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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 2:20:07 GMT
If it weren't for all the Ronda talk I probably would not have even watched the show. Just really not in a big wrestling(or MMA) mood lately, especially not interested in what WWE has going from the little I've seen and read. Both rumble matches were surprisingly decent though, I enjoyed the final 4 part of the mens Rumble and thought Shinsuke looked great in victory, Styles vs Nakamura at Mania intrigues me(recently watched some of their NJPW matches and enjoyed the hell out of them). Womens rumble was sloppy as hell but overall I felt like the ladies put together something they can hold their heads up and be proud of. Very interesting cast of women they got going now, wasn't a fan of the way they threw Ronda out there in the end though, kind of a cheap bait and switch deal and the whole pointing at the mania sign deal is corny as fuck. Not a bad show at all though, I wasn't into the Extreme Rules match for some reason, maybe just wasn't in the mood, I don't really even remember anything about it but I've been super sick so maybe that's why.
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Post by Big Pete on Jan 31, 2018 2:42:17 GMT
I tend to agree, Shin. Depending on where they go, they would have been better off saving her until they were ready to go full tilt with the program. That way, they get two bites of that history cherry.
The way they went about it just came across like a compromise that made no one happy. Fans of hers wanted to see her tap all 29 women out and decimate everyone. Others don't want her in the ring at all and want her to work her way up from the independents so she can earn her dues brother.
Watching it, I couldn't help but be reminded of Roddy Piper. Specifically Halloween Havoc '96, where Hogan/Savage settled their long-standing rivalry and Piper came out afterwards to confront Hogan. His appearance completely over-shadowed the match and ended in an awkward verbal confrontation where he just rambled like a lunatic. I think it was about being a wrestling icon? Regardless, Ronda coming into the ring, awkwardly pointing at the sky like she's Sabu over and over again was straight out of the Piper handbook.
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Post by Kilgore on Feb 1, 2018 1:01:42 GMT
The only bit I saw of the Rumble so far was a gif of Brock getting stiffed by Braun Strowman, and Brock springing back up to stiff him back. Brock looked like he was about to pounce on him like Braun was Frank Mir.
I watched an Undertaker vs. Shamrock match from 1998 a few days back. I don't remember enough about it to do a review (like where or when). All I remember is the foreshadowing of MMA Taker. He was doing the high guard in the corner, did a few takedowns into submissions. 'Taker looked ready to transition back then, but it was a little too early and we got fucking Harley 'Takerson instead.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 1:11:03 GMT
The only bit I saw of the Rumble so far was a gif of Brock getting stiffed by Braun Strowman, and Brock springing back up to stiff him back. Brock looked like he was about to pounce on him like Braun was Frank Mir. I watched an Undertaker vs. Shamrock match from 1998 a few days back. I don't remember enough about it to do a review (like where or when). All I remember is the foreshadowing of MMA Taker. He was doing the high guard in the corner, did a few takedowns into submissions. 'Taker looked ready to transition back then, but it was a little too early and we got fucking Harley 'Takerson instead. Dieseltaker
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 11:45:38 GMT
My WCW 92 watchthrough hit a snag since all the videos are AVI format, when I stream them from my network to my Roku there is no sound, my TV for some reason has a hard time streaming videos from my Network they always drop out.
I was snooping around WWE Network this morning through and found a new section in the old school part, they now have "Home Video Classics" which has a bunch of old school Coliseum Home Video tapes! Too sweet!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2018 13:19:50 GMT
I watched Battle Royal At The Albert Hall a couple days ago in the new WWE "Home Video Classics" section on the Network. This was a really fun show from October 1991. I love the Royal Albert Hall, it's such a great little building with a great atmosphere. This show had some damn solid matches, Nasty Boys vs Rockers was good and I enjoyed Ric Flair vs Tito Santana. LOD defended the tag titles against Powers Of Pain, The Mountie beat Texas Tornado, vintage Undertaker takes out Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Swollen British Bulldog takes out The Barbarian in the co-main event then everybody on the card came back out for a 20 man battle royal to finish the show. Not a bad battle royal at all, had a Flair vs Piper encounter, Undertaker fighting LOD is always a nice visual, then the finale came down to British Bulldog taking out The Mountie and Typhoon to win it all. I enjoyed the hell out of this show. 1991-1992 WWF is my sweet spot for nostalgia.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2018 14:32:45 GMT
I'm digging these old Coliseum Home Video shows they have uploaded to the Network. I watched another one yesterday, can't remember the name of it I think it was UK Rampage 92 or something. Show opens with Tatanka taking out Skinner, LOD beats up the odd pairing of the Iron Sheik and Dino Bravo, then there was a really fun match in Undertaker vs Sid. I liked the promos both guys cut before the match, I was hyped for this and the early parts of it were pretty great. It has the cheapest finish I've ever seen as Undertaker was counted out even though it seemed like he was only outside the ring for like 5 seconds. Whole match was probably 5 minutes but damn I was into it.
Smack dab in the middle of the card they had a damn good WWF Championship match with Randy Savage defending the belt against a young HBK. This was a damn good match that I'm surprised I've never heard of or seen before.
The Mountie vs Virgil was next, the promos were the best part of this, so fucking corny it was funny, the Mountie's promo on Virgil was borderline racist.
Bret defends the IC title against The Model, I really didn't watch this one very closely since I was multitasking while this show was on my TV yesterday. It was interesting to me though that they put the WWF Championship in the middle of the card and the IC Title was co-main. Bret as IC Champ in 92 would put this show somewhere in between Mania 8 and Summerslam 92.
Actually Jim Duggan vs Repo Man was co-main, I forgot about that one.
Main event was British Bulldog vs IRS is a fun match. I enjoyed this whole show, good times. WWF 1992 ruled.
Also the WWE Network auto-loaded another show that I just had going on my TV while cleaning up, I did sit down and watch an interesting battle royal match, I have no idea what show this was or where this match took place but it had like 30 guys and about half of them were straight up jobbers. But it also had Owen, Bret, and Bulldog, Owen was with Koko as High Energy. The match was a huge clusterfuck with so many guys in the ring at the same time, so many guys just kind of standing there looking for something to do so it was kind of funny. The finish got interesting as it came down to Bret and Bulldog vs The Beverly Brothers(Owen was eliminated earlier by one of the Beverly Brothers). Bulldog accidentally eliminates Bret and then press slams the remaining Beverly Brother out of the ring onto his partner to win it. Pretty sweet finish that I'm assuming was a set up for Bret vs Bulldog at Summerslam 92, good stuff. Bulldog in his prime was just awesome. So interesting seeing WWF pushing him as a main eventer during this time in 91-92, it's really a shame they couldn't continue this into 1993. Instead they had him drop the IC belt to HBK and he disappeared from WWF. If I ever rebook 1993 WWF I'm pushing Bulldog and trying to figure out some way to set up a huge Bulldog vs Bret rematch/trilogy.
These shows are fucking max nostalgia for me.
