soup23

I kind of liked Madusa's trashy look and thought it was attractive. I know I sound like a broken record but this was a great match that didn't have me coming up for air in the 30 minutes it lasted. The pace was relentless. Moreno looked like the female version of Hamada and all her spots were great. A couple of things annoyed me at the end (trashcan, Aja looking that dominant over an established tag team) but overall joshi has improved a lot for me in the month of November.

WCW sucks around this time in the angle department. The in ring action is still good but nothing else is resonating.

is pushing the Scorpion the best plan to garner ratings?

I have really soured on this angle and just can't really buy anything said from either side.

Great match that made me want to seek out more Faraon. Pirata is also someone that it feels like we have a decent amount of footage of but at the same time I want more. Morgan is a bloody mess and if you ever want to justify a medical stopage, the amount of blood he is pouring out is a good reason. The technical wrestling was well done here but I really loved the gritty brawling aspects. Hair cutting doesn't have the same ramifications to me as a unmasking but this one with Pirata's bloody face was neat to watch.

I have gushed over this match a lot the past few months since I saw it. After completing the 1994 yearbook, I watched around 30 additional matches I could find online to see what I thought looked interesting. This was one of them and I sort of half-assed put it on one evening. After about 10 minutes in, I was enthralled and after the first watch was ready to declare this the best post 1993 All Japan 6 man. I immediately rewatched and have tempered on that claim some but still think it is a great match. I think on its own merits it can appeal to people, but this match is also enriched by where the particpants were heading into this match and where they went the remainder of the year. Misawa is the ace of the promotion and really hasn't looked that vulunerable in over a year. Sure in matches he gets pushed in matches and has to go on the defensive but he has an aura to him around this time of Michael Jordan in 1993 that no matter what, you know he is on a different level from everyone else. He honestly is almost being booked too strong. Hansen is the aging cowboy saddling up for his last rodeo. He knows times is not on his side. After the renaissance of his 1993 year, the residue is dwindling in 1994 with him still being positioned as the top gaijin but losing more and more ground. However, Hansen is not quite ready to relinquish the spot he has held for almost a decade just yet. Williams is a rising outsider. He always has garnered success in All Japan but his run to the 1994 Champion Carnival final and epic battle with Kawada proved that he was a force to be reckoned with. Kobashi is also someone rising up. No longer seen as a liability or upstart young lion with his team with Misawa, Kobashi has had some signature wins in the past 5 months including the 12/93 Tag League, him pinning Fuch in early 94, and his satisfying victory over Hansen in the Carnival. Ace and Kikuchi obviously are the two weaklings in this match storyline wise but Kikuchi in some ways has been the heart of the Misawa and friends teams since 1990 and Ace is someone looking to find his way in All Japan. The way they were portrayed in this match correlates to where they would go from this point forward in their careers. Two structural things make this match unique for me. One, Hansen/Misawa start off as the respective leaders of their teams. This signals that there will be no screwing around in this match. Their opening exchange is heated and great including Misawa cranking on a nasty armbar in the first minute that has to be broken up by Williams. The second thing is the finish and who eats the pin. Looking at the teams and knowing the hierarchy of All Japan, there is two clear candidates to take the loss (Kikuchi/Ace). I don't want to spoil who does here for people who haven't watched but it is not one of them and that was genuinely shocking to me the first time I watched. All the pairings in this match work for me because it is either established history (hansen/Kobashi, Hansen/Misawa), new history (Misawa/Williams) as a singles feud, or a feud really in the fever of its timeline (Kobashi/Williams). Kikuchi and Ace also blend in as inferior members of their teams that have snippets of offense. Williams and Hansen's double team moves look great and they make a great team. I love the spot of Kikuchi rolling out the way of their elbows and the crowd eating it up. Hansen ribs get worked over some and Stan's selling of the ribs is a highlight of 1994. Stan gets beat up a lot in the first 10 minutes showing he may not be as strong as he first was and the tide is turning in All Japan. He is able to flip the momentum by hurling Kikuchi over the top rope in a crazy bump and but Kikuchi uses his quickness to tag out immediately. The natives are looking strong and dominating. Then something crazy happens, Ace chops Misawa and he FOLDS. What the fuck just happened there? That is pretty uncharacteristic. The gaijin then percede to beat Misawa's ass making him look vulnerable. Misawa would turn in quite a few great vulnerable performances in 1994. The 5/21 tag, 6/3 vs. Kawada, 7/94 vs. Doc, and 12/10/94 tag vs. Doc/Ace. This was the onset of all those and really showed him as human. Their beatdown of him is well done and really minimized his impact. Misawa fires back finally in a great spot of him elbowing out the corner. This is neutralized further with a spike piledriver. Misawa is able to overtake Hansen and tag out as we enter the final stretch. Final stretch is heated with all 6 getting showcase moments. Kobashi hits a moonsault on Ace I thought was the finish that gets broken up by Doc at the last second. Doc is overall and animal just wasting people. Hansen is really reeling and looks to be pinned at any moment and then comes one of my favorite spots in a wrestling match. Doc backdrop drivers Misawa. I am on record saying one of my favorite sell jobs all time is Misawa selling that move in their Triple Crown match. This only adds to that match as when Doc hits it here Misawa is a non factor for the remainder of the match. No hulk up or bouncing back he is finished. This leads to a finish that is stiff and satisfying ending the war. We leave the match establishing these things: 1. Ace gain prove himself. He was the one that turned the tide against Misawa initially and helped his team in numerous ways. This would lead to his sucessful partnerships the next 4 years in All Japan. 2. Kikuchi has great heart and speed but eventually gets caught and neutralized. I love Kikuchi but he really wouldn't be featured in many more high profile matches after this point in his All Japan tenure 3. Kobashi is on the rise but not quite there yet and can still be overzealous and make mistakes. 4. Hansen is not ready to hang it up yet and even though he is reeling, he can still be resourceful and pull a lariat out at any minute. 5. Doc is a main player to be taken seriously and now has a move he knows can neutralize Misawa if he can hit it on him. 6. Most importantly, Misawa can be beaten and the Triple Crown is in real danger. I love how you can gather all that from 22 minutes of wrestling action. Great fucking match.

