The Hornet v. Bobby Blayze

 

I am tempted to nominate this soley because of the finish with Blayze reversing a Hornet move and hitting a Northern Lights with Curtis crawling underneath the bridge and counting the fall with each movement. Unfortunately the rest of the match wasn't as good. Not to say this was bad because it wasn't. I liked some of Blayze's offense and Hornet's big leap to the floor looked good. They had some rough spots though and Hornet's control segment wasn't very compelling.

 

The Moondogs v. The Bruise Brothers

 

Well the pace was decent I guess. Other than that I really have nothing good to say about this at all.

 

Chris Candido v. Tracy Smothers

 

Pre-match they do a gimmick with Candido coming out with a New Jersey certified scale to prove that Smothers was to big to challenge for the title. Tracy makes weight and then explodes after a skin the cat spot with a barrage of backfist knocking Candido to the floor. God damn Candido is awesome bumping for all of Smothers spots and he brings pretty much everything he's got. Loved the spot with Candido working his chops and Smothers just brushes them off and drills Candido with substantially stiffer shots of his own. They work a lot of the same spots in their matches, but they are executed so well that you don't give a shit and they always mix things up. Candido takes an insane bump off of an inside out suplex where literally disappears off the screen due to the camera angle which makes it even nastier looking. There is a great reset spot with Smothers leapfrogging over a corner charging Chris which feeds into a rope running spot and an eventual Candido powerbomb. It really is amazing to watch how these guys change speed as they run the whole gamut in an entire match and nothing ever seems sloppy or ever loses you. Candido is particularly great at taking bits and pieces of offense and transitioning back after a missed Tracy spot without making it look cornball or weak or ineffective. There are so many reversals in this and yet they look so sharp. Loved Candido's big corner bump and weeble wobble selling even after taking back over on offense. God damn there is so much good stuff in this it is impossible to call it all. Candido cupping his ears and egging on the crowd after a top rope frankenstiner was a good way to set up the fired up Tracy comeback which Candido pinballed very well for. Tracy has Candido on the ropes after numerous forearm shots from several different angles (seriously he hits him with about four or five consecutive variations of this from all over the ring area) when Candido takes the scale and hits him with it for three. These guys had a routine but it was a great routine and ever match gets better and better. Really wish these guys would have been allowed to have a broadway somewhere.

 

The Heavenly Bodies v. Rock N Roll Express

 

Pre-match is great as Cornette is forced to be hung above the ring on a gigantic chord of some sort. This starts off slow and the first big pop spot is a double exposure spot on the Bodies which leave them freaking out. Lots of solid spots building to the inevitable Ricky FIP which comes after a sharp looking DDT. God damn Morton sells punches better than anyone ever as he clutches his face like he just ate a shotgun shell at point blank range. Rather than control Ricky with body blows and big moves, they opt for stretching with several submissions that I thought looked good and came across as something fresh. Ricky's build to th ehot tag is awesome here. Cornette ends up dropping a gimmick into the ring from above for the finish. This was good but didn't blow me away.

 

Dirty White Boy v. Brian Lee (Chain Match)

 

I didn't think this was as good as there other chain match. Seemed rush, there weren't as many cool bumps and it didn't really come across as brutal either.

Bobby Blaze vs. The Hornet (2/24/94)

 

Another good showing by Hornet and Blaze was good as usual. Nice opener.

 

The Bruise Brothers (Don & Ron Harris) vs. The Moondogs (Spike & Spot) (2/24/94)

 

Both teams pound on each other here but you would've thought they would be brawling all over the building but nope they work pretty much a straight match. Okay for what it was.

 

US Jr. Heavyweight Title: Chris Candido © vs. "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers (2/24/94)

 

Candido waving the NEW JERSEY FLAG before the match was fucking awesome then him calling Smothers an Italian was even better and then him getting the Bodydonnas scale saying that Smothers was too fat while Smothers led the crowd in a crybaby chant took the cake. Smothers weighs himself and Curtis says he is under the limit and Smothers starts kicking ass with Candido pinballing around the ring. They have worked together a good bit by this time so they have a formula and you see a lot of the same stuff but everything is so fluid plus they mix it up a little bit so everything works well. The finish was great too with Candido using the scale and this moves forward fairly easily.

 

SMW Tag Titles: The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & Dr. Tom Prichard) © vs. The Rock n Roll Express (2/24/94)

 

Corny is hanging above the ring on a bungee cord from a pole which is an interesting gimmick and added a different element to this matchup. We get some of the basic formula early which is good as usual until Morton eats a big DDT by Dr. Tom that Morton made look like it broke his neck. Morton then went into full selling like a motherfucker mode as he made the Bodies offense look like it was killing him. I also liked the submission motif the Bodies worked and it was different than their usual just beating on Morton making the build for the hot tag better than usual. Gibson comes in blazing and it's all action until Corny drops a blackjack to Gigolo who pops Gibson to get the win. I dug this one a lot because of the different formula and I think this is a solid nomination.

 

Tennessee Chain Match for the SMW Heavyweight Title: "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony © vs. "Primetime" Brian Lee (2/24/94)

 

This was fine but the match from Knoxville was way better.