Wrestling Gold Volume V: Beat Me If You Can: What They Had Left
Wrestling Gold #5: Beat Me If You Can
Commentators: Dave Meltzer, Jim Cornette
It’s the last volume of this set and I think you get the concept at this point. If for some reason you’re reading this out of order, it’s a bunch of territory matches with Jim Cornette and Dave Meltzer doing commentary to provide history and stories. The match quality isn’t exactly the point but some of it has been effective before. Let’s get to it.
As usual, I’m giving my best guess to some of the locations and dates.
From San Antonio, Texas, 1981/1982.
Terry Allen vs. Nick Bockwinkel
Bockwinkel’s AWA World Title isn’t on the line….at least I don’t think. Allen is of course better known as Magnum TA and is very new here. They go to the mat to start and Allen keeps escaping, which has Bockwinkel somewhere between surprised and frustrated. Bockwinkel sends him into the corner though and grabs a short armscissors to keep Allen down. Back up and Allen slams him down a few times before grabbing a headlock as Cornette explains the story of Allen’s car crash. Allen grinds away before missing a dropkick in the corner. Bockwinkel is right back up with a knee and the piledriver finishes Allen at 5:24.
Rating: C+. This was a case of trying to get Allen in the ring with a veteran who could teach him on the job and there were few better for that role than Bockwinkel. Of course the result was never in doubt but that’s not the point of a match like this. It went fairly well as Allen did what he could, but Bockwinkel being there to walk him through it probably helped a lot.
From San Antonio, Texas at some date not listed and I only know the location because of the referee’s shirt.
Ivan Putski vs. Eddie Mansfield
Oh boy Eddie Mansfield. Basically he wasn’t very good and blamed everyone else for his lack of success and then exposed the business, which made him as popular as you would expect. Putski jumps him to start and is quickly knocked to the floor without much effort. Mansfield gets in a few ax handles and a middle rope elbow to the back. The choking doesn’t work very well for Mansfield, who is knocked out to the floor. This lets Cornette bury Mansfield for about the fourth time in a few minutes. Putski pounds him down but shoves the referee out of the way for the DQ at 4:16.
Rating: D+. I can see why Mansfield wasn’t exactly a household name until his 20/20 interview, as he was an incredibly generic wrestler who had nothing that made him stand out. Putski was a good enough power guy and his physique was more than enough to get him by. The size issue eventually got to him but he was quite the star for awhile. Unlike Mansfield you see.
From San Antonio, Texas, likely in the very early 1980s.
Tito Santana vs. Kelly Kiniski
Santana takes him down by the arm to start and works on the armbar. That’s enough to send Kiniski over to the rope so Santana is right back to the arm. A dropkick lets Santana grab a third armbar before a quick headknocker gets two. Back up and Kiniski powers him into the corner but Santana hits a flying forearm for two. The running crossbody finishes for Santana at 4:51.
Rating: C. Yeah you can kind of see why Kiniski was never a big star. He’s someone who was technically sound and that’s about it, as there just wasn’t much else to make him stand out. Santana was far from what he would become, but you could see the fire in there and that is always a good starting point.
From…..well it could be Detroit, Toronto, or Cincinnati, which is the only place I can find these two facing each other. If it’s Cincinnati, it’s January 28, 1967, but that could be totally off.
The Sheik vs. Tom Jones
Sheik has the referee check Jones for a foreign object and then jumps him anyway (customary for the Sheik) but hold on as we have to pause for his prayer. We actually get going and Jones jumps him in the corner, only for Sheik to grab quite the nasty flipping hammerlock. It’s nasty enough to make Jones give up at 1:40.
Post match Whipper Billy Watson comes in to make the save and is quickly beaten down. The fans go NUTS and throw trash into the ring (at Sheikh’s manager Abdullah Farouk, as Sheik is already gone) but unfortunately we cut away.
From Detroit, Michigan, probably in the mid 70s.
Bobo Brazil vs. Michael Angelo
I would have laughed so hard if it was a wrestling turtle. Anyway Angelo jumps him to start fast and sends Brazil into the buckle, which just makes him mad. Brazil (who is towering over Angelo) works on the wristlock but gets knocked into the corner. A running elbow wakes Brazil up again and he raises his leg to kick Angelo on top of the head. The Coco Butt (jumping headbutt) finishes Angelo off at 3:53.
