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garretta

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Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    This was well-done, but DR said it best: It felt like a rehearsal because most of the moves were so painfully slow. It got worse as it went along; the first two falls were crisp enough, but there was too much standing around in the third fall, especially with one guy or the other trying to decide if he should go up top or not. To make it worse, neither one of these guys ever paid for their slowness or indecision; they just went on to whatever the next move was. The ref being out of position several times for nearfalls on top of the normally slow lucha counts didn't help matters either. If this had been a one-fall match, it might have been a Top Five match for the year if you care about strictly scientific matches. As it is, it's not even a Top Ten lucha match. Interesting that Panther is a tecnico in AAA after being such a good heel in CMLL. Was his change of heart ever explained on TV?
  2. garretta
    I thought this was a perfectly decent sendoff for Jumbo. He got a few sequences with Misawa, including throwing him to the outside at the very end, and he got to abuse Kikuchi one last time as well. I agree with Show about Jumbo's javelin job on Kikuchi; considering what kind of strength that takes, you'd never have guessed that Jumbo was sick with hepatitis. The only thing wrong was that I think Jumbo should have been the one to pin Kikuchi, even if Taue was the one to finish him off. I think they had hope for Jumbo to return at some point, though, so maybe they didn't want to do something that definitive. Turning to the future of the armies, Taue's more than ready to lead what was Jumbo's faction. Ogawa could be his number two in time, but not quite yet. For now, I think that's still Fuchi, with Ogawa as number three. On Misawa's side, Kawada's still two for the moment, but Kobashi should definitely claim that spot when he (Kawada) switches. I'm not sure about Kikuchi, though; this feud's been used to elevate everyone on Misawa's side except him. I guess he'll be number three by default, but he hasn't done anything to actually earn that spot. I'm not even sure he can beat old Rusher Kimura straight up, let alone Ogawa or Taue. It'll be interesting to see what twists and turns the sides make, and how differently they'll be configured a year from now. I'll miss Jumbo, but All-Japan needs to be freshened a bit going into 1993. Kawada's turn should help when it gets here, and I'm sure Misawa will have plenty of challengers to keep him busy, both native and gaijin. Despite the sadness of Jumbo's departure, things are still looking up on the whole.
  3. garretta
    I didn't see this one as slow at all. True, we didn't have guys doing topes all over the place and such, but not every match should be like that, even in Japan. The finishing sequence between Kawada and Kobashi was really good, and those two should have quite a rivalry when Kawada switches sides in '93. These two were the real workhorses of the match, and Kobashi showed that he's ready to move up in the pecking order, which may be one reason why Baba switched Kawada to Taue's side of the fence. We didn't see as much as Misawa as I thought we would, but it was intriguing to see him go up against Baba. I'm sure many fans at the arena that night left thinking about what a title match between the two of them would be like. The old man made a good accounting of himself here. Remember, he was never Mr. Speed and Reflexes to start with. I liked watching him play the mentor role to Kobashi, directing traffic when needed. He looked like he was having a ball out there, finally back in the action if only briefly. They weren't teasing tension between Misawa and Kawada quite yet, which I thought they would after their Triple Crown match; I guess they figured that there would be plenty of time for that in the new year.
  4. garretta
    I haven't seen these four in a long time, if ever, so this was a bot tough to get into. It was good, but after watching Inoue and Hokuto from November this one was bound to suffer by comparison. I thought Dynamite looked good as JWP's answer to Aja and Bull; she got thrown around a bit more than I'd like, but small women throwing around larger women isn't quite as galling to me as small men throwing around bigger men. Ozaki and Suzuki looked like the much more coordinated team here, especially when they were working over Fukuoka's back, which they did to perfection. They almost had Dynamite put to sleep at one point as well, but chose to release the hold, which is one of my pet peeves. Why use the sleeper or dragon sleeper at all if you're going to release it before it can do its job? If all you want is a weardown hold, there are plenty that fill the bill better. I'll have to see more JWP matches to know if I prefer the style to that of AJW, but this was certainly good enough for what it was. I'm looking forward to the interpromotional war!
  5. garretta
    This was the most physical women's match I've ever seen, bar none. These two looked like they'd been through a car wreck afterward, even though there was no blood. This one didn't need blood, though. The first half was some of the snuggest submission work I've seen regardless of gender, as they worked some of the tightest holds I've seen yet. Then came the obligatory nearfall stretch at the end, and I was disappointed, because that usually means that all selling stops as the wrestlers in question try to wow the crowd with every pinfall attempt they've ever learned. But Hokuto's Boston crabs had taken their toll, as Inoue had trouble moving except in short bursts due to a damaged lower back. Then we had Hokuto's dives to the outside, which not only further injured Inoue by bouncing the back of her head off the security rail, but started taking out ring girls left, right, and center. I loved Inoue looking like she didn't know what planet she was on, and she may really not have known, because those bumps to the rail looked brutal. Then we get the sickest three-move sequence I've ever witnessed. First, Hokuto goes for the winning splash off the top, only for Inoue to raise her knees and catch Hokuto on them so hard that it looked like she cracked at least three ribs. Hokuto was still selling the effects of that move in the postmatch ceremony. Then, Inoue tries a moonsault, only for Houkuto to pick her feet up and blast Kyoko in the back of the head on the way down. We get one last great sell from Kyoko as her running lights go out once and for all, her neck and head having been tortured throughout the match to the point where unconsciousness is a relief. Hokuto then makes sure Kyoko's gone by spiking her headfirst into the canvas like a tent pole for the winning pin. Words can't describe the sequence enough; if you haven't watched it yet, prepare to be disturbed. So we've got a third promotion involved in our little war, eh? I've never seen an LLPW match, so I'll be interested to see how they fit in against the ladies from AJW and JWP. Thirty-three rotations on the giant swing is beyond impressive. I know I lost count somewhere in the twenties. Hokuto looked like she'd legitimately passed out by the time Inoue finally threw her down. This is the greatest women's match I've seen to date, although if what I've heard about the tag match from later in this card is true, it may not have a long reign on top.
  6. garretta
    This was excellent, but one of the greatest matches in pro wrestling history? Sorry, but no. I think this was a bit confused, actually. They weren't quite sure whether to present Sting as an underdog or the one man who was Vader's competitive equal, so they tried to spit the difference and missed. One second Sting's outclassed and should have quit (at least according to Jesse), and ten seconds later he's trading punches and lifting Vader like he's a normal guy? Unh-uh. I'd rather have seen Sting literally not get one offensive move- not even so much as one punch- until the powerslam reversal and final pin if they were going with the underdog story. If they'd gone with the equal story I'd have had Sting doing the rope-a-dope from almost the beginning, like Ali did with Foreman, instead of waiting until he'd had the crap pounded out of him. Again, we get after Vince for a lot on this board, but booking every single guy over four hundred pounds exactly like Andre in his prime is one thing I think he was a genius at. I'll never get used to Vader selling almost like a normal guy, and he'll never be as impressive in the ring as someone like Bundy, even though I know in my head that he's the much better athlete. I like my giants to be immovable and (almost) invincible, period. All of that said, Sting sold his beating fantastically, and we're left to wonder how he'll survive this match and get to Battlebowl, and as Jesse asked, should he even try? Which trophy's more important? Taking a quick loss to Vader might have left him in better shape for the battle royal later, especially since he'd already wrestled a tag match, but we know that's not his way, or Vader's either come to think of it. One of these events, preferably this match, should have been done at some other time; then again, with the World title match needing a sub and turning out to have a crappy finish anyway, they had to have a singles match that was worth a damn high up on the card, and this was it. Jesse was at his analytical best here, talking about the strategy of both men and getting over Vader's frustration at not quite being able to put Sting away, even with splashes that would have crushed a normal man. He led JR into the whole rope-a-dope discussion effortlessly, which spotlighted Sting's defensive strategy in a way you don't often get on wrestling broadcasts. Give credit to JR for embracing these observations instead of blowing them off the way Vince most likely would have. Of course, Vince and Jesse were a complete comedy act anyway, and I don't think even Gino would have quite caught where Jesse was going. These two are probably the best team in wrestling at this point, and it's a shame they don't believe that themselves, because neither one of them has ever sounded better. (Extra credit to Jesse for what may be the first use of the phrase "It's Vader time!" on American TV.) I think Sleeze has already spotlighted what would have been my Line of the Night. I agree with him that this bout wasn't designed to settle anything, and I'm looking forward to their strap match at Superbrawl, which I've heard awesome things about. This is definitely behind the Bash match; even if I'd agreed with the booking right down the line, a World title change beats a match for a meaningless trophy that isn't even the centerpiece of the pay-per-view it's on, even as good as this one was in spite of its conceptual difficulties.
  7. garretta
    As usual, I didn't get much out of this. I recognized everyone just fine, so that's one good thing, but after the first fall (which was decent) there was just too much chaos. I had trouble following what was supposed to be going on, and I missed the second decision completely. I'm pretty sure I also missed the third decision as well. Also, the rudos spent too much time trying to unmask Del Santo and Lizmark. I know that's a big heel move in Mexico, but it's sort of boring to watch when you the viewer know perfectly well that either the refs are going to pull the rudo in question off or the other face (in this case, Eddie) is going to make the save. Finally, what is it with luchadores and ludicrous no-selling lately? I saw Estrada completely no-sell a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Lizmark on the floor. He just got up and walked away as if nothing had happened, although he did grab his back for about a quarter of a second just before he got back into the ring. It was like he was thinking, "Gosh, I really should have sold that. Oh, well, too late now. I'll just grab my back for a second and hope the camera catches it." (By the way, what mental giant told him that he'd look good wrestling in his ring jacket?) I'm starting to accept the fact that trios is the one style I'll probably never understand completely, but it doesn't help when a match has problems like the ones I just described.
