Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

PeteF3

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    10285

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    This Omni hype is generally intolerable now--I can only imagine what somebody in 1991, watching TBS from St. Louis or Tacoma, would have been thinking.
  2. PeteF3
    After a shaky (to say the least) 1990, Cactus has now found his voice.
  3. PeteF3
    We open with a Memphis-angle-by-numbers, as Eric Embry interrupts a DWB promo to challenge him to an impromptu match, and of course Anthony turns his back and gets nailed. Prichard cuts off a DWB comeback until JIMMY VALIANT makes his return to make the save. Presumably that means a tag match this coming Monday. Christopher "Honey" Love is out with a big black box, and announces that his dear friend Eddie Marlin has hired him as a consultant to deal with the USWA's plummeting gate receipts and this is some crazily self-referential shit going down. Jerry Lawler has been the common denominator in the demise of the AWA, World Class, and "who knows how many other promotions." Wait, were Chris Cruise & The Creator lying to me when they talked up Lawler as a box office draw?? I feel we should have Eddie Marlin moderate another debate. Lawler has been given two weeks' notice or else he'll have to deal with the Dragon Master. Love makes a huge deal about how this guy is a legitimate 7' 3" and not one of those guys hyped as being 7' who's only 5' 10". He's big but I'm pretty sure he's not that big. Underneath all the freak show gimmickry is somebody evidently unleashing some genuine feelings. And yes, it appears that Memphis Crash TV has killed the Lawler/Embry feud before its time, just like it did Lawler/Gilbert. With how quickly television moved, how creative the angles could be, how compelling these guys were as talkers, and how the promotion was decaying, I don't get the reluctance to properly blow any of these programs off properly. Embry wasn't going to get killed as a draw any more than he already was just because he lost decisively to Lawler. And now out comes HUMONGOUS, and you can tell he lives up to his name because Dave Brown towers over him. Samantha Pain is out to play the Sherri to his Warrior, and with some help from Bull Pain manages to get his mask off. Brown and St. John matter-of-factly remark that it's "He-Man" Randy Lewis with all the excitement and shock of a Chauncey & Edgar bit. Somehow the WWF and USWA are morphing into one another, assuming the other's characteristics.
  4. PeteF3
    Jake tells a fable of a rabbit and a snake, that's basically a re-casting of the Scorpion and the Frog. I like that Jake didn't really need an explanation for turning--even as a babyface, he came off as evil and untrustworthy. Sid doesn't even have entrance music yet, which seems odd by the standards of the normally airtight WWF quality control. Okerlund accuses Sid of being a "true blue Hulkamaniac." They're still trying to ambiguate where Sid stands but I can't imagine even the densest WWF fan envisioning Sid as anything besides a babyface at this point. Heenan knocks on the Real World Title belt as simulation of what Hulk Hogan's knees are doing. They're still talking about how Ric Flair "may" be coming and openly acknowledging his contract situation, which I guess they legally have to do to protect themselves. It bears repeating how mindblowing it was at the time that the simple phrase, "another organization," was being uttered on WWF programming.
  5. PeteF3
    I like most of the UWFI I've seen, but I'll pass on a 30-minute draw that consists of Takada and 3 mid-card types.
  6. PeteF3
    Quite the build-up for Nagasaki, wearing the kabuki gear and getting accompanied by a geisha girl and two young boys/attendants/students/whatever doing a mock kendo battle. The match is a total blast befitting its over-the-top ring intros, as the rudos jump the tecnicos to start and things keep building from that. Just about everyone tries to top everyone else in terms of taking wicked shots into the ringpost, and even Nagasaki is good at getting in, getting his stuff in, and getting out. Morgan gets a clean victory after Sagrada misses a moonsault and things break down during a post-match interview. Pierroth is such a compelling talker, even when you don't grasp what exactly he's saying. I feel like with more listens I could justify ranking him on the Best Interviews list when the yearbook is over.
  7. PeteF3
    Extremely basic first two falls, all about leglocks by the Guerreros in one and headlocks by Los Infernales in the second. It's the most straightforward lucha trios work seen so far. The third has more dramatics and high-flying and builds to a really nice decisive finish. Not an outstanding match but a well-done one that got better as it went along. Chavo was not totally washed up after all--he looks far, far better here.
  8. PeteF3
    Lato is a big fat dude who gets a few openings which just serve to piss Fujiwara off, and he eventually kicks him into oblivion, and even busts out a spin kick that looks hurtier than 90% of Nobuhiko Takada's output with that move.
  9. PeteF3
    Some nice stiff slaps here and one emphatic ending, but otherwise I thought this was a complete snoozefest.
