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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    For once there's some great comic interplay between Schiavone and Heenan. And if anyone knows how to sell a "manager wears an embarrassing outfit" angle, it's the Brain. Really entertaining segment and Schiavone even manages to segue into SuperBrawl hype while it's going on.
  2. PeteF3
    Taped promo from Terry Funk. Rick Rubin's SMW involvement pays off as he gets Tom Petty, in his old mid-'80s Mad Hatter gear, to make an appearance with Terry and explain the rules of the Texas Death Match. The Bullet and Cornette follow up as only they can.
  3. PeteF3
    Dennis Coraluzzo: The Original Birther.
  4. PeteF3
    To-the-point announcement that hits every point that needs to be hit. Hypotheticals for if Bret wins the toss, the acknowledgment that Yokozuna still has to get to WM first, and so forth.
  5. PeteF3
    5* is insane but this is a perfectly acceptable match by AJPW 6-man standards, with the novelty of Baba's participation. Taue doing the Coconut Crusher on Kobashi and then giving Baba the hairy eyeball was a really fun touch, as was the requisite payback spot once the old man tagged in. There's more of the Taue/Kobashi feud, too. Fuchi does the job, natch.
  6. PeteF3
    We pick up with Vader on the verge of ending Flair's career, as the announcers put it--and you can buy it. He kills Ric with a superplex off the top and is about to dive off the top onto him when Sting pulls Flair to safety. Vader goes after Ric with a chair on the floor, but Commissioner Bockwinkel steps in. While that's going on, both guys are counted out. This is a hugely dramatic moment that Flair sells great. Rude does his best to kill this with an endless camel clutch, but he and Sting recover to put together a nice finishing sequence. The tombstone reversal never fails to be awesome. Hard to say how good this was as a whole but the Vader/Flair climax was masterful and Ric really looks like a guy who's completely fucked going into the Thundercage. WCW, against all odds, suddenly feels very hot again.
  7. PeteF3
    Less than two months and Bobby Heenan is back on television and, for right now at least, all is right with the world.
  8. PeteF3
    Ah, the summer of '95--the first joshi match I ever saw, and only the second puro match. Oddly the hand work didn't really jump out at me at the time, nor even did the insane stiffness, it was all the near-falls, something I'd never seen before. And now...this really isn't that near-fall heavy. It's definitely uncomfortable now, and really despite a strong dramatic story it's not something that can be considered any less masturbatory masochistic bullshit than Mick Foley's worst tendencies. Hotta splits her hand open early, I think while she was laying shots into Aja, and that becomes the story of the match--and the crazy thing is it could have entirely been an accident considering the circumstances and the timing. Definitely a standout performance from Hotta, as for once she's taking punishment and working underneath instead of taking the match off or cutting off her opponent. Terrific card overall.
  9. PeteF3
    Mita was the hotter one, at least in my view. And the better worker--in fact, other than her big space-woman plancha to the floor, I'm honestly struggling to think of a single significant contribution Shimoda made to the match. Oh, she was perfectly fine mechanically, and kept up with everyone else which is a feat on its own. But basically she was a hotter, slightly more charismatic Suzuka Minami. Mita was better if only because she worked more and the Death Valley Bomb was a move that was really over and built to well in the 2nd fall. When she gets Toyota up in the fireman's carry, Toyota and the crowd all freak out--and when she hits it, Toyota is completely finished even as Mita is spent as well and has to hit another one to keep her down. LCO going nuts in the second fall when their backs were against the wall was definitely the highlight, and their thorough demolition of the champs to equalize showed them as an elite team despite all the misgivings that I've stated. Sadly the third fall can't quite measure up--after killing Toyota dead with the DVB after multiple teases, I was disappointed that the move played no role at all in the 3rd fall. Mita even gets Toyota up for it but does an airplane spin instead, which is a puzzling move choice to say the least. This was really good, but heading into the 3rd fall I had this pegged as a MOTYC and I don't think it's going to be there. It felt like that FMW match at DreamSlam--a showcase for the tag champs to carry a game but inferior team to something approaching greatness, rather than two great teams putting on a show together. It's possible that outside of Kansai & Oz there simply aren't any other teams who compare to Toyota & Yamada.
  10. PeteF3
    I think I liked 9/91 a bit better, though that seemed from memory more like Inoue lasting longer than Nakano thought possible--here, it really looks like Kyoko has a chance to win this. I got taken in by the first Niagara Driver near-fall, but when Inoue went for a second and Nakano countered, that seemed to spell the end. January has been a very hot month, but this is probably the best bout so far.
  11. PeteF3
    For that matter I dispute Embry as a "BJ" as well. Despite being "Flamboyant" he was a hard-nosed working-class rube, at least during his biggest babyface run.
