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WingedEagle

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Everything posted by WingedEagle

  1. WingedEagle
    I definitely see Bryan winning the title at Mania so that the entire Superdome is chanting with him. I'm not nearly as confident he's winning the Rumble yet. I'd want to see some kind of angle tomorrow teasing him in a title program to get that ball rolling to be super confident in a Bryan win, but regardless of the Rumble I fully expect him to be in that scenario come Mania.
  2. WingedEagle
    Bret vs. Owen at Summerslam '94.
  3. WingedEagle
    I'll have a line by line rebuttal forthcoming. Looking forward to that too. Every time I read people who love Lawler, they make tangible, well reasoned points for why they regard him so well. I may not see all of it when I watch the matches myself, but I can appreciate that there are specific things working for them there.
  4. WingedEagle
    Wow. For ages I just couldn't understand what I was missing on Lawler as he's someone who's highs I love but are much fewer and further apart for me than for many other top guys, and someone who is absolutely revered by numerous people who's opinions I strongly respect. You just managed to some it up perfectly for me.
  5. WingedEagle
    I've always thought this is one of the ultimate "you had to be there" matches. On its own, without much/any context or even familiarity with follows, its at worst very good and at best a great but not classic match. But if its something you see in the proper context, having followed All Japan in the 80s? I can't argue with someone coming at it from that perspective who contends its one of their favorites or an incredibly meaningful match. I'm just too young to have been lucky enough to be in that position.
  6. WingedEagle

