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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    IF YOU HAVE A HORSE THAT'S AN IDIOT, AND YOU BREED IT WITH ANOTHER IDIOT, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA GET? Funk can't help that Raven's father was an idiot, but he's going to beat the shit out of him on April 13. Fantastic hype for the PPV, as Funk walks the line between being your grandpa and being one scary bastard.
  2. PeteF3
    Sort of a spotfest, but when the spots are this crisp and well-executed, who cares? Takaiwa's the weak link but in theory I always liked his "junior who wrestles like a powerhouse heavy" style. I can see why Dave was so gaga for this as it's right up his alley, but it's more of an enjoyable match than a great one.
  3. PeteF3
    This was pretty good, but the opening two falls were kind of meandering. Some beautiful mat wrestling to be found, but none of it seemed to mean anything or go anywhere. Where this picks up is with Black Warrior putting on a nifty leg submission to win the second fall. He goes back to the legs a few times in the third fall, which finally gives some meaning to the matwork, and we get some hot near-falls before Atlantis takes a risk and pays for it, allowing Warrior to clamp on a nudo for the submission and title. There were still some really awkward spots that Chad pointed out--not once, but twice Atlantis vaulted up on the turnbuckle for no reason than to set up Warrior's spot. I don't know whose fault it was, but it looked bad and looked even worse when they did it a second time. Warrior had some pretty takedowns at some points and looked clumsy in others. This is a good match, but you'll find better lucha title matches elsewhere.
  4. PeteF3
    Hogan and Bischoff bury Dr. Schiller, pointing out that Bischoff has a business relationship with Ted Turner. Bischoff complains about his "predatory business practices," which HAD to be a shot at Vince. Hogan "shoots" (his words) on Piper's team. Savage underwhelms in his first real promo as an NWO member. Sort of a boilerplate NWO promo all around, the intrigue continuing to revolve around where Sting stands. At this point, the announcers are doing a solid job of believing Sting to be an NWO member without coming off as gullible idiots.
  5. PeteF3
    So, yeah...THIS is the first prominent Piper segment I've watched since his passing. I may as well have taken a wiz on his grave. His opening promo isn't bad to start, but he quickly starts rambling. He's way over, but the problem is none of his opponents are. The crowd pops for Piper squashing guys, but don't pick up on the story that contestant #3 is supposed to win them over. To them, some nobody they've ever heard of is beating up their favorite. It almost seems, after the crowd boos after the first stalemate, that Piper calls an audible and has the segment continue in a desperate bid to win the crowd back over. Doesn 't work, obviously. This portion of the segment alone is interminable and completely sinks this. He's followed by a martial artist who comes off as the lovechild of Steve Williams and Raja Lion. John Tenta is last and finally is someone the crowd recognizes and gives a moderate pop for. The other two guys jump him for no particular reason. An infamous segment, that was oddly fascinating in that train wreck way. I get that they were still trying to position Piper as an outsider (as opposed to an Outsider), still not aligned with either company. But holy shit, there had to be a better way to establish his team than this. As a footnote, supposedly people in the WWF saw this segment and immediately tried to sign the future Luther Reigns away on sight alone. For whatever reason, they couldn't do it.
  6. PeteF3
    Agreed on all the babyface stuff here--Nitro is even more compelling because any given week could end with either side standing tall. Bischoff makes the Uncensored main event official. Bischoff is wonderfully obnoxious here, particularly as he basks in the cheers of the fans unaware that they're popping for Harvey Schiller. Great crowd, who pick up exactly on where this is going. And a great location to shoot the angle, too.
  7. PeteF3
    Oh, how I love it when Davey Boy shows he still knows his old WOS holds and counters. Always a joy to watch two workers gel so effectively as these two do here. Lots and lots and lots of signature moves being countered initially, only to pay off later. The work around Owen's killer enzuigiri is a particular standout in that regard, and it's enough for me to dismiss the accusations of this being a spotfest. Owen strikes just the right chord, wrestling just a little bit unsportsmanlike in a manner that will piss the crowd off, but not overdoing it. The best WWF match of '97 so far, though of course that won't last long.
  8. PeteF3
    What a bunch of shit. Everyone knows the best rendition of HBK's theme was Bobby Heenan whistling it.
  9. PeteF3

