Oh when the Saint . . .

So it’s been a while; this partly due to my commitments at Bomcast, and partly due to my diligence in watching lots of lovely DVD’s from the fine people at Rudo Reels and Smart Mark Video. These things of course feed into one another. So when I left you all hanging I was going to break down how All Star became dominant and left Joint in its wake. My watching of Smart Mark DVD’s has led me into re-watching a lot of Johnny Saint. His performance at Chikara’s Chikarasaurus Rex last year (at the age of 71 I may add) was incredible. This was partly down to a red hot crowd in Reading, Pennsylvania who adored his match with Johnny Kidd, but also the incredibly knowledgeable and respectful fans of South Philly. They always loved their wrestling. They just liked their blood and guts as well. And so it was that in a place where Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho and Rey Misterio broke the US market wide open for pure wrestlers Johnny Saint and Johnny Kidd reinvigorated their somewhat dormant careers, with the help of Mike Quakenbush and Colt Cobana . So where does this fit in with how All Star broke the Saturday afternoon mould? Take a look at this.



This is late eighties and classic All Star presentation; a catch weight contest between two of the top drawing cards in the country. Something Joint would never have done. Brian Dixon ensured that the TV was there to support the live gate not replace it. He built feuds in the arenas from feuds he had going for him on TV. The episodic cliff hanger format that was pioneered by Bill Watts presented with an original twist. The pre-match interview favoured Dave Finlay, always ahead of his time. The subtle and down played reply by Johnny Saint belies an incredible voice that if you listen to his Art of Wrestling Podcast is both insightful, funny and warm. What really paid of though is what happens between the ropes. The short format three minute rounds, championship style, kind of cuts into the flow, but the bell goes and we have the classic roles of heel and face played out. Dave’s stall and taunt tactics give a nice pace to the match, his minimalist style goes against the grain of Johnny’s all action outings. The Sandman (a technical wizard if ever there was one) once recounted how Dave, then working as a road agent for WWE, didn’t like a match because someone had taken to many bumps. He then proceeded to have a one bump match to prove his point. Everything makes sense.



And of course with Dave being full on heel, Johnny can relax and go on being viciously effective full on face, something the Philly fans did not see. Note the torque on the whip at 1:26. Of course Dave has not really evolved his style much in the ring over the years. He has just got more vicious. His chilling promo for his Ring of Honor match with Roderick Strong at Border Wars attests to which basically boiled down to “Finlay’s coming” attests to that. Paula of course always attracted white hot heat from the crowd, but its Dave who seals the deal in the ring; the bemused heel chasing ghosts and of course when you get frustrated resort to punches. Punching was so looked down up on and was almost an instant DQ in the British ring because rules still mattered. Throwing a punch was enough to get major heat and Dave’s perfect hidden deliveries. So the story goes on; the heel gets mad so the face gets even madder. This is Johnny’s downfall as he slips into the Celtic Cross.



Round four brings us back to action Johnny sells the Celtic Cross very believably, as with much of everything he did; his usual matches against smaller opponents where usually affairs of escape and defence, he had plenty of chances to seal the submissions and pin falls so when he really got hit with something big he looked perfect. Moderation is the key after all. The escape and release style resurfaces as Johnny hits his second wind. Simplicity is the key as Johnny takes down Dave Finlay with a School boy. As Kent Walton rightly says “all done with speed”, in fact the only thing missing from Chikarasaurous Rex was Kent Walton’s commentary; however he was mentioned in passing. I would have dearly loved to have heard him commentate on the singles match. The other issue of this time was camera presentation. The low camera shot from the side of the ring was something new, but it also helped impact of each moved to be presented in a much more hard hitting way. What is also amazing is that the one big bump of the match happens so late. These two men had the crowd oohing and ahhing without leaving their feet that often. This says a lot for their ability. Doing the most with minimal effort, this had an impact on their careers in that both are wrestling to a very high level twenty five years later. There is a somewhat anti climatic ending to the bout which manages to achieve a lot and could only happen in a British ring. Dave keeps his heat as a heel and his dominance as a larger man; Johnny retains his heat as a face by losing in less than perfect circumstances. Everyone’s a winner. Certainly All Star fans where. Joint fan’s not so much. They had to deal with this.



