Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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I do think it's interesting that after a decade full of American guys lifting spots from the Japanese and Mexican guys, the Japanese guys - in Michinoku Pro of all places - are lifting Bret's ringpost figure four. I thought this was a very good match - just shy of a great match because it needed a little more drama. In terms of working a basic layout that progressed nicely and was easy to enjoy, this was right up my alley and I thought they did a great job. I just wish they'd kicked into high gear a little more as they were taking it home. They tried, but that was the one area where the match fell short for me. Not every match has to feel big, but it stands out here because it would have really catapulted this into something special. -
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As someone not interested in full shows, what are the must-see matches from the G-1 so far? Top 10 matches or whatever. Or are there even more than 10 that are must-see? Can someone just list them?
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I agree that Tenryu was off his game here. If I didn't know that he still had many great years ahead of him, I would watch it and think he was finally winding down. It's unlike him to try for a bunch of highspots that are beyond his capabilities. Of course, it's Tenryu, so even below his best Tenryu still provides some value, and his facial expressions are unrivaled. They worked hard, but they also did too much.
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Of course a brawl takes place. I popped for the Honky Tonk Man showing up. Everyone wanted to attack Austin, but when his music started, he came through the crowd instead and attacked from behind. But he got cut off by the Nation and Savio Vega at the entrance. He brawls out of sight for a second, but is still getting beat up a few seconds later when they brawl back in front of the crowd. This was hot stuff that built the Rumble very well.
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Michael Cole looks like an idiot not selling Shawn purposely throwing his hair in his face. Shawn announces that Kane will be joining DX and calls for him to come out, but Undertaker comes out instead. Shawn is awesome showing fear - I can't believe it! He goes for a chokeslam and almost gets Chyna, which gets everyone going crazy, but Shawn cuts him off with the superkick before using HHH's crutch as a weapon to attack Undertaker. Then the lights go out and Kane's music starts all while DX continues their beatdown. Kane ends up running them both off. HHH can't do much in this because of his injury, which makes his presence awkward. Undertaker and Kane then connect as the crowd erupts in what was a great moment made better by Jim Ross calling it.
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Austin is awesome. He takes a pin from Michael Cole to draw a target on his chest when Cole insinuates that everyone is coming after him. I love that Austin was cutting great traditional wrestling promos, but sadly, no one really seemed interested in copying that aspect of his persona. The Celebrity Death Match stuff was cool to see and one of the first signs that Austin's popularity was starting to go beyond pro wrestling.
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Just the finish. Hogan and Savage are at ringside. Hogan ends up interfering on behalf of Hall and Nash. There's a ref bump a few minutes later and Hogan starts beating up DiBiase. Savage goes to the top and is about to drop an elbow on Nash but Nash moves and he hits Rick instead. Why would the revived ref count the fall with both guys covering Rick? The Outsiders regain the tag titles while Hogan tries to play peacemaker between Savage and Nash.
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Jim Neidhart gets a decent pop coming out. Neidhart takes exception to what Flair said about Bret last week. Flair offers a handshake and welcomes him to WCW, but tells him if he's going to say Bret is better just because he's married to Bret's sister, then Flair has a problem with that. Flair is so great here. Flair steps away for a second, comes back and ends up socking Neidhart with a pair of brass knucks. The referee tries to stop him and gets leveled too. Flair goes right for the knee and ends up doing a ringpost figure four! Tenay of course spoiled it by calling it before it actually happened. Bret runs out for the save and Flair takes off and they end up in a fun brawl that lasts a few seconds before Ric takes off. Wow can 49-year-old Flair run fast. I loved this segment.
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I tried to watch this three times, but every time I tried, my mind kept drifting away when I'd see something that took me out of the match. I think this works in the sense that it is a pretty good match to encapsulate what ECW was about, but I didn't get as much out of it. I will admit that a big part of it is that I'm so sick of seeing people dive through tables that I'm not sure I can ever like another match where it happens at this point, even if the rest of the match is great. My biggest problem with this is that they weren't going for the win nearly enough, when the idea behind a match this brutal seems like it oughta be that it's so dangerous that those involved want to get it over with quickly.
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Probably true, but the fact is, wrestling is best watched in the moment, as it's happening. The 98-99 stuff was successful in 98-99. It worked for that specific time period, era, and audience. That's what really matters. I'm not saying there isn't any merit rewatching old stuff, but the fact is, it cannot be judged as accurately because something is always lost in translation. Sure, you can still enjoy or not enjoy something from a bygone era, but no matter what, you will never experience it the same way as people who were there as it was happening. Certain references, nuances, and period-specific attributes will be lost on you. Disagree with all of this. Great art, and by extension great wrestling, holds up no matter when it is watched. A lot of it even ages better and is best watched removed from the time period whence it originally took place. I'm not really knocking watching wrestling in the moment, but by no means do I think it's essential to watch wrestling in the moment. Yearbooks, 80s sets, projects, etc. have proven time and again that a person can be placed in the time frame of the year that a match/angle is taking place and get just as much, if not more, out of that match watching it years later. I'm somewhere in between these two viewpoints. I don't think wrestling is created with the intent to get over with anyone beyond its audience at that particular moment in time, nor do I think it has to be. And I'm not going to criticize 1998-1999 WWF for not thinking about how this stuff would look years after the fact. But some wrestling happens to look good no matter when it's watched and that's the truly great stuff. I don't think wrestling has to be created with that intent, but I think it is something that happens with some wrestling more than others, and that's what makes the great wrestling truly special. I am not a big fan of late 90s WWF, but I also don't think they needed to change anything just so it was more enduring 15 years later.
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This was just a lot of spots thrown out with no build to them. Highspot, rest for a long time. Highspot, rest for a long time. It was also incredibly sloppy. I remember them having at least one good match, but this was not it for sure. And why even bother with a ref bump in ECW? It's not like the ref seeing any of this stuff would have changed anything.
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Here I was prepared to write this off and it's actually a pretty good match. The result (Credible winning) was what it was, which is more what people remember, but I loved Sasuke's selling. A nice, basic layout and some good Sasuke offense creates a solid match. Body part focus is like face in peril - it will almost always produce something worth watching.
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Pro Wrestling Only, guys.
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They give us the post-show footage from Nitro on 12/29 when Hogan faced Sting. Sting should have dropped the Stinger Splash and the Scorpion Deathlock at this point to go all the way in freshening him up. I compare this fast-action chaos leading to a disputed finish to Hogan-Undertaker at This Tuesday In Texas, and this was nowhere near as well put together. It came across awfully clumsy overall. This is just awful. It picks up a lot when Bret comes in since he's a much better brawler than everyone in the ring. Back live, JJ Dillon announces his decision - the title is held up. Sting speaking for the first time in two years makes for a good moment, but they should have come up with something better for him to say. Just awful all around.