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Post by Kilgore on Feb 11, 2018 21:59:03 GMT
So interesting seeing WWF pushing him as a main eventer during this time in 91-92, it's really a shame they couldn't continue this into 1993. Instead they had him drop the IC belt to HBK and he disappeared from WWF. If I ever rebook 1993 WWF I'm pushing Bulldog and trying to figure out some way to set up a huge Bulldog vs Bret rematch/trilogy. Davey fucked it all up. Between training for SummerSlam '92 by smoking crack for weeks on end, and having HGH shipped to his house while the FBI was investigating Vince for pushing 'roids, they didn't really have a choice but to fire him. Luckily you can just let people smoke all the crack they want doing fanfic, though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 14:07:17 GMT
So interesting seeing WWF pushing him as a main eventer during this time in 91-92, it's really a shame they couldn't continue this into 1993. Instead they had him drop the IC belt to HBK and he disappeared from WWF. If I ever rebook 1993 WWF I'm pushing Bulldog and trying to figure out some way to set up a huge Bulldog vs Bret rematch/trilogy. Davey fucked it all up. Between training for SummerSlam '92 by smoking crack for weeks on end, and having HGH shipped to his house while the FBI was investigating Vince for pushing 'roids, they didn't really have a choice but to fire him. Luckily you can just let people smoke all the crack they want doing fanfic, though. Looking back at the whole steroid controversy going on at that time I don't really understand it. Pro wrestlers should definitely be allowed to use steroids, I don't see why it was such a big deal honestly, this is WWF not the fucking Olympics. Bulldog's crack binge before Summerslam 92 blew my mind when I read about it in Bret's book. He sure was in great shape for somebody that was burning the ghetto blaster for weeks before that match. The whole story reminds me of my little brother the days leading up to our first MMA fights, I never confirmed it but I'm pretty sure he went out and smoked crack the night before our fights, he was hanging out drinking beer the afternoon before when I was headed to the track to do some running. I was super worried that he would get embarrassed in his fight, he ended up taking out a more experienced professionally trained fighter that outweighed him by like 28 pounds(and had smaller gloves on) in probably less than 90 seconds. :lol:
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Post by Emperor on Feb 14, 2018 23:58:00 GMT
Let's check out some matches in the ongoing singles match draft tournament. First up, one of Kilgore's picks.
Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine Dog Collar Match Starrcade 1983 A large chain link connects two loose collars attached around the necks of the participants. The announcers put this over as the most dangerous match in wrestling, which it might have been in 1983. The bell rings. Not a jump start as you'd expect. Both guys stand in their corners, and engage in a neck tug of war. Naturally, neither guy can move the other with their neck strength, but they're building the tension. Slowly they reach out, grab the chain, and pull themselves towards one another. The camera is positioned behind Roddy, who has gathered some of the chain in a whip. Sure enough, Piper strikes to a big reaction. Both guys back off and they once again work their way towards each other. Valentine tries the same trick, but Roddy nimbly evades a few whip shots before another stalemate. This time they slowly walk towards one another. Valentine throws the first punch, and it's on! Not for long though. They back off again after a few punches are thrown.
The real action starts when Piper whips Valentine's leg and capitalises with a flurry of offense in the corner. He beats him up in the corner, then gives Valentine a yank. Valentine stumbles towards Piper. Bam! Punch to the face. Valentine falls down face first like a cartoon character. Piper stares him down as he gets to his feet, but Valentine takes advantage of the hesitation and starts pummelling Piper with a chain-wrapped fist. Valentine takes Piper down and wraps the chain around his face, right over his eyes. Piper is soon able to turn the tables, giving Valentine a taste of his own medicine. The crowd approves.
Piper remains in control. It isn't long before Valentine is busted open. The camera abandons the wrestlers for a moment, when it returns, Valentine is choking Piper with his hands. They spill to the floor and trade chain shots. The referee tries to restrain Piper (why?) while they brawl on the apron. Valentine takes advantage with a cheap shot. He works over Piper's left ear, which was injured prior to this match. First time I've seen an ear injury in a wrestling match. Piper tries to stay in the fight, but he can't keep his balance, never mind get any kind of sustained offense. Piper eventually falls to the mat. Valentine drops an elbow and goes for the first cover. Kick out. Valentine runs the ropes for another elbow, but Piper yanks the chain, sending Valentine crashing to the mat. Piper explodes back to life, pounding on his despicable foe. Valentine takes another cartoony face first bump. I guess that's a signature of his, even though it's more commonly associated with Ric Flair. Piper throws a lot of fiery punches, but Valentine punches back. He Irish Whips Piper and catches him with a clumsy clothesline on the rebound. Piper goes down, but he refuses to allow his shoulders to be pinned for even a one count.
Both men try for a vertical suplex. Piper is the one to get it. Both men are flat on their backs, exhausted. They both get up before the referee reaches 10. Valentine hits a couple of forearms, which are better than his punches. Sleeper hold! Piper's arm flops twice, but not the third time. Didn't realise that spot went as far back as 83. Piper manages to throw his arm back to catch Valentine's face with a chain punch. Valentine is up first, climbs the second rope and hits a flying elbow smash. He tries it again, yanks Valentine off the second rope, whips his face with the chain a buncha times, one two three. The crowd likes this outcome.
Well, this match hasn't changed my view of the 80s blood feud brawl. The chain made this match more varied than your typical brawl, but it was still mostly two guys punching each other for 20 minutes. I was engaged for the first half, but then I started to get fed up. There wasn't any real escalation. It did a good job at getting across that this was a real nasty fight, nothing fancy here folks, but this kinda match only works if I have some emotional investment in the wrestlers to begin with. Which I did not, so it was lame.
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Post by Kilgore on Feb 15, 2018 5:44:55 GMT
I obviously like Piper-Valentine more than Emperor, but I think its ending is a little anticlimactic, which is why it's not quite on the level of Magnum-Tully or Slaughter-Sheik. Even if Piper just put more effort in the hogtie with the chain, that would have went a long way, but he kind of rushed it and the ending comes a little out of nowhere. It's probably a 3.5-4 star match on the Meltzer scale, 3.5 now, 4 back then.
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Post by Emperor on Feb 15, 2018 8:30:15 GMT
Anticlimactic indeed. Honestly, giving it *** would be generous of me, but it's not really a fair rating. The match really is a product of its time, and even if I went in cold, I think my opinion would be different if I watched it in the 80s or even in the 90s.
Do you think I have any chance of enjoying Magnum/Tully or Slaughter/Sheik?
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Post by Kilgore on Feb 15, 2018 9:04:22 GMT
Do you think I have any chance of enjoying Magnum/Tully or Slaughter/Sheik? There's a lot of punching in those. :lol: Slaughter-Sheik has a borderline Canadian Stampede crowd, so their emotional investment might help you care a little about those punches. It's the MSG Boot Camp match, not the Capitol Centre one. If you don't like that one, I think you can swear off that genre of match forever.
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Post by 🤯 on Feb 16, 2018 0:54:12 GMT
Do you think I have any chance of enjoying Magnum/Tully or Slaughter/Sheik? There's a lot of punching in those. :lol: Slaughter-Sheik has a borderline Canadian Stampede crowd, so their emotional investment might help you care a little about those punches. It's the MSG Boot Camp match, not the Capitol Centre one. If you don't like that one, I think you can swear off that genre of match forever. BUT! If you DO like it, check out the Sarge/Patterson Alley Fight too and let us know which one you like better.
