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Superstar Sleeze

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  1. Superstar Sleeze
    Two for two with you rating matches higher than me, Chad. Looks like someone has been using some stardust recently.
  2. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World TV Champion Lord Steven Regal vs British Bulldog - WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 The opening bullshit around wristlocks and escapes was really fun and by far the best part of this match. Some really cool escapes and a good way for Bulldog to one up the cocky aristocrat. I It was cool to see Bulldog one step ahead of the self-proclaimed best scientific wrestler. After that, Bulldog gets distracted by Sir William and Regal takes over. Regal has some good offense, loved the Regal Roll and the shots to the midsection were nasty, but a lot of this was tied up in holds waiting for the time limit to expire smart but boring wrestling ultimately. I was surprised that they waited for the 60 second mark to start up Bulldogs comeback. Running powerslam and the piledriver cover as time limit expires were great down the stretch. Nothing to really go out of your way to see but perfectly fine wrestling. ***
  3. Superstar Sleeze
    More heated their Clash match and these two had great chemistry. Wonderful jumps the Dragon and its on. Great opening as each is firing and Orndorff getting the best of it. Steamer takes a powder and Wonderful is all over him. Loved the Dragons missed dive from the ramp into the ring. Steamboat goes for a flying hammerlock and this begins the armwork that would dominate the match. Between this& Regal he sure loved armwork and he was really good at it. It did go for a while and started to get heel in peril. Orndorff fires up on outside and it feels like a babyface comeback. They collide on a crossbosy attempt and that levels the playing field. I thought the finish stretch was heated and well-built. Atomic drop by Steamboat on ramp looked good as did all the chops. Their go around on bridge finishing with a catapult was cool. The false finish with the crossbody was hot. Some nice flying tackles by Steamboat but he ends up flying over top rope...The Assassin who is aligned with Wonderful loads his mask and head butts the Dragon. Countout victory for Mr. Wonderful. Solid match from two pros that was heated from start, good arm work and hot finish stretch. ***1/2
  4. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World TV Champion Paul Orndorff vs Ricky Steamboat - WCS Clash of Champions Once you see Orndorff's atrophied right arm you can't look away. Just a good, solid match by two pros. Lots of urgency and a good build to strong finish. Orndorff was always right there with a tight pinning combination cradling the leg and neck with interlocked fingers. It wasn't fancy but great in getting the match over. Steamboat was great in FINISH chops and the dive over the top even if Orndorff bumped weird. Hate the I think I won but I didn't false finish. Some great nearfalls down the stretch before the Mania III finish takes it for the Dragon. Good match. ***
  5. Superstar Sleeze
    I agree with myself even moreso now I thought this match was incredible and maybe the best Regal match I have ever seen. WCW World TV Champion Ricky Steamboat vs Steven Regal - WCW Fall Brawl 1993 Steamboat had won the TV Championship from Mr. Wonderful at the August Clash of Champions. The Dragon went out to save someone from an Orndorff piledriver and paid for it by having Regal attack his ribs with an umbrella so he has the tape on the ribs. I have seen this compared to the classic Tully/Steamer match from Starrcade 1984, but I thought this was even better because the offense from both men is so much better. Steamboat works a master class in maintaining offense for ten minutes and still selling the rib injury. For that alone, this match needs to be watched by everyone (fans & wrestlers alike) because there is so much to be learned here. Steamboat comes out of the gate hot with some tremendous chops but is also taking to time sell the rib injury so this giving Regal openings. Steamboat because he is so fired up is overcoming them. Regal is also doing a great job bumping for Steamboat going over the top rope onto the ramp and then back into the ring. Regal takes a hard bump into the turnbuckles and Steamboat is all over the arm. Tons of cool arm takedowns! Some really inventive stuff. I really liked the takedown after he was playing possum. One fan makes sure to scream that he is playing possum. The fans seem to be pro-Regal cheering him and chanting Steamboat Sucks! Which I was shocked by in 1993 and in Houston, TX. Maybe Philly, but Houston seems weird for that happen. Even in these wristlocks and armbars, Steamboat is selling, great kick to the ribs by Regal in one of these holds. That's what is great they are working heel hope spots and it is really making for some serious drama because you know Steamboat's hold on top is tenuous at best, but through sheer tenacity he is staying at top. This run on top ends when Steamboat takes a big back body drop and his ribs just give out. Regal just is relentless on top. Yes, Regal blows off the arm work, so that is a knock in an other classic match. Regal has the heavy blows but also the stretches to make this a great varied heat segment. Of course, Steamboat is a beast at selling. One of the better heat segments I have ever seen. They really come together to make for something special. I loved Regal getting really fierce with the Butterfly Suplex he knows that his bread and butter and when he cant get it immediately he snaps