Bobby Blaze v. D-Lo Brown

 

Unfortunately the camera angle here is not going to be the best as the Scaffold is right in the middle of the ring. Blaze has been really impressive in everything so far, and this was no exception. He works a lot of cool shit in early, including some tight forearms, a really cool floatover reversal on the mat and a couple of really tricky looking armbars which is really his base in the match. D-lo was really green at this point, but was always good for a few cool things a match and here he contributed a big theatrical corner bump and some good befuddled heel schtick. Blaze takes a nice bump of his own to set up D-Lo's heat section. Blaze gets hung out on the top rope and D-Lo does this crazy look inside out splash onto his head and throat. D-Lo hits a nice vertical suplex which Blaze sells his ass off for and then fires up briefly after a cocky D-Lo cover before getting cut back down. Nice hope spot with Blaze hitting a leapfrog and then a back roll into a sunset flip pinning combo for a good nearfall. D-Lo wipes out on the frog splash and Blaze fires up. Really stupid looking Blaze "splash" off the ropes for a nearfall that rightfully gets panned by the guy holding the camera. D-Lo hits a backbreaker but gets caught going for a moonsault and crotched. Blaze hits a top rope sunset flip for the finish. Aside from the aforementioned Blaze splash abomination this was a really good opener with both guys delivering.

 

Unabomb v. Robert Gibson

 

This was a lot of fun which came totally out of the blue to me. Unabomb is all over the place bumping big for Gibson early which was shocking. Unabomb tosses Gibson over the top rope and he follows that up with a forward momentum bump over the guardrail that was actually pretty silly but also cool in context. An Old Lady is in the front row and is going crazy at this point. Gibson hits a pretty sick looking backfist onto Unabomb and they brawl to the back of the building where Gibson throws a dropkick to stop Unabomb's momentum. It didn't connect very well, but it was still a pretty "WTF?" moment to see Robert Gibson throwing dropkicks on concrete floor in 1995. Unabomb ends up jobbing after missing a huge top rope legdrop that looks like it might have broken his tailbone. This was really short - maybe not even five minutes - but it had a hell of a pace to it and was really an excellent overall showing from both guys. I think at worst this deserves a second look from others.

 

Steve Armstrong v. Buddy Landell

 

I liked this a lot more than their match from Charlotte Memories. Buddy appeared to be more "on" here as his schtick was on another level. I also thought this match did a better job of working with the little things than the other match. For example I liked Steve working back around to the headlocks, the early mat exchanges looked tighter and Buddy escaping the headlock by dropping a pointed knee into Armstrong's leg was smart and set up Budro on offense well. The old lady from the previous match gets into it with Buddy and takes off her jacket threatening to come into the ring, so Buddy shit talks and thrust his crotch at her. He goes to work on Armstrong's leg using the ropes for leverage and Curtis is literally pleading with this old lady not to jump the rail as Buddy is still antagonizing her. Steve mini-flurry in the corner that Buddy cuts off but then Armstrong hits a big powerslam and a leaping splash for a nearfall. Then he runs over to the old ladies side of the ring and yells something to the crowd. This is starting to get really good when Budro drops to the floor and grabs his belt and brings it into the ring and gets DQ'ed. Fucking bullshit. Really fun match up until that point, but it was such a senseless and shitty DQ I can't see putting this match through.

 

Boo Bradley v. Killer Kyle (Four Corners Match)

 

This is one of those matches where there is a bag over each turnbuckle and one of them has a weapon and the other three have nothing. Opening action had a really good pace, but it seemed to drift back and fourth between being really hard hitting and being really light as a feather type shit. Boo finally gets to the chain/knucks whatever the fuck it is, but ens up getting blindsided by Kyle who proceeds to get the foreign object and carve Boo up. Crowd is really into Bradley and that helps this one a lot to be honest. Things get pretty hot when they go to the floor as Boo is pinballing around, stagger selling like a champ, and bleeding like crazy. Kyle ends up missing a fistdrop with the weapon and Boo fires up. Now it is Kyle's turn to flee to the floor and take his asskicking in front of the fans which I liked a lot as a payback spot even if it didn't last long. Kyle takes a good timber bump for a nearfall and here comes D-Lo. D-Lo interference ends up backfiring and boo gets the duke. At the end of the day this was a bit too long, and I don't think the work was consistent enough, but this was more good than bad.

