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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    Erik Watts is still around as a "promising youngster." Good God almighty. Did Bill sign him to a 5-year deal or something? Man, I can't go with the hate for the build to Spring Stampede. I think it's been fine, though admittedly Steamboat was in no position to be main eventing a PPV in a World title match at this point. Flair calls out Hogan some more.
  2. PeteF3
    Prince Kharis has "been watching snuff films all week," preparing for the Dirty White Boy. I'm with Cox--Van Horn tries way, WAY too hard. The stuff about brutalizing puppies just seems desperate rather than heeling.
  3. PeteF3
    I believe Cornette lifted this idea from the Lawler/Dundee LLT match, where Georgia's Freddie Miller and I think somebody else sent in tapes inviting the loser to come wrestle in their promotion. It's a fantastic concept, and Vince in particular is AMAZING. "Smoky Mountain's loss is going to be the World Wrestling Federation's gain!" Jim Cornette is a combination of Rhett Butler, Ted Turner, Red Barber, and Col. Sanders! Cornette and the Bodies won't appear live in the arena, lest the Rock 'n Rolls try to jump them before Bluegrass Brawl. Prichard personally promises not to let Mama Cornette down. One last money promo from Cornette follows--he's relishing the idea that Ricky & Robert will retire rather than wrestle anywhere besides SMW. Morton is darn near choked up, having written a letter during a bout of insomnia brought on by the upcoming match. Ricky talks about reuniting with Gibson and subtly acknowledges his heel run--and the crowd is SILENT, hanging on to every word. Morton gives a pre-emptive thanks to the fans in the event that they lose. Spectacular stuff, probably the best Morton promo ever from a criminally underrated talker. Robert Gibson stands nearby, and adds one sentence to the proceedings. If that doesn't sum up the Rock 'n Rolls in five seconds, I don't know what does. But this has been the best-built match of the year, hands down, in a year that's seen some damn good builds already.
  4. PeteF3
    Lawler has regained the Unified World title, and talks of the support of the fans of Senatobia, Mississippi. With Eddie Gilbert involved, this thing SCREAMS "phantom title change," but nope--they have video proof of it. Cool little segment, with a different sort of atmosphere for a Memphis house show match.
  5. PeteF3
    Very timely Leona Helmsley reference there. IRS is a lot more over-the-top here than in his introductory vignettes, when he was just an officious douche.
  6. PeteF3
    Of all the other 4 Corners Matches, you can immediately point to a signature match or series of matches. Kawada/Misawa is obvious. Kawada/Taue had their epic early '90s bouts. Kawada/Kobashi has the two hour draws. Misawa/Taue has the broken-face match. I couldn't begin to tell you what the "signature" Kobashi/Taue match is. This is a good one, but it's really sort of a "filler" match after they'd been building a rivalry between the two in the various tags before this. Almost a total American-style layout, with Taue as the dominant heel and Kobashi as the plucky underdog. That even extends to the moves they do, from the double-clothesline spots (that I'm pretty sure I've never, ever seen in AJPW before this) to Kobashi doing all the flash-pin type stuff. The criticisms here are all valid, as this sort of peters to the draw with Taue having run out of things to do. And I was secretly hoping for something a little more epic or heated given what these two had done against each other recently. But it's a really solid bout in any case and a particularly good performance from Taue.
  7. PeteF3
    Nice little promo, with a good use of the Stones quote at the end.
  8. PeteF3
    Never a big fan of this banana-peel finish, but the pop Bret gets for the winning fall is nuclear. I really hope WM30 ends the same way that this does. (Maybe CM Punk in the role of Owen? Or Brock?)
  9. PeteF3
    Vince expressing annoyance with Shawn's pre-match strip routine is pretty funny, considering where he'd be in about 12 months. Smart move to get Diesel out of there ASAP. What strikes me is that his comes off as a legitimate fight with a ladder involved, rather than a stunt show. Razor throws some terrific punches and takes a nasty bump on concrete even before the ladder is involved at all. And once the ladder does get involved, this is filled with all kinds of cringeworthy shots. This held up GREAT--probably way better than the majority of the TLC bouts, as the transitions here all make sense. In one show we've probably had two of the top 5 matches in WWF history to this point. Quite an accomplishment.
