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Loss

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  1. Loss
    Really energetic six-man tag that keeps a good pace, has a hot Center Stage crowd and is laid out really well. Nothing to complain about at all. I think Bossman and Simmons messed up something because there was some editing right at that point. Still, fun way to spend 10 minutes.
  2. Loss
    Flair is still riding a wave from Starrcade. This is your typical good fall-out-of-bed Flair interview, but it does raise an interesting point. He conquered the odds in such a big way at Starrcade that it's hard to really use it to propel him to anything bigger. He's proven everything he can prove, so why keep wrestling? I'll just say Flair had a few more good matches in him, but wow, he would have saved himself quite a bit of humiliation and heartache if that had been his swan song.
  3. Loss
    They show a recap of a GREAT angle from the week before. Ricky Morton didn't get to see his dad Paul over the holidays, and Gibson left a letter for Bob Caudle not to say anything, but that they were going to surprise him later in the show since they haven't seen each other in a while. Cornette and the Bodies got to him during the Rock & Rolls match and this is just executed really well all around. Gibson isn't a great interview, so I love that they got around that by something as simple as him handling a letter to Bob Caudle. Cornette and Pritchard do a great promo summarizing all of this and hyping Sunday Bloody Sunday. Then, they say they have Paul Morton here and that he's perfectly fine, and it's Jimmy Del Ray with a cane and sunglasses doing a Stevie Wonder act. The Rock & Rolls quickly interrupt this. Notice how the babyfaces quickly break this up so they're kept strong. The attention to detail in all of this is fantastic.
  4. Loss
    Bret changed his gear and is dressed like Owen instead of in his usual attire. Owen is excited about finally getting his big break and is really good here. They are pretty over as a team, more so than I remembered.
  5. Loss
    I liked this vignette. Paul Bearer could be really effective at times.
  6. Loss
    Nice, long house show match. I enjoyed the TV title change, but this is given more time and has more house show-type stuff like playing to the crowd and extended heat building, so I favor this one too, just like Gregor. The early shine stuff was worked really well. I think they stretched out Jannetty building to the hot tag a little long, as I started losing interest. And the finish made a fresh Kid look too beatable, but this was still really good. Not aggressive enough to be a great match, but a super fun one. Kid and Jannetty had quite the week.
  7. Loss
    Jim Cornette is apparently at a press conference (house show) in Tokyo, Japan (probably somewhere in Kentucky), which is why he isn't present. Yes, Fuji is in the U.S. while the American spokesperson is in Tokyo. Anyway, the party is quickly interrupted by Paul Bearer pushing a casket to ringside. Yoko's scared reaction is really good. Fuji gives Yoko orders to squash the casket, but the Undertaker jumps out when they're about to do the deed, and Yoko completely freaks out and literally trips over himself to get out of the ring. Fun segment, but I don't need to hear Crush doing commentary again.
  8. Loss
    Good match. I don't think these two ever had quite the match they could have based on their breakup, but this is still really good. Pillman targets Austin's knee with some nice stuff, but it doesn't last long and Austin doesn't really sell it. Austin then works over Pillman's arm and shoulder with some great holds, which Pillman sells like a champ. The same thing I said for the Sting match applies here -- this is a glimpse of what you'd get if Austin was headlining at this time, but he was working a style above his push, so his matches always built so well, but never got time to really play out. Still, this is worth seeing.
  9. Loss
    James Mitchell does an interview in his first gimmick, and I like him here much better as a talker than in other gimmicks. He manages to extoll the virtues of atheism and put over the incoming Prince Kharis all at the same time!
  10. Loss
    The aftermath of an SMW board meeting. Bob Armstrong said if he could get a match where if he won, he'd get his commissionership back, he'd agree to anything Jim Cornette wanted. So Cornette decided that he'd have to beat Terry Funk, and if he doesn't, The Bullet must unmask, kiss Jim Cornette's feet and then leave SMW forever. Great Cornette promo.