Which would you rather watch? I shall at this point give a shameless plug to those folks at Rudo Reels, not for any other reason other than they are supportive of wrestling, offer great value and give incredible service. I strongly recommend their download service which can build your collection cheaply and effectively. A word of warning though it’s addictive. I’d start with their excellent Luche Libre sampler which has some mid nineties classics and shows the growth of AAA, EMLL and the careers of Rey Misterio, Psycosis and La Parka and is free. Have a good week, till next week.

The times they are a changing

So last time out we had a rather wordy account of what happened in the UK scene throughout the decades. This column looks at one specific sea change in direction. As mentioned last time the British scene went into upheaval in 1986. The TV contract that had been the bread and butter for Joint Promotions suddenly was up for grabs and ended up falling three ways. Joint received a share, but also the WWF and the upstart All Star promotions. The WWF was putting out a show specifically aimed at a British audience, but the difference was staggering. Mean Gene himself giving us matches from Madison Square Garden featuring Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and of course the British Bulldogs. All Star Promotions couldn’t surely be that different from Joint right? Well in comparison to the WWF, it wouldn’t be that different, but as for booking and content, that was like night and day. Take this example. Mark “Rollerball” Rocco versus Fuji Yamada (Jushin “Thunder” Liger), for the Heavy Middleweight Champion ship and belt, the commentator as always; Kent Walton.


 


All Star where branching out from their north western roots and where deep in Joint territory here in Lewisham. The title had been dropped to Yamada some time earlier, truly a case of opportunism as Yamada was on one of his short seasoning trips from New Japan. Even before the bell we have typical Rocco fair of intimidating his opponent before the match starts, so far so normal. The match kicks off at a hell of a pace, with a hot crowd it would be churlish not to, but the thing is that pace doesn’t let up. Knowing what we know now as to how these two careers panned out, it feels like a big fight and looks like a big fight. This is a battle for supremacy in Junior Heavyweight wrestling. The old guard versus the up and comer, a story as old as wrestling itself, however the pacing and psychology of this match doesn’t really come from British wrestling. It’s like someone put Budakon Hall in Lewisham for one night. Remembering back in time to when I watched this as young fan was the build up Mark Rocco received in the run up to this TV debut for All Star. Having been in Max Crabtree’s bad books once to often for being over aggressive on TV he upped and left with the world title, it proved a shrewd move. Brian Dixon’s economic and freewheeling booking style gave him the leeway he wanted artistically to have the matches he wanted. Unsurprisingly it was a hit at the box office to. His more realistic approach looked light years ahead of Joint and it showed in matches like this. The other helpful issue is that the referee is somewhat lenient in applying the rules which for British wrestling is an advantage as they are so restrictive. Whilst Rocco was away he had also improved immeasurably as a wrestler, his move set, already all action, had benefited by development from years spent in New Japan watching and wrestling the greatest era of Junior Heavyweights ever. People including myself rave about Tiger Mask and Dynamite, but really looking elsewhere in the division, Tatsumi Fujinami, Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith, The Cobra; it was an all time world class field and all in the same place at the same time. They wrestled each other a lot. Here he borrows a move from Bret Hart; the hammer lock drop sending your opponent out of the ring. It is also not only a one man show, as we now know 28 years later Fuji is still the main draw of the NJPW Junior Heavy division and still looks exactly like this, except under a black suit and I would say quite rightly considered to be the greatest pure Junior Heavyweight wrestler of all time.

As they both hit hold and counter holds, this style is certainly something different to what we had been used to. A kind of mix of British Wrestling and Japanese Strong style that transcended boundaries as far as race where concerned. As mentioned in a previous episode Dave Finlay would often be singled out as heel by just being Irish, in his Steve Wright’s only World title match on British soil he got over purely by pretending to be a German heel. Xenophobia was never that far away in British rings, but for some reason Japanese boys from the time of Saturo Sayama, everyone got over fine, especially if they where young boys like Fuji here. What was even more interesting is what Mark Rocco comes out with verbally. Mark hits a abdominal stretch at the 9:10 mark in this clip and starts calling out Antonio Inoki whilst chastising Kent Walton for not knowing the correct name of the move. He does this later in the bout while applying a Scorpion Deathlock and calling out Chosu Ricki. This mild insider message was no doubt lost on anyone in the hall who would have no idea who either of these people where lost in our insular British wrestling worlds. We had only just found out about Hulk Hogan how where we supposed out know about Inoki and Ricki?






