Wrestler of the Day – July 8: Butch Reed

Here’s a very powerful man who could have been Ron Simmons had Ron Simmons not existed. Today is Butch Reed.

Reed got started in 1978 and we’ll start in Mid-South on January 13, 1984.

Butch Reed vs. Rick Rood

Yes, that Rood. He’s VERY young here and looks nothing like himself. Reed is a former champion here so what do you expect out of this? Reed throws him around a lot but Rood makes a comeback with very little time left in the show. Butch takes him down again and we hear about a new team coming called the Rock N Roll Express. Reed hooks a facelock with about two minutes to go in the show. He finally wins with a delayed gorilla press.

Rating: D. It’s always cool to see someone like Rude out there where you have no idea what’s coming from him in the next few years. Reed was a guy that had everything going for him and then more or less disappeared after Doom broke up. The match was just a squash but Rude would get a push soon after this I think.

Reed would also appear at the WCCW Parade of Champions in 1984.

Chick Donovan vs. Butch Reed

Reed is a total monster here. Donovan is a surfer character and is built as well. They exchange shoves and Donovan takes him down. It’s so strange to think that this is almost a year before Wrestlemania as things look like they could be from the late 90s. I think we’re clipped a bit as Donovan grabs the leg but I’m not sure. They fight over a top wristlock and Reed takes over. Donovan gets thrown to the floor and the camera jumps around a lot. I think it’s more odd camera work than clipping. Donovan looks to Hulk Up on the floor and comes back in but gets his head kicked off. A gorilla press drop and a shoulder block end this.

Rating: D+. Not much here but I’m really impressed by the production values here. Maybe it’s that I’m so used to everything from the 80s being dark until the very end, but this is a really bright and good looking show. Reed would go on to the NWA and then the WWF later in the 80s and then become half of Doom. Donovan became an announcer I think.

To the AWA at StarCage 1985.

Brad Rheingans/Bob Backlund vs. Larry Zbyszko/Butch Reed

Once Backlund left the WWF he didn’t really do much but this was probably the high point of his non-WWF stuff. Rheingans vs. Reed to start which is a pure power match. The idea here is that Brad and Backlund both coached the US Olympic team which I’ve never heard of but maybe it’s true. Anyway Brad gets caught in a headlock but he hits a dropkick to take Butch down. Off to Backlund and it’s time for the arm work.

Forget Backlund because Brad is in before he can do much at all. Larry comes in and Brad puts on a HARD headlock before bringing in Backlund for a bit softer headlock. Brad comes in again and we get some good old fashioned cheating to take him down. Butch and Larry hit a double slam for two followed by a big boot to take Rheingans down, but for some reason he’s able to easily tag out.

Backlund comes in and naturally works on the arm some more. More heel cheating (do I need to bother to explain which team is the heel version?) gets Backlund in trouble and it’s chinlock time. Larry comes in and slams Backlund for two before more double teaming follows. A small package gets two for Backlund but it’s back to Reed with a double ax to the back. There’s a bearhug as Reed slows things down again.

Off to another chinlock by Reed and Backlund is in trouble again. Back to Larry for more stomping to Backlund and there’s the abdominal stretch that Zbyszko loves to use. We can’t have a tag yet though because we need the sequel to the bearhug: the LIFTING bearhug! Just like earlier, a headbutt gets Backlund out of the hold and they collide off the ropes.

Bob makes the tag and even though the referee doesn’t see it, he lets it go anyway. I guess he’s as bored as I am. After a quick cleaning of house, Backlund is brought back in to pound away on Larry, who apparently has a title Backlund wants. That helps a bit I guess. In a very abrupt ending, Larry sets up a piledriver but Backlund backdrops him and stays on top for the pin.

Rating: D+. As I said, this match just kept going. It’s pretty clear that they’re extending the matches longer than they should go due to the amount of time they have and a total of seven matches on the card. The problem with this show is that the stories for these matches are almost tacked on, making the matches hard to get into. They’re not bad though.

Reed would head over to the WWF in 1986. Here’s his debut match on Wrestling Challenge, September 28, 1986.

Butch Reed vs. Mike Kelly

Kelly is more famous as Shane Douglas and he looks to be about 15 here. Reed shoves him around and then drops Mike with a knee to the ribs. A nice looking vertical suplex gets two for Butch and he gets an easy pin with a gutbuster.

Here’s one of his first big matches, from Wrestlemania III.

Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware

Slick is here with Reed. That comes into play later. Reed overpowers him to start which is appropriate in a power vs. speed match. Koko comes back with that dropkick of his to send Reed out to the floor. Back in and a shot to the Bird Man’s ribs give Butch control again but Koko hiptosses him down. Koko pounds away and hits another dropkick for two. A run of the ropes proves deadly though as Reed rolls through a cross body and a handful of tights pins Ware.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as Koko was there as a warm body to lose to Butch. Reed was going to be the Intercontinental Champion after Steamboat got done with it but Honky talked his way into getting the belt instead. This match was there only to set up the post match stuff which we’ll get to now.

One of Reed’s biggest feuds was with Billy Graham. Here they are facing off in Houseon on November 6, 1987.

Butch Reed vs. Billy Graham

Reed goes right after Billy’s bad hip but Graham comes back with some right hands to take over. Butch pulls out a foreign object and nails Billy in the throat as this doesn’t seem like it’s going to last long. The referee stops Reed from bringing in a chair so he goes after the leg again instead. Graham loses a test of strength but powers up and puts Reed down on his back for two. A low blow has Butch on the floor and Graham punches him out of the air as Reed comes back in. Not that it matters as Butch trips him up and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: D-. Oh man this was bad but it’s a house show match in 1987 so how good can you expect it to be? Graham was in such horrible shape at this point that there was almost nothing else he could do. Thank goodness this was short instead of dragging. Thankfully Graham would retire soon after this.

Here’s Reed in the WWF World Title Tournament at Wrestlemania IV.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Randy Savage vs. Butch Reed

Macho and Liz come out in matching blue and Liz really is beautiful. She’s also one of the few females in wrestling that stayed classy (until Russo got ahold of her) for almost her entire run. This is power vs. speed with Reed getting Savage in the corner early on. Jesse asks Gorilla if he would buy a car from Slick (Reed’s manager). Gorilla says no. Jesse: “Not even a bright blue Caddy?” These two are just freaking fun together. They knew how to work off each other so well and it made the late 80s a ton of fun.

Reed pounds away on Savage and guillotines him on the top rope and out to the floor. Back in and Butch stomps on Randy a bit before elbowing him right back down. Savage gets in a kick to the face and fires off some punches, only to get clotheslined down again. Reed goes up top but takes WAY too long to jaw at Liz, allowing Savage to slam him down and drop the elbow for the pin. The pop when Savage hits the elbow is HUGE. You could hear it starting lasts year in Detroit and now it’s full fledged here.

Rating: C-. This was basically a squash until the very end. Savage was great at building up sympathy from the crowd which is why the pops were so huge when he won here. Reed would also head to the NWA soon after this to do nothing for a year before joining Doom. Not much to see here but again, the time crunch hurts things a lot.

Reed would jump to the NWA after this and appear at Wrestlewar 1989.

Butch Reed vs. Ranger Ross

Oh what are you expecting here? Ross more or less is just a run of the mill soldier character. Ross does Rude’s hip swivel for no apparent reason. Ross takes him down to start as we may be in for a more competitive match than I thought. They look a lot alike so it’s a bit hard to tell them apart other than their tights. Reed finally takes over as he’s far from popular.

Long is here even though he didn’t have any guys at this point. Doom was on the way I guess. Reed uses a knee lift that literally does not hit Ross but who cares about that? We hit the chinlock which isn’t around the chin or actually locked but why nitpick I guess. They botch the heck out of something and go with a headlock as Ross uses various strikes to send Reed to the floor.

They punch on the floor a bit so Reed kicks him in the head as he’s coming back in. All Reed here as they mess up a suplex back in. A top rope shoulder block where Ross was too close so he more or less got destroyed to end it. Not much at all here.

Rating: F. No point, dull match, ton of botches, what else do you expect?

Reed would hook up with Ron Simmons as the team of Doom. They were entered into the Iron Man Tournament at Starrcade 1989, including this match.

Doom vs. Road Warriors

Animal and Reed start things off and it’s as slow and plodding as you would expect two guys of this size to be. After a dropkick to Reed’s chest it’s off to Hawk for a wristlock. They collide a few times in the middle of the ring with Hawk finally taking him down via a clothesline. Off to Simmons (keep in mind that they’re not named that but it’s obvious which is which if you’ve seen them wrestle enough) who collides with Hawk several times. Hawk takes over again and it’s off to Animal who gets taken down by an elbow to the face.

It’s back to Hawk almost immediately for a missed charge, sending his shoulder HARD into the post. Simmons catapults Hawk’s throat into the bottom rope and it’s back to Reed who gets two off a powerslam. We hit the chinlock for a bit until a double back elbow takes down Hawk.

