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PeteF3

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Everything posted by PeteF3

  1. PeteF3
    Kawada vs. Taue takes center stage here in a great little preview of what's to come between the two in '91. Kawada was still quite junior-y at the start of the year but is now pretty firmly entrenched as Misawa's #2. Misawa, Kobashi, and Kawada were all nowhere near ready to be promotional anchors at the start of the year and here they are at the end being their familiar '90s selves. I'm surprised at how hard the Misawa group was pushed in 1990--I guess they needed it, but it seems like most of the big matches against Tsuruta's team end with the young guys victorious.
  2. PeteF3
    I wonder what Steve Stevens' middle name is. I also wonder if Bruno actually has wrestled in India, South Africa, or South America.
  3. PeteF3
    They keep pushing an Albano/Tolos feud.
  4. PeteF3
    I can only add that I too was a lucha novice going into the Yearbook set--read about it, seen a few random bouts, that was it. I think I've taken to it like a fish to water, frankly. I love the technical stuff, love the brawls, and think Rayo vs. Caras is a low-level MOTYC and that's pretty much a "sports entertainment" match in every way. But...there are some really, really angle-heavy trios bouts on that set that can be confusing as heck, with multiple partners turning on each other. Also in general it seems like Satanico and El Dandy have turned technico and rudo multiple times in the span of 10 months. That makes me wary of even asking for background because I wouldn't expect even the most hardcore lucha fan to keep track of all that as frequently as it seems to happen. I read Spanish a whole lot better than I can listen to it, which makes me wish that CMLL TV was close-captioned to explain some of this.
  5. PeteF3
    Pretty telling that Windham is now inserted into this angle. Arn cuts a fired-up money promo. Ric Flair's face showing up on milk cartons has all the potential in the world, but on one hand it wouldn't neatly tie in with the Scorpion angle--it would make it seem like Long & Doom were in on it which I don't think should be the effect. ("So Peter, why not have ANYONE ELSE as the Black Scorpion?" Be quiet). Someone with more time on their hands than I needs to re-cut Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" video with pictures and dates for Flair, the Clash XIII fan who got turned into a leopard, and the handcuffed Bobby Heenan.
  6. PeteF3
    AWESOME segment on all levels. Flair as the talker, Long as the disgruntled passive-aggressive driver (with the do-rag still under the chauffeur's cap), Long trying to hide his face from other drivers...and then a total left turn when Long engineers a kidnapping! Doom show up, Long cuts a quick but awesome promo for Starrcade, and they make off with the Horsemen limo! This is seriously one of the 2 or 3 best WCW angles of the year. Entertaining as hell but it also pushes Long and Doom hard, as the Godfather outdoes Flair and the Horsemen at their own game.
  7. PeteF3
    I'm all for seeing Terri Runnels in a hot business suit but somehow WCW fucks that up, which is the only negative about this gimmick. Bizarrely, the Dirty White Girl pulled the look off better.
  8. PeteF3
    Rotunda turns down a children's charity request from a "Mr. Finkle in New York." Wallstreet has an all-seeing video monitor board consisting of stock tickers and activity as well as WCW wrestling (and, later, a Lou Holtz press conference). Oh yes. Then he stops to cut a promo on us, the viewer, while Ms. York takes notes. They don't even hide the fact that this guy is a Gordon Gekko ripoff as he straight-up lifts the catchphrase from Wall Street. York punches a few keys on multiple keyboards after being given the name "Lex Luger" and prints out a single sheet that's a perfect plan to defeat him. Random bar graphs and charts are present for verisimilitude, while a Jimmy Hart-esque knockoff of the Superman theme plays. Cheesy as all hell but oh so much fun. I don't know what separated this from WCW's other '90s attempts at sports entertainment--it could be Rotunda's commitment to the role, the fact that this apparently isn't far off from the way Rotunda is in real life, or the fact that this gimmick was the suggestion of one Tony Schiavone. This makes one nostalgic for the days when portable phones and computers could double as deadly weapons.
