What are you watching?

[Guest Big Daddy V1]

Cactus Jack vs. HHH

9/22/97

 

Before anyone rags on me for this, it is from The Foley DVD.

 

What can I say? I actually liked this match for the sheer fact that the announcers only spoke when the match had something to produce or neither wrestler could do anything. Even without that, the setup was great as HHH didn't expect Cactus Jack to come out, as did the fans. It also proved to be a good match and took advantage of the rule they had with the match, being a "falls count anywhere" match. This one had a good ending to it and led to a great feud that defined both men.

[Guest Ray]

Chris Benoit vs. Villano III - 11/3/91

Mmm...Benoit. I liked this one a lot. It's the 2/3 falls, mask vs mask match. The first fall is a relatively even one, mostly centered around matwork/long holds, with a nice escape or two thrown in. Benoit wins with a frogsplash around the 10 minute mark. The second fall - naturally - is more frantic. Villano is in trouble after losing the first fall, and he's more desperate. Many nearfalls here. He wins with a quick sunset flip and Benoit feels robbed, which leads to the third fall. This last fall features a match more agressive Benoit. He turns up the rudoness, tearing Villano's match among other things. Something I found quite interesting here - Benoit goes back to what won him the first fall - flying. He comes off the top with leg drops and elbow drops, but none are successful. In a nice bit of storytelling, Benoit tries the move that Villano beat him with - the sunset flip. Even though Benoit's is much bigger (jumping off the top rope), Villano knows what this move can do, and counters it into his own pin for the victory~! Lot of fun here.

[JoeDirt 0]

I am watching a tape that has both RAW and Nitros on it (as well as certain PPV matches) from 1997. Right now I'm on a tape that covers July 1997. I just saw DDP beat Randy Savage when he was dressed as La Parka, which was a cool little angle. WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 sucked, but earlier in the tape there were all the matches from WWF Canadian Stampede, which was a great PPV.

 

It's kind of cool to look back and see how the WWF and WCW built to Summerslam and Road Wild that year, respectively.

[Rendclaw 0]

I finally found a good copy of the Owen Hart tribute match between Bret and Benoit, and that is definitely a classic in every sense of the word. I would give it ***** each and every time. after watching that match I *had* to play my Bret CAW against Benoit in a Three Stages of Hell match. That was good stufff, too.

 

Another thing I have been getting into is the FMW stuff, which I love just for the sheer brutality of the matches. I just found Combat Toyoda's final match against Megumi Kudo, and all I can say is daaaaamn. The suplex spots that Kudo busts out at the end are just *sick*.

 

Heh, I have lauding that Vader debut match for a long time... best squash match by far.

Which DVD is this on? I bought the Torn to Shreds DVD looking for this match, but then realized it was a barbed wire match between Kudo and "Shark" instead.

I downloaded it. Emule is a wonderful thing.

 

I love that match, and I marvel that between their wrestling and their anime (hentai in particular), just how utterly demented the Japanese are and can be. But even in such a match the psychology was pretty good, in that Kudo had to break Toyoda down in order to pull most of her moves off.

 

Another match that was good was Sting and Muta vs. The Steiners. Excellent match, though the double-pin ending was kind of a letdown.

 

Another guy I developed instant respect for is Hayabusa, even though he wrestles like an oversized cruiserweight.

 

I also found a couple of Dynamite Kid/Tiger Mask matches... I remember marking out for him when he used to come to MSG back in the day. Wow.

[Guest Real F'n Show]

Thanks for answering my question Rendclaw.

 

Now onto what I've been watching:

 

Benoit vs. Jericho- 2/3 Falls- Summerslam 2000

Probably the best Benoit/Jericho match on WWF PPV besides their ladder, match, both guys are great here, with Benoit working the shoulder like a motherfucker and Jericho selling really well. I especially liked the spot where Jericho hit the Jericho spike off the top, but landed on his shoulder. The only thing that hurt it for me was the ending, with Benoit reversing a cradle and grabbing the ropes for the cheap win. Otherwise, it's almost flawless as far as I could tell, I don't see why this match doesn't get pimped more. ****3/4

 

Benoit vs. Regal-Pillman Memorial

I just saw this for the first time a few days ago when I FINALLY got the Benoit DVD, and thought it was excellent. Both guys just bring the awesome for 15 minutes and I love every second. This, along with Benoit/Bret, was worth the price of the DVD alone. ****1/2

[Guest Staravenger]

Koko B. Ware vs. The Warlord:

From the Wrestlefest '91 Coliseum Video, probably aired originally on an episode of Primetime Wrestling in the Winter/Spring of 1991. No, the match wasn't too good (maybe a * tops), but it's weird seeing Warlord actually sell for Koko a little bit.

