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Superstar Sleeze

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  1. Superstar Sleeze
    Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs The Butcher & Kevin Sullivan - Clash of the Champions January 1995 This is my first time watching this very infamous segment and I got to say that's what everyone was complaining about?!?! He did not no-sell the Vaderbomb. He no-sold a Powerbomb. Whoopty-fucking-doo! LOL! This whole time I thought he no-sold Vader's finish. I am generally pro-No-Selling. I dont think it would have been my choice as the booker to have Hogan no-sell the powerbomb, BUT it was just a Powerbomb, folks. It was NOT the Vaderbomb. It was NOT the Vadersault. I know anti-Hogan sentiment is very popular, but I am sorry this was not as egregious as many made it out to be. Now, the Reviving Elbow, which I thought they did at Slamboree and may be they do repeat it. I have a higher tolerance for camp in Pro Wrestling than most Pro Wrestling fans and initially I thought it was a cute segment. For those have not seen a lot of older pro wrestling, it was actually customary to revive fallen pro wrestlers that had succumbed to the Sleeper with a choke to the back. So this was a cute way to do it. Now, how does that jive with Savage using it as a finish and people selling it as such. It is hard to make that jive. I think I still like the spot (do not do it all the time obviously) but this one I can see having stronger complaints about. If you watch the November Clash, they did a great job building up the Sleeper so I think this was a good payoff to that. The rest match was solid. Nothing to write home about definitely not bad. Beefcake is atrocious. It is a real shame because best friend turning angles rule. I thought all the plot points were really good, I thought Hogan and Sullivan played their parts well, but they could not overcome just how fucking bad Beefcake is. The sad thing is I do not know if he is worse on the mic or in the ring. He has no redeemable aspects to him. I thought Macho Man selling and Sullivan's offense especially the Tree of Woe kept this entertaining enough that it was never bad. Hogan was good in the shine and hot tag. I think because this coincided with Starrcade it is more notorious, but it was basically a three month angle to get them from Flair to Vader. Three months in the grand scheme of things is not that bad. If you watch Starrcade 94 it is actually sold on whether Savage will be friend or foe with regards to Hogan, which is a much better selling point. Again, the focus is on Hogan & Savage and not what is a collection of what feels like midcard talent. November is a Sweeps month, but December and January are kinda dead months. By the time youre headed into February Sweeps you are going into Hogan/Vader which was their strongest possible match after Flair. Honestly, you knew that was coming at the end of Starrcade. I really dont think this as awful booking as people make it out to be. Is it Crockett 86? No! I am listening to JT & Chad breakdown Summer/Fall of 96 WWF and that sounds way, way worse.
  2. Superstar Sleeze
    I should emphasized the part where I said I have seen a couple of his matches. When I eventually watch his stuff in 2024, I will take note of this. I standby that based on what I have seen I dont see him as a great heel. He is like a taller Adam Cole to me. I will say if he was the one who engineered the missed highspots to generate openings for his own offense and that is a trademark of his style, kudos to him. That is really terrific stuff. I will be on lookout for that in future matches of his to see if there is a pattern. Thanks for the tips!
  3. Superstar Sleeze
    I was at this show live and this was an easy #5 on my docket. 1. WrestleMania Night 1 2. GCW Bloodsport (w/ @shoe) 3. Martinez Entertainment Lucha Show (w/ Shoe) 4. Wrestlecon USA vs World (w/Shoe) and 5. NJPW Show. I thought this show as not bad per se, but just pedestrian. Minoru Suzuki does pretty much nothing for me at this point in his career. His match with Moxley in AEW Dynamite was absolutely terrible. It was pathetic stand and hit each bullshit. The match with Kross was just a step above this because he at least mixed in some comedy. He is shot. The best part of this match was Braun Strowman and Scarlett watching from the side. The best part was Kross was getting heckling so bad, Scarlett pity cheered for Kross from the back row. Yeah that match was meh. I thought Chris Dickinson vs Tomohiro Ishii was a fall out of bed good match, but nothing super special. Bailey was the MVP of the weekend and I didnt even see his best shit. He had an amazing match with Davey Richards at USA vs World and I am not a Davey Richards guy and had a strong match at Bloodsport. He had a great match with milquetoast Jay White. It is funny when you say "strict heel/face" dynamic. JAY WHITE DOES NOT DO ANYTHING HEELISH! It drove me nuts. The dude is not a heel. I have seen a couple of his matches and he is another generic 21st Century heel. Bailey dragged a very good match out of him, by using time-tested psychology of going for high-risk highspots and get this, he would miss them! This would give Jay White openings to take advantage and then it would escalate further and further. It was beautiful pro wrestling. Every wrestler needs to realize not every move has to hit! I could see someone say this is an average show, but second best. I dont know, brutha. I really just wanted to comment on the strict face/heel when Jay White does nothing heelish and it drives me nuts.
