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tcg91

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Everything posted by tcg91

  1. tcg91
    Pretty good match, despite them using smoke and mirrors here and stalling a little bit at the beginning. Bock was good, he played the part of the coward heel and bumped around for Hogan like he was supposed to do. I always heard how Hogan was safe in the ring and managed to get reaction out of little things and this match was a good example of that, despite not being great or anything. Still, this lacked major drama or good focus segments and it's a shame, because Hogan was over enough to pull off a powerful comeback. The finish was a bit of a let-down, even with a 2024 mindset, as Hogan got screwed again despite being the clear winner here ***
  2. tcg91
    Very strong rematch, that played on a lot of dynamics that were built in their previous encounter. Fujinami ducked the initial lariat this time and was proactive with the legwork early on, but his own leg was heavily taped and this only delayed Choshu's dominion over the challenger. This lost a bit of steam in the middle, but generally Choshu did well and Fujinami was great at selling his pain, but he never gave up. I wish Fujinami would have had more chances for a comeback later on, but the story was all about him selling the leg and still refusing to quit; in that sense, the countout finish was a good one, as Choshu did retain but without the exclamation point ***1/2
  3. tcg91
    This was really tough to rate, I even watched it twice. It wasn't bad, not at all, but it ended up being too disjointed and overbooked for my taste. Mask showed a lot of fire and they also indulged in some matwork with an incredibly quick pace, but they stopped selling the leg very quickly and so none of that mattered. The heat was there anyway and the mask rip segment ruled, like a good chunk of the first part of the match. I didn't really mind the restart angle, not even when it happened twice, but what annoyed me was the way they no sold the tombstones on the floor. How is one supposed to care about any other spot after that? ***
  4. tcg91
    Another really strong bout between these two teams, even though it was not their best one. Obviously, Terry and Hansen continued some segments from their recent match and their interactions ruled. Brody was okay in his selling, better than usual at least, while Dory proved to be a very reliable support for his brother and the match improved when he was the babyface in peril. Terry was great when he received the hot tag and when he stopped Hansen from hitting the lariat on Dory, which was also a dejà vu. They repeated the wild brawl outside the ring and the non-finish, which was a bit disappointing this time around, as there was other 2 competitors left in the ring to do a finish with ***1/2
  5. tcg91
    Famous great match, one that still holds up today. All time great Funk performance, he fought Hansen with all of his strength and his selling was incredible, enhanced by the smart use of the blood. High quality brawl between the two, it made sense to see Funk working on his opponent's leg to take him down, only to face the desperate blows from Hansen, who wanted to avoid a mat confrontation on purpose. The intense fight led to a non-finish after a good segment through the crowd, but the end was still very suggestive because Hansen tried to kill Terry until Dory Jr. desperately saved his brother. Add a finish to this (and a bit more of leg selling on Hansen's part) and this is a contender to best match ever ****
  6. tcg91
    This felt like a big deal, even though it wasn't for the IWGP Title. Their previous fights came into place here, as they affected their strategies, especially Choshu's: the challenger tried to weaken Fujinami even before the match and then to submit him, but Fujinami proved to be more resilient and more ground based than Choshu to give up at any point. Choshu had to resort back to the lariat, which worked because Fujinami's damaged knee got bent at one time and exposed him to the move. This was a really good spectacle, very solid at the beginning and with the right explosions towards the end, it also told a good story ****
  7. tcg91
    Flair and Kevin clearly didn't have the same chemistry that the Naitch had with Kerry, but this was a good match anyway. Kevin's shine segment wasn't the best and looked a bit awkward, but they got enough heat when Flair started hitting Kevin's broken nose, using it as a saving strategy whenever the challenger managed to get the upper hand. The finishing stretch was overbooked and I get why, but 2 referee bumps looked unnecessary, like the dusty finish on top of it; it just seemed a light version of what Flair did with Kerry the year before, in terms of keeping the title luckily against one of the brothers ***1/4
  8. tcg91
    This was another really good Joint Promotion bout. The 20 minutes limit, with no rounds system, made the match more digestible and allowed them to keep working on the momentum that they were gradually building. Finlay was really good when focusing on Kilby's back, throwing really hard irish whips and keeping it simple. Kilby looked good and was quite quick for his size. Not a fan of the ridiculous bump Finlay took towards the end, which caused his knee injury and protected his loss; I get why they did it, but that jump was silly, especially for a no non-sense wrestler like him ***1/2
