#122: Rikidozan vs. Lou Thesz, JWA Professional Wrestling World Championship Series (10/13/1957).
This is a 2 Out of 3 Falls Match for Thesz' NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
This is the very first time I've ever seen Lou Thesz Wrestle.
They have a scrappy lock up, and Thesz forces Riki into the ropes. He pops him with an elbow to the head, then argues with the official. They lock up again, and Riki now has Thesz against the turnbuckle.
Riki takes control of the back, and Thesz quickly reverses into a head scissors takedown. Riki escapes and Thesz quickly hammerlocks his arm and takes him down again.
Riki hammerlocks Thesz' arm next, as he looks to slow this rapid pace down. Thesz is back to his feet, and he tries to roll his way free. Riki will not let go, though. Thesz is up, and he hides in the ropes to give himself a break.
They tangle in the turnbuckle, and Riki tries to kick Thesz out of the Ring! Another hammerlock attempt by Riki, as Thesz argues with the referee again. They lock up, and Riki ties Thesz' arm up in the ropes.
Riki takes Thesz down and gets a spinning toe hold of sorts locked in. Thesz responds with a takedown, and a hammerlock of his own. Riki counters that back into the toe hold. Riki twists and tears away at the ankle, while applying pressure to the knee.
Riki lets Thesz back to his feet. Thesz gets a cheap shot in on Riki, and the crowd does not like that at all. Nice back suplex by Thesz, and that gets the first fall. That was out of nowhere.
After a rest period, the second fall begins. They lock up, and Thesz quickly takes Riki down, who respond with a tight body scissors. Thesz tries to roll around the mat to escape, and finally does. They are back to their feet next, and they lock up.
Thesz with a hammerlock takedown, and he uses his legs to add additional pressure to the arm. Riki tries to roll him up for a pin, but Thesz forces him back to the mat. Riki gets to the ropes to break the hold. Thesz isn't happy.
Riki forces Thesz into the turnbuckle, and even has his hand around his throat. A shoulder tackle by Thesz knocks both men down. Thesz with several punches from the side headlock position, and then Riki explodes with a back elbow to the head that gets him the second fall. Man, times have changed since 1957, huh?
The third fall starts, and we get a clean break off the ropes. Nice side headlock takedown by Riki, almost a Judo throw of sorts. Riki wrenches at the headlock to keep Thesz down.
Thesz escapes and does the Airplane Spin so aggressively that both men go tumbling over the top rope and onto the floor. The match is waved off by countout, I think? I don't know, but both men keep throwing shots at each other, and then they shake hands.
You ever hear people say "I miss when it was real wrestling?" In a way, that's what this reminded me of. It felt very real and legitimate, like a mat wrestling match. That's probably because Lou Thesz is a legitimate grappling legend.
Rikidozan did damn well to hang with someone the caliber of Thesz. Watching this match, I am reminded of how much wrestling has evolved in the decades since.
Can you imagine a match today ending with a back suplex or a back elbow? Insane. Those moves had more muster back in the day. It reminds me of when Jake Roberts said that the DDT used to be a killer finish during his time, and today it's just a move that leads to something else.
This was probably my favorite of the Rikidozan matches I watched this week. A nice, simple grappling contest between two legends. While I can't say that I'll watch more Rikidozan after this, I do respect what he brought to the table for his time.
I do, however, want to see more of Lou Thesz.