garretta
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This is probably the best series of vignettes that the WWF has run since DiBiase's debut five years before, even better than the Mr. Perfect vignettes, which were well done but not really relevant to wrestling. Razor may be a movie takeoff character, but Hall has him down pat. The best line of the series so far comes in this installment: "I'm not going to kick sand in your face, I'm going to kick your face into the sand!" Not exactly Shakespeare, but pretty damn good for a 1992 wrestling promo. I like that Hall's targeting the title, but hearing him say that reminds me that we still haven't seen him in the ring yet. That's the one problem with these vignettes being so good: Razor Ramon is such a great character right off the bat that you want to see him in the ring trying to back up his claims, and if they wait too much longer to pull the trigger, they risk losing the momentum they've built over the last few weeks. Apparently I was wrong; they actually flew Hall to Miami to do at least some of these. That's another touch which shows that Hall wasn't going to be just another cookie-cutter WWF heel.
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This match was the ultimate example of how cheating doesn't pay. Sasaki tried to prove to his mentor Hase that he was a big boy now, but went about it the wrong way by using cheating tactics, most notably turning a sleeper into a choke on multiple occasions. That didn't get him the win, though, and the second half was an extended payback segment for Hase, who busted open his "little brother" with a brutal series of headbutts, then chokeslammed him no less than five times before executing his suplex variation for the win. The only way I can see this getting Sasaki over is that he was tough enough to leave the ring on his feet instead of on a stretcher. Otherwise, this was the classic match type where the heel cheats until the babyface mounts enough strength for a comeback, then obliterates him. This was done by a lot better workers, obviously, but fundamentally this match is on a par with WWF Face X vs. Captain Louis Albano at any time between 1973 and 1983, with Hase as Face X and Sasaki as the Captain. This is nowhere near the best NJPW heavyweight match of the year, though I've seen so many bouts that it's tough to come up with a better example off the top of my head. Honestly, the junior division is so much more memorable for NJPW so far this year that it's not even funny.
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Great promo, but the belt thing's got me intrigued. It's not the Southern belt, which Brian still has, but if it's not one of the SMW tag belts, then what belt is it? It looks too good to be a belt from a promotion smaller than SMW. I still think they wasted an opportunity when they didn't have Dr. Tom's two "careers" intersect at least briefly. Maybe Corny was too busy to go over to Memphis, but Brian could have come to Knoxville for a few dates instead and played babyface for the SMW crowd as a part of his continuing development. It's not like they needed the Southern title to headline every single card, with Jeff/Lawler-Moondogs still hot and Eddie finally having a Unified title run.
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As with the Aja-Bison match, I was more interested in the English commentary than the bout itself. I found it very insightful into the mindset of AJW at this time; this type of wrestling is regarded as theater as well as legit sport. Not WWF-style sports entertainment, but they do keep aesthetics in mind. I liked Debble talking about Bull telling Takako, who was established early in the bout as the weak link, to toughen up and give her more of a fight. Of course it was trash talking, but they almost made it sound like a "tough love" helpful hint as well. There were also times when they openly talk about wrestlers being able to work the crowd in just those words, which you never hear even in the WWF, where some have argued that kayfabe has been dead since 1/23/84. The match itself didn't seem like much, but I'll have to go back sometime and watch it again to confirm my opinion. Takako seemed to take an awful pounding. I liked the line about it not being a tough match for Bull because her hair wasn't messed up. That's the kind of humor that often got shot down or no-sold on American programs at the time.
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I didn't even know that Slater and Barby teamed, let alone were any kind of title contenders. Dickie talked like there was some kind of issue between himself and the Birds. If there was, what was it? If Watts wanted fewer titles, why didn't he just cancel the NWA deal? Was it eventually going to extend to the singles title as well? I'm guessing the Japanese belts the Steiners had which Watts referred to were the IWGP titles. It sounds like Watts wanted to fold them into the WCW belts somehow or other. I can't believe that Inoki or Choshu or whoever was in ultimate charge of NJPW would have let him get away with that, even if the Steiners were a top team for both promotions.
