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Loss

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  1. Loss
    It's Vader's debut in All Japan. When we were making tough cuts, this was one of the last matches we edited down. We needed to edit this, but I felt like just doing the finish here would have been wrong. If you're like me, you want to see how Vader looks in this environment after being wasted for so many years, not simply that he is now here. So we kept a decent amount of the match here. At this point, he seems to fit in like a glove, and All Japan doing their first non-interpromotional dome show seems like the appropriate place to debut him. This does make me want to see Vader-Kobashi, although I'll save what I thought of their 1999 matches for the right time. One thing that I guess could be seen as good but that I don't particularly like about his time in All Japan is that I think they overdo his size as a factor in matches. His best matches are against guys like Sting and Muto where he is a willing bumper yet still keeps his monster aura. So things like Kobashi struggling so much to get in a suplex would be great with any other monster, but when Vader is so physically talented, it seems like a waste of someone special to do such an ordinary thing.
  2. Loss

    Matches of the Month

    Loss replied to Loss's topic in 1998

    April: #1 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Carl Greco (BattlARTS 04/24/98) ****1/4 #2 - Atlantis, Mr. Niebla & Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo, Black Warrior & Blue Panther (CMLL 04/24/98) ****1/4 #3 - Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/11/98) ****1/4 #4 - Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs Daisuke Ikeda & Carl Greco (BattlARTS 04/19/98) **** #5 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/18/98) **** #6 - Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (FMW 04/30/98) **** #7 - Candy Okutsu vs Mikiko Futagami (ARSION 04/17/98) ***3/4 #8 - Rob Van Dam vs Bam Bam Bigelow (ECW 04/04/98) ***1/2 #9 - Mr. Gannosuke vs Jinsei Shinzaki (FMW 04/21/98) ***1/4 #10 - Goldberg vs Raven (WCW Monday Nitro 04/20/98) *** #11 - Steve Austin vs Dude Love (WWF Unforgiven 04/26/98) *** #12 - Goldberg vs Saturn (WCW Spring Stampede 04/19/98) *** #13 - Antonio Inoki vs Don Frye (NJPW 04/04/98) #14 - Goldberg vs Rocco Rock (WCW Monday Nitro 04/13/98) Business is picking up!
  3. Loss
    Quickie video to "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton showing Norio Honaga's career highlights, as Honaga has just announced his retirement.
  4. Loss
    This was the best FMW match so far by a long shot. Gannosuke continues to impress as the best worker in the company. We get a lot of body part work from both guys and a nice, slow build to a hot finish. I love Gannosuke's armbar-pinning combo thing he always busts out. I also really appreciate the pacing of this, because it makes the match feel appropriately big. This isn't at all on the level of the best Choshu-Hashimoto or All Japan matches, but the epic feel of it does recall those matches. If there is a negative, it's that this isn't Hayabusa's best night. He does a good job selling overall fatigue, but blows off a lot of body part work and messes up a top rope rana. I also don't think this was the intent, but the sneaky low blow from Hayabusa and Gannosuke's consistent selling really babyfaces Gannosuke with this crowd. I love Gannosuke doing the northern lights bomb and trying to put all of his weight on his good leg for a pin attempt, then realizing after doing it that was not going to feel very good. You kind of get the idea that if his knee hadn't been so weakened, he could have executed a stronger pin right then and won the match. But it wasn't to be. The spirit of this was right, and Gannosuke had his working boots on enough to put this firmly at the "great" level for me. But I'm finding Hayabusa inconsistent, even when I think he has great matches like this one. The post-match celebration is very World Class with Hayabusa fans excitedly getting close to the ring.
  5. Loss
    They also don't really hype the old stuff all that much. They never did any type of announcement that the Clashes were there, for example. I think the idea that no one is interested in old stuff is probably true in some ways, but not to the degree the numbers show. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  6. Loss
    I don't think the appeal of shoot style is for everyone at all, so I don't see people who don't like it any differently. But it's fake combat, just like wrestling is fake combat. Just a different style. I know it's not quite the same thing, but that's how I look at it.
  7. Loss
    Just drawing attention to this thread in the Match Discussion Archive here: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/28469-crowd-sourcing-favorite-moments-in-1990/ Also, feel free to tweet your moments using #90Moments
  8. Loss
    Trying to compile a list. Want to make sure I don't overlook anything. Make your case for anything and everything that stands out here. Rather than list your favorite matches, if there's a MOMENT that stands out within the match, share that instead. Thanks!
  9. Loss
    By the way, they quickly dropped "special events" and went back to pay-per-views. Even though they technically aren't, they realized that label has meaning and decided to stick with it.
  10. Loss
    Austin pays tribute to Pillman at the first Pillman Memorial. He tells the story of the Hollywood Blonds getting together. Classy tribute.
  11. Loss
    Bret wants to talk to Hogan face-to-face and explain himself. Hogan doesn't get much reaction in Norfolk. Bret tells Hogan how much he admires him and talks about how he's the highest paid wrestler in the history of wrestling. He also calls him the most recognizable wrestler ever. Hogan cuts him off and tells him he appreciates him setting the record straight. Just as Bret is about to explain himself, Savage attacks him. The NWO ends up saving Bret. This was supposedly going to be a slow build to Bret-Hogan at Starrcade, but what a shitty way to go in that direction.
  12. Loss
    ALEX WRIGHT! He's upset because he had to interrupt his vacation back home in Germany to come to Norfolk, VA, and teach idiots how to dance! People in WCW are morons, just like people in Norfolk, VA! Nobody tells Alex Wright what to do and when to do! Security (??) finally carts him out and he tries to do his dance move on the way out. Amazing.
