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WWF The Big Event '86

Rougeau's versus Dream Team is pretty darn good, mainly thanks to the Rougeau's and Valentine. Talk about a ref dragging a match down though. Not sure who this guy is, but he ruins every hot count spot with super slow counting on his part, kind of makes the kick outs suck when they happen at a one instead of two and three/fourths.

Where did you find this show? I also saw mention of Tuesday in Texas. I looked under the pay per view section, and did not find them. I don't think I saw them under old school, either.

I looked on Roku and iPhone.

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WWF The Big Event '86

Rougeau's versus Dream Team is pretty darn good, mainly thanks to the Rougeau's and Valentine. Talk about a ref dragging a match down though. Not sure who this guy is, but he ruins every hot count spot with super slow counting on his part, kind of makes the kick outs suck when they happen at a one instead of two and three/fourths.

Where did you find this show? I also saw mention of Tuesday in Texas. I looked under the pay per view section, and did not find them. I don't think I saw them under old school, either.

I looked on Roku and iPhone.

 

 

I went to the WWE PPV section, on my laptop, and searched for events by year.

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Where did you find this show? I also saw mention of Tuesday in Texas. I looked under the pay per view section, and did not find them. I don't think I saw them under old school, either.

I looked on Roku and iPhone.

Haven't looked for Big Event but Tuesday in Texas is listed right there in the ppv section as its own ppv - I'm using a PS3.

Anyway, I finished up that Raw I mentioned earlier - first appearance of Waltman/Kamikaze Kid - and towards the end they do a crowd shot and WTF IT'S RYAN PHILLIPE? That's gotta be the most odd random celebrity in the crowd sighting ever.

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Okay thanks. I found them on my phone, along with The Wrestling Classic.

Went out of Roku app so I can watch this week's Raw and SD on Hulu. I'll check again on Roku in a few hours. It's funny – after watching main event and superstars this week, I feel like I've already seen Raw.

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Hogan vs. Slaughter "Desert Storm Match" @ MSG was cool. I like that Hulk wasted no time and threw salt/sand/whatever into his eyes before the fucking bell even rang. He would later use a FIREBALL attack. Decent match but I didn't like the finish. I thought Hogan/Flair from MSG was a better match. Still, it's incredible that people held on to this notion that Hogan "can't work" all those years. Who started that? pretty much everything Hogan was involved in during this first Hulkamania run is awesome.

I loved how slaughter tried to hit Hogan with chair but fell backwards instead, they should have done this match at summer slam

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With WrestleMania coming up, I'm going back and watching some past Mania's. Right now, it's WM6, Barbarian vs. Tito Santana. During Tito's entrance, Jesse starts talking about what he picked up from The Blue Note Club in Tijuana before Gorilla cuts him off. Yeah, that's something that went way over my head as a 9 y/o back in 1990.

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Hulk Hogan v Kamala:

 

I was impressed on this one, because Hogan put Kamala over so strongly. Yeah, he rallies as usual by the end but he sold the wildman gimmick, bled a load and was reduced to crawling away in pain at a couple points. Made Kamala look like a scary beast.

 

The rematch they had in early 87 was a lot more bland and cookie cutter Hogan in comparison.

This one, I liked and that's pretty rare for me with Kamala matches. He even did a leapfrog at one point, didn't get all of it and nearly took a massive header out the ring, but still, 90% of a Kamala leapfrog is notable.

 

Luger, I gotta say, was REALLY GOOD during this Flair-less period. I couldn't believe how good he was as I only caught him when he was still green fresh up from Florida and then when he didn't give a shit during the NWO years, I never saw him during his peak. Say what you will about Lex but when the company decided to make him the centerpiece, he sure busted his ass to earn it.

 

I've quietly championed his Havoc '91 bout with Simmons for many years. It's not a five-star classic or anything but Luger does a hell of a job playing "This maniac is KILLING me in there, oh my God."

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Summerslam 2013

 

Miz is our host, and I have to ask, why do we need a host for a wrestling show? 

 

Fandango and Summer interrupt The Miz and Summer is shaking that thang, and I like it.  With that said, I hope Summer's inclusion to the cast of Total Divas leads to a singles push.  She has been absolutely loathsome on NXT as the leader of the BFFs and I think she would add a lot to a pretty boring Divas division.  Fandango should probably do something else too, when will they understand that dancing gimmicks have maybe a 6 month shelf life?  Why not make them a super douchey couple that thinks that they're the shit? 

 

This Jojo chick sang the hell out of the National Anthem, does she have any other talents?  Is she a wrestler or just a reality star?  I know Eva Marie has actually wrestled, has Jojo?

 

Kane v. Bray Wyatt:  Ring of Fire

 

The Wyatt family entrance is almost perfect, except for the fact that he "blows out" a electric lantern.  This has to be one of the dumbest gimmick matches of all time, it would be one thing if it were two guys who are really good technical wrestlers who could have a really good match trading holds in the middle of the ring, but these are crazy brawlers and staying in the confines of the ring does nothing for them.  After about five minutes Bray calls Harper for some help, and he gets a Kendo Stick from a fireman, which makes no sense whatsoever.  The Wyatt family smother the flames with an asbestos blanket, which they also got from the friendly ringside fireman .  This is dumb, I hate when they have a gimmick match that only serves one purpose, in this case keeping outside interference outside, only to have that gimmick nullified within 10 minutes.  Wait, why do they have an actual flaming lantern now?  Someone needs to get to the bottom of this lantern thing, because now it makes less sense than it did before.  It can't be a fire code thing, because they just had a ring of fire around the ring.  It can't be a lighting thing, because they just had a flame lit lantern and it looked fine.  This was just not good.

