Superstar Sleeze

Here comes The Ax! Here Comes The Smasher! Slow day at work, means that I can finally get this blog up. I know that Demolition has been a firebrand on this site. I have to say I fall in the middle. I recognize Demolition's strengths: match layout and more competitive matches with less of an exhibition-feel. However, their matches can meander and fall flat. There are plenty of faults, but they guys should not be dismissed just because they look like their Road Warriors. They should be judged based on their own merits. I would highly recommend their matches against Hart Foundation - Summerslam '88 and against the Rockers 10/88 MSG show as their two stand-out matches. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...es-ax-here.html

One hour in and already this show has really inspired me to watch two really good AA/Dusty matches that I never seen before. The TV Title change to Dusty, while a weird finish, maybe the best Dusty match save for the Backlund one I saw a while ago. I love when a podcast inspires stuff like that. Keep churning them out because they sound great.

I have definitely heard some other nay-sayers for the match and I understand why it is so polarizing because of how overboard they go with pre-match gimmicks. I just happened to really like it as a light-hearted match. Now onto Rockers into the 90s, tag landscape has begun to thin out as Rockers are basically left to anchor the tag midcard against teams like the Orient Express and Power & Glory. You can already feel that tag wrestling is in recession and the Rockers are a part of a dying breed in 1990. WWF Tag Champions Colossal Connection vs Rockers - Primetime Wrestling 3/90 This is just a short TV match to further the angle with Demolition leading into Wrestlemania. Rockers has been programmed with Hart Foundation, but there was to be no Hart Foundation/Rockers Wrestlemania match. You can really see how much bigger Haku has gotten as he really starts to looks more like the power wrestler they were pushing. Shawn & Marty start off with some double team dropkicks which cause Andre to get tangled in the ropes. Andre selling for the little guys. They did not do much with that. Some normal Rockers double teaming, but would get broken up whenever they got close to Andre, which is a great use for him. Haku kicks Marty in the head while Andre holds him and they beat on Shawn until Demolition makes the save and the match gets thrown out. I was expecting a bit more, but still I see how they made the Colossal Connection work given Andre's limitations. He sure liked to sit on people at his age. Nothing to go out of your way to see, but cool to see Andre work the Rockers.

Just rewatched Demolition/Rockers from 1988 because I thought I short-changed it even though I did write a pretty positive review. On rewatch, it was a really incredible match and it really lends further proof to my belief that Demolition was actually a great heel team and just were not a very good babyface tag team. I believe that the monster face is the toughest role to play in wrestling and it just not something Demoltiion could pull off in a way that was entertaining to me even though they were quite over with the live crowd. On the rewatch, I loved, loved the shine Rockers were cutting a tremendous pace and Demolition really made them work for it. The heat segment was excellent Shawn was selling Demo's stuff well and Demos were hyper-focused on the back. Shawn is out to lunch if he thinks Demos did not give him enough because they got plenty way more than the Busters and the finish was great as putting Rocker over only to lose to a Demolition double team. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team Powers of Pain (Powers of Pain, British Bulldogs, Rockers, Hart Foundation& Young Stallions) vs Team Demolition (Demolition, Brainbusters, Rougeaus, Bolsheviks & Conquistadors) - Survivor Series '88 I am glad there were only two matches done in this style because I have to say I am not a huge fan. I think they are both very good matches given the circumstances, but there is just too much action and not enough story. In the '87 match, I was trying to separate my issues with the style and give a positive review in spite there was a lot of sizzle, but little steak. I will say this match improves on that match as the storylines are much more interesting highlighting Demos/POP & Busters/Rockers as the next big feuds and the Impossible Dream Team of the Conquisatdors. This was the Rockers & Busters first real big chance on a WWF stage and they really shine by differentiating themselves immediately from the WWF wrestlers. Right from the outset, the Rockers are pushing their speed element as how they will over come the stereotypical bigger guys with the Bolsheviks. Then Tully comes in and immediately starts pinballing off the babyfaces. Then when Tully has to face the prospect of Barbarian, he just struts 'n' strolls over to tag Volkoff. Fuckin Demolition aint gonna stooge for you. Who gets the first real face in peril segment: Shawn where he delivered his typically great performance and Marty got to play the hot tag on a Conquistador. You could get a taste as a WWF fan what you were in store for with this new explosive team. After Zuhkov eliminates last year's Cinderella the Stallions, Shawn is able to prove he is the better wrestler pretty much overcoming him with ease, before tagging Marty in for a slingshot sunset flip to eliminate the Bolsheviks. Eventually the Rockers and Brainbusters erupts into a donnybrook that causes both teams to be eliminated as they fight to the back. This set up the hot feud that would take them through the first quarter of next year. The match was showcase for the Rocker's speed and selling and the Busters' bumping and stooging. Before we get into the other two overarching storylines of the match, I just wanted to talk about everyone else. The long-standing rumor is that the Rougeaus (#3 heel team on the depth chart) were eliminated early to avoid Dynamite doing unspeakable things to Jacques. Based on Bret Hart's recent visit on the Steve Austin show, he admitted Dynamite was a prick willing to take liberties in the ring. In this match, he was able to get his hands on the Rougeaus and nothing seemed stiffer than usual. I would say a clothesline he gave Tully was even stiffer. The Bulldogs were one team that gave kind of an uninspired performance. It was just a lot of offense, but none of it had any meaning and it just became a blur. Of course, they were on their way out having wrapped up putting Demolition over and with no future it explains their meandering performance in this match, but because of how long they were in there it just dragged for me. If you are a action-mark, Bulldogs were probably your favorite team in this match, but for me they did not give me any reason to care about them. The Hart Foundation were in a similar boat, but they not as showcased plus Bret is a way better seller thus was willing to give the heels a little bit. One of my favorite random moments from this match was Barbarian was coming out of an FIP and dissed Anvil by not tagging him and tagged Marty. It had me laughing. I liked the finish to Bret's elimination where he German suplexed Tully, but could not hold him and pinned himself. The Bullodgs finish was pretty good as well with Dynamite crashing and burning on a diving head butt attempt. These two teams provided great action, but without a storyline motivation were just kinda there. On the heel side, the Rougeaus did not get to show much due to their early elimination. 'Ol Nik looked great in this match busting a nice spinkick twice. Volkoff is not some great lost worker because he was a really solid hand that had a couple high spots hit them well and knew how to lay in his strikes. I definitely like Volkoff after seeing him a couple times. I do not get the Bolsheviks elimination of the Stallions as that could have a great way to give the Busters a good victory instead of the Bolsheviks who were going nowhere. Though maybe it was to make the Rockers look better. Much like the Stallions & Bees, the Conquistadors played the role of the jabroni team that no one thought would make it. Difference was I got sucked into rooting for the Conquistadors mostly due to Jesse's commentary. It is these two average looking goofs in all gold costumes with generic lucha masks constantly making mistakes but somehow always withstanding all this babyface offense. Jesse & Gorilla were amazed by their resilience. They always were the guys that kept slamming their babyface to close to the wrong corner causing them to take a hot tag, but they never did get pinned. Hell one of them attempted a somersault senton from the second rope, which was the high spot of the match. Now the reason the Conquisatdors stayed in were because after the Powers of Pain heel turn they wanted a team to put the POP over, but I would have lost my shit if they gave the Conquistadors a couple spots before biting dust due to some Fuji interference and a Barbie headbutt. Now the major story arc of this match is Demolition vs Powers of Pain. Demolition was the only heel team early on that got any offense in as they cutting off people, but their partners would lose the advantage. That is a Demolition hallmark. Barb and Smash went toe-to-toe for a bit. Smash tags out to a Conquistador for takes Barbie's big boot. The Ax vs Warlord encounter has a much bigger feel the commentary puts it over, the crowd erupts and the wrestlers are excited. Demolition double teams, but here comes Barb with a huge flying shoulder tackle. Barbarian had this strange penchant to headbutt a heel back into the heel corner letting him tag out. Barb does a little FIP, which is better than Warlord, but still nothing special. Finally we are down to Demolition & Conquistadors vs the Powers of Pain. Warlord posts his shoulder early and Demolition targets it, but Fuji keeps jumping on the apron so as to give a cane shot, but it would be in the plain view of the ref. So Demolition ignores him and the commentators are like that kooky Fuji. Smash goes to run the ropes, but tumbles through the middle rope not because he is a klutz, but because he has been sabotaged by Fuji. Demolition gets counted out, but Ax is hot at Fuji. Fuji has the gall to push Ax away with cane and when Ax turns his back he gives him a wallop. However Smash is back up and tosses him to Ax who bodyslams him and the crowd erupts and babyface turn completed. POP ignores the Impossible Dream Team of the Conquistadors and helps Fuji up and brings him to their corner. Fuji trips a Conquistador and a Barbie falling headbutt gets the win for a big pop. Heel turn in progress. Demolition returns to clear the ring and the crowd pops for them I don't think it will take much to complete POP's heel turn. The angle seemed random mostly likely due to me having not watched the TV. It made sense that Demolition was clearly over ought to be turned face, but it seemed strange that Fuji was just all of sudden hopping up on the ring. If they wanted to do the Fuji/POP in cahoots, why not just have Fuji trip Ax or Smash. I do not think it was the best way to turn POP heel, but the bodyslam was definitely effective in turning Demolition babyface. I will probably never watch this match again as it is wicked fuckin' long, but there is plenty of action and story telling to recommend it to be watched once.

