NWA Classics 24/7 #1

I'm pretty much watching stuff at random here. I'm also trying not to blow through all the Butch Reed matches straight away.


Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams v The Guerreros (Bandolero Death Match) (Houston Wrestling, 7/85)

Is the Guerrero family the best wrestling family ever? Eddie, Chavo Sr. and Hector are all fucking awesome, Mando I need to see more of but is probably really good (because duh), and Gory sired the four of them so no way he didn't rule. And Chavo Jr. didn't suck, either. Chavo Sr. and Hector really came out of nowhere on the Mid-South and blew a bunch of folks away with how good they were (myself included), and all of this newly unearthed stuff really bolsters their rep. This was good, but the pole gimmick (it's basically [item] on a pole match) kind of got in the way a bit. Everyone had to climb the pole to unhook the bandolero, but the longer the match went the sweatier they got and that hardly made the climbing any easier. Led to plenty of bare ass shots with dudes getting pulled off the pole by their trunks. Maybe this is the match that inspired Shawn Michaels. Crowd absolutely lose it for the finish, and the early do-si-do dropkick sequence needs some love as well.


Hacksaw Duggan v One Man Gang (No DQ) (Houston Wrestling, 8/8/86)

Fuck, this totally ruled. Only goes about six minutes, but by the end it feels like both guys just came out of a war. Duggan was a total nut job in this throwing incredible punches and stumbling around the ring (or both rings, as it were) and ringside like a bloodied up caveman warrior. Gang hurling himself in between the two rings to get away from Duggan swinging the chair, Duggan tossing Gang over the top rope by the beard(!), the assisted splash/sit-up/punch sequence between both guys and Akbar, the punches, the postings -- for six minutes they sure managed to cram in a bunch of awesome shit. I've barely watched anything from the service really, but this is the best thing I've checked out so far. Just a badass sprint-brawl.