dawho5
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Everything posted by dawho5
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I really, really wanted to like the matwork in the opening part of the match. I actually did like the really awkward, between-submissions positions both guys got stuck in a couple of times. Once Mutoh took charge I thought it was too little Chono for a long, long time. And the thing that really got to me about it didn't hit until after a bunch of Mutoh nearfalls that the crowd just wasn't even beginning to care about. Once Mutoh misses the moonsault and Chono grabs the STF the crowd is alive for the first time since the opening sequence. And Chono had barely gotten offense in the preceding 8 minutes of the match. Was the crowd hip to Mutoh not winning this match all along? Were they not into his offense? I thought he had a lot of cool offense and a good amount of it focused on the neck, which Chono sold like a champ. For whatever reason I didn't find it as compelling as I thought I should have. Then more Mutoh nearfalls and more crowd not buying it and Chono makes his comeback before that goofy Yakuza kick-dropkick thing. At best you get 2 or 3 repetitions before one guy catches on and punishes what he knows is coming for all he's worth. Instead it wiped out pretty much the entire match that came before it. Chono kept getting up just a little quicker than Mutoh, showing more resilience I imagine, but he had taken the lion's share of the damage leading up to it and hadn't worn Mutoh down much at all. If the first two-thirds was uninspiring for reasons I don't understand, I can at least put into words why I didn't like the finish. -
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I wouldn't say this was a bad match. I'd also not put it above "good" which seems like less than you'd expect from these 2. What I liked: Rude's selling was top-notch. Hash brought some really great kicks to the match for sure. I did like Rude staying true to who he was at the time. I know it's in NJPW, but too many changes and it doesn't make sense. What I didn't like: This is a criticism I have of many NJ juniors matches of the later 90s and I wonder if it just isn't lazy booking on somebody's part. Going to the top way too often without any real good reason killed this match more than any camel clutches Rude could do. Rude's offense did not hold up next to Hash's. He needed to work a little stiffer. After that first third of the match up to the finish nothing had much consequence for more than about 30 seconds. I hadn't thought of this watching the match, but Loss may have a point with the bit about both guys used to being in charge.
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As TV matches go, this is pretty amazing. Watts, for all his faults and prejudices as a booker, knew how to get the crowd worked up and it's nice to see a guy like Simmons at least get this moment. Regardless of the run he follows this with, I can't imagine he has ever forgotten that match or the post-match. The promo was perfect for what it was supposed to be too.
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I liked the way the teams used the stip, thought it was a smart way of working a unique match style. I did enjoy the straight tag at the end more though, although I do wish we had seen Davis get busted open. I did like how the babyfaces would go at one another with technical wrestling when faced off but the heels couldn't handle it. Added extra flavor to the match. I would guess Davis/Dynamite were protected as much because of the lack of decent babyface workers as anything else.
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Eddie and Doug did great to kick things off and we get some great nostalgia for the Memphis fans. That's one thing I think the USWA did really well was give the fans enough of a taste of the old Memphis territory to keep them coming back. It's doubtful they could have gone national even with Lawler around, but they were always in business in their home base.
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The part of this that had me popping was the tribute to Dave Brown. Along with Lance Russel one of my top 3 wrestling announcers of all time. 33 years later, congrats to Dave Brown on 25 years! You could see that Jerry was pretty happy about paying tribute to Dave too, and why wouldn't he be. He grew up watching the guy! The more traditional tag threw me a little. Since when did the Moondogs have that kind of self-control?
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I thought Warrior's part at the end about paying any price for the WWF title was really good. It put over the title as the end-all, be-all. Not sure I would trust Flair on much at this point. Helen doesn't like the Hart family being split and all the tension. Seems very natural as a concerned mom.
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I thought the psychology of the match was solid enough with the cycle of beat on opponent leading to try to throw into the fire, then back to beating on the opponent. I liked the countdowns to the big electrical bursts as well, broke up the repetitiveness of the match. Mostly this repetitiveness was due to Pogo's lack of any real offense. It went on at least 5 minutes too long though. And Matsunaga took way too much of the punishment. The ending is one of the dumbest endings I've ever seen. Pogo hits the ref so he can call Quinones in, but there are 3 more refs outside! Which is 100% clear when Pogo gets caught in an inside cradle and caught for the 3 that one of those refs counts. Matsunaga did have some nasty burns and there was this WTF Pogo spot where he just wanders into the electrical shower area face-first during the countdown and then is surprised when he walks into it.
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I thought Lee really sold the head shaving. The 3 count on the title change was awful fast, especially compared to the nearfall that came just before it. Hoping to see a Lawler/Jarrett convincing victory sooner rather than later.
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Screamy promo, badness flowing through veins, goofy early Taz....this kinda hurt, but had humor to it. I'm wondering if Tony Rumble and Ultimate Warrior could have cut intense but completely unintelligible promos on each other at any point in their careers. Would have at least been semi-entertaining.
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Was not a huge fan of this, even though I agree it was perfectly well-worked. Hash looked great as always. Possibly a proving match for Sasaki and something to set up a rivalry between Hash and Fujinami.
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