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PeteF3

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  1. PeteF3
    Okay, the Hansen stuff is funny, but it's time to either do something with it or drop it. Namedropping Stan Hansen with no forthcoming payoff isn't going to do any more for the USWA than the Desperados did for WCW. Mantell also has a letter that he won't read because of the language in it, but threatens the anonymous letter-writer anyway in a manner that gets bleeped. Okay, now maybe we're getting somewhere. A very sparkly (Mr. Travis' wardrobe courtesy of Eric Embry) Billy Joe Travis is out to serenade us with "The Eyes of Texas," but mixes in lyrics from the other song to that tune, "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Travis heads to the ring for a match and decides to just cream Chris Frazier with the guitar instead. Apparently Frazier interrupted him as he was attempting to sing again. Dutch Mantell is now out in the flesh. Apparently Eric Embry made some derogatory comments about Dutch earlier, and he comes out to defend himself. Embry denies writing the letter and tries to soothe things over, but Dave Brown is there to fill in Dutch on what Embry actually said. The chemistry of all three of these guys is great--Dutch works the crowd, Embry accuses Dave of spreading lies, and in a hilarious moment Embry brings up Dutch's Texas background and that he knows exactly where Oil Trough, Texas is. Brown: "Earlier you said there was no Oil Trough, Texas!" Embry draws an imaginary line on the studio floor and dares Dutch to join the Texas Boys or be an enemy. Dutch refuses, and that nets him a flagpole to the back courtesy Tojo Yamamoto. Dutch gets beaten down until Jeff Jarrett, the Dirty White Boy, and Freezer Thompson (!) make the save. I'm still not sure what this letter-writing business is supposed to be out, but I was secretly hoping it'd be someone new and not just another Embry scheme. Eddie Marlin thinks that Dutch can be the man to take out Embry, and that nets an attack from Eric. Jarrett gets intercepted by Billy Joe Travis. Marlin is choked out by his necktie and shockingly Embry is not fired right on the air over this.
  2. PeteF3
    Santana VERY woodenly recites how he must face off against a charging bull to reach new heights in the WWF, then goes into scary voice mode. Such an awful, lamebrained idea from a company that was on a creative hot streak.
  3. PeteF3
    Flair makes his live-audience debut, still using the original 2001 theme. Flair delivering this promo with the Undertaker music in the background is all sorts of odd. On the plus side, Flair has quickly mastered the ever-changing Funeral Parlor camera angles. And you know WCW would just have him (or Hogan) in front of a green screen. Bearer's "oh SHIT" face as Flair drops the Thunderlips line is great. Flair delivers a tightened version of his Prime Time promo directed towards Piper and Hogan, and brings up how he has a thousand women for every Little Hulkster. I get that late '91 was a far more adult WWF than had been seen in awhile or would be seen again, but it has to be mentioned that talking about women and Lear jets simply isn't going to draw as much heat with Little Hulksters as it did with WCW audiences. The WWF and U.S. wrestling as a whole were in a deep financial rut that I'm not sure any dream program could have instantly saved, but this may have something to do with the allegedly disappointing Hogan/Flair gates.
  4. PeteF3
    I don't mind the rounds system but it seems Finlay and Taylor were almost consciously trying to time their highspots right at the end of every round, so the action breaks stood out more and not for the better. Taylor wasn't as active as Benoit was but did have a number of big-man spots, and with a crowd this electric you can hardly blame these guys for milking that for all its worth. This goes to a draw that has you wanting to see more, but hopefully a little tightened up.
  5. PeteF3
    I do like Woman better on the mic, but Sherri is so much more versatile and dangerous. Not only can she take bumps but she can actually inflict fairly effective offense on male opponents.
  6. PeteF3
    Savage is making every attempt at a run for Interview of the Year. He, Jake, and Embry are going to have a knockout, drag-out for that award. The gleam is gone from Elizabeth's eyes as a result of the reception angle. Savage is turned down for reinstatement and responds by trashing Jack Tunney's office. Savage is torn apart and appears to be about a second away from breaking down and crying. The interview just sort of trails off, as Savage simply has nothing else to say. Holy living fuck--this is the year's single best interview to this point. And being quite familiar with Jake's stuff to come, I still think it will stay that way.
  7. PeteF3
    How hilarious would it have been if Austin had won the tournament, thus necessitating yet another title vacancy? That would be a clean sweep for WCW titles vacated in the span of one year. At least they set up Lady Blossom and Austin's stupidity by having them hug earlier in the match. Sting comes back with the early-'90s WCW trademark, the tombstone reversal, and that apron spot with the valet is just as well-executed here as it was with Maria and Shelton Benjamin. Recap of the various box angles, and naturally they make sure to edit out Cactus' big elbow. And for some reason they had Ross dub new, less effective commentary over the Abdullah debut. Sting gives punny names to the various boxes he's received and even while doing so, completely misses the significance of the last box with the woman in it. Cactus says that Sting can't play mind games with him, because he makes the rules. Cactus Jack: Calvinball pioneer. He takes credit for ending the career of Z-Man. Oh, if only.
