Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

cactus

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1511

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by cactus

  1. cactus
    Sometimes there's little point in trying to explain why a match is good and just let the match do the talking. There's nothing deep here. This is a spotfest that wowed audiences back in 1996, and would continue to do so if they had it in 2020. This doesn't quite have the breakneck pace that other big spotfests have, but some of the spots (Rey launching Psicosis into the the turnbuckle from a monkey flip is a personal favourite) are phenomenal. ★★★★
  2. cactus
    This is one of those matches where the crowd go into this having zero interest, but are on their feet cheering by the time things wrap up. This is Rey's debut and he's definitely walked away from this with a lot of new fans. Not only are his high spots impressive, but he's one hell of a seller here too. Malenko works on his arm and Rey sells by screaming his little lungs off. Malenko might be technically sound, but he is also the wrestling equivalent of a Ryvita. The guy is way too dry and lacking in charisma. He keeps Rey grounded for far too long and it's clear that he's starting to burn out the fans. At least his finish was cool, hitting a nasty snap powerbomb to pick up the victory. ★★★½
  3. cactus
    Perhaps it's because I knew this was going the time limit, but there are parts of this match that struggled to keep my attention during this 45 minute epic. However this was an excellently worked match that did what it set out to do; make Sting look like a megastar. He no sells some of Flair's chops to make himself look indestructible and knows when to show vulnerability to keep the fans engaged, as noted by that clothesline to the ring post spot that takes out his arm. Props to them for keeping the crowd hot during the entirety of the match. The last five minutes are incredible, with many convincing near falls. ★★★★
  4. cactus
    I'm interested in this. I've started cataloguing every match that I've rated ★★★★½+ in the past few years. I'm not going to be able to watch every recommenced match, but with 70+ matches already on my list, I should be able to submit a halfway decent ballot by August.
  5. cactus
    With WWE purchasing Evolve, what do you think the chances we will start seeing Evolve matches/shows on the Network soon?
  6. cactus
    Jesus, how have I not heard of this match before? Might be one of the best ever US tag matches I've ever seen and it totally eclipses the already excellent Fantastics vs Midnights match from the same show. Lex Luger gets a lot of shit for not being as good as his contemparies, but he looks good here. The audience go apeshit for his shine segment and even buy into some of the early near falls. AA & Tully take out Luger's leg, as J.R gives us a lesson on autonomy and explains how sound the heel's strategy is. Windham gets in, but it's not long before he's taken out by a beautifully executed Spinebuster and a DDT from AA. Windham and Anderson are such great sellers that they can even make those double knockdown spots look believable. Dillon ends up accidentally costing his team the win and the crowd explode, reaching a level that could even exceed Kobashi/Kikuchi vs Kroffat/Furnas. ★★★★¾
  7. cactus
    This is a textbook example on how you do tag team wrestling right! They all time their transitions perfectly and the crowd are molten hot whenever The Fantastics are able to make a comeback. Cornette was a treat to watch at ringside. Him mouthing off to the camera after he realised that he's been caught assisting The Midnights with a table spot was gold. I can take or leave the Dusty Finish, but I did wonder why the referee didn't disqualify any of the times for using weapons at the start of the match. ★★★★
  8. cactus
    I didn't hate this, but it was rather hard to follow. The wire is wrapped around the ring, and is mostly there to keep everyone within the ring, so I didn't go into this expecting a crazy FMW deathmatch with crazy spots. I like how hot the crowd was, how badass the Road Warriors looked and how they made Dusty an honorable member for this match. The only barbed wire spot I can recall is when Koloff goes arm first into it during the post match. Never thought I would see the 3rd ever WWWF champion do a spot with something that's mostly associated with deathmatch wrestling. Barbarin kicking off Animal's protective face mask was oddly satisfying. ★★
  9. cactus
    The amateur rules stipulation gave this one an interesting dynamic. Rotunda isn't the most charismatic man in the world, but he's great an implementing subtle heel characteristics into his performance. They go to the end of the first round, and Rotunda sneaks in a not-so-subtle stomp after the bell rings. Rotunda ends up sneaking the win in the second round after Garvin is distracted by Kevin Sullivan, who starts to mess with Garvin's valet. The post match stuff is fun, possibly more enjoyable than the match itself. We see Rick Steiner run in in an attempt to take out Garvin, but Precious whacks him a 2x4, Jim Duggan style! Fun opener with a super hot crowd. ★★¾
  10. cactus
    Hah, that makes a lot of sense actually.
