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The battle royal field looks impressive. I wonder if they thought of using someone like Backlund or Snuka in the finals in place of Martel. Probably not, since both of them were faces and so was Hall. It sure didn't seem like Gino read twenty names to me. They went by too fast to count, but it felt like they were leaving the last couple of slots open, although I can't figure out for whom. Snuka and Lombardi (as MVP, I believe) filled the "surprise entrant" quotient quite nicely. So did Martel, come to think of it. I wonder why they went with a battle royal instead of a tournament. It was probably something simple, like they already had a battle royal planned and decided to make it for the IC title when this all came down rather than try to plan out a tournament. The one-on-one match for the belt was a nice touch, although I might have made it the same night to make the whole thing more of an endurance contest instead of waiting a week. (This is assuming that both the 10/4 and 10/11 Raws​ were taped on the same night to begin with.)

Since the angle and the match didn't make the set, I can only judge what's here, and it definitely felt too abrupt. Look, we all know that Corny as the evil commissioner can't last ​too ​long, but out of the stuff that's made this set, he hasn't done a thing that could have gotten him impeached so quickly. Hell, he's only been the boss for a show and a half. If this was all the time they were going to give the angle, they should have disqualified Terry somehow in the 9/12 match and given the commissionership back to Bullet Bob. Either that or made Les Thatcher or Sandy Scott the authority figure in SMW and just continued Bullet Bob-Corny as a plain old manager-wrestler feud like thousands of others in wrestling history. Dutch, of course, thinks only of himself when the chips are down, and would we want him any other way? He's done some of the best ass-kissing ever in the last two shows, but now that the wind is blowing in a different direction, he'll be damned if he's going to be left behind. This may be the best character work of his whole career, including his entire Memphis history with Lawler and Dundee. Just as I suspected, the two weeks that Corny and Dutch have been co-hosting were most likely a cover for Bob Caudle's vacation. Oh well, it'll be nice to have the other ​Bob back at the same old stand next week.

They were trying to tell parents that if they saw TV as a babysitter, the WWF was a safe alternative to cop shows. Remember, this was the year that NYPD Blue ​debuted to a ton of controversy. I don't know if I'd want my​ kids to be babysat by Monday Night Raw​, then or now, but that was the general idea as far as I could tell. It couldn't have been that ​bad, Soup. It didn't even run thirty seconds!

The number one rule of trying to get someone over as a heel is to put him in a situation where he's the only one who thinks he's right. By that standard, Vince failed miserably here. I was just as disgusted as Halme was by what we saw, and you could make the argument that Ludvig Borga actually cares more about America in his way than Luger does. It's ​Luger's ​Lex Express bus that puts exhaust and pollution into the air, it's Luger's ​garbage and waste products that help to pollute the rivers, and it's Luger's ​"love it or leave it" attitude that causes a fine, upstanding supporter of clean air and water like Ludvig Borga to be booed by the fans and called an enemy of America. Doesn't anyone think that there's something wrong about that? No, Vince never thought that deeply about the situation, but he or someone who worked for him damn well should have. At the very least, make Borga an East German who's been cast out by the end of the Cold War or something like that. "Ludvig Borga" sounds more like a German name than a Finnish one anyway. As I've said before, except for two weeks every four years during the Winter Olympics, who the hell cares about lousy stinkin' ​Finland​? (No offense to any readers from Finland out there.) I thought the line about Luger being a "garbage driver" was funny, because it made Halme sound like a legitimate immigrant who hasn't mastered all the American colloquial expressions yet. That said, what could he possibly have been trying to say? Does it even matter?

It's always fun to see four guys like this trying to kill each other and everyone else they can get their hands on, but as a wrestling story, this stank. First of all, not only was Eddie scheduled to be on the card, Mr. Styles, but he was scheduled to be Abby's partner ​in this very match. ​I'm not sure if anybody bothered to tell Joey that or not, though knowing this outfit I seriously doubt it. But if he's off the card, what the hell's he doing making an unannounced run-in? It wouldn't have taken much time to explain that Eddie found someone, namely Sully, to be Abby's partner so he wouldn't have to soil his hands on a couple of Texas rednecks like Stan and Terry. But not only does Heyman (at least I'm assuming it's Heyman by now) not do that, he violates the entire spirit of the match by turning Eddie's run-in into a DQ finish. In a bunkhouse match​? After all four guys had used a chair the same way Eddie did, plus Sully using the bell hammer and Abby his fork? Joey tries to cover for it, but I'm not buying. No rules means no rules. Of course, we all know the real ​reason this ended the way it did: not one of these four guys wanted to do a clean job. That may be why Eddie backed out too, at least partially. But if that's the case, have another match, or book this one differently so the clear-cut loser still loses on a fluke or due to something beyond his control. Have a blood stoppage on someone, for heaven's sake; it's not like any of these guys are scared to bleed. Joey was a little better here, but not much. He still whined about his suit (why would someone who's going to call a wrestling card wear an Armani suit to the matches, anyway?) But he got in a few clever lines, most notably one about Abby not being called The Butcher because he sells pork chops for a living. (Actually, he does, ​albeit with barbecue sauce on them, which Joey may or may not have known at the time. Regardless, it was a good line.) Interesting story about how Eddie left ECW. I wouldn't have thought that he'd be that kindly disposed toward the promotion or its fans, but putting them all over on the way out was a classy thing to do.

I might have liked this match better if someone had told me why these four guys were beating each other to death with ball bats. That's one of the troubles with showing hardcore matches like this with no context; why should I care if these idiots want to go through walls and jump off scaffolds for no good reason? I'm not really a fan of the hardcore style; Will's ECW set may be the only one I've ever actually regretted buying. But even so, I was able to understand at least some of the wrestlers and feuds because Will did such a great job in documenting how those wrestlers and feuds came to be what they were. Take that away and you have four fat jerks pounding each other while a young Joey Styles sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and cries for his suit. In other words, the type of stuff I rolled my eyes at and shook my head over when anyone mentioned the wrestling business after about the middle of 1991. Maybe the bunkhouse match will connect with me better since I've seen the buildup and know the workers. At least I ​hope so. ​Typical ECW to forget the barbed wire needed for a barbed wire bat match. From all I've seen and heard, the miracle wasn't that ECW managed to make itself into a mainstream promotion by the end of its run; the miracle was that it survived almost ten years in the first place. .

