[1989-02-20-NWA-Chi Town Rumble] Sting vs Butch Reed

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[GSR]

From one useless manager in Paul Jones to another, as Hiro Matsuda is in Reed's corner.  The Stinger has got himself some new threads because  'Hacksaw' has got his interest up!  Reed blocks a hip toss and Sting nicely turns it into an armdrag.  Jim Ross, just like in the opener, is again great on commentary as he explains the psychology behind what the wrestler's are doing.  Another match, another long side headlock.  Sting bites Reed's hand whilst he applies a wristlock.  Ross says that despite Reed's complaints he can't see anything from his vantage point; they're not watching on a monitor then.  Reed gives Sting an assist through the ropes to the outside as the match turns in his direction.  Wow, Matsuda actually offers something, choking Sting while 'Hacksaw' distracts referee Teddy Long.  Rear chinlock by Reed that lasts several minutes.  Sting ducks a clothesline and it appears Reed loses his balance due to his momentum, stumbling over and falling out of the ring.  Reed with a neckbreaker for a nearfall before returning to the umpteenth chinlock of the match.  Jim Ross starts taking about someone in the front row and I thought he was going to namedrop Big Dave Meltzer, but no, NFL draft pick Brad Muster who is sat next to Meltz.  Jawbreaker to escape the chinlock.  Sting goes for a sunset flip but Reed grabs the ropes to prevent himself from being taken down.  Long swipes his hands away, Reed then falls on top of Sting and again graps the ropes for leverage.  Rinse repeat with Long and Sting rolls 'Hacksaw' up for the three.  The fight continues after the match until a big Sting right hand sends Reed scurrying.

This suffered from the same problems as the Hayes/Assassin opener in that they went too long (20+ minutes) and there was an over reliance on armbars (early) and chinlocks (throughout).  It would've benefited greatly from losing about eight minutes and cutting out all the down time.