Superstar Sleeze

Really good reaction show, I have no idea about the Double A line, but holy shit I was dying in my cubicle. I thought pretty much everything was pretty much spot on how I felt about the show. I was a bit higher on the Divas, but I am generally higher on Paige/Nikki than most and I genuinely think it is the feud of their year so far. I liked the Cena/Rusev Fast Lane match better because I thought they built to the Cena comeback better and I LOVED that Fast Lane finish. I am a bit lower on Lesnar/Reigns than most. I thought it was a tremendous, physical encounter. I thought the Brock beating was too severe for anyone to make a comeback. Rather than making Reigns look resilient, it felt forced and unnatural. Reigns gave one helluva performance and if he did not win people over last night then I do not know what the fuck people want because Roman Reigns was a badass. Loved the Rollins booking, made perfect sense, I am definitely higher on Rollins than most. I think he and Rusev are the only ones that work hard IN THE RING to get booed by selling vulnerability and shining up the babyfaces. I think Rollins will have a solid reign. I think this was a great Wrestlemania especially given the card they laid out. That being said I was mildly shocked people thought this was better than Wrestlemania 30. I am a lot higher on Bryan/HHH and I think that is clearly a level above the Brock/Reigns match, but even if people don't I would think that's a wash. The Wrestlemania 30 main event clusterfuck (in a good way) was an amazing feel good ending, which was definitely better than anything on 31 besides the main event in a wrestling quality way, but the Daniel Bryan finish puts it over the top for me. Looking back on the card, I guess what 31 has going for it over 20 is that everything was relatively short where the Taker/Brock and Cena/Wyatt went way too long. It is close, but I still give the nod to 30 for the excellence of Bryan/HHH and the Bryan narrative. Also, I am 99% my brother and I are going to Wrestlemania XXXII. Even the 0.00001% chance of Austin wrestling is enough to get me to go since I never saw Austin live.

Holy shit that was fucking awesome. I didn't give a shit about this show 48 hours ago, but Im all in now. It is Wrestlemania time, Muthafuckas!

Just picked up my brother from college, we had a good laugh about the most recent Stone Cold podcast where his memory family at every turn. Going to watch Madness, on pace to win two pools. Parents will be watching with us. My mom hates Brock and is totally behind Reigns. My Dad to be a dick to me is rooting hard for Rusev and was giving me shit on the tennis court. It is all in good fun. The family is pumped.

Good catch brutha that Jericho countered a move Enos had already hit! I totally missed that on my late night viewing.

WCW US Champion Sting vs Cactus Jack - WCW Power Hour 11/23/91 This is the period when Sting really did feel like the Franchise of WCW. From around this time to Great American Bash 1992, everything ran through the Stinger. He was feuding with Rude & Dangerous Alliance, Cactus & Abby and Luger then later Vader. It felt like he was a wanted man with all these heels looking to take out the hero of WCW. Very much like how every heel in the mid-80s was gunning for the Hulkster. While this was not reflected monetarily, rewatching Sting projects superstar more here than at anytime in his career. The Crow Sting angle leveraged the work here, but Sting did not really have to actively contributed. It was based on history and the actual angle rather than performer. Sting made his legacy his here. In a direct comparison to the more famous Beach Blast match, I prefer this one because you get your fill of sick Cactus bumps and you get Cactus proving that he actually some offense to go along with his nasty crusade to prove to the world that pro wrestling was very real. Sting looks like the man going toe-to-toe with this sado-masochistic madman. Cactus jumps him early and goes flying over the top rope when he tries for the Cactus Clothesline. Sting understands the severity of the situation that if he does not get nasty then he may not have much of a career ahead of him so he throws Cactus into the railing and suplexes him on a rubber trash barrel. I appreciated Cactus struggling by shoving Sting into the railing. In the Beach Blast, he was bit too eager to take these bumps, here he takes, but against his will from a kayfabe perspective. Sting has some fun with the trash barrell, but then he goes back to old habits and on a leapfrog he takes a headbutt to the groin. Don't try to wrestle him, Stinger. I think this is where Cactus shines the most here in his career up until this point because he shows he can kick some ass too. He hits a wicked legdrop and good heabutts. I loved the fight with the fan over the chair before he wallops the Stinger. It does get a little chinlocky because Cactus still has not developed his offensive arsenal. Sting missed a dropkick and Cactus hits him with the double arm DDT. The ref counts Sting down, but Sting is able to recover from Cactus' best shot. Ruh roh. Sting dumps Cactus to the floor, plancha and a suplex on the floor. Sting is FEELING IT! "Come here you!" he exclaims! Sting stops himself short on a missed Stinger Splash, but Cactus catches him off the top. WOW! Hotshot! Cactus hits the Cactus Elbow. Now he gets the mic and talks some shit that Sting should surrender now. Sting is not going to let down the little Stingers and himself. Cactus ends up hitting the ropes with a steel chair and it ricochets into his head, which looks really nice. Sting fires back on him at him on the apron and he falls off the apron smacking the back of his head on the concrete. Fucking eh Mick! Cactus is out fucking cold and Sting wraps him in the Scorpion Deathlock to win the match. Sting looked like a Superhero in this match taking Cactus' best shots and he just kept coming. I loved the cutoff at the Stinger Splash into the hotshot. You really Sting was going to run through him, but not so fast that leads to a really nasty finish stretch with Sting making another comeback and winning the match. Definitely a match that enhanced the presence of Sting as The Man and cemented that Cactus would be taken seriously during this run in WCW. ****

