soup23
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Everything posted by soup23
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This wouldn't have been bad as a video for Goldberg but it was really bad that they made this Goldberg's theme music since that was one of his calling cards. I liked that the crowd was chanting Goldberg.
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DiBiase is backing away with Sweetan going after him to start. We get some good back and forth punch exchanges and Ted is able to take over on the outside when Bob makes a mistake. This match only went around 9 minutes, but it was worked in a real rugged pace. It wasn't slow moving but everything applied looked painful and was emphasized which was appreciated. The piledriver Sweetan gives Ted right before the finishing stretch is sick and Ted takes a great bump off of it. The ref gets tossed and Ted goes for his trusted loaded glove. Sweetan gets knocked loopy from the glove shot and blades. The referee recovers and gives Ted the win, however, he sees the glove and reverses the decision. This gives Sweetan enough time to recover and he annihilates DiBiase in a great revenge spot. A huge posting and slamming of DiBiase's head on the table has him a bloody mess. This was great and felt like an old west shootout between two gunslingers. Both guys came out looking strong and it set up perfectly rematches in the future. ***1/2
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Tough to say as Hase was deeply embedded in his Congress work by this point so the New Years Giant Series was the only tour for All Japan that he was on with sporadic appearances afterward. Cage match does have a 9/2/99 singles match vs. Taue that I don't recall seeing on tape if it did make it so that would be a comp. I would probably say Luger overall was better after his heel run of 89 and finding his footing as a face in the early part of 90.
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Kawada/Taue vs. Hayabusa/JInsei Shinzaki RWTL 1997 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnflw7GIqoc Kawada vs. AKiyama CC 98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi08izB3CXA Kawada vs. Hase 5/2/99 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT2ZeNzfZc4 Kawada vs. Takayama 7/17/99 Kawada vs. Shibata 11/3/04 I think the list above displays some of the good and bad comparing Kawada to his peers. The Akiyama CC 98 match for example is a match I ranked at ***3/4 and thought it was very good. However, I have the Misawa vs. Akiyama matches from 1/98 and the CC 98 Final higher as well as the Kobashi CC98 and especially the 7/98 Triple Crown match. The 5/2/99 Hase match is an even more glaring example. This was Kawada coming back from a broken forearm but this was the #2 match on a Tokyo Dome show and it was a match that I gave ***1/2 to when watching for the 99 yearbook vetting process. Charles was less enamored than me, so I went back and rewatched it and it is a highly flawed match that should be seen as a disappointment given the competitors and positioning. Akiyama for example had a much better match vs. Hase in the Tokyo Dome in 1998. The Shibata/Takayama matches however are nice sprints for Kawada where he packs a ton of viciousness and intensity into a short time frame. The Shibata match in particular ranked for me when I did Ditch's 2004 list.
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Checkmate and Dragon is one of the odder teams you can think of but the contrast in their style melded together to make a fun team. Jose Lothario is someone that is receiving a huge reputation bump with the NWA Classics stuff coming out, and he delivered here with great strikes and surprising agility at points. Checkmate’s turtle and attack to gain heat on Lothario was awesome and unique. The heat segments were diverse and interesting enough to have myself and the crowd clamoring for a comeback. It was destined that this match would be a draw, but overall this is the type of match that is perfect to hold attention of a viewer across a whole hour of the show. ***
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This was worked with a fast pace to start. The crowd pelts garbage at Bundy and Hennan before he leaves the ringside area. Hogan is in his all white attire. I liked the fact that Hogan was working with a sprint style offense and mixing things up with headbutts and a nice running elbow drop that he does from time to time. He goes for the slam on Bundy, but Bundy is able to punch him in the ribcage and take over. Bundy's offense on top is fairly short but not much was going on with a chinlock. Jesse does his best to get this over on commentary with Bundy putting his whole body weight on Hogan which does make sense. Still, it was uninspiring stuff. Then we get the finish which is typical Hulk of him Hulking out of the Avalanche and splash, powerslaming Bundy for the 1-2-3. They do give Bundy a bit of an out with him kicking out right at the three and on the replay, Jesse swears his shoulder was up, but this still looked like Hogan steamrolling through another competitor that had been built up big time up to this point and someone they would program Hogan with for the biggest show of the upcoming year. **
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This feels like the best case scenario match for Jim Cornette's vision of Ring Of Honor. Stiff strikes, state of the art action harking back to the territory days with a faster space and more emphasis on big moves but still with a focus on counters and stiff strikes. Throw in some outside interference with Kingston coming out, SDR and Haggadorn doing some things, and a loaded elbow pad, and you have a 2009 studio match. I did appreciate that this match didn't stray too ridiculous besides the running corner front kick exchange. Each mistake resulted in a transition into the the other competitor taking advantage. Some of the kicks and elbow strikes here were just filthy and gave the match an intensity that it needed to rise above generic indy dream match affair. ****
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One of my favorite things in wrestling is when I organically find myself in a very good match. This happens more with Ric Flair than any other wrestler to me. Early on with the chinlock stuff, it was interesting but table setting. This paid off big dividends though as the ending stretch with the chop battle relying on Reed giving Flair some awesome punches, Flair finally mounting some offense and going after the leg, and Reed making his big comeback was all really well done. The finish was typical BS where right at the 20 minutes mark, the referee bails to the floor and we get a DQ when Flair was about to get beat, but this was a really good heavyweight title defense with Reed looking strong as hell and Flair looking real resourceful. ***1/2
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I love this project as I have shared with Loss privately and I think the open ended nature of it is what is great. The wrestling circles I am in have tightened but also in another way widened given the outreach I have with the pods/website. This project creates focus but allows you to set your own restraints. You only want to watch 2000 indies stuff? Great, there is a bevy of stuff from those days to watch. Ditto 70's footage, 80's territories, etc. This allows everyone to be a part of one thread without being constrained to an era/promotion they aren't fond of. In addition, deadlines with these projects can be daunting. This project can be perpetual. If you miss a day, no big deal, catch it again the next year. I'm excited to dive into this.
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How well versed would Madden be on lucha?
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There is a lot of Edge going on around here.
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Essentially an end of an era match. I did like the compact nature, the strike exchanges, and the teases of the Ganso Bomb. I also thought the finish was fun with the TD 91 and Misawa gearing up for the elbow before Wada begging him to pin Kawada and Misawa obliging. I still think I prefer the Kobashi/Misawa feud overall but damn if Kawada/Misawa didn't produce some great output throughout the decade. ****
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I wish we had more complete multi-man from NJPW juniors from 97-99 as there was so many great workers at this time and when they shine, they really shine. This was a great example and never let up allowing each person to really look impressive even less impressive individuals like Ka Shin. ****
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Didn't care for this much either as both Vince vs. Austin and Austin vs. Taker need a vacation from each other at this point. I get the point of building to a "Final" encounter and the crowd was still molten but this felt like a collection of bits that had been done better elsewhere to me.
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