tcg91

I got this as 1988-09-24. For a dying territory, this had such a great feeling and a good crowd. Kerry was an amazing babyface and Lawler did very well as a heel, selling Kerry's punches like they were bombs and using his infamous stalling in the right way, as he tried (and at times failed) to stay away from Kerry's claw. This was a solid performance with an enjoyable crescendo later on, apart from the piledriver no-selling that I very much disliked. This had the classic unification match non-finish, as they both got tired of the referee's antics. ***1/2

This was incredible. Morgan was the star of the show and bloodied Dandy right from the beginning, getting over as a ruthless rudo, drinking and spitting the blood of his opponent. While his heat segment was awesome, I can't help but roll my eyes at how Morgan refused to win the match on a couple of occasions; that is not heel behaviour, that is silly behaviour, as his hair were on the line too. Of course, this later on triggered Dandy's comeback and it was a rather feisty one, a captivating eye for eye as Dandy finally drew blood from Morgan as well. The terceira caida was long and satisfying, with a good amount of nearfalls, I just wish the referee wasn't so slow at counting. ****

Another solid match from this pairing, pretty much on the same level of their July bout. Both Kawada and Fuyuki acted extra aggressive, trying to regain the titles back, but the champions seemed to be more level headed and in control. Good heat segment on Fuyuki's leg, setting up Kawada's later comeback with a few great strikes, showing a hint of what he had in him. Cool and believable finish, as Fuyuki's leg fell during a bridge that almost costed him the match, before his desperate cradle ended up working. ***1/4

Another great NJPW elimination match from the 80s, this time not putting NJPW/UWF or different generations against each others. The juniors got to shine a lot at the beginning, with crisp and exciting action from Yamada and Koshinaka, while the big boys cleared the house. Choshu and Fujinami had an amazing battle, full of heat and elimination teases. Fujinami made Saito bleed tons, despite the shocking finish with the rope elimination that was really well executed. ****

A strong 10 minutes bout, with plenty of awesome punches and Starr bleeding all over the place from the very beginning. #3 was seriously underrated, even though the 80s were filled with great brawlers everywhere, he had lots of charisma and all of his stuff looked lethal. I didn't really care for the finish, #3 sold a whiplash like a big deal, but an elbow from Starr looked like a weak way to get a pinfall. ***1/4

Amazing match, only 24 hours after their previous one. Tenryu and Hara focused on Jumbo's leg once again, as it worked well the previous night, and this time Jumbo was prepared for it, but still fell prey to a lot of their attacks. Hara was decisive here, as he knew he had to step in more often and promptly helped Jumbo when needed, so the heat segment didn't feel as tense for him and Jumbo fought from underneath with a bad leg. Big climax for Jumbo's final comeback and unleashing his backdrops on Tenryu until he couldn't take anymore, with another satisfying clean finish in the middle of the ring.. ****1/4

This was a great match, that had an enjoyable crescendo and was never boring, apart from a handful of minutes in the central part, where I felt things were not clicking when the champions were on top of things. It is actually a very small flaw, as they still went 30 minutes. Apart from that, they did little to no wrong, quickly stepping this up with a very good focus on Jumbo's historical bad leg. This also had the best Jumbo vs Tenryu final face-off (so far), with a rare flashy pin from Tenryu, after a couple of strong nearfalls. ****

This was a blast, 10/12 minutes with little to no downtime and a good crowd. Demolition was underrated in terms of match leading, they put on a solid performance and it worked well, also thanks to the challengers selling their stuff big time, especially a very generous Bret. Neidhart got an energetic hot tag, and holy crap, he was probably the most motivated I've ever seen him as a babyface on fire. Good bulls*it finish to screw the babyfaces, wrapping up a good bout. ***1/2

Slightly clipped. I liked the way Yamazaki seemed even more of an underdog due to his previous UWF losses, as Takada was trying to bully him and used a few cheap kicks to gain advantage. The legwork by Takada and Yamazaki's selling was some of the most consistent I have seen in the UWF, it was real good stuff. I would have actually limited the use of kicks from Yamazaki, due to what happened in the bulk of the match, but he had such a good desperation comeback that they made it look believable, topping it with a satisfying finish. ***3/4

