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Superstar Sleeze

DVDVR 80s Project
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  1. Superstar Sleeze
    Cut em some slack Pete, it has literally only be one ECW Arena show. Logically, Douglas can have an allegiance to his ol pal Cactus back from Dom DeNucci's school and his Triple Threat. Let see how it plays out come April, brutha. I didnt think was Cactus' best. He plays off his masochistic tendencies but in this case he didnt like the beating and was asking for help. I thought this was going to go somewhere interesting but he just does the standard pro wrestling promo that he was going to beat up Terry Funk as revenge.
  2. Superstar Sleeze
    Terry Funk does not believe in the old adage "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." He feels disrespected that hack like Cactus is trying to emulate him and has actually duped fans into believing that Cactus is actually the second coming of Terry Funk. He shoots a little close to home calling Cactus a mockery to the business because he doesnt know how to wrestle and focuses too much on bumping and doing his Masochistic Theatre of Pain bullshit.
  3. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW Tag Team Champions Public Enemy vs Sabu & Tazmaniac - ECW Double Table 1995 This to surprise of no one shocked. I have seen one good Public Enemy in my life and it is when Knobbs & Saggs stiffed the fuck the out of them on Nitro. Terrible meandering brawling. Taz may be my least favorite wrestler of all time. Useless. They have an even worse match believe it or not a couple weeks prior in Florida. The only redeeming quality of this match is Sabu is awesome. The dive through the ropes while Grunge was sitting on the chair was the spot of the match. Selling his shin after Rock ricocheted off a table into his leg was also great. The finish was absolutely dreadful. Public Enemy are the heels and Sabu/Taz are the faces, but Public Enemy were the main event headliners for ECW so they needed protection. It is not enough that this is tables match probably the first which should be enough protection. Heyman has an absolute brainfart here. Grunge/Taz both go through a table to eliminated themselves which is all good & dandy to eliminate themselves. Taz gets powder in his eyes and the ref checks on him and misses Rocco Rock splashing Sabu through a table. Fucking eh! Why are we giving the heels a visual pinfall! Sabu ends up putting Rock through a table shortly thereafter. So dumb! The Benoit Superbomb of Sabu onto Rock on a table was pretty wicked! I dug that. Match was absolute garbage.
  4. Superstar Sleeze
    Stevie Richards vs Tommy Dreamer - ECW Double Tables 1995 This is shockingly good. It consists of chair shots, eyepokes and ballshots, but I love that shit so I lapped it up with a spoon. The issue with these can be meandering brawling. That was not the issue here at all. It was efficient, slam bang get out match that I dig. Richards got a little heat Dreamer mounted his comeback. Dreamer wearing All Japan style tights (around his waist instead of hips) is funny I hear there is a Akira Taue vs Tommy Dreamer on tape. I am morbidly curious. Raven gets involved. Holds Dreamer for the Superkick. Stevie nails it, still cant get the job done. Goes for it one more time but Dreamer does a reverse dropdown and punches him square in the nuts! I popped huge! That was pretty genius. Shawn should have had that spot done to him. Or imagine Otis doing it now to Ziggler (we will see how that comment ages.). Raven does the whole hold me back hold me back thing but really isnt showing a lot of drive. Dreamer leads the Mutants in an ECW Chant because he not Francine was always the Head Cheerleader. ***1/2
  5. Superstar Sleeze
    I became very intrigued by all this and now I am an hour and 45 minutes deep in a Shane Douglas shoot. He comes off well-spoken and calm, not bitter. He earned my respect by sticking up for a student who tried but may have been a little overzealous and was being ridiculed by another student when he was a teacher. He does mention being fed up with the politics for both stints of WCW. First he was pissed because it sounds like Jim Ross jerked him around teasing him with a main event push only for Jody Hamilton to shut the door on that. So he went to WWF the first time. The second time was more to do with money. Bill Watts was stringing him along with an hourly guarantee while Steamboat, Austin and Pillman were on six-figure contracts. Watts tells he will get converted to contract. Watts get fired. Ole is like what are you bitching about thats plenty of money. Then he got injured. He was soured by the money and Dos Hombres mask situation. The only time he brings up Flair is that he tried to get Flair to change the name of the Dynamic Dudes and Flair at that point knew he had to pick his battles and didnt want to fight that one. So yes EL-P you are right this more like a work than a shoot. Douglas was pissed at WCW. WCW was public enemy no. 1 in ECW not WWF. But Douglas never really worked with Bischoff and the smarty, savvy ECW fans would have seen through that. Douglas bitching about Herd, Ole, or Watts just would not have the same ring to it as going after a more public figure like Flair. Douglas did end up talking himself into a program with Flair in dying days WCW. He couldnt do that with Herd, Ole or Watts so it wasnt a half-bad strategy. I am interested to hear what he says about the Kliq because like I said he seems calm and not bitter but I feel like the Kliq jerked him around pretty good but I believe that was also during the time Watts was there and he seems to like Watts from getting his break in the UWF. He is an easy interview too. He is very verbose and has his story pretty chronologically straight. A lot of these shoot interviewers are hacks so it is good that with Douglas you can just carry the interview himself. I had no idea that Shane Douglas of all people was going to be my new obsession, but here we are!
