Jump to content

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


mikehoncho

Recommended Posts

Since people enjoyed the look back at Summerslam 1990, let's review the other PPV from this boring year of WWF I watched last weekend...

***Survivor Series 1990***

You just can't beat that old sax theme blasting with Vince McMahon booming out with "IT'S THE SURVIVOR SERIES! THE EPITOME OF TAG TEAM COMPETITION..." to kick us off. Love these old intros where the teams are run down one at a time. Although after this one, I can certainly see why they may have reconsidered, because some of these teams are piss-weak. The graphic for the Perfect Team, Curt Hennig and three images of The Gimp from Pulp Fiction, was a far cry from the sublime intro the year before. You know what was great though? The video covers for the Survivor Series shows. As a kid renting from the store, one look at the back at the team images convinced me I was taking that one home every time.

Gorilla and Piper are on the call for the Thanksgiving Night Tradition, as Gino informs us that, in addition to all the matches Vince burned his vocal chords over, there will be an ultimate battle of survival at the end, where all the winners collide in a final match. This was a very questionable concept - sure are going to see a lot of jobs tonight. Bit vague of a thing to advertise (and they did pimp it a bit in the build, but who versus who?) Oh, and let's not forget the giant brontosaurus egg, sitting on a podium with question marks painted on it. Piper says it's big enough to feed an army, then seemlessly segues to how this is the first PPV being beamed to the Armed Forces for free. Saddam, however, has to pay double, he says. Still love Roddy on commentary, adds personality and isn't overbearing to me.

The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect and Demolition) Vs. The Ultimate Warriors (Warrior, Texas Tornado and LOD)

Fucking hated what became of Demolition after Summerslam. Back with Fuji. The shit music. The dumb masks. Ax leaves. Speaking of which, Ax came walking out here like he couldn't have possibly given a shit less about the evening's festivities. Hair dry and wild, pasty white and doughy, looking like he was forced to play fancy dress at work for charity Friday.

Place goes bonkers for the faces. What a beautifully simple time to be a fan. When you pissed yourself just because the good guy came out. Tornado still has the IC Title. In my mind he held it for a lot shorter a period of time than he actually did. He still looks great. Lots of fun switching and stalling as Piper talks about the strategy of who you lead with depending on the opposition. Ax is gone in short order when Warrior knocks him down twice and then jumps on him for the pin. There really was no sense wasting brylcreem for that. Moments later, Smash, Crush and LOD are all disqualified for fighting in the ring, including Hawk hilariously throwing an unneeded kick at the referee. I will be keeping track of the DQ and count-out finishes. Piper is adorably playing up the concept telling Gorilla he has to cross guys off his list as they are eliminated. This leaves Perfect with Warrior and Tornado, and Perfect is sensational here, flying out the ring time and again with the crowd eating it up. Perfect pins Tornado with the Perfect Plex, hits it on Warrior for the heroic comeback, but Warrior kicks out. Funny how protected I thought that move was as a kid compared to reality. Warrior hits his flurry of clotheslines that Perfect takes like an icon. The flying tackle and lazy splash wraps it up. Decent enough thanks to Perfect and how over the faces are. However, the best bump of the match comes when it's over. Warrior lamps Heenan on the apron, who takes a hilarious bump where you just see him disappear, then his feet go flying through the air a second later, then it cuts to the hard camera and he's all the way on the arena floor. I laughed my ass off at that. Bobby was on a different level to every manager ever, he just was.

Survivor Series Crap Finish Counter (DQ/Count Out): 4

The Million Dollar Team is interviewed backstage. Well, three of them. On the mystery man, DiBiase simply says, "He's here and he's ready."

The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Hart Foundation & Koko B. Ware) Vs. The Million Dollar Team (DiBiase, Rhythm & Blues & The Undertaker)

Couple of observations - Dusty's music is great. There's a focus on Bret here for a moment as Piper calls attention to the death of his brother Dean the day before. Piper's delivery on stuff like that is why I can't knock him on commentary, I just love it, feels genuine. It probably was. Oh, and Greg Valentine. Who comes out in his terrible team with Honky, trying to do an Elvis impression into the camera and ending up looking like Vince's impression of Jim Ross. Taker's entrance feels like a big deal immediately. "Look at the siiiiiiize of that ham hock!" Not even the presence of Brother Love can stink up this act. It's quite striking watching this show, with everybody filled with uppers and steroids, screaming their bollocks off, and there's one slow moving, quiet guy. Stands out. It's the quiet ones you've gotta watch.

Taker immediately means business, getting the best of the Foundation, sidestepping Koko smooth as could be so he almost decapitates himself on the top rope, and then PLANTING him with a tombstone. That didn't look fun. Honky is out next thanks to the Anvil. Honky was done shortly after this, he'd been jobbing for two years straight and was practically worthless here. Crowd comes alive for Dusty and DiBiase squaring off. That story from Summerslam really felt like an afterthought here, and I believe Dusty had already accepted the job as WCW booker at this point. Anvil is eliminated after a clothesline from DiBiase. A clothesline?! C'mon Jim. Taker is back in with the Dream, and pins him clean as a sheet with his walk the top rope axehandle. It's three-on-one against the Hitman. After Dusty goes for Brother Love, Taker kicks his ass all the way to the back. It's a count out for Taker! Bret counters a Valentine figure-four with a small package to eliminate him, leaving Hart against DiBiase. And for the second straight PPV, Bret steals the show. After some great bumps, Bret gets a flurry of super close near falls that are so great. Piper is a great cheerleader. "C'mon Bret, turn it on!" Place totally bites on a roll-up after Ted collided with Virgil. Finally, a simple crossbody is rolled through and DiBiase gets him. The camera is right there on Bret's face to capture his reaction - "Fuck." Great stuff at the end, enough to get Bret a big ovation when he rises to his feet looking crestfallen. Performances like this and Summerslam are getting the fans to fall in love with the Hitman, you can feel it, slowly but surely.

