HULKAMANIA: Hulk Hogan (WWF, 1984) Featuring Big John Studd, Greg Valentine & Bob Orton

Hey yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,

Hulk Hogan is ICHIBAN~!

What is very interesting is that we still very much live in a post-1988 world as a pro wrestling fan. Most fans use 1984 as the dividing line between the pre-modern and modern year. On January 23, 1984 at Madison Square Garden, Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Shiek to win his first WWF World Heavyweight Championship and embark on a historic 4 year reign that would lead the WWF out of the Northeast of the US and transform it into a global juggernaut. Thus 1984 seems like a reasonable start date for the modern era and I am not disputing that. What I am disputing is that an average smart wrestling fan's knowledge does not actually reach that far back. My evaluation of Ric Flair up until two years ago was almost entirely based on his post -1988 work. When you look up Hulk Hogan's most famous or best matches, the vast majority come from post-1988. There is a simple reason for that: PPVs. Supercards like Starrcade and Wrestlemania have existed long before either of those, but it was in 1988 that they really proliferated. The twofold power of promotion and national availability (at the time and afterwards via VHS & DVDs) made this the platform to judge pro wrestlers. One of my favorite sites growing up was Prowrestlinghistory.com, which yes does have some non-PPV supercards for America, but mainly focuses on PPVs. Immediately, I was fascinated by pro wrestling history and this led me to Scott Keith. His reviews were free (very important for an 8 year old) and comprehensive (he reviewed what I thought was everything). So now all wrestler's best and most matches list come from post-1988, but this is unfair to wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Flair's peak was roughly 1981-1990, living in a post-1988 world this limits him to three years to prove his case as the greatest of all time. How about the Hulkster, who gets the bum rap that he can't work and is just a lumbering giant. Well in a post-1988 world, you are cutting off his initial heel run, AWA run and entire chunk of his prime WWF World title reign that set the wrestling world on fire. Do I think that by watching Hogan in WWF from '84-'88, I am going to discover a lost super worker. Hell, no! I do think I will come out with a better appreciation of how effective Hogan was in between those ropes. With the advent of Youtube (the greatest technological creation of the 21st century), this is now all possible and wrestlers deserve to be evaluated on their whole careers rather than 4 specific nights a year (eventually 12). Not just that great workers like Flair deserve this treatment, but those who may have been maligned too.

Here kitty kitty! Here kitty kitty! Come lap up my milk!

So I set out to watch Hulk Hogan's prime run from 1984-1988 because I have seen only a handful matches (mostly the Savage matches) and I was drawing conclusions about Hogan from secondary sources and watching 90s matches. That is another reason when I think of great Hogan matches, I always think of his 90s work like the Slaughter Desert Storm, Vader SuperBrawl V and Flair Bash at the Beach '94. I contend the best match of his career was with Backlund in Philly in 1980, but how can I make that claim with such a gaping blind spot as his initial WWF World Title from '84 to '88.

Having looked at only 1984 so far, The Hulkster looks like a young pup compared to his 90s work. He is downright rambunctious in the ring. He is constantly fighting back and working underneath during the heat segments. He is overflowing with energy at the beginning of the match. A lot of "smart" wrestling fans will be shocked by this comment, but his work was dripping with effort. I grew up on Hollywood Hogan and have always loved that character. There was always disconnect with me and the Original Hulkster. I got the idea of an American Superman coming to life is pretty cool and appeals to a lot of demographics. It clicked watching this. The stuff I have watched in 89-91 is Hulk Hogan having done the same shtick since 1982 in the AWA. I would be bored too doing the same thing for 7+ years! Don't get me wrong Hogan half-assing it still has way more charisma than 99% of wrestlers in history. I just chocked up his mass appeal to his promos, but from an in-ring perspective I thought I was just too "smart" to get it. Once I got over myself and stopped being an elitist prick, you could feel the power of Hulkamania transcending space and time energizing me 30 years after the fact. It was this energy that I was missing. Remembering how wrestling works, people just did not plop down in 1989 and start watching (well some did), for most people Hulk Hogan was the champion for the past five years. He has built that cached up with the fans. Once he laid down that foundation, he did not have to work as hard, he just had to work smart. In 1984, he was still building that relationship and he was on fire in the ring. He came out guns blazing and always playing to that crowd. When it was time for his opponent to get heat, he was ready to sell, but still fight back and make him earn it. In the later years, Hogan was content to just get his ass beaten, but in these early years he was just so damn fiesty. I love a fiesty babyface. The comeback was not so formulaic yet and each one was unique (well to the opponent at least). The one thing that has not changed is that Hogan just is not a good bumper. He is a big man so I don't expect that many bumps, but bumps are usually what take a psychologically sound match and take it to the next level (the opposite is true too a spotfest can be taken to the next level with psychology). A lot of Hogan matches are very lo-fi and fundamental from that level. That does not mean they are boring. You can not judge Hogan until you see his 1984 follow-up back elbow. He fuckin flies across that ring to deliver that sucker. Or his awesome left-handed backfists (they don't always look great), but it is cool he does them. He is like the Summer Action Blockbuster to Ric Flair's Oscar Winning performances. You need both in cinema and in wrestling. No, Hulk Hogan is not going to deliver any Match of the Year candidates, but hell if he is not one of the most fun workers of the mid-80s.

Match Listing:

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Iron Shiek - Philly 6/84

The rematch in Philly doesn't get more Hogan than Hogan as the American Hero versus Foreign Menace

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs "Dr. D" David Schultz - Minny 6/84

McMahon invades AWA with former AWA top babyface Hulk Hogan leading the charge.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs 

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/ Capt. Albano - MSG 7/23/84

Best Hogan match of 1984. Valentine takes wrestlers of their comfort zone and makes them get physical.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs George "The Animal" Steele w/Mr. Fuji St. Louis 8/10/84

Fun camp. Hogan just has so much energy at this point

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Bob Orton - Nassau Coliseum 9/7/84

Second best Hogan match of 1984. Hogan worked hard from underneath and Orton is a dynamo.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd w/ Bobby The Brain Heenan MSG 9/22/84

Some strong psychology, but brutally slow.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd w/ Bobby the Brain - 

Meadowlands 12/10/84

Focused on the strong bodyslam hook of the match and produced best Studd match I have seen.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Iron Shiek - Philly 6/84

Hogan excels in these type of extreme cartoony matches even if they are not my favorite type of match. You can't get more of a great cartoon villain in pro wrestling than mustachioed Iron Shiek with the loaded boot. Sheiky Baby informs us that of course Iran is Number 1! I like the Flock of Seagulls too, Shiek! Hogan comes out guns blazing and does not even let Shiek take off his attire instead Hogan chokes him with it. Hogan just kicks his ass sending him into the post, raking his body with his finger nails even gnawing at him. Hogan was always good for throwing it back in the heel's face. Hogan sets too early for a back body drop and in a counter I have never seen Shiek rakes his eyes. That's commitment to his heel character. Shiek wrestles a great heel heat section throwing Hogan into railings and tables, choking with the cables and his hands. He hits his great gutwrench suplex. Then with no Hulk Up. Hogan hits a clothesline and leg drop for the win. I have been liking the non-formulaic nature of the finish stretch, but that was too anticlimatic. Hulk Hogan is apparently still FABULOUS~! and has not transitioned to Immortal yet per the ring announcer. Shiek attacks him with the boot making me think I did not see the finale, but Hogan chases him off. No one will confuse this with the excellently violent Shiek/Slaughter series, but still a fun, popcorn match. 

