PeteF3
-
Posts
10285 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Everything posted by PeteF3
-
I think this would be the last hardcore, adult WWF angle in a series going back to the previous fall. It is too long of a segment, and I don't know if the WWF even tried to explain why an unsigned, ostensibly untrained maniac just out of the slammer would be handed a WWF contract. But the beatdown itself is sold great and the crack of the nightstick shots to the leg is pretty chilling. Vince and Perfect put this over huge on commentary, too. I hope the segment showing the Boss Man's photos from WWF Magazine is on this set, as that was one of the most effective articles in that magazine's history.
-
The "proper" Nodowa showed up in the 6-man just before this. Don't know if that was the true debut or not. Another excellent tag, what else is new. It's not as good, but that this is able to stand up to a back-to-back viewing with the legendary All-Asia tag before it is a testament. Misawa works FIP(!) for a bit before Kikuchi actually gets a hot tag run before the inevitable beatdown follows. This time there is no hot tag to be made--Jumbo has Misawa's saves well-scouted and takes him out, allowing Taue to hit a killer chokeslam for the pin. A well-needed victory for Jumbo's side, who from a Yearbook perspective had appeared to be losing the war over the past few months. -
Booker does come off as a future star here. Ray has strong words for the "Ebony Beach Bums--whatever they want to call themselves." Somehow I think a team of two black guys talking in early-'90s California surfer slang could work as a gimmick.
-
DEE DEE TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. One of the most joyous wrestling experiences you could ever imagine. This was one of my puro gateway drugs and I suspect it was for a lot of other people as well. In addition to all the other awesomeness this is probably Kikuchi's peak as an *offensive* wrestler, at least so far. He hits some nice moves and comes off as perfectly credible going up against Furnas. I guess I can't really give it a full ***** but once it gets going after the initial JIP point it's about the most perfectly executed wrestling match ever done.
-
Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue, ?/?/92 I don't know which of these two I saw since the Youtube video didn't provide a date. Ten minutes shown with a highlight of Malenko doing an exploder/t-bone suplex off the top turnbuckle, if that helps. Fun look at what the AJW mid-carders were doing--they certainly don't hold back. Hasegawa works as the underdog/junior member role again and Debbie, someone I've never seen before, looks very impressive. They build nicely to a hot closing stretch in the time given (though I understand the AJW editors were the most skilled "match clippers" ever in terms of not making it look like you missed anything). This is another tag hurt by a horribly timed finish, with the referee arbitrarily stopping a count at two and signaling that a comatose Hasegawa got her shoulder up. That's an Angel Hernandez-level bad call. Blue Panther vs. Ultimo Dragon, 1/5/92 I wouldn't call this a truly great match but Panther gives one of the most selflessly great performances I've ever seen. Dragon is still wet behind the ears, but his highspots are pretty spectacular for the time. This is designed as a Dragon showcase so Panther gives him the vast majority of the match, to its detriment as Dragon on the mat instead of throwing bombs and dives isn't all that interesting here. They do build well to some terrific near-falls and both guys hit some big moves, before Dragon pulls off a major upset. It's easy to give your opponent lots of offense when you're going over, but to put over a relative youngster as well was a very bold move by CMLL and Panther.
-
Jungle Jack vs. LCO, 5/24/92 Per advice from Zenjo in the thread on the other joshi tag from that date. I liked this one quite a bit better than the Toyota/Hasegawa match. The stuff I complained about re: lack of structure, and lack of differentiating attributes to each wrestler, wasn't here at all. LCO comes in with a definite gameplan (TM Jim Ross)--work over Bison, keep Aja out of the ring and preferably off the apron as much as possible. When Aja is in, try to double-team the shit out of her. They still cut a fast pace but the overarching strategy went into just about everything the workers did. A ton of near-falls towards the end when it really looks like the divide-and-conquer strategy is going to pay off, but Bison hangs on just long enough for Aja to recover from the piledriver on the floor and tag in, and then it seems as their final chance to win has slipped away. Unfortunately there's some really badly timed stuff in the closing stretch--Hokuto is supposed to counter a second-rope power bomb into a huracanrana that doesn't work well, and then it seems Mita gets knocked legitimately loopy on Kong's spinning backfist, leading to a stretched-out and rather woefully done finish with Aja pulling a Sabu and repeating a spot that didn't work the first time. I think I have this as the #3 joshi match of '92 that I've seen, behind the 2/3 fall Jungle Jack tag and Aja vs. Bull.
-
This was enjoyable because they hit almost everything they tried, but man oh man, anyone who would accuse the Steiners of lacking form in their matches should take a gander at this one. Yoshida getting whipped into the turnbuckle and turning it into a dive on Toyota was a daring and clever spot, and I actually liked Sakie quite a bit here even through her relentlessly spin kick-centric offense. Other than a very vague sense that Inoue & Yoshida wanted to isolate the "junior" Hasegawa in the ring, I caught no discernible storyline here--everyone works the same pace and the same style and seemingly has the same strengths and weaknesses, so there's little variety or feelings of momentum shifts that you get in a good AJPW 6-man, where everyone works differently against everyone else. Still, as spotfests go this was well done and some of the near-falls and counters down the stretch were very good.
