The What Are You Watching Thread

[Thomas Bugg]

Reading all of that above just made me want to get my hands on that Mid-South DVD set that much more. As long as they don't overly "WWEdit" the shit I'm good, and maybe even then just because it's Mid-South/UWF I'll give it a chance.

 

Right now I'm watching Eddie Edwards vs. Caleb Konley from PWX in February 2012. I've never seen the match before, but it's Eddie Edwards so it should be a solid match.

 

Holy fuck the attendance is low! If the building they ran in had floodlights rather than using the in-house lights, and they had a professional stage, I'd swear it was a TNA house show!

 

Turned out to be a pretty good match, and the few people that were there were into the match. That said, I don't see PWX coming back to South Carolina anytime soon.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Thomas Bugg

[Cobra Commander]

WCW squashes!

 

Arn/Pillman (with multiple Dusty mentions of "Cody Runnels"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLi7P29FyBU

 

Vader http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM5hRkfy2gc

 

and Face Vader from September 1995 (starting at 4min in): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOF5yYpHII

 

also, the press conference with Undertaker and Christie Todd Whitman before Mini-Vader/Mini-Mankind v. Mini-Goldust/Mascarita Sagrada Jr... amazing

[TerjeRUN]

Just watched the Fab 4 last night. That worked shoot programme from 97 with Bulldog, Michaels, Undertaker and Bret. Was such a great watch at the time, it felt like you were watching somethign really special. it doesn't hold up well, especially the Undertaker segment. But there are some great real moments in there, and I guess is the closest we ever got to a British Bulldog shoot unless there are some obscure radio interviews out there somewhere?  

[Domino_Not_Deuce]

I wanted to see how the Invasion holds up 12 years down the line so started watching WWF from the night after Mania 17 and it's telling how Austin's heel turn is put over as the biggest thing ever until he hooks up with HHH. From then, it's all about the pair double teaming people and HHH of all people handling the share of the mic work which is crazy as Austin's promo on JR on the Smackdown after Mania is tremendous. But, their little series with The Hardys is fun and the main events with Taker, Kane, Edge and Christian are incredibly hot suggesting that the crowds were into the pair, at least initially.

 

Also, it's crazy how easier the shows are to digest compared to even 2 or 3 years later; there's good wrestling thanks to Regal, Angle, Benoit and Jericho all working with each other, Rhyno is putting on entertaining squashes and garbage matches, Eddy is Eddy (though he'll be released soon) and every midcard act is being given a feud or a story. RTC is on a losing streak and they're losing faith in Steven Richards, the Dudleys are feuding with X Factor because they were bullying Spike, Benoit and Angle are trying to see who the best submission wrestler is (including the Ultimate Submission match at Backlash where two guys who had never tapped to anything were suddenly tapping to armbars but the match itself is fun) and the McMahons are having their usual family drama bullshit. It's simple but it means there's barely any wasted moments on the show, Chyna matches aside.

 

Everything intersects in a way that it simply doesn't nowadays. Recently, you've had the Shield bringing everyone into the main event mix by simply being awesome but everything else seems neatly compartmentalised in comparison. They're helped by having a ridiculously charismatic roster though, to the point where I genuinely can't think of anyone who is boring to watch. RTC has Buchanan and Goodfather but Val Venis does the majority of the working. Raven is pretty shitty but is assigned to hardcore matches where he can think of neat spots with Rhyno. Despite 2001 being acknowledged as the downfall of WWF/E as a consistently good TV product, they're still showing more effort to build feuds and protect guys than they do today. 

 

Though, it still stands that the Two Man Power Trip, despite Austin doing his best to be a gigantic dick, would have been better served with an Austin/HHH program throughout the spring, with the heel and face roles reversed. It would make sense for Austin to get his win back against HHH from No Way Out but the whole thing seems to have been designed to make sure that never happened.

 

So, the early signs of decay are there but it's still an entertaining product with hot crowds. When November rolls around though, I may have a different tune.

[Cobra Commander]

I think my day was brought to me by watching Onita/Akebono in an exploding barbed wire match, from 2013.

 

Not sure how horribly the whole explosion match concept aged from the 90s to now.

[Thomas Bugg]

 

 

 

 

and Face Vader from September 1995 (starting at 4min in): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOF5yYpHII

 

 

 

Vader FUUUUUCKED him up!!!

