Cinematic History
By Scott Keith on 9th September 2020
Hi Scott, hope you are well.
While watching the Swole-Baker match from All Out, I began to think of cinematic wrestling matches, and particularly their history. Such mid-90s matches as the King of the Road match, the Hollywood Back Lot Brawl and the Boiler Room Brawl are obvious ancestors, but I wondered if there was anything from the territory days which would qualify as precursors as well.
The Memphis territory would be the most likely candidate, as they tended to think outside the box, and matches like the Empty Arena match and the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl feinted towards a cinematic style without actually going there. Can you think of anything, whether from Memphis or elsewhere, that would qualify as cinematic wrestling from the territory days? Not just angles like the “dastardly heels take out babyface in a parking lot” sort of thing, but actual matches, especially if they had a build for them. Just something interesting to think about.
I can't think of anything from the territories outside of the empty arena brawl, unless you consider the AWA's initial Team Challenge Series pilot to be the precursor to BOTH the Thunderdome and cinematic wrestling. But let's face it, I don't want to live in that world.