garretta

This was good until the end. Look, I know that no contracted WWF talent can ever possibly hold the Unified title because the MSC shows conflict with Raw​, so Curt isn't going to win here. But did we have to have an almost exact replay of the same finish twice? One ref bump-outside interference-nail the other guy with a chain sequence is enough, and it should have been the second one. If they had to do a false win for Curt, let him put his feet on the ropes or something similar. For one thing, Frank Morrell is getting too old to be taking two bumps in the same match. For two, Eddie Marlin is still presumably watching from ringside, and Curt's initial victory has already been overturned, so how stupid can he be to think he'll get away with having the same guy (Vampire Warrior) throw the same chain into him so he can hit Lawler a second time? Promotions think they can get away with stuff like this because the live crowd's so caught up in the action that they won't sweat the details, but this one was so obvious it was pitiful. All of that aside, Curt worked over Lawler's leg with more precision than he's shown in the WWF for years, if not ever. We saw not only the figure-four, but the spinning toehold and the Indian deathlock, and the camera got close enough that we could see Lawler selling for all he was worth, which was a nice touch. Too bad Mr. Maclin didn't know what the hell either a spinning toehold or an Indian deathlock was. I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that he recognized the figure four. Similarly, he called Lawler's bulldog a DDT not once, but twice. Okay, so they're the same basic move (one from the side, one from the front), but Corey doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me that others would in that situation; he's miscalled so many moves that there are no more accidents as far as I'm concerned; he's ignorant until proven otherwise. Speaking of which, I would have thought that they'd want to play up the history between these two more than they did. Even though it's been five years, everyone in Memphis knows who Lawler beat to win his only universally recognized World title, so a mention of that would be mandatory, or so you would think. But not from Lance Jr. He goes silent just when a history or strategy lesson would be in order because he knows nothing of either. About the only things he knew for sure was that the match was for the Unified title and how much time it took. Please, Papa, make arrangements with WMC to give Dave Brown Mondays off so he can call the matches at the MSC. If you can't do that, bring back Randy Hales. Anyone but this ham-and-egger. By the way, what was the exact finish? Did Lawler pin Curt, or did Vampire Warrior make the save in time to get Curt disqualified? I forgot to talk about Morrell's ref shirt. I've never seen a referee advertise before, particularly for a body shop. I'll bet Sandy Barr in Portland wishes he'd thought to advertise his flea market on his shirt!

The action here was a step above what we've seen on the set so far, which makes sense given the type of match this was. But the finish dragged this down for me. First, Billy Jack was an idiot for going for Assassin's mask instead of the pin. You've got the guy knocled silly, Billy Jerk, and you supposedly want revenge, so why not beat him first and then ​work on the mask? It really makes no sense.....unless we consider point number two. I thought that the coal miner's glove match was the ultimate stip match in Portland, but I guess I was wrong, because now we've got a mask vs. hair challenge for the following week. So why should the coal miner's glove mean as much going forward? Why was it so important to see this match on TV? If it isn't going to solve anything, and in fact it just ends in another beatdown on Billy Jack, why go through all the rigamarole? I suspect that what we saw was sanitized for TV, because most matches of this type feature lots of blood from both guys and more than one glove shot. Why nit reverse the matches and do mask vs. hair (which can ​be bloody, but certainly doesn't need​ to be) on TV, then do the coal miner's glove as a dark match? I don't mean to come off as an expert; I'm just going by what I've always heard about how Portland feuds were booked. If what I've heard is true in most cases, then this was booked backwards. That said, it was a hell of a brawl, and Coss really put over how exciting it was by talking about how he was perspiring even in his tuxedo. You don't hear announcers in any sport talk like that every day, so it really resonated here. As I said, most of this was probably the sanitized version of a coal miner's glove match, so I'm looking forward to seeing one from a handheld, if one exists. I loved the dueling crotch shots, and it would have been something if Billy Jack had hit Assassin in the crotch with the glove instead of the head. Then again, if that had happened we wouldn't have seen the blood, which was at least part of the point of the match being on TV in the first place. Well, that and the "request" of Tom Peterson. I wonder if sponsors were actually able to request that certain matches be put on TV in local promotions like Portland and Memphis. The postmatch brawl was a hoot, but what happened to fighting in the Crow's Nest being forbidden? Interesting that Snuka was supposed to come in for the 5/20 card, but didn't; in fact, as I mentioned in the Piper-Rose thread, he was in the very tag match that Piper blew off to come to Portland. In light of how Vince might have kept him out of jail when his girlfriend was killed, I'm guessing that Vince won any gratitude contest that Jimmy might have had over Don.

