Everything posted by Matt D
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Trump
Seriously. Let's wait until they start pushing Rusev as top babyface.
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Speculation on the WrestleMania 33 card
Like a Steve Blackman?
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NWA On Demand
Duggan vs Sawyer (glove on a pole) was a big surprise, even though we had gotten most of the card already. The two of them are really perfect opponents for one another stylistically. Duggan's biggest skill as a babyface in this era was the ability to create a moment of anticipation before he struck. In a heel it might have been overly methodological and tedious, but as a babyface with the crowd behind him, it created a second pause where his hands went up and electricity started to spark before he came down upon his foe. It's not something that transferred well into the WWF, maybe because he was so rarely put into matches with stakes and heat like this. Sawyer bumped in kind, all but leaping backwards and landing squarely for Duggan. Structurally, this was a lot of fun. Pole matches have natural transition points based around the climbing of the pole. This wasn't much different, but they were creative about it. Duggan controlled early on, with Sawyer pinballing and leaving the ring repeatedly until he could finally get Duggan out after him and work over his back with a chair. Duggan sold the back at times, ignoring it at other times. It felt, more than anything, like an equalizer for Sawyer as opposed to a necessary vulnerability for Duggan. While I think he could have done just a bit more selling, in general what he did do was fine both for the narrative of the match and for his relationship with the crowd. This crowd accepted that Duggan would be slowed down by the targeting, but in the midst of a big grudge match like this, it didn't want to see him stopped by it. I liked how some of Duggan's hope spots were based around him trying to get the glove, especially when he bounded in from off camera and outside the ring to try to get it, only to be crotched on the pole. The finish was bs-laden, but also definitive, with Duggan perfectly suited and entirely capable of milking the moment. The post match beating with the chain was nasty (both symbolically and visually) and set up the matches to come. I do think that Sawyer recovering so quickly was unfortunate and lessened the importance and aura of the glove. And yes, I'm probably a horrible person for saying it, even about a 30 year old match, but this could have used a bit of color (Sorry). In general though, I thought it was great for what it was. EDIT: I was talking to Pete and there's a bit of an expectation gap to the match. To me, it ended up feeling more like a high end WWF Federation era gimmick match than what you'd normally expect out of Houston/Mid-South. It was more cinematic than visceral, in that regard. It did work for me (and the crowd as well, I think. Some great shots of people, especially females, being into it in the background).
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[2000-02-17-AJPW-Excite Series] Vader vs Toshiaki Kawada
On some level it's vaguely disingenuous that I keep going to the atypical Japan matches. On the other, I know what I like and what I don't. I liked this. I hadn't seen much post 98-Vader. I'm not sure I've seen any post-98 Kawada. What stood out to me the most here was how thoroughly and deeply the match gets over Vader as a threat. From what I DO know of Kawada, pre-or-post this match, the fact that he'd all but Memphis stall to start things off was crazy. He avoids the lock up so many times that Vader screams at the ref in frustration. When Kawada starts the kicks, Vader's enraged enough that he keeps missing his punches, all culminating in the back drop driver, the cross-arm breaker attempt, and ultimately an early advantage for Kawada that the fans go nuts for. Kawada's dangerous enough in general but when he comes in with a strategy, even a monster has to tremble. The fact that he feels like he has to come in with a strategy like this just gets over Vader as all the more dangerous. They keep up that sense of struggle through the attempt at the arm-breaker, with Vader having to get to the ropes, and then with the big blows that stagger Vader in the corner. The fact that Vader has to resort to comeback with an eyepoke (and this is already after he had to make it to the ropes) in turn, gets over the damage Kawada was doing to him. The fact that it doesn't even get him the advantage just has me hyped for the first real blow that Vader does land. Kawada had almost lost the advantage when he stopped attacking and went for the kill on the cross arm breaker (thus allowing distance and that eyepoke). He ultimately loses it when he goes for too early a pin which lets Vader toss him off and roll out. Yes, Kawada keeps up on the advantage on the outside, but he tries for too much momentum and runs into a huge, impactful feeling (both in execution and in meaning) Vader Attack. That's a transition point and leads to Vader just mauling him in the seats. Kawada's extremely giving here, basically pinballing for every touch from Vader. This ends up back in the ring with a Vader Bomb (splash) off the second rope. Well and good, but maybe too early, because he spends a chunk of the rest of the match trying to hit it again. I probably would have liked to see that reversed, with him missing it early (but maybe staying on offense) and