  9. tcg91
    This was a blast and very fun to watch. Do not let anyone tell you Hogan wasn't over before joining the WWF, because good god, the crowd was crazy for him. This went pretty much as one would expect: good shine time for the High Flyers, fun heat segment from the heels and Hogan taking no prisoners at the end. Not like the action was particularly flawless, but everything went smoothly and it was a very solid 15 minutes. Absolute loved when Gagne tagged Brunzell instead of Hogan because the referee was in the middle, it made so much sense ***
  10. tcg91
    I didn't like this as some people would do, but this was a very good bout for what it was. It also had one of the best crowds of the 80s. Clipped in the middle and straight to the point, with Raschke and Vachon beating the heels for most of the match, with lots of blood involved. The energy was there, but the babyfaces' offence wasn't always the smoothest and they didn't sell much, even though I liked the flashy finish. Props to Blackwell, he took a beating and bumped around despite his size, making the grizzled veterans look as good as they could ***1/2
  11. tcg91
    I had to watch this twice, as I wasn't too sure about it. Slaughter was the absolute man here, he bled a lot and led the match with incredible in ring presence, making the champions' attacks vicious and building the crowd's passion toward the late comeback. Great use of the cage (bumps and Slaughters' dive), a very good Steamboat reaction and a good finish to boot. However, this went for 30+ minutes and it did drag at times, especially at in the first part; we had lots of 2 wrestlers in the ring and 2 on the apron, which feels quite anticlimactic in a cage match. It's a shame, because they insisted too much on the traditional stuff, when the crowd wanted blood and bumps (they got it in the end, but this was too long as a result) ***1/2
  12. tcg91
    This was a very good match, Rose was absolutely gold as usual and Adams made a great impression on the crowd. Adams had a knee injury, but the plot of the match was not the usual one, as Rose couldn't get his hands on his opponent's injured body part until the end of the bout. Adams outwrestled his opponent, with a good arm work, and managed to keep the pace up despite Rose's attempts to take a break from him. All hell broke loose in the last falls, with a few good near falls and a great Adams dive too, but finally Rose managed to hit his bad knee and got the cheap countout win ***1/2
  13. tcg91
    Great crowd, every little thing caused a huge reaction, this made the match so enjoyable. DiBiase and JYD touched at times, with the heel getting the worst every time, but in general this worked as a great skirmish for their feud. I was never a great fan of II, he looked quite silly in his strutting at times, but the crowd loved him so who am I to judge. Good heat segment on II, Borne and DiBiase are an underrated tag team in terms of heel tactics and leading a bout. As expected, great hot tag for JYD and the finish was very fun, despite the disqualification finish ***1/4
  14. tcg91
    A few minutes were clipped. Really nice match with an amazing crowd that chanted "go home Freebirds" with a lot of energy, with these fans the scheme was really easy as all they did worked. They didn't even rely too much on the usual lumberjacks spots, as the 6 men on the ring guaranteed enough action anyway. The von Erichs thrived on a double babyface in peril situation, with Kevin doing it better than anyone else here. Liked this all around, including the finish, despite not being completely satisfactory there will be time for better endings in this feud ***1/2
  15. tcg91
    This went for 60 minutes and 10 were clipped from the file. Man, props to Flair for doing this with Brody. You could tell Brody actually cared here and tried his best; he was lacking major selling/pacing skills as usual, but Flair sticked to his formula and got a good match out of him. Brody was massively over, which surely helped, as Flair made him look good with his selling and dosing Brody's cardio correctly thanks to the rest holds. The finish of the second fall was quite silly, in full 80s spirit, thus stopping the good momentum before the last few minutes. Not a very strong Flair broadway match, but not a bad one ***
  16. tcg91
    Slightly clipped. This was a very good match, as they both excelled in their respective roles and put on a very solid and interesting bout from the very beginning. This was quite slow at times, to be fair, but it was physical enough and the slow pace helped build the finishing stretch. Valentine held the strings really well with his snug limb work, but I wasn't really a fan of how quick and high Kerry dropkicked him after such a long legwork segment. Despite this, the crowd was really into the final comeback and even the flashy pinfall was well done ***1/2
  17. tcg91
    A very positive double skirmish match, that enhanced both programs and was a good match as well. I liked the "laissez faire" way Inoki was coaching Fujinami, while the heels didn't hesitate to cheat every time they had an issue. Solid start, but a bit dull at times, surprisingly it happened mostly when Fujinami was in; at times, he didn't seem able to be on the other guy's page. Inoki was very generous here, selling his leg against the heels for several minutes in a row and doing it quite well too. The clean finish was quite good, a desperate move from Inoki, right when a normal script would include a hot tag ***1/2