  4. Superstar Sleeze
    Yeah, a sad casualty of me having the best girlfriend I have ever had. I love her and we shall see if I can ever find a rhythm that allows me to podcast full-time. I have some guest spots lined up. Currently I am rewatching all the Nitros in line with the Warzone podcast @soup23 and @Bigelow34 on the North-South Connection and I am on Nitro 9/2. I highly recommend their podcast because they are just too...SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
  5. Superstar Sleeze
    This was a great moment. The funny part was in Hour 1 they really hammer home they dont think there's four. It is just mind games and there's only three. This after them playing up the major hook for months is that there will be four. So of course as soon as they downplay there will be four, here comes #4. I think you have to throw Horsemen idea out there just to add to mystery & intrigue. Other things of note on this Nitro: Juvytud & Jericho both debut. Juvy's debut goes better than Jericho's as he is against Kidman. Well at least in the ring, Juvy has a hard time cutting a promo in English and Mean Gene really lives up to the name, Mean as he is fucking a dick to Juvy and cuts him off. WCW overthinks Jericho's debut and instead of just letting him win against Wright. They have him not accept a countout win and instead it goes to a No Contest, which backfires and gets a lot of boos. I think they wanted to shoot an angle for his debut, but that was dumb. Jim Powers had a better than match than Rey Mysterio. As Jerry Lynn took a dump in the ring against Mysterio, while Powers had a really fun performance against the Dungeon, Sullivan & Bubba. Sullivan said he saw Mean Gene on Hogan's boat, but Mean Gene said it was Eric Bischoff. Good stuff there. The low-key Savage/Giant feud is very compelling. Benoit/Mongo want to gut-check their Wargames replacements in Sting/Luger in a compelling main event. The NWO beat down here is so damn good. The Best NWO Beatdown thus far! Hogan & Mongo was such a bizarre visual. I loved Flair & AA save which really felt like they would beat them back only succumb to the numbers game. Hogan spraypainting Flair's eyes and spraying Flair's hair black. That shit just got to me. I was revved the fuck up! It was go time! The way Flair sold as he was getting back in the ring. Flair is the GOAT, slam fucking dunk. Oh I loved Flair's promo after the match with RNRs. Saying he was too much man for Hogan, broke Liz, she couldnt stop laughing the rest of the promo which I loved. That was epic showering of the NWO with trash. Nuclear heat! 100% co-signed underrated beatdown that should be way more famous! Onto the next Nitro BAYBAY! Hogan spraypainting Flair in the eyes and then his hair is what made this next level for me. Awesome segment!
  6. Superstar Sleeze
    ***** Angle. It was the perfect blending of all four men's history, uniting to face the NWO at Wargames. This is why WCW was the best. Perfect Pro Wrestling. I love how Flair's demeanor has changed and how seriously he is taking the NWO.
  7. Superstar Sleeze
    The Flair/Savage match from this Nitro was really strong in the ***3/4 range. I will re-watch and make a thread for it. I didnt like this segment. This felt like it normalized the NWO. The subsequent got the feel back that the NWO were Outsiders/Invaders that dont belong on the show. This one show made them feel like they were WCW wrestlers. I am glad they turned the ship around in the weeks after this. Hogan's promo with Mean Gene also was a problem. Mean Gene interviewing Hogan made it feel too normal. Thankfully Mean Gene has not interviewed them since. It just felt like Gene was out there with anyone else. Yes Hogan as a heel has novelty but it still was too much normalization. On top of that, the big climax of Flair being a "stupid little man" was so bad. This type of stuff doesnt make them feel special. On top of that the content was not great, Hogan's complaining of the belt weight, the awkward exchange between Hogan & Nash over Hogan's catchphrase was so weird.
  8. Superstar Sleeze
    ***** Angle, this fucking ruled so hard! The Horsemen/Booty Man angle WOW JUST WOW that’s one of the greatest angles of all time! I was marking out so hard. Becoming a fan in summer of 97, the Horsemen felt kinda midcard. The Hennig turn was around then. Luger & DDP felt so much bigger. Now watching that fuckkkk NWO Vs Horsemen HOLY SHIT what could have been if Flair doesn’t get injured! I liked it even more than the Backlot angle. Don’t get me wrong yes the Backlot angle was more innovative and groundbreaking and the Booty Man angle only works as a response to the Backlot angle. The Booty Man Angle was such a great follow Up. It was so perfect. Just my favorite type of wrestling. On paper you think Flair vs Booty Man, classic Nitro just throw a random babyface at Ric Flair. You think nothing of it. Then you get Horsemen bum rushing the ring and beating Booty Man to a pulp. Arn cuts one of the best Ice Cold Killer promos ever and Flair cuts one of his best maniac promos. It is Gang Warfare at its finest. It is actually in Flair's promo package at Hog Wild that this all makes sense. Flair thought this was another heel group ala Midnight Express that the Horsemen could co-exist with. That's why up until the Backlot angle he didnt really give a shit. Then they gunned down his best friend, Arn. Now shit is on! Fuck this is so damn good!
