God Bless You Tito Santana

Strike Force (c) VS The Islanders -WWF Tag Team Championships Prime Time 12/21/1987

CJD: It's hard for me to find joy in pro wrestling right now, but the art of building a great feud is something that always brings a smile to my face. Great feuds captured my imagination from a very young age and are one of the aspects of pro wrestling that keeps me coming back as a fan. John it's no wonder that Perfect/Santana stands out in your childhood memories so vividly. As I watched more and more Santana it was obvious he was a master of building and sustaining great feuds throughout his career. He's the type of wrestler that you can watch wrestle the same match 10 times over but his genuine intensity and fire will make it feel fresh each time. Case in point, I am going to actively seek out every match Strike Force had with the Islanders that made tape after this, because these two teams clearly tore up the later half of 1987 and I need more. This match is like listening to a great Benny Goodman song, where the tempo starts out blistering fast, never lets up, and still manages to build and build as it goes on. They play loose with feeling while still executing with skill and precision. Martel is graceful, bubbling with energy while Santana is so long and physical and aggressive. Meanwhile the Islanders were a total revelation to me here, perfect dance partners keeping up every step of the way, sometimes even outshining their opponents. The chemistry is made all that more perfect by Heenan on the outside, Prichard doing a surprisingly great job on play by play, and the cherry on top, Nick Bockwinkel on color, always standing up for his beloved Weasel. When even the bit players are eager to play along you know you're making beautiful music.

JJZ: Fucking A. This is an interesting commentator pairing. I honestly have seen Tama wrestle more in the movie Bodyslam than in actual matches. The Islanders are a scary team. Legit tough which makes them very believable heels. Strike Force is a team I've always really liked and have wanted to find that vault of hidden great matches. Seems like you've found something here my friend. The crowd is losing their minds during this match. The heel/babyface dynamic is so good. I loved hearing Heenan telling Haku and Tama the gameplan. I was left wanting more but not in a bad way. And I thought the finish was fantastic for a story building match.

No Update This Week

For a variety of reasons we'll be taking a week off from sharing a match. Please go listen to those #SpeakingOut and let's all continue to be a part of this conversation as fans moving forward. Be good to each other out there. This world can be an evil place.

Love,

The FanCam Connection

Arrive, Spit Gum, Perfect-Plex, Leave

Mr Perfect VS Tito Santana - WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals 4/23/1990

JJZ: So when I was a kid the first live wrestling show I went to was WWF at the Spectrum in Philadelphia 1990. The main event of that show was Mr Perfect VS Tito Santana for the Intercontinental title. I loved that match. Perfect VS Tito was the first real feud I was ever fully invested in as a fan. I'm so in love when these two work each other that my opinion is honestly biased. So I tried not to play this match forward but everything else I watched from Perfect wasn't even close to this for me. Watching this match is like reliving my childhood. Jesse Ventura calling Tito Chico is so wrong but so familiar. Even for the early 90s cartoony WWF this match could wow the crowd in any promotion. You said that you're not super familiar with Mr Perfect in early WWF but you owe it to yourself to find out what you've been missing.

CJD: Chico trying to turn this match into a Tijuana Brawl! I love hearing about your childhood experiences with this feud. RIP the Spectrum, one of the greatest venues ever. And RIP Curt Hennig, one of the only wrestlers who could consistently work from under as a heel and still make me enjoy it. You can take the boy out of AWA but you can't take AWA out of the boy. It's weird, I remember watching the Mr Perfect vignettes as a kid, but you're right that I don't remember his matches until around '91. This was the best version of that cartoony WWF you mentioned, still featuring great action, strong characters, and an antagonist who believes in his motivation. Mix in Ventura on commentary and a little dash of Heenan (spoiler alert) and more than a great match, this is a great moment in time for pro wrestling. I never knew this is what happened to the Intercontinental title (well one of the tag belts here, but you get the drift) after Warrior vacated it, it was cool to learn that little bit of history. And I can't wait to dive into more Tito, he's another childhood favorite I've never gotten very deep into. One last thing John. I've gotta say, 7 year old JJZ had great taste in wrestling. You were destined to be a curator right from the start!

