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tcg91

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  1. tcg91
    This went for 60 minutes and 10 were clipped from the file. Man, props to Flair for doing this with Brody. You could tell Brody actually cared here and tried his best; he was lacking major selling/pacing skills as usual, but Flair sticked to his formula and got a good match out of him. Brody was massively over, which surely helped, as Flair made him look good with his selling and dosing Brody's cardio correctly thanks to the rest holds. The finish of the second fall was quite silly, in full 80s spirit, thus stopping the good momentum before the last few minutes. Not a very strong Flair broadway match, but not a bad one ***
  2. tcg91
    Slightly clipped. This was a very good match, as they both excelled in their respective roles and put on a very solid and interesting bout from the very beginning. This was quite slow at times, to be fair, but it was physical enough and the slow pace helped build the finishing stretch. Valentine held the strings really well with his snug limb work, but I wasn't really a fan of how quick and high Kerry dropkicked him after such a long legwork segment. Despite this, the crowd was really into the final comeback and even the flashy pinfall was well done ***1/2
  3. tcg91
    A very positive double skirmish match, that enhanced both programs and was a good match as well. I liked the "laissez faire" way Inoki was coaching Fujinami, while the heels didn't hesitate to cheat every time they had an issue. Solid start, but a bit dull at times, surprisingly it happened mostly when Fujinami was in; at times, he didn't seem able to be on the other guy's page. Inoki was very generous here, selling his leg against the heels for several minutes in a row and doing it quite well too. The clean finish was quite good, a desperate move from Inoki, right when a normal script would include a hot tag ***1/2
  4. tcg91
    What a great match. This was snug, realistic and competitive. By a notch or two, more violent than the average Joint Promotion bout, especially after the first few respectful rounds. Dynamite was trained by Jones, so he struggled because his opponent knew him quite well; him looking down on UK rules was a great heel move, he collected warnings, but thankfully there was no disqualification. The crowd (and the usually very composed announcer) were heavily into this, the drama of the roll up finish also added to the contest. Often, Joint Promotions matches are technically sound, but they lack heat: it's not the case here, at all ***3/4
  5. tcg91
    Tiger Mask didn't get involved that much here, as he received a beatdown before the match and mostly stood on the apron for this one. This was fun I guess. The rudos murdered Hamada and worked quite well together, despite a few arguments. Ironically, Mask's segments were probably the worst ones of the match, because they looked quite choreographed compared to the rest of the action. The others were quick enough in the first few minutes, but the selling later on was never that good or consistent. Decent flashy finish, at least **1/2
  6. tcg91
    The more I rewatch stuff, the more I am convinced that Tiger Mask's best series was with Kobayashi, not Dynamite Kid. This was really nice and well grounded, maybe a bit too long, but overall a snug, solid and at times very electric Juniors match. Mask was much appreciated when he focused on the challenger's arm, while Kobayashi's offence was hit and miss at times, I don't know why he would kick a body port and then work on another one. A bit of non-selling from Mask, which affected the match. The non-finished rule, a countout makes perfect sense after such a snug german suplex on the floor, especially after the previous countout tease ***1/2
  7. tcg91
    I always had a love-hate relationship with this match and I still do, despite the good parts dominating the bad ones. Most of the bout was amazing: I loved the recalls to the spots of their previous encounter, the energic brawling, Flair bleeding like a drunk fighter after their slugfests, Kerry's comeback and implementation of the claw. The cage door spot is still a classic and I even loved the **** finish, playing on Kerry's concussion despite his desperate attempts to finally win the World Title (and thus starting one of the best feuds ever). I hated Michael Hayes interjections, not just for the final spot, but he was annoyingly stopping the match every now and then. Why would a referee get involved so often in the action when there are no disqualifications?! It never made sense and still kind of spoils the match to this day, which is a shame because these two put on a clinic ***3/4
  8. tcg91
    Really nice 10 minutes match, they went straight to the point and used the time very well. The best part of the bout was Brody attacking Terry's poor ear and Funk's incredible selling, with the side of his head bleeding all over the place. Terry was outstanding here, great facial expressions and firey comeback from him; what a brilliant spot when he hesitated before a headbutt, as he didn't want to hurt his head as well. I have rarely seen Brody so motivated. Crappy 80s non finish aside, this was remarkable and a great way to hype the RWTL final with Dory and Hansen ***1/2