Piper on ​Two at Four ​(5/21/85): ​​Even though I knew Piper was going to get cheered, I was still unprepared to hear it, since I knew what he was in the WWF at the time. I liked the hosts basically blowing off the comments of Gloria Steinem and Hogan; at this time both of them were gods in their respective spheres of life, and their word was always law. I wonder what kind of reception Hogan would have gotten if he'd come on out of nowhere and started a verbal confrontation with Piper. The insults for Buddy came thick and fast, but Rod made a good point: Buddy beating him would have done a whole lot more for Buddy's career at this point than him beating Buddy did for his. Of course, there was no chance whatsoever of that happening. Talk about a sucker question: "Is there too much wrestling on TV?", when you have a wrestler as a guest and a studio full of fans! I liked Rod's explanation of why he needed Ace Orton in spite of being such a tough guy. It made sense, considering that he'd had crowds ready to commit mayhem on him in arenas all over the country. Once again, Piper came to the defense of the wrestling fans of Portland without making it about his own legitimacy. He may be the only one I've ever heard do that once, let alone twice. (Lawler may be the other guy capable of this, but I've never heard him defend the fans solely and specifically, although I don't doubt he did it at some point in Memphis.) He may have honestly forgotten that he teamed with Billy Jack at least once, but Rod's advice about not jumping to the WWF too quickly rings prophetic in light of what a relative flop Billy Jack was there. (He actually jumped twice, but left after just one taping sometime late in '84.) Line of the entire Portland set goes to Rod's wife Kitty, when asked if he's truly a good man at heart: "Once you learn to talk louder than him, he's not so bad." No wonder they were happy and committed to each other until Rod died. What a woman. I wonder if she actually had her baby later that day or whether she was just making a joke. I liked the back-and-forth between Rod and the male host over the result of Mania I. That guy's the first person I know to say that Rod wears a skirt and live to tell about it! Rod handled the question from the young fan brilliantly, and just about the way you'd expect him to. He put over the fans of Portland while still guarding his reputation as a heel. The line about him fighting to eat was one he also used in the WWF on the rare occasions when he was asked to explain his philosophy, and it might be the most honest answer a wrestler can give on the subject. Given how offhandedly he talked about his upcoming stint on All My Children, ​who could have guessed that Rod would become such an accomplished B-movie actor? The story Rod told about the girl he and Kitty saw with the makeup job that made her look like she'd been hit may be baloney or it may not, but it was an excellent real-sounding explanation of why Rod was against Cyndi Lauper and the rock 'n' roll culture. If only Vince had allowed stuff like that during their feud in the WWF, the whole rock 'n' wrestling connection may not have felt as simple and childish as it did at times. I found it interesting that Rod brought up the fact that people in the music industry were getting on Cyndi's case for being involved with wrestling, which may be why she'd made her final appearance eleven days earlier at the first-ever ​SNME ​taping. Great final line from Rod when the guy asked how he could be a better interviewer: "Get a job at a car wash!"

This was another bout (on the same show, no less) that was marred by a quick DQ. Slamming someone on the floor may technically be illegal, but since when do refs actually disqualify a heel for doing it, even if he does it twice like Steiner did here? Were they trying to save time for something else, or did Sandy just get a finish ("Steiner gets DQed, Sandy") and decide to do it then rather than wait for another spot? I know there was a two-minute time call right before they went outside, so maybe they took too long to get to the DQ and Sandy had to improvise. Steiner looked much better here than he did than he did against Kiniski. He was able to show off some skill and athleticism as opposed to just trying to roughhouse and cheat. The snake eyes spot on the turnbuckle may be the most violent I've seen, and he threw some really hard forearms as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll do against Jaggers later in the disc. Two Eagles was all right, but the Indian gimmick kind of limited the moves he could do. How many tomahawk chops can one guy throw? He worked on Steiner's arm nicely early on, but he never followed up with it, and once Steiner took control, he kept it pretty much the rest of the way. The brief brawl after the match was well done. How did the PNW singles belt and one of the tag belts get lost? It sounds like there should be a story of some sort behind that, but we didn't get it here, though we did ​get a number that fans can call if they know what happened to the belts. I guess the next step would be advertising them on the back of a milk carton. Don really put a lot into that spiel about Steiner during his intro. It sounds like he thought of Steiner as a potential top heel or close to it, but things didn't pan out that way.

