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Post by Cap on Dec 4, 2017 19:31:08 GMT -5
Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta (NWA HW Championship - AJPW - 6/11/1976)
This is an absolutely classic NWA Championship (and championship style) match that is more or less - for my taste - executed and paced out perfectly. I really love Jumbo and I don't really buy the criticisms of him being boring (though I understand where they are coming from, but I do think that Funk brings a dynamism here that brings out some of the best in Jumbo. This isn't just a really good, well executed match, it is sort of a stand out of the genre for me. It is either my favorite or second favorite match of the 70s as of this moment.
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Post by elliott on Dec 4, 2017 21:48:42 GMT -5
I second this nomination. Not much to say about it. Classic match that has always stood up as the example of Terry Funk having the ability to be "more than just a brawler." I'm not as high on Jumbo as some and not as low as others. But this is undeniable to me. Classic world champ vs super athletic up and comer match.
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Post by jetlag on Jan 8, 2018 11:56:37 GMT -5
3rd. Masterful performance from the one and only Terry Funk, up there with any other master technician.
Full review:
Even after years of watching shootstyle, lucha title matches, World of Sport and funky ARSION matwork, the deliberate technical work in this bout has lost nothing of it's fascination. The match starts great enough with a tireless chant for Jumbo, while Funk shoots for the leg, Jumbo sprawls and they end up doing a lock up on their knees, with Funk sliding across the ring on his knees. This whole match with it's graceful wrestling and proper title match atmosphere feels like the equivalent to Atlantis/Blue Panther, Myers/Grey, whatever you like.Then Funk brings forth the greatest arm work I've ever seen. I hate when lousy wrestlers go for trite wristlocks over and over, and it is so nice to see Funk making so much out of one of the most simple holds. Really, the whole match is a testament to the greatness of Terry Funk: we love him as the psycho brawler, the erratic madman, but in this match he looks like the greatest wrestler to ever live. Always keeping things interesting with his unique counters and aggression, brilliant transitions, impeccable timing. The headbutts from the greco roman lockup, elbow grinding Jumbo in the face, making great use of the rolling pin combo, working the neck, conveying desperation and of course his awesome signature weeble wobble selling. It's a masterclass if I've ever seen one. Jumbo is quite good as the unstoppable olympic superman - I liked how he would knock Terry's arm down from the lockup, and he can deliver quite the bomb throwing with his slow motion suplex moves, bringing Terry to the edge of defeat, understands how to sell (at times) - still it's hard not to see this match as Terry dragging Jumbo by the ear to a great match, and not be a little disgruntled Jumbo takes so much of the work, with his stuff just not being on the level of Terry. Well, I won't hold it against him, because Terry was #1 that night. Terry Funk, what a wrestler you are.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 9, 2018 23:05:25 GMT -5
Great performance by Terry Funk. Interesting to see Terry during his run as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. One of the three best matches of 1976.
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Post by shrike02 on Jan 25, 2018 15:27:19 GMT -5
I concur that this is a tremendous match. So much struggle with basic fundamental work that to my mind is very entertaining despite a slower pace. The escalation from Funk, mixing in brawling to go with technical work once Jumbo gets the first fall twenty minutes in is tremendous. Really clever finish. Jumbo held up his end.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 22, 2018 20:48:49 GMT -5
Probably the oldest match that will make my list. Great Championship Style match and a testament to Terry's versatility.
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta 6/11/76 Two out of Three Falls
There may be nothing more frustrating about footage gaps than the lack of Terry Funk in the 70s. Yes, towards the end of the 70s, we get plenty of tags with brother Dory, but if this match is any indication we are missing out on some absolutely fantastic wrestling. For instance, I believe this is the only full NWA World Heavyweight Championship defense we have from his year long reign as champion. I enjoyed him moreso than Jack Brisco or Harley Race in this one outing.
The first fall features probably the greatest surfboard struggle spot in history. It really felt like they were shooting over who win control over that surfboard. It was just so compelling to watch to see who would come out on top. I loved the beginning amateur work and Funk's arm work was superb. Unlike some other 70s wrestlers, he is not afraid lay it in there and we get hear the smack of flesh on flesh., Even with Funk on top, Jumbo looks good being able to pick Funk out of double wristlock and then setting him down on the top rope or the top wristlock into a bridge. Holy shit, Terry Funk was so smooth setting up that top wristlock! The match was a perfect representation of babyface control with the heel creating movement only for the babyface to thwart him by restoring order back into the original hold. The best part of this sequence was Jumbo not letting go of wristlock when Funk lunged for the outside and then Jumbo yanking him back in over the top rope. Funk creates more movement, but Jumbo takes advantage with a barrage of pinning combinations scoring the fall with a sunset flip. If Jumbo worked the armbar harder, this would have been a pitch perfect fall. Jumbo 1-0.
