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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 For verisimilitude purposes I do wish Love had been replaced by an evil Larry Nelson or Marc Lowrance, bringing somebody like the Russian Brute or Rod Price after Lawler.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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!
  10. PeteF3
    Blah blah Attitude Adjustment blah blah Total Package blah blah arrived. These interviews aren't bad, and Luger/Race/Hughes aren't a bad combination, but this heel turn is still coming off as an anticlimax. Dangerously editorializes about Luger's greatness, and...does he really expect us to buy that no one has ever given him credit for his intelligence before? Did Paul E. zone out every time he called a Luger match with Jim Ross?
  11. PeteF3
    Seeing the growth of Chono in this tournament has been an experience, from his heatless, underwhelming match against Choshu to a guy who looks ready to carry the company on his back. The work in the AJPW 6-man may have been a bit stronger overall, but that match simply didn't have the stakes that this one had--it was a routine 6-man that happened to be longer and better than the others. This, more than anything in 1990, seemed to signal the arrival of a new era in New Japan. Choshu and Fujinami have their place but they're shunted to the background here and throughout the tournament as a whole. At this point I'm actually digging New Japan more than AJPW for the year, which I never would have expected a year ago. Sadly I don't think New Japan heavies will quite reach this high again on a consistent basis while there's still more All-Japan greatness to come. Close call but I have to put this as the #1 MOTY.
  12. PeteF3
    I admit--I'm liking this tournament, I really am. But this stretch of the Yearbook with all these big NJPW matches right after the other has not been the easiest portion of these two Yearbooks to get through. Aside from the Chono/Choshu match that I didn't care for the matches have all been good to fantastic, but with all the Climax action as well as a comparably long lucha title match I was nonetheless thrilled to see Dave Brown and Gene Okerlund and Lex Luger, among others, to provide a break. Throw in some long, horrible hours at work and there have been several days this week where planned Yearbook viewing got axed. That's an incredibly roundabout way of saying that these matches may be bleeding together or the stop-start nature of my viewing may be clouding my judgment, because my first reaction is that Mutoh-Vader's run as the possible New Japan MOTY has run into a brick wall already. I liked this better than that match as well as the earlier draw. Chono comes off as the toughest motherfucker alive, getting kicked to death by Hash but having enough wits to work over Hash's leg to provide the opening when he needs it. Chono's dropkick that takes Hash's leg out is a great way to spur a comeback, and Choshu's earlier submission has made the STF into the deadliest submission in the country--and its legend grows with the finish here.
  13. PeteF3
    Patriot whiffs on the Patriot Missile and hurts his shoulder, so Buddy Landell takes the opportunity to cost Chris Walker the match against him so he can feast on the injured Patriot in the TV Title tournament final. Landell takes apart Patriot's shoulder and is such a jackass here, strutting around the ring and nonchalantly crossing his legs on the pin attempts. Good work in the figure four and then Landell uses the ropes one too many times and Patriot gets in a rollup for the pin. Good match with incredible heat, the loudest the Sportatorium has been since Kerry Von Erich was there. Patriot comes off as cheesy when working the crowd but the guy is over. Patriot's promo is pretty good, coming off as a tough no-excuses guy rather than an asskissing gladhander. Patriot certainly had a good look but came at a time when masked wrestlers were passe in the U.S. and when patriot gimmicks in general were doing the same, even in the wake of a war. He was a great athlete and looks to be an underrated promo to boot, but the looseness of his offense always has stood out to me, particularly in All-Japan but in the U.S. as well. Obviously that's low on the list of what makes a big star in the States but it's one of a few things that was working against him.
  14. PeteF3
    The Cox and Lane tandem reaches its inevitable conclusion, as Cox refuses to allow Lane to use the tennis racket, and he gets dropkicked into Lane and pinned and knocked out of the Global Tag Title tournament. Lane and Cornette lay Cox out with the racket afterward--surprised they were even allowed to show racket shots. Johnson talks about how disgusting this is moments after describing Cornette's attack in terms of tennis terminology. Cornette complains about getting saddled with Steve Cox afterward and starts pushing Lane as a singles wrestler. We need to savor every moment of Cornette that we get on these yearbooks. Supposedly the WWF was interested in having Cornette as manager to Ric Flair and I'm baffled as to how that, or Cornette coming in to take over for Heenan, never came off.
  15. PeteF3
    They're pushing the "Attitude Adjustment" down our throats as Luger's new finish. Luger with words towards Ron Simmons--I think this is premature to put Simmons in this spot but at least they're attempting to build a challenger.
  16. PeteF3
    Good studio match that makes you want to see this in a full arena setting, be it the Pipkin Building, MSC, or Sportatorium. Predictable finish as Eric Embry runs in for the DQ, and they take a page from the Jumbo Tsuruta playbook (as all Memphis heels do) and drop Anthony's knee onto a chair. They continue to work over the knee with Tojo's Texas flag before Jeff Jarrett makes the save. Miss Texas tries to attack Jarrett and she gets a punch to the face for it! Well, at least they tried to justify it this time. Strong segment all-around from the match to the post-match attack.