 

Tito Santana vs. The Mountie:

From the 4/91 SNME. Short match (about 4:30), but entertaining and the Mountie rules. Also the shockstick sound effect was so fake.

[Guest ally mccoist]

Ric Flair vs Jason Knight

From an old WCW Worldwide show from 1990 just before the GAB. This is obviously a squash match. The interesting thing about it is that Jason Knight is more famously known as Jason "the sexiest man alive" from ECW, former manager of Justin Credible and the Eliminators. He looks much slimmer than normal. Theres no finish to the match, buts its just a squash so its not like it was good or anything. Weird to see Jason in the ring with Flair though.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Chris Benoit/Patterson vs Karl Moffat/Mike Hammer Late 1985 Stampede

 

 

Benoit's debut match from Calgary. Okay match joined in progress which features a young/smaller but still very well built Benoit getting his first victory and participating in his first angle with JR Foley afterwards. In a telling of the future Whalen already helps Benoit out after he gets attacked and piledriven. Young naive Benoit refuses to turn to the darkside.

[Guest HitmanHart]

Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair WWF Title

 

This is the one where Bret won the belt. It was a sweet match, with both men on top of their respective games as far as selling. Lots of momentum changes, and convey the fatigue factor (it was 25 mins) very well. I added it to my collection of Hart title wins, and was very happy to see that it was a great bout. The end where Hart pulls his singlet off, daring Flair to chop him some more was especially a highlight for myself.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Benoit/Ben Bassarab v Ron Starr/Honkytonk Man 2/28/86 Stampede

 

A really good and exciting match. I like Bassarab as a wrestler and this match here was much better than I expected coming in. JIP late in the match we see the Honkeytonk man kicking some major league but as brings out a UWF/Yoshida like in some ways moveset!!!!! That is not a misprint. He really did. Shootstlye like takedowns, a belly to belly suplex and some nice arm submissions back in 1986 in North America!!!! I would guess here he was taking stuff from the dungeon and just using it the ring. Very interesting match and lots of fun.

 

Benoit vs Black Mephisto JIP Early 1986

 

Mephisto was two guys. One of them was Kawada who's a dungeon survivor. I'm not sure which guy it is here because the other superstar under the mask would have had a similar stlye to Kawada. Anyway this is a good match overall with some nice action and some sound physcology which has Mephisto busting out a manuever similar to the stretch plum.

 

Benoit/Bassarab v Steve DiSalvo 2/14/86

 

A handicap match where Disalvo tries to beat Benoit and Basserb as a tag team. Okay to good I was afraid Benoit and Basserb would look bad here in a kayfabe sense but it wasn't that bad at all in that sense. I guess they wanted to put the massive Disalvo over big.

[Guest Real F'n Show]

Benoit vs Black Mephisto JIP Early 1986

 

Mephisto was two guys. One of them was Kawada who's a dungeon survivor. I'm not sure which guy it is here because the other superstar under the mask would have had a similar stlye to Kawada. Anyway this is a good match overall with some nice action and some sound physcology which has Mephisto busting out a manuever similar to the stretch plum.

So Benoit HAS wrestled Kawada? That's a dream match nowadays...

[TheFranchise 0]

I'm watching KOTR 94.

 

This is the worst guest commentator ever.

 

First of all, he picks Razor to win it, then in the final match against Owen, Razor comes down and he goes 'Who's this guy'?

 

What the hell!

[Guest HitmanHart]

Who is the guest commentator?

[Guest Fook]

Just watched the 1990 Royal Rumble.

 

It still pisses me off that Hogan changed the booking for that match (if you don't know, Mr. Perfect was supposed to win, but Hogan got it changed so he would win). It's a good, fast-paced rumble and the Hogan/Warrior showdown was well booked. A fun match overall.

