Superstar Sleeze

I'm thinking a best and worst of HH may be the ticket. Hard to not mention any of those. Hogan vs. Warrior. ONE. WARRIOR. NATION.

Guess who's back in circulation. I have spoken my piece on here about the Hart Foundation on multiple occasions. This was good for me to collect all my thoughts in one place. This focuses more on booking than most my blogs because I think the greatness of Hart Foundation is predicated more on great booking than any other tag team. Bret Hart is a great wrestler and he proves in his singles matches, but his "tag team legend" is a construction of Vince McMahon's excellent booking. I don't think this a blight on a record, but in a lot of ways they are more wasted years and when you are vying for greatest of all time you cannot afford wasted years. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...-1988-1991.html

Holy shit! Did anyone see Doc absolutely level that fan in the intros? I don't think he pulled that punch. The Japanese fans sure as hell love them some Stan Hansen. I mean how can you not. What can't he do? Well, if you thought he couldn't play Ricky Morton, guess again. Even, with all the respected posters above me telling me he could. I thought it was still an incredulous statement that you have to see. Blessed are those who believe without seeing, but doubly blessed are those who have seen because you can revel in the glory that is Stan Hansen. Gordy & Doc were just pricks in this match constantly interfering and that is how we see Hansen get busted open right from the get-go. Whta I love about Hansen's FIP performance is how he is slowly sapped of energy. In the beginning, he is struggling more fiercely and then by the time Gordy is biting his cut you see he has all but withered away until a last second reverse elbow. It was really high-end work. Doc & Gordy were tenacious on that cut never deviating from it. While Spivey is hitting all his big spots, Hansen is still selling on the apron. Then we get the second round of Hansen's great performance where the ref misses the tag due to trying to escort Gordy from the ring and Doc clocks him. The home stretch is so dramatic as Doc is trying to finish off Spivey with everything he has and Gordy keeps running interference on the Human Heat Seeking Missile known as Stan Hansen. The Japanese fans are actively booing Doc & Gordy and they pop progressively bigger for ever Hansen break-up. I LOVED Gordy's tackles to the outside and the wide shot so we could see how much mayhem was going on. They built to a fantastic finish that all paid off with the second ref deeming Hansen legal and Hansen taking Doc's head off with a LARIATOOOOOO~! Hansen played two different roles to perfection in this match as Ricky Morton in the beginning and a wild man running rampant who finally gets his revenge from the first half with a monster lariat. Gordy & Doc keep it off the mat and are excellent pricks with their interference, working the cut, Gordy tackling Hansen at every turn and Doc trying to polish off Spivey. My favorite part may have been all the Japanese fans doing "Hook 'Em Horns" with Stan Hansen. When Americans get that over in Japan it is just cool. Nothing beats 4 big, bad Americans kicking ass and getting over in Japan.

Kawada and Taue are hungry for top billing and they demonstrate that in spades in this encounter. It may be the two second bananas going at it, but they know a victory over the other could secure future matches against the opposing team captains or the Triple Crown. The match encapsulates that tension with wrestlers working hard to secure the victory and throwing caution to wind. They were both willing to take shortcuts and throw big bombs even if meant they risked losing it all. This match and the last both surprised me in how they were worked. This one was a throwback to the 80s. You had the intense matwork, blood, ref bumps and a countout finish and I loved it. The opening matwork is some of the best you will see in 90s All Japan and seemed sensible for the smaller Kawada to keep Taue contained with gnarly submissions. We see once Taue gets free how much of a power advantage he has over Kawada. Kawada is not above taking any measure necessary as he scrapes his boot across the forehead to disengage from Taue's figure-four on the arm in the process cutting Taue open. Now Taue is hot and he proceeds to sumo slap Kawada until they fall out of the ring ending with Taue executing a kneecrusher on the guardrail. I always loved that All Japan spot. Taue's leg work is pretty spot-on and Kawada keeps the struggle alive. They roll out of the ring Taue hits a powerbomb, but waits too long to capitalize allowing Kawada to hot a jumping kick. In a display of superb storytelling, he tenaciously goes after the arm. However, in order to get more leverage on the taller Taue, he is shoved off the ring ropes by Taue. They hit the home stretch each getting nearfalls, Kawada hits his spinkick knocking Taue into the ref. Kawada is able to hit his powerbomb, but the groggy ref is a bit late and he only gets two. They end up on the floor with Kawada looking to put the nail in the coffin with a powerbomb on the floor, but Taue hits the Nodowa on the floor for the countout victory. I loved how scrappy Kawada was in all of this. He was just going from broke and throwing everything he had at the bigger Taue. Taue, for his part, was no slouch and was definitely timing his spots well and looked really invested in the match. The transitions were pretty top notch and the dueling arm/leg work was pretty great. It was a showcase for how effective a simpler style AJPW match could be. It also one of the better usages of the countout finishes. As Zenjo pointed out, Kawada high-risk offense finally bit him in the ass and it got over Taue's finish as a devastating move.

Wow, I was surprisingly underwhelmed by this match. This was one of the best two-person male gymnastics routines even the Canadian judge would have a hard time disagreeing. This was way too cooperative for my tastes. From the beginning the fluid headlock to headscissors ending in a stalemate seemed more at home in the American Indies circa 2007. The strikes were surprisingly weak and the whole match felt heatless. The cartwheel escape into a clothesline sequence by Kroffat would be perfect for ROH. The transitions were perfunctory and the spots aimless. It was weird that punches were used so liberally in a AJPW match. In this match, Kroffat does not bother to sell and at least Kobashi at least displays anguish on his face after Kroffat's moves. Kroffat was a gymnastic robot. An example of the hyper-back and forth was Kroffat hits a huge dive and Kobashi immediately counters into a rolling cradle; Kroffat rolling senton->eats knees on splash->Back drop driver. There was just no sense of struggle. The one interesting takeaway was why didn't Kobashi keep the double-arm DDT in his arsenal. It was the only thing that looked wicked and it is a relatively safe head-drop. This is a great exhibition of wrestling spots, but it misses all the glue that makes wrestling good. I agree with Soup, I think Perfect/Tito is pretty definitively better than this.

