones vs The Guerreros – Houston 1/24/86

The Guerreros were a staple of Paul Boesch’s Houston Wrestling. Houston Wrestling much like St. Louis was a single city territory. For history buffs, think of it as a Free City of the Holy Roman Empire or the District of Columbia is another apt analogy. For this time period, Houston Wrestling would book talent mostly from Bill Watts’ Mid-South territory. Notable exceptions included Jose Lothario and Hector & Chavo Guerrero. Hector & Chavo Guerrero appealed to significant Mexican/Latin community in Houston and showed great versality working as heels against The Fantastics and babyfaces against the Fabulous Ones. Heel Fabulous Ones are a real treat you got to watch Lane & Keirn as heat-seekers. The Fabs vs. Guerreros is my pick for the best Mid-South/Houston Wrestling match of 1986.

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Midnight Express - Houston 5/11/84

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Midnight Express – 5/23/84

Hacksaw Duggan & Rock N Roll Express vs Ernie Ladd & Midnight Express – 6/8/84

Midnight Express vs Rock N Roll Express – 6/30/85

The Rock N Rolls & Midnights are like Tom & Jerry of pro wrestling. You cant say one name without the other. It all got started in Mid-South. These three matches exemplify their classic take on the Southern Tag style and why they are considered the two greatest tag teams of all time. The Houston 5/11/84 match comes our way from NWA classics and features a hilarious shine built around hair pulling psychology. 

Mid-South Tag Champs Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II vs. Midnight Express Houston 1/27/84

Midnight Express vs Bill Watts & Stagger Lee – 4/22/84

Mid-South Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics – 8/9/84
Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Houston 8/31/84

One key difference between the Eaton & Condrey team vs Eaton & Lane team as that Eaton & Condrey team was treated as a main event act. One of my all-time favorite matches from Mid-South was Bill Watts stepping back in the ring with the Junkyard Dog under hood as a Stagger Lee. The MX and Jim Cornette were so red-hot they were programmed with Mid-South two biggest babyface stars. This is classic “Walking Tall” Bill Watts match. I want to include a Midnights vs. Fans match because they were so good together whether it was in Mid-South, World Class or Crockett. The Houston matches come our way thanks to NWA Classics. The first match is a great asskicker from Magnum & Wrestling II and the second Fantastics is a fun Southern style popcorn tag. 

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase – Houston Street Fight 7/29/83

Mid-South North American Champion Ted DiBiase vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan – No DQ 3/8/85

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer – Dog Collar Match 12/27/85

The breakout star for me in watching all this Mid-South footage was “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. He was not the goofy, American flag waving dope coming out to circus music from my childhood watching Monday Night Nitro. He was an asskicking everyman that reminded me a lot of Bruno Sammartino. Duggan with his Irish last name and lack of Southern accent had a very Northern feel to his character. It was blue collar and urban. To me Duggan represented the answer to a superhero like Hulk Hogan, a Southern folk hero like the American Dream or a pretty boy like Ricky Martel, he could be a new path something very distinct, gritty and realistic. Two of the matches listed here are from the two different DiBiase feuds. The more famous feud is the 1985 one but don’t sleep on the 1983 one either. My other favorite Duggan feud is against the “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer and it came to a bloody conclusion in this Dog Collar match.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor – 4/28/85

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Wahoo McDaniel – 7/26/85

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ted DiBiase – 11/6/85

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Jake “The Snake” Roberts – 11/24/85

Ric Flair was great before 1985, but it was in 1985 that Ric Flair truly put himself head and shoulders above everyone else in the GOAT conversation. I am sure if we had more footage of Flair pre-85 the statement could have been made earlier, but Mid-South is big part of why we got to see so much Flair in 1985. There will be two more Terry Taylor matches that make this countdown. The match against Wahoo is a classic shootout at the OK Corral reminiscent of Flair’d firefights against Ronnie Garvin. I am by no means a Jake The Snake fan but besides his 1986 work against Ricky Steamboat this is his best match. The match against DiBiase is up there with Lawler vs Flair 1982 and Lawler vs Dundee 1985 as the greatest TV angle of all time and just misses the cut of making the top 12.

Ted DiBiase vs. Dick Murdoch – 12/31/85

This is the conclusion of that great TV angle as you see Cap’n Redneck Dicky Murdoch was pretty pissed that DiBiase was getting the title match against Flair instead of him. Murdoch pulverized DiBiase turning DiBiase babyface in the process. DiBiase wrestled the match against Flair with a massive bandage around his head from the beating from Murdoch and thus DiBiase ultimately came up short as Murdoch brainbustered him on the concrete. Now DiBiase was out for blood against Cap’n Redneck. This is match is a great brawl and I love the finish. DiBiase might be the fan favorite but he is not totally reformed and he blasts Murdoch with the trademark loaded glove to get the win and some sweet, sweet revenge.

#12. UWF Western States Heritage Champion Barry Windham vs Dick Murdoch – 7/11/87

Crockett has already purchased the UWF at this point and this was during brief run where they tried to keep it as a separate entity sending over Windham to anchor the babyface side. I think they missed a big opportunity of having Windham in the Garvin slot. I love the Flair/Garvin series especially 87 and am a Garvin fan, but they could have really built to the future with a Windham victory there. I have seen this match a bunch of times and loved it. I saved it for last because I thought it had a legitimate shot as the best Mid-South match. To my surprise, I don't even have this in my top 5. There has been that much great shit in Mid-South. That's not indictment on this match, which is still fantastic just goes to show you how stacked Mid-South was.

