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soup23

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Everything posted by soup23

  1. soup23
    I guess Emilio is injured as this was supposed to be a trios. He has quite the limp when he appears before the crowd. The first fall is all rudo as is traditionally the case. Bucanero and Guerrero have some awesome double team moves including the finishing run where they flip Niebla around finishing into a half crab. The second fall is more of the same but I loved the transition into the face comecback of them having Villano slumped over the top rope and Ultimo flying into the corner. Niebla and Villano then go nuts on the rudos including Ultimo getting posted right in the face. I enjoyed how the match flowed from the comeback where the finish of the segunda caida didn’t just occur. Niebla has some beautiful dives including a moonsault to the outside and Villano locks on a tight submission to secure the second fall. Third fall has some unique work too. Niebla locks in a figure four and they go to the outside. Ultimo tries to break it up and Villano slams him on top of Bucanero which was an awesome move. The third fall opens up with some wild dives to the outside including a spin tope from Ultimo. Bucanero gets monkey flipped into Ultimo on the outside and the tecnicos give two big topes to wipe them out. Again, the rudos aren’t dead though as when Niebla dives, they move out of the way and he plows into Villano. Now, we get some great double team moves from the Infernales again and they finish with a stretch/Indian Deathlock submission from Villano. Ultimo gets cocky and Niebla is able to tie up Bucanero for the submission and we are down to Ultimo/Niebla 1 on 1. We get a good bit of back and forth and Ultimo gets a big feather in his cap again on a marquee show where he hits a can opener from the top rope to secure the win for the Infernales. This was a great structured tag that showed good resourcefulness for the shifts within the match and all four men looked stronger coming out. **** (8)
  2. soup23
    This was straight Memphis bullshit but a fun match and kudos to Jarrett for making Chyna look competent in this setting. The false finish actually helped build drama to this moment and I did think JR and King on commentary do a strong job of putting over the win and the ramifications of it. **3/4
  3. soup23
    This was a great death match to me. The gravity was there for the weapons and each competitor gave sympathetic moments. I am not as down on Yamakawa as Charles but I do agree that this is probably the top death match we have seen from 1999 and a great lead in to the highs of BJW of 2000. ****1/4 (8.4)
  4. soup23
    This was a great match. I loved the opening with Tanaka just getting a huge head kick and then wanting to pounce on Taka and being proud of his accomplishment. Taka gathers his bearings and then comes back with some grounded work and the match flows from there. The home stretch really opens up and shows the strategies of both men. Each leg submission felt brutal and the final submission attempts felt like a climax of the match that was laid before it. I was surprised but enlightened by Taka winning with the camel clutch. A great match that kind of comes out of nowhere but does feature two very good workers overall. **** (8.1)
  5. soup23
    It looks like Satanico has freshly lost a apuestas match and had his hair shaved again. Wagner and Casas really go after each other in the first fall and it ends with Wagner giving Casas the Splash Mountain for the pin. The crowd is rapid for Porky on the inside with huge chants for him. The tecnico comeback in the second fall is predictably excellent with Casas going nuts on Wagner and Porky repeatedly banging Bestia’s head into the turnbuckle. Satanico tries to go for his fake foul spot but no one is buying that this time. Porky gets his huge splash to a gigantic pop to end the second fall. Awesome. A nice long shot of Arena Mexico before the third fall shows how packed the crowd is. Third fall starts with some great Porky comedy as Bestia keeps headbutting his stomach but that just gets him to hit Satanico stuck in the corner with his butt. Wagner and Casas are then in and the match is more heated and vicious. Porky does another dive from the apron and the rudos are cleared out except for Wagner and Casas. The crowd is molten and Wagner goes after the legs with a dropkick. Casas is able to get the La Magistral for a nearfall and then another one off of a Wagner powerbomb attempt. Wagner is booked to be really resourceful as he does get the nearfall but ends up landing on the referee on the kickout. Bestia is having his leg tended to on the outside. Wagner is frustrated enough and fouls Casas for the tecnico win. What an awesome way to start the night. This was the greatest hits highlights for these guys but they are some of the best workers of all time, so it really landed and had the crowd going crazy. **** (7.8)