Thanks for having me and it was a true pleasure. I hope that I get the chance to do many more. While my Dad may hate Stan Stasiak, he sure loves DISCO INFERNO! Not the wrestler actually, but the song (we were an Alex Wright family). I actually got him a birthday card this year that played the song for him. It was amusing that you chose that song totally at random.

"Guys busting their ass to get signed - but El Torito gets a paycheck - guess its good for business" - Rip Rogers' twitter.

I see said the blind man.

Was the match with Murdoch a one-off? I remember his tag team with Garvin then it just goes blank in my head until Starrcade '87. I thought he was in the UWF during the dying days.

What the fuck was I smoking? This match was all Jake and he truly took this match which always was teetering on being dull to something worth watching. In the hands of lesser work, we would all be snoozing, but then again Dustin probably would not be having this style match. Dustin is not that proficient in working holds; he tends to sit more than wrench, but it is Jake's selling (biting his finger) and his movement (missing punch, taking a punch; rolling to outside -> getting yanked back in) that has this hold weight with audience. I liked the use of the trick knee to break Dustin's momentum and finally give his arm a break. I am still going to harp on him for not selling the arm. It was the crux of the first half of the match and he invested so much in it. It felt wasted and like a reset. The heat segment was also good and solid built Jake up as methodical and vicious while Dustin was fiery. Dustin's comeback allowed him to show some of his personality punctuated with a sweet bulldog. I am not a huge fan of the "I thought I won, only to get kicked in the back". At the end of the day, Dustin was a solid upper midcarder, but Jake was supposed to be a main even heel. No doubt, he should be eating the DDT. One of my favorite Jake matches that showcases him really well while letting Dustin look good.

Everyone getting Parv wound up about Bossman being better than DiBiase was hilarious. O Barry, did anyone ever have a worst case of "ants in the pants" than Barry. If this dude could have just stayed in one place long enough, he could have been a big deal. US Express in WWF '85, leaves Crockett in '87 for Mid-South, leaves WCW in '89. Was the grass always greener on the other side? By the time he comes back to WCW in mid-90, he never was able to make good on that potential until his almost breakout in 1993 then an injury finally did him in. Sad story. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons & Barry Windham vs Jake Roberts & Babarian w/Cactus Jack - WCW Saturday Night 9/26/92 I was hoping for a hidden gem, instead just got a solid build to Halloween Havoc. For all this push about Ron Simmons as this big-time power wrestler, this is a bit of a problem when he is the smallest guy in the match. Windham and Roberts tower over him and Barbie is visibly bigger. You see why Simmons would not have made it in the NFL given his stature. This is a basic fundamentals match with Windham controlling Roberts early with arm work -> power showdown between Simmons/Barb -> Windham FIP -> Simmons house a fire -> Melee ending. Roberts is good at the little things in wrestling, but he tends to bore me. Barbarian was more interesting in the control segment. It is amazing how athletic Windham is given how tall he is. They tease the DDT, but Windham back drops out of it. Simmons is a good fired-up babyface with some great shots. I think they could have done better by him by putting him in a babyface tag team. I guess Windham/Rhodes was the hot babyface tag team, but you could slide Windham back up the card to be 1a to Sting's ace. The Snake breaks up the pinfall attempt after the spinebuster. Barbie gives Simmons the big boot and Cactus comes in to lay the boots on Simmons. Barbarian leaps off the top rope and delivers a diving headbutt. Dustin Rhodes & Van Hammer (?) make the save. It is a predictable tag match that is serviceable in hyping the Simmons/Barbie match. Bruno was on commentary, which is just so weird.

No worries, brutha. I will try to discuss Watts booking when I get a chance. Cactus Jack vs Dustin Rhodes - WCW Worldwide 9/5/92 This was taped before the Clash and judging based on this match, it lends credence to the injury slowing him down in the Clash match. This match shows a Cactus that looks great as he just keeps coming no matter how much Dustin dishes out. I forget who said this (Eadie or Sullivan), "The difference between a face and a heel is that face is always moving forward and a heel has it in reverse." However, I think there is a lot to be said for a heel that is always moving forward because it is so menacing. What can I hero do to vanquish the best? In this match, there are a lot of momentum shifts, but in a really good way because it is a gritty struggle not a my turn, your turn. Cactus earn his offense with short elbows as much as Dustin earns his with his backhand jabs to Cactus' face. The Cactus crossbody that looked like shit in the Simmons match looks great here. Dustin's punches look friggin' sweet here and it is only weapon against the onslaught of Cactus. They crack heads off a turnbuckle shot gone awry and both end up on the outside. Dustin gets in a nice uppercut until Cactus gets a leverage move that sends Dustin face first into the apron in an excellent spot (someone needs to pilfer that). Cactus hits the Cactus Elbow for the countout victory, which is an excellent finish. Dustin is really milking the ribs after this match and here comes Cactus's new buddy, Jake The Snake to deliver a gutbuster to Dustin. This is a near perfect 5 minute TV match that gets over both wrestler's characters by delivering a good, gritty contest. ------------------------------------------------------

G-1 Climax '92 doubled as the NWA World Title Tournament I believe and the belt was mainly a Japanese staple in New Japan until Windham won it at SuperBrawl III (I have been meaning to watch Chono/Rude at G1 Climax forever. I thought Mutoh/Chono at Dome '93 was pretty good. Not as good as their G1 Climax '91 match, but still high level for NJPW). I am pretty sure Chono/Rude and Chono/Mutoh had PPV matches over here that were universally panned. It was weird also because Doc & Gordy are AJPW and the NWA Title was firmly in the NJPW camp. Thanks for the Cactus Injury update. I didn't know when it happened, but knew it must have happened for him to be used as a manager for so long. I am surprised Watts liked him so much.

You cant really go wrong with Bret. '86 Steamboat, '87 Savage, '89 Perfect, '89 DiBiase, '89 Martel and those are just the ones I would rate as great. Bret is so much better as a singles wrestler. I don't get why his tag matches came off as so cold and mechanical. Flair/Eaton from 01/90 is so freakin' good. Makes me so disappointed in the '91 match, but different dynamics. Eaton was better as a heel. Shawn's big three singles matches are weird (DiBiase, Perfect, Flair). He has clearly progressed as worker as time goes on, but the matches themselves get worse and worse. Valentine/Davey Boy MSG '86 is pretty good also.

