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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. tcg91
    JIP, as the first 5 minutes or so were not broadcasted on TV. However, despite missing the first part, this was easily their best one so far, thanks to strong matwork and a good crowd support for 20+ minutes. Martel was once again treated as a major threat, despite Jumbo dictating the pace and showing that he was ready to be the Ace, as he dished punishment but also sold his back well, like someone like Flair would do. Non-finish yet again, but it was well done at least and a quite climatic end to the late match crescendo ***1/2
  2. tcg91
    This was fun, it was MNX vs Fantastics after all and it could do no wrong. However Cornette behaved too much and the referee got involved too many times, if we consider that it was a No DQ match and technically the heels could have used any tricks in the book, if they wanted to. Still, this was pretty good and the MNX dominated Rogers for many minutes, while the crowd was getting quite vocal. The finish was quite good, as it protected the babyfaces due to the referee incident ***
  3. tcg91
    This was a great bout. The Canadian crowd loved Martel and gave him an extra boost against the heel Ace of the company. Plenty of non-nonsense mat work and tight struggle sequences, Bock put over Martel in a huge way by selling his leg tremendously and having most of his initiatives blocked or countered due to the recurring injury, despite managing to limit Martel's stamina by focusing on his ribs area. This was particularly impressive when their previous matches featured Bock controlling and Martel selling. The reverse decision was a shame, because this had the potential to be one of the best bouts of the year, but the finish sucked ***3/4
  4. tcg91
    This was a weird match, a bit frustrating, because it was really good at times and very underwhelming on some other instances. The initial matwork was tight and well executed, but they gradually stopped selling and it became almost a "my turn, your turn" race at each other's arm, that ended up going for almost 30 minutes overall. A shame, as the last caida was also very good and the finish was quite satisfying too, Satanico did all he could to look great but he was pacing around without selling to look cool, which did more harm than good ***
  5. tcg91
    This was pretty good, but not "Flair/Tenryu", mostly because Tenryu wasn't super over yet, the fans didn't fully believe in him as he never defeated one of the top gaijins, let alone the NWA champion. He got a lot of offense in the first fall, it was fine but a bit flat, despite Flair bumping quite well for him; things picked up once Flair started working on the leg. Quite disappointing non finish, there was no reason for Flair to get disqualified, as he didn't have a decent reason to be this aggressive; a common countout would have been more appropriate ***
  6. tcg91
    Compared to the Fujiwara match from a few days earlier, this already had a more defined "UWF style" mindset, but also quite a few flaws. The kicks were fun and a clear upgrade from the average level of the rest of the scene in 1984; the mat stuff was okay, but they both quickly stopped selling, as the limb work never affected their abilities to put on a submission or kick the other. I felt like Tiger was trying too hard to change the perception of fans, with silly acts like non-selling a suplex that deserved a nearfall or locking a wristlock after a moonsault, just because "he's a shooter now" **1/2
  7. tcg91
    This was fun. Macho looked like a star and got some huge pops, him and Lawler looked like a pair that could do no wrong in Memphis. I was expecting a longer heat segment, while we only got a few minutes of that; it might have been for the better, as both Rude and Bundy were not ready to dictate the pace in 1984. So yeah, plenty of Memphis stalling instead, before things got actually interested. I liked the non-finish too, both babyfaces got to look good and the Lawler/Bundy exchanges were quite effective too ***
  8. tcg91
    This was a really good bout, a fascinating mix between a New Japan match and what the standard UWF style will eventually become. So, while it was a bit 'strange' and slower to adapt at times (thankfully, without inheriting all the worst Mask/Dynamite spots), this had very good mat exchanges, snug strikes and a more realistic pace. Fujiwara was good at controlling the pace, while this was a true non-nonsense breakout performance for Tiger, he sold the arm and his offense looked realistic. I liked how the german suplex was teased a few times and how Tiger's kicked helped him with the finish, even though it felt a bit rushed after a match that maybe went a bit too long ***1/2
