Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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All the chaos and hate that has come to define this feud, only this time Tenryu and friends have the home team advantage. This is yet another worthy addition to the series. The Onita Pro matches were just a *little* bit more unhinged, but we need the flip side, WAR version of this match to represent this feud properly.
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It's the new generation death match. What makes it difference from the Onita stuff is that Onita implied violence and these two deliver it. This was a pretty daring match by just about any standard. This is wrestling for maximalists. There is no subtlety or nuance, and nothing is teased that isn't delivered. This is wrestling's answer to the mantra that you either go balls to the wall or go home. They pushed this a little farther than I could stand to watch, so I had a tough time with this one. I think I liked the Shadow WX match better the year before, but I'm glad I saw this once. I don't think I can watch it again.
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Wrestlemania 30.
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Always good to see Ishikawa vs Ikeda, but the junior partners brought this down quite a bit. Hidaka did that pointless Asai moonsault at the beginning of the match that had nothing to do with where the match went or the style that was being worked. Ikuto Hidaka doesn't seem like a bad wrestler, but he doesn't seem like a BattlARTS wrestler. He wrestles more like a New Japan junior, and everything he does is very pro style. As a result, this was my least favorite BattlARTS match so far. I'm still comfortable calling it a good match, but it doesn't really hold up as much more than that.
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Balls Mahoney reflects on what happened last week at the Chicago show. He cracks some guy I don't recognize on the head with a chair and is ready to go find the Dudleys. While he's distracted arguing with security, they come from behind and hit him with a chair. The Dudleys always seem to get the last laugh.
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Danny B has harsh words for Brickhouse Brown. Back in the ring, Brickhouse Brown claims that he paved the way for Danny B's punk ass in wrestling in the first place, and he insists that he come to the ring to face him. He unloads on him with some ... interesting lines, concluding that colored boys like Danny B give black men like Brickhouse Brown a bad name. Holy cow.
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Most people who don't like what WWE is producing now have liked it at some point. So the idea that WWE is incapable of making them happy when they have liked WWE in the past is something I don't get.
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Without having seen very much Chikara, I'm trying to figure out if it's really that much different than the Undertaker striking lightning bolts, being resurrected or using his special powers to shake a ring on WWE shows through the years. Or Kane causing a fire simply by raising his arms for that matter. Is Chikara truly something different, or have those things just become so institutionalized that we don't think about them much?
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Feel free to keep debating Hell in a Cell and the various reactions to Hell in a Cell. If you want to criticize evilclown's book or his other work, that's fine too, but can I ask that we start a separate thread for it? Focusing on last night's show should be the focus of this particular thread. Thank you.
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What had the longer lasting impact on wrestling? WCW's success? Or WCW's failure? I don't think that's a cut and dry answer, nor do I mention it to disparage Eric Bischoff. In fact, Nitro's success led to greater emphasis on RAW, and to this day that is one of WWE's most valuable brands. So back to the question - in the long run, which was a bigger deal: WCW igniting a wrestling boom and changing wrestling in the process, or WCW going out of business and changing wrestling in the process?
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Awesome that Motley Cruz is showing up here - he was a local Arkansas wrestler in this rinky-dink group called IPW that ran in Little Rock and had local TV in late ’89. He was the top heel there. Smothers puts Cruz over as a great brawler before the match but challenges him to have an actual wrestling match this time. It’s 1999, so the fans in the bar don’t seem too enthusiastic about that. Smothers wants Cruz to turn back the clock and show these people what he can do in a straight up wrestling match. Ok, I’m already digging the presentation of this so much that this will have to be pretty horrible for me to say no. Cruz slips into all the typical heel stuff and his very Southern valet interferes liberally. Cruz doesn’t execute everything great, but his timing is really good and he has nice range to his offense. Smothers of course looks awesome. Cruz does bring a table into this at the end and tries to drop an elbow through a table but Smothers moves, does an awesome football tackle and then gets the jawjacker until Cruz’s partner The Hellraiser interferes and gives Cruz the win. Nice old school match (for the most part) and really good display of what Smothers could do.