If you like punching, this match is for you. I think that's strength of this match and why it finished so high in the original poll. Flair matches can be polarizing. A good punch is a great unifier of all wrestling fans. These two are the best punchers in the business and so this match had that in spades. The first fifteen minutes are characterized by dueling arm work. Murdoch is the God King of arm work even moreso than the Andersons. He just tortures his opponent and he has so many holds at his disposal. On the flip side, he is so good at selling arm work with his face and his body. My complaint is that it was a little too easy for them to get in and out of arm holds here. I liked how Murdoch set up his arm holds with elbows to the face and yanking the arm against the apron and other nasty ways. Whereas Windham used speed and movement to set up his like a dropkick or a crossbody. The match picks up half way through when Murdoch backs him into the corner and pops him one. Watch Windham sell this. Perfect. Just simple perfection. Really gets this over as a big turning point in the match. Windham hits a spinning neckbreaker to even the playing field. Murdoch sells this a bit over the top, but I love over the top. I really enjoyed it and you all need to watch it. Windham has such a beautiful punch and he is looking to get his receipt. Murdoch ends up on the outside and Windham hits the atomic drop that sends him into the post. Murdoch rakes the eyes, but on the suplex back into the ring Windham falls on top. I love from his knees Murdoch pops Windhams in the face with a punch. Great shit! The slugfests that ensue should be legendary. They are just going blow for blow with incredible selling on each punch. They are holding each other up and punching each other. Murdoch's missed windmill punches is the classic spot I always remember (that and Terry Taylor dubbing himself Vero's Hero on commentary) with Windham cleaning his clock after that bit of fun . Murdoch tries to get up on the top rope, but he looks like a beached whale, lol. Windham press slams him off and figure-4 time. You can say Flair forced him to do that spot now! 

The finish stretch is Hot Stuff (Murdoch's manager) distracting the ref and Murdoch busting Windham open with the mic whilst in the figure-4. Murdoch tries to put Windham away, but Windham keeps attacking the leg all the while the time limit is about to expire. Belt shot by Murdoch! Kneecrusher by Windham! Spinning Toehold and Figure-4! He makes it to the ropes. BRAINBUSTAH~! But Gilbert has the ref distracted as the time limit expires. Well that is just poor managing right there.

The middle portion of this is simply awesome. Great punches and selling. Exactly what you want from these two. Thought the beginning (too easy to get in and out of arm holds) and finish (shoehorning the leg stuff and manager stuff. It felt like a detour from something that was awesome to something I have seen before) just weren't there with the rest of the match. I wish we had every Dick Murdoch match ever. He is fucking incredible.

#11. Chavo Guerrero vs Mr. Olympia – Houston 6/24/83

Mid-South Match of the Year, 1983

Chavo Classic had all the tools on offense. He shows off his ability to fly (dropkicks, plancha), submissions (upside down surfboard and a lucha submission), hot strikes and suplexes (German). He is ripshit because Olympia/Akbar put him on the shelf for two months. He starts off hot with punches and three dropkicks to send Olympia to outside. This is match of levels and is incredibly well-executed. Olympia never really fully takes control, but slowly earns his heat segment. He takes advantage of each mistake by breaking Chavo's momentum with a trip to outside or sapping his energy with a chinlock. In fact most of Olympia's offense in this is a chinlock. Normally, I would dislike that but it makes logical sense because how hot Chavo is and the need to cool him off to set up your own moves, We see that each chinlock takes more of its toll at first Chavo is able to resume control, but it as the match wears on Olympia's offense is more sustained. Olympia's first major opening is when Chavo was yanking him by the mask into the turnbuckles and on the third one he sent Chavo in hard into the turnbuckles. He followed up with his first big offense of the match a kneedrop and backbreaker neither negotiated the fall. Now instead of going back to the chinlock, he Irish Whips Chavo this is dumb because Chavo feeds off movement this allows Chavo to hit a crossbody, yank him out by the mask and then a plancha. This was perfect face wrestling and plays right into the movement vs power story. Chavo loses it in the corner with strikes and when the ref pulls him off Olympia loads the boot and dropkicks him to the floor. Olympia cant get the win again so it is back to the sleeper. They tease the three arm drops and Chavo powers up to a big pop and drives Olympia into the corner. Olympia misses the top rope elbow. Big rush by Chavo ends in a German suplex for the win! He wants to take the mask off so he gives him another. Almost gets the mask and here is Akbar and now DiBiase. Hell beatdown commences until the save,

I loved Chavo's fire in this and commitment to always fighting back. He played the perfect vengeful face. He did a great job mixing up his stuff. Olympia gave a a really simple, but effective performance. I didnt mention this but he was great bumping for Chavo. Match of Olympia/Stubbs career and maybe the best Chavo match on tape.

