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Superstar Sleeze

DVDVR 80s Project
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  1. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW World Tag Team Champions Raven & Stevie Richards vs The Pitbulls - ECW Arena 8/26/95 The ECW Arena rematch after the match in Middletown and the 8-Man tag where Cactus turns on Tommy, we get this match. This match starts with Raven getting his shit kicked in. Richards is being a chump and refuses to tag in. This goes on longer than I expected but the result is what I expected, Raven gives him a thwack and throws him to the Dogs of War. Pitbulls feast on Richards. Crazy standing Doomsday Device to Richards. Pitbull #1 jumped pretty high to connect. Insane spot. You know the spot that injured Villano on Nitro (weird fact: I was there live, only Nitro I attended) well the Pitbulls do that spot on Richards only it is from the top rope. Looked gnarly as fuck basically a Ganso Bomb. Raven saves. Raven eats a Superbomb at one point. I think this is when Beulah saves and they are going to Superbomb Beulah. Then there are three nearfalls for Stevie, first when Dudley Dudley interferes then a Raven DDT and finally a Big Dick hotshot on the railing. It sets up Raven Masterpiece Theatre at Gangstas Paradise perfectly as all these moving pieces will fit together in grand fashion. Also I take back anything bad I said about the Pitbulls they are a good power wrestling team, really good offense. Pitbulls vs Steiners would have been good fun. ***1/2
  2. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW World Tag Team Champions Raven & Stevie Richards vs The Pitbulls - ECW Middletown, NY 7/28/95 (Aired 8/8/95) Outdoor venue, it is raining but not too hard it looks like, a lot of people. ECW was pretty over. I believe this is the first televised match in the feud. The Pitbulls were former minions and got fed up and refused to Superbomb Luna and now are aligned with Dreamer & Luna. They got the tag belts on Raven & Richards to up the ante for this feud. Pitbulls are better power wrestlers than I had previously given them credit for. They did a great job throwing Richards around in the shine. Pitbull #2 hits a spinwheel kick that Hashimoto would have been proud of, squashing Richards in the corner and Pitbull #1 hit a nice slingshot shouldertackle. They put over Raven as a game changer after Richards takes a ton of punishment they were going to Superbomb him until Raven attacks. Raven eats knees on Vaderbomb. They regain control by attacking the testicles of Pitbull #1. Hot tag and Pitbulls are in control. #1 is throwing Raven into chairs and #2 has isolated Stevie, but Beulah sprays #2 in the eyes with hairspray and a StevieKick and it is over. They steal a win but Dreamer and Luna beat up Raven & Richards. They trap Beulah and Dreamer piledrivers her to a massive reaction and triggers an EC-DUB chant. Great place-setting match. Shows the Pitbulls can kickass but they arent ready to overcome Raven's trickery just yet. Short & sweet. ***
  3. Superstar Sleeze
    Referee Bill Alfonso is the best gimmick ever. His shoot tirade in the middle going off on how hard it is stand to and shout into microphone, getting onto a plane at 5am with his ticket not paid for and then saying he is blowed up, ready to relinquish the mic only to start shoving and screaming at Heyman is great. Fonzie rules!
  4. Superstar Sleeze
    Woman was the MVP of this segment and maybe her best segment ever. She was in total control of Sandman. She was the alpha and that was cool to see. Both times, Sandman was on the verge of being stripped of the title, Woman was the one who made Sandman comply. It was very empowering to see her in charge. She stops Mikey from getting to ten but Mikey gets his first kiss with Woman! Sandman attacks and it is Woman who makes him stop once the title is threatened but not before we get another of her "orgasmic wails". Sandman vs Mikey is a fucking great feud that I have not explored before. I like it! I really like it!