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Post by Strobe on Feb 16, 2018 8:47:32 GMT
It has been a long time since I've seen Piper/Valentine, but I remember thinking it was on a level below those very, very best mid-80s violent brawls. You weren't too keen on Duggan/Sawyer either, Emperor . I don't think you'll like Magnum/Tully based on your Dog Collar review. It is a match that I think is a classic but not on the transcendent level that others hold it on. It doesn't really have much in the way of any spots or tropes of pro wrestling as it goes along. It becomes two guys clawing, gouging, trying to destroy the other. I'm actually low on it compared to most I think, even though I'm very high on it. I don't think it is crazy to assume that it could be a #1 contender for this Best Match Ever list that the PWO guys are going to be compiling. I'd actually be surprised if it wasn't top 5 US. You will have far more of a chance of liking Slaughter/Sheik and I'd say Duggan/DiBiase as well, both of which are near perfect for what they needed to be in my eyes. Here are some links in case you want to check either of them out (Slaughter/Sheik starts at 02:19:00).
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Post by Strobe on Feb 16, 2018 22:45:46 GMT
NWA Starrcade '83: A Flair for the Gold (11/24/83) "DOG COLLAR" MATCH 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine [NWA United States Heavyweight Champion] I love the old school way of not having titles on the line in certain non-standard matches. A wrestling title should be won in a wrestling contest dammit. Violent fights are used to settle personal scores. They get over the gimmick perfectly in the early going with the neck tug-of-war and the great visuals of the chain wrapped around the eyes and mouth. Piper using the ring-post to keep Valentine trapped in the corner is also a fantastic spot and they have the injured ear angle to play into the match - giving us the bladed ear and Roddy struggling with his equilibrium. Valentine does take too many of his timber bumps (unfortunately a common issue with him) and Piper's punches aren't the best at times, but these are relatively easy flaws to overlook. We get a nice fight over a suplex and after it lands, we get both men down with the chain over both of their necks/faces in another great visual. The thing that really holds this match clearly below its peers is the really poor, anticlimactic finish. Then we get Valentine getting his heat back post-match with a chain attack and I wonder if it was known that Piper was going to WWF but not Valentine at this point (both were in the WWF by January '84). Or maybe it was just to protect Valentine a bit and not have it seem completely definitive, since they were going to work collar matches on house shows coming out of Starrcade. Still, this is great stuff and likely Piper's best - although I rate the Bret match about on par and it has a superior finish. ****
WWF (6/16/84) "BOOT CAMP" MATCH Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Iron Sheik Slaughter is wasting no time and attacks from the off with his helmet and the swagger stick as MSG goes wild. The headbutt using the helmet is a great spot and this is just a fantastic babyface shine. Then Slaughter takes his patented great corner bump to the outside and Sheik attacks with a chair. Sheik whips and then chokes Slaughter with his belt. Great intensity and violence, with the crowd heat through the roof. Sheik then uses Sarge's own stick before one more whip and a choke. Sarge is still selling the beating when trying to mount a comeback, which I always appreciate. Sheik starts loading the boot and teasing its use before biting Slaughter. Sarge's head gets rammed into the ringpost and he does a massive bladejob. Sheik knew how to heel, spitting at Sarge before biting at the wound. Sarge takes a second great corner bump but blocks a suplex with a shot to the ribs that is enough to floor Sheik. I liked this spot, in that it was played like he got him just right, like when a boxer just hits the perfect spot. Slaughter pulls himself up and loads his own boot, before hitting a boot to the head off the second rope. Sheik is now a bloody mess himself as Sarge uses the ropes to hold himself up. HUGE WIND-UP PUNCH! Both men are selling their exhaustion well as Sheik's suplexes don't get the job done. Sheik then takes his boot off and loads it up good and proper. But he misses! And Slaughter smashes him so hard with his clothesline The Slaughter Cannon that the boot goes flying out of the ring. Someone (I think it is one of the announcers and they'd want Slaughter to win, so I like it) tosses the boot back in towards Sarge and we get a crawl race between the two to get the weapon. Slaughter gets it, loads it up and smashes Sheiky Baby right in the face. 1-2-3 and the molten crowd explodes and starts a U.S.A. chant. Just phenomenal and a definite contender for best match in the (W)WWF/E history. ****¾
MSW (3/22/85) "LOSER LEAVES TOWN, TUXEDO, COAL MINER'S GLOVE ON A POLE, STEEL CAGE" MATCH Ted DiBiase vs. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan Duggan is in the ring ready to go, while DiBiase looks nervous, pacing outside the cage. The ref warns him that he needs to get in and starts a count which the crowd joins in with. DiBiase gets inside the cage but is still looking very apprehensive. The ref tries to check DiBiase's tuxedo for weapons, which he resists at first but eventually relents to. Duggan is happy to oblige and turns his back and places his hand on the ropes, evoking the image of a police frisk, fitting with his everyman persona. All these little touches before the match starts add so much. DiBiase tries to take advantage with a Pearl Harbor but Duggan knew it was coming (perhaps that's why he positioned himself as he did, to entice DiBiase in) and is all over Ted with a series of punches. DiBiase tries to bail but the cage is blocking his path and he gives us a great look of fear as he realises he is stuck with Hacksaw and none of his friends can come help. DiBiase gains the advantage by begging off and asking for a time-out before leveraging Duggan headfirst into the cage. More driving him into the cage busts him open and DiBiase goes to work on the cut with a series of punches, removing Duggan's jacket in the process. With Duggan down, he removes his own jacket and tries to go for the glove for the first time. He is stopped but once back down, DiBiase pulls Duggan's shirt over his head (Duggan's bloody head staining the shirt is a tremendous visual) and rams him into the cage again. 5 minutes in is announced and this match has already had so much. Excellent fist drops from Ted and he goes for the glove again, but a rage-filled Duggan is up and it is his turn to use his shirt to his advantage, choking DiBiase with it. The blood is all over Ted's shirt as well and it looks great. The two men are slugging it out before DiBiase hits a piledriver and another fist drop. DiBiase goes for the glove again but Duggan has just enough energy to get to his feet and crotch DiBiase before falling to the mat again to recuperate. Both men are up again quite quickly. This is fast and furious. This is no ordinary match. This is super personal and the loser is leaving town for a while. Duggan regains the advantage and rips Ted's shirt before ramming him into the cage. One more knockdown and now Duggan goes for the glove and gets it. DiBiase is going to get what is coming to him, but he had sneakily stored powder on his person and blinds Duggan with it and gains possession of the glove. But he misses twice before a double knockdown. What a battle. DiBiase goes for a second-rope fist drop with the glove but Duggan moves. Duggan grabs the gloved hand and smashes it into the buckle numerous times to help remove and regain it. Now that Duggan has the glove again, he taunts DiBiase and has an all-time classic crazed expression on his blood covered face as Ted backs off and then tries to scale the cage to safety. Duggan pulls him down, irish whip and BAM. Jumping coal miner's glove punch right in the face and Hacksaw keeps a cool arm down pose after the punch. The jump and the post-punch pose just make it such a memorable visual - the type of flourish that is such an enhancer. 1-2-3 and Duggan has vanquished DiBiase from Mid-South for now. Great heel performance, great face performance and each part of the gimmick was utilised fantastically. All-time classic and less than 10 minutes from first punch to the pinfall. ****¾