  11. Loss
    Bret and Owen react to the tag titles not being on the line at the Royal Rumble. Bret is congratulatory while Owen sees it a different way. Bret says for the rest of his career, he wants to move to the tag ranks and team with Owen exclusively. They really wanted to make it crystal clear that Owen was going to turn on Bret at the Rumble. Johnny Polo and the Quebecers are excited about their return match at MSG on Monday night. Kid and Marty are on top of the world. In 2012, this would result in a triple threat match at the PPV, planned turn be damned.
  12. Loss
    These two always have good matches. This is not an exception to that. Tenryu pulverizes Koshinaka with a chair at the onset, with the referee even taking some punishment! Nice mix of wrestling and brawling. Kosh juices and fights back from underneath. There is one nearfall that is insanely close, to a point half the building is convinced tnat the referee or the wrestlers made a mistake. My biggest takeaway from this -- which is probably old news to most people -- is just how many of Kawada's signature spots were lifted from Tenryu.
  13. Loss
    This is a pretty unsung match as far as WWF handhelds go, I guess because they topped themselves at Wrestlemania. But this is still an excellent match. It's less spotty than Mania, but that's a good thing and makes it different enough from Wrestlemania. They don't really do any big spots here that they dropped at the big show, but they did later add quite a bit more. Plus, the filmers give the most sarcastic smark commentary in wrestling history, which alternates between amusing and annoying.
  14. Loss
    "Why isn't he working the knee?" "No one ever wins a match with this hold." "Owen Hart doesn't have the strength to make this hold effective." "That'll (adjust your mood/give you a headache/etc)" "I don't know why he's applying a submission hold. That's not going to work in this match." *Random non-sequiturs about amateur wrestling that have nothing to do with anything* Aside from Gorilla Monsoon making sure we know he's smarter than everyone in the room, making some impressive spots seem run of the mill by underselling them, actively trying to kill quite a few of the moves and holds applied in the match and seeming annoyed that a match is happening that keeps him from making his off-topic points, this was a great watching experience, and an excellent match. I really loved the opening mat stuff. Bret was either slightly out of his league or was just selling to protect the things that make the Steiners standout, but the Owen/Rick exchange was outstanding. The match isn't laid out in a particularly great way, but that's secondary because the wrestling exchanges themselves are so good, and there were so many great teases of a finish down the final stretch. That's really the only thing keeping this behind the superb Tokyo Dome match the Steiners had the week before. In some ways, I wish Owen would have had a different partner than Bret, only because Owen could work the Steiners style and suplex-heavy spotfest isn't really Bret's forte. Still, this was lots of fun and was pretty atypical for the WWF style, and everyone should see it. As Steiners dream match tags go, it's better than any of the Road Warriors or Sting/Luger tags I've seen, and that includes Superbrawl.
  15. Loss
    Before I get started, let me just say Gorilla and Stan Lane are the announce team here. This was loads of fun. I think I liked this even better than the title change the day before. Samu and Fatu were in great shape. Two guys that size cutting this pace is pretty impressive. And yeah, Samu doing that hangman spot is nuts. Also, Afa's run-in was pretty amazing, as he worked an entire exchange with Kid that looked really good. Really good, athletic performance that's worth seeing.
  16. Loss
    Really fun match and an even better feel good moment. Kid ate some moves that looked pretty sick from the Quebecers, including top rope splashes where it looked like he was taking far more impact than he should have. Not sure the point of the commercial break false finish, unless they were outsmarting themselves over making a title change a surprise. That nitpicking aside, this had lots of heat and was very enjoyable.
