Boo Bradley v. Tommy Rich (Blindfold Match)

 

Only Boo is blindfolded. Rich is hopping around throwing shots to his ear. At one point Boo almost hits the ref so he sits him on the top rope so he won't get hurt. Rich struts around after a couple of shots and Boo drops to the mat and starts listening to the apron which is amusing. This "builds" to a shitty superkick that Rich is forced to sell for the finish. Trash.

 

Headbangers v. Robert Gibson

 

More good 95 Robert Gibson. Lots of comedy spots early but they work well in large part because Gibson holds up his end of the bargain as well as the heels. Gibson goes FIP and does a good job with the heels working some basic but effective spots during the heat segment. Was really impressed with Gibson's comeback spots not that they were anything great. Stupid finish though.

 

Battle Royal

 

Nothing to see.

 

The Punisher/Tommy Rich v. Brian Armstrong/Boo Bradley (Falls Count Anywhere)

 

This was a hell of a brawl, albeit a really quick one. Punisher is not someone I give to shits about but he was suitable here taking shots and giving them. Boo using the post as a weapon was great. Chairshots looked good. Brian Armstrong was fun selling desperation on a chokehold in the rope. They brawled all over the place in this, Rich's punches looked good and the finish with Boo smashing head first into a table to get pinned on the floor was good. Too short to rate but still good.

 

Al Snow/Unabomb v. The Thugz (Loser Leaves Town)

 

Cornette is the ref and pre-match antagonizes the fans to the point where the PA announcer has to tell them to quit throwing shit into the ring. Anthony goes for a punch early but Cornette blocks it allowing Unabomb to throw a right at DWB. A few minutes later Cornette breaks up a headlock because Unabomb complains that DWB used the hair. The same sort of shit happens with the Snow/Anthony exchange and ends with Anthony doing multiple blatant hair takedowns and Snow retreating into the arms of Cornette and Unabomb. Unabomb uses the hair to pull down Tracy and gets a quick count, which is followed up by Tracy getting a very slow count after knocking Bomb down with a back kick. This process essentially repeats itself with Snow/Smothers. DWB eventually goes FIP after being blindsided by a top rope double axe from Unabomb. Smothers gets the hot tag and hits his jaw jacker off the top but Corny refuses to count. Snow ends up accidentally clotheslining Cornette and Curtis hits the ring to count the fall on Unabomb who has to leave SMW. Good for what it was, but the focus was too much on Cornette to rate as a match. Probably should be an EXTRA

 

Brian Lee v. Brad Armstrong

 

Pacing to this is really frantic as Lee comes out and goes straight on the attack with Brad firing back with his speed which ultimately backfires. Brad's bump off the missed Russian Legsweep was pretty sick and his follow up dropkick was cool. Lee takes him down and starts working over his arm. This is obviously a winded Lee, but Brad sells his ass off here and the crowd is rabid for it so there is no way you can shit on it. Awesome spot with Brad firing up and going for something off the ropes only to eat a big boot and collapse in a heap. Lee shocks me by busting out a pretty good looking shoulder breaker. Brad eventually hits a leapfrog coming out of the ropes and they go into a good punching exchange which Lee cuts off with a powerslam. Lee awkwardly bumps off the top and Brad gets a pin with the Russian Legsweep. Good effort from Brad.

 

In ring tribute to Ron Wright. Dirty White Boy lays down for him to get a three count on him which was bizarre.

 

Jim Cornette v. Bob Armstrong

 

Cornette keeps hiding behind The Punisher, so Bullet gives him some licks and finally gets Corny in the ring. Curtis gets distracted and Punisher cheapshots Armstrong allowing Corny to gain control. This deal repeats itself multiple times. Match ends on a lame countout after something happens when both of them are under the ring. Stupid.

 

Buddy Landell v. Brad Armstrong (Lumberjack Match)

 

This was interesting here as this was after Buddy's break up with Cornette so rather than working cowardly he comes right at Brad and throws some really vicious looking strikes. Seriously Landell has Brad in the corner and he is just peppering him with shots to the stomach and it is really awesome. He starts circling Brad mid-ring and throwing kidney punches which Brad is selling like a million bucks. Crowd is crazy for Armstrong here. God damn Brad's selling is great as he is using his whole body to sell ever fucking Landell blow. Buddy throws a couple of chops and Brad fires up and fucking kills him with a few chops so Buddy punches him right in the mouth. Double head bump off the rope is the first thing about this match that isn't completely awesome though it didn't look awful. Lumberjacks brawl at ringside and Cornette gets on the ropes and Brad ends up winning by hitting Budro with Corny's racket. I really loved this up until the finish which was really lame and severely hurts this. I'll pass it through primarily because Brad's selling was so fucking great that it deserves to be seen.