  8. garretta
    Liger looked good here, as we all knew he would. This was my first chance to see Schumann, and he wasn't a bad wrestler himself. He was very quick and athletic, and he knew how to pace his offense to fit the round system, although he ended up getting the Fujiwara armbar on Liger twice as the whistle sounded to end a round. Liger definitely showed that he could work a mat-based style for more than a few token minutes, and he was also a bit more aggressive with kicks and such. There wasn't much sustained body part work, but how much sense would that really make in a system with rest periods built in to allow wrestlers to shake off the effects of such work, at least to some degree? One thing I noticed was that with the stricter ten-counts, wrestlers don't go for as many covers, preferring to make their opponent spend more energy by trying to get up off the canvas. It's an effective suspense-building technique, made all the more so by the dramatic count being tolled over the PA system. The announcer counts normally through about six, then his voice rises in anticipation of the possible knockout. Can you imagine what guys like Howard Finkel or Gary Cappetta could have done with counts like this here in the States? I wish we'd had a rounds-system match in the WWF or WCW so we could see for ourselves. Loss was right about the lack of context making these matches more difficult to rate, but as one-off curiosities put here so we can see guys like Liger and Eddie Gilbert in a completely different environment than the one we're used to seeing them in, these bouts work just fine.
  9. garretta
    I think Eddie was supposed to be the face here, since he shook hands with the referee at the end and waved to the crowd. This was a nice change of pace, but pro wrestling really isn't meant to be in rounds. Every time one of these guys seemed to be in control, the round would end. Finlay hit Eddie after a round was over three or four times, and even though it fit his heel persona perfectly, I can see guys who aren't versed in the style doing the same thing by accident, even if they're supposed to be babyfaces. I guess you get used to it as time goes on both as a worker and a fan, but when this is only one of two matches on a comp to be staged this way, it can be very disconcerting. I actually liked some of the different ways the rules were enforced: no pin counts off of punches or other illegal maneuvers, and a strict (and I do mean strict( ten-count if a wrestler goes down. Most of the time in America, and even in Japan, guys lie down and sell moves for what seems like a day and a half, or even worse, a guy hits a move and knocks his opponent silly, then lays around himself forever, If most American matches were officiated this way, the double countout would be the most common finish by far, at least until guys wised up. Was it my imagination, or did Eddie wear a version of Lawler's crown into the ring? I also recognized Lawler's no-sell a couple of times. All Eddie needed was a strap to pull down and we'd have been all set. I'm guessing Finlay was due for a shot at Otto Wanz or whoever the champion was by now, the way he talked on the mic afterward. I loved his version of the tombstone; I don't think I've ever seen that move executed from a running start before.
  10. garretta
    This was a good idea, but the execution was off. I'm not going to call it a bad match, because if Vince wanted to keep the tag format, there weren't many others he could have chosen here. Bret was the only other logical choice, and he was busy with Shawn. Who else was there besides Curt once Warrior was let go? Maybe, maybe you swallow your pride, bring Hogan back early and use Curt as their cornerman, but that's about it, and I'm not sure Hogan would have returned under those circumstances; he'd have probably insisted on some involvement for Beefcake, to name just one sticking point. So we got what we got, which was a handicap match except for the first few minutes and the closing stretch. The problem was, the focus was always on the partner outside the ring. Everything about this was predicated on what Curt would do once he got in there, and that's not necessarily bad, unless you know that 1) Curt can't do a hell of a lot and 2) The man you're partnering him with is still ostensibly either the number one or two babyface in your company, depending on where you put Bret. There should have been a whole lot more focus on how Flair and Hall were decimating Savage, on how well they were functioning as a unit, on how they'd each waited to get their most hated enemy in a position like this, with his only salvation a man who by his own admission he neither liked nor trusted. But that's too deep for this bunch, unfortunately. What would I have done instead, assuming that all options were open? Simply split the match into two singles. Have Savage and Flair go at it for the number one contendership to Bret (Curt interferes, causing Savage to be DQed) and then Curt against Hall, since you're running Curt-Flair as Flair's last match before he goes to Atlanta. I'm not sure if it matters how this one turns out; maybe you have Savage interfere here to save Curt and the two of them bond. I'm not exactly sure how you work Curt's turn without the impetus of Savage needing a tag team partner, though. Maybe it's best if you move Bret into the tag match, leave Curt with Flair and Hall and have Michaels defend against Jannetty, although that kills one of your main events at the Rumble unless you do a screwy finish of some sort. You could always save Hall for later on and have Bret defend against Flair at the Rumble, with the belt on the line against Flair's WWF career. I didn't much care for the commentary. Heenan was wonderful going after Curt (although his Rumble performance from earlier in the year can't be topped for glorious partisanship), but Vince just doesn't play off of him the way Gino does in this kind of situation. Earnest, geeky Vince doing the best he can to be a professional and call this tag team matchup isn't what was needed; Gino had to be there to twist the knife every time Heenan breathed and drive him out of his cotton-pickin' mind. I was a bit surprised that Vince remembered how to properly apply an abdominal stretch when Hall had Savage in one; hearing him talk about Hall having to hook his toe behind Savage's calf isn't a detail I thought he'd bring up at this point in his career. I didn't care for his constant references to "The Perfect Team", though, especially since I don't believe they ever crossed paths in the same ring again. The DQ was comical, especially when the whole world saw Earl trip himself in order to take his second bump. Did Flair or Hall forget to hit him, or was he supposed to be so afraid of them that he backed up from them and fell down? It really felt like they just said, "Nobody can do the job, and nobody can go over clean, so let's just throw this sucker out and go home." Curt's original bump into Earl didn't look all that good either, but that's understandable since nobody wanted to see Curt get hurt again. They should have just had Flair or Hall slug him because they could. A continuity error, maybe: Curt seemed to be having a good time high-fiving Savage and saying "Dig it" in the prematch promo, but after the match they do the staredown routine. Go one way or the other, guys. Remember, most of us are either under the age of twelve or would like to be, and we're easily confused. The same thing applies to the walkout, although Vince tried to spin it as Curt going outside to "regroup", which was actually pretty clever.
