What are you watching?

[Guest KingPK]

A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe (X-Title match, Turning Point)

 

I loved the beginning and middle of the match, where AJ takes it to Joe with all he's got and Joe says "Nuh uh, that shit ain't gonna fly" and beats the hell out of him for 10 minutes. Great emotion from both guys, some STIFF fucking shots that I had to rewind and see again (AJ's dropkick early in the match, Joe's palm strikes and some of his kicks), and a slow but not TOO slow pace. However, I thought it seemed a little flaky with AJ's "Hulk Up" and fairly easily kicking out at one on pin attempts late in the match (I get the message behind it, but I didn't like the timing.) However, the finish of the match was great as AJ gets a little too cute, Joe kicking out of the Clash (his own "Wanna send a message to me, punk? Here's one right back." moment) and finishing him off. The postmatch brawl with Christopher was well done as well, and I'm going to watch their match either tonight or tomorrow (that and AJ/Joe are both free in the Sports --> Other Sports section of OnDemand, a great idea on TNA's part) and offer my opinion after I watch it.

[Guest David Shazzio]

Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras(RWTL 12/13/79)

 

Popped in All Japan Classics #30. Really good tag match here. You'd think there'd be a huge styles clash here, but there really isn't. Dos & Jumbo start things out and really work well together. Good fast paced wrestling with Dos pulling off a cool submission move(Sort of a reverse surfboard). They then follow that up with a really cool looking double headstand. I really like the Baba & Mil portions as well. They trade holds(With Mil using Baba's size against him by crawling under Baba's legs) and really work well together. Of course the Mil & Jumbo segments are great as well(I really liked their 07/30/82 match). I liked the ending as Dos dives at Jumbo but gets the turnbuckle instead. Jumbo then splashes Dos for the win. Really fun match.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Having not been in the mood for any movies or TV shows the last week or so, I've been finally digging into some of the discs acquired through the trading ring here. Here's what I've watched over the past week:

 

- Bobby Heenan Shoot: Obviously I enjoyed it. Lots of good stories being told here, although nothing being revealed that most people didn't already know. The questions could've been better and the shoot could've gone longer, but still an entertaining couple of hours. The AWA footage was fun to watch, just because I hadn't seen most of it before.

 

- Jim Cornette: Needs to introduction. Even without the extra footage, you get a solid five or six hours of Corny getting nostalgic and being outspoken. The stories were great fun, even if I had no idea who he was talking about at times. This had to be RF's easiest shoot, since Cornette turns single questions into 20-minute response; often only getting to the question as an afterthought.

 

Reading Teke's reviews, I've noticed that there are typically two kinds of interviews: those with guys who cut down a laundry list of people, but come off as being bitter and those who seem afraid to speak ill of anyone. Jim's got his shit list, no doubt, but his reasons are always justified (and hilarious). I cracked up at him owning New Jack's mugshots (in a display case, no less).

 

Now, of course, I need the next Cornette shoot.

 

- WWF Boston Garden (2/11/89): Not a whole lot happening for this one. There's the epic John Studd circa 1989 vs. Akeem match, which gets over 10 minutes. As you'd assume, it's brutal, but I made myself watch the whole thing for some reason. I forgot how out of shape Studd looked upon his return to the Fed.

 

There's a Bad News Brown match on here against someone I couldn't understand the name of. The way they were talking about him, though, it sounded like he was being pushed as more than enhancement talent. He'd remind you of a Bushwhacker, though. Anyway, I tend to forget how awesome the Ghettoblaster usually looked (even in slow-motion).

 

For some reason, they have Sean Mooney introduce one of the matches and he gets a hearty boo from the Boston crowd, which the announcers can't really play off. The match he introduces (Rick Rude/Tito Santana) is on Supertape #1 and it is boooooooooring. They took a night off, as it's just one big resthold. Too bad, considering what they could've been capable of.

