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cactus

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Everything posted by cactus

  1. cactus
    A bad match between great workers. Vader is over even if his WWF run was disastrous. I'm not sure what everyone is seeing in this one. I do love the Vader Bomb spot that wraps things up though. ★
  2. cactus
    Checked out a bunch of KC shoots the past few days. Vince Russo Timeline of 1998 - Surprisingly good. Vince Russo doesn't come off as the prick I always thought he was. I actually think he's more likable that Cornette these days. He gets a tad touchy when they bring up the Russo's bad booking moments, but he seems passionate about talking about the year as a whole and there isn't one incident of him forgetting anything that's brought up. Recommended. Rob Van Dam Youshoot - If you can deal with RVD always bringing up 'positive and negative energy' every other sentence, you could sit through this. All the power to RVD though, he doesn't seem too fucked up compared to his peers and he's very honest. Recommended. Rick Martel Timeline of 1981 - I think the Backlund years of WWE are the era that I know the least about, and judging by this shoot, I'm not missing much. There wasn't much to dive into for this shoot. It was interesting to hear how traditional Vince Sr. was (he didn't even like his wrestlers selling their own shirts), but overall, you better skip this one.
  3. cactus
    Cactus's MOTYC 2016 ★★★★★ ★★★★¾ ★★★★½ Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles (NJPW, 1/4/2016) Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (Rev Pro, 1/16/2016) ★★★★¼ Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar (WWE, 21/2/2016) Kamaitachi vs Dragon Lee (CMLL, 3/4/2016) ★★★★ Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW, 1/4/2016) Kenny Omega vs Mark Haskins (4FW, 1/23/2016) Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi (NJPW, 1/24/2016) Reviews:
  4. cactus

