PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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We've now about hit the point where American wrestling audiences have turned heel. Still probably the best Sid match ever, as this is all in all pretty good, as Shawn essentially wrestles a brick wall and Sid doesn't really fuck anything up. That said, IT'S BIZARRO WORLD MAGGLE! this crowd simply won't buy what HBK is selling, and if you lived through his uberpush in '96 you'd understand why, no matter how many times he brought it on PPV. I'm not even a Shawn fan at all, but he really did bust his ass in '96 to put on a bunch of memorable main events, and he busts his ass here--but he simply comes off as damaged goods and you do kind of have to shake your head at it. This was a smarky crowd by 1996 standards, and it's really difficult to imagine something like a smarky modern-day audience turning on a Dolph Ziggler in favor of Ryback or something. I'll point out something really minor that I really liked: Sid accidentally brushing the cameraman mid-way through the match. I thought that was a rare WWF production gaffe but once Sid decked the cameraman a second time at the finish, I realized that it was a very subtle planned spot. -
I think Zenjo's final point is a sound one--this is *not* a Pat Patterson Special, or a Mick Foley Special, like the other high-end WWF matches of the year. It's a rough-and-tumble, meat-and-potatoes, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust struggle. It's not something normally seen in a WWF setting, but it does certainly play to both men's strengths. The big highspots here, and the spots that get the loudest crowd responses, basically revolve around frenzied punching exchanges. Austin is still being pushed hard as a technical wrestler who knows submissions, an aspect of his character that would be almost completely forgotten in a few months, perhaps to his detriment. I don't have all that much else to add, but it's a fantastic match that makes you want to see more. It's a top-15-20 MOTYC, worldwide. That said...it's going to be hard to compare this to the other two candidates for WWF Match of the Year (Shawn/Diesel and Shawn/Mankind) because it is so different and they were setting out to accomplish something other than a thrilling PPV main event. If I had to vote now...I think my vote still goes with Mind Games. I'm sure that puts me in a minority, but that was pretty long on psychology itself in addition to some crazy and creative high spots.
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Man, I was disappointed with this. You can give these guys some points for creativity, but some spots like the big four-way clusterfuck at the very end were just too cute and contrived for their own good. And unlike Loss I am SO over the "five more minutes" gimmick. It sticks out even more in ECW which rarely seems to pay attention to time limits anyway. And it sticks out when the crowd is two steps ahead of the bookers, since they were calling for the Three-Way Dance after the first bell. And why not? I don't see how anyone could have bought that this match was going to decide a winner once the first time limit expired. On the plus side, Sabu continues to impress me with how he builds up to table breakage, as he and Saturn work a really fun suplex-reversal sequence on the apron that ends with a tornado DDT through the table--this after his first attempt, as per custom now, gets cu off. And Sabu diving to the floor and smashing his jaw on the guardrail was the OWWWW moment of the night. Still, not really a good match, by ECW standards or otherwise.
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Crazy how we're criticizing Vince for *dumping* a wrestler's gimmick name in favor of his real name. (Not that you don't raise a perfectly good point--Rocker Mike Hickenbottom wouldn't work either. I just find it amusing.) I didn't remember them billing him from Paris, either. The Can-Ams were better as heels but the WWF couldn't really do that with them in late '96, because Bulldog & Owen were already around and had virtually the same dynamic. And even if they weren't as good, they were far more known and established. Meanwhile WCW was killing off its tag division. With hindsight being 20/20 they may have been better off making the jump a year earlier, but AJPW was a pretty good gig to be giving up.
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Good match and Ace was AWESOME here. Just so much intensity and velocity to everything he did. Jun wrestles virtually the whole way, as again he's a target of abuse but still gets some moments to shine, thanks to Misawa knowing when to pick and choose his spots to showcase himself. What a great breakout year Akiyama has had. This really picks up when Misawa eats the backdrop driver, but he has enough to come back and attain a moral victory for his team by he and Jun going the distance. I have to confess I missed the pre-match graphic and thought this was a tag title match with a 60-minute time limit, so the final bell got to me. I knew they were going long, but I'll always appreciate it when a time limit draw happens that I don't see coming.
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Pretty much a total stuntshow, but the stunts were well-done. Don't go into this expecting depth, but it's a fun little sprint. TAKA had quite the interesting 1996, as he seemingly worked every indy promotion on the planet against myriad types of opponents, including Kanemura (evidently, according to this thread) and a BattlArts match with Minoru Tanaka. Sort of a junior Tenryu.
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Yeah, a million billion stars. Incidentally I loved the ringside camera views we get for the bulk of this match--you're right up there with the action and seeing every Tenryu punch connect full force. To say nothing of Tenryu taking out Yamazaki AND the cameraman with a chair, which is a fantastic visual. Araya's casual shoulder shrugs every time the crowd boos him for making a save were also great--reminded me of Joey Bosa after making a sack (less than 1% of you probably understand that but oh well). The psychotic crowd helps, too. Total lost classic and I could watch Tenryu and Yamazaki go to war with each other all day.