For his part Fuji opens round four with a handspring elbow snap brain buster and an elbow off the top rope. Kent as always oblivious to any move invented after 1956 does not call it correctly getting confused with the Power Lock of Andy Robbins and Marty Jones, which both start the same way but end up more like a figure four. Though it is somewhat sloppily applied it is better than the Rocks. What hadn’t changed was Rocco’s ability to bait a crowd. His highly effective pantomime of grabbing the title was a heat getter in Lewisham, but they where on the edge of the seats already, did they know they where watching two of the greatest ever? Probably not, context is everything and nothing. Rocco’s rather vicious looking neck breaker also makes a debut in this match, again unnamed by Walton who by this point was somewhat losing the plot when it came to the state of the art matches. He certainly didn’t know what to call the German Suplex that gets the first fall. What is more remarkable is that it is won Japanese style in pin fall; go till you knock the guy out. As we move on into round six the classic Rocco gambit of uncovering the ring post comes into play. In all the years I saw him do this I think Rocco came out on top about 50% of the time.





Subtle things make this match different as well, Rocco’s insistence of hooking the leg during a pin fall goes against the British tradition of pinning the shoulders only and hoping after a knock out move. So we are all tied up at round seven and things are going to have to heat up, even if they have not already. This match has so far been a logical progression of speed and intensity that only two great performers can give, so why was it on free TV? World title matches on TV up until this point had been few and far between. Understandably Joint felt they where giving away the golden goose. But Brian Dixon’s point was get them into the halls, show the best stuff we can and deliver it again live then we can all make money. Once again calling his own moves, an innovative approach, Rocco gets on top with a grovit, another Lancastrian classic. A pescado from Fuji brings him back on top; this match was bringing out all the moves and really created something special as a title match should be. Finishing up with the pile driver Rocco takes the title back. So what do we have here? We have an independent promotion taking established veterans and using them to get over younger talent developing, an ultra stiff style and an episodic TV presentation. Remind you of anyone? Well the influence clearly came from Bill Watt’s Mid South promotion, and was the basis for ECW some years later. I even remember Taz cutting promos on Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan during title matches. Though routed in the British style and environment, it had elements and aspirations in different places. Still do not believe me? Next time we shall look at another match from the Brian Dixon’s boys. Have a good time till next time.

Six of the Best; Out of Towners

Moving away form the last Japanese obsessed edition we can now head back to Europe for our next instalment of Bus Man's Holiday. By the early nineties Dave Finlay had built a reputation for hard work and heeldom that had moved beyond these shores. Like Dynamite, Jones and Davey Boy he to was now a NJPW regular. His greater regular touring income though came from the NJPW affiliated Catch wrestling promotion of Austria, owned by former AWA champion Otto Wanz. The promotion had been a holding post for wrestlers from all over the world for years. Its annual tournament attracted huge crowds and hungry competitors from all over the world. This tournament taking place in 1990 featured another Wigan graduate Steve Wright who liked the place so much he got married and brought up a family and son future WCW star Alex Wright later to be the ill advised Berlyn. By this point Dave was well respected in the UK and now without a TV deal he was looking for work elsewhere that would eventually lead him to WCW and the WWE as an in ring talent and producer. However lets head back a few years to when Sting was just getting the big push, Hulk Hogan was still eating vitamins saying prayers and starting his downhill slide into WCW.





As mentioned before Steve was a classically trained British wrestler and it shows in the opening exchanges here. He was also a huge fan favourite as heard in this clip. Dave was still the ultimate heel. The Mount Evans style rules in CWA meant some more European style wrestling, the referee's whistle is blooding annoying though. The change in culture is to the size of audience, everything seems more deliberate than in a UK hall, but its clear that as for getting sympathy for the good guy Dave is the man. He makes everything look great and as hard hitting as it is supposed to be. Steve for his part wrestles a very straight up match in an English style. The slow motion with sound things are awesome and WWE should bring them back soon. What does surprise me is that no one bothered to put commentary on this, I guess the moves call themselves. This is a very good example of doing more with less, if the audience do not need that much to get the going why do it? This audience clearly love their interaction, all Dave has to do is play the inferior cheat to get over.


