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PeteF3

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. PeteF3
    The Guinness Records stuff is a pretty cool way of getting Kazmaier's legit credentials over. I'm not totally sure what exact record Kazmaier is going for, but regardless Anderson and Zbyszko come out and level Kazmaier in the ribs with a giant workout plate.
  11. PeteF3
    Badd has some flashes of good stuff but there are also a ton of really awkward stalls and resets here. Some of that was by design, I think, so they could get the fans to notice the box at ringside (which the cameras never catch, of course). Some of it was just plain inexperience. Plus the timing of the ending seemed blown. Still, it was a sign that Badd had potential. The post-match is fantastic, with Cactus Jack finally looking like a killer and delivering an awesome elbow from the second turnbuckle to the floor. Both Big Two promotions are starting to look revitalized.
  12. PeteF3
    Pillman's "first" match back since the loser-leaves bout. The Yellow Dog is one of those lame angles that was a horrible thing to watch and yet still leaves you feeling ripped off that there was no conclusion. Sort of like the insane Lex Luger push of '93. They make the right move in ditching Hayes & Garvin to start with, allowing Badstreet and Pillman to go balls to the wall without any distractions. Pillman takes 4 or 5 insane bumps and Badstreet brings more charisma than Brad Armstrong has ever showed in his life, and this is the most energetic crowd for a WCW event in months. Actually this is one of the better WCW bouts of the year.
  13. PeteF3
    Bucanero is laughably unrecognizable, looking like a mini-Tugboat in blackface. There was some fun stuff here and some of the sequences were incredibly complex, but a lot of this looked excessively choreographed--I particularly groaned at Kendo doing a bunch of kip-ups while the rudos just stood there. Plus lots of flipping around like an old-school kung phooey movie instead of guys hitting each other. And I could have done without the 49th "heel holds opponent for partner to hit and gets hit himself" spot. Still, the highspots we saw were fun and well-executed and the American-style finish was unique to see.
  14. PeteF3
    Hey, the #3 and #4 AJPW match on one card. Funny how often that sort of thing happens. This gets off to a different start as Hansen waylays Kobashi with a Lariat before the bell, and Kobashi spends the first half of the match in a coma before managing to mount a furious comeback. Kobashi clings to a sleeperhold despite getting suplexed, rammed into the ring apron, and sent over the guardrail in an awesome display to get over Kenta's determination. Eventually he falls to the Lariat but Kenta gets one step closer to finally getting a huge singles win.
  15. PeteF3
    Yeah, Misawa's shoulder was a reoccurring theme throughout the summer of '91--there was one tag match (or 6-man) where they actually stopped things and restarted with Kawada in his place. One thing I noticed this time around was lots of work around Jumbo's head. Jumbo wasn't in a lot of peril until the final stretch but seemingly every Kawada kick, Misawa elbow, and Kawada's big enzuilariato was targeted at his head or upper body--great way of foreshadowing and building to the big finish. Kawada gets his moments to shine as well, as you get the feeling that Misawa wouldn't have been able to make his comeback without Kawada's timely intervention. Misawa comes back to apply the facelock and gets Jumbo to tap, which comes across as big of a deal as his 4/90 pinfall. Probably the #3 AJPW match of the year at this point.
  16. PeteF3
    I'm not even sure if Mrs. Rude thought that Rick Rude was the greatest IC Champion ever. His whole reign was built around a primitive WWF-style swerve finish, after all. Well, so was Honky's, but Honky held the belt for 37 years. A confrontation with Bill Apter in the middle leads to the burning poll questions of who the greatest IC Champion is AND who has the greatest neckbreaker. The wrestling world is ABUZZ about these two issues, according to Tony Rumble. There's nothing sadder in wrestling than someone yelling "SHUT UP!" at a crow that isn't saying anything. George Napolitano tries to offer some insight while Rumble blithers and does a horrible job of acting surprised when the two guys in question come out. Rude concedes that Honky Tonk is great--a GREAT, BIG FOOL. Oh, snap. The only unironically enjoyable thing about this mess was hearing the classic World Class theme again.
  17. PeteF3
    The Dragon Master is the new Unified World Champion, but hey, let's see Lawler plug a karate school first. Only the King could pull that off. It may or may not be telling that Lawler only describes the finish instead of us seeing it. Lawler brings in Dutch Mantell to act as ringside enforcer to prevent future Christopher Love interference--hearty ovation for the Dutchman and Dave Brown is enjoying this a little too much. "Have you seen Stan Hansen?" Ha! Mantell makes some homophobic cracks towards Love and fears having to touch him, but offers to knock Love out so long as Lawler helps him find Stan Hansen. If Hansen were to actually make a return to the territory, then that would perhaps be the greatest payoff in wrestling history.
  18. PeteF3
    Vince's ridiculously perky "IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!" inexplicably made me giggle. Bearer's guest is world-renowned broadcast journalist Bobby "The Brain" Heeeenan??, who's rocking the suit-and-tennis-shoes look. Heenan calls out Hogan and then Piper, who leaves the comfort of his green-screen effect to confront Heenan. Piper spits on the belt, spits on Heenan, and storms off--not a smart move, Roddy.