Survivor Series Crap Finish Counter (DQ/Count Out): 5

We go backstage for a bizarre promo in the shower with Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels. I have a hunch I know what this team was thankful for, and it wasn't bread sauce. This is in the midst of Jake only having one eye. "This man has the scars of time written all over his face", Jake says about Snuka. Hmmm. Jake's delivery is so Sam Elliott, but it's great, obviously.

The Visionaries (Martel, Warlord, Power & Glory) Vs. The Vipers (Jake, Snuka, Rockers)

Warlord looks bigger than when I saw him at Summerslam. He might be getting bigger by the second. He slams Marty and pins him in short order. Snuka was worthless, and gets binned off by The Model. Shawn Michaels takes a backdrop from Warlord that, with no exaggeration, sends him entirely off the screen from the hardcam perspective. That's insane. The Powerplex ends Shawn's night. 4 on 1 against the half-blind Snake. He finally DDTs Warlord, but the ref is distracted, and Jake chases after Martel with Damien to get counted out. It's over. A sweep. Shawn put in a good effort, but the match never really felt too exciting.

Survivor Series Crap Finish Counter (DQ/Count Out): 6

We then go to the babyface mega-team, apparently, of Hogan's Heroes, who are with Gene - Boss Man, Tugboat and Jim Duggan, whose left eye was still off looking for Sapphire. Typical stuff, with Hogan asking Saddam Hussein what he's going to do when these four men run wild on him.

The Natural Disasters (Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku & Barbarian) vs. The Hulkamaniacs (Hogan, Boss Man, Tugboat & Duggan)

I seem to remember Rick Rude was supposed to be on this heel team. He dodged a bullet missing this one. His replacement, Haku, is pinned by Boss Man in a couple of minutes. Duggan is next out, due to the fine judgement of whacking Quake with a giant lump of wood in plain view of the official. Well played, dickhead. Thanks for leaving us a man down. Hogan is in to bring some life to this parade of dross, slamming everyone, including Earthquake, and pinning Bravo with an inside cradle. Get out you clown. Bossman goes when Quake hits a couple of elbow drops. Not sure why he didn't eat the ass for the pin. Tugboat, by the way, hasn't been in the ring this entire match. He comes in, immediately ends up on the floor with Quake, and they both get counted out. They knew. This leaves Hogan with Barbarian. Doesn't look good for the ol' Disasters team. Barb hits his top rope clothesline, but Hogan tells it to fuck off, legdrop and we're done. It's quite telling that Hogan's main feud was with Quake, but at this point, three months removed from Summerslam, he feels so far above it and in need of a stronger heel. Barbarian gets some love as somebody who deserved more than he got, but I don't see it. Best bump of the match again goes to Bobby Heenan in the post-match, taking the Harley Race corner bump to the floor. Hogan takes the time after the match to grab a giant "Hulk Rules" banner and parade it around. He's so much better at coming off like a superstar than Warrior. He wipes his sweat with the banner like he was Hiroshi Tanahashi and hands it back.

Survivor Series Crap Finish Counter (DQ/Count Out): 9

It's an interview next with Gene Okerlund on the podium with "Macho King" Randy Savage. Talk about a guy who had it easy in 1990, by the way. Savage looks awesome, a fetching red and white ensemble that makes him look like a barber shop pole with a do-rag on top. He challenges Warrior here for the WWF Title, setting a course of events in motion that takes us to WrestleMania. What a star. Savage with a purpose, with that delivery, is money every time.

The opposite of a money promo is this - Sgt. Slaughter is back, leading a parade of heels to the ring so shit that it defies belief. The Dungeon of Doom looks like peak Horsemen compared. I like Pat Tanaka, but lets not pretend he means a shit here. Slaughter goes for the cheap heat with Gene saying all the troops watching for free are eating crap rations for Thanksgiving dinner, while he and his team had some slap-up nosh, paid for by Saddam. It's long, it's agony, it never ends, the delivery is excruciating to sit through, and divorced from the emotion of the time, it's just a lame angle. Piper screaming "YAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOUUU PIG YOU!" can't redeem it.

The Mercenaries (Slaughter, Boris Zhukov & The Orient Express) Vs. The Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana & The Bushwhackers).

My God. I'm not sure I've seen a match that hits the negative stars just by writing it down quite like this one. Poor Tito. Volkoff gets a ringing endorsement from Piper: "Russia gave us Nikolai Volkoff, we gave them MTV and 2 Live Kru. There's a fair tradeoff, huh." Thankfully the Rogues Gallery gets peppered in record time here - Zukhov eats the flying forearm, Sato gets the Bushwhacker battering ram and Tanaka gets the forearm as well. All before a dead crowd that doesn't care about any of these people. So it's four-on-one against Sarge. Volkoff and Sarge get it on, and for a feud that had been built for three months, the silence is deafening.

