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June 2010 will focus on the Tag Teams of Wrestling. It should be interesting to see what tag teams are highlighted here. The full length PPV that was added was Starrcade 1992, a crazy team-up type show that I may get around to reviewing seeing as it is June and I’m about to start vacation and will be done with classes by June 10th.
---Week One---
This is a mix between tag team titans and terrible tag teams. Let’s see if the established teams in the first, third and fourth matches are as good as I expect and if the other two are as bad as I expect.
-Hollywood Blondes vs. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas(c) for the WCW Tag Team Titles-
These guys battled for the belts on an episode of WCW Worldwide dating back to March 26th, 1993. Jesse Ventura is doing color here and that’s always a treat to listen to. Austin and Steamboat start this off and they slug it out. Steamboat tries an O’Connor Roll-up that is reversed by Austin for a two (while Austin grabbed the tights). Austin dumps Steamboat but Ricky comes right back and he‘s pissed. He slugs away and when he’s whipped to the Blondes corner he jabs at Pillman. Douglas is tagged in and he grabs the arm of Austin. Austin pulls Douglas into the Blondes corner and Pillman lays him out with a forearm. The Blondes double-team with a kneecrusher and Pillman begins chopping Douglas in the corner. Pillman tries a figure four but Douglas pushes him off into the corner and rolls up Pillman for two. Pillman kicks at Douglas but Douglas blocks with an enzuigiri. Steamboat is tagged in and the two exchange chops in the corner. Steamboat catches a leaping Pillman with a spinebuster and a slingshot into a right of Douglas. Steamboat hits a belly to back suplex and tags in Douglas who flies in with a slingshot splash for two. Pillman comes back with a chinbreaker and we cut to break, returning with Austin and Douglas going at it. Austin is dumped after trying to work the leg and he’s suplexed back in. Austin calls for a timeout but he doesn’t get one and he’s put in an abdominal stretch. Douglas, while holding the move, tags in Steamboat who locks it in himself. Douglas comes in again but he can’t hold onto the stretch and Austin falls on top of him with an elbow. Pillman is brought in and he’s press-slammed down. Douglas slugs at Pillman in the corner and delivers a clothesline to both him and a charging Austin. Steamboat tags in, chops Pillman down and covers for two. Steamboat goes from a back suplex attempt into a slam and that gets two. Steamboat stretches out the arms of Pillman and Douglas comes off the top with an axehandle. The Blondes quickly go after Douglas but Douglas won’t go down easily. Douglas rolls up Austin but the referee is distracted by Steamboat who himself was distracted by Pillman. Pillman has a towel and he chokes Douglas with it and Douglas is in bad shape.
We head to a break and return with Douglas trying to make the tag but Steamboat was out of position. He runs on the apron to get to his partner but Pillman clotheslines him down and off the apron. Pillman tries a splash off the apron but Steamboat ducks and Pillman hits the railing. Austin charges in and chokes Douglas some more before returning to his corner. He tries a slingshot splash once tagged in but Douglas dodges that. Austin catches Douglas in a bearhug but Douglas fights back with a burst of energy. He leaps and tries for the tag but Austin catches him and drops him with a spinebuster. Austin covers for two. Douglas comes back with a back suplex but can’t tag because Steamboat was out of position again! He was just cheering on the fans that time – there was no excuse for it! The Blondes try for a missile launcher but Pillman’s splash hits the knees of Douglas. Austin tries a sit-down splash while Douglas is on the ropes but Douglas manages to evade that, too. Steamboat is tagged in and he cleans house of the Blondes. It’s bodyslams for both! Dropkicks for both! A Double Noggin Knocker! Steamboat dumps Austin over the top rope while the referee had his back turned (that would’ve been a DQ) and he superplexes Pillman. Steamboat heads upstairs and hits a crossbody off the top. He covers but Steamboat ducks out of the way when Austin comes off the top with an elbow. So Steamboat covers again and this time Austin is able to break up that pinfall. Austin is dumped and Douglas follows with a slingshot splash. Douglas is ushered back to his corner and this allows Austin to whack Steamboat in the back with the title belt, drape Pillman over Steamboat and the ref counts the pinfall at 16:58 to give the tag titles to the Blondes. This was a really good match that could’ve been great if the psychology of working Douglas’ leg was executed a bit more instead of forgotten about three minutes in. This was a lot of fun and had great pace but was just lacking to keep it from being an all-time classic. ****.
-Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy for the Vacant NWA Tag Team Titles-
This must be towards the end of the NWA Title since this match (from October 3rd 1992) appeared on an episode World Championship Wrestling. These are new titles that will be awarded to whoever wins. Windham and Williams start this one off and they tumble around the ropes a bit. Rhodes and Gordy are brought in and as we pan out the ring apron has been blurred out. I wonder why that is? These two lock-up to a stalemate. Another long view is shown and this time the apron is not blurred out. Weird. Maybe one side mentioned TBS or TNT? Rhodes elbows away at Gordy and drops a knee onto Gordy’s leg. Windham comes in and locks on a figure four only to have Gordy grab the ropes. Williams is tagged in and hits a belly to belly suplex and the two battle on the mat trying to grab the other ones arm. Gordy is tagged in and he sends Windham to the corner and follows with a clothesline. Windham is taken down too close to Dustin so he tags in his partner and Rhodes goes right after Gordy’s leg. Williams and Dustin go at it now to the complete apathy of the fans. Everyone’s sitting there quietly and announcer Ventura believes that the fans are shocked that Sting lost the world title to Vader. Dr. Death Steve Williams and Dustin battle over a front wrist lock so Williams grabs a handful of hair to turn things to his favor. Williams is rolled up for one. Dustin armdrags Williams down but into the ropes and so Dustin breaks. We’re 8 minutes in, it’s 11:00am in the morning and I’m falling asleep already. Dustin finds himself stuck in the corner and Gordy tags in and puts Rhodes in his Oriental Twist. Rhodes breaks and puts Gordy in a sleeper but Gordy wisely tags in Williams who attacks the unsuspecting Rhodes from behind. Williams locks Rhodes in a reverse chinlock on the mat. Rhodes reverses that to a chinbuster and he rolls up Williams for two. Rhodes tries making the tag but he can’t quite make it. Gordy goes to work and puts Rhodes in a Boston Crab. Windham comes in and breaks that up. Williams comes in with a powerslam for two. Rhodes is able to make the tag to Windham and he knocks Gordy off the apron and bodyslams Williams for two. A gut-wrench suplex gets two, too. Windham grabs a sleeper but Williams charges the corner and ducks down in time for Windham to post his shoulder. Gordy is tagged in and he suplexes Windham for two. Windham escapes a Gordy sleeper with a back suplex so Gordy tags in Williams. Williams gets booted in the face but Windham can’t make the tag. Gordy and Windham end up cracking heads together to set up a double DQ spot. Windham makes the hot tag to Rhodes who proves rather useless as he’s double-teamed and elbowed from behind. Williams knees Dustin but looks to actually hurt his knee in the process. He tags in Gordy and Dustin tries fighting his way out of the corner. Williams slams Rhodes from corner to corner but Windham comes in with a dropkick and Dustin falls on top of Williams for two. Windham and Gordy battle on the apron, Rhodes tries for a bulldog which is blocked and he’s pushed off into Gordy. Dustin is plastered with a lariat and that’s enough for Williams to get the pinfall at 21:07 to win the belts. This was one of the most boring matches I’ve seen in my life. The crowd was dead and there was nothing going on the ring that made me want to watch. Nothing drew me in. It was four guys lumbering around for 21 minutes. I have to ask, who were the titans in this match? It sucked. ½*.