  9. PeteF3
    I know he had appearances for PWFG and Michinoku Pro but my only knowledge of Wilkins is as a WWF TV jobber with Vince audibly recoiling in disgust when he heard his name announced. I find it rather amusing that he turned out to be an accomplished shoot-style guy. I can see why Wilkins would be a divisive guy among other workers--he's clearly an accomplished technician but also seems to be a sandbagger. It doesn't detract from the match i this case as it just makes Kid look like he's got an even bigger hill to climb. Wilkins has some phenomenal takedowns and ghastly-looking holds, while Kid seems to legit knock himself silly on a missed dropkick in a way that goes beyond even Kid's great selling. Some moments that would clearly be finishes in the UWF are holds that the Kid fights through on his way to a 20-minute draw. Announcer calls it a "submission only match" after the fact but the referee was clearly counting pinfalls. Another feather in the cap of the Kid, who looks like the most promising athlete you'll ever see in wrestling for being this much of a pro at age 18. U.S. match of the month, hands down.
  10. PeteF3
    A few stray clips of Long in the background would be one thing, but to not even fucking edit out the blinking prominent close-ups of him...good Lord.
  11. PeteF3
    I'll admit, a rogue referee attacking Sting is kind of cool. It's the first single redeeming moment in this entire putrid saga. The babyfaces look like the biggest dumbasses alive, going after the rail-jumpers and completely ignoring the ref choking out Sting. We get Clash footage that I already exhausted everything there is to say about. Then more footage of Scorpion rambling over the PA. Dueling promos. Enough of this already. Sting finally gets around to selling something--either the title changes hands or the Scorpion unmasks. Between WCW and Florida, you could probably fill a full-length "Gordon Solie calls ridiculous shit" comp.
  12. PeteF3
    Good match, but that's sheer lunacy. There was actually more hate and fire to this than in the previous Arn/Taylor match, despite that match's hot start. Some good nutty bumps from Rogers as well as some quality stooging. Taylor had some crisp offense to offer but was more or less along for the ride.
  13. PeteF3
    No, he's conflating Nick Patrick and Mike Atkins (the ref here). Or possibly ESPN announcer Mike Patrick. These WGN editions of Pro are almost the definition of "phoned in." Pity we didn't get Lance & the Freebirds' call of this series. The match itself starts super-hot and sort of bogs down into my turn/your turn stuff, which is a bit of a disappointing contrast to the first two matches which came off as true struggles. And we get a super-lame payoff as Doom ruins things for everybody. Was it that necessary to keep Taylor protected here? Maybe a pinfall job here would have rendered him incompatible with Alexandra York's computerized scouting database.
  14. PeteF3
    Nobody delivers exposition in promo form like Jerry Lawler. And it's a UNIFIED WORLD TITLE, dammit. All-Japan is merely taking advantage of the USWA open-door policy.
  15. PeteF3
    I found an Observer where Dave speculated that Black Magic was Mike Awesome. Hard to say, but it's quite possible. Joey Maggs is now Joseph Magliano, experiences the greatest moment of his life by being invited into the Memphis Mafia. After yet another great promo from Gilbert, Jamie comes out to "Ice Ice Baby" and Gilbert and Lowe generously declare this a Southern title match. Dundee gets in a few moves but lands wrong on a leapfrog and is decisively--in spite of some interference from Sam Lowe--beaten.
  16. PeteF3
    After reviewing the footage of Demolition's recent intrusion into the Legion of Doom-Orient Express matchup, it is the decision of Tunney's office that Mr. Fuji, the former manager of Demolition, exercised undue influence and breach of ethics by instigating the aforementioned intrusion. Therefore, he is taking the following action: - Effective immediately, Demolition is on probation. - Furthermore, Demolition will be limited to two and only two members. Never again will there be 3 members of Demolition anywhere, any time. - And finally, as perpetrators of Demolition's heinous and unforgivable actions, it is Tunney's ruling that Mr. Fuji and the Orient Express must fulfill Demolition's obligations to face the Legion of Doom. Mr. Fuji will team up with the Orient Express to face the Legion of Doom in a handicap tag team match. It's not a good sign for the LOD's career trajectory that they've gone from feuding with Demolition to going around the horn with the Orient Express.
  17. PeteF3
    Anticlimactic finish, even though Paul E. was smartly hammering how Flair needed to put this away early due to his grueling Clash match. Not a great match but a worthwhile curiosity. The opening mirror spot and Landell swiping Flair's mid-match catchphrase were the highlights.
