Your favorite under the radar matches.

[PowerButchi]

So, here's a thread for matches that might not be well known but are absolutely fucking amazing and why they are amazing. Don't be a just post a video prick on punishment of a fortnight off. 

I'll start with possibly one of my favourite matches of all time. 

 

On a Saturday night in Bumfuck or somewhere there was a show for a hospital fundraiser. Lawler and a Doctor vs Bill Dundee and a Doctor. Dundee's partner is a better heel as an untrained wrestler going out in his first match than the majority in the business today. And of course, Jerry and Dundee are amazing as ever. 

 

Another forum I'm on had a vote for the best 500 wrestlers. I didn't vote as it stopped being fun as @Magnum Milanocould attest to due to BIGLAV but the heel doctor (McCarver, I think) was going to get a vote from me. Watch it, it's ace. You could have this match anywhere and it'd go over great. Watch how he stooges and sells. Just how a fucking Cardiogist just gets it more than most people working in wrestling is amazing. 

 

When Jerry FINALLY gets hold of him it's brilliant. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by PowerButchi

[PowerButchi]

You're all shit at discussing wrestling.

[ElCece]

I can't suggest anything as under the radar as that Butch. Suprised how much I enjoyed that actually.

My first instinct would be Otani vs Guerrero Starrcade 95. Not talked about often but I love that match from the crisp drop kicks from Otani to the vicious looking brainbuster from Guerrero, just really solid stuff. I think it helps for me as it was my first introduction to one of my favourite ever wrestlers and the junior heavyweight style. When you consider it shares the card with Benoit vs Liger and blows it away thats a nice accomplishment. 

It is a Starrcade match however so can only be so under the radar. 

 

Another match I've always thought very fondly of is RVD vs Christian in a ladder match in a September 29th 2003 Raw. Nothing groundbreaking but solid fair and Christian seems to get RVD out his routine a little bit more than usual. RVD still felt like he had promise and the crowd fucking ate up his offense and win, also the splash from the top of the ladder isn't a spot you see in live TV every week. Very good raw match that never gets a shout for any of these best Raw match thingies. Only down side is the real star from E&C not getting his rightful 3 year title reign.

 

 

[RedRooster]

Jeff Hardy vs Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho vs Kane, a belter of a match from Smackdown in 2009 to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. I could have picked one of a number of different matches from Smackdown that year to be honest, it had a cracking roster with loads going on.

[Magnum Milano]

Vic Faulkner & Bert Royal vs Roy & Tony St. Clair (11.29.71)

I'm pretty sure I've posted this in the YouTube finds thread before but it is always worth another look, especially if it gets some new eyes on the match.  This is a great match by today's standards, but try imagine watching this in 1971 and it must've blown folks minds.  At times it's fought at a breakneck pace with rapid counters, reversals, awesome ingenuitive escapes, all mixed in with Faulkner's usual array of tricks while he hares the ropes as if he's Usain Bolt.  The Saints have got the size advantage and while Tony is someone who I've never been full a fan of, he and Roy (who was tremendous) kept up with their opponents in the technical grappling and intricacy stakes.  There are some quality near falls in there, especially one towards the end.  It's a treat when they hook you in like that, you think you know what's coming, but no, not just yet. 

 

[Tsurutagun]

Depends on what you mean by under the radar. 

My favourite match of all time is a Misawa/Kobashi/Kawada vs Tsuruta/Fuchi/Taue 6 man tag. In the Kings Road canon it hardly ever gets talked about but it has the Dave Meltzer 5 star approval. So many great things in this match. Call backs from previous matches in the rivalry, the best sleeperhold ever, Kawada giving Fuchi the middle finger, Fuchi being awesome, Kobashi being the best face in peril that isn't Ricky Morton. 

 

 

For all the articles/podcasts/YouTube essays about the June 8, 1990 match between Misawa and Tsuruta, there is an argument that the match they had in September of that year is better and no one talks about it

 

 

Bull Nakano no selling multiple kendo stick shots with her arms stretched out is the coolest thing and no one ever talks about it

 

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Tsurutagun

[air_raid]

I can think of a few. Shortly after Vengeance 2005 they ran Kurt Angle vs Ric Flair on Raw, and far from being holds-holds-holds like you might expect, they just viciously tried to out-cheat each other from start to finish. Low blows, biting, the works. One of the most unique matches I ever saw in WWE and great fun from start to finish.

There are some blinding matches from SmackDowns golden period that aren’t as well-remembered as they might be. Angle vs Misterio for the belt just after the 2003 Rumble is splendid at at the end of the year there’s an episode where they do Benoit vs Cena followed later in the night by winner vs Lesnar for the title and both are excellent matches due to the brilliance of Benoit, Lesnar being an awesome monster and Cena being really fresh as a babyface at that point.

