Retro Wrasslin'

A look back at pro wrestling history.

World Of Sport Ep. #2

Written By Alfredo Esparza

World Of Sport Ep. #2

“Judo” Al Hayes vs. Steve Veidor (Woking, 11/8/1975)

Match is 30-minutes with six 5-minute rounds. “Judo” Al Hayes is introduced being from the United States. Announcer mentions Hayes was originally from Westminster, London, but now living in the U.S. This is Hayes return to England after spending four years in the U.S.

Hayes takes down Veidor to start the first round. Announcer mentions that Hayes is very different now having spent four years in the U.S. Veidor breaks out of Hayes grasp doing a really cool cartwheel. Announcer wonders how many rules Hayes will break. Hayes forearms Veidor on the ropes and then puts him in a full nelson. Veider reverses it but Hayes reaches the ropes. Hayes takes Veidor down with a side headlock. Hayes pulls Veidor’s hair. Referee catches him. Veidor gets taken over to the ropes and Hayes knocks him down as the fans complain about Hayes using illegal tactics. More hair pulling from Hayes followed by a choke by Hayes. Veidor and the crowd not happy. 1st round ends as Hayes pulls Veidor’s hair again.

Second round starts with Veidor working on Hayes arm, but Hayes pulls him off. Crowd gets upset. Hayes backs away. Hayes throws a couple of punches at Veidor. Referee gives Hayes a warning. Hayes with a judo chop at Veidor’s chest. Veidor does this really cool spot when Hayes whips him into the ropes and he cartwheels out of the way and lands a great forearm on Hayes! Hayes rushes to the outside and a lady shoves him. Veidor goes out and forearms him. The fans cheer on! Back in the ring, Hayes shoves Veidor into a corner. They exchange forearms. Veidor gets in an uppercut that sends Hayes down. Hayes goes for another full nelson. Referee warns Hayes to not pull the hair. Hayes throws a punch at Veidor’s mid-section. Hayes starts choking Veidor. 2nd round ends and Hayes refuses to break the choke on Veidor.

Third round starts with Veidor getting Hayes in a side headlock. Ref starts counting Hayes who’s on his back on the mat which leads to Hayes asking how he can tell if his shoulders are down from “up there” since ref was standing up. Veidor breaks out, bounces off the ropes, does a cartwheel, followed by body press. Some fast-paced action until Hayes heads to the outside to slow things down. Hayes hits Veidor with a couple of forearms. Hayes stomps on Veidor for a bit. Veidor tries to get back up but Hayes rakes his face and then throws a forearm. Hayes starts to pull at Veidor’s mouth and face right as the bell rings to end the third round. Referee gives Hayes a second warning with a few fans telling him to go back to America. Veidor is shown bleeding from his mouth.

Round four starts with Hayes going after Veidor’s mouth again! Fans are upset. Veidor makes a comeback and whips Hayes into a corner. Veidor with a forearm and then drags Hayes down and stomps on his head. Hayes knocks Veidor down and then picks him up and throws him over the top rope. Veidor and Hayes fight near the ropes. Veidor slingshots his way back into the ring and sunset flips Hayes for the pin! Good match!

Announcer mentions Hayes is heading back to the United States in a week.

WINNER: Steve Veidor

Blondie Barrett & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Robbie Brookside & Steve Regal (Bedworth, 10/15/1988)

This match has a 25-minute time limit with either 2-falls, 2 pins or 2 submissions. Blondie Barrett is called “The Rock ‘n Roll Express”. George Gillette and a few others accompany the heels (Barrett & Nagasaki) in this match. Regal & Brookside’s tag team are known as “The Golden Boys”. Brookside gets the fans clapping.

