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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    The USWA is attempting to recreate the sleazy magic of the DWG/Tessa feud. CJ isn't anywhere near as good, or good-looking, as either of the other two ladies but the work between Embry and Anthony is very strong.
  2. PeteF3
    I'm not sure that even Mid-South Koko was allowed to cut loose like this. He's still shaky at times but I do like this new side of him.
  3. PeteF3
    Flair keeps looking in the casket and I keep expecting the Undertaker to pop out, but it's just Flair and Perfect here.
  4. PeteF3
    There are some interesting perspectives here, with the majority of these '92 comments coming before anyone has seen the 1990 Yearbook. It's most pronounced in the Lightning Kid multi-man match for the UWF, where that was most people's first chronological glimpse of the Kid, unaware of the greatness of his PWA work. And it's seen here. This was very good with an incredible selling performance by Liger (actually a lot of it isn't really selling--the injured ribs that are the focus of the match were a legit injury). Honaga was almost a novelty for Loss and the others here but now I've seen him a bunch. So, I thought the '90 and '91 matches these two had smoked this. Still this was a very WCW television-style bout with intense, methodical focus on body part work and Liger making a babyface comeback to win. That's a compliment, since it's a fun contrast to the 2.9 bomb-fests that a lot of the big Japan matches were at the time. But it didn't keep me guessing the way the earlier matches did, where Honaga kept finding ways to steal victories--here, the great sympathy selling from Liger seemed almost designed to set up his big comeback instead of setting up a scenario where Honaga could pull off yet another shocker.
  5. PeteF3
    Ross was pretty plug-happy but I think this is relatively mild compared to some of his other calls (Submit or Surrender was the absolute fucking worst just because it came during a great match with two guys killing each other). Actually I thought his hotline plug was kinda clever. This has a great beginning with Steamboat going all-out and Austin doing a great job of keeping pace. Austin continues to improve--however, his offense is still pretty skimpy except for his great clothesline, which looks good and doubles as an excellent transition move. They don't do a really great job of building to the time limit but it's another solid TV match. The subtle build to the Rude/Steamboat full-blown war continues to be very good, one of the better long-term set-ups WCW has pulled off in awhile.
  6. PeteF3

    General thoughts on 1991

    PeteF3 replied to Loss's topic in 1991

    Little late follow-up but recorded for posterity... WWF Match of the Year: 1. Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage (3/24/91) 2. Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Desert Storm Match, 6/3/91) 3. The Rockers vs. The Orient Express (1/19/91) 4. Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil (8/26/91) 5. Roddy Piper vs. Ric Flair (10/28/91) WCW Match of the Year: 1. Sting vs. Cactus Jack (Submit or Surrender, 11/23/91) 2. WarGames (2/24/91) 3. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. The Enforcers (11/19/91) 4. Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman (12/27/91) 5. Lex Luger vs. Dan Spivey (2/24/91) AJPW Match of the Year: 1. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi vs. Jumbo/Taue/Fuchi (4/20/91) 2. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (1/15/91) 3. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue (9/4/91) 4. Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen (9/4/91) 5. Misawa/Kawada/Kikuchi vs. Jumbo/Taue/Fuchi (10/15/91) 6. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada (10/24/91) 7. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (4/18/91) 8. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue (11/29/91) 9. Steve Williams/Terry Gordy vs. Stan Hansen/Dan Spivey (4/18/91) 10. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (4/18/91) NJPW Match of the Year: 1. Masahiro Chono vs. Keiji Muto (8/11/91) 2. Masahiro Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto (8/11/91) 3. Keiji Muto vs. Big Van Vader (8/10/91) 4. Keiji Muto/Hiroshi Hase vs. Rick Steiner/Scott Norton (11/5/91) 5. Jushin Liger vs. Norio Honaga (5/31/91) 6. Hiroshi Hase/Kensuke Sasaki vs. The Steiner Brothers (3/21/91) 7. Hiroshi Hase/Kensuke Sasaki vs. The Steiner Brothers (5/31/91) 8. Jushin Liger vs. Norio Honaga (4/30/91) 9. Keiji Muto/Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase/Kensuke Sasaki (7/4/91) 10. Jushin Liger vs. Hiroshi Hase (5/6/91) Lucha Match of the Year: 1. Trio Fantasia vs. Los Thundercats (12/8/91) 2. El Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro (1/13/91) 3. El Hijo del Santo/Black Shadow, Jr. vs. Octagon/Fuerza Guerrera (revelos atomicos, 12/15/91) 4. El Dandy vs. El Satanico (hair vs. hair, 12/6/91) 5. El Dandy/Apolo Dantes/Black Magic vs. Blue Panther/Javier Cruz/Pierroth, Jr. (8/16/91) 6. Atlantis vs. Blue Panther (8/9/91) 7. Octagon vs. Fuerza Guerrera (11/1/91) 8. Konnan/El Dandy/Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. vs. El Satanico/MS-1/Pirata Morgan (11/29/91) 9. El Satanico/MS-1/Pirata Morgan vs. Los Brazos (11/22/91) 10. Pirata Morgan/Emilio Charles, Jr./MS-1 vs. Los Brazos (WWA 1991) Joshi Match of the Year: 1. The Scorpion vs. Cutie Suzuki (8/30/91) 2. Manami Toyota/Esther Moreno vs. Aja Kong/Bison Kimura (4/29/91) 3. Devil Masami vs. Itsuki Yamazaki (8/30/91) 4. Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue (9/7/91) 5. Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto (1/11/91) 6. Akira Hokuto vs. Bull Nakano (1/4/91) 7. The Scorpion vs. Cutie Suzuki (10/10/91) 8. Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada (9/7/91) 9. Dynamite Kansai vs. Harley Saito (11/2/91) 10. Bull Nakano/Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong/Bison Kimura (12/9/91) Shootstyle Match of the Year: 1. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masahito Kakihara (5/10/91) 2. Naoki Sano vs. Masakatsu Funaki (3/30/91) 3. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Wellington Wilkins, Jr. (5/19/91) 4. Naoki Sano vs. Minoru Suzuki (7/26/91) 5. Akira Maeda vs. Volk Han (12/7/91) Japan Indy Match of the Year: 1. Iceman/Akitoshi Saito vs. Mr. Pogo/TNT (cage match, 9/12/91) 2. Hulk Hogan/Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Road Warriors (3/30/91) 3. Hulk Hogan vs. Genichiro Tenryu (12/12/91) 4. Atsushi Onita vs. Tarzan Goto (2/26/91) 5. Atsushi Onita vs. Tarzan Goto (barbed wire cage bomb death match, 9/23/91) 6. Perro Aguayo/Villano I/III/IV vs. Los Brazos (3/9/91) 7. Genichiro Tenryu/Ricky Fuyuki vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Shinichi Nakano (6/26/91) 8. Robin Hood/Los Ninja Turtles vs. Feliciano/Shu el Guerrero/Texano/Black Terry/Ricky Boy (9/12/91) 9. Yoshihiro Asai vs. Bestia Salvaje (10/29/91) 10. Headhunter B/Danny Davis vs. Headhunter A/Dr. Tom Prichard (9/7/91) WWF Angle of the Year: 1. Jake Roberts DDTs Randy Savage three times and punches Elizabeth 2. Jake Roberts sics a king cobra on Randy Savage 3. The Undertaker locks the Ultimate Warrior in the casket WCW Angle of the Year: 1. Paul E. Dangerously brings in Ravishing Rick Rude as the inaugural member of the Dangerous Alliance 2. Cactus Jack comes out of a gift box to lay out Sting 3. Sting knee injury and U.S. title loss to Rick Rude USWA Angle of the Year: 1. Eddie Gilbert returns after the Lawler/Jarrett vs. Fabulous Ones match 2. Eric Embry assaults Michael St. John and Eddie Marlin 3. The Fabulous Ones split with Jim Cornette due to the presence of Jackie Fargo
  7. PeteF3
    Good match but mostly carried by Chono and Hase. Hase looked great, Chono looked quite good, Koshinaka and Fujinami ranged from mediocre to good in spots. Interesting story towards the end where Koshinaka seems to be attempting to call Fujinami in to make saves and Fujinami not doing it, despite Chono and Hase making saves for each other. Finally as Kosh is locked in the STF, Fujinami comes in, but Hase is in his way and Shiro has to tap. Camera focuses on Fujinami afterward. Is this what leads to Shiro forming the Skinheads?