    Current WWE

    WingedEagle replied to Smack2k's topic in WWE

    Definitely says something. Seeing this, along with the note in this week's WON that Vince is determined to have the entire Superdome chant with him, I have to believe he's winning the title at Mania. I don't know if it'll close the show, as Taker or Cena (and obviously Taker vs. Cena) are likely to be pushed ahead of it, but definitely see that as a moment they're looking to get to. Not sure how else they restructure things. Taker/Cena, Brock/Batista and Orton/Bryan get you there, but a lot of the scuttlebutt has Taker/Cena being saved for Mania in Texas. Not that it matters, but I'd also hope something like Cena/Taker gets more of a sustained build than is possible at this point as opposed to how they threw together the Punk match last year.
  7. WingedEagle
    YES!! Yes a thousand times over. There's a great opportunity here for some some Saving Silverman jokes that too many people would find distasteful, so we'll simply leave it as saying this relationship is much like when a good buddy marries someone you absolutely hate, and all of your friends agree as well. Happened in my circle recently. Hell, even my guy's dad says his daughter in law is cold. Needless to say we a lot less of him than we used to. Fortunately, Hansen never put a ring on it.
  8. WingedEagle
    New York. Much New York. Happy to help in any way to make that one happen. But it has to happen. Understandable if you want to extend it to NJ to account for the NWA shows, Manias 4/5 and 29 and of course Summerslam '97.
  9. WingedEagle
    Blonds are not yet doing the Blonds routine or introduced that way. Hot start with Steamboat wrestling with passion and purpose instead of starting slow and waiting for a hot tag. Pillman was such a great heel -- really dialing up the whiny and smarmy here. I found this had an unusual structure with Austin the heel in peril much of the way on Austin until Pillman interferes and tags in to flip things on Steamboat. You can really see the Blonds developing their act and routine here. Pillman takes his trademark bump off the apron to the railing but Austin stays in control. Steamboat does his standard flip out of a back suplex and hot tags Douglas who comes in and looks *great*, with a a powerslam off an attempted sunset flip and a senton off the top. Finishing stretch gets really hot after what had been a methodical build, before Austin hits Douglas with a belt shot for the DQ. Champs with a strong promo afterwards looking for revenge. Can't argue that this is one of the finer Douglas performances out there. ***3/4
  10. WingedEagle
    I think anything under 5-7 minutes has to be DQ'd. WOAT has to be painfully long and torturous.
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  12. WingedEagle
    Definitely More raunchy than typical WWF skit to this point. Then we get Heenan trying to get into Raw. We see the classic opening video package. Heenan promo setting up Perfect for Narcissus, who's on the way in and debuting at the Rumble. Heenan then in a Lincoln beard trying to get into Raw. Talking about his nephew with discounts and good bagels. This made me laugh but my mother would not have been happy had she heard him. I'm kind of surprised this humor didn't get a little more heat at the time, but I guess politically correct wasn't yet the trendy thing.
  13. WingedEagle
    Street fight to see who replaces Rude in a Thundercage match at the Clash. I thought Cactus wrestled pretty safely here given his rep in brawls, but maybe that only holds up when judging him compared with other guys rather than his own insanity. Race keeps pushing Cactus back in when he's outside. Cactus finally has enough and lays out Race, then Vader & Race attack Cactus with Vader splashing him out. Interview with heels after, where Race is so great. Cactus then attacks them with a shovel to mark his face turn. I did not remember in the slightest that this was the official face turn, so it was fun to see it again. **3/4
  14. WingedEagle
    The first 15-20 minutes here dragged. I mean really, really dragged for me. Lots of meaningless armwork that wasn't remotely as compelling as in Windham-Steamboat. Then you've got Hart easily and repeatedly applying Flair's own finisher to him without having to soften him up too much. What is that about? They buy more time with some light brawling outside before again returns to Flair's finisher but at least this time the knee became a focus. Hart takes the first fall with a roll up. Now its Flair's turn to work the knee and Flair evens things up with a figure four using the ropes, then goes up 2-1 the same way. I liked how that third fall happened so quickly as it built on the damage just inflicted. The crowd really got behind Bret being down late and the last 5-10 minutes with the quick falls was very well done. This was good. They did a lot of smooth things and after a meh start much of what they did was logical and played out throughout the match. But if you telling me you're going 60, you need to do a lot more than simply last 60 to keep things interesting and compelling along the way, because I know the finish isn't coming until the late 50s at best. That's one reason I strongly prefer the Kawada/Kobashi hour draw to this, but hardly the only one. Much like that kid encouraging the Heat after they lost that home playoff game to the Celts, and before Lebron became a monster, I find myself telling Flair & Hart "good job, good effort." Just not enough to win. ***1/2
  15. WingedEagle
    Semifinal in US Title tourney. Barry Windham was so great. His kicks and punches look the way you think they would in a fight. Windham focuses on Steamer's arm with strikes and hammerlock on mat as well as snapping the arm over the top rope. He works the heel schtick by attacking outside, rolling in to stop the count and then heading out to deliver more punishment. Steamboat takes over and lays in some arm work of his own. They collide mid ring and Windham takes an awesome bump out of the ring and into the railing. Windham big DDT. Great timing and pacing by both here, making every move matter with selling, not just rushing to get stuff in. What good is a perfect steak if they take it away after you smell but before you can dig in? This was a great, smart match that was marred with a bad finish. Fun post-match brawl with Douglas, Dustin & the Blondes. ***3/4
