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drew wardlaw

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Everything posted by drew wardlaw

  1. drew wardlaw
    Jumbo's music always makes me a bit emotional. It really represents the shift in focus and the generation after him, like when compared with the more hard-driving Misawa theme or something. Anyway, we get a Dan Spivy staring from the back spot about half way through the match, which kind of took me by surprise. I agree with everyone else here, pretty dull match, I liked the work, but by this point it feels dated compared to what else was going on in the company. It feels like a deliberate decision to work an older style here. Again, everything makes sense and the work is good, it's just not what everyone wants it to be. I guess it's a victim of expectations in that way. I'm sure it's been discussed at length, but I'd really like to hear some insight as to why Hansen's matches with Jumbo and Misawa never lived up to expectations.
  2. drew wardlaw
    Fine match. I liked the brawling into the dark, and Embry was pretty good and showed some good fire. I liked the finish as well. I know there's another match coming up for these two so I'm interested to see where it goes.
  3. drew wardlaw
    Cool, I've never seen the clip of Flair winning the title back. Nice for a sense of completion to Sting's title run.
  4. drew wardlaw
    Hmmm cool to see the Fabulous Ones back, I'm not sure how long they stay or what exactly happens with them here so I'm excited to see where this goes.
  5. drew wardlaw
    To make a musical comparison, the big of the decade like 6/3/94 are like late-era Black Flag while this match is Negative Approach. Both ultimately expressing similar emotions, but while 6/3/94 is broad in scope, a lot more complex, and "better" in certain respects, this is the pure concentrated essence of hatred and it's such a cool match for the context. I always love re-watching this one, it's probably one of my top 5 AJ 90s matches. The classic narrative of working on Kawada's leg, put into a sprinty brawl, the shots of Jumbo and Kobashi looking on in the back, with Jumbo gazing in approval and Kobashi looking on in fear, seeing the storm that lies ahead. Taue being a total ass beater and one of his strongest performances in my opinion. The brawling style really works well with his lanky, somewhat sloppy nature. Pure hate, the end.
  6. drew wardlaw
    Love the feel of the segments before and in between the falls. Combined with the gritty brawl, it really creates a dark aura around the whole match. Especially between the first and second fall when Santo is getting beat. Santo's comeback is really great, he's super fired up and is throwing huge punches and kicks. The nearfalls at the end are hotand Santo's white mask is almost entirely red from blood. Also, towards the end there is a real sense of exhaustion with both guys, and you can tell the strikes aren't landing as hard at certain spots. Great match.
  7. drew wardlaw
    What a great match! I ate a whole sleeve of Oreos during it! This felt really mean-spirited and joyless, even in victory for Rich. Totally disturbing visuals in this match, from the opening shot of the two cages, to Ape Man Sawyer marauding around before the bell, to the wrestlers seemingly losing consciousness while stumbling around trying to fight. There's a really isolationist feeling here, where the roof really separates the crowd from the wrestlers, and with only the announcer counting over the PA it feels almost like a scifi movie or something, like the crowd could be aliens and this is the entertainment. As for the work, the cage came into play early and a mis-timed punch lets Sawyer take advantage of a hurt arm, and he goes from there. Rich sold it appropriately well I thought, Like someone else said, it wasn't the sole focus of the match and it was over fairly early, totally believable to me. Sawyer takes a crazy crossbody bump, and from there Rich sees a way to hurt him as he tries to outlast. I thought the finish was great, not flat at all to me. Both guys are totally spent, bleeding everywhere, they are both collapsed, and Rich can just barely crawl over to cover Mad Dog. Awesome stuff.
  8. drew wardlaw
    For the first question, for me it depends on booking vs execution. If it's a poorly booked finish, it doesn't take away from the match at all. I think of something like Arn vs Windham 2/3 falls. It doesn't take away from that match for me that there's a DQ finish with an Austin run-in. The two wrestlers wrestled an engaging match and the finish was out of their control, so I can't complain about that really. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, if it's an execution thing, that really doesn't bother me either. Something like I don't know, Liger vs Sasuke doesn't lose anything because of the botch I don't think. I'm generally pretty forgiving of botches though. Overall, the finish of a match is one of the least important things for me. I'm much more interested in how the middle part of the match plays out, and the overall journey of how wrestlers get to the finish rather than the finish or finishing stretch itself. For the second question, I like to consider the post-match stuff as part of the overall story being told. Im thinking of like John Tatum freaking out after he beats a jobber, feeling guilty but then destroying the guy after the bel anyway, things like that. Oh, or that recent New Japan vs NOAH thing, totally forgettable multiman tag, but it carried over into a heated brawl. All part of the larger story for me.