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WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs "Dr. D" David Schultz - Minny 6/84

McMahon invades the AWA Capital cites, The Twin Cities, with former AWA Ace, Hulk Hogan in the vanguard. Akin to Price Eugene of Savoy leading the armies of the Grand Alliance against The Sun King and his native France (Eugene was born and raised in the court of Louis XIV), Hogan is the main draw for the WWF to gain a foothold in AWA territory. He is running against an overlooked figure in pro wrestling, David Schultz. Schultz is more famous for his incident with 20/20 reporter, John Stossel, as he tried to protect the integrity of the business, but to many crossed the line in getting physical. I don't know all the details so I am not weighing in, but this did cause him to get blackballed. I had always known of Schultz for this, but thought he was a lower-tier wrestler. In actuality, he was one of the most frequent Hogan opponents of 1984 and a member of Roddy Piper's gang with Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff. Schultz from his most famous TV vignette is portrayed as a mean, nasty redneck. He comes off as one of more real Hogan opponents and I would say the one with widest mean streak. Orndorff is cocky and Piper is crazy, but Schultz was a mean-spirited individual. Can I say "mean" anymore?

The match is the inverse of the Shiek match. Instead of the vast majority of the match, Hogan doing the ass kicking in this match Schultz jumps Hogan and chokes him with his bandana. Schultz grabs a chair on the outside and bust him out. The blood definitely helps this match a lot. Schultz hits his big second rope elbow, but parades around for too long. HULK UP! Hogan picks him up at 2 after an elbow to dish out more punishment. Hogan drops the leg. 1-2-Hogan picks him up. HAVE MERCY! Schultz actually turns the tide, but misses a top rope elbow and Hogan hits a big clothesline for the 3. I think if Schultz combined his mean streak with the physicality of a Valentine they may have had something special, but this was not much at all. Schultz attacks him after and tries get away with the belt, but Hogan rakes his eyes and gets his belt back. I liked elements of this match, but there was not enough struggle for me in this match.

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WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs 

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/ Capt. Albano - MSG 7/23/84

You don't think "physical" when you see Hogan's name on the marquee, but then Valentine could make a man out of anyone in that ring. Valentine and Hogan went to war in MSG and Hogan gave as good as he got. His punches looked like some of the best he ever thrown and once he took over from Valentine's initial sneak attack, he was all over him. His follow-up back elbow in the corner looked great and his bodyslam over the ropes into the ring was impressive. Valentine takes over with a back suplex out of a side headlock. One of my main complaints of later Hogan is that he sells too much too soon. Here Hogan, powers out of Valentine reverse chinlock as a hope spot only for Valentine to beat him back down with great forearm and elbow shots. Valentine is so brutal. Again, at the right opportunity, Hogan fights from underneath with the suplex and then takes it out to the floor with some great, great punches. Hogan throws his carcass back into the ring first. Rookie mistake as Valentine cuts off Hogan with a wicked knee. This has been a fight from the beginning. There is a great exchange after the failed Valentine sleeper with Valentine clubbering and Hogan throwing rights and back fists. He throws this massive right and Valentine falls on his ass, but in desperation grabs Hogan's leg trips and yanks it against the apron. Then he goes to hit it with a chair and a fan grabs the chair out of his hand. Now worries as there is another. So now we get some nice leg work, but it is for naught as Hogan knows of the power of the figure-4 and pushes him off twice. Work like that puts over a finish just as much as winning with it. The Hammer drops the Hammer elbow, but just for two. Hulk Hogan does one of the most subdued Hulk-Ups ever catching The Hammer coming off the top and hitting the legdrop for the win. Tack on a classic Hulk-Up and this match would be one of my all-time favorite Hogan matches. As it stands, I would submit this as one of his best matches from the peak Hulkamania period 84-88 as it does not feel like standard Hogan. There are two reasons for that as Hogan still has not refined his formula yet and how Valentine always brings people out of their comfort zone. Hogan has a lot of Clash of the Titans, summer blockbuster like matches, but rarely does get gnarly and rough. Valentine will bring that out of you. Hogan went toe to toe with the Hammer and it was one entertaining fight. ***3/4

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WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff - Philly 7/7/84

Hulk Hogan in 1984 is the living embodiment of energy. He is running wild and unbridled. Orndorff is someone I always liked, but never thought he was a real upper tier worker. He is a good at heat seeking taunts and character work, but his work leaves a lot to be desired. He is no Valentine or Orton, but he gets more heat because of the "Paula" chants. The opening is a well-worked clowning segment with Hogan attacking Orndorff while he was in the robe jawing with the crowd. Orndorff sells the atomic drop like Rude and is generally amusing. What makes him better than a Studd or Steele is that he can bump and stooge better. An eye rake gives him the advantage and throws the "Hulker" (Dick Graham) into railing and hits him with a chair drawing blood. Hogan in 1984 was not afraid to wear the Crimson Mask. I like how there were two attempts at the comebacks before the final one. It is more fun than just one Hulk-Up that we would get later. Orndorff is content to stomp, elbow and eye rake. Hogan's follow up back elbow in the corner is so awesome. I loved that he bit Orndorff and did a front rake throwing it right back in his face. Oh yeah, the back fist and punch combo. Clothesline and Atomic Legdrop finish him. 1984 Hulk Hogan is just so much fun and he did not disappoint in this match. I would say Orndorff was a middling opponent for the Hulkster.

