The Name on the Marquee: Matt Striker's History Lesson 3 (WWEClassics.com)
Posted by Adam Nedeff on 11.13.2009
Hello from the Sunshine State!
-Another installment from WWEClassics.com; This week, we concentrate on Championship Wrestling From Florida, a promotion with the plainest-looking logo imaginable and bizarre name syntax (and hearing Matt call it “the CWF” just makes you squirm more). But don’t let that fool you, it was actually an incredibly successful, influential promotion in its time.
-We talk about the man in charge of the promotion, Eddie Graham. Before he was a promoter, he was an enormously successful wrestler. His son, uh, less so. But there’s more footage of his son wrestling than there is of Eddie, so…
MIKE GRAHAM vs. JEFF PORTZ
-From 1980, according to the convenient banner hanging in the studio. This match is a pretty good exhibition of the style of wrestling for CWF. Their specialty was, well, wrestling, and so this match, like a lot of CWF TV, bears an uncanny resemblance to legitimate amateur competitions. Graham & Portz trade holds and reversals, with Mike eventually managing to hang onto a side headlock until Portz trips him up and tries to work the leg. Graham reverses, so Portz kicks him aware and snapmares him into his own side headlock. Graham grabs his arm and turns it into an armbar. Portz gets to his feet and rams Graham into the turnbuckle. Portz begins throwing uppercuts and shots to the throat. (And to show the advantage of keeping things simple, the emphasis on mat wrestling means that Gordon and the crowd are totally freaked by punches and throat shots and take treat them as more lethal moves.)
-Graham mounts a comeback and applies the aptly-named Eddie Graham Figure Four for the submission. 1 for 1. This will put a lot of you to sleep, actually, but I found the “human chess” exhibition interesting, with both guys staying in motion and trying to find the magic hold that would get the win.
MIKE GRAHAM vs. STEEL DAWSON
-From 1981. Thank you, banner. Your referee is Bill Alfonso, which I actually find more interesting than the match. Graham clamps on an arm wringer and sticks with it. Dawson tries to sweep the leg, and Graham does something pretty clever, going with the move and just rolling to make it a cradle for two. Top wristlock by Graham takes Dawson to the mat. Dawson flips him over, but Graham recovers quickly and goes back to the top wristlock. He slams Dawson for a two-count. Dawson tries to get something going, but just gets trapped in a hammerlock. Dawson makes the ropes and applies his own wristlock, but Graham picks him up in a fireman’s carry and props him on the top turnbuckle.
-Dawson comes down and throws punches, but Graham manages to match him blow for blow. That frustrates Dawson and he just tosses Fonzie to the floor. Poor sportsmanship just pisses off Graham and he dominates Dawson, with no turning back. He clamps on the figure four, and Fonzie gives him the win by submission instead of by DQ just to rub it into Dawson. 2 for 2. Two totally contradictory statements here, but…I enjoyed this match, and I can see why Graham didn’t become a bigger star. He had all the right moves, but just didn’t have the charisma to back it up. I mean, when you plant your opponent on the top turnbuckle to break a hold, whether you’re a heel or face, you act like a dick about it afterward to make your opponent upset. Graham just retreated to the opposite corner and waited to begin the next spot.
FLORIDA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: BARRY WINDHAM (Champion) vs. KENDO NAGASAKI (with Sir Oliver Humperdink)
-They jockey for position until Nagasaki gets a hammerlock tied in. Windham reverses and Nagasaki elbows free. Windham catches him with a bodyslam and an armdrag into an armbar to ground Nagasaki. Nagasaki begins throwing punches until Barry can ground him again, and Windham cinches in a hammerlock to keep working on the arm. They battle their way over to the ropes and Kendo goes to the floor for some sage words from The Dink.
-Back in, Kendo gets a drop toehold, but Windham squirms free and applies an armbar. Kendo gets frustrated and goes for the hair. Fistfight erupts from there and Kendo slams Windham and applies a nervehold. We’ll be right back with the conclusion…
-And the ring is empty when we come back. A situation has occurred, according to Gordon, and we have a double disqualification. We go to the action from the commercial break, as somebody dressed as the Masked Superstar (but far too large, Gordon notices) comes into the ring and attacks both men, then leaves quickly. 3 for 3. Short, but good story-telling with the arm. Think of it as an above-average WWF TV match for a frame of reference. Anyway, Gordon suspects post-match that it was Ron Bass in the disguise.
WAHOO MCDANIEL & EL GRAN LOTHARIO vs. MASKED MEDICS
-And now, a match in magnificent monochrome, from very early in the existence of the promotion. Lothario is better known as Jose Lothario, Shawn Michaels’ mentor, and Matt sets this match up by hinting that the Medics went on to be much bigger stars, but he won’t clue us in just yet.
-Lothario starts with, oh, let’s just say #1. Lock-up goes to a side headlock by Lothario and he takes down #1 for a one-count. #1 tries to roll free but just gets caught in another one-count. #2 stomps Lothario’s head from the apron to break the hold. They start from scratch and now #1 applies the side headlock, getting a handful of hair for good measure. Drop toehold by Lothario, but #1 lands right in front of his partner and makes the tag. #2 can’t get any kind of hold applied and keeps retreating and we move onto a stall session before #1 re-enters. #1 grounds Lothario and applies the side headlock. Lothario tries to roll free, but that doesn’t work, so he tries a hammerlock instead. Again, though the Medic is too close to his corner, so here comes #2 again.