This was a head-scratcher. If they were trying to set Buddy up for anther big run, this was the wrong way to do it. Not only did Pardee get far too much offense, but the DQ wasn't treated as all that big a deal. If tying his opponent's neck in the ropes was Buddy's big new move, why didn't Coss sell the hell out of it? Why didn't we get guys coming in to break it up? And if it wasn't, if it was just some random, vaguely heelish way to end the match, why? Why not just kick Pardee low or throw him over the top rope? Why resort to that piece of business only for everyone involved to shrug it off after a few seconds and move on? Pardee looked very good here, if a bit basic. He matched Buddy move for move, which is no small feat, and his execution was fine. He also matched Buddy in the bullshit department throughout the match, showboating after several moves to the crowd's delight. It's tough to say if a guy could have gone farther or not based on a couple of matches (I also saw Pardee on the AWA set, and he didn't stand out there), but he looked like he had the tools for a solid career. Coss made it sound like he'd worked with Buddy quite a few times over the years, so maybe that was part of it. As I said above, Buddy gave Pardee too much offense. Enough to make the match competitive and show off his bumps and stalls for a few minutes is one thing, but it was like they were trying to present these two as equals going forward, which if true would be a hell of a comedown for Buddy. I never got the feeling that Buddy was supposed to be anything major, at least not like he used to be, and that's a crying shame. I noticed that Buddy did the "correct the ring announcer about his weight" bit here. Don didn't sell it very well; I prefer Larry Nelson, who after a while looked like he was going to have a breakdown every time Buddy came within ten feet of him. My favorite Buddy spot was the abdominal stretch, or rather, how he would pull Pardee's trunks when Sandy wasn't looking, then literally paddle Pardee's bottom when he was ​looking. I've never seen it before in my life, but it sounds like a spot that only Buddy could get away with. Coss did his usual workmanlike job, but I didn't like the way he sloughed over the address of the Sports Arena, especially, since he had to have "Chautaqua" on a card somewhere so he could ​spell it for the fans if they needed it. The joke about "It's an Indian name, so follow the arrows" wasn't very funny, either. I don't think I'm looking forward to him calling the bigger matches on the set, to be quite honest. He isn't bad, but he doesn't have the gravitas of Marc Lowrance or Dave Brown, let alone Lance Russell or Gordon Solie.

I thought this would be a little longer, considering how famous Piper was at this time. I didn't expect a half-hour classic by any stretch, but eight minutes is a little too short for my taste. There were no references whatsoever to the "other" Piper other than a brief allusion to "how famous Piper's been of late" by Coss. Given how beloved Rod obviously still was in Oregon despite the fact that those who cared to could watch him be the meanest, vilest heel in the sport on a weekly basis, that was a wise move on Owen's part. Even though Buddy got in some offense, there was no danger whatsoever of Piper losing, and again, that was smart. You don't bring a guy like Rod in (especially against Vince's wishes) to do anything less than kick ass. If anyone could get his heat back quickly even after being beaten rather soundly, it was Buddy. I'm not sure if Buddy knew Ace Orton, but that finish had to be some kind of tribute to him. I can count on one hand the number of times Piper's come off the top in his career, and to go up for an attempted superplex, of all things? I'd like to think it wasn't a coincidence. Of course, it also gave Buddy the advantage of claiming that the loss was a fluke, as he did when he and Wiskowski did the interview we saw in the extras the next day. The AWA World title match featuring Rick Martel got just ​seven ​minutes? I get that Flair-Billy Jack was the main event of main events, if you will, but to give two of your other biggest matches fifteen minutes combined? Did we really need the midgets, or Wiskowski beating Billy Two Eagles? In case anyone was wondering, Piper blew off a match at the Los Angeles Sports Arena to go to this card. Bob Orton's brother Barry O took his place (the only time the Ortons ever teamed together in the WWF that I know of), and they lost to Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat. If I'd been Vince, I'd have sent Ace to Portland (since he was such a well-known part of Piper's act) and we could have had a tag match: Piper and Orton vs. Rose and Wiskowski. Well, first I would have officially okayed Piper's appearance on the card! (I guess a Hogan title defense against Piper would have been out of the question, since judging by the reaction he got here Piper would have definitely been the face, even against Hogan.)

This seemed like a compettive squash at frst, but any match where one guy bleeds can't rightly be called a squash. Much like Steiner in the last bout, Cuban didn't use much more than basic heel offense, yet Jaggers still bled a gusher, which was kind of surprising in a short opening bout like this. Jaggers looked a lot like Dusty Rhodes with the long blond hair and the blood all over his face. We know it was a long ago era when a clothesline, fancy name aside, is someone's finisher. Jaggers didn't even put his whole arm into it like Stan Hansen does with the lariat. It was just a rather ordinary-looking clothesline. I forgot about the nice reverse neckbreaker Cuban used when I was talking about his offense above. It was the best-executed move of the whole match, and given how he wrestled the rest of the bout, it seems a bit out of character. Both Dons refer to Jaggers' opponent as just "the Cuban" for the most part. It puzzled me for a moment until I realized that there had already been two or three Assassins in the Portland area in the past few years, so they probably did it to avoid possible confusion on the fans' parts. How a bearded guy without a mask and supposedly from Cuba would ever get confused with another guy wearing a mask I'll never know, but this is wrestling we're talking about. Hyperbole of the Night goes to Coss after Jaggers gets the win: "The USA wins!" I know what he was trying to say, but he made it sound like President Reagan was already on the phone waiting to congratulate Bobby on his victory.