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WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs George "The Animal" Steele w/Mr. Fuji 

St. Louis 8/10/84

The swooning was in full effect here from Vinny Mac: "Never has 300 lbs looked so good" and "He not only has to worry about his title, but the possible demise of his physique". Yes, Hogan's life is not worth living if he were to lose his physique. O, Vince! I liked how in 1984 when they invaded St. Louis they tried to run an angle for Hogan much like the three defense rule in MSG. It was a strong strategy to cement this new foothold deep in NWA territory and prove to the St. Louis audience that WWF promotion was treating the city on the level of NYC, Philly or Boston. They ran a strong Studd program early on and then Orndorff and have now moved to George Steele. I have never seen Steele as a heel so this piqued my interest. He is a very campy, horror film-esque character. I like cheeze as much as any wrestling fan, but the beginning was even too corny for me. However, once Steele took over with rakes to the eye the match was pretty decent actually. Steele was the consummate, vicious lunatic. He went after the eyes and choked Hogan. He played hide the foreign object from the ref, which he used to stab Hogan in the eye or throat. It was pretty effective heel work. Hulk-Up. I like the idea of left-hand backfist from Hogan, but the execution is not always there. Hogan goes for the Atomic Leg Drop, but Fuji trips him. Fuji takes his sweet fuckin time to get to the apron and throw salt into his eyes. Hogan reels from this and falls out the ring to lose by countout to set up the rematch. Weirdly, Hogan never seemed to get his win over Steele, but instead over Fuji. After the salt throw, the real heat was on Fuji as St. Louis crowd littered the ring with garbage. Hogan was fuckin over and including with the old timers who I am sure saw Thesz and O' Connor in their prime. It was a fun Hogan by the numbers match and Steele was a solid vicious heel.
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WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Bob Orton - Nassau Coliseum 9/7/84

When I was looking over Hogan's 84 challengers (lots of Big John Studd & Dr. D), this match immediately jumped out at me. Orton is someone that I have been meaning to watch more and he did not disappoint in this outing with Hogan. He is just at stooging and shining up the babyface as he is in control of the match. Hogan just know how to get a crowd rocking in the beginning with his punches and then the big boot sends Orton to the outside. Orton no sells the tap on the shoulder twice so Hogan wallops him and when Orton retreats via the ring to the other side Hogan runs around wallops him there. That was fun. Hogan telegraphs two elbows and Orton goes to work on Hogan's arm. Showing us the fan that Orton can only get the advantage because Hogan hurt himself, but at the same time Orton is savvy enough and proficient enough to pick apart Hogan's weakness. Anytime, Hogan looks to get something going Orton goes for the hair. Hogan is just so much more energetic and really working hard from underneath. Orton impresses me with a Volkoff like backbreaker on Hogan. Hogan is able to crotch Orton on the top turnbuckle and this allows him to mount a comeback. It is an arm for an arm in Hogan's Law of the Jungle as he wrenches Orton's arm over the ropes and sends into the railing. I love that type of revenge. The match veers off track as Hogan looks like he has it won, but stalls and all of sudden Orton retakes command with an inverse atomic drop. Nothing of note really happens until Hogan more traditionally Hulks-Up with the punches, but instead of the big boot Orton whiffs on a kick sending him onto his back prone for the Atomic Legdrop. Again another really good Hogan match with a heel that could work a strong control with Hogan working hard with hope spots and struggling underneath. What hurt this match was it seemed regress back to Orton's second control to kill time before going home. This is where Orton either teasing or hitting his finisher would have helped build drama for the Hogan comeback. Still this was another great showcase for how good and vibrant Hogan was in 1984 and how Orton was a great hand in the ring.  ***1/2

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WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd w/ Bobby The Brain Heenan 

MSG 9/22/84

The debut of Bobby the Brain and thus the beginning of the feud that would carry the WWF through Wrestlemania IV: Hogan versus Heenan's charges. This match reeks of AWA as Okerlund is on commentary and you have old foes Hogan and Heenan squaring off. Studd is a deceptively big guy. Everytime, I look at him, he does not look that big, but he is considerably larger than Hogan. I think it is because he is so well-proportioned. He just looks normal, but then when he is locking up Hogan you realize how big he is. This is the worst Hogan match so far from '84 and it has nothing to do with Hogan. Studd is a terribly boring worker. The Bodyslam Challenge gimmick is a really good hook and is the only thing that makes his matches interesting. Hogan was trying his damndest with a terrific back elbow at the beginning, juicing and a hot lariat towards the end. Studd was content to just lock on the bearhug. I liked the transition of Hogan going for the bodyslam costing him and Studd bodyslamming Hogan. That really put over the gimmick and how much of a threat Studd was. The King of the Mountain stuff was boring and Hogan blading seemed forced just because Studd was kicking him. Meh. Hogan goes for the bodyslam after the Hulk-Up and the crowd is pumped. Studd is able to get tangled in the ropes. Hogan attempts on the outside. Studd rams him into the apron and Heenan pushes Studd in to get the countout victory. Studd and Heenan have the audacity to walk out with the title to set up the rematch. It was supposed to be Ventura in this spot, which probably would not have increased the match quality, but that would have been a helluva visual at MSG. The Studd/Heenan pairing makes sense and I can see why they would draw as a top heel act against Hogan and then against Andre even if I find Studd to be one of the most boring workers ever. You can blame this match on Hogan. Everything he is doing is just dripping with effort. Hulkamania is running wild!

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WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd w/ Bobby the Brain - 

Meadowlands 12/10/84

Best Big John Stud Match Ever! EVAH~! Ok, so that is not exactly high praise, but I am still pretty sure it is a true statement. My favorite part of the MSG match was the bodyslam psychology and it is like my comments traveled through electromagnetic cosmic worm hole to the ears of Big John Studd, who said to Hogan lets have an entire match worked around bodyslamming each other to please this 25 year old kid 30 years in the future. Hogan said Brutha, that's all well and good, but how are going to pay it off if the 24 inch pythons can not run wild on you because the Vin Man says Andre is going to slam you. I'll take care of it, Hulkster.  I truly believe that's how the magic of this three star match was born.

Capetta is still in WWF at this point and Fink is on commentary??!?!?!?!? I loved the psychology of this match. It was one giant macho pissing contest. Who could slam the other first? All these early spots were really energetic with great cutoffs and building tension to what I thought would be an anti-climax since the Big Slam moment was being saved for Andre. Hogan was so obsessed with this that eventually Studd was able to draw him outside and crack his head against the table. Studd stayed away from the bearhug and worked a solid King of the Mountain. Then he picked up Hogan like a sack of potatoes and slammed him. *GASP* It was pretty lame that Studd did not follow up this big moment and I thought they were going to lose men. When all of sudden, they end up on the outside and HULK UP-> BODYSLAM ON THE OUTSIDE!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!?!?! BATSHIT INSANITY!!!! Crowd goes bezerk and I lose it in 2014. However, since it did not happen inside the ring, he does not win the money and the slam challenge continues. BRILLIANT! I was planning to be disappointed because all that great bodyslam psychology was not going to get the proper climax and then BOOM Hogan slams him! Somebody needs to crib this Studd Slam Challenge gimmick as it is such a great hook for the matches. Then to top it all off Hogan picks up the most hated ref in history, Dick Whirrly, into a military press. That's almost worth an extra 1/2*, but alas he didn't slam him to pay that off. The match is about as basic as you can get but Hogan has so much energy and the build to the payoff and the payoff are excellent. ***

Road to Wargames: Dangerous Alliance Vol. 5 (Rude, Austin, Anderson, Zbyszko, Eaton, 1992)

Hey yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,

What the hell is in the water over in the UK?

