Goody Bag 40: Something Old, Something New

Bret Hart v Dynamite Kid: From Prime Time Wrestling on October 8 1985 (taped September 14) in Landover Maryland. Bret stalls to start, and a criss cross doesn't go his way when a dropkick is countered with a catapult into the corner. Great timing on that spot there. Bret stalls on the outside after that, but still takes an atomic drop on the way back in, and Kid drills him with a snap suplex. Great execution all around here. Kid with a chinlock, so Hart counters to a hammerlock, but Kid dumps him out of the ring to escape. Bret stalls out there again, and they trade wristlocks once they get back at it, with Hart able to dominate. He whips Kid into the ropes for a knee, then gives him a hairpull slam, followed by a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop. That wasn't quite as graceful as his later take on the move. To the outside, Hart bodyslams him on the floor, but Kid beats the count, so Bret delivers a backbreaker for two. Backdrop, but Kid counters with a sunset flip for two, so Hart stomps him in the groin. Well, that'll usually get a message across. Bret unloads with uppercuts, but Kid counters one with a backslide for two, then reverses a backbreaker, so Bret ties his ass up in the ropes for some abuse. Bodypress, but Kid dodges, and Bret takes a visually impressive bump into the ropes. That looked great. That allows Kid to make a comeback, and a cross corner whip sets up a kneedrop for two. Side suplex gets two, and a 2^nd rope flying kneedrop is worth two. Criss cross sees Kid trip over Hart and take a spill into the ropes, and Hart dumps him to the outside, but Kid comes back in with a rollup at 12:25. Some great stuff, and certainly some beautiful execution, but pretty disappointing overall. Watching Bret play William Regal for half the match wasn't my favorite, either. * ½

NWA Television Title Match: Arn Anderson v Tom Zenk: From NWA (WCW) World Championship Wrestling on December 29 1990 (taped December 4) in Atlanta Georgia. Feeling out process to start, with the challenger able to control by generally out moving Arn. After getting dominated through exchange after exchange for the first seven minutes, Arn fakes a knee injury to buy time, and then blasts Zenk with a cheap shot after suckering the referee into buying the injury! Classic! Arn dumps him to the outside for some abuse with the guardrail, then back inside for the champion to work the lower back. Zenk tries fighting back with a bodyslam, but the back gives out on him, and Arn topples him for two. Anderson with a corner whip to keep the hurt on the back, and he grounds his challenger in a reverse chinlock. Zenk escapes and tries a backslide for two, but gets stomped down, and Anderson hits a backbreaker for two. Back to the reverse chinlock, but Zenk fights him off, and throws a superkick for two. Arn bails, suckering Zenk into a chase so he can get the high ground, but it backfires when Tom slaps on a sleeper. Arn reverses, and schoolboys the challenger for two, but a 2^nd rope flying axehandle is blocked with a gut-punch. That allows Tom to fly with a missile dropkick, and we have a new champion at 17:00! This could have easily stood to lose about half it's weight, but it told its story well enough. * ¾

WWE United Kingdom Title Match: Pete Dunne v Johnny Gargano: From NXT TV on November 22 2017 (taped November 18) in Houston Texas. This was actually taped at the TakeOver: WarGames special, before that went on the air. Gargano has the word 'wrestling' printed on his tights, which seems about on par with having 'fuck' written on there. Feeling out process to start, until Gargano dumps him to the outside with a headscissors, then dives off the apron with a flying somersault senton. They fight it out on the outside, with Johnny trying a tornado DDT, but getting countered with the x-plex on the apron! Inside, Dunne goes to work, wrenching at the wrist and fingers of his challenger. He tries a guillotine choke, but Gargano uses a suplex into the turnbuckles to escape, and he cracks Pete with some chops. Reversal sequence ends in Johnny using a slingshot spear for two, leading Pete to bail, so Gargano dives after him with a tope DDT on the floor! Gargano hustles to get Dunne in ahead of the count, and tries a slingshot DDT on the way, but gets countered with the x-plex for two! Bitter End, but Gargano counters with a DDT, and then uses a headscissors to shift Pete into a crippler crossface! Dunne is in trouble, so in a brilliant counter, lets his mouth guard pop out, freeing up his teeth to bite Gargano's fingers! Not only is that a great counter in general, but Johnny had been selling the fingers that Dunne wrenched on, which is great. Pete capitalizes with the Bitter End, but Gargano counters with a small package for two! Dunne responds with a dropkick, but Gargano rebounds back at him with a clothesline, and both men are down. Johnny crawls over for the pin, but then finds the mouth guard on the mat, and realizes Pete's dental protection is gone - drilling him with a superkick for a dramatic two count. Totally bought that as the finish. Johnny tries another slingshot spear from there, but Dunne slugs him out of the air, and the Bitter End retains at 10:32. Good match, but the way people were talking, I was expecting something more. *** ¼


Fatal-Four Way Qualifying Match: Johnny Gargano v Kassius Ohno: From NXT TV on December 6 2017 (taped November 29) in Winter Park Florida. Ohno uses his size advantage to his... advantage... to start, but Gargano is able to outwrestle him. Slingshot spear, but Ohno catches him in a front-facelock to block, then dumps his ass to the outside. I don't get why they take commercial breaks during matches for shows that air exclusively on their pay network. If you want to shove some WWE centric commercials in, fine, but why during the matches? I guess they figure you're more likely to sit through them if they air during bouts, but again, it's a PAY NETWORK. Ohno works Gargano over, but a senton splash is countered with knees, and Johnny slugs away. Ohno tries cutting him off with a suplex, but Gargano evades, and hits a 2^nd rope flying headscissors. Enzuigiri sends Ohno to the outside, and Gargano delivers the slingshot spear for two on the way back in. Gargano starts throwing kicks, but runs into a senton splash to stop that flurry, and Ohno plants a big boot on him to send Johnny to the outside. Ohno tries a dive, but Johnny dodges, and hits Ohno with his own dive - a tope DDT on the ramp! Back in, Johnny uses another enzuigiri, but walks into the cyclone kick for two while looking for a follow-up. Ohno tries an electric chair, but Johnny counters with a victory roll for two, only to eat another big boot. Ohno with a forearm smash to the back of the head for two, but Johnny saves himself from a discus punch with a couple of superkicks, and the crippler crossface ends it at 13:07. Another one that’s had a lot of chatter, but I didn’t think was anything especially special. Too much choreography. ** ½