I started the matches with Disc 9 because I'm not in the mood for a bunch of two-out-of-three fall matches at the moment, and this was my opener. I don't know if it's fair to call this a training match for Nick, but he certainly couldn't have been very experienced here. He managed to hit everything without any noticeable botches, though. Nothing really stood out, but he was good at the execution of basic moves, which is all he needed in this match. Steiner was Portland's answer to Baron Von Raschke, I guess. He has a similar shaved head, and if I'm not mistaken the Baron had a goatee occasionally, just like Steiner did here. He doesn't show much offense other than stomping, punching, and posting, so it's hard for me to say how good of a worker he really was. I'll have to see more of him. Stoney Burke looked like he got called out of the stands to referee this match. If I heard Coss right, he was pressed into service after Sandy was knocked for a loop in the previous match (Billy Jack-Assassin, which precedes this one on the disc). As an aside, what's the difference between an NWA-sanctioned referee (Sandy) and a plain old referee (Stoney)? I'm guessing that Stoney wouldn't be able to referee NWA World title matches, but other than that, they're both the same to my eyes. Coss is much better solo than he is with a partner, especially a heel partner. He just didn't seem to know how to take the likes of Levy, which isn't really his fault, I guess. Still. he should have made a better stab at it. Does anyone know why Don did his own ring announcing? Usually if there's no specific ring announcer at a TV taping, the play-by-play guy takes care of it. Don's not as good as dedicated ring announcers like Howard Finkel or Gary Cappetta, but for his own promotion, he isn't bad.

First fall: ​I had no idea that this would come in the very first period. It looked like a standard weardown period similar to what you'd find in WarGames, with Sakie doing some preliminary work on Hikari's leg. All of a sudden, Hikari grabs a small package out of nowhere for three, and Team Dynamite's up 1-0. Since this period goes to five minutes no matter what, Sakie and Hikari start the next fall as well. ​Second fall: ​I can't begin to describe all of the action over two periods plus, so I'll just say that I liked the fact that everyone seemed to be going for falls quickly. In a setup like this, it would have been too easy to just lay around and wait for everybody to be eligible so the real ​action could start. I liked the Kyoko-Ozaki matchup a bit better than Cutie-Takako, mostly because Kyoko did damage to Ozaki's back that could factor into the match later. Cutie-Takako had more nearfalls, but it shouldn't mean as much in the grand scheme of things moving forward. It's up to Aja to even things for her side, and she does about a minute into her period with Dynamite by blasting her with a backfist. She lets the referee count the knockout on Dynamite (which we rarely see in wrestling these days) and we're even at a fall apiece. Third fall: ​Kudos to Dynamite for taking so many bumps on the back of her head in so short a time. I saw her eyes at least once, and she seemed legitimately stunned, almost concussed. The minute everyone can get legally involved, the whole thing breaks down completely. Out of this mess, Aja and Cutie end up legal, and Aja squashes Cutie with an elbowdrop to put her side up 2-1. Three falls and the trashcan hasn't come into play yet. This has to be some sort of record for Aja, Fourth fall: ​This fall was a match in itself, almost half an hour by my unofficial count. It got hard to follow, especially since at times there was as much action going on outside the ring as there was in it. Almost everyone except Aja and Dynamite absorbed quite a beating. I must have missed how Kyoko got busted open, but it really didn't affect her much, which is a major problem I have with joshi. They have to cram so many highspots into their matches that there's no sense of anyone really being hurt. It's almost like these girls are windup dolls out there who feel nothing. Combine that with a moveset that at times seems to be all powerbombs and suplexes and you get matches that feel twice as long as they really are, which in this particular case makes a confusing mess. Greatest match ever? Not in my top thousand. This was so long and confusing that I can't remember off the top of my head who pinned who. All I know is that we're tied at two falls apiece with less than ten minutes left. Please, God, get me through this. Fifth fall: ​Almost every offensive move in this fall was a suplex of some sort. I'm fairly sure that Mayumi gets the winning fall on Takako with five seconds left, but in all honesty, I checked out on this emotionally about the forty-minute mark. I think I'm officially over the thrill of seeing women who can actually execute wrestling moves. Give me some good old-fashioned Moolah choking and hair mares. Does anyone know why they had to carry Takako out piggyback? These girls sell so little that I can't remember her even being severely winded during the match, much less hurt.

