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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. tcg91
    Not as good as their previous match from that spring, but still a very solid one. While the two pairings were clearly established, the funnier parts were Fujiwara stretching poor Takada and Maeda kicking Yamazaki everywhere. It was enjoyable, as the tag structure hid many of the UWF stalling habits, especially when the tags were frequent. Very cool finishing stretch in the last few minutes, which popped the crowd nicely, bringing a satisfying finish despite Yamazaki's pin on Takada being contested. ***1/2
  2. tcg91
    Apart from a cold Carnival 1982 bout, this was a first time ever and finally a showdown between teacher and student after a successful partnership. What I most loved about this was Jumbo matching Tenryu's aggression and pettiness, showing that he could be as mean as Tenryu was. This admittedly had a few subpar minutes, before picking up again when Tenryu started working on Tsuruta's leg and punished him for a silly mistake. This was a successful teasing of the next few bouts, thanks to a good series of finishers and a well executed non-finish. ***3/4
  3. tcg91
    Very cool match, despite the usual pacing issue that I find in the UWF singles bout that go more than 10/12 non-stop minutes. Maeda was good at poking the bear, breaking Fujiwara's defences slightly and trying not to risk too much, resorting to kicks to save himself when needed. This put Fujiwara out of his element, but his legwork on Maeda was good and effective; it was a bit out of nowhere, but it made sense because Fujiwara found a sudden opening after struggling for most of the bout. ***1/2
  4. tcg91
    This had too much stalling for me at the beginning, but it was fun once it got going. Santana did some great selling babyface work, putting over Bass and allowing him to dictate the pace efficiently. The match was smartly executed, as the MSG fans were more focused on the heat side, than the action itself. The time limit draw became obvious once the announcers mentioned it, but they got there in a pleasant way and even the finish was well done. This was a pleasant bout, despite a skippable beginning. ***1/4
  5. tcg91
    This was a blast and a pleasant surprise. Hot crowd, that was into this B-story of the NJPW vs UWF feud. Maeda's matches can easily have exciting strikes and boring matwork all rolled into one, but SSM sold his arm really well and showed a rare fire when fighting from underneath, making this very enjoyable. They had a couple of nice highspots and then a few very hot nearfalls. I also liked the submission finish, as it put over Maeda's lethal hold but made Machine look decent, as he took too many risks and it ended up costing him the bout. ***1/2
  6. tcg91
    Amazing crowd. This was one of the best New Japan elimination tags of the 80s, as they did not rush anything but only wrestled for 25 minutes, everything looked crisp, quick and meaningful without any downside. The Inoki/Maeda double elimination spot was genius and gave a lot of spotlight to young Muto, who was outnumbered and tried to chase a miracle before losing. Give this a bit more of a dramatic 1 vs 1 finish and this could have been one of the best matches of the decade as a whole. ****1/4
  7. tcg91
    Not as good as the first edition of the War Games, despite being very similar to it in terms of structure, entrants and some spots. They changed a few things anyway, so they tried call things on the fly and to bring fresh sequences, which was cool. The match picked up after about 10 minutes, thanks to Flair and Koloff doing the best stuff, but the last few minutes were kind of lazy and a copy of the first War Games, including rushing the 'match beyond' finish. ***1/4
  8. tcg91
    This was a very good bout and easily the best singles stuff I have ever seen from Tama, while Martel looked like the same hot babyface that was setting Portland on fire a few years earlier. This was all about Martel igniting the crowd and the Samoan bumping generously from him, before taking some dirty heel heat. While the matwork wasn't anything excellent, this was a very enjoyable basic babyface formula match, it went 20 minutes and they just flew. Cool underdog finish for Martel, who looked really good here. ***1/2
  9. tcg91
    This was a remarkable match and it could have been even better with a more effective beginning. Casas was such a great rudo, getting the crowd heavily involved in their cheers for Santo, but the action in the first 2 falls was 'only' good; I felt like both decisions didn't mean much, as they quickly got the 2 falls out of the way. The last caida was amazing, a mix of dives, drama and nearfalls, Casas pulled some amazing punches and Santo risked his neck with a couple of spots. Good, satisfying finish. ****1/4
  10. tcg91
    This was quite hard to rate, one could claim it is a great match or a weak one and I would agree with both views. Colon was such a fantastic babyface with his dramatic expressions and comeback teasing, he took a hell of a beatdown from Hercules and bled buckets, getting the crowd behind him. However, this was too long at 30+ minutes and plus it felt like they were just filling time on occasions (intense leg work and a Texas Death Match didn't really look like a perfect combo, especially if it gets quickly forgotten). Great finish, as it protected the babyface and got tons of heat on the heel. ***
  11. tcg91
    This was better than it looked on paper, as the underdog challengers managed to find an opening by targeting DiBiase's knee, making their control segment somewhat believable. Hansen/Yatsu was the best stuff here, but they clearly didn't touch too much to tease future matches, so there was too much of Nakano here maybe. Hansen was on one leg too at one point, teasing further problems, but this was put to break by a disappointing non-finish. **3/4
  12. tcg91
    45 minutes long, but about 10/12 of them were missing as a result of TV commercials. Such a shame, as this was insanely good. They worked on each other's arm with precision, without rushing anything and the selling was on point. Murdoch took a single neckbreaker after 15 minutes and sold it like his neck was in pieces, which got Windham to continue his work and made for great storytelling. The neck stuff was so simple and so effective. As great as this was, the finish was too overbooked and reiterated, I really could have done without all that. ****1/4
