Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

What are you watching?


Tim Cooke

Recommended Posts

If this doesn't need it's own thread, feel free to merge but I watched some really cool stuff this weekend and wanted to write about it somewhere.

 

Lawler vs. Snowman worked-shoot Mid South Colosseum match from June 1990

 

Phil's review:

 

Jerry Lawler v. The Snowman USWA 6/11/90-GREAT

 

Totally bizarre spectacle. This is set up by a shoot angle with Snowman coming out of the audience at the TV studio and interrupting a Lawler interview. He accuses Lawler of ducking him because he is Black and they have a really frenetic pull apart. That leads to this match and it was one of the most realistic "guys aren't cooperating" matches I have ever seen. Lots of wild swinging awkward punches and cool Lawler takedowns, there are parts where both guys are going for the eyes which is kind of what you would expect in a racial tinged street fight. Crowd is totally electric, you get the sense they really got the crowd to buy into the whole angle. Reminded me of a Southern Fried version of Onita v. Aoyagi. Match is pretty short (about five minutes, although the footage maybe clipped) and that keeps this from the Epic pile, but it is definitely worth seeing, and something unique for Lawler.

 

--------------

 

Fucking amazing find by Loss. I think everyone is pretty familiar with the Snowman/Lawler angle, but to find this match and have it be great is what makes the current age of DVD trading so awesome. Loss told me this was a PWFG style match in Memphis. That description is just about perfect, as it feels very organic, your typical Fujiwara versus Olympic Russian wrestler 7 minute match. I was compiling my personal ***** matches list this weekend and the fundamental flaw with star ratings is how do you rate something this awesome, but compare it to regular 15 minute matches or epic 30+ minute matches?

 

On my short list, this has to be one of the greatest sub 10 minute matches. Right there with MX/Fantastics (Clash I - though that might be 10:30, close enough); Windham/Luger vs. Tully/Arn (Clash I), Jindrak vs. Basham (Velocity), etc.

 

More later on some other stuff I watched --- including Juventud vs. Perro Jr. from 7/15/95, Santo vs. Espanto 4/10/88 (which I now believe is the greatest of the 3 singles matches we have available on tape), Damiancito/Pierrothito vs. Cicloncito/Dragoncito from April 1997, and Gotch vs. Yoshimura from JWA in 1961.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.6k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Starting in April of this year, I began watching every wrestling PPV from 2000 through 2004 (excluding Mexico and Japan until I can obtain them) as I do my re-examination of that 5 year stretch. I intend on doing a detailed post once I'm complete (Currently up to Survivor Series 2004).

 

I'm also watching the ROH shows from 2002-2004 mixed in. After this I'll be watching all the WWE/WCW/ECW/TNA TV and as many CHIKARA/PWG/other Indy's I can find to be as complete as possible.

 

Counting all Non-Japan, Non-Mexico based PPV's It is/was about 205+ within this period. That's not even counting the 55 or so ROH shows. Needless to say, I think it will be awhile before I delve into 2005-2009 although the PPV # will be trimmed by more than half with TNA going to monthly's.

 

Left on the schedule...

 

WWE Survivor Series 2004

ROH All-Star Extravaganza

TNA Turing Point 2004

WWE Armageddon 2004

ROH Final Battle 2004

 

... Much needed break

 

2004 TV and Indy's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching the 1995 Yearbook, and about halfway through the first disc. From the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show, Samurai/Otani was strong, Steiners vs Muto/Hase was very good, Hashimoto/Sasaki was excellent, and from the same date in a different location, Toyota/Hasegawa vs Double Inoues is one of the greatest matches I have ever seen.

 

My thoughts on each match:

 

El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani

 

Rick & Scott Steiner vs Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto

 

Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki

 

Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa vs Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If this doesn't need it's own thread, feel free to merge but I watched some really cool stuff this weekend and wanted to write about it somewhere.

