DVDVR Memphis Set, Top 60: #59

Stan Hansen v Austin Idol (Bullrope Match, 10/3/83)

One thing I had forgotten, somehow, was how good the menu music on these discs is. 'Everybody Wants You' segueing into Stan Hansen bludgeoning someone with a cow bell is just too awesome.

Not entirely sure where I read this, but apparently Austin Idol liked to work loose, or just didn't like to work overly stiff; don't remember how it was worded, but you get the idea. The fact he's in a match where dudes huck around a big thick rope and a cow bell with Stan fucking Hansen makes me smile to no end. "Work loose? Not overly stiff? Fuck your mother."

Thought this was a pretty choice little brawl; blood, big punches, etc. Hansen is way more stoogey here than I had remembered, stalling like crazy at the start, eating Idol's blows like a champ, Terry Funk-ing himself face first into the ring post after going outside for a breather (Idol's swinging him around with the rope with which they're attached). Everything he does gives off this aura of recklessness, whether he's the one throwing crazy punches and swinging the cow bell, or he's trying to get away from Idol swinging the cow bell. Everything. Like some big redneck wrecking ball you do not want to fuck with.

Finish probably would've come off way weaker if Idol wasn't doing his damndest to make it look like he was putting up a huge fight to keep Hansen from touching the turnbuckles. But this is a Stan Hansen specialty, baby. He doesn't lose bullrope matches. Unless the ref' screws him, evidently. Other than the Eddie/JBL match from the '04 Great American Bash, I'm blanking on any other truly 'very good' level bullrope matches. Eddie/JBL was fucking awesome, and this isn't as good, but it's ten minutes of Hansen and a bullrope and a cow bell and a bloody forehead. And Jimmy Hart has the most ridiculous outfit in history. Deserves an extra star and a half just because.