  9. Superstar Sleeze
    The famous Backlot attack angle. Serious question is there any time a human says "Lawn Dart" besides when describing Kevin Nash & Rey Mysterio in this attack. I think it was smart that they did during a major match where 4 of their biggest stars were out because it showed the Outsiders to be cowards and only attack when the big guns were busy. This also dispels any rumors of Flair joining (he had missed last week's show where he was supposed to team with the Horsemen vs Team WCW). I knew Chad went the full Monty, glad to see you come back down to Earth. I don’t rate matches without finishes but this was in ***1/2-***3/4 range for me. Flair, Savage and Benoit give all-star performances in the match proper. My favorite part was the epic Scotty Riggs: “Marcus!” Eats a trash can lol. That was the original Oh Hi Marc! Lol. Food is out diving back in! Rey saying there was four but when he leapt out onto Nash there was only two. It felt weird that he was the one to say there were four. Woman was the MVP for me. I liked how the four guys attacked where all in matches later. It went from Steiners vs American Males, Rey Rey vs Eddie and Giant vs Double A to Steiners vs High Voltage, Rey Rey vs Big Bubba and Giant vs Greg Fuckin Valentine. They torpedoed their own show to get this angle over. This was the best venue to do it since it was a free audience.
  10. Superstar Sleeze
    Sting vs Avalanche - WCW Clash of the Champions January 95 Guardian Angel (Bossman) is the Special Guest Ref, which is a spot he had last year as The Boss for the Flair vs Vader return match. This is led to a lengthy Vader feud which kept Vader fed, but ultimately left Angel/Bossman ground up. The heel turn and return to the Big Bubba Rogers gimmick makes sense. This heel turn has to go down as one of the worst of all time. Avalanche is in the Scorpion Deathlock. Angel does not call for the bell. Somehow Nick Patrick can hear the wails of agony from Quake and calls the match for Sting. Bubba takes exception to this, which is fine, I guess, but this one of those things that should play out over weeks. Tempers flare and instead Sting whacks Bubba and Bubba attacks back and then he is aligned with Avalanches. What the fuck? I dont mind him being pissed, but teaming with Avalanche came way too soon. Bubba's rights looked good. This was a condensed version of their Starrcade match so I would say just as good. I still dont think much of Avalanche/Earthquake. Sting jumpstarts the match and even gets a dropkick to send Avalanche out as a part of his shine. Heat segment proper starts when Sting collapses on a slam attempt. Good elbow and leg drop from Quake. Sting does that spot where the knock heads and he ricochets off the ropes into Avalanche's nuts. I didnt realize how often Sting did that. It is a fun spot. Avalanche misses the Elbow Drop. Four Stinger Splashes and the Scorpion Deathlock. I covered the finish. I think there is a lot of ways to get to a compelling Big Bubba Rogers heel turn here in this match, but they way they went about it was wicked lame.
  11. Superstar Sleeze
    Sting vs Avalanche - WCW Starrcade 1994 Why the hell am is the MartMan watching this? I got a new project in mind and this fall under that umbrella. Earthquake/Avalanche is a bit of a darling but I dont see it. I thought this match is a feather in Sting's cap more than anything else. A little background, Sting was reduced to Hulk Hogan's running buddy once Hogan came in and really was directionless for four months. That was until the Faces of Fear (Beefcake, Earthquake, and Kevin Sullivan) became a thing at Halloween Havoc. With Hogan having multiple enemies, Sting finally had a dance partner that was of course until the Macho Man debuted on this show making Sting now third banana to the Macho Man. This is a poor man's Sting vs Vader, but a poor man's Sting vs Vader is better than most matches so I will take what I can get. I really thought Sting sold and timed his hope spots well in this match. He had to supply the energy. Even though, he worked the majority of the match underneath, he never died. The shine was short but sweet. I really liked the Clash of the Titans bullshit at the beginning with all the grandstanding and hot dogging. Sting's main focus was trying to make in-roads by kicking the legs of Earthquake. Avalanche was the weak link as he did not have the next level offense to make this exciting on offense even though I was digging the Stinger's performance. Sting going for the Sleeper and really working was great. The bodyslam attempt got a good reaction. The finish was the best part with Avalanche powerslam and he attempts the Earthquake Splash only for Stinger pop up and whip the crowd into a frenzy. Clothesline! BODYSLAM FOR THE PAYOFF AND POP! Stinger Splash! The ref got bumped in all of this (I watched this last night and am going off memory). Kevin Sullivan gets involved and they do the spot from the Clash where Avalanche catches Sullivan and runs him into Sting. This triggers the DQ. Avalanche hits the Earthquake Splash to get heat for the rematch and Hogan saves with the chair. Every other reviewer buries this match, but this is definitely on the side of being pretty good. Very good Sting performance carries the day. ***
  12. Superstar Sleeze
