GWE Viewing Marathon Starts Tonight, Midnite Eastern Time.

[Guest si oem]

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[Guest si oem]

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[Beast]

Awesome, I am definitely going to check this out at various points. Thanks!

[goc]

Already started so no need to wait

[funkdoc]

seriously yall this is siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

 

get in there!!!

[benj]

Matt Stryker vs. Little Guido on now. Crowd chanting "faggot" at Stryker.

 

I might watch this channel all night.

[Johnny P]

This is really a fun way to watch wrestling. I mean, I seriously wish this was running on weekends all the time because at moments where you might tap out there's the chat function, and with just a few people it keeps you involved, and you can pop in and out, and because it was all PWO people in there (I was in for like 45 minutes around 2am talking to like 5 people) the snipped conversations feel comfortable and you notice little things others notice without missing much at all. I can keep the sound of the much up, but still have small interactions. I legit loved it.

 

Best part - the Youtube "Mix Tape" is random. You bounce between so much stuff, its like a Yearbook, but even more random (both are great for that concept, this just extends the idea)

 

So glad saw the recent post in the corner of the main page, and, truth be told, I saw "GWE viewing marathon" and thought, "How the hell is that possible? Global Force wrestling doesn't even have a TV deal. And this fucking guy didn't even spell the acronym right!" LOL. So I clicked on it just to figure it out, realized it was Greatest Wrestler Ever, not GFW, and got sucked in. Never so happy to have been an asshole as tonight. Thanks, si oem.

[Guest si oem]

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[elliott]

Had a total blast spending time watching these matches and chatting until my computer had a stroke during Murdoch/Fujiwara. I hung out for several hours, watched a huge variety of workers and saw a ton of matches I had never seen before. Couldn't recommend this highly enough. If my computer would cooperate I would jump back in. Everyone should give this a shot. Really fun way to watch stuff. Kudos to si oem for setting this up and doing a terrific job picking a huge and interesting mix of matches.

[shoe]

This is a pretty genius idea.

[Guest si oem]

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[soup23]

Just got Jumbo/Tenryu vs. Choshu/Yatsu from 1/28/86 for the first time in four years and my lord what a great match that is. Jumbo bloodied up is so awesome and it feels like when Tenryu ascends to become a peer at the adult table.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm not involved in this, but would like people to praise Yatsu.

[WingedEagle]

I'm not involved in this, but would like people to praise Yatsu.

 

Easily the wrestler who surprised me the most when watching the 80s AJ set. You know what you're getting from Jumbo, Tenryu, Hansen, Choshu, even Baba. But I had no idea Yatsu would more than hold his own in tags with all of those bigger names basically through the end of the decade.

[Guest si oem]

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[elliott]

All day at work in the back of my mind I've been hoping my Internet will be working tonight because I'm dying to jump back in. Such a fun way to watch wrestling. If you don't give this a shot you're making a mistake. 3 more hours

[Guest si oem]

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[Guest si oem]

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[Matt D]

Work firewall has decided to laugh at my attempts of joining up while here. I blame your Marc Mero comment.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory in '71.

What match was this?

 

I might drop in at some point later.

[Guest si oem]

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[JerryvonKramer]

Great! Here's my review of it by the way. Will try to drop in at some point.

 

Dory Funk Jr. and Dick Murdoch vs Seiji Sakaguchi and Michiaki Yoshimura (12/12/71)

 

I thought it would be very "topical" to look at this match from 1971 where Dory tags with none-other than WON HoF wannabe Dick Murdoch. We have quite a bit from this 1971 tour. This also gives us a chance to see Dory against guys other than Baba and Jumbo from this timeframe. Even though it's 1971, Dory already looks 40 years old. Of course, he' announced ahead of Murdoch, being the NWA World Champion and all. Yoshimura is announced last. The introductions to this one seem to go on forever, even longer than usual by Japanese standards.

 

Murdoch and Yoshimura to start. Tentative. Murdoch even has a gut on him at this age. Amazing how little some of these guys changed physically in 15+ years. Murdoch applies a head scissors. Into an arm bar now. Yoshimura with an armdrag. And he takes over on the arm. Both guys tag out.

 

It's Dory vs. Sakaguchi now. Immediately Sakaguchi works Dory's arm. Dory goes to a drop toehold into a leglock. "Falling" leglock now multiple times by Dory. I'm not just saying this now, but in these opening exchanges, Dory vs. Sakaguchi has been a hell of a lot more interesting than Murdoch vs Yoshimura. The counters are smoother, the work is more snug, and the level of struggle is better.

 

Murdoch comes in to work on Sakaguchi's arm. Goes into a hammerlock. Clean break by the ropes. Headlock by Sakaguchi. Shoulderblock. Back into the headlock. Snapmare. Tags in Yoshimura. Front facelock. That all went nowhere.

