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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    Staying mostly out of this, but both the NBA and MLB have expanded since 1997--more games means more attendance. MLB's attendance on a per-game level is still strong but not as good as it was up until the '94 strike.
  2. PeteF3
    Miss Texas is here as Sgt. Rock, and she has words for the Wolfman. Fun fact: Wolfman getting a push was because he had a stake in that shady supplement company that was sponsoring Smoky Mountain television. Terry Gordy is a very sad sight. Cornette threatens Butch Cassidy some more, then talks of a tag or 6-man involving Jos LeDuc. Finally we get a glimpse of the Cornette of old, on SMW's farewell TV show.
  3. PeteF3
    With Bullet Bob having ownership of the USWA, Randy Hales is forced to "cut in" to the regularly scheduled programming. Jerry Jarrett and his massive gun collection recount the history of his partnership with Bob Armstrong, and...then sort of trails off. Then breaks out a Rudyard Kipling poem to justify why the hell anyone would agree to put their house and all worldly possessions on the line in a wrestling match. Jerry's rambling gives me time to do some searching and discover the Smoky Mountain Massacre was a guy from Dale Mann's indy outfit which promoted Kentucky. Jeff is standing by with Randy Hales, with words for Brian Gerard James. Way more fire and passion from Jeff than his father. I demand a Jeff/Jerry/Eddie Marlin vs. Bob/Brad/Jesse James Armstrong 6-man tag. Good promo, though I really could have done without his morphing into his WWF Double J persona at the end. And Jerry sure didn't sound angry in his promo, despite what Jeff said.
  4. PeteF3
    Tracy isn't defending the USWA tag titles against a couple of jabronies like PG-13. JC and Wolfie are out to rebut, pointing out that everyone from the Smoky Mountains is a coward--then tries to goad Tracy into a shot by making comments about his mother and his illegitimate kid! Somewhere a now-powerless Jack Tunney is tut-tutting away. Smothers just pouts and reaffirms his stance, so JC splashes him with a cup of...something or other. Tracy calls JC out later and they have a hot "match," but are quickly interrupted by the Smoky Mountain Massacre. I don't think that's a Kong, as he makes even the Kongs look lithe.
  5. PeteF3
    Bullet Bob hopes Brother Cory can find a job at a car wash and Lance Russell can find a job as a caddy, while Dave Brown will be counting clouds somewhere else. Then he invites Randy Hales to dig a hole and disappear in it. Bob has also uncovered a scandal of Enron-esque proportions, as there's nothing left in the USWA funds, embezzled at the hands of Jerry Jarrett. Bob will even grant a return match if Jerry puts his house on the line! Bob doesn't want to have to keep commuting from Florida, and he doesn't just want the company--he wants everything the Jarretts have. Both dads in the respective corners for next Monday--I'm sold!
  6. PeteF3
    Overbooked to hell, with run-ins from EVIL BRAD ARMSTRONG, Tracy Smothers, the Smoky Mountain Massacre (some fat guy in a mask--I'd have bet money that it was one of the Kongs but no one seems to have a clue who he really was), Bullet Bob, and Downtown Bruno. After a million swerves and false finishes it ends with Jesse taking the match with an assist from Dad, thus giving the Bullet part ownership of the USWA. Brad Armstrong, the Rock 'n Roll Express, and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi as the Bizarro World Heels is the great lost Survivor Series team of 1995. Is this the only instance of Brad working heel as himself?
  7. PeteF3
    I liked this a bit better than everyone else, though it's certainly not a standout match. Devil has lost a step or six but she's surprisingly good at playing the in-peril role, not something I'm used to seeing her in. Sadly, Ozaki doesn't do much of anything, and after such a long period of Devil being in trouble, the hot tag is an anticlimax that gets almost no heat. Also, that spot where every lady tries a power bomb only for the opponent's partner to counter was...creative, but a little too cute and contrived for my liking. That said, they got me into the story of if the (presumed) underdogs KAORU & Fukuoka could put Devil away, and held my attention all the way through. I didn't call the time limit draw at any point, which isn't usually the case though the JIP undoubtedly helped in that regard.