    Vader vs Guardian Angel - WCW Bash At The Beach 1994 The rep is that the Spring Stampede match rules and everything else drools, but I thought this rocked pretty hard. Bossman has a fucking killer right and it is on full display here. When he is not socking Harley Race, he is levelling Vader. These were some of the best rights this side of Huntsville. I was Ooooohing and Aaaaaahing. I liked that each time he clobbered Harley that was the opening Vader would use to resume his offense. Vader obviously can give as good as he gets. The spinwheel kick in the beginning popped me. It was enough that Bossman could hit a tremendous back suplex and popped the crowd huge with the bodyslam. This was a very Japanese style bomb throwing, heavyweight bombfest. Great heavy blows and big time offense. Vaderbomb followed by the Vadersault, but Vader lands too hard on his knee to follow up. Harley sees his man down and gets press slammed off the top! The patented Bossman baseball slide into the right hand to a standing Vader looked great. I am pretty sure there was a Bossman clothesline in here that just ruled. The ref gets bumped. Vader has a baton. The ref comes to and sees Bossman with it and calls for the DQ. Fucking Bill Watts Big Uglies Meaty Power Wrestling is my favorite style. This shit will never get old, doesnt right reach Stampede heights and the finish sucks, but everyone should still watch this because it is 8 minutes of testosterone injected directly into your veins. ***1/2
  13. Superstar Sleeze
    Hulk Hogan, Sting & Dave Sullivan vs The Butcher, Avalanche, & Kevin Sullivan - Clash of the Champions Nov 1994 Since I’ve gotten a girlfriend, I find these matches are a lot easier to watch than a 30 minute, need my full attention Japanese match Main event classics. I think this stuff is interesting because I’ve watched very little WCW from this era. Best friend turning on Hogan or Sting never gets old and it always works. Unfortunately, it is Brutus Beefcake and he sucks. Every time I see Beefcake he never looks like the same person. I know people love Earthquake/Avalanche but I’ve never been a big fan. Blackwell is much better than him for instance. I like Kevin Sullivan. The heel promo sucked besides Sullivan. I liked Hogan and Sting as a babyface team. I liked Sting adopting the Red & Yellow and Hogan adopting the war paint. The match was not bad which is pretty shocking. Dave Sullivan gets taken out by an Earthquke splash on the arm and carted to the back. Honestly Three Faces of Fear vs Hogan & Sting still feels fair. It is a double FIP structure. Hogan took the beginning pretty standard Hogan selling and hope spots. He got most offense in on the smaller Sullivan, took a bear hug from Earthquake. I don’t remember Beefer Doing much. Quake missed a big splash. Sting gets a quick hot tag. I liked the vaulting karate kick to Quake to start. Stinger Splashes on Avalanche. Sullivan gets involved and ends up In Avalanches arms and he squished him into Sting to restart heel control. Quake does get the Quake Splash on Sting but for two. Sting press slams Sullivan off the top. Hogan and Beefcake both tag in! Big Starrcade Main Event! Lol. Sullivan gets the megaphone but Mr. T who is the ref gets into a tussle with Sullivan and Sullivan gets dropped. Hogan pins him without dropping the leg and Sullivan is not legal. They use the megaphone to knock everyone out. Beefcake puts on a long sleeper on Hogan while Sullivan and Quake fend off the rescuers and keep Sting at bay. The heels needed heat going into Starrcade. Not a bad angle going into Starrcade but it is Beefcake so this is still heatless with me. It was fine but no hidden gem here. Hogan works harder and sells better than anyone ever gives him credit for. He was still the MVP of the match. Really only Beefcake sucked.
  14. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Champion Hollywood Hogan vs Ric Flair - Clash of the Champions August 96 Fresh off beating The Giant less than a week ago and dumping the Booty Man, we get a big time marquee match up on the Clash. I’m glad they snuck this in before Flair’s injury. The Savage match was always going to what they really built to. I think the Booty Man AngleS and the Backlot were the perfect build to this. I wish Hogan waylaid both Savage and Flair on Nitro instead of doing the whole I don’t want Flair to have any excuses shit. Also the Stupid Little Man stuff sucked. The match itself was something I wanted to like more than I could. Hogan was trying to figure out how to work heel. Flair needed to de-program himself from a two year run of being an extra cheating coward heel. The headlock stuff was good, Hogan still got the shoulder tackle and placed Flair on the top turnbuckle but Flair did get the slap so he ended up In the babyface position even though it was a non-conventional way to get there. That was a microcosm of the match Flair ended up in babyface position unconventionally. The rest of strength at first Flair stooges but bit the fingers for the face pop. On the second Flair Flip, he decks Hogan but the first one is classic Flair stooging. The Hulk Up I’m 50/50 on. It is such an obvious babyface spot but if he doesn’t do it, it’s dumb because why stop now? Instead I think he tries to Hulk Up but fails earlier because he’s older, not as physically or as mentally strong and doesn’t have the fans. I think him turning could’ve been him presented as action of self-doubt, a crisis of confidence and that would severely undercut his Hulk-Up. They let him get too much Hulk-Up. He misses the Leg. Figure-4. Outsiders. Sting, Luger, Horsemen save. Horsemen and Sting/Luger can’t get on the same page. This is such an interesting match because these two had such a formula and due to the Hollywood Hogan turn it was a total paradigm shift. That’s what’s going to be interesting about these Hogan matches. How is it different? There was some really interesting decisions that ultimately worked and some that were too much like the old stuff. Very interesting regardless.