A middle rope elbow gets two for Reed as Woman talks trash from the floor. Back to the chinlock on Hawk as the time speeds up again. I haven’t noticed any clipping here so I’m guessing they’re just speeding things up to get through the matches faster. Hawk fights back with right hands and gets the tag off to Animal. A powerslam puts Reed on the mat as everything breaks down. Simmons tries a piledriver but Hawk comes off the top rope with a clothesline to give Animal the pin.

Rating: D. Not much to see here as we’re already reaching the problem with a tournament like this: we’ve already seen Doom twice and we get to see them again later on. It’s not interesting to watch them fight at this point given that they’re pretty much already eliminated from a math standpoint. Also it’s a bad sign when you have to bring math into a wrestling show but maybe that’s just personal taste.

Doom would go on a tear and face the Steiners for the Tag Team Titles at Capital Combat.

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Steiner Brothers

DANG that Doom music is awesome. They’re Ron Simmons and Butch Reed if you’ve never heard of them. They’re just big bruisers that have nothing but power. The Steiners are about as awesome as possible at this point so this is going to be a war. Rick’s hair is insane here and looks awful but it was just past the 80s so it’s ok I guess. Also, this is the Scott Steiner that was supposed to be the wrestler of the 90s as he’s a freaking monster that can move like Chris Jericho.

We’re stalling a ton by this point. Long looks like Carl Winslow with his hair like that which is rather amusing. Scott and Simmons start us off and Steiner just shoves the referee to the ground for no apparent reason. No disqualification on that for no apparent reason. These two just hammer the tar out of each other with the crowd being white hot. Scott is throwing Simmons around. That’s hard to imagine.

And now let’s look at the fans for no apparent reason. Scott throws out a perfect dropkick and it’s ALL Scott so far. I’m having issues taking Rick seriously with that hair. Apparently Rick offered to take Jim Ross fishing one time. That could be hilarious. To say this has been physical would be an understatement. They’re beating the tar out of each other and we hear about Simmons being the MVP of the Hula Bowl. That kind of weakens things a bit.

It’s weird hearing about all these little factoids about Steiner, including that he loves animals. It’s also weird hearing him called Hacksaw Reed. I know it’s his name but I associate that nickname with Duggan and Duggan alone. Doom has taken over here as we calm things down a lot. Reed has Scott down and pounds him with right hands. Better than the Atomic Noogie I guess. Reed hooks a decent bulldog of all things.

This has been slower but good so far. Frankensteiner hits out of nowhere and the place is all of a sudden alive. I’ll give the Steiners this: they could get a crowd going. Doom hits a modified Hart Attack for a long two but Rick makes the save. In a different kind of ending, Rick is pounding on Reed in the corner and sets up for a belly to belly from the middle rope but Simmons makes a save.

Reed hits more or less a spinebuster out of the corner from the second rope for the titles. I like that ending which is like a theme tonight or something. Post match Long said he would do it and he was right. This would wind up being the longest tag title reign in WCW history as they would hold the titles until next February. Also, this was just below Sheamus beating Cena on the shock scale as while they were both big deals, the Steiners had been champions for nearly a year and were more or less unstoppable up to this point.

Rating: B+. Better than the previous one and another very good match. This has been a great show for tag wrestling as I thought it would be. This lived up to the hype of a very big showdown which is always a good thing. These two were both big time powerhouse teams and this worked very well. I liked it more than I should have but Doom is just awesome so there we are.

Here’s a title defense from Halloween Havoc 1990.

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Ric Flair/Arn Anderson

Doom has the titles and are recently turned faces. Anderson and Simmons start things off and AA gets shoved around. Simmons suplexes him down and headbutts him to the floor, making the Horsemen take a time out. Back in and Flair hits a knee to the back, but the suplex Anderson hits is no sold. Simmons comes back with right hands and Reed hits a knee of his own the back of Anderson. Powerslam gets two for Big Ron.

Teddy Long slaps Flair and Dangerously freaks out. Naitch comes in to face Reed and it’s time to strut. Flair goes to the eyes and takes over on a power man like only he can. Reed comes back with punches of his own and Doom hits stereo gorilla press slams to take over again. It gets back to Reed vs. Flair in the corner and the chops just don’t work on him Ric.
Reed sends him into the corner and the Flair Flip lands on a cameraman.

