Kronos

I don't care for Brody, which is already a strike against this match for me. I just can't focus my attention when he's on my tv. So I kind of skimmed this one and decided it was what it was.

Is this only the first fall that we have, then?

Robinson's harem jacket is carny AF. Jetlag did a good job describing the match. I'll add that I dug Billy's gutwrench suplexes towards the end, as well as the 2-man atomic drop that finishes Irwin. The pace picks up nicely in the last two minutes.

Best things about this 2 min slow motion squash: 1. The announcer praising Hogan's posture. "He's not swaybacked." 2. Hogan's using a bodybuilding posing routine to break out of the Nelson hold.

I can't believe they would endanger Sting to drop him from the ceiling of a football stadium, for weekly TV. It's just so WCW. It would have been cooler to have someone in the rafters dressed as Sting. Then when everyone is looking up, bring him out from under the ring, Taker style. You can even flash the lights. It would have taken less time, been a lot safer, and probably popped the crowd more.

When I was in college, Star Trek Voyager had just begun. My roommate and I chuckled for the first few eps because there was something about Kate Mulgrew that made her seem like she was always on the verge of tears. (She got over it.) Bayley is like that for me. Something about her eyes makes her seem ready to break down, even when she's mad and focused. It makes it hard for me to take her seriously, unfortunately. Sasha, on the other hand, is one of the most entertaining workers on the entire roster. She proves it here with her Mastery of expressions and attitude, as Smark pointed out above. Both gals bring some sloppiness here, Bayley especially as she looked on several occasions to have hurt Sasha. I've seen other 4 Horsewomen matches that were more engaging for me, despite all the good this one brought. So I couldn't call this one the best WWE women's match. But it's fun, and it really shows Sasha's skills. And it's always great to see talented gals get 30 min to show what they can do.

Tornado match! Everything is legal, and all 4 men are in play. The P.E. bring a bunch of hardcore stuff, like trash cans and cookie sheets. As a match, it's one of the worst things I have ever seen. They're literally walking through the motions for 90% of it. But for two reasons, it's one of the greatest things I have ever seen: 1. Sherri - every time the PE get outside the ring, she clobbers one of them. "They got to take that can away from her!" 2. Dusty gives the greatest commentary ever while laughing his ass off. I wish I had gone back and written down everything he says, and one day maybe I will. "That's a commode lid! Some bathroom in this building is missing a toilet lid! Is that a new toilet lid or a used one?" "Hahaha, I used to do that to my little brother!"

Thanks for this. I just watched both, and they got me but good. (especially the bit where Jake says he didn't believe the fans would donate for his surgery since he didn't think there was anyone who gave a damn about him)

THIS Also, when Liz comes out of the crowd at Mania VII - that scene gets me every time.

I like Bruteye in the later 80's with Valentine. I think he's got a good look, they put on decent matches, and his gimmick is silly but fun. I have not seem him in WCW, though.

If I can make what is probably an overly broad generalization, I'd say that older wrestling was about having spots that fit the story of the match while the modern style is more about coming up with big spots and working backwards to build the story around the spots. I can buy that. The Abby vs Billy Robinson 1978 All Japan match I watched twice yesterday had two simpe backbreaker spots that fit the story, built on everything else in the match, and actually had meaning. In context, they were HUGE spots.

Nothing much I can add after two pages of excellent discussion. As entrance music goes, Final Countdown > Born in the USA. Kendrick doesn't look old enough to walk to the school bus stop without his mom.

I don't like Alfonso, but I do like the way he goes right over there and talks the angry "rat" fan down. The fans are jerkasses, but I am amused at how Rhino doesn't seem to know how to handle their homophobic chants. 11 min in, RF goes after the "rat" guy? This sucks. I'm turning it off.

One interesting effect of these fancams is that the wrestlers sometimes end up having all-too-human moments (in a good way). Here, for instance, during his entrance Spike comes across like a pretty-cool-seeming dude instead of the cartoon character we get from "proper" camera work. I like the opening matwork sequences a lot, and it was great when Sabu just goes "fuck this chain rasslin" and slaps the hell out of Spike. Looks like Sabu legit didn't realize the table had fallen when he tries to put Spike through it. They recover nicely with a Sabu signature leap off the chair. Love it when Spike grabs Sabu's foot in mid jump, causing him to smash headfirst into the chair he was about to use for a stunt. When Alfonso appears, I am tempted to turn off the tape. I can't stand that guy. At least he kept the whistling to a minimum. This is good stuff.

It's a Lance Storm match. That means it's technically solid, has one or two really cool spots, and makes the crowd care exactly 00%.

Taijiri is one entertaining little motherlover. Just like JerryLynn, that guy can do all the Moovez you need - and look great doing them. But unlike Jerry, he has personality to spare. He works the crowd and the camera as well as anyone I have seen. Sprinty good times. Great short TV match. I'll take this over 15 minutes of Mike Awesome murdering Spike Dudley anyday.

The spot where Awesome does a running dive over the guardrail may be a common one for him, but it's so damn cool. Rhyno throws a wicked piledriver late in the match. I cringe with every unprotected chair to the head on these ECW shows. This time it's Rhyno who gets it.

What, like this?

Random thought: I was watching a 1978 match between Billy Robinson and Abdullah the Butcher. At one point, Abby rolls out of the ring. Billy walks the other direction. Lucha and modern American wrestling says the next thing to happen is Robinson running the rope and suicide diving onto Abby. (Or in some other way doing a flying attack.) Of course Robinson doesn't do that. He doesn't even go after Abby right away. I was amused at how I readied myself for his big dive. Because that's what modern rasslin has trained me to expect. Even Taker does it.