 

Dory back in. Yoshimura goes to a headlock. Spins round with it as Dory tries to escape. Dory tries to bridge out of it but he's block off. Headlock still locked in until Dory breaks it with a shinbreaker. Looks like he's going to do his "falling" leglock now but instead bridges over to stretch that leg. I'm sure this manouvre has a fancy name, but I don't know it, looks painful though. Interesting pinning bridge now by Dory. He's pulling out the fly matwork here!

 

Murdoch back in. Sakaguchi back in. Down to an armbar. Sakaguchi turns it around. Wristlock. Murdoch manages to get an abdominal stretch in. Reversed into a hiptoss. Murodch tags out. Goes for his big butterfly suplex but Sakaguchi blocks it and Dory tags out. Elbow and collar tieup. Sakaguchi into a headlock. Wrenches it. Shoulder block. Flying headscissors by Murdoch -- good agility for a bigger guy. He's goes for a piledriver but Sakaguchi blocks it and reverses, for Dory to come in to intervene. Murdoch goes for the piledriver again, but it's not happening! Dory comes back in with a slap and multiple knee drops. Things are heating up here. Snapmare. Tags in Murdoch for the double-team Ole Anderson kneedrop. Dory's turn to do the kneedrop now. This is some neat tag work by these two. Elbow smash by Murdoch. Dory back in. NOW he hits the butterfly! And that'll do for the first fall. That was a really hot finish to the first fall. Great action and great tag-work by Dory and Murdoch working in tandem. I won't call it a FIP becasuse it ended with a pinfall, but that's essentially what it was, and a really good one.

 

Second fall now and Sakaguchi has lost his temper. Big chop on Dory. Grabs him and shunts him down to the canvas. Bodyslam. Hiptoss. Armdrag. Sleeper! Dory looks like he's fading but Murdoch breaks it. Yoshimura in with a chinlock on Dory now. Irish whip and a backdrop. Dory's bumping quite a bit in this match. He goes for a slam but Yoshimura lands on top of him. Boston crab! Murdoch breaks it with a dropkick and that allows Dory time to tag out. This is turning into a good one.

 

Full nelson by Yoshimura. He's throwing Murdoch around for fun now. Irish whip. Big pump-handle slam. Sakaguchi comes off the top with a stomp. Backbreaker! That gets two. Stomp now and big chops from Sakaguchi. He seems to grab Murdoch by the throat and lift him up! Sakaguchi is a pretty big guy. Mrudoch comes back though and gets a tag. They double team him and Dory hits an uppercut. Big chop exchanges now, and Sakaguchi comes out on top. Dory eats the turnbuckle and a slam. Yoshimua in with a couple of hiptosses. Dory tries to come back with uppercuts and a slam. Goes for his big butterfly suplex ... a hits it! Second one this mathc. Sakaguchi comes in and Dory tries to butterfly him too, but he can't get it. Sakaguchi reverses for the three count and the crowd erupts! That's one fall a piece.

 

Dory and Murdoch strategise in the corner as this third fall starts. Nice touch. Sakaguchi and Dory start out, the former immediately gets an abdominal stretch on and Murdoch has to interfere to break it. Things get a bit scrappy now and neither guy is giving the other anything. Sakaguchi tags out. Dory positions Yoshimura for Murdoch to come off the top with an elbow. Murdoch in and BRAINBUSTER! Piledriver! Sakaguchi comes in to save the pin which really pisses Murdoch off. Nasty stomps from Murdoch on Yoshmimura's head now. Dory comes in and goes for an abdominal stretch which is reversed into a hiptoss. Goes for a backslide, which doesn't come off either and he tags out. Murdoch with a big atomic drop now and Sakaguchi breaks the count again. Dory meanwhile comes in and dumps Yoshimura to the outside and gives him an kneedrop before rolling him back in. German suplex by Dory gets 2. Backbreaker by Dory. Goes for a backdrop but gets a boot in the face and Yoshimura gets the hot tag to Sakaguchi and the crowd is going wild. Murdoch in and he starts kicking Sakaguchi in the stomach and face! Tag out. Dory comes in for the double butterfly suplex but they can't get Sakaguchi up and it doesn't come off. Dory grabs Sakaguchi for more doubleteaming. Murdoch misses an elbow smash and this allows Sakaguchi to hit a massive atomic drop for the 1, 2, 3.

 

Wow, I wasn't expecting this to be anything at all, and this was a really good match. Both Murdoch and Dory were great here, and I also thought the performance of Sakaguchi as a firey younger babyface stood out on the Japanese side. The first and second falls were really good, and sadly I think they blew their loads a bit early here because the third fall almost couldn't live up to it, despite Murdoch hitting some pretty high artillery offense. In terms of our focus on Dory here, I think this is a good match to show how he'd changed from 1971 to the worker we see in the mid-80s. Dory is very agile here, full of neat bridges, quick counters, and he bumps about more. I guess it's not surprising that someone was better when they were 30 than when they were in their mid-40s. Add this one to the 4+ pile.

 

****

[Guest si oem]

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[Guest si oem]

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[Matt D]

And the masked bodyguard Hairchest.