[1991-03-22-USWA Texas] Jeff Jarrett vs Tom Pritchard

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Excellent match given plenty of time to really develop. I liked the pacing of this match, and I like that they worked this differently as a title match. The early matwork, Pritchard rolling outside, the leg work, Jarrett's comeback ... it was all really well done. This is less sizzle and more steak than your usual USWA Texas footage. These two have really good chemistry and I'm anxious now to see more matches between them. I like that they screwed over Jarrett for the finish to keep the program going, but also made him look really smart and strong in losing. Intercepting the chain from the Austin run-in, hitting Pritchard with it, then tucking it in Pritchard's tights instead of his own was a cool touch.

[shoe]

I really thought this was great. Both of these guys looked great and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Both guys complimented each other well. 91 so far has been tremendous.

[PeteF3]

What a gloriously done screwjob finish. That's fucking All-Japan levels of layering, except instead of long-term selling, learned psychology, and escalating moves it's multiple ref bumps and escalating foreign objects and run-ins. Jarrett loses but not only does he look smart, he looks like a tough SOB who needed 3 guys and a manager to put down. And the heels get to look crafty for managing to pool the wool over the eyes of two referees. I stand in awe of the USWA's ability to manufacture creative bullshit finishes regardless of the stipulation.

[Kevin Ridge]

So who is worse of a manager? Yanamoto or Fuji? Yanamato seems to contribute nothing to these matches. I do like that we get these full matches in USWA-TX. Looked like Jarrett was going to pull this one off with the chain. However, Embry ran full speed into the ring with his boot off and hit Jarrett. Good finish as I thought Jarrett would put chain in his own tights leading to a disqualification but the heels still do what they can to win.

[soup23]

man did I love this. With all the NWA TV watching I have watched, this didn't feel out of place at all and the first 10 minutes were classic building up of momentum. The work was very solid and each competitor was not willing to make a huge mistake given the magnitude of the match. I love Loss's analogy of more steak than sizzle. Finish could have been a mess but worked brilliantly and both guys looked great coming out of it.

[garretta]

I didn't feel this one at all. The first part was too slow, given the intensity level of the feud between these two. Title match or not, they should have been out to kill each other from the start. In feuds like this, personal hatred should be more important than whatever title is on the line, the only exception being the World title. At any rate, the leg work on Jeff spiced things up a bit, and things were really starting to hum when the run-ins started.

 

First of all, Tojo swings that briefcase of his like a girl. More importantly, the first false finish (Jeff nailing Prichard with the chain that Austin intended to be used on him, then sticking it in Prichard's tights) would have been brilliant by itself. But they had to ruin it by having Embry come down and hit Jeff in the head with his boot. This requires both Tony Falk and Paul Neighbors to be knocked out, which ruins the whole point of having two referees. If every referee on staff can be knocked out or distracted at the same time whenever the heels deem it necessary, then why waste time assigning two to one match?

 

When a promotion uses two refs, that should be a signal to the crowd that there will be no ref bumps and no manager distractions; in other words, a guaranteed clean pin for the babyface. Instead, we get this finish, and if I'd been watching in real time, I'd have been left to wonder what it would take to get the Southern belt off of Dr. Tom, and if Jeff was the man to do it regardless. Sometimes old-school promotions built heat for a little too long and made their payoffs meaningless as a result, and this could be one of them if Jeff doesn't win the Southern belt back convincingly in his next bout with Prichard.

 

To answer Kevin's question above, I'd have to take Fuji over Tojo at the moment simply because Fuji was still able to wrestle on at least a semi-regular basis, while Tojo was clearly physically past it. Neither man was worth a damn on promos, which was fine in Tojo's case because he had great interviews beside him in Embry, Prichard, and Austin. Fuji, on the other hand, had the tail end of Demolition and the Orient Express, none of whom ever talked, although I've seen Tanaka do a great job in the AWA when called upon. After this, he had the Berzerker, who only said "Huss!", and Yoko, who only said "Banzai!". When you have a manager who can't talk and wrestlers who don't, that's a recipe for disaster, which is why Fuji was eventually replaced by Cornette when Jimmy came into the WWF in '93. The only guy Fuji ever really clicked with was Muraco, and that was mostly a comedy act outside the ring. With everyone else, even the Demos in their original heel run, he was a third wheel at best and utterly useless at worst.

[dawho5]

Great match I thought. Jarrett and Pritchard work really well together, even if I think Pritchard could come out with the advantage on one or two exchanges right away. Not often a screwjob finish makes the babyface look stronger, but this one does.