Nikolai is terrible throwing shit kicks at Slaughter. Sarge eliminates Nikolai with...an elbow drop. I suppose it did put down the Warrior a couple of months later. Luke gets a gutbuster and gets eliminated. Butch gets thrown into the turnbuckles, and words can't describe the selling here. I really need somebody to gif it for me. It's as if this man is trying not to fall over on ice, windmilling his arms, thrusting wildly and tap dancing all at once. He turns around into a CLOTHESLINE for the pin. So Sarge and Tito battle with everything on the line. The ref gets bumped, Tito hits the forearm and has Slaughter dead to rights, before Adnan saunters into the ring and pokes him in the back with the flag. A camel clutch later and it's over. But in your WWF finish de jour, it's made clear that Slaughter has been DQ'd, and Tito survives. Not exactly making Sarge look like a top guy here. This match depressed me.

Survivor Series Crap Finish Counter (DQ/Count Out): 10

DiBiase and The Visionaries cut a promo backstage now the teams for the finale match are locked in, vowing to survive. Incentive money has been dished out, apparently, and Ted takes the time to mention WrestleMania 6 and the bad blood between Warrior and Hogan. Sure does feel like they have designs on a rematch at this point.

It's time! No, not for the main event - but for the egg to hatch. Gene is eggside to keep us posted. He suggests it might be the Playmate of the Month inside. Way to temper expectations. It is, of course, the Gobbledy Gooker, who gets the ultimate wet fart reaction, except for Piper who screams "I LOVE IT!" C'mon Rod. Might as well have been Savio Vega. Some bumpkin hoedown music hits and the turkey takes Okerlund to the ring as Vince McMahon slaps his leg backstage and stomps his one foot on the ground to the beat. Gene hits the ropes and takes a tumble! OH HO HO!! Oh, what a night. Anything can happen in the WWF. Okerlund should have worn socks with his loafers in a note often forgotten when people ridicule this. They get enough of the crowd to clap along to salvage it, but this is the caravan park entertainment venue mascot like Sammy Seahorse or Roary The Lion in the middle of professional wrestling, and it's so out of place. It's a real shame Ventura had left, because he would have brutalised this segment and made it hilarious.

The Grand Finale Match of Survival
Hogan/Warrior/Santana Vs. DiBiase/Martel/Warlord/Roma/Hercules

Hogan lamps Warlord, and one flying forearm late, it's over for the 'lord. I distinctly remember thinking Warlord was a complete joke as a kid for this elimination. Ousted in seconds. What a fucking geek. Can't bench press your way out of that flying forearm. DiBiase takes out Tito with the stungun, and then it's time for Hogan and Warrior to clean house. Hogan kicks out of the Powerplex. Disgusting. Roma is clotheslined for the pin. How many clothesline eliminations are there on this show? This isn't Hansen and Okada either. Knowing where this is going, Martel just runs off. Hogan legdrops DiBiase for the pin, leaving Herc to be the final man out when Warrior splashes him. Boring match, and it struck me as odd they had Herc pinned last, and had DiBiase eat the pin as opposed to Martel. All through the show they were hyping Warrior Vs. DiBiase for the Main Event for the title, and here Ted gets pinned by Hogan, no big deal. This Grand Finale match really spelled out what was wrong with 1990 WWF - nobody believed this heel managerie had a prayer, and they were right. We close on a shot of Hogan and Warrior, side by side, as equals, with a low angle camera shot of their genetalia, which, even moreso than the egg, is almost surely big enough to feed an army.

Survivor Series Crap Finish Counter (DQ/Count Out): 11. Impressive.

Edited by Liam O'Rourke
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Lot of love for Survivor Series 1990. Funny Liam mentioned the video cover because that's my abiding memory too. I remember reading about this in WWF magazine, pretty sure it had Hogan & Warrior on the cover, and then got it from the video shop. That cover.

I still love SummerSlam '90 on rewatches and there are several matches/angles that I still think are very good. I am in absolutely no doubt whatsoever that my love for this show is 100% nostalgia. It's Vince's brilliant opening, it's the colour and the array of characters, it's Piper on commentary, it's that watching it feels like Christmas.

The Dibiase/Bret exchange and Taker debut are tremendous. Opener is fun. I like the concept of the big match at the end but for the novelty of Hogan & Warrior teaming more than anything. The Gobbledy Gooker stuff and the Slaughter match are all-time bad.

It is interesting given the history of Survivors as a PPV that they were looking for something different this early in the concept. Obviously they then had a title match the next year and then ripped it up completely in 92.

If I was trapped on a desert island with just a block of wrestling TV to watch, I think I'd take SummerSlam 90 to Mania 7. So many stories woven beautifully into that PPV and it's amazing how many of them started here or before like Jake/Martel, Heenan/Perfect/Bossman and Savage/Warrior. Still surprised they didn't do LOD v Demolition there though.

Edit: Just went off to google the magazine cover and it puzzled me. I was so sure about that cover. Eventually found it. Fucking February!

image.png.a31617cf8d0323ad2397dbdb34f7c63d.png

Edited by tiger_rick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Right then. It’s taken me a while but I’ve finally reached the end of 1993 WCW. It’s time for Starrcade and it’s a special one as it marks 10 years since Starrcade began. 

