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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    I liked the kicks from Flynn and the suplexes from both guys, but there wasn't much else here. I like the idea of doing TKOs on occasion because...well, they happen in real life all the time. But it's hard to make them as dramatic as your typical pro wrestling finish, and they don't really succeed with it here.
  2. PeteF3
    How hilarious in the wake of the RCMP's objections that this match is the one Mountie match that gets shown, the one that paints him in the most despicable possible light.
  3. PeteF3
    The Van Hammer Tour '91 is on its way to MY town, and yours, too. The energy from the HAMMERHEADS big and small will knock the air out of his opponent's lungs, and it's going to be VANTASTIC. Ross makes sure to repeat the word just in case this James Joyce-esque wordplay flies over less discerning viewers' heads. If Jeff Gaylord wasn't returning to Memphis right at this same moment I'd wonder if these two weren't secretly the same guy.
  4. PeteF3
    Oh my God, Lawler is wearing an 8-bit pixelated tribute to one of the worst hockey uniforms ever, that of the 1980's Vancouver Canucks. Travis' help was some big musclebound idiot last week who goes unnamed--prowrestlinghistory identifies him as "The Big O," definitely one of the most successful pro wrestling gimmicks ever lifted from a Shel Silverstein picture book. Travis' second kick at the can comes in the form of, oh yes, Jeff Gaylord. Jerry goes off on another rant about his opponent's lack of intelligence and brings back his dinosaur analogy, which is normally counterproductive but with Gaylord involved it's hard to argue with. Thank God we kicked the Lawler/Embry title match to the curb in favor of this.
  5. PeteF3
    Jimmy Hart singing along to the Mountie's French horn theme is an early highlight. Mountie is upset that this is non-title, but he's got a plan to force Bret's hand. Jimmy douses Bret with a bucket of water and then Bret gets zapped with the cattle prod. Bret was really lacking in direction coming off his big title win, presumably due to the Perfect injury, and this finally gives him something personal to focus on. As usual I could do without those cheesy electricity sound effects but other than that this is a very nicely done angle.
  6. PeteF3
    Hogan vs. Undertaker is officially on for Survivor Series. Undertaker is going to take both Hogan's title and his soul, while Bearer will work on the remains. The lack of dialogue from the announcers once UT and Bearer get going add to this segment's effectiveness. Hogan has not had an opponent built up this well since (I hate to say it) Zeus.
  7. PeteF3
    "YO HOMEBOY--WELCOME TO THE 'HOOD!" Hulk Hogan: on the cutting edge. Hogan sets the record straight some street rap, brother. Then he parrots Bret Hart's catchphrase that Bret hasn't even invented yet. After seeing Hogan actually show some elements of self-doubt earlier, this was not one of Hulk's better efforts.
  8. PeteF3
    I'm going to miss JWP already and I didn't even know if its existence until last month, and it's for the same reasons as Loss. This does have the typical "both girls run at each other" opening but like the other JWP matches it boils down to something more organic and methodical in a good way. This differs pretty noticeably from the Scorpion matches as this is all about stiff kicks from Kansai and Saito just trying to survive and keep her head above water even though she comes off as overmatched. Well-done finish to keep both ladies looking strong--Saito comes off as a crafty opportunist rather than someone who won on a fluke, even though there was a great deal of luck involved in her victory.
  9. PeteF3
    It was fun seeing Octagon show some fire and offense in contrast to his earlier singles match, and to see Fuerza do his thing but I wasn't nearly as high on this as I hoped to be. All the stuff with Gran Davies was incredibly distracting and pointless--first he's actively working against Octagon and ignoring Fuerza punting him in the balls, and then he starts enforcing the rules like a normal referee and all the earlier stuff is ignored. Pick a storyline and stick with it, guys. Lots and lots of blood and mask-tearing once we get to the third fall, which goes from a chaotic hateful brawl back to holds and pin attempts. Fuerza bites on Octagon's fingers to get out of a Cavernaria (after he beats a count back into the ring after a big Octagon dive and the bell clearly rings, but whatever), then goes to the top turnbuckle and has to peer out to see that Octagon is 3/4 of the way across the ring in a funny moment that doesn't distract from the fact that this is a blood feud. I wish I didn't hate the Davies stuff as much as I did, and it's probably not entirely rational, but I really, REALLY didn't like it once it was clear that they weren't going to be remotely consistent about what his role was going to be. If that's a normal shtick of his, whatever, but it hasn't come through on any of the other lucha matches yet. Good match and a great showcase for Octagon but no way does it unseat Santo/Brazo as the lucha MOTY and as a MOTYC overall.
