PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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Jannetty gets a big reaction and chants the instant he comes out. This was a super-hot crowd the whole show, IIRC. Pretty non-stop action with some classic clowning by Candido, and some more advanced offense than you're used to seeing in the WWF. One of the better TV matches of the year, in fact.
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I don't know what the hell Hirata did to earn a title shot, but it's nice to see some fresh blood in the mix. Hirata slows the match down because kayfabe-wise it's his only chance of keeping up with Mutoh, but he brings the goods when the pace picks up as well. Good matwork building organically to some hot near-falls. Hirata didn't feel like he had a real chance until he hit that power bomb for a 2.9--that got the crowd going and they popped for the tease of him hitting his Devil Windmill suplex. But Mutoh escapes that and soon has an answer for everything else he tries. Not "special," no, but perfectly fun and a good glimpse at a longtime NJPW midcarder.
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Weird finish that certainly didn't do Owen any favors. But the action before that was really good--Davey Boy getting whipped into Yokozuna and then getting crushed was a fun spot, as was Shawn using the flying elbow to make a save for Diesel. Shawn & Diesel win the tag titles, which of course isn't going to last.
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Don't think he was as consistently good as Kantaro Hoshino, or Hamada, or even Kobayashi. Been a while since I watched his IWE stuff but I remember him being technically sound but not afraid to grind a match to a halt, either. That said, the Fujinami match was a revelation. I can't really see voting him ahead of the other early-'80s juniors, though.
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Iceman/Akitoshi Saito vs. TNT/Mr. Pogo in the cage is a really good match from W*ING (9/12/91). Probably the best Pogo match ever.
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Man is this arena dark. Bret almost breaks his neck leveling LaFitte with a tope before the bell. Pierre has some great agility and spots but really doesn't know how to control or pace a match. Lots of weak clubbering in between the highspots. Ross is really sticking out like a sore thumb at this point--eventually the Vince/Ross/Lawler trio would gel into a strong commentary team but they're not there yet. About 50% of this match is the closing sequence, and that's where this gets good. LaFitte takes a sick flat back bump to the floor when missing the somersault plancha and then even tops Bret's chest-first turnbuckle bump. Bret puts LaFitte away with his put-the-Sharpshooter-on-from-his-back move after LaFitte had blocked the first attempt. I thought this was going to be a disappointment after the slow start, but this turned into a hell of a bout. Now let's get Bret out of the damned mid-card.
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Dusty has been in "very tough negotations the past couple of months with TBS Sports." I'm sure. Schiavone ridiculously fawns over Dusty's Hollywood career, Shriners Hospital work, and football coaching. There have been James Lipton interviews that are more hard-hitting. Dusty of course is as entertaining as ever.
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Ric imitating Sting's howl is fantastic. I have to admit that I never quite got what the purpose of this grand plan was. Did Flair and Arn have a legit falling out and secret reformation, or was this whole thing a long con? If it was the latter, why go to all that trouble just to kick Sting's ass? I tend to groan when the previous 30 minutes of a TV show or movie was the VILLAIN'S PLAN ALL ALONG, so as great as Ric is I've never been quite as high on this angle as others.
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Lawler's all excited about the Indians and Browns--oh Jerry, neither you nor any of us were prepared for how that Browns season would end. *sniff* (Or the Indians season, for that matter). 2-to-1 says either the cap or helmet get destroyed before the show is out. Lawler also has fun with Brian/Roadie/Jesse's constantly changing monikers. Onto the match, Armstrong's Memphis chickenshit stalling is a lot more tolerable than his WWF-style dancing stalling. Armstrong uses *two* chains to pin Lawler for a rare studio Unified title change...or is it? Brian Christopher's out to set the record straight, and Bill Rush reverses the decision.
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The story I heard about Blanchard vs. Douglas was that Blanchard blew up about 20 minutes into the planned draw and Douglas had to sit in restholds the rest of the way (and they eventually threw in the towel and rang the bell at around 45 minutes). I don't get the logic in booking Tully to go Broadway to begin with--when did he ever do that even in his prime?
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I made a note in the 1990 forums for posterity, but in case it's missed/skipped there: Ray Odyssey revealed in a KFM post about a month ago that the infamous Dawna of ICW Teen Report fame was Tony Rumble's stepdaughter.
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Ross and Lawler inform us that Gorilla Monsoon has ensured a title change by waiving the DQ/countout rule. Before Shawn and Diesel can speak, Yokozuna's music hits and the heels are standing at...the podium (!). Thought that thing was long gone. Vince is INCENSED. Heels made so many toupee jokes around this time that I figured he must have really had one--it wasn't until 3/4 of the way through 1998 when I figured it wasn't because Austin hadn't ripped it off yet. Shawn, inspired by his buddy next to him, makes a hip-with-the-times reference to Mannix that's too old even for me to get. Then Diesel calls Cornette "Dr. Redundancy" before reciting Shawn's previous spiel almost to the letter. Not much to this--these are the types of promos and angles that Jim Ross is talking about when it comes to lack of heat, lack of drama, and lack of heels being heels.
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Xenophobia out the wazoo for this, with the mere mention of "Puerto Rico" drawing boos and both guys decked out in the flags of their homelands. King disappointed me, as it didn't seem like he was interested in doing much until busting out the big dives. Those were impressive, but his selling in particular was not. Perez was great again, though, and carried most of this. Some primo heeling, and some great offense from both a flashiness and stiffness standpoint. Perez wins clean to take King's hair. Finish wasn't perfectly done, but I'm not sure if that was King's fault or if Perez was just too big or King too small to be doing that spot. Pretty good match, but the earlier Perez matches were better. What's with Silver King's hissy fit after the match? You got pinned clean as a sheet, dude.
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I think he was pretty clearly Sayama's best opponent, or at least the best opponent he wrestled multiple times. And goddamn, do I love that AJPW match with Fuchi, though I guess it's more of a feather in Fuchi's cap. Even all-washed-up Kobayashi put on a pretty kickass match with Koki Kitahara during the NJPW-WAR feud. I don't know if it'll be enough for him to rate, but he would definitely make a top 150 for me.
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This takes the Rey-Psicosis template and adds a lucha title stip to the equation, kicking everything up a notch. The opening matwork actually comes off as serving a purpose rather than their usual perfunctory, let's-get-this-out-of-the-way juniors style matwork. More dramatic near-falls. Bigger build to the big dives. Submissions to end all three falls instead of the usual pinning combos. The best lucha match of the year and a candidate for the year's top-10 and top-15. Rey and Psicosis did so many touring matches in so many environments that this feels like their most complete match together--like the culmination of a major rivalry rather than the (still very enjoyable) Lucha 101 intro we're used to seeing.
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