AD4-FE7-AF-C742-4-B6-C-9-FE4-B6-D06122-F

Of course, this was the original plan. Vader vs Sid. ‘The Masters Of The Powerbomb’ colliding. But Sid took himself out of that mix when he had that drunken scissor fight with Arn Anderson on the European tour in October. So they went with Plan B. 

BC8-A7-CAC-2942-46-C6-B3-C6-6516-AAEEFB5

Starrcade 

December 27th 1993

Charlotte, North Carolina

To be honest, as cool as the monster clash of Vader vs Sid would’ve been back then, I’m glad it worked out the way it did. Not only was Vader vs Flair a better match, I like the story better anyway. The history of Flair having won the title from Harley Race at the the first Starrcade in 1983. Then a decade later, Flair has to try to take it from Race’s monster protégé Vader. In his hometown. And the added spice that it was sold as Flair’s last run. Obviously that sounds ridiculous now, but it probably didn’t so much in 93. 

The show opens up with a great little video package showing Flair as a kid, as a young man, touching on the plane crash, then showing some of his big wins through the years. Then there’s a roar and Vader appears and it starts showing him destroying everyone. 

I really enjoyed this. Have a watch; 

It’s only short but it’s a big step up from some of the stupid cartoonish intros they’d been doing all year with the White Castle Of Fear stuff and Evil Schiavone at Halloween Havoc and all that. This was just a simple but well done intro that made this match feel like something important. 

Tony and Jesse hype up the main event at the top of the show then we cut to a clip of Vader and Harley Race arriving at the arena earlier in the day and Vader shadowboxing in the ring. 

Following that we see footage of Ric Flair at home getting ready to leave for the arena. He’s hugging his kids and his wife (at the time, one of many) looks worried. I love all this. It’s got the feel of when Rocky was about to leave to go to Russia to train for Ivan Drago. Kind of weird to watch this now and seeing Charlotte as a little kid. And it’s sad seeing Ric hugging 5 year old Reid here, knowing how things would tragically end for him. Flair then leaves for the arena with Mean Gene in a limo and cuts a short promo. 

This was a nice touch. Really made this match feel big time and the contrast of Vader’s raw intensity and Flair with his family really added to the whole thing. 

2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma

Finally, Orndorff and Roma have formed their alliance. They’re not called Pretty Wonderful yet but they joined forces not long before this show and it’s good news as they were both kind of floundering in recent months. Orndorff had been saddled with The Equalizer a lot and Roma wasn’t over one iota as a babyface Horseman. This was a much better fit for both of them. 

4899-A9-BE-E36-A-4-CAC-A20-A-412-CB812-F

They just look like a proper team, don’t they? In truth they probably only got put together because Arn Anderson was out suspended/healing up from the Sid incident but I thought this combination worked for both of them. 2 Cold and Bagwell have proven to be a decent team for the bulk of 93 and have remained pretty strong and had good matches with just about everyone. They’re managed by Teddy Long. Orndorff and Roma have The Assassin in their corner. Nothing earth shattering here but it’s a perfectly solid show opener. The heels win when Assassin loads up his mask and headbutts Scorpio, allowing Orndorff to pin him. 

The Shockmaster vs Awesome Kong

Oh, fuck off. Thankfully they do in short order. Shockmaster treats Kong like the wall he fell through and just runs through him. Beats him with a slam, which admittedly looked impressive, in about a minute. 

Lord Steven Regal (c) vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW World Television Title

Nice. A rematch of their great match at Fall Brawl. This one is pretty good too but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Fall Brawl one. It’s very slow to get going as Steamboat works the arm for an age. Fine usually but with the 15 minute time limit in TV Title matches it doesn’t leave a lot of time for a hot finish. It wasn’t bad it just lacked something for me. Picks up at the end but then the time limit expires. It’s a draw. Regal retains again. 

Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce 

Maxx Payne is arse. He’s really stood out on these shows as being terrible. And considering some of the shit that’s flushed through WCW’s pipes in 93, to stand out as bad takes some doing. He even managed to drag Dustin Rhodes to a dud at Superbrawl, for fuck’s sake. But I vaguely recall seeing some of his tag stuff with Cactus, and I don’t remember having nightmares about it. That brawling style will surely be better for him than the series of shite matches against Johnny B Badd was anyway. And yep, I thought this was alright. It’s nothing mind blowing but I thought Cactus and Maxx fit surprisingly well as a team at this time. It’s a decent match and the Cactus & Payne Connection come out on top when Cactus hits his Double Arm DDT on Pierce. 

Dustin Rhodes (c) vs Stunning Steve Austin - WCW United States Title 2/3 Falls match

A rematch from Halloween Havoc. As good as this should be, I can’t help feeling like Austin should’ve been doing something else on this show. Of course, on the November COTC there were hints that we might get Flair vs Austin. But when they decided to go with Vader vs Flair, surely this would be the show to do a proper Austin vs Pillman blowoff match? Oh well. 

7B04FAF4-ABD9-434C-AF3A-AA8E4F390135.gif

That was ace though. Austin fucking flew over that guardrail. Austin wins the first fall by disqualification after Dustin chucks him over the top rope. He then throws Austin into the ringpost, busting him open. The lights go out and they’re wrestling under a spotlight for a bit. Jesus wept, WCW. Someone whack a tenner on the meter, for fuck’s sake. Second fall starts with Rhodes in control then all of a sudden Austin rolls him up with a handful of tights and it’s over. Austin goes 2-0 and becomes the new US champion. 