Misterio vs Morrison for the I title in 2009 on SmackDown was lauded at the time but I think has become a little lost to time. It was somewhat of a high water mark for JoMo looking not out of a place against a believable main event star and the belt being at that level, it dropped off a cliff shortly after.

There are a good few matches where everyone remembers the PPV bout but not the televised rematch. The first that comes to mind is Haas & Benjamin vs Misterio & Kidman which was superb at Vengeance 2003 but just as good on SmackDown not long after.

I’d include some forgotten matches from Nitro but we’d probably be here all day.

[Michael_3165]

I loved Hardys v Cade and Murdoch at Backlash ?07. Brilliant classic tag style with hot tags. Not sure what under the radar means though. 

[Magnum Milano]

I thought of this match after posting the Royals/Saints tag but was waiting for a few more posts.

Jerry Lawler vs The Snowman (05.28.90)

Background for context (note: these are not my own words)

Quote

On the May 19 episode of USWA TV, Lawler, a heel at the time, came out to do one of his standard interviews about the Unified World Title, laughably accusing the larger WWF and WCW promotions of refusing to unify their world championships with the CWA and World Class. Lawler was quickly interrupted by The Snowman, appearing in the WMC-5 studio with his own entourage and getting a stunned reaction from announcer Dave Brown. Before Snowman could utter a word, matchmaker Eddie Marlin came out to tell him that he could not just show up anywhere he wanted, especially when they were airing a live television show. Marlin added that he tried booking Snowman in the past, but he never made his bookings. However, he was willing to give him another chance if he was willing to start at the bottom of the cards and work his way to the top.

Snowman was insulted by that offer and also added that he was tired of Lawler’s racist comments on television, specifically mentioning his many references to welfare and food stamps. He said point blank that the reason Lawler would not face him was because he is black. Before Lawler had a chance to respond, Marlin replied that all of “the blacks” were not on Snowman’s side on this issue before namedropping black wrestlers that had worked in the USWA over the last few months. Lawler, finally speaking, declared that the problem was that Snowman would not take the time to work his way to the top to get a title shot, although he claimed that he was being held back because he was black. Security guards attempted to escort Snowman and his friends out of the studio, but they were not leaving and Marlin was quite angry.

“Everyone in the USWA is worried that they’ll wake up one day and that there will be a black king,” Snowman said.

Lawler mentioned King Cobra, a Memphis mainstay and former Unified World Champion, in response and the argument continued on for a few minutes. Before finally leaving, Snowman promised to buy a ticket for the show on Monday night at Mid South Coliseum. Lawler was flustered for a few moments, even getting in the face of a heckling studio fan to scare him into silence, before returning to the original premise of his promo, a brilliant touch in a segment that was filmed in a way where we were clearly supposed to leave with the impression that we had just seen something we were not supposed to see, something not part of the show. The segment was even filled with unusual camera angles and jump cuts to give off the impression that the USWA had lost control of its television show. In reality, they were very much steering their own ship.

By the end of the decade, the wrestling scene was littered with poorly executed angles that attempted to make us think that we had just seen a shoot, but where those angles failed was that they also promoted the idea that the rest of the show we watched faithfully every week was in fact scripted and artificial. This segment did no such thing. Lawler never referred to Snowman as Eddie Crawford and Snowman never mentioned that Lawler had the book and even partial ownership of the promotion. The focus was on championship matches, main event positioning and opportunity, eternal themes in pro wrestling.

As promised, Snowman purchased a ringside seat and appeared in the audience at the May 21 Mid South Coliseum show, which was headlined by a familiar match — Lawler defending the Unified World Title against Kerry Von Erich. Marlin confronted Snowman at ringside and sent him packing in a chaotic scene involving building security and even a few fans. Interest in this feud was certainly there, as evidenced by the stunned facial expressions of nearby fans during this ordeal. Marlin invited Snowman to the Memphis studio on May 26, where he sat silently in the audience, building tension for what everyone expected to be a violent showdown with Lawler. However, Marlin had a different idea — rather than invoke another confrontation, Marlin simply wanted to give Snowman a chance to air his grievances and have an adult conversation, largely because he did not want another disturbance like the one earlier in the week.

Snowman immediately threw out accusations of racism, with Marlin replying that he thought that might be the case, so he asked King Cobra to join them. Snowman was not impressed, pointing out that the only reason Cobra had a job was that they knew he was not good enough to stay champion. Marlin asked Cobra if he had ever encountered any racism during his 15 years in Memphis. Cobra responded that he had not been a victim of any racism from the organization, but he had dealt with racist people in the area from time to time. In a fascinating moment, the predominantly black studio crowd did not buy this for a second and nearly booed Cobra out of the building, showing the emotional resonance this program already had. Cobra seemed unphased, casually pointing out that the fans were not in the business so they would not know.

