Reel in Place

vs Tito Santana & Ricky Steamboat (WWF 4/21/1985) This is a pseudo-continuation of the Valentine/Santana feud, which is really and truly one of the better pieces of pro wrestling that we have on tape, just an all-time feud filled up with great matches, great promos, and one that went longer, continuously, than any other feud in North America, if not the world. Beefcake starts with Steamboat, and then mixes it up with Santana, and Brutus doesn't have much success. Valentine is jawing at Santana from the apron, but still doesn't tag in, and only after Brutus slams Santana does Greg want in. He misses his only bit of offense, an elbow drop, and Santana takes it to Valentine. Greg rolls out to the ramp to calm things down. Santana mostly has things under control until he tries to figure-four Valentine. Valentine knows the move too well, reverses, and takes over before tagging in Beefcake. Brutus grinds on Santana, who is taking a beating, but also manages to tag in Steamboat be...

  vs The Midnight Express (Mid-South 4/21/1984) This is the second televised match, as far as I know, between these two teams. It is a pretty standard, but pretty good, television tag. Ricky and Robert are already over, getting the better of the Midnights, but then Cornette comes out in a dress and nails Ricky with his purse. The referee sniffs the whole thing out and calls for the DQ. Not a great match; it wasn't supposed to be, but you can see already that these teams are, probably not made for each other at this point, but sympatico for sure. vs Randy Savage & Lanny Poffo (Memphis 6/25/1984) This is the famous match that ends with Savage hitting a piledriver on a table. I think that moment had to have been transcendent in 1984. I have to say that the match leading up to that moment is fine, but I don't know if it is quite up to the level of violence for that to be the next logical step, but I suppose that just excentuates the unpredictability of Randy Savage. As for the ...

  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...

  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 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 ...

  vs Bob Holly & 123 Kid (4/3/1995) This is pretty much an Owen Hart singles match with Bob Holly with a tag match built around it. The 123 Kid starts it with Owen, and tags in occasionally, and Yoko is mixed in sparingly, but it is really about Owen and Holly. It's not a very good tag match for that reason, and it is really only an ok singles match. vs The Allied Powers (7/23/1995) I thought this was really good. I'm a sucker for good weeble-wobble selling, and Yokozuna does it so well. The crowd goes nuts when Luger and Davey get Yoko up for a backbody drop, and they are pretty much there for everything in the closing stretch. Owen bumps big when Yoko needs a break. I really dug this a lot.  vs Razor Ramon & Savio Vega (8/7/1995) There are a few good sections here: Yoko and Razor in the beginning, Owen and Razor in the middle, and parts of Savio and Yoko at the end. There isn't a lot tying those sections together, and so despite some good stuff, this doesn't f...

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 The Natural Disasters (Superstars Taping 7/20/92) This is a title change. A team like Money Inc as champions, because of their act and the way they wrestle, will always have some buy-in when there's a possibility of them losing. I think the heat here is a bit lackluster, mostly because I don't think either IRS or Dibiase do enough real cheating to make them dominating Earthquake for any amount of time seem believable. The finish is typical slip-on-a-banana-peel heel stuff, but the crowd goes nuts seeing Money Inc lose. Vs El Matador & Virgil (Prime Time Wrestling 9/28/92) This was good. I think a lot of that is on Tito, who is certainly past his prime here, but was still a great seller and could still get sympathy from the crowd. Tito can build to the tag with Virgil, which has its own history in this match, and everything works. This is the sort of match that just works. Money Inc are very specific sorts of heels, against a face team that is purpose-made to be a great f...