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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. Tag partners in conflict, again. Vince Russo really WAS vacationing in Japan this week. This is definitely much more multi-layered than the W*ING match that told an eerily similar story, and Aja finishing it with Bull's big move was a clever icing on the cake. And seeing Aja and Bull all smily and giggly afterward was fun. Excellent work with a story that came across well to native and foreign viewers alike, which is not always easy to do--contrast to a number of lucha trios matches that had me completely lost.
  2. Matsunaga and Pogo are working the partners-with-tension gimmick--somewhere Vince Russo is getting moist. This is better than your usual Pogo suckfest thanks to some nifty offense and bumping from the Headhunters but it's not exactly a great match. The arguing-partners thing pays off for the finish but they sort of make up afterward when Pogo rescues Matsunaga from Victor Quinones. I do rather like the Headhunters and they probably deserved to go farther than they did based strictly on merit.
  3. I was amazed at how solid this was--not a great match but on the early-'90s indy spectrum it was closer to Lynn vs. Kid than Fulton vs. Wilcox. They throw in a few puro influences but still work this as a basic match with a defined face/heel dynamic.
  4. This is without a doubt the greatest bungee match I have seen today, if not ever. The Misawa/Kawada of matches held 175 (190?) feet off the ground. I need not say no more. "Special referee Kevin" actually had balls of steel. I would not go up in that thing without a harness (if I went up at all) for all the money in the world.
  5. What a fucking crowd this is. Seeing Americans cut loose in Japan and showing off all the shit they know but usually keep in the holster in North America is great, but Americans like Savage and Rude who can take their American-tailored shtick and bring it over to a foreign audience who pops for different stuff, and still get over doing it, sometimes comes off as even more impressive. Rude does the full mic spot and this crowd fucking hates him to a degree incredibly rare for a Japanese audience--they'll boo tactics but not wrestlers (except Taue and Fuyuki), but here they really want to see this guy get his ass kicked. Also the play-by-play man cracks me up on multiple occasions through this--I love that he completely loses his shit for some reason during the pre-match spiel, I love his "GRRRINND-OH!" call for Rude's hip swivel, and I love whatever the fuck he said when Chono did the Bret Hart sleeper counter. So not only does Rude come off like Rude, but he's clearly leading the match: - Pinballing for rapidfire clotheslines: check. - Pratfall sell: check. - Babyface does Rude's own hip swivel: check. - Camel clutch with butt drops: check. - Tombstone reversal: check. All this was missing was Chono doing atomic drops and Rude trying to hip swivel and clutching something in pain. This is deliberately paced but even during Rude's long chinlock they never lose the crowd--probably the second-best crowd of the year behind the All-Asia tag. Chono gets chants whenever he's on the defensive, and when he comes back they actually do an "S-T-F" chant. And the crowd pop for the victory is awesome as well. As an overall match I don't think this is quite as good as the Ironman, and as a Rude match I think SummerSlam '89 is a bit tighter with a more compelling personal issue. But this is a worthy follow-up to the previous year's G-1 final and in the running for New Japan heavyweight MOTY.
  6. It's a cool theme and all but why do the Steiners always use Sid's music in Japan? Anyway, Mutoh doing the Rick Steiner taunt = Spot of the Decade. Then Sasaki follows up by doing Rick's slam-into-the-turnbuckles move on Scott. The natives are having way too much fun for the first half of this. The Steiners respond by throwing fits on the outside and doing some subtle heeling. It's a Steiners match so naturally it's built around bombs but there are some subtler touches as well, like Mutoh assisting Sasaki on the scorpion deathlock and the Steiners switching off in the Boston crab while also having counters for Mutoh trying to make the save. Mutoh does the job--Choshu booking strikes again! Really fun match, and there is just shitloads of great tag work in 1992 to go along with the great work in just about every other genre.
  7. That finish was something else, no question. And Liger's baseball slide was about the stiffest version of that move I've ever seen. But it says something for the greatness of the work of Atlantis/Charles that even this comes off as somewhat mechanical by comparison. The action is good and well-executed but I guess I was somewhat spoiled by the more organic nature of the previous bout that I'm starting to like more and more as time (all 15 minutes of it or so) goes by. Maybe the best of the Liger/Pegasus Kid matches but not really something that's going to eclipse the best Liger stuff. Relative ambivalence toward this match aside, Jushin is still my Best in the World at this point.