RICK MARTEL vs. TAMA!!! MSG 7/87

So my current plan is to turn through the following 8 WCW mid-carders in the early 90s: Brian Pillman, Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Cactus Jack, Steve Austin, Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat. I was pretty excited at the start of the WWF Tag Project and now I am dragging my heels to finish it. So I hope this does not kill my love for WCW. Giving a preliminary look through the booking sheets through 1992 for Cactus Jack uncovered something that I really did not recognize he was near the top of the card from his introduction with Abby against Sting in late '91 through his managing a stable of wrestlers against WCW World Champion Ron Simmons. In between, he had a strong run against Abby, Sting and Steamboat in '92 that was usually well-positioned on the card. This status level seems pretty consistent right through his feud with Vader. It was not until after Havoc '93, when he settles into the tag scene that he sort of relegated to a more mid-card role. I was under impression that he had a one-off against Sting and was pushed out of relative obscurity to face Vader, had the fuckin dumb amnesia angle and then was shunted to the tag scene. I knew he managed Barbarian against Simmons in late '92, but I guess I never really connected the dots that Cactus was a pretty big deal from late '91 through early '93. He feels like he has his fingers in a lot of different angles helping Vader and Rude (top two heels) a lot against Sting and Steamboat. Then later he and Jake The Snake are best pals during Jake's main event run in the Fall of '92. The following match though does not show him in the same light though. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack - Clash of the Champions XX 9/92 They may have busted out Bruno and Andre for this show, but holding it at Center Stage made WCW feel like small potatoes. This match does not have a World Title vibe at a big show at all. It feels like a aimless mid-card match that they would randomly throw out on Saturday Night that would feel like it would make a nice novelty for a wrestling fan. This is not the atmosphere you want to aspire for your World Championship match on the 20th anniversary of your big free TV show. I will say the crowd was digging Ron and were behind him with "Go Ron Go!" chants. I thought Simmons was better than Cactus in this. I liked his shoulderblocks out of the three point stance, they looked particularly good and his spinebuster was impactful. Cactus seemingly had no idea how to structure a match at this point. They build the Cactus Elbow early by having Simmons close in on the apron before Cactus could hit it. Then Cactus hits some surprisingly weak looking offense especially a shitty cross-body that Pat Tanaka is way better at. Then JR and The Body are marveling at his technical acumen while he has a chinlock on Simmons. Simmons makes his comeback, which is the best part of the match. Cactus gets him on the outside and hist the dreaded Cactus Elbow. Simmons pops up, they do an Irish Whip Exchange off the ropes and Simmons hits the Spinebuster for the victory. Literally less than a minute after he had been hit with the Cactus Elbow, Simmons won. What the fuck was that? This match was pretty below average. This just reeked of a mid-card match between two wrestlers trying to find themselves. Cactus was all about sick bumps and he did not bump really big for Ron. They put the belt on Ron way too early given this match. The belt needed to be on Sting or Vader because they were the true stars. I am not a huge fan of using the belt to create a star. I think it can work like with The Rock or Savage, but they were really on the cusp. Simmons felt more like a hotshot. I have an open mind so I will definitely be looking to re-evaluate going forward.

WAHOO~! 1990 tag scene and the collapse of the WWF Tag Bubble. It is hard for me to pick a favorite year of WWF Tag Division as most are just good and there anything that is truly blow-away great all year. I am partial to 1987 because how incredible the Islanders are especially against Strike Force. Though The Rockers' 1989 campaign is pretty ridiculous. The problem with the WWF Tag scene is evident right at '88 Survivor Series that their current model was unsustainable as soon as Demoltion turned babyface. You had loaded the babyface side with Demolition, Hart Foundation and the Rockers. The heel roster was so thin that the Hart Foundation did not even wrestle in the tag division except on the big shows. Bret Hart's loop was mainly matches against Perfect with odd match against Valentine, Bravo, Martel etc... In fact, 1989 Survivor Series, Hart and Neidhart are not even on the same team. In a very shrewd move, Vince realized that the singles was still a little too stacked for Bret to break through and held his singles push off year, but if you looked at his '89 campaign you know he was ready for primetime. You couple this with Powers of Pain going bust, the Busters leaving and Colossal Connection being a short-term band-aid. You are looking at a fucked division after Wrestlemania VI. The reasoning I have for the late '89-early '90 Hart Foundation/Rockers tag feud is to slide Hart Foundation back into the tag ranks. I don't think there is anyway Vince would ever turn Bret heel and then have him re-turn babyface to go singles the next year. He wanted to push Bret so he wanted to give him another tag title run to bolster him even further before the '91 run. The one thing that I don't think Bret gets enough credit for is how amazing he is at face vs face matches. He is absolutely great at playing the subtle heel. I really liked the Hart Foundation/Rockers MSG '89 match because of him. Now I would not say that Demolition was turned JTTS until after Survivor Series '90. They had already run Hart Foundation/Demolition around the horn from post-Wrestlemania through Summerslam. They could not do it in the fall again. You have to remember Ultimate Warrior/Road Warriors vs Demolition was considered a main event feud. They ran it as the main event at MSG in 9/90, Boston 9/90 and Philly 10/90. They ran it on SNME and Survivor Series. I cant even remember what Hogan did after Summerslam. Unless, I am forgetting something that was the Main Event Feud of the Fall (Sept-Nov). I think the idea was to establish the Road Warriors as main event attraction like they were elsewhere, but WWF was so anti-tag it fucked Warrior even more. There is only one way to squeeze in a Rockers title reign. I have said it before, but LOD fucked them hardest. You need to give Bret his shine, use the Nasties as transition champions to get to LOD at Summerslam. So the phantom title win would have been pretty well timed, but still I think the tag title did Bret more good because more people thought of him as a champion and a winner, easy pill for people to swallow when he goes singles. I really liked the Nasties/Rockers match from '91 and think they could have had a sweet series for the belt. Unless you extend the Rockers' run into 1992, I say Vince showed great restraint and did the right move by not putting the belt on them I watched the Demolition (Smash & Crush) vs Rockers from MSG 11/90 and thought it was pretty sweet. If you keep them together and Haku & Barbarian add in the Nasty Boys you actually finally have the first decent WWF heel roster since 1988 when Demolition were heel champs. I am not really into fantasy booking, but I don't think you can get past the lameduck champion route before Summerslam '91. Bret gained more by just having the belts than he really did defending it. If you don't believe me, you just have to look elsewhere besides here. If you venture outside here, Hart Foundation is constantly claimed to be one of if not the greatest tag team because their run is conflated with Bret's singles run and they won the title twice. They just did a whole Place To Be Nation podcast where the Hart Foundation won Best WWF Tag Team of post-1984 era and a lot of was predicated on the above two factors not on the fact they wrestled R&B around the horn the fall and winter of '90. The McMahon hype machine always wins. ------------------------------------------------------------- I usually don't like fantasy booking, but the one place I do think you can sneak a Rockers' reign is if you never turn Demolition babyface and you give them the Busters run. I think that would be fuckin' awesome and it would remove the awful blight on the wrestling world that is babyface Demolition. Matt D, I got you back whenever we discuss heel Demolition, but you are on your own when it comes to babyface Demolition. Clearly, this would be considered stupid because the Demos were so over that you almost had to turn them and that's why I don't like fantasy booking it is self-indulgent and there is no payoff. My mind could not resist and I thought Rockers/Demos in mid'89 could even top the Islanders/Strike Force feud.