  15. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant vs Hollywood Hogan - WCW Hog Wild 1996 Another match that had no chance of living up to the hype. The Giant was on a roll on Nitro building this match up wicked hot. The promo after the Valentine match was red hot. I enjoyed the Pittman match mostly for Pittman's headlong flying battering ram headbutts to the Giant. Those Nitros were the hottest and biggest The Giant ever felt in his career. This was clearly a lot worse than Luger/Sting vs Outsiders. Hollywood was clearly trying to figure out how to work heel. He powdered after every big Giant spot which was fine. I liked the beginning where Hogan threw a bunch of punches and Giant No-Sold It. More No-Selling Please! You gotta admire Hollywood leaning as hard as he could into the heel character. I liked the Greco-Roman Knucklelock and how Hogan had to use kicks to get Giant down. I liked how Hogan celebrated his cheap win. They lingered too long. Giant should have popped right back off to pay off that Hogan was a chump now. The top wristlock stuff was pointless and very boring. Liked Giant's headbutts. Hogan powder was fine. The outside the ring stuff was fine. Giant needed more fire and energy. We finally get it at the end when Giant does the Hulk Up on Hogan which POPPED ME HUGE! I agree with Charles this would have been way better in front of a paid wrestling crowd. Giant doesnt punch, but chops...booo! Big Boot, Chokeslam, no here comes the Calvary. They should have ref bumped. This looked bad with the ref still active. Giant gets the Chokeslam on each Outsider but succumbs to the World Title. Hogan does not drop the leg and wins. Give credit where credit is due Hogan wrestled this match 100% Rudo. Giant just wasnt the face to give him a great match. This was a pretty bad match. Now Booty Man angle was absolute gold! In the Disney Backlot attack, the Outsider injured Arn Anderson's arm and sent him to the hospital. Woman was so good with her howls. Somber Flair especially in 1996 is very jarring. Then we get a fucking molten hot, ***** angle where Flair and Horsemen beat the shit out of the Booty Man because he is Hogan's friend. AA says they are the original gang, you said one of ours to the hospital, we send one of yours to the morgue. Flair is a psychopath saying he injured Hogan's best friend in retaliation and he is coming for him. Flair's sitdown interview preceding this is so good because of one line, I thought we could co-exist. He thought this was another heel faction. They would just get along and fight the babyfaces. Then he realized this is a totally different beast. This is an all-out assault on WCW. He was going to defend WCW Horsemen-style. It all leads to Beefcake coming out in an NWO shirt with a birthday cake since Hogan's birthday tomorrow. He plays kiss ass. Hogan says he does not mix business with pleasure/friendship. Flair showed his down card. He has a soft spot for Double A. Hogan has no soft spots. This is brilliant. He punks out the Booty Man. The only thing is I wish it just a bit more violent or he at least dropped the Leg on the Beefer. That would have put this over the top. The obvious line, but great line here is if I would do this to my best friend what will I do to you? There's nothing better in my opinion to establish a super mega heel than have him beat up his loyal crony. That is just ultimate heel shit. This fucking ruled! They spraypaint the Big Goldy NWO! NWO 4 LIFE! THIS SHIT IS JUST 2 SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
  16. Superstar Sleeze
    Sting & Lex Luger vs The Outsiders - WCW Hog Wild 1996 I dont think there was any way this could live up to the expectations after the Disney Backlot angle. I love three out of these four and the Stinger is growing on me. I knew it would be better than people would give it credit for, but it still wasnt an excellent match. Let me get this out the way, Heenan had been slowly deteriorating on commentary all night and this was the pits. Interesting structure, they started with a Clash of Titans opening rather than a hot babyface shine. I dont mind The Outsiders forcing Sting & Luger to earn their shine, but they milked every spot for everything. It felt big, but it was missing a little zip. Hall got one over on Luger twice. He really showed him up. Eventually Luger got the hiptoss out the corner and the kneelift to hit the signature flex. Hall tags in the Big Guy after being substantially embarrassed, now youre gonna get it, is the psychology. Luger cant stop titty bouncing. Big Sexy calls for the Stinger and spits at him. Sting spits back. Again Nash clobbers Sting. Making Sting look silly. Sting eventually revs up, tees off and hits the bodyslam/flex for the big pop. It is a great pop. They are milking every spot which I like. Nash did something, I cant remember and Hall slugs from the outside. They go to the heat segment. Hall hits a WICKED Discus Right. Great cutoff as Sting revs up, but Hall catches him in the Sack of Shit. Hall gets one more great clothesline, really decks him. Nash uses his usually effective corner offense. Except mistimed a big boot in the corner and went with his Left and just totally whiffed. They had some good cutoffs of the hot tag. Sting did that great spot he only busts out for big matches where, they knock heads and he collapses so that he headbutts Nash's balls. They take too long on the Razor's Edge and Sting backdrops out. Sting tags in Luger. Luger hits a vaulting dropkick in! He did that against the Nasties! It looks so cool! Stinger Splash on Nash! Luger is a House Afire! Scorpion Deathlock on the Outside on Nash. Luger tries to Rack Hall, hits Nick Patrick. Luger has a hard time Racking Hall, Luger has racked bigger men dont know what happened, Nick Patrick "accidentally" chop blocks Luger and fast counts Luger for three. Didnt love the finish, but an Evil Ref hits the NWO angle like a glove. I think there's a more compelling way to get there, then a ref chop blocking Luger and forcing Luger to have sell that. Didnt love the finish. The match itself was alright, decent Clash of Titans to start and a solid heat segment. ***
