ohtani's jacket Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Actually, the Piper stuff is a lot of fun. I dunno if I'd call it great but it was a strong feud with good matches. I should really watch more matches that Rude had in that period between the Warrior and Piper feuds to see whether it was a purple patch or just good chemistry with those workers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #32 -- The Earthquake I used to dig using Earthquake in WrestleFest, but that's about the only thing I dig about Tenta. This turned into a schmoz involving Earthquake, Tugboat, Dino Bravo and Hacksaw Jim Duggan, which is a pretty sad indictment of where Tito was at by this point. TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #33 -- "The North-South Connection" Dick Murcoch & Adrian Adonis This was really weak. I can't stand these WWF face-in-peril matches that are half the length of a Southern tag. Rocky Johnson was Tito's partner. TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #34 -- "The World's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo This was surprising good considering it was Dino Bravo. Of course they didn't really do much of anything, but still it's Dino Bravo. I wonder if Bravo wasn't as bad as I remember or if I'm just going soft. The finish was weird as Dino caught him clean off the ropes with the sidewalk slam. Kind of anti-climatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted January 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Tito tops one of the weird mish-mash of guys HOF ballot polls Dave has been doing recently: Tito Santana 24.5% Jun Akiyama 24.1% Ron Garvin 14.6% Octagon 10.3% Hiroyoshi Tenzan 9.2% Shinjiro Otani 6.5% Rayo de Jalisco Jr. 2.7% Animal Hamaguchi 2.3% Yoshiaki Yatsu 1.9% Umanosuke Ueda 1.5% Mascara Ano 2000 1.5% Kuniaki Kobayashi 0.8% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #33 -- Demolition Demolition vs. Strike Force was a fun series. I'm sure the matches were structurally flawed if you really want to get into it, but fun matches are a God send in 80s WWF. Their Wrestlemania match was the weakest of the lot, but the rematches were the best Strike Force stuff I've seen so far. The Demos were a good unit. I've really liked what I've seen from them in shorter up tempo matches. I dunno if they were the Kings of Psychology, but they definitely had a good thing going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Demolition were kings of psychology and structure. Say what you will about their lack of diverse offense (and there's an argument there), but Eadie knew exactly when things should happen and why. And since no one was going to argue with him, Demos matches tend to have that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #34 -- The Islanders This was the feud that gave birth to Strike Force, with Tito Santana leaving his position in the Spanish broadcasting booth to rescue Martel from an Islanders beatdown. The Islanders attacked Tito in the booth at some point and the pair got together and coined the name "Strike Force" in a cheesy backstage promo. From there they wrestled the Islanders a million times, half of which I watched. I can't tell you which was the best as they all blurred together with the same people, places and faces. The standout may have been one of their MSG bouts but only because it was a 2/3 falls bout which left a more indelible impression. Given that they were WWF tag matches with only half the psychology of a regular US tag match from the time, the things I liked most tended to be spots. The Islanders in a way seemed to be a quasi Samoan Bulldogs with Haku playing DBS and Tama Dynamite Kid. That may not be quite true, but there was a definite workrate element to their matches and Tama's flying was cool even if it was more direct than spectacular. Strike Force also brought a lot of strikes to this feud as well, actually "striking with force" as Tito promised. That was cool. They also mixed it up a bit with Martel playing the FIP in a few of the matches. On the Gorilla front, they finally did the second referee at ringside stip that he was forever moaning about; and wouldn't you know it, he wouldn't shut up about how poor a job of offciating the second official was doing and kept getting into arguments with Nick Bockwinkel about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankensteiner Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine, 10/22/84 MSG I just wanted to recommend this match to anyone who's a fan of the Tito/Greg series. Haven't read much about it but I consider it an essential part of their feud. In some ways this is the Steamboat/Savage from Toronto equivalent in that Tito is out for revenge after Valentine injured his knee. From the pre-match promo it's pretty clear Tito doesn't care about winning the belt on this night. The match itself is only around 6 minutes and is kind of one-sided but Tito dishes out one serious ass-kicking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 You know what's a weird match? Santana and Jim Powers vs Andre from right before WM 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFTV Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 I listened to Lance Storm's bi monthly spot w/Bryan Alvarez and he compared his career to Tito Santana when Bryan asked him about his chances to get into the WWE HOF. Alvarez said he ranked Storm higher than Tito because of the time Storm held 3 belts at one time in WCW and being apart of the opposing group at the start of the Invasion Angle. Maybe since I started watching in the 80s I rate Tito's feuds with Valentine, Savage, Muraco, and his tag team run in Strike Force to what Storm did in his career. I like Storm a lot but Tito emotionally pulled me into his issues a lot better than what Storm did in his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Lance Storm's career is closer to Paul Roma. Comparing him to Tito is laughable, and even though it is a pretend HOF, he should come nowhere near being inducted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Storm is a good guy, he was, at best, a decent wrestler, but he was a non factor during the second hottest period of US wrestling. Santana was a very good worker and a solid part of WWF's undercard during the first hottest period of US wrestling. There's not even a contest. Lance Storm's biggest claim to fame is hoding 3 belts in a dying WCW, and being carried by Justin Credible in a pretty good tag-team in ECW. Saying his career is more important then Tito Santana's is laughable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Chico rated Storm higher than Tito for the WWE HOF? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Shit, Lance isn't even in Koko B. Ware's league as a WWE HOF candidate, let alone Tito's. I think the whole WO crew could use a few bong hits so they don't get so infuriated over WWE booking on a weekly basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 I listened to Lance Storm's bi monthly spot w/Bryan Alvarez and he compared his career to Tito Santana when Bryan asked him about his chances to get into the WWE HOF. Alvarez said he ranked Storm higher than Tito because of the time Storm held 3 belts at one time in WCW and being apart of the opposing group at the start of the Invasion Angle. Wait, what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Lance Storm is awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFTV Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Chico rated Storm higher than Tito for the WWE HOF? John I have to think that since Alvarez didn't start following wrestling until after Tito was finished as an IC title contender and he was doing the El Matador gimmick is the reason why he rates Storm over Tito. The Tito/Valentine feud during the Summer of 85 was a huge reason why I got so into pro graps along with the Bundy/Studd beat down of Andre, and the US Express/Dream Team feud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have to think that since Alvarez didn't start following wrestling until after Tito was finished as an IC title contender and he was doing the El Matador gimmick is the reason why he rates Storm over Tito. If this is true, then we are supposed to take him seriously as a "wrestling expert" why exactly? Oh right, nobody does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #35 -- w/ Virgil When people talk about the greatest tag teams of all time, they somehow manage to neglect the team of Virgil and "El Matador" Tito Santana. These guys had some really solid, fun TV matches against the likes of Money Inc., the Headshrinkers and the Beverly Brothers. It probably wasn't what Tito wanted to be doing, but I thought it was a nice little coda on his WWF career, and he looked great in just about all of their matches. Does anybody know why Tito didn't have a WCW run at this point of his career? Did they even approach him? Everybody else did, why not Tito? TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #36 -- "The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon I'm not a fan of the way Hall works as I think the things he tries make him look clumsy for a guy his size, but this was a match-up that had potential. To exploit that potential they had to go longer than five minutes, however. TITO SANTANA VS. THE WORLD #37 -- The Dream Team, Greg "the Hammer" Valentine and Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake Tito and a rotating cast of partners vs. the Dream Team, Valiant and Hart. Folks probably know about the Steamboat and Santana vs. Dream Team match, but the other bouts are fun too. Mainly it's a chance to see more Tito vs. Greg, which is probably the best thing Tito was ever involved with, and their exchanges at MSG in particular are memorable, but you also get to see Beefcake on his roll and watch Valentine beat up David Sammartino. Heck, you can even watch Oprah commentate wrestling. Fun stuff. I thought Sammartino would be worse than he was, but maybe Greg was that good. The whole time I kept thinking I need to watch more Dream Team. Morales had some fun exchanges against the heels as well. I always kind of dug Morales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Tito/JYD vs. Valentine/Beefcake (before they officially formed the Dream Team) from April '85 is fun. In their backstage promo, JYD coins Brutus "Brutus Fruitcake" which I recall quite a few people stealing when doing interviews about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Does anybody know why Tito didn't have a WCW run at this point of his career? Did they even approach him? Everybody else did, why not Tito? Yes, it's strange. I've seen a few AWF matches from 94 or 95, and Tito was perfectly fine there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Pretty sure Tito was supposed to come into WCW at one point in 1994-1995, but I'm not sure why he didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Alvarez said he ranked Storm higher than Tito because of the time Storm held 3 belts at one time in WCW and being apart of the opposing group at the start of the Invasion Angle. So basically, Alvarez ranks him so highly because of a worked accomplishment and the fact that he was a bit player in an angle that's widely considered to a huge disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Well, Alvarez and Storm are friends. edit : and actually, Storm brought up Santana as a comparison to what his status was in the company : "A very respected worker who held all the minor titles". Well, when Santana held the IC and tag titles, these weren't minor titles Lance... But yeah, Alvarez sounded like a generic mark who got into wrestling during the Attitude era there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Lance Storm's career is closer to Paul Roma. Comparing him to Tito is laughable, and even though it is a pretend HOF, he should come nowhere near being inducted. That's a little offensive to the career of Paul Roma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Tito Santana wrestled on the main card at eight straight Wrestlemanias. Lance couldn't even get onto one. Dudes who got Wrestlemania matches over Lance during his time with the company: Maven, Mark Jindrak, the Bashams, Ultimo Dragon, Jazz (twice!), Shannon Moore, and other totally non-consequential people. They figured out how to get 49 wrestlers onto the Wrestlemania XX card but couldn't find a spot for Lance. He wasn't even important enough to be the George Welles of early 00's WWE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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