The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) vs. The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton) (8/9/84)

 

This is from Tulsa and we have a very regular start to the match with Fulton & Eaton. Eaton complains about Fulton pulling his tights and hair and Condrey in the corner explains to Ronnie West what he saw but to no avail. Condrey decides to tag in and handle Fulton himself but gets the same treatment as Eaton and complains more to West. Good chickenshit heelwork here by the MX and the fans are eating it up especially Condrey who was such a tremendous heel. Fulton looks like a genius here as he constantly outsmarts the MX and gets them to hit each other by accident then as Eaton tries to gather himself on the floor, Rogers stomps on his fingers on the apron. Rogers would eventually tag in and the pace picked up but also the MX took the advantage using their dirty tactics. The MX then take turns pounding on Rogers who tries to stop it by punching Condrey in the ribs which he sells greatly but it’s to no avail. The Tulsa crowd erupts trying to motivate Rogers to make the hot tag but the MX continue to double-team behind the ref’s back stopping the momentum. Rogers would knock Condrey down with a left hand though and made the hot tag to Fulton who started off the 4-way brawl. Condrey though would slam Fulton and held him down for Eaton to hit a diving elbow off the 2nd rope but Fulton weasels his way out and Eaton lands on Condrey. Fulton then covers him as Rogers dropkicks Eaton for the 3 count. Yet another great match between these teams and a nomination for sure.

 

The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) vs. The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton) (8/9/84)

 

This is from OKC on the same day and we get the same start as the previous match only with Rogers this time against Eaton but the Fants would make quick tags on Eaton while maintaining the advantage with headlocks and when Eaton tagged Condrey, he was met with a headlock takedown by Rogers. This is also at lot more fast paced than the previous one as they are zooming around in the ring. Condrey offers his hand in friendship but that wasn’t happening and the Fants maintained their advantage with Eaton this time as he made the tag. They work over Eaton’s arm in armbar while switching in and out behind the ref’s back. MX then says fuck it and they start cheating and doubleteaming beating Rogers up and sending him to the floor. Rogers comes back in the ring and takes a vicious beating by the MX but tries his damndest to make the hot tag so Eaton goes over and knocks Fulton off the apron, which of course brings Fulton in the ring illegally and gets Rogers to eat a double karate thrust by Condrey off the middle rope. Fulton gets baited in again by Condrey doing the Ali Shuffle and Eaton chokes Rogers on the rope with his knee. Eaton would hit a great single-arm DDT into a hammerlock on Rogers as Fulton does his best on the apron to motivate Rogers to make the tag but that still doesn’t happen as the MX are relentless in their punishment. Rogers would try an inside cradle on Eaton but Condrey rolled him over behind the ref’s back for a nearfall then Eaton hit Rogers with one of the greatest dropkicks I’ve ever seen for another nearfall. Rogers would FINALLY hit Condrey with a back elbow smash and would tag Fulton in who came in like a madman and the 4-way brawl was on. Rogers was pounding on Condrey in the corner when he threw him to the floor and then pulled out the MEMPHIS CHAIN wrapping it around his boot but missed Fulton’s head and when they tried a double clothesline with the chain, Rogers tripped Eaton from the floor and Fulton hit a cross body block on Condrey for the 3 count. This was even better than the first one plus maybe being the best match I’ve seen between these teams so far and Tommy Rogers takes one of the damndest beatings I’ve seen so far on this set. Slam dunk nomination.

 

Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts vs. The Rock n Roll Express (6/24/85)

 

This was your basic RnR formula match against random heel team they weren't feuding with and that's a good thing considering it's the RnR. Roberts was in the last days of being a good worker and had some nice headbutts here but Gordy on the other hand looked good as usual especially with a leap on the middle ropes after an irish whip with a 180 splash. Buddy hit a shitty looking bulldog that wasn't his fault as Morton dropped to his knees before he was supposed to go face first on the mat. Gordy & Morton worked well together which made me wonder how a feud between Gordy/Hayes vs. RnR would've gone. Terrible looking finish though as Gibson had Roberts in an O'Connor Roll before Gordy picked him for his weird looking piledriver that ended up being a quasi powerbomb but this time Gordy planted him and nothing hit the mat as Gibson landed on Gordy's knees. Fine match for what it was but not disc worthy.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/4/85)

 

This is from Jackson, Mississippi and the show where Duggan got burned by Akbar. Kerry doing the Flair strut in a terrible way highlighted the early part of this match as Kerry & Flair would trade the advantage. Both men were just so crisp in everything they did here and Kerry was at his best when he was working against Flair. Flair spent a lot of time on offense, which I liked and Kerry made a great comeback in this and tried his backslide to get Flair again but Flair got his foot on the rope this time. Flair stopped this flurry as he picked Kerry up by the knee and dropped him to start the preparation for the figure-four, which he locked on. Kerry would reverse this of course and Flair would escape as the crowd is going completely nuts. Flair then went for it again but got put in an inside cradle for a nearfall before grabbing the ropes as Kerry missed a dropkick. Flair went for a suplex but Kerry countered into a sleeper, which Flair would get into the ropes to break it. Kerry would then miss a diving body press as Flair got his knees up but Kerry would soon turn the tide and he locked in his own figure-four but Flair would get out of it. Flair then climbed up top where he got press slammed and then tried it again but this time met the Iron Claw. Kerry wrenched the claw in deep as Flair went lifeless but worked his way out of that although Kerry would knock him out of the ring. Flair came back in and got press slammed for another nearfall as he got his foot on the rope, which infuriated Kerry and he started laying the punches in. Flair would run into Kerry and fell on him for the 3 count although Kerry had his foot on the rope. The fans and Kerry were very angry at Carl Fergie who didn’t see it but the decision was final. This was a fantastic match and one of Kerry’s best. Definite DVD pick.

