Ernie Ladd vs. a 14-Year Old Terry Gordy (and other Dream Matches!)

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I have something a little different, as I reviewed a 1991 podunk indie federation more or less by accident (stupid YouTube search for Tatanka/Shamrock and I thought this was it and learned my error too late, haha), so come see the NAWA- the attempt to revive the Mid-Atlantic territory!

But primarily the focus here is a match starring Terry Gordy when he was only 14 years old (!!) as he takes on the Big Cat, Ernie Ladd in 1975! Come see just how good Gordy was even while he was a literal child, and how graceful Ladd was in his athletic prime. And since I feel bad about calling out two Bryan Clark matches in a row in “Anatomy of a Disaster”, I’ll put in one of the good WCW squashes that got him over, as he pummels the luchadore Ciclope on WCW Thunder! Come see the weird stylistic shifts when you pit a giant dude against a guy with an unfamiliar style!

The NAWA show is a bit interesting, though, as it’s your usual combination of past-their-prime veterans slumming it (the heel Champion is Robert Fuller- who becomes a WCW manager not too long after this), young rookies Chris “Tatanka” Chavis and Ken Shamrock (as Vince Torelli), and a ludicrous amount of focus for head promoter Paul Jones, who keeps getting the spotlight stuck onto him in the way of many a podunk indie company that goes nowhere.

“THE KING OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING” ERNIE LADD (w/ Beautiful Bruce) vs. TERRY MEEKA:
(International Championship Wrestling, 1975)
* A strange one I never expected to see- a FOURTEEN-YEAR OLD Terry Gordy as 237-lb. New Yorker “Terry Meeka” (pronounced like “Mecca”) taking on the Big Cat, Ernie Ladd- a legendary performer. Gordy is in blue trunks and has big bleach-blond hair, and notably TOWERS over referee Tommy Young, even as a 14-year old kid. The gigantic Ladd, in blue/purple trunks, gives Terry a somewhat disingenuous-looking “earnest” handshake.

Ladd offers the kid another handshake after the bell rings, and of course boots him right in the gut for it. Ladd promptly boots him in the throat and strangles him, then throws some graceful-looking knees to the same region. Beautiful Bruce joins commentary and makes excuses for Ladd’s taped-thumb, arguing that it’s an old football injury and “this man shouldn’t even be wrestling”, putting over his bravery in surpassing such a grievous drawback while Ladd hoists Terry onto the top rope and puts the boots to him. The child abuse continues with a variety of slams and kicks, and when Terry manages a small comeback of punches, Ladd slowly ducks down into the corner, loads up the thumb, and jabs the kid in the throat. Terry writhes and thrashes about the ring (Beautiful Bruce of course tells the commentator to go see an optometrist because he didn’t see NOTHIN’) and Ladd covers his ears to avoid Young’s admonishments, then hits a dropkick & a throat-thrust off the ropes. Multiple more thumb-shots to the throat continue, and he of course PULLS THE KID UP at “2” just to be a dick (“Gracious move! Gracious move!”- Bruce). Another throat thrust sets up the Flying Splash (jesus that’s a big dude, lol), which finishes for Ladd at (4:19).

Amazing squash, as Ladd gives the kid only a tiny comeback before cheating and continuing to cheat by blocking the ref’s view with his own huge body, leaving poor Terry thrashing around like a good jobber. I hope Terry got slipped a little extra for that, because he made all those shots look like death. I love Ladd fighting a 14-year old boy and still deciding to cheat for half the match- good heel. Bruce passing off everything as “the palm of the hand” was terrific (“You’re not watching it correctly- the hand is quicker than the eye and I know what he’s doing in there!”)- Heenan-tier heelish lying.

