This was a really nice 10 minutes. They didn't do a whole lot and there wasn't anything complex, but the way they approached everything, the way they injected character, especially Roberts, made what they did do feel important, like it truly mattered. I loved Jake in this. He comes across like a real slimeball, Snake by name, snake by nature. Even the way he takes bumps has a slithering quality to it, as does how he'll slink out the ring to regroup when he needs to. I've never personally seen a snake wind its way through a desert sand but I'm sure it moves just like Jake did here. I'd bet a goodly sum of money on it, in fact. The first five minutes were about him and Ellering trying to sucker Garvin into a mistake only for Ron to outsmart them and throw those hands of stone every time. The first shot he threw had Jake loopy and sure enough he slithered out the ring as soon as he could shake the cobwebs. When Jake takes over he goes to the armbar, nothing properly urgent, maybe more containment, but then there's the call for four minutes remaining and I love how he instantly upped the intent behind it. He even turned and held up four fingers as if to confirm, then wrenched on the hold upon receiving confirmation, grabbing Garvin's leg to turn the armbar into a sort of bow and arrow, reaching for the ropes for extra leverage. He knew time was short, he wanted to win the TV title and you bought him trying to actually force the issue. I liked the finish too, with Garvin pressing for the win himself and throwing punches, Jake huddled up in the corner, then as the ref' tries to move Garvin back Jake undoes the tag rope and uses it to clothesline Garvin in the throat. And Jake's DDT never did look anything short of sensational.
Jake Roberts v Ron Garvin (GCW, 12/17/83)
This was quality too. It was rugged as fuck, which I guess makes sense with Garvin in there. When he goes after Jake's arm early he throws a bunch of neat and nasty little wrinkles in, like barring that arm while stomping on the fingers of Jake's free hand. Jake's attempts at shaking Garvin or taking him down feel less like something you'd see in a wrestling match and more like what someone might do in a street fight. There was nothing scientific about it, sometimes he'd just try and grab Garvin and drag him to the mat or kick him away. When Jake eventually takes over he works the leg and Garvin shows great desperation at trying to avoid all of that. It was super gritty stuff and a lot of it had a nice sense that it was not cooperative. It was something you'd see Ian Rotten do in a cage match in front of 72 people 20 years later. There was a point where Jake took Garvin's leg, wrapped it around the bottom rope and started yanking at it in really ugly fashion so Garvin just headbutted him in the face. The finish seemed kind of whiffed or mistimed, but nothing major and they at least got across the point that Ellering on the floor would interfere when possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment