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[2000-03-04-NWA Wildside-TV] Rock & Roll Express vs Bad Attitude


soup23

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We see the RNR Express jump Rick Michaels before David Young can chase them off. Here come the RNR’s with Bill Behrens as their manager. I love seeing them as heels. This was a treat to watch. Bad Attitude has a quick flash before the RNR take over on Michaels’ leg and they destroy it. Really engaging and the commentary really carries things with Getz running down everything and Martin not being the over grating straight man. Hot tag to David Young was excellent and it looks like Bad Attitude might have the match won when Bill throws a chain in the air that Robert Gibson catches wonderfully and then he smashes the knee with the chain. A double dropkick and we have new tag champs in the Rock N Rolls. Ricky adds one more dick move post match with a chain shot to the knee of Michaels. A big brawl breaks out and the Rock N Rolls are great heels. ***1/2

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  • 4 weeks later...

Is it possible that as late as 2000, the Rock N Roll Express were still the best working tag team in wrestling? I watch this match and seriously wonder. This was pretty awesome. It's always a trip to see just how good the Rock N Rolls are as heels, seamlessly blending their opponents spots with their own signature spots in new context. Here, they decimated Rick Michaels' knee and did an outstanding job of working it over, playing off the pre-match angle. This was a master's class in tag team wrestling, and I'm glad they got the time to strut their stuff. Great finish with the chain shot right to Michaels' knee when it looks like he might have made a strong enough recovery, followed by a double dropkick and pin. The first match in a while that I've *loved* just as much as I've thought it was great. ****

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  • 4 weeks later...

During the pre-match stuff I was wondering why you would book the Rock'n'Roll Express as heels but once I saw them standing next to Bad Attitude the (a?) reason became pretty clear: they were towering their opponents, no chance of them playing sympathetic babyfaces here. Bad Attitude using the MNX entrance theme left me laughing out loud.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We get a bit of background to this match and footage from a week before where Rick Michaels is threatening Bill Behrens, only to get jumped from behind by the Rock & Roll Express. A big back drop to him and Behrens throws a chair in the ring to the Express. Gibson with a spinning toe hold, then Morton takes the chair to the same leg. They continue to attack it trying to put him out of commission until David Young makes the save and runs them off. This is followed by Behrens and the Express backstage preparing for the upcoming match.

Bad Attitude come out to the Midnight Express music, whilst Michaels is still limping and showing the effects of the previous weeks attack. The match commences with a couple of miscommunication spots, with Morton first accidentally hitting, then colliding with Gibson just to establish themselves as the heels in case anyone wasnt sure. Gibson with a hip toss to Michaels and he tells Young to kiss his ass. Lock up, and no clean brake from Gibson in the corner. Rock & Rolls with a punch to the mid-section/knee lift combination. Young reverses a Morton whip to the corner, backdrop, arm drag into an arm bar and he tags his partner. Michaels with an elbow off the middle to that arm bar, but hes still favouring his leg. Back elbow and he climbs to the top for a frog splash, although he hits, he does more damage to himself and is writhing aroung in pain clutching his knee. The Rock & Rolls then systematically focus their attention on that injured leg. Quick tags, referee distractions, everything is done with the sole purpose of doing some serious damage to Rick Michaels knee. Gibson beats on him on the floor, and when he throws him back in the ring Michaels cant even stand up. Morton with a Figure Four and he almost gets the pin via that until Michaels gets his shoulders up at the last moment. Young is in to break the hold with a boot to Ricky, all this does though is allow the Rock & Rolls to double team his partner some more as the official tries to get him back out the ring. Morton wraps Michaels leg around the ring post, Gibson with a spinning toe hold, however Michaels cradles him for Bad Attitudes first pinfall attempt of the match. Michaels with a sunset flip on Morton, but Gibson is causing a commotion in the ring so the referee doesnt see it. By the time he turns aroung to count, Gibson breaks it up anyway. Irish whip and Michaels leg gives way as he collapses to the canvas, not even reaching the ropes. A second Irish whip, Rock & Rolls go for a double back drop but Michaels with a desperation double DDT. He crawls through Gibsons legs and is able to make the hot tag. Young is on fire with the Express bumping and feeding for him. Sleeper on Gibson, Morton nails Young in the back to break it, Michaels is back to his feet and all four men are in the ring. Stereo punches in the corner, Bad Attitude go for a double bulldog, but the Rock & Rolls shoot them off and they collide with each other. Behrens throws a chain to Gibson who clocks Michaels in the knee with it, double dropkick and the Rock & Roll Express are the new Wildside tag team champions. They attack Young post-match until Romeo Bliss makes the save.