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Hales is out to talk about what happened in Jonesboro. Doug Gilbert did indeed show up. All they have is a home video clip of the match. Hales came in to try to help Dirty White Boy and Dirty White Girl and ends up being attack by JR Smooth. Hales just narrowly missed a fireball. They ended up brawling into the parking lot where Doug Gilbert was also involved, as Dave Brown mentions that Doug causes trouble even when he means well. Hales won't go that far, he's a fraud. He knows this isn't a popular decision, but Doug Gilbert will never be at a Power Pro show again and feels like that's the right call. Now, we have Wolfie D showing up, who is also blackballed and saw everything play out last week. He wants to talk to Hales, and Hales desperately wants to take this to the back but Wolfie won't have it. Wolfie has heard through the grapevine that a lot of the problems he's had in his personal life have been because of Wolfie, and he wants to know why he never got a job in Power Pro. He says it's great that he found religion, but that doesn't mean he has to abandon his old friends. Wolfie hates to admit it, but he and even Jamie Dundee made him a lot of money in the past. He's upset that Doug Gilbert went to jail and he has him outside in the parking lot. Wolfie D wants to play peacemaker. JR Smooth's group ends up attacking Hales before anything can happen. Doug runs into the studio to try to save him and ends up accidentally hitting him with a fireball! Later in the show, JR Smooth cuts a promo at the camera and Doug Gilbert comes out to fight him. He's getting doubleteamed when Wolfie D comes to his rescue and they clean house before the BSK numbers catch up to them briefly. Doug finally makes a save and runs them off, and they are selling that Wolfie is not moving as the show goes off the air. I'm kinda blown away by how good all of this is. I can't wait to see what happens next.
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Lawler has not officially decided if he's running for Mayor yet. He's back with Stacy. I can't keep up with that. He's still wanting more feedback from Memphis, so he gives out his email address ([email protected]) on the air if people want to send him feedback. Make your voices heard, PWOers. He says people should always vote, whether it's for him or someone else. Lawler wants us to fulfill our civic duty.
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Pretty good match, and I like seeing Taka in an environment where he means something again. Him working as the vet against the Crazy Max guys is a good dynamic, and there's a cool old vs new vibe to this. I don't think it quite measures up to the best previous MPro matches of '99, but it's still very good. All of the pairings are interesting and fit what they're aiming for in the big picture very well. MPro wasn't consistent anymore, but I like that something this good could pop up every few months.
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They say they are in Chicago, but they are actually in the Villa Park suburb. The match will be a Chicago Street Fight where falls count anywhere. Every ECW match is a Chicago Street Fight. Bubba Ray attacks Spike with a cheese grater and Spike returns the favor, giving us two guys covered in blood. Balls was already bleeding from something or other too, so D-Von was the only holdout, which changed when Balls sliced his head open with a fork. This is violent in a very different way than ECW is usually violent, where it's just for violent's sake. There is actually some real hate and desperation to go with this instead of it just being part of the signature spots. Spike dives off the balcony onto all three guys. Love Spike's spots where he finds a way to attack both Duds at the same time, and the stereo stuff in the ring is really good. Some really good nearfalls, and I like that this spilled back into the ring a lot. Sign Guy interferes to swing the match back to the Dudleys, but it doesn't last long and it's looking like someone may finally be getting some measure of revenge against the Dudleys for something. Balls decides to go for revenge and sets the thumbtack table on fire, which is a great callback. D-Von cuts him off with a chairshot and the Dudleys deliver the spot to Balls yet again before getting the win. I LOVED this match, which I didn't expect at all. As good as any ECW match I've ever seen.
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This reminded me of a lot of the best All Japan six-mans with some American flavor mixed in, along with plenty to make it uniquely FMW. I absolutely loved the stereo figure four stuff, like this is a Dangerous Alliance or Four Horsemen match. Hido takes the brunt of the punishment as the early Heel In Peril here and he’s not great at selling things, but Hayabusa’s team is good enough offensively to cover for it. Hido turns the tide with a low blow, which again turns the match into more of a brawl. I like the feel here where one wrong move is enough to put everyone involved over the edge. Tanaka ends up fucking up his knee on a kick and the match settles back down to Tanaka as face in peril. There’s a really nasty spot where the heels fold up the ladder and drop it over Tanaka’s head while swinging a chair at the other end of the ladder. I really appreciate weapon shots like that when they aren’t stunt specials. The heels even offer up some fun doubleteam and tripleteam spots. Tanaka is awesome as the babyface that fights from underneath, as is Hayabusa after the hot tag. And Kuroda has really impressed me in all of these matches as a young guy who seems to make a point about his toughness every time out. The longer this went, the better it got. It was cool how near the end, the babyfaces responded in kind with the double/triple team spots. They do a few crazy highspots near the end of this, but they are built up so well and have such a logical place that it doesn’t come across excessive at all. This is a match that has something for everyone.
