Fabulous Ones vs. U.S. Express

- Feeling out process early trying to figure out which team will lose their cool early. Great leapfrog spot where Keirn tries to leapfrog Windham but Barry just stops and punches him in the chest. After a missed charge to the corner, the Fabs take over and work on Rotunda including some heelish double teams in the corner and throwing Rotunda out in the corner. I guess they felt it would generate more heat if they went heel in the match. When Windham gets the tag, the crowd shows some support. Great transition as Keirn kicks Barry in the back and as he is goes to his knees, Lane gives him a crawling headbutt to keep him down. Now Windham is your FIP. Once again, I gotta give pros to the AWA for not killing the match after the first hot tag. Great distraction of the ref as Windham gets two pin attempts that fail because of the referee being out of place. Windham’s tag to Rotunda gets a lukewarm reaction and they have a nice stretch run with Windham dropping an axehandle while Lane was trying to get Rotunda up for a piledriver. The wrong man getting the pin could be a deal breaker for some but the match gets a solid nomination from me.

 

EDIT: Read Dylan’s comments about the lack of heat but I think that was due to the face v. face matchup similar to Zumhofe-TM being heatless as well.

I liked that they started slow and looked like they were going to do a "feeling each other out" segment and then went into a rope running spot with Windham stomping Lane off a rope running monkey flip attempt. US Express frustrate the Fabs by controlling them with double teams on their side of the ring and the Fabs end up leaving the ring to kill the momentum. Another fun rope running spot with Keirn trying to leapfrog Barry and Barry just hits him with a punch. Keirn is reeling after a double dropkick but ends up avoiding a Rotondo corner charge. Lane hits some questionable looking kicks and Keirn busts out some staples of heeling. Ref is HORRIBLY out of position on an over the top bump that he is not supposed to see but happens right in front of him. Rotonda hot tag is questionable here but I don't give a fuck by that point as I was dying to get Windham in the ring. Windham's FIP was shorter than Rotunda's but a lot more interesting. Keirn tripping Rotunda on his airplane spin spot was really fucking awesome and almost makes me want to go to bat for this match but then I remember that this was pretty heatless and the best worker in the match got by far the last amount of time in the ring.

 

Edit:

 

I nearly nominated this myself so it is hardly something I think should be yanked off the table. Probably worth a rewatch on my part as on initial viewing I was really pissed that Windham got so little ring time.

lack of heat = fabs coming back after being out of the AWA for a good year and acting as sublte heels rather than full-blown ones, and Windham/Rotondo being new to the area as well, even with a "national" reputation coming out of the WWF. AWA fans would likely have wanted to cheer the Fabs here but given the tactics, couldn't commit to it.

 

Just my opinion.

Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham vs. The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn & Stan Lane) (4/20/86)

 

Funny moment before the match features Ken Resnick interviewing Rotundo/Windham calling them the former WWF tag champs. This is the only time these teams wrestled IIRC. Fabs gets some boos from the fans who knew of their Mid-South heel run probably and they play it up here. Fabs take a lot of offense to start the match with Rotundo/Windham looking really fluid but a missed running smash into the corner by Rotundo gave the Fabs the window they needed. The Fabs then went all out heel on offense using dirty tactics and double-teams to keep Rotundo grounded. Windham would get the hot tag and teed off with some great punches but Lane would stop that by smashing his head into the turnbuckle very hard. Fabs again are relentless on offense but Rotundo would eventually get the hot tag where he would get the airplane spin on Lane before Keirn tripped him for a nearfall. Lane would have Rotundo ready to put away but Windham would climb up top and caught him with a elbow and got the pin for the win even though he wasn't the legal man. This was a solid match and moves forward.