and rips of the tape, pounds the exposed ribs and hoists him over in the Butterfly Suplex. But it is all for naught as Steamboat kicks out. The Steamboat finish run starting with the Tombstone reversal was great. It was short but explosive lots of nearfalls. The selling told a great story. He needed something big to win so ribs be damned he goes up top for a flying crossbody, but Regal pushes him off so Steamboat injured slowly goes for the cover as opposed to getting the cover off the move. Great! I do have a problem with the finish. Steamboat skinning the cat after all the rib selling is so silly. How much better would it have been if he cant do and he is just hanging their exposed for the umbrella shot as opposed to being cracked in the head. Liked the German suplex bridge pinning combination. Fabulous match! Just an absolute Ricky Steamboat selling clinic and what makes it so special he was selling from the opening bell but still maintains offense convincingly for ten minutes or so. Really cool. Regal working his holds and vicious offense with Steamboat selling is what pro wrestling dreams are made of. Finish run was great with all of the Steamboat nearfalls being compromised by his ribs. Two knocks was Regal blowing off arm work and Steamboat being able to do a skin the car when there was a better finish right there, but that is not enough to take away from the fact they had one of the best US matches of the year and maybe the best Regal match of his career! Highly recommended! ****1/4
  6. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 10/16/93 Lumberjack Match "For every ten punches from Steamboat, it only takes one from Vader to knock him down" - Jesse The Body, story of this match Steamboat just did not have much in the offensive arsenal to contend with Vader. Vader is a big, burly stand up fighter with lots of power spots. Steamboat needed those 1989 chops but he was not getting them. Vader is very selfless and basically set Steamboat up with a lot of hope spots through bumping from him on missed charges and splashes. Steamboat was laser focused on the midsection and even though Vader was selling I never thought he had a chance because his shots did not look as good. I loved how Vader would just unleash one massive punch to Steamboat's face and cripple him. Watching Vader in this 1993 run has been amazing as good as Bret was in 1993, Vader is the definitely the US wrestler of the year. Total package of offense, bumping and selling. I thought Vader laid this out well to always have a lot of hope spots and never totally crush Steamboat with his offense. I feel like because Steamboat lacks offense that Vader took that into account. Just a throwaway note didn't really use the lumberjacks it was just strange beside the finish which was cool. Vader goes for Vaderbomb but takes too long. Steamboat gets a double stomp (midsection psychology). Vader ends up on the outside. Sid comes in and powerbombs Steamboat. Vader splash and wins. Definition of a good match. Nothing next level. Kinda disappointing in a way because you are expecting VADER VS STEAMBOAT~!, but I don't think they are a good pairing. ***
  7. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Champion Vader vs Cactus Jack - WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 Texas Death Match During the first half of this, I was like what was everyone bitching about, but then just ran out of gas and God did that finish sucked. The first half was red-hot, hate-filled brawling. Vader, fucking Vader of all people, was looking like he was just trying to survive the onslaught of Cactus Jack. Jack really brought the offense, nasty chair shot and loved him taking the fans camera and cracking Vader in the head. Vader was just throwing wild haymakers. He was fucking vicious. He busted Cactus open in the face. Nasty. Love how Cactus just kept coming and the suplexes on the ramp were great. The grave site stuff was great. Vader ascending from his own grave with blood was a great visual. The lariat was a great first fall for Cactus and I LOVED the Cactus Elbow from the ramp to the floor for the second fall. The 30 second rest periods really didn't feel that long. Then they just ran out of steam. Everything felt in slow motion and all that hate and urgency dissipated. The table spot was good. Cactus sunset flip to the floor and Vader missing his butt splash was a cute way for them both to incorporate their spots. Cactus nearly dives trying to do a somersault over the railing and Vader takes command is merciless. Wicked chair shot. DDT on chair. Then the match gets convoluted. Foley is up before the rest period he somehow scores a fall even though he was basically fucked but Harley hits with a taser and since he does not get up, but Vader does. What the fuck? Honestly, thought the first half they were well on their way to one of the best US brawls of the 90s, but just ran out of steam and that finish just screams WCW. So bad. ***1/2
  8. Superstar Sleeze
