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The "I've just watched ..." thread


mikehoncho

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44 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I don't think Super Calo had a single match where he didn't land right on the top of his head in WCW. Throw in Konnan, and it's the immovable object meets Super Calo.

There's one match where Calo hits a frankensteiner from the ropes, and they both get so little distance that Konnan lands on top of Calo. It's almost hypnotic - I kept watching it, by the end not sure if I couldn't work out how they possibly landed like that, or if I couldn't tell how every other frankensteiner doesn't end like that.

That's the one I was watching! An unmitigated disaster in the best possible way. Useless the pair of them. 

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VICELAND The Wrestlers S#01 E#04 - Death Match ... focus on CZW, the legendary Onita & Jun Kasai (now with Freedom Wrestling) ... it's worth a watch, but fuck me there is something unhinged in 'em all!

Onita has gone 80% Mickey Rourke too.

EDIT:  it's funny, but I posted stills of the violence & blood, etc. on my social media & they've not been removed or "covered" ... well, I find it funny ... how mad is the world of Facefuck & their moderators?!

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Halloween Havoc 1990 time. Apparently there are a bunch of matches missing from this version on the Network, gutted I'm missing out on Terry Taylor vs Wild Bill Irwin.

Anyway, the opener is Midnight Express vs Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton because Robert Gibson is nobbled. This is such a weird but great match. Almost the *entire* match is Midnights twatting Morton, including getting a Rocket Launcher on the ramp way. The crowd fucking love Beautiful Bobby. The babyfaces win after the Southern Boys come out dressed as Cornette and Rich uses Cornette's racquet. No wonder he always gets booed.

Then Sting's getting interviewed and the Black Scorpion comes out and kidnaps a kid or something. It's fucking stupid. Can't believe they're persevering with this Black Scorpion shit.

Now the Freebirds! Versus the Renegade Warriors? Not a clue. This is a very boring match with the crowd fully behind the Freebirds and chanting "DDT!" throughout. The crowd do not care about these Youngbloods *at all*. Hayes tries to get some heat by teasing a DDT and not delivering but it doesn't work. So they eventually do deliver it and the crowd goes wild as the Freebirds win after 146:53 approx.

Fuck yes, I forgot this was the event where the Nasty Boys and the Steiners had an absolute barnstormer. I *love* this match. This is what I love in wrestling. Four big bastards just battering each other and chucking each other about. The Steiners win after a Frankensteiner to retain the US titles but the Nasties beat the shit out of them after the match. Brilliant.

Doom vs Arn and Ric now for the world tag titles! Was wondering how this one would go and interestingly Doom take the babyface role and get good support too. There's a fantastic exchange between Flair and Butch Reed early on that's built entirely on punches. Great match, this, although it goes to a double count-out.

Now it's Stan Hansen vs Lex Luger for the US Title! This should be brilliant. Stan cuts a promo and gobs on a pumpkin he pretends is "Lexy" beforehand. Nice bruising match that Stan wins after the Lariat and finally Luger dropped the US title! I wasn't expecting that at all!

Sting vs Sid Vicious for the World title now. Sid gets a *great* reaction coming out, and throughout the match. Everyone loves Sid. A fake Sting runs into the ring and gets pinned but then the real one comes back after running off the Horsemen and rolls up Sid to retain. Great fun.

This was a cracking event, what there was of it. I might watch that Steiners vs Nasties match again.

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Finally picking up where I left off with WCW 1993. 

Clash Of The Champions 23

June 16th 1993

Norfolk, Virginia 

Coming off a bit of a weird Slamboree, we’re back on TBS with another COTC. This looks like fun at only 5 matches. I’ve seen the main event but don’t recall the rest. Ric Flair finally returns to a WCW ring for the first time since 1991. And Jesse The Body is back after missing Slamboree.

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Good times. 

Ron Simmons vs Dick Slater

This was meant to be Simmons challenging Paul Orndorff for the TV Title but Mr Wonderful is out injured. That’s shit. He accompanies Slater to the ring anyway, limping all the way as the crowd mock him and hold up ‘Paula’ signs. What a set of bastards in Norfolk. Or “Nor-fork” as Jesse calls it. Anyway, standard stuff here. Typical Worldwide style competitive squash match. And Ron gets the win with the powerslam in less than 5 minutes. 

Michael Buffer is here! 

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Big time. 

