Marty Jones vs Fit Finlay (4/14/84)

MARTY JONES VS FIT FINLAY (4/14/84) - DAILYMOTION

Great match here. It was surreal to see just how athletic Finlay was in his transitions and bumping here, thankfully he still has his stiff pissed off side to him that we grew accustomed to post 2006. And Finlay with great bumping and athleticism as well as dishing out some disgusting headbutts is always welcomed.

The opening has some swank mat work and chain wrestling between the two. Jones has some really unique takedowns and grappling techniques and he has this gorgeous spot where he stamps on Finlay's left hand and drives it into the mat before grabbing both arms and locking in a submission. Jones also hit a beastly dropkick early on which had Finlay scrambling to check he hadn't lost a molar. They do a familiar spot where Finlay can't escape a hold and has his arm repeatedly twisted and pulled by Jones which he sells terrificly. Unlike modern grappling exchanges Jones is clearly established as the dominant grappler and Finlay constantly smacks the mat in anger and seeks to take advantage of any opening via headbutt or cleverly concealed closed fist punches.

Goes without saying but some of the strikes in this are brutal, Jones has some amazing european uppercuts and he rocks Finlay with one clean off of the mat and Finlay lays in one headbutt during a greco roman knuckle lock that looked filthy and should have caused an elderly woman to faint in disbelief. Also dug how Finlay resorted to his strikes during the lock ups after accepting he was being made to look foolish by Jones's skill. The finish to the 1st fall is actually one of my favourite spots of all time: Finlay has been slowly pissing Jones off with closed fist punches and cheapshotting as well as some taunting slaps and he reels off a quick succession of moves and launches Finlay into the corner before catching him in a sharpshooter attempt. Finlay then taps Jones on the back like a referee does which confuses Jones into thinking he's won the fall only to turn round into a ferocious forearm from Finlay. Finlay's arrogance gets the best of him though and Jones catches a quick backslide for the pin.

2nd fall is also good but not on the level of the 1st. Jones immediately goes for a quick pin and Finlay seeks about headbutting and kneeing Jones in the ribcage to start a comeback. He works over Jones nicely enough with some good holds before they exchange pinning attempts (some of which were very Lucha esque) and Jones manages to regain the momentum with some sweet strikes as well as Finlay getting too hot headed which ultimately costs him as he eats the turnbuckle at full force. Jones goes up top and hits a senton which looked brutal and apparently gets a warning, guessing there's no top rope moves in WOS (forgot about that rule). Finlay's manager is pissed off and seems to be calling for Jones to be docked the 2nd fall and when the ref refuses Finlay still selling the ribs walks off and gets counted out. Pretty standard finish for a non title match in establshing Jones as having proved himself against Finlay and getting Finlay some good heat, but it did kill my enjoyment a bit.