Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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Kane does a flying clothesline where he lands on his feet and then just does a forward roll. It's one of the laziest, worst looking spots in wrestling. I don't understand his rep. -
Well this is truly 80s All Japan vs 90s All Japan. I really liked this match. Jumbo can't cheapshot Misawa on the apron soon enough! The reaction Misawa gets coming into the ring for the first time is amazing. It's clear they have something special at this point. Jumbo's realization of this is taking him off of his game. Misawa is FIP for a while here, as Jumbo and Yatsu work over his leg. Misawa is really good in this, both in his short-term selling of the knee attack and also in rallying the crowd behind his comebacks from the attack. Still, as soon as he tags in Kawada, he's no longer selling the knee injury. It becomes forgotten too quickly. This is also the best Kawada has looked so far, as he's starting to show more aggression. Still, there's a moment where Jumbo is tagged in and Misawa can't lift him for a German, and Jumbo is clearly feeding Kawada a lariat or kick or something to help hoist him over, and he misses the cue completely. These are small things that don't really bring the match down, but it's clear that neither guy had come close to peaking yet. Misawa didn't magically take off the mask and become Misawa as we know him, nor was Kawada always the Kawada we generally know him to be. It's cool to see that evolution happening. Jumbo is terrific here. I think his selling and the timing of his kickouts on nearfalls make both Misawa and Kawada look better than they actually were at this point. That Kawada was able to get a believable nearfall on Jumbo in this speaks volumes. I am really enjoying this aspect of All Japan on the yearbook -- it demonstrates that creating a promotion so strong in the ring a few years later didn't happen overnight. It took a lot of thought, good booking, and wrestlers taking advantage of opportunity along the way. There are occasionally warts, but it's fun to see the path they took all the same.
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This is a long chinlock. The crowd really wants to see Jeanne and Toni lock up, and they're obviously making them wait. The crowd pops huge when they both tag in. The post-match is better than the match itself, as Austin gives Adams a piledriver on the floor and then run in to hold Toni while Jeanne throws slaps at her. They tie her in the ropes while Austin brings Adams in the ring for another piledriver. Toni finally breaks free and chases Jeanne away. Meanwhile, Austin climbs to the top rope for a splash, Toni crawls on top of Adams to protect him and gets splashed. Two angles involving violence against women on the same show ... yeah. This led to the USWA losing television in Dallas, so enjoy this while it lasts.
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Here we go. This was scheduled to be Kerry/Borne in the final showdown, but Borne no-showed and left the territory, so they had to scramble to put together an angle. Pringle is out without Borne, and he says his plane was grounded in Nashville instead of Dallas, which he blames on Von Erich connections in the airline industry, I think. Kerry says if Borne isn't here, he's going to come after Percy instead. Percy takes a few punches, but then ducks when Kerry goes for the discus punch in front of the ringpost and then starts working his arm. Holy shit, they're working a match! Not for long, as Kerry finally catches him with the punch before locking on the iron claw. Devastation Inc. run in to attack Kerry until Jeff Jarrett and Billy Joe Travis make the save.
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In the pre-match, Tatum says he knows Tessa is coming back to him tonight. It was in the WON that her turning on Dundee and going back was the original plan for this match, but they decided Tatum continuing to lose his mind was better. This was a pretty decent match when they were actually locking up. Tatum wins the title by hooking the tights, then superkicks Dundee right after the match. He pleads for Tessa to come back to him and she isn't interested and he ends up superkicking her in the back of the head in a very uncomfortable moment.
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Jarrett and Travis are determined to make Devastation Inc. pay for throwing hot sauce in Jarrett's eyes, and beat the hell out of them for 15 minutes in a really terrific match. There are a lot of times when they go after each other's eyes as a call back. The first time I watched this, I liked it, but thought it was a little too one-sided to be a great match. But when I watched it here following the angle, it totally worked. One of the two or three best Texas matches of the year at worst. It's even more impressive considering that Falcone and Torres are barely decent in the ring so this was a total Jarrett/Travis performance.