then hitting it later for a more meaningful near-fall? I guess at this point in AJPW, multiple finishers was the expectation. It felt a little premature though, especially because he never landed it again and because it was the root of Kawada's hope spot and comeback. It felt a little off to me. In general, I thought Vader's little control section here was a little lackluster, but some of that was how they had established that Vader was extremely dangerous. Maybe if he had hit some more devastating stuff, that would have unbalanced the match since everything he did was presented as a killshot? Maybe you can't just sit on a guy for a while in AJPW in 2000 even if it would have helped the pacing of the match? Kawada did come back with a series of kicks and a stretch plum. So much struggle here. I'm not even sure Vader had to do much work. He's so massive that Kawada was straining just to wrap the hold around him. This leads to another cross-arm breaker attempt and Kawada unleashing more shots, including a ton of low kicks. That five to one ratio is in effect though as one clothesline drops him, allowing both wrestlers to sell the damage of the match (which made it feel longer and bigger than it actually was at this point.). They segue into the finish at this point, with Vader hitting a power bomb (and there'd been relatively few big moves like that in the match up until now) and then an awesome almost-bridging back suplex. He can't land the choke slam though, and they're putting so much resistance into this that it feels like a war. Eventually, the ratio catches up to Kawada and the inevitable happens: despite a flurry of kicks, Vader hits just one more clothesline and gets the pin. This is the most nuanced I've seen Vader in his career, I think. Kawada was extremely giving in presenting him as a threat, but the way that Vader sold in the corner or embraced the threat of the cross-arm breaker, or sold his late match exhaustion... that's a Vader I'm not sure I'm used to, and they hit the balance between him being a monster and him being vulnerable so very well. That was a team effort. If either guy was less giving or came up short in the delivery, I don't think it would work as well as it did. I do think that the Vader control sequence in the middle should have been a little flipped, with the hope spots coming on earlier Vader Bomb (being the corner splash) attempts and with him just grounding Kawada to fill time better. In general though, there was a lot to like here. What a great way to get 45 year old Vader over as a monster while still making him realistically and dramatically vulnerable.
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Speculation on the WrestleMania 33 card
What do you think about it relative to last year?
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NWA On Demand
Two undercard matches that definitely did their job. I loved all of Boyd's little tricks. Thorton was able to keep his air of technical dominance despite them. I'd have loved to see a rounds match between them. I'm with Pete on the Hito match. The opening was heated. JJ's awesome as the clumsily over-bowing manager, sideburns and all. Kozak really knew his stuff. A Nick Kozak/Tommy Gilbert/Dutch Savage trio would be something special.
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Speculation on the WrestleMania 33 card
The HHH vs Sting match with DX and the NWO sort of feels like a fever dream now.
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Royal Rumble 2017
He had an umbrella too.
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Speculation on the WrestleMania 33 card
Joe vs HHH. Run the Taz/Douglas/Sabu sort of thing where the suit tries to screw the hired gun now that he no longer needs him.
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The greatest match of all time
It's an atomicos but where are people on... 12.8.94 Fuerza Guerrera/Blue Panther/Espanto Jr./Psicosis v. El Hijo del Santo/Octagon/El Mariachi/El Mexicano (it's on youtube, btw)
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NWA On Demand
There's a special place in my heart for matches like Spoiler vs Ox Baker. At some point along the way, the value of what was good in wrestling shifted. Or maybe it was never even really recognized. Maybe this was never fully appreciated. I have to think it was at some point. Two wrestlers, utilizing a utility of movement (for Spoiler doesn't even go up to the top until late in the match), manipulating a crowd, creating symbolic meaning with as little as necessary and then making that symbolic meaning have dramatic purpose. That's wrestling. That's the absolute pinnacle of wrestling. That's the joy of the heart punch and the claw. That's the importance of the mask. That's what this match does. It creates narrative moments based around symbols. The mask is important enough that Baker would sacrifice his advantage to go after it. To take it off would create a sort of victory for him that would be greater than physically mauling or pinning his opponent. It's worth the risk of eating punishment himself. It means so much to Spoiler that it causes him to retreat, to look weaker against an evenly matched opponent, during the brawl after the time limit expired. Everything has meaning, Ox's beard, Spoiler's height, the claw, Ox's bearhug. The second ring. Everything. This is a match that made something out of nothing. That's the magic of wrestling and we've lost so much of it because we've come to value self-important action over it.
