Portland #8

 

Disc 1

Buddy Rose vs. David Schultz (Cage) (15:57)

- Dr. D is not a good wrestler. Almost everything about this match that is memorable is due to Buddy's bumping, selling, bleeding and stooging. D reminds me of a smaller, less roided Sid who looks lost in the ring. He does have a sweet piledriver though. Still, there is enough blood, big bumping and Buddy Rose love to nominate this one.

 

Rip Oliver & The Assassin vs. Brett Sawyer & Steve Pardee (2/3 falls) (31:41)

- This match was really kind of boring until the bloodletting at the very end. In fact, I may cut to the end of the match and then add the interview. This is fucking sick.

 

Brett Sawyer Blood Promo (2:45) (MUST HAVE EXTRA)

 

Rip Oliver & The Assassin vs. Brett Sawyer & Terry Gibbs (26:41)

- Maybe I am spoiled by all of the Buddy Rose matches but it seems that when Rose isnt around that all of the magic of Prtland wrestling goes out the window. It also doesn't help that Sawyer has the most lifeless tag partners in this round. So far, the best Assassin/Oliver match I have seen is the Florida tag against the Guerreros. The end was pretty good though as Sawyer tries an axe handle off the top rope and accidentally hit Gibbs. Gibbs turns on Sawyer and they have interviews after the match. I won't nominate this but maybe one of you will enjoy it.

 

Ric Flair vs. Brett Sawyer (2/3 falls) (26:30)

- The first fall has Flair abusing Sawyer throughout, very similar to the first match but with a little more viciousness. Flair even breaks out a grounded leg stretch (I have no idea what this is called) from the abdominal stretch. After that, he follows up by punching Sawyer square on the bridge of the nose. Sawyer looks dead in the water when he fights back and ends up putting Flair in the small package but it is reversed for a Flair pin. The second fall is much more back and forth with each guy trying in vain to get the win. In something I don't think I have ever seen before, Sawyer gets Flair to submit to a Figure 4!!! Shit, that is huge. Did Dusty ever beat Flair with the Figure 4 and I am just not remembering? Anyone else? In a nice touch, before the third fall, Sawyer is still selling the nose and I can't imagine him not bleeding before this thing is over. Sawyer must be feeling lucky because he goes right back to working on Flair's legs. To his credit, Flair sells the legs the rest of the way. In a nice spot, Flair gets a double knee lift from Sawyer who tries to follow it up with adropkick but Flair gets out of the way. After some back and forth, Flair drops Sawyer with a stungun and gets the clean pin to win the match. Just a great match and an easy nomination.

 

Brett Sawyer vs. Terry Gibbs (8:38)

- This had some wierd rules about tying your hand to the turnbuckle and the first one free gets to attack the other guy. Gibbs attacks first and Sawyer ends up busted open. Way too short to get a grasp on this one. Add that the VQ was really shaky and I don't think it needs to be considered.

 

 

Disc 2

Buddy Rose vs. Chris Adams (2/3 falls) (23:38)

- By this point, it is getting redundant but Buddy Rose is so frigging great. Pay attention to the slap exhange and how well Buddy plays up the whole thing. Seriously, watch him as Adams is working on an arm wrench and watch Buddy selling and his facial expressions and his mannerisms. He makes the most basic shit look painful or high-end. Adams ends up taking the first fall after a superkick and a tombstone piledriver. Adams slows it down in the 2nd fall, working a headlock. This makes perfect sense after pounding Buddy's neck with the piledriver. Buddy eventually takes control but after a whip to the corner, an Adams cross-body is reversed into a pin for Buddy. The third fall is full of near falls and missed opportunities. This is the best fall by far with the crowd worked into a frenzy. Rose ends up winning the match by countout after Admas hit a pescado but Rose made it into the ring first becasue Adams injured his leg. A definite nomination.