Lord Steven Regal vs Marcus Alexander Bagwell 

Finally some Regal! Been waiting for this. He actually came into WCW in January as just plain old Steve Regal. A no nonsense technical babyface. Somewhere along the line though, between January and June, he became ‘Lord’ Steven. A pompous, snobby heel. It suited him much better and it’s where things started to really take off for him as he actually had some character now and showed he could do more than just wrestle. He comes out with his manager, Bill Dundee as Sir William, and is wearing a big blue robe. Capetta also informs us that “the Tower of Blackpool” is Regal’s home. 

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It’s a match that’s here pretty much just for the purposes of spotlighting Regal, as you’d expect. And it does its job. Bagwell mightn’t have been the ideal choice of opponent to showcase Regal’s style. Some of this looks a bit off but it’s decent enough for what it is. Regal’s a sadistic fucker in there as well. On top of all the pretty, technical stuff he’s also got a nasty streak. He gives Bagwell’s knee a bit of a doing over and uses the ropes to his advantage a few times...

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I love little things like that. Regal was different to anyone else about in the US at the time. While this is going on, Jesse talks about UK vs US in sports and basically says American Football is for big poofs because of all the padding. He says Rugby is a “real man’s game”. Bagwell makes a bit of a comeback but it’s short-lived and Regal pins him after a roll-up holding the tights which they made a right arse of. Up there with the Owen vs Austin schoolboy at SummerSlam 97 for how crap it looked. Oh well, Regal wins. 

Apparently we were meant to get a Johnny B Badd vs Maxx Payne match now. Centred around Payne stealing Johnny’s ‘Badd Blaster’ confetti gun thingybob. Seriously. Anyway, this happens...

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And thankfully we’re spared. The match is off because Badd got shot in the face. With confetti. Yes, WCW. We then get Z-Man out confronting Maxx and saying “You almost blew his head off!” Christ 😂 They brawl a bit and a load of refs break it up. Stop the Payne. Please.

Barry Windham (c) vs 2 Cold Scorpio - NWA World Heavyweight Title 

OK forget all that, this should get things back on track. I think I did see this years ago as well actually. I remember enjoying it. We get the Michael Buffer intros with both men in the ring. I like it. Makes it feel like a big deal. Windham gets more cheers than 2 Cold during the intros, despite being the dastardly heel. Don’t know if that’s because the Norfolk crowd are a bit racist or just because Windham is the fucking don. 

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After a bunch of lacklustre NWA Title matches on WCW shows in late 92 and early 93, Windham broke the curse with his quality defence against Arn Anderson at Slamboree. Hopefully he continues that trend here. 

They get off to a nice start with Scorpio’s speed appearing to give Big Baz some grief. Windham seems flustered early on. He turns the tide with some heelish tactics and the crowd cheer him more. He properly takes control with a beautiful float-over vertical suplex and a big DDT. Love watching Windham, everything he does looks so smooth. Scorpio actually lands a springboard Lou Thesz press! Don’t recall ever seeing that before. Maybe I haven’t seen this match. Scorpio finally makes a big comeback after reversing Windham’s superplex and hitting a big splash. He’s got Windham reeling big time now.

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This gets a close near fall, as does a big missile dropkick. But then on 2 Cold’s next move, Windham catches him mid-dive with a punch and follows up with the leaping DDT for the win. 

That was a hell of a match. If you haven’t watched it, watch it. At this point, Windham has well shaken off the NWA title match curse. He’s killed it 2 shows on the trot now. 

Sting, British Bulldog & Dustin Rhodes vs Big Van Vader, Sid Vicious & Ravishing Rick Rude - 6 Man Tag 

Definitely never seen this before. Didn’t even know it happened but what a star studded match. And look at this for a squad;

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Bulldog once again with the pearls of wisdom.

”Well you know, Eric Bischoff. Big Van Vader...is a big man. Sid Vicious is a big man. Rick Rude’s a big man. But right now, you’re looking at the triple threat. The British Bulldog, the Stinger and Dustin Rhodes. We mean business tonight. Come on, step in the squared circle, let’s settle it once and for all.” 

The Vader, Sid and Rude dream team might be the most badass of all time. And the sight of Sid holding his hands up for Rude to box them has made my morning. 

This is as fun as you’d expect. 15 minutes that just flies by. It’s actually a cool preview of the upcoming Beach Blast show where we’ll see Sting/Bulldog vs Vader/Sid plus Rude vs Rhodes in singles. But yeah, it’s action packed this. Right from the off. It’s cool seeing Dustin kind of get pushed into the mix with the main eventers here and he really goes for it. 

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Shit like this makes me want to see a Dustin vs Vader singles match. Not sure if that happens on a PPV or Clash in this period but if it does then I’m all over it. He batters Vader and the crowd are buying it. They could’ve easily elevated Dustin into that world title picture at this time. You’d at least think he should’ve got a crack at Barry Windham’s NWA belt given their history. 