Cousin Butch is fan-fucking-tastic! My favorite HOF speech ever

Mad USA is fucking killing it! Awesome speech so far

LarryLand is clearly enclosed by a Giant Row of Hedges! Oh lots of babes, but Marsye was the number one and Miz is lucky one bastard.

Thank God for the hot blonde bombshell, who was super into the show (pretty sure it was NOT Foley's daughter, but it could have been) on the hard camera for this past RAW because I don't think I could have made it through without her. Good thing, they didn't move her for upstaging all the action or make her put on a mask. Paige/Nikki was the best thing about the show, but that's like saying the Sun will come up tomorrow. They had a rough start, but the finish sequence was super hot and the nearfalls actually built to an interesting climax, men take notes on how it is done. Would have liked a better setup for Nikki's Emerald Elbow, but that is nitpicky. Bryan/ZIggler was actually pretty good. I liked the build to the spots and Ziggler actually felt competitive through the match. It had a more logical progression than most modern WWE matches with the matwork early. Things get chippy in the corner -> spots start revving up, but they are not always hitting them because the other guy is still fresh. It was back and forth in a way that showcased a struggle rather than offensive exhibition. ZIggler winning with a quick ZIg Zag was refreshing. The rest was forgettable.

Chris Jericho vs Mike Enos - WCW Nitro 9/23/96 This is a cult favorite WCW Nitro match from the early days when random midcard wrestlers were just thrown together and gold was born. Enos gives a really fun and engaging heel beatdown on Jericho. He just throws his body at Jericho with reckless abandon and is just mean & nasty the whole time. The climax is clearly the suplex onto the steel steps, which needs to be seen to appreciated for its brutality. It was an interesting strategy to let Jericho shine by taking a licking and keep on ticking as opposed to kicking ass as Enos was a lower mid-carder and Jericho had just debuted against Benoit. Jericho is very good at selling at this beating Jericho looked resilient, but I don't think it paid off and not much did with Jericho until found that amazing conspiracy victim character. Jericho's comeback is rough and tumble, but lacks a spark. The counter to the Frankensteiner with a SuperBomb was neat. Enos looks for the powerslam, but Jericho shifts his weight for the victory. A bit too flukey against a lower micarder for my taste. Booking aside this is a fun, little match where you get a cool Enos offensive power display and some good Jericho selling, but does not have much else to support it. This is more damning of Jericho's WCW run that this probably in his top 5 WCW matches, but still a fun match to check out and wonder what was to be if The Mauler got a push. ***

Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 3/1/99 I really liked aspects of the commentary in this match. My favorite part was Tony and Bobby putting over how dangerous and difficult it is to be a pro wrestler. I think commentators should bring this up once a show to remind me us of the risks these men and women take to entertain us. I think it will build more respect and admiration for wrestlers and actually increase the heat for spots that have become passe like taking a bump to outside the ring. Definitely not as good as the Owen Hart Tribute match, but another great TV bout that just littered WCW around this time. What kept this from reaching all-time great status was Bret's cold performance. I first noticed this reviewing Hart Foundation matches is that Bret can come across as very mechanical and disinterested in the ring. He may be one of the most naturally gifted wrestlers to ever lace up the boots and I think the actual execution of wrestling was too easy for him. I wish he would challenge himself to be a better wrestler by being more engaged. Technically, this was a perfect performance. He performed his spots correct. He laid it out appropriately using heel tactics like eyerakes, choking, testicular violence and the ropes to set up his high impact moves: suplexes, piledriver, the Five Moves of Doom. It is hard to put it all on Hart because Benoit's performance was unusually tepid. The one great thing about Benoit, which is also his downfall is that he makes everybody wrestle his match and drags them out of their comfort zone. He is just an intense, always moving forward, bring the fight to you kinda wrestler that every match tends to have heat just because he is always struggling. I don't know if he was deferring to The Hitman out of reverence, but he basically just played ragdoll to Bret's great offense. You get some good selling here and there, but it was not continuous. I will say once Benoit started roaring back the match started to generate heat. The tease of the Crossface as a reverse out of the Sharpshooter got a huge reaction and was the coolest spot in the match. Benoit's comeback proper generated a good buzz with his usual wicked chops and intense strikes and suplexes. He can not immediately capitalize on the Diving Headbutt. Bret tries to mount a comeback. They both take a nasty spill over the top rope that looked like Bret was inches of landing right on the top of his head. The tag team champions, Curt Hennig & Barry Windham, attack Benoit on the outside and roll him in. Hart applies the Sharpshooter with Benoit in the ropes and won't let go. The ref disqualifies him and the beatdown commences. Malenko comes out and a similar fate awaits him. The crowd is left with their dicks in their hand when Flair does not make the save. It is a very good match that was given a good amount of time to develop, but nothing terribly essential to see. ***

I have been posting blogs, but I am not liking how the matches are arranged so until I get them in a final form I will be holding off on some. Here is a look at Starrcade 1996, which is a remarkably consistent PPV. Every match is at the very least good, but not match is great, which is why I understand it is not discussed more as an all-time great show. In terms of consistency it is hard to beat. It is interesting also that every match seemed to start in a pretty hot direction, but one way or another they did not follow it to a logical conclusion. It was almost like they all were restraining themselves from going balls out. Well except the main event, which I think cut such a strong pace that Hogan and Piper actually blew up by the time of the finish run. I thought the best match was Luger vs Giant, which worked a smart, heated Clash of the Titans match. They built to Luger taking The Giant off his feet tremendously, which earned them a huge pop and Sting actually added a lot of drama in how he interfered in the match. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/03/finish-what-ya-started-wcw-starrcade.html

WCW World Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman vs Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko - WCW Saturday Night 4/17/99 When did they move Saturday Night to an actual live arena? I miss that ugly fucking stage. I liked this even better than their Nitro match. It really benefited from the Horsemen being full on heels so Benoit and Malenko focused on kicking ass rather than MOVEZ~! and the crowd was really into letting us know that the Horsemen suck. I love Benoit mocking those chants while the chopping the shit out of Kidman in the corner. Rey and Kidman starting the match off hot with planchas was great would have loved to see this get expanded upon, but going right into heat segment given the match length was the right approach. Benoit was great in this combining wicked offense with heel taunting (snot blow, mocking fans, throwing him to the outside). Malenko was serviceable. Good shit using Double A on the outside. Kidman really peppers in his hope spots and there is enough heel bullshit that it comes off organic as he is building his comeback. Hot tag to Rey who looks great and the crowds loves him. Loved the Latino Frankensteiner (TM Michael Buffer). He calls for a Kidman Shooting Star Press, but Double A robs us of that and Raven and Saturn join the fracas. A really heated, fundamentals-based tag team match that was all action for ten minutes. ***1/2