  5. Superstar Sleeze
    a) Matter of style & taste. I love all forms of wrestling. Heat is heat. I dont really care how one gets it as long as they get it. I enjoy interference and foreign objects and bells & whistles. Give me the powder and the fireballs. I love that Raven works a loaded boot or an ether rag gimmick. I like the zillion of run-ins for the most part. This shit can easily go sideways but him because he does put thought into it, it usually a hit rather than a miss. Guys like RVD that has not heat because nothing has any consequence OR it is stilted & contrived. Raven's dog & pony show does have consequences in Raven's world and it feels natural tome. b) I like his promos for the most part. He does have duds here and there, but the whole demented, twisted evil empath that feeds on pain and exploits those most vulnerable like Stevie Richards who didnt know who he was or Cactus who felt abandoned by his peers, fans and the system is a great gimmick. The whole point is that he is delusional and is not self-aware that his poetry is mumbo-jumbo. The duds are when he actually does make sense or he is not very threatening. The abusive relationship with Stevie is gold. c) As EL-P point that kind of is the gimmick. I like I said above he feasts on the pain, anger and anguish of others. Likewise he feeds off their heat. Dont tell me you think that wooden hack Tommy Dreamer is a better promo. Tommy Dreamer is fucking wretched promo. His John McClane wannabe act is so poorly executed by him. He is lucky that Raven got his ass over. d) Raven didnt get hot immediately. He had Douglas, Sandman, Public Enemy all ahead of him but he worked a great angle and got himself as over as the others and they couldnt deny him. I like Stevie I do, but he wasnt ready yet. He was still finding himself which made him perfect as the innocent wayward soul that got in over his head with Raven. Stevie could ramble with the best of them he was not perfect on the mic either. As El-P pointed out it was a symbiotic relationship both men got over. e) The Dreamer piledriver on Beluah and leaving Raven laying in May of 1995, breaking Raven's fingers in retribution Hardcore Heaven 95, Chair Shot Heard Round The World, Gangsta's Paradise with the epic Pitbulls win. Funk's pinfall at November 2 Remember. I dont know enough about his 96 run but he definitely let Dreamer gets his licks in. f) The aesthetic is 90s grunge but the evil cult leader that preys on the hurt and abandoned is not. Tiger King demonstrated a Tiger Sex Cult where that evil fucker clearly preys on lost women. General Hospital ran a great storyline called Dawn of Day which was basically the Raven's flock but again a sex cult where the evil leader Shiloh isolated women and made them believe the only man that could understand them and their pain was Shiloh. I am blanking on the real-life inspiration for Dawn of Day but I know there is one and it involved some semi-famous people. Raven character is timeless. g) I only come on PWO and everyone besides EL-P and me seem to hate him so I don't know. h) It is ok, Charles, I feel your pain. My childhood was filled with anguish & torture and so I understand your pain, Charles.The more frustrated you become the stronger the Raven grows! Quote the Raven, Nevermore!
  6. Superstar Sleeze
    Yeah definitely worthy to go back and watch. Also watch the promos leading up to this. Raven foresees this in his promo in a dumpster. It is not that it was premeditated like Raven and Cactus were in cahoots. It is like Raven knew how to work his demented empathetic magic to exploit the vulnerabilities of Cactus, who really had not been a focal point of ECW for last month. Sandman was moving on to Mikey, Douglas left the promotion and Funk was nowhere to be found. Cactus was aimless. This was a great move for him and it really unlocked his promo potential. Before the match, he makes standard pro wrestling remarks about beating up Raven's flunkies, but when he gets to Raven he says he digs his vibe. Before the match gets started, Raven starts to work his voodoo talking about how he understands Cactus and can create a safe place for Cactus.Just when Dreamer is about to pin Raven for the first time BANG! Cactus turns! It makes sense because it was not a plan hatched before. It was Cactus wrestling with the the thought and deciding mid-match what to do. Cactus gives a very Mankind-esque promo huddled in a warehouse behind some framing. He talks about abandonment and how he feels pain and that people dont realize how much pain he is in but Raven does. Now he will serve Raven and ensure that Raven's world comes into being even if that means laying waste to his ex-friends Dreamer and Mikey. Awesome angle!
  7. Superstar Sleeze
    I popped for Mikey trying to smoke too. Good shit.