First, thanks for the info on who Fujinami beat. You're right, beating Fujiwara and Kido doesn't exactly make for a Cinderella run, considering that both of them were better known as shoot fighters than pro-style wrestlers by now. Him beating Muta's a bit of a headscratcher; now I know why people were calling for Muta in the final, and I would have been too. As for no one else really working on his back, that makes Hase's actions seem more desperate than anything else. I never claimed to be an expert on New Japan; I've made no effort to seek out other footage than what I've bought, and I probably won't. I don't say that as an excuse for myself; I say it to remind everyone reading that I'm someone who's watching these matches pretty much in isolation. I've probably made a few outlandish assumptions based on my lack of puro knowledge in the past, and I probably will in the future. As someone who's obviously watched more than I have, you were able to educate me, and I sincerely thank you for having done so. I should have left the parenthetical line that you referenced above out. It was needlessly snarky, and I apologize. I usually take lines like that out before I send my posts, but I didn't this time.

I saw a totally different story being told here. The right ​guy won, because the guy who "should have" won had a leg that was destroyed over the course of the tournament and simply wasn't physically capable of winning. I thought Fujinami's work on Hase's leg was stellar, and he showed a killer instinct that he very seldom does. That repetitiveness that some of you saw was actually smart wrestling on Fujinami's part; he could feel Hase's leg weakening more and more each time he applied the figure-four or the Scorpion, so why wouldn't ​he go back to those holds time and again until he finally got the submission? Remember, he's a wrestler trying to win a contest, not a performer trying to be aesthetically pleasing. (Yes, I know exactly what I just said. If you need it explained to you, you're on the wrong board.) I understand that it might have been a better story if Hase had overcome the injury to win the tournament, but sometimes the upset just doesn't come off, the underdogs simply don't have enough in the end, and that was what happened to Hase here. Did it take away from his earlier performances? Not in my eyes it didn't. It also doesn't mean that Hase will forever be seen as a lesser talent. He may be seen that way by some, but it's not just because he didn't win this particular match and tournament. Also, it's unfair to judge Fujinami's performance in the tournament just on this match. A lot of us may have seen his other tournament matches, but a lot of us haven't. Given his status, it may just be that whoever was booking saw ​Fujinami ​as the Cinderella story, not Hase, which means that he's the one who pulled the upset out of nowhere, even with Hase injured. I don't have access to the other matches, so I don't know how Fujinami worked them, but it's a definite possibility. Hase worked worked in his back quite savagely in the early part of the match, so this match may have been a question of who gave out first, since I'd bet that Fujinami's other opponents worked on his back at least a little. Anyway, both men were tremendous in this match, and I'd like to see them go at it again when each of them is closer to a hundred percent. I think we'll be in for another treat!

Thanks for the info, AJ!

A lot happened here for only six minutes. Yamazaki was fine as long as he stayed away from Vader and used his feet, but once the big man got him in close quarters, it was all over but the shouting. I loved Vader's selling of the kicks; he doesn't always sell like he should in WCW, but he sure put Yamazaki over as a threat here. Speaking of whom, he really showed his toughness by being able to walk away after the match, even with help. After Vader hit the chokeslam, he looked half-dead, which is why they brought the stretcher into the ring in the first place. I'm struck by how respectful Vader- or maybe I should say Leon- is during his interviews. There's absolutely no hint whatsoever of "Who's the man?" or "It's Vader time!". He conducts himself like a true sportsman, and that goes for before and after the matches themselves as well. He put Yamazaki over beautifully here, even though he had every right to be satisfied with the way he'd almost wiped him (Yamazaki) off the planet. I'd like to see a little bit of that promo style in WCW, although I realize that the day of the humble, soft-spoken World champion is long past, if it ever came at all. One thing's for sure, though: whatever their arrangement may be outside the ring, he doesn't need Harley as a mouthpiece anymore. He can talk just as well as guys like Flair or Sting, and he runs circles around Davey Boy. The only upcoming opponent he has in WCW that he probably can't outtalk is Mick Foley.

I think the shorter time limit (fifteen mibutes as opposed to thirty) had a lot to do with how this bout was worked. There was no wasted time, no laying around in holds. These guys went for it right from the opening bell. I thought that Lydick's suplexes would be what turned the tide up until the final minute, when Takayama coldcocked him with that knee. Was it my imagination or did it leave a welt underneath Lydick's eye? It certianly should have. I was sure we were headed for a points decision until Lydick moved his final half-crab back to the center of the ring. It was at that point that Takayama couldn't take it anymore and tapped. Both of these guys look like they could go far in this style, and I'll be eager to follow their careers through the rest of this set and in the years ahead.