Rating: C. The match had a comeback and Angelo tried but there was no way around Brazil when he was rolling like this. Brazil was an absolute star and one of the most important wrestlers ever when it came to race issues so it’s nice to see him doing something here. Granted this wasn’t exactly some classic, but that’s not the point of this thing.
From San Antonio, Texas, probably in 1980.
Tully Blanchard vs. Wahoo McDaniel
Blanchard jumps him to start and McDaniel chops him into a frenzy. A quick shot lets Blanchard knock him down, earning even more chops in the corner. McDaniel flips him out of the corner and the chinlock goes on. Blanchard has to flip out of an abdominal stretch and is quickly suplexed back down.
Back up and Blanchard knocks him down, which means it’s time for McDaniel to go back to the chops. The chops have Blanchard looking mostly dead, with a butterfly suplex giving McDaniel two. Blanchard is chopped out to the floor so he pulls McDaniel out with him, because getting into a brawl with WAHOO MCDANIEL is a good idea. Anyway McDaniel throws the referee down and we’re cut off with presumably a DQ at about 6:15.
Rating: C+. It was fun to see McDaniel just beat the fire out of Blanchard, who was selling them like he was dying out there. McDaniel is another person who was incredibly underrated, as he was one of the most athletically gifted stars ever in wrestling. You don’t hear much but praise of him, and yet he still seems better than advertised whenever I see him. Not bad.
From Memphis, Tennessee, likely in the early 1980s (I’m sure Cornette will know).
Jerry Lawler vs. Eddie Gilbert
Gilbert slams him to start but Lawler is right back up with a slam of his own, sending Gilbert bailing to the floor. And yes Cornette confirms that this is from 1984 because of course he knows that stuff. The stalling begins until Gilbert backs him into the corner for a shot to the face and Lawler is a bit surprised.
We even hit the crisscross but Gilbert bails out to the floor, where he gets to signal his intelligence (he might be faking). Back in and Lawler drops him with a single right hand, sending Gilbert bailing to the floor again. Gilbert gets inside again and hammers away to take over but Lawler pulls the strap down and unloads with even more right hands. Cue Rick Rude and Jimmy Hart to go after Lawler for the DQ at 6:43.
Rating: C+. Yep this was certainly Memphis, with Gilbert doing all kinds of over the top selling for his idol and likely loving getting punched in the face. This was a studio match as well so the shorter run time is hardly a surprise. Gilbert is someone who had all kinds of talent and love for wrestling but it never quite clicked, though wrestling so much like Lawler in Memphis probably didn’t help that much.
Post match Lawler grabs a chair to clear the ring.
From Toronto, Canada, likely around 1978.
Tiger Jeet Singh vs. The Sheik
This is a Mud Match and it’s exactly what you would expect. The ring is full of mud and Singh knocks him down and chokes a lot before throwing Sheikh’s manager down as well. Singh chokes but the referee gets knocked down and covered in mud as well. The claw goes on but Singh lets go to beat up the manager again, all while Cornette talks about the various ridiculous gimmicks that promoters used in the Great Depression and World War II to draw crowds (ice cream matches are discussed).
Singh grabs the claw again and then knocks Sheik outside, where he throws a chair inside. That’s fine as Singh beats on him with the chair and hammers away before driving Sheikh’s face into the mud. The manager offers another distraction and this time Sheik chokes Singh down with….something for the pin at 7:15.
Rating: C. This was barely a match as there is only so much you can do with that much slippery mud around. That was the problem here but it was certainly different and I’ll take that over doing the same stuff so many times. The idea was the fans wanted to see the Sheik lose but since he pretty much never did….well there’s a reason Detroit went out of business.
Post match Hank James (Bobo Brazil’s brother) comes in to go after the Sheik and chokes him down in the back with mud everywhere.
From Memphis, Tennessee, June 16, 1984.