I've Been To The Hitman School

Bret Hart VS Mr Perfect - WWF Toronto 4/23/1989

CJD: I know you love the way these two work with each other. But I don't know if you've ever seen this early match from their rivalry?? This had a lot of the elements that would build their future matches, including the little bit of post match shenanigans. But where things fit and how they played out felt different, like a demo recording of what would go on to be a classic song. As such there's a rough around the edges quality to this match that I find endearing. I wish we had 10 more matches from these two that made tape, I'd love to see them wrestle once with the roles reversed. Bret's a better heel than he often gets credit for and young Hennig in particular was a great babyface. If only.

JJZ: I could watch these two for days. I would love to have all their house show matches on tape also. I'm sure they changed it up so much. Watching this match you get quickly reminded how amazing of a bumper Perfect was. I still don't understand why he never got a world title run. Bret brings the psychology while Curt sells his ass off. Classic heel VS face here, Perfect not being able to out-wrestle Bret so he does a few underhanded things to gain some offense. And I'm totally not trying to undersell Bret's bumping btw. Everyone loves that sterum first turnbuckle spot. I'd imagine since this is in Canada and the time it was given that this was the main event. I would have loved to have been there for it. Great pick baby cakes.

He Came In Like A Wrecking Ball

Bret Hart/British Bulldog VS Owen Hart/Bob Backlund - WWF Action Zone 2/26/1995

JJZ: As A kid I had Survior Series '94 on VHS and I must have watched Bret Hart VS Bob Blacklund 100 times. I loved that match. I loved the throw in the towel stipulation. This match is a build to their Mania match though. And I hated that match. But all four of these guys worked a fucking hell of a match here. They built to a hot tag that blew the goddamn roof of the place. Bret sold like a beast. Bret is one of my all time favorites and I'm always so happy when I get to see new to me matches of his. Davey Boy played his role perfectly. Great showing of power to start and came in like a wrecking ball on that hot tag. Hope you enjoy baby cakes. Owen and Backlund play some great heels. I always found myself getting so annoyed at Owen during his heel runs.

CJD: Todd Pettengill calling Davey Boy a role model and a True Hero given some of the allegations against him since is one I'm sure he'd like back. Man does he suck on commentary. What a shill. This was a fun house show main event style match. Good aggressive heat from the Owen and Backlund team. I thought for the talent in this one it was a little paint by numbers. But like you said it jumps out on paper as a match you want to see if you haven't. And there's something about Action Zone matches that pop me the same way I think SNME does for you. Plus you've given me countless possibilities for next week!

JJZ: I loved that Davey Boy was getting the shine. You never saw Bret getting owned liked that. Especially leading into a Mania match. It didn't hurt Bret at all but made the Bulldog look like a fucking beast. He is a brick shit house and this match made him look unstoppable.

CJD: That's a good point about Bret, it made the heels look really strong too. I had no problem with Davey Boy's role in the match, I just wish it was fleshed out more. He gets a reputation for being a lunkhead stiff which when motivated and not bursting at the gills with steroids I think was not the case at all. Like you pointed out last week, you can't have a career as storied and successful as his on physique alone. So I was a little disappointed this match did nothing to prove that reputation wrong even though he did his job well. I liked this match, I just didn't love it. I'll use a JJZ metaphor you dropped on one of my matches previously. I saw the names, I saw the auspicious Action Zone format, and I thought I was getting an Iron Chef meal. Instead I got Iron Chefs hosting an episode of Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. They kept it light and breezy and entertaining without putting too much thought into it. And I'll gladly take their take on a diner dash, especially when so many of these careers were cut short.

[editor's note - This match has been taken down since we originally shared it. We'll check back periodically to see if we can find a new link. We apologize for the inconvenience!]

They Call Me Mr Dynamite

Davey Boy Smith/Dynamite Kid VS Genichiro Tenryu/Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW RWTL 7/12/1985

CJD: One of the aspects of 80s wrestling I find most fascinating is All Japan and New Japan sniping talent from each other. And still to this day there's a quality to watching the British Bulldogs in AJPW that makes me think "did this really happen??" But they fit in seamlessly and this match is a great example. Both teams cut off the ring nicely and both teams wrestle to their strengths. I feel like we've been bringing that fire back and forth with our match selections and this might be a bit more of a refreshing mint to cool the palette. But I'm all about those ebbs and flows and while this isn't a MOTY kind of encounter, it is a dream match that I was very satisfied with. And am still kind of amazed even happened in the first place.