  6. Superstar Sleeze
    We all had to start somewhere and for me it was Scott Keith on the old Wrestleline.com website. Scott Keith reviewed all the 1995 ECW shows. I must have read his reviews a millions times between 1998-2010 for these shows. I watched a lot of 1995 ECW but I stuck mostly to Raven/Dreamer and even though I know about the DC Drake angle from the Keith reviews I never seen this angle. Sandman vs Cactus have an amazing match down in Florida in mid-January. Totally overachieves and everyone should see it. It is shockingly good. Sandman tried to blind Cactus with a lit cigarette after the match because he lost. So Cactus wants revenge. Then there is the infamous Texas Death Match where Sandman is concussed for a shoot and his health is clearly being endangered. Cactus just sickeningly compounds the issue by whacking Sandman in the head unprotected really hard with metal objects. Foley actually jokes about this in his WWE DVD set. I remember getting really pissed about it a couple years ago on here. Anyways, now Sandman wants revenge but the rub is Sandman isnt medically cleared. We get a mystery box. I know they are a joke because they are associated with Jim Cornette and hokey Southern wrestling but fuck we need more mystery in wrestling. Mystery tag partner, mystery opponent, mystery attacker, give me something hooks me in week to week. We get DC Drake who I have never seen before but looks like father of every random 2010s alternative-looking Indy wrestler. This is an underwhelming surprise. The match is a nothing match. Sandman CRACKS Cactus in the back of the head with the Singapore Cane and the brawl is on. Cactus overtakes Sandman and puts him back in the box. Cactus collects Sandman out of the box with the curtain covering him and we are pretty sure it is the Sandman because this dude also has Old Glory Zubaz on. He takes off the curtain and it is Terry Funk! Big pop and it is asswhupping from Funk and Cactus. Were those fans that jumped the rails to save Cactus? Thats what it looked like to me. Funk looked like he cracked one of them hard with a left. Then I got to thinking is Funk a heel because I thought he was a babyface. Then Dreamer comes out and Joey confirms my suspicions that this is indeed a turn because Funk was Dreamer's mentor and Dreamer cant hit his father-figure. Funk paintbrushes him and just as Dreamer was getting ready to clean his clock Sandman blasts him from behind. Here's the part I had forgotten, Then we get Shane Douglas. This is interesting. I was just thinking they are going from one heel to another as champion because I know Douglas is leaving soon and Sandman wins. I was just researching Douglas and found out him & Cactus trained under Dominic together and Joey right on cue says this. Oh shit! Douglas is going to turn! This is fantastic. They do a little hemming and hawing. Woman throws up Triple Threat and Douglas does. I cant tell if Woman is telling Douglas to ditch Benoit &Malenko and join with Funk & Sandman or unify the groups but either way it is to align. Funk is very aggressive in his shoving. They are goading the Franchise to smash the championship belt upside Cactus' head. I thought they were going to go Nitro and cut out and make you tune in next week but no he blasts Sandman and then Funk to save Cactus. Genius! I know they ran the "will he or wont he" angles into the ground in the 90s but they gotta bring those back. 1 or 2 a year would be great. It is great suspense. Pro wrestling at its finest. So many moving pieces coming together for multiple climaxes, awesome.
