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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. tcg91
    This was a good and solid showcase, Valentine ruled as a heel and Flair's babyface run in 1983 felt like a total fresh act. The limb work was solid, it looked credible and Valentine got the change to hang with the best. Flair focused on the leg later in the match, it was a short sequence, but they did well enough to make this bout fun, especially when Valentine reversed it and took the lead. The non finish was almost obvious and it's a shame the slugfest was only teased, because they went at it with plenty of fire ***1/4
  2. tcg91
    This was an excellent match, almost as good as the one from the previous year. They used a few spots from the 1982 bout and Jumbo looked dominant once again, his experience suggested him to transition from the armwork into the legwork, when he realised that it wasn't enough to beat Flair. After an amazing first fall, the second dragged a bit until Flair started his impressive legwork. I was just a bit puzzled when the last minutes of the match featured Jumbo protecting the 1-0 (that doesn't win him the belt), rather than Flair trying not to lose another fall. Apart from this logic and the stale 10 minutes, this was very very good all along ****1/4
  3. tcg91
    This was a great match. Hot hot Memphis crowd and a big match feeling from start to finish. I am not always a fan of Memphis' big match pace, as they can stall a loooooooooot, but it was on point here: since the slow start, every little interaction mattered, every little detail was taken care of and they built a great climax, also thanks to the usual nice slugfest and some blood. Gordon Solie was flawless here too, he made me worry about Lawler more than the match itself did. An all time great count out tease for Lawler led them to the finish, a nice, clean and satisfying one to end the match accordingly ****1/4
  4. tcg91
    This was a blast, a very fun match. Hogan was good on the limb work here, showing a lot of potential, and Inoki sold big time for him. Still, Inoki was clearly more familiar with the armwork and those were the best sequences of the bout, as a few of Hogan's happened to be a bit clumsy. They definitely had chemistry and this was their best match together, despite Hogan struggling to keep an heel attitude, as a good chunk of fans were supporting him. Very infamous finish here, but Inoki sold it very well and this was another testament to how over Hogan was getting at the time ***1/4
  5. tcg91
    This was a fun and energic match, albeit a bit messy at times and not exactly fought with the same spirit of a "modern" elimination bout, as it was very quick and it only lasted about 15 minutes. As mentioned, the first few minutes created a bit of chaos, mostly to get rid of quite a few competitors, but then the match became a very attractive 2v2 deal with a nice crowd reception. Hayes got tons of heat here, this and Roberts worked well as a duo and made Kevin look very strong as the sole survivor ***1/2
  6. tcg91
    This was a fun and energic match, albeit a bit messy at times and not exactly fought with the same spirit of a "modern" elimination bout, as it was very quick and it only lasted about 15 minutes. As mentioned, the first few minutes created a bit of chaos, mostly to get rid of quite a few competitors, but then the match became a very attractive 2v2 deal with a nice crowd reception. Hayes got tons of heat here, this and Roberts worked well as a duo and made Kevin look very strong as the sole survivor ***1/2
  7. tcg91
    This was a great match, a very enjoyable crescendo that could have been one of the best ever with a proper finish. The announcer correctly talked about their similarities: second generation stars with good technical skills, but the respectful stalemate slowly turned into a snug war, that also got bloody at one point. The mat section was well done and the punches were so believable too. Funk ruled when he worked on Orton's knee, as Orton displayed a very subtle but consistent selling, almost like he was trying to work despite the injury. Not many nearfalls (but Orton's after the piledriver was massive), but I would have really loved any kind of finish here rather than a time limit draw, because this was getting just too good to be true ****
  8. tcg91
    I haven't been a massive fan of the Vachon/Blackwell matches I have reviewed, but this was really good. Short, violent, crisp and straight to the point. Blackwell proved himself here, selling and bumping around for the veteran, despite his size and still never losing much stamina. Like their previous tag bout, Vachon was generous with Blackwell too and made him look very strong. Yes, the stipulation maybe affected the match a little, but the goodness of the slugfest was enough to make me ignore the long pauses between a fall and the following one (which was good for their rhythm, to be fair). Original but fun finish, even though the rules of the match kind of impacted the fans reaction to it ***1/2
  9. tcg91