  11. cactus
    I have a lot of complaints about WCW, but they sure know how to make a main event feel special. This isn't quite on the level as their Bash At The Beach match as Hogan doesn't put in as much effort, but they more than make up for that with some seriously fun overbooking. I was starting to get annoyed by Hogan's constant no-selling by the time this was wrapping up. Flair bumps all over the place and eats a number of face bumps into the cage (no blood though, sadly). I think Sherri might just be the MVP of this match. She gets her dress ripped off and takes a dive off the cage which the Hulkster no sells. The post match stuff with Brutus Beefcake being the masked man actually shocked me, before I realised that we are now going to have to deal with Brutus fuckin' Beefcake in the main event for the next few months. ★★★½
  12. cactus
    You can put Terry Funk in literally anything and he improves it tenfold. The greatest American wrestler ever in my books. He's batshit crazy here, even by his standards. He gets frustrated and starts wailing HIMSELF with a steel chair, the mad lad. This was a fun brawl, with one GOAT and three competent brawlers. This is worth watching just to see The Funker getting piledriven onto a pumpkin. Have I mentioned that I love Terry Funk enough times? ★★★
  13. cactus
    With the exception of their disappointing match at Fall Brawl, these two work well together and have great chemistry. Bossman attacks Harley Race before the match starts, which doesn't seem like something that the Guardian Angels would approve of. I feared for Race's safety when Vader is body slammed on top of him. This match was all potatoes and even the commentators sound surprised by how hard these guys are laying it in. I loved the finish. Angel suplexes Harley Race, but Vader splashes him directly after. ★★★
  14. cactus
    Duggan defends his US title from the man that he beat in seconds at the last PPV. This is the same Jim Duggan that's been portraying a patriotic doofus on WWF TV for years, and not the excellent brawler Jim Duggan from Mid-South 1985. He's way past his prime and most just stomps around, being loud and generally annoying. Austin saves this, by acting as a great chickenshit heel. Of course this has a crap finish, which sees Austin gets himself disqualified by throwing Duggan over the top rope. Austin deserves better. ★★
  15. cactus
    Man, Arn has to be one of the smartest workers ever. Although this lacks the heat from their opening segment they had during the Wargames match, this a gritty, technical bout. Dustin looked like a megastar babyface here. I reckon he would of went on to be a bigger deal if he wasn't southern as WCW looks to be moving away from being classed as a southern wrestling promotion around this time. I love the small details this has like Dustin pulling down his kneepad before attempting a knee drop. Arn teasing the DDT was great too. I'll have to check out their 1992 match at some point as I loved this. ★★★½
  16. cactus
    I've watched 4 WCW shows from this era and I still have no idea what Dave's gimmick is all about. He's meant to be dyslexic, which somehow causes him to act like a total headcase? Oh, he's also cosplays as Hulk Hogan? Fair enough. Anyways, he's a drizzling shits in the ring and it makes you realise that Hogan is actually super talented to pull off his shtick. Dave's act seems like it's for children, but the kids in the audience don't seem to care for him. Kevin tries to make chicken salad from chicken shit, but there's only so much you can do. Kevin loses this by countout. Next. ★
  17. cactus
    I have no idea why they decided to do this match again, considering their last outing went down like a fart at a funeral. Thankfully there is less house show high jinks and more action in this when compared to their last match. Stars & Stripes get a strong shine segment until they get cut off by the heels and they work over Bagwell for an extended period of time. Roma is incredibly agile, as he vaults up to the top rope with little effort. It's clear that they have big things in store for Bagwell by how they are putting him over on commentary. The crowd don't seem to care for him as they are firmly behind the heels. All it takes is for Orndorff to get cheered is to do a silly dance. Stars & Stripes just feel way too vanilla to get over as faces in 1994. This being WCW, this has a crap finish. After Bagwell finally gets the tag, all four men start brawling and the referee exceeds his five count, but he doesn't disqualify anyone which makes him look like an idiot. The Patriot is being dealt with by the referee and costs his partner the match, even though he had full view what was going in the ring. The audience pop huge for the heels getting the win, and I don't blame them as WCW made their faces look like morons. Solid match with a bad finish. ★¾
  18. cactus