I need to finish up my 80s WWF tag team watching, but I am close enough to done that I am starting my next project: WCW's midcard from approximately GAB 1991 -Bash at the Beach '94. So I am definitely going to need a Brian Pillman thread to house this all. So after Pillman delivered one of the greatest performances in Wargames history. He had a heated feud with Barry Windham that could have elevated him to the World Title contender status. You could tell how much Flair loved working with Pillman and how much of a star vibe Pillman had in 1991. Then they ran the angle where Pillman is retired, but comes back as the Yellow Dog. I kinda shit on this angle in a '91 yearbook thread "Flair/AA vs Eaton/Pillman", but seeing the following match softened my stance. I think in theory this is actually a great angle to raise Pillman's stock even more. You have all these heels, Studd, the Horsemen etc... desperately trying to unmask him in Bounty Matches, but Pillman keeps avoiding them. I think doing "this as a worst kept secret" is definitely for the best because now the fans see Pillman as overcoming this bounty and all the heels including Ric Flair gunning for him. My problem remains is why the fuck did they choose the "Yellow Dog". At least the Midnight Rider sounds cool. Yellow dog sounds like an insult from a Terry Funk promo and on top of that the ring attire is friggin' stupid. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair & Diamond Studd w/DDP vs Yellow Dog/Bobby Eaton - WCW 6/91 I believe this Flair's last televised performance with WCW until his '93 return as GAB starts that week according to JR and I know he is gone before the Meadowlands show. I actually liked this match even more than the Flair/AA vs Eaton/Pillman as this match seemed more heated and had more of a focus. The focus was getting the Yellow Dog over like rover. JR aggravates Paul E. with obtuse references to Pillman while the Yellow Dog does moves and Paul E. flips his shit each time. Studd is a little clunky, but hell if he does not sell and bump for Pillman. Pillman does not give an all-time great offensive performance but they way Flair and Studd treat him makes you feel like Pillman is a star. I love the ending where the heels just jump Pillman and try to remove his mask. It puts over the mask and the angle over so much before Eaton makes the save. I would be remiss not to mention that Flair/Eaton segments are so fucking good even better than the last tag. Those strike exchanges are everything you would want out of Flair/Eaton. I would not say a much see match as Flair/Eaton had a better match in 01/90 and Pillman has had better performances. However, it did a really good job getting the bounty angle and making me a believer in the angle even if they ended up botching the end game. ----------------------------------------------------------- Ok, I did all of two seconds of googling (what an age we lived in) and found out Barry Windham ran this exact angle in Florida where he returned as the Yellow Dog. Since Windham was the guy who put Pillman out of WCW, I think that is a really sweet piece of continuity. That being said the ring costume is still atrocious. --------------------------------------------------------- Yellow Dog, Bobby Eaton & Dustin Rhodes vs Barry Windham, Arn Anderson & Diamond Studd w/DDP - WCW 07/21/91 Crazy to think out of these seven, it was DDP that got a run with the world title (when Barry won the title in '93, it was the second-class title). I would this at about same level as the above match nothing you have to see, but this a whole lot of fun. Plus the crowd is wicked into this match. I think the Yellow Dog angle was actually getting over until they had to abort it because Windham's face turn and the light heavyweight division. The beginning was definitely best part with Windham going right after the mask and Pillman showing up him and Arn. Holy shit, did we have some good worked punches in this match and Pillman's sweet overhand chop. Hell pretty much all Hall and Dustin could offer at this point was a sweet worked punch. Studd/Eaton and Studd/Rhodes was awkward. Dustin had some nice exchanges with Arn and Windham. Arn rolling to the outside to escape Dustin only to get clobbered by Eaton never gets old. Then we hit the triple figure-4 that gets the crowd pumped. Eaton falls prey to a Horsemen trap as he ducks an Arn punch on the outside only to be clobbered by B-Dub. The heat segment was pretty decent nothing to write home about except Eaton takes the Pillman chin first bump onto railing that always looks wicked painful. Pillman botches a leapfrog before getting the pin on Arn. They all go after the mask, but Dustin clears the ring with a chair. The beginning of the match was the best part with Pillman really looking like a star. I think they should have been more unmasking attempts to really put over the angle. The match just settled into normal match mode after the heated beginning. It is too bad Windham had already cut his hair or they did not have another long-haired upper midcard heel. Yellow Dog in hair vs mask match would have been a sweet blowoff. --------------------------------------------------------------- Going back in time to the Windham/Pillman series on TV. I have seen the matches before and remember liking them. For some reason, I don't think I saw the taped fist match at SuperBrawl. Brain Pillman vs Barry Windham - WCW 3/21/91 WCW's TV schedule is so confusing, but I don't think this match made the yearbook, but the subsequent matches did. I think this is the perfect first match in a series. You don't want to blow your wad all at once. They did some nice heated work, but left themselves plenty of room to build on this. Pillman goes right after the arm early, but Pillman counteracts that with athletic pinfall attempts (crucifix and sunset flip). We get some nice Pillman overhand chops, before working Windham's leg. To Windham's he sells Pillman's leg work for a while when it really felt perfunctory so Windham saved that portion. Pillman shoulder ends up getting rammed into the turnbuckle and the rest of it writes itself as Windham beats on the arm and eye-rakes whenever Pillman tries to rally. Eventually Pillman hits a clothesline and they brawl onto the outside before AA comes to attack Pillman. The whole thing gets thrown out and the Steiners save. Like, I said a really good first match in a series, but I kinda remember my problem with this series is that there is no progression from here. Let us see... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Pillman vs Barry Windham - WCW Pro 4/6/91 Tony and Larry Z are excellent on commentary what the hell happened during the Nitro Era. Actually, there was some progression here, but given that they would still have another match before the Taped Fist match, this is another great addition to the series. Unlike the Wargames performance, Pillman is relying on speed rather than violence to keep Windham off balance and ultimately take the advantage by working Barry's arm in an eye for an eye type move. I liked Pillman's hammerlock work and his general ability to overcome Windham's tricks and cheat moves with speed and heart. Windham does a great job of putting over Pillman as he comes in wary and sells well for Pillman. We come back from commercial and finally Windham is able to hiptoss Pillman from the top rope thus gaining him the advantage. I thought this heat segment was even better and grittier with Windham really working Pillman's arm with holds, slams and ripping at the shoulder brace. I love a good fish hook and Windham using that 'ol hook in the mouth to stymie Pillman was great. Just when Pillman looks to mount a comeback, Windham rolls through and grabs the tights with both hands to secure the victory. As B-Dub is gloating with Larry Z, Pillman leaps onto Windham and it is on like Donkey Kong. Windham gains the advantage again hitting a bulldog structured so that it would look like he is trying to separate the shoulder. Larry Z thinks Pillman has a death wish and like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Pillman claws his way over and grabs Windham's hair. Once again, Windham quashes Pillman by attacking the shoulder. After Big Barry goes back to talk to the Living Legend, here comes EL Gigante and now Windham heads for the hills. They did a really good job of putting over Pillman's never say die attitude. You are just waiting for Pillman to really erupt as he has just been using speed and guts so far, which should come eventually. This would have been enhanced if JR was on commentary in terms of getting that aspect over, but Tony and Larry did a great job breaking down the match. They have not had that break out match that you know they can have. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Pillman vs Barry Windham - WCW 4/27/91 They still had to save something in the tank for Superbrawl I, but this was getting closer to that grudge match type atmosphere as Pillman was more violent than athletic in this match. You really had JR harping on the grudge match feeling in the match. Pillman no longer has the shoulder brace so this should be more about the feud than the shoulder injury. They sort of had a false start as there was a botched back body drop and they kind of lost their place. Then they reset did the back body drop and Pillman came on strong with some wicked chops. He dropkicked Windham off the the top rope and hit a double axe-handle off the top rope onto the floor. Things definitely feel more heated from Pillman's side. Pillman should never do leapfrogs maybe he got better at them, but in 1991 he did this sort of one legged deal and it looked awful. Windham threw him up in the air and he belly flopped. Windham dropped him with nasty brainbuster. Windham was excellent as a prick heel with tons of eye-rakes to stymie Pillman and a nice fish hook. A lariat only gets two for Windham. Pillman is bleeding and it may be from Windham digging his nails in his eyes because I can't tell when he would have bladed. Pillman mounts a comeback with a spinning heel kick and missile dropkick. He gets an inside cradle on a bodyslam and AA interferes. They beat him down before Eaton makes a save to add heat to his SuperBrawl encounter with AA. It was not all-time classic as it was still missing that level of heat. I like how they have built on each match as they are finally getting into the fight portion of the feud, but still saving something for the taped fist match. Pillman wrestled a totally different match and he did as equally well as in the above matches. Windham is great at walking a fine line between giving Pillman too much and still protecting himself. It was another good match, but hoping that the Taped Fist match is that all-time classic. -------------------------------------------------- Brian Pillman vs Barry Windham - Superbrawl I Taped Fist Match I had never seen this match before, but definitely came across to me as an unsung classic. I agree that it is too abrupt to consider this a MOTYC or a true all-time great match, but for as long it lasts this match kills it. Windham establishes he is the bigger of the two and is real cocky at the beginning. Once Pillman gets him off his feet, he is relentless with punches and follows him onto the corner. Windham exclaims " Get him off me! Dont he know the rules!". Dusty says the rules were thrown out when he injured him or something to that effect. Pillman dropkicks him off the top and comes off the top with a punch and he is pumped. Big Barry is bleeding early, but he uses Pillman's momentum against him and Pillman goes flying into the post and he is busted open. Windham sends Pillman crashing into the railing falling with him in the bump of the match. You can feel how much these two are trying to kill each other. Pillman comes back with some vicious chops, which is my I did not like this choice of gimmick for them. Pillman does not really use punches. I am just glad 2010 JR is not calling this match otherwise those chops would carcinogenic. Windham with a big belly to back suplex, but nothing is holding Pillman down until they crack heads. Pillman ascends the top rope, but Windham hits him with a low blow and then hits a superplex with a floatover for the win. It really was a beautiful superplex. The problem with this match is that it felt too abrupt. I do not think we saw as many fist fight exchanges as I wanted to see. For what we got, it was a vicious match with plenty of bleeding and some nice highspots. Also, felt bad that Pillman still got the screws put to him. Windham is such a great performer and throughout this series he has played bully and coward both convincingly. Pillman has played the plucky underdog with a heart three sizes too big so well. I just feel the booking was not there for them to make this all-time series. The Yellow Dog angle could have gone somewhere, but external forces (as always in WCW) were against them. However, this series bookend by two great performances at Wargames and Superbrawl. I would say this is pretty easily 1991 WCW's feud of the year. ----------------------------------------------------- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman - WCW 4/91 Holy fuck, what a war! I have seen this match before and I made the case for the '90 match being better, but I am having a hard time believing that after watching this one again. I don't mean this as a slight to the Windham series, but this match blows those TV matches out of the water. This was a gritty, nasty match. Flair's chest is bleeding within the first five minutes from Pillman's overhand chops. I love how when Flair chops Pillmain in the corner he immediately ties him up to prevent another Pillman chop. Pillman can not be denied early on as he is looking for vengeance for what the Horsemen did to him. Pillman looks to take an eye for an eye by wrapping Flair's leg around the post. Pillman applies a half-crab, but cant hold on. Flair hits a reverse atomic drop out of the corner and he takes over. This part of the match veers from brutal brawl to putting over Pillman's heart as he is just withstanding the relentless onslaught of Flair's cheating. He put his feet on the ropes multiple times, a low blow and eye-rakes. He was really pouring it on. Pillman just kept coming. Paul E. keeps bringing up Flair/Pillman's teacher/student relationship, which is a nice touch to put over how personal this rivalry is. Pillman press slams Flair, who keeps jawing with the crowd. However, Pillman crashes and burns on the missile dropkick. Still, Pillman chops his way out of trouble and Flair flops and flips for him, but Flair catches Pillman on the outside. Still, Pillman just keeps coming back with chops, but then he dropkicks the ref by accident. Flair is able to slap on the figure-4 and AA is out to give him extra leverage. Pillman keeps kicking out even in these dire circumstances, until El Gigante arrives on the scene to attack the Horsemen triggering the DQ. It is an absolute shame Pillman did not get the spot on the January Clash as announced on the TV, which went instead to Scotty Steiner. These matches with Flair are reminiscent of Flair's brutal battles with Ronnie Garvin, which were absolute wars. The first five minutes of this were stiff as all hell. After that, transitioned nicely into a gritty contest with Flair doing everything he could to win the match to get the hell out of dodge so he no longer had to withstand the wrath of Flair. Pillman was that pitbull just like JR said who did not say die. It is a gripping contest that would be a MOTY in WWF, but with Wargames '91 and Steamboat/Rhodes vs Enforcers match, this is in the next class down. Pillman should have been a huge babyface star in 1991 WCW and the more I watch. The more I grow disappointed with my beloved WCW. ---------------------------------------------------- I knew that Pillman was trained by Stu Hart that's why he was in the Hart Foundation in '97. I cant believe I was worked by Heyman. Shakin' my head at myself.