This is...OK, but for whatever reason, the Rhodes vs Austin matches of 93 were slightly disappointing. Far from bad matches but not quite as good as I was expecting. The abrupt finish here didn’t help. 

Ravishing Rick Rude (c) vs The Boss - World Heavyweight Title

This was meant to be Rude vs British Bulldog but Bulldog had got himself in the shit when he supposedly nearly killed some bloke in a bar fight because he was trying it on with Diana. WCW let him go and he ended up touring the UK in 1994 until he wound up back in the WWF that summer. Anyway, this opened up the doors for the UKFF’s favourite Royal Rumble entrant to step in...

E02-E1985-1-C85-4-F7-A-9058-3-DF28-B09-C

Ray Traylor has arrived in WCW as The Boss. He later became The Guardian Angel and Big Bubba Rogers. But here he was just known as The Boss. It’s not a bad little match, this. Not great but it’s a step up from Rude’s last few PPV outings. 1993 wasn’t Rude’s best year. This goes about 10 minutes and Rude wins with a sunset flip, a bit of an odd and weak finish, which has become a regular occurrence on these shows in 93. 

Nasty Boys (c) vs Sting & Roadwarrior Hawk - WCW World Tag Team Titles

Man, this is shite. I’d never seen it before. Wish I’d left it that way. They go 30 fucking minutes and it’s a real slog. Nearly all of that 30 minutes is just the Nasties in control. The first half of the match with Hawk selling is almost comically bad. I didn’t mind the Nasty Boys in general but WCW really didn’t play to their strengths in 93. They’re wild brawlers but WCW kept putting them in long wrestling matches on the PPVs and it sucked a dick. There was better to come from them in 94 but this match is just a crappy, overly long snoozer. To make matters worse, the finish is abysmal. 

61CAB76A-BE0B-4921-B6CE-742666DBAFDF.gif

Sting and Hawk hit Knobbs with the Doomsday Device, landing him right on his fat head. So Missy Hyatt comes in and jumps on Sting causing the DQ. FUCK THE FUCK OFF! 30 minutes for that? It looked like they cocked up the finish as well. Seemed like they were going for the old thing where the babyfaces pin the heels but the time limit expires just before the 3 count. But they fuck the timing up and it just ends with them all standing about looking like divs. 

Most noteworthy thing about this match was that Missy’s boob popped out during the finish. The story goes that a photographer got a picture of it and someone behind the scenes at WCW thought it would be funny to plaster the picture up on a board. Missy complained about it and ended up getting fired for going over Bischoff’s head to get something done about it. This ultimately led to Missy filing a sexual harassment lawsuit which was eventually settled out of court. The subject came up on the 83 Weeks podcast fairly recently and Bischoff was being a proper cunt about it. I think the gist of it was that because Missy Hyatt was Missy Hyatt, what was the big deal if the picture was passed around? It was something like that. Proper dickhead talk. 

Big Van Vader (c) vs Ric Flair - WCW World Heavyweight Title 

Flair comes out second despite being the challenger. It’s in Charlotte, innit? Michael Buffer does the intros with both men in the ring which always feels big time. And this is such a great match. I know Flair has been criticised for having the same match every night and I think that’s harsh, although I can see why people might find a lot of his more well known matches a bit samey. But this match for me has a completely different feel to the majority of Flair’s big matches. It feels like more a fight than a wrestling match. It’s the same reason I loved Flair’s matches with Terry Funk. It’s a different feel compared to his bumping around a Sting, Luger, Magnum etc. The first half of the match is almost entirely Vader kicking Flair’s arse and roughing him up. Flair has to take it, dig deep and come back and really take the fight to Vader. It’s refreshing to see this more aggressive Nature Boy for a change. 

FE0B3A8C-1151-4FA6-9403-B61A19164473.gif

As the battle goes on it seems like Vader is fading. He’s dished out a major beating and Flair’s still there. And it all starts going tits up for Vader. Flair slaps the figure-four on but Vader manages to get to the ropes. Then Vader misses the big moonsault. Then Harley Race goes for the diving headbutt on Flair but misses and gets Vader instead. Disaster. Ref Randy Anderson actually shoves Harley out of the ring! Vader tries to charge Flair and seems to hurt his leg, so Flair clips his knee and hits a sort of single-leg takedown for the pin. It’s over. 

52-FD6-D13-2316-4-A30-BAF4-4-BB2-E102-BC

For the 11th time, Ric Flair is the man again. Incredible match. The crowd was red hot for it as well which just added to it. The finish seemed a bit weird but I didn’t mind it. I guess they didn’t want to have Vader submit to the figure-four. 

As the show is wrapping up we cut to backstage and see Vader going berserk at Harley Race and battering some lockers. Mean Gene then does a backstage interview with Flair with his wife and all the kids. 

93-B9-DF0-C-21-E6-4-B9-A-B358-128-DEFE99

Ha, look at Charlotte! Mrs Conrad Thompson at the back there as well. The kids couldn’t look less arsed, could they? It’s a nice moment though, with Sting and Ricky Steamboat coming in to give their congratulations. No Arn though. Scissors Sid saw to that. 