  8. OJ talked of lucha being about holds being applied in new ways, and man, was this not a perfect match to follow up that post. It's incredible how smooth and well-versed these guys are on the mat, and one gets the feeling that these guys tend to improvise matwork like jazz musicians improvising countermelodies. Even though the holds are worked for very long stretches, the story is pretty easy for a novice to get into if they're willing to work with that--Emilio Anderson, Jr. takes Atlantis' arm apart, while Atlantis tries to hold on. Some of the best-timed kickouts I've seen in lucha follow, and while Atlantis' win is fluky the winning hold is so incredibly cool that I can overlook that. Terrific match, probably the #3 lucha MOTY behind the Casas/Rambo 6-man and Casas/Dandy. I didn't have a problem with the three-fall format here and I haven't in most cases on these Yearbooks, but at the same time you can easily see why the U.S. all but eliminated the 2/3 fall format as a standard by the time the '80s rolled around.
  9. Everyone on Prime Time Wrestling as Mr. Perfect was shoehorned into the departing Ultimate Warrior's spot at Survivor Series. One of the things on the '92 Yearbook I'm looking forward to most. I have no earthly idea where Scott Keith pulled that bullshit about "five minutes' notice" for Muta and Armstrong, but there's no reason to believe that it's true, and it's a shitty match anyway.
  10. Big disappointment considering their MOTY in the previous year's tournament. There were some nice bombs and sequences but also a lot of laying around. The previous year had some great, compelling matwork and this really didn't. And man, that Yakuza kick-vs.-dropkick thing just kept going--I couldn't get into what they were doing with that at all. This wasn't bad, and the finish was decisive and put Chono over big, but it was overlong and the expectations were for at least another outstanding match--not necessarily another ***** classic. But we didn't really come close.
  11. This was psychologically okay and I enjoyed Rude heeling it up and turning the crowd against him, but man oh man was it slow. Sasaki has usually been a big bundle of energy but there's not much of that on display here, as he methodically works over Rude's back in a not-all-that-interesting manner before Rude starts his comeback. I wasn't overly impressed by this except for Rude getting a visceral negative reaction from the Japanese crowd.
  12. This was okay--sort of a poor man's version of Savage/Tenryu with the American heel working full-fledged American heel style in the foreign setting. But Madusa wasn't as effective as Sherri was, Hash wasn't adaptable as Tenryu was and yes, some of Rude's offense looked a little weak in comparison. Having said that, the DDT off the top was sick.
  13. Jake hasn't missed a beat. He calls out Sting for lying to kids by telling them that training, prayers, vitamins, and being good are all you need to get through life--and then invokes children in ghettos whom Sting has let down. It's not something that got a great deal of focus during this feud but that is some HEAVY shit for a wrestling promo and makes me wish he could have gone after Hogan full-force with this stuff had both men stuck around. No way that would ever happen because of the other elephant in Hogan's room that I'm sure Jake would be prohibited from invoking, but it's fun to think about.
  14. Luckily Jake's debut is on Youtube, and it's the best angle WCW has done this year. Sting is sitting in on commentary for Rick Rude vs. Nikita Koloff, when Cactus Jack makes his way to the ring for a 2-on-1. Sting leaves to make the save, but in the process of dispensing of Rude and Cactus he leaves himself open to an attack from Jake, who sneaks in from the crowd. Huge heat for all of this--Jake levels Sting with a chair, the short-arm clothesline, and then drops him with two DDTs onto the chair. Babyfaces swarm the ring as he lets his python out of the bag, but Sting has to do a stretcher job and is out of the World title match. I had taken interest in WCW with the WWF declining and my taking up of the Apter mags in full force, but this was the angle that turned me from a second-hand follower of the product to a devoted viewer. This was a hotter segment than anything the WWF has done in 1992. A random drawing follows because WE, THE FANS deserve a World title match. Cappetta loves to tell the story of how paranoid Watts was about working the drawing and having the work be exposed--they had to have all the names legitimately in the bag and Cappetta was ordered to read Simmons' name and then put whatever he drew immediately back in, lest a sheet of paper with "VAN HAMMER" written on it get into the wrong hands. I didn't know this match actually existed in full (or nearly full), but the crowd is electric from the very start. Holy shit, this is a lost North America MOTYC as far as I'm concerned. Oh, it's short, and maybe it's not strictly as good as the high-end DA tags, but man, the stakes and the heat are higher than anything except for WarGames. Total sprint with Simmons and Vader both unleashing some great offense and doing some great bumping and selling, too. Simple finish but the powerslam looks like it absolutely crushes Vader and is a perfect exclamation point to the match. And of course, the post-match, which is one of the greatest chill scenes I've ever seen in wrestling. I know Simmons' reign was a bust, that he had underwhelming challengers and matches, and that he'd seemingly vanished after all the great build-up to Halloween Havoc until now. But this whole sequence was a pivotal moment for me as a wrestling fan. Right now the sequence from the Nikita/Rude ending until this is the single best "Thing" of 1992, in any promotion.
