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Post by Cap on Dec 4, 2017 19:38:05 GMT -5
Billy Robinson vs Giant Baba (PWF HW Championship - AJPW - 7/24/1976)
This match took some growing on me, but honestly so did Giant Baba on the whole. Now, I see this as sort of a technical masterpiece. I am a huge fan of both these men and they work so well together. This is just classic wrestling, the kind of thing that I think should be required viewing. Nothing here is wasted, everything is useful and part of telling a larger compelling wrestling story. One of my two favorite matches from the 70s.
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Post by elliott on Dec 4, 2017 21:53:07 GMT -5
I second this nomination. This is a lock to make my list. Unlike Cap, this hit me as a classic the first time I saw it over 15 years ago. Great pacing and psychology. This will be in the running for my highest rated non-Lucha title match.
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Post by timcooke on Jan 4, 2018 12:45:08 GMT -5
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 6, 2018 20:34:48 GMT -5
Giant Baba defended the PWF Heavyweight Title in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Robinson showed his tremendous technical wrestling skills, as usual. Robinson was mostly in control of the first fall, but it was Baba who fought back and hit a backdrop to win the first fall by pinfall after nine minutes. About six minutes later, Robinson won the second fall. This is one of Baba’s very best matches ever, in my opinion. Robinson certainly was a big factor in the greatness of this match, which is not surprising because Robinson was one of the best workers in the world in the mid 1970s. It is one of my favourite matches from the 1970s.
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Post by gordi on Jan 7, 2018 10:03:27 GMT -5
Generally, King's Road Style is my favourite style of pro wrestling, and this match is the point where that Road begins. Love this match. Lock for my ballot, and quite high. Probably the best 70s match, in my opinion.
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Post by microstatistics on May 2, 2018 1:50:46 GMT -5
Awesome match even if I'm lower on it than most. Disgruntled Robinson trying to take down Baba and gets increasingly frustrated as the match goes on. One minor complaint is that Baba could have sold Billy's legwork better specifically because he lost one of the falls due to a leg hold.
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Post by jetlag on May 3, 2019 2:53:49 GMT -5
Robinson is a lot like a slightly less southern Terry Funk in this. He largely carries the action through mannerisms and bumping all over the place for Baba. At one point he even leans against Baba and gives him this really uppity „Why don't you chop me yeah“ look. Needless to say Robinsons grappling and counters aswell as the little touches such as going for a suplex in the middle of trading holds were all great and kept the match fresh the whole time. Baba doesn't exactly suck, but it's really blatant how Robinson is doing all the interesting stuff while Baba just sticks to his spots. He doesn't put Robinsons legwork over strongly either. This was a little too brief to be some kind of classic but watching Robinson work is truely a joy.
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Post by tetsujin on Jul 21, 2020 6:58:05 GMT -5
I consider this one of the most overrated matches of all time. Nothing close to a classic match, at least from a ringwork perspective. I've been watching it a couple of times for the last five years or so, and, while I used to think it was bad and now I kinda like it, I still consider it overrated af.
Baba was totally annoying here: his strikes were soft, his selling was non-existent, he moved very slow... he was at a point where his limitations began to show, I guess. I liked how he tried to use his size to his advantage while grappling (as he always does), and using his Jumping Neckbreaker Drop as a last ditch effort to secure the win was a cool spot, but that's kinda it. Robinson, on the other hand, gave a great performance and one of the best carryjobs I can remember. The way he puts Baba's size over, how he carefully targets one of his legs, his amazing selling and bumping, the facial expressions, those vicious forearms... He does everything he can to keep the flow of the match and he fucking succeeds, because I was never bored while watching it, and considering how bad Baba's performance was, that's trully something.
I also love the clean finish. In this time and place, a no contest result was the bread n' butter of bookers in an international title match, and the couple of times on the third fall they battle at ringside had this feeling of "aw shit it's going to finish now, isn't it?". I enjoyed how they played the audience with that and how it paid off with a clean, decisive, finish.
Nothing I would consider for a GME project, and I don't even think it's one of the best matches of their careers and/or the 70s, but still a match that proofs how amazing and intelligent Billy Robinson was. So yeah, despite its flaws, I always kinda enjoy it.
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Post by Cap on Aug 12, 2020 17:27:45 GMT -5
From my rewatch on 8/8/2020 (and in indirect response to the blasphemer above) Billy Robinson vs Giant Baba (PWF Title – 7/24/1976) Current Rank: 51 Trending: Even As I said, I put this up against Dandy v Casas and I actually think this match takes that with relative ease. I stress relative because we are talking about the top 50-60 matches in the history of wrestling. I just felt pretty confident that this was the better match. Again, these are title matches that tell stories and don’t really have a lot of bells and whistles. This match just connected a little better. The escalation was just a touch more compelling to me. I think it is because I probably find Robinson to be the most talented wrestler of the four involved (which says a lot). This is just fantastic wrestling, storytelling, and chemistry. It also must have been 200 degrees in there because both guys are pouring sweat within minutes. It somehow adds to the idea that this is a visceral and urgent conflict for the belt. Great wrestling. Full Thread: gweproject.freeforums.net/post/8278 |
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Post by fxnj on Jul 26, 2023 21:17:23 GMT -5
The heat (temperature-wise) is something I didn't pay much attention to initially, but I've come to think it's a pretty central part of the narrative that plays out here. Watching it in the context of Robinson's other big matches, it jumps out how different it is with only a few minutes spent on the mat before they start going for the kill shot. These guys might as well have been wrestling in a sauna between how much these guys are sweating even early on and the care taken by their attendants in cooling them down between falls. Hence why they'd quickly move towards just putting away the other guy ASAP and dispense with trying to wear them down beforehand. Baba pretty much says that in the post-match promo when the interviewer asks him about the heat. Not disputing that this is the Robinson show, but I've never been bothered by Baba's performance here and thought he brought a fair amount of effort in keeping up his end of the size vs. technique dynamic in play. Still a top 100 candidate for me, but I admit it doesn't quite have the epic feel of matches that would come later and maybe that comes down to Baba needing to show a tad more vulnerability.
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