The Single File #21
Posted: 10/07/01

When Terry Gordy passed away on July 16th of this year, the news was met with much sadness in the wrestling world, but not a lot of shock. After all, Gordy had clinically died twice before; the third time he just stayed that way.

If you've only watched American wrestling, you may have seen Gordy in several phases:

1. As a member of the legendary Fabulous Freebirds with Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts. The team is largely credited with popularizing entrance theme music and introducing vignettes to wrestling television, as well as having one of the all-time great wrestling feuds (in terms of drawing money and drama) with the Von Erichs in Texas.
2. Beating "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in a tournament final to become the first champion for Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation in 1986, at the time the #3 title in the country.
3. He and tag partner Steve Williams receiving a monster push in WCW in 1992 (under Bill Watts) that saw them go over the Steiners several times and win both the WCW and NWA Tag Titles shortly after their arrival.
4. A quick run in ECW in 1996 that saw him take on Bam Bam Bigelow and Raven. Watching these matches recently, it's amazing the smoke-and-mirror job Paul E. pulled to cover up Gordy's deteriorating condition. Overbooking, out of the ring brawling, and short matches (world title match with Raven that lasts 6½ minutes?) made Gordy look like a viable competitor again, which lead to…
5. An embarrassing and disastrous 1996 run in the WWF as the Executioner, which resulted in a truly hideous match against the Undertaker at In Your House XII. (1)

Notice the downward slope of Gordy's career? You can attribute that to a bum knee he suffered early in his career as well as a tendency for very hard partying. Gordy suffered overdoses in 1990 and 1993, and both times his heart stopped beating. Both times he was revived, but after the second OD he suffered brain damage and was left a shell of his former self. The last few years have seen Gordy wrestling sporadically in indies until his untimely death. 

But when Gordy was in his prime, he was an amazing worker, easily one of the best "big men" to ever compete. He achieved legendary status in All-Japan, where he and Steve Williams held the AJPW International Tag Titles 5 times, and Gordy himself was a 2 time Triple Crown Winner (2).

We'll be paying tribute to Gordy with a look at a tag match against Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon (3). I was a huge Furnas mark when he had a cup of tea with WCW in 1990, but then he quickly disappeared. Well, it turns out that he went to Japan and formed a very successful tag team with Phil Lafon, as they won the All Asia Tag Titles five times. You may remember them from a run they had in the WWF from late 96-97, where they had some great matches with the British Bulldog and Owen Hart. They later had a run in ECW and eventually returned to Japan. So, today we look at two of my favorite tag teams going at it in Japan.

Who: "Dr. Death" Steve Williams/Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy vs. Doug Furnas/Phil Lafon
When: Late '91?
Where: Somewhere in Japan

Backstory: Umm, well, that's a little tricky. I found this match at the end of a tape without rhyme or reason. I think it may be from the '91 Real World Tag League (4), but I'm not sure. Compounding the problem is a lack of audio on the tape (not that I speak Japanese). So I'm really in the dark, but we can be certain there's no elaborate angle behind this. Japanese wrestling doesn't focus on heel-face alignment, so it's not like Williams and Gordy have been stalking Lafon's wife or anything.

The Match: We join a minute or so in, as Williams has Lafon in a bearhug, but Lafon pokes the eyes to escape. Williams swings blindly, but Lafon easily dodges and dumps the big man outside the ring. Lafon heads to the floor and lays some forearms into Williams back. Furnas joins his partner and they whip Williams into the guardrail, but Doc rebounds and flattens Lafon with a clothesline (Furnas having [wisely] returned to the ring). Williams grabs a Japanese table and Lafon takes off (cue Benny Hill theme). Williams give half-hearted chase and eventually throws the table in disgust. Lafon gets in back in the ring, and Williams attempts to do the same, only to be met with a forearm from Lafon. Lafon shoves Williams into the corner and lays in four chops. He tries a cross corner whip, but Doc reverses and Lafon slams chest first into the corner and sells it like he's dead. Doc covers and gets a 2 count. I should point out that Williams has the Grim Reaper on his trunks, and it looks really silly.