 

Rip Oliver & The Assassin vs. Billy Jack Haynes & Stan Stasiak (17:30)

- Stasiak reminds me of a white Ernie Ladd in how old and awkward he looks in the ring. First fall is won by the heels after a Top Rope Clothesline on Stasiak. The match is telling a good story wih Stasiak's back hurt and the heels preventing Haynes from tagging in but it really isn't catching my eye after all the great wrestling I have watched today. Maybe I am being too harsh but I don't feel the need to nominate this match. Faces win the 2nd and 3rd falls and win the tag titles.

 

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Matt Borne (2/3 falls) (23:48)

- We have seen a ton of guys that sucked in WWF have great careers before going to the Fed. I am curious to see where Billy Jack stands in that list.

If the fiurst fall is any indication, he isn't that great. He may just be green here but his execution was really sloppy. The positive thing about the first fall was Borne's stooging and facial expressions. Bj wins the first fall with an awkward powerslam. 2nd fall was more of the same with Borne getting the pin this time around. Third fall has Borne and BJ bleeding. However, before BJ can put Borne away, Rose interferes and ends the match in a DQ. Another ho-hum match on this disc. There were definitely fun parts but nothing here got me excited or enthused about watching more Haynes matches.

 

Buddy Rose vs. Curt Hennig (19:47)

- The first fall is Curt working over the arm of Rose. There are some dead spots but Buddy's selling and mannerisms keep it alive. Buddy finally gets out of the arm hold and is able to turn the tide by drop kicking Curt out of the ring. Nice spot has Curt trying to get back in the ring on the apron byt BUjddy is fighting him off. Well, Buddy nails Curt in the stomach with a shoulder block, knocking Curt onto the floor but Buddy still sells the shoulder from the beating he took early on. Another nice change of pace as this fall has more close calls and 2 counts in the first fall than I am used to seeing in Portland. Eventually, Curt wins fall one with a sweet missile dropkick. Watching Curt celebrate, you can tell it was a huge upset. Buddy gets stretchered out for his troubles. I guess since Buddy is unable to continue that Curt wins the match by default. Maybe someone can watch this and clarify what happened. Either way, really good match in my view. Solid nomination.

 

Curt Hennig vs. The Convict (Wiskowski) (Lumberjack Match) (21:49)

- Hennig wins after a missile dropkick. Blah match with Hennig playing the role of the upset kid again. In the post-match, he gets attackaed by Hassan and that sets up his next feud.

 

Roddy Piper Promos (8:20) (EXTRA!!! Piper takes a local newspaper writer to task for bashing wrestling)

 

Flair & Oliver vs. Piper & Haynes (14:39)

- Nothing to write home about

 

Ric Flair Promo (Incomplete)

Disc One Buddy Rose v. David Schultz - Cage Match I've seen this already and commented on it.

 

Rip Oliver/The Assassin v. Bret Sawyer/Steve Pardee - 2/3 Falls I liked the opening face shine to this a good bit. Neither of these babyfaces is terribly exciting on the surface, but Sawyer has a connection to the crowd and I liked his rapid fire knees and the way the heels were reacting to his offense. The spot where he jumps off the top, lands on his feet and then hits an armdrag sounds terrible on paper, but was sold so well by the heels that I bought it. I also liked Pardee's roll over the Assassin and the Assassin general is such a fun guy during rope running exchanges that he makes me bite on even the most middling spots. Heel control is short, but pretty good. I like the big spots of both Rip and the Assassin. Sawyer just ended up in the wrong corner and paid for it. He makes a comeback and hits a great looking dropkick but Pardee eats a huge back body drop and a falling Assassin headbutt for the fall. Not the best ending to a fall, but the bump on the back body drop was big time so it was believable enough. Second fall starts off with Pardee in peril and the heels working over his arm. The hold work here is not terribly inspired, but when they go to the clubbing I enjoy it. I especially enjoy some of the forearms Pardee throws from underneath. Pardee hits a really good back elbow off the ropes and there is an excellent cut off with Pardee inches away from a tag when Oliver crushes him with a knee to the back. Man I kind of loved the Pardee arm drag hopespot and the big spot off of the irish whip was pretty great too. I also really liked the way the fall ended as all the heat was on the idea of Pardee getting the tag and instead he won on a sunset flip, partially as a result of the heels own poor timing. The third fall starts off with Pardee selling his arm and the heels aggressively battering it. Great early moment with Oliver suckering Sawyer in and Pardee desperately crawls over to the corner but there is no one there because Sawyer is tied up with the official in the heel corner. Pardee finally gets the tag and Sawyer comes in with some good fired up babyface offense, but Oliver holds on to a monkey flip attempt and Sawyer cracks his head hard. Assassin comes off the top with a big headbutt and Sawyer rolls to the floor, gets posted and is bleeding like a motherfucker. Match gets stopped on account of blood loss and while the blade job is pretty epic, this to me is the worst part of the match as it had built very well up to this point. I liked this far more than Will, didn't find it boring at all and think it deserves to be considered for the set.