  11. garretta
    This was a classic non-title match in the old-school NWA mode, designed to show that Hase can beat Chono so that their title match has more intrigue. I'd forgotten about Austin hurting Chono's neck while I was watching this, but kudos to Chono for allowing Hase to work his neck so much when it had to be hurting him. The STF must be the hot new submission hold these days in Japan, as we've seen lots of wrestlers try it, even Ric Flair. Still, there's nothing quite like seeing the original master of a hold apply it, and that was definitely the case with Chono here. It was great to see him work Hase's knee before applying it; we as fans tend to forget about the leg's involvement because we can see the crossface part so much more easily on camera. I disagree with those who think that Chono was just a punching bag; he showed his worth in the mat wrestling sequence at the beginning, and always managed to cut Hase off just as he was beginning to run away with things. Still, this was designed to get Hase over as a top NWA World title contender, and it certainly did. Here's hoping we get a title match on the '93 set!
  12. garretta
    I thought this was decent enough, especially the sections where Aja and Kyoko worked over Yamada's back. But I've been wondering why this style doesn't really connect with me outside of the heavyweights like Aja and Bull, and I'm starting to realize that, as exciting and fast-paced as this promotion is, it has to have the most repetitive house style in wrestling. At least 75% of the offensive moves are suplexes, and about ten percent are dropkicks. That doesn't leave room for a whole lot else, at least but my math. I'm sure other promotions have a house style too, but in AJW it's really noticeable, particularly in long matches like this one. Repetitive doesn't equal boring and unwatchable in this case, but it still grates on my nerves. Aja and Bull are the exceptions that prove the rule, and that's why they stand out. It could be just the way I saw things, but I think Toyota was trying to sell being knocked silly at the end of the bout, not just sadness over losing the tournament. I didn't catch any real anger from Yamada either; she looked to be concerned for Manami's welfare, as taking an elbow in the chops like that tends to scramble a few brain cells. The Doomsday Device looks more impressive due to the bump most guys take from it, but this move looks like it can do just as much damage, if not more. I would have loved to be able to understand Japanese during the postmatch ceremony, as Kyoko really seemed to be on a roll. But why was she the spokesman for the group and not Aja, who is, after all, the new champion? Do we have any matches between Aja and Yamada in '93? It sure looks like that could be a major feud, with the amount of trash talking Aja was doing to Yamada at times during this match. Toyota was probably too much of a goody two-shoes; I can understand not wanting to make saves on every move the other team does, but she could have done more than stand on the apron and look concerned at least once or twice.
  13. garretta
    I guess Baba hadn't heard of the so-called "time-honored tradition". Not only should Jumbo have lost, he should have done a stretcher job. I mean, how dare Baba actually send a former world champion and wrestling legend out a winner and champion like the fans wanted. Vince is going to hear about this! In all seriousness, Jumbo didn't look half-bad here. He was a little thinner, and his skin was a bit yellower (which you'd expect with hepatitis), but he still moved fine and was able to pull his weight in the bout. I noticed that Taue absorbed most of the heavy punishment, though. Doc and Bamm Bamm seemed to step it up a notch here. I especially liked Bamm Bamm's suplexes, which really had some height and snap. The MVC looked totally different here than in the States, where they mostly laid around in chinlocks and slowed matches to a crawl. I'm thinking that may have been Watts' brilliant idea to get them over as maulers, but if it was, it backfired. I loved Taue's struggles to avoid the Stampede, and the small package counter he pulled out of the hat was ingenious. If Baba had wanted to continue the Misawa-Jumbo war without Jumbo, Taue was more than capable of leading the Army. I'm glad a legend like Jumbo went out on top, in case you couldn't tell from my above comments. Now to watch one last battle between his boys and Misawa's. I'm looking forward to it!
