A fitting and neat blow off to the Savage/Roberts feud. The perfect version of this is something a little longer, if only by a few minutes, and definitely bloodier given the stakes but what we get is incredibly strong still. I’d seen this a few times in the past but this go around may have been the most enjoyable yet as I got to really enjoy all the little nastiness that Savage brings to this.
The opening shine with Savage going right for Roberts is the highlight of the whole match. He’s heated and crazed in all his actions but he tempers it with a level of cold sadism that seems to match the man he’s fighting. So instead of just swinging wildly, Savage also does things like grabbing at Roberts’ nose. He’s twisting and grasping at the thing, clearly trying to break it, and it even leads to a little cut on the nose. He even complements this by scraping Roberts’ face on the floor, a spot that really needs to come back into wrestling for heated rivalries.
The transition is the kind of classic, perfectly timed thing one wants from wrestling of this era. Referee tries to get between Savage and Roberts in the ropes so Roberts goes for the eyes. For the control segment, Savage bumps like a maniac. Roberts tosses him over the top rope multiple times and Savage just crashes down each time, it looks great. There’s also gruesome stuff built around the ringpost with Savage straight up headbutting the steel at one point Nigel-style. Disgusting stuff.
The finishing stretch that comes after the commercial break loses some of the heat of the first half. Roberts is in control but doesn’t bring the same viciousness and urgency that Savage did. It’s fine for what it is so I don’t mind when things wrap pretty quick from there. Savage hits the double axe handle to drive Roberts’ throat into the guardrail and it gets sold perfectly. Big elbow drop, 1-2-3, Elizabeth comes out to celebrate.
Lovely fairy tale WWF style match with a little more edge to it than usual.
