Dirty White Boy v. Bobby Blaze

 

Strange gimmick here as falls are counted, but Blaze can only lose if he gives up. This is during DWB's pro-New York heel turn so the crowd hates him. Really loved his early jawing with the fans as he singles out a guy and they just go at it. Blaze is a good contrast for DWB as he is usually good for some cool spots and is as babyface as they get. I really liked the early rope running exchange as it looked crisp and got over Blaze as someone that could run Anthony to death and steal a win. DWB suckers him into the corner and points at his chin for Blaze to pop him which allows him to hit a sucker punch and then get a quick fall. Anthony isolates Blaze on the outside and sort of keeps him away from the ring with various tactics and then rolls him up for another fall. More domination from DWB for a third fall. Same deal for yet another fall. Blaze takes a Bucksnort Blaster for the fifth fall. Blaze with a low blow. Blaze goes up top selling his ass off the whole way and misses a bodypress for a good looking bump. Ref ends up stopping the match after Blaze takes multiple DDT's and then gets beat down more. This is one of those matches that probably sounded better in theory than it came off in execution. Work was fine - good even - but the gimmick hindered it dramatically.

 

Kevin Sullivan v. The Mongolian Stomper

 

Sullivan sees the Stomper and they go straight to the crowd brawling. I love the ring announcer screaming for the fans to stay away from the wrestlers as children run in fear. They brawl outside on the upper deck but the camera doesn't follow them very well. The crowd shots are awesome in this but you miss a whole lot of the action. Stomper wins after a really weak chairshot about two seconds after they finally get to the ring.

 

Chris Candido v. Tim Horner

 

The early stalling and rope running spots in this look really great and do a good job to set up "Candido as a fool" which is a role I always like him in. They do a cool sequence with Horner eating a couple of hiptosses after more rope running and then on the third attempt he decks Candido with a clothesline. This is followed by a barrage of well paced big spots as Candido takes two big bumps, then a big dive from Horner, then posts Horner and then hits a plancha of his own to take control of the match. They do several fun hope spots and cut off with Horner, but Horner really is no Smothers when it comes to working a crowd and you can't help but make the comparison watching this as this match is very similar to the Tracy/Chris matches structurally. Horner's comeback however is really cool as he blocks a top rope rana, with a huge spinebuster off the top, then hits a handspring elbow, and a vader bomb for a nearfall. Candido looks to be reeling, but he clotheslines Horner from the outside and then dives through stealing a pin with his feet on the ropes. Smothers comes out and gets Curtis to restart the match and Horner wins with a cool roll up. This is good enough to move forward.

 

Rock N Roll Express v. Bruise Brothers

 

Camera angle changes on this which is too bad as it's a longer shot and harder to view clearly. Ricky and Robert dominate with speed early and the Bruise Brothers are actually good selling there frustration. Ricky FIP starts after taking a big over the top bump behind the refs back. I love Morton peril segments with him spinning around on the floor and getting his ass kicked and there is a good one here. Crowd is so hot for this and Ricky's first hope spot ending with a big powerslam really gets them going even more. Morton is really great in this just going limp as the Bruise's throw clumsy looking offense at him. Morton makes the hot tag off of a really well timed low blow. Robert fires up and looks good but ends up taking a bump over the top when one of the twins drops the ropes on him and takes the fall right after. I thought this was a really well put together match, with a good face v. heel dynamic and great heat.

 

Brian Lee v. Tracy Smothers

 

Pre-match mic work is so fucking awesome in this as Smothers just shit talks Tammy to all hell and leads a massive tramp chant. Lee suckers him and Tracy skins the cat back in, dropkicks him over, the ropes, hits his big baseball slide, a dive off the apron and then pinballs Lee off the wall for a great opening. Smothers is so fucking over as a face it is crazy. Really love Lee powering out of the first fall attempt and Tracy taking a bump on his throat on the middle rope. Tracy keeps coming back with the quick big spots, hitting a sweet backfist, a cross body, and a bunch of good punches in the corner before getting overwhelmed with a good looking clothesline off a reversal. Tracy takes a great bump off of a Lee punt to the ribs and then a rail bump after another teased comeback. God damn the pace in this is hectic but it is really awesome. The five minute call has already seen multiple momentum swings, some good bumping, great spots, et. Every time Tracy looks to make a comeback he gets stopped whether it be a sunset flip or a rope running spot out of a hulk up that ends with a sweet powerslam. There is a really great sequence in here with Tracy missing a dropkick, Lee missing an elbow and then Tracy eating the knees on a splash attempt to set Lee up for more control. Lee ends up taking a theatrical crotch bump on the ropes and Tracy rally fires it up. Tracy hits a really good looking superkick for a good nearfall. Crazy double knockout spot off the ropes with Smothers really leaning into it. Tammy ends up tossing her purse into the ring and we get a double dq for the finish. Despite the bs ending, this was a great match.

