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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. This was a satisfying match, with a feel good feeling, as the feud got a heated blowoff in front of a very receptive crowd. The match wasn't that exciting, though, and it felt a bit flat despite the nice environment. This featured good pace and some fun spots, as they went very quick for the 10 minutes they got, but this never caught major drama and the No DQ stipulation was only used for the powder spot. Felt like a solid match to get to the shaving angle, rather than a good old blowoff ***
  2. Slightly clipped. This was the best Jumbo ever looked in America and the best Martel did as a babyface since his Portland days, as they just embraced the roles the crowd gave them. Jumbo was nasty in his control over the champion, as he got tired of the way he hanged with him on the mat in all of their matches, which led to Martel fighting and scratching from underneath. This was mostly Jumbo destroying Martel and the champion not giving up, as he would come back at all times, getting a flashy pinfall in the process ***3/4
  3. This was a good match once again, Flair and TA were so familiar with each other by then and their chemistry was clear. As this was an 'A show', they refreshened their act a bit, with some classic Flair heel limb work on the opponent's arm and TA's raw power. I liked that Magnum was the one that started focusing on the leg, which caused Flair issues when he tried to use the figure four. They repeated the ref bump into the belly to belly here, but at least we got a finish ***1/2
  4. This was a really good bout, as they had enough time to tell a compelling story and the MSG crowd seemed to enjoy it too. Obviously, Bret and Dynamite did the best stuff together, but Neidhart was quite useful here during Kid's babyface in perils segment. The back selling was on point, but it lacked 'extra' drama at times. I liked the finish, Davey got a nice pop as he was finally tired of the Harts' tricks and turned one against them to get an unexpected victory ***1/2
  5. This was an amazing bout and they did wonderfully, considering they went for 45 minutes and this was never dull. The initial part made a lot of difference, as the long headlock from Reed and the armwork from Murdoch were not purposeless rest hold and ended up carrying the bout for a good chunk of it. Reed was very careful in fighting with one arm only and they kept selling even when the match climaxed, with a great leg selling sequence by Murdoch. He's no Ric Flair, but fed Reed like the Naitch couldn't do. The leg pain led to the non-finish, it was well done, but I just wished this had definitive finish ****1/4
  6. Good little brawl. Invaders and Pastores only had 10 minutes to fill and did it quite well, using the barbed wire for a few cool spots, without exaggerating. The Sheepherders got a lot of blood involved and had a nice segment control, messing with the tecnico's masks quite a lot and triggering the fans to cheer for the Invaders at all times. Nice comeback and finishing minutes, this was a satisfying match despite not being all that great or special ***
  7. This was a great match and a perfect challenge between a teacher and his student. A 30+ minutes chess game, focused on quality mat wrestling and on how Fujinami would try to beat Inoki at his own game, getting more and more dangerous thanks to the healthier stamina on his side. Inoki gave Fujinami tons of offense and sold his ass off, making this memorable at times, like when he used a strike to stop his opponent and kind of breaking the 'unspoken rule' of this only being a mat contest. Things got a bit more violent and Fujinami dodged the octopus hold a few times, until Inoki finally used it for the win ****1/4
  8. This was a notch or two below their late 1984 bout, but still a great one anyway. This took the best traits of the UWF concept, carrying both tough matwork and hard kicks into one bout, without resorting to lazy rest holds or persistent kicks with no selling at all. Fujiwara created great focus on Tiger's arm here, Tiger sold well and only started kicking his opponent when he felt cornered. The problem was that Fujiwara was striking hard too and, while a suplex saved Tiger the year before, this time it wasn't enough and Fujiwara finally submitted him for the win ****
  9. I liked this better than their 1984 match, but this still didn't convince me entirely. The last 10 minutes were a great display of kicks and decent holds, with a hot crowd, but the first 15 minutes were a bland mix of armwork that didn't go anywhere. The crowd was clearly eager for them to start kicking and didn't seem to care about anything else. The initial approach wasn't terrible, but felt disjointed from the crazy stuff that they presented in the second part of the bout, where the focus shifted on legwork. Good KO finish ***1/2
  10. This went too long at 45 minutes, as Wahoo couldn't keep up with Flair, but it was a decent one anyway (even though Mike Graham was so bad on commentary). Unsurprisingly, they have done much better when they only had to fill half of that time. I liked the way this started, they hit each other hard as the feud was quite advanced by then, but they wasted time on Wahoo legwork that went absolutely nowhere. Flair's was good as usual and Wahoo selling it carried the match. At least, all 3 falls had a good finish. ***
  11. Good match. DiBiase quickly showed his value and replaced Brody effectively, maybe not carrying the same star power yet, but surely being more reliable in the ring. Tenryu had a bad night, due to a couple of botches and he didn't seem very motivated, but other than that the bout was solid and they explored the new pairings quite effectively. The gaijins looked like a force and their work on Jumbo's bad arm was convincing, leading to a shocking submission finish that was quite rare for Tsuruta ***1/4
  12. Not the best Terry vs Hansen that ever happened, but still a very good sprint between these two. This was everything one would assume: lots of crowd support, a heated brawl, ringside action etc. Funk wanted revenge and tried to jump Hansen before the bell, which was cool as usually it would be the other way around. Yes, they had a non-finish here, but it was well done and this easily built to a fresh Funk vs Hansen & DiBiase bout, as DiBiase took Brody's role after he jumped to New Japan ***1/4
  13. This was a fun little brawl, but not a classic. Hayes and Gordy looked like they belonged in Memphis, as their brawls with Lawler were the best part of the match, while I felt like Idol wasn't given much and that he didn't gel well with the others. This was building fine and getting better towards the end, even with the presence of a pair of scissors, but the babyfaces chased the heels and the match ended like that, which was a huge let down ***