There was so much action in this one that it's hard to believe that the match took less than eight minutes. They packed enough into this for a bout at least three times that long. The excitement level was absolutely off the charts, both with the crowd and the announcers. Dutch in particular was going crazy, which fit perfectly since he's the man most closely associated with this type of match. We got a lot of climbing spots, but there was also a nice stiff brawl to go with them. I didn't think they'd go for blood here until and unless it was caused by the glove, so Assassin opening Curt up on the post surprised me. Nice catch by Dutch of Sandy counting Curt and Assassin out of the ring when there's no such thing as a countout in this type of match. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but most announcers won't say anything in that situation for fear of hurting someone's feelings unnecessarily. Better that than making everyone involved look like idiots who don't even know the rules of their own matches, though. I loved Curt's strategy of trying to tear the mask, not to guess Assassin's identity but to get at the object he supposedly keeps hidden in there. He even bit Assassin through the mask, and if anything will let you know if metal is anywhere around, biting will. The strategy made extra sense when you stop to consider how many times Curt's been waylaid by Assassin's headbutts over the last few months. How they managed to work so many twists and turns once Assassin got the glove I'll never know. I lost track of how many times the glove changed hands before Curt finally got it and knocked Assassin cold with it. I wish this one had been a bit longer, but they did a superlative job with the limited time they were given. Congratulations to everyone!

First fall: ​Hack and Rogers are meant to be the attraction here, as Miller and Beefcake (which is what I'll call him throughout this post) are portrayed as a couple of big lugs who just can't seem to get it together as a team. There are at least two major miscommunication spots where one guy hits the other by accident, and at least one occasion where Miller ignores Beefcake's call to come in and doubleteam Hack. The faces take advantage of a Miller distraction of Sandy to gain the fall, as they hit a double dropkick on Beefcake to get the pin and go up one fall to none with about thirteen minutes of disc time remaining. To be perfectly honest, I spent a lot of the fall wondering what it would be like if it was the Fantastics in the ring with Valentine and Beefcake. Not that this match was exactly boring, but as I said above Miller and Beefcake are clearly not on any kind of equal or close terms with Tommy and Hack, who are quicker, smarter, and more skilled. I guess that's the point of this particular match, but I'd rather have seen them in a more competitive bout with the likes of the Army. Frank completely ignores Hack's earlier singles match, which I guess is because of the syndicated show where both matches may not appear. Hack doesn't seem overly tired either, although he plays FIP when the situation calls for it. I don't get why Beefcake has such a bad reputation as a worker. He certainly knows the basics here, and he never set out to be a technical genius regardless of what gimmick he used. Did he pale in comparison to Valentine when they were together? You bet he did. So did Johnny Valiant; I've said for years that Greg did the work of all three guys, both verbally and physically, when the Dream Team was together. But put with a guy like Miller who was closer to his own skill set, Beefcake did his part and did it well. My favorite spot of the fall was when Beefcake wanted to tag Miller, but couldn't because he and Tommy (I think) were squashing him in the corner, thus keeping him in the ring. I haven't seen that spot very often at all, which is too bad, as it both looked good and made sense. Frank's puzzlement over the cheers that came when Buddy's return was announced seemed a bit naïve, but I guess he wanted to get across the idea that Buddy was still supposed to be a heel, no matter how loudly some may have cheered him at a given time. No mention yet of Dizzy Hogan's brother Hulk, although that could change during the next two falls. ​Second fall: ​The heels get it together a bit during this fall, trapping Hack in the ring. There's a bit of a four-way slugfest on the floor that comes to nothing, and Beefcake eventually gets the pin on a worn-down Hack with a nice-looking powerslam to even the bout at a fall apiece with about five and a half minutes of disc time remaining. The main thing that stood out during this fall was a rather strange rules interpretation from Sandy. Miller and Beefcake made a seemingly illegal switch early in the fall, only for Sandy to let it stand because, even though they didn't tag, he believed that they were in a position where they could ​have. Okay, so now we've established that there's really no such thing as an illegal tag in Portland. I'll remember that the next time Sandy disallows a babyface's obviously legal tag just because he didn't happen to see it. Seriously, I'm wondering if Frank may have been covering for a mistake on Sandy's part, because a ruling like this kills the purpose of tag team matches. Why not just have all four guys in the ring at the same time if the tag rules mean nothing? I'm not saying as much about the match as I usually do because there's no standout work here. Even though it's a TV main event, it's the very definition of a competent but unspectacular midcard tag match. I doubt it would have even made the set if it hadn't featured Beefcake in an earlier incarnation. I wonder what was so embarrassing about Frank's part in the Marv Tonkin Ford commercial that was shown between falls. ​Third fall: ​Hack continues as the FIP here for most of this fall, as the heels target his lower back, particularly with bearhugs. But Hack eventually fights back and tags Tommy, then whips Miller (the legal man for the heels) to the ropes. Tommy catches him on the rebound with a picture-perfect Thesz press (called a "vertical bodypress" by Frank) and scores the winning fall, much to the heels' chagrin. I wonder how Ed Leslie's life would have been different if he'd been allowed to be Dizzy Hogan in the WWF. I guess Vince didn't want anyone to share Hulk's spotlight, and the Beefcake gimmick in its original form probably did more for Leslie than Dizzy Hogan would have: he got a tag team title run with Valentine, plus at least two televised matches (Philadelphia and Landover, Maryland) with his "brother" that he wouldn't have had otherwise, at least until the inevitable heel turn. Tommy and Hack looked good enough here to be a full-time team, but Hack was probably best used in Portland as a singles star. As late as early 1984, his return for a brief tour is given equal billing with a similar return by Piper, and that's pretty heady company for Portland. I can't wait to see his other match with Flair that's on this disc, plus his matches with Buddy from earlier in the decade.

Dundee was referring to Tony's tag team partner at the time, Tom Burton. You'll see more of him as the year progresses.

