El-P Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted November 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 1993 was a bad year for Dustin. They pulled the plug on the Windham feud far too early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 1993 was a bad year for Dustin. They pulled the plug on the Windham feud far too early. Totally agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 24, 2012 Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 Spring Stampede was really a strong PPV which ended up better than the sum of its parts. Nothing too great on the card (last two matches aside), but nothing bad and really well put together. Good pace, all matches at the right lenghts, very well balanced (nice little opener, then technical and stiffness, then insane brawling, then more trad wrestling match again, then very heated match with strong characters, then a different kind of brawl with a lot more storytelling and tons of blood, then two bull throwing bombs, then classic long main event with great work). A real model of a PPV in execution, too bad the build was very mediocre leading to it on TV. And too bad it ended on a sour note with a dumb finish, but that aside, really the way PPV's should be put together. Just pure fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 25, 2012 Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 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. Yeah, Steve Keirn wearing a golden sequined tux while resembling my grandfather wasn't great, but I suppose it gave Bobby Eaton something to do for a month or two. I don't remember much of them quality wise, how much cop were they as a team? The team sucked. When you have dull and uninteresting matches against Steamboat & Anderson, that says a lot. Eaton was on cruise control (why wouldn't he be ?) and Keirn was washed up and lazy, a new version of Jimmy Garvin (and I don't think much of Keirn even in his prime anyway). Just not a good deal for Eaton, who deserved better. Too bad Benoit didn't stick around in 93, as Eaton looked really motivated next to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 His feud with Bunkhouse Bunk is one of the best feuds in WCW history. Good fun match at Stampede, decent match at Slamboree, Jimmy Golden still looking dull and vastly uninteresting. Nope, doesn't work with me. Plus I'm really not a big fan of the fact Dustin really was playing Dusty Rhodes Jr. during that feud. He was such a fun worker before but to me here he's working like most of his spots are tributes to his father, including the gimmicks like the bull-rope. I guess it worked well for him since he already gained quite a bit of weight a la Windham, but to me Dustin was much more interesting in 1992. Terry Funk should make this better and much more, but we're not talking about Bunkhouse Buck anymore then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 Slamboree was just another excellent PPV, with nothing bad on it and the lesser stuff like Dustin vs Buck & Austin vs Badd still being pretty good. Really enjoyed Larry Z. vs Regal (which I remembered that way) and Flair vs Windham (which I didn't remember being that good, finish aside). The Nasties vs Cac & Sullivan is a great brawl, and Vader vs Sting still spells MOTYC. I'm really surprised this isn't on the yearbook (or did I miss the thread ?), as although it's shorter than their previous epics, it also feels different and just as great for its lenght. As much as the TV wasn't very inspired at the time, the PPV's were tremendous quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted November 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Well, really it's the Stud Stable feud, but there is nothing wrong with Bunk or Parker in that feud. Nothing good ever happens in WCW ever again after that feud unless you like the crappy Nitro era. Undersell it at your peril. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Well, really it's the Stud Stable feud, but there is nothing wrong with Bunk or Parker in that feud. Nothing good ever happens in WCW ever again after that feud unless you like the crappy Nitro era. Undersell it at your peril. I like the Nitro era more than you (though I agree it is insanely overrated, particularly the cruiser division stuff), but yeah, Studd Stable v. Dustin and co. was the last stand of WCW as a "Southern" wrestling promotion. Great stuff week in and out and several matches that among my all time favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 I'm underselling nothing, it's just not particulary good thus far. As far as "Never good ever happened on WCW after this", thanks for the laugh. This kind of excessive statement really deserves your pimping overall. Anyway, like I said, Terry Funk showing up should shake things up quite a bit, and I'm such a Funk mark that it could turn out great still (my memories of the WarGames match is that it was a fantastic fun match, I'm anxious to rewatch it). (having already done WCW 1998 like two years ago, there was still plenty of good stuff back then, although the booking was putrid, and things turned out really ugly in the Summer and with Nash at the helm, but really, 1998 TV up to June was more fun than 1994 has been thus far, much to my amazement. 