-Hart Foundation vs. Strike Force(c) for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
Our honoring of Canadians continues! The Harts challenged for the Tag Team Titles at Madison Square Garden on January 29th, 1989. Bret and Martel start off and Bret quickly wrenches back the arm. Martel reverses to a hammerlock which is countered by Hart and he trips up Martel. Bret bodyslams Martel and armdrags him down and laughs at him with Neidhart. Hart boots at Martel in the corner but Martel leaps over a charging Hart and armdrags Hart right out of the ring and into a little rest with the Anvil and Jimmy Hart. Bret gets back to the ring and tags in Neidhart and Martel tags in Santana. Neidhart and Santana lock-up and Tito gets some jabs in before going to a side headlock. Anvil escapes with a gut-wrench takedown which Santana quickly gets out of and he goes back to the side headlock. Martel is tagged in and he continues the headlock but Hart is tagged in to break that up. Martel tries a sunset flip but Hart sits down on Martel for two. Martel works the side headlock on Bret and he wrings it in there, a lost art that shows it is no mere resthold. Tito drives an elbow into Hart off the second rope and Hart’s put in a front facelock. Bret escapes and tags in the Anvil. Anvil works over Tito and it looks like Tito is face in peril. Hart drives elbows into a prone Tito and boots him hard in the gut. Bret whips Tito to the corner and charges but finds the knee of Tito. Martel is tagged in and he dropkicks both Harts individually. Martel leapfrogs a ducking Hart but Neidhart pulls the top rope down and Martel falls to the outside. Anvil bearhugs Martel in the ring and Martel almost goes out but he’s able to fight out of it. Anvil shoulders Martel in the corner and Hart enters the ring when the ref is distracted without a tag. That’s a good heat-drawing move by the heels. Anvil comes in and wears down Martel, finishing with a bodyslam. Hart comes in with a second rope elbow and covers in a pin that is broken up by Martel. Hart suplexes Martel for two. Martel sneaks in an O’Connor roll for two. Hart responds by choking Martel in the corner. Martel fires back with lefts and Tito runs in but he never made the tag so Anvil comes in. Hart is on the apron and Neidhart is whipped to the ropes. He knocks Hart to the outside and this allows Martel to make the hot tag. Tito hits the flying forearm and covers but moves when Hart tries an elbowdrop. Martel tries the Boston Crab but Hart runs in and puts an end to that. Tito runs in and the Hart Foundation is whipped into each other. Martel tries the Boston Crab again but this time the ref is distracted by ushering Tito out of the ring. Hart takes the megaphone and whacks Martel with it (though it looked like the ref saw it). The ref calls for the bell at 18:17 and the Harts celebrate even going as far as to put the titles on. However the referee has said that the official decision is that Strike Force wins via disqualification. So the Foundation attack Strike Force after the match and Tito fights back with the belt to clear the ring. This worked the tag team formula to a T and it’s hard to mess up a match when done like this. The lack of finish protected both teams so I can understand that. This was a great match and so far there have been two awesome matches sandwiching one really bad one. ****.
-Rockers vs. Brainbusters-
This is a match from the Boston Gardens and it took place about two weeks before the previous match on January 13th, 1989. Arn and Shawn start this off and Shawn quickly grabs a headlock and Arn breaks by pulling Shawn’s hair. Shawn tries it again with the same result but this time Arn takes a run at Marty, too. Arn escapes to the outside after getting whipped to the ropes and he winds up in the arms of Jannetty. Jannetty and Arn brawl on as Shawn and Tully brawl it out as well. Arn and Tully take a breather as they admonish the referee for ignoring the punching of the Rockers. Shawn and Arn lock-up again and Arn smacks Shawn after a lock-up is broken up in the ropes. Shawn responds with punches and Shawn returns the favor when he locks up with Arn. Arn charges and is dropped with a drop toe hold. Arn tries to corner Shawn in the heel corner and Shawn quickly escapes instead of getting double-teamed which is actually a cool maneuver. Tully wrings the arm of Michaels once Shawn returns. Jannetty tags in and further damages Tully’s arm. Marty bodyslams Tully after flipping out of an armdrag and Marty armdrags Tully and holds onto the arm. Tully kicks his way to his corner and he tags in Arn. Arn decides that the Rockers gameplan was decent and he takes Marty down with a front wristlock. Marty actually bridges out of that. Tully comes in and adds pressure but Marty flips both of them out and the Brainbusters bail to the outside. Marty slugs away at Tully but tries taking a shot at Arn and he ends up in the Buster’s corner. Marty elbows out of that and both Rockers stare-off a charging Busters. The Rockers take some Busters rights and respond with ones of their own that send the Busters to the outside. Tully returns and he wants a handshake with Marty. Marty doesn’t know what to do (possibly on too much coke) so Tully boots him in the gut. Michaels tags in and sends Tully to the ropes but Arn holds his partner back and Michaels dropkick only hits air. Arn comes in and takes Michaels down hard with a shoulderblock. Arn whips Michaels to the corner but Michaels flips out of the corner and takes Arn down. Tully interjects himself and he’s slugged to the outside. Arn takes a double dropkick from the Rockers that sends him to the outside and the Rockers to the same to Tully once he makes it to the apron. Michaels tags in Marty as Lord Alfred Hayes complains that Tully is the illegal man. Marty blocks a slingshot suplex with an O’Connor roll that gets two. Marty armdrags Tully and he tries a headscissors take down but Arn catches him and basically they 3D him over the top rope. That was all done behind the ref’s back of course. Marty’s in trouble now and the Busters go to work. Marty tries slugging his way out of trouble but Tully pulls Marty by the tights and leverages him to the outside. Tully does a crazy neckbreaker type move where he busts the back of Jannetty’s neck over his knee. Marty ducks a bunch of elbowdrops and rolls to the apron and he sunset flips Tully. He doesn’t realize that Tully had tagged Arn and he’s busy covering him while Arn just casually elbows him off his partner. Marty tries leaping over Arn to tag his partner but Arn catches him and atomic drops him for two. Arn locks up Jannetty in an abdominal stretch and to really gain heat he holds onto Tully to gain leverage. Tully tags in and catches a napping Michaels with a right. Tully tries a pinfall that Marty bridges out of and reverses to a backslide for two. Tully quickly tags out and holds back Marty enough so he can’t make the tag. Arn catches Marty with a big spinebuster and covers. Shawn makes the save there. Arn tries a back drop but Marty quickly faceplants Arn to counter. Marty makes the hot tag to Shawn and Shawn really cleans house. He dropkicks Arn but is caught by Tully. They try a double suplex but Marty revives and catches Shawn leading to a stereo superkick that sends Arn reeling to the outside. Marty hits a flying fist of the shoulders of Shawn and he covers but Arn breaks up that pinfall attempt. Arn bails to the outside and Marty is ushered out of the ring. Shawn tries a suplex on Tully but he’s too close to the ropes and Arn reaches in and holds the leg. That caused Tully to land on Shawn and that’s enough for the pinfall at 15:19 (despite Shawn’s feet getting the ropes). The Rockers get some measure of revenge by slugging the Brainbusters to the outside. This was a great match. It utilized the tag-team formula perfectly (that’s like the third time I’ve said that this month!) and it really took the old-school NWA vibe which the Rockers did well in executing. There were a lot of neat spots thrown in here, too, that you don’t normally see that added an air of realism to the match. This may be on the best matches the two teams have ever done in the WWE. ****1/4.