Let me preface this with saying that Tommy Rich's career has always really interested me as he was the centerpiece of a possible Georgia national expansion. There were so many moving parts in the early 80s that from a political perspective it is easily the most interesting period to me as a wrestling fan. I have not seen much Tommy Rich, but what I have seen in Memphis against Dundee and as a tag team in the New Fabulous Ones is really good and he looks like he could be an all-time great as this thread posits. Of course, I say this because I am about to say something derogatory. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Tommy Rich - Power Hour (Taped 3/90) Shown 12/90 Before, I get to the match Woman is an absolute stunner in this. Any woman that appreciated Ric Flair is a-ok in my book. This is a broomstick match. Flair has so many spots that they do not do all of them and actually they stick to less frequent Flair spots that it makes this really fun. I expect Flair to have a broomstick match with likes of Tom Zenk, but I thought Tommy Rich may get a little more freedom. I was wondering why it did not make the '90 yearbook given the participants, but since it is just a match that exists in a vacuum and it feels like Rich is just an interchangeable wrestler in Flair's plug-n-play format I can understand why this did not make it. I really liked the opening Flair matwork and Rich's headscissors were really good. It was the usual babyface bests Flair on the mat and frustrates him, but in 1990 this was actually a pretty common sequence and Rich is really game for it. Flair goes to the corner and besides Vader may be the greatest corner wrestler of all time, but much to my surprise this is not the heat transition. See Flair still can surprise me. A reverse elbow sends Rich crashing to the floor. I love Flair out on the floor. He is just a wicked presence out there. he wraps Rich into a half nelson and throws his feet on the ropes, but to no avail. Flair busts out the butterfly suplex, my favorite suplex. Rich throws Flair into the railing. Flair's selling of this is why he is one of the best. Flair always used every inch of available real estate afforded to him that's how you make the most of your opportunities. Rich's big contribution to the match is Thesz Press down the stretch for two. The finish is a shoulder tackle where Flair knocks Rich's foot off the ropes and gets the two. They really put over Rich and the part fatigue play in wrestling with that finish. Too bad, they showed it 9 months after it was taped. I am a pretty unabashed Ric Flair fan and enjoyed watching this style match of his because he would bust it out less and less as time progressed. Unfortunately, this negated Tommy Rich's ability to make his mark in this match. The only reason a match with Zenk I would consider better than Rich's is because the Zenk match had Flair do a heel turn mid-match and this match was straight heel Flair match. The Zenk match had a more interesting hook even though Rich could keep up with Flair better.

