Black History Month Day 5

Kamala vs Butch Reed
Uploaded by CrossFaceChickenWing

Butch Reed vs. Kamala
Mid-South probably - 1985 probably

Hey! Two black guys for the price of one! Boss! I don't know what it says about me as an upper middle class suburban white guy that my first instinct when Phil told me we were doing a Black History Month special was "search for Kamala on YouTube". I mean, when you become a wrestling fan, you kind of have to accept the overwhelming racism inherent in it, and that a guy like Kamala can be considered awesome, instead of terribly offensive. But it's Black History Month, so I feel obliged to contemplate the societal ramifications of racebaiting in wrestling. Having done that, let's talk about this match.

Reed is pretty great here. He's all over Kamala whenever he's on offense, forcing him into the ropes with his punches and then staying right on top of him, refusing to give him an inch, even as the ref is trying to separate them. For a guy traditionally booked as a scary monster heel, Kamala did a lot of of cautious, backpedaling heel stuff. Rolling out of the ring to catch his breath, keeping his distance from Reed back in the ring. Kind of imagine a hypothetical wrestling promotion based out of a stereotypical African village, where Kamala is working as stereotypical African Tully Blanchard, who lives in the nice part of the village next to the lake, and holds it over everyone else. Gets all of the food without doing any of the hunting or gathering, that sort of thing. This is a ten-minute long match, with the middle five being built around a Kamala heart claw, which I could imagine would bug some people. Not me, though. It was very much worked 70's style, with Reed constantly trying to escape, and Kamala constantly foiling his attempts, so it stays active throughout. Except Kamala is an African savage, so it's a bit rougher than, say, Giant Baba trying to keep a headscissors on The Destroyer. Reed almost passes out at one point. His arm drops twice, but he keeps it up the third time, so Kamala grabs it with his free hand and starts biting his fingers, which is really a great spot for a cannibal. Not that I minded, but it is kind of odd to work a five-minute heart claw in a ten-minute match, and after building up to Reed's escape, Kamala just releases it of his own volition to throw him into the ropes and shoulderblock him down to set up the big splash. Reed makes his comeback, and once again, he's all over him. Really got the sense at one point that he was gonna get DQ'd for not backing off when Kamala was in the ropes. Dude was intense, and his punches were great. Skandor Akbar and Kim Chee run interference. Reed knocks them out, but the ref gets caught with a stray flying shoulderblock, allowing someone who I can't positively ID to run in and attack Reed, setting Kamala up for another big splash and the win. Good stuff. Reed was so good at this point. Really wanted to see the rematch.