  18. tcg91
    What a great match. This was snug, realistic and competitive. By a notch or two, more violent than the average Joint Promotion bout, especially after the first few respectful rounds. Dynamite was trained by Jones, so he struggled because his opponent knew him quite well; him looking down on UK rules was a great heel move, he collected warnings, but thankfully there was no disqualification. The crowd (and the usually very composed announcer) were heavily into this, the drama of the roll up finish also added to the contest. Often, Joint Promotions matches are technically sound, but they lack heat: it's not the case here, at all ***3/4
  19. tcg91
    Tiger Mask didn't get involved that much here, as he received a beatdown before the match and mostly stood on the apron for this one. This was fun I guess. The rudos murdered Hamada and worked quite well together, despite a few arguments. Ironically, Mask's segments were probably the worst ones of the match, because they looked quite choreographed compared to the rest of the action. The others were quick enough in the first few minutes, but the selling later on was never that good or consistent. Decent flashy finish, at least **1/2
  20. tcg91
    The more I rewatch stuff, the more I am convinced that Tiger Mask's best series was with Kobayashi, not Dynamite Kid. This was really nice and well grounded, maybe a bit too long, but overall a snug, solid and at times very electric Juniors match. Mask was much appreciated when he focused on the challenger's arm, while Kobayashi's offence was hit and miss at times, I don't know why he would kick a body port and then work on another one. A bit of non-selling from Mask, which affected the match. The non-finished rule, a countout makes perfect sense after such a snug german suplex on the floor, especially after the previous countout tease ***1/2
  21. tcg91
    I always had a love-hate relationship with this match and I still do, despite the good parts dominating the bad ones. Most of the bout was amazing: I loved the recalls to the spots of their previous encounter, the energic brawling, Flair bleeding like a drunk fighter after their slugfests, Kerry's comeback and implementation of the claw. The cage door spot is still a classic and I even loved the **** finish, playing on Kerry's concussion despite his desperate attempts to finally win the World Title (and thus starting one of the best feuds ever). I hated Michael Hayes interjections, not just for the final spot, but he was annoyingly stopping the match every now and then. Why would a referee get involved so often in the action when there are no disqualifications?! It never made sense and still kind of spoils the match to this day, which is a shame because these two put on a clinic ***3/4
  22. tcg91
    Really nice 10 minutes match, they went straight to the point and used the time very well. The best part of the bout was Brody attacking Terry's poor ear and Funk's incredible selling, with the side of his head bleeding all over the place. Terry was outstanding here, great facial expressions and firey comeback from him; what a brilliant spot when he hesitated before a headbutt, as he didn't want to hurt his head as well. I have rarely seen Brody so motivated. Crappy 80s non finish aside, this was remarkable and a great way to hype the RWTL final with Dory and Hansen ***1/2
  23. tcg91
    This was a very good big men match, better than it had any right to be. The 20 minutes time limit helped them not going too long, but then they did reach that limit and the match never dragged up to that point. Nice to see Blackwell working on the mat and Reed being very inspired while selling, trying to get his revenge in the unusual position of being the little guy here. They did well with the bodyslam tease, as it costed Reed the first fall and he was determined to finally hit it at some point. With a better finishing stretch, this could have been a classic ***1/2
  24. tcg91
    Good match, albeit a bit too long, it dragged at times. I can tell the Grapplers apart from the skin tone of their backs, which is funny. Really good babyface performance here, Paul Boesch couldn't stop putting over young Morton, who was already one of the best sellers of the country in 1982. The Grapplers isolating him was by far the best part of the bout, it was a simple but effective scheme. However, as often happens the first fall took too long and the others couldn't keep up with it, so the match took a step back. Conway was still hit and miss for me, he was way over but a clear downgrade from Morton when he got the tag ***1/2
  25. tcg91
    Very fun match. If you like Backlund's matwork and Rose's overselling, this was a good one for you. The lumberjacks kept the match entertaining with the usual spots, but that ended up breaking the pace of the good Backlund armwork early on. This wasn't too long and didn't get extra drama, surely a longer Rose control segment would have been beneficial. SD Jones was the special referee and he was clearly rooting for Backlund, which was a bit weird. Simple, but effective finish ***
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