Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts - Boston Garden 8/9/1986
Watched this last night but didn't feel like writing anything afterward. Anyway, the match is awesome for all the reasons you'd expect a match between these two to be awesome. Match happens after THE DDT, so Steamboat comes out pissed and throwing wild karate that doesn't look great, but the crowd loves it anyway. Roberts blocks all his karate and then heels it up like a douche, grinning and talking and taunting and pointing to his head to let everyone know how smart he is. Steamboat rocks him for a while but ultimately hurts himself with his own aggression, as he whiffs on a strike and his the ring post. Roberts takes over and works the arm, and the control segment is really awesome. He uses the ring post some more, and Steamboat creates some good hope spots only for Roberts to go back to the arm to cut him off. Pretty sure Roberts got in a good hot shot spot, which set up a really great revenge spot for Steamboat, which Roberts sold brilliantly. Finish is interesting, as the ref bump prevented Roberts from getting a clean win and led to Steamboat winning by roll-up. Sort of odd to see a babyface winning that way, but that wasn't the only time they gave Steamboat a win that way. Anyway, this was a really great match and an easy recommendation. Among the best mid-80s midcard WWF matches I've seen-- nearly on par with the best of the Tito/Valentine series, and about as good as Savage/Steamboat from MLG and the awesome Savage/Santana matches. Maybe just a notch below those matches, but still great.
Bob Orton vs. Ricky Steamboat - Landover, MD - 7/20/1985
This was great, too, though a notch or two below the Roberts match. Orton has a loaded cast on his forearm, so they work some shtick around that for a while, and then Steamboat teases some karate blows, which Orton manages to dodge. Major pop when Steamboat finally catches Orton, and then there's a really awesome heel-in-peril segment where Steamboat tears at that arm, and Orton's selling is all great, and the crowd totally eats it up. I really love seeing segments like that in '80s WWF matches because crowds always go wild, and this segment was about as good as any from that era I've seen. Orton's facial expressions and selling are just really great. His transition to take control is great, too, as he takes a pretty whacky bump to the outside, and then he comes back to throw a soda in Steamboat's face. I didn't think Orton was as good on offense as he was in peril, but he was still good, and Steamboat was of course stellar as the FIP. His comebacks are all good, as are Orton's cutoffs. Finish is slightly disappointing, but not really a major detractor for this match. Really good and totally worth checking out.
Matt Hardy vs. Finlay - Smackdown 6/22/2007
Similar feel to the Kennedy match in the opening parts of this match, except it's better because Finlay is better than Kennedy. Finlay throws some really nasty strikes at Hardy, and Hardy sells them all expertly. All the holds and headlocks look snug and uncomfortable. As he tended to do at this time, Finlay took control on the outside, thanks to a distraction from Hornswoggle, which allowed him to hit a brutal clothesline. He works Matt over for a bit, but the match really takes off when Matt, trying to mount a comeback, goes to the second rope. Finlay catches him and yanks him off, and Matt lands on his knee, and JBL/Cole tell us he's been having knee problems, and Finlay evidently knows that because he just tears into Matt's knee. I mean, as soon as I saw Matt grab his knee, I knew the match would be good because Matt can sell his ass off and Finlay can rip a dude's limbs off, but it exceeded my already high expectations. Finlay just goes nutso, using his environment and a variety of holds and blows that all look stellar, and Matt sells the knee as well as I've seen anyone sell a knee injury. Seriously, I thought he was about as good as Savage at Mania 8, and I thought this match was about as good as Savage/Flair (though it didn't have all the extravagance/drama at ringside). Just a brutal and manly match with tremendous selling, plus a pretty awesome finish.
Finlay vs. The Undertaker - Smackdown 3/9/2007
Another tremendous TV match, here. Taker rocks Finlay early on, doing his usual arm wringer/shoulder thrust combo, except it looks extra rough and rugged here, and Finlay's sell is awesome. Finlay takes control on the outside thanks to a distraction from Hornswoggle, which allows him to whack Taker in the ribs with a chair. Then we get really good rib work from Finlay, and some really good selling from Taker. On the whole, I didn't think Taker's rib selling was as good as Hardy's knee selling, but there were some standout moments. He catches Finlay trying to dive off the apron, and then he clutches at his ribs while holding Finlay, before driving his back into the ring post. Then he goes for an Irish whip into the steps, but his ribs prevent him from pulling it off, so Finlay counters it and sends Taker rib-first into the steps. Awesome moment. As you'd expect and want, all of Finlay's stuff goes back to the injured ribs. Taker does continue to sell during his comeback, though his selling gets slightly weaker: he hits his moves and then sells rather than selling while hitting his moves, as he had done earlier in the match. Finishing stretch starts out strong, as Finlay takes advantage of a distraction from Hornswoggle to thump Taker in the ribs and face with the shillelagh. Then Taker sits up and hits his big moves and wins. Pretty meh-ish finish, but still a great match. Thought Finlay/Hardy was better, though.
I still love wrestling.
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