  12. PeteF3
    Well played. I was hoping for "Worst Blowjobs", but you still did an awesome job. A thread like that may merit some discussion too. Worst in terms of losing money: allegedly Randy Savage/SMH I vote for Bill Watts/Dark Journey. And tell us the Hokuto story.
  13. PeteF3
    I figured it out--"Sunk adobe" = "Snuka dove."
  14. PeteF3

    Other 1994 worth watching

    PeteF3 replied to jdw's topic in 1994

    Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue, & Takao Omori - 1/20/94 I think I've seen Takao twice in my life--the 1996 Royal Rumble where he didn't do anything, and the 2000 Carny match with Jun...not a whole lot to extrapolate from that marathon. Omori is full of pep and energy in his first big showcase match. Unfortunately for him Team Misawa sees to it that his hopes and dreams are swiftly and efficiently crushed, leaving undoubtedly a bitter cynical shell of a man. Omori gets the absolute snot beaten out of him--even Akiyama gets to act like a grizzled old veteran stiffing the shit out of some young snot. Omori is in peril for a LONG time, and we must go about 15 minutes before Kawada tags in. He's doubtless still working hurt, but when he tags in for the first time it's with Misawa down and vulnerable, and having milked the big showdown for quite awhile the crowd is suitably amped for it. The other running subplot from this and other recent matches is the budding rivalry between Kobashi and Taue--every exchange they've had recently has been stiff and exciting and full of hate. Anxious to see a singles match between the two now, and that's probably the least notable of the Four Corners match-ups. After being on a big hot streak, by the end of this Kobashi is back to being the gutsy overmatched underdog having to hang on for dear life--not necessarily because he's outranked but because the numbers game overwhelms him. Taue eventually puts him away with a nodowa to put more heat on that matchup. I guess this is it for Omori's major involvement in these stable wars, and honestly it's kind of hard to evaluate how he'd place in future matches--he looked promising but he really didn't do a lot besides act as a punching bag.
  15. PeteF3
    This was an incredibly oddly booked Rumble. Diesel's steamroller run works, but there were a lot of guys who rather randomly were thrown out in a minute or less, like Double J and Owen, even when it didn't make sense. Contrast with '91, which had a ton of mid-card types like Valentine, Martel, Santana, and Hercules lasting forever. The result is that for the first full half of this match, there's never more than about 4 guys in the ring. Then you had two outsiders, Greg Valentine (?!), four guys who wrestled earlier in the night, at least two guys debuting, a rash of substitutions, and random guys who were barely getting booked at this point like Virgil, Backlund, and no-show Bastion Booger. Just piles of evidence slapping fans in the face with what a shoddy roster the WWF had at this point when compared to years past. Anyway, the booking of Luger and Bret is pretty great--I admit to getting totally taken in by the fake-out no-show by Booger, only for Bret to appear later on. Luger went through a similar tease after getting jumped in the locker room by Tenryu & Kabuki. Nice to see Tenryu actually getting something to do here, as opposed to '93 when he walked in and did practically nothing besides exchange a few chops with DiBiase and get tossed by the Undertaker. Fatu gets one of the final 4 slots, in yet more weirdness. Cheap-ass finish and the endless tease of the winner announcement which had me seething with rage when I was 12. Finkle making an announcement and then stopping to talk to Tunney again was the height of ridiculously artificial drama. Even my mother was practically shouting at Tunney, "Just let them back in and re-start it!!!" Sadly, that bit of logic hadn't entered into the booking team's mind yet, so we get a ripoff finish that had me confused and not in a "Boy, I wonder where this is going!" way. This show ages pretty surprisingly well, but at the time between this and the Undertaker stuff I had NEVER felt more ripped off by a PPV. Weird random music dub at the end over the old WrestleMania guitar theme, and that sucks. At least use the WMX/Linda McMahon music.
  16. PeteF3
    Well, I was 12 when I watched this, and while I liked the Owen turn I thought this was the dumbest thing I had ever seen--and I liked Papa Shango! That said, these two do have good chemistry and the "straight" portion of the match is pretty shockingly good. Just about every heel on the roster gets involved one-by-one, including the Forrest Gump of professional wrestling, Genichiro Tenryu! The idea of bringing in 10 heels to help you just because it's a no-DQ match makes sense on some level, even if it's pretty Russo-riffic. They actually attempt to work some psychology into the urn stuff, too. Then there's...the post-match. Yeah. Gooker Award shit at its finest, yet somehow it's less insulting than either the Black Scorpion or the Beach Blast mini-movie. On its own inane level, it makes a shred of sense, which WCW never quite grasped when they attempted things this grandiose.