Pretty much the definition of ‘one match show’. Some of the other stuff is OK but none of it is worth going out of your way for, except for the main event which is fantastic. 1993 was a strange old year. Very mixed bag but they ended it on a high. Vader vs Sid wouldn’t have come close to the story and drama Vader vs Flair had. This match delivered in a big way for me. Not only did it save this show, it was probably the best match WCW put out all year. 

So that’s 93 wrapped up then. 

Edited by wandshogun09
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

With the corona running wild stopping everything else, it felt like a good time to dive into wrestling in 2020. And I do it in my own way. Everything and chronicle! And I've already done the spectacular first week of 2020 (excluding December 30 & 31, 2019). And with Japan having their big New Years kick-off and also Mexico celebrating the first day of 2020 in a big way, this became a fairly extended list of 57 matches from 17 different promotions I'd recommend people check out. All I've rated ** 1/2 and above from the January 1st to 5th shows.

 

2020 - WEEK 1 (January 1-5, 2020)

 

1. January 4, 2020 - Will Ospreay (c) -vs- Hiromu Takahashi - (IWGP Junior Title) [**** 3/4] (NJPW)
2. January 4, 2020 - Kazuchika Okada (c) -vs- Kota Ibushi - (IWGP Title) [**** 1/2] (NJPW)
3. January 5, 2020 - Kazuchika Okada (IWGP c) -vs- Tetsuya Naito (Intercontinental c) - (IWGP Title vs IWGP Intercontinental Title) [****] (NJPW)
4. January 1, 2020 - Yuji Hino (c) -vs- Yuji Okabayashi - (ZERO1 Title) [*** 3/4] (ZERO1)
5. January 4, 2020 - Kaito Kiyomiya (c) -vs- Go Shiozaki - (GHC Title) [*** 1/2] (NOAH)
 
6. January 3, 2020 - Kento Miyahara (c) -vs- Jake Lee - (Triple Crown Title) [*** 1/2] (AJPW)
7. January 5, 2020 - Chris Jericho -vs- Hiroshi Tanahashi [*** 1/2] (NJPW)
8. January 4, 2020 - Jay White (c) -vs- Tetsuya Naito - (IWGP Intercontinental Title) [*** 1/2] (NJPW)
9. January 1, 2020 - Carístico & Místico (c) -vs- Cuatrero & Forastero - (CMLL Tag Title) [*** 1/4] (CMLL)
10. January 5, 2020 - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) -vs- SANADA - (RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title) [*** 1/4] (NJPW)
 
 
11. January 4, 2020 - Lance Archer (c) -vs- Jon Moxley - (IWGP United States Title; Texas Death Match) [*** 1/4] (NJPW)
12. January 4, 2020 - Takashi Sugiura (c) -vs- Masa Kitamiya - (GHC National Title) [*** 1/4] (NOAH)
13. January 3, 2020 - Susumu Yokosuka -vs- Hikaru Sato - (AJPW Junior Title Tournament - Final) [*** 1/4] (AJPW)
14. January 1, 2020 - Cody -vs- Darby Allin [*** 1/4] (AEW)
15. January 2, 2020 - Daichi Hashimoto (c) -vs- Yuji Okabayashi - (BJW Strong Title) [***] (BJW)
 
16. January 4, 2020 - Maki Ito (c) -vs- Hikari Noa - (International Princess Title) [***] (TJP)
17. January 1, 2020 - Súper Nova -vs- Neza Kid - (Mask vs Mask) [***] (AAA)
18. January 1, 2020 - Yuko Miyamoto & Masashi Takeda (c) -vs- Shinjiro Otani & Shoki Kitamura - (NWA Intercontinental Tag Title) [***] (ZERO1)
19. January 4, 2020 - HAYATA (c) -vs- Yoshinari Ogawa - (GHC Junior Title) [***] (NOAH)
20. January 5, 2020 - El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori (c) -vs- SHO & YOH - (IWGP Junior Tag Title) [***] (NJPW)
 
 
21. January 2, 2020 - Hikaru Sato -vs- Kagetora - (AJPW Junior Title Tournament - Semi-Final) [***] (AJPW)
22. January 1, 2020 - Príncipe Diamante -vs- Espíritu Negro - (Mask vs Mask) [***] (CMLL)
23. January 5, 2020 - Jay White -vs- Kota Ibushi [** 3/4] (NJPW)
24. January 5, 2020 - Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) -vs- Naomichi Marufuji & Masaaki Mochizuki - (GHC Tag Title) [** 3/4] (NOAH)
25. January 1, 2020 - Kenny Omega & Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson -vs- PAC & Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix [** 3/4] (AEW)
 
26. January 5, 2020 - Titán -vs- Templario - (Lightning Match) [** 3/4] (CMLL)
27. January 4, 2020 - Michael Elgin -vs- Katsuhiko Nakajima [** 3/4] (NOAH)
28. January 5, 2020 - Scotty Davis -vs- Shota Umino - (OTT No Limits Title) [** 3/4] (OTT)
29. January 4, 2020 - Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe (c) -vs- Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino - (Princess Tag Title) [** 3/4] (TJP)
30. January 2, 2020 - Abdullah Kobayashi (c) -vs- Takumi Tsukamoto - (BJW Death Match Title) [** 3/4] (BJW)
 
