[1993-11-27-SMW-TV] Rock & Roll Express & Tracy Smothers vs Heavenly Bodies & Brian Lee

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Long match for TV, and good action. The Moondogs run in and attack the Rock & Rolls, leaving Smothers prone to a 3-on-1 attack until the Bruise Brothers make the save. I love it when the top feuds combine like this. Smothers puts a figure four on Lee and Tammy saves by attacking Smothers with her loaded purse. Lee has the upper hand, then DWB makes the save and runs him off. Smothers and White Boy have a stand-off and they tease a handshake, but Smothers just walks away.

[jasch]

What a novel concept, two men who just had a blood feud not kissing and making up the first time one helps out the other.

[El-P]

Substantial matches on TV is the only thing that lacks in SMW. This one is pretty cool, but it's only a backdrop for the major feuds involving, yikes, the Bruises and the Moondogs. Put those two teams together and have them crap the ring in a lame brawl and let the Bodies and R'n'R work a thousand matches together. Anyway, good match and the post-match angle with Tracey and DWB is great. That's the big positive of Cornette's booking, and that's pretty rare in wrestling sadly.

[Kevin Ridge]

Smothers and Anthony are both good guys now but that alone will not just make them friends after their previous history. You can tell Smothers appreciates Anthony helping him out but he still apprehensive about making up with DWB. Smart booking.

[PeteF3]

Decent action with a run-in finish. The post-match is where this shines, and the standoff between Smothers and the DWB is great.

[GSR]

Solid match that goes longer than the norm for TV. With the faces on top, Cornette starts blowing the whistle which is a signal for the Moondogs to come out. They go straight after the Rock & Rolls and the four of them start brawling around the arena and all the way to the back The Bodies and Lee triple team Smothers until the Bruise Brothers make the save, and they start fighting with the Bodies and they go at it all the way back to the dressing room. This leaves Smothers and Lee all alone and Tracey puts him in the figure four as retribution for the leg injury he suffered at his hands. Fytch gets in the ring and nails Smothers in the back of the head with her loaded purse to break the hold. Lee goes to work on Smothers and climbs to the top turnbuckle when out comes Tony Anthony. He throws Lee off the top, clotheslines him over the ropes and Lee gets out of there as he wants no part of the Dirty White Boy. Smothers gets to his feet and the two of them stare at each other while Bob Caudle speculates as to whether the feud is over and whether they are going to shake hands. They continue to eyeball one another until Smothers just gets out the ring and leaves. They’re not friends yet! Great standoff at the end between the White Boy and Tracey while the match was more about furthering the respective feuds than anything else.

[garretta]

I knew what they were going for here, but it was still a shame that the match had to be ruined to get it. I'd have rather seen a six-man pull-apart for two or three minutes and then the run-ins, which would have left time for a meaningful match or segment, instead of wasting ten minutes on a decent match that ultimately turned into rubbish. Then again, I may be the only person on this board who craps all over a match with good work because the announcing or booking isn't up to par, so take my opinion for what you will.

 

I liked the shots of Tammy working ringside. She's really a prodigy here, and she was probably better for her experience level than anyone else in wrestling history with similar experience. Corny in 1982 Memphis was brutal, Heenan doesn't think much of his work in Indianapolis, and I'm sure even legends like Captain Lou, Fred Blassie, and Ernie Roth needed a ton of work when they first managed. Tammy can improve like everyone else, but she's got the basics down. My favorite moment of the match is a shot of her hanging on to Brian's leg in the corner looking like she's about to cry. I've never seen a manager look that vulnerable, at least not where the camera could catch them. Of course, later in the match she's bashing Tracy in the head with her purse, so her crisis of self-doubt must have passed in a hurry.

 

Bob and Dutch had their best call in quite a while, mixing humor, strategy, and observations about the sport in general about as seamlessly as possible. Dutch tells Bob at one point that all he (Dutch) has taught him over the past year plus is paying off, and I wouldn't doubt that Bob has ​learned from Dutch, and vice versa. Dutch has a ton of great moments here, but my favorite has to be his claim that Bob Seger stole "Old Time Rock and Roll" from him. I don't think even Bobby Heenan would claim something like that with a (seemingly) straight face.

 

I almost hate to suggest this, but Vince could have used Dutch in the booth by now in place of Heenan. Of course, how long Dutch would have put up with being poorly scripted and way overproduced is anyone's guess. Lawler had the advantage of being able not to care, since his real focus was Memphis. Heenan could make gold out of anything. But Dutch in a situation where the SMW gig was already out the window and he'd either have to put up with Vince's crap or do God knew what for a living.......well, let's be glad it never happened, at least not in the booth.

 

By the way, I loved Bob turning the tables on Dutch when Rock 'n' Roll did an illegal switch and claiming not to see it. He's getting just a bit bolder in his old age; I don't see JCP Caudle letting his objectivity slide like that. Of course, Dutch's indignant response was the icing on the cake.

 

I agree with everyone about the staredown between Tracy and Tony, although there has to be a rapproachement soon if we're ever going to see the Thugz. This is going to seem nitpicky, but I had a hard time shaking off the piss-poor figure-four from Tracy. I understand that it wasn't supposed to mean anything as long as Tammy got a chance to use her purse, but it almost seemed like Tracy half-assed it, which I've very seldom seen from a wrestler in a situation like this. The four teams brawling back to the locker room needed to happen, I guess, but as I said above it could have happened a lot quicker and saved us ten minutes of our lives.

 

I'm guessing that Bob misspoke about the match being a double-DQ, since Rock 'n' Roll and Tracy had nothing to do with Corny siccing the Dogs on them. It should be a DQ win for the faces, since the bell rang before we saw the Bodies and the Harrises.

[soup23]

I had a lot of fun with this match. The exasperation of Tammy and Corny on the outside for the opening shine was entertaining. The heat sequence was good on Morton for when it lasted. Tammy really has grown as a manager. There is a quick camera shot of her petting Brian Lee's leg on the apron. That is a great bit of character work that shows she does at least care about who she is managing. Finish is excellent with the staredown between DWB and Smothers and them still not being able to shake hands quite yet. ***1/ 4