 

Bret Sawyer bloody promo is fucking great shit and is a definite EXTRA

 

Rip Oliver/The Assassin v. Bret Sawyer/Terry Gibbs - 2/3 Falls The amateur exchanges early were pretty fun and the crowd came unglued when Sawyer went off with armdrags. I also love the announcers putting over Barry Owen as a gopher and talking about Tom Peterson putting a 1500 dollar bounty on the mask of The Assassin. Only in Portland. Heel control stuff is not bad on Sawyer, who sells well and is over with the crowd, but I can't really get into Gibbs. Very bland in look and style. But he's only in there for a short bit and I really liked the hot run to the first finish with Sawyer hitting the Thesz Press. Second fall is all about Hack selling his ass off and getting clubbed around from the heels while working hope spots. It works pretty well because he's very over with the crowd and expressive enough in the ring where the cut offs and change ups are very effective. It also doesn't hurt that this comes on the heels of watching him nearly die of blood loss in that last match. Again I like a finish to a Portland fall as the heels just kick the shit out of Sawyer and he sort of crumples and takes the fall. Third fall stars with Hack in peril, but he quickly comes back and the faces take over on Oliver's arm. I don't give a shit about Gibbs but his headbutts to the arm look great. I'm the opposite of Will again as I thought the finish here was really poorly executed, to the point where it looked like Sawyer was deliberately attacking Gibbs. Gibbs atomic drop did look great though. This was a good enough math where it feels weird not to nominate it, but if Will opposes it, and I wouldn't use a personal pick on it (and I don't think I would), I'm not sure what the purpose of a nomination would be.

 

Terry Gibbs promo explaining his heel turns.

Brett Sawyer promo. No blood here so it's not as good.

 

Brett Sawyer v. Ric Flair - 2/3 Falls I am a mark for the amateur ride exchanges and early in this we have one of the better ones I've ever seen. This escalates to something of a strike fest which Sawyer wins and Flair takes a nutty back body drop bump. Then they go to the floor where Flair hits a weak looking rib breaker, but follows it up with a sick stomp. Flair chops him and post his back on the floor and I love the way Sawyer sold Flair's punch to the nose. I love how Sawyer sells the nose from this point forward and the butterfly suplex near fall and crazy Sawyer bump after the atomic drop were great moments. Flair goes to the nose some more, hits a gutwrench suplex and then a modified ab stretch into some weird leg splits spot that looked really sharp. Really great work from both guys so far. Sawyer is on the ropes and turns it into a wild fist fight, with Flair taking one of the better Flair bumps you'll see at this point. Sawyer escapes a suplex attempt, locks on sleeper and goes for a cradle, but Flair reverses and takes the first fall. Great shit. Sawyer was right there with Flair too. I liked Sawyer's big offense in the beginning of the third fall and his selling when Flair was on offense. Still I could live without ever seeing the Flair sunset flip bit again. Loved the way Bret barely got over for the cover on the big delayed vertical. Flair submitting to the figure-four was a pleasant surprise and felt like a huge moment. Before the third fall Sawyer is still selling his nose which is outstanding attention to detail. Sawyer goes right back to the legs of Flair which I liked a lot and I also really enjoyed the way Flair tried to make him pay by cross facing the fuck out of him. Sawyers keeps going for the figure-four, but Flair is determined to stay out of it. I thought the two Sawyer drop kick misses were a bit much, but other than that I really liked the final fall and the finish with the stun gun. Probably one of the better non-Buddy Portland matches you'll see.

