Welcome to a new written series “5 matches with…” where ever week I will be taking a look at 5 completely random matches from 1 particular wrestler! This first edition features 5 matches from Dick Murdoch!!!
Match 1 – Dick Murdoch vs. Hacksaw Duggan (Mid South 4/29/82) – http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3dwyo … 1982_sport
Really odd to see Duggan here as a heel with Skandor Akbar… then even weird to see Murdoch come out not just as a face, but to the Marine core theme and in army camo .
Technical mat wrestling to start this match off? Nah, fuck that, PUNCH EACH OTHER IN THE FACE~!
Once they’ve got done punching each other in the face, the do indeed decide to wrestle a bit, which is mainly Duggan working the arm and Dick trying to go after the leg.
DOOGUN~!
Holy fuck, how bloody STRONG is Murdoch? He lifted DOOGUN up for the Brainbuster like he weighed about 10lbs lol. Instead of going for a cover, Murdoch grabs a “trench tool” and goes after Akbar, and then it becomes a chaotic mess as DOOGUN tries to save Akbar, and Murdoch tries to kill everyone . Murdoch eventually decks DOOGUN with the trench tool and gets the win because… apparently this is No DQ? I dunno lol.
Fun short match, anyway. DOOGAN is green and seemingly very new to Mid-South, but he still looks quite good, and Murdoch is Murdoch. If you don’t know what that means, then go watch some fucking DICK MURDOCH matches . Oh hey, I happen to be posting links to all the matches I watch here today! Yey!
Match 2 – Dick Murdoch vs. Butch Reed (Mid South 9/22/85) – http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3dwzf … 1985_sport
This match really interested me a bunch because Reed is a guy I would definitely like to watch more of, thanks to a certain drunken Scottish guy always pimping him .
Is there any wrestler ever who could milk a move more than Dick Murdoch? He takes an arm drag at the start, and just kinda sits there and looks like some old man who shouldn’t be there, then slowly gets up, holding his back, and even as they go to tie up again he is messing about with his back a little… right before he turns back into a wrestler and lands his own arm drag on Reed!!!
Reed utilises the HEAD LOCK, and he’s awesome at it. I’ll likely do 5 matches with Butch Reed at some point, and when I do, a certain Flair match needs to be on the list because half of it revolves around the head lock and it’s fucking awesome. It’s pretty sweet here too!
This match certainly won’t be for everyone, but for those it will be for, it’ll be awesome . Reed might be the best guy I’ve seen use the head lock tbh, and once Murdoch escapes and starts targeting the arm, he uses some ANDERSON techniques to really try and make it seem as if he’s gonna snap the bone any moment .
Dear wrestlers of today, please learn to work a fucking hold .
The SECOND Reed is able to get Murdoch away from his arm, he is right back on him with that head lock again. He’s squeezing and ripping the poor head of Mr Murdoch and it looks like it could pop at any moment!!!
Huh, 10 minutes in and just realised there is no commentary .
Again, Murdoch is able to counter out of the head lock eventually, and it’s right back to the arm . He’s using a different hold this time as well so no sitting there in the exact same fucking hold doing bugger all like everyone does today.
ELBOW TO THE FACE~! That forces Dick to release the hold, and what does Reed do? Yup, back to that head lock!!! But perhaps he went to the well once too often, and old Dickie Murdoch immediately counters it this time and again works over the arm, in yet ANOTHER different way!
Murdoch is a real vicious bastard as he tries to rip off the arm of Reed, and Reed keeps teasing a closed fist punch to try and get out of it, but he knows it’s illegal and the referee is right there to make sure he knows it’s illegal as well. But despite that, you WANT Reed to just fucking deck the redneck bastard!!! Simple, but extremely effective!
Reed manages to pop off a few ELBOWS to the face of Dick once again, but he’s worn out so much that they don’t have the desired effect, and Murdoch continues to take the arm apart. Man, this match has literally consisted of a couple of elbows, a head lock, and arm work… and it’s the most fun I’ve had watching wrestling in quite some time!!!
Reed with a second wind, and more elbows, this time they seem to be hitting much harder!!! Murdoch is fucking PISSED and threatens to hit Reed with a closed fist now, but the referee gets in between them and has them essentially start from scratch, as if this was a round in boxing. Dick calms down, and it’s right back to the arm!!!
Reed continues to keep trying to make a comeback, hitting Murdoch with more elbows, but Murdoch is just too fresh as he’s the one who has been in control for the most part, and he can keep going back to the arm and putting a stop to any momentum.
HAMMER LOCK BEAR HUG~! Murdoch continues to show off his impressive strength like in the Duggan match I just watched, as he holds Reed up in that hammer lock bear hug for longer than he needed to… and Butch Reed ain’t a small guy lol!
PUNCH TO THE FACE~! Reed FINALLY gets that big shot in, and the referee wasn’t in the best position to see if it was closed fist or not, but it certainly knocked Murdoch down and out for the time being!!! Murdoch is obviously not pleased with it, and he again takes control, but this time is more focused on trying to rip out Reed’s EYES!!! Guess you shouldn’t punch Dick in the face… .