Rating: *1/4 (tremendous squash- Ladd looked graceful and catlike as he dismantled the giant child, who did a great job)

WRATH vs. CICLOPE:
(WCW Thunder, Oct. 10th 1998)
* Hell yes! My favorite kind of match: The Style Clusterfuck! (edit: next to FAT MAN STAND-OFFS, of cousre) This is Wrath during his hot streak of Goldberg-like squashes, and his opponent is one of the most low-end luchadores in the company. Wrath’s in his blue & black gear, while Ciclope’s in the usual red & black, with his bisected mask with the giant central eye.

Wrath immediately shoves Ciclope in the corner and beats the SHIT out of him with knees that are sold really well- Wrath boots him and hits the side slam while glowering intensely at the camera. Ciclope gets his boot up in the corner, but quickly takes the Bret bump into a backdrop suplex. Wrath then hits a big second-rope elbow and slides Ciclope belly-first right to the floor in a rad bump. Wrath chucks him into the guardrail but gets knocked back and a weak slingshot missile dropkick is no-sold as he just charges forward with a big clothesline that gets the Jannetty Sell. Jumping shoulderblock sets up the Meltdown (pumphandle powerslam) and that’s that at (3:24)- complete domination from the big guy.

Luchadore/Big White Guy matches are always interesting, because they look completely different from Lucha matches- as guys like Wrath are obviously not versed in the lucha style, they don’t do a lot of the typical spots you see there, as he likely wouldn’t be able to base for landings or handle the complex reversals or “fake-out then dive” sequences, so instead it’s just the big guy throwing him around and the lucha dude’s only doing dodges and simple kicks. Wrath looked EXCELLENT in the match, with tight offense and great moves throughout, plus a good glower- the fans weren’t really that into it save a couple big spots, and it was much too long for Goldberg-esque reactions, but it made him look like a monster, especially with him just roaring back from any offense. Ciclope’s selling was excellent, as he took his ass-beating like a man and just skidded all over the place to put Wrath over.

Rating: 3/4* (great extended squash)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tc9wMlYJS0&ab_channel=SynthR%2F%2FRetroAfternoons

NORTH AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION:
* So the NAWA, later “South Atlantic Pro Wrestling” (they use the term alternately all show long, lol), is said to be the last attempt to revive the Mid-Atlantic territory, of which I know almost nothing. Paul Jones and Frank Dusek ran it, and it lasted from 1990-92 because WHO TRIES TO REVIVE TERRITORY WRESTLING IN 1990? The tape starts off with the heels- the Nasty Boys and two guys I don’t recognize but territory fans surely will- I’ll call them Blond Southern Generic Douche and Beer-Bellied Bearded Guy. Judging by the belt the blond dude is the champion Robert Fuller… oh good, he names Matt Borne so I don’t have to guess! So it’s Fuller & Doink as top heels. And they bring in Ken Shamrock, who at this point looks super-young and has Sitcom Dad Hair. Oh and his name is “Vince”.

Days after writing this, I was like “OH, Robert Fuller is Col. Robert Parker!”. I had no idea he was built back in his day. I’m only reviewing this because I was looking for a Tatanka/Shamrock match and figured this was it, and was like “well might as well review the stuff before it” only to realize too late that it’s just a show of squashes, haha.

Also someone has let the cameraman on the ring apron wear a white shirt with neon yellow shorts, which is super-distracting all show long because the hard-cam guy doesn’t know how to keep him out of the shots.

Ranger Ross, one of a billion military-themed guys.

RANGER ROSS vs. “HOLLYWOOD” TOMMY LANDELL:
* Oh man, the state of Landell- he’s a Bobby Eaton-shaped job guy with the world’s worst tattoos (that “just the outlines” kind) and is on the tail end of his career. Ross is a guy I’ve heard of but never seen- he’s a really tall, pretty ripped black dude in Steve Blackman-style martial arts pants. Landell’s in blue & pink tights.

They have the most boring extended squash possible, Ross controlling with basics and Landell coming back with some of the most whiffed offense I’ve ever seen (stopping an axehandle literally a foot short). He misses an elbow and Ross karates the shit out of him with big-time theatrics and an elbowdrop gets two. Ross rolls under a leaping Landell and kills him with the Kick of Fear at (3:59).