  8. Superstar Sleeze
    Didnt watch the match but saw the post match angle. Chairshot heard round the World was brutal. They are doing a great job giving Dreamer victories like this in the feud or when he piledrove Beulah at Enter Sandman went into the crowd and had everyone chant E-C-DUB around him. He might not be winning the matches but he is winning the war. Raven cuts a great promo in Florida about how this all will backfire because Raven feasts on pain so the more anger Dreamer has and the more violent he becomes the stronger Raven becomes. Raven as a demented, evil empath is amazing.
  9. Superstar Sleeze
    Everyone in ECW from Fonzie to Joey to Paul E kept misusing the word "defy". He had banned the fans from the building for Heat Wave 95. He kept saying I defy the fans to show up. He wanted to say I dare the fans to defy me and show up. They kept using "defy" to mean "dare". It was wicked weird. Gordon decks him and loses his promoter's license in Pennsylvania. It is leading to Fonzie vs Gordon I imagine.
  10. Superstar Sleeze
    Because it is not about titles, Pete, it is about hurting the Public Enemy. Ok, yeah I cant explain that booking decision. I made the case for why Public Enemy going over in the first match made sense, but this doesnt. They needed to get the tag titles on Raven & Richards for the impending Pitbulls feud and they went this route. Meh. The important thing is my man Raven and Stevie Richards are champions of the world! They put heat on Fonzie for doing a double reversal to get the titles on Raven & Richards. I think this is the first and only double Dusty Finish and I liked it. Since it doesnt look like any of the Raven/Richards promos or segments made the yearbook from July I will just capture my thoughts here. -The first title defense at Heat Wave 95 was against jabronis Don E. Allen & Broad Street Bully. Most important thing is Raven/Richards lose by countout because Richards is making out with Francine and Beulah takes exception. Catfight and I gotta say it is a good one. Those floors are gross and those women are hardcore for rolling around on that floor. Beulah explains to Stevie that Francine is a bimbo and Stevie needs to stop hanging out with her. Stevie explains he cant help that "she is hot for my trot and warm of my form!" I remember watching this segment back in 2006 when Youtube really broke and man I popped huge. I thought this was the most genius thing I ever heard. It is still wicked funny to me. Long story short, Beulah is being catty because she wants to be the only woman in the nest. Another funny Stevie/Beulah moment is Stevie is drooling over the thought of Woman back when she was apart of Sullivan's Army of Darkness and Beulah gives him a good whack. -This leads to me to my other favorite Raven/Richards promo in Florida in the ocean where they are standing shin high. Stevie is going on and on about how he had this great childhood and at the center piece was Florida Championship Wrestling. He makes fun of Kevin Sullivan's height but thought the Army of Darkness was really cool until Luna fucked up the stable, fucked up Florida Championship Wrestling and fucked up his childhood until New Wave came along! LOL! That was great and then Raven cuts in and cuts some of his best demented, evil empath bullshit, feasting on pain especially the Chairshot around the World. As Dreamer gets angrier, Raven gets stronger. Good stuff all around! The Chairshot Heard Round The World happens at Heat Wave 95 after the Raven/Richards tag title defense in a Stevie vs Luna aftermath. Dreamer really smoked him. Iconic moment. -Down in Florida, I thought the TV focused mostly on Sandman/Mikey/Woman. I dont remember too much. -Overall they are definitely building to Raven & Richards vs Pitbulls. They say they have vanquished Dreamer & Luna. They have been bringing up the Steiners. Oh and Raven says the Public Enemy and Gangstas are destroying each other in the turf war. Raven's act definitely feels like the most over act in ECW at this point.
  11. Superstar Sleeze
    At least Douglas shows ass on his way out and goes out on his back. Douglas thinks he can make Gordon grovel to make him stay and Douglas probably would have laughed in his face if he did. Instead Gordon proves he has a backbone and fired Douglas! Awesome. Douglas decks Gordon because he is a prick. 9-1-1 baby! Douglas eats the chokeslam. 911 was such a genius gimmick. I really, really love it. Such a good name for the character! If I ever get a chance to book, I would have to have a 911 type character on my roster. Douglas is gone but his gift of Fonzie to the Mutants is the gift that just keeps on giving!
