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Even as the biggest Luger apologist at times, it is easy to see he is cooked here. This was too high profile a match to be a complete squash but really Luger is too far done for it to be effective as a competitive match either. They could have done some stuff like Luger going for the torture rack or what not but instead it is pretty generic back and forth action until Goldberg spears Luger and the referee that Lex pulls in front of him. One jackhammer later and Goldberg is 25-0 on the new streak. *

I am not seeing the potential in Palumbo as I have in guys like Jindrak and O’Haire. I think everyone knew what they were getting with Stasiak by this time so its not a surprise when he is subpar. The FIP sequence here felt like it lasted a decade. DDP did ok trying to rally up the crowd but the heels did nothing interesting on top whatsoever and the hot tag to Nash was humorous in how little reaction it received. Stasiak not being the legal man and getting pinned could lead to some bullshit on Nitro as I have no idea what the WCW tag title lineage looks like at this point forward but as of now, Nash and DDP celebrate the night as new tag champs. *1/2

Corino cuts a promo offering a challenge and calls out Sandman. Say no more as here he comes five minute entrance and all. They exchange promos and Corino is playing the cowardly heel again. Sandman has enough of Corino’s mouth and punches him down. We come back with Sandman bringing a guard rail into the ring. Corino gets suplexed onto the guard rail for a nearfall. A ladder is also brought in by Sandman. As an overall garbage style brawl, this isn’t bad as Sandman does at least seem motivated to perform his plunder spots well. Corino really bumps well on the spots too as it plays off the back work we saw from Lynn earlier. Finish was shitty as Corino reversed the side Russian leg sweep with a kendo stick into a neckbreaker onto the rail but Sandman ended up landing more on Corino. Again, not a bad match at all but the promotion really is feeling on borrowed time here and out of ideas. **12

Dawn Marie distracts Corino allowing Lynn to take advantage and take it to Corino in the early going. The stuff with Cyrus and Lynn is weird and Cyrus overall is one of the more grating parts of ECW. The referee gets bumped and Danny Daniels fails at trying to interfere. Other refs get bumped and Justin Credible comes in with a LA Kings jersey and caning both men. What the fuck is Victory doing on the outside just watching all of this happen. Lynn is busted open and cant continue. Promising start to the match but a bunch of bullshit really derailed things. **

Awful commentary that is insanely anti gay and grating throughout this match. As a blowoff for a pretty fun feud, this was too spotty and had an awful finish where the heat was put off of Backseat Boyz and on the next Bad Crew feud with Lovebug involved. The actual spots and a lot of the action within the ladder match were good and a fine indie representative of the TLC concept. Acid/Kashmere continue to impress me as performers. **3/4

