Eddie Gilbert and Ricky Morton vs. Mr. Onita and Masa Fuchi - Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl

I am going to go out on a limb and say there's not a lot of noteworthy things about Tupelo, Mississippi. I will grant you that it is the birthplace of Elvis, but there's a reason he moved. There's likely not a lot to do on any given Saturday evening. Wikipedia informs me in the first two lines that it's "Smaller than Meridian and larger than Greenville". I believe this speaks for itself.

The wonderful thing about small towns is they make everything around them look big. In wrestling lore, there was an incident which is something of folk legend and it took place in none other than Tupelo. A two out of three falls match featuring Ricky Morton and Eddie Gilbert vs. the wily (as all asian people were in the 80's) Masanobu Fuchi and Mr. (Atsushi) Onita with Tojo Yammamoto as their manager. In the future, Ricky Morton would go on to become one half of one of the best tag teams iin the Rock and Roll Express. Sadly, Gilbert would die a wrestler's death. On a brighter note, Fuchi would become old, haggard and enter to Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone when wrestling. Onita would be a Japanese Senator and Death Match Legend. In fact, he went to Afghanistan on a humanitarian mission to entertain the people with his Death Match ways. Seriously.

Humble beginnings in a small town in Mississippi. The match is joined at the end, as Gilbert rolls up Onita while the ref is distracted. Yammamoto, with the grace of a disabled gazelle, comes into the ring, bends down, looks Gilbert in the eyes and throws salt (that most heinous of spices) into his eyes. Onita rolls him up and that's that for the match.



It's the beginning of something much bigger though. They weren't through that night, as in any small town, you have to make your own fun. And often times amongst reckless youth it's made through debauchery. Morton is furious and he takes away Yammamoto's "Japanese fighting stick" and starts belting the victors with it. They end up brawling all the way into the concession stand for the show. Lance Russell is fantastic all through this as he's both appalled and fascinated by everything going on and he tries to direct Eddie Marlin in trying to get things under control. Yammamoto ends up busted open and he basically just sits contorted against the inside of the serving area with blood pouring down his face, like some kind of weird Concession Stand Phantom.



Plastic tubs, Ketchup, Mustard; nothing is sacred as they scour this 20 foot area. And every single fan has found their way from their seats over to the concession stand. Tojo ends up finding his way up after a cut in the action and he's randomly choking some old guy on the floor. This prompts perhaps the most surreal and fantastic wrestling image ever. This old Japanese man, dripping blood and covered in Mustard, begins SLAPPING THE SHIT out of an old woman who wandered into the stand. I love Pro Wrestling. A Gajillion Stars and an eternal place in my heart for Tojo Yammamoto.