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[1997-02-24-WCW-Nitro] Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs Meng & Barbarian


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  • 3 weeks later...

This was a pretty great TV match. Jericho gets his ass kicked and it's just one great spot after another. Wow. I'm really surprised at how awesome this was, to a point that it might end up in the lower rung of my top 100 for the year. There is seriously not a wasted spot in this match that I saw, nor one that wasn't hit cleanly. Spectacular. Jericho and Eddy are golden as a team, face or heel.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This seems like a match that when people still say stuff like "Nitro had great matches every week", this is what they mean. We are 8 weeks in and this is the first very good match of Nitro so far. I watched all of the 1997 season 3-4 years ago and there just wasn't a ton of super great matches and WWE currently has a higher weekly match quality than Nitro.

 

Anyway, this match is a big bag of fun. The faces of Fear were pulling out all sorts of power spots and combos and reverting back to their WM 7 days. I doubt it has the depth to be in my top 100 at year end but as a way to throw some guys out there to kill some time on a tv show, this was perfect.

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This was a complete find and I would have never given it a second thought looking at Jericho as a face, Meng and Barbarian facing two cruiserweights, and Eddy being at the end of a face run. Thank goodness this went on the set. With the PG-13 vs. Lawler/Christopher match from February, this is a good month for quality TV tags.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Like everyone else has said, this was an unexpectedly great television tag match. Completely actioned packed with a great power vs. high flyer theme throughout. Faces of Fear on occasion had some unexpectedly good television tag matches (even later on I think) but this is likely their best match in WCW.

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It's really too bad there isn't more of this sort of thing. Wrestling seems to gravitate towards big man vs. big man and little man vs. little man, but often the mix of the two produces cool matchups. Like, Undertaker for years got stuck in big man vs. big man matches that waste his ability to do much of anything as he faced one monster after another, but when he got paired with Shawn Michaels I thought those were some of his better matches up to that point because Michaels could pinball around for him and you get that "trying to chop down the tree" feeling to the offense used against Taker.

 

WCW had a ton of chances to do things like that but failed on that front for the most part. I'm not saying I wanted to see Ciclope and Damien vs. The Steiners every week or something, but it seems with the roster they had that they could have done a lot more of an openweight feel especially in the tag team division.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I did dislike around this time that the powerbomb seemed to be just a regular move. Meng hits a huge one on Eddie and doesn't follow up on it. That must have been a signature spot for Barbarian where he would try to clothesline two guys but only connect with one while they guy who avoided it was able to hit him back. I've noticed that in a couple of his old WWF matches. Dean Malenko ends up getting Eddie back. Fun match.

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  • 8 months later...

The Faces of Fear were so bad ass that they always got babyface pops at this point. Very good Nitro match, playing to the strenghts of every guy involved. Barbie's top rope belly to belly suplex was an insane spot he was doing in every match. He really adapted with the times well in term of offense. And yeah, matches as good as these weren't happening that often on Nitro after all. Things were already moving too quickly.

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  • 10 months later...

Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs Faces of Fear - WCW Nitro 2/24/98

 

The Faces of Fear are my boys! Faces or heels the tag team of Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho rules! This reminded me of a sprint version of the Rockers vs Powers of Pain only you just subbed the Warlord for fucking Meng! Jericho avoiding an early Kick of Fear and then hitting a nice dropkick to the knee. This is the best Jericho has looked in watching him in WCW. Yes, he flubbed one move, but everything was so explosive and urgent. Eddy goes into orbit thanks Barbarian. Meng crushes him with a powerbomb. I am a powerbomb mark. The Jericho face in peril is incredible. Barbarian hits a ridiculous OVERHEAD BELLY TO BELLY OFF THE TOP ROPE! HOLY SHIT! Meng backdrops Jericho into a powerbomb! True to WWF tag formula it takes three spots for Jericho to EARN the hot tag. First he uses the Lionsault to a standing Meng then an enziguiri and finally it is a missed elbow that brings the red hot Eddy. Guerrero and Jericho go all Rockers awesomeness by doubling up all their moves even busting out the double dropkick. They are looking Lionsault/Frogsplash combo on Barbie. Meng pulls the ropes down and Jericho flies out. Malenko pushes Eddy off the top right into the KICK OF FEAR!!! HOLY SHIT WHAT A FINISH!

 

The Faces of Fear in a different era with the proper push would be a greatest tag team of all time candidate. Guerrero & Jericho should have been a permanent tag team. So many missed opportunities. Why did not we see this match get 15 minutes on PPV? Oh WCW, you cocktease. Awesome TV match. ****

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  • 4 months later...

Yeah, holy fuck, this blew me away, and might be the free TV match of the year to this point. Not only are there a bunch of awesome innovative spots but they work an effective formula tag match on top of it. Loss said there was no wasted motion, but on top of the constant action, the spots all made *sense*, too. At the finish I got exactly what Jericho and Eddie were going for, and Meng was there with a counter. Even the screw finish is well-done, as Malenko shoves Eddie off the turnbuckle right into the Kick of Fear. Barb especially looked terrific here.

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  • 1 year later...

Love the Faces of Fear - I watched all the Nitros from 1997 again around 2006 or 2007, so it has been a while since I've seen this match. Barbarian starts off with so much energy, it's awesome. Holy shit - the "lawn dart" of Eddie G tossed up to the moon by Barbarian with the pancake landing (almost headfirst). HUGE powerbomb on Eddie by Meng. It is odd after all that punishment he didn't have to sell that longer, but this match is a sprint. It takes to the double team to get Meng down. It doesn't last long. FOF are a force to be reckoned with. Killer B2B suplex by Barbarian on Jericho - over his head off the top rope! FOF use an awesome double team powerbomb on Jericho too. Luckily EG breaks up the pinfall, because I want the match to go longer. Double headbutts by FOF and EG with another save. Great hot tag to EG after some face in peril from Jericho. I love the missed double lariat with a great looking dropkick from EG onto Barbarian. Malenko ends up interfering and pushing EG into the Kick of Fear and man that was fun.

 

#487 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-500-451/

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  • GSR changed the title to [1997-02-24-WCW-Nitro] Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs Meng & Barbarian
  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...

What else can be said about this match? Barbarian specially looked like a  monster, both teams manage to cram down so much in a meaningful way in an amazing TV match. Not sure how to phrase this, but this was both a sprint and a no-nonsense match at the same time. Everyone played their part to perfection to craft a total under the radar gem. Shame we never got this matchup given a little more time. ***3/4

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  • 5 months later...

Still one of my favourite matches ever. Just a tremendous batch of fun; bigs v littles done right. You could tell Barbarian especially was having a blast flinging these dudes around to huge reactions and a few of those spots come off amazingly. Eddie's a wonderful apron-worker but he really needs that heel turn about now, because the crowd just aren't interested in him much at all (they probably boo him more than the actual heels during this). 

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