  12. Superstar Sleeze
    I will defend the booking here. The Gangstas are the hot new, ultra-violent team. Public Enemy are the poseurs. If you have Gangstas win, you prove the Gangstas right and whats the fucking point of more matches. Have Public Enemy win but close. Well now the Gangstas are pissed because they got shown up by poseurs. The Gangstas end up jumping Public Enemy outside the building because they are sore losers and pricks. This puts heat on the feud. It is like gang attack or a drive by, ya know. Now The Gangstas have shown their true nature: they are proud thugs and when their pride is wounded they lash out in an unsportsmanlike way. The Gangstas are definitely the heels. Now you can build the story from there. Yeah I saw the ring fill in and thought it was pretty cool. I am definitely a Public Enemy defender. I think it is loveable hoodie gimmick is funny. I like the high pitched voices and the comedy. They can bring the gravity in their promos too. They are definitely a promo gimmick. I have seen one good Public Enemy match it was on a random Nitro where Knobbs and Saggs just stiffed the hell out of them but a wicked good brawl. There is two guys I wish got a run in ECW, the Nasty Boys would have been great!
  13. Superstar Sleeze
    Pitbulls turn babyface because goddamnit they have scruples and their momma taught them not to Superbomb a lady! Hey gotta give ECW some points at least they did turn babyface because they wouldnt attack a woman. So thats something right. The Original Dudleys have become Raven's new flunkies. The Pitbulls feel like Raven & Stevie had neglected them but I forget why. I remember the Raven/Stevie promos as Tag Champs being the best part of their character work together that should be coming up. The Pitbulls were pretty fucking over in 1995 and 1996. I think people forget how just damn over they were.
  14. Superstar Sleeze
    Douglas has great cadence, conviction but shitty content. Id give him a pass on content if he was not so interminable. I dont know if Douglas is the best actor in the world or if he worked himself into a shoot but when the fans started thunderously chanting "We Want Flair" he got hot and I mean DOUBLE HOT! And it was worth for that. Good job Mutants! Woman comes out looking hot and I mean DOUBLE HOT! I skipped a couple months in my ECW rewatch for match watching purposes so this whole Douglas/Sandman/Cactus thing has not ended? Sandman saves Woman so Cactus saves Douglas and Cactus is the babyface? Well Cactus turning heel soon. I thought Douglas getting wicked angry at the "We Want Flair" chants were worth it.
  15. Superstar Sleeze
    Pete but then everyone would scream "Bait and switch". You get the heat for the Fonzie stoppage, but I think you have to deliver on this once it is advertised. I watched the Fonzie portion which was gold, but didnt feel like watching this. I have watched some Japanese Death Matches just try it but yeah now my cup of tea.
  16. Superstar Sleeze
    Let your freak flag fly, Pete! Get down with your bad self! Thanks to PWO I made sure to seek this out during my rewatch of ECW. Incredible. I already really like Woman, but I really loved Woman here. She does a really good job being smoldering. I really think she does but you can still tell its an act, a really good act. Here she was using her natural speaking voice it was much more organic and visceral. Now, it was definitely uncomfortable. "Assume the position little boy" is definitely pushing the envelope and not content I would want to watch with my mom. It is also doubly uncomfortable because of her death and saying how she gets off on violence. I know it is all an act, but it is hard hearing Woman say that and for me it triggers thoughts of her murder. Just absolutely terrible that's all I can say. I liked the idea of a voyeuristic character and getting off on pain. I dont know if Paul E into any kinky shit but he definitely likes incorporating into his product (the Vampire in WWECW was based on the underground biting clubs at time). Sex is such a great, important life I do think its good for wrestling to have overtones of it to be a completely fleshed out form of entertainment. I loved all people trying to stand up for Mikey and Woman not letting them because she wants to feast off the pain of the fan favorite, the loveable Mikey. Really deep, hard-hitting stuff. Fonzie ensures it is 10 was a great heat-seeking tactic. A Fonzie like character should make a comeback. Sandman hurdles over the top rope to floor delivers a wicked cane shot to Mikey. That was pretty damn athletic for Sandman. He ends up going bezerk and well over ten and Marty Jannetty saves. I wonder if ECW had big plans for Marty Jannetty because he cut a pretty good promo on the Sandman after. Mikey's line "My mom is going to kill me." popped me and the he manned up and said he was going to get revenge. Happy Mikey won the title in 1995! Excellent angle to kick off the program!
