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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    Bobby and Bischoff have NO chemistry or timing at all--they make Bobby & Schiavone look like Abbott & Costello. And the Savage voiceover was just bizarre. Green-screen Hogan promo re: the Butcher. This setting is so 1989. This is apparently the most important night in WCW history, brother. Apparently Butcher's plan went all the way back to "day one." Not half as entertaining as Hogan's more batshit promos in the WWF. Randy Savage is here! Coming out to a cheapo keyboard version of Pomp & Circumstance. Still quite a coup for WCW. And this is quite a promo--Randy has new life in him, and he's nice and focused. I have to agree that Savage as a babyface seems like kind of a waste at this point. Savage vs. Hogan was always the money match but we wouldn't get it for another 2 years, under circumstances no one could have anticipated.
  2. PeteF3
    This was fantastic, probably the best TV match to air on Smoky Mountain. Lots of advanced offense but they also have a hold of the basics. Candido is so talented at so many styles it hurts to think about, knowing what would become of him. Tammy leaves 3/4 of the way through to get Boo Bradley, but instead of a standard run-in finish Boo accidentally costs Candido and it leads to a refreshingly clean finish. Tammy implores Boo to climb to the top turnbuckle or else she strangles Boots, but Boo takes long enough for Brian Lee to make the save. SMW is the hottest it's been since the Bodies left town, and is by a wide margin the best promotion in the U.S. at this point.
  3. PeteF3
    Cornette and the Rock 'n Rolls turn in one of the non-wrestling segments of the year, maybe the very best. As monumental as the idea of Cornette managing the Rock 'n Rolls is, Cornette and Ricky explain it in a way that makes perfect sense. Finally, a fresh use of Cornette. Cactus & Brian Lee will be facing Chris Candido & Boo Bradley in a falls-count-anywhere match at Christmas Chaos. Cactus recites his semi-infamous poem. New Jack rather reasonably states that the Rock 'n Rolls will be out of title shots after Christmas Chaos. Aside from the big "X" in the background, the controversy is toned way down and New Jack just sticks to wrestling.
  4. PeteF3
    Good interview from PG-13. PG-13 had to fight to prove AMERICA was tough in Puerto Rico, even though Puerto Rico is America. We come back to Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert bitching about getting DQ'd, presumably in the first fall of an expiration of time match. Southern tag by numbers match but solid and well-worked. If this leads to a full-blown feud I'm all for it, as it's a fresh setting for both PG-13 and Rich & Gilbert.
  5. PeteF3
    Backlund went out to shake Diesel's hand before battle, and Diesel showed how low he was. Bob makes threats towards both Diesel and Tunney. HE'S BEEN FIGHTING THE BUREAUCRACY IN THE WWF FOR 10 YEARS. I believe him. A gallant effort by Bob here but the booking killed him. Diesel drops no less than FOUR 1960's-centered references in 15 seconds. One week into his reign and I'm sick to death of Diesel already. He finally makes a Forrest Gump reference to put us back in the correct year. Them hogs ain't no different from y'all. What a way to draw heat.
  6. PeteF3
    There was good build to this early, with all four guys showing how absolutely desperate they were to avoid the barbed wire, but then this just got overly sadistic when Pogo started doing his sickle shit. Then we had barbed wire boards (with Oya mostly using the butt-end of it, for some reason), Pogo drinking lighter fluid, and flaming baseball bats with none of the charm or psychology of the earlier Onita matches. I will say that the ending, as over-the-top as the weaponry was, was incredibly dramatic and well-timed. Goto recovers from the barbed wire on the floor to rescue Onita from Pogo's flaming stick o' death, sending Pogo flying into the exploding barbed wire on the other side of the ring, leaving Oya 1-on-2 and thus doomed. So that worked. A lot of the rest of this didn't. I wish Pogo would just go away--outside of that one cage match he's nothing but the same dumb boot-and-sickle shtick in every damned match.
  7. PeteF3
    With the tape quality this looks like a lights-out match in the most literal sense of the term. Juvy's still wearing his dad's mask. The match itself is absolutely tremendous, probably the #2 lucha match of the year behind When Worlds Collide. A fantastic showcase of just how complete a wrestler Rey was at this point, as he works the first two falls and most the third with no flying at all, just matwork, selling, and a bit of high-end offense. Juvy busts out all kinds of suplexes--including Hase's golden arm bomber, so there's one tape influence--and basically wrestles as a dominant heavyweight. Tons of heart-stopping near-falls and then an ending that pissed me off mightily, and not even in a "I hope they let them go at it again" sense. Antonio Pena is starting to turn into 1987 Dusty Rhodes, using screw finishes as a crutch rather than a tool.
  8. PeteF3
    I liked the previous match a lot better--for whatever reason this felt more like meandering than the earlier, equally deliberate matwork did. That was building into Albright unleashing the heavy artillery. Here this goes until Albright just gets on a cross armbreaker and that's it. Big win for Gary but it should have felt bigger.
