HIDDEN GEM: Let’s Do Two

And they’re both from the same year!

Billy Robinson vs. Rick Martel
Date: October 18, 1984
Location: Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Commentator: Gene Okerlund

This is from the AWA, Lord Alfred Hayes (with big mustache) is with Robinson and we are joined in progress with Robinson getting two off a backbreaker. The narrator tells us that this is a blast from the past and commentary mentions Hulk Hogan currently challenging for the World Title so I’m not sure when this took place. Robinson grabs a chinlock as we hear the ten minute mark call.

They go to the mat with Robinson working on a chinlock but Martel fights up and knocks him over the top. Back in and they circle each other a bit until it’s time for a slugout. Martel grabs a hangman’s neckbreaker to a pretty strong reaction and a second one gets two. We hit the chinlock, followed by a headlock into another chinlock, on Robinson, who can’t bridge up into a top wristlock.

We’re twenty minutes in now as the chinlocking continues. Back up and Martel cuts off the comeback with another chinlock. They get up for good this time with Martel not being able to grab a monkey flip out of the corner. A collision puts both of them down but it’s Martel back up with a dropkick. Martel lifts him up for a slam but Hayes sweeps the leg and Robinson gets the pin at 16:35 shown (24:44 announced).

Rating: C-. I’ve seen great things from Robinson and Martel could go with anyone but having this much time spent in a chinlock didn’t help. What we got worked out well enough and I could see another match between them working well. Martel would become the top star in the company but the place was already on its last legs long before they reached that point.

Post match Martel yells a lot to no avail.

Stagger Lee/Bill Watts vs. Midnight Express
Date: April 7, 1984
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 23,000

Anything goes. This is part of the Last Stampede, which featured Watts coming out of retirement (again) to fight off the new evils of the Express and Jim Cornette. There was a cake involved and Cornette went into it, which Watts found to be hilarious, so Cornette came out and called Watts old and stupid, leading to the Midnights beating him down. It was time to cowboy up and Lee (the masked Junkyard Dog) was Watts’ partner for a series of huge tag matches against the team, including this one, which is the biggest of them all.

Watts punches the Midnights down to start and Lee joins in for some rights and lefts of his own. A big right hand knocks Eaton off the top and the fans are rather pleased. Back in and Watts punches away again as this is one sided so far, by which I mean Watts is doing almost everything (by which I mean he is mostly standing still and punching to crazy reactions).

Eaton is already busted open and it’s off to Lee for a clothesline. Lee pokes him in the eye and brings Watts back in but a Condrey distraction finally lets Eaton get in a knee. Condrey draws Lee in for some cheating stomps from Eaton and the double team stomps make it even worse. We hit the chinlock on Watts as the crowd has not stopped the whole match so far. Eaton breaks up a comeback attempt and it’s off to a reverse chinlock.

Watts starts getting up so Eaton walks him back and drops an elbow, allowing Condrey to take his place. The second reverse chinlock is broken up and a collision allows the hot tag to Lee….which the referee allows even though the referee didn’t seem to see it. Everything breaks down and Cornette sends Eaton the racket to knock Lee silly. Watts kicks the powder into Eaton’s face though and the Oklahoma Stampede is good for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: B. This wasn’t the greatest in-ring match ever but DANG the fans were going nuts for the whole thing and that is what mattered most. This was the big draw of a show that drew 23,000 people and that’s a success in wrestling. Watts might not have done so well in WCW but he was the king in Mid-South and putting him in there with the top star to face the new mega heel team was about as good as you could have gotten. Not a great match, but the fans ate it up and carried it to a much higher level.

Post match it’s time for Cornette’s punishment, which means the diaper. With Lee, Watts and some other guys surrounding him, Cornette has to take his own clothes off and, after being tripped down, gets powdered and diapered.

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