 

The Heavenly Bodies/Jim Cornette v. Bob, Scott and Steve Armstrong

 

This whole thing was fucking great. I am not even going to try and give a play-by-play of this are list all the cool shit in it, but everyone was hitting on all cylinders from bell-to-bell. The babyfaces take the majority of this one and I don't usually care for that in tags, but here it worked because the story was that they were trying to get to Corny and Pritchard and Del Ray were taking an epic ass kicking to protect him. Del Ray in particular is awesome here as he sells everything in a super theatrical, but ultimately really engaging way. Bullet was really fun in this as the first he made contact with the heels the place absolutely lit up. Just so much great stuff from the opening criss cross exchange, to some really cool double team offense from the faces (including a couple of spots where they use each other and the Bodies s weapons against another heel), to Scott Armstrong's brief but really good FIP, to Corny's crazy bumps at the end. Hell Cornette even hit a pretty good spinning back elbow off the ropes in this ala Jericho. Great build here with the payoff being Cornette getting his ass kicked, awesome crowd, and a really tremendous post-match as the Bruise Brothers and Rock N Roll come out with the heels winning until Mark Curtis runs to the back to get The Bullet's baseball bat as the ultimate equalizer. Great stuff.

"Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony vs. Bobby Blaze (8/13/93)

 

Yeah the rules are weird here as Blaze must quit for DWB to win meanwhile Blaze can win falls until DWB quits. DWB beat the hell out of Blaze here but he wouldn't quit after taking almost everything DWB had and getting pinned 5 times. This was telling a good story that Blaze had tons of heart and wouldn't quit. Blaze would hit DWB with a foule and started firing back with punches but as he went up top he was so tired that he missed a diving body press face first and DWB answered back with DDT's until Mark Curtis stopped the match. This was what it was.

 

Mongolian Stomper vs. Kevin Sullivan (8/13/93)

 

Yes these guys are still going at it. They brawled through the crowd which the camera work wasn't the best here then Stomper hit Sullivan with a chair mildly back in the ring to get the win. Nothing really to see here.

 

"White Lightning" Tim Horner vs. Chris Candido (8/13/93)

 

Candido is good early on stooging around being a chickenshit pinball with Horner being just as good as his antagonist. Candido goes to the floor trying to escape but Horner hits a Macho Man esque diving axehandle from the top rope but Candido recovers to post Tim then followed up with a pescado from the ring to the floor. Candido goes on offense and does a good job of working Horner over who fights back with hope spots a couple of times and as Candido goes for a superplex off the top rope Horner grabs his legs and just drives him down to the mat in a cool spot. Horner then starts his comeback even breaking out a handspring elbow and a Vader Bomb for a nearfall. Candido would again go to the floor where he cheapshotted Horner and jumped back in the ring on him using the ropes to get the win or so it seemed. Tracy Smothers then comes out and tells Mark Curtis what happened and he restarted the match with Horner using his O'Connor Roll with a bridge to get the win. This was a fun match and moves forward.

 

SMW Tag Titles: The Bruise Brothers (Don & Ron Harris) © vs. The Rock n Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) (8/13/93)

 

RnR jump the Bruisers on the floor to start the match but it wasn't long before it became a regular match with RnR using their agility to frustrate the Bruisers. The tone would change as the Bruisers took Ricky to the floor where the control section would begin and Morton was a great opponent to sell their power moves and brawling style. Morton was also fun running around before a kick to the balls led to the hot tag. Gibson comes in a house of fire with Ricky joining him but he gets thrown in the ropes where one of the Bruisers threw him over and when they threw him back in the other one covered for the win. This was a good match but I don't think there is enough for a nomination.

 

SMW Heavyweight Title: "Primetime" Brian Lee © vs. "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers (8/13/93)

 

Tim Horner is ringside to counter Tammy who is just 20 years old here. Tammy gets on the mic to pump up Lee before the match and trash Smothers so Tracy gets the mic and he just tears her up until Lee sneak attacks him. Tracy is relentless working over Lee here as he throws him into a wall and the fans go nuts for everything he does. Both men are working hard here as Tracy is all over the ring with Lee staying with him and they trade the advantage numerous times. Tracy has a sunset flip for a pin but Tammy has Mark Curtis hemmed up so he couldn't count which allows Lee to slow it down and work a chinlock. Tracy doesn't stay down long though as he gets up but eats a big powerslam trying to run the ropes. Lee then goes back to the chinlock before Tracy hulks up and fires back with punches leading to an exchange where both men missed big spots leading up to Lee crotching himself trying to hit a grounded Tracy. Smothers fires up taking it to Lee and gets a nearfall after his savate kick. There would be a great double collision though with Tracy really hitting hard which leads to Horner & Candido getting involved and Lee going for his glove which Mark Curtis sees and calls for the bell. Smothers gets the glove but Tammy distracts him and Lee regains it back before Horner runs him off. Shitty ending but a really fun match and it moves forward.

 

Bob, Scott, & Steve Armstrong vs. The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & Dr. Tom Prichard), & Jim Cornette (8/13/93)

 

Cornette with the Bodies trunks over his leggings is great. The Armstrongs are total ass kickers here and the Bodies are great at taking punishment especially del Ray who makes the shots seem like they hurt 5 times worse then it actually did. The story that the Bodies were sacrificing themselves for Corny was a good one so them being destroyed made total sense here. Bullet Bob is an awesome babyface and the crowd went apeshit when he got on offense. Like Dylan said there is a lot of great stuff going on in this match even Corny's offense which wasn't bad considering. Scott was very effective as the FIP and the buildup for the hot tag was well done. Bullet Bob cleaning house was great as Cornette was bumping all over the ring until the Bruisers ran in to cause the DQ before RnR showed up to help but the heels were still on top until Mark Curtis ran and got the Tennessee Toothpick which Bullet used to really clean house. Awesome stuff all the way around and a slam dunk nomination.