Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

garretta

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3562

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    I wondered why, under the prevailing rules, they even needed the mixed tag. Sapphire was no worker, especially compared to Sherri, and Savage/Dusty was at least something semi-worthy of WrestleMania, even in 1990. But if they'd gone the singles route and blown off the feud, they wouldn't have had an excuse to start Dusty/DiBiase in front of a pay-per-view audience at SummerSlam with Teddy buying Sapphire. At any rate, not a bad promo from these two at all, and Sherri gets most of the mic time, mixing her normal regal spiel with some good old-fashioned tough talk. Savage opens and closes as only he can. They've had better days, but this got the job done nicely. .
  2. garretta
    According to Piper himself, he was trying to preach a message of tolerance, that color doesn't matter, only what's inside you. If you say so, Rod........... The promo itself is typical Piper; crazy, but unlike Warrior's promos, having some small connection with the world the rest of us live in. At least Rod acknowledges his own craziness and tries to have some fun with it instead of acting like he's immortal. Using Sapphire as an expert on African-Americans everywhere seems dubious to me too, but she's the only other African-American babyface that the WWF has other than Koko, who's jobbing in the opening match, so I can understand it. I heard somewhere about Bad News having a major problem with Piper's promos, and I can't blame him for it either. Maybe Rod should have gone up against someone who was more willing to be a target for his mouth, such as Lanny Poffo (who deserved at least one WrestleMania bout as a thank-you for his years of loyal service). It wasn't like the Bad News feud was going to make money on the road after Mania; surely there was a more compatible choice for a one-off out there.
  3. garretta
    You know, if I was a parent and saw these Warrior promos, I wouldn't have ordered Mania for my kids. There's bullshit, and then there's this stuff. It's all fine for us to mock it from the distance of almost twenty-five years, but I honestly wonder if this gave some Hogan-loving kids nightmares. Talking about crashing a plane, committing suicide to prove your worth as a warrior? Again I ask, why did Vince let this air, on the very program he hosted no less? Hogan's stuff about the magic mirror of Hulkamania and proclamations of himself as without flaw are storybook stuff by comparison. This isn't Heenan or Slick bragging about how his men are going to end Hulkamania, this is talk of actual death, and it's really out of place here. Again, why didn't they make this the typical paint-by-numbers Hogan/Heenan battle, where Hogan vanquishes the Weasel's latest challenger and slaps him around at the end? Why were we subjected to this instead? Was Mr. Nanny really worth it?
  4. garretta
    I'm absolutely convinced now that Vince was thinking right up until Mania of turning Warrior heel, but chickened out. Why else would they let Warrior's promos air as is? He wants to be talked to like God? He wants to poison Hulkamania? What the hell kind of talk is this for your new top babyface, anyway? The only other answer is that Vince was trying to subtly bury Hogan and Hulkamania because he didn't think they'd be needed anymore after Mania, that Warrior could do the job of champion in its entirety and Hogan would just quietly ride off into the sunset. Make Warrior look like a god come to life and Hogan look almost embarrassingly mortal and the kiddies would go nuts for Warrior and forget Hogan, or so the thinking might have gone. We saw how that worked out, didn't we? And after weeks of promos like this, how could Vince reasonably expect anything else? Only four weeks till Mania, thank heaven.
  5. garretta
    Nice commercial, with everyone in the beauty parlor and all the smart businessmen reading the magazine. Too bad most of the rest of us never had the same privilege.
  6. garretta
    Not miss Sting? He was supposed to be World Champion by now, remember, Why should we want to miss him, considering that Flair, who was only still champ because of the injury, was on our screens every freakin' week running his mouth at the top of his lungs like a mental patient, the same way he had since 1985? If anything, this interview was too short; surely the World champion in waiting deserved more than thirty seconds, even if we didn't know he was World champion in waiting. As for some people possibly being annoyed at JR's football comparisons, he was a legit football announcer at this time with the Falcons, plus he was trying to tell the world that wrestlers are just as legit athletically as football players, who are generally assumed to be the toughest athletes in America. What's wrong with that? Would you rather have them compared to immortal gods like Vince was trying to do? By 1990, it was either let wrestling exist in its own special magical universe (WWF) or present it as a peer to MLB, the NFL, and the NBA (WCW). Any promotion who tried to stay in the middle didn't last, so that wasn't an option unless you lived in Memphis or Dallas. Given the choice, I'll take WCW's approach ten times out of ten.