  8. PeteF3
    Definite lucha MOTY (since Santo/Casas gets an incomplete) to this point. Another match I'd point to as being really accessible to lucha novices--the matwork is unique but also carries an air of legitimacy to it, and it's all very focused and body part-oriented on Caras' part, with Canek doing a fine job of selling the leg/knee throughout the contest. Also a very "big match" feel with the UWA title at stake between two legends. That adds weight to all the double-fall teases, but they go to a real finish anyway. Outstanding bout, one of the 5 best of the (very young) year.
  9. PeteF3
    Cornette shoots on the Big Two, in pretty effective fashion. Prince Kharis is a long, long way away.
  10. PeteF3
    The Moondogs attack Lawler as he's working a squash and pound him with a chair, until Jeff Jarrett attempts to make the save. That doesn't go well, until Robert Fuller returns to turn the tide. Only temporarily, as a guy in a Grappler mask called the Flaming Star comes out and throws a fireball at Fuller! That takes him out and the beatdown continues as we go to commercial... ...only it's cut off, as Austin Idol has finally made his way to the studio! Idol is still in his flying clothes and goes nuts with his aluminum baggage, which breaks open leaving clothes and toiletries all over the ring. Spike gets his face covered with shaving cream and eventually Lee calls the dogs off. Great, great use of Idol and the TV format. Make us wait until the very end of the show to see him and play off his real-life unreliability. Idol relates how his plane was filled with water this morning, with the intent of causing the plane to crash. This is yet another ridiculous over-the-top promo from Idol, which he's made a specialty in his cameo appearances in the '90s, but his rap and delivery are so good that I can forgive it. Idol gets so worked up that he takes out the mic and goes after Dave Brown. This is wrestling so of COURSE Idol wants to settle this in the ring rather than, you know, have Lee and the Moondogs arrested. Brown always does a convincing job of getting pissed off, but something in his reactions to Idol's conduct made me think he was legit irritated. In one episode of TV we've had man-on-woman violence, male nudity, S&M implications, race-baiting, and something that today would probably be considered terrorism. This was the USWA segment of the year, but this show carried a sense of desperation as well.
  11. PeteF3
    The early vestiges of the WWF/USWA agreement are coming into view. I believe this was set up by the WWF cutting back on house shows and allowing some of their lower-level guys to take indy bookings. Dennis Coraluzzo is working a lawyer gimmick, apparently, sending the "black sheep" of his family after Unified World Champion Kamala. Coraluzzo goes off on every black stereotype imaginable as the camera zooms inside his nostrils. Well, this makes the Horsemen/JYD feud look like Do the Right Thing. Koko laughs this off and promises to be the next World Heavyweight Champion of the World. Koko serenades Kamala and us with a rendition of "A Change Is Gonna Come." He stumbled a bit but Koko seems happy to have an actual issue to talk about. Going against the Moondogs on a special Sunday afternoon MSC show will be Lawler and Austin Idol, making his semi-annual return to the territory. Either he legitimately skipped the taping or they're deliberately playing up his no-show rep.
  12. PeteF3
    Macklin prefaces this with how hilarious this is and we cut right to footage of Eric Embry clocking the Dirty White Girl in the face. Embry ends up victimized by his own handcuffs. DWB chases CJ away and...yanks down Eric Embry's tights so Kimberly can whip him. Y'know, when Anthony grabbed Embry's tights to keep him from escaping right at the beginning of the clip, I was afraid they were going to go there. I wonder if Embry booked this angle himself. An incensed Embry promises to strap the bare behinds of both Anthony and Kimberly. Anthony and Kimberly come out to do this right now--an "equalizer"?? Embry is unarmed, Dave!
  13. PeteF3
    This is a straight-up re-do of the Jimmy Hart/Andy Kaufman mummy angle, but hey, that was 9 or 10 years ago. More crazy action with Lawler absolutely going nuts on Spike with chairshots. They tumble out of the ring to set up the impostor Lee and the real Lee's interference, as chloroform or ether or something puts Jarrett under. The Moondogs are getting ridiculous protected--it's been great so far but I hope their first loss comes off as appropriately monumental instead of their push petering out like Gilbert and Embry's did.
