D-Lo Brown v. The Roadie

 

Early highlight is D-Lo mocking Armstrong's dancing. I liked D-Lo's offense a lot in this as he had a pretty big variety of stuff at his disposal and he hit it all pretty well including a really strange looking standing Indian Deathlock. Roadie ends up winning after a missed moonsault with a gordbuster. Decent little opener.

 

The Headbangers v. Chris Michaels/Flash Flannagan

 

I have this nominated already from the before they were stars disc which is pro-shot.

 

PG-13 v. Curtis Thompson/Jackie Fulton

 

Randy Hales promo before the match. PG-13 are so great at working schtick and pissing off people and they do that well here. Everything from bailing out of the ring, to calling time out, to being proud of each other for winning exchanges, escapes, et. Wolfie really does a good job getting in place for some big spots in the early going as well including a couple of really good criss cross spots. Really loved that another excessive criss cross spot led to the heels taking over and the spot with PG-13 getting chased around the ring and meeting in the middle to beat on Thompson on the floor again was unique. Thompson makes an awkward FIP given his size, but he was effective enough in that role and PG-13 are so good at working heat getting spots that you hardly notice the size disparity. Comeback press slam counter is really cool and Fulton's hot tag was really dynamic by the standards of Jackie Fulton. Cool spot with legsweep causing PG-13 to take each other out of the ring. Heels win with the hubcaps which was inevitable. Another good showing from PG-13.

 

The Punisher v. Bob Armstrong

 

For an incredibly brief match this was good. Punisher got to showcase his athleticism which is really all he had going for him at this point and Armstrong was a good base who sold brilliantly and really interacted very well with both the crowd and Cornette. Not something you could nominate, but surprisingly entertaining.

 

Al Snow v. Marty Jannetty

 

I have been a fan of this match for years but have not watched it in some time so I was glad to see how well this held up. At this point in time Al Snow was still pretty darn good, and Jannetty is one of those guys who I have never seen in a bad match. The first ten minutes of this were on again/off again mat exchanges with some great pick me up and flashy spots thrown in to keep things interesting. There were a lot of standoffs mixed in, but I think they worked pretty well to establish a genuine feel of parity between these two. Snow bails out of the ring which leads to some brief brawling on the floor and a sort of reset. Snow bumps to the floor again off of a superkick and then "vanishes." Jannetty and Curtis are both walking around looking for him and when he pops up Jannetty grabs him to bring him into the ring which sets up a really nice run of reversals that ends with a Jannetty clothesline. Armbar is the base in this and Jannetty ends up going back to it after a nearfall segment. Snow finally takes over for a a real control segment with a nice looking backbreaker after catching Marty coming off the ropes. Really impressive DEEP sprinboard dive from Snow onto Marty gets a pretty big Wow response from the locals. Jannetty ends up taking his staple flip bump into the guardrail. Snow works in a moonsault and urange and Jannetty hits a really nice rana for a good hope spot before taking his awesome flip bump off of a clothesline. Snow is really good here as he starts to get more vicious with his mannerisms and hits a nice slingshot legdrop for a nearfall. Marty makes his comeback after Snow misses a huge sprinboard legdrop. He follows it up by attacking Snow's just injured ass with a delayed atomic drop which I thought was a nice touch. Snow briefly comes back but misses a huge frogsplash. Snow gets spiked with a DDT and they work a parity exchange that I actually like as the match has worked hard at establishing that meme. Snow takes a really reckless bump to the floor off of a Jannetty kickout and Marty follows it up with a equally reckless tope. Really nice sit down powerbomb from Snow off of a rope running exchange that for a split second make you believe they are going to work a double knockout finish. Great nearfall for Jannetty off of a powerbomb roll through. Snow wins with a big reversal off of a cross body. Still a damn good match. I like that it is an escalating match, with a real ebb and flow to it. They establish a story early and stick with it and it pays off. Easy Nomination.

