Lou Thesz/Karl Gotch vs. Antonio Inoki/Seiji Sakaguchi - 2/3 falls

This is my first full-match exposure to Karl Gotch who I have appreciated for a while now due to his contributions to MMA, but haven't seen enough to appreciate as a wrestler. The general perception of mat wrestling, especially during this period of time, is that it is boring. That it's just one headlock after another. Karl Gotch (and Lou Thesz) really shatter that stereotype through various twists, turns, and technique.

Gotch is very animated in his movements - almost ballet-like as he goes to apply a hold. He does really silly, needless, set-ups which are as entertaining as they are bizarre. Very convoluted stuff like doing a double knucklelock, kicking his opponents hand down, and then turning it into a hammerlock and turning that into a single-leg takedown from behind. The MMA fan in me says it's unpractical, but the wrestling fan in me says it's just the right amount of carny to spice up regular holds.

Thesz does more effective, logical, mat work and his rolling kimura takedown is great. From what I have heard about Thesz, one thing gets left out - he's one entertaining motherfucker. The first match I've ever seen of him was against Antonio Rocca and he did some great heelish gestures such as hiding in the ropes to avoid getting hit. In this match, he is very lively - whispering to Gotch when he makes a tag, as if they are planning something; yelling at the ref; taking some cheap shots; really selling the back after a Sakaguchi bearhug; pulling Gotches leg from inside the ring trying to get a rope break; hiding in the ropes after losing the teams first fall. I kinda think Thesz would still be over today with the wrestling fan because of the way he acted in the ring. No one else really does this stuff, and fans would love those lil touches.

The match itself is very good. I'd say it ranges from ***1/2-***3/4. I can't quite give it a **** rating because it is a little sloppy at times, and this match relies on the technical aspects of wrestling rather than storytelling, so the botched spots really hurt it. There aren't many, but let's just say this match would have been so much better without the ropes. It's very much a catch-as-catch-can match, very little rope running and very tight holds and, surprisingly, the pace is good. They do work a hold longer than wrestlers would today, but they did it differently back then. They presented it as real, so there was a sense of danger in the holds. The wrestler in the hold was in trouble and had to think of a way to get out. The wrestler applying the hold held on tightly, since he had his opponent in trouble, and tried to fight-off the escape attempts, which gave the holds legitimacy.

The variety of the holds is what keeps this match from being dull. Headlocks, Armlocks, leg vices, scissorholds, kimuras, Armbars, bearhugs, toe holds, bow-and-arrow, hammerlocks... the list goes on. Part of the fun is seeing which different hold will be used now, and that mainly results from the great Karl Gotch. Also, the frequent tags break the monotony. They work different combinations, Inoki starts with Thesz, then tags in Sakaguchi, Thesz works with Sak until he gets tired and tags in Gotch, Gotch wrestles with Sakaguchi until Sak tags in Inoki. Logical tag work, not very southern, but still good for pacing purposes.

Without a doubt, my favourite spot in the entire match and one of the coolest spots I've seen in a long time, comes from Inoki putting Gotch in a cravate (think of a headlock, except the applier is infront of the opponent with this arms in the position of a Stunner) and Inoki works the hold for several minutes. During this time, Gotch is doing everything he can to escape, but Inoki -very acrobatically, might I add- keeps holding on. There are tons of cool ways they work the hold, and I think the spot would get over huge today because it's just so different and wrestling fans like different. Gotch tries to bodyslam is way out, but Inoki holds on. So, later on, Gotch picks Inoki up for another bodyslam (and I'm thinking it's a bodyslam, and I'm thinking he's going to fail) but instead hits a backbreaker and is able to get out of the hold. FANFUCKINGAWESOME.

The first fall comes from Thesz giving Sakaguchi a backdrop driver. Sakaguchi responds later for the second fall in the match with an atomic drop. Something is not right there. I forgive the atomic drop fall because of Theszes great selling. First, he sold the back tremendously after the bearhug (getting caught trying to do a Thesz press), so since the atomic drop targets the same area (lowerback) and since Sak is presented as the big, strong, tall guy in the match, I can almost buy the impact. The second part makes me fully buy the fall, which is Theszes selling after the pin. He's on the mat for a few seconds - it wasn't a knock-out spot, it was more of a bodyblow that put him down - Gotch and company are attending to him. Thesz gets up, slowly moves to his corner to get out -but the ref doesn't let him- he must continue the fall. Gotch isn't too happy, but Thesz is like "No dude, it's cool, I'm ok, really, I'm fine" and then he backs the fuck away from Sakaguchi and tries to avoid all contact with him all-the-while taunting him on with his "come on" gestures. Really awesome stuff from Thesz here.

Half-way through the match, it gets a lil rougher. Thesz starts using punches on Inoki, which fires Inoki up to respond in-kind. Before a lock-up, Thesz slaps Inoki, the crowd is starting to heat up now. Thesz becomes a lil more of a cock after taking the pin, and while his brawling skills aren't nearly up to the level of his grappling ability, it's still nice to see. A running gag in the second part of the match is Thesz egging Inoki on and then hiding in the ropes - testing Inokis sportsmanship. Lou is an oldman, he's seen and done it all, he's proven himself, he can get away with bending the rules. Gotch provides nice juxtaposition as he had an opportunity to jump Inoki from behind after Thesz makes a tag, but he refrains. He has a chance to get in a cheap shot when the ref breaks them up, but he doesn't. The crowd sees the difference between Gotch and Thesz, and applauds Karls sportsmanship.

Karl Gotch would rather test Inokis inring ability, rather than his resolve as a wrestler. He clearly is having fun in the ring, and at times plays around with Inoki. He does this swank spot with a double knuckle lock, spininng Inoki around (and Spinning around Inoki) until he gets Antonio in a straightjacket choke. There is lots of jockeying for position between the two - more so than anyone else in the match. Lots of spinning and switches. A part I love is when Karl finally gets Inokis back, Inoki has the fear of death in him and runs towards the ropes, ducks between the second rope, and sends Karl over the top. The word "German Suplex" is discussed amongst the announcers.

The finish comes shortly after. Inoki hits a few dropkicks on Gotch, and then is able to take him down and do a bridging pin for the win. It's a very anti-climactic ending, but works within the context of the match as Gotch had tried to do similar pins to Inoki in previous engagements. However, I would have liked to have seen Gotch become more aggressive and less playful after getting tossed over the ropes (and then dropkicked when trying to enter the ring). Ah well. They shake hands afterwards, and are smiling to each other - it reminds me of when a fight is over and one guy has won, and another guy has lost, but the respect and the love for the game is still there and there are no hard-feelings. Really cool ending, don't see that anymore in wrestling and I would love to see it again.

***1/2-***3/4. That's not on a time-sensitive scale. That's saying if a match today was ***, this match is better. Highly recommended, if just to see Lou Thesz hamming it up.