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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    Toyota and Kong as partners is an eyebrow-raising event, so this has something positive going for it right from the start. I wasn't as high on this as most of the others but I did love the crazy submissions that Toyota kept getting put in. Kyoko was pretty awesome all-around here, in all facets.
  2. PeteF3
    Tend to agree with everyone else, though I thought that by the end both women had really run out of things to do. Doing a ten-count or dueling sleeperholds can be very dramatic, and it was here. But doing them over and over and over again...I was like, "Evidently she's not going to go down from being kicked, TRY SOMETHING ELSE." This needed to be reigned in a bit, because Hasegawa as underneath babyface could be very compelling. It brings to mind Dusty Rhodes' comments about why he didn't book the Rock 'n Roll Express to go 30+.
  3. PeteF3
    This may be a completely wacky pick, but Al Snow vs. Road Dogg for the Hardcore title at a Raw in, I think, Cleveland (RD was the champ). I don't think I've seen it since it aired but I immediately thought it stood out in a positive way from the myriad other Hardcore matches of the time.
  4. PeteF3
    Hmm...yep, I'll buy it: this is the Match of the Year through 2 months. Goto's a big bruiser but also throws in some spectacular dives off the top rope. Onita and Tenryu could blow their noses and have the crowd going nuts. And this is probably the best Hara performance I've ever seen, as he gets into headbutt battles with both members of Team FMW and then takes an epic shitkicking. It's the first time I think I've ever seen Hara as sympathetic babyface and against all odds he pulls it off. They sort of re-do the 12/89 Baba injury storyline as Hara is out of commission getting his ribs taped, leaving Tenryu alone to get massacred. He puts up a valiant effort and Hara makes an effort to get involved, but by that time it's Tenryu who's banged up and injured and helpless to stop Hara from being doubleteamed into oblivion on the floor. The finish was a little sloppily done but the premise was great--Goto levels Tenryu with enzuigiris, and when Tenryu ducks one he leaves himself a sitting duck for the Thunder Fire Power Bomb. If they'd executed that smoothly instead of Onita having to re-do the power bomb pick-up, it'd have been perfect. I really hope to keep a spot in the Top 10 MOTY list for this.
  5. PeteF3
    Not good. This was badly disjointed all the way through, and they pissed me off right from the getgo by doing that stupid fucking "pop up from a piledriver and piledrive the other guy who pops up..." shit that Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid foisted on us. There was some good stuff here, but every time they felt close to building something special, I'd get knocked out of it--Sasuke ruins the dive train with a horribly blown space flying tiger drop, Dragon runs *right* at Sasuke on the apron just to Sasuke can kick him in the back, etc. Lots of my turn/your turn stuff down the stretch, and Orihara was pretty useless altogether--which says something, considering how little I care for his partner. Ultimo, for a scant few seconds, actually attempted to show something vaguely resembling a personality at one point, with a rather disdainful and casual kick at Sasuke's head while he made a cover, but it didn't last.
  6. PeteF3
    These two have great chemistry. Funk can go along with any crazy spot Sabu wants to do but keeps a semblance of psychology and raw intensity about the match. Too bad such a fun match had such an awful finish, but I guess the tradition of the Sheik cuts in multiple ways.
  7. PeteF3
    Another good promo by Michaels (whose hair now looks eerily similar to hairpiece-era Stan Lane) with really oddly edited jump cuts. Michaels swipes Lane's microphone from him but we still hear Stan asking questions.
  8. PeteF3
    Man, I liked this a lot. Okay, the first fall is kind of throwaway until a decent finishing stretch, but Hasegawa going balls-out in the second, carrying the load for the team and going all-out in an effort to tie things up was pretty awesome, and the rapidfire countering with Toyota was cool without being overindulgent, with a fun payoff as Hasegawa scores the pin. The third fall may have been a little overlong but I had less of a problem with it than I have with other joshi matches. I liked the efforts by both teams to isolate their opponents and try to work them over, and Hasegawa was sufficiently beaten down for a sensible finish. Aja made a bunch of saves and then just sort of stopped, which was a legit flaw--a lurking force like that needed to be more decisively dealt with. Still a good coming-out party for Sakie, though. I get the criticism over the table spots, but...they looked really cool, and I didn't mind the lack of effort to score a pin so much. It gave Toyota & Yamada a chance to let the moves breathe by selling and being put into more or less dire straits. The crowd may not have bitten on the subsequent near-falls, but let's be real: there was very little throughout the match that they *were* biting on. It was a shockingly subdued audience and it's part of why this is a hell of a match, but not really near the high-end Toyota/Yamada matches.
