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garretta

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Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    Thanks, Fly. It must have been Bret's blood, then.
  2. garretta
    I thought Gordy made this one, as he absolutely murdered Misawa with some of the forearms he threw. He was a tag guy for the most part by now, but he dusted off his singles boots and made Misawa work for everything he got. I liked the work on Misawa's neck, which was a nice callback to the TC match against Hansen where Stan brutalized it. Maybe the old partners shared a secret or two. Misawa got a much-needed victory after his near-miss against Hansen. They have a rematch coming up, so Misawa now has the momentum going in. Although the match is non-title due to being a tournament final, a win makes him the unquestioned number-one contender for the Triple Crown. I liked the crucifix pin; it's the kind of quick win we don't often get in All-Japan anymore. I also liked Gordy covering a prone Misawa afterward, as if he expected the bout to still be going on and was trying to fool the ref into believing the same. One word of advice for Misawa: This is two bouts in a row where you've nearly been killed by lariats after pushing off the second turnbuckle for momentum. Either don't do that anymore or at least try not to make it look so obvious.
  3. garretta
    This may be Piper's best wrestling match ever, but he's had overall performances, particularly during his incomparable original heel run, that dwarf this. He's here to put Bret over clean on the way out, and he does so pretty as you please, showing off a little wrestling skill along the way. I never really bought the teased heel turns, mostly because using the bell is something I'd expect Piper to do if he got the notion regardless of which side of the fence he was supposed to be on. I thought we'd see a few heelish spots out of Bret, but no such luck. This was definitely Bret's style of match. Piper adapted as well as he could, but he's just not the kind of guy I want to see trying to exchange holds. I really liked his boxing exhibition in the middle, which Bret had no answer for. Speaking of which, Gino in particular has really been putting over Piper's boxing credentials heavily lately, which no WWF announcer has ever done before, even when Rod was the company's hottest face in late '86/early '87. I've seen Bret have better bouts with more technically capable challengers, but he did the best he could with what he had to work with here. I liked his decision to blade; it added drama and extra psychology, plus it got the crowd on his side for good, which was vital since he'd be the one sticking around as IC champion. The finish was nicely done, and set up well by Piper's refusal to use the bell once the ref was knocked out. Like I said above, I never really thought Piper would turn, especially since his program with Bret most likely wouldn't have continued even if he'd kept wrestling (I think Jake was supposed to be Bret's next challenger before he left). The postmatch was really classy, particularly Piper strapping the belt around Bret's waist, like Hogan did with Warrior after Mania VI. The difference is, Bret's WWF singles career was just taking off, while Warrior's had nowhere to go but down for a mulitiude of reasons that we've already talked about. Gino was kind of annoying here; it took him several minutes to stop taking potshots at Heenan and get down to business. Bobby was also a bit out of his element here with no real heel to back. I liked him talking about being the champion of his neighborhood and (of course) "What the hell, use the bell!" Actually, the whole sequence where Piper has the bell in his hand and is debating with himself on whether to use it is golden, not only because of Rod but because of Bobby's reaction. At one point he's so frustrated that he screams, "Give it to me, I'll hit him!" No other commentator ever could come close to getting away with that line. Bret faking an injury just to catch Piper unawares in a small package is a move we should have seen at least a little more often, and it would still work today if it was set up properly. Not to forget the pre-match interview, I loved Rod taking little jabs at Bret and the entire Hart family; my favorite was how there was only one slice of bologna on the sandwiches that Helen made. This is how Lawler should have provoked his feud with Bret a year later, with the insults escalating bit by bit over time. Instead, he trotted out the same old and tired age and senility jokes for over two years to the point where they annoyed even occasional viewers like me in a "Get this goofball off of my screen NOW!" way. Lines of the Match (tie): "Give it to me, I'll hit him!" and "What the hell, use the bell!". A pair of undisputed Heenan classics. Was that Flair's blood that was on the canvas even before Bret had a chance to blade? Ric must have tapped at least two arteries instead of one.