Simmons pounds Flair up the ramp and the chops STILL don’t work. Back to ringside and the Horsemen are in trouble. Anderson comes in to face Reed but it’s quickly off to Simmons. The Horsemen finally realize they can’t overpower Doom so they do what they do best: cheat! Flair comes back in and now his chops work. Anderson’s spinebuster gets two on Ron. Back to Flair and it’s time to go after the knee. There’s the Figure Four (on the correct leg and everything) and they even cheat during that.

Simmons finally makes it to the rope but Anderson is right there to keep Ron in the ring. Ron fights back but his right hands only get him so far. A dropkick misses and they get into a test of strength on the mat, letting Arn do his jump in the air and crotch himself spot. Back to Flair and even with Simmons worn down he can’t drop him with a shoulder. To the floor and Flair gets sent into the barricade to give Simmons a chance.

A sunset flip on Arn doesn’t work as Anderson makes the tag to Flair on the way down. Simmons hits a kind of clothesline (looked more like a jumping fist) but AA stops the tag AGAIN. Simmons is finally like screw this and drills Anderson so he can make the tag to Butch. Everything breaks down and Reed kills Anderson with a top rope shoulder for two. DDT kills Reed but Simmons makes the save. They fight to the floor and it’s a double countout which isn’t that popular of a decision.

Rating: B. I was digging this match until the end, but it was really just a setup for the better street fight at Starrcade. Granted that had Windham and Anderson due to Flair having to do something else that night but it was still the Horsemen. Anyway, good match here but the ending was more or less just a setup for a street fight later on.

This started a feud between the two teams, including this match from Clash of the Champions XIII.

We recap Doom vs. the Horsemen. Flair and Arn said they wouldn’t share a locker room with Doom, turning the champions face and setting up a match between the teams at Halloween Havoc. The match went to a double countout, setting up the stipulations for the singles match mentioned earlier: one member of each team with Long’s services as a chauffeur and a title shot up against Flair’s limo and yacht.

Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed

There are some special stipulations here: Doom’s manager Teddy Long’s services as a chauffeur and a title shot up against Flair’s limo and yacht. Reed runs Ric over with a shoulder block before firing off some hard chops in the corner. Ric tries chops of his own so Reed punches him in the face. There’s a gorilla press and a clothesline to send Flair over the top and out to the floor. Flair heads up the ramp but a running clothesline to the back of the head puts him down. Back inside and Flair tries a headlock but gets countered into a backslide for two.

Reed rains down right hands in the corner but Flair finally gets in a thumb to the eye to take over. Flair stomps away as Simmons is yelling at the referee about something, allowing Ric to throw Reed over the top and out to the floor. Anderson gets in some cheap shots on the floor but they just fire Reed up, allowing him to take over with some left hands. They head back outside with Flair being rammed into the barricade over and over to change control.

Ric comes back with a quick thumb to the eye and drops a knee to the head before WOOing a bit. A second knee drop misses and Butch puts on a figure four of his own. Anderson helps Ric get to the ropes but the referee pulls Reed by the hair to get him out of the hold. That’s actually good for Reed because it could have been a DQ otherwise. Reed gets two off a suplex but he misses a middle rope elbow.

Flair can’t follow up so Reed hammers away and gorilla presses Flair down. Butch wins a slugout and slams him down one more time before hitting the top rope shoulder. Long is with the referee for no apparent reason and everything breaks down. The referee is knocked out and Anderson hits Reed in the back with a chair, giving Flair the pin.

Rating: B-. It’s a good match but fifteen minutes of good stuff isn’t enough to make up for an hour and forty five minutes of drek. The ending wasn’t ever really in doubt as you need to set up another match at Starrcade but they were able to make it entertaining anyway. Reed was getting better in the ring at this point and the match worked well as a result.

Here’s the rematch of the tag match from Starrcade 1990, with a minor change.

Tag Titles: Doom vs. Arn Anderson/Barry Windham

Doom is defending (the WCW tag titles, which are newly formed as the NWA Tag Titles are a thing of the past) and this is a street fight, meaning anything goes. The champions have unmasked since last year and now have former referee Teddy Long as their manager. It’s a big brawl to start with Simmons slamming Windham on the ramp. Arn makes the save and whips Ron with a belt as I’m barely going to be able to keep track of what’s going on here. Windham suplexes Reed in the ring for two as Simmons whips Anderson with a belt.

Reed hits Barry in the face as Anderson hits Simmons in the knee with a chair. Now Barry goes face first into the post and is busted open. Windham comes back with a belly to back suplex on the floor as Anderson is whipping Ron back near the ring. At least they’re all near each other now. Everyone but Reed gets in the ring now with Windham pounding on Simmons with a belt around his fist. Now Barry gets a chair to blast Simmons in the shoulder as Ron is taking a beating.