-The Rock N’ Sock Connection vs. Undertaker & Big Show for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
They don’t mention on the main page which show this is from but it is dated August 30th, 1999. Once viewed it’s announced it is from Monday Night Raw which took place in Boston. Somehow I don’t think this will be a ****+ classic like the previous match. The Big Show is double-teamed by the Rock and Mankind to start and they do a double faceplant. Undertaker, who was on the far side of the ring, moves over to the near side. I guess he wanted to change where his team’s corner was. We get a series of punches from both teams before Mick is caught in a Big Show sidewalk slam. Big Show offers up a headbutt that sends Mick between the ropes. Undertaker gets in some cheap shots and even pulls Mankind out of the ring and tosses him into the steps. Mankind returns and he is caught in a bearhug. Mankind ends up on the outside and again Undertaker gets his shots in. Mankind is tossed into the crowd. He makes his way back to ringside and Big Show bodyslams Mankind onto the already broken table. Paul Bearer makes his way to ringside and shows the Undertaker something and the Undertaker leaves! Mick gets a cheap shot on the Big Show while the ref’s back is turned and Mankind makes the tag to Rock. Big Show comes back with a double flying clothesline. It’s a chokeslam for the Rock. Mankind grabs a chair and charges into a Big Show superkick. Big Show covers Rock but Rock kicks out at two. Big Show misses an elbowdrop and gets up right into a Mandible Claw. Big Show breaks by shoving Mankind to the corner (where the ref conveniently was hiding out). The Big Show takes a chair shot and both Rock and Mankind hit the People’s Elbow. That’s enough for the pinfall and the titles at 8:11. Now this did not work any sort of tag team formula and was for the first 7 minutes just about unwatchable. This was the WWE around this time though, where the brawling took the place of telling a story. The fans popped a lot for the Rock and his 1 minute total of wrestling, which is one minute more than the Undertaker was in the ring. ½* for the People’s Elbow.
---Week Two---
-The Samoans(c) vs. Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
This aired on Championship Wrestling way back on December 10th, 1983. This is a No-Disqualification match. The Samoans blindside the challengers to start and choke them out in the corner. Atlas and Rocky fight back and the Samoans get dumped to the outside. The crowd is popping like crazy here. Capt. Lou is the manager of the Wild Samoans and he’s at ringside right now. We take a commercial break and return with the Samoans double-teaming Rocky in the corner. See, the No-DQ rules would stipulate that Atlas can interject himself at any time. What can the ref do to them? Pat Patterson echoes my statement and says that he believes Atlas doesn’t want to be trapped in that corner. At least he gave a somewhat plausible explanation. The Samoans wear down Rocky with a nerve pinch. Rocky escapes but he can’t make the tag to Atlas. We’re back to the nerve pinch! Rocky shoulderblocks Sika down. He tries a bodyslams but Sika falls on top of him for two. Rocky makes the big tag by escaping through the legs of Sika and he cleans house. Both Rocky and Sika end up on the outside when they collide. Atlas bodyslams Afa but Afa’s foot hits the referee and he’s bumped. Albano tries to interfere and whack Atlas with a chair but he hits his own man instead and the ref revives in time for Atlas to get the pinfall and the titles at 7:54. This wasn’t what I’d call a classic match but it did what it needed to do and was helped by the crowd support. **.
-The Eliminators(c) vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Sabu for the ECW Titles-
This is a rare ECW appearance on Classics.com. This took place at ECW Heatwave on July 13th, 1996. This starts with the Eliminators beating up on Mikey who just happens to be in the ring. They talk about Sabu and they tell Mikey to get Sabu to try and take THEIR belts. Sabu obliges and we start with a slugfest. The tag champs are dumped and Perry Saturn gets on the microphone to say this will be a title match but it will be a “traditional” match. Saturn and Sabu start this off They both try for quick pinfalls but both only manage a one-count. Sabu locks on a leglock and Saturn has to make the ropes. Sabu sends Saturn to the corner and tries clotheslining him down but fails. He hits a springboard moonsault kick for two. Saturn comes back with two superkicks and Sabu responds with a bodyslam but misses his Arabian press. Saturn hits the superkick hat trick. Sabu is bodyslammed and Saturn heads upstairs – hitting a big frog splash for two. Kronus is tagged in and the two pinball Sabu around with a pair of superkicks. Kronus goes to the apron but Sabu catches him and tags in Mikey who hits a guillotine legdrop for two (although it doesn’t look like Kronus’ feet made the ropes). Saturn comes in and both are armdragged down. Sabu comes in with a high crossbody off the top and Mikey covers for two. Mikey works the arm of Kronus. Sabu comes in with a bulldog that he used by leaping of the back of Mikey. The ref gets Sabu out of the ring and this allows Saturn to come in and attack Mikey from behind. He gets a brainbuster, another superkick and a wicked lariat for two. Kronus comes in off the top to press Mikey down as Saturn suplexes him. He covers but Sabu breaks that up. Kronus connects with a pump handle press and starts wrenching the arm of Mikey. Sabu breaks that up so Saturn comes in with another arm-wrenching submission. Saturn decides to change strategies and he hits a German suplex on Mikey. He dropkicks Sabu off the apron before covering for two. Saturn sets up Mikey for a superplex but Mikey blocks it, tosses Saturn off and hits a Frankensteiner. Sabu is tagged in and he tossed a chair at Kronus and whacks Saturn with it. Sabu tries a springboard moonsault but he slipped and fell and the Eliminators must improvise. Mikey takes on Kronus, dumps him and hits a springboard frankensteiner on the outside. Sabu goes up top and jumps but is met with a Saturn dropkick for two. Sabu hits a top rope rana for two. Saturn comes back with a Tiger Bomb for two. Saturn tries a springboard leap but Saturn dropkicks him down. Sabu tries an Arabian powerbomb to the outside but (surprise!) he blows that spot. Mikey is in the ring with Kronus and Sabu tries a springboard onto Saturn. Saturn blocks and sends Sabu through the table. This allows the Eliminators to hit Total Elimination and that’s enough to end this at 11:39. This was a spotfest that failed in most parts and one thing that always bothered me about ECW was that it was just big move after big move with no story or flow between the moves. **.