 

Josh Matthews is with Booker T.(Is there a person in history named Booker, who didn't have the middle initial T.?) Shawn Michaels and Vicky Guerrero, in a useless segment.

 

Paul Heyman interview about the Brock Lesnar v. CM Punk match, and to the surprise of no one it is pretty good.

 

Damien Sandow v. Cody Rhodes in a two guys who deserve better match.

 

Cody, Sandow, and Ziggler are on the short list of guys who just can't ever seem to get ahead, despite being fairly over and putting on pretty good matches.  With the Shield and Real Americans breaking up, it really seems like they probably are going to be left on the outside looking again, which is a shame because these guys are pretty good.  This is a perfectly acceptable match, nothing that is going to blow your socks off, just a pretty good match between two pretty good wrestlers. 

 

Christian v. Alberto Del Rio for the belt that WWE won't admit doesn't mean as much as that other belt.

 

I'm going to do the WWE a favor and re-organize their championship structure.  The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is the #1 belt.  It is the one everyone wants, and signifies that whoever holds it is "The Champion."  The Intercontinental Championship should be the transitional belt that bridges the gap between midcarder and main eventer.  It is a championship that should be held for a minimum of six months by a guy who is getting "The Big Push."  So at Wrestlemania give the belt to Cesaro and give him a six month push where he fueds with guys like Ziggler, Christian, and Sheamus who will make him look good while also putting on really good matches.  Six months or so later have him drop the belt to Reigns and have him move into the main event.  The U.S. Championship should be what was the TV title.  Put it on Rollins after the Shield breakup and have him put on 10-15 minute matches against a variety of opponents until the fans love him and the bookers are satisfied he can put on a good match with anyone and then move him into the Intercontinental title picture.  If they were to stick with this structure they would have 2 new guys ready for the main event per year and things wouldn't get so stale at the top.  We wouldn't have to see Orton v. Cena for the 756th time. 

 

OK back to the match…Del Rio being billed as having an MMA background is so funny to me.  The first time I ever seen Del Rio he was in an MMA fight against Mirko Cro Cop and let's just say that after that I don't think I'd want anyone reminding me of my MMA career.  This match is pretty good, they even got a "This is Awesome" chant.  I don't know what happened that made them pump fake on Del Rio's title reign a couple of years ago, but I think they really dropped the ball on that.  He may be the most contemptible guy on the entire roster and he is a pretty good worker.  In a company that never has enough good heels, they should have taken advantage of him when he was hot, but for some reason they didn't.  Christian is nicknamed Captain Charisma, despite being one of the least charismatic people on the entire roster.  He isn't Jerry Lynn boring, but he hasn't been anything I would call charismatic since the old Edge and Christian 3 second pose days.  These guys are basically an illustration of how good the roster currently is.  I don't think either of them is a top 10 worker in the company, but both of them are really damn good. 

 

Maria Menounos is with the Miz, and I have to say she is quite lovely.  Seriously, she wrestled at Summerslam Access, when she could have been doing just about anything else with her life.  Do you think she would marry me?  I mean we both really like wrestling, I'm sure I could make her laugh, and she knows what it's like to be a little overweight so she wouldn't judge me.  I think I have a chance, plus dat ass is looking good in those little white shorts.

 

Natalya v. Brie Bella in a trying to repress my boner match.

 

This is essentially a commercial for Total Divas with the Funktadactyls out with Natalya and Nikki and Eva Marie out with Brie.  In a spot that I've never seen and might have been a mistake, Nikki and Eva pull the apron skirt while Natalya is standing on the apron causing Natalya to fall between the apron and the skirt which looked painful, but it might be because it was.  The Bellas and Eva Marie are in classic '50s style polka dot bikini ring gear and I have to say it is a good look.  Natalya gets the win with a Sharpshooter.

 

Yoshi Tatsu gets on camera for 3 seconds before Ryback bullies a caterer. 

 

CM Punk v. Brock Lesnar in "The Best vs. The Beast" with no DQs.

 

