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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    ALL THE VITAMINS IN THE WORLD WILL NOT HELP YOU SURVIVE. Sid talks about training since his debut "five years ago." Sid had a wrestling career before coming to the WWF??!!
  2. PeteF3
    What a bizarre setting this is. Flair recites talking points similar to the past two weeks, and then produces the scarf that Liz was wearing in the photo with her two favorite studs. The camera pans backwards through the empty auditorium as Flair melts down in the background in a funny (and similarly bizarre) visual.
  3. PeteF3
    This was the main event of the final MSG Network card (except for the one-shot in 1997), so there's a bit of significance there as well. Heated match, with some odd sights like Sid vs. Piper and Flair conferring with Wippleman. Sid rather incongruously takes Piper to the mat just so he can set up his kip-up spot. Piper works a pretty good and effective FIP segment, and I liked the spot where Hogan tried to come into the ring, only for Piper to make a break for it into the corner, with no Hogan to tag. Would be a good set-up for an angle in another world. I liked this more than I expected, actually. Once the long stalling got out of the way we got a pretty well-laid-out match that's a worthy Hogan farewell to the building that launched his stardom.
  4. PeteF3
    "HOOTERS?? That's not a training facility!" Cornette just wanted a nice, private dinner but the beans got spilled and Cornette's mystery team are mobbed by the waitresses.
  5. PeteF3
    Black is one of the greatest wastes of talent in wrestling history. Dude looked like a World Class mid-carder but wrestled like a Japanese junior heavyweight. He and Deaton were all kinds of awesome in All-Japan, just overshadowed by the rest of the insanely deep tag division and then by Black wigging out like he always seemed to do. This full match with Ace & Kobashi is really, really good and probably their peak.
  6. PeteF3
    Good promo from the DWB, who excels in both babyface and heel roles as well as anyone ever in the business. We have to be nearing the end of the line for him in Memphis.
  7. PeteF3
    Brian Christopher makes his Yearbook debut as a pushed heel after developing in undercard tag teams. Christopher makes fun of Valiant's looks and out comes a ghastly looking Jimmy Valiant, who has changed considerably since his last big run in the area. Valiant lays one on Brian Christopher, who angrily declares that he "doesn't hang out with WWF wrestlers!" Valiant almost outs Christopher by talking of changing his diapers as a kid--he's changed the diapers of half the people in the room, too! What a weirdo fetishist this guy was. Christopher seems to be won over by Valiant's offer to be friends, but slugs him when he gets the chance. Valiant is very, very difficult to look at.
  8. PeteF3
    Sounds like something that came up between the taping and the voiceovers, as the "farewell match" talk only comes from Vince and Perfect in the booth. Afterward Vince clumsily wonders why Okerlund didn't broach the issue. Hogan actually deigns to talk about something else, as he brings up the angle earlier where Sid broke Virgil's nose against an exposed turnbuckle, and cuts a pretty decent heated promo vowing to punish Sid at WrestleMania.
  9. PeteF3
    This is NOT the same yacht that Teddy Long was galavanting around in a year and a half ago. Flair cuts another great promo, promising to dump Savage at WM8 just like he dumped Liz. Savage's denial gets replayed.
  10. PeteF3
    There's so much stalling here that it makes Lawler vs. Embry look like an AJW main event, but it's a different type of stalling than the usual Sportatorium bullshit. The GWF was just crawling with evil authority figures and crooked referees, so yes, this definitely continues the late-'90s-style booking. I think this led to a 6-man with Esposito and James Beard on opposite teams, which would be another booking staple we'd see in the future.
  11. PeteF3
    I think this was the birth of Mike Davis' "crazy" gimmick that seemed to change every week. The scary thing is that it got weirder from here.
  12. PeteF3
    Effective make-up job on the referee. Prichard isn't even trying to hide the fact that he was Brother Love, which was probably the point.
  13. PeteF3
    The mat work was a little long, but it was well done and befitting of a match between two guys who are still allies at this point. This gets hot towards the end with Kenta getting a huge kickout by escaping the power bomb, only to tap a few minutes later to the Stretch Plum. I'm going to miss these submission finishes when they're gone from AJPW, and I think the style was a little worse off without them.
  14. PeteF3
    Weird atmosphere, with Fujiwara in purple (!) boxing trunks (!!) on an American show in what's clearly a boxing ring. I don't know if Vale was a local boy or just an unusually hip American audience but they're clearly hot for this. Fun stuff during the stand-up portions, with Fujiwara heeling it up and throwing some cool suplexes. Love the crowd going nuts as he has Vale immobilized on the mat and Vale starts raining knees on him. Vale eventually knocks Fujiwara out of the ring for the upset victory. Fun match and a very cool setting.
  15. PeteF3
    RIP Aja Kong 1970-1992, you were my favorite joshi wrestler. Holy living shit that ending was sickening. I think this going a little longer than it may have needed to will hold this back from true MOTY status but it was a hell of an epic match. Very grounded, with ebbs and flows to it and a big build to the second-fall brawling and the big closing stretch. With Toyota and Yamada working as underneath babyfaces their worst tendencies were reigned in greatly. Toyota got a few flurries to show her stuff and Yamada's kicks were established as being able to take the bigger opponents down, but they were mostly fighting to survive--especially in the second fall as Kong and Kimura went nuts with chairs and crowd brawling. I really liked how the big garbage brawl came off like a strategic decision on their part after dropping the first fall, rather than somebody just flipping the "Crazy Brawl" light switch. Jungle Jack dominates until Aja misses a shoulder off the second turnbuckle and all of a sudden Yamada and Toyota have an opening. They make the most of it, double-teaming Aja into oblivion and overwhelming her with the numbers advantage after taking Bison out. And yeah, what DID happen to Bison's tooth? Either Yamada kicked it out or I just never noticed it before.