-
I do think this was the best of the DA 6-mans (though not as good as the 4-man as Loss mentioned). This is the first truly standout Eaton performance on the set, as he works a fabulous sequence with Steamboat and is back to being the big-offense, big-bumping Beautiful Bobby of old. Also a very clever finish that furthers the Zbyszko dissension angle (that leads to the most anticlimactic wrestling breakup in history, but oh well).
-
Good afternoon, Freebird Enterprises, could you hold please? Good afternoon, Freebird Enterprises, could you hold please? Good afternoon, Freebird Enterprises, could you hold please? Bischoff in the Bill Mercer put-upon announcer role is pretty funny. He meets up with an almost-unrecognizable, but even better-looking, Precious. I'm not ashamed to admit that I actually liked this. It was over as soon as it began, but Precious reinvented as a no-nonsense businesswoman trying desperately to keep the Freebirds in line and on focus was a gimmick that had potential. For the first time in awhile, Hayes and Garvin actually come across as being in on their own joke. Now, the question of whether they're supposed to be babyfaces or heels remains. They're sort of chummy with Bischoff and have words for Valentine and Taylor, but Hayes is a heel again under Watts, so...who knows.
-
Dave Casper, the old football player? These are some random-ass guest hosts. Page, who has "GOOD" and "GAWD" on each of his sleeves, hypes a segment that sounds like a precursor to GTV. Page and Paul E. have some decent chemistry as Page introduces bootleg camera footage of Paul E. trying to stiff the two chicks from the earlier segment who were accusing Ricky Steamboat. Babyface turn? I'm not sure what the purpose is of DDP fingering heel tactics or coming off as being responsible for babyface run-ins. A good brawl erupts, with Paul E. getting his pants stripped.
-
Somehow the bottom rope has gone missing, forcing Embry and Christopher to work a match with no rope-running. The Moondogs bide their time before running in. Embry refuses to back down and is actually holding his own for a bit against Spike, Cujo, and Lee. Just as he's about to get overwhelmed, Lawler and Jarrett make the save. Embry reiterates his pre-match promo about getting revenge on the Moondogs, while Lawler cuts a motormouthed version of his standard church-bulletin promo (even hyping a Gospel Jubilee!)
-
Don't like the finish here, or Gilbert's presence. Plus the camera angle makes it impossible to believe that Morrell couldn't have seen Gilbert tripping Prichard. Doesn't do a thing to get Christopher over, since Prichard countered everything he personally tried. Billy Travis is back! He's going to shove that Southern title up Christopher's ass, and beats the shit out of him afterward.
-
This is how to book an outside champion as an outsider, Vince. Gilbert comes across as above everything else going on in the USWA. Also, I approve of more Gilbert/Jarrett matches.
-
"Look, he's still got that stuff all over his face--oh no, wait, that's paint." HA! Warrior wears a ring jacket for the first time in his life. Convenient. Warrior would be an ideal victim for a guy like Shango considering he's a guy who would CLEARLY believe any sort of magical hoo-hah Shango would try to offer up. Warrior is on a verbal roll when the black ooze starts streaming down his face. Obvious set-up aside that's an incredibly effective visual and this is the kind of thing I can get behind in the right setting, so long as I don't have to watch the matches.
-
Flair's answering machine message is priceless. Bizarre setting but a good promo. Unfortunately this is probably the very last mention of Elizabeth on WWF television. I'd be curious as to what this was supposed to be leading to.
-
Oh good, here's that puking footage. This was the height of my Apter mag-reading and this was something they absolutely lost their minds over. For once their blatant anti-WWF stance seemed pretty justified. Okerlund sells this as best he can, as does Shango during his promo. Like I said, I got a genuine kick out of the black ooze and jobbers getting set on fire. But this shit was awful. Not Black Scorpion awful, but it's one weak-ass main event program.
-
Finals of the SMW Heavyweight title tournament, Orndorff is awarded the belt via forfeit due to injuries sustained by Brian Lee but it's a SWERVE, BABY. The action itself is pretty good, and then we get a contrived ref spot where Mark Curtis practically plants his nose into Orndorff's shoulder so he can go down when Orndorff rears back his arm. Dirty White Boy tosses Orndorff a foreign object, and eventually he gets caught with it for the DQ. AWFUL finish--I guess Orndorff probably refused to do a pinfall job, which raises the question of why Landell or somebody wasn't in the finals instead. Also way too early for Armstrong to be punching out heels, even if he's got the object in his hand. Lee was far from an ideal choice as the company's first top babyface but this booking didn't do him any favors at all. He wins the title on a DQ and then gets laid out afterwards. Orndorff is still in 1991 making Gulf War references, but cuts a good angry promo decrying this SMOKY MOUNTAIN RIPOFF.