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WCW TV Champion Steve Austin w/Mad USA vs. Scotty Steiner - WCW Saturday Night 3/14/92

Paul E. describing Madusa as Oliver North of WCW made me chuckle. The Pride of Michigan and Champion of the West hit the Tiger Driver/Frankensteiner combination on Austin, but Paul E. called for Plan B and the World Tag Champs Arn Anderson & Beautiful Bobby stormed the ring, but big brother Rick made the save. Scott Steiner seemed more restrained and focused in this match than in previous outings. He worked the mat really well and established early that he would dominate in that domain unless Austin pulled the hair. In addition, he was following up his highspots (suplexes and throws) with covers or matwork. He did have a tendency to start each exchange with a  kick to the gut or a whip into the ropes. This over reliance  seemed lazy and demonstrated poor transitions. Austin was perfect in bumping and selling for Steiner. Outside of the clothesline, Austin really had nothing in the way of offense. Pretty much Scott hurting himself or a Madusa kick was the majority of Austin offense. His over reliance on the chinlock is not 2005 WWE bad because he does work in some cheating, but overall it leaves a lot to be desired. Steiner delivers a hot finish stretch, which as a bomb thrower is his specialty. Steiner is adequate at selling and with some better transitions I thought this was the best showcase for Scotty Steiner as a future main eventer. Austin knows the fundamentals, but there was still plenty room to grow.

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Dangerous Alliance (Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko) w/Mad USA vs The Steiners - WCW Saturday Night 3/21/92

The Steiners are great TV match workers because they have a ton of spots to pop a crowd that make you want to watch them in longer matches even if those matches do not always result in excellent matches. It does not get much better than Eaton and Zbyszko stooging and bumping for these powerhouses. The one element that Zbyszko brings that Anderson does not is heat and lots of it. The Larry Sucks chants started early and did not let up. The first three quarters of this match is a Steiners showcase. Scotty is so good at combining power moves with his amateur moves that make for a lot of cool spots. Rick is always there to knock the heels down the peg when they are feeling smart with a Steinerline. Eaton finally looks to get something going with an eyerake, but Scotty catches him with a belly to belly on the floor, but as Scotty ducks under Eaton he eats a spinkick from The Living Legend. I liked how that transition was earned rather than just abruptly changing course. Scotty is no great shakes as a FIP, but the heels were good at taking it to him with choking, sweet Eaton punches and a flying elbow. Would have liked to seen a Zbyszko piledriver that they teased. Scotty hits a Tiger Driver and tags in Rick for the home stretch. Madusa gets sandwhiched between Larry Z and the ropes. Scotty detains Eaton while Rick hits a belly to belly and the Steiner Bulldog for the win. It is an excellent showcase match for the Steiner, but without making the Dangerous Alliance to be jabronis. They still got their heat and Larry Z added a lot of heat to this match.

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Arn Anderson (w/ Paul E  Dangerously) vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Pro 3/28/92

Steamboat has answered all his criticisms from me in this feud. Steamboat is one of the greatest championship match workers, but sometimes leaves something to be desired in a blood feud. In the Dangerous Alliance angle, he has been red hot and taking it to the Alliance members with unwonted aggression. When AA jumps him at the outset with his robe still on, The Dragon fires back with kicks, chops and even eye gouges. Even when Anderson starts to connect with punches and a backbreaker, Steamboat is still coming at him. This is a perfect time for a chinlock as Anderson needs to slow the match down, catch his breath and sap Steamboat's energy. When Steamboat comes back off those rope with that high-energy attack and Anderson catches him in midsection is such high-quality wrestling. Steamboat is looking to keep it uptempo and at every turn Anderson is looking to slow it down. The spinebuster is another excellent sudden cutoff that keeps the match in Anderson's favor. Unfortunately for Anderson, he knocks his back into Steamboat, which is a great trademark Anderson spot. When he comes off the rope for double axehandle and he is caught in the midsection and flips over. I have to give them credit with how seamless this looked. So many times, the heel will stop short or it looks like he could never hit a move, but here it looked like Anderson would have hit the move if not for Steamboat connecting. The finish and post-match with Steamboat actually getting his hands on Paul E. and hanging Rude really surprised me. Paul E. does not strike me as someone to get physical (I know that changed with Punk and he took a mighty good asskicking) and I just thought it never happened on WCW TV. It was look to see Steamboat get in some licks on the loudmouth yuppie. Then hanging Rude after all Rude had done to him just shows how deep under his skin Rude had gotten to the Steamer for that to happen. Steamboat and Anderson should have a gotten a chance to have a classic on PPV, but still this was quite good. Each played their roles fantastically and worked at an excellent clip. The post-match really but over the new asskicker Steamboat in a real crowd-pleasing way. ***1/2

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Bobby Eaton w/ Paul E. vs. Dustin Rhodes - WCW Power Hour 5/8/92

Wow! This one should not have snuck up on me given who is involved, but when I saw the 9 minute length on the video I thought I would I get a fun, but uneventful bout. Instead, Dustin and Bobby brought their A games and packed about as much as they could in less than 9 minutes. Stone Cold is so right it all begins with the lockup. They have an intense lockup and everything falls into place. Bobby hits his big right hand only for Dustin to return the favor. You are not going to intimidate this youngster. Bobby takes a huge bump off a shoulderblock to the floor. It is little things like that transform the otherwise ordinary shoulderblock into a spot. Dustin somehow starts bleeding hardway from his nose and in retaliation throws Eaton's head into the post, hits a huge dropkick on the floor and lariat on the outside. Dustin is PUMPED! Back in the ring, Eaton is able to chopblock Dustin and take over on the knee with some really good work including busting out a spinning toehold. I need to watch some Ricky Morton because I am really starting to think that '91-'94 Dustin cant be touched in the selling department. The ref gets bumped off a push off on the spinning toehold attempt. Dustin gets a sort of half bulldog/cross body on Eaton because he is selling the leg. Dangerously calls for help. Austin tears Dustin's head off with a wicked clothesline. If you are only going to have one move make it a badass one. Austin just so happens to be facing Dustin's partner Windham in a TV title match later that same weekend. Windham makes the save and the Lonestar Blonds clear house. Dustin was on fire here and Eaton matched him with great bumping early and knee work here. About as good of a 8ish minute match as you will get. ***1/4

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WCW World TV Champion Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs. Barry Windham - WCW Saturday Night 05/09/92 Saturday Night

Austin cut off his golden locks, but retained the shitty birthday part tights. You changed the wrong part of your presentation, brutha. Apparently though, Austin has said that his long hair was nuance in the ring because it was so thin that it easily tangled and pulled. Plus it was starting to thin all compounded into obvious need for a hair cut, but still a major upgrade to the tights is still necessary. I have watched this match a couple times before and have always been lukewarm on it. I finally can put my finger on it. There is really no comeback. Windham gets his ass kicked for the majority of the last two falls and then Austin swings and misses and it is all over. Windham clearly had the fire in his belly for the Clash and SuperBrawl matches, but here treats it as just a regular match. Don't get me wrong, he puts on a great showcase of selling, but he seems content, just to sell whereas Steamboat as this time was constantly struggling and making the heel earn it. Also, much like the SuperBrawl II match Austin ran out of offense in the third fall. He looked great in the second fall, but in the third fall he resorting to chinlocks. There is a decent enough kayfabe reason that time is on Austin's side because he retains the title in the event of the draw so it is behooved of him to wrestle conservatively. It just is not very entertaining. For me, the first two falls were by far the best work and the third fall was very anticlimatic.

