Dylan Waco

The Dreamer blinds Sandman match is up on 24/7 right now in the shorties.

Superbrawl is a great, great show, but that opening tag is just bizaare. A good match, but between the extreme hatred the crowd has for Watts, the sub-Watts level execution of Bagwell and the absolutely insane bumping of Austin and Pillman the match is just a really wierd mesh of stuff that seems to work in spite of itself. Also that Foley v. Orndorff match really ought to be talked about more both as a quality bout and because in the realm of "crazy Foley" matches it is actually really high, with several potentially career threatining bumps

Has no one mentioned the Triple H-Booker T feud and the heavy, heavy racism that was usually echoed by Lawler?

One other thing, and this may seem minor, but my main criticism of the match is that Waltman uses a powerbomb. It probably seems really nitpicking to some, but really it was a poor choice. Waltman as underdog, flippy young guy, really doesn't work if he is using heavily protected big tiime power moves as setup spots that aren't even getting hot nearfalls. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was precursor to the X Division style trash we see today, but it was the "little guys are technical and no every move" concept that did give rise to that feces and this is an early and inappropriate manifestation of it. When this thread opens up some, I think I will toss up my review of Backlund v. Bret here, as it is an interesting comparision match from roughly the same period and basic circumstances (tv match)

I reviewed this on SC the other day, and was waiting to actually get the disc to post the review here. I will rewatch the match on disc later this week also, but here are my initial thoughts.. Context is key in that match. A big part of the reason the match works as well as it does is because of what was going on around it. Waltman was extremely green and looked it. He had upset Razor Ramon to get his break, and Ramon was a top echelon guy in alot of ways because of his size and finisher. Bret was in his own right still kinda of viewed as a fluke champion in some ways. He hadn't really had a run of beating "big" guys that would establish him as a giant killer, which has really been the previous trend for WWF babyface champs. So the dynamic was interesting. Kid was a major, major underdog, but Bret was kind of the underdog champion, so the heirchial style of match they worked here was actually pretty tricky. When Bret gives that look at the beginning it is almost a signal that it is a match of underdogs and underappreciated guys. Waltman gets to hang with Bret on the ground and work him over with some speed and they sort of play that Bret isn't taking him serously. Then Bret starts almost heeling on him with beatdown tactics and wear down holds, before Kid starts busting out with the high risk shit. The high risk shit is really important for two reasons. In alot of peoples eyes Kid was more of an underdog opposite Ramon, than he was opposite Bret because of size/strength. He beat Ramon with high risk, so when he starts unloading flip planchas and top rope legdrops the nearfalls are really hot because Bret isn't as big or strong as Razor. Also it's important to remember that these sort of things were exceedingly rare at that period on U.S. tv, espcially that high up the card. So it is something different. Really the finishing stretch to the match is great. Bret actually eats a nasty boot off of his second rope elbow for a nice transition. They do a really smart Waltman escape from the sharpshooter that sort of subtley puts him over. The run of nearfalls is really well done. The finish itself is also something I have always loved and remembered exactly from the first time I saw it, as Waltman missing a top rope dropkick, leading straight to a sharpshooter and an immediate submission, is really the perfect end to a match like this. This match has been compared to Windham v. Scorpio before and in some ways it works, but it's structurally different because Windham was working big dominant champ v. Scorpio, whereas Bret was working developing underdog champ v. Kid.

Just got mine..will hopefully begin watching it today! Thanks Loss

Styles suggesting Credible was a better wrestler than Davey Boy and Neidhart in the Credible/Lynn match is really, really funny

Michaels doesn't care about Jesus

Also he should probably quit writing books about and marketing his newsletters around obits he writes of wrestlers.

