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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    Here we go...the start of the thing that's keeping me plowing through what is overall a subpar year to say the least. We are LIVE from the Mall of America, and I was always a fan of WCW's willingness to hold Nitro in odd venues, whether by choice or by necessity (Disney during the '96 Olympics). Mongo drops the immortal line, "This place is apropos, and that don't mean you're digging around in the dirt with farm implements, baby!" Bobby informs McMichael that he was a "big fan when he played for Denver," which is funny. Liger of course, once again, gets the stereotypical Fu Manchu entrance music instead of just bringing a tape over of his normal theme. The match is certainly a far cry from SuperBrawl 2, with Pillman having regressed quite a bit in the intervening years. But it's still good enough, and an enjoyable spotfest to kick Nitro off. Pillman blows a few headscissors and the ending isn't done well, but this did its job. It's still good to see Brian actually do something for pretty much the first time since the Austin feud.
  2. PeteF3
    Interesting stylistic match-up here, between two ladies who tend to want to impose their will on their opponent and the match. This was pretty awesome--Toyota's greatest psychological strength is the ability to project sympathy, as Loss says. She takes great bumps and is so flexible that submission holds have an added effect when applied to her. And she's not afraid to let Hotta kick the shit out of her. When on offense, she has to play hit-and-run to avoid Hotta's strikes, which adds a bit of a psychological edge to Toyota's usual go-go-go style. Tons of hot near-falls down the stretch--maybe a few too many, but this isn't nearly as bloated as many other joshi 2.9-fests. Plus the ladies continue to sell after kicking out, instead of popping right back up. Toyota not being able to properly execute the JOCS was a great touch to add to one of Hotta's kickouts, whether that was intentional or not--if it wasn't, it was one of those blown spots that enhances a match rather than detracts. Toyota has too much taken out of her to apply her finisher, but manages to sucker Hotta into putting herself in a vulnerable position on the turnbuckles, using the corner as leverage to apply the move for the win. Really great, clever finish to a fine match. I think I liked this better than Hotta/Kong--Kong simply overpowered and smothered Hotta in that one, while Toyota finds a way to work around Hotta's worst tendencies and uses them to add to the match.
  3. PeteF3
    Of course, Owen had already said no to an angle where he was secretly getting it on with Debra behind Jeff's back. There's a fine line between standing up for yourself and being perceived as a problem child. That said...this seems a little conspiracy-theory-ish to me. Isn't it more likely that it was seen that the gimmick simply didn't work?
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  5. PeteF3
    Until Yokozuna came along, I think Calhoun was easily the best of the 600-pound elephant types. There's a clipped match against Rikidozan that actually looks really good. Diff'rent strokes and all that but I too have a hard time seeing how Christopher qualifies as an all-time worst worker. He has a TV match with Jarrett that's probably one of the better matches in the history of the WMC studio, which should pretty much disqualify him.
  6. PeteF3
    Off the subject now, but the Owen stunt was HORRIBLY unsafe. Their regular rigging crew refused to outfit Owen with a quick-release button, and since Vince thought that slowly unhooking Owen would be stupid, he went with a much less reputable company that was willing to do the stunt the way McMahon wanted. I'm also about 75% sure that the plan was for Owen to do a pratfall, hence the quick-release, the stupidity of which doesn't even need to be addressed
  7. PeteF3
    Hype for Hogan vs. Big Bubba on Nitro. Ah, the days when Hogan wrestling on TV was a big deal regardless of opponent. Hogan teases an alliance with Maniac Mongo.
  8. PeteF3
    Bischoff, starfucking ninny that he is, is decked out in Planet Hollywood merchandise and palling around with Mongo McMichael. Sting hypes the first episode of Nitro and his match with Flair. Sting is kind of amusing here.
  9. PeteF3
    The true nature of the family relations between Flair and the Andersons was always...let's be generous and call it "flexible." Even within the span of a single interview, as I don't think Okerlund was ever clued in on the family history. Disjointed, but Ric's delivery is so great that it doesn't matter. This is the best WCW storyline of the year, weak though the competition may be. They've successfully booked an anticipated match between these two longtime friends without compromising or cheapening either character.
  10. PeteF3
    Cornette rants as only he can. He's drunk with power now that the Bodies are double tag champions. The THUGs interrupt and lay the Bodies out with wooden boards! First they busted up Del Ray's forehead, then the White Boy goes to town on Prichard's leg. Robert Gibson in underwear...yeah, okay, there's attempted realism and verisimilitude and then there's taking things too far.
  11. PeteF3
    Chip Kessler is no Gordon Solie, as if that wasn't obvious. I'm not as cynical about this as El-P is--the fact that they brought out the widows of Sam Bass and Whitey Caldwell indicates that Cornette was making a genuine effort, at least. It is a case of diminishing returns, though. A proclamation is read from the Mayor of Kingsport declaring it Ron Wright Day. This card consisted of the various wrestlers booking their "dream matches," and Dirty White Boy's is to wrestle Ron Wright. White Boy goes down to a FINGERPOKE OF DOOM--who says Kevin Nash didn't draw on Cornette as a booking influence?
