Bobby Jaggers vs. Karl Steiner (2/3 Falls) (2/23/85)

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Bobby Jaggers vs. Karl Steiner (2/3 Falls) (2/23/85)

Disc 9

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First fall: ​It's not every day when someone comes into a territory and challenges for a belt right off the bat, so right away we know that Steiner's something special. He backs that up quite well in the ring too, as he shows some definite wrestling ability. Four discs in is a little bit early to be talking about revelations for a whole set, but Steiner's my leader in the clubhouse so far, especially when you consider what most guys do with the evil Nazi gimmick, which is not much of anything. About the only one I've seen do more with it was Baron Von Raschke in his younger days, although I'm willing to change my mind if I ever see some vintage Fritz Von Erich footage.

 

Glad to see that all of Portland's belts have been returned, as Coss makes reference to Jaggers just having gotten his Northwest title belt.

 

Jaggers is a much more complete worker as a face than as a heel. Actually, that's true for most guys, mostly because faces are supposed to be more complete wrestlers. It's rare that there was an exception to this; Randy Savage is the only one that I can think of off the top of my head.

 

Coss does a nice job putting over how tough wrestlers are and how desperate they are to come back from injuries, since they don't get paid if they don't work. Actually, I think that Don paid their medical bills if an injury was serious enough, but I could certainly be mistaken, and in any case the larger point still definitely applies.

 

The cameramen in this territory need to get on the stick and do it fast, and I'm not talking about using a microphone either. We missed Steiner escaping a chinlock because they lingered too long on a shot of Mike Miller (whom Steiner was subbing for due to Miller's supposed ankle injury) at ringside, and we missed the Hangman's Special that got Jaggers the win because they were shooting Steiner from head to toe except ​for the top of his head, where the elbow hit. That's at least three or four major missed moves or sequences on this disc alone, and I have eight more discs of matches to go through. So far, Portland may be the least visually pleasing of all the territories in this project when the matches are shot by supposed professionals, and yes, I've seen cleaner looking handheld footage in at least a few of them.

 

​Second fall: ​This was almost like a lucha second fall, it was so short. Steiner's on offense from beginning to end, and evens the match with a flying clothesline. We have about eight minutes left for the third fall, according to Coss.

 

Between falls, Coss ruminates on the new managerial career of Ed Wiskowski. I didn't realize this until about the third or fourth time I heard the name, but the "Imed" (I'm Ed) part is an inside joke; he's as much as admitting that he's Ed Wiskowski pretending to be a mystic for reasons only he knows. Not that that's a surprise or a disappointment; it's just something I probably caught about five years after everyone else did. What I'm really ​wondering is, when Wiskowski brought the Col. DeBeers gimmick to Portland, did they "recognize" him as Wiskowski, and if so, how did they reconcile the two? Most viewers should have gotten a clue when they heard him talk; he never even attempted a South African accent.

 

Third fall: ​We get the belt held up, as Miller trips Jaggers with his crutch, allowing Steiner to fall on top of him and score the deciding pin. Sandy was conveniently knocked out, and Don wasn't in the building (really; I'm pretty sure Barry filled in as ring announcer), so it will all be decided next Saturday night once he returns. We'll also have a tag team match: Miller and Steiner vs. Jaggers and Billy Jack.

 

They need to find a new way to knock Sandy out; he's been hit by too many flying feet for that to remain credible for much longer.

 

We missed Miller's initial crutch shot on Jaggers, which is the one that busted him open. Come on, guys, act like you know what the hell a wrestling match is, for God's sake. As I said up above, I've seen better looking handhelds from indy cards; at least the people who film those cards know how to follow the action for the most part.

 

Between this appearance on the set and his next one, someone must have corrected the office on which side of Germany was our friend and which one was our enemy. Here, Steiner's billed from West ​Germany (our ally). The next time we see him, he's billed from East​ Germany (our Communist enemy), which is more in keeping with a dastardly heel.

 

I've never heard of the wrestler who was originally signed to a title match getting the title if his substitute wins, but that's what Coss said would have happened if the belt hadn't been held up. What a week for Don to be out of town (if he really was).