November 10, 20168 yr comment_5774990 This was okay. It really wasn't worked as heatedly as it could have been for a match involving former stablemates, and Oliver didn't even mention that Miller used to be a Clan member in his prematch promo. The crowd wasn't hot for this at all. I haven't seen enough of Portland to know who was over and who wasn't in 1987, but these two sure don't seem to be. "Twisted steel and sex appeal" worked for Michael Hayes and a few others. As a stock promo line to show the audience that yes, you are indeed a heel, it's lousy. I'm not sure how to feel about the spots using the cage and the guys locked inside it. On the one hand, it's certainly innovative to see Jackson and Crews interfere regardless, which I've never seen before in a match with this stip. On the other, it kind of makes the whole stip meaningless; they interfered just as much as they would have if the cage hadn't been there at all. Next time, just bar them from the building altogether. Oliver using the cage as a weapon is different; that showed smarts, if not scruples, and got across the fact that he's crafty enough to use all means at his disposal to retain his title. The backslide finish would have worked better for a cleaner-cut face; I haven't seen or heard about Miller much, but from what I do know, he's not the type to use backslides to win matches. This match seemed like a good time for a retribution spot where Miller used Oliver's nefarious tactics against him to win the title. I liked the bit at the beginning where Miller tried to feed bananas to Jackson and Crews through the cage. It wasn't the most brilliant comedy spot ever devised, but it got the message (these two guys are animals and deserved to be locked up) across nicely. Sandy's one of the few refs I've seen who counts with both hands. Is that "allowed"? It would seem that doing that would make refs able to count faster, which in certain situations is the last thing the match needs.
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