  7. garretta
    After seeing this promo, I have just one question: how did we get from this to mute Sting in just a little under seven years? Surely he had enough left in the tank charismawise that he could have handled a darker character verbally. Back on topic, I didn't notice any stumbles, and it may have been the babyface promo of the year so far in wrestling (though how much that's saying, considering that the other contenders basically aren't existing in this universe, is open to question). The line about throwing darts at Flair's face and the way he answered the question of whether he was going to be the same Sting upon his return are classics. He was ready to be The Man when he came back.
  8. garretta
    Same basic promo as the one Ole cut on The Louisville Slugger, except for ducking JR's question about whether Crew II were Anderson family members. Ole would have been better served to drop the whole angle concerning the Steiners at this point and be exclusively Flair's manager, at least until Windham and Sid came in to reform the Horsemen in a month or two.
  9. garretta
    Not much to this except Flair promising to beat Luger as he has so many others. That doesn't mean that it's not terrific, though. Flair's a bit more even-keeled these days. as he pats JR on the back at the close. A month ago, he was menacing him and threatening to beat him up.
  10. garretta
    Great promo, but if this leads to Enos and Bloom in masks as I believe it does, not much of a payoff. Why didn't they just have them come in as The Destruction Crew, same gimmick and all? Would Verne only loan them out if they were put under masks? Not sure if I'd have taken that deal if I'd been in Ole's shoes, as the Destruction Crew had at least been World champions, which I would have had JR reference, if not state outright. As it was, it might have been better for Ole to just concentrate on managing Flair onscreen, and to push the unmasked Doom and Teddy Long as the Steiners' next big challengers, as ultimately happened anyway.
  11. garretta
    Match of the Year so far. Perfectly booked, perfectly worked. Luger's never looked this good in his life, and it's not all because of Flair carrying him. He was ready to be The Man........but sometimes being a human being is more important. Yes, I loved the finish. They didn't need to put the belt on Lex, they needed to turn him face once and for all, and they did that in spades. Not just by saving Sting, but by making him so physically dominant over Flair. Flair was pretty much beaten from pillar to post for most of this match, and even needed his manager/valet (Woman, in this case) to interfere, which didn't happen a lot on pay-per-view. I don't necessarily think we needed Ole and Arn in the ring at the finish; it seems a bit superfluous to have both a possible outside interference DQ and the countout finish we ended up with. But their purpose was really to attack Sting. I might have had him at least try to swing one of his crutches and not look quite so helpless, but they probably didn't want him to bump on his still-tender knee. The other reason WCW was comfortable not making the switch here is because they were going to do it on March 12 (I believe) in Chicago, Luger's gimmicked hometown, according to Graham Cawthon's results site. They had a camera crew and everything ready to go, but Flair balked at not receiving proper notice and demanded to be released from his contract, at which point they backed off. If they'd gone through with it, that would have left Sting/Luger as the next big feud, which you could run either with both men as faces or even with Sting slowly becoming angry that Luger not only stole his chance at the title, but his fans as well. Maybe you could have even done a heel Sting reunion with the Horsemen come fall. It would have been different, if nothing else. As it is, we got at least one solid Match of the Year candidate out of what could have been a crippling mess for WCW. What a shame that it all seems to go downhill from here.
  12. garretta
    I liked the fact that these were taped right after the WrestleWar bout because it made them seem more spontaneous. Nothing all that unexpected; Luger explains himself, while Flair and Woman ridicule him for being stupid enough to walk away from the title. A similar dynamic between JR and Corny, as JR confidently predicts that Lex will be the next NWA World Champion, while Corny rejects the notion out of hand. These do their job of moving the story forward.
  13. garretta
    It seems like the Slaughterhouse was originally going to take up at least part of J-Tex's issue with the Horsemen, judging by Sully's references to turning over limos and dragging the passengers out. Unfortunately, that would have turned them face in the current climate, so it goes nowhere. They also have a specific word of warning for Corny and the MX, which is another great idea that goes nowhere but makes Corny freak out visibly Sully's actually pretty rational here; it's Sawyer whose ground beef is rancid, to extend Corny's metaphor. Mick plays the simpleton here, almost like a George Steele who can talk. It'll be interesting to see just how far they go.