  9. drew wardlaw
    I just re-watched this one, and man what a match. I'm still surprised by Toyota going all-in on the viciousness, and I still don't know if Hokuto's injury is a work or not. There's a spot where Hokuto manages to get Toyota down into some kind of single leg crab type thing, almost like the start of an STF but just focusing on the leg, and she uses her head to apply pressure because she can't use her arm. This is one that's really stuck with me, and probably my favorite match of 1991 so far.
  10. drew wardlaw
    Oh haha okay I'll have to check that out to hear what he says. Yeah I can see that now. It's not something I picked up on but that makes total sense.
  11. drew wardlaw
    Re-watched Naito/Omega, really enjoyed it again. One thing though.... I dont fully understand the term "self conscious epic", but I kind of got that feeling here, and I can't really articulate why. It felt like there was a missing dynamic to the match. There was some heel/heel stuff at the beginning but then Omega worked from underneath and hit some big babyface moves, but it didn't really feel like a face turn. I don't know, it started to feel like they were trying to have a great match rather than trying to win to advance to the finals. Is that what that term means? I don't want to take away from the match too much because it was really awesome, there was just a little something off about it to me.
  12. drew wardlaw
    Yeah I think WWE is propping up USA at this point. But I sn't USA/tv deals what's really keeping wwe afloat at this point too? seems like that makes for a weird tension in the relationship.
  13. drew wardlaw
    Oh, and I'm very excited about a potential AJ/Orton feud and even more excited about a potential Heath Slater storyline.
  14. drew wardlaw
    Wasn't the reason for the draft in the first place a directive from USA to make smackdown a more competitive show ratings-wise? If that's the case, this seems like a very reasonable outcome, and I'm not really what people were expecting. It seems like a case where wwe put their top 2 talents on smackdown to appease their network then filled the roster with people who don't fit on the flagship show. It seems strange to expect anything more than a half-hearted effort here.
  15. drew wardlaw
    I'll nominate the discussion on the formation of the WBF on episode 26. Don't have the exact time right now since I'm at work but it's before 1:21 I believe.
  16. drew wardlaw
    Tony and Jesse are good on commentary here and cover well for some of the goofs early on. Really strange to see the miscommunication on the standard gorilla press spot. I really like Sting here. His matwork early on looks really good and the strategy of working on the back, then moving to the knee. He struggles a lot of times when not working from underneath but he handles himself well here I think. So between the setting (1993 tv match) and Sting's performance I think this is my favorite of their matches together.
  17. drew wardlaw
    Luger burying aside, I really liked this. They brought up specific heel actions heel had done in the past and asked him to explain himself, which he was able to do convincingly. It seems like that doesn't happen too often. Adds an element of realism to the show, I dig it.
  18. drew wardlaw
    Michael Hayes, the consummate worker, lets everyone at home know he will be scalping tickets in front of the Omni. Jimmy Jam looked very nervous on the mic. Hayes was right at home of course. Very weird that Van Hammer was heeling on the mascot and headbanging over his lifeless body.
  19. drew wardlaw
    The week after this there's a Steamboat one that's all pure babyface, then a Freebirds one where Jimmy Jam opens it up with a "yeah yeah yeah."
  20. drew wardlaw
    Wow Brad Armstrong is surprising on commentary. Very solid. I like the slower start to the match, with Morton eventually getting the upper hand and working on Pillman's knee. It's still so cool to me that Morton was as good of a heel as he was. Pillman gets fired up like only he can, kind of blows off the leg work, and wins with a pinning combination. I really couldn't ask for much more out of the match.
  21. drew wardlaw
    I always enjoy Brother Love's mannerisms and body language around Hogan.
  22. drew wardlaw
    Is he trying to present himself as a Native American here, like that's what the "warrior" part is? I just realized it with this promo. Like one of the Renegade Warriors maybe?
  23. drew wardlaw
    Wait so the match is for the title and Savage is just saying it isn't for no reason or what? I'm not sure if I like Warrior attempting to come down to a mortal level or not. I could kind of appreciate if Warrior just kept going way out with the promos, talking about the cosmos and Mars, and Slaughter talking about the Iraq war. Just two really conflicting storytelling styles. It might have made for a kind of absurdist war of words.
  24. drew wardlaw
    I always loved how heated Paul E and Missy's feud was. I really get the sense that they legitimately didn't like each other. There was always kind of a mean spirited aspect to their interactions.
  25. drew wardlaw
    I don't have too much to add here, but Bull and Aja Kong have such a presence and sense of dread about them. They feel scarier than most male wrestlers.
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