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garretta

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Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    I thought the finish was brilliant, a case of the wise ring veteran pulling one out of the hat just when he needed it most. Lizmark had all the flashy moves and was clearly the better wrestler on the night, but sometimes the better man doesn't win. This was a little more mat-based than I like to see, even for a lucha match. I wasn't expecting a high-flying classic or a bloody brawl either, but I know each of thse guys can wrestle a variety of styles, and a little bit of everything would have hit the spot better for me. I liked the limb work, though, and the fact that each man stayed with the limb he first worked on throughout the bout (Lizmark's arm, Satanico's leg) added some drama to a bout that needed it. I know this wasn't Will's fault, but the poor video quality took quite a bit away from the experience. I don't think I would have seen the match much differently with a better quality picture, but you can never tell. Can anyone tell me why the ref refused to count Lizmark's pin at one point in the second fall when he used the fisherman's suplex/Perfectplex? The wrestlers were nowhere near the ropes that I could tell, and with the bad video I couldn't make sense out of the ref's gestures.
  2. garretta
    The action here looked tremendous. I don't know what moved Papa to bring these two back all of a sudden, but it was a great decision on his part. I loved the reverse atomic drop on the floor, which is a spot I've seen rarely if at all. Dundee's promo was tremendous; very ;pw-key, but still incredibly focused and intense. Two things stand out for me. First, he says that he didn't mind Rich hanging out with Eddie and Doug as long as he didn't do anything to Dundee himself. This is a bit of a surprise, since most of the time faces and heels are presented as two separate units who would never dare mix outside the ring, since there was always the chance that there could be an incident. Second, he says that he wanted a cage match with Rich so their feud wouldn't drag out like Lawler/Jeff-Dogs, then says "And they just wrapped that up." Was he just wishing on Lawler's behalf or was there a stipulation in a match between the two teams somewhere that they weren't allowed to wrestle each other again, at least for a while? Rich sounds like a psycho threatening to kill Dundee, and in a whisper yet. Will someone please update these music videos a little? I like 1986 as much as the next guy, but these two guys have done a thing or two since then.
  3. garretta
    This might shock you, but I didn't care for this at all. The first two falls had almost no action, and when they finally let loose a bit in the third fall, we ended up with Rey wiping out on a moonsault then almost being unmasked, and the rudos getting the deciding fall as a direct result of a low blow. Way to keep your audience happy, guys. The only consistently good workers in this were Rey and Mr. Condor. The other four were hit and miss, mostly miss. Not only that, but Super Calo, Heavy Metal and Winners looked enough alike to make things very confusing to people like me who'd never seen them before. Pete and some others have compared AAA to the WWF, but as bad as some of the in-ring stuff has been for the WWF at times over the years, they're way too meticulous to send three guys out with basically the same look. Hopefully the better matches that Loss talked about involving these guys made the Yearbooks, because what I saw out of everyone except Rey and Condor was unimpressive, to say the least.
  4. garretta
    I'm not sure about this segment. The Fultons and Bullet Bob really seem to be stacking the deck against the Bodies in a heelish fashion. Not that the Bodies are faces or anything like that, but it almost seems like this feud is heel/heel at this point, intentionally or not. Maybe things would be different if this were the original Fantastics, because it's almost like Bobby feels he has to do extra on the mic to protect Jackie, who isn't the most experienced talker in the world. Instead of sounding tough and hard, though, he comes off as obnoxious and entitled. It's interesting that the Bodies firmly overruled Corny and told him to sign the match when he wanted to refuse due to the racquet being banned. Somehow, I can't imagine either version of the MX daring to contradict Corny, especially in public. The signing being on Down and Dirty made it seem more important somehow. No offense to Bob Caudle or Phil Rainey, but this is becoming the go-to segment every week on SMW TV, just like Piper's Pit was for the WWF in the mid-eighties. "Why don't you shoot us?" may have been Stan's first real contribution in weeks other than that godawful headgear and toupee. .