MSW (11/11/85) 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer Duggan just beats the holy hell out of Sawyer all around ringside - punches, smashing him into the railings, posing, swearing like a sailor, staining the outside with Buzz's blood. Sawyer gains the advantage with a low blow, gets revenge by busting Duggan open and smashing him headfirst into the railings and bites the cut. He tries to kill him with a table but Duggan avoids and this is just an all-out war. Having been bitten before, Hacksaw responds in kind by biting the cut of Sawyer - he knows how to play dirty too. Duggan makes a turnbuckle block stop get over huge just with a loud "ooooooohhhh" After being knocked out the ring, Sawyer goes to leave and the crowd is pissed at that. He eventually returns and attacks Duggan from behind. The match gets thrown out and we get the greatest post-match ever (move over Savage/Liz Mania VII) as they continue going after each other. Some of the locker room come out to stop the madness but after Buzz is dragged backstage by his pals, Duggan makes his way back and it continues all over the backstage area. You like hate in your pro wrestling? This is for you. We finish with Hacksaw telling Sawyer to "kiss my fucking ass" while Buzz is screaming Duggan's name in increasingly primal wails. Keep your Kenny Omega ****** matches, I'll have more Mid-South Jim Duggan please. Each time I watch this whole deal, I love it even more and my rating may actually be doing it a disservice. ****½
NWA Starrcade '85: The Gathering (11/28/85) "I QUIT, STEEL CAGE" MATCH for the NWA UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Tully Blanchard [Champion] vs. Magnum T.A. As we have seen in the previous matches that I've reviewed, even when pro wrestling is at its most intense and violent, there is still often an element of the exaggerated and the pantomime to it, whether that's playing to the crowd or building up a spot or a weapon. Not here. This is as raw and visceral as it gets. Two men that hate each other trying to make the other one suffer so much that they will quit. Eye gouging, a bleeding arm being bitten, guttural screams and roars into the mic, the sound of the mic as it is smashed into a human skull. Even the standard wrestling finish of a heel introducing a weapon that leads to their demise is handled in such an extreme way. Tully doesn't just try to use a chair like you'd expect in wrestling. Instead, he smashes in into the mat to break it and create a wooden stake for himself, before trying to stab Magnum right in the skull. Magnum holds him off with the stake millimetres from his head/eye before overpowering Tully and getting the stake himself. He then stabs Blanchard in the fucking head with the stake, grinding and forcing it in until he screams "YES! YES!" to the ref asking him if he quits. As if that wasn't already arguably the greatest finish in pro wrestling history, Magnum grabs a quivering Tully as if to stab him again, but just looks at him with disgust, drops the stake and pushes Tully down, before leaving casually strutting out like a badass, throwing his newly won title over his shoulder. This is the first time that this match really hit me the way it does to others and it is transcendent, with those final minutes and especially the ending putting it over the top. ****¾
CWA (12/30/85) "LAWLER LEAVES TOWN vs. HAIR of the DUNDEES" MATCH for the AWA SOUTHERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Jerry 'The King' Lawler [Champion] vs. 'Superstar' Bill Dundee Lawler is half-blind with a bandage over one of his eyes and Dundee uses it to his advantage from the off, starting with a cheapshot and using great looking strikes to dominate, as Lawler is unable to hit anything with his perception all off. With The King on his knees, Superstar just goes to his blind side and nails some punches right to the face. We get our first clipping unfortunately and this is something that will hold this match back. This has been all Dundee but we then get Lawler nailing his first big punch. Dundee isn't happy with that, so he immediately just runs through him, knocking him to the mat. Dundee is now biting at the bandage before Lawler gets another hope spot and really annoyingly the next clip just completely skips Lawler turning it around to regain control. Of all the things to clip. We return to King smashing Dundee into a table outside the ring and trying to get the countout win. Both men brawl into the stands and Lawler takes a crazy bump over the railings, flying down to the floor out of our sight. Dundee grabs the ref and marches him back to the ring to try to get the countout win himself. Lawler is up walking gingerly back to the ring to beat the count pretty damn quickly considering how crazy that bump was, but since we didn't see it, I can let them off with the idea that The King managed to get his arms and knees down to absorb most of the impact. We now get Lawler's Hulk Up - he isn't feeling those strikes anymore and down comes the strap! It looks like he is going to win this one after some of his fantastic punches and force Superstar and his wife to shave their locks. But when he knocks Dundee down and towards the corner, Dundee gets passed something that he throws in Lawler's good eye and gets the win. What a great scumbag finish for a heel. You've already half-blinded a guy, then you throw shit in his other eye to steal his title and force him out of town. Sadly we only have 16 min of a 23-min match, which impacts on how high I feel comfortable going with the rating, especially considering that we lose Lawler's initial gaining of the initiative, but this is just elite stuff and hopefully we get the full match one day. ****½
I could've added a few more to this I guess (such as Slaughter/Patterson Alley Fight and The Last Battle of Atlanta), but I wanted to keep the time-period relatively brief at just over two years.
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Post by 🤯 on Feb 17, 2018 3:42:32 GMT
Fucking amazing stuff, Strobe!
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Post by Emperor on Feb 18, 2018 18:23:12 GMT
Sgt. Slaughter vs The Iron Sheik Bootcamp Match The announcer is kind enough to announce the rules before the match. "Anything goes. Everything goes!" That's pretty simple. The referee's only purpose is to count pinfalls. Falls count anywhere. The crowd are already really into this. They go crazy when the words "bootcamp match" are spoken. They boo Sheik's name, and cheer Slaughter's name. Yay for patriotism! After I type those words, a random guy comes out to run the America flag around the ring before Slaugher makes his entrance. What was the point of that? Everyone knows Sgt. Slaughter is from American, fighting for the pride of the greatest country ever against some scumbag from India or Japan or whatever that far away place is.
Despite all my cynicism, I love the start to this match. Sgt. Slaughter jogs to the ring, not smiling, not acknowledging the crowd. He slides in the ring and starts walloping Sheik with his army helmet. Sheik takes a 10/10 wrestling school back bump that doesn't seem to be the appropriate reaction to being hit in the back of the head while bent forward, but it looks cool, so who cares? Sarge follows up with a Bionic Elbow (did every top babyface in the 80s use this strike?) Sarge throws some exaggerated punches that clearly miss by a mile. Sheik bumps and writhes around on the mat in the most exaggerated way possible. It's strange. I like my wrestling to be as realistic as possible, but when it comes to 80s brawls, this Looney Tunes stuff is far more entertaining than the gritty but boring realism of, say, Piper vs Valentine. I only just notice (due to the poor video quality) that Sarge has a very thin stick object in his hand, and he's hitting Sheik with it. The crowd are throwing trash at Sheik while he's writing around.
