Hi Scott-having finished the Coliseum video and SNME rants, considering the amount of matches they had can you think of any singles match above say **1/2 for the following wrestlers?
King Kong Bundy
Big John Stud
d
JYD
Volkoff
George Steele
Kamala
Bundy: In WWF probably not, because long matches weren't his deal. He had some decent tag matches against guys like the Machines and Bulldogs, though. Probably you'd have to go back to World Class to find something
Studd: The cage match with Andre was pretty bad-ass, complete with Andre doing a flying butt splash off the top rope. He had some Hogan title challenges that were decent as well.
JYD: Nothing comes to mind in WWF. Even Flair couldn't get him above **, so I don't know what might be out there. Maybe something from Mid-South?
Volkoff: The Hogan match on SNME was OK. You'd probably have to go back to the 60s to find something for him, like a Bruno match or something.
George Steele: Match quality wasn't his deal, but again there was a Bruno challenge in the 70s or maybe even 60s on a Coliseum video that was OK.
Kamala: Can't think of anything.
I've always been impressed at how DiBiase could stay so rich even during economic downtimes.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw Kamala was on AWA on ESPN, and he scared the shit out of me as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI was like, "OH NO! It's a black guy!"
Good times. What a little kook I was.
I know Shawn had a match with Bundy on his way to Mania 11 but I don't think it was *that* good.
ReplyDeleteMid-South guys had a saying that the only thing JYD knew how to do was draw money. So don't go there looking for a good JYD match
ReplyDeleteAs Keith said, most of these wrestlers star ratings wasn't their thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's like asking if the clown at the circus has ever done some fancy acrobatics.
I dunno, I think the Hogan/Bundy Steel Cage is pretty fun and is right around **1/2.
ReplyDeleteHogan and Bundy had a pretty fun match on one of the Hulkamania videos, complete with Hogan powerslamming Bundy for the win.
ReplyDeleteJR still regularly tells the story of how Bill Watts fired Ernie Ladd for trying to get a good match out of JYD in mid-south, so I doubt you'd find anything there. And I remember seeing a decent Kamala match from Japan that was linked to from TV tropes of all places, but I can't remember who it was against (it was someone obscure).
ReplyDeleteI've not heard that story about Ladd, what exactly was the problem?
ReplyDeleteIsn't there a really good Hogan/Kamala match on the Network "Old School"? Maybe it was Hogan and someone else. I really want to say it was ***1/2 or better
ReplyDeletessss
ReplyDeleteWell, was certainly the best match Bundy had in his 94-95 run.
ReplyDeleteJYD was new in the territory and Watts told Ladd to see what he could do as he saw money in him. So Ladd puts him through a 20 minute broadway and phones Watts up saying "he's hopeless, I put him in for 20 minutes and he's completely blown up, tongue hanging out, he can't go. Watts replies "you're fired". Ladd: "Ok, so I guess.....WHAT?". Watts: "I didn't send him to you to find out what he COULDN'T do, I sent him to you to find out what he could!" He gave Ladd his job back a few weeks later and the pair of them apparently laughed about it years afterward.
ReplyDeletePeople used to rave about a Kamala - Michaels match in 93. I never understood it
ReplyDelete**1/2 is a decent match the way I look at it.
ReplyDeleteHa! Watts reasoning is sound.
ReplyDeleteKing Kong Bundy: Wrestling Gold Volume 4 http://411mania.com/wrestling/the-smark-retro-repost-wrestling-gold-volume-4/
ReplyDelete– Rick Rude & King Kong Bundy v. Randy Savage & Jerry Lawler. Talk about your odd couples. Cornette points out the differences between the training regimens here, noting that Lawler “loves his Big Macs”. No wonder they got along so well. This is probably the only time Savage & Lawler ever teamed up. They double-team Rude and he backs off. Lawler & Bundy go, and again the babyfaces team up to frustrate him. Heel miscommunication allows Savage to cheapshot Rude on the outside. Bundy hammers Lawler, but misses the avalanche. Everyone regroups. Savage chases Rude and the faces double-team him and dump him. Savage drops the axehandle and Rude heads back in for sanctuary. Rude can’t get anything going, as Lawler gets caught in the corner, but makes his own comeback and fights both heels off. Savage comes in with the airplane spin on Rude and the faces pick him off at will. Rude staggers over to get Bundy back in, and we have a staredown. Slugfest is won by Savage and he gets a bodypress for two. This would also be the first time Savage had ever heard cheers, and he’s just eating it up with a spoon. Lawler comes in and gets caught in enemy territory and Bundy kneedrops him for two. Rude gets his neckbreaker and mouths off at Savage. Yeah, THAT’S a smart move, pick a fight with a psycho. Rude gets a piledriver on Lawler, but he comes back to dive for the tag…and lands in Rude’s arms. Whoops. Bundy slams Lawler for two. Kneedrop gets two. Savage goes INSANE and blitzes Rude, as Lawler hulks up and kicks Bundy’s ass. Hot tag Savage, but Rude nails the ref and the whole thing is a big hullabaloo at 15:56. Damn, that match would have KILLED with a finish. Great use of the contrasting styles, the psychology of Lawler selling and Savage acting like a maniac, Rude actually doing something for once…it just all clicked. ***1/2
JYD: Only thing I can think of would in Mid-South. Either his Ghetto Street Fights with Butch Reed or his matches with DiBiase.
There used to be a Kamala vs Bryan Danielson match on youtube that was in the ** 1/2 range.
ReplyDeleteBundy had a really good match with Lawler with Lawler getting $1000 for every minute he could last. Also a good WCCW match with Harley Race.
ReplyDeleteJYD was in some excellent tags in Mid-South, if nothing else.
I could be crazy but I swear there's a Volkoff-Kirschner match from MSG that I thought was good.
That JYD/Flair match from Clash of the Champions might be the worst Flair match I've ever seen, and that includes the last 15 years.
ReplyDeleteThe question asked for singles matches I think.
ReplyDeleteStudd's match with Hogan on the original Hulkamania cassette was around ***. Good brawl, double juice I think.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always liked the Bundy-Hogan cage match.
Kamala had a couple slightly above average matches with Kerry Von Erich in the WCCW days.
Yeah he told that story on a Legends Roundtable. It was funny.
ReplyDeleteThink with JYD is that it's been accepted by everyone that the guy really was crap in the ring, he just balanced it with incredible charisma and ability to win over the crowds. Watts was smart to put him in squash battles, never anything really long so a key reason you won't see his bouts in high *** range.
ReplyDelete