JJZ: So I'm gonna start this with a question that I know I could just look up but I'll act like it's the 80s where that wasn't possible. Did Dynamite Kid hurt his back in AJPW or NJPW? Davey Boy really has had a crazy career. Having successful runs in 80s WWF, AJPW and NJPW. Then early 90s WWF and WCW. Then again in late 90s WWF. Dude has been around. Definitely have a classic build starting out here. Gotta point out real quick that this match gets extra points for being in my favorite AJPW ring. Love the red and blue split. Very nice tag match. Told a good story and everyone came out looking strong. I like the finish because honestly I didn't see it coming in the RWTL. Also love the connection between the two matches from Dynamite against a top NJPW star last week to Dynamite against top AJPW stars.

Transform From Koi Into A Beast, Dragon

Tatsumi Fujinami (c) VS Dynamite Kid - Stampede Wrestling WWF Junior Heavyweight Title 8/17/1979

JJZ: I've never been one to pretend to know more than I actually do, and late 70s early 80s wrestling is an area I'm not super knowledgeable in. So from my perspective this match is way ahead of it's time. A big reason I picked it besides it being very good is I'm eager to hear your thoughts. I do know that Dynamite was a trendsetter in the world of wrestling so that isn't much of a surprise to me. But what is a surprise is Fujinami in this match. If I had to describe him to someone it wouldn't be like this. So again CJD your point of view is something I'm excited for. Great back and forth in this match with a pumped crowd. The pops for little things really got me in this one. The quickness matched with the aggressiveness made for a captivating watch.

CJD: Trading voicemails back and forth leading up to finally making time for this match, I could hear a level of excitement in your voice that I knew meant you found something special. So first off big thanks to Nik Bali for the upload and an entire treasure trove of Stampede and AJPW goodness to explore. And yes, I think no matter what your familiarity of wrestling from this era, this is indeed a special kind of match. It immediately transports you to a moment in time. Fujinami's jacket! Dynamite's mop of hair! That crowd! This match rules. They are so hot for Fujinami and Dynamite is such a sly grimey heel. I wonder how he projects a believable grumpy bastard so effectively. Huh. Fujinami was definitely a bit of a different beast as a junior heavyweight but that babyface fire that we saw VS Vader is still very much his strong suit here. There's so much that stuck with me about this match that it's hard to recap. But I'll close my thoughts out with this. Consider when you watch this, that every bit of the psychology is built around beating the other man, and beating him badly. This is such an exciting, workrate focused match, which I think is what you're getting at John with how ahead of it's time it was. But they didn't lay this out to impress the crowd with the depths of their talent as performers, they executed this match to impress with their skill as competitors. They just happened while doing so to deliver a gangbusters spectacle of a performance. There's a lot to be learned in this one! And a lot to enjoy as fans.

Mason-Dixon Tri-state Outercontinental WWKD Champions #101-110

What crazy times we're all living through. Play It Forward started almost as a form of social distancing, to fill the gaping hole left by CJD and JJZ no longer getting to join each other in person for monthly wrestling viewing late night hang outs. As such it feels all that much more rewarding to us during times like these to keep that perpetual motion machine of pro wrestling positivity going, to maintain some semblance of normalcy that was already intended to help nurture a lifelong friendship turned long distance. And with all that in mind, this run of epic matches and imaginary champions was especially therapeutic for us the past few months!!

101. G-Raver
102. Matthew Justice

Not sure if these two are about the same age but they definitely are peers in terms of experience. And they're two of the best at what they do going right now. I was really happy to feature them back to back.

103. Nick Gage

How do you bridge the gap between two of the top current indy talents to an epic run of 90s greats? The motherfucking king, MDK all day, Nick FUCKING Gage, that's how!!