  14. garretta
    What struck me about this match was how respectfully it was worked. These two are no longer mortal enemies trying to cripple each other as they were in 1990; this is about the title and only the title. We get two short outside-the-ring sequences, but no trashcans and no real rulebreaking to speak of, just the slow realization by both Bull and the audience that what's worked before in terms of moves won't work now. Aja's ready to take her place as queen, and no one, not even Bull, can stop her. The postmatch stood out for me even more than the match itself did. I don't speak Japanese, so these two could have been reciting nursery rhymes to each other for all I knew. It's the emotion that stood out for me, much like in the Toyota-Yamada hair match. Aja and Bull have had their wars, beaten each other bloody more times than they can count, and Aja's won. Bull knows this and accepts it like the champion she's been, and now all both of them want is for their friendship to be repaired. It was a truly touching scene, and I've never seen anything like it in all my years of watching American wrestling. We've gotten a few handshakes after matches like this, maybe a hug occasionally, but not two exhausted warriors embracing in the middle of the ring and declaring their love and respect for each other. It just doesn't fit our perception as a nation of what pro wrestling is supposed to be, and most of the characters we see simply aren't capable of it, even when it might have been warranted. To cite just one example, if Andre had decided to retire after Mania III, I can't imagine Vince allowing Hogan to show emotion like this toward him. Immortals simply don't shed tears for mortals, period. I've seen better bell-to-bell matches between these two, but the postmatch raises this to a Match of the Year candidate for me. I'd definitely put it in the top five.
  15. garretta
    I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, because I had no idea who was wrestling; there weren't any ring announcements, there were no commentators, and none of the four ladies had their names anywhere on their gear. Most of you seem to be joshi experts, so maybe you knew who they were, but I didn't. Nice action, but I can't recommend a match between four anonymous (at least to me)Japanese girls.I know I've seen at least the All-Japan girls before, but it's been so long that I needed some kind of clue to remember who was who, and I never got it.
  16. garretta
    This match was ridiculous. I've had my problems with lucha, mostly tags and trios matches, but this is the limit. Look, I know all about rudo-leaning referees, but this schmo not only favored Satanico, he was so blatant doing it that it ruined everything. How many blatant fouls did Satanico commit that the guy was looking right at? And then he lands all over Dandy when he tries to get some payback? Screw you, whatever your name is. There's playing your role, and then there's being annoying. You passed annoying about ten seconds in. I've seen plenty of lucha bouts, some undoubtedly with rudo-leaning refs, where I didn't even know there was a ref, and that's as it should be. Maybe there was a talent scout in the audience and the guy wanted to be noticed in whatever passes for the Mexican movie industry; if anyone else has another explanation that makes more sense, I'd love to hear it (and please don't say that this is the way rudo refs or the lucha style works, because I call horseshit and double horseshit respectively.) If you take the goofball in the (metaphorical) striped shirt out of the equation, the performances are actually pretty good. Satanoco knows he's got home field advantage, if you will, so he takes advantage every way he can and has the time of his life doing it, while Dandy shows the proper amount of pluck and grit in the face of three-on-one odds and manages to triumph when someone in authority finally makes the match fair about twenty minutes too late. I disagree with those who say the match should have gone longer; after all Satanico had done and gotten away with, he needed to be dispensed with in a hurry. He couldn't be allowed to screw Dandy over for one more second, or the place would have (or at least should have) rioted. I'll say one thing for Satanico: he stood still for his shaving like a man. Most rudos do, but it takes a special kind of guts to do it after you've beaten your opponent to within an inch of his life and beaten him, only for the commission to restart the bout. I hope we see these two go at it again with a less obvious ref in the ring. They're capable of a Match of the Year candidate, as we saw two years ago. Unfortunately, this wasn't close to being it, and none of it was their fault whatsoever.
  17. garretta
    We like to play the "If this match had taken place in........" game around here quite a bit. Well, since this was a WWF title match, I can say with reasonable certainty that if this had been, say, the main event at SummerSlam, people would be calling this the best match that the WWF had seen in ages, even with the double countout in the third fall. In other words, this match is hurt by taking place in Japan, which has a reputation for straight athletic contests, little showboating, and clean finishes. Well, Flair wasn't dropping the title in Japan, and I doubt Tenryu wanted any kind of loss in his own promotion, even by countout or DQ, so this was the best we could get. As is so often the case in these older Yearbooks, a lot of the stuff I wanted to say has already been taken, so let me just point out a couple of things that I really liked. First, I've seen Flair work knees before just like everyone else has, but he really applied himself to it over the last two falls in this one. There was a certain viciousness about it that I haven't seen since his Crockett days, and seldom then. That's mostly because Dusty's booking had him constantly begging off and trying to be elusive so the face du jour wouldn't beat him to death. Here he could be the aggressor, and he was wonderful at it. Not only the knee, but the arm earlier in the match, and even the way he laid in the punches in the corner. I saw Tenryu checking his nose to make sure it wasn't bloodied, and how often do you see a Flair opponent do that, at least within the last few years? You could tell he'd been saving this match for a crowd who would appreciate it and an opponent who would stand for it, and he found both here. Second, even though the double countout was a copout finish, the way it was done made it forgivable. They didn't start aimlessly brawling outside the ring and forget the count; Flair didn't try and pull a runner either. Flair knew Tenryu had a bad leg, so he made him have to strain that bad leg (as well as the rest of his body) in order to get him back in the ring and finish him off. Pull this kind of finish too often and it just becomes another piece of bullshit, but under these particular circumstances, with Tenryu trying to go on a possible torn-up knee or broken leg and Flair knowing that even with all of that Tenryu could still land a lucky shot and win the title, it was ingenious. I'm not sure whether Tenryu thought of it himself or if he had help from Pat Patterson, but whoever thought of it deserves a heartfelt salute. Tenryu didn't really do much that stood out to me, which is to say he did what he always does for the most part: stand there and go until he either wins or can't go anymore. The one thing he should get credit for is the heel-hook counter to the figure four, which I didn't really pick up on until I read about it after the match. I've never seen it done before, and I wondered why Flair was howling in pain when Tenryu hadn't tried to reverse the hold yet. I wonder why more guys didn't try a counter like that. None of this is to shortchange Tenryu's selling of the figure four, which may be some of the best I've ever seen, period. This was so different from the WWF stuff Flair was doing that it seemed like a different guy. I was about to say that I wish we could have seen a stateside rematch, but knowing Vince, he'd have jobbed Tenryu out in ten minutes on Superstars, so I'll take what we got (the best singles match of Flair's WWF run) and be glad.
