Everything posted by PeteF3
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[1995-02-04-ECW-Double Tables] Sabu & Taz vs Public Enemy
What a fucking HORRIBLE finish. Seriously, Styles, Paul E., the smartass fans, and everyone involved ought to be ashamed for booking such an insulting rinky-dink sub-Memphis-quality screwjob like that. Tazmaniac didn't fucking "distract" the referee, dumbasses, the referee turned his back on a broken table (and didn't fucking hear anything) because the Booking Sez So. Way to beat it over our heads that this is bullshit. Yeah, I'm holding ECW to higher standards, so what? That's how Styles and their mutant fanbase wanted it. The post-match is why this is so remembered, but it sure came across better in the days when you could only read about this sort of shit in the magazines and newsletters and visualize it in your mind, where it looked so much crazier. In real life, the bump isn't as spectacular as it sounds and Sabu and 911 playing feng shui with the furniture for 2 minutes tends to kill off the attempted tone of danger.
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[1995-02-04-ECW-Double Tables] Chris Benoit vs Al Snow
Preface: Even though Benoit's had a bunch of Yearbook matches already, I think his appearances are going to get more numerous going forward. Unless it's REALLY something I can't ignore, I'm going to try to talk about these matches as matches and performances only. Any double-meaning or an oblique reference to the murders and killing should be read as unintentional unless I spell it out as otherwise. Not out to play the LEAVE THE MEMORIES ALONE card, it's just that if there's anything more to say about the murder-suicide, there are other places to do it. This is a Match Discussion section, so I'm going to discuss the matches. Anyway, I involuntarily giggle every time Al is referred to as "The Snowman" and wonder what a Benoit/Snowman match would actually be like. He also looks eerily like a taller Eddie Guerrero here. Styles puts over Snow's alliance with Dan Severn and makes reference to the recent UFC fight with Royce. I think it also bears mentioning that when Benoit got the "Crippler" gimmick it was believed to be a total mismatch for him. Obviously, referring strictly to performing and character work here, Benoit went on to justify that persona. Paul E. has his flaws to say the least but he saw something in Chris that no one else had to that point, so score one for him. It's paying off already, as Benoit has finally crafted a solid persona and is showing off some character work here. The match itself is quite good. I haven't been overly impressed by indy spot monkey Snow, but now that he's in with a guy who really knows how to structure a match, he looks really good here. Benoit establishes himself as the superior wrestler, and reigns Snow in by casually beating him to death, but Snow hangs because of his resilience and Benoit's overconfidence. Snow avoids one dragon suplex but doesn't avoid another, and Benoit gets the 3. They ended the match at just the right time--on some random indy spot show Snow probably would have kicked out of that, too. Good stuff. It may have been in a vacuum, or maybe Paul E. actually had plans for Snow that didn't pan out. But this was a genuinely good match that didn't feel like fanboy wankery at all. It put Snow over as a gutsy kid (albeit one with like a decade experience at this point) and Benoit as a technical master who was also a remorseless killer (remember what I said in the preface!) Styles had that eye-rolling statement about 5 years' worth of PPVs but otherwise even he was fine.
- 12 replies
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- ECW
- February 4
- 1995
- Philadelphia
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+3 more
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[1995-02-04-SMW-TV] Interview: Jerry Lawler / Interview: Buddy Landell
Les flusters Jerry Lawler with his line of questioning, maybe even legitimately. Lawler offers to pull an Andy Kaufman/Tammy Fytch and send in hygiene and health tips so the people of Knoxville can be more like the people of Memphis. A pissed-off Buddy Landell cuts promos on both Lawler and the White Boy. They're getting the gold mine, Landell's getting the shaft.
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[1995-02-04-SMW-TV] Backstage brawl / Interview: Jim Cornette & Heavenly Bodies
Hoo boy. Take note of Jimmy Del Ray miming a shoeshining, in case Cornette's jokes were too highbrow for certain segments of the audience. Too bad because the wrestling promo portion of this interview is fantastic, and has me really wanting to see what Cornette has in mind for the 6-man tag. The brawl is incredible, and I can only imagine what those drivers were thinking as this spilled out onto the road.
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[1995-02-04-SMW-TV] Interview: The Gangstas
New Jack gloats about snapping Steve Armstrong's leg. I believe this was the show where the Gangstas showed up "in no condition to perform" and were sent out anyway, and in the post-match beatdown Steve could be heard audibly yelling for them to go after his leg. This leads to the classy "loser salutes winner's flag" matches involving the Confederate flag and the black X flag.