  14. PeteF3
    A scarred (PERMANENTLY DISFIGURED) Richard Lee takes his frustrations out on two jobbers. The USWA desk is thrown into the ring and these two guys are brutalized with chair shots. This is sick but I think this is relatively tame compared to some other Moondogs squashes of this time period. Frazier must not be one of those guys who got on Jerry Jarrett's bad side and had to pay to get destroyed on TV.
  15. PeteF3
    Sherri is as bubbly as she'll ever be, and Bearer decides it's because she must have just come from a funeral. That was LOLworthy. Sherri is in love with a man with long, blond locks, superb wrestling ability, and the body of an Adonis. That doesn't really narrow it down by itself, but it's Shawn Michaels. I had always remembered this as DiBiase "buying" Sherri a boyfriend--I guess that's sort of what happened but I remembered it being more overt with DiBiase involved. Marty Jannetty is mentioned by name, twice. Either an editor was asleep at the switch or they already knew that they were bringing him back, because that's not WWF behavior at all.
  16. PeteF3
    Shango probably deserved the Most Embarrassing Wrestler Observer award on principle, and I know he was sort of the final straw for a lot of longtime fans. And I know Charles Wright may have never had a good match in his entire career. But dammit, I marked out when jobbers got set on fire and ooze started coming out of people's bodies.
  17. PeteF3
    Those fake camera noises are really distracting. Flair rubs his Rumble victory in our faces one more time. Tunney makes sure to note that he examined each challenger's record as well as the opinion of the public at large, which becomes important. Hogan immediately launches into his standard spiel while Sid stews. Savage is entertaining as ever, even when kissing Hogan's ass in a role that does not suit him. Sid blames Hogan for the Rumble loss, and rightly so. And what you did, Jack Tunney, WAS BOGUS. THE MOST BOGUS ACT YOU HAVE EVER PULLED OFF. The best heels tend to have justifiable motivation behind them, but man oh man, I don't think a heel (or soon-to-be heel) has ever been more in the right than Sid was here.
  18. PeteF3
    Undertaker is still extremely limited because of the nature of the gimmick, but Bret did an awesome job when he got in his flashes of offense. Lots of hit-and-run, chop-down-the-tree stuff and Undertaker was able to sell just enough to put Bret over while also still coming off as unstoppable. Agreed on the commentary job--this was the most focused Monsoon & Heenan production yet. Bret is more or less dominated for most of the match but I like the finish--that UT had to cheat and use the urn puts Bret over by itself. Hardly a great match, and as far as Best UT Matches to This Point it ranks behind the Warrior bodybag match, but it's a very, very good performance from Bret that his biggest boosters will want to point to.
  19. PeteF3
    I think the work in the 11/1 match was quite a bit better, but the extracurricular bullshit here with Konnan and Cien Caras was far, far better than the extracurricular bullshit with Gran Davis. Honestly, when watching this I really felt like this was something Pat Patterson would have laid out if he were a lucha worker/booker--big broad move, pause to work the crowd, repeat. Plus long sequences with one guy as a punching bag for the other, also a WWF staple. It doesn't really come across as a lucha title match at all, with lots of blatant cheating from Fuerza and big dives. Konnan and Caras' tempers escalate between falls, and things come to a head after a big dive from Octagon leaves both guys out on the floor. Caras takes the opportunity to foul Octagon. Loved the teenage female fan leaving her seat to confront him for that. Konnan finally has enough and they end up in the ring with Konnan fending off a double-team to take out Caras to a huge reaction. The dude had an effect on crowds, there's no denying that. While that's going on, Fuerza grabs the shirt that Konnan had ripped off and chokes out Octagon with it. The match is thrown out, and regardless of the actual result a DQ victory for Octagon seems like it would make the most sense. The Box y Lucha commission gets involved after the match and there's speculation over a mask vs. mask rematch (which would have ruled the world) and a tag match, which would be the proper Southern territory booking move. Good work and even better booking, assuming it did lead to a decisive finale in the rivalry. Also plants the seeds for the big Konnan/Caras feud that would become a huge deal for AAA.