  17. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW World Champion Shane Douglas vs Marty Jannetty - ECW Return of the Funker 1995 Shane Douglas' ECW World Title tour as Paul E. brings in any ex-WWF, ex-WCW star willing to do a job to his New Franchise. Pretty smart booking by Paul E. and this is the best match of the bunch and I think its the best singles match Ive ever seen from Douglas including the Scorpio match I watched earlier. I think this match was tighter and made more sense down the stretch. They basically said fuck you to ECW and wrestled a traditional championship match. This was Douglas' big chance to work the NWA Touring Champ style and he did it pretty well. Bret Hart was much better at than Douglas. Marty gets a series of quick nearfalls early to establish he is here for a good time not a long time. Douglas powders. He regroups. Back in, it is a Jannetty Victory Roll and a Superkick attempt that has Douglas getting the Hell out of Dodge. Great babyface shine. Jannetty is able to get his fist drop and a clothesline after a ballshot to complete a very strong shine. I would have liked the ballshot used later in the match as a stronger transition but thats a nitpick. Douglas is able to lure Jannetty to the outside with some arena brawling and thats where the Franchise is in his element. He hits a wicked front suplex on the railing and uses a crutch to cement his advantage. Jannetty takes a wicked bump off a clothesline nice inside out sell. Jannetty really throws himself into the ringpost bump and then takes a suplex on chairs. Really good stuff. Throughput Jannetty would pepper in hope spots to make sure we all knew he was alive. Douglas hits his shoulder on the post. Jannetty works that a bit and then goes into his finish sequence. Rocker Dropper for 2. Big time Superkick. Doesnt cover, not a good side. Goes up for the fist drop but Douglas moves but Marty wisely lands on his feet. DDT! 1-2-FOOT ON THE ROPES! Awesome nearfall! Jannetty goes for a Victory Roll and Douglas THROWS HIM DOWN WITH A POWERBOMB!1-2-3! Tight, impactful finish. Jannetty got in plenty of white meat babyface offense and got a nice hot finish run. I liked the heat segment a lot Jannetty did a lot of great selling and bumping. There are some issues with transitions that I didnt cover in my main review and Douglas also can be a bit bland. I would have liked to seen more heel character work out of him. Overall, I really enjoyed their ode to 1980s championship wrestling. ****
  18. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW World TV Champion Pitbull #2 vs Chris Jericho - ECW Hardcore Heaven 1996 I am a big confused why Pibull #2 was being pushed? I know Pitbull#1 was injured but I dunno Pitbull #2 always struck me as the lesser of the two Pitbulls so I can understand having him on the lower card. That being said I watched his ECW World Title match with Raven and TV Title win over Shane Douglas all on the show prior to this and he was definitely over. So it goes to show you what I know. I dont have too much to say about this. It is a good, basic standard power vs speed match. Theres not much struggle to it. It is very "my turn, your turn". They establish Pitbull's power advantage early. Liked the catch on the spinwheel kick into the slam. The Press Slams were great especially the one into the tombstone. Jericho in 1996 has a penchant for overreaching and doing spots that look like they will get him or his opponent killed. Even though he did some crazy spots that could have gone wrong most of them involved tombstone variations, they pulled them off without being too egregious. Did Pitbull blade off a Victory Roll? If so that has to be the most bizarre bladejob after. Jericho takes control. Now Pitbull feeds for him. It is a very neat match not a lot of struggle. Jericho does his springboard dropkick but instead of a dropkick he did a moonsault which I thought was pretty cool. He also busts out a missile