Reel in Place

  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...

vs Kenta Kobashi & Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 7/15/1989) This is violence right off the rip, and man, Tenryu and Jumbo what a pairing. Kobashi really isn't up to this sort of thing here in 1989; he's game, but he can't match what Jumbo, Tenryu, and Hansen bring in terms of presence and violence, plus he's only got one kneepad. Hansen and Tenryu bully Kobashi early, to the point that Kobashi pretty much runs towards Jumbo to tag out. When Jumbo gets in there, he really takes it to Tenryu, enough that he thinks Kobashi stands a chance. Kobashi tries, but he just isn't on the level. Tenryu is so dismissive of him, and Hansen doesn't give a shit and just jumps in the ring to beat on Kobashi for fun. Kenta escapes again, and Jumbo comes back in. Tsuruta grabs Hansen's arm and takes the tone down a notch. He gives Kobashi another shot, and Kobashi continues the arm work. Hansen eventually fights out and tags Tenryu back in. Kobashi fires up, nailing Tenryu with a bar...

vs Jesse Hernandez & Leon White (AWA 4/3/1986) Right off the rip, Rose is antagonizing Leon, taunting from inside the ring when White is on the apron. Rose takes it to Hernandez early, but Jesse fights over to the corner and tags in Leon. The absolute second that White tags in, Rose bolts out of the ring, goes over to Somers, and they regroup. Both Rose and Somers take turns bumping and selling for Leon. Buddy takes a chop from Leon, and bumps out to the floor. He crawls into the ring and tags in Somers. Somers finds a way to get Leon into the corner, and Rose rakes White's eyes. Buddy tags in, ready to take advantage of Leon, but Rose gets nowhere. Leon lifts him up over his head for a slam, goes for the cover, but Somers breaks up the pin. Vader tags out at that point, and Hernandez doesn't stand a chance once he gets in there. Rose and Somers just take it to Hernandez; they get him in the corner and just pummel him. Leon White comes in to save his partner, but the refere...

  vs Abdullah the Butch & Brian Blair (NJPW 7/16/1983) This is surprisingly cordial for an Abdullah match; he and Murdoch fight over a top wrist lock for a significant portion. With that said, you can see a certain urgency, especially from Adonis, when Abdullah is in the match compared to when Blair is in there. It is striking how even Murdoch works with Abdullah; Murdoch almost works a heat on Abdullah at one point, and Blair comes in some approximation of a hot tag. Adonis gets some really good-looking punches off on Blair, follows up with some more strikes, and tags in Murdoch. Murdoch hits a brainbuster, but only gets two. Murdoch tags in Adonis, and Adrian gets overzealous with his strikes and ends up eating an atomic drop. Blair climbs to the top rope, but Adonis throws him off. Adonis goes up to the top himself, hits an elbow, and the three count. This was fine, not the Abdullah match you'd want to see, and Adonis especially looks good.  vs Rocky Johnson & Tony ...