 

Mid-South TV Title: Terry Taylor © vs. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams (2/24/85)

 

These two are no strangers to each other. Taylor keeps the advantage for the early part of the match with Doc screaming in pain as Taylor worked on his arm. Doc would soon break that up though with a right hand to the jaw, which kickstarted his offense. Doc choking Taylor in front of the referee then saying that he isn’t choking anybody is great and at this time Doc was really great at being the stooging heel. Taylor tried to mount a comeback but Doc grabbed him by the trunks and threw him to the floor. Doc would soon bring him back to the ring after punching him a bit and then worked on Taylor’s neck with a front chancery while putting his feet on the rope for leverage. Taylor would work his way back upright but would miss in his attempt at an O’Connor Roll as Doc grabbed the ropes and then was put into a Canadian Backbreaker that Taylor reversed into a pinfall attempt by springing off the ropes. Taylor tried to slam Doc but fell backwards for a nearfall and Doc decided to climb on the middle rope but was met with a fist to the ribs. Taylor mounts his comeback now and uses a diving kneedrop and fistdrop for a nearfall but missed a dropkick as Doc grabbed the ropes. Doc then missed a diving elbow and Taylor would finally get his O’Connor Roll for the 3 count. This was a fine match but not enough for a nomination.

 

“Capt. Redneck” Dick Murdoch vs. The Nightmare (7/14/85)

 

This is on House Show 059, which UWA doesn’t have available on their site. Murdoch comes out to a huge ovation from the Oklahoma City faithful. Hot Stuff is on the floor distracting Murdoch so he decides to chase him around to the other side. The story early on was that Murdoch was trying his best to punch Nightmare but Carl Fergie would always prevent him from doing it and the crowd was going crazy. Murdoch then nails Nightmare finally with a punch after 2 great leapfrogs and Nightmare sells it like he got shot as the fans erupt. Murdoch would soon go for the mask but Nightmare gets away and drops to the floor to gather himself and get his mask back straight. Nightmare gets back in the ring and we go back to a normal match with him getting a greco-roman knuckle lock on Murdoch but Murdoch would break out and used a dropkick, hip toss, and a fucking headscissors takedown before going back to the mask but Gilbert would distract him again. Murdoch decides to use the mask as an advantage as he grabs the mask while punching Nightmare then turns the mask around so Nightmare can’t see. Nightmare starts swinging wildly as Murdoch winds up and nails him sending him back to the floor. Nightmare would get his mask straight again and got the advantage as he got back in the ring. Nightmare would use the reverse chinlock as preparation for his piledriver but Murdoch reversed out of it and started throwing punches. Murdoch wound up for his big right hand shot but Fergie grabbed the hand so he popped Nightmare with the left instead. Murdoch starts mixing in the elbows now but accidentally throws Nightmare into Fergie, which is the cue for Gilbert to get involved, which he does by grabbing Murdoch’s leg. Murdoch tries to hit him but Nightmare drops a knee on his back and Gilbert slides into the ring hitting the Nightmare with his cane by accident. Murdoch then grabs the cane and hits both of them covering the Nightmare for the 3 count. This was maybe the best Nightmare match I’ve seen thanks to Murdoch as he put on a tremendous one-man show here. DVD pick for sure.

The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) vs. The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton) (8/9/84)

 

This was a fine formula match between these two teams. Nothing about it stood out to me in any way, and honestly I basically forgot it moments after it ended. I seem to remember more about the Tulsa match so I think that was the better of the two. Go ahead and put it on a disc set, but this did very little for me or Lee and Marcel who I watched it with.

 

Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts vs. The Rock n Roll Express (6/24/85)

 

Man I couldn't disagree with Kris more. Sure this was a formula match on the R+R's part, but Rock and Roll formula is so much better then Fantastics formula. Plus you had the Freebirds busting out insane looking offense for 85, German suplexes, diving knees, huge clotheslines. I mean this was almost what a Steiners v. Rock and Roll match would have looked like. Plus that finish was fucking sick, as Gordy basically ganso bombs Gibson, sure as fuck looked like a finish to me. Totally blew away the MX v. Fans match, and I think this is a slam dunk level nomination

 

Mid-South TV Title: Terry Taylor © vs. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams (2/24/85)

 

This had some fun stuff, I loved the double O'Conner roll finish, but a step below a disc set.

 

“Capt. Redneck” Dick Murdoch vs. The Nightmare (7/14/85)

 

Yeah this was awesome. Murdoch constantly teasing the punch, then finally hitting it was great. I actually thought the Nightmare was really good in this match too, it was more then a one man show, but fuck Dick Murdoch. I mean fuck.