Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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I've seen this match before, but it was years ago, before I'd seen the LCO in so many brawls to which I've become a little numb, so I wasn't sure if I would like it as much this time. I definitely did. This was a great match. Ayako Hamada is a really cool wrestler because she focuses so much on details, like the struggle to apply a vertical suplex. AKINO I believe was also a fairly young wrestler while Mita and Shimoda were vets at this point. So there's the underlying vets vs young team thing going on. They were competitive when the match was centered around wrestling, but when the LCO opted to be mean and start brawling, they were completely out of their league, which makes for a cool match dynamic where they focus on the Hamada/AKINO inexperience. Aja is at ringside and seems upset with the LCO, like she doesn't understand why they took it here. They are both bleeding, but Hamada in particular is a bloody mess and they are trying desperately for anything that might work. Hamada then decides she can go there too and starts stabbing Mita with a pair of scissors! It's really cool to see the young girls step up the violence like this to keep up, leading to a big upset. This might just end up the last classic match of the 90s, but we will see.
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Corino says as bad as hardcore wrestling is, hardcore music is worse. He says there are a lot of great musicians out there though, like Backstreet Boys, N Sync and Britney Spears. That's *real* music, not something targeted to high school dropouts. He then says Dusty Rhodes is the guy who was stupid enough to start the hardcore revolution. Dusty is in the crowd and Corino tears into him until Dusty finally comes into the ring. Joey begs them to show restraint since this will never make the air since Dusty isn't even with ECW. I love that Corino gets even more heat by neglecting the audience the chance to hear a Dusty promo when he pulls the mic away from him. Dusty finally retaliates with elbows on both Corino and Victory and the crowd loses it.
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We get nearly 15 minutes of action and what we get is pretty great, with Muto focused on Tenryu’s knee and arm, and a hot final few minutes. I love Tenryu doing the superplex while locking his own legs in the turnbuckle so he doesn’t have to take the bump, a la Daniel Bryan in the Cena match at Summerslam last year. Tenryu gets a miracle kickout after a moonsault, which Muto sells great, and goes on to win the IWGP title!
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Too Cool and Rikishi hang out in a club in a gimmick that would turn out to work really well for these guys. This club has a great playlist! Brian Christopher is also a good dancer. Then Rikishi gets on the floor to dance to the Too Cool theme. The Hollys show up and attack them in the bar. I liked pretty much everything about this.
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The McMahons, Patterson and Brisco are out to sign the contract for HHH vs Vince with the new stipulations added. HHH comes out to do more taunting and will only hand over the papers that need to be signed if Stephanie will come get them out of his hand, since Vince can't do it with the restraining order in place. Shane does it instead and after HHH signs, he bushwhacks Shane with the microphone then DX run out to beat up Shane. HHH continues gloating and this segment is effective in making me want him to get his. Of course, that's months away, if in fact it even happened then. But this is some serious heeling that's missing from wrestling today.
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Test meets with The McMahons, but asks if he can talk to Stephanie alone. Test apologizes for just now coming to her but he needed to clear his head. He knows this is hard, but he thinks it's best to call the engagement off for now. Stephanie gives him his ring back and starts crying. WHY wasn't Test being figured into the main event and going on this rampage after HHH instead of sulking like this? They're about to have a kiss when X-Pac barges in and wants to know what Test is doing with his best friend's wife.
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Included for Juventud's gems. Prince Iaukea debuts as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea, looking entirely like Prince. I love Prince, but I'm not sure how this would get him over. Anyway, Juventud Guerrera says, "What a great gimmick for the single worst wrestler in the company." Then he loudly boos Vampiro and accuses him of stealing his moves. Amazing.
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Russo's poison has now spread to Thunder. They bring a ladder and Hall sits on top of it for the promo. I'm pleasantly surprised that they strike the right tone with this promo. Hall talks about how he put the ladder match on the map and even made enough money off of his match with Shawn Michaels that he was able to buy his first house. Hall says Benoit is good and he knows he wants to make a name for himself, but he's not doing it against him. The problem is that because Hall and Nash don't act like heels, Hall bringing up Benoit's name gets boos, and in a funny moment, a fan at ringside even shouts "BENOIT SUCKS!" Then Nash talks about Sid and seems to be amused at his own lines. Nash starts mocking Vader for no apparent reason, then storms the ring to brawl with Nash before pushing Hall off the ladder. Hall and Nash are working over Sid until Dustin Rhodes makes the save. Then Jarrett clocks Dustin from behind with the guitar. This brings Benoit out and he makes a good showing briefly before the numbers catch up. I liked Hall's approach to the Benoit feud, but didn't care for much else about this. We segue to Mike Tenay, who is flying solo, as the Powers That Be fired Larry Zbyszko. Tenay is running down the show when Madusa interrupts to take exception to Rhonda Singh getting a cruiserweight title shot against Evan Karagias (yes), saying Singh hasn't been a cruiserweight since birth. She demands the match instead. Tenay tries to get on track when Juventud Guerrera's music starts and he comes down with Psicosis accompanying him. Juventud starts aping The Rock's catchphrases but says they are in Milwaukee when they are in Madison in a funny moment. Then he joins Mike Tenay at the broadcast booth to become the greatest color commentator of all time.