 

Probably the most interesting match is the title for title contest between Savage and Warrior. This was right around the time Savage had split with Hogan and the crowd isn't sure how to respond yet. The announcers seemed surprised Elizabeth isn't there, so this must've been fresh off the heels of the SNME confrontation. The way Warrior handles Savage is real prominent here. I couldn't help but feel for Savage, since it's easy to see how careless Warrior is with him. There are several instances where he just drops him with little disregard. There's another point where Savage is placed on the top turnbuckle, but so haphazardly that he just falls back into the ring on his head. There are a few botched spots, too, including the Warrior being unable to catch a crossbody from the top rope and instead falling back with Savage and (again) dropping him in a rough-looking spot.

 

Rick Rude winds up playing a role in the match and the show closes with he and Savage shaking hands. It's played up like some new alliance has been formed, but I barely remember these two being on TV at the same time as the other in the months that followed this.

 

I've got a few more shows I've watched, but I'll get to those later.

[goodhelmet]

Arn Anderson vs. Ron Garvin 4/86

Arn Anderson vs. Manny Fernandez 4/86

Arn Anderson vs. Wahoo McDaniel 5/86

 

These matches all took place within a relatively short time frame on TV. Arn was the TV champion and the theme of each match is Arn escaping dangerous situations in which he could potentially lose his title. Instead of out-wrestling his opponent or going toe-to-toe with them, Arn stalls, milks the clock and works the crowd up in a frenzy. What separates the matches from each other are what the opponent brings to the table. Wahoo's match had the advantage of appearing on Worldwide so it seemed much more heated thena the other two studio matches. Still, the match that impressed me the most was the Manny Fernandez match in that I always looked at Manny as a lower guy compared to Wahoo or Garvin yet it was Manny who gave Arn the most in the match. Still, these matches are a great primer in what Arn was great at (facial expressions, toying with the crowd's emotions, stooging, bumping) that you can see why the company put him in the position of being in featured televised matches.

[Guest teke184]

NWA TNA Final Resolution 2005 (1/16/2005)

 

 

This had some good matches but, as usual, was carried by the midcarders.

 

The X-Division and the tag guys like Team Canada, AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, etc. put on all of the good matches while Jeff Jarrett gets to have his masturbatory title reign in the main event.

 

This was also one of the few times Jeff Hardy bothered to show up to the PPV, although he might as well stayed at home for this one. The crowd said as much, chanting "We Want Matt" instead of cheering for him.

 

 

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (Coliseum Video)

 

About as good as I expected, considering that the matches were house show affairs like Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine or Don Muraco instead of the standard TV squash matches at the time.

 

The only subpar part was the corny "three trials" bit where Steamboat shows how he earned his gi by kicking the shit out of ninjas.

 

Worth picking up.

[Guest David Shazzio]

Harley Race vs Ric Flair(05/22/84)

 

This one is from All Japan. I like this one better than their Starrcade 83 match. Don't get me wrong, I liked their Starrcade 83 match, but this one doesn't have Gene Kiniski as the special guest ref. Race throws some great looking punches in this match(Not surprising). They each bump big off each others moves. Harley does a really great dramatic sell of Flair's clothesline from the rope(The move where Flair grabs his opponents hair and drops down on the top rope). They brawl a bit on the outside. Race delivers some really good elbowdrops(Not to mention headbutts, but that was a given). Race does another dramatic sell off a Flair chop(By going through the second rope). Harley comes back with a sunset flip(Which looked great). Flair does the Flair flip-->Flying crossbody block for a 2 and a half. Flair tries the figure 4 again(He already applied it early on in the match) but it's blocked. Race finishes things with a flying headbutt off the top rope.

 

Really good match. It's on All Japan Classics #2(Which also features the excellent Jack Brisco vs Dory Funk Jr.(1/27/74) match and a good Jumbo Tsuruta vs Nick Bockwinkle(2/23/84) match).

[Loss]

Arn Anderson v Dustin Rhodes - WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92

 

Good Lord! I thought this might turn out to be a pretty good match, but I didn't expect it to be one of the best matches of 1992! Just an awesome, awesome encounter with Arn Anderson playing God and wrestling a truly brilliant performance, finding a million ways to make everything Dustin does look like the World's Greatest Offense. And Dustin isn't too shabby himself, showing so much babyface fire and selling so beautifully. It's a battle of wills here, with Dustin keeping all of his focus on Arn's knee and Arn responding in kind by destroying Dustin's arm six ways to Sunday. Booking is great as well, as they're about to run Steamboat/Rhodes v Arn/Eaton on the house show circuit, so Eaton tries to interfere and can't, because Steamboat keeps forcing him at bay. Really, really great wrestling and booking with focus and storytelling and heat and emotion and anger and fists and sweat really, really rocks!

