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PeteF3

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  2. PeteF3
    From the Island Death Match, we go to Leono, Panthro, and Tigro from the Thundercats cartoon facing Mighty Mouse, Pinocchio, and a proto-Ebessan. Eat your heart out, USWA. Apparently the Thundercats are the rudos here as they jump the other kiddie characters before the bell and lay them out to win the first fall, then keep going to work between falls. Big pop when the technicos make a comeback in the second fall. Panthro gets mask torn open and Pinocho finishes with a great 2 Cold Scorpio-esque twisting dive. Suddenly as the third fall begins there's blood all over the place, chairs are being swung, Super Raton is getting into it with a referee, Tigro's had his ankle Pillmanized, and Leono is blatantly punting people in the nuts. I love that a match between blatant cartoon franchise trademark infringements and another team that's 2/3 kiddie trademark infringements is worked as a completely straight, bloody brawl with no hint of comedy. It's the equivalent of 1988 George Steele working a double juicefest with the Red Rooster. I have GOT to have more matches in my life of classic cartoon heroes working as scuzzball heels. Please tell me there's a rudo run out there for Los Ninja Turtles or Los Teletubbies. Irony and weirdness aside, this combined the juice and hate of Santo vs. Brazo with classic trios work. The more I think about this as the lucha MOTY, the more I'm sold on it. I honestly had more fun watching this than watching the '91 Dandy/Satanico.
  3. PeteF3
    A bizarre angle leads to a bizarre match in a bizarre setting, even moreso considering the promotion that put it on. And to top off the surrealness we have announcers calling this in a low-key style as though it were Phil Mickelson deciding between a 5- and 7-iron instead of two psychos bleeding and choking each other. The athletic socks and sneakers really add to Jeet's Indian madman image. The regular NJPW announcer is apparently there live doing commentary. You can't accuse Hase of not putting forth an effort here, at least. Hase suplexes Singh a bunch until he's unconscious and acting referee (???) Masa Saito declares Hiroshi the winner. Singh is placed on a gurney and has a blanket put over him, as though he'd died. This isn't as terrible as one might expect considering Jeet was involved, and in a weird way this sort of feels like a legit triumph for Hase considering how few decisive jobs I've seen Singh do. Would be a MOTYC if we'd gotten Hase doing a spinning toe hold on the bank and then Singh bodyslamming Hase into the water. Hase pays tribute to some monument or another, and what could be more touching than a bleeding half-naked NJPW mid-carder paying silent respects?
  4. PeteF3
    I do love how many variations Rude has of the "block the Rude Awakening" spot. Here Rude tries to counter the counter with a clothesline, but Sting ducks and hits the Rude Awakening himself. Great action here but Sting blatantly heaves Rude over the top rope and then conks him with Paul E.'s phone, which the USWA would have picked up on, or at least concocted an explanation post hoc, but here it's just ignored. Eventually Sting is overwhelmed by the combined forces of Rude, Paul E., and Madusa. Rude starts whaling away on Sting's knee with a chair until Big Josh (who else?) makes the save. Good tease of a hot full-length match between the two to come.
  5. PeteF3
    Ha--from the back the new-look Embry looks EXACTLY like Luscious Johnny V. Was Falk seriously going to wrestle in that chauffeur's outfit? Embry drops Prichard with a DDT in front of the announcer's desk and screams about Prichard messing with his personal life.
