Reel in Place

vs Chris Chetti & Louie Spicolii (ECW 3/29/1997) This is a house show match, which means we start with a lot of schtick, and we have a lot of schtick up until the ending stretch of this match. I can get behind the FBI act and especially Tommy Rich. That's never going to make a match more enjoyable for me, but I get it; I understand why it happens. The closing stretch ends up being pretty solid, and Chetti and Spicolli get the win.  vs Lance Storm & Chris Candido (ECW 3/6/1998) This is pretty solid, and is devoid of any of the typical FBI antics, which is nice. Tracy Smothers carries the bulk of this, and really goes out of his way to make Candido especially look good. Guido doesn't factor in much, but he does what he's asked. Not a great match, but solid, and certainly a good match to have in your resume.  vs Nova & Blue Meanie (ECW 5/3/1998) There's a lot of schtick in this, maybe even more than I'd expect. I mean, we are talking mid-teens indie wrestle...

  vs Pedro Morales & Ray Stevens (San Fransisco 12/27/1975) We're watching this short, silent, 8mm footage instead of anything else for one reason really, and that is, unless there's some extenuating circumstance or outstanding reason not to, like a "five star" match I want to revisit, I want to use these posts to watch new stuff, not stuff I've seen before. I've watched, to my knowledge, all of the All-Star Wrestling from the Fuji and Saito era of WWF, along with all of the house show footage from that period. That doesn't leave a ton to watch, and this, if nothing else is novel. We get to see a little of Fuji working his schtick, Morales hit a really big backbreaker, and some brief moments otherwise. No much to be gleaned, but Ray Stevens is one of those mythical sort of guys with limited footage and a big reputation, and is worth investigating. He doesn't do much in this short sample, I'll say that.  vs Andre the Giant & Rick McGraw (WWF...

  vs Rock n Roll Express (JCP 8/2/1986) The Andersons are a great foil for the Rock n Rolls. They can convincingly get heat, they can sell in a way that keeps their credibility, but doesn't hurt their opponent. In a short tv match, they can get that kind of thing across; that doesn't make the match great, but it does say something about the team, their position, and their abilities.  vs Kansas Jayhawks (JCP 9/6/1986) This is interesting because the Jayhawks work a heat segment on Arn Anderson for the bulk of it. It's somewhat novel to see the Andersons working from behind; it creates a scenario where Ole makes almost a hot tag, where his offense isn't really any different, but because of the context, the crowd responds in a different way. It doesn't make the match good; it is mostly fine, and ends in a DQ that makes Ole and Arn look bad, but it is another wrinkle.  vs The Galaxian & Pat Rose (WCW 12/16/1989) In what may be the craziest bit of foreshadowing I...

  vs Giant Kimala & Jun Izumida (AJPW 11/15/1997) I just watched Giant Kimala in 1990 WWC and came away impressed; this is seven years later, and he's much more limited. Izumida isn't much better. That makes this match more about Hayabusa and Shinzaki building their match around their offense, with a short section where they sell for Kimala. It isn't very good; I wouldn't say it was bad, but it didn't really do anything for me either.  vs Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 11/23/1997) These All Japan tags, especially the ones featuring the stars of the promotion, don't take on a standard match format; they just turn into rock fights, with varying degrees of big move sequences. As far as those go, this is fine; it's a pretty good match, with an interesting combination of guys, not anything I'd say is an all-time good match, but a very solid match. I think a lot of what carries these matches is the novelty of FMW's big stars being in All Japan ...

vs The Midnight Express (Gulf Coast 8/31/1984) The crowd is super heated for this; they especially want to see The Fantatics get to Cornette, which they tease a few times. It is their pursuit of Cornette that leads them to ending up on the receiving end of some of the Midnight Express' offense, and even some cheap shots from Cornette. Bobby Fulton is on the receiving end of this, and finally fights his way over to his corner and tags in Tommy Rogers. Rogers has some early success, but Condrey grabs a handful of his hair while he's running the ropes. The Midnights work a pretty smothering heat segment on Rogers, with very little shine. Rogers finally gets in some offense, chiefly a dropkick that leaves both he and Bobby Eaton down, which leads directly into a double hot tag. In the midst of all four wrestlers being in the ring, Eaton throws Rogers into the referee. Condrey bodyslams Fulton, but Eaton misses a top-rope elbow drop. The referee rolls into the ring and counts three ...

vs AJ Styles & Amazing Red (ROH 3/22/2003) Red and Styles are ROH Tag Team Champions here, and have the future Mickie James with them. This is the sort of match that in 2026 you have to come to terms with. I guess how you feel about the modern house style kind of informs how you see this match, because it's got a lot of spots, it's got a lot of moves that may not look good, it's just got a lot of stuff going on. The stuff doesn't breathe, really; the stuff doesn't always register, but a lot happens. Here's where I stand on it: I appreciate it for the time period. It stood in stark contrast to really any wrestling that had happened in North America up to that point; it worked for the people in that crowd, to an extent, and it isn't anyone's fault here in 2003 that the majority of matches that take place in the world take more from this style than anything that came before it. Did I enjoy this? Not really. Did I find a few of the spots interesting or c...