 
31. January 3, 2020 - Kagetsu & Hana Kimura -vs- Mayu Iwatani & Saki Kashima [** 3/4] (STARDOM)
32. January 2, 2020 - Susumu Yokosuka -vs- Koji Iwamoto - (AJPW Junior Title Tournament - Semi-Final) [** 3/4] (AJPW)
33. January 5, 2020 - Fuerza Guerrera NG & Puma King & Séptimo Dragón -vs- Demonio Infernal & Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus [** 3/4] (IWRG)
34. January 1, 2020 - T-Hawk & El Lindaman & Shigehiro Irie -vs- Masato Tanaka & Ikuto Hidaka & Takuya Sugawara [** 3/4] (ZERO1)
35. January 3, 2020 - Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao (c) -vs- Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura - (KO-D Tag Title) [** 3/4] (DDT)
 
36. January 4, 2020 - Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (c) -vs- Juice Robinson & David Finlay - (IWGP Tag Title) [** 3/4] (NJPW)
37. January 4, 2020 - Low Ki -vs- Masashi Takeda [** 3/4] (ICW)
38. January 2, 2020 - Zeus & Ryouji Sai (c) -vs- Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa - (AJPW Tag Title) [** 1/2] (AJPW)
39. January 5, 2020 - KENTA (c) -vs- Hirooki Goto - (NEVER Openweight Title) [** 1/2] (NJPW)
40. January 4, 2020 - Yuka Sakazaki (c) -vs- Miyu Yamashita - (Princess of Princess Title) [** 1/2] (TJP)
 
 
41. January 1, 2020 - SUGI (c) -vs- HUB - (NWA Junior Title & International Junior Title) [** 1/2] (ZERO1)
42. January 4, 2020 - Sareee -vs- Natsumi Maki [** 1/2] (TJP)
43. January 2, 2020 - Shigehiro Irie & T-Hawk & El Lindman -vs- Yuya Aoki & Tatsuhiko Yoshino & Kota Sekifuda [** 1/2] (BJW)
44. January 3, 2020 - Yuma Aoyagi & Ryouji Sai & Ayato Yoshida & Danny Jones -vs- Zeus & Naoya Nomura & Yoshitatsu & KAI [** 1/2] (AJPW)
45. January 1, 2020 - Brian Cage -vs- Teddy Hart [** 1/2] (BAR)
 
46. January 5, 2020 - Kaito Kiyomiya -vs- Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [** 1/2] (NOAH)
47. January 1, 2020 - Aeroboy (c) -vs- Jimmy - (Rockstar Pro Title) [** 1/2] (VANGUARDIA)
48. January 3, 2020 - Masato Tanaka -vs- Chris Brookes [** 1/2] (DDT)
49. January 1, 2020 - Dulce Gardenia -vs- Kawato San - (Hair vs Hair) [** 1/2] (CMLL)
50. January 5, 2020 - Maki Ito (c) -vs- Thunder Rosa - (International Princess Title) [** 1/2] (TJP)
 
 
51. January 4, 2020 - Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM -vs- Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki & Starlight Kid [** 1/2] (STARDOM)
52. January 5, 2020 - Mark Haskins (c) -vs- Adam Maxted - (OTT Gender Neutral Title) [** 1/2] (OTT)
53. January 1, 2020 - Demus -vs- Neptuno [** 1/2] (LUCHA MEMES)
54. January 5, 2020 - Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee -vs- Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano - (Liger's Retirement Match) [** 1/2] (NJPW)
55. January 1, 2020 - Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky -vs- Angelico & Jack Evans & Kip Sabian [** 1/2] (AEW)
 
56. January 3, 2020 - El Bandido -vs- Cuatrero [** 1/2] (CMLL)
57. January 4, 2020 - Dan Maff -vs- Mance Warner [** 1/2] (ICW)
 
 
--PUNQ--
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Awards Moderator

I’ve been taking advantage of the Network being mostly free while I’m working from home and have had WrestleManias on in the background this week. For some reason I started at 10 and went at an interval of 8 years each. So I’ve watched 10, 18, 26, and 34.

Brief thoughts:

10: Held together by two great matches. Bret vs Owen is as great as it always has been. Shawn vs Razor seems tame in comparison to the MITB stunt shows but it’s still really good. Everything else was fine, but Randy Savage’s entrance stood out as a great moment - filled me with joy. Interesting that they were relying on the old guard even then with the Piper and Perfect appearances.

18: Not as bad in isolation as when you think of it sandwiched between two of the great Manias in 17 and 19. The Hardcore stuff is really fun throughout the show, and the moment where Hogan hulks up gave me goosebumps. Main event should have been shorter. Interesting that the “babyface does finisher to Steph” spot was still being wheeled out 16 years later.

26: One classic match in Taker-Michaels and a whole lot of filler. The tag title match, women’s match and MITB could have been cut completely and you wouldn’t have missed anything. We didn’t appreciate 2010 Batista enough when he was there. Interesting that a lot of people on this show are still around a decade later.

34: Long, but nowhere near as long if you skip the entrances and post-match hugs n’ appreciation. The moment Ronda takes on Triple H is electrifying. I realised that I haven’t enjoyed an Undertaker match since his Lesnar rematches in ‘15. The Bryan tag match underdelivered compared to the Rousey one which was great. Interesting that Kofi took the pin in his match and won the Title a year later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been doing the same but watching one Mania a day from 24 on, watched 26 today in full bar the Bret/Vince match, skipping over 27 as I watched the Wrestling With Wregret review of it just a couple of weeks ago so moving straight on to 28 tomorrow and 29 Sunday. Should be caught up to last year's show by the time Coronamania Day 1 happens next weekend if it still goes ahead given the newz bits coming out today

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Awards Moderator

Got through another four Background Manias this week. At 8 year intervals again:

6: All about the main event, this one, everything else feels a bit like padding before it. Heenan slapping Andre and Andre hitting him back was fantastic, I had forgotten just how quick the Hart Foundation match was, and god help me, I enjoyed the Honky Tonk Man’s entrance.

