Southern Rockers vs. Beach Boys (8/6/88)

[goodhelmet]

Southern Rockers vs. Beach Boys (8/6/88)

Disc 10

[garretta]

I didn't like this one.

 

First of all, it's depressing to see Buddy so out of shape that he's reduced to a comedy figure. This is the first disc I've watched, and already I'm impressed with what a tremendous performer he was earlier in the decade. Well, any resemblance between that Buddy Rose and the one we saw here is totally coincidental. He didn't even look good climbing the ropes. I'm not sure who this Avalanche guy was, but belly flop aside, he wasn't much better.

 

Second, The match wasn't treated as important by anybody. It felt like a Southern Rockers squash from the start, and the focus was more on Peterson winning the heavyweight title the night before. I was so busy listening to the Grappler's interview (which was good) that I had trouble following the match in the ring. It shows how little Portland valued its tag title by this time that a title match was treated this way.

 

Third, the reversal of the decision felt too abrupt. I'm not even sure Sandy asked Avalanche what he'd done; he just took the word of Billy Two Eagles at face value and gave the belts back to the Rockers, and it didn't feel like anything momentous had happened regardless. That's how little competition the Beach Boys were here.

 

If it wasn't for the kid trying to win a posedown against Buddy, there would have been very little enjoyable here at all. In four full matches, I've seen two genuinely enjoyable moments: the posedown I just referenced and the old lady slapping Chris Colt. Admittedly, that's partially my fault for starting with Disc 10 so I could watch the extras. Still, I've seen through those extras a taste of what Portland was at the start of the decade, and that's enough for me to lament what it's turned into by now.