Burning Hammer DVD Review #5
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WG: Busted Open
Compilation Tape
--This is the first volume in the awesome Wrestling Gold series. It's a bunch of old wrestling footage from the various territories, and besides the wrestling nuggets that can be found here, it also contains the SWEET~ commentary team of Dave Meltzer & Jim Cornette.
--Taped from all over the place.
--Your hosts are Dave Meltzer & Jim Cornette
--Sherri Martel V. Judy Martin. This is from Memphis, around 1982. It's weird seeing the women actually lay into each other with their moves, hitting them all crisp & hard. It's embarrassing to see this, and then realize how soft women's wrestling in America has become. Martin goes for a standing Chicken-Wing, but Martel rolls through into a Victory Roll for the pin at 4:34. *1/2 This was basic wrestling, which is something only a handful of the current American women wrestlers know how to do.
--Shawn Michaels V. Ken Johnson. This is from Memphis, once again around 1982. This is also real early in Shawn's career, with this being one of his first matches. Shawn gets lots of hang time on a Dropkick. Shawn gets the pin with a Powerslam at 4:24. ** Pretty basic stuff, but it's amazing watching Shawn be so fluid in the ring, knowing how green he was in this match.
--SCW Tag Team Championship Match: Gino Hernandez, Tully Blanchard V. Grapplers (W/Don Carson). This is from Southwest Championship Wrestling, in 1984. Gino & Tully may be better known to some as the Dynamic Duo. The Grapplers are Len Denton & Tony Anthony under masks. The basic gist here is that the Grapplers are the new heel team in town, and that by default makes Gino & Tully into baby faces despite the fact they still wrestle like heels. Nothing really sticks out in the match, just some good southern tag team wrestling. Cornette & Meltzer go off on a hilarious rant about David Arquette's title reign in WCW. Gino gets the pin on Grappler II at 9:00 to win the match & titles after shoving Grappler II into Tully so he can get a Rollup. **3/4 Some good old fashioned southern tag wrestling, but nothing that really stood out. Post-match Tully turns on Gino, which instantly made Gino into a mega-face.
--Gino Hernandez V. Tully Blanchard. This is from SCW, in 1984. Former pro boxer Ernie Shavers is the special referee. This would be the one and only match resulting from the previous match, due to Gino immediately bolting for the World Class territory right after this match. Tully takes a shitkicking from Gino early on. Gino then takes an over the top turnbuckle, fall to the outside bump off an Irish Whip. Think HHH's bump, just a lot more painful looking. Both guys are busted open. Gino goes up for his finisher, a top-rope Elbowdrop, but it misses. Words cannot describe how horrid looking Gino's Elbowdrop is. Gino gets the pin at 12:17 with a top-rope Splash after Shavers knocked out Tully with a punch. *** Once again, this was some good southern wrestling, but the only thing that really sticks out is Gino's god-awful Elbowdrop.
--SCW Heavyweight Championship Match: Bob Orton Jr. V. Adrian Adonis. This is from SCW, in 1984, and it's on the same show as the pervious Tully/Gino match. Lou Thesz is at ringside to present the winner with the championship belt. Lots of SWANK~ mat wrestling to start. Then Adonis busts out a Headscissors Takedown, which is just awesome for a man his size. Adonis goes for a Thesz Press, but Orton catches him and attempts a Hotshot, but then Adonis shifts his weight and gets a Rollup for 2. Adonis goes for a middle-rope Splash, but Orton gets his knees up, which results in Adonis taking a pair of sick looking knees to his stomach. Adonis wins the match & the title at 14:49 by pinfall with a Small Package. **** Man oh man, was Adonis an awesome worker before he entered the WWF. Adonis never got winded the entire match, and he actually had to slow down at points just so that Orton, who's no slouch in the ring either, could keep up. Adonis showed more wrestling acumen & all around skill in this match than a lot of the current internet darlings ever have in their whole careers.
