PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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Come out of the closet and be a WWF fan! Didn't Loss draw a comparison to being a public wrestling fan and being an out gay person some time ago? -
Good promo with more editing so this very well could have been Shawn working more of his own angle here, as I thought the threats towards Vince were. Still a strong promo on Shawn's part. Triple H is there, and nothing has been done to put Owen over in this feud at all, either by promo or by a match result or angle--#politicalhit indeed.
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They're still working hard to make this first meeting a big deal with it being brother vs. brother. It is overwrought and overdone and at times ridiculously silly, but at least there's some gravitas to the feud here. Compare and contrast with the who-cares Steiner split which has some lip service paid to the possible emotions involved, but is really Just Another Turn.
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The Quebecers, and now Double J. It's like 1995 all over again.
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Well, Jacques still has the nice dropkick, at least. I have no idea what this re-signing was about unless they were just desperate to get some WCW guys, any guys. I don't get what the tuxes and dates with blow-up dolls had to do with anything, either.
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A very good 10-minute match, and maybe even the best TV bout we'll see in 1998 though I know Foley/Funk could be a strong contender for that spot in a weak year, or maybe some random cruiser bout I don't remember. Even the chinlock worked--it wasn't an ideal way to go but Sting could afford to slow things down being the champ, and Page worked great from underneath, constantly flailing and fighting to avoid having his shoulders pinned. DDP moves this along but Sting works hard, even busting out a top-rope splash attempt for the first time in forever. The hot crowd also helps this, as they're not just into the stars but into the psychology and transitions and key spots of the match, like a tried-and-true Louisville wrestling crowd. And of course the great finish, so good that they'd recycle it in '99. No question there needed to be more of this on Nitro and Thunder from week to week, not just from a quality standpoint but as a point of difference from the WWF.
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Yoshihiro Momota, Rikidozan's other son, did wrestle briefly, but did most of his work as AJPW's ring announcer. I'm surprised Bix forgot about the Hamadas when trying to think of other Japanese families. You also have brothers George & Shunji Takano. Edit: Seiji Sakaguchi's son, who I knew was in MMA, is now doing wrestling. Other British families without comment: the Husseys (Jumping Jim Hussey and son Mark, who later took the last name Rocco), the Royals (Bert Royal & Vic Faulkner), King Ben & Kid McCoy, and Wild Angus Campbell & Steve McHoy/Steve Casey. Among others. Did Brian Crabtree ever wrestle or did he just promote and officiate? Kendo Nagasaki & Gorgeous George Gillette were a couple.
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Man, Quack's attire is bad but not THAT bad, is it? I've seen Jerry Lawler in uglier outfits than that. My completely uneducated, uninformed, and ignorant opinion of Quackenbush is that for whatever faults he has as either a worker or promoter, he did "get" the storytelling and dramatic aspects of puroresu more than many other indy guys, who seemingly only took away the big moves, near-falls, and head drops. He actually shows some nifty mat wrestling moves here and overall his execution is okay enough. Darling is bad other than a few nice punches. This match has the feel of a pre-choreographed dance routine more than a wrestling match at times and I put most of the blame on that on Darling. I'm with Childs on this--I'm not sorry I watched this, and there are worse indy matches of the time period that we've already seen on these sets, but I don't need to see any more of this tournament either. P.S.: "I Touch Myself" is a fairly inspired choice of ring music for an indy heel.
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Yeah, bad match, with both guys often looking like they're working underwater. I don't mind RVD in certain very specific instances but I don't think any of those instances involve him working as a heel. Scorp's fallen off badly being stuck in McMahonland for these past couple of years. The 1995 Scorpio might have been able to salvage something out of this.
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Goldberg coming to the aid of WCW should be a monumental event and the freshest development in the main event scene in months, but even though he gets a monster pop for the double spear, the execution and timing is way off--just way too long of a beatdown both before his appearance and after he leaves. The only other interesting thing was seeing DiBiase in at least 3 separate mini-"dream matches"--taking on Rude, taking on Hennig, and as a babyface taking on a heel Vincent.
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Forget the videos on the last Raw--the video a few weeks ago about CHYNA was better done and more informative than this. By this point I really don't even want to hear Bret's catchphrase ever again, because that's his entire character so far.
