What are you watching?

[Resident Evil]

Wild Pegasus v Black Tiger - NJPW 07/04/95

 

Awesome match! Thanks to WP for sending this my way! I like the match layout here far more than I normally like NJ juniors match layout, with the matwork being fairly brief before tempers flare and a brawl erupts. This is sort of what I think an NJ juniors match would have been like if it had been booked by Bill Watts, with brawling around the ring and a slugfest on the apron mixed in with the great highspots and typically great false finishes of the era. Not their best match together, but still a great one.

 

****

You're welcome.

 

 

In a match like this it's kind of funny that with all sorts of cool moves one of the definite highlights when you think about the match afterwards was the fistacuffs NHL hockey style between Benoit and Eddie. I would not want to get in a fight with Benoit.

 

The ring apron spot where Guerrero gave Benoit a backdropdriver on the ring apron scared me since the edge of the apron is so hard and is an area of the ring where people get severely hurt at.

 

The commentator's reaction after Benoit hit the top rope belly to back suplex was superb. That wasn't Lyger? Was it?

 

The ending of this makes 7/13/95 just a little bit sweeter! Won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't watched it yet.

 

Great flow overall to the bout with both wresters hitting superb offence executed to perfection.

[Resident Evil]

Rey Misterio Jr & Batista v MNM - WWE Smackdown 12/16/05

Rey Misterio Jr & Batista v MNM - WWE Smackdown 12/23/05

 

Just two really outstanding matches. MNM are the modern-day Arn and Tully, doing the tag formula better than anyone has done it in years. The nuances that have been forgotten over time have been brought back in a major way -- wrestling on their half of the ring, singling out a body part and destroying it, repeatedly cutting off hot tags, spending the first five minutes of the match doing great comedy and bailing outside. MNM have managed to get me excited about tag wrestling again, because it proves that it's not forgotten, and there's still hope. Both have Rey as FIP, and I can't really think of anyone you could ask for in wrestling today who would be better at that role. Batista takes no offense for MNM whatsoever, but he's also the world champion and I like that approach because each team member has a role instead of them being two equals. I much prefer this to the standard Shawn Michaels RAW tags we've seen for the past year or two with two FIP segments that are the exact same with restholds on the babyfaces and no attempts to cutoff the hot tag at all, with the babyfaces getting it on the first try. MNM have brought back ref distractions, doubleteam offense, they look like a tag team, and they have probably the best second in wrestling today in Melina. Melina is a fresh face and I like that they gave her Henry to manage as well. If I were booking SD, I'd give her an entire stable, as she's a terrific actress, over as a heel and can be put in some interesting situations. After WM, moving Trish to SD to feud with Melina would be pretty cool as well. Anyway, back to this match. The first match sees Rey do all sorts of ducking and rolling and reversals attempting to get the hot tag and getting cut off every time. It's really awesome to watch, and took great timing from everyone involved. The second match featured a little more complex stuff, with Rey doing the same things, only for MNM to expand on that by trying a quick mid-move double vertical suplex, only for Rey to counter with a double DDT. I hate to use this term because it gets misused sometimes, but learned psychology spots where you can tell the guys are familiarizing themselves with each other and learning new counters every time out really do rock. Anyway, I'd go ***3/4 for the first match and **** for the second match, which sees them destroy Rey's knee and sees Rey pull out his GAB '04-style selling that he used against Chavo, where he holds his leg while limping off rope running sequences and hobbles out of desperation just to perform all of his most basic offense. Rock on!

For anyone not watching, there've been some thumbs up matches on Smackdown as of late. These bouts reviewed by Loss which everybody seems to be liking, Rey vs Henry which was very good, Benoit vs Booker, the Battle Royal Benoit vs Orton finals in the Best of 7 (though their other 2 matches beforehand weren't quite as good as this) and it looks like we have some real potential next week in the Benoit vs Orton No Hold Barred 1 Fall to a Finish match.

 

Smackdown has been so much more fun to watch than Raw as of late. It's not even close from the limited footage I've seen.

 

Sharmell who is the best heel I've seen in awhile and Melina > The Entire Raw roster. And that's just two members of Smackdown.

[Tim Cooke]

Smackdown continued to obliterate Raw last night with Finlay/Hardy and Rey/Henry.