  18. garretta
    First of all, because almost all of us like to complain about the video quality and camerawork in lucha, a sincere tip of the cap to the director for putting the spotlight on Satanico's interference in the third fall. We didn't see it during the match, and of course it's important in setting up the hair match to come in a couple of weeks. With that out of the way, I'm about to do something I do very rarely: blast a guy for not selling. It's not really a big deal to me in most cases, because I know guys have moves they want to make sure they get in in every match so they don't disappoint the crowd, some of which may involve previously injured body parts. But Dandy's no-selling of the figure-four has to be the most ridiculous example of this that I've ever seen, especially since, as Pete pointed out, it could have factored in the finish as it turned out. He was doing dives and running around the ring not thirty seconds after getting out of a figure-four that he'd spent close to three minutes actively fighting, which is unconscionable. If I'd been the booker, he'd have worked for free that night, and I mean that sincerely. No paycheck at all, and let him leave if he didn't like it. I could always claim that Salvaje had broken his leg so badly that he'd been forbidden to ever wrestle again. The rest of this wasn't anything out of the ordinary, although I liked Dandy leveling Salvaje with a dropkick at the start of the second fall and Salvaje turning around and doing the same thing to Dandy at the start of the third fall. The continuity police were really on the job in this one. I guess we're in for another classic between Dandy and Satanico soon, and I see from the match listing that it's a hair match. Dandy's already shaved one rival (Fiera) bald; can he make it two? We'll find out soon enough! (Note: I've already watched the Dandy-La Fiera hair match from November that's on the set.)
  19. garretta
    First, you guys have this match where Michaels/Jannetty from Providence should be, and vice versa. I liked this a lot. Fiera's fit to be tied by the end; he attacks Dandy before the bell, pounds the hell out of him for ninety prevent of the match, and Dandy beats him once with just his second offensive move of the match (yes, I counted) and steals the other by holding the ropes, like Fiera had tried to do to him not five seconds before. Sometimes you get punished for living wrong, that's all there is to it. Dandy turns in one of the most sympathetic performances you'll ever see, as he has literally no offense until late in the second fall after being backjumped and busted open before the ring announcer's even finished the introductions. (The ring announcer's my MVO, by the way; he stands there calmly and quietly while Fiera's beating Dandy to a pulp inches from him, completing the intros as if nothing's happening. He comes within an eyelash of being taken out by an Irish whip, but that doesn't faze him either. Kudos to you wherever you are, good sir!) Did Dandy's lack of offense and using the ropes for the winning fall make him look weak? Not under these circumstances. He was been backjumped in a match where his most prized possession at this time (his hair) was on the line. Who wouldn't react the way he did, tecnico or rudo? Besides, Fiera could have put him away multiple times if he hadn't been so busy heeling it up for the crowd. I sure hope that they don't use this to turn Dandy heel; he's such a great natural babyface, as this very match proved.
  20. garretta
    Another match I had to sit through because I paid for the discs. I've given up on trios, I think. If these guys want to show me how good they supposedly are, let them come to the WWF or WCW and learn to work U.S.-style. That critique may seem overly quick and harsh to some of you, but look at it this way: At least I spared you my normal laundry list of problems I have with the trios style.
