Found Footage Friday: LAWLER~! ROOSTER~! COLORADO~! REJECTS~! SLIM J~! ROCKWELL~! HAWKINS~! OKUMA~! EIGEN~!

Haruka Eigen vs. Motoshi Okuma AJPW 9/15/89

MD: Another recent Classics drop and it's a great thing to pop up because while we have a lot of Eigen and Okuma in this era, and likewise, a decent amount of All Japan comedy, it's always with them as foils for Rusher and Baba. It's rare to see the two of them one on one and really, comedy without Baba or Rusher. This was certainly something. They wrestled a bit before building to the comedy but once they got there, it never went away. It was a mean sort of thing though, Okuma headbutting Eigen in the mouth, both guys holding the other in the ropes like Sheamus and laying in a huge shot that would cause spit to go flying into the front row and everyone to go running, Okuma stepping over Eigen to hit the falling headbutt and then having it countered by Eigen tripping him. Okuma had somewhat more dignity here, with Eigen spitting farther, getting headbutted, having to run around the ringside area to try to find a way back into the ring without getting nailed, but Okuma got his comeuppance too. Very unique, very stylized, but interesting and worth watching at least once. The crowd was certainly into it and they should have been considering the effort, timing, and expert expressiveness of these two, all while being just hard-hitting enough to belong in 1989 AJPW. 

Jerry Lawler vs. Mike Rapada vs. Terry Taylor NWA Worldwide 11/13/99

MD: This was for Rapada's NWA North American title, with the appeal, as much as anything else, that it was a WWF announcer vs. a WCW office guy vs. a NWA wrestler, in 1999. The Nashville crowd was pretty big and fairly hot. Both guys had been feuding with Rapada and Lawler's promo setting it up was that Rapada thought beating him would let him get into WWF but that he'd never get there. The real appeal of this one, however, was seeing Lawler in a Triple Threat match. They'd been around for a chunk of the decade, obviously, and Lawler had called his share by November 1999, but you could see the wheels ticking even in the promo setting it up. 

Lawler and Taylor were de facto allies here, and this ended up pure Memphis. Lawler would use a sharpie (a real one, not an imaginary one), that Stacy handed to him into Rapada's throat repeatedly, but he'd have Taylor there in the ring to distract the ref. It allowed for a slightly different execution for hide the object but was effective through it's blatantness with Lawler being more blatant than ever. They built towards dissension between Taylor and Lawler as only one party could win the title, leading to a miscommunication headbutt to the groin and Rapada coming back. Finish was Taylor kicking out of all of Rapada's big moves and then stealing the win as Lawler was gloating after hitting Rapada with the pile-driver. This had its ceiling considering who was in there with the King, but it was great to see him experiment with the possibilities of a new form (and find ways to work all of his time-tested stuff in). 

Devil's Rejects (Azrael/Shaun Tempers/Patrick Bentley) vs. Slim J/Adrian Hawkins/Ace Rockwell NWA Anarchy 9/27/07

MD: As always, you can drop in to almost any of these Rejects matches and it feels like... well, home is probably not the right word, but certainly somewhere familiar and, for us at least, welcome. The Anarchy announcers are always the best at getting you up to speed too. They didn't know it but they were commentating for immortality. Here, things start out as 3 on 2 (really 4 on 2 given Wilson, the Staff of Righteousness, and that this was a streetfight). Hawkins had just refused membership in the Rejects and while he and Slim J meshed in look and style, and even had an early advantage by striking first, the numbers were against them. I liked Bentley a lot here, bumping huge out of the ring for Slim J to start, later on dragging his elbow over a wound when they were in control, playing his new character overtly in his elated reactions while still seeming menacing. When things seemed darkest and Hawkins was about to hit a pile driver off the top onto a chair on Slim J, Rockwell rushed out to even the odds which was a big moment and a bigger pop. That led to a great comeback highlighted by a Slim J diving reverse DDT on 2/3rds of the Rejects and a Coast-to-Coast by Hawkins. Eventually, as it so often happened the superior chemistry and teamwork (and sheer brutality) from the Rejects won out though, building and building and building it to a bigger payoff down the road and keeping these insatiable fans ever hungry.

PAS: I just love this stuff. I really should have been watching Anarchy weekly back in the mid 2000s, it is very much my kind of wrestling. The Rejects are a swarming gang of creeps as always, although it is a different vibe without either of the monsters Tank and Iceberg. Damn Slim J is a great brawler. I say it every time one of these matches come out, but it just blows me away how great he is at throwing hands, timing comebacks, bleeding, all of it. Really almost a 21st century Tommy Rich, and it is a shame he never got a chance to really have that kind of match on a bigger stage. Loved Rockwell coming from the back, he is an amazing brawler too, and that is a trope which always works. Rejects win felt earned and that double team reverse DDT that Azreal and Tempers did was awesome looking. Great match, but basically any time these guys matched up it was tremendous.