  9. tcg91
    This was the real finish of the Freebirds vs von Erich feuds, but unfortunately 1984 wasn't as exciting as 1983 for them. It was a fun brawl, even though it got a bit confusing at times, it was a bunch of blonde dudes in jeans beating each others with cowboy boots. Kevin was 3 vs 1 at one point and played a good babyface in perils, it was smart of them to limit Mike's contribution like they did. The finish wasn't great, but quite clever and original, so I'll give it a pass ***1/4
  10. tcg91
    If I had to judge this by crowd reaction alone, it would be one of the best matches ever as the Colosseum was ridiculously loud here. However, it was "just" a good bout (the crowd was a bonus point) and it looked like the teams took it a bit easy, after all it was a non-title match to advance their program. The best part was the heat segment on Rogers, which led to an incredible pop for the hot tag, but honestly both the heat and finishing stretch felt rushed, especially if compared to the Memphis-like stall they had at the beginning ***1/2
  11. tcg91
    Fun 10/15 minutes title match, between a somewhat underdog champion and a veteran heel. This did wonders for Martel's credibility, because he still relatively a new champion and going toe to toe on the mat with Bock put him over big time. Martel was good at selling and at keeping the buzz in the match, nice backwork by Bock on the champion here. The corner flip finish was still quite fresh and original for its time, the controversy was needed to hype more rematches without beating Bock that easily ***
  12. tcg91
    This felt like a huge deal and it was pretty great. The slow start set the tone for the rest of the bout, I liked the constant struggle on the mat and some subtle details, like Choshu covering his face during a hold, knowing that Inoki would try to punch him to set himself free. Amazing Choshu performance, in terms of being a mean heel and working very well on Inoki's leg, which the Ace sold with rare generosity. This was not an all time great match because they had a lazy resthold sequence towards the end (and why would Choshu target anything but Inoki's leg?), which was quite bizarre, but the end was very well done ***3/4
  13. tcg91
    This felt like the Japanese version of the Hogan/Rock match, as the action was "good", but the crowd and their charisma made this so much better. This featured a nice struggle sequence on the mat, they both were very eager to sell here and Hansen was fun in the bully role, despite Baba's offence looking very weak. It made sense for Baba to desperately go after Hansen's arm, to stop the lariat and it led to the short-arm lariat not being as effective. Good pop for the clean title change, this was much so better than it had any right to be ***1/2
  14. tcg91
    Great great crowd. This was better than their AWA match, as Japanese fans cared about Martel, while the Americans didn't react much to Jumbo in May. I liked the limb work, especially by Jumbo, but then Martel worked on his legs for a bit and it went nowhere, Tsuruta forgot about it soon after and that was very disappointing. Huge nearfall on the reverse crossbody, this became really good towards the end. I didn't mind the non-finish, it made sense to protect Jumbo, but doing an airplane spin is dumb, unless Martel was outside the ring already and was aiming for a double countout ***1/2
  15. tcg91
    This had its moments, but I didn't love it. I liked the idea of a double turn scenario, that led to Shiro showing his true "invader" colours, but it was a bit strange as Satanico worked the whole match as a rudo, with his usual (good) relentless attacks and getting the opponent to bleed. Those were the best moments of the match, as the initial matwork was passable and it didn't lead to anything noteworthy later on. The last caida was fun, especially the nearfalls, but the finish was quite silly and incredibly disappointing ***
  16. tcg91
    I believe this was their first match ever and, boy, it went well. Classic southern tag formula, but they were also smart at not giving too many spots away, they were surely aiming to save most of them for other bouts. It's always easy to praise Eaton, but Condrey was so great here with his cheating spots and dictating the pace of the MNX isolating poor Rogers. Good hot tag for Fulton, with a fun flashy finish to boot and a nice crowd response. This was a completely satisfying first time ever, which managed to enhance their feud and also setting the tone for their future bouts ***1/4
  17. tcg91
