The Final Countdown Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="lukess11" data-cite="lukess11" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="40947" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>How many shows a week do you want to do a week?</div></blockquote><p> Speaking only for myself, I'd prefer not to exceed two a week. Only my two cents though; if most would rather do more than that, that's totally cool. Not like I'm under any obligation to watch and comment on every show. <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukess11 Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Final Countdown" data-cite="The Final Countdown" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="40947" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Speaking only for myself, I'd prefer not to exceed two a week. Only my two cents though; if most would rather do more than that, that's totally cool. Not like I'm under any obligation to watch and comment on every show. <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I was thinking two because we can get to the point where pretty soon it will be one WCW and one WWF per week.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderz Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 <p>I started my own WCW watch through way back when and have watched all ppv's and Clash's up to the Clash before BattleBowl 93. (I watch at a slow pace so definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with the two shows a week format).</p><p> </p><p> It's a shame the WCW TBS shows weren't on the network when I started otherwise I would've watched those in turn as well. But as is I'll be incorporating Nitro once I get to 95.</p><p> </p><p> You'll definitely have fun and the inclusion of WWF stuff should add to it as well. I may chime in with a few view points here and there as you go along. But good luck to you all!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukess11 Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Second part of thoughts: -Yet another heel beatdown. Too much heel advantages tonight. -Tony is with Flair talking about Race's strategy. -This interview is not a normal Flair interview. Steamboat and Youngblood are just sitting there before they speak. -Steamboat and Youngblood are hyping their title match later on. -Dusty interview has 3 mic botches. Dusty is a botch magnet tonight. -Solie and Caudle are great here. Match 5: Brown/Kabuki (TV Title) -Johnny Valentine is clearly Charlie Brown. Small expectations for this match. -Why isn't Brown DQ'd for using the steel chair? -Did Hulk Hogan take notes from Charlie Brown about being a face yet acting like a heel? -If the TV Title was on the line for 15 minutes, why not make it a 15 minute time limit? -Too many rest holds in this match. -I am falling asleep here. -The more I see Charlie Brown, I see more and more of the Hogan character. -The announcers are making this match more bearable then it would be with someone like Cole. -Brown wins the TV Title. My reaction about this match: :( -Why are they questioning the time for TV Title? That was not a 15 minute match. Thank God. -At least I have Piper/Valentine to look forward to up next. -Yet another heel interview with Race. This should be better then the last match. -Orton hyping up Race being a seven time champ. -Race addressing Flair about their match. WHY WOULD YOU REVEAL YOUR STRATEGY BEFORE THE MATCH? -Dusty Rhodes issuing a challenge for the winner of Flair and Race. He also is the first man to predict Race to win. Match 6: Piper/Valentine (Collar Match) -High expectations for this match right here. -The guy next to Valentine in the intros looks like a poodle. -Solie hyping up the fact that Piper is still hurt, but can still win is golden. -Great psychology as expected. So many people who would be at the first Mania at the first Starrcade. -Both men wearing blue tights tonight. -The chain against the nose and mouth is brutal. -Valentine with the blood to add to the amount already on the mat from Butcher. -Cool ref bump. -Both men with a crimson mask makes me happy. -Once again: it has to be said they are using great psychology. -Brutal match with a really cool ending. Liked that match a lot. -Yet another post-match beatdown by the heel on the face. :confused: -In the announcers booth, they misspelled Flair for the Gold. Love these recap segments as it summarizes the match and the feud. -Piper thinks the chain is a lasso. -Schiavone with Flair for a THIRD TIME! Yet again, we get somber Flair. Flair complementing Race for being a great wrestler. He is also hyping up Wahoo. Match 7: Youngblood and Steamboat/Jerry and Jack Briscoe (Tag Titles) -Not looking forward to this considering the only good wrestler in this is Steamboat. -What is Briscoe doing on the top turnbuckle just standing there? -Both teams wearing matching tights. -Mosca is wearing a PWI tshirt. -Boring match so far. No passion being shown. -I've stopped caring at this point. -I am so happy that this match is over. -Yet ANOTHER post-match beatdown, this time by the faces on the heels. -A fourth cut to Flair in