I really liked this one. It was a clinic on how to wear an opponent down and then start taking out his body parts. The work on the legs done by both men was not only well-executed, but sold brilliantly, and we shouldn't forget Hase's destruction of Chono's neck at the start of the bout, which included heel tactics like grinding Chono's throat over the ropes and stun-gunning him on the guardrail. I didn;t get the sense that Hase was being a heel, though; I think he just wanted to get rid of Chono as quickly as he could in order to save his energy (and his bad leg) for the finals. Those figure-four spots on the outside had to be murder for both guys, since concrete has no give whatsoever. The referee seemed extra anxious to get them back in the ring, and I really couldn't blame him under the circumstances, as an accident of some sort could have changed the direction of the whole promotion going forward. He was really noticeable throughout the match as a whole, probably because so much of it involved submission attempts and other instances where refs have to enforce rules and make counts. Hase beating Chono with a version of his own finisher would normally seem like a "screw you", but again, Hase sold his bad leg so well throughout the match that I can understand him just wanting to use the first thing that had a good chance to work simply to get the match over with. I'll be interested to see the final against Fujinami just to see how much Hase has left after having his knee shredded in at least two matches (and probably more). Can he pull off one more miracle upset to take the tournament? I can't wait to find out!

I didn't see a classic here. Tenryu was incredible, especially because he picked Hash up for so many powerbombs despite his bad shoulder, which to his credit he was still selling in the postmatch celebration. As for Hash, what work he did he did well, but he never really focused on the arm as much as most guys in his place would have. Whather that was a deficiency on his part or whether it was another case of the finish dictating how the match was worked (Tenryu needs to be able to pick Hash up for three powerbombs, so it would kill the match for Hash to do too much to his arm), I really can't say. It's probably a bit of both, since Hash is mostly about his kicks anyway. If this was supposed to be bigger than the G-1 Climax, it missed the mark in my eyes. I know it was another chapter in Tenryu vs. New Japan, but it certainly wasn't one of the best. I would have much rather seen Tenryu in the actual tournament trying to win one of NJPW's most prestigious prizes as a hated outsider, which would have really ​added some juice to the feud.

I haven't read the whole long thread yet, so forgive me if I repeat things that have been said earlier. This was a classic of its kind. These guys spent the first twenty minutes trying to break each other's legs, then Hash's kicks started doing their damage, but not putting Hase down for the count. Hash went for one kick to many in the end, and Hase caught him, hit the sidewalk slam, and scored the win, to the delight of the crowd. The dueling figure fours were the spot of the match, and Hase did a much better sell job than Hash did until about the third one Hase applied. After that Hash almost overcompensated for earlier. Normally, that would ve a major problem, but since ninety percent of Hash's offense is kicks for which he needs healthy legs, I'll reluctantly live with it. It was sort of dumb for Hase (in a kayfabe sense) to keep going for leg submission holds when his own leg had been damaged. I guess whoever booked this match wanted to put Hase across as a tough guy who ignores his own pain to get the job done, but he still looked dumb regardless. That said, the pop for his eventual win was tremendous. As I've said, Hash is pretty much a one-move (or in his case, one-strike) wrestler, and if his kicks don't get the job done, he's pretty much up the creek. I know a lot of people think he's a tremendous worker, and maybe they're seeing different matches than I am, because on the Yearbooks he's been one-note to the point of being ridiculous. I can't wait to see the rest of the matches from this tournament. If they're anything like last year's Climax, I'm in for a real treat!

​Buddy and the Mega's Fashion Show: ​The hosts seem like they don't quite know what to make of wrestling, which is typical. Is there anyone working at a television station who will both admit to liking wrestling and have the class to treat wrestlers as normal interview subjects? It doesn't look like it, even in 1985. The footage they showed of Piper-Rose spoiled the finish, which Vince would never have allowed the day after a match. I guess Don figured that any publicity, even after the fact, was good publicity. I loved Buddy coming out with his Dachsunds in response to Piper's crack about Dobermans being the only things that would go out with him. It showed the even heels can laugh at themselves under the right circumstances. Buddy's girls looked beautiful as always. Was the one named Tammy the same Tammy whom Buddy would take his frustrations out on (in a kayfabe sense) a few years later? Buddy naturally made an excuse for his loss to Piper, but there's no denying that it really was ​a fluky finish, as it had to be under the circumstances. More on that when I see the match in its entirety later in the set. The fashion show part of this was played relatively straight, thank goodness. I loved Buddy admitting that his bleached blond hair wasn't real, especially in that tone of voice. You just know he's been asked that question a billion times over the years, and he didn't bother pretending he hadn't been. Buddy's talk about the financial differences between him and Piper would have come off as sour grapes if we hadn't known that Buddy was a part of Mania I too, albeit a much smaller part. We dodn't hear much from Wiskowski at all, probably because he wasn't the one fighting the second-biggest wrestling star in America at the time like Buddy was. Just as I say that, he does a hilarious commentary about Kamala's fashion sense, and even drops the tidbit that he (Kamala) actually comes from Jackson, Mississippi! I guess that was okay in Portland, since I don't think Don ever booked The Ugandan Giant/Headhunter. Wiskowski continues his roll by attacking Sgt. Slaughter over his choice of fatigues (shades of a future feud to come), then says that a then-little known Rick Rude must have a sexual identity crisis based on his leopard-skin trunks. I'll bet you wouldn't say that to his face, Ed! I liked Ed's comment about whether there was jealousy between him and Buddy over their ring attire: "His cost a thousand dollars, I picked mine up for two hundred and fifty. Than I invested the other seven-fifty in AT&T." Say what you will about his various characters; the real Ed Wiskowski seems to have his head on straight. It's kind of a shame that Piper didn't come back to Portland in September for the next big card; I would have loved to see him fight Hogan on that card just to see if the Portland fans would have booed their adopted hero. Vince probably feared that they wouldn't, which is why we never saw Piper-Hogan in the Northwest. Actually, if Vince had been in a charitable mood I wouldn't have minded seeing Hogan come in to fight Buddy either.

