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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    Eddie being Eddie, despite being a babyface he shoots about a lack of title shots and not being a "first match boy" or "second match boy." He does turn this back to Bert Prentice and the Rock 'n Roll Phantom. Killer promo, too bad it led to yet another Gilbert downfall.
  2. PeteF3
    Definitely another standout performance from Casas, who I thought carried most of this until the big near-fall exchange towards the end. Dragon was way better here than in the Samurai match. I like Sammy but Casas is a much more fluid mat wrestler, and Dragon actually got to show some struggle and fight here, having to fight out of holds before leveling Casas with a stiff clothesline to set up his primera caida victory. Casas evens things and then knees Dragon in the balls between the 2nd and 3rd falls, a great moment with a great cat-eating-the-canary look on Casas' face afterward. Casas really ramps up the cockiness in the 3rd fall and it costs him twice, once with Dragon monkey flipping him into the turnbuckle on the apron and once when he takes his sweet time climbing the turnbuckle and pratfalls off. Great run of near-falls follows and Dragon picks up another huge singles win in Mexico. This wasn't as good as the high-end Mexican title and apuestas matches, and I've sort of turned on the idea of Dragon being any kind of a superworker. But this was very, very good and a top 10 MOTY candidate.
  3. PeteF3
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMk4P6NPrVE - There's the Sting title win. Sort of Sting/Vader by numbers with a familiar finish. The Vader win looks good from the little footage that we see, possibly better than the first title change.
  4. PeteF3
    Fixed for accuracy.
  5. PeteF3
    Lots of fun here, and a promising first look at Sasuke who's way over in his first chronological appearance. Hamada is his usual awesome self, Signo provides some chunky fat luchador offense, and Rudo (who is this guy? Would he be more well-known as another name?) keeps up. Somebody interferes when Sasuke dives out to the floor and whacks him with a chair, allowing the rudos to steal an upset countout win.
  6. PeteF3
    Not a great match, but decent enough. I was surprised at how intense the food fight was. It's not quite Tupelo at its peak but it was quite the little brawl. I'm almost ashamed of myself for actually laughing at Bartlett-Vince a couple of times, even though the deadly combo of Gorilla & Bartlett is just behind the team of any announcer & Jason Hervey for the Announce Team from Hell.
  7. PeteF3
    JYD in a different kind of setting, cutting a serious low-key promo for maybe the first time since the blinding angle.
  8. PeteF3
    Some good and some bad. La Parka's bullet tope through the guardrail was a highlight, as was the psychology of the low blows and fake low blows. But there was a lot of sloppiness, and this is the second straight subpar effort from Misterioso, who continued to look lost and blew a majority of the spots he tried. The best parts of this were Rey Jr. as rudo punching bag, as so often seems to be the case with young Rey in these 6-mans. This got better as it went along but overall it wasn't particularly good.
  9. PeteF3
    Yeah, I wonder who the star of this is--even the staunch pro-WAR crowd knows judging by the name they keep chanting. Easy match of the night honors here. Hara is great at knowing when to Hulk Up and when to sell. I've never much cared for him but this may be a career performance. I love the way Team WAR punches Hash in the mouth right to start, both literally and figuratively. This segues into a more structured tag bout with Team WAR logically trying to isolate Ohara, and succeeding in beating him into a bloody pulp. Squint and Ohara looks like Kenta Kobashi--blood notwithstanding he wrestles a lot like him, too. Eventually he gets the hot tag to Hash and this gets put away. Count me as somebody who actually liked the small package finish. I thought it was a neat way to put the WAR guys over in defeat--even Hashimoto, far and away the #1 guy in the match, is at the point where he decides, "Let's get this the fuck over with."
  10. PeteF3
    It was made in response to rapidly shrinking revenues--between the WBF, the failure of WrestleMania, and a weak summer house show season. At the same time, they added a dollar to show tickets and uprooted the road schedule to regionalize tours in order to cut back on travel expenses. It may have been a test run but there was no reported indication of such at the time. Meltzer even specifically said that these steps were "a temporary thing."
