[1990-05-25-USWA Texas] Kerry Von Erich vs Matt Borne

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

USWA officials are in the ring, supposedly to ensure that we don't have another chaotic event like happened the week before. This isn't long, but it's another great segment. They do some awesome brawling. Kerry bumps into Percy Pringle when the action spills outside. His jacket is torn and he takes exception, which distracts Kerry long enough for Borne to get a pinfall win.

[PeteF3]

A really fun, realistic-looking brawl with a cheap finish. Kerry is tossed out of the ring and hits Percy Pringle, and Pringle is upset about Kerry tearing his jacket. That distraction allows Borne to roll Kerry up rather weakly for the 3-count. This was good, but the cool presence of all the officials sort of unfairly had me expecting something a little more epic in scope.

[soup23]

Short match but intense while it lasted and it looked like the beginning of a another wedge into the feud with Percy getting involved. Really glad USWA TX has three strong angles going on right now.

[shoe]

Borne really is good at working a brawl. Kerry is good here too. The match had a big time feel to it, but fails to deliver.

[Cox]

Good, short brawl with Percy continuing his heel turn by distracting Kerry Von Erich at the finish. He telegraphs a turn more on commentary by being more critical of Kerry than he is of other babyfaces. He desperately needs a turn, as without Eric Embry around, he doesn't really have anything to do, and he's not a great color commentator, so he feels wasted here.

[garretta]

They flew Eddie Marlin in from Memphis for this?

 

It's not that the match was bad for the short angle-mover that it was, but it sure didn't have to have more time spent with the officials keeping them apart than actual wrestling time. This brawl, unlike the last one, was entirely around ringside, and more than the Kerry/Borne issue, it revolved around Kerry accidentally tearing Percy's suitcoat, which of course outrages him enough that he gets on the apron to confront Kerry, leaving him open for Borne's winning rollup. Sort of a weird ending to a match that most people thought would either blow this feud off or lead to the blowoff. There isn't even any mention of Chris, whose beating triggered (or at least intensified) the feud in the first place. I've read ahead, so I know what this feud ultimately turns into, and unless it comes off a lot better on screen than it does in the threads, it's going to be a crying shame.

 

It seems to me that as we head into the summer, Texas is the hotter of the two branches of the USWA, with three top-level feuds (Kerry/Borne, Dundee/Tatum, and Adams/Austin) as opposed to one that's only starting (Lawler/Snowman) in Memphis and not a whole lot else. I'd still like to see the two sides exchange talent a little more and provide fresh opponents, especially for Lawler in Memphis; why they couldn't have brought Adams in for a loop around Memphis with the King instead of trotting out Jimmy Valiant, or even brought the Superstar home for Round 546,237 in their endless game of "loves me/loves me not", I can't begin to say.

 

It's almost like Jarrett's so busy with his shiny new toy down in Dallas that he's counting on Lawler's charisma alone to hold down the fort back home. If that's the case, the plan's working, but just barely. I wonder what would have been next for Lawler if someone hadn't had the Snowman idea. I'm asking seriously, were there any major babyfaces left on the Memphis side, or would we have bounced around from Kerry rematch to Valiant rematch to King Cobra rematch until Lawler got so tired of it that he would have just jumped on a random heel one Saturday morning out of nowhere and turned himself face, which he always was in the eyes of the fans to begin with?

 

I just remembered one other question: Would the Dallas fans have known or cared about who Eddie Marlin was, since there was so little continuity between Memphis and Dallas?

[drew wardlaw]

Alright, some good brawling and some hot discuss punches from Kerry, this was good. And especially good was Percy Pringle somehow getting involved, albeit inadvertently....

[GSR]

The USWA dignitaries Eddie Marlin, Charlie Downs and John Brozell are in the ring prior to the participants entering the arena. Borne looks like one tough, cool hombre walking to the ring with a towel around his neck and the belt around his waist. Craig Johnson explains that Kerry gave Borne the Texas title in an attempt to save their friendship (that clears that one up). Pringle says he said it the other week and it got him in trouble, but Kerry shouldn’t have done that and should have fought him like the man that he says he is.

 

Just like the previous match, a real hot opening with Borne charging at Kerry at the opening bell and the pair of them trading punches. Borne with a lovely belly to belly to reverse positions and they continue to exchange punches. Both men take spills out of the ring and the lumberjacks are on hand to send them straight back in. Kerry with a sleeper and the two of them go tumbling over the top rope to the floor. The lumberjacks struggle to keep them separated and Craig Johnson suggests that the action is too big for a ring to hold. Back in the ring and Kerry with the claw before two near falls. Borne tosses Kerry out of the ring but he crashes into the commentary table hitting Percy Pringle. Kerry with a discus punch and Percy gets up on the ring apron wanting some sort of explanation about what just happened as his jacket also got torn. The distraction allows Borne to roll Kerry up from behind and keep the title.

 

The match didn’t even last four minutes but I really enjoyed this. Great brawling at the beginning and Borne continues to impress giving off that vibe of a legit bad ass. Finish was obviously cheap, but just another step in the continued Pringle heel turn that has been hinted at for the past few weeks.

[dawho5]

Great little brawl that ultimately is a set piece to further the feud and turn Percy. I like the idea that these two continue the hate-fueled brawls a lot.