  5. garretta
    This felt sloppy to me from the start. There were a ton of blown and half-executed spots (some of which were intentional, I'm sure) and it didn't feel like either team was on top of their game. I liked that they didn't make a big deal out of the Tpypta-Yamada rivalry by having them do staredown tags and other teased dissension spots, which is what would have happened if two people headed for a hair match had been booked to be tag team partners in almost any North American promotion, champions or not. Did they allow tags from inside the ring in AJW, or is it just one of those things the refs ignored? There were quite a few of those, and one instance where Toyota whiffed on a tag in the corner completely, but Yamada came in anyway. I get the feeling sometimes that these girls were so busy going a hundred miles an hour that the basics of wrestling became lost in the shuffle. Zenjo talked about the moment where he was taken out of the match earlier. Well, I had a similar moment, and it was the seven back suplexes that Yamada gave to Hokuto. Once she finally covered, Hokuto kicked out rather easily. Really? Being dropped on the back of your head seven times in a row isn't enough to fracture your skull, or at least give you severe whiplash that would preclude you from kicking out of a pin for, say, the next week and a half? Combine that with Toyota's endless dropkicks and the smaller wrestlers' overuse of just about any type of suplex you can name, and you can see why I actually prefer the real heavyweights like Aja and Bull as long as they don't go too crazy with the weapon shots. All of the above said, I'm still looking forward to the hair match.
  6. garretta
    Sometimes I wonder if Will puts matches like this on the discs to taunt me. This is yet another trios match that I found perplexing, not because I had trouble recognizing the wrestlers (though I had trouble telling the difference between Caras and Espanto), but because I don't see what purpose it served to book the rudos as totally incompetent in the first fall and then put them over as killers in the second and third. I've never seen a three-on-two tornado situation go on that long without a disqualification regardless of promotion, and the tecnicos got almost no offense in once the rudos began to work over Misterioso. To make matters worse, there was at least one miscommunication spot where Perro nailed Santito with a dropkick right in the mush. It just went on and on and on until Konnan mercifully ran in to even up the sides, even though it cost the tecnicos the match. They had to do something to prevent the crowd from rioting. The camera work didn't help much. There were moves missed all over the place because of the camera's position, and although it wasn't the cameraman's fault that Misterioso wiped out at almost the exact moment as Santito was being pinned to tie up the match, he could have zoomed in on the ring instead of keeping with the wide shot, which made it difficult to focus on either happening. (Misterioso tried to dive onto Caras/Espanto from the apron and took the miss right on the back of his head, which is why he was carried out.) Let's put it this way: If trios matches were a baseball player looking to make my hometown Pirates out of spring training, they'd be batting about .075 with a ton of strikeouts.
  7. garretta
    I'm not sure what to make of JT Southern, and I don't think anyone else does either. He was treated like a babyface here, but he sounded awfully heelish when he was talking about the Continental title (whatever that is) being his personal property. His guitar playing also bordered on the obnoxious, although Dave appeared to laugh it off. I hope we get to see where this situation goes in the weeks ahead. The Rich/Dundee stuff is a nice bit of something different for a territory that's been all about Lawler, Jeff, and the Moondogs (with a small side dish of Eddie Gilbert) for this entire year. I liked the idea of Tommy turning because he believes that the people of Memphis are losers, although I'd have liked him to talk about his time in the York Foundation a bit, especially since it was his former teammate Morton whom he hit with the chain. I think it would have impressed wrestling fans a bit more than talking about some PGA celebrity tournament that I have a hard time believing he was even in, let alone won. Dundee, of course, cares for none of that; he just wants to beat Tommy's brains out. I got a kick out of him spoiling Tommy's Indians-Braves analogy by talking about how the Indians had won the night before while the Braves lost (which was also a neat way to sneak a Lawler mention in). By the way, what rare air Brian was in during that eight-man, in there with at least six certifiable Memphis stars (Doug's the one I'm leaving out, though I won't deny he's had his impact too). By the way, how did Landell join up with the Gilberts?