This match went from Dick working the arm, to Dick now beating the FUCK out of Reed. And Reed is really selling this beating like a champ too. Both guys look like the best in the world right now tbh. Excellent job from both of them.
Murdoch again gets blasted in the face with a right hand, and he’s knocked silly and to the floor!!! This might finally be the big opening Reed needs to regain control and win the match!!!
Nah. He tries to keep Dick from getting back in the ring, but all that does is allow Dick to recover, enough to drag Butch to the floor and slam him for a near countout!!!
PILEDRIVER~! Well, that’s gotta be it!!! No! Butch gets his foot on the rope!!!
talk about Murdoch milking a move lol, he runs into a big knee from Butch and spends the next minute or so just rolling around the ring holding his head .
NOW it’s Reed’s turn to really take the fight to Murdoch, and oh boy does he ever! Left jabs, big rights, and even a couple of choke attempts! But Murdoch is just damn near unstoppable, getting in plenty of shots of his own before Reed again falls!
Back and forth, back and forth they go, both hitting each other with their best shots until Reed lands a couple of huge atomic drops and sends Murdoch to the floor once again. Fuck me, 40 minutes have gone by? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!?! Skipping through WWE Raw these days in 5 minutes feels longer!!!
These two men are just determined to cave each other’s face in, and it’s wonderful to watch . Murdoch kicks out of a pin attempt and the first thing he does is blast Reed in the face . It results in another back and forth PUNCH OUT, with them both decking each other in the face at the same time and nearly knocking each other out!!!
Murdoch tries for a slam but is too exhausted to hit it, and Reed falls back on him!!! Genuinely thought it was over right there!!!
This is just tremendous .
FIGURE FOUR!!! Right in the middle of the ring!!! Murdoch is screaming in pain and has nowhere to go!!! Both men are nearly pinned numerous times as their shoulders end up on the mat quite often, and Murdoch keeps trying to reverse the hold, and third time’s the charm!!! They end up both in the ropes with damage done to BOTH men’s legs!!!
This match has become a fucking WAR. Reed tries to take out the legs of Dick now, following the figure four, while Murdoch just keeps trying to get shots in on Reed’s face, be it a kick or a punch .
In the end though, they both end up toppling over the top rope to the floor and it’s a double countout!!!
Reed isn’t finished yet and continues to go after Murdoch!!!
They continue to go back and forth in the ring as the bell keeps ringing over and over in hopes that they’ll stop lol, and the poor referee even gets decked in the process!!! This is FAR from over!!!
Holy fuck this was incredible. I mean wow. Just WOW. Better than any match I’ve seen in 2015. By a huge margin too tbh. I actually picked this match from the Murdoch set I’m using to watch these from, because they have a rematch right after on the disc, so I thought it would be a shorter match to lead into a bigger match lol. So much for this being short . Goes over 50 minutes if you include the insane brawling after the double count out!!! And I regret nothing!!!
the brawl after the match is just fucking awesome too. They brawl, the ref gets taken out, then he gets on the mic and says… something. I think he ends up DQ’ing them both rather than the double countout originally. They don’t care. Then I believe it’s Grizzly Smith that ends up keeping them apart… until Reed gets on the mic, says something and they go back at it tooth and nail and Grizzly just gives up and leaves em to it .
THIS is fucking PRO WRESTLING.
Match 3 – Dick Murdoch vs. Butch Reed (Mid South 10/14/85) – http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3dx01 … 1985_sport
Well, wasn’t planning on watching more than one match against the same opponent, but fuck, I GOTTA see this one now!
Love how it’s MURDOCH that uses the head lock first in this match, knowing just how effective it was on him in their previous match. However Reed being something of a MASTER OF THE HEAD LOCK means he’s able to prevent Murdoch from taking him down to the mat, instead pushing Dick into the corner to break the hold and then apply his own head lock!!! I’m practically marking out for a fucking HEAD LOCK. Good times .
And just like Murdoch tried to use the head lock, Reed is now trying to work over the arm, and he’s having far more success with it than Murdoch did with the head lock!!!
this time it’s MURDOCH teasing that big closed fist punch while Reed goes after his arm . Ya know, I do often wonder if the guys actually knew what they were doing with call backs and shit like this. It’s super easy for me now to watch their previous match and then this one back to back (which is exactly what I’m doing lol) and notice all these little things that play off what they did before… but is it all just coincidence lol? No doubt these days had a bunch of non televised matches against each other in the 3 or so weeks between the recorded matches, so… I’m stumped!!!
after a while the hold is broken, and then Reed CLUBS the bad arm of Murdoch, and Murdoch looks like he’s gonna fucking KILL Reed for it . So what does Reed do in response? Clubs his arm a bunch more .
Again we see Murdoch with his awesome selling, milking the arm work as much as he can. He’s shaking his arm, and stretching it out in the corner every chance he gets in between offence on Reed.
