On Brand Segunda Caida: The Johnny Smith/Taz Feud

I was always fascinated by ECW's usage of Johnny Smith, basically the only US promotion to actually use him. He had a small TV feud with Taz that resulted in two fun matches, with the latter a feud ending submission match: 

Johnny Smith vs. Taz ECW Hardcore TV 10/1/96

ER: This was a good match that didn't have much crowd reaction, Taz really wasn't getting the heel reaction I would have expected, and possibly it was because the casual fan wouldn't know much about who Johnny Smith was. Most of the heat of the match came from Bill Alfonso. But again, it was a good match. Booking Taz really was some smoke and mirrors, as it's wild how much Smith hulks over Taz. Smith is a rock solid guy and I liked the way they worked a couple headlock exchanges, thought Smith had a tight drop toehold, both threw themselves into shoulderblocks, nice high floor basics throughout. It wasn't what the crowd wanted to see necessarily, but it was professional and hard hitting so they never actually turned on it. I thought they did a good job working from holds to strikes to throws, ramping up the action steadily over 9 minutes. Smith threw two nice dropkicks, his standing dropkick going high and making nice contact, and his back bump missile dropkick hitting Taz right in the chest. Loved the spot where Taz caught him after a leapfrog, the two struggled over a waistlock, and Taz eventually dumped Smith with a nasty German suplex. They set up the finish really well as Taz sunk in the Tazmission, and I liked how they called the match instead of letting Smith tap. They set up a submission match, even though Taz does a bunch of heel backhand burials after the match (he let the submission go so Smith wouldn't puke, but also told him he was tough), and then Styles weirdly talks about how Taz outshone Smith on the mat and standing, which is a weird way to put over the heel.

Submission Match: Johnny Smith vs. Taz ECW Ultimate Jeopardy 10/5/96 (Hardcore TV 10/15/96)

ER: This submissions rematch was not nearly as cohesive as their first match. The first encounter had a real satisfying build, ramping up steadily over the run time. The build throughout isn't nearly as strong in this one, though it does bring a few cool different things. I wish they would have done more with the opening matwork, with both guys taking turns cockily getting into par terre to challenge the other to do something about it. I have no idea what Taz's actual mat skills were, but I know Smith can go and it would have been really cool to see some mat scrambles. Both are built solid as hell, and that's where a lot of cool parts come from: thick arms working chokes and throwing heavy clotheslines. Smith has a real underrated clothesline, throwing it right to the chest but keeping his arm stiff, so that it really looks like a guy taking a bat to the chest. The problem was that neither guy (Taz especially) wanted to show much vulnerability, so it's tough to build to any interesting submissions. Smith works the arm a bit but selling wasn't really a Taz strong suit, so while a nice Fujiwara could have lead to a nice false finish it just leads to Taz standing back up. The finish looks good, as Smith had been getting to the ropes and countering out of suplexes throughout the match, and the final near escape is cool: Smith breaks a waistlock and starts to get away, but Taz grabs him by the legs and lifts him over with a wheelbarrow suplex before getting the Tazmission. If you combine the best elements of their two matches you could get a great match, but instead we are left with a really good match and a fun match, which is fine.