dropkick. Ill be honest all the offense kind of just runs together. Douglas comes out to argue with Francine and try to steal the belt. Pitbull #2 interjects himself but steamrolls Francine. Pitbull #2 Clobbers Douglas and then Jericho crashes down on Douglas by accident. Pitbull #1 with an arm in a sling takes Francine back while Douglas tries abscond with the title but the refs stop him. They do the less complicated version of the Hurricanarana/Splash Mountain Finish where Jericho hits a Frankensteiner off the Superbomb. Great looking finish! Douglas throws a fit. Pitbull and Jericho bro it out. This all leads to the Fatal 4-Way between the four most recent champions. It was a very clean match which was surprising because at any moment I thought it could go sideways. Jericho would learn how to add connective tissue and psychology to his matches in WWF. Here he shows a basic grasp of power vs speed but is missing those crucial transitions that would really make a match like this pop. ***
  19. Superstar Sleeze
    Sabu vs Rob Van Dam - ECW Doctor Is In Stretcher A pretty famous feud that put RVD on the map. Paul E was able to make RVD & Taz into stars on the back of Sabu pretty impressive. Im a pretty big Sabu mark and think RVD is useless. This didnt do much for me. I watched the whole feud about 15 years ago when youtube first came out. Basic gist was Sabu extended his hand in respect and RVD didnt take it. This led to a Matter of Respect which was two parts this and the Douglas/Scorp feud. At some point RVD gets "insider" info that Sabu has injured neck doesnt everyone know about the Benoit match anyways he targets and the neck and Sabu is carried off in a stretcher. Volia here we are. I couldnt remember if I watched this match but the Sabu Asai Moonsault onto the Stretcher and his shins whacking the guardrail reminded me I had. Fuck that had to hurt.Up until then it was both guys doing their schtick. Sabu is at his best when he is unpredictable and finally all around. This was too slow. RVD had some nice karate kicks but other than that it didnt feel fluid. Felt stilted. They blew a couple spots. The table spot came off really, really well. That should have been the finish. Great Brainbuster through the table looked awesome and I guess it was a callback to how RVD targetted the neck previously. They teased carting Sabu out but RVD stopped it. Some lame action followed. The real finish which was also a good spot was RVD doing a somersault splash from the top rope on the stretcher. The best wrestling match was the wrestling the "EMTs" had to do to get the stretchers to work. Some of the spots were alright but yeah this is bad Sabu and I like Sabu.
  20. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW World TV Champion 2 Cold Scorpio vs Shane Douglas - ECW Matter of Respect When did Scorpio turn babyface was it just because Sandman turned babyface? After Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko left, Paul E turned to Scorpio to fill his workrate void first with a great 30 minute draw with Sabu and now we get another long title defense against The Franchise. This is a pretty famous storyline. Douglas thinks the TV Title is beneath him. Scorpio takes umbrage with that. He is going to make Douglas Respect the championship and the champion. Douglas claims to not want the title but is he a liar? Gold can be alluring by any name. I still have not watched the Jannetty match so I dont know how this compares. Douglas whups Scorpio for most of the 15 minutes. This is an anti-Flair NWA Championship defense. I am not going to assert that was intentional. Given Douglas' animosity to Flair, it could be seen in that context but I dont think thats what is happening here. At first, I thought they were going to do the NWA Championship standard babyface bests the heel on the mat, but Douglas actually wins most of the sequence causing three powders by Scorpio. First on a dropkick, then they do a