  17. PeteF3
    Good match but the angle surrounding it is better, and pretty masterfully built to. And yes, there's just enough there to give Owen the out that he was really justified--Bret *should* have tagged him (I remember the Apter mags taking Owen's side around this time). Owen rants on the video wall while Bret is being stretchered out in a fantastic scene--Owen's such a raving loon at this point that the "kicked your leg out of your leg" comes across as something he'd legitimately spit out. "There's no selfishness in me, there's not a selfish bone in my body!"
  18. PeteF3
    Hey everyone, remember the Ron Simmons heel turn and feud with Ice Train? Neither do I. God, Ice Train is so comically out of place here, whether among the babyface team or standing up to the heels. Fun little TV sprint, with all 6 guys getting a chance to show some good stuff. I love any time the Boss as a babyface "works small," like getting worked over in a bearhug or here, doing that somersault-off-the-knee-lift bump. The Center Stage crowd is HOT, which is a rarity because it's an environment that I've always found to be incredibly sterile. Ice Train distracts Simmons to allow for a Sting roll-up, because that's the money issue here that needs to be pushed.
  19. PeteF3
    Ah, a WCW tradition is underway...Gene Okerlund plugging hot rumors on the hotline. Flair comes out to gloat over Vader's demise and hype an elimination tag match at the Clash. "Carolina Flair" is back.
  20. PeteF3
    Hardcore angle--Paul Morton is supposed to be a surprise visitor for Ricky, but being alone in the locker room (a detail that's set up masterfully) he runs into Cornette & the Bodies, and ends up getting attacked with Drano thrown into his eyes. Cornette swears it was an accident, or so Bob Caudle tells us. This week, Mantell grills Cornette about possibly crossing the line, but Cornette doesn't care about a decrepit, bald 124-year-old man who was a big deal before electricity. Cornette only fought back because he was struck first and the State wouldn't press charges! Cornette initially takes credit for knocking Paul Morton down, but when Dr. Tom corrects him, Cornette instead takes credit for kicking him afterward! This is a riot. Now the Bodies have to wrestle the Rock 'n Rolls at Sunday Bloody Sunday, on top of an already-scheduled defense against Doug & Mike Furnas. Cornette tries to prove how Paul Morton is okay by bringing out Jimmy Del Ray in sunglasses with a cane, doing the Stevie Wonder head-sway. "Hey Tom, have you seen Paul Morton's new suit?" "No Jim, I haven't..." "NEITHER HAS HE!" This was awesome, a great way to re-ignite a feud that had been on hold.
  21. PeteF3
    Don't ask me why I keep noticing this, but...viewing Bret in a singlet here and at Survivor Series, you kind of understand why he prefers long tights. It's now pointed out that Bret and Owen will also be in the Rumble against each other--re-using undercard guys in the Rumble itself was a first, and it's practically a giant banner being dropped that said, "OUR ROSTER SUCKS NOW." Owen is just overflowing with enthusiasm, talking about what a big break is coming his way tonight after seeing Bret bring home title belt after title belt. The uber-babyface stuff is a great way of setting up the turn.
  22. PeteF3
    Bearer's Frankie Valli vocals are like nails on a chalkboard, but the setting is cool.
  23. PeteF3
    With the exception of Bret vs. Lawler, which is hard to rate as a traditional match, I liked this better than any 1993 WWF match. They added a ton of new spots that they didn't do on Raw, especially during the opening babyface shine (love that double-plancha thing with all 3 heels catching Kid only to get wiped out by Jannetty), and they teased us with a few repeat spots like Jannetty & Kid doing their tag finisher. Maybe the FIP runs a tad long, but generally and especially in the WWF I think erring a bit long on that is better than erring short. Kid's house-afire sequence is incredible, and while the cut-off is sudden it's certainly effective--between Polo crotching him on the post and eating a superplex followed by the Tower finisher, you can buy that the Kid is killed dead. Easily the best "straight" tag of January so far. This is quite the hot run for both teams.
  24. PeteF3
    You know what, if Crush would just drop the ridiculous faux-Asian accent he's attempting, he'd be just fine. He is trying very hard to put everything over, I have to give him that--and some of his absurd explanations for what's happening and attempts to stay calm are genuinely funny ("He's coming over to talk to me, brudda!"). Even Vince isn't quite buying the idea of Cornette being in Tokyo. He does a Lance Russell and basically cuts the entire promo for everyone. Yokozuna is planning to squash the casket but Undertaker pops out and Yokozuna runs away. Like heels running from Damian, big monsters running in fear from the Undertaker is a recurring theme that's really played out.
  25. PeteF3
    Man, if you could have somehow combined this match and the Clash bout, you'd have a MOTYC. That was a great spotfest and this was all about limbwork--Pillman targeting Austin's knee and Austin going after Pillman's arm. Pillman pulls the upset, which surprises me greatly (in a pleasant way). A clumsy TV edit follows and Pillman is suddenly at the mercy of Austin and Parker, and Parker tries to put the chicken mask on him before Dustin breaks things up.
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