Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

PeteF3

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    10269

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    The work here is probably the best of the series to this point...but it all still feels empty. This is pretty much the starting point that led to things like Kurt Angle video packages where he promises that his match with Samoa Joe will be the Match of the Year--wrestlers whose kayfabe goal is to put on an aesthetically pleasing match more than winning. That's simply a change in philosophy that I have never been able to get behind. In fairness, I can't fault the crowd as much as Loss did initially for not buying what was being sold--because that would imply that these two made any effort to actually connect with a crowd to begin with. Instead they wrestled in a vacuum, didn't advance anything, and didn't tell any real story besides, "these two are even." I can't blame the fans for not wanting these two to leave, really--at the time, and looking at WCW '95, it's hard to envision the company having any clue how to utilize these guys. Malenko's post-match promo gets over, since he does every Mick Foley cheap pop trick he knows, but is pretty awful.
  2. PeteF3
    "It seems that familiarity over the years...has bred a little contempt." Flair tops the great Arn promo from just before, dropping a bunch of historical references and playing this just perfectly--subtly implying what Arn's actual role in the Horsemen has always been.
  3. PeteF3
    One of the best interviews of the year. How can a promotion put on a feud this serious and realistic alongside the Dungeon of Doom kiddie show? On the other hand, I suppose it's to Sullivan's credit that he's willing to put guys in situations that best suit them.
  4. PeteF3
    Dundee wins a reverse-decision in a loser-leaves-town match against Buddy Landell, thanks to the timely intervention of Frank Morrell. Frank then proceeds to kick Landell's ass after the match, which is either a very effective final burial or some rather over-the-top booking. Commissioner Bob Armstrong (said by Lance Russell with a perfect note of disgust) is out to take exception to this, and it's as awesome as you could hope for. Bob laments how the USWA has robbed Landell of the chance to feed his family because they're beholden to a yes-man like Dundee, "the original Australian shrimp on the barbie." Bullet Bob is doing his exact same SMW shtick, including the hat-flipping and the clip-on tie, but as Dundee and Bob are about to go at it, Jesse James Armstrong debuts with a surprise sneak attack, putting Dundee out with the Dreaded Shinninomaki ™. PG-13 make the save. The Dundees vs. the Armstrongs is a feud I can get behind. More Evil Commissioner Bob, please!
  5. PeteF3
    This feels like it should have been a total trainwreck, but this works really well as an extended squash on a guy in way over his head. Fujiwara breaks back some of his old wrasslin' spots like no-selling the turnbuckle shots, and Taka tries to work his style as best he can, but Fujiwara has an answer for everything he does. That PWFG was forging an alliance with Michinoku Pro didn't speak much for the future of the promotion, but this was a very interesting little footnote. If BattlArts is like more of this, then I say bring it on.
  6. PeteF3
    Good match, with some great submissions by Dos, but he sure does spend a lot of time mugging to the crowd. Like, a lot. Like, every two freaking seconds. To the point of annoyance. Luckily he cuts it out as the match goes on. Dos splatters Sasuke with a power bomb off the apron to the floor, a true holy-shit spot that was almost out of place in its audaciousness. They have the decency to have that be the climax, with Sasuke killed dead and going down afterward. I suppose a legend like Dos wasn't going to fly halfway around the world to do a job in a gymnasium with no seating.
  7. PeteF3
    Is it? If you have an insane amount of wrestling to watch and you can only tackle a small, probably recommended, sampling if those initial matches gives a real poor impression then I wouldn't want them to waste time on those wrestlers. Would it be nice if they could get at least 7-10? Yep, but save that for wrestlers with some redeeming qualities otherwise I can't even imagine how many wrestlers will just have to be looked over. Bull Nakano and Jaguar Yokota have no redeeming qualities? The idea of judging a wrestler based on one match is preposterous. Can you imagine if people did that under normal circumstances? What happens if you choose a bad match to start with? Well, I think the point of this forum is to direct people to matches where that won't happen. The joshi thread ideally will have a link to one of the Bull vs. Aja matches as opposed to Bull vs. Madusa from Road Wild.
  8. PeteF3
    I'm not sure I'll be voting for any shootstyle guys besides Fujiwara, Volk, and Takada, and even voting for Takada seems somewhat against-the-grain in this community where he's taken a beating the past few years. Naoki Sano will probably be on there also, but the shoot stuff is a bonus for him rather than the meat of his candidacy. The other core UWF guys have virtually no chance. I like Yoji Anjo, and I could see being won over by Kiyoshi Tamura or Yoshihiro Takayama as I make my way through the '90s, but I don't know if I can make room for any of them in a top 100. And I'm also not sure that my "first shootstyle guy off the list" spot wouldn't go to Gary Albright. I won't be voting for Gordy or Doc, either. As of right now Akira Hokuto is not guaranteed to make my list. I would imagine she'll end up there eventually, but if the list were due tomorrow there's a very real chance I'd leave her off. (Whoops, now I see Childs listed her, too).
  9. PeteF3
    Any idea about the date or the wrestlers? The translated page doesn't seem to say the date or the opponent, but the clean-shaven guy is Adnan al-Kaissie. I'm about 98% sure the opponent is Scottish worker Ian Campbell.
  10. PeteF3
    Davis did use the Mr. X identity but I don't think this is him. No tattoos, for one thing--the tats are why Davis always wore long sleeves, as both a ref and a wrestler.
  11. PeteF3

