Search - Tag Team Tempest on DVD

Old School

Mr. JKW | Honolulu, Hawai'i | 10/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Tag Team Tempest" showcases many of today's wrestling stars during their rookie years as well as some legends of the past in tag team action. This DVD is actually part of the 8-disc "Classic Superstars of Wrestling" DVD set which was put out by Delta Entertainment.All of the matches were pulled from the archives of the old WCCW, USWA and NAWA promotions of the late 80s/early 90s.The video and audio quality varies throughout the tape but the overall presentation by Delta is well done as each match is preceded by an intro by show host Brian Webster. THE MATCHES and CONTENTS1. Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jeff Jarrett vs. "Sweet Daddy" Falcone and "Gorgeous" Gary Young (w/ Skandor Akbar): From the USWA. This was Lawler near his prime as a wrestler before he degenerated into a pubescent announcer. Jarrett was a rookie babyface cruiserweight before becoming Double J of WWF fame and the Chosen One of WCW/NWA TNA fame. Great tag action with a hot crowd. 3.5 stars.2. Dean Malenko and Vince Torelli vs. Lee Ramsey and Thomas St. James: From the NAWA. Malenko, of course, is the highly respected technical wrestler who made his name and fortune in Japan, ECW and as a multi-time Cruiserweight and U.S. champion in WCW. Malenko and partner put on a mat-wrestling clinic in this one. 3.5 stars.3. The Nasty Boys (Knobbs and Saggs) vs. the American Bulldogs (Spike and Rex). From the NAWA. Match degenerates into a brawl. Great if you're into brawling type matches. 2 stars.4. Nasty Boys promo from around this time period.5. The Samoan Swat Team (Samu and Fatu) w/ "Freebird" Buddy Roberts vs. "The Freebirds" Michael P.S. Hayes and Steve Cox. From the WCCW. Sons of the legendary Afa and Sika, the SST ran roughshod throughout the South and the NWA. They went on to become the Headshrinkers in the WWF. Fatu can be seen today as Rikishi in the WWE. "Freebird" Michael Hayes (along with the other Freebirds) was a legend throughout the South. He later became Dox Hendrix in the WWE and is currently an agent for them. This match basically revolved around the feud Hayes and Roberts were engaged in at the time over the "Freebird legacy." Cox was a WCCW wrestler who teamed with Hayes as a "new Freebird." Decent match. 3 stars.6. "Stunning" Steve Austin, Jeff Gaylord and Sheik Braddock (w/ Skandor Akbar) vs. "Gentlemen" Chris Adams, "Maniac" Matt Borne and Eric Embry: From the USWA. This was Austin's rookie year in wrestling and he was engaged in a bitter feud with his real life trainer Chris Adams. Adams, who passed away a few years ago, was a huge star in Texas. Borne was another star throughout the territories who's most infamous today as the Original Doink the Clown in the WWF. Embry, at the time, was the USWA's top star ala Dusty Rhodes. Great 6-man tag with good action and hot crowd. 3.5 stars.THE ANALYSIS:Overall, not a bad deal here. While the match quality (along with video and audio quality) varies, you do get a nice mix of matches and sampling of the work done by the stars as rookies. While none of the matches are blow-away, most are worth a watch. Here's my breakdown of the matches.Best: Lawler/Jarrett, Malenko, 6-Man tag Good: SST vs. Hayes/CoxJust Okay: Nastys vs. BulldogsTHE VERDICT:Overall, the DVD features a nice mixed bag of matches. What makes it great is seeing today's stars during their developmental years. For it's cheap price you actually get a good deal here as the DVD was put together fairly well. The lack of DVD features is made up for in a solid program featuring 6 matches, 4 of which are pretty darn good.Not a bad deal.Recommended"