First fall: ​The Army has its problems from the start, as Matt comes to the ring late after being embarrassed by being stripped down to a pair of pink shorts in an earlier confrontation with Regal. Even when he finally gets to the ring he isn't much help, as he avoids Regal like the plague unless he (Regal) is in an obviously vulnerable position. This means that Buddy and Oliver take a pounding for the first part of the fall before finally gaining the advantage on Regal and working over his back. But Regal eventually makes a blind tag to Hack, who comes in with a beautiful sunset flip off the top to get the pin on Buddy and grab a one fall to none lead for his team with about thirteen minutes of disc time remaining. I loved the heels trying desperately to delay the start of the match until Matt arrived, only for Sandy to have none of their shenanigans: "We're going to start the match, and I don't care if Borne ever ​shows up!" Frank sure had a lot of appearances by Buddy to plug: his and Rip's trip to WTBS and the Omni and his stint with Portland's hockey team, to name two. I liked his comment when Buddy called up to the Crow's Nest to demand even more plugs: "If I plugged any more of your appearances, Buddy, we wouldn't have time to wrestle!" Matt really took avoiding Regal to an extreme here, at least from the Army's perspective, No wonder they had a problem with him; he was perfectly willing to let Buddy and Oliver take most of the beating, deliberately short-arming almost every tag attempt. How someone didn't call him out on it I'll never know. I liked the trophies we saw at the start of the bout. A six-man title wouldn't have been out of place here, since both Buddy's Army and Oliver's Army had at least three men in them at all times. Any combination of babyfaces would have worked against them, because every babyface in the territory had an issue with one of those groups at a given time. Strictly speaking, Don's wrong to refer to this as a three-sided team match. A true three-sided team match would consist of three two-man teams, not two three-man teams, Second fall: ​This is the fall where the ringpost breaks, and I have to give these guys credit for not only continuing to wrestle the match, but finding ways to use the ropes as weapons. In fact, they figure directly in the fall, as Buddy literally whips Hack with the top rope, causing him to lose his balance against Oliver, who then puts him away with a shoulderbreaker. We're even at a fall apiece with about eight minutes of disc time remaining. I saw Buddy actually break the post when he was whipped into the ropes, and he hurt his back, which doesn't surprise me one bit. He's lucky he wasn't dumped on the back of his head out on the floor. To everyone's credit, there wasn't a second of wasted time or "What the hell do we do now?" The Army looked even more dastardly than usual using the broken ropes and turnbuckles as weapons, and it seemed at times like their strategy was to choke and hold the faces against the ropes until the ring collapsed, which hopefully would injure the babyfaces worse than them. Rocky really sold the stomps to the face, as Astro said above. My guess is that he had a lose tooth or some other type of dental work which was giving him problems, though not enough to let the heels know not to hit him in the face. Third fall: How this stayed a regulation match with no ropes is beyond me. Actually, it's a good thing that it did; without the ropes, if the wrestlers had rolled out of the ring on the wrong side, they would have ended up in the laps of the poor people in the first row. Speaking of which, great tease by Buddy of trying to throw either Hack or Regal (I can't remember which at the moment) off the apron and into the crowd. Sandy makes the save by pushing the wrestler in question (I think it was Hack, but I can't be absolutely sure) on top of Buddy for a close two-count. The fall eventually ends out of camera range when Oliver and Buddy team up to crotch Rocky on the good side of the post. The DQ is immediate, and Rocky's in obvious pain afterward. The Army tries for a repeat performance, but Hack and Regal run them off before they can do it again. Frank's impish side comes out a bit when he says that he won't explain what happened to the ropes just so those who tuned in late will go crazy (and presumably kick themselves for not tuning in earlier). I've really grown to like Frank; he wouldn't have been in JR's or Gordon's class if he'd lived, but he'd have been on par with the likes of Tony Schiavone and Bob Caudle, and a definite step above what Vince became in the late eighties and early nineties. I'm guessing that the reason they went with no ropes is that fixing the post would have necessitated completely tearing the ring down, which they had neither the time nor the space to do with an arena full of people waiting to see a match concluded, to say nothing of a network of TV stations demanding a product. Today, WWE would have probably just canceled the taping and offered refunds, knowing that they could plug in repeats or other related programming to fill the TV time. What a way for Portland Wrestling to celebrate its fifteenth year on the air. I wonder if Rocky, Hack, and Regal ever got their trophies.

First fall: ​We never got a tag team blowoff to the summer portion of the Hennig-Rose feud, so this match from April will have to do. Daddy Ax is in Curt's corner, and instead of Curt's knee being the issue as it will be in the summer, it's his ribs. Neither Buddy nor Oliver want any part of the Ax, and who can blame them? Sandy finally chooses Oliver to start and flips him into the ring by the hair, and away we go. It's all Hennigs in the first fall, as Curt dazzles them with speed and Larry chops them down with the Ax, literally in Oliver's case. The three count is made, and the Hennigs lead one fall to none just seven minutes into the disc time. The stalling here by the Army was comical, but understandable; they knew perfectly well the hornet's nest they'd stirred up, and they wanted to get as far away from it as they possibly could. I don't even think Andre would have inspired the fear from them that Larry does here, and that's no knock at all against the Giant. Even Frank popped for Larry finally getting his hands on both Buddy and Rip. I liked how Frank made sure to point out that Curt never asked for help from his dad; Larry came in on his own to support his son. That's an important distinction, as Curt is still his own man and not the immature little kid he would have seemed like had he begged for Larry's help. Of course, I'm sure that Curt was happy to take it regardless! Nice subtle way for Frank to show pride in Portland Wrestling's ratings without being too obnoxious about it. "So the people who read ratings books tell me". Vince and Bischoff could have used that approach to their advantages when their respective promotions had the lead during the Monday Night Wars. I really wasn't a fan of Sandy dragging Oliver in by the hair, but I'm sure that he'd just plain had enough of the Army and all connected with it by now, period. So had Don, for that matter. It's not exactly good refereeing when guys go off the reservation so blatantly, but it's good storytelling; it lets the fans know that they're not the only ones frustrated with constant rulebreaking and cheating, and that the refs aren't condoning it or standing stupidly by with their thumbs jammed up the nearest dark crevice. Second fall:​ The Hennigs continue in control for the first part of the fall, working mostly on the arms of both Army members. But Buddy catches Curt with a knee to the midsection off the ropes, and the tide is turned from there. Larry makes the save for his son several times, but eventually Buddy takes him outside the ring and rams his back into the post twice. That's too much for the younger Hennig, and Buddy scores the pin to even the match at a fall apiece with about ten minutes of disc time remaining. The Army's work on Curt's ribs and back in this fall can't compare to Buddy and Curt's work on each other's knees during their singles bouts, but it was plenty vicious in its own right. I loved Buddy using the ropes as weapons to injure the ribs further, and the backbreaker version which almost made Curt submit is one I don't recall seeing before, at least not in North America. Nice move not making Larry so distraught that he constantly interferes, which would make it possible for the Army to constantly doubleteam Curt. That spot's probably coming during the third fall at some point, but Curt's been hurt badly enough by now that it will be somewhat understandable, especially since we're dealing with a father/son relationship. I've never seen wrestlers work on their opponents' fingers to the extent that Larry and Curt do here against Buddy. It seemed extremely effective, and I'll bet Buddy will think twice before throwing punches for the rest of the evening. The only other time I've seen work on a wrestler's fingers is when Andre used to squash guys' hands with his boots as a show of might. It must be a big card coming to the House of Action if people can't get tickets to it during the week. I wonder who Flair was defending against; could this have been the Buddy match where Curt supposedly cost him the title and forced him into a self-imposed exile from the Northwest? Third fall: ​The Army starts the fall in control, but Curt eventually makes the hot tag to Dad, and from then on they've had it. Before it's all over, Oliver's legs are injured and Buddy's a bloody mess who can't even stand up on the apron and wait for a tag. Eventually, Oliver storms the ring with a chair just to save himself and Buddy from permanent injury at the Hennigs' hands. The Army's disqualified, but at least they escape with their lives and most of their hide. Even though it didn't end up meaning much, I liked that Frank brought up Curt's pride and how it could have cost them the match if his ribs had given out before he could tag his father. Most face-leaning announcers won't say things like that because it sounds too negative when the poor slob's getting his brains kicked in. Frank really emphasized the spelling and pronunciation of H-E-N-N-I-G during this match. I'm not sure if it was because he himself was making the "Henning" mistake or because viewers were writing letters addressed to Curt "Henning". Since it was (and is) such a natural mistake to make, I'm guessing it was a bit of both. Buddy's done some great sell jobs on this set, and the one in this fall ranks right up there. He didn't bleed much in volume, but he sure made up for it in dizziness, including a backwards fall through the ropes that we unfortunately never got to see. You can almost understand why Rip, whose own legs were being worked on pretty viciously by the Hennigs, decided that he needed to get a chair and attempt to fight his and Buddy's way out of this mess before they got killed. From what I've seen so far (I know we have at least one match left on another disc), this has to be one of the most criminally underrated feuds of both Curt's and Buddy's careers. I never expected the viciousness that we've gotten from both sides, and as great as almost all of Buddy's feuds on this set have been, this has to top even the Piper feud. Rod and Buddy may have tried their damndest to cripple each other, but Curt and Buddy have each succeeded​, at least temporarily. After watching these matches, it's hard to imagine that they'd be such a good team in a little over a year's time.