This was decent, but it wort of fell apart when Liger was in there. I can see Tenryu, one of the top heavyweight workers in the company, dominating him, but Kitahara outclassed him as well, which meant that Fujinami was in essence fighting a handicap match that everyone knew he'd never win. Kitahara wasn't bad here once you got past his gear, but Tenryu's had much better partners in this feud. The Fujinami/Tenryu stuff was the best, and the doubleteam segments on Tenryu's leg were a close second. it was the one time Liger looked like he belonged in there. I liked Tenryu waving Fujinami away from him after the match. What more did he have to prove that night after beating Liger clean as a sheet? I'm sure there will be other days for The Dragon, though. From the extended shots we got of everyone heading back to the dressing room, I was sure we'd either get a big brawl between Tenryu and Fujinami or Fujinami turning on Liger over the loss, neither of which happened.

​Adams vs. Moretti: ​Not a bad showcase for someone whom Don obviously intended to push hard. Adams looked like much more of an athlete with this American Ninja gimmick than in any other he ever had. Nice to see how Assassin got a hold of Grappler's boot, and it's ironic that he used a loaded mask to knock Grappler out and steal a loaded boot. Ove again Coss is too busy shilling everything in sight to pay much attention to the match. It really grates in short matches like this, because they get almost no call at all. It's bad when the Big Two do it, and it's just as bad when small promotions like Portland feel the need to do it. For those who don't know, KPTV was an independent station back in '87, so I have a feeling that any preemption of wrestling was arranged, if you know what I mean. It's actually a smart move on the Owens' part to make sure that all the fans come down to the House of Action, but they'd be smart not to use the gimmick too often; once people see through it, both arena attendance and TV ratings are liable to go down. Kudos to Don for smelling Moretti's forearm, whether it actually stank or not, without flinching.

​The Mafia Promo (12/12/87): ​This promo was done before the Bryan Adams-Moondog Moretti match. The most memorable part of this was the demonstration of Colt's "Mafioso hair cream" on Moretti. I'd like to know how they worked that, because I would think it's impossible to remove all of the hair from someone's arm that quickly. I liked Moretti's line: "It smells like dirty shorts, but it works!" Graapler was also here, furthering concurrent feuds with Assassin and Matt Biorne. Apparently Assassin can't bring the coal miner's glove to the ring except for sanctioned coal miner's glove matches, and Grappler's happy about it. He's certainly an effective promo. but not a ​good ​one. There are too many "daddy's and "brother"s mixed in with his spiel for him to be good. I'd love to know who was the first man to use words like that in a promo, and whether he ever knew exactly what he wrought, which is too many old fat white guys trying to sound like they're from the ghetto.

​The Assassin Promo (12/12/87): ​This promo was originally at the tail end of the American Ninja-Moretti match. This one had a whole bunch of matches to try and get over all at once. Chief among these was a double pole coal miner's glove steel cage match between Assassin and Grappler. Apparently Grappler's been doing the orthopedic boot routine, because that's what he and Oliver stole from Assassin during the interview. The promos themselves weren't works of verbal art, but they got over the matches effectively, which was their job. The double pole match sounds like one of those stereotypical matches that non-fans like to think every match is, but the way Assassin and Barry Owen explained it made sense. Coss did a great job selling the effects of the boot, claiming that it almost ruined the desk when Assassin slammed it down. It's a little rich on Barry's part claiming that no fighting's allowed in the Crow's Nest after there's been a brawl there almost every week since Portland Wrestling began. That "rule" seems more like an excuse to fine Grappler for general malfeasance and mayhem than anything else. Miller-Colt in a hair match sounds like another real winner. These smaller promotions know how to make their action red hot. I guess "shockwave" is Coss's favorite buzzword, because he's used it in multiple interviews throughout the first three discs. Lucille for a baseball bat and Baby Doll for a pet snake. These Portland guys must have thought a lot of their women to name their most prized foreign objects after them!

