As the new weekly Hidden Gems initiative continues to roll on, week 4 brings a semi-themed offering. 5 new videos were made available this past Thursday, with 3 of them focusing on father/son tag teams. Perfect timing for Father’s Day. The other gems feature both Kenny Omega and Xavier Woods during their early WWE careers. In Kenny’s case, an extremely brief WWE career. Neither of these fit into the theme but do have some fun with an E3 showdown between the two. Enough with the yapping, let’s take a look, shall we?
Putting Hard Work to Use (Direct Link)
A Bob Orton Jr. and Bob Orton Sr. workout session followed by highlights of Jr. and Sr. vs Steve Keirn and Mike Graham
Date: 04/20/1976
Location: Tampa, Florida (according to WWE)
At first, I thought this was taken directly from the “Most Powerful Families in Wrestling” DVD set. However, a little digging suggests that set actually included the Orton team facing Jeff Ports and Rocky Smith from just one day later (04/21/1976). If that is indeed correct then this footage may well be previously unreleased. Good to know.
To put all of this into perspective, Orton Jr. was just 4 years into his legendary career when this footage was shot. Meanwhile, his father had already racked up a quarter of a century in the business. In case you’re wondering, Bob Orton Sr. didn’t officially retire until the year 2000.
The workout part of all this is very interesting. It features Orton Jr lifting weights and his father helping to keep track. I’d be interested to know how this was actually used because it’s very roughly edited and features no narration of any kind and not even any real talking. Once the training is taken care of, we get a sit-down interview with father and son while still in what I assume is a personal gym. The lighting isn’t very good so it’s hard to tell. As far as the interview goes, they talk about an inter-sport athletic TV show of some kind (I think) and how Sr. wants his son to prove that pro wrestling should be seen as at the same level as all other disciplines. Jr. agrees with his Dad and says that he plans to prove that wrestling is superior. The elder Orton than says how he’d like to see him in there with OJ Simpson. Awkward. After a bit more talk of Jr. being better than other athletes, we then get some footage of him running where the audio abruptly cuts out for an extended period. As if to prove how rough this all is, you can actually see the running footage reel ending before we jump to father and son playing tennis. Once again with no sound. Not exactly riveting. Next, we get more silent clips of the Cowboy cycling while his father looks on as coach. All of this has taken up over 15 minutes of a 25-minute video by the way. I’m all for every bit of footage getting archived but this is honestly starting to get a little tedious now. Especially when it comes down to silent home movies.
Finally, more than 16 minutes in, we get some in-ring highlights. This is Orton duo vs Steve Keirn and Mike Graham match mentioned above. With this bein reel footage, there’s once again no sound for lengthy periods and the video can get very ropey. It’s spotty at best. There’s no point going into detail as the match is clipped down to the point of not really telling a coherent story. I will say though that it’s tremendous fun to see father and son executing heel tactics together. When the audio does kick in, you can tell that both are passionately despised. Not only does Jr. bump like a pinball for the babyface comeback but his old man reacts to being worn down by a simple punch to the throat. It’s tremendous. Also, the younger Orton gets pulled into the ring at one point and manages to land on his feet without skipping a beat. That would still be impressive today. With the sound being so bad, I can’t quite be sure on the result but I believe the ref throws the match out when Orton Sr. hits a piledriver.
All told, this isn’t exactly great. Again, it’s fantastic to see WWE digging into their vault for oddities like this. I want everything possible to be made available as time goes on. However, the first two thirds really start to drag while the actual in-ring footage is in very rough shape. Assuming that this is labeled correctly and is indeed a different match to that which featured on the Families DVD, I completely understand why this was passed over.
Recommendation: Safe to skip (or at least the first two thirds)
The Road to Perfection (Direct Link)
Curt Hennig and Larry “The Axe” Hennig vs The Road Warriors for the AWA World Tag Team Championships
Date: 04/21/1985
Location: St. Paul Civic Centre, St. Paul, Minnesota
This match takes place about a year into Curt’s second run with the AWA, having spent a couple of years toiling in the WWF between the stints. He was still a couple of years away from a lengthy run as AWA World Champion. Meanwhile, his father Larry was in the twilight of his career. This was his last major feud before retiring just one year later.
The match starts out as a stalemate between Larry and Animal as they collide. Hennig catches Animal’s attempted kick and tags the Road Warrior with a warning shot as he hops on one foot to the corner and tags in Hawk. Larry gets him straight into a bearhug so Hawk attacks the eyes. Larry gets clubbed down and locked into a front facelock. He backs into the ropes as a defensive maneuver. The agiler Road Warrior is rocked by an elbow when he tries to come off of the ropes. We then transition into a knucklelock. Showing his strength, Larry tosses Hawk over to his son (who nearly falls off of the apron) and tags him in. Curt immediately applies a side headlock. It gets countered into a bearhug though and Animal is now tagged back in. He really starts taking it to the young Hennig but misses an elbow drop. Curt goes straight back to a side headlock. We get a nice rapid back an forth here before Hennig gets control with an arm drag and a variation of an armbar. It doesn’t work too well though as Animal makes his way up quite easily. Despite the future Mr. Perfect holding his arms, Animal still manages to tag back out.