  6. soup23
    A really strong IWRG mid cardish type match. The face team was one I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from but they delivered a good performance. However, Blue Panther continues to be a shining star as he sequences in particular with Safari were the highlight of the match. I also enjoyed seeing Pimpenela in a rudo role and trying to use her advances and sexuality to gain an advantage. The rudos end up justifiably taking this one given their star power. All of the falls had time to develop and the IWRG building and atmosphere lend itself to strong matches overall. ***1/2 (7.1)
  7. soup23
    The HHH/Steph/Angle stuff continues to be excellent and we get a series of vignettes from Steph arriving needing space, to Angle saying he is there for her as a friend. We then see HHH/Steph meeting with Foley and we learn that Kurt and Steph are more than friends…they are tag partners. Shane gives a rally talk saying that HHH/Kurt need to be on the same page for the sake of Steph’s health. I do think HHH’s acting is strong here as we get little character beats like Steph blitzing past him in their entrance and his budding frustration. This was another good match and overall this was a strong SmackDown. This was given enough time and I still appreciate how much of a threat they are making Lita out to be lately. The teases of Steph going through a table were well done and required a lot of moving parts that had to work in order to be logical. HHH gives Lita a pedigree which knocks her out but then D-Von starts brawling with HHH. Angle makes the save for Steph against Bubba and Steph gets the pin on Lita. The camera angle of Steph/Angle hugging and celebrating on the tron as an angered HHH looks on was awesome. *** (6.2)
  8. soup23
    Rock gives a pretty funny promo with Kevin Kelly where he blackens one his tooth to make it look like the gap that Benoit has. They have continued to do a good job bridging the feud between Benoit and Rock and to when he will move onto Angle/HHH for the SummerSlam main event. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this match. Benoit/Big Show make a fun makeshift team, Kane showed more fire here than usual with a great brawl at the start and FIP sequence and the Rock is officially now a good wrestler in his own right and even the Sharpshooter that looks dreadful later on in his career is applied tightly and smoothly. The finish worked with Rock going for a People’s Elbow and Shane smashing a chair against him. Benoit then delivers a brutal looking diving headbutt to pick up the win. The issue between Show and Kane goes up to the top of the entranceway where Show removes a piece of the set and then gives a chokeslam to Kane onto the concrete floor. The camera work was slick here in not showing Kane lying on the floor until enough time had elapsed for production to remove the mat that Kane fell on. This should have been utilized in the HHH vs Undertaker spot at WM 17. *** (6.1)
  9. soup23
    Something about this match coming off the heels of Thunder really projected the difference between WWF and WCW at the moment. We have seen these kind of goal post moments in the deterioration of WCW. The Lance Storm stuff is universally praised from this dreadful period and it was fine and enjoyable but then on SmackDown you have kind of a throwaway match between two characters like Edge and Matt Hardy and it just feels like it has so much more juice just from a presentation standpoint. This match was also short but I liked the angle that played into it with Jeff Hardy being pleaded with to stay in the back due to his concussion. Matt is in trouble in the latter stages of the match and here comes Jeff to help his brother with a ladder. He climbs to the top and loses his equilibrium falling to the ropes below. Edge then completely demolishes Matt with a chair shot right to the head continuing the build to TLC. *1/2
  10. soup23
    Lance’s final test is vs the Cat. Cat’s gear is awful and looks like women’s pajamas. Cat’s offense looks pretty putrid and this isn’t much of a match. Another referee bump and out comes Muto to attack Cat. I guess they thought they could have a vicious martial arts match. Muto Dragon Screws Cat and that of course leads to the Maple Leaf allowing Lance to leave Thunder with all three titles. ½*
  11. soup23