  17. PeteF3
    Jerry Lawler throws fire at Leatherface, and his apron catches on fire! That's an easy finish for Lawler and a wild sight. Dave Brown is in the WMC parking lot interviewing Jerry Lawler, burning marshmallows and burgers over a barbecue as a metaphor for what's going to happen to new Unified World Champion Awesome Kong and Reggie B. Fine. It'll be a title match as well as Lawler's hair against Fine's fur coat. Yeah, fairly odd in a kayfabe sense that Awesome Kong is a threat to get Lawler to put up his hair and not Embry, or Gilbert. Lawler burns a faceshot of Reggie B. Fine as an exclamation point for this promo.
  18. PeteF3
    Eddie Marlin thanks everyone for Homecoming '91--the return of the USWA to the Mid-South Coliseum. The USWA also now has all wrestlers under an open contract, which eliminates a bureaucratic step in signing matches. He announces a lights-out match between the Dirty White Boy & Girl against Eric Embry & Miss Texas--no disqualifications, no time limit, loser of the fall gets their head shaved! That's a pretty big-sounding match that I hope is not an excuse for another copout on the stips. Embry is incensed, threatening to literally kill Marlin if something happens to him. Now a plaque from the Mid-South Coliseum celebrating the USWA's return to the building--evidently the issues over the rent and the parking fees and the concessions have been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Even in the legitimate office setting with presumably legitimate executives I'm halfway expecting/hoping to see Leatherface run out and take a chainsaw to the plaque.
  19. PeteF3
    I'm a fan of working multiple programs at once but this business of Warrior going through this "training" and also hyping SummerSlam doesn't work at all. It could work easily, if the hype wasn't around Sid Justice and instead around the problems of whether Warrior is reliable in his current state, but I guess the WWF can only work so many storylines into a match at once. Jake regales us with how the Warrior now trusts him, and then we see Warrior digging a grave to what appears to be Hell, judging by the orange light down there. Warrior comes across the skull of poor Yorick--and now Jake says he has to bury the Warrior so he can bury his fear. Warrior is now much more enthusiastic about going along with this than he was about laying in the casket. This somehow was simultaneously the best and most bizarre of these segments.
  20. PeteF3
    Hogan and Warrior make threats towards Sid Justice, if he fails to referee the match down the middle.
  21. PeteF3
    Despite not being a fan of his at all, Mutoh has forced his way into strong Wrestler of the Year contention. Absolutely fantastic desperate, hit-and-run tactics from Mutoh, who takes some sick offense from Vader, in front of a psychotic crowd. The near-falls don't feel self-conscious here at all, even when both guys eat the other's finishers and kick out. You just get more involved in the match, wondering what could possibly put the other away. There was so much big offense here right from the start that the match length feels just right. With no feeling-out process or slowdowns, it stands to reason that such a match isn't going to go 25+. This won't win MOTYC over the big All-Japan six-man but it's a top 5 contender.
  22. PeteF3
    Oh, good, it wasn't just me. "Good but not MOTYC" is exactly how I felt watching it, and that's not a fair standard to judge it a disappointment as a result, but knowing that this was a title match and the rep of both guys, somehow I expected more than just a really good match. The finishes to the first two falls may not have even been there, as they come off as rushed and perfunctory--"let's get this shit to the third fall." On Classics there's a thread detailing how a lot of older vets didn't like 2/3 fall matches--all-time greats who worked a lot of them, too, like Jack Brisco and Buddy Rose. There have been lots of fantastic matches of that type but I think you can see the downsides of the stip here. They ran through a lot of offense with a ton of near-falls at the end, and there were some great struggles like Atlantis getting out of Panther's backbreaker/surfboard thingy only to nearly get pinned when Panther reverses his reversal. But even then, all the near-falls honestly came off as ROH-style, 2.9 wrestling overkill. I also picked up on the announcers gushing over what a great, important, legendary, epic title match this was like Michael Cole beating us over the head about "WrestleMania Moments," and that didn't help me either. This was really pushed hard by everyone involved as the Lucha Match of the Year which means I have to hold it to higher standards, and it simply wasn't.
  23. PeteF3
    Yeah, bad match, with even Tenryu turning in a subpar performance. I know it was their big finish, but man did Tenryu go down really absurdly easy here. I'd have thought Hara would have at least gotten a pin save in. The quasi-swerve Tenryu job is the only worthwhile thing about this.
  24. PeteF3
    Great job of putting over both guys, not just in the context of the tournament but knowing that this rivalry is going to be carrying the New Japan heavyweights in the months and years to come. Chono pays Hashimoto back for everything he does to him and Hash gets to survive the STF that put Choshu down. One can generally call a lot of time limit draws in advance but I didn't get that vibe here at all until the last few minutes when you started hearing more rapid time calls.
  25. PeteF3
    Good opening and good ending with sort of a soft middle. Muto going all out at the start was great but the Fujinami control portion seemed lacking. It didn't really bother me or seem noticeable in the match with Vader but this did feel more like Fujinami was along for the ride than a great match between equals. This was the first time I've ever seen the "repeated pinfall attempts" series actually pay off with a win, so that was nice to see. A big "in with the new" feel to this tournament so far.
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