Harley Race vs. Wahoo McDaniel

"Great match with a lot fire. every burst of offense from Wahoo was met with cheers. Really shows you just how over the guy was. Race as usual is amazing as well. Something I miss is that wrestlers back then really knew how to throw a convincing working punch. I don't see many that can anymore. ****1/4"

[5.0] "A decent-ish match, though definitely a one-sided one in terms of performances. I'm still not sure what Race's appeal was back in the day, as he seems to have always had a lethargic offence and annoyingly goofy selling. Meanwhile, you've got Wahoo playing the endearing, no-nonsense slugger who's capable of being both spry and impactful, as well as able to put over his opponent's offence without coming off comical in the process. It felt like Wahoo was clearly trying to make this match feel competitive and serious, but Harley was usually just trying to turn it into a cartoon-style match or make it plain boring. It's a shame because this meant that some of Wahoo's great strikes would end up feeling devalued whenever Race threw in his melodramatic selling/bumping to accompany them. I at least liked the story of Race's first fall, with the stars almost had to come together for it, as his Atomic Drop coincidentally sent Wahoo face-first into the turnbuckle, and that was enough for Race to maintain pressure and eventually get the pin with his suplex. With this being a 2/3 falls match, it was obvious that Wahoo would pick up the 2nd fall, but he managed to still look good despite that predictability, again doing so with all those fun strikes and some nice displays of gritty babyface fire. I guess if I squint a abit I could say I appreciated the story of how Wahoo was more explosive while Race was more 'calculating', but I think that 'calculating' nature was more so just due to Race being generally slow and unathletic, so it seems less intentional for the sake of appearing 'intelligent' and instead simply evident of his physical limitations (and this is despite Race being 5 years Wahoo's junior...). I liked how Wahoo ended up not even being able to capitalise on his short-lived comebacks in middle and final 1/3rds, given how extensively Race had worn him down, which made it all the more compelling whenever Wahoo finally succeeded in extending those comebacks and truly teasing that he might get the win, but the match was still quite limited by how underwhelming Race's control work was.. By the final 1/3rd I was starting to realise that I would've liked to see a bit more varied offence from Wahoo aside from just all his nice strikes, but at least he was still impressing with them. The brawl sequence on the outside and Race getting busted open in the process were both nice developments, especially as Wahoo kept up his pressure. Wahoo finally introduced more varied offence towards the end in the form of some really nice suplexes, but I wish we got to see more of them sprinkled throughout the match. They worked a nice pace as the finish approached, with Race just getting a lucky counter pin for the win, which was obviously deflating but at least it somewhat protected Wahoo in defeat. I wish this performance of Wahoo's could've been paired with a better partner than Race, since Wahoo definitely worked quite hard to hold this match together. **3/4"

[10.0] "The Native American born (shoot, not kayfabe) Wahoo McDaniel is a big favorite of mine, one of the greatest strikers of all time and all around incredibly tough guy, so I was really excited to check this one out. And it did not disappoint! Wahoo was in tremendous form, the chops he throws are otherworldly and every attack is filled with grit. The champion Race of his part is extremely tough as well but, as a good heel, he takes the time also to show off his big bumping skills and shows some ass (not literally) to make Wahoo look even better. I'd go so far to say this is my favorite Race match I've seen, and maybe for Wahoo as well, just a phenomenal fight and one of the very best matches I've seen from the 70s."

[9.0] "WWF referee for a special occasion. This has a big match feel. Wahoo controls the first part of the match until Harley headbutted Wahoo when they are in the ropes. Wahoo's comebacks are great. Stiff shots from both guys ! Blood ! The crowd is rowdy as cops arrests one fan before the finish !"

[10.0] "A damn great match. I've seen a few Harley Race matches and they were all great but this was my first Wahoo McDaniels match. He's got the goods. Also, it's always weird to watch old matches since there's a good chance it'll be a best two out of three falls match. They still show up from time to time (we had a damn great one on AEW Collision last weekend) but there were so common then."

[7.0] "Really good match between two of the best American wrestlers of the 70's. It was perhaps a bit slow at times, but the mat wrestling was strong and believable and there was plenty of hard hitting strikes from both. Definitely seek this one out."

[8.0] "Very enjoyable match. Having rarely seen much McDaniel matches previously, this was a treat. This was pure wrestling at its finest until the ending, where Race would seemingly pull the trunks to score the final fall. Gotta say, that blow from Wahoo early in the match, knocking Race down, got me riled up. Loved it."