    WWE Fastlane

    cactus replied to DMJ's topic in WWE

    What a dire show. Nothing of importance happened and everything was predictable. Styles/Jericho was a fun watch, but will ultimately be forgotten about in a week's time. The main event was great even if it ended prematurely and Roman no-selling the chairshots irked me. That's all the positive I can say about this show. Owens/Ziggler felt like it went on forever, Brie looked awful out there (she botched a small package) and not even milking of her husband could make anyone give a crap. The New Day segment was awful. The only other good match taken place on the pre-show. I haven't been so bored watching a WWE PPV in years. It wasn't even so bad, it's good, it was just abysmal.
  5. cactus
    I don't rate this as a MOTYC like many others do, but I'm curious to hear what people here thought of this one. This match has received mixed criticism and I can see why. There was some really great stuff in this, and some really bad stuff too. This match didn't feel like any other match in NJPW in years (or ever). The interference worked and sent the crowd into a frenzy. I was sucked into the hellish atmosphere of the finishing stretch even if I was majorly irked by them busting reverse frankensteiners and brushing them off like they were light slaps. Omega worked a mean control segment on Tanahashi's arm, but it ultimately went nowhere. A flawed yet memorable main event epic. The conclusion of this match felt like it could of been from a main event on Raw in the middle of the Attitude Era. One thing for sure is that it's worth checking out, even if you end up hating it. ★★★½
  6. cactus
    KUSHIDA looked like an absolute star in this and I imagine NJPW will continue to build the Jr. division around him. Minus the few occasion when both guys looked a tad awkward and didn't look too sure what to do next, this was a fantastic match that the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands. The interactions with the ref and the interference were both handled smartly and didn't retract from the quality of the match. ★★★¾
  7. cactus
    Another match better than the previous one at the Tokyo Dome. This match actually focuses on selling and psychology as apposed to the spectacle (a great spectacle none the less) of two guys taking turns hitting each other hard. I had my worries this would just be a repeat of the Tokyo Dome match when they let each other hit suplexes on each other, but they proved me wrong, even if that spot did bug me a lot. A total war that's more than a spectacle. ★★★¾
  8. cactus
    I wasn't disputing that he wasn't over - he clearly was. I was pointing to the fact that he's probably one of the dullest wrestlers around. Technically he's good, but he never shows any personality. Would it be far to say that he was over because of his association with Terry? I don't remember Dory getting good reactions when he toured Japan in the late 60s/early 70s.
  9. cactus
    This is Terry's 'retirement' match and this has one of the loudest crowds I have ever heard. You know you have a hot crowd when they are going apeshit for Dory Funk Jr. of all people! The match starts off with Dory being worked over by the heels. They mostly keep him immobilised with an armbar and strikes. Dory gets the crowd pops big whenever he gets in a lucky jab. Terry was sublime in this, egging his brother on and pacing up and down the apron when he's not tagged in and throwing some great punches and doing a marvellous selljob of his leg when he is the legal man. Everything looks snug and not one move looks phoney. This is yet another hellish brawl that we need more of in today's wrestling. Above all the great strikes and well done tag team wrestling, the emotion is off the charts. The crowd is fully invested into EVERYTHING that is going. This is my pick for best match of the 80's. ★★★★★
  10. cactus
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVPrcvlioGE A fiery brawl between two of the greatest of all time and they make the little things matter. For example, during a punch-off (there's many great punches in this, although that should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen either man before) Hansen ends the exchange by kicking at Funk's swinging hand. Hansen takes control early on and drops some knees to the neck of Funk and he starts withering on the floor and this puts the crowd firmly behind Terry. Everything eventually falls apart and a ref ends up eating a nasty Western Lariat. It's a damn shame we don't see brawls like these anymore. ★★★★½
  11. cactus
    Bockwinkel seems like I guy I ought to check out more of. Him and Blair work great as unit and I thought it was a nice touch that they both acted displeased when ever a Funk got out of their grasp. This is a rather standard match of it's time until Terry and Bock start trading blows. There's some great strikes in here, particularly Blair's dropkick, which might be one of the best ones I've ever seen. This all leads to a great Terry Funk face-in-peril segment until he gets the tag and the match wraps up, perhaps too prematurely. ★★★¼
  12. cactus
    Be warned, this is a slow paced match, so it's not for everyone. The slower parts of the match consist of Funk and Jumbo trading arm holds. There's always a struggle going on and Funk has no problem throwing out some strikes and nasty chops to get out of a tricky predicament. You feel rewarded when the match picks up and every suplex feels like a big deal. Jumbo might be green at this point, but he pulls out a gorgeous sunset flip during the finale of the first fall. This match features a genius ending involving Funk's giving out on him at just the right time. I won't spoil it for you, but it's very worth checking out. Just great old-school wrestling. ★★★★
  13. cactus
    Cracking open a few cold ones when watching a live PPV is great. Wrestling is best enjoyed when you're moderately tipsy. Trying to watch something after coming in after a night on the piss is a totally different beast though. Last time I tried this, I was set on watching the Michaels/'Taker Hell in a Cell match. I ended up watching only the midget match from the same show before passing out.
  14. cactus
    My main gripe with the majority of reviews I read is that they usually spoil the ending and reveal the winner and how they lost. I can't stand PBP reviews either. What's the point of watching the match if you're going to tell me every little thing that happened in the match? I get that analyzing everything in a match is something that people enjoy doing, but for me, I don't want to hear about when I'm reading up to see if a match is worth my time. Ditch's short reviews of the matches he hosts on his sites are great. They're short and snappy and show genuine enthusiasm.
  15. cactus
    This battle between two NXT rejects kicks off to a great start. I particularly love the spot where both guys managed to get a strike in and they're sat in opposite corners of the ring, staring down at each other. It made for a great visual and started things of in the right direction. Hero dished out some gorgeous looking punches and elbows and I do prefer them when he keeps them simple, as apposed to sprucing them with a fancy twirl or whip like he started doing later in the match. The transition to the legwork felt organic and Callihan works a mean control segment on Hero's battered ankle. It's a great shame that this was soon forgotten about and this match descends into your typical indywank strike-off. I'm a fan of Callihan, but him constantly spitting is so cheap and stops that spot from actually meaning something when a match warrants spitting. Great start, weak finishing stretch. ★★★½
  16. cactus
    A fun exhibition. I love the heatbutt spots. Fujiwara's still got it. I'd recommend you check out Fujiwara's match at NJPW New Year's Dash if you enjoyed this. Has there ever been a 60+ year old wrestler who's a better worker than Fujiwara? I'm struggling to think of one.
  17. cactus
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3o67vi I'm surprised someone hasn't already made a topic for this, as a lot of people love it a lot more than I do. Man, sometimes I feel like I've seen every spot imaginable that can take place within the confides of a pro-wrestling match, then a match like this comes along and reminds me that I haven't seen shit yet. There's not too much I can say which hasn't already been said. I do feel like in the later parts of the match descended into the guys just getting their shit in because the crowd was buying it, but it was all high-drama action, so you can't hate on it too much. I still hate that C4 move though. ★★★★
  18. cactus
    Wow, the pinnacle of scummy wrestling. This was a bloodbath and I'd say it's probably my favorite straight up brawl ever. I can't wrap my head around the beating that Necro took. It's hard to watch, but it made for some great visuals. I'm torn in two deciding if this match had great punches just on the fact that they didn't look worked at all. Ah well, who cares? I was extremely entertained either way. ★★★★¾
  19. cactus
    Brutal stuff. The matwork is some how both gritty yet athletic and flashy. I wish these guys had more chances to face each other. Both guys show little regard to their safety, eating some nasty headbutts, so this can be hard to watch considering what happened to Benoit less than a year later, but when it comes to random last minute undercard matches, it doesn't get better than this.
  20. cactus