A typically outstanding video package recapping the feud and I feel the need to correct myself for calling Del Rio the most contemptible guy on the roster.  That title goes to Paul Heyman, and that is why I love him.  Paul is like the anti-Steamboat, if they showed footage of him feeding starving children, people would still boo him, he is just the slimiest person on earth.  Lesnar's comeback is probably my favorite thing in wrestling over the last couple of years.  His matches always seem like events, and he is just brutalizing Punk to start.  CM Punk makes a comeback with a couple of running knees, causing Lesnar to take a pretty good bump to the outside.  Punk gets the ring steps, but Brock shoulder blocks the steps in a cool spot.  Punk counters Lesnar's attempt to ram him into the ringpost and follows with a double axehandle off the top rope to the floor.  Punk stupidly goes after Heyman giving Lesnar an oppurtunity to recover and throw him over both announce tables before belly-to belly suplexing him on the floor.  Back in Brock continues to destroy CM Punk.  Brock hits a fall-away slam followed by a series of back breakers and some sort of fall-away suplex combination that looked pretty sweet.  Punk bites Lesnar's ear, and makes a comeback with a flying knee off the top rope.  Punk drops a ugly ass top rope elbow.  His elbow never looks good, but that one was just terrible looking.  Punk goes for the GTS and Lesnar counters it into his kimura, which Punk counters into an armbar, then a triangle.  Lesnar powerbombs Punk out of the triangle, but Punk holds on.  Lesnar looks ready to tap before lifting Punk again this time hitting a running powerbomb out of the corner.  The second "This is Awesome" chant of the night, and I have to agree this is a great match.  Brock hits the Three Amigos, and Punk kicks out at two.  Out of the corner of his eye Lesnar sees a chair, and he gets a deranged look on his face and slowly stalks the chair like he is going to anally violate it.  Punk recovers enough to try to hit a plancha, but Lesnar gets the chair up only to get the chair driven into his own face.  Punk hits him with a couple of chairshots only for Lesnar to catch the third.  Lesnar swings the chair at Punk and Punk ducks and hits him with a low blow.  Masato Tanaka style top rope chair elbow drop from Punk followed by a barrage of chair shots.  Heyman takes the chair from Punk allowing Lesnar to get Punk up for a F5,but Punk grabs Heyman's tie.  Punk gets away and hits the GTS only to have Heyman break up the pin.  Punk chases Heyman around the ring allowing Brock to get Punk up for the F5 one more time, but Punk counters it into a DDT.  Punk hooks in the Anaconda Vice and Heyman interferes again and Punk locks they vice on Heyman.  Lesnar recovers and hits Punk with three of the hardest chairshots I've ever seen.  Lesnar lifts Punk's lifeless body for an F5 on a chair and gets the win.  I voted for Lesnar over William Regal in the March Madness tournament, and after watching this I'm glad I did.  Regal was in a couple of really good matches, but nothing that I enjoyed as much as this.  This was just magically beautiful violence, and matches like this every six months are worth every penny of what WWE is paying him.

 

Dolph Ziggler/Kaitlyn v. Big E/AJ in a match between two guys I like and two women I REALLY LIKE.

 

AJ is all tiny, adorable, and crazy as a loon making my heart palpitate.  Kaitlyn is thick, juicy and looks like she would put that thang on you.  Dolph and Big E are decent, this match is just barely decent. 

 

John Cena v. Daniel Bryan in a make Daniel Bryan the biggest star in the world match.

 

The video package for this match was once again outstanding.  After last Monday's occupy Raw segment I'm really excited to watch where this entire thing started.  Bryan is wearing a "The Beard is Here" t-shirt and I'm wondering what happened to those bad ass leather rider jackets he used to wear.  John Cena cut a really good, "I'm not a parody" promo before this match only to come out and act like a parody.  Fans chan't "You Can't Wrestle" at John Cena, and despite him being as stale as 6-year-old Cheerios, he is a damn good wrestler.  We get some chain wrestling to start, giving Daniel Bryan an early advantage.  Cena knocks Bryan to the outside and follows up with a suplex off the stairs on the floor, causing the crowd to chant, "You Still Suck," which is hilarious.  Back in Cena hits a sitout powerbomb, for a two count and I think it's safe to say that Cena has his, "I'm the best big match wrestler in the business" boots on.  Bryan goes after Cena's injured elbow.  Bryan is probably the best in the world at making his offense looks like he is legit trying to hurt you, if that make any sense.  Cena tries to put Bryan in the STF only for Bryan to counter and put on his own STF.  Cena struggles out, and Bryan hits two German suplexes followed by a Yes Lock.  Cena powers out and goes for the AA and Bryan locks in a guillotine choke.  Cena throws Bryan off and looking at Cena's face makes me think that Bryan's offense looks good because he is actually potatoing the hell out of Cena.  His eye is swollen, and has a visible red mark across the bridge of his nose.  Bryan hits a superplex while his legs are grapevined on the top turnbuckle so Cena gets all of the impact.    He follows with a diving headbutt, but Cena rolls out of the ring.  Bryan goes for the suicide dive, but Cena cuts him off and follows with the best top rope legdrop I've ever seen him do. Bryan kicks out at two, and Cena just looks like he can't comprehend why he can't beat Bryan.  Bryan counters a AA from the top, only to get his hurricarana countered into a STF.  Bryan rolls out and sinks in another Yes lock, and Cena gets to the ropes.  Bryan hits two corner dropkicks only for Cena to hit him with a clothesline that sends Bryan head over heels.  Both men are hurt and they trade strikes before both hitting jumping elbows and we have a double KO.  Third "This is Awesome" chant of the night, and this is a good ass match.  They trade slaps and Bryan gets the best of the strike exchange, before countering the AA with a DDT.  Cena catches Bryan off the top rope, and Bryan counters with a small package for a two count.  Bryan goes into a corner and there is a huge YES! chant followed by the debut of his running knee finisher for the 1,2,3.  This was great, Cena's biggest talent as a worker is probably his ability to make moments seem big, and this match seemed like a huge deal.  Big celebration afterwards with confetti and pyro before Mr. Money in the Bank, Randy Orton comes out to challenge the new champ.  Bryan is ready, telling Orton to "come on," before he gets pedigreed by HHH and I can hear the internet wrestling community shitting themselves in the background. 

