[1987-05-25-WWF-Primetime Wrestling] Tito Santana vs Butch Reed

[Superstar Sleeze]

Tito Santana vs Butch Reed - Primetime Wrestling 5/12/87

After the Savage feud and before being drafted into Strike Force, Santana was in a weird limbo as someone who still had some starpower, but was not going to be pushed anymore. They stuck him in a lot of interested, fun midcard matches that went to a draw. This resulted in matches with Butch Reed and Ron Bass, who at this point in their careers were not having great matches, but with them being heralded as hidden gems. I have not yet seen the Ron Bass (never seen a Ron Bass match actually). The Reed match was actually pretty damn good for what looked like a broken down Butch Reed. Kids don't go to Central States. You will not come out the same man. Reed seemed slow and worn out. He made up for his loss in energy with a lot of fun heel chicanery. Santana as always brought the fire. What was with The Natural gimmick? Why did Reed bleach his hair? Was this a play off something? A rib?

The beginning of the match was just a series of payback spots by Tito. Everytime Reed tried to cheat, Tito responded with a punch and falling to the outside. On the third time, Slick realized Reed needed something to break the pattern and gave Reed a foreign object. Jesse The Body loved giving DeGeorge a hard time. Reed plays hide the object from the ref. Bruno asking why Reed's fist is closed and Jesse retorting Tito hand has been closed this whole match was hilarious! Tito stomping Reed's hand also led to a funny exchange with Bruno saying it is ok with the flat of the boot. On a ref break, Reed clobbered him with object. There needed to be more Jesse/Bruno commentary. Reed goes for choking offense and this leads to a Tito chant in Anaheim. I am so glad got one more run in Strike Force, he had plenty left to give. I am really looking forward to rewatching Strike Force vs Islanders feud for Tag Teams Back Again. Tito starts firing up with rights, but Reed yanked him out of the ring by the tights to stymie Tito. Santana selling like a champ outside the ring. Reed bashes his head into the post while Slick distracts the ref. Well-orchestrated! I like Bruno chastising Jesse for calling that clever when it was illegal. I love a strong babyface voice on commentary, we need more of that. Reed chinlock. If it was a Reed headlock, I would believe it to be a match ender.

 

Tito tries to get running, but Butch hits a big high knee. I like the high knee as a cutoff, always one of HHH's better spots. Rollins using that instead of Sling Blade would be cool. PILEDRIVER! Bruno is totally baffled that Tito kicked out of the piledriver. Santana drives Reed into the turnbuckles to stave off the next piledriver. Reed calls upon Mid-South buddy DiBiase for the punch in gut and somersault spot. Huge reaction for Santana clobbering Reed! i love Tito! Figure-4! Reed made the ropes, damn! Quick uppercut by Reed and the match goes to a draw. Weird that Reed was on top for the draw, expected it to be during the figure-4. FLYING BURRITO!!! There we go send those fans home happy.

Good Tito performance featured quality selling and his trademark fire. Reed was a shell of himself, but had enough tricks up his sleeve to keep it fun. ***1/2

[Beast]

Not only is this is a draw, but a good portion of this is Butch Reed stalling. First with the invisible object in his hand and then never-ending chin locks and the like. And with the ending having Reed on top at the bell, why not either give him an actual win or at least have a high energy competitive match that deserves a rematch.

This has it's moments (particularly at the beginning and end), but also all the traits that keep me wary of ever committing the time to watch a draw.

I was impressed with how wild the fans were for Tito. No wonder he was slotted in with Martel for a title run once Zenk left. And yet since at this point no one knew that was on the horizon, why not give Reed a win (even cheaply) at this point in the feud?