  15. A tornado tag match in a cage probably needs a WWF-sized ring and the ability to climb up on the cage to be really good--honestly, this didn't stand up to Santana/Bruno vs. Savage/Adonis which is probably the standout match of that type. It was just too crammed to really tell a compelling story. There were still some nice spots and a few near-falls, and they found a way to have Cornette involved without it seeming super-cheap. And the post-match is satisfying as all hell, from Cornette's tantrum to the taunts from the fans picked up on the camera, climaxing with the 1996 Nitro-style ending. And the post-match promos are great, too. Not really a great match but I'm looking forward to more from this feud.
  16. Some absolutely crazy shit--brawls through hallways into parking lots, attempted leg breakings by both parties, plastic bag suffocations, guys tied to ringposts, and what in general looks like a gloriously overbooked mess of a street fight between the two teams. This was a great table-setter though I can already justify the complaints that Cornette is too physically involved.
  17. The Mongolian Mauler was a guy who had the craziest look I'd ever seen when just viewing him through the Apter mags (boy did those black eyes scare the shit out of me) but the act completely dies once you see him try to work (and also realize that he's about 5'9"). This is the beginning of the "Master" angle which I'm looking forward to and seems like it'd be a better way to get Lee over than what they've been doing. The Smoky Mountain title is now where it belongs.
  18. Good match even with the limited heel team. The R'nRs and Morton specifically are just that good. Not a lot new under the sun here but the Stable put the Rock 'n Rolls over in their big return while also looking strong and keeping the feud going.
  19. This four corners stip still comes across as fresh in this setting. Davis looks spectacular, both at mat wrestling and selling a bloody beatdown later on. They SWERVE us with the booking by having the Fantastics get eliminated first and then immediately cost the Bodies afterward. I liked a lot of this, I just didn't care for the finish. I didn't see any reason why either Dy-no-mite or Davis had to be protected--they easily could have put the Stud Stable over clean and had Gibson run in afterward.
  20. Mantell agrees with every decision Bob Armstrong has ever made, but gosh darn it, the FANS have written into him with these tough questions. God, Dutch is awesome. Armstrong has an answer for everything Dutch asks. I try not to get too far into "back in my day" mode when commenting on these but I sincerely don't think there are any two people today who could play off each other this seamlessly, off-the-cuff, while still getting all the storylines over and also staying true to their characters. They may be funny, but these guys are SELLING you on shit and doing a great job of it.
  21. Dave Brown gets to book matches for the Gilberts as a gift for his 25th birthday, and he's brought back Tommy Rich and Bill Dundee! Fun segment and this is all sold great by both Eddie and Doug.
  22. Memphis is the only live wrestling show left in the world--enjoy that while it lasts, guys. The babyfaces remark how dapper Dave looks, which is a stark contrast to Jeff Jarrett's "Macho Gooker" look. A clip follows that has me wanting to organize another cataloguing expedition. Shovel shots aside, this is a much more traditionally worked tag match and the action is still good. Good finish as Lawler reverses a whip and Spike hits a Stop sign held by Fifi, and Fifi loses her hair, though it's more of an Adrian Adonis hack job. Lee still looks like Paul Heyman which is appropriately eerie on a number of different levels. Lawler acknowledges that they didn't quite get a full shaving, and they aim to do it today if Fifi is in the studio.
  23. Flair being such a cocky, laid-back motherfucker is a fun contrast to the Warrior. Flair declares that Warrior/Savage will only be a #1 contenders' match for Flair's title, then drops the big news: Savage is in negotations for Mr. Perfect to manage him at SummerSlam. Everyone involved seems awfully quick to believe Flair. Warrior actually gets to a compelling point at the end--he's willing to do anything and pay any price to win the WWF title. This is what booking looked like before triple threat matches existed, kiddies. I probably prefer this approach, and I remember the tag match against the Nasty Boys and post-match angle being a killer.
  24. Also: Mike Davis going into a homicidal rage upon the sight of a championship belt, a mental condition exploited by Fernandez. These goofy angles aren't the same without Craig Johnson's forced puns.
  25. This felt like it lasted about 7 hours. Pogo is just so fucking awful--shitty offense and Matsunaga takes the brunt of literally every spot involving fire. Matsunaga gets his ass kicked the entire match but wins on a flash pin and Pogo sells afterward like he's just wrestled a 2-hour ironman match, I guess because they need Victor Quinones to abuse him afterward. Pogo turns babyface and brawls with the gaijin. The MegaPowers, this ain't. Still, Matsunaga was W*ING's top star and I think this was the beginning of a relationship with FMW (he had jumped at some point), so he needed to be recorded here somehow. Sadly, outside of the interpromotional stuff, the STOP THE MATSUNAGA Zero-One run in 2005 is probably the post-2000 puro product I'm most interested in seeing, if we get a Yearbook that far out.
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