Pro Wrestling Chronicle

(Note: as I get more in tune with the set and the era the reviews and thoughts will evolve. Like I said, your on the journey with me, so as I get more in depth, so does the content.)

Match # 1: Bob Roop vs. Mike George (12/16/81)

Match # 1: Bob Roop vs. Mike George (12/16/81)
Ted Dibiase is on commentary for this match. He adds a feeling of legit sports credibility with his comments during the match. I find it refreshing and very distinctive given the direction of the industry today. I’m a fan of that style of commentary, and having wrestlers sit in has been something smaller promotions like IWA:MS and PWG tend to do for fun. CM Punk in ROH, and Taz during a Malenko vs. Guerrero match in 1995 are the best examples I can come up with on a top level indy or major fed. that has done this in the last 15 years. I’m sure I’m wrong, but most wrestlers are doing sports entertainment shtick or playing a face or heel gimmick, where as this style is reminiscent of Gordon Solie. I was to young, but what little of have of the Dean of Professional Wrestling is brilliant stuff.

Nice to see old ladies and grizzled bearded men in huge cowboy hats in the audience. Very Cool. Note to indy promoters when taping for DVD release: the bleachers behind the ring in the hardcam shot is a must. This is a small venue, but the bleachers add so much to the visual and intimate look. It’s something that was done well with the ECW Arena, and a small problem I have with ROH in many venues.

Sorry, it’s the first match and I’m getting the visuals out through this writing. There is a match going on. It’s an appropriate territory age match to start the set off, so I appreciate it. Roop and George aren’t necessarily what you’d consider wrestlers of this day aesthetically, but they have a good 70s era look to them. They look like wrestlers to me, but some people might see the bellies and wonder where the abs are.

A cool full nelson leading to a head being slammed off the top turnbuckle spot. Something you don’t see much today. Also cool to see Bob Roop go up for a top rope move, but come down the minute George made a recovery. Today that would be seen as a mistake, but it added to the reality in this match the way it didn’t look (and probably wasn’t) called in the ring or planned.

Bob Roop is a decent heel. Mid-match highlights from him included dragging George’s eyes on the ropes (hope I have the right guy) and a reversal spot in the middle of the ring.

I liked George’s comebacks and hope spots. I thought Roop could have milked cutting him off more, but their move, counter-move stuff still looks good in 2008 on a basic level. I should note it is slower. These men don’t move well, but they really try. They even do a spot where George dives from the apron towards Roop, misses, and hits the post. His fall to the floor was really good. Both men are carrying more weight because they have that muscled up, but not cut, look of every WWWF wrestler you may have seen from the 1970s. They aren’t fat though.

In all, this ends up being an eight minute TV squash match win for Bob Roop. It provides me with a small baseline for where to start voting wise. This probably won’t make my list, but I enjoyed it. I’m using the traditional 5 star scale and a 1 to ten vote without decimals to start. It will be re-evaluated after the fifth disk (midway point), but those combine scores will help me rank the candidates in a grouping pool, and then from there I’ll go by memory in feel to rank each disk. The rankings for each disk will probably use the numbers more then the overall WORKING LIST. That is to say, while I’ll rank each disk of matches as a disk, when dropped into my master/working list, feel will play a big part. Sometimes you score a match high at the beginning of the night and another match low at the end of the night, and the truth the next morning is the last match was better when you thought about it. 2 ½ stars and 3/10

To find out what other voters thought of this match, Click here.

John Philapavage can be reached by e-mailing Johnnyp@mmaopinion.com