    A good, fun and solid tag match. Santana shined big time here, everything he did was so crisp and it got over huge with the crowd, especially his mat sequence with Destroyer or his flashy attacks. Surprisingly, Mascaras was quite generous in his selling and the match didn't drag at all when the heels were focusing on him, which lasted quite a lot. Really great hot tag for Santana, but an interference from Gran Markus costed him the match and protected him despite the loss. This was not a classic, but a good performance from Mascaras and another nod for Santana ***1/4
  10. tcg91
    This was a fun sub 10 minutes brawl. The Fabs were very over and sold big time for the Moondogs, who managed to cut the ring and isolate them really effectively. This was short enough to have a rapid bout and leaving no space to downtime. It got dirty and even the babyfaces fought that way, giving the idea of a grudge feud. The finish was quite original, especially if you're used to the "modern" notion of the stretcher match (or if you listened to Gordon Solie on commentary), but it worked well thanks to the drama while poor Keirn was being viciously choked between the ropes ***1/4
  11. tcg91
    This was alright, I guess, but it was not my cup of tea. Vachon's revenge on the Sheiks got Gagne back in the ring for another hurrah and the crowd seemed into it, at least. Blackwell was once again very generous with his selling, but sadly this featured the babyfaces destroying Kassie for the most part (which kind of made sense). It was fun to see Gagne and Vachon winning this, but the match was flat and even the finish didn't accomplish much **1/4
  12. tcg91
    Pretty good match, despite them using smoke and mirrors here and stalling a little bit at the beginning. Bock was good, he played the part of the coward heel and bumped around for Hogan like he was supposed to do. I always heard how Hogan was safe in the ring and managed to get reaction out of little things and this match was a good example of that, despite not being great or anything. Still, this lacked major drama or good focus segments and it's a shame, because Hogan was over enough to pull off a powerful comeback. The finish was a bit of a let-down, even with a 2024 mindset, as Hogan got screwed again despite being the clear winner here ***
  13. tcg91
    Very strong rematch, that played on a lot of dynamics that were built in their previous encounter. Fujinami ducked the initial lariat this time and was proactive with the legwork early on, but his own leg was heavily taped and this only delayed Choshu's dominion over the challenger. This lost a bit of steam in the middle, but generally Choshu did well and Fujinami was great at selling his pain, but he never gave up. I wish Fujinami would have had more chances for a comeback later on, but the story was all about him selling the leg and still refusing to quit; in that sense, the countout finish was a good one, as Choshu did retain but without the exclamation point ***1/2
  14. tcg91
    This was really tough to rate, I even watched it twice. It wasn't bad, not at all, but it ended up being too disjointed and overbooked for my taste. Mask showed a lot of fire and they also indulged in some matwork with an incredibly quick pace, but they stopped selling the leg very quickly and so none of that mattered. The heat was there anyway and the mask rip segment ruled, like a good chunk of the first part of the match. I didn't really mind the restart angle, not even when it happened twice, but what annoyed me was the way they no sold the tombstones on the floor. How is one supposed to care about any other spot after that? ***
  15. tcg91
    Another really strong bout between these two teams, even though it was not their best one. Obviously, Terry and Hansen continued some segments from their recent match and their interactions ruled. Brody was okay in his selling, better than usual at least, while Dory proved to be a very reliable support for his brother and the match improved when he was the babyface in peril. Terry was great when he received the hot tag and when he stopped Hansen from hitting the lariat on Dory, which was also a dejà vu. They repeated the wild brawl outside the ring and the non-finish, which was a bit disappointing this time around, as there was other 2 competitors left in the ring to do a finish with ***1/2
  16. tcg91
    Famous great match, one that still holds up today. All time great Funk performance, he fought Hansen with all of his strength and his selling was incredible, enhanced by the smart use of the blood. High quality brawl between the two, it made sense to see Funk working on his opponent's leg to take him down, only to face the desperate blows from Hansen, who wanted to avoid a mat confrontation on purpose. The intense fight led to a non-finish after a good segment through the crowd, but the end was still very suggestive because Hansen tried to kill Terry until Dory Jr. desperately saved his brother. Add a finish to this (and a bit more of leg selling on Hansen's part) and this is a contender to best match ever ****
  17. tcg91
    This felt like a big deal, even though it wasn't for the IWGP Title. Their previous fights came into place here, as they affected their strategies, especially Choshu's: the challenger tried to weaken Fujinami even before the match and then to submit him, but Fujinami proved to be more resilient and more ground based than Choshu to give up at any point. Choshu had to resort back to the lariat, which worked because Fujinami's damaged knee got bent at one time and exposed him to the move. This was a really good spectacle, very solid at the beginning and with the right explosions towards the end, it also told a good story ****