 

I don't know how this is going to play out at Wrestlemania, but if this was a long term plan to get Bryan over to give him the title at the biggest show of the year it was masterfully done.  I was as pissed at the ending of this show as anyone, but looking back at this moment it makes a lot more sense. 

 

This show was great, but #7 all-time is too high.  No Way Out 2001 and Canadian Stampede are in my mind the best two shows I've watched, but this is right in that next tier with Extreme Rules 2012.

 

Best match of the show:  Brock Lesnar v. CM Punk and John Cena v. Daniel Bryan.  I'm sorry I can't pick just one, they were basically both the best they could have possibly been, and picking one or the other just seems unfair.

Top five matches so far.

      1.  Austin v. HHH

      2.  Austin/Goldust/Shamrock/LOD v. The Hart Foundation

3.  Cena v. Lesnar

4a.  Brock Lesnar v. CM Punk

4b.  John Cena v. Daniel Bryan

 

Next up Great American Bash 1989

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Currently watching Chi-Town Rumble 89. I had this on VHS ages ago so this is my first time watching the full show.

 

A few points I noticed:

 

* The ref in the Michael Hayes/Russian Assassin match counted three like he had just gotten a mani and didn't want to ruin it.

* Why do a significant number of people in the crowd have a t-shirt on for WrestleWar 89, a PPV that would not occur for

another 3-4 months?

*  The Sting/Butch Reed never really got out of second gear, which is odd considering the people involved. I loved Jim Ross's

subtle dig at the Ultimate Warrior.

*  It is scary bizarre to hear the crowd pop for Jim Cornette in the Midnights/Midnights blowoff -- especially in Cornette's full body

suit. Taking aside any of the backstage/"real life" reasons for subbing Coundry for Jack Victory, on a face value/logic standpoint,

Jack Victory has everything to lose (losers leave NWA) and next to nothing to gain (a victory with a tag partner that is already

spoken for) Or did they explain that Victory was exempt from the NWA expulsion? (yeah, they just said one hour later only Rose is

gone. But still, not much of an incentive to be thrust into a blood feud.)

* Rick Steiner/Rotundo was hard-hitting fun and then Kevin Sullivan goes out, threatens Rick's dog (?!) who is apparently in the

back (unattended?) and Scott, who is Rick's 2nd, sits there in Rick's corner and does NOTHING. And then Rick puts Mike Rotunda

in the sleeper and pins himself. Between this and in the future when Woman befriends and then will dupe Rick, they have no problem

insinuating that Rick Steiner is hella dumb.

* I was not able to follow NWA weekly at this point, but what was the point of Hiro Masuda as the manager du jour on just about every

heel? Was there a storyline to him b/c they don't really play them as a unified stable. It's like Hiro is just bored businessman who hangs

out with badasses as a weird by-product of a mid-life crisis.

* Ref Tommy Young with a 2.8 and then showing the distance between his hand and the mat like the length of a guppy he caught.

* Two "I'm so into doing this move I forget my shoulders are down" finishes in a row? And followed by a tag team title match with a "Two

pinfalls at once, who is the legal man?" finish?

* Magnum TA is perfectly acceptable as a color commentator. I love all the realism Jim Ross brings to the commentary and Magnum feeds

right into it. But I suppose mentioning what's trending on Twitter and what's on the WWE app at the moment is captivating too. I will love that

Jim Ross didn't get duped by the two shoulder down scenarios, which was a nice change of pace from the WWF model of the time which was

generally McMahon pulling a "B-b-b-but wait! Who won? We have a situation here!"

* Steve Williams almost biffing a top rope axe handle yet recovering. Jim Ross covers and credits Dr. Death's agility drills in high school as being

the difference. Yuh huh.

* Wrestler introductions in the undercard? Who needs stinking wrestler introductions? Not even Ricky Steamboat gets shown entering the ring.

* FLAIR v STEAMBOAT:  I love Jim Ross outing Brad Muster as a Ric Flair groupie (he wears a Ric Flair t-shirt underneath his jersey EVERY WEEK?)

Still, a Ric Flair t-shirt might be easier on the eyes than the mint green number Dave Meltzer's sporting in the front row, which once I noticed it could

not ignore it and kept coming back to it.(Esp when Dave is in full MARK OUT MODE. But hell, if I was first row, I'd mark the hell out too.) This Flair/Steamboat

match typically does not get the love the other two 1989 meetings do, but I love the brisk pace (Flair goes from zero to figure four leglock in 2.3

seconds) and Flair's growing uneasiness in putting away Steamboat turning into desperation, and finally frustration after Tommy Young gets wiped

out and Teddy Long takes his place. The end has enough controversy to keep the feud going but not not enough to discount Steamboat's triumph

which is all you can hope for. I like how Steamboat (who to be honest was never a great stickman) in the post-match interview is honestly overwhelmed

and lost for words which IMO says more about finally winning and climbing the last step of the mountain than having a pondered over and thrice rewritten

speech memorized.

* What match is going on as Ross and TA are wrapping things up?

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Also episodes 5 & 6.

It's interesting seeing all this build to WM 9, having only seen the event up to this point.

Same here. I ordered Mania 9 out of habit but as I was already well on my way out of wrestling by that point. It'd be the last ppv I ordered until Mania 13. I saw the Flair-Perfect match and Janetty-HBK (not sure if that ep is up yet as I'm only up to ep 4) on a comp from my tape trading days but never the whole shows.