  17. Superstar Sleeze
    WCW US Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW Hog Wild 1996 Two big names like this on paper, but never any talk about it, is not a very good sign. I would say this match is definitely good albeit disappointing. I have seen their Nitro match at least twice but I cant really remember much about it. Flair is coming off the piping hot Booty Man angle where the Horsemen get revenge for the backlot attack on Double A by taking out Hogan's bestie, Brutus Beefcake. One of the all-time best angles ever! I saw it for the first time last night and it was so fucking compelling. I forgot how amazing pro wrestling could be. That was terrific. Not too much build to this one. Eddie had two very good matches with Psychosis in the run-up and a stinker against Big Bubba (but that was kinda on purpose it was after NWO backlot attack and they were selling that they were distraught and distracted). Flair wrestled a very fresh Chavito on Saturday Night and wouldnt release the Figure-4. Flair gave a great sit-down interview saying he thought the NWO could co-exist with the Horsemen but after what they did to Arn, he is coming for Hogan. Flair is definitely about to go babyface, but in this match this is 100% heel Flair. This is a Flair broomstick match through and through. I am an unabashed Flair mark. Ill enjoy this pretty much no matter what but how good they are really depends on the opponent. Eddie is great normally but '96 Eddie doesnt have the charisma that Eddie would develop in 97 through the rest of his career. He has some good spots he can fill in like dropkicking Flair on the Flair Flip, a Sprinboard Hurricanarana and eyepoking Flair back after Flair had eye poked him earlier. The Sunset Flip moon spot was wicked over. The Eddie does the Figure-4 spot would have been over in Asheville but Sturgis didnt get it and of course the Press Slam. The beginning was fun with all the slaps and Flair bumping around and shining Eddie up. The other thing that determines how great a Flair match will be is how hard he tries on the heat segment. In the 80s, he almost always rules. In the 90s, it is hit or miss. I recently watched him vs Lizmark on Worldwide. I was like Ooooo what cool shit will he allow Lizmark to try. Flair fucking squashes him. You know how the internet wants Flair to wrestle that's what he did against Lizmark. He just wrestlefucked him and won. I was pissed. So 90s Flair can be offense-heavy and guzzle opponents, but here he just had no desire to do anything but cheat and chop. The eyepoke led to a decent heat segment. They lost major points when Flair kicked a field goal on Eddie's balls and less than a minute later Eddie was on offense. We all know that's Flair's fault. The finish was fine. Eddie hit the Frogsplash but jammed his knee. Flair was thinking Figure-4 with trademark Back Suplex as the prelude, Eddie skinned the cat out, but still favoring the knee, Flair blasted him with a clothesline. You dont see too many Flair clotheslines. Figure-4 and Eddie is pinned in the hold while Woman holds onto Flair for extra leverage. Like I said there's enough good that this is firmly good, but Flair just wanted to bump and sell. Eddie didnt have the fire or charisma at this point to take this above good. Benoit/Malenko wins Match of the Night unless something crazy happens in the last two matches. ***1/4
  18. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF Championship Wrestling 1985 As most people know, WWF Championship Wrestling is not on Peacock. I think watching WWF syndicated TV would be an interesting comparison to Southern Syndicated TV wrestling, which is far more celebrated. There seems to be like more from the beginning of the year, 1985 on various video outlets. We will see what I can dig up. 3/16/85 It is the hard sell for Wrestlemania! Vince is all in and it comes great! Main Angle: Everything is all about Hogan & Mr. T vs Piper & Wonderful. All four men are all over this show. I am pretty sure I was watching the Boston market version as there were promos for the Boston Garden and for watching Wrestlemania at 1pm at various locations in New England. They were selling the Closed Circuit hard! Special Guest Timekeeper Liberace?!?! with this hilarious incredulous upward inflection popped me huge every time I heard it. Hogan/T's promo to close was so good. Mr. T was awesome and I think I liked him a little more than Hogan. "None of this rule stuff, they dont play by rules, we dont play by the rules" and then taking it to the streets, South Side! The build from the heels was more racist than I expected. I guess this is before the 1980s National SNME, colorful presentation where they would scrub most that stuff out. Mean Gene goes to visit the training of Piper/Wonderful/Orton. Piper & Wonderful are mediating and they no sell Mean Gene. Cowboy explains what they are doing. I thought this was a smart heel way to train in the 80s. You dont see Mean Gene get physical too often, I thought he had a medical condition (bad neck?) maybe I am confusing him with Heenan. Orndorff shoves Mean Gene. Then they manhandle Mean Gene as they throw him out. They beat up a street urchin that was trying to help Mean Gene. In addition to all this, we got a Piper's Pit with Beefcake & Johnny V. We find out the Beefer broke Hillbilly's leg and now they got their eyes set on the Sammartino's Beefcake is a terrible promo. Amazing, he mad it as far he did in WWF. Definitely some cronyism there. It all started with Mean Gene announcing Hogan vs Muraco at the Boston Garden a week prior to Mania. This was a big albeit forgotten Hogan program. Hogan does a great job selling everyone is talking WrestleMania, but he has other commitments as World Champion! I dug it! Hogan hiring Mr. T as his bodyguard for a year with a one year option if T can get the job done. Hogan big timing Mr. T popped me. Muraco talked a bunch of gibberish but I like his accent and his delivery which is 75% of what makes a great promo. Arena Angle: Vince tells at