Glass Hand Dissolving: The Highflyers

 

vs Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum (AWA 7/7/1977)

Greg Gagne is kicking ass to open this match, and then he tags in Brunzell. Already, I gotta say, this seems like a great team, and this is a match from 1977, which I would guess is before they're peak. Brunzell has Duncum in a hammerlock for a good bit, before tagging in Gagne, who goes back to working the arm, this time with an old-school pro wrestling armbar. Brunzell gets back and continues working the arm. Duncum is finally able to get the tag in Lanza, but Brunzell is all over him and works over Blackjack's arm for good measure. Lanza struggles for a bit, but is finally able to whip Brunzell into the corner and tag Duncum back in. Duncum and then Lanza work over Gagne for a bit before Brunzell is able to tag in. Brunzell is game for a bit, but Lanza and Duncum take back control fairly quickly. Things go back forth for a bit. At one point, Greg Gagne is spamming superkicks like this is PWG, but things are still mostly in Lanza and Duncum's favor. Out of desperation, Gagne grabs a sleeper on Lanza, who is fighting for his life. Duncam attempts to save him, but Brunzell hits him with a dropkick and continues to run interference as Lanza fights, but eventually he passes out, and The Highflyers are new AWA Tag Team Champions. This was very good, especially for 1977. 

vs The East-West Connection (AWA 3/1/1981)

The early parts of this are mostly Gagne working over Adonis, and Adonis is game to bump all over for Gagne. Brunzell tags in, and he can't keep the same pressure on Adonis that Gagne could, and Ventura is able to tag in and takes it to Brunzell. Ventura and Adonis really take it to Brunzell, cut off the ring, make quick tags, and just don't let Brunzell get the slightest advantage, that is, until he sees a little daylight and can tag in Gagne. When Gagne gets back in, he is all over Adonis, and Adrian can't get any offense, but like Brunzell earlier, he is able to sneak in a quick tag to Ventura. Jesse is more of a match for Greg and is able to turn the tide away from Gagne. Again, Gagne gets worked over, but eventually tags in Brunzell. Jim does his damndest, but he can't really get things back in his team's court. He tags in Greg, and Greg can't really get anywhere either. Adonis works Gagne over into the corner, where Ventura grabs him and yanks both wrestlers over the top rope. We brawl on the outside, and the match gets thrown out in a Double DQ. This is good, not on the same level as the last one, but still good. 

vs Ricky Steamboat & Atsushi Onita (AJPW 6/8/1982)

Nothing about this match grabbed me, really. It is certainly an interesting match-up, as is pretty much all of the AJPW Onita, but unlike the previous two matches, where The Highflyers could work from underneath, that wasn't ever really going to be the case here. Nothing is bad; it pretty good wrestling from a technical level, but there isn't really anything for me to latch onto, except for the very end where Brunzell grabs Onita's ankle so that Gagne can pin him. Not a bad match, actually a pretty good one, just not one that resonates with me in any way. 

vs Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera (AWA 11/24/1983)

The Highflyers work over Blackwell for the early portions of this, which is pretty much a lot of armbars, but generally pretty good. Blackwell tags in Patera, and Patera gets worked over, but for him it's the leg. Patera eventually tags Blackwell in, and Blackwell knows exactly what to do: bearhug Brunzell. Blackwell and Patera take it from Brunzell here.  They double team him in the corner, work him over on the mat, and generally cut the ring off. It works, until it doesn't, and Greg Gagne is back in and on fire. Gagne gets a sleeper on Blackwell, and Crusher is fading. Patera hops in the ring to interfere, but Brunzell takes him out. Sheik Adnan gets in and attacks the ref. Gagne goes after the Sheik and removes him from the equation, from here there are no rules; everyone is brawling, and we'll get no closure. Solid, pretty good match. 

vs The Road Warriors (AWA 3/28/1985)

Over the course of these five matches, you can really see that The Highflyers have a bit of a formula; there are variations of the formula, but the matches all have a certain form. Highflyers get ahead early, lose control, get worked over, make a hot tag, and then Gagne gets the sleeper. In this case, Gagne gets the sleeper, gets Paul Ellering to interfere, the ref throws out the match, the teams brawl, and the locker room clears out to calm things down. Fine match, a Road Warriors match is always going to require a certain bit of fighting from the bottom and the less effective offense, but still good. 

Verdict

After the 1977 match, I thought this was an all-time great team. After the 1981 match, I thought that there was a chance this was a great team by the end of the five matches. I still really liked this team, but this is not one of the absolute very best tag teams of all time.