Reel in Place

  vs Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey (AJPW 4/19/1990) Williams and Spivey start this off, but it really gets going when Gordy and Hansen just start mugging each other. This is just like a square dance of violence; guys tag in and out, they punch each other, maybe hit a few slams, maybe not, hit each other some more, and then tag out. That can't last forever, so we have to work some holds, which is not a strength of anyone in this match, but it is a necessary evil, I suppose. There are some diminishing returns, because it starts off so hot, but they can't keep up that pace, so each flurry is a bit shorter, a bit less intense, and at the end some of it verges on perfunctory. Still good, but man does it start off so incredibly great.  vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Davey Boy Smith (AJPW 6/1/1990) This is a lesser version of the previous match. Big moves in every combination, interspersed with little spots to buy some time to recover. In this match, there are a lot fewer holds, and a lot m...

  vs Dick the Bruiser & Wahoo McDaniel (AWA 6/9/1973) There's going to be this caveat for a lot of this 70s footage, and it is a beggars can't be choosers situation; a lot of it is clipped and edited, and not anything resembling complete. That's just the reality of a lot of older footage. I'm resistant to draw any big conclusions based on clipped matches, just because by their very nature they should be getting rid of the worst stuff, but we can take some things from what we get and not treat what conclusions we do draw as gospel. I like the structure of this match; Wahoo and Bruiser get DQ's for the first fall, use the advantage created to take the second fall, and take all the momentum into the third fall. I think that's a perfect structure. Outside of that, Bockwinkel looks good; he bumps well. Stevens, well, I can't say that he stood out to me in this.  vs The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser (AWA 6/30/1973) Another clipped 70s match. This has a lot in...

I've watched 200 matches for this project thus far and figured it would be a good time to check in on where things stand. Obviously, 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 Los Gringos Locos Buddy Rose & Doug Somers Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen Villanos The Fantastics The Highflyers Very Good Tag Teams Demolition MNM Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman North-South Connection Nick Bockwinkel & Masa Saito Money Inc. The Enforcers British Bulldogs AMW Mr. Fuji and Masa Saito Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar The Briscoe Brothers Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Pretty Good Tag Teams Faces of Fear Nightmares The Rat Pack Owen Hart & Yokozuna Los Brazos Dynamic Duo Ole & Arn Anderson Blue Bloods (Regal & Eaton) Marcus Bagwell ...

vs The Funks (SMW 7/3/1994) This is all tied into the big feud of Smokey Mountain at the time, which is Cornette vs Bob Armstrong. A lot of this has to serve that feud, and the builf to The Bullet getting his hands on Cornette. The parts of the match that we get that aren't entirely in service to that are pretty good. Dory hitting the mat, Terry stooging, some brawling outside of the ring, all those things are there and good. The match part is good, and the angle part is good, but the intersection of the two limits how good the match could be. Still good.  vs Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman (WCW 9/23/1995) This is a very solid, but short television match. Everyone has a very defined role, and wrestles to that archetype. Arn's there to kick ass and not do anything stupid. Pillman is there to win, and maybe do something stupid. The Armstrongs are there to have a sporting contest, and if Scott gets in trouble, Steve is there to save his little brother. All of that plays out here,...

  vs The Steiner Brothers (WCW 2/21/1998) Some would say that the Steiners eat up the Blue Bloods in this match; I don't think that is inaccurate, but typically that kind of thing is said about guys who don't deserve to have so little offense. I think it would be malpractice if Regal and Taylor took much more of this match than they got; the Steiners are the champions, Regal and Taylor are nowhere close, and so the Steiners work this match in their best interest. I've said it before, but man, I don't like Regal. I wouldn't like him anyway, but I especially dislike him because he allegedly is great in matches like this, and boy, when I watch them, when he does his prancing routine, and pulls his faces, and works some hold that looks like shit, I just don't see it. I think in a technical sense, he was a great wrestler, but his presentation sucks and I'm going to pretend I like it. Taylor is fine here; he's like if Regal was good.  vs Barry Darsow & Bob...

vs Hart Foundation (WWF 9/23/1985) The Bulldogs take the early parts of this; for the most part is pretty basic stuff. The Hart Foundation take over on what is a pretty subtle heel move where Bret grabs the trunks to shoot Davey off into the ropes, and then hits a kitchen sink knee. To me, it is just too subtle to really work for changing the momentum in such a drastic way. Bret and Jim work over both Bulldogs for the bulk of the match from that point, and the moment that turns that momentum just isn't impactful enough. Bret ties Dynamite in the ropes, and attempts a running attack of some kind, but Bulldog frees himself, Bret gets caught in the ropes, and Davey Boy tags in. Davey takes it to Brett for a bit, but Bret hits a backbreaker that gets momentum back for the Hart Foundation. Bret hits a top rope Hart Attack, but while the referee is getting Anvil back to his corner, and Bret is covering Davey, Dynamite hits a top rope headbutt, rolls Davey out, and covers Bret himself for...