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garretta

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Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    This one felt like one of those random six-mans Vince used to put on Superstars and Challenge. The Demos got some token offense, but this was really a Warrior/LOD squash. It's kind of surprising that Warrior got the pin, since he was really just the third man on the LOD side and not really acting as his own man, but when you're the champion and wrestling on network TV, I guess you get to pin whomever you like. Could we have had any more terrible German puns? Seriously, Vince, if you want to do comedy, hire professional comedy writers and get your boys some basic acting classes. Hawk was the only one who sounded even somewhat comfortable with all the Germany jokes, and one out of six is terrible. The "BLITZKRIEG!" chants were in bad taste too, but what else is new in the WWF? Nice to see Dustin before the big angle with his dad and DiBiase later in the show. I liked Piper turning the tables on Vince for the preshow by asking him where his hat was and telling him to put it on, then telling Vince that he was giving his own hat to Okerlund. Of course, Vince ignored him completely. I wonder if the hat we saw Mean Gene wearing in the comedy sequences really was supposed to be Piper's? Rod wasn't wearing a hat when he interviewed Savage and Sherri toward the end of the show.
  2. garretta
    This is a nice little free TV match here. Nothing too spectacular, but enough to promote a house show feud between these two if Abrams had ever run a loop. I liked the low blow exchange, and Doc worked on Paul's leg in an attempt to introduce some limb psychology that ultimately went nowhere. I hate to sound like I'm picking on people here, but could we please ease up on the complaints for every finish that isn't a clean pinfall or submission? Despite what Abrams implied in his outro, this feud's just getting started, and this match was at a TV taping in front of a few hundred people at most. Do you honestly think that either one of these two would have agreed to lose clean? If one of them had, they'd have been legitimate candidates for the funny farm. There's still plenty of mileage left in this feud, and we're nowhere near the time where any sort of definite resolution is even advisable, let alone necessary. Just be patient, guys. Abrams is still beating the Davey Meltzer thing from three or four weeks ago totally into the ground. As for his match calling, he's not the worst I've ever heard, especially with Bruno there to reign him in, but he likes to think that he's a hundred times more clever than anyone else who's ever worn a mic, so we get gems like: "Dr. Death's not going to take this beating sneezing!" How Bruno didn't fall down laughing at that piece of absurdity I'll never know. Then again, maybe he did; the commentary for this match was obviously added in post production, so it could have been redone any number of times. Bruno continues to be above average by his standards, even doing (gasp) some subtle heeling, particularly during the low blow sequences and when Abrams suggests that Paul should be disqualified for his actions outside the ring. To Loss's point above, this would have been an interesting midcard feud in WCW. As it is, it's the number one feud in this promotion so far, but if only a few hundred people watch their matches, can it really be a main event feud? Nevertheless, I'm eager to see more.
  3. garretta
    I've watched all of the USWA stuff on the yearbook from this month, and I'm shocked that there really wasn't much made of this on regular Memphis TV, except for Jeff's knee injury being used to cover his Japan trip. We only hear from Idol once the rest of the month, and we don't hear from Funk at all. I know that at least a few of the promos would have been on the set had they been available, so the question is: Why book Idol and Funk as such a big part of the final if you're not going to have them around at least semi-permanently? It would have made more sense to use Doug, Tony Anthony, and Kim, who were at least part of the territory on a full-time basis. I understand Lawler's history with both Idol and Funk, but that history doesn't mean much when the fans are presumably clamoring for Lawler, Jarrett, and (probably) Dundee against Idol, Eddie, and Funk and are instead getting Lawler, Bill, and Jamie against three of Tojo Yamamoto's midcarders. I know that Terry and Idol came back later, but they needed to have that big six-man or a Lawler/Idol rematch the following week in order to capitalize on the angle while it was still fresh