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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    It sounds like Wayne and Garth, but I wouldn't think they'd be on your radar, Parv.
  2. PeteF3
    This show was the debut of the "video wall," IIRC, which in a sense would change televised wrestling in a major way. Warrior is covering himself with Warrior-shaped fig leaves over his naughty bits. It's ANOTHER partners-in-conflict match, which is taking over the wrestling world in the summer of '92, and Perfect and Flair are out to put a beatdown on the Warrior while the Nasties take out Savage. Good beatdown by all four heels, and it results in an upset countout victory for the Nasties. In a great bit of booking, THAT result would be significant as it resulted in the Nasty Boys being named the #1 contenders, but Jimmy Hart got a title shot for Money Inc. instead. Both babyfaces would have compelling backstage interviews after this. Warrior pointed out that Flair and Perfect only targeted him and not Savage, and Savage responded that they did that as a swerve and that they were actually working with Warrior. This was all a VERY clever, well-done build-up to the title match that sold me on the PPV.
  3. PeteF3
    Two $10,000 angles at once is a little overkill. This bounty angle seems like a much better way to get Lee over than the initial go-round and this leads to a pretty compelling payoff that I'm looking forward to. Bobby's response to Cornette's offer is a verbal KO! I only wish Cornette were around to react to that line about his mother.
  4. PeteF3
    JT Southern has the "Continental" title, which he's not going to defend, he owns. After mocking Van Hammer for months, Southern is now acting exactly like him. Did we ever get a JT vs. Billy Travis feud? Clips of the Gilberts, Buddy Landell, and Brian Christopher against the Rock 'n Roll Express, Bill Dundee, and Tommy Rich. Rich levels Morton with a chain (and then collapses into a corner like he's out) to allow the New Memphis Mafia to pick up a win. Rich disingenuously feigns innocence afterward. Rich then leaves Dundee to the Dogs--literally--in a tag team battle royal, and eliminates himself to give the Moondogs a win. Rich sends in a pre-taped promo, having shot a -6 to win a PGA Pro-Am tournament! Michael Jordan, Steve Avery, and Tom Glavine are WINNERS, and they convinced him not to hang out with Memphis losers anymore. Rich acting like he completely fooled the babyfaces with the chain is pretty funny.
  5. PeteF3
    Bret's talented but is an egomaniac and that will be his downfall. I don't think this is a wrestling promo, I think this was Bruce speaking off-the-cuff and someone filmed it with a hidden camera.
  6. PeteF3
    I didn't like this at all the first time either, and that was while watching all of '92 AJPW. Looking at it now, it's not THAT bad, but they could have JIP'd this 10 minutes in and I don't think we would have missed a thing. It picks up once Hansen really goes after the shoulder in earnest, and his work there is the high point of the match. It gets better from there but is still a letdown from their matches earlier in the year, and the finish is an anticlimax. I would have preferred Hansen falling straight back and Misawa collapsing backwards on top of him for the pin, the way Hansen often pinned people after hitting a desperation Lariat. This is quite a historical card that deserved a better main event.
  7. PeteF3
    Ordinarily I'd wonder if this result was some sort of message, or if it would have taken place if not for Jumbo's illness. But they would swerve us in October when Jumbo & Taue went over in the October rematch. He did seem to go down surprisingly easily, though--they're clearly pushing that he's not at 100%, even if it's due to a knee/foot injury rather than hep. Doc and Gordy still aren't that great when on top, but the action when the natives are fighting back is really good. Jumbo's illness is only noticeable via his appearance, not his ringwork.
  8. PeteF3
    I'd like to have seen that angle with Fernandez and David Webb--and the big Elvis-related fallout from it. Basic but solid little match, with Manny's offense looking really good. And Tatum and Price provide some entertaining hijinks on commentary--Price actually having a "rulebook" with him as we see at the end was great.