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The Omni hype was a financial imperative, since TBS was also the local Atlanta affiliate for WCW in addition to being the national cable outlet. There was no such thing as a separate local feed at the time, so the national audience just had to lump it. If I have a problem with something about the Arn match, it's the fact that it's non-title. After all that hype on TV, a non-title match is the best they can do? They could have given literally anyone, right down to Tommy Angel, a non-title match. If Arn ever got a crack at the World title, it had to be during Ronnie Garvin's reign back in '87, and I'm not even sure about that. What a damn shame. As for Sting's promo, why would it not talk people into the building? What's your definition of a promo that talks people into the building, Shoe? And the live gate wasn't the important thing anyway, the buyrate was. They may have wanted a sellout crowd, but that could live without one if the buyrate turned out to be high enough. Regardless, I thought Sting was just fine here. When was Vader's first bout with Sting? JR calls this a rematch.
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This was the type of brutal match that you'd expect with Jungle Jack facing off. Aja didn't spare her partner one bit, bloodying her eatly and staying on top of her all match long. Bison didn't get much in the way of offense, and Aja ended up scoring the submission victory. To be honest, I was more interested in hearing how the commentary situation worked out, as I will be n the other two matches for this card. Most of Debbie's answers were pretty basic, although she got off one line during the chair-throwing contest early on that I loved. She was talking about how Bison was going to have to clear her head after Aja's early assault which made her bleed, and after one particularly vicious shot from Aja she deadpanned, "That certainly won't help you think clearly." Even though Aja brought her trash can to the ring, she didn't use it on Bison, at least not that I saw. Who says monsters can't feel pity?
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I was just about to wonder why they screwed Vale, as he had two knockdowns that weren't scored in addition to the two that were. Then his sleeper worked better than he ever dreamed, and he became the first person I know of to beat Fujiwara twice. The first part was a total squash for Fuji, which made Vale's comeback all the more surprising. They finally put some scoring on screen in PWFG, although they scored the rope breaks separate from the knockdowns. Still, once I figured that out it was a relief not to have to score the bout myself on order to keep track of what was going on.
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At least we know why Cactus attacked Steamer. He seems like the perfect mercenary type, and Heyman seems like the kind of person who will pay to have his enemies crippled. I'd still rather see a final blowoff between Steamer and Rude with Steamer winning the US title, but now that there's a reason behind this upcoming feud, it has me intrigued. I remember Mick using the line about the liver being the lump in a guy's throat before, although I'm not sure if it was against Sting or not. I wouldn't want him to make it a catchphrase, but it gets him over as a psycho effectively. My favorite line out of this promo, though, was "Random acts of violence don't do it for me anymore. Call it maturity."
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The story of this match was Samurai coming back after almost having his arm ripped off by Liger. Most guys would have just curled up in a ball and sold, but Samurai kept up his end on offense, even on moves that could have hurt his arm worse, like the dive to the outside and the tombstone. Liger had quite a few chances for a quick win early on after he knocked Samurai out, but he chose to try and injure Samurai instead. He did, but it wasn't enough. The winning pin showed resourcefulness on Samurai's part; he knew he'd never be able to pull Liger to the mat with his injured arm, so he used his legs instead, catching Liger completely by surprise and picking up the clean win. The pin being clean was important because Samurai needed to be established as a champion who could actually wrestle. He relied on heel tactics for the most part in his previous two bouts with Liger, but here he showed that he's at least Jushin's equal as a wrestler and an athlete. I'm sure there will be a rematch soon, and it's going to be interesting to see if we can have another classic bout with both men at a hundred percent throughout.