-The Legion of Doom & Ultimate Warrior vs. Demolition-
This was an MSG match from September 21st, 1990 and is one of those rare matches featuring all three members of Demolition in action. Warrior is the IC Title holder here and he’s holding the white variant of the belt. Warrior and LOD issue three clotheslines to Demolition (one each) to send the heels bailing. Smash attacks Animal from behind once everyone’s in the ring and we start with the punching. As Ross would say – I don’t think we’ll see too many wristlocks here. Animal powerslams Smash for two. Crush and Hawk come in and they stalemate over a lock-up until Crush thumbs the eye. Crush gets a backbreaker and he sends an elbow to the back, possibly showing what their strategy is. Hawk clotheslines Crush but Crush is still standing so Hawk dropkicks him and that sends him down. A flying shoulderblock follows. Crush tag in Ax and Warrior comes in to a big pop. He stomps away at Ax and clotheslines him down. Both Crush and Smash interfere and both are bodyslammed. Ax is bodyslammed for good measure, too. He tries his flying splash but Ax rolls out of the way. Demolition softens up Warrior on the outside and I guess Warrior is roided-up freak in peril. Warrior’s triple teamed in the corner. The LOD try to come in but they’re tossed to the outside. The ref has lost control and Animal comes in to stop Demolition from doing anything. Warrior makes the tag to Animal and he cleans house. He tries to set up the Doomsday Device but the Demo’s put a stop to that. Animal is now caught on the wrong side of the ring and he’s caught in a bearhug. Animal breaks out of it and bearhugs Crush because why would he sell any damage to the back? Smash hits a back-suplex for two He twists the neck of Animal now, which makes no sense since his back was worked on just a minute prior to this. Ax comes in and he’s using a reverse chinlock type of hold. Crush comes in and whips Animal but Animal rebounds out with a clothesline. Animal tags in Warrior and he’s all clothesline city. A pier-six erupts. The LOD and Ax & Crush end up on the outside and Warrior ends this thing with his flying shoulderblock and his splash at 13:04. This worked the tag formula but was so boring that it couldn’t make it past the two-star mark. The psychology and pace just weren’t there for this one. *1/4.
-Harlem Heat(c) vs. The Nasty Boys WCW Tag Team Titles-
These two fought at WCW Uncensored on March 18th, 1995. Tenay is interviewing the Nasty’s before the match which he reveals will be a Texas Tornado style match. Sherri walks out with the Tag Titles but the tag champs are nowhere to be seen. A Texas Tornado match is basically a falls-count anywhere no-DQ match. Much to no one’s surprise Harlem Heat runs in from behind to attack the Nasty’s. Booker T dumps Sags to the outside before he works over Knobbs. Stevie Ray clotheslines Knobbs as the fans are completely silent. They’re so quiet that Sherri is clearly heard at ringside. Booker hits his scissor kick on Knobbs and comes off the apron with an axe-handle on Sags. Harlem Heat catch Knobbs with a spike piledriver and this match is quickly losing any semblance of something that could be considered entertaining. For some reason Sags starts no-selling Booker’s offense and this inspires Knobbs to drill Stevie with a clothesline. The Nasty’s get their hands on Sherri and she has her face driven into Sags’ armpit. Soon everyone ends up on the outside and they end up at the concession stand. Oddly enough this concession stand is off to the side of the ring and there is no one on line. It’s almost like it was set up there specifically for this match! Sags gets cotton candy rubbed in his face and that’s about all you need to know about how bad this match is. The best part is Knobbs slipping on the soda and Heenan yelling out, “Safe!” They continue brawling until the bell rings at 8:37. Of course, the pinfall or whatever was seen off-camera and the Nasty’s are awarded the titles. We see a replay of Knobbs slamming Booker down for the three-count on top of a table. This was actually beyond bad. DUD.
-The Miz & Morrison vs. Shawn Michaels & Rey Misterio-
I’ve never seen The Miz & Morrison tag together so I’m looking forward to this match. This one took place on the November 17th, 2008 Raw. We see clips earlier of Shawn attacking JBL and I wonder if that will play a part in the end of this match. Shawn and Morrison start this off with a lock-up and Michaels grabbing a side headlock. Morrison breaks and tries a leapfrog but HBK stops short and chops him down. He tags in Rey who hits a seated dropkick after HBK drop toe holds Morrison for one. Rey rana’s Morrison into 619 position but Miz trips him up to prevent that. Michaels baseball slides the Miz and takes him out with a slingshot plancha. Meanwhile, Rey takes out Morrison with a tope as we head to commercial. Somewhere in the two minute break Miz took control of the match and he’s got HBK in a sideheadlock. We miss some of the action as we go to a replay and we come back with Miz missing a dropkick off the top. Rey is tagged in and he starts with a seated senton. Rey is back dropped but lands on the apron and he knocks Miz down and boots a charging Morrison. Rey’s attention was diverted enough and Miz sends Rey into the ringpost. Morrison gets tagged in and he slugs away at Rey. Rey takes a double gutbuster from the duo and Miz stretches Rey’s side out over his knee. Rey knees out of that but gets caught in a sunset flip. Rey rolls through and dropkicks the seated Miz. Morrison is tagged in and he sends Rey hard to the corner. So hard that he covers and gets a two. Morrison puts Rey in an abdominal stretch before delivering a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster for two. Morrison tries a springboard splash but Rey counters with a dropkick to the gut. Rey is able to make the hot tag to Shawn and he slugs down Miz. He hits the flying forearm and kips up. It’s an atomic drop for Miz. Shawn bodyslams him and heads upstairs – connecting with the flying elbow drop. Shawn starts tuning up the band. He tries for Sweet Chin Music but Miz is able to block. Miz sends Shawn hard into the corner but Shawn flips out of it, clotheslines a charging Morrison on the apron and clotheslines Miz. He covers but Morrison breaks up the pin. Rey interjects and sets up Miz for the 619 which hits this time. Miz walks right into Sweet Chin Music but Morrison runs in and hits Shawn with a superkick of his own. Miz rolls on top of Shawn as Morrison takes Rey to the outside. The ref sees the pin and that’s enough to finish this at 8:02. This was a sound match. It worked the tag formula well and was done in a way that the heels were able to pick up a clean win while still resorting to their cheating ways. I felt that the control portions of the match could’ve been extended (more back and forth in the beginning) as well as the heel control section but it did the tag formula well enough to win match of the week honors. ***1/4.
