Boner by Email

Paul Orndorff vs Ricky Steamboat, Halloween Havoc, 24 October 1993 (WCW)

No spoilers here. This match packs dozens of reversals in the space of twenty minutes. Dr. L emailed me the link with "The good old days" in the subject line. Hard-ons followed. I had forgotten how hot Ricky Steamboat and Paul Orndorff were. Ricky was (and still is) my age. Orndorff was born four years before us and died two years ago.

Watching this match, I'm reminded how great both these men were in their (essentially "our") heyday. It's one of those matches that force me to hit pause every seven minutes to bash one out. The sweat is copious. The muscles glisten under the hot lights. And the video reminds me why raw rage gets me hard. I could die happy and erect in Steamboat's side headlock.

Here, Orndorff and Steamboat are out to destroy each other. The crowd goes berserk and maintains a high level of berserk-ness to the end and beyond. Much as I dislike big stadium wrestling, I have to say the roar of a crowd lends a certain avalanche quality to two men fighting. The battle is grueling in and out of the ring. The ref has his hands full, trying to keep these two from killing each other. 

A couple of weeks after this match, Steamboat and Orndorff fought again, this time with different results. Steamboat retired from wrestling the next year. Fifteen years later, he returned to wrestling at local promotions and in the WWE. Orndorff retired the year after Steamboat's retirement, making sporadic appearances over the next twenty-four years. 

Thanks again to Dr. L for sharing the link to this match.