PeteF3
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Everything posted by PeteF3
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I think this might be my favorite "straight" FMW match--okay, it's not totally gimmick-free with Fuyuki in there, but he does a good job of establishing his role as a biased ref but also staying out of the way and not getting himself over. He does a few key heel-ref spots and then refs this straight, and the result is more of a quasi-handicap match than an angle designed to show off how smart the heel authority figure is. I can't say that I found myself caring about either the blown-off arm work or, incredibly, the pop-up no-sell of the German suplex by Tanaka. I hate that spot even more than some others here and yet here Tanaka made it look like an organic, Hulk Up-style comeback rather than GRR STRONG STYLE macho bullshit. There are some heart-stopping near-falls here before and after Fuyuki is disposed of, and Tanaka finally uses a second Diamond Dust to put Gannosuke down. A strong in-match storylines--several of them--great moves, hot sequences, a hot crowd, and a babyface facing impossible odds and winning. What's not to like? MOTYC. -
There's some pretty good action here, mixed in with some rather loathsome spots including Johnny Boone getting trapped in a corner with Lenny and acting like Ace Ventura after he surmised that Finkle was Einhorn. Lenny looks pretty good as a worker, even if he doesn't sports-entertain very well. In the end, as much as I like Rey I approve of titles being moved to *somebody* relatively fresh.
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Not only is the gimmick out of 1995, but I feel like even the demented-gym-teacher character trope was outdated by this point.
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This entire gimmick and push is a complete loser. Rock should be so above this, and a more paranoid viewer may see this as a #politicalhit on the part of either HHH or Austin. At least there's an explanation for how a kendo stick got there (Shane used it on Test earlier).
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'Taker's promo is almost legendary in its WTF so-bad-it's-goodness, talking about meeting up with Hell's Angels and stranding Big Show in the middle of Death Valley with a non-working motorcycle. The only way I can see this being improved upon would be a series of Russo-scripted on-location vignettes. Jericho saves us all and pretty much turns himself babyface in the process. Jericho is hilarious, but at the same time I can see why he'd draw heat for this--you really probably shouldn't be shitting on the monster heels' gimmick and dismissing how scary they are, no matter how bad the promo was that you interrupted. Still, it was a bad promo indeed.
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Sad sight to see Hogan back in the yellow and red doing his Hulk-Up routine to NO reaction. Hogan wins with the most cliched finish imaginable as Schiavone breathlessly talks about how no one can beat him. This fucking company.
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I knew this match had a rep from way back when but even with those raised expectations this surprised me in how enjoyable it was. It's methodical, but when they're actually working with each other they're really laying the moves in, and a lot of this has the feel of an honest-to-God fight. Rodman takes some pretty crazy bumps for a non-wrestler as well. Savage can't do much but he does give us one more back-body-drop-to-the-floor bump, perhaps for the last time. After a horrible year, Savage manages to go out on more or less a high note. Fun match.
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This is okay and inoffensive enough. Sting not only goes down clean but he doesn't even do it to the power bomb, as Sid choke slams him out of a Stinger Splash attempt for the pin.
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What a ridiculous step back for Booker T. At least Harlem Heat gets a warmer reception than usual in Sturgis this time around.
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Taz describes in vivid, Ole-esque detail why he did what he did to Tajiri, and the similar plans he has for Corino.
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Mick Tierney feels like a guy who should have made it farther than he did, based on what we've seen of him. Wolfie is down 3-on-1 in an elimination cage match and almost manages to pull out a victory, but Tierney gets him to pass out in a cobra clutch for the win.
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I liked the Tenzan match the best but maybe that was based on expectations. Here the bum knee of Hash finally comes back to haunt him, as Chono methodically executes his strategy in setting up for the STF. This was as slow-paced as the Muto-Nagata match but the stakes felt higher because it always felt like the holds were going somewhere and serving a purpose.
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The first part of this was a total bore, I got into the closing stretch, and then the finish soured me all over again. I credit these two for not working your typical fill-the-time holds (chinlock, armbar, etc.) and basing the opening matwork around more complex holds, but that still didn't mean the holds were worked in any kind of compelling manner. Nagata's submissions from out of nowhere were pretty good and there were some pretty nice exchanges, but I resented how Muto fought his way for minutes on end through all of Nagata's big submission spots and then gets the tapout immediately after applying a cross armbreaker. I get the cross armbreaker is a death hold, but come on--a finish like that undermines most of what Nagata worked for, in contrast to the Tenzan/Hash match we just saw where Tenzan does the job but is elevated in the process.
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The G-1 setting and the story of Hash's bad knee set me up for a bit of a double-swerve, as it looked to me like a prime set-up for Tenzan to get an upset win, but Hash makes a stirring comeback to take the victory by the skin of his teeth. I'm not really quite sold on Tenzan as a true top singles star yet because Hash is so masterful, but this was a terrific war of attrition.
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Jeez, no comments about the iconic GTV segment that seems to imply Billy Gunn getting some sort of rash-causing agent spread on his ass? Jericho is immediately made into a bigger deal than he ever was in WCW, making one of the best entrances ever and being matched up with the #1a babyface in the company. I can't imagine how much of a...(sigh) "snowflake" you'd have to be in the back to get offended by Jericho's promo because he's clearly still playing his WCW buffoon character and saying so many ridiculous falsehoods about TV ratings, buy rates, and crowd reactions that it's impossible to take seriously. It won't be all moonlight and roses in the coming months for Jericho but for one segment he and the WWF knocked it out of the park.