What are you watching? Part 6312

[Vamp]

The one where Michaels only had one leg was decent. 

[gmoney]

That's Zach Gowen you're thinking of. 

[air_raid]

27 minutes ago, Vamp said:

The one where Michaels only had one leg was decent. 

Absolutely it was! A forgotten gem, taking place at Taboo Tuesday after the Cell match that "officially" ended the feud. Michaels' ACTUALLY BEING INJURED made the match incredibly tense to watch for me, up there with the SummerSlam match (yes, I entertained the thought he could fuck himself up for real) and its enjoyable to watch back now safe in the knowledge that he didn't do himself any lasting injury. Another entry to the "very good" side of their matches with the other side being "boring shite" with absolutely no middle ground....

.... which ironically puts Hunter in the same camp as his biggest fan, Bret Hart. in terms of what he achieved with Shawn. The majority being very good, the Iron Man match being boring shite.

[Vamp]

Whenever I say wrestling would be better if they gave wrestlers a story that limited then from being able to do everything they can, this is one of the matches I'm thinking of. If it wasn't for the injury it probably would have been as dull as dishwater. 

It's wrestling. You can make a match like this without a real injury. But instead everyone is always capable of everything. 

[LaGoosh]

On 12/1/2022 at 2:01 PM, BomberPat said:

Bull vs. Aja Kong in a cage is one of the maddest and best cage matches you'll ever see - just an ugly brawl, in the best possible way, from start to finish, with their seconds throwing in increasingly weird weapons throughout: 

As you were nice enough to look up and post some links I thought I'd let you know how I'm getting on with them. Watched this one on the train this morning. This match reminded me of some of the death matches I'd see back in the day on the US indies, two wrestlers aimlessly wandering around and hitting each other with stuff with no structure, wrestling/brawling in-between to link things up, very sloppy moves and often aimless. 

The difference however between those shit shows and this match though is REAL HEAT. This match feels real. In a fight with your mortal enemy yeah you probably would just batter the fuck out of each other with whatever comes to hand until you kill the other person rather than slowly building up to a series of hot near falls. Each woman's supporters at ringside seemingly fighting each other at every opportunity just added to the chaos. I always wondered why wrestling managers never fought each other, here they are knocking the shit out of one another and the fact that it's often just occurring in the corner of the camera shot adds to the sense of chaos. The fans were very invested and so was I.

Edited December 9, 2022 by LaGoosh

[LaGoosh]

There was a period where Necro Butcher was put up against the top indie workers of the day. This was because unlike the other deathmatch workers of the time, Necro could work. His selling was fantastic, his offence nasty and he could put a match together. His most famous match was against Samoa Joe. He also had a stormer with Low Ki. Recently I rewatched his dream match with Super Dragon. What made this one interesting is that both men very carefully walked the line between professional and flat out reckless. Both were violent psychopaths who could dish out and receive tremendous and often sickening punishment. 

This match is not pretty at all, but it's fucking awesome. The match is structured pretty much as short bursts of horrendous abuse followed by tons of well earned selling. The story is clear: Necro is bigger and tougher, can Dragon escalate the violence enough to put Necro away? Infamously, Necro concussed Dragon for real in the first 60 seconds of the bell ringing. The spots are ugly, messy and often botched but in a way that feels legitimate rather than fuck ups. There's a double stomp in this which is the most shocking spot I've perhaps seen but as a desperate comeback it just works. One of those matches that feels as close to a real fight as possible. Full of desperate scrapping and clawing for survival. Not a match you'd want to see weekly but as a special attraction it's a minor classic.

Edited January 9, 2023 by LaGoosh

[CleetusVanDamme]

The 2008 Royal Rumble. Underrated and one of my favourite Rumbles. Great star power right off the bat, starting with the final two from the year before in Taker and Shawn, some cool callbacks like Triple H and Foley facing off in MSG one more time and Piper and Snuka (looking like the world's hardest granny with Taker and Batista selling for him), then the ultimate surprise #30 at the end. You popped, MSG, don't deny it, we heard you! A really fun hour.

Team Rosco P. Coltrane vs Team Bischoff, Survivor Series 2003. Say what you like about the Mirror Break Kid, "he looks like someone drew cock-eyes on one of Maurizio Sarri's testicles" etc, but this is an all-timer of a babyface performance, a one-man show. I didn't and don't give a shit about the result now, yet I always feel gutted for him (and a little for Austin) in the end. So noble in kayfabe, he had little at stake but gave absolutely everything just because it was the right thing to do. His "I'm exhausted and have nothing left!" selling was WAY overdone throughout his later career, but it fits perfect here, being largely three against one.

It shows how overpowered and tone-deaf Austin's booking mostly was that I'm still shocked he doesn't Stun Shawn after!

