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PeteF3

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. PeteF3
    A simmering DiBiase vows to regain the Million Dollar Belt from Virgil.
  12. PeteF3
    Heenan announces the official arrival of Ric Flair to Prime Time, then freaks out at the thought of Funeral Parlor footage getting shown.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. PeteF3
    After regaining the Unified title from the latest Freak of the Week, the build to Lawler vs. Embry is back on. But first, Lawler has a non-title match with P.Y. Chu-Hi. Lawler does a great job of talking about the difference between title matches and non-title bouts and brings up the Embry/Chu-Hi war in Texas, and by the end of it, it makes perfect sense that Embry and Chu-Hi would now be aligned. Highlights from the MSC--Jimmy Valiant & Sweet Georgia Brown vs. Dr. Tom Prichard & Miss Texas. Embry tries to dive off the turnbuckle with the Texas flag on Valiant, but misses and hits Prichard, costing the Texas Boys the match. Prichard and Embry argue for awhile, and Prichard roughs up Tojo Yamamoto, but nothing big comes of it. A babyface turn for Prichard would seem to leave the face/heel balance in the USWA pretty askew at this point. Embry refuses to talk about Prichard, who's not in the studio, and instead complains about having to wrestle the Dirty White Boy again, despite beating him "872,000 TIMES, MAN--872,000 TIMES." Embry is off to try to lure the Dirty White Boy out to the studio for an impromptu match, and we're out.
  18. PeteF3
    Well, this is Bull obviously at her most giving, as Kyoko controls the bulk of the match, trying to immobilize her at the start with matwork and then playing hit-and-run with all the springboard moves. Bull eventually reasserts herself--yes, I liked the cartwheel too--and they build up nicely to her finally hitting the Guillotine Drop. Which gets two. Uh-oh. Kyoko makes another furious comeback when Bull goes for another one, but even with another great dive to the floor (and do I ever love Bull getting offered a swig of water after just getting plastered against the guardrail and taking it) it's not enough. A moonsault, which really comes off as a desperation move on Bull's part, gets her the win. Best Bull match since the big cage bout with Aja, naturally. But this really felt like a star-making performance from Inoue.
  19. PeteF3
    There was an awkward beginning here that had me wishing they'd just gone to the matwork, because that was very good and very vicious work over the legs by both women. Shame that none of it led to anything, as Yamada is up throwing kicks and Toyota dropkicks soon after. But for token New Japan juniors matwork, it served its purpose. Lots of urgency down the stretch including a fantastic moonsault to the floor from Toyota, but neither one can put the other away. Always a sign of pretty high quality that a time limit draw isn't telegraphed early on.
  20. PeteF3
    Three big lucha stars in what has to be one of the earliest triple threat matches on tape. We get a long, long, LONG controversy before the match apparently involving Konnan's objections to El Gran Davies being the referee. Konnan is dispatched in short order when Aguayo absolutely kills him with the top-rope double stomp, a move that looked particularly sick here. He makes a nuisance of himself later on for a bit, but we get Caras and Aguayo in a quick sprint of a brawl before Caras gets the pinfall. And...we get some replays and the match continues. With Konnan and Aguayo going at it. What the fuck? Are they fighting for 2nd place or something? Aguayo is climbing to the top to finish Konnan off when Caras crotches him on the turnbuckle and Konnan steals a victory, which is treated like he just knocked out Mike Tyson. I have no clue what the rules of this were supposed to be. Not really a good match but the action, if not the rules, was perfectly inoffensive. It would be wrong to leave Konnan out of these Yearbooks regardless of match quality. EDIT: With Aguayo's head-shaving things are starting to come more into focus. I guess. So Konnan gets a reward for being the first eliminated, getting to rest while Aguayo and Caras kicked the shit out of each other, then requires Caras' help to beat Aguayo. What a fucking hero. I'll keep this match in mind next time it comes off as Hogan having a given promotion in his back pocket.
  21. PeteF3
    Rick has to basically work solo due to Kazmaier's injury, and because he sucks. Rick as FIP is rarely a good idea, nor is it here. Kazmaier tags himself in and gets pinned immediately. Anderson and Zbyszko shit all over Rick's amateur credentials and Kazmaier's muscles. What an absurdly anticlimactic Clash main event, but the tag titles are definitely in the right place.
  22. PeteF3
    Okay, maybe we could have spread all this stuff out some. We've reached the point where we could use some Clash XIII-style speed-runs. Surely there has to be a happy medium between these two show paces. This was a little too much for too predictable of a payoff.
  23. PeteF3
    Simmons dares Luger to "bring out his BOY and his mentor"--that raises an eyebrow with me but doesn't seem to get a reaction from the crowd. All he gets are Race & Hughes, but not Luger.
  24. PeteF3
    Footage of Simmons at Doak Campbell Stadium getting a huge reaction for his jersey retirement, which is a great way of making Simmons look like a big deal. This is followed by Bobby Bowden giving comments from his office. I can imagine what the WWF could have done with all of this, but this is a valiant attempt by WCW nonetheless.
  25. PeteF3
    Cactus ducks Paul E.'s question of who paid him and Abdullah to attack Sting, and instead asks us all for a round of applause for the end of Sting's career. Another gift box appears on the rampway, but instead of Cactus' business partner Abdullah, it's Sting. Not sure where Sting got his own gift box from, maybe he hijacked it from Abdullah. But it's a neat reveal nevertheless. Another awesome brawl follows, with Cactus getting backdropped on the ramp, hiptossed off the ramp, and creamed with a trash can and not backing down, which the announcers put over big.
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