#10. Terry Taylor vs Chris Adams – 5/3/87

UWF Match of the Year, 1987

Vero's Hero puts in one of the best performances of his career as the entire match is one long, simmering heel turn. I noticed something was up almost immediately when did not shake the Gentleman's hand. Also, Taylor did a great job early on showing how insecure he felt. He would try something and nothing would stick. While Adams was always one step ahead of Taylor, whether it was taking him over with a headlock or double wristlock or powering him down off a leapfrog sequence. We saw Taylor try to pick up the tempo, slow it down by going into ropes or the outside or counterwrestling, but at each step Adams was a head of Taylor. I thought the way Taylor sold was much more like a heel would where he looked like he was being wimp whereas a face would fight through the pain. You could really feel the insecurity in Taylor's mind and that insecurity led him to start taking shortcuts. Like a kneelift to the Gentleman when he gave him a clean break or a closed fist. The closed fist started sending off the alarm bells in JR's & TA's heads especially as the ref confronts Terry Taylor. It is clear that Taylor favorite heel was Ric Flair, who he worked with closely in 1985. There were a lot of moments in this where Taylor looked like Flair, but not moreso than late in the match by the way he begged off. As good as Taylor was at slowly ramping up his heelishness, I thought Adams wrestled as the consummate babyface. His scientific wrestling was both exciting as it was pure. I loved his hope spots being pinning combinations. This was nowhere near Flair/Steamboat, but in a lot of ways it felt like that. By Adams wrestling so pure, it really highlighted Taylor's heelishness. Taylor bumrushed him with a headbutt into the midsection and finally Adams realizes that Taylor is being a prick and he headbutted Taylor into the midsection and here comes the heavy blows like punches and clotheslines. I love how Adams is now throwing it back in Taylor's face. Adams collides with the ref on a criss cross sequence. In the previous Adams/Taylor matches they have helped each other into the ring. This time TERRY TAYLOR PILEDROVE ADAMS ON THE CONCRETE! As a nice touch, Taylor plays dead and the ref counts both men down. Of course, Taylor is able to get back up and win by the countout. At the beginning of the match, Terry Taylor was cheered and by the end he is resoundingly booed. Taylor cements his heel turn in his post-match promo. I loved the story this told of Taylor's insecurities leading to him joining the dark side. I don't know if you could do a heel turn just based on how someone's tactics changed in a match. I loved the simplicity of the times. Taylor and Adams both delivered excellent performances.

#9. North American Heavyweight Champion Magnum TA vs Ted DiBiase – Tulsa 5/27/84

Mid-South Match of the Year, 1984

I have to say I was a bit skeptical that on the exact same day albeit different arena they would be able to even match the awesomeness of the earlier OKC match, but boy was I wrong. Not only did they match it, they topped it with an even better blood-soaked brawl. The first match was a great bloody sprint, but this was a dramatic spectacle. They played to Magnum's greatest strength, his selling and it just ensnared you and never let you go. I got to say, I loved the beginning of this, where DiBiase went to pearl harbor Mags, but Magnum was wise to his games and beat him to the punch. Since they were working a different arena, I did not expect them to actually learn from match to match. So I was very impressed. Did they show these matches on TV and thus they needed to show inter-match progression?

The early portion of the match is all Magnum, but DiBiase is making him earn it. The match really busts open (pun fully intended) when DiBiase sends Magnum crashing to the floor reopening the cut. DiBiase working the cut on the floor with Magnum's screams of agony and the fans enraged was a perfect confluence of pro wrestling. DiBiase clawing at the cut and Magnum just making you believe this is most painful thing is the difference between the last match being great and this being a classic. In the ring, Ted is on point it is all fist and elbow drops to the head. Magnum is peppering in hope spots, but can string anything together as Ted stymies him immediately. DiBiase applies the sleeper and just when it looks like we will have a new champion, Magnum in a last ditch effort sends DiBiase flying over the ropes. DiBiase tries to rebound with a piledriver, but Mags back drops out of it. He pulls himself by the ropes. I love it, Ted is modulating the strength of his punches with them getting progressively weaker as he is more exhausted! Magnum is coming alive! He sees the blood. Run Ted Run! The collide in the center of the ring. I have this to be a way more common spot in the 80s than in anytime since and it was definitely a clue the finish is coming. DiBiase wants to get this over with and loads the glove. Wild swing and Mags hits the atomic drop and Ted bounces off the ropes into a Belly 2 Belly! I loved that setup for the Belly 2 Belly. Best Mid-South match yet and just everything you want from bloody brawl. Ted was vicious during the heat segment and backpedaling on Magnum's offense. Magnum is a really, really good seller and knows how to connect with audience during a comeback.

#8. Butch Reed vs Buzz Sawyer – Dog Collar Match 12/31/85

Think about the roster Mid-South had at this time on the heel side you had Dick Slater, Dick Murdoch and Buzz Sawyer, which is pretty great. Then get a load of the babyface side: Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ted DiBiase, Butch Reed and Jake Roberts. That is bonkers deep. Reed is looking for revenge on Sawyer. Sawyer wants a Dog Collar match and Reed is like you are playing right into my hand, sucka. Reed gets his No DQ match. I watched this six months ago and thought it was every bit as good as the Duggan Dog Collar match and still think so. It is just violence and hatred personified. I really like how such small mistakes can have such devastating consequences in a match like this. For instance, by missing one punch at the beginning, Sawyer gets his ass beat for the next five minutes and is bleeding like a stuck pig. Reed is great at hollering and really playing up how he much he enjoy beating Sawyer up. I loved the chain pressed against the cut. The same thing applied to Reed when he missed a fist drop now Sawyer could take over on him and really do a number on him and bust him open. It was a total war of attrition. I loved that Dog Bark Sawyer did. One of his chain whips sounded brutal on Reed's head. It was scary and crazy. Both men are exhausted and Reed bowls him over, but cant stand himself. Sawyer and rips off his Dog Collar and ties Reed to the bottom rope. Reed comes out of his funk and realizes his plight, but it is too late the Mad Dog sneak attacks. Then in one of the most brutal finishes of all time Sawyer goes to bulldog Reed, but because he is tied to the bottom rope he is yanked back violently to the ground. OUCH! 1-2-3, Buzz Sawyer wins. Slater and Sawyer look to double team Reed, but Duggan saves only to be clothesline brutally by the chain right before his North American heavyweight title match with Dicky Slater.

