The What Are You Watching Thread

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed WWF Superstars of Wrestling 4/28/1990 with pics and gifs here:

http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/wwf-superstars-of-wrestling-4281990.html

 

Overall thoughts: The match weren't bad, but they all were very short. Pez Whatley and Tugboat were the highlights here, with Tug looking like a pretty impressive big man. The promo's were mostly nonsensical though. I can't recommend checking this one out.

 

Some shots from the show:

[Spritenaut 32]

 

 

Maybe Shockmaster should have just dropkicked his way through that wall.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

Fun tag match, Cohen has some serious style and Boucard looks like a right bastard. This guys youtube account is amazing.

[rzombie1988]

^^ Really cool find. Will have to check this out. If it's half as good as some of the old french wrestling that people found, it'll be pretty cool.

[PetrolCB]

Maybe Shockmaster should have just dropkicked his way through that wall.

Shockmaster vs The Wall, Brother would've been a great sleazy-Indy dream match.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

^^ Really cool find. Will have to check this out. If it's half as good as some of the old french wrestling that people found, it'll be pretty cool.

It's good, upper end of stuff that guy has posted. His account is the main source of this stuff, at least the videos of any length. I think there have only been a couple of matches I actively disliked, and even then, they were still interesting. Cohen works a lot like Rene Ben Chemoul, who you might have seen. I've been following this stuff as it comes up, I really dig it.

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed All Japan Women's ATHENA TV #37 from 8/17/2001 here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/all-japan-womens-athena-tv-37-japan.html

Overall thoughts: The show was good but disappointing, if that makes any sense. All of the matches seemed to follow the formula of - work holds on injured body parts, forget all about it and do pointless brawling, then do the finishing stretch. Hotta and Maekawa(atleast in the first match) put little effort in, while Ito and Momoe really put all they had on the line. The crowd only really got into finishes here which also hurt things. There were a few really good matches, just the same matches would have been even better if the holes in them were filled.  I do recommend the show, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see anything but Momoe Nakanishi vs Kumiko Maekawa.

Some shots from the show:

[supremebve]

I just went through all the 80s matches on the list and I thought maybe I should give out some awards so here I go. 

 

Wrestler of the decade:  Ric Flair, he was probably in 75% of the matches and was the best part of basically every single one of them(Steamboat and Funk gave him a run for his money).  1989 was his magnum opus, he was at his best and he reached levels that very few guys could even dream to reach. 

 

Match of the Decade:  Either Flair vs. Steamboat from the Clash, Flair vs. Funk from a couple Clashes after, or Steamboat vs. Savage from Wrestlemania III(Meltzer rated this match****1/2…blasphemy).  They were basically the best wrestlers of the decade working their asses off against each other, and they are still very entertaining 25 years after they happened.  I'd probably pick Steamboat vs. Savage if I had to pick a favorite, but Savage is my all-time favorite wrestler. 

 

Tag Team of the Decade:  The Midnight Express were about as good of a tag team as there has ever been, and if life was fair they'd have a DVD set out with all of their greatest matches. 

 

Revelation of the Decade:  It has to be Jumbo Tsuruta, he was someone I've heard about countless times, but he lived up to the hype.  He is basically the bridge between the 80s U.S. heavyweight style and the 90s All Japan style.  His match with Tenryu was basically the equivalent of Flair vs. Steamboat with fighting spirit.  It was the best Japanese match I watched on this adventure.  Tiger Mask II was pretty awesome too, but I'd already seen a lot of Misawa.  I just didn't realize how good he was as a masked Jr. Heavyweight.

 

Most  Overrated and/or Underrated:  Lex Luger was great in every single match he was in on this list.  I know he was wrestling the likes of Flair and Steamboat, but he absolutely pulled his weight.  He also has two matches with Brian Pillman that should be on the list and he miraculously pulls a **** match out of a washed up Tommy Rich.