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I know I'll be in the minority on this, but I think this is my favorite Toyota-Kyoko match. Both are past their peaks, so they do more matwork and are forced to slow down and it makes a lot of stuff get over more than it normally would. It's still fast-paced, but not gratingly so. At the same time, it still feels like a Toyota-Inoue match, only it has the feel of a final encounter. (I understand they had one more fairly big match in 2000.) Don't get me wrong - if you don't like this series, you won't like this match. But I think it's a fitting way to do the match years after the rivalry has peaked.
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Big Show sees Boss Man talking to Big Show's mother on the Titantron. She is an awful actress who is crying so loudly that we can barely hear Boss Man. Anyway, Show's mother reveals under pressure from Boss Man that he was illegitimate. She didn't know she was being filmed. Boss Man is so hilariously evil. "Hey, Paul Wight. You're a nasty bastard, and your mama said so!"
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Stephanie presents HHH with annulment papers and asks him to sign. She says he's driven her father crazy and he's won, so let's let this end. HHH makes awful jokes toward her and she leaves angry. Later in the show, HHH comes to the ring with a bouquet. He mentions Stephanie and just her name gets a lot of boos already, even though she hasn't even turned yet. HHH plays up the "slut" and "whore" chants she was getting on Smackdown. Lots of this is getting bleeped. He's laying it on so thick using reverse psychology with the crowd. HHH gets around to addressing the annulment papers, and he blames the fans for being so hard on her when they were two kids in love. HHH has decided he'll sign the annulment papers if Stephanie will just come out. Stephanie throws HHH's roses into the crowd and HHH says he just can't do it ... he's getting too warm and fuzzy inside. Stephanie calls him an insincere son of a bitch and says she's tired of his games, and that she hopes her dad cripples him at Armageddon. Finally, HHH agrees that if Vince can beat him at Armageddon, he will sign the annulment papers. However, if HHH wins, then he gets a shot at the title. Stephanie is great with that, but HHH insists on hearing it from Vince. As Vince comes out, HHH stops Vince and reminds him that he can't enter the ring since HHH has a restraining order. Vince accepts the new provisions. HHH wants to seal the deal with a kiss and lays one on Stephanie. This segment goes way too long, but at the same time, there is a lot of storyline stuff to sort out.
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David Flair drags Symphony to the ring and tells Maestro he has about ten minutes (??) to claim his bride. DDP shows up instead and gives David a Diamond Cutter. DDP talks about a recent rumor that he wanted out of his contract with WCW to go to the WWF. He has no plans of going anywhere, but makes clear that he trusts no one. He then wants Sid to come to the ring for their match.
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Music video for Sting to Metallica's "Seek and Destroy" to hype the WCW Mayhem: The Music album. Then a commercial for Tough Talkin' Wrestlers action figures. Clips of Finlay cutting Brian Knobs' hair the week before. Finlay acts as a drill sergeant and has Knobs doing lots of training in the woods. Gene interviews Mona but can't stop looking at her breasts. Hall vs Sting and Nash vs Benoit tonight, so the Outsiders comment on that. Roddy Piper arrives and starts rambling about Powers To Be and again seems to be talking to no one at all. David Flair has Symphony kidnapped in a boiler room and is screaming at her to shut up. Jerry Flynn issues an open challenge anyone to face him in THE BLOCK. The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea debuts his new gimmick with a Purple Rain soundalike.
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Before the match, Luger wants to talk to Liz and even brought champagne to talk things out. He looks at the camera like he's up to something. Then Disco Inferno and Lash Leroux unexpectedly confront Tony Marinara (Mamaluke). It’s so Russo to cut away from a Japanese wrestler vs Mexican wrestler to show Brad Armstrong going through the crowd in his stoner gimmick. Psicosis subs for Juventud to drop the IWGP Jr. title back to Liger who can now get the hell out of this sinking ship.
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Yet another good BattlARTS tag. Mochizuki and Usuda are very good, but I was wanting a little more Ishikawa and Greco. This didn't have the excitement surrounding the finish of the previous tags and I don't think overall it came together quite as well. But it's still hard to complain about a match this good.
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