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Speculation on the WrestleMania 33 card
I feel like Cena vs Shane might be the biggest money match they can put on right now. Is that the craziest notion given the last year?
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WWE TV 1/30 - 2/5
I am kind of excited for a Joe vs HHH match six months down the line.
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The greatest match of all time
I don't know the answer to favorite either. The Rockers vs Rose/Somers match that was brought up is a good choice. Bockwinkel vs Robinson and Bockwinkel vs Funk are up there. Funk vs Martel and Funks vs Martel/Zenk are up there. Owen vs Bret from Mania probably is too. RnR vs Russians maybe? One of the Dandy vs Satanico matches. It's tough. One thing that's interesting is that a lot of my favorite wrestlers (Casas, Garza, Cota, Rose, just to name a few) aren't necessarily people that are in a lot of my favorite matches. It's more of a constant performance thing on a week to week basis from them.
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The greatest match of all time
The really interesting question is what people's favorite match would be.
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WWE TV 1/30 - 2/5
I don't want to be that guy but the big matches for Mania aren't Rollins vs Joe and Reigns vs Braun. They're Rollins vs HHH and Reigns vs Taker. Logic sort of dictates something in the meantime.
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[2017-01-29-Lucha Memes] Dr Cerebro vs Hechicero
I caught a blurry, single angle, fan cam on youtube where the sound cut out for two minutes at the start of the last third of the match. I don't care. It was still great for what it was, which was pretty much exactly what you'd want it to be: two of the best hybrid style luchadores (maybe the best of such of the 00s vs the best of such of the 10s) going at it with tricked out twisty submissions, solid rope running, some nasty shots, and transitions that made sense, even though it was very back and forth and evenly worked. The camera was just far back enough that you lost some of the intricacies of the matwork, but you get the broad brushstrokes. Holds were complex enough that they looked painful but allowed for openings. Those openings led not just to an escape but to the next hold. Maybe because Cerebro isn't as young as he once was, some of the rope running sequence wasn't as smooth as it could have been, but it was smooth enough that the slight roughness added a sense of struggle instead of detracting. They looped in some fun big moments, like a Hechicero Backlund deadlift out of an armbar that popped the crowd and a really well executed rolling tapitia. I thought the selling was generally appropriate. They had some pop ups in an early bomb exchange, but it was early enough that I was fine with it and they made sure to take their time and balance the explosiveness with a methodological moment to let what just happened sink in. In general, I love how good Hechicero's gotten at working the hand-motions/crowd interaction into his matches. That character mystique implanted directly into his ringwork is his biggest development as a wrestler since moving into CMLL. If you're a fan of this style, this is well worth fifteen minutes of your time.
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Royal Rumble 2017
That was Enzo's purpose. Although Santino at #28 or #29 would have been a dumb idea too I was watching with the sound off due to multitasking so I actually thought the colors on the tron meant it WAS Santino.
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Royal Rumble 2017
I'm kind of annoyed we didn't get Santino.
- Royal Rumble 2017
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Royal Rumble 2017
Jericho winning and Owens trying to convince him to challenge Cena could be... nevermind.
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Royal Rumble 2017
Taker vs Brock vs Goldberg would be the ultimate part-timers match.
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Royal Rumble 2017
Can Joe be 30? Wasn't there a rumor that he might be getting the Cena match?
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Royal Rumble 2017
Past Gallagher, they should have given some of the longshots about 10% more than they did. Enzo even getting a punch or two off would have mattered more. There's no reason why Harper couldn't have hit Sister Abagail before getting the RKO, etc. They used to understand that better.
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Royal Rumble 2017
I could go for the Texas crowd trying to make Harper into babyface Brody.