  8. PeteF3
    Another hot angle. Could it be WCW is turning things around already? There's focus over the World title, focus over the U.S. Champ if not his actual title, and credible tag champions. One slight weakness: you know that Dusty is really, really wanting to recreate the Big Bubba magic with Mr. Hughes, but it simply isn't going to happen.
  9. PeteF3
    Paul E. is back to heel mode, but retains his deadpan demeanor from last week. Highlights of the Patriots winning the U.S. Tag Titles from the Freebirds. The finish is okay in concept--Garvin sets Chip up for the DDT, Champion hits the jumping elbow knocking him down with Chip on top. But the execution is godawful as Garvin has to stand there and change directions a bunch of times as Champion bounces around the ring. Somehow there's tremendous heat for this, even though this match-up sounds like the stuff of nightmares. Yeah, this is Scorpion-ish, but about a million times better. Sting remains cool and calm instead of having to sell fear or confusion, and Cactus and Abdullah are way more threatening than possessed referees and female fans. Cactus cuts a really good creepy promo, consisting of dialogue you could imagine the Joker saying to Batman.
  10. PeteF3
    Lawler vs. Chu-Hi has turned into a tag match: Lawler/DWB vs. Chu-Hi/Embry. Some good action ends with the return of Billy Joe Travis, complete with guitar. The White Boy gets creamed and then Embry goes to work on him with the broken guitar neck in a cool visual. Chu-Hi is out working a squash when Lawler officially outs him as Big, Fat Phil HickersonTM. "AH'M PEE-WHAH CHOO-HAH, AND DON'T YEW FERGET IT!" Hickerson tries to strike back with something about Lawler's family, and Lawler tries to do the same, and a shoving match turns into a brawl. Travis comes back out to brain Lawler with the guitar, but Lawler no-sells and soon the whole locker room is out. Bill Dundee gets a whipping from Samantha Pain, and I wonder if they drew straws backstage to see who'd get that spot. Jarrett & Fuller throw trash cans at people. The brawl goes all over the studio in a fantastic scene. Second-best USWA angle of the year after Eric Embry threatening all of the non-wrestlers in sight. It's a return tag bout Monday night, with the wrestlers armed with guitars. Holy shit, I pray there's footage of this. Dutch Mantell hypes the Stan Hansen Hotline to all of his Little Dusters out there. This is great to begin with but the timing is even more hilarious coming right off that Hogan interview. It'll be Dutch's hair vs. the Dragon Master's mask on Monday night. Dutch is thrilled to get a phone call but sadly it's not Stan Hansen, just Eddie Marlin. The big highlight here is Dutch's response to Marlin's question about how he knows what it's like to be bald. After a rough few weeks, the USWA feels fresh and revitalized.
  11. PeteF3
    Sadly this is not Norvell Austin & Koko Ware, but rather two fat Valiant Brother clones who go unnamed. They're managed by Christopher Honey Love while Jarrett & Fuller are now under the tutelage of classic babyface manager Ronnie P. Gossett. Yeah. Fuller gets taken out with some liquid to the eyes before the match, so Jarrett goes it alone most of the way. Soon after Fuller recovers and gets tagged in, Love dives in for the DQ. Gossett, as sympathetic a figure as always, gets a beatdown afterward. Prowrestlinghistory and some further Googling says the PYTs are "Erotic" Eric Fontaine (great name) and Randy Rhodes. No, not the guy in the Original Midnight Express, the GWF Dusty knock-off. Presumably he was the fatter one.
  12. PeteF3
    "ALMOST mythical," Gene? The Hogan slurping from Okerlund and Vince is pretty over-the-top here, even by their lofty standards. They're almost trying too hard, trying to convince themselves more than us at how great of a roll Hogan's been on. Hogan turns serious real quick when the subject turns to Ric Flair. After the asskissing and hype, this was a real, real effective promo from Hogan. Self-doubt, acknowledgment that Flair has a legitimate claim to the "World Championship"...Flair's arrival has definitely started out on the right foot.
  13. PeteF3
    The Japan indy MOTY? Without checking every other comment...yes, I think so. Like a good WarGames or WWF tag cage match there wasn't two seconds going by without some horrific violence taking place, but this also had pacing, structure, and build to the big highspots like Iceman's big dive off the top of the cage. Saito is barely a year into his career and is unrecognizable in a gi, but he looks great and also looks like a guy who should have gone farther, sooner, than he did. This is also easily the best Mr. Pogo performance I've ever seen--he tries to match TNT bump for bump and brings some very cool offense. The top rope splash looked good and his wrapping Iceman up in a chain before bodyslamming him was done and sold great. This also had some great near-falls and saves, some other creative spots like the double-near-fall, and also like a good WarGames it ends with a submission. A decrepit Gypsy Joe tries to break up the post-match beatdown and gets sort of spike piledriven for his troubles, an angle that the crowd seems way into, crowding the ring area out of apparent concern as he's helped out. Really, really good brawl with everybody pulling their weight.