the locker room. I wonder who will win the main event? (sarcasm) -Charlie Brown is back and is cutting a Warrior like promo. -Now we have a Piper interview. He is cutting his classic promo of scream talking. -We now have an interview with Steamboat and Youngblood. Youngblood is stumbling over his words like crazy. -The announcers start hyping the main event which is up next. I am a bit worried as I still have an hour left. -They then go on to recap the rest of the show. These two are a great announcing combo. -We get a Dusty interview with three women around his arms. He is so suave in this segment. -Why is the anthem going on 2 hours into the show? -First theme of the night is Flair's. How fitting. Main Event: Race/Flair (Steel Cage/WHC Title) -Flair is loved by these fans in the arena. -Flair is walking around for minutes. STALLING TIME! -Why doesn't the world champ get music but the challenger does? You can clearly tell from the start of the show who was going to win. -Why is the ref admonishing the competitors? Isn't this match a No DQ match? -So far, all restholds. -Very slow and plodding match. -Both men have a crimson mask yet again. -Great psychology. -During the match the belt went from 5 pounds to 10. -Visual of Flair celebrating with the belt and his hair being all red is amazing. -The announcers are playing the end of the match celebration perfectly. -There is still 17 minutes left and the announcers are acting like the show is ending. -The announcers are already hyping the next Starrcade main event of Dusty and Flair. -Flair cutting the post match promo is so surreal. You can tell he is genuinely amazed at the reaction from the fans about his win. -Tony is with Flair for a fifth time. He is almost on the verge of tears. -The Dusty and Flair confrontation was cool and very surreal. Rating: 3.5 out of 5 pounds of gold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukess11 Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 I was wondering if we should add a third show into this week being that in between the Starrcades is Hogan's title win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Final Countdown Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Just going to jot down whatever pops into my head as the show goes on. This is a year and a half before I was born, so my knowledge of this period is pretty lacking. Match 1: -I'm familiar with the Assasins by name, but I don't think I've ever seen them wrestle before. Nothing they did really stood out. -Rufus R. Jones and his mannerisms remind me of Dusty Rhodes. McGraw looks like some random dad who brought his kid to the show and was pulled out of the crowd to wrestle, like in a plot from an early 90's sitcom. -Flair, Piper and Tony all look so young! Is Roddy wearing a New Japan shirt? Match 2: -Hey, young Kevin Sullivan! -I think I saw Mark Lewin on some old Memphis Wrestling VHS tapes I randomly found at a department store in the early 90's. -The Boston Battler sounds like such a blah nickname for Sullivan, but I guess I'm judging by the crazy characters he played years later. -I'm totally confused about this tagging rule the announcers are trying to explain. -Damn, McGhee is bleeding like a stuck pig. -I can just imagine a young Vince watching this girl interviewing the family and muttering to himself about 'rasslin. -Simple but effective promo from Harley. Definitely preferable to the long, rambling promos you see a lot in modern day WWE. Match 3: -Abby was on the first Starrcade? Not sure why they needed the blood in the last match, because Abby is sure to meet the quota all by himself. -Yep, there's the blood. -Is this a no DQ match, or is this ref worse at enforcing the rules than current NJPW refs during any Bullet Club match? And now a ref bump? Why? Was the ref going to call for a DQ for interference, after standing and watching Carlos use the fork or whatever it was he was using? -It reminded me of a 21-year old boy called my son? Uh...okay? Also, I had to laugh that no one bothered to wipe up the blood on McGhee's face and he's just sitting there covered in it as the interview is going on. Match 4: -Haha, the microphone shut off during the special introduction! -No idea if they were a regular team, but I like the Cowboy Bob/Dirty Dick combo. -I do NOT like "su-play." -The crowd loves Wahoo. -This was my favorite match so far. Can you imagine so many tag matches on a WWE PPV? -The post-match attack on Wahoo felt pointless, especially after the far more effective one on McGhee earlier. -That was a pretty boring promo. Never thought I'd say that about a segment that featured Ric Flair talking. -More great technical work! Somebody get Dusty a working mic! Figures the mic worked perfectly when she was interviewing random families, but craps out when one of the top 2 or 3 promo guys ever is promoting a future world title match. Match 5: -Blatant chair shot from Brown, the face, right in front of the referee, who does a whole lot of nothing about it. And then multiple nut shots. Not exactly a heroic babyface. -I think I was supposed to boo when Gary Hart put Kabuki's foot on the ropes, but