the beginning of the show, Andre was supposed to be there but Big John Studd will substitute. Bruno says Andre was too angry, too furious that no one wanted to wrestle him. Given his state of mind, he should stay home. Once Studd comes out, all makes sense, as not only does Studd have the $15,000, but he has Andre's hair. Ahhhhhhh they did the hair cut angle! Big John Studd is one of those wrestlers who looks cool in theory, but kinda sucks in execution. Watched this one not knowing what would happen. Studd keeps picking him up. Andre comes out to a massive pop! They tussle, good giant fight with Andre winning with a chop and Studd powders. Midcard Mania: US Express won a squash with a bulldog. I skipped the Steamboat, Bundy (w/Cape & Jimmy Hart) and Wendi Richter squashes. I think in hardcore circles it is well-known, but it can be easily overlooked how important the Women (Richter/Moolah/Cyndi Lauper) were to WrestleMania. A lot of that is of course getting Lauper involved and thrusting her into this angle. We got Lord Alfred Hayes running down the backstory to the big WrestleMania match. Alfred much better in commentary than here where he blandly stumbles & bumbles his way through narrating this segment. All The Mean Gene stuff was great and the Andre/Studd angle was hot with the live crowd. I like how there are more promos in this show ala Crockett as opposed to Watts or World Class which has almost no promos. Good stuff. I wish they put this on Peacock.
  19. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF Intercontinental Champion Diesel vs Razor Ramon - WWF Summerslam 1994 I thought the title change in April on Superstars was better. That match has a lot more fire and energy. This match felt like the Shawn show and there was a wrestling match taking place in the backdrop. Razor opts for the Randy Savage babyface formula. Very quick shine punctuated by a discus punch and a great bump & sell by Diesel. This made me excited. After a short conference with Shawn and scaling the top rope, they had right to heat with a shot to the ribs. Razor skips registers and goes right to Ricky Morton selling like he has been in there 15-20 minutes. There’s levels to this. I will give them credit that at least most of Diesel’s offense was set up as cutoffs to Hall’s hope spots. Shawn did a lot of great work on the outside. Awesome leaping lariat on the outside to Razor. Nash has a great five moves of doom. HBK exposed the turnbuckle which is a callback to April. Nash works this stretch well and when the ref first blocks the use there is some distraction and Nash uses it but only gets two. Genius! They work through some more Diesel offense before Hall shoved him in the exposed buckle. Great heat on that. Great heat on Hall’s Second Rope Steiner Bulldog that he used a shit ton as Razor. Diesel blocks the Super Back Suplex the usual prelude to the Razor’s Edge. That was a nice touch. They built really nice heat down the stretch. HBK gets into with Walter Payton and it is a Sweet Chin Music to Diesel as it is clear they already know what their WrestleMania main event will be. Hall just pins him after Sweet Chin Music. Basically Michaels won the IC title as the Kliq buddies continue to get the Sweet Chin Music over as a killer. They went to heat way too soon. Shawn kept entertaining until they were able to build on heat on their own which came after the first hit into the exposed buckle. If watched JIP, I could see people really liking this. The whole thing it was alright but I preferred the Superstars match. ***
  20. Superstar Sleeze
    WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Razor Ramon - WWF Royal Rumble 1993 I am surprised no one had made a thread for this. Unique match. Razor was so strongly pushed out the gate but it was the Kid angle that got him over forever. It is weird what gets people over and doesn’t. Bret’s first reign feels so random and Shawn & Razor are interesting challengers. Textbook Bret Hart match which I probably underrate. My issue with textbook Bret Hart is that there is not much struggle within a segment. They have very logical matches and they are very easy to remember. Slugfest to start which looked great both men have great punches. Razor knees the top turnbuckle. Bret works the leg pugnaciously. Bret is an all-time great grinder. He is one of the few that can make heel in peril work on top. Bret takes his sick sick sliding abdomen steel post shot. Hall works the back with laser focus. Great use of the sack of shit. Bret uses a back drop over the top and suicide dive to turn the tide. Bret has a top five suicide dive! Five moves of Doom. There is a little struggle with Hall shoving Bret off on the ten count punches, tip of the cap. Sharpshooter attempt but Razor yanks the ref into it. The finish run is a little clunky. I liked Bret’s reversal of the Super Back Suplex into his own. That should have led to the Sharpshooter finish. Bret overthought it with a backslide, an overly complicated roll up into the Sharpshooter. This was my very long way to say because Bret matches are so logical they are easy to follow and remember. That was a super easy match to recap. It feels logically good to watch them BUT textbook Bret doesn’t move me. High end Bret doesn’t. It feels sterile, mechanical and safe. I like organic, guttural and wild. Textbook Bret is in the very good camp but not great. Hall was very good in this but this was definitely a Bret match. I would have liked to see Hall try to do heat segments more like this. ***1/2
  21. Superstar Sleeze
    If you watch the match against Bubba Rogers, he was getting a monster hometown babyface pop. Double J chants at the beginning and he was getting big reactions during the finish for the Figure-4 tease, finally punching Jimmy Hart and beating Rogers by dropkicking the megaphone in the face. The promo with the weird "Ho oh Ho" laughs was weird. Jarrett's problem I think he wrestles like a babyface and is a really compelling babyface, but he is unlikeable outside the ring (character/promo). They could have hid him in a tag team to avoid that.