  9. PeteF3
    Had a little more trouble getting into this. To me it seemed like they were constantly teasing taking it into another gear but then would back off and slow it down again. The ending is certainly very good, though. I liked how Yamazaki applied the cross armbreaker so casually, as though he knew he already had the match won. Felt like something out of a TV squash match, even though he certainly didn't arrive at that point in the usual squash match way.
  10. PeteF3
    Slow-paced but a good fundamental little match. Kitahara gets some good runs of offense but is low enough on the totem pole that Tenryu doesn't even need to bust out the power bomb to put him away.
  11. PeteF3
    Uncle Burt Ray in his Mat Mania newsletters constantly bitched and moaned about the big, slow, boring slugs in WWWF main events. This was during the First Bruno Era.
  12. PeteF3
    Kind of a tepid pop for the newly crowned champ. Nash in Bo-like fashion misinterprets various New Yorkers' encouragements to DO THE JOB, BIG DADDY. We're immediately in Shiny Happy Diesel mode, and the only thing separating this from the Lex Express push is at least there was some build-up to the babyface turn. Other than that, the character reinvention is just as ineffective and incredibly, Vince has gone from waiting too long to pull the trigger to pulling it too early. Tease of Diesel vs. Bret, another monumentally dumb booking idea for your New #1 Babyface.
  13. PeteF3
    "No submission"...what a crock of shit. Backlund stalls FOREVER before Diesel's entrance. Big heat for his whole thing, though. Diesel wins in 8 seconds, a supremely dumb idea.
  14. PeteF3
    Pretty basic brawl but some fun moments, particularly Robert Gibson having his feet tied together and trying to fight his way out of the predicament. And it can't be accused of overstaying its welcome. New Jack places a board over Morton's head as D'Lo holds him down and then headbutts the board, knocking Ricky out for the pin. Nice to see a guy (or team) win their own specialty match for once.
  15. PeteF3
    That's amazing what people are saying about Orndorff, as he's always come off as incredibly prickly to me. Haven't had a chance to listen yet but that's a pretty good accomplishment by Cornette.
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  17. PeteF3
    Fuck, I don't even know. What I was TRYING to say is AVClub comments switched to being the same Disqus you see across every other website that uses it, with centralized all-purpose accounts instead of accounts exclusive to AVClub, allowing anyone with any Disqus account anywhere to run in and comment on an article, and for anyone to see where any account had commented elsewhere.
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  20. PeteF3
    This is a month and a half later but I'd like to see a feasible alternative to Disqus (and certainly alternative to Facebook) for comments. AVClub has seen a noticeable quality dip since all Disqus comments went "uniform" and certain articles and reviews have been overrun by trolls and brigades from other sites, as just happened with the Dinesh Disouza America docu review. Granted, "pro wresting only" is a bit more isolated than a pop cultuer site, but the last thing I want is some site vs. site "war." Baseballthinkfactory has its own commenting system and is also well-patrolled, and that leads to generally intelligent and informed discussion even in divisive threads, which is the ideal I think we want.
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  22. PeteF3
    That's supposed to be an O'CONNOR Roll, and that goes way back, since it was a Pat O'Connor move.
  23. PeteF3
    What the fuck is this? Halfway-decent action? Solid booking to set up future matches? This ain't quite the Mid-South Duggan, but it's as close as we've seen in 7 years. Not only am I looking forward to seeing if this Starrcade match lives up to its rep, this had me wanting to see this Main Event tag match, too. I agree--at least so far, Duggan is not just coasting on his rep and his connections. Hacksaw was always, even at his lowest, a good and effective seller, and that can go a long way with the right opponent.
  24. PeteF3
    Sort of Southern Wrestling 101--not great action but all four guys fit themselves into the standard template well enough. I do like all these interweaving storylines, with a Gangstas match segueing directly into the Cactus/Candido feud.
  25. PeteF3
    New Jack is incredulous that the Rock 'n Roll Express woudl challenge the Gangstas to a Ghetto Street Fight. Cornette shamelessly tries to kiss up to New Jack, and the contrast in these two heel characters is very amusing. Yes, Cornette knows how to book characters to interact with each other in fresh ways, even if they're both heels. Cornette offers to help the Gangstas out in dealing with promoters and better hiding their tactics so they can eliminate the Rock 'n Rolls for good. New Jack don't need no white boy tellin' him what they can do! Finally something fresh for Cornette--I know where this is going but I'm looking forward to watching it. Candido & Boo Bradley will be facing Cactus Jack & Brian Lee at Thanksgiving Thunder. Boo likes Cactus Jack, but Tammy informs him that he tried to kick Boots the kitty last week, and that sets Boo off. Cactus Jack responds as only he can--we'll get to see him enjoy the missionary position at Thanksgiving Thunder! Er, no thanks.
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