  7. Superstar Sleeze
    Raven's promo at the beginning was pretty standard Raven stuff if you his character you will like if you dont you wont. I do I happened to enjoy him waxing poetic and I love him telling Dreamer he would feel his pain. Always the best part of Raven. Richards is such a schmuck he gets two old jaybrones from the pre-Heyman days. I think the idea was Richards fucks up again and to put up one last obstacle before Raven vs Dreamer the singles match. The Bullies were the worst part of this. "Gen X" and "Society made you" was way too on the nose and you could tell it was a fed line by either Raven or Heyman. I bet it was something like this "Say Society Made Him and Bring Up Gen X". The Bullies being the MENSA members they are just repeated the same line over and over again because they didnt know how to fill in the bullets. The brawl was weak until Raven EXPLODED great leap onto the pig pile in the corner and a damn good plancha. I am getting excited to see Raven vs Dreamer even though Ive seen the matches and they arent very good.
  8. Superstar Sleeze
    Ok this makes a lot more sense. Douglas does make a quick reference to being made look like a fool with Cornette. I did a quick Google search on just their two names and I thought it had something to do with the NWA Title fiasco but it makes a lot more sense that this has more to do with when he was a Dynamic Dude. Thanks guys for solving that life long mystery. Watched the match, classic WCW match ends with someone not in the match being pinned. Lol. Johnny Ace is definitely a better worker than Shane Douglas.
  9. Superstar Sleeze
    I just watched a 28 minute Shane Douglas promo in February 1995 (before there was Triple H, there was Shane Douglas. The similarities between the two are eerie. I do think HHH's redeeming quality is that he at least has a sense of humor. Douglas is so self-serious). It did give me a good review of Shane's career in ECW in 1993 & 1994. I dont think I had seen the famous throwing down of the NWA title, pretty crazy moment. Here's my question since I was a kid on the internet in the late 90s I would hear about how Shane Douglas hates Ric Flair and they eventually ran this as a part of the whole New Blood vs Millionaire's Club in 2000. I could never figure out why when I would search on the internet, I would just hear generic politics. Douglas makes a big point in this insanely long diatribe that he really hates Flair for politicking him out of a main event run in WCW. I checked Cagematch. Douglas left WCW in April of 1993 and I know they had to emergency replace him with Tom Zenk under hood for Slamboree in May. Flair was in WWF at the start of 1993 and returned what February 1993, MAYBE January 1993. You are telling me in three months Ric Flair rubbed Shane Douglas the wrong way so bad he left WCW? That seems bizarre to me. Here are my questions: Did Shane leave WCW in April of 1993? Or was he fired? I assume he left because he left them in quite the lurch. Why did he leave? Is there any merit to his claim that Flair politicked him out of a main event run in three months? Did Steamboat or anyone else push for a Douglas push? 1993 was the year of Vader, Douglas as a plucky white meat babyface, I could see him getting some mileage out of that, but hard to believe he was ready for primetime. Any thoughts on this would be great, always something I wanted to know. I think I heard Flair talk about it once with Austin or on his show claiming he didnt know what the Douglas heat was all about. Flair seems to have a clear memory of the 70s and 80s because he was having such a great time. The 90s seem really, really foggy for Flair and I think he has repressed a lot of those memories. So I dont think Flair can be trusted, but it really wouldnt surprise me if Flair was telling the truth and really no clue why Douglas was so pissed.
  10. Superstar Sleeze
    Thanks Pete for re-publishing this for posterity. Where did you find it? I knew there was one Sandman vs Cactus Jack match I thought was great but couldnt find which one and it was daunting prospect to slog through them all so I will avoid the rest, but was happy to re-watch this in all its glory. I co-sign everything I wrote above. I would add a couple things. It is very cool how Sandman does not bump at the beginning for all the garbage can shots. He is playing it like he is out on his feet. He does a great job selling he has had his bell rung on multiple occasions while on offense. Woman required multiple canings and some distraction to really earn that transition. She was also great on the outside and yes she was looking foxy. Awesome transition #2 is actually really well-time low blow. The hand psychology was excellent as was the post-match angle with the lit cigarette and Mikey's save. The one I disagree with it is my rating...way too low...**** one of the best ECW Matches of All Time.
  11. Superstar Sleeze
    Right on, El-P brutha! I got the classroom promo this time. I loved the swing set promo. The classroom promo was more basic. High school should be great, but it sucked, now I am going to make your adult life suck boo hoo. I thought the swing set promo had more interesting bells & whistles.