finisher tease and Douglas wins with a Butterfly Suplex and then on the third Douglas hits a plancha. It felt like a babyface shine for Douglas. If he wasnt such a pompous prick, Id believe it. He hits Scorpio with a dangerous front suplex onto the guardrail. Just when you think Scorpio is going to mount a comeback, Douglas sends him flying into the crowd in a cool spot. Scorpio tries another comeback but Douglas kicks him in the balls and hits a hellacious powerbomb on the cement floor. I wouldnt think a Douglas squash would be so appetizing but he is actually a good squash wrestler. ECW really believed that the best way to earn respect was through takin' a lickin and keep on tickin. Thats how they got Dreamer over. It is definitely one school of thought. I think offense is a better way to go but thats just me. Scorpio ends up kicking Douglas in the balls twice, chair shot, Flying Space Tiger Pele Kick and an Asai Moonsault finally put Scorpio in the drivers seat. I have found the match enjoyable so far. I think the transitions are solid which is usually the weakest part of ECW. I dont feel the heat is quite at the classic levels, but this has been good. Scorpio cant hit his dive on the table because Douglas moved and well-done sneak attack because the cameras intentionally lost Douglas. The end of the match is bizarre. Are we sure that Douglas wasnt the babyface? Scorpio hits a moonsault. He gets up at 2. And just laughs. I feel like Scorpio doesnt respect Shane-O. 450 Splash and Legdrop no covers just high steeping. No transitions Douglas just gets up and starts hitting suplexes. This is trash. I liked the Superbomb. The cherry on top is the shitty finish. Scorpio says he is going up top, flips off the fans and then goes up and Douglas hits a low blow and Scorpio no sells it. Super Belly 2 Belly was a good finish. Douglas feigns respect only in a dick move to ask Scorpio to strap the belt around his waist. Scorpio smokes him with the TV title belt and beats the shit out of him. This match is overrated. This is a workrate championship match in ECW and so it feels different but it pales in comparison to the great championship matches of history. I liked the beginning Douglas was great on offense and worked compelling sequences. Once Scorpio took over the match fell off the rails. ***1/4
  21. Superstar Sleeze
    Terry Funk & Arn Anderson vs Sabu & Bobby Eaton - 5/14/94 Total clusterfuck. I thought this was actively bad for the majority of the match. Arn wants to build to him vs Eaton as the marquee pairing when Arn vs Sabu is the cool dream match here. Arn vs Sabu is pretty disappointing. Arn just treats Sabu as his ragdoll doing what he wants when he wants. They work Arn's knucklelock spot at the stupidest time. Like I said Clusterfuck. Sabu vs Funk work a finish stretch in the middle of the match for no reason. Sabu moonsaults 1-2-NO supposedly a big nearfall. Funk gets up hits a powerbomb. I literally rewound just to make sure I didnt miss a transition. Nope Funk just got up and hit a powerbomb. Neckbreaker for another nearfall. This is like a shitty All Japan match aka a 21st century Indie "epic" involving Joey Janela. Thats when they do the nearfall. Arn does take some moonsaults from Sabu. Theres no real fun interaction. It is just taking spots. Arn DDTs three times while Funk hits a hard to see Piledriver on Eaton in the Eagle's Nest. Anderson hits a Spinebuster so that the ECW Arena can go home happy. Here comes Public Enemy to attack Funk's knee. Funk accidentally hits AA in the fracas. Sabu tries to make Funk submit to his Spinning Toehold. Anderson turns on Funk, which anyone with half a brain can see coming from miles away because this match is the drizzling shits. Surprisingly Funk submits to Sabu's Single Leg Crab. I am surprised BABYFACE hardcore legend & tough as nails Terry Funk submitted. I should be praised as a Hardcore Legend for not tapping out ten minutes earlier. Dreadful.
