Loss
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Everything posted by Loss
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This match takes a few minutes to really get going, and then a restart is needed when the ropes slip, and Pierroth ends up taking a nasty accidental fall on the floor. They improvise by brawling around the ringside area. The match suffers a little bit because the rudos are outnumbered, so the dynamic is off. Who is going to have sympathy for Fuerza Guerrera? I laugh that Fuerza isn't hitting the ropes for shit after what happened to Pierroth, while Estrada has no problems standing on them, and bumping all over the place. Even if that was Fuerza's real reaction, it fits him perfectly. Not as good of a match as I remembered, but I'm still glad it made the yearbook, and there is way better EMLL to come. -
The line on Greg has always been that his best stuff was in the late 70s, which we'll probably never see. I think he was solid in the 80s too, and the Valentine/Santana feud has gotten lots of praise as one of the best in-ring feuds of the decade.
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There's a real snap and conviction behind everything Perro does. You watch him work and get why he's such a big star. His strikes look brutal. Hamada looks excellent too, and I dig the high flying vs ground attack style they're working here. A REF BUMP? IN A LUCHA LIBRE JAPANESE PROMOTION? Perro takes the first fall because of Hamada getting DQd for accidentally dropkicking the referee. Well, that was a lousy finish. Perro completely dominates the second fall and pins Hamada after a double stomp from the top rope. Perro is still attacking him after the match and I don't know why. He was the aggressor almost the entire match. This was very disappointing, in spite of some good stuff. That first fall finish just killed this. Still, I want to see the rematch in June.
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February: #1 - Ric Flair vs Lex Luger (NWA Wrestle War 02/25/90) ****1/2 #2 - Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express (NWA Wrestle War 02/25/90) ****1/2 #3 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF 02/27/90) ****1/4 #4 - Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF 02/09/90) **** #5 - Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask vs Riki Choshu & George Takano (NJPW/AJPW Tokyo Dome 02/10/90) ***3/4 #6 - Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Rock & Roll Express (NWA Main Event 02/18/90) ***3/4 #7 - Ric Flair vs Tom Zenk (NWA Power Hour 02/02/90) ***1/2 #8 - Larry Zbyszko vs Masa Saito (NJPW/AJPW Tokyo Dome 02/10/90) ***1/2 #9 - Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman (NWA World Championship Wrestling 02/17/90) ***1/2 #10 - Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido (NJPW/AJPW Tokyo Dome 02/10/90) ***1/2 #11 - Vader vs Stan Hansen (NJPW/AJPW Tokyo Dome 02/10/90) *** #12 - Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express (NWA World Wide Wrestling 02/10/90) *** #13 - Jerry Lawler & Billy Joe Travis vs Jeff Jarrett & Bill Dundee (USWA Dallas Sportatorium 02/02/90) #14 - Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage (WWF Main Event 02/23/90) #15 - Midnight Express vs Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk (NWA World Wide Wrestling 02/17/90) #16 - Atsushi Onita vs Masanobu Kurisu (FMW 02/12/90) #17 - Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson vs Buzz Sawyer, Dragon Master & Great Muta (NWA Clash of the Champions X 02/06/90) #18 - Jake Roberts vs Ted DiBiase (WWF Superstars 02/03/90) #19 - Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Challenge 02/11/90) Overall thoughts: I'm still liking 1990 quite a bit!
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Beautiful wrestling match. Takada is a bull, and Fujiwara gets in a few moments of hope, but Takada is just too good and keeps dominating. The story of the match, with Fujiwara as sympathetic and somehow accomplishing the impossible, is what drew me in. But even on a surface level, just the mat exchanges are awesome. The post-match celebration is one for the ages, with the crowd coming unglued, and Fujiwara seeming more shocked than anyone that he brought victory home.
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Wow. So Flair had some terrific performances after this, but this is to me the last time we truly saw Ric Flair as The Man, in the way I think of him as The Man. A lot has been written the last few years about Luger having an undeserved bad rep. And it's true. And Luger is good here, aside from being very clearly limited offensively and completely blowing a figure four attempt. But this match isn't about Luger and his performance. This is Flair carrying Luger to what has been the best match of the year to this point. The MX/Rock & Rolls match didn't keep that spot for very long at all. This match isn't without its flaws. Flair brilliantly works Luger's arm over in the early stages and within two minutes, it's like it never happened. The finish - while needed to protect the Flair/Luger match on the road - was an extreme copout that I think left people feeling ripped off when doing a title change because of a last minute main event switch would have been a guaranteed way to send fans home happy. So really, there's no reason for this match to be good. The setting is wrong. Flair had momentum as a babyface and is now a heel. Luger had momentum as a heel and is now a babyface. Both guys were big enough stars that they were going to get a reaction in whatever role they were placed in. But both were miscast. All of that said, Flair's performance overcomes all of those things. This is better than any match Flair ever had with Sting by a country mile. He does such a great job of putting Luger over in nearly every sequence they work. This is about Luger's power versus Flair's resourcefulness, and it's a titanic struggle. It's interesting to see how Flair works with more complete wrestlers like Bobby Eaton and Brian Pillman, then watch him switch it up and see what he does with Luger. I think more than any series he ever had, Flair/Luger really shows what's great about Ric Flair. They aren't his very best matches ever, but they are always good to great, and he always delivers a master performance that elevates the match and makes Luger look good, despite Luger being booked horribly and never being given the big win he should have gotten. Luger at this point was very good in the ring and I don't mean to downplay his role in this at all. But this is the swan song of the Ric Flair that was my favorite wrestler as a kid, so it's always had a special spot for me.
