[1990-08-03-CWA] Dave Finlay & Marty Jones vs Mile Zrno & Franz Schumann

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I thought this was the best of all the European matches to make a yearbook so far. It was definitely the most accessible. They didn't really work a classic tag formula here like you'd see in the U.S., but there was a structure that worked for the audience. There were lots of crowd pleasing spots and some great wrestling moves. Finlay was a fun heel, bumping big, striking hard and playing to the crowd. I'm not sure who was Zrno and who was Schumann on their team, as Googling photos of them produces two wrestlers who look very much alike. But they were a good team that sold well, had some fun highspots and energized the crowd. The only complaint I had is that this mach felt a little long, and there seemed to be a lot of recycled sequences. But I still don't fully get the European style, the crowd popped huge for everything, and the spots looked good, so I don't want to criticize it too much. Fun match.

[PeteF3]

Zrno is in the short trunks, Schumann in the tights. This will be fun as it's my first chance to see Marty Jones as a heel. This crowd is absolutely jacked for Zrno, chanting "MI-LE" non-stop every time he's in the ring. Schumann isn't really that good and is basically just a big musclehead but his reversal of the Hart Attack where he gets Finlay to clothesline his own partner is absolutely fucking brilliant and gets a huge reaction. The third fall takes a really unexpected detour when Schumann gets busted open and Finlay & Jones go from rather routine heels to being particularly vicious in going after the cut. Schumann ducks a flying attack by Jones and he and Finlay both tumble to the floor for the countout. This is a tag title change that the crowd pops huge for and is treated as a Big Deal. Fun match. If not the most Southern tag match in continental European history it's not far off.

[soup23]

I liked the match but it went on too long and I something just didn't connect all the way for me. I do love how this had kind of a more southern formula while still mixing in european quirks.

[Kevin Ridge]

Don’t know who is who on the opposing team of Finlay. Anyways these guys are pretty good. No rounds which makes this immediately better. Good action all around. Crowd is actually pretty excited about the count out finish for the third fall.

[riggsen]

Great to see Mile Zrno again. Loved him groing up.

[garretta]

I'm not sure about this one. Finlay and Jones looked good throughout, and the babyfaces weren't bad either, but the style was different enough to throw me off, particularly when it came to refereeing. I had no idea when people were going for pins (which didn't happen that often regardless), which took away from the drama.

 

I finally realized that European refs seem to count one verbally, then get down on the mat and count two (and three if necessary) with their hands. In general, it seems like they count very slowly as a rule, which means that the false finish is practically taken out of the equation; when someone goes for a pin, the odds are that it's the finish. This also applies to countouts, as I'm not even sure the ref reached ten while Finlay and Jones were on the outside before awarding the belts to Zrno and Schumann.

 

I don't know if whoever changed these rules felt that there was too much filler in matches and wanted to streamline things or what, but the filler is, at least in most cases, what builds the drama and heat; without it, all you have is guys showing off nice moves, and that's not enough for me. Give me Harts-Demos from SummerSlam instead. It may have stunk as a wrestling match, but it had drama which was allowed to build and got me invested in the outcome. This match was too bare-bones to do that.

[drew wardlaw]

Ehh pretty long match here, and the filming and me being unfamiliar with Zrno and Schumann (I didn't really know which was which) made this a bit hard for me. The crowd was into it and the work was good, but I think this is a case of me not quite "getting" it.

[dawho5]

I'll agree that Schumann was really limited (now that I know which was which). The work after he gets busted open is definitely more accessible though. Match drags a lot and there is less charm to the way this repeats itself than say Wanz vs. Bull Power.

[Jetlag]

I shouldn't have held of from watching this so long, because this really was damn great and easily in the Top 5 euro matches I've seen post 1980s. Really 4 legends tearing it up in a hot match that builds to a big finish. There is a long opening segment centered around the heels working with Zrno and it was really good hold vs. counter hold stuff, more complex than what you'd usually see in these kind of heat mongering affairs and the apex of this style of european wrestling. Finlay & Jones really start working rough house tactics, trying to double team their opponents and constantly throwing forearm shots and kicks. I was a little wary going in since it's a long match, but there was no obvious time killing and they manage to keep the asskicking compelling all the way. Even with the poor black & white footage quality you really feel the aura Jones & Finlay had going for them, which was especially interesting for Jones to be in this kind of role since he normally works as a babyface in england. Lots of neat spots, counters and cutoffs throughout. I liked that Finlay & Jones were allowed to outwrestle their babyface opponents, Jones at one point mixes in a handspring move that is normally resereved for babyfaces and Finlay casually uncorks powerbombs and suplexes. Really liked how the heels seemed to crank up the violence in the 2nd fall with Jones hitting some mean headstomps (including pulling the other guy into a Boston Crab and just kicking the low of his back like a reverse curbstomp) and Finlay punching dudes in the face. The last couple minutes are damn epic and the main reason I'm nominating this, Schuhmann gets bloodied and is taking an asskicking eating kicks and punches. There is a tombstone piledriver that feels as epic as any piledriver in history and an amazing finish that I never ever would've expected to work this well. This is a euro tag so it didn't have the kind of polished structure a US tag would have but I still thought it worked really well, the rhythm was really good, all 3 finishes work and everything felt like a struggle throughout.