First fall: ​Frank says right at the start that each man is out to injure the other's knee, and it sure looks like it from what we see here. After a few minutes, it's Curt who gets the advantage, and he works over Buddy's knee much like he did in the second fall the week before. Eventually he slaps on a half-crab (which is the hold Buddy used to get the submission in the previous week's first fall), and Buddy submits to give him a 1-0 lead with about fifteen minutes of disc time remaining. Curt seems a lot more energetic in this match than he was in the previous one. Even when he's on the mat with Buddy, there's an energy about his work that just wasn't there the week before. Buddy's putting a lot more behind his selling too, both inside and outside the ring. Interesting that it was Brutus Beefcake (Dizzy Hogan) who injured Curt's knee originally, not Buddy himself. I also didn't know that Beefcake was a member of the Army using the Dizzy Hogan name. I don't know if I can say that I'm looking forward to seeing him in the tag match he's in on this disc, but it'll certainly be something to see. Even Frank's more into things in this match. I liked how he explained what exactly a no-DQ match in Portland is: you can do pretty much anything you like, but you have to do it inside the ring. Countouts are still rigidly enforced, which they often aren't in other promotions. Too many times, a promotion will advertise a no-DQ match as anything goes, which makes the refs look moronic when they try to enforce certain rules at certain times. If these promotions would have simply said something like, "Even in no-DQ matches, moves that in the referee's judgement are being used to cripple one of the wrestlers will still be strongly discouraged", I wouldn't have had a problem. Frank also brings up the sheer number of people who are after Buddy, and speculates that one day soon he'll have more trouble than he can handle even with the Army's help. It's so refreshing to see a promotion where multiple feuds involving a wrestler at the same time are not only happening, but are integrated into the promotion's overall narrative. Where has that gone today? According to Frank, Rocky Johnson is demanding a stretcher match with either Oliver, Schultz, or Buddy. I bring this up Dave would have been an amazing addition to the Army if Don hadn't decided to pit him and Buddy against each other. In the eyes of the faces, there was little difference between the two of them anyway. Frank refers to Curt as "Curtis" several times. which I don't even remember the AWA announcers doing. It's a bit odd, but he manages to pull it off without sounding like he's condescending. ​Second fall: ​This fall contains some of the most uncomfortable to watch legwork I've ever seen. Watching these two punch, kick, stomp, and try to bend each other's legs in all sorts of exciting and new directions is giving me ​a bad knee. Buddy eventually takes control with some chair shots to Curt's leg, then it's his turn to apply the half-crab, and Curt submits after holding out for a few moments to tie the match at a fall apiece with just under seven minutes of disc time remaining. There's really not much to break down in terms of work here; these two are trying to rip out each other's knees, plain and simple. Plenty of wrestlers are known or have been known for their leg work, but they're seldom this persistently brutal about it. The closest parallel I can think of, and this isn't in the same ballpark, is Greg Valentine and Tito Santana in the WWF circa 1984-85. Greg, of course, injured Tito's knee, and Tito responded by stealing the figure-four from Greg. But their matches were mostly slugfests; Tito in particular wasn't out to put Greg in the hospital the way Curt is with Buddy here. Frank constantly reminds us even when Curt's on offense that Curt's own knee is still vulnerable, and we see that come into play when Buddy goes to the eyes to make Curt drop his leg, then attack Curt's​ bad leg. This was as a result of Curt trying to make Buddy eat his own foot, and he got a lot closer than I ever thought he would. These last two matches are doing more to put the half-crab over as a dangerous submission hold than all of the Japanese heavyweight matches we've seen where it's a staple of every single wrestler's attack, both male and female. I like seeing submission holds actually being used to force submissions, not as just a slightly more painful version of a reverse chinlock or side headlock. ​Third fall: ​More of the same until Schultz shows up and apparently whacks Buddy in the ear with a taped fist. He can't get back in the ring before the twenty count, which gives Curt the win. Curt starts to thank Dave for saving his leg and gets Pearl Harbored and thrown out of the ring for his trouble. I wasn't a big fan of the finish. At least have Buddy be counted out as a result of something that Curt ​did to him, than Dave can come down and take all the shots he wants to. It wouldn't even have been so bad if Dave was being booked as a tweener and we could get a Rose/Oliver-Schultz/Hennig tag match out of it, but that's impossible after Dave attacked Curt too. Of, course, Buddy vows vengeance on everyone in the House of Action except for Frank, Don included, so the Hennig feud isn't over quite yet, which is a small consolation. I liked Buddy selling deafness in his right ear after Dave's attack. I also liked him sticking Don with the bill for his upcoming trip to the hospital, which is what you'd expect from someone like him. Oliver doesn't sound like much on the mic next to Buddy, especially when Buddy's as fired up as he is here. His time to make himself heard would come soon enough, though. Right now, he's the strong, almost silent, dangerous assassin type, and that's what a blowhard like Buddy needs in a second-in-command. I liked Frank saying that it won't necessarily be a wrestling match when Buddy and Dave get together. Like these last two matches were scientific classics, right? They may not have had blood, but for sheer violence against the human body or a part thereof, these were hard to beat. I only wish we had more of them on this set. And to think, in a little over a year Buddy and Curt would be a damn good babyface tag team!

