Superstar Sleeze

I thought Smackdown ruled too. Watched live on Tuesday because my parents wanted to know what was going to happen with Becky! They are so invested in her. It is so cool. Smackdown rules so hard. i actually came on here to praise Chad Gable. This dude rules and am glad he is getting a slight push. I hope he can make it to the top. Also always been a fan of Dana Brooke. I thought she was great in the Bayley match. Bayley's finish combo was great! Rezar is a future number one heel!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 7 Top Six Best Non-NOAH Puroresu Matches 2000-2004! Nagata vs Murakami overachieves! Kawada Invades New Japan! Is Misawa vs Akiyama the greatest match ever? http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-7-best-of.html

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Tonga Kid - WWF MSG 11/26/84 Tonga Kid (aka Tama) is the biggest missed prospect of the 80s. He had oodles of charisma. He debuted as a part of the red hot Piper vs Snuka storyline. Snuka was making his return to the Garden after an extended absence due to Piper. Snuka was over like rover. Piper of course had his bodygaurd, Ace Cowboy Bob Orton. So much fun. Piper made the Kid look like a million bucks. Simple, but exciting from bell to bell. Fun shine. I loved Piper getting the smallest advantage, taunting Snuka and turning around and just eating it from the Kid. Heat segment was great. Why the hell cant heels wrestle like this anymore? Eyerakes, gnawing, spitting and chops to the throat all the while taunting the Superfly. I dont want to see moves. I want to see emotion! Piper grabs the Sleeper. Tonga kid elbows out. Piper smashes his head into the top turnbuckle. Bad idea. The Kid hulks up in the coolest way possible busting out some very hip 80s dance moves. I loved it. Now Piper done did it. Kid charges but Piper uses his own momentum against and dumps him over the top rope onto the floor. Orton realizing the trouble Piper is in attacks the Kid. They try to take the Kid out with a chair, but Superfly saves with a punch to the head of Piper. The crowd is ROARING as all four men are in the ring. Orton gets dumped. That leaves Piper alone with these two. Piper gets the Hell out of Dodge as Snuka/Kid dive for him. Wow! Talk about setting up a red hot tag team match! Now this is damn good booking! ***

Brutha, all this writing about wrestling, means I am not watching! Maybe we should put it to a vote?

Another day and another volume of Pro Wrestling Love! NOAH did NOT have the market cornered on great matches from 2000-2004! Here are the best non-NOAH matches of the first half of the new millennium. Shinya Hashimoto and Naoya start the 21st Century with a chaotic brawl in the Tokyo Dome! Keiji Mutoh reinvents himself! Toshiaki Kawada proves he can go it alone without his fellow Four Corners of Heaven! All this and much, much in Pro Wrestling Love vol. 6! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-6-best-of.html

Thanks brutha! I have really enjoyed re-visiting these classics. For some reason, this recent batch really hit me hard. I really love that Kobashi GHC title reign. I am a huge Kobashi fan and just thinking about all those matches was overwhelming. Murdering Rat Boy with closed fists was great. Surviving Takayama and landing a moonsault on the face, epic. SEIZING The Torch from Misawa, there is no words to describe how sublime that moment was. There is so much goodness in this Pro Wrestling Love volume. I love pro wrestling! Best heel vs heel match ever is covered. Quintessential Misawa and Kobashi matches are covered. There is tag team insanity! There is blood & closed fists in the Budokan when Kobashi The Destroyer Murders Rat Boy! Then we close with a match that may be the Greatest Match of All Time. It was a decade in the making when Kenta Kobashi SEIZED the torch from Mitsuharu Misawa in 2003. This is a Pro Wrestling Love Volume you just cant miss! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-5-best-of-pro.html

YES! YES! YES! More publicity for the GME project the better! I have been reading that over at the other forum. I have been meaning to comment, but I have been busy. The April deadline seems way too close!

