Bryant Anderson v. Tracy Smothers

 

Wow, this smokes their I Quit Match from a few nights before. The early parts of this are all really awesome as Smothers is working the crowd and they are doing this bit with Anderson challenging Smothers to amateur grappling contest and vice versa and naturally the "wrestlers kids" Anderson keeps getting taken to school by the stupid redneck time and time again. Anderson ends up rolling through on an armbar and hitting Tracy with a vicious elbow to the jaw to set up the heat segment. This is an Anderson, so he targets Smothers arm. There is nothing outstanding about the armwork, but Tracy bumps and sells for it well and it provides a good base for Anderson to work from. Anderson does a weird arm crank thing and Smothers forward rolls him for a good nearfall before drilling Smothers with a clothesline. Tracy bridging out of pinfall attempts and then getting stiffed from the blindside with a knee was pretty great. It helps that the crowd really seems to buy Anderson as someone who could snap Smothers arm off and they really stay hot for Tracy after every comeback attempt gets thwarted. Smothers armdrag hope spot really got a pop out of my daughter which bumps this match up even more for me. Anderson does the bodyslam on the arm spot but Smothers ends up schoolboying him for a quick win shortly thereafter. Really good match for what it was.

 

The Punisher v. ?

 

I have no clue who The Punisher's opponent is as the ring announcer is inaudible and I can't find a match list for this show online. He looks sort of like Mike Shaw but I don't think it's him. Anyhow this is two fat guys doing multiple rope running spots and a couple of cool splash variations. Fun.

 

Buddy Landell v. Dirty White Boy

 

Lots of heel schtick/frustrated Budro here early. Liked the early backslide nearfall and loved the spot with him suckering Mark Curtis and blaming it on Anthony. Then Budro follows it up by collapsing on the ground during a corner break claiming he was punched. DWB has enough and unloads with a great punch exchange that Landell takes perfectly. Buddy crawling around on hands and knees holding his crotch after getting kicked low is way funnier than it reads. All the amusing Buddy bullshit leads to him hitting DWB with a loaded fist behind Curtis back to take control. Cocky Landell is the best and here he is in all of his glory, strutting around and moonwalking after every punch. God damn does he deck Anthony on the floor before posting him. DWB makes a comeback with some great punches and they end up going to a weird finish where Landell somehow wins by DQ even though he appeared to be pinned? Match is good enough to have others take a look, especially since Landell was on fire.

 

Chris Candido v. Cactus Jack (Falls Count Anywhere)

 

This was a better version of the Christmas Chaos match with better camera work. Candido pinballing into the wooden bleechers gets a great holy shit look from a kid and then he tries to escape by climbing some sort of balcony. Candido moves out of the way of one chairshot, so Foley stiffs him with another. Foley gets suplexed on the floor and then Candido tries to pin him but gets rolled up for a nearfall. They do a leafrog/crotching spot and then an accidental nutshot from Foley and then they brawl into the crowd again, this time with a punching exchange occurring in front of a bunch of seated rednecks with Candido promptly falling on them and rolling down the stairs. Back at ringside and Tammy sprays the spray in Foley's eyes and they start ringing the bell which brings out Boo Bradley. This shit really pisses me off as this was on it's way to being an awesome brawl and then went nowhere with a non-finish.

 

The Gangstas/D-Lo Brown v. The Rock N Roll Express/Bobby Blaze

 

This was a good match. Blaze being getting beaten up early by New Jack was a good way to kickstart this and and I enjoyed D-Lo as the novice on his team, getting punked by the babyfaces at will. Blaze ends up getting goaded into the Gangstas side of the ring and works a brief FIP before Morton comes in. Morton ends up going FIP after his staple leaping shoulder bump into the turnbuckle. New Jack dancing around the ring and screaming at the fans after Morton eats a hot shot was a nice spot. Hot tag was anti-climactic, though I was pleasantly surprised to see Blaze take the fall.

"Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers vs. Bryant Anderson (12/30/94)

 

One thing I've noticed about SMW is there are a good amount of matches that are better in front of the smaller crowds than in front of the bigger ones and this is another example as this match is way better than their I Quit match from 4 days before. It also didn't hurt that the camera work was better which is always a plus. The amateur challenge was fun as the crowd was all over Bryant for letting Smothers work him before he would take control working over the arm. Bryant's offense was predictable but effective and made sense since he was an Anderson. Smothers was also a good opponent for him as he was solid at selling and was just as good at his hope spots keeping the fans into it. Tracy made a short lived fired up comeback before Bryant went back to work on him leading to Tracy sneaking a schoolboy for the win which was fun. Best match of their series and moves forward fairly easily.

 

Buddha vs. The Punisher (12/30/94)

 

Punisher is the future Bull Buchanan and Buddha is a really fat guy who the fans love.

 

SMW Heavyweight Title: "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony © vs. "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell (12/30/94)

 

Landell is awesome before the match calling DWB and the fans "white trash" then follows that up by being awesome with his schtick and selling the frustration of DWB getting the best of him while riling up the fans like a motherfucker. Landell was almost teaching a master class here at how to be a chickenshit heel as it was awe inspiring. Landell using Mark Curtis numerous times built to him sneaking a punch with a chain behind his back then Landell just fucking around after every shot was phenomenal. Strutting, moonwalking, jumping you name it he was doing it and it was fucking great before DWB fired back with the crowd going nuts. DWB would sit on Landell's chest for the win or so it seemed as while he was sitting on Budro, he put the chain in his tights with it hanging out so Curtis saw the chain and called for the DQ. The match wasn't technically great but Budro put on a fantastic performance here and this is a solid nomination to me.

 

Falls Count Anywhere: Cactus Jack vs. Chris Candido (12/30/94)

 

And yet another match better than the 12/26 show as these two started brawling at the start and the camera was able to follow them this time as they went all over the building. The brawling was more spirited especially from Foley's end and the crowd was way more into it as well. Great bumping here as well as they were in a gym so they were on hardwood not concrete which hurts just as much. Cactus would kiss Tammy which got a big pop before the complete bullshit finish with Tammy spraying Foley then Boo Bradley having to save Cactus. I'm going to push this forward even with the shit sandwich finish because the work was so good.

 

Bobby Blaze & The Rock n Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) vs. D-Lo Brown & The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa Saed) (12/30/94)

 

This is what you would expect here with Blaze & D-Lo added in but nothing spectacular. Good match but not a nomination.