Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 23: Rock N Roll Express/Duggan vs Midnight Express/Ernie Ladd 6/8/84

Another fun experiment on this disk – a six man tag where the first meeting (at least on the disk)and the second meeting are a month apart. It’s similar to the TA/Dibiase matches to start the set, but not the same day.

I’m a fan of “trios matches” – three-on-three. Maybe it’s a deep seated love of the Freebirds, but a more practical excuse is I love when a booker intersects storylines with faces and heels going on at the same time. In this case it’s a tag team feud and two singles who may or may not be feuding.

I love that the fans know and love these characters and their stories because they are so familiar with them. While I wasn’t watching during the weekly territory primes, it is something I experienced with “the last territory”, ECW. Same story here. The Midnights and RNRs are on top of a great tag team division, feuding for months. Hacksaw Jim Duggan had become a majorly over face, most notably through a feud with Dibiase. Then we have the Big Cat, Ernie Ladd. Ladd has bad knees and is in the twilight of his career. The stage is set. Lets get to the action.

I love the early feeling out process because all six men are so over that they can each go through the pairings (all nine), take their time, and tell a story with a less is more approach.
Lots of teases as to who starts out. Ladd wants it, but they talk him out of it. Eaton starts. A lot of psychology with the facials and gestures. Eaton took ONE bump.

Condrey vs Morton. Condrey gets pulled into the faces corner and beat up. Even Bobby Eaton runs in to take another bump. They are teasing the giant big man, Ladd, but not giving us him yet.

Condrey and Eaton isolate Morton, and we get Morton vs Ladd. Awesome stuff here that makes me think of Taker vs HBK. HBK probably watched a lot of RNR during his Rocker days. Same thing.

Ladd picks him up twice ad drops him. Morton bumps a few times, but uses his speed to figure out the giant. Ladd takes one good bump. Smart worker. Ladd isn’t as awkward as Giant Baba, but he’s not graceful either. He takes two arm drags and a crossbody. Smart detail as he kicks out at one. Then he blows my mind with a double leg drop that isn’t half bad.

Duggan and Eaton. Christ, Duggan is already acting like the retard he became in WWF. Eaton sells his ass off before tagging out. Great camera shot of Cornette giving Eaton advice after he’s out of the ring. Eaton and Condrey do the subtle gay/caring wuss brother stuff so well.

Duggan and Condrey segment is good because both Midnights bump their asses off for Duggan. I’m amazed these guys weren’t killed off sooner, but then with Cornette I guess they always got their heat back. Duggan is doing the chest puffed out/hands on hips thing. LAME! I know there’s a segment of old timers who love his work here, but I want the Duggan I saw here with and against Dibiase in ’82-83. Duggan becomes invincible and the bumps get more cartoonish.

Ladd vs Duggan. It all builds to this. Place explodes, and they milk the interaction before the contact like Hogan would. Gestures and facials. My God, Ladd got up to take a back drop!! More Duggan playing super hero.

Very awkward moments as Duggan wants Ladd whipped into the ropes, but Ladd is supposed to put “brass knux” on his hand first. The result is a stalemate until the ref pulls them apart, and then we do get two poorly executed knux shots. Guess we get Duggan selling. He must have replaced JYD as the territories top face at this point.

12 minutes in I realize Robert Gibson is actually on the babyface side as he protests the knux with Morton. Eaton helps Ladd do another shot, and now we get big crowd heat. All the heels walk in and out of the ring beating on Duggan, and yet he hulks up.

14 minutes in. Fast paced stuff when you least expect it as Gibson gets in, so we get Midnights and RNRs back and forth. Faces save Morton from chair shots on the outside. Unfortunately for him, he’s rolled in and all three heels beat the shit out of him. Hacksaw keeps trying to run in, only to distract the ref.

The last few minutes have been so hectic and present a real fight/drama feeling. Great heat segment that draws you in as a fan. These fans clap, stomp, and chant “Rock & Roll”. So many near tags and cut offs. Every heel gets in 3-4 times. 19 minutes in. Condrey and Morton collide. Ref does double count. Morton fights to his feet, where Eaton is between he and his corner. Running start and Morton leaps over him to tag Duggan. The place explodes with the hot tag. Then the ref comes over, having not seen it, to hold back Duggan as Morton is dragged away. Just great stuff there, a lot of which was the crowd buying in. It works like a well done false finish, and we still could have one of those.

20 minute sin. It breaks down. All six men in the ring. Cornette rushes in as everyone is working their asses off. Ricky Morton turns as Cornette is about to spray him in the face with an aerosol can. Cornette panics, falls down, and rolls away. Luckily for Morton he picks up the can. He sprays Eaton and rolls him up for the babyface win.

Post-match the Midnights, Cornette, and Ladd destroy the faces with the help of the tennis racket. Great heat, much like the 2/10/84 Houston post-match beatdown on TA and Wrestling II. Midnights lose yet stay over. Very good stuff.

The match made Duggan and Ladd look so much better than they really were at the time. It also showed how great the original Midnights and Morton were. Gibson was just sort of there, but what little he did was good.

Now I have the task of defining the match in terms of overall quality and rank it. Crap! I’ll use the disk one rankings. It’s better than Cash/Dundee vs Midnights. Better than the ’83 Christmas cage match. It’s better than Dibiase vs Duggan (No DQ), though not by a huge margin. So we’re closer. I think it’s on par with Reed/Landell vs RNRs, which I had at 3 ½ stars.

I put this one at 3 ½ and 7/10, above Landell/Reed vs RNRs. I enjoyed the second TA vs Dibiase slightly more though, for what it’s worth. Now, can the match a month later elevate this set to a new level? We’ll see.