Superstar Sleeze

Totally underrated this...just rewatched this was incredible. So much energy and hate. Amazing brawling. Loved the heat segment on Gilbert and the roll through to Rich for the hot Tag. Best arena brawling you will ever see. The non-finish especially in a Fall Count Anywhere is a real buzzkill, but this ruled! ****1/2

Just rewatched echo all my previous sentiments. Just a great bloody, energetic brawl. Not enough to make my Top 100 but easily one of the greatest Memphis matches of all time

So I just rewatched this match and again keeping in mind I am thinking Top 100 Greatest Matches Ever, Lawler's match layout is not my favorite. It is very John Cena. I know I'm a big Cena homer but that is due to a lot of outside of the ring stuff. Cena and Lawler both have classics and matches of the year, but there are other styles I prefer. The no shine, extended heat segment just is not my favorite thing in the world. Also I'm just not a huge fan of minimalism in art in general. I like punk music here and there. Just like I enjoy watching an economical Lawler match (the Hennig match of July 88 in AWA was beautiful in its economy). Let me reiterate that most men wish they had a match as good as this. Great punches that slugfest after the Strap Comes Down is an all timer. Some great brawling. There were just some stretches where it is a little slow. We are missing a chunk which is probably more of a Dundee heat segment was was already dragging. Really enjoyed but this is going to miss the Top 100. ****1/2

I just re-watched this and my crazy take is I like this better than any of the Dundee matches. The finish is just so over the top that it is beautiful. It is like every wrestling gimmick in one 5 minute blast. I still can't go 5 stars. With a story this minimalist and slow, they need to make up for it with hate. I prefer energetic brawls but if you are going to do war of attrition this was great. They were great faces and heels just didn't think the Hate was that next level hate. I'm picking nits and I'm really thinking about the Greatest match Ever project while I write this. This should make the Top 100. I think this is the greatest Lawler match of all time. ****3/4

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Curt Hennig vs Jerry Lawler - Memphis 5/9/88 On this night, Jerry Lawler was not just King of Memphis, but King of the World! They all came out to pay homage to the King: The Fabulous Jackie Fargo was the special referee, Memphis athletes and even the Mayor of Memphis. They packed the Mid-South Coliseum to watch their hometown hero put his career on the line to win the World Championship that eluded him the best 14 years. He had faced them all Brisco, Race, Bockwinkel, Flair and Martel. Now standing across the ring was Curt Hennig. Not to take anything away from Hennig but how great it would it have been for Bock to be in this position. The first ten minutes were surprisingly sluggish. Some nice bumps by Hennig early off the Lawler punches. In a surprise move, Fargo called timeout so that he could hit the atomic Drop on the shrimp manager they gave Hennig. Memphis was always trying to replicate the success of Jimmy Hart but to no avail. They did some head locks. The reverse waist lock by Hennig went on a while. The action picked up when Lawler missed a leg drop. Hennig got the Boston Crab. Eventually they tumble to the outside where Hennig busts Lawler open with the post. Hennig throws Lawler into a lot of hard metal objects. Lawler fires up on the apron but Hennig butts him in the midsection. Great cutoff. Best spot of the match they ref bump Fargo and Hennig hits a piledriver (illegal in Memphis) and Hennig gets two. What a great nearfall. Fargo starts up with that homecoooking with refusing to come by falls for Hennig. Even Lance Russell is saying you gotta explain that one to me. Some really good slugfest. Hennig at the end was just walloping the cut eye. Great punches. Lawler finally rears back and let's him have it. Catapult into the post...1-2-3! NEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION JERRY THE KING LAWLER! Memphis loses its shit. Great moment with a rousing finish stretch. Definitely a match that would be better JIP. I didn't love the ending. It didn't feel climatic. I think the Fist Drop as a definitive ending would be great. What a feel good moment and great action down the stretch! ****1/4