  9. tcg91
    This was a very good big men match, better than it had any right to be. The 20 minutes time limit helped them not going too long, but then they did reach that limit and the match never dragged up to that point. Nice to see Blackwell working on the mat and Reed being very inspired while selling, trying to get his revenge in the unusual position of being the little guy here. They did well with the bodyslam tease, as it costed Reed the first fall and he was determined to finally hit it at some point. With a better finishing stretch, this could have been a classic ***1/2
  10. tcg91
    Good match, albeit a bit too long, it dragged at times. I can tell the Grapplers apart from the skin tone of their backs, which is funny. Really good babyface performance here, Paul Boesch couldn't stop putting over young Morton, who was already one of the best sellers of the country in 1982. The Grapplers isolating him was by far the best part of the bout, it was a simple but effective scheme. However, as often happens the first fall took too long and the others couldn't keep up with it, so the match took a step back. Conway was still hit and miss for me, he was way over but a clear downgrade from Morton when he got the tag ***1/2
  11. tcg91
    Very fun match. If you like Backlund's matwork and Rose's overselling, this was a good one for you. The lumberjacks kept the match entertaining with the usual spots, but that ended up breaking the pace of the good Backlund armwork early on. This wasn't too long and didn't get extra drama, surely a longer Rose control segment would have been beneficial. SD Jones was the special referee and he was clearly rooting for Backlund, which was a bit weird. Simple, but effective finish ***
  12. tcg91
    Another very good match between these two, but a bit disappointing in terms of blowoff, as this could have been so much more, despite the good quality. Gordon Solie was tremendous on commentary, hyping Lawler's comeback while reminding the viewers that he never defeated Bock. Bock dictated most of the pace and just pummelled his opponent, using the no DQ stipulation to be more aggressive than he would usually be. Awesome beatdown. Lawler was usually good in his selling and his punches in the final minutes, after being dominated for like 90% of the match. However, Bock never looked like he was winning and even Lawler's finishing stretch was somewhat a letdown, despite the crowd being very hot ***3/4
  13. tcg91
    This was a total blast. Great drama, hot crowd, good heel shenanigans etc. The heels were great at selling the two super heroes' hits, but also brilliant when ganging up promptly to get the needed heat in the central part of the match. Hogan was a very good seller in his prime, doing a positive job with his arm, and Andre was also good when he got the hot tag. Totally satisfying when finally Heenan got his share of the pain, after many loud insults and cheap shots. This lost a bit of charm towards the end due to a couple of clumsy spots, but even the finish was well done. I really don't want to overrate this, but it couldn't do any wrong ***1/2
  14. tcg91
    I hate "attitude era handicap matches", but this was quite different. Not a bad one, but essentially it was 20+ minutes of Inoki putting holds on the IWE guys and them trying to cheat despite the 3v1 advantage, so it was kind of a burial in a way. Slow pace, which was a good thing as Inoki dosed his stamina and the opponents created enough heat with their hit and run strategy. He actually looked quite tired towards the end, but maybe it was just him selling the leg in an efficient way. The eliminations were fine, but the IWE guys ended up looking bad, despite picking up the win by countout. ***
  15. tcg91
    Good match, of course they would do much better together, but that will come down the road. What I always liked about their interactions was how Fujinami was better on the mat, but indulged in beating Choshu; while Choshu, a better striker, would attempt to outwrestle Fujinami. Choshu was getting more familiar on the mat, still not mastering the craft perfectly, but his legwork was quite good and Fujinami sold it quite well. The crowd was vivid, enjoying the hot start, at one point I thought I was watching this at a 2.0x speed. Silly finish, but it's the 80s and we have rematches on the way ***
  16. tcg91
    This was great and better than all the more hyped Mask vs Kid I have seen so far. Yes, this was flashy as a juniors match needs to be, but also crispy and with tons of heat. Even Mask seems more comfortable here, kicking hard and indulging in some good armwork, this looked more like a UWF match than a New Japan match at times. I was also a fan of the non-finish, with the mask ripping, but I felt it was a bit abrupt and it could have landed after a longer climax. Still, very nice piece of business ***1/2
  17. tcg91
    Fun match, the crowd was really into it. I have seen Dog perform in arenas where he was even more over than this, like Houston for one, but here he looked ripped and ready to kill. Good little 10/12 minutes deal, DiBiase and Borne called the match really well and got heat on the champions. Olympia was fine, I haven't seen much of him, but his selling here was decent. The finish was well booked and it enhanced the story around JYD's comeback, but Duggan's run in was goofy as well ***
