Loss
Admins
-
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Loss
-
Hogan looks all over the set for Undertaker and can't find him. Eventually, Ric Flair comes out and cuts an amazing promo on Hogan, which is pitch-perfect. Hogan tears his shirt off and the crowd pops huge. They are amped to see these two lock up. Undertaker ends up coming out of a coffin and attacks Hogan from behind with the urn. Flair gets in some shots but Savage and Piper quickly leave the broadcast booth with chairs to run them off. Undertaker yanks the cross off of Hogan's neck and drops it on his chest. This is quite the collection of stars that would be hard to match today, and this was a great segment. -
-
I don't think this is better than any WWF cage match ever. But they sure do a better job of getting over the cage as something that keeps everyone in who should in - and out who should be out - than any WWF cage match I've ever seen. Simple things like Morton and Taylor selling the panic of being locked in and Morton trying an escape early on that backfired worked well. There isn't much heat for this, which seems weird for a cage match and makes this a little sad. But this was a midcard feud that wasn't over, so I suppose that makes sense. Morton is excellent yet again as a working heel, and he gives everything he has to getting the crowd into this. But nothing he does seems to work, and not everyone in the match shares his enthusiasm. There's a camera angle that tells it all where Rich and Zenk are standing in their respective corners and everyone else is brawling on the top rope in a neutral corner. And they just stand there and look like idiots. The crowd finally wakes up in the last 1-2 minutes of this, but it's a little too late.
-
Hansen and Spivey attack Misawa and Kawada before the opening bell. Misawa doesn't even get his jacket off until a couple of minutes into this. This is an awesome match, with Hansen putting on a huge production and picking fights with both guys, especially Misawa. Hansen's aggression - and Spivey effectively following Hansen's lead - forces them to fight back from a pretty perilous position, and while I'm sure the crowd loved Misawa, I can't help but think Hansen going after him so much got him even more over here. With Spivey being the wild card, I went into the Hansen/Spivey tags on this set not really knowing what to expect, but Hansen works overtime and really could have teamed with anyone and made these matches work. Misawa and Kawada pull off what comes across as an upset because they had to fight so hard to win, and Hansen and Spivey don't exactly accept that result like sportsmen. I really, really liked this.
-
This is definitely Toyota and Hokuto showing off how great they are, and it's definitely sloppy. I wasn't really into this one too much, as it hand the worst tendencies of the Joshi that has showed up on these yearbooks. Surprisingly, Toyota was an innocent bystander. Yamada was the sloppiest of all, seeming to botch nearly everything she tried. I do think the Toyota/Hokuto team looked great, but they completely outclassed their opponents, and the Yamada/Kyoko victory seemed awfully hollow.
-
Is this the best Coliseum exclusive ever? Again, I have to say, both guys should stop their whining. Flair and Bret worked very well together, even though they thought they didn't. I thought this bordered on great. There was one time toward the end where there some signal crossing, but Flair hasn't looked this good since the Pillman match in April, and Bret hasn't looked this good at any point in 1991. I loved the sequence where Flair got mad about Bret's punches and wanted to duke it out, then lost two exchanges in a row and completely changed his tune. Flair is basically working his formula here, but he's doing it well. The spot where they both tumbled over the top that Bret complained about in his book/online rant against Flair years ago is something I couldn't seem to find, so I'm not sure what he was talking about. Considering that they had probably never worked together before this, with the usual WWF assistance in layout, there is no reason these two couldn't have had a stellar match on PPV around this time.
-
Because everyone can relate to being an executive and having their office destroyed. Just when I think WWE can't get more out of touch ...
-
This was better than the previous match. One of the main reasons is that Ricky Morton was so heavily featured and so good in this role. But even Taylor stepped up from his usual bland stuff with some nice offense, including a stun gun on the turnbuckle. Your standard FIP formula, but a really good version of it. Taylor goes to hit Josh with the computer for the finish (If they rely on the computer for info, why would they ever risk it so much by throwing it into the ring?). Josh shows a moment of compassion and looks at his bloody friend, which costs him the match, as Taylor hits him with the computer again. The York Foundation takes the six-man titles.
-
Pretty good match with lots of stiff shots, but also pretty run-of-the-mill. SWS hasn't really produced any GREAT Tenryu singles matches this year, just lots of good ones, and they all seem to follow generally the same template. Yatsu and Haku attack both guys after the match, I'm guessing to set up a tag down the line.