Santana-Flair was a nice little match although sucks Tito never busted out his figure four.

Oh and he may be legendarily awful but Rob Bartlett beginning ep2 by ripping up a picture of Heenan and saying "Fight the real enemy" was pretty damn funny. Too bad his other 367 joked were terrible.

 

 

I just got through watching Tito-Flair. I liked it a lot! It was  fun in a way I can't really articulate. I thought Flair and Perfect's brawl and promos afterwards were fantastic. Rob Bartlett... holy shit, his references during that match were so painfully dated and awkward and AMAZING. "Are Regis and Kathie Lee a tag team now?" was a real highlight, as was saying that Flair should "take a Prozac". There was also a great crack about Flair looking like Mary Jo Buttafuoco. Pure early 90s hacky Kenny Bannia crap that I just couldn't stop laughing at.

 

EDIT: Just started the 4th episode of Raw. Good God, this Beefcake promo about his dead parents and the parasailing accident...

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Watching Mania 1.  (though I paused to check out this Total Deevers show.) I saw it on the Anthology about 7 years ago but never since.

 

It's funny to see them struggling with dialogue and presentation - especially the bits where Lord Alfred is trying to speak from the Gorilla Position as wrestlers are coming in and out of the locker room. Steamboat/Borne was a decent match, as was Valentine/JYD -- though a weird ending.   (why would the ref restart a match just because a third party with no affiliation to management run out and say Hammer's legs were on the rope?) 

 

I need to rewatch Sammartino/Beefcake because I was distracted. Or do I?

 

The Iron Shiek tag was about to start when I paused it. Looking forward to that one.

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That Chi town rumble tag match ending was a bit of a clusterf@ck, Jim Ross informed me of who was legal lol, animal was in the ropes, so that wasn't a legit pin by Dr death anyways. Not a bad match overall though...next up a meltzer 5 star

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I've been watching ask the early Raws in order with the PPVs and I'm watching some 92 WCW PPVs and I have two main questions.

1. Did Bill Alfonso referee every Fuckin match ever?

2. Is Bill Alfonso the best referee of all time?

it's almost like Where's Waldo.my favorite is the 93 Royal Rumble when he's one of the refs throwing someone out and I can't help but mouth out the word "DADDY!"

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Watching Mania 1.  (though I paused to check out this Total Deevers show.) I saw it on the Anthology about 7 years ago but never since.

 

It's funny to see them struggling with dialogue and presentation - especially the bits where Lord Alfred is trying to speak from the Gorilla Position as wrestlers are coming in and out of the locker room. Steamboat/Borne was a decent match, as was Valentine/JYD -- though a weird ending.   (why would the ref restart a match just because a third party with no affiliation to management run out and say Hammer's legs were on the rope?) 

 

I need to rewatch Sammartino/Beefcake because I was distracted. Or do I?

 

The Iron Shiek tag was about to start when I paused it. Looking forward to that one.

 

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with Sammartino-Beefcake, but it just sort of meanders back and forth until it gets to the finish. And by the time the finish happened and played out a month later, David Sammartino might as well have not existed in comparison to his father. 

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WWF Survivor Series '88

 

The Powers of Pain turn is really puzzling. Based on crowd reaction it sounded as if they were really starting to get over as a face tag team. I can understand wanting to turn Demolition, but it's puzzling why they took a seemingly about to be super popular tag team and turned them into a heel act that would flame out rather quickly, then stick around for a few years to very diminishing returns before breaking up to no fanfare, It's really puzzling.

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I don't think Vince had faith in the Powers being able to cut a promo. When they debuted, they had Baron Von Raschke as their manager which made 10 year old me confused because managers were for bad guys. That sort of thinking is also why I think the whole Bam Bam/Humperdink thing got over like a fart in church.

Anyway, I imagine the logic went, "The Demos can cut their own promos and are already getting a ton of face heat, the Powers need a mouthpiece and showed they can be excellent heels in WCW... Since we definitely want to run a monster team vs monster team feud, let's do a double switch!"

 

Currently watching Chi-Town Rumble 89.

* I was not able to follow NWA weekly at this point, but what was the point of Hiro Masuda as the manager du jour on just about every heel? Was there a storyline to him b/c they don't really play them as a unified stable. It's like Hiro is just bored businessman who hangs out with badasses as a weird by-product of a mid-life crisis.

Tully and Arn had left for the WWF. I think JJ was gone as well although I'm not 100% on that. In any case, they disbanded the Horseman and needed a new angle for Flair so the storyline was Hiro Matsuda was a Japanese businessman who came to American to buy up all our best assets. So they weren't really a stable so much as his "investments." It was basically the wrestling version of the Michael Keaton movie, Gung Ho.

Anyway, Matsuda introduced Muta but they quickly realized they needed somebody who could cut a promo so then they brought in Gary Hart. Hart more or less took over the storyline and took Matsuda's spot when he started managing both Muta and Terry Funk during the whole J-Tex Corporation angle.

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Liked supremebve's review of SummerSlam 2013. A great show I woke up to watch live and I'm glad I did. It's one of the few WWE PPV's I went on to buy on DVD. The show had the two best WWE 2013 matches, John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk in that order. Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian shouldn't be forgotten as well.

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Also episodes 5 & 6.