Awesome, awesome violent spectacle. Sawyer was totally out of control and Reed was awesome as the avenging babyface. What an insane finish! Easy top 10 Mid-South match of all time.

#7. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor – Houston 5/3/85  

Fantastic match! I love how this is the more fleshed out version of the 4/28 match, just with 10 extra minutes & some better Flair spot calling they take a great match and make it a total classic. I really like Flair for his high-energy take on wrestling that is not to say go-go-go or working too fast, but everything is energetic. This may be his best low-energy performance. Now low-energy Flair is pretty much everyone else's normal energy level. This match was a great example of Flair gradualism.

The shine was better than the previous match because there was a little more struggle, Flair got in some more control and Flair argued with the ref. All these things made the shine seem more consequential. Again, Flair did not get over as a bumping machine, but rather established himself as good, but then Taylor started to get the better of him. Flair does the handshake and goes for amateur takedowns, but this does not lead to the heat instead they work a great headlock sequence with Flair trying everything he can to get out of it so Taylor has to struggle to keep it on. Flair is getting pissed starts throwing hiptosses, but he gets blocked after a couple. He starts shoving Taylor, but Taylor will NOT be intimidated! Flair crowds in the corner and looks like he is ready to take over. PSYCH! Taylor comes roaring back with punches. However, the ref tries to stop the punching and Flair gets a knee to family jewels of Vero's Hero. Now, finally Flair finally takes over. Flair had to do so much to get to the heat segment and Taylor looked world class by overcoming him at every turn. Really great extended shine even if it was not a typical one.

Flair throws Taylor around with a butterfly suplex and blasts him with chops. Taylor was really good at selling. Again, Flair shows how great he is working the arm and Taylor meets him with an inspired selling performance. Even on a shouldertackle with the bad arm, Taylor sells his bad arm. Taylor starts firing away with punches as Flair tries to grab the hair. Again, Flair shows a great sense of gradualism. Taylor has to overcome a Flair sleeper and an attempted Flair piledriver before Taylor finally gets his own sleeper. It is not one move, but a collection of spots that transitions you to full control. I love that! Throughout the finish stretch, you feel like most men are spent. Flair loves the cheapshots low to the abdomen while Taylor is selling his ass off and trying for whatever hope spot he can like all the Flair staples: sunset flip, bridge into backslide, slam him off the top rope. Flair loves the ropes in Houston. Saves him on the sleeper and a suplex. Is there anyone better at selling discombobulated down a finish run than Flair. They knock heads with Flair falling on top. Taylor gets his feet on ropes, but Flair pulls them off to win the match!

I feel like this is exemplary in the how they gradually they build throughout the match. Nothing is abrupt. Everything is earned by attrition and effort. To me this match is representative of the greatness of Flair spot calling because of his ability to layer a match with his spots that is meaningful in every way. Also throughout the match (it is documented in the matches with the Von Erichs) he is constantly struggling and making the babyfaces earn their controls. It is not a typical high energy, bump-a-thon by Flair until late in the game so it makes it different enough for diehard Flair fans like myself to see something unique. Love this match!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 21: Best of WWF 1984-1987 (Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 21:

The Best of WWF 1984-1987

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This twenty-first volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in WWF between 1984-1987. This is the first half of the Hulkamania Era. The starting point is pretty self-explanatory. For wrestling fans, the 1984 is basically the year 1 AD as Vince McMahon & Hulk Hogan are in full force and completely change the pro wrestling landscape. I chose 1987 as the end date for three reasons. The year 1987 saw the end of territories. Crockett bought out Watts. In 1988, World Class, AWA & Memphis on their last legs tried to form a triple alliance that went nowhere. The year 1988 also sees Vince McMahon try for the first time to go on without Hogan as they do the screwjob title change to lift the belt off Hogan. I also feel that 1988 sees a shift in the WWF presentation to brighter colors and more vibrant gimmicks. All this makes 1987 feel like it is the last year of WWF as a territory and it is also the peak of Hulkamania with Hogan vs Andre in the Silverdome at Wrestlemania III. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

The Irresistible Force vs Immovable Object

Honorable Mentions

This era of the World Wrestling Federation has been an absolute treasure trove of great wrestling and I implore all to seek out as many of these matches as possible. There are many matches here in Honorable Mentions that I rated ****1/2 I just couldn’t fit into the final countdown. That’s how loaded this era is. I italicized the matches I rated ****1/2 in the honorable mentions.

WWF I-C Champion Tito Santana vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine – Philly 3/31/84

WWF I-C Champion Tito Santana vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine – Philly 5/5/85

WWF I-C Champion Tito Santana vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine – MSG 6/16/84

WWF I-C Champion Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs Tito Santana – MSG 11/26/84

WWF I-C Champion Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs Tito Santana – MSG 1/21/85

WWF I-C Champion Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs Tito Santana – MSG 3/17/85

If there is one flaw of the amazing, heated Tito Santana vs Greg “The Hammer” Valentine feud is that they had too many great matches as you can see above. Since none of the matches really stand out above the others, they get overlooked when ranking matches. One of their matches does make my top 12 of course because there is no way I was leaving my favorite feud, unrepresented. Still, this is not just one of the greatest WWF feuds, but one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history. It feels like you are watching BattlArts in Madison Square Garden as these are two of the best sluggers of all time. Their matches are some of the best wars of attrition style matches you will ever see. In my opinion, MSG 6/16/84 and 11/26/84 stand out above the others and I would say MSG 11/26/84 would be #13, it was the last one out.