  9. PeteF3
    Incredibly fun sub-10-minute match, with Steamboat and Vader busting out all kinds of cool shit in the midst of beating the crap out of each other. Steamer does a chop off the middle of the top rope to the floor, and Vader busts out a second-rope sunset flip(!). This blows their lumberjack match out of the water. Race is overinvolved but he can't be accused of not working for his money, either. And yes, I too am sad about the upcoming SN look. Center Stage was always rather sterile but the stupid Star Trek entryway and mechanical motif made it moreso.
  10. PeteF3
    Del Ray busting out the crucifix power bomb was a shock, definitely. Fun little bout that's a little on the short side, but a CHAOTIC post-match makes up for it. Morton is beaten to a bloody pulp as Cornette, from higher ground with the racket, picks off every babyface who tries to run in.
  11. PeteF3
    I would have to bet on WWC if forced, and St. Louis after that. But I think World of Sport is a dark horse possibility.
  12. PeteF3
    I suspect that Mama Cornette and Maris Crane are the same person. I love Murdoch treating Cornette as sort of a nephew--"don't be thinkin' about hurtin' that boy!"
  13. PeteF3
    The FIRST thing I was going to ask if there wasn't a fucking radio edit of that song that they could have used instead. That just kept going. I can't believe the metalhead Jericho didn't offer up a better alternative. Jericho and Storm feed bears, bungee jump, feed goats, play Skee-Ball, play Whack-a-Mole, compare Scooby-Doo dolls, and play with "the Spider" which actually looks genuinely cool--all the thrills of East Tennessee have officially been sought.
  14. PeteF3
    Johnny Polo, in a sort of unjustifiably forgotten stint on Superstars. I miss his sound machine. Strong to-the-point promo from Shawn that hits the notes that needed to be hit. They're still making "...has left the building" references this late.
  15. PeteF3
    The build to Liger finally being able to unleash his big moves was very well-done. He can't do the surfboard--and boy, does the size difference matter way more here than it did when Liger was unable to lift Tenryu--or various other moves, so he mostly settles for relentlessly attacking Hash's legs. Then when he *does* bust out the Liger Bomb, the moment is that much more special. Incidentally, I think, just to be difficult or whatever, the Budokan imposed special rules on NJPW that All-Japan didn't have to worry about: the card had to end at a certain time, and no fighting on the floor. So the one thing this match is missing is Liger busting out the big dives, which would have made psychological sense. But these guys are so good that that's easily overcome. Hash's cutoffs of Liger's big run of finishers is fantastic, looking like a desperate man while still convincingly killing Liger dead.
  16. PeteF3
    Definitely a contender for lucha MOTY, I don't know if it will be a serious top 10-5 candidate overall. The work here was gritty as everyone mentioned, but it was very psychologically sound on top of it with some cool payback spots in the third fall when Dandy tries to rip up Llanes' arm the same way Llanes went after his. I actually really liked Panico's interference, as it was a well-timed spot and not something you see in a lucha title bout, and as a mere tease of a finish rather than a real finish it worked fine. The actual ending did not work fine. There are a lot of parallels here between this and Arn vs. Regal, but for whatever reason that bullshit finish worked better, if only because we still got a real winner out of it. I never really thought about it, even after reading the Worst Blowjobs thread, but Dandy with the short hair really *is* an ugly motherfucker. But Llanes' Very Hungry Caterpillar tights may be enough to tack on an extra 1/2-* or so.
  17. PeteF3
    I could MAYBE buy that a few of those early BattleBowls they did a shoot drawing weeks beforehand and then booked around the results, but there's no way those were random, improvised matches. At least one guy at the first BattleBowl, I forget who, got up and started heading toward the ring before his name was announced. And what would happen if Sting and Luger were drawn on opposite sides?
  18. PeteF3
    They actually began a feud between that guy and Steve Blackman, which never went anywhere. Then of course there was Kerwin Silfies' moment in the sun, reporting from Brian Pillman's house about the "explosions" (speaking of linguistic quirks) emanating from inside.
  19. PeteF3
    A piece of ammo for the "Bret would dog it" crowd, as he works this like he's trying not to break a nail. Just an extended squash, with Prichard getting in basically no offense.