    Real World Heavyweight Champion Nobuhiko Takada vs WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader - UWFi 12/5/93 The first of the Vader/Takada trilogy is an amazing pro wrestling dome main event that lives up to the big fight feel. I thought Vader looked way more comfortable in the opening portion. He used his size to intimidate and control the center of the ring. Takada's had a dreadful kayfabe strategy early. He was on his heels. He was cautious. Let himself be backed into corners. He even gave Vader his back at one point and Vader made him pay with a rear naked choke. I love Takada, but he looked like shit early. Vader was great. His stand up was impactful. He knew how to lie on top of his opponent make him carry his weight and then reign down the palm strikes in a vicious headlock crank. Say what you want about Vader not being a shooter, but Vader made shoot style work for him. Was he any worse than Bob Sapp? Takada came out of his funk and started throwing kicks to the leg. Now the match started to make sense. What you saw was a great escalation of Takada making in roads with the kicks to the leg. Eventually Vader was howling on one leg kneeling. He effectively took away Vader's stand up game. Notice how the rest of the match, Vader relied on takedowns (double leg, two bodyslams). Vader was brutalizing him. Vader was also like early Dan Severn in UFC, he did not know how to finish someone on the ground. He could ground and pound, but his submission arsenal was limited. Then in an interesting move Takada went into the clinch with Vader, which seemed stupid to me. However, Takada was able to land some really nice close range knees to the midsection and injured leg of Vader. I think that's what this match does so well is the slow breakdown of Vader's body. Vader's reaction to this both through selling and changing his strategy is great. I also think Takada is able to show his fight spirit and resiliency. He took a fucking lickin'. but he kept on tickin. The STO out of the clinch was pretty shitty, but the single leg takedown was epic. It was such a critical moment. Takada had broken Vader down enough that he finally earned his own takedown. Felt like a huge moment. Takada kicks the hell out of the Kodiak Bear and then applies the cross armbreaker to get the tap out victory. Vader's howling selling during the post-match celebration like his arm was broken in five places was great. There are a lot of flaws in this match. Takada's horrible strategy at the beginning. The shitty STO. There were times where it dragged due to repetition and not knowing what to do. I really thought Vader was tremendous in this both offensively and selling. How the changed his offensive strategy to react Takada's kicks was so cool. The story of Takada breaking down Vader's body and each wrestler reacting in an organic and realistic fashion trumps all the flaws in my opinion. ****1/4
  9. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWFi 8/13/93 Vader gets shoot-style so well. He knows how to be himself and still be compelling in the style. Totally night and day from WWF where he lost his confidence and was constantly second guessing himself. Really amazing six minute war. It told the David vs Goliath story as they build towards Vader vs Takada. Yamazaki has the puncher's chance in this case, kicker's chance. At first Vader catches the kicks and just sends Yamazaki on his ass. I love Vader hitting the palm strike and making sure the ref knows it. Or when the Yamazaki kick when it gets close to the groin he calls for it. Vader reigns the punches in the corner. Yamazaki comes in with some kicks and sends the big man reeling. Vader is so incredible at showing vulnerability. The way he sells is great. Howling for the ref to back Yamazaki off is perfect. Yamazaki catches him with the spinning kick and then way his ass goes through the ropes is a perfect way to put this over. I love how they topple over the top rope. No shoot fight would this ever happen. It is just more credible pro wrestling. You aren't waiting for your opponent, no Irish Whips, no gymnastics. I dig it. Yamazaki firing off those kicks to the head and the Kodiak Bear is reeling but throws a wild bear paw and gets him. Vader goes for the German but gets a rear naked choke. YES! Snapmare into the cross armbreaker is nice by Yamazaki and Vader treats it with respect immediately clasping hands. WICKED SHOTEI!!! Vader smoked him. CHOKESLAMS HIM TO HELL!! Yamazaki sells this like death. Vader is wicked respectful. Vader is awesome with the pure athlete promo. Explaining he fights fair because everything is an open palm or forearm and then puts over the UWFi style. WHOS DA MAN? VADER IS DA MAN! ****
  10. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs British Bulldog - WCW Clash of the Champions XXIV Vader has looked amazing in 1993. His punches were absolutely ferocious. Liked the shine happening out on the ramp and Smith really taking it right to Vader. The suplex on the ramp was a great spot. The slingshot splash and Vader just coming out firing was nasty. Again it was Vader was feeding Bulldog those hope spots like the railing but then Vader came back with some HUGE VADER BODY ATTACKS! Vader is really great at using his body weight. Bulldog is fine in this again, but Vader is doing all the heavy lifting. I really don't have too much to say about this which weird for me. I thought it was about as good as Slamboree. Vader looked incredible hell they should have just let him pin the muthafucka clean with the Vaderbomb it is not like they needed Bulldog again (well I guess Wargames). Bulldog is such a weird fit for WCW. Looking back now, Vader was a terrible fit for the soft WWF style that forced heels to use restholds. No restholds in these WCW matches, Vader just unleashes pain. Once Hogan came in, the WWF-ication of WCW's main event scene happened. Vader's best bet was to work NJPW or AJPW from 1996 on. Though Vader in ECW would have been interesting. This is a good match. Nothing that will change your world. if you are Vader fan, check it out just to see him kick major league ass. ***
  11. Superstar Sleeze
    This was terrible. Not even redeeming at all. Like I actually found the White Castle of Fear entertaining. It is not a great serious way to build your PPV main event, but it was at least funny. This just sucked out loud.