    Oh man, time for Fat Chick Thriller Mike Awesome and hes ready to give you a dose of Vitamin P….. passion. Awesome says if you are fat, you are just busting at the seems with love. Holy shit this is awful. Kanyon comes out and suddenly his DDP cosplay gimmick looks genius in comparison. Stevie on commentary talks about all the bookers he has been through. The action is fine but its so much to overcome with these gimmicks and again were only given about 2.5 minutes. Kanyon hits that wheelbarrow powerbomb which looks impressive given Awesome’s size. Kanyon also gives a Kanyon Cutter from the top rope of a seated Awesome. Kanyon gets frustrated at not getting the pin and hits the referee before giving the cutter to a photographer and ring crew at ringside. Kanyon has snapped! Judy Bagwell runs down and hits Kanyon with her purse. Running Awesome Bomb and this is it. ¾*
  12. soup23
    We learn that the Canadian rulebook shows that no outside weapons can be used and the match can only end in a submission. Vito is appalled on commentary. Stevie brings up Norman being the champion in mexico and Vito of all people busts out EMLL as the name of the promotion. These two again with 15 minutes in a straight wrestling match would be fun. The finish here was clever with the referee being distracted for a bit with a shot to the eye, Storm using the American flag on Norman’s leg and then locking on the Maple Leaf to escape. Vito makes the save. *
  13. soup23
    Stevie is on commentary here. Prime Time Player Elix Skipper is making his gimmick debut here. 120 second match but Skipper runs through a lot of cool offense and hits most of it cleanly. He also bumps well off of the Kidman offense. Franchise and Torrie come out for a closer look. Reno comes into the ring and hits the Last Rites but Franchise sends him out which didn’t make much sense. Prime Time picks up the big upset. *
  14. soup23
    Storm comes out and renames the Crusierweight Title to reflect the metric system. That is funny. It is easy to see in the sea of bad gimmicks, how Storm would come out looking like a highlight around this time. Cat comes out and sets up three matches for Lance tonight. The first is the cruiser title vs. Juvi. Lance busts out his rulebook banning the Animals from ringside. Again, why is Juvi all of a sudden a face here? To keep the theme alive tonight, this was a fun short match that was given around four minutes so it had a bit to develop. If I hear this commentary team say book or booker one more time. Fuck, you might as well have a camera backstage showing us the real time rewrites. Juvi goes for the 450 and lands on his feet and gets a nearfall. Storm is being put over big and he gains the win with the Single Leg Crab. *1/2
  15. soup23
    It is still nice to see Matthews & York in a tag setting but this match really reminds you that there is still a lot of late 90's indie holdovers. No one besides York and Matthews showed any potential to me here and all and the match is full of just generic gimmicks and sub par action. This shows how far we have come even in replacement level indie action. York and Matthews don't even pick up the win which is atrocious. *3/4
  16. soup23
    Huge recommendation for this podcast. It mixes in good chemistry between the hosts, a working knowledge but also advancement for discovery and neat production values with the Jpop that was inserted as interludes. I watched the Nakano blood bath for the first time and that match was awesome.
  17. soup23
    When does Corino cut his hair because he still looks baby faced here. He interrupts Lynn which sets Lynn off until he gets attacked by Tajiri. So so angle.
  18. soup23
    This was a fun match with Christopher getting his leg worked over until Spellbinder comes in and attacks Doug. That was a legit good disguise. Tommy Rich coming in to make the save was a nice moment too. **
  19. soup23
    I thought this was absolutely tremendous. The van pilling out and Brian hamming it up with them cheering him on was great. The lock of hair bit was hilarious as well as the clock that plays into the brawl later on. One of the better feuds in the whole year
  20. soup23
    Kevin Christian has some pretty good punches when he comes in. WOlfie has to apologize for cursing the week before. As 3rd from the top or so Memphis stuff, this wasn't bad.
  21. soup23
    Lance bringing up the age was rough as Tammy does look haggard for 26. The catfight and pull apart was whatever but I wasn't offended by this as I was the WWF/WCW stuff so I guess ECW wins the week.
  22. soup23
    The Rock N Sock Connection regain the title which seems unnecessary. The heat is good for the finishing run but sweat pants Mick in ring is pretty poor. The Holly's getting involved feels like they are being involved into something they don't deserve.
  23. soup23
    I don't understand at all where this was heading but Davey is refusing to apologize.
  24. soup23
    I HATE WRESTLING FROM THE US IN THIS PERIOD. Mark now has a gay therapist that can help him with his needs.
  25. soup23
    Big Show's father doesn't have much time. I really hated this angle.
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