Pro Wrestling Chronicle

I’m gonna break down the fourth wall and let everyone know that hasn’t figured it out - the Mid South 80s ballot and review ended last night at midnight. I was one of dozens who participated, and while we are at Match # 30 on the site, in actuality I’ve watched and judged all 150 matches. The reason I could not do it in real time on the site was I was writing in a notebook up until match # 46. I’m transcribing, or rather asking a friend to slowly transcribe, everything up until # 46. From there we’ll fly through to #150.

This is all important today because my # 2 on the my final ballot was Butch Reed vs Dick Murdoch from 9.22.85. Click on the name and check out the match. I won’t usually do this, but it’s out there and everyone who loves the art of wresting should see it. It develops slowly and it’s chalk full of psychology. There’s an almost equally as good rematch about three weeks later, but this was the genuine article to me.

I’m going to fast forward and throw up my massive initial review below. It’s written real time like 85% of them are. thoughts welcome.

Match #75: Dick Murdoch vs Butch Reed 9/22/85

Wow. Wrestling as art is going to get rewarded again. Bunches to say and lots of analysis to heap on this fascinating and polarizing match.

I say and assume polarizing because I think it’s the inverse to Flair vs Reed for several matches ago that I hated and so many loved. I assume a lot will leave this semi-art house match because it is very slow for the first half and it was a long match. I’m assuming some may think I’m a hypocrite for my feelings after praising this and ripping the Flair match, and I’m always trying to think of how I or others could discredit my stance. It’s the only way to be objective. Here’s how I’ll say it before we get into the match. These two did all the little things that make so-called rest holds interesting (they struggled and adjusted to make it a “thinking man’s match) instead of laying there. Just as important, far more then the Flair match, these were doing holds and lack of striking had a match-story purpose that REALLY did go somewhere. About the only problem, which is ironic, was ref Tommy Gilbert.

I wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy and get a second opinion on the Flair vs Reed match from Disk 5. At the same time, I needed an opinion on the always lingering Dibiase vs Armstrong 1/16/85 TV match. After all, I have Flair-Reed at 41 and Dibiase-Arm. at 15, while others would have the first top 5 and the second post-100). So I text my good pal Gene Boyer, who would be the best/fairest man for the job.

The big thing he said about Flair-Reed is that he really disliked the ref. He felt it distracted from the performers in the match. I found that interesting because only once on this set (I think it was the May Von Erich-Flair match) did I say a ref was trying to get over at the expense of a match. To me often Ref’s are like drop down boxes on a fancy website. They’re invisible until a wrestlers touches them to “highlight” them, and then I can see them, before the drop down menu folds back up. In this match, I saw what Gene meant. I think it may be the same ref, and it’s Eddie Gilbert’s father, Tommy Gilbert. He is a hindrance throughout, overplaying his storyline role, and he screwed up the finish to boot. I’ll get into it as we go.

First ten minutes consists of a slow starting match with either hold/hold reversals or hold and move and then the opponent matching that. This was a face vs face match which makes the dynamic fascinating, especially at a large house show. There was an issue between the two, which we saw at the end of Match # 73 (Dr. Death vs Murdoch). Murdoch does get some heat, but it has probably more to do with the angle, and they shake before the match.

These two slow it down and break wrestling down to the building blocks of a work. The lock ups seem stiff and important, and when I guy gets arm dragged he sits there a moment wincing or showing some embarrassment for tactical error or pain. The opponent doesn’t charge in, he stays ready and waits for the other to make a move. It’s a true feeling out process with a more natural feel because you have to fight out of the submissions or counters. It doesn’t look like a complete cooperation.

The bulk early is Reed with a headlock, standing or on the ground, on Murdoch. I can see where the argument of trashing the Flair/Reed front face lock and praising this seems valid on the surface, but you’d have to see what Reed does right here that I felt he did wrong against Flair. He grinds it in, fights for position, and moves to make pins or take advantage of the move. He’s not just holding and squeezing. He wants to wear Murdoch down or get this over quick.

Murdoch does more then Flair in trying to work out (really fight out) or turn it into a pin. Slowly he works to squeeze out the back into a hammer lock, and the transition/escape is beautiful. Then they switch roles as he works over Reeds arm and shoulder, Reed thinking about a punch, while Murdoch realizes it and grinds it in.