  17. Loss
    I really love the dynamic of this match. Kansai teams with legends against Ozaki and young guns. Oz's team takes a pretty big beating to build sympathy, and the stalwart/underdog dynamic is only helped by the size difference between the two sides. It's here that you really see all the things Ozaki does well, as even when she's not in the match, she works the apron like a champ. Devil breaking out the Argentine backbreaker on Cutie, only for Cutie to counter with the octopus, was tremendous. You also don't expect Cutie Suzuki to be so aggressive -- because of her name and look -- but she goes toe-to-toe with Devil and it's pretty fun. Plum Mariko looks excellent here in terms of fluidly executing moves. From a purely mechanics perspective, she is probably the best wrestler in this match, which is no small feat. She's not as spastic or exciting as Toyota, but she reminds me of her athletically. There are times when there is quite a bit going on in this match, yet it doesn't really become a clusterfuck. There is *a lot* of synchronized wrestling, and if that's not your thing, you'll have some problems with this. I think it's fun when it's not set up in a contrived way, and it does feel natural here for the most part. Chig and Ozaki getting in a shouting match on the apron because Oz is a little too close for comfort when trying to cheer for her troubled teammates is lots of fun, especially because it feels like a setup when Oz comes in and immediately takes a big beating. She does eventually rally her team to make a big comeback on Kansai, but they have trouble sustaining any momentum. Plum catching Chigusa out of nowhere in some really weird leglock was awesome and had the crowd going crazy. Devil doing everything she can to try to break the hold gets her jeered like crazy. Cutie finally gets her to stop interfering by kicking Kansai every time Devil runs in. Devil is dying to get in and finally does, and she's all "If you want to do painful legholds on the mat, I'll show you painful legholds on the mat" and ties her in knots for a while. Devil's ragdoll powerbombs on Ozaki look brutal, which is a credit to how Ozaki is taking the move as much as it is how Devil is applying it. Team Kansai just barely eeks out a win, but they had to earn it. (I realize Kansai and Oz aren't really "captains" of their team, but it's the best way to explain what makes this match work, and I don't think it's completely off the mark. It's probably more true for Ozaki's team than Dynamite's team.) What makes this match work is the hierarchy at play not only across teams, but within teams. Ozaki is pretty clearly directing traffic on her side, and this is one of her finest performances. And you also have the veterans outsmarting their younger, more athletic opponents quite often, which I always love. Wrestling doesn't get much better than this, and this is the first classic match of the year. Maybe my favorite of all the JWP on the yearbooks so far.
  18. Loss
    Of those, the Gordy match and the six-man were the only ones that made the yearbook. That's not to say based on Kobashi's spot on the card that he was being buried or should have won more or anything like that. And I know he eventually had his big wins over pretty much everyone his biggest fans would want him to beat, some of which are on this set. But one of my biggest takeaways from watching these yearbooks so far has been my surprise in how Kobashi stayed so over and his nearfalls had so much heat when he didn't really beat big guns (Misawa, Kawada, Taue, Hansen, Doc) very often. I'm not even sure if he ever beat Doc. It's a credit to him that fans were still behind him after losing so often and in such a memorable way so much of the time. When I mention that point, it's not always something I'm mentioning to criticize All Japan booking. It's more that some wrestlers who ate that many losses would be typecast at a certain level and never be able to overcome it. Kikuchi, for example, wasn't going to get the same heat wrestling top guys that Kobashi would. And Kikuchi at his best was a great wrestler. Kobashi had an "it factor", or whatever you want to call it, that Kikuchi didn't, and it's not just Kobashi's size that gives him the advantage. Is it fair to say that fans always saw Kobashi above his standing in the promotion during these years? Would "more over than his push" be an accurate description of his ability to connect with the All Japan audience? I should be careful in how I phrase that question, because I'm not saying that All Japan didn't see his value. Baba obviously thought a lot of his talent, or he wouldn't have been put in a position to have great matches so often. But the heat Kobashi gets is far beyond the heat midcarders have typically gotten in any promotion in history. Before I really dived into All Japan like I have in these yearbooks, I just assumed that the Four Corners were also the four top guys, and based on matchlists alone, always assumed Kawada and Kobashi were challenging each other for #2 all the time while Misawa held the top spot. Obviously that's not accurate.
