Stampede Classics Vol. II Page 2
It’s like watching Benoit if he was 100 pounds lighter. Spooky. I
mean, you always see guys being influenced by others, but if you took
both headbutts and looked at them on a split screen, you wouldn’t be
able to tell the difference. Bruce piledrives him, but he’s in the
ropes. Bruce tosses him, but mistakenly follows him out and gets
suplexed on the concrete for his troubles. Sadly, this isn’t a match
with the trademark Kid spot where he then goes to the top and misses a
headbutt face-first onto the concrete. Seriously, Jeff Hardy needs to
sit down and have a good long chat with Tommy Billington one of these
days. Back in, Bruce comes back with a quick sunset flip for two. They
collide and both go down, but Bruce gets a backdrop suplex and the
Kid’s bump is jaw-droppingly sick, as he nearly folds himself in half
after landing right on his head. Kid tries his own suplex, but Bruce
reverses and cradles for two. They slug it out and the ref stops the
match due to whatever at 4:42 aired. Dynamite Kid was insane. ***
- North American title: Bret Hart v. Leo Burke. We’re JIP about
30:00 in. Bret turns a backbreaker into something vaguely resembling a
Sharpshooter, but Burke powers out. Bret gets a backdrop suplex and
works on the arm, but Burke atomic drops him. Bret’s rollup is
reversed for two. Burke hammers him down and gets an airplane spin, but
both guys are dizzy and when Bret dumps Burke the match is stopped due
to Burke being unable to continue. 3:03 aired. Nothing here. *
- Ladder match: Bret Hart v. Bad News Allen. From Stampede, 84ish. This is the match that Bret used to pitch the idea to Vince McMahon in 1992. We’re JIP about 5 minutes in, as usual for Stampede TV matches. Bret yanks Allen off the ladder and tosses him into it, then climbs. Allen dumps him to the corner and stomps away. Bret just impales him in the corner with the thing, then suplexes him. Slam, but an elbow misses (I don’t think he hit that elbow once before 1991) and Allen slams him on the ladder and then jams it into his gut. Allen works him in the corner, but charges and misses. Bret uses the bootlaces, but Bad News goes low. He climbs, but Bret trips him up and stomps his head a little. Bret climbs but the ref gets bumped as a result, allowing Evil Manager Du Jour Wakamatsu to knock the ladder over. A quick word on managers in Stampede: There was a LOT, and they tended to manage all the heels for a few weeks and then switch off to someone else. The most famous was Dynamite Kid’s manager J.R. Foley (no relation on either count), and the most irritating was one of the last: Wannabe wrestler Dr. Jonathan Holliday. My personal favorite was Drago Zhivago, just because it was such a cool name. Anyway, Bad News takes the opportunity to slam Bret on the floor and climb, but Dynamite runs in, knocks the ladder over, and Bret climbs up and takes the prize money to win at 6:28 shown. This match reads like a template for Shawn-Razor. **1/2
- North American title: Makhan Singh v. Owen Hart. Singh is Mike
Shaw, who later went to WCW as Norman the Lunatic and then the WWF as
Bastion Booger. Singh & Rotten Ron Starr did a monster sneak attack
on Owen earlier in the evening, busting him open on the post and
necessitating a substitute for Owen in the match, Johnny Smith. However,
as the intros begin, Owen storms the ring, still bandaged up, and
missile dropkicks Singh to take his rightful spot back. He slams Singh
and pounds away. Kneedrop and the crowd is just going crazy over him.
Owen stomps him down and gets a suplex on the 350-pound Singh. Elbowdrop
follows and Singh bails. Owen hauls him in and chokes him out with the
bandages (poetic justice RULES!), and we’re clipped to Owen coming
back with a moonsault press for two. Singh pounds him with the cast on
his arm and tosses him. Owen climbs on the apron and gets another
mouthful of plaster, but still manages a sunset flip for two. Makhan
gives him a nasty backdrop and keeps clubbing away with the cast.
Short-arm clothesline with it, but Owen fights back and ties Makhan in
the ropes, then steals the cast. Singh fights free, but Owen just nails
him with the cast, heads up, and finishes things with a fistdrop
(augmented with the cast) for the pin and the title at 7:43. Owen gets
the title, Makhan gets the proverbial taste of his own medicine, and the
crowd goes home happy. I’ve seen the full match unclipped many times,
and it’s quite awesome for the time and the people involved. ***1/2
- Lethal Larry Cameron v. Owen Hart. This is from the very last days of
Stampede, when even Ed Whalen had abandoned ship and the announcing was
being done by a generic babyface announcer and the horrifyingly awful
heel manager Hugh Hart. Neither guy knows the first thing about
wrestling or commentating and actually take away a lot from the match.
Cameron pounds him down and hits the chinlock. He goes up, but misses a
legdrop. Owen comes back with a dropkick and pounds away. Owen goes up
with a bodypress for two. Suplex gets two. Gutwrench gets two. Elbow and
he follows up with a flying version for two. Suplex, back up, this time
Cameron gets the boots up and Owen is knocked silly. Sample of the
in-depth commentary done by Hugh Hart: “This is the eye of the tiger
meeting the bull in the woods, and while the tiger has the advantage
right now, I’m pretty sure the bull will pull through in the end.”
Yeah, I can smell the bull all right. Cameron gets a nice flying
shoulderblock for two. He picks up Owen, however, and then powerslams
him for another two, again picking him up. That’s just asking for
trouble. Cameron clotheslines him out and rams him into the announce
table, but when he tries a bodyslam back into the ring, Owen pulls out
the old Steamboat reversal for the pin at 6:28. Owen used to be so
awesome when he gave a damn. ***
- The Stomper & JR Foley v. Bret & Stu Hart. Bret was getting
beaten down by Stomper, and the old man made a surprise save from the
audience to set this up. Stomper’s promo to actually set up the match
is great. We’re JIP about 10:00 in as Stomper lives up to his name.
Stu gives him a shot from the apron and tags in, pounding away with weak
forearms. Stu just looks horrible here, at about 70 years old,
overweight, wrinkled and broken down. Stomper goes low to turn the
tide, and Foley drops an elbow for two. Stu keeps taking him down, but
gets caught in the corner and Stomper pounds the shit out of him. Stu
doesn’t really sell, though, and tags Bret in. He cleans house, and
the ref is bumped and thus misses Bret going over the top. Stu goes
after both heels, but gets double-teamed and the whole thing is a wash
at 5:01. Total trainwreck. ¼*
- Keith, Bruce & Bret Hart v. Dynamite Kid, Duke Myers & Hubert
Gallant. Keith & Gallant start out, and Keith armdrags everything in
sight. Suddenly it’s breaking loose in Tulsa, until Bret &
Dynamite go. Kid takes an insane bump off a backdrop and Bret gets two.
Bret forearms him and Keith comes in for some hairtosses. Dropkick and
Kid bails to the corner, so Duke Myers can go. Keith pounds on him and
they work him over in the Hart corner. Bret drops an elbow and we’re
clipped to a big brawl, as it’s BONZO GONZO ALONZO. The heels collide
and the ref is squished in the process, so a second ref comes in to
count Keith’s pin on Dynamite at 4:20. Too bad that they cut the meat
of the match out. *
The Bottom Line: Doubt you can find this stuff anywhere, but if you can,
snap it up. The Owen and Dynamite Kid stuff is worth the price by
itself, and there’s still more of those two guys to come.
Highly recommended.