[1992-11-28-SMW-Thanksgiving Thunder] Rock & Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies (Street Fight)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Wild brawl. I'm not crazy about Cornette being pushed so strong throughout this match, but even factoring that in, this is still has its moments. I think the Rock & Rolls are much better than the Bodies though, if only because their selling is better than the Bodies' feeding. I will never fault a wrestler putting their hands up before a chair shot, but these are some really obvious hands-up shots. Also, not sure what's up with the double dropkick getting a one count. The Bodies end up winning the match and tag titles, making the third title change in three days.

[Tim Evans]

This was pretty wild and I like how the RNR whip the Bodies into the table but it doesn't break. Don't know If I like this more than the Barb Wire loser leaves SMW cage match or not.

[shoe]

This what I said about the match in the SMW thread.

 

 

Meltzer saw this match and rated it at 4 1/2*. I wouldn't even go near that level. I still liked it enough to nominate it though. Though it wasn't a great match by any stretch of imagination. One thing about SMW and the Rock N Roll since they are the headlining act here we get to see them work a guantlet of gimmick matches which is cool. We start out with a Rock N Roll sneak attack which got the crowd right into it. The table spots were fun. We get a lot of blood. Cornette was eally good in here. He's really great in this enviroment. Some of the weapon shots looked nasty. Dr. Tom took some neat bumps and a had a fun stetch run for a finish. Low-End Nomination.

[PeteF3]

No way it's ****1/2 but I'd easily put this up against any Moondogs match from this year. And it's the best Smoky Mountain match of the year, hands down. Great chaotic action and some cool payback stuff involving the table. Cornette's involved a lot, yes, but he comes off as a guy picking his spots and being overmatched when he's not doing that, rather than a Shane McMahon wrestling cosplayer type.

[WingedEagle]

This was okay, but I definitely prefer any of the early year Moondog brawls we saw, although the MSC ones probably benefit from being in clip format. Solid prematch promos, then a typical Memphis brawl with lots of blading and highlighted by Morton selling before returning for the save. The finish felt really sudden here.

 

***

[GSR]

This is jip on the TV and the footage starts just before Cornette takes a great punch from Morton. Corny uses the tennis racket to the throat of Morton, before they tie him to the ropes and bust him open. In the ring the Bodies double team Gibson and one of the ring attendants eventually cut Morton free (why is the attendant getting involved?). The Bodies 'bag' Gibson attempting to suffocate him and Morton with a chair makes the save. As someone else mentioned, these are some ultra conservative hands up chair shots, but with what we know now, no issue on my part with that. The Rock & Rolls bring a table in to the ring and both Bodies get whipped into it. Cornette throws his tennis racket in and as Lane is about to hit Gibson with it, he kicks him in the mid-section and snatches it off him. Gibson backs Cornette up but Prichard knees Gibson in the back and as Cornette holds him, Prichard goes for the clothesline but Gibson ducks and he nails Cornette instead. Double dropkick on Prichard, but Lane makes the save and breaks up the pin. Gibson goes back to attacking Cornette, Prichard loads the boot, kicks Gibson in the head and gets the pin for another title change.

 

From what aired on TV I thought this was an awesome brawl. My main criticism is that Cornette was far too involved in the match and it was almost as though this was a handicap match as opposed to a straight tag. I know the street fight stipulation allows for this to be the case, but I've gone from wanting him to get his comeuppance to wanting him gone from the action. Also, a slight quibble but why was the ring attendant getting involved and cutting Morton free? Why not have Tracey Smothers or one of the Fantastics do it? Would like to see the full version of this.

[garretta]

Magnum brings up a great point: Why didn't Rock 'n' Roll have a second to counteract Corny? They knew this was basically going to be a handicap match, that Corny would get involved so heavily that he'd almost be a legal participant, so why not have Smothers or Ronnie Garvin or even Tim Horner in their corner?

 

The stationary camera used for most of this made to kind of hard to follow, though we did get a nice closeup of Ricky tied to the ropes. As for why the ring attendant got involved, he was the closest person to the action at that moment. By the time one of the wrestlers would have gotten there, Ricky would have been (or at least should have been) half-dead, if not more.

 

Corny's involvement didn't bother me here; it was a no-rules match, and that's what the hell no rules means. As I said above, the fault was with the stupid babyfaces for not bringing a second of their own, preferably armed.

 

There wasn't a whole lot of time or room for Les and Dutch to shine on commentary, but they did the best they could. I thought Dutch put over the chaotic nature of the match expertly by telling the audience that he and Les were standing, despite a request by an anonymous SMW official that they sit, because they didn't want the match to end up in their laps. Sure enough, Ricky got fired out onto the broadcast table about a minute later.

 

I know we're supposed to expect weapons aplenty in matches like this, but the plastic bag on Gibson was too much. It should only be used by madmen like Terry Funk or Kevin Sullivan, and even then only rarely. Remember, Corny, those things can legitimately kill people.

 

I liked that Stan led the prematch promo for the Bodies; they continue to separate themselves from the MX by being their own people with their own thoughts, at least occasionally. Ricky does the talking for Rock 'n' Roll as normal and says nothing really special. One question: Why do interviewers almost always talk to Robert first when they know that Ricky's always been the spokesman?

 

Four title changes in four days is simply too many, at least to be acknowledged on TV. You can definitely tell which promotion Corny grew up watching, but I doubt that even Lawler ever went through four separately recognized title changes in as many days (as opposed to dropping the belt to the same guy at almost every stop on the loop so the fans could see the title change hands). Pick a champion and stay with them for a while, Corny.