  18. PeteF3
    Overwrought and not as good as the first promo, but still a vast improvement on his stuff earlier in the year. I'm not sure that Warrior's problems as company ace weren't inherent and unfixable, but having this feud come first, booked similarly, would have given him a much better start out of the gate. Would have been win-win, too, as Savage would have gotten out from under the suffocating Dusty feud.
  19. PeteF3
    First time I saw this "new" Rose was at a February house show, also against Tugboat (who had already been profiled in WWF Magazine as "Tugboat Thomas" but may not have been on TV yet himself). I was in complete disbelief. The match itself was one of the greatest smoke-and-mirrors performances I've ever seen, as Rose pulled out every stooging trick in his arsenal--challenging Tugboat to one-arm push-ups, trying to do a test of strength and having to climb the ropes to do it, etc.--to get a watchable match out of the Tugster. Oh yeah...this. They certainly struck gold in landing an annoyingly perky announcer. Why do I get the feeling that Vince's favorite part of this was "1-800-LAR-DASS"?
  20. PeteF3
    Warrior cuts his first legitimately, outright GOOD promo of this yearbook. He comes off as a high-strung human being instead of a total loonball, and is well-focused on the match at hand. Too little too late but I begrudgingly give him credit for effort. All due praise to DiBiase but this is the Warrior's best overall performance of the yearbook. This may not have been as good as the WM6 match but I'm guessing this didn't have Pat Patterson carefully laying it out, either. Warrior keeps up with DiBiase as best he can, executes what he does well, gives DiBiase a good amount of offense though it doesn't ever quite seem like Warrior's in danger of losing, and the long drawn-out Hulk-Up was nicely done. Virgil breaks up a pin--nice to see DiBiase protected. Warrior quickly overpowers Virgil but leaves himself open to a Savage attack. Savage and Sherri take turns pounding the crap out of Warrior with the scepter while Savage drops from the turnbuckle over a bevy of referees and suits. Afterward, Warrior slowly and painfully climbs to his feet. Before that, during his failed attempts, he had the look of a truly beaten man. I don't get what took the WWF so long to realize that being human enhanced the Warrior character rather than detracted from it. It didn't hurt Hogan that there was (kayfabe) legitimate doubt over whether he could continue wrestling after the Earthquake attack--it just made him more relatable. Savage reveals that he took a "royal payment" after the match. A Savage/DiBiase alliance at this point would be the most badass thing ever.
  21. PeteF3
    Tito getting in on this was about the coolest feature of this match to me. In all their years in the same company I think this is the one and only Hulk/Tito team, or the only one on any kind of stage. The opponents are no match for the power of Hulkamania, Warrior Wildness, and Arribaderci. Yes. Tito even gets in a token pinfall on Warlord to open. Pretty bad match otherwise. The Grand Finale was better in concept than in execution. It's an admirable attempt to equate Hogan and the Warrior, and this is about as close as they came since WM6 to successfully pulling that off.
  22. PeteF3
    Looks absolutely highbrow compared to some of the stuff being passed off as wrestling at the Clash. Piper and Monsoon seem like they should get some credit here, too.
  23. PeteF3
    In addition to that I'm not sure where you put him. He could obviously have replaced Perfect, but then you have to protect him from jobbing to the Warrior and then you have to get Perfect onto the Natural Disasters and then move Kerry to the Hulkamaniacs, and, and, and... Okerlund prods Savage about hiding behind Sherri. UNBELIEVABLY WRONG YOU ARE.
  24. PeteF3
    Almost forgot: the original Million $ Team, a photo that was just recently unearthed on wwe.com. Wonder if that adds credence to the rumor of Mark Callous debuting as "The Eggman." Bad News vs. Koko was apparently going to be an actual program--Bad News' sewer rats vs. Frankie. Wonder why Bad News quit?
  25. PeteF3
    Good pre-match promo from DiBiase. Jimmy Hart again gets nothing to do. Eliminations all throughout this show are go-go-go style because of the extra match and Gooker segment, so we get some oddball things like Ted pinning Neidhart after one clothesline. Undertaker basically no-sells everything, tombstones Koko into oblivion, does a solo ropewalk to eliminate Dusty, then gets counted out himself for protection. He was clearly being positioned as a top name from the beginning. Bret gets a bunch of great near-falls on DiBiase before Ted gets a clean victory himself.
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