Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 28: Dusty Rhodes/Hacksaw Duggan vs Butch Reed/Hercules Hernandez 8/19/84

This is from a Tulsa house show with StarDust in town. This is a street fight, or at least the street clothes and street fight rules were adopted. Typical character-driven grudge stuff with the booking of the time for M.S. fans are beloved as a super team, with Duggan being the 1984 Hogan of M.S. and Dusty being a nationally known super face. Butch Reed is the cartoon muscled up larger than life heel. Hercules Hernandez was just a well used bit player heel who was attached to Cornette for heat and promos. He was in my mind the pin fall man coming in, as I’m sure many people thought.

The faces garbage brawl and soak up cheers, the heels bump and trash talk on the outside. Reed is great, but Herc isn’t much to me. Again, I am the anti-mid-south old timer here because I don’t get Duggan and Dusty was a lazy slob in this match. Well, I’ll say uninspired. In a few minutes the heels use their cheating ways to gain advantages and pull crap on the outside; brawling and partying and I just don’t care about this match.

The under ten minute big finish: Cornette throws powder in Duggan’s eyes on the outside. This frees up Herc to go in the ring, kick Dusty in the head in passing as Dusty is pinning Reed. This should be an easy kick out, and Reed simply pins Dusty for three. Another pin that should have been an easy kick out.

This match was horrible, even for a brawl, and completely star-pop character driven in a lazy way. Hated it! Never getting near my top 100, no match who justifies it and explains it away. 2 stars and 3/10