1994 TV has been pretty disapointing thus far, despite having really strong PPV's) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted November 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Actually, I take it back as there was Regal/Finlay and some other stuff I liked, but '98 pff. The view never changes promo is better than 1998 in its entirety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 The view never changes promo is better than 1998 in its entirety. Which one is that ? By whom ? Doesn't ring a bell here. Talking about promos, both Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk did two great promos at Slamboree too. No "crackbutt Tennesse" great, but nothing seems to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 It's something you've not watched yet, although you not appreciating the first half of 1994 after suffering through the horror of 1993 is surprising. It's by no means an all-time great era, and there are plenty of flaws, but there's way more good stuff going on both from a wrestling and booking point of view than had been the case in WCW in quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Ok, thanks. I think it comes down to false exceptations. In all objectivity, 1994 has been much better than mid-1993 obviously (that year only got better with the Starrcade build). But since I remembered a streak of excellent/great PPV's, I was under the assumption that the TV would be that great product with tons of good matches and cool angles every week, and this just isn't the case. That's pretty much it. The PPV's have been excellent, but very poorly built, it's obvious everything tends toward the arrival of Hogan. Things are getting better in term of good matches with April/May, but it's clearly not the Dangerous Alliance redux era I was excepting it to be. Plus I have to work through the transition from Ventura to Heenan, and it doesn't help. As funny as Heenan can be in spots, he's still not in the same category as Ventura in that role, and at times is already really bad and annoying, being only interested in comedy. Add to that Dutch Mantell leaving SMW and I'm in the middle of a horrible period where probably my two favourite color guys ever are gone. Yikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 I really like the 95 C shows, for what it's worth. I have a feeling you probably won' be watching Prime when you hit 95, so it doesn't really matter, but still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 I really like the 95 C shows, for what it's worth. I have a feeling you probably won' be watching Prime when you hit 95, so it doesn't really matter, but still. Well, I will actually watch WCW Prime from 1995. In 1994 I'm all about Saturday Night, Worldwide and Main Event. And I need a life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 1.) Dusty's pretty hilarious on it since he knows no one is paying attention (save for the two weeks Bischoff is on with him which is then equally funny for his restraint). 2.) You get a bunch of fun random tags. 3.) It's surreal to listen to Solie announce this late in the game, sort of like hearing Monsoon on those int'l shows in 97-98. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchReedMark Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 Yeah, '95 Prime is superfun. Plenty of the Lightening Express and Slater/Buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 IT'S THUNDERCAGE 91. WHAT THE HELL Morton, Taylor, Rich vs Zenk, Rhodes, Big Josh. ... has anyone actually seen this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeyz5Z6ViD8 When I found that pretty awesome Windham vs Arn match two weeks before I was surprised. When there was a pretty good Windham/Simmons vs Enforcers match the next week, I was glad. But my mind is just boggled by this. EDIT: SURREAL match. It reminds me a lot of the Luger/Windham match from GAB. The cage is teased 2-3 times with blocked cage spots. It's used a couple of times for the heels to try to escape. York tries to bribe the guard to open it as a subplot to the match. Once Taylor uses it to steady himself for a nice top rope splash. There's a really fun transition with all four guys fighting on the top rope, hanging on to the cage. Three FIPs. Morton and Taylor being dickish heels. A decent enough if relatively heatless finish. And ONE, ONE spot where a guy goes into the cage. At the very end. Very weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Dusty on Prime was great. I remember one time he was comparing someone to Backlund. When he is putting Backlund over you realize that he realizes he just put a WWF wrestler on a WCW show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Watching some 1994 WCW on youtube and why did they put Sherri with Flair? It didn't last very long and it's not like Flair needed her. I remember reading in the Observer that she was supposed to go with Austin but that never happened. And what was with her wearing a black veil all the time? I also agree with ELP, Bad Attitude was awful. Especially the match vs the Nasty boys on Saturday Night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 When I found that pretty awesome Windham vs Arn match two weeks before I was surprised. When there was a pretty good Windham/Simmons vs Enforcers match the next week, I was glad. But my mind is just boggled by this. That Arn/Windham match is awesome. I was disappointed when I was the only person who seemed to give a shit about it in the WCW poll. The tag is cool as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Watching some 1994 WCW on youtube and why did they put Sherri with Flair? It didn't last very long and it's not like Flair needed her. I remember reading in the Observer that she was supposed to go with Austin but that never happened. I always liked Flair with a woman at his side. Felt right to me. Be it Woman, Fifi, Sherri, Liz. And since I'm a Sherri fan, I'm glad she got to be with Flair for a while, although her best stuff ever was next to Savage. Actually, the first plan was to pair her with Kevin & Dave Sullivan and feud with Missy Hyatt and the Nasties. When Missy was fired, the plans were scrapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 When I found that pretty awesome Windham vs Arn match two weeks before I was surprised. When there was a pretty good Windham/Simmons vs Enforcers match the next week, I was glad. But my mind is just boggled by this. That Arn/Windham match is awesome. I was disappointed when I was the only person who seemed to give a shit about it in the WCW poll. The tag is cool as well. Just curious, what from 91 wcw did you put over it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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