104. Psicosis
105. Eddie Guerrero
106. Tajiri
107. Rey Mysterio Jr
This is a dream Survivor Series team right here. We got into such a run of perfect TV matches with this group of all-timers, that it's easy to forget to the road that paved the way in was a Mexican DeathMatch where Psicosis and Gage bashed lighttubes over each other. And as always it's worth repeating, Eddie Guerrero is such a joy to watch perform. 

108. Dean Malenko

Is there a more fun wrestler to play as in video games? Dean is such a bad ass. I've seen some criticism over the years that he was more the product of working a technical gimmick that protected him rather than being a great technician himself. Bullshit. Give me a random Malenko match any day of the week. And twice on Sundays.

109. Steven Regal
110. Arn Anderson

Two of the rare technicians that can match Malenko mechanically. And boy do they match up beautifully against each other. Two great minds, two great performers, two great coaches, two greats, period.

Make The Masses A Mastadon Path

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7k8vrt

Tatsumi Fujinami (c) VS Big Van Vader - NJPW IWGP Heavyweight Championship 6/26/1988

CJD: I have a Vader/Fujinami match I want to play for your from the '90s when we can hang out again in person someday, but this will do nicely to set the table until then. This match requires a bit of an intro itself, as it's a rematch from a month prior where Fujinami won the vacant IWGP title. Vader ran roughshod and got disqualified for slamming the ref. Fujinami is going into his first defense with something to prove after winning the championship in a less than definitive manner. This has that classic Vader VS athletic, fiery, whitemeat, not too big not too small but juuust right babyface vibe that works so well. You gave me so many great options to pick from with your last match that it was hard to decide which direction to go in. This might not be the most dynamic response but I was thoroughly satisfied watching it. Curious to hear your thoughts.

JJZ: Why in the holy hell haven't you shown this to me back on one of those nights we stay up way too late watching wrestling?! This was fantastic. Right off the bat I must say that I know Vader has a bad rap for being stiffer than a teenage boy on prom night, but damn he bumped his ass off these last two matches. That crossbody that took both guys over the top was crazy. I think this match was worked in a way that made both wrestlers look better afterwards. Vader was such a monster while Fujinami kept the pass and worked to his strengths, selling for Vader so his offense looks even more devastating. Great pick.

The Horsemen Are Drawing Nearer

Ric Flair/Arn Anderson VS Big Van Vader/"Stunning" Steve Austin - WCW 11/13/1993

JJZ: The amount of great matches from WCW Saturday night seems endless. Now this match was billed as Flair and Sid vs Vader and Austin. Vader attacks Sid before the match starts and hurts him to the point that he can no longer compete in the match! Flair says he's hardcore he'll take them both on! But former friend apparently AA comes to join the fight! Now seeing all of this I had a zillion questions. I guess I always thought Flair and Arn were in the Horsemen when they were in WCW. Never knew Sid had a feud with Vader. Also never realized AA was a babyface at any point during the early 90s. All of that being said. This match was straight fire. Killer crowd, great heat between the four wrestlers, good tag team psychology and four men beating the shit out of each other! I had to check twice to make sure this was a WCW Saturday Night and not a Clash of Champions. This is one hell of a TV main event. And according to the commentators this is Arn's second match of the night. The MDTSOCWWKD champion was pulling double duty that night!

CJD: What a match! There's so much going on that I had to drop watching it twice to make sure I didn't miss anything. After finally giving it my undivided attention I loved it, but would have loved it even more if WCW hadn't given it away for free as an afterthought. But what else do we expect? This is where the big boys play and these are some big boys. Arn must have been having flashbacks to staying on the Road Warriors to get them to sell. By the same token, Flair really made Austin work for everything in this match and it added great realism. This match would be a great pick in wrestling school on a day where you're learning how to throw back elbows and take gnarly bumps over the ropes to the outside. The non-finish knocks this down a peg and it definitely went to the Well of Vader Corner Punches among other spots  one too many times. However we did get one of the all time great Flair post to post spots, straight out of a ROH match. Someone steal that superplex sequence!

Oh yeah, and Arn was great! That spinebuster! This was such a blast, thanks for sharing baby.