  10. PeteF3
    Takano had some more cool shoot-style stuff at the beginning, but he got away from that in favor of a lot of kicks and some stuff that didn't quite connect. Tenryu didn't have as much urgency here as he did last night, though his chair-toss directly at Takano's face was pretty awesome. The big elephant in the room with regard to SWS remains that it comes off as Tenryu + everybody else. You can't sustain a promotion in Japan where the ace's #1 rival is Hulk Hogan.
  11. PeteF3
    Methodically paced but fun hate-fest of a match, with Yatsu going as all-out as he can on offense--a bulldog on the exposed concrete, a dive off the apron, and an attempted diving elbow that Tenryu does a great job of dodging at the last second. Yatsu had something left in the tank after all. Some weird stuff like Tenryu's first power bomb being treated as a routine transition move, but a solid little match.
  12. PeteF3
    Very effective coming-out party for Asai on a bigger stage. He hits some spectacular dives and gives Salvaje enough of the match to make this worth Bestia's while, with some great late kickouts on near-falls. Seeing Hakushi do an Asai moonsault in 1995 was mind-blowing--I can only imagine the reaction people had to seeing it in the early '90s.
  13. PeteF3
    Per the Observer, Travis' "surprise" was a black man in a mask that was not, but was heavily implied to be, the Snowman. That's carny and clever as fuck, actually.
  14. PeteF3
    Now this is more like it--huge reaction for Flair, lots of boos and lots of cheers. Even Gorilla and His Lordship put over his ring skills to start with. Surprisingly cautious start but the heat is tremendous, and this turns into a nicely laid out match with some good near-falls, a particularly good one coming after Flair clobbers Piper with a chair. It's not as good as Piper's match with Perfect the previous year but it's a much more promising Flair match than the Tito bout, in a much better setting. I even have to admit that Gorilla and Hayes were actually pretty good here, I guess taking Heenan out of the equation forced them to call the action instead of harass the Brain. Flair's post-match interview indicates that he's ready to move on to Hogan. "When are you gonna HULK UP??"
  15. PeteF3
    What a striking comparison to the Jumbo/Kawada match. One isn't going to confuse this with the Triple Crown bout but they're both laid out similarly and both are out to accomplish the same thing--take a guy with potential star power but who isn't seen as true championship material yet, and try to get across that they're capable of winning it all. Simmons dominates the first fall and wins quickly, but Race uses a clever trick to frame Simmons for throwing Luger over the top rope to equalize. The first two falls were slow going but the atmosphere between falls with Dusty's pep talking and the on-point, pure-sports commentary was terrific. The third fall is when this really gets good, as Luger goes nuts unloading on Simmons, only for Ron to Hulk Up and get off a rash of near-falls before Luger gets a refreshingly clean victory. Luger's PPV hot streak has not subsided yet. Ross and Schiavone have made for an excellent announce team tonight--maybe this is the role that suited Schiavone the best.
  16. PeteF3
    Another effective Simmons video piece.
  17. PeteF3
    I don't know how long it lasted but Dangerously's suspension was a shoot--apparently he leaked plans to the Torch about a planned Luger vs. Lawler unification match. Dangerously cuts a scorched earth promo on WCW for suspending him, but not revoking his manager's license. Madusa has been assigned to bring Paul E. the man who can take out Sting--the WCW Halloween Phantom, aka Rick Rude. He's an instant breath of fresh air for this company, and this setting is fresh for Rude, who was badly stagnating a year ago.