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More Eric rambling. This was announced as Nash vs Sid all night, but Savage shows up instead. WCW isn't really in a position where they have enough goodwill to be doing a bait-and-switch on their advertised main events. Savage demands the belt and Nash offers it to him before slugging him. Gorgeous George distracts Nash long enough for a low blow. No heat - this feud is a disaster. Now Sid comes out and tries to attack Nash, who meets him head on. Crowd chants for Goldberg the whole time. No shit. Sting finally makes the save. Why are babyfaces already getting the best of Sid one night after debuting?
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Please ... anything to get Bischoff away from the booth and back in the ring. The No Limit Soldiers celebrate with Konnan and Rey after they win their match, but the West Texas Rednecks take over DJ Ran's booth and blare "Rap Is Crap" before taking off. The Soldiers chase after them and start performing and seem to be getting booed pretty loudly, but they may be hooting. I can't tell. I'm guessing reactions varied from city to city. I can't figure out if they are playing this smart or not. Considering how they're doing everything else at this point, I'm guessing not.
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Last few minutes of an okay match. Bagwell (of course) pins Flair (of course). Bischoff rambles on about Nash-Sid the whole time that the heat is peaking on what's supposed to be a big moment. No clue, I say. No clue. I remember reading that Benoit and Malenko resented doing all the work in these matches so Bagwell could get the glory at the end, and I can't say I don't see that watching this.
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Gene Okerlund announces the Master P signing at a press conference. Yeah, that's a cool guy to make an announcement like that. Bischoff is there to represent WCW. WHY? HE HAS NO STORYLINE POWER. Konnan and Rey are in attendance. The No Limit Soldiers are in WCW, which isn't a bad idea. Bischoff talks about the positive approach they have, and I guess he's on board with making 'em say uhhh.
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Series of vignettes with Steve Austin at Titan Tower running the show. You can tell the receptionist is an actress based on the receptionist in Beyond The Mat not sounding nearly as pleasant. Austin coaches her to answer the phone "Who the hell is this? What the hell do you want?" in a funny moment. It's also a nice detail consistent with his character that he's really pleasant to the construction workers outside. Then, he puts Vince's assistants to work bringing him food and drinks, and he blows off a board meeting at first by saying "I don't like board games". Austin fires the SVP of Marketing for looking stupid. (Ross: "No one ever knew what he did.") Meanwhile, Austin promotes the mail clerk into his position. Then he orders a beer drinking contest - anyone still standing when Austin comes back in the room later still has a job. Next, Austin goes to HR. Looks like they released a special WWF magazine that doubled as Austin's orientation manual, which is just genius. Then he goes into accounting and wants to know what the financial losses are for the company. He points him to the beer truck and zamboni incidents, which is funny. Austin wants the zeros behind Vince's salary moved to Mick Foley's to help him with his medical bills. Shane McMahon's salary is now the beer budget. Now we're in Vince's office and Jim Ross makes fun of all the shrines he has to himself. Austin sits at his desk drinking beers and directs the lawn workers to dump several wheelbarrows of cow manure in the room. The McMahons have seen enough and head to the ring in a panic. This is great entertainment and the populist tone of it is just right.
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The video package shows Bischoff in a position of authority. But Flair is still the President and Bischoff lost all of his power. Idiotic. Once again, this video recap just reinforces how bad the feud was. Last few minutes of the match. No heat. Madusa interferes quite a bit. Savage is so reliant on shortcuts that it's obvious he has lost confidence in himself. It even shows on his face that he knows he doesn't have it anymore. Nash kicks out of the big elbow and then does a big comeback, which makes the move a joke. Powerbomb when the ladies hit the ring and attack Nash, who starts throwing them off. No heat for that stuff either. Then Sid shows up with a big boot. So now WCW is re-running failed 1995 WWF feuds. And he and Arn are expected to be in the same company. I don't mind Sid a ton in this run but the wisdom behind hiring him in the first place shows WCW had no clue at all.