Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 104: Ted DiBiase, Dr. Death & Jim Duggan vs. Masked Superstar, Dick Murdoch & Buzz Sawyer (1/31/86)

Just in the first minute you see the level of greatness you’re dealing with here. With the exception of Bill Eadie (Sorry Masked Superstar), who isn’t horrible either, this is a solid main event level gathering of five stars and a decent friend. Buzz Sawyer starts out acting all crazy, charging Hacksaw, and then bumping for all the face teams great punches. Crazy to see Dibiase and Williams teaming with Jim Duggan. I wonder what the make up angle was after Dibiase/Williams went face. I’d kill to see that TV episode.

Buzz crawls to and tags Murdoch who tells Hacksaw to back off. Murdoch really wants a hand shake, and they milk the audience for reaction to that. Dibiase gets in to offer his hand to his former rival, and asks for a tag. they’re doing nothing and I love it just for the subtext.

Duggan, the village idiot, of course milks it too long. almost four minutes later (legit) we actually have a short shake with no tricks and then go into a lock up. Duggan takes the wind out of my sails momentarily. Sawyer tries to grab Hacksaw on the ropes but Murdoch talks him out of it and keeps it fair. You can tell it’s all building up to some heeling, but I love the dynamic of the crazy heel being calmed by the evil psychological mastermind heel. Murdoch is just wrestling psychology brilliance in an aging man, as per his usual.

Murdoch uses nice realistic leverage to stand up Duggan against the ropes while in a headlock. Duggan breaks clean and Murdoch doesn’t take or give a shot. He just pats Duggan on the chest. Duggan does something great here. He immediately looks to Dibiase as if to say, “you would never have done something so noble” or “he doesn’t seem to be as evil as you guys”. It’s also bothering Buzz Sawyer.
Another collar-and-elbow tie up. They move off each other, Murdoch looks to his corner with a smile, and tries to punch Duggan. But the smart babyface that he is, he blocks the shot and give Murdoch one good punch. The only bump (a big one off the punch) in over five minutes. Real smart opening.

Murdoch goes to plan B: he sends in Sawyer, who acts crazy but ends up bumping for Dibiase. Murdoch breaks up a pin and Dibiase runs in to brawl with his arch-nemesis. All six men brawl in the ring. Faces clear out the heels, and now it’s time for healing between a proactive Dibiase/Williams unit and Duggan. High-fives and handshakes all around.

A frustrated Murdoch gets in for act two. He’s trying to hide an object. Duggan hits him and takes it, then uses it before throwing it to Dibiase. Better than it reads. Dibiase in and Murdoch bumps for him.
Superstar in and he actually bumps better then Murdoch for this stretch. Doc in for shoulderblocks and headlocks. Doc makes it look great, especially when Sawyer comes in to work with him. Sawyer is so good selling for Dr. Death that Dibiase comes in to try out Sawyer. This also rules.

Dibiase loses momentum when a well placed Murdoch breaks up a pin attempt with heavy boots. Masked Superstar joins in. Superstar really does look fine here on offense. He holds it together and does what the role demands. Murdoch comes in to decimate his rival similar to Stan Hanson. Brutal stuff.

Sawyer gets in and pulls out a perfect suplex. Dibiase as face in peril is good stuff. False tags and short hope spots. All the good stuff combined with heel cheating, a ref in bad positions, and cutting off the ring.

Murdoch decides to end the match once it breaks down again with the faces beating on the heels. He cracks Dibiase with a chair, which prompts Duggan to clear house with chair shots all around. Even Doc is still nervous, as he asks Duggan for a time out to check on the fallen Dibiase. DQ win for the faces, and it furthers Murdoch vs Dibiase.

This match played like a great RAW main event from the late 90s glory period. It was just a step off, but comparable to the great five on five the WWF presented on RAW in early February of 2000 from Dallas. Really want to reward the thought and not kill it for the break down and DQ finish. It was a solid character driven outing. 3 ¾ stars and 7.8/10.

Match Discussion Here