  12. Superstar Sleeze
    Before there was HHH, there was Shane Douglas a blowhard who thought he was way better than he actually was and his reach usually exceeded his grasp. At least HHH had the decency to be funny every once and a while. There is a dreadful alternative universe where Shane Douglas marries Stephanie and WWE 2003 is really fucking terrible. This is during Heyman's big push to legitimize ECW World Championship after the NWA double cross. It makes sense to put it on Shane because he was a former WCW Tag Champion and was the "best traditional wrestler" on the roster. They brought in people like Ron Simmons, Marty Jannetty and Tully Blanchard to do the J-O-B for Shane. The Tully Blanchard of Old line that Joey kept prattling. I believe comes from the fact that Blanchard had wrestled a "60 minute draw" previously that was supposedly the "new" Tully who was here to wrestle and be a babyface. Now Tully was not here to wrestle, he was here to fight, which goes along with the bravado of the Horsemen being a tough gang even if Tully was the coward/bumper of the group. The match at Double Tables is under 10 minutes I see so I imagine that was more of a brawl. Tully never was one for offense in the 80s fuck man why the hell were you holding out on us! The dude can fucking fight and bring the offense. I wish we got more of this Tully in the 80s.
  13. Superstar Sleeze
    According to the Network, I got the empty swing set. Raven character is so much better than all the trite shit that came after it. Bray Wyatt would kill to cut a promo this good. Great poetry with the empty swing set moving back n forth squeaking to form the rhythm section of Raven's poetry. There are Jim Morrison, Cobain influences here that are great. He has singled out Dreamer.
  14. Superstar Sleeze
    I know I am on an island but I am an unabashed Public Enemy mark. Their street-wise guido hoodie gimmick is a riot. "Rocco where did you get that nice coat" "Johnny the store told me to put it on so the store gave it to me!". I am dying. All the SHOUTOUTS! were funny. Thanks Vince at one point was wicked funny even though the lead up made no sense. They can a good serious promo but they were great comedy. "Joey Pots & Pans" had me rolling. "La de da de, we likes to party!" Johnny is proud of cashier's checks and especially his travellers checks because we's travelling Rocco! As the Irish would say, Public Enemy is good craic!
  15. Superstar Sleeze
    I didnt see this thread but I covered my thoughts on this segment in the thread before this. The one thing that I didnt cover thats gets mentioned in this thread is how the ECW mutants took the gimmick immediately. I am surprised the "too cool for school" fans werent chanting "Johnny Polo" or heckling him with "Flamingo" insults. I think its because the look was just so cool, so hip, so spot on and so different they were gobsmacked and shellshocked. I think the entire aesthetic dissuaded that from happening.
  16. Superstar Sleeze
    I love the Raven character. Grew up with him in WCW. I think he was my parents' first favorite wrestler. They loved the "What about me? What about Raven?". My Dad will still quote out of the blue but change "Raven" to "Dad". Yes he actually would have been because the Jericho heel turn was not until January 1998 and thats when my parents loved him. My parents were heel fans all the way. This is a great Alternative meets black metal music video with Raven in his combat boots walking snowy suburban streets with his breath showing. The promo was pretty good quoting Cobain sets the tone that the character was not someone that fit in with the mainstream. Hurt people hurt. He has a lot of pain and he was going to lash out. I dont think it covered on the Yearbook based on the threads but having Stevie Richards as John The Baptist to Raven's Christ, you know there is "One greater than I coming" was a really cool way to introduce the character. It has been years since I was watched 1995 ECW I forgot Stevie was impersonating previous Scott Levy gimmicks. He won two matches but on the third match as Stevie Polo he lost to Tommy Dreamer (genius!). I forgot Joey Styles calls him Johnny Polo at first. Raven gets pissed at Stevie for losing but in reality it is more that he had to Dreamer specifically than just losing. AT this time, we dont know how deep the grudge runs. Raven doesnt quite have the sardonic tone down. Anyone who has heard a Raven shoot he has an upbeat cadence to the way he talks and it kinda comes through a little in the initial interview with Joey and Stevie. He did have the sadistic tendencies down and it is clear that Raven intimidates and is abusive to Stevie. They have also set up Stevie as a lost soul with no identity of his own so that how he gets deluded to becoming a lap dog for this charismatic figure even though it is toxic for Stevie. This persists with Stevie as the continues with the impersonation gimmick right through to the BWO. It is peak Heyman and Raven no doubt. The best part of 1995 ECW were the main eventers were fleshed out characters not gimmicks. I think thats what missing from wrestling today among other things. I mean so many stories are the same, I was a wrestling fan growing up so I became a wrestler. They need to latch onto the other things that make them unique. Cactus Jack stopped being a wild man from New Mexico and became a fully fleshed out human with interesting thoughts and beliefs. Raven had become psychologically traumatized and was taking all his shit out on others. Tommy Dreamer may have sucked at executing it but as John McClane the regular average Joe wrestler that gets thrust into these violent situations because he is at the wrong place at the wrong time but he doesnt back down and he dies hard is a real character. The tag team division was filled with gimmicks like Public Enemy (who I find highly entertaining) and The Gangstas thats ok. Having too many characters would dilute the impact. I think you need 6-8 fully fleshed out main event characters supported by gimmicks in the 4-5 undercard matches.
