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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    Before we begin, Bomber Hikari reads a statement and then Sonoko Kato is back out, in hysterics, screaming at everyone. Chigusa is out and I think she basically tells her to shut her yap. The more angle-based GAEA is going to be one steep learning curve, I can tell. To the match, and in the early going Kato is out *again*, and she's quickly sent away by both women. She continues to make a nuisance of herself throughout the match. Looking past that, this has a stronger face-heel divide than your average joshi match--Michiko is still a poor woman's Takako Inoue but she shows a little more personality than she did in the 6-woman tag. Chikayo makes for a pretty good spunky babyface with a lot of hit-and-run offense, though this is basically an extended squash with Kato breaking things up. The interference spots reached tedium with me really fast, particularly since every run-in ended with Michiko kicking Kato's ass. This might be something else to have to get used to. GAEA style seems somewhere between JWP and AJW--they cut an AJW-like pace but the moves are a lot more basic. It is refreshing to see TV-style joshi, with the ladies going for 10-15 minutes instead of epics (acknowledging the inherent selection bias in a project like the Yearbook, which is going to naturally focus on the big matches).
  2. PeteF3
    Nothing to say about this--just some good quick action before a time limit draw. As mid-card-ish as it gets. Or...wait, now it restarts. In the second fall (??) Uematsu does some really good, vicious work over Kato's taped-up shoulder, then when she locks on the cross armbreaker the bell rings again. And we restart again, and I have no idea what the fuck is going on. I guess this is a match with rounds. Uematsu gets in another flurry, the bell rings one last time and that's it. The rules took me out of the match, but Uematsu was really spirited and fun, throwing all kinds of cool roll-ups along with the submissions, and breaking down emotionally when she can't put Kato away at the end. Kato...well, she was there. I feel like I'm back watching the 1990 Yearbook, having to be re-introduced to joshi all over again, with all the new faces GAEA is featuring.
  3. PeteF3
    Tommy Dreamer and a Rangers goalie team up to punk out that abominable New York Islanders Gorton's Fisherman mascot--Dreamer just became NYC's favorite wrestler. Dr. Mark Allen, who I think would show up again, talks about Raven's foot, setting up an old-school orthopedic boot angle. Taz calls out Brian Pillman, something I have no recollection of. The Pitbulls speak and this time they've added threats to the Gangstas and Sandman/Scorpio to their weekly promo on the Eliminators. Sandman ogles Missy's tits...oh, nope, it was a beercan. Dr. Allen interacts with the Meanie in a funny scene. Some guy from ABC cuts a promo on the Headhunters for hurting DW Dudley. JT Smith sings "Fly Me to the Moon" again, with some altered lyrics. The Eliminators hit New Jack with Total Elimination while he's sandwiched between tables. Shane Douglas wants Raven's title.
  4. PeteF3
    This is a pretty good closing stretch, but the post-match is what makes this, of course. Mankind drops an elbow from the apron, with the WWF getting a picture-perfect camera angle, then several false finishes as officials drag Mankind away and Mankind repeatedly jumps back on Undertaker when it looks like the beatdown is finished. No sit-ups, no zombie comebacks...this is about as effectively as UT had ever put somebody over one-on-one to this point.
  5. PeteF3
    "The Leader of the NEW WWF Generation," take 3. No way *this* one can fail. Very Great American Bash '90 celebratory interview where the former champ gets put over the most, though Shawn cutting Vince off--"I'm the champ, I ain't done talking! I've been waiting 11 years for this!"--was amusing.
  6. PeteF3
    Oh, answering my own question, I guess the narrator is Josh Matthews or someone. Presumably it was originally Pettingill and there was music they had to remove and his voice went with it. At times I wonder if this wouldn't have been better off if they'd worked a straight 60-minute draw, and then gone to overtime. There are various problems with that (with regard to promoting the show with only 6 matches, or starting the match at 8:30pm or so). This match isn't an all-time technical classic, but it's been kicked around so much in retrospect that I don't think it can really qualify as "overrated" anymore either. It's just a good, solid match, that probably comes off better because it's so anomalous in a WWF setting: the Pure Sports Build stuff, right up to Earl Hebner going over the rules, the oddball spots involving the referee and timekeeper, the new offense, Vince skirting the line between '90s Carnival Barker and 1970's broadcaster--it's definitely something different from this company. The opening matwork is only okay and tends to drag, but Bret nicely keeps his focus on Shawn's back even if he blows off the work Shawn did on his arm. And I have to credit Shawn for busting out some new moves here--a good stiff clothesline, a Perfect-Plex, and a Doctor Bomb, among others--in-between some suicidal bumps. He really could have been a better offensive wrestler than he tended to be. This isn't really a match to go back and revisit over and over, but I'd like to see it remembered as a good, strong effort rather than an overrated failed epic.
