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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    Brad Armstrong is throwing a pity party for himself when an angry Pillman comes out to confront him. Pillman has a legitimate beef--you'd think he'd get the title by forfeit. Pillman cuts an effective promo, but for such a long build-up, I would have preferred Pillman to turn heel in the ring.
  2. PeteF3
    Bruno is happy to be associated with REAL wrestling, and this has a hilarious payoff later in the broadcast. Seeing Andre in this setting for this promotion was mindblowing. Bob seems completely unaware of his kid's knee injury. Teddy Long and T-Bolt have a mini-Baptist revival before Long sends it to Mr. Wrestling II, from Hawaii via satellite.
  3. PeteF3
    Highlights of the famous Ole Anderson turn on Dusty in the cage, as well as squash footage from the Briscos, Freebirds, Road Warriors (with Paul Ellering doing homoerotic commentary), and Rock & Roll Express.
  4. PeteF3
    Everyone from Hank Aaron to Doug Dillinger are dressed to the nines. We bizarrely get the national anthem *after* the intros to the first match. Paul E. gets suspended above the ring in a cage and Ventura throws in towards the end that this is no-DQ. The whole "ban top rope moves and then reinstate them and make them special" idea was a complete failure on all levels, starting from when they undermined their own stip by doing two big shows with "NWA rules" and guys flying all over the place. All that aside the match is really good and fast-paced, with just enough consequences from Steamboat's rib injury (like his failure to immediately cover after the dueling tombstone reversals) to make it worthwhile. Strong opener of a match.
  5. PeteF3
    For all those love handles, Vale can move pretty damn well. I don't remember a single thing about Takahashi or Ishikawa from the first match (one guy threw wicked headbutts), but he comes across better here because he's in a more immediately urgent situation, facing a bigger and more credentialed opponent. He tries a few takedowns, but Vale spins out of one and just rains punches down onto his ribs to get out of another, and then rather casually puts him away with a bunch of palm strikes. I hope the payoff when Fujiwara or whichever native finally knocks Vale off lives up to the build that it's getting.
  6. PeteF3
    Not really a great match, but a decent one thanks to Savage and Perfect. Their match-up was in some ways more compelling than Savage vs. Flair--it's a standout performance by Savage but also probably Perfect's best work as a second. Razor Ramon instantly comes off as big-time in this setting, more than he ever did in WCW. You can chalk some of that up to the WWF Machine but I think a lot has to go to Hall, too.
  7. PeteF3
    I haven't always been that eager to sit through these eastern indy matches, but the action here was pretty awesome with two hard-working guys, even if the crowd is sparse. There's some stalling but not that much, and Lawler giving a piledriver to Stately Wayne Manor was a "wow" moment. Fun brawl into the bleachers at the end, with a crazy attempt by Lawler to toss Gilbert off the top row over the fence, and then trading shots with a fan's crutch. Put this action in the MSC and it'd come across as the hottest wrestling act in the country.
  8. PeteF3
    I liked the presentation all around. And I really liked Dustin sticking strictly to scientific/mat wrestling until the very end when he just loses control. Meh finish but at least it's a finish that goes somewhere. I need to find that Jack vs. Steamboat.
  9. PeteF3
    Warrior isn't good but is better than usual, since he once again has something strong to focus on. Warrior declares that Savage had sold out from the beginning. Savage rebuts over the same bits of video that Warrior showed, with a great moment where Warrior throws a right at Flair and it's ambiguous whether it lands or not. Fantastic Rashomon-style promo work.
  10. PeteF3
    The matwork portion didn't do much for me, though I suppose it would have made some more sense with the Inoue match. It was quickly blown off so Toyota could get her stuff in, but just as with the Steiners, when it works, it works. The near-falls and move-trading down the stretch were quite fun, though I agree the crowd seemed oddly muted.
  11. PeteF3
    Major title changes not in the sets. It doesn't seem like Japan was in the habit of skipping out on televising big title matches by the 1990's, but it's possible that some of this didn't make tape. IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: - Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (12/26/90) - Big Van Vader vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (3/4/91) - Riki Choshu vs. The Great Muta (8/16/92) - Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (4/4/94) - Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Shinya Hashimoto (5/1/94) IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: - Akira Nogami vs. Norio Honaga (11/5/91) - El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon (11/22/92) - Norio Honaga vs. Wild Pegasus (9/27/94 tournament final) - Norio Honaga vs. Koji Kanemoto (2/19/95) - Koji Kanemoto vs. Sabu (5/3/95) - Sabu vs. Koji Kanemoto (6/14/95) - Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (7/6/97) - El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (8/10/97) More to come.