[Lazlo Woodbine]

So, Larry Zbyszko's son is a wrestler now, he made his debut last year at the age of around 30, after being trained for a few months by Chasyn Rance. He's more than decent already in my opinion. He looks a lot like his dad - just marvel at that smug, punchable face.

I like to imagine that every year on his birthday, Larry Z would measure little Timmy's forehead, and only when his hair had receded far enough would he get the old man's blessing to enter the business.

[cwoy2j]

 

 

 

 

 

and Face Vader from September 1995 (starting at 4min in): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOF5yYpHII

 

 

 

Vader FUUUUUCKED him up!!!

 

 

1. That jobber had terrible gear.

2. He almost broke his arm on that powerbomb. Why would he throw his arm out on the way down like that? He's lucky he didn't snap his arm in half.

[Cobra Commander]

He Who Must Not Be Named & Dean Malenko v. the Blue Bloods from the Havoc preshow. Come for the talk about the Monster Truck Match and the beginning of the Heenan/NJPW angle (along with Dusty/Bischoff mixing up Bobby Heenan and Bobby Eaton) and stay for the actual match. I believe Benoit was in the Horsemen quickly after this.

 

So the NJPW stuff is coming up soonish, YT legal mercies permitting

[Cobra Commander]

Yuko Miyamoto v. Isami Kodaka - BJW/Union Pro - 200 Lighttubes Death Match (3/29/2012)

 

Felt it was important to at least mention the gimmick for people who don't want to accidentally venture into the ghoulish realms of wrestling. Don't ask me which one is which because they both apparently highlighted their hair at one time or another, making posthumous photo identification harder. But i'm guessing black pants = Kodaka and white pants = Miyamoto.

 

So a series of observations as the match went on

 

1) I wondered how the process of buying hundreds of light tubes went (that was indirectly answered later)

 

2) Nothing more fun than the "running off the ropes and shattering some of your light tubes for nothing" 'spot'

 

3) Also loved the variety of kinda stupid looking light tube spots, most of whom seemed to be the domain of Kodaka/black pants. Like holding tubes in front of the guy's chest and punching the tube. At least the back bumps can make one forget about the corner spots. Or the several times they tried to break the tube over the guy's head and didn't break it on first try. But yeah, its a light tube death match, you kinda check certain parts of logic out the door quickly

 

4) In between the screens of gruesome light tube violence and ill-advised light-tube spots were some good stuff and stuff that's interesting purely because someone just landed in a pile of tube shards, although you can question the logic of the moonsault when you see it

 

5) I wonder what the Japanese health care system is like for pro wrestlers having to remove shards of broken light tubes from their bodies

 

So, always good to mix the observation of some light tube violence into a weekend.

[JRGoldman]

Because of the fabulous three birds on Smackdown, I watched the 'don't touch my van' promo for the first time in a couple years. First of all, it's awesome. I love the idea that Gordy is so mad that all he can think to do is a random back bump on concrete. Also, let's not overlook Michael Hayes' role in this. He basically infers that after partying with the Freebirds for a couple months, Killer Khan wasn't man enough to live on Badsreet 24/7. He turned on Gordy not just for the money from Akbar, but also because he was jealous of the unbridled masculinity of all of the Freebirds. I have to admit that I get a little sad during the Gordy section, as his reaction is just so raw. He had travelled the world, and found a Mongolian brother, but in the end, Gordy was left feeling betrayed and with the realization that his only true family were the other two gentleman who lived in the last house on the left on the baddest street in the whole USA.

Edit: fucking autocorrect. Although "baddest sewer in the whole USA" sounds pretty cool too.

[Curt McGirt]

 

I've never seen that and it's pretty great. "DON'T BE PUTTIN' YOUR HANDS ON MY VAN"

[KidKash202]

Re-Watching Dolph cashing in, In case we forgot. The raw emotions from everybody after the match made this special man. Big E and AJ were legit happy. I still get chills watching this. And the fans man. This was a special moment man.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKqtFqpRLEk‎

[TerjeRUN]

 

Re-Watching Dolph cashing in, In case we forgot. The raw emotions from everybody after the match made this special man. Big E and AJ were legit happy. I still get chills watching this. And the fans man. This was a special moment man.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKqtFqpRLEk‎

 

 

It was a great moment. A lot of people were expecting Dolph to cash in the night before when Del Rio retained. Him doing so at Mania would have been a huge moment, and the fact WWE didn't pull the trigger on this, kind of spelt out how they felt about Dolph and his ability to last. 