The first fall was actually a pretty solid TV wrestling match unto itself. I would give that fall the same rating that I would give for the entire match. Austin works the headlock early, but Windham puts more effort into keeping moving with a back suplex, pinfall attempts and a top wristlock attempt, before cracking it with a second back suplex. Windham is so crazy athletic that when Austin sets early he just steps over him and hits a dropkick. That's wild. Windham hits a lariat and a floatover suplex (he won the first fall against Austin a couple weeks ago with that move) for a pair of nearfalls. Austin hits with his game-changing clothesline (ask Dustin) and looks like he busts Windham's lip open. Austin works a headscissors to keep Barry at bay using the ropes for leverage. I prefer holds like this to sap a babyface's energy rather than when you already have the babyface down and out. Upon the ref breaking it for the cheating, Barry hits the DDT, but before he can capitalize Austin nails him with a right. However, Windham is able to hit his beautiful floatover superplex to pick up the first fall. Really great work with Barry hitting big bombs looking for the win and Austin trying just to hang on.

In the second fall, with his back against the Austin really ratchets up his intensity. This is the best he look in the ring at this point in his character. He hits a stiff back elbow that sends Windham reeling through the ropes to the floor. Austin is just suffocating with his full court press on Big Barry: double axe-handle, gutwrench suplex, vertical suplex. Austin applies a camel clutch and Barry uses his head to hit Austin in the nether regions. Austin's game-changing clothesline keeps it in his favor and he hits the Stun Gun to even it up. Windham made Austin look like a million bucks with his classic glassy eye sell. The third fall is pretty mundane as it consists of Austin trying to milk the clock with holds and occasionally hitting an elbow drop. When the ref is inadvertently caught with a boot, Austin looks to blast Windham with the belt, but whiffs and Windham rolls him up to win. I was like all for that finish. No big comeback. I guess you want to protect Austin, but it was literally all Austin for the last ten minutes and it seemed like Windham just backed into a championship. Austin is rightfully pissed off and whips Windham with the belt, hits the Stun Gun and leaves with the TV Title in hand. I would put his match with Dustin at Havoc '91 over this, but this is still a solid TV match. ***1/4

Blue Justice: Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan 2005-2007)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

She had so much love on her face, I couldnt see the tears!

Never got a chance to give Steel Panther a huge shout-out for most excellent time two Fridays ago in Hampton Beach. If you love heavy metal, if you love to laugh or if you just love to look at boobs the don't miss the four most bitchin rockers of the new millennium when they come to a venue near you. Also, I can't go without saying that my boy, LeBron, the personification of Love looks to prove that Love will triumph once again over those Purveyors of the False Truths, the San Antonio Spurs. A Victory for the Heat is a Victory for Love. If this does not make sense, then look the Letters of Martin to the Haters & Hypocrites right here on Riding Space Mountain!



When we left New Japan in 2004, it was a dismal, bleak state of affairs. Even though, the future of showcase in 2005 Dome Main Event, the rest of the card was littered with business as usual like jobbing out Ace, Yuji Nagata in an "MMA" match against Ron Waterman. Tanahashi and Nakamura just were not ready for the grandest stage in Japan and delivered an uneven match. The rest of the year saw dwindling attendance at the Dome as the focused was placed on the returning Satoshi Kojima (All Japan's Triple Crown Champion) feuding against his ex-partner IWGP Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan. After that debacle, New Japan brought in Brock Fuckin Lesnar in between his football foray and MMA gig. You will be hard-pressed to meet a bigger Brock mark than me, but this one fell right on its ass. Brock winning the IWGP title in the Dome drew a record low 10,000 people compared against just nine months before where they drew 46k. Not only that this was not the badass Brock that has been ripping up the WWE ring churning out classic after classic, but a totally unmotivated Brock delivering stinker after stinker. It was absolutely dire for New Japan when the unexpected occurred. Antonio Inoki the man who founded New Japan in 1972 was ousted.

It is unclear to me when, but Inoki was bought out by the video game company, Yuke's and Inoki's influence dwindled until he left sometime in 2006 and went on to found a new wrestling/MMA company, Inoki Genome Federation, which recognized Brock Lesnar as their first champion. Brock becoming increasingly difficult to work with was stripped of the IWGP Championship in July of 2006. These simultaneous departures breathed new life into New Japan. They refocused on being a pro wrestling company. Perish the thought! Yuji Nagata was given the vote of confidence as the Ace of New Japan and did not need to worry about randomly facing a shoot fighter. He could just focus on good fundamental pro wrestling. He delivered his work to date looking more confident and sure of himself than he ever did prior. He had an excellent contest with Giant Bernard that immediately created a new monster gaijin. He worked a long, solid match with Koji Kanemoto in the 2006 G-1 Climax proving he could work on top. In 2007 as the IWGP Championship, he had his best performance so far of this project in a chaotic bloodbath with Togi Makabe, a must-see for any wrestling fan. In parallel, the vanguard of the next generation were coming into their own as Hiroshi Tanahashi the first IWGP Champion of the post-Inoki era cemented himself as the leader of this new generation by defeating arch-rival Shinsuke Nakamura in a great match that seemed like an auspicious start to a new era. Attendances and great matches/feuds were not just going to be revived overnight, but 2006-2007 laid the foundations for the Renaissance of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

The Stabilizing Force in New Japan in 2006-2007

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1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00

2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03

3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04

4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00

5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01

6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00

7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04

8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03

9. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00

10. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW  6/25/00

11. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title

12. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe - NJPW 07/06/07

13. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01

14. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04

15. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03

16. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01

17. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murkami - Tokyo Dome 01/04/00

18. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03

19. Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - AJPW 6/30/01

20. Kenta Kobashi vs Takao Omori - Champions Carnival Final '00

21. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03
22. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06

23. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04

24. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03

25. GHC Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 07/27/01

26. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 9/12/03

27. New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02

28. GHC Tag Champions Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga - NOAH 10/19/02

29. Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 07/23/00

30. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00

31. Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00

32. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04

33. Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW G-1 Climax 08/12/06

34. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05

35. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04

36. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival '00

37. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH #2 08/06/00
38. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki vs Yuji Nagata - Tokyo Dome 01/04/07

39. Genichiro Tenryu vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Vacant IWGP Championship 02/15/04

40. GHC Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 09/23/02

41. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Vacant GHC Title 04/15/01

42. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 07/07/02

43. Yuji Nagata vs Giant Bernard - New Japan Cup Finals 04/30/06

44. U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuyuki Fujita - Vacant IWGP Championship 6/04

45. IWGP Champion Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - Tokyo Dome 05/02

46. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04

47. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Vader vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 2/27/00

48. All Japan Triple Crown Champ  Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04 Non-Title

49. IWGP Jr Tag Champions Kanemoto & Minoru vs Liger & Makabe - NJPW 9/12/00

50. Keiji Mutoh vs Yuji Nagata - Sumo Hall 08/12/01 G-1 Climax Final

51. Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Finals 08/17/03

52. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Champions Carnival '00

53. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - Budokan 02/17/02

54. Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama - NOAH #1 08/05/00

55. New Japan (Liger & Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 2/17/02

56. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Liger & Minoru vs. Kikuchi & Kanemaru - NJPW 8/29/02

57. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Giant Bernard - NJPW 06/18/06 Vacant IWGP Championship
58. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Yuji Nagata & Naofumi Yamamoto 

59. Sterness  vs. Burning 8-Man Tag - NOAH 08/03

60. Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 01/17/00

61. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 02/24/02

62. Yoshihiro Takayma vs Osamu Nishimura - G-1 Climax Semifinals

63. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax Round Robin

64. SUWA vs Dragon Kid - Toryumon 08/24/00 Hair Vs Mask

65. GHC Tag Champs Misawa & Ogawa vs Saito & Inoue - NOAH 9/10/04

66. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Masato Tanaka - Zero-One 3/02/02

67. Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - Tokyo Dome 10/08/01

68. NJPW(Liger, Minoru , Makabe) vs Osaka Pro(Delfin, Murhama, Tsubasa)-NJPW 12/14/00

69. Toshiaki Kawada vs Vader - AJPW 2/17/00

70. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Zero-One 3/2/01
71. U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - Tokyo Dome 01/04/05

72. Toshiaki Kawada vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 06/06/01

73.  Naoki Sano vs Minoru Tanaka - Battlarts 01/30/2000

74. Dick Togo vs Tiger Mask IV - M-Pro 08/25/02

75. GHC Tag Team Champions Wild II vs Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito - Budokan 9/23/02

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Leaders of the New Generation

U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - Tokyo Dome 01/04/05

Tanahashi defends his vanity title against Nakamura in the main event of the 01/04 Dome show in the last NJPW Dome show to draw over 40k. Incidentally, nine years later they main evented this past Dome show and drew 35k together. More things change, the more they stay the same. Even though the main event is a major shake-up from the usual Inoki-ist fare at the time, the undercard featured an "Ultimate Royale" Tournament, which was most likely a faux-MMA tournament where Ron Waterman went over Nagata?!?!?! Also there was the usual Chono old person match where he took on Riki Choshu and Tenzan in a triple threat match. While Tanahashi and Nakamura were clearly the future (they just main evented the 2014 Dome show, which did 35k), New Japan was still taking baby steps towards its current product. Just like New Japan was testing the waters, Tanahashi and Nakamura were still get acclimated to the main event scene in this uneven affair.

I would say Tanahashi or Nakamura were pretty even at this point of their careers (I don't know if a gap ever really formed between the two, but looking forward to finding out). Both are terribly inconsistent, but you can see there is enough good in each one to know that once they pull it all together that they could carry a promotion. What is also interesting is that you see a slightly different style emerging from this match that is clearly different than NOAH, but also a departure from traditional New Japan Strong Style. New Japan has always focused on matwork and strikes with each star having just a handful of spots (slams, suplexes etc...). Even before this match settled with matwork typical of a New Japan match. They each hit the other with an early suplex, which seemed oddly NOAH. It did not really fit with the rest of the match, but the match was such a hodgepodge that nothing really fit. The matwork was more in the vein of 80s style matwork that you find opening a Flair match: amateur ride and wrangling for positioning rather than MMA-style matwork. Then Tanahashi totally no-sells a superplex. Not like Luger no selling a Flair move because Luger is a badass. Tanahashi acts like the move literally did not happen. He just brushes it off. It was so friggin' weird.

I have watched Tanahashi matches before, but outside of his spots I do not really remember how he wrestles the body of his matches. I was very pleasantly surprised how he worked his control segment on the back. A babyface working a control segment is in my opinion the hardest segment to work and often gets labelled as heel in peril. There is a difference to me from heel in peril and a babyface control segment. A heel in peril resembles a face in peril with extended selling and wear down, but with a heel on the receiving end. I feel Tanahashi was working  a match closer to how you would see Backlund would with a clear strategy and looking to close in on a victory. It feels like Tanahashi is building towards a victory rather than the heel gaining command and going into the heat section. I feel like I am not doing a very good job explaining it. It is like the better sports team just gaining the advantage in a game and never really giving up the lead. Nine times out of ten, the babyface is the better wrestler than the heel, but the heel cheats or uses roughhouse tactics to compete. However, wrestling also nine times out of ten tells the story of how the babyface has to overcome the odds even though on paper he is better. Thus this is an interesting wrinkle to actually reflect a sporting contest in a more meaningful way. Of course, I don't know if Nakamura is really a heel here, I know he is by 2006, but if this is just face vs face chock it up to Nakamura just having better heel charisma for why I think that way. Long story, short, I dug Tanahashi's back work.

Another odd thing about this match is that it felt oddly slow. It is not like they moved slow. Tanahashi wiped himself and Nakamura in a wicked dive and Nakamura has some really bursts of acceleration of his flying cross armbreakers, but even between moves it was really plodding. The match story became that only way Nakamura could compete with Tanahashi was through these flash submissions. Tanahashi controlled 75% of the match, but could not put Nakamura away. At first Tanahashi is able to withstand the submissions and even get his own dragon sleeper, but Nakamura countered that by using the ropes into his own dragon sleeper in the only spot of the match that gets a pop. This was HHH/Brock Wrestlemania 29 levels of silence. Nakamura does get to showcase his offense briefly and I just love how he puts his unique spin on everything. Nobody does a powerbomb or a moonsault quite like that. He is a very weird guy. Ambrose should watch more Nakamura, if he does not already. Nakamura misses a knee drop to end his offensive spurt. Tanahashi slaps him a couple time to draw the nose-to-nose and you know end game is coming. Tanahashi hits a powerbomb, but Nakamura locks on the triangle choke, Tanahashi escapes to get a dragon suplex. Nakamura gets a cross armbreaker out of nowhere and Tanahashi sells it well to know he is finally in trouble. The sleeper nearly renders Tanahashi unconscious when he looks to break it, Nakamura quickly switches to the cross-armbreaker to win.

