Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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Preach. We're going to get these every week... John No, we're not. tlk23, I ask that you stop posting these.
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Well, none of that stuff is verbatim from the source (at least not the stuff where I know who the source is), so if he reworded the rest, he could have reworded that too.
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Okay, I defended you before, but I have to take issue with this. You are pretending you have WWE sources when you don't.
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I realize that it's fairly standard, but it really fits well in the context of the year. The story of Toyota and Yamada is about as epic as you can get in wrestling, is it not? Fighting each other, losing hair, having great triumphs and losses as a team, fighting off wrestlers from other promotions ... it's a big up and down story. I know that's kind of a "Well, duh ..." statement, but something about this match put that in perspective for me. -
I really loved this match. I'm probably overrating it, but it's the first time in any of the yearbooks outside of Hokuto in '93 that I can really see how the big picture booking is connecting these matches to each other, so something clicked. But I really loved this. The dive train near the end was great. When you see the story of Toyota and Yamada in '92, you realize these two went through hell together, both as partners and adversaries, going into Dream Rush. Apparently, Kansai and Oz did too -- moreso as rivals -- which is one of the best things about that match. But I thought the finish to each fall here was terrific. Kyoko and Hokuto looked strongest early on, but the last two falls were much more competitive. Yamada dropping Kyoko the way she did to take the second fall was brutal, as was Toyota's suplex in the third. I don't expect to rate this extremely high, but I enjoyed this quite a bit, mainly because of the context of seeing Toyota and Yamada go after each other so strongly just a few days earlier and then team so wonderfully here. There's also the strategy of separating Hokuto and Inoue to clear the way for a victory. The mental teamwork put this over the top.
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I liked things about this match, but was expecting more. Vader played pinball to the extreme early on, to a point where it turned me off a little. Bigelow looks better than ever here. I didn't care for the finish at all, but this was a fun match.
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This really in some ways is the best possible WWF-style main event match. What I mean by that is that the action is solid but not particularly special, there's a lot of laid out selling in an attempt to build drama, it's paced in a way to milk the dramatic moments for all their worth and there's a great storyline tying everything together that they sort of smack you in the face with -- that of Sasaki facing his mentor and putting forth his best effort, but losing in the end. It feels big and grand and I'd be surprised if this was entirely called on the fly. There are too many well-scripted spots that they clearly put some thought into. It's a smart match. Sasaki bleeding adds to the drama. If this headlined a PPV in the WWF, it would be considered among the best matches the company has ever done. As it stands, it's my favorite singles heavyweight match in New Japan for the year (which I don't expect to stick) and kind of an instant sentimental favorite. If I ever released a Naylor/Schneider comp of my favorite matches, this may be something I would want on it.
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Looking back, I don't think Hogan had a match that was ever not the last match on a PPV he was on until Spring Stampede '98 -- the bat match with Nash against Piper and Giant. His next PPV match at the GAB teaming with Bret against Savage and Piper was also not the headlining match. Same for Hogan/Warrior at Havoc (even though that was the match put in the position to draw the money). Pretty sure those are the only WCW PPVs he ever worked where he didn't headline whether he was champ or not. I'm not counting Russo era and don't want to look that up because it will just be depressing and frustrating to re-live that time period, but it may also apply there.
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Random question: Since Doc and Gordy were All Japan guys, were there problems with New Japan guys putting them over? Likewise, were there other NJ regulars like Vader who they had to stay away from? Never heard anything about this, but I'm curious. I also assume this is why Liger/Pillman got knocked out of the tag tournament right before Williams/Gordy at the GAB (not that they would have put them over Steamboat/Koloff anyway) ...
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I would like to point out that: (1) Vince McMahon is an infinitely better TV personality than HHH. (2) HHH is being put in a strong position way more than Vince ever was. Has he been involved in a single segment yet that didn't end with him getting the last word and his music playing? He has also gotten to call Punk overrated and make fun of Truth's gimmick. I wouldn't call either of those things burials. But I would point out that if HHH is assuming the Vince role, those aren't things Vince would have ever done. Vince's role was never to assert his authority as much as it was to have it challenged constantly.
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Also, LOL at Cena's logic. Punk beat him so he's the champ and Cena thought he was about get stripped of his title. Does that mean that because he beat HHH at WM 22 he can strip him of his COO title? What???
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On a positive note, the scripting of the lines themselves is really good at the moment. "What is this, Career Day?" I really liked. And it will get old, but all the impersonations are fun for now -- Punk doing his HHH voice, Cena doing his John Laurinitis voice, etc. I credit the soap opera writers for that. And yeah, the overall vision has some problems. HHH still acts too much like a wrestler, and not in a Walking Tall Bill Watts kind of way. He needs a ... milder theme song that is more fitting for a guy in a suit who isn't supposed to get physically involved. Right now, there's a disconnect.
