[1998-11-16-WCW-Nitro] Billy Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This is a super match, much better match than the September one, and I liked that one quite a bit. Juventud really knew how to get the best out of Kidman. I think keeping the crowd in Wichita, KS is more impressive than it was doing it in Greensville, SC, a strong WCW town with a Flair return and Sting-Goldberg on the card, coming fresh off of a Kidman makeover. They had the people rocking on every nearfall and I thought they did an excellent job teasing finishes. I'm not giving this the review it deserves but it's worth going out of your way to see. Great match, almost surprisingly so.

[soup23]

This is my pick for best tv match in wcw for the year. I have really enjoyed Kidman's progression as the athletic ability was always there and in a really short time he has put together the fundamentals and little things to make the matches more cohesive overall. Very strong period for cruiserweights in WCW. (****)

[Zenjo]

These two had numerous meetings and this was the undoubted highlight. Having more time than usual meant they were able to build properly and they went full out at the end. They had some nice action, a proper stretch and the fans were jakked. Juvy was really over and the star performer, Kidman carried his weight. It wasn't flawless yet I'd say this was as good as Billy's career ever got. His post match selling sucked but oh well. The title change was a genuine surprise as was the match quality.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WCW Crusierweight Champion Billy Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera - WCW Nitro 11/16/98

 

Billy Kidman, intelligent counterwrestler, was not the style I was expecting, but it definitely well-received by me. Almost at every turn, Kidman had an answer for Juvy's high-octane and aggressive offense. His ability to transition defense into offense was a really neat stylistic touch. Early on, he was able to take Juvy's movement transfer into a spinebuster then later dropkicking him off the apron leading to him hitting a plancha. What made this match even more special was Juvy really taking the time to sell all of Kidman's big moves and his own. You really got a sense of how high-risk these moves were when Juvy was selling his ass after a hard springboard legdrop. That was the story of the match, Juvy was dictating the pace of the match, but he was going to live and die by his moves. If he landed them, he was in the driver's seat, but Kidman's patience and counterwrestling ability like the facebuster out of the powerbomb or wheelbarrow suplex to avoid the bulldog was stymieing Juvy Juice. Before I get to the finish, I really liked Juvy playing to the crowd with the chops and the ten count punches in the corner. It really feels like Juvy has matured as an American wrestler. Juventud finally nails his big move the Juvy Driver, BUT he pulls back to hard on the cover and Kidman slips out. Again, Juventud's overzealousness costs him. He looks frustrated but tries to follow up with a top rope Frankensteiner. Kidman hits a low blow (WOW was not expecting that) and hit a slam off the top. 1-2-NO! Woah! I totally bit on that false finish. Kidman looks to seal the deal with a Shooting Star Press, but Juvy blocks and hits the 450 for the win. I really liked the story of Kidman's counterwrestling versus Juventud's high-risk offense. Kidman stooping to a low blow was a cool touch. I wish that Juvy did not just pop out to knock Kidman off his perch, but that's a small quibble. ****

[PeteF3]

Really good long TV match, the kind that's rapidly going extinct at this point. This is about as hard-hitting as any WCW cruiser match you'll see, with lots of big stiff bombs being dropped and good build to the near-falls while never getting overindulgent. Even some of the soon-to-be-cliches that we see (the inverted power bomb that no one ever does except to set up a bulldog, You Can't Powerbomb Kidman) are used well. I particularly liked Kidman countering the second attempt at the bulldog with a suplex-type move.