Reel in Place

vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Sandman (ECW 1/24/1998) This is supposed to be RVD vs Bam Bam, but Sabu gets involved, and Bam Bam doesn't have a partner. He asks Taz to be his partner, but Taz says fuck a lot and gets attacked by Brakkus. RVD says nobody is dumb enough to team with Bigelow, which brings out Sandman. He comes to the ring, attempts to drink a beer, but gets attacked, and we are off. A lot of brawling, a few weapons shots, then Lance Storm and Chris Candido hit the ring. Shortly after that, Shane Douglas is out there, too. In the melee, Sabu puts Sandman through a table, Bigelow fights off the 3 on 1 assault, and is able enough to powerbomb Sabu, and climbs the rope to hit a flying headbutt on Sabu, but somehow kinda hits Sandman, and in such a way that Sabu gets up, hits Bigelow with a cane, Sandman with a ladder, and Sabu gets the pin. This whole thing is a total mess.  vs Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney (ECW 7/3/1998) This is just guys doing stuff for 8 minutes. RVD does ...

 vs Hollywood Blondes (Memphis 11/10/1984) This is a pretty good TV tag match. Tim Horner was such a good tag team wrestler; his offense looked good, he could sell, he could fire up. Armstrong is fine, but I'm starting to become a big Tim Horner guy. Nothing about this match really stands out, but it is entertaining. Eventually, Ron Garvin hits the ring, and the whole thing gets thrown out.  vs Ivan Koloff & Krusher Kruschev (JCP 10/26/1986) This is worked exactly how you would draw it up. Horner and Armstrong show promise early, but get cut off by the Russians, who then proceed to isolate and punish Horner for a bit portion of the match. Darsow gets a large portion of that, and despite being able to do it more effectively in Demolition, he really isn't up to it here in a way that makes the match exciting. Ivan carries his end of the load, though. Armstrong finally gets the tag and some in on fire, and it looks like Armstrong is going to pin Ivan for the titles, but nanose...

  vs Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik (AJPW 12/13/1979) Man, is this violent. Guys are stabbing and getting stabbed. Guys are bleeding, being bled on, punching each other in the head wound.  Even Dory gets dragged into the fray. Somehow, amongst all of that, there is also a pretty standard tag match, where Terry gets worked over and makes a hot tag ot Dory Jr. Spoiler, but this is easily the best match of this set of 5 and a very, very solid match for 1979.  vs Tommy Rogers & El Gran Apollo (Georgia 1/2/1982) This is pretty much a squash. They give a fair bit to Tommy Rogers and a little bit to Apollo, but this is pretty much non-competitive. I don't know what you can really take away from a match like this other than The Funks do a couple of cool things. Terry hits a good elbow drop, the Dory uppercuts look good, as does the butterfly suplex. That's about it.  vs Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen (AJPW 4/22/1983) Brody and Hansen eat up a lot of this match, as...

vs Brian Pillman & Steve Austin (10/25/1992) This is the marquee matchup for Steamboat and Douglas. They get some time and have a fairly decent match. Steamboat gets a segment in control, then Douglas, then Steamboat takes a beating, then Douglas takes a beating. Things get a bit lawless, and in the chaos, Pillman throws Douglas over the top rope, and the Hollywood Blondes get DQ'd. I think this is actually a bit disappointing. They get plenty of time, and they don't do anything of note, and the finish doesn't do them any favors.  vs Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton (11/7/1992) Steamboat starts this off, but unlike a lot of the other matches of this team, this isn't about Steamboat selling for big portions of the bout, nor is it about Steamboat having to essentially save Douglas. Things are pretty back and forth. Steamboat does take a bit of a beating toward the end, and Shane is able to get a hot tag and clean house. Brian Pillman hits the ring as it looks like Dougl...