I know this is a very polarizing match, which is why I waited to do a review for it because I wanted to really do a well-written review. I absolutely love this match. I don't want to say it as good RnR/MX at Wrestlewar '90, but really is not far off. The opening match histrionics all through the Rockers changing off and the ref asking the crowd was hilarious. Pro wrestling can be a lot of things, it can be a violent brawl, a great championship match, but for a light-hearted match, this is pro wrestling. I just had a huge smile on my face. Then I thought the Shawn FIP was really dramatic and the best the Rougeaus ever looked in the WWF by far. I love, love this match. I have Survivor Series '88 and Rockers/OX to do, but hopefully I will watch it again soon.

My short answer to that is the LOD signing really fucked them and unless you want to wait on that break up then there was no time to give them belts. These external forces should not be held against them. Since Chad sort of brought this up in his response to my comments on his article on WWF Tag Wrestling, I will give my answer here. He believed that Rockers could have had their tag title from the phantom win in October 1990 through Wrestlemania VII and this is really their only feasible window. Demolition were the anchors of the tag division and a direction that Vince was more comfortable going in. Even though with Martel/Zenk and once Zenk left with Santana, he tried to go with a traditional pretty boy tag team, but given Vince's philosophy on wrestling, you know he felt that was too traditional "rasslin'" and that Demolition much like Warrior really captured what his audience wanted and the direction he wanted to go in. Since Demolition as turned babyface, there was nowhere in 1989 that Rockers could win the the titles. In 1990, it was already foregone conclusion based on what he see in 1989 that Bret was going to be pushed to the I-C title, but with Eadie retiring they needed a babyface anchor tag team. However, the LOD came in around Summer of 1990 so everyone knew that for the next year it would be just lame duck champions. The Nasty Boys were excellent heel transition champions for LOD. So basically, the window for the bridge from Demolition to the Nasties was Summerslam to Wrestlemania VII. I believe it did make more sense for Bret Hart to hold the tag titles in this period because the fans would identify him as a winner and as a champion so that it would be easier to transition him to the IC belt. Shawn and Marty were hardly sure things at this point from singles and obviously Marty flamed out due to the dreaded personal demons. The Rockers were excellent in delivering those fast-paced tag matches that gave the card some more breadth. They always played an excellent number 3 babyface tag team to Hart Foundation, Demolition and LOD. Yes, the Hulkamania era coincided with the most loaded the tag division has been in the WWF, but what is shocking going through all these matches is how much each year they were just hanging on by thread. Each year, they reloaded just in a nick of time before the division imploded finally in 1991. A lot of problems later on stemmed from stacked the babyface side was Demolition (1989), Hart Foundation, Rockers and LOD (1990) and how undermanned the heel side was. The heel side was so undermanned in 1989 that Bret Hart worked singles pretty much the entire year against Mr. Perfect. It was twofold Vince was grooming him, but on the same token there really was not team for the Hart Foundation to wrestle. The Rougeaus had been done to death and Brainbusters were the Demo's foils. That is why you see the short-lived Hart Foundation/Rockers program to bridge Harts to Demolition because the roster was just that thin at that point. Now the whole point of that preface was to explain the Rockers did the best they could given the circumstances around them. You can't blame them for not getting over because they did get over. You can't blame them for not getting pushed because there were external forces outside their control. The LOD signing really fucked them. The tag division in WWF was always there to add variety, not to draw. So Rockers never had time on their side because they were going to be pushed as singles stars. Thats why the metric of why you didnt get pushed as a singles star should not be applied to tag teams in WWF especially when tag teams had singles potential. I would argue from a pure match quality point of view that the Rockers are a Top 5 North American tag team with ease and if you want to add drawing and those metrics I still think they would be in top ten in North America.

Soup, great article as you definitely did way more research than someone who normally laments the death of tag wrestling. Not saying I would expect anything else, but given what constitutes wrestling journalism in some parts this is really well-done. As you know I am plowing through the 80s "Golden Age" of the WWF Tag Division, but I have been more focused on the quality, not the placement of the matches so that was interesting to read. Demolition was definitely the Ace of the WWF Tag Division and positioned to be their best draw. People tend to overrate Hart Foundation team, but especially as a draw like they were someone how the biggest tag team of the 80s. Which brings to my first quibble, Bret Hart was not really treated as a tag specialist in 1989, in fact you would be hard pressed to find many tag matches. He worked Honky, Mr. Perfect (for most of the year) and Bravo in house show programs. On TV, he had draws with Valentine & Martel and a double countout with DiBiase. Besides the top two heels, Savage & Rude, who he did not interact with he always got at least one inconclusive finish with them. He only worked tag matches at Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and a short Primetime Wrestling program with the Powers of Pain. Vince realized with Eadie retiring and the IC title tied up, it was best to move Bret back into the tag division and began the Hart Foundation's program with Rockers, which led to them getting the belts off Demolition. Point is maybe Vince wanted to repush the idea of Bret as a tag wrestler so that's why the commentary was the way it was, but Bret was basically a singles wrestler in 1989 in everything, but name only. My next quibble is no mention of Warrior & Road Warriors vs Demolition, which was from my understanding a big main event program in the Fall of 1990. I understand the Road Warriors were main event acts in the AWA & NWA (something you could have added to bolster your case). I feel like this was Vince showing LOD that he would treat them as main event acts too. However, I felt because of how tag wrestling was viewed in WWF, instead of pushing Road Warriors, this buried Ultimate Warrior when he was especially vulnerable in his nascent run with the belt. I was going to actually make a whole Ultimate Warrior thread about this once I watch the matches. Questions are was Warriors vs Demolition the main event program of Fall 1990? Did it draw? Were the pops good? Did it harm Warrior? I have Demolition vs Rockers from 1990 to finish. I was thinking of doing Demolition vs Colossal Connection next, but I think I will just jump to this now.

That main event angle sucked this week. It is incredibly demeaning to Daniel Bryan. I get what they are going for plucky babyface has to face monster heel, but instead this time the "monster heel" is a reluctant babyface. The big problem is that wrestling matches are competitions to negotiate pinfalls and submissions not contests to see who can maim someone. No was forcing Show to maim Bryan from the outset they just wanted him to wrestle Bryan. Jeez, why doesn't Big Show have these misgivings all time. Then the way acted like "Dont make do this, Daniel", well way to shit on Daniel. NOW when HHH made Show do his KO punch to Bryan that is something to get worked up about. That was having your hand forced. Still pretty sucky way to end RAW after two hot weeks. The Cody stuff was well-done, but I don't think it was as hot as someone else. I think it sets up him nicely in the upper midcard, but did not catapult him into rarefied air. Could be wrong, but just feelings from now. Ryback/Ziggler was excellently done. Here's something that drove me up a wall for ever and I keep meaning to post, but I fucking hate the video game cut scene before the Wyatts come out. You are coming out to wrestle not participate in the next level of some lame video game.

Van Halen is my favorite band of all-time. I think Roth is hands-down the greatest front-man of all-time. The idea that Roth loves pro wrestling is surreal, but makes so much sense at the same time. 80s Metal and pro wrestling are like apple pie and ice cream to me they just go together. I think wrestling is getting back to where it should be and there is hope, but sadly it does not seem like Metal will ever get its act together. I cant wait to listen to this podcast.

Belinda Carisle is a total fox. Just like any genre of music, movie or what have-you there is going to be good Go-Go matches and bad Go-Go matches. The style seems to be derided here because there has been a backlash against 21st century wrestling and how it grew out of 1990s wrestling. It evolved in a way that accentuated that offense, high-risks and highspots is all fans cared about thus lets cram more of that shit in and have less "filler". All killer, no filler so to speak. I agree this style well done over 30 minutes kind of blends together throughout the match and leaves you in sort of haze of inane big spots. I watched some Angle recently against one of my favorite 21st Century workers, AJ Styles. The problem is not so much the pace, but how they transition. There is no struggle in the transitions. The transitions feel arbitrary and very video game-esque. Like I finally mashed "Square" enough to break my brother's grapple and now I get to be on offense rather than an organic flow through the match. I like matches with struggle, the sense that two people are competing for a victory rather than competing to pop the crowd. In TNA, moves are over, in what I like, wrestlers are over. In the Go-Go matches can have a sense of struggle, but the ones bereft of that subject tended to be deemed with this pejorative as opposed to the ones well-done, which are just heralded as great matches. End of the day like most everything, it comes down to execution some people just execute this style better and others use it as a crutch so as to not have to think too much.

Mutoh is probably the most famous Japanese wrestler in America except maybe Jushin Liger and Yoshi Tatsu (I keed, I keed) though I believe most people seem to be down on his work. I presume there are some Muta marks as the gimmick definitely lend itself to creating some buzz as The Great Muta is a wicked cool gimmick. I find his matches to be really polarizing and maybe it deals with how much effort he puts in. But I think he just has a weird sense of psychology. It is hard to place your finger on, but there is something off-kilter about most Muta matches. It is usually he is trying to hard to be clever like when he goes under the ring. Usually his best matches are his straight ahead bloodbath brawls with Hase and Tenryu. In 2001, he revamped his gimmick and how he wrestled. There have been plenty of wrestlers that have reinvented how they look, but very few in their advanced age totally changed their working style like Mutoh did. Gone were a lot of the gimmicks and hijinx and replaced was a barrage of dropkicks to knee and dragon leg screws. I appreciate the hyper focus of his attack in these matches and I think they hold up well. It is like how Loss was saying on the 1990 podcast that they pissed away 3 months of vignettes for Rude because a change in working style was not accompanied by a stylistic change in the ring. Much like Sasaki, I have not seen much of post-2001 Muta, but what I have seen I have really liked. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01 I have seen their Triple Crown Match from 2002 and remember liking that even though it did not make the voting list. So I was pretty excited to see this and this did not disappoint. The one thing you can expect from Mutoh is you will not get a lot of those macho pissing contests that can dominate heavyweight puroresu in the 2000s. This is wrestled more in the vein of traditional Strong Style. Kawada was definitely the best suited of the King's Road guys to perform in NJPW as he can hold his own on the mat. They jockey for some holds with Muto having a slight edge. The story early seems to be Mutoh knowing he can't out-strike or out-power Kawada so he tries to leverage his ground game into an opening. However, he is unable to avoid the DANGEROUS~! kicks from Kawada, which are all targeted at Mutoh's head and neck. On second watch, I realized that this control segment went on for 10 minutes where Mutoh just got his ass handed to him. I actually appreciated this segment more on how well Kawada worked this and did not get off track. Muto did his best selling in this segment really forcing you to observe how concentrated Kawada was on damaging his neck. Kawada even mocked Muta a bit with his run down the ramp doing a Kawada Kick to Muta's head. Even though, Kawada was in control of a lengthy time, Mutoh still made it feel like a struggle by mixing in a tasteful amount of hope spots. Kawada was able to hit the powerbomb on his second attempt, but Mutoh kicked and rolled to outside. Tired of getting his ass kicked, he grabs a chair from a fan, but ref stops him from bringing it in and the fans applaud (well that is different from America). Mutoh blocks the enziguiri and wastes no time capitalizing with dropkicks to the knee and arm. You have credit Muto getting over dropkicks as a legitimate setup move. Muto is nullifying Kawada's biggest weapon while at the same time putting himself into a position to win by submission. There is nothing Muto really does better than Kawada and he knows that, but if he can take away Kawada's legs then he can win the match. Kawada blows Mutoh out of the water with his selling throughout the home stretch. For whatever reason, Kawada was just fucking on in this match as he is making Mutoh's offense look like a million bucks. The dragon leg screws and figure-4 look devastating while Mutoh seems focused just on doing his offense. Kawada gets the stretch plum going back to the head/neck, but misses a knee drop (OW!). Muto wastes no time again, but this time all the dropkicks are focused on the arm. They trade cross-armbreakers, but once again Kawada outshines Mutoh in the selling. Kawada with a relentless flurry on lariats before Mutoh blocks them. Mutoh wrenches his leg with another dragon leg screw. His Shining Wizards more like they are pushing Kawada over rather nailing him with a high velocity impact, but to his credit Kawada does his best loopy sell of them. ****1/2 It is a little bit slow to start and there are some times in the Kawada control that lose their place a bit. However, once Mutoh hits his first dropkick this match goes to another level with one of Kawada's best individual performances. While Mutoh could have been better at selling and really putting some energy into his offensive strategy was excellent. I prefer this sort of straightforward wrestling match to macho pissing contest matches. So I have it behind only Tenryu/Sasaki so far.

