PeteF3
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Yes, the Poffo induction led to Solie quitting the company. Whatever, Gordon. Solie seems visibly annoyed right from the start. Same format as previous years, but as mentioned, way more out of place considering what else was going on in the company. Kind of amusing to see Funk in this setting, days after pulverizing Bob Armstrong. Poffo uses this opportunity to cut a promo for the Monster Maniacs, which comes off as rather cynical. Big pop for Gordon's speech about Dusty. Dusty then launches into a speech inducting Gordon Solie as the surprise 7th member, and Gordon looks like that job applicant who was accidentally put on BBC television as a computer expert. This of course would be the last of these ceremonies, which is too bad but probably for the best. I'd hate to see this used as a cheap excuse for an NWO attack the next year.
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Arn verbally puts Alex Wright in his place. Yeah, it's a good match with an all-timer of a finish. Flair plans to sit back and turn Vader loose. Vader introduces us to Itsy and Bitsy--they're python-eaters!
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Yeah, the hiptosses into the rows of chairs is straight out of Japan. I'm not as high on this overall as some others--it's not the best SMW match ever and I'm not even sure it's the best Gangstas match. But it's a hell of a fight and swan song for the team. Same finish as in the chain match, but it's a great finish so who am I to complain.
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WCW has made an upgrade to their background music for this segment.
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This is bizarrely and cheesily edited, with horrible heavy breathing sound effects over shots of Kimberly. The shot of Kimberly walking behind the golf cart carrying the clubs while DDP and Maxx are riding is pretty great, though.
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Kessler does the most absurd "righteous indignation" act in the history of announcing. WE'VE GOT UNABOMB INSIDE, WE'VE GOT UNABOMB OUTSIDE, WE'VE GOT UNABOMB INSIDE. HE MUST HAVE BEEN UNDER THE DAMN RING!! Great finish and angle anyway, with the babyfaces having to crawl under the ring and through the hole to make the save. Morton also takes a sick power bomb during all this.
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Clever finish, as D'Lo goes for the frog splash but misses and lands on New Jack, and White Boy presses down on both men to get the pin. White Boy gets crushed after the match. New Jack cuts a bloody promo afterward. The THUGs respond in kind, wanting a street fight with the Gangstas in Charlotte, then Tracy changes his mind and wants a stretcher match.
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This is actually pretty cute. I have to give credit to Hogan and Savage for being able to successfully disguise their body language while in the mask and bodysuits. They did a better job than Arn Anderson at the Clash. Heenan's rant about all this is pretty funny. Hogan and Savage do a Speedy Gonzalez-esque interview afterward.
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I didn't hate this match, actually. It's not good, and there are too many pinfalls, but the action wasn't bad for what it was. New Jack getting counted down without getting pinned was a little on the weak side, though. I also liked the post-match angle, which is really the only way the Cornette babyface run ever could have ended. Cornette torches Bob with a fireball as his "thank you present" and his new Militia is established, with Buddy Landell and the Punisher joining in on the beatdown. This is topped off by Cornette shoving his shoe in Armstrong's mouth, as payback for having to kiss his feet some months prior. I have a feeling this was pretty much the end of Smoky Mountain as being the top-quality promotion in the U.S. The angle itself is good but rehashing the Armstrong feud again is an indication that Cornette was running low on ideas. For the past few weeks ECW has finally started putting across a better product and has pretty much eclipsed SMW from a booking and excitement standpoint, to say nothing of the freshness of the presentation. -
Lots of guys have been praised for "making it look real," but Kevin took that thought to the extreme. There's realism and then there's not being fully aware that what you're doing is a work, and that's how Kevin came across.
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This was awesome. The stalling is long, but it's creative and doesn't wear out its welcome. LOVED Wolfie D cutting a promo on the blue haired lady in the front row. I miss Hatpin Mary-type fans, which were once a longtime staple. That Dirty White Boy immediately comes over and gives her a hug is icing on the cake. PG-13 stooge themselves out in every manner possible, from heel miscommunication to unintentional sexual innuendo. Then Tracy takes a great whip into the guardrail and they take over, with some pretty awesome vicious work once they're on top. They do a few neat teases and cut-offs right before Tracy makes the hot tag, and a good near-fall with PG-13 almost stealing the win with a hubcap to the head. Tracy gets the hubcap and clobbers one of them with it to apparently net the tag titles for his team, but Randy Hales is able to get the decision overturned. One of the better uses of a Dusty finish you'll ever see, and this was a fine match with heat that was through the roof.
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Man oh man, Ikeda was a revelation here. He immediately sets the tone with a big kneel kick and just beats the living shit out of Ishikawa on the ground. One lousy match and one awesome match makes for a thoroughly mediocre but very entertaining one. I need more Ikeda in my life now.
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Quite the contrast to that Shawn music video. I particularly liked the rapidfire alternating shots of Raven and Dreamer doing the crucifix poses at the end.
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Joey's mugging is so, so awful. Not enough to take away from the promo, though.
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Of course it's heelish, there's literally no footage of him as a babyface to show (they're not acknowledging the Rockers at this point, no way).