  6. PeteF3
    Another freak challenger for Lawler, but this one at least carries a bit more cache than Awesome Kong or Dragon Master. Even as somewhat of a mark for the gimmick, I can't describe the confusion I had when I opened up an issue of PWI to find out that Kamala was some company's Heavyweight Champion. Dave Brown emphasizes that this match carries a one-hour time limit, which is hilarious considering who's involved. Kamala's attempt to do the babyface clap-and-stomp act and his resulting confusion when the fans don't join in is one of the most surreal and hilarious things I've ever seen him do. Lawler does some great bumping and selling in going out to the floor and then going into the upended USWA table. That bit of earlier stooging aside, I do like how Kamala seems to be a guy out to win the match rather than a guy with an extra chromosome. He even argues with Frank Morrell, in between headbutts, over the pace of his count. Lawler torches Kamala with a fireball and gets DQ'd--the "technical loss" stuff has been long gone but they're still pushing that this could be a title change. Instead, the belt is merely held up. After the break, Eddie Marlin is out and he's not sure about this decision either. He rightly points out that Kamala attacked Morrell multiple times and should have been DQ'd. Morrell brings that up and uses that to justify not awarding the title to Kamala outright. "Technical loss" makes its return to USWA lexicon after a long absence. Marlin DEMANDS a rematch for the vacated belt for Monday night, and Lawler insists it be anything-goes. I'm not going to champion this as a great match, but I think it does illustrate that there's a very real, tangible difference between Kamala and the various other weirdos whom Lawler has been wrestling the past few months in the USWA. In terms of ring smarts, in terms of bumping, in terms of charisma and presence, and in terms of offense. There are criticisms to make about Kamala's work and I can see where people are coming from with regards to the gimmick, and "better than the Ta-Gar match" may be very faint praise, but he was a guy who had definite strengths.
  7. PeteF3
    Yes, Tojo was a couple of months away from taking his own life. Embry comes out with a drastically changed look--no more stringy hair, and wearing a double-breasted suit. He looks a bit like Ted DiBiase if he were only the Thousand Dollar Man. Miss CJ is the one responsible for this. Meanwhile Embry has got his shot at Tom Prichard's Southern title, with Tony Falk's hair on the line. Embry says Falk has nothing to worry about but CJ remarks that even if he does lose his hair, she can give him a makeover. That doesn't seem to please Tony.
  8. PeteF3
    Tunney saw with his own eyes what was a flagrant and far-reaching oversight on the part of the referee. However, Tunney is left with little choice but to decree that the WWF title be vacated, to be put up in the Royal Rumble. Hogan and Undertaker will be guaranteed spots from 20-30. Okerlund's forced surprise ("WHAT?") and attempts to portray this is as live are pretty flimsy. It's nice to see Tunney stiffly handing down decisions again, though.
  9. PeteF3
    No, guys, you have it all wrong: this was the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, so it's okay to invoke it. Who thought having Liger's intro to U.S. audiences come courtesy of Missy Hyatt was a good idea? We get some cool dives and moves set to Oriental music that I.Y. Yunioshi would find overly stereotypical. Missy still can't decide if she's a face or a heel, or if Liger is.
  10. PeteF3
    Han makes a great impression right off the bat, hitting a gorgeous takedown into a cross armbreaker. Then a bit that I LOVE where Maeda does the standard defense of grabbing his own hand, so Han simply reaches over and starts pulling on the other elbow, forcing a rope break. An instant sign that Han is simply on another level when it comes to submissions. I didn't think Maeda was doing a whole lot for most of this, but that spin kick was fucking awesome and the crowd let us know about it. I could have bought that as the finish easily, but instead they get tied up on the mat and Maeda wins the duel, which is a better way of keeping Volk looking strong since he lost a battle that could have gone either way instead of getting KTFO'd.
  11. PeteF3
    Man oh man, I don't get all the talk about Rick Rude's obsession with sitting in holds when we've got Doc and Gordy right here. They tend to change up the holds more than Rude but when it comes down to it, there's not much more excitement in seeing Doc or Gordy sit in a toe hold than there is Rude in a chinlock. Kawada can work underneath in holds better than Hansen did, so this match is better in the early going, but it's still not great. It gets a lot better the moment that Doc goes for a football tackle and Kawada levels him with a kick to the face. They re-do the story from earlier in the year where Misawa gets powerbombed on the floor and taken out, but unlike in that match there's a great deal of urgency on all sides when Kawada is down 2-on-1, with near-falls and hope spots and then a twist when Kawada levels Doc with an enzuilariatio and takes *him* out, leaving him 1-on-1 with Gordy. Both partners make returns and a few other hot near-falls follow before Kawada succumbs. Maybe the Steiners really were the ideal MVC opponent, because clearly their best stuff on this Yearbook, singles or tag, has involved throwing bombs at the opponent. Still, I left this match with a more positive impression thanks to the stretch run and to the work of the natives. In a way, even though he did the job this feels like as much of a coming-out party for Kawada as the singles bout with Jumbo did. Of all the members of the two native armies, he clearly seems to be next in line to get a big victory over one of the main Triple Crown contenders.