This was billed as Inoki's last title shot and presented as a big deal. This match was amazing for about 45 minutes, before they got too tired and visibly lost some steam. Great, progressive pace with exhaustion selling and a lot of struggle on the mat, putting emphasis on countering holds and telling a story of Fujinami now being the top star and more driven, after his different attitude towards his mentor in their 1985 match. Inoki sold Fujinami's leg work in a very compelling way and, despite never giving up, used all of his arsenal in vain. The time limit was a questionable finish, as people expected Inoki to pass the torch, but at least it was an excellent match and story, because it was centered on Fujinami kicking out of Inoki's stuff repeatedly, rather than the other way around; the focus wasn't on Fujinami not defeating the legend, but the legend failing to dethrone the top guy. ****1/2

Their blowoff and a great match. Inoki did a good job at elevating Vader's threat and dominance by giving him most of the match, yet finding a weakness in his arm and holding on it desperately, it looked like the only chance Inoki had to win this. Great exhaustion selling by Vader, as he slowed down progressively and started suffering Inoki's holds more and more as time went on and he made a few rookie mistakes. The steel post's spot with the blood was very creative and visually effective, as it led to Inoki finally locking in the right hold for such a satisfying finish. ****

A great match and a great angle, establishing Tenryu as the underdog from the beginning, as Hansen attacked him on the aisle and made him bleed. Great pummelling on the cut by the gaijin, while Tenryu refused to stop the match and it took him minutes to see a dramatic and short-lived comeback. Awesome never-say-die performance by Tenryu, and the end was awesome despite being a non-finish, as Tenryu took a crazy bump and couldn't crawl back into the ring on time. ****

I don't mind shorter matches, and it is generally quite smart to book one during a tournament to advance a hot feud, but this was a bit underwhelming despite a hot start that separated this from a 'regular' longer match. Inoki had an answer for all of Choshu's tactics, creating a decent flow, but this never seriously picked up and they both seemed a bit off. Good finishing spot, as Inoki was protected despite Choshu decapitating him with two lariats. **3/4

A decent match, with Lawler's usual effective punches and Hennig selling big time. Despite the good chemistry, at times it felt they were going through the motions and giving a B-show performance, apart from a few generous bumps from Lawler. Hennig was on his last match before the WWE run and looked like a matured performer here, getting heat on Lawler without taking too many risks. Mediocre non-finish, but also a weird decision as Hennig didn't have to be protected here. ***

After making Sting, Flair was trying to make Luger here and, to their credit, they busted their butt. Short amount of stalling to put over Luger's strength with simple moves like a bearhug, then Flair took over with his usual legwork. Luger sold it quite consistently and got to look good in his superman-like comeback, even though some of the no-selling spots were stupid. The finish was horrendous, they stopped a match for a silly rule like 'excessive bleeding' even though the blood was barely there. ***

This would be an impressive match for any set of teams, however it ends up being one of the worst MNX vs Fantastics bout in their awesome 1988 feud! I blame this on the underwhelming crowd or the fact they "only" had 15 minutes here. Still, the MNX had a great control segment on Rogers and I liked the storytelling of Jim Cornette being caged and unable to assist his clients. Good heel finish too, this was very good but disappointing, given who was wrestling. ***1/2

Usual, solid Horsemen tag match with good crowd heat. The Anderson/Blanchard chemistry made this, offering some tight control segments and making Sting look very good for the way he could face them both, as him and Koloff had limited involvement here and this protected them. Good armwork on Koloff by the champions, with some good selling (and some goofy face expressions). Sting was a very good hot tag, even with the tainted time limit draw spoiling this for the fans. ***1/4

