Youngblood is the new (returned) big face in the region. It's basically just him and Boyd right now on top. Youngblood/Lightfoot are the tag champs having beaten Oliver/Cortez. Rose, subsequently dumped Cortez the Cuban so I think that he might be on the way to a face run now which should be surreal. This is non-title on the idea that if the heels win they should get a shot. This makes Bonnema go on about how Jesse Ventura was the first guy to wear his belt into the ring even if it was a non-title match. Anyway, the story of the first fall is that Rose wants nothing to do with Youngblood.
Oliver forces Youngblood into the corner, hits him, pisses him off, does it again, and then Youngblood comes back chopping. Finally Jay tags Lightfoot in and they start the headlock base that will cover most of the fall. Oliver is actually pretty good on the bottom here, reaching for hair or tights and constantly struggling. Oliver pushes him off and goes for a back body drop but Lightfoot cartwheels around it and puts the headlock back on. Buddy runs in but is cut off by Jay, forcing him to dive out of the ring. Pretty good sequence all around. Tag to Youngblood who does few chops to the crowd's delight and slap the headlock on again. Buddy tries an ambush and gets double chopped for his trouble. Lightfoot back in. Oliver is able to press him to his own corner and tag Buddy but Joe immediately fights back, including flipping out of an armdrag to his feet (A for effort) and a big monkey flip in the corner. Youngblood tags in and Rose runs for the hills. Oliver starts on Jay with the taped thumb to the throat and finally Buddy accepts the tag so that he can fight a weakened Jay. He hits huge flying back elbow and then celebrates just as big but Youngblood is right up and Rose runs to Oliver again. Faces tag and do a double chop and two shoulder roll sentons by Lightfoot and that's the first fall. We've seen this stuff before. It sets up Rose vs Youngblood for later and really makes the newcomers look great.
Second fall starts with Bonnema spelling out the story of the first fall, how Oliver basically had to fight two on one since Rose wanted nothing to do with Youngblood. I think the more you listen to him, the better you realize he was as an announcer, honestly. Youngblood and Oliver to start the second fall. Almost immediately back into a headlock again and this time, Oliver does a great job of working it and trying to get the pin reversal, really deep with the tight and hair pulling. I wish we had a better angle of Youngblood fighting out of it. Oliver's up but down again almost immediately. He then goes for an upsidedown cravat reversal attempt but Youngblood rolls right through it. Oliver tosses him off, puts his head down and gets nailed for it. Finally Lightfoot comes in and gets nailed again including the head jammer before Buddy finally comes in again to give us our long-overdue heat segment. Great slam and then a headlock to keep Joe from tagging. He comes close and Oliver runs in to grab the tights distracting the ref while Buddy takes out Jay. He then rolls him back to the middle of the ring for two and takes him into the heel corner. Oliver back in and Lightfoot is doing fine here as FIP. Both faces have been pretty good on the apron in that role. This is the first i've seen Oliver in a match like this, I think and he's pretty good at the fundamentals. He's grinding down on the chinlock. It's not the most exciting stuff, the face headlock base and the heel chinlock base here but it's being well worked at least. They stay in the corner, cheat when they can, do quick switches. Buddy, though, is good enough to know to vary up what he does and turns it into a neck vice. Lightfoot gets a knee up to Buddy's skull but Buddy cuts him off before he can make the tag. Lightfoot tries to do a body press out of the corner by running up the turnbuckles but gets caught in a huge flub which just makes Buddy grin satisfied and clubber him down. Great recovery.
They do a great hope spot that goes like this: Oliver brings Lightfoot back to the corner. Lightfoot fights back and goes for a double noggin knocker. Heels power out of it. Rose holds Lightfoot. Lightfoot ducks so that Oliver hits him. Nice little twist on things. Oliver's able to cut him off though. Lightfoot isn't great but this is still a good FIP section because they're just sticking to what works so well and layering in the hope spots and cut offs liberally. Lightfoot's at least able to present desperation, with my favorite bit of it being a last ditch attempt to trip Oliver that does him no good. He'll punch and chop up but get eye raked, or hit Rose in the corner and crawl towards Youngblood but Rose will just drop down into a seated chinlock. Another great spot follows: Jay's so into trying to get the tag that he lets go of the turnbuckle/tag rope. Barr turns around and admonishes him, and when Jay looks away, Buddy pounces up out of the seated chinlock and blindsides him off the apron. Lightfoot goes for the tag and no one's there. Oliver comes in while Buddy's stomping on Jay KOTM-like and when Barr admonishes him Buddy just chokes Joe in the middle of the ring. Pretty masterful stuff. Buddy finally goes for a back body drop, gets kicked, and Lightfoot does a great leaping-over-Rose tag to bring Jay in finally. Youngblood kills both guys with chops. Fans are going nuts. He does the war dance. Lightfoot really wants back for revenge in so they tag. Youngblood tosses Rose against the ropes but Lightfoot misses a huge dropkick. About a minute later, Buddy hits the Bossman Slam style Billy Robinson backbreaker off the ropes and that's the second fall. Very solid FIP and the story of the match is still about making Jay look great. It's doing what it's supposed to.
Buddy and Lightfoot start the third fall. Buddy starts on the upper back, including this great kick up and around. Lightfoot tries to land on his feet after a back body drop but can't quite do it. You kind of see why he never became more of a star. Buddy recovers. Bonnema covers it up. Oliver comes in and puts on a big carry bearhug. Lightfoot tries to punch out but gets rammed into the heel corner for his trouble. Buddy tries for another bearhug off the ropes but Lightfoot turns it into a Thesz press. Totally logical spot I've never seen before. Buddy trips Joe on the way to the corner and he makes the tag to Oliver before Lightfoot can tag. Oliver puts on another bearhug. Lightfoot out with the clap to the ears for another hope spot and cut off. Jay's finally had enough and comes in to break up a chinlock but that just lets Buddy climb the ropes without a tag and hit a double sledge. Lightfoot hits the world's worst cross body block off the ropes. Another cut off and into a front headlock segment where Lightfoot keeps trying to reverse it but Buddy grinds down and finally forces him into the heel corner. Oliver grinds down more with his knee and the headlock as Buddy taunts from the apron. Hope spots up the wahoo including Lightfoot clotheslining Buddy (on the apron) on the top rope but they just keep churning the heat here as Youngblood works the crowd as cheerleader. I have to admit that Lightfoot's not the best guy in the world here and it oscillates between a real dramatic struggle and a little plodding. They get really close to a tag but Rose comes in to just kick Lightfoot on the ass causing Barr to be distracted and miss it. Barr forces Jay out and the heels get a revenge double clotheslining on the top rope on Oliver.
Final hot tag is a bit weird as Rose is in and Lightfoot just gets close enough in a headlock that Jay can do a blind tag that Rose misses. He unloads on the heels. Youngblood hits a bit suplex on Buddy and starts the war dance again. Rose is selling in this great weeble wobble way for the chops. Buddy at least fights back with eyerakes but Jay's just too much for him. He finally crawls to his corner and Jay starts on Oliver. Buddy keeps breaking up two counts. Great finish here. Lightfoot gets pissed off by the pin breakups and comes in. Barr drags him out while Jay goes for a slam on Oliver. Buddy grabs Jay's hair by behind and Oliver falls on him for the three count. It looked really good.
So this was kind of something we've seen before but in a more extreme way. Very long match, maybe too long. It did what it was supposed in getting Jay over big though. Lightfoot was really rough but Oliver, in my mind, looked pretty good. I wouldn't put it over the great Portland tags but it was competent and functional and I'm glad I saw it.
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