  19. PeteF3
    Hah, I liked this quite a bit, though it's clearly the least of the 3 matches we see. Madusa--God bless her, she really tries, but the execution for the most part just isn't there and that drags this down at times. And holy crap are there some uncomfortable moments here--I'm all for snug work and realism but some of the kicks unleashed by Kansai and Madusa were brutal, as was Madusa clobbering Saito in the back of the head with a chair. As was Saito's blade job. Still, Harley gave a really good sympathetic performance and had some good kickouts before succumbing. Concussion issues aside the use of the chair was smarter than just about any weapon use in any AJW match on these yearbooks, and the out-of-the-ring brawling felt more realistic than the Itchy & Scratchy bullshit from Bull and Aja earlier in the year and at times in 1990.
  20. PeteF3
    Goddamn, I need to see more of this promotion. I mean, I GUESS the opening was a little my turn/your turn-ish, but when the counters are as sensible and creative at the same time as the ones here were, then I can overlook that. Masami has maybe the most awesome facials in wrestling history--she has the o-face when she's inflicting pain, the googly-eyed monster stare, and a great "I'M ANGRY" reaction after Yamazaki has gotten the better of her on the floor. 99% of these would look like absurd, trying-too-hard face acting in the hands of most other workers but Devil makes them work. And...hey, another women's match where moves have consequences and there's long-term shit. Masami is still selling her wounded leg after doing power bombs and every time Yamazaki is on the mat she's performing or attempting another cool leg takedown. Yamazaki kicks out of two power bombs, the second one I was really buying as the finish, and counters a third to pull out a victory that comes off as an upset. Scorpion-Suzuki never really slowed down while still giving everything time to breathe. This certainly gave things time to breathe but probably did slow down a bit about 2/3 through, plus some of the choreographed shit on the apron I could have done without. Otherwise we'd have two joshi MOTYCs on roughly even ground. Great match for what could be the card of the year.
  21. PeteF3
    Holy shit--it's some joshi girl who showed up on a random World War 3 PPV in the '90s against some other chick in a mask whom I've never heard of, in a promotion that I didn't know was a thing, and it's AWESOME. Suzuki does some awesome work destroying Scorpion's arm and Scorpion provides some awesome jack-of-all-trades offense. She can mat wrestle, she can fly, and she can throw some pretty great suplexes. I'll have to go back and re-examine some of the early-year stuff that's faded from memory but this looks like the joshi MOTY. The matwork came off as important rather than time-filling and moves had consequences. I love this style of joshi so much more than the go-go-go style that it's absurd. Best discovery of the set so far.
  22. PeteF3
    Really awesome third fall that descends into a slugfest, then some high-flying, and then back to mat wrestling with some great counters and desperation escapes by Guerrera. Something for everybody, but all the style transitions feel organic, rather than disjointed. Regardless of which year it's from it's a hell of a match.
  23. PeteF3
    Tsuyoshi celebrates his new haircut by getting obliterated, again. Jumbo manages to fend off a few Misawa pin saves while landing bombs on Kikuchi, but oddly finishes him off with an atomic whip and then a...sleeper. ISTR All-Japan on a bit of a submission kick at this point and I think they were trying to build up legitimate match-ending holds for each guy. Misawa already had his facelock, Kawada had the Stretch Plum and a sleeper of his own, and even Kobashi put out somebody with a body vice backbreaker. Or it could just be a bit of foreshadowing.
  24. PeteF3
    Cut to the reception highlights, narrated by Lord Alfred Hayes. With Savage actually coming close to speaking in his normal voice (!!), not that it's much different from his wrestling voice by this point. They milk this for a long while, which is a nice effective way of getting over the shock of the cobra. Undertaker clobbers Savage with the urn and Jake terrorizes Liz with the cobra before being run off by Sid. I could have done without Hayes or the camera angle changes but this was a chaotic, well-done angle and a good way of hitting the reset button on Jake's heel turn. Generally speaking any wrestling show (or home video in this case) that goes off the air in the midst of brawling or chaos is automatically better than a show that doesn't.
  25. PeteF3
    The presentation gap between this and WCW was huge, but...I really, really, really hated this whole set-up at the time, though not as much as the Rhodes feud. I chalk it up mostly to being an immature fourth-grader than a true failing on the WWF's part. But in some way it feels insulting to sell a PPV on a wedding and a foregone conclusion of a tag match with heels so long past their sell-by date. I didn't order it, but if I had and NOT gotten any sort of wedding angle on the show proper I'd have been furious. We get highlights of Savage and Elizabeth's WWF careers, including WM4 and Elizabeth trying to save Savage from the Honky Tonk Man. Really well-done stuff. Not Making This Up Dept.: Shazam has this song as "Together" and attributes it to Savage & Elizabeth's wedding. Did this song make it onto some WWF soundtrack CD? Some anonymous guy is the best man--after The Office finale in which Dwight and Angela's entire ceremony consisted of a few token family members and then all co-workers, and having it pointed out how little that resembles real life, I actually kind of find this refreshing. The WWF moreso than any other promotion was always one that tried to suppress any semblance of any wrestler's personal life on-air, I guess because they felt it would hurt their characters. Heenan is absolutely on fire here. And you just knew Savage would replace "I do" with "OOOOOH YEAH." This is quite the brilliant production, there's no denying that. Enough that I can sort of forget about how it all ended up.
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