First fall: ​Buddy gets on the mic before the match starts and promises that someone will get hurt tonight. He's right; the fans are hurt by the lack of action in this fall. Each man works on the other's left leg, but neither puts much pizzazz into it. Buddy gets the submission with a half crab to go up one fall to none, but there are just three minutes of disc time remaining (four minutes of wrestling time). The story behind this fall has to be that Curt's injury was legit and he couldn't do much, so he and Buddy did the best they could. Otherwise, why was this fall so boring? There's only so long that I can watch one wrestler twist another's foot, no matter what interesting ways said foot is being made to bend. Each guy throws in some punches and kicks for variety's sake, and Buddy posts Curt's leg twice, but it's too late to keep my mind from wandering. As good as Frank is, this is the type of match that hurts him. He's not a hype artist like Vince, doesn't claim to know anatomy like Gordon or Gino, and he doesn't have a heel commentator to play off of. All that's left is to say "Rose (Hennig) working on Hennig's (Rose's) left leg." Again, that's not his fault; his strength is describing action, and there isn't a whole lot to be had here. He might have filled the time by going back over the history between these two, but that's hard to do when he didn't even know which of Curt's legs Buddy hurt, which he should have never admitted in camera. This was just badly done on all fronts, and I can't say that about much of the stuff on the set. One thing that was confirmed for me was that Dave Schultz was booked as a heel except when he wrestled Buddy; he's going against Hack Sawyer later that night in a match that most likely won't make it on TV. I don't know why they didn't try Dave against Oliver, which could conceivably have produced matches every bit as wild as the series with Buddy, if not more so. I'll go out on a limb here and say that we're not getting two more falls in three minutes unless someone literally gets in the ring and lays down for the second fall right off the bat. ​Second fall: ​We don't get two falls in three minutes, but we finally get some good action as Curt goes crazy, banging Buddy's leg off the ringpost repeatedly, attacking the leg with punches, and even applying a ringpost-assisted figure-four. He's eventually disqualified, which gives Buddy the match in two straight falls, but even that doesn't stop him. We're not told what finally conbinced Curt to back off, but we're told by Frank that Oliver's making his way to ringside from the Crow's Nest, so that may have had something to do with it. This fall was most likely the reason why the following week's match (which is next on Disc 4) was no-DQ. It'll be interesting to see how that match unfolds, and specifically whether Curt's up to working a match at anywhere close to full speed. From Borne to Curt to Schultz all in a row, Buddy hasn't missed a beat that I can tell. It's not easy being the centerpiece of so many hot feuds in a row, but Buddy's pulling it off without a hitch so far.

I don't know why people complain about Tatanka as a heel; he sounded like a perfectly acceptable one here, taunting Lawler and the crowd. Yes, he slipped a little bit on Lawler's name, but were those slips or intentional digs at the King? It's hard to tell, especially since he showed later in the segment that he could say Lawler's name perfectly well. Dave seemed ever so slightly out of sorts here; I don't think he appreciated Tatanka taking the mic from him, and I don't think he liked Tatanka insulting the fans as much as he did. Most of the time, the heels take a shot or two at the fans, then focus on their opponent. Tatanka kept up the insults to the point where Dave had to remind him on camera to talk to Lawler, not the fans. It didn't help much, though. Maybe this is why the USWA felt more comfortable with outside wrestlers sending in videotapes instead of coming to the studio and disrupting the show's rhythm, which has been a proven ratings winner for two generations. (Just to be clear, I don't think Dave had a problem with the insults themselves; he just thought that they went on for too long, especially after Lawler came out.) Lawler playing the local yokel was a blast. It may have been his best performance in quite a while, because I'm sure everyone expected him to come out and tear Tatanka and the WWF down brick by brick like he usually did. He strung Tatanka out every step of the way, slowly but surely baiting his trap, then fixing it so he walked in willingly. It was a masterful performance, right down to getting him to agree to put all the USWA belts on the line. He had Tommy so overconfident that Tommy wanted to do the match right there in the studio, which was yet another nice touch. I liked how Lawler managed to play booker and talent at the same time without the crowd even knowing it. He made sure that each pairing (Himself/Tatanka, Dogs/Catchers, Tommy/Jeff) over a belt stayed about that belt. In other words, he didn't want Tommy to end up as Unified Champion (to cite just one example that Tommy raised in the interview when he said he wanted a piece of Lawler), so he cleverly slipped in the stip that the Unified belt would only be on the line between himself and Tatanka, the USWA belt between Tommy and Jeff, and the tag titles between the Dogs and the Catchers, all without making the match seem any less wild and unpredictable. It might have shaken things up more if all the belts were on the line for everyone, but it would have also created possible booking headaches if the wrong guy won the wrong belt. I didn't know that the Dogs were still around Memphis, let alone babyfaces. Was Richard Lee still managing them by now? The short clip we saw from the MSC looked good, and Tatanka beating Lawler with the piledriver was significant enough that Lawler brought it up during the interview as something that really galled him. I guess Neighbors was just a hanger-on at this point, although he was obviously supposed to be there to create the distraction that led to Tatanka's win. It'll be interesting to see what happens to him over the next few months, whether he goes back to refereeing or segues into managing.