in the fans' minds. Turning to what we saw, Idol was tremendous pulling the doublecross, and Lawler didn't really come across as someone who bought what Idol was saying as much as someone who'd taken a dreadful beating and wanted to avoid another, which is understandable. But he still got suckered and beaten down again, and except for one flurry of punches from out of nowhere, was held without any offense for the second match in a row while absorbing another inhuman dose of punishment from three men who wanted to kill him. Somehow he lucked into the win, and paid for it just like Joe predicted. Now we know why he was at home the following week when Dundee called him. Come to think of it, where was another babyface who could have aided Lawler and Jeff? I know Dundee was long, long gone, but what about Dick Murdoch, who'd just lost in the quarterfinals to Funk? Craig and Joe had enough left to provide a memorable call, and Craig has grown by leaps and bounds since May when he took over for Marc Lowrance. I'll go so far as to say that he might be the second-best big-match announcer in North America behind JR at this point, and the gap's closing. His grasp of history was surprisingly good, not just in this match, but earlier in the tournament, when he referenced the Lawler/Funk empty arena bout from nine years before. Unfortunately, he'll be on the sidelines for the rest of the year, and we'll be stuck with Michael St. John at the MSC. I'll go along with Soup's assertion that this was the best supercard in 1990 from top to bottom. Most of the others had bigger main events, but each and every match meant something here, and even with the beatdown at the end, we still had the happy ending of Lawler overcoming three-on-one odds to win his belt back. Problems with the aftermath aside (and they may have been unavoidable due to prior commitments on Idol and Funk's parts), this tournament delivered in every possible way, and I'm glad that the best of it was on this set.
  4. garretta
    What little action we saw was very good for free TV, as Davis shows that he can hang with Jeff at least for a while. Then we get the angle with the Gilberts spraypainting a yellow streak down Jeff's back. What's more interesting, though, is the potential heel turn for Ken Wayne, who makes no move to help either his former partner Davis or Jeff despite Dave Brown's entreaties. Of course, we know that Ken's father Buddy has helped out the Gilberts at least once, so I don't know why this is such a shock. I'm not sure how many of you caught this, but Ken explicitly states that he never had any intention of helping out just as we come back from break That declaration plus his laughing at the paint job on Jeff's back get him a stern warning from Jeff during his promo. I didn't actually see Ken laughing and pointing, but it doesn't surprise me given his general attitude. Jeff closes by vowing to shave Eddie's head next time they clash. I don't recall seeing Ken's name on the match listings for the rest of this year. Did they ever do anything in terms of a Jarrett/Wayne feud for the belt Ken brought out to the desk? I seem to recall Jeff winning the U.S. junior heavyweight title at some point in '91, but I could be mixed up.
  5. garretta
    Just an incredible beating by Funk here, just as brutal as anything he ever did with weapons or in hardcore bouts. It's perfectly obvious from the get-go that's he's not out to win the title; he's out to beat Lawler to within an inch of his life, and he does just that. Everyone else in the arena is collateral damage. I thought when I read about Lawler not getting a single offensive move that it was an exaggeration, but it's absolutely true. When Eddie comes out to try and play referee, the collusion is obvious. The only thing we're left wondering is why Eddie didn't go to these lengths sooner. As for the finish being silly, they had two choices given the booking: either a third referee counts the pin on Lawler and the MSC gets torched, or what we ended up with. This match was never designed to mean anything in and of itself; it was only meant to give Lawler an injury going into the final. They could have booked a Mack truck to come into the ring and run Lawler over for all the difference it was supposed to make. Joe had it right on commentary, whether he finished the word or not: Terry and Eddie are both glorious chickenshits. He and Craig were perfect at putting over the chaos all around them while somehow managing to not get hurt themselves, which was quite an accomplishment considering Terry's mood. Now we have Lawler/Idol in the finals, which means that the chaos should keep right on going. I can't wait!