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The MOTY at this point. Just a fantastic match. There are so many things that were so good about this, from Cornette nearly getting into a fist fight with the referee, to the MX infighting after an accidental bump, to the way Morton was worked over as Face in Peril. Such a near-perfect combination of psychology and top-notch action. I've always really loved this match. Watching it again just elevated it even more for me. Worth more of a write-up than I'm giving it at the moment.
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Flair, Arn and Ole show up as Luger makes quick work of Rick Fargo. The Horsemen surround the ring and Luger seems ready for the challenge. The Steiners come out to back him up, and the Horsemen back off. Good segment. It was the easy way out, but the Luger turn did seem to take immediately, at least in terms of making him a cheered babyface.
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Lawler runs out, spits water in Destroyer's face and pummels him. Water make Jerry Lawler very angry. He throws him into a studio ladder and then finishes the job. It was supposed to be a Chris Champion squash that Lawler took over. If you like angry Lawler, this is the episode to check out.
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Lawler takes out his frustrations on young Ben Jordan in a very entertaining squash. Chris Champion comes out in an attempt to calm Lawler down. Champion immediately tells him he better get out of here before he feels the brunt of Lawler's anger. He doesn't oblige and he gets attacked too, with Lawler giving him a piledriver and a DDT on the studio floor. And for good measure, he throws the rest of his soda on him, and turns the announce table over on him, tears it apart and starts jumping up and down on him! He's STILL not satisfied, so now he's smashing him with various pieces of the board and gives him another DDT on the board! Finally, the locker room clears and Lawler bails. Wow.
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We start off with Robert Fuller cutting a typically great promo, this time on the Southern Rockers. Brian Lee tells Robert Fuller to come down, and points out that's one of the best teams they have ever faced. Fuller isn't happy with that, and tears into Lee. They end up getting in an argument, which turns into a shoving match. Fuller goads him into an apology, then punches the HELL out of him (no way that was worked) before impaling him on the floor and otherwise beating him to a pulp. Don't piss off Robert Fuller. The Stud Stable is no more. Eddie Marlin tries to break things up and Fuller shoves him to the ground. Fuller is The Man. Next, Kerry Von Erich makes an appearance in the Memphis studio. Lawler calls him "Brain Damage" and points out that he's looking at the wrong camera. Anyway, Kerry has a present for Lawler from Jimmy Valiant and leaves the ringside area briefly, only to return and dump a bucket of water on Lawler's head. Lawler isn't happy at all. Jimmy Valiant then calls the studio to ask if Lawler is cool, which cracks everyone up. Lawler grabs the phone and cuts a scathing promo on him, even mentioning that Valiant cost him the NWA title against Jerry Lawler years ago. Earlier, Lawler sent Nate to McDonald's to pick up some food for him, and sadly for him, this happens to be the time when he returns when the Big Mac and fries that Lawler requested. Lawler ends up throwing the food on him and running him out of the studio. We close things out with a Jimmy Valiant music video. I love Memphis!
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Nate is Jerry Lawler's servant. He brings Lawler a Coke in the can. Lawler tells him he never drinks Coke out of the can and to find him a glass. Nate promises to get one and runs along. He comes back with a glass later in the show. Doesn't sound thrilling I know, but it's Lawler doing stuff, and it leads to something.
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I like Jake and Boss Man as a tandem. Boss Man has enough of Brother Love's mouth and handcuffs him to the railing, then drags him to the ring and gives him his finisher before dropping a ball and chain on him, which is a little excessive for a harmless sleazebag televangelist. Bruce Pritchard played this gimmick like a champ, whether you love or hate it.
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Last few minutes. Compare the heat of this to Hogan/Savage if you want to see if Warrior is quite ready to replace Hogan on top. I realize Bravo isn't Randy Savage, but the point still stands. Warrior gets the pin and Earthquake and Bravo are doubleteaming Warrior when Hogan finally makes the save. Warrior isn't happy to see Hogan out, but he must not realize that when babyfaces are about to have a match in the WWF, they spend a few weeks before it saving each other from heel beatdowns and then getting in arguments. Later in the show, we get closing comments from both Hogan and Warrior. Warrior promos are just brutal to me. I can't even enjoy them in an ironic way, but I'm trying.
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This was supposed to be Mike Tyson as the referee, but he lost to James Buster Douglas right before this, so they made a last-minute switch. Savage's pre-match promo is epic. You need to check it out. Talk of tracing Mike Tyson's family tree, and mentioning that he was happy with the change because he was worried about Tyson bias. Hogan refers to himself as chosen to lead the masses to higher ground, which is frightening. Of course Sherri has to take a nice bump before Douglas throws her out for interfering liberally. Savage looks fantastic here and carries Hogan to a good match. Douglas counts the fall after the ref stumbles, and Savage takes exception to the fast count. He eventually slaps Douglas in the face and then starts shadow boxing before Hogan finally pushes him into a right hook. Savage is AMAZING in carrying all of this. Just amazing.
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Last few minutes of a match from the Dallas Sportatorium. We didn't have the full match unfortunately. Great stuff with Lawler throwing punches then mocking Dundee's selling, only for Dundee to finally deck him. There's a ref bump before Lawler gets the win and Gaylord interferes to hit Dundee, and this is really a match I wish we had in full. Lawler gets in a few potshots toward the crowd as a parting gift.