 


In fact Steve cheats more than Dave does. Cheating is popular in Austria apparently. As are incredibly slow three counts. The rules do have a little more leeway, but even Dave can't get away with beating up Steve between rounds. As the crowd erupts after the pile driver, its easy to see how Dave may prefer this to chasing Jushin Liger round the ring all night in Tokyo. This style of more through less meant a much longer career for him and when he finally did die his hair blonde it was with good reason; a for a long overdue push for a world wide company in WCW and then the WWE. Skull Murphy by contrast never really did much outside of the UK. He was however handed someone to wrestle who, as discussed last time, had a major influence on professional sports. Like Saturo Sayama before him Akira Maeda was sent to these shores for seasoning before his main event push in NJPW began. To get the bout into super over territory, Maeda is billed as Kwik Kik Lee, brother of Sammy Lee (Saturo Sayama), confused yet? This wonderful piece of jingoism was at least positive jingoism. Not far from “they all look the same”, but let us digress. Kwik Kik, and I love how Kent Walton tries to sell that as his real name, was on a tour that would proceed his push and subsequent falling out with the management in NJPW, Skull was the rising heel star, sounds like good ingredients lets take a look;


 


Skull, the shaven headed tearaway, (talk about do what it says on the tin) is somewhat over matched here in striking, but has the edge in submission. As the introductions and opening exchanges prove, Akira is over like gang busters. It was quite odd that while in the states the Japanese characters where always portrayed as heels in the UK they where often portrayed as the good guy, basically because they brought in something different. Their high skill sets where used to put more into a match and that demanded them to be cheered. The shout and stall tactics of the heels kept the pace slow enough to keep the moves special as Skull employs here. Clearly Skull's counter work is exemplary, but he never really got chance to show it that much. His job was to get people riled up and that's what brought him to the dance, so why change? The age old tale of the heel getting slowly frustrated before breaking out into a full on rule breaking extravaganza. This was controlled by the always vocal Peter Zachash, one of the most recognisable referees in the UK. I always liked his no nonsense style which made things much more realistic. The stalling continues which builds the tension of the match to frenzy, but we are not at frenzy stage yet. This contrasts so deeply with NJPW it is hard to see what Maeda is getting out of it. There the slow burn style didn't really need heels or faces, the story lines where not about revenge, always competition. Still different styles require different approaches and more experience anywhere is useful. Maeda's kicks are something different though, pretty stiff for the time, Skull takes them with aplomb. The over the top rope bump leads to Skull showing his agility with the suicide dive to the inside that backfires. The climax to the round brings the first public warning for Murphy, usually a sign things are going to heat up. In the big face/heel confrontations the crowd loved guys who would give as good back as they got, as seen with Marty Jones and Dynamite, Akira had learnt this lesson well.





Akira showing no mercy uses the ropes on Skull's injured arm, the classic turn-about-is-fair-play angle that drove a lot of the top line matches at the time. Though Akira to understood comedy could go a long way, the legs splits hold was a favourite of Les Kellet and older grapplers. This subversion of it raises a laugh but asks the interesting question; how much better prepared where Japanese wrestlers of the time? Well with Karl Gotch hitting you with a stick every time you did something wrong, very well prepared indeed. The Steamboat like flying chop, leg lariat back drop combination is enough to get a pin. Usually in British matches the story was always a series of moves rather than one big finisher. Skull and Marty Jones where in the process of changing that culture with their submission finishers. This helped story telling because as in this match Skull is working the neck so he can hit the Gator finisher. He does and it ends the fall. This reasoning behind certain moves came from the submission story telling style of the Wigan wrestlers and harks back to the original days of catch as catch can. A submission meant the end and a decisive result. Murphy argues with the crowd to get counted out. This really doesn’t happen often enough in my opinion. Sadly the booking of some matches reach surreal levels of ineptitude, but it did protect Skull's image some what.

Next time there will be one more round the world trip from Bus Man's holiday, and the last six of the best for a while. Thank you though for sharing some of my favourite stories from six of my favourite wrestlers. The time after the next time we will head back into the deep dark mists of time and watch more of the evolution of how Saturday afternoons should always be.

Have a good time, till the next time.

Six of the Best; Best of the Best

Welcome back grapple fans and in this post we have something special, my personal favourite British feud of all time. The six at their height and the most artistically interesting feud that joint promotions produced. The zenith of the British style for me. In fact looking at the date I have waited nearly thirty years to discuss this match with anyone aside from my Dad. Dave “Fit” Finlay versus Marty Jones, the feud for Joint promotions most coveted title, the World Mid Heavyweight Title and Belt. The two best regular workers in the weight division, an inspired and revolutionary managerial presence, the Crabtree's best booking ever, Kent Walton on top form. This my friends is as good as it gets.