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Backlund's speech is Knute Rockne-esque in its levels of inspiration. "All right, Mr. Backlund, for the rest of us here on this planet..." Vince responds. Backlund conflating the JFK assassination with the date of his title loss is spectacular, regardless of whether it was intentional. A marching band comes out playing woefully out-of-tune instruments, as Vince is incredulous. Segment of the year, possibly segment of the decade.
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This was whatever. Sid freaks out when Diesel kicks out of the power bomb, thus marking his transformation from monstrous psycho to oversized Honky Tonk Man, a monumentally dumb road to take with him.
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Lawler and his "mother" are great, but even better is Dok's blind acceptance of this. "You can tell she takes a lot better care of herself than Helen does." The piledriver no-sell...I dunno, it didn't really bother me. Maybe because Bret *did* sell it for a few seconds, before popping it back up. I could buy it as Bret running on pure hate and adrenaline, a story pushed hard by Hendrix during the match. Match still isn't good, but it was nice to see Lawler get a pinfall. He needed to win the whole segment though, rather than getting run off afterward.
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These two didn't seem to be on the same page at first, leading to some awkward moments. Not to bring back old '90s Smart Fan Talking Points, but Shinzaki has pretty much been WWF-ized by this point, basing his initial offense on chops and chokes and cheap tactics from Shinja. He does pick the pace up as this goes with some nice highspots, and I remember losing my shit watching this live when he busted out the Asai moonsault.
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This was AWESOME. Awesome awesome awesome. Shane Douglas comes out before the match and at first I'm groaning, as Douglas rants about the state of ECW thinking that chairs and tables are more important than wrestling. Then he says he made a call to his lawyer...who made a call to Harrisburg, PA and I *immediately* do a 180 on this once I figure where this is going. Yes, State Athletic Commission referee Bill Alfonso is here, and if Tod Gordon and the wrestlers don't obey him, he'll shut ECW down! Bill is right at home in this role from the start--I love him harrassing Bob Artese over the apparently non-regulation height of the bottom rope. Once the match starts, Alfonso immediately cuts Dreamer off from going after Richards on the outside, instantly pissing off the crowd, establishing where Alfonso stands, and forcing the wrestlers to work a straight match. This isn't the tag match of the year or anything, but it's another match where an aptitude of the basics goes a long way. Dreamer is okay, Raven is better, Richards is good, and Mikey is REALLY good. Whipwreck still bumps like a loon but now has a few offensive wrinkles he can bust out as well as a few other neat crafty tricks to get his shots in, like grabbing the ropes to send Raven flying when he attempts a neckbreaker. Really good, slow build to Dreamer finally facing off with Raven, and the stereo DDTs on the floor to take the partners out were cool. They go at it...and Dreamer ignores the warnings to open his fist and immediately gets disqualified. FANTASTIC. Afterward, Alfonso again threatens to shut the promotion down if Dreamer touches him, Douglas comes back to gloat, and Cactus Jack is out and they yap again about their past. Jack wants Douglas out of ECW and there's yet another pull-apart. They're STILL dropping qualifiers about their past friendship and Styles talking about it "hanging by a thread" instead of just fucking letting them go at it, which is infuriating but not enough to take the shine off the rest of this segment. This is one of the best ECW matches and segments of the year and I can't wait for more Alfonso. He was used absolutely perfectly here--he shows just enough ostensible objectivity during the match not to overwhelm it, and only takes over at the finish. That's how heel referees should ideally be booked.
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This was clipped in an annoying way--Dean and Eddy are two guys skilled at mat work and the little things in general and this basically cuts the majority of that out and just shows the big bombs. What we saw was not overly impressive. Big bomb from Malenko, kickout, Malenko sells frustration. Big bomb from Malenko, kickout, etc. This was also part of Taz's transformation from jungle savage to Noo Yawk street tough. I believe "Peter Senercha" was shown in shadow after this and Taz was revealed.
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Yeah, this comes off like an ad for an art institute rather than a wrestling promo. I can't believe they're still trying to foist the "Monster Maniacs" name on us. Close your eyes and you won't be able to tell the difference between Angelo and Bockwinkel.
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Three great contrasting personalities in addition to three great wrestlers. How could anyone see any coolness at all in the Hogan faction compared to this group?
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Morton not only demonstrates the consequences of the scaffold match with a watermelon, he also takes care to point out that he has a 20-foot view to see if Unabomb interferes. Clever touch. And the slomo shot of the falling watermelon is awesome. So was the pan out when we first see that Morton is on a ledge. Snow goes from stooging and fearful to dead serious. Snow doesn't care about Morton's stinking illegitimate children or his skanky girlfriend. Snow with one of the promos of his career.
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Everyone's kind of losing focus. The Gangstas are dealing with Cornette & Armstrong and the THUGs, the THUGs are dealing with the Gangstas and PG-13...SMW had a terrific first few months of '95, but things seem to be sliding. Remains to be seen if the Cornette turn is for the better. PG-13 hang around on the streets without any shirts on. This really isn't far off from what ECW was doing, and these guys are still a million times less annoying and quite a bit more authentic than Public Enemy.