Buddy Rose & Curt Henning vs. The Assassin & Rip Oliver (2/3 Falls) (11/5/83)

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Buddy Rose & Curt Henning vs. The Assassin & Rip Oliver (2/3 Falls) (11/5/83)

Disc 7

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​First fall: ​This is the second match of the four-match tag series between The Clan and what I call Rose's Babyface Army. Representing The Clan are Assassin and Rip Oliver; representing the RBA are Buddy and regular tag team partner Curt Hennig. If you recall, last week Assassin and Dynamite were disqualified in a non-title match against Buddy and Curt, which means that the belts are on the line this week.

 

This fall could have been a complete match; there's tremendous back-and-forth action, mostly centered around the faces doing a number on Oliver's arm and the heels working on Curt's ribs and back. Buddy finally gets the tag, but is waylaid as soon as he gets into the ring. He somehow manages to turn the tide, though, and while Curt's dropkick knocks Assassin for a loop, Buddy superplexes Oliver to get the win for his side. He and Curt lead The Clan one fall to none with less then eleven minutes of disc time remaining.

 

As great as the in-ring action is here, Buddy teaches a clinic on how to provide distractions. He chases Assassin all around the ring at one point, leaving him so mixed up that he doesn't know whether to cry or wind his watch, with the end result being that Rip gets the upper hand on Curt and goes to tag, only to find no partner there and his arm back under assault. Buddy provides an even more painful distraction later with Assassin the legal man in the ring, as he stops a tag attempt by snapping Oliver's already-injured left arm off the top rope as the crowd goes nuts. It's always a treat to see heels hoisted by their own petard, but it's twice the treat when it's done as spectacularly as Buddy does it here.

 

We're to the point in the feud now where people are starting to remember where they've hurt each other in the past. For example, when Assassin wants to use his loaded mask to cut Curt off, he doesn't butt him in the forehead and bust him open, he drives his head into Curt's ribs, which he's hurt several times in the recent past. Likewise, Oliver and Assassin do a real number on Curt's back, pitching him over the top rope so he lands right on it outside the ring. Unfortunately, the studio lighting doesn't let us see the fall, but hearing Stan describe the welts on Curt's back lets us know just how awful the landing was for him.

 

Speaking of Stan, he was great analyzing the arm work done by Buddy and Curt, describing how Rip was afraid to move while trapped in Curt's armbar lest the wrong move tear his arm off. He also was good in telling us that as tough as Rip was, he wanted no part of being in the ring for a good long while after he finally tagged out because his arm was in such bad shape. He's not quite the natural broadcaster Dutch is, but he really lets the viewers know what it's like in the ring in a way few others can.

 

I have no idea where Dynamite is, and Coss and Stan haven't offered any clues yet either. It's as if Rip had been one of the champions all along.

 

Second fall: ​This fall was booked kind of weirdly. Sandy takes a bump after only a few seconds, and most of the rest of the fall is worked with him flat on his back. Buddy gets the hot tag from Curt and appears to have Assassin beaten after a beautiful flying elbow, but instead of taking the pin, Buddy walks back over to the heel corner, and Rip bangs his head into Assassin's loaded hood to knock him out. Another diving headbutt makes it all look legal, and we're even at a fall apiece with just over six minutes remaining.

 

I wonder if the bump Sandy took (supposedly from Curt's feet after he was hiptossed by Assassin) might have been legit. I don't think a ref bump would have been booked for so early in a fall, or in the second fall at all, for that matter. That would also explain why the guys kept working; it simply wasn't time to go home yet, plus Sandy eventually recovered, although he was noticeably winded for the rest of the fall.

 

This doesn't have anything specifically to do with this fall, but at least twice on the set I've heard Don refer to tag matches as "relay matches". I've never heard that term or seen it in print before, and I've seen plenty of old print material concerning wrestling in my time. Has anyone else on the board heard it, and if so, where?

 

​Third fall: ​The champions spend most of this fall working over Curt's shoulder, repeatedly ramming it into the steel post outside the ring and punishing it with various maneuvers inside​ the ring. A shoulderbreaker from Oliver almost gets three, but Curt manages to get a foot over the bottom rope. A chagrined Oliver tries for another one, but Curt slips out the back door and hits a German suplex to get the win and the titles as the crowd and the announcers go crazy.

 

Apparently The Clan was using whatever the Northwest equivalent of Freebird rules is to defend the belts, because Dynamite ran in to protest the decision after the match. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but Stan and Coss should have explained this before the bout started rather than make out like Oliver had been Assassin's partner all along.

 

How in the world do you no-sell ramming your own head into a concrete floor like Assassin did? Stan covers by saying that the object in Assassin's mask cushioned the blow, which assumes that the object in question is some kind of metal. Regardless, Assassin could have acted stunned for at least a few seconds.

 

I loved Stan's reaction when Buddy and Curt won. Even though he's tried to hide it throughout the series, everyone watching knows that the Clan tried to hurt him too, so he can certainly be forgiven for a lapse in his impartiality. Nice job by Coss pointing out that the RBA now controls all the belts the way The Clan has always wanted to, at least for a week.

 

It'll be interesting to see how much the new champions have left for the rematch next week, when Dynamite will be plenty fresh and plenty angry over this loss. It should be a real barnburner, and I can't wait!