 

Terry Gibbs v. Bret Sawyer - Indian Death Match Don Owen trying to describe the rules of this is hilarious. He clearly has no clue what the fuck is going on. They did one of these with Hennig and Hasan and it's basically a thing where guys get tied to the corners and have to free themselves to start the match. Gibbs double crosses Sawyer, by attacking the man tying him (Chris Adams) and running over and beating the shit out of Sawyer while he's still tied up. Sawyer is bleeding, but manages to hit a big back body drop over the top on Gibbs allowing him to get free and the crowd goes bat shit. Adams slips in and interferes allowing Sawyer to win. Post-match the heels destroy Sawyer. This is another one I liked more than Will, but it was very short and I see it as more of an angle than a match.

 

Another bloody Bret Sawyer promo asking for a Loser Leaves Town with Gibbs.

This may be a case of Buddy Love automatically making me put everything else a notch below. I'll rewatch these isolated from Buddy Rose matches to see if I enjoy them a second time around. Worked with Bubba-Garvin, which i watched the same day as the Magnum-Tully cage, Abby-Manny and other sick matches.

This may be a case of Buddy Love automatically making me put everything else a notch below. I'll rewatch these isolated from Buddy Rose matches to see if I enjoy them a second time around. Worked with Bubba-Garvin, which i watched the same day as the Magnum-Tully cage, Abby-Manny and other sick matches.

Funny I mentioned the same thing to Devon. I think the toughest thing with Portland is you are comparing everything to God. Man can't compare to God.

Just keep doing what you are doing. I'll be happy to watch non-Buddy matches over. IN the meantime, did you and Kris square away the trade?

No I still need to mail my shit off. I've got his address and the discs set aside, I'll put them in the car now

Disc 2 Buddy Rose v. Chris Adams Already seen and endorsed

 

Rip Oliver/The Assassin v. Billy Jack Haynes/Stan Stasiak - 2/3 Falls

Man the heat section of Stasiak in the first fall really came across like two guys beating the hell out of an old man outside of an assisted living building. It's like the light goes on, both guys snap and they destroy the old man. Loved Assassin's rapid fire gut punches and the big assisted clothesline was a cool finish for the era. This wasn't a great fall or anything, but better than I expected out of a Stasiak match from this era. Second fall with retiree Stasiak trying to fight back and getting cut down really worked for me too. Stasiak's punches looked good, I liked that he kept going to the body, I liked his face scrape to Assassin, I thought the way he used the ropes to sort of slide to tag attempts was exactly how an old veteran in need of walker who just got jumped by thugs in a parking lot outside of Social Security Office would try and escape. I didn't love the end to the fall, but the build to it was cool. Third fall starts with a Billy Jack headlock and it really doesn't seems like much. Then Oliver gets tagged in and he is really amazing on offense here. I know that sounds insane, but he busted out some really great looking stuff and had Billy in trouble. He goes for a second back breaker and Stasiak runs in and dropkicks Billy on top for the fall and the titles. The Sports Arena goes nuts. Aw hell this was a lot of fun. I hate to keep undermining Will's no votes, but depending on the length of the set I could see using a personal pick on this, even if Billy Jack brought nothing at all.

