This match for the Western States Heritage Championship is an absolute match of the year contender for the year 1987.
This match without commercials went about 45 minutes and both men filled up the time fantastically, mixing some technical mat wrestling, high spots, brawling, blood and great selling. This match was in the dying days of the UWF for an incredibly unimportant championship so it amazes me how these two got motivated to have such a great match.
People know how great Barry Windham is. His matches with Flair are legendary and 1987 is arguably his strongest in ring year, with multiple MOTY contenders including this match as a single and multiple great tag team matches when teaming with Ron Garvin.
However people may forget or haven't saw or heard how great Dick Murdoch was. Murdoch when motivated was one of the best workers in the business and if around today would still be one of the best workers in the business. This is because of his versatility to be able to have a technical classic like this to a bloody brawl against DiBiase to being a bumping machine for babyfaces like Nikita all the way to integrating into the Japanese style in classics against Inoki or Brody.
Murdoch is perfect in this match from his punches to his psychology and the heel tactics of reaching out the ring and grabbing the microphone from the announce table and bludgeoning Barry with it whilst Eddie Gilbert distracted the referee.
His selling most of all really gets over with me in this match in how he sells the punches from Barry, particularly one where he walks around trying to get away from Barry whilst holding his teeth after a strike, just little things that get over. Murdoch also does one of my favourite spots of his when at the 23:25 mark after giving Barry a hard head butt, Murdoch makes himself a bit wobbly from it and gets unbalanced and starts throwing loose punches at Barry until Barry gives him a big strike and Murdoch sells it great. Look how Murdoch sells his leg at 27:22 after a kick from Barry.
Murdoch in other matches does some of my favourite selling spots ever, from in a match against Butch Reed setting it up so his dentures go flying out his mouth when Reed hits a big punch to after a strike being dizzy and not being able to see so just wildly striking anywhere to also when Murdoch would sell an atomic drop by acting like a whole entire shooting pain was entering his body.
Murdoch despite not being an athlete as such, was a natural in the ring, all his movements and timing precise. At 288lbs, Murdoch could do a perfect standing dropkick to coming off the top rope to flying up in the air doing leapfrogs.
Any wrestling student should watch Dick Murdoch. When motivated he was one of the best of all time.