  6. garretta
    I agree that this was the best bell-to-bell match of the night so far, but was the crowd ever dead. You know your card's in trouble when not even one of the best Lawler performances this year can't inspire the crowd to care very much. And why should they? By the time this round is over, they'll have seen eighteen matches in one night, with the biggest two still to come. I've never been to one of those marathon tapings that the WWF used to run until almost one in the morning, but now I know what they probably sounded like before Vince's technical crew got a hold of them. It's a shame, because both men worked as hard as they have all night so far. I loved the piledriver teases from Slater, and how Lawler turned the tables by hitting the driver himself when Frank Morrell couldn't see. The finish was kind of standard for a promotion which wants to build a fresh set of challengers for a new champ, so it didn't bother me. I did find Morrell a bit annoying at times, particularly when he asked Lawler if he'd piledriven Slater. The rule's always been: if you as a ref don't see something, you can't call it. I don't know if they were trying to show that Morrell would put up with just about anything so that this match would have a clear winner and loser, but he came off as a total dunderhead. The announcers' punchiness continues, as they riff on the camera crew during the restholds. Maybe Dave didn't have the night off after all, but where was St. John? I thought I was watching Gino and Lord Alfred at MSG for a minute, which doesn't really bother me personally but isn't exactly the height of professionalism either. Can't wait for Lawler/Funk in the semis!
  7. garretta
    It almost seemed like Jarrett wanted a Lawler/Funk semifinal at all costs and wasn't too choosy concerning how it came about. I wasn't a fan of this one; it would have been a whole lot better with both of them fresh, especially Terry, who was selling a knee injury here and let it totally bring the match down until the very end. Murdoch worked well on the injured knee, but the brawl on the outside was what I wanted to see more of; these two simply beating the stew out of each other. Like I said earlier, the finish seemed weak, but the end was much more important than the means, as Messrs. Lawler and Funk will renew hostilities in the semis. I don't think Neighbors looked bad here; he's refereeing a match with a man who basically never follows the rules (Terry), so if you want a match out of him at all, you have to forgive everything but the most blatant offenses, and even a few of those as long as someone isn't killed. Is this a double standard? Of course it is. Welcome to the world of professional wrestling! You can tell Craig's getting punchy; the bad puns and stretched segues from his earliest days are back in full force, and he's starting to stumble over his phrases just a bit. Then again, he will have called seventeen matches in one night by the end of the quarterfinal round, so if punchy is all he is, he's doing a lot better than I would be in that situation.
  8. garretta
    A couple of interesting things here. One, Idol's a babyface, at least so far. I liked how he made sure to point out to Lawler in the postmatch interview that friendship is friendship, but the title is more important. I'm sure we'll be revisiting that statement as the night goes along. Second, there's dissension between Gilbert and Lowe, as Eddie clearly didn't want Sam to throw the towel in for him while he was caught in the Las Vegas Leglock. I don't think anything was ever made of this; if there was, it didn't happen in the month of October. Still, it shows just how badly Eddie wants the title and the prestige that goes along with it. We also saw him shove Lowe during his brawl with Jeff at the MSC a couple of weeks later, so I'll be waiting to see if and when Sam might have enough of Eddie's bullying, like Nate Whitlock had of Lawler's earlier in the year. Third, what was up with Eddie supposedly offering Idol $60,000? Even if he'd have bought what turned out to be Idol's spot in the finals, it wouldn't have gotten him the belt as Joe implied; he'd have still had to face Lawler. I know how much Eddie hates the King, but sixty grand for the chance to get your butt kicked by your most hated rival? I think I would have passed, thanks. Lawler/Gilbert seemed to be the logical tournament final under the circumstances. Why didn't they go with it? I can't wait to find out!