  12. PeteF3
    Jesse James sticks up for his father, and Lance quickly puts him in his place. I'm pretty sure Brian Armstrong at least participated in some 6-mans with his family in SMW, but he definitely wrestled there as the masked jobber the Dark Secret.
  13. PeteF3
    Hokuto's veiled black wedding dress entrance attire is so awesome. That she jumps Toyota and does a fucking somersault plancha while wearing the thing is all the more awesome. There's not a fuck-ton of substance here, but since this is basically a one-off I'm much more forgiving of the spotfesty nature. I could have done without all the table stuff, though that seems to be a major part of Toyota's game now, so whatever. Hokuto does provide some great counters to keep this somewhat grounded. She also does her new husband's Strangle Hold, and of course applies it without five times as much torque and energy as Kensuke ever did. Toyota comes back to hit two Northern Lights bombs to put Hokuto away with a bit of an insult to it as well.
  14. PeteF3
    Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue, 9/2/95 I'm...not all that sure what to make of this, honestly. But I think I really liked it. This has the feel of a very extended squash, as for 90% of this Bull seems to either shrug off or have an answer for every single thing Kyoko tries. And for awhile this was feeling like a step back for Kyoko. Even though her WWF stint was over with, Bull had taken a sort of elder-stateswoman role, and having already vanquished Kyoko in a WWF title match earlier I wasn't seeing the purpose in having Inoue put her over so strongly again when it was pretty clear who needed the win more. Kyoko gets not one but two DRAMATIC ONE-COUNTS off Bull's guillotine legdrop, and controversy over that spot aside I think it worked here. That forces Bull to go for the somersault guillotine legdrop, and *that* gets two. So Bull goes for the moonsault, which misses. I do love that recurring progression in Bull's big matches. Now, Kyoko chooses to follow this up by unsuccessfully attempting to apply a surfboard, which was not a direction I would have gone in. It's her first opportunity to truly impact Bull and that's a hold designed for the opening feeling-out process, not after a major transition. It gets a little wonky from there, but Kyoko and Bull pull this back together when Inoue starts going for the Niagara Drivers. Two of them followed up by a power bomb nets...a 3 count?! Yeah, that totally caught me off-guard, which is to this match's ultimate credit. Like I said, this feels like a hard match to rate--I had some issues with the psychology and I was so prepared to hate the result it seemed to be building toward ("Kyoko is gutsy and tenacious but completely overmatched," like Kobashi in 1990-91 against Hansen, which was not the right story to tell at this point) that the end result is leaving me puzzled for a proper star rating. But, bottom line, it's a milestone win for Kyoko that seems to come at the right time, and good on them for pulling the trigger and for so completely fooling me.
  15. PeteF3
    Oh dear God, I don't care if I never see the 6/95 match again. Seeing these two go 30 a second time to no result sounds like pure torture. Oya's arm work is mostly good, as is Hayabusa's spin kick that sparks his comeback. Oya is still in the running with Mike Rotunda and Al Perez among wrestling's all-time biggest mechanically sound heat vacuums, though. Give me SOME reason to care about you or the match you're in, please. This picks up when Hayabusa gets to unleash his flashy offense, though throwing out a shooting star press for a routine 2-count seems a little over-the-top. I ended up liking this okay, but I'm still way more down on this series than everyone else here. They didn't totally telegraph the draw, which is to their credit, and the fans were going more and more nuts for each near-fall. In another context, I could see myself really liking this, and I'm definitely coming around on Hayabusa, who has all the makings of a truly standout worker.
  16. PeteF3
    I can't say that they ever made me care too much about who won or lost, which is almost a deathblow for creating a compelling match. It was well-executed, but had a lot of problems. Loss touched on most of them, but also they really didn't do a good job of the "big pin attempt while partner holds off the other opponent from making the save" stuff that's so standard in puroresu--doubly disappointing because these two teams should be well-familiar with each other and have their chemistry down cold. While I liked Kyoko quickly equalizing in the second fall, the falls felt incredibly disjointed, much like the spots closing down the stretch. Kyoko kicks out of the JOCS, which draws a big pop and should be treated as a huge deal, but really isn't as that's quickly forgotten about so they can get in another 10 near-falls. And man oh man do I HATE that beat-before-the-3-count thing the AJW ref does. Hate hate hate it. And it's even more annoying here than it's been in the past. This is decent, since they execute what they do well and Toyota does some really nice spots, but that's it--there's nothing new under the sun here.
  17. PeteF3
    Nah, it was revealed that Marianna was faking it, because bitches be that way, amirite? The most hilarious part of this storyline was Marianna coming out with a black eye during a Chaz/Godfather match, and naturally THAT got the pimp incensed, and he went nuts attacking Chaz for it.
