Posted July 16, 200718 yr comment_5419413 Bill Dundee vs. Rip Oliver (5/26/85) Dundee’s punches were great as always in this and Oliver worked like an old-school heel would in the South in the 70’s, so it was a fine match but nothing special. The Rock n Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) vs. Eddie Gilbert & The Nightmare (5/26/85) I think this might be the only time these two teams faced each other and it was fun before the match to watch Gilbert talk shit to his former partner Morton on the mic before the match calling him an “egg sucking dog” and blaming all of their losses as a team on him, which was also great because their last run as a team was in Tulsa for Tri-State in 1981-82. Their opening exchanges were great as Gilbert was tremendous in his chickenshit heel psychology and Morton used a great looking flying headscissors takedown. I also loved the shadow boxing routine that led up to the finish, which was pretty great in that Nightmare hit Morton as he was thrown into the ropes and then put on Gilbert’s general helmet that Morton was intended to go into but he reversed it and Gilbert hit his head on it for the 3 count. Gibson or Nightmare never made into the match as it was all Morton & Gilbert, which was great. It wasn’t even really a match if you could say it but I think we need to find a place for this somewhere on the DVD set as an extra. Mid-South TV Title: The Snowman © w/Muhammad Ali & Bundini Brown vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts w/The Barbarian (6/1/85) This match was all about Ali and his antics trying to be held back by Ernie Ladd at the beginning with Jake trying to bait him in the ring and his appearance totally overshadowed the match, which is sorta understandable considering The Snowman was involved. Jake was a one-man show here as The Snowman was worthless in the ring and he put both him and Ali over greatly with his great selling and psychology in general. I would be surprised if Snowman was even in a match that would be nominated for this set and I liked him better as Jimmy Hart Jr. in Memphis. Ali running around the ring like a madman after the Barbarian was pretty funny though and the crowd went apeshit when he started punching Barbarian & Jake around the ring. Boot Camp Match: Terry Daniels & Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Dirty White Boys (6/1/85) DWB’s had disgraced the Marines by tearing up the dress blues that Daniels was wearing on TV so he called up the Sarge to help him out here and it started out a 4 way brawl but calmed down pretty quick for what was billed as Boot Camp match. I really loved the DWB’s as a team as they were really effective as heel brawlers and Denton’s punches were great in this. Daniels took a real beating here as expected before finally tagging Slaughter in which got the crowd more into the match. Slaughter then quickly put Anthony away with the Cobra Clutch to win. Nothing special here. Bill Dundee vs. Tom Prichard (6/1/85) Good stuff while it lasted which was like 4 minutes as Prichard was so good for so long before he ever got a good push and Dundee was well Dundee. The Barbarian vs. Pat Rose (6/1/85) Just your average Barbarian squash match. Wendell Cooley vs. Eddie Gilbert (6/1/85) Gilbert is just so great in this at his mannerisms and facials as a heel longing for the response of the crowd in a sarcastic way then completely acting like a chickenshit anytime Cooley would try to hit him. It was great watching Gilbert do the Fargo strut and then Cooley countering with his Bobby Fulton hip shaking. Cooley was a really good babyface worker and I’m surprised he didn’t get a bigger push in places besides Continental. Cooley’s bump through the bottom rope to the floor after running the ropes was nice but he recovered nicely making a good comeback before Gilbert threw him over the top rope in the corner as he tried to do a monkey flip for the DQ. Dutch Mantell vs. Wendell Cooley (6/24/85) These two would go on and feud in Memphis 6 months later and both men looked good here especially Cooley who I continue to be impressed by as a babyface worker. Dutch was great as well as he is just a great heel and good foil for Cooley. They had a really good finishing sequence where Cooley was on fire until Dutch murdered him with a clothesline and then the MX for the win. Really fun match but not a DVD pick. North American Heavyweight Title: The Nightmare © vs. Brad Armstrong (6/24/85) Brad’s job here was to make the Nightmare look good and he that well plus looking great himself. Gilbert was ringside so you knew he would get involved and he did tripping up Brad so that Nightmare could hit a nice looking piledriver. Average match. Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Taylor (6/24/85) This was an interesting match to watch considering what would go down 2 years later with these two and once again Gilbert’s chickenshit heel antics are awesome. Match started out good but it sorta went down in the middle as Gilbert had a reverse chinlock on Taylor that seemed like forever before Taylor started his comeback. Gilbert sold the comeback great and took the five-arm right in the mush for the finish. Gilbert then threw a temper tantrum in the ring after the match. Fine match but nothing special. Mid-South TV Title: The Snowman © vs. Len Denton (6/24/85) This went a little long and Denton tried but Snowman just wasn’t good plus there wasn’t much crowd heat as they were starting to sour on Snowman at this time. Ted DiBiase & “Dr. Death” Steve Williams vs. The Barbarian & Jake “The Snake” Roberts (6/24/85) This feud has intensified since the Tulsa match I watched last week and the fans are solidly behind Jake & Barbarian. Ted, Doc, & Jake all looked great here but the Barbarian not so much but was effective in his role even with a terrible botched armdrag on Doc. Teddy & Jake worked the majority of the match which was the best thing and it was also a plus that this had more time than the Tulsa match, which just felt a little rushed. We had a ref bump of course and as Barbarian had Doc in the full-nelson, Teddy loaded up his glove and nailed him in the back of the head but Jake got back in the ring and laid out DiBiase with the DDT to win this non-title match. This is a definite maybe pick for me and waiting to see the bigger matches down the road.
July 16, 200718 yr comment_5419414 Awesome, I had been watching all the build up for Snowman v. Jake and the Boot Camp match so I am jazzed I get to see the matches, even if they don't make the DVD
July 16, 200718 yr Author comment_5419415 Yeah the Boot Camp match was way too short and there was nothing special to even warrant the stip. Jake deserved a gold star for his performance.
October 24, 200717 yr comment_5423038 I think we can say no on the Jake/Nord tag, it didn't do a ton for me, and you seem to like their other matches better. I think Tom is going to nominate the R+R's tag. I enjoyed the fuck out what we saw of the boot camp match as the DWB's rule, too short though
