Buddy Rose vs. Chris Adams (2/3 falls) (2/26/83)

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Buddy Rose vs. Chris Adams (2/3 falls) (2/26/83)

Disc 5

 

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​First fall: ​It takes a while for this match to get started, but once it does, Adams has the upper hand throughout, working mainly on Buddy's arm. Eventually, he sets up the superkick and catches Buddy flush with it, then hits a tombstone piledriver to go up one fall to none with about twelve minutes of disc time remaining.

 

I liked the athletic exhibition between Chris and Buddy before the fall got started. Yes, it's stalling, but it's stalling with action to prove a point, and it plays into the match, as we see Buddy do cartwheels to avoid several of Chris's moves. If stalling is part of a wrestler's act, some version of this (depending on what the man in question can do athletically) is the way to go.

 

I also liked Buddy starting out the match as a perfect gentleman, then slowly ramping up the aggression. There's something indefinable about Buddy: yes, you want to see him get his ass kicked, but you also hope against hope that one day he'll put the bullshit aside and wrestle the way everyone knows he can, and use his charisma to win the fans over instead of making himself so hated. The popular phrase for this is "man you love to hate", and the more I see of Buddy here in Portland, the more I see where Piper got the basis for his WWF character. Rod adapted it to fit himself, of course, but the psychology was the same, and Rod did it better because he was more naturally charismatic, though not by a whole lot.

 

Dutch and Coss had some fun with Adams' English heritage, and Coss attempted one of the worst British accents I've ever heard, almost the stage version of a stage accent, if you will. I liked Coss explaining that a slap in the face means something different (and more insulting) to an Englishman than it does to an American, which means that Buddy was wise to back off once he paintbrushed Chris.

 

Buddy's prematch promo was a classic, as he vows to be a loner and stay out of Oliver and the Clan's way. Personally, I enjoyed seeing him as the general of his Army, and he really doesn't seem like the loner type, but Oliver's flourished in his absence, so it doesn't make much sense to cut him off at the knees.

 

Another match I wish we had on the set: the Adams-Oliver hair match from Seattle. I hope we at least see a glimpse of whomever was shaved bald at some point.

 

Second fall: ​This fall goes back and forth for the most part until Buddy whips Chris to the corner. Chris quickly climbs to the top and catches Buddy with a flying bodypress, but his momentum puts Buddy on top, and Buddy hooks the leg (but not the tights) to score the pin. We're even at a fall apiece with just under seven minutes of disc time remaining.

 

It was nice of Dutch to put Buddy over as a real athlete, which most fans forget about since making fun of his weight and chanting "whale on the beach" is so much more satisfying. By the way, thanks to Dutch for explaining the origins of that chant during the first fall.

 

It took me a while to really notice, but Portland uses WWF-style turnbuckles without the pads. I mention this because Dutch talked about how hard the buckles are and challenged any fan who wanted to to come down to the ring and feel them. No thanks, Dutch, I'll take your word for it!

 

I wish we'd actually seen Buddy give his rose to the young lady in the crowd during the first fall, but it happened just out of camera range. We ​did see the young lady's smiling face in another camera shot, though.

 

I'm guessing that Adams' hamstring injury was legit, since Buddy didn't work on it during the first two falls at all.

 

​Third fall: ​This may have been the most action-packed fall we've seen yet on the set, as both men score several close near falls. Finally, Chris nails Buddy with the superkick in the back of the neck to send him to the outside, then dives through the ropes on top of him. This ends up costing him the match, though, as Buddy beats Sandy's twenty-count back into the ring. In Dutch's words, "He did it again!"

 

The intensity from both guys was off the charts, as Buddy wanted to avoid losing to the young newcomer, while Chris wanted to score the victory that would have made him a household name throughout the Northwest. I didn't have a problem with the finish; it was Buddy's return bout, and beating him would have made no sense whatsoever. I just hope that he and Chris had a televised rematch at some point, whether we get to see it or not.

 

The superkick continued to be put over as a killer move, as Dutch and Coss went crazy both times Chris hit it during this fall. The only other superkicki that I remember being put over to this extent was Sweet Chin Music, and Chris' kick looks a thousand percent better than Shawn's.

 

I love Dutch's excitement level. He yells, stumbles over words, and makes the viewers feel privileged to be part of an exciting experience with him. Coss is a little calmer, but you can tell he's having a good time too. Lance and Dave are a little better, but they have more talented people to work with in Memphis; as good as Buddy is, he's only one man, and one of him doesn't hold up against a group like Lawler, Dundee, Mantel, and Jimmy Hart just to name a few, not to mention a guest the caliber of Andy Kaufman.

 

Kudos to Chris for taking two bad bumps in a matter of seconds: the dive outside the ring that ended the match, and the turnbuckle bump a few seconds earlier where he damn near crotched himself on the post accidentally. Even in 1982, certain guys went above and beyond to put a show on for the public, and Chris was definitely one of them.

 

I can't believe that I forgot this earlier, but when Frank was doing a rundown of one of the major shows, he said that JJ Dillon was coming in to wrestle, and acknowledged that he managed Oliver in Florida. I winder if they had him second Rip in his match that night for the hell of it. (I believe the match was against Billy Jack.)