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First fall: I love the sign from one fan telling Rude to "Put it on! Put it all on!" I'm not sure that JR liked Jesse reminding him of how out of shape he was. Then again, with these two it's hard to tell what's normal announcer byplay and what's a product of JR's resentment of Jesse's money. Now we get Bonnie and Richie? Where were they during the part of the angle that was actually about them? Steamer using Richie as a distraction of sorts is certainly unlike him. Then again, that's how far Rude's pushed him over the last few months; he's willing to go to any lengths to beat Rude and do so badly, even if he won't get the belt. Speaking of which. why the hell is this non-title? Steamer's work on the ribs is about as vicious as it ever gets when it comes to body part work. Kudos to Rude for withstanding the attack like he did. JR puts over how Rude's injured ribs are restricting his oxygen flow and making him sweat profusely early in the match, which is something not many announcers would think of. What is that bow-and-arrow style submission hold Steamer had Rude in? I don't recall seeing it before, either here or anywhere else. Rude gets the pin when Steamer charges into his knee to the face in the corner, which is hardly standard but understandable in a match like this, where it's going multiple falls and a move like the Rude Awakening can only be used credibly once or twice at the most. JR claims a handful of tights, but I didn't see it. Rude 1, Steamer 0 at 22:18. Second fall: Rude nails Steamer with a few more knees, then hits the Rude Awakening in slow motion to take a 2-0 lead at 21:15. JR speculates that Rude might have hurt his ribs further in the process. I'm not sure JR knew what to make of Jesse's hockey analogy, being an Oklahoman. Third fall: After a few more blows, Rude goes to the top and hits a knee to the chest, which is of course an automatic DQ. Rude 2, Steamer 1 at 20:18. Put me in the camp that says it's good strategy if it leads to another quick pin. Fourth fall: Rude's strategy works, as he wraps Steamer up with a small package to take a 3-1 lead at 19:48. Fifth fall: Rude spends most of this fall wearing Steamer down with chinlocks, which is this type of match is extremely smart because it's a way to run the clock out, as Jesse points out. Rude also targets the neck with a swinging neckbreaker and a regulation piledriver, but gets a tombstone reversed on him, which leads to Steamer taking the fall. The main reason for the big pop this got was that Rude had worked over Steamer's back for most of the fall, even at the expense of more damage to his own ribs, which he continues to sell beautifully in what could be the Sell Job of the Year so far. Rude 3, Steamer 2 at 12:19. Interesting that there's no overtime scheduled in this, probably because MVC-Steiners was scheduled to go thirty right afterward. Sixth fall: I didn't know that moves executed with both men on the top are still legal, as we see when Steamer hits the superplex that starts the fall. Then again, with Windham still using the superplex as a finisher, it makes a kind of sense. Interesting sequence leading to the winning fall, as Steamer bridges out of a Rude pin attempt, then backslides him for the pin. We're tied at three with 9:35 remaining. Did Jesse really not know the name of the tombstone piledriver, or was he just trying to avoid mentioning the finisher of a prominent member of the competition's roster by name? Seventh fall: Nice pin attempt spree to start the fall by Steamer, reminiscent of the Mania III classic with Savage. I love Rude posing with just one arm when he had Steamer down. Never let it be said that Rude forgets his character, even in the midst of a war like this. Nice callback to Steamer's broken nose with Rude ramming his face into the mat. JR and Jesse even speculate that Rude might have broken it again. Brilliant spot with Steamer hitting the Rude Awakening, but not getting the fall because Rude makes the ropes. The move's still protected, but Steamer gets over as someone who will always do what it takes to survive, including using his opponent's finisher against him. The sleeper spot was beautifully done, right down to Randy Anderson checking the eyes along with the arm, which I've never seen before but makes perfect sense. The hold was probably applied a bit too early, though, as no one's supposed to be able to stand it for over three minutes like Steamer does here. The pin comes when he kicks off the turnbuckle, trapping Rude underneath him for three to take a 4-3 lead with just thirty-five seconds remaining, Rude's last flurry doesn't force the tie, and Steamer gets the win, four falls to three. If anyone on earth looks horrible wearing a Hawaiian shirt, it's JR. This was a tremendous match in which each man worked as hard as I've ever seen. There was no down time; something was happening every second. But as usual with WCW, booking got in the way. This should have led to a US title match at the Bash with Steamer going over, either in an Ironman rematch or a regular bout. Instead, Doc and Bamm Bamm's coronation took up the bulk of the card, and by the September Clash (WCW's next big card), the moment had passed. As good as this was, it would have been better with the belt on the line, especially since Nikita-Rude went nowhere and Steamer ended up taking a big step down to feud with Cactus Jack.
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Not much is shown of the match, but the pop for Jeff and Lawler finally vanquishing the Dogs was wonderful to hear. After being attacked briefly, Jackie got to mow down the Dogs like we all knew he would. Jeff and Lawler were caught in the crossfire, and Lawler took his best bump in months. I noticed that the Dogs didn't go to work with the trash cans or anything like that, but just putting their hands on Jackie, especially when he'd just finished being a guest referee, was enough to make the point. Jeff stuck to talking about how good the win on Monday felt, leaving the hyping of the upcoming bout to the master. This was a perfect division of labor for a team where one of the members is a top five talker in the history of wrestling and the other.......isn't. I liked Lawler's confidence, but as I said in a previous thread, this feud's too far along for $5000 challenge matches. It's been close to eight months since the Dogs came back to Memphis, and six since Lawler replaced Robert Fuller in the feud. For a territory where hotshotting is a way of life, this is probably too long. Something needs to happen which changes the dynamics of this feud if it's going to continue, and yet another wild studio brawl isn't it.