  8. garretta
    It's great to see Wildfire and the Superstar back! Where was Bill all this time anyway? As good as Lawler/Jeff-Moondogs has been, I kind of figured that Bill would have been in Jeff's spot if he'd been available. I loved Tommy doing his interview in an actual pigpen. He didn't gloss over his heel past, either, which was refreshing, although he promised to shake all the kids' hands at the MSC just so everyone knows which side he's on now, Eddie and Doug sold this like champs, particularly Doug: "He (Tommy) hates me, Eddie! You know he hates me!" They were also great at the beginning, when they were practically strutting around the studio giving Dave a hard time. There's one notable omission from the celebration: Where's Dutch Mantel? I'm not sure who he could have wrestled, but he's about as Memphis as anyone else ever, and the USWA and SMW are freely sharing talent at this time. Come to think of it, we never heard from Jimmy Valiant and Austin Idol either. The only other person that would have made Dave's celebration complete would have been Lance Russell, but he's still in Atlanta for now.
  9. garretta
    Not a bad angle, but it doesn't seem like we get the payoff, so what is it here for, except to possibly show that Fernandez is still alive and that there's still wrestling in Dallas? I liked the announcer's slip of calling Gary Young Gary Hart. Believe me, if Gary Hart had been behind this it would have been Villalobos' head being smashed with Fernandez's ax, not his car.
  10. garretta
    This felt more like a TV main event than a pay-per-view bout, to be honest. Not that there's anything wrong with a good solid TV bout, but with these four in the ring, you expect something more than just solid work, especially after they've all tried to kill each other for months. I didn't expect a bloody brawl all over the arena, but this felt a little too sanitized. Rude and Austin were the much better team here, which surprised me. As has been mentioned, their domination of Windham was expertly done, much like a team that's been together for months if not years. Shoe brought up one of those things that the public isn't really supposed to catch, but once it's been seen it can't be unseen: Windham in particular was really, really short with his tag attempts. I know he and Dustin feud later in the year, but they weren't trying to tease it that early or it would have been mentioned by JR and Jesse on commentary. It's just a case of unusually sloppy work by someone who should know better. In a similar vein, Rude's dropkick from the top looked awful, and Medusa needlessly distracting Atkins in order to set it up was another blunder that shouldn't have been made. They had another, much more effective distraction spot that began Windham's FIP segment. JR and Jesse had some nice interactions here, especially over Barry and his taped fist, which really has been used for too long now. Jesse made sure to point out for the next few minutes which blows were legal and which weren't, which is not only effective nitpicking but also served as a primer for both new fans and those who might not have been able to tell the instep from the flat of the foot. I also liked Jesse talking about the illegal switch Rude and Austin made toward the end; as he said, they got what they wanted out of it (damaging Barry further) even if Atkins counted to make sure the right man got back in the ring (which, after all that setup, he didn't). It's unfortunate that they screwed up the first replay of the finish, but they more than made up for it by showing a second replay and also by doing a split-screen of Dustin going to the top originally. That's something that the WWF wasn't doing much of at the time. I loved the sign from the one fan encouraging Medusa to come to his hotel room. If you haven't seen it yet, take a look during the ring entrances. It's the type of stuff that might get people ejected today. There were a lot of great Jesse one-liners and exchanges with JR during this match, and it's hard to pick a favorite for my Line of the Match. I guess I'll go with this one, as they talk about how handsome Rude is and how he reminds Jesse of himself: Jesse: "I'm a good-looking guy too, Ross. I've been is seven movies, how many have you been in?" JR: "None that I can remember." Not exactly Emmy-winning stuff, but it's great to see them attempting to play off of each other a little. I hope it continues.
  11. garretta
    She was a manager before this for five years, Cross Face. If she wasn't embarrassed when George Steele slobbered all over her like a maniac and jumped into the ring to prevent Honky from beating Randy's brains out with his guitar, surely she could have handled almost anything Flair and Curt could have dished out.
  12. garretta
    I didn't really feel this much. It was a well-executed match, but I didn't really feel it had a purpose other than to exist, if you know what I mean. There appeared to be some problem at the end between Shinya and Fujinami, but it wasn't apparent in the body of the match. The highlight of the match was the finish, particularly the second DDT from Shinya to Sasaki, which was about as stiff as a worked move can be. I noticed at the finish that Shinya waited an awfully long time to deliver the second DDT to Sasaki. Was there some kind of communication problem? Fujinami and Hase got into quite an exchange on the outside; maybe it wasn't supposed to go as long as it did and Shinya was unintentionally distracted by it. I'm looking forward to the G-1 too, particularly to see how Rude fares. Even in his more serious WCW version, he seems like he's too gimmicky a wrestler to do well in Japan. Guess we'll find out soon enough!
