PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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So here's your MOTY to this point and I don't know what else to add. This was like a standout episode of Columbo--I knew Kobashi was winning the belts here, but you got sucked into just *how* they were going to get there. Kobashi weathers a ton and has to sort of buy time with big bombs, but Kawada keeps himself strong because he seems to have or at least figure out over time, an answer for everything Kobashi tries. Kawada wrestles smart, and Kobashi wrestles with heart--the more I think about it, the less I care that they worked a Kawada knee injury in the first 10 minutes or so and then sort of forgot about it, because if anything it would detract from that contrast in approaches. Kobashi is rarely ever going to be Mr. Pragmatic, either in real life or in storyline. And speaking of mirror approaches, the unique sort of "stagger away from the opponent to throw them off and then clobber them" spot was used brilliantly by both guys and served as a sort of poetic capper to the match.
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Crowd doesn't seem to know what to make of Kanyon, and you could see the unmasking coming as soon as the riot police got in the ring.
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Good call to run this angle in a hockey city like Buffalo. I'm not sure about the logic of Malenko forfeiting the title in order to get Jericho back in the ring, when it doesn't seem all that hard to get a Cruiserweight title shot in WCW.
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Bret gets to speak! He makes an overture to Chris Benoit to join the NWO--well, of course this is going to lead to nothing but it's refreshing to see some of the strong mid-card stuff get some interaction with the main eventers, at a time when the glass ceiling has never been more apparent. They're 7 for 7 on decent-to-good matches in this series, and this was pretty psychologically strong with good focus on Booker's knee. I don't know if he'll ever be a complete worker but at the very least he's a strong underneath babyface with great comebacks, and that can go a long way with a pro like Benoit. The finish is eh but it actually makes you want to see where this story is going next, which is no small feat after watching these guys wrestle each other 7 times in a few weeks.
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I've seriously been waiting for him to start referring to Dillon as "JoJo."
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The GOOOOLDBERG chants are here. Was it ever officially determined if WCW was actually piping those in or is that just a longstanding rumor?
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That's former ECW hype guy and supposed WWF representative Lance Wright hanging out with Jack Victory, who appears to be re-doing his old "Secret Service" gimmick in much more low-rent fashion. Okay, the reveal on D-Von and the doll was chuckle-worthy.
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George Martin: "I have been given the dubious distinction of recognizing you..." HA! George is actually pretty damn good here. The constant cuts to the police surrounding the Undertaker work, and give this segment a bit of tension instead of just being a comedy bit--take note, WCW. This could have been an egofuck like half the segments on your show, but it isn't. There's some truly brilliant writing here--I don't know if we have to credit Russo or not, but it's hilarious and self-deprecating and gets the McMahon character over just a little bit more. And it doesn't descend into pseudo-shoot stuff either. In the end Austin is jumped by Mankind and Kane and this feels like the first Raw in awhile where Vince truly gets one over on Stone Cold. Remarkably, Vince hasn't lost any heat over being made to look like a fool every week. I get that not everyone is as good as Vince and can overcome that kind of booking, but it's food for thought in comparison to what we see with the Authority today and the NWO of this time.
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The "Slam Jam" set is still around? Is the return of Todd Pettingill next?
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He's NOT a Corporate Champion! Now shell out $20 for this brand new corporate-created t-shirt!
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Fantastic. Like Vince's Humanitarian of the Year announcement, except this is apparently meant to be sincere. Whoever this singer is (and Shazam was fruitless), she can't carry a tune.
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Best bits: the Ted Turner lookalike, and the Asian tourists putting on an abdominal stretch that would make Gorilla Monsoon proud. Someone who may or may not be Lita flashes the camera. DX and the WWF comes off as incredibly hot and mainstream here.
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Boy oh boy, I hope one of these presentations involves a Michael Landon Award. This almost instantaneously washed out the shitty taste of that horrible Nitro. Amazing what happens when you watch a promotion with just a little bit of focus to what it's doing. I'm amused by JR instantly smelling a trap while Michael Cole seems to take this entire thing at face value.