Round one starts with Regal going up against Barrett. They mistimed a spot with Barrett running the ropes and he couldn’t jump over Regal so they slammed into each other. Regal gets Barrett with a couple of cool armdrags and a dropkick. Barrett tags in Kendo Nagasaki. Nagasaki takes down Regal and then picks him up and tosses him. Nagasaki continues his attack on Regal. Brief comeback from Regal with a couple of chops. Regal’s lip is bleeding so they censor it. Regal tags in Brookside. Nagasaki gets Brookside in the heels corner and they work on him with double-team moves. Barrett goes with a headbutt and uppercut at Brookside. Brookside monkey-flips Barrett out of a corner and uses his athleticism to take down Barrett. Nagasaki interferes and gets a public warning from the referee. Nagasaki gets back in the ring and slams Brookside. Barrett jumps off the top rope with a knee drop on Brookside which leads to the referee giving him his first public warning. Brookside gets sent to the outside as Regal argues with the referee. Nagasaki takes down Brookside with another chop. Nagasaki gets the pin on Brookside after a backdrop.

Round two starts with Nagasaki taking down Brookside. Another rule mentioned by the announcer is the following fall has to start with the two who ended the previous fall. Nagasaki chokes Brookside and referee tells him to break it up. Nagasaki tosses Brookside and tags in Barrett. Regal gets in the ring. Regal legdrops Barrett. Regal gets in an uppercut. Barrett begs for mercy in a corner. Nagasaki attacks Regal who was distracted. Barrett can’t take advantage as Regal chops him back down. Regal gets a near fall on Barrett after a hiptoss out of the corner but Nagasaki made the save. Regal reverses Barrett trying to drive him into Nagasaki’s knee. The top rope went loose. Nagasaki gets into the ring and starts to beat on Regal. Brookside and Barrett both get into the ring. Brookside slams Barrett. Brookside monkey-flips Barrett out of the corner. Barrett attempts a top rope move, but Brookside catches him and tosses him off the ropes. They fix the top rope as the match is going on. Brookside hits a top rope dropkick at Barrett and he can’t get up and loses via a 10-count. The Golden Boys win the match with a knockout.

The referee determines that due to Barrett getting knocked out that he can no longer continue the match so Kendo Nagasaki has to wrestle the rest of the match on his own against The Golden Boys.

The final round, Round 3 starts with Brookside tossing Nagasaki into the corner and throwing a couple of uppercuts. Nagasaki knocks Brookside down with a big boot. Nagasaki starts choking at Brookside but Regal runs in to help him out. Regal & Brookside hit a double-team clothesline on Nagasaki. They follow that up with a double dropkick! Regal with an elbow and uppercut on Nagasaki. He gets in a legdrop. Brookside goes for another top rope dropkick that knocks down Nagasaki. Brookside tries to unmask Kendo Nagasaki. Brookside removes Nagasaki’s mask to reveal a bald guy with only a pony-tail. Kendo Nagasaki then hypnotizes Brookside and gets his mask back. Nagasaki uses his powers to get Brookside to turn on Steven Regal. Nagasaki picks up Regal over his shoulders and then hits a cool looking slam to knock him down and get the win.

Nagasaki broke off his control of Brookside as he got the win. Nagasaki & Barrett win 2-1. Regal is upset with Brookside but Brookside grabs the mic and tells Nagasaki what he did was not right. Gillette tells Brookside that he shouldn’t have messed with Nagasaki’s powers.

WINNERS: Kendo Nagasaki & Blondie Barrett

SHOW THOUGHTS: Fun show and I really enjoy how different these shows were to what was going on elsewhere with the multiple rounds in matches. Obviously in other places, one could lose a match by not getting up at the 10-count but it usually wasn’t used as a knockout like it is here. Prior to this show, most of the time that I saw Lord Alfred Hayes was more of him as a commentator on WWE/F shows so I wasn’t familiar with him as a pro wrestler so seeing him on this show was fun. He’s very good. Veidor’s athleticism and his offense were great in that match. Tag match was enjoyable and the finish was memorable with Nagasaki hypnotizing Brookside. I’ve seen others do that in other places as well but this felt like it worked better and didn’t feel too comedic.


Follow Us: