Superstar Sleeze

I have a love and hate relationship with Dragon. Growing up, I was always a big fan of the Dragon because of the costume and all the really cool spots (I always dug the hip swivel before his bridge). To this day, I love Dragon for his vast arsenal. He is a really well-rounded wrestler offensively. Needless, when Dragon is in the match you are almost always guaranteed a hot finish. This match is no different as it has a really thrilling go home segment However, his selling can be spotty and his psychology is just weird sometimes. I will get my quibbles out the way here. He does such a good job verbally selling the arm that I was annoyed when Dragon insisted on doing the skin-the-cat spot, when he could have worked it into the shine segment instead of doing a mat-based shine. Also the last transition from Ohtani's heat segment to the finish run seemed like "Ok now it is your turn to go on offense Dragon". I think being in the ring with 1996 Ohtani really helped him deliver a classic match. Ohtani was just on fire throughout this match and looked like the best wrestler in the world. The shit-eating grin he has at the beginning when he escapes La Magistral cradle is pitch perfect. The way he sells frustration after not being able to put Dragon away is great. I feel like I am missing another great Ohtani moment. His offense was crisp and so varied. Both these guys just have so much to give that it was a perfect confluence of styles. The super front suplex was a great highspot that I always pop for no matter how many times I see it. A great, great juniors match that I would definitely put in the top handful that I have seen.

This is a fun match, albeit not very efficient. I think it accomplished the goal of making Kobashi into a credible Triple Crown-Level contender and promoting his brand of testosterone-addled, hyper-masculine fighting spirit with him on offense the majority of the match. The match definitely felt developed around Kobashi and he was the mover of the match. Especially in the beginning, Doc relied on his power moreso than his explosiveness. In the beginning, he seemed to be fighting for respect and to prove himself with all that bravado. It seemed like Doc was baiting him until he was able to capture him with a brainbuster. After putting over Kobashi's resilience, they did the usual Kobashi bomb barrage, which helped cement him as a worthy opponent. Then finally Williams displays some of that lethal quickness and power and really kicks the match into high-gear. The final Kobashi control segment that begins with the basement dropkick is critical to the belief that Kobashi has an actual chance. He begins wrestling with intelligence and you believe that he might just have it. However, he just doesnt have that big weapon yet and Williams is able to outlast him and hit his KO punch. I actually did not think it felt long until the ending portion with Doc on the outside then I was like ok I think they ran out of stuff to do. It felt kind of like an old-school Flair touring defense without all the heel histrionics (Kobashi always brings the histrionics) and cheating. Williams really put over Kobashi huge in the loss and you really felt like Kobashi had a chance to win the match. I think there was a more efficient way to get to this end goal, but all in all it was a fun 41 minutes.

I love this match so much. Just a couple big uglies chuckin each other around and bruisin each other. Vader bleeds from the eye; Race takes a bump; The Boss looks killer. The match does not overstay its welcome. This is one of those matches, I could watch over and over again. Spring Stampede '94 just comes off as such a great PPV with a great variety of wrestling.

Had never seen this match until a couple days ago. Wow. This was really friggin good. This is type of down home, southern brawl that I just love. A great hate-filled sprint that never had a dull moment. I loved the opening of Dustin leaping at Bunkhouse Buck. It was totally unexpected and set the tone perfectly for the rest of the match. The only question I was wondering was why Dustin was so pissed at Buck? I know Parker managed Austin at the time. Was it an offshot of that feud?

I just watched this again today and definitely felt that beginning of the match was flat. It seemed like they were going through the motions of what a Flair/Steamboat match should be rather than having a wrestling contest. It picked quite a bit towards as expected because Steamboat's nearfalls and Flair's desire to move matches along will just naturally generate that feeling. I agree with the feeling that was an anachronistic match, but I still think some of the same fire they had in 89 was missing. Did anyone feel that Flair was giving an uncharacteristically reserved performance? Dont get me wrong, I think he was definitely trying, but just lacking that panache. I am going to watch the Saturday Night rematch for the first time ever soon and am excited to see a better performance.

WCW World Tag Team Champions Nasty Boys vs Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne - WCW Spring Stampede 1994 Incredible! Violent, short but sweet. ECW was just getting in their groove but this was better than any ECW garbage match I can think of. Mayhem and organic. As good as having two refs was, they needed more cameras in place for the finish. I think the finish was hurt by the fact that Cactus's wicked "back of the head to the concrete" bump felt totally upstaged by Payne/Knobs (they were in the foreground) even though that was the bump that directly led to the finish. At Superbrawl IV, the central hook of the match was that exact bump and it really got played up to max effect. Probably my favorite weapons-laden, tour of the arena matches. I usually hate those type of matches because of the annoying guide your opponent to a spot transition. This one just felt organic and violent. American wrestling could use one of these right now. Saggs blasting everyone with chairs. The concession stand portion was great, but the finish was incredible. The shovel shot to Cactus head before he could cover was disgusting and that bump off the ramp on the back of his head to concrete always gets an oh my fucking God from me. Sags mercy killing shovel shot to Cactus head is excessive but fits the violence of the match. I do not think anyone has mentioned this so I think this definitely is one of the all time great Tony Schiavone quotes" "I dont think that shirt even fits him!" - when Payne grabs a Nasty Boys shirt from the merch stand and chokes Knobs with it. Total garbage spotfest! Loved every minute! ****1/2

I have been going through All Japan chronologically for the first time in about 4 years. This match really jumped out to me as something really special that I seemed to had forgotten. I love how the match is structured around Doc's explosiveness. The Backdrop Driver is of course the big KO punch in his arsenal, but I think the whole match really puts over how his deadly combination of speed and power is what will do Misawa in. Misawa successfully holds him at bay at the beginning with an assortment of facelocks. I think that is a great parrallel to Kobashi/Hansen '93. Where Kobashi chose combat the explosive Gaijin with big bombs rather trying to pick and choose his spot like a Misawa. Only for a quick belly-to-belly to put Doc in the driver the seat. I remember throughout the body of the match that was the story how could Misawa contend not with just the strength, but his quickness. It seemed like every transition was based around Williams' explosive moves. I think this lends this match a great deal of urgency. I think that's what I love about wrestling is urgency. You just get the feeling that Williams is going to bust out a big bomb any second and you want to know what Misawa has up his sleeve (elbows and lots of them). The same can be said of Kobashi/Hansen. Both matches blow-off all this pent-up anticpation with BIG finishes for the gaijins. Throughout that heat segment, I was totally taken aback by the acceleration of Doc and just how good he looked. I have not watched much UWF. Is this best Williams has ever looked? How did he decline so fast? I think jdw detailed Misawa's extended comeback better than I ever could. So what of course was the end to that segment, but an incredibly quick "blink your eyes and you'll miss it" Backdrop Driver. I actually bit on that as the finish. Even as Williams is selling (I think he sold fatigue and general battery very well), he still hits the Oklahoma Stampede and Backdrop Driver with such an explosiveness that it blows off all the steam that match has been building. I want to also, as this is my first post, to thank Loss, Goodhelmet and all others who contributed to the Yearbook project. I am a college student, so I do not have the money to buy the yearbooks. But this forum specifically has been such a huge guide in me wading through thousands upon thousands of wrestling matches and forcing me to think more critically about wrestling. I just knew somewhere I place like this must exist. I am glad to have finally found it.