  9. garretta
    This is a match that should have logically taken place before the big studio angle between these two; in fact, it would have been an excellent place from which to ignite the feud, considering what happened in the postmatch. Jeff's lucky that he didn't accidentally heel himself with his attack on Eddie; he might have drawn a few boos if it had been anyone but Eddie. At least he got to pound on Sam Lowe, who like Bruno in the last match was far too involved for this particular card. If this was a regular MSC card and a Jarrett/Gilbert grudge match, his interjections would have been expected, but in a Unified title tournament, managers shouldn't be interfering as liberally as we've seen so far. Joe was dead on with his comment about Memphis bringing out the worst in Eddie; his run with Watts was close, but Missy was a big part of why he was hated there. He's getting the job done all by himself here in one of the classic heel runs in a territory that's had so many of them over the years. I liked the technical wrestling that we saw throughout; it reminded us that both of these guys can get it done in the ring without question. Jeff's actions after the match seemed a little cowardly, but I notice that Eddie was holding his knee as TV went to commercial, which should play heavily into his quarterfinal bout with Idol. I think the coin flip decision was done mainly to save time; they could only take ten minutes per bout if they wanted to fit twenty matches into a single card. They could have spread it out a little; maybe have the first round (which was nine matches) one week and the other four (which totaled eleven matches) the following week. Or just had one round a week with regular undercard bouts; it's not like they needed the title to draw the house as long as Lawler was around.
  10. garretta
    This was perfectly fine. Lawler was obviously pacing himself for later on in the card, so Taker got to look a little better here than he otherwise might have. This match is just long enough for Lawler to pull down the strap, which overjoys the crowd. As we see later in the month, they're hoping to push Taker as a major challenger once Lawler gets the belt, so we get a DQ finish. The problem is that most of this match is about Downtown Bruno: his yapping, his distractions, his interactions with the announcers. We even get an extended joke where Bruno uses Craig's Coke cup as a spit cup for himself (I think). Of course, he's involved in the finish, so it makes sense to pay some attention to him, but not to this extent. It just goes to show that Jarrett had no more idea of how to use Taker effectively than WCW did. Fortunately, his destiny would change for the better in just over a month. I was kind of put out to hear that Michael St. John took Dave's place for the match, but it makes sense; for better or worse, he's the voice of the MSC at the moment. I just wish there hadn't been so much of the worse from him lately.
  11. garretta
    This was a wild performance that I didn't quite expect out of Funk; I expected him to save his best for the tourney's later rounds. But he makes Brick look like a million bucks here and gives him a match that he should be able to hang his hat on for years to come. I actually thought for a second that Brick might go over as an "anything can happen" upset, but there was no way they'd pass up a potential Lawler/Funk confrontation at some point. Terry may be capable of wearing many faces, but he sure packed the "crazy" one for this match. I've never seen anyone fly over the guardrail after his opponent spat in his face before. He also seemed determined to make Brick a part of the broadcast the hard way with his attack on the broadcast table. I'm not sure Craig recovered for the rest of the match (and I don't blame him). Nice to hear Dave Brown on the broadcast team with Craig and Joe Pedicino. I think this was Columbus Day evening, so he might have had the day off at WMC. Regardless, this is such an upgrade over the usual MSC announcing that it's not funny. I like how Joe put over Jerry Calhoun as a top-level official who was uniquely qualified to work a match involving someone as nutty as Terry, and I also chuckled when he talked about the WCW referees drawing straws to see who had to work Terry's matches, which sounds like it could be true even if it's not. Looking forward to the rest of the tournament. It should be something else!
  12. garretta
    Let me guess: Herb Abrams was NOT a fan of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter On a more serious note, Bruno's miles better on commentary here than he was at any point during the eighties for Vince. Granted, that was probably because Abrams knew almost nothing about wrestling by comparison, but Bruno's still more relaxed and calls the match like he actually gives a damn about Doc. The only problem I have is that he didn't give the Oklahoma Stampede its right name, but he was never the type to give gimmick names to holds, so I can see why calling a powerslam by any other name might not have occurred to him. My favorite Abrams quote: "Steve's trying to send a message to Dr. Death!" I actually remember this promotion as it existed in real time, so I'm curious to know how it holds up twenty-five years later. So far, so good (at least by Abrams' low standards).
