A couple years ago I started working my way through every Koko Ware match I could find on tape. I then got distracted and never went back to it and then the other day I watched some Koko.
Shock horror, here's another really good studio tag. It never did quite reach studio classic territory, though at one point I thought it was on its way. Dundee and Keirn rile up Koko early and slap him about the head. Dundee slaps him from the apron, Koko turns to react so Keirn slaps him on the back of the head as well. You could see Koko practically grinding his teeth and then he went about twelve feet in the air off a monkey flip. If this was Monsoon on commentary he'd have said Koko LITERALLY hit the rafters. Bill Dundee as your face in peril is of course very good. I guess Koko is great no matter who you partner him with because he and Dream Machine were a pretty well-oiled unit, really staying on Dundee to keep him isolated. Dundee will always make you work for it as well, constantly trying to dart to his own corner for the tag. Koko's leaping fist drop really is a thing of beauty and he was also very happy to repay some of those head slaps from earlier. Dundee scooting across the ring on his back to make the tag is undoubtedly cool, but you still kind of wish they'd spent another few minutes building the heat and working in another hope spot or two before the hot tag. Maybe if it was in the arena. Either way the fall gets thrown out when Hart trips Keirn from the floor and Keirn drags him in the ring. Why that resulted in a DQ against Keirn I'm not sure, but Jimmy was always happy to take one for the team. I liked Keirn as a bit of a roughhouse in the second fall, peeved as he was from Jimmy Hart being a nuisance. He whipped Dream Machine into the corner with some VELOCITY and Dream took an awesome stumbling fall onto his face where he landed practically in the opposite corner of the ring. Keirn eventually has enough of Koko and chucks him over the announce desk and in the end Lance calls time on the thing before a full donnybrook happens. I'm looking forward to watching the Dundee scaffold match again, but I also wish there was a Koko/Keirn singles match out there because I bet it wouldn't have sucked.
Sweet Brown Sugar, Bobby Eaton & Dream Machine v Bill Dundee, Eddie Gilbert & Tommy Gilbert (Memphis, 12/26/81)
How many times has it been said that Koko and Eaton are the lost great Midnight Express? I personally must've said it on this stupid blog about a dozen times and you watch this and the first thing you think is oh yeah Koko and Eaton should've been a Midnight Express. Eaton was a menace and constantly trying to stick his nose into everything, which riled up Dundee who was having none of it. Dundee is always worth watching in studio matches; he's maybe the best studio match wrestler ever and he was on fire here, popping guys with punches, dodging away from return shots, ducking in again to throw more punches, shaking his hips and strutting all the while. There was a part where he ducked away from an Eaton punch that wound up catching Koko, then Dundee slapped Koko in the head to add insult to injury, then when Eaton hugged Koko by way of apology Dundee scooted over and punched both of them. Eddie Gilbert was a fun face in peril who got to fire up and lay it in on occasion and I like how his old man was not about to let the heels double- or triple-team him, jumping in the ring to his son's aid when Koko or Eaton tried to instigate shit (which they tried often). I also love how just about any studio match with Jimmy Hart at ringside will have at least one moment where someone will leap out the ring to get at him and it leads to Jimmy running all around ringside to get away. This time it was Dundee's turn and for a second there I thought he might even catch the little nuisance.
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