Pro Wrestling Chronicle

2.16.85 Dick Murdoch vs Barry Windham

This is the first of a double Gene Boyer special. Gene sent me a match – a year or more ago – to do a review when he first started contributing here. It was one of his favorite all time matches from early on in the decade. Having all the respect for Gene in the world I quickly put the disk in a pile and forgot about it. Oh well.

This year Gene sent me another important match to watch. It was actually a show. The first show Gene ever went to as a kid. The WWF event on February 16, 1985 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. I’ve held onto this for a few months, but now it’s time for a review. I’ll get to the ECWA ’01 match next. This will be a review of Gene’s favorite match from that night: Dick Murdoch versus Barry Windham. I go at my own pace, Gene!

Very cool to see old PRISM Spectrum footage. Gene and I both grew up in the Philly area, him closer than I. PRISM was Philly’s HBO-like pay channel that the WWF had a deal with. It’s interesting to see a house show broadcast live. Local Dick Graham and WWF Legend Gorilla Monsoon are the announcers. I see infamous PSAC official Frank Talent out there as well.

This match was awesome. Had it been in the Mid South set it would have been top 30 easy, and that’s saying something. It is already a top 20 consensus by fans who voted on the top WWF matches of the 1980s. I can definitely see why.

Murdoch calls a great match here, and Windham does his damnedest to follow along and add his own mark to it. Two separate really tightly worked heat segments with Murdoch as the heel beating the crap out of Windham. Windham sells really well and has that fire before and during the beat down that says “I am better than you/ I will overcome this beating if I’m given an inch.” As it’s played Windham actually creates his own inches in this one.

Murdoch, from the beginning, plays an ornery old vet who isn’t impressed with the big athletic tag champ, Windham. Everything that’s great about Captn’ Redneck is nuance, and this match is a prime example. He gets in Windham’s face and trash talks, but he’s run off by any aggressions. That doesn’t stop the trash talking though. He fires up again and figures he’s not scared. He eats a punch early and sells it to varying degrees for another minute. Even the cheap seats get the show because Murdoch makes the little details big enough for the upper deck, but not so big they’re completely exaggerated (by wrestling standards).

This match is worked so smart they barely ever come off the loose hanging ring ropes. They drape each other across them, but the movement is never a run and a clothsline. Most everything is paced as a mid card to semi-main event match, and it still gets over strong. Both men draw the crowd in with their motions and their actions. Barry dominates at first, then takes a punch to his jaw and rethinks things.

One move logically leads to another in this match. You never feel they do something just to do it. My two favorite moments are Windham’s struggle to get back in the ring as Murdoch plays king of the mountain from in the ring. Windham’s selling and refusal to give up as he climbs the ropes is awesome. Second, I loved house hard Murdoch went after Windham with a crutch he stole from a ringside attendant. He kills Barry in frustration after Barry’s big comeback ends via a missed splash.

Finish is a flash pin by Windham that’s satisfying enough, but that’s house show booking for you. Go out of your way to see this match. I got Mountie vs Big Bossman in a cage at my first show 5 years later, and I’m not doing a review of that B show main event. This was the real deal, as Windham was in his prime and you can see a future, and Murdoch is the old master.