I love Mitchell in that picture wearing the shirt of known racial antagonist Brian Pillman

Man..Im not saying it would have been a good idea..but there was a brief period in 02 when they could have pulled the trigger on Jeff as World Champ

It was awesome as was most of the show. The whole setup sort of reminded me of Heenans last WWF show, when Monsoon had enough and threw him out into the world. Everyone knew it was bullshit, just like everyone knows this is bullshit, but it was an appropriate ending to an era

Comparing Goldust to Sid is a pretty massive stretch. Also when they initially brought Goldust back in 02 it worked very well. The fact is if the WWE is committed to bringing someone in and pushing them in a substantial way, they have the tools to do it. It's hard to imagine that Sid would be viewed as less credible than Mark Henry or JBL were when they got there big tim pushes.

How hands on is Shanes role with the DVDs? I have heard conflicting things on this.

I don't care, Sid v. Rey would rule

Orton has been very good for a long time. I think his style of work being relatively uneventful and his behind the scenes problems have contributed to him being slept on or forgotten by the "smark" base that usually jumps onto the bandwagon of "good workers" much earlier. But really Orton was having very good tv matches with guys like Edge four years ago. He was willing to do totally unnecesary garbage stunts with Foley at a point when he really didn't have to. He had the last really good matches of Angles WWE career. His feud with Taker was very good. He's been dancing on the edge of greatness for a while an I don't think it'll be terribly surprising if he gets there.

Let me know when they are getting sent out and from what service, as both my mailman and my UPS guys are idiots that require constant supervision.

I would KILL for Backlund v. Bret from Superstars. Obviously this would be down the line, given what is on the first disc, but it is a very slept on match and I'd like to see it and how it stacks up to other stuff.

Wait, you still haven't seen WM or the long Shawn/Cena match from this year? Also try and track down Delphin v. Togo from Osaka Pro in 2000.

Terry Funk v. Finlay if you can get it. Also and this'll sound wierd but Tommy Rogers from his ECW run

It's a very good book in the sense that it is filled with "facts" and because it is not presented by a wrestler it tends to be more honest than other books that have delved into similar topics like Hooker and Chokehold. On the other hand the book has virtually no flow or narrative whatsoever and the way it was put together makes it very confusing at times. For what it is, I really doubt you could do a better book. And in some ways it is the best wrestling book I've ever read. But it is not a quick read and I get the feeling that's part of the reason it has been slept on so far.

I actually find West to be generally likeable as he is enthusiastic in a way that isn't rivaled and I'm also not entirely sure that he realizes what he's calling isn't real. Also that Taue/Maru match is really, really great. Rewatched it last week and was amazed by the fact that it lost nothing. The Taue sunset flip spot is still maybe my favorite "simple" spot all year last year and I really think a person could make a case that he is one of the top five "big match" wrestlers of this decade.

Actually Morton was a reasonably good promo. Just had a very good "look" and body language when delivering his stuff that made his akward voice forgiveable. Other than that I basically agree, although I should say that now more than ever I am convinced that Flair and Funk are the two best ever. I should really qualify that for a lack of lucha viewing (and man what I have seen of EHDS really leads me to believe he is probably a contender), but I find Flair and Funk to be far more interesting and expressive than virtually any of their other counterparts at the top of the heap.

Man, I want to add to this, but I really wouldn't do it any justice. Great review

I agree that the COD criticism is valid, though it doesn't really bother me and probably won't hurt the enjoyment for me at all because the collection of "stuff" going on was really good and the whole thing was as much "great series of angles" as it was "great match" and that goes beyond any gimmick. Also..I really like chaotic tag brawls. To this day there are ECW clusterfucks and even some really "bad" TNA brawls that I get alot of enjoyment out of when the whole "fighting through the crowd, wild uncontrable" thing is done. the April ROH six man was a good match of that ilk, featuring better work and workers than nearly any other matches of that style. But honestly I am not sure I enjoyed it nearly as much as I enjoyed total shitball clusterfucks like Raven/Bruise Brothers v. Douglas/Dreamer/Sandman and for that reason I couldn't even really consider it for MOTY, much less something surperior to COD