Sarge continues to beat the living daylights out of Sheik. The villain finally turns the tables by reversing an Irish Whip and sending Sarge flying over the top rope. Sheik takes a moment to recover, follows him out, and bashes him with a chair. For some reason the chairs at ringside are bright red, which only adds to the whole Looney Tunes atmosphere. Sheik, naturally wanting to end the match as quickly as possible, pins Slaughter on the floor, but he's not done yet. Fans are screaming and chanting "USA". Sheik rolls Sarge back in the ring. He pulls a belt from under his tights and whips away. Slaughter doesn't quite reach Sheik levels of flopping around on the mat, but it's close. The crowd aren't really booing this, just making lots of noise. One of the announcers says "Judas Priest!" in the tone of "Jesus Christ!" which I found interesting enough to mention. Might have to steal that one myself. Sheik chokes Sarge with the belt. Sarge fires back with one punch, triggering a brief crowd frenzy, but Sheik cuts him off and chokes again.
Sarge escapes the choke and both guys slowly trade blows, but can't sustaine any offense due to exhaustion. Sarge tosses Sheik violently over the top rope. Doesn't appear to be any padding on the floor either. Sarge hits a backbreaker and makes his first cover on the floor, but Sheik kicks out. Sheik regains control by ramming Slaughter's head into the ring post. Sheik spits on Sarge and bites the freshly opened cut. What an utter savage! Sarge is able to block some punches, but he can't get any of his own, so Sheik boots him in the stomach. Sheik tries a suplex but Sarge counters with a fast gut jab, flooring Sheik, as it should. Sarge climbs to the second rope and flies off with what is best described as a flying stomp. Ugly but effective. Sarge starts his real comeback, throwing haymaker after haymaker. Those are some fantastic worked punches. Both men are bleeding everywhere. Sarge body slams Sheik hard, but staggers after executing the move. Slaughter goes for his finish, but Sheik counters with a kick to the stomach. Desperation cover. One! Two! Kick out! Sheik hits a couple of nice suplexes, but neither can keep Slaughter down. He takes off a boot, but Sarge ducks the wild swing, and hits the "Slaugher Cannon", which is a mediocre lariat. Both men crawl towards the boot. Sarge reaches it first. Whack! One! Two! Three!
That was a step above other matches of its ilk. The selling from both men was brilliant, as was the offense. For this kind of match, theatrical antics work better for me. If I wanted to see two guys beating each other for real, I'd much rather watch an early UFC or Pride show than two pro-wrestlers trying to be as realistic as possible without actually hitting each other. That said, I did start to lose interest as the match went on, but to a much lesser extent than I did for Piper vs Valentine. The finish was great. I liked the match, but not that much. Maybe ***1/2 much at most.
History question: If Slaughter was so crazy over as he in this match, why did Hogan step in and instantly become the undisputed #1? Was he even more over than Slaughter? I find that hard to believe judging by the crowd response to this match.
While I obviously prefer modern wrestling, there's something about this 80s style that I like. It doesn't feel like the wrestlers are cooperating at all. There's more of a looseness, a snugness to their work. That's not to say it's less safe, it just looks more dangerous. That is the art of working. When Sarge bodyslammed Sheik, it felt like he was legitimately throwing him into the mat as hard as possible, rather than acting as such while taking care to slam him as flat as possible. The Irish whips and rope running looks organic, as opposed to modern wrestling where a lot of the time it feels like the wrestlers are counting their steps, going through the motions, and thus all running the ropes in exactly the same way. Then there's little touches like the selling of the gut shot. These are barely acknowledged in modern wrestling, but I know that they can be extremely debilitating if done right, and that was nicely captured many times.
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Post by Kilgore on Feb 18, 2018 19:24:00 GMT
History question: If Slaughter was so crazy over as he in this match, why did Hogan step in and instantly become the undisputed #1? Was he even more over than Slaughter? I find that hard to believe judging by the crowd response to this match. They were neck and neck on the East Coast that year. Hogan's advantage was being known nationally, which was obviously important to Vince considering his goals at the time. Hogan was getting bookings on the Tonight Show (which was super rare in those days) and acting in Rocky III while in the AWA, so he had made himself into the most well known wrestler around the entire country in 1982/1983. Even if Sarge outpopped him at MSG, it was by a small margin and the thinking would have been that wouldn't be the case nearly everywhere else. I wouldn't watch either match, but the prematch and postmatch is interesting for pop purposes. There was a special awe when Hogan came out. Hogan at AWA Super Sunday (1983) Hogan vs. Iron Sheik (1984)
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Post by Strobe on Feb 18, 2018 20:08:13 GMT
Maybe ***1/2 much at most. So we basically gave the opposite ratings to Slaughter/Sheik and Omega/Jericho, which pretty well illustrates our different opinions on 80s and 10s wrestling. And we probably overlap in the late 90s/early 00s. History question: If Slaughter was so crazy over as he in this match, why did Hogan step in and instantly become the undisputed #1? Was he even more over than Slaughter? I find that hard to believe judging by the crowd response to this match. Slaughter only turned face in the weeks after Hogan won the title. But even if he had turned before, Hogan fit the image of Vince's ideal pro wrestler, had gotten a big mainstream rub by starring in Rocky III 18 months prior (4th highest grossing film from 1982 but would've been #2 in 80, 81 and 83; in those four years from 80-83, only Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Tootsie, An Officer and a Gentleman and Return of the Jedi grossed more in North America - it was a big-time film) and was the smart choice to attempt a national expansion with. That is a single MSG reaction from a red-hot feud. That doesn't mean Slaughter could maintain that level of overness all over the country and in feud after feud. Look at the reaction when Hogan beat Sheik for the title 5 months prior at MSG (go to 10:00). Slaughter staying is a big what-if though. He would've been a very able #2 face behind Hogan with Andre as the special attraction. And Slaughter turning down the line could've set up a big feud. Both him and Snuka were tremendously over before they left for the AWA and missed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Era in the WWF and both of their spots in history are the poorer for it.
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Post by Kilgore on Feb 18, 2018 22:15:47 GMT
That is a single MSG reaction from a red-hot feud. That doesn't mean Slaughter could maintain that level of overness all over the country and in feud after feud. Look at the reaction when Hogan beat Sheik for the title 5 months prior at MSG (go to 10:00). ... Slaughter staying is a big what-if though. He would've been a very able #2 face behind Hogan with Andre as the special attraction. And Slaughter turning down the line could've set up a big feud. Both him and Snuka were tremendously over before they left for the AWA and missed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Era in the WWF and both of their spots in history are the poorer for it. There's also something to be said for an exciting era where it seems everybody's pop goes up. Would Slaughter vs. Sheik be that hot if the WWF wasn't on a meteoric rise on the back of Hulkamania? Who knows? I wonder if Slaughter gets the WM2 slot if he stays. That seems way too fast to turn him, but considering the out of nowhere Bundy push, they certainly hadn't perfected Wrestlemania to Wrestlemania booking yet, Sarge would certainly be an upgrade, so that might have crossed their minds. Can they wait until Wrestlemania 4 for Hogan vs. Sarge? That seems too late. Another thing to consider is Savage's rise in 1986 if Sarge is still there. If Sarge is a heel, do they even bring in Savage in 1986? Probably. If Sarge is still the #2 babyface, Slaughter vs. Savage would be some wild ass brawls in 1986.
