Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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Last few minutes. The idea of announcers not talking about PPV results right away is pretty dated by 1998 because of the Internet. Mark Curtis takes an accidental bump, then The Giant runs out to give Stevie Ray a chokeslam to assist Jericho in winning the TV title. This was supposed to set up something where Jericho would have The Giant as ringside enforcement for him and put him in NWO black and white, but Jericho ended up turning down the angle for fear he'd get lost in the shuffle. I see his point, but too bad. Cool to see Jericho get such a nice start as a heavy though, and WCW was still supportive of this guy at this point, at least to an extent.
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[1998-08-09-WWF-Sunday Night Heat] The Undertaker vs Mankind
Loss replied to Loss's topic in August 1998
They hype this as the USA Network having asked for more time. I love the emphasis being put on Heat. Kane attacks Mankind and tosses him off the apron through a table and I can tell from the fake hair that this is Undertaker in the getup. We get a tombstone on the floor and then Undertaker proves me right. Show is over. They are still hyping COLLUSION. COLLUSION! -
Chyna standing there stone-faced in these lighthearted situations never fails to make me laugh. HHH talks shop with the stars of Pacific Blue as they hype HHH in an appearance on the show after Heat.
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1998-08-08-WCW-Road Wild] Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff vs DDP & Jay Leno
Loss replied to Loss's topic in August 1998
Last few minutes of this debacle. DDP is trying to make the hot tag to Jay Leno. I think gaga in wrestling can be done just fine, but this is such a blatant defecation on what wrestlers do that I can't imagine any pro wrestler who takes their craft seriously not being offended by this headlining a pay-per-view. Eric Bischoff vs Jay Leno in a singles match on the undercard would have been fine and would have gotten just as much publicity if that's what they were going for. Cringe-worthy. The Goldberg spear/photo-op was the only thing here that was even mildly redeeming. -
Last few minutes. This was Goldberg and both NWOs. Sting, Luger, Giant, Hennig, Norton and Goldberg remain. This looks ... thrilling, with Goldberg's big spots getting the only thing resembling a reaction. It comes down to Goldberg-Giant. To his credit, despite looking horrible otherwise, Giant eats a spear and jackhammer really well. I think pinfalls counted in this battle royal, but most guys were just tossed over because ... well, WCW top guys and jobbing, you know how it goes.
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[1998-08-08-WCW-Road Wild] Chris Jericho vs Juventud Guerrera
Loss replied to Loss's topic in August 1998
Last few minutes. Malenko is the referee. Outdoor shows are always fun, but Road Wild is the glaring exception to that. Juventud accidentally pokes Dean in the eye, which blindsides him long enough for Jericho to hit Juventud with a bat. He ends up kicking out though. Dean is a bad referee, counting way too slow. I hated that convoluted finish, but I do like that they blew off the Jericho-Malenko feud and Jericho as a cruiserweight effectively to move him into the heavyweight ranks. The goal was to get Malenko there too, as both guys were making waves about shedding the cruiser label at the time. -
Hales is at ringside but refuses to get in the ring, so this turns into a Lawler-Travis singles match. But this is kind of muddy, because he ends up standing on the apron anyway. So I guess this is a mixed tag after all. Travis takes a great back body drop. Some things never change. Hales doesn't throw good punches when he tags in really, but he works his ass off enough and gets the studio hot enough that this is still an enjoyable match. Plus, I never have a problem with non-wrestlers not working like they're trained. They shouldn't, and it makes the actual wrestlers look that much better. Stacy strips Hales down to his boxers, but she's not really good at this sort of thing, so Hales has to help her strip him. A couple of heels run in to attack Lawler and Stacy gets tossed aside too. Fun match.
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Lawler is back out with Stacy. I thought they had stripped her in the previous segment, but that was actually just her outfit. Lawler says Hales has accused him of assault and battery, but Lawler counters with kidnapping charges, which he says are far more serious. Hales is at the booth producing now and refuses to come out for the mixed tag. Lawler says if that match isn't happening, Lawler isn't wrestling at all, so they can just stare at an empty ring for 15 minutes. Hales asks Dave Brown to just stall, and the whole ordeal distracts Hales long enough for Lawler to sneak up on him from behind and drag him out of the booth.
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Lawler/Stacy vs Travis/Hales will happen later on the show today. Lawler also talks Man on the Moon and his role in it. Meanwhile, Stacy is getting kidnapped from the production booth and Lawler can't get in to save her.
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All the ballot crap is too confusing. I'm glad I don't get a vote.
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I'm a big fan of headlock > headscissors > jump over > bridge up > backslide, no matter who is doing it.
