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El-P

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  1. El-P
    Shitty finish aside, this match is perfectly fine in 1994. It's a a slow build match capping off an excellent PPV with no downtime and tons of exciting stuff, you can't expect teh crowd to get hot for the firt 10 minutes of headlocks exchange. But that's how you build a match. The issue is not that they didn't modernize the match, the issue is that Flair was getting older and had cut back on stuff he was still doing in 1989, plus not being has smooth and he was. Steamboat nearly looks the same, which is amazing. They could also have refered to the infamous CHi-Town match by having Steamboat work on the arm and shoulder, which would have made the final spot way more efficient, but in the context of the match it wasn't exactly needed either. I disagree with Loss when he says you want more from them, because it's obvious getting that kind of match from Flair in 1994 is already pretty great, it's about as good as you might get at this point. I don't think he was reserved, but he wasn't working fiery babyface underdog like against Vader not full fledge heel like he would again Hogan, so it's kinda in between, with more emphasis on working as technical babyface Flair which isn't his best role at all. It's like the Bret vs Flair match from 1998 (4 years after this one, think about it), which I find perfectly fine considering the level of Flair's work at the time. Despite the dumb finish (a Flair template), I would be confortable to put this in a MOTYC for WCW, although it's clearly not as good as Arn vs Regal. All in all, it's not 1989 anymore, but it's still pretty damn good. (oh, and I gotta mention that Hulk Hogan's name was dropped during Steamboat's intro...)
  2. El-P
    Vader is awesome here, one of his best performance in WCW. I love super heavyweights beating the hell out of each others, and this sure delivered in spades. I have an issue with The Boss selling though, he looked way too fresh at times, including in the post-match, while Vader sold like a champ. But damn if that isn't one hell of a match. Boss is stripped from his gimmick because he assaulted Harley Race (which I thought was a complete heel move, beating a man down with his nightstick) and well, because the WWF is threatening to sue.
  3. El-P
    Rewatched Dustin vs Buck from Spring Stampede. Good match, really fun actually, Dustin looked better and more fired up than he ever was nearly in all of 1993, so that's nice to see, working in full Dusty Rhodes mode. Good stuff, but not great stuff by any stretch of the imagination, and Golden still doesn't bring much to the table to me, especially on offense (he's good at bumping and taking the abuse). (too bad we couldn't get Dustin vs Col. parker actually, as Fuller was a better worker than Golden).
  4. El-P
    Good brawling match, with Dustin in full American Dream mode carrying the thing on his shoulder like there's no tomorrow, bleeding buckets and dropping the elbow. Golden is decent in this kind of match, but really nothing special. Good feeder like Loss said, but outside of that, really the match would have been much more fun with Fuller. It's nice to have a family member on the booking commity, isn't it Golden ?
  5. El-P
    When Rude showed up in 1991, it lit a fire under Sting and really helped him to get his level of work to the next level, and it's about that time that I began to enjoy Sting on a regular basis. 1994, Rude is so done here, and Sting actually reverted to do his no-selling bayface act that he wasn't doing that much in big matches. It's decent at best, and only look better than it is thanks to the great heat. The big gold belt being basically an undercard championship (nobody would think Rude was the Man at that time), all goes toward a unification so that Flair can get back the big gold belt and ditch this useless fake world championship. Cool pop for Sting but not really a good match nor a decisive moment. The promise of a renewed feud with vader is obviously the highlight.
  6. El-P
    Funny to re-read my comment from a few montsh ago before I got to watch the whole WCW TV from that era. Which wasn't great at all infact. Anyway, insane brawl, yeah, felt organic, violent and chaotic, yeah, because it actually was. That being said, it's basically Foley + three shitty workers busting stuff over their heads. Without Foley bumping it's not much of anything of note. I always chuckle when I think Saggs accused Scott Hall of injuring him and ending his career by being careless. Saggs accusing anyone of being careless is pretty damn rich. So yeah, fun for what it was, except for unecessary stiff shots to the head at the end. It's the only fun match involving the Nasties and Payne, most probably because it doesn't take much, if any ability.