Fit Finlay vs. Marty Jones (England 4/14/84) by ragingnoodles

This match is billed as a none title grudge match, being round-less it meant there would be more flow, that was the idea anyway, and to be fair with two artists such as this you wanted to give them as much room as possible. Marty Jones was my regular favourite, while Dynamite was away he accrued a sense of mystique that was only compounded on his infrequent return visits switching between face and heel, depending on the opponent. Marty, however, was solid and dependable, he was the man. As you have seen over previous posts Marty took a while to get into the top spot in the UK debuting in the early seventies, Finlay a little bit younger had that air of youthful arrogance about him that made him his perfect foil. The young pretender who actually dethroned the Champ. The story of this bout also belongs to the story of that red belt around Dave's waist. Stretching back to the 1940s, this title was the most prized possession in all of British wrestling thanks to one man; Mike Marino, the greatest ambassador for the pure sport of wrestling we ever had. He held the belt from 1957 till 1982 in four reigns, that included dropping the title to Vic Hessle and Lord Alfred Hayes no less. When Marino sadly passed the belt was vacant and a tournament was held for a new champion. With the passing of Marino came the passing of the torch and Marty was destined to follow in the great man's shoes. Being the ambassador for the sport much in the same way John Cena is seen as now, as an ambassador for the WWE. Jones took to the job with gusto, but the new champion faced new problems, not least of which was keeping the title picture interesting. His greatest challenger would send him home belt less four times that would be Dave Finlay.

Finlay and Jones where the perfect match, not in how different they where, English/Irish, Heel/Face. But in how alike they where, strong amateurs, from wrestling hot beds, strong club back grounds, well trained. This meant face paced, stiff in your face bouts that made everything else on the card look tame. It also made the live events, the real money of British wrestling, important again. They swapped the titles that often it could happen anywhere any time and at last the promoters where using TV as a tool to make the live gate swell. Over the space of 18 months Jones would drop the title four times. Hot shotting the belt like this got both men over and made Finlay indispensable to British promoters for the next fifteen years. Jones would stay in the title picture for the next seventeen years. To a seven year old fan like me though it made me love the game. I can remember the feeling of loss when I saw Marty lose the title just as hard today. I was invested, the feeling of elation when I would see him with the belt again made me think everything was right with the world. This was story telling at its best. The match opens with the feeling out period exclaimed by the finger pointing. The threats always made things look more antagonistic and you knew things would come to a head. The chain wrestling that opens the bout was typical of the two but the intensity and precision always gave me this impression Finlay didn't need to cheat he just did it anyway. What a despicable person.

Speaking of which I should also give Princess Paula her top billing. Paula was Dave's then wife, and a fair hand in the ring herself. Her managerial influence was great because no one had seen anything like it before. Women’s matches where never on TV, so we had no experience of her in the ring, but her actions could be just perfect. She never interfered so much as gave advice from the sidelines. But the kiss between rounds was the key tell tale sign of how well Dave was doing. Doing well kiss, doing badly no kiss. Something that Francine Fournier amped up to the max in ECW later on; belt = sex, no belt = no sex. This was an embryonic version of that, but pull heat and help tell the story it did. Bearing in mind that this match is only two minutes old and after one exchange the crowd are stomping and hollering already, this was a highly anticipated rivalry. The slaps and head butts worked for Finlay like a boxers jab, wearing down, constantly annoying and added realism to the match. In return so did Marty's crisp matt work, the ying and yang of each style fitting together. The key thing in the early exchanges is for Marty prove his superiority, Dave escapes the leg scissor once, so Marty remembers how he gets out of it and delivers the perfect drop kick to get the most out of the move. Small things like that made these bouts so watch-able and compelling. It is Marty's clear strategy as well to take Finlay apart limb by limb if he has to, the wicked arm wrenches where not his usual style preferring to head for the legs. Kent Walton again helps things along referencing back to title bouts in the past. Kent really was underrated as a commentator, I recently saw someone comparing him to Gordon Solie and that I think is about right. Both took their wrestling very seriously, not easy when you had to polish up some of the dross British wrestling and WCW produced, and managed to do it with love, care and aplomb. As the first session continues Finlay's tactics gain him a public warning, Marty unhappy but calm comes back with a series of stiff shots that lead to the folding press and pin, and a very angry Paula. The cheeky folding press from Marty sums up the whole situation, asset or liability you decide. What comes after the fall is Dave's mini comeback which leads into the Power Lock attempt. There is something great about submission manoeuvres, and particularly submission finishers that give a wrestler an aura. I loved the idea of the power lock as a kid, the hold you couldn't defend against. The move much like the very similar sharp shooter in application held sway in my memory because of the few times I saw it applied. It was saved for very special occasions against the toughest opponents. The impression of the match generally is that Marty has Fit's number and an answer to every move. Jones builds up to a Swanton Bomb (yes in 1984) and gets a public warning for his trouble and a second for arguing with the referee. Paula takes matters into her own hands by leading Dave away. The count out loss in the storyline world of British wrestling was still a loss. Mount-Evans Rules giving no favour to pins and submissions. The decisive victory for Marty means a title shot and everyone is happy, except Paul by the looks of things. This bout was one of many on TV, they seemed to be wrestling each other constantly in that two year period.

