Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

tcg91

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    391

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by tcg91

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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 ***
  4. 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
  5. 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!
  6. 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
  7. 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 ***
  8. 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
  9. 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 ***
  10. 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
  11. tcg91
    Fine title match, but a letdown, considering their skills and their proved chemistry. This didn't work because Flair couldn't work as a "full heel" (as Kerry was not over enough in Japan), but Kerry also sucked as a heel, so it was a half ass deal. Solid stuff anyway, even going through the motions it was still these two, but this didn't feel special or anything due to the lack of crowd support. Fine Flair legwork in the second half, while the claw selling was also good thanks to Jumbo putting it over 2 days earlier. Not a fan of the finish, it was a very anticlimatic title switch ***
  12. tcg91
    What an absolutely amazing match. Jumbo was extra motivated, while Kerry (who in All Japan was always a letdown to me), clicked big time with Jumbo's fire, as the champion worked as a babyface against the aggressive native challenger (who was going to get cheers anyway). The first fall was as good as any "clean" match can be, Jumbo felt above the champion and was hitting him hard enough to bust him open. Long and dramatic tease of the claw, as Kerry finally managed to apply it to win the second fall, while Tsuruta sold the move as complete threat. Jumbo wanted to avoid another claw and started destroying Kerry's hand with the same hate he would reserve for Misawa in the later years, which was amazing. Non-finishes are a pity, especially when the contest was so great, but this one was well done thanks to the claw counter outside the ring ****1/2
  13. tcg91
    This was a good match, but it didn't blow my mind. I thought Flair looked really good here and did all he could to help Race, who seemed a bit off at times, probably not in great shape. Flair worked as the heel, dictating the pace of the bout, but the selling wasn't great all around and there wasn't major heat on the match, despite the good crowd support. It went better once Flair worked on the leg. The finishing stretch was fun and the clean finish was a pleasant surprise, especially because Race didn't look like a threat at that point ***
  14. tcg91
    This was very similar to the match they had on May 19th, but much better than that one, thanks to a roaring MSG, good work by the announcers and Slaughter's fine selling. This time Sheik controlled the bout thanks to a loaded boot, which was a fun concept and made Slaughter bleed heavily from his forehead. Slaughter was great at selling his desperation and lack of control, while carrying rage and a bit of vulnerability in his comebacks. They repeated the silly referee non-finish, but this was leading to a proper blowoff and so it was that it was I guess ***1/2
  15. tcg91
    Short brawl, but it was a good one anyway. Sheik had a lot of heat here and knew how to annoy the fans, but he also sold big time for Slaughter, who looked like a total badass. Slaughter bled from his shoulder at one point and Sheik was hitting really hard, I wasn't even sure the cut was planned, but the announces covered it very well here. The famous Boot Camp match is only days away, so they naturally have a non-finish here, even though the referee skitch wasn't that great. A fun and successful skirmish match ***
  16. tcg91
    JIP. A fun Memphis brawl, that was short and solid. Not sure why the announcer used the name "Stagger Lee" when talking about "Koko Ware", as JYD was nowhere to be found... so, yeah. Koko actually ruled here, his stuff with Gilbert was wild and they had the best interactions of the whole match. Unfortunately, they all started fighting on some sort of platform, which led to a non-finish, despite the match stipulation. I mean, the brawl was fun, but that's not even the point here **3/4
  17. tcg91
    Good match, but I kind of felt bad for them as the crowd didn't care that much. Jumbo as the invader champion was a good concept and he was a fine bastard heel, but he didn't generate enough heat unfortunately. Nice bout from the beginning, lots of struggle and counters on the mat, as Martel bumped around to get some sympathy from the crowd. Jumbo targeted Martel's upper body and this got the match going, despite never reaching the expected drama level. I liked how the finish protected Jumbo, before leading to the clean title change, which finally got a good pop from the crowd ***1/4
  18. tcg91