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Okay, awesome. Liger offers a handshake -- again. Samurai spits in his face -- again. Liger knocks him loopy with a high kick, then drops a knee off the top rope. And we're getting the slow destruction of El Samurai, specifically in Liger working over his arm. Samurai favors his arm even when things are going his way, almost like a wounded animal defending himself. Sammy has flashes of offense here and there, but it's pretty rare. He manages to catch Liger off guard with a sunset flip and get a flash pin to win the IWGP Jr. title. Another outstanding match between these two. But it also makes me look at the BOSJ final in a different way. Liger went over strong there, but when seeing this match, Liger was clearly building himself up strongly so that Samurai pinning Liger would be a big deal. And it was a major upset. And it's funny that it felt like an upset considering how much Samurai outclassed him on 4/16, but Liger brought his game to such a new level on 04/30 that I was genuinely surprised that Samurai would ever be able to beat him again (well, not genuinely, I knew the finish of this match before watching it, but work with me). All three matches are worked as part of a series, and I think they look better in context than as individual matches by themselves. This is probably my least favorite of the three, but it's still very much worth seeing as a chapter in the feud. While Samurai won the 4/16 match more convincingly than this one, I think this victory did more to really put him over, because Liger was stronger here than he was on 4/16. Not just a great match, but really smart booking.
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I think this may be my new favorite PWFG match. From the beginning, the match is pretty awesome, with Vale's surprise single leg being a highlight for me. Vale's kicks in general look great. Fujiwara gets in his shots too, but I really saw this as a strong selling performance from him, especially as the match winds down, taking a little longer to get up each time he is knocked off his feet. Vale's inverted chinlock looks really painful, and I can't say I've seen that hold before. Tremendous match with Fujiwara putting Vale over strong.
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Great match! I don't know that I am as high on it as the two of you, but I did really like the layout of the match and the way Toyota started off incredibly fast, Yamada slowed her down and dominated, then they started trading nearfalls. However, this is not something I'd consider even a Joshi MOTYC. I hope it's not taken as me being contrarian, but the Joshi brawlers still do so much more for me than Toyota and company. I do really like Yamada's footwork and general style though, probably because I was always a big fan of Chigusa Nagayo. Looking forward to the next match between these two on the set.
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This match is fun for what it is, but I have to question the **** rating from Lorefice. He didn't review it, so I didn't see comments anywhere really explaining what the match was about, but this isn't really a competitive enough match to land a spot on here. I wish I could swap it out for the 1/4 Toyota/Yamada match.
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I had trouble getting into this. My hopes were high, but it just didn't come together like I hoped it would. Lots of stiff shots and brutality, but there was a lot of down time and the match was a little scattered all over the place. There's a point around 12 minutes in where Aja is standing in the ring and Kimura is standing outside of it for what seems like an eternity, and I've never been a fan of Kong's crowdhugging disguised as brawling.
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This is a match I'd like to see in full sometime, but at 30 minutes, and being a match that doesn't really have a great rep, we needed to cut all but the last few minutes. The action is good from what is shown, but not as good as the Clash.
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This match has started to get some of the love it deserves in the last few years, but I still think it could stand to get more. This is a fantastic match. How good? Good enough that I would rank it ahead of Flair/Steamboat at Wrestle War '89. Probably not the Clash or Chi-Town, but ahead of Wrestle War for sure. This wasn't a new gimmick, but this was really the first time it had been worked in front of a national audience. And while Bret/Shawn went twice as long, you really wish they had worked their match more like Rude and Steamboat worked this match. The pacing of the action between falls was strong, and both guys were willing to make the other look good, which is a must in a match like this. It's interesting how the WCW audience has always popped so huge for the tombstone reversal. Through different eras in the company's history, that is one WCW constant. I also really liked the opening minutes of Steamboat targeting Rude's ribs. Rude giving up a fall by DQ by jumping off the top rope, only to gain the fall right back, is maybe one of my favorite things in any match ever. The final few minutes with Rude taking Steamboat out slowly with the sleeperhold were incredibly dramatic, and the offensive flurry from Rude after Steamboat jumps up a fall is spectacular. Tremendous match.
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I don't really like Falls Count Anywhere as a stip since the nearfalls don't get heat because so much of the audience can't see the count. But aside from that, this is an excellent match, and probably the best possible match with this gimmick. Cactus's typical crazy bumps are taken to another level in the Watts era with exposed concrete, and even more so since this is a PPV and they have the entrance ramp that Cactus loved to use. Good match, but not really one I love.
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Dusty interviews Arn Anderson, who talks about going after the world title. This could have been an interesting storyline had they stuck with it, but I understand why they didn't. Arn gives a typically good promo, saying mostly the same stuff he's said before.
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Nikita Koloff discusses an offer he got from the Dangerous Alliance, which is a weird angle to run post-War Games when Nikita showed his allegiance. Nikita puts Madusa in her place and she seems like she's going to cry.
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Another good heel promo where Stan Lane's toupee takes my attention.
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Great highlight package of the 1985, 1988 and 1990 Gilbert/Lawler feuds.
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"I forgot to tell Lance Russell he's gotten a heck of a tan since I've last seen him" -- Dennis to Dave Brown, about Cory Maclin The two kids who are supposed to be Lawler's come out, one of whom is Fred the Elephant Boy, and he goes around the ring trying to collect money from the crowd since Lawler refuses to pay child support. This feels more than mildly exploitative. Lawler runs them off and vows revenge. Always funny how Lawler seamlessly transitions from feud to feud without skipping a beat.