On balance though it was the last great feud of the Jones years in Joint promotions. Being the top of the tree meant international challengers, something we shall look at in future episodes, but Dave went through the weight divisions holding titles at most of them and having long interesting feuds until he switched allegiances to All Star promotions, another story for another day. At the time though this left Jones as the top of the pack, leader of the six best workers the UK who had produced and was still producing top of the line bouts with Skull Murphy, Pete Roberts (another title victor), Finlay, Dynamite, occasionally Rocco and making money. Finlay became the guy who got other guys over with a large hand in promoting rising stars such as Chic Cullen, Danny Collins and other lighter but well placed young men who where going to be the stars of the future. In the present though there where places to go and people to see. In Six of the best next time we will look at the legacies on an international scale and the places people went.

Have a good time, till next time.

   

Six of the Best; Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Welcome back grapple fans, last time we looked at the iconic match that made both Mark Rocco and Marty Jones big players in the UK mat game. So how did they do after that? Well they both left the British title scene behind and moved on to world titles at Heavy Middleweight and Mid Heavyweight respectively. This was really the icing on the cake that proved they could deliver the goods against any opponent they may come up against. But obviously they couldn't wrestle each other all the time, what was needed was some occasional spark to liven things out of the the non title match gloom. Marty had the perfect opponent waiting for him at Mid-Heavyweight; we shall look at that legendary series next time. However this week we welcome back someone missing from the UK scene for a while. The Dynamite Kid was in Calgary building a reputation as a stellar worker, and was easily ranked by no less an authority that Stu Hart as "The man who made the most money for Stampede Wrestling." His icon status was still a way off though in the early eighties and between matches for Stu and his trips to Japan to build the biggest legacy of his career with Tiger Mask he had to time to fly home and put in a few favours for old friends like Mark Rocco and Marty Jones.

This is one of those favours, a late night booking while visiting parents. It features numerous things that had become hallmarks to their styles, but equally the changing approach in British wrestling from week to week booking, who wins wins with no consequence or reason and TV matches do not matter to, I-have-to-watch -next-week-to-see-what-happens-booking. And they did, a 1981 card from Cleethorpes Memorial Hall would undoubtedly mean a match from one of the six with a possible import like Dynamite or Bret Hart. Hard to think that my local wrestling hall was in the best in the world, but for artistic impact and legacy nothing beats Cleethorpes.

So seconds away . . .