---Week Three---
-Dudley Boys vs. Chris Jericho & Christian(c) vs. Booker T & Goldust vs. Lance Storm & William Regal for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
This was from the 2002 Armageddon PPV event held on December 15th. For some reason there is a picture of Bret Hart on the thumbnail promoting this match. This is an elimination match. I fully expect this to be a train wreck. A coin toss prior to the show revealed that Dudleys and the team of Lance and Regal will start the match. It is Bubba and Lance that start this off and Lance lays into Bubba with forearms. Bubba gets sent to Storm’s corner and he gets a shot in on Regal. He sends Lance to the corner and shouts, “Die Canadian Scum!” That’s not nice. He follows with a splash and Lance quickly tags in an unsuspecting Christian. He gets a double face plant for two so he bails and tags in Regal. D-von elbows William and drops an elbow for two. D-von tags in Goldust who is quickly suplexed down. Regal goes off the ropes but Christian blind tags in and he boots away at Goldy. He pounds at him in the corner and tags in Jericho. Jericho gets a decent reaction from the fans. Goldust catches Jericho’s dropkick and catapults him to the outside. Goldust brings Jericho in with a suplex and covers for two. Jericho responds with a flying forearm and tags in his teammate. Christian is shoulderblocked down and is caught trying a leap frog and gets atomic dropped. Bubba is tagged in by Goldust and they double-team the champions. They also take out the Storm/Regal team. The ref is preoccupied with getting Goldust out of the ring and they don’t see the Whazzup Drop. Soon everyone is in the ring and brawling. Everyone heads outside leaving D-Von and Christian in the ring. Christian takes a 3D but Regal made a blind tag that the ref didn’t see. So Bubba is covering Christian but doesn’t realize he’s not the legal man. So Lance Storm hits a top-rope legdrop and Regal comes in to cover. The only problem is he pulls Bubba too far up and Bubba ends up on top of him so he has to recover him to eliminate the Dudley’s at 5:15. Suffice to say everyone – Ross and Lawler included – are confused. Goldust runs in and powerslams Storm to eliminate their team at 5:31. Yes, this is a gigantic train wreck. So now Booker and Goldust are left against Jericho and Christian. Goldust hits the butt-butt on Jericho and pounds at him in the corner. Booker comes in and chops away and this is Booker’s first time in the match. He heel kicks Jericho for two. Booker works the arm of Jericho which is odd because why would he need a rest-hold when he’s done nothing this match? Jericho misses a blind charge in the corner and I realize that Christian is nowhere to be seen. Booker hits a leaping heel kick while Jericho’s held up by Goldust and here comes Christian to make the save. Jericho dropkicks the lower body of Goldust and tags in his partner. Goldust misses a flying forearm and he lands on the outside. Jericho sends him into the steps and then uses the English flag that Regal brought out to add more insult to injury. Christian hits a gutbuster and locks in an abdominal stretch. Jericho slugs away while doing some dancing but he runs right into a clothesline.
Goldust is about to make the tag to Booker but Christian runs in to knock him off the apron and keep Goldust in the ring. Christian slaps Goldust in the corner but that just angers him and he fights out and sidewalks slams Christian. His burst of adrenaline stops and he falls down. He is able to kick off Christian and he tags in Booker. Booker takes Christian off the apron, nails Jericho with a flying forearm and heel kicking Christian to the outside. Jericho sends Booker to the corner but Booker flips out of it and sunset flips him for two. Jericho comes back with chops and he tries for the Walls. Booker counters with an inside cradle for two. Booker misses the scissors kick on Jericho. Booker tries a backdrop but Jericho rolls through and hooks the Book in the Walls. Goldust runs in to make the save with a bulldog. Christian grabs a title belt and heads upstairs but Goldust knocks the ropes and Christian is crotched. Jericho dumps Goldust but is caught by Booker and sent to the same corner Christian was at and Christian has his groin punished once again. Booker heads upstairs and after knocking down Christian and pushing off Jericho he’s able to connect with a missile dropkick. Booker is sent to the corner and bulldogged on the rebound. Jericho tries a Lionsault but lands on his feet. Jericho’s flap jacked by Booker and this gives Booker the opportunity to do the spinarooni. Booker hits the scissors kick and covers but Christian interrupts the ref enough only for Booker to get a two count. Goldust and Booker dump Christian and Jericho’s able to nail Booker with the title belt and hit the Lionsault for two. Jericho gets the belt again and charges at Booker but he misses and walks into a Bookend. That’s enough to end this at 16:43 and give Booker and Goldust the Tag Titles. Coach interviews Booker and Goldust after the match. The first six minutes were a train wreck but once the two other teams were out of here (and why were they in the match to begin with?) this was quite a good tag match. It worked the formula, it had suspenseful spots where a pinfall could have happened and there was a real drama to it. If the first 6 minutes weren’t here we are looking at a near four-star match. ***1/4.
-Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito(c) vs. Chief Jay Strongbow & Jules Strongbow for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
It’s always a treat to see Mr. Fuji wrestle. This one took place at Madison Square Garden on June 28th, 1982. Capt. Lou Albano is the manager of the champs and Ivan Putski is the special guest referee. Fuji got a LOT thinner after his wrestling days were over. Either that or everyone in this match is really short. Jules and Fuji start this off and both seem a bit trepidatious at first. They lock-up and Fuji tries a chop that is blocked and countered with a tomahawk chop. Fuji kicks the leg of Jules and grabs a headlock but Jules it too close to the corner and he quickly tags in Jay. Fuji tags in Saito and Saito lays in some chops to the chest of Jay. Jay ducks an elbow, slides between the legs of Saito and gets in a chop of his own. Jay continues foiling Saito by bouncing off the ropes and sliding underneath him to deliver another chop. Jay tags in Jules without Saito seeing it and this allows Jules to come in and attack Saito from behind. He gets in a few shots but quickly finds himself in the corner. Saito charges but posts his shoulder. Jay comes in and grabs a side headlock but Saito’s close to his corner and Fuji is tagged in. He chops and boots away before locking in a deadly Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Strongbow tries fighting his way out of the corner but he can’t quite make the tag. Jay succumbs to another nerve pinch. He escapes and tags in Jules who does nothing but get caught in a nerve pinch, too. Saito connects with what looks like a side Russian legsweep for two. Saito boots away and does another legsweep for one. Fuji comes in with a nerve pinch that does nothing because Jules has tagged in Strongbow. He’s on the warpath and dancing around and shrugs off all blows until he’s booted in the gut and covered for two. Saito nails a dropkick for two. Fuji misses a splash and Jay covers for the pinfall and the titles at 9:51. Putski didn’t see that Fuji’s feet were on the ropes. I know that wrestling was different back then but this was so boring that it is inexcusable. I mean there was no pacing at all in terms of the ebb and flow of the match and the boring nature of the match killed it for me. DUD.
-Bushwhackers vs. Orient Express-
This is from the November 29th, 1990 episode of Wrestling Challenge. Who the hell decided that the Bushwhackers are Tag Team Titans? Fuji makes his second appearance of the week. The Whackers attack the Orients from behind and send them into each other. They do stereo stomps to the abdomen and stereo ass-biting spots. They double clothesline the pair of them and they parade around the rings like the idiots they are. Once the ref gets things under control the Orients double-team Butch and Butch is idiot in peril now. Butch blocks a splash with his knees and tags in Luke. They are able to fight back and connect with the battering ram but Fuji gets involved and tosses salt in Luke’s eyes to draw the DQ at 4:11. The Orients and Fuji triple team the Bushwhackers afterwards. The best part of this match was Gorilla mentioning the Gobbledygooker. DUD.