 

Bobby Blaze v. Dan Severn

 

If this happened on Superstars today everyone would be raving about it. Sub-five minute, grappling exchange, with everything looking organic, some cool counters, and a nice finish. I was amazed to see Blaze work on top during one of the grappling exchanges, but I also really liked that aspect as it put him over to some degree despite his inevitable defeat. Also enjoyed him kicking Severn in the face from a seated position to break a leg lock variation and his fighting stance opposite Severn was pretty amusing. Finish with Blaze charging Severen and immediately tapping to a Fujiwara armbar takedown was pretty great. If this was three minutes longer it would be a lock, so I feel like it should at least be seen despite the brevity of the match.

 

Tommy Rich/Terry Gordy v. Mongolian Stomper/Boo Bradley

 

This was a decent tag match due in large part to Rich. Seriously it was Rich strutting around, doing spit takes off of punches, heeling it up, et. that kept this interesting and kept the match moving along at a watchable pace. Bradley was a decent face in peril too and threw some quality punches, but the Stomper was just occupying space here and Gordy was in a pretty sad state. Post-match brawl wasn't much either.

 

Brad Armstrong v. Billy Jack Haynes

 

Another good match. Haynes shrugs off Brad early and gets on the mic to shit on him and the competition in SMW. Brad naturally fires up and knocks Haynes through the ropes to the floor for a big bump before berating him on the mic. Haynes takes over and he really does have some good offense. They work some really good hope spots, but I am most impressed by the athleticism of Haynes who is carrying around a lot of roid weight and still has a really nice standing dropkick, did a cool chokeslame variation, and could bump very well when called on to do so. Brad comes back and while he shows nice fire and looks good it is almost shocking to me how much I prefer Haynes on offense. Brad eats a sharp elbow and Haynes tries to steal a cheap win by dumping him over the top, but Brad skins the cat for the russian legsweep and a pin. I liked this, but I don't think it's enough for a set.

 

The Undertaker v. Unabomb

 

This is obviously an interesting novelty match and is also interesting as this is from the days where the Taker gimmick was in full bloom and he worked his matches much differently. Given that fact it was shocking to see how much Taker gave to Unabomb here. He bumps huge and often for him early, including several off the arpon bumps, taking a nasty top rope legdrop and even a faceplant on the floor bump that I don't think I've ever seen Taker do before or since. Unfortunately Unabomb has no fucking clue what to do at this point and ends up working a chinlock for what seems like forever. Taker gets back to his feet and sits up after taking a twisting powerbomb. Shortly thereafter he hits the tombstone for the finish. Probably should be an EXTRA

 

Bob Armstrong promo explaining the incident with Ricky Morton and Tracy Smothers girlfriends. This is pretty amusing. EXTRA

 

The Heavenly Bodies v. The Thugz

 

Cornette comes out bitching about the lack of a tag title match and here come the Bodies to get their shot at the belts. This was interesting early as you expected it to to be a balls to the wall fight right out of the gate, but instead they did the usual build that you get out of Bodies matches and they did it very well. Liked all the early mat exchanges and loved Del Ray's crazy back roll bump in the aisleway. Heels takeover on Anthony with a blindside tag as he's going for the Bucksnort Blaster. Anthony hot tag after a double DDT and Smothers reels off some offense before getting crotched by Pritchard and tossed into the post. Smothers gets color and naturally the heels target the cut. They work some clever stuff with Smothers as FIP. It's not a Ricky Morton FIP or anything close to it, but I appreciated Smothers effort and his selling and bumping during the cutoff spots really did make the match. Smothers selling during the floor beatdown was especially great and the follow up with him desperately trying to break up the neckbreaker was really cool. Del Ray misses a big moonsault and Smothers vaults the full length of the ring for the hot tag. Heels just get the fucking piss beat out of them here including a spot where DWB slams Del Ray's head into the turnbuckle about thirty times. Then they take a bloody Pritchard and backdrop him on a table which Smothers follows up with an epic piledriver through the table. Meanwhile Anthony gets chloroformed by Cornette and the Bodies win the tag bouts. This was not blowaway great, but it was a very good tag match.

.

Buddy Landell v. Shawn Michaels

 

JIP. God damnit at least half of this is missing, probably more. Hopefully we have this in full on a pro shot. What is shown is really great, but not near complete enough to nominate.

Brian Armstrong vs. D-Lo Brown (8/4/95)

 

Funny hearing Brian come out to the old Bruise Brothers theme song. Good match here with both guys showing they were going somewhere soon.

