[2000-02-18-IPW-St. Pete Slaughter] Marty Jannetty vs Mike Sullivan

[soup23]

I don’t think I have ever seen Sullivan before. Marty gets a hero welcome. Sullivan jumps him from the bell and then Marty and him brawl to the outside of which we can’t see anything of. Back in the ring a spot I don’t understand at all happens where Marty hits himself with something on the outside and takes a bump off of it. I appreciated the camera work in Don vs. Barry but it is distracting here as we keep missing moves that have a lot of motion to them due to the camera being zoomed in. Marty’s comeback was fine and he still has a lot of speed. He even jumps to the structure above the ring and hits a crossbody that Sullivan is able to reverse for the pinfall. Marty looked good and Sullivan looked capable but the match never really came together. **

[Loss]

I cracked up at the pre-match promo from Mike Sullivan mocking Marty's age, with Sullivan recalling Jannetty's WWWA tag title run with Lou Thesz. The action spilled outside for a while, which made this hard to follow, although we got a really beautiful view of a gate and a bush for about a minute. (Where the hell are they?) The camera work is really working against this match to a point where it's almost unfair to talk about it because I think anything I'd say would be unfair.

[Tim Evans]

I dig that Marty is still in his new Rockers gear in 2000. I remember Mike Sullivan from his legendary feud with Black Nature Boy Scoot Andrews on Florida indies. This isn't much as the camera work is really bad and the match is kinda short. Looks like Marty turns heel at the end but it's clipped. Loved the finish though with Marty doing a dive from the balcony but it turned against him.

[Moonsault Marvin]

Was Marty supposed to hit himself with the metal or was there somebody standing there that we couldn't see? Marty still looked in shape and the flying body press from up high was cool. Hard to judge the match because of the camera work.

[GSR]

Janetty is still in his New Rockers gear here. He gets jumped from behind by Sullivan who then telegraphs a backdrop and Marty nails him with a facebuster. Irish whip and Janetty is primed for a superkick, but Sullivan holds on to the ropes and steps outside the ring to the stage. A dropkick sends him tumbling to the floor and we then lose the action as Janetty goes out after him and it looks like they head out the arena and go at it on the street. They make their way back inside and Marty puts a cone over Sullivan’s head which he punches. For some reason Janetty hits himself in the face with a sign knocking himself out, not sure why unless it’s part of the goofy New Rocker persona? With Janetty layed out on the stage, Sullivan drops an elbow onto him however his piledriver attempt is countered by a backdrop. Suplex back in the ring for two. Monkey flip and again Sullivan kicks out. Whip to the corner, but as Janettty rushes in Sullivan moves and he crotches himself. Marty takes a nice flip bump off a clothesline and Sullivan starts to grind his face into the canvas. This camera work is a bit all over the place, but when they zoom in you can really see Janetty’s facials selling everything. Powerbomb by Sullivan and despite repeated attempts at the pin, it gets him no more than two. Sullivan whips Janetty into the turnbuckle but is met with a back elbow when he comes charging in. Marty’s now got the advantage and he unloads with punches in the corner. Sullivan botches what I think was a leapfrog (looks like he got caught in two minds), Janetty then grabs the ropes to block an O’Connor roll and drops him with a superkick. He heads all the way up to the balcony, comes off with a crossbody, however Sullivan is able to use the momentum to roll through and get the pin (probably grabbing his trunks in the process although a photographer is blocking our view).

 

Marty can still go that is for sure and physically looks no different than the last time he was in the WWF. First time in seeing Sullivan and he’s fundamentally sound although that botch was nasty. A bit tricky to follow in places due to the camera work (which was worse than in the Horowitz match), but as mentioned previously, probably the best thing about all that zooming in was seeing Janetty’s facials and the way he would sell things. Cool little finish to as I wasn’t expecting a balcony dive crossbody!

[Edwin]

From whatever we got to see, as the camera work hurt this, it seemed like a fine match. There was a moment when they went to brawl around the area and we just got a glimpse of a bush before they reappear and Marty punches Sullivan with a cone on his head.

 

When they get back to the ring area, for some reason Marty hits himself with a street sign... Highlight for me was the finish where Marty hitting a big crossbody from the balcony which Sullivan was able to reverse.

 

Hard to say how good this really was due to the camera work, but from what we saw, this seemed like it was perfectly fine.