  19. Loss
    Seems to be some sort of post-Starrcade press conference, and Flair gives a great interview. His mouth isn't bleeding, so at first, I was thinking this had to be on a different date, but I think he just cleaned up. I like the serious, low-key side of Flair, especially because that side hadn't really been emphasized in years.
  20. Loss
    Great video, with a song perfect for the Dirty White Boy gimmick. These serviceable guys who aren't going to be big names, but can get over as regional stars, can work and can talk have suffered the most from the consolidation of power/monopolies in wrestling.
  21. Loss
    After seeing Kobashi in great match after great match in '93 and really only winning one of them that I can recall (although it was a big victory), it's great to see him start off '94 with another win. Ditch is right that this is a master's class in tag team strategy from Kawada and Fuchi. In fact, as great as it is to see Kobashi get a win, because of the way the match is worked, you really want Kawada and Fuchi to pull it off because they seem like the smarter, more cohesive team. That's not to criticize the booking, that's just that the way the match was worked made me want to see a different result. Kobashi briefly tries going after Kawada's knee out of frustration and it doesn't get him very far, since Fuchi saves. Kawada and Fuchi are basically keeping Kobashi isolated and trying to get the win on Misawa. Based on their standing, you might think keeping Misawa isolated while working over Kobashi would be the better strategy, but a Misawa who is beaten down and can't make saves helps the winning cause, even if he's more difficult to pin. Anyway, I know a few Kobashi results in '94, so while I'm sure he eats a few losses, I expect him to fare better in yearbook matches than he did in '93.
  22. Loss
    The Muto/Tenryu exchanges have the Clash of the Titans feel you want, and the Samurai/Kitahara exchanges have the fun wrestling you want. Samurai had the nerve to try to powerbomb Tenryu, which I really enjoyed, but he paid for it. This isn't quite a U.S. style FIP tag, but it's pretty similar in structure, with the NJ guys getting their hot start before Tenryu & Kitahara slow them down and take over most of the match. Samurai shows signs of life, but not too many, and Muto is having to make saves in some important spots. Muto finally does get tagged in and ramps up the energy. I like the way Muto and Samurai work together as a team, as they seem to be surprisingly in sync. Muto misses a big moonsault, which leaves him prey to a Tenryu lariat and powerbomb. When Tenryu locks on the submission, I'm sure it's the finish, but Samurai makes the save. But he ends up back in the line of fire and after taking a little more punishment, Tenryu's team reigns victorious after Kitahara gets in a German suplex. There are better matches from this feud, but this is a worthy addition.
  23. Loss
    Last couple of minutes. Hogan looks pretty thin by his standards. He gets a win over Fujinami. I'm sure Fujinami had no problem putting him over, considering that he had to shoot on him while defending the WWF title in Japan once.
  24. Loss
    The last few minutes of this looked pretty good. Tenryu gets a win, which mildly surprises me, and of course Inoki lunges after him within seconds of the loss to make it seem like he got lucky despite it being a clean win.
  25. Loss
    LOVED this one. Of all the 1/4 Tokyo Dome matches on any yearbook, this is the best one I've seen. The opening minutes between Scott and Hase really put the in-ring gap that existed at this point between the U.S. and Japan in perspective. I loved Sting/Austin and thought it was pretty high-end for U.S. matwork at the time, but the mat exchanges between Scott and Hase just completely outclass it in every way, and I don't expect this to finish in the top 30 for the year (although it just might). I typically hate Muto's running dome show clothesline, but Hase deciding to try it because it looked so fun amused me. Rick holds his own. Muto does his trademark spots and gets them over. Hase is really good. But Scott Steiner is the star here. In this match, he looks like someone who should have been a singles star in New Japan, and I wish he hadn't even wasted time with U.S. runs after seeing this. This is also *possibly* the debut of the screwdriver, which got an amazing pop. I question it only because the announcers had a name ready for it. This was exactly what you want a Dome show match in the "wrestling spot" to be -- stiff with really good ebb and flow, good wrestling between the highspots, and really top-notch highspots to pop the crowd. Great match.
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