Jerry Lawler vs Eddie Gilbert - Memphis 3/28/88 Missy My God Hyatt! WOOOOOOOO!!! Fun, gimmick brawl built around fire. Anyone who knows me knows I love fire in wrestling. Gilbert burned Lawler in the build to this. Lawler has vowed revenge. Good stalling early by Gilbert to put over how scared he was. Gilbert takes over with a nutshot. He choked Lawler with the turnbuckle rope and tied him in the corner by the throat. Lawler's comeback roared. Loved the piledriver! Missed the fist drop...Hot Stuff wants Missy's high heel shoe. The ref stops her...FIREBALL!!! YES! Great selling! Really good fireball and it really looked like Eddie Gilbert became Hot Stuff. Crowd went crazy! Missy & Doug carry Eddie out and Lawler wins by count out. It is kinda a one trick match but one helluva trick. ****

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich - AWA Nashville 9/17/88 The weakest of the Lawler vs Von Erich matches. I thought this would be a rematch in Memphis based on the hot ending to the June match. This takes place in Nashville and is under Memphis rules, but it is produced by AWA with the AWA camera crew and announcers for ESPN. It is the weakest because of the convoluted finish. Kerry had taken charge of the match with the Iron Claw. He was definitely the face and Lawler was acting more heeling. Lawler revved up and STRAP DOWN! Slugfest and they both nail the ref. Kerry wants a restart. Again another great slugfest! Kerry hits a pile driver...1-2-3! Wait! What!?! New Unified Champion??? Nope. Kerry is DQ'd for using the piledriver in Tennessee. So why the fuck did the ref count? That's bullshit! Lawler wants the WCWA belt because that can change hands on DQ. Kerry has the best retort "Saying we don't have sissy rules in Texas". There are some great punches thrown in this but their Texas matches are much better. Watch those!

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich- Memphis 6/28/88 Im very interested in how Kerry is played here. He is the ultimate superhero babyface but this Memphis, Tennessee and you're in Lawler country brutha. I would say we are clipped 8 minutes in. Tempers are flaring and Kerry is throwing sweat at Lawler. Kerry grabs a sleeper twice before Lawler runs his head in the buckles. It is usually Kerry doing that to Flair. Lawler gets his own sleeper and then front chancery. Kerry suplexes but Lawler hangs on. They both are down from a double cross body block. The Fuller Famiky and a masked man attack both men. Kerry and Jeff Jarrett clear the ring. Pretty standard match but we didn't get to see much, Kerry was definitely putting over Lawler...wait...Kerry is asking for the match to be restarted...Jerry agrees... Electric close that makes you really want to see the rematch. Kerry gets a roll up right away as the bell sounds. Lawler takes exception to this. The King BLOCKS The Discus Punch! Lawler knocks him silly with a right. Kerry is selling like a heel! Lawler destroys him with punches. This is heated. Fist drop! Another THE CLAW! KERRY GETS THE CLAW! Great selling by Lawler, huge moment. Lawler fights back and punches him over the top rope. Brawl on the outside! Discus Punch! Double count out. before the match it is good match, but after the restart is when it gets hot. I'm excited for the rematch. ***1/2

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs Dutch Mantel - Memphis 5/29/88 If you ever wondered if Lance Russell is the best hear him analyze Dutch Mantel's short arm clothesline. He is the GOAT. Lawler had won the World Championship from Curt Hennig earlier in the month. This match pales in comparison in their 82 series. Dutch wants Lawler checked for foreign objects. Pretty routine Lawler match. Fun beginning with Mantel slapping Lawler and each time the ref hooks Lawler before he can haul off and smack him. Finally on third time Lawler sneaks in a left. Good pop from me! Dutch starts snapping off the Short Arm Clotheslines. Crowd brawling. Clip. Lawler is in control and he starts firing off those classic Lawler punches. The ref hooks him and Mantel tackles him. The Dirty Dutchman has a chain! The ref stops Dutch. Lawler gets the chain and KOs Mantel for the win. Fun shine, basic short shine, standard Lawler comeback, foreign object based finish. Perfectly fine way to spend ten minutes. ***

This Smackdown show was awesome & breezy and they didn't utilize three of my favorites: Samoa Joe, Sheamus or Cesaro, And my favorite women's wrestler, Becky was just a lumberjack. Smackdown is actually too stacked. It's insane

Three Smackdowns this year and three Daniel Bryan matches! Smackdown Bangs!

