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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    Good content with absurd sound effects. I also don't think it's happenstance that we saw lots of shots of Muta beating up Luger and Scott Steiner.
  2. PeteF3
    Cactus pours his heart out about his severed ear while the crowd brays like trained jackasses. I hate Center Stage, I hate this production, and I hate this set. And we'll be stuck with it on WCWSN for the next two years. Cactus vows revenge on both Vader and the Nasty Boys, getting them in a match he's made a fine piece of art: falls count anywhere.
  3. PeteF3
    With Flair in a business-casual suit and sunglasses, this looked and felt like an old Techwood Drive studio promo
  4. PeteF3
    The babyfaces are celebrating the Rock 'n Rolls' victory, and a grateful Morton instantly moves on to hyping their upcoming program with Lee & Candido. Cut to a board meeting where Cornette has been appealing the decision in the LLT match. The decision will stand, and after 10 years the Cornette vs. Rock 'n Rolls feud is over--and, yes, as mentioned, this really is the effective end. I don't have much to add but this is absolutely chill-inducing, and probably a mortal lock for Best Promo of the Year. Dammit, I almost have a lump in my own throat as Cornette is almost near tears and the Bodies walk off, knowing this is it and that the Bodies are destined to be wasted as JTTSes in the WWF. That said, whatever led to the decision for the Bodies to go to the WWF full-time--a full-time guarantee they couldn't refuse or simply a Cornette booking decision--it's refreshing to see such a rivalry culminate like this instead of being dragged on and on and on through the mud. This really did feel like the right time to end this. Unfortunately, with the Bodies gone and Dutch Mantell apparently soon to follow, I fear we've seen the peak of SMW both financially and artistically. Looking forward to seeing what's to come, though--there still looks to be a lot of must-see material.
  5. PeteF3
    Finally we get a look at Prince Kharis on this Yearbook, and it's obviously absurd. They're at least attempting to push the idea that Van Horn is a nut rather than a guy who actually resurrected a 3000-year old pharaoh. Van Horn tries to convince us by cutting off Kharis' thumb and pouring sand out of it. White Boy is out to rebut and shits all over the gimmick, and justifiably so. He picks on Van Horn and gets the upper hand on Kharis until Van Horn tosses the "sand of the Nile" in DWB's eyes. This is about as good of a segment involving Prince Kharis can possibly be. I'm honestly surprised the WWF didn't try this gimmick around this time, with a bigger budget.
  6. PeteF3
    Cornette discovered Bruiser Bedlam in Detroit when he was there for SummerSlam. He's strong as an ox and twice as smart! Bedlam cuts a bad ICW-esque promo.
  7. PeteF3
    This was ridiculous, but it looked like they were deliberately and consciously sending up some of the prior videos. The 'seekers passing up the beer for two glasses of milk made me legitimately laugh. This would have been cooler with Warren Zevon's song of the same name.
  8. PeteF3
    Eddie is out with a skeptical Dave Brown, wearing an Elvis shirt apparently for asskissing purposes. He calls Doug out, and Doug's still hot (ha!). Eddie offends Doug further by agreeing to team up with Brian Christopher. All Eddie wants is for Doug to guest-ref, since Scott Bowden and Frank Morrell got laid out on Monday. Doug begrudgingly agrees, but seems to me like he has another trick up his sleeve. Yep, color me intrigued as to where this is going. It could be a trick from Eddie, it could be a trick from Doug, it could be a trick from both Gilberts working together, or both Gilberts could end up as babyfaces. I like the set-up. And why the hell *should* the announcers or fans trust Eddie? I don't know how long it will last--probably not very--but this was a glimpse of the early '90s Eddie again, a compelling talker and great angle man. Doug isn't as good but he's better than he has been, though that "burn" did look like pink facepaint.
  9. PeteF3
    Doug Gilbert's in a 6-man tag match, and we're supposed to be SURPRISED that Eddie shows up? The stip here is that each man put up $1,000 in an I Quit Match, and by Eddie's botched interference and Doug's submission, Rich and Dream Machine are out a grand apiece. So they take their frustrations out on Eddie. ADAM BOMB shows up, so I guess the WWF alliance is back on 100%. Long heel beatdown follows.
  10. PeteF3
    Bass and Spot can barely move now, and this is pretty tepid compared to 1992. It also goes without saying what a serious downgrade Ronnie Lotz is from Richard Lee. Travis seems like he's on something, he's totally out of it. Bass almost redeems this whole mess with his own promo.
  11. PeteF3
    Shawn is a good talker and a star, so on some level it makes sense to give him his own interview segment. But I wonder if he has the capability of getting other guys and programs over besides his own. The Lowell Auditorium is one of my favorite mini-venues in wrestling, like a slightly bigger Manhattan Center, but MAN is it illustrative of where the WWF was at this point to have Superstars in this setting. Hey, this is the color-changing outfit interview!
  12. PeteF3
    Rooms by the hour, I'm sure. This also appears to be the birth of the "Big Daddy Cool" moniker.
  13. PeteF3
    I always thought rushing to turn Ric heel again was a mistake, and that in a perfect world they could have had the money match without the turn. But watching this stuff now, there really didn't seem to be anywhere else for Flair to go after the Vader issue was settled. There were no other legitimate heels for him to wrestle (Rude wasn't fresh and had been refusing to put Flair over). Sort of says something that they had to drag Barry Windham out of the mothballs to tide things over until Hogan was ready. So this turn doesn't seem as bad now. It helps that Flair is kicking ass on the mic--it doesn't get more dickish than cutting a promo on a 4-year old. I also like how they're pushing a Flair match on TV as a special event.
  14. PeteF3
    The green screen stuff was cheesy but the action clips were tremendous, and so was this interview. The Boss comes off as a guy who's completely, and totally fucked come Spring Stampede.