  vs Kerry Von Erich & Mike Von Erich (WCCW 11/26/1984) I went back and rewatched this like 5 times, because none of it really stood out, besides a few minor things: Mike Von Erich is bad, it is what it is, there's not a whole lot you can do with him, he can't even really sell compellingly. The Von Erich, by design, eat up a lot of any match they're in, so anything like this is going to have a certain ceiling on it. Chris Adams looks really good beating up Kerry. Outside of those things, this is a match, and I think so much of this team's resume being against the Von Erichs is going to put them at a disadvantage. vs The Great Kabuki & Scott Casey (WCCW 5/5/1985) Two matches in, and I'm starting to think Gino Hernandez is a guy whose reputation exceeds what you see in the footage. I just don't see it, in the ring anyway. On the other hand, Chris Adams is great. He is compelling in the ring, his stuff looks good, and he can get beaten up when it's call...

vs Raven & Saturn (WCW 4/5/1999)  This is all action early, big moves, mostly with Rey on the receiving end. Kidman gets a tag and attempts to turn the tide, they have some limited success, but eventually Kidman takes a belly-to-belly from the ring to the outside. From that point, Saturn and Raven really take it to Kidman, drop toe hold on a chair, bug top rope splash, but somehow Kidman reverses a Raven powerbomb and tags in Rey. Mysterio comes in with fire, but Raven kicks him in the junk when Rey attempts a broncobuster. Things quickly become lawless, and to add to the chaos, the ref gets bumped, and Malenko and Benoit hit the ring, attack Saturn, and Kidman gets the pin. This is pretty good. A lot of the big moves don't really seem to register, but it is short, and I guess over the course of five minutes, you can't expect much attrition.  vs ICP (WCW 8/23/1999) I didn't expect this to be good. It isn't. ICP will bump, not in a way that's always convincing or...

  We are in Toronto, last time we were in Boston. This is a TLC, so theoretically, the deck is stacked against Cena, and so is the crowd. The previous match saw Edge win by hitting Cena with a foreign object, so you can see why the elevated stipulation, plus Edge has now defended the title against Cena twice and won, so if Cena's going to get another shot, it is on Edge's terms. I've sort of been lukewarm on these matches, especially because they have this reputation of making Cena, or being Cena's best feud, and up to this point, I'd say JBL did more for Cena in one night than Edge has done for him.  So, of course, we're going to get a lot of plunder here, a lot of setting up of spots here, that's par for the course, but in a tag match, or especially a three-way tag match, you have a lot going on while someone is setting up some big spot. In a singles match, things have to stop to a certain degree. It changes the flow, but I think both guys do a good job of...

This is 3 years overdue, but I saw it in my drafts and figured I'd finish putting this together. It has been a while since I filled out this ballot, and my thoughts on the results are mostly based on going back and looking at what I tweeted at the time, but I think there are two things that my ballot reflects that the list doesn't. The first is the sort of modern C and D shows like Main Event and 205 Live, which no one else really factored in. The second is pre-Hogan WWF, chiefly including Ernie Ladd, the 3 Wisemen, and Tony Garea. I would love to watch more of that stuff, because I really liked the All-Star Wrestling I watched, and generally feel that era is incredibly underrepresented.  Wrestlers I was the high voter on: Mustafa Ali My Vote: 81 Finished: 249 Buddy Murphy My Vote: 80 Finished: 245 Ilja Dragunov My Vote: 79 Finished: 218 Nikki Bella My Vote: 72 Finished: 170 Lou Albano My Vote: 64 Finished: 169 John Cena My Vote: 1 Finished: 4 Wrestlers I was the low voter on: ...

vs The Hollywood Bondes (6/5/1993) Bagwell starts things off, and Austin and Pillman don't let him do much of anything.We go to commercial, and when we come back, we see Bagwell got dropped on the steel railing, and Bagwell is escorted to the back. Scorpio has to wrestle the rest of the match himself, and he does his best, but he can't offer up much more than occasional offense. Scorpio starts fighting back, and hits a big corckscrew senton on Austin, and it looks like it is over. Pillman comes off the top with a move of his own, to break up the pin. He kinda sorta clips the ref, who throws out the match. In the aftermath Flair and Arn hit the ring and we move on with our lives.  vs The Wrecking Crew (4/10/1993) A bit too much of Bagweel working the mat for my test in the beginning parts of this. When Scorpio tags in, he seems keen to work on the mat, also, which is not exactly what I want out of Scorpio either. Things only really pick up when The Wrecking Crew gets in there; t...

