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Post by microstatistics on Jan 13, 2018 21:06:46 GMT -5
Terry Funk vs Bob Orton Jr. (Southwest - 5/26/1983)
An American technical classic. Might be my favorite Terry Funk match. High end psychology and snug work. I might actually prefer Funk the technician to Funk the brawler.
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Post by shrike02 on Jan 14, 2018 12:26:59 GMT -5
Seconded. I remember really liking this when it came to my attention. There are a couple of great Funk headbutt spots in this match, along with the usual great suplexes and stuff you would expect in a Bob Orton match.
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Post by thepumalives on Jan 21, 2018 23:33:56 GMT -5
I first saw this match a couple of years ago and was blown away; I had never really seen in any Bob Orton work outside of the WWE. The shorter time limit worked to the advantage of this match as the guys worked a pretty steady pace and there wasn’t much down time. Orton can throw some mean suplexes and Funk was selling like his usual self. I really want a longer match between these two now; this one will be on my ballot somewhere.
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Post by shrike02 on Jan 21, 2018 23:58:43 GMT -5
I too was blown away when I first came across this math courtesy of a post on PWO. I really liked the transitions, the Orton suplexes and the Funk tactical moves, including the headbutts.
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Post by puropotsy on Jun 3, 2018 17:30:31 GMT -5
Great match but not all-time great for me. I loved the technical wrestling and the back-and-forth action. The headbutt spots reminded me of the 2007 Danielson vs McGuinness match that was filmed before the Benoit tragedy but aired after it when the concussion news had come out. Anyway, I agree that the 20-minute time limit was a good feature. Really nice hidden gem that probably will not make my final list.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 22, 2018 10:52:58 GMT -5
Now I'm not one to toot my own horn but toot! Toot! Thanks Arn!
Obviously people had seen this match before me but this is one I take special pride in as people still remember that post on PWO.
I think this will make the back half of my list for the logical progression of spots.
Terry Funk vs Bob Orton - Southwest 5/26/83 Southewest World Championship Tournament
Kudos to the modern guy who does commentary on this. He was not half bad and got the psychology over pretty well.
Holy shit! Why has no one talked about this match? Probably because it happened in Southwest! This may be the most logically progressive match I have ever seen. Like every move that one did to the other caused a reaction and had a consequence. It was a beautifully constructed narrative. Easily one of the best matches of 80s.
They start off with mutual respect deal and it is chippy, but respectful. Then Funk starts elbowing the back of the neck. Then he slaps Orton. That's the story of the early part of the match. Funk is disrespecting Orton and it backfires on him! Orton gets madder and madder. First Orton whips him into the corner hard and he goes to work on the back. Some of the best bearhug spots you will ever see and again Funk is using elbows and non-technical ways to get out. Finally, when Orton goes for a pin, Funk kicks out and LUNGES at him with a nasty JYD-style headbutt. It was one of the nastiest I have seen Funk throw. He throws two more nasty ones crawling at Orton hard. Orton takes a breather, but now Orton is fucking pissed. He gets in the ring and now he is slapping Funk. He throws Funk out hard right onto the Japanese photographer. Orton basically turns heel mid-match because Funk was being a dick to him! Plus we get two Orton control segments back to back that are totally friggin different!!! HOW COOL IS THAT! Funk's selling is so fucking awesome. Those Orton punches and Funk holding on for dear life on the apron. Holy shit!
BEST PART OF THE MATCH: Funk sort of half falls into Orton and half tries to attack him and Orton sees he is in a position for the piledriver and hits it for two. That's what I mean by logical progression.
Funk single leg pick up and just goes all out on the knee hoping to escape this match with the Spinning Toehold. Rake of the eyes because Orton is a douche. Funk is so sympathetic. Bang heads! HUGE Suplex Struggle! FUNK WINS TO EARN HIS CONTROL SEGMENT! God Bless this match! Funk works over the knee with a variety of toe holds, but is still out of it cant put Orton away. Orton crotches Funk on the top rope out of desperation. Orton is great in this. Orton brutalizing Funk with rights. SLUGFEST! We are getting it all. FUNK BALLSHOTS ORTON WITH HIS LEG! Perfect. Funk atomic drop and punches. Bell rings for a draw!!! NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!! Still brawling!