  13. garretta
    I liked this interview a lot, especially Dave telling the truth about Eddie's obsession with Lawler, right down to wanting the Southern heavyweight title because everyone thinks of it as "Lawler's belt". By his own admission, he's more concerned about being Southern champion than challenging Lawler for the Unified title, and that's strange to say the least. Dave doesn't need to get too heated in order for his point about the differences between Eddie and Jeff to be made, but as you'd expect, Eddie's too wrapped up in his own world for it to sink in. I'm glad we'll see plenty more from the Gilbert/Jarrett feud in the weeks and months to come. I liked Eddie's reference to President Bush breaking promises. That's how you use current events in wrestling: sparingly and always to reinforce a point about the angle you're trying to put across. I also liked the story he told about refusing the young Lawler fans his autograph. His mission is to be the anti-Lawler at all times and in all ways, and so far he's been a rousing success. As for the match clip, I have no idea why the crowd wasn't hotter, but the announcing was awful. There was no emotion at all in either man's voice, which made a truly heated and bloody brawl into something pedestrian. I recognized Michael St. John's voice, and boy, has he gone downhill. I have no idea who the other joker is, but Papa Jerry can fire him anytime he wants to as far as I'm concerned. I know Craig Johnson has ties to Dallas and Dave's busy at WMC, but they simply have to get better announcing for the MSC shows. If nothing else, have Dave voice over the raw film during the Saturday morning show. They're the number three promotion in this country (admittedly, by default) and they need to start acting like it at least a little.
  14. garretta
    This was tremendous. You can tell that Doug and Eddie were huge fans of the territory growing up for Doug to be able to come up with that many teams from the sixties and seventies that were credible names then, but would be laughable as contenders in 1990. I half-expected one of them to come out and challenge Doug and Tony right then and there. Dave's reactions were priceless; you could tell that he was exasperated with the charade, but at the same time he couldn't deny that the teams Doug mentioned were tough in their day. He had to walk a bit of a tightrope so as not to offend the older viewers, and he did so expertly. I didn't much care for the photo of Brickhouse that Tony showed. I wasn't a fan of the makeup and dress angle to start with, and although the feud's finally going places as a result of Brickhouse and Davis's upset win, it didn't need to start the way it did. I disagree with Loss about Kim not being a good talker in general, but she wasn't at her best in this segment. It might be that she's better at putting herself and her own feuds with valets over than she is at putting over her men, and since there aren't any women for her to work with right now (Vicious Vicki seems to be nowhere in sight), that doesn't bode well for her as far as continuing to give good interviews is concerned. I did like the "queen of cool" line, but her nervous laugh after she delivered it killed the effect.
  15. garretta
    The first part of this interview, where Lawler opens up about the toll that travel takes on a wrestler, is fascinating. Unfortunately, the second part is a shill for his new hotline. It's reasonably priced compared to the others, though; only $1.50 for the first minute and a dollar for each additional minute. That's so the poor people of Memphis can connect more affordably with their hero, you understand. I wonder how many of them actually called this hotline and what they got for their money. I wonder who this M.C. Slammer that Lawler wrestled after this interview became, if anybody. He sounds like a cross between P.N. News and the Big Bossman. I believe Lawler wrestles Eddie Gilbert on that Philadelphia show which he references here.
  16. garretta
    Wow. I've never seen Bill quite this fired up before, not even during his days as the most dastardly heel Memphis had to offer. You can almost reach out and touch his anger once it's unleashed. Jamie doesn't say much, but gets his point across just fine. Jamie must have really bled badly for WMC to ask that his face be distorted. I'm assuming it was their call, because Jarrett's shown stuff just as bloody as this, although most of it was live. It looks from the home video footage that Jamie was either legitimately beaten up in the ring (though why would the people who did that to Bill Dundee's son still have jobs?) or got into an accident of some kind outside the ring that this angle was a cover for. It seems that Chris Champion has been brought out of his shell, so to speak, and is going to team with Bill and Dick Murdoch against Tojo and Bruno's men. I wonder what caused Jarrett to (wisely) pull the plug on Cowabunga. Was it fear of a lawsuit by the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, did the gimmick just plain not work, or (more than likely) both?