  7. PeteF3
    Who is this narrating the pre-match package? I was stunned by how good, well-thought-out, and well-worked this was, and how much I enjoyed it. The Backlot stuff is some of the stiffest and most intense brawling the WWF has seen in a match in ages, with some awesome punches thrown by both guys. And either Piper is a total loon or they did some terrific camera and editing work when he (or a stuntman) got nailed by the gold Cadillac. Compare to how WCW would have handled this, at any point in history, and it's night and day. The attention to detail and production values are still a huge advantage for the WWF. Then after a few matches and some OJ footage we head to the ring, and this is actually pretty psychologically sound: not only does Goldust work over Piper's knee, but the homoerotic stuff is actually sewn into the match very effectively. We get one of the first gay payback spots in wrestling history before Piper strips Goldust down to his Marv Albert lingerie and sends him retreating. If I kept track of star ratings this would be in the ***1/2 range. Goldust put it together as a worker earlier than I thought.
  8. PeteF3
    Last few minutes of some not-bad action. Though I'm really growing tired of WWF heels hitting their finisher and then walking around posing instead of going for the pin. Diesel should know better, considering Sid was victimized by doing the same thing to him. Diesel had already given notice and was decisively beaten here--kudos to Nash for doing business.
  9. PeteF3
    And afterwards, Helmsley gets into it with a debuting "Wildman" Marc Mero backstage. Helmsley's offense looks terrible here, by the way. This Warrior thing was likely doomed from the start. I get what the WWF was going for, especially after the pop Jake got at the Royal Rumble, but his having the match changed from a competitive bout to a squash was a bad omen (even if the match was probably an improvement as a result).
  10. PeteF3
    I know of joshi basically of what's on the Yearbooks, but Zenjo's analysis of the state of AJW rings true. People are retiring or leaving left and right, and it seems like the brutal style is starting to catch up with them. Not to mention the hot interpromotional matches seem to be done with (though I see from the results that there's a big LCO vs. JWP match). This is an enjoyable bout, but the feeling of "now what?" for the promotion is palpable--other than rematches with Kong, who else that's native to the promotion is there to challenge Toyota? And incidentally I really don't like how Toyota's JOCS has become just another move.
  11. PeteF3
    The Road Warriors/Demolition thing seems like one of the rare cases where the WWF acknowledges that the "outside" creation was superior. Doubtless the Bill Eadie lawsuit and general dispute over the Demolition origin has a lot to do with that.
  12. PeteF3
    I would guess that this is the best Misawa-Kobashi singles match to date, though I'd have to go back and check my old reviews first. Kobashi lets it all hang out and has Misawa on the ropes, but Misawa's still too much for him at this point. I was dreading another time limit draw at one point, but they did book a finish, so good for them. I liked this better than the draw, as the story of Kobashi taking Misawa to the limit was stronger. This isn't as good as Kobashi vs. Hansen but it has that same dynamic of it being a matter of when, not if, Kobashi finally beats him.
  13. PeteF3
    Pretty good match, but yeah, even by AJPW standards this was one telegraphed time limit draw. That sucked a lot of the drama out of the near-falls down the stretch, as well-done as they were. The '93 CC draw between these two is similarly worked but is much better, with the draw coming as a genuine surprise.
  14. PeteF3
    Yep, this is definitely a Worldwide main event--except we already saw a 1990 Worldwide match between Kaz and Hash in the Tokyo Dome, done way better. This is okay, but it's a lot more meandering. The most notable thing is Kazuo catching Chono with a cross armbreaker as Chono tries to fold him up after a power bomb, and getting an upset submission. Also, this is the Week of the Ballshot in the world of wrestling. Uncensored was absolutely chock-full of them, Flair got in another big one on Nitro, and Chono gives us (well, Yamazaki) two here. Buddy Rose would be proud.