In all honesty, this match is at its best whenever Curt gets some sustained offense in. You can tell that he’s part of a new, faster style and his flying crossbody blocks and dropkicks are the only times when the crowd has woken up so far. Otherwise, this all feels rather plodding and basic. The Road Warriors are still very green at this point (despite being the champions here) so that isn’t too surprising. Speaking of Curt, he gets to play face-in-peril for a while now, his opponents taking turns in beating him down. You’d think his father knows better than to keep coming in to try and help but he does so multiple times anyway. The best way to describe this who middle portion is an extended beatdown with a few moments of fire to keep hope alive. It’s always so strange to see Curt Hennig as a pure babyface before that innate charisma became so apparent. I have to say that while I wasn’t too enamored with the start, I’ve loved seeing Curt desperately try to claw his way over to his father, only to be stopped every time.
Things got a little weird from here though. Curt finally manages to get to the sanctuary of his corner and bring in his father. Larry is a house of fire (as you’d expect) but he then decides to tag his son back in just moments after he barely managed to tag out. Sure, Curt hits a fantastic missile dropkick from the top rope but it’s a little strange for him to get straight back into the action so quickly. Either way, things break down into chaos as all 5 men (including Paul Ellering) get involved. The referee throws the match out after losing control. The official result is a disqualification for the Hennigs. We get a post-match interview with The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering to wrap things up. While it starts slow and we get a cheap finish, I’d call this worth watching just to see a young Curt Hennig carry the match with his selling as a babyface.
Result: The Road Warriors (c) def. Cart and Larry “The Axe” Hennig via disqualification to retain the AWA World Tag Team Championships
Recommendation: Watch it
The Armstrongs and The Horsemen (Direct Link)
Brad Armstrong and “Bullet” Bob Armstrong vs Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger in a Crockett Cup Quarterfinals Match
Date: 04/11/1987
Location: Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD
The announcer kicks things off by explaining the rules of the Crockett Cup and introducing both teams. Just in case you’re unaware, the Crockett Cup was a tag team single elimination tournament held in honor of Jim Crockett Sr. on three occasions between 1986 and 1988. This quarterfinal is actually the third match for the Armstrongs and the second for Tully and Lex. Bob and Brad defeated Arn Anderson and Kevin Sullivan in the first round, then bested Ivan Kolov and Vladimir Petrov in the second. Meanwhile, Tully and Lex received a bye into the second round where they defeated the MOD Squad. Tully Blanchard is the current NWA World Television Champion.
Despite Tully trying to keep things technical as we begin, Brad is just far too fired up and has a counter for everything he tries. Eventually spilling to the outside Blanchard takes a moment to compose himself. Basically, the Horsemen founder can’t catch a break in the early stages as the younger Armstrong even clings onto a side headlock tenaciously. Slowing things down just isn’t working. In reaction to an attempted counter, Brad hits an atomic drop and an arm drag before tagging in his father. This opening stretch is kind of interesting as Tully almost plays the face-in-peril role. The only difference here is that the fans don’t want him to reach Luger. The heel team tries a tag-via-foot but the referee will have none of it. Father and son just keep switching (and not exactly in a legal fashion) in and out, working over their prone opponent. It’s like a bizarro world situation and the crowd loves every second of it. Quite frankly, so do I.
Tully finally manages to reach his partner and bring in the cavalry. The crowd goes wild as Brad takes the place of his father and he and Luger stare down. You can tell that the fan support for Luger is significant here. While we’re still a few months away from his Horsemen exile, it’s obviously just a matter of time as far as popularity goes. The guys lock up and Lex shows his strength by shoving Brad away with ease. Lex does it again and poses. When it’s attempted a third time, Brad faceplants him instead and then lands some dropkicks. Luger heads outside and regroups with JJ Dillon. Back inside, “The Total Package” looks to take control with some punches but then misses a clothesline and gets hit by a crossbody. Now he’s begging off. Lex finally manages to slow things down with an arm wringer and brings Tully back in. He gets overconfident after throwing Brad into the corner though and charges. He posts himself. Brad goes up top and hits a perfect dropkick. A pin attempt gets just 2. While Armstrong is in control, Tully uses the momentum off of the ropes to throw him over the top to the outside. The referee doesn’t see it though so there’s no disqualification. Still, both Dillon and Luger take their chance to get some shots in and the audience hates it. Blanchard takes further advantage by ramming Brad back-first into the guardrail. That takes all the starch out of him and the Horsemen are now in complete control, just wearing the younger man down, his back as the obvious target. He manages to sneak in a backslide on Tully but only gets 2. Blanchard then tries a wild swing but gets caught with an atomic drop counter, Tully and Lex hit heads as a result, sending Luger to the floor. Both teams manage to switch, making Bob and Lex the legal men. Bob is on fire, throwing punches while the Horseman is rubber legged. Dillon trips “Bullet” as a last resort and all 4 men begin brawling. Bob looks to have the pin on Tully but a young Earl Hebner is distracted. In a surprising finish, Tully gets the pin after a short-arm clothesline on the elder statesman. On commentary, Tony claims that Bob was hit in the throat.