 

6/8/90 - Tsuruta vs. Misawa (AJPW) *****

 

Misawa is out first and he's accompanied by Kobashi and Kawada.  The Misawa chants are already in full effect in what I understand is his first big match after losing the Tiger Mask.  Jumbo looks to show his dominance early with a big boot to the face and a tooth rattling lariat.  Misawa reverses a back drop and baseball slides Jumbo out to the floor.  He then hits his trademark rope flip followed by a drop kick to the floor.  Jumbo gets cut off coming back in and Misawa then hits a running pescado.  Misawa is definitely the plucky underdog here trying to stick and move, and use his speed to counter Jumbo's power.  While Misawa's strategy is to strike quick and avoid Jumbo's power moves, that doesn't mean he's scared.  He is here to win and even slaps Jumbo a couple times to make sure he knows that he ain't no bitch.  Misawa charges with a cross body, but Jumbo catches him and drops him into a stun gun and Jumbo brings the beatdown.  Jumbo hits some nasty knees and a powerbomb before getting his double arm suplex reversed into a back slide.  Misawa hits him with an elbow and baseball slides Jumbo back to the outside.  Misawa hits a pretty swank plancha from the top before going back in and attempting a bridging roll up.  Misawa goes to the top to hit his knee tap frog splash, but Jumbo gets the knees up.  Jumbo hits a couple of nasty assed lariats before going for the back drop.  Misawa kicks off the turnbuckle making Jumbo take most of the brunt of the backdrop on the back of his head and then hits a German suplex and goes for the Tiger Driver.  Jumbo reverses it and hits his jumping knee right to Misawa's face.  Jumbo sends him into the corner and Misawa tries a springboard crossbody, but Jumbo's ready and hits him with an elbow.  Jumbo charges for another jumping knee but Misawa moves and Jumbo gets hung in the ropes.  They fight over a vertical suplex, and Misawa drops behind and goes for a back drop.  Jumbo reverses in mid air, but Misawa rolls through for the pinfall.  This was a great match and the crowd popped huge for Misawa's win.  They absolutely love him.  Kobashi, and Kawada have to basically fight fans off to get him back to the locker room.  This seemed like a changing of the guard and a really historic moment.  This is very reminiscent of the Flair vs. Sting match from the first Clash where the young lion takes on the old vet, except the young lion wins here.  This is just about perfect.  The fans were behind Misawa in the beginning, but by the time he won, they damn near rioted.  This is how you elevate a guy, well worth *****.

 

10/19/90 - Tsuruta/Taue/Fuchi vs. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi (AJPW) *****

 

This is one of those matches where you can just feel that something special is about to happen.  The last match made Misawa look like an absolute stud, and the crowd here is chanting his name from the very start.  Watching Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi at this age is strange, because they all wrestle with a youthful exuberance that is just plain missing from the matches I've watched over the years.  They see the mountaintop, and they're running to the peak.  They see the veteran's time waning, and they are looking to take their spots.  I don't speak any Japanese, but the story of this match is clear as day.  The young guys are looking across the ring, staring down the veterans and telling them, "It's our time now."  The veterans are staring back saying "If you want my spot, you're going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands."  It works so well because of how both teams work.  The young'ns are all enthusiastic hitting their diving clotheslines and running around like lethal chickens with their heads cut off.  The vets are just surly assholes who are going to take their time and make this ass whooping count.  In the end the old school ass kickers get the win, but it is very apparent that the fans see Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi as the future.  This is the best six man tag I've ever seen, ***** is well deserved .  It is essentially perfect.  

