Reel in Place

  vs The Fantastics (WCW 4/29/1995) This is interesting because Eaton has a real history with The Fantastics, having gone up against them with Stan Lane in 1988 in a feud that pretty much defines that year of JCP TV. This is 1995; however, Fulton and Rodgers aren't quite what they used to be. Fulton and Regal start things off, and boy I don't like Regal. I've read all of the accolades, watched all the matches, and when he does his make dumb faces in minor holds act, I hate it. This match is about The Blue Bloods working over Rogers. They do a fine job of it. This is a short TV match; the whole match is just building to Fulton getting in there. In 1988, this would have worked, this would have worked at Techwood Drive, but it's 1995, this is Center Stage, and Bobby Fulton is 7 years older. He hits a bunch of suplexes, he and Rogers hit a few double-team moves, but as the referee is shepherding Rogers back to the corner, Fulton attempts a pin. With the referee's back t...

  vs Blue Panther & Volodor (AAA 11/28/93) Right off the rip, and I suppose this might be the expectation, man, Eddy and Barr are a great heel team and going up against Blue Panther, who is being mobbed by fans walking to the ring, these guys don't have to do a ton to get the crowd invested. I think the structure is a bit lacking because of that, there are heat segments and a shine, but nothing is really all that defined or prolonged. At some point, Eddy sells a backbreaker by scotting on his knees halfway across the ring; a great stooging hell move. Things really start to pick up when Art Barr rips off Volodor's mask, puts it on to go over and punch Panther, and throws it to Eddy to put back on Volodor to avoid the DQ. With his mask back on, Volodor is back up and fighting off both. Just when it seems that Volodor's turned the tide, Blue Panther decks Volodor. Eddy hits a sort of bridging SOS for the win. Not a great match, but boy does this seem like a great heel team...

Villano I,  Villano IV, & Villano V vs Kung Fu, Mascara Sagrada, Popitekus (EMLL 4/13/1990) The team of Mascara Sagrada, Popitekus, and Kung Fu is a bit of a mish-mash, but I actually think they form a pretty decent team here. The first fall has a little bit of everything and ends with the technicos getting the first pin. Mascara Sagrada and Villano I work the mat for the majority of the second fall, Kung Fu and Popitekus enter the fray only to get pinned by Villanos, and we are on our way to the third fall. The third fall has its moments, like Mascara Sagrada calling out Villano I or Popitekus doing a tope suicida, but it also has its misses, like Popiteku selling a kick that missed by a foot and a groin shot off a missed leapfrog leading being the finish. Some good, some bad, a pretty decent trios match, all things considered.  Villano I,  Villano IV, & Villano V vs Los Mercenarios Americanos (Tijuana 7/19/1991) This is Mask vs Mask, Perro Aguayo is roaming arou...

  vs The Fabulous Ones 10/18/1984 Bockwinkel starts off isolating Kiern in the corner, and he and Saito work him over for the early parts of the match. Gene Kiniski is the special guest referee, and he's already on Bock's case. Despite Bockwinkel's best effort, Kiern can crawl over and tag in Stan Lane. Lane is out for revenge, smashing Saito's head into the turnbuckle, side-kicking everybody. He tags back in Kiern so he can get his pound of flesh. The Fabs take over from here, first Bockwinkel and then Saito, both of whom don't take too well to having the tables turned, and you can see the frustration on both.  When Bockwinkel gets in there, he's going to do anything to turn the tide, and so when he gets the chance, he gouges Lane's eyes, and then rakes them with his boot laces. Everything seems to be going in Bockwinkel and Saito's favor, but Saito gets a bit overeager, and Stan Lane schoolboys him for the win. A very solid performance from Saito, espe...

  vs Bob Holly & 123 Kid (4/3/1995) This is pretty much an Owen Hart singles match with Bob Holly with a tag match built around it. The 123 Kid starts it with Owen, and tags in occasionally, and Yoko is mixed in sparingly, but it is really about Owen and Holly. It's not a very good tag match for that reason, and it is really only an ok singles match. vs The Allied Powers (7/23/1995) I thought this was really good. I'm a sucker for good weeble-wobble selling, and Yokozuna does it so well. The crowd goes nuts when Luger and Davey get Yoko up for a backbody drop, and they are pretty much there for everything in the closing stretch. Owen bumps big when Yoko needs a break. I really dug this a lot.  vs Razor Ramon & Savio Vega (8/7/1995) There are a few good sections here: Yoko and Razor in the beginning, Owen and Razor in the middle, and parts of Savio and Yoko at the end. There isn't a lot tying those sections together, and so despite some good stuff, this doesn't f...

I've watched 100 matches for this project thus far and figured it would be a good time to check in on where things stand. Ovbiously, I've written about the teams and the matches in the individual posts, so this is just going to be a ranking and a tier system of the 20 teams so far. In 100 more matches, we'll check back again and update.  Great Tag Teams Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta The Funks The Highflyers Very Good Tag Teams Demolition Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman Money Inc. AMW Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar Pretty Good Tag Teams Faces of Fear Nightmares The Rat Pack Los Brazos Dynamic Duo Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio Good Tag Teams Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas Genichiro Tenru & Ashura Hara Brian Pillman & The Z-Man The Lightning Express Teams I Don't Like Sabu and RVD LCO