Simply put: This match had more thought, effort, and context then the Flair-Reed match and where the largely Flair controlled formula took it. It had more excitement at times, but the story wasn’t there. Action moves have better explosions, but a lot of dramas have fights/explosion that mean more doing less.

The rest of the match largely comes out of the opening ten minutes and it escalation of hostilities. Biggest highspot of the first ten minutes is Reed working out of of the shoulder/arm work, arm drag that Murdoch sells uniquely (subtle), and the BIG drop kick. It’s a time warp to 1985, sure, but a lot of the matches in ’85 weren’t this perception of old school.

Reed headlock and pin attempts. A couple minutes later Murdoch works into a tough shoulderlock (looks like a crude keylock). Reed eventually posts up to force Murdoch into a pin, but only gets two. Murdoch then maneuvers to top position on one knee. It’s not for everyone, but it isn’t just laying in a hold and remembering to squeeze every 3 minutes. It’s got more psychology then that.

Reed is actually very good in slowly working up, thinking of doing something, then yelling out and wincing in pain. He throws a back elbow to Murdoch’s head, and while Murdoch does his classic selling, Reed sells more because his arm and shoulder have been through more the last few minutes. LOVE IT! No one rushes for anything. Another Reed “high spot” with a bodyslam and two-count, before he goes down to his headlock base.

Murdoch throws awesome suplexes. Second cool belly-to-back I’ve seen in his few matches on the set, and this one means a lot more in the quieter context of this match. Murdoch is also changing up his holds ever time he grabs the arm, this one twisting it but also focusing on the wrist. He adds in great stomps and I notice they look better because Murdoch doesn’t pop his foot back up. He lets it sit on the rib cage for a moment.

15 minutes in and there’s this awesome moment where Reed really wants to punch out of the arm lock. The ref has warned him, but he makes a fist and looks right in Murdoch’s eyes. Murdoch takes one hand off the hold, makes a fist himself, and they stare for a minute so the crowd feels the hate, before Murdoch cranks the hold again.

I’d have loved to be at ringside for this because a three way argument is laid out over the course of these several holds. Murdoch is kicking a lot more at the exposed (thanks to the hold) ribs. Reed is growing madder and making a fist, and Ref Tommy young is now becoming very involved. Reed will scream at Young, and then Young will soften some and make sure to admonish Murdoch. Murdoch was a Stone Cold Steve Austin or Stan Hanson style ornery Texan, so he gets more frustrated in being threatened by Reed and told how to wrestle his match by Young. It keeps escalating! Reed pulls punches for forearms, Murdoch drops, but takes Reed over with him. Murdoch’s sell on his eye looks legit, but it’s not. Two pin attempts on Reed, Reed pushes at Murdoch’s head, and Murdoch brutal changes up the hold/knees to rib.

Fans pop as Reed gets up with more forearms and Murdoch sells, but he takes Reed down again. Repeat process with awesome Murdoch selling, and this time Reed is out. Showdown time 20 minutes in. Murdoch is woozy from the forearms (those are killer in this match, just punches to shake off), while Reed is woozy as hell from rib and arm damage. Ref has to get involved to keep them from punching, and had Tommy Gilbert stopped here it would have been awesome. He only needed to do it at key points, but he gets way to involved and is at a 10 when he should be at a 6 or 7 half the time.
They don’t touch for a minute, just threaten and sell, at the 19 minute mark, and that’s important to remember for how this builds up. They are selling a lot at 19 minutes.

Murdoch smashing Reeds ribs and shoulder, and Reed really sells it well. He rolls out, gets pissed, and back in the fans pop for another tease of a fist fight. So Reed strikes Murdoch with elbows and forearms and Murdoch now has cobwebs. When Murdoch sees it escalate he grabs a hold and turns that into a wristlock/bearhug combo. Seems like Murdoch is ready to short cut anything on Reed rather than get hit. He argues with the ref all during this, and even does palm strikes to Reeds ribs. Everything is so stripped down in this match that one punch and small rules we barely think of mean so much more.
Reed actually punches him once or twice while getting out, and the place pops. He works snug with kicks, and again, Murdoch’s selling (stunned is the word I’m thinking of) is brilliant. He decides to start punching to, and points to the corner where Reed started punching when ref yells at him. Murdoch begins to look at the crowd like a heel would while in control, but almost in a betrayed way.

