This is another Memphis match I hadn't watched since the DVDVR project. I had it as the 11th best Memphis match of the 80s back then and I'm wondering if even that was lowballing it, because this is some premium Memphis insanity. Dundee was a fucking wildman, running around irate, picking fights with Lance Russell and Randy Hales and fans and everyone else. Clearly Lawler being back in town didn't sit well with him. People are obviously going nuts and Dundee shouts at Lance to tell them to shut up and Lance responds with "how am I gonna tell them to be quiet, Bill?!" He'll also randomly drop off the apron and shout something down the house mic or pick up a chair and fling it in the ring, flip a table, grab one of those metal rods and start swinging it. The word I'd use is unpredictable and unpredictable men can be the most dangerous. The call-backs to the Lawler/Dundee Loser Leaves Town from December were great, with Lawler making a point of punching Bill right in the eye and ramming him into posts and tables. Initially it was more traditional babyface shine and Dundee and Landell were stooging and pinballing everywhere. That was great because they're awesome pinballs and who's going to provide better punches to pinball off of than Lawler and Mantel? But then Dundee gets cut open above the eye and there's nothing light-hearted about Lawler exacting this particular brand of revenge. He was even biting the cut at one point and I don't remember too many occasions where the King resorted to that. Dundee taking over by just punting Lawler in the balls and nailing him with a chain-wrapped fist was the perfect sort of desperate transition for what had come before. Dundee somehow gets even more maniacal after that and chokes Lawler with the safety rope, and I loved how when Mantel came around to stop it Dundee just booted him in the balls as well! Lance was mid-sentence about Dundee ripping Lawler with a punch and Dundee spun around, flipped the table causing Lance to scatter, and then he flung Lawler face-first into it, an amazing payback from when Lawler did the exact same thing to him back in December. I loved the way they worked the big comeback. Usually you'd get the tried and true hot tag with Mantel coming in to clean house, but this was all about Lawler and Dundee. Lawler is bleeding and absorbing shots, clearly ready to drop the strap and go bonkers, so Landell comes in and grabs him. Mantel jumps in to even things up but Calhoun puts him back out, and while this is happening Dundee wraps a chain around his fist again, goes for the big home run shot on Lawler, but Lawler ducks and Bill cracks Buddy. Landell is covered in blood and from there it's basically one long festival of babyface punches until Calhoun calls for the blood stoppage. Dundee was so great down that last stretch, repeatedly getting clocked by Mantel or thrown out the ring just to get back up, run face first into another punch, get chucked out, bounce up, go again, fully driven by instinct. Memphis was the very best.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment