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Meng is on a freaking tear. Robinson is gonna need his head on straight real soon. Ricky Martel is really on fire going into Starrcade and I like the buildup to the title match.

I'd agree that after 87 it seems like more flavor of the month heels/babyfaces vs. the usual suspects matches that are good to really good, but just don't reach the quality of matches on disc 2 or 3. It's not like anything is bad, just a definite drop in quality. For me any time Chicky Starr showed up I was still usually pretty happy with things. The first Batten Twins match as heels also was just a jump up in match quality.

To point out how fantastic this disc is. I am a huge fan of the Invader 1 vs. Ron Starr street fight match, amazing stuff throughout. But I take no issue with you putting those 7 matches above it at all. There is just THAT MUCH good stuff on disc 3.

Strong isn't anything special, but he's carry-able. Abby does a lot of the work here and that's for the better. I like Abby as a babyface as much as I like him as a heel in PR, which is to say a lot. He's got such a great connection with fans as both. Strong hits a couple of pretty good lariats and ends up looking pretty good coming out of the match. One thing I will say for him is that either he gets that he doesn't need to throw in a ton of flashy offense or just plain doesn't have it. Either way it works in his favor.

Early match was pretty standard PR stuff, really putting over the gimmick. If there is one thing that makes me think PR was a territory that was run in a smart way, it's that all of the high profile gimmick matches I have seen really make sure the gimmick is front and center. The kick sequence from TNT is awesome and I love how he doesn't use them as a crutch. Not that I don't think they should finish somebody off now and again because they look all kinds of awesome and hurty. Finish is...fucking OW! Crazy, but very good, use of the stip for the finish.

king Tonga making an appearance AND setting up a battle of the BRs, nicely done.

Yeah, compared to the previous tag this was a downgrade. But we still got good stuff like that barrage of awesome punches by Super Medico. And Rufus R. Jones dance escape was pretty good, made better by the Battens' accusations of him cheating afterwards. They are so much better as heels.

A longer heat would have meant less battens bumping around and stalling for the shine. And I'd say that is easily the thing they are best at. Great opening with the Battens looking far, far better than they did as babyfaces. They put so much energy into getting their asses kicked. Profe's trip of Perez is a manager spot that needed to show up everywhere. Nope, just leaning my elbow on the apron, nothing going on here. Finish is a bit wonky, but seeing Profe get chased around the ring does add something. Not as much as a real finish, but the work after the hot tag was still pretty good. Heel Battens are the best Battens.

If you like great worked punches, this match is for you. Chicky has been alright with the punches so far on the set, but this match is just so above and beyond anything I've seen yet. And Embry, well, he's always been good with the punches that I've seen. I loved how committed Chicky was to the handshake here. I'll agree with Elliot that the finish was so very Chicky Starr. Please tell me these two feuded into 1991 and it is on youtube. I can see myself binge watching a bunch of 1990s Chicky Starr on youtube regardless of the opponent anyway.

Rain does make a good point. I can also see the side of the issue lowblow is coming from, trying to keep things balanced and fair. Could be this is one of those times where the rules need to be looked at as a guideline and not set in stone.

So Rip Roger has to wrestle...Juan....Riivera. I'm pretty sure that overly repeated bit of commentary by Rip scarred me for life. Fuck you for that Rip Rogers. On to this match. Rogers is great stalling and finding a foreign object early. He hits TNT with it a few times and kicks him in the balls because Puerto Rico. And Rip Rogers has redeemed himself. That superkick outside the ring was all sorts of great and Rogers stuck in there to make it look even better. Rogers selling for TNT is really, really good on the comeback. Here's the thing, I just watched Abuddadein throw every 80s highspot in the book at Invader 1 and Carlos Colon. I was still 10 times more impressed by Rogers performance in a match where he brawled and used a foreign object for 95% of his offense. He hit a suplex and tried a crossbody from the top, those were the only two wrestling moves he did. Still miles better than the last 2 matches I watched. Crowd seemed kinda dead for some of the finishing run, not sure what to make of that.

Abuddadein is one of my least favorite wrestlers on the set. He just doesn't fit in Puerto Rico. Put him in someplace really workrate-y like Japan or even WCW and I think he works way better. Invader 1 gets a good match out of him, but it seemed like Colon was able to do a little better. I'd agree with Elliot that Abuddadein could use a little slower pace instead of just trying to get all of his shit in. It's PR, you don't need to do 3 different suplexes, a neckbreaker, a DDT, a piledriver and a top rope splash. In all reality, if you are doing all of that you should probably be a babyface, not the foreign heel of the moment.

Abuddadein seems like a pretty good offensive wrestler as far as variety, but his strike don't look great and I'm not sold on him working from underneath. Then again, Colon gives him a lot of the middle of the match so he doesn't have to. The more I see of Colon against these limited guys the more I think he's really good at working around their flaws and showcasing their strengths.

I liked that the fans had shit loaded up to throw at Embry as soon as he was out of the ring as well. Santana crashed and burned that splash in a really hurty looking way. Looks great and all but think about your career, man. Going in I expected a really good match because Santana is a good babyface and Embry is a great heel. And I got exactly what I expected. Definitely recommend it to fans of either.

I always like gimmick matches in PR because they use the damn gimmick instead of treating it like just another prop. Colon using the mask to bust Jason open was really good. I'd call whoever played Jason the Terrible a serviceable big man. not great, but up against somebody good he knew how to do his part. Colon can get a good gimmick match out of anybody though, so I may be wrong.

I'm glad we kept the subtext out of the English commentary. I'll second Kroffat and Castillo really putting together some nice sequences. I liked how Exotico kept some of the comedy stuff going during the heat with no detriment to the match. Finish was really good and showed how good everyone involved is at this point.

I thought Santana's work on the arm was good. He showed good fire when it was needed and sold well when it was called for. Sasaki is good here, but he doesn't fit the mold that Japanese guys are supposed to fit in the 80s outside of Japan. That is to say, he isn't a "martial arts master". Fun young guys match that gives you an idea of how they built up midcarders.

Nah, he's gonna have a box delivered and attack the wrong leg.

I loved how Ayala picked up a beercan that was thrown at him and hit Colon with it. Keep giving me weapons, he thinks. The brawling was awesome with both guys really laying it in. Colon's selling of that bearhug made it seem like something big. Ayala going back to it when Colon was on the apron was new to me. The figure four stuff was so good with a HUGE crowd pop when Colon turned it over. Gonna miss that Ayala guy a lot.

This match really put TNT over. He hung with Abby the whole match and never looked outclassed. Also, very fun fake martial arts stuff going on. Very good match.

My wrestling tastes have changed a lot and a little. It's hard to describe. I grew up on WCW, found japanese wrestling through the juniors and ended up being a huge 90s AJPW mark. Then it seemed to me that 96-99 WCW was really my sweet spot again because it combined so many elements of wrestling that I watched into one ridiculously satisfying whole despite all of the flaws. 1980s wrestling from across America really opened my eyes to what WCW came from and the parts of it that were lost to form what i had broken in on. Then I watched lucha and British wrestling a little more and found aspects of both that I really wished were more prevalent in other forms of wrestling. And I absolutely fell in love with how simple wrestling was in Puerto Rico. I can't say that any one of these things is defining in how I look at pro wrestling. I still love watching All Japan matches from the 90s when they come up and seeing how my opinions have changed on it. I still do enjoy some aspects of NJPW juniors even if some of the tropes drive me up a damn wall. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for late 1990s WCW. There are aspects of 80s territory wrestling, lucha, British wrestling and Puerto Rico that I love so much, but other parts of it that take me out of where I need to be to enjoy it as well. Mileage varies on that last bit. So in truth not a lot has changed about what I like with regard to most of it. NJPW juniors I struggle with a lot. Later 90s AJPW, NOAH and the slew of imitation styles...just can't do it. The big changes for me come in all the details, why I like a style, what I like within it, what I don't like. How all of that interacts when I watch has always been a constantly evolving thing and I think that's the important part.

I'm not saying HERE at the board. I'm saying as a population in general. I think more wrestling fans, especially western wrestling fans, will pop for a big suplex than a good punch or kick.

For some of us, yeah. But I'd guess there are more fans out there who mark out far bigger for the sick moves.

I took away the exact same thing. Ron Starr is amazing! I mean, Chicky is in there making him look like a million bucks, but Ron really kills it when he's on offense and when he's taking punishment. The fans throwing chairs to the wrestlers was pretty crazy. Great match.

Loved Garvin with the knee injury in the middle and how it affected the finish. Really good match that was surprisingly mat-based with almost no striking. Very good contrast to the rest of the set.