  10. PeteF3
    It's amazing how many plans changed, and changed multiple times, around this time. Jake/Warrior teased as a feud, Savage/DiBiase teased as a feud, Jake/Sid started as a feud to replace Warrior and then abandoned with Sid's injury, Savage cajoled out of retirement to feud with Jake...and that doesn't get into the rather unexpected arrival of Ric Flair. I'm guessing this was taped before Jake's appearance at the bachelor party on Prime Time.
  11. PeteF3
    Slaughter's bumping and selling are still good but this has some of the worst heel offense seen anywhere on this Yearbook, from Slaughter and especially from Mustafa and Adnan. Adnan cuts off the Hulk-Up with powder and a 3-on-1 results with no Warrior available--that's a nice touch. Sid Justice makes the save instead, but also keeps Hogan from using a chair. I've enjoyed Sarge's work, if not his material, since his return a year ago, but this heel run is just about played out entirely.
  12. PeteF3
    Yeah, it's hard to envision Finlay drawing big heel heat for elbow smashes in any other environment. All of his offense looks great and his bumping is executed perfectly as well. The running, standing Bronco Buster in the corner was awesome. Benoit again shows some inkling of being able to work the crowd here, this time as a babyface. Really underwhelming finish as Finlay is apparently red-carded for dragging Benoit out of the ring and slamming him into the post, and that hurts this. As it is, it's a European version of a really good 1991 WCW TV match.
  13. PeteF3
    This is built more around Taue and Jumbo being bullies than about dropping big bombs, at least until the final stretch. They work over Kobashi's face a lot with boot scrapes and rope burns, and throw in a bunch of double-teams to make sure the crowd is solidly against them throughout. Kobashi comes back to put Taue against the wall but Jumbo keeps saving, and then they start dropping the heavy artillery on him--but he keeps kicking out. Eventually Misawa makes the mistake of chasing Jumbo out of the ring and Taue uses a second golden arm bomber to put Kobashi down. Big push for Kobashi here and he comes through with a fine performance both on offense and selling.
  14. PeteF3
    Funk's Howdy-Doody-centered promo is fantastic. Slow match but this would have gotten over like gangbusters in 1980 in MSG and is an interesting (and promising) glimpse at how this match would have gone had the WWF brought Funk in at the time. Funk does a clean job, which is refreshing to see, and Scott Dickinson pays for it after the match. Not a great match when all is said and done, but both guys looked good and worked hard.
  15. PeteF3
    Lawler and Dr. Mark Curtis are interviewed by...Kevin from The Office? Oh, it's Dennis Corraluzzo. Your announcers are Chris Cruise and "The Creator," some guy in Halloween make-up doing a bad Lost in Space Dr. Smith. Wonderful. Lane is introduced as the man who taught William Kennedy Smith everything he knows, and Lane reciprocates by introducing Cornette as the man who taught Peewee Herman everything HE knows. Oh my. Cruise uses the actual term "mic work" and talks up how we're going to see a lot of talking before the match. Apparently Cornette & Lane are working babyface. Slow stalling to start with some amusing heel miscommunication and babyface near-miscommunication spots, and then Cornette and Curtis start to go at it and it's a total blast. Obviously Curtis is doing a lot of the work but it's really incredible how good Cornette's offense works and how good his timing is. This may be as impressive of a performance as Bobby Heenan vs. Buck Zumhoffe from Winnipeg--one of my favorite WTF matches with Heenan working on top the whole way throwing bombs. Curtis responds with a fucking plancha! And a killer dropkick! I know Curtis was a wrestler first but it's still fun to watch. Man, I so want to see babyface Cornette vs. heel Curtis in a singles match now. This was a total blast and, fun little closing stretch aside, if anything Lawler and Lane were superfluous.
  16. PeteF3
    Dustin can't drop the Dusty-speak soon enough for my liking. Dusty's promo is great, though. And yeah, it's absurd that WCW doesn't have a proper interview set. Really solid match, as Austin has come quite a ways in just a few months in getting a good long match out of the equally green Dustin. I groaned at another DQ when it looked like they were building to a perfectly acceptable time limit draw finish, but the finish itself was well-done.
  17. PeteF3
    These angles aren't the most well-executed or heated ever, but at least Luger is getting something to focus on as World Champion. I'm not sold on Simmons as a World title contender just yet. With the Dangerous Alliance on the horizon I have to say I'm seeing some light at the end of the tunnel as far as the quality of the WCW product goes.