Thank you both. I really appreciate knowing that these are being read. Anyone who knows me knows I love BIG! Big production values! Big solos! Big Hair! Big Smiles! Even Bigger EYES! Woooooooo-hooooooo! There is nobody that does Big better in Pro Wrestling history than Pro Wrestling NOAH! Founded in the Year 2000 by the great Mitsuharu Misawa when he left All Japan Pro Wrestling with the majority of native talent in the wake of Giant Baba's death. He founded a promotion that built on the emotional, dramatic inter-match storytelling style of All Japan Pro Wrestling with even more excess in every regard. In this time period, we cover the very beginnings of NOAH starting with the red hot Kobashi vs Akiyama feud and ending in the middle of the epic Kenta Kobashi title reign. All this and much, much more in Pro Wrestling Love vol. 4! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-4-best-of-pro.html

Alright staying on track with Volume 3 out today finishing up Best of WCW in 1995-2001 countdown. #1 is obvious and I am not spoiling anything when I say it is Eddie vs Rey from Havoc '97, but my #2 will definitely raise some eyebrows, turn some heads and maybe even leave some mouths agape. All this and much, much more in Pro Wrestling Love Vol. 3! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-3-best-of-wcw-in.html

I am super pumped for this show. I was really seriously contemplating buying plane tickets to San Antonio to see this live. Smackdown is firing on all cylinders. I am really excited for Becky vs Charlotte I cant remember the last time I was so pumped for a match. I really hope Becky wins. AJ vs Joe is gonna be so badass. Love the mixed tag match make so much sense and it is a great next step in that feud. I wish Carmella and Asuka were on the show. Hardy vs Orton is a weird choice for the Cell, but makes sense so Hardy can do something crazy. RAW sucks what else is new. Why should I care about Rousey vs Bliss? Roman vs Braun will be very good, but I dont really care. Thank God for Smackdown!

I am already behind guys! Goddamnit! I originally intended to be Volume 2 to be completion of the WWF from 1993-1997 countdown, but I have not watched Mind Games recently and I need to give it another watch so I can do it justice. So to keep up with my insane schedule, I just posted a volume that I could complete without any rewatching. My favorite time period WCW from 1995-2001! Ok so 1999-2001 sucks, but it does not deserve its own blog so I tacked it on to this blog. I started watching wrestling in the summer of 1997 and I was a diehard WCW fan. So this time period just has so much nostalgia for me. Here's Volume 2: Best of WCW from 1995-2001: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-2-best-of-wcw-in.html

I Love Pro Wrestling. Pro wrestling has not always been good to me and I have not always been good to pro wrestling. But Love is not about being perfect to each other all the time. It is about caring unconditionally about the welfare of one another and putting the other first. I love Pro Wrestling in spite of its flaws because it can be the most beautiful form of human storytelling. So this is my ongoing tribute to the greatest art form on Earth and to the men & woman who have entertained me and millions of other worldwide for over a century now. This is Pro Wrestling Love. Greatest Match Ever Project is being hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/ I have at least 64 volumes planned before the April Deadline to help myself choose the 100 best matches of all time and help inspire others to discover new matches or take a fresh look at old matches. In the first volume, we cover a expansive breadth of topics, the importance of the beginning of a match, how pro wrestling matches build drama and with all this critical analysis to always be remember that pro wrestling is at its best when it is visceral passion play that lives in your gut & heart and not in your mind. It is the WWF 93-97. All this and much, much more in Pro Wrestling Love Vol. 1! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/09/pro-wrestling-love-vol-1-best-of-wwf-in.html?m=1