  13. Loss
    Goldust is back to his old look and music. Vince runs out and is positively gloating when the match starts. He takes over timekeeping duties for Marc Yeaton. Fun booking with referee Gerald Brisco taunting Austin to punch him, overlooking Goldust's transgressions, counting Austin's pin attempts really slow and counting Goldust's pinfalls really fast. I lost it when Austin hit the stunner on Goldust and Brisco stopped counting because he had something in his eye. It was made by Vince looking around saying "He has something in his eye!" Mick Foley gets involved and Austin comes out on the better end of that. Then Vince tries to hit Austin with the belt and ends up accidentally decking Brisco. Just brilliantly laid out stuff - kind of a precursor to the type of match coming at Over The Edge. Lots of fun.
  14. Loss
    Val gets a blowjob from some brunette and keeps making orgasm noises. This got over.
  15. Loss
    Mick is upset about Goldust getting the shot tonight. Vince starts SCREAMING at Kevin Kelly when he realizes they are on camera. Short spot, but awesome.
  16. Loss
    Fresh off a major injury angle the night before, Vince limps out to resounding boos. He's very slowly becoming a more over the top character, but I like how slow that evolution is. Vince announces Austin vs Goldust tonight with Gerald Brisco as the referee. I love Gerald Brisco in this role ("Yes sir, Mr. Mac Mann") and I think Vince is my favorite personality in wrestling at this point. Vince flat out says anyone would be better than the champion we have now.
  17. Loss
    The Dude Love gimmick REALLY forced Foley to negate so many of his best qualities. These promos are pretty bad. Wake me when he's Mankind again.
  18. Loss
    Pretty big moment in the WWF vs WCW war, as DX sets out to invade the Norfolk Scope where WCW is holding Nitro. They end up asking random fans to say WCW sucks while HHH holds a megaphone pointing out that WCW gives away free tickets for Nitro. We get a "Let my people go!" chant for Hall and Nash. This was a bigger deal at the time than it is now but it was a pretty bold move.
  19. Loss
    Gene has the most generic introduction of Bret I've ever heard of him giving a wrestler he's about to interview. Bret is soundly booed and this depresses me - in five months, they've taken the hottest guy in wrestling and turned him into another Curt Hennig or Jeff Jarrett-level heel. Bret gives a pretty quotable interview describing the state of wrestling. He's doing his damndest to make something out of this nothing angle, and he is in the mix at least, but I still hate this. I think Gene hurts Bret here. This would be much better as a promo from Bret without anyone in the ring interviewing him.
  20. Loss
    Jericho is back out with the picture of Malenko, this time to conduct an exclusive interview. He bashes Malenko as a quitter. He's getting some good heat.
  21. Loss
    Juventud explains his background and it's impossible to take him seriously with that music.
  22. Loss
    I realize that Bret turned heel, but acting like he committed this grave injustice by helping one NWO member beat another NWO member again reinforces the NWO as a heel faction instead of an outside renegade faction out to take over. Nash happily accepts the challenge from Sting and Giant to wrestle for the tag titles at Slamboree. Nash's promo is full of dated references that he's made before, and now he's feuding with Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Sting and The Giant. This main event picture is a mess. Nash announces that Konnan has left Hogan's group and joined the Wolfpac with him and Savage, and says many more defections are on the way. I still think Nash wanted him by his side to make himself seem cool. Konnan does a pretty contemporary sounding promo actually. What a weird group of personalities.
  23. Loss
    I agree that Foley wasn't at his best in this match. This was like a really long TV main event with Vince's involvement being so strong. Again, they are playing on Montreal with all the announcer hoopla surrounding the timekeeper, but again, it's not stale or overdone yet. I thought in some ways Vince gave the best performance of the match. They did an effective job setting up the rematch, Jim Ross was quite annoying and it was fun to see Vince take a chairshot. So Gregor summed it up well basically.
  24. Loss
    An inferno match is a cool-looking visual, I'll give them that much. They seem to be going for the same psychology of the FMW death matches, but it doesn't quite work. Kane tries to walk out and Vader attacks him from behind and they brawl back toward the ring. This gives Undertaker his famous visual where he does the tope over fire, which I admit did look awesome. Undertaker ends up chasing Paul Bearer away from the ring and drops a drum (from the Sawyer Brown/Jeff Jarrett set earlier in the evening) on his head and then beats him up with a mic stand. Bearer juices. This doesn't look to be a very good match, but kudos to them for trying something different that is memorable at least if nothing else. Between the fire, interference spot, use of props and Bearer juicing and Kane catching on fire after hitting the ropes, they were pulling out every trick in the book to do something special. This was a ballsy gimmick match, but kind of a weak finish.
  25. Loss
    Randy Hales has had a sleepless night because Austin Idol no-showed, and he spent all night re-formatting the TV show. Lawler points out that he tried to warn Hales about Idol, saying he's no-showed more than George Jones and has red spots all over him from wrestling promoters only touching him with ten feet poles. Ouch! Hales concedes that Lawler did warn him. Hales is upset that Lawler couldn't just have this conversation with him earlier today instead of out here on television. Has he ever watched wrestling? Lawler points out that Hales should get away from idiots like Idol and Bill Dundee, which brings Dundee out, and he and Lawler get in a heated argument. Dundee finally has enough of Lawler's mouth and they get into a nice brawl. Even though Lawler is the heel, the studio crowd is siding with him and booing Dundee. Other wrestlers try to separate the brawl and I think this is also Stacy Carter's first appearance on a yearbook. I'm still riding the high of Memphis wrestling being back!
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