 

7/7/90 - Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys (NWA) ****3/4

 

The Southern Boys are out first dressed like confederate soldiers, and in 1990 I'm surprised that shit like that would fly especially in Baltimore.  The Southern Boys control Eaton to start, and  are basically the most racist white bread babyfaces ever.  Sweet Stan comes in and has a karate standoff with Tracy Smothers…Stan Lane's karate is both the best(in a douchebag heel way) and worst(in a this shit looks terrible) example of karate that I've ever seen.  What was the last heel tag team that had the always effective gimmick of knowing every trick in the tag team book?  The Midnight Express' entire hook was that they knew every single dirty trick ever invented and used them all every chance they had.  Seriously, they would just need to have a lot of double team moves, and maybe have a douchebag manager, it would work right now.  Oh the match is great, the Midnight Express may be the best tag team of all time, and the Southern Boys ate their Wheaties that morning.  ****3/4 may be a little high, but I just watched the above six-man and this just doesn't really compare.  This was fun, but don't watch it after one of the best matches you've ever seen and think it's going to compare. 

 

9/1/90 - Fantastics vs. Kikuchi/Joe Malenko (AJPW) ****3/4

 

I could only find a version that was joined in progress, and was about 10 minutes long.  It was really good, but there were some pretty big flaws for a match someone would rate at ****3/4.  First there was a spot where Kikuchi was body slammed from the apron to the floor, and he pops up like nothing happened.  He took one of the most ridiculous bumps I've ever seen, and didn't sell it at all.  Then Kikuchi botches a springboard, and the victory roll setup  that leads to a doomsday device.  Everything else is pretty stellar, but it is just too flawed to rate that high.  I'd probably have it around ****

 

9/1/90 - Tsuruta vs. Misawa (AJPW) ****1/2

 

Before I started this project I had never watched a single Jumbo Tsuruta match, but he is basically neck and neck with Flair as far as who is the MVP of this list so far.  He is everything I hoped he would be and more, and Misawa at this point was coming into his peak.  At this point in their careers the only thing these two couldn't do was suck.  These matches are outstanding, but they are becoming increasingly harder to describe interestingly.  So don't be surprised if I skip a couple of these every now again to keep this interesting.  For now, I think I have to address the absolute nuclear hot crowd here.  There are good crowds, great crowds, outstanding crowds, and then there is this shit.  I don't remember the last time an American wrestling match had a crowd that cared even half this much.  This shit is absolutely insane.  There is a point where Jumbo mounts(pause) Misawa and rains down punches before throwing him into the crowd and hitting him with a chair.  The crowd reacts like they are watching someone murder their dog.  They care about these two wrestlers more than most people care about their children.  When Misawa kicks out of a backdrop, I'm surprised the building didn't collapse.  Misawa and Jumbo are insanely good here, but this crowd is the star of the match.  ****1/2 seems more than reasonable for the match, but this is a ***** crowd.

 

8/19/90 - Liger vs. Pegasus (NJPW) ****1/2

 

The 1990s were a golden age for Jr. Heavyweight wrestling and Liger and Benoit are two of the best of the era.  I understand a lot of people have well deserved problems with Benoit and how his life played out, but I've always been one who can talk about someone's work without taking into consideration their personal character.  So while watching his matches are problematic for some, I can still watch them and enjoy them despite who he was and his personal choices.  After all the Nazis basically invented the highway system, and none of us are taking all back roads next time we go to grandma's house.  He was a scumbag, but he was also a damn good wrestler.  This is 9:00 and I believe the beginning is clipped, but even if it was complete I think it would be overrated at ****1/2.  It was a really good, fast paced match, but it lacked that little something extra that takes a match from good to great.  With that said, I need to stop watching matches like this directly after a Jumbo/Misawa match.  Those matches are so damn good with such an amazing atmosphere, and they all seem like the most important match of all time.  I have a feeling that Misawa/Jumbo is going to be to 1990 what Flair/Steamboat was to 1989.

[Matt D]

We should really just do a remedial wrestling: Flair in 89 thing. We've got a lot of kids who haven't seen it in order with a critical eye. 

