Loss
Admins
-
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Loss
-
Ric Flair is out of the mental institution. He's excited and the inmates are in a bus next to him as well. Gag me. We get various skits with Flair's friends going in the production truck and harassing Kevin Nash. Ric and David seem to mend fences, but Torrie Wilson seems unimpressed. The logic Ric comes up with for forgiving David is hilariously awful. As a "reward" to David, he'll have a match tonight and Charles Robinson will be their referee. This makes sense after David leaves, as Ric tells Charles to book him with Meng and to tell Meng David was trash talking him. Awesome! Later, we see Piper arriving looking for Ric right away and attacking him in his office while all the inmates are looking on, which totally kills any serious effect this segment was supposed to have. WCW has fallen off the deep end. Amazing that this is the same company that produced Sting vs DDP the week before. Later, a wet Ric Flair wants Scott Steiner to go after Nash. He ends up finding Bagwell along the way and beating him up to hype their match at Slamboree. This is all terrible, but hey, at least they're getting to embarrass Flair. -
How about that! An AAA trios match I thought was pretty good. Pretty wild brawl with a bunch of colorful characters brawling everywhere. They even tie one of Los Vatos Locos to a bungee cord before Picudo comes out with a stick on fire to save his teammate! Not because it’s a great match, but I think this is a good to see for something very different with lots of crazy gimmicks.
-
This was really great. It had a nice slow build and Tenryu looked better than he has looked in a long time. I loved his think-on-his-feet switching of the powerbomb into a stun gun and also cutting off Muto’s handspring elbow with a hard chop to his back. About halfway into this, Muto gets an opening to start working on Tenryu’s knee and applies a figure four, which is put over as a death move by Tenryu as he has a long, dramatic attempt to reach the ropes. This makes sense since Muto once used that hold to submit Takada at the Tokyo Dome. Tenryu gets in a powerbomb, but it was more out of desperation than anything, and it takes a while before he can even get the strength to go for a cover. Really great last 10 minutes too, which lots of bomb throwing and well-timed kick outs, and Tenryu putting over his knee damage for the duration. Tenryu does a top rope rana and even seems shocked himself, which gets an amazing nearfall.
-
The best Vader match I’ve seen so far in All Japan. I think it’s because they struck the right balance between making a big deal out of Vader’s size and not preventing him from all the things he can do that guys his size normally can’t. He seemed handcuffed in previous matches in a way he doesn’t here. Misawa does a great job fighting from underneath and they do an awesome job building up Vader’s big bumps. I love the psychology behind the German suplexes here. Misawa’s on Vader looked especially brutal. There are a few too many headdrops near the end of this for my tastes, but it’s a blemish on an otherwise great match. Finally, Vader looks like Vader.
-
Gene Kiniski, Bruno Sammartino and The Destroyer come to the ring to pay tribute to Baba in the Tokyo Dome. Then Motoko enters the ring with a pair of Baba's boots and lays them in the center of the ring where the bell is tolled ten times. The legends step outside the ring, along with the current AJ roster, who look on while wearing track suits. Destroyer then takes the boots and gives them back to Motoko. This was a fitting tribute.
-
Chris Candido is out wearing a pretty bizarre and outdated medical contraption. I hate to keep commenting on Tammy's decline, but wow. Taz quickly interrupts. Candido realizes Taz won't say publicly that he's sorry or that he respects Candido, but he wants him to look at him and see what he has done. Taz has no remorse at all. Until Candido can return, he and Tammy will be co-managing a few people. Steve Corino comes out to call Taz a phony and calls the Brooklyn fans crackheads. Corino says if Taz will get the ECW belt and put it down in front of him, he won't embarrass him in front of the people. Taz takes a shot at Corino and Candido takes off the neckbrace and comes in to attack Taz from behind.
