Goody Bag 81: Ask Yourself, Do You DESERVE a Subtitle?

 

NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Title Match: Ric Flair v Ricky Steamboat: From Mid-Atlantic TV on June 15 1977 in Raleigh North Carolina. This is notable for being their first ever match together. Ric pounds him into the corner to start, but Steamboat fights him off, and delivers a turnbuckle smash. Flair stalls, but gets slammed while trying to hide on the middle rope, so he suckers Steamboat into a cheap shot in the corner. Ric with an atomic drop for two, but Steamboat keeps fighting back, so Flair bails. Flair comes back in trying a backdrop, but Steamboat uses a sunset flip for two, and unloads chops from there. Flair goes low with a headbutt to buy time, but Steamboat powers through, and turnbuckle smashes him. Flair throws a punch to the kidney to finally shake him off, and Ric stays on him with a pair of kneedrops. He looks for a follow up, but Steamboat stays in the game with chops. Flair manages a dropkick, but Steamboat is so tenacious that he gets two off of it. You don’t see Flair throw too many dropkicks, but he had a nice one at this point. Steamboat makes a comeback, and a backdrop sets up a legdrop for two. Steamboat unloads in the corner, so Flair goes low, and turns the tables. Flair with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and a bodyslam follows. Again, but Steamboat counters to a rollup for two. Ricky grabs a headlock, but Flair whips him into the ropes, and they collide - Steamboat falling out of the ring. Flair staggers up, but Steamboat is quick, and dives with a flying bodypress at 8:51. This was okay, though nowhere near the level of some of their later matches. * ¼ 

WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Davey Boy Smith v Dynamite Kid: From NJPW on February 7 1984 in Tokyo Japan. A criss cross into a reversal sequence to start, ending in Davey getting him in an armbar. Great speed and execution there. Smith shifts to a hammerlock to keep Kid grounded, but Dynamite fights into the ropes to force a break. Kid with punches on the ropes, but Davey turns the tables, so Kid backdrops him over the top. Kid dives after him with a plancha, and he whips Davey into the guardrail out there. Smith beats the count, so Kid uses a snapmare into a chinlock. Davey escapes, and hooks a victory roll, but it’s in the ropes. That allows Kid a snap suplex for two, so he grounds Smith again, this time with a headscissors. Davey fights free, so Kid tries a headlock, but Smith forces a criss cross, and wins it with a clothesline for two. Davey adds a piledriver for two, and a vertical suplex gets him two. Chinlock, but Kid slugs free, and drills him with a tombstone. That allows Kid to get upstairs with a flying headbutt drop, but it only gets two. Kid cross corner whips him, and he grounds Davey in another headscissors from there. Davey fights out and into a surfboard, but Kid escapes with an enzuigiri for two. Kid with a well placed headbutt, and a snapmare allows him to pound on Smith a bit. Davey tries a charge, but runs into a knee, and Kid grabs a chinlock. Davey fights up and into a running powerslam for two, and he decides to suplex Kid out of the ring, but Kid holds on, and both men go tumbling over the top. That looked nasty. In a good way. Both men fight to beat the count, and ultimately Kid does to advance at 10:14. The action was really great when they were on. I mean, really crisp, well worked sequences. But they went back to chinlocks every few seconds, and much like the Smith/Bret Hart match at SummerSlam in 1992, that really hurt the flow of it. ** ¼ 

The Rock 'n' Roll Express v Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo: From CWA Star Wars in Memphis Tennessee on June 25 1984. The Express work Poffo’s leg early, and Macho tries a corner whip on Robert Gibson, but gets reversed. Gibson charges in, but misses, and Lanny tags in, unloading on Robert in the corner. Gibson slips away and tags Ricky Morton, and Rick runs wild on both opponents. To the outside, where Angelo Poffo lends a hand to put Morton in trouble, and they cut the ring in half on Ricky as they go back inside. Macho misses a 2nd rope elbowdrop, but Poffo catches a tag before Ricky can get to his corner. Macho dumps Ricky to the outside for a flying axehandle on the floor, but Lanny misses a flying somersault senton splash, and Gibson gets the hot tag. He runs wild, but Angelo pulls the top rope down during a criss cross, and Robert takes a dramatic bump out of the ring for a DQ at 8:41. The speed here was just incredible. They were going a hundred miles per hour the whole way through. ** ½  

Ted DiBiase v Shawn Michaels: From MSW Mid-South TV on December 29 1984 (taped December 19) in Shreveport Louisiana. This is very early in Shawn’s career, only about two months after his debut. DiBiase reverses a waistlock for a takedown right away, and he unloads on Shawn with knees. Shawn tries a wristlock, but Ted reverses that as well, and grabs a side-headlock. Shawn forces a criss cross, but runs into a hiptoss, and DiBiase adds a bodyslam. DiBiase with an elbowdrop and a chinlock, but Shawn kicks off the ropes, toppling Ted for two. Shawn with a small package for two, so DiBiase cross corner whips him, but telegraphs a backdrop, and Michaels counters with a sunset flip for two. Ted cuts him off with a turnbuckle smash, and he plants a backelbow. DiBiase stays on him with a 2nd rope elbowsmash, and a hangman clothesline finds the mark. Ted with a powerslam, and a figure four to put it away at 3:09. Another one with just blistering pace. It’s crazy how different the WWF or JCP presentation was during this period compared to a lot of these territories. ** ¾