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soup23

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Everything posted by soup23

  1. soup23
    The mayor gets booed but this is two weeks before this state elects Ventura as governor, so I don't really trust their political preferences around this time. On cue, a big Ventura chant breaks out. The mayor does a good job of winning back over the crowd with John Randel and Kirby Puckett coming out. Flair seems genuinely happy to meet Kirby. They declare this Ric Flair day in MInneapolis. Bischoff comes out pissed and is great here. I loved his mocking gyration at the mayor getting in his face. Eventually, Bisch gets the boot and his Cadillac towed to boot. This is being drawn out but hasnt lost steam yet, as I had a smile on my face throughout this entire segment.
  2. soup23
    This crowd sucked but I liked this way more than Charles and thought it was a good match overall. They worked a slower pace at times but they also instituted nice tonal shifts to the match and Rey was able to remain spectacular enough without over doing it on his bum leg. I liked that Kidman was able to thwart some of the signature Rey Jr. moves and whether they intended to or not, little stuff like Rey not being able to do the rana because Kidman was too far away is a good strategy. This also went a time limit which was nice and all it needed was the crowd to follow along. Sometimes it is overblown how many great Nitro matches there were, but this was a solid edition to the long, cruiserweight style matches of the era. (***1/4)
  3. soup23
    I thought this was decent to good action and both guys mixed in some stuff you dont see too often like a tilt a whirl suplex. Jericho was able to work over Page a good bit but Page wasn't hindered heading into his match vs. Goldberg. I do feel the need sometimes to lambast Bobby on commentary just because I feel he gets more of a pass than Tony based on how many people like each respective person but him talking about how EVERYONE he talked to at a ticket on sale event was picking Page to beat Goldberg was awful and I was glad that TOny firmly put him in his place by saying Page was the decided underdog. Goldberg comes out at the end of this match and spears Jericho but DDP doesn't want to be outdone and gives him the Diamond Cutter. We then get a really cool out of control feeling pull apart that finally brings some intrigue and hype to their upcoming match Sunday. (**1/2)
  4. soup23
    Jericho was getting major face pops here coming out. He has been screwed by not being acknowledged that he is 3-0 against Greenberg. Page comes out and offers a challenge to Jericho and gets the crowd back on the correct side of the fence in the face/heel dynamic. I loved him kicking away Ralphus. I could have seen Page vs. Jericho as a good feud after the Goldberg Havoc match.
  5. soup23
    These girls are still dong their thing. The latter Ms. HBK has now joined the group. Kimberly is still the worst dancer from what I can tell.
  6. soup23
    This latest show had a big classy air to it that fit nicely with the WOS footage. It really felt appropriate having Parv oversee this along with the gentlemen Canadian duo. I did seek out that Street vs. Breaks match after Parv raved on it and I enjoyed it a ton. I thought Steven's point was astute in that this match was pretty without feeling like an exhibition. They really found the right tone between working together and trying to attain a victory.
  7. soup23
    IRS
  8. soup23

