Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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What's strange is I felt the exact opposite sentiment, especially in relation to Brock Lesnar v. Chris Benoit. If I had to give a statement of essence to that match, it would be "One man's passion to become world champion." He was a wrestler's wrestler, and it's a powerful feeling to watch him between 2003 and 2004 in his struggle to become a world champion as even fans felt no one deserved it more. It's hilarious to see HHH, for example, try to connect with the audience in similar ways in failing each time. Benoit's style and persona commanded respect from the audience, which is why he got standing ovations. I know you're just expressing opinion, and I'm not claiming that you're wrong since your claim depends on your own experiences anyway, which is neither right nor wrong, but it's strange that your objection to Benoit's work would be based off of that given that the fans felt very much emotionally connected to him upon viewing an intense match of his, whether against Angle or Lesnar. What stood out most about Benoit's match against Lesnar was the amount of real emotional heat in that match in ways that no match in modern WWE can touch outside of a Wrestlemania main event like Cena v. Rock. The standing ovation after Benoit vs Angle at the 2003 Royal Rumble was worked. It was started by plants. -
As soon as he gets through the AWA set, goodhelmet and I will be rolling this out on a fairly regularly basis. We've been brainstorming for some ideas for shows and think we have come up with some good ones, but feel free to contribute any other ideas you have for things we can talk about here. Things we'll likely do, for starters: * Yearbook shows * Today In Wrestling History * Audio discussion of some of the more heated debates on the board
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It's also weird to call what Bully Ray said "swearing". Not to mention that even if swearing wasn't allowed in the 1970s, the same type of gay baiting and race baiting most definitely was allowed and even encouraged.
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Dave likes wrestlers that put on a "show" first and foremost, where everything else is secondary. Flair, Michaels, Angle and Kobashi all fit that category. It's more about entertaining an audience than convincing them of a specific point.
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This had a really hot start. It lost something after the first few minutes, but was still really fun. Casas jumped Liger during the entrances and immediately started busting out highspots, and Liger returned in kind. Casas looks ridiculous in a Felino outfit sans mask. It would be cool to see Casas come in as a lucha style mat worker, but considering what was en vogue in Japan at the time, I understand why he didn't. This was good (and the crowd was GREAT) with a crazy submission finish, but I'm starting to realize that aside from some occasional great matches, the juniors division didn't really start producing matches at that level consistently until about 1994.
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Yeah, I wanted to put this on to show a good sampling of the evening's matches, but I agree that this was really good, but it was because of Benoit's performance. I loved Honaga in the Liger match from 2/92, and I keep hoping to see one more performance at that level. This wasn't it. But I'm holding out hope.
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This was a fantastic match. Everyone looked great, but Esther Moreno was the highlight, bleeding like crazy, selling her ass off, taking some crazy bumps and pulling off some excellent high-flying moves. I also love that both teams actually wrestled like teams as opposed to two singles wrestlers. What a pair of great matches!
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This started off with some really inspired, vicious-looking matwork that I enjoyed quite a bit. Minami does some really awesome, painful looking work on Hokuto's knee and ankle. Hokuto rolling out and taking almost the full 20 count to sell the damage was not at all what I'm used to seeing in this style, and was a welcome change of pace. When she returns to the ring, she decides to go hard or go home, and applies a sharpshooter to Minami, but she's on shaky ground herself because of her bad wheel. In a cool spot, she ends up extending her own leg forward because the hold she is applying is actually hurting her too. She manages to build a brief comeback, but Minami cuts her off and goes right back to the bad leg. Awesome. They build to a pretty exciting final stretch and Hokuto eventually gets the win. Interesting that Lorefice described this as an incredible fast-paced match with tons of big moves and kickouts, because the majority of this is really just matwork. There are some big moves at the end, but the description doesn't do this match justice at all. Really great.
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Chris Benoit was a great wrestler, but watching yearbooks, he strikes me as a guy whose peak wasn't nearly as long as it was made out to be. I don't think he really started coming into his own until 1994-1995, and by 2000, he was already a step down, even if he was still really good.
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Ric Flair, even this late, was the single biggest ratings draw in the company. He was the only guy who could post numbers that were competitive with RAW numbers. I do think Flair promos were terrific even this late. Yes, it was over the top, but I don't think Flair lost it as an interview until he went to WWE, where I don't think he cut a single good promo the entire time he was there, which I blame primarily on him not being allowed to be himself. Your milage may vary on elbowdropping the mat stuff. I wasn't a huge fan of it. But it got a reaction.