 

****1/4

 

(I actually think this is slightly better than Vader/Sting at Bash '92!)

[goodhelmet]

When making the Arn Anderson comp, I really found myself loving the hell out of Arn Anderson when I always thought he was rather vanilla before. I think it did me good to expose myself to all that Mid South because I have grown to appreciate the simpler things in wrestling matches and Arn made a living out of doing the simple things.. the best (at least close to someone like Ted Dibiase). I may have to include this match on the Dustin Rhodes comp I have in the works.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Even though I've admitedly been a fan of the glitz over the substance, I've always liked Arn. Even as a kid, I could appreciate what he did in the ring. There's something about the way he carries himself. He exuded confidence while being inconspicuous.

 

He also knew how to change it up, going from The Enforcer, a calculating heel with little wasted motion, to the cowardly bad guy if the moment called for it.

[World's Worst Man]

Naoya Ogawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto (10/11/99)

 

A tale of 2 halves. The first 6-7 minutes of this was looking like it was going to be a MOTYC and one of the greatest (not best, but greatest) matches I've ever seen. Incredibly intense, an incredible struggle, incredible timing that had the crowd going absolutely insane. And then came the second half. Ogawa basically dominated the last 6-7 minutes. Hashimoto didn't get in any offense at all. He was utterly destroyed until the infamous "Inoki stoppage", where Inoki jumped in the ring and had the match stopped. Not only did this incredibly stupid booking ruin the match, but it also extended the angle another 6 months, and Hashimoto STILL didn't get his big blow-off win. Here you have your top star and draw in Hashimoto, and they do this incredible angle involving him and Ogawa, stemming from their 1997 matches. And what happens? Hashimoto is dominated in both matches, later doesn't even win the blowoff, and ends up in Zero-One. It killed Hashimoto's credibility and he ended up never coming back from the supposed "temporary" Zero-One. I believe all of this was what started New Japan's downfall, even though it's more popular to think it started later on when they started relying more heavily on the "worked shoots" stuff, while sending their wrestlers to get killed in shoots.

[JHawk]

There's a Bad News Brown match on here against someone I couldn't understand the name of.  The way they were talking about him, though, it sounded like he was being pushed as more than enhancement talent.  He'd remind you of a Bushwhacker, though.  Anyway, I tend to forget how awesome the Ghettoblaster usually looked (even in slow-motion).

Brown was against "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty. Never more than enhancement talent although something of a cult figure in New England, so he'd get an occasional house show win in Boston and Providence and would often substitute for no-shows. IIRC, Doherty was actually subbing for Rick Martel here.

[Coffey]

Samoa Joe Vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH: 10/01/05)

 

Almost every time someone says something bad about this match, I have to watch it again. Each time I watch it, the match just gets better. I love the opening slap by Samoe Joe and the way that Kobashi acts like he's in disbelief. I love when Kobashi kicks out of the Muscle Buster and blocks the Kokina Clutch. I love when Samoa Joe hits a Powerbomb for a two count, then goes into an STF, then when Kobashi reaches for the ropes Joe switches to a Nagata Lock 2/Crippler Crossface, Kobashi reaches for the ropes with his other arm and Joe slaps on a version of Nagata Lock 3/Rings of Saturn. Finally Kenta reaches the ropes but he had to work for it. I like the fact that the match doesn't have any commentary, you just get to hear the crowd go bananas. Great match with great psychology and a good finish along with a rabid crowd. I think it's my favorite match of all-time now. I've watched it upwards of ten times.