- 3 replies
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- SMW
- February 4
- 1995
- Gangstas
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+2 more
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[1995-02-04-USWA-TV] Interview: Doug Gilbert & Tommy Rich
PG-13 have won 3 non-title bouts in a row and have gotten yet another one, which if they win they'll get an immediate title match. There are good promos here but this seems like a bit of overkill.
- 2 replies
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- USWA
- WMC-5
- February 4
- 1995
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+2 more
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[1995-02-04-WWF-Superstars] Heartbreak Hotel
Good promo from Shawn, especially at the end.
- 3 replies
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- WWF
- WWE
- Superstars
- February 4
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+3 more
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- [1995-01-31-ECW-TV] Interview: Cactus Jack
- [1995-01-24-ECW-TV] Raven vignette
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[1995-01-30-WWF-Raw] 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Smoking Gunns
Ah yes, Manny Garcia. More fuckups in a one-year ring announcing career than his illegitimate sister Lillian has made in 16 years. Babyface matches ending with a freak injury was a common WWF booking staple, but they go all-out for this one and it really seems like a precursor to the Shawn Michaels collapse later in the year. I don't know where exactly this was going because Kid was soon moved into the Razor/Jarrett feud and this whole thing was forgotten.
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[1995-01-30-WWF-Raw] King's Court: Bob Backlund
Bob's reaction to Lawler patting him on the shoulder is FANTASTIC. Backlund is playing things far more low-key than usual, which makes him downright scary. I like Bob as the heel outsider.
- 5 replies
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- WWF
- WWE
- RAW
- January 30
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+4 more
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[1995-01-30-WWF-Raw] Interview: Bam Bam Bigelow
McMahon decides to rub in the Kid's victory and the post-match embarrassment. Classy, Vince. That's a real effective way to get an apology out of him. Bigelow's talk of "disrespect" is TOTALLY out of the Aaron Hernandez/John Lackey/Davey Richards macho-bullshit sports posturing playbook, and it's fantastically played. Bam Bam finally snaps and goes into full promo mode, issuing a challenge to LT--no pads, no helmet, no teammates .
- 5 replies
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- WWF
- WWE
- RAW
- January 30
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+2 more
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[1995-01-28-SMW-Super Saturday Night Fever] Jerry Lawler vs Dirty White Boy / Buddy Landell vs Dirty White Boy
More USWA TX by Numbers. I enjoyed this, and loved Buddy as the timekeeper, but I think I would have liked it more if I'd watched it coming right off the '96 Yearbook as Loss did. Instead I've been watching since 1990 and Lawler's shtick isn't nearly as fresh. DWB hits the Bucksnort Blaster, but even though we're 20 minutes into the match, Landell rings the bell at 2 and declares that the 60-minute time limit has expired. This is definitely a week of senior referees overruling special guests, as Mark Curtis pulls a Nick Patrick and takes charge. All for naught, as Lawler steals the SMW title with Buddy's help. The lights out match isn't much--Landell beats on the semi-conscious White Boy but falls victim to a fluke roll-up. But he gets to lay out DWB again after the match, so this feud isn't anywhere near settled. The time was definitely right to change the title, as it was growing stale on DWB thanks mostly to a lack of legitimate challengers.
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[1995-01-28-SMW-Super Saturday Night Fever] Buddy Landell vs Tracy Smothers
This seriously had a "reputation"? There are good things here, and nothing really *wrong* with it, but it's pretty much USWA-TX By Numbers all the way. Stall, stall, complain to ref, stall, cheap chain finish. The ringside brawl looked good and there were more near-falls than usual down the stretch, and Landell stalling isn't *bad*, but there wasn't much remarkable about this either.
- 4 replies
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- SMW
- January 28
- 1995
- Knoxville TN
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+2 more
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[1995-01-28-WCW-Saturday Night] Randy Savage vs Arn Anderson
The "first 10 minutes" stip is dumb enough, but it SORT OF makes sense on house shows (i.e., not television). It doesn't make sense at all when the TV Champ is actually doing his job. Silly match stips aside, this is a nice solid TV match as Arn knows how to do best. Savage goes along with all of this--this is very much an Arn match with limbwork and a slow build to the finish. Hogan should take notes--Savage struggles with Arn, sells shots from the Colonel, backs off when Meng approaches him...and does anyone think this hurt Savage at all? It just made his comeback look gutsy rather than scripted a la Hogan's power bomb pop-up.