Anyway, the heels take over and put a beatdown on him as Rude clearly shouts ”YOU AIN’T SHIT, RHODES!” The ref loses control and all hell breaks loose with the 6 men all brawling around the ring. In the chaos, Vader waffles Rhodes with a briefcase and the ref turns around just in time to see Rude making the cover. 123. Chalk another one up for the bad guys. 

Hollywood Blondes (c) vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson - WCW & NWA World Tag Team Titles 2/3 Falls match 

Main event time. Haven’t seen this in a good decade at least. The seeds for this were planted on Slick Ric’s ‘A Flair For The Gold’ segment in May, when Austin and Pillman were guests. 

Things escalated quickly from there with the Blondes needling and poking fun at the Horsemen constantly over the next few weeks. Most notably their fantastic ‘A Flair For The Old’ bit on Saturday Night. 

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Their favourite putdowns centred around Flair being old and Anderson being a bit of a fatty.

”The last time I saw a body like that, it had an apple stuffed in its mouth and it was roasting over an open flame.” - Austin to Arn Anderson 

😆

This is ace. I love the story of the old school Horsemen facing off with the new cocky young team. And when it’s four of the best ever in the ring even better. Flair is in his element here, back in his role as the big dog down South, and the crowd is loving every second of it. Arn is great as he always was. And the Blondes stepped up to the plate and looked right at home main eventing against two legends. After a strong start from the Horsemen, the Blondes isolate and work over Arn for a stretch. But Austin gets too cocky and it backfires. 

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Love that. 

This allows him to make the hot tag to Flair, but not before Pillman clips his knee out from under him. Flair comes in and cleans house. He pins Pillman with a flying forearm to take the first fall and the Horsemen are now 1-0 up. 

Fall #2 kicks off with Flair and Pillman chopping the absolute fucking shite out of each other. The Blondes eventually wear down Flair though and Austin hits him with a lovely superplex for a 2 count. Arn’s been on the apron nursing the knee but gets the tag. SPINEBUSTER on Austin but Pillman makes the save and takes Arn’s leg out again. Double A is fucked. The Horsemen mount another comeback as Flair tags back in. He slaps the figure four on Austin but Barry Windham runs out and puts a stop to that. The Blondes get disqualified. So the Horsemen win 2-0 but the Blondes still retain the gold because it was a DQ. Screwy finish to an otherwise brilliant match. Windham continues to beat up Flair post-match until Paul Roma makes the save. 

Tremendous. Every bit as good as you’d think it would be given who’s involved. It’s just a shame they never continued with a series of matches after this. This was a one time thing. After this, Flair got plugged into the natural rivalry with Windham over the NWA strap and Paul Roma teamed with Arn to continue the thing with the Blondes. 

Windham cuts an intense promo on Flair at the end of the show, playing off their past and how Flair left WCW in 1991. 

”Ric Flair’s never wanted any of me. He doesn’t want any of me now and he never will. Ric Flair, I’m the world’s heavyweight champion. You walked away from it and I took it. Something you don’t deserve and it belongs to me. You’ve got no guts and you certainly will never be world champion again. I’m the one that took it away and you...” 

With that Flair jumped on him and they brawl as the show goes off the air. 

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VICELAND The Wrestlers S#01 E#05 - Powerful Women Of Wrestling.

Focus on the Bolivian "fighting Cholitas" & a look at Mia Yim when she was in SHIMMER.  It's story is very powerful, about overcoming adversity ... warning though, it delves into domestic abuse quite a bit.

Allison Danger, co-founder of SHIMMER, goes into how badly women have been treated by "fans" in the biz even.  Hell I know promoters who won't put women on their cards, even in 2019, never mind fan backlash.  And I've never seen fans at a BritWres show not appreciate a womens match in the last 20 year, unless it's truly been a stinker.

A great watch though.

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VICELAND The Wrestlers S#01 E#06 - The Next Wave Of Mexican Luchadores.

As one would expect, the focus in this episode is on lucha libre, & follows some interesting characters.  Konnan makes an appearance, highlighting how dangerous Tijuana has been in the past, which affected audiences, especially the tourists which the business seemingly relies on to a degree.

The episode also visits a mask maker, who makes masks while masked. :)

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Just watched the Vice documentary on Stardom and I was expecting a massive hatchet job on the promotion, based on some of crying I had seen online.

It was anything but imo and I thought it did a pretty good of balancing the good and bad of the Joshi scene.