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Post by Emperor on Feb 20, 2018 0:02:46 GMT
Time to watch more singles draft matches. Next is the only match from my own list I haven't seen. British Bulldog vs Lord Steven Regal WCW Television Championship (15 minute time limit) Halloween Havoc '93I am a Regal fan, but I've never been this far back in his career before. Here he is, in all his pompous, stuck up glory, defending the TV Championship against one of his own countrymen. Regal has a disgusted look on his face, so apparently all British people are not the same in his eyes. Certainly not filthy plebians like the British Bulldog who wear audaciously colourful wrestling tights with bloody tassels dangling everywhere like a common street tart. Regal has a manager, "the infamous Sir William", dressed somewhat like an old British gentleman. Fantastic. I've never heard of this manager before, and I guess that's where Regal got his WWF/E name from. They lock up. Regal instantly backs off, disgusted at having to soil his pristine skin against this greasy neanderthal. Lord Steven Regal is rapidly ascending up the ranks of my favourite wrestling characters. He'll be #1 by the time this match is over, I'm sure. They lock up properly and trade arm wringers. Bulldog's flips and rolls to escape, while Regal takes less fancy measures. Bulldog does a final flip to create separation. Regal is taken aback. Bulldog smiles, his first non-neutral expression of the match. Regal takes him down effortlessly with a single leg pickup. He steps on the upper arm on the way to grabbing a wristlock. Bulldog gets to his feet and flips out of it. Shit eating grin. Regal goes for an Irish Whip, Bulldog cartwheels out of it. Regal is gobsmacked, saying "What was that?" to the referee. Despite his unfamiliarity with the move, Regal demonstrates he is the world's fastest learner by countering Bulldog's Irish Whip attempt in the same way. His cartwheel isn't as graceful, but it is perfectly adequate. Regal forgets to turn around before being smug. Bulldog walks right up to him. Regal turns around and gets monkey flipped. Bulldog looks very proud of himself as Regal writhes on the mat. I love this battle of oneupmanship. The grappling speeds up. Regal repeatedly snapmares Bulldog, but Bulldog keeps slipping out of the chinlock attempts. The third attempt is countered into a painful armbar. Regal quickly grabs the ropes. They start running. Bulldog leapfrogs and then does that monkey flip with the legs. Bulldog tries for the surfboard. Regal resists by extending his arms as far forward as possible. Bulldog patiently works over Regal until he's able to grab the arms. He rocks back and forth twice, up goes the champion. I wonder if Daniel Bryan took his signature surfboard spot from this match? Sir William distracts the ref, provoking Bulldog to release the hold. Regal takes full advantage, cheap shotting Bulldog while nursing his poorly back. Regal takes control and surprises me with a flip attack (i.e. the second half of Rolling Thunder) called the Regal Roll. Bulldog is sent chest first into the turnbuckle. Kilgore's favourite wrestler spams Kilgore's favourite strikes (European uppercuts). Bulldog goes down after a few of these. Regal goes down to apply a neck crank, making sure to drive a knee into the ribcage on his way down. I love these little shots by Regal, or the "no wasted motion" as announcers like to say. I'm surprised only the British wrestlers do that kinda thing. Bulldog works his way out of the neck crank and surprises Regal with a sunset flip for a near fall. The five minute warning is announced as Bulldog is in an armbar. He fights out, hits a clothesline, but Regal cuts him off with a knee to the gut. Regal sensibly keeps Bulldog grounded until the two minute warning. Bulldog manages to lift Regal on his shoulders, but doesn't know what to do with him. He ambles aimlessly towards the ropes. Regal takes his chance and uses the ropes to help drop down to the apron before striking Bulldog from behind. Regal gets back in the ring but is once again surprised by a fancy lucha-style rollup. Very near fall. Bulldog follows up with a headscissor takedown, a clothesline, and a suplex. The crowd is coming to life during this long overdue comeback. Bulldog lifts Regal, knocking the meddling Sir William off the apron in the process, and hits the running powerslam. I thought this would be end of match, but Regal demonstrates the physical and mental toughness only the British have by kicking out. Bulldog grabs Regal and hits a piledriver. This ought to seal the deal, but the clock is ticking down. Cover! The referee deliberately delays getting into position long enough so that his hand is coming down for 3 just as the bell rings to signal time out. Lord Steven skulks out of the ring to boos. Better luck next time, Bulldog! The chain wrestling and psychology at the start was fantastic, but Regal's heat segment went on for too long and sucked the life out of the match. Fortunately it didn't kill the crowd completely, for Bulldog's comeback was still hot. I can understand them stalling given the finish they were going for, but it would have been improved if a minute or two were removed from the heat sequence and given to Bulldog desperately trying to win. This had the potential to be a ***3/4 or maybe **** match, but pacing issues bring it down to ***1/4. Regal bonus: William Regal and Daniel Bryan corpsing thanks to a rib played on an episode of WWE Superstars in 2011: streamable.com/ncogqActually, you know what? Regal vs Bryan sounds fantastic, so I'm going to watch it right now. Double Regal bonus! William Regal vs Daniel Bryan WWE Superstars November 10, 2011
Much like the previous match, the wrestlers open by trading arm wringers and fancy escapes. Bryan uses flips and rolls just as British Bulldog did. Regal executes a very technical escape. The last escape is another flip from Bryan, who follows up with a dropkick, but Regal backs off and gives him the "I saw that coming, sunshine" finger wag. "Regal" chants are frequent, because this match took place in England. More grappling, then a rope break. Bryan (who is a heel at this time, by the way) doesn't like being outwrestled and shoves Regal. Regal smirks. Bryan looks frustrated, but returns to a neutral expression before they lock up. Bryan throws an uppercut, but Regal once again bests his foe with uppercuts of his own. Test of strength. Regal wins, forcing Bryan to the mat, but Bryan kips up, hits some hard chest kicks, and a German suplex. Regal sensibly bails to the floor, but Bryan quickly follows him and hits a hard flying knee strike from the apron. Cut to commercial. Bryan has Regal in a chinlock after the break, but they are soon back to their feet and trading striks. Regal pummels Bryan in the corner with some great forearms. The referee counts to 4 and gives Regal a warning. Regal takes the opportunity to play to the crowd a little, allowing Bryan to return fire with a lot of hard kicks, most aimed at a taped up knee. Regal sneaks behind Bryan and throws him on his head with a half nelson suplex. Regal grabs a dragon sleeper. He holds it for a while, releases, smacks Bryan's head and roars to the crowd. Soon after Bryan manages to pick Regal's bad leg and ram it into the steel post. Twice. Regal scrappily struggles, but Bryan is able to apply a half boston crab. Regal kicks Bryan away multiple times, Bryan losing more and more energy after each kick. Both men get to their feet and trade uppercuts. Boo! Yay! Bryan changes it up with a big roundhouse kick to the head. Regal collapses to the mat, Bryan grabs the LeBell Lock, Regal taps immediately. Regal wrestled sparingly in this stage of his career, but his later matches always featured a unique combination of classic British grappling and very rough striking, almost strong style. Nobody else was wrestling this way in the WWE, so it was always a breath of fresh air to watch a Regal match, even one buried on a show like Superstars. Even better if he has a great foil like Daniel Bryan (or Cesaro, or Ambrose). Perfect for what it was, I enjoyed it a little more than the Bulldog match. ***1/2
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Post by Emperor on Feb 24, 2018 20:38:53 GMT
I checked out the Honor Rising (ROH/NJPW) shows. This is my first time seeing a lot of the current ROH crop, so it should be interesting.
