[1999-01-29-OMEGA] Matt & Jeff Hardy vs Serial Thrillaz (Mike Maverick & Shane Helms)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Great match, pretty deserving of the rep it has. The first Hardys match from OMEGA that has really grabbed me. They did an awesome job blending the old psychology with new moves. Amazing heat for all of this too. Everyone involved really did everything they needed do to very well.

[tim]

This isn't just indie guys doing a great job paying tribute to southern tags, this IS a classic southern tag. I liked their 98 match a lot and this is more polished and with a better crowd. The crowd really is incredible, both in volume and the visuals of them jumping around going crazy. Early face shine stuff was very good and Helms' assisted dive to the outside was a huge face spot. The Hardys worked heel this time and their heat segment was very good with some nice comeback teases from Helms. The end was great with the Hardys fairly quickly cutting off Maverick's hot tag, having the match won if not for a downed ref, then attacking the ref who comes down to count after Helms kicks out leading to them getting their comeuppance with a chair shot and a big splash to end it.

[Tim Cooke]

I love southern tag team matches.

 

Midnight Express vs. Fantastics from the first Clash of the Champions.

 

Rock n Roll Express vs. Midnight Express from Jim Cornette’s recently released MX Rarities set.

 

Arn/Zybisko vs. Dustin/Steamboat from the November 1991 Clash.

 

Windham/Dustin vs. Austin/Zybisko from Superbrawl 1992.

 

Andersons vs. Rock n Roll Express from NWA TV during the Great American Bash 1986 tour.

 

I could go on and on.

 

I’d always liked the Serial Thrillaz vs. Death and Destruction match from OMEGA in May 1998. The heat for the Serial Thrillaz in their hometown is great. On December 5, 1998, the Thrillaz and Hardy Boys have a match, with the Thrillaz working heel as OMEGA was running the Hardy’s home town. It was a solid match and well above all non-OMEGA 1998 indy matches. But something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it until finally re-watching the 1/29/99 Serial Thrillaz vs. Hardy Boys match from OMEGA on the 1999 Yearbook.

 

This is an absolutely tremendous match, with the Thrillaz returning to their home town (where they defeated Death and Destruction at on 5/8/98) and being Steve Austin level over for a gym that can only hold around 500 people. The Hardy’s are fantastic heels, stooging and bumping early for all of Shane Helms flying offense and Mike Maverick’s power spots. Helms hits a sky high, assisted plancha on to both Hardy’s on the floor that looks as spectacular in 2014 as it did in 1999. Helms is the FIP and the Hardy’s do a nice job mixing in high spots while making sure the crowd doesn’t cheer them. Jeff Hardy hits a top rope rolling senton and then an asai moonsault in one smooth movement and proceeds to go hug Matt afterwards. In 2014, that would have got some boo’s but also would have started a “this is awesome” chant. That’s not the case in North Carolina in 1999.

 

Finish has the WWE Attitude, ‘98-‘99 level pop and crowd reaction, with everyone from the high school kids front row who were jawing with the Hardy’s the whole match to the strange older guy in the white sweatshirt opposite the hard cam all jumping up and down like their team just won Game 7 of the World Series.

 

I haven’t seen an indy tag match from the 2000’s that comes close to this. I haven’t seen many tag matches period from the 2000’s come close to this either. If this occurred after January 1, 2000, it would easily make my top 10 indy matches of the 2000’s. Can’t heap enough praise on this. Helms, Maverick, and the Hardy’s do their forefather southern tag teams proud.

[Tim Evans]

I've never seen OMEGA before so this was new to me. Weird seeing the hardys playing heel. This was like watching Smokey Mountain Wrestling but with highspots and actual fans. Was Maverick one of the Dupps or am I thinking of someone else. Helms looked real good as the Ricky Morton of the babyface team. Good match.

[soup23]

This was great and the perfect mixture of mixing state of the art flying spots of the time into a traditional formula that has been proven to work.Boy, does it ever work as I loved this crowd to death. Amazing to think we are only 3 years away from ROH as the crowd here was raucous for everything and hanging on every bit of the story the four guys were trying to present. This match feels like a rare beacon of hope in a changing landscape of wrestling that can plague matches to this day. ****1/4

[ohtani's jacket]

#271

 

OMEGA~! Hardy Boyz~! Serial Thrillaz~! I feel like I'm stuck in a 1999 DVDVR. South style tag wrestling isn't my favourite style of wrestling, and I like it even less with modern wrinkles, but the crowd were fantastic in this and that counted for a lot. Would mean more to people who are fans of indy wrestling.

[PeteF3]

This was something quite short of "fundamentally solid"--there's some sloppiness and some awkward transitions and some more Big Two cosplaying (Matt doing the Scott Hall "ooh I'm scared" move as well as a crotch chop). But man, if you're not into this by the end, I'm not sure if you have a pulse. This is like a rinky-dink version of the Kobashi/Kikuchi-Can-Ams tag with the hometown factor and the megapops down the stretch, and when the big spots do hit, they look great. Even the ref bump finish is carried out well and this builds to a logical and crowd-pleasing finish, rather than a 2.9-fest. I'm no 2000s-'10s indy expert but I definitely haven't seen anything that's this satisfying--another match that's more than the sum of its parts, and maybe a dark-horse pic for US MOTY.

[Wahoos Leg]

What a wonderful homage to classic Southern style tag wrestling with a modern twist and several tweaks on the traditional tag formula. I can't remember another match where the Hardys were the heels in a tag setting. 

Check out my full review, part of the 365 Wrestling project.