  vs Minnesota Wrecking Crew II (WCW 4/15/1990) This is pretty basic get the face team over stuff. Pillman sells for a great big chunk of this; Zenk tags in and is just perfunctory. Pillman can sell well enough to keep up his end, and Zenk can do a little hot tag offense, but it doesn't really rise above tepid. Pillman tags back in and gets the win. It is what it is.  vs The Galaxians (WCW 4/21/1990) The Galaxians don't offer much here other than to bump around and showcase Pillman and Zenk. Pillman really shines, his offense looks good, and he is convincing as a fan favorite. Zenk, on the other hand, well, it seems like he's going through the motions and doing all of the stuff he was supposed to do, and not in a way that is at all convincing.  vs Samu & Outlaw Deaton (5/4/1990) Jim Cornette hired Samu and Deaton to injure Pillman or Zenk in advance of a match with the Midnight Express. For most of this, Samu and Deaton don't really wrestle like that; they just sort...

vs The Rock N Roll Express (Memphis 1/13/1985) There's a bit of stereo offense and stereo stooging, early in this match, which is never really going to win me over. After the Nightmares pout on the outside, things are tentative. Eventually, Wayne tosses Robert Gibson to the outside, where Danny Davis is waiting and when Gibson is rolled back in the ring, Wayne takes over and The Nightmares are in control. They work over Gibson for a while, until Ricky Morton gets the tag and he is on fire. Things seem to be going the Rock N Rolls way, but Jimmy Hart throws his care in the ring, and Morton gets crumpled. Ken Wayne goes to the top rope, but misses a flying headbutt, and Morton and Gibson get the win.  vs Steve Armstrong & Tommy Rich (Continental 6/17/1985) Rich and Armstrong hit the ring and are all over The Nightmares. Wayne and Davis do a great job of stooging and bumping around in the opening part of this. We got to commercial, and when we come back Rich and Armstrong are stil...

vs The Killer Bees (2/21/1988) The Bees do everything right. They work hard, they make tags, they do what they can to win the match, but they just can't. Demolition does some of their standard pummeling, but this is a lot of Bees, and when they really start to get somewhere, Ax hits Brunzell in the neck with a cane, and the match is over shortly thereafter.  vs The Brain Busters (7/18/1989) Demolition are the champions here, and this is two-out-of-three falls. Demolition wins the first fall. Tully stoogets around early, but eventually the match evens out. Smash pins Arn, and we're onto the second fall. This match is like a playoff hockey game. Both teams are constantly committing penalties, the ref isn't really interested in calling them, and one team, Demolition, is getting cheered because they're the home team. The Brainbusters get a little extra grimy and take control of the second fall, but only for a bit. Things break down into a brawl, and the ref throws the fall ...

vs  Andre the Giant & Giant Baba (11/20/1990) This is Taue and Jumbo's first real time in the ring with Andre. Jumbo was in a battle royal in 1974, but this is real virgin territory for Taue. This is fine. You get all of the Andre stuff you'd expect, Baba does everything he needs to do to make Andre's moments meaningful, Jumbo plays his part, but fiery underdog Taue slapping the shit out of Andre is the highlight of this match. That isn't the highlight of a great match, but it certainly makes this one worth watching.  vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 9/4/1991) There's a lot to like here. I would say that over the course of these matches, Taue has stood out more to me than Jumbo, and he's fine here, but Jumbo is great, in particular, the exchanges with Kawada are great. The shame of this match is that the Kawada/Jumbo sections aren't the main trust of the match. The main conflict is Jumbo and Misawa, which is fine, but it doesn't really...

  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...