--Bruiser Brody V. Abdullah the Butcher. This is from SCW, around 1983. We pick things up with Brody and Butcher brawling outside the ring. We go to a ref bump. Another ref joins us, and we get another ref bump. The referee declares the match a no-contest at 5:15 aired. NO RATING This was your basic, albeit bloody, brawl with a whole lot of punching & kicking.
--Larry Zbyszko V. Scott Casey. This is from SCW, in 1984. We pick things up with Casey fighting out of a Wristlock. This was the beginning of an inter-promotional feud between Tully Blanchard's SCW and Ole Anderson's Georgia Championship Wrestling. Casey is representing SCW against Zbyszko who is from the invading GCW. Zbyszko gets the pin at 7:10 aired with a Double-Leg Takedown. * Pretty basic stuff, but it's interesting seeing Larry move around the ring with speed & show some emotion, which is totally different from the way he was in WCW.
--Jerry Lawler V. Bob Sweetan. This is from SCW, in 1984. Lawler stalls, stalls, and then stalls some more before the match finally gets under way. Lawler is really playing up his heel act here, as we reach the 9 minute mark, and there have been a total of 2 times they've made any contact with each other due to Lawler's stalling & mannerisms. Sweetan gets a 3 count, but Lawler being the ultimate heel, manages to convince the ref that his feet were on the ropes the whole time. Lawler gets the pin at 13:32 after a knee to the face and some usage of the ropes. 1/4* This was a terrible wrestling match, with Lawler's heel act barely keeping the match from being a dud.
--Terry Funk, Ivan Putski V. Gino Hernandez, Tully Blanchard. This is from SCW, in 1984. We pick things up with Tully getting a Neckbreaker on Funk. Gino once again pulls out his top-rope Elbowdrop, which is still just as terrible, and still looks like shit. Putski gets the pin at 3:09 aired on Tully after a Lateral Press, and Ricky Morton coming into the ring to count the pinfall. NO RATING Nothing at all to talk about from this match.
--Cage Match: Dick Slater V. Mongolian Stomper (W/Don Carson). Bob Sweetan is the special referee. This is from SCW, in 1984. We pick things up with Stomper & Slater slugging it out in the ring. Iron Claw by Stomper, and he keeps it locked on for a couple of minutes, until Slater makes the ropes & Stomper has to break. I've never gotten the concept of their being rope breaks in cage, no DQ, falls count anywhere matches, etc. Why in a match where you can pin your opponent anywhere, or don't have to worry about being disqualified should you have to break when your opponent grabs the ropes? Stomper goes back to the Iron Claw. Slater finally makes the comeback, and Cornette was right about Slater, he mimics Terry Funk about as much as you can mimic someone without actually being that person. Slater gets the pin at 9:22 aired after hitting Stomper with Stomper's own loaded boot. ** Old fashioned, bloody brawl, although there were too many Iron Claw's in the match.
--AWA Heavyweight Championship Match: Bruiser Brody V. Nick Bockwinkle (W/Bobby Heenan). Lou Thesz is the special referee. This is from SCW, in 1984. We pick things up with Bockwinkle holding Brody in a Headscissors. Bockwinkle keeps trying to wrestle, but Brody keeps on turning the match back into a slugfest. Brody wins by disqualification at 9:58 when Thesz apparently disqualifies Bockwinkle for Heenan interfering. ** Bockwinkle brought the wrestling, Brody brought the brawling, and Heenan brought the heel managing. This all equaled a watchable, but not great match.
--Final Flash: Only one match on here, Adonis/Orton, that's worth trying to see, but that's only an added bonus to the real feature on this DVD, Cornette & Meltzer's awesome job on commentary. Meltzer may get a little annoying at times, but he more than makes up for it with the amount of information he brings to the matches. Cornette is especially great, as he not only is knowledgeable about the matches, but is downright hilarious throughout most of the DVD.
Highly Recommended.
Mildly Recommended
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