  14. garretta
    There was almost nothing going on until Fujiwara's headbutt in the corner; then business really picked up. I guess I saw a different match than some of you did, because by the UWF scoring system as I understand it, Fujiwara clearly controlled, if not dominated. That made his win not much of a shock at all, because Takada looked clearly outclassed the whole way. The postmatch was beautiful even if you, like me, don't understand a word of Japanese. Nice to see Fujiwara in tears as he cuddled the picture of someone I assume was either his wife or daughter. What was he holding up at the end of the bout and during his celebration? It looked like a check.
  15. garretta
    If this wasn't the best Rock 'n' Roll/Lane version MX match, it has to be in the top three. So many spots we haven't seen before, and so many we have, each executed to perfection. Corny's on top of his game as well, both in belligerence and physical interference. I would have paid to see him go at it with Nick Patrick. This might have been the two teams' last high-profile match, so they decided to let it all hang out and end this part of the feud on the highest note possible. Even JR and the Funker on commentary are at their best, with both men getting off lines about Corny and doing some first-rate back and forth about Corny's spot as Power Hour co-host and host of The Louisville Slugger (which everyone seems to forget Terry gave to him, so why try to make a program out of it? I guess the thought of Terry insulting Corny was worth a small bit of retconning.) My number one tag match and number one NWA match for the month and year so far. Also a strong contender for Match of the Year overall (though I'm still partial to Garvin/Valentine).
  16. garretta
    My new number one in the "Other" category for the month and the year to date. If these two had that hellacious a brawl after Vader nearly lost an eye, I can't wait to see what happens when he's 100%. Just two big bulls beating the hell out of each other all over the Tokyo Dome. Both men sold, but neither took a backward step. Simply incredible. It's number two overall right behind Garvin/Valentine, and not by much. With a decisive finish, it would have been number one.
  17. garretta
    Interesting little match here. The problem with it is that it's Flair with Arn and not Ole. If Ole and Arn get this kind of a win over Rock 'n' Roll, they're an automatic huge threat to the Steiners as WrestleWar. If Rock 'n' Roll wins, they've reestablished themselves as top challengers for the titles (okay, we know now that Rock 'n' Roll will never wrestle the Steiners, but we didn't then). As it is, the outcome of the match helps no one, really. Morton and Gibson aren't going to be major challengers to Flair (or Arn, for that matter) at this point, so putting them over would make no sense, but the outcome we got only makes the MX/Rock 'n' Roll bout at WrestleWar just another filler match, with nothing really on the line in terms of ranking or prestige for either team. The match itself was well done, and Flair being split open (I wonder if that was accidental or hardway, considering that the camera tried to ignore it) added a nice touch, as did the fact that Robert didn't get to clean house as usual. But it would have meant more to the running storylines at the time with Ole in Flair's place. For that reason, it doesn't rate as highly as the in-ring action might dictate. Lance and P.S. are really good together, and the little history lessons that they try to throw in, particularly concerning the '86 Flair/Morton feud, add to the viewing experience.
  18. garretta
    Less blood than you'd expect from a barbed wire match, but a lot more psychology with trying to put your opponent out of the ring so he not only gets tangled up on the wire, but has to beat the count back in. That in itself is a good idea for a match without the attempted pinfalls and submissions, but we get those too, including that powerbomb where Kurisu was dropped right on his forehead. How he wasn't legitimately knocked out I'll never know. I've heard of FMW, but this is the first match of theirs that I've ever seen. Looking forward to seeing this promotion evolve over the course of the year.
  19. garretta
    You aren't the only one to see Hogan in Saito's performance, Parv. But it works here. Larry has the crowd against him, he's in a foreign country, and he's facing a guy who's in good a shape as he can possibly be in for this, the biggest match of his life. This is probably what Saito dreamed about if he had wrestling dreams while in prison, and nothing's going to stop him on this night. Larry does just enough to avoid getting totally squashed, with the low blow being his centerpiece. Saito works the crowd into a frenzy all through the bout, and the ovation he gets at the end is reminiscent of Hogan's pop when he beat the Sheik, if not quite as loud. Unfortunately, Saito wouldn't get almost four years with the title; he wouldn't even get two months, as Larry would win it back on April 8 in St. Paul. Not quite deserving of a spot on my unofficial ballot due to its one-sided nature, but well worth seeing.