 

I like Dolph. I know it's been cool for a while for the "high post count club" to slag him off, talk about his hair and his awesome bumps as if that were a negative and all he brings to the table, but I maintain he wasn't given a fair chance. There was no black and white babyface turn, and he was booked like a chump. When Del Rio turned heel on him and took the belt, we should have seen Dolph chase it back giving the fans a reason to care and get invested. Nobody got that and Dolph fell off the radar for all purposes. He's now just somebody who does an overly contrived entrance and is booked in matches where it doesn't really matter if he wins or loses. 

 

I'm a believer you need to give it time to see if somebody sinks or swims. The thought that Dolph cannot swim is preconceived in my book. 

[Casey]

Personally, I think the post-Mania crowd is the most important crowd to listen to for reactions and clues on who to push or what to do in the future. It's a big melting pot of fans from different countries, since most of the crowd the next night went to WrestleMania, your biggest show of the year. But that's just me. I don't buy into the opinion that the crowd is trying to "get themselves over", except when they do shit like "We Are Awesome".

 

I guess my point was that at one time, people really want to see Dolph get the big one and wanted to invest their emotions (and money) into him. But their booking killed that. People wanted to get behind Fandango too, because he's entertaining as fuck, but they do nothing with him. I think it's unfortunate that most people just write Johnny Curtis off. He could be a star.

[Cobra Commander]

Brady Boone v. the Gambler for some reason. Boone was retired by late 94, so I don't know if this was his last televised match, Gambler has the full riverboat attire too

[Lazlo Woodbine]

Brady Boone is a strange one, pretty much a career jobber I think, he had a sweet flying elbow. He had all these flourishes, jumps and rolls, but everything looked too slow and controlled, like a mat gymnast. He got a mini push as Battle Kat around 1990, which is fun cos it looks like RVD doing a Mumbai Cats gimmick - apparently RVD was a fan of Battle Kat and you can totally see it. His high kick finisher looked awful. Later in WCW, he had a match with Rip Rogers that sticks out in my mind because Boone vaults over the top rope straight on to Rip's head at one point, and they both kick each other clean in the head. Rip Rogers obviously remembers, as he left a catty comment under the video on youtube. Added bonus I guess.

[The Green Meanie]

Brady Boone v. the Gambler for some reason. Boone was retired by late 94, so I don't know if this was his last televised match, Gambler has the full riverboat attire too

 

That channel has some real gems of WCW, like this one:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0vUnQGEYZI

[The Green Meanie]

And this:

 

http://youtu.be/zpwZF_oDQ7o

[odessasteps]

Stumbled upon this tonight, presumably from KC

Bulldog bob brown vs claude patterson

[Cobra Commander]

Finally the issue between the Armstrong Brothers and the Barrio Brothers is settled:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI861helJW4

[ebbie]

 

 

Re-Watching Dolph cashing in, In case we forgot. The raw emotions from everybody after the match made this special man. Big E and AJ were legit happy. I still get chills watching this. And the fans man. This was a special moment man.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKqtFqpRLEk‎

 

 

It was a great moment. A lot of people were expecting Dolph to cash in the night before when Del Rio retained. Him doing so at Mania would have been a huge moment, and the fact WWE didn't pull the trigger on this, kind of spelt out how they felt about Dolph and his ability to last. 

 

I like Dolph. I know it's been cool for a while for the "high post count club" to slag him off, talk about his hair and his awesome bumps as if that were a negative and all he brings to the table, but I maintain he wasn't given a fair chance. There was no black and white babyface turn, and he was booked like a chump. When Del Rio turned heel on him and took the belt, we should have seen Dolph chase it back giving the fans a reason to care and get invested. Nobody got that and Dolph fell off the radar for all purposes. He's now just somebody who does an overly contrived entrance and is booked in matches where it doesn't really matter if he wins or loses. 

 

I'm a believer you need to give it time to see if somebody sinks or swims. The thought that Dolph cannot swim is preconceived in my book. 