-
-
Clip from Worldwide of Rick Steiner being interviewed. He casually says he can beat Luger and that he has beaten him before. Luger and his entourage are out. Luger is in a suit and is incredibly condescending, patting Rick on the head and telling him just to think about tag team wrestling. Rick brings up some locker room incident where Rick beat Luger. Luger says he needs some respect and they have an impromptu match. Luger should have slapped him the face! I was waiting for it and it was weird that it didn't happen. Luger is in slacks having his match, and they are trying way too hard to make him Flair-lite. Rick gives Luger a belly-to-belly after laying out Race and Hughes, then pins Luger, earning him a title shot at the Clash. Rick announces that Scott will be in his corner to watch Race and Hughes. I know Flair vs tag wrestlers worked in the past, but Rick Steiner is not Ricky Morton, and Lex Luger is not Ric Flair.
-
Lawler does the best interview he's done in a little while, talking about how he used art to get into wrestling. He also talks about his friendship with Jeff Jarrett, as Jarrett has challenged him to a title match, which sounds like an interesting match. Then, he turns his attention to Travis and Gaylord. Not a fan of that feud, but this is a strong interview.
-
Fun to see a studio match between the two with a clean pinfall and plenty of time. This was all action for the seven minutes or so that it lasted. I liked Embry using Pritchard's trademark moves against him. Tony Falk (who has taken on almost every role in Memphis and is now Embry's manager) distracts Pritchard long enough for Embry to roll him up and get a pin and win the Southern title. Nice to see some heat putting back on Embry, although I think the Moondogs stuff is starting soon, so I think his second run on top is going to be limited, if he has one at all.
-
-
-
It's fun to see Bob Backlund show up in 1991 and look as spry as ever. This wasn't really the peak of the style at all, but I thought it was a solid outing, and I like when they bring in guys for Takada to beat. I've still never seen their '88 match, so I'm not sure how this compares, but this was decent enough to intrigue me.
-
Young Tamura is always a lot of fun, especially when matched against a first-class jerk like Yoji Anjo, but I think this match would have been much better with a lot less time and filler. Miyato and Boss didn't really do much for me at all, so every time they were in, they were standing in the way of the singles match I wanted to see. Tag team shoot style only works for me when they go really pro wrestling in the layout, and this match didn't do that nearly enough.
-
Weird that the Steiners weren't stripped of the IWGP tag titles while Scott was injured, or that they didn't at the very least make an effort to switch the belts a little sooner. Muto and Hase made a great team and have really become maybe my favorite early 90s tag team. We know Muto to be a guy who chooses when he wants to be on, and he definitely chose to be on here. He goes after Rick and Norton pretty hard after Hase gives him the hot tag, and he takes some bumps on the floor for Rick's offense that fall somewhere between daring and completely stupid. At least he sold the onslaught for everything he had. Maybe it's the idea and I'm just being worked, but Rick's headdropping suplexes on Muto seem to cross a line from exciting to reckless. The boos Rick gets for some of the big spots make me think they were trying to play on the Steiners Brothers' asshole reputation in this one. Norton tries, but his limitations can't help but show themselves. Rick has his power spots that get over in Japan, but he just isn't a complete wrestler at all. More than the quality of the match itself, this is another reminder of how good Muto could have been if he wanted to be. When he felt up to it, he was as good as anyone at getting over a match's storyline and keeping a crowd interested. And this is another quality outing from Hase's peak year. HUGE pop for the title change. I wish Muto and Hase could have had an ongoing partnership/feud throughout the entire decade, but it wasn't meant to be.
-
The usual good, big feeling match between these two, but this may be my least favorite of the matches I've seen between them. It felt like it could have gone longer, and that the finish could have had a few more teases. Choshu earns a big win to set him up for the Tokyo Dome in January where he'll challenge Fujinami.
-
Have our lives been building to this moment? Sean Mooney calls Tenryu "Tendoo" and Heenan has rice and chopsticks ready for him and makes racist comments. Heenan: "He doesn't speak English." Mooney: "He may not speak English, but he may not understand whatever language you are trying to speak." Huh? They show a clip of Hogan and Tenryu teaming in SWS, and this ends with Tenryu pouring Heenan's rice on his head to the delight of the studio audience.
-
-
-
-
I'm surprised the WWF allowed this commercial to air on their shows, with Warrior vanishing from the promotion and never being mentioned. Based on Warrior's hair, this looks to be a pretty old commercial though. I see Warrior here and can't imagine how anyone in the WWF ever thought he would appeal to people who don't like wrestling.
-