Gorgeous George vs Lil' Naitch - WCW Slamboree 1999 I am legitimately shocked this did not make the 1999 yearbook. This is one of my all-time favorite comedy matches and I enjoyed the most perhaps last night. Gorgeous George actually is pretty athletic, coordinated, willing to work a crowd and tried pretty damn hard. If she came along now, given that she would be undersized compared to a Paige or Charlotte, I could see her a very good underdog babyface. She is certainly better than AJ at things like running so I can't see why she would not do well. Charles Robinson is fucking awesome in this role. As Ric Flair's mini-me, telling Gorgeous George he was going to buy her a pack of gum to defeat her because we all know bimbos can't walk and chew gum at the same time was great and then saying he was going to take her Space Mountain was hilarious. Macho Man looked like he was ready to laugh and Gorgeous George sold it so well. The actual match itself is the greatest possible RIc Flair tribute/parody matches in history. The hollering from the wristlocks immediately lets you know where they are going. Robinson/George work more holds in this match than pretty much any wrestlers do now and it is not bad at all. George and Robinson put together a really nice snapmare. Robinson decks Molly Holly and then bodyslams her on the floor. Savage is hilarious letting people know she is hurt. Robinson does the Flair shoving the ref spot. Oh my God, Robinson's strut is so bad it is hilarious. Robinson with lots of choking and we trade chops in the corner. Flair Flip! Lil Naitch ducks the clothesline, up top and slammed down. Flair Flop! The Real Nature Boy sells this huge! Asya grabs a hold of Gorgeous George and works the leg. Now we go to school, awesome kneecrusher and Figure-4. Great selling in the figure-4 by both of them! George reverses the pressure here come the big guns. Savage slams Robinson and Gorgeous George hits a middle rope elbow. Robinson was hilarious throughout the match and Gorgeous George showed great effort. Awesome comedy match. ***

The opening video package was hilarious. Poor DDP he certainly tried, but Kevin Nash was just too big of a load for him to carry. Nash's standard offense just seems so rote. Nash just never kicks ass. DDP working the legs was not the right route for this match or this crowd. Savage interferes and ref calls for DQ. Bischoff says this match must have a winner. The finish stretch has no heat and is pretty lame. If Kevin Nash had a match with Roddy Piper in this time period, I think the worst match in wrestling history would have been born.

This was a total clusterfuck watching it in full. Aimless wandering, disjointed, spots for the sake of spots. I don't know how many times I just watched Malenko kinda stroll around the ring. Benoit/Malenko playing king of the mountain was interesting but did not last long enough not have a good enough babyface in peril in the form of Saturn. Rey by far was the best in this match and pretty much the only one who tried to put together spots that would pop the crowd rather than just hit a random suplex. The one on one tag matches have been fun spotfests, but this is the epitome of a shitty, boring workrate spotfest.

Sting vs Goldberg - WCW Slamboree 1999 I would not go out of your way to watch the full match, but it is so short, it is not horrible. They blow a spot early, but the idea is to go tit for tat early. Goldberg hits a big power move and sends Sting out. Sting hits a big power move and sends Goldberg. Goldberg gets a submission hold then Sting gets a submission. Once Sting starts working over the leg it gets pretty interesting. It tied in nicely to DDP having attacked the leg on Nitro and he had a huge brace on it. You see with Goldberg some really good selling and when he goes for his usual kill (Spear) he is tentative and this allows Sting to avoid it and Goldberg collapses into the turnbuckles. Sting follows up with a pair of Stinger Splashes and on the third BOOM! SPEAR! It was the spot of the PPV no doubt and crowd reacted huge. They did not follow up. Instead Bret Hart and The Steiners came out for no reason attack both men. I can see with two top babyfaces why they needed the schmoz, but they could have let it build more. Decent stuff.

I could have sworn I have seen this. Oh right it is a fancam. I see what you mean that is available, but not televised. My bad.

Is it really a de-push? Was Rock in Rock n Sock Connection a de-push? I think it is a healthy use of your tag team division. They are the WORLD tag team champions so theoretically it should be the second most important title. At GAB, it was the second biggest program (Flair/Triad vs Piper/Young Guys) and third most important match. At BATB, it is still apart of the second biggest program and the second most important match. At Road Wild, he is against Benoit for the US Title in the second or third biggest match (Savage/Rodman?). It may feel like a de-push because WCW sucked out loud at this point and nothing feels BIG, but in the landscape he was moving from the number one to number two position, which is not horrible. In fact, DDP is very shrewd removing himself from the Savage/Nash/Sting Hummer debacle and instead having the best matches on the card with Benoit & Co. leaves him smelling like a rose if he was to move back up the card. When it looked like he would move up with Sting/Luger in September (note Savage/Nash are gone after the world's shittiest angle) he looked like a genius, but Russo fucked everything. In an ideal WCW, DDP would have been involved in the main event scene longer and Lord knows he earned it. I don't see it as a de-push rather a means to keep DDP hot in #2 story and elevate your tag titles, giving the rub to Benoit & Bagwell. It really was not bad booking short-term. It was just never seen to an end because Russo.

