Matt Borne vs. Rip Oliver (2/3 Falls) (2/4/84)

[goodhelmet]

Matt Borne vs. Rip Oliver (2/3 Falls) (2/4/84)

Disc 7

[garretta]

This had the feel of a pull-apart from the second Stasiak and Coss mentioned the stitches that each of these guys had put in the other's head. If there were more than two wrestling moves in this bout, I'd like to know what they wwre, because this was a barroom brawl from start to finish.

 

Having Tony as a special guest commentator was a nice touch, and although everyone knew he was rooting for Matt, he wasn't too obnoxious about it from what I could hear. His audio kept fading, and the crowd noise didn't help much. I liked that he supposedly came all the way from Hawaii to watch the match, and that he was planning on doing so again for the big arena match in Seattle.

 

This sounded like it might have actually been taped in Seattle at KCPQ, because Stasiak references "what happened down in Portland" at least once. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything- commentators have been known to make their audience think they're live in one place when they're taping the commentary in another- but at least it raises the question, especially since we now know that Salem got its own tapings. Seattle's a lot bigger than that, so they were definitely important enough to have their own too.

 

I liked Oliver's postmatch promo; he was calm, almost matter-of-fact, but his words were scary as could be. He truly sounded like a man who didn't care what happened to him as long as he could get his hands on Matt, even if he was injured, fined or suspended in the process. It's always the calm ones who are the deadliest, and it sounds like Matt will find that out on the fifteenth. The only thing I could have done without was Rip saying that he didn't care if the fans showed up or not, although I guess it helped get over the personal nature of the feud.

 

The Lamey Award for interviewing goes to Stasiak, as he interrupted Oliver's spiel about how his fight with Matt could end up in a barroom, a prison yard, or a graveyard with "I think it'll end at the Seattle Center Arena". I know shilling the card is your first responsibility, Stan, but how did you like it when and if someone cut in on you while you were on a roll back in ​​your ​heyday? I'll bet you didn't. To his credit, Rip acknowledged Stan's aside briefly, then plowed right on like the professional he is.