[1988-07-25-WWF-MSG, NY] Demolition vs British Bulldogs

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Tag Champs Demolition w/Mr. Fuji vs The British Bulldogs - MSG 7/88

If you told me, "Sleeze, there are going to be 3 extended heat segments in this match and you will like it" I would have said "Dont apply to work for Miss Cleo." But shockingly enough I liked this match a good deal. I would say it is one of the better Demolition matches, just falling short of Summerslam '88 match and about even with the Islanders match. This match really encapsulates what is said about Demolition forcing their opponents to work for their offense. There is a real sense of struggle and urgency in this match that you do not find in the Hart Foundation and Bulldogs matches. The beginning of the match really felt like four titans just blasting each other to get the victory. The Bulldogs controlled the more powerful Demolition by using wristlocks but were not afraid to throw some bows at the Demos. The Demos never just lay down and took the offense they made sure to get their shots in to let the Bulldogs know they were still there. Davey Boy ends up going to the outside and then getting run into the steel post. Ax gets a little lazy here with vulcan nerve pinch. Davey Boy was prone to an attack and would have liked to see Demolition press their advantage. When Davey Boy elbows out of a chinlock, Ax gives him some shots for good measure and then Davey Boy punts him on a telegraphed back body drop. It is little things like that convey a sense of struggle.

Dynamite in and he and Ax miscommunicate on a clothesline and he hits his snap suplex, but he gets hit in the back of the head by Smash while running the ropes. His back gets ran into the apron and he becomes the Face In Peril. Smash suplexes Dynamite back into the ring. Dynamite with a wicked clothesline and here comes Davey Boy. Davey Boy hits one of his impactful dropkicks, but gets the back body dropped and again becomes the face in peril. The Bulldogs just can not sustain any offense against the powerful machine known as Demolition. Demolition is eating them up, but the Bulldogs are putting up more of a fight and are not just mailing this one in like the rest of 1988. At one point, Davey Boy just starts throwing shivers and actually gets a nearfall on Ax. It feels like a fight. Smash's backbreaker gets two. Smith gets his feet up in the corner. Dynamite in and he gets a wicked clothesline and a wicked flying headbutt. He takes the Bret Bump in the corner. It feels like the Bulldogs are wrestling like individuals and Demolition wrestles like a team and thats why the Bulldogs can not sustain offense. Davey Boy mows down Demolition by himself. He gets his running powerslam and the ref just stops counting at 2 and the crowd goes bonkers thinking the Bulldogs have won the title. The ref goes to break up an Ax/Dynamite fight only to get clobbered off camera. Smith has Fuji by the collar (better than the time Fuji just no sold all of Neidhart's punches) and Rougeaus come in and hit him with the cane allowing Demolition to pick up the victory.

The Rougeaus interference set up the Summerslam match, but was there an rhyme or reason to it? This match more so than any other WWF tag matches felt like a fight, but again I wish Demolition would press the advantage in their heat segments. If they did that, I think I would rate them among the best of all time. I loved the sense of struggle the constant little shots each team gave each other. Another interesting thread that was woven through the match was that Demolition really wrestled as a team and the Bulldogs wrestled as individuals. You would often see one Bulldog attempt to overwhelm both members of Demolition because they got the dug into early hole by the heat segment. They could not escape from this vicious cycle. Since most tag matches have maximum 2 heat segments by drawing out to three it really demonstrated how the first heat segment can cause a perpetual cycle of the babyface team having to fight underneath. One of the better WWF tag team matches of the era and actually a contender for match of the year for WWF in 1988 because it was such a weak year for WWF. ***3/4