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June: #1 - El Dandy vs Angel Azteca (EMLL 06/01/90) ***** #2 - Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW Grand Prix 06/17/90) ****1/2 #3 - Riki Choshu, Kantaro Hoshino, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Kensuke Sasaki & Shiro Koshinaka vs Animal Hamaguchi, Super Strong Machine, Tarzan Goto & Hiro Saitu & Masanobu Kurisu (NJPW 06/26/90) ****1/4 #4 - Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWF 06/21/90) ****1/4 #5 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW 06/08/90) **** #6 - Aja Kong, Grizzly Iwamoto & Bison Kimura vs Manami Toyota, Mika Takahashi & Kaoru Maeda (Hamada's UWF 06/04/90) **** #7 - Negro Casas vs Yoshinari Asai (Hamada's UWF 06/07/90) ***3/4 #8 - Gran Hamada, Perro Aguayo & Kendo vs El Signo, El Texano & Negro Navarro (Hamada's UWF 06/07/90) ***3/4 #9 - El Dandy & El Satanico vs Atlantis & Angel Azteca (EMLL 06/15/90) ***3/4 #10 - Jushin Liger vs Masaji Aoyagi (NJPW 06/12/90) ***3/4 #11 - Stan Hansen vs Steve Williams (AJPW 06/05/90) ***1/2 #12 - Espectrito & Piratita Morgan vs Mascarita Sagrada & Aguilita Solitaria (EMLL 06/22/90) ***1/2 #13 - Bull Power vs Otto Wanz (CWA 06/30/90) ***1/2 #14 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 06/30/90) ***1/2 #15 - Lightning Kid vs Jerry Lynn (PWA 06/90) ***1/2 #16 - Vader vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 06/12/90) ***1/2 #17 - El Hijo del Santo, Super Astro & Kendo vs Negro Casas, Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera (Hamada's UWF 06/04/90) ***1/4 #18 - Riki Choshu vs Animal Hamaguchi (NJPW 06/12/90) ***1/4 #19 - Dave Finlay vs Steve Wright (CWA 06/30/90) ***1/4 #20 - Perro Aguayo, Ringo Mendoza & Lizmark vs El Satanico, Sangre Chicana & Ken Timbs (EMLL 06/08/90) ***1/4 #21 - Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen (WWA 06/23/90) *** #22 - Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo (Hamada's UWF 06/01/90) #23 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs Terry Gordy (AJPW 06/05/90) #24 - El Hijo del Santo vs Fuerza Guerrera (Hamada's UWF 06/07/90) #25 - Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express (NWA Clash of the Champions XI 06/13/90) #26 - Owen Hart vs Keiji Muto (NJPW 06/30/90) #27 - Kerry Von Erich vs Matt Borne (USWA Dallas Sportatorium 06/01/90) #28 - Road Warriors vs Barry Windham & Arn Anderson (NWA World Championship Wrestling 06/02/90) #29 - Bill Dundee vs John Tatum (USWA Dallas Sportatorium 06/15/90) #30 - Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (USWA Dallas Sportatorium 06/01/90) #31 - Kerry Von Erich vs Matt Borne (USWA Dallas Sportatorium 06/15/90) #32 - Lex Luger vs Sid Vicious (NWA Clash of the Champions XI 06/13/90) Overall thoughts: I got a little sidetracked in June because it's holiday season, so it took me a little longer to complete, but June was the best month of 1990 so far, in terms of variety, but also in terms of quality. I'm pretty sure El Dandy vs Angel Azteca is my favorite match of all time at this moment, and it's the obvious highlight of the month and year (and possibly decade), but Toyota/Hotta was tremendous too, as was the New Japan 10-man tag. One thing I have to mention is the Lawler/Snowman series. It feels wrong to do a listing like this and not include anything from that feud, but it was so clipped and the one complete match that aired ended in four minutes, so I didn't feel like I should list it. But I still think it's the best feud of the year, with some really creative booking and unique matches. I'm glad to see Lawler turning as the month comes to a close, but it's sad what has happened to WCW. Not a single strong TV match in the month of June (and that's a month that had a Clash) but tons of angles based on race baiting. I'm hoping the Bash is as strong as I remember, and I'm hoping the TV quality picks up as the year comes to a close, but thus far, there has been an immediate decline under Ole's leadership.