 

Matt Borne v. Billy Jack Haynes - 2/3 Falls

Borne is a poor man's Larry Z with stalling early. It's not bad really but it's so obvious he's covering for the weaknesses of Billy Jack that it's kind of funny. Yeah that wasn't the best first fall I've ever seen. I liked some of Borne's offense in the second fall, but it largely sucked and the finish was telegraphed and stupid. Third fall is hotter with Borne's douchebaggery turned up to ten. Borne ends up taking a huge bump over the top and a nice posting from Billy Jack which busts him open. I loved the Borne on the ropes segment here and his facial expression in the full nelson was classic. But then Rip Oliver hits the ring for the attack on Billy and the DQ. Borne hits the big senton off the top before the faces show up. Man the Sports Arena crowd was pissed, so that angle worked, but that match largely didn't. Too little, too late.

 

Buddy Rose v. Curt Hennig Seen it and endorsed it.

 

Curt Hennig v. The Convict - Lumberjack Match 2/3 Falls Stasiak is the ref and this isn't just a Lumberjack Match it's a "Prison yard match" which apparently means the Lumberjacks are surrounding the ring with straps. I want to know what prison in America issues leather straps to inmates. I liked the early spot with Curt coming off the to and getting caught by The Convict, but you get the feeling Wiskowski is kind of overdoing his talking movements here and while Hennig is over as an under dog babyface, this isn't worked in a terribly compelling fashion early on. "Ever been hit with a wet leather thong? Bull Ramos used to lay it to me, about a half inch thick" Jesus fuck what the hell is Dutch Savage revealing here? The back work is okay. Curt wins the first fall with the floatover back body drop off the overhead backbreaker which looked really cool, but wasn't great. Post-match The Convict piledrives him and a fan throws a tomato in the ring which is awesome and the highlight of the match other than maybe Dutch's revelation. Second fall starts with more of the same with Hennig in peril and The Convict working a Boston Crab. It's not that the work is bad in this, but it's just too deliberate. The grounded bearhug and hope spot out of it looked really absurd. The spot with Hennig headscissoring Convict over the top was a good idea, but poorly executed and then The Convict takes the big Wiskowski face plant bump. The last sequence with Convict trying the top rope splash and the missle dropkick was good, but like the last match, too little, too late. Post-match angle with Hennig and Hasan wasn't half bad.

 

Great Piper promo going over his time in the Portland territory and an up coming title match. He gives Lonnie Mayne a shout out, grandma in the front row, Don Owen, Buddy Rose, et. It's incomplete but awesome. EXTRA

 

Another Piper promo. Piper shoots on a journalist from The Oregonian newspaper. Dutch Savage is cracking up as Piper shits on this guy. "Grandma Carter has Billy Beer in the back of her car" might be the best line ever uttered in a wrestling promo. This is fucking awesome. EXTRA

 

Ric Flair/Rip Oliver v. Roddy Piper/Billy Jack Haynes Don Owen predicts this will be one of the best matches in ten years. He was wrong. The opening stuff with Oliver begging Flair to come in while the babyfaces beat his ass was pretty spirited, but nothing special. Billy Jack goes into peril and the heels work fairly well together. Some decent spots for Billy hits a big lariat and gets the hot tag. Piper unloads on Flair and the crowd is going insane. Billy Jack submitting Flair with the full nelson was a cool moment and Piper putting him over after the fall was neat. Second fall starts and it is a fight with guys just going straight to war. Piper gets knocked to the floor and Billy Jack gets on the full nelson, but Oliver breaks it up. Oliver keeps Piper at bay while Flair continues the attack. The faces make a quick comeback and win with stereo submissions via sleeper/full nelson. I'm going to nominate this as it is the sort of match I think people might want to see for it's uniqueness. At worst I would argue it should be an EXTRA

 

Ric Flair promo. Flair puts over Portland as a territory.