    Shawn Michaels

    PeteF3 replied to Grimmas's topic in Nominees

    Perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that strategy, even good strategy, doesn't always work. A football team facing a high-power, no-huddle, high-scoring spread offense may do a good job of playing conservative, ball-control football to keep the other team's offense off the field, only to commit a key fumble or miss an assignment that leads to a score, a momentum shift, and all that work going for naught. Now, I don't want to jump ahead in Yearbook-viewing but I'm not far from SummerSlam '95, so I can offer a more informed opinion in a few days. It is possible that they didn't tell the "strategy doesn't work" story as effectively as something like Hansen vs. Misawa from the '92 Carnival, which is all about Misawa tearing apart Hansen's arm only to fall to the Lariat anyway. But generally, I'm no longer of the belief that opening limbwork absolutely must play a hand in the finish.
  12. PeteF3
    Great work from Mikey, and there's something about Sandman...objectively he's a dogshit worker, but somehow that just adds to the package rather than detracts from it. I can't think of any other analogous wrestler, other than maybe late-'90s Sabu. Mikey scores the upset, but Woman refuses to hand over the cane...until the referee threatens to strip Sandman of the title and award it to Mikey, which causes her to immediately acquiesce. Funny. Eventually Woman steps in and prevents Mikey from getting his full ten shots, so Mikey lays one on her. That earns another beatdown from Sandman, but once again Woman caves the instant her gold is in danger. Woman is absolutely spectacular here, one of her best performances, playing both the evil wench as well as a stooge heel at once.
  13. PeteF3
    A truly terrible interview from Diesel, that says absolutely nothing of note over some of the most absurd canned cheers you'll ever see. They even zoom in on Diesel's face so you can't recognize how incongruous the noise is with the crowd activity. Davey Boy Smith is out to rescue this interview segment (how many times has THAT been said?), offering to help Diesel out after MOM made a challenge earlier in the night. REALLY not good when you're completely upstaged by the Bulldog on the stick, Kevin. The match barely gets started, as Davey Boy levels Diesel with a clothesline from the back and Diesel gets laid out, with multiple legdrops from Mabel and the running powerslam from the Bulldog. The turn itself was done very well--even Davey's disingenuous cheerleading on the apron was entertaining. And this was probably the first time anywhere that Davey Boy had worked as a full-blown heel, a full 15+ years into his career, so it carries some historical weight to it also.
  14. PeteF3
    Goldust drops his first movie quote(s), from Terminator 2.
  15. PeteF3
    Douglas is starting to drop the monotone and slowly morph back into something more resembling the Franchise. Better than the other Dean segments.
  16. PeteF3
    Not a good match, as both guys have little left after working 2 deathmatches already, and it features a very Borat-looking Tiger Jeet Singh performing the most needless run-in in the history of wrestling. But it's not terrible either. The "explosion" is pretty hilarious to watch, as is Funk's "I'm just as confused as you are, folks" reaction to the laughing crowd. Both guys step it up a bit to try to make up for it, but only partially succeed. Crowd sort of shits over things again at the finish, with nobody really sure if the match ended or not. A pretty vital historical document, as whether the show is good or not, it was a puroresu gateway drug for a lot of people just as the first Super J-Cup was.
  17. PeteF3
    THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS SHIFTED. THE NEXT WARRIOR HAS TRAINED IN MARTIAL ARTS IN TOKYO, MANCHURIA, AND MONGOLIA. HE IS...THE DRAGON MASTER MENG.
  18. PeteF3
    Cactus' opening line is even more ominous in the wake of more recent knowledge about concussions. I hope for his sake he was only working. Good explanation and good table-setter for the Cactus-Raven alliance.
  19. PeteF3
    Yet another terrific bout and this whole G-1 has felt like a rebirth for Mutoh, who was sort of lost in the wilderness these past few years. Mutoh comes off as a gutsy bastard but Hash looks strong, too--down the stretch it felt like both guys were leaving it all out there and whoever capitalized on a mistake first would win. Mutoh got the win but it was anybody's ballgame until the last 3-count. Another top-10 MOTY--there seem to be a jumble of these this year and I don't quite see this finishing higher than #5, but it should stay on the list.
  20. PeteF3
    Gaylord is an excellent pick. On top of being a horrible wrestler, his mannerisms and interviews were so utterly bizarre, like how an alien attempting to pass himself off as a human would act. Kevin Kelly/Nailz belongs in the discussion, I think.
  21. PeteF3

    Ernie Ladd

    PeteF3 replied to Grimmas's topic in Nominees

    There's a Ladd vs. Inoki match that was taped in Cleveland but aired in Japan from '74 (I think).
  22. PeteF3
    If Beefcake gets bonus points for "having a decent match with Ricky Steamboat," then Honky should as well. And hell, Honky's SNME match with Hogan is probably as entertaining as any Hogan-Beefcake match.
  23. PeteF3
    Zulu also worked New Japan for at least a tour or two in the '80s, under the name "Hercules Lone Hawk" (possibly a mistranslation or Engrish). Some of his matches made TV.
  24. PeteF3
    That doesn't work, because the thumbtacks were under the ring and clearly planned to be used (that was the "surprise" that Foley had promised beforehand).
  25. PeteF3
    Question for the '80s WWF project guys: is there a single good Hillbilly Jim match out there? Was he at least passable before breaking his leg? Did a Harley Davidson vs. Jerry Lawler match ever make tape? The '89-'90 version of Jim was easily worse than Beefcake, though granted his career wasn't as long.
×
×
  • Create New...