  12. PeteF3
    Based on last year this match-up had a lot to live up to, and it didn't quite get there. Perfunctory first two falls and more referee bullshit that annoys me--I simply don't like referees as characters unless it's for a specific angle. The third fall is still great, with great countermoves to stuff like Satanico's second attempt at a nudo and Dandy's second attempt at a figure four that leads to his downfall. Dandy also provides an incredible-looking counter that's sort of like a surfboard and an Indian deathlock with Satanico being lifted off the mat even while he's still got a leglock of his own applied to Dandy. It needs to be seen, is what I'm saying. Dandy loses that magnificent, spectacular hair but this rivalry feels like it could continue yet.
  13. PeteF3
    Not nearly as good as the Hansen/Spivey tag title win, but better than the suckfest rematch where the MVCs regained the belts. This still isn't very good, as Doc & Gordy simply aren't compelling when they're in control unless it's in the stretch run. There are other weird moments that take one out of the match, like Hansen & Spivey performing history's worst spike piledriver and various spots where Joe Higuchi has his head up his ass. The close is okay, with Hansen taking Doc out with a DDT onto a table/ramp and then finally catching Gordy with a Lariat. Doc lays out Hansen with a chair afterward and targets the Lariat arm--we'll see if that has any payoff as the tournament continues.
  14. PeteF3
    I agree this was not the direction Hogan's promo needed to go. I'd like to see him take the role of knight in shining armor trying to rescue not just Hulkamania but the WWF as a whole. It would have that Hogan self-aggrandizement but it would properly address all the chaos happening in the company. Instead the two big feuds stay in their own bubbles. Considering how much better the WWF had been at overlapping feuds lately and that Jake and Undertaker are still loosely aligned, that's an oversight. The match is better than Survivor Series with more sustained heat, and is laid out pretty well, but UT still just isn't compelling when he's in control outside of the ropewalking. The rest is just stalking, choking, and gesturing to the urn. There's a comical sequence where both guys get their signals crossed and then Undertaker trips and almost Tommy Youngs himself against the ring ropes. The finish is very out-of-the-box for a WWF Hogan match as Hulk has to cheat just to get Undertaker in position to lose, throwing the urn's ashes into his eyes and rolling him up. A primo camera shot sees Flair hoisting up the fallen Jack Tunney, who gets a view of what the referee doesn't see...
  15. PeteF3
    "Please, I refuse to--Gorilla Monsoon let's get back to--GET OUT OF HERE! Get the hell out of here! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU." Gene at his best. I could write about this whole setup for awhile, but it's early and I don't think I can do it real justice at this time. This, folks, is as dark and terrifying as professional wrestling gets. That it came during what was still the so-called "family entertainment" era of the WWF makes it even more mind-blowing. Jake is less of a wrestler and more of a horror movie mastermind, and not a Leatherface/Jason the Terrible-type either. He terrorizes Elizabeth and Savage with a bag that wasn't in the corner and didn't actually contain a snake, which gets his point across without violating Tunney's sanctions. He cuts two killer promos only to be topped by Savage who's in one of the most psychotic rages you'll ever see. I don't think any WWF babyface had ever gone through as much hell as Savage has the past few months.
  16. PeteF3
    Flair flirting with Mike McGuirk is so, so Flair. Michaels works very energetically and brings a lot of nice offense, though for Flair vs. a tag wrestler this is a tad one-sided in Michaels' favor. It's a really fun performance, though. More dissension in the Rockers as Jannetty "helps" an unconscious Michaels back into the ring so he can promptly be pinned. Flair gratuitously puts his feet on the ropes, just because.
