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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. tcg91
    This was a good match, but it didn't 30 minutes at this stage of their careers, it would have been a magnificent 15 minutes bout instead. Murdoch did some good armwork on Inoki, who actually sold the long hammerlock quite consistently, but his comeback kicks looked quite lame at times. This had a few uneventful moments in the middle part, but the finishing stretch was quite sweet, despite Inoki kind of botching the enzuiguri that decided the match ***1/2
  2. tcg91
    This was Inoki fighting an UWF match, rather than Fujiwara wrestling a NJPW match. That is why this was a lesser version of their February match, but this still had some great strikes and Fujinami's selling of his bloody face was fantastic. However, this had serious pacing issues and I could count at least 3 instances of them just sitting in time wasting holds after a 'reset' spot, which is not ideal for a 10 minutes match. The finish was very satisfying anyway ***
  3. tcg91
    This has a great reputation, but I couldn't help finding a few flaws despite the plenty of good stuff they delivered. Fujinami's leg selling was great and it kind of saved the bout when it became its the main theme, as Maeda didn't sell his arm much when it was the focus of the first few minutes. This escalated once Maeda split Fujinami's face open with a hard kick and the follow up was quite epic and violent. Great visual to highlight Fujinami's desperate comeback and the knockout finish was well done as well ****
  4. tcg91
    This was a little masterpiece, as they had such a grit and snug match that nobody was expecting. For years, Fuchi would be the bully of the Juniors division, but here he was dominated and bled all over the place while Saito managed to focus on his ear and cut all of his comebacks for minutes. Great reaction by Fuchi, he was seeking revenge with his punches and the crowd got really into this towards the end. The finish was not my cup of tea, but quite well done and giving Fuchi a realistic alibi ***1/2
  5. tcg91
    Good six men match, adding the juniors added a new layer of novelty and gave the big guys a chance to shine at their expenses. Misawa looked good and got some fun offense on his opponents, despite Yatsu having little mercy on him as his team dominated most of the bout. This got really good towards the end with the usual hot tags, picking up from a quiet middle part, but the non-finish was disappointed and dragged this down a notch ***
  6. tcg91
    This was a fun little match and also a good angle, as Hennig stepped up and did his best against the monster Hansen, finally looking like a main eventer in the process. While the champion had the upper hand on most confrontations, he still sold for Hennig, who got desperate as he tried anything he could to tame the beast and got dangerously close to the upset, until the time limit ended up saving Hansen from a shocking loss ***1/4
  7. tcg91
    This was a good match and clearly a stepping stone for young Brooks, who got to go toe to toe with someone established like Grey. Grey was so underrated for the way he could both lead a match and then be on the receiving side, like an European version of Tito Santana. Cool limb work from both of them and the match revolved around the surfboard spot, which got a bit repetitive towards the end but made sense, plus Brooks sold the back quite well anyway ***1/2
  8. tcg91
    This was very similar to the match they had a couple of weeks earlier in the MSG, but I liked the other one better anyway, as this time Savage's selling wasn't as good in here, despite him bleeding again due to Santana's aggression. Still, these two had nice chemistry and went through the motions quite smoothly once again; the dirty finish was a bit better this time around, as the referee bump wasn't as silly and it fit the match stipulation ***1/4
  9. tcg91
    This was a great match and it is still relatively unknown, which is a shame. 30+ minutes of snug and solid stuff at the right pace. This had a great sense of struggle from the first lock up and the crowd was so loud too. Garvin did good things on top and sold his hand in an excellent way later in the match, mostly keeping Blanchard away from it, but this had a bad impact on his offences and he couldn't close on Tully despite a long leg work. Very fun Dusty finish, as both men tried to cheat and Garvin ended on top, despite the reverse decision being quite annoying ****
  10. tcg91
    Not the best gauntlet of the series, but this stood out as well thanks to a great start and an amazing finishing run; in the middle part they did some solid stuff, but the match clearly took a step back once Sakaguchi got in, following a very crisp match between Takada and the young Yamada. Fujiwara was the MVP and things quickly picked up when he got involved, it got bloody and exciting, cementing Fujinami as the Ace, as he went toe to toe with Maeda despite his conditions until the surprising finish. ***3/4
  11. tcg91
    This had some great stuff and once again their dynamic was pretty much perfect: Santana was the loveable but fiery babyface, while Macho tried to bully his opponent only to find himself being beaten on a lot of instances. Santana got Savage to bleed after a few good bumps, which was quite rare for both of them at that time. No downtime and fine crowd. The finish protected Santana to bring rematches, so yes please, despite being a bit abrupt with a dirty roll up from Savage ***1/2
  12. tcg91
    Bock was an underrated babyface, mostly as he was a natural heel, but he did well here as it was so easy to look sympathetic against the monster Hansen. Classic cat and mouse game, the challenger used his experience and tricks to stay away from Hansen's fury. This had a good pace even during the limbwork segments, but the finish was very convoluted and it led to a silly DQ, especially as it was quite sudden with a referee bump to boot ***1/4
  13. tcg91