[Australian Pride 0]

I've been watching Ground Zero (from September 1997), which was the first time the WWF had done a 3 hour PPV outside of the big 5.

 

It's not too bad, and i think it got a pretty bad wrap back in 97.

 

Brian Pillman was just brilliant as a heel, shame he passed away the next month. His match here with Goldust was a good match-up, and the post-match angle where he runs off Marlena always brings a smile to my face.

 

Steve Austin got an insane pop when he stunned JR, and then got another when he came down to stun Owen during the tag title match. That was actually the only notable thing about that match, eventually won by the Headbangers.

 

Bret Hart v Patriot is a bit slow, but Bret works the crowd masterfully, and by the end this match is on fire. The place was going nuts when Patriot locked on the sharpshooter.

 

HBK vs Undertaker starts with some great action, but by the end it just becomes ridiculous. I always loved the Taker Tope, which he pulls out to great effect in the post-match.

 

There's not much else on the show. You get a light-heavyweight match between Brian Christopher and Scott Putski, in which Putski does his knee in, which I believe was legit. There's some Mini wrestlers and a three-way between Farooq/Crush/Savio which is just plain boring.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I'm watching KOTR 94.

 

This is the worst guest commentator ever.

 

First of all, he picks Razor to win it, then in the final match against Owen, Razor comes down and he goes 'Who's this guy'?

 

What the hell!

How much does this guy weigh?!?

[JHawk 0]

I'm watching KOTR 94.

 

This is the worst guest commentator ever.

 

First of all, he picks Razor to win it, then in the final match against Owen, Razor comes down and he goes 'Who's this guy'?

 

What the hell!

How much does this guy weigh?!?

Why was Art Donovan even invited to that show?

 

"How can he beat a guy so big?"

[Guest Staravenger]

Didn't he also say Owen Hart weighed 30 lbs. or something? I think Savage & Monsoon ended up ignoring the idiot for the second half of the show. I guess the guy played for the Colts when they were in Baltimore, because thats where KOTR 94 was held (I think), and he played football in the 1870's.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Why was Art Donovan even invited to that show?

 

"How can he beat a guy so big?"

IIRC, he had a bit of cult deal going, as an 'out of touch old geezer we laugh with" gimmick on the late night talk show circuit; kind of like the character "Coach" Ernie Pantuso on Cheers. Vince thought it would be cute to have him on the show. Yes, I don't get it either, but Vince was high as a kite on painkillers at the time.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

The funny thing is that during the 2nd half of the show, Gorilla just outright ignored all of Donovan's dumbass questions that were already answered for him and made poor Randy Savage field Art's inquiries. And yes, Art Donovan is the reason why I've only seen KOTR 1994 once, and I own it.

[Guest Staravenger]

No wonder why Savage left...and McMahon thinking he was washed up and over-the-hill. If I had to talk to a dumbass like that for three hours I'd want to leave too.

[Guest ally mccoist]

Not really a match, but I just finished watching a whole show: ECW on TNN from 31/12/99. Just an all-round fantastic show. There was Raven vs Whipwreck and some stuff involving the Impact Players to kick the show off, but the good stuff was later on. You had the obligatory Tajiri vs Crazy match which, having not seen them clash for ages, was great to see again. Tajiri was such a cool heel back then, turning his back on Crazy and mocking the crowd and then turning back round, in a spot where the face would usually take advantage of the heel's cockiness, to just hit a stiff, stiff kick on Crazy. The final match was Awesome vs Tanaka, with Tanaka going in as champ. Non-stop action. It was high spot, pinfall attempt, high spot, pinfall attempt, repeat, repeat. The finish was just...man, fucking awesome. Seriously, I just wanna get all the Tanaka/Awesome matches and watch them all right now.

 

Overall, I can't praise this show enough. You get a chance to watch it, then do so. Reminded of how great ECW could be.

[DMann2003 0]

I'm watching Survivor Series 87, at this point the Women's Survivor match. It's incredible how over and innovative The Jumping Bomb Angels were. They could've been huge if women's wrestling, let alone women's tag team wrestling, was considered more than just a curiosity in the US.

 

For anyone with a knowledge of late 80's Japanses women's wrestling, did the Jumping Bomb Angels have success in Japan?