Rating: 1/4* (my god that squash felt like it went on for an ETERNITY)

NAWA TAG TITLES:
THE NASTY BOYS (Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags) vs. DANNY ALLEN & BOB EMERY:
* So the Nasty Boys are the top team of the territory, having just won their tag belts, and are up against some job guys. Allen looks like a dollar store Magnum TA, with his curly blond mullet and body hair and black trunks, but he doesn’t have a good physique. Emery is quite ripped and is in blue bicycle shorts, but never moved out of jobber status.

Sags beats the absolute hell out of Emery for two solid minutes, not giving him ANYTHING, spitting on him and giving him a facewash on the mat, but then Emery gets a cross-body on BOTH Nasties and the crowd actually loses it! He gets two, then Allen comes in with a sunset flip on Knobs for two, but Knobs appears to suddenly realize these he’s a jobber and just leaps up and splatters him with a half-dozen driving elbows. Haha, his desperation and annoyance there is great. Sags just adds more disrespect and they crush him with an assisted avalanche and the Powerslam/Flopping Elbow combo at (4:15).

I actually love Nasty squashes a little bit- they act like such disrespectful assholes to their opponents, slapping them around, spitting on people, etc. Big, sloppy, ugly assholes with big, sloppy, ugly offense- perfect wrestling characters. I adore Knobs’s shocked reaction to eating offense- as if he’s desperate to just fly off with something to stop it.

Rating: 3/4* (Nasty squashes are fun. They almost never break ** in any match but the famous one they had, but they’re fun idiots)

Now we get an interview segment with THE ROYAL FAMILY, who are Jack Victory & Rip Morgan in hilariously bad Medieval Times gear. Morgan just keeps going “Ooh!” like Jimmy Snuka and then cuts a generic mush-mouthed “Angry Heel” promo.

Younger, more ripped versions of Ken “Vince Torelli” Shamrock and Chris “Tatanka” Chavis!

VINCE TORRELLI vs. DR. X:
* OH MY GOD A LITERAL “DR. X”! This is the most podunk indie federation ever and I love it! Dr. X is some scrawny guy in a purple bodysuit and mask who for some reason wears a plain shirt over it on the way to the ring, taking it off like Flair would his robe. Oh god wait that’s a scrub shirt (CUZ HE’S A DOCTOR, GET IT?), but… he doesn’t have the pants. Torrelli is a young, flowing-haired roided-up Ken Shamrock (even more ripped than in WWF), treated as the hot young stud of this company.

Torrelli controls with pretty tight amateur-wrestling stuff while the commentator goes ga-ga over how in shape Paul Jones is (“There’s not an ounce of fat on ya, Paul- you look great. You really do look terrific”). Yeah, he signs the checks, all right. Dr. X appears to struggle with some stuff (kinda tripping when Torrelli tries a rolling takedown), but eventually they’re on the mat and the tight move application actually looks pretty good. Torrelli hits a powerful suplex (stalling partway and dealifting Dr. X) and a Stinger Splash at one point. Dr. X only manages a tiny bit of offense while they go all nuts over how Torrelli is a great role model and how boys need role models and stuff- X slugs away or nails Vince out of a pin or something, but eventually comes off the ropes and takes a Belly-To-Belly Suplex for the pin at (5:09).

Rating: 1/4* (an extended squash, but Torrelli’s amateur stuff looked really good. Hapless jobber, though)

Ranger Ross promo! A “True American hero!” who fought in the invasion of Grenada and was involved in the Iran rescue mission (CITATION NEEDED). This is better when you know he was arrested for being a motorcycle-riding stickup guy.

Yes, a pair of beer-bellied JTTS guys in Medieval Times reject gear, and they’re your secondary heel team. INDIE WRESTLING!

