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PeteF3

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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!
  5. PeteF3
    Rooms by the hour, I'm sure. This also appears to be the birth of the "Big Daddy Cool" moniker.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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!
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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??
  15. PeteF3
    As a retail professional, IRS' threat doesn't exactly carry much weight behind it.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. PeteF3

    Other 1994 worth watching

    PeteF3 replied to jdw's topic in 1994

    Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jun Akiyama, Champion Carnival, 4/1 Pretty similar layout to the Misawa/Akiyama match--Akiyama gets beaten down, makes a comeback, goes down quickly afterward when the Exploder can't put him away. Misawa actually seemed to give more--he was clearly saved by the ropes and looked "out," whereas Kawada kicks out of it, granting that Jun was slow to cover. Kawada was nastier in the opening, working over Jun on the floor and twisting him into knots on the mat. I liked this a little bit more--Kawada worked a little harder and they threw in some more complicated sequences.
  20. PeteF3
    Not to diminish it, but Gordy's OD seemed to have flipped a switch for Doc. He's been on fire ever since, and has had good performances against just about all the top AJPW guys, and matched up well with each one in a different, specific way.
  21. PeteF3

    Other 1994 worth watching

    PeteF3 replied to jdw's topic in 1994

    Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama, Champion Carnival, 3/19 Very effective ace vs. upstart match, with a closing stretch even better than I anticipated. Akiyama's Exploder is not yet named but is now being treated as a big move--Misawa acts desperate to avoid it at first, and when Akiyama hits two of them, Misawa is saved by the ropes from what looks like a huge upset. That's the last bullet in Akiyama's chamber and Misawa effectively takes control with his elbows soon afterward, but a good little scare was put into him nevertheless. This isn't an all-time performance for Mitsuharu but it's a good look at him as the dominant ace, who shows just enough vulnerability to put Akiyama over but effectively re-establishes himself in short order. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen, Champion Carnival, 3/24 Nothing fancy here--just two guys stiffing the shit out of each other in gritty, gritty fashion. Kawada seems to have an answer for what most of Hansen tries, and has some cool counters to the Lariat. But eventually Hansen catches him with it. Kawada has seemingly been lost in the wilderness since losing the Tag Titles--he desperately, desperately needs a signature win or three. As it stands at the moment, no one could possibly expect that he "should have gone over" on 6/3.
  22. PeteF3
    Okay, so I heard the words "final countdown," a la Inoki, during the intros, so I get the Hokuto retirement tease thing. Other than that, was there a storyline explanation for why she and Kandori were teaming? Just curious. So anyway, Dream Rush was the best match I'd ever seen, and this by comparison...well, gosh, I'm going to have to at least think about it. Hokuto and Kandori are facing possibly the longest odds in the history of wrestling--they hate each other (somewhere a certain young WWF Magazine editor is--oh, wait, I used that reference already) and Bull & Aja, despite an old rivalry in their own right, have been doing a lot more teaming than feuding of late, and they're the two most dominant women in the sport. Naturally neither Akira nor Shinobu gives a shit about the other's well-being, at least first, and it leads to both women getting the shit kicked out of them. Any attempts to fight back are met with more hate and hostility, climaxing when Aja brutalizes Hokuto on the announcer's table--at this point the audio goes out and the announcers are rendered silent, adding to the chaotic nature of things. The Odd Couple team gets brief moments of control but continually fuck themselves over through their own bickering and lack of cohesiveness. The turning point to when they finally start acting as a team is carried out pretty brilliantly. Kandori is trying to lock on a cross armbreaker and Bull leaps off with the guillotine legdrop to break it up, but Kandori manages to dodge it anyway (way cool spot). Hokuto then runs in and clamps on an octopus hold to neutralize Bull. But things aren't rosy between the two yet--moments later Bull tries another saving guillotine legdrop, this time on Hokuto, and Kandori won't return the favor by helping her. Finally things reach a permanent turning point with another awesome spot, as Kandori and Hokuto catch Aja (I think--maybe it was Bull) as she goes for a lariat or uraken or something and take her down into a combination wakigatame/STF, before Bull quickly breaks it up and NOW these two teams are on equal footing--from a teamwork standpoint, if not a fatigue standpoint. Just a fabulous combination of blending inventive spots with the overarching story. Now Kandori starts using her judo chokes that Aja seemingly has no defense for, while also getting Bull to take herself out on an ill-advised tope attempt. Hokuto gets the Northern Lights bomb...but Bull saves in a heart-stopping moment. Kandori neutralizes Bull yet again, now practically encouraging her former enemy to go for the win. Another Northern Lights bomb gets...two. I'm dead tired and in a lousy mood for other reasons and I'm still almost jumping out of my chair at this point. Then Aja gets a last tease of her own, because she's still the WWWA Champ and hasn't eaten a fall in God knows how long. But it doesn't last, and a THIRD Northern Lights bomb finally gets the seemingly impossible pin. Yeah, that's one of the greatest psychological masterpieces you'll ever see. More psychologically sound than Dream Rush, if I may say so--that was so compelling because it was such a heated war between two promotions trying to outdo the other. This was just as compelling for completely different reasons. That was great from a physicality standpoint but this may well have been "deeper" (and it's not like they were taking it easy physically here). In a way, AJW booking has been about as conservative as All-Japan, in terms of hierarchy and who does jobs to whom, and when. Hokuto pinning Aja barely sounded conceivable in a one-on-one setting, much less with an antagonistic partner against Aja *and* her only legitimate peer. For her to do it under *these* circumstances was something special indeed. I figured going into this set that I could write 6/3 in for MOTY in ink and figure out which match was 2nd place afterward. Now that's out the window--I anxiously await getting to compare these two in-depth.
  23. PeteF3