  12. Superstar Sleeze
    PhilTLL, it is interesting you point what you do because I was going to point those spots out but as a feather in Vader's cap for being to cover for Bulldog. Interesting you had the exact opposite reaction. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs British Bulldog - WCW Slamboree 1993 Davey Boy is like the antithesis to a Ric Flair or a Bret Hart in that he needs someone to hold his hand throughout a match. He is very carryable, but he has not grasp on psychology and layout, but if you can fill that in for him he has the athleticism to execute the moves and layout. Vader does not get enough credit for being in that Bret, Flair class in that he can have a match completely unto himself. He has enough signature bumps and offense that he can just plug an opponent into his match. As World Champion this a very critical trait to have. So this is a Vader broomstick match. I enjoyed it a lot. We have the nice wrinkle of Bulldog standing down Vader and his power offense (clothesline, body attack) so then Vader just starts punching him in the head hard. Vader sets the shine nicely with his typical guard rail bump this one with a somersault. Bulldog has some incredible feats of strength. Honestly, that all you can really expect out of the Bulldog. The bodyslam over the railing, the delayed vertical are incredible. The slam off the middle rope is typical Vader and a good nearfall. The crucifix was a pretty dumb move by Bulldog and Vader made him pay. Vader just MAULS Bulldog. Vader is so good about feeding hope spots to his opponents. That's what Bulldog needs is this spoon feeding. Even when Bulldog is out of position (front superplex counter) or forgets (lifts knees up on splash) Vader covers for him with great bumping and selling. It really feels like Vader is wrestling himself. The offense is great and the bumping and selling are incredible too. Bulldog's most impressive feat of strength is picking Vader up in the electric chair out of a camel clutch. Holy shit! Vader feeds him his running powerslam by doing the crossbody in the corner catch. Harley interferes and then Vader attacks with chair. Pretty lame DQ. This felt like a total Vader mauling and while he was selfless British Bulldog just did not have the presence of a Sting to really make the hope spots meaningful. DQ was kinda lame because they had not really built up Smith putting Vader in danger. If he really had the big man reeling, then I think it would have been more justified. I really thought this was an amazing one man performance and something you look more for in a GWE analysis rather than saying it was a great match. Recommended to see how Vader works a very carryable wrestler. ***
  13. Superstar Sleeze
    I don't know why I cant stop laughing at the finish. Scorpio lands ass fucking first on Benoit's head. Holy shit! That was clearly painful and dangerous. But it was also hilarious to me too.
  14. Superstar Sleeze
    Vader vs Tatsuo Nakano - UWFi 5/6/93 It is amazing watching this knowing Vader just had those brutal matches with Catcus Jack a couple weeks prior to this. He takes that same brutality but he tweaks. You can tell he understands the objective of shoot-style even though he is not a shooter. There are no Irish whips and no theatrical bumps. It is just a brutal mauling. Lou Thesz promo of presenting real, credible wrestling and his desire to see one undisputed champion is great carny bullshit. This is of course how Vader made it to UWFi as Takada had challenged every major heavyweight champion in the world and only Vader answered the called. Vader DEMOLISHED Nakano. He bloodied his nose. He BULLDOZED the ref & him. Loved the way the German was applied. Thought the bodyslam was a little to pro wrestling-y. That KO shot was devastating. Loved the Takada matches and am looking forward to revisiting them. ***
  15. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Cactus Jack - WCW Saturday Night 4/24/93 I could have sworn I have seen this before, but I have not. I thought what made this so special was how good Cactus Jack's offense was especially his right hand. I don't think of Foley as a great striker, but he brought it here. They did a great job building off the sheer brutality of the match from the previous week. They just start brawling like madmen and more importantly Cactus is getting the upper hand and kicking ass. Foley is so concerned about sick bumps he sometimes neglects his offense but here it was all about the fight. I thought this was a great fight. Cactus even hits the Cactus Elbow on Harley. Vader catching Jack on a crossbody and THROWING HIM DOWN was great. Cactus keeps fighting. I love it. Vader tags Cactus pretty good in the taped up broken nose when he is up against the ropes. Vader just crushes Cactus. Vader's offense looks so damn good. This is night and day from the Shawn match I just watched. Vader is bulldozing Cactus. VADERBOMB! SECOND TIME! Third time he misses double stomp. Cactus clothesline, but then Cactus goes SPLAT on the somersault dive from apron. Then why this match is so famous Vader POWERBOMBS Cactus on exposed concrete. Excellent selling from Cactus and great job by the announcers especially Ventura putting over the severity of this angle. The angle is amazing and it is so sad WCW botched it with the Lost in Cleveland vignettes. Unlike a lot of matches that are backdrops to angle, the match itself is excellent. It is a total war and here Cactus really brings the fight to Vader. The transition of the wounded Vader slumped against the ropes throwing a wild bear paw and tagging Cactus in that broken nose was great. Vader was crushing it. The finish was insane. Definitely a must see, but in some ways bitter sweet because they never have that climatic final encounter that they deserved after these two hellacious matches. ****