  17. Superstar Sleeze
    Comparing DDTing Tommy Dreamer in ECW Arena to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski is some pretty crazy shit. He goes after George Washington for holding slaves. It is kinda amazing how little things have changed since 1995. Dreamer's response to all this, "We are Politically Incorrect and damn proud of it.". Tommy Dreamer, you are such a dweeb. It is amazing people have been railing against Political Correctness for at least 25 years what may be 30-35 years? Here's what Politically Correct means being a considerate, empathetic human being you obsequious prick. I dont know why Raven & Cactus wasted their time trying save that asshole.
  18. Superstar Sleeze
    I dont think I have seen this Cactus promo before. Really strong, he would really knock it out of the park next week with Cane Dewey never look back. The war against the fans was on. This promo started triggering memories of Cactus turning on Dreamer in a match with a DDT. I remember Raven saying Cactus "I feel your pain". ECW '95 was so good, its a shame what it became.
  19. Superstar Sleeze
    This does a great job of being cathartic therapy who I am sure was shooting when he talking about how pissed he was about the "Cane Dewey" and taking the shoot and turning into a work. That's what makes pro wrestling is great. Take reality-based emotions and transform into working. Cactus sees Dreamer as the chief disciple of this moment and sees that he is throwing his life away to drink the kool-aid. He is not going to let Dreamer go down the same path. I am interested to see how Cactus links up with Raven and how Cactus turned on Dreamer. Dont ask me why but I am watching this all backwards.
  20. Superstar Sleeze
    Tommy Dreamer is so lame. Trying to wax philosophic about the Hardcore lifestyle, doing the worst bit of fake crying ever, complete with asking the cameraman to cut and what the what the fuck with that bang bang and then looking at his hands saying "Damn". Raven carried his lame ass to greatness.
  21. Superstar Sleeze
    The war between wrestlers and fans has been waging for 25 years now. It really feels like it has intensified this past year. I like how Cactus refuses to let this become a puppet show and that he is the worker and he will work the crowd and not the other way around. I have heard this promo 8 bajillion times since I got the Cactus DVD. The "Welcoming Arms" line I stole or sometimes modify to "Welcoming Bosom" when I am messing with my friends about joining some sort of dark side. We learn what has driven Cactus' Masochistic Theatre of Pain to try to legitimize wrestling. I really like how ECW at the time really got into the psychology of the characters. I still like the one with Raven a little better, but these are all all-time great promos.
  22. Superstar Sleeze
    Greatest promo of all time! Well maybe Mark Henry's fake retirement, but this is amazing. Raven explains he and Cactus are the best friends because Tommy wouldnt be either of their friend so they have bonded with each other. Then Cactus goes from there and just cuts an incredible promo. I have ripped off so many parts of this promo over the course of my life. The idea of WCW being magical fantasy world where dreams come true and truly can be anything you want to be and citing the examples is incredible. The ten word conversation with Mikey Whipwreck is both funny and sad. The salvation of WCW being time-constrained because they will create their own Dreamer. The sadness of Cactus not being able to go back so he has to save Dreamer. All incredible shit! I have loved this promo for 15 years, still awesome!
  23. Superstar Sleeze
    Awesome promo! Best promo he would have until King of the Ring! Great inflection and cadence. Great dynamics, loud-soft, fast-slow, it is amazing that someone who never really was a promo guy could cut such a high level promo.
  24. Superstar Sleeze
    Cactus talking about how his legacy has been forever cemented because he is a former WCW tag team champions which means he will talked in the same breath as Patterson/Stevens, the Funks, Midnight Express and the American Males was hilarious. Tommy Dreamer was so lame. I know he was supposed to be the John McClane of ECW but he is so uncool.
  25. Superstar Sleeze
    I am so happy I watched this! Finally a complete Dudley Family genealogy. Is Dudley Dudley the wrestler named after an American politician who became Dudley Dudley after she married a Dudley for a shoot?
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