The Sad Fate Of Marty Jannetty
After taking the heat, Jannetty mounted the comeback after countering a back body drop by landing square on his feet. In one smooth movement, one that helped to create the template for the future of the art-form, he tagged in Michaels and together, they blasted Pat Tanaka with a stereo superkick. This is a spot that, were it to happen on AEW Dynamite, would draw a sizeable pop. Jannetty did it 30 years ago.
Jannetty brought the house down with the hot tag, exploding into Tanaka and Akio Sato with a barrage of fists, before controlling the audience reaction by slowly picking both men up and delivering what Gorilla Monsoon delightfully referred to as the "double noggin knocker". For the cut-off, after being drawn into the trap by Mr. Fuji, Sato threw salt in his eyes. Jannetty sold this brilliantly. He was as good a worker as he was an athlete. He didn't flail and punch the air, asking the crowd to sympathise with him immediately; he took more care to make a logical decision. He went to the apron to rub his eyes, but with the damage done, he took a tumbling bump over the guardrail, landing (safely) near enough a fan to make it feel like he was genuinely f*cked, because you don't risk touching the public if you aren't. As was best exemplified by his incredible sell-job in the iconic Barbershop angle 18 or so months later, few were better at eliciting an almost profound distress than Jannetty.
He was genuinely f*cked; both Michaels and Jannetty rocked up late to the Toronto Skydome nursing massive hangovers. This was their WrestleMania debut, and they risked blowing their big moment some three years after being fired by the WWF for excessive recreational indulgence and an unprofessional work ethic.
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