  16. PeteF3
    And as we saw in Wrestling With Shadows, Bret hated having to do the homophobic stuff, but was talked into doing it. He seemed to regret it as soon as the show was over. Of course, in that same documentary Bret also didn't like doing the line about giving the United States an enema by sticking the hose in Pittsburgh--so maybe we could call his judgment into question.
  17. PeteF3
    This definitely built up well to the closing stretch, though it's definitely not a match I'll ever feel like revisiting.
  18. PeteF3
    GAY SEX ABUSE IN THE WORLD OF WRESTLING. Involving juveniles! Donahue's deadly serious delivery of the "1.7 BILLION dollar" statement makes it all the funnier--he even gets out of his chair to emphasize that. "More revenue than the NFL," Jesus Christ. Vince comes off horribly to start, as O, Hodgson, and Hankins all take turns demolishing him, all with details as specific as they can get in the setting. Still, Hodgson definitely comes off as a guy cutting a promo rather than a guy trying to make a change. He does it very well, though. Still, even with hindsight the conman underneath can be seen. Graham is in even bigger promo-cutting mode, but sinks himself when he admits to not actually having seen the acts with Tom Cole. And possibly I'm horribly naive or ill-informed, but was the WWF REALLY employing "13 to 20 year old boys" to take the ring up and down? Isn't that a child labor violation waiting to happen? I saw kids/teenage types take wrestlers' ring gear at house shows, so maybe there's something to it, but Graham on the surface doesn't come off as credible. Vince fires back with the Mike McQueary accusation, which is the best and most effective point that he's made. O, along with Bruno (and Meltz, doing his best to be Switzerland), is so far the most credible guy with the most believable story. Even-handed, and just tells his story and remarks that it was evidence of a front office culture. The kid who brings up the firing of David Sammartino was a definite highlight, as was Bruno's reaction. He doesn't really answer the accusation but his "Maybe when you grow up you'll understand" got him a victory in the eyes of the audience. I think it's fantastic that apparently what Vince himself took away from this appearance was what a great promo Hodgson cut on him. Fascinating stuff all around, and like some of the others I wasn't ready for this to be over.
  19. PeteF3
    Piper is out in street clothes (!)--he only wears his kilt when he's ready to fight. And yeah, they're clearly trying to push Bret Hart as being younger than he is. Piper wants to back out of the title match at WM8. Bret insists that if that happens, he wins the IC belt by forfeit. That sets Piper off--he wants one handshake, and after that he's going to hate Bret's guts until April 6. As Bret turns to leave, Piper sets up to whack him with the belt, but he only wanted to make the point that "I woulda had ya." There's a great payoff to that in the WM8 pre-match interview that I hope gets left in. Awesome performance from Piper, going from the cheesy gladhanding commentary Piper to being very low-key and serious by his standards.
  20. PeteF3
    Yeah, I liked this just fine, too. Maybe it wasn't the fast-paced encounter that was ideal for a light heavyweight match--rather, it was like the first half of a NJPW juniors match--but it was a solid enough bout. Morton working as a scuzzy heel is still enough of a novelty for me that I'm enjoying watching it. Armstrong was good on commentary, too. This was a period where they were pushing all the light heavyweights as being against each other, almost like NJPW did. Pillman had decked Johnny B. Badd at the PPV when Badd planted one of his fake lips on him and Badd had actually interfered and cost Pillman a match against Morton a few weeks earlier. It didn't last, but it was an interesting booking move.
  21. PeteF3
    Even in February I can't fathom anybody unseating Mantel for the Best Commentator Award. And this is probably Caudle at his best, too. Rogers is still milking his marathon-man gimmick while Dutch goes on a hilarious rant about the old women of the town they're taping in. Solid match, though not at the level of Rogers' best WCW matches. It's a shame Rip didn't stick around, because between this and an arguably better match with Paul Orndorff, he was early SMW's singles highlight.
  22. PeteF3
    Great timing. I'm sure there were markets in the area that got both shows, too. Ron Wright will be out of his wheelchair in no time!
  23. PeteF3
    Anthony is almost ready to come back from injury (which I think was a tour of Mexico). Kimberly is looking mighty good. Embry comes out and is such a fucking shitstain. I love it. Embry forces himself on Kimberly and takes her slaps and resistance as "she liked it!" Kim runs off and a disgusted Dave Brown refuses to engage with Embry any further.
  24. PeteF3
    I question the legal proceedings that allowed someone of the state of mind of Nailz to be set free. Maybe there was some subtle political campaigning on the WWF's part going on--"This is what will happen if you vote Clinton." Kelly's voice and delivery are ridiculous. Watching all the DiBiase and Heenan promos regarding the Boss Man from the past two years, it seems likely that they were sitting on this idea for some time.
  25. PeteF3
    Odd setting for an interview with Gene. Well, it's not odd at all, it's a standard studio backdrop--that's what makes it so odd for the WWF. Follow me? Jake hits the same notes as the live interview the previous week. Only Jake could talk about gold medaling in seal-clubbing and sound like a dangerous psychopath instead of a moustache-twirling cartoon character. "You say you know Satan so well, then you won't mind BURNING IN HELL." Jake just gets heavier and heavier. Probably too heavy for his own good, as there's no way the WWF would have let him continue down this road from a promo standpoint.
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