I liked the basic idea of the story: Tanahashi controls the majority of the match, but Nakamura hangs on with flash submissions. Tanahashi lets him linger and eventually bites him in the ass. Still the execution was just off. It felt slow, cold and uninteresting. I think Tanahashi works on top just fine, but just did not have a commanding presence at the time. Nakamura working from underneath worked in one regard because the flash submissions were an interesting hook, but he was not very good at selling. The beginning was pretty awful or boring. Things did get better after Tanahashi started to work on the back, but they were still a ways a way from delivering a classic. ***

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Yuji Nagata vs Giant Bernard - New Japan Cup Finals 04/30/06

The trick with Bernard/Albert/Tensai is if you respect his size as a booker and as an opponent then he does have some value as a monster heel. However, he will not be able to get himself over through his own efforts. He is a mediocre wrestler in just about every way that just happens to be quite large. So if a company (WWE) or his opponent treats him like shit, there is no overcoming that. This is just my thesis after two New Japan matches with him. Both are better than anything in WWE, but it is not because Japanese water turns Bernard/Albert into a super worker it is because he is treated with respect by his opponent and the promotion. He had only been with the promotion for four months and they booked him to win the New Japan Cup to face Brock Lesnar at the May 3rd show for the IWGP title. Now part of that maybe to give Brock a familiar opponent, but even after the Brock departure Bernard was pushed to the the consequent IWGP Title Tournament Final, the semi-finals of the G-1 Climax and a IWGP tag champion. He was positioned as a strong monster gaijin. In turn, Nagata and Tanahashi treated Bernard as a credible monster worth overcoming rather than an oversized jabroni. 

The interesting twist in this match was that Nagata was able to wound the monster, but Bernard was able to overcome the injury and secure the victory. It illustrated that even Nagata best arm work was not even enough to topple this new monster thus instantly establishing Bernard in the upper echelon of the New Japan scene. Nagata established early that he was going to hit and run with a focus on the arm. Bernard is not really good at the wild swing-miss-where'd he go spots. He was entertaining at the "Gimme my damn arm back" spots when Nagata would go for armbars. This shine is significantly shorter than really fun Tanahashi one as Bernard squashes Nagata like a bug with his size. The resulting heat segment is pretty pedestrian though Bernard has one of the better worked full nelsons I have ever seen. At some point, they show Scott Norton and I mark out. I don't know why I did, but I did. They had a lazy transition to Nagata's comeback as Bernard starts to slap Nagata and this wakes him up. Nagata rattles off his bombs like the exploder before applying a deep cross-armbreaker and then an armbar to give this match a hook: can Nagata put away the injured Bernard or will Bernard overcome his bad wing through sheer brute force. Bernard hits a quick big boot and follows up with a Vader Bomb and Baldo Bomb, but then he can't finagle a powerbomb due to his injury. This affords Nagata the opportunity to hit three Shining Wizards...KICK OUT! I am sure Keiji Mutoh was thrilled with that. Wrist-clutch Exploder! KICK OUT! I am sure Jun Akiyama was thrilled with that. Nagata is tapped out of energy and just does not look he has enough to get him to the finish line. There is an epic struggle of Bernard trying to hit a powerbomb before finally pulling it off and only getting two. He hoists him up for the lame Rikishi style tombstone piledriver to get the win.

I was actually very surprised at the finish as I thought Nagata was higher than Bernard on the NJPW totem pole, but it is those kinds of victories out of the gate that build a new wrestler into a credible threat. I like the inverted story with the monster having an injury to overcome and the underdog having to combat his own exhaustion to try to put away the big man. In this battle, it just took too much out of Nagata to overcome Bernard's size advantage. Bernard did some really nice selling of the arm to out over his own struggle. The first half or so of the match was pretty useless, but once Nagata injures Bernard's arm it gets a whole lot better. Comparatively, the Tanahashi/Bernard rocked at the beginning and went off the rails. As the cliche goes, it is all about how you finish so I have this one a little bit ahead and thus in my mind it is Albert/Bernard's best all time match. ***3/4

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Bob Sapp vs Albert SHOWDOWN~! This I got to see!

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Giant Bernard - NJPW 06/18/06 Vacant IWGP Championship

One of the common talking points was that once Albert went to Japan to become Bernard he magically became a great wrestler. Having never bothered watching his puro output, I had high expectations for Lord Tensai, but he was the same plodding, mechanical Albert. Having watched this match, it seems more like a case Bernard was given better opportunities to have good matches rather than actually getting better. I would say this is the best individual Tanahashi performance. He worked really well underneath the whole match and made Bernard look like Goliath. How desperate he was to avoid any contact from Bernard early and how he sold each blow really made Bernard into a credible giant. I liked the catch me if you can beginning. You know once Bernard can just wrangle this little bugger he would put him out. Bernard removes the turnbuckle pad, but Tanahashi slide by it and there is some good struggle over who is going to hit it first before Tanahashi finally cracks his skull against the unforgiving steel. Tanahashi is bloodied, but not beaten as they tease the countout finish. Tanahashi did a good job mixing in his hope spots and selling for Giant Bernard. At this point, I thought it was a really well-done David vs. Goliath because of how well they respected the size differences. However, in the finish stretch, Bernard felt like got a whole lot smaller. He was grabbing quick pinfall attempts like a powerslam off the ropes or a desperation Baldo Bomb (as called by the announcers). Tanahashi was able to hit a German suplex. The finish proper did reconnect the match back to the first half with Tanahashi being able to pin Bernard via Sling Blade (first two no-sold) so he had to resort to sending Bernard into the turnbuckle that Bernard had exposed (O what a world what world!) and then was able to get the pin.

I don't mind Tanahashi German suplexing Bernard. How many times has that happened in Vader matches after all. It is just that during that 5 minutes that proceeded the actual finish it felt like two equal-sized wrestlers trading moves, which was a disconnect from the earlier established story. I really liked the match up until comeback, but also loved the finish. Any person Bernard size could have wrestled this match all he brought to the table was that he is a larger than average wrestler. Tanahashi wrestled really well underneath, but just could not put together a complete match...yet. ***1/2

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Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW G-1 Climax 08/12/06

Nagata has really come into his own as the New Japan ace in these interim years of 2006-2007. He is not on par with Choshu or Hashimoto and few are, but he is wrestling more confidently and decisively. There were times like in 2001 Mutoh match where he would take Mutoh down and just not have a clue what to do like Dan Severn in an early UFC fight. Here and later in the Makabe fight, Nagata takes charge and ownership of the match. Now Kanemoto is no slouch and someone I need to explore more, but is a very good junior heavyweight.