  14. This was average, it went 60 minutes (about 10 were clipped anyway) and a few flaws were quite evident. I liked the story of Flair having to survive Reed's power and mat presence, but giving Reed too much control didn't pay off; some of his stuff was just made of solid rest holds with little excitement, especially at the beginning. This didn't get good until the last 10 minutes, as they were exciting, but everyone watching really knew that the time limit draw was about to happen. Also, having a 'No DQ' stipulation and only using it to justify 2 over the top throws was quite poor **1/2
  15. This was a very good match, that never overstayed its welcome and featured Jumbo in the rare position of babyface in perils, like he used to do for Baba when they were a tag team. The start was fine, if a bit underwhelming, but then Jumbo ruled in his selling and bled a lot, trying to defend himself from both Choshu and Khan. Things picked up nicely, as Tenryu was explosive enough in his comeback, but he was cut very short. Another non-finish, but a good one as Tsuruta was destroyed so much he couldn't return to the ring on time ***1/2
  16. This was Inoki/Brody in 1986 and it could have sucked, but it didn't actually. Inoki was fine in his role of struggling against Brody and managing to work on his arm for a bit, too bad that Brody ignored it later on. They created a bit of a buzz when Inoki ate a piledriver on the concrete, but Brody failed to follow up with the same intensity. Usual non-finish to end the bout, with a so-so execution. This was perfectly average despite everything. **3/4
  17. This was a good title match, but their previous bout got me so hyped that this almost disappointed me. They put on amazing lockups, the likes you won't see anywhere today, then indulged in another crazy battle of chops that Wahoo won over the champion. It was nice and refreshing to see Flair not working the legs at all, as he focused on Wahoo's arm for obvious reasons. They also benefitted from a hot crowd that made this a blast, although the finish was a bit flat ***1/2
  18. This was a damn solid match that ended a bit too early, as it was on its way to be something special. Good armwork at the beginning and Steamboat sold his butt off, even letting Orton do an headscissor to him! This clicked even more when Orton started using his size and cheap tactics to take over, despite always being alert about Steamboat working on his arm. Steamboat had a nice comeback, but they went home early when Orton used his cast for the DQ. This feels a bit incomplete, as a positive finish would have boosted the match ***1/4
  19. This was clipped, as 12 minutes out of 15 made air. As usual, most of this was a blast and the kicks looked really good (except for the final one). Fujiwara was a good seller of his frustration and inability to keep the match under control, as Tiger was kicking him non-stop until he finally knocked his opponent out. All of the above was outstanding, my problem with this (apart from the clipping) was the fact that the matwork didn't do much for me and it went nowhere, looking like a series of rest holds between a kick and the next one ***1/4
  20. This wasn't a classic or anything, but it was a blast and one of the most satisfying matches I have seen in a long time. It looked like Murdoch could easily beat Champion, but his stalling, the referee sticking to the most annoying rules and Eddie Gilbert at ringside made this so hard for Murdoch. It built to the point it took 6/7 minutes for Murdoch to finally hit a punch and the crowd exploded. Champion had a decent control segment, until Murdoch destroyed everyone like superman and managed to get the pinfall. This was just a perfect babyface star vs heel midcarder match ***1/2
  21. Wahoo didn't work the Flair formula here, this had some well thought out stalling at the beginning and then became a brutal fight that caused both men to bleed due to their violent strikes. Wahoo chopped even harden than Flair, the champion made Wahoo look great as they only focused on the things the challenger could do well at his age. Flair was outmatched and Wahoo lost control, as this led to the non-finish and a rematch down the line, which is great news ***1/4
  22. This was an incredible match and they stole the show for 30 minutes, wrestling in such a smart but always enjoyable manner. The Russians got to look great thanks to the selling of the R&R, who got plenty of crowd support and did very well in the double heat segment. While some their shine parts haven't been superb against the MNX, here they got all the time they needed, nothing felt rushed and especially Gibson wrestled his best match, both when in control and as a babyface in perils. Insanely hot finishing stretch, with a great flashy pinfall for the babyfaces ****
  23. About a third of the match was clipped and it probably wasn't a big loss, as the matwork wasn't that great to begin with, despite the solid approach from Fujiwara. I loved how Takada got tired of Fujiwara's antics and started kicking him like crazy, which damaged his leg in the long run and helped the later comeback. The leg selling was alright, but not consistent at all times. Clever finish, as Fujiwara got the win by outsmarting Takada with an unexpected hold, despite the underdog's toughness ***
  24. This was a beautiful match, despite being extremely 'simple'. A cage was the right way to end their story, removing interferences and count outs from the equation. I'd argue that not letting Valentine and Santana indulge in any matwork was a pity, but they had a nice brawl nonetheless and it fitted the stipulation. That being said, some of their stuff didn't look super realistic to me, I had the impression Valentine could have won a couple of times when Santana was pretty much done. Very cool finish, very simple and very effective ***1/2
  25. I'll probably end up in wrestling hell, but all the R&R vs MNX I have seen so far have always been just a notch below the 'great' mark. Just like the matches the heels had against the Fantastics, the heat segment was very good (even though Gibson wasn't as great as Morton in terms of babyface in perils), but I wasn't thrilled by the the stalling at the beginning and how soon they go home after the hot tag. It felt like, after sucking in the crowd for so long, the match stopped when it had the potential to become so much better ***1/2
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