  9. PeteF3
    Incredible first fall. Panther and Solar are fantastic together but all the technicos shine. Azteca doesn't look like a guy who lost it after 1990 and Astro is always compelling in a "how did this short fat tub DO all of that?" way. The first fall has me thinking this is going to be one of the all-time great trios matches and unfortunately it doesn't quite keep that momentum up. The second fall wasn't bad but it did have some of that AAA stuff that annoyed me as well as Astro mesmerizing the rudos by dancing a jig, which is shit that belongs in Chikara or something. And more stuff with a heel referee--it's kind of telling that Dr. Morales says the words "Chocolate" in reference to him more than any other word in calling the match. I don't mind heel referees but since they never seem to get a comeuppance or payback that I've seen, they only seem to get in the way. Really hot closing stretch brings this back up to being an excellent match, with Astro doing possibly the nuttiest thing I've ever seen in lucha with a somersault headbutt to the floor with Rambo laying on the ground. They actually work eliminations into the finish instead of 3 teammates all being pinned at once--it goes quick but it's something different. Best Blue Panther stuff of the Yearbooks so far and God, I need to see more Solar.
  10. PeteF3
    Vrij looks like a total badass and is charismatic, and is sort of the rich man's version of Tony Halme. But this is very broomsticky and a Han showcase, with some awesome flying takedowns and great selling even though Vrij doesn't do much more than kick and a nice escape or two. Basic heat->babyface comeback story that should be accessible to anyone, made by Han.
  11. PeteF3
    Fun spotfest of a match between two guys I've never heard of. Lots of big, broad throws and takedowns to hold your attention.
  12. PeteF3
    Jumbo has a new haircut, but he also looks skinner and about five years older than the last time we saw him. I'm going to be more down on this than anyone else, because I thought this was towards the bottom of AJPW '90s 6-mans seen so far. It was a fine match, and got a lot better as it went along, but Jumbo's condition can't be un-seen and it's clear he's being somewhat hidden and protected here, as hard as he works. So we get a ton of Ogawa and Kikuchi in the early going and their work here simply isn't that interesting. It gets better once we lose Ogawa and Kikuchi is back to being a punching back for the heavies, before he does the inevitable job. We're really getting to the point where AJPW needs to move on from iterations of this feud, and unfortunately just as in 4/90 it's going to take a forcing of Baba's hand to do that.
  13. PeteF3
    Christopher has strong words for Reno Riggins--a less-than-inspiring choice of babyface opponent. Eddie and Doug promise to take out every Memphis legend they want to throw at them. This is a stable with potential, but I agree they could use some muscle.
  14. PeteF3
    PPV rundowns with Gene are always a welcomed segment on any Yearbook. Diana melodramatically talks about the growing resentment between Davey Boy and Bret--I'd hate to see what she was like when Owen turned. Sherri drops a bubbly promo announcing the special "no hitting in the face" stipulation for Shawn vs. Martel.
  15. PeteF3
    Okerlund pretty absurdly overstates the impact of Flair's announcement the previous week. Savage, knowing how it affected the Warrior, refuses to deny that he's in negotiations with Perfect, who's out to declare Warrior has now gone into negotiations as well. They did a really effective job of explaining how neither Warrior or Savage were in position to flat-out deny a partnership with Perfect, without turning either one prematurely.
  16. PeteF3
    So Yamada has to come back AGAIN and wrestle another huge match. That's kind of a crock. That notwithstanding...joshi match of the year? Without going back and reading everything else from '92 (that will come when the Yearbook is finished) I would say yes. For once the go-go-go opening makes sense. Of course Toyota's going to try to end this quick, and Yamada throws some great counters to fend off her attack. Yamada has done the best job so far of reigning Toyota in and slowing things down, so that there's more meaning to her comebacks and to the highspots. Her kick-and-submission style makes for a fine contrast with Toyota's. And we get more awesome counters at the end, enough to leave you dizzy. I guess there wasn't a "deep" story to the match itself other than counter-finisher-kickout, but when it's as well-executed as the finish was here, that's just fine. The joshi on this set has been so spread out for a noob like me that I sometimes find myself lost as to what the overarching story that's going on (Bull and Aja are PARTNERS now? WTF did I miss?) but I totally understood where Toyota was coming from in the post-match. This was a hair match more about pride and wanting to win, rather than a blood feud. Excellent bout, among the top 10-15 of the year.
  17. PeteF3
    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.
  18. PeteF3
    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.
  19. PeteF3
    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.
  20. PeteF3
    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.
  21. PeteF3
    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.
  22. PeteF3
    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.
  23. PeteF3
    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.
  24. PeteF3
    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.
  25. PeteF3
    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.
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