Grey Area

Steve Grey VS Jim Breaks - Joint Promotions 4/19/1978

JJZ: Every one of these matches I always assume you've seen before. I know I'm probably wrong so I need to just play forward what I want to watch. I'm a fan of Jim Breaks so I figured let's check this out. The finish is the only thing I wasn't crazy about but it didn't matter because the rest of this match was incredible. The arm work by Breaks was surgical. The falls in this match, I loved. Grey's fall in particular was so smart and believable. Coming off a face/face match and being able to see the difference in psychology Grey used for this match was wonderful. Dying to hear you thoughts on this bad boy.

CJD: I have NOT seen this before! The greatest face in British wrestling history VS the greatest heel with a shot at Johnny Saint's title on the line. Man this was terrific. I loved the added wrinkle of Grey going for the Breaks Special early and often, as opposed to later day wrestling where stealing your opponent's finisher became something for a late match nearfall pop. You could feel the animosity build and build in this one. The finish is the only knock against it but is typical for the time period. What a two match showing for our current MDTSOCWWKD Champion Steve Grey. And while I don't seek out Jim Breaks as much after the awful way his life has concluded, I know he's the hub for so many wrestler's greatest matches and rivalries, so I am looking forward to see what great stuff he opens the door to next.

Well Ya Wanna Catch A Saint

Johnny Saint VS Steve Grey - Joint Promotions 2/11/1981

CJD: Well if this match had been on my first ever Johnny Saint comp I'd have been in absolute heaven. This great generation of light heavyweights had lots of these fast paced, super athletic types of bouts. You'd get a different energy with a Rocco or a Breaks in there but a lot of the spots were very similar. Even if you've seen a bunch of this kind of match I still think this was something special. The way these guys are both able to improvise and adjust so flawlessly even within intricate sequences is mind blowing. And I think the psychology was sound too, with Saint trying to use leverage and grind the faster more explosive Grey, but still dancing with him step by step when the time was right. And even with a finish you could see coming a mile away they still had me biting and second guessing what would happen next. "How can there be a loser??" indeed, Kent Walton.

JJZ: This was an insane match buddy. The mastery Johnny and Steve display during this bout is ridiculous. The smoothness left you just saying to yourself, "In what world can they flow from move to move like this??" Flawless. I'm sure I've seen one fall British matches from this era before but I got excited when the ring announcer laid out the rules. Also, was it just me or did that ring give you Rocky 1 feels? I'm also pretty sure I've seen Bryan, Hero, Quackenbush and/or Claudio do almost all those moves before. It's amazing to think that those guys really helped bring this style back to life. I don't think I could ever get bored watching these matches.

CJD: It's funny you say that, because I've heard Regal say before that the highly technical British lightweight style evolved out of necessity due to them basically wrestling in tiny boxing rings. So big or physical bumps were few and far between. And I always love that about this style, how flat back bumps are treated like a big deal, and could believably knock the wind out for a 10 count. Glad you loved this one as much as I did!