    RINGS

    soup23 posted a topic in Pro Wrestling

    I have become fascinated in this promotion due to the action of Tamura, Han, Yamamota and Kohsaka. My question lies in whether there has been a set lineage of when the promotion became complete shoots? Was this gradual over time or something that happened overnight. Also, has there ever been a definitive understanding of which matches are a shoot and which are a work? Kohsaka vs. Ilioukhine from 9/98 feels like a complete work to me but others feel it may be a shoot. My final question is once the transition took place, did Tamura and Yamamoa compete in any works for other promotions. What was the origin of U-Style starting up? Thanks
  9. soup23
    vs. Tamura 9/21/98 Fantastic match up there with the best RINGS ones. Yammamota is pretty underrated as he has built up quite a bit of excellent matches the past two years. Speaking of, Tamura and Kobashi seem to be in a neck and neck race for WOTY at this point. This featured some great matwork that just moves and transitions flawlessly. However, from that outstanding technical spot, we advance to a more dramatic tone featuring strikes that was complete engaging. I loved the palm strike Yammamota gave and he really milked his standing 9 counts for all they were worth. In fact, they blew their saves a lot more in this match than others which is a nice change from the "saving" strategy utilized in Kohsaka vs. Tamura. I love RINGS so much. (****1/2) vs. Maeda 7/20/98 Was this a retirement of sorts for Maeda? The ringing bell at the end was the reason I ask. Anyway, I agree that this didn't have the precision or the brutality of other stuff in shoot style we have seen in 1998 but it did have an awesome story of Maeda having pretty much complete control and then realizing in the tail end that he was out gunned and didn't have much left to give and therefore he runs out the clock. The stirke exchanges in the waning minutes were nice and the ankle lock in the middle of this looked brutal. I love the variety of all the shoot style matches that have stood out in 1998 so far. (****1/4) vs. Kohsaka 4/4/97 I was a little familiar with TK but not a ton. Honestly don't think I have ever seen Yamamoto before unless I am blanking on something. This match blew me away. It is not a match for everyone but the matwork and escalation to the flying strikes around the finish were spectacular. I really loved the groundwork and opening 10 minutes of this. It felt like it could end at any moment but just kept going and going which is a good thing. Really looking forward to all the shoot style stuff in the next few years. (****1/2)
  10. soup23
    Action here looked completely awful. Finish wasn't much better. Maybe all WWE PPV's in October are destined to end in shit. Vince is good on his promise to fire Austin as he gets pelted with garbage which is nice. I know what happens next in the story and I am interested to see if I think it makes enough sense as it would be a shame for this angle to go off the rails even ever so slightly based on the great stuff we have seen between these two this year.
  11. soup23
    Parts of this was good with the stiff strikes, forearms, and Goldust dive. Other parts like Val trying to a pseudo heel and working the arm were less impressive. The crowd didn't care much either way until they started to cheer for Goldust. This kind of shows everything wrong with the attitude era in some ways as the writers are basically begging the fans to decide for them who to cheer and boo. Heel commentator Lawler now has to cheer for Val just because they are both perverts. This could have been really good in a different environment and a different angle. There was some great stuff below the surface of this storyline but it never got there and the logic was so wonky. (**3/4)
  12. soup23
    I liked their 1997 series a lot and I don't know if this just came along at the right time in the year as we haven't seen much lucha in a while, but this match blew me away. The opening caida featured some of my favorite Santito maestro mat work that I have seen using signature stuff like his head scissors lock but also mixing in really cool stuff like his hanging abdominal stretch. He really moved around beautifully and I didn't want this sequence to end. I also liked how he had to mix in dives and more fast paced work to take the first fall. The second fall is more of the same and Felino is in deep shit until he relies on his "cat" like slyness. I didn't see this as Felino getting lucky as much as him being resourceful and advantageous. Santo works the leg and Felino bails to the outside feigning legit injury but really just rehabbing the leg enough that he can get a spurt of offense. When he comes back inside, he attacks like crazy in a fury and ends up taking the second fall. Santo doesn't respond to this kindly as he unloads on the final fall with more desperation and anger than in the first two caidas. Huge dives mixed in with power moves. Felino also seemed to be just close enough to the ropes or able to reach down and kick out. The kick out of the sunset flip powerbomb was especially beautiful in the way Felino came to life right at the last moment. Santo starts getting more visually frustrated and taking more chances. Felino instituted a rope a dope strategy and waited for the right moment he could hit a foul and end up gaining the victory. This was up there as the best lucha matches I have seen and would be a top 20 lucha match for me in the decade. ****3/4
  13. soup23
    I do feel more frustrated this year than last for a two pronged reason. 1. It feels like the same mistakes last year are being made this year internally. 2. I was always kind of mildly confident that Bryan had enough ground swell with the public to at least remain relevant. Ambrose is trending dangerously close to the Ziggler/Kofi 2010 line for me where he will be unable to break through.
  14. soup23
    http://placetobenation.com/place-to-be-network-hell-in-a-cell-2014-reaction/ Will is joined by Dylan Hales (Wrestling Culture), Johnny Sorrow (Titans of Wrestling), Phil Schneider (Segunda Caida) and his buddy Kris Zellner to recap the big events from tonight's PPV. Did we experience a flashback from 1998 or 1994 during the main event? Were the Bellas the best divas on the card? Did Cena and Orton have an exciting match? Is Rusev the most over person in the company? Plenty of arguments and contentious statements thrown around from the panel tonight! ​
  15. soup23
    NJPW heavies is an odd complex in 1998. Old guys still at the top and they haven't found a way to really integrate the new breed (Tenzan, Kojima, Nagata) effectively IMO. Also, the NWO arc overwhelms everything else. This had some decent action mixed in but also a storyline I didn't care about with Muto leaving and then returning. Also, Koshinaka looked really bad here and reckless and Tenzan wasn't much better going for random moonsaults and stuff. This didn't make me want to go out and see much more heavyweight stuff from this era.
  16. soup23
    Cory looks slick on the golf course. Baxter runs down his history in a pseudo interview like what Ross conducted on Raw last year. Baxter does come across well here and seems to side with Lawler now vs. Hales so I have no idea who Hales is going to be backing now.
  17. soup23
    I don't know if this was a stipulation or what that if someone lost, Francine would have to be stripped naked. Either way, she is confident it isn't happening.
  18. soup23
    New Jacks dive was incredibly stupid and who the fuck cares about Rod Price and Jack Victory. One Man Gang comes out and throws people around until Spike comes in. After taking an ass beating, Spike ends up hitting an acid drop and winning. What a way for Gang to make a debut. These are a mess. (*3/4)
  19. soup23
    These arent getting much better or breaking much new ground. I have been fairly disappointed overall with Gertner as mouthpiece.
  20. soup23
    Love how the Horseman are looking out for each other and not taking any shit. This was another great collective promo from the group.
  21. soup23
    Awesome hot main event with everyone working hard and a molten crowd. This does have a capture in time quality to it. The finish was good to with the Big Boss Man being revealed as a henchman for Vince in a great moment that got insane heat. (***)
  22. soup23
    Looks like The Rock is breaking away from the Nation. They are doing good at presenting Rock as more of a main event player.
  23. soup23
    Mankind and Mr. Socco are digging for Vince's briefcase. I love annoyed Vince at Mick. He is conveying all of the emotions.
  24. soup23
    Vince is on another level and kind of breaking his run in May which I didn't think was possible. The Corvette getting filled up is iconic and we have had so many iconic moments the last few weeks. That was really smart of Austin to rile up the dogs and the promo Vince delivers is one of the best of the year. I loved all of this.
  25. soup23
    Henry becomes a poet and has some sweet word for Chyna.
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