  13. garretta
    This was much more meat-and-potatoes than the flashy AJW style-match. I loved Ozaki's focus on Dynamite's arm, and it was an effective way of neutralizing Dynamite's size and strength advantage. Dynamite did an excellent job of selling the injury; she wasn't helpless and could occasionally will herself to use the arm effectively, but if she tried to use it too often she was in trouble, as we saw at the finish. There was a little bit of action outside the ring, but unlike Aja and Bull at times, these two didn't overdo it, at least not here. Dynamite is definitely this promotion's answer to Aja and Bull, but she gave a lot more to Ozaki in order to set up a rivalry. My move of the match was what looked like a piledriver on the floor from Dynamite, executed from powerbomb position. Considering that she'd already had her arm worked on quite a bit, this was even more impressive than it reads on paper. I'm looking forward to more of JWP in general and these two in particular.
  14. garretta
    I didn't know that Embry had a title series against Eddie before he got hurt. Why didn't they book it at the MSC? (Eddie mentions "other cities", which I take to mean other places in the loop.) Most of the rest of the challengers he named weren't a surprise (although Adams was intriguing); every face not named Lawler or Jarrett has had their time against Eddie by now, and all of them have come up short, which means that it's about time for Lawler to stop messing with the tag titles and reclaim what we all know is his. But first, we get a challenge from the Dirty White Boy, who's acknowledged as SMW champion. Does this mean that Ron Wright gets to come with him to Memphis, wheelchair and all? No offense to Kim, but I'd rather see Ron in Tony's corner, if only to see how the Memphis fans react to Ron's sick old man in a wheelchair bit. I've also got fantasies of Eddie coming out of this as SMW champion, although I know it didn't happen in real life. I wonder how Corny would have used him, and how SMW's history might have been different as a result.
  15. garretta
    I liked the Brian Lee bounty angle more than the stuff with the Fultons, which just makes them seem greedy. Things would have been fine if Bobby hadn't thrown in that line at the end about how desperate the Bodies were and how they'd offer more money. The line about Mama Cornette walking the streets to raise the initial ten grand was a bit much too. I get that Corny's a despicable little worm and that the Bodies injured Jackie, but insulting a guy's mother and holding out for more money are things I would expect from the Bodies, not the clean-cut Fultons. Interesting that the wanted posters for Lee were hung in both dressing rooms, as if whoever put up the money actually figures that there are faces who may want a piece of it. I would have thought that Lee would fetch a little more money than a title shot for the Bodies, but it shows how important the Bodies are supposed to be to SMW that they're put on the same level as the promotion's top babyface. (And why wouldn't they be? Their manager runs the promotion!)
  16. garretta
    I liked what I saw here. Fuchi was the star for his side, and he possesses the most lethal dropkick in professional wrestling, particularly when it's aimed at an opponent's bad knee. He and Ogawa nearly crippled Kenta, and at one point caused an accidental miscommunication when Fuchi ducked Kikuchi's dropkick, causing it to blast Kenta in the face. But none of that was enough to deny the plucky champions. I think Kikuchi's about ready to shed the "merely a punching bag" role. I loved how he wasn't afraid of Fuchi or Ogawa, and hos fierce facial expressions showed how he's grown in just a few short months. It'll be interesting to see as the Jumbo/Misawa feud dies down if he gets a chance to show that fierceness to guys like Taue or the captain himself. Great job by Kenta of selling the knee even after the bout was over. Sometimes in Japan guys forget to do that, particularly if their style requires a lot of high flying or knee strikes. Here's how much the Misawa/Jumbo dynamic has impacted All-Japan: When I was watching this match, I was so into the implications it had for the feud that I forgot it was a title match. As unfortunate as Jumbo having to take a step back is, maybe it will clear the way for titles to get their just due at all times. (The only exception to this emphasis on feuds over titles has been the Triple Crown, especially when Hansen has held it ) The accident spot between Kikuchi and Kenta was a bit of a shock in that it didn't set up a turn, as it almost inevitably would in North America. Not only that, all of their subsequent doubleteams for the rest of the match were on target. American and Mexican bookers, take note!