THE ROYAL FAMILY (Rip Morgan & Jack Victory) vs. JERRY PRICE & DAVID ISLEY:
* The Royal Family hit the ring with their “Prince John in Disney’s Robin Hood”-sounding theme and take on some jobbers- Price is a thickly-built black guy in black tights, and David Isley is a Generic Mulletted White Guy in black trunks with “David” written on the back of his jacket. He’s pretty thicc, too, but less impressive-looking than Price. The Royal Family are in long black tights with gold belts. Man, all four guys here have that “early ’80s WWF wrestler” physique.

Victory starts with Isley, who doesn’t seem very good- too hesitant. He can’t sell Morgan’s knee very well, seemingly not realizing what move was coming. Price hits the ring and boy- he smol. Victory avoids his dropkick and they slowly beat him up for a few minutes. Morgan does a lot of theatrical growling and running legdrop-type stuff, keeping it simple for the kid. Price tries some offense but runs into a knee and they finish him with a double back elbow and double-front suplex at (4:50). Extra points for Victory sticking his tongue out at Isley during the pin.

Rating: 1/2* (felt like it went on FOREVER, but was mostly inoffensive)

“THE WAR EAGLE” CHRIS CHAVIS vs. ALLEN KENSEY:
* Yes, it’s ROOKIE TATANKA. This guy could barely wrestle by 1996 so “1990 Tatanka” is… wow. And apparently “Chavis” is pronounced like “Chay-viss”. Chavis is muscular as hell and in red trunks, with a long eagle headdress. Kensey is a really tall guy, but with a total dad-bod and dad-stache. Black trunks make him look like a generic dude, too.

Chavis easily handles Kensey, who bails- back in, Chavis does a lot of Flair-style chops and a powerslam into a war dance and the Samoan Drop finishes at (1:44). A short squash! My goodness! Chavis actually looks fine in such a short performance, hitting everything tight and well. Turns out the secret to Tatanka not sucking is to do the only moves he knows well and keep it under two minutes.

Rating: 1/4* (too quick to rate, but better at making the star look good than all this other stuff)

“THE TENNESSEE STUD” ROBERT FULLER vs. GARY BOOTH:
* So the NAWA Champion now gets his own match- Col. Parker was apparently in pretty good shape to go with his great height. He’s kinda doing a mixture of every other heel gimmick, with Boss Hogg’s white cowboy hat, Ric Flair’s shades and robe, and this outrageous Southern accent. Generic Southern Heel #4792. The yellow trunks do NOT fit, either, which doesn’t help his gimmick- Torrelli & Chavis’s trunks were practically painted on! Not that I noticed that. Those tight fits on their incredibly muscular… ANYWAYS, Booth, however, is TREMENDOUS. Just a pasty, shapeless body and goddamn neon-striped trunks.

Fuller just does basic heel stuff like complaining of hairpulling and… hey, I’ve heard this dude had a legendary hogg, but judging by these trunks he’s just a normal dude- man, can you trust NONE of the great rumors of wrestling? Fuller does goofy struts and eats a hiptoss, but comes back with a big boot, clothesline to the floor and post-shot. Back in, Booth eats a shitty piledriver, but Fuller saves it by sitting on his chest and slapping him awake, then TOSSING THE REF when he interjects, getting DQ’d as he hits a second Piledriver at (2:54). Haha, well that’s one way to get him over as a shitpiece. Ricky Steamboat hits the ring in REFEREE ZUBAZ and tosses him, then wins a slugfest. Fuller actually gets back into the ring to keep it going, and Matt Borne comes out to even it up, then the Nasty Boys make it a full-on beatdown until PAUL JONES runs out and starts bumping guys around for his punches (you can tell he’s the booker because he single-handedly fends off four dudes and looks like the biggest badass in the promotion as a result). Well the fans are into it!

Rating: 1/2* (okay squash with some bad moves but solid heeling by Fuller)

Well that was… interesting. Riffing on jobbers is always fun, but I don’t think I’ll be back to the NAWA, lol.