PeteF3
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This is Mr. Steven Keirn, Florida by way of Memphis. He cannot be seen. Now, I'm going to ask Mr. Keirn to come out and cut a wrestling promo. Mr. Keirn, would you stand up please? *BANG* Python referencing aside, these vignettes can get old even when DiBiase and IRS and Rude are the ones doing them. As good as Keirn was on the stick in Memphis it doesn't seem like he's as comfortable in character as they were. At the risk of having to dodge some tomatoes, this gimmick seems dead in the water.
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Man, if you're an armdrag fetishist this is your dream match. All others, meh. There's kind of a weird dynamic throughout with the Guerreros constantly double- and triple-teaming and the Brazos objecting, leading to confusion over precisely whom the rudos are supposed to be. The closing stretch finally makes this worth watching, with a few good triple near-falls and Eddie performing an absolutely spectacular springboard dive that seemingly goes halfway into the floor seating. And I'll never stop loving the dive train build with Super Porky inevitably being the last one for the climactic big fat man dive. I thought the climax of this worked just fine even if it didn't descend into a brawl. It was the first two falls that failed to hold my attention. Chavo in particular has fallen off badly.
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This was good but not one of the premier 6-mans in this rivalry. Jumbo's indignant shoving of Kawada is a highlight, and they book a semi-surprise finish--with Kikuchi and Ogawa in there you'd think the main suspense would be which of those two takes the fall. Instead, Jumbo uses some trickery to keep Misawa in the ring long enough to backdrop him into defeat. -
A fucking piledriver and dropkick in PWFG! This is about as broad and theatrical as this style will ever get--the shootstyle version of a big bomb-throwing fest a la All-Japan, with killer suplexes and mat counters in place of power bombs and headdrops. As soon as I see Sano in a bloody brawl he'll have possibly matched El Dandy when it comes to mastering multiple disparate styles.
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Writing off a UK vacation as a business expense? Just guessing. Hope his ex-tag partner doesn't find out if that's the case. Here's the angle with Heenan storming off Challenge, for anyone interested.
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This was the least of the matches in this series so far. This featured the worst of Doc & Gordy sitting around in holds and it's compounded by the natives doing a lot of the same. Then we get Kawada knocked out on the floor but not a whole lot of urgency or feeling of danger when Misawa is down 2-on-1. The leg work does pay off nicely when Misawa gets a hot tag later on, and the attempted "stop myself with my foot from hitting the corner" backfires. This picks up from there, with a nice quick pace and Kawada getting another chance to shine. Misawa pins Gordy again, but with the fluky nature of the pinfall itself and this being a tag title change, the feeling of an upset is still there.
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Oh man, if the rest of the match had lived up to that first fall, this would be a serious MOTYC. The first fall was the world's greatest Survivor Series showcase of monsters and freakshows, but in a New Japan setting with the workrate to match and an insane crowd. Big fat guys moving around quickly--what I love about pro wrestling and what thrives in these multi-man environments. Unfortunately we get diminishing returns with each subsequent fall, with Hash sort of anticlimactically kicking Samu and a dogpile cover for the victory--a finish that belongs in the middle of an All-Japan battle royal more than a big multi-man tag. All the foreigners pulled their weight and Muto was probably the standout guy for the natives here, working some really long and complicated sequences.
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Unique atmosphere here but not a match that held my attention. Not to beat the "___ by numbers" phrase to death but that's all that comes to mind. Embry uses a foreign object, does his usual moves, Lawler does his usual comeback, copout finish with Embry decking the referee and leaving.
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The WWF has and HAS ALWAYS had the most extensive drug testing program for all professional sports. I'm surprised Vince was able to force himself to compare his company to just sports leagues and not the Entertainment™ Industry as a whole.
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Sarge by numbers. Okerlund drops the announcement of SummerSlam's guest referee: Sid Justice. He'd appeared in quick vignettes and also they had various babyfaces and heels both talking up how Sid was on their side, so "Justice" name change aside they were trying to create ambiguity as to which alignment he'd be. This may be his first appearance in front of a live TV audience, though.
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I actually thought the match petered out right at the end--I got a "that's it?" vibe when Vader got the 3-count. This probably peaked with Hash's big armbar takedown, actually. But the striking and chop-down-the-tree stuff and a lot of Hash's armwork was all pretty great.
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All that, and this match began with something like ten minutes of satellite time left. The Steiners are still billed as WCW World Tag Champions even though Scott is out and will be out for another five months. Missy gets kidnapped--I get the real-life reasons for this, but you'd think Paul E.'s strategery would involve taking RICK out and leaving Missy 2-on-1. Rick wins in about 2 minutes. Paul E. actually worked hard here for what this was, but...geez. What a miserable environment. The Battle of the R'nR Express was a fun surprise but this show truly lived down to its reputation.
