1999 - Good matches rarely talked about

[Loss]

I'll get the WWF out of the way quickly, since they did a grand total of TWO matches I really liked that year, and they rarely get discussed.

 

Steve Austin v The Rock - Backlash 1999

It's not exactly WM X-7, but it's still a hell of a rollercoaster with some really great nearfalls and tremendous heat. Rock is still learning at this point and Austin wouldn't return to top form until late 2000, but it's still a very smartly worked match with some interesting twists, even if it is overbooked toward the end. Very nice final blowoff to Rock's heel run.

 

Steve Austin v Val Venis - WWF Smackdown 10/99

My apologies for not having the exact date on this. This is really a terrific wrestling match and reminds me of Bret/Hennig in some ways actually, with Austin as sort of a brawling Bret Hart and Val Venis in total Hennig heel mode. Austin sells like mad for him and there are some terrific chain wrestling sequences. It's a swank little match.

 

Now for WCW ...

 

WCW had an abysmal 1999 because of the booking, and they also lost $13,000,000, so it's not their standout year or anything, but there were some really awesome TV matches going on in the undercard until October when Russo came in.

 

I'd recommend these from Nitro:

 

01/04 - Rey/Kidman v Juvi/Psicosis (Texas Tornado tag match)

01/18 - Jericho v Booker

01/18 - Juvi v Psicosis

02/08 - Rey v Blitzkrieg

02/22 - Bret v Booker

03/01 - Kidman v Psicosis

03/01 - Rey v Bigelow

03/01 - Benoit v Bret

03/15 - Rey v Kidman

04/05 - Rey/Kidman v Raven/Saturn

04/12 - Rey v Juvi

04/12 - Kidman v Psicosis

04/12 - Flair v Sting

04/19 - Benoit/Malenko v Scott/Steve Armstrong

04/19 - Rey v Juvi v Psi v Blitzkrieg

04/19 - DDP v Goldberg

04/26 - Sting v DDP

05/17 - Raven/Saturn v Benoit/Malenko

09/13 - Benoit v Malenko

10/04 - Bret v Benoit

 

That would make a hell of a comp right there, actually. Basically, anything featuring Benoit in 1999 was gold, as he was on a roll, carrying anything he could find that called itself a wrestler to a good match. Rey lost a step, but was still better than most in the company. Juvi was tremendous in 1999.

 

From Thunder:

 

02/18 - Jericho v Juvi

Really good match with a hilarious pre-match angle where Jericho unveils Ralphus in a dress to show Perry Saturn what a real man looks like in a dress. Great heat with Jericho being a total dick and Juvi bringing loads of awesome highspots. Probably ***1/4 or so, which is good, considering it's a fairly short TV match.

 

02/18 - Benoit/Malenko v Horace/Brian Adams (Cage Match)

This doesn't look like it would be much on paper, but it's a tremendous match, with Benoit standing out more than anyone, with a nice build to his epic first-ever dive off the top of the cage.

 

03/18 - Rey v Juvi

Rey defends his new cruiserweight title. These two always worked well together. I think Juvi played a big part in Rey getting over as big as he did in WCW, giving him matches like this.

 

Of what I've seen, the standout indy match that year was Hardyz v Serial Thrillaz from OMEGA on 01/29/99. Finding OMEGA tapes these days is nearly impossible, which is a shame, considering they were a really fun indy group while they lasted, and it's a good glimpse at guys like the Hardys and Shane Helms (and some guys who never quite made it like Mike Maverick) working without any real limitations. Jeff Hardy was a much more complete wrestler before becoming a sloppy spot machine in the WWF. The match in question is actually a nice, traditional Southern tag with some really crazy highspots toward the end. It does get pimped a lot, so I'm mentioning it only because I think it was the indy MOTY.

 

I have some lucha sitting at home that Tim Cooke sent me a while back that I still haven't watched, from '99. When I do, I'll return to this thread if anything catches my eye.