  18. tcg91
    Flair and Kevin clearly didn't have the same chemistry that the Naitch had with Kerry, but this was a good match anyway. Kevin's shine segment wasn't the best and looked a bit awkward, but they got enough heat when Flair started hitting Kevin's broken nose, using it as a saving strategy whenever the challenger managed to get the upper hand. The finishing stretch was overbooked and I get why, but 2 referee bumps looked unnecessary, like the dusty finish on top of it; it just seemed a light version of what Flair did with Kerry the year before, in terms of keeping the title luckily against one of the brothers ***1/4
  19. tcg91
    This was another really good Joint Promotion bout. The 20 minutes limit, with no rounds system, made the match more digestible and allowed them to keep working on the momentum that they were gradually building. Finlay was really good when focusing on Kilby's back, throwing really hard irish whips and keeping it simple. Kilby looked good and was quite quick for his size. Not a fan of the ridiculous bump Finlay took towards the end, which caused his knee injury and protected his loss; I get why they did it, but that jump was silly, especially for a no non-sense wrestler like him ***1/2
  20. tcg91
    This was a blast and very fun to watch. Do not let anyone tell you Hogan wasn't over before joining the WWF, because good god, the crowd was crazy for him. This went pretty much as one would expect: good shine time for the High Flyers, fun heat segment from the heels and Hogan taking no prisoners at the end. Not like the action was particularly flawless, but everything went smoothly and it was a very solid 15 minutes. Absolute loved when Gagne tagged Brunzell instead of Hogan because the referee was in the middle, it made so much sense ***
  21. tcg91
    I didn't like this as some people would do, but this was a very good bout for what it was. It also had one of the best crowds of the 80s. Clipped in the middle and straight to the point, with Raschke and Vachon beating the heels for most of the match, with lots of blood involved. The energy was there, but the babyfaces' offence wasn't always the smoothest and they didn't sell much, even though I liked the flashy finish. Props to Blackwell, he took a beating and bumped around despite his size, making the grizzled veterans look as good as they could ***1/2
  22. tcg91
    I had to watch this twice, as I wasn't too sure about it. Slaughter was the absolute man here, he bled a lot and led the match with incredible in ring presence, making the champions' attacks vicious and building the crowd's passion toward the late comeback. Great use of the cage (bumps and Slaughters' dive), a very good Steamboat reaction and a good finish to boot. However, this went for 30+ minutes and it did drag at times, especially at in the first part; we had lots of 2 wrestlers in the ring and 2 on the apron, which feels quite anticlimactic in a cage match. It's a shame, because they insisted too much on the traditional stuff, when the crowd wanted blood and bumps (they got it in the end, but this was too long as a result) ***1/2
  23. tcg91
    This was a very good match, Rose was absolutely gold as usual and Adams made a great impression on the crowd. Adams had a knee injury, but the plot of the match was not the usual one, as Rose couldn't get his hands on his opponent's injured body part until the end of the bout. Adams outwrestled his opponent, with a good arm work, and managed to keep the pace up despite Rose's attempts to take a break from him. All hell broke loose in the last falls, with a few good near falls and a great Adams dive too, but finally Rose managed to hit his bad knee and got the cheap countout win ***1/2
  24. tcg91
    Great crowd, every little thing caused a huge reaction, this made the match so enjoyable. DiBiase and JYD touched at times, with the heel getting the worst every time, but in general this worked as a great skirmish for their feud. I was never a great fan of II, he looked quite silly in his strutting at times, but the crowd loved him so who am I to judge. Good heat segment on II, Borne and DiBiase are an underrated tag team in terms of heel tactics and leading a bout. As expected, great hot tag for JYD and the finish was very fun, despite the disqualification finish ***1/4
  25. tcg91
    A few minutes were clipped. Really nice match with an amazing crowd that chanted "go home Freebirds" with a lot of energy, with these fans the scheme was really easy as all they did worked. They didn't even rely too much on the usual lumberjacks spots, as the 6 men on the ring guaranteed enough action anyway. The von Erichs thrived on a double babyface in peril situation, with Kevin doing it better than anyone else here. Liked this all around, including the finish, despite not being completely satisfactory there will be time for better endings in this feud ***1/2
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