Snowman was accompanied by black business owners in the Memphis area, one of whom was the brother of former Memphis wrestler Norvell Austin, who had choice words for Lawler and got in a few comments on his own about the racism in the USWA. Another member of Snowman’s entourage, billed as Bohemian Brother, pointed out that The Snowman defeated Ted DiBiase, Steve Williams, the Junkyard Dog and Jake Roberts, so it made no sense to have him start at the bottom of the card.

Lawler finally had enough of this and came out to add his opinion. Cobra, a longtime rival of Lawler’s, walked away immediately and glared at Lawler in an incredible bit of subtle continuity. Remember that Cobra claimed to have encountered certain racist people in the organization, and television viewers had seen Lawler make racist jokes about Cobra in the past. Lawler wanted a match with Snowman the following Monday night at Mid South Coliseum, but Marlin reminded Lawler of who was in charge, telling him he had no match until Marlin said so. Lawler responded that Marlin was giving credibility to Snowman’s accusations by denying him the title shot. He claimed that he was ready to fight Snowman right then and there, but Marlin played momentary peacemaker before finally agreeing to allow the match on Monday night. However, the USWA would not sanction it and he even said he hoped they would beat each other’s brains out. Later in the show, Snowman slapped Lawler and they ended up in a brawl, which Marlin broke up before having security escort Snowman out of the building. Their first match was signed for May 28.

Alternatively, in the much larger and nationally televised WCW, Ole Anderson had just become the booker. It was Ole’s first stint as a booker in over five years and in his first weekend in the role, he dove into familiar territory and demonstrated how behind the times he was. Ole converted WCW World Champion Ric Flair into a latent racist and booked the Four Horsemen to bully black jobber Rocky King. Arn Anderson referred to King as a “human stick of licorice” and when King and Junkyard Dog, Flair’s new top challenger, recruited support from Paul Orndorff and Sting, Barry Windham responded that JYD could not get anyone else of “your kind” to help him out. Flair added that there were other wrestlers he did not like for professional reasons, but that he did not like Junkyard Dog for personal reasons, even adding that when Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson were in the limo with him, they said nothing about JYD. If you were told about both of these feuds, you would probably think the regional promotion was running the Horsemen versus Junkyard Dog feud and the national promotion was tackling Lawler versus Snowman. The USWA clearly had a better understanding of their fans and the complexities of racial tension than WCW, and they handled the subject matter through a more progressive lens. The numbers vindicated the USWA’s approach, as the program doubled the average Mid South Coliseum attendance at the time.

The Match

Jerry Lawler and The Snowman doing MMA before the term had ever been coined, and to think this was in Memphis and involved Jerry Lawler!  When I first watched this match it looked like one of the most legitimate fights I'd ever seen in a wrestling ring; from the way they held their fists, to the takedowns. to indicating they were going for the eye, to actually going for the eyes, to kicking their legs up when they were down to stop their opponent getting at them.  Like I say, MMA before there was such a thing.  The match itself goes less than five minutes, to add to the believability, and is not as much of an investment as the tag I posted.  The initial confrontation in the Studio where Snowman "showed up" is also on YouTube.  It may lose something being in a vacuum and without all the build up, but I thought this was "must see" at the time.

[gmoney]

 

I'm not the biggest fan of Japanese wrestling, particularly the juniors, but I happened to pick this match randomly (almost randomly, I do like Tajiri) to watch one day. It's great, Otani is a horrible bastard, there's no standing about to get jumped on, it's sub 10 minutes and it's got a good little story. "Holy shit" I thought. "Maybe I do like Japanese cruiserweight wrestling?" I picked a few more at random... nothing else did it for me. 

There used to be a much higher quality version of this on Dailymotion, but it looks like that channel's gone now, sadly. 

Edited January 31, 2021 by gmoney

[Merzbow]

22 hours ago, Magnum Milano said:

I thought of this match after posting the Royals/Saints tag but was waiting for a few more posts.

Jerry Lawler vs The Snowman (05.28.90)

Background for context (note: these are not my own words)

The Match

Jerry Lawler and The Snowman doing MMA before the term had ever been coined, and to think this was in Memphis and involved Jerry Lawler!  When I first watched this match it looked like one of the most legitimate fights I'd ever seen in a wrestling ring; from the way they held their fists, to the takedowns. to indicating they were going for the eye, to actually going for the eyes, to kicking their legs up when they were down to stop their opponent getting at them.  Like I say, MMA before there was such a thing.  The match itself goes less than five minutes, to add to the believability, and is not as much of an investment as the tag I posted.  The initial confrontation in the Studio where Snowman "showed up" is also on YouTube.  It may lose something being in a vacuum and without all the build up, but I thought this was "must see" at the time.

This looks very, very similar to the early FMW stuff that Onita was doing with his "different styles" matches in 89/90. It would kind of make sense as there's a big link from FMW to Memphis as Tarzan Goto had spent a lot of time there and even lived there with his wife and kid for a time before he moved back to Japan full time, the whole hardcore style used was heavily borrowed from Memphis, too.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Merzbow