    WWE vs Lana

    cactus replied to sek69's topic in WWE

    I was thinking how odd Lana's reaction to what Rock was saying to was when I saw the promo. She just seemed so out of character. Would of been a bit better, yeah. Sexual assault being used in a wrestling show is tacky and I generally don't want to see that sort of thing used to pop reactions out of people. I scratch my head thinking of a time when it was used tastefully. I was at an indy show the night before the Rumble, where Tatanka forcefully kissed a heel valet who kept interfering whilst the crowd CHEERED. I'm not sure if I was more offended at that or that I was seeing a 15+ minute Tatanka singles match in 2016. But yeah, the Flair/Lynch incident pales in comparison to that.
  21. cactus
    Heavily influenced by World of Sport wrestling, This was a clinic in technical wrestling. AJ was understandable avoiding back bumps, so instead he gets his limps contorted in every possible way by ZSB. Even though the mat work was exceptional, I feel this needed more going for it to venture into ★★★★+ territory. Maybe if ZSB worked this as a sympathetic babyface, I would of enjoyed this more. Regardless, this is still essential viewing for any fan of intense mat wrestling that actually features a struggle. ★★★¾
  22. cactus
    This reminded me of an early 2000's ROH epic. Ospreay isn't afraid to risk hurting himself when he bumps and it puts over Scrull's offense well. Ospreay is one of the few natural babyface wrestlers still about. He's insanely athletic, can bump well and can garner sympathy from any crowd. I'm not usually the biggest Scurll fan, but he was great in this. A total dick who enjoyed torturing Ospreay in a manner of ways. This match holds up on a rewatch. Did it go into overkill? Yeah, maybe. But when you'd start questioning if they should start wrapping things up, they throw a cool counter or move into the works and you are back into it. My only other gripe with this match is how quickly move on from that sickening finger bending spot. That spot was brutal and should of been an important part of the match, instead they quickly moved on to next sequence. I'll be shocked if this isn't my UK MOTY by the end of 2016. ★★★★½
  23. cactus
    What's the general opinion on Ryback as a squash match worker? I remember when he first came about, I'd love seeing him take on multiple jobbers at a time. He had a flashy powerhouse moveset and was insanely charismatic. It was just so much fun watching him throw jobbers about. At the time, I believed he could of been a top guy if he was booked right and was working with guys who knew how to protect his flaws and bring out the best in him. It's a shame how it turned out...
  24. cactus
    I picking at my brain trying to think of a halfway decent performance from The Rock since his 2011 return. Once the novelty of seeing him back in the ring worn off, I actively disliked him. I was so bored watching the rematch he had with Punk.
  25. cactus
    I prefer using the in-game universe as I find it much more balanced than all the real-world mods. Plus, the real-world one is so slow to load.
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