AWA International Title: Masao Ito vs. Austin Idol
Idol is defending and gets pounded down to start. The slow forearms have Idol in trouble so he comes back with some slams. The Las Vegas Leglock is loaded up but Ito’s manager goes for a distraction, allowing Ito to kick him to the floor. Said manager knocks Idol cold with some nunchucks and that’s a countout at 2:56. It’s also apparently a title change.
Post match Dutch Mantel and Jerry Lawler come out to check on the out cold Idol.
From San Antonio, Texas, some time in the early 80s.
Scott Casey/Terry Allen vs. Tully Blanchard/Gino Hernandez
Casey headlocks Hernandez down to start so it’s off to Allen to work on Blanchard’s arm. Blanchard gets in a cheap shot so it’s back to Casey to hit him in the face. Everything breaks down and we get a collision so Allen drags Blanchard into the corner. Casey gets in a few right hands before it’s back to Allen for a bearhug, which is quite the visual given Allen’s rather small trunks at this point. Hernandez makes the save and drops a backwards top rope elbow on Allen for the pin at 4:42.
Rating: C+. This was just a little taste of Blanchard and Hernandez, who were rather one of the more underrated teams of their era. They worked well together and it was fun to see them getting together and doing their thing by being sneaky and underhanded. Casey continues to be a nice hand in the ring and I’ve gotten more into him during this series, as he was good at what he did.
Blanchard and Hernandez have a big celebration in a funny bit.
From Memphis, Tennessee in late 1981/early 1982.
Terry Taylor vs. Sabu
Not that Sabu, as this one is better known as Coco Samoa. Sabu flips around to start and sends him into the corner as we get an early standoff. A hammerlock with a pull of the hair brings Taylor down and Sabu rakes the bare foot over Taylor’s face. The right hands don’t work for Taylor as Sabu knocks him right back down, meaning we can hit the chinlock.
Sabu’s legdrop misses though and Taylor gets two off a backbreaker. Another backbreaker gets another two but Sabu knocks him back down. Some choking on the apron sends Taylor outside so he comes back inside to slug away. With nothing else working, Sabu throws him over the top for the DQ at 10:06.
Rating: C+. Sabu felt like someone who could have been a thing if he was a bit bigger (he was barely 5’2 and that wasn’t going to be enough), as he had the look and enough in-ring abilities. Taylor was as white meat of a wrestler as you could have wanted and he made a nice fired up comeback here. The match went a bit long and the ending came out of nowhere, but the pieces were there.
From somewhere in the Central States territory (possible Decatur, Illinois on August 10, 1984).
Wahoo McDaniel/Tommy Rogers/Marty Jannetty vs. Ted Oates/The Grapplers
This isn’t the Fantastics’ Tommy Rogers and the Grapplers are Len Denton/Tony Anthony. Jannetty dropkicks Oates (his trainer) down to start and it’s off to Denton, who gets armdragged into an armbar. The good guys take turns on Denton’s arm but Denton slams him back down. The middle rope elbow misses though and it’s off to Anthony, who gets taken down by the arm as well.
Jannetty’s dropkick means it’s time to work on the arm, only for Anthony to grab a powerslam. A double back elbow drops Rogers and Oates hits a knee, followed by a suplex for two. Jannetty’s attempted save doesn’t work so we hit the chinlock before Rogers is sent into Denton’s boot in the corner. Everything breaks down and Denton misses a flying clothesline, allowing Jannetty to hit a Thesz press for the pin at 10:17.
Rating: B-. This was a fast enough paced match with Jannetty feeling like a young star who could have become a much bigger deal if hew as given the chance. That is more or less what happened and it was fun to see what he would become. I could have gone for more McDaniel here, but that is the case pretty much all the time, whether he is in the match or not.
Post match Oates jumps Jannetty and piledrives him on the chair. That’s a big angle for back then.
Overall Rating: C+. You could tell they were running out of material by this point as there’s nothing on this disc that I must see and it’s also a bit shorter than the previous two. The concept remains exactly the same and you could easily swap most of the matches around without losing anything. It’s still fun, though I wouldn’t recommend doing a bunch of them in a row as some of the charm goes away upon all of the viewings. Still though, not bad and for an hour and a half, it could have been a lot worse.
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