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Or it's a testament to the (lack of) tastes of people in Detroit. As a Buckeye fan I've bitten my tongue for 8.5 Yearbooks now regarding the state up North but after their reaction to this shitfest of a TV show I can refrain no longer. How did I, with no memory of this show at all aside from the opening with Rodman and Jericho reading the letter, know before the segment started that DDP would get jumped by the Black & White?
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MAKE IT STOP ALREADY. Oh, it's Scott Steiner, is he still with the promotion? Hogan and Scott schmooze with Carl Weathers. Hogan and the Giant on the 3 Ninjas set was better.
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Hey, Bret gets to say ONE whole word into the mic this time! Progress! Piper starts this segment off hot because he kisses up to Detroit in the most shameless way possible, but once he stops referencing the Lions and Red Wings, he goes south in a hurry. Savage is out and they meander around for a bit until Hogan interrupts again. For some reason we re-do the Liz reveal as if we didn't see it the first time, and then she makes out with Bischoff??! No, I don't remember that either, but there's a LOT of shit from this era that I'm not remembering. I watched way more Raw than I thought. I'm not sure this isn't the worst Nitro of all-time to this point. Three hours of this shit sounds unbearable even if there was some good wrestling and good Jericho interviews.
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This is not a great promo nor is it a bad one. But I can't criticize much about it simply because it is at heart a *wrestling* promo and not somebody jerking off.
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More political bullshit from Hogan, as he seems at odds with both Nash and Savage as well as the general WCW booking. Hogan introduces BABY DOLL--oh, wait, that's just what he called Elizabeth. This Liz turn is about as 1/10 as shocking as impactful as when she did it in '96. Hogan is so horrible now--as golden as he was in '96 and '97, he might be more unbearable now than he was in '94 and '95. It's all the worse because it's clear all this ego-fucking just isn't working anymore. Bret Hart sits nearby.
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I'd say this is my favorite of the series so far. This, I would guess, gets the most time of any of the 6 matches and they work a slow build to some basic but effective highspots and near-falls at the end. The slow start works, because there's lots of countering going on to establish that these two guys know each other inside and out now.
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Between the Sheets #47 (June 7-13, 1997)
PeteF3 replied to KrisZ's topic in Publications and Podcasts
I love the show and listen every week...but I think, maybe, after hearing it 5 or 6 times in the first segment and the first story of the NJPW segment, it's time we put a moratorium on the dramatic trumpet soundbite. Let's see if we can get through a whole show without it, at least. -
Rich Swann is under contract as well.
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Ah, Jericho...at one time he was a shining light in a sea of darkness, whereas today he's closer to the opposite. He actually has better chemistry with Skee-a-vone than he would have with Okerlund, I suspect.
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Hardly an outstanding segment, but I can't get too angry since Giant cuts an actual honest-to-God WRESTLING promo hyping something, even if it's not a great one. How is it that no one in this company can remember the name of the upcoming PPV when cutting a promo? Now the fucking VP is talking about "the pay-per-view."
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Hmmm...no, I think some of HHH's dick-centered jokes were lamer. More people yapping at each other with no action taken.
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So now we're back to talking about the power bomb being illegal. Or formerly illegal. Or something. There's not a sober person in this room and this segment just goes to hell--just total undeserved ego run amok. Hogan takes another personal shot at Nash, talking about the "skinny legs underneath those long pants." Not a single actual thing, match, or future confrontation is given any hype nor are we given any further reason to tune in aside from a vague threat about "collecting" from Nash. And how in the fuck do we go from this Hollywood vs. Wolfpack stuff to DDP main eventing against Rodman? There was a perverse part of me that was actually looking forward to the WCW stuff on the '99 Yearbook just because it's so new to me (I completely stopped even flipping over to Nitro after the Fingerpoke of Doom) and because it's so bad in a legendary way, but this is the Nitro where I've gone from shaking my head at WCW's decline to getting legitimately angry at the promotion and everyone at the top of it.