Wednesday, August 22, 2018

St. Louis Wrestling at the Chase 8/23/1981

St. Louis Wrestling at the Chase 8/23/1981




"...and yes you've heard right, it's Harley Race vs David Von Erich on this program" - Larry Matysik
Gil Guerrero vs Spike Huber






"He knows the thrill to come into that ring and get a victory. He knows the bad parts too. All the nights on the road, living out of your suitcase, all the bumps and bruises and when you have to get in that ring with a broken finger or cracked ribs. You're your own travel agent. No one makes those arrangements for you." - Larry Matysik on a wrestler's life


The finish


Spike Huber got the win here with an Airplane Spin into a Samoan Drop. Not a bad match at all here despite being very simple. This was all Huber armdragging Gil with a few headlocks mixed in. They did it well though and made it look like a legitimate contest and I had no issues with this. The announcers really sold Huber as the young up and comer trying to make a name for himself.

From Florida - Jack Brisco vs Bill Irwin





Jack Brisco got the win here over Bill Irwin in about 2 minutes with a dropkick and then a figure four. Jack looked really good in what they showed here as his moves looked quick and vicious. Irwin really sold well.

Harley Race vs David Von Erich




"How many promoters you think called this week and asked - How Sam Muchnick does it?"












The finish




David Von Erich beat Harley Race by DQ after Race pushed David into the ref. After the match, Race argued with the ref when Kerry pushed him off the top into the ring and started laying into him before wrestlers broke it up.

This was a heck of a match and truly must have been something special for 1980's fans who were used to seeing squashes on TV. The crowd was super hot for this and Matysik was very very good. This was your classic spunky babyface vs the vet heel here and this was the goods. David throws some awesome punches and was the perfect guy for Race to pick on. Race oversold a bit as he usually does, but he really put a lot of effort into this and bumped big time for David putting him over a stud. I loved the big bump to the outside and I was shocked at how much they gave for being a TV match, even as far as knocking over the announcers table when Race rammed David into it. I also really liked Kerry pushing Race into the ring at the end as that is something I haven't seen before. There was also a neat spot where David dove off the middle rope(because I think the top rope was a DQ) and then landed in position to put the claw on Race which was really cool. This is about as good as it gets for territory wrestling and even though they did a little too much, this was great wrestling and one I won't forget anytime soon. I don't really rate matches with stars anymore as I don't think it's an accurate way to rate wrestling but this was easily a high 4.5 to 5 star match.

Kerry Von Erich vs Tim Leonard



Kerry Von Erich does a stomach claw into a slam



Kerry Von Erich got the win in 39 seconds with a stomach claw into a slam. Leonard jumped him and Kerry made him pay quickly.




Kerry said David was fine and that he wanted some of Harley Race. This was not a good promo at all as Kerry was borderline unintelligible. They made it seem like Kerry would be facing Harley at some point but didn't say when.

Bobo Brazil vs David Price


The finish

Bobo Brazil won with a Cocoabutt. Price really tried and bumped for Bobo, but Bobo was way past his prime and just didn't have it in him. Price was obviously also no threat.

They showed some highlights of the show to end it.

Overall thoughts: The David Von Erich vs Harley Race match was great and was definitely worth going out of your way to see. The Spike Huber match was fine for what it was, but you are here to see the David match and nothing else. The announcing was really good throughout the show and the crowd was pretty into it, so this gets a thumbs up from me.