Brown has done way worse. -The idea of the TV title only changing hands if a fall happens inside of 15 minutes, but the match itself having a longer time limit than that, is interesting. Never heard of that before. -Another good promo from Harley. "I'm coming for your neck." Simple and effective. -Hey, Dusty! With a working mic this time! This was fine, but I got the feeling that he was more fired up when he was talking in the crowd, and a fired up Dusty is the best Dusty. Match 6: -Interesting that this isn't the semi main event, as it seems like it should have been obvious even without hindsight that the tag team title match isn't going to be able to top it. -The commentary's focus on Piper potentially losing his hearing in the ear Valentine is targeting is ironic, as that is legitimately what happened IIRC. -This was a really good, violent brawl. I feel like it might have been even more effective if there wasn't so much blood throughout the show, but it still stood out from the pack. -This understated, down-to-earth Flair just doesn't do it for me. That ain't the Nature Boy. Match 7: -Kind of funny to see one of the biggest Vince yes-men in history, Jerry Brisco, in the semi main event of the first Starrcade. -This match was fine, but it just couldn't follow the dog collar match. I did like the concept that Steamboat and Youngblood used the Briscos' own strategies against them. -Another brawl after the match? Wow, talk about overkill. Match 8: -Though I had seen this match before, I had never seen the show itself. One thing I will definitely say is that the amount of focus they placed on this match earlier really helped it feel like a big deal. -It was a good match, though I would have preferred to see Harley do even more to target Flair's neck after the promo earlier. The Dog Collar match was MOTN for me. It was an enjoyable enough show, but would have been much better served by toning down the blood and post-match fighting. That kind of stuff should be saved for the biggest matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukess11 Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Just going to jot down whatever pops into my head as the show goes on. This is a year and a half before I was born, so my knowledge of this period is pretty lacking. Match 1: -I'm familiar with the Assasins by name, but I don't think I've ever seen them wrestle before. Nothing they did really stood out. -Rufus R. Jones and his mannerisms remind me of Dusty Rhodes. McGraw looks like some random dad who brought his kid to the show and was pulled out of the crowd to wrestle, like in a plot from an early 90's sitcom. -Flair, Piper and Tony all look so young! Is Roddy wearing a New Japan shirt? Match 2: -Hey, young Kevin Sullivan! -I think I saw Mark Lewin on some old Memphis Wrestling VHS tapes I randomly found at a department store in the early 90's. -The Boston Battler sounds like such a blah nickname for Sullivan, but I guess I'm judging by the crazy characters he played years later. -I'm totally confused about this tagging rule the announcers are trying to explain. -Damn, McGhee is bleeding like a stuck pig. -I can just imagine a young Vince watching this girl interviewing the family and muttering to himself about 'rasslin. -Simple but effective promo from Harley. Definitely preferable to the long, rambling promos you see a lot in modern day WWE. Match 3: -Abby was on the first Starrcade? Not sure why they needed the blood in the last match, because Abby is sure to meet the quota all by himself. -Yep, there's the blood. -Is this a no DQ match, or is this ref worse at enforcing the rules than current NJPW refs during any Bullet Club match? And now a ref bump? Why? Was the ref going to call for a DQ for interference, after standing and watching Carlos use the fork or whatever it was he was using? -It reminded me of a 21-year old boy called my son? Uh...okay? Also, I had to laugh that no one bothered to wipe up the blood on McGhee's face and he's just sitting there covered in it as the interview is going on. Match 4: -Haha, the microphone shut off during the special introduction! -No idea if they were a regular team, but I like the Cowboy Bob/Dirty Dick combo. -I do NOT like "su-play." -The crowd loves Wahoo. -This was my favorite match so far. Can you imagine so many tag matches on a WWE PPV? -The post-match attack on Wahoo felt pointless, especially after the far more effective one on McGhee earlier. -That was a pretty boring promo. Never thought I'd say that about a segment that featured Ric Flair talking. -More great technical work! Somebody get Dusty a working mic! Figures the mic worked perfectly when she was interviewing random families, but craps out when one of the top 2 or 3 promo guys ever is promoting a future world title match. Match 5: -Blatant chair shot from Brown, the face, right in front of the referee, who does a whole lot of nothing about it. And then multiple nut shots. Not exactly a heroic babyface. -I think I was supposed to boo when Gary Hart put Kabuki's foot on the ropes, but Brown has done way worse. -The idea of the TV title only changing hands if a