  20. PeteF3
    I think the work in the 11/1 match was quite a bit better, but the extracurricular bullshit here with Konnan and Cien Caras was far, far better than the extracurricular bullshit with Gran Davis. Honestly, when watching this I really felt like this was something Pat Patterson would have laid out if he were a lucha worker/booker--big broad move, pause to work the crowd, repeat. Plus long sequences with one guy as a punching bag for the other, also a WWF staple. It doesn't really come across as a lucha title match at all, with lots of blatant cheating from Fuerza and big dives. Konnan and Caras' tempers escalate between falls, and things come to a head after a big dive from Octagon leaves both guys out on the floor. Caras takes the opportunity to foul Octagon. Loved the teenage female fan leaving her seat to confront him for that. Konnan finally has enough and they end up in the ring with Konnan fending off a double-team to take out Caras to a huge reaction. The dude had an effect on crowds, there's no denying that. While that's going on, Fuerza grabs the shirt that Konnan had ripped off and chokes out Octagon with it. The match is thrown out, and regardless of the actual result a DQ victory for Octagon seems like it would make the most sense. The Box y Lucha commission gets involved after the match and there's speculation over a mask vs. mask rematch (which would have ruled the world) and a tag match, which would be the proper Southern territory booking move. Good work and even better booking, assuming it did lead to a decisive finale in the rivalry. Also plants the seeds for the big Konnan/Caras feud that would become a huge deal for AAA.
  21. PeteF3
    Pretty good match, but still not as good as one would expect considering the caliber of workers. Not as heated, either. That was just the nature of this match-up. The psych is good and Jumbo's selling is top-notch, but there was always something missing that puts this over the top. Jumbo kicks out of a Lariat (!) but quickly gets hit by another one to net Hansen the Triple Crown.
  22. PeteF3
    So far I'm higher on both Benoit matches and Benoit performances than the others. I liked the layout of this a lot, with the usual quickie first fall being moved to the second which serves as a nice change of pace and keeps the first two falls from coming off as perfunctory, which is a common issue in the tres caida matches. Villano III doesn't really come across as Mr. Sympathy when Benoit is tearing up his back but the build to the ref stoppage is well worked. Benoit can come across as overly mechanical regardless of where he's wrestling, but he did a capable job of keeping up on the mat and pacing the match.
  23. PeteF3
    Really fantastic match, maybe even better than the 6-man before it. Kobashi and Kikuchi are full of spunk and get a lot of offense, even if there's basically no chance for them to win. Kikuchi is about the gutsiest bastard ever at the end of this--his kickout of Jumbo's powerbomb was huge. I think Jumbo/Kawada is a pretty easy Match of the Month but this is going to be in a real dogfight for #2. This is the third consecutive Yearbook with a super-hot month of January.
  24. PeteF3
    Attention to detail! Barry Windham cannot accompany Dustin to ringside due to a lack of a manager's license. Windham cuts a fiery promo backstage at the Clash swearing revenge on Larry Zbyszko. Good match, but a little more shticky and less of an intense struggle than the first bout. Arn fakes a knee injury but this isn't quite as convincing as the fakeout he pulled off against...Z-Man, I think, at the end of 1990. He does do jumping jacks afterward though, just to be a douche about it. Rhodes hits the bulldog, but Zbyszko breaks the pin for the DQ, followed immediately by Windham, who runs off the Enforcers and then catches both Steve Austin and Paul E. when they try to ambush him. Windham goes nuts, pounding on Austin's knee with the phone before figure-fouring him. This sets up the Windham/Austin program for the TV title, but the point about these high-action matches not having much in the way of consequences may be borne out--let's see if this knee injury has any long-term effect at all or if it's completely forgotten like Sting and Rude's knee injuries were.
  25. PeteF3
    Was David Crockett in charge of providing the straps for this? This comes down to Eric Embry against the Dirty White Boy, and Embry pulls down the strap on his singlet...then realizes both guys are carrying leather straps and pulls them back up. Fairly decent action follows until CJ throws powder into the DWB's eyes, and White Boy more or less rolls out to the floor for a rather weak-sauce elimination. CJ gets a spanking afterward, but Embry makes DWB pay for that. Embry somehow looks like more of a scuzzball with well-coiffed hair than he did with the stringy stuff that looks like it hadn't been washed since Fritz Von Erich was his boss.
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