Sgt. Slaughter vs Iron Sheik – MSG 4/23/84

Sgt. Slaughter vs Iron Sheik – MSG 5/21/84

These are the must-see first two parts of the MSG Trilogy pitting the newly minted, patriotic babyface Sgt. Slaughter against the most vile of foreign heels, the Iron Shiek. These are amazing matches in their own right and are mandatory viewing before you watch the Bootcamp match.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat – Toronto 7/27/86

WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat – Boston 11/1/86

Another feud where the wrestler just had insane chemistry with each other. As you would expect two Steamboat vs Savage matches made the top twelve so I just did not have room for another even though their July 1986 match at the Maple Leaf Gardens is a classic in their own right. Whereas Santana/Valentine is a personal, physical blood feud and Slaughter/Sheik is a larger than life brawling feud, this is WWF’s answer to Crockett with their own workrate feud but with the added wrinkle of Savage’s unique despicableness where he mixes cowardice and insanity in the perfect entertainment package.  

WWF World Tag Team Champions North-South Connection of Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch vs Jack & Gerry Brisco – MSG 12/28/84

Dick Murdoch vs Barry Windham – Philly 2/16/85

This is how deep WWF was in this era, they just had Dick Murdoch, Jack Brisco & Barry Windham just kicking around their midcard putting on stellar matches in their tag scene. Dick Murdoch steals the show in any match he is in. If you have not seen Captain Redneck, you need to remedy that pronto. WWF felt like such an all-star promotion at this point and I love all the unique combinations you get to see.

WWF World Tag Team Champions US Express vs The Dream Team – Philly 8/24/85

WWF World Tag Team Champions British Bulldogs vs The Dream Team – SNME 10/4/86

The Dream Team vs Can-Am Connection – MSG 1/19/87

The Dream Team of Greg “The Hammer” Valentine & Brutus Beefcake was the best tag team of this era not named the Islanders. Their title victory over the US Express of Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo is an amazing heel performance and their match against the hunky Can-Am Connection of Rick Martel & Ton Zenk is one of the best random tag matches in the WWF. The Dream Team is represented in the Top 12, but their other great, overlooked classic is the first great Saturday Night’s Main Event in a Two out of Three Falls match against the offensive dynamos that are the British Bulldogs. They were the Bulldogs best opponents and this was their best match together.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Kamala – MSG 12/26/86

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Kamala – MSG 1/19/87 No DQ

Anyone who says the Hulkster cant work is a tool. Hogan is represented in the Top 12, but his other great matches from this era are against the Ugandan Giant, Kamala. Kamala who literally has no good matches with anyone else (ok the Andre matches are ok) had his best matches with Hogan because Hogan is so damn good at bringing electricity to any arena. Hogan is especially in his element against monsters and Kamala was great in the monster role forcing Hogan to climb the mountain so to speak. The No DQ match is especially good as they basically bust out every gimmick in the book. I highly recommend this series.

Sgt. Slaughter vs Mr. Wonderful – Philly 6/2/84

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka – Meadowlands 7/15/84

Two great matches from the WWF’s stacked 1984 roster. Listen to this babyface roster: Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Sgt. Slaughter and Junkyard Dog. Literally any of those five could be your top babyface. Everyone know about the Coconut Smash Hear ‘Round The World, but few talk about the follow-up matches, but their bloodbath in the Meadowlands is one of the best brawls of the era. Slaughter vs Wonderful shows WWF’s WCW-esque versatility at the time as you could pit pretty much any hot babyface & hot heel and strike gold.

WWF I-C Champion Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs Tito Santana – MSG 4/22/86, No DQ

Ricky Steamboat vs Jake “The Snake” Roberts – Boston 6/27/86

You know your promotion is stacked when a feud like the Macho Man vs Tito Santana don’t have a singles match that makes the top 12. Tito is at his best in a blood feud. He loves to punch and punch hard. After Savage screwed him out of the Intercontinental Championship in Boston by using a foreign object you know Tito was double hot and they had a badass brawl at MSG. Now, their feud is represented in the top 12 in the form of a tag match. Another great feud from 1986 is the Steamboat vs Jake The Snake feud, which does have a match represented in the Top 12. The match listed here is the lead-in match and I highly recommend watching this one first. I normally hate Jake The Snake for his slow, minimalist style (I find myself screaming “Do something” at the screen), but the Dragon gets the absolute best out of Roberts. Besides a Roberts/Flair match from Mid-South, these are by far the best Jake The Snake matches.