-
Goddamn, the beginning of May was a teensy bit of a lull from the awesomeness of the early spring, and now we've got back-to-back matches approaching the ***** range. (I was not a big star-ratings guy for a long while but I began thinking of matches in terms of ratings more and more through the '80s projects, and now star ratings in particular thanks to the Where the Big Boys Play guys.) I don't like to just pass out snowflakes for the fuck of it, but man, it's hard not to. Two things I love most about this among many, many things to love: the Super Generation Army is out to show they can be just as good at being bastard motherfuckers as Jumbo's Army usually are. So we get Kobashi doing a faceslam on Fuchi to the arena floor and the babyfaces paying the heels back for just about every spot, like strangling them against the ropes and doing double-teams. I can't remember if we got a spot where Taue or Jumbo got his knee dropped on the barricade or table, but that would have been heavenly. Second is how Southern Wrasslin' this feels. This is easily the most electric crowd of any AJPW match of the '90s, there is a clear good/evil divide, we get babyface payback spots as mentioned above, Jumbo actually TURNS AROUND TO YELL AT THE FANS who are chanting for Kawada, and the finish is right out of a Crockett 6-man where the whole Horsemen team gets figure-foured. We also see our first Yearbook look at Taue's "proper" nodowa otoshi, which is about the 97th most notable thing about the match but is instantly a better move than his golden arm bomber thing. Liger/Samurai instantly became one of my favorite matches ever. I'm not sure this match isn't just as good.
-
Way too late to add anything to this. I think Pillman/Windham was a stronger and more compelling opening than Windham/Austin, but everything else here is an improvement over the '91 version which was awesome in its own right. Blood all over the place, some spectacular bumps, some great little touches that unfortunately got a little lost in the shuffle like the use of the phone and the taping of Eaton's hand--still, it's hard to hold it against a match for having too much awesome in it. Right now I have this as the #2 MOTY, just a smidgen behind Liger/Samurai and a bit ahead of Casas/Wagner/Rambo vs. Hamada/Los Cowboys. A legit ***** affair. Can't wait to get to Sting/Vader and the ironman match to see if it holds up as the U.S. MOTY.
-
So is the claim that Iizuka got all the brunt of the Steiners' aggression? Because while he certainly got the shit kicked out of him, in no way were they gentle with Fujinami. Rick almost spikes his head into the mat on a German suplex and he and Scott exchange some brutal strikes. I have to say I enjoyed this, as I've generally been enjoying the Steiners so far. They're not deep, structured matches but most of their big spots do hit and this one in particular has the feel of a back-and-forth, shoot-type atmosphere, especially when it comes to the ultra-stiff matwork. Knowing this match only by rep, it was also far less one-sided than I'd anticipated. The Steiners never really look to be in serious trouble but they at least give the Japanese some openings to show their stuff. Iizuka gets to show off some flashy moves before dying and Fujinami looks as good as he has since his comeback. I was just fine with this.
-
Zenk is such a dork, with his mock surprise at the fireworks and the cheesy promo he cuts on Pillman to the camera. This had a slow beginning and I thought this was going to be another match I'd be the downer on, but they (or in another, more accurate way, Pillman) put something together that was pretty damned great. Good little reversals sequence leads to Pillman trying to slingshot himself into the ring and he gets caught in a Z-Man powerslam that's the first of several hot near-falls and the start of a LOOONG finishing stretch. But it never feels like 2.9s for the sake of 2.9s--just a bunch of hot and often creative false finishes. Love Z-Man losing a 3-count by failing to hook the leg, and then getting another near-fall when he does hook the leg but this time doing it too close to the ropes. Zenk still isn't really any good but this is neck-and-neck with Flair for his best match. Thanks of course to his opponents. I can see how Jesse and JR's arguments over football could be infuriating to some, but I found most of it very amusing. I'm a fan of Jesse calling Ross out on some of his standard football talking points: "NOSE TACKLE?!" and taking shots at Miami of Ohio.
-
Awesome line but it would have had more impact either before WM8 or (not to keep harping on this) with Savage still chasing the title.
-
Didn't like this much at all. Surprisingly heatless for a title match main event involving Choshu, and Muto did lots of sitting around whether in holds or when he was allegedly selling and 1991's Best Wrestler is rapidly showing signs of the Muto that tends to piss me off. Finish was well put together but this isn't in either guy's top 10 performances of the decade so far.
-
Boy, I'm pumped for this big Rude/Steamboat title match at WrestleWar! The roles are reversed but this angle is way, way too similar to the Liz/Savage/Flair triangle.
-
Effective make-up job on Steamboat. I wish the concrete attack had gotten more play than the stalker angle. Steamboat cuts a pretty fiery (hah) promo. No mention of WarGames--completely bizarre.