 

 

 

Oh come on. Ziggles has been on the main roster for at least 5 years now and all everyone talks about is his bumping. Not his money promos or storylines. Not his *amazing* hurty offense. Just the fact that he is willing to bounce his own head off the mat. He has never been the center of his feuds for a reason.

 

That being said, I been reliving a happier time in wrestling when it was all about knocking the shit out of someone.

 

 

If you can find me a better punch in wrestling, I will show you a CM Punk 15 minute tirade I am willing to listen to.

[KidKash202]

I don't know if this was scripted or not but I respect the Nerd-ism. She always seemed like she loved the business and it showed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD_58dd6z1Y‎

[Domino_Not_Deuce]

Still watching 2001 WWF and it's really a mixed bag post-Mania. It picks up with Benoit and Jericho working against Austin and there's some excellent TV matches and promos from Austin especially but this is really the beginning of Kurt Angle and his awful habits. The cage match against Benoit on Raw is embarrassingly bad. Angle gets German suplexed from the top rope in the first five minutes, both guys get to take a bump from the top of the cage and there's another sequence of 10 German Suplexes in a row. And then the crowd is supposed to believe that an ankle lock could finish it? Austin is tremendous on the outside but it's really no wonder that Angle's neck was fucked as early as 2004. 

 

Then there's the street fight with Shane where that idiot Angle tries to suplex him through the glass 3 times before deciding just to throw him through it. Do it after the first missed attempt! He's just desperate to cram the spots in and for some reason, guys like Benoit and Austin go along with these ridiculous, spot-killing sequences. The Benoit/Austin match with the 10 Germans is really bad too so it's not just Kurt.

 

What strikes me is how fucking good Jim Ross is on commentary. Heyman plays a great heel for him to bounce off of but his timing, his turn of phrase, his selling of moments is worlds away from anyone they've had since or ever will have. Today's commentary is so stilted and sterile in comparison.

 

The Hardys are so great. I forgot about Matt's brief run with the European title where he was wrestling guys like Eddie, Malenko and Big Show and showing signs that he would go on to be the awesome TV match worker he was in 2007.

 

X Factor is such a strange stable because Waltman and Albert are two guys I like but the latter is only now looking good. He and Kane have a very odd chemistry that results in awesome big man matches. Credible is just there to make bad poses and superkick people.

 

DDP's debut is really good. The general build, though goofy in premise, is actually really well done to the point where people are desperate to see the reveal and nobody is disappointed. With the Invasion on the horizion, they should have claimed he was doing it to psychologically unhinge Taker so WCW could pick him off easier but it just devolves into fucking nonsense. 

 

Speaking of the invasion, watching this at the start really hammers home how badly they squandered this. The first invader is Lance Storm and the crowd goes batshit. Lance Storm. The PPV itself did around 700,000 buys, I believe and that had Rhyno and The Dudleys in the main event. What a gigantic fuck-up. They could have been swimming in money, to this day.

 

Rhyno's hardcore matches are awesome because they always have a spot where he misses a spear and ends up wedged in a bin or a shopping trolley. It's like a slapstick stage play.

 

Tajiri debuting as Regal's silly sidekick has all the hallmarks of awful WWF comedy but the match where he debuts vs. Crash is great. Tajiri is great anyway, of course but Regal's facial expressions on the outside are incredible. Going from shock to being impressed to being smug that this little psychopath is on his side. In fact, Regal's stint as commissioner is excellent atm. I'm sadly not seeing much of him in-ring but his skits with Austin, Vince, Tajiri and co are always great because he's such a natural actor.

 

So yeah, the matches are still short but getting longer, they have a couple of guys who they can rely on for good TV matches but the crowds are quieting significantly. Austin gets great heel heat but you can tell everyone just wants to cheer him. It's interesting to see whose pushes got way laid because of the Invasion taking place. Albert was obviously going to the rocket strapped to him through 2001, the Hardys were working singles matches a lot more, Edge and Christian's break up did take place but it seemed like it was delayed for a month or so to make them babyfaces for the short term.

 

It's OK but certainly far from their best product, at least in the spring months. But, hey, at least Chyna isn't on TV anymore.

[ebbie]

 

I've never seen that and it's pretty great. "DON'T BE PUTTIN' YOUR HANDS ON MY VAN"

 

 

I can't get over the manliness of Hayes' hair. It's so full.. So blond.. So 80's.. So awesome.