 

*****

[Loss]

Jerry Estrada v Javier Cruz - 10/22/89 - Hair vs Hair

 

Quite the emotional rollercoaster here; in fact, the race between this and Jumbo/Tenryu for 1989 MOTY is extremely close, and after I rewatch this, I wouldn't be surprised if I put this higher. Beautiful, beautiful match, and probably the most adaptable match I've seen so far in the lucha libre, meaning it would work in absolutely any environment. This may even be better than Santo/Casas from '87 or Atlantis/Villano III from '00 honestly. I remember Ohtani's Jacket telling me that stories in lucha aren't really told through selling, so that's not what I should be looking for when watching it, but the selling here is absolutely brilliant from both guys -- selling of strikes and highspots, and of fatigue to get the match over as well. Some spots would probably look blown to someone looking for something crisp or clean, but this transcends the mechanics of the match and goes somewhere better, as the clumsiness and occasional slipping appeared to me to be totally intentional. FIVE STARS, and one of the very best matches in wrestling history. I plan on doing a full review of it at some point.

[Marty]

I watched WrestleMania XII tonight, and to be totally frank, the Iron Man match is one that's actually aging better with me each time I watch it. Many have knocked Michaels for attacking Hart's shoulder and Hart for going for chinlocks and headlocks on Michaels, but the way I look at it, both guys were doing a fine job of the "best defense is a good offense" gameplan. For instance, Hart's chinlocks were similar to JBL's side headlocks on Eddie Guerrero at JD04, in a sense that Hart was trying to wear the quick Michaels down. OTOH, Michaels' work on the shoulder of Hart is to prevent Hart from grappling moves over the course of the match, something that Hart excels over Michaels with. Of course, there's still many issues with selling in this match and all, but all that "boring" work is something I mark out for more and more when I watch it, because I still understand what they're doing. Among anything else that's been discussed many a time, I'd call this around **** or so, but, for the time being, no higher than that.

[goodhelmet]

I am watching Summerslam 90 right now and I knew I missed some WWF around this time but damn...

 

Hulk Hogan and Big bossman teaming up?

Earthquake and Dino Bravo teaming up?

Hacksaw Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff teaming up?

 

What the hell did I miss?

[Guest teke184]

I am watching Summerslam 90 right now and I knew I missed some WWF around this time but damn...

 

Hulk Hogan and Big bossman teaming up?

Earthquake and Dino Bravo teaming up?

Hacksaw Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff teaming up?

 

What the hell did I miss?

Bravo-Quake only makes sense if you remember that Dino Bravo joined Jimmy Hart's stable at some point after Frenchy Martin was phased out.

 

 

Nikolai Volkoff got a face push around that time as a Lithuanian patriot, as a way of giving him a promised anti-Communist push at some point in his career. (This was around the time of the Baltic states leaving the USSR)

 

 

 

As for Hogan-Bossman, I'm still at a loss to explain that one.

[Coffey]

Boss Man was face for quite awhile. That's right around the time of his feud with The Mountie & Nailz, right?

 

Dino Bravo and Warrior had the push-up contest and Earthquake was the fat guy picked out of the crowd to sit on their backs when they did the pushups. Then he squashed Warrior. So that explains them being together.

 

Volkoff got slapped with Duggan because Volkoff suddenly loved American and Duggan's always been all "USA" so I guess that sort of made sense.

[Guest teke184]

My watch list:

 

Wrestlemania Anthology box 1 (Wrestlemanias 1-5)

 

 

Wrestlemania 1-

 

This one stood up better than I thought it would, but that's not saying much. I never had a lot of love for this one considering I'd only ever seen the "Highlights Of Wrestlemania 1" version, but the full version didn't impress me.

 

 

The only thing that stood out to me was that Matt Borne, who faced Tito Santana I think (either him or Steamboat), looked like he could be Michael PS Hayes' brother a la the Anderson family.

 

 

 

 

Wrestlemania 2-

 

Keeee-RAP!

 

The only thing I ever liked off of this show were the Bulldogs' title win and the Battle Royal with all the football players, and that one is for sideshow value alone.

 

 

Wrestlemania 3-

 

It's a good thing that Savage and Steamboat stole the show, because there was a lot of crap on the card other than them, the Can Am Connection vs. Orton and Muraco, and Piper vs. Adonis, and lose last two were just OK.

 

 

Wrestlemania 4-

 

Aptly nicknamed "Wrestlemania Bore".

 

Lots of BS finishes, including the Bulldogs losing in the same way they did the year before in another 6-man match.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

As for Hogan-Bossman, I'm still at a loss to explain that one.

