February '88 - 26/02 - 27/02 (Matt Borne vs Terry Taylor, Hanse/Gordy vs Tsuruta/Kabuki & Dusty/Eaton Cage Match)

WCCW - 26/02/1988

Michael Hayes vs. Al Perez

I have never really seen any Al Perez prior to this project and first impressions are that while he’s technically okay (he struggled to apply both a toehold and figure four), there is no oomph, no impact and not much charisma to him. Michael Hayes is all charisma and little technique. He’s fun to watch though and gets the crowd behind him. This is a fine TV match that ends with outside interference when Gary Hart interferes. **1/2

WCWA Texas Heavyweight Title Match: Matt Borne (c) vs. Terry Taylor

Unlike Hayes and Perez, this seemed a little more solid. This was pure basic 80s style wrestling with no thrills until the first ad break. After that, they seemed to escalate in a good way into something to make it stand out more. Taylor eventually showed his colours after working a fairly honest bout when he pulled the tights of Borne. The fans booed but the decision stands. ***

AJPW Excite Series 1988 - Day 7 - 27/02/1988

Masanobu Fuchi & Tiger Mask vs. The Malenko Brothers (Dean Malenko & Joe Malenko)

This looked better than it actually was. It was all a nondescript first act that never went further. Some decent moves here and there but none was put together in a compelling or memorable way. Completely underwhelming. **1/4

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki

This was another dominant match for Gordy and Hansen. Not nearly as one-sided as the match against Tsuruta and Yatsu, though. Even Kabuki fared very well against them. But this was a smaller show so this never went too far in terms of escalation or action. It did provide solid entertainment that persisted throughout. ***

CSP La Copa Gillette 1988 - 27/02/1988

La Copa Gillette First Round Match: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Bruiser Brody

This was largely all Brody. Dory to his credit would take some damage and allow himself to get thrown in into the posts and drop to the floor. Brody seemed content being dominant and teasing the crowd, only giving Dory little until the finish which looked to be a count-out in Dory’s favour. **1/4

NWA Pro - 27/02/1988

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) (w/Jim Cornette) (c) vs. Jimmy Garvin & Ron Garvin

The first proper Midnights match I’ve seen for this project as all other potential matches were short clips. The first portion of the match was classic Midnights. A lot of bumping for the faces before conferring with Cornette. They gained control during the ad break working over Ron Garvin. He is able to make to the tag but the Midnights cut Jimmy off. Mistakes are made and the Midnights take each other out. Cornette is taken out by Precious too. It all unwinds when Eaton hits Jimmy with the racket for the DQ

NWA World Wide Wrestling - 27/02/1988

NWA United States Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match: Dusty Rhodes (c) vs. Bobby Eaton (w/Jim Cornette)

Like their other match, this was Dusty proving himself to be a badass and Eaton is a wonderful pinball for him. This was ultimately predictable in pretty much every conceivable way, it was a fun match because of the performances. Dusty is charismatic and that goes a long way when you have a good partner like Eaton. I can imagine this not working if you are jaded on Dusty Rhodes though, so keep that in mind. This finished with a top rope bionic elbow which was awesome. ***1/4