MJH Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 It's not a Dynamite/Sayama "vibe" in the sense of Benoit/Sasuke or anything... more of a spectacular juniors spot-fest for its time (though like I said the "spectacularity??" of it holds up more and the execution is better) but the lay-out and pacing are all over the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 Every time I watch the match, I can't help but think that for a spotfest, there sure is a lot of stuff on the mat. I really prefer the Rey/Malenko matches from around the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 I journeyed through Youtube and went through a lot of the first nWo year. Some thoughts: Â Luger beating Hogan for the title on Nitro still gives me goose bumps and it's like being in 1997 all over again. To me personally this might be the most epic title change I've ever seen. Â Sting coming out at the end of Spring Stampede and absolutely destroying anyone that came within 5 feet of him is still awesome. The way he just fucks Hogan's world up and they cut put right as he drops Hogan was absolutely brilliant. Â The crowd reaction at Bash at the Beach is still surreal. They seemed legit outraged at what Hogan did and I'm surprised they didn't riot. Hogan also doesn't get enough credit for that first promo he cut with the nWo. Â I enjoyed the Guerrero/Syxx ladder match quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Every time I watch the match, I can't help but think that for a spotfest, there sure is a lot of stuff on the mat. I really prefer the Rey/Malenko matches from around the same time. Really disagree with this. I don't think any of the Rey v. Dean matches hold up well at all. My favorite of the bunch is probably the HH match because they try and break the mold and give you a taste of a face shine but I really think Dean played against Rey's strengths and made the matches substantially less compelling than they should have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smkelly Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Agreed, actually. Dean was Rey's worst big name cruiserweight equivalent opponent in WCW. Dean grounded Rey too much, whereas Psicosis allowed Rey to do the stuff they had done around the globe the year prior. Sin Cara needs a Psicosis just like Rey did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 To WWE's credit, they seemed to realize that as well, hence Averno coming in shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smkelly Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Yeah, I knew about that. Had they been in talks with him prior to Cara's debut though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 No, I think they thought the guys they already had on the roster would be able to fill the role. After the disaster with Chavo, they just asked him who they should bring in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Averno had a tryout in October along with Sin Cara and some other guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Agreed, actually. Dean was Rey's worst big name cruiserweight equivalent opponent in WCW. Dean grounded Rey too much, whereas Psicosis allowed Rey to do the stuff they had done around the globe the year prior. Agree. Dean never knew how to work with other people anyway, he was always working in a vacuum and doing his own little deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Agreed, actually. Dean was Rey's worst big name cruiserweight equivalent opponent in WCW. Dean grounded Rey too much, whereas Psicosis allowed Rey to do the stuff they had done around the globe the year prior. Sin Cara needs a Psicosis just like Rey did. I need to walk through these matches. Dean keeping Rey grounded any more than Psicosis in the GAB vs BATB is a myth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Agreed, actually. Dean was Rey's worst big name cruiserweight equivalent opponent in WCW. Dean grounded Rey too much, whereas Psicosis allowed Rey to do the stuff they had done around the globe the year prior. Sin Cara needs a Psicosis just like Rey did. I need to walk through these matches. Dean keeping Rey grounded any more than Psicosis in the GAB vs BATB is a myth. Â I'm not sure that's true. Â I watched all of the matches for the SC WCW poll and actually expected to really like them. There is no way I would call them bad matches but Dean's habit of going to totally uncompelling limbwork almost every time out felt tedious as shit. I am hesitant to go into great detail on the matches because that means rewatching them which I frankly have no interest in doing. Maybe I'll watch the GAB v. BATB matches later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Every Misterio/Psicosis match I've seen in that 95-96 has been Psicosis trying to keep Misterio on the mat. Even their 95 J Cup exhibition was Psicosis trying to keep it on the mat. It just feels different than Malenko because Psicosis could kick it up a notch and do some high spots while Dean ultimately couldn't. Malenko always had to slow it back down because that's what he could do whereas Psicosis would switch gears and start doing big moves as the match heated up. That's typical rudo tactics though. Keep it on the mat, brawl, team up and bully on the tecnico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 I prefer the BATB match over the GAB match. I thought the BATB told a neat little story. Plus the highspots were pretty swank. Though I did like the GAB match a lot. I thought BATB was a WCW MOTY in 96. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Evil Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Dean vs Rey ruled. Loved the matwork, the counters, the moves, the execution and the tesnion. I loved everything about the matches. Whiel Psicosis vs Rey from the Bash is a lot of fun and I give them all the credit in the world for the match it's not as good as the Dean vs Rey series for certain reasons. I think Psicosis vs Rey had a better match there in ECW (forget which one) which is up on the level and perhaps even ahead of the best Dean vs Rey matches in WCW. The ECW match is better because of better match construction than the BATB match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smkelly Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Granted, I never said the matches weren't good between the two of them, but they don't measure up to Eddy/Rey and in my mind, Psic/Rey. Basically they were a good Dean Malenko match but a bad Rey Misterio Jr match in 1996. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronos Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Bunkhouse Buck vs Tim Horner, WCW Prime 6/19/95 Â Dusty cuts a bizarre promo with Gordon Solie before the match. Horner has a glorious mullet. It's a decent short match that could have taken place in 1987. The best part might have been Dusty and Solie getting frustrated because someone keeps standing up and blocking their view. Â Tim Horner vs Arn Anderson, World Championship Wrestling 3/28/87 Â Speaking of Tim Horner and 1987. . .the YT doesn't say which show this is from, but it's their usual studio with all the flags. I'm guess it's Saturday Night? I am such a mark for Arn. He moves really fast here and has such great facial expressions selling painful holds or anger. Â Both guys look terrific. Horner eventually wins by DQ when Tully, JJ, and Luger run in. (wow, I didn't realize Luger was already around in early 1987) Â Arn Anderson vs Chris Jericho, Nitro 9/30/96 Â Jesus Mary & Joseph, Nancy was sexy. Â Arn's fatter and slower than he was 10 years before. But he always knows where he needs to be. Jericho is working a Cruiserweight style that doesn't quite mesh with AA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronos Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes, Uncensored 1995 Â Finally got around to watching this one on Schneider 26. They're in the back of a flatbed semi trailer, on the highway. Chicken wire seems to be all that's holding them in. Gotta give WCW points for one of the more creative gimmick matches of all time. Â That said, this thing is boring as hell. After about 30 seconds, you've seen all you're really going to see. The camera cuts away to the scenery. Heenan and Tony try to think up something to say. And the rasslers brawl around. But mostly they fall down when the truck hits its brakes or takes a corner. At one point, they stop for a church bus to pass. Â About as interesting as it sounds, only less so - and more endless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes, Uncensored 1995 Â Finally got around to watching this one on Schneider 26. They're in the back of a flatbed semi trailer, on the highway. Chicken wire seems to be all that's holding them in. Gotta give WCW points for one of the more creative gimmick matches of all time. Â That said, this thing is boring as hell. After about 30 seconds, you've seen all you're really going to see. The camera cuts away to the scenery. Heenan and Tony try to think up something to say. And the rasslers brawl around. But mostly they fall down when the truck hits its brakes or takes a corner. At one point, they stop for a church bus to pass. Â About as interesting as it sounds, only less so - and more endless. I finally watched this a few months ago after years of hype. Most of what I read pointed out that the match was horribly edited to where day turned to night leaving me expecting it to look like clips from 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. What I saw just looked like slightly different times of day cobbled together. I couldn't even tell where the blood was that resulted in both men getting fired. Match was boring as shit, too, though I recall thinking it might be pretty cool when I was thirteen years old and WCW was pushing it pretty hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronos Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 I finally watched this a few months ago after years of hype. Most of what I read pointed out that the match was horribly edited to where day turned to night leaving me expecting it to look like clips from 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. What I saw just looked like slightly different times of day cobbled together. I couldn't even tell where the blood was that resulted in both men getting fired. Match was boring as shit, too, though I recall thinking it might be pretty cool when I was thirteen years old and WCW was pushing it pretty hard. I think I recall PS on GoodWillRasslin saying that he chose it because it was just plain bizarre. Surely he didn't think it was good? Â Heenan's pretty funny throughout, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Arn Anderson vs Chris Jericho, Nitro 9/30/96 Â Jesus Mary & Joseph, Nancy was sexy. Â Arn's fatter and slower than he was 10 years before. But he always knows where he needs to be. Jericho is working a Cruiserweight style that doesn't quite mesh with AA. What was fascinating about Nitro back then was the mix of style and generation. This is a very good example. Of course the result in the ring is not quite that, but having a veteran like Arn with a guy coming back from Japan and working mostly a spectacular spot style always made things seems fresh. I loved this mix in WCW at the time. And yeah, Nancy was ridiculously hot during this period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 From the GAB 89, 07/23/89   Brian Pillman vs Wild Bill Irwin  Always hated the "first name only" wrestling names like "Flying Brian". Irwin makes for a super solid base for the flying of Brian, and although he's basically a JTTS, it's a pretty competitive match with irwin looking quite stiff and brutal. Love the loud badmouthing, it's a lost art, and Irwin had a loud ass mouth. Cool finish with Irwin throwing Brian in the second ring (this is a Wargame card) and Pillman getting a flying cross body from the turnbuckly of the second ring into the first. Really solid match.  Dynamic Dudes vs SkyScrappers  Jason Hervey introducing the Dynamic Dudes, who play frisbee with a fat kid. You can't get more geeky than this. God Johnny Ace was an awkward guy, not fit to play the role of bouncy babyface. Shane is much better, but still tries to do some acrobatic stuff that he just isn't too confortable with. Really, this match is all about Dan Spivey. He's basically in the ring the entire time. The crowd loves the hell out of Sid, it shows that this guy had star written all over him, but at this point, he really sucks as a worker, so Dan stays 90% of the time, and man did he tried to get a good match by himself.  Jim Cornette vs Paul E. Dangerously  Ok, this is great. Gotta love Cornette's attention to detail and keeping his character "logical", as he doesn't go full fledge babyface in his promos but talks about the people who supported him "after all he did all those years". This is way better than it should be, tuxedo match with a purpose, as Heyman attacks on Cornette's bad knee from Starrcade 86. On occasion Heyman gets the wrong knee, and you see Corny is doing everything he can to feed him the right knee or get into his ears to tell him.  Steiner Brothers vs Kevin Sullivan & Mike Rotunda  Odd to see Sullivan & Rotunda come together to the Varsity Club music but being introduced separately, with zero mention to the Varsity by the announcers. Why did they nixed the gimmick completely cold turkey, I wonder. The very first Steiner PPV match, Scott is still wearing simple yellow trunks. Missy still looked hot then, with total 80's hair, and they carried a dog to the ring. Texas tornado match, which fit Sullivan. The more I see of him, the more I enjoy the guy. He was a poor worker technically speaking, but he could project an aura of brutality. He actually takes a few big bumps here from Rick (I guess you don't have a choice when you work with Rick). Short and sweet, fast chaotic action, I enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Cornette is actually a pretty good "working" manager. He has several SMW matches where he was an actual participant and really added to the matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Cornette's spin bump on an RnR Express double drop kick is an amazing spot for most wrestlers, needless to say a manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Cornette throws a ridiculously good worked punch too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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