fall happens inside of 15 minutes, but the match itself having a longer time limit than that, is interesting. Never heard of that before. -Another good promo from Harley. "I'm coming for your neck." Simple and effective. -Hey, Dusty! With a working mic this time! This was fine, but I got the feeling that he was more fired up when he was talking in the crowd, and a fired up Dusty is the best Dusty. Match 6: -Interesting that this isn't the semi main event, as it seems like it should have been obvious even without hindsight that the tag team title match isn't going to be able to top it. -The commentary's focus on Piper potentially losing his hearing in the ear Valentine is targeting is ironic, as that is legitimately what happened IIRC. -This was a really good, violent brawl. I feel like it might have been even more effective if there wasn't so much blood throughout the show, but it still stood out from the pack. -This understated, down-to-earth Flair just doesn't do it for me. That ain't the Nature Boy. Match 7: -Kind of funny to see one of the biggest Vince yes-men in history, Jerry Brisco, in the semi main event of the first Starrcade. -This match was fine, but it just couldn't follow the dog collar match. I did like the concept that Steamboat and Youngblood used the Briscos' own strategies against them. -Another brawl after the match? Wow, talk about overkill. Match 8: -Though I had seen this match before, I had never seen the show itself. One thing I will definitely say is that the amount of focus they placed on this match earlier really helped it feel like a big deal. -It was a good match, though I would have preferred to see Harley do even more to target Flair's neck after the promo earlier. The Dog Collar match was MOTN for me. It was an enjoyable enough show, but would have been much better served by toning down the blood and post-match fighting. That kind of stuff should be saved for the biggest matches. If you look at my thoughts, you will see my opinions mostly match yours. All of the beatdowns except for one were by heels. I eventually ignored them as they were commonplace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mootinie Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Don't expect anybody to read this but what the hell, I've read a lot of reviews so why not try my hand at writing one. Masked Assassins w/ Paul Jones vs. Rufus R. Jones & Bugsy McGraw The Assassins are dressed in all black with golden masks. One of them is Jody Hamilton but I'm not sure who the other one is here. They spend most of the match on the back foot as McGraw & Rufus R. Jones dominate and showboat to loud cheers. Super hot crowd. The Assassins got little to no offence in at all, a couple of eye rakes and a few punches was all they could muster but they stole the victory when Assassin #1 rolled up McGraw and pinned him with a school boy. Super basic match that ended before it really got started. *3/4 Gordon Solie and Bob Caudle throw it to Tony Schavione. Backstage interview! Oh boy, Roddy Piper and Ric Flair are having a chat in the background. Ricky Steamboat walks by. Schiavone sells all this as being unique but throws it back to the ring for our next match. Not even gonna try and get an interview with Piper or Flair, what a jip! Scott McGhee & Johnny Weaver vs. Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin w/ Gary Hart Lots of quick tags and headlock exchanges until Sullivan and Lewin cut the ring off and keep McGhee down. Sullivan absorbs a few strikes and has to headbutt McGhee just to shut his momentum down and then tags out. McGhee tags in Weaver who does a bulldog with Sullivan refusing to bump properly, landing on his side really awkwardly. Sullivan & Lewin get the heat back when Sullivan blocks a second bulldog. Hart interferes and grabs Weaver's arm, Sullivan holds out his other arm and Mark Lewin drops a knee across it to pick up the win. McGhee tries to attack the heels post-match but Lewin strikes him with an “object” and busts him open. Angelo Mosca tries to make the save but he gets struck too, only to recover and rid the ring of the heels. This was a decent little match. ** Barbara Clarey interviews some random family in the crowd. They all think Ric Flair will win tonight. Schiavone is backstage with World Champion Harley Race, United States Champion Greg Valentine and Tag Team Champions Jack & Gerry Brisco. Race establishes that he knows Flair's weaknesses and he will exploit each and every one of them tonight. Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah The Butcher Abdullah uses an "object" straight away. For a 400 pounder, Abdullah moves pretty well here. Colon pulls the “object” out of Abdullah's trousers and starts walloping him with it, busting the big man open. We get a ref bump when Abdullah kicks out of Colon's pin, throwing him on top of the ref. Abdullah tries to drop an elbow on Colon but he rolls out the way and the ref gets squashed. Colon applies a Figure Four… but shucks! The ref is down! Somebody charges in and smashes Colon with a weapon and the referee makes a sudden recovery to count the pin. It's Hugo Savinovich! The match was five minutes at the most. This was an extended angle and was used to continue Colon's feud with his career nemesis Abdullah. *1/2 Schiavone interviews a passionate Angelo Mosca backstage who says that the blood coming out of his arm reminds him of his 21 year old son. He says there's no place for Mark Lewin's nasty acts in pro wrestling. He calls him malicious and tells him that blood is thicker than water. The camera zooms out and shows a busted open, almost unconscious Scott McGhee sitting next to Angelo. Great segment, awesome promo, very believable delivery. Back to Barbara. She's talking to two fans that have come down from South Carolina. They both think Ric Flair will win. Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood vs. Dick Slater & Bob Orton Jr. The ring announcer points out that Dusty Rhodes is here but not before technical difficulties. Early standard chain wrestling. They switch to a pretty cool overhead camera view with Gordon Solie complimenting the cameraman for being some 75 feet in the air. Like the other two tag team matches, this one starts with the faces constantly knocking the heels back. Slater is shoved to the ropes, going over the top as he and Orton Jr. lobby for a DQ but referee Tommy Young is having none of it. There's a cool spot a bit later on as Youngblood is on fire so Orton Jr. & Slater stall in their corner, killing the momentum so they can slow the pace down. Have I mentioned how hot this crowd is? They give this match so much energy, bustling when Youngblood is down and exploding loudly whenever he does anything. McDaniel comes in off a hot tag and runs wild with tomahawk chops, but he's shut down as well. Orton Jr. removes his knee pad to drop a knee but Wahoo doesn't bother selling it as anything special. That was actually pretty funny. Slater hits Orton Jr. by accident leading to Youngblood tagging back in, but once again he's slowed down and eventually pinned after a Superplex with McDaniel just milliseconds away from breaking up the pin. Frustrated, Wahoo fights on post-match but Slater & Orton get the better of him and leave him with a potential broken arm after Orton Jr. comes down on it from the top rope. Really good match. Like I said, it had energy and was worked at a great pace. I liked the story with Slater & Orton Jr. being dogged, constantly shutting down McDaniel & Youngblood until they had nothing left to give. ***3/4 Schiavone is with Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood backstage. Flair hopes that Harley Race and the Brisco's are ready because he's ready for anything. Classy Flair wishes Youngblood and Steamboat the best in their match. Youngblood starts cutting a promo but it's going nowhere so Steamboat interrupts him to tell Jack & Jerry that they're losing their tag belts tonight and he and Jay are leaving as five time champs. We go to Barbara Clarey now, she's with Dusty Rhodes. I'm sure this Dusty Rhodes promo was great, but we couldn't hear it thanks to technical issues. Basically, Dusty is calling out the winner of tonight's main event. Charlie Brown vs. The Great Kabuki © w/ Gary Hart (NWA Television Championship Match) Charlie Brown is Jimmy Valiant and this is Mask vs. Title. Match spills to the outside where Brown beats up Kabuki with a chair and then crotches him on the ring post. Brown gives him a low blow as the referee is distracted with Gary Hart. Sleeper Hold gets a good reaction and Kabuki fades but rakes Brown's eyes to make him break. But Brown puts it back on and Kabuki fades again until Gary Hart gives his man an assist and props his foot on the bottom rope. Gordon Solie says that the sleeper hold was originated in Japan so it would be ironic if Charlie Brown were to defeat Kabuki with it. I didn't know that. Kabuki uses the dreaded claw hold but Brown hulks up and fights out of it. Now Brown is down on the canvas and having a seizure selling the claw hold. I don't like Charlie Brown. The gyrating, the dancing, he's certainly out there. But he comes across to me as a pompous fool that isn't taking the wrestling match very seriously at all. Kabuki keeps the heat on with another claw hold and keeps putting Charlie Brown down with savate kicks, chops and such martial artsy things. But Brown hulks up again and drops an elbow for the victory. Gordon Solie says they need to check with their time keeper and see if the match was within the 15 minute time limit. If not, Brown doesn't win the TV title. That's lame, surely the match should be declared over at 15 minutes? Or can he only win the TV title within 15 minutes and after that, the match continues but the stipulations become null and void? I really don't know. The match was pretty decent but the finish was flat and very sudden. *** Bob Caudle introduces Doug Walker and they talk about Flair. Walker literally says 'this is North Carolina, this is the Flair for the Gold' with Caudle turning away so Walker just walks off. Okay. Schiavone is backstage with Harley Race, Bob Orton Jr. & Dick Slater. They took out Flair with Race paying them $25,000 but Flair came back thanks to McDaniel. Slater's promo is poor and goes nowhere. He says that Flair isn't out of hot water yet, he failed to take him out but he isn't out of hot water yet and he believes Race will take him out tonight. I'm starting to see the benefit of scripted promos. Or at least, I hope these promos aren't scripted. If they are, I hope Crockett fired whomever wrote them. Harley Race deviously tells Flair that he will break his neck. See, straight to the point, nice and simple. Good stuff Harley. Now to Barbara again. Second attempt at interviewing Dusty. Rhodes has impeccable delivery, puts both Flair and Race over and again, they assert that whoever wins will have a hard time winning the belt, but a harder time keeping it when Dusty comes knocking. Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine (Dog Collar Match) They mention that Piper had an ear injury and shouldn't be in the ring but he insisted on it, hence why Crockett sanctioned such a match. These two are so intense. I love how they use the chain, Valentine wraps it around Piper's eyes and beats him up when he can't see. Piper wraps it around the ringpost and chokes Valentine from a distance. Valentine is bleeding already. It's quite scary how these two sling the chain at each other with no concern for the other's safety. Valentine goes to the ear, catching him with the chain before unloading with right hands. Piper's ear is bleeding already. Good god, this is so physical and slightly difficult to watch. Valentine wraps the chain around his hand and goes after the ear again. Valentine goes for a Suplex, Piper fights out so Valentine goes back to the ear. Pretty sure that attempted Suplex was the first move that's been attempted. Solie loves the phrase 'second effort' when guys make a comeback. Piper comes back like an 'enraged bull" and the crowd explodes. Valentine tries to cover up his ears from a chain shot to Piper gives him one to the forehead. Back to the ear though! So many of these matches do this kind of psychology. Deviating from the narrative but coming right back to it when the match calls for it. Piper comes back again! And blocks a Suplex, giving Valentine one of his own. Neither guy moves after doing the move, good selling lads. Valentine slaps on a Sleeper Hold. I like how it's been established that smashing each other with the chain simply won't be enough to pick up the win so now they need wrestling moves. Great insight from Solie, claiming that there's no way Valentine can properly apply a Sleeper Hold with the collar shielding Piper's neck. Piper then smashes Valentine with the chain and uses it to grapevine his leg so he can't possibly kick out. Piper celebrates but Valentine attacks him from behind and chokes him out with the chain. Piper keeps scrapping though and eventually the ref manages to escort Greg from the ring. Just awesome, such a brutal match. I appreciated that it was a fight so there was no flow or rhythm to it, just two guys beating the tar of each other. Great stuff, really enjoyable. ****1/2 Back to Schiavone. He's with Flair and Wahoo McDaniel. Flair's promo work is solemn and a tad uninspiring. Just looking at him here, the transformation to the Nature Boy he would eventually become is nothing short of remarkable. They do a good job of making the Flair vs. Race match a big deal by involving most of their active roster in and around the match. Now to Barbara Clarey. She's with Dan Kernodle. Rather than picking a winner for the tag title match, he just wants to see a great match. But when it comes to the World title match, he's backing Flair to win. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood vs. Jack & Jerry Brisco (NWA World Tag Team Championship Match) Angelo Mosca is the referee for this one, wearing what I think is a Pro Wrestling Illustrated t-shirt. Steamboat enjoys himself against both Brisco's early on, busting out the best arm drag in the business. Cool spot where Steamboat climbs up top and Jack sweeps across the apron but can't take out Steamboat's feet in time as he comes off to drop an axe handle on Jerry. Steamboat doing the bulk of the work here, he's the one being isolated after dominating early on. But he still powers out of a Keylock, impressively lifting Jerry off the canvas and dropping him with an Electric Chair. Youngblood tags in but the Brisco's fight back into control. They make a mistake when they argue with Mosca, allowing Youngblood to make the hot tag. This match is all about Steamboat but Jay Youngblood picks up the pin when Steamboat drops him on one of the Brisco's from a military press position. Post-match, the Brisco's shove Mosca into the post and beat up Steamboat, locking him in a figure four. But Mosca catches Jack Brisco in mid air, stopping him from splashing down on Steamboat. Mosca, Steamboat and Youngblood fight off the Brisco's and celebrate with the titles. Decent match but it never really went to the next level. ***1/4 Flair is robed up backstage. The time is here. Oh god, Charlie Brown is here. He's fired up! He did it for Johnny Valentine! Now Piper is here. He reminds Valentine that he took out one ear but he has two. Piper tells Valentine