  16. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Cactus Jack - WCW Saturday Night 4/17/93 When the masochist meets his sadist, the blood will flow. Vader targets the nose of Cactus with some nasty shots early on but cannot accomplish his mission. The first comeback by Cactus is great catching Vader in the corner and then hitting a bodyslam, leg drop and then taking out him in the railing (I always freak out because it looks like Vader's arm is about to break but then he gets free from the railing), Cactus smokes Harley with a clothesline. Talk about someone who does not sell. Harley gets hit with two clotheslines in this match (one by Jack and one by Vader) and is up and fresh as a daisy. Vader splatters Cactus' nose. Holy fuck! Some nasty shit. Vader manhandles Cactus. Cactus keeps absorbing the brutal punishment. He lures Vader over to the railing. Vader wants to splash Cactus on the railing like what happened to him but Cactus moves. The big Grizzly Bear is wounded. Cactus somersault splash from the apron. Vader's selling and howling is phenomenal here as his temper tantrum after losing by countout. Throwing the railing into the post and then his psycho promo even hitting Tony. Cactus had a lot of momentum turning babyface in January against Harley and then beating Orndorff. This match feels like a big deal and the countout win really establishes he can take a lickin and keep on tickin, but also leaves you wanting more can Cactus pin the Mastodon? ***3/4
  17. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels vs SID - WWF Survivor Series 1996 I think I am the biggest fan of this match in history. As I have always absolutely loved this match. SID looked fantastic throughout this. He was a force of nature. There is nothing self-aware about him. He is raw. Organic. Unadulterated. He is the Master & Ruler of the World. HE IS SID! The MSG crowd turning on HBK and going all in on Sid is so glorious and I say this as a pretty huge Shawn Michaels fan because it is still so strange for a bunch of smart marks to turn on Shawn in favor of Sid. That would be sacrilege now. As much as I was praising Sid, Shawn killed it in this match and really made this something special. I loved the symmetry of the headlock-headscissors-nip ups. Shawn's trying to go toe-to-toe with Sid is totally in line with his heart is bigger than his stomach attitude. He ends up getting pummeled and almost taking a powerbomb so this freaks him out, rightfully so. So he goes after the leg. Smart strategy of course this only leads to the Sid fans becoming more vocal as you essentially have a SID FIP segment. Shawn hits the buckles hard and Sid is just relentless kicking his bad arm. Shawn dropkicks the bad leg, awesome. Sid smokes him on the skin the cat and then snake eyes on the railing. Sid DESTROYS Shawn in the FIP segment. Glorious. Shawn works his ass off to make Sid look like a million bucks. This night and day from the Vader match as Shawn is working so much harder for Sid. I think if Shawn never threw that shitty left jab and only threw his right that he would not nearly get half the hate. I really thought the hope spots were down well. The bodyslam out of nowhere was great, but the cutoffs were great too. Like the crossbody into the backbreaker. Or SID DECAPITATING HIM with a clothesline after the flying burrito. Eyepoke from a desperate Michaels->Sweet Chin Music->Blocked->CHOKE-FUCKING-SLAM!!! GOD BLESS SID!!!! The finish sucks out loud. It is really too bad because the match was totally bitchin before. If you pay attention you will see before that when Sid is in the corner, he takes a swipe at the cameraman for being in his way. It happens again and he blasts the cameraman, takes the camera and hits Jose Lothario. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! But Lothario is having a "heart attack". Cripes sake. Eye-roll. Sid smashes the camera into Michaels while he is checking on Lothario. SID POWERBOMBS HIM TO HELL AND WINS THE TITLE TO A MASSIVE POP! Shitty finish aside does not stop this unabashed Sid mark from celebrating this awesome moment in Sid history. Seriously, awesome match up until the shit finish. Great opening segment establishing Sid as the Man and Shawn needs to go for the leg, but eventually Michaels gets caught and SID unleashes. Hope spots and cutoffs were great. Just a great David vs Goliath match with great build and both men oozing charisma. ****1/4
  18. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels vs Vader - WWF Summerslam 1996 For two guys with zero chemistry, they actually pull off a pretty good match. It is awkward as fuck, but these are two of the absolute best so they do manage to have good stretches. The beginning was so weird. The moves were all ready good, but how they were string together was just so strange. Like Shawn was just standing there waiting to get punched. Or how Shawn would constantly wait for Vader to get back up to Irish Whip him. It was very stilted. On the flip side, Shawn busting out a legsweep and shoot-style kicks was AWESOME! I had totally forgotten about that. Shawn's dive was BITCHIN! Loved how he kept going back to the rana well and then finally got caught with the powerbomb on the floor. Again, Vader's offense looked great, but there were some weird moments. Like Vader just carrying Shawn up the steps, but not doing anything. The suplex looked great as did him throwing Shawn off in the skin the cat. I wish we could have saw more Vader punches. There was one cutoff clothesline that was just Classic Vader! He tore his head off. The temper tantrum spot is a bit overblown yes Shawn really should just let it go and I thought the more unprofessional thing was taking a swipe at the camera. They