[Loss]

11/11/88 - Owen Hart, Chris Benoit & Biff Wellington v Johnny Smith & Cuban Commandoes

 

Watch this find to find out where Chris Benoit learned to sell. He's at a Ricky Morton level of ability to take a beating here. My only problem with this match is that there's not even a tease of hope for Benoit until he reverses Smith's tombstone, but in a way, that's also good because that gets an ENORMOUS pop when it happens. The heels are first class all the way, especially Johnny Smith, who has more flair and personality than many top stars today. And maybe it's just me, but it seems like Owen Hart isn't nearly as over as his teammates. He doesn't do much in this match, but when he does go in to break up a count, it's met with zero reaction. Wellington gets an awesome reaction for everything he does. Since Owen would be WWF bound in about a month, I'm guessing that this was done to slowly phase Owen out and put more spotlight on Benoit and Wellington, leaving him in kind of a Jericho-in-the-Elimination-Chamber role where he's mainly there just to provide action. He doesn't do much of that either, though, really. It's Biff that's the savior for his team and seems to be booked to be strong, although this did a lot to get over the Benoit/Smith feud as well, with Smith seeming to have Benoit's number, but getting overconfident and it costing him, even if it does seem like he's better than Benoit. I'll have to watch more surrounding footage to understand the storyline completely, but what I got from this match is that Smith is probably better than Benoit, but Smith is also his own worst enemy, and Benoit is slowly coming into his own and is good enough to take advantage of an opening. Smith, in the meantime, gets even more enraged about it every time out, which causes him to do even more heelish things, when if he'd just calm down, he could easily beat Benoit. Knowing the world beater Benoit has been for most of his career, this is a fun role to see him in, but honestly, if I had seen this in 1988 knowing the way wrestling was then, I would have expected Benoit to have a career on the level of a Barry Horowitz just because he seemed bland and was better at taking a beating than giving one. I guess the lesson there is that you never know what type of journey a wrestler is going to take, and Benoit fought the odds and won over even the most harshest of his critics in the end, so I suppose he did his job quite well. More fun and unexpected than unabashedly great, but a match I imagine will probably have terrific replay value.

 

***1/2

[Resident Evil]

11/11/88 - Owen Hart, Chris Benoit & Biff Wellington v Johnny Smith & Cuban Commandoes

 

Watch this find to find out where Chris Benoit learned to sell. He's at a Ricky Morton level of ability to take a beating here. My only problem with this match is that there's not even a tease of hope for Benoit until he reverses Smith's tombstone, but in a way, that's also good because that gets an ENORMOUS pop when it happens. The heels are first class all the way, especially Johnny Smith, who has more flair and personality than many top stars today. And maybe it's just me, but it seems like Owen Hart isn't nearly as over as his teammates. He doesn't do much in this match, but when he does go in to break up a count, it's met with zero reaction. Wellington gets an awesome reaction for everything he does. Since Owen would be WWF bound in about a month, I'm guessing that this was done to slowly phase Owen out and put more spotlight on Benoit and Wellington, leaving him in kind of a Jericho-in-the-Elimination-Chamber role where he's mainly there just to provide action. He doesn't do much of that either, though, really. It's Biff that's the savior for his team and seems to be booked to be strong, although this did a lot to get over the Benoit/Smith feud as well, with Smith seeming to have Benoit's number, but getting overconfident and it costing him, even if it does seem like he's better than Benoit. I'll have to watch more surrounding footage to understand the storyline completely, but what I got from this match is that Smith is probably better than Benoit, but Smith is also his own worst enemy, and Benoit is slowly coming into his own and is good enough to take advantage of an opening. Smith, in the meantime, gets even more enraged about it every time out, which causes him to do even more heelish things, when if he'd just calm down, he could easily beat Benoit. Knowing the world beater Benoit has been for most of his career, this is a fun role to see him in, but honestly, if I had seen this in 1988 knowing the way wrestling was then, I would have expected Benoit to have a career on the level of a Barry Horowitz just because he seemed bland and was better at taking a beating than giving one. I guess the lesson there is that you never know what type of journey a wrestler is going to take, and Benoit fought the odds and won over even the most harshest of his critics in the end, so I suppose he did his job quite well. More fun and unexpected than unabashedly great, but a match I imagine will probably have terrific replay value.

 

***1/2

Kawada and I like this match a lot too. I felt it was one of the better Stampede matches they had.

 

 

Sorry to say this but it's Bruce, not Owen.

