Posted July 21, 201114 yr comment_5477368 Col. Debeers v. Brad Rheingans Debeers goes for the ambush early and gets bumped to the floor off some punches. When Debeers took over they did a neat looking spot with Rheingans hanging in the ropes in a crucifix position and Debeers pounding on himuntil he takes a big bump. Cool counter from Debeers as he just steps out of the way of Rheingans sunset flip leading to a flip bump from Brad. Pretty good comeback from Rheingans who hit a nice diving shoulder tackle for a near fall. Debbers won rolling through on a crossbody. This needed more time to be a nomination, though it was a solid match. Midnight Rockers v. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers This was interesting as they jumped right in with a Rockers double team on Buddy rather than working schtick/rope running spots/et. early. That ends up coming in the second portion with Somers and Jannetty and ends with Jannetty hitting an awkward looking Thesz Press. Shawn trying to get in a cheap shot and having to tip toe out when the ref spotted him was pretty funny. Rockers really focus on the arm of both Somers and Rose early and both of the heels take offense well. Somers ends up decking Shawn with a forearm off the ropes and tags out to Buddy who comes in, hits his back elbow on Shawn, spits on Marty and slingshots Shawn into the corner. I enjoyed the Buddy control segment as he worked in a variety of offense, but the VQ i parts of this is pretty shitty. Cool spot with Shawn powering out of a camel clutch, but Buddy underhooking Shawn with his legs and tagging in Somers just before Buddy takes the corner bump. That's honestly one of the better looking cut off spots I've seen. Nice leaping hot tag to Jannetty off of a suplex reversal. Buddy is a bumping motherfucker here and Somers ends up breaking up a pinfall attempt. Cool spot with a double knock down between Rose and Marty off a whip out of the corner spot when all four guys were in. They tease a hot tag but while Shawn is tied up with the ref Somers slips in and rolls Buddy to the floor. Jannetty stands up dazed and goes to slam Doug, who hits a small package for the pin. This started slow and does have he rough VQ, but I loved everything from the Michaels heat segment forward, including a really great finishing run. Not essential, but I don't think this is an easy cut even if this is a feud that will be deeply represented. Nord the Barbarian/Boris Zurkov/Sheik Kaissie vs. Jimmy Snuka/Verne & Greg Gagne The opening stuff with Boris and Greg was actually very fundamentally sound but it lacked the little touches that make you give a shit. Gotta admit the Snuka monkey flip spots looked awesome on a guy the size of Nord and his leaping bump on Snuka's chop was cool too. Beyond that this was okay, but I was impressed with the pace they cut and Verne seemed to be having a shitload of fun. Earthquake Ferris v. Ken Timbs This was not bad when Timbs was on offense. Then Ferris botched an avalanche and shortly afterward Timbs left and it was over. Odd. Alexei Smirnoff & Yuri Gordyenko vs. Curt Hennig & Steve O There may have been a mild edit at the front end of this. This gets interesting when Hennig goes FIP as the Russians bring a surprising amount of quality offense and Hennig really does sell it well. That was just a tease though as Steve O ends up in peril himself and Yuri ends up taking an insane bump off the top to bridge to the Curt hot tag. This was actually a really go, go, go match as they kept going from one peril segment, to another and the action was surprisingly good. This really feels like a case where the right babyfaces were working the right heels in the ring place at the right time. Seriously the crowd is really hot for this and it is a hard match not to enjoy on some level despite the fact that there is only one guy in there who I would normally give a shit about. Match sort of falls apart on a Boston Crab spot that is supposed to be the finish, but they botch it two times before getting it done properly on the third try. Too bad, because I was all set to nominate this up until that point. Buddy Rose v. Marty Jannetty Already nominated. Battle Royal The opening graphic run for this with Japanese overdub was great. Silo Sam or whatever the fuck showing up ruled. Debeers gets his mustache used against him by the rockers. A sparring session breaks out in the early going. The Blaster is in the match. Silo chasing around Buddy Rose was hilarious. The big eliminations of Larry, Blackwell and Debeers were well milked and had huge heat. Buddy being left with two Russians against Gagne, Rockers and Hennig and begging off in the corner was great. Marty eliminates himself after Buddy holds on to the top rope on a crossbody attempt. The fucking Russians accidentally headscissor each other. Shawn does a skin the cat spot eliminating Gordenko but stupidly eliminates himself too. Buddy does his fucking backward head bump in a fucking battle royal! Buddy finally gets eliminated on a huge bump over the top and it comes down to Hennig and Smirnoff of all people. Hennig gets posted and blades. He sells some, makes a reversal and then Smirnoff takes a shockingly huge bump off of a dropkick for the Hennig win. I thought this was a shit ton of fun. Seriously one of the most fun matches I've watched. Nick Bockwinkel v. Boris Zhukov JIP. We have this nominated in full. Jimmy Snuka v. Larry Zbyszko This is the Debeers attacks Snuka match and a guaranteed EXTRA Midnight Rockers v. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers Already nominated. Number One Contender Stan Hansen v. Paul Barnett This is the match with the Bock ambush angle. I have it tagged as an EXTRA