NEVER Openweight Championship Hirooki Goto (c) vs Beer City Bruiser The challenger comes out first. He really lives up to the gimmick his name implies. He's basically a fatter Sandman in wrestling gear. Cigar in hand, he revels in taking big gulps of beer and spitting them into the crowd. The Japanese audience will be familiar with this act from Lance Archer, who does the same thing with water. The NJPW World audio is muted for his entrance, presumably his music violates some copyright law, which is a shame. Next is Goto, who is the complete antithesis to Bruiser. He's a proud, muscular, straight-laced, serious fighter. Bruiser is a slob.
Bruiser flicks his cigar at Goto, and it explodes into smithereens on the mat, but bounds towards the ropes before Goto can respond. They collide, but Goto stands his ground. It's worth noting that Bruiser has a few inches on Goto, and probably a weight advantage too. They traed shoulder tackles until Goto goes down. Bruiser rubs Goto's face into the remains of his cheap cigar. He knocks Goto to the floor with a haymaker punch. Because this is the 2010s, the big fat self-proclaimed "bruiser" goes to the apron and does a cannonball attack. Part of me thinks "why would a bruiser do that?". Another part of me thinks "a guy that large cannonballing onto someone must be pretty devastating". Bruiser trash talks Japan, "this is your champion?", before ramming Goto into the apron. He continues to dominate the champ, enough to take a break to drink some beer.
After a while, Goto gets back into the match by hitting a few clotheslines, the third one taking Bruiser down. After some effort he is able to hit a backdrop for a two count. Bruiser takes control after Goto fails to lift him a seond time. He scores with a butt bump, a cannonball and a Vader bomb for a near fall. Goto grabs a desperate sleeper hold, and it works in getting Bruiser down to his knees. He goes for a penalty kick, the finish of his good friend Shibata, but Bruiser catches it and lifts Goto into a sitout powerbomb. Bruiser takes an age to climb to the top. Goto catches him and uses his elevated position to set up the on-the-knee AA. Goto Revolution countered into some kind of slam for another near fall. Bruiser misses a top rope splash, both men down. They get back up, Bruiser wins a lariat battle. But then Goto snaps off a headbutt and hits Goto Revolution to retain the belt.
Decent enough hossfest, but hossfests aren't really my thing, so, it was OK, nothing more. **1/2. There's definitely a place a guy like Beer City Bruiser in a wrestling climate where everyone is a super athlete. His act is pretty entertaining, but his wrestling style is not my cup of tea.
Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Chase Owens vs Cody, Hangman Page and Marty Scurll This is a Bullet Club civil war match. But, more importantly, it's the long awaited return of the Golden Lovers (Omega and Ibushi). They get an enormous reaction from the Korakuen Hall crowd. The entrances complete, but the crowd has not quietened down. A "Golden Lovers" chant fills the venue while Cody spits on a Golden Lovers sign he grabbed from a fan. Too late for that, Cody. Cody is the reason Omega and Ibushi got back together, and he is not pleased at the monster team he has created. Chase Owens looks delighted to be riding their coattails. He hilariously tags himself in when Ibushi grabs Page to their corner with the clear intention of tagging in Omega. Moments later, Owens ends the tease by tagging in Omega. Omega and Owens are of course stablemates, and they make some lightning quick tags to double team Page. Once this is done, Omega and Ibushi make a big show of tagging one another, but Cody sprints to his opposing corner to knock Ibushi off the apron. Boooo! Page takes the opportunity to drag Omega to his corner, but Scurll is reluctant to tag in and fight his leader. He eventually enters the ring and engages with Omega.
The match continues in this vein. Good action mixed with good storytelling. Chase Owens is isolated for a long time. Cody is the biggest dick. Page is happy to play along. Scurll is reluctant to antagonise Omega and Ibushi, even when Cody screams at him to obey orders. At one point Cody and Page do Omega's Terminator routine. The crowd boo, but when Page bangs his hands on the mat in the associated rhythm, a good portion of the crowd clap along. Apparently some people are very easy to manipulate. Eventually Owens fights his way out of trouble and makes the hot tag the world has been waiting for. Ibushi gets the tag, but both Golden Lovers vault in the ring, immediately throwing a stereo spin kick. Scurll manages to duck underneath this kick, but can't avoid the incredibly fluid tandem offense of Omega and Ibushi. It's a marvel to see how incredibly in-sync these guys are, especially after such a long absence as partners. Every move is synchronised perfectly. But they're not just doing it automatically, you can see them signalling moves to each other.
Then we get the mandatory sequence where everyone runs into the ring and hits a move. The two survivors are Omega and Cody, who back into another. They go into an old school sequence, Cody begging off, Omega throwing punches, Cody raking the eyes. It quickly becomes more modernised with both guys trading counters. Omega wins after he scores with a V-Trigger and a snap Dragon. Omega goes for a running V-Trigger but Page flies in from nowhere and cuts him off with a big lariat. Cody taunts Omega and goes for the Cross Rhodes, but Ibushi stops it. At this point Scurll is back in the ring. He grabs the Chickenwing on Ibushi, and they are the legal men, so this means trouble for team Golden Lovers. Ibushi keeps his team in the match by reaching the ropes. Scurll impressively stays on top of Ibushi, long enough for Cody to enter with a Doomsday Device style move, but Omega is able to break the pinfall. It boils down to Page vs Owens. They trade moves and reversals. Page eventually gets the pin after hitting his finisher.
This was never going to be a classic match, it was by design very story-heavy and inconclusive, but the action was solid and the character work even more so. Smartly-booked as well. Golden Lovers lose, but neither man was pinned, and they still have to debut in a 2 vs 2 match. Page gets a small boost from getting the win, which is good because he is Jay White's next challenger (he got a much bigger boost the following night, pinning Jay White in a tag match). ***1/4
ROH World Championship Dalton Castle (c) vs Beretta I've never seen Dalton Castle before. He has a moderate amount of hype. Here he is in all his flamboyant glory, with impressive gear and flanked by his "boys". Pretty good entrance. Before the match starts, out comes Beer City Bruiser, who claims he is now in this match and attacks both wrestlers before anybody has a chance to respond. Once the wrestlers are separated, Castle responds, saying that he will fight Bruiser as well. Beretta is not impressed, rightfully so, but apparently the match is made. Wrestlers can make/adjust matches now, huh? That's not good. I don't like this booking. "Let me tell you something," says guest commentator and future challenger Jay Lethal, "Ballsy, yes. Stupid, yes." Lethal also goes on to say in reference to the on-the-fly match adjustment "This is not how it works". Agreed on all counts. While I'm being critical of the booking, why is the ROH World Title match not the main event of an Honor Rising show? I can understand Golden Lovers taking precedence over the NEVER Openweight Championship, and I can understand the ROH title match midcarding a full NJPW show, but I can't understand this.