​First fall: ​Matt wants no part of this match at the start, and spends the first five minutes or so stalling for time or leaving the ring the second Regal goes on offense. After a while, he makes an opening for himself by targeting Regal's back and works on it for a while, but Regal slips out of a slam attempt near the ropes and rolls him up for a surprise three-count and a 1-0 lead with less than ten minutes of disc time remaining. It's an interesting contrast watching two completely different Borne matches back to back. In the June 5 Buddy match, he's an aggrieved babyface and former Army member who's out to kick Buddy's ass all over the Northwest and doesn't mind if Buddy gets his shots in too. Here, he's a full-fledged heel and Army member in good standing who wants no part of a former partner with vengeance on his mind. I wouldn't call his stalling exactly epic, but it's definitely done with a purpose which makes it part of the drama. Regal constantly breaking Sandy's count may seem stupid at first, but he can't beat the hell out of Matt unless Matt's in the ring to be beaten the hell out of. A countout win gets him the lead in the match, but that's not what he's after; he wants Matt's hide. I don't remember seeing Regal as a single on the set yet, but he seems like a perfectly good hand in tag matches, so I'm willing to give him a chance here. Once the action starts, this is fairly decent. Matt's back work is the best part, and Regal doesn't really have to do much except basic rollups and defensive work such as avoiding slams and such. In the early part of the bout, he establishes his scientific advantage over Matt in several exchanges, but that doesn't mean a whole lot by the end of the fall. He seems to have gotten a lucky pin over a man who was dominating him, so let's see if he can wake up offensively in the second fall. I enjoyed Sandy putting a fast count on Matt in order to get him back in the ring, and unlike some referees who do that, he gave the impression that he would have gone all the way to twenty and declared Regal the winner of the fall if Matt hadn't returned. He also does that weird two-handed three count that he only uses when faces are going to get a pin. Between that and counting pins with the back of his hand (which I swear I've seen him do at least once on the set), it's apparent that his approach to the job is unlike any other in the sport. Between falls, Frank hypes appearances by Flair and Andre. When was the last time there was such a thing as a non-celebrity special attraction on a wrestling card, especially on the order of those two? Second fall: ​Matt continues working on Regal's back throughout the fall, getting several nearfalls. Late in the fall, Regal mounts a small rally that's snuffed out when he misses a dropkick and comes down flat on his injured back. Matt hits a back suplex and gets the win, evening the bout at one fall apiece with a little less than three minutes of disc time remaining. Frank makes a big deal of which leg the wrestlers hook when they're going for pins. According to him, a wrestler's more likely to pin his opponent when he hooks the outside (far) leg than he is when he hooks the inside (near) leg. He hasn't told us why yet, and I don't think he's the type to make stuff up out of his own head. It's probably something a wrestler told him once in order to make his pin calls sound more authentic. Regal really does​ look limited on offense, and only part of that can be attributed to selling. He just doesn't seem energetic enough for someone who's fighting his former partner, the man who turned his back on him and the fans. He's wrestling this match as if he was in there with any random heel on the roster, and that's definitely not what I expected. It probably wasn't what the crowd at the House of Action expected, either. Since Matt got the stalling out of the way early, he's been wrestling a surprisingly clean, tough bout and dominating the action. But unless he hurries up, it's not going to get him much; as I said above, we have less than three minutes remaining. It looks like we're headed for a time-limit draw and a rematch at a later date, but as a wise man once said, it only takes three seconds to end a match. Third fall:​ We finally get the heated brawl we should have gotten long before now, as these two start whalng away on each other. With less than two minutes left, Matt goes for a back suplex, but Regal pushes off the top turnbuckle, thinking that that will force Matt to the canvas with his shoulders down. Instead, it's his own shoulders that end up on the canvas for the three count, as Matt gets the fluky but clean win. Matt tries to press his advantage with a postmatch attack, but Rocky Johnson makes the save, The finish isn't exactly new, but it guarantees both a clean win and controversy at the same time, so it's easy to see why it's used so often. When Frank says that Buddy and Oliver are out of town, he's not kidding. They were wrestling on WTBS that night (February 27), getting two squash wins (presumably one in each hour). The following night at the Omni, they lost to the Funks in a tag team tournament. (As an aside, I wonder if Piper, who was co-hosting ​Georgia Championship Wrestling ​by that time, interviewed Buddy at some point during the evening, or if Gordon took care of it after explaining the history between the two of them.)

First fall: ​This one was quick. Buddy not only jumps Matt as was mentioned above, but hits his finisher (the flying elbow), which doesn't put Matt away. From then on, it's all Matt, and the piledriver gives him a 1-0 lead with about eleven minutes of disc time remaining. (Frank says there's about eight or nine minutes of actual wrestling time left.) This is the second match in a row that I've seen where Matt's been jumped while he's taking off those long pants he's been wearing to the ring lately. Those things look like they're a bear to take off under any circumstances, let alone when a 275-pound wrestler's waiting to take your head off. Maybe Matt should leave them in the dressing room next time. Even Frank comments that Matt ought to have known better than to turn his back on Buddy to take them off, which means that it's a major​ screwup on his part. Who didn't like Don's editorial comment during the ring announcements? You get the feeling that he'd be perfectly happy if Buddy and Matt killed each other......until he saw a few weeks of diminishing gates at the House of Action. I liked the quick falls too, especially in a brawl like this. But I've also seen some great tag matches on this set that needed a long time to tell their stories. I guess it all depends on what the guys do with the time they take. Matt's interview sounded a wee bit brazen, considering that he's only won one fall so far. I'm surprised the reference to Buddy and Oliver's women having had a sex change made it to TV, quite frankly. Frank only raises his eyebrows slightly, which works here in Portland as well as Lance Russell saying "Aw, COME ON, Matt......" would have in Memphis. Second fall: ​Matt starts fast by nearly stripping Buddy of his trunks, then hitting an atomic drop on the floor. But Buddy turns the tide by posting him, then driving a chair into his forehead. From there, the Playboy teaches a doctorate-level class on how to tear opponents apart, leaving Matt a bloody mess despite Sandy's best efforts to stop him. A second chair shot finishes Matt for good, and we're even at a fall apiece with about five minutes left. Nice move on Buddy's part to avoid Sandy taking the chair from him by swinging across his body rather than winding up and over his head. It's small touches like that which make master heels who they are. Was it really Buddy's strategy to beat Matt up so badly that he couldn't come out for the third fall? If it was, he's a fool; that would only net him a draw, unless Portland's rules would give him the match on a referee's stoppage (which hasn't happened yet in a two-out-of-three match that I've seen). As far as I know, Sandy was looking right at the second chair shot that Buddy gave Matt, the one that led to the pinfall. So why would he count it? At least make Buddy perform some type of legal maneuver first if you don't want to disqualify him. (In New Japan, I believe, referees don't count pins attempted after illegal moves.) Third fall: ​This has to be one of the wildest falls on the whole set so far. Not only do Buddy and Matt attack each other with everything they can pick up or pry loose from its hinges, the wrestlers called on by Dutch to restore order get their ​shots in too. Finally, Dutch says that he and Don have had enough, and that there's going to be an untelevised lumberjack rematch next week where there two can cripple each other to their heart's content. I'm guessing that the match was declared a no-contest, but there's no official decision that we're made aware of. Shades of ECW with one fan willingly giving Matt a chair to clobber Buddy with. Also, I've heard of microphones and ring bells being used as weapons, but never, not even in ECW, have I seen a guy use the box that the bell came in as a weapon. If that was solid wood an inch thick like Frank said it was, it's a miracle Buddy didn't end up with a fractured skull. I haven't gotten to Buddy's matches with Hack Sawyer yet, but they must have been something else for Hack to nail Buddy with a chair while he was supposed to be restoring order. I've seen wrestlers do stuff like that before, but not white-meat babyfaces like Hack, even against heels like Buddy. After a bloody match like this, I'm not surprised that the rematch is going to be off TV. Or is it? There's a lumberjack match coming up next on the set from two weeks later, and I'm wondering if that's the match that was supposed to be held the week before. If so, I wonder what changed Don's mind about televising it. Could this be a legit case of Tom Peterson asking that a match be shown that wasn't supposed to be? Line of the Night goes to Frank during the first fall: "Maybe Don's right. Maybe they do ​deserve each other."

