1980-05-17
PNW
Rick Martel (c) vs. Buddy Rose
NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match
Sports Arena, Portland, Oregon, USA
Card
★★★

Martel is the PNW champion and it seems like I didn’t realise that he had already won the belt before their previous match. Seems like he won the belt in late March (not on tape). This may be the loudest that I’ve heard the Sports Arena and they were really behind Martel, unsurprisingly.
In the first five minutes Martel was using a side headlock consistently. While in the hold things got a tiny bit dull, but they punctuated that period well with blocks of intense action before settling back down again. The transition from Martel on top to Rose was so-so, with Martel going for what looked like a Spike Dudley style bulldog off the ropes, but Rose managed to convert it into a backdrop suplex. Then he put him away with a Billy Robinson backbreaker.
The beginning of the second fall was easily the best portion of the match. Rose immediately started targeting the lower back of Martel with kicks and clubbing blows, even posting him on the outside at one point. The viciousness of his attacks was much needed and it was logical for him to continue targeting the back considering he won the first fall with a backbreaker. Martel’s comeback was nice, his offense always looks good, and of course he’s a top tier fire guy. He nailed Rose with a suplex, then did an amazing bounce off the ropes into a forearm smash that sent Rose for a loop. The finishing touch was using the sleeper to knock Rose out.
The third fall was fine but lacked a bit of substance. Martel looked to have the sleeper on Rose for a second time but the Sheepherders came down and laid Martel out for the DQ. The post match action ratcheted up the intensity and easily surpassed the in ring action that preceded it. The Sheepherders had a NZ flag and nailed Martel right in the throat with it a couple times and he sold it like death. Any angle that involves somebody getting their throat attacked always seems to hit for me as it just comes across as super gruesome. Roddy Piper flew down to the ring too and we got chaos as all five guys were whizzing in and out of the ring. If you’re gonna do a fuck finish, then you might as well get your money’s worth of post match quality.

This ruled as predicted and I'm so disappointed that the title change wasn't aired anywhere. Once Again, the crowd was so hot that everything seemed so simple, Martel stole the show selling his injured back in a very dramatic and convincing way. It's incredible how the crowd was so much into a simple headlock sequence. While this was great, it failed to reach the height of the April match, maybe because the mask stunt was just too good (Rose wore it here as well, but it was yesterday's news apparently) or because the (non)finish was a bit cheaper here, lacking that bit of creativity that they showed the previous month.
***3/4