Posted March 6, 20241 yr comment_6018930 Before the match, Rose is blindsided by Jonathan Boyd being named the special guest referee. Rose tries to pull the trunks of Youngblood for an early pinfall, but Boyd hilariously grabs his thumb. Beyond Rose’s wonderfully cartoonish bumping and stooging, there’s some great, athletic action between he and Youngblood here that wouldn’t look out of place in a match in 2024. There’s a delightful sequence where Rose repeatedly tries to Irish whip Youngblood, and Jay pulls his hair to keep him close. Rose tries to take a powder and immediately pays for it when Boyd’s fast count reaches eighteen. Youngblood steals the first fall with a quick pin attempt. Rose’s commitment to being the butt of the joke is so crucial to a match like this. From how he flops around the ring to slapping the mat in frustration while in a submission, everything Rose does riles up the crowd. He evens things up with a back breaker but eventually gets fed up with Boyd and attacks him, getting disqualified. This match is a great example of taking a tired trope (biased referee) and putting it to good use. I don’t know if the match would’ve worked as well if a character with less personality than Rose was in there, but the crowd ate it up, and so did I.
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