I have been away in Quebec (it was Tres Bitchin as the French would say) and just got home from a disappointing Tigers loss to the BoSox, but alas it is time for another installment in this series as it has been way too long. The Bulldogs disappointed me to an extent. When they were healthy their offense was top notch, but structure was not always there. That being said the Dream Team/Bulldogs is one of my favorite WWF Tag Programs and really displayed what a motivated Bulldogs could do. After the Dynamite injury, they pretty much went into the shitter having a disappointing program with the Islanders. Though they did manage to have a pretty good match with Demolition before they exited for Japan. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...-1985-1988.html

I will speak on this in a bit, but I don't have many quibbles with what you said. Rick Martel w/Slick vs Bret Hart - Primetime 10/89 Martel getting funk with Slick is pretty much why wrestling is better than any form of entertainment. We start early with Martel showboating and dancing. Bret is just shaking his head. Martel cartwheels out of a back body drop attempt and does his little dance. TREMENDOUS~! They do some counter wrestling and Martel proves hes still got it with a cool drop toehold. I am a drop toehold mark. Once again Martel parade s himself. Martel again floats over on Bret in the corner and goes to showboat and Bret has enough and levels him with a clothesline. Fucking brilliant opening that paid itself off excellently with a clothesline. Bret works over the arm and everything loosk crisp as always. Martel is game and keeps him moving and is selling well. Martel thumbs him in the throat, a heel Martel staple, to set up his heat segment, but we dont get all of it because of commerical. Fuck. Martel is just relentlessly working over the back with strikes and a Camel Clutch and lots of well-timed showboating. Incredible struggle over the Boston Crab. Martel tries put it on three times gets spun out twice and each time adds an elbow or backbreaker before he can get it on. I love that sense of struggle really puts over Martels' finish, Bret's will to win and Martel as a wrestler. On each failed attempt, Martel gets frustrated. Just really great work again. Bret makes the ropes, but Martel thinks he has won, before getting more frustarted. Bret powders as Martel does jumping jacks. Ruh roh, pride before the fall. Martel clotheslines the ringpost when he tries to follow Bret out. Bret starts hitting his stock offense and is going for covers after each move trying to get the victory at any moment. Martel takes an excellent over the top turnbuckle and Bret is just pouring on the pinfall attempts. Bret blocks the atomic drop and gets his own. He hits a dropkick as time runs out and it is a draw. The draw was the standard 1989 singles finish for Bret Hart, who really being put in a ton of singles matches with the mid-card heels to build his credibility. Bret's push to the top is the greatest slow-burn push ever by McMahon. I loved the beginning and the middle of this match and the finish was fun, but not at the level of how good the rest of the work was. One of the best Bret singles matches of 89 and a great Martel match. Rick Martel w/Slick vs. Tito Santana - SNME 11/89 Lots of "gettin' funky" here with Martel and Slick and then Dusty with cop hat and polka dots all very funny. Martel came out with his Survivor Series team (Twin Towers & HTM) and so Santana said two can play at that game and whistled for his gang (Dusty, Rooster, Beefcake). Can't say I am waiting with bated breath to watch those 8 clash. I will say as most people know this is one helluva SNME sprint. This right up there with Rockers/ Busters as a great SNME sprint as they really come off as two guys that really hate each other. There is sometimes I disconnect in the intensity in the ring in WWF with the hatred surrounding the match. Martel actually initiates instead of being a chickenshit, but Tito catches his foot and swings him around for an atomic drop and a clothesline sends him outside the ring. Now, back in the ring, Martel bitches out for Santana who is cocked and loaded. Tito gets a series of near falls before Martel pulls Santana's tights sending him into the corner. This is when Martel's little dance in between punches is just so great. Tito hits the Flyin' Burrito, but Slick distracts and they tease a Melee. Back from commerical, Martel is working over the back and Martel is really good at showboating. There is something about rather than taking away from the action really adds to how much you want Tito smack this arrogant ass around. There is a epic backslide struggle that Martel loses and his facial expression while going down is priceless. Martel applies the Boston Crab, but Tito makes the ropes. Martel gets a backbreaker (one of his favorite moves as a heel and really smart set-up for the Crab). Martel goes up top, but Tito shakes the ropes and he crotches himself and once again his facial expression is awesome. Tito pounds away before signalling for the Figure-4. This time Tito clocks Slick. Melee ensues. Great energy in this match, I like the work a little better in their Main Event '90 match, but energy and spirit make it a pick 'em between the two. Rick Martel vs Marty Jannetty - Survivor Series Showdown 1990 Before the match they show the Martel/Jake angle, which is really excellently done and I actually like Jake coming back with a "glass" eye. The problem is he would have had to sell for the rest of his career, but could have been a cool calling card of his. Martel and Jannetty will be on opposite Survivor Series Teams as Martel's aptly named Visionaries (Vince how you slay me!) take Jake's Vipers. Martel wusses out at first to make Marty look good. They trade moves each doing Jumping Jacks after the move to show each other up. Not on the level of the Rockers/Rougeaus, but some fun opening stuff. Martel gets a knee lift. I am a mark for the knee lift just a great move that works in so many contexts. Martel works over Marty's wind by attacking his throat before charging in with a knee into the the turnbuckle. I will say the one thing holding the Rockers back was that they were not very good at working holds. Martel is better about keeping things moving, but Marty and Shawn were not at their best doing toeholds. So while Martel kept this decent, it did kind of drag here. Martel goes back to the thumb to the throat, one of his favorites. Jannetty counters into a shinbreaker, well-played, another favorite of mine. Jannetty goes for the spinning tohold, but gets kicks to the outside, which starts Martel's heat segment. Martel like always is targeting the back for his Boston Crab. He is such a smart worker. Jannetty catches him coming off second-rope hits his usal babyface comeback offense: reverse elbow and a wicked knee lift. But Martel uses Marty's momentum against him by sidestepping him sending him crashing to the floor. Jannetty, disoriented, misses a slingshot splash and Martel wins. Interestingly, not as definitive as his victory over Santana would be and in fact there was a lot of heel in peril here. Jannetty did a fine job working over the leg and it was a solid match, which they worked in a reason for nicely. Nothing to go out of your way to see, but a decent match nonetheless. Rick Martel vs Tito Santana - Main Event 11/90 Martel has dropped Slick and now has what I consider the more classic "Model" look with atomizer and the button that says "I Am A Model" as opposed to just the sweater tied around his neck. I prefer wrestlers with long hair as makes selling and bumping better so I do prefer Martel with longer hair than what he adopted in 1992. Tito is Tito. Besides, RVD cant think of a guy who never changed his look for as long as Tito. We do a little King of the Mountain to start with Martel sending Tito crashing as Martel is definitely position higher on the card than Santana at this point. Martel in his overagression wraps his arm around the ringpost giving Tito an easy bullseye. Tito is all over his arm with some good energetic arm work. Martel is always good for keeping holds moving and never just letting them rest. Tito constantly going for falls. I love the mentality that shows Tito is always trying to win it is great way to remind people it is a competition. Not to get on a tangent, but it is something Bret is really good at it in his matches. Martel does the smae leverage move as the year before to start his heat segment. Martel loved the thumb to the throat which si a great nasty heel move. Martel with one backbreaker feigns going up top, but says nah lets give him one more for good measure. Now he goes to the top, but gets crotched again. Pride before the fall, brutha. Tito is hot and looks to be on comeback trail. Before the absolutely tremendous finish: Tito blocks an atomic drop, picks the leg and goes for a Figure-4 reversed into an inside cradle, and then Martel grabs the Boston Crab for the submission victory. I enjoyed the work a lot in this and the finsh was superb. A heel going over in the WWF clean as a sheet by submission thats a pretty Holy Shit! moment. I believe it is indicative of how high McMahon was on Martel at the time pushing him in the 3rd biggest program of Wrestlemania VII against Jake The Snake.

This podcast could not have come out at a better time. I have a 5 hour drive to Montreal ahead of me by myself. Now I get to ride with my favorite wrestling fans and also Steve Austin & Scott Hall.

When I wrote that post, I was like this is just a big bat signal for Parv and jdw to descend onto this thread. Try not to get this thread locked guys. :D :P Just messing around! But seriously, I do have Martel reviews I still need to post.

Dylan, I think we were trying to do a more apples to apples comparison with the Model vs Mr. Perfect. Perfect has the Hart matches and Santana matches. The Model has the Santana matches, but without seeing more I don't know if he has another series to sort of match Perfect two for two. The Model does seem to be the more consistent of the two in the ring, but both were breaking down quite in a bit due to steroid and health issues. Wrestlemania III Top Faces - Hogan, Piper, Steamboat, Jake The Snake, JYD Top Heels - Andre, Savage, Adonis, Honky Tonk, Harley Wrestlemania IV Top Faces - Hogan, Savage, Jake The Snake, Warrior, Steamboat Top Heels - Andre, DiBiase, Rude, Honky Tonk Wrestlemania V Top Faces - Hogan, Warrior, Jake The Snake, Beefcake, Top Heels - Savage, Rude, Andre, DiBiase, Perfect Wrestlemania VI Top Faces - Hogan, Warrior, Jake The Snake, Piper, Beefcake/Bossman? Top Heels - Rude, DiBiase, Earthquake, Perfect, Savage/Bad News/Martel? Wrestlemania VII Top Faces - Hogan, Warrior, Jake The Snake, Bossman Top Heels - Slaughter, Savage, Martel, Perfect, DiBiase/Taker? I don't want to get bogged down in the difference between a No. 3 heel and No. 4 heel, but I wanted to show was Steamboat's movement (top act to on the precipice of falling into the midcard mire) and where Martel could have fit in 1988 and going forward. Bear in mind, Martel took off the last half of 1988 after Demolition "injured" him so I don't know if that was a real injury or just vacation. In a perfect world, Martel would have taken Beefcake's spot, which I think we all agree could have led to great stuff with DiBiase and Perfect down the line. Now, would have politics let this happen, I am guessing not. There was no way you were going to leapfrog Hogan & Warrior and hell when you break it down like this, you cant really leapfrog Jake The Snake as he is really underappreciated as the top mid-card babyface act of the late Hogan era. Then on top of that Hogan loved using Beefcake to wrestle his winter feud (see DiBiase and Perfect) to establish Beefcake in single mid-card. I think Martel would have been stuck pretty low on the totem pole. Looking at Summerslam 1989, the Martel/Santana feels like the third biggest angle on their behind Hogan/Savage, Warrior/Rude, which have been why Martel going heel was the best long-term move for Martel. As he did wrestle Beefcake throughout late 89/90, which is actually a decent mid-card run, before slotting into a number 3 role with Jake The Snake and then steroids bust happened. Stylistically, Rick Martel as a number 3 babyface in the vein of a more traditional babyface would have kicked ass, but I don't think he could have gotten ahead of Snake & Beefcake rendering to the point where he may have actually slipped into a jobber role. So they either could have pressed on with Strike Force, but booking gets in the way of this too as Demolition, Hart Foundation and the Rockers were babyfaces! Santana as a heel sounds awful. So it seems reasonable that Vince realizing Andre was declining and that the heel roster was in way more flux than the babyface roster that turning heel was the best use of Martel. Santana strikes me of a Steamboat. If Steamboat stayed, I could have seen him used in a tag team doing well and then getting shunted down the roster to put people over.

My bad, it sounds like I misconstrued some points. I do remember some talk about you guys giving some love to the Tito matches. I am pissed now that I found there was a Summerslam 1990 match scheduled between the two and Martel was injured or something. Though pisses me off more that he spends late 89 and early '90 paired with fuckin Beefcake. Also, I didn't mention this, but Martel actually had a series of matches with Ronnie Garvin and I know at least one made tape, but it is not online. I would love to see that match even though I think it is sub-10 minutes. Martel with Slick is so much better than Martel on his own. Martel getting funky with Slick before his matches just made it. Martel's babyface work in the AWA was way better, I think my more central point and I think we agree is that the decline was not as steep as with Hennig (which may have been more injury related?). Now, if I actually watch the Beefcake then maybe we can find out if he could still carry a shitty worker. Soup, brutha, watch the Islanders matches, brutha, but do so in order. Start with the Islanders heel turn on the Can-Am on Superstars. Islanders "run" Zenk out of the promotion. Then there is back-to-back MSGs with Martel against Tama (incredibly good) and Haku, before Tito gets involved and then they have two kickass tag team matches back-to-back on MSG. It is an amazing between three amazing workers and a pretty good Haku (fuckin' Haku is the low-man in WWF tag that it is a pretty good foursome).