-#2 applies a full nelson and they treat it like a resthold, which surprises me. Lothario “drops out” to break the hold and they go for a test of strength now. They get close to the face corner and Wahoo tries to come in without a tag. The referee reprimands him as the Medics take advantage by ganging up on Lothario. The Medics switch off without tagging, but Jose is able to make a tag and in comes Wahoo with an awful-looking airplane spin. The Medics double-team him, but Wahoo throws chops and forearms to clean house. Medics begin a hit & run strategy, with more frequent tags and striking to take advantage of Wahoo. Wahoo makes a comeback with a much better airplane spin…this one’s pretty damn spectacular, actually. Medic #2 comes in to ground Wahoo again with a hammerlock. Wahoo begins crawling here there and everywhere to confuse the Medic and it’s hot tag to Lothario. Lothario dominates both Medics without much trouble.
-#1 clamps on a side headlock and they take turns attacking him with something from their tights. They double-team him in the corner while Wahoo complains. Lothario takes #2 down and he & Wahoo trade off to work the arm. Referee begins having trouble keeping two men in the ring, as the illegal men keep coming in to break up the opponent’s holds until all four men are brawling in there. Medics double-team Lothario, but a double-shoulderblock wipes out a Medic and Lothario. Wahoo & the other Medic come in again. Another brawl erupts and Lothario gets a Medic caught in a torture rack while Wahoo tries to fish the hidden weapon out of the other Medic’s tights. Referee breaks everything up and Lothario goes for the pin again until it gets broken up, and another brawl erupts as the time limit expires. 4 for 4. Actually pretty enjoyable once Wahoo made his way in there, but I got sick of it toward the end, with the brawl-break it up-brawl thing wearing thin.
-Matt plays coy with us post-match, so I have to Google it, and the Masked Medics were…Billy Garrett and Jim Starr. We had to be coy about THAT?
LEX LUGER (Southern Heavyweight Champion) vs. THE MARAUDER
-Gordon freaks out before the bell, saying that he sees two Marauders, one in the ring and out near the ring. It would be helpful if we could see this ourselves, but I trust Gordon in absence of a competent camera crew. Luger attacks before the bell, but Marauder goes on the offensive very quickly and Luger tries to go outside for a breather, only to get shoved right back inside by Barry Windham. Luger tries to duck out again and Windham shoves him back in. Third time’s the charm and Luger leaves, losing by count-out by keeping the belt. Post-match, the Marauder in the ring unmasks as Jesse Barr. 4 for 5. Confusing, poorly executed angle.
RON SIMMONS vs. DR. DEATH #2
-This is a masked jobber who couldn’t possibly have any connection to Steve Williams. Simmons works the arm as Shaska Whatley shows up to trash-talk from the safety of outside the ring. Simmons hammers #2 and elbows him down. Legdrop gets two. Powerslam off the ropes and a running tackle get the three-count. Total squash. 4 for 6.
KENDALL WINDHAM & MIKE GRAHAM vs. JACK “The Stretcher” HART & PRINCE IAUKEA (with Perceval Pringle III)
-Windham & Graham are just perfect examples of how, yeah, it’s nice to have the moves, but you need to have the right LOOK to succeed. Graham is MAYBE 5’5”, and when Windham turns to the side, he has the post peculiar non-physique you’ll ever see. The front of his body can actually be drawn as a straight line, and every bit of him is sunken in. Meanwhile, on the heel side, Hart is perennial WWF jobber Barry Horowitz, Prince Iaukea is not the one you’re thinking of, and the manager is best known as Paul Bearer.
-Graham starts with Hart and Graham shoulderblocks him down, then locks in a side headlock. Hart complains about hair as Graham chases off Pringle. Hart tries his own side headlock. Windham tags in and clamps on his own side headlock. Hart sends him into the ropes. Dropkick by Windham and he applies an armbar from there. Iaukea steps in and so does Graham. They trade moves for a moment. Top wristlock by Graham and Iaukea rams him into the top turnbuckle to break. Clothesline and a headlock by Iaukea. Irish whip by Hart, but Graham is ready for him on a charge and he clamps on the Eddie Graham figure four. A donnybrook erupts and two masked men suddenly show up and tie a plastic bag around Graham’s head. Big brother Barry makes the save with a mallet and frees Graham from the plastic. 4 for 7. Very going-through-the-motions stuff to the finish.
NWA WORLD TITLE: HARLEY RACE (Champion) vs. DUSTY RHODES
-Dusty was easily the biggest star to come out of the territory, so this is a perfectly logical main event for today's lesson. This isn’t a full-blown match, but a highlight reel from a house show with Gordon Solie & Dusty himself providing commentary. The commentary is the high point, and not in the “LOL, Dusty is sayin’ stuff!” standpoint. He does a fantastic job of describing what he’s thinking and feeling at various points throughout the match. He’s getting brutalized by Harley but he’s sticking with it, he says, because he knew in his mind that the fans came to support him and he wants them to go home happy. And that’s exactly what he does, as he drops the big elbow on Harley and takes the belt, shocking the crowd and blowing the roof off the armory with the loudest pop you could imagine from a building this tiny. 5 for 8.
The 411: I feel like I have to divide up my recommendations here. If you started watching wrestling at some point from 2000 onward, this is a definite pass. If you started watching between 1985-1999, you may or may not enjoy it. If you started watching before 1985, I think you'll definitely enjoy it. The style of wrestling is pretty basic and may not be for everybody, but if you go into it knowing that, I think you'll be able to appreciate what CWF delivered.