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I liked the previous match better, but this is another wild one that's more territory-like and less indy-like than I would have expected. They end up brawling all over the building. Despite his size, Waltman had so much potential in wrestling, and he has had success without question, but he really could have accomplished so much more. I usually get behind any match that has the hot shot as a finish. The only match I had an exact date for from this series was 12/13/90. I am assuming that is the date for this one based on the snow talk, but I am not sure.
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Vader really is one of the greatest wrestlers who ever lived. This is lots of fun. Just a total slugfest between two superheavyweights, one of whom is a local hero. Wanz can't really bump, so all the build to big moves is for Vader to play pinball. The highlights are all the struggle over the vertical suplex, with the move finally getting a big pop, and Wanz doing the bodyslam on Vader. They stiff each other with clotheslines and great looking punches and I just really loved everything about this. The Vader knee injury, as Childs mentioned, is either a freak accident that they worked around, or a great storyline touch. I tend to think it was storyline since Wanz grabbed a hold, which would make this some really incredible selling from Vader. Real or not, it worked for me.
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It took me a while to get into this, but it was really good. Wright does some awesome athletic mat stuff, and Finlay threw some insane uppercuts. I wish the momentum shifts felt more consequential, but I think that's part of the style to which I have never gotten fully accustomed. There's not enough selling for my tastes.
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You can see Austin gaining confidence throughout this feud. They hype the mixed tag match on the 4th of July. Tons of S & M innuendo in this one. Jeanne shows a picture of herself with her "ex-boyfriend Sylvester Stallone" and mentions keeping the affair secret so Brigitte Nielsen wouldn't find out.
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They are really selling the idea that Flair vs Sting will have a winner and a loser. You know the Wrestle War and Capital Combat finishes were shitty when they have to do all this just to convince the audience that they're not going to get ripped off after two straight PPV main event finishes where they screwed fans out of a finish.
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Jim Herd announces that for Flair vs Sting, the Dudes With Attitudes will surround the ring. Ole Anderson, meanwhile, will be handcuffed to El Gigante. I remember being less excited about this coming up for Flair vs Sting, and wondering why the promotion didn't go to these lengths to give Luger a fair shot at the title.
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Gotta love how a promotion so much smaller than WCW is basically able to create a setup that's about on par with WCW production values. It makes me wonder why they never even tried to invest in looking major league until the Bischoff era. The action for Steamboat/Borne is really good, especially the strike battle. Steamboat secures the win, but injures his knee in the process, and Borne worsens the problem after the match. Steamboat/Fuller has Fuller doing some great work on a desperate Steamboat, as they are selling that Steamboat has suffered a major injury. Fuller picks up the win quickly when Steamboat's knee collapses. Lou Thesz is there to present the championship of course, but he insists on presenting it under protest. Steamboat is interviewed after the match and I wonder if he was always capable of talking like this. This is a seriously solid interview. If Steamboat's interview is solid, Fuller's is GREAT. I wish he could have wrestled in WCW. I may have been wrong about the 27-minute time because they officially announced the time as 1:57. But I think found results online that had 27 minutes if I recall correctly.
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Lawler takes exception to Snowman interfering and punches him in the face. Snowman finally runs in, giving Spinks a devastating technical loss. I think they've done the double turn now, even though the studio crowd still seems a little skeptical of Lawler. Lawler does his best promo in a while. This Monday night, there will be no referee in the ring, considering all of their problems with referees in the past. Lawler calls Snowman's entourage his Welfare Stooges.
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