I could have watched another 20 minutes of this easy. Nearly perfect wrestling. Only reason not to go ***** is it just does not feel complete. Like they had so much more to give. Awesome, awesome. ****3/4
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Post by elliott on Sept 16, 2018 23:52:54 GMT -5
Excellent match. I really agree with everything said above. The selling, transitions, build, psychology, etc are all top notch. By far the best match I've seen with Bob Orton Jr and a truly great Terry Funk match as well. I love whenever we get to see Terry Funk matches like this. Whenever something trickles out that shows Terry working a match like this only further solidifies that he's the obvious greatest of all time. This match realistically won't make my list because its really got to be one of the 3-5 best Classic US Title Match style matches ever to have a real shot on my very brawl and spectacle heavy list. But this is terrific. Something everyone should see.
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Post by wrestlingfan on Jan 11, 2019 5:54:43 GMT -5
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Post by KB8 on Nov 3, 2023 10:54:54 GMT -5
You know, for a 20-minute draw in the first round of a title tournament, this was about as great as you could get. It's kind of striking how similar Orton was to Funk here with the mannerisms. Forget some of the selling and bumping, just the way he MOVED was Funk to a tee. I guess if you're going to emulate someone then you can't blame folk like Orton and Slater for aping Terry Funk. Hell I say more people should do it! Even if I'd rather watch a 12-minute match than a 30-minute one at this point, I thought both guys built this brilliantly from start to finish, upped the intensity as it went, progressed everything logically, and I'd have been all in on it getting another 10 minutes (or even a couple for a definitive ending). We had a gentleman's contest early. Everything was fought over and Funk's headlock was watertight, but nobody was throwing cheapshots or taking shortcuts and we even got a quick handshake off a rope break. Funk driving forearms into the kidneys to shake Orton probably hurt like a bastard but this isn't the playground and it's still above board. Forearms are legal, right? This is wrestling not hopscotch! Then Funk starts to get annoyed at things not going his way and he gives Orton a slap. Orton whipping Funk into the corner hard enough to move the ring was a great response, and that sets up Orton's run on offence. The bearhug isn't really a move that looks great unless it's a Patera or Bruno or Superstar Graham using it to crush someone, but Orton working the bearhug kind of ruled. Obviously Funk's selling put it over the top. There was one slow near-escape where Funk managed to shift onto his side and apply a headlock before Orton cut him off again that simultaneously felt like the best of 70s NWA matwork and the kind of thing Javier Llanes would do a decade later. It goes up another level after Funk kicks out of a pin attempt and hits Orton with the greatest crawling headbutt you've ever seen. This was totally out of nowhere and damn near unnecessary the way he lunged at Orton. Then he did it twice more and these were legit three of the nastiest headbutts ever, like something Shibata would've done if he'd had a career cosplaying the Junkyard Dog. When Orton comes back he chucks Funk clean out the ring and Funk wipes out a couple unsuspecting photographers at ringside. And from here the nastiness goes up yet another level. Orton morphs into a real mean bastard while Funk is basically turned full sympathetic babyface - despite the fact it was his tetchiness that pushed Orton in the first place - and with it we get all that sympathetic babyface Terry Funk entails. Of course there are a bunch of awesome Funk moments, like when Orton is plastering him with punches as Funk is on the apron and he punch-drunkenly slips and headers the ring post. When Funk comes back he goes to the leg and after that it's time for Orton to bring some magic little touches, like his leg buckling as he's trying to mount a comeback, which gives Funk the opening to cut him off again. Orton picking Funk up and crotching him on the top rope felt like an appropriate receipt for those headbutts earlier, then Funk mule kicks him in the balls and Orton's wobbly-legged sell is just out of this world incredible. Unsurprisingly it immediately brought to mind the person he was in the ring with. This was fantastic.
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