Rey Mysterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera - ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash '96 It has been a while since I have had some Juvy Juice in my life. First Fall: Action is fast & furious. I am a sucker for those knucklelock/monkey flip spots. Rey was so breath-taking in this era. There were little things that bothered. A couple times Rey just stood there waiting to be kicked. It was definitely very spotty, but the spots are legitimately. Rey hits an amazing split-legged top rope Asai Moonsault. Then Juvy drills him with a brainbuster like I said a spotfest, but they two are executing to perfection. Juvy hits an amazing Springboard Somersault Dropkick that I totally marked out for. Dragon Suplex for Juvytude! I didnt feel like Juvy is as good of a pure heel as Psicosis. But this was super fun. Second Fall: Just as I write that Juvy takes the ass-first Psicosis bump into the top turnbuckle! Rey just goes off in this fall. I am not super into this Rey gets beat up and then just makes a Superman comeback. It is not often you see Rey hit not one, but two powerbombs in a match. I loved the somersault plancha over the ref. That was awesome. Just a really good showcase of Rey's talents as an offense wrestler to tie up the match. Third Fall: AWESOME! They kick it into overdrive taking this from a good showcase match to one of the best spotfests you will ever see. Juvytud starts off the fall with three awesome dropkicks all from different angles. Juvy hits an Asai moonsault into the crowd. Then it is just balls to the wall. I remember Juvy missing a slingshot somersault legdrop. Rey Rey hitting a powerbomb as Juvy was coming off the top. Suplexes being traded. Hat Guy giving Rey a chair and him smashing Juvy's brains in before a massive somersault plancha into the crowd by Hat Guy and just wiping everything out. Powerbomb by Juvy on the hood of a car and Rey then hits a rana off the hood of the car onto the concrete. Insane! Rey throws a chair so hard at Juvy that it fucking horse collars him! Joey nailed it on this one "That hurt!" Fuck yeah. Splash Mountain->Rana you know the finish but goddamn it is an awesome one. Rey wins the match. Just a great balls to the wall spotfest. This was lucha should have been in WCW like all the time for years. ****

Rey Mysterio Jr vs Psicosis - ECW November 2 Remember 95 Mexican Death Match They go the "I cant believe he kicked out" resilience route, which I have never cared for. I think it undercuts the heel way more than it helps the babyface. I prefer that the babyface shows resilience through hope spots. Psicosis has great offense and Rey is a great seller, but it felt too ragdoll-y for me. There was no struggle. Rey kinda died. He was getting up at 9 after the first fall and he said had three falls left. Then he kinda just sprang into action after Rey positions the chair to have Psicosis land on it. Joey Styles says Rey was playing possum. I dont blame Joey for that he had to call what he saw. I felt like Rey just blew off the heat segment, which was the majority of the match. They did some pretty good crowd brawling. I love Rey throwing chairs around and diving into the crowd. The rana off the balcony underneath the Crow's Nest was a great finish. Easily their worst match together, but it is Rey vs Psicosis it is still entertaining because Psicosis bumps like a madman in the beginning & end and he does have great offense. ***1/2

That was a great story from Cox! Really cool! Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis - ECW 10/17/95 2 Out of 3 Falls This match won best ECW Match Ever in the Smarkschoice poll. I remember thinking this was the best of the ECW series, but the Bash at the Beach 96 is still my favorite match of theirs (I feel like I have seen the highly acclaimed AAA match, but I cant remember it). First Fall: All Rey All The Time! Sometimes Rey can be a little shy with his shine like in the first match of this series, but here it is two dives into the crowd and snapping off a rana. Psicosis is an all-time great bumper. Rey what you actin shy for? Second Fall: The party dont stop as Psicosis goes ass first into the top turnbuckles when he charges in like a maniac. Psicosis is the long lost member of the Midnight Express. Rey keeps the party going with another rana out on the floor. Psicosis wants to shake hands. It was a bit clunky but he got an enziguiri out of the deal. Good Psicosis offense. I was not keen on him just relinquishing the Scorpion Deathlock, a pet peeve of mine. I liked Rey getting a hope spot before Psicosis caught and planted him with a Tomsbtone Piledriver. To tie this up. Third Fall: AWESOME! Totally have no complaints with anybody who says this is the best ECW match ever because wow! Psicosis was so damn good in the mid-90s. Rey is trying to catch his breath as the bell sounds. Psicosis drills him into a table and then does that awesome Psicosis leap over the top rope into the crowd. Torpedos Rey. Then Psicosis takes a nutty bump ala Sgt Slaughter over the top turnbuckle into the post and then to the floor. Then Rey POPS the crowd huge with a springboard somersault plancha to the floor! Wow! Loved all the chairs throws by Rey and driving Psicosis into the post with the chair. Extreme Rey! Psicosis whips Rey into the railing and then hits a MONSTER Senton through a table! He does a backwards Skytwister Press onto a chair for the win! The typically awesome Rey/Psicosis match adapted to the ECW setting. I really dug the 3rd fall. I totally forgot Psicosis wins the match to set up the Mexican Death Match, which I also love. I have Sabu/Sandman and Sabu/Funk over this, but this definitely one of the best ECW matches ever. ****1/4