Smackdown is so much better than RAW it is not even funny. The first 70 minutes were Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles and Asuka! It was nonstop action and nonstop great wrestling. Even the Almas vs Sin Cara had a lot of fun spots. Glad im doing a two hour round trip for this. Way more worth it than RAW!

I attended RAW live tonight. I Will attend Smackdown tomorrow. RAW at 3 hours is fucking interminable. How do people watch it live? I watch it in an hour with DVR. Roman/Lashley ruled! Great pull apart brawl! Dive was sick. Womens Tag was good. Nia Jax's hot Tag BANGED! That was good. Then it was two hours of Suck. Drew vs Dolph was a solid mid tempo match with a strong heat segment that built to a hot finish. Roman/Lashley, Nia Jax hot Tag, Dolph promo and Drew/Seth. You have a great show! but two hours of snooze fest is unacceptable. Asuka/Ellsworth is gonna bang so hard tomorrow! So excited!

I rewatched this this morning. Is this the greatest angle of all time? Bill Dundee is so good in this.

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich - World Class 11/25/88 Steel Cage I think we are JIP here based on commentary and the feel. Kerry is beating the shit out of Lawler. Lawler scrambles on his knees for the knee but Kerry catches him. Lawler is such a good chump. We get the IRON CLAW~! Lawler gets him in the Von Erich Family Jewels. Here comes Hide The Chain. Busts Kerry open and chokes him. He hides it in his mouth. I love the way he slowly spits it out. Such a cocky shit. Kerry kicks him in the gut and the chain pops out. Kerry kicks some serious ass with the chain! Let's go Kerry! Lawler goes for eyes and it is a slugfest. Lawler goes flying into the cage and Kerry gets decisive 1-2-3 going into SuperClash. Lawler vs Kerry is a very underrated feud. It happens in a time period where interest in Memphis, Texas and AWA is at an all time low, but they are a really good pairing. The decisive finish gives this one the slight edge over the other two but I think they are all at the same level. Love how economical everything is, everything is played to maximize face/heel dynamics. ****1/4

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich - WCCW 9/23/88 Superb match! As good if not better than the more famous SuperClash match. Kerry is such a great babyface. The early portion of the match is so interesting. It is like when the home team has a sluggish start. Lawler is getting clotheslines and dropkicks, but Kerry can't buy a move. Kerry does such a great job conveying this slight frustration. It is nothing he can't come back from but he is annoyed he can't execute. Lawler is stellar. So cocky! You really want to see Kerry haul off and smack em. Lawler is also cautious he knows Kerry can ignite any time is not pressing his advantage. It is in the corner when Kerry finally unleashes a bomb that connects. Boy, does Lawler sell it! I loved Lawler demanding a boxing match in the middle of the match only to lose and crawl behind the ref. Awesome. Now we are cooking. Missed fist drop and Kerry is punching away in the corner. Discus punch! These two were made for each other. Lawler piledriver but a Kerry no sell! Lawler looks toast. The finish stretch is great. It is total stand up, knock down, drag out slobber knocker each man just trading hands. The ref tries to restore order so they both slug the ref! Much better finish than SuperClash. The wrestlers break it up. Cool layout, great energy, great performances, consummate face vs consummate heel in a slugfest with a fuck finish that let's both men retain and makes you want to see the rematch. ****1/4

USWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs Eric Embry - World Class 9/8/89 Honestly, I'll confused about Texas' status at this point. I don't know if Jarrett/Lawler owns Dallas yet or if they are just aligned. This definitely takes place in Texas as Mark Lowrance is on commentary. Eric Embry comes out with Percy Pringle to Loverboy's Turn Me Loose looking like the biggest 80s, tubby sleazeball jabroni of all time but is over huge as a babyface. What!?! You can get over anyone as a face. This is like the most pro wrestling pro wrestling match ever. I feel like when non-fans think of wrestling they think of this and that's what gives Vince McMahon nightmares, goddamnit. The Three Stooges routine, the over the top foreign objects, gimmicks like Skandor Akbar and Tojo Yamamoto. Lowrance calls Lawler's shenganians "bush league". The whole thing does feel bush league but in a charming way. You can't help but smile when The King catches a kick from Embry, gloats, eats the enziguiri, face bumps and let's out a groan as he takes a powder. It is just fun. Heel Lawler's Schtick can be encapsulated by the above example. He eats a lot of punches, misses a lot of moves and ends up on his ass. I really liked him telling the audience before the match that was new ordinance in the NFL against too much noise and that same went in the USWA. Ha! Once the shine is over, Lawler finds a towel and chokes Embry. It is hide the towel now. It is classic Lawler. He hits him his boot. Now it is cocky covers. Too cocky so Embry makes his comeback. Straps down! Embry seems very mediocre. This is very clearly a plug n play match. Lawler could wrestle this match with anyone. Embry is not injecting anything unique. The finish is a clusterfuck. Tojo, Akbar and Percy lead to a big distraction. Lawler rolls up with tights in one hand and ropes in the other. Lawler is committed. This is a Heel Lawler match with all the fixins. Embry is just a warm body. It is cartoony as hell but a fun way to spend 15 minutes. ***1/2

Am I the only one that loved the Nia vs Mickie match? Great performances from both. Mickie is really damn good.

You can tell she takes it easy on some of the women. She fucking wails on Ellsworth. It is glorious.

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs Curt Hennig- AWA 7/19/88 Lawler had defeated Hennig in Memphis for the championship and this is the TV rematch on ESPN in Las Vegas. Hennig had one foot out the door at this point for WWF. Wow! What a slugfest! I don't really think of Hennig as a great puncher but goddamn his punches looked and sounded great in this one! I liked he his demeanor in this one. He was more serious and pissed. He has Madusa with him. I liked the shove at the beginning and how each missed punches early were pissed. It was Hennig who landed heavy blows to the chin of The King first but Lawler responded with this classic punches that sent Hennig flying out of the ring. They established the Madusa factor early. Lawler took an absolutely wicked bump! He was on the apron, teetering. Hennig popped him good and Lawler took a fucking Cactus bump on the concrete. Great heat segment follows. Post shot, Suplex in, Madusa's shoe, a piledriver. Classic heel stuff. Hot nearfalls and great Lawler selling. Hennig feels the need to go up top and Lawler catches him with a punch to the gut. Hennig crutches himself. Here comes Lawler! Strap down! Punches! Go baby go! Fist drop but missed!!! Hennig slaps on a sleeper. Lawler threw him over the top rope for DQ and Lawler retains. Weird booking protecting the heel leaving the territory. This seems built for the new babyface Champion to get the win over the former heel champion on national TV to establish himself on the loop. But it is dying AWA! Match is great besides finish. Economical, everything matters, Lawler's bump is insane and great heat down the stretch, great slugfest. ****1/4

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Curt Hennig vs Wahoo McDaniel - AWA 12/27/87 For me, the AWA died on May 2, 1987 when Hennig beat Bockwinkel for the championship. Nothing against Hennig, but Bock was the AWA and was never the same after that. Hennig was Cool Curt a cheating, bumping heel. This is not a hot take but Jesus Dolph Ziggler is a modern Curt. Hennig was bumping like a pinball for the immobile Wahoo. This was a couple goofy facial expressions away from being Michaela vs Hogan. Hennig was finding all sorts of innovative ways to bump for chopping. What's crazy is Wahoo takes like 95% of the match. Besides blading off a post shot, Hennig was just bumping. Off the post shot, Wahoo looked like a grandpa waking up from a nap. Like two minutes he is back on offense shoulder tackle and big Suplex. Wahoo had great offense! Dude just couldn't move. It was painfully obvious that Hennig had to feed him everything. Hennig takes a ton of post shots at the end and some chops of course. It is a double count out as they fight outside. Back in the ring post-match, takes another flying flat back bump off a chop. if you read my review, you know the booking is atrocious so not going to complain. As a individual performance to make an immobile grandpa look like a possible world champion, Curt Hennig knocked it out of the park. As a match it was good. ***