  7. El-P
    Totally agree.
  8. El-P
    Well, watching in context so I care about booking and standing too. The Boss Saturday Night match is the exception. Rude wasn't the same guy when he came back from injury in 1993. Cut back on offense (which was never his strong point to begin with), cut back on bumping (which was his strong point). I would say I'm beginning to wonder if Dustin had not already plateaued in 1992, because I really haven't seen him being that good again afterward thus far. Sure, he wasn't helped by booking (working with shot Rude for a long time, working with Orndorff with all the focus on Dusty and Assassin) but I really haven't seen a strong performance by Dustin in 1993 nor in early 94. In 1992 he looked awesome, but he was also surrounded most of the time by great workers. I still enjoy him a lot, but I wonder if wasn't pimped a little bit too much these previous years. I'm really curious to see the rest of his WCW work in context. I want more from Dustin that what he gave me since the beginning of 1993. Maybe the Bunkhouse Buck matches will hold up well, I'm rewatching Spring Stampede tonight (haven't watch this in 6 or 7 years).
  9. El-P
    They were disapointing because Rude was shot and the Austin one was poorly booked (with the ridiculous match at Starrcade which was cut off just as it was getting really good), but as far as standing goes, it was much bigger than Dustin being beat up by Bunckhouse using Erik Watts trophy that was stollen by Slazenger/Pierce.... I remember enjoying the Dustin vs Buck matches in the past, but watching Golden in SMW really dropped his stock with me and I fear it won't hold up. I never cared for the Buck gimmick anyway. I know it will eventually culminate in the War Games match which I used to love, but it's another one I'm really curious to rewatch in context as the Nasties have been pretty unwatchable thus far, way worse than I remembered them to be around that time.
  10. El-P
    Anyone remembers Bad Attitude ? Me neither. Steve Keirn at 42 looked older than dirt. He looked better in the Skinner gimmick than with this embarrassing Fabulous Ones look. On the more positive side, Paul Diamond is doing the masked japanese gimmick (Haito instead of Kato, how creative), and he's looking damn good. This guy should have gotten more work in the 90's, he was still pretty good in ECW in 97. Seems like we're getting some sort of Orient Express reunion, which is cool. (TV gets a bit better as they're closing on Spring Stampede, mostly because they actually make some effort to build Flair vs Steamboat now, but the undercard clearly isn't well structured at all. Pillman playing stereotypical patriotic babyface against Regal is disheartning, he was so much fun as a Hollywood Blonde)
  11. El-P
    Finally some build for Flair vs Steamboat. The "satellite" interview is good, but the Flair squash angle is excellent, Flair is just too much here, wrestling in street clothes. Great slap. Heenan sells it like only he can. Better late than never.
  12. El-P
    Yep. And it's even more obvious in the video : 1991 WCW Timeline trailer (there are some stuff that make me raise an eyebrow already)
  13. El-P
    Flair is already a total heel there. He's really good here, too bad the focus is obviously on Hogan and not on Steamboat. This PPV must have done great numbers...
  14. El-P
    Great Vader video, he looks like what he exactly is, a monster who kills people.
  15. El-P
    Brutus Beefcake in the background, serving no purpose, as usual. This guy sure made a career out of carrying bags.
  16. El-P
    I enjoyed them last time I watched them, but still Dustin gone from feuding with Rick Rude and Steve Austin to feud with Jimmy Golden doing a gimmicky redneck brawler just doesn't carry a sense of going forward. Meanwhile, Steve Austin is preparing for his match with the Great Muta (wait, what ? they got Pillman away from him for this ?) by facing "japanese" wrestlers each weeks on TV. First week, Braddy Boone doing a Battle Kat gimmick, second week, Pat Tanaka (who else but Pat Tanaka ?), don't tell me, I'm betting the third week will be Paul Diamond under a hood... Col Parker is deadweight behind Austin. The more I watch week to week TV booked by Flair, the more Shane Douglas's speech about him seems right to me. Dusty wanted to push Austin & Dustin to the top. Made sense (not pushing Pillman didn't, but 2/3 isn't that bad). Flair only pushed himself against his friends building toward Hogan. Austin was doomed way before he jobbed to Hacksaw Duggan.