Portland, Lucha, Memphis and Joshi are the last of the frontiers and I will probably tackle them in that order. However, I do want to keep further investigating things I am familiar with to really scour that first. Sort of a reinforce your strengths, before tackling the weaknesses mentality. I will say Portland sounds really fucking good. On a recent WTBBP podcast, they conjectured that Martel's work dropped off in similar fashion to Hennig's in WWF. From what I have seen that has not been in the case. The Islanders/Strike Force feud was really incredible. The matches against the Hart Foundation were the best matches of the Hart Foundation of the heel run. Admittedly, the Demolition stuff was underwhelming. Martel was just as fired up as always with greats hands and knew how to build sympathy for himself. They really put over his Boston Crab when submissions were not exactly high priority in the WWF. Unfortunately, a lot of his 89-91 work is not up on online. He seems to have been injured in Summer of 1990, which actually cancelled an announced Tito Santana match for Summerslam, which I am sure who have been their classic blowoff. He also seemed to be forced to take off the entirety of 1991 seemingly due to steroid issues. Martel was actually one of the hottest heels in terms of booking and protection up until that point. I don't see how you could have fit him in any title picture unless it was a feud with Hogan in late '91 or taking Piper's place at Wrestlemania VIII, but going into Wrestlemania VII he was effectively the number 3 heel and if you look at Summerslam '91, they needed as many heels as they could get. Unfortunately, the time he was wrestling, he was feuding with Brutus Beefcake, which from my viewing stand point you are effectively not wrestling at all. When I have some more time, I may cycle back and watch that, but not now. I don't think Martel took a big step down at all as a heel. Yes as a WWF heel, your moveset suddenly shrinks and you really love to choke, but Martel had two things going for him: that little dance was modified just a bit to be a huge heat magnet and he was super focused as a heel working on the back to set up the Boston Crab. I was surprised how every single heel Martel match I have watched features that as the main thread of his offense. I remember seeing the Martel/Hart match from 3/90 MSG and thinking it was incredibly boring, but I loved their Primetime match from 1989. The Santana SNME matches are not-so-hidden gems and his match with Marty is a pretty good mid-card match. I will post the match reviews later today.

The match is not without logic. The logic is just Demolition are the mightiest of warriors; indomitable in the ring. I think the big disconnect was I didn't see that much goading and/or cheating. Maybe that is the hyper-compressed style working against it. I recently watched the Hart Foundation vs Rockers match where I thought the work of the match hits a crescendo really well because they took time to build up both sides of the work. Instead here they are so focused on DEMOLITION ARE TAG TEAM GODS! that they neglect the BrainBusters so it feels like an extended squash. It reminds me of 2011 CM Punk shoot-a-mania when he would not let anyone get in a word edge-wise and he pretty much came off as an insufferable baby to me. Demolition never let the Busters sustain offense so it always felt like a "blowout". When Demolition does this as heels, it is cool because it gives the babyfaces a lot to overcome and it is cool. As babyfaces, you don't have change your style to that of RnRs or anything. just meet me half-way displaying some vulnerability like they did in September. Demolition just works better as a heel team in my eyes. That being said, they got saddled with the Powers of Pain & Twin Towers so I was willing to give them a pass. I know that people here liked the Towers stuff, but Akeem was really annoying so I chocked it up to that. If you are going to have good matches, it has to be with the Busters, but still was not feeling the matches because of how one-sided they were. Are you guys right that Demolition is one of the better tag teams of honing in an internal logic? Without a doubt. But a match is not made by structure alone, there needs to be good work. Too often, Demolition comes off as putting in the bare minimum effort to perform these matches. There is like zero energy in most Demolition matches. I think the biggest thing in wrestling for me is a sense of urgency, but even more broadly is a lot of energy. Energy can take a lot of forms in brawls, matwork and championship matches, but Demolition is such a cold team from my viewing. I have been glad I have watched them because they are an interesting tag team just one that I think is missing that big piece that separates a behind the scenes genius from an in-ring genius. EDIT: This was in response to only Redman's post though it was pretty generalized. I will read Matt's post throughout the day.

Babyface Demolition has been pretty wretched. They just gobble up their opponents and it turns most of their matches in extended squashes. It was ok when they were heels because they made the babyfaces work for it, but the babyfaces would eventually get one over on the Demos by using double teams. Also, the whole overwhleming power was a great obstacle for babyfaces to overcome. Now they are babyfaces, we just get the heel in peril stuff, but done even worse with the Demolition just dominating their opponents. Of course when it is time for the heat segment, it is not like Ax or Smash exactly scream "sympathetic" and neither is very good eliciting that reaction. Did Eadie or Darsow ever work babyface at any other point in their career. I know the gimmick was just to go out there have them mow down the heels, but I have not really enjoyed it. I hate to sound so negative about this because I love the positive culture that this board fostered towards all wrestling, but I got to call a spade because when I am not enjoying Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, something has got to be up. Demolition treated the BrainBusters like two jabronis that were lucky to unseat them. I am not screaming from the mountaintop for heels to look good. Heels are supposed to be inferior to babyfaces (unless they are monsters) thats why the cheat and play dirty, but the Busters were just the Demos rag dolls. I look up and see all the praise for the Busters matches and I am just not seeing it. I totally welcome a conversation on this. -------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs The BrainBusters w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - SNME 5/89 This story of this match is that Busters are totally outgunned by the awesome might of Demolition unless they cheat. Arn & Tully do a good job putting over that they do not want to be double teamed by Demolition, but in their caution they often pay the hard way. The first moment of cheating sees Tully bury a need in Smash's back, but he pops back up from vertical suplex. Ruh roh, Busters! They do some regroup with The Brain, but to no avail as Ax still catches Tully off the top and plants him in the corner (a favorite spot of the series). After some more clubbering, Double A is able to get a chop block during a Smash double choke. Tully hotshots Smash and Arn follows up with a spinebuster but gets flinged off with authority (another favorite spot of the series). Smash and Arn punch each other at the same time. To prevent the hot tag, Tully pulls Ax off the apron and AA clocks Ax. Melee ensues leading to Demolition getting DQ'd because Ax loses his temper and throws a ref. This is a pretty effective angle. The Busters come across as effective nuisances and they establish Demolition as almighty, indomitable badasses. You can understand that Busters getting a rematch because they did technically won the match and Demolition wants to get their hands on the Busters. ------------------------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs The BrainBusters w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - 2 Out of 3 Falls SNME 7/89 This is the match made the Busters look like absolute chumps as they were barely on offense in their own title victory. This felt like an extended squash with a swerve finish with the jobbers winning. The first fall is Demolition destroying the Busters at every turn. Any time, the Busters even think they have one over on Demolition they get stymied immediately by Demolition. McMahon does a job putting over the reason that the Busters cant sustain any offense with Demolition because they are trading blows with Demolition. Tully dropkicks Arn onto Smash, hey wait isn't that a babyface spot. But they can not capitalize on that because Ax grabs Tully's hair yanking him down allowing Smash to hotshot Arn to pick up the first fall. So clearly, Busters need to regroup and devise a new strategy because Demolition is too much for them. Second fall is pretty piss poor. Demolition capitalize on their advantage, but Double A thumb him in the throat. The Busters actually work over Ax's throat for a bit with Heenan getting a slap in. But God forbid, Demolition look weak, before you know it, Ax gets the hot tag. Smash mows down the Busters. Demolition is out of control and won't stop double teaming. They climax with Demolition Decapitation, but the ref calls the bell for excessive double teaming. Andre is out. That's fucking rich. Demolition lost the fall because they are too damn awesome. I have felt that Demolition has been a pretty selfish team, but that is some serious ego-stroking. Well since Demolition did not actually take any punishment in that fall, they are again pressing their advantage tossing Tully over the top rope. Tully whips Ax into Arn's head and everyone is woozy. They reinforce this with Arn doing his head collision spot with Ax in the corner. They both tag out. Tully bitches out to Smash. All Hail the Mighty Demolition! Gimme a break. Tully takes his wicked bump over the top turnbuckle. Ax hits Tully from behind allowing Smash to hit Arn. The Brain detains the ref and Andre slides in a chair and Tully wallops Smash to pick up the victory. No heat segment and no sustained offense from the Busters the whole match. The only heat segment lasted about a minute in the second fall. This was an extended squash that was awful. If you want to claim there was any internal logic, the only logic to claim is that Demolition are the omnipotent, almighty tag team and they can only lose to their own awesomeness or from a chair. That was one of the worst matches, I have ever seen. -------------------------------------------------------------------- King Duggan & Demolition vs Andre The Giant & Twin Towers - Summerslam '89 Duggan is sporting Old Glory face paint, which is pretty cool. This is just a popcorn match set up by Andre aiding in the Demolition title loss and Demolition having been programmed with Towers in the post-WM V timeframe. Akeem is not that annoying. Demolition clubber and work over the Towers arm. Ax gets trapped in the wrong corner allowing Andre to come in and use his weight to debilitate Ax. Akeem ruins for it for his team by running into the corner, dumbass. Smash slams both Towers, which gets a huge pop. Andre chops Smash sending him reeling. Melee ensues. Duggan hits Akeem with his 2X4 in the chaos giving the Smash the victory. This was a lot of inoffensive fluff, but it was strange that they protected the heels like that. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs BrainBusters vs Demolition - MSG 9/89 It is disappointing that Busters only worked Demolition, the Rockers and Bushwhackers in meaningful programs. I would have liked to see them with some more varied opponents. This is definitely the best match out of the bunch. On the Demolition sliding scale, it is one of their best matches. This one has a wild start with the Demolition out for blood as they do not take off their hoods before clearing the ring. Just to make it clear, I think this was a very proper response to them losing their titles to underhanded tactics. I just wish they would show some more vulnerability later on the match. I like the spot a lot where Tully is layed out on the top ropes and gets clubbered. We get some chinlocking with some switching without tagging. Demolition living on the edge! I will say this is the most energetic clubbering I have ever seen out of Demolition if it was always like this, I would like them a lot more. Smash sets too early and Arn gives him an elbow for good measure. Tully follows up with and elbow and Arn with a spinebuster. Sustained offense by the BrainBusters, Whaaaaaaaaaat? Smash hits an atomic drop on Arn sending him into Smash's boot. Ax back in and he is chinlock-happy. Tully elbows Ax in the back while he is chinlocking setting the table for the heat segment. They do some standard double team cheating. Ax catches Tully coming off the apron and sends him into the post. Ax and Arn collide heads in the middle of the ring. Tully grabs Smash off the apron preventing the hot tag. Arn goes to the middle rope, but they kinda blow the spot and Arn just wipes himself as Ax is not really in position to punch him the gut. Smash runs amok hitting everything with a pulse save for the referee, he is the cooler head of Demolition. Demolition execute a double hot shot, but the Busters pull out the ref like in the Rockers match. This is a much better structured match because Demolition was willing to display some vulnerability. I am not asking for the Demos to be the Rock n Rolls, but they got to meet me halfway. They were just swallowing the Busters alive. This is perfectly fine because Demolition look like the superior team, but the Busters looked like they did some damage to the Demos. Demolition should be presented as the superior team that wrongfully got the belts stolen, but the extent they were going in dominating the Busters makes for unentertaining wrestling. ---------------------------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs BrainBusters vs Demolition - Superstars 11/89 The Busters have learned and try to double team early, but are overwhelmed. Tully gets laid out on the top turnbuckle and clubbered. Arn takes a reverse atomic drop into Ax' boot. Tully clips the knee on a Smash suplex attempt and giving the Busters a chance to choke and double team. Ax breaks up Arn's spinebuster, weird that move is protected now. Smash reverses a Tully suplex. Ax demolishes the competition and they finish with Demolition Decapitation. This was a perfect match to end this series. Everything was building to have Demolition run through the Busters. The whole series is that Demolition is in a whole another league than the Busters. They just mow through them and pick the title back up. I am a sucker for babyfaces crushing the heels in 5 minutes to take the titles after a chase. It is a fun ending.