 

Lawler vs. Snowman worked-shoot Mid South Colosseum match from June 1990

 

Phil's review:

 

Jerry Lawler v. The Snowman USWA 6/11/90-GREAT

 

Totally bizarre spectacle. This is set up by a shoot angle with Snowman coming out of the audience at the TV studio and interrupting a Lawler interview. He accuses Lawler of ducking him because he is Black and they have a really frenetic pull apart. That leads to this match and it was one of the most realistic "guys aren't cooperating" matches I have ever seen. Lots of wild swinging awkward punches and cool Lawler takedowns, there are parts where both guys are going for the eyes which is kind of what you would expect in a racial tinged street fight. Crowd is totally electric, you get the sense they really got the crowd to buy into the whole angle. Reminded me of a Southern Fried version of Onita v. Aoyagi. Match is pretty short (about five minutes, although the footage maybe clipped) and that keeps this from the Epic pile, but it is definitely worth seeing, and something unique for Lawler.

 

--------------

Fucking amazing find by Loss. I think everyone is pretty familiar with the Snowman/Lawler angle, but to find this match and have it be great is what makes the current age of DVD trading so awesome. Loss told me this was a PWFG style match in Memphis. That description is just about perfect, as it feels very organic, your typical Fujiwara versus Olympic Russian wrestler 7 minute match. I was compiling my personal ***** matches list this weekend and the fundamental flaw with star ratings is how do you rate something this awesome, but compare it to regular 15 minute matches or epic 30+ minute matches?

 

On my short list, this has to be one of the greatest sub 10 minute matches. Right there with MX/Fantastics (Clash I - though that might be 10:30, close enough); Windham/Luger vs. Tully/Arn (Clash I), Jindrak vs. Basham [\quote]

 

Is this online?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted this in the 91 rec thread but fig i'll put it here too

 

11/2/1991 - Owen Hart vs Danny Boy Bollins - Europe, CWA i'm guessing?

 

Absolute hidden gem. It's a rounds match and the first 2 are made up of some of the best chain wrestling i've seen in a while and the rest of the bout is a masterpiece of back & forth counter wrestling. Really feels like something that should be put up thear with the Bret, Bulldog, Liger, etc... stuff as something that gets talked about as one of the very best Owen Hart matches ever. Danny's a guy I REALLY should start paying more attention to too. He randomly keeps poping up in footage I watch, be it WoS or random other Euro feds or Michinoku Pro and no matter what setting or year I see him in he's never anything but awesome but i've never taken a deeper look at his body of work.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4j1jAZer0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WAR 10/21/1992 Owen Hart vs Ultimo Dragon

 

This on the other hand, not one of Owen's better bouts. He was back in the WWF at this point and rocking his High Energy pajama pants & suspenders gear here. Ultimo appeared really motivated and looked like he was up for having a great match but Owen was in full on cruise controll mode. You could almost tell from the opening moment too when the very first thing he does is start with a kick to the gut, punch and headbutt. Not the kind of stuff one hopes to see from the guy. Still, Owen Hart's C game is still pretty darn good and better then a lot of others A game so this didn't suck or anything close, it's just not a classic or anything close to the exspectations you'd have when reading on paper and thinking "Hey, it's Owen Hart vs Ultimo Dragon awesome".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think it was the style (though that's part of it) so much as the constant touring working with the same people every night to, audiences who don't require as much: no matter how motivated you might be at the start, you're going to end up in routine zone, and that's hard to break. And by the time you get to 1994, with the match with the Steiners, Owen, Rick and Scott getting a chance to do their cool shit gets in the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLAghm187Kw...feature=related

 

Too Cold Scorpio v. Gangrel

 

I also watched a really fun Togo v. Regal match from Shotgun Saturday Night that was arguably better than this, but man this was a fucking insane spotfest. Gangrel and Scorp both take lunatic bumps off of multiple crazy impactful/dangerous looking suplex variations. Scorp crushes Gangrel with a spin kick and a huge moonsault. Finish is the Impaler off Christian interference. Just a balls to the wall match. Lots of fun

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched a couple bouts off Schneider comp 25.