  10. PeteF3
    As far as Cornette WWF promos go, I think I'm partial to his one at SummerSlam ("I could provide a list of infractions as long as Rick and Scott Steiner's police record!" before seguing into main event hype). But this is great in its own right.
  11. PeteF3
    And so we come to the end of All-American Lex Luger: Main Eventer. And not a goddamn moment too soon. He didn't have a ton of booking favors, but going through the Observers I was stunned--and I say this as a guy who hated the push from day 1--at how staggeringly unsuccessful the summer mega-push really was. It's really one of the biggest booking busts in WWF history. This finish is kind of weak, but it's not like it's not comparable to half a dozen AAA finishes. And...well, the identity of the guest refs was one of the worst-kept secrets in wrestling. With Mr. Perfect and what happened at WM9, does any ending that's not "Perfect screws Luger over" make sense? This probably would come across better if Perfect had actually stuck around for his post-show program. Lex shows more fire and intensity in the post-match confrontation than he has in his entire WWF stint to date. For a second, the WCW Lex was back.
  12. PeteF3
    FWIW, this match stood out to me way, way more than the ladder match back when I ordered WMX. Part of it was because I was still a Heel Fan, and this was a rare case of a WWF heel beating a top babyface clean as a sheet. Still, this is easily the best WWF bout since the WM7 retirement match. Lots and lots of little call-backs here for the devoted fan. Some of that is probably simply guys liking to re-use spots, like Bret's victory roll. But some of it is definitely intentional, like Owen kicking Bret's leg out of his leg in an exact recreation of the Rumble post-match. Just an incredibly well-done match, that establishes Owen as a new main eventer and sets the table for rematches. In a way, this is almost the U.S. version of Misawa pinning Jumbo, if Misawa were the heel. Not a "passing of the torch," then or now in retrospect looking at the rest of Owen's career, but a clear sign that a new main event guy had arrived. Incidentally, I'm not the biggest Heel Lawler Commentator fan, and I've explained a few times how I think he's a clear step behind Jesse, Cornette, and the Brain in that role. But man alive was he a breath of fresh air in his return to the WWF. Having to hear Stan Lane, Gorilla, DiBiase, or Johnny Polo on this simply wouldn't have worked at all. Lawler balanced his usual jokes with a strong sense of getting the story over, and also had his personal history with Bret to draw on. I'd say it's one of his better announcing performances ever.
  13. PeteF3
    The slow burn to Ric's heel turn continues--he calls out Okerlund for referring to Hogan as "immortal." He also passive-aggressively refers to Hulk as a "great movie star," which really comes off as a backhanded compliment--like how he praised the city of Memphis for having an airport. The conversations with Ric and his World title constantly drifting toward Hogan would seem like a great catalyst for a Steamboat heel turn as well, but that's not happening. Ric does a public dressing-down of Steamboat over what happened the previous week and in the previous interview. Flair points out that as 11-time World Champion he can do whatever he wants. Steamboat responds that Flair BROKE THE LOCKER ROOM CODE by belittling him in front of the other wrestlers. Somewhere a lightbulb is appearing over a certain young WWF Magazine editor's head, but in this context it works. Steamboat ends up getting the last word in.
  14. PeteF3
    Looks like I already covered this. Rude's protest that THIS AIN'T LEGAL is pretty much 100% correct, but I think the title match is going to stand. Rude putting his phone number next to the signature was a funny touch.
  15. PeteF3
    Fun TV main event. There's no real precedent or expectation of ladder matches to go by just yet, but these two work incredibly hard and throw in some neat spots involving the ladder, particularly Candido wearing it like a necklace and Smothers using that to his advantage. Not to mention some stiff shots with the ladder itself, and of course that pretty crazy ending. Candido trashes Smothers with the ladder afterward, and this feud will CONTINUE at Bluegrass Brawl. I'm sold on that, though not on "The South Is Gonna Rise Again!" as a catchphrase.
  16. PeteF3
    Fun stuff. Fytch reveals her strategy for winning of tossing a $10 bill at the Dirty White Girl and having her strip voluntarily. Of course hype for a strip-the-clothes match ends with BRIAN LEE being stripped.
  17. PeteF3
    The inhaler thing seemed like phony sympathy to me, so it was fine. Plus it was a funny contrast to Cornette gushing about what great shape they were in. The Rock 'n Rolls have raided the Midnight Rockers' closet for their old AWA gear.
