Fire Fundraiser: Andre in Portland

Andre the Giants & Hack Sawyer vs. Rip Oliver, Dizzy Hogan & Matt Borne 5/8/82

To the best of my knowledge, this is the only Andre in Portland match that exists to the general public. I haven't seen anything else pop up in matchlists. And really I just wanted to see this because I love the idea of Andre wandering around Portland. It's such a wonderful little city, and yes I do realize I'm picturing Andre wandering around CURRENT Portland, going to great breakfast places, drinking Stumptown, going to a bar that makes their own bitters to try a house Manhattan; just picturing "local weirdo Portland celebrity" Andre makes me smile. Like if he wasn't Andre the Giant, legendary wrestler, and instead worked at a hardware store and lived in a cottage near Burnside. Andre as the owner of an Air BnB. Andre as local guy ordering one of everything off the Pine State menu. Portland Andre just sounds wonderful.

And the match was good! It was really smartly laid out, and while I didn't get as much Andre running amok as I wanted, I was still satisfied. First fall was mostly Hack and Andre, with Hack trying to keep the heels at bay and the heels all dying once Andre tagged in. The second fall was really great, with Andre stranded on the apron as the heels cut off the ring and took apart Sawyer. There were a couple really great spots of Sawyer coming so close to tagging Andre in, with one spot seeing him reaching out but Oliver grabbing Sawyer's close arm and pulling him away. Also a great spot of Andre leaning WAY in on the right part of the screen to tag Sawyer practically halfway across the ring. Rip is great and crazy, taunting the giant, and I loved Borne going up top for a splash on Sawyer only to catch knees. I didn't see that coming. Sawyer was really good as a babyface fighting from under, knowing his gigantic get out of jail free card was looming over on the apron. Sawyer was a really important factor here, as the focus of most of the match was on him and his struggles to get to Andre. And yes this was a fine fine babyface performance from him. His hope spots were good, the alllllmost tags to Andre were good, the selling was good. This is maybe the most I've loved Hack Sawyer. Third fall sees the heels wisely draw Andre away from the ring, with Borne and Hogan luring him out into the crowd. Andre going wild down the aisle of the Portland Sports Arena, bodyslamming dudes while tiny humans looked on, while Oliver held Sawyer into a full nelson that would surely end the match. Andre fights his way back and every time he'd roll in to save Sawyer would believably get drug out by Hogan or Borne. Andre would ram them into each other, kick them off, but both men were really good about just holding all their weight onto Andre's legs since Sawyer's time was running out. I was excited to see how it would end but alas, it ends with men running in. I don't know why heels would run in when the heels would clearly have won anyway. I guess because they're jerks? Probably because they're jerks.

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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***

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Fire Fundraiser: Buddy Rose, Curt Hennig & Billy Jack Haynes vs. Dynamite Kid, The Assassin & Rip Oliver

Buddy Rose, Curt Hennig & Billy Jack Haynes vs. Dynamite Kid, The Assassin & Rip Oliver (6/25/83)

I am a Portland novice, familiar with the guys who worked other territories, unfamiliar with the local heroes. But Portland is a city I've been to many times over the years, as we've always had friends who lived there and it made for a great excuse to go visit. I love the town and would have loved to have been alive to experience the territory days in such a neat little community. Territory wrestling always takes these large cities and makes them seem like little bubble communities, when you can see the same fans showing up each week, the same families sitting together. Portland just seems like the perfect place for a territory. And this match was a real hoot. I'm a guy who really strongly disliked a lot of Dynamite Kid as "New Japan revolutionary junior heavyweight" but as scummy shitheel with bad skin and bad hair and who bumps like a loon? Yeah, I'll take that Dynamite. Here he looks like a dude selling weed in the parking lot of a Molly Hatchett concert. His elbows look great, he throws nice kicks to the stomach, he always has one of the finest kneedrops, takes a mammoth backdrop bump, flies to the floor off a big Rose dropkick. I'm kinda loving stateside Kid. Assassin looked great in this, and if this is the same guy I'm thinking of (Jody Hamilton) he must have been in his mid-to-late 40s here. You'd never know it by the way he was moving. He had a real immediacy to everything, threw a great kneelift, really knew how to bump around for the good guys, went fast at Hennig and Haynes. Billy Jack is a guy I never enjoyed much in WWF, but here you can tell he has his place with the Portland crowd. He's got a crazy build and knows how to connect, Dynamite throws himself into a stiff arm BJH clothesline, and Haynes even takes a backdrop bump of his own. Hayne's powerlifting Dynamite up into a press slam was impressive as all hell. I didn't remember Haynes having such a gorgeous press slam, and I'm a guy who LOVES press slam spots. He drops Dynamite down from a crazy height, onto a mat that doesn't give an inch. Ouch. Buddy had unreal agility and he clearly loved showing it off, leaping over the top to the floor, throwing out some kip ups, cartwheeling, really trying to show off his speed. You could tell he loved working Portland crowds. This says it's 2/3 falls but I couldn't find the other falls. What we get is a blast though. It should also be noted that Sandy Barr looks like every single photograph of everybody's father.

THANKS FOR THE DONATION PETE!!


***I'm still desperately trying to raise money for my friend and coworker whose home burned down. I'm matching every contribution and will continue writing above and beyond for those who donate. This means a lot to me, guys***

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