Old School - all wrestling until 1994 - includes WWF, NWA, Stampede, AAA, etc

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/midsouthvol1/

The grit, blood and brawling that personified Mid-South wrestling is on display in the "Best of Mid-South Wrestling Vol. 1". There's no penis suplexes and only one DIVE, but Ted Dibiase, JYD, Paul Orndorff, Bob Roop, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the One Man Gang, Buck Robley and others are here to fight and wrassle! AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel makes a special appearance, and Bill Watts adds in his expert analysis.
 
We had Maple Leaf Wrestling at 7pm Saturday nights in the mid/late 80s. Would be cool to go back and watch some of them.

I remember once my parents had friends over and their kid wanted to play the Atari or Nintendo or some stupid thing, and my dad made me turn off Andre vs. Kamla in a cage so our guests could play the video game.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/dvdvrs-best-mid-south-wrestling-volume-2-review/

Round 2 of the best of Mid-South wrestling sees the JYD seek revenge against Ted Dibiase and the rest of the Rat Pack, with Mr. Olympia standing by his side. Bill Watts buries the JYD after he leaves for the WWF, Butch Reed dominates a former World champ, Nick Bockwinkel attempts to outclass Dusty Rhodes, plus lots of blood, babyface vigilance, heels being EVIL and wrasslin' in front of hot hot crowds!
 
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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/dvdvrmidsouth3review/

Another round of Mid-South action sees Ted Dibiase and Duggan engage in a wild brawl, the Midnight Express take their villainous ways to the ring against Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum TA, Bill Dundee plays the role of Superman, plus the Rock and Roll Express, Buddy Landel, Butch Reed and others engage in battles of good vs. evil - played out inside the squared circle.
 
The one guy i always wanted to see in WWE but it never happened for whatever reason.
I kinda wish konnan would have also made the jump at some point in 99. I think he could have done well as a upper midcard guy
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/dvdvrmidsouth4review/

The Last Stampede of Bill Watts is witnessed by thousands as he teams with Stagger Lee to seek revenge upon Jim Cornette and his Midnight Express. Ted Dibiase is seen in three different encounters attempting to cease the rise to stardom Magnum T.A. is enjoying, plus Hacksaw Jim Duggan joins the Rock and Roll Express in battle with Ernie Ladd and the Midnight Express!
 
Bumping this thread.

Watched some early 90s WCW on the Network last night. I've mentioned this many times on here before but the best Clash of Champions to me was the NWA tag title tournament first round. When Bill Watts announced Steiners v. Williams/Gordy I still remember the feels I got.

Also, one of the best matches I had ever seen at that time was Pillman/Liger vs. Wellington/Benoit on the same card. To me it was the match of the night.
 


WCW Collision in Korea, the largest wrestling event ever. Worth at least one watch if you"ve never seen it.

1. Wild Pegasus (Benoit) vs 2 Cold Scorpio

2. Yuji Nagata vs Tokimitsu Ishizawa

3. El Samurai & Tadao Yasuda vs Masahiro Chono & Hiro Saito

4. Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida vs Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto

5. Shinya Hashimoto vs Scott Norton

6. Tadao Yasuda vs Road Warrior Hawk

7. The Steiner Brothers vs Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

8. Ric Flair vs Antonio Inoki
 
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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-best-of-mid-south-6/

Societal dynamics are explored as Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrasslin' promotes Butch Reed and JYD in a "ghetto" street fight. We also get a look at Brickhouse Brown and Master Gee, who are pegged to fill JYD's boots as the black superstar of the area. They even step right into his feud with Reed. The Fantastics are pushed to the limit of their ample skills by both the Midnight Express and the Guerrero Brothers in tag team action. Plus "Exotic" Adrian Street gives the locals a taste of androgynous life as he fights Chris Adams.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/best-mid-south-wrestling-volume-7/

This round of Mid-South action sees casual racism as Jose Lothario and the Guerreros feud, Jim Cornette gets an unplanned haircut in brutal fashion, before Magnum TA and George Wells head to the big time they have to survive a ghetto street fight with Ernie Ladd and Butch Reed, plus booker Bill Dundee shows off his superhuman side, plus the Rock and Roll Express battle the Midnight Express 20 feet above the ring on a rickety scaffold!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/best-mid-south-wrestling-volume-8/

More from the best of Mid-south sees the Rock and Roll Express tangle with both the Guerreros and the Midnight Express for tag team supremacy. Plus Kevin Von Erich and Chris Adams' feud can't be contained to Texas as they come to Watts' backyard for another chance to fight. Brad Armstrong tries to grapple with Ted Dibiase, but Ted is more interested in cheating to win. Plus the "Exotic" Adrian Street attempts to mangle pretty boy Terry Taylor.
 
The first event at the palace of auburn hills was a wrestling house show with Hogan v bossman main event. Was there. Brutus beat rude. That facility just closed. Too soon.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/best-mid-south-wrestling-volume-9/

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan teams with Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy to face off with "Dr. Death" and Ted Dibiase in a match of brawny men punching each other in the face. Blood and bruises can't stop the desire to destroy their opposition.... Next Brad Armstrong does his best to have a boring match with the top heel in the territory as he drags Dibiase through a tedious encounter. The Guerreros put on a showcase of heelish havoc as they grapple with the ever popular Rock and Roll Express. The monstrous trio of Kamala, the One Man Gang and Dr. Death combine their fearsome abilities to challenge the mighty Butch Reed and his fleet-footed friends Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson. We close with a violent brawl between Hacksaw Duggan and Dibiase where the rules have been dismissed and it's a fight to the finish!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-best-of-mid-south-wrestling-volume-10/

One of the most famous matches in Mid-South history goes down as Hacksaw Jim Duggan battles Ted Dibiase in a steel cage, coal miner's glove, loser leaves town tuxedo match. Ric Flair takes on the challenge of two of the South's toughest young men in Terry Taylor and Kerry Von Erich. Plus the Fantastics tangle with Doctor Death and Jake the Snake!
 


What is this!? Mooney is gone from WWF at this point, Gorilla is "Bob" and Heenan comes in as a guest in spite being in WCW at the time. Crazy!
 


Aesthetically this is on a far higher level than The UFC is because Thesz executes his moves so crisply and cleanly without all the "lay and pray" garbage you see in UFC. The "lay and pray" stuff, the hugging, and the stalling make The UFC's aesthetics very poor. In other words, it's ugly and boring to watch. People like the strikers in The UFC because the grappling is so boring to watch. Nothing in this catch wrestling is boring to watch because the execution Lou Thesz displays in his maneuvers is so much cleaner and refined than that of anyone in The UFC.

Also, since having your shoulders on the mat means getting pinned and losing, they can't just lay there doing nothing like they can in The UFC. Taking away the striking makes CTE a non-issue and they can perform much more often than in The UFC. Nobody in The UFC has the opportunity to get this good at wrestling because none of them compete often enough to get that good. How did pro wrestling go from looking this legitimate to looking so unrealistic?
 
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We had Maple Leaf Wrestling at 7pm Saturday nights in the mid/late 80s. Would be cool to go back and watch some of them.

I remember once my parents had friends over and their kid wanted to play the Atari or Nintendo or some stupid thing, and my dad made me turn off Andre vs. Kamla in a cage so our guests could play the video game.


Andre won.

Richard Land used to post a lot of the Maple Leaf Wrestling broadcasts on Youtube before his channel was finally shut down. He was trying to get me to mail one of my video tapes from 1986-87 era to him to the UK so he could upload content from it, lol.
 
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