 

1.Bobby Eaton vs. Dean Malenko (Pro 4/27/97)

 

This is pretty great. Malenko was showing a lot of athleticism here working the mat and pushing the action. Eaton here is pretty broken down at this point, but he still has a good mind for the business and throws an amazing punch. He kind of reminds me of Bobby Fulton 92 at this point. Still they work it on the mat until it's time for an Eaton comeback. Then Eaton nails him with a beautiful looking punch. We get some more neat stuff, and to top it off we get a fun finishing sequence with some near falls. Just a real fun match.

 

2. Greg Valentine vs. Wahoo McDaniel

 

This is such a slugfest. Both me just lay into one another. Wahoo is bleeding. Then the finish of Valentine breaking Wahoo's leg is tremendous. Man what a boss of a match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTUy6p-Bv3o

 

After watching a couple of Coliseum Video matches between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, I'm left thinking that Michaels had better chemistry with the 1-2-3 Kid than he did with Razor. Michaels and the Kid never had more than ten minutes to wrestle, so they don't have any singles matches as famous as Michaels' three main ones with Razor, but they make for a good matchup.

 

This one is a non-title match from Superstars in April 1996. It's not as good as either of the RAW matches between these two, but it's still good. There's nothing really noteworthy about it until Michaels makes his comeback, at which point they try to get over that Michaels has a mean streak. It starts with a scary piledriver that affords the Kid absolutely no protection. Then Michaels press slams the Kid to the floor. Out there, the Kid takes a flipping bump that looks nasty. Michaels puts him out of his misery with maybe his best superkick of the year.

 

I have no idea what the story was with the dangerous-looking piledriver. I don't know if that was Michaels being reckless or the Kid volunteering for something reckless, but either way it looked like it hurt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jake Roberts vs Hashimoto -- 9/23/1993

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mua9l8n-HWg

 

Watched this short match last night before bed. Their styles really don't mesh well, and so there's a lot of downtime. Jake's a master at heeling it up, though, and he tries really hard here to pump the crowd using his usual stooging and stalling and cheating and working with the snake. It's entertaining at points, but it just doesn't come together. The one aspect I liked is that Hash's frustration with Jake for not working a regular and honorable match seems all too real.

 

Misawa vs Kobashi - NOAH, 3/01/2003

http://youtu.be/yf1lbJr1uW8

 

I have never been the biggest Kobashi fan. I appreciate what he does and how much the crowds get behind him. But his whole chop-fu schtick, especially since NOAH, becomes uninteresting for me pretty quickly. Still, this is a big-time match, and I figured I should get around to seeing it eventually.

 

Both guys move pretty well in the early moments, especially considering 10 years in AJPW is like 25 in the WWE in terms of wear and tear. We soon move into joint-locks and chain rasslin, that picks up the pace again -- leading to Kobashi's being viciously head-dropped. We're only about 2 minutes into this thing, and they're already diving to the floor. Misawa is dominating early-on, and I'm getting excited. Kobashi tries to start up his chopping, but MM knocks him on his ass with a strategic elbow. About the time Misawa flies head-first into the metal guardrail and starts bleeding from the mouth, I know this is not two old boys sleepwalking through a nostalgia match.

 

There's an awesome sequence about half way through where Kobashi gets German'd and then Tiger'd. He counters with a nasty spinning backhand chop, but MM finally puts him down with a big forearm. The crowd goes nuts!

 

I don't want to write out the whole match, since it's 35 min. But I will say the intensity stays dialed up to 11, and these guys are fearless veterans giving it their all. They do a few seriously fucked up moves, though, including a double-underhook to the floor, which even quiets the crowd a bit before waking them back up with a lovely near-double-countout.The final moments actually felt a bit rushed. No, rushed isn't the right word. It was more like Kobashi's comeback seemed a bit easy. But maybe the story being told was that they spilled all they had, so someone was going to finally hit a big move and win.

