[2000-07-30-iGeneration] One Man Gang vs Tatanka

[soup23]

This match happened in an odd moment where they were too recent to perform a strict nostalgic act and too far removed from their prime to pull off the serious match they did. As a result, this is a 20 minute match where it looks like both guys are walking through molasses. Some slow rest holds and nothing engaging with Tatanka trying to work from underneath but gaining no sympathy. The ref gets bumped and the crowd shits all over the finish of Gang using the brass knuckles to gain the win. Thank goodness for Russo or this would have been one of the worst matches of the year. 1/2*

[GSR]

Long in ring promo from Gang, but the commentator is translating it into German so you can’t hear much of what he has to say, although he does say “when the One Man Gang is in the house someone is going to get hurt!” Okay! Gang sells Tatanka’s knife edge chops pretty comically, like he’s convulsing or something. The guy’s got a couple of layers on protecting him so they shouldn’t hurt that much! Tatanka whips Gang from corner to corner and after another chop he takes to the outside. He’s back on the mic talking to the crowd and I presume he’s telling them that he’s had enough as he heads off up the aisle and towards the dressing room. That doesn’t go down well at all with the fans who start pelting him with rubbish and plastic drinks bottles. Getting far more heat than he would ever have anticipated he turns around and refers to the crowd as “a bunch of animals!” Jeez, they’re still throwing things at him even after he’s got back in the ring. Tatanka ducks a clothesline and a really bad flying crossbody where he doesn’t even attempt to get horizontal and just jumps at Gang. The OMG decides to show him how it’s done, and after a Tatanka drop down nails him with a crossbody of his own, with this actually resembling one. Sunset flip, Gang grabs the ropes, referee kicks his arms spot. Both are breathing pretty heavily now so OMG applies a nerve hold. He misses an avalanche splash and Tatanka fires back alternating more knife edge with tomahawk chops. The ref gets in the way and ends up being squashed by Gang after Tatanka whips him into the corner. Boot to the stomach drops Tatanka before the big man heads upstairs. Tatanka is back to his feet and he slams Gang from the top turnbuckle into the ring. Given both Gang’s size and age that’s one impressive spot. Tomahawk chop off the top but the official is still down. As Tatanka turns to try and wake him, Gang pulls some brass knux out of his tights and KO’s him. The ref has made a miraculous recovery in order to count the fall and OMG wins, becoming the iGeneration World Heavyweight champion in the process.

 

I don’t think booking these two in something that goes nearly 25 minutes is ideal in 2000, but, despite what I’ve wrote, I’m not as scathing about this as Chad. Maybe it’s because it reminded me of the wrestling of my childhood and what I grew up on, I don’t know. In all honesty I didn’t think Gang was that bad; he was agile for his size, good on offense and got a ridiculous amount of heat. Tatanka was very limited in what he could do mind and that crossbody attempt was laughable. There is every chance that this will be the worse match I watch this month, but I’ve seen plenty worse (PHPW, Portland, some of those WCW lowlights), and this also didn’t bore me, again something that I can’t say about numerous other matches I’ve watched.

[Tim Evans]

This was pretty dull. Tatanka blows up about 2 minutes in so Gang goes to the outside. Fans were throwing trash at Gang at an alamring rate. Felt like a 80's Puerto Rico show. Then Gang gets back into the ring and they start wrestling and the crowd is silent. Didn't this show take place in Australia? I know they were wrestling starved at the time but this match was enough to kill the territory.