  12. PeteF3
    What kind of length are we looking at for each individual category? One 4-hour disc? Has that even been discussed yet? Well, anyway, some random stuff that comes to mind that was either missed or cut for time/importance reasons. I'm also going to try to gather up any major title change ("major" meaning U.S. Big Two, Japan Big Two, or ECW) that didn't get included. I suppose I'll simply go back to this thread as more come to mind. WWF: - Tugboat vs. Bob Bradley (8/18/90 Superstars). Tugboat gets taken out of SummerSlam/Jesse Ventura's final Superstars appearance. - Big Boss Man vs. Barbarian (1991 Royal Rumble). Not a very consequential match but a good one. - Hulk Hogan on Arsenio Hall (ca. 7/23/91). This is on Youtube, so presumably it's available out there somewhere. A truly infamous segment that sort of sets the stage for the scandals to come in the next year. - Interview: Jake Roberts' Survivor Series team (11/24/91 Survivor Series Showdown). Yet another incredible Jake promo ("Elizabeth...he won't be home for Christmas, baby.") Also includes the complete and uncensored snakebite attack. - Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil (11/24/91 Survivor Series Showdown). Repo Man repossesses the Million $ Title. - Update (3/1/92 Superstars). Announcement of DiBiase & IRS' tag title victory, formation of Money Inc., Natural Disasters face turn. WCW: - Steiner Brothers vs. Anderson/Eaton (SuperBrawl II). I know the reluctance not to have the entire PPV out there, but... - "The Paulie Awards" (2/1/92 Worldwide). Which pays off later in the show when Steamboat comes in to rescue Brad Armstrong from a post-match attack by Rude, until Madusa and Rude overwhelm him and attack him with their gold statuette. - Ricky Steamboat vs. Bobby Eaton (4/4/92 Worldwide). Possibly an interesting comparison piece to their terrific WCWSN match from '91, but mainly for the post-match angle. After weeks of build-up, Steamboat finally clocks Madusa in self-defense. He's immediately remorseful and apologetic, but the Dangerous Alliance swarm him, brutalize him with a chair, and then rub his face into the exposed concrete and break his nose. One of the best WCW angles of the year. - Rick Rude vs. Nikita Koloff (8/9/92 Main Event). The debut of Jake Roberts. The best WCW angle of the year. ECW: - Shane Douglas vs. Pitbull 2 (10/5/96, ECW Arena). Shane hits the single-arm DDT that broke Pitbull 1's neck. Pitbull 1 enters the ring to try throw in the towel for his partner, and Douglas grabs his protective halo and shakes it. One of the greatest moments in ECW Arena history. WOMEN IN JAPAN: (I'm simply going to gather a list of matches that Meltzer gave **** or more to that didn't make the first cut): - Bull Nakano/Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto/Mariko Yoshida (6/5/91). **** - Bull Nakano/Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong/Bison Kimura (aired 8/9/91, can't find taping date). ****1/4 - Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (8/18/91). ****1/4 - Akira Hokuto vs. Suzuka Minami (8/18/91?). ****1/4 - Manami Toyota/Etsuko Mita vs. Bat Yoshinaga/Yumiko Hotta (10/4/91). ****1/4 - Aja Kong/Bison Kimura vs. Toshiyo Yamada/Kyoko Inoue (10/4/91). **** - Toshiyo Yamada/Kyoko Inoue vs. Esther/Cynthia Moreno (10/26/91). "Highlights ... looked to be four-stars-plus" - Bull Nakano/Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota/Debbie Malenko (10/26/91). ****1/2 - Takako Inoue/Mariko Yoshida vs. Debbie Malenko/Sakie Hasegawa (1/5/92). ****1/4 (more to come) JAPAN MISC.: - Weekly Pro at the Tokyo Dome, 4/2/95. I guess this wasn't actually much of a card from a pure quality standpoint, but a match or two, or highlights, need to be included. I've heard good things about the AJPW 6-man in a "fall out of bed" sense. EDIT 8/27: I'll keep updating this, but I think I'll get all the title changes in a separate post.
  13. PeteF3
    Bret's promo is right out of early 1997. I MADE YOU AND THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. Only thing missing was complaining about Jack Tunney screwing him. Heenan gets off about 8 classic lines in a row shitting on the bagpipers. "Don't applaud him, he might play more!" This is one hell of a performance by Bret--his cut-offs early on are all great, he paces things well, and the crowd is electric enough that Bret's chinlock-centric control still come off well. And that pescado-into-a-neckbreaker thing...I don't know what that was, if it was what Bret had in mind, or what, but it looked awesome. They do some convincing near-falls down the stretch with both guys escaping the other's finisher, and I liked Vince & Bobby going completely silent at the finish, letting the crowd reaction speak for itself for once. Not a World MOTYC but I have no problem considering this the best WWF match of 1992. It simply isn't a strong in-ring year with tons of competition for it, and this was legitimately as compelling of a story as Bret/Piper but greater in scope.