-
April: #1 - Sting vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Monday Nitro 04/26/99) ****1/2 #2 - Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 04/04/99) ****1/2 #3 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera vs Psicosis vs Blitzkrieg (WCW Monday Nitro 04/19/99) ****1/4 #4 - Daisuke Ikeda vs Alexander Otsuka (BattlARTS 04/26/99) ****1/4 #5 - Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato (GAEA 04/04/99) **** #6 - Vader vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/16/99) ***3/4 #7 - Jushin Liger & Great Sasuke vs Dr. Wagner Jr. & Kendo Kashin (NJPW 04/10/99) ***3/4 #8 - Yoshihiro Taijiri vs Little Guido (ECW 04/30/99) ***3/4 #9 - Juventud Guerrera vs Blitzkrieg (WCW Spring Stampede 04/11/99) ***3/4 #10 - Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Rey Misterio Jr. & Billy Kidman (WCW Saturday Night 04/17/99) ***1/2 #11 - Steve Austin vs The Rock (WWF Backlash 04/25/99) ***1/2 #12 - Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Raven & Perry Saturn (WCW Spring Stampede 04/11/99) ***1/2 #13 - Goldberg vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Monday Nitro 04/19/99) *** #14 - Masa Chono vs Atsushi Onita (NJPW 04/10/99) #15 - Steve Austin & The Rock vs HHH & Undertaker (WWF Smackdown 04/29/99) #16 - Vader vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/08/99) #17 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 04/26/99)
-
This was an awesome hybrid of things, for lack of a better way to describe it. Taijiri brought the great babyface selling and a nasty cut on his eye while Little Guido brought the cool heel psychology, keeping the crowd involved and really putting over Taijiri's kicks in a great way. Big Sal was even an effective second. I'm not saying as much about the match as it deserves, but I really enjoyed it.
-
From the pilot episode of Smackdown a few months before it officially debuted. HHH looks really out of place sharing a ring with the other three at this point. This was becoming a hell of a match before the Corporate Ministry ran in for the DQ. The Union quickly ran out to make the save and we had a huge brawl with everyone in the ring. The ring area clears of everyone except Austin and Undertaker. Vince comes to ringside and cold cocks Shane but then eats an unprotected chairshot (a hard one! Good Lord!) from Undertaker. Out of this world heat for all of this is enough to save it. “Hot” is the best way to describe all of this.
-
Thank God for the announcers filling in a lot of the blanks so that we don't have to show all of the details. The Ministry brings Stephanie out on the Undertaker's symbol donned in a black dress. It turns out that Paul Bearer is officiating a WEDDING between Undertaker and Stephanie. Ken Shamrock tries to make a save with a baseball bat, but is quickly laid out and tossed aside. Shane talks The Corporation into waiting to make their move. Big Show tries a save next, but Undertaker uses the baseball bat to get rid of him. Austin finally makes a save and plows through the Ministry before getting in the ring and brawling with Undertaker. He unties Stephanie from Undertaker's symbol and she hugs him, which seems to make him uncomfortable. Vince then hits the ring and reunites with his daughter. For OTT soap opera-fueled wrestling, this was pretty great.
-
Sean Stasiak is now Meat, and he's with PMS in the WWF.
-
It's the beginning of Rock's babyface turn, and the goal this time is to make it stick. He plays to the crowd right away and even pauses for a "Rocky!" chant. The Rock has words for Shane McMahon, which brings him out quickly. Shane blames him for worrying too much about entertaining the people, talking on the headset and even grabbing the camera to film. They go back and forth for a few minutes. HHH gets in a cheapshot but Rock fights him out. Then Chyna punches Rock and he hits her back, but the Corporation quickly turns on him. Rock has turned babyface and is out of the group. The segment ends with Rock challenging Shane to a match.
-
Last few minutes. Crowd is still hot, but the wind seems to be out of their sails. Maybe they are tired after peaking earlier in the night. Maybe they can see what's coming when they have a second title defense in the same night. Randy Savage attacks Goldberg when he has Sting beat, then knocks him out of the ring. Nothing ever came of that in case you're wondering. Then he tossed brass knucks in the ring to Page, who hits Nash and pins him to regain the title the same night he lost it. This was kind of a desperate ratings hot shot, even if it did produce a good show.