This was a ton of fun. The story was unpredictable and inverted just about every trope you can think of for a tag team match. It always kept a good pace and the crowd loved it. Highly recommended.
Result: Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger def. Bob and Brad Armstrong via pinfall to advance to the semifinals of the 1987 Crockett Cup
Recommendation: Must watch
The Real Omega Man (Direct Link)
Kenny Omega vs Cru Jones in Deep South Wrestling
Date: 09/03/2006
Location: DSW Arena, McDonough, GA
Most anyone who knows Kenny Omega knows the story of his time in WWE’s ill-fated developmental territory Deep South Wrestling. Omega signed a deal in October 2005 and made his DSW debut later that month. He was miserable there though and clashed with many of the coaches. He didn’t even last a year before he chose to leave. The interview and match selected here are indeed the last he ever participated in under the WWE banner.
The promo is less than a minute long and literally boils down to Kenny saying he’s going to beat Cru Jones while talking about rainbows and stinky wrestling canvases. You can see a glimmer of charisma but it’s far too brief to be anything particularly special.
We then cut straight to the action with no introductions. We start out with a collar and elbow tie-up and Omega gets pushed into the corner. This is then followed up by a bit of decent chain wrestling and arm drags from Kenny. Even more than 11 years ago, his potential was obvious. Jones counters an armbar into a bodyslam but then misses an elbow drop. Kenny goes right back to his trusty arm drag/armbar combo. Cru gets to his feet and uses the ropes to force a break. He gets in a cheap shot and takes control for a little while. Eventually, Kenny counters a suplex but quickly gets an elbow to the face. When Jones tries to charge at him though he hits a drop toe hold and begins to gain momentum with some flying forearms and dropkicks to both the knee and side of the head. Cru stalls things with a thumb to the eye and a falcon arrow bit only gets a 2 count from the pin attempt. Cru tries for a pump handle slam but Omega sneaks out the back and hits Sliced Bread #2 for the 3 count.
It was a basic, 5-minute match but it goes by quickly and offers just a glimmer of what Kenny Omega would become.
Result: Kenny Omega def. Cru Jones via pin
Recommendation: Give it a chance
Xavier Woods vs Micheal Tarver in Florida Championship Wrestling
Date: 06/05/2011
Location: FCW Arena, Tampa, Florida
In a fun bit of linking trivia for you, Xavier Woods is actually the last Deep South Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, having held the belt during the company’s dying days after its relationship with WWE was dissolved. He went by the name Austin Creed and had no ties to WWE. He hadn’t even appeared in TNA yet. By this time, Woods was still years away from a lukewarm debut alongside R-Truth. Meanwhile, Micheal Tarver is a year past his main roster debut with The Nexus and treading water by this time. He was officially released just 8 days after this match aired.
The match itself is solid enough. Tarver is still using his boxing technique which sounds very unique on paper but was rather boring in execution. His punching offense doesn’t last long after the opening bell either as he meets Woods’ boot when charging into the corner. Xavier manages to land a rolling clothesline but then gets caught with a terrible looking sideslam. You know it’s bad when the commentary team doesn’t even try to give the move a name. Michael goes for something else but gets countered into a headscissors. Xavier Starts laying in the punches and backs his opponent into the corner. Tarver takes a powder to the outside. Woods misses a baseball slide and we get a ringside brawl.
Unfortunately, this match slows right back down when we re-enter the ring as Tarver starts relying on restholds and doesn’t really do much in the process. Xavier tries a few desperate pinning maneuvers but it’s nothing particularly noteworthy Once both guys end up at ringside again though, we do get to see Tarver backdropped onto the steel steps. It’s as vicious as it sounds. Wanting to capitalize, Xavier gets Tarver back in the ring. When he can’t get the pin, he tries for his “X Marks The Spot” DDT. It’s countered and the reversals go back and forth (looking a little sloppy in the process) until Woods finally hits his spike DDT (seriously, Tarver lands on the top of his head and straightens fully up) for the pin.
The match is okay but Xavier is nowhere near as crisp as the performer we know today. I can absolutely understand why WWE cut bait when it comes to Michael Tarver. The guy just doesn’t stand out and doesn’t seem to have improved at all between his main roster run and this time period. It’s fun to watch as a way of appreciating how Woods has developed and the steel steps backdrop spot and spike DDT finish are pretty cool but it’s all pretty standard otherwise.
Result: Xavier Woods def. Michael Tarver via pin
Recommendation: Give it a chance
And there we have it! 5 more gems reviewed. I appreciate the attempt to incorporate a theme this week and the developmental showcases were fun, even if they’re justifiably rough around the edges. I think there’s enough variety in these selections for most people to be happy. Thanks for reading and see you next week!