Magnum TA v Nikita Koloff (JCP, 8/23/86)
Man if this ain't perfect pro wrestling. It's match 7 in the best of 7 series for the US title, and even if some of it is probably me putting things together in my head, seeing things that the wrestlers maybe weren't actively aiming to present, I loved the progression from where the series started seven weeks earlier (even if we only have some clips of match 1 and nothing from matches 2 and 3). Nikita had gone up 3-0 and Magnum needed to fight his way back to level footing. Match 4 at the end of the Bash tour had everyone on edge and Magnum worked it early with a lot more hesitancy than normal, cautious of making even one mistake, refusing to be goaded into anything while Nikita was confident and relaxed with his substantial amount of breathing room. Magnum was on the back foot for most of that match, got bloodied up pretty badly, and Nikita took his time punishing him. Magnum managed to pull it out in the end with a sunset flip without ever looking like the real force he was. After that though he rifled off two more wins (we don't have match 5 but match 6 is tremendous) and he had momentum coming into the decider. There was a tension to this that was palpable, right from the lock up at the start that was as rugged as any lock up you'll see. Obviously the crowd was going to be molten for everything but the wrestlers treated every action with the importance it deserved. The fight over the hammerlock that Magnum turns into a pinning situation, Nikita using his gargantuan neck to bridge out, Magnum trying to roll him over onto his shoulders, it had WEIGHT. They both roll to the floor with the hold still applied and I loved Magnum just throwing Nikita shoulder-first into the post, then perching himself up top before coming off with an axe handle, setting the tone and pushing the pace early like he wasn't a couple matches ago. Confidence can be a hell of a performance-enhancer and Magnum had it in spades. When Nikita takes over he works the back and I know these Crockett crowds were rabid anyway, but watch how Magnum sells and teases comebacks and layers in hope spots and tell me that guy wasn't fucking amazing. The crowd connection he had was truly special. The place erupts when he breaks the bearhug and then the last couple minutes are as good as it gets, from what Magnum and Nikita are doing in the ring to what Ivan is doing on the floor, Tony and David on commentary, the crowd's reactions, even Tommy Young. Magnum responding to Ivan grabbing him by the hair from the floor by rolling out and hitting a piledriver on concrete is one of the most badass things I've ever seen. Magnum stood up after it, paused for a brief second to take in the crowd, and right there everyone in that building would've gone to war with him had he asked them to. Then there's the finish, with Nikita wrapping the chain around his arm and decapitating Magnum while another Russian tries to interfere, Crockett in hysterics as Tommy Young counts the fall, Schiavone repeating "oh, no" in an almost hushed state of shock. That crowd reaction was pure outrage and immediately people were pressing the barricades. I half expected a riot, FULLY expected the ring to be pelted with trash, and sure enough the latter happened while the former was narrowly avoided. "The Russian nightmare has come true."
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