The state of the art chain wrestling that starts this bout could not last for long. To much heat to be had and to much story to tell. The shared qualities of Rocco and Dynamite are already showing not long after the bell, Dynamites not-far-from-heel persona that carried him through his occasional visits gave him a reputation as a tough guy who would stand up to bullying in the ring. There was no way Rocco could out manoeuvre him in the story of this bout because Dynamite would just hit harder, very well then  Rocco shall have to hit harder to. None of their matches from this period are what you could term slow. This one has the chain wrestling start and the easily riled Rocco is swift to move onto the dirty tactics, heat getters true but there for a purpose. The story of the Rocco Jones matches where that Jones was susceptible to Rocco's attack, the story of these matches was that Dynamite was willing to cheat to win as well, which would serve him well in his occasional matches with Marty Jones as he had to turn full on heel to be able to put together an entertaining match. What is interesting is that they do announce the Kid as the World Junior Heavyweight Champion, a title he was not to win for another three years, or maybe they meant the Stampede Mid-Heavyweight title which Stu made up when Dynamite couldn't take the NWA belt from Nelson Royal. Anywho, back to the match. Kent does mention his trips to Japan claiming that Dynamite would be wrestling Antonio Inoki, which I don't think he did but I am sure he woudl have gone out of his way to make the boss look this good. Kent would of course been struggling to fin Japanese names familiar to UK fans, before the days of video and tap trading what you saw is what you got. it was another four seven years before anyone ever saw any WWE in the UK and another nine before WCW made it to these shores on TV. We thought what we where seeing was the best in the world because we where told so. Looking back now the commentators where not far wrong. Certainly we had some of the best workers, but would these matches work in Japan? Yes. North Carolina? Possibly. Memphis? Probably not. In fact Dynamite was once asked to go with Davey to Memphis for a series of matches after impressing Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Valiant in the All Japan Real World Tag League Tournament not long after this match. Dynamite replied, "I am not being funny Jerry but have you got anyone as good as the boys there because we can't do the same things with them as we can with these guys." Tape does exist of one match between The Bull Dogs and the Rock N Roll Express that would be Dynamites only venture into Southern style wrestling, even then it was in the AWA.

Going into round two tempers are at fever pitch and Dynamite hits out. Rocco in response heads to the top rope, this is slightly bizarre to see Dynamite, the man who brought high risk to the WWF hampered by the rules of Mountevans, thankfully referee the venerable Max Ward is oblivious enough to proceedings and let them go. Rocco gets his first public warning as he gigs away at Dynamite to get a cut going, a desperation move on Rocco's part. The pay off has to come though and dynamite heads into his comeback with a vicious looking posting . . .





The fact is British fans where not used to seeing faces be this tough. Dynamite was used to giving more to get a response in both Calgary and Tokyo so when he came home and wrestled the same style in front of UK fans it truly was something special. Even the top faces where gentleman, but Dynamite a heel everywhere else but here, knew how to get his hands dirty. Max Ward's interest in the cut above Dynamites eye is a potent warning of things to come. However the first fall comes out of nowhere after Dynamite is back on the defensive he produces a series of moves that are now world famous, Diving Head butt, posting, Belly to Back in a crisp series worthy of the legend.  And that is it, rather disappointingly, Dynamites cut is to bad to continue, yeah of course it is. Anyway, it protects Rocco, gives Dynamite the upper hand for when he comes back, if he comes back, and you have a ready made feud. If only he wanted to come visit his Dad while we have this hot angle by accident . . .  what's that you say you're coming home? Are you doing anything Friday?



   

Slap and tickle before the bell you say? Why why not Sir, and we are off and running. If anything this one is even stiffer, and judging by the hair a little before Dynamites famous shaven headed 1983 WWF Jr. Heavy tittle win. A title both men would hold. So we are off and running straight away, cheating, back drops stiff postings just where they left off. The disadvantage to these matches from a promoters point of view was how conservative it made everything else look. How could they compete? Rocco never took a step back neither did Dynamite and they where wrestling each other for what was essentially fun, they where helping each other out so they went hell for leather every time. But when you are wrestling for £15 a night why would you risk everything? Of course everyone can get carried away. Dynamite seems to forget the rules for a moment and delivers a beautiful series of floor attacks which gets him his first public warning. In Round 1. This is going to get hard fast. Things build to a crescendo in round two as Rocco piles on the punishment, first getting a public warning for his trouble, his second in round two, before building up to the double suplex finish that has the fans oohing and ahhing as no one had ever seen anyone get dropped on the top rope before but then would have thought of that bump before?
 




So the first fall is Rollerball, the Maniac, the Mean Machine Mark Rocco. A man with so much personality needs many names. The legit stitches shown off by Rocco go to show tough the six had made the British game at this point. The Dynamite comeback features the missed posting defence that cause Rocco the stitches in the first place, again showing his incredible resilience and lack of fear, much needed when Dynamite drops knees like that. Crowned with a now everyday Belly to Back suplex Dynamite shows his viciousness. Leaving Rocco in a bloody heap on the floor is a good way of being forgiven for leaving. Hopefully the Rock can do the same to John Cena. The vicious assault continues as Dynamite heads for the finish taking Rocco with him. His NJPW finishing sequence is of course illegal here but he uses it to good effect and puts Rocco away with a side suplex to seal the deal and set up the rematch should Dynamite come home.