[Jiji]

NWA in '89 might be an idea too or is that too broad? I watched the Great American Bash with a friend unfamiliar with the period and he was blown away and I forgot how fast of a pace they worked. Slow start but then you get classic after classic after classic.

[Matt D]

It's pretty broad. I guess we could do the main event angles though. 

 

WCW SN 1/21/89 - Steamboat's return as Eddie Gilbert's mystery partner: Steamboat/Gilbert vs Windham/Flair

Chi Town Rumble - Flair vs Steamboat

Clash VI - Flair vs Steamboat

Wrestlewar 89 - Flair vs Steamboat

GAB 91 - Flair vs Funk

Clash IX - Flair vs Funk I Quit

 

Possible matches

Clash VII - Funk vs Steamboat

Clash VIII - Sting/Flair vs Muta/Slater

Halloween Havoc - Sting/Flair vs Funk/Muta - Thunderdome

a bunch of random tags with Flair and Windham vs guys like Luger, Sting, Hayes, etc. 

 

There's other stuff like MX vs MX and Luger's matches, but I think focusing on Flair at least somewhat is the way to go.

[Petey]

It's pretty broad. I guess we could do the main event angles though. 

 

WCW SN 1/21/89 - Steamboat's return as Eddie Gilbert's mystery partner: Steamboat/Gilbert vs Windham/Flair

Chi Town Rumble - Flair vs Steamboat

Clash VI - Flair vs Steamboat

Wrestlewar 89 - Flair vs Steamboat

GAB 91 - Flair vs Funk

Clash IX - Flair vs Funk I Quit

 

Possible matches

Clash VII - Funk vs Steamboat

Clash VIII - Sting/Flair vs Muta/Slater

Halloween Havoc - Sting/Flair vs Funk/Muta - Thunderdome

a bunch of random tags with Flair and Windham vs guys like Luger, Sting, Hayes, etc. 

 

There's other stuff like MX vs MX and Luger's matches, but I think focusing on Flair at least somewhat is the way to go.

I wish.

[Matt D]

I always gravitate back to that one like PN News hugging a scaffold.

[supremebve]

It's pretty broad. I guess we could do the main event angles though. 

 

WCW SN 1/21/89 - Steamboat's return as Eddie Gilbert's mystery partner: Steamboat/Gilbert vs Windham/Flair

Chi Town Rumble - Flair vs Steamboat

Clash VI - Flair vs Steamboat

Wrestlewar 89 - Flair vs Steamboat

GAB 91 - Flair vs Funk

Clash IX - Flair vs Funk I Quit

 

Possible matches

Clash VII - Funk vs Steamboat

Clash VIII - Sting/Flair vs Muta/Slater

Halloween Havoc - Sting/Flair vs Funk/Muta - Thunderdome

a bunch of random tags with Flair and Windham vs guys like Luger, Sting, Hayes, etc. 

 

There's other stuff like MX vs MX and Luger's matches, but I think focusing on Flair at least somewhat is the way to go.

Maybe just do the top 4 guys in Flair, Steamboat, Funk, and Luger.  Sting was pretty decent, but those four guys are clearly the best workers in the company at the time.  The thing that amazes me watching these matches years later is that business was down in '89, because these matches and angles were absolutely great.  I can't think of another year that had such consistently great main events, from legit main event guys that didn't make money.

[Matt D]

The Dangerous Alliance stuff was pretty rough in that regard too. I think you could hit enough Sting between Flair and J-Tex. The problem is brevity since some of these are very long matches and the idea with Remedial Wrestling is to really give you the skeleton you need to fill an essential gap in what you've seen and if you want to explore out on your own past that, you now have the roadmap, basically. 

[Petey]

Maybe just do the top 4 guys in Flair, Steamboat, Funk, and Luger.  Sting was pretty decent, but those four guys are clearly the best workers in the company at the time.  The thing that amazes me watching these matches years later is that business was down in '89, because these matches and angles were absolutely great.  I can't think of another year that had such consistently great main events, from legit main event guys that didn't make money.

