Posted November 3, 200817 yr comment_5435534 The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs (Six-man Tag) (27:43) Von Erich team is supposed to be Kevin, David, and Kerry, but the 'Birds jumped Kevin backstage. They are quite pleased about this until they find out Mike will be taking his place, and then they freak out. I was OK with Mike Von Erich as overmatched, underskilled rookie trying to live up to the family name, but now we have a real problem. The Freebirds being terrified of Mike, to the point of nearly walking out of the match, is absurd. They took out the most experienced and skilled Von Erich and got the least (and the least prepared for this match, presumably) in his place. Mission accomplished, right? Right? Anyway, if you've ever wanted to see a six-man Von Erich team that had both David and Mike on it, this is pretty much your only chance as far as I know. Otherwise, you can skip Fritz forcibly shoving Mike down the road to suicide and watch something else. David Manning announces David Von Erich's death (2:28) Not a lot you can say about this clip, other than that I thought it would be more uncomfortable to watch than it was. David Von Erich died 13 days before I was born. I'm experiencing this way out of context, and in a time where wrestlers dropping dead at young ages is all too common. I'm living in the age of the Owen Voice, maybe it's just that I don't have that handy indicator to guide me, but all things considered, everyone seems really chillax with David dying. Maybe it would seem different if I had full TV episodes or whatever, but at a time when this was actually uncommon, everyone seems to be rolling with it alright, and it's doubly disconcerting when you consider it's the promoter's son who died. It's not in this segment, but you've got Mark Lowrance on commentary throughout the rest of this thing making brief asides about David's death before moving on to more important matters, like the Nitro announce crew making offhand remarks about whatever match they were supposed to be calling before going back to talking about the nWo. "Of course, we're all saddened by the passing of David Von Erich.....boy, you have to be excited at Kerry getting an NWA Title shot at Texas Stadium!" "Hurricanrana by Mysterio....so, who do you suppose was driving the Hummer?" "David will surely be missed....you know, professional wrestling is still the top money earner for fundraisers!" "Guerrero tags out to Jericho....I know wrestling experts will be debating for years when the nWo got to Scott Steiner." I mean, the WWE has shown us that spending inordinate amounts of time eulogizing dead employees doesn't actually mean you care, but wrestling is all about illusion, anyway. I don't know. Ric Flair vs. Mike Von Erich (10:20) Mike easily handles the champ for 10 minutes. Yuck. Mike von Erich - Michael Hayes altercation (5:00) I don't even remember what this was about. I'm sure it was stupid. Jimmy Garvin vs. Chris Adams (Cage match) This is more like it. This is for the held-up American Title, and both Sunshine and Precious are in the cage as well. They're not actually part of the match, mind you. They're still ostensibly just supposed to work the corner for their respective men, but c'mon, you know where this is headed. And for those who don't know, where this is headed is AWESOME. Seriously, this is probably my new working #1 (though I still have a long, long way to go), and is just about everything I love in pro wrestling. Garvin is right up there with Jimmy Hart as one of your quintessential wrestling douchebags. I know I've said that a lot already, but it's something that he does better than most wrestlers ever, and this is the kind of match where he really flaunts it. In the first two minutes of the match, he struts around the ring, locks up with Adams, gets backed into the corner, cowers against the bottom rope, yells at David Manning for not making Adams break sooner, seeks comfort from Precious, who fluffs up his hair for him, then starts strutting around some more, circles the ring, takes a swipe at Sunshine, leading to Adams taking a very half-hearted swipe at Precious (he is a gentleman, after all, it's not exactly in his nature), and then Garvin hurries back to his own corner to comfort Precious....I mean, you give him a chance, and he will go on and on and on all day like that. Then Garvin starts taking Adams to the mat. I know it's kind of a small thing, but Garvin might have the best drop toe hold I've ever seen. He actually hooks both of his opponent's legs when he takes them down, and it flows rather nicely into his inverted Indian deathlock, which Adams escapes with a cool front flip. I'd hate to turn this into rote, SKeith-style play-by-play, but really, it feels like every moment of this match has something great going on. Adams taking control by leaping over a Garvin drop toe hold attempt and then dropkicking him when he gets back to his feet. The return of his awesome Indian deathlock splash spot. The sequence where Adams dodges a monkey flip attempt by cartwheeling out of the way, only to turn around and have Garvin leap headfirst into his gut to take control. Garvin's great dead-legged selling while he's beating Adams' ass and bloodying him. Sunshine and Precious trying to start fights with one another, including Precious "trying" to start one, but