Edited January 25, 2023 by CleetusVanDamme

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Having burned through all the 2000’s and 2010’s Rumble events that I wanted to watch, I’ve now switched attention to WCW events, started with Souled Out, with the 98, 99 and 00 shows which are very eclectic with their cards

98 has Bret Hart’s first WCW match against Flair, with his presentation still that of his WWF days with the wrap around shades and giving them away to a fan. It also has on the undercard Dusty’s heel turn on Zybysko, Jericho against Mysterio for the Cruiserweight title, a further tease of Scott Steiner’s turn during the 6 man tag with him, Rick and Boss Man against the NWO and a main event of Lex Luger vs Randy Savage

99 has the infamous ‘Loser Wears A Dress’ match between Jericho and Perry Saturn, a cracking 4 way Cruiser match between Kidman, Mysterio, Juventud and Psychosis, David Flair’s debut match teaming with Naitch v Hennig and Big Baz Windham before an uncomfortably long beat down by Hogan and co and the Stun Gun Ladder match between Scott Hall and Goldberg 

2000 is memorable for the Sid/Benoit main event where the latter wins the Big Gold Belt only to walk out on the company the next night with Saturn, Malenko and Eddie for ‘New York’, Ahmed Johnson returning to wrestling looking like someone who ate Ahmed and helping Stevie Ray beat Booker down to form the forgettable Harlem Heat 2000, Kidman wrestling 3 times culminating with losing to The Wall in WCW’s take on Hell in a Cell and Big Kev beating the Funker to win the WCW Presidency 

 

[Lorne Malvo]

14 hours ago, CleetusVanDamme said:

 

Team Rosco P. Coltrane vs Team Bischoff, Survivor Series 2003. Say what you like about the Mirror Break Kid, "he looks like someone drew cock-eyes on one of Maurizio Sarri's testicles" etc, but this is an all-timer of a babyface performance, a one-man show. I didn't and don't give a shit about the result now, yet I always feel gutted for him (and a little for Austin) in the end. So noble in kayfabe, he had little at stake but gave absolutely everything just because it was the right thing to do. His "I'm exhausted and have nothing left!" selling was WAY overdone throughout his later career, but it fits perfect here, being largely three against one.

It shows how overpowered and tone-deaf Austin's booking mostly was that I'm still shocked he doesn't Stun Shawn after!

The promo video before this match has always stuck in my memory for some reason. Brilliant hype job.

'Stone Cold Steve Austin...DTA, don't trust anybody!.... has to trust 5 other people...' Bischoff at his dickhead best.

[CL Punk]

I watched Fight Owens Fight and Seth Rollins: Building The Architect and I much preferred Owens's documentary as it was all on the first disc, Rollins's interview was cut into segments between matches and promos over the three discs.

Also, the documentary almost ignored his pre-WWE career as there was only a single mention of ROH and as I watched it, I realised that there is something I don't like  Rollins.

[CL Punk]

23 minutes ago, CL Punk said:

Double post.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by CL Punk

[LaGoosh]

3 hours ago, CL Punk said:

Seth Rollins: Building The Architect

Is this the one where he's at his boring house injured and whining while sharing an ice cream with his rubbish tiny dog? I don't think I've liked him since.

[Tommy!]

I've not been feeling too good so rather than read in the pub, as I don't have the focus, I've been watching wrestling.

Rumble 2000 H3 v Cactus is just as good as I remembered, honestly one of the best matches and the making of H after an iffy 99.

Backlash 04 Orton Vs Cactus. The fire tease is really odd, no idea why they did that, but an outstanding match. Props to Orton for spilling the pins then working out how / if an RKO would work before trying it. It's such a small thing but that's what makes or breaks a great match.

Backlash 2000 rock v hhh. Besides the table spot a lot more by the numbers than I remember with a long sleeper spot, but it's white hot which is all you can really ask. Shane eats a chair to the back of the head which looks brutal. It's amazing, it's what mania should have been.

Awesome v Spike GaC 2000. It's not a match, it's a run of spots but for that type of thing it's up there with the best. Spike keeps fighting from below and gets a right fucking. Too shallow to really stand out but good enough thread to be worth a rewatch.

So ukff, recommend me shit for the pub.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Tommy!

[Joe Blog]

For a quick and easy watch @Tommy! I would go with Mankind vs outlaws from SummerslaM 1998. Short amd sweet with foley at the Garden. 

[Tommy!]

30 minutes ago, Joe Blog said:

For a quick and easy watch @Tommy! I would go with Mankind vs outlaws from SummerslaM 1998. Short amd sweet with foley at the Garden. 

So I've swapped pubs so no sound now, and it's a tight little match. An odd dynamic, face NAO Vs semi face mankind 2v1. The double russian leg sweep into the biffa bin is beautiful, and gunn running from a chair while dogg grabs it from behind is grand.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Tommy!