  4. garretta
    This bout completely confused me. Maeda scored most of the points that I remember counting, yet still ended up trailing. Then he puts an ankle lock on Han, and there's a submission, only it's Maeda who submits. This reminds me of the first few times I watched shoot style and could barely make sense of it. How did Han get his reputation as such a great worker? From what I saw, Maeda almost squashed him from start to finish here.
  5. garretta
    This match was a perfect setup for the tournament final. Samurai needed to establish himself as being on Liger's level, and he certainly does here. He's Honaga with skill; most New Japan juniors don't heel, and Liger has trouble with those who do. That's what made the Honaga feud so compelling, and that's what made this match compelling too. Samurai can and will do everything to win, and Liger has no real answer, although he hits his usual compliment of nice moves and dives. Samurai also keeps most of his attack on the mat and focused on Liger's lower back, which is something else that Honaga did well. There's definite doubt going into the final over whether Liger can learn to cope with Samurai's style and pull out a win. Why on earth would Samurai insist on trying to rip off Liger's mask? Hasn't he seen what happens when Keichi Yamada is unleashed upon an unsuspecting world? (The name of the guy I saw rip Liger's mask off escapes me at the moment, but Yamada made sure he paid for it with possibly the most savage beating I've ever seen a junior heavyweight take.)
  6. garretta
    Thanks for the info, Loss!
  7. garretta
    I'm not sure if I'd call this a WWF Match of the Year candidate or not, but I liked it. The story here from beginning to end is Shawn and Sherri taking every chance they can to attack Randy's bad leg. Every shot looked brutal, and of course Randy sold beautifully. No mention was made of Mania, but that's to be expected from Coliseum Video releases at this time. Shawn's really come into his own as a heel already, and while it was too soon to be thinking of championships for him just yet, it's easy to see why Vince loved him so much. The man was born to play an asshole, that's all there is to it. I actually thought Shawn going back to the figure four multiple times was smart work on his part, though how he got permission to use it in a match that made tape while Flair was still around I have no clue. I really, really hated the Munich arena being made up to look like every other WWF taping site. We could have been in Glens Falls, Hershey, or Omaha for all it mattered. We even had to have Mike McGuirk as the ring announcer. I have nothing against her, but they couldn't at least have her do part of the announcements in German? Lord Alfred's still serviceable, but I really could do without ever hearing Sean Mooney on play-by-play ever again. There's no excitement to his calls whatsoever; even if you didn't know he was calling the matches off of a monitor in a studio in Connecticut, you could easily guess it after hearing him talk for only a minute or two. Also, they should can the self-promotion while there's actual action going on. Shawn takes a brutal post bump on the outside, and Savage threatens to knock Sherri for a loop besides, and what do we hear on commentary? How insane the German fans are for the WWF Superstars. This is what happens when the announcers know the result of a match ahead of time and also know that it's not going to have one bit of impact on future storylines whatsoever. It's not quite a half-ass job; His Lordship provides some kernels of insight here and there. Call it a five-eighths of an ass job, and that's being kind to Sean "Munich is a melting pot? DUH!" Mooney. I didn't know that the WWF's stoppage rule for championship matches had changed so that the challenger got the title. Of course, we don't know if His Lordship really knew it either. I suppose we should be lucky that we got a passing reference to Randy and Sherri's days as King and Queen. Lord Alfred: 'He must have done something to upset her; I can't imagine what." Way to creep up to Vince's line without crossing it, sir. What did Mooney have against Nelson Sweglar's son? He wasn't a worker or an official that I know of, so it should take guts to confront Michaels and Sherri when they're on an attempted leg-breaking rampage. Maybe he backed out of a badminton match or something similar with Mooney and Sean was still upset about it.