  17. El-P
    Steamboat getting a PPV main event was really Flair giving his friend a cookie and nothing much. The booking was clearly going into the direction of Hogan already. The undercard is totally boring. Well, hopefully Loss is right, this early 1994 WCW doesn't do much for me, and Flair getting the book is not making things better at all.
  18. El-P
    Because I remember enjoying some PPV's a lot, I was under the false assumption that the first half of 1994 in WCW was really good. Infact, the TV is quite boring, with nothing happening on the undercard, and a really unimaginative, uninteresting booking all over the map. Not much in term of good match either, although it's not as bad as the horrible mid-1993 period. What I didn't realize is that Hogan was already the clear focus of the promotion in a way, his interviews from the Thunder in Paradise shooting being sold as the highlights of the shows. Austin has quickly been put back in the undercard by Flair, just like Pillman who ends up even lower, and old feuds are revitalized on top : Flair vs Steamboat, Sting vs Rude. Then you've got Dustin Rhodes wasted in a feud with Bunkhouse Buck, which showed me nothing in SMW the year prior, and whose gimmick sucks. I'm really not a fan of Col Parker character, the only thing I enjoyed from him was the Chicken suit angle. Paul Orndroff who I enjoyed a lot in SMW and most of his first year in WCW finally shows sign of slowing down, not working as hard anymore, although he's still decent. Not feeling his team with Roma will deliver much of anything after a promising debut. Another thing, was Gene Okerlund that annoying in WWF too ? It's been so long I've watched old WWF I can't remember if he was always that way or just became an annoying prick in WCW. The new format of the Main Event hosted by Gene & Heenan just doesn't work for me. Anyway, SMW TV murders WCW TV at this point.
  19. El-P

    Current WWE

    El-P replied to Smack2k's topic in WWE

    WrestleMania's drawing power the last few years is arguably based on brand and nostalgia : Flair's last match, Shawn's last match, Rock coming back, Rock coming back again, Taker's yearly epic which soon be his last too. Soon they'll run off of old guys from the late 90's, and it will only depend of the WM brand self-hype.
  20. El-P
    I liked how Flair was showing some heel maneurism at this point, but in a subtle way, and Steamboat is showing good fire and seriousness. Yeah, Gene is such an annoying Hogan bitch at this point you can't help but dislike him somewhat. I miss Jesse...
  21. El-P
    Hogan is not yet in WCW and he's already hogging the spotlight, pretty annoying. Later you got Tony selling the next Nitro, I mean Saturday Night, as "the most exciting Saturday ever on TBS", because Hogan is gonna give another interview. Feel the pain already ? You can feel Bischoff fingerprints all over this way of doing things.
  22. El-P
    Actually Ross had been ironically stating that he really was wondering who were under the hoods for a while, so they really didn't play it like it was any surprise.
  23. El-P
    And although I did comment on it in the yearbook thread, I just wanna reiterate, Cornette's promo after Bluegrass Brawl II with the Bodies walking off is one of the greatest moment I've ever seen in pro-wrestling. One of the greatest promo ever from Cornette, and just pure gold with the Bodies walking off in the blur with the song in the background. Awesome.
  24. El-P
    Okay. Some of Cornette's booking I'm not a fan of. The TV format of SMW can be frustrating at times with the lack of regular really good matches. Too much Cornette can get tiresome no matter how good he is. But godamn what a MOTHERFUCKING AWESOME PROMO this man is. I knew beforehand, but he really peaked in SMW, and this one is simply jaw dropping, putting all the pieces of the history together and conceiding the victory to his lifetime nemesis while on the verge of crying. This is the point where you actually feel for the bad guy you love to hate. The Bodies walking off in the blur is the icing on teh cake. The entire segment is pure gold. Maybe my favourite SMW segment too, and I would seriously put that one against anything in any company ever. Just great great stuff.
  25. El-P
    The Yetay !!! Sorry.
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