Classic Wrestling Match Spotlight #1

[JakeYourBooty]

I post a match you guys watch it and gives your reviews, thoughts, Ratings, etc...
my first match is a classic two of three falls match
Magnum T.A. vs Nikikta Koloff

[YOUTUBE]D4Rm190R3V4[/YOUTUBE]

 

[JakeYourBooty]

[MENTION=59]Horrorfan_1986[/MENTION] & [MENTION=51]Fuji Vice[/MENTION] I would be interested on your thoughts of this match

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Was this part of their best of 7 series? I'll check it out tonight.

 

[JakeYourBooty]

I don't believe so

 

[Fuji Vice]

I'm in and out all day so I'll have to get back to you on this once I've had a chance to watch it, most likely at some point tonight/early tomorrow morning.

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Nikita Koloff (c) vs Magnum TA - NWA US Title - 2 out of 3 Falls - World Wide Wrestling - September 13, 1986
While watching this, I can't help but think of All in the Family's theme song. These truly were the days for the US Title. These two had just came off of their Best of 7 Series and you now have this huge match on free TV. Even though the first two falls are fairly short, they manage to tell a full story. The first one is all built around Magnum's short come back and finishing Koloff off with his trademark belly-to-belly suplex. The second fall is where the real story of the match comes into play. Koloff takes over by sending Magnum to the outside. Here, Magnum is able to show what a great seller he can be. Koloff picks up the second fall following his Russian hammer/sickle combo. The final fall receives most of the time and it's a damn classic. The crowd's really into it and buying into all of Magnum's false hope spots. Finally, Magnum makes his comeback and shows some of the best babyface fire I've ever seen. It was so damn easy to be sucked into the story and hope that Magnum can pull off the victory. Instead, they went with a Dusty finish of sorts with Magnum thinking he got the win after a backslide (The ref counted three, but noticed Koloff's feet were in the ropes). Magnum grabs the belt and celebrates in the ring. When both Ivan and Nikita Koloff re-enter the ring, Magnum knocks out Ivan and nails Nikita with the belt to draw the DQ. Magnum doesn't give a fuck though. He views himself as the champion. There's an amazing moment when he's leaving the ring, but referee, Tommy Young, tries to stop him. Magnum just shoves Young on his ass and leaves ringside. : I would have preferred a proper finish, but it's a free match, so it's expected. Magnum was beyond great in this and Koloff was a suitable foe. Easily better than anything the WWE did in 1986. Why isn't this on DVD?! 4 1/4 Stars.

 

[JakeYourBooty]

Glad you enjoyed it. How far do you think Magnum could have gone if he hasn't had his career cut so short? Like one of the greatest faces of all time?

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Glad you enjoyed it. How far do you think Magnum could have gone if he hasn't had his career cut so short? Like one of the greatest faces of all time?

It's too tough to say. JCP was literally about to change in a huge way within the next two years. About a year after this, there's the UWF sale with a bunch of new guys coming in. A few months after that, you had Sting's breakout match at Clash of the Champions. Two years after this match, JCP would be bought by Ted Turner. In addition, during those two years, you also saw the arrival and big time pushes of Barry Windham and Lex Luger. Then you have the fact that JCP/WCW mostly always had their company built around a heel with a revolving door of faces challenging him. It's really too tough to say what would have happened. He was only 27 when he was in the accident, so he had plenty of time left.

 

[JakeYourBooty]

We can both agree that it's a damn tragedy we didn't get more Magnum TA. What about Koloff? Are you a fan of his work?

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

He was okay. He had his good moments and his bad. Koloff was involved in some really great matches over the years. Of course, he played a role in the Dangerous Alliance vs Sting and friends feud that was easily the best part of pro wrestling in 1992. His time with Ivan Koloff was rather good too. He may have not been the most consistent wrestler ever. One downside is that Nikita was sorta a revolving door in JCP/WCW. He missed all of 89 and 90 (I believe he was in that shitty UWF company then). He only came back in 1991 for a brief time to be involved in a feud with Sting. That's a bit of a negative for him since the big match from that feud occurred on the single worst PPV of all time. Then he left shortly afterward. He returned in 1992, but he left before the end of the year.

I wished he would have been around for a longer amount of time.

 

[JakeYourBooty]

I feel that way about both of these guys actually

 

[JakeYourBooty]

Another thing I love about this match is both men's selling..especially Magnum's every move from Koloff looked like it nearly kills TA

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Magnum's selling is good, but his babyface fire is off the charts.

 

[Fuji Vice]

First of all, I love old NWA stuff like this because the crowd is off the wall nuts. It just seems to me that people back then were more rabid in general than they are today, which is part of the reason why I don't enjoy modern wrestling that much (with limited exceptions of course). The crowd goes freaking bonkers when Magnum scores the first fall with his patented Belly-to-Belly and really, you can't blame them considering its on the evil foreign heel Koloff. Magnum's selling is pretty fantastic but I actually like his babyface comeback abilities more, he's near Dusty levels with that stuff. The second fall is decent but its really just the set up for the third, which as Jim pointed out is fucking awesome. In fact, the third fall would have been a great match by itself, but with the setup from the first two its just plain superb. I get why there was a non-finish, but it still bothered me, probably a little because I really wanted Magnum to win (I was watching with the pretense of kayfabe). I'd probably drop the 1/4 star and stick with an easy **** there and agree that it was better than anything WWE did in 1986 save the JYD/Santana vs. Funks match at 'Mania which I love for reasons even I cannot quite fully comprehend.

 

[JakeYourBooty]

Magnum could have been one of the greats such a fuckin tragedy.