  17. PeteF3
    That Survivor Series match was some all-time ammo for those who are anti-Monsoon. Inexplicable that Gorilla wouldn't have the finishes clued into him in advance or written down, or that someone wouldn't have screamed into his headset. Dissension in the ranks of the Rockers, but no signs of a heel turn on either one's part--Vince even defends Michaels' actions.
  18. PeteF3
    There's a reversal, but...Flair still gets a 1-2-3 on Hogan. That counts for a lot with me. I did always hate how inconsistent WWF officials were with pointing out screwjobs, just as they were inconsistent with trying to prevent interference. Both guys cut a quick pace and the crowd is pretty electric, but Hogan doesn't exactly bring it in terms of effective offense. The near-fall on Hogan's legdrop was about as perfectly timed as you can get. I give Hulk credit for limping his way all through his posedown.
  19. PeteF3
    Good low-key interview. Sting warns Rude that Rude hasn't seen him at 100% yet. Some nicely done subtle shots at the WWF--Sting knows where Rude came from, but here there's "no goofing off."
  20. PeteF3
    Richard Lee has had the Moondogs dominating "San Juan, Mexico" all the way down to Argentina--and as we all know, the Argentine Tag Titles are a stepping stone to the World Tag Titles. Spot quickly opens Fuller up with a can opener and pretty much completely dominate him before pinning him for the World Tag Titles. Jeff Jarrett attempts to save Fuller afterward and gets busted open himself. Inauspicious debut for Lee but this will certainly be a shot in the arm for the USWA.
  21. PeteF3
    Embry won't put up his Southern title unless Prichard agrees to leave town if he loses. I like this feud but with this going on while Lawler is defending the Unified title against a range of freak shows, it feels like a way for Lawler or Jarrett or someone to cut both guys off.
  22. PeteF3
    Sandman awkwardly cuts a promo under the guise of a California surfer dude. Fantastic.
  23. PeteF3
    Jake is as chilling as usual, expanding on the difference between the snake in the bag and the real dangerous snake. Savage responds and is more intense than even his usual standards. Bearer's falsetto is getting higher and higher and I feel the annoyance factor is going to rise with it. Still another strong promo from these two, who are on quite a hot interview streak of their own.
  24. PeteF3
    So, Missy being the Ugly Dog-Face's manager is supposed to be forgotten history now? This isn't hype for the Clash, it's hype for Luger/Rick rematches which were going around the horn at house shows. One could question the wisdom of booking that match but Sting was occupied, Simmons and Windham were hurt, it'd seem weird to stick Steamboat in there that quickly, and Scott may or may not have been ready for singles main events. Oh, Missy does get around to acknowledging her past managerial stint. All (most) is forgiven. Missy kind of plays her role well but yes, they need to decide if she's a babyface or a heel already.
  25. PeteF3
    Holy shit, it's rare footage of the Gravedigger! Working in Mexico! Aw, fuck, it's just Los Infernales coming out to the same music. This is even more disappointing than Dragon Master not being Dustin Rhodes' partner at the Clash. Dandy has to shoulder the burden for the first two falls, looking as great as he ever did in 1990 and not missing a beat with Satanico. Konnan looks bad and Rayo...I've seen two Rayo matches in my life, the Cien Caras mask match and a match against Steel, and both were really good. This is a chance to finally see why people were so annoyed with him. He shows some fire but Infernales bumping and stooging for his dance moves and phantom punches was just about the height of lameness. However, the rudos and Dandy are so good and the opening brawl so heated that the match holds up into the third fall, when Konnan and Rayo step up their games. Konnan participates in some nice double-teams and even shows some good flying skills, Rayo hits a cool dive, and Dandy and Satanico get a little one-on-one mini-match. Big controversy at the finish as Satanico uppercuts Dandy in the groin and locks in a nudo. One ref wants to call a DQ but the ersatz Gran Davis ref calls a submission. A long quarrel results and it appears the decision is eventually overturned. That can't be the end of things. I mean, it's not like I needed to be sold on another Dandy/Satanico match, but this match did it for even the most ardent skeptic should one exist.
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