  22. Superstar Sleeze
    I have only deeply watched two Johnny Ace tags from 1994 recently but I have to say I was pretty impressed. Could keep up with the workrate and the stiffness. In the December 1994 tag, he heel'd it up like a champ. Working perhaps the greatest heel spot in the history of Japan...maybe the world. I marked out like crazy when I saw this. Greatest Thing Ever.mp4
  23. Superstar Sleeze
    ECW World Champion Raven vs Terry Gordy - Hardcore Heaven 1996 if you just watch this & Gangstas Paradise you’d be fooled into thinking Raven was a great wrestler. Not quite as good as the Pitbulls match but this shows the Raven act at top form. Gordy looked great on offense! Tons of energy and uptempo! Crowd was lapping this up with a spoon huge pop on entrance and when he said hailing from Badstreet also a big pop. Gordy kicked Ravens shit in and Raven bled buckets to get this over huge. Chairs, ballshots, blood, barbed wire and liberal interference make this a joy to watch. Richards/Nova try to pry Gordy off the Asiatic Spike. Dreamer saves and DDTs both. Here’s Brian Lee. The pop Gordy gets for powerbombing Lee is fucking massive! StevieKick->Raven DDT is perfect way to finish it fast. Timed the climax perfectly. Sandman comes out swinging the Cane. This is the very beginning of the Tyler/Peaches Angle. “Daddy you’re a drunk, I worship Raven now” I have seen before. It is heavy duty stuff. As a fan of soap operas (General Hospital fucking rocks!), I like this stuff but at the same time I feel bad for Tyler. They are treating his mom like shit. Calling her a whore and Raven is pulling her hair to show he controls her. That’s fucked up for a kid. I think they could have fleshed this out more to make it more convincing and ditched the kid. Kudos to Raven for the Crimson Mask and having the Barbed Wire tangled in his hair looked like a psycho. The rant that Dreamer wasn’t potent enough to get Beulah pregnant was awesome insecure dick heel shit. Match was a blast, post-match I get it but I can’t approve it a kid shouldn’t be at an ECW show as a fan never mind partaking especially where they are denigrating his shoot mother. ***3/4
  24. Superstar Sleeze
    Best of All Japan 1993-1994 Part 2 Yesterday, I explained how I discovered Japanese pro wrestling and what it has meant to me over basically my whole life. Today, I don't even know how to put in words the greatness of the pro wrestling that is covered in today's blog. I think the word that great Romantics of the 19th century would use to describe Misawa vs Kawada, Kobashi vs Hansen and Misawa/Kobashi vs Holy Demon Army would be simply, "sublime". This 58th edition of the esteemed Pro Wrestling Love series is the Top 6 matches to take place in All Japan Pro Wrestling during 1993-1994, but honestly any match in the Top 5 could be my pick for the Greatest of All Time, any country, any time that's how damn good these 5 matches are on top. I just went with this order for now, but I think I will re-watch again before I submit my final list for the Greatest Pro Wrestling Match Ever project in August. What will finish #1? Any pro wrestling fan worth his weight in salt knows these dates: 7/29/93, 12/3/93, 5/21/94, 6/3/94 or 7/28/94 (Goddamnit I know that match aint known by its date but it should be! Dr. Death SHOCKED the World!) It is the most competitive, loaded edition of Pro Wrestling LOVE!!!! So don't just sit there eyes wide open, slackjawed click the link and revel in the glory. https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2020/05/pro-wrestling-love-vol-58-best-of-all.html
  25. Superstar Sleeze
    Bam Bam Bigelow vs Spike Dudley - ECW As Good As It Gets A big step down from their Hardcore Heaven match. There are two blown spots. One is a normal whiff on a dropkick that sends Bigelow over the top rope and knee first through a table that looked painful. Anyways I can understand a whiff. But the earlier one is bizarre. Spike takes the Bret Bump hard into the buckles and ricochets back. Bam Bam just takes a front bump for no reason clutching his head. It was pretty bad. The layout was off too. ECW Arena was MOLTEN for this match. We are taking nuclear heat. They wanted a replica of Hardcore Heaven and they wanted Spike launched into the crowd. "Over here" chants and a very funny "We Want Spike" chant. When Spike made his comeback, the fans were not too happy and were chanting for Bam Bam because they wanted the crowd throw so bad. They should have done the crowd throw early and then done the Spike comeback, crowd would have been more into it and less preoccupied with the fact that the crowd throw may not happen. The crowd throw is the more famous of the two as it would go into the opening video package. I can still hear Paul E. shouting the "lewdest and crudest" as this clipped played as an advertisements for ECW in Waltham, MA during Nitro. I remember a lot of ECW ads during Nitro. It always included this crowd throw. They do the body surfing which was cute, but undercut the brutality from Hardcore Heaven. Big splash ends it. This was fine, but not as cool as the Hardcore Heaven. Though the childhood nostalgia factor is much higher for me on this one.
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