Bossman hadn't been a face that long (less than a year at that point), but as I recall, they sort of threw him in the mix when Tugboat was injured (I'm not sure if it was worked or not) and subsequently knocked out of the Summerslam '90 picture.

 

Boss Man was face for quite awhile. That's right around the time of his feud with The Mountie & Nailz, right?

No. His thing with The Mountie was the spring/summer of 1991 and the program with Nailz was in the fall of 1992.

 

Wrestlemania 1-

 

This one stood up better than I thought it would, but that's not saying much. I never had a lot of love for this one considering I'd only ever seen the "Highlights Of Wrestlemania 1" version, but the full version didn't impress me.

For all the hype they give it during the show (and in the weeks leading up to it), it still feels like a glorified MSG show. Some marquee matches on there, but everything else was random. Very little was settled on the show; a trait not true for later Manias.

 

Wrestlemania 2-

 

Keeee-RAP!

 

The only thing I ever liked off of this show were the Bulldogs' title win and the Battle Royal with all the football players, and that one is for sideshow value alone.

I couldn't ever get into this, either. There's a nice variety for each venue, but the three locations and stark contrast in the look and feel of each arena made the show feel more like a compilation.

 

Wrestlemania 3-

 

It's a good thing that Savage and Steamboat stole the show, because there was a lot of crap on the card other than them, the Can Am Connection vs. Orton and Muraco, and Piper vs. Adonis, and lose last two were just OK.

The first of many Manias that gets a free pass by most because of the atmosphere. Works for me. This is one of the more frequently seen Manias for me, and I attribute it to the atmosphere over the in-ring quality.

 

Wrestlemania 4-

 

Aptly nicknamed "Wrestlemania Bore".

 

Lots of BS finishes, including the Bulldogs losing in the same way they did the year before in another 6-man match.

I still have trouble disliking it. It was the first Wrestlemania I ever watched and in subsequent years, I've probably seen it as much or more than any of the others. I'm not sure what it is, but if I were to get the Anthology set, this would probably be one of the first I'd watch.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

As for my own personal viewing, my Mid-South exposure continues. I love how the majority of the angles aren't all that complex, but they're so flawlessly executed that they stand out.

 

I know times have changed, but I'm liking how certain moves are still so hype d up. Jake's DDT has so much controversy swirling about it. Dick Murdoch's brainbuster is perhaps an even more dangerous move and they make sure to utilize its destructive potential with the Dibiase angle.

 

And hey, Butch Reed! Before this, I'd probably seen five Reed matches in my life and thus always pegged him for some guy who had the look, but not the skills. I always remembered being thrown when I heard he was originally slated to win the IC title from Steamboat, since I remembered him as "The Natural." Seeing him in Mid-South clears that up a bit more, since it's clear he not only has the look, but the verbal and in-ring skills, too.

[Resident Evil]

Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Combat Toyoda/Megumi Kudo FMW

 

 

Joshi puroresu matches are the hardest matches to review. AJPW, WCW, ECW, WWF or NJPW tend to be a lot easier. The reason being is that so much action and emotion happen in joshi puroresu that it would take forever and a day to comment on it all.

 

 

This here is one of those matches. Action filled from start to end there's never a moment to catch your breath. It's go, go, go and go until someone can't go anymore. That being said this match depsite going 100 miles an hour always has some kind of focus. There's a real nice build to it and it has lots of smart wrestling moments in it in particular some really good false teases of a lot of stuff. Of course it's full of the typical awesome offence you'd expect in joshi puroresu and there's a real nice moment here at the end of the match where Yamada realises Toyota is in trouble and just goes crazy beating up Kudo and Toyota complete with a barrage of boos from the crowd.

 

There's not too much negative about this match at all. In fact, it's a lot better than the Dreamslam match between the two teams so don't let that deter you from automatically making a judgement call on the quality of this match. My main gripe watching this is that I just wasn't yonger watching this for the very first time. I envy anyone doing so. Terrific match, make sure to give it a watch.