[King Cucaracha 0]

Fished out Canadian Stampede again today, which is still a great show. The main event is one of those 'special' matches that just feels like it means something every time you watch it, especially with the crowd pops when the Hart Foundation members come out. Vader/Taker isn't bad and Bearer does some worthwhile stuff and actually entertains me. HHH/Mankind is not too shabby either.

 

But it's Taka and Sasuke that I fished it out for. It's fun to see the crowd's reaction to it, seeing as it's totally different from the style of the time. They start off pretty quiet but get drawn right in. Oh, and the back kick on the seated Taka in the corner is just SICK.

[Guest Staravenger]

I'm watching Survivor Series 87, at this point the Women's Survivor match. It's incredible how over and innovative The Jumping Bomb Angels were. They could've been huge if women's wrestling, let alone women's tag team wrestling, was considered more than just a curiosity in the US.

 

For anyone with a knowledge of late 80's Japanses women's wrestling, did the Jumping Bomb Angels have success in Japan?

Survivor Series '87 is probably my favorite SS of all time. a ***+ Opener, a *** Womens, a **** 10 Tag Team Match, and an entertaining Main Event (I mark for everyone in the match, so I'm a bit biased).

[Guest ally mccoist]

But it's Taka and Sasuke that I fished it out for. It's fun to see the crowd's reaction to it, seeing as it's totally different from the style of the time. They start off pretty quiet but get drawn right in. Oh, and the back kick on the seated Taka in the corner is just SICK.

I love matches like that where you can tell the majority of the crowd haven't seen anything like it before and they're loving it by the end. I watched the RVD/Hardy match from Invasion the other day. Its one of those matches which is decent enough, but I keep watching it again and again because I love the way the crowd changes as the match goes on. At first there are a few scarce RVD chants. By the time RVD hits the guillotine legdrop from the apron the crowd are popping big time for him and the RVD chants are much louder. By the end a legit superstar was born. Every move he does the crowd are just wowed by, its a lot of fun to watch.

[Australian Pride 0]

I just watched the Monday Night War DVD, and most of the extras. I was surprised by the Hogan/Goldberg match, not becasue it was anything great, but because Hogan let Goldberg go over so strongly.

 

Shawn/Austin vs Owen/Bulldog was also a good match, but having never seen it before, it wasn't as great as I was expecting. I did like the post match angle where Austin leaves Shawn to get beaten up and goes after the Hitman instead. That fit the Stone Cold character perfectly.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Yup, my new 8hr Benoit tape has arrived!

 

 

 

BENOIT vs EDDIE GUERRERO WCW Handheld 6/28/96

 

This was very good with some pretty cool stuff in it. Hurt in my eyes at points by the American influence of it but still facisnating to watch. The beginning was nice with Eddie outmanuevering Benoit multiple times. The thing is the execution of both was dead on fantastic here and there are no camera tricks needed to make this look great. A fun sequence here at the beginning with the headlock and the pulling of hair where we see Eddie get some revenge on Benoit for pulling his hair either. There was also a great sequence here by Eddie and Benoit which featured both of them in a very intense back and forth brawling sequence when it was time for Eddie's comeback. A false comeback but still a sequence I'd love to see again in a match sometime when a face makes his comeback. The ending itself came abruptly with some Arn Anderson interference (cursed North American influence) and a hand on the rope which is too bad because Arn's brief intereference served as the heel portion of the match where the heel stops the faces comeback in the finishing sequence of a match. So as a result the bout feels uncompleted as it pretty much ends during Eddie's comeback.

 

 

BENOIT vs EDDIE GUERRERO WCW WORLDWIDE June 2/96 -- Not sure if that's the correct date

 

Yes, another hidden Benoit vs Eddie match! This wasn't too long but it was great. Some awesome sequences here with Shiavone at one point in amazement just mentioning how awesome Benoit is at the end of one. They even do a super sequence around the 10 punch in the corner spot.

 

BENOIT vs BRAD ARMSTRONG WCW WORLDWIDE Mid year, sometime in 96

 

Good match but not as good as their 7/8 minute clinic on how to wrestle that I talked about before.