  17. garretta
    This is more of a short standup routine from Bill than a typical promo or interview. He's speaking as an exasperated parent who knows that his son isn't quite ready to face the world at the tender age of nineteen, but is determined to do so anyway. He's turning Jamie loose and allowing him to make his own way in the world for better or worse. Dave cracks up at a lot of this stuff, which adds to the atmosphere. This is the type of "slice of life" stuff that Memphis continues to excel at and no other promotion even tries to do at this point.
  18. garretta
    Nice video package showing off Taker at his best. Can't wait to see the Lawler tournament match soon! The King's looking nice and speaking soft this week, saving his only pointed remarks for Downtown Bruno, whom he nonetheless puts over as someone who provides Taker an advantage through his distractions. Between him and Taker's heart punch, Lawler will have a tough night at the MSC, but he'll come out on top. This one interview did more to put Taker over as a legit title threat than WCW did the whole time they had him, which shows just what a mess WCW was throughout this year. Thankfully for us, Taker's one piece of talent that Vince enhanced instead of destroyed.
  19. garretta
    Typically good promo from Eddie. He doesn't need Sam Lowe or anyone else to manage him or proclaim things on his behalf. I feel gipped! We only saw the first five contenders on the USWA Top Ten list! BOOOOOOOOOO!
  20. garretta
    We see the debuts on this set of Jamie Dundee and Corey Maclin (neither of whom say anything) and the return of Tojo Yammamoto (who doesn't actually appear, but it's his guys Lawler and the Dundees are after here, not the Gilberts). The bulk of this promo is good old Uncle Kingfish giving advice and counsel to young Jamie about how to act in the ring. The amazing thing is, if you didn't already know from Bill's part of the promo that Jamie was his son, you'd never know it from Lawler's part, as he refers to Bill as "Bill" and "this man" but never as "your dad". Maybe he had the same hangups on Bill's behalf that he had on his own about not acknowledging Brian as his son because it would make him seem old. Regardless, it's creepy to say the least. Bill may not have been the best father in the world off-camera if some of what I've heard is right, but he knows how to act the part on camera much better than Lawler, for what little that's worth. It's amazing that Lawler agreed to wrestle a six-man right after his Unified title defense, and that's not the first time he's wrestled two distinct non-battle royal, non-tournament matches on the same card this year. Was the Memphis talent pool that thin, or did he believe that he was the only one really worth coming to see by this point? At least he and Jarrett were nice enough not to demand championship prices for tickets this week.
  21. garretta
    The match took about as much time to wrestle as Eddie Marlin took to announce it. It had to be a sweet win for Brickhouse considering what the Gilbert/DWB crew did to him a few weeks back. I guess Tom Burton's been punted to the curb in favor of Eddie's little brother Doug. That makes sense considering the alliance between the Gilberts and the Anthonys. Great promo from Dundee afterward. I love how he just took it for granted that everyone knew Idol wasn't really from Vegas. I wish we had the tag match in full, because it sounds like it's going to be a real barnburner!
  22. garretta
    This was a tremendous segment. I don't know if it was as chaotic as Lawler/Snowman, but it came from just as real a place. Gilbert's always had a lumberyard on his shoulder, so it makes sense that he'd be jealous of someone like Jeff, who's now got a belt that Eddie's never won. For his part, Jeff comes off a bit like the son of the boss in the way he rather coolly waves Eddie out of his interview, which only makes things worse. We all know that there's also bad blood between Eddie's dad Tommy and Jeff's grandpa Eddie Marlin; they even had a cowboy boot match on the 80s set that was quite good coming from a couple of old guys, as I recall. As a result, this whole thing feels rather inevitable. Jeff ends up bloodied, and they meet in two days during the USWA tournament in a match that we have, so we'll be able to see the next chapter unfold. I honestly didn't know that Eddie and Missy were divorcing at this time, which would explain why they weren't working together. I don't know if Eddie was expecting Jeff's dig about the divorce or not, but even if he was, he's hotheaded enough to go off like he did regardless. Amazingly enough, each gives the other props about how skilled they are, nepotism aside. and that adds another layer: Eddie believes that Jeff has legit skills, so it frustrates him all the more to see Jeff hiding behind his family (or so he thinks). Much like Lawler/Gilbert, this has a real-life, out-of-the-ring element that scripted "shoot" angles can't match. For all we know, this might have been a legitimate gripe of Eddie's, at least at one time. Strictly from a performance basis, Jake/Martel on the Brother Love Show beats this, but that's almost an unfair comparison considering that Jake's one of the most incredible angle performers that this sport has ever seen or will ever see. For realism and angle development, though, this is the interview segment of the year so far, even better than the Lawler/Snowman stuff (mostly because two seasoned performers bring their best, as opposed to Lawler pretty much carrying Snowman).