-Fabulous Freebirds vs. Butcher Vachon, Ron Shaw & Peter Doherty-
This is another MSG classic and it took place on August 25th, 1984. I never liked the Freebirds. Maybe it’s because I can’t stand Michael Hayes and where he thinks he stands in the annals of wrestling history and from the matches I’ve seen of theirs I always thought they were over-rated. The Freebirds are facing three jobbers here, although I guess calling Mad Dog a jobber is a bit inappropriate given his history and I think he’s in the Hall of Fame. He looks really old here and past his wrestling heyday. Hayes gets the fans riled up with his dancing and they’re into it, clapping along with him. Vachon misses a right at Hayes in the corner and he’s decided he’s had enough and he tags in Shaw. Hayes shoulderblocks him down and puts a boot in his face to block a backdrop attempt. He tags in Roberts and Roberts delivers a back elbow. Roberts tags in Terry Gordy and Terry press-slams Shaw after carrying him on his shoulder for a bit. Gordy tags in Doherty and he’s promptly pummeled down. Roberts comes in and grinds his boots into Doherty’s face and issues a dropkick. Doherty tags in Vachon and Vachon shoulderblocks Roberts down. He charges but is caught and bodyslammed down. Hayes is tagged in but misses an elbow drop. Mad Dog boots away and tags in Doherty. Hayes is triple-teamed in the corner but he fights out of it and scurries to his corner to make the tag to Gordy. Gordy and Vachon square off and Gordy fires at him with a flying bodypress for the pinfall at 5:40. Gorilla mentions this is a 2/3 Falls match which is news to me. Vachon and Gordy start off again and Gordy backdrops the Butcher. Gordy bodyslams him and drops a knee to his face. Gordy ends up caught in the heel corner but Doherty and Shaw miss a double clothesline and Gordy knocks them both down with a clothesline. Roberts clotheslines Shaw over the top rope and after he’s choked by Shaw he bites his face. Doherty is tagged in and Roberts finds himself in the wrong corner. He escapes and tags in Hayes. He hits a flying clothesline and pounds away at Doherty. Doherty blocks a back drop but he himself misses the follow-up leg drop. Roberts is tagged in but soon all six men are fighting it out in the ring. Vachon and Shaw are dumped and it looked like the Freebirds went for the Bad Street Bomb (a double back drop into a powerbomb) but Gordy blew the spot. So Roberts drops an elbow and covers for the pinfall at 8:43. This was better than I expected and I can admit that. This was an extended jobber match that got the Freebirds over to the crowd. **.
-Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz-
This is a Ladder Match from No Mercy 1999 (October 17th) that really set the stage for their big TLC matches that followed. I feel like I’ve seen this match recently but I’m probably getting it confused with another Hardy/E&C Match. This is a ladder match and it is the fifth and final match of the Terri International Tournament to decide who gets Terri’s managerial services. There’s a bag with $100,000 that the teams are trying to reach. E&C start early by attacking the Hardy’s and they go for the ladder’s. The Hardy’s catch them and bring them back to the ring sans ladder. Edge is whipped into Matt and spears him while Christian is whipped into Jeff and he’s there with a clothesline. They leave for the ladders again and again the Hardy’s catch them. The Hardy’s elbow down Edge and Christian and they tell their manager, Gangrel, to get the ladders. The ref stops him from doing that and ejects him from ringside. Meanwhile, Jeff is backdropped to the outside, Edge is clotheslined to the apron and Edge dropkicks Jeff from the apron and right onto the ladder. Matt follows up with a clothesline from the apron. Matt gets the ladder but he is met by a leaping Christian who had springboarded from the corner. Christian sets up the ladder and starts to climb but Jeff is there and tosses him off. He climbs but he’s tossed off by Edge. He’s tossed down when Matt knocks the ladder over. Christian also drives Jeff into the corner with the ladder and follows by running up the tilted ladder with a dropkick. The ladder is set up in the corner, Matt is sent into the ladder but E&C miss their version of Poetry in Motion. Jeff sets up the ladder but is taken off with a reverse DDT from Christian. Christian climbs up but is dropped off thanks to a Matt back suplex. Matt climbs up and he’s powerbombed off by Edge. Edge starts to climb and he’s knocked off by Jeff who just flew off the top with a missile dropkick. Edge is placed on top of the ladder and Jeff hits the Swanton on Edge. Christian is double-teamed and chipped into the corner where the ladder is and the Hardy’s are able to hit Poetry in Motion. The two Hardy’s hold the ladder up and clothesline Christian down with it.
The crazy spots continue with Jeff leaping off the top, over the ladder, and hitting a legdrop. Jeff puts the ladder on top of Christian and Matt hits a moonsault off the top onto Christian. Edge makes his return with another ladder to take out Matt and then he takes Jeff off the other ladder by hitting him with the ladder he had! Edge sets up one of the ladders in the corner, sets Matt there and catapults Jeff into him. Edge starts to climb by he’s knocked off when Matt tosses the other ladder into him. The Hardy’s try to clothesline Edge with the ladder but he ducks and Christian comes off the top with a crossbody to the ladder that takes out the Hardy’s. Matt’s set up in the corner with his legs out in a V and so E&C drive the ladder into him and then dropkick it into him. Jeff is sandwiched between the ladder and the ladder is slammed down ten times. Edge finishes this by slamming Christian on top of Jeff. Matt is flap jacked into one of the ladder’s in the corner and now E&C set up both ladders. Jeff gets up and catches Christian with a Twist of Fate and both he and Edge climb up the two ladders. Edge sees this and drops the two of them with a downward spiral. Edge climbs back up again and this time he’s caught by Matt who takes him off the ladder with a neckbreaker. Jeff and Christian climb and they get to the top and Christian manages to hiptoss him off. Edge grabs a ladder and whams it into Matt’s face and Matt’s dumped to the outside. E&C set up the two ladders, with one open lying down and one set up as a fulcrum. They were planning a superplex but Matt is able to break that up. Matt and Christian battle it out and Jeff does a seated senton to the edge of the ladder that was set up and it catapults up into the faces of Christian and Matt. Everyone gets to a vertical base around the same time and both ladders are set up. All four climb up the ladder together and all four tilt off the ladder. Jeff and Christian are crotched on the top rope, Edge falls to the ring and Matt tumbles to the outside. They all get up slowly and they head up the ladders. Edge and Matt are squared off, as are Jeff and Christian. Edge knocks Matt off and he falls off but not before hitting the other ladder on the way down. Christian falls off but Jeff leaps to the other ladder, knocks Edge off and is able to grab the money at 16:10. This was a crazy spotfest and although they’d have much better ones this is still great to watch. The ending seemed bit too contrived but it had crazy spots that hit and this was really groundbreaking for the time. ****.
---Week Four---
We end Tag Team Titans with a lot of old-school tag action. Every match is from the 80’s here and that’s got me pumped. A new thing I noticed this month is that each match has a rating next to it. I think WWE is going full-blown in the TV-PG environment and that’s what every single one of these matches are. I wonder if blood will no longer be shown on here.
