Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 121: Dutch Mantell vs. Jeff Jarrett (1/28/89)

Memphis has gotten a little low rent at this point. The studio show has a banner on the ring apron for a local car dealership. I always liked the small town feel of Memphis, but the local corporate sponsorship just has me bummed. Oh well, let’s just talk about the wrestling.

Mantell makes Jarrett look like a million bucks in the early going. He’s bumping and feeding him, powdering out and everything. Jeff Jarrett is a perfect young plucky babyface by this point, and he’s absolutely improved from just a year before.

Mantell gets the heat on him and Jarrett draws the right kind of sympathy. Dutch hits him with the best short arm clothesline I’ve seen in forever. Everything is decent, but I don’t want to make it sound like this is Mid South Coliseum material. It’s above average TV show work.

Good near falls with the story that Jarrett just won’t stay down. Dutch starts cheating because he can’t win. He’s good at showing frustration. I’m very sad that these two are 2/3 of the TNA creative team and they can actually have a very good match. What happened?

There’s a ref bump. Jarrett gets a visual pin, but then Mantell kills him for it. Jarrett starts selling the knee, but it’s a trick. Fun DQ ending where Mantell tries to use the bull whip and Jarrett ends up nailing him with a chair. Good solid stuff at under 8 minutes. 2 ¾ and 6/10.