soup23
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Everything posted by soup23
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Not quite as high as Pete but I did like this more than the last time I watched it. The blown spots are really hilariously bad here but some of the action before it is really good. The Pitbull vs. Douglas finale is the certain bloated overblown stuff that personifies ECW main events at times. Pitbull gets turned on by Francine but fights back from that, a chain, high impact moves, and everything else before finally being put away. Francine gets powerbombed through the table to a huge pop from the ECW faithful. *** -
Small things like Taue getting announced second now that he is the Triple Crown is why I love All Japan. This match again set the stage for so much stuff for the rest of the year. Akiyama continues to hang with the big boys but has to do a lot to overcompensate for his still lack of experience. Misawa bails him out and it really rewards the viewer when he is able to in the latter stages of the match. Taue/Kawada were machines in this match working over both men. Misawa essentially gets his win back from Taue and that seems a little suspect for him to pin the Triple Crown champ but it still sets up the hierarchy and that Taue was able to score the win of his life in the May singles match. I have this slightly below the first match but this series is fantastic so far. ****1/2
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Match looked good between these two and I loved how they both stopped to take on the Outsiders when they came down to the aisle. Even better was Arn staying true to his heel route and attacking Sting when he gets an opportunity. The promo afterwards by Sting really needs to be seen. It is fantastic and completely the right tone. Savage isn't bad and unhinged but really pales in comparison to Sting. I may be lower on Savage than most but I do think this year hasn't been the best for him overall and he gets overshadowed in too many things throughout the year.
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Pretty sweet match with a steady pace that got over the action. I can't really see how anyone would justify watching whatever was on WWF if this type of action was on. I only saw one really blown spot that they covered for nicely. Rey is really put together a great resume for himself for the entire year. ***1/ 2
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Excellent stuff Pete, as I am halfway through the wrestler of the year competition is really starting to become a bear at narrowing down the field. I also got to say that the quality has really picked up in the past few months. I think 1996 was one of the toughest yearbooks to get through the first three months of, but once it starts gaining steam, it doesn't seem to let up and may become my #2 behind 1997 when all is said and done. Match list looks loaded as something like Kobasi vs. Taue (which I just watched and loved) didn't crack the top 20 along with Kudo vs. TOyota that you mentioned.
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Brilliantly put together match with a big fight feel and a ton of emotion waiting to boil over. The match portions here were better than I remembered as only the awkward Nash elbow to Savage was the only hiccup. Sting played a really good face in peril and Luger leaving at the hand of Sting put a cloud of doubt over all the proceedings. I hate Bobby's call and actually think he gets an insane pass on it because it's Hennan and if Tony said the same line, he would be crucified in some parts. Tony here is wonderful during the promo. Ditto Gene and his disgust at everything. The promo Hogan delivers is one of the best of his career and really skyrockted his heel turn. ***
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I had no recollection of this but it was a good match and a nice showcase for both Disco and Dean. They went out and had a 12 minute serious match that more importantly was pushed as such by the announcers. I think the Disco Inferno character could have worked well in this type of environment even with his gimmick. ***
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This felt in the same vein as PIllman vs. Liger to me. Some early matwork and then the back half is full of crazy stuff. I really was impressed of the crowd getting into Rey at the end and the audible groan when Psicosis does his final cutoff. Some of the spots were just spectacular here and this match was the perfect template for an opening match. Throw Rey Jr.'s hat into the WOTY ring. ****
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With PeteF here as I really thought this was a great upstart vs. established duo match. The spot Loss mentions didn't bother me too much as it showed how overmatched the young team was and they really had to combo and use their speed to have a fighting chance. Kansai did look like a monster here and did a great job overall. This made me want to seek out more of Fukuoka and Kaoru as a team. ****
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Bischoff back on the mic and he blows it with not acknowledging the Diesel chants and actually calling attention to it by saying they are chanting for Hennan. Nash was awesome here and him screaming Attica never fails to make me laugh even though it was a line he went back to on a year in the future. THis main event has been built up to wonderfully.
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This was needed for Shawn's reign as he has had the PPV performances this year but we havent seen him put in a great one for tv yet. That ends here and he again is emerging as a WOTY candidate as besides Beware of Dog, he hasn't disappointed me in anything that has made the yearbook. Marty for his part was really good here and I also like Leif on the outside cheering him on. Marty cutting him off with the clothesline throughout the match was done well and showed Marty had some familiarity with Shawn he could use. Fun stuff all around. ***1/4
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This peaked for me in the first fall too with the matwork that Dandy was doing with Wagner. Basic but beautifully done. The match tries to ratchet up like the previous one but never felt like it reached the heights. Garza does some stuff well but also looks sloppy and green still at points. Atlantis was pretty much attached with Felino for big portions of this and feels lost in the shuffle. Good match but nothing extraordinary for a CMLL trios and mainly here to see Dandy and Wagner do some neat stuff. ***
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The foul callbacks were great. Negro Casas really gives his first completely awesome performance of 1996 and we really feel the field expanding for WOTY candidates. Him and Dandy's stanza was really impressive and set up a lot of groundwork for later in the year. Satanico was also good in his extended stage Ditto Felino. Lizmark and Silver King felt like the lesser workers here but werent bad and the match evolved nicely throughout all of the caidas culminating in a frantic third fall. ***3/4
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This was really sweet and one of the more natural, shoot style tags I have seen. Team NJ was especially great with Fujiwara bringing some nasty shots and Fujinami giving one of his better performances of the 1990's. Takada continues to be a perplexing worker for me and one I really tangle with in the greatest wrestler ever voting as he really delivers in the big matches. ****
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