It's interesting seeing all this build to WM 9, having only seen the event up to this point.

Same here. I ordered Mania 9 out of habit but as I was already well on my way out of wrestling by that point. It'd be the last ppv I ordered until Mania 13. I saw the Flair-Perfect match and Janetty-HBK (not sure if that ep is up yet as I'm only up to ep 4) on a comp from my tape trading days but never the whole shows.

Santana-Flair was a nice little match although sucks Tito never busted out his figure four.

Oh and he may be legendarily awful but Rob Bartlett beginning ep2 by ripping up a picture of Heenan and saying "Fight the real enemy" was pretty damn funny. Too bad his other 367 joked were terrible.

 

 

I just got through watching Tito-Flair. I liked it a lot! It was  fun in a way I can't really articulate. I thought Flair and Perfect's brawl and promos afterwards were fantastic. Rob Bartlett... holy shit, his references during that match were so painfully dated and awkward and AMAZING. "Are Regis and Kathie Lee a tag team now?" was a real highlight, as was saying that Flair should "take a Prozac". There was also a great crack about Flair looking like Mary Jo Buttafuoco. Pure early 90s hacky Kenny Bannia crap that I just couldn't stop laughing at.

 

EDIT: Just started the 4th episode of Raw. Good God, this Beefcake promo about his dead parents and the parasailing accident...

 

 

Do they keep the fan yelling "Kill yourself" during a pause in said promo? 

 

I was watching some WCCW, and saw the ep. with the 6-man battle royal.  What did Andre have against Terry Gordy?  He'd knock around the other heels for a second, then just go back to choking him out.  Rinse and repeat for 10 minutes.  Also, the ghost of Lynyrd Skynyrd can be heard over the generic instrumental knockoff used in the Freebirds video if you listen carefully. 

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WWF Survivor Series '88

 

The Powers of Pain turn is really puzzling. Based on crowd reaction it sounded as if they were really starting to get over as a face tag team. I can understand wanting to turn Demolition, but it's puzzling why they took a seemingly about to be super popular tag team and turned them into a heel act that would flame out rather quickly, then stick around for a few years to very diminishing returns before breaking up to no fanfare, It's really puzzling.

 

Yeah, it gets a pass for being Old School I guess.  If it happened today, we'd get "Fire Russo" chants, I'm sure.

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Great American Bash 1989: Glory Days

 

King of the Hill 2-ring Battle Royal.

 

The sheer number of mullets in this match is hilarious, this is about as 1989 as things get.  This has strange rules, you have to eliminate people to the second ring before eliminating them to the floor.  The last two men in each ring then wrestle.  Final 2 men in the first ring are Sid Vicious and Brian Pillman.  Pilman misses a crossbody and eliminates himself and now we're going to have to watch a Sid match.  Final 3 in the second ring are Mike Rotunda, Dr. Death, and Dan Spivey.  Dr. Death eliminates Rotunda, who distracts Dr. Death from the outside allowing Dan Spivey to eliminate him from behind.  Teddy Long is out and looking like Black Gallager from the Chapelle Show, and he informs the crowd that the Skyscrapers won't be wrestling each other, because he is too smart for that.  The crowd boos, but I cheer.  This was a waste of time, but a short waste of time so I won't complain.

 

Flyin' Brian Pillman v. Wild Bill Irwin in a "Who Has the Best Jheri Curl" match.

 

I wasn't able to get much WCW as a kid, but Fryin' Brian was my favorite of the little I could see.  He was just everything I wanted from a babyface as a kid.  If you were quick, did a good dropkick, and your finisher came from the top rope, I was all in.  Pillman controls to start with some good armdrags, and is able to use his quickness to nullify Irwin's offense.  Irwin eventually cuts him off and starts berating Pillman to fly as he throws him out of the ring.  This is pretty good, Pillman hits a flying clothesline that looks a lot like Hiroshi Tanahashi's Sling Blade.  Irwin throws Pillman into the second ring, and gets an earful from Nick Patrick allowing Flyin' Brian to do a crossbody from the top rope of the other ring for the pin.  Apparently this was clipped to just over 2 minutes on the home video release, which is a shame because this was pretty good.

 

Paul E. Dangerously is with Gordon Solie and cuts a promo that ALMOST makes me interested in a match between Paul E. and Jim Cornette.  Paul E. may very well be the best promo of all-time, he is just great here, he just can't convince me to want to see either him or Cornette stripped to their underwear.

 

The Dynamic Dudes v. The Skyscrapers in a "The Fans Hate the Faces More Than the Heels" match.

 

