Speaking of which, I love that Thesz sneak elbow, where he sets the elbow against an opponent and smacks his own fist to drive the elbow home. It just looks like he's trying to get away with something.
More technical wrestling this time, and you get a chance to see that Thesz really could go on the mat. He doesn't as much as I'd like, but when he feels like it or has an opponent who can handle it, Thesz will break out some Dean Malenko shit. This is particularly evident in the third fall, which features a lot of amateur style maneuvering and counters. Mostly, though, he works the headlock. And I mean works - pinning attempts on the mat, muscling a guy into the corner standing, stuff that makes it look like he's actually trying to do something with the hold. Thesz and Palmer also work some smart counters out of the headlock on the mat. I particularly like Thesz's hammerlock counter, which looks like he actually has to fight for it, instead of just being handed the next spot.
That's really the strength of Thesz's wrestling in general so far - he looks like he's fighting for holds, looking for counters, and more or less in a genuine contest. There are theatrical flourishes, like his bumps off the shoulder block, but in close I get a sense of real struggle. It may not look like a fight, but it often feels like one, if you catch my meaning.
Much better match than the Atlas match. I get the feeling Thesz thought more highly of Palmer and was willing to do more with him. Or maybe he just felt better on that night and wanted to work harder. Not a big fan of the count-out finish, which I'm guessing was done to make a local babyface look strong to the home crowd, but I enjoyed the match as a whole.
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