  18. PeteF3
    Shades of gray! Both guys come off as reasonable even when they're slapfighting each other. After some controversial finishes and Light Heavyweight title switches, Dundee challenges Davis to a match with no pinfalls--submission or KO only. Davis in a suit with his facepaint on is a spectacular look.
  19. PeteF3
    Fun finish from the MSC, as Lawler dodges a powder toss from Reggie B. Fine and torches him with a fireball. A blinded Kong trips over a blinded, crawling Fine and gets rolled up for the pin, and Lawler regains the Unified World title. Lawler is out for his celebratory interview when the voice of Christopher "Honey" Love cuts into the PA--Love places the responsibility of the demise of the AWA and World Class on Lawler's shoulders for winning their respective titles and not defending them, costing him a job both times. Love has been waiting for 3 years to get revenge. He runs a tape hyping the arrival of the Dragon Master, a guy in a big white dragon mask, and whom Dave Brown claims is 7' 3". Lawler complains about the gaggle of freaks coming after his title, just as I was thinking that it seemed unfair that Kong and Dragon Master and the like get token runs with the World title (er...spoiler) and not Gilbert or Embry. Interesting angle even if it's another nothing geek heel gimmick. For verisimilitude purposes I do wish Love had been replaced by an evil Larry Nelson or Marc Lowrance, bringing somebody like the Russian Brute or Rod Price after Lawler.
  20. PeteF3
    DWB has been knocked out of the tag match and replaced by Jeff Jarrett. The action we see is tremendous with some great bumps by Jarrett. Some gratuitous man-on-woman violence follows as Jarrett bravely pounds Miss Texas into unconsciousness, allowing the White Girl to get the pin and score a haircut for Texas. Embry is incensed at the actions of the woman-beater Jarrett. Same match, same stipulation this Monday--except it's either a head-shaving or loser-leaves-town. And Miss Texas won't have any choice if she gets pinned. If I had to bet I would guess the USWA weasels out of this somehow, but I'm still anxious to see where this is going.
  21. PeteF3
    The big bomb drops. Okerlund does put over "the great Ric Flair" and wonders aloud why he'd need Bobby Heenan as an adviser. With the Jake heel turn and arrival of Flair the WWF suddenly feels revitalized, after a year and a half of a weak heel roster in comparison to the babyfaces. There will never be any mention of "NWA" or specifics about Flair's past during this, but for the WWF to acknowledge "another organization" and that Flair actually had a wrestling past and pedigree was nothing short of mind-blowing at the time. And yes, Flair's contract expired on 9/1. I'm a little surprised that the WWF was so open about bringing him in as early as mid-August. Seems like it could come off as tampering even if it was a virtual certainty if for no other reason than it was Flair's only realistic option for employment.
  22. PeteF3
    Jake is great here, as usual, but the cheesy Black Scorpion music and rapid jump cuts are what really kill this. Not to mention Warrior's horrendous acting after getting bit. Pretty incredible that the snakebite here, and its effects, gets almost no play at all in contrast to what will happen to Savage.
  23. PeteF3
    I dunno if that moonsault headbutt was what the Headhunter was going for, but a regular press would have worked a lot better. Fantasma looked good, especially for a big lucha musclehead, and Dos had a fun opening flurry, but there wasn't much to this. The fanboy after-the-fact overdubbed commentary was real, real distracting--and would have been moreso if I'd understood what they were saying.
  24. PeteF3
    Great match, possibly the best trios match of these two years. Everyone gets a chance to shine and while this is basically wrestled clean there's some jarring stiffness and hate here too, particularly when Cruz is in. Pierroth is a long way away from the big lumbering oaf I know him as--he works some pretty smooth exchanges here and shows off some agility as well. He and Dandy work a fine closing stretch in the third fall that sees Dandy get a pin, and then things peter out as the other two rudos bail for the COR.
  25. PeteF3
    Not one of the better camp segments the WWF has done when you compare it to the earlier Savage stuff or the Oktoberfest SNME. We get Abraham Lincoln and a guy that I only half-jokingly believe to be Jeff Gaylord wandering around among the other attendees. Gorilla's indignation over the Bushwhackers' choice of video ("THOSE AREN'T EVEN SHEEP!") is pretty funny. Bobby Heenan provides a belly dancer and Roddy Piper provides a stripper. And then we suddenly get a left turn as we cut to an angry Jake Roberts, who failed to get an invite. Jake cuts a creepy promo hyping the Warrior's final test--from this teaser it appears they're already writing off the Warrior for anything post-SummerSlam and already have plans for Jake vs. Sid. Gearshift angle!
×
×
  • Create New...