  14. PeteF3
    Luchawiki tells me that one of the Turtles (this particular group of Turtles--there were of course two separate lucha Ninja Turtle stables) *was* Robin Hood. Now I'm extra-confused, and it leads me to deduce that the remaining Turtle in this bout has to be Chris Champion. The Turtles looked great, with Michelangelo in particular throwing a bunch of nifty armdrags in the second fall, and Robin Hood threw some awesome kicks and showed some good charisma. In addition, I've developed great appreciation for just how difficult it has to be to wrestle in that Turtle gear. But...I simply didn't find any of the rudos to be that interesting. They have a loooong 5-on-1 on the various technicos in the second fall, and we get the downside of the 2/3 fall format--"We all know you're winning the second fall, just PIN the guy." The third fall picks up with a spectacular dive train and Robin Hood getting the tepid crowd warmed up when he's got Shu one-on-one. The rudos did more than Fujinami did in the previous bout but this still felt like a one-sided Turtles/Robin Hood showcase. It's a good match, but an overlong one if this is all the heels were going to provide.
  15. PeteF3
    Fujinami was definitely along for the ride here. Aside from his ridiculous fauxhawk-mullet combo hairdo, everything Hase did was great, from his working all kinds of holds to leveling Fujinami with his big offense. Cheap-ass ending as Fujinami gets his ass kicked for the whole match, gets put into every submission hold known to man, kicks out of all of Hase's finishers, then slaps on one figure four for the submission. I knew Hase wasn't winning, but geez. Still, this was a really fun, total '70s-style match thanks to more great work from Hase.
  16. PeteF3
    I'm scrambling to make a crack about the ongoing IRS scandal, but between the potential political can of worms and being stuck for something witty to contribute, I'll have to let it slide. The thought counts. IRS browbeats us about copying home videos and bets that none of us have read the FBI warnings at the beginning of tapes. Some sage advice follows about gas-guzzling vehicles and claiming weekend getaways as business expenses.
  17. PeteF3
    Welcome back, Ric. It's an odd environment to debut him in, but robe aside this is still Ric Flair. That's more than I can say about when Hawk & Animal and myriad other NWA talent debuted. It was enough to be a completely mindblowing segment at the time, even if the follow-up wasn't really there.
  18. PeteF3
    It's the WMC studios! With a Japanese chick ring announcer! Who acknowledges Davis as the USWA Light Heavyweight champion! Coming out to the Headhunters' theme! Where AM I?? Dr. Tom is similarly acknowledged as USWA Texas champion. So this is where he was last Saturday while Embry was in the (other) studio. This barely comes off as a tag match, it's so disjointed, but the weird setting doesn't prevent anybody from working hard. Davis and Prichard absolutely pound the shit out of each other, while I'm amused by the Headhunters working like a babyface vs. babyface house show opener with all the headlock takedowns and shoulderblocks. The novelty may be affecting me but I really, really liked this--it may be Davis' best performance of the year. If either WCW or Global were serious about building a light heavyweight division then one of them should have made a move for Davis.
  19. PeteF3
    That classic WCW quality control sees this taped match air after the Clash, so no belts for the Enforcers. This was quite a fun little fight, with some fun exchanges between Zbyszko and Slater and work on Arn's arm. Cheap finish but I liked this more than Loss, I think.
  20. PeteF3
    A simmering DiBiase vows to regain the Million Dollar Belt from Virgil.
  21. PeteF3
    Heenan announces the official arrival of Ric Flair to Prime Time, then freaks out at the thought of Funeral Parlor footage getting shown.
  22. PeteF3
    It's incredible that such a talent as Steamboat was given such a balls-out entrance by 1991 standards, and yet the WWF did literally nothing with him. The WWF was really babyface-heavy at least until Flair arrived and Jake turned, and that was probably a big reason. Not much of a match--there may have been a shred of drama at the end with some time limit announcements.
  23. PeteF3
    Sting's been butchered by Abdullah, then received a Cactus-Jack-in-the-box. Another box comes out, this one with a blonde woman inside, with a kiss and a note from Cactus Jack. Sting replies with considerable aplomb by his standards.
  24. PeteF3
    Another great promo from the last real men on the face of the Earth. It is time for this generation of robotized sheep to face reality! Arn informs us that sheer power without discipline turns into chaos. What a fantastic team.
  25. PeteF3
    Two decent angles to build up to the Halloween Havoc main event. Mr. Hughes uses a chair to help cost Simmons in the Omni. Barry Windham comes out to protest afterward, but gets laid out afterward. Then Ron Simmons gets ejected from Luger's locker room before three-point-stance-ing his way through the door. Quick brawl but it was a better piece of business than the press conference. Paul E. is strangely neutral here, sometimes coming off as almost a typical babyface announcer when talking about the "depths" Luger would sink to to retain the title. It's like Bischoff wasn't available or something.
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