On the floor, Reed sends Arn into the barricade as Simmons hits a BIG spinebuster on Windham for two. Reed is back in now to pound on Windham as everyone is finally in the ring at the same time. Simmons gorilla presses Anderson down but Barry hits Ron low as he goes up top. There’s Barry’s superplex finisher but Simmons kicks out at two. Now Butch goes up top for a shoulder block on Anderson, only to get caught in a DDT by Windham.

Anderson brings the chair back in but gets it shoved down onto his own head by Simmons for two. Reed chokes on Barry with the chair but Anderson makes the save and sends Reed to the floor. Anderson goes to the middle rope but Reed saves Simmons, allowing Ron to clothesline him out of the air. Windham blasts Reed and it’s a double pin as Barry pins Butch and Ron pins Anderson at the same time, which means Doom retains the belts.

Rating: A-. Great brawl here with a bad ending. This would lead to another rematch between the two teams with Doom retaining the titles once and for all. Still though, after everything else we’ve sat through tonight, this was a big breath of fresh air and a great fight. Doom would drop the titles in a few months and split up in March.

Here’s a match after that split, from SuperBrawl I.

Butch Reed vs. Ron Simmons

They actually call this a Thunder-Doom cage match. Basically they were a dominant tag team but Simmons turned face so we’re having a cage match. Their old manager, one Teddy Long, is going to be in a small cage above the ring. They come out to the same music for no apparent reason. You could tell they had something big in store for Simmons but I don’t think anyone knew how big it was going to be.

The music suits a face far better than it does a heel too but whatever. Twice in a minute Ross lets us know that Simmons’ jersey was retired by Florida St. That’s impressive, but we get it. Ron is just a freaking BEAST. I’m completely failing to see the point of the cage here. They’re using it a bit, but this seems like something that could have been a normal one on one match with Long in the cage.

If he’s in one, what’s the point of them being in one and vice versa? Why am I trying to figure out Jim Herd and his booking? Reed’s nickname is Hacksaw which is annoying as I keep thinking of Duggan. Reed was almost about to be a Horseman at one point also. That’s nearly stunning. This might be the most boring cage match I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Apparently Reed has a lot of experience in cage matches. Not that such a thing makes a difference but whatever. Oh and Simmons has been bleeding for awhile. We get a GO RON GO chant as Reed uses the LAZIEST chinlock that I have ever seen.

He’s just got his hands over Simmons’ throat and nothing more. Seriously, flex your arms or something at least. Simmons keeps having his comebacks stopped and it’s really hurting the match. They get a double clothesline and Long throws a chain to Reed, who gets hit with a spinebuster for the pin instead.

Rating: D. If there was no cage this is a C+ or so. It was just a boring match with zero need for the stipulation and gimmick. It blew off the DOOM EXPLODES feud but that’s about it. Simmons would go on to become world champion relatively soon and Reed would fade away. See what one cage match can do for you?

And one final match from Clash of the Champions XX.

Barbarian/Butch Reed vs. Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham

Barbarian and Reed are both associates of Cactus who is on commentary. Rhodes drops to the mat so Barry can run over Barbarian before double dropkicks send the heels to the floor. Things settle down with Barry getting two on Barbarian via a rollup before it’s off to Reed vs. Dustin. Butch runs into a boot in the corner but avoids a charge, sending Rhodes out to the floor.

Barbarian and Reed drop Dustin with a double back elbow and Barbarian hammers away a bit more. Reed gets two off a powerslam and pounds right hands into Dustin’s head. Dustin gets rammed back first into the buckle and a knee to the ribs is good for two. We hit the reverse chinlock for a bit but Rhodes fights up with an elbow to the jaw.

A double clothesline puts both guys down and Dustin makes the tag to Windham. Reed comes in as well but gets taken dropped with a running clothesline. The superplex drops Barbarian and a double dropkick sends Reed outside, but Barbarian gets back up and kicks Barry’s head off for the pin.

Rating: C. Nice little tag match here with both teams getting to look good in the process. Windham and Rhodes weren’t a bad team at all and the monsters worked well against them. Reed and Barbarian almost had to get the win here to set up Reed vs. Simmons, which makes Barry and Dustin a curious selection for opponents.

Reed would pretty much disappear after this but would stay in the independent scene for several years. He was a guy with a great look and was strong as an ox but his singles stuff wasn’t all that great. Once he got in Doom though, it was all gravy and the team got awesome in a hurry. It’s odd that he disappeared after 1992. You would think he would have gotten a quick run somewhere else.

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