  18. PeteF3
    Gilbert and Lawler have gone from feuding over Sam Bass' jacket to feuding over Peggy Gilbert's Aerostar van. Double dose of lame, but I'm amused at Brown's implication that Gilbert put the van up without his mother's permission. This is extremely hacked-up, and while it's certainly better than ECW Gilbert, I'm pretty much over him at this point.
  19. PeteF3
    I could do without Pettingill's narration but this was a well-done piece of business.
  20. PeteF3
    I thought there was something holding this back from being a great match. The first fall has a few good sequences but is mostly throwaway, and ends way too quickly. This gets much better in the second fall, as the individual match-ups that this story is built around start to flesh out: Solar and Azteca working the mat like kings, Winners and Calo doing mirror spots, and Misterioso doing a sort-of turn (that WTBBP question comes up again!) in trying to get one up on Volador. Misterioso is still awkward, slow, and clumsy, and I'm pretty sure a match between he and Ultimo Dragon is playing on a continuous loop in my own personal Hell. I just don't get it with him. Anyway, the second fall ending is pretty gorgeous stuff and makes up for the perfunctory first fall. Misterioso continues to get dirty in the third fall, and after a great sequence resulting with everyone else out on the floor, he grabs Tirantes to avoid a sunset flip. Pepe Casas seems to take this as a personal affront and fast-counts him on a subsequent pin attempt. Is there any lucha ref who isn't corrupt? I get the story being told but the very beginning and very ending soured me, and those are the two elements of a match that tend to stand out.
  21. PeteF3
    Funny that I watch this just after listening to Chad talk about "turns within a match" on the latest WTBBP. Flair starts this off as a babyface, even though he's teaming with Regal--wrestling clean and doing handshakes (much to His Lordship's consternation). Then Sting press slams him, and Flair decides enough of the sportsmanship bullshit and becomes Classic Flair. At least to some degree. This is wrestled remarkably clean most of the way through, basically a World of Sport match with a southern tag layout. Very different kind of North American match with all four guys, even Sting, working outside of their comfort zone. It's not really at the level of the Blonds matches from a year ago or even the high-end Quebecers stuff, but it's a very well-worked tag match in any case.
  22. PeteF3
    Anyone who's read Foley's book knows the full story of what happened here. You can literally see the ear falling off after Cactus gets back in the ring and is throwing punches at Vader. Not much of a match but one of the defining moments of Foley's career.
  23. PeteF3
    Oh man...Jim, I'm sorry, your promotion is really hot at the moment. But I don't relish having to watch a 1-hour handheld of a match that people are this lukewarm on. I do like the hot start, and it also establishes the rules nicely. In fact, the whole match is better than I would have expected, though I admit to having it on as background noise for a chunk of it. They kept the crowd into things and cut a strong pace for the whole hour. Lots of limbwork that filled time, but at least they worked the holds well while they were in them. I didn't really have a problem with HIP or the Rock 'n Rolls having the fall advantage, oddly enough. Dusty didn't want to book the Rock 'n Rolls and Midnights to go 60 because Ricky getting the shit kicked out of him for that long simply wouldn't be believable. Better to drag out the shine stuff for awhile--that way you can get away with two longer-than-usual FIP segments, one on each babyface, without overstaying your welcome. This is more of a match to admire than to like but it speaks well for all involved.
  24. PeteF3
    One of the most balls-to-the-wall TV matches I've ever seen. After the headlockery and work over Steamboat's ribs, they cut a WM3-esque pace with some great bumping from Steamboat, some timely interference from the Colonel, and a ridiculous run of near-falls. Austin absolutely creams Steamboat with a spinebuster/Alabama slam thing, in a great transition. Not really a psychological masterpiece, though the opening matwork is quite good, but an awesome sprint. By the end the antiseptic Center Stage crowd (and my God, do I hate every facet of this new set-up) is losing their shit. Awful finish (what is with Col. Parker constantly getting his men disqualified in #1 contenders matches?), but the post-match angle is so good that I forget about it as soon as it happens.
  25. PeteF3
    Awesome, memorable segment on all levels. Even Capetski gets some face time. Sullivan is still as creepy as he was in SMW but he's a babyface--at least for now. Totally different dynamic than anything else going on in the Big Two. I don't relish having Evad as a major part of the roster, but I'll be damned if I don't actually enjoy their chemistry here.
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