covered well. Vader's snake eyes on the railing was nasty. The countout finish and restart was not horrible. The Shawn comeback is also forced and the DQ false finish is lame. Again, there were some strange moments like Shawn going through his finish sequence again and Vader does NOT seem to know to kick out. But Earl comes up short. Weird as hell. Vader gets a powerbomb visual fall before a new ref comes in and Shawn kicks out. I will say the actual finish is great. The missed Vadersault and Shawn's moonsault was a really cool way to finish. Stilted and awkward. These two just have no chemistry. It is still a very good match because these two individually are two of the best, but when it came time to interact they just couldn't get it together in a way that did not feel forced. The booking did no favors at all either. Disappointing, but still some good stuff. ***1/2
  19. Superstar Sleeze
    Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sid vs Vader, Owen Hart & British Bulldog - WWF international Incident Reminds me a lot of the super fun NWO vs Flair/Piper/Greene in just how much of a crowd pleaser this match is and how raucous the Vancouver crowd is. I mean the guardrail gets toppled by the fans on Shawn's entrance and it is mostly dudes. I believe this match that assured Sid would be getting the World Championship because he was over huge. At the end of his shine run, you would have thought peak Hogan just legdropped the entire Soviet Union out of existence. Hell even Ahmed looked good. This is a total bump 'n' run match. It is just the heels feeding the babyfaces all sort of fun spots and just eating great offense. Shawn's shine against Vader is great. The dropkick and splash to the outside looked great. He was on fire. Then Sid just destroying everything with clotheslines had me marking out. Vader fed Ahmed a bodyslam that was amazing by doing a crossbody in the corner and Ahmed just threw him down. It is kinda poetic that Ahmed's finisher was a Tiger Driver. After the shine, they do all these fun mini-face in perils. Like Bulldog hits a delayed vertical suplex on Sid, but then Side eventually overwhelms. It is cool how the heels are getting a little more offense but still not enough because the faces are so revved up. In the middle of the match, Shawn/Owen have this incredible two minute exchange which includes a rolling cradle. It was a really awesome mini-match. We finally get into an FIP when Shawn gets clobbered with Owen's cast and Shawn takes some big bumps. I think this is when the match goes awry. Up until this point, it was all fun and action. I thought they slowed it down too much and also there were some weird timing issues. Twice Vader was left looking like an idiot waiting for Shawn to make the hot tag. I don't know if Shawn was taking too long or if Vader just sucks at looking busy. It was just weird there was no urgency from Vader to block the tag. HOLY SHIT THOUGH! Once Shawn makes that hot tag to SID...LORD HAVE MERCY! CHOKESLAMS FOR EVERYONE! GREATEST HOUSE AFIRE EVAH~! ROCKET LAUNCHER~! TWO! Shawn has the RACKET and clobbers Vader, but only gets two! Sweet Chin Music, but Corny holds his foot and Vader squashes him in the corner. VADERBOMB~! 1-2-3! Cornette had guaranteed a total refund to those in attendance and PPV if they lost. The babyfaces exact revenge for Shawn just powerbombing everything in sight. This is one of those matches, I would show a non-fan to show how much fun wrestling can be. It is not the greatest match by no means, but it feels like a summer action blockbuster. Everyone is so over and the babyface shine is just so much fun. FIP is the one weak point, but once SID comes in, JESUS! Amazing! Loved the finish! Perfect protecting but also puts over Vader as a monster. Check this one out. ****
  20. Superstar Sleeze
    Cactus Jack vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley - WWF RAW 9/22/97 Falls Count Anywhere I think we have a winner for best non-Bret, non-Shawn match from WWF 93-97. Cactus absolutely killed it. I loved the crazy brawl he had with Shawn about a month before this, but this was an incredible plunder-based brawl. It was short and sweet and never overstayed its welcome. The video package with the Dude, Manny (Dude calling Mankind Manny always cracks me up) is just a total classic and a great way to introduce Cactus Jack, who is immediately super over in the Garden. This is the Greatest Hits of Cactus Jack Falls Count Anywhere. The garbage can to head, Swinging neckbreaker on exposed concrete, Cactus elbow onto the trash can, the pinfall reversals on the outside, the Sunset flip from the apron to the floor (love that spot), whacking the back of his head really hard on metal. Honestly, he was just wrestling himself. Helmsley was just a warm body, but he did not bring the match down and I thought he was good at running away. Chyna was awesome in this. She fucking clocked Foley a couple times with clotheslines and that chair shot was nasty. Liked the way they took her out with Hunter accidentally shoving Cactus and her into the steps. Finish was great. Used the Nestea Plunge to make you believe Cactus was done for and going to eat Pedigree through the table and Cactus counters a hits a monster piledriver. Awesome energetic plunder brawl that made Foley really feel like a huge star. ****1/4
  21. Superstar Sleeze
