A Youtube History of the NWA World Heavyweight Title - Lou Thesz vs Wild Bill Longson (6-17-1952)

It's Friday afternoon, and that means it's time for more NWA world title action. We move on to Texas, and 1952 - 

 

 

The Fall Is The Law - The Meaning of FALL Wrestling

"Why FALL Wrestling?" is a question exactly no one has asked me, but I'm going to answer it anyway. This could have had any of a number of subtitles. Like "Why Folkstyle Is Better Than Freestyle". Or "What Akira Maeda Got Wrong".

Click the link, buy the book

Years back, I got Zolan Zavoral's A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection. It chronicles Gable's '96-'97 season, his last as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. One line stuck in my head. At the NCAA tournament, Minnesota's Jason Davids contrasts the very conservative Kasey Gilliss he wrestled with Gilliss's more aggressive (and more successful) teammates. "Watch, when [Mark] Ironside and [Lincoln] McIlravy go, there's a big contrast. With those guys, the fall's the law."

The fall is the law.

The fall is the law.

The fall is the law.

You can throw an opponent. Take them down. Ride. Control. You can break someone down and tire them out. Put a hurting on them and rack up points. But if you don't seal the deal, all of that can be for nothing. In a heartbeat, a tough and skilled or just lucky opponent can reverse things and stick you.

The fall is the law.

A Youtube History of the NWA World Heavyweight Title - Lou Thesz vs Walter Palmer (10-?-1951)

Welcome back, gentle reader.  We're back in Chicago, and back to 1951. (I wish someone could find a date on this, but Wrestling Titles can't get me a day and Wrestlingdata doesn't have the match at all.) I don't know Walter Palmer, but he's both a local guy and 20lbs smaller than Thesz, so I assume he'll be taking the babyface role and letting Thesz heel a little. This very much plays to Lou's strengths, so I'm feeling good about this one going in.

RIP, Masa Saito (1942-2018)

Please, Masa, don't hurt 'em

Masanori Saito, aka "Mr. Saito," or "Mr. Torture," recently passed. It's the sort of death that's surprising because Saito was the sort of man who made observers doubt, just a little, that anything could kill him. All men are mortal, but some seem a little less so than others.

As a young man, Masanori Saito won multiple Japanese national titles in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling as an amateur before qualifying for the Olympic games in 1964, which were being held in Tokyo. He was eliminated from the tournament when he was pinned by British wrestler Denis McNamara (1:23) in the third round of competition, ultimately placing 7^th. Saito then trained to become a pro with Hiro Matsuda and Toyonobori and began his career with the JWA in 1965.

A Youtube History of the NWA World Heavyweight Title - Lou Thesz vs The Mighty Atlas (3-30-1951)

As we wait for the World Catch Wrestling Tournament to shake out (there are twitter polls! You should vote in them!), it's time for new projects. One of my favorite things is pretending that the NWA world title and its history are really important. Therefore I will endeavor to bring to you, through the magic of youtube (and perhaps other video services), an achronological history of every NWA title defense I can find, and maybe some analysis on the evolution of style and angle and so forth. This will be an ongoing series of no set schedule, so feel free to leave comments or hit me up on twitter (@FALLWrestling) with suggestions for anything in particular you're interested in seeing. 

First match in, and it's 1951. The NWA proper is just three years old. By this time, there was a national broadcast out of Chicago, and you'd get some quality matches involving (and making) top stars and top titles. Multiple time world champ Lou Thesz, in a clipped down title defense against The Mighty Atlas.

Small Sample Size Theater - Catch Scouting Reports on Jon Zang, Erik Hammer, and Pat Stano

Jon Zang is a NAGA competitor and amateur wrestler with over 25 years of experience. Doesn't appear to have competed beyond the high school level in folkstyle or freestyle, but was fairly successful at that level in a tough region of the country. Trains under Joel Bane of Snake Pit USA.

From limited footage - and I have literally one match, so take this with as much salt as your doctor allows - Zang likes two on one and collar ties. He doesn't change levels well, and isn't really mobile compared to most of the field. You can get to his hips standing and his legs on the mat. Gave up a ton of submission opportunities to a smaller man. I have to think Brandon Ruiz will finish those kinds of chances if he gets them. Zang looks like a serious underdog.

Buck Nasty - The Catch Scouting Report on Johnny Buck

(A playlist of the matches used for this scouting report can be found here.)

Johnny Buck is the second half of what looks like the most competitive and potentially exciting first round matchup at the 2018 World Catch Wrestling Tournament. Sharing a bracket with Curran Jacobs, Buck is a similarly sized and similarly experienced competitor who, on paper, looks like a great foil for the CWA champ.

Buck wrestled for The Citadel in college at multiple weights - 174lbs, 184lbs, 197lbs, and heavyweight (285lbs). His official collegiate record, excluding tournaments where he competed unaffiliated, was 44-45. In addition to folkstyle, he competed at the national level in freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Sambo. After college, he tried his hand at mixed martial arts, accumulating a 13-10 professional record, including three submission victories, and two appearances for Bellator. Buck received his initial catch training from the legendary Billy Wicks and Johnny Huskey, and is currently coached by Joel Bane of Snake Pit USA.