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Schiavone has been on fire with the historical references tonight, both in the Rock 'n Roll Express match and in the pre-match here. Ross starts blabbing about Luger's background and a rogue technician cuts him off. "Barry Windam" on the pre-match graphic--oh, WCW. The opening to this is pretty bad, with a lot of slow resets and restarts that don't accomplish anything because this was a match with no build. It picks up, about when Windham performs a nifty counter to the torture rack, and when the match is just getting hot we get Race and Mr. Hughes appearing, and then one piledriver ends Luger's 3-year chase in incredibly anticlimactic fashion. Why didn't Luger piledrive him earlier, then? The Luger turn may have been more effective with Race or Hughes actively interfering, but since what little hype there was for this show basically promised a definitive conclusion inside of a cage, I guess they had to avoid killing the gimmick off entirely. BruiserBrody's Windham shoot review suggests the turn was in fact last-minute--and a pre-PPV Observer indicates that Luger vs. Hughes was actually in the cards to main event Halloween Havoc. It certainly comes across that way. This match isn't terrible but the weak first half and ending prevent it from being truly good, and the fact that Luger only won the title after Flair was stripped of it does no favors to his Buffalo Bills reputation.
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Just the post-match, with Sting getting heat back after losing. Man, what an awful PPV run the one-time future of the company has had in '91--lost to Muta, ate the fall against the Steiners, lost to Nikita. Replay conclusively shows that Koloff touched the fourth corner as he was being Stinger Splashed.
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I remember Scott Keith's old review of this show, where he slagged off on this match for being "90% Morton working over the knee," I guess because he had to fit in this all-encompassing Worst PPV Ever narrative. Well, I don't think this show needed additional help. This match was a real surprise and every bit as vicious as you'd want out of a grudge match between ex-partners. We get some token flashy quick-paced offense to start, but with Gibson having been on the shelf with a legit injury for 6 months, there was no other logical way for this match to go. And by the way this may be the performance of Robert Gibson's life. As Morton slips into life as a heel, Gibson does a Morton-esque turn as an injured sympathy babyface. Now the finish I didn't much care for--after all that work over the knee I would have preferred a.) Morton to whack Gibson in the kneecap with the computer, leading to either a submission or more likely a ref stoppage, or b.) Gibson to get a sustained run of near-falls, forcing Morton and York to go to desperate tactics. Instead, it just came off as, "The finish is Morton using the computer."
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Not only do they dub this "Skywalkers II," but they have the nerve to announce that a team can win by knocking an opponent 20 feet down knowing full well that no one will be taking the bump. Does Taylor's presence here make any sense at all? WCW's mid-card was a total mess...of course, so was the tag division and so was the main event division. This match naturally sucks and on top of things the finish is completely and horribly botched. Eaton captures the flag, walks 3/4 of the way back to his end, THEN Lady Blossom hands her aerosol can to Austin and Eaton stupidly walks back over so he can get sprayed. Then the flag falls to the ring. Then we meander for a little bit. Then Gary Capetta announces Eaton & News as the winners. Then Taylor takes a bump into the ring. Then the announcer's mics give out. Unbelievable.
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Skinner tells us how he enjoys letting nearly-skinned animals back into the wild so their skin can grow back and he can skin 'em again.
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THE MOTHER OF ALL WRESTLING WARS. Yeah. This is okay as last-minute damage control but this show seems doomed before it starts.
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"What a bout--what a night! The Great American Bash!" I know WCW was in an incredibly tough spot here but Herd couldn't possibly have believed what he was telling us in that announcement. Good promo from Luger who's in a similarly tough spot. One thing these two Yearbooks have made clear is that Luger absolutely had the goods to be a worthy World Champion--or, at minimum, he was as deserving of a run as Sting.
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I'm not sure if Pedicino's talk about the "light heavyweight style" winning out in a tournament over heavyweights makes any sense, but it's a good way of getting over a brand-new concept to most U.S. audiences of this time. They didn't have the past history to draw off of that they did in the PWA, so this functioned as more of a greatest-hits, preview version of their match-up. They work the mat, they actually set up the often-contrived "side suplex into spinning headscissors" spot effectively, and Kid hits an incredible dive from the turnbuckle to the interview set. And that was set up by a nifty counter on the floor where Kid picked Lynn up in a fireman's carry and dropped him facefirst on the apron. This is the Sportatorium, not Sumo Hall, so the finish is Kid smacking Lynn with a foreign object to take the Light Heavyweight title. Kid clarifies afterward that he'd been on a diet to make weight for the tourney and thus had to adjust his tights. I do think Waltman's size was going to hinder him from ever being at a top level that his natural talent and ring instincts may have merited. That he was in the WWF less than two years after this match should probably be taken as a triumph in and of itself.
