PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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I thought this was a hell of a match. Real good work around Razor's back to set up Martel's Boston crab (a story well told by Heenan and Vince), sparking a good comeback from Razor. Also some nice hot near-falls down the stretch before Razor decisively puts this away. If anything Razor would be pigeonholed in this role for the next two years, but it's a good spot for him right now. I can't think of too many really good Model matches--Rick seemed to start phoning it in once he turned heel. So leaving aside the blindfold match as an "N/A" I think this may rank at the top. -
It occurs to me that I don't think I've ever seen Fujinami or Kido in a true hate-filled brawl (if Fujinami had one on the '80s set feel free to not bother reminding me). Well, now I have. This was filled with all kinds of hate, between Tenryu being a dick and the NJPW team doing lots of double teams and "cutting the ring in half." Kido doing the wakigatame on Tenryu as he was on the turnbuckle was a highlight. This was building into something really special but it kind of petered out into a substandard finish, as Kido is rather easily put away by Tenryu.
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Lots of historical nuggets here--Rude brings up his opening night victory over Sting, his being stripped of the U.S. title, and then points out that Vader got to keep his belt despite being injured for longer. Rude's basically not wrong about anything he says, which is awesome. Great return to the Up Close format.
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Straight out of Andy Kaufman in Memphis, but maybe even better. Fytch is incredible here, and it's even endearing how she and Margie both almost lose it when Margie misfires on the perfume. She's barely holding it together as she wraps the segment up. Tammy is such a contemptible, disingenuous piece of shit here, it's great.
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New York AND Pittsburgh-bashing. This is actually one of Bruno's better promos ever. I always mark out for the WMC studios singing along to Bruno's catchphrase, back when that concept was fresh. Vince is quietly seething. "What a stunt to pull on one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time! SHAME ON YOU, JEFF JARRETT." Vince threatened litigation towards Eddie Marlin for a rematch. Great segments all around, as this was also one of Vince's best efforts. Living Macho-Vision! Whoops, the Unified title was actually held up. Lawler whines about this a bit. Just beat Savage on Monday, Jerry. This brings down what was a terrific build to the rematch.
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TENNESSEE JUSTICE, OOH YEAH. Savage still goes on too long but is still more focused than he was last week. KING OF THE HICKS! I didn't know Vince ever returned to the Mid-South Coliseum (or did he? Lawler's legal problems are coming soon).
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Macklin is in full Lance Russell Mode here, to the point where I literally thought old Lance had returned. I agree that it looks like Savage avoided the fire--he catches Lawler with a chain when Jerry tries it again, and gets an apparent three-count. But he makes the mistake of sticking the chain in his armpit, and Jeff Jarrett lifts his hand to reveal the chain dropping to the mat. Frank Morrell reverses the decision and Jarrett and Lawler take Savage out. Why yes, I could go for Savage vs. Jarrett right now.
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Dynamite may or may not be the best worker in joshi/the world, but she may be my favorite at least for this year. She's everything I prefer about the JWP style--slower, more familiar, but with stiff intense work and big build to the finish. Lots of kicks, of course, but these two look like they could go all night, selling the struggle to maintain any advantage or for Yamada to overcome the bigger Kansai.
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An extended squash with rounds, with both guys going to work after the bell. Aoyagi has Tenryu on the ropes at one point, but after kicking him one too many times Tenryu decides that playtime's over, clocking Aoyagi with a stool between rounds and repeatedly powerbombing him into oblivion.
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A Hunter Q. Robbins III sighting! Not many people remember he was Sabu's original manager before selling his contract to Paul E. Crazy entrance as Sabu is wheeled to the ring chained to a gurney wearing a Hannibal Lecter mask. He takes out Taz, then starts heaving chairs all over the place as the fans run for their lives before Taz comes back. Styles: "OH MY WORD!" Oh, so close, Joey. From an execution and fundamentals standpoint this is pretty much a mess, but Sabu's appeal is undeniable. He takes some sick bumps on suplexes and some high-flying that North Americans didn't normally see. Then he tears a table apart after the win. How does Sabu even walk nowadays? The familiar ECW is pretty much here, quicker than I expected. A lot of the mid-'90s mainstays have been established including the first true face of the company, Styles is on the mic, and even though this is hyped as "no DQ, no countout" as though it's a novel stipulation, these types of matches are becoming the rule rather than the exception.