 

The Japanese companies really had average years considering the excellence of years before, so there's not anything I would really recommend going out of one's way to see in AJPW or NJPW. The Misawa/Kawada ganso bomb match in January is fun for all the wrong reasons, and Misawa/Kobashi from June has its moments, but isn't as good as their earlier stuff. NJ had such weird booking in '99, both in the heavies and the juniors division, that it's hard to point to anything there are great either.

 

There's a lot of GAEA that gets pimped on a regular basis that I haven't seen. It would appear they had a good year.

 

Anyone wanna add anything?

[Strummer]

Obviously due to the Owen Tragedy, no one really remembers this match much (and rightfully so), but I remember loving X-Pac/Kane v D-Lo/Mark Henry at Over the Edge. This was during the height of Russo booking, so the crowd was silent throughout, but it was just a hell of a match. Great double teaming moves by Pac and Kane and Mark Henry playing the monster role well. Plus D-Lo held everything together. I have not seen this match since the original airing, so I don't know if it has held up. I just remember really liking it.

[goodhelmet]

The Misawa/Kawada ganso bomb match in January is fun for all the wrong reasons,

Can you elaborate?

 

and Misawa/Kobashi from June has its moments, but isn't as good as their earlier stuff.

Agreed, but how is this different from your mention of Rock-Austin from Backlash?

 

I could say this about Rock-Austin...

 

Rock\Austin from Backlash has its moments, but isn't as good as their later stuff.

 

Why would you recommend the Backlash match but not the Misawa-Kobashi match?

[Loss]

Rock/Austin is worth seeing to see a nice ***1/2 match that no one ever talks about. Plenty of people talk about Misawa/Kawada from 01/99, and it's a fun match, but it stands out to me more than anything for the cringe moment that was the introduction of the Ganso bomb. That's why I call it "enjoyable for all the wrong reasons".

 

I have to ask -- how come you haven't named any matches in any of these threads? Surely, you've seen something you've liked at some point that hasn't already been pimped to high heavens.

 

[goodhelmet]

Plenty of people talk about Misawa/Kawada from 01/99, and it's a fun match, but it stands out to me more than anything for the cringe moment that was the introduction of the Ganso bomb. That's why I call it "enjoyable for all the wrong reasons".

I always thought it was enjoyable because Kawada was working with a broken arm for most of the match. The ganso Bomb also made perfect sense in the scheme of the match and their feud.

 

Also, I wasn't referring to the Misawa-Kawada match. I was referring to the Misawa-Kobashi match when comparing it to the same way you treated Rock-Ausin.I really don't hear many people talk about that '99 match at all probably because what came before it was in the mind-blowing ****-***** range.

 

 

I have to ask -- how come you haven't named any matches in any of these threads? Surely, you've seen something you've liked at some point that hasn't already been pimped to high heavens.

Because that would require me to watch matches from those particular years which I really haven't done in the last year or so. Most of the stuff I have watched lately has been ROH (where any match that is remotely good has been pimped to death) and older stuff. When you get to '97, I can probably throw a dozen matches or so from the Some Guy comps on there that I enjoyed the hell out of in the last week. Next week, I'll probably be able to join in on the '98 discussion.

 

As for 2002-99, let me look at the match listings of the tapes I own and i'll drop some matches in here. I also have to remind myself that most people here don't watch puro on a regular basis so if a match has been pimped to death elsewhere, it might not have been pimped on one of the boards most of us frequent.

[Ray]

Benoit vs Sting from 9/20 Nitro is fantastic depsite the poor finish. The psychology is about hierarchy - Sting is above Benoit, so Benoit has to repeatedly regroup and rethink his strategy to beat Sting. The finishing stretch with Benoit coming close to knocking off Sting is outstanding but of course they have to ruin it with a run-in.

[Guest Some Guy]

Although I haven't watched it in at least 2 years, I remember really enjoying D-Lo/JJ from Summerslam. I was always a pretty big fan of D-Lo so maybe that's clouding my memory. I remember it being a fun match, not a 5 star classic by any stretch, just a solid enjoyable match on a bad show. I have way too much new stuff to watch before I can go back and re-watch the match right now though.