  23. garretta
    Tremendous stuff, as Eddie seems to have made a new friend in Idol. They've eliminated Jeff Jarrett, and now they're after Dundee and Lawler. I haven't seen the title tournament stuff yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing just how the final between Lawler and Idol went down, as I suspect Idol just may be stretching the truth a bit. I'm no amateur wrestling buff, but I'm sure someone in the pro ranks would have told me that Idol had been a two-time NCAA champion if that had been true. I don't recall seeing the name McCord (or Idol, for that matter) on any program about multiple gold medalists in the same Olympics either, come to think of it. Seriously, it's refreshing to see someone on Memphis TV other than Eddie who can talk on Lawler's level; it makes the playing field more even. Whether his outrage is hot air or not, Idol makes a believable case against the King given their history, and there have been times that Lawler would have been up against it if it wasn't for him. I love how Eddie knows just when to let someone else do the talking and come in for the clincher at the end, and it sounds like he's learned a little from Ric Flair during his time in WCW with his "Learn to love it!" tag line. The attack was well done for what it was, but isn't Lawler presumably supposed to be watching the program and know what's going on? Why did Dundee need to tell him about any attack on Jarrett right then? Wasn't he watching the start of the show when Dave (presumably) told the audience what happened to Jeff, or worse yet, been at the MSC while it was happening if it happened there? For a promotion which usually pays close attention to details, this is a big lapse. Not a fatal one, but one that's definitely noticeable to the home audience if they're paying attention.
  24. garretta
    Count me in as someone who liked the suits on everyone involved here. I've never actually seen Lawler in a suit and tie before; he's usually in either wrestling attire, a golf shirt, a sweatshirt, or a cheesy tuxedo. He's awfully low-key here, almost as if he's in booker mode rather than in wrestler mode. Good use of both the Hennig and Snowman clips as a history lesson to set up the tournament. I don't agree with Soup about the fans being tired of the "one true champion" stuff, mostly because it's Lawler, the hometown boy, that's saying it. If it was anyone else, then maybe, but Lawler could come out every week spouting nursery rhymes in Polish and the WMC crowd would eat it up and beg for more. I'm not sure if Eddie's line about Snowman offering to hock the belt to a drug dealer was really necessary, even if it was true. Talking about his unreliability and lack of wrestling skill should have sufficed. I'm also not sure if having Eddie say it was an evil plan concocted by Lawler to avoid prosecution, though I do think that Eddie knew he could pop the crowd with it. How many wrestlers are in this monstrosity? Seems like it's nineteen or twenty, by my unofficial count. Either the card went well past midnight or the matches were booked to each go less than five minutes apiece. We can find out for ourselves later on in this disc. Regardless, they've signed quite the impressive talent roster. It was nice to hear Lance in the Hennig footage, especially since I don't think the parting between him and Jarrett was too friendly.
  25. garretta
    I liked how Slater cut Eddie off in the middle of his boasting and told him not to count on anything except possibly getting hurt during the tournament. It almost seems like they were trying to set up Slater as some sort of mentor figure for Eddie, at least temporarily. Slater does a nice to-the-point tough guy promo, with Eddie making only a cameo at the end. I'm not sure why Eddie brought Slater out, now that I think of it. Surely they could have established any kind of mentor relationship between Slater and Eddie at some other time than right before the big tournament. Nice to see Craig on the desk with Dave. Too bad the arrangement (apparently) doesn't last long.
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