Monday 26 September 2022

There was a Wicked Messenger, from Mid-South He did Come, with a Mind that Multiplied the Smallest Matter

Hacksaw Duggan v Buzz Sawyer (No DQ) (11/11/85)

What a grimy, blood-soaked masterpiece. It's the first time I've watched this in about 13 years, a match I've pretty much set as my own personal gold standard for out of control brawling, and by christ does it hold up. I'm not really arsed about comparing it to the DiBiase cage match because both are incredible and different enough that the comparison is maybe a little pointless, but either way our man Hacksaw is involved in two of the greatest brawls in all of history not but eight months apart. He was an ungodly walking tall maniac and spends a fair amount of the match cussing out Sawyer and the ref'. Carl Fergie tries to talk him down so Duggan cocks his fist and shouts "You get the fuck away from me!" and you better believe Fergie gets the fuck away from him. "Come on Sawyer, you son of a bitch!" he shouts as Sawyer feebly tries to crawl away from the inevitable. Sawyer is a complete mess after two minutes and Duggan is punching and biting the cut and throwing him into barricades while people are going ballistic. These are some of the best barricade shots ever and Sawyer takes them full on right in the face. Sawyer taking over firstly by trying to tear Duggan's eyes out was amazing, then cementing the transition by mule kicking him in the balls was doubly so. Of course Sawyer gets his revenge with the barricade shots and now the people front row are going ballistic for another reason. There was one point where Sawyer chucked Duggan over the barricade and hopped over after him, then hopped straight back because I assume he figured someone would stab him in the kidneys. Think about how real a threat must be for fucking Buzz Sawyer to go "wait a minute now maybe I won't actually antagonise these folk any further." He picks up a big wooden table, throws it at Duggan's head, rams his face into it, then tries to crush Duggan's skull with it like the table is some giant piece of machinery only for Duggan to move at the last second lest he is killed dead. Sawyer biting the cut and spitting the blood in the air Pirata Morgan style was...I had to step out the room for a second lest *I* break down in tears of jubilance. Duggan then outright punches Sawyer in the dick and there is your greatest revenge spot in the history of our great sport. The finish initially feels like a bit of a cop out, but I like the idea of Sawyer taking the count out just so he can blindside Duggan. Besides, the post-match makes up for it and some of the brawling there is even better than in the match itself. One of the all-time pull-aparts and pretty much what all hate feuds should aspire to. Duggan being dragged away by half a dozen grown men while shouting "kiss my fuckin ass!" is truly - truly - biblical. Honestly this might be one of the 30 or 40 greatest matches ever.


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