Posted January 9, 200817 yr comment_5426679 Mr. Hilo v. Billy Travis I have no idea who Hilo is, I thought it might be Tarzan Goto, but they said he replaced Goto, this is pretty short, with a Tojo run in for the DQ. Hilo had nice chops Mark Starr v. Goliath Basic big man v. little man match except the big man wasn't very good and the little man won easily Nick Bockwinkle v. Jeff Jarrett 5/4/87 This was a match we have seen Flair do dozens of times. Veteran champ faces young upstart challenger who gives him a run for his money. Bockwinkle does some nice things here (I especially loved his hammerlock counters), but I am so used to seeing Flair really demonstrative in this role, watching Bockwinkle work so understated seemed weird. I think it hurt the heat of this match, as he definitely looked frustrated but never actually seemed worried. Move this on in the process for sure, but I am definitely interested to see what other folks think.
May 4, 200817 yr comment_5431034 Billy Travis vs. Mr. Hilo (Kodo Fuyuki) (5/4/87) Hilo just pounds on Travis from the start but Billy would fight back and started taking it to Hilo. Travis would have Hilo pinned but Tojo would run in with his kendo stick that Travis would steal and clean house. Mark Starr vs. Goliath (5/4/87) This match was just there and Starr won it with not much problems. That’s the thing about Memphis and big guys, they were forced to job to smaller guys when the time came for it. Then we get a Badd Company Squash from WMC. AWA World Heavyweight Title: Nick Bockwinkel © vs. Jeff Jarrett (5/4/87) Jarrett has only been in the business for a year and gets the big shot at Bock and looks damn good here. This is a fresh matchup as well so that is always a plus for me especially with Bock since we’ve really only seen him work Lawler on the set with a couple of exceptions. Bock spends the early part of the match keeping Jarrett grounded and showing his superior experience at making Jarrett play his game. Jarrett would use his quickness though to stop Bock’s momentum and forced him to go to the floor to regroup, which Phil pointed out that Bock didn’t seem to phased just calm and collective. Jarrett would change the pace though and would counter Bock on the mat getting the advantage that way working on Bock’s arm. Jarrett would work relentlessly on Bock’s arm but he would use some great counters himself to regain the advantage. Bock would soon be forced to use his underhanded tactics and more aggressive wrestling to take it to Jarrett. Jeff would fight back though turning it into a slugfest getting off some great punches that had Nick reeling and getting Jeff some really close nearfalls. Jeff would miss a missile dropkick off the middle rope landing back first and Bock would cradle him up for the win to retain his title. I really liked this a lot and this was a match to put Jarrett into a new light in the fan’s eyes because he proved that he could hang tough with the champ. Definite nomination.