 

BENOIT vs BRAD ARMSTRONG ("the Hiro Hase of WCW") WCW PRO MAY 96 I believe

 

I loved the 93 Clash match between Benoit and Armstrong. It reminded of the 8/92 Benoit vs Liger match where in that it's just so beautifully preformed that it's forever rewatchable. Now this match wasn't as good as the 93 one but of course this didn't have the same amount of time. The match itself is flawless except for one instance where Benoit may have knocked Armstrong goofy with a shot to the face. The match follows a typical formula that we saw in the WCW and now the WWF. Armstrong starts with headlocks and keeps it interesting. He does some offfence to Benoit inbetween them only to put Benoit in differently the second time. He ends up going for the headlock for the third time only for Benoit to counter it by turning it into a belly to back suplex in midair. Impressive strenght there. Benoit goes on offence, manages to snap a neck hold on to rally the crowd just for a little bit and manages to control for a little bit. Armstrong almost gets a comeback but Benoit manages to subside it with one of his awesome clotheslines in a nice little sequence. Armstrong than does manage to get his teased comeback in and hits some of his trademark offence like his kneelift. (that was a nasty one at the Clash!) He goes for his finisher the Russian leg sweep but in typical crafty heel fashion Benoit holds on to the ropes and Armstrong falls down to the mat. Benoit than finishes it off with a dragon suplex. Both guys looked good in this. Armstrong with the headlocks at the beginning/just wrestling well and Benoit a few times for just outsmarting Armstrong which seemed to be a theme somewhat in this match (Armstrong was outsmarting Benoit at first though). Zbysko was good on commentary picking up on this. They wrestled this smart match all in about 7 minutes and this is a real good example of the chemistry that Benoit and Armstrong had in the ring. Both are athletically gifted, know what they're doing and both don't slack off.

[Guest Staravenger]

Just started watching a 1990-1991 WCW Wrestlecrap tape...and damn, I didn't realize how bad this stuff was. ROBOCOP making an appearence to save Sting, the entire Black Scorpion crap, and garbage like the Minnesota Wrecking Crew 2, Norman The Lunatic, and The Master Blasters all makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

[Guest wildpegasus]

BENOIT vs JUVENTUDD GUERRERA WCW WORLDWIDE 96

 

This is a great match and both wrestlers use the fact that they're on diferent spots on the totem pole to great effect. Benoit toys with Juventudd at the very start but Juventudd counters with a frankensteiner from out on the apron to the inside of the ring. He than hits some real fun offence including a high top rope asia moonsault to the outside of the ring. Next up is a splash back into the ring over tthe top rope and we actually have a believable near fall. What makes the match work is that Guerrera capatalises on his offence and just takes it to Benoit with move after move which leaves everyone shocked because he's such an underdog.

 

But the good thing about this is that Juventudd's offencive flury does not seem too easy because Benoit catches him with a clothesline after a nice countering of moves. If Benoit had never caught Juventudd momentarily it would've made Juventud's journey look too easy. Benoit just catching him which along with the surprising amount of offence Juventudd gets in is what makes this work. Benoit even catches Juventudd a second time but it's extreamly brief and only a kick or two before Juventudd keeps up the surprised pressure. Again making Guerrera's journey look tougher than if he had just completely destroyed the Crippler. Benoit is always a threat. Juventudd ends up catching Benoit with a german and a summersault leg drop flip (sorry about that description) targeting Benoit's neck but finally Benoit catches Juventudd after he makes a mistake and hits him a couple of high end offence manuevers to put him away. He finally really caught him and oh boy did Guerrera pay.

 

The offence that Juventudd takes to end the match is only 2 (albeit undeniably powerful) moves but really that's only what it could've been. If Juventudd had survived that and kept on fighting than the whole other parts of the match with Juventudd looking like he was going to pull off the upset off a lifetime and the Benoit trying to catch Juventudd part of the match wouldn't have meant as much emotionally. Really enjoyed this one. They took full advantage of the fact that on the WCW ranking list Benoit was on a higher posistion than Guerrera.

 

 

Yeah, and as a comparison for anyone who's seen their WCWSN match the Worldwide one is definitely better. Different story in it. Actaully watching them back to back helped me enjoy them more because after seeing Benoit destroy Juventud on Saturday Night it makes what Juventudd does on Worldwide all the more special.