    Rick & Scott Steiner vs Bret & Owen Hart - WWF Wrestlefest 1/11/94 One of those dream matches that happened but never really got too much fanfare because it is buried on a random Coliseum Home Video. Loved the amateur exchanges early. Great face vs face structure with all the symmetry. Scotty takes Bret down early. Loved that single leg into a deep spinning toehold. Beautiful. Bret collects himself on the outside gets some takedowns. Rick throws Owen around. Owen shows he can hang with the Steiners with his beautiful German suplex on Rick and then Northern Lights. Scotty had a great Butterfly Suplex really threw him down. Bret vs Rick exchange was good. Rick controlling with technique and holds. Disagreed with the commentators I think Bret's best chance is to turn this into a stand up striking exchange. It is by far the weakest point of the Steiner's game. They can take you down at will and throw you around, but neither has a great punch. Bret is a much better striker/brawler than they are. The dropkick from Bret shows this strategy of using pro-style moves to overcome the Steiners. Great use of the sleeper to sap the energy from Rick to set up his own offense. Shockingly, I agree with Gorilla he really should have tagged out from a kayfabe point of view once he got Rick down instead of the second rope elbow, which he ate a foot on. I do not feel they built to the nearfall of the Steiner bulldog well. It just did not feel hot. I think they need more rising action. Rick does not make Bret's mistake and tags out. Scotty hits a tilt-a-whirl slam. Really liked the aggression and intensity from Scott. Things look pretty bad for the Hart Brothers. Bret charges and hits the post hard. Awesome selling from Bret here on the outside. Big time momentum shift as Bret suplexes Scott from the ring to the floor!!! Love that spot. Bret is hurt but eventually tags Owen. Huge move by Bret, really saved the whole match for his team by pulling that one out. I love when tests of strength like that have a huge impact on the match. The Harts are so well trained in the execution of traditional pro wrestling throws. Owen is just snapping off suplexes and even Bret gets a nice Russian Legsweep. It is a really high energy period of offense. I have to bring up at this point how fucking awful Gorilla is on commentary. He basically says that Owen cant contend with Scott Steiner because he does not have the body weight or strength of Scotty. He is constantly undermining every hold by Owen even fucking pinning combinations. Gorilla is probably my least favorite wrestling personality of all time and this match he was driving me crazy. Owen misses a dropkick. Now it is his turn to get thrown around. TOMBSTONE! STEINERLINE! STEINER FUCKING SCREWDRIVER!!!! OH HELL YEAH! Bret makes the save. Owen is sent over the top, but slingshots Scotty out and is able to tag in Bret. Bret rattles off the Five of Doom and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Rick blasts him and then when Owen tries Rick blasts him. They try to go for the Steiner Bulldog, but Bret holds Rick's leg and Owen gets a Victory Roll for two. Nice nearfall. It is heated down the stretch. Scott comes off the top to the floor and Owen slingshots out to the floor. Very quick double countout. Scotty says to get their butts back in the ring and they actually have a hot pull apart brawl. Too bad there was no rematch because the match does come across as feeling incomplete. It would have felt more organic if things became chippier and chippier until it finally becomes an all out brawl. Instead it more of a classic mat build to a lot of highspots so the double countout does not make as much sense. The offense in this match was top notch. I thought Bret's FIP and Owen house afire and Steiners offense was friggin awesome. Finish just did not feel built to and made the match not feel complete. ****
  22. Superstar Sleeze
    Definitely siding with the earlier posters, I thought this was incredibly well built and didn't find it boring at all. WWF World Champion Yokozuna vs Bret Hart - WWF MSG 8/13/93 I'm throughly impressed that these two had such a compelling match for twenty minutes. It was so simple but so elegant and really everything had such a perfect build. Bret's strategy against the behemoth was twofold: fists and speed. He needed to take advantage of every missed opportunity. Missed elbow, missed legdrop, missed splash, Bret always would make a break for it. But he always get caught. Because he couldn't do his normal offense he would just haul off and punch. Bret has one of the better punches in WWF. The part that really makes it for me is the kid that is super into it. When Bret is teeing off, he is right there with him "You can get him down." "CMON BRET BABBBBBYYYYYY" Loved the genuine emotion. Which leads me to the best part of the match Yoko's selling. He was giving Blackwell a run for his money in the weeble wobbles but don't fall down selling. Selling his own headbutt. Timing his missed spots and his constant cheating was great. That second rope bulldog that takes him down was molten as was the clothesline . The Garden was rocking because Yoko was rolling. Loved the false finish where Yoko is poised for the Banzai Drop in the corner near the door so Bret makes a break for it. Bret fighting fire with Fire by kicking the ropes in his balls or thumb to the eye was great. In a NUCLEAR false finish, Hitman clobbers him with the salt bucket tossed in by Lawler and the ref counts 1-2-No! MSG POPS HUGE!!! Lawler throws powder in Brets eyes as he is climbing and Yoko wins and then squashed Bret for good measure with Banzai Drop. Match right up my alley that is all about working in the unique attributes of Yoko and building a distinct match around that. Not a typical Bret match. Lots of drama, great timing and so much is paid off in these mini-battles. Yoko is tremendous in this. Great David vs Goliath match with amazing selling from Goliath ****