The CMLL vignettes continue to be weird as hell.

One of my favorite trios for the year. First two caidas were a good showcase for everyone and Timbs stooging around looking for a tag in the second caida was great. Third fall the real issue at hand (Dandy/Satanico) takes center stage. Dandy hits a gusher and the matches turns from fun to great.

Would have liked to have seen this in full. Good beefy all action match from clips we saw. Terry and Stan have their best interaction with each other on the set and I must say that I enjoyed Dory bootscraping Stan. Fun as fuck.

Just rewatched and it echoed my thoughts on the podcast. Good slugfest type match and the best Bubba has looked at this point. The finish is a familiar one but done well here.

MOTYC. I love the description of FMW meeting Crockett. Blood, weapons, and hate. This also told a great compelling story and had an awesome ending.

Didn't think Loss could top his FMW match review but he did it here. I can imagine the looks I would get if I said I had some team building exercises at work and then busted out Dreamrush. I will bring the dissenting opinion on this match as I thought it was my 3rd favorite Joshi match of the year so far. It told and interesting story and the action was good and sustaining throughout. It also did have some of the typical joshi spots that can annoy and derail a match for me.

Super Porky vs. Hamada is a great match up. I loved Porky overall in this match especially his tumble from the apron. Kendo is able to get the crowd going but he is probably my least favorite performer. Another fun showcase match from hamada UWF>

Good match with a lot of chaos going on. The two piledrivers that Lawler gave out were both brutal. Cactus/Lawler vs. Funk/Gilbert No DQ sounds amazing.

2.5 more hours with Pat, yes please

Would be interested to do this to.

Is Abdullah hiding in that small box? I liked the segment of Long touring the boat but I sill don't like the way this angle has advanced very much.

Great tv match with stiff shots and amazing work all around. They mentioned an Omni thanksgiving show and that show featured Doom vs. Anderson/Flair in an elimination match and the Steiners vs. Nasties in a cage which I really want to see.

This match was mowing along fine until the Black Scorpion crap. I would have liked to have seen a 20 minute main event clash match between these two. Luger cuts a promo at the end saying he isn't standing for this shit. I feel the same way.

THis late into the year it seems weird seeing the NWA graphic pop up when they go to a break. Very good action and a really fun tv match. It reminded me of the type of matches you get on the best WWE Main Event episodes. Arn stayed focused on the arm and Terry had some good counters. Wont make my top 100 but a real fun match to just sit down and watch some wrestling to.

I liked this duo together. hansen seemed a little more restrained and it was reflected in his best WCW promo yet.

Really strong promo episode of USWA. Every week it seems like they have interesting developments on their shows.

Gilbert vs. Jarrett coward waves the flag sounds awesome too. Craig's sweater was hideous here. Gilbert does another amazing promo.

Good promo by Lawler, dammit why cant we have full footage of the barbed wire match.

Mixed emotions on this one. It does advance the Gilbert/Lawler/Funk dynamic more but the title changed hands so much around this time and in some ways this seems to dilute Lawler overcoming the odds to win the USWA title tournament. I guess Idol is already out of the promotion to?