ECW World TV Champion 2 Cold Scorpio vs Sabu - ECW Cyberslam 96 Raucous Mayhem! It almost feels like a Sabu workrate match. With Benoit/Dean/Eddie gone, this was ECW's response lets throw Sabu out there for 30 minutes and see what happens. It was just fucking insane. Most of it made no sense, but it was entertaining as fuck. This was not a WWF house show 30 minute draw. This was balls to the wall from jump. Sabu got a steel chair and was throwing it around within two minutes of the opening bell. Sabu is so interesting he is the guy that is going to take insane risks, but also the guy that grabs double wristlocks during his pinfall and also the guy that will sell the hell out of a ballshot. Thats what makes Sabu so damn great. Was this spotfest? Yes! Was selling blown off? Yes! Was it unpredictable as hell? Yes! Yes! Yes! Today's spotfests feel so routine. Like they are just walking through the match. Sabu's are organically chaotic. You always forget who good of a punch he had. Scorpio to his credit was laying his shit. That superkick that busted open Sabu's mouth was gnarly. Great punch exchanges. The transitions for the most part were piss poor, but the action was great. I loved all the ballshots, but then Sabu was up doing slingshot flip legdrops and Arabian Facebusters. There was a 5 star classic in here, but they were just so scatter-brained. There was a part where Scorp missed a tumbleweed and Sabu was too injured to take fully advantage. They were building to a classic babyface comeback that I really thought they had something but they kinda pissed away that heat with spots. You can actually tell it was during that Sabu dive that the crowd was at a fever pitch. It shows that formula does work. But then again absolutely destroying a table in the crowd got the loudest pop so what do I know. After that spot and Scorpio not getting the win on Drop the Bomb, I knew they were going for the draw. I thought they telegraphed it too much with the time call as the boo birds came out. Petered out towards the end, but still helluva match. If all spotfests were this good, I would never complain. Highly entertaining. ****

Rob Van Dam vs Doug Furnas - ECW Natural Born Killaz 8/24/96 These two accidentally had a great match. I really dont feel like this match should have been as good as it is, but holy hell I couldnt keep my eyes off it. Word to wise if your opponent is going to piledrive you on a chair later on the match you probably should NOT crack him in the back of the head really hard with a steel chair. You are only doing yourself a disservice. I actually really dug the beginning of the match. It was RVD's cuteness against Furnas' power. RVD fucks around with JCVD bullshit and Furnas throws him down on the mat hard. Then RVD does the JCVD split and Furnas picks him up and slams. That was a fucking nasty stun gun RVD took. Furnas absolutely BULLDOZED RVD from the apron into the crowd. Holy shit! They kinda lose this storyline once the crowd brawling starts. The crowd brawling is the weakest portion of this match. The transitions not surprisingly are terrible. RVD all of sudden musters up the power to suplex Furnas from the ring into the apron which was nasty. Then Furnas is suplexing the hell out of RVD. Then match just becomes insane. Both men take absolutely crazy unprotected chair shots to the head. RVD really cracks the back of Furnas head. He gives him the chair to do a prop spot and Furnas is like fuck that and throws the chair away. RVD still does the crossbody anyways. Then Furnas catches RVD awkwardly and basically hits an INVERTED GANSO BOMB ON A STEEL CHAIR! I lost my shit. That was insane. Then Furnas smashes RVD skull with a chair. Then we get the setup for the Best Van Daminator ever. The ref realizes that he should you know do something to protect RVD and gets in Furnas' way. Furnas shoves him away and puts the chair up to hit RVD, but RVD quickly kicks the chair into Furnas' fucking face! 1-2-3! Great finish! I am glad this style of wrestling is mostly dead because it is incredibly dangerous, but wow you cant help but love this trainwreck. It makes so sense but every spot is insane. Really damn good spotfest. One of the best RVD matches ever! ****