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Austin actually described this match on his 100th podcast episode--Austin was out of shape when he first started working Vega, but Vega was a machine who was "going to get his shit in" and Austin had to bump around for him despite sucking wind. A few months into their program and they "blew the roof off the Sea-Tac Arena." The opening is very WWF house-showy, but all the usual tricks (Austin threatening to walk, using the ropes on a chinlock) get good heat. 1996 was a year of some great house show successes for the WWF and some utter disasters (particularly after they junked syndication), but every handheld I've seen indicates a pretty darn hot product. Austin spices up the usual resthold segment by actually busting out a lucha-style surfboard, then a bow and arrow. Yeah, the closing stretch of this is really fun--it's a treat to watch two guys gelling so well together and being on the same page. Vega takes some awesome bumps and each guy sets the other up for the next spot seamlessly. One of those matches that would look like a **** affair if you watched it JIP.
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"Joshi shootstyle" is a phrase that tends to send me running to hide, but despite Lorefice calling it a UWF-style match this is basically a wrasslin' match with more matwork than usual for joshi and a teased KO finish. And I really, really dug this--one of the 3 or 4 best GAEA matches I've watched in '96. I wouldn't say I was outright believing Kato would win this, but she gave Nagayo more of a match than Satomura gave Hokuto, and you really get the sense that Nagayo had to dig deep down to put her away. More than that, this was a gritty and intense FIGHT that felt more like a WAR main event than a joshi match. This is definitely a strong "Joshi for People Who Hate Joshi" bout to view.
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The joshi version of 1-2-3 Kid vs. Bret Hart. Satomura is outsized, out-experienced, and all-around overmatched, but she makes a good showing of herself and is as full of energy as you'd expect. Hokuto gives her about the right amount of offense, and also does some cheap heel tactics (biting and choking) which sort of puts her over in their own right, that Hokuto has to resort to that sort of thing. Satomura hits a great DVD for a hot near-fall but that's the last bullet in her chamber. No real surprises here, but having really liked the Satomura I've seen this was a match listing that jumped out at me and it lived up to expectations.
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Oz Academy explodes! Even though this is joshi and rules generally don't matter and people like Toyota use chairs and tables frequently, you still get the sense that Ozaki & Sato are finally getting a taste of their own medicine when their opponents use similar heel tactics on them. Oz is just awesome, plain and simple--she has a perpetual sick grin on her face, even when she's beating beaten up--and yet it doesn't feel like she's no-selling, it just feels like Oz being Oz, keeping a stiff upper lip and all that. She also has perfect timing on when to stand tall and shrug off her opponent's offense and when to sell--basically Amano & Nagashima have the advantage if they double-team or surprise her from behind, but rarely otherwise. Sato gets to show off some personality of her own as well, and Nagashima busts out a sort-of top-rope Van Daminator that looks way cool. Quite a bit of ECW influence here, which is well-done even if some may roll their eyes at it. I wouldn't really call this a high-end match by worldwide or GAEA standards, but Ozaki is entering that zone for me where I pretty much want to watch everything of hers on tape.
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This was fun and I really liked the closing stretch. Hamada and Delfin hold off the rest of Kaientai and Sasuke's urgency in throwing shit at Shiryu while they're incapacitated is just awesome. Hamada was spectacular here--we get bits of Grumpy Old Man Hamada, familiar shtick Hamada, face in peril Hamada, and Hamada the high-flyer at the end. In fact this is one of the first MPro multi-mans where the babyfaces really seemed to outshine the heels. Not really a top-of-the-line lucharesu 6-man but a very good match.
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I do think it's worth pointing out that Robinson got the Comiskey Park main event against Verne, which was easily the biggest card in company history that point and has argument for being the #1 card overall. It was the AWA's WrestleMania 3.
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Public Enemy hawk some Sting merchandise. Timely. Hall, Nash, and Syxx are out with NWO picketers, and Hall promises that the NWO is going to crash the Cable Ace Awards this weekend. Hall quite reasonably credits the NWO for the success of Nitro. Nash isn't satisfied with one segment on Saturday Night, and declares that Hogan is going to help convert Nitro to an NWO program, based on the stipulations from winning WarGames. I'm not sure if this actually went anywhere.
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They even acknowledge the old Diamond Studd/Vinnie Vegas partnerships! Nash busts out SHOOT comments about how DDP lives two doors down from Eric Bischoff. For once, a WCW-bred mid-card talent is actually allowed to interact with the Big Boys, something that would have helped immensely had they done more of this with Eddie, Jericho, and Raven in the future.
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I refuse to believe that Gary Wolfe was previously known as "The Man Whose Neck Couldn't Be Broken." Not exactly "The Man Gravity Forgot." Raven sulks under a trashed ECW Arena reading Sandman--the graphic novel--and cuts a promo on Sandman--the wrestler. Clever. I have to differ on Saturn's promo--he does a gallant job of trying to keep it in kayfabe, but man do I recoil at promos talking about "Matches of the Year." I do love how the New England-raised-and-sounds-like-it Saturn calls them the "Gangsters," though. New Jack cuts a promo on both the Eliminators and Sabu/RVD, who will be facing each other for a shot at the Gangstas' belts. Back to Raven, who doesn't have the World title anymore but still has Tyler. More from Shane & Francine. Brian Lee cuts ANOTHER promo on Tommy Dreamer--good Lord, this is the feud that won't end. Shane Douglas looks like he's aged 10 years since re-joining the company. Evidenlty, reading between the lines, Terry Funk is on his way back in. One of the longer Pulp Fictions, but this was short on comedy and long on hype for November to Remember.