    WWE TV 8-10-8/16

    PeteF3 replied to Strummer's topic in WWE

    WWE did have Howard Fine working there at one point, not sure if they still do. Fine was able to make Mike Tyson into a passable actor, but even he may not be able to overcome the directives of Vince, Dunn, et al.
  10. PeteF3
    I believe the '97 forum pre-dates the board changeover--the dates and stuff were all in the subject description, which was a feature that was eliminated in lieu of tags. Loss went back and added tags to the 1996 forum but sort of petered out in February of '97. I use the "Sort by start date" option to more or less ensure I'm in the right thread. I mentioned this in the match thread but since there's music talk here, great call on "Date w/ Ikea" by Pavement for disc 4. My favorite song of theirs and a better out-of-the-box pick than playing "Cut Your Hair" again.
  11. PeteF3
    In fairness, as I recall it was only Billy Gunn and X-Pac in blackface.
  12. PeteF3
    Austin eviscerates Shawn Michaels before moving back to Bret Hart. In contrast to Survivor Series, Austin paints himself as a guy who doesn't know much about submissions, but plans to just beat the hell out of Bret anyway. On top of this being obviously a fantastic promo: intentional or not there was some excellent foreshadowing of the actual finish to the match here.
  13. PeteF3
    I don't know about laziness--the idea of a nutcase like Mankind being multilingual just sort of adds to the Hannibal Lecter vibe of his character. And Foley's delivery is so good that he can cut an effective promo in any language.
  14. PeteF3
    Lots of divided opinion on this one. I REALLY dug this, possibly more than anyone else here. Except maybe Chad, but even then I break with him on a few things--I thought Taue and Takayama worked together shockingly great. If you like legsweeps this is a match for you, as this is full of really cool leg takedowns from everybody, with Taue drawing on his old sumo background to bust out some new shit. I don't at ALL get the hate Takayama was getting in the late '90s--he's not a perfect wrestler by any means, and his kicks look pretty bad. But he's got a distinctive look, he's charismatic, and works hard and works pretty well even if he's letting the vets lead him around. He's gangly and awkward, and God knows that's never been a winning formula for getting over in All-Japan. Not only was there good wrestling and counter-wrestling on display here, but Takayama and Albright injected this with some new flavor, at a time when AJPW was continuing to regress deeper into its own bubble. The UWFI shooters give the style a shot in the arm, and I'd like to have seen more of this in the company going forward. There are only a few suplexes here, and none of them are head-drops. There is one really heart-stopping near-fall thanks to some perfect timing by Takayama, but otherwise this is based around submissions, a concept AJPW had gotten away from to the company's detriment. This is not a MOTY or anything but I think it's another testament to the greatness of the Holy Demon Army as workers and as a team.
  15. PeteF3
    Decent little match--there's no reason why Otsuka using the giant swing should work, but it does. Ishikawa makes a sudden comeback and suplexes Otsuka to shit before tapping him with a sleeper, which came a little easy for me considering Otsuka's suplexes looked so much better.
  16. PeteF3
    There is some Piper-in-NJPW, both as himself and the Masked Canadian, on the '70s New Japan set. Some of Piper's AJPW stuff did make tape, but the only list I've ever seen that has it is Friedlander. There's a Piper/Slater vs. Jumbo/Baba tag match that I liked--not in an '80s set-worthy way, but it was a good match.
  17. PeteF3
    I always double-take when I see that Sherri's still around at this point. Bischoff is out to do what everyone knew he was going to, which is return the tag belts to the Outsiders. Luger, however, is prepared and counters with a proposition for the Uncensored main event. WCW and the NWO are about to go at it then and there, when Sting comes and stands in the center of the ring. Hogan gives Sting a hug, with no response, but we go off the air with Sting on the NWO side of the ring. Intrigue!
  18. PeteF3
    This is pretty much all the explanation for the turn we're going to get. Savage gets one word in this entire promo. That said, as much as I've complained about the execution of this, it's something Savage's career needed. Let's hear from Hugh Morrus about Uncensored!
  19. PeteF3
    The NWO finally get one over on DDP, thanks to Randy Savage. Very good set-up to this feud, immediately giving Savage a main issue to fight over and a reason for the NWO to have him around.
  20. PeteF3
    Yeah, holy fuck, this blew me away, and might be the free TV match of the year to this point. Not only are there a bunch of awesome innovative spots but they work an effective formula tag match on top of it. Loss said there was no wasted motion, but on top of the constant action, the spots all made *sense*, too. At the finish I got exactly what Jericho and Eddie were going for, and Meng was there with a counter. Even the screw finish is well-done, as Malenko shoves Eddie off the turnbuckle right into the Kick of Fear. Barb especially looked terrific here.
  21. PeteF3
    I marked for "Date w/ Ikea" by Pavement showing up on the menu music. Just getting that out there. Yeah, this ruled. The match is pretty decent all things considered, Undertaker promo aside, but the Lawler-Heyman argument is the highlight. Lawler's completely dropped the clown commentator act and is in full-fledged Memphis King mode, and Heyman gives as good as he gets. Vince seems to be getting intensely uncomfortable with everything going on, from the weapons shots to the personal attacks on commentary to D-Von trying to get his hands on Beulah. Buh Buh Ray and D-Von, who are now pretty much the familiar Dudley team we know, level Dreamer with the 3D afterward but Sandman saves, and we go off the air with mass chaos at ringside as Vince and the ECW crew try to hold Heyman and Lawler apart.
  22. PeteF3
    Seen it.
  23. PeteF3
    We begin with a clip of Sabu diving off the "R" onto Team Taz, a cool spot that I think the cameras missed earlier. Then a return that blindsided everyone, as the Road Warriors are surprise opponents for the Headbangers. This match actually isn't bad at all, but yeah, it's weird to see the Roadies work a semi-long, competitive match and go to a DCOR. They probably had to stretch segments out tonight because of the depleted roster, but this is probably a sign that the LOD had a rocky road ahead of them.
  24. PeteF3
    Troy Graham's a guy for the "Weirdest Careers" thread. The guy did absolutely NOTHING in wrestling for 9 years, then shows up out of nowhere for the Memphis Memories show and ends up sticking around for a full-fledged run, before disappearing again, I think for good.
  25. PeteF3
    Lawler introduces a "very good friend of his," Ken Shamrock. Vince refers to him as "very controversial." Lawler is great here, throwing himself into these blatant lies with gusto. Sort of brings to mind sincerely trying to pass off that 20-something model as his "mother." "Tapping out" is uttered! Didn't think the WWF beat WCW to that. Shamrock stands nearby.
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