- [1995-01-28-WCW-Saturday Night] Brian Pillman on Baywatch set
- [1995-01-28-WCW-Saturday Night] Vader vignette
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[1995-01-28-WCW-Pro] Music Video: Alex Wright
Wright is only 2 years older than John Cena. I have no doubt he could have been a bigger star than he was, though his career as it was is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Cheesy as hell, though the computer-generated dancing bathroom sign guy was oddly captivating, like something out of a Kraftwerk video 15 years earlier.
- 6 replies
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- WCW
- Pro
- January 28
- 1995
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+2 more
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[1995-01-21-USWA-TV] Interview: Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert
It's a BOYZ N THE HOOD MATCH between Rich & Gilbert and PG-13.
- 3 replies
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- USWA
- WMC-5
- January 25
- 1995
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+2 more
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[1995-01-25-WCW-Clash of the Champions XXX] Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs Kevin Sullivan & The Butcher
Abysmal match with a startling lack of heat for much of it. Savage vainly attempts to elevate this by bumping around and selling like a loon, but no dice. The big elbow spot is of course absurd, and I would have given anything for Butcher to pop up the same way at the finish. The reviving elbow was silly, but the post-match was actively destructive for business. It's to Vader's credit that he had enough built-up heat that SuperBrawl was a success anyway. The sad part is that up until Hogan's revival, the showdown with Vader no-selling Hogan's punches and overpowering him was really, really good. Heenan declares that after SuperBrawl, Baltimore is going to look like Kobe, Japan. Well, at least he didn't say Hiroshima.
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[1995-01-25-WCW-Clash of the Champions XXX] Sting vs Avalanche
Okay, getting back to this years after the fact, I think WCW was using "The Man Who Stands for Law & Order" as a placeholder name--they used that term a lot while waiting for the Angel gimmick to be finalized. Really cool tease by Schiavone as we join in, reminding us that Bockwinkel stripped the Angel of his name and nightstick and how that "really got under the skin of the Guardian Angel." Sting and Avalanche do the accidental-headbutt-to-the-groin spot that they were fond of. Sting hits four Stinger Splashes, a bodyslam, and the Scorpion to decisively ice this one away, but Angel won't call for the bell, so Nick Patrick takes it upon himself to do it. Angel's not exactly in the wrong here--Bockwinkel trusted him to officiate then threw him under the bus. It's a two-on-one beatdown on Sting before the babyfaces make the save. Okerlund: "What is this, the old Big Bubba Rogers??!" Subtle, Gene. Take some notes from Schiavone. The old Big Bubba Rogers is back, which was the proper way to go. The Angel gimmick and the repeated jobs to Vader absolutely killed Traylor's babyface character.
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[1995-01-21-WCW-Saturday Night] Interview: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage
The Faces of Fear have jumped Dave Sullivan, cut his hair, and cut up the "magic slippers." That would be venturing dangerously close to Barber territory if I were a trademark attorney. Mercifully I think that's it for the #1 Hulkamaniac push for Evad. Savage is back to being Hogan's lackey, decked out in red and yellow and basically serving no purpose except to be the second half of a call-and-response act. Standard stale Hogan promo, though I'm amused by Hulk referring to "Vader Time," as if that's his given name. RIC FLAIR is mentioned on TV for the first time since Havoc! Hulk and Savage are now the "Monster Maniacs," because apparently Hulk is more obsessed with the letter M than the folks at MI6.
- 3 replies
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- WCW
- Saturday Night
- January 21
- 1995
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+2 more
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- [1995-01-25-WCW-Clash of the Champions XXX] Interview: Ric Flair
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[1995-01-24-ECW-TV] Shane Douglas and Tully Blanchard
Tully's offensive flurry is terrific, but he looks like shit. A Horseman, even an ex-one, should be out in a suit for street attire, not looking like some random fan. Styles beats us over the head about this being the OLD Tully Blanchard, the brawler. So why the fuck do you book him to work a 60-minute Broadway??! How many of those did Horseman-era Tully have? Commentary and booking issues aside, this is a hot segment with tremendous heat.
- [1995-01-31-ECW-TV] Interview: Raven