-Road Warriors vs. Magnum TA & Ron Garvin-
This is from the 1986 NWA Crockett Cup and took place on April 18th. This is actually the finals for the Crockett Cup and the winner will receive not only the cup but one million dollars. Every time I hear that sum of money I can only think of Austin Powers. Jim Ross is calling the action with Animal and says this is from April 19th, although the WWE Classics.com website states April 18th. This must’ve been from a DVD to warrant the added commentary. Animal and Magnum start off with Magnum getting hiptossed over. Magnum and Animal battle over an armbar with Magnum coming out on top. Garvin comes in with a front chancery but Animal is able to tag in Hawk. Garvin chops Hawk but that doesn’t do anything but anger him and make his chest red. Hawk boots away at Garvin in the corner before snapmaring him over and grabbing a reverse chinlock. Hawk press-slams Garvin but misses a flying headbutt. Garvin small packages Hawk for two. Magnum is tagged in and he lays into Hawk, dropkicking him for two. Magnum locks on a front chancery and Hawk is able to make it to his corner and tag in Animal who clubs the back of Magnum. Animal boots at the back of Magnum and follows that up with a bearhug. That’s actually a good piece of psychology there to work the back. Magnum elbows out of it but Hawk is tagged in and gut-wrench suplexes Magnum over for two. Hawk turns a gut-wrench into an overhead backbreaker and then drops down to break it over his shoulder. He covers for two. Hawk boots Magnum down, tags in Animal and Animal puts a knee to the back of Magnum to continue focusing on the weakened spine of Magnum. Animal powerslams Magnum and boots his back some more but Magnum comes back with a belly to belly suplex. He covers and Hawk has to break up that pin. Garvin is tagged in but the fans don’t really pop for that because the Warriors were much more over than Garvin and Magnum. Garvin and Hawk exchange headbutts and Garvin tries an abdominal stretch that Hawk breaks free of. Garvin slugs at Hawk with his injured right hand and he immediately start selling it. Animal is tagged in and he clotheslines Garvin down. He covers and that’s enough for the pinfall at 9:49. This match presented a unique dynamic we haven’t seen so far this month and that is two face teams duking it out. The tag formula was present and it worked well except up to the hot tag portion. Magnum tagged out but the fans weren’t excited to see Garvin. The match was psychologically sound with the Warriors working the back of Magnum and the injury of Garvin resulting in the appropriate finish. The crowd wasn’t feeling this one and I think it took away a bit of my enjoyment of the match. Still I liked the pace of the match and the finish. ***1/2.
-The Fantastics & Steve Sampson vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll RPM’s & Eric Embry in a Scaffold Match-
This is a WCCW match from May 3rd 1987. Scaffold Matches usually stink but this one is short and I hope it’s okay. The match starts while the ring announcer is still reading the stats of the team. It starts with all three guys lying down on the scaffold trying to push someone off. Embry teases going off in the early goings and while the guys are up on the scaffold you can see all the empty seats in the arena. I’ll be honest with you: I don’t know who any of these wrestlers are. I’ve heard of the teams but I’m not familiar with them having not watched WCCW as a kid. I’ve watched their DVD but not much else. According to sales report I’ve seen on the net I may have been one of the few people who saw the WCCW DVD. So people are still prone on the scaffold as others are fighting on the ladder leading up to the scaffold. My initial apprehension of what would occur in this match is realized as it is all punching and kicking. Embry holds up Fulton to have salt tossed in his eyes but Fulton ducks and it gets in the eyes of Embry instead. Embry holds on by his hands but the face team wisely stomps his hands and he falls off at 5:19 and the footage cuts out very quickly after that. This is a match built on one big spot but everything leading up that spot is almost inconsequential. The pointless lying around and kicking and stomping don’t really do much for me as a fan. I just find them really boring. I’ll give it slightly better than a dud just because the ending made sense with them stomping Embry’s hands to make him fall. ½*.
-Rock N’ Roll Express vs. Rick Rude & Manny Fernandez for the NWA Titles-
World Championship Wrestling was the home to this match and it took place on December 6th, 1986. The Rock N’ Roll Express were the team that really played the tag team formula to perfection. Manny and Morton start off with Morton getting a quick cross body for two. We get a close-up of Manny’s forehead and it is a mess. This guy must’ve bladed like every week for it to look like that. Manny flips out of the corner when whipped into it but Morton is on top of things and delivers a back elbow that pisses off Manny. Manny charges and he’s backdropped and Morton gets in a cheap shot on Rude. Gibson is tagged in to take on Rude and Rude swings away with elbows. Gibson escapes and dropkicks Rude a few times and later sends a charging Manny into his teammate. Manny and Rude take a breather before Rude and Gibson restart things. Rude leapfrogs Gibson and tries a monkey flip but Gibson casually drops a fist onto the prone Rude’s head. The RNR Express starts working on the arm of Rude. Rude tries armdragging out of it but Morton holds on at the expense of his injured and taped arm. Morton tags in Gibson and Rude is able to tag in Manny. Manny headbutts Gibson and snapmares him over. He tries a second rope elbow that misses the mark. The Express now start working on Manny’s arm. Manny gets increasingly frustrated with how things are turning out and we take a break as Manny and Morton square off. We return with Morton hitting a crossbody for two and then grabbing the arm of Manny. The fans chant, “break it Ricky, break it” which is a somewhat original idea from the fans at ringside. Ricky doesn’t break it and tags in Robert Gibson instead. He’s quickly subdued and Rude is tagged in. They start working on the leg of Gibson that had been injured prior to this match. Rude stretches out the knee in a sort of crossbow and the two heels really draw the ire of the fans by not tagging in. Gibson fires back with an enzuigiri on Manny but Gibson can’t find his corner. Rude barrels in and stretches out the leg some more. Gibson comes back with a back drop and he’s able to limp his way to his corner to tag in Morton. Morton fires away at Manny and backdrops him. Manny immediately goes after the arm of Morton and we head to another break. We return with the challengers softening up the arm of Morton. Morton gets bodyslammed down on top of his arm by Rude and Rude heads all the way to the top and hits a fist-drop for two. Morton fights back on Rude but his charge in the corner was a misguided idea because Rude ducked out and it looked like Morton just rammed his bad arm into the corner. The heels double-team Morton as the announcer (clearly a face homer) nearly blows a gasket. We take another break with Morton in a lot of trouble. We return and Morton REMAINS in a lot of trouble. Morton gets a second wind and slugs away at Manny but the elbows of Manny are greater than Morton’s second wind and Morton is back down on the mat. Morton is dumped to the outside where Rude sends Morton arm-first into the steel ringpost. Manny and Rude’s manager gets a cheapshot in, too. Rude continues softening up Morton in the ring and this is going on quite a while. I don’t think that enough suspense is building. I think some fake tags could’ve been made where Morton ALMOST makes the tag but can’t quite make it or the ref doesn’t see it to really add interest to the extended heel portion. We take another break and that has to be the last one. Morton atomic drops Rude out of nowhere and he’s finally able to make the tag to Gibson. He backdrops Manny, dropkicks him and catches him in a sleeper. Rude breaks that up so Morton dropkicks Rude down. The ref guides Ricky back to his corner as Gibson rolls up Manny. Rude delivers a clothesline to Gibson that allows Manny to roll through that, grab the tights and get the pinfall and the titles at 31:18. We get an interview with the new tag champs after the match. I mentioned some of my thoughts on the match above. I just felt that not enough intrigue was built into the face in peril portion of the match. This was still an excellently executed match but it was just a little boring in some parts. ***1/2.