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[1998-08-08-NJPW-G1 Climax] Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto
Loss replied to Loss's topic in August 1998
After watching this and the previous match, I think I may have been a little too tough on the first match. Yes, Tenryu-Hashimoto in 1998 is not what it was in 1993-1994, but they are able to do something no one else in wrestling is doing by building a match almost entirely around great looking strikes and making it awfully compelling. It's not as repetitive as the worst of late-era Kobashi, which was my original comparison. This is as much about the selling of strikes as it is the strikes themselves, with Tenryu doing the lost balance thing while sitting on the top turnbuckle being the highlight of that. Neither match is among my favorites of all time or anything, but both are an interesting and fun departure from the norm. I think it's the 8/1 match that seems to be the more beloved one, but I think I liked this one better for their willingness to incorporate more wrestling moves into the strikefests. It wasn't as visceral as the first match, but I liked the slow-moving epic thing they had going, which resonates more in front of such a big crowd. This feels more "whole" than 8/1 even if it wasn't as good, but considering that I think each match has qualities the other doesn't, both are must-see. -
He was also booking in early 1995 WWF leading into Wrestlemania, which explains stuff like Ernie Ladd's involvement in the Wrestlemania build, all the strategy talk from the announcers (even Vince) and Diesel revealing himself as a married man named Kevin Nash with a history of knee injuries.
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No, when Vince signed him, he talked about it publicly like they had the John Madden of their genre working for them now, and he initially encouraged him to call the matches exactly as he always did. Vince was really open to new ideas at that point - keep in mind he was also working closely with the USWA and SMW around this time. He was probably the most outside his bubble he had ever been to that point in time.
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He did bring up Luger's 3.78 GPA and that he turned down a trip to the Naval Academy, yes. It might have worked if he was billed as The Smartcissist.
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What happened to the ability to tweet what you're watching that was part of the demo in the original press conference in Vegas I wonder? I do think that's the kind of thing that could get people on board who aren't.
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At King of the Ring, Jim Ross was talking about how Shawn Michaels grew up on a military base and how IRS went to Syracuse. It was awkward, because it humanized them too much which is something the WWF went out of their way not to do at the time.
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I guess they've already forgotten Show's main event push last year where they tried giving him "YES!" and building to a feud with HHH, which bombed miserably. I'd rather them try to build up someone like Sheamus or Ziggler. It may not work either, but at least it's a fresh match and a new dynamic. I really wish Rey was still in WWE's good graces. Even though there would be no doubt over the outcome (not that there is with Brock-Show), they could work an awesome match.
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It's interesting that the argument is less lack of longevity and more lack of longevity in one place. I'm not sure I get that. Many wrestlers who jumped around with great frequency are in the Hall of Fame, just as they should be.
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I marked out that Shinjiro Otani's Disapproving Father seems to have made his return to New Japan. I didn't care for this much at all. Too many moves with wrestlers hoisted into a Doomsday Device position in too short of a time period. This had a lot of over-the-top moves I didn't care for. I love all four of these guys but I didn't love this match. And I watched it twice to make sure I wasn't just imagining things. Rare misfire for this group of guys. Good at times but I didn't care at all.
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Ah man, I was hoping not to post that so people wouldn't be subconsciously influenced by the previous ranking. I'm sorry, but I edited it out. It's not that it is a big secret, but at least we aren't making it so easy to find.
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You know what this is. RAW goes off the air with Kaientai about to do the deed.
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[1998-08-03-WWF-Raw] Taka Michinoku & Val Venis vs Dick Togo & Shoichi Funaki
Loss replied to Loss's topic in August 1998
They show a clip from the previous week's RAW of Yamaguchi-san uttering the words "Choppy choppy your pee pee" for the first time before the match. The problem with Val Venis is he's all gimmick and entrance, and there's no really anything else to his act to make people either cheer or boo. Taka turns on Val and joins forces with Kaientai, who put the boots to Val. That would have been a fun midcard heel stable if they gave them a little more shove, actually. We learn that Mrs. Yamaguchi-san is Taka's sister. This got good heat and I liked the turn. -
HHH and X-Pac making a joint ring intro is a little odd. HHH with a 20-30 lb weight advantage. I'll say. Pretty decent match. Chyna trips X-Pac when he goes for a Bronco Buster then punches him in the face, setting Pac up for a pedigree and win. HHH seems caught off guard by that too. DX end up fighting after the match. No one can just ask Chyna why she did what she did I guess.
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The NWO confronts Kimberly in the ring, which gives her a chance to show off her incredible acting skills. Kimberly slaps Bischoff and the NWO corners her. DDP runs out frantically for the save to no avail. Yeah, it's believable that NO ONE would see this happening and make a save. This is quite possibly the worst heel beatdown of all time.