​Rex King vs. Scotty the Body: ​For those who enjoy heel comeuppance, it doesn't get any better than this. Absolutely nothing goes right for Levy and Boyd, not even Boyd freeing himself from his handcuffs with a hacksaw, which may be the most inventive way I've heard of yet for getting around a handcuff stip. Doll's right there to intercept Boyd once he gets to ringside, and even the tried-and-true powder in the face isn't enough to stop King from scoring the pun and taking the Northwest belt. Talking about the powder, I guess this means that you can't beat a Portland babyface even if you blind him, which seems ridiculous. What's the next step up, a shotgun? Boyd and Levy are one of the oddest couples I've seen in wrestling yet, especially since Levy wrestles a completely different style than Boyd and doesn't need his help on the mic. Was this a thank-you gesture from Don? I thought Boyd said that he was in the upcoming TV title tournament, so it's not like he was completely washed up yet. The work on the arm from both guys was vicious, but it was overshadowed by Boyd complaining up in the Crow's Nest. Do us all a favor next time you want to run this stip, Don: Handcuff two wrestlers together at ringside and leave the announce position alone. It's not like Coss is Gordon Solie or Lance Russell, who could have dealt with something like this and still made a memorable call. The setup for this, with King dancing to Levy's music and taunting him with the belt, was inspired, and probably more effective than simply hitting the ring and starting a fight. Portland's really come up with some fresh ways to execute their angles this year; it's a shame that the promotion was in bad financial shape which would only get worse over the next couple of years. Something tells me that someone objected when Levy used the word "pissed" in the postmatch interview, because Coss threw it to commercial at warp speed. Given some of the other words that have been broadcast in the first three discs, that was surprising. Maybe they'd gone over their swearing quotient for the time being. Sandy gives the finishes away for face wins, whether he knows it or not. When a heel's going to win, or when there's a false finish, he counts with one hand. When the face is going to win. he counts "one" with one hand, "two" with the other hand, and "three" with the original hand, almost as if he wants to get the face their win more quickly. I'll be watching in future matches to see if the pattern continues,

I think she was trying to equate him with what comes out of a man's penis when he ejaculates (jism is one term for it). Whether that's a compliment or not is up to you.

​Beetlejuice vs. Al Madril: ​The match was well-worked by both guys, but I wasn't a fan of the ending. I understand the part where King came in to tell Sandy what had happened to Beetlejuice, but right after that Madril threw him over the top rope, which should have ended the match immediately. What that would have meant for the stips I'm not sure, but King counting down Madril in the sleeper didn't sit too well with me. My mood was lightened by seeing Al in the Beetlejuice makeup, though. Art would have done well if he'd gone to the WWF and been allowed to portray Beetlejuice this way, with the calypso music (Harry Belafonte would have been out, though), the kids going wild, the paint, and of course the amazing athleticism. I'm surprised that Piper, whose idea this character supposedly was, didn't put in a word for Art with Vince. Then again, I'm not sure I want to know what Vince would have done with him; if it had been anything close to what he did with Doink after Matt Borne was fired, it would have been a disaster. Come to think of it, The Juicer didn't get over too well in WCW when Art went there, if I recall correctly. Coss and Levy were a bit more tolerable, though I could have done without the "Bob and Snotty" bit. It kind of disturbs me that Coss is so willing to go down to Levy's verbal level and exchange playground insults; the veteran play-by-play man's supposed to be above that sort of thing. As for the future Raven, his biggest drawback in the booth remains that he shows almost no interest in what's going on. He constantly says, "Who cares?" to just about everything that doesn't involve him directly, which even dyed-in-the-wool heels like Heenan don't do. They put themselves over, sure, but they acknowledge that there's a match in the ring too, and Levy either doesn't or has been told not to, neither of which are very helpful. Art flying around the ring and pulling off some of the moves he was able to against a veteran like Madril deserved at least some grudging respect. I've never seen a guy literally use the rafters like Tarzan uses a vine in order to make a move work, and I doubt too many at the House of Action had either at this time. Art truly was a once-in-a-lifetime wrestling athlete. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Beetlejuice had been on TV before as Art Barr, correct? I ask this because if he wasn't, I wonder how thrilled he was to be outed as Sandy's son by Levy when Beetlejuice was supposed to be from someplace not of this universe. Were they trying to start something between Levy and The Grappler? Judging by some of the dismissive comments Levy made about him, it would appear so. That would have been quite the interesting feud, and judged on what we've seen from both guys this year it's hard to figure out who the face would have been. We're not liable to see a match with unique stips like this again, and we're certainly not liable to see a match where each man got to have his stip enforced, however briefly. Art actually made a very good burro during his ride with Madril, and I liked how he willingly went for the ride even though he'd been cheated and he knew it. Most faces in his position would have raised the devil or flat out refused to go through with it unless threatened.