I am amused by the amount of energy and athleticism Larry uses in his stalling. One byproduct of this is that the crowd gets pissed and excited which is not always something you see with matches that are filled with stalling. When they go up for the first real spots in this they are five minutes in and the crowd is really up for it even though it is all elementary stuff. They end up doing a double head bump off a rope running spot and Larry takes a crazy back bump through the ropes. Cool way for Larry to take over her as Steve O goes for the old rope slingshot in and they fight back and fourth with Larry winning and Steve O taking a big flip bump to the floor. Larry keeps him at bay with cheapshot after cheapshot but Steve O finally surprises him with a sunset flip. Larry misses a dropkick coming off the ropes and Steve O hits a nice vertical suplex for a huge pop and nearfall. Nifty little struggle spot with Larry trying to block an atomic drop with a standing bridge though it doesn't work out in the end. Larry cuts off the momentum with a knee to the face off of a corner charge and they do a little back and fourth with nearfalls coming almost out of the blue but in a good way. Steve O misses a top rope elbow and eats a neckbreaker but the shitty ref fucks up the nearfall. Larry with a jumping piledriver for the fall. I really liked this a lot. The energy level was good throughout, even when there was "nothing" going on in the opening, and I thought the build was very strong. Not sure how much it will hold up for me, but this seems like a good benchmark match to kick things off.

Americas Heavyweight Title: Larry Zbyszko © vs. Steve O (6/13/85)

 

Larry works his ass off stalling which is funny to say but it's true as he is all over the ring and apron trying to stay away from Steve and it gets the crowd infuriated which is the purpose. Both guys work headlocks here and Steve gets a couple of nearfalls here before the match picks up as we get a double collision sending Larry to the floor but he would bring Steve out with him as he used the top rope to pull him off. Funny thing here is that there are fans that are loudly cheering Larry but Larry Nelson constantly says that they are jeering him and it's getting on Larry's nerves. Larry does whatever he can to keep Steve on the floor until he caught him with a sunset flip over the top for a nearfall. Larry would then miss a dropkick which Steve uses to get nearfalls with a vertical suplex and an atomic drop. Larry would change the pace with a knee to the head as Steve charged the corner but Steve kept fighting through it and has Larry reeling until he misses a diving elbow off the second rope leading to a neckbreaker by Larry for a nearfall. Steve continues to be pesky until he eats a piledriver for the pinfall. This was a nice little match with both men working hard and I'll push this as a low-end pick.