  11. PeteF3
    Oh, now this is more like it. I really, really didn't want to bring this up when talking about Samurai/Dragon, because like Roger Ebert I believe in reviewing the match (movie) that actually happened, not the one that you wish had happened. But I'll say it now after watching this: as an interpromotional juniors match I wanted to see two guys tearing each other's masks open and wanting to bloody and cripple one another, instead of the pretty roll-ups that we got. I get not reviewing the fantasy-booked match in your head and I get the idea of booking and match layouts with regard to a whole card as opposed to matches individually--I get all of that. But goddamn, guys, show some fucking FIRE. Give me some sympathetic selling from Dragon or Samurai being a dick (refusing a handshake in the poutiest, whiniest manner possible doesn't count). I mean, here we have a WAR mid-carder taking on a junior who hasn't been relevant in this decade, and they put on a match that's just as heated with regard to crowd reaction and a damn sight more aggressive and hate-filled as befitting this interpromotional war. These guys brutalize each other in and out of the ring, and there's an unexpected wrinkle of an ending that's nonetheless given serious and sensible build, with some good similar "near-falls" earlier. There was even some Snowman/Lawler-esque "is this getting out of control for real?" moments. Kobayashi had better brawls than this, with Tiger Mask ten years earlier and with Masa Fuchi in AJPW. And one could question the logic of the "invading" wrestler (one who's been a heel most of his career to start with) being put in such a sympathetic role. But this was an enjoyable addition to the feud and an example of how knowing how to work can trump knowing spots and moves. The more Dragon I watch the less I'm sure he ever really grasped the former concept--which sure doesn't say much for Toryumon/Dragon Gate and may be why I was cold on the little of that that I've seen, even back in 2000-01 when it was a semi-rage.
  12. PeteF3
    Holy shit, my disagreements on everything outside of shootstyle have been minor for the most part. But I thought this was the absolute pre-eminent Yearbook example of the worst of '90s junior wrestling. We open with a shitty "matwork" portion that involves Samurai putting a bunch of holds on Dragon, none of which mean anything and none of which are done with any sort of struggle until we get the Samurai Clutch, which is sold nicely and Dragon fights out of. It's the best part of the match. We seem to miss a key transition on the floor--the camera's fault, not the wrestlers--leading to a nice Asai moonsault. Then both guys throw a bunch of my-turn-your-turn near-falls at each other until one of Dragon's rollups arbitrarily ends the match. That was one cooperative-looking closing stretch. Go back and find my post in one of the AJPW threads about psychology centering around imaginary video game "energy bars"...well, this is the diametric opposite of that idea. The closing stretch was heated and the moves themselves were sort of well-executed but it was all stereotypical indy 2.9 wrestling, with no moves or holds carrying any actual meaning--just excuses to get to the next spot. Since this presumably wasn't taped for official release I don't really know why they worked the "perfunctory matwork before going to the highspots" style of match--that works with a JIP match but it came off very badly in this setting in particular. Most disappointing match of the first 3.25 years--I actively disliked this.
  13. PeteF3
    An angle as old and basic as wrestling itself, but pretty well-done. I don't know what's up with Boris' Rick Steiner headgear, though.
  14. PeteF3
    Very good, intense, heated brawl with a great, great shocker of a finish. Completely deflated the hot crowd, but the fact that Wright had stayed planted in his wheelchair for a year and a half makes the climax so much more important.
  15. PeteF3
    Sullivan has slipped paperwork into the SMW offices that were unknowingly signed off on, and the company is now forced to pay for his therapy sessions or else face a discrimination lawsuit. Sullivan is having fun naming the seagulls after his Smoky Mountain enemies, lures them in with food, then pulls out his spike. This continues to be the best use of Sullivan since Florida if not ever.
  16. PeteF3
    Bagwell dancing with Scorpio is ridiculous, but damned if the crowd doesn't squeal over it. I definitely didn't think this was as good as the Power Hour bout. As shoe points out it does get chinlocky, and it doesn't have Steamboat holding the structure together. There is some good heeling from the Blonds and Bagwell is energetic, and it must be pointed out how much more heated this is. I think it's absurd that they didn't strap a rocket to Scorpio and push him to the TV or U.S. titles--he was over enough and probably a better "black draw"--for want of a less patronizing term--than Simmons. Finish was real weak-sauce. At least do a Bobby Eaton and come off the top rope on the guy.