  15. PeteF3
    Good way to establish instant contenders for the Rock 'n Rolls for after they regain the tag belts. The match is good, and Dutch & Bob are fantastic. Morton kisses Tammy when she tries to interfere, and Dutch rightfully screams out "THAT'S SEXUAL ASSAULT!" Candido whacks Morton with Tammy's purse for the win.
  16. PeteF3
    White Girl must have an all-time record for running headstrong into a situation and getting her ass kicked. This time Tammy tricks her into accepting a "one-on-one singles match" but doesn't specify with whom. Peggy Lee Leather is the opponent, and she establishes herself by bodyslamming Dutch!
  17. PeteF3
    Help me out here, I'm lost: was this or was this not taped before Bluegrass Brawl? The taping schedule makes for a very awkward promo by Cornette's standards.
  18. PeteF3
    Joe Pedicino and Boni Blackstone are in Marietta to award a big trophy to Bob Armstrong. Incredibly no one comes out and smashes it. Bob talks up Cornette's newest mystery man, who I believe is Bruiser Bedlam. Bob points out that jackasses can't run with racehorses--even a Bullet Bob-by-numbers promo will drop several killer new lines on you.
  19. PeteF3
    The sarcasm from Jericho is palpable here, talking of the "natural progression" from hockey to wrestling, then giving Lance a hard time about talking up his "jumping ability" from volleyball. Water polo players are legitimate badasses, though. I think Storm *was* already married at this point, which pretty much killed his gimmick. Jericho sets his high standards for what he's looking for in a woman. This is pretty hilariously lame, and Lance actually comes off as more likable than Jericho. Their pitiful attempts to kiss up to the local fans are just icing on the cake.
  20. PeteF3
    Gene O's gotten Hogan *and* Flair mad at him. Not a bad promo from Hogan, even if his arms are so not the "largest in the world" at this point.
  21. PeteF3
    What a random-ass return this was, not that I'm complaining. Graham had seemingly been out of the wrestling business entirely for years--I wonder if this got sparked by bringing back so many guys for the Memphis Memories show. Great, intense brawling that recalls the Lawler-Snowman days. The Moondogs are STILL around??
  22. PeteF3
    As a retail professional, IRS' threat doesn't exactly carry much weight behind it.
  23. PeteF3
    I thought Panther and Los Gringos Locos were already in conflict, too. I was confused when he was aligned with Jake earlier, and them teaming has me even more confused. Either I got mixed up on my timeline or they did a big reset on the Panther face turn. And is this Kanemoto under the tiger mask here? It would have to be, wouldn't it? Anyway, I thought the first two falls here were really good. It may not entirely be cricket lucha, but the velocity with which Eddy and Art execute their stuff is really compelling. Eddy absolutely kills Lizmark dead with a lariat at one point and TM with a brainbuster at another, and the technicos step it up and respond in kind. It's one of the stiffer lucha matches of the '90s. This is also the first real look at the "real" '90s Eddy that we're all familiar with, in fact. Barr has junked all of the complicated stuff he tried and failed to execute in earlier matches, relying on shtick and a few key offensive moves that he does well. It's a good change for him, even if it seems like a very WWF Style thing to do. The third fall this, as Chad says, goes off the rails. A lot of meandering brawling and while all the mask-pulling was fun, the Gringos Locos turn made almost no sense in context. I get the build-up to it, but why wait until the third fall and then leave him laying? Maybe it's my American booking mind here, but at least have Panther fuck up and accidentally hit one of the Gringos, or build up the tension throughout the match, or something. As it is, it just didn't work. Funny post-match image, as the children's chorus "Love Theme for Santo" song is playing, while the Gringos continue to lay waste to Panther in the ring.
  24. PeteF3
    Man oh man, I'm not even to Spring Stampede and Slamboree yet, but there have to be more great shows crammed into the first 3 months of 1994 than in all of 1993. This, WMX, and Queendom alone are all strong candidates for Major Show of the Year. This has one of the most well-booked finishes you'll ever see--a hot near-fall ending with Mark Curtis beaten up and thrown into the cage, and alternate ref, another near-fall for the heels, and a near-screwjob with Mark Curtis making the final save. I still liked the ladder match for its work a little better but this was far more epic in scope, and with all the build-up and hype really felt like the end of an era.
  25. PeteF3
    I'm sort of with Childs on part of this--they did whiff on a few moves to a noticeable degree and the stretch was very my-turn-your-turn: guy counters move, guy attempts move, guy misses, opponent takes over, repeat. But it's still by far the best SMW match ever and is very close in quality to WMX. I still think WMX is better, because of what Childs pointed out and because I think Loss is selling the pre-ladder action there short. Not a slight on this match at all--it's comparable in quality but not in what they do, because it's worked very differently. Whatever your opinion is on which match is superior, there's no question that neither Shawn nor Razor would have ever come up with a false finish like, "Let's have Razor climb the ladder and almost get to the top, but Shawn grabs a Confederate flag from a fan and low-blows him with it." That was a fucking spectacular idea. Lots of other very inventive shit with the ladder and a few non-ladder wrinkles like Smothers doing the Misawa "fake dive through the ropes" spot. I complained about the counter-move-miss sequences, but the spot where Candido had the ladder on as a necklace and Smothers ran the end of the ladder into the ringpost was sick-looking, and the follow-up where Candido basically blocks Smothers' elbow by accident with the ladder was better. Then the ending was a holy shit moment, whether it was intentional or not. I love the past-meets-the-future vibe of this, with pure-bred, recognizably southern wrasslin' worked in a whole new way that will be the wave of wrestling in the late '90s. One of the top 3 U.S. matches of '94 so far.
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