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Ha, I recently had this to say about one of Cornette's 1997 rants: "Does *anyone* from the South like Connecticut? I haven't been there myself but man does that place seem to angry up the blood in these people ... I'm not a guy to fetishize NYC or any particular part of it but there's honestly a bit of over-the-top regionalism here that I'm not comfortable with." 1996 and '97 was just filled with on-air comments from guys like Ross and Cornette about how Connecticut is an "overpriced hellhole." That state also drove Schiavone out of the WWF, I think mostly over the cost of living. It's definitely not nearly used as an indictment of the region itself, but the Northeast and Midwest territories *do* have a much greater reputation for being stodgy and boring whereas all the action was in the South and in Texas. I'm not even saying that's totally untrue but I'm pretty sure it's less true than some people like Cornette would have you believe.
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Really cool angle on MTV Live, as Raven interrupts a DDP promo piece and sends Carson Daly, Dave Grohl, and the other Foo Fighter running for cover, and DDTs Page through the coffee table. Good to see some mainstream attention for the WCW mid-card, which is the most entertaining and well-booked part of the product right now.
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In the first five minutes we get an incredible Awesome lariat, Awesome springboarding to the floor with another clothesline, and a Firebird Splash. None of that fancy-ass psychology shit here, this is a spotfest all the way. It starts off pretty great but both guys get really sloppy down the stretch, with Hayabusa blowing a few relatively basic counters even while hitting his highspots. Still hit or miss on both these guys, who are clearly terrific athletes but need someone else to guide them if you want a truly great overall wrestling match. They're like better versions of early-'90s Ultimo Dragon (since both can at least get their characters over).
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What a mess. Sting repels down from a helicopter in an INCREDIBLE visual that's pretty much forgotten about by the time the show goes off the air. If the WWF had done something like that it'd be a "where were you when...?" moment for years to come, like Foley flying off the Cell. Maybe it's because while that's going on the camera is trying to also focus on a confrontation between Savage and Hogan's Mystery Man. Is it that hard to give this fuckhead a NAME already? Match is nothing and is poorly laid out. Savage makes a blind tag to Hogan, fully acknowledged by Mickey Jay. When Hogan hesitates, Luger rolls Savage up and Jay makes a count. Why? NWO run-in, brawl, good night, and who gives a shit. For anyone keeping track, Brian Adams and the fucking Disciple have had more Yearbook time than Bret Hart in February and March.
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Why is that "lucky" for the Giant? Why am I dissecting comments made by a guy 3 sheets to the wind anyway? No reaction to the Giant coming out and not really much reaction to the Outsiders hitting the water either. This is overall an amusing segment because guys getting dunked in wrestling is almost never not funny, but the announcers are as bad as modern-day Michael Cole in their guffawing over this as if it's the funniest moment in history.
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Yeah--hyping a future segment as a confrontation, as opposed to a match, is pure '98-'99 WWF. We get kind of a dopey pull-apart as the ring fills with suits whose appearance is about as nonsensical as their attempts to restrain Elizabeth at WrestleMania 8. Like, DX and the Outlaws have been running roughshod over everybody for 5 months, and Kane tombstoned a mascot on this same show, but they're out there to prevent a fight between these two? Anyway, Sable runs Luna off but gets her knee twisted in the process, and that draws out Kane. Marc Mero gallantly flees the scene to "go get help," but Undertaker makes threats from the TitanTron before Kane can do anything to Sable. Paul Bearer is having too much fun in this role. At least five major matches for WM all got lots of focus, time, and hype on this show.
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More great stuff here as we go over Austin's whole WWF career, with the Ringmaster gimmick being brilliantly explained away by WWF corporate attempting to "put a leash" on Austin and Austin having none of it. Cole openly states that the WWF feels it would not be in their best interests to have Austin as champion, and the closing question sends intrigue over the future direction of the company through the roof: what if Austin wins the title...or what if he doesn't?
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You kind of wish the WWF had the clearance rights to show some of Tyson biting Holyfield to really put over the "anything can happen" vibe that surrounded Tyson at this time, but why nitpick? Because it'd move WM's buyrate from a 2.3 to a 2.32?