ECW World Tag Champions Raven & Stevie Richards vs The Pitbulls - ECW 9/16/95 Double Dog Collar Match 2 Out Of 3 Falls Raven's Masterpiece. When I first discovered Youtube in about 2006, one of the first channels I discovered was devoted to '95 ECW. So while I am not nostalgic for this in the same way most of you are. I was still in High School when I first saw the whole Raven/Dreamer story and watching this teleported me back to my the back room of my parents' house gobbling up this feud up. If there was ever a match that needed context for a person to fully understand it, it is this match. Pro wrestling should be able to do this more often weave so many stories together. The Pitbulls, the former minions of Raven, now off their leash seeking vengeance against their former master. Stevie Richards as the chump extraordinaire who somehow managed to pull Francine, but of course he fucked that up and we get a catfight. Raven's new freaks, the Dudley Boys, get involve. There is a piledriver through a table to end the first fall, a Superbomb to end the second fall. Raven nearly gets decapitated on a Superbomb into the edge of the table. The Original Dudleys and Pitbulls (the Superbomb is an awesome move, but they suck otherwise) are fucking terrible wrestlers, but who cares Raven is just mindfucking every fan into lapping this up as he busts out a FUCKING ETHER RAG! Bow to the Master! Pitbull #2 is sent to the back and of course here is Tommy Dreamer. DDT! 1-2-3! WHAT THE FUCK...I THOUGHT THAT NEVER...Fonzie is out and he is striking it from the record book because Dreamer was not offically a part of the match. Fonzie is so damn good at crazy promos. I was watching him cut an absolutely insane rant against Heyman where he first banned the Chokeslam and just loved it. He legalizes the Chokeslam after Big Dick chokeslams Dreamer. 9-1-1! 911 is such a great name for a pro wrestler. 911 chokeslams FONZIE STRAIGHT TO HELL! ELEVEN STARS! DOUBLE SUPERBOMB ON BOTH RAVEN & RICHARDS! Gordon and Dreamer count the pinfall and new Tag Champs! Pro wrestling is fucking great. ***********

This is the one fall match brutha.

Rey Mysterio Jr vs Psicosis - ECW 9/16/95 Rey vs Psicosis never gets old no matter how many times you watch this and I have watched this a lot. You wanna see how to get over on your debut match watch this. This is the Touring match that they would perfect at Bash 96. They are about one week away from their greatest match ever in AAA, a match I need to see. i think my takeaway from this viewing is that Psicosis feels like the star here. Amazing bumping. I can never get tired of watching him go ass first into things. Great high impact offense. Great rudo charisma. I thought he outshone Rey Rey until Rey started popping off ranas like nobody's business and that catapult on the apron still pops me. Rey gets to shine on the dives: stopping Psicosis' with a chair shot and then the massive dive from top rope into the crown which sealed the deal that these two were over like rover. They hit this out of the park. There were some things to tighten up. They got themselves over. There is a key difference between getting your moves over and you over. These two got their characters over that's what makes this great. It is the Tom & Jerry of Pro Wrestling. ****

Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko - ECW 8/29/95 2 Out of 3 Falls "PLEASE DONT GO!" This made the Eddie DVD set from 2004 so it was a match I watched a lot in high school. I think it was match I knew I supposed to like but I could never get into it like the other matches on the set. I skipped Enter Sandman match based on the fact it seems the only available version is clipped and it is not that heralded. In August, these two traded the TV championship. Right before this match, Eddie drop the belt to Scorpio, which is where this all started back in late 94. This would lead to the 2 Gold Scorpio gimmick with Scorp/Sandman as an odd pairing. I am surprised that Heyman did not try to get Scorpio over as a workrate equal as these two. Instead Heyman brought in the luchadores to fill the workrate void. This is the famous 2 out of 3 falls sendoff for these two before they head to WCW. First Fall: I would love to know what they thought they accomplished in this fall. Eddie hit a superplex for two in what should have been finish or at least a hotter nearfall. Then hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Then Malenko just started doing moves even though he took the last three moves. Then Eddie scored the pinfall with a rollup. It was just so weird. Very spotty. Usual good opening chain wrestling then a pretty good tumbling pass. I liked Eddie's armdrags. Then it kinda dragged. Somewhere Malenko believed rollups was the best way to finish the match. A lot of Steamboat maybe? I dont know this did not do much for me at all. Second Fall: "This move has been called the Sharpshooter and Scorpion Deathlock, but it is actually called the Texas Cloverleaf." Joey those are two different moves, you tool. Malenko zeroes in on the leg. Terrible transition. Knots it up with the Cloverleaf well at least they paid off that spot from Hostile City Showdown and showed the Cloverleaf was a finisher. Tied 1-1. This is a very ok match. Third Fall: Was fucking awesome. Where the hell have these two been this match? Good transitions. High impact moves. Hot Finish stretch. Malenko jumps Eddie who is still smarting from the Cloverleaf. Malenko is actually kicking ass and it feels like a good control segment. Then Eddie uses a Tornado DDT as a good transition! Wow! Eddie gets his great Brainbuster/Frogsplash combo. I loved Malenko throwing Eddie half way across the ring on the second Tornado DDT. Another great transition. Super gutbuster! Yes! Good double pin situation which cements the narrative of eveness and "good wrestling". Third falls salvages an otherwise meandering, aimless match. ***1/4

I think I am going to skip this based on the reviews and the clipping. Head right to 2 out of 3 Falls match, which I have seen a bunch of times.

ECW TV Champion Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko - ECW Hostile City Showdown 4/15/95 One of the most influential series of pro wrestling that affect how many wrestlers and wrestling fans view what good wrestling is to do this day. US 90s workrate existed before this match of course, but I think this popularized it as the style that would eventually bring about Ring Of Honor. In a lot of ways, I think of Ring of Honor as ECW if ECW only had Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko matches. I think there has been a strong backlash to this trilogy similar to the backlash to highly influential workrate series of Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask. When I went back and watched that series I found it uneven. One match I thought was spectacular the other match I thought was hot garbage. I know I have seen this match once and the final match a couple times. I dont think I have ever watched the second one. Lets get this out of the way early. Joey Styles is trash. I would blast music over him, but I want to hear the crowd. Lots of polite golf clapping from the crowd because this is "good wrestling". You can always work smart marks, folks. There are a couple boring chants and "This match sucks" chants. First five minutes is very 90s workrate. I actually liked the chain wrestling early, but the tumbling pass has been ripped off so many times and when they both dropkicked each other at the same time and we get the standoff. I rolled by eyes as they got their polite applause. I know this was novel at the time, but God it is just so cheesy. It was smart for them to do this because they crowd did react at the moments that they were supposed to. Eddie got a couple of his spots in before Malenko targets the knee. Malenko's leg work is really good and definitely gets me into the match. It is a good hook. Eddie is selling well. I liked his holding onto the rope pugnaciously to avoid more punishment. Malenko had some good submissions. Malenko's gimmick is literally he does not show emotion so you need Eddie to pick up the slack. This is NOT the Eddie from the week before that wrested the TV belt from Scorpio. That Eddie was 2003 Eddie he was so loose and so damn likeable. This is serious '96 Eddie who can be kinda bland. I think it took Eddie until 2003 to realize his "heel" charisma was actually "babyface" charisma. So when he played a babyface he played it too vanilla and that happens here. Malenko for being a ring general was terrible at transitions. Instead of an interesting way to get Eddie off offense, it is a bland transition to Malenko control and then he whips Eddie off the ropes into a dropkick to the knee. So artificial and mechanical. So far it has been very good and as I kinda expected I was going to be between the two factions on this match. Things like Eddie selling his knee so much but doing the most physically demanding lift of powerbomb just didnt jive. He needed to be more demonstrative in the eyepoke to set up the Tornado DDT. That was a spot that got a lot more love in the Scorp match. The transition to this Eddie control was pretty lame also. Eddie big dive to the floor. I thought the finish stretch was really well done. Symmetry of brainbusters and then Eddie frogsplash was a great nearfall. Again transition was bad, but Malenko and Guerrero fighting over the Texas Cloverleaf was hot. I expected a Draw where Eddie would be in the Cloverleaf, but that didnt happen. I am ok with them not paying off the Cloverleaf because there are more matches. It is too funny that the biggest pop of the match is that super routine rollup exchange that every US workrate dude did in the 90s. I watched Benoit/Snow do the same thing, but this time the crowd just lapped it up. The draw finish was not super hot. Eddie got an awkward Sunset Flip for two and then they waited pregnant pause for the bell. I thought the good outweighed the bad. It never dragged. It was interesting. I was nitpicking because I wanted to prove some points, but overall this is worth watching and deserves to be remembered as influential. But seriously watch that Eddie/Scorpio match it is better and way underrated. ***3/4