Date Promotion Match. Ranking 04/02/93 AJW Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori ***** 9.9 12/3/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue ***** 9.9 07/29/93 AJPW Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi ***** 9.9 04/10/93 AJW Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada ***** 9.8 11/26/93 AAA Satanico vs. Pirata Morgan ****3/4 9.6 08/25/93 AJW Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai ****3/4 9.6 08/13/93 UWFI Yoji Anjoh vs. Naoki Sano ****3/4 9.4 06/01/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue ****3/4 9.3 02/21/93 WCW Vader vs. Sting ****3/4 9.3 05/05/93 FMW Terry Funk vs. Atsushi Onita ****1/2 9.2 02/28/93 AJPW Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada ****1/2 9.2 12/06/93 AJW Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori ****1/2 9.2 08/08/93 NJPW Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto ****1/2 9.2 11/04/93 NJPW Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto ****1/2 9.2 04/02/93 WAR Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa ( ****1/2 9.1 07/31/93 JWP Sakie Hasegawa, Takako Inoue, Kyoko Inoue & Aja Kong vs. Hikari Fukuoka, Cuty Suzuki, Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai ****1/2 9.1 12/6/93 AJW Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai ****1/2 9.1 08/31/93 AJPW Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi ****1/2 9.1 12/10/93 AJW Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada ****1/2 9.1 12/27/93 WCW Vader vs Ric Flair ****1/2 9 10/23/93 AJPW Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi ****1/2 9 01/09/93 WWF Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart ****1/2 9 01/15/93 JWP Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta ****1/2 8.9 11/30/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Giant Baba ****1/2 8.9 02/16/93 NJPW Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido, Hiroshi Hase & Tayayuki Iizuka vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Ricky Fuyuki & Tatsumi Kitahara ****1/2 8.9 03/27/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada ****1/2 8.9 07/02/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa ****1/2 8.9 03/19/93 CMLL Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas ****1/2 8.8 05/21/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen ****1/4 8.7 06/17/93 WAR Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto ****1/4 8.7 08/03/93 NJPW Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto ****1/4 8.6 04/24/93 AJW Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue ****1/4 8.6 11/09/93 LLPW Shinobu Kandori & Utako Hozumi vs. Bull Nakano & Takako Inoue ****1/4 8.6 10/02/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi ****1/4 8.5 12/05/93 UWFI Nobuhiko Takada vs. Vader ****1/4 8.5 01/30/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy ****1/4 8.5 04/06/93 NJPW Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu ****1/4 8.5 07/09/93 CMLL Ciclon Ramirez vs. Felino ****1/4 8.5 07/29/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada ****1/4 8.5 04/16/93 AJPW Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi ****1/4 8.4 10/23/93 RINGS Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse ****1/4 8.4 03/07/93 WAR Ultimo Dragon vs. El Samurai ****1/4 8.4 06/03/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa ****1/4 8.4 05/05/93 FMW Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyota vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada ****1/4 8.4 04/18/93 JWP Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami ****1/4 8.4 05/06/93 UWFI Naoki Sano vs. Kiyoshi Tamura ****1/4 8.4 06/13/93 WWF Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect ****1/4 8.4 12/06/93 AJW Megumi Kudo vs. Aja Kong ****1/4 8.4 09/24/93 AAA Villano III vs. Rambo ****1/4 8.3 11/21/93 CMLL El Dandy vs. Emilio Charles Jr. ****1/4 8.3 8/30/93 WWF Bret Hart vs. Doink the Clown / Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler ****1/4 8.3 07/14/93 NJPW Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Masa Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami ****1/4 8.3 02/14/93 AAA Rey Mysterio Jr., Winners & Super Calo vs. Heavy Metal, Picudo & Psicosis ****1/4 8.3 05/14/93 AAA El Hijo Del Santo vs. Heavy Metal ****1/4 8.3 04/02/93 SMW Tracy Smothers vs. Tony Anthony ****1/4 8.3 10/09/93 AJW Dynamite Kansai vs. Toshiyo Yamada **** 8.2 08/14/93 SMW Rock & Roll Express & Bob, Scott & Steve Armstrong vs. Heavenly Bodies, Bruise Brothers & Jim Cornette **** 8.2 07/19/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi **** 8.2 12/10/93 AJW Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada **** 8.2 09/03/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams **** 8.2 08/06/93 NJPW Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase **** 8.2 08/13/93 AJW Akira Hokuto vs. Harley Saito **** 8.1 05/08/93 WCW Hollywood Blonds vs. Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio **** 8.1 11/12/93 AJW Sakie Hasegawa & Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto **** 8.1 03/23/93 NJPW Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami **** 8.1 08/20/93 AJPW Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs Kenta Kobashi & Satoru Asako **** 8.1 01/09/93 WCW Barry Windham vs. Ricky Steamboat **** 8.1 10/29/93 AAA El Hijo del Santo vs. Heavy Metal **** 8.1 01/13/93 WCW Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds **** 8.1 02/28/93 AJPW Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue **** 8 06/14/93 NJPW El Samurai vs. Wild Pegasus **** 8 01/24/93 AJPW Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa **** 8 02/05/93 NJPW Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Keiji Muto, Akira Nogami & Shinya Hashimoto **** 8 07/09/93 AJPW Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jun Akiyama **** 8 03/06/93 SMW Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy **** 8 05/29/93 AJPW Terry Gordy vs. Kenta Kobashi **** 8 08/21/93 AJW Manami Toyota vs Akira Hokuto **** 8 06/16/93 WCW Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio **** 7.9 12/5/93 UWFI Gary Albright & Dan Severn vs. Salman Hashimikov & Vladimir Berkovich **** 7.9 04/02/93 AJW Takako Inoue & Kyoko Inoue vs. Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki **** 7.9 02/21/93 WCW Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio **** 7.9 05/03/93 AJW Akira Hokuto vs. Toshiyo Yamada **** 7.9 11/24/93 WWF Rock N Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies **** 7.9 02/14/93 UWFI Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kiyoshi Tamura **** 7.9 04/18/93 WCW Barry Windham vs. Steven Regal **** 7.9 08/22/93 AAA MS-1 vs. Cien Caras **** 7.9 07/24/93 Michinoku Pro Great Sasuke vs. Super Delphin **** 7.9 09/20/93 NJPW Shinya Hashimoto vs. Great Muta **** 7.9 11/06/93 AAA Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon **** 7.9 06/15/93 NJPW Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto, Tatsumi Fujinami, Masa Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Tatsu Goto & Strong Machine **** 7.8 10/01/93 WAR Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara **** 7.8 08/13/93 WWF Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna **** 7.8 03/07/93 WAR Shinya Hashimoto & Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Ashura Hara & Kodo Fuyuki **** 7.8 12/01/93 AJPW Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Steve Williams & Big Boss Man **** 7.8 08/18/93 WCW Vader vs. Davey Boy Smith **** 7.8 08/28/93 AAA Mascarita Sagrada & Octagoncito vs. Jerrito Estrada & Espectrito **** 7.8 03/27/93 WCW Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds ***3/4 7.7 08/15/93 JWP Devil Masami vs. Hikari Fukuoka ***3/4 7.7 06/21/93 WWF Marty Jannetty vs. Doink the Clown ***3/4 7.7 03/03/93 WAR Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido ***3/4 7.7

