Baron Von Rascke v. Nick Bockwinkel

 

JIP at about 12 minutes. Bock puts the Baron on the defensive on the floor. Baron makes the comeback and ends up going for the claw with Bock on the apron. Bock locks on the sleeper instead and gets counted out in a strange finish. Odd.

 

The Freebirds v. Jerry Blackwell/Larry Hennig/Tom Zenk

 

JIP. Hayes bumps around for Blackwell while the axe moonwalks on the apron. Buddy comes in and starts posing and goes to slam Blackwell but Blackwell headbutts him in the face and slams him before tagging out to Zenk. They do a drop down spot where Zenk hits both Birds in the corner. Gordy ends up retreating to the floor and then tagging out to avoid Blackwell. Hayes beats up Blackwell a little and Gordy comes in and hits a big clothesline and goes to work on Blackwell. Blackwell ends up getting whipped wildly into a boot and goes full blown FIP in the process but it doesn't last as he quickly tags out to Zenk. Zenk gets caught in the back with a knee coming off the ropes and the Birds take over again. Hayes is fun taunting Zenk here and they get in some pretty cool offense with a nice side slam, snap suplex and double back kick to Zenk. Some good teased comeback with Zenk who eats a double front kick from Hayes and Gordy which looks great and then got a nice nearfall off of a crossbody and a good teaser on a sunset flip attempt before getting punched in the face by Hayes. Buddy comes in and hits his bulldog for a nearfall. Zenk gets a sunset flip on Gordy but Gordy tags out to Hayes who comes in and locks on a chinlock while screaming at the babyface corner. Good hot tag as Zenk hit a desperation arm drag and Blackwell comes in. All hell breaks loose and we have avalanches galore from Hennig and Blackwell. Zenk hits a cross body on Buddy and the two fat babyfaces pile on top for the fall. This was not a great match, but it was really hot and the post-match with Zenk getting stuff piledriven was a nice exclamation point. Overall this feels like a contender for the set.

 

Billy Robinson v. Tito Santana

 

JIP at about 9 minutes. Robinson gets cocky so off the next break Tito slaps him multiple times and then rattles off a series of arm drags with Billy bailing to the floor. Billy comes back in and hits a stiff a forearm and then fucking murders Tito with his splash to the neck spot that always looks brutal. Billy ends up locking on a really high and tight looking arm bar. They go into a nice exchange of Euro uppercuts with both guys getting more and more pissed. Billy kicks Tito in the shin and does a rolling leg snap and locks on a single leg crab all in a super fluid series. Tito is quick to make the ropes and Billy locks on a hammerlock when they tie back up but eats a back elbow and takes an insane leaping bump over the top to the floor. Back in Billy is in trouble and Tito gets a nearfall after some Euro uppercuts. Robinson is really great here as he waits in the ropes to kill time and then manages to slip a headlock attempt twice selling it wildly both times like he was on deaths door. Tito finally gets his headlock and they work a really nice exchange with the headscissors and headlock takedown counters. Another cool spot as they come up from the headlock and Billy ends up getting a slam off but gets kicked down and Tito goes back to the headlock. Billy does a really awesome counter as he fights forward off the mat from a headlock with a cravat of sorts and then stands into a kneeling position and breaks the hold by spinning backwards while in a bridge and straight into a wristlock. Santana head scissors out and hits a body slam and goes back to a headlock. Billy stands up on it and hits a belly to back suplex that looked really nice. Santana ends up hitting a cross body as time expires. What was shown was great and this was a bit more than half the match. The biggest knock against this is the utter stupidity of Tito working a side headlock for the last few minutes instead of going for the win, but the work was so good that there is no way I can't push this forward.

 

Nick Bockwinkel v. Jim Brunzell

 

This is the thirty minutes of the draw agan.

 

Battle Royal

 

This was fun enough as it was a strange mis-match of people.

 

Baron Von Raschke v. Larry Zbyszko

 

Stalling early from Larry that ends with a nice bump in the ropes and Larry being trapped in a headlock. Larry bails to the floor and gets his stall on some more and ends up coming into the ring and locking the Baron in an armbar. Baron does a good job selling the hold and when he comes back to offense he shows nice fire. The Baron rattles off a string of nearfalls and goose steps around the ring before locking on the claw. Larry spills to the floor but gets pulled back into the ring by his face. Finishing run to this was out of the blue with Baron slamming Larry off the top missing an elbow and getting rolled up. Decent match.

 

Larry Zbyszko promo post-match claiming the Baron broke all the rules and he still lost.

 

Brad Rheingans v. Jim Mitchell

 

Squash and not a particularly interesting one.

 

Jimmy Garvin v. Buddy Lane

 

I felt bad for Lane here as he badly botches the flip over of the back body drop and Garvin seems to just stare at him with a "WTF?" look. Mat work was pretty decent back and fourth stuff though nothing that would knock your socks off. They come up for a nice clothesline nearfall but go straight back down to Garvin working a chinlock. Lane ends up getting chucked to the floor and we get the heel keeps the face at bay spot. Lane makes it back in and hits one dropkick but misses another. God Garvin is working his camel clutch and they come out of it with a highspot but it really wasn't all that impressive. Garvin ends up missing a knee in the corner and getting hung up upside down. Lane gets in a run of offense but Garvin hits a hot shot variation to cut him off. Garvin reverses a back cradle and holds the tights for the finish. This was okay.

This starts with clips of Bock/Baron.

 

Crusher Blackwell, Larry "The Axe" Hennig, & Tom Zenk vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy, Michael Hayes, & Buddy Roberts) (8/22/85)

 

This is JIP with Gordy & Blackwell teeing off on each other which is a great way to start. The Birds are great here stooging for the faces and the crowd is nuts for everything here as their southern tag philosophy is refreshing to the fans who were used to a different style. Hennig basically does nothing here which is nice and Zenk is good in his role as the young lion who gets some shine time but gets his ass kicked in the FIP role with the Birds being great at punishing him. The build to the hot tag was well done and the aftermath was even better as the fat guys jumped on Buddy to win and Zenk paid for their sins by being stuff piledrove afterwards. Very fun match and moves forward easily.

 

Billy Robinson vs. Tito Santana (9/24/81)

 

This is shame here as we got a little over half the match but damn was this good. Not a nomination.

 

Then we get stuff I've seen and matches not worthy of a nomination.