  13. tcg91
    Solid stuff. Jumbo was involved in most of the action, as Misawa was pretty much only beaten when he got in, apart from a few spots (and a couple, like the 'assisted crossbody' were a bit awkward). The gaijins did decent heel stuff, but there wasn't much focus or a great flow here, so this didn't pick up and felt like a B show performance all along. Predictable epilogue, but it was a clean and fine finish anyway. **3/4
  14. tcg91
    This was clipped due to TV commercials, which kind of spoiled it. Garvin was clearly not as his best here and Flair managed to lay down good stuff here, selling and bumping like usual. It also got bloody, but it clearly wasn't an epic cage match, especially as this took place only a week after the first War Games. Solid knee selling by Garvin and Flair did his usual figure four preparation stuff, with an original, but meaningful finish to top it off. **3/4
  15. tcg91
    This was fun, but quite difficult to rate. Great brawl, white hot crowd and they built the match the right way, using the right people from the beginning and hiding the limited guys' involvement (and the managers). While most of the stuff was on point, this was one of the most 'rigid' War Games in terms of 'your turn, my turn, next entrant' and the finish was also just there, a mere 2 minutes after they hyped 'the match beyond' concept, I didn't feel like they build the climax perfectly. ****
  16. tcg91
    Usual good match, obviously. I still find the Eaton/Lane pairing to be more polished in the ring, Lane was isolated by the babyfaces for a bit and sold his knee well, until the heels took over. Once again, the heat was on Gibson, which is not AS good, but Morton was a great hot tag anyway. Cool final minutes, despite the heavy overbooking ruining it a bit for me. ***1/2
  17. tcg91
    No idea why the WWF billed a standard No DQ match from MSG a 'Texas Death Match', but oh well. This was entertaining anyway, it only lasted 10 minutes or so and Race bumped well for Hogan, despite being far from his prime. Hogan was really good at going over with simple stuff and a 'less is more' philosophy, but I can't say this felt like a MSG title match. Decent finishing stretch, without any major drama. ***
  18. tcg91
    A really fun match. Murdoch forced Williams to have an arm in a cast, so of course he worked over that body part and relentlessly tried to get back to that every time he was afraid of Doc's comeback. JR kept selling this as a career ending injury, creating a lot of drama around Williams' conditions and his one-arm executions. This had quite a few cut due to TV commercials, but was clearly a very good match anyway, with an organic finish that the crowd loved. ***1/4
  19. tcg91
    While Choshu's departure sucked, All Japan capitalized on it by breaking the Jumbo/Tenryu team and having Tenryu challenge for the Ace role. They teased their fight for a bit, of course, which wasn't half bad as that way Misawa got consistent ringtime and he didn't phone it in, showing lots of aggression against Hara especially. Tenryu and Jumbo touched and it was very good, but this predictably developed into a DQ finish, which made sense despite the silly finish. ***
  20. tcg91
    Choshu returned to New Japan with a banger. The heat here was amazing, this was hot from the start and they had an excellent brawl, that ended up with both of them bleeding. Nasty stuff between two rivals and most of it was absolutely off the chart, but they had a few submission fillers that went absolutely nowhere and that put me off big time. The finish was once again very exciting and impactful, from Fujiwara's hara-kiri headbutt to Choshu's lariats. A great beginning and a great finish, but a laaazy central part for a 10/12 minutes match. ****
  21. tcg91
    A fun B-show performance, as the crowd was hyped every time Tenryu and Wajima were in the ring, looking at each other and beating each other. Wajima couldn't do much, but the seconds and the tag structure limited his involvement quite a lot, so this was 12/13 minutes of solid action, despite not being unmissable stuff. This didn't feel lazy at all and Tenryu managed to make this interesting, instead of a lazy spot show performance. ***
  22. tcg91
    Really cool attempt by the UWF guys, as they had a hybrid match in New Japan, while usually the norm was NJPW vs UWF in the invasion angle. This had some good strikes, but a very solid mat foundation and just a few clumsy selling executions, which were quite frequent in UWF. Yamazaki took a bit beating and Fujiwara violently stepped him for the help, but he fell prey of the fresher champions. Then the champions actually looked vulnerable when Fujiwara bloodied Maeda, so the finish was quite uncertain until the end. ****
  23. tcg91
    I think this was a bit inconsistent at times, but most of the action was good and they gained energy from a very vocal crowd. The first caida was easily the best one and quite solid on the mat, while the rest felt a bit flat, despite them trying to build an epic with blood and guts. At least they sold their exhaustion really well, but the finish felt too random for a match with such big stakes. ***
  24. tcg91
    Very good match. About a third of the bout was cut due to TV commercials, but we still got 20 minutes of crisp action and the usual Southern tag formula. Garvin was a better babyface in perils than I thought, also thanks to Lane being more mobile than Dennis Condrey and this being 'prettier looking' from the old MNX stuff from Mid-South. We didn't see much of Windham, apart from the energetic hot tag sequence. The finish was a bit convoluted, but still well done and quite realistic to be fair. ***1/2
  25. tcg91
    Easily Jarrett's biggest opportunity at that point of his career, the match was okay. Jarrett wasn't ready yet, but Bock conducted this well with his usual composure and prolonged headlocks. Good piece of storytelling when Jarrett locked in a lucky arm lock and wouldn't let go desperately, like it was his only hope to get a victory. Jarrett's punches weren't as good as Lawler's, but they generated decent pops. The finish made sense, as Bock capitalized on the challengers' inexperience and unnecessary risk from climbing the top rope. **3/4
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