ECW World TV Champion 2 Cold Scorpio vs Eddie Guerrero - ECW Three Way Dance 4/8/95 Goddamn, was Eddie charismatic or what? It is amazing his 96 run in WCW flopped so much. I think when he puts too much pressure on himself he tightens up. When he lets loose, there is few you would rather watch in the ring. He is such a joy to watch. Scorpio was pretty damn good himself. I loved how balanced this match was between the spots and the character work. Great chippiness to start, good chain wrestling that is punctuated with Eddie hitting a nice suplex on Scorpio's bad shoulder. All the bullshit with the handshakes was great. Awesome shove by Scorp and then when Eddie earns his respect Eddie levels him with a clothesline in the handshake. Eddie hits a tremendous brainbuster and Frogsplah about 5 minutes into the match. I am glad that was upgraded to his finish sequence. Scorpio looked crisp here. Eddie was just so charismatic. He got this Philly crowd behind him in a hurry. Loved the big classic Eddie splasy over the top turnbuckle with the chest puffed out. I love Eddie so much. The finish sequence was a dandy. Scorp just nailed him with a right. Perfect sequence of a perfect moonsault, perfect flip legdrop and the most badass Tumbleweed you would ever see. Joey totally blows the call when Scorp picks Eddie up at two on the Tumbleweed. He was not supposed to put over Eddie's resilience but Scorp's arrogance. I think this is a well noted part of Scorpio's character is that he is a little bit cocky It is a banana peel finish with Eddie getting a quick rollup to win the ECW TV Title in I believe his debut match. Pride comes before the fall, Scorpio. Just super fun wrestling that is brisk and entertaining and a great way to immediately put someone over as a star. I dug this a lot. ****

You nailed it Pete for something felt like any second it could be a mess it never devolves into a clusterfuck. ECW World Tag Champions Sabu & Taz vs Triple Threat (Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko) - ECW Return of the Funk 2/25/95 For something that felt like any second it could devolve into a clusterfuck, it never once did. Public Enemy had dropped the tag belts to Paul E's boys at Double Tables earlier in the month. PE did a great promo before the match. Benoit & Malenko come out and PE get in their face. Benoit/Malenko kick their ass. Rocco Rock was in a wheelchair and they did a number on him. In the actual match, they go Texas Tornado and it is actually pretty coherent and entertaining. At the beginning they focus on eliminating Sabu by attacking his injured neck, which is how Benoit got his Crippler nickname from their 1994 match where Sabu basically piledrove himself taking a suplex and broke his neck. They did a cool Doomsday Device at one point on Sabu. With Sabu rendered useless, Taz shows some fire popping off suplexes but Malenko clips the knee. They work the knee over and Paul E has 911 send Taz to the back. Which was kinda lame because it was not that much knee work and it was not that extended of time, but you could tell they were already building to Sabu vs Taz before Sabu no-shows the next show and that really kicks into gear. Sabu actually fares well. He goes into full Sabu mode with tons of crazy dives. He does something incredibly stupid and dangerous. He puts the table on the top turnbuckle and a chair on top of that but folded out so you could sit in it. When Benoit pushes him off, he lands HARD on the chair. I have no idea how he could walk after that. Benoit NAILS him with a powerbomb off the table which was an awesome, insane spot to win the tag belts. PE and Taz/911 come back out to set up the triple threat for the next show. Awesome angle and great build for the next show and a surprisingly entertaining match. Paul E was in a great groove at this point. ***1/2