  22. Superstar Sleeze
    Lex Luger vs Greg Valentine - WCW Nitro 10/14/96 A surprising amount of wrestling kick off Nitro with Malenko/Armstrong, Duggan/Rotundo, and Hugh Morrus/Jim Powers, a surprising about of midcard talent too. I was working through all that but I picked my head up for Luger vs Valentine. This rocked! Two of my favorites and they crushed it. DiBiase & Vincent appeared in the crowd and I was pissed at first, they couldnt have interrupted Morrus/Powers, BUT thankfully they stayed in the crowd and let this match play out. Luger has injured ribs and Valentine was laser-focused. Luger back gives out on an early suplex and Valentine just rocks the back. Great old school Valentine heat segment. Kick ass. Luger's selling was so fucking good. Great faces and verbal selling. Liked the abridged comeback and the way Luger did it. Luger was selling his back so much you didnt think he would use the Torture Rack and Tony/Larry Z put that over so the Flying Burrito had extra heat with me. Then they did a quick feet on ropes pin for Valentine but as Valentine is arguing, Luger fights through the pain and RACKS HIM! Excellent facial expression! LOVED THIS! ***1/2
  23. Superstar Sleeze
    To PeteF's point, I know the Yearbook was not structured this way, but if you watch Nitro, the first hour was one hour straight of wrestling (four matches in a row). So this was a 5 minute segment, yes without a Tron, this would suck for the live audience, but it was not like they didnt have an hour straight of wrestling. This angle fucking ruled! This is why there needs to be more romance in pro wrestling. Love/Romance/Lust are such powerful emotions and they should be included. This was such a powerful segment from Liz's work and especially Savage's who showed a lot of range and vulnerability here. Great WCW touch, Mike Enos already came out and the reason Savage was coming out was to wrestle. Savage was red hot. Savage just abandoned the match. Savage had a reason to come out is such a missed motivation in wrestling that started soon after this and continues to this day.
  24. Superstar Sleeze
    Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty vs Sid & The Kid - WWF In Your House V Sid & The Kid has a good ring to it. I think if both stuck around long enough there could have been something there even moreso than just a cool name. Sid got mostly booed, but that smart Northeast crowd couldnt help but cheer for the big lug. I cant understand either. I just love me some Sid too. My brain knows he sucks, but my heart says he is my hero. Vince & Lawler seemed to be putting over Sid & The Kid as big time new tag team, but they got jobbed here. I dont know if they already knew Sid was leaving or not? Who knows with Sid? I know Kid hangs around long enough that wouldnt be him. This is a really funny dynamic. As you get Marty and Kid there working this really flashy workrate style and then Hall & Sid work traditional heavyweight wrestling. The main feud is Kid vs Razor, but the Kid obviously doesnt want to face Razor. I looked it up. Apparently the Kid threw a temper tantrum after Razor/Kid lost to the Smoking Gunns and then fucked Razor over in a match with Sid and joined the Million Dollar Corporation. Once Marty has gotten the best of Kid, he tags in Razor. Just when you think the Kid is going to get it, he does a blind tag to Sid and Sid mows Razor down. Sid just has this weird goofy charm. Short heat on Razor before Kid & Marty go at it. They slow it down with Marty on top so that Goldust could do a mid-match insert promo. Goldust is probably my pick for the greatest Vince gimmick. Just genius. Riveting promo about how damn sexy Razor is. During the promo, Sid yank Marry and this led to Kid spin wheel kick on Marty for the heat segment. We get back to it and finally the hot tag. Razor mows everyone down. Surprising the match ends rather anticlimatically with Razor doing his Steiner Bulldog for the win on Sid?!? They must have known Sid was leaving. This was definitely the least of the Razor matches I have seen thus far.
  25. Superstar Sleeze
    Been watch a lot of Scott Hall today, just watched him drop the IC Title to Double J. Ice cold reaction. Was Jarrett the first act Vince pushed that was not over, but said fuck it and kept pushing him anyways?
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