Why, why, why didn't they play up the fact that exactly one year ago Punk needed all this help (Maddox, Shield) to beat Ryback. I don't think that would castrate Punk and then you could really play up "Can Punk beat this guy?" or does did Heyman really pull trump with this coup by gaining the services of Punk's archrival. Ugh. Regardless, it remains the match I am most interested in. This is the type of PPV (not that they would ever do it) where Wargames would come in handy. You do Bryan/Ziggler/Rhodes vs Orton/Shield in a Wargames you pop the buyrate without really having to move the story along and give the faces a victory. Instead, the story does seem to have stagnated. I still would say this is best year has been the best Orton year that I can ever remember as he is actually interacting with the crowd since Wrestlemania. Besides Punk/Ryback, I am interested in Rhodes Family vs the Shield and that's about it. I don't the story for Bryan is dead yet and there are plenty of ways to go, but they have definitely hit a lull in my interest for Bryan, but thats what the upper midcard is there for and they have some good stuff in that. I never buy non-Big 4 PPVs (well except MITB 2011), but just my thoughts anyways,

O shit, I was wondering if you were going to do Backlund's stuff in Japan. That stuff is so friggin' good. I have never actually watched his '79 stuff with Inoki, but his '78 match in Japan with Inoki is something I would rank higher than the Valentine '79 draw. Backlund/Dusty in Japan is an easy contender for Dusty's greatest match and Backlund/Hansen '80 Japan is just as good as you think it would be. Plus you are getting closer to the epic Backlund/Hogan match in Philly. Shit really getting revved up now.