I forgot I had seen Sasaki vs Kobashi from 2005, but I saw that in 2006-ish and dont remember thinking much of it. Yeah, it is definitely a style that leaves a lot to be desired, but I think it can be rationalized in certain contexts especially in interpromotional wars when pride is more at stake than a championship or veteran vs young lion match. I just think Sasaki looks like an absolute badass when a lot of the Japanese guys don't give off that vibe from just looking at them. I am a person that is big into aesthetics and presentation. Sasaki has a great look. Im looking forward to some of the Takayama matches that are on the ballot to see how they match up.

If you have been reading my reviews, you know I have become a huge fan of Islanders and think that Tama was one of the big misses in pro wrestling history. I think Islanders/Strike Force feud from 1987 was one of the best 80s WWF feuds because it felt more like a territorial feud in how it was presented and built rather than a program. It is shame that Tama was let go in 1988 as there should have been big things of the horizon for him as a single or tag team star. Here are the Islanders reviews in one place. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...ems-of-wwf.html

The Islanders vs "Ace" Bob Orton & "Magnificent" Don Muraco w/ Jimmy Hart & Mr. Fuji - 12/86 Primetime Wrestling The Islanders are one of the best teams at getting the WWF style over with crowd as they are never boring during their shine segments and never letting them drift into heel in peril. Orton starts off Tama taking a karate shop wanders over to the wrong corner and Haku gives him a shot for his trouble. Here comes Muraco, who looks huge compared to everyone else. The crowd chants "Beach Bum!" Mr. Fuji no sells it so Jimmy Hart picks up the slack. Muraco gives Tama the "Up Yours" gesture. Haku with a dropkick sending Muraco into the corner where they pinball him. Eyerake by Muraco gives him a chance to tag in Orton. They really get the most out of the hard head gimmick. Orton powders to consult Hart. Tama avoids Orton who runs into Muraco as the crowd jeers the heels. Orton is able to execute a hotshot on Tama followed up by a huge right. "The tide has definitely gone out on the Islanders" - Jesse The Body. Jesse slays me as Vince is unimpressed. Chinlock by Muraco, but hits him with a clothesline then leg drop. Orton hits a nice dropkick and innovative knee to the body. Randomly Bruno just starts to talk after Haku saves Tama on a pinfall. Orton rammed into buckle and Tama gets a headbutt to the lower abdomen. No hot tag as Haku just comes in and they hit a double chop on Orton. Haku dropkicks Orton over the top rope and brings in Muraco the hard way and wraps up with the double noggin knocker. He makes the cardinal mistake of setting too early on back body drop and Orton catches with the boot. Muraco in with double knees to the head. Haku battles back, but lacks the charisma of Tama and it falls flat. Orton nonchalantly enters the ring allowing a red-hot Tama to come in. Tama cross bodies Orton over the top onto the floor. Melee ensues and the finsh is a double countout. Plenty of action as the Islanders started off red hot. Orton regrouped was able to hotshot Tama and they took over with some great heel offense. The Islanders never sat in holds and really kept everything moving not letting it get bogged down into heel in peril. By the same token, the heels were good in this. I have always like Bob Orton and think every time I see him he has great offense and stooges well for babyfaces. Muraco is wicked hit and miss, but he plays his role great here and tag setting is somewhere he can excel without giving way to laziness tendencies. Haku still felt really green and had not yet learned how to interact with the crowd. It is incredible how good Tama is both as fired-up babyface and stooging heel.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior vs Tully Blanchard w/Bobby Heenan 11/89 It was disappointing that the Buster pretty much only exclusively worked tags against the Rockers, Bushwhackers and Demolition. I would have liked the odd singles match from Tully or Arn. I liked this match a bit more than though WOYAH~! is a guilty pleasure of mine. I find his antics and his general in-ring presence wildly entertaining. Tully starts off trying to lock up with the Warrior who just keeps shoving this peon off. Cut to The Brain immediately saying you set the pace. So Tully takes a moment, regains his confidence and he extends his hand. Warrior grabs his hand so hard he sells it. I love it! He jumped onto the apron if Warrior was smart he would have brought him over the ropes and let him drop. Tully thumb to the eye. Warrior no-sells. Tully takes his shoulder first bump over turnbuckle and then he goes flyin back over the the top rope when Warrior side steps him. Tully is basically working this match himself and he is great. Tully and The Brain try to hightail. Warrior in an impressive feat of strength carries Tully in a military press back and tosses him through the second rope. Warrior with a double axe handle off the top, but Stinger Splashes the turnbuckle when Tully moves out of the way. Tully with a bootscrape and choking. Warrior eats knees on a Warrior Splash and then misses an elbow. Finally, he catches Tully off the top with a powerslam. He goes for the gorilla press slam, but Arn comes out in clipping the knee. The Rockers & Neidhart send the Heenan Family packing and then Andre comes out for the staredown. Warrior always has a great presence and he actually moves around the ring pretty well. This is a wicked entertaining popcorn match. I think these guys could have had some really fun 15 minute matches. It just seemed like Demolition the Warrior was not terribly interested in selling for Tully as he was constantly getting in hope spots, but that may have just been a function of the match. Fun stuff. What happened to Tully after the drug test? I know he did some stuff in ECW and some Slamboree stuff. Is there any 90s stuff worth seeing?