  16. WingedEagle
    Talks about Vader's football history, then focuses on Sting as top contender. Says Simmons is great, but only stole the belt because he was prepared for Sting on that night. Little strange to see Vader in this setting, but he delivers here as he almost always does.
  17. WingedEagle
    Studd Stable promo with Dutch looking for tag title shot, followed by highlights of the Bodies & Cornette vs. RNR from Christmas Chaos. The way this is shot makes it look like a bigger building than usual for SMW. RNR win when Studds distract Bodies to retain titles. Afterwards, Bodies & Studds get into it before the RNR is out for the save. Instead of shaking hands the Studds attack the RNR. Smothers & Horner save. Good angle. Then a Bodies promo with Cornette wanting the titles back, talking about Studds as small time champions. Not much has changed in my thoughts on SMW -- *love* the Studd Stable & Dutch. Love the RNR as selling babyfaces for them. Love Pritchard's work. I know I'm in the minority, but man, Jim Cornette does not do it for me most of the time. But this 3-way feud is still unique and really well executed.
  18. WingedEagle
    Doink out for a promo with clips of his pranks on Bossman, Backlund, Tatanka. Great promo, basically like The Joker. Really original character and act by Borne. I was not at all a fan of this when I watched it at the time. Now? Seems awesome. Go figure.
  19. WingedEagle
    This. Maybe we're just sentimental, but this simplicity feels pretty fresh today.
  20. WingedEagle
    Loved the discussion about some of the AJ highlights from the year that didn't make the cut. I've seen all of the high end stuff multiple times and I believe much of what's below that at least once, but this gives me a reference for some other items to look out for, time permitting. Definitely agree with the sentiment that with Jumbo gone and Kawada still on Misawa's team these 6 mans don't feel quite as big as they usually do. But that doesn't mean they're not fun with something to offer in each. Here, you've got crisp offense from Kikuchi, great selling by Taue for Kobashi's offense, and judging by the crowd's reaction they've decided this is the year Kobashi makes the leap. He may not fit the standard American profile of one, but every time I watch him Taue reaffirms that he is just a phenomenal heel. Other guys have the advantage of promos, sneak attacks and blatant rulebreaking. He simply does little things so well that piss people off. Reminds me of Meltzer writing (I think, but forgive me if my memory is off base) how Jack Brisco got a crowd to completely turn on him by simply putting his foot on the rope to break a Dory pinfall. Loved the spot with Kobashi hitting a backdrop suplex on Akiyama, then slamming Kikuchi on him for near fall. Akiyama pins Kikuchi after a couple of Germans. I assume this made the cut as Akiyama's first win in a big match? ***1/4
  21. WingedEagle
    Maybe I'm old fashioned and change averse, but I prefer the PWO interface to the one at DVDVR. It seems a lot louder an larger. Not quite sure I can put my finger on it but it feels like a whole lot more scrolling is required over there to view the same number of posts as is the case on PWO.
  22. WingedEagle
    Stalling early but they quickly trade strikes to a hotter than usual Tokyo Dome crowd. Tenryu sells a lariat that completely missed, but its Tenryu vs. Choshu so we'll cut them some slack at this juncture. Choshu seemed to work on top most of the way. Tenryu ducks an attack in the corner and fires back with kicks and knees. While his strikes may not be the most impactful or have the greatest windup, his offense is just so much more stiff and deliberate than most. Love Tenryu struggling for the power bomb, which is a no go the first time, so he comes back with the superplex and his big elbow before eventually hitting it but it leaves him wiped as well. He's able to recover though and hit another power bomb for the win. A clean and decisive win on this night, yet there was enough back and forth that you know nothing has really been decided. It seems like Inoki challenges Tenryu afterwards but I don't know if that was actually the case at this time. Tenryu is really uniquely great. I enjoyed him on the 80s set but I usually didn't think he was the best wrestler in most matches, even if he was part of a few of my favorites from the decade. This Tenryu feels completely different, as he looks and carries himself as a lot older and more mature, much slower and more deliberate. Starting to finally get why his name is raised in GOAT circles. ****
  23. WingedEagle
    This was solid but it didn't live up to what I remembered as an awesome dream match. Lots of big power moves as you'd expect with these four, particularly Scott wrecking Hawk with a tiger driver and piledriver early, but he took as much later on including the big Doomsday Device on the floor, which was awesome. I was as much a fan of the finish as the Tokyo Dome crowd. The Steiners are one act that is not holding up well at all upon rewatching 1992 and 1993. There are definitely bright spots but they just come across as bigger and stronger than many other teams and not really better. ***
  24. WingedEagle
    This started out incredibly slowly, moreso than you'd think they'd need to given the length. The early highlight was definitely Chono's focused body work to set up the STF. Business eventually picked up with a bunch of spots that were really well paced as it never felt like they were just cramming things in to tick them off a list but digging down in a world title match. Odd that Muta's face paint seemed to crumble away like plaster rather than wash away like Sting's would. Solid finish with both going for the kill with their finishers, but Muta is able to prevail with two moonsaults. It wasn't great but it was pretty damn good. ***1/2
  25. WingedEagle
    That really sums it up. Nothing amazing, but certainly not bad and the high spots keep it entertaining enough. But certainly sub par for both, and it bears no resemblance to anything else part of an otherwise incredibly hot and intense inter-promotional feud. **3/4
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