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich - AWA Superclash III In 1988, the WWF vs JCP arms race was flull blown and the last three major American promotions gave it once last shot to fight these two superpowers. The biggest promotion of the three, the AWA, put their money on the biggest independent star left in American wrestling, the King of Memphis Wrestling, Jerry Lawler. They lost their last homegrown star, Curt Hennig to WWF and had no other choice. The Memphis the smallest of the big American territories was the big winner as their biggest star was finally validated as World Champion. The missing piece was Lawler needed an opponent enter the other major Independent superstar, Kerry Von Erich. It may not be 1982 but in the 1988 landscape Kerry was still a major baby face and the Champion of World Class. So these three promotions made an alliance to put on SuperClash III pitting the last two major independent superstars together. This match is pretty famous and has made many WWE comps, I would hazard to guess the most watched match of either mans career. The first thing I always think of is how Kerry accidentally cuts his left bicep with his blade before the match even starts and can't stop looking at his bicep throughout the beginning. It is just so Kerry Von Erich. They shoehorn Lawler slamming Kerry's arm into the steel to explain the blood but it is mostly no sold besides Kerry constantly looking at it. The beginning is bump 'n' run at its finest. Lawler feeds him, Kerry decks him and Lawler bumps. It was fun. Discus punch! Lawler bites the arm and finally lands a couple punches. Damn he is good as he sends Kerry over the top. Kerry makes a comeback but still can't get the claw. He punches the post with his bad arm and now Lawler has a golden opportunity. He reaches into his trunks and pops Kerry in the head to draw blood. Five alarm bladejob. Total crimson mask. Fist drop. Lawler is cocky. Fist drop but wait THE CLAW! Great set up for the Claw. I popped switches to head but can't get the win. Great stand up battle roars to the end. Great Lawler "hiding the chain" and punches. Amazing selling from Kerry. Kerry proves he is still got it with a great comeback. The finish is fucking garbage. Kerry loses via blood stoppage when he is in the dominant position with the Claw on Lawler who looked passed out. Finishes like that really hurt wrestling. Terrible finish aside this match was a great classic babyface vs heel matches. Just the perfect ideal of both. Lawler bumps so well and then cheats like a muthafucka. Kerry has great big offense and sells well down the stretch. Great bloody brawl to end it. Shame about the end. Lawler is the big winner as he creates the USWA World Championship while AWA & WCCW fold in 1990. Famous match that showcases the beauty of a simple match that builds and builds into a bloody brawl. ****1/4

Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki - UWF 5/21/89 Total clusterfuck in the most entertaining way possible. Bob Backlund is so Bob Backlund in this. You can tell Funaki has no clue what to do with him. Some great takedowns here from both men. Backlund is so good on the mat. Really deep Scorpion Deathlock at one point. Funaki just blasts him with kicks to the face. At one point I was just like fuck you asshole. Backlund is trying to wrestle fucking wrestle you asshole. I thought it was borderline unprofessional. They just started wrecking each other. Funaki's strikes were brutal. Backlund popped him good with a forearm. Backlund got a good gut wrench. Anytime you thought Backlund was out of it, Backlund would bust out something. The finish was so fitting for such a weird match Funaki hits a middle rope dropkick is DQ'd. Weird, uncooperative train wreck in a good way. Terrible finish. Stiffness was fun and it was just so odd. Hard to rate I recommend watching it because there are few matches like it. ***1/2

Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada - UWF II 11/10/88 With Fujiwara and Sayama not in UWF, this is their money match. This is touted as the best shoot style match of the 80s. First Half: Pretty dull. The kicks are great most are misses or glancing blows but they are sold well. The matwork is boring. Takada tries to counter a wrist lock and ends up being in a more painful armbar and ropebreak. Takada tries his hand on top. Wow! What a snooze fest. He just lies on top of Maeda for a minute. Maeda casually stands up from a leg bar. Starts rifling with kicks! Takada tries body punches but it is too late Maeda knees and kicks put him down! First ref count for ten. Then Maeda takes him down and starts going for pins. What!?! Since when is that legal? Takada has Maeda pinned earlier forever. Maeda has him in a Fujiwara armbar at the half way point to force rope break. Maeda wins on points. Usual story stand up is good, matwork is boring as hell. But it is starting to pick up. Second Half: Ok now I get it. This is one of the all time best stand up exchanges in UWF history. They go to town on each other for ten minutes. Maeda has Takada on the ropes literally and figuratively. Maeda is rifling him with kicks. Takadas selling was tremendous. Great teetering. Great discombobulating. Maeda is up 3-0 and as he goes for the KO blow. Takada gets the best kick of the match with a counter kick to the face. We got a match on our hands. The pace and struggle was great both men were kicking and throwing each other. Takada drives me nuts going for a heel hook and giving it up to Maeda and going for ropes. This counts as a down, must have used all his breaks. He is down 4-1. He comes roaring back. Great reverse roundhouse kick! That was the best kick of the match! 4-2 baby! Takada unleashes more hellacious kicks in short order to make it 4-3! These stand up exchanges are great. Takada gets a Crossface Chickenwing forces a rope break! 4-4! What a comeback! Next down loses no matter what. The fists and kicks are flying. Maeda catches Takada with a left...Takada stays up...Takada kick combination and down goes Maeda! Takada win! This both an amazing comeback story literally (Takada comes back from 4-1) and figuratively (the first ten minutes of this match absolutely sucks.) The timekeeper made a ten minute call and they literally started trying harder. So they they were clearly phoning in the first ten minutes. I can't think of a match that started so boring and ended so great. Fujiwara/Super Tiger from 84 are clearly better matches but if you watch this JIP you could be fooled that this is on that level. ****1/4

El-P A-fucking-Men brutha Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund - UWF 12/22/88 A weird dream match that happened that no one besides me and a few others care about. These are two of my all-time favorites hooking it up in their prime. I used to watch the shit out of this but it had been four years since I seen it. First ten minutes: Bob Backlund is fucking great isn't he? Takada throws a check kick to say this ain't the WWF anymore. Backlund takes a bunch of kicks to the face because he is a man. Then catches one and dumps Takada on his ass. Then dances around because he is Bob Backlund. Lots of great struggle on the mat. At first I was worried Backlund would have the amateur wrestler in MMA problem where he can take down at will but can't finish. He gets a good leg bar early. I like how he clasps his hands on the cross armbreaker. Thank you! He forces a break with a tight Camel Clutch. Takada comes back with a leg bar to force a rope break. Takada throws a bunch of Muay Thai knees in the clinch and Backlund responds with a back Suplex to get a down. Backlund throws his weight on an armbar to force another break. Takada tries to pop up so Backlund pops him in the mouth with a wicked right forearm to get another down. Takada Fucking Unloads. Kicks, back Suplex more kicks and Backlund is finally considered down and ref starts his count. Absolute war thus far. Second ten minutes: Slowed down here but the struggle is so intense. Dripping with effort on the mat. I love how Backlund's solution to everything is to Bridge out on his neck. Cross armbreaker bridge out. Full mount bridge out. Heel hook bridge out. Backlund was selling and working like a horse for everything. He lost a break on single leg crab. Takada realizes he can't handle Backlunds freaky strength on the mat so just kicks him in the face really hard and draws blood from the nose and two more counts from ref. 3-2 on downs favoring Takada. Takada wants a Suplex so Backlund gets a ferocious hip block takedown and drops into an armbar. Bob Backlund shoot style is awesome. Last Five Minutes: insane finish run. Backlund gives Takada a shiner. He was fucking popping him with those forearms. Big Butterfly Suplex by Backlund! FU OUT OF NOWHERE BY BACKLUND! Sleeper! Crossface Chickenwing? Can't get it. Backlund gets legbar and Takada just wails on him in the face with his free leg. Takada kicks the dog shit out of him. Single leg crab doesn't get down. Backlund is bloody and Takada is bruised. Deep double wrist lock by Takada and the ref calls the match for Takada TKO. Backlund is confused and it is the Iron Sheik all over again. This was wicked exciting. It is not the prettiest or most logical match. But shit is always going down and the struggle for holds is ferocious. Once Takada explodes Backlund's nose the match becomes a total banger. They just ripped into each other. Anyone who has seen Backlund/Valentine knows Backlund is made for this style. God I wish Valentine wrestled in UWF! Huge feather in Backlund's cap showing why he is one of the best. ****1/2