  17. garretta
    The beatdown of Rich looked good. Nice to see Wildfire back home in Memphis. I know they don't acknowledge Brian as Lawler's son, but for those of us who know the irony of Brian joining up with one of his dad's sworn enemies is sweet. Reno Riggins beating Brian? That's the first time I've ever heard of Riggins winning, and I wish they'd shown footage of it. I wonder what they were leading up to.
  18. garretta
    I really liked this. They presented Vader as a monster, like I feared they would, but they also did such a good job selling Sting's strength and guts in the face of adversity that I could buy that he'd try his best to throw Vader around even if he knew it would tire him out and perhaps cost him the match later. Every lift spot was impressive, and that teetering Samoan drop might have been the most dramatically executed move in wrestling so far this year. Vader was able to maul Sting when the situation called for it, but he was also able to execute holds, particularly the scorpion. (Kudos to Sting for allowing himself to be put in his own hold and have a submission actually seem possible; this is what Pete meant by an unselfish main-event babyface.) The top rope thing was just done so Sting could punt Vader a few times, and the kicks looked extra impressive. Harley was okay outside the ring, but nothing especially brilliant; his strength lies in the idea that someone with his track record knows all the tricks and can lead anyone to the World title at any time, not necessarily in his work at ringside. JR and Jesse were in full main event mode here, which meant very little BS and lots of good strategic discussion. Even as Sting was appearing to throw Vader around relatively easily at the beginning of the bout, they warned that doing so could put too much pressure on Sting's recently injured ribs and sternum and tire him out more easily, and that's exactly what happened, as Sting was dragging toward the end even before he hit his head. Jesse harped on what he felt should be Sting's game plan: stick and move and wait until Vader tires out (which, of course, he didn't). There was a minimum of "THIS IS WCW!"-type stuff from JR, as for once he was content to let a match speak for itself. The only digressions were a brief argument over whether Harley should be made to stay in an assigned corner early in the bout and the aforementioned talk about Vader as a possible bodybuilder, which was more of a direct shot at the WBF than anything else. JR also mentioned Vader's football background, but that was before the match started, so it wasn't bothersome to me. The finish was a nice sort of compromise; Vader went over about as cleanly as possible under the circumstances, but Sting's supporters could claim that he got a bad break when he knocked himself out and showed that he could dominate Vader fairly easily early on. With a bit more rest for his still-healing ribs and sternum and a little better luck, who knows what could happen next time? (By the way, the replay showed that Sting caught his shoulder on the post, not his head. Still, a blow like that even to the shoulder would be enough to stun most people, especially when followed by a Vader powerbomb.) I'm definitely looking forward to more of this series, and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to say that when I first sat down to watch this match. Lines of the segment: JR and Jesse's discussion of Vader's posing, particularly Jesse's "There ain't no money in it either!" I didn't know that Vader had actually injured Sting's ribs and sternum in a match as opposed to an attack. Did this match make tape, and if so why didn't it make the set?
  19. garretta
    At least something substantial finally happens to a heel in this feud, even if Lee's back the next week with voodoo hair. I'll say this for the man: he accepted his shaving with no complaint that we saw, which is a refreshing change. What's the deal with this Fifi? Is she supposed to be coming after Lawler and Jeff now? I have no idea how that's even going to come close to working except if it's a guy in a very ugly wig, which knowing Memphis it probably is. Couldn't they have sprung for Randy Colley (Rex) instead? I'm willing to keep going with this feud a while longer, but it seems to be running out of steam, at least as a program at the top of the card. Soon the Dogs need new targets, and Lawler and Jeff need to drop the tag belts and get back to the singles ranks.