  23. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF World Tag CHAMPS Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid vs Quebecers -WWF MSG 1/17/94 Had more of a feel of those classic Rockers vs Rougeaus match. Lots of fun BS at the beginning that's missing from today's wrestling. The Quebecers welcoming the babyfaces to soak in the adulation from the fans only to attack was great and then of course the good guys turn the tide on the French Canadians. Loved it! Jacques doing his chicken gimmick was great. Lots of Quebecers attacking but setting themselves up to be made fools of was great. Short Kid FIP based on pulling down top rope. Quebecers have such better offense than Rougeaus. They could have been WWF MX of the 90s. Pierre misses the leg drop. Marty house afire even POLO gets hit. Marty gets blasted on an OConnor to start his FIP. Fantastic heat segment on Marty. It is all built around Marty being so close but yet so far. He gets so many opportunities to tag but can't complete it. Lots of good testicular humor. Loved Marty firing off with Jacques only to be back dropped over the top rope. He got some serious hangtime on that back body drop. Quebecers had some great offense as well. Really built the tension of when the tag would happen. Once it did Kid was a good house afire with spinning heel kicks for everyone but he forgot Johnny Polo who knocks him off top. Superplex and CANONBALL!!! Quebecers recover the titles. Fantastic old school Southern tag. Maybe the best non-Bret, non-Shawn WWF match of 93-97. Great tag team fundamentals. ****
  24. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 1/10/94 Fun fact: This takes place in Richmond, VA and I am currently in Richmond, VA! RAW's 1 year anniversary and Vince decides to commemorate it with a tag title switch. Crowd pops huge and it is a great feel good moment. The whole 1-2-3 Kid storyline was really building to him winning a championship and a great time to pull the trigger. It is too bad the Kid would have a serious neck injury not too long after this. In an alternate universe, Kid & Jannetty are the ace babyface tag team of the mid-90s, they had some much potential. I thought this as a ton of fun. Great shine. Loved Jannetty getting the Victory Roll right off the bat. It showed the babfyaces were here to win. Lots of fun, quick moves. Dropkicks abound everything to keep the Champs off their feet, who may have been looking ahead to the Rumble against Bret & Owen Hart. There is a false finish during the break where Jannetty hits a superkick, but the Quebcer's foot was on the ropes. Ref still counted 3, huge pop, but they called it off and restarted the match. The Quebecers pulled down the top rope down during a Jannetty criss cross which led to a nasty spill to the floor, but it was not the heat segment as Jannetty crawled through the legs to tag Kid. KID WAS A AN AWESOME HOUSE OF FIRE! Loved the somersault from the top rope to the floor. He was nailing everything. The ref got distracted and they shoved him off the top rope. The Quebecers were great at treating Kid like a ragdoll. Tossing him around and kicking his ass. There could have been more hope spots. I felt Kid was dying and Quebecers were choking not getting the job done. Loved the Canonball move even if wasn't the finish. Finally Marty has had enough and interferes feel like there should have been more of that. Marty tags in short house afire and Suplex/Crossbody gets the win for Marty & The Kid! Huge pop! Macho Man rushes the ring to celebrate in a great feel good moment. Great way to commemorate the one year anniversary of RAW and only a taste of what should have been with the tag team of Marty & 1-2-3 Kid. ***1/2
  25. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF World Tag Team Champions Steiners vs Quebcers - WWF RAW 9/13/93 Quebec Province Rules Reading some other reviews of this match, it seems the Quebecers were very new and that there was not much of build. It seems likely that Steiners were having a contract dispute this was a way to get the titles off them without hurting them in case they did re-commit or if they suddenly left they wouldn't be champs. The key clause in Quebec rules is of course the title can change on DQ which pretty much telegraphs the finish. There was apparently no build to this or why the hell the Steiners would agree to this. The Steiners shine is a bit clunky. The moves are good. I liked Rick's powerslams and Scotty's Tiger Driver which The Brain tries to sell as a piledriver as piledrivers are illegal in this match. They did a great job teasing DQs like Rick almost doing a piledriver, jumping off the top or clotheslining someone over the top and each time Scotty has to stop him. There was a lot of awakwardness in the beginning. Rick hit this weird splash and sold like he was on the hurt. Weird transitions and then Scotty would just hit a massive suplex. Once Johnny Polo came out and they went to the heat segment I thought this picked up. Basic transition Pierre clobbers Scotty from behind running the ropes and then Jacques slugs him. The heat segment was terrific just big bomb after big bomb. In terms of offense this match was great. It was juts four big dudes chucking each other. I loved the double team snake eyes on ropes. Tons of great double teams involving slamming the partner onto Scott. Jacques and Pierre looked vicious. Loved the cheating nonstop. Great climax with Boston Crab/legdrop combo only for Rick to save. Finish was pretty lame Rick cleans house, Scotty hits the Frankensteiner, but then gets the hockey stick after clobbering Johnny and cant resist the temptation of using it and that triggers the DQ and the loss of the titles. It is a Steiners match so it is big, dumb fun. Quebecers felt like heel Steiners with all their BIG offense and tons of great double teams. Some awkwardness early on, not much in terms of flow, but the heat segment ruled. I love some big offense so this was a good fireworks match. ***1/2
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