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I saw guys like Koko (who was at best a part-timer) and Gang (who was long, long gone) in the video as well as Steamboat. But no Liz, not even in the background. Was that Randy's choice or Vince's? If it was Vince's, he ought to have been ashamed. We saw at least three prominent shots of Hogan (who was just as gone, even if they planned to bring him back) cheering Randy on, plus at least one shot of him taking the elbow. I know damn well Liz was there in most of the stuff this was taken from; maybe her departure wasn't exactly okay with Vince, not that either her or Randy cared. With all that said, this was a hell of a tribute for only two and a half minutes, and I'm glad they thought so much of it that they used it as their memorial to Randy. Excellent work as far as it went.
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"Eons worse"? Come on, Mike, that's unfair. Jeff's naturally going to suffer compared to Lawler on the mic, but to make out like he's totally clueless is just wrong. If you want clueless, head across the state and check out Brian Lee in SMW. Speaking of people named Lee, Richard getting his head shaved isn't bad, but we really need things to start happening to the Dogs themselves. Maybe a "loser of the fall gets his head shaved", which would allow them to shave Spotty or Spike. This feud's beyond the "let's get our kicks by humiliating the manager" stage. In fact, it should probably be getting close to loser leave town time. I liked Lawler talking about how it felt to get his head shaved. Of course, he got away with a crewcut, not a total shaving, but I'm sure it was just as humiliating to him either way, especially since Rich, Idol and Heyman followed it up by trying to castrate him with the ringpost.
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Buddy was good as usual, but Dutch makes the segment here. Since he seldom wrestled in SMW for whatever reason, he decided not to do what most heels in his position did at the time and trash-talk the faces incessantly knowing that he'd never be in a position to back it up. Instead, he adopted a phony "neutrality"; whenever trouble broke out around him, as it often did, he went to great (and hilarious) lengths to avoid it at all costs. This wasn't the only time he switched sides on a guest to avoid getting in the middle of a feud, and no one, face or heel, ever bothered to call him out on it when he did it. Horner certainly didn't here, though he did have some unusually stern (at least for him) words for Buddy. I think he's slowly getting the hang of how not to be outclassed by the many great talkers he'll have to battle on the mic in SMW; we'll see if his improvement continues in the weeks ahead. Did I miss something? I don't believe a Horner-Landell angle from last week made the set. That's too bad, because their interaction sure sounded hot from Buddy's description of it. Hopefully any future angles or matches from these two are included.
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This was interesting to me because of Liger facing off against Benoit and Samurai in the same match. There was nothing earth-shattering here; it's basically a training match for the new Tiger Mask, and he hits the spots he's supposed to. His most spectacular spot, though, is the one he misses, the synchronized dive with Liger where Samurai moves out of the way while Liger connects. This sets up Samurai's submission victory, which he wastes no time letting Mask (and, by extension, Liger) know about afterward. Even though he didn't score a direct win over Liger, this match serves as a great way to build momentum for Samurai going into their third match (at least on the Yearbook). Will it be enough for him to score another victory? We'll all find out soon!
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I couldn't care less how much money they made; I only know that I found the product juvenile, stupid, and embarrassing. To me, they were in the gutter, if not below it.