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Some really random guys here--a pre-Abe Schwartz "MVP," Mabel but not Mo, the reigning Tag Champions, Jimmy Snuka (!), and Giant Gonzalez who'd barely been on WWF TV since SummerSlam. Mabel randomly deciding to work this whole match as a vicious heel is kind of fun. Long battle royal, as there's a big gap between the opening elimination of Gonzalez and the next guy to go. Just about everyone takes a big bump for their elimination. Huge heat for this by the end, with Ramon overcoming 3-on-1 odds to get to the finals.
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Tony "Mike Wallace" Schiavone grills Shockmaster on his appearance change--it's out of respect for his blue collar roots. Gosh, could Dusty have been behind this? A kid is filling a balloon with powder for some reason. Shockmaster admits to being clumsy, but states that he's in charge once the bell rings. He gets overzealous blowing up a balloon and powder goes everywhere. This is a far cry from Up Close.
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Some hugely fat guy making fun of the phrase "Let me tell ya somethin'," Kentucky Thunder in a Mr. Wrestling II mask, and a black guy in a suit calling himself the Sandman. "Confident or crazy? It can only be the WCW Amateur Challenge!" Clearly their intention was to show their audience as being the biggest idiots possible, which is a great thing to sell to advertisers. I mean, they were literally TRYING to insult people with this.
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Robert Gibson, underneath that cross-eyed mumbling redneck exterior, proves himself to be smarter than 99% of luchadores and southern babyfaces, as he actually WATCHED THE TAPE and realized the true story of Scott Armstrong and his chair. Good for him! Ricky and Dutch have a really good back-and-forth, with some good fire from Morton. Morton insists that the upcoming title match with the Armstrongs will be wrestled clean. The Steiners are coming to Smoky Mountain! They're even bringing back Arnold the Pitbull! Cornette rebuts--he's been talking with mailmen on how to combat him. Prichard warns the Steiners that it's not the WWF anymore. Cornette then brings out the Bruise Brothers and makes them watch a video of the Bodies taking out the Steiners.
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You can believe the sun will rise tomorrow. You can believe the earth is round. And you can believe in the Macho Man, Randy Savage. Then some really weird shit about mufflers and electric razors. Not really one of Vince's better efforts, either. Ha, Lawler says exactly what I'm thinking. "He's talking about mufflers and razors, I don't know what that has to do with this match." He segues into discussing how Savage could shave his hair off, saving Lawler the trouble of burning it off. He AGAIN says what we're all thinking--"How long did that [savage promo] last, about 7 hours?!" A montage of Lawler fireballs follows.
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Tatanka is not ONE ONE-MILLIONTH of the wrestler Randy Savage is, and neither is Lawler. Savage does try to fit a few too many catchphrases into this, and can't decide if he wants to win the title or if he wants to settle a personal score.
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And the last traces of Gene Okerlund are gone from WWF television until 2001, as his "From the pages of the World Wrestling Federation magazine..." intro has been replaced. Shawn Michaels pulled a CM Punk and walked out on the company because of various disagreements. This led to a vacating of the Intercontinental title to be decided in a 20-man battle royal. This came too suddenly for Jack Tunney to film an announcement, so they just have Gorilla read a letter from the President's office. So starts a sharp decline for the WWF. I was just getting into insider info via Prodigy, and in rapid succession we had Luger's failure on top, the departure of Gene Okerlund, a walkout by Shawn Michaels, a suspension and then firing of Matt Borne, a suspension of the Steiners, the departure of Mr. Perfect, an extended suspension for Jerry Lawler, the departure of Bobby Heenan, and the Charles Austin lawsuit verdict. With the feds still breathing down McMahon's back. I seriously thought the WWF was on the verge of going under entirely.
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The WAR Special hold is getting a huge push right now. It works, considering what a beating Chono took down the stretch. We see one of the first instances of the power bomb/reverse neckbreaker combo that would become a staple of Nitro-era WCW, at least until it almost killed a Villano. There are a few hope spots for Team NJPW after that, but they're quickly cut off. Nice to see Hara play such a big role here--he very nearly gets a credible pinfall on Chono and plays a key role in the victory. I like him better in these settings than at pretty much any point in '80s All-Japan.
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