Post by Outback Frito Pendejo on Jul 24, 2008 8:43:27 GMT -5
MSG (Madison Square Garden) shows some old WWF footage on Wednesday nights when they don't have "real" sports to show. Last night I caught part of the show. A very young Tito Santana and a very buff Ivan Putski faced the Samoans - and they did the classic Samoans get whipped into eachother and butt heads, then get energized.
Bob Backlund defended his title against Ken Patera. Side headlocks galore! Patera showed off his strength by lifting Backlund up in the air and seating him on the top turnbuckle. I was expecting some kind of follow-up, but he just broke the hold and backed away awkwardly. The story of the match was Backlund using his technical skills to prevent Patera from overpowering him, with Patera doing heelish tantrums as a result.
The really remarkable aspect of these matches was not the nostalgia factor or the slower paced "methodical" style of wrestling. What impressed me was that Vince, calling the matches solo, was using a low-key style of announcing, like an old-school legit sports announcer. He let the action in the ring unfold, and wasn't compelled to fill every second of air time with chatter. In today's sports, golf is probably the closest example I can think of to parallel the announcing style.
Of course, back then he didn't have to promote products during matches. His kayfabe role was simply an announcer, and he wasn't a star of the show. His job was to make the wrestlers look good, and he did it quite well. I could see why someone watching this broadcast back in the day would believe it was all real.
Yeah, I know this place pretty good. I went to law school here.[My5:]
Those were some days, huh? There's a version of this, without the MSG name, on 24/7 that shows full 80s house shows. I can get lost in those shows, but it sure wouldn't fly today.