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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. tcg91
    Shoot style is not my thing, but this was great and it couldn't go unnoticed. This was slightly clipped, but still maintained a good pace at 25+ minutes. Very easy and effective story of a grappler facing a striker, as Fujiwara would try to limit the effect of Tiger's kicks by keeping him on the mat, to avoid getting fooled like he did in their September bout. Fujiwara kept the match on this terms for a long time, making Tiger sell the arm very well for once, but Tiger's comeback was incredibly stiff and violent, starting from a headbutt that was an all or nothing desperate risk. Amazing TKO finish, both for intensity and crowd reaction ****1/4
  2. tcg91
    This had some great moments, but the initial matwork was dull and felt like a way to kill time because the holds went absolutely nowhere (the match went almost 25 minutes, so that beginning was unnecessary). Yamazaki showed a lot of fire, with stiff kicks used as a way to enhance his presence on the mat, resorting to those methods when Takada was getting the better of him. I liked the progressive climax they had and they sold well enough, but the first half of the match was too bland and disjointed from the rest to make this anything special ***1/4
  3. tcg91
    I felt this went a bit too long at 30+ minutes, because it was great whenever Fujinami was involved (the first 10 minutes and later on, before the big hot tag), but Inoki kind of dragged the heels down, as they had to work around some of his contrived offense and it felt like a step back. This was still a good match and the gaijins were amazing bullies, but Inoki's stuff didn't feel organic, like they were pushing a reset button every time he got involved. Still, the crowd went crazy for him and he capitalizes on Fujinami's great performance ***
  4. tcg91
    These two couldn't do any wrong together. Granted, the finish sucked (a 'curfew time limit? On a non-televised event? Really?), but everything else ruled. This was fought with more aggression than before, as the feud was getting intense, and Valentine started bleeding because Santana was as angry as he's ever been. I liked the leg psychology story, as Santana had his one taped up and he followed the 'eye for an eye' motto, working on Valentine's leg while still selling his anyway. Valentine was losing the match bit by bit and tried to save himself in vain, before the curfew made sure he got away with it ***3/4
  5. tcg91
    This was a blast. The crowd loved the big hoss fight between Reed and Doc, just like they cheered when Duggan was trying to finally catch DiBiase. This was 15 minutes of the most simple, yet effective, wrestling style with a good dose of heat. Duggan was a very good babyface in perils here, thanks to the forehead cut and the blood; it was impressive how Williams, despite still being kind of green, held his ground very well. Okay finish, even though the helmet stuff was quite silly and the scaffolds were in the way of the viewers, but oh well ***1/4
  6. tcg91
    Bad stipulation and bad finish, but the match itself was quite great and so rating it is not easy. This was short and sweet, an enjoyable brawl, despite production being so bright to catch both of them while blading. Even though the pinfalls affected the overall pace of the bout, this had its moments and there were only 3 rest periods, so the match wasn't extremely fragmentated. While the finish was poor, at least it was memorable as it culminated in the end of the von Erichs feud with the Freebirds, as Kerry and Gordy finally shook hands ***1/4
  7. tcg91
    Some top notch work by the announcers, who managed to put over Blanchard's need to not be disqualified or counted out (or he'd lose the title) and Steamboat's ribs injury that limited his actions throughout the bout. This had a pretty great start on the mat, but then failed to get to the next level, as Blanchard didn't get some extra work on the challenger's ribs, so the match got a bit colder for me as they left the hot act alone and nothing they did after was as meaningful. Anyway, the strikes were fun and the dirty finish was well done too ***1/2
  8. tcg91
    The first 3 rounds were clipped, I wish we had the whole thing because this was really good. Finlay really knew how to get heat from the crowd, there was solid legwork from him on display, while Jones showed good fire and a bit of a hot head, despite not being flawless when dictating the pace; his best moments were going toe to toe with Finlay with snug strikes. Jones got a couple of great nearfalls towards the end, but the finish was very lame and you don't really want a DQ title change because the new champion was beaten down ***1/2
  9. tcg91
    This was more "fun" than the match they had the previous month, but less "good" in terms of in ring action. The crowd helped them with support and threw a lot of trash at the heels, but this time there wasn't an extra dramatic Slaughter heat segment to generate lots of momentum, so things were not as memorable. Short and sweet bout, also thanks to the Texas Tornado stipulation, with many fun moments (including the finish) to make this enjoyable ***
  10. tcg91
    This was a blast and they had the crowd in their hands. The heels had a ridiculous amount of heat, their work was simple but very effective, especially for a team that wasn't super experienced in this regard. Good call with the double heat segment, JYD had a short one at the beginning of the matc, but Slaughter's one was amazing thanks to some incredible selling and a lot of blood on his forehead. Unfortunately the finishing stretch didn't live up to the great setup, because there was a disappointing DQ despite the vibrant vibe, but man I hope to see a rematch ***1/2
  11. tcg91
    Very fun 10 minutes bout and it was remarkable how the Guerreros heel turn quickly got them to be such a hated duo. The old classic tag formula was on full display, but it was a rather quick match, from the initial brawl to the sudden finish after the hot tag. It was good while it lasted, with a decent heat section, but the selling of the babyfaces was never that long (or great) to bring this to the next level. Still, a very fun 10 minutes ***
  12. 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
  13. 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 ***
  14. 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
  15. 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 ***
  16. 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 ***
  17. 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
  18. 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 ***
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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 ***
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
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