Tully, Baby, You're Trapped Behind Your Golden Bars

Tully Blanchard (c) VS Nikita Koloff - Mid-Atlantic NWA TV Championship 8/19/1987

CJD: There are other uploads of this match that have better quality video and audio, but are missing a few minutes (and it's already joined in progress). But even moreso than that, the entire experience of this version totally transported me to the late 80s, my childhood, putting random pro wrestling on TV or bringing a VHS home from blockbuster, not knowing who anyone was, and not being able to take my eyes off the screen. Total sensory overload of noise and dark shadowy larger than life violence. Grainy, loud, quick cuts to and from the action, crowd going ballistic, good VS evil. I definitely don't remember this match or feud in particular, but I do remember babyface Nikita Koloff, and thinking it was very strange as a kid. As an adult I love what a different choice it was for an 80s face, and damn was he over! And good! Koloff was never a master mechanic or anything but I'll totally admit to never giving him a fair chance for whatever reason. Tully I've come to appreciate is an all-time great heel, and the two matches we've featured here make a great case as to why. He and JJ deliver a classic performance here, but just like with the Raging Bull match we featured previously this is no carry job. Also I love the finish, I could see why some would hate it. But like you were saying with the Fernandez match, when it comes to 80s finishes when something surprises you a little bit it goes a long way. I love this run of NWA 80s goodness we've been on and love getting a chance to play this match forward to you!

JJZ: I'll totally agree with you about the finish. Totally got me. I definitely marked out when Barry jumped in. This match was fantastic. I look back to JJZ and CJD in their mid twenties and think about how much they hated a joined in progress match. With so little time on our hands these days I couldn't care less. Crowd was fire as always the case with 80s territories matches. I was impressed with a lot of Tully and Nikita's transitions. They pulled off stuff I didn't think they were capable of. And JJ added a lot to the match. A good manager is priceless. Miss those days. Great match homie!

Forever Forward Fridays

Aussie Open VS CCK - ATTACK! Pro Wrestling

JJZ: So I've seen a lot of Aussie Open matches over the past for years. Most of them are on the longer more epic side. So bringing two shorter more light matches gave me an appreciation for Kyle and Mark. What put this match over for me was the comedy touches during the match. It got more serious towards the end but the build is what made the match for me. I was not familiar with CCK before this match. Chris Brooks and Kid Lykos seemed new to me but if you told me I've seen them before I would be shocked. Side note, CCK is a stable and Travis Banks(who I do know)((not personally, from NXT UK)) is the third member. Fyi. All four man brought there A game I thought babycakes. The strikes were popping and the boys were flip flopping all around. Can't wait to hear you comments.

CJD: Chris Brooks seemed familiar to me but he may just have reminded me of Angelico. Which is interesting because in a roundabout way Angelico brought us to this match! This was some big time indie energy. Shades of old school PWG and CHIKARA. I'll be honest, I could have done with a few less thigh slappies. But the match built nicely and brought it home at the right time. A crowd pleaser for sure that left all four guys looking strong. I'm very curious to see where this one takes me next. Kyle Fletcher got to shine a bit more in this one than in other matches I've seen from them. I left this match wanting to see him in singles action, which I don't think I ever have before! Put a pin in that for later.