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Can anyone point me to where to find these matches? They were recommended, but don't seem to be on TV or comm releases. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Takao Omori vs. Kenta Kobashi, Johnny Ace & The Patriot (AJPW 05/18/97) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW 05/27/97) Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 11/28/97) Also, can anyone provide some guidance on these? Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (AJPW 11/15/97) AJPW TV 11/23/97 - Is this the best source? Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki (AJPW 11/27/97) AJPW TV 11/30/97 - Is this the best source?? Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (AJPW 11/28/97) AJPW TV 11/30/97 - Only last 9 minutes on TV, is there a better source?
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Yes, this was definitely a big step up from their 1990 match. I really liked the opening matwork, and this felt a lot more like the NJ junior matches we'd get later in the decade. Owen acted more like a wrestler than he has so far in the decade here, although he still has a tendency to flip just because he can, not always because it makes sense to flip within the match. Liger's finishing top rope DDT looked absolutely brutal!
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These two had a really terrific TV match. They cut a fast pace and had the crowd buying every big nearfall. They do quite a few crowd-pleasing spots. Sherri may have been a little *too* involved in this one, to be honest, but I think that was the point, as Piper ends up chasing her away from the ringside area with a broom! They didn't beat Bret here, and he had quite a bit of offense, perhaps one of the first signs that his singles push was underway.
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The bloom is clearly off the rose with Warrior. He's still over, but he's over like Sting was over - a guy people like having around, but no threat to the hierarchy of the promotion. This is mostly angle, but it's not terrible. Paul Bearer pushes a casket to the ringside area after a few minutes, which serves as a distraction point an allows Slaughter a chance to regain momentum. Eventually, Uncle Paul lifts the casket lid, and the Undertaker is in there. Warrior is quite possibly the most easily distracted babyface in history, and that's saying something. Adnan and Mustafa hit the ring along with Undertaker to do a number on Warrior, and Hogan makes the save. He hits Undertaker with the belt, and Undertaker no-sells it, which is a nice tease for Hogan/Undertaker later in the year. Warrior finally makes a comeback on Undertaker. Sometimes, I watch Undertaker just stand there and do nothing in this gimmick, rarely even taking bumps, and wonder how exactly he had so many injuries over the years. I understand later in his career when he started working a more physical style, but his early style doesn't seem like it would result in any injuries.
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If you're going to just drop one-liners in threads, you need to do a better job of explaining your position.
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This was a good match because of the energy and crowd heat, but it took them a few minutes to find a groove with each other. When Windham takes over on offense, the match gets much better, more because they were on the same page than because Pillman was necessarily "bad" on offense before that. Pillman bleeds above the eye in a nasty way. Arn Anderson (of the Horsemen that no longer exist, because WCW booking is what it is) runs in for the DQ and attacks Pillman, but the recently turned babyface Bobby Eaton makes the save, and the crowd explodes.
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Short match, and one where Austin looks greener than he has in other matches so far. The Texas Hangmen run in for the DQ after less than five minutes of wrestling, and Austin gives Keirn a piledriver on the floor. Robert Fuller makes the save and starts punching anything that moves, but Tom Pritchard and his loaded boot have something to say about that. This is capped off with a bleeding Robert Fuller vowing revenge. I hope he sticks around all year.
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Embry is the king of sleaze, and this is excellent. He hypes a Texas Death Match with Eddie Gilbert in a terrific promo. We cut to a chain match between the two from Mid South Coliseum. Gilbert is very over as a babyface at this point, which is just crazy to me. Match looks pretty violent from what we see, including a spot where Embry wraps Gilbert around the ringpost by throat with the chain so he can repeatedly punch him in the face. In a crazy finish, Embry sprays GREEN MIST at Gilbert after a ref bump, then touches all four corners for the win. Wow! The Pearl of the Lone Star State ... Gilbert comes into the studio for an interview. Gilbert wouldn't overly generalize and say all people from Texas are bad, but the ugliest girl in Tennessee is prettier than the prettiest girl in Texas. Gilbert does an awesome Embry impersonation. These interviews and the match clip were really effective at making me want to see Monday night's match.