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Oh, Kimberly definitely has an appeal about her when she's not talking. Randy Hales (?) stoically talking about "upper hand leverage" as these two chicks claw at each other is rather amusing. Dirty White Boy fights off Tom Prichard and he and the White Girl gingerly set Miss Texas into a mudbath for the victory. The White Girl/Tessa feud was better than this.
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I do remember Bob Smith. At a time when the Big Two were floundering, it was USWA coverage that kept me buying Apter mags. Weekly title changes, outrageous gimmick matches, blood, the Moondogs...it was like reading about wrestling on another planet for me. Lawler is presented with a picture of himself, Jim White, and Sam Bass in Lawler's very early days of wrestling. Lawler clarifies that Leatherface assaulted Lawler before their Monday night match and busted him open. This sets up another Lawler/Leatherface match and Lawler seems to be getting to the point that his mask will be on the line when Leatherface and his chainsaw make their appearance. The chainsaw dies and once again Leatherface is about to break down crying. Soon it's Lawler, Jarrett, and Fuller against Embry, Leatherface, and Prichard, but then the Barroom Brawlers overwhelm the babyfaces, but they're followed by Dundee and the DWB. Good segment, would have had more impact if Leatherface had done a more effective job on the desk and the picture.
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Holy crap, Embry just keeps topping himself. Instead of his usual screaming act, Embry is calm and collected in the wake of a controversial UTC defeat at the hands of Lawler, which somehow makes him more dangerous. Embry conclusively establishes that Dave Brown and all of the USWA brass don't like him, and then he brings out Paul Neighbors and asks why he called for a blood stoppage. Embry is incredulous that Neighbors was looking out for his well-being and in a "holy shit" segment goes all Bernard Shaw/Michael Dukakis on Neighbors, asking if Neighbors would intervene on a police officer beating on a burglar who had shot his kids and had his way with his wife. Embry demands that Neighbors never worry about his welfare again, so to ensure Neighbors' hatred he decks him and cuts off that ridiculous ponytail. Eddie Marlin physically yanks Embry off of Neighbors before the haircutting can continue, and Embry calls him out on his promise to fight Embry if he touches him again. Embry makes the challenge: Neighbors and Marlin in a 2-on-1 handicap match against Embry, with all three men's hair on the line. Neighbors is fine with this since he'll have a partner, and eventually Embry browbeats Marlin into accepting the challenge as well...with the caveat that Embry will also be fired if he loses! Marlin and Brown were both really good here--incidentally Brown should be a cinch shoo-in for Announcer of the Year the way things are going, since Ross and WCW have dropped off so badly. But, even after I've said it for several of his last few promos, this is Embry's best heel promo to date and maybe his best, period. The low-key Embry, whether threatening Skandor Akbar or trying to get answers out of Paul Neighbors, is exponentially more compelling and threatening than Embry the screamer. His various reactions to Eddie Marlin's comments--wisecracks at Marlin's experience, laughter, and the look of shock at the final added stip before regaining his composure--are all outstanding. This is the Memphis Segment of the Year so far, hands down.
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"YEAH, READING GLASSES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH." Oh my God, Savage is absolutely priceless here, acting exactly like Savage always does regardless of the setting. Heenan envisions a future in which Savage is washing dishes while arguing with Charlie Brown's schoolteacher. Yeah, that took kayfabe, put a bullet in its head, ran it over with a steamroller, and dumped the body in a swamp...but I think Savage could easily take Jerry Lawler in a phone book-reading contest. Savage's baseball background is brought up for maybe the first time ever on TV, and Monsoon asks if he's "touched all the bases in this situation." And it being Gorilla, I can't tell if that has any double-meaning at all or not. Gorilla and Bobby both antagonize Randy about the possibilities of a wedding interruption, or Liz walking out herself for a better offer (Bobby: "Donald Trump's single"). Another standout performance from Savage, who's been thriving in almost any setting heel or babyface, main eventer or mid-card.
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Gorilla Monsoon has taken Vince's place on the Prime Time set. On the negative side, Vince's spectacular wardrobe is gone and this is probably a sign that the live audience ship is sinking. On the other hand, it's Bobby and Gorilla on Prime Time--the way it should be. Jim was long finished as a wrestler so who knows that this segment was supposed to get over. Hillbilly dedicates a song to Randy and Liz and for God's sake, Jim, tune your guitar before you start playing it.