Reel in Place

  vs Los Destructores (UWA 5/8/1988) Los Destructores are Emilio Charles Jr, Tony Arce, and Vulcano. All 3 Brazos are still masked here, which will not be the case not too far in the future. Things start of really hot with all six competitors in the ring and throwing punches, just when it seems like order might be restored, and the rules in place, the fight breaks out again. The brawl continues, El Brazo's mask is ripped. Brazo de Oro's mask is ripped off entirely. With Brazo de Oro out of the picture, Los Destructores focus on El Brazo; all three are pounding on him inside the ring while using the numbers advantage to keep Brazo de Plata from getting in the ring at all. Brazo de Oro comes rushing into the ring with a new mask on and totally turns the tide. Turnabout is fair play here, and the Brazos are able to isolate Emilio Charles Jr in the ring and beat him bloody using the numbers advantage. Somewhere in all of this, Los Destructores take the first fall for unclear reason...

with Stan Lane vs Robert Gibson, Rick Gibson, & Tojo Yamamoto (Memphis 1/6/1982) This is best 2-out-of-3 falls. This starts off by getting most of the participants involved for a bit. Sugar starts with Robert Gibson, then Eaton tags in, then Lane is in, and Eaton is back in, and the heels are now in control, each taking turns taking it to Robert. Eventually Robert tags in Rick and the other Gibson clears house before taging in Tojo. Things fall apart from here, all the while Tojo is working an abdominal claw. Eaton blindsides Yamamoto from the top rope, puts Ware on top and the heels have won the first fall.   Tojo and Ware start the first fall, but he qucikly tags in Robert, who Ware Irish Whips toward the ropes, where Jimmy Hart is keenly waiting to pull down the top rope, and Gibson spills to the floor. The second fall is a DQ, but that's a simple formality because that cause everything to fall apart, and the teams are brawling on the outside. That's all we get because ...

Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne vs Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia (Mid-South 10/30/1982) The face team hits the ring, and it's on with Dog and Olympia taking the upper hand. The Rat Pack rolls to the outside to regroup, and when they get back in the ring, order has been restored. JYD and DiBiase are obviously two of the bigger stars in the territory, and Watts really puts this over on commentary and a bit of dick measuring contest to see who the top guy really, truly is. Borne, and to a greater extent, Mr. Olympia hold up their end of things, as proxies and as individuals, but this is not a match about Matt Borne or Jerry Stubbs. Most of this is JYD and Mr. Olympia kicking ass, I'd say Mr. Olympia really comes off as an ass kicker in this match, really taking it to DiBiase. The Rat Pack eventually isolates Stubbs and work him over for a bit. As you might expect, eventually the Dog gets in, takes over, and takes it to The Rat Pack, until Jim Duggar comes out in a Gorilla Suit, turn...

  Vs Kyoko Inoue & Aja Kong (AJW 8/9/1997) As you might expect, we start by brawling in the crowd, only to hit the ring with LCO in control and working over Inoue. Eventually, Inoue fights back, tags in Kong, and the momentum turns. There's a spot where Kyoko gets the crowd clapping, and then she and Aja dance, and now I hate this. Kong and Inoue have a big of control, but then Kong gets bumped off the top rope, and again LCO are in charge and brawling outside. Then things get really out of hand, and we're teasing hanging Aja Kong off the balcony. LCO shift focus to Inoue while Aja is out of commission, only for Kong to come back with a fire extinguisher. This is the kind of shit I do not like. She sprays it everywhere, and you can tell that the crowd isn't digging being sprayed and breathing in this shit. More brawling, more lawlessness, more momentum shifts. Kyoko Inoue really is trying to make this match work, she's got great fire here, is really going all out, b...

Vs Super Destroyer & Umenosuke Ueda (Real World Tag League 12/13/1982) Ueda comes in with a stick and just goes to town, with Super Destroyer joining in. They isolate Hara and get to work. After the hot start, Ueda works an abdominal claw and things come to a screeching halt. Tenryu eventually tags in, but he gets cut off shortly thereafter after. The faces get another tag, but get cut off again. Eventually, Tenryu mounts some offense, and Revolution wins, only to again get pelted with Ueda’s stick. This didn't really work, the hot start was great, but Ueda and Super Destroyer take a lot of the match, to pretty little effect. The second they lose control, they pretty much lose.  Vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (Summer Action Series 7/23/87) You really can't put Hansen & Tenryu in a match and have it be anything other than all about Hansen and Tenryu. DiBiase is setting some sort of injury to his side, which is bandaged up, and means that Hara and Tenryu can pretty effe...

  Vs The Rockers (WrestleMania 7) This is the sort of platonic ideal of an opening match. It's all action, probably leans a bit towards the Rockers, but back and forth, up and down, nonstop. I would say that it probably has more to do with Marty and Shawn, but Haku and Barbarian keep up their end of the bargain.  Vs The Orient Express (MSG 7/1/91) So, in this particular instance, the Orient Express is Kato and Mr. Fuji, and this is mostly built around Mr. Fuji and Bobby Hennan, who is on commentary. A lot of this is Kato trying to put a dent in the Barbarian, and not having much success. Eventually, Fuji gets in there and does some 'karate' that Haku has to sell. I'm not saying it's great, I'm not saying it should have happened, but the crowd is kind of into it. It's a lot of gaga, in service of a feud that is pretty much entirely about the managers, but it does get the job done. Vs The Outsiders (Starrcade 1996) The early NWO stuff is in this weird place wh...