I have never seen a bad Kensuke Sasaki match. It has nothing to do with my 4 match sample size. I really liked his performance in the 1990 tag team, Dome '95 against Hashimoto, and these matches with Tenryu and Kawada. The timing of his entry to wrestling reminds me of Jun Akiyama. He is a bit younger than the Three Musketeers and he is pushed in the tag ranks and bubbling on the undercard. I feel like him and Akiyama never truly reached their potential; they seemed groomed to be leaders of their respective promotions going into the 2000s. Sasaki always reminded me of Choshu with an even better mullet. I think Sasaki has a great look and really has a presence as a total badass. I was hoping more people could chime with some more excellent Sasaki matches. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokoyo Dome Non-Title Even though All Japan was gutted by the formation of NOAH. The fact All Japan retained Toshiaki Kawada was enough to make the New Japan vs All Japan feel like a big deal at this October Tokyo Dome show. One thing that I picked up on rewatch was that crowd actually threw shit at Kawada during his entrance. It was that sort of visceral reaction that really sets the tone for this match. It is not about titles. It is about pride. The two biggest puroresu companies finally clashing. This is the match that should be about egos, machismo, bravado, and posturing. That what it delivers in spades a spectacle of two surrogates fighting the battle for Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba trying to win honor and glory not just for themselves but their promotion and in a lot ways their family. This match reflects that. It is not a championship match with respect. It is not violent hate-filled brawl. It is two men taking each other's best shot and seeing who stands last. With all the moving pieces, Mutoh to All Japan, Hashimoto's Zero-One and Sasaki & Kawada as freelancers we see a lot of these matches because this is how Dream Matches are performed in Japan. It is not Gaijin vs Native. It is not veteran Native vs young lion. It is two superstars clashing and it is a style that leaves a lot to be desired. It can come off as more of a ritual than a match sometimes. It is like a game of bloody kunckles, you are trying to outlast your opponent and win in a very specific fashion. It is not logical because rituals are not logical. It comes off like the old practice of dueling. It is how a man wins honor. The match starts off with a hotly contested lock-up. Steve Austin just got finished telling me a shitty lockup is a great way to start off a shitty match. Well if the converse is true then this match is going to rock. Sasaki lands an early cheapshot with a closed fist to Kawada's head, who does that perfect jelly leg sell. He asks the ref "Did he just do that?". I absolutely love next segment as they try to grapple each other in gritty and sloppy fashion. It feels like a real fight two warriors jockeying for position. Then they kick it into the part of the match I expected. They just start chopping and slapping the shit out of each other. Kawada stands in front and literally dares him to hit him. These were monstrous chops dangerously close to the throat. Kawada ends the ritual with a closed fist, the ultimate cheap shot in Japan. This begins the Kawada heat segment, which is actually pretty restrained. He hits Sasaki hard, but there is a level of arrogance to it that Kawada is very good at projecting. Kawada fails to put him away with a back drop driver (the only head drop of the match), enziguiri or the stretch plum. This is the best selling I have seen so far from this era as they are really putting over the toll of the moves by the space between the stretch plum and this powerbomb attempt. He gets back dropped out of his powerbomb attempt. He misses a kick and Sasaki evens the match with a wicked clothesline. Sasaki begins his babyface comeback that does not feel that energetic, but more like his own heat segment. He does that weird armdrag thing I saw him do against Tenryu. Lariat only gets two. He puts Kawada in the Scorpion Deathlock twice, but can not render a submission. What may make it feel like a heat segment is that Sasaki is really selling his exhaustion and thus is not moving as fast during his comeback as you normally would see a babyface. Sasaki breaks the second Scorpion out of sheer exhaustion. That is really tremendous. Sasaki just lying face down while the ref taps him is a great visual. They go back to the bread and butter. They just start hitting lariats on each other. Each on are on jelly legs, Kawada does this great sell where he kind of stumbles and then gets hit. It is not logical, but it is a display of honor. Sasaki crushes him with a lariat the plum of sweat off Kawada is impressive. All Japan delayed sell allows Kawada to get a big boot rendering it even once again. Double clothesline. Sasaki gains an advantage, but in his exhaustion collapses on a simple suplex attempt. Kawada takes advantage with repeated enziguiris that rock Sasaki, now Sasaki channeling Misawa swats Kawada with a lariat to the leg. As he revs up, the New Japan crowd begins to cheer and Sasaki runs straight into Kawada's enziguiri and just like that Kawada is victorious. This is an amazing war of attrition that took me three times to get. The first time, I actually thought match was abrupt. I was not paying attention to the selling at all. I was just watching the striking and thought it was weird there were no suplexes. The second time, I thought it was underwhelming because I could not piece together the transitions and once again not to the selling. Sometimes, I get stuck in this offensive mindset. Now, I see the War of Attrition. It is not abrupt at all; the match could have ended five minutes earlier. This was a war and they were selling it that way. The battle for honor not just for yourself but for your company and how they wove that through. To me, this is your ultimate "Can I take your best shot match?". There is no weakening of a body part to avoid your opponent's best shot. In fact, they welcome his best shot. It is not smart wrestling. It is really fucking stupid wrestling. But then again Pride is a really fucking stupid thing. ****1/2