Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 61: Rock N Roll Express vs Jake Roberts/The Barbarian (6/28/85)

Final match in the Rock N Roll Express trifecta, and sad to say the prior two didn’t fully live up to expectation (though those were terribly high). Their second match with Doc/Dibiase was a good TV match, but not a ballot favorite, but I did like it more than their match with the Freebirds. I’m shocked to say I’ve seen Gordy in two tag matches so far that probably aren’t/ going to end up in the front half of the 150. Doc/Dibiase was slightly better than the Freebirds match, and that brings up to this match up. Heels Jake Roberts and power wrestler (read enhanced) the Barbarian have to hold up against the Rock N Rolls.

Morton and Jake to start. Whenever I see Jake I think of Paul Heyman’s quote in Beyond The Mat About Jake having “it”. He really did. A healthier Jake having started out a decade later would have been ECW’s lead heel for the promotions whole run. Oh well.

An animated mobile Jake trades arm locks and leg laces with Morton to set the tone. Great pacing and first to third gear from these two. It makes sense but I hadn’t thought of it. Jake tags out after getting a fist in the face. Barbarian looks very different without the face paint. He also looks odd next to Ricky Morton. David and Golith – strength vs speed spots. Decent, but nothing g brilliant. The heels are good at getting the emotion across, which surprises me on Barbarian’s part.

After so many matches without an announcer, I’m so happy to hear Paul Boesch’s voice. Any voice will do for house so matches. It gets lonely, ya know?

Barbarian drops Morton throat first on an elevated (thanks to Jake) top rope, so the heels are going right to the heat on Morton. Jake in and does the greatest thing (in this match… so far) by pausing and stomping on Morton’s hand. Very out of the blue when usually a heel would just stomp or forarm the back. Jake taunts and waits on Morton, hands on the knees. I love this wacko.

Five minutes in. Rest hold applied by Roberts. Hope spot and than another, and the faces just beat the heels. Guess it’s to early for the whole formula. Moving on…

Robert Gibson in with Jake the Snake. They do spots where the Barbarian comes in. Boy, he was really slow in figuring out what to do in spots, and for the second time I see Jake motioning him to his place. In storyline it works because Jake was a mastermind character and Barb. Was a henchman. The muscle. But it really takes you out of these worked matches, and I’m not meaning how working overly light does for a split second.

Jake against Gibson again. These two work fine together with a headlock/roll up spot where Jake holds the tights. Barb is just so animated in a way that’s not helping, acting like he’ll run in here when there’s no reason. Gibson runs the ropes, hits a move, and in comes Ricky Morton (it must be time to get heat on the faces 10 minutes into what I’d call an average RAW or secondary WWE PPV tag match so far.

I’m realizing again one of the great attributes the RNRs brought to the table. Both Ricky and Robert could run the ropes and create movement in matches, while having moves, drop downs, and reversals strung together around that to create a sense of excitement. Creating movement in a wrestling match is a real under rated quality, especially for matches that are NOT high flying spotfests. Flair matches always had a lot of good movement and basic wrestling as their bases, and the RNRs do too. Funny, this disk of the set is all Flair/RNRs, so it’s essentially a preview disk for Crockett tapes.

Just figured out why this match got nominated. They go another 2 minutes of headlock stuff, and then Jake gets tied up in the ropes. The beginning looks so contrived (I know, it is, it’s wrestling, but…you know) until you see the reason for the tie up, and then you forgot how he got there. The Rock N Rolls take turns punching and kicking, and then dropkicking Jake while the Barbarian keeps trying to fend them off. Every time he chases one out of the ring, the other gets in and beats up a helpless Jake. The crowd eats it up, and so did I. A fun spot that needs to be copied soon, and if it has, please tell me where so I can see it.

Jake face plants after getting unhooked – to the fans delight – then the RNRs take turns trying to cover him. I enjoy it as this spot is fun too, but why is Randy Anderson constantly letting the faces in this match do whatever they want? People bitch about this stuff min modern Briscoe Brothers matches, but to a degree it was all over CLASSIC Memphis and Mid South. The finishes are always breaking into Texas Tornado rules that only get officiated by the book half the time. The RNRs and Fantasics often switched partners just cause they wanted to, and while it was seen by the fans as getting back over on the heels, isn’t it the refs job in that situation to lay down the law. Here, every other pin is illegal, and yet it’s counted by Anderson on the mat. It’s something important to be acknowledged in modern day since the rose colored glasses have long been out on pre-1990 stuff. It is an advantage push situation in this match for me, as it’s annoying as an afterthought, but enjoyable gamesmanship/comedy at the time.

The Barbarian sells like an idiot, even for a “big man” monster type. He’s getting the heat on Morton, though I didn’t see a tag. What a goofy match, as Barbarian sometimes is just walking around instead of engaging the faces in the ring. Punch, kick, mostly headlock and body slam from the Barbarian. You’d think he couldn’t screw up a headlock, but Barbarian loses his grip and stance more than once trying to “grind it”. Yuck!

Jake in. I respect that Jake goes right to the sleeper and smiles at the crowd. The Crowd is chanting and he’s milking it without doing a thing. Working smart. Still, I was already bored. Different era, I’ll try not to let it taint my opinion, but I was already not a huge fan of this match. Hope spots and cut offs. At least Jake taunted Gibson with a limp Morton. Barb in. Crap!

A bright spot is Morton trying to fight out of Barbarian’s grasp and his momentary hope stuff. Jake in. Now it’s slowly redeeming itself. Jake taunts and hits Gibson to the point he comes after Jake. Good intensity. Morton’a classic selling and hope spots are more defined here. 20 minutes in .

Must have been the cue. Morton hot tag out of nowhere after several good times it was built up.

Gibson in. You know the deal. Gibson beats the world. Ref out of place. Gibson pins someone. No ref. Barbarian gets him in a bad full nelson (half Robert Gibson’s fault). Ricky Morton solves that problem by drop kicking his partner so Barb. And Gibson both fall down. What? What? Even Boesch struggles to explain this crap. Gibson is somehow fine. Now we get his famous standing in place pin for the heel to grab him. It’s Jake with the DDT. That looked cool. Barb covers and Morton has to pretend he’s drunk so he doesn’t break up the pin. Maybe he was.

Screw this match. Over 2 minutes of flashes of greatness with overall below average stuff. Not anywhere near my top 100. 2 stars and 3/10 from me, and it was the last minute that cemented that as I was thinking of being more generous. If this happened today I’d be pissed this match wasted so much of the rest of the cards time. 2 stars and 3/10.

Match Discussion Here