It is 1999 WCW so not very long. Flair vs DDP are feuding by September. Even though the yearbook does not capture Thunder keeps rolling the following week with a Tag Title match between the Triad vs Benoit/Saturn. For three consecutive weeks in the middle of 1999, it feels like Thunder is the best wrestling show on American TV. So weird and so WCW!

Chris Benoit vs Ric Flair - WCW Thunder 6/3/99 I have been singing the praises of DDP in recent months, but in the back of my head I have known there was one challenger to his "Best in America" throne in this time period and that is Chris Benoit. Where DDP faltered, Benoit managed to pull out a very good match from Flair and showcase him at his best since 1998. The match was set up the week before when Benoit decided to challenge Flair's ruling to give the Triad the tag title shot instead of Benoit & Malenko. Benoit and DDP rocked it last week and after Benoit looked poised to win Bam Bam & Flair put the boots to Benoit. What helps this most is that Benoit is a strong definitive face for heel Flair to play off. Benoit and Flair started off firing chopping each other. Benoit goes with the old standby of applying the figure-4 to Flair and continues to work the leg. Flair uses the eye poke to take advantage, but still sells the leg. Flair leverages Asya outside to interfere on his behalf. Benoit is at his bets here chopping through Flair's offense or rattling off a snap suplex. Flair's big push is the kneecrusher/figure-4 combo. Benoit reverses the pressure. The match, commentary and the arena make Benoit seem like a big deal and a babyface on the rise. Flair goes for the bridge/backslide spot which we have not seen from him in awhile. Benoit hits a clothesline and a diving headbutt. This time Flair's new buddy, DDP saves. Not as much heat as the DDP match and some disjointed moment, but the Benoit push continues. But if a push happens on Thunder, is it really happening? ***1/2

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Ric Flair - WCW Nitro 5/3/99 The April WCW renaissance is over. Poor Ric Flair not even DDP could seemingly get a good match out of him at this point. The Charlotte crowd wanted to cheer Flair throughout this match, but he just did not give it to him. It was a weird match on paper as heel vs heel with a heel ref. Flair just could not muster any real babyface offense until the end of the match. It was filled with his usual bumping around and DDP looked fine with great fire behind his moves, but Flair just did not seem to have much in the tank. He can still move around just fine, but there was no flow to this match at all. DDP using tape to choke Flair and the figure-4 got some heat. Flair finally started battling back with some real hard chops and a double axehandle, but then Savage and Gorgeous George show up. It is Gorgeous George that goes after Flair so his natural reaction is to cop a feel. DDP hits him with some knuckledusters. Flair/Savage goes nowhere and neither does the Page/Savage partnership. What a mess!

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Goldberg - WCW Nitro 4/19/99 This is right up my alley and I loved it! Until the finish, I thought this was poised to be the best WCW match of the year up until this point (it would have been moot because Sting/DDP was next week). DDP and Goldberg both shove down the ref at the outset. It sets the tone. It is mano y mano. The early power spots are just HUGE! The crowd went nuts for that shoulder tackle. I loved how raw and organic DDP's movements were: the short-arm tackles into a quick headlock, on the takedown immediately with the single leg pick up that actually looked good. I loved how he was bumping and moving. There was a stumble to it that made it feel out of control. The Spear right at the beginning popped me right out of my seat. DDP using a heel tactic by grabbing the tights was nice, but the lack of selling was a bit disappointing. Goldberg's kickout of the belly to belly was so gritty. I loved DDP trying to ground Goldberg only to be thrown around some more. DDP getting increasingly desperate was awesome. He hurls his body at Goldberg twice with reckless abandon hoping to make some sort of dent in this monster. Goldberg just keeps coming at him. The DDP and Goldberg stareoff in the respective corners was electric. DDP goads Goldberg to come at him and Goldberg eats turbuckles. DIAMOND CUTTER! I am losing my shit! 1-2-NO! WOW! DDP hit Goldberg with his best shot and all he has left is the knuckledusters. Goldberg spears the ref and DDP. DDP clocks him with the foreign object and looks to take out Goldberg like he did Hogan by targetting the leg. Big Sexy looks ridiculous running DDP off and then cradling Goldberg's head. It is so fucking ridiculous that Nash lost to Goldberg at the last PPV, but is getting the Slamboree title shot. DDP creams both with the championship belt. It was a great clash of the titans match, but without a finish just does not have enough juice to get to that next level. Sets the stage perfectly for Sting's title shot against the newly minted heel Diamond Dallas Page next week. ***1/2

So was Big Sexy...