    These teams had great chemistry and it was obvious here, even though their feud only just started. The crowd was super hot here too, the Rock & Roll got pops even for high fiving and the heels generated tons of heat. This was not an all time great bout, as they stalled a bit at the beginning and the finish could have been better, but the heat segment on Morton was terrific, thanks to his great selling and the way MNX cut the ring in half for the whole time. When it came to just listening to the crowd and reacting in the ring, this was as better as you could get in 1984 ***1/2
  19. tcg91
    I actually liked this better than the very famous (and definitely more exciting) title change from the previous week; it was shorter, tighter and told a better in ring story. Flair grew frustrated as he lost the "champion's advantage" and Kerry seemed just too good to be beaten, but the Naitch's frustrations only favoured Kerry due to his better brawling skills. Flair finally went to the legs later on and managed to get an opening, but he was too impatient and Kerry beat him again with a roll up, like he did the week before taking Flair's out of his element of long and meticulous matches ***1/4
  20. tcg91
    I think I have never seen this before and it felt like a decent deal, having Kerry defending the World Title in his home territory against a long time rival. This was on par with the shot that Gordy had at Ric Flair the year before, as Gordy failed to impress on a 15+ minutes plus singles bout, the match was never great when the challenger was in control of the pace and couldn't brawl much. Kerry's armwork was good and so were the struggle segments, but Gordy's heat segment was probably longer than it needed. Nice flashy finish **3/4
  21. tcg91
    This was special, very special, due to the title change and the match being dedicated to David. But it was not even the best Flair/Kerry bout, very far from it, and it looked like a simplistic and basic way to get to the finish that the crowd was dying to see. It was still these two, they had enough chemistry and skills to make this solid, despite not being their best work. I would have loved a countout tease or something to make the fans gasp, but oh well, finally Kevin managed to beat Flair for the title after 2 years of proud attempts ***
  22. tcg91
    This was a great bout and Breaks worked his butt off, both in the ring and with his whiny character, looking like the best nemesis for the teenage sensation Collins. No matter what he did, Breaks just couldn't catch a break against the brave Collins and got extra whiny and aggressive, getting the crowd, the referee and even the announcer against him. Breaks finally started to gain some momentum with his usual armwork, Collins sold really well (especially when bleeding) and started punching back his rival, as his respect and good manners progressively faded during the match. Very strong bout, the finish was too flashy for me but it definitely made sense due to Collins' underdog nature ***3/4
  23. tcg91
    This was a good bout, they had 20+ minutes and showcased some solid matwork from the very start. Granted, at times the action wasn't super exciting, but I liked the reverse psychology of working on the body part that the other usually favours (Valentine gets on the arm, while Backlund focuses on the leg), as it highlighted their competitive nature. Unfortunately, Valentine kind of forgot to sell the leg during the last part of the match, where he was the one hitting Backlund's leg; and also, the finish was clean but quite clumsy, leaving a bad taste in my mouth after such a promise beginning ***
  24. tcg91
    This was amazing and a incredible accomplishment, as it lasted 65 minutes and it never dragged once thanks to the gauntlet stipulation, plus the crowd was hot the whole time. Things like Fujinami having 3 different style of bouts in 20 minutes or the final Choshu/Inoki matwork ruled more than anything and deserved the spotlight, but the hour was full of little precious details and dynamics (Hamaguchi's aggression against a fresh Fujiwara or Takada taking too many risks against Yatsu), that made every pairing matter and made this 60+ minutes bout so easy to watch and love. It just falls a bit short of 5 stars because, while the first 20 minutes and the last 15 are excellent, most of the central part of the match is "only" very good ****3/4
  25. tcg91
    This was JIP and somewhat clipped. Such a fun match, as Watts returned to the ring to face Jim Cornette's MNX and teach them a lesson, along with a JYD in disguise. The match goes as one would expect, with the MNX bumping big time for the babyfaces and then building the crowd's anticipation during the heat segment. The heels were put over as a force, as they managed to dominate the legendary Watts before the last few minutes, with tons of drama following the blind tag sequence. As expected, Watts and Lee overcame the odds with a clean finish and the crowd exploded. Very easy to watch and appreciate this match ***1/2
×
×
  • Create New...