Time is counting down, just over a minute left of this 15 minute time limit match, and Murdoch begins a comeback in an attempt to put the champion away and win the title!!! Which is odd because I’m fairly certain it was announced as a 60 minute time limit match at the start…
Ok… ummm… I’m officially confused . The match is continuing but… the first 15 minutes were for the title and the rest isn’t? I dunno lol. Sound quality isn’t great when someone tries to speak so I have no idea what the ring announcer was saying outside of the time lol.
similar to their previous match, Murdoch walks right into a huge right hand and staggers about before falling out of the ring… only this time, when he’s out on the floor his head is down and his arse is in the air and he’s just DEAD . Then the referee comes out to check on him and he’s complaining about a missing tooth or something. Just awesome .
then it’s REED’S turn to run into a right hand from Dickie!!! Kinda crazy seeing Murdoch leap frogging btw .
This entire match seems to be a “you did this to me in the last match so amma do it to you in this match” match lol. Murdoch is the one working over the leg of Reed this time, as revenge for the figure four last time that almost put him away.
And again this match comes across as a fucking WAR, with both men exhausted but still trying everything they can to put the other away, and to counter the other when they aren’t in control. Reed keeps going back to the arm, and Murdoch is now able to chip away at the leg every now and then too.
RIGHT HAND TO THE FACE~! More role reversal from the previous match as it’s Murdoch landing the big blow to get Reed away from the arm.
FIGURE FOUR~!
Reed smashes his knee into Murdoch’s head, but its the bad leg he did it with and he sells the fuck out of it hurting himself just as much as hurting Dick .
30 minutes have already passed, and they have just FLOWN BY.
Slam attempt on Murdoch results in the referee getting knocked out, and just as it happens, Murdoch rolls up Reed for a 3 count, but there is nobody there to make the count!!! Murdoch goes to check on the referee, and Reed rolls him up and DOES get a 3 count!!!
Not nearly as epic as their previous bout, but still fucking awesome and I honestly wish it kept going for at least another 20 minutes to match the first match . Cool to see Murdoch shaking Reed’s hand afterwards too! Oh, ok… also seems that Reed WON the TV title here. Huh… could have sworn he came into the match with the belt… I dunno, I’m still kinda confused about things after that whole 15 minute deal earlier on .
Match 4 – Dick Murdoch vs. Ted Dibiase (Mid South 12/31/85) – http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3dx1e … 1985_sport
This match is happening because Dick hit the BRAINBUSTER on DiBiase… on the CONCRETE FLOOR!!!
Expecting a crazy brawl here, and doubt it will last 30+ minutes like the 2 Reed matches lol. DiBiase has the BLACK GLOVE on his right hand which is significant because I don’t know why. But the commentator mentions he’s wearing it after he hasn’t worn it for a while and… that’s it .
Face punching .
CAPTAIN REDNECK~!
This isn’t a crazy fast paced brawl, but they both clobber each other with huge rights to the face, before Murdoch gains control and just slowly begins to maul Teddy.
DIBIASE IS BLEEDING~! And Murdoch is booting him in the head every chance he gets. Don’t know what Murdoch’s beef is with DiBiase, but he clearly wants to fucking END HIM.
Damn commercial break .
These two are still trying to kill each other. DiBiase BITES the head of Murdoch, then turns and spits as if he bit a chunk of his head off . Murdoch is also bleeding now!!!
Murdoch uses a chair on DiBiase, and the commentator literally says that all the referee can do is THREATEN Murdoch with a DQ. How was it not an instant DQ to begin with?
DiBiase takes shot after shot after shot to the head and looks to be finished. Murdoch sets him up for the Brainbuster, but DiBiase escapes and lands a punch of his own and gets the 3!!! It seems that perhaps DiBiase put something in the glove moments before!!!
Really good brawl. Didn’t go too long, which in this instance is a good thing, and both guys rocked it with their punches. Wasn’t much to it outside of punches, but when you can punch as good as these two, that’s ALL you need to do!
Match 5 – Dick Murdoch vs. Terry Gordy (UWF 5/87) – http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3dx2k … 1987_sport
This gonna be good . I mean… I hope so . Murdoch rules. Gordy rules. So… logic dictates that this is gonna rule!!!
Murdoch throws a punch, Gordy moves back to avoid it and as he moves forward again, Dick thinks he’s gonna get blasted in the face with a right hand and the look on his face is of absolute HORROR .
It isn’t long before Gordy DOES land a punch, and Murdoch collapses in the corner, so it seems he was right to fear the punch lol.
Murdoch milks a couple of punches, and then holy shit these two kick it into high gear and I swear it’s like they are trying to out-bump each other . Both men are big guys and always surprise people with how well they can actually bump, so it’s hilarious seeing them trying to prove who is the better bumper there .
Dammit, another break . Stupid TV shows having stupid breaks.
In between both men trying to murder each other, Murdoch uses a sleeper to try and wear down Bam Bam, but all it does seemingly is piss off the big Freebird!!! And as Gordy makes his comeback, Murdoch again seems to be out to prove he can bump better . This is just so much fucking FUN .
Gordy is about to spike Murdoch or something, similar to Umaga’s finisher I think(?), but Eddie Gilbert runs in and clips the knee of Gordy to cause a DQ and save his tag partner.
Nothing overly special here, but for a TV match in 1987 it was still pretty darn good. I’ve definitely enjoyed the FUCK out of all 5 matches!!!