 

 

 

It's Biff that's the savior for his team and seems to be booked to be strong, although this did a lot to get over the Benoit/Smith feud as well, with Smith seeming to have Benoit's number, but getting overconfident and it costing him, even if it does seem like he's better than Benoit. I'll have to watch more surrounding footage to understand the storyline completely, but what I got from this match is that Smith is probably better than Benoit, but Smith is also his own worst enemy, and Benoit is slowly coming into his own and is good enough to take advantage of an opening

 

This was the strongest Biff was ever booked in Stampede. For about a two month period they treated him very well. This was after a series of about 4 consecutive weekly bouts where Biff stood up to the plate against Smith and turned himself from a talented underdog into a serious contender against Smith. The last match before this being a truly great Hair vs Hair match. After the shenanigans of that bout in particular Wellington is justifiably in a rage and that's why in the opening seconds (well, what we see; the footage comes in at the 3 min mark) you see Smith literally running away from Wellington and according to Whalen not getting in the ring whenever Wellington was in there.

That's what makes the ending meaningful too. Wellington finally catches up to Smith and gives him his just deserts. Afterwards, there is an interview with Wellington where he challenges Smith to a title bout. That which I have never seen is I believe the blowoff bout or the feud. Of course assuming it did happen.

 

I would say the pecking order at the time was this. Bruce Hart > Smith and Benoit where if they had a match it'd be 50/50 on who'd win > Wellington > Commandoes (although Morrow would often be ahead of Wellington but not I believe at this particular time). I'm not too sure where to put the Assasin at.

[Loss]

It's Bruce? Oh, well that explains why he sucked. I'd never seen Owen do so little.

 

[Resident Evil]

It's Bruce? Oh, well that explains why he sucked. I'd never seen Owen do so little.

 

Bruce was kind of like the HHH of Stampede in that he was overrated kayfabe wise and would never get pinned (Once Stampede had the restart) but at least he didn't hog the spotlight as much and wreck an entire company.

 

There was an angle where he stole the spotlight right before this but at least he knew to step back here and let the others shine.

 

Edit -- I would've loved to have seen a slightly modified Smith charactor wise in All Japan. Just completely heeling it up.

[Loss]

Mark Henry v Rey Misterio Jr - WWE Smackdown 01/20/06

 

This should not happen. This match should not be as FUCKING GREAT as it is. Rey is the very best wrestler in the world today. Just an unbelievable performance on his part, using a set of three 619s to Henry's back, stomach and face to completely take him off of his feet. He made Henry run, he clipped his knee ... every trick in the book was pulled off here and it worked so well. Crowd was seriously into this as well. I've never seen a Mark Henry match with this much heat. Not quite MOTYC-level, but I guarantee this will be better than some matches that get more credit later in the year.

 

***1/2

 

Finlay/Hardy was also a really fun match. Hardy is awesome when he's wrestling super-stiff like that. I wonder how he'd do with a makeover into a legit tough guy. I'm hoping Finlay/Hardy is an extended feud, because I enjoyed that match as a teaser of what they can do.

[Guest Kilgore Trout]

Hardy is awesome when he's wrestling super-stiff like that.

This is very true. His ROH match with Homicide wasn't very good at all but there was a point where he was throwing some really nasty punches and I was thinking how great the match could have been as a brawl. A Finlay/Hardy street fight would more than make up for it.

[anarchistxx]

This should not happen.

Don't see why not. Mark henry has been amazing in recent weeks. I've been so impressed by his string of brilliant matches, and he plays the monster heel as well as anybody I've ever seen. Much better than Shawn Michaels, who is an awful wrestler who doesn't match up to Mark Henry on any accounts in the ring.

 

Well, that's if you take any notice of the fools at DVDVR of course.

[Guest TheShawshankRudotion]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMBnBudXwUE

 

I officially have a man-crush on FEDOR. This is a series of SAMBO demonstrations from Fedor, his brother Aleks, and some other dude. Since it's a demonstration, it's worked, and is so fucking awesome. I am convinced that Fedor would make for an extraordinary pro wrestler because you can see him feeding moves in this match and his technical skills are sublime. Fedor in the worked RINGS would have been insaaaaaaaaane. Watch this. Love this. Oh, and Fedor does the best Angle slam you've ever seen.

[Tim Cooke]

"Don't see why not. Mark henry has been amazing in recent weeks. I've been so impressed by his string of brilliant matches, and he plays the monster heel as well as anybody I've ever seen. Much better than Shawn Michaels, who is an awful wrestler who doesn't match up to Mark Henry on any accounts in the ring.

 

Well, that's if you take any notice of the fools at DVDVR of course."

 

Was it really necessary to troll in this thread?

[Mad Dog]

It's really sad that the WWF has so lowered the bar that someone like Mark Henry can be considered good for going out and not completely sucking week after week.