Williams tags in Gordy, who comes in and lays in some shots on Lafon, but Phil manages to fight back and nail a jawbreaker. Lafon tries a slam, but Gordy blocks it, and then Gorilla Presses Lafon with ease. Gordy holds him up for a few seconds, then dumps him to the mat. Gordy covers, but only gets 2. Tag to Doc, who comes in and levels Lafon with a clothesline. Williams slaps Furnas on the apron, and Doug comes in but gets held back by the referee. Williams uses the opportunity to stomp a mudhole in Lafon, then covers for a 2 count. Doc then segues into a front chancery as Furnas tries to get the crowd behind his team. With no audio, I don't know if he was successful. Lafon tries to escape the front chancery by elbowing out, but Doc counters with an eye rake. Doc then scoops up Lafon and slams him…dare I say?…with authority. Williams then tries a running football tackle, but Lafon ducks and Williams actually sails outside the ring. Doc manages to crawl back into the ring as Lafon uses the opportunity to tag in his partner. Furnas comes in and nails Williams with some forearms, then hits a nice powerslam. He covers, but Gordy comes in and breaks up the pin. Furnas follows up with some stiff forearms that send Doc into the corner, then whips Williams to the opposite corner. Furnas tries to follow up with a monkey flip, but before he can complete the move, Gordy gets in the ring, grabs him, and hits a backdrop suplex. Williams covers, but only gets two. Doc kicks a field goal on Furnas' ribs, then tags in Gordy.

"Bam Bam" comes in and sends Furnas into the corner and immediately follows with a clothesline. Furnas slumps to the mat and Gordy covers, but Lafon comes in and breaks up the pin (and nearly trips over the ref). Gordy gives Lafon the evil eye before turning his attention back to Lafon. Gordy slams Lafon and drops an elbow. He goes for a cover, but Lafon again breaks up the pin, this time by punching Gordy in the head seven times. Gordy gives Lafon a shove, and Furnas uses the opportunity to roll Gordy up for a two count. 

Furnas is still pretty beaten up, so Gordy grabs him and rams his head into Doc's outstretched boot. Doc gets the tag, lays in some chops, and then flattens Furnas with another clothesline. Doc lays the verbal smackdown on Lafon in the corner, and Lafon actually makes a weak attempt to get in the ring. You sense he doesn't want anything to do with Dr. Death? Anyhoo, while the ref is ushering Lafon back to his corner, Williams and Gordy use the opportunity to hit a nasty spike piledriver on Furnas. Gordy goes for a cover, but Lafon's in immediately to break up the pin. Gordy then mauls Furnas with punches and chops. Furnas tries to fight back, only to be met with a vicious chop that sends him to the mat. Gordy covers, but this time Furnas is able to kick out on his own. Furnas tries to get to his feet, but Gordy unceremoniously dumps him outside, where Doc is waiting to lay in some kicks. Doc rams Furnas into the guardrail and lays a forearm shot to the back. Then Lafon comes running out of nowhere and lays in a Lance-Storm-level (5) chairshot to Doc. Williams (rightfully) shrugs this off eyerakes Lafon, then sends him shoulder first into the steel post. Doc then dumps Furnas back into the ring where Gordy is waiting. 

Gordy sends Furnas into the ropes and tries an elbow, but Furnas ducks and hits a cross body on the rebound. He hooks the leg but only gets two. Gordy shrugs off the moves and sends Furnas into the ropes, then hits a dropkick. He covers, but again Lafon comes in and breaks up the pin. Gordy makes the tag to Williams, and the two send Furnas into the ropes a hit a double-clothesline. Williams lays in some punches on the downed Furnas, then picks him up by his hair. He sends Furnas into the ropes, but when Doc tries a backdrop, Furnas counters with a sunset flip attempt. "Attempt" being a key word, as Doc punches out to break the hold. Williams with another cover, but Furnas kicks out at two. Doc, realizing that pinfalls won't work, slaps on an Indian Deathlock, then segues into a bow-and-arrow submission. Doc makes the tag to Gordy, who comes in and prevents Furnas from doing the same. Man, Furnas has an enormous wedgie by this time in the match. 