  8. PeteF3
    A UWFI match with double-teams, Mongolian chops, knee drops, figure fours, a dive off the turnbuckle, floor brawling, saves, and low blows...there's very little resembling traditional shootstyle here but the sheer energy, hate, and at times WTF-ness of the match-up made up for that. This is a far better hybrid of shootstyle and wrasslin' than anything in the original UWFs, since the characters are so strong and the bigger moves are still done in an organic way that you could almost buy in a shoot setting.
  9. PeteF3
    Fun as hell. Spotfesty, but when the spots are this good, who cares?
  10. PeteF3
    "I can't believe this, but this was what was reported" addendum: when Vader was officially let go by WCW and he was prepping for shoulder surgery while deciding his next career move, Dave reported that the planned finish of this match was for Vader to attempt and miss a shooting star press (!!!) and for Hogan to escape. But Hogan was too far away from the corner, so Vader tried to improvise a senton thing and fucked up his shoulder. I think we're all, especially Vader, better off that that attempt didn't take place. Sounds unbelievably scary just thinking about it.
  11. PeteF3
    Pretty disjointed match famous for the MASSIVE negative reaction Hogan gets. The boos are audible over his entrance music and just get louder as the match goes on. It made the Albany crowd at the '92 Royal Rumble look subdued. Yeah, the brawling on the floor leading to Hogan doing his trademark takedown spots didn't make any sense to me, either, and a lot of the big moments just don't feel big, due to the throwaway nature of such a dream match and the seeming inevitability of the run-in fuck finish. Giant continues to be booked very well, though. They took the 1989 Zeus template and applied it to a guy with a little more upside.
  12. PeteF3
    Okerlund accuses Jimmy Hart of being the "original Benedict Arnold." I thought Benedict Arnold was the original Benedict Arnold. Hart points out that Sting got shunted to the background when Hulk's new best friend Randy Savage appeared on the scene--nice little play off of a real-life power struggle.
  13. PeteF3
    Like I said about the snowballing effect with my example, how much do you want to bet that starts to get some attention by some WWE slanted outlets in order to, not discredit what Punk said outright, but to cast some doubt on the complete truthfulness of Punk's claims. I mean it wouldn't change a thing since there is way too much smoke in other instances besides Punk, but something stupid and dangerous like a DUI charge, even if it went away quietly based on whatever reasoning (BAC wasn't legal limit, cop was being a quota seeking ahole, or being an ahole based on Punk being a pro wrestler, etc), I can see being brought up as a way to discredit Punk's IRL character. That should be easy enough to verify through public records if someone is able to do it. I'm ignorant on this stuff - is telling you that a violation of attorney-client privilege? Wikipedia sez yes, even if you're no longer representing that client.
  14. PeteF3
    Really fun match that of course gets forgotten about in the wake of the ending. This would get repeated and done to death a million times afterward, but here it's fresh and it's an angle that people really believed and were emotionally invested in--maybe the first such angle the WWF has run all year if not multiple years. And there was no real Sledgehammer of Plot stuff here--even the foreshadowing with Lawler and Vince recounting all the punishment Shawn took the previous night is handled with some subtlety. I wonder if this led to the highest ratings in WWF Mania history.
  15. PeteF3
    Ahead of its time on SOO many levels. It's remarkable a.) how much this, by design or not, plays off that sitdown interview with Vince earlier in the year, and b.) how much it foreshadows what's to come with Mr. McMahon. But other than outing Vince as the guy in charge, this is refreshingly free of the shooty-shoot stuff while still feeling real.
  16. PeteF3
    I think, the 3rd time around, these two finally hit it out of the park. Oh, the first match was excellent and the second almost as good, but I think this is the best and most complete of the three. Once Bret counters the first Jackknife, this hits another gear with some creative spots and surprising intensity for the WWF environment of the time. Weapons even get involved, and Bret takes two pretty insane bumps down the stretch, one from the missed plancha and one into the table--really one of the better table spots in history because there was no contrived set-up. It was just dropped on you out of nowhere. Diesel played the sympathetic hesitancy note absolutely letter-perfect here, in setting up the finish. And of course the post-match is great too, as Diesel lays waste to the entire refereeing corps and gives Bret two Jackknifes, a pretty holy-shit moment at the end of a match full of them. I don't think this is the WWF MOTY--the ladder match still holds that title--but this still a real feather in the cap for both guys.
  17. PeteF3
    The WWF would very slowly start incorporating some more adult elements to close out the year. Starting...now.