  20. garretta
    I'm not sure about this. As I've said before, screwing with Savage and Warrior's heads is fine and dandy, but in the end, most people who really think about it will figure out that it's really best for Flair and Curt to sit back and let these two maniacs beat each other to a pulp. So what's the big deal here, really? Randy does what he can to create a bit of suspense, but in the end it falls flat. I did notice that Randy still got an ovation as he was leaving, so maybe this particular group of fans really don't care that he's negotiating with Curt. The previous week, I noticed that the fans weren't too happy with Warrior. I still maintain that Vince was at least thinking about turning Warrior heel at Mania VI before deciding against it, so maybe he was revisiting the thought here, although Curt turning Warrior now wouldn't have nearly the impact that Heenan turning him would have had at Mania VI.
  21. garretta
    Not bad for a general promo, but you'd think Jake would have focused himself on Sting more by now, three weeks after the first promo we have from him this month. Were Jake and Watts already having disagreements about his future this soon? Jesse really seems to be having a ball doing these Body Shop-like interviews. I guess Turner and Watts didn't want to use that name for the segment due to potential copyright issues, but these interviews are batter and more polished that anything he did with Vince in this vein, even if you take the difference in Jesse's experience into account.
  22. garretta
    I wasn't as high on this as most of you seem to be. Put me down in the "Silver looked like a fool for not tagging out" camp, particularly when the first few tags were executed off of rope breaks. He could have simply walked over and tagged Albright after any of them; it's not like a regular pro match where the other team could beat on him without letup. Then we get a TKO without a count? At least Tamura sold his wooziness well to make that decision partially understandable. On the plus side, Albright certainly looked like a monster, and his suplexes were devastating. If Silver's seeming refusal to tag out was a way to build anticipation for Albright's entrance, it certainly succeeded in that respect, since I for one was beyond relieved when he finally got in. Most shoot-style bouts don't have the theatrical touches you find in regular bouts, so it's not always easy to tell when one's being employed. Maybe I need to look more closely in the future in order to be able to find them.
  23. garretta
    I'd never seen these two go at it before, but they Immediately made me believe that they were (literally) blood enemies. Chono seemed more vicious than I've ever seen him, and Koshinala showed off more offense than usual, proving himself to be more than the master of the butt bump. His suplex variations were first-class, and I especially liked the spot where each man takes two turns superplexing the other, which I've never seen done before. Koshinaka's blade job was nasty, but really effective. As fir the ending, I wonder if it led anywhere, because Kimura seemed awfully determined to come to Koshinaka's defense for whatever reason. I don't think I've seen a Kimura match since sometime in '87, but he looks like he can still go. I don't think the issue between Chono and Koshinaka is settled yet either, Chono's submission win in this match notwithstanding. Hopefully we'll see the fallout from all this sometime later this year.
  24. garretta
    There wasn't a whole lot of action in this one, as each man spent most of the time holding the other in some kind of leglock. I noticed that even the referee got bored a one point and ordered a restart; I know how he felt. Based on the scoring, this was a real upset, as Han figured to have the bout in the bag until Kopylov slapped on the winning anklelock. This just goes to show that no matter how pretty your moves may look or how much you may dominate, it doesn't mean a thing unless you win the match (yes, even in a worked context).
  25. garretta
    Jake picks up where he left off promo-wise, taking shots at not only Sting, but Hogan and his father, who happened to be a high-ranking WCW official at the time if memory serves. Put me down as another one who wished Jake's attack on Sting had made the set, if only for the image of Sting being covered with a cross. Jesse hasn't been this happy to see a heel since the debut of Randy Savage in the WWF seven years before. This is the most heelish he's been yet, and against a guy I thought he was on good terms with, relatively speaking (Sting). I'm not sure if it was Jake's drug habit that led directly to his firing. I'm sure his reputation and lifestyle didn't help, but I'd always heard that Jake had been signed before Watts came in to a contract that he (Watts) thought was way too much, and thus he simply informed Jake that it was being cut in half. Predictably, Jake bailed the first chance he got, which is exactly what Watts wanted since he never liked Jake anyway. Tale that for what you will. I'm not really sure that surfer Sting is the right type of character to go up against someone as dark as this version of Jake is. He seems too happy-go-lucky to engage Jake in the type of promos needed to make their matches compelling. Time will tell, of course, but I think Sting needs to jump ahead in a time machine about five years and grab the trenchcoat and the bat in order to make this fight fair.
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