As usual, WWE/TKO higher ups are great at not addressing the issue itself or acknowledging it. Everyone hated 'Mania and they just refuse to accept it, as usual. They should kiss the floor every morning and be thankful that we live in a globalised 'quantity over quality' era, where you are not even asked to score a rating, to draw fans at a live show or to sell a PPV. All you have to do is film content and put it online, where the platform and the sponsors will pay you billions regardless. 'Clicking on Raw' and watching 5 minutes of it does not equate to watching it every Monday night on TV. On these terms, with their production value, customer base, resources and dozens of 'creative minds' on the payroll, offering a product that is less than 'very good' is nothing short of embarrassing. The same goes for the wrestlers. They are in a landscape where they don't have to draw, there is no quarter-hour rating and there is no backlash about how many buys a PPV will get if you're the main event. You get your salary, guaranteed, whether you match sucks or you go out there and kill it. According to cagematch, Roxanne Perez is the one that wrestled most matches last year, with 66 bouts... they wrestle once a week and are the most spoiled generation of wrestlers ever. For them too, anything less than putting on a good match on this terms, is unacceptable. If they have all of this time off, why can't Liv Morgan be taught to wrestle properly, instead of spending time rehashing for a lip-syncing entrance and dance? (By the way, why would a heel have a special entrance to wow the fans if they are supposed to be, you now, heels?) I don't understand why WWE wants to be the biggest thing out there in the sport entertainment world, charge insane amount of money and then be so butthurt when their subpar product is criticised. McDonalds' is the most famous burger joint in the world, but they sell a lot because they are way cheaper and aware that their burgers are not the tastiest. Ferraris are beautiful cars, but they sell only a few of them because they are very expensive. Why is WWE acting like it is completely fine charging Ferrari money for McDonald's output?

Fun match, the typical WWF style cage match with tons of heat, basic action and decent use of the structure. Savage sold his ass off, making DiBiase look good and getting a great amount of cheers, especially because Virgil tried to run in several times. Even the finish wasn't that elaborate of creative, but it worked very well in its simplicity, as Macho did well at fighting a Hogan style WWF title match. ***1/2

This had a big match feeling, as it was a consequence of the previous one that had a technical finish, but the match itself wasn't the best they ever put on together. Still, it was this two and so there was plenty of good stuff, effective struggle on the mat and a hot crowd. Fujinami started as an underdog here, but kept coming back, despite Choshu cutting him often and proving all of his experience. This lacked some more outstanding body-part heat segment, while I loved the underdog finish. ***1/2

This had better storytelling than Maeda's match against Yamazaki that took place the month before, as now it was time to elevate Takada, who was NJPW's top junior for a bit and tried to step up to the company's Ace in a good mix of solid mat work and functional strikes, to facilitate his limb work. I think Maeda wasn't too good here, as he seemed focused on the usual '5 minutes hold, a few strikes, back to the hold' and kind of ignored Takada's attempt to a 'more traditional match' for a bit. They got back on track somehow, but it seemed like they wanted to wrestle 2 different matches. ***

Giving 30 minutes to an undercard act could have been a total disaster, but this happened to be pretty good. The feeling of struggle for supremacy on the mat was clear and consistent, and especially the striking segments were carefully limited, without ignoring all the limb damage. On the other side, the pace wasn't the best at times and they were clearly killing some time, switching from a focus to another, despite some good armwork by Miyato. The finish wasn't the best, but these two definitely busted their butt. ***

A good match, with a reasonably exciting climax that didn't harm the first part of the match thanks to their fire and matwork competence. The champions worked on Jumbo's leg, with some convincing selling from Tsuruta and a heavily focused Tenryu. The escalation worked quite well and Yatsu had to step up for his team, as Jumbo wasn't well enough to lead action, but still helped taking Tenryu out, as Yatsu was left with Hara and managed to beat him. ***1/2

Their stuff from 1983-4 is still a notch above this one, but this was great stuff anyway. The limb work was good and heated, reminiscing their old series, showing a very aggressive side of Fujinami, who wasn't willing to share his newfound spotlight with his old rival. Great legwork by Choshu, capitalising on Fujinami's sole mistake, and it was the highlight of the match. Fujinami also fought without his shoe, trying to resist Choshu, but he couldn't stand and the match was thrown out. This was a 5 minutes away and a finish from being an all time great. ****

This was a wild brawl, with a very hot crowd and everything worked very smoothly. Los Invaders sold big time for the Starrs, but their offense was the highlight of the match, as it tasted like sweet revenge and people couldn't wait for the heels (especially Chicky) to get what they deserved. Plenty of heat especially when I's mask got ripped, but the heat segment on the tecnicos wasn't too long, just like the match itself. This was somewhat limited as it was a short match with a non-finish, but it was a great, great way to enhance the feud. ***1/2