Rick Martel vs Tama – MSG 7/25/87

Strike Force vs The Islanders – MSG 10/16/87 2 out of 3 Falls

These were killers to leave out. Part of it is because I watched them five years ago and I couldn’t find them online anymore. I did find room for one of their matches to make my Top 12. The Strike Force vs Islanders was the BIG find of my re-watching of all WWF tag team matches from the 1980s which led to Tag Teams Back Again. I will recount the story here. Legend has it that the hunky Can-Ams were slated for a big tag team run. Then Zenk decided to quit this led to the Islanders turning heel, taking out Zenk permanently and taking on The Brain as their manager. The Islanders were a happy go lucky middle of the pack babyface team and overnight they became the best heel tag team in promotion and besides Randy Savage probably the best heels in the promotion. Tama should have been a megastar heel. He was such a cocky prick and such a great big bumping heel. Anyways, the Islanders wanted to finish the job and take Martel out. So Martel wrestled two singles matches against each Islander two months in a row at Madison Square Garden. The first match against Tama channels Martel’s AWA Title Reign as he goes right into champion mode. At the time, I said the match was so good it rivalled Savage vs Steamboat from the same year. However, without a rewatch, I cant compare, but my review and recollection is that this is one of the best matches of all time. After being outnumbered two-on-one, Martel needed back up and this came in the form of the aimless Tito Santana. Tito had wrapped up with Savage and needed something new to do. Strike Force was born. As two of the greatest babyfaces of all time formed an amazing tag team. The ensuing tag team feud with the Islanders is one of the greatest tag team feuds in the history of pro wrestling and should be discussed more.

The Top 12 Matches of the WWF in 1984-1987

#12. Strike Force vs The Islanders - Madison Square Garden 9/21/1987

Holy shit! How has no one ever told me of this match before. This match was an instant classic for me and currently one of my favorite matches. Before the match (shown on MSG Classics), Mean Gene shows a clip from Superstars where Tito gets assaulted by the Islanders due to him saving Martel from an earlier attack. So it is now personal between all four men. They do not wait for the formal ring introductions as Strike Force storms the ring and KATIE BAR THE DOOR BECAUSE THERE IS A PIER-SIX BRAWL A BREWIN!!! Islanders bail and Heenan leaves his hand on the apron and Strike Force stomps each hand. Then Martel brings in Tama the hard way who does a belly flop into the ring. A Martel dropkick send Tama over the top rope. I am loving every bit of this and so is the Garden.

Tama asks for time out, bitch please. Martel ducks a corner shot and he levels him. They set up the arm bar as the base of their attack with Tito coming off the ropes with an elbow to Tama's elbow and then swiftly knocking Haku off the apron. Tito leapfrogs over Tama and then turns around leveling Tama with a clothesline. Tama breaks up the armbar with headbutts and he tags Haku in. Haku promptly misses his big elbow. Time for him to play pinball for Strike Force. Once again, the armbar is the base with Martel using his speed. This is the best face shine sequence I have seen save for the MX/RNR Wrestlewar '90, which is also wicked fun.

All good things must come to an end and while the ref's back is turned, Tama comes off the top rope with an illegal forearm on Tito to set up the heat segment. Tama hits a wicked reverse elbow. The Islanders do all the good stuff: double teaming, choking with the tag rope, and false hot tag. Haku hits a monster superkick, but Tito kicks out at two. Haku goes for the kill with a SOMERSAULT SPLASH, but misses. TITO MAKES THE HOT TAG!!! THE GARDEN EXPLODES! ITS RICKY MARTEL TIME, MUTHAFUCKAS!!! He is one man wrecking crew, but as he has Tama in a pinning predicament Haku blasts Martel with the ref distracted. Haku vehemently chokes Martel with his foot.

Tama had Martel scouted on his reverse cross body. Martel has been watching his share of film too and avoids the second rope headbutt. The ref busy with keeping Tito out of the ring allowed Haku to hit Martel with a headbutt and throw Tama out to get the pin.

I loved this match. It was bell-to-bell action with great face/heel dynamics. When you have watched the whole angle progress you just couldnt wait to see Strike Force manhandle The Islanders that is what you get in the outset. The Islanders are no slouches in the offense department and really work a solid heel tag team. They could be a bit more vicious and there were times they were, but this is late 80s WWF so given the circumstances it was good enough. Santana and Martel are two of the best babyfaces of all time and holy shit is Rick Martel a MONSTER hot tag. I have this as my favorite 80s tag team match topping the Bulldogs/Dream 2 Out Of 3 Falls SNME match.

#11. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts - Boston Garden 8/9/1986

They wrestled a totally different match this go around and one that I thought is pretty unique overall. Jake Roberts is definitely a low risk, conservative type wrestler. He does not have much in the way of flashy moves or bumps. He bides his time and measures the moment. He transformed this into a really interesting strategy of blocking Steamboat's chops at every turn. This frustrated the Dragon and stymied his uptempo game. The Snake played into the dickishness by reminding everyone how smart he is for formulating this strategy. There were times where it looked like Steamboat would be able to goad him into his game like a quick slugfest or a criss cross but both times Jake remembered his game plan and refused to be suckered into it. Jake planned on leveraging this counterwrestling strategy by attacking the arm, which would negate the chop. Overall, this was a much better plan than his last outing in the Garden, which was high-risk counterwrestling waiting for the right time to use Steamboat's momentum against him. Eventually, Steamboat was able to break down Jake's defenses, I think the best example was when Jake went block high and Steamboat hit low to set up a chop flurry. Steamboat really started to get on a roll. I thought this paid off the first part of the match perfectly. Then they upped the ante when Steamboat hit his left hand on the post going for a chop. What a perfect transition! What ensued is why I love pro wrestling. Steamboat milking the hand injury for all its worth. Jake giving into his tortuous inclinations. He was smashing that hand into everything and working it over. It was just awesome. Steamboat trying to use other body parts come back, but Jake going right back to the hand. Jake The Snake wanted to choke Steamboat and this was his flaw when he deviated from his game plan. It led to Steamboat snapping Roberts' throat over the top rope. I liked the symmetry there. Steamboat basically fought back with one hand in a really thrilling comeback where he hurled Roberts into the barricade and table. I am really liking violent Ricky The Dragon. I really liked the Snake's selling. Steamboat continued his barrage even hitting his big karate flying chop. I did think the finish was a misstep. Roberts sent The Dragon into the ref and then got two visual pins on the Dragon, short arm clothesline and then gutbuster before Roberts frustrated with no ref was rolled up for the loss. I feel like the finish does no one any favors. If the plan was to advance Jake The Snake up a rung to face, Hogan, which I think he earned with these great performances then just let him win, don't make slip on the banana peel and even a loss would not kill him. How does that help Steamboat who is trying to gain revenge and all he gets is a roll up. On top of that, Jake still gets to plant him with a DDT. This was a very protected finish for Jake The Snake. I usually don't let booking cloud my judgment of a match, but even just on face value, it is a very unsatisfying finish. Really badass and unique stuff in this match and up until the finish an absolute classic.