 

The Heavenly Bodies v. The Thugz (Street Fight)

 

Thugz hit the ring with boars which they beat the Bodies down with. Del Ray bleeds about ten seconds into this. Smothers tosses Pritchard on a table. Seriously Del Ray gets his ass kicked severely by the Thugz early and is bumping all over the place for them including the 360 clothesline bump everyone loves. Pritchard comes in and gets his ass kicked but Tracy gets tripped by Corny coming off the ropes and Bodies toss him to the floor where Corny gets in a racket shot. Sunset flip hopespot from Smothers is really amazing here as it is lightning quick and totally out of the ordinary. Del Ray misses a moonsault so Smothers tags out. Blaster for a nearfall on Del Ray but Pritchard breaks it up. Del Ray takes a reckless bump flying over the timekeepers table to the floor. Pritchard loads up his boot and kicks DWB who barely kicks out at two. Cornette climbs int he ring and hits Anthony with the racket for a DQ in a fucking street fight. Lame finish. Del Ray's blade job was great and I liked some of the spots, but the hot tag was weak and this did not have enough structure for me to rate it terribly highly. Post-match brawl was arguably better than the match.

Blindfold Match: Boo Bradley vs. Tommy "Wildfire" Rich (8/12/95)

 

Only Boo is blindfolded. This wasn't good.

 

Handicap Match: Robert Gibson vs. The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) (8/12/95)

 

Gibson has carried them to decent singles matches and now he carries them to a decent handicap match but the finish sucked.

 

Then we get a battle royal featuring Brad Armstrong alone against Cornette's Militia but the story here is that Budro won't compete and left. Brad then comes in and eliminates himself. Pointless.

 

Falls Count Anywhere: Brian Armstrong & Boo Bradley vs. Tommy "Wildfire" Rich & The Punisher (8/12/95)

 

This was a pretty fun brawl but really short.

 

Loser Leaves Town: The Thugz ("Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony & "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers) vs. "Simply Sensational" Al Snow & Unabomb (8/12/95)

 

Cornette is the referee here which seems fair. Yeah the match seems secondary to Corny's antics as ref saving his boys and of course we get the predictable finish of Mark Curtis coming out to count out someone which was Unabomb. I agree this should be an extra though because of the stip and it being the future Kane.

 

Brad Armstrong vs. "Primetime" Brian Lee (8/12/95)

 

Primetime was Corny's mystery opponent for Brad and he comes out blazing as he attacks Brad from the start but blows up not too long after that and has to take it to the mat so he could rest. Brad takes a lot of punishment here and he does a good job of selling it and keeping the crowd going for him. Brad has some really fun hope spots here as well before catching Lee with a russian legsweep after Lee missed a top rope kneedrop. Lee then continued attacking Brad afterwards until Brian made the save. Fine for what it was thanks to Brad.

 

Next we get the Ron Wright retirement ceremony which is a definite extra.

 

First Blood Match: Bullet Bob Armstrong vs. Jim Cornette (8/12/95)

 

Disappointing as this wasn't much of anything. Punisher would hit Bob with his glove and caused the blood.

 

Lumberjacks w/tennis rackets Match for the vacant SMW Heavyweight Title: "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell vs. Brad Armstrong (8/12/95)

 

Landell said he wasn't fucking around here and needs no help to kick Brad's ass which he does as he just beats the shit out of Brad who does a fantastic job of selling this beating. Brad would fight back though with some hard ass chops but Budro clocks him to regain control before the Militia would show up to brawl with the lumberjacks. Brad would steal Corny's racket and used it to nail Budro to get the win in a quick finish that came out of nowhere. This match needed a better build to the finish but the work here was pretty damn solid and this moves forward. Landell was extremely pissed afterwards but the turn wasn't final yet.

 

Street Fight for the SMW Tag Titles: The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & Dr. Tom Prichard) © vs. The Thugz ("Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony & "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers) (8/12/95)

 

Thugz sneak attack the Bodies from behind with boards and Gigolo is juicing heavily immediately then proceeds to get the hell beaten out of him. Dr. Tom would receive the same treatment as well but Corny would trip Smothers then caught him with the racket on the floor to begin their control section. Smothers as FIP was okay but very short before making the hot tag to DWB where we had some fun brawling until Corny would jump in to use his racket which got a DQ. How the fuck do you call a DQ in a street fight. Very stupid finish to a fun outing.