Pillman looks like an absolute cant miss star to me in this. I love Eaton as much as the next Southern wrestling mark, but the way Pillman is fired up for this match and Eaton is just kinda there juxtaposed tells me all I need to know. Pillman should have been headlining with Flair and should have been pushed in the midcard singles title scene. Flair was surely an eager beaver in this match as he Flair Flops over nothing early. The beginning brawl seemed a little lukewarm to me. The first Flair/Eaton ratcheted up the heat as that was some really good exchanges. Now the Flair Flop off a railing shot seems much more apropos. The Horsemen work a nice heat segment with Pillman;s leg being worked on before Pillman's big retirement match against the Horsemen with Gigante. Eaton is in and gets a piece of Flair. Given how Flair took that back body drop and Flair Flip and then multiply that by 300 and then again by like 35 it is amazing he is still standing. The heels bail after this overwhelming babyface offense and they go off the air with the babyfaces chasing them to the back. This match is action-packed, but really the only things that stuck out to me are the Flair/Eaton exchanges and how much Pillman felt like a total star in this. You could say it was a big responsibility that he was chosen to basically create a whole division from scratch. I think we all agree that division was DOA. I wanted to see Pillman/Luger touring around the fall '91 for the belt.

This is the type of great match that I somehow always forgot about when I am making lists.Then whenever a wicked hot girl at the club asks me to rattle of My top 10 best WCW matches of the 90s and I list them then she says "What about Steamboat's return with Dustin against the Enforcers". I just rip off the nearest blazer from some hotshot, drop a knee on it and ask her to marry me on the spot. If I say it enough, this is bound to happen. Point is after this match, I am never forgetting about this match again. I don't know if it is in my top ten because it is fuckin' awesome and deserves all the praise it gets. To me all time great matches, need urgency and struggle. You have to believe these two men or teams are actually working to achieve victory. In this match, every single spot is worked for because how great all four of these men are. It has become almost cliche to praise how well the Enforcers put over Steamboat's return, but that only shows how great a job they do from the facial expressions to "NOT RICKY STEAMBOAT!". I watched this match with my mother and brother and when he said "He's just a man!" They popped huge. (My whole living with my parents may be a detriment to the above fantasy). I always, always loved that line. This tag match is like manna from heaven after being in the desert of WWF tags. Look, I have seen plenty of great WWF tags don't get me wrong, but there is nothing like Mama's home cookin'. I have come home, baby! Jim Ross sums up the beginning the best when he says the Enforcers have been totally psyched out my Ricky Steamboat explaining how they are just generally so cerebral, but this surprise has really unnerved. I love that is how that match really unfolds as the story in and out of the ring really connects. The babyface shine is just one of those really feel-good ones, but credit to the Enforcers they are still working to get the advantage they are just discombobulated by the presence of Steamboat. I would rank Ric Flair as the greatest verbal seller of all time, but Larry Z is definitely up there with him. From the beginning, Dustin looks like he belong in there with these three veterans as he is excellent at delivering some great babyface offense. The Enforcers are cheating and stalling like muthafuckas, but nothing seems to take effect as the babyfaces will just not be denied. The thing I really took away from this match was that the transition to the heat segment maybe the greatest transition I have ever seen. Larry Z slaps Steamboat to get him hot and he bails. The Steamer gives chase. Larry Z gets back in and tags Arn. As Steamboat gets back in, Arn hits him. Dustin goes to argue and Arn comes crashing down on the Dragon's back while the Living Legend holds him. Tony puts over that looked "helter-skelter", but it was actually a well-laid plan. That was the fuckin' beauty of it. It is did not look rehearsed. It looked like a really intelligent piece of strategy to finally give the Enforcers the advantage. The Enforcers work a kickass heat segment, but that's like telling you the sun is coming up tomorrow. It is just a clinic as they focus on Steamboat's back and constantly are keeping him in their corner. My favorite part is the Boston Crab where Larry Z is pushing Arn's head back just for that extra little bit. In a match like this, every inch counts. What I really want to make a point of is in a WWF tag usually the heels just do their thing. Here, Steamboat is still clawing at everything. He is still throwing strikes. He is looking to claw his way back into this anyway he can. This entire match has just had so much struggle to it and that's makes it so timeless. Who ever is on the defensive is still putting up a fight. Steamboat gets an atomic drop, but Arn's head snaps back and they crack heads. The ref's count is on, but the Dragon makes it to the Natural. Dustin is a house afire. He hits a wicked lariat and here comes the bulldog on AA. He tags Steamboat back in so Steamboat can hit the cross-body on Arn so he can get the feel-good moment in winning the tag titles in his return. They used Dustin perfectly in this match, but not due to a lack of experience as he was just about to have an absolutely incredible '92. Steamboat was the main focus of the match. You wanted to see Steamboat kick ass at the beginning, get his ass beat and then get the pinfall because he is in the returning hero. Dustin was a sweet guitar fill to Steamboat's all-time bitchin' riff. Dustin hit a lot of good offense to pop the crowd. This is my favorite Steamboat performance because of how passionate it is and how he just works every spot as hard as he can. I don't think much more can be said about the Enforcers, just a masterful heel performance. I am so glad to finally be home, again!