  18. PeteF3
    I think I liked the '93 match the best, and I thought the 5/94 match was probably about as good--not that this is overrated, but I liked that '94 match more than seemingly anyone else. This was a brutal war that doesn't come off as *too* excessively brutal, and is still pretty steeped in psychology and logical transitions. Kansai was great at playing keep-away from Aja's Uraken, and when she finally goes after Aja's arm it's a great turning point. It goes back to what Loss said in the Arn/Regal review about making fans wait for a psychological payoff. Aja sells it beautifully and she's pretty much thrown off her game for the rest of the match. Dynamite, left for dead at a few points, looks like she's overcome the longest odds in the world thanks to a combination of fighting spirit and smarts. The best joshi singles match of the year and yet another top-10 MOTY candidate.
  19. PeteF3
    God knows why, but since I had the Network fired up anyway, I may as well watch this entire monstrosity. Diesel cuts another bad, forced promo before the match. He makes a Pulp Fiction reference, the most current pop-culture nod in the history of Kevin Nash promos. Diesel really is trying here, and to be fair so is Mabel, but Mabel in particular just isn't any good. His clubbering looks like shit and other than a few nice big fat man spots, that's all he has. Even his belly-to-belly looks incredibly weak here. Diesel busts out a pescado and follows up with a pretty neat bump into the ringpost. Ref gets bumped and MOM perform one of the lamest 2-on-1 attacks you'll ever see. Lex Luger makes an attempted save, but Diesel takes him out. Luger fights off Sir Mo, and Diesel comes back to win with a forearm off the second turnbuckle. I know we complain about the WWF/E Style being too reliant on finishers ending matches, but two PPV main events of Diesel not being able to do the Jackknife for the victory is pretty weak. I agree--bad, but not worse than the Sid feud. They really did try, but this was the equivalent of a one-off Spectrum main event between Hogan and a geek heel like the One Man Gang, not a legitimate PPV main event. Diesel gets an admittedly nice reaction for the win, but I can't imagine any fan seriously wanting to see this match.
  20. PeteF3
    I really, really like Razor's pre-match promo, for whatever that's worth. Even the visual of the camera following him from the interview set out the entrance was nice. And whatever--this is easily the US MOTY and better than WM10. Not a *ton* better, but better. Things that struck me the most are: the pre-ladder portion is REALLY good. I thought the WMX pre-ladder portion was pretty underrated too, but they go balls-to-the-wall here even before the ladder gets involved, busting out new spots like Razor doing his blockbuster/fallaway slam off the turnbuckle. Thing #2: the family-friendly WWF style prohibited them from actually using the ladder as a weapon, so it's cool to see the many, many ways that Shawn and Razor get around that. Both try to take shots with the ladder and miss (with a great build on the WMX baseball slide spot as part of this). Both "accidentally or was it?" knock each other with the ladder. Both do moves *on* the ladder, but without actually picking it up and whacking them with it. Razor takes Shawn's leg apart, which is a two-pronged strategy (can't hit the Sweet Chin Music, can't climb the ladder). I didn't have any problem at all with Shawn coming back from that. It's not like he kipped up and started hopping around on the bad leg--he was able to sell the long-term effects of Razor's work without limping around like the overactor he often is. His pulling himself up to the top turnbuckle with just his arms, that sparked that comeback, was *very* well-sold. And I'm no Shawn fanboy looking to make excuses for him--his comeback was a fucking comeback, and I'm fine with that. The blown finish is admittedly pretty bad, especially the second time Shawn whiffs on the belt resulting in a trademark Shawn hissy-fit. But the initial attempt at covering, with Razor taking a fine bump to the floor, was quite well-done. I don't know if this qualifies as a top-10 MOTY for the entire world, but I could see it finishing there at year's end. Great show all around and maybe the best Razor performance ever. Afterward we cut to Dean Douglas in the classroom, where he defines the word BAD for us, making sure to differentiate from the street/slang version of the word. Thanks, Dean. He's pretty much a Franchise clone by this point though, so I guess Douglas' vision of the character won out eventually. Anyway, this spiel pisses Razor off and he confronts Dean face-to-face. "Wait just a second, this is a classroom, and we don't need any violence here!" I've always liked that line for some reason. Dean tries to cheap shot Razor as he turns to leave, and eats a punch to the face, to set up one of the most ill-fated feuds of the year.
  21. PeteF3
    The mind boggles at what Garofalo would have thought of the product at this time. She had to be dying inside.
  22. PeteF3
    The PTC certainly didn't like it. But the Super Bowl was actually on FOX that year and we all know what their S&Ps are.
  23. PeteF3
    Getting Karelin to do this was such a big deal that this match got coverage in places like the New York Times. How many other Japanese wrestling matches can say that? (Yes, I know the Crush Gals got a Wall Street Journal write-up in their heyday, which is how and why the WWF ended up booking them).
  24. PeteF3
    "Dean Malenko happens to be nursing a very, very badly sprained ankle." Bret's sarcastic "Oooh!" face is even funnier than the El Dandy crack.
  25. PeteF3
    I think it's clear that someone in charge knew the reveal itself was going to be a big pile of shit, so they immediately tried to make us forget about it with a bigger swerve with Austin as the new CEO. To that effect, the segment was really well-done.
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