Gordy nails another brutal clothesline on Furnas (hey, that's All-Japan for ya), then slaps on a Scorpion Deathlock/Sharpshooter. But Lafon manages to nail a second-rope double ax-handle to break the move. Doc gets tagged in and again prevents Furnas from making the tag. Doc then nails a Soviet Suplex on Furnas and gets another 2 count. Doc picks up Furnas and nails some stiff punches. He sends Furnas into the ropes and tries a back bodydrop, but Furnas reverses with a kick to the head. Doc is dazed, but still alert enough to grab Furnas' leg so he can't make the tag. Williams shoves Furnas into the corner and executes a cross corner whip. He tries a football charge, but Furnas explodes out of the corner and nails Doc with a clothesline. Furnas finally makes the tag to Lafon. Phil comes in and nails Doc with a savate kick, then follows up with one to Gordy on the apron. Lafon grabs Doc and actually hits a nice snap suplex, then covers for a two count. Furnas picks up Doc, sends him into the ropes, and nearly decapitates Williams with a diving clothesline. Lafon then attacks Gordy on the apron again, this time with a diving forearm shot. Gordy has had enough and tries to come in, but the ref will have none of it. Lafon then locks a sleeper hold, of all things, on Doc but Williams counters with a jawbreaker. 

Both men slowly get up and tag their respective partner. Furnas manages to surprise Gordy with several forearm shots. He sends Gordy to the ropes and nails a bee-youtiful dropkick, then nails Doc with another dropkick. Furnas attacks Gordy in the corner, but gets nailed in the back by Williams. Gordy grabs Furnas and nails a folding powerbomb, but Lafon immediately breaks up the pin. Doc nails Lafon with a shoulderblock that sends the Canadian flying out of the ring like he was shot out of a cannon. While Williams goes after Lafon, Gordy tries another cover, but Furnas kicks out at two. Gordy tries a slam, but Furnas manages to counter with a small package for a near fall. But Furnas is too spent to capitalize on the momentary advantage, and Gordy nails him with another clothesline and gets a veeeery long 2 count. Doc comes back in the ring, they send Furnas to the ropes, double boot to the gut, and finally a stuff powerbomb. Gordy covers, Williams cuts off Lafon, 1-2-3 (13:04 shown). Williams and Gordy get their hands raised and promptly take off. Maybe Gordy wanted to make happy hour at the saki bar.

Didja notice how differently structured this was from a U.S. tag match? There was no "hot tag," because as stated above, there are no real faces or heels in Japan, so you couldn't really build sympathy by having one wrestler get beaten on for a while. Certainly there are times when one wrestler gets pounded on for an extended period of time, but when they finally make a much-needed tag, it lacks the dramatic impact of a U.S. match. Plus AJPW tags can last up two an hour, which would mean whoever was "playing Ricky Morton" would have to receive a beating for over a half-hour. Not exactly feasible.

Anyway, if this was an NFL game, the time of possession stat would have been largely in favor of Williams and Gordy. They just really dominated the match. And it wasn't that Lafon and Furnas looked bad, but rather that Williams and Gordy were really too big and powerful. Furnas and Lafon had to rely on their speed, borderline cheating, and some power of their own, but in the end Williams and Gordy were just too much. That make any sense?

Fallout: Williams and Gordy went on to win the RWTL in '91 and repeated in '92. Williams had runs in ECW, the WWF, and WCW before returning to AJPW. Furnas and Lafon had WWF and ECW runs as well, before finally returning to Japan as well. There may be another Gordy competing overseas, as Terry's son Ray has been scouted by Mitsuharu Misawa and may start with the NOAH group this year. If he does, he'll have a very large reputation to live up to.

That'll do it for now. I'll be back eventually with another TSF or a No Mercy preview. See you then.

Joe Gagne
bwo@telegram.infi.net

Endnotes:
(1) Gordy also had runs in Smoky Mountain and the Global Wrestling Federation, as well as runs in territories like Georgia and Louisiana.
(2) Although his two Triple Crown runs lasted a combined 13 days, making him the Mick Foley of All-Japan.
(3) Lafon competed under the name Dan Kroffat in Japan, but reverted to his real name when he began competing in the WWF. We'll refer to him as Phil Lafon in this article for simplicity's sake.
(4) The Real World Tag League is an annual All-Japan event where 8 tag teams would enter a round-robin tournament, accumulating 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie, and none for a loss. After every team has fought each other once, the 2 teams with the most points wrestle each other in a final match to determine the winner.
(5) At the first ECW PPV, Lance Storm delivered two of the worst chairshots in history in his match with Rob Van Dam.

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