Since weight classification means more in Japan than in America, Nagata works on top most of the match similar to how I have seen Tanahashi work and similar to a Bruno or Backlund where the "better" wrestler is actually "winning" the majority of the match. Nagata gained his advantage during the opening matwork sequence when he was able to grab an arm and apply short arm scissors and a deep armbar. For pretty much the rest of the match, Nagata would hone in on that arm for a cutoff or pressing an advantage. Kanemoto sold this really well immediately and realizing the trouble he was in would fire off a couple quick hope spots like a roundhouse kick to the head, but Nagata would respond with these home run shots by coming up swinging and never letting Kanemoto land combinations. Again, Kanemoto would have an opening by hitting a dragon leg screw and following up with dropkicks to the knee, but Nagata had taken so much out of him that Nagata was able to cut off a suplex attempt and suplex him out on the floor and then an Exploder onto the floor. Make no mistake about it, Nagata was not just no selling these hope spots, he sold the roundhouse kick for an 8 count and sold the knee once he finished his rally for a minute or two after. He was fighting through the pain and taking advantage of Kanemoto's weakened state.

Now we arrive at my problem with that match. At around this point, Kanemoto sells too much and what I mean is that he looks so beaten to a pulp that it seems impossible for him to make a comeback. I would say that ends up hurting the finish. Kanemoto finally hits a combination of a jumping knee, facewash and senton, but Nagata catches him with a super exploder and a Shining Wizard for two. If that was the finish then I would rate this match a lot higher. Kanemoto had his last gasp and Nagata finally had enough of this and demolished him with two huge moves. Instead the match goes on for another 5 superfluous minutes. We move into the submission trading section of the match with Kanemoto's heel hook and Nagata's crippler crossface competing for dominance. Now they trade bombs with Kanemoto getting his wicked pretty moonsault and Nagata hitting a back drop driver and two brianbusters. Then I hear the time announcement. I roll eyes. They run through some small packages, which is smart and Nagata grabs a pitch perfect cross-armbreaker, but time expires.

I have no problem with a draw finish, but it just did not jive with this match. Instead of making, Kanemoto look string hanging with Nagata, it made Nagata look like a chump for not being able to take out Kanemoto when he kicked his ass for 75% of the match. If Kanemoto did not die halfway through and instead kept struggling and fighting like a Steamboat maybe I could buy it. The first 75% of this was great and was the best Nagata has looked. Like I said, they had a perfectly fine finish with the super exploder and Shining Wizard, but the extra 5 minutes and draw finish just felt forced. ****

Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Yuji Nagata & Naofumi Yamamoto 

NJPW 10/09/06

YOSHI TATSU~! So finally I review a wrestling match involving the most famous Japanese wrestler in America of the past decade! I always wondered if he ever had any good puroresu matches before he came Stateside.  I guess this is best match of the bunch, but he really has nothing to do with why this match is so good. This is one of my favorite genre of matches: Top Face & Overmatched Rookie versus Two Main Event Heels.  Miyamoto & Shiga crush this performance in performing the same role as Yamamoto in their tag matches, but this match has Minoru Suzuki and Takayama as the heels, which gives it a unique wrinkle. Suzuki is one of the few heels that can carefully toe the line about adding levity to his matches and still be a total badass. I loved him avoiding Nagata, pegging Yamamoto on the apron and promptly tagging out. Also another bitchy heel move that needs to be stolen is counting along with the ref while he counts back an interfering babyface tag partner. Yet another hidden highlight was when he was holding Nagata in the corner and Takayama came in with the big knee on Nagata he sold the move and the crowd loved it. Takayama is made for these matches where he is the cocky bully that is kicking some hapless chump's ass. What didn't help Yamamoto's case was he bull rushed early and then did Takayama's one foot cover that's a no-no and he got pulverized for that. My biggest complaint was that while Takayama and Suzuki put a new wrinkle on this match they did not really kick the shit out of the kid as much as they could. Nagata was actually pretty good as the top babyface eager to get involved and finally did open a can of whoop-ass. His slapfest with Minoru Suzuki was one of the best of its kind. Nagata looks to finish off Takayama, but Yamamoto wants to exact some revenge so Nagata obliges. Where this match really falters in comparison to the Miyamoto & Shiga matches is that Yamamoto does not get that big false finish that makes you think "Holy shit, the kid is going to pull it off". Instead, he eats a knee lift and an Everest German while Suzuki detains Nagata. It was not as hot a finish as the build was giving them. It is always a joy to watch Suzuki and Takayama work, but the babyfaces fail to get the above just a fun match. This has an outside shot at the Top 100. ***1/2 

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How come whenever she walks by I just have this burning desire to listen to Queen?

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06

What a difference two years makes! This is a vast, vast improvement over there very uneven Dome '05 main event and the first real indication that New Japan is turning things around from the Dark Ages of Early 00s Inoki-ism. I do not know the exact timetable, but I am pretty sure that Inoki has been ousted or will be by year's end. I remember Brock was the first champion of the Inoki Genome Federation (which is oddly still around and has just signed Shinya Hashimoto's son). This change over in power has refocused on the company on pro wrestling, a novel concept, but as we have seen from Vince Russo sometimes wrestling companies forget they are wrestling companies.

I remain impressed with Tanahashi's ability to energetically work on top when it so much easier for a babyface to work underneath. He does so with vulnerability as he does a great job selling the ribs in the middle portion of the match. Nakamura has developed a lot and is not just relying on flash submissions, but is varying his offense and seems more sure of himself. In the beginning as expected, Tanahashi bests Nakamura on the mat and I really liked the one spot where Tanahashi goes for the sunset flip and Nakamura back rolls out. Any wrestling fan at this point just expects Nakamura to dropkick Tanahashi in the face. Except Tanahashi rears back and avoids him thus he ends up getting a nearfall on Nakamura. It is neat little spot at the beginning. As in a lot of 00s puroresu matches, the struggle of a suplex signals a critical point in the match as Nakamura is able to hit a front suplex and follow that up with knee lifts to the ribs. A great spot during this fantastic rib work (Nakamura on point and Tanahashi sells beautifully) is Tanahashi is able to create separation looks to dive onto Nakamura ala Dome '05, but wary of  this Nakamura rushes back in and spears Tanahashi right in the injured ribs.That is some good pro wrestling right there. They use the dragon sleeper reversal here again and it does get a good pop so like the tombstone reversal I see its value. I am disappointed a forearm exchange is the transition to Tanahashi's control segment. It is so cliche by this point. Tanahashi hits Sling Blade to cement his advantage and works a pretty good