I watched the promo separately from the match, which I'll get to in a while. For a gimmick that seems as ridiculous as Jacques's is, he sure made hay out of it: not only is he a tag team champion here, but don't forget his brief reign as IC champion as well. Most people who talk about Vince's attitude with gimmicks say that he rewards those who throw themselves into the gimmicks he assigns them, no matter how dumb they may appear to be, and Jacques is living proof. Does anyone else think that Vince really meant to call this team The Mounties and was threatened out of it? That would account for the two-man re-sing of Jacques's old "I am The Mountie!" theme. It was a bit odd of Jacques to bring up the Blue Jays along with the Canadiens, considering that English Canada and French Canada are uneasy neighbors at best. I know that's not something most wrestling fans care about, then or now, but it's still worth noting. Levy's an odd fit with these two, but Harvey Wippleman/Downtown Bruno would have been even more odd, and he's the only other heel manager that I can think of other than Corny, who has his hands full with Yoko and the Bodies. I liked Jacques refusing to take on the one of the Steiners in a captain's match, thus leaving Pierre to do the dirty work while he does most of the bragging. Was that the usual division of labor between the two of them? Normally, I'd say that the match was ruined by such an obvious dipshit finish, but that was kind of the whole point of the Quebec rules; once they were announced, everyone in the audience could figure out that the match would end because one of them was broken. I still didn't like Scotty breaking the stick over one of the Quebecers' backs (I'm not sure which one, thanks to all the confusion) right in front of Earl, though. Why couldn't we have had something that wasn't quite so obvious, like one of the Steiners using a piledriver like they teased earlier? Or have one of them hit a Steinerline and have Jacques or Pierre take an intentional dive over the top? Complaints aside, this match did one thing that it needed to do: establish the Quebecers as a legit tag team. I have to admit, I thought of them as a joke before I watched this because of their goofy outfits and having someone like Levy as their manager. But they looked great here, and dominated most of this match with superior teamwork, both legal and illegal. Even before Levy came to ringside, they were dominating. I especially liked their doubleteam body splashes. If Pierre's a legit three hundred pounds as Vince claims, to have him slammed on top of you by a partner who weighs two fifty is a guaranteed finisher to all but the toughest of teams. The Steiners fit that bill; I don't think there are too many others. Scotty took a hell of a pounding, and for all the complaints we've heard about the Steiners being unwilling to sell, Scotty did so here about as well as you would want him to. Whether he and Rick liked Jacques and Pierre personally, whether they were intimidated by them, or whether they were just in the mood to be generous, it was one of the best FIP performances I've seen this year from someone not named Ricky Morton. Vince and Heenan delivered one of their best two-man performances on commentary. There are too many good lines to list them all, particularly from Bobby, whose cheering for the Quebecers actually helped the match by helping to spotlight the Quebec rules, which needed to be constantly reiterated since they were so different from the norm. Vince was the revelation here, though; he brought up Notre Dame upsetting Michigan in college football over the past weekend, which he's ​never ​done before that I know of. Most of that's due to the shows (except for ​Raw) ​being taped so far in advance, but he isn't one to let the outside world into his fantasyland too much regardless. It's almost like JR was in his headset. My favorite exchange concerned Levy. It's not much, really, until you consider who's delivering the punchline: Heenan: (Levy's) got a hockey stick.......... Vince: He's a hockey ​puck! Savage, unfortunately, contributed little beyond the requisite cheering for the Steiners. It's a shame, really; when he first came into the booth after Mania VII, he had spirit and style, and he was a great antidote to Piper, who was every bit the obnoxious shill then that he himself is now. He obviously wanted to wrestle more than occasionally, and he definitely still had the skill and athleticism to be an upper-midcarder and occasional main eventer. Why Vince didn't either give him that opportunity or let him go to Atlanta earlier is something I can't figure out. He'd have been an ideal replacement for Rude in the Flair feud, for one thing. With all the turns that happened in Russo-era WCW, did they ever run face Flair against heel Savage? Finally, I don't recall ever seeing Quebec rules again, even though the Quebecers were a top team for almost a year. It would have been interesting if all tag team title matches had had to be contested under these rules for as long as they were champions. Then again, as someone suggested above, this was probably done more as a parody of other organizations' different rules more than as a way to establish Jacques and Pierre as something new and different.

This was a classic slow-build match; it started with some excellent wrestling, then slowly turned the aggression up until everything spillled outside the ring. I wasn't surprised at either the length or the inconsequential finish once I found out that Hack would be working the main event tag match at the end of the show. Nothing really stood out to comment on, which isn't surprising since this was an opener. Borne didn't even break the rules much, though he was notably more aggressive than Hack. Borne really looks scuzzy with the beard, which I guess is part of the point, since he's part of Buddy's Army now. Nice updates on what Buzz is doing in Georgia, and also on the condition of Peter Maivia, who woyld be dead not long after this. Whilr I'm on the subject, I wonder if anyone told Matt why Rocky wasn't in the building. If someone did, it's in a bit of poor taste to issue an open challenge to someone whom you know isn't there and won't be coming for reasons completely beyond his control, even if you ​are ​a heel. They could have saved that bit for when Rocky came back to town. The Jimmy Afi whom Frank referred to, in case some of you don't know, is Sivi Afi of WWF fame. He was trained by Maivia, and his original home territory was Hawaii, so I'm guessing that what Frank said about going back to help Maivia's family run the promotion was true, I liked hearing about Buddy's self-imposed exile after he failed to win the belt from Flair, especially the part where the promoters tried to keep him from coming back, but were told that they had no grounds to keep him out because Buddy volunteered to leave on his own and wasn't contractually forced to do so. I'm guessing that Buddy may have been on a foreign tour, as he didn't make his WWF debut until June 1 at a Championship Wrestling ​taping in Allentown, PA.

This was a match unlike almost any we saw in the WWF at this time. It's a shame it was so short, because I'd like to see what these guys could have done with fifteen to twenty minutes. I don't think they could have kept up the pace they cut for quite that long, but I'm sure they would have found plenty of other exciting things to do. The best part was, it was all clean; there wasn't even a hint of tempers flaring like there is in most face vs. face matches. It all came down to Waltman taking two too many chances and wiping himself out, first on the railing and then on the floor. I thought Marty kept up with him about as well as could be expected, and again we as fans are forced to ponder what might have been if only Marty had cared enough about himself and the business to keep himself clean. From what we've seen this year, he might have been either Shawn's equal as a single for at least a few years, or at worst a half step below him. As for Waltman, he distinguished himself even in defeat by taking a veteran like Marty to the limit, and it's clear that Vince was thinking about a program with him and Michaels before things took a hard left turn at the end of the month. Waltman would have been too young to be a champion for long, if at all, but he'd have definitely given Michaels a run for his money. JR and Gino were good here, although I get the feeling that Gino's still adjusting to being a color man again after calling play-by-play for so many years. I can see why some people harp on him for sounding like a complaining old buzzard, because he seemed a little too eager to point out faults in both Waltman and Marty at times. But as my mom once put it about those who complain, he was old enough to say what he thought, and no one was going to stop him. I liked him gently chiding JR about getting six hot dogs while he only got two himself, and JR was able to laugh at it with the response about the vendor being an old friend of his. If Jesse or Heenan had tried to say stuff like that he would have been unlivable for the rest of the night. I've heard of the Jannetty/Waltman team, but I've never seen them in action. If they're as good a team as they were opponents, they should be something to see, and I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for sharing the aftermath of this one, Pete. It's nice to know I was watching a match with some historical significance. I'm not really familiar enough with the style to comment on the match itself (though it certainly wasn't bad), but I will ​say that Shamrock looked like a Greek god here. No wonder Vince was so interested in him.