[Ray]

Mark Henry v Rey Misterio Jr - WWE Smackdown 01/20/06

After watching a match like this, it's sad that people still think Rey isn't big enough to be on top. Here he is, working with a guy who has a "strongest man in the world" gimmick, and the crowd *TOTALLY* buys him as a threat.

 

Shockingly good match.

[Guest Dovi]

Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. - 5/22/05 (WWE Judgement Day)

 

I fully admit to being out of the loop when it comes to recent WWE, but after watching this I'm wondering why this isn't mentioned in as high regard as their other matches.

 

Anyway, this match is built around Misterio's injured ribs. Eddy works them over by driving Rey into the steps, slamming him into the announce table twice and working him over with various holds, (Boston Crab, Abdominal Stretch). Rey is able to get in some offence but he can?t gain control because his ribs are still hurting. All of this builds to the beautiful suplex on the stairs sequence that I mentioned in another thread. After that it?s back and forth between two until a botched Chavo run-in gets Eddy DQed, which does really seem to bother Eddy at all. Just an amazingly executed story, even with the ?cheap? finish. ****

[goodhelmet]

Mark Henry v Rey Misterio Jr - WWE Smackdown 01/20/06

After watching a match like this, it's sad that people still think Rey isn't big enough to be on top. Here he is, working with a guy who has a "strongest man in the world" gimmick, and the crowd *TOTALLY* buys him as a threat.

 

Shockingly good match.

If you buy what some people here say, it is because Rey is not a believable threat to the big guys.

[sek69]

Mark Henry v Rey Misterio Jr - WWE Smackdown 01/20/06

After watching a match like this, it's sad that people still think Rey isn't big enough to be on top. Here he is, working with a guy who has a "strongest man in the world" gimmick, and the crowd *TOTALLY* buys him as a threat.

 

Shockingly good match.

Your statement is correct if by "people" you mean "Vince McMahon".

 

 

I don't think anyone ever made the argument that Rey wouldn't make a deserving champ, just that the man who makes the calls doesn't think so and as such it'll never happen.

[goodhelmet]

I think you missed savagerulez diatribe on the topic.

[goodhelmet]

I just finished Disc 1 of the 4 disc Bob Roop shoot and this is one fo the most entertaining shots I have ever listened to. The entire first shoot goes into detail about how he woudl go from territriy to territory as an enforcer who was used by guys like Eddie Graham to stretch and hurt marks who wanted into the business. He talked about this stuff for over an hour. He also talks about how he was making $1000 a week in Amarillo but dreaded it so much he went back to Florida where he was making about $300 a week. The 2nd disc starts off with a long, fascinating story about travelling to Iraq in the early 70s to face General Adnan-Kaisee (sic?). Well, over there, no one knew it was a work until American-educated professionals started grumbling about the hokey nature of American wrestling and how it resembled American wrestling, not collegiate wrestling. Just wild stuff... and we haven't even hit Mid South yet.

[Ray]

I'm CONSTANTLY running into people online who think Rey is too small to hold the top title. They're everywhere.

[Resident Evil]

I'm CONSTANTLY running into people online who think Rey is too small to hold the top title. They're everywhere.

Yup, I've seen them too Kawada. You're definitely right on that.

 

 

 

All the more reason for him to have the title I think.

 

Rey beating the odds and proving his skeptics wrong -- It just makes it all the more sweet and the story all the more rooted in reality.

 

I don't think too many people would stop watching just because they think Rey shouldn't be champ. Overall, I can only see attendance increasing.

[sek69]

An underdog babyface beating the seemingly insurmountable odds is what wrestling is all about.

[Guest Benjie]

I saw Angle vs. Michaels, 16/1/06 yesterday and it felt as though I had seen it before. The two using more than a few old spots, as well as Michaels' inconsistent selling and the predictable ending didn't help either. The match did though have a few nice spots with one being the Angleslam from the top rope, and the also a playoff from their 'Maina match with Angle countering one of Michaels' attempted Superkicks also being cool. But overall the match wasn't close to being as good as it should've been. To say I was disapointed would be an under statement.

[Mad Dog]

HHH/Michaels was the same way too. I still think you could splice together bits of their other matches and completely build the Hell In A Cell match. HHH/Michaels is easily the most overrated feud of all time.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Especially when you consider that they're such good friends that you'd figure they would have a much better chemistry. For all the various feuds within the feud and the subsequent matches, you'd figure they would have done something different by now. Instead, it's just Michaels blading upon impact of the ref checking the boots during instruction.