  20. garretta
    I thought Fujiwara had made Maeda tap until I saw the referee raise Maeda's arm. If I hadn't seen the chokeout on replay, I would have never known about it. If you can't tell the finish of the match without replay, something's wrong with it. Much like Parv and Zoo, shoot style's not proving to be my thing for the most part.
  21. garretta
    This was a lot more engaging than the previous interpromotional tag, and the Tenryu/Choshu spots were tremendous. That said, there was a bit too much four-way action for my taste, which added to the chaos in a bad way. Liked Takano's last-ditch dive to get back in the ring which didn't quite make it. Also, a spike piledriver getting barely a one-count? I thought I read where a piledriver isn't as big a deal in Japan as it used to be here, but that's going a bit too far in my eyes, almost more like Mask refusing to sell than anything else. Looking forward to the two singles matches from the card.
  22. garretta
    Like so many Japanese matches, this was just kind of there for me. Maybe I'll get more into the singles matches, but most of the tags just feel interchangeable to me. Nice to see that they were trying interpromotional matches, which would have never happened in America at this time.
  23. garretta
    A coming-out party for Pillman and Zenk, as they dominate almost from start to finish. Not quite a squash, because the MX does get some offense in, but the only time there's a doubt about who will win is after Lane's racquet shot on Zenk. You know things are bad for the MX when Bobby misses the rocket launcher by a country mile. To be fair to Pillman and Zenk, they had to accept the gift that Corny's boys were giving, and they do so with a flourish, Brian in particular. I'm beginning to see why he's so highly touted; he looks like World champion material for the second time on this set. After a performance like this, you're left to wonder how far Brian and Tom could have gone in a world without the Steiners. I could see them being at least credible challengers for the World titles, but that was never going to happen as long as Rick and Scotty were not only champions, but being built up like no team since the Road Warriors. I wonder if Brian and Tom ever got any shots at Doom once Simmons and Reed took the belts in the spring. If they did, I'm pretty sure that none of them made the set.
  24. garretta
    About the best TV match you can expect from these two teams. Every bit of the action was superb; my favorite part was the Morton/Eaton slugfest where they wound up from the top of the bleachers and absolutely murdalized each other. Corny was on his A game as well, interfering at just the right times. Like almost everyone else, I'm not sure why the camera was on Corny outside while the racquet was being used; I'd like to think that it was just a mistake, because a Turner ban on shots with "international objects" being shown on camera would be ridiculous. Liked Terry on commentary here, particularly his shots at Corny. As for Cruise, we didn't get off on the right foot. He sounds like a more self-important Sean Mooney, which is exactly what the NWA doesn't need at the moment. His worst comment was "If you (Terry) are gonna sing every time (Ricky and Robert) come out, I hope they lose!", particularly in the angry tone he used. If they're going for a Vince/Jesse vibe, they've got a long, long way to go. (By the way, Laney, it was Cruise, not Terry, who said that this match could be the final chapter of the MX/Rock 'n' Roll feud. He corrected himself a couple of moments later and hyped the WrestleWar match.)
  25. garretta
    Great non-title bout that may have been the making of Pillman as a singles wrestler in the NWA. Flair has to resort to a Woman slap and a discreet handful of tights to score the win. This was much more hard-hitting than you'd expect, even with Brian defending Sting's honor; these two trade holds and strikes like they've been in the ring with each other a hundred times already. The only botch was that Woman actually had to slap Brian twice (at least that's what it looked like to me), but that's a minor detraction. We end with Luger smacking all three Horsemen to confirm the WrestleWar main event. I didn't catch Flair preparing to invite Luger back into the group, though. I loved JR frantically begging off to avoid a beating of his own as time ran out; the Horsemen as portrayed so far this year wouldn't think twice about putting an innocent play-by-play man in the hospital. Of course, Corny's nowhere to be found. (By the way, he and JR did those Leona Helmsley jokes just two weeks before during Flair/Zenk on the Power Hour, if my memory serves.) We come away from this glad that Luger kept the match at WrestleWar, but wondering: If he hadn't, could Flyin' Brian have taken his place? I'm putting this one as my number-one NWA bout so far this month, and number two for the year behind Flair/Eaton.
×
×
  • Create New...