that he's coming for his US title. Jay Youngblood says that winning the titles five times is unprecedented whilst Steamboat says that they'll face all comers. Sorry fella's, promo of the night still goes to Angelo Mosca. Bob & Gordon ramble for a bit before we go to Barbara in the crowd with Dusty. More predictions, good god does anybody believe Harley Race is winning this thing? Gordon Solie asserts that a steel cage means that we will definitely see a winner. How wrestling would change. In 2016, a cage match usually means interference. James 'Tiny' Weeks does the national anthem in what can only be described as a shaky performance. Elaborate entrances, first time all show long that an entrance has been shot. Flair's music plays but he comes out after its finished. Huge ovation of course. He's escorted to the ring by security who do nothing to stop fans touching Flair, as evidenced when a female fan gives him a smooch on the cheek. Race is escorted to the ring through a quieter, far less busy side of the crowd. Harley Race vs. Ric Flair (NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match) Gene Kiniski is the referee and this match is being fought inside a steel cage. Slow pace to start: collar and elbow lock-ups, side headlocks, chinlocks. Race misses a headbutt, Flair with another side headlock. We're in for the long haul here… Caudle is in on the sup-lay pronunciation. Now Race is getting the heat. Caudle and Solie talk about mindsets and intensity. I get that like most sports, even pro wrestling is as much a mental game as it is physical but all of this is nonsense when two guys are just doing headlocks and such. Race hits a Piledriver like it's just a snapmare, dropping an elbow before getting a two on a pin. That was a weird sequence since he said earlier that he'd break Flair's neck. I thought Piledrivers were supposed to be super dangerous at this time? Flair gets smashed face first into the cage. Kiniski pulls Race away from Flair in the corner after counting to 2, then grills Flair for punching him. Kiniski now pulls Flair out of the corner, not even administering the 5 count and that allows Race to headbutt him. Now Kiniski grills Race for something. What was that sequence? Both buys are bleeding now. Flair busts out the Piledriver for a 2. Good commentary, mentioning how Flair has the killing instinct to try a pin straight away instead of Race being a little casual early on. Kiniski warns Flair about using the cage, for god's sake. For some reason he tries to stop Race from following up after a headbutt. But he's not bothered when Race drives Flair into the cage! Now he's bothered a closed fist. Flair has a figure four but Race reversed it and the two end up in the ropes. Solie asserts that Race is only the second person he's seen reverse the Figure Four. Think how many people have done it now... Race hits a Headbutt from the second rope. I'm sure it looked cool back then but the camera angle just shows him landing on his hands, glancing Flair with his forehead. Race tries a suplex but his leg gives out on him. Ref bump when Flair shoves Race into Kiniski. Then Flair comes off the top with a crossbody and a downed Kiniski counts the pin. This was a passing of the torch but I felt like the match was just too long. Most of the crowd were certain Flair was winning here and just didn't react to anything Harley Race did. The match lacked energy. Even though there was some nice psychology (Race lacking killer instinct for example), this wasn't befitting of all the hype it got during these 3 hours alone, let alone all the build that must have taken place beforehand. I don't have any issues with methodical pacing if it leads somewhere but neither Race nor Flair did limb work and it just meant that most of the early work in the match was a waste of time. Thankfully it all picked up towards the end. ***1/2 Consensus This was one of wrestling's first flagship major shows and all in all, it delivered. Of course, some areas of the show have dated compared to today's standards but the wrestling is good and I appreciated how pacing, psychology and execution took prime focus. It's about how you do your hip toss here, not that you flip backwards as you do one. This is an easy show to watch and I get the impression that these shows will only get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mootinie Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 My thoughts were basically in line with you guys. Too much blood, too many post-match beatdowns. A lot of matches felt similar and were paced the same but there was a lot I liked. Dog Collar match was great, as was the Orton Jr. tag. The promos throughout the show were hilariously average though. It was obvious that they spent far more time in the ring than they did practicing their promos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff3029 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 One of them is Jody Hamilton but I'm not sure who the other one is here. The other Assassin was Hercules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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