These matches where of course few and far between. As good 'Ole JR stated on Legends of wrestling this week. Promoters hate having a big blow off because they feared a dip afterwards. When Bill Watts built towards the Superdome shows that made so much money for Mid South, he factored in there would be an inevitable drop off in interest and would have to start rebuilding programmes. 

So to add some suspense we shall look at that match another time, but next week we get to see one of my all time favourite feuds, one I got to see in person and lead me to be the wrestling fan I am today.

Six of the Best; Titles matter

Over the last few posts you will have seen the rise of the six Junior Heavyweights that defined what British wrestling was to become. I call them Jr. Heavyweights because really that is what they where by Japanese/American Standards. All six had runs with or at Jr. titles in Japan, Canada and the US, and it is a better catch all that the Lightweight-Mid Heavyweight stages they all ranged around when here.

Today we go back to Marty Jones and Mark Rocco. This match was recently praised highly by none more a legend that William Regal. He defined this match as "the one that changed the game" in the UK wrestling scene. Well if the Master says so we shall analyze.





Okay aside from Marty's rather dodgy perm (it was the seventies we can forgive him) we have the classic introduction. Rocco the ball of energy contrasted with Jones' hand on hips laid back John Wayne approach. Rocco was the British Heavy Middleweight Champ, Jones Light Heavyweight, a Catchweight contest that usually meant a big draw if it was two titleists. The crowd appear hot for this from the off and are looking for sparks to fly. As in our previous match between the two there had been a build up which ended in a fight outside the ring, something of a consistent storyline that as I have said before built up a  real tension between the two inside the ring. In reality as always the two happened to be great friends, but why wouldn't you be when you could produces matches together like this?

The striking starts early with Rocco taking the advantage, then back to the mat where they both felt at home. The crisp and stiff holds and counters coming thick and fast. Rocco already established as a top line heel is getting heat for just existing. "Break it off" is the cry from the crowd as Jones, charming. Mark plays to this a little but clearly they are going to take us on an emotional ride before this story ends. The first sequence of round one though is breathtaking for speed and intensity, deep hard arm drag after arm drag meet the Rocco offense. As Marty applies a hammerlock, the correct way to do it as demonstrated by no less than Daniel Bryan. What is interesting in this bout is that Max Ward lets them go quite a bit, he normally was on top of anything entertaining, but he understood the importance of letting everyone have their moment in this match.




The first fall comes with a body slam and double knee hold. The classic British finisher, Magnus should bring it back. Rocco's constant attacks on the crowd show his love of being a heel, Marty's trademark sit on the bottom rope, his perennial message of disappointment means we should have a cracking round four. The inverted posting and coffin bump, pre-dates the Flair flip by a good few years I would say, here it signifies the beginning of the end of fall two, the crowd erupts after the flying tackle. Surely Joint promotions must have realised they had something great on their hands with these two, and to be fair the did. This second serious feud in as many years must have packed them in. A very early missile drop kick also crops up in the next sequence as the two play one-up-man-ship all through the fourth heading back to the power of the posting. TO be honest postings always looked stiffer in UK rings and I don't know why. What did look dangerous and was the downfall of Rocco in a later match was the exposed turn buckles that Marty throws him into. Back in the day the standard reversal for a posting was a foot on the middle buckle. Rocco facing Jones one night missed his footing and wrapped his leg around the pad and sliced his knee. Didn't slow him down of course.





Things are getting intense by round six. Things kick off with a stunning exchange for pace and power, the big moves coming thick and fast form both sides. The finish comes with a Jones mistake, a key part of the story.  What is as important as this match is the post match interview. Not the normal run of events to be sure, but the challenge worked. It drew money like nobodies business, Jones dropped weight in the storyline to get down to the Heavy Middleweight bracket, went through a series of qualifiers whilst defending the Light Heavyweight title and then got to face Rocco again on TV. He beat Rocco thus ending the feud neatly and allowed him to move on to the next challenge. However that gave money matches for promoters around the country and was the first real long term angle to develop from the six, a pattern that would be repeated over the next few years as we shall see next time.

Have a good time till the next time.