Fucking awesome second fall!!! This match is living up to the hype. Funk gets a quick handshake and starts throwing wild rights to upset Jumbo, which works. Terry wrangles a neckbreaker and never looks back. He drops all his weight onto Jumbo's neck, while Jumbo is in the sitting position. Damn, that spot needs to be cribbed. I thought the piledriver was going to knot this up in short order, but ain't to be. Funk hurls Jumbo to outside and dropkick and posts him. He looks to be in total control then Jumbo wakes up with a wicked European Uppercut. He throws Funk into the buckles who bumps big and then bumps even bigger over the top rope for a Jumbo right hand. Jumbo is much better working from underneath and facing adversity. It gets him going. Great struggle over the ab stretch (one of my favorite 70s/80s spots) into a Funking Rolling Cradle!!! Funk ties it up at one apiece! In six minutes, Terry Funk showed why he is awesome on offense, bumping, selling and psychology. Loved the rolling cradle finish. Tied 1-1.
You can tell Jumbo is pissed at himself. At this point in his career, he has that confidence where he believes that not only can he hang with the Funks, Brisco and Race that he can beat these guys. He is frustrated with himself for not being able to put Funk away and letting his lead slip away. He starts throwing wild rights and things are getting chippy. Jumbo just goes full fucking bore: wicked ab stretch and suplexes galore. The struggle over the gutwrench suplex was excellent. Jumbo is fucking crazy strong; he deserves more adulation in that regard. He has been dead lifting dudes all over the place. Funk looks absolutely done. Jumbo is feeling it and you really feel like he believes he is going to win. I don't want to say this begins the long standing feud of Jumbo vs. The Hotshot, but this is the first time I have seen it, but it must have been one of the first instances of him going in for the kill, but succumbing to the hotshot. Funk is able to retain his title.
Absolute classic. Funk demonstrated how smooth he could be on the mat, vicious during a heat segment and sold huge in the third fall. Jumbo is definitely better coming from underneath in these 70s matches. When he works those face control segments early he has a tendency not to work the hold and be a bit cold and that keeps this from being a perfect match. Definitely the best 70s match I have watched so far, the whole way through you just believed these two were totally invested in winning the world championship. ****3/4
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Post by rah on Jun 22, 2021 10:04:12 GMT -5
Match of the year? Match of the decade? Match of the forever?! This is the match that made me think "yeah, Terry Funk is the greatest wrestler to ever live".
It's set-up as a teacher vs trainer bout, so you should, already, anticipate great wrestling and counters throughout. I'm fully aware that Dory already wrestled a similar scene with Tsuruta before (considering both Funks trained Jumbo) but I have yet to witness it. Perhaps I shouldn't, as both men work the story so perfectly here. The entire thirty odd minutes is a game of one-upmanship. This is nothing about throwing in your own tried and tested offence in gaining control but being put into a hold only to escape and throw it onto your opponent as a massive "fuck you". The contention for superiority is peppered with brilliance within the first hold as Funk, as I've noted prior, works an armbar in only the manner he knows just for Jumbo to make use of his strength, counter the hold into his own and throw Funk around as if he's a ragdoll without once letting go. Their own safety be damned, too, as they took a nasty spill to the outside simply because neither man would relinquish their hold and secede their illusion of being the alpha male. Perhaps as a precursor to the Kerry Von Erich/Tsuruta title bout from the following decade, both men accept a stalemate not with reluctance and disappointment but with determination and gear-up into a fast-paced exchange that leads Jumbo to attaining the first fall with a leapfrog into sunset flip.
Sustaining the trainer/trainee narrative, Jumbo's win through agility and youthful advantage would see Funk making his comeback through being able to capitalise upon Tsuruta's inexperience. It's because of this, thus, that the fight for control now encapsulated each opponent's requirement to set a designated pace. Despite his agility, the quicker match proved to be Jumbo's undoing as he had to predict Funk's attack while thinking up potential counters and momentum changers on the fly, something that most probably came naturally to the veteran at this point in his career. Despite this, the need to one-up his trainer would prove too much for Tsuruta once he tasted defeat in the second fall. As testament to the work of Jumbo, he was using moves from the middle of the first round (ten plus minutes earlier) in playing up the role. Classy character building, too, in having Jumbo set himself up into the abdominal stretch by Funk as if to say the rolling cradle was such a fluke pin that he'd put himself back into danger purely to prove the vet wrong. As always, however, pride and ego without fail come before a fall. Funk's ability to keep a faster pace in allowing himself to pick up on Jumbo's weak points, as well as Jumbo being too preoccupied in bettering Funk's moves than actually taking ownership of his window-periods thusly played as the climax to their tale. The leapfrog that gained Jumbo the win in the first round, was countered into a throat-first drop onto the rope and a deciding win for Funk in the third. C'est la vie, and life is fucking great.
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Post by mvz on Oct 6, 2021 18:28:56 GMT -5
Fantastic stuff, not sure exactly what it was that made the opening may work so intriguing but I was riveted. And then when things kick into gear it becomes clear this is a world class championship match. I think I like this style more than most but I encourage everyone to check this out, Terry Funk transcends everyone’s tastes anyway.
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Post by mvz on Jun 26, 2023 17:30:46 GMT -5
This holds up so well on the rewatch. Just a masterclass by Funk, memorable spots on offense and defense, long term selling, and a strategic, realistic approach that takes him to the pay window. A classic title bout that should appeal to everyone.
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