    Other 1994 worth watching

    PeteF3 replied to jdw's topic in 1994

    Sakie Hasegawa vs. Dynamite Kansai, Wrestling Queendom 3/27/94 Well, on paper these two are almost perfectly matched for each other: one of joshi's nastiest individuals against one of its most sympathetic underdogs. There's actually some fine counter-wrestling on display for most of this, before Kansai asserts herself with her sick kicks. From there this is an extended squash with a few timely hope spots from Hasegawa. I had trouble with this because the Youtube video was off circa-1978 equipment and woefully out of sync, so maybe this would be better on rewatch. As it is, not really essential viewing by either woman's standard, but a good Champions Carnival-style match. Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue Just a note for future reference if I can find a better clip. The Youtube audio is so out of sync as to render this unwatchable for me. Some fun stuff with Yamada working underneath, which isn't normally her role, before I threw in the towel.
  24. PeteF3
    This was okay, and I too enjoyed Toyota's...wristlocks on Plum's hair, I guess would be the best description. Some heeling out of Toyota that you almost never see. That said, this is about the least-focused match ever as both girls just sort of run through their thing with almost no regard for transitions or psychology, at least until the end when Toyota crushes Plum with a power bomb counter off the top. It's not suffocatingly paced, which is nice, but between Toyota working on top at the beginning and the end there isn't much of a compelling reason to care about what's going on either. I think I like the concept of Plum--a spunky, joshi submission type--more than Plum herself. She's talented and works hard but a lot of her matches on these Yearbooks have come across as very samey. I see the point about her being about athletic counters more than pure mat skills--her scissor takedowns and leg submissions are very cool but they're executed the same way in every match, giving them the appearance of rote spots rather than pure technical skill. Anyway, I still liked a lot of this and appreciated the decisive finish, as well as the reigned-in performance from Manami.
  25. PeteF3
    I'm always interested in seeing where the AJPW mid- and under-carders are, but this is pretty much Kawada vs. a broomstick. Ace's execution is SO awkward and loose--I don't equate stiffness with high-quality wrestling, but I at least want to see some consistency across a promotion. Other than the match layout and the timing of his kickouts, there just isn't anything I can point to and say, "This is what Ace does well." It's a good mid-card performance from Kawada, but in the end this is only marginally better than the last Ace singles match I saw, the Mean Mark match at Capital Combat.
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