  14. PeteF3
    Vince and Bobby never had the great chemistry of the Gorilla/Bobby team, but they're absolute gold in the pre-match. "Savage...nevermind." "WHAT?!" It's hard to describe, you'd have to see it, but it's one of my favorite Bobby moments ever. Flair had an interview earlier in the show where Okerlund, God bless him, actually called him out for being in his robe. "You're not scheduled to wrestle today!" Flair explained that when you're Flair, you're always "ready for any kind of action." Warrior's Grey's Anatomy singlet here is only a marginal improvement over the naked-fig-leaf outfit earlier. Nonetheless this is a very pro-Warrior and anti-Savage crowd. Both guys work hard, and there is an attempt to impart some psychology on this with Warrior's neck and Savage's back, but neither injury really impacts the match and Warrior does a laughably bad job of selling a neck injury. And Vince is at his absolute worst here, speaking in that LOUD VINCE VOICE throughout and falling for every two-count. I did like the interference spots, but they make it harder to compare this match to WM7 or the other high-end Warrior matches. I don't think it's as good as those, though. The post-match is excellent, and Flair going to grab the ropes while doing the figure four on the floor is SUCH a glorious heel spot that I wish he would have succeeded. I also liked how Flair and Perfect waited for the bell and then pounced--"Okay, let's cripple this fuck, but dammit, let's do it within the confines of the rules." Flair and Perfect are at their gloating best afterward. They're already pushing Flair vs. Warrior.
  15. PeteF3
    Not one of Jake's best promos--too many standard lines and no particular focus.
  16. PeteF3
    Good action with some good, fresh new offense from Fuller, who does some funky suplexes. Match gets thrown out, but a solid TV match to tease you with the promise of more.
  17. PeteF3
    Cornette's mother has doubled her offer, and that gets the Fantastics on board. Bob Armstrong insists on cash money only, no checks. I love Dutch and the heels' reactions to the secret conference between the Fultons and Armstrong--the kind of thing that, as El-P mentioned, doesn't exist in modern-day scripted promos. Lane: "Why don't you just shoot us, Armstrong, and get it over with??" No-DQ rematch for $20,000 with no tennis racket, and it's next week!
  18. PeteF3
    Goddamn, we missed out on Gilbert vs. Chris Adams. "Smoky Mountain" is invoked.
  19. PeteF3
    A Dundee/Rich MSC match gets out of control when Mike Miller and the RUSSIAN UNIFIED TEAM come in, followed by babyfaces. Good action but this sort of feels like the WWF suits randomly trying to keep Elizabeth from ringside, considering how many crazy brawls Memphis sees. Dundee vs. Rich in a cage this week. Dundee emphasizes the "one-on-one" nature of the match which makes me think someone is going to find their way inside the cage. Rich phones in a promo over top of a music video, channelling Axl Rose: "You gonna DIE!"
  20. PeteF3
    I love Jimmy's insistence on referring to Jarrett as "Jeffrey." Hart is clearly loving the chance to cut loose--he takes about 45 seconds just to say, "Eddie Marlin paid somebody off," then regales us with his life story. He goes off on the announcing comparisons--the best announcers in the world are in the WWF, while the USWA has "Dave Brown, the Weather Clown and the guy next to him is so bad, he makes Dave Brown look good!" Hart issues a challenge, because Lawler & Jarrett are just like Memphis, Tennessee--built on a bluff! I think Hart got more great lines into that promo than he did in every single WWF promo combined. Lawler stands up for Carruthersville, Tupelo, and Arkansas in an incredibly emotional response promo. If not for Lawler, Hart and his Gentrys would still be singing at the Levy Lounge on Lamar Avenue for $150 a week. Lawler demands to face anybody in the WWF--goddamn, now I SO want to see Money Inc. come to Memphis to face Lawler & Jarrett. Eddie Marlin comes up and actually stands up for the WWF and Vince McMahon, and wants to downplay the USWA-WWF feud and for Lawler to concentrate on Hart. Fantastic stuff, and a great table-setter for then the WWF-USWA feud really explodes in '93.
  21. PeteF3
    Good, heated, but overlong. Maybe some of these undercard bouts could have used 15- or 20-minute time limits.
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  25. PeteF3
    I don't have anything else between these guys to compare to, so I thought this was a perfectly good title match. I guess the one thing that puzzled me was how sympathetic Casas worked throughout, from the way he sold Dragon's kicks to Dragon's submissions to Casas' flash pin victory. I know, it's a lucha title match so that means less rudo shtick, but it still stuck out, like Shawn Michaels working Diesel at WM11. More of an observation than a criticism.
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