Johnny Ace picks up an unenthusiastic fat kid from the front row and throws a frisbee at him, and the kid clearly hates his guts.  This is one of those teams that a focus group thought would work, but in reality no one gives a fuck.  It is just uncomfortable to watch.  The crowd chants "PEANUT HEAD" at Teddy Long, causing the camera man to zoom in on the bald spot in his jheri curl.  Teddy Long is carrying a Burger King crown and trying to get it over as a big deal, I'm not buying it.  The crowd is chanting "We Want Sid," and I don't think there is anyone who has ever been as over as Sid, while being basically useless in the ring.  Spivey hits a Razor's Edge on Shane Douglas, and throws him out so Teddy Long can lay in some comically bad stomps.  Spivey tags in Sid and this crowd loves him.  He hits an ugly clothesline and locks a claw hold to Shane Douglas' kidney before tagging out and pissing off the crowd.  Hot tag to Johnny Ace and he is not quite a small kitchen fire.  He hits Spivey with some punches and goes to hit Sid in the corner, but Sid, for some strange reason, dodges his punches on the apron.  I have no idea what Sid was doing, and I don't think he does either.  The Dudes may get 1% of the offense in this match, and he decides to dodge the two punches thrown his way.  The Dudes get cut off, and the Scrapers go for a double sandwich clothesline which gets ducked and they clothesline each other.  Spivey sells it, Sid basically doesn't acknowledge that it happens.  It doesn't really matter though, because they finish the dudes shortly after with a botched powerbomb from Spivey.  Sheesh, this sucked.  Spivey, who at his best was limited got 95% of the offense.  Sid got 4%, because he really had nothing to offer, and the Dudes got the other 1% and that is being generous.  This was about 10 minutes long, and could have served the same purpose in 2 minutes.

 

Cornette in a completely ridiculous sky blue tuxedo with a yellow frilly shirt, and a red bowtie, talks with Solie hyping the Tuxedo match.  This match is going to suck, but I'll be damned if the promos for it aren't great.

 

Paul E. Dangerously v. Jim Cornette in a "Who Wants to See Either of these Guys in their DAMNED DRAWLS" match.

 

This was better than I thought it would be, but still it resulted in me seeing Paul Heyman in his underwear so it sucked.

 

Gary Hart interview hyping the Great Muta v. Sting TV title match. 

 

The Varsity Club v. The Steiner Brothers in a Someone is Going to Get Their Ass Kicked match.

 

I believe this is Scott Steiner's PPV debut, and it is just a wild brawl to start.  I don't know who has the best belly-to-belly suplex , but Rick Steiner has to be in the top five.  In the most homoerotic spot in the history of wrestling Rick Steiner throws a series of headbutts to Kevin Sullivan's groin, causing Sullivan to do some ridiculous stanky legged selling.  This ends after about 250 stiff clotheslines, a disappointing 15 suplexes, and a crossbody off the top from Scott Steiner for the win. 

 

Sting interview with Solie, and I have to say, Sting was horrible on the mic here.

 

The Great Muta v. Sting for the TV Title

 

Muta's entrance is pretty sweet, with a geisha girl, a gong, mood lighting and some smoke.  This is a match I heard about as a kid, but never got to see.  I was a huge Muta fan as a kid despite only seeing him once or twice.  He just was so damn cool.  J.R. calling Muta's chops judo chops bothers me, because I used to do judo and much to my chagrin there were no chops.  Muta is definitely working heel here, but there are a couple pretty loud Muta chants even while having Sting in chin locks, abdominal stretches, and poking him in the eyes.  Sting makes a comeback and just as he's turning it up Muta spits Red Mist right into the referee's eyes.  Muta hits him moonsault for 2 as a new ref comes in.  Sting counters Muta off with an attempted bridging backdrop.  Muta gets a shoulder up while Sting's shoulder gets counted down for the winner and new TV champion The Great Muta.  This was a really fun, fast paced match, that lead to a Clash of the Champions rematch that I remember loving as a kid. 

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat v. Lex Luger for the US Championship.

 

Ricky is being carried out to the ring carrying a Komodo Dragon in a motorcycle jacket.  I don't understand why he agreed to be carried out to the ring on a 2x6 carrying a wild animal, but he did it and somehow didn't get mauled or fall off, which is pretty impressive.  1989 was probably the best year for both of these guys, and I expect this to be good.  Lex takes exception to this being a no DQ match for some reason, but it seems like a no DQ would be in his advantage.  Steamboat's chops are about as stiff as they come here, he is just lighting Lex's chest on fire.  Lex takes over and hits three big clotheslines, causing Ricky to blindly swing punches in the air just to try to defend himself.  Luger flexes and heels it up before Steamboat lays in some more really hard chops.  Lex cuts him off with a big right hand as the ref tries to stop Steamboat from pounding Lex in the corner.  This is a really good old school big guy little guy match, except that the big guy is quicker than most and the little guy is stronger than most.  Steamboat makes a comeback and charges Lex who is reeling on the ropes.  Luger back body drops him from one ring to another, before going to ringside to get a chair.  Steamboat counters with a slingshot into the turnbuckle.  Steamboat takes the chair and beats Lex all the way down the aisle and backstage and Lex gets the DQ win.  This was awesome, both guys were at their best, and they worked their asses off here.

 

Interview with the Freebirds and the Samoan Swat Team.  Michael P.S. Hayes was good here, and the future Rikishi is biting the ear of his tag team partner.  The Midnight Express, Dr. Death and the Road Warriors talk next and I think it's safe to say that they should have just let the Road Warriors talk, because the rest of them had nothing at all to say.

 

The Freebirds and the Samoan Swat Team v. The Midnight Express, The Road Warriors, and Dr. Death Steve Williams in WWWWAAAAAARRRRRR GGGGGGAAAAAMMMMMEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!