In one night, WCW turns around the entire company from what could have been a death blow at Great American Bash '91. It was really only 4 months and I think that's actually pretty damn fast given what happened. I am not saying Rude + Steamboat = Flair, but fuck if it did not make great TV right through Beach Blast '92. This match is the WWF's domain, not that they would ever come close to running an angle like this until the Attitude Era. WWF is usually better at using as a match as backdrop to run an angle, but WCW kills them on this one as this is just superb. I remember reading about this angle on Wrestlecrap and thinking what the fuck is wrong with this author this sounds bitchin'. So having watched it a couple since then, yep I was right, the execution was pitch perfect. Paul E. is excellent as the evil genius that rambles too long giving the hero enough time to make it back. Sting hitting the military press to Rude on the ramp was one of the best hope spots of all time. He really could pull this out. They do everything they can to protect Sting. Rude works over his badly injured knee, he pokes him in the eyes, Paul E. hits him in the head with the phone and finally Rude chop blocks AND grabs the tights to get the pin. I think every bit of it works. This is where you want all this shit in excess because it makes both parties garner more heat. Outside of the Vader series, this may be the best Sting performance of all time as he really milks the knee injury and delivers a great heroic performance. Rude immediately feels like a huge deal in WCW beating Sting for a title in a great dick heel performance. Kudos to the booking committee to stick the titles on Rude and Steamboat right off the bat . That's how you build on an immediate impact.

Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko, Sid Vicious) vs. Sting's Squadron (Sting, Brian Pillman & Steiner Brothers) - WCW Wrestlewar '91 WARGAMES Watched this match last night and those first five minutes blew me away moreso than any watch I had had before. From the beginning, when the visibly injured Pillman breaks from the pack to exact revenge from the Horsemen. I love how commentary puts that and all things Pillman over. I like how Pillman mixed athletic and violent spots to display both sides of his character. Sometimes, when people grab onto the ceiling of the cage and try to do a spot it comes off artificial. This looked Pillman was looking for that extra leverage to fuck up Barry Windham. Once Pillman busted Windham out, when he had Windham's blood smeared on his mouth that is one of the most feral, barbaric things you will ever see in a wrestling ring. Pillman was a man possessed in that segment. I loved Barry Windham's crazy out of control bump over the top rope of both rings into the next ring. Windham was a next level athlete. Flair is in like a wild man and even with his mushroom cut can still go toe to toe with Pillman in a chopfest. Flair begs off and now finally Big, Bloodied Barry has recovered enough to break Pillman's momentum. Together the Horsemen friggin chuck Pillman as hard they can shoulder first into the cage. I said "Holy Shit!" audibly seeing that. That was such a great spot. Flair goes over and gives the Sting team a big 'ol hip thrust. I love it! Barry hoists Pillman onto his shoulder and drives him his shoulder into the cage. Then they throw Pillman across into the other ring (a wicked bump, similar to Big Barry's earlier) in order to get him away from Sting's door. Holy shit, that's some sweet strategy. I know just realized Pillman did the same thing to Windham in the first segment. Even in the heat of the battle, these wrestlers are the ultimate tacticians. Both Horsemen meet Sting at the door, but Sting is hopped on on that sweet Phoenix noise!?!?!?!?! He hits a double clothesline to a big pop. It is bulldogs for everyone. Windham is resorting to eye-rakes to everyone, but Sting can't be denied. Larry Z in is so Sting just flies over both rings and clobbers Larry Z. It settles into a blur of violence until the wicked ending. The Steiners brought a lot of great energy while Sid brought a lot of awkward spot calling and stilted moments. Sid single-handlely knocks this out of classic status for me. I say that as one of the biggest Sid's fans of all time, but I gotta call a spade a spade. They hit a great crowd-pleasing spot in the form of a quadruple figure-4 spot. I like violence as much as next wrestling fan, but I thought the violence at the beginning of this match was a lot more noteworthy than the middle of the match. I thought it was interesting that Rick Steiner was the one that busted Flair open. I thought those honors would have gone to the Stinger. I swear everytime the camera was on Sid he was calling a spot. Ugh. I actually like how Larry Z threw Rick Steiner into the cage hard, but Steiner no-sold because "Muthafucka, I got no brains." Scotty Steiner is the bundle of energy you expect great Steinerline on Sid. Stinger Splash by Sting and locks the Scorpion Deathlock onto Flair. I agree that this some of the best Flair/Sting segments ever. I never been a big fan of the military press into the roof spot as it does not looks like it hurts. I LOVE that while a bunch of action is going on you can hear Larry Z's screams of agony in the background. Wargames is friggin' awesome. Sid gets a hold of Pillman and throws him up into the ceiling. Then he nearly kills Pillman dead with the first powerbomb and then does another one. El Gigante, the friendly giant, is out to surrender for his unconscious amigo. I know that powerbomb was unsafe, but goddamn it looked brutal. This is an excellent violent affair. That maybe the best opening 10 minutes in Wargames history. Pillman is an absolute beast throughout the match and the best violent performance of his career. I would say this the WCW match of the year over the Clash Tag that features the return of Dragon. I have to think long and hard if it is better than '94 Wargames match. I would say they are pretty even. '94 may win out because there is more emotion with Dusty & Dustin vs the Stud Stable. Still is a very breezy and bloody match. ****1/2 I do not think that I have to tell anyone that 1991 WCW booking sucked the meat missile. I will say that I think the first half of the year actually sucked worst than the second half. I think the uncertainty of whether Flair would leave or not hurt more than Flair actually hurt the company more than his outright leaving. I went through the results for '91 and Flair basically wrestled only Sting and Gigante on the house show loop. I was trying to read WCW TV recaps where I could, but I could not glean any reason to believe they were building towards Luger/Flair in the same way as in '90 when Flair/Sting was being built. Late WCW '91 sucked because of lack of talent and a huge void. Early WCW '91 sucked because Flair was on top and no one was building towards anything. Luger and Sting were stuck in a malaise and a returning Nikita Koloff was not the solution. Also, how come Pillman got bumped from Jan Clash spot that Scotty Steiner got? I read that Pillman was announced on TV as having that match. Early '91 WCW was devoid of angles and direction. I love Pillman, but the fuckin Yellow Dog angle was the hottest angle of the Summer of '91. You need a hotter main event angle than that.