-British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation-
This is from an episode of All-Star Wrestling that aired on May 17th, 1986. This is listed as a criminally short 6 minutes. The Bulldogs were tag champs at the time but this is non-title. Bret and Davey Boy start off and they would main event Summerslam just 6 years later. Davey Boy catches a Bret boot, spins him around and atomic drops him right into a Dynamite head-butt. Dynamite chops away at Bret in his corner and sends him into Davey’s boot. Bret escapes and tags in the Anvil and the two powerhouses are in the ring. Neidhart tries a bodyslam but Davey blocks and bodyslams Neidhart. Dynamite is tagged in but is quickly overpowered by Neidhart. Neidhart hoists Dynamite over his knee and Bret hits a second rope elbow to the throat of Dynamite. Bret is tagged in and slugs at Dynamite in the corner. He even throws in a some European uppercuts and some Canadian stomps. There’s no difference between a Canadian stomp and an American stomp I might add. I just thought the commentary needed some extra flavor. Stomps seem so pedestrian following European uppercuts. Dynamite dodges a second rope elbow from Bret and tags in Davey. Davey hits the running powerslam and covers but Neidhart breaks up the pin. Dynamite comes in but is ushered out by the ref. The Harts hit their Hart Attack and Bret covers but the ref calls the whole thing off at 4:29. The Bulldogs win because of a DQ. This was way too short but incredibly action packed and I’m biased towards both teams so this one is *** in my eyes. Had this had more time and had Dynamite played face-in-peril leading to the Bulldog hot tag and this same ending it would’ve been about **** easy.
-Steiner Brothers vs. Fabulous Freebirds for the NWA Title-
This is a World Championship Wrestling match from November 18th, 1989. Scott and Hayes start off and Hayes grabs a side headlock as the fans tell the Freebirds that they are sissy’s. Yes, things were much more innocent back in the 80’s. In the WWE era they’d probably be called faggots. Hayes sunset flips Scott for two and Hayes is distracted by being called a sissy. We even get a shot of a grandma calling them sissy’s. That’s too funny. Hayes misses a flying bodypress and Scott takes this opportunity to net a hat trick of bodyslams. The coup de grace is a dropkick that sends Hayes to the outside. Hayes takes a breather and returns and quickly pushes Scott to his corner. Garvin is tagged in but Scott escapes and tags in Rick. Rick grabs the arm of Garvin and bites it. Rick leapfrogs Garvin and lays him out with a clothesline. Of if you’re Jim Ross calling the match – a Steinerline. Does that work for every move? It’s a Steinerslam! A Steinerlock! Rick grabs a side headlock and reverses a hiptoss into one of his own. Garvin grabs a side headlock and tags in Hayes but Garvin’s in right away with a clothesline for two. Hayes and Garvin have Rick playing the face in peril. They toss him to the outside and pummel him. Rick is still in the ring and Hayes holds onto a sleeper. Rick fights out of it with a belly to belly suplex but Rick escapes to his corner and tags in Rick. That was an anti-climactic tag. Scott hits an overhead release suplex for two. Scott hiptosses him and Woman makes her way to ringside. Woman had been distracting the Steiners in the storyline. We cut to break and return with Hayes laying into Scott on the outside. Scott is in trouble here and the Freebirds keep him isolated from his corner. They get some near falls on him and Hayes weakens Scott with a bodyscissor/chinlock combination. Steiner comes back with a clothesline on Hayes but he can’t make the tag. Scott faceplants Hayes and rolls to his corner but Garvin is able to block the tag. Steiner reverses a whip to the corner and he backdrops Garvin on the rebound. Hayes comes in without a tag and bodyslams Scott. Hayes goes for the figure-four but Scott counters with a small package for two. Hayes decides to work in a side headlock because he possibly can’t be rolled up from that before abandoning that to tag in Garvin. Garvin gets booted down when he tries a back drop and Rick is tagged in. He clotheslines Hayes and pounds at him in the corner. Hayes is caught in an overhead release suplex and Rick covers. Garvin breaks up that pinfall which draws in Scott. Scott and Rick collide which doesn’t lead anywhere. The ref ushers Scott out of the ring and Rick hits a big powerslam. He covers but moves out of the way upon seeing Garvin coming off the top. Garvin hits Hayes by mistake and Rick is able to take advantage of that and get the pinfall and the titles at 17:12. It’s always great to see the tag formula executed like this. It’s hard to mess up a match like this that has the heel portion of controlling the face that leads to that big tag and the conclusion. I didn’t understand the Scott and Rick collision (maybe a blown spot) but everything else I enjoyed. ***3/4.
-The Bottom Line-
I guess we’ll look at this week by week. Week One was really an example of all or nothing. There were two terrible matches. I mean they were drop-dead boring. On the plus side there were three ****+ matches. It’s really interesting that the matches with real tag team legends (the Brainbusters vs. the Rockers, Hart Foundation vs. Strike Force and Blondes vs. Steamboat/Douglas) were all exceptional and they all shared something in common: it worked the tag team formula. The formula I mentioned usually looks like this: heels and faces exchange control for a while until one of the faces becomes trapped in the heel corner becoming the face in peril. The heels work him over using every cheap heel trick they can and the fans eat it up. Then the face will make the hot tag to his partner who cleans house and a pinfall is garnered shortly afterwards. All three had that formula and the matches were great. The other two were just a mess and had no flow to it. Each team just did some wrestling moves that went nowhere until the last minute. Again, those two bad matches featured pairings of people that weren’t real tag-teams that lasted.
Week Two took a big dip in quality. The early 80’s match was about as good as could be and to my surprise was the second best match of the week. The ECW match was the same rating but too many blown spots make it a lower ** match than the other one (if that makes any sense). The WCW match wasn’t worth watching and the six-man was too slow to be really acceptable wrestling. The only standout match was the last one and even that was tame compared to the greatness of week one. I hoped for some more classic matches the next week. Week Three saw one awesome match (the Ladder Match) and one really good match (the Four-team elimination match). The other ones were just a joke and almost not worth the time to watch. Still, there is a huge variety in the matches shown from all eras and all promotions so there’s nothing too bad to complain about, yet. The last week really restored my faith in the service. Showing classic 80’s matches like these are just gold. Even the bad match – the scaffold match – brought us some rare WCCW stuff so I can’t bitch about that! There were four ***+ matches and that’s enough to make me satisfied. I love how people complain about this service and although things have dropped off a little think about what you’re getting. There’ve been 20 matches this week for $4 that you won’t find anywhere else, 2 episodes of Raw, WCW Saturday Night, Superstars and Wrestling Challenge, a full-length PPV and three special features. There’s a lot of great stuff here and by my count 8 of the matches here were *** or higher, with a few in the **** territory. That’s a good bit of wrestling. I wasn’t excited about Tag Team Titans when it came out because I usually don’t like tag matches but this month really showed some of the best that these types of matches had to offer.
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