  17. PeteF3
    Ross' departure is going to leave a noticeable void in WCW, especially if we have to hear more Bischoff on play-by-play. "Back leg round kick" or something gets called, so those classic Eric tendencies are already established. Douglas puts Austin in a Boston crab, then Steamboat springboards over him and lands on Austin's back and immediately switches to a semi-camel clutch, in a fantastic double-team spot. The overall match is really good with really strong psychology surrounding Douglas' bad knee. It's sold well and it impacts the match without overly drawing attention to itself. Steamboat's FIP segment is a classic with some awesome hot tag teases and cut-offs. I especially liked how they set up Steamboat's patented "flip over the back" reversal of the back suplex by having Austin hit the move the first time to cut off a tag attempt and having it backfire when he did it again. Pillman absolutely creams Steamboat with a clothesline towards the finish, and we get a fun little cluster of an ending.
  18. PeteF3
    I've never watched either show on tape, but I still think KOTR was better. Brock's coronation seemed a little more historically significant even if it was a foregone conclusion, and Angle tapping Hogan was fun and markout-worthy. Badd Blood had a mildly entertaining Orton/Benjamin match and nothing else to offer that approached the entertainment value of Rock, Booker, and Goldust backstage. I went to a ton of Ohio Center shows dating back to roughly late '85/early '86, and only twice did I go to a show where the place was filled. (The Ohio Center was/is NOT a huge arena--8000 seats or so, maybe more for wrestling). One was a Challenge taping with Hogan on the card, one was in '98 with Austin approaching his peak. TV at the Schott and Nationwide Arena were different stories of course. And actually that Badd Blood PPV had most of the balcony curtained off. I know Columbus was a strong market for GCW and they filled the place up some, but other than that and Al Haft's peak it's never been a major wrestling city to my knowledge. Blame the Sheik and his shitty promotion.
  19. PeteF3
    ::raises hand:: 40 soul-crushing minutes with the audience doing absolutely nothing except saying out loud, "Climb the cage!" Columbus has had two PPVs in history and Triple H has headlined both of them in the most boring match imaginable (the other was HHH/UT at KOTR '02, where The Rock was the best and most over performer in the match at the commentary desk).
  20. PeteF3
    "Yokozuna" just seems to be a name that trips up every WWF babyface. One thing noticeable about early Raw was how little Bret Hart appeared on it--he really has become a non-factor on WWF television after being all over the place after winning the title. This is still SO not a WrestleMania main event, but it's still a good Bret promo.
  21. PeteF3
    Duggan talks up his history and incorporates his personal life into things, bringing up his pregnant wife. Pretty out-of-the-box concept for the WWF. Duggan recounts his injury at the hands of Yokazuma and draws parallels to flag-covered coffins. Not only is this a strong promo but Duggan is able to bring this stuff up without it seeming patronizing or exploitative.
  22. PeteF3
    The USWA Middleweight title? Is this Memphis or Mexico? PG-13 talk up how Chelsea Clinton is a fan of theirs and hype a feud with Miss Texas. Underwhelming. More awesome reactions from Dave Brown, who may or may not be legitimately uncomfortable with all this.
  23. PeteF3
    Another 1992 video repeat, this one for a new audience. And here he is back in the studio! I DON'T KNOW YOU (points to Macklin) BUT I DO KNOW YOU (points to Brown) AND I KNOW MYSELF! BLACK MONDAY IN THE MID-SOUTH COLISEUM! I wonder if they acknowledged that Savage lost a LLT match all those years ago, like they did with Jimmy Hart. Savage heels himself up very quickly in a fun promo. Lawler comes out to rebut and the two different personalities just bouncing off of each other makes this great. One of the best USWA segments of the year.
  24. PeteF3
    Same video as the '92 Yearbook. Thankfully now that Slaughter's retired, Duggan's crippled, Smothers' flag is toast, and we've seen this video again, the rest of the year should be smooth sailing with regard to flag-waving stuff...
  25. PeteF3
    This is either one tiny ring or four very big minis. Lots of showy high-flying with some true how-in-the-fuck takedowns from Ramirez--like that backwards springboard into a headscissors. Dragon performs the most ridiculous submission ever to get Felinito to end the first fall--he basically taps him out by making Felinito give him a horsey ride. The technicos take this in two straight, as they hit two amazing dives to get the countout. Very fun stuff but not nearly as good as the minis trios match with Sagrada and Espectrito and friends the previous year.
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