-
-
-
Dr. James Andrews explains Hogan's injury. Eric Bischoff accompanies him to surgery. Hogan wants to take care of DDP (for injuring his knee at Stampede) and then have surgery, but Bischoff talks some sense into him. Oh yes, the time period when Uncle Eric transformed into this really nice and regretful gray-haired WCW exec who just wanted to right his wrongs. Vomit. This dynamic goes against the entire mythology they established for years with the WCW good guys and the NWO bad guys. The surgery footage is cool though. We also hear from his physical therapist. We should hear more of that these days. Nice and old school.
-
-
Short-ish match that's not particularly bad or good sees Rey regain the cruiserweight title. I question the wisdom of that because Psicosis having a run could have been fun and Rey was part of the tag title feud anyway. Benoit and Malenko make an appearance and go after Rey after the match. I like them dressed in all black. This crowd is so great.
-
You know, I just said that the cruiserweight 4-way was my pick for best Nitro match ever. I remembered liking this match. I didn't remember liking this match this much. I thought this was an absolute classic, pretty easily the U.S. MOTY. It's easy to put it all on the heat, but this is something very special - not just a loud crowd, but one that is hanging on every move and cares just as much about the small mini-victories within the match as they do the finisher teases and end result. They lift this up to something really special that stands out like a sore thumb in an otherwise dying company. This is a well laid-out match anyway, with Sting looking good to start before DDP takes over with a series of hot moves and close nearfalls at the end. And they do a nice mix of tried-and-true spots that always pop a WCW crowd, like reversing the tombstone piledriver and Sting's spot where he accidentally falls on the other guy's crotch, with sequences that even if they aren't fresh *feel* fresh because this wasn't a matchup WCW exploited, DDP had just turned and Sting had just returned from a months-long absence. Magnificent match.
-
Ric Flair, still in his Florida Gator boxer shorts and robe, makes an entrance into the mental institution to his music. WHY is there a camera there? Flair is thrilled to be there and is dancing with the inmates. This finds new ways to be offensive. Flair has a blast with this, but come on. In the next segment, we find out that Charles Robinson is the Vice President of WCW and he's in charge since Flair has been removed from office. He's above the commissioner on the food chain. Ric Flair calls him in the next segment to tell him to put Piper in jail. Later, Gene Okerlund interviews him in the ring where he ensures that he's in charge and not Piper. This brings the Hot Rod out to dispute his claims. Robinson ends up slapping Piper, who is about to destroy him when security shows up to take Piper out of the building. Charles Robinson is a babyface! "CHARLES IS IN CHARGE! THAT'S MR. ROBINSON TO YOU!"
-
-
This is a stupidly good match, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's not your dad's BattlARTS. The matwork is there and remains the centerpiece of everything, but there's a lot more chance taking and deviations from the usual house style. I loved Ikeda doing a sort-of Space Flying Tiger Drop and Otsuka doing his own somersault plancha later, along with a giant swing. The tone for this being something different was set up right away when Otsuka bloodied Ikeda immediately with a headbutt. Great submission-based drama in the last few minutes with Ikeda finally squeezing out a win, but really having to earn it. Tremendous match.
-
Pretty typical Attitude Era main event. I remembered this match being much better. The brawling is really good, but I'm tired of Austin matches where 60% of it is outside the ring. All the extracurricular stuff is well-booked and this is a good match layout, but I like it way less with a fresh set of eyes. This has the famous "WHERE TO, STEPHANIE?" abduction from Undertaker at the end. This is the most soap opera-like the WWF has ever been.
-
Last few minutes of a battle royal with weapons. Lawler, Dundee, Steve Bradley and Kid Wikkid are the final four, but it quickly comes down to just Lawler and Dundee. The Fabs come out to attack both guys before the match has a finish (a non-finish in a battle royal?) Lawler ends up taking a piledriver on the concrete floor. Dundee is pissed off. I like the higher stakes of this angle - Lawler has been relatively "safe" in Power Pro to this point, and now there's a legit threat.
-