  18. PeteF3
    Great, great pace for most of this--this is probably Austin's best non-gimmick match to date. Double juice, which is always a surprise at this point, and Dustin takes some terrific bumps and provides some awesome unexpected twists like the quasi-shoot-style half crab reversal. Even the final two-count is timed right with the countdown. Not a US MOTYC or anything but both guys come across as the future of the business.
  19. PeteF3
    This is possibly the lamest, cheapest entrance set in the history of wrestling PPVs. It shouldn't be a big deal but it's a big point of difference in the presentation of the Big Two. Also there's a "MINN. TWINS" tombstone which only highlights the idiotic, WCW-esque decision to put this PPV up against Game 7 of the World Series. Amazingly(?) I've never seen this match before. Nice to see Vader again, getting absolutely no fanfare that we can see prior to this show--had to hype up Barry Windham's presence here instead. Cactus Jack is out with a chainsaw that I'm guessing doesn't get used as one of the Instruments of Torture. Big pop for the Steiners. Clusterfuck of a match follows with the main highlights being Mick Foley busting his ass trying to get this concept over. Inexplicable events abound like guys in masks popping out of caskets and "The Ghouls," then Cactus Jack waits by the switch for 45 seconds before flipping it, allowing Rick Steiner to put Abby in the CHAIR OF TORTURE for the win. Abby flips out after being released and Schiavone gets off the Line of the Year: "When he awoke, I guess he thought he was in heaven and he knew he shouldn't be there!" That was...yeah. There's barely anything else to say.
  20. PeteF3
    Abdullah in a shirt and tie with his kendo stick. Fabulous. Diamond Studd and DDP follow, and when Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes pull up and Windham extends his hand to Bischoff, the Enforcers run in and slam the door on it. Well-executed, except for Bischoff being an insincere ninny as he always is.
  21. PeteF3
    Proto-ECW brawl with Sullivan back to being a no-selling piece of shit after showing some good work this year. Gilbert takes a cool rolling bump down the bleachers and that's about it as far as highlights. Oh, and the fans imploring, "EDDIE, GO GET YOUR CAR!"
  22. PeteF3
    Larry Zbyszko: champion of Creationism? Color me surprised. Arn cuts yet another promo that has Russo, Dunn, et al shuddering. Arn threatens to show the Freebirds what for the next time they see them--whether it's in a mall, downtown, or getting on a plane. That brings the 'birds out for an impromptu brawl. Good action but lacking in heat, and Ross called this like he was barely awake.
  23. PeteF3
    I really didn't care much for the post-match scrum. It was just a repeat of the long, drawn-out confrontation from a few weeks ago, but even though this time there was a payoff with Embry cheap-shotting Prichard as he's being held back, it seems like a tepid brawl lacking in heat. Embry goes on a psychotic rant in the locker room about how Prichard has been riding his coattails and falling for these fat, egg-suckin' dog Tennessee women who weigh about 500 pounds. It's another standout Embry promo, but Prichard tops him by calmly rebutting his points about being a coattail-rider. Prichard very logically points out how it was Embry hiding behind him, both in the ring and when they were out partying. He addresses the Roddy Piper comparisons, his "attitude problems" preventing him from getting signed by the WWF or NWA (how legit that is, I don't know, but he makes it sound as though it is) and brings up how he wasn't letting party time get in the way of business, whereas Embry was staying in his hotel room all day instead of hitting the gym. Great, great stuff from Prichard that redeems the underwhelming angle. It's all wrasslin' stuff in the end but there's a lot of legitimate truth in there, which even a cynical fan has to be able to see.
  24. PeteF3
    Travis is sporting a nasty-looking scar courtesy of a Lawler fireball. Travis claims he's gotten over 100 calls of support as a result of this attack and promises that someone will be coming for Lawler. Lawler dares Travis to step into the ring, but Travis won't bite. Nothing major but this was a much simpler and more effective segment than the previous ones in this feud, and I admit to being intrigued as to whom Travis has in mind.
  25. PeteF3
    Sarge isn't asking us forgiveness, he (or the WWF) is telling us to forgive him. I read an Observer of this time that reported an attempt at having he and Jim Duggan recite the Pledge of Allegiance at a TV taping was roundly booed, which gives you a glimmer of hope for the WWF Universe fanbase of the time.
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