14: Undertaker vs Kane has always been my favourite match on this show; that hasn’t changed. They’ll never recapture that visual of two completely OTT looking monsters staring each other down. Aguila vs Taka is a nifty little match that would have got 20 minutes on a Takeover these days. There’s a fall from a ladder into the Dumpster that Foley and Gunn take that could have gone horribly wrong. 

22: Speaking of nasty bumps... that superplex Flair takes off the ladder here! He sells the hell out of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been more convinced by a ladder bump. All of Edge/Foley as well. The Eddie Guerrero stuff - not just with Rey but in JBL-Benoit - has aged as well as you’d expect. The latter was particularly uncomfortable. Triple H used his King Of Kings music and got all dressed up but still had a plastic water bottle which ruined the look. Playboy pillow fight also not aged well.

30: I’d forgotten just how beloved Daniel Bryan was. The Streak Ending is still a gigantic moment. Rock-Hogan-Austin is amazing for the crowd reactions, particularly Rock. Somewhat surprisingly for a Network-era Mania this didn’t feel too long. Easy to forget how recently the women were an afterthought.

 

That’s probably my Mania rewatching done for now. Will be trying to catch this year’s if I can.

Edited by HarmonicGenerator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, The King of Old School said:

30 is the last great Wrestlemania I think.

31 isn't bad, then the rest since are just far too long where too much happens and you end up remembering nothing.

32-35 all just blend into one.

Hard to disagree. Wrestlemania 33 stands out for me, mostly because it was my first time attending, but it also had a couple of big memorable moments- biggest being the Hardyz return, but also AJ somehow stealing the show with Shane O, Brock and Goldberg having the perfect hoss battle, and Taker having his fake retirement after the main event.

I struggle to even remember the matches that happpened on 34 and 35 though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

As TV is so diabolical at the moment, I spent around 12 hours watching shoot interviews, yesterday. Finished with Warrior shooting on Hogan. That was properly fucking brutal. Good on him.

Just seen Kabuki Warriors from this week's RAW. Worth it, if ony for Kairi's delivery of "confidence" and the few bizarre seconds that followed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • Paid Members

Watched the Styles / Daniels / Joe match from Unbreakable last night, first time I'd seen it in about 10 years. It really is a great match, one of those things that genuinely is as good as everyone says. Everyone looks strong in it too, just brilliant stuff.

I also finished watching Wrestlewar 91 because a toothache made me subscribe to the Network again in pain delirium, and also because I'm a huge MAGA guy.

I don't even remember there being a six man tag title in WCW so the opener (Morton, Rich and JYD vs Big Cat and State Patrol) was a weird one. Not a great match either. The babyfaces retained.

Bobby Eaton vs Brad Armstrong was a cracker though, obviously. Eaton is one of the greatest of all time and the crowd knew it then too, they absolutely loved him and he got a huge reception when he won.

Then there was a Japanese women's tag match for some reason, although it was a pretty good match and the crowd seemed to quite enjoy it.

Dustin Rhodes then beat Buddy Landel. Landel clearly couldn't be arsed with this one as was mostly the case with his matches in 90 and 91. Not much here.

Southern Boys renamed to The Young Pistols, for some reason (why?), and beat The Royal Family in what was a pretty good match. The Pistol Boys had a great run for about a year though, they usually had good matches.

Terry Taylor beat Tom Zenk in a yawn.

The Vader and Hansen beat the absolute piss out of each other for a few minutes before a double DQ. I fucking loved every second of it.

Luger retained the US title against Dan Spivey in a *superb* match. Spivey pulled out everything in this match but Package continued his run of having great matches with everybody. Probably the best I've ever seen Spivey.

The Freebirds beat Doom for the tag titles in a strangely short match that that still had plenty going on.

It was probably cut short for War Games, which is still a classic. I have to say one thing that always bothered me about WCW events with two rings was when guys would do that spot of being thrown over the top rope on to the next set of ropes. Always makes me wince, that, looked so dangerous.

Strong event, overall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
8 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Southern Boys renamed to The Young Pistols, for some reason (why?)

I've always surmised there was influence there from the movie Young Guns 2, which had been a box office hit a few months prior to the name change, and also part of an attempt from WCW to move away from being perceived as a "Southern" regional promotion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I really like that Luger vs Spivey match as well. Often gets overlooked because of who’s involved but it’s really good. Kind of shits on the theory that Luger only had good matches when a Flair or Steamboat or Pillman type was carrying him. If only Spivey wasn’t so banged up and could’ve still gone like that when he was Waylon Mercy in the WWF a few years later.

Loved Eaton vs Armstrong as well. Two of the best ever for me that they could’ve got more out of. I’m quite fond of that brief singles run Beautiful Bobby had from late 90-91 or whatever it was before the Dangerous Alliance thing started. He had some cracking matches with Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and even Tom Zenk around that time. 

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.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...