Posted June 24, 201015 yr comment_5452324 1/21/96 Hugh Morrus vs. ?? Arn Anderson vs. Bart Sawyer* Chris Benoit/Brian Pillman vs. Scott & Steve Armstrong** Super Assassins vs. Scotty Riggs/Marcus Bagwell 1/28/96 Meng vs. Rick Valentino Disco Inferno vs. Mr. JL Kevin Sullivan vs. Chuck Williams Sting vs. The Gambler** One Man Gang vs. Bobby Starr Men at Work vs. Nasty Boys*
June 30, 201015 yr Author comment_5452591 4/28/96 State Patrol vs. Craig Pittman/Joey Maggs Road Warriors vs. Buddy Valentine/Maxx Muscle Chris Benoit vs. Brad Armstrong One Man Gang vs. Bart Sawyer Big Bubba vs. Eddie Jackie* Dave Taylor/Bobby Eaton vs. Sting/Lex Luger** 5/5/96 Bunkhouse Buck/Dick Slater vs. State Patrol** Renegade vs. Manny Fernandez (NOT THEE Manny Fernandez) Brad Armstrong vs. Chris Kanyon* Fidel Sierra/Ricky Santana vs. Nasty Boys The Giant vs. Two Unnamed Masked Guys VK Wallstreet vs. Bart Sawyer
July 8, 201015 yr Author comment_5452885 11/24/96 Public Enemy vs. Scott & Steve Armstrong* Jim Powers vs. Mark Starr Pat Tanaka vs. Glacier Brad Armstrong vs. Jerry Lynn Rick Steiner vs. Lex Luger** 12/1/96 Jim Duggan vs. John Peterson Bobby Eaton vs. Manny Fernandez Disco Inferno vs. Alex Wright Chris Benoit vs. Rick Steiner Lex Luger vs. Jim Powers** Dude, Lex Luger was THEE lost super worker of 1996. He was awesome in these two matches! He had like two elbow drop variations! He was legit awesome here. Easily the best Jim Powers singles match ever. Luger has to lock on a chinlock twice so Powers can catch his breath. So rad. The matches are both really fun, though.
October 8, 201015 yr comment_5456985 Dude, Lex Luger was THEE lost super worker of 1996. Believe it or not, I expect this to be a common talking point after the '96 Yearbook set is released. Luger is in a lot of great matches, especially in the first half of the year.
October 13, 201213 yr Author comment_5517305 8/4/96 Craig Pittman vs. The Gambler* Scott Norton vs. Manny Fernandez Billy Kidman vs. Dean Malenko* Kurosawa vs. Konnan Jim Power/Joe Gomez vs. Arn Anderson/Chris Benoit Pittman/Gambler was odd but really fun, as it was just a squash, but one that got 3 minutes more than Pittman squashes usually get. So we get a 5 minute match with Pittman getting to show off every single move he knows to fill time, with tons of hardway suplexes and forearm shots to the throat and random submissions. Gambler is always awesome and here he gets to mug a bunch and gets his one offensive move no sold (a real nice German suplex). Norton/Fernandez was hilarious because it was 2 minutes of Norton just clubbing (not thee) Manny Fernandez, and it was all building up to Manny's ONE bit of offense...which he promptly blew. His ONE move, he goes for some ridiculous asai crossbody type thing, and just falls off the ropes 2 feet short of Norton, who then just hit his finisher. Just waiting the whole day during everybody else's match, knowing that you are going to get ONE MOVE for your reward, and then just slipping and falling on your face. That shit would give me nightmares 16 years later. This match might need to be on there just for that spot. Kidman/Malenko was a fun 6 minutes that I probably would have watched a million times back when it happened, and now at least seems like fun 90s junior work. Kurosawa/Konnan was not good in any sort of way, and that shouldn't shock anybody at all. Konnan was so fucking awful it's almost hard to describe, just moving around in the ring and positioning himself in the most out of position ways possible. Benoit and AA get 9 minutes with Gomez and Powers, and it is just not good at all. Gomez and Powers bring less than nothing to the table and Arn looks like he just has open disdain for Powers; not so much in a "We're gonna stiff the shit out of you." but more in a "I've been working matches with this asshole for EIGHT YEARS now. Fuck." Arn just looks at him like "Uggggggghhhhh Jim Powers." The eyeroll is palpable.
January 6, 201312 yr Author comment_5526302 8/11/96 1. High Voltage vs. Eddie and Chavo Guerrero* 2. Kevin Sullivan vs. Chad Brock 3. Maxx vs. Ice Train 4. Big Bubba vs. Chip Minton 5. Rough & Ready (Enos and Slater) vs. Harlem Heat* Opening tag was pretty fun with Eddie and Chavo getting tossed around by HV. Chavo looked really green here. Sullivan squashes are always short and predictable. I like the idea of big juiced up heavys matches, but this wasn't great. Bubba/Minton was plenty fun and although Bubba's moves looked good, he was sleepwalking through this one. Him getting out of the ring to do his "opponent lying prone over ropes" punch took forever. Main event tag got 11 mintues and it was mostly good as Enos/Slater controlled most of it. HH have looked bad in almost every match of theirs I've rewatched.