  8. garretta
    This was another above average six-man, especially for a syndie show. The action never lagged, and you could buy that all six od these guys (seven if you count Heyman) hated each other enough to do serious damage. I would have loved to see a champion vs. champion feud between Sting and Rude over the World title, but if the consolation prize is more hot action between Steamboat and Rude, I'll be more than happy to take it. Horrible though the finish was, the match between them at SuperBrawl was tremendous, and they haven't slowed their pace yet. Yes, we're seeing a new heelish side to Steamer as a result of this feud, and I for one love it. Kudos to Dusty for seamlessly transitioning from Sting/Rude to Steamer/Rude without losing any of Rude's heat or affecting the match quality. This is definitely the number one feud Vince missed out on, even more than Flair/Hogan (which was at least hyped well, even if the in-ring portion turned out to be a total disgrace). Austin the greatest TV champion ever in WCW? Come on, JR. I kept waiting for the "since Arn Anderson", but it didn't come. Actually, I think Tully Blanchard was better than both of them when it comes to that title. JR's on top of his game with the little touches in this feud: putting over Barry and Arn as Horsemen, even though he doesn't mention that name; making sure that we don't forget about Barry's quest for revenge stemming from his broken hand, which is what started this whole glorious chain reaction; stressing that the emotionalism of the situation is making Steamboat behave out of character; Dustin's pursuit of Austin and the TV title; and lots of other subtle points within each bout. This is the kind of competition-based feud that his announcing style fits best. It's just a pity that one or more of these guys don't have a significant college football background for him to talk about. Interesting that JR references at least one house show match between Steamboat and Rude in which Steamboat almost won the US title. That really puts the idea in a prospective ticket buyer's head that Steamer could win the belt when WCW comes to their town, and they best not miss it. Dustin clotheslining Austin out of the air has to be the best-timed spot I've seen in American wrestling so far this year.
  9. garretta
    I loved the video package in the pre-match. Sid looks like the scariest man ever to walk the planet, which is exactly the point. The Barber Shop was a total joke. Look, I know Beefcake wasn't supposed to take any contact, especially in the face, but the way he crawled away from Sid and then ran back to the dressing room like the devil was after him killed his character for good and all. Where were the officials to come down and take control? Sid moved slowly enough for the likes of Garea, Goulet, and company to come down and stop him while other people helped Beefcake. Anything would have been preferable to making him look like such a coward. If nothing else, have him make a move to stab Sid with the scissors or have him throw the barber chair at Sid, then take off. By the way, why did Sid have shaving cream on his nose, of all places? Sid's interview had to be chilling to the Hulkamaniacs. Not even Warrior at his craziest, Savage at his most jealous, or Heenan at his most diabolical seem so committed to not only ending Hogan's career, but killing the idea of Hulkamania itself. These interviews are even scarier because despite Bruno's presence, Sid does all his own talking. This isn't just another wisp of a man spouting idle threats, this is a maniac with all the physical tools in the world doing his best to live up to a solemn vow. Now for the match. Believe it or not, I hold Gino responsible for calling attention to what a big mess the finish was. All he had to do was call what he saw: Bruno interfered by coming into the ring, so Sid was disqualified. Shango's interference is then just another postmatch run-in. But by saying that Shango's interference caused the DQ, he not only needlessly hung Shango and whoever sent him to the ring late out to dry in public, he set the smarks in motion, because there's no way in hell he could possibly have mistaken 130-pound Harvey Wippleman for 280-pound Papa Shango, even if he was half-blind. It's a damn shame that his regular career as a play-by-play guy on pay-per-view had to end this way. He probably thought he was protecting Wright and the agent from Vince's wrath by putting his own neck on the line, but it totally backfired. Line of the match goes, of course, to Heenan following Hogan's kickout from Sid's powerbomb: "They're both nuts!" Warrior looked really good here, and Wright made a bad situation worse by just standing near the ropes and waiting to bump for Warrior's clothesline. This after stopping on his way down the aisle, almost unsure if he should go ahead with the run-in or not. Wouldn't it have been a riot if he'd decided not to under the circumstances? Hogan's (temporary) farewell deserved better than this. If I'd been Vince, I might have even had him go over by clean pinfall, then used the postmatch attack to get Sid his heat back. But the DQ was fine; how it happened was the problem. I've gotten on Vince for years for heavily scripting matches and making wrestlers do blown finishes over again, but after seeing this I know why he went that way, much as I hate it. The main event of WrestleMania is no place for this type of a screwup, period.
  10. garretta
    Again, Eddie shows flashes, but doesn't quite know how to put them together, and is eventually caught in a head scissors attempt and forced into an upside-down-something-or-other that nets Liger a rare submission win. You can tell that the powers that be see something for the future in him, as he gets several nearfalls on one of the top juniors in the world before eventually bowing in defeat. Liger looks good in the role of crafty veteran, which is a role we don't see him in too often at this point. Eddie outwits him at times, but never enough to fully grab the momentum and keep it; Liger's always a half-step ahead when push comes to shove, as he should be given his experience level. I've heard good things about the matches between Liger and Samurai, and I'm looking forward to seeing them. This has been a tremendous tournament so far!
  11. garretta
    This match was action from end-to-end, almost like these two were on fast-forward. Count me among those who wanted more time to let things breathe just a bit, but kudos to Benoit and Scorpio for their ability to go out and deliver what the situation demanded. I liked Benoit sporting the retro British Bulldogs tights circa 1985 WWF. Didn't he belong to some kind of Calgary group called the Calgary Bulldogs that those tights may have been a tribute to? On another Benoit note, why did New Japan still call him Wild Pegasus or The Pegasus Kid when he'd lost his mask in mid-1991? Was it Chris's decision to keep going by that name?
  12. garretta
    Just like in the Samurai match, Eddie looks good for what he is, which is a not-quite-elite worker who's in the tournament to see where he stacks up against the best in the world. Again, his inexperience and recklessness costs him, but he has Casas on the run for a decent part of the match, and instead of fooling around or trying to teach Eddie a lesson, Casas simply cradles him for the win after he misses his big splash off the top. It's nice to have the full match here via handheld, but as with most handhelds, the cameraperson misses some of the important action on the floor, which takes away from the bout quite a bit. That's why I prefer professionally shot matches wherever I can find them.
  13. garretta
    Other than the tombstone botches, I thought Eddie looked decent here. He wasn't what he would be later, of course, but tournaments like this were part of his learning curve. Who is El Samurai? He looked really good here, and should be one of the favorites to take the whole tournament.
  14. garretta
    I really liked this, mostly because of Stan. Not that Misawa wasn't great too, but the idea of Stan being focused and hungry for victory enough to actually target a body part (Misawa's neck) really made this one stand out for me. I especially liked his use of the dragon sleeper, which is about the last hold I ever expected to see him use. He's a veteran who knows where he is at all times, as he showed when he countered Misawa's attempt to use leverage for a strike off the turnbuckle with one of the most brutal lariats I've ever seen him throw. There was no way Misawa or anyone else alive could withstand another one, especially after missing off the top like Misawa did. How he got his foot on the rope after the first one I'm still not sure. This match was clearly designed to show that Misawa just wasn't in Stan's class at the moment. The greatest example of this was when he had Stan in the facelock and on the way out, yet instead of holding on for the submission and the title, he decided to go for the cover. Even though he got a couple of close two counts, it definitely seemed like a missed opportunity that someone with more experience would have taken advantage of easily. That said, he showed the abilty to come back from the best shots Stan could dish out and turn the match back in his favor. The best example of that was when he paid Stan back for the DDT on the floor he took earlier with one of his own. I still have trouble with guys getting up from that and continuing the match after Jake gave Steamboat a concussion with it, but such is life, I guess. There's definitely a sense that Stan got away with one here, and that he won't be so lucky next time. When that next time will be, only time will tell.
  15. garretta
    This was almost fought like a shoot-style match at times with all the brutal kicks and chops. It was slow, but never boring, as you got the sense that these were two guys who knew each other well and were looking for an opening, not just resting or filling time. Shinya breaking the STF twice, even by going to the ropes, is a huge deal and really puts him over as one of the toughest guys in the promotion. So does Chono taking two regular DDTs before succumbing to the jumping version that earned Shinya the win. I didn't see the shot that bloodied Shinya's nose, but given the nature of the bout I'm surprised that Chono wasn't busted open somehow as well. The most interesting thing about this bout is that these two are going to be partners later this month against Vader and Bam Bam. Will they be able to trust each other enough to work together against these two monsters? I can't wait to find out!
  16. garretta
    Not bad for a debut, I must say. Stan and Dr. Tom still have some work to do as a team, but what they show here is more than enough to defeat the Battens. who put up a decent fight before going down. I wonder why Corny didn't just use the Midnight Express name. Was he afraid of a legal hassle from WCW? Was it a gesture of respect toward Bobby Eaton? Or (most likely) did he just want to give his new team a fresh start? It's a pity Stan didn't stay in SMW long enough to make a real impact; when most people think of the Bodies, it's Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray. I liked Dutch saying that he knew who Corny's new team was all along, but decided to sit on it. That didn't do much for the cause of wrestling journalism, but it was a good way to remind the SMW fans that Dutch is supposed to be a heel. I was glad to hear the update on Hector. Quite frankly, I'm surprised Corny didn't decide that he wanted to manage Orndorff, who was obviously supposed to be SMW's top singles heel at this point. I think they would have made quite the interesting combination.
  17. garretta
    Boy, has Dallas gone in the toilet. They can say all they want to that the DP didn't have to show his face, but every fan in attendance who knows anything about wrestling knows that a stip like that should lead to seeing what a guy looks like. All I'll give Gilbert (who I assume at least had a hand in booking this) credit for is that he came up with a slightly more clever way to cheat the paying customers than Fritz or Jarrett did. The other thing that was a major turn-off was the commentary. We all knew that Prichard was going to show up at the table after Beard (who was annoying in his own right over the house mic) barred him from ringside, but apparently someone forgot to tell David Webb. I've said before that he's calling bouts like he'd completely lose track of what's going on if he was distracted for even half a second, and we see more of that here. He not only doesn't acknowledge or engage Prichard, he talks over him most of the time, which is about the biggest no-no for commentators in any sport. Bruce still tries, even throwing in an oblique reference to Lawler ("Who in Memphis do you think Gilbert looks like?") but it's all for naught. Pedicino needs to call the matches himself when Craig's unavailable; he's better at color from what I've heard, but even mediocre play-by-play would be more than we're getting from this Webb character. All in all, this wasn't the most pleasant of experiences. Eddie's promo at the end redeems it a little, but not nearly enough, and he's headed back to Memphis soon anyway. Who's going to be left to save the sinking ship that is the Dallas territory as it goes down for the third (and last) time? More importantly, does anybody still care?
  18. garretta
    I'm not sure what to make of this. The setup was there for Nikita to join the feud against the DA on Sting's side, but now Vader's injured Sting, so now they're teasing Nikita/Vader. Not only that, they've turned all of Nikita's heel actions from '91 into babyface ones simply to bury Luger. Nikita does his best to sell this, but with Sting on the shelf and out of the public eye, it all seems a bit hollow. Or maybe it seems like deja vu, I'm not sure which. It seems to me that Nikita took up the fight for another injured babyface about five and a half years back or so........ Yes, Dusty has found a way to at least partially replicate the Magnum angle, and maybe that's why this seems flat. Not only was the rivalry between Magnum and Nikita a whole lot hotter than the one between Sting and Nikita (mostly because the Cold War was still going on in '86), but everyone at least suspected that Magnum wouldn't be back from his injuries no matter how much he insisted he would be. Magnum needed someone to take his part; Sting doesn't. He'll be back in a few weeks, and while I'm sure he'll be as grateful for Nikita's help as he would be for Dustin's or Steamboat's, there's no sense of do or die here. Wrestling life will go on whether Nikita helps Sting or not, while there was a definite sense back in '86 that the faces would be sunk if someone didn't take Magnum's place. I liked seeing the old footage of Nikita's original face turn, which was probably the most unexpected turn in the history of wrestling up until that time. I'm glad to hear that Ben from Knoxville has recovered enough from his trauma to become Nikita's new best friend. After all, nothing says friendship like almost being leveled by the Russian Sickle. The segment with the little girl in face paint was a direct ripoff of the angle from the previous week with Warrior, but it was still cute. Nikita sounds much more fearsome with his accent than without it. It makes sense that he would lose it after almost seven years in the U.S., but aura-wise, it was a bad decision. I wonder if Uncle Ivan was one of the relatives Nikita went to see back in Lithuania. .
  19. garretta
    I really liked this, mostly because Hogan was as close to low-key and humble as he ever got in a wrestling setting. Vince in a tux added to the gravity of the piece, and if he'd conducted himself with this kind of dignity more often we just may have been spared the Mr. McMahon character, which according to at least a few people had as much to do with putting the ridiculously corny babyface announcer character out of its misery as it did taking advantage of the Montreal situation. Hogan mentions Brooke and Linda, but not by name. The better to prevent stalkers, I guess. The clips from Mania III and Mania VI were a bit strange. They were a mix of Heenan recollections (particularly Mania III, of course), hype for Mania VIII, and Gino trying at points to make the viewers believe that this was his original match call. The Mania VI clip was ruined by a pointless discussion about Flair, Liz, and (of all people) Rona Barrett. The best line of either segment had to be Heenan's supposed words to Andre just before Hogan slammed him at Mania III: "Get up, you're costing me money!" Personally, I would have rather seen either Mania V or Mania VII in place of Mania VI, but I guess they didn't want to show their next champ (Savage) as a loser so close to Mania, and they probably wanted everyone to forget the whole Iraqi turncoat angle, for which I can't blame them a bit. I liked how Hogan said that he wasn't sure if this was his last match or not. That way, he could take some time off to let the steroid mess die down, Sid could have the rub of (temporarily) retiring him, and he could return at some point not too far down the road as the Andre-type attraction that Vince envisioned him as.. Of course, none of the above worked out as planned.
  20. garretta
    I agree that the kids looked overjoyed here. I didn't think Warrior was being too weird either. There was no talk of immortals, of power rising from the depths of hell, or any other such rot. They were clearly trying to make him more human, and they succeeded, at least here. He even wore his facepaint in such a way that you could see his eyes, which he didn't often do during his first run. I really liked him taking the time to shake each kld's hand and give hugs to those who wanted them. Nice touch having one of the kids finish off Mean Gene's introduction. I wonder how much we would have seen of Papa Shango if Sid hadn't been fired. Warrior simply brushed him aside here as Sid's anonymous "curse". I think Warrior talking about Hogan was just another signal to the fans that Hogan would return at some point. Was the plan always to wait until just before Mania IX to bring him back, or were they thinking at one point about bringing him back as soon as SummerSlam? It does seem as though they were planning to push Warrior on top in spite of Savage being champ. I'm wondering if he would have ended up with the belt in Bret's place sometime in the fall if he'd shown himself to be trustworthy. I almost forgot about the Fan Club blurb. You'd think Vince would have started one of these a lot sooner than he did. I wasn't really of age for it by then, but the theme music tape would have been fun to own regardless. I question Hogan's face being the first we saw, but again, they needed to remind the fans that he might be back sometime. Most team fan clubs offer discount tickets to games. It's a shame that the house show circuit was doing so poorly that Vince couldn't do the same. I think that would have brought in more fans than a membership certificate and a merchandise catalog. I'm guessing the three members of Curt's fan club whom Vince was referring to were Curt, Flair, and Heenan. I would have liked it to be four: I'm sure the Ax thought his son was at least fair to middlin'.
  21. garretta
    If this was Sid's last TV appearance, he went out on top, taking credit for the end of Hulkamania and promising to end Warrior Wildness as well. I like how he starts the interview by patting Gene on the head, and I liked Gene's reaction as well, as he subtly takes a look up to make sure he isn't bleeding or bruised. Bruno is completely useless here, as he doesn't even open his mouth once. He does get over the size difference between himself and Sid quite well, though, and he looks like someone a big guy like Sid would hire to be part of his entourage. Line of the segment: Curt saying "Thank you" when Sid talks about ending Hulkamania.
  22. garretta
    Excellent work, gentlemen. I'm going through the '77 card, and I'm not sure if you mentioned this at some point in the last few bouts, but while the MSG Network fans were seeing Martel/Race from Australia, the live crowd was getting a match that would be right down this show's alley: Dominic DeNucci against the Golden Terror. I don't think much was missed, though: they fought to a double countout.
  23. garretta
    It's strange that they couldn't find at least one babyface to sing with the heels at that concert. Was Koko too busy in Memphis to come to Mania and sing a chorus of "Bird Bird Bird"? Brooke and Linda may have been shown with Hogan, but they weren't identified as his wife and daughter. For all the Hulkamanics knew, it could have been his sister and niece, or a cousin and her little girl. I guess that's the way Hogan wanted it, and who can blame him? Some of those "lookalikes" were stretching it, to say the least. Heelish though he may still have been on the air, it's clear that Heenan's been fully accepted as a member of the broadcast team, since he co-hosted the banquet the night before Mania, and stood in front of a podium with a Hogan placard on it to boot. This was a great way to tell who among those leaving after Mania were still on good terms and who weren't. Hogan and Piper definitely were, as they were prominently mentioned. Jake assuredly wasn't; even though he was clearly seen in the brunch footage and one of his lookalikes could be seen during the contest footage, he wasn't mentioned or even referred to subtly. How the mighty fall off the face of the earth! It's not very often that someone who's leaving and not coming back is on the cover of the WWF Magazine the way Liz was that month. Did they know she was leaving in advance, or did she just fly home from Europe suddenly and not bother to return?
  24. garretta
    This was funny in its own way. I only remember Crush a little, and that was when they decided to do the Hawaiian gimmick with him. Adams shows a decent amount of personality for forty seconds, and delivers the tagline about as well as possible. I didn't even know Keirn was still in the WWF. I think him calling out Repo was an inside joke, considering that they used to be tag team partners not so long ago. I would have liked to see Crush vs. Smash, whether they acknowledged that Smash and Repo were the same person or not.
  25. garretta
    There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all mold for a World champion, guys. Sting in a Flairesque three-piece suit with slicked-back hair and understated face paint (or none at all) would look completely ridiculous and out of character. He got to where he was wearing stuff like hot pink tank tops and weightlifting belts, and that's what his fans expected to see when they see him. As for not having the belt, was he going to wrestle? Obviously not, so why bring it out? I'm sure even the densest little Stinger remembered what it looked like. (More than once, I've heard champions criticized for wearing the belt to tag matches and interviews, or anywhere else where it wasn't actually going to be defended.) I'd be more concerned about Dusty doing most of the talking during the interview, almost like they were planning to involve him somehow in the Sting/Vader feud. Not that they couldn't have done that believably, especially since Harley was going to manage Vader, but since we know they didn't, that comes off as not quite trusting Sting to deliver the verbal goods, even after two title reigns and almost seven years in the business. For whatever reason, those in charge of WCW, whoever they may have been, didn't fully believe in Sting during this time period, and that's a shame. Maybe things will change during the course of this reign, but it seems to me at the moment like they put the belt on Sting only because Luger was gone and they had no one else. Since Flair started to be alluded to here and there not too long from now, I'm wondering if they were already thinking about him returning and getting the belt back before too long, especially after he dropped the WWF title at Mania VIII. Why did the botched ending, with Sting apparently getting up to leave, then realizing that they were going to break and sitting back down, allowed to air? And why was JR so flummoxed that he couldn't say a word, even when Sting prompted him? He probably thought that they'd cut the cameras off, but when they didn't he should have said something simple like, "Hold on, Stinger. We'll be going to break in a second." As others have said, letting stuff like that air is what gave WCW its second-rate reputation at this time. When did WCWSN start having its own matches again? This new format couldn't have lasted too long, as I see matches from late May that made the set.
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