Great old school tag match. I don't think I've ever seen the Rock & Roll Express as heels before, and whilst I have Morton, I dont think Ive ever seen a heel Robert Gibson either. Boy are they so good and Robert especially was a revelation with the little touches he was doing in there. I liked the miscommunication spot early to establish them in that role. Bad Attitude with the shine to start, before the Rock & Rolls slow it down and methodically go about their work on Michaels leg and knee (whose selling is outstanding). They do a number on that leg, both legally and illegally (although I was hoping for the Gibson leg lock to make an appearance), with Michaels getting a couple of hope spots in with the pin attempts. Southern style hot tag, Young dishing out some punishment of his own before the Rock & Rolls cut him off and get the pin with the aid of a foreign object. I thought Bad Attitude were coming out on top as I was watching this so they hooked me in completely. Just a bloody good tag team match!

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RNR looks great in this match. They really carried this match and played excellent heels just viciously going after Michaels's knee. Bad Attitude didn't do much for me and this came across very much as a carry job in my eyes. Unfortunately the referee isn't all that great either as he blatantly sees RNR use a chain. Still a good match due to the RNR. ***1/2

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You know, as great as Ricky Morton was as a babyface, I think he was better as a heel. RNR do a wonderful job destroying Rick's knee and bringing a traditional southern tag in the year 2000. Bad Attitude were ok here but I seem to remember them being better. I love that they were working a NWA invasion angle in 2000. Did Jim Cornette ever show up?

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Rock 'n' Roll Express as middle-aged heels was inspired. Gibson looked shady and Morton had a wild-eyed Ric Flair thing going on. Really old-school match. It could have easily taken place at Center Stage in 1985. Michaels sold well and the Rock 'n' Rolls worked the match like they'd turned countless times over the years.I guess they had a lot of experience on the receiving end but there was something innately sleazy about them that it fit like a glove. I mean, Christ, that hair style Ricky Morton. The only person who still had hair like that in 2000 was Rod Stewart.

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  • 5 months later...

This was good but brought down so many tropes of a shoddy small Indy. The commentary was super amateurish, the crowd and the venue put a damper on the good ring work and did the opposite of putting the match over. The ring work itself was real good though. RNR were great in their heel roles and Rick Michaels did a really good sell job, it was just somewhat undermined at so many turns. Bad Attitude coming out to the MX music was really cringey too.

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  • 2 months later...

The RnR Express worked like they had been fired from a cannon 15 years before, but Gibson looked like had drank 6 cases of beer with that enormous beer belly.

 

I remember David Young throwing a mean looking snap spinebuster in TNA and on some early ROH shows. Here he's not particularly great. He gets the hot tag, but his punches look pretty amateurish.

 

Rick Michaels on the other looks great. His selling of the knee was fantastic.

 

The RnR did a great job working as heels and exploiting the Rick Michaels previously injured knee. Ricky and Robert tearing the kneepad and then stomping on the injured knee was awesome.

 

That finish with Bill Behrens tossing a chain to Robert which he wraps around his fist and goes after Rick Michales injured knee was the best way to go out on before the double dropkick.

 

***1/2

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  • GSR changed the title to [2000-03-04-NWA Wildside-TV] Rock & Roll Express vs Bad Attitude

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