    Pretty fun match, they went through a lot of shenanigans at the beginning and this got the crowd more involved in the bout. Despite them not going all out yet, there was clear display of chemistry between the rugged heels and the flash babyfaces, especially between Rose and Michaels. Both teams found their feet quite quickly and I dug the heat segment on Jannetty, while the last few minutes were not as exciting. The non-finish wasn't too good, but it kept the feud going ***
  14. tcg91
    This was a pretty good match, but I have no idea why it got 5 stars from Meltzer, as he was still somewhat credible at the time. I mean, the Sheepherders' heat segment was fine and Fulton sold quite well while he was heavily bleeding, but this never felt like a classic despite the heels getting some serious anti-USA heat. Cheap and lazy finish, as they needed both teams to get out of the tournament somehow ***1/4
  15. tcg91
    A proper dream match, but it was obviously spoiled by the tournament format, as they only got 10 minutes and couldn't go all out. Still, this had enough goodness and they worked it like it was a TV bout. Fulton did really well as the babyface in perils, so that set a nice tone towards the finishing stretch, with a fun and energetic flashy finish. A bit of a pity, but I am happy this exists on tape ***
  16. tcg91
    I always had a soft spot for this match, as it's the closest thing to a Funk vs Santana we ever got, especially as it was in the WWF. It was a blast, fun and quick 10 minutes action that was full of the heels' antics and Santana's typical fire. Not much from JYD, as the main point here was the Funks assaulting Tito and his great selling, while the Dog was only there for the hot tag and did pretty good for himself anyway ***
  17. tcg91
    Not the best New Japan multi men of the 80s, but still pretty great. Hot crowd, even though this kind of struggled to pick up from the beginning, until Yamazaki and Takada started to get more involved and messing up with their weakest opponents. Once this got going, drama was on for the whole 30+ minutes and this had some great moments like Fujinami sacrificing himself to eliminate Maeda, or Ueda's miracle run towards the end. A bit strange for Inoki to have a final showdown against Takada, who should get sympathy as the underdog, but the finishing stretch was quite exciting anyway ****
  18. tcg91
    Good tag match, snug enough for the delight of the Houston crowd. It was the DiBiase show, as he played a long babyface in perils segments and bled buckets, while I felt like Superstar wasn't on his best day and kind of damaged Murdoch, who had to play by his partner's pace instead of raising the bar. Of course, Doc got a heated hot tag and got to look good. Hot finish, it was funny to see the fans cheering for the black glove this time around ***1/4
  19. tcg91
    If you like stalling, you'll love this. Once they got down to business, it was pretty fun, but of course the heat wasn't the same that they gathered before the action started. It went quickly anyway and the Guerreros were less diplomatic than usual, which fit the circumstance due to the Sheepherders' violence. Cool dirty finish, as the New Zealand flag was featured again and led to the finish, so all the gaga got a follow up at least **3/4
  20. tcg91
    Not 'Hansen vs Vader' yet, but quite good despite White still being very green. Great job from the announcers, as they described White's football background and, also thanks to Hansen's selling, you could tell White was going to be special one day. The limb struggle sequences weren't bad, even though a few fans were not thrilled to see them unless Hansen was on top with his armwork. Fun finishing stretch, Hansen's lariat proved to be too much, but White still looked good for going toe to toe with him for 10 minutes ***
  21. tcg91
    Once the usual stalling was out of the way, this was lots of fun. Really nice brawling and cat and mouse game between Lawler and Dundee, also thanks to a very hot crowd that couldn't wait to see Lawler getting some revenge on the Australian. Poor Landel managed to step up in a match like this, but he took lots of punishment as the Lawler and Mantel dream team was too much for him. Very smart non-finish, Landel was left alone and destroyed until the referee rang the bell ***1/4
  22. tcg91
    Good stuff, but not the 'Bret vs Steamboat' dream match as Bret still wasn't figured in as a singles guy at the time. Honestly, he bumped well and even looked competent on the mat, but his control segment wasn't great despite a consistent focus on Steamboat's ribs and Jimmy Hart getting enough heat from the Boston crowd. Sadly Stamboat's arm work got forgotten during the match, despite being the best stuff they did here. The flashy pinfall finish was quite cool though ***
  23. tcg91
    This was not as great as their previous bouts, but they still did very well and had a very solid 20+ minutes fight. This time, none of them joined the match with major injuries, but interestingly Choshu and Tenryu were the ones that suffered the most here, leaving a lot of offence to their partners and signalling their growth. Selling was good throughout the match, even know they kind of forgot about it towards the end, before the decent non-finish ***1/2
  24. tcg91
    This was a blast, despite not being their best work. Typical Breaks shenanigans and plenty of heat from the crowd, as he managed to get them and the referee mad, but the commentary was quite poor and didn't react very well to the challenger's antics (or to celebrate when the referee reversed the public warning, for example). I felt like Saint took a backseat here, despite his solid performance on the mat. Fun finish, as finally Breaks meets karma and Saint manages to outsmart him ***1/4
  25. tcg91
    This was a tremendous match and a highlight for both men's career. It was incredible the way they could both indulge in fine wrestling, but also unleash on each other and still be consistent with the selling. Chicana showed plenty of charisma, he had so much of Tito Santana and hit the quickest and reckless dive on poor Aguayo, who harassed him as much as he could with the cheapest rudo tactics. I actually thought the first two falls were too short and the third one was a tad too long, but this climaxed to a great finish and ended on a high ***3/4
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