PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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Next to Frankie Lindor's grand slam this is the second-best thing that has happened to me today. The antics of Front Row Section D (which included Scott Hudson and other newsletter types of the time) I think are well-documented in the Observers of this time. They latched onto Tex Slazenger as some sort of cult hero. But as Hudson pointed out in a letter to Dave, they didn't break kayfabe, they didn't chant guys' real names or past identities, and they weren't derogatory. They were enthusiastic but not cheering who WCW wanted people to cheer for, so they were threatened with ejection. -
This was really enjoyable--in particular I liked how much urgency No Fear showed whenever Misawa was in. It was basically a handicap match whenever he was legal. Misawa was being criticized at this time for putting together good main events but not being a good "big picture" booker...but the rise of No Fear seems pretty well-put-together to me. Omori is pretty far ahead of Takayama as an all-around performer at this point and looks really good and valiant in defeat.
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What is with the Rock shitting on Mankind and Cole? Jesus, what a prick. HHH wins the title in what has to be the most momentous wrestling event (pro or amateur) in the history of Ames, Iowa. I forgot how awful Lillian Garcia was at first (this was her debut). Multiple screw-ups on the night and her voice just doesn't sound good at this point. She'll come a long way.
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Finkle is good as the starry-eyed cultist and he's shown over the course of these years that in an alternate universe he could have been an effective heel manager. Harold tells Road Dogg to stop picking his nose in the back and come out to confront him. "Joking? Road Dogg, YOU'RE a joke." Jericho sneaks into the ring while the lights are out during his entrance in a clever subversion of usual WWF entrance tropes. I really don't like the obvious "grab onto the wrists" portion of the double power bomb move so I'm not sorry to see it disappear. Takaiwa occasionally can pull it off straight-up, but Jericho can't.
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We get the back of some big guy in a red singlet that you would swear was Gary Albright, because he'd be a good fit for this promotion.
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Jericho has words for Harold Finkle. He encourages him to be a WARRIOR for Y2J. The beginnings of Edward Finkle as an ersatz Ralphus, which was a cute idea but didn't really work with the WWF audience of the time.
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This is definitely the start of a disturbing trend. Stephanie's wailing promo is horrible, but this angle is hot, no question. Shane is better, especially his subtle smirk at Stephanie's non-answer.
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The whole point of the settlement was that neither Sable nor the WWF could disparage each other publicly. I have no earthly idea how the WWF thought they could get away with this.
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I like Triple H better as a guy fighting for a spot rather than Lord and Master of All. Good segment and good angle, though the arm break sound effect is way worse than I remember it being.
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Someone on VH1's old show Rock of Ages described Kiss as "They took professional wrestling, and put it on stage"--so in some ways this is a better fit than Master P. Now, I hate Kiss, both then and now. But as a high school senior in '99 I thought the Smashing Pumpkins were the peak of musical and poetic excellence...and I wouldn't have wanted to see them on Nitro or Raw, either. And putting it in the main event slot seems particularly galling.
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Pretty good match with good heat, but it's the kind of match that would have been a sensation in 1995 but feels far more tired in '99. Speaking of 1995, a bunch of mediocre heels run in on the main event. For no justifiable reason other than they couldn't come up with an actual finish. I didn't expect a pinfall here, but come on.
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Looking over my Yearbook-based list...the 10/10 These Days Michinoku Pro match is widely considered one of the greatest and most definitive lucha-puroresu spot-fu matches ever. That's my 3rd-most-favorite MPro match of 1996. Finished at #10 overall. So yeah, a loaded year.
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I want to let it be known that I marked for the Magnetic Fields menu music. And a funny contrast to Limp Bizkit on page 1. Stizzing has a lot of "the street" in him, apparently. I'm glad I wasn't imagining the muffled chatter coming over either the ring or TV mics here. Spinal Tap at the air force base WCW, everybody. The cheesy lines I can deal with because that's part of the deal with Sting, but I really don't like it when he acts like the same old Sting when he's in the Crow get-up, even at this late stage. Sting is interrupted by a man making a surprise return, Greg Valenti...oh, wait, that's Luger. He's over, at least. Lex comes back and tells Sting not to trust Hogan. We've basically stepped back into late 1995 with the roles reversed. Sting is fine with this because Hulk agreed to put the title on the line tonight. The Stinger, everybody!
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Yeah, noticed that last night. I wonder what the hell he did--that isn't your standard "violation of copyright policy" takedown statement. My bold prediction is that he rises again.
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Of course not--they're creating a dorky heel to feud with dorky babyfaces.
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Also, pushing a guy as a pure babyface just so he can turn heel is something that literally only ever worked in the Attitude Era. In a PG era where babyfaces aren't really allowed to be "cool" there's nothing really separating him from other faces. They're all dorks, just to differing degrees.
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Huh, I was reading this thread and thinking how Peña was more of a McMahonlike candidate, but then a lot of his booking feels overwrought to me. His biggest achievements IMO were making the EMLL easily the number one promotion in the country (largely on the strength of TV) and then creating a promotion from out of nowhere that overnight became bigger than the one he'd just helped build up, and had a different way of doing business than any promotion in Mexico. I don't know that either of these falls under what would traditionally be called booking. No doubt the wrestling programs that he booked helped these things happen, though. In my Yearbook viewing I've had a lot of praise for some of the creative AAA finishes in big matches...but now I have to confess that I don't know if Pena booked those specifically or if he had a Pat Patterson with him. "Overwrought" isn't a wrong term in some cases as those finishes did eventually start to get frustrating. Then again, I think some of Riki Choshu's upset booking was him being too clever by half and booking upsets just for shock value, too. No booker is immune from going to the well a little too often.
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I feel like Antonio Pena needs to at least be in the team photograph here, even if not at #1. As Bix said on the latest BTS...strictly in terms of booking wrestling--angles, gimmicks, finishes, feuds and payoffs, etc., not promoting or marketing or even running an organization--he may have had an even better mind for the business than Vince. Pena also had a hand in designing costumes and masks for his guys, which I don't think any other booker anywhere can say. '85-'86 Crockett is some of the best wrestling anywhere in any time period, and Dusty was the man behind it.
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Heads up: the site is going offline after the 30th.