Andrew Lutzke
The Fantastics and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton and Jim Cornette (7/20/84)
Corny looks gloriously ridiculous in his too tight shirt and layered wrestling pants which make him look like he’s wearing tighty whities over his long black tights. . It would appear a young Bruce Prichard is at ringside working as an attendant. The heels bumble early on as Eaton accidentally punches Condrey and nearly does the same to Cornette as he swings for the nimble Bobby Fulton.
The Fantastics and Express tag off several times, but no matter the combination of talent in the ring, the babyfaces use their speed and technical grace to keep control. Tommy Rogers briefly goes down and Corny frantically tags in and drops some elbows before running for his life. A minute later Fulton misses a charge into the buckle, and Cornette gets in another cheap shot before tagging out.
Hacksaw takes his turn, uses his brawn to overwhelm his smaller opponents. Duggan glares at Cornette, awaiting the chance to kill the little weasel. Duggan ends up trapped in the heel’s corner, but is able to fight his way out.
Rogers and Eaton have a go, but that is quickly ended when the middle rope breaks off the turnbuckle while Rogers attempts a monkey flip. Condrey tags in during the confusion, but he soon finds himself entrapped in the babyface corner, with fists flying into him at all angles.
Fulton finds himself in the role of face in peril, with Cornette getting his cheap shots in once again. To his credit, Corny does not look like a discipline fighter, flailing wildly and using sloppy shoves to maneuver Fulton around. The Express meanwhile use their grappling to keep Fulton in trouble for several minutes. When Fulton finally makes the hot tag to Duggan, the comeback charge sees Eaton and Condrey tossed asunder, leaving Cornette at death’s door. Within seconds, Hercules charges in and attacks Duggan. This allows the heels to flee en masse, having suffered the indignity of a disqualification loss after 17:13. As I mentioned earlier, Corny played his part well, allowing the workers to put on a good show while still building up the fans hopes of seeing him killed. Duggan played a fine monster, smashing his smaller foes to the glee of the audience. The finish set up even more matches down the road and kept the heels hot for the next round of bouts.
The Fantastics vs. Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton (Oklahoma City 8/9/84)
Cornette leads his men around ringside, seemingly insulting every fan within earshot as they walk. Things start off slow, with the Fantastics content with using headlocks for the first several minutes. Rogers uses a series of shoulder blocks to knock Condrey down time and time again before Eaton finds himself trapped in the Fantastics corner as they take turns wrenching on his arm.
Rogers ends up being tossed to the floor, and that sets him up to be placed in peril. He tries to fire off some shots but the combined efforts of the heels tactical guile and outright cheating leaves him stuck in the wrong corner and in a world of hurt. Eaton in particular delivers some crisp looking offense here, with elbows and fist strikes that leave little doubt of their authenticity.
Things break down into a four-way brawl, with Condrey producing a foreign object. Rogers manages to trip Eaton, which throws Condrey off long enough to be hit with a crossbody and pinned at around the 17-minute mark. This was overall a solid, formula match. Nothing stuck out at me in particular as being great – the finish was well done.
Dusty Rhodes and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Butch Reed and Hercules (8/19/84)
This is apparently under bunkhouse rules. Rhodes and Duggan attack right away and clear the ring. The crowd goes bonkers. Several loud “Dusty” chants break out. Rhodes out punches Reed, leading to Hercules charging in – both men eat elbows and punches (in between some Dusty shucking and jivin’) before being bounced from the ring. Reed ends up going head over heels and getting hung up in the ropes.
Reed tries another go of it. He eats an elbow before being bit and retreating. Another attempt to best Rhodes sees Reed absorb a series of punches before Rhodes spins around and back kicks Reed in the nuts. Reed sells each shot with dramatics, really putting over the megastar Rhodes.
Duggan comes in and takes on Hercules. He quickly out punches him, then whips him with a belt. Reed gets a cheap shot in on Duggan and that allows Hercules to down Duggan via a rope being wrapped around his throat. Dusty and Reed take to fighting on the floor, where Rhodes is battered with a chair. The heels then double up on Rhodes when Duggan is flung to the cement below.
Rhodes makes his comeback with a series of simultaneous punches to both Hercules and Reed before knocking them together. Dusty then collapses. The heels pound on him a bit more before going after Duggan. They attempt to toss Rhodes and Duggan together, but the faces do-si-do and attack the heels instead.
Rhodes drops Reed and delivers the bionic elbow, but Hercules kicks Rhodes in the head with his cowboy boot and Reed rolls Dusty over for the pin at about the 12-minute mark. I wasn’t expecting that finish! I’m not sure if Hercules was supposed to have loaded his boot or what, but that seemed a little weak to stop Rhodes. This was a good brawl, with hard hitting action, Dusty’s entertaining theatrics and a crazy hot crowd.
Chris Adams vs. Killer Khan (9/9/84)
Khan is joined by General Skandor Akbar. Khan teases using his “asian spike” (taped thumb) on Adams, which keeps the Englishman wary. Khan plays the role of the giant, brushing off Adams pushing him, and then not going down for a dropkick. Khan emotes shock and disdain that Adams would even lay his hands on him.
Khan stomps, chops and chokes Adams as he begins his true offensive. Adams fires back with a series of strikes, dazing Khan enough to knock him off his feet. Khan absorbs an enziguri, staying on his feet but clearly in pain. Khan rebounds from that and begins to hack away at his smaller opponent once again. He tries to use his asiatic spike, but Adams slips to the floor. Khan catches him from the apron and twice jabs the taped thumb into Adams’ throat.
Adams fights his way back in the ring and hits Khan with two of his patented superkicks. Khan falls into the corner but does not go down. Akbar gets up on the apron, but eats a superkick himself. This distraction opens up Khan to down Adams with the “spike” to the throat and then deliver a knee drop from the second rope to secure the win at the 11-minute mark.
This told the story of the monster facing the underdog quite well, with the beast forced to have his dastardly manager cheat in order to rob the valiant babyface of what may have been a victory.
Skip Young vs. Butch Reed (9/23/84)
Young flips across the ring and springs into the air, forcing Reed to hide in the ropes to avoid his athletic opponent. Reed is flung across the ring with several hip tosses, which leaves Reed begging the ref for intervention. Young keeps Reed off balance with more hip tosses, with headlocks in between. A pair of slightly sloppy head scissor takedowns keep Reed reeling.
Reed finally downs the smaller man with a back suplex to put himself in control. Reed uses chin locks and headlocks to maintain the advantage. Young finds his second wind after laying in the rest holds for a bit, but his comeback ends quickly as Reed drives his throat into the ropes.
Reed ends up attempting a splash and landing on Young’s knees. Young rallies with a flying dropkick, but ends up being dumped throat first on the ropes a second time. This is followed by a press slam and a flying leg drop from Reed to earn the win at about the 14-minute mark. Not much to say here as Reed did a lot of nice bumping when on the defensive, but largely mailed it in for his heat segment.
More to come soon…