A great match that absolutely holds up as one of the better ones of the year. The finish may not be as emphatic as some want but it played into the storyline perfectly and showed that FLair didn't win, he more or less just survived. The violence of Vader is on display here and makes Flair become more violent and enraged as a result. I think this is the true peak end of The Nature Boy. ****1/2 ( 9)

We only see the back half but it looks to be a pretty weird match with some chemistry and lighting issues. Also the finish is one of those keep the viewer honest finishes that can also be confusing.

Gene is there to narrate Flair's journey to the arena. Fun stuff showing Reid and Charlotte at the house and Gene and Flair have built a good rapport with each other. Again, the gravity of the match is really being presented well drawing the viewer in.

The music and yellow pictures get me every time. I also love the way it morphs into Vader creating him as a monster.

Taker is patriotic and wishing us a Merry Christmas. Bret says drinking and driving is not cool. THanks Hitman.

A brawl that shows the template of ECW to come and interesting to watch but not my favorite style of brawling at all and too inconsequential feeling within the spots. This felt more about them being “crazy” and portraying their character than having hate at each other. The finish also was a failure for me with Douglas involvement. **3/4

I had never seen this before and it is GREAT. Flair feels warm and adds gravity to the impending match. I wish this didn't happen on Christmas day as I doubt the audience was as big as It could have been. Overall, this is one of those segments that reminds me that FLair is able to get me emotionally invested like few other wrestlers in history.

This was themed well and played off the followup that Mama Cornette is really opening up the check book bringing Dick in.

Tracy is an outdoorsman and for the SMW audience in 1993 he fits the mold of what they were looking for.

Nice promo with Owen being subtle in saying he will lead the team. Setting the seeds for what is to come.

Merry Christmas to me as I thought this was really well done. Kopylov gets a chance to shine and ORlov can be fun going for stuff like the aforementioned flying leg kick. Kopylov is one of those workers that was always in the mix at RINGS but not a name that instantly comes to mind in the shoot style lexicon. This is a good showcase match to present against a non name. ***3/4 7.3

Pretty bad introduction and a gimmick that seemed DOA and really regional and polarizing.

Fun Memphis style brawling match that was used to put over Jarrett as a heel threat. He stalled and pulled out all the greatest hits and shortcuts. I think the match being so drawn out actually was helpful as it didn’t cheapen the match and the finish with Lawler winning felt more satisfactory. ***1/2 (7.1)

Another very good match. The novelty of seeing these two interact and go long is enjoyable but I think they could have had a kick ass 20 minute match around this time if they would have edited some of the stuff they did here. Liger looked on point with his strikes in this match and Finlay is always a good bruiser to ground him down. ***1/4 (6.7)

This is kind of a jekyl and hyde match as I have seen it three times the past few months, just have failed to write my comments for it. Each time its went from being a fair match to a near great one. I landed on just barely very good this watch and feel confident with that placement. The volatile Funk style is nice to see from afar and we get some cool arm work to keep things interesting but St. Clair isn’t exciting and the finish was anticlimactic. ***1/2 (6.9)

The Boss rushes out and takes Rude by surprise and he is a house of fire. Jesse of course is shocked on commentary talking about the legality of the whole thing. I liked the counter of Rude with the DDT to take over. Jesse has a great line saying he doesn’t normally cheer lead but he has to on this occasion. Rude’s work on the neck is well done and the heat here is stronger than anything else he has been involved with. Boss makes his comeback and we get some great Rude sell jobs on atomic drops. Boss wins for the big upset and gives a promo with Gene after the match. Fun segment. ***1/4 6.3

Funny enough, I was in a blah mood and put this on a few nights ago. Still a shit load of fun. I feel like this could have been a cult classic like the Alabama Doink Golden Corral if it would have came out a few years later.

Hero episode was really good. Cool insight on Misawa giving Hero the loaded knockout elbow pad. Moving onto the Samoa Joe show.