#10. WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Harley Race 

 Madison Square Garden  6/22/1987 Texas Death Match

I could have sworn I had seen this before, but there is no way because I would never forget such a badass match. Honestly, this could be the best Hogan match of his career and this is going to sound weird but I think this is the greatest Harley Race match I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of "Texas Death" matches in WWF and besides the Patera '80 one they aren't really all that violent and awesome. This was violent and this was awesome. Hogan tears into Harley. Lots of brawling around the ring. This would feel more comfortable in Memphis or Greensboro. Hogan just ramming Harley's hard head into hard object. He HORSE COLLARS him with a chair on point. Loved the transitions in this as he is bringing him back into the ring, Harley's old trick knee flares up and just whacks him in the balls. Not even the Immortal Hulk Hogan is invulnerable to that. Harley is great with the piledriver and the suplexes and those great headbutts. He takes some great bumps in this. His trademark one out the corner hooking the ropes looked totally out of control. Hogan sees red but wants the Brain and Harley uses this take control ramming a metal chair into the throat of Hogan. This is gnarly. But he misses the headbutt and eats concrete. Great spot. They are fighting up the rampway and PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR! Harley looks like he has this won. Heenan gives him the Championship Belt first he holds it high before using it as a weapon. Classic! The spot could have been executed better, but loved the intention. Harley comes off the top rope looking to end the interminable reign of Hogan with a flying headbutt but eats the Gold! (the belt was not in perfect position I think Hogan could have moved it to make it look like he did it, small quibble). Hogan does his best Chief Jay impersonation with the belt and then smashes Harley in the face and the covers while holding the belt high. Badass! Simply badass! 

#9. Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Bret "The Hitman" Hart  

Saturday Night's Main Event 11/28/1987

Unless I am forgetting some Rockers match, this is definitely my pick for best match in SNME history (Rockers/Busters match is close). Make no mistake about it, this is the Randy Savage show and one of the few times in his whole WWF career where Bret takes a backseat to someone in a match. As much as we can debate whether this is Bret's coming out party, this is definitively Savage's coming out party as the number two babyface in the company. Thus it is only logical that Savage is the star of the match, but that being said, there are very few heels at this point in time in the promotion that could have delivered the same performance as Bret did in this match. I think that is really when a match transcends into something special is when both wrestlers are crucial to the success of the match in such a way no other wrestler could take their place. To state in the converse fashion, neither wrestler feels like a generic, warm body to partake in the routine of someone else's match.

Savage is not a fan of extended segmenting in his matches especially he likes short babyface shines when he is a babyface. What I like about this is that adds a sense of struggle in a way that most WWF matches lack. Bret is almost getting in "heel hope spots" during the shine just to spice things up. They establish Macho Man will have plenty of extracurriculars to concern himself early especially how the Honky Tonk Man and the Harts treated Elizabeth on the last SNME. This is also the first instance of the rather proliferate Bret bump off the apron onto the guardrail that I have noticed.

One thing I love in my wrestling is urgency. Has there ever been a more urgent North American wrestler than Savage? I loved how he kicked Bret on the telegraphed back drop. He seemed so out of control. Savage crashes and burns on his double axe-handle to the guardrail. Bret delivers a piledriver that would make Bob Backlund proud before ramming his shoulder back into his post. Savage does a mini-control segment before being back dropped over the top rope and onto the floor. That was a crazy high bump. Thus begins Savage's Emmy campaign. If you have force me, I would say I prefer Savage' knee selling over Toshiaki Kawada's by a hair. Savage is just so excellent on fighting on one leg. Elizabeth helping Savage take off his boot is such a nice touch. Bret is in his element working over the leg and does a fantastic job. I don't think there was anyone on the WWF roster that could have pulled that role off and I don't think anyone could have sold as well as Savage. It was just a perfect confluence. They work this to such a fever pitch that crowd pops huge for Savage's desperation inside cradle off a bodyslam attempt to win.

An excellent match that illustrates how the WWF style had the potential to deliver powerful stories even if they didn't always. I loved this match and I think it is a harbinger of Bret's future and a testament to what Savage could be as a babyface. Perfect TV match. 

#8. The Dream Team vs Tito Santana & Ricky Steamboat - Maple Leaf Gardens 4/21/85

This match sure lived up to the hype and may be the best Beefcake performance I have ever seen. This match was all about tempo. Santana was in his red-hot feud with Valentine who had broken his leg and taken his title. The crowd was molten for that angle. The babyfaces worked their entire end in an up-tempo, fired -up fashion. The Dream Team knowing they could not match this attempted every trick in the book to break their momentum and work a real grinding style. This led to a really good match.

