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garretta

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Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    Actually, I was more annoyed by the play-by-play guy than I was by Bruce. Bruce kept trying everything he could to engage the guy in some sort of give-and-take, but Webb just doggedly plowed ahead in calling the match as if he was afraid he'd completely lose his train of thought if he let himself be interrupted even for a second. He was definitely not a veteran wrestling commentator, and putting him in the booth with someone like Bruce was sort of unfair to him, truth be told. I wonder where Craig was this week. As for the match, it was okay for a TV sprint, but if it hadn't been for the title change, it wouldn't have stood out at all. Barry's had a nice little run, but anyone who's seen both he and Davis wrestle can't possibly call this an upset. This wasn't a squash, but I always thought Davis would pull it out in the end. Will Barry bounce back from this, or is he on a one-way trip back to Jobberville? I can't wait to find out over the next few weeks.
  2. garretta
    Great introductory heel promo from Luger, and I'm sure we would have heard more from him had the WBF really hit it big. I love the paring of Luger and Heenan, and I can't help but wonder what might have been had Bobby actually been able to manage him from ringside when he debuted. It's amazing; even though he was out of managing, when Vince really wanted to get a heel over as a big deal, he still associated that heel with Heenan in some way (except for Sarge in '91; even though Heenan wasn't directly involved with Taker, Brother Love was a known associate of his, so you could say that Taker got the Heenan rub once removed.) I loved Gino taking exception to Luger calling him "the fat guy"; it almost seemed for a second that Gino wanted to teleport himself to Atlanta and get right in Luger's face. The woman who served Luger the milk at the end almost had to be his wife or girlfriend du jour; I don't think Vince would fly someone to Atlanta for a mere five-second cameo. Did Luger ever actually compete in a WBF event? I read an article about the WBF once, and I seem to remember it saying that one of the established bodybuilders won the next competition, whenever it was. I would have thought Vince would have had Luger win in order to justify the expense of signing him in the first place. I guess "The Narcissist" nickname and character hadn't been thought of yet, although it would certainly apply here. But why nor just stay with "The Total Package"? Did WCW claim a trademark on it, or was this just Vince wanting to own his guys body and soul as usual?
  3. garretta
    When I put this on, I wondered how a stretcher match could last less than five minutes. Well, I got my answer, and I don't like it. Hooray for the unstoppable Moondogs and all that, but this is the second biggest feud in the promotion, and one of the people involved is leaving the territory. Surely we could have had some resolution to the match before the Dogs ran in and tore the place apart. There was nothing involving the Dogs that couldn't have been put off until next week. Ban them from TV for a week due to their past conduct and let Embry and Tony have the spotlight all to themselves. Of course, now that I think of it, I'm not sure Embry would have wanted to take the ride, and to have Tony sent out on a stretcher after all that Embry's done to him and Kim would have put a very sour taste in the fans' mouths, so maybe it wasn't a coincidence that this was the week when the Dogs started interrupting everything under the sun. Before anyone says anything, I haven't seen the Lawler/Jeff angle preceding this yet, but I've read about it, and I don't think Richard Lee getting stripped naked is any kind of justification for ruining this bout (in a booking sense). That could have all been done the following week when Tony's (presumably) in Knoxville for good. We needed a good, long (as in thirty minutes or more) arena-style match that ended with Embry taking the ride, and we didn't come close to getting it. It kind of makes everything that's gone before an excuse to exploit and degrade Kim more than an actual wrestling feud, and I've about had my fill of angles like that from Jarrett Promotions, regardless of branch.
  4. garretta
    The perfect (no pun intended) ending to the buildup for Mania. We get the first reference to Space Mountain in the WWF, and as previously mentioned, Flair breaks out one of his designer suits for the occasion. Nothing new is mentioned except for the centerfold, but Flair continues to be every inch the cool, cocky champion his biggest fans have always thought he was, no matter how he was actually portrayed. As I said in an earlier thread, you would have thought that Vince would have depicted him as a borderline maniac and Crockett/Turner would have depicted him as a cool customer, but so far it's been the exact opposite. In fact, I could have made a case that this was Flair's best six-month run in at least five years (yes, including Funk and Steamboat in '89) if only he hadn't been made to look like such a fool in the Hogan "feud". I'm wondering if Randy and Liz might have had the centerfold idea killed, seeing as how Liz wasn't going to be around anymore after Mania (at least in the U.S.). It makes no sense to base the after-Mania rematches on Randy getting satisfaction for someone who won't be on screen anymore, so what good would it do to keep the Liz portion of the feud alive? Even if she'd planned to come back at some point, she'd had a pretty hard last eight months going back to the cobra at SummerSlam and deserved a rest, both onscreen and in real life. I can't wait to see the match again now that I've seen the buildup. I just hope it lives up to the hype!
  5. garretta
    This was Liz's last interview before she left, and it was her best. Wisely, Vince decided not to have her cut a promo in the traditional style, which I don't think she could have done effectively. Instead, he guides her through a sitdown interview similar to the type you would find on a sports interview show, and she comes across as hurt and angry, but her hurt and anger seems to be directed toward those who would believe Flair's story more than Flair himself. This is an interesting tack, as it means that the match at Mania doesn't really enter into things. In fact, it isn't even mentioned at all; this seems more like an interview that could be used to explain Liz's departure more than anything else, but I don't think they even mentioned that Liz was off the road when the time came. Savage just stopped talking about her and that was that. Did Savage or anyone else ever mention her after Mania, even in passing? I thought that Liz was effective within the parameters of her character; there was no way in the world a screaming, vengeful Liz would have even been remotely plausible after all these years. She maintains her classy demeanor while effectively communicating her distress, and Vince keeps things cool and professional, which only surprised me because of how much he's slobbered all over her on commentary since her debut. This may be a strange question, but where were Randy and Liz supposed to be living now? Randy was billed as living in Sarasota, and I know Liz went to the Hogans (who lived in Tampa) during her divorce. Also, Liz is in shorts during the interview. But Randy's supposedly on his way to the publishers of WWF Magazine to give them the negatives of the alleged photos, and inside the magazine it clearly stated that it was published in Connecticut. I know that they can make up any old bullshit they want, but this is one of those things that anyone with a brain can look at and say, "Hey, wait a second. How is this possible? The way Liz talked the magazine offices were close by, but Florida's a long way from Connecticut. Something's not on the up-and-up here......" I liked Gene's "I knew it all along!" after the interview played. Let me ask you something, baldy: If you knew all along that the pictures were fakes, why did you push a madman like Savage to the breaking point a few weeks ago? You're just like all the other media jackals, looking for a good story regardless of the consequences. And guess what? We wrestling fans wouldn't want you any other way! Can't wait to hear about Flair and Curt's alleged centerfold!
  6. garretta
    I actually watched Ron and Tony first, and Ron stole the show as usual. He finally dropped the pathetic old man in a wheelchair act and skewered the fans for not being sympathetic toward him in the most unsympathetic way possible. It's almost like he felt that he didn't have to play nice anymore now that Tony was on the scene. For his part, Tony stuck to putting over Volunteer Slam and the SMW title tournament. I loved him calling out Lee, and Lee had a pretty good line: "I know there's someone on the planet who can beat me, but it sure isn't you." He's not the best promo in the world, but he's better than Horner at this point. The teases for the Bodies get more and more bizarre. I loved Corny's flummoxed expression as the women supposedly in the room flung their underwear at him, but what stole the show for me is Bob's skepticism over whether Corny even has a team. This is about the time when everyone in the audience would be wondering the same thing, and the timing is perfect, as they're guaranteed to show up next week for their first title tournament match. They could probably stretch this out one more week if they had to, but I'm glad they didn't, especially since I already know who the team is. I can't wait to see the reveal and what Bob and Dutch think about it. Nice bit at the end about Corny asking Bullet Bob for extra security and bibs for the ladies at ringside. Corny's one of the few talkers who can make the same old kind of insults sound just new enough to draw fresh heat for himself. Piper's the only other person who fits this category, and it's fitting that Corny sees Rod as one of his influences, even though they were contemporaries.
  7. garretta
    What we saw was great, as Jumbo took the best the MVC could throw and came back to score the big win. Doc in particular looked marvelous, hitting every big power move in his repertoire. Taue was great as Jumbo's helpful partner, who contributed to the festivities by taking Bamm Bamm out with a dive so Jumbo could hit the second Jumbo Driver on Doc and pin him. Misawa and friends have been getting the best of Jumbo lately, so it's good to see him looking so strong here, and also to hear the crowd universally behind him and Taue. There will be better days ahead for the MVC, both in Japan and in the U.S.
  8. garretta
    This was good for what it was, and Vale kept up well with the veteran. I didn't see Fujiwara doing any overt heeling like the rest of you seemed to; in fact, other than the purple trunks, this seemed like a typical Fujiwara bout to me. It turned into a battle between Fujiwara's headbutt and Vale's kicks, and Bart's feet carried the day I'm not sure how much shoot-style had been seen by a live US crowd at the time, but this one sure seemed to be into the match, They did boo Fujiwara at one point, but I think they'd have booed anyone who was fighting a guy with the American flag on his tights. I wonder if we'll see Vale defending his newly-won "championship" in Japan. A rematch between these two on Japanese soil would be interesting, to say the least.
  9. garretta
    A screwjob this obvious isn't enjoyable to watch at all. I've seen this compared to the Austin/McMahon storyline, which I was no fan of at all in the brief looks I took here and there while at college, but that was done better than this was. There was way too much physical involvement by Esposito, even for a paid-off ref, and I wanted Eddie to rip that silly patch off and shove it down his throat. When he didn't, I wondered if this was the same man who tried to commit vehicular homicide on Jerry Lawler. He looked like a wimp, Horowitz got nothing at all out of this, and we didn't even see much out of Prichard, who was supposedly behind it all. If this was supposed to be brilliant booking, its brilliance is totally lost on me. If this is what Eddie would have brought to the business had he lived, I'm glad we missed out, no disrespect intended. This kind of crap is what took the fun out of wrestling for me, and I'm shocked to see that someone other than Vince McMahon started it. I expect schlock out of someone like him who has such contempt for the business and wishes it were something else with all his heart; I don't expect it from a kayfabe lifer like Eddie.
  10. garretta
    The pre-match promo was about a hundred decibels too loud, but seeing Hogan and Piper on the same side is always fun. My favorite moment came when Hogan slapped Piper's chest just before he left the interview area and Piper turned to Lord Alfred and said, "Ow!" These two will never quite be on the same page no matter what. Nice reference by Piper to both him and Hogan being there since "the conception", which they were if you're talking about Hulkamania. I liked Heenan and Gino arguing over how important the "Shawn Michaels has left the building" was. It's sort of an odd thing to put before a totally unrelated match, but that's one of the things that made it memorable. Bruno gets to travel, but Curt doesn't? Who's the manager of the World champion anyway? If you're going to argue importance to each wrestler's act. Curt still wins hands down. All Bruno does is a half-baked Cornette imitation with his intro and a few spots where he blows cigar smoke in a jobber's face. Not exactly irreplaceable, is it? Interesting that MSG Network (who produced the graphics) used Sid's real-life hometown of West Memphis, Arkansas, which neither the WWF nor WCW ever did. This match was mic'd wrong; the majority of the sound came from inside the ring, which meant that you could hear Finkel and the theme music clearly, but not Gino and Bobby. I caught a few good things, though: Gino's disgust at seeing Bobby and Flair hug before the bout, Bobby describing the new robe Flair's going to wear at Mania, and Gino sarcastically wondering what kind of advice Bruno could possibly give Flair. I'm kind of wondering about that last one myself, to be honest. Flair's interactions with Hogan and Piper were a good deal more spirited than in any of the three singles matches he'd preciously had with the two men at MSG. I particularly liked the segments with Piper and Flair, which left their Worcester cage match in the dust. You'd think they were headed for a match at Mania. Sid was only used sparingly, since they wanted to save his matchup with Hogan for Mania and he and Piper really weren't a good fit as opponents due to their size difference. I can't really think of anything he did that was noteworthy outside of the kip-up against Piper and a few distraction sequences. Hogan and Piper never really meshed as a team, but that's part of the charm of their pairing. As I said above, try as they might, they were never quite on the same page. They were still staring each other down for tags most of the time, as if each expected the other to slug him instead, and they never really celebrated together after they won either. I think Piper may have been the one Hulkamania-era face who never turned on Hogan, but never really accepted him as a friend at any point either. We got to see the doctor's bag used as a weapon, which I guess was another reason Bruno stayed at ringside. Of course, it didn't help Flair and Sid one bit, as Hogan got the pin anyway with his surprise clothesline on Flair. I don't know what they could have done instead, but having your World champion lose to a guy that you're sending home after Mania really isn't good business. Of course, Piper pinning Flair would have been worse, Hogan pinning Sid would have killed Mania dead, and Piper pinning Sid without help from a low blow or foreign object would have made Sid a laughingstock. Botched spot of the set so far: The standard shoving match between Flair and the referee, in this case Earl Hebner. Earl's way too skinny to pull it off properly, so Piper had to knock Flair down on the rebound. Come on, Ric, I know you like your same old spots, but make sure the people you want to do them with can do them before you call for them.
  11. garretta
    If you've read my "review" of Steamboat/Rude from SuperBrawl, you'll know that I believe that the finish wiped out every single bit of good connected with the bout. I wasn't too high on Steamboat/DA as a feud afterward, and although I pretty much knew that this match would be good considering who was involved, and I'd already seen a brief clip of Steamboat hanging Rude at the end of this, I still wasn't prepared to be impressed. Well, I was wrong. This was great from beginning to end. Sure, the postmatch stuff makes the bout itself ultimately meaningless, but Steamer and Arn work like the US title's on the line by proxy, bringing everything they've got into the short time they're given. Steamboat raises his level of aggression perfectly to match Arn's, and both men hit just about every spot you'd expect. Then Heyman tries to interfere, and Steamer goes absolutely berserk. He doesn't just grab Paul by the collar and yell in his face until Rude can come down to make the save, but hits a picture-perfect reverse atomic drop which is sold better by Paul (a manager who seldom takes bumps) than by half the wrestlers on the roster. That's the cue for Rude to come down, and we get a tease of a Rude Awakening with Steamer's own gi belt. That doesn't happen; what happens is that Steamer nails Rude in the throat with a chop, then remembers what Don Muraco did to him seven years before and hangs Rude with the belt (actually, I think it's called a sash), almost choking him out. My description doesn't do this bit justice, as the crowd and JR lose their collective minds at the idea of someone actually getting sustained payback on the DA without help. I've never seen Steamboat this vicious, not even after Savage tried to murder him. Vince always tried to paint him as on too high of a plane to be so violent, almost Zen-like. Here, he's just a good ol' boy from Charlotte who's looking to kick some ass, and I loved it to death. Of course, Rude will have an answer, but for now the playing field is level, as Arn's mission to take Steamer out has completely backfired. JR was on point, especially when talking about the accumulated damage Steamer's neck might have sustained from all the Rude Awakenings he's taken over the past few months. The concept of accumulated damage isn't often talked about in a feud; usually a wrestler suffers an injury, then recovers from it, and while the prospect of further injury is teased, the person who caused the original injury is either prevented by the victim from attacking it again or forgets about it in favor of simply beating the hell out of the victim. If Steamboat had sold the neck a little, even in passing, the point would have been even clearer. How often do you see a referee successfully take a chair away from an interfering heel? Too bad Patrick had to knock himself out with it a few seconds later.
  12. garretta
    I might be the only one who didn't really care for the finish. I've seen it just about every time the WWF does a face vs. face match, and it never quite looks right to me. At least Piper could have clocked Shawn with the shoe afterward. The only thing that's different is that we don't get the usual shoving match which every official in the building has to break up; Bret simply tosses the IC belt into the ring and leaves. Shawn really looked like a future star here. For someone who's not used to wrestling singles, let alone heel singles, he keeps up with Piper better than most and never seems outclassed. If Piper had stayed, IC champion or not, he and Shawn could have had a nice little feud. Interesting that we get a tease of a possible Bret/Shawn feud over the IC belt after Mania. Their careers seemed destined to intersect in some form or fashion from the second Shawn turned heel (and let's not forget the Rockers/Harts confrontations in '90). I loved Heenan whistling along to "Sexy Boy". I've heard him do it before, and it always cracks me up. That song was never the same once Shawn did his own recording of it after Sherri left. Her voice fit it better, and the song was written to be sung by a woman in the first place. About the Shawn/Sherri pairing: Shawn needed a manager at first while he learned the ins and outs of doing heel promos, which he ended up mastering fairly quickly, as it turned out. But since no one could know that at the time, he needed a manager, and since he going to call himself "The Heartbreak Kid" eventually, who better than a woman? Sherri was the only available choice unless Vince brought in someone like Medusa, although I would have loved the idea of Moolah or someone not quite as attractive as Sherri taking the role, which of course included drooling over Shawn at every conceivable opportunity. I thought Sherri did a bang-up job, as always. Nothing will ever touch her reign as Sensational Queen, but she fit a lot better with Shawn than she did with Teddy. Gino brings up a good point on commentary: Shawn never said in all the time he and Sherri were together that he cared for her at all, which of course fit his self-centered character to perfection. Hell, he showed more affection for Nash once he came in to be his bodyguard. I can't believe I almost forgot to mention the bit about Piper and T. What had T done to piss Vince off enough to say that Piper had knocked him out clean at Mania 2? Only fans who had never seen or read about the card could have swallowed that line of bull, and even though I doubt that the average Hulkamaniac was a wrestling historian, surely most of them had rented the Coliseum Video by now if only to see Hogan/Bundy. Or maybe it was wishful thinking on Gino's part; from the way he said "He (Piper) knocked the bum out cold!", maybe Gino had some kind of problem with T that prompted him to go into business for himself a bit. Line of the night goes to Heenan: "Piper should have two belts: one around his waist and one around his mouth."
  13. garretta
    The first two falls of this one were sluggish, and the third ended up a mess because of the interference of Caras and Konnan, who truth be told had more energy than Fuerza and Octagon did outside of a few spots. It was almost as if Fuerza and Octagon knew this would end inconclusively and decided to just grind it out until it was time for the seconds to get involved. I liked Fuerza trying to hide from Octagon in the crowd but getting leveled anyway, the "birdman" stuff when Fuerza flapped his wings, then tried a move off the top but missed by a mile, and the spot where Octagon bulldogged Fuerza literally on the front row seats. Other than that, this was too blah for me. Thank heaven they replayed the third fall finish or I wouldn't have understood what was going on there either, which would have made this a total dud,
  14. garretta
    This match had its good points and its bad points. I thought Muto and Hase worked together really well, especially when they were doing a number on Brad's leg. They seem to fit together quite well as a team. Norton and Brad did all right, and some of their doubleteams during the finishing run looked impressive. This leads me to my top sticking point with the match. As I just said Hase and Muto did great work on Brad's leg, and Brad sold it very well too. Eventually he tagged Norton, who went through some of his power moves competently, then tagged Brad back in. Immediately, Brad was flying around the ring as if the last fifteen minutes of work on his leg had never happened. I'm not one who penalizes guys for not accurately selling at all times, particularly during finishing stretches, but seeing Brad throw dropkicks and propel himself over the ropes like a luchadore is a little much even for me. DR brings up the fact that Brad might have been covering up Norton's limitations as a worker, but if Scott was that limited, he wouldn't have been in this spot to start with. This didn't ruin the match for me, especially since Muto and Hase went over in the end anyway, but it took away from it quite a bit Save of the Night: Right at the beginning of the match, Norton shoots Hase off of a headlock, and Hase has to scramble to avoid going out through the middle ropes. I've never seen that before, accidental or otherwise. What was the chant Hase led the crowd in after the bout? Was it a simple "one-two-three" or was there something more to it than that?
  15. garretta
    Brian not only looks like his old man, he sounds a lot like him too. He's an excellent young cocky heel, and at least at this point in his career doesn't need to ride his dad's coattails anymore. It's a bit off-putting that Lawler refused to acknowledge him publically for another five years, but at least it spared him being nothing more than someone Jerry's enemies whipped in order to get his goat, like David Sammartino was used during his WWF career while Bruno was around. Jimmy's a little thin, and the peroxide's not working as much as it used to, but he's not a walking corpse yet like some of you think. He is a wee bit condescending toward Brian, though. Just because you used to change his diapers, Jimmy, don't blow off every sign he's trying to give you that he wants to slap the taste out of your mouth. Would you offer to work out with Dad (Lawler) and then get a soda pop with him? Absolutely not, because you know he'd shove the soda down your throat and beat you bloody with the can. Brian's a champion and no one to take lightly. Speaking of champions, why does Papa still recognize a Texas champion when he doesn't even promote there anymore? That belt should have been scrapped the second the Dallas office went belly-up. With all the shots Papa and the Kingfish still enjoyed taking at WWF wrestlers, it's amazing that in just nine months, not only would Lawler be one of them, but in time he'd become better known for his WWF stint than for his many years as the King of Memphis. I noticed that the lady Jimmy kissed didn't like it much, which was a rarity in Mempho even then. Maybe she was one of Brian's fans. I loved Dave's outraged "He didn't want it that way!" when Brian said after slugging Jimmy that he'd only given Jimmy five just like he'd wanted. He's still the best studio host in wrestling at this time, hands down. Can someone besides Eddie Marlin make routine saves for the faces, please? We're seeing way too much of him in angles that are relatively unimportant. Save him for running off guys like Embry or the Moondogs.
  16. garretta
    Except for the multiple "Whoo!"s at the end, this is another calm, measured promo by Flair which recaps the photos used in the angle one last time. I like the idea of Flair and Curt deliberately using an empty auditorium for this in an attempt to turn up the psychological pressure on Savage even more; if no else believes her, Randy, can you? The scarf may be a bit stalkerish, and I didn't like Flair saying that he would be wearing it at Mania. Still, one wrong note in a month and a half of promos isn't a bad batting average, especially when you consider that WCW would have had him kissing and slobbering all over the scarf right from the start of the angle and acting like a lovesick maniac. This may be the best sustained run of Flair promos leading up to a big match since Starrcade '85, if not even further back. No, this isn't the 6:05 Flair so many fondly remember, and I for one welcome the change. Other than making him look like a fool against Hogan, Vince has actually portrayed Flair more like the character he's supposed to have been playing all these years than either Crockett or Turner ever did. The only thing missing is the designer suits, and that's a quibble. It doesn't matter if he's wearing a robe or a sweater, Ric Flair is finally the coolest cat in the room on a regular basis, just like he's always wanted to be. Whoever thought we'd have Vince McMahon to thank for that?
  17. garretta
    This was a disgrace, and I'm not exaggerating. The Moondogs beat the hell out of not only Lawler and Jeff, but the lumberjacks and the referees as well. Who's left to stop them now, Lawler's late rally notwithstanding? To make matters worse, Lee interferes so liberally that he's actually a participant; the only one immune from his magic powder is Jimmy Valiant, of all people. What's the sense of having lumberjacks if the Dogs can beat them up with impunity? Why was Lee basically allowed to wrestle alongside the Dogs? There are no logical answers to these questions, and that's the problem with this feud. It's just been craziness with no reason behind it since day one, and it's taken both Lawler and Jeff out of the Unified title chase and reduced that belt to an insignificant prop, in the storyline as well as real life. Good action or not, I'm ready for this to end one way or the other. The problem is, we're nowhere near the end, from what I can tell. What can possibly happen next? EDITED TO ADD: I didn't know that the lumberjacks were jobbers until I read this thread. Okay, so getting beaten up and run off was just what they did, to quote the Geico commercial. That still doesn't excuse Lee going nuts with the powder and making this a handicap match. .
  18. garretta
    This was every bit as wild as Lawler and Jeff vs. the Moondogs, only there was more of a personal issue. At first, I thought they'd just have Tony squash Embry, but then Embry decides he hasn't had enough yet and the brawl continues. We get a mass run-in that only makes things wilder before we fade out. The sad thing is, with Tony going to SMW we won't get too many more brawls like this. Maybe a lost tape will surface of Embry showing up in Knoxville to continue the feud. Hey, we can dream, can't we?
  19. garretta
    For the record, I didn't think the second fall submission was particularly screwy; most lucha submissions in the first two falls of a match happen quickly to get them out of the way and get to the third fall as quickly as possible. The decisive fall's ending was definitely Montreal-esque, but what bothered me more was the ref grabbing Sevilla by the hair and holding him so Salvaje could hit him. That made the fix all too obvious and took most of the drama out of the whole match, especially since Bestia ended up winning anyway. The dives and bumps taken in this match were off-the-charts insane. The monkey flip from Sevilla (I think) that launched Salvaje out of the ring and almost into orbit around the sun was the one that stood out the most, but every time either guy went to the top, I knew that they were going to try once again to commit suicide. The dives weren't particularly picturesque, but they sure projected a ton of energy and hatred on both sides, which was the point. Has any wrestler who's ever lost a hair match in Mexico been booked to refuse the haircut and walk out? I'd love to know what kind of match would be up next in the feud and how the crowd would react, especially if the wrestler in question was a tecnico. If anyone ever had a case for doing something like that, it was Sevilla after this match, considering how he was screwed over.
  20. garretta
    Nice little match, with the big story being the dissension between Koshinaka and Fujinami. I feel like we missed a good bit of the buildup to this, since some of the moves Koshinaka wanted to be saved from by Fujinami seemed a bit basic. Maybe that's why Fujinami didn't come in until after Chono had locked in the STF, by which time it was too late. Other than that, there wasn't a whole lot here. Chono and Hase were the much more fluid team, and I liked the work they did on Koshinaka's leg. Hase's an excellent tag team wrestler whether he's paired with Chono or Muto. This feels like a big win for Hase and Chono, but since Muto is Hase's regular partner, it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Still, it was a pleasant way to spend twenty minutes.
  21. garretta
    Anyone who doesn't know exactly who Nikita's referring to must have just started watching. Come on, guys, we don't need mystery for everything! Beating Valentine in WCW isn't exactly a stepping stone for Zenk. It would have been more impressive if Greg had beaten and crippled him instead, US tag belts notwithstanding. Am I the only one who believes that as crazy as Rick's supposed to be, he's still a better promo than Scott? His answer to the fan's question makes a ton of sense when you think about it. I'll comment on the Steamer/Rude stuff in the Steamer/Arn match thread when I get there.
  22. garretta
    Tony goes seamllesssly back to his babyface role in Memphis, although he sounds like the toughest guy in the world as he promises revenge for Embry forcing himself on Kim the week before. Even Dave knows better than to get in his way. I wouldn't think we'd see too much more of Tony in Memphis, since SMW is getting off the ground. I wonder how they'll write him out.
  23. garretta
    By Big Two standards, this may have been bad. By SMW standards, this was actually very good and hit just about everything you'd want in a top babyface. The thing you come away with here is that he's still the boy next door who can relate to not only his fans, but his neighbors, which in his case might be the same thing. He's a better singer than Jeff Jarrett was as Double J from what I can remember, and his athletic accomplishments mean much more to the actual intended audience than they ever would to us Yearbook watchers. Plus, we know Tim's push tanked, which colors everything involved in it badly. I didn't know Tim had actually pinned Hawk; I'm guessing this was on TBS. I wonder why Dusty didn't at least give him a push toward, if not a run with, the TV title after that.
  24. garretta
    So Corny wants to keep things secret regarding his team, and then he wears the brightest red jacket he can find in his wardrobe? Yeah, that'll work. The idea of Phil Rainey, who looks like he's only sexy to his wife (if he has one), taking any other man's leftovers is hilariously absurd. Bob, who usually shows the patience of Job even with Corny, is becoming agitated now, so the big reveal has to be coming soon. Nice way to lay the groundwork for the Armstrong/Corny feud by having Corny mention that Bullet Bob is just as curious to see this new team as everyone else is.
  25. garretta
    This match was taken right down into the gutter by one of the most idiotic finishes I've ever seen, and unfortunately for all involved, it deserves to rot there. As usual, Pete's right on the money: How in the world did Steamboat not know who was in the costume? He presumably rode with the guy to the arena and would know approximately what he looked like even in costume (height, posture, etc.), so if something wasn't right he should have noticed it beforehand and dome something about it. Why didn't he? The answer is, of course, is "It's wrestling", which is a terrible answer that allows promotions to get away with abject stupidity designed to make their fans look and feel like utter morons if they stop to think about what they see for longer than ten seconds. The worst part is, most of it is preventable. In this situation, you simply have another member of the DA come out and hit Steamer with the phone while Rude has Patrick tied up. Whoever it is can claim that they got the phone from Paul as a gift or whatever else they want; the point is, that finish makes the DA look like desperate cowards instead of making Steamboat look like someone who took the turnip truck to the matches. Why Dusty tried to portray Steamboat as a stalker who lusts after Medusa and an imbecile who doesn't even know what his own bodyguard is supposed to look like, I can't say. Match quality aside, I almost prefer The Dragon, 1991 version. At least he looked scary with the fire breathing. The finish disgusted me so much that it's impossible to think about the match apart from it, because all the good work led to a pile of utter crap. It seems ridiculous to talk about how well Steamer worked on Rude's arm or how Rude looked like he was out to break Steamer's neck hardway. Good work doesn't impress me much if the end result insults my intelligence and makes me sorry I wasted my time watching. and this finish was one of the prime examples of both. I was looking forward to watching this specifically because I remembered the meandering mess these two opened the '88 Royal Rumble card with, and I thought that this would be a prime example of a match that Vince let get away. How wrong I was. The sad part is, if Vince booked a similar finish, it wouldn't be excused with "Well, it furthered the feud", or "It was a clever screwjob". Some of us (and I definitely include myself here) would use it as an example of how Vince just doesn't care about the sporting aspects of wrestling as long as his stupid storylines are kept alive. We shouldn't be afraid to call WCW out for similar horseshit just because some of the moves done before the horseshit happened looked prettier than what we'd usually see in the WWF. I had a whole post ready to go about the announcing and the ins and outs of the bout, but for only the second time since I've started the Yearbooks (the other being a Flair-Pillman bout from '91) I'm going to pass on it and let my rant about the finish be my sole commentary on the match. The workers deserve better, JR and Jesse (who were brilliant) deserve better, but the match itself doesn't.
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