    This was a nice match, that served its purpose, as it hyped both the Tiger/Maeda and the Takada/Fujiwara issues, with a solid bout that felt more like a 80s New Japan skirmish match, rather than a UWF contest. It was more mat focused, as the strikes were under control, but it never dragged anyway. Takada took a lot of punishment, as Tiger looked dominant most of the time he was involved, but Fujiwara was easily the best here; not only he dished a lot of punishment, but he took a lot too and that did wonders for young Takada. The finish was alright, but a bit flat ***1/2
  18. tcg91
    This was amazing and the best of their bouts so far. DiBiase did wonders when working on Mangum's back in such a clean and rough way, plus Magnum's selling ruled, he's always been way underrated in that regard, when it comes to face expressions, slow movements, fighting from underneath etc. Like their previous Tulsa match, once it gets tricky DiBiase took the match to the outside and bloodied Magnum, trying to stop all his comeback attempts with a vicious focus on the forehead cut. They even improvised well when the turnbuckle broke and the belly to belly finish was so natural and organic, minus the referee spot that looked quite silly ***3/4
  19. tcg91
    A colder feud, Mike replaces David, 8 minutes only on the clock and a dirty finish: due to all of these elements, the bout is not the classic that von Erich and Freebirds had the year before, but it was still a good one. Very chaotic brawl, with no downtime and a receptive crowd. I liked how they used the boots has a weapon, as this helped the street fight vibes, but the reduced bell time really makes this a bit incomplete to my eyes ***
  20. tcg91
    This was a fun, you could tell that having a AWA Title defence was a big deal for AGPW, there was a lot of focus around the presentation of the match. The bout was extremely clipped, it was a 60 minutes draw but only half of them made air, which was a shame. Solid match nonetheless, I haven't seen much of Burke, but he was very intense with his holds, simple spots like a headlock or abdominal stretch looked like major threats. Good Martel selling, he gave Burke a lot of offense but manage to keep the title thanks to the draw ***1/4
  21. tcg91
    Easily one of the best sub 10 minutes matches that I have ever seen. The beginning wasn't great or anything, but it quickly picked up and Magnum sold his forehead so well that the female teenagers sitting front row were horrified by the scene. Great work on the cut by DiBiase and a very hot crowd in this, including a cool way for Magnum to set up the belly to belly. I really wish this had a tighter start and maybe a few more minutes down the end, as things were going really well at one point ***1/2 I think this is from 5/27 indeed, though!
  22. tcg91
    This was great stuff. Such a simple, but hard fought and exciting brawl, the struggle was engaging in every segment and the MSG crowd got definitely into this. Once again, Slaughter was amazing as a babyface in perils when he started bleeding and grasping for help, while this was easily Sheik's best match ever (he was so good that fans started throw garbage at him). They put lots of effort on the loaded boot gimmick, which was an easy but meaningful way to get more heat on the finish. Great drama and crowd gasping towards the end, when Slaughters finally got revenge and got to use the boot on Sheik ****1/4
  23. tcg91
    Good match, it is so easy to get some solid stuff done when the heel knows how to control a bout and the babyface is a great seller. I liked the struggle part at the beginning, as Santana was fighting from underneath and the MSG crowd was very responsive to this. Unfortunately, Valentine was a bit volatile during the heat segment and then Santana forgot to sell his arms towards the end. Nice fire with his punches for the comeback, the non-finish was well done but makes the heel challenger a bit silly ***
  24. tcg91
    This was a blast. The usual great R&R/MNX stuff was good and Duggan was also fun to watch, as he "got" the match very quickly, while Ladd didn't really look that great despite Morton selling big time for him. It stalled a bit at the beginning, but the rest of the bout was very enjoyable. Really clever and unexpected finish, especially after a blind tag spot. I think this was a textbook skirmish match, as it was good by itself and it also made sure fans were hyped to see more of R&R vs MNX ***1/2
  25. tcg91
    This was good, but my dislike for Death Matches kind of affected my enjoyment for the whole thing. I liked the slow and constant progression towards a more violent bout, as they started slowly, but then 10 minutes in they were both bleeding. Then there were several 3 counts during the middle part and I lost a lot of interest, especially when the double KO was just teased and nothing came out of that. Fun dirty finish anyway, but this wasn't bad by any means despite not being my cup of tea ***
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