[Guest savagerulz]

WWF SummerSlam 1989

 

Any show that starts off with a match with Tully, Arn and Bret in it is bound to be genius and frankly it is. I loved the days when they had an actual tag division and this one really delivered. The way Bret, Tully and Arn worked so seemlessly with each other was a joy to watch and the long match never seemed to drag at all.

 

Just a quick side note too, I miss Jesse. He was a genius heel color commentator and I don't care what anyone says, the guy was just pure class. He was so clever in what he said and played off people brilliantly. He really carried Schiavone, who was way out of his depth and what he was used to, on this show.

 

Dusty's then given a brief interview before his match with Honky and it's pure brilliant Dusty. To stand there in those dumb polka dots jiving and dancing and make it work, sometimes people overlook just how good Dusty is on the mic. He's one of the best talkers I've ever seen and the way he constructs his mic work is brilliant.

 

Honky and Dusty's fine, nothing outstanding but what did you expect in terms of in ring product? Decent filler match though.

 

Perfect and the Rooster's up next and pretty weak really. I always thought these two should have a better match but when the Rooster's getting buried, and Perfect's starting a major push it's never going to be a fifteen minute classic. It does its job, Perfect looks great.

 

Tito & the Rockers Vs Martel and the Rougeaus was brilliant fast paced six man stuff. These days this sort of match on a PPV would barely get a look in, and if it did it'd just been whined about by all the smarks as being a pointless filler that had no meaning. But it's a really good spotty six man with six fast paced workers, develops the slowly progressing Martel/Santana storyline, and is really entertaining.

 

Perfect's given a brief interview, and he's brilliant in it. Rude and Heenan are given some mic time too and they are both consumate in what they do with it. It's great stuff, I could genuinely sit and watch Heenan interviews all day without any actual wrestling and be enthralled.

 

Then the show hits its peak. See, when people complain about the Warrior they need to watch matches like this, and realise he had more than one great match in his career. This was brilliant stuff where both men played their roles to perfection. Rude could have been squashed in five minutes here to give Warrior the belt back but they really gave Rude the chance to shine, even in defeat, and even gave him the claim that he was cheated out of his title. One of my favorite WWF matches of that year, and definitely better than their Mania match that year.

 

Roddy Piper interview after his little appearance in the match, typical Piper. Ronnie Garvin's out in a suit hinting that he has a special assignment, and then in walk Heenan and Rude. Oh my God is this good. Rude's perfect in his role, perfect, and Heenan's just so articulate and well thought in everything he does here. Manager's do have a place in this business, it's just that nobody knows how to work it, and nobody knows how to book it, anymore.

 

At some point, can't remember when, there was an interview with Duggan and Demolition about tossing cars about in the parking lot or something. Duggan was a moron, as always, god I hate that guy.

 

Demolition and Duggan Vs Twin Towers & Andre is solid without being special. A few things noticeable from it are that Demolition had the best music of their era, and a great look, and did what they did simply, but brilliantly. Smash slams the big boss man and Akeem which was pretty impressive. Andre's getting more and more useless by the day and you can see again here how far he's gone. But a six man protects him, and it's your typical Duggan 2x4 screwjob finish.

 

Valentine and Hercules is only there to progress things with Garvin, who's the guest ring announcer. Shame, because I think if you let Valentine and Garvin go here they could have produced some hard hitting decent stuff, but yeah, by this point the card just needed to get to the main event.

 

Dibiase and Snuka was ok, but again, after the Rude/Warrior match people, me included, just wanted to get to the main event. I've seen a non televised match between Dibiase and Snuka that urinated all over this one. This was nothing special.

 

And then the main event. It featured Zeus and Brutus Beefcake, so do you think it was any good? Hell no. Awful, and the ending was weak too. Zeus has been impervious to everything that's been thrown at him, he's felt no pain whatsoever, and then one bodyslam and legdrop and he's done? Anyway, this match does see Hulk Hogan atomic drop Sensational Sherri. It was your typical Summerslam main event in the early years, but when you compare it to the previous years with Jesse as manager, and Elizabeth taking her skirt off, this didn't come anywhere near it.

