Fire Fundraiser: Buddy Rose/Curt Hennig/Billy Jack Haynes vs. Dynamite Kid/The Assassin/Rip Oliver 9/10/83

Buddy Rose/Curt Hennig/Billy Jack Haynes vs. Dynamite Kid/The Assassin/Rip Oliver 9/10/83

1st Fall

2nd Fall

3rd Fall

Now this is a rematch of an earlier match I wrote up with these same 6 guys. The other match happened in June '83, here we are 3 months later. Don Owen before the match announces that Andre will be flown in from New York in a couple of weeks. The thought of Andre wandering Portland is glorious to my brain. It's a 3 fall match as is the way of Portland. That must have been so strange live just sitting there while guys went to the back between every fall. How long were they back there? You'd think it would really interrupt the momentum of a match. But, the crowd is just as hot at the end of this as they were at the beginning so obviously Owen understood his little bubble. And one thing I love about these Portland 6 mans is my favorite guy in the match changes so damn often during the match. Even a guy like Billy Jack who's clearly not as good as the others at least knows how to work face real well and knows what the crowd likes. Rip Oliver knows how to feed and he stooges hard for Jack's clotheslines. We don't get tons of Buddy in this, but we DO get tons of Curt Hennig giving one of his best performances I've seen. His work in the 3rd especially is just tremendous. Once he tags in he starts throwing the best punches of his life, these beautiful and violent short right hands, looking like a total wrecking ball, and then does the greatest sunset flip I've ever seen. Ever. No hyperbole. It looked gorgeous and felt like something that could actually finish a match. He leaps way into the air and arcs perfectly into rolling up Dynamite, but Oliver saves him. Assassin continued looking great. I enjoy Dave Sierra, but I've NEVER seen him like this. He throws out multiple backdrop bumps a match, works super quick, I love the loaded headbutt gimmic, perfectly plays up the strength of BJH by getting pressed way off on kickouts. And sheesh Dynamite has been so damn good in these Portland matches. Everything he does hits with force. He tosses out just the nastiest fistdrop into Hennig's throat. God it looked brutal. He and Hennig match up beautifully, love the finish with Dynamite's perfect kneedrop being treated like a death blow. Dynamite even takes a massive bump to the floor, getting thrown by Buddy. Just a super fun match. Also, everybody here knows how to throw a nice elbowdrop. Dynamite has a quick one, BJH throws a better one than you'd guess. And I'm a guy who likes elbowdrops, so that was just tasty pointy icing for me. I am loving this Portland. I may wind up in a dangerous Portland rabbit hole...


I want to thank Pete again for the donation, and continue urging others to donate. I'll link again to my original post, and I'll post an update on things soon. I love all the requests I've gotten, and I'll continue writing all of it up!! You guys are awesome. Thank you so, so much. Seriously.


***I'm probably sounding like a skipping record (like my Metal Health LP that awesomely skips during the first chorus of "Cum on Feel the Noize", so it just gets stuck perfectly on Kevin DuBrow yelling "Mooore moooore moooore") at this point but I'm still trying to raise money for my friend and coworker whose home burned down, completely disappearing every single one of her possessions. The donations have slowed but no matter, I still have plenty of neat requests to fulfill and WILL be continuing to fulfill them! I'm matching EVERY contribution and will continue writing above and beyond for those who donate. You donate $1? That's awesome. Whatever you can do, and then you get to make a request. This means SO MUCH to me and you all are making me so happy***