 

The Road Warriors come out on motorcycles to IRONMAN, how they didn't overdub that with something inferior I don't know.  I know this is probably going to get my wrestling fan card taken away, but I have never seen a War Games mtach.  Bobby Eaton and Jimmy Garvin start, and they seem to be fighting for the right to have the world's worst haircut.  Terry Gordy in next, and the battle for the worst hair continues.  Dr. Death in next and him and Gordy square off.  Dr. Death's military presses Gordy eight times into the roof of the cage in an absurd feat of strength.  Samu in next, followed by Animal who comes in and cleans house on the heels.  Animal hits a tope over the top rope of one ring into the second ring which was really impressive for a guy his size.  Fatu in next, and he is about 200 lbs. lighter here than he was when he became Rikishi.  Dr. Death and Terry Gordy seem to be having a singles match in one of the rings, while the rest of the guys brawl in the other.  Stan Lane in next and he is a house of fire.  Paul E. and Michael Hayes are outside strategizing, which concludes with Michael Hayes saying, "So I have to go in? Damn."  Michale Hayes gets in and DDTs every single one of the faces before going into the other ring and strutting around like an idiot.  He is one of the most ridiculous people in the history of the world, what would he do if he wasn't a wrestler?  I honestly don't think Dr. Death and Terry Gordy realize they are allowed to hit other people.  Hawk in and immediately hits a diving double clothesline before running from ring to ring kicking ass and taking names.  Hawk then hits his own tope from one ring to the other and everyone is now in the double cage.  The Road Warriors go for a Doomsday Device on Terry Gordy, but Garvin breaks it up, which gets him killed with a top rope lariat.  Hawk then hits him with a series of neckbreakers before putting him in a hangman for the submission.  This was just a wild brawl that was hard to recap here, but was fucking awesome. 

 

Solie interviews Ric Flair who is really subdued here.  Terry Funk hurt his neck with a piledriver and they are really selling that he may be putting his career on the line here as well as his title.

 

Ric Flair v. Terry Funk in a "Two of the Best of All-Time" match.

 

Terry Funk is as good at acting like the craziest son of a bitch alive as anyone in the history of wrestling.  Ric Flair was unable to have a bad match in 1989, he could have wrestled a bucket of water to something great at this point.  Ric Flair comes out with four women and before the bell can ring Flair goes after Funk and this is going to be a fight.  Funk was already calling himself middle-aged and crazy in 1989, and they are stiffing the shit out of each other from the start.  Flair is working over Funk's neck, doing a couple of neck cranks followed by a couple of jumping knees and a couple of piledrivers.  Funk is doing his writhing around like he is having a siezure selling, and eventually falls out of the ring.  Flair is just taking it to Funk at this point, hitthim him with slaps, punches, and a jumping elbow before locking in the figure four.  Gary Hart distracts the referee and Funk hits Flair in the face with a branding iron, and Flair is busted wide open.  Funk hits a piledriver on Flair's injured neck, that could have been the end but Flair gets his foot under the rope.  Funk is exposing the concrete floor, and choking Flair with his wrist tape.  Funk goes for a piledriver on the concrete, but Flair counters with a back body drop.  Flair is really selling the neck, and is losing a lot of blood.  Funk with a series of neckbreakers, and Funk is in the driver's seat.  Funk is telling Flair to just say he quits, which is setting up something…oh just one of the best matches of all-time.  Flair gets the branding iron and now Terry Funk is wearing a crimson mask, and Flair is done wrestling and he is just throwing lefts and rights.  Flair charges in the corner and misses a jumping knee and Funk hooks in a spinning toe hold.  Flair counters and tries to hook in a figure four, but Funk counters into a small package.  Flair counters and gets the 1,2,3.  Out comes Muta who spits the green mist in Flair's eyes and they lay a beatdown on Flair.  Out comes Sting and there is a huge brawl that ends with Sting and Flair standing tall in the ring.  Terry Funk is just wandering around the crowd like a crazy person and throws a chair at Flair.  The brawl is back on and Sting and Flair chase Funk and Muta back down the aisle.  This was awesome, and oh shit, they are brawling again after Jim Ross was trying to wrap the show up.  Ross' voice is just about gone and Sting is choking Muta with a velvet rope.  This is how you sell a blood feud, these guys just want to fight.  Flair with Ross for an interview, and he isn't subdued this time.  Flair tells Terry Funk that they are just getting started, and he has barely broken a sweat, and before they are done, Flair is going to wear his Texas ass out.  This was outstanding, I need to find that I quit match, and a cigarette, that was insane.

 

Best match on the card, I'm going to say Flair v. Funk just because it was the match I felt the most emotional investment, but Steamboat v. Luger, War Games, and Sting v. Muta were all great.

 

This was a hell of a show, with 4 matches that were really good, but I don’t think any of them crack the top five which is saying a whole lot about how many quality matches I've watched on this countdown.  This network has justified it's price for me and they haven't even shown the first PPV yet.  Without the network, I probably would have never watched this show, which I'd describe as a much watch for any wrestling fan.  This was a great show, if you get a chance watch it.

 

Next up:  Honorable Mentions, the seven shows that just missed the cut.  I don't know if I'll watch all seven, or just watch the matches that I'm most interested in, but there are a few things that I really want to see like Rey Mysterio's WCW debut, and the Michinoku Pro six-man from Barely Legal.

 

Top five matches so far.

      1.  Austin v. HHH

      2.  Austin/Goldust/Shamrock/LOD v. The Hart Foundation

3.  Cena v. Lesnar

4a.  Brock Lesnar v. CM Punk

4b.  John Cena v. Daniel Bryan

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