 

The Thugz v. PG-13

 

Pre-match dueling Smothers/Ice mic work was unsurprisingly excellent. PG-13's pre-match ritual is so ridiculous it's a sure fire heat getter in and of itself. They haven't even locked up and Ice is flexing and strutting around the apron, jumping down argue with fans, graabbing the mic and shit talking the infamous old lady, et. DWB runs over and hugs her which gets a huge pop as Dundee flips the fuck out. Wolfie armdrags Tracy and of course PG-13 go into a ridiculous celebration. Tracy wins the next exchange and of course PG-13 flip out. We are now nearing five minutes in and there have been all of two successful offensive moves and this is still awesome. Pace finally picks up with Smothers clearing the heels out with dropkicks and PG-13 dropping to the floor to call a timeout. Thugz taunt them by doing the Fargo Strut. Now Wolfie is talking shit on the house mic. Ice gets bested in an armwringer exchange and ends up getting double chopped to a big a bump before retreating to his corner yet again. Holy Shit DWB's mocking of PG-13 dance is fucking hysterical. Ice gets into a criss cross with Anthony and ends up jumping into the arms of Wolfie to avoid a right hand. They both flee in terror, while Anthony makes the homophobic hand wave gesture and the crowd breaks out in a massive "faggot!" chant. Cool double drop down spot with PG-13 running into each other and taking each other out. Dundee grabs the mic and says the official is biased and they are leaving. Then he's calling Anthony "fatboy" and telling him if he doesn't play fair this time he's going home. Wolfie comes in and they end up working a pretty standard control segment, before Ice breaks it up with a knee to the back of Smothers, followed by an over the top clothesline bump. Smothers takes a crazy guardrail bump that almost knocks out the front row. Smothers is really good taking a beating here and I'm impressed as his ability to sell so convincingly for two guys that were being off the charts comedic just three minutes earlier. Crowd is almost frantic in their support for Smothers at this point as the heels are bringing out all the tricks to work him over and stir up shit. Really cool spot with Ice getting caught in a desperation sunset flip off of a rope running spot but Curtis is distracted by Wolfie in the corner. This is followed up shortly thereafter by an ever better spot with Tracy avoiding a corner splash but getting caught by a running clothesline from the apron as he tries to make a full escape. Ice takes a huge corner bump on a really excellent teased hot tag as I was certain Smothers was going to get DWB in. Heels attempt the same spot with the missed corner charge/clothesline but Smothers ducks and they take each other out. Smothers catches Ice coming off the top but still can't fight to the corner. Finally hit hits a double DDT and then sells for a few seconds before making a huge leaping hot tag. DWB in and he is cleaning house. Bucksnort Blaster bu the ref misses the fall and PG-13 use the hubcap but Smothers breaks up the pin. Thugz use the hubcap for the pinfall. Randy Hales complains about the hubcap use post-match and Curtis reverse his decision. Besides the lame Dusty finish this was a tremendous Southern tag, with all four guys looking great.

 

Bob Armstrong/Terry Funk v. The Gangstas (Texas Death Match)

 

Funk is out of the back with his flaming branding iron and is chasing The Gangstas around ringside trying to burn them while The Bullet and Cornette keep them from getting in the ring. Armstrong and Funk immediately run at The Gangstas and not twenty seconds in Funk piledrives Mustapha on a table. Holy shit Mustapha's head leaves a huge indention in the table. Funk then props it up on the scaffolding and hurls him into it. Faces take the first fall but Mustapha gets back up. Holy shit, Funk goes into his classic boxing stance! D-Lo and New Jack surf a table into the ring and they blindside Terry with it and end up picking up a fall. Funk gets bumped into the mangled table again and New Jack stands on it and him for the next fall. Funk is really selling his ass off here and I am loving this despite the shitty layout with the falls coming to quick. New Jack hits his crazy diving clothesline and Cornette ends up blindsiding New Jack with a racket though it ultimately doesn't mean much. Funk is lunging for the hot tag and then Mustapha comes in and is clubbering Funk and honestly it shouldn't be any good, but Funk's weeble wobble selling is so great and man when he falls into the hot tag the crowd is amped. Armstrong is briefly in charge, but gets kicked in the balls by New Jack who then jaws with Funk before Bob takes a fall. Funk dumping water on Bob in between falls and hand clapping to get the crowd going was great. Then he comes in off the tag and starts knocking dudes out with the tennis racket. Funk takes another fall after getting hit with a foreign object and The Gangstas finally get their hands on Cornette. Armstrong comes in behind the refs back and piledrives New Jack. Somehow this results in a double countout spot with the babyfaces winning. The action in this was really great but it suffers from ridiculous layout and a senseless finish. Still this is something I see as a near lock for the set as it was both an important/memorable match and a good one.