 

Great, great stuff. I am a bit uncomfortable watching Misawa get repeatedly head-dropped, though. Posted Image

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sting vs Angle -- Impact Wrestling, 9/01/2011

 

I think Sting looked really solid in this match. He moved well and projected confidence. Angle, OTOH, seemed to be in such a hurry to get everything done. It makes Sting look more the pro. Also, the segment that transitioned between a "blocked" scorpion lock into an ankle lock that looked very awkward from both guys. Okay TV match at best.

 

Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose -- FCW, 9/18/2011

 

Hmm. Jon Moxley vs Tyler Black in a 30min iron man match. Interesting. 10 minutes into the match, Rollins has demonstrated why I have never been a fan of is work: He's so very bland. He has a great look, and his technique is solid enough (though I would criticize a segment where he crawls across the ring on his knees as demonstrating confusion). Ambrose is a bit OTT in his character work and expressions, to be sure, but that's more fixable than the "bland guy". He has humor and old school heelishness. There's something baby-JBL about his character in this match that I really like.

 

As a result, when Rollins begins to make his comeback 20 min in and throws a really nice over-the-top-rope to the floor spot, it lacks some impact. I don't care about him, and so even when he does cool stuff I feel MEH. Still, I felt the same about Drew Mac two years ago, and he came around.

 

The guys have a lot of wasted time and feel tentative (read: Green). But they have some really solid segments, esp in the last 8 min. They both sell the exhaustion well as the match goes on. And the sudden-death period was very exciting.

 

William Regal vs Dean Ambrose -- FCW, 11/06/2011

 

Fantastic! Ambrose will learn more about controlling a match and heeling it up from one match with Regal than he would with 20 Tyler Black matches. There're some really clever spots, like putting the arm through the turnbuckle and Ambrose wrestling half the match with only one arm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

William Regal vs Dean Ambrose -- FCW, 11/06/2011

 

Fantastic! Ambrose will learn more about controlling a match and heeling it up from one match with Regal than he would with 20 Tyler Black matches. There're some really clever spots, like putting the arm through the turnbuckle and Ambrose wrestling half the match with only one arm.

Are you HashtagDerrick on Youtube? If not, someone is plagiarizing you.

 

I'm going to echo all the love for the match. And I always mark out for the turnbuckle cam.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Styles and Daniels vs. Homicide and Hernandez - Ultimate X

 

This is the best UX match I've seen. Instead of going spot crazy without any real attempt at a story, the four of them make an attempt at keeping the match logical. Things like Hernandez having to go up first since 'Cide had a shoulder injury (and was selling like mad when the babyfaces worked it over), or Daniels blocking Hernandez's dive and then trying to climb up when he sees everyone else is down.

 

Even the finish makes sense, with Daniels climbing up to get away from Konnan and Hernandez and taking a big leap to get the title belt down, instead of trying to be Hogan and fight them both, he just outsmarted them to win.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you HashtagDerrick on Youtube? If not, someone is plagiarizing you.

 

Nope, that's me! :lol:

 

Last night, I watched two October episodes of NWA Smoky Mountain's TV on their youtube channel. It's an interesting program. They do a 30 minute show that revolves around selling their house shows. Very old school, like watching SMW (of course). It's pretty much all talking, with the announcers standing with a mic and also promos from the feud-du-jour. They also include some clips from their shows, but I didn't see a whole match on either episode. They also have been using Ricky Morton of late. Interestingly, the Oct 8 program was pimping a Chikara taping that night in TN. One of NWA's guys was scheduled to be on the show, so they pumped it endlessly. They even played a promo from Sara del Rey, who was scheduled to wrestle KANA on the taping. (Incidentally, SDR vs KANA and Jessie McKay vs Madison Eagles means I may have to get that show and ease my personal ban on chick rasslin.)

 

I like what they're doing, even if the promos could be a bit better. I might order some of their recent DVDs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...