[1995-06-11-USWA-A Night to Remember] Rock & Roll Express vs PG-13

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Excellent match. One thing about wrestling that is always weird when long-time babyfaces go heel is that they suddenly can't win anything fairly. This doesn't fall into that category. The Rock & Rolls do outwrestle PG-13 at times and they take their licks, but this doesn't feel the slightest bit heavy-handed by Morton and Gibson being heels. Morton is a guy who can do anything. He made his name and career as a babyface, but watching him eat babyface offense is pretty fun too. There is lots of neat tag team offense on both sides, and I like seeing all the stuff the Rock & Rolls can do when they're given time to dominate and not just sell. There are some outstanding finish teases down the final stretch -- not just near falls, but plays on typical tag team finishes. They tease about five screwjobs that don't happen. The post-match angle is lots of fun too.

[Childs]

I really dig heel Rock & Roll. It's no surprise that Morton could do just about anything in the ring, but I did not expect Gibson to shine as a tubby, smarmy asskicker. Loss' point about them integrating their classic teamwork spots into a heel context is right on. PG-13 looked great too, sort of playing an updated version of the Rock & Rolls to Morton and Gibson' spin on the Midnight Express role. Lance Russell was excellent on commentary, explaining Morton and Gibson's heeling as a reasonable response to PG-13 rather than seeming unduly aggrieved by it. I'm glad I saw this.

[FLIK]

One thing about wrestling that is always weird when long-time babyfaces go heel is that they suddenly can't win anything fairly. This doesn't fall into that category.

Completely unrelated to this match but on a similar point I always dug that Hogan still Hulked Up even after he went to the NWO too

[Tim Evans]

I love this match so much. Heel RNRs are awesome, especially Morton with his girlfriend. They are just angry and beat up PG13 with kicks and cheating. PG13 are also good here and it's funny to compare this to the way they act in SMW. This is really the last great USWA/Memphis match the territory had.

[Zenjo]

One thing about wrestling that is always weird when long-time babyfaces go heel is that they suddenly can't win anything fairly.

This is one of my pet hates. Just the general idea that heels can't win cleanly against a lower ranked opponent is bad enough. That's compounded when they've just turned and you can see the difference before and after.

[PeteF3]

Awesome stuff, on the level of PG-13's guest shot in SMW. Next to the GAB '91 match, this is the second-best performance of Robert Gibson's life. His smarmy, disgusted facials after pounding on his opponent are awesome, and he finally feels once again like Morton's equal rather than his lapdog filling out a role. The story is the Rock 'n Rolls are having to resort to heeling because it's the only way they can hold back their younger and more popular opponents, a story put over perfectly by Lance Russell. Aundrea--is that the same lady who tried to get at Al Snow?--makes for a pretty darn good valet. Even referee Bill Rush is fantastic here--he is by a mile the best ref the Memphis territory has seen since Jerry Calhoun's departure. He's in position for every distraction spot, and for once the USWA books a referee to be competent as he stops a count when he sees powder all over Wolfie D's face. A hubcap to the back of Ricky Morton's head nets the win for PG-13, but they pay for it afterward as Aundrea spraypaints yellow across their back. The Rock 'n Rolls were more ahead of their time than you'd think! Probably the best complete USWA match since the Moondogs' heyday, or the Jarrett-Christopher television bout.