25 minutes in and we’re getting great deliberate strikes from Murdoch. He’s really drawing it out and making the crowd turn on him slowly. At one point he grabs a headlock, turns Reed away from the ref, and punches his face. He does it again and when the fans boo him he stares at the front row while the ref tries to get answers.

We get a small package spot where both get several pin attempts and a crowd pop that transport me forward to the mid-90s and back from my present in 2008 – to the Malenko/Guerrero feud, and am happy to see bigger heavyweights do any roll-up spots. It’s really moving now, with Murdoch running the ropes off a headlock and Reed getting one big punch to Murdoch’s face. I can not do justice to the great bump Murdoch does to the floor, but it’s a style that attracted me to Raven in the Mid-90s of just letting your body go like your out.

More greatness. Against the ref’s wishes (and a count) Reed goes to the floor and beats down Murdoch. He gets back in the ring and Murdoch is crawling up the ring apron and pulling on the ropes to get back in. So Reed gets greedy, comes over, and gets pulled by his foot to the outside. Burst of energy by Murdoch and a high spot for this match, as Murdoch bodyslams Murdoch to the ground.

30 minutes gone by. Murdoch in control uses a piledriver. He gets a two and Reed gets the foot on the rope. Murdoch with a knee off the second rope. Another couple two counts. Frustrated Murdoch. Reed sells for a few, until he gets a knee up in the corner on a charge. Roughly 35 minutes in and they both sell the entire time like they can barely stand. NOW the punches come. Little by little Reed wins the “Walking Tall” John Wayne showdown. Murdoch is definitely getting the heel reaction now. He’s also face down in the corner and my all time new favorite seller of moves.

Murdoch gets hit and has the cobwebs in the head face, but he’ll throw these little jabs in the air. They’re soft and almost never land, but it’s a great touch to show he’s out on his feet. Reed’s offense is now as deliberate as Murdoch’s was.

They both look dead. Murdoch has an atomic drop left, but when that fails to finish Reed, he gets two back. Crowd comes alive as they both stagger and crawl. Good near fall, but neither man can finish the other. Reed beats up Murdoch more, but he can’t BEAT him 1-2-3.

40 minutes in they do the punches from the knees spot, and then from the feet, and Reed is basically holding Murdoch up. He’s winning, but he can’t win the match. Double KO spot and double ten count. Match now becomes like a lights out match or Last Man Standing. It seems even better then the one that sticks out to me – HHH vs Jericho from July 2001.

Reed falls out of the ring, climbs back in, and Murdoch has fallen down again anyway. He grabs Murdoch and puts him in the figure four. Several pins where Murdoch might pass out from the pain, but he keeps popping up and trying to reverse it. Odd crowd goes from excited, then nothing on near falls, then pops for reversal attempts. Murdoch reverses for a moment, and they end up in the ropes.

Final run. Another count applied to both downed men. Murdoch’s knee is damaged and he sells it awesomely. Reed goes to town on it. 45 minutes gone and Reed threatens to punch the ref while Murdoch is down on his back.

Finish is Murdoch trying to overcome the knee and picking up Reed for a slam. They fall back and go over the top rope. It looks a bit sloppy in a bad way, but completely forgivable. Stupid Tommy Gilbert makes the count out in record time, killing the long count and drama, as well as the fans counting along. It just ends. Up until that point I’d hated him less upon second viewing, but he was still overbearing throughout.

It’s argued back and forth during these set discussions whether what happens before and after the bell counts to the match. In this case I believe it does, and a lot of people seem to be taking it into account. A long and violent brawl between the two exhausted fighters erupts, and the fans seem to choose Reed as their guy. Ref Tommy Gilbert gets punched, and Grizzley Smith (Mid South matchmaker) has to come down and try to break them up. Grizzley is worthless here, but he does get on the mic and fine them, then fine them heavier as it goes on. You have to see it to really feel it. Just intense stuff.

Look, I wrote a book on this. I detailed it all out here. The match and my thinking is here. It’s brilliant, and it got better when I watched it again. The score keeps rising. I’ll go 4 ¼ to 4 ½ and 8.6/10. Top 5 right now.

More analysis and opinions here.