  18. PeteF3
    Bob Backlund gives "Bill" a dressing down. Backlund may well have been a more effective challenger than Bob Dole was.
  19. PeteF3
    How often do you see a WWF match involving 8 guys where none of them suck? Not many, at least before the HHH Era. Hakushi notably gets a monster reaction for everything he does, which of course the WWF did absolutely nothing with. He really looks great here, though. This match has some of the most advanced offense the WWF had seen to this point, climaxing with Jannetty's big power bomb off the top rope. I also loved Skip doing the top-rope Frankensteiner, popping up in triumph, then doing the Greg Valentine pratfall on his face. Fun match with a great crowd, much like the hot pro-Marty crowd from Raw.
  20. PeteF3
    Yes, Cactus' adolescent-girl-at-her-first-One-Direction concert homemade shirt was spectacular. The match falls under the entertaining crap label for me, though it does go too long. Dreamer beats the shit out of Raven, but Funk steals the pinfall as Dreamer is tied up with Cactus, so still no official pinfall for Dreamer on Raven.
  21. PeteF3
    Austin's kind of whiny, even by his ECW standards, in the pre-match. I still loved him responding to the Hogan chants with a big boot and a legdrop, though. It's amazing how much Stone Cold there is in this incarnation, which goes to show what a hideous misfire the Ringmaster was. Good all-action sprint, with some tremendous fiery comebacks by Mikey after getting the bejesus beaten out of him.
  22. PeteF3
    I know ECW is way down on your radar level but you'd love Bill Alfonso, Parv.
  23. PeteF3
    Bill Alfonso vs. Tod Gordon, November 2 Remember '95 Beulah is supposed to guest ref, but when she yells at Alfonso for jumping Gordon on the floor, Bill levels her with a clothesline and takes her out of the match. This is clipped, but the action we see is so much better than it has any right to be that it's absurd. In some ways this is more impressive than Stevie vs. Luna, though maybe not as good as Cornette working against Mark Curtis. Fonzie is such a little shit that the heat is through the roof--the "WE WANT BLOOD" chant for once fits perfectly into the story of the match. Tod rams Alfonso into a chair outside and Fonzie fulfills our wish--"ALFONSO'S BUSTED OPEN! ALFONSO'S BUSTED OPEN! THE COMMISH DID IT!" There's even a well-built-to payback spot with Gordon uppercuting Alfonso in the nuts, just as Bill did to him earlier. He knocks Bill out with a frying pan, but with no referee, Taz (who guest refed earlier in the night) has to come out to make the count. One, two...and Taz clobbers Gordon and gives the victory to Bill. Taz gets on the mic and I have to deal with ECW's usual sound quality combined with the usual DailyMotion sound quality. That and every other word is getting bleeped. Taz calls out the ECW fans for their concern over Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and Sabu for their various injuries in the past year. "WHAT ABOUT ME?" I think this refers to the neck problems Taz had been having at this time. Taz points out that his father isn't a "fat kike lawyer" (!!!--got bleeped, but I'm pretty sure that's what he said) so he doesn't have the luxury of being able to live comfortably if he can't work. The only guy who worked to put food on Taz's table and money in his pocket was Alfonso. Not one of the absolute best Alfonso segments of the year, but another very good one. Taz has done very little since Sabu departed and is about to begin the run of his career, so that's pretty exciting.
  24. PeteF3
    This was good and I understand what they were going for, but yeah, this is excessive in its amount of falls, even if Styles attempts to cover for it by speculating that Rey was playing possum to buy recovery time. Still, Rey doing the huracanrana off the eagle's nest was a pretty balls-out way to finish this and a moment that would be in the TV intro for a long while. Rey kicks Jason's ass after the match when Jason insists on managing him, and gets double-teamed by the Eliminators. 911 makes the save and demonstrates why he should never, ever attempt anything except chokeslamming people. I do like the idea of pairing Rey and 911 up, at least in theory.
  25. PeteF3
    Yeah, the Sabu-ECW negotiations seemed to be a soap opera in and of themselves, with it looking for awhile like Sabu was going to work for Dennis Coraluzzo. Sabu had basically been drummed out of both New Japan and WCW at this point, partially because he didn't want to wrestle as a junior heavyweight. In any event, Sabu is finally home, and the trained seals who were chanting "FUCK SABU" a few months ago couldn't be happier.
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