To be honest, this unexpected change took me out of the match before it even started. I was quite eager to see what this Dalton Castle guy's all about, and I won't be able to get as good a read on him as I would in a singles match. They went for a chaotic brawl, with a lot of action outside the ring, and a few weapon spots. The big spot of the match is Castle and Beretta superplexing Bruiser, but Bruiser is up in the next minute or two hitting a DVD on Beretta on the apron. Beretta is up and fighting again soon after that, but to be fair he can't muster any sustained offense without collapsing. At least that's some long term selling. Bruiser lands the Frog Splash on Beretta, who surprisingly kicks out! Then Castle, who seemed to spend a lot more time selling than either of his opponents despite taking nowhere near as much punishment appears, suplexes Beretta, then hits an impressive German on Bruiser. One! Two! Three! Oh. I wasn't expecting the match to end there, but cool. Not the worst finish.
So what are my impressions of Mr. Castle? He came out a flamboyant babyface, then he worked most of this match as a fiery tough guy, which wasn't convincing at all to me, especially with the opportunistic-esque finish. His lucha/flying offense was 3/4 the speed I'm used to seeing. His suplexes are good, and the one thing that doesn't make him completely generic, but those suplexes only appeared in the final minute of the match.
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Post by Strobe on Feb 24, 2018 22:23:28 GMT
Where does the Golden Lovers name even come from? It sounds like if HBK had embraced the hate against him at Survivor Series 96 and decided to form a gay tag team with Goldust.
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Post by Ness on Feb 24, 2018 23:12:54 GMT
Their finisher is called the Golden Shower. Always assumed they were just big R-Kelly fans.
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Post by 🤯 on Feb 24, 2018 23:22:37 GMT
Where does the Golden Lovers name even come from? It sounds like if HBK had embraced the hate against him at Survivor Series 96 and decided to form a gay tag team with Goldust. To steal a Baker-ism, that would've drawn all my dimes.
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Post by Emperor on Feb 24, 2018 23:42:57 GMT
Where does the Golden Lovers name even come from? It sounds like if HBK had embraced the hate against him at Survivor Series 96 and decided to form a gay tag team with Goldust. No idea, but they started in the DDT promotion, where wackiness is the default setting.
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Post by Big Pete on Feb 25, 2018 5:17:43 GMT
Omega came to DDT to challenge Ibushi to a match. The two put on a great show and Ibushi won with a dive off a vending machine. DDT brought back Omega with the view that he would become the long term rival of Ibushi. Omega didn't go along with that, declaring his love for Ibushi and the two appeared as a kayfabe couple. Slowly over-time, Ibushi began to surpass Omega, creating a rift between the pair and apart of Omega's character arc is proving he's better than Ibushi once and for all.
I read the story on this Twitter post which is really worth checking out:
EDIT: I just noticed Omega endorsed the retrospective.
As far as Dalton Castle goes, he's a guy who typically gets over due to his mannerisms. In a promotion where wrestlers seemingly can't wait to get to their 'crash n burn' spots or do their 'Superkick Parties!!!' Castle would be doing all this Adrian Street/Goldust stuff that was getting the crowd into it. I haven't seen a lot of him in singles competition, so for all I know, he may have toned those elements down. If he did, that would be a shame because he should be embracing the character, not diluting it.
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Post by Emperor on Feb 25, 2018 11:49:31 GMT
By the way, the main event of the second night (Golden Lovers vs Cody/Scurll) was by far the best match of the whole event, but I'm not reviewing it because I typed enough about Honor Rising.
I had no idea how deep the Omega/Ibushi saga went. That's amazing. What a beautiful story.
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Post by Baker on Mar 1, 2018 1:15:06 GMT
Decided to watch some footage of WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett as a young man the other day. Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Curtis- AWA 1988JJ is a young pretty boy babyface making his AWA debut. The husky and hairy, vaguely grizzled Curtis is a good jobber for him to start off against. JJ tenaciously works the armbar. Curtis does some armdrags and stuff but JJ does not relinquish the hold. That spot has come to amuse me in my old age. Highlight is Curtis randomly breaking a "shoot" drop toehold, assuming we pretend a drop toehold can be a shoot. It was unexpected at any rate. Then we get another unexpected moment with a chippy Curtis kick while they're on the ground in leg locks. Felt more like something out of a Ki/Dragon or Japanese match than a 1988 AWA debuting star vs. jobber match. JJ soon wins with a subpar 2nd rope Stampede style dropkick. Verdict- Not a great, or even particularly good squash, but a decent spot, and two good ones make it somewhat worthwhile. Jeff Jarrett vs. Eric Embry- AWA Superclash 12/88- WCCW Light Heavyweight Title MatchSuperclash was AWA's lone pay per view effort as they combined forced with Memphis & World Class to try combating WWF (& NWA). It bombed at the gate. Bombed in buys. And lead to a lot of bickering between all the parties involved. Just a total disaster. Let's talk about Eric Embry for a minute. He was one of the last territorial stars. Oozed sleaze. Definitely an interesting character. Jim Cornette & Mick Foley love talking about him. He has a cult following on places like PWO. I caught a little bit of Embry as a kid. I have vague memories of the USWA vs. WCCW and Texas vs. Tennessee feuds. But his promotions came on that grainy channel out of DC I could barely see so I didn't catch too much of him. Hey, it had to be REALLY good wrestling.....like 89-90 AWA and LPWA to get me to tune into DC Channel 50 on a weekly basis . I even skipped WWF Spotlight and NWA/WCW programming most of the time! Anyway, I haven't seen much of Embry since then. In a "Lethal Leap Year" moment, the on screen graphic refers to "Flambouyant" Eric Embry. And now I'm imagine what a "Flambouyant" wrestler would be about. Loud. Colorful. Brash.....and with the ability to float? Has Chikara done a "Flambouyant" character yet? If not, they should. JJ has Jerry Lynn's physique here. It took me a while to figure it out. But, yep. Jerry Lynn build all the way. This is a good 80s US style light weight match (although the pudgy Embry certainly stretches the "lightweight" scales) with a good pace, lots of reversals, and even exchanges. They do some rapid fire full arm drag and twist trading. Then some rapid fire hiptoss attempts. JJ goes into a legit good frenzy of pinning combinations- small packages, sunset flips, backslides. Then he crashes and burns on a missed crossbody. He also hits a much-improved 2nd rope dropkick (traditional style rather than Stampede this time around). JJ is wrestling like a young Pillman, or Rockers-era Michaels here. I guarantee you he'd have remained a smark darling had he kept at this style. Embry wins by cheating, I think. Boo! Verdict- Solid little four minute match with the biggest problem being it only went four minutes....on pay per view no less! BUT I suppose I can't hold it against them too much considering the time frame. Pay Per View was still in its infancy and very much a work in progress. Plus the 80s booking philosophy of "no blowoffs, ever" was also still very much in play. Final Thoughts- First match was meh but the Embry match showed why a lot of smarks back in the day actually thought highly of Jarrett.
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