  18. tcg91
    Good title match, but the referee made it frustrating at times, he was always in the way (I mean, if it's a crook referee angle it's fine, but it was not the case). A bit of stalling at the beginning, Bock led the action quite well and it all felt really quick, despite a few rocky minutes here and there: this was good and went 25 minutes, but it could have been a tremendous 17/18 minutes match instead. Outstanding Lawler punches, as usual. Nice little detail with the piledriver, as it was legal but Bock protected the move by rolling out of the ring after being hit with it. The dirty finish helped the case too, as it likely builds for a rematch down the road ***1/2
  19. tcg91
    Man, this was so good. It felt like a big deal, with a proper presentation and a red hot crowd. Kudos to them for going 30+ minutes and making (almost) every sequence count. Colon's armwork during the first 10 minutes was remarkable; Flair sold it really well and, contrarily to the David match from a few days before, only stopped remembering about it a lot of minutes after it started. The Flair legwork and use of the figure four ruled, Colon had all the fans behind him when he reversed the hold. His desperation in the slugfest had a great pop, leading to a great and clean finish. This was a few details (and some selling) away from being an absolute classic ***3/4
  20. tcg91
    Good match, a few notches below Flair vs Kerry, but it's quite predictable as this is pretty much an angle that helps building Kerry's rematch later that year. David was fine (despite looking a bit "heavy" in his movements), he worked on Flair's arm in a solid way, but Ric kind of forgot about it until the final minutes. It was much better when Flair was on charge and focused on David's leg, but in general the matwork went a bit too long and we never really had the feeling that David could pull an upset. The non-finish was predictable but well built ***1/2
  21. tcg91
    Nice little 12/13 minutes match, as Slater had to work another match that night and they didn't go all out here. Still, it was a decent one and young Gordy had tons of offense, it's incredible to think that he was only 21 here. Slater was such an underrated babyface, he put over a simple headlock very effectively and the Houston fans were behind his comeback, which was flashier than expected (including a headscissor?!). The punches were really fun too, but the finish was absolutely flat and anticlimatic, Gordy did so well and then a simple elbow took him down ***
  22. tcg91
    Absolute great crowd, this is Santo's retirement match after all and the atmosphere is quite appealing. The match itself, however, wasn't that great and it's one of those Rock/Hogan deals where the circumstances made the match better, despite the action not being the greatest. There was some goodness here and there, mostly because Aguayo stole the show, taking Solitario's mask off and bleeding all over the place on the tecnico's comeback. But the rest of it was quite chaotic, too much going on at the same time, and a bit of a let down. It would have been nice to see more stuff from Santo and see the rudos bump for him, but we never got down to only two men in the ring ***
  23. tcg91
    A great spectacle and a furious brawl, even though I feel like they could have done even better together. The slugfest was simply top notch, so so many great punches and even the slightest detailed mattered, like their face expressions, body language, holding the ropes etc. Hansen's control segment on Funk was also good, but already a few notches down, despite the crowd's positive response. Funk's selling was on point, as usual, but Hansen could have done more here and never took this to the next level. Also, I didn't care for the finish, not much because of the count-out itself, but it was quite confusing and the referee bump looked a bit clumsy. They'll do much better in 1983, but this was a precious stepping stone ***1/2
  24. tcg91
    This was fun and a good little match, but it didn't blew my mind. I get protecting the babyfaces, but abusing the over the top rope rule as a DQ in the first minute of the match is quite poor in terms of spectacle. The rest of the match was pretty damn good, despite being shorter than usual. Lucas is one of those guys I haven't seen enough of, but he was solid and Morton looked great in his energic comebacks. Gino's hit and run tactics were also great and led to the piledriver finish ***
  25. tcg91
    The first 5 minutes of the match were clipped, so we got 15 minutes instead of 20. This was a good bout, but a bit frustrating at times because it could have been so much more. Gagne clearly held the match down and it's a shame, because the challengers were on form and ready to go, especially when paired against Brunzell. Very nice selling from Martel, but his initial rest hold sequence with Gagne wasn't the best, for one. Clever finish and, yes, Gagne redeemed himself with a great dropkick for a cool spot ***1/4
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