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This was a stinker. If you've read my reviews, you know that I'm just as much about the booking and the commentary as I am about the moves, and I've called well-executed matches garbage because those factors were so poor that it reduced the actual wrestling to so much pointless ballet. This is one of those matches. First, let's talk commentary. The main talking point of the bout was Jesse complaining about Barry's taped fist. It's typical Ventura carping that we've heard a thousand times, and Vince, Gino, and JR have all worked around it without making him look any worse than he's supposed to as a heel. But Tony hasn't learned how to do this yet despite experience with Jesse spanning two different promotions, two pay-per-views, and a major syndicated show, perhaps WCW's overall B show after Saturday Night. Instead of acknowledging Jesse's complaints the first time and moving on after a pause each time he does it afterward, Tony goes after Jesse for complaining in the first place. Here's a news flash for you, Mr. Greatest in The History of Our Sport: Taped fists are indeed illegal. If Barry's still medically cleared to have one, it's your job as the play-by-play man to tell us that and reduce Jesse's complaining to hot air. But you didn't do that. No, you took up the second half of the match complaining about Jesse's complaining, to the point where Jesse had to mention it on the air himself. And even after that, you still didn't take the hint and shut the hell up about it. By the end of the match, Jesse was so disgusted with you that it started to show in his voice, and based on your cluelessness I'm not sure it wasn't at least a partial shoot. Not only that, you defended Barry's flagrant biting of Austin's nose to get out of a bearhug late in the match the way a heel announcer would, then had the nerve to go after Austin for nailing Barry with the belt to win the match. Neutrality is the ideal for a play-by-play guy, but if you can't always manage that, at least don't be an open hypocrite, defending cheating from one guy and crying about it when his opponent does it. That's the heel color guy's job. You lost all right to complain about Austin using the belt on Barry when you defended Barry for biting Austin earlier. I used to respect Tony as a commentator, but he's really slipped since he came back to WCW. He was actually better with Vince than he was just about anywhere else, including his JCP stint with David Crockett. Now, I would have a hard time using him as anything but a wrapup show or Control Center host. He's slipped that far, and the fact that WCW turned to him as lead announcer once JR left shows just how hard up they were for decent announcers. As for the booking, my problem isn't with the belt shot, which I thought was very well done. My problem was with Heyman doing his distraction from inside the ring and Fonzie not immediately disqualifying him for it. Watts is calling this a brand-new era and he allows something like that? How many times did you see Corny or Skandor Akbar or Eddie Gilbert do their distraction spots from inside the ring in Mid-South/UWF? If Watts' reputation matches reality, a manager even suggesting that would have been fined a month's pay. But now, not a word said on commentary, not a movement made by Fonzie to get Heyman out, nothing. The relaxation of kayfabe didn't just mean knowing that wrestling's a work; it meant that rules were only enforced when it suited the booking and were openly ignored otherwise to an extent not even dreamed of twenty years before, or even five. Don't get me wrong, I know rules enforcement in wrestling is supposed to be spotty, but when a rule is supposed to be ignored for the greater good, there should at least be some style about it. A ref shouldn't just stand there when a manager's in the ring and pass the time of day just because the finish calls for him not to see the heel hit the face with a foreign object. Work out a distraction spot that isn't quite such a flagrant violation of both the rules of the sport and common sense. I can think of only three times during the Yearbook series to date when I've refused to discuss the wrestling part of a North American match. All three have come from WCW, and two of them (Steamboat-Rude SuperBrawl and this one) have come this year. WCW was circling the drain long before Russo showed up, folks; he was just the last blast of air through the pipes. The flushing began with matches like this six years before he was even thought of by Turner.
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This wasn't a five-star classic, more like the type of match you'd get from these two on an SNME. Shawn's definitely not overmatched here, but Bret's clearly better due to having more experience as a singles wrestler. Shawn's strength is bumping, and we see plenty of good ones here. He even makes Bret's normal punches and kicks look devastating. I think Sweet Chin Music is a better finisher than a rather random suplex, and I wish it could have been the finisher here. Still, Bret escaping the teardrop and turning it into a sunset flip is one of the batter spots in the match, so I'll live with it. Actually, these two do a pretty nifty finishing run for a CHV match. Of course, Sherri ends up inadvertently costing Shawn the match by getting up on the apron at the wrong time and getting leveled by one of his knees. Occasionally a finish like that is fine, but I hope it doesn't become a staple. I liked Sherri actually leaning into the ring to pound on the mat, and her interaction with Mike McGuirk at the start of the match is priceless. Mike looks kind of scared when Shawn bumps and grinds in front of her; I wonder if she was expecting it or not. The commentary is decent, but not much more. I've given up on Mooney ever becoming anything more than a miscast Events Center host, but His Lordship is closer to his prime mid-eighties form than he's been in quite a while. Maybe that's because he likes all three of the main participants, so he's able to be objective, which was always his strength when he was doing house shows with Gino. I agree that the fan who pushed Sherri from behind should have been ejected, and I wonder why Sean didn't throw in a warning to the audience not to touch the wrestlers when they go to live events. Somebody probably forgot to put it in his script. They really didn't make a big deal out of Bret being a Canadian hero, although they mentioned it in passing. Maybe they'd have made a bigger deal about it if we'd been in western Canada closer to Calgary instead of eastern Canada. It's going to be interesting to see how they keep up the issue between these two now that Bret's scored a pinfall over Shawn that made tape, even if it won't be seen for several months. Shawn's going to have to start specifically targeting Bret in promos instead of just making half-hearted noises like he wants to be IC champ. As it is, I'm wondering now what they'll do with Bret until the time comes to start hyping his match with Davey Boy at SummerSlam.
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This was worked like a New Japan match for the most part, and if Pillman hadn't been Liger's partner I'm not sure the fans would have known what to do with themselves, since Liger was a heel the last time he was in WCW and they hadn't seen Benoit or Wellington before. The problem I had with the constant dives to the concrete was that they made WCW look like a bunch of liars. How so? Every time someone went to the floor, JR or Jesse would go on and on about how the floor wasn't padded, all the moves were being taken on hard concrete, etc. But what was on the floor? A blue mat! Not a padded one, maybe, but how did they expect the audience to know that? JR should have explained that it was a carpet for the entrances if that's what they used it for. At least they explained how the top rope moves weren't banned due to the match being contested under NWA rules. Having three guys who were so good off the top didn't help Watts' case to ban the moves, though. Liger, Pillman, and Benoit looked way too good coming off to get across the possible danger. And anyway, if WCW is supposed to feature the toughest wrestlers in the world, shouldn't they be able to take back suplexes off the top like the one Benoit used on Pillman without flinching? Either Watts needed another stated reason for the ban or he needed to just forget about it. I hate to keep picking on Doc in relation to Watts, but it seems to me that the main reason top rope moves were banned, regardless of whatever explanation the Cowboy pulled out of his ass, is that his boys Williams and Gordy weren't aerial wrestlers and would have looked bad if they'd had to compete against guys who were. I didn't see any sandbagging Wellington might have been doing to Liger. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that I didn't see it. I liked JR's references to the Japanese feud between Liger and Benoit, and also the history between Pillman and Wellington in Calgary. One question, though: Why was Wellington called the Western Canadian champion? Was that title fictitious, or was it a veiled reference to a promotion which JR couldn't mention by name on the air? I got a kick out of Jesse realizing that he and JR were beating the "no mat" thing into the ground. JR's too earnest to admit that he does things like that, so it was a good thing that Jesse brought it up. No mention of Pillman's careers with Miami of Ohio or the Bengals? You're slipping, JR! (He did reference Brian's career with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, though.)
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I didn't like this much. There's something about watching guys take bumps with little to no rhyme or reason that just turns me off. Mick's the prime offender here, of course, but Sting took his share too. It's almost like a bumping exhibition, and they're barely touched on some of the bigger ones, like the dives over the guardrail. Having regular rules and still showcasing a few of the more meaningful bumps may have been the way to go here, especially since we already saw a better version of this match back in November on the Power Hour. I liked Jesse marveling at Mick using the few holds he did, and he did just as good a job as JR did at reminding the viewers about the new matless floors, which made the bumps taken in this bout look even sicker than usual. Jesse's main talking point, though, was why Sting was stupid enough to even take on this match against a man who JR speculated may be a paid hitman for Vader. (Yes, I waited for a Bret Hart joke from Jesse and was disappointed when it didn't come.) Anyway, he said what most knowledgeable fans were thinking. If Sting was going to put his body on the line against this maniac, at least he should have made it a title match. JR's replies about Sting being someone who never backs up from a challenge really felt empty by comparison. From a booking standpoint, Watts didn't seem to feel like Sting was the man he wanted to carry the promotion; he had him drop the belt to Vader in his first pay-per-view defense, and then came the JYD push for Ron Simmons. I'm starting to wonder if Doc might not have been his ideal choice for champion if they could have gotten him away from Japan. It's kind of surprising that Sting wasn't valued more highly, since he was a UWF guy, but maybe Watts had him pigeonholed as a midcard crowd-pleaser type and wanted more of a tough guy as champ. Regardless, this marks a second World title reign for Sting that wasn't what it could have been. To Pete's point about the logical extreme of stips, I would have howled If Sting and Mick had somehow fought their way into an open limo and gotten out somewhere in Louisiana or Mississippi, where Sting could have scored the winning fall. Hey, Louisiana and Mississippi are on the Gulf Coast, right?