    We kick off the show with an Elvis impersonator facing a Little Richard impersonator. Badd has some cool custom Halloween gear on. There's not much to comment on here as not a whole lot happens. Honky spends most of the time working down Badd with a lengthy chin lock and they wrestle to the 15 minute time limit and the crowd aren't pleased with the result and this damaged Badd. With the exception of Bobby Heenan trying his hardest to get this match over, there wasn't enough urgency in the last few minutes, which makes me feel like this went the limit just to fill up time. Who thought it was a good idea to book The Honky Tonk Man this late in his career? Man, I'm missing Regal in the TV title division already. ★
  19. cactus
    Anderson being a chickenshit and bumping around for Dustin during the first five minutes might be my favourite part of this match. I love the spot where he gets his dome caught in between the two rings. Funk is another highlight, thus proving the point that Terry Funk improves everything, no matter what you do with him. He has taken one of his cowboy boots off before he's even entered the cage and starts wailing at everyone in it when it's his turn to enter. Col Robert Parker does a great job at acting like he's a non-wrestler by looking like he's about to have a heart attack when he's forced to enter the cage. Dusty is here for the feel-good ending. The result was never in doubt, but this was a very fun watch. ★★★★
  20. cactus
    Everything about this feels like an opening match to a house show and not a PPV title defence. We naturally start off with a lot of stalling and the faces lead a chant of "Paula!" to the heels who freak out over this. Both Roma and Orndroff are solid hands, but them being the champions shows how weak WCW's tag division was at the time as they feel like relics of the 80's with their slower wrestling style. They work a lengthy FIP segment with Bagwell, before he makes the tag. The crowd don't seem to like the faces that much. The main highlight of this match was Bobby Heenan's commentary. ★½
  21. cactus
    I have no idea why they had to make the rules to this match so contrived. Either have it as a three way dance or just have it as a standard gauntlet match. No need for the time limits and overtime. Anyways, Vader's match with Guardian Angel is nothing like their matches from the other '94 PPVs. Vader is clearly saving his energy as this is worked at a much slower pace, damaging the match quality. Thankfully, he starts to make an effort once he's eliminated Angel and he's facing Sting. They work a very traditional match with Vader's size becoming a massive factor and Sting's got to find a way to gain an advantage. Sting looks like a million bucks when he makes his comeback. They go the time limit and sell the fatigue well. This would of been a lot better if we just got Sting vs Vader in a regular match, but there's still moments of greatness in this 30+ minute match. ★★★
  22. cactus
    Austin was great in this segment, mock crying at Steamboat as he's forced to give up the belt. Duggan then is announced as Austin's opponent and Duggan wins in literal seconds. Ugh. This has to be one of the first signs that WCW is about to become a playground for Hogan and his mates.
  23. cactus
    I've always thought that Kevin Sullivan has the look of a wrestler who should be doing bloody brawls in Mexico and this was the closest thing we get to that. They brawl all over the ringside area and briefly in the crowd before Cactus removes the mats that cover up the concrete surrounding the ring. As soon I saw him do this, I knew that he would be the one taking the bump. He takes FOUR bumps onto the concrete in this short match, all of them don't seem to affect him all that much. My main issue with this match is that this wasn't a no DQ match, and both guys openly go for chair shots in clear sight of the referee's view. Despite this, this was fun for what it was. ★★¾
  24. cactus
    We finally get a match that's on a similar level to Regal's performance! They start this one with some WOS-style exchanges and it's all very fluid. I love the small touch of Regal using palm strikes on Badd when he has him locked in a headlock. What makes this better than their last match on PPV is that Mero is able to keep up with Regal and we actually get a good, decisive finish. ★★★½
  25. cactus
    I'm shocked by how much I loved this. It might actually be Hogan's best match and performance. Hogan actually has his working boots on, busting out a drop toehold and that floatover arm hold that he brings out when he wants to prove that he can wrestle when he wants to. This somehow lives up the insane expectations that WCW were building for this. They go all out with the presentation, by bringing in Michael Buffer for his over the top announcements and having Shaquille O'Neal and Mr. T ringside to really show the world that this is a big time match. Flair does his usual shtick and Sherri was great when she got involved. Hogan no-sells at just the right times, sending the tame crowd into a frenzy. Even the smark fans were cheering for Hogan at the end, myself included! ★★★★
×
×
  • Create New...