Rose and Billy Jack had earned a title shot with their victory the previous week, but Billy Jack hurt his hand in a car accident, so Adidas subbed in. They put the spotlight on him to start as he one-upped Oliver and Assassin through a series of mat spots. The heels couldn't gain control until Buddy entered and ate a loaded headbutt from Assassin. Buddy did his usual solid in-peril work before making the hot tag to Adidas, who hit a beautiful dropkick. But they did the common Portland thing where Oliver quickly cut off Adidas' rally and put him away with a shoulder breaker. I'm not sure I've ever seen another company consistently handle hot tags that way. Anyway, Oliver and Assassin worked over Adidas' shoulder for much of the second fall. Adidas' showed real fire when he finally punched his way out of trouble and tagged Buddy. Buddy hit his flying elbow, knee drop etc. Then he and Assassin worked a nice struggle over a backslide, with Buddy ultimately winning and taking the fall. The match grew more frenetic in the third fall. Oliver got distracted by Buddy and Assassin fighting at ringside, and Adidas took advantage to roll him up for the surprise win. This came off as a great moment, with the crowd popping big for the upset. This was merely solid a lot of the way, but they did a nice job with Adidas' arc and the finish put it over the top to a mid-level nomination.

 

New Portland Disc 36

Rip Oliver/Assassin vs. Buddy Rose/Brian Adidas (New Portland 36)

Solid work by everyone involved but I kept waiting to type something that would distinguish it from the other matches and came up with nothing. The ending was a nice moment but the match while solid wasn’t very memorable. No vote.