  20. PeteF3
    Fired this one up in full--thank you, WWE Network. Interesting wrinkle before the first Thundercage bout--Flair and Steamboat are interviewed together and Okerlund makes mention that Hulk Hogan is watching at home, and Flair discusses the possibility of a match with him. I think it almost had to be a done deal with Hogan at that point for them to go that far. Good highlight package of the build-up to this match, including the Clash, the press conference, and Vader and Race mauling Ricky Steamboat during a squash--nice booking there, coming out of Steamboat's involvement with the press conference--and it leads to Flair calling in from home and demanding that Bockwinkel put him back into the match at SuperBrawl. And that's what leads to the Boss as guest referee. Honestly, this whole set-up with doctor's releases and waivers and logical flow feels VERY Wattsian, and I never thought I'd say that about any Eric Bischoff product. On some level this was an overbooked clusterfuck that like the previous Thundercage match was too short, but on the other...it was pretty damned dramatic. Basically a sprint compared to Starrcade with Flair getting much more in the way of offense. The Boss turns in one of the most comically inept officiating performances since the Green Bay/Seattle replacement referees--he keeps getting distracted allowing Harley to interfere, and when he finally tries to put a stop to it he ends up getting handcuffed to the cage. I was conflicted for a lot of this--as a rule I don't like interference in cage matches which there's a ton of here, but as a separate rule I love babyfaces trapped outside a locked cage trying desperately to get in, which we also have. Boss completes his night of refereeing incompetence by assaulting Vader in the kneecap and pulling a Montreal once Flair puts the figure four on. I remember PWI absolutely hammering WCW and the Boss, the way a real-life sports official would get lambasted if he acted in such a manner. I honestly don't know what the fuck to feel about this. The action is good, the pre-match booking and set-up were great, and the transition to the Boss/Vader feud was done pretty well. But it doesn't pay off the great set-up in a satisfying way and there are some eye-rolling moments like Boss breaking the handcuffs. There needed to be a way for Boss to cost Vader the match in a more ambiguous manner, giving Flair a satisfying victory while giving Vader an out. Ultimately, I think they got a little too clever for their own good.
  21. PeteF3
    I thought this was pretty fucking great in spite of the obvious flaws--in the end the match felt rushed, and the two FIP segments felt abbreviated. And this was *mostly* a routine 6-man that happened to have a giant cage surrounding it. But...the in-ring action was really fucking good while it lasted, and Austin and Pillman in particular made awesome use of the cage, flinging themselves into it with reckless abandon. And I'm not a blading advocate, and in fact I'm almost ashamed to say this, but the blood from Brian and Orndorff was kind of nice and refreshing. Good quick post-match angle too, as Rude slams the door on Sting's head and then gives him the Rude Awakening on the floor, nicely re-igniting that feud.
  22. PeteF3
    Probably the best U.S. match of the year so far, though I really really liked that MSG tag title match. Really a total thinking-man's match, and I say this a lot and probably not even accurately, but this is a match that would probably never be done today, anywhere in the U.S. or Japan. Arn blowing off the taped leg in favor of the arm makes sense on some level--he's an Anderson, working the arm is what good Andersons do. But when the opening comes to go after Regal's back, he takes it. And then when he's running out of time, he's got the taped leg as an ace in the hole. Regal is all about keeping Arn immobilized and stalling as necessary--but it's the little touches when both guys are in holds that really make this. Every opportunity Regal gets, he's pounding away on Arn's nose or grinding his forearm across his face. Arn keeps inventing new ways to twist Regal's arm and later his leg into different directions--that sort of half-crab when Regal is on his side is truly cringe-worthy, and Heenan's comparison to Joe Theismann is spot on. And while it wasn't really set up by any of the work during the match, the ending worked because it was so unexpected and yet so in-character for Regal and William. This probably isn't a match for everyone, but they never once lost the crowd or invoked a "boring" chant. I'm on board with the others here, this was great--maybe the first truly great Regal match.
  23. PeteF3

    Other 1994 worth watching

    PeteF3 replied to jdw's topic in 1994

    Chigusa Nagayo vs. Plum Mariko, 2/11/94 This had everything that I should like about the older, slower-paced JWP style, but for whatever reason I had trouble keeping my attention on this one. Plum just brutalizes Nagayo with an opening barrage for the ages, busting Nagayo open, but she settles down afterward and is content to stick with her more traditional leglocks and such. Nagayo pays her back and then some, heeling it up for a crowd that's apparently backing Plum 100%. There wasn't anything wrong here, and I should really be more appreciative of a joshi match build around a sleeperhold, but in the end I didn't feel like the Yearbook was poorer for missing it. The best thing about viewing this was that the Youtube uploader added subtitles to the post-match talk. Chigusa cuts an angry-sounding promo that's really a motivational speech for Plum, then a pure-sports-build locker room interview follows, as she announces her desire for a match with Kansai and also discussing the booing.
  24. PeteF3
    They mercifully drop the canned cheering and just let Flair talk. "You're not the man, you just KNOW the man"--such an awesome line. Flair puts on a clinic in how to put over your opponent and yourself at the same time.
  25. PeteF3
    Totally awesome segment on all levels. Vader's promo is great, Harley talking about how everyone Vader sees is Ric Flair is great, and the squashing is great. Such a unique, fresh type of feud for Flair.
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