WingedEagle
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Everything posted by WingedEagle
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Dustin not there for a match with Windham, who calls him out. Steamboat is out to confront Windham and they both take up chairs. Then Dustin is in from behind and starts brawling with Windham while Steamboat & Douglas out watching. Hot, brief action while Rhodes was there. Should've built to a series of PPV matches. -
A fly is crawling on Rude's jacket. Talks about being #1 contender as US Champion for a year and finally getting his shot at the title. Breaks out an x-ray of a damaged shoulder that Simmons has been hiding. Good in theory but Simmons has been booked so poorly as champion, and really hasn't been built that strongly through angles so its tough to get too excited by it at this point. Says he'll give Vader a shot at the title when he wins it. That would've been interesting.
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Lawler promo, with clips of Koko winning USWA title with help from Bert Prentice and Mike Samples. Then a Koko interview saying he won't give Lawler a title shot and he'll have to come to NY/NJ/Boston arenas to come get it because he's bringing the title to the WWF. Fun to see them in these roles, though I still wonder how they can try to paint Koko as champion in 1992.
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Hart is out for a boring promo, which Heenan thankfully interrupts and then brings out Flair and both of them make this segment. They're promoting an upcoming Flair title shot and Ramon's at the Rumble which seems like a nice long build. Razor & Flair jump Hart, then Perfect out for save. Nothing too exciting and didn't seem to ever result in a big tag match.
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Like Pete, I saw Hase controlling this throughout and fully expected Chono to pull off the win at the end. Hell of a pleasant surprise to see Hase's dominance rewarded. He brought quite a bit here. A UFCish spot early where he basically invited Chono into his guard. He goes aggressive on the outside hot shotting Chono on the railing. He then goes to work with a ton of big moves including piledrivers on what had to have been a pretty tender neck for Chono. Hase added a nice wrinkle avoiding the STF a second time by keeping his head down to prevent Chono from locking it in. A series of uranages and northern lights gets him the win. The crowd was rightfully pretty hot here. Have to say that Hase has been one of the more surprising wrestlers on the set. Maybe its misplaced expectations, but I generally go into his matches expecting one of Ricky Steamboat's performances when he isn't wrestling with fire -- functionally solid in every regard, but nothing that gets you particularly invested in the match. Between the Vader/Bigelow tag, the Choshu tag, the Sasaki match and this one, its been a pretty great year for Hase. Never really disappointing other than the Steiners match and we can guess why that didn't work. ***3/4
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How great is it it to see a new guy get the rocket strapped to their back? Arguably my favorite thing when it happens.
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What's the case for the Steiners? Don't think I see it in work, drawing or influence over any significant period.
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Initially I thought you could look at how subscriptions jump in a given month or period, but if we're assuming once someone scubscribes they stay for a while that will have its flaws as well once its base is (hopefully) established.
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After listening to Dusty on Austin's podcast today, I'd say start in '85 before the hard times promo and go from there.
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I bet they all know who Hulk Hogan is though. Sure. People are idiots. Some moreso than others. Which helps explain why WWE is only able to command certain advertising dollars despite having higher ratings than most cable programming.
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To say nothing of shareholders once they try to put that cat back in the bag.
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Meltzer said he'll be a guest on an upcoming pod. Really looking forward to that.
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I thought Orihara was great here, showing good fire and hitting all the right notes in his role in the WAR/NJ feud. This made me want to see him have a greater role in the division. His time with Kanemoto here really stood out -- stiff, hateful and feels like a junior match with a purpose rather than a spotfest. I notice Samurai is in Liger & Kanemoto's corner -- did he turn face here for WAR feud? Then comes the dive train with Orihara's moonsault to floor, followed by a Liger dive on him & power bomb to the floor, before Dragon pins Kanemoto. Great match. Loved the announcer next to Saito wearing a Harvard sweatshirt. ****
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Heenan introduces Jerry "the King" Lawler with a throne. I know it was a heavy character, but they pushed him pretty hard for a territorial star. All I knew about him at this point was what I'd read in PWI, and they actually had me thinking he was just a washed up announcer by the time the Hart feud got going.
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Good job highlighting the 2 big matches at Starrcade. Vader & Sting always great together, as Vader bumps and sells so well while not looking like a joke, and his power offense always went over well on Sting. I thought Simmons looked good on his hot tag here after Sting sold the back for a while. Its a shame we didn't get to see Rude really go over as a #1 for a bit. I assume the plan was still for Vader to get the belt even if Rude was healthy? ***
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Promoting Christmas Chaos with Bodies & Cornette vs. RNR in handicap match. Studd Stable out as Armstrong set up a match b/w them & Bodies, and Cornette wants to put that off now. Studd Stable wants to have it as #1 contenders match. Fuller's facials throughout this are great. Call me crazy but I'm more eager to see Fuller & Golden get involved in TV than another Cornette promo.
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It sounds like I may have enjoyed this more than most. Akiyama gets his moments to shine, often aided by Taue being his typical self and stepping in when necessary to land a hand (or foot). You've got Kawada tagging in to brutalize Akiyama and staring down Taue before doing so. It felt similar to the joshi tag a couple days earlier with the youngster teaming with a star against a more established team. Really great big match debut for Akiyama as they even let Taue save him on the first tiger driver before a second put him away. ***3/4
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Fukuoka being worked over by the AJW team here is the focus and she does a great job taking a beating while trying to hang in. JWP's style is so distinct from the AJW crew as its stiffer, more mat and bodypart focused, with less emphasis on continual highspots. When they mesh like this it really is great. Fukuoka comes back a bit on Takako which gives Oz a chance to come in and wreck havoc. Loved the somersault dive with a stiff kick to Takako's face. Hotta & Takako work very effectively as heels on JWP's show with great antics and cheap shots. The end got a little spotty and lost some coherence but finished nicely. Fukuoka rightfully ate the pin, but she looked to have a ton of potential here and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in '93. ***3/4