Four matches, four terrible finishes. Ths card was a waste. Let me first say that I only watched what was on the disc, and I won't be watching this match in full either. I saw quite enough with what was here. Way to ruin a great story, gentlemen. Steamer's ribs were hurt to the point that his offense was practically stopped dead in its tracks, Regal is known as a punishing wrestler who can make his opponents hurt a thousand different ways, and how does this match end? Dundee interfering with an umbrella shot. Why go through all the stuff with the ribs if the finish won't involve them? Injury angles have been ignored before in wrestling, and I'd rather have had this one be completely ignored than see something like this. At least have Dundee nail Steamboat in the ribs, not the head. Let me state this again: Work by itself means nothing to me. It's all choreographed ballet anyway. What turns that ballet into a match are the outside factors: refereeing, announcing, and most of all, booking. Not that any of those will turn a bad match into a five-star classic by itself, but they can sure take a three-star match and turn it into garbage. WCW in particular has a knack for taking good in-ring work and turning it into unwatchable dreck through terrible booking decisions and announcing that's so awful it should have never been allowed on TV. This is a textbook case of the former. Was the finish that bad by itself? No, of course not. Managers have been interfering in wrestling matches since the dawn of time. But when you know ahead of time that you're going to have three title changes on a card, it's a good idea not to make all three of them various forms of screwjob, particularly two of the same. Rude's already beating Flair with a knucks shot, so Dundee shouldn't be involved here, especially with his umbrella. Do some sort of clean finish that involves Steamboat not being able to counter Regal because of his ribs. Trust me, the audience won't think less of Steamboat because of the loss unless they just don't like him anymore to begin with. I enjoyed Jesse advocating for Steamer slugging the referee and deliberately getting himself disqualified if he couldn't continue because of his ribs. That might actually have been a better finish than the one we had, mostly because it would have been such a shock to see as pure a babyface as there's ever been in wrestling do something like that. Tony and Jesse were good in what we saw here; they explained how the rib injury was limiting Steamer and how hard he had to work to overcome the pain. I'm sure they also put Regal over as a machine while he was doing the damage earlier in the bout.

This felt less like a match and more like a mutual vuttkivcking contest: Misawa and his forearms against Doc and his tackles. Doc ran over Misawa like a truck at least four or five times during the match, which is what led Misawa to start cutting him off with his foreaems and elbows. Doc looks like a monster here from start to finish, someone whom Misawa simply doesn't measure up to in terms of pure physical might. I didn't know before I read this thread that he was supposed to be the top gaijin in the company by now, but that would fit with how he was presented. Nice work by Misawa to avoid both the backdrop driver and the Oklahoma Stampede. His ability to block those moves meant that as much as Doc was able to pound him, he really had no idea how to finish him off. The snake eyes drop off the turnbuckle looked nasty, and would be a fine finisher when the other two either can't be used or don't work. By all accounts, Doc's entering his peak period of dominance now. I've always thought he was a fine worker for a big man, so he won't improve to me as much as he will to some of you. At any rate, I'm looking forward to seeing him tackle the best that AJPW has to offer, including a rematch with Misawa down the road.

Public Enemy definitely seem serious here. I don't remember a whole lot about them, but as some others have said, what I ​do​ remember is a lot goofier than this. Are we sure that Rocco's name wasn't originally supposed to be Rocco Rumble, only to be changed before they debuted? It's hard to imagine Johnny making that big of a slip of the tongue about the name of his own partner. What is there to hate about Matty at this point, AJ? The man barely opened his mouth in the segment. Interesting to hear Heyman downplaying bloodshed and violence in favor of "real" wrestling, considering how ECW was about to make its reputation. Was the part where Paul hit his hand so hard on the phone an accident, or was it planned that way? Regardless, I like how he didn't let the pain stop him. As a Pittsburgher, I enjoyed hearing the city put over, even if it was​ by a heel manager. I guess no video exists of these two cards, which is too bad because it sounds like some pretty big stars came in.

The more interference, the less the result means in the grand scheme of things, or something like that. That's the only explanation I can come up with for what we saw here. Corny knew that a Funk victory and its consequences couldn't possibly stand up longterm, so he felt free to turn the whole thing into bullshit. It couldn't be clearer that nothing's been settled, nothing's changed, this is just a temporary setback for Bullet Bob. Corny gets to wear the goofy cap for a couple of weeks and crow about Bob Caudle being fired when he was probably either going on vacation or taking care of Senator Helms' business anyway. No big deal. The promos and the segments with Corny, Dutch, and Terry were what made this. No one gloats quite like Corny, no one grovels quite like Dutch, and no one insults quite like Terry. The brains of a jackass and the speaking ability of Stuttering Sam, whoever that is? Professional comedy writers couldn't come up with stuff better than that. Seeing Dutch is his tux and white gloves was priceless, and Corny was gold all the way through as he comes to realize that even his victory doesn't mean that he can change everything​. Rock 'n' Roll are still the tag champs, and Robert's going to challenge Jigolo Jimmy for the TV title whether he likes it or not. Nice to see the future Road Dogg coming to his dad's rescue. I wonder how Bullet Bob felt about his son being part of a group that got over in part due to lewd gestures such as crotch chops and the phrase "Suck it!" I wouldn't think he'd necessarily object​, but he had to wonder just what the hell was happening to the wrestling business, just like a lot of others were, including Corny. I guess that only leaves the loser leave town match for Bullet Bob against Corny's "secret weapon". I already know it's nobody big, but I want to see how (or even if) Corny tries to explain how all he could get with his mama's money was a nondescript guy called the Black Ninja.

No, Pete. But remember, in the end it was Kaufman who was put in the neck brace and takem out the arena on a stretcher. Sure he came back a few times and got some "revenge" of a sort, but Lawler established his dominance first. I don't see Vince taking a couple of piledrivers and doing a stretcher job, then going away for a few months to lick his wounds, especially since Lawler was his employee, at least on a part-time basis.