promptly shoving David Manning in front of her before anything can actually happen. A pissed-off Adams having Garvin trapped on the mat in his corner and yelling at Precious the same way Garvin had been yelling at Sunshine in their earlier matches. And then the cooler-than-cool finish, where Garvin telegraphs a back body drop, Adams flips off and over him like a gymnastic vault, and then hits him with the gold standard of all superkicks when Garvin turns around to score the win. Post-match is great, too. Sunshine is finally about to get into with Precious, but Garvin recovers and knocks Adams out of the ring, leaving him and Precious alone in the cage with Sunshine. Well, almost alone. David Manning - maybe the best referee ever - is still in there, and while Garvin is able to hold Sunshine in place long enough for Precious to get a few shots off on her, Manning does manage to break it up soon enough, and valiantly keeps them apart long enough for Adams to recover and clear the ring. But wait! It seems that in the chaos, Garvin and Precious were able to make off with the American Title! And if all that weren't enough, Sunshine continues to solidify her position as my new favorite valet ever by challenging Precious right then and there to an impromptu loser-leaves-town cage match. It doesn't happen, of course, but my point is this: there is nothing not awesome about this match. Strongest possible nomination. Kimala vs. Iceman King Parsons This was a lot of fun. Not quite nomination worthy, but one of the best stereotypical black face vs. stereotypical black heel matches you'll ever see. Also a great example of big guy who hits hard vs. small guy who hits fast. Kamala can clobber Iceman if he gets the chance, but Iceman gets his shots in first and cuts him off. Great segment where Kamala takes two huge bumps over the top rope in a row. Wish this wasn't so short, although Kamala often struggles in longer singles matches, so maybe I should just wait for them to match up again in a tag. Buddy Roberts vs. Iceman King Parsons Fun, but not one of their best matches. David Von Erich Tribute Video (3:44) Probably deserves to be an extra. Jimmy Garvin vs. Junkyard Dog Loved this. JYD is starting to enter the "fat, coked up, and not giving a shit" phase of his career, but Garvin's one-man show carries this to something really fun. I'm not sure about nominating it, but I bet Bix would love it. It's very much your Rockers/Rougeaus, Freddy/Landell match built around awesome bullshit. Chick Donovan Interview interrupted by the Freebirds Chick Donovan seems really proud of his humility. I could see this as an extra. Jimmy Garvin vs. Chris Adams Like the Garvin/Gordy vs. Kevin/David match that I loved so much, this is a great instance of Garvin getting fed up with a long-running opponent and saying "fuck this cowardly heel shit, I'm gonna beat this guy and get my belt back". That match did it through angry brawling, but this match eschews even that by having Garvin school Adams on the mat. I mean, I'm used to his cool drop toehold into the inverted Indian deathlock, but he actually mixes things up here. Has a bunch of cool amateur-ish takedowns and whatnot. Adams mostly brawls on his comebacks, and also busts out a lot of Kamala-esque splashes. Well done screwy finish. Glad Precious spraying Adams in the eyes with the air freshener didn't lead straight into the pin, and Garvin has a nice back suplex, so it's always good to see that get busted out. Garvin regains the belt, and when Sunshine tries to explain what happened to David Manning, he gets on the mic and vows that this is the last time the girls screw around with the outcome of this match. I don't mind, as these two can wrestle each other a billion more times for all I care. I'll gladly watch every one of them.
October 14, 200916 yr comment_5445135 Kimala vs. Iceman King Parsons This was a lot of fun. Kamala took some huge bumps. I would have liked to have seen the wrestlers get a bit more time to see where this was headed. Not a nom, but a boatload of fun. Jimmy Garvin vs. Junkyard Dog This did nothing for me. I liked the bullshit, but it didn't lead to much. Jimmy Garvin vs. Chris Adams This was swank. The mat work was sweet, It had an Arena Mexico title bout feel to it. Garvin showed that he could go. It had a cool mix of brawling, and mat work. A fun finsih too.A no brainer nom. The rest of the bouts I've covered.
December 7, 200915 yr comment_5446225 I've seen most of this and had typed up for stuff I haven't but I fucked up and accidentally erased it before the match that mattered the most. American Heavyweight Title: "Gentleman" Chris Adams © vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (4/2/84) This was a different style of this match in a way as Garvin was definitely more aggressive as he wanted his title back and he really worked over Adams on the mat when before Adams was the one who controlled the mat. Adams was forced to become more of a brawler being desperate trying to keep his title. The finish involved the women again of course as Precious would get involved in a pinfall that Sunshine would protest forcing the match to continue where Precious would help Garvin again win the title. The women brawl again afterwards and David Manning mandates that enough is enough from the women. This was a damn good match and a solid nomination.