Early on Steamboat and Santana have a hot shine sequence with Beefcake and Valentine just bumping all over the place for them. I have been down on WWF Steamboat, but he was pumped for this match just flying around the ring. You know that Tito is going to bring the hate with his fists balled up. Beefcake and Valentine do their best to stall and break this momentum, but at first there seems like no end to this onslaught. Until, Tito goes for the figure-4 on Valentine, who grabs his trunks and hits a knee in the midsection. Once he hits a shoulderbreaker he consolidates the advantage for the Dream Team and grinds the match to a halt. They work on Santana with some double teams and Valentine slaps on an arm bar. Tito is almost able to make the tag, but Valentine knocks Steamboat off the apron and then Beefcake comes around and beats on Steamboat. The crowd was just eating this all up. The Beefer gets cocky and goads Steamboat. Tito is able to crawl past Beefcake and get the hot tag to Steamboat. IT IS BREAKING LOOSE IN TORONTO! Steamboat with his best hot tag I have seen. He unloads on both the Hammer and the Beefer with karate shots. The crowd was losing their shit for this. Steamboat grabs the sleeper hold, but Beefcake with an eye-rake. Valentine and Steamboat have a good exchange until an eye-rake does Steamboat in and Valentine consolidates with a gut buster. I preferred the Steamboat FIP is a better at selling and the Dream Team really unloaded with double teams and offense. Valentine starts to warm him up for the figure-4, but Steamboat knows his way around the figure-4 and grabs an inside cradle. Steamboat fights out of the corner and is able to Tito. ARRIBA! Double noggin knocker. Tito drops Valentine with a right. Flying Burrito to a huge pop! Beefcake saves. Melee ensues. They are double teaming Tito and Steamboat flies off the top onto Beefcake. Tito blocks Valentine's atomic drop and applies the figure-4 for the submission victory. ARRIBA! Wooooooooooooo, I am out of breathe after that one.

This is babyface wrestling 101, folks. Steamboat and Santana gave maximum effort and I bet it is real easy when you have a crowd as hot as this one at the Maple Leaf Gardens. The Dream Team wrestled a smart match to ensure constant heat throughout the match as they built not one, but two really hot tags. In some of those double FIP AWA tags, the first hot tag is not all that hot, but in this match that Steamboat hot tag is just as red-hot as the following Santana one. Beefcake actually wrestled pretty well here and was not as awkward as usual. The Hammer is going to clog the lane every time and make sure that babyface earns every shot. 

#7. WWF Women's Tag Team Champions Glamour Girls vs Jumping Bomb Angels 

Madison Square Garden 11/24/1987

Holy shit! Hart Foundation & British Bulldogs eat your hearts out, this is how you do a workrate match in the 1980s. You expect the MSG crowd to shit all over this, but they come out so blazing hot that all four women are immediately over with the Garden. I know watched this  for Tag Teams Back Again, but this match blew me away all over again. It was the perfect combination of workrate and babyface/heel dynamics. I have no clue which Japanese girl is which and in fairness I have a hard time keeping track of the Glamour Girls. I just know Judy Martin as the woman with the Kick of Fear! The babyface shine is so amazing and in 1987 it was  downright revolutionary. This is my point that it is not about the moves, it is about the energy and emotion. The moves the Jumping Bomb Angels used here would be passe now, but what makes this timeless is the energy and excitement with which they are hit. Those flying high knees and crossbodys are hit with such vigor that you are pumping your fist with all these New Yorkers. New York loses its shit for the top rope kneedrop and then top rope lucha armdrag. It was exhilarating. The Glamour Girls were great at stooging and acting discombobulated with all the powdering. They were also good at attacking first and forcing the Jumping Bomb Angels to overcome their offense. The transition to heat was great with one of the Jumping Bomb Angels missing a HUGE Top Rope Senton. The Glamour Girls were the perfect heels once they got control they stuck with hair pulling and choking.  This heat segment had all the trappings of a great tag team match. Man, New York lost its shit on the false hot tag. They were pissed. They got even louder when one Jumping Bomb Angel saved the other from the Scorpion Deathlock. The ref held her back and that Angel was just going off on the ref. The crowd was molten hot! I love how into the match the Japanese girls were they. They really sold their emotional investment. Lots of good hope spots that kept you believing. I liked the ankle pick and all the roll ups. The best were the bridges out of the pins it really put over the strength and athleticism of the Jumping Bomb Angels. The Glamour Girls go for a JBA Sammich but the Japanese girl ducks and The Glamour Girls collides. HOT TAG! OH SHIT! Its on! I loved the stereo bridges out of the pin attempts and then throwing the Glamour Girls together. DOUBLE MISSILE DROPKICK! MSG LOST THEIR FUCKING MINDS! I AM RIGHT THERE WITH THEM! JBA COUNTS WITH HER OWN HAND! 1-2-3! IT DOESNT COUNT! 1-2-JUDY MARTIN BREAKS IT UP AND POWERBOMB! POWER-FUCKING-BOMB! 1-2-3 for the Glamour Girls! WOW! 

There is some sloppiness in the JBA's offense and the rollup constantly being the hope spot got a little old, but still HOLY SHIT WOW! The energy level was great, I loved the heat segment and that finish run is one of the best all time. This is a pretty famous match, but if you have not watched it, you got to do it. It is definitely one of the 100 best WWF matches of all time.