  15. PeteF3
    God, this was fun. It's mostly bullshit, but it's really well-done bullshit, like the greatest possible USWA-TX Sportatorium main event. Except here, Ric cheats his ass off because it's his only option, not because that's what the Memphis Heel Rulebook says. Good post-match--it appears to be a full-blown Giant babyface turn but I think they'd hit the reset button on this in short order.
  16. PeteF3
    Cocky Heel Lex turning into Smily Happy Made in the USA Lex when Sting looks at him will never get old or not hilarious. Makes Sting look like a dope, but that ship sailed awhile ago anyway. Anyway, this is pretty fun--I'm amazed that somebody in WCW was paying enough attention to bring up the history of Sting bringing Bagwell into the sport. That makes for a fun in-match story, with Sting and Bagwell wrestling all sportsmanlike and Luger going nuts and beating the shit out of him.
  17. PeteF3
    He didn't, but his "brother" TD did.
  18. PeteF3
    Flair hypes his title defense tonight against the Giant. Not sure why *this* is the fallout from the Doomsday Cage and not Flair vs. Luger, who was the guy who knocked him out. Did Gene ever get to tap that or not? Was Woman just obsessed with short guys?
  19. PeteF3
    Pretty weak finish with no build at all to the big elbow, but this was definitely a step up from the usual Savage formula match around this time. This feels like a real struggle, and Savage dishes it out as much as he takes it.
  20. PeteF3
    Very Memphis-like, with this being pretty much all behind-the-scenes/non-wrestling footage.
  21. PeteF3
    Good match with some pretty advanced offense for '90s WWF. Snow's throwing advanced, hard-hitting Japanese-style suplexes and holds are a little incongruous with his dorky character, but it's hard to carp too much about that. Bret is even more passive-aggressive this time, talking about how Shawn was beaten up by "nine cheerleaders," which I'm surprised Vince didn't blow up at. That said, I do have to think that this subtle heeling is intentional--make him a little less likely to be missed once he's on sabbatical and galvanize the undecided fans into being behind Shawn.
  22. PeteF3
    MegaPowers, Monster Maniacs...now, according to Buffer, Hogan and Savage are the "MegaForce." Schiavone & co. have the chutzpah to wonder where Brian Pillman is, having advertised him right up through the end of Main Event, even though he'd already been crippled in the car wreck by this point. This whole thing seems like an engineering disaster--I don't know how the audience can be expected to see anything, and having wire mesh floors in addition to the cage itself is just asking for trouble. Horrible action, nonsensical rules, even MORE nonsensical booking (Flair and Arn are eliminated at the beginning and the big payoff is a showdown against Z Gangsta and the Ultimate Solution), fights going from the cage to the ring and back, and the hilarious finish. Schiavone: "Luger is obviously a fresh man, he hasn't been hit with a frying pan!" Probably the Worst Match of the Year but also essential viewing in its own way. Kind of ironic that the "Alliance to End Hulkamania" would actually accomplish its goal in this match.
  23. PeteF3
    Even clipped down this was an interminable mess. The Roadies were always okay for quick sprints but booking them to go 20+ is just death. Booker works hard and Sting works okay and Luger is hilarious, but God, no match in history has needed pruning down more. Booker scores the pinfall, which surprised me a ton, thanks to a chairshot from Stevie Ray. This felt like a final burial for the Roadies, and I'm not sure if they were still around after this.
  24. PeteF3
    It's not a great match, but it's really, really good and it sticks with you in a positive way. The crowd wasn't loud, but they did seem to be paying attention and did react when they wanted them to react. This would have been great in Korakuen, but maybe even better in a studio. Not only is the finish early but it doesn't even make sense, as Regal was in control when the Bluebloods ran in. Oh well. Still a match that put Finlay on the map.
  25. PeteF3
    As Pringle tells it, he had already left USWA and was getting ready to go back into the funeral business. He called Rick Rude to tell him of those plans, and Rick told him he'd get him a meeting with Vince (evidently very shortly before he left the company). In the meeting, with Vince, JJ, and Pat, Vince was looking over his resume and started laughing. "You're a LICENSED MORTICIAN??" and continued to laugh as Percy was sweating it out, not knowing what the hell Vince's tone meant. A few days later he got the call and was told his gimmick.
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