 

The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) vs. Flash Flanagan & Chris Michaels (8/4/95)

 

I'll wait on the other disc to watch.

 

PG-13 (JC Ice & Wolfie D) vs. Jackie Fulton & "US Male" Curtis Thompson (8/4/95)

 

Randy Hales leads his charges to the ring and the pre-match stuff with them is great as usual. JC resuming his grudge with Granny was hilarious. This was the PG-13 show as they were awesome at everything they did both on offense and defense and the faces weren't shabby either considering it's a makeshift team. Jackie was spirited in the corner while Curtis got worked on and Curtis was pretty good at playing FIP as well. The fans were hot for the hot tag and Fulton again was fired up working over the heels before the 4-way brawl was on with Wolfie using the hubcap behind the ref's back to get the win. Fun little match and thanks to PG-13 it's a nomination.

 

The Punisher vs. Bullet Bob Armstrong (8/4/95)

 

Yeah I agree with Dylan that this was entertaining for what it was. Punisher showed potential here and Bullet was solid as the veteran opponent.

 

"Simply Sensational" Al Snow vs. Marty Jannetty (8/4/95)

 

The future partners collide here. This was a damn good fast paced wrestling match with both guys zooming around the ring bumping like crazy with really good build as they started out with basic stuff then worked their way up to more dynamic moves which is a lost art these days especially on the indy circuit. This was an awesome match that if it was held in the ECW Arena at this time it would've been as highly regarded as the Guerrero/Malenko matches. This went on for almost 30 minutes and didn't seem long to me at all. Slam dunk nomination and one of the best matches I've seen in SMW.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title: Dan "The Beast" Severn © vs. Bobby Blaze (8/4/95)

 

The rematch from Charlotte 2 1/2 months earlier. This was a good match but I liked the Charlotte match better because it had a better flow and pacing. This match could've used more time as well. Good but not enough.

 

Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy & Tommy "Wildfire" Rich vs. Boo Bradley & Mongolian Stomper (8/4/95)

 

I will say this for Gordy he looks better here than he did the year before. Rich made this match a decent match with all his schtick and Boo wasn't bad either but Gordy & Stomper left a lot to be desired.

 

USWA Heavyweight Title: Billy Jack Haynes © vs. Brad Armstrong (8/4/95)

 

Brad coming out to Born in the USA in 1995 is funny. Brad looked good here of course but so did BJH who was having a career revival here working in Memphis and he was moving around really well for someone juiced up. I liked his German Suplex along with his standing dropkick. There was some good action here but something felt missing here to me regarding the connection of the match to the fans. Brad would win the title in a mild upset. Decent but not a nomination.

 

The Undertaker vs. Unabomb (8/4/95)

 

Was this match good not really but Taker looked great and the crowd was apeshit for him. Taker was really trying to make Unabomb look good and I agree with Dylan in that the novelty of the match between the future Brothers of Destruction this deserves to be an extra.

 

Before the next match, Bob Armstrong comes out and explains what happened between Ricky Morton & Tracy Smothers girlfriends and he was fired. Gibson talks then shakes hands with Smothers before Corny shows up with the Bodies to take the spot against The Thugz.

 

SMW Tag Titles: The Thugz ("Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony & "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers) vs. The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & Dr. Tom Prichard) (8/4/95)

 

Very fun start of the match with the Bodies getting outsmarted and everyone keeping it interesting. DWB would work a small FIP section before Smothers worked the main one and both were really good here selling the Bodies punishment. Bodies were so adept at working together at this time and everything they were doing was effective. Tracy is juicing and the fans are hot for him to get the tag as he was taking a beating. Gigolo misses a big moonsault allowing Tracy to make a leaping hot tag to DWB who was fired up here. The Bodies then got destroyed here as the Thugz just beat the hell out of them. Prichard is now juicing and he eats a big backdrop on a table before Smothers would piledrive him on it with the table standing still. DWB had Gigolo pinned after the Bucksnort Blaster but Corny would come in with his ether rag and put him out with Gigolo covering for the win. Damn good match here and a easy nomination.

 

WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Title: "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels © vs. "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell (8/4/95)

 

It fucking sucks we don't have this in full because it was a pretty damn awesome match which would turn Budro into a babyface and got him work in WWE.