 

Post-match angle here is one of my favorites in the history of SMW- maybe my favorite period. Cornette gives a long speech thanking Armstrong for his help battling The Gangstas. He says he has a present for him and then fireballs The Bullet. Funk and Cornette beat the shit out of Bob who is helpless. Steve finally runs in, but Budro hits the ring and Armstrong is quickly overwhelmed. Bobby Blaze comes out, but the debuting Punisher comes out of nowhere and destroys him with a spinning full nelson. Punisher than does the same to Boo Bradley when he hits the ring. They end up hanging the Bullet with a noose and destroying everyone. TV version is just as good, but I'll tag this anyway. EXTRA

 

Ricky Morton v. Al Snow (Scaffold Match)

 

They start out brawling all over the floor. Morton is in his neckbrace and looks really cranky. Snow eventually flees from chair wielding Ricky up the scaffold. For some reason Snow starts dismantling the scaffold which strikes me as a foolish thing to do. Snow thinks about going for a standing moonsault using Ricky as a vault, but widely opts for a simple splash. Snow gets crotched trying to climb down the ladder which brings out Unabomb. Snow ends up taking the bump. As scaffold matches go this was not horrid, though not really good. Post-match angle is pretty great with Morton getting hung up in the scaffolding.

Bobby Blaze vs. D-Lo Brown (5/19/95)

 

Blaze really works over D-Lo's left arm early on and he looked sharp in everything he did. D-Lo would take control after a missed splash in the corner and the big spot of his control section was this flying dive from the ring to the floor hitting Blaze who landed on the top rope. D-Lo would miss a big splash off the top rope to start off Blaze's comeback and he was fired up before he does this awkward rope running splash for a nearfall. D-Lo would get a hope spot though and went for his moonsault but Blaze crotched him on the top rope then hit a sunset flip off the top to win. This was a fine match and I'll go with a low-end pick.

 

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Robert Gibson vs. Unabomb (5/19/95)

 

This went to the floor early and Gibson got some shots in but Unabomb would toss him over the railing which pissed off granny who was talking shit. Unabomb would use a chair on Gibson who fired back with a fucking dropkick on the concrete. They kept pounding on each other before Unabomb went for a diving legdrop off the top rope which missed big time and Gibson cradled him for the win. Very short but fun match although I don't think it's a nomination mainly due the length. 5 more minutes would've helped.

 

SMW Heavyweight Title: "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell © vs. Steve Armstrong (5/19/95)

 

There is some good back and forth wrestling to start the match as Budro wasn't hemming and hawing and went move for move with Steve. Budro gets going though when he goes on offense as he works over Steve and celebrates often while cheating every chance he gets. Steve breaking out the Oklahoma Stampede when on offense was neat before Budro brought the belt in the ring and tried to use it but Steve ducked although Mark Curtis called for the bell anyway. Total bullshit here.

 

Four Corners Match: Boo Bradley vs. Killer Kyle (5/19/95)

 

There is a big in every corner but one of them has a foreign object in it while the others are empty. Boo is fun here getting the hell beat out of him bleeding, selling, & bumping like crazy but Kyle wasn't dynamic on offense to counter Boo's performance. D-Lo would come down to cause the finish and this match was just there for me.

 

USWA Tag Titles: PG-13 (JC Ice & Wolfie D) © vs. The Thugz ("Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony & "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers) (5/19/95)

 

This is the beginning of the SMW/USWA feud and the pre-match shit here is fucking great. JC & Granny going at it was classic. There was some really great horseshit going on at the start of the match with both teams being great playing off the other one's schtick. Smothers goes over the top rope on a clothesline then gets thrown into the railing which takes out almost the entire front row to start off the PG-13 control section and this was really solid. Smothers gets worked over relentlessly as the heels are fantastic at getting the crowd so fucking riled up they could murder them. DWB would finally get the hot tag and he ran wild hitting the Bucksnort Blaster on JC before Wolfie would use the hubcap to break up the pin. Tracy then picked up the hubcap and nailed JC with it behind Curtis' back to get the win or so they thought. Randy Hales gets on the apron and complains about the hubcap being used forcing Mark Curtis to reverse his decision. Hales then escorts his boys out after they get the belts back and the war is on. This was fantastic stuff and is a slam dunk nomination.

 

Texas Death Match: Bullet Bob Armstrong & Terry Funk vs. The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa Saed) (5/19/95)

 

Now this is quite the match. Funk comes out with the flaming branding iron which is awesome. Funk piledrives Mustafa on a table just seconds into this and his head takes a spot out of the table but the table doesn't break which would lead to him getting pinned first. This led to falls coming fast and furious as both teams were just taking it to each other with Funk juicing pretty early and being great at selling like crazy. Bullet would come in and got his ass kicked as well as the old guys were fighting valiantly but the young bucks were taking it to them. Funk would get some water and dumped it on Bullet to wake him up and along with using the tennis racket the old guys fought back until D-Lo would get involved which would get Corny involved so Mustafa attacked him. As this happened Bullet gave New Jack a piledriver behind Mark's back and he would count out New Jack who wasn't the loser of the last fall for the finish. Very confusing finish but an awesome brawl and it is a definite nomination.

 

Then we get the AWESOME angle afterwards with Corny turning on Bullet and the formation of Cornette's Army becomes official.

 

Scaffold Match: Ricky Morton vs. Al Snow (5/19/95)

 

These two tried and had a decent scaffold match but this had no chance in hell following what happened before it.