 

The first half of this show was brilliant, absolutely brilliant, but once the Warrior/Rude match ends the show starts to go downhill quickly which was a shame. Zeus was just too bad a worker to be carried, and when Beefcake's in the match it doesn't help. The opener didn't matter than Neidhart was in it, because Bret, Tully and Arn were there. The main event, Hogan and Savage weren't able to drag the other two to something that was any good.

 

But for me the lasting memory of this Pay Per View is always Rude and Warrior which was just brilliant from start to finish, and when you pull in the Heenan Rude interview afterwards, and it's superb.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Just a quick side note too, I miss Jesse. He was a genius heel color commentator and I don't care what anyone says, the guy was just pure class. He was so clever in what he said and played off people brilliantly. He really carried Schiavone, who was way out of his depth and what he was used to, on this show.

Definitely. While some guys didn't come out to shine until they were paired with certain people, Jess got it done with just about anyone who was saddled with.

 

Honky and Dusty's fine, nothing outstanding but what did you expect in terms of in ring product? Decent filler match though.

I've always had a soft spot for this match. Nothing special, as you said, but an inoffensive showcase of Dusty.

 

Perfect and the Rooster's up next and pretty weak really. I always thought these two should have a better match but when the Rooster's getting buried, and Perfect's starting a major push it's never going to be a fifteen minute classic. It does its job, Perfect looks great.

I'm pretty sure Taylor got hurt moments before the finish, which was the cause for the abbreviated match. If you go back, I think you can see Taylor hurt himself and the Perfect Plex come almost out of nowhere shortly after.

 

Then the show hits its peak. See, when people complain about the Warrior they need to watch matches like this, and realise he had more than one great match in his career. This was brilliant stuff where both men played their roles to perfection. Rude could have been squashed in five minutes here to give Warrior the belt back but they really gave Rude the chance to shine, even in defeat, and even gave him the claim that he was cheated out of his title. One of my favorite WWF matches of that year, and definitely better than their Mania match that year.

As great as the match is, Ventura's commentary always stands out to me. He's showing some serious emotion there by the end, probably because of his legit disdain for the Warrior.

 

Rude's perfect in his role, perfect, and Heenan's just so articulate and well thought in everything he does here. Manager's do have a place in this business, it's just that nobody knows how to work it, and nobody knows how to book it, anymore.

I know Rude was livid, but I can't recall if Heenan got real serine during the interview. For some reason, I'm thinking he did, which was a nice balance between he and the outraged Rude. If it happened, that is.

 

Duggan was a moron, as always, god I hate that guy.

I was indifferent about him after a certain point, but watching him in Mid-South makes me realize he used to be motivated.

 

Anyway, I have much love for this show, too. It's usually overlooked, though, for some reason.

[Marty]

As for Hogan-Bossman, I'm still at a loss to explain that one.

Bossman hadn't been a face that long (less than a year at that point), but as I recall, they sort of threw him in the mix when Tugboat was injured (I'm not sure if it was worked or not) and subsequently knocked out of the Summerslam '90 picture.

 

Boss Man was face for quite awhile. That's right around the time of his feud with The Mountie & Nailz, right?

No. His thing with The Mountie was the spring/summer of 1991 and the program with Nailz was in the fall of 1992.

Yeah, Bossman turned babyface in the winter of 89/90 win Ted DiBiase failed at buying him out, which led to a REALLY brief feud between the two (especially since DiBiase had a year-long feud with Jake Roberts before that).

 

Bossman refereed the Roberts/Bad News Brown match earlier in the SS90 card, and, as Bruiser mentioned, subbed in for Tugboat. I can't even remember if Tugboat's injury was legit or not, but he did come back well before Survivor Series that year and teamed with Hogan, Bossman, and Jim Duggan. They might've done the worked injury for the sake of pushing Bossman by giving him the Hogan rub, which in a sense worked since Bossman had a fine run from then until 92-ish as a babyface.

 

After SummerSlam, Bossman had that infamous feud with the Heenan family, including that very surprising WrestleMania VII match with Mr. Perfect. Then, it was the Mountie feud.

[Strummer]

Tugboat's injury was a work. It was simply a case of Ottman not being over enough to be involved in main event angles (no matter how hard Vince and Hogan tried) Bossman had a lot of momentum and was getting over to a large degree so they stuck him in the role.