  21. garretta
    This was a bit strange at the start, but still thoroughly enjoyable. It looked at first like the champions were not only going to squash Windham and Pillman, but were going to turn heel in the process. I've never seen a heel take two bodyslams on the floor or ramp before, and the look on Shane's face as he was taking his turn hammering on Barry reminded me of The Franchise a couple of years early. But eventually the challengers turned the ride, and the action became more familiar. I wasn't sure about Windham and Pillman as a unit, but they were great here. Windham did the majority of the hard work and was clearly the captain, but Pillman excelled at the scientific and flying spots, and was also great as the weasel who threw cheapshots from both the inside and the outside. This got the champs in trouble more than once, as they were enticed into the ring illegally, thus allowing Barry and Brian to double team at will. They showed great continuity, and I join the chorus of those who believe that they would have been a tremendous long-term team if Watts hadn't decided to go with Austin and Pillman instead. I forgot to mention what I believe is the best bump of the match: Pillman getting knicked off the top rope and clotheslining himself on the railing. He's used that bump before as a babyface, but it looks particularly vicious here. Unfortunately, since he's now a heel, Pillman's umpteen throat operations are ignored by JR and Jesse. So is the past feud between Pillman and Windham from '91. The champs were a bit off after their fast beginning, but Shane is a tremendous FIP, particularly with a veteran like Steamboat as his partner. You know that Steamer can kick both Windham and Pillman's asses for as long as he needs to if Shane can only get over there and make the tag. Of course, a wrinkle comes into play here, as the hot tag doesn't do any good; Barry cuts Steamer off almost immediately, and delivers quite a beating to him. By the way, what was up with Steamer pointing a finger at Barry when Barry was pounding him? Was he channeling Hulk Hogan? The finish wasn't the greatest in the world, as it seemed like Shane took advantage of the distraction provided by Steamboat and Windham's brawl outside to hit Pillman with a quick belly-to-belly and score a lucky win. Boy, are they pushing the belly-to-belly hard or what? No one since Magnum T.A. has gotten so many important wins with the move. which seems rather quaint in 1992 even if it is still effective. Jesse was really good here, particularly at pointing out all the times when Shane and Steamer should have been disqualified. We haven't had a good old-fashioned Jesse rant in a while, so it was nice to hear him go off when Steamer hit Windham with the chair. JR played his part by keeping quiet and letting Jesse do his thing; he would have sounded weird agreeing with Jesse, but he also knew perfectly well that he (Jesse) had a point. This team is much, much better than either JR or Jesse gives it credit for, and WCW's really going to miss JR when he leaves for Vince in the spring. Considering what Tony devolved into as the years went by, it's safe to say that the announcing in WCW will never recover. (Extra credit to JR for taking Jesse's declaration that Rush Limbaugh was Shane's idol In his stride. That situation could have turned awkward at best and truly nasty at worst in less capable hands.) I guess bragging about Shane's Master's degree will take the place of bragging about Pillman's football background as far as JR is concerned. I loved Jesse's slightly skeptical tone when he found out about it, like he was thinking, "The man has a Master's and he does this for a living?" Did I understand JR right at the beginning during the intros, in that they pulled a Dusty finish in the World title match? Wow, they didn't give Simmons a damn thing, did they? Talk about a complete waste of a title reign, all because Simmons' skin was the right color. Yes, I said it, and it's the truth. Watts apparently never learned that JYD's success in Mid-South, to borrow a phrase from Dr. Martin Luther King, was due to the content of his character, not the color of his skin. The belt should have either stayed with Vader all along or gone back to Sting, the man who most of the fans wanted to see as champion in the first place.
  22. garretta
    I wasn't too sure about this one at first, because Liger and Sasaki are one of those bizarre, random New Japan teams which we always seem to get when they decide to send a tag team over. But this turned out to be an excellent match. Steamboat and Douglas had their moments early when they tried to tear Liger's arm off; I especially liked Steamer coming down with a full splash right on the arm, which we seldom if ever see. Then it was time for the Japanese to attack Shane's knee, and they were just as good. The segment could have lasted a bit longer, but what we got was still very good. I liked the spike piledriver, and I thought Steamer did an excellent job of looking like he was fighting on complete instinct. But when Liger didn't cover after the Hart Attack, especially after the height he got on it, I knew that the jig was up. Nice job to tease a non-handshake at the end a little bit; it made sense that these four might not want to be buddies after some of the viciousness we saw. Peace and harmony ruled at the end of the day, though. The "We Want Flair!" chants must not have come over very well on my computer, because I couldn't pick them up. I did pick up a rather obnoxious Shane fan who kept yelling, "I'm from Pittsburgh!" the entire time he was in the ring. Trust me, that can be a dangerous thing to yell in Philly. I loved Gary Cappetta's introduction of Steamboat as "the one, the only". On the other hand, how many times did he have to remind us that this was a Unified World tag team title match with a one-hour time limit? He must have been trying to kill time for whatever reason. I could stand to see any of the four combinations in a singles bout, and I'd definitely be up for a rematch if one could be found somewhere. I'm not sure about a Match of the Year candidate for WCW, but this is definitely the North American Handheld of the Year for this set. The only real competition for the honor was Bret-Flair from Worcester.