 

I think business was down in '89 because of the stale booking in 1987 and especially 1988. The frequent Dusty finishes did some legit damage. It's a shame they brought Ole back as booker in 1990 and then Dusty in 1991 instead of sticking with the Flair-led committee in 1989 because maybe business would have picked back up again in 1990 or 1991 with consistently good booking.

[MORELOCK]

[Cobra Commander]

watching an April 1997 RAW.. here's the Vince awkward hype for Ahmed Johnson

 

"Ahmed Johnson, ladies and gentlemen. Just last week from South Africa, Ahmed Johnson.... returning to his motherland and I must say... I don't think any one individual has ever done.. what Ahmed Johnson did in South Africa last week. He galvanized an entire nation, something Nelson Mandela even has not been able to do"

 

What. the. fuck.

 

But maybe Vince was hanging out with some Afrikaners who were big into Ahmed Johnson at the hotel in Johannesburg.

 

Invictus won't match the movie about Ahmed Johnson uniting South Africa in April 1997

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

That's amazing.

[Spritenaut 32]

Not gonna lie... if RAW had run a "Ahmed Johnson, Goodwill Ambassador" segment every week - hopefully with the same production values that made Fuji Vice so successful - I'd watch.

[Petey]

Surprised Vince said Ahmed eclipsed Nelson Mandela considering how bent out of shape Vince got at President Obama for taking pictures at Mandela's funeral due to how Vince was a staunch Mandela supporter.

[Curt McGirt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrZYxbjD2W0

 

I'm on the verge of just starting a Remedial All Japan Multi-Man thread based off of watching this again. After going onto Segunda Caida for the first time in a couple weeks I saw Phil reviewed one of the classic AJPW 6-mans and thought, hey, I have a bunch of this on the external, why not look at some Fuchi and some surly old Jumbo and see what's up. The match is long as fuck but it seems to have a great parallel to the Shield matches from the last year; there is just a multitude of stiff guys with completely different styles meshing amazingly in the context of what is basically a lucha trios tag. It shouldn't work but it does. If you really want to compare players I guess Kikuchi = Ambrose, Kawada = Reigns, and Misawa = Rollins. Of course Rollins would be staying in and busting out highspots where for a chance MIsawa is beat up and hanging on the apron 90% of the time, which is different. I hate to say it but Taue would be Kane. I can't possibly come up with a comparison for Jumbo or Fuchi in modern WWE though (unless you take in mind Regal). The two will just beat the fuck out of you without mercy which is why Misawa is laying on the floor most of the match. Poor Kikuchi eats the brunt of so much punishment and you feel so bad for his latter-era brain damage which is incredibly obvious after watching this. The tip of a huge run of tags with this crew, what an iceberg to scrape into, I seriously might make this a fresh thread tomorrow.

[BurningBeard]

watching an April 1997 RAW.. here's the Vince awkward hype for Ahmed Johnson

 

"Ahmed Johnson, ladies and gentlemen. Just last week from South Africa, Ahmed Johnson.... returning to his motherland and I must say... I don't think any one individual has ever done.. what Ahmed Johnson did in South Africa last week. He galvanized an entire nation, something Nelson Mandela even has not been able to do"

 

What. the. fuck.

 

But maybe Vince was hanging out with some Afrikaners who were big into Ahmed Johnson at the hotel in Johannesburg.

 

Invictus won't match the movie about Ahmed Johnson uniting South Africa in April 1997

 

So Ahmed Johnson is the reason the Truth Commission found their way to the WWF?

[Cobra Commander]

Not sure if that's a better idea than me seeing the "Vader Held Hostage" graphic and figuring out a way where The Sultan and The Iron Sheik held Vader hostage and used him like Jerry Blackwell with Adnan in the 80s

[Spritenaut 32]

The "sad panda" expression on Vader's face in that graphic just kills me.