05/02/2003 Stampede Wrestling: Sabu def. Teddy Hart in 17:40: This was from the 50th anniversary show of Stampede Wrestling, and Diana Smith was at ringside for this one. There were some elements of a good match here, but giving these two nearly twenty minutes was just begging them to mess some things up, particularly an aging Sabu. He didn’t miss a lot of highspots per se, but the music between the notes had its moments. Sabu threw some dreadful punches, and a clothesline spot was botched so badly that it drew boos from the crowd. Teddy had some frustrating moments, including selling the ankle so fucking well at one point, then just completely abandoning it. I mean, it’s Teddy Hart, so what the fuck do you expect, but the announcers were trying to sell it as if they knew for certain it was broken. Since they came up, it should be noted that the announcers were atrocious and embarrassing to themselves and pro wrestling as a whole. They talked about Sabu wrestling on the first Nitro in 1995 and being trained by his uncle, THE IRON SHEIK. Jesus Harold Christ. One of them completely faded out for the vast majority of the match, a reminder of the budget constraints of this show. Most of the typical Sabu spots looked fine, but it was tough being in here with a guy who did cooler spots and did them much more athletically. Hart, a known nut, did a moonsault off a lighting pole that almost caused it to tip over into the crowd. One of the few Sabu spots he did blow was the triple jump moonsault, when he landed with his knees right in the back of poor Teddy. Ouch. Teddy eventually started bleeding and sold like he was missing a tooth, but it also didn’t feel very violent for some reason. Teddy eventually passed out in a camel clutch, much to the Canadians’ chagrin. You have to see this match to say you did, but it was probably closer to fine than good. **1/4