  23. garretta
    This wasn't a tag match as much as it was a preview of two major matches for Starrcade (or so it was thought at the time): Simmons-Rude and Sting-Vader. There was little continuity between the heels until the very end, and only two tags from the faces: Simmons started, tagged Sting in to face Vader, then got the hot tag to set up the finish. Sting-Vader delivered as expected, although they're promoting this like I feared they would long ago: all of a sudden it's a huge deal when Sting gets Vader off his feet, like almost every other face on the roster hasn't done it multiple times. Hell, Simmons did it at the end of this very match. As I've said elsewhere, Vince had this one right: All wrestlers over four hundred pounds should work like 1980s Andre: impossible to budge except by deadly force. There can be exceptions, but they should be rare. Hogan was Andre's, and Sting should have been Vader's. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed long ago, and it's a shame. (Note: This doesn't mean that the wrestler in my example has to move like he's stuck in hardened superglue; he can be as much of an athlete as possible. In fact, that would add to the aura of invincibility that I'm looking to create.) I thought Rude and Simmons worked well together, and I liked Larry explaining how a man like Rude can counter Simmons' power. He also pointed out that Rude changed his approach, ditching the hip swivel and the antics with the crowd. It would have been interesting to see Rude work something close to a no-frills bout to see how he would have done. I liked the all-too brief sequence between Simmons and Vader, and what teamwork we saw from Rude and Vader on Sting was excellent as well. Could someone tell me why the top rope kneedrop to the face was still banned? What rationale did Watts use to explain that? I guess he figured that some part of the rule had to stay in place as a heat-getter, but why that particular part? It made the finish kind of dumb here, especially since Rude got the pin off of the Rude Awakening instead. I liked Rude getting the fall on Simmons, and I wish it would have led to something. I really think that an uninjured Rude might have been a good long-term choice to hold the title until Flair came back to claim it. I know from previewing the '93 match listings that WCW tried a Flair-Rude feud, but Rude was too badly injured to make it work properly. I think they could have had a hell of an angle over Medusa if they'd chosen to go that way, or just stuck to a man-on-man feud over the belt. Either way, it would have been a classic, and Flair going over the man who had run roughshod over WCW for close to two years (at the time of Starrcade '93, which is when I assume Flair would have still won the belt) would have been epic. Everyone on the board knows what a Bobby Heenan fan I am, but I honestly think Larry would have been a better fit as the top commentator in '94, assuming that Jesse was still let go. He's been excellent in every match I've heard him call so far, and he's worked well with both JR and Tony. If you hadn't known his history, you wouldn't have guessed that he was one of the most hated heels in the sport (and a stablemate of Rude's) just a few short months ago. They're still protecting Harley's tough guy rep, at least to an extent. Usually a manager is wiped out by a punch from a babyface, especially a powerhouse like Sting, but Harley stayed on his feet, although he was knocked off the apron. Line of the night goes to Larry: "The only good thing about a cauliflower ear is that it stops hurting." So sayeth the voice of experience.
  24. garretta
    I may be alone here, but I didn't see this as a five-star match. There wasn't enough aggression for that. This was a very good, basic match, but although they were obviously working hard, they were also holding back because they had to be partners again when this all was over, and if they beat each other to a pulp no one would believe in their tag matches anymore. I guess I expected more of a fight than a match, considering Kawada's usual temperament. We didn't even see what I call the jackhammer kneelift (rapid-fire knees to the head) from Kawada, and he's dome that in almost every other match I've seen him in. I liked Kawada's early work on Misawa's arm and Misawa's corresponding work on Kawada's back, but neither ended up figuring in the overall story of the match. They stuck mostly to kicks and forearms, and Misawa's uppercuts looked really good. My favorite sequence actually came toward the end: Kawada, knowing that Misawa has already survived the stretch plum, turns to the Misawa facelock, only for Misawa to make the ropes. I wonder if we'll get a callback sequence next time where Misawa tries the stretch plum. The backdrop driver off the opening lockup by Kawada may be the most heated sequence of the whole match, as it showed that Kawada was serious about taking Misawa down. But as well-done as the rest of the bout was, it didn't live up to the first minute in my view. Then again, it probably would have taken serious heeling and/or blood to do that, and given the current situation between the two, neither one was happening. When I went to post this, I found that although I remembered that this was good, a lot of the details had slipped my mind. That's hardly the mark of a five-star match in my book. Maybe some of you are seeing things that I'm missing, or maybe my expectations were just different. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that's happened, especially with a match that didn't take place in North America.
  25. garretta
    Akiyama's the star here without a doubt, even in defeat. He's not only good at being the plucky youngster who's tough to pin, but he shows early on that he can hold his own in exchanges not only with Kawada (which is something special in its own right), but with Misawa as well. It's far too early in his career to be talking about Triple Crown challenges and such, but going toe-to-toe with the champ (and getting several nearfalls on him) in a setting like this is a definite feather in his cap. The fact that it took two Misawa powerbombs to finally put Akiyama down is icing on the cake. As of now, Akiyama definitely seems to be the future of AJPW. Kawada and Taue seem more concerned with their own private business than the tag match at hand from time to time. I wonder if they were supposed to be the new leaders of the armies going forward, with Jumbo out of action and Misawa concentrating on defending the Triple Crown. There was surprising continuity between Taue and Akiyama for a first-time team; usually in substitution situations like this there's a certain level of awkwardness, especially when compared to an established team such as Misawa and Kawada. Speaking of whom, I didn't see any signs of jealousy between them at all, at least in this match. Kawada seemed more than a bit grumpy, but that's par for the course where he's concerned. I'll see if I can spot any dissension between them in the two November bouts we have from the tournament, which I have yet to watch. This would have been a perfect time and place for Jumbo to show up and wave to the crowd, but I guess he was still too sick and/or contagious.
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