Footage appears to have been recorded in 2017.

If anything it doesn't really cover anything most fans didn't already know, outside of Mayu Iwatani going into her personal life.

On Mayu, I don't see her ever leaving Stardom. The stuff about her father no longer remembering her following a stroke and an incident (doesn't go into details other than two men were arrested) that resulted in her becomming a recluse for two years is awful.

Rossy Ogawa though distant and business minded, didn't come across nearly as bad as I was expecting him to. Even if it was business decision he allowed Mayu Iwatani to crash at his place rent free, when she moved to Tokyo.

Back to Mayu I was surprised that she basically ran away from home to become a wrestler. Thankfully it worked out for her.

Kris Wolf did a good job explaining the difficulties of being a foreigner living in Japan. I also got the impression near the end that she was already thinking about retirement back then.

Touches on Idol culture. Nothing we don't already know.

Briefly brings up the "ghastly match" from 2015 but doesn't really go into any details outside of it resulting in some wrestlers quitting and something vague about change being needed.

The segment with a random punk band felt out of place.

In the end I really don't know what people were crying about. I thought the wrestlers all came out of the documentary looking good and the host seemed to respect their effort and dedication.

He doesn't half butcher Io Shirai's name though.

Worth a watch

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I really enjoyed the Stardom doc. Thought it made the girls all look awesome, although the peripheral players maybe suffered from the inference that they didn't have the best interests of the girls at heart.

Basically anything to do with AZM had heavy hints of exploitation. Her Mum in particular left me feeling a bit uneasy.

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Clash of the Champions 13 time. I hope this is a good one this time.

Well it should be a good start as it's the Freebirds vs the Southern Boys. Two teams you wouldn't trust near a black man's lawn. It's supposed to be a six man tag but El Gigante is stuck at the airport and as such we don't get any Beautiful Bobby either! Fucking boo. Cracking little opener though as the Freebirds win after interfence from Little Richard Marley.

There's more bollocksing around with the Black Scorpion and Sting, fucking hell.

It's a Clash so there's the obvious Buddy Landel appearance and he's wrestling Pillman again! This is a better match than the Great American Bash one, it's shorter and faster paced and Pillman wins it again with the flying crossbody.

Hey, it's Mr. Hughes! Under his Big Cat persona, and he's facing Brad Armstrong! Why's he the bloody Candyman though?! Big Cat wins with the torture rack after Pee Wee Anderson stops the match?! What the fuck. Not a bad match either.

Ooh, it's Prime Time Brian Lee, he's here. The Z-Man's his probable victim. Zenk tries a crossbody off the top and Lee's stood about half a mile away, what an idiot. Zenk wins though with a drop kick off the top. Terrible match.

Looks like the York Foundation has just been put together, and Michael Wallstreet is fighting the Star Blazer? Who the fuck is this. IRS looks disgusted but wins with the Wall Street Crash after a load of crap.

Then there's some African tag match for what sounds like a dreadful tournament at Starrcade. Ugh, wasn't there enough tag matches at 1989's? Anyway, it looks like a couple of Truth Commission members against Botswana Beast and Kalua? This is awful. The white guys win. Of course!

Lex Luger then punches Big Cat in an interview. Fair!

God, who the fuck is this now, the Motor City Madman? What did Lex Luger do to deserve this. Luger brawls with Big Cat before the match and then wins easily after a clothesline. Christ, they're rattling through them here.

Schiavone interviews Nick Patrick for some reason about The Nasty Boys and The Steiners.

The Renegade Warriors are being trotted out again even though nobody cares, but at least it's the Nasty Boys they're facing. This one gets thrown out though when the Steiners interfere and run off the Nasties.

Fucking hell, no rest at all. Uh oh. Night Stalker vs Sid Vicious. I've heard about this one! Sid gets a MASSIVE reaction, imagine how loud it would be as a babyface. I mean, what's wrong with this? Yeah, the battle axe is fucking dumb but the match, while not good, wasn't *that* bad. Not sure why Big Cat gets involved though.

The Steiners now squash Magnum Force, who I don't know either. This show is hard work. Then the Nasties come out to return the favour and get run off again.

More bollocks with Sting and the Black Scorpion. Who was responsible for this shite.

Main event time as Ric Flair goes against Hacksaw Butch Reed with the not-at-all racist stipulation that Teddy Long gets to be Flair's chauffeur if Nature Boy wins. With a bit more time, this could have been a great match but it was still pretty good. After a ref bump and general interference, Flair wins.

This was mostly awful with a couple of bright spots. I'm dreading Starrcade after 1989's effort.

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