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I think they said that he stole Bossman's nightstick, Mike. As for the cuffs and uniform, that's the kind of detail that good little marks aren't supposed to worry their heads about. The photos here look like they were taken from some real-life accident. Either that or Vince hired an Academy Award-winning makeup man to do the makeup job on Bossman. Gene essentially repeated himself about this possibly being the worst beating in WWF history and about Bossman being broken. That's very rare for him, and it may be an indication that they realized just how thin this feud was going to be once the initial angle was done. But if that's the case, why not hire someone who's more capable of holding up his end in the ring (and who isn't the type to choke out his boss)? Interesting if irrelevant find: Even though Jake's gone, he's still featured on the cover of the latest Coliseum Video. This is despite him not having a match on the tape. I guess the Warrior angle might have been on it, or maybe him turning on Taker.
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There's not much to add, as another poster said about half a page ago. This was a tremendous match, and a fitting if unintended end to the six-man series between these two sides, at least as far as the Yearbooks are concerned. What stood out to me was the feeling of all six men going all out to win. These guys have all had enough of each other, and they want to end each others' careers and move on with their own. The first few of these were relatively respectful, but that's all past now. They cared nothing about rules anymore; they just wanted to win by any means necessary. There were more saves and countersaves in this match than in any ten other AJPW matches put together, and that helped ensure that the crowd stayed molten hot. Loss did a tremendous job breaking the match down into its parts, and Misawa, Kawada, and Taue were the MVPs of this for withstanding their respective beatings and coming back to be key players in the remainder of the bout. I liked the ending, as Misawa's side finally got the once-and-for-all victory they needed so badly. I know it wasn't intended to be that way, and that Jumbo's illness prevented at least a few more showdowns like this, but as things stand it was a fitting blowoff. All that's left of the feud on the Yearbook now are three (I think) tag matches, one of which comes in June and another of which is Jumbo's final Yearbook appearance in October. The only one to get short shrift in this match is Kobashi, who was only in for a few minutes here and there. Was that the plan or were they covering up an injury? He looked good when he was in, by the way. This may be the best in-ring feud I've ever seen, and it's a shame that Jumbo's illness forced it to end before its time. I'm looking forward to the last few tag matches.
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I didn't like this much. It's against all logic for someone who's signed for a title match to give it up for anything less than six figures, but Rogers taking Ron's money is the least of this bout's problems. In earlier threads, I presented my theory concerning why Bullet Bob is the top babyface in SMW. That's all fine and good, but he isn't the champion. Brian Lee is, and he looked pathetic here. I'm not so much referring to the body of the match; Tony made him look like he belonged in a title bout, which from what I've heard is a minor miracle. I'm talking about the postmatch. I'm all for faces losing their temper and letting the heels have it once in a while, even if it means that the face gets himself disqualified.. But to engage in a beatdown of the heel with a foreign object, even one Ron brought to ringside, is a whole other matter. I was cheering for Orndorff when he waffled Lee with the briefcase, which is totally the wrong reaction but one that Lee brought on himself. Not only that, I cheered when Paul started going to work on the innocent jobbers; Lee didn't deserve a lick of help after what he did Hector did after he was hung, but Lee didn't. So not only do we have a face champion who's already second banana to an as-yet non-wrestling commissioner, we have a face champion who doesn't deserve to be cheered because he acts like the heels he's trying to fight against. If I didn't know better (and I'm nor sure I do, really) I'd swear that Corny planned it this way so most of the fans' energy could focus on the tag division, where of course he and the Bodies are the top attraction. Sure, the fans don't like Anthony and Orndorff, but neither one of them are on par with Corny as a talker and heat getter, and the singles face roster is so pathetic right now that the Fultons are the top in-ring faces almost by default. It couldn't have worked out better for Corny if he'd planned it this way, and like I said above, I'm not sure he didn't. Dutch's analysis during this match, especially detailing the uphill climb a relatively inexperienced champion like Lee has to face, was absolutely brilliant. He self-promoted a bit (though I'd like to see the Down and Dirty where he exposes Ron's conspiracy against Lee), and I'm not sure I cared for him saying that he wished he was in the ring with Lee himself, but those are minor nitpicks. Bob has to stop talking over him, but that will come with time. As of right now, Dutch is the best commentator in the sport, even better than Jesse, who's been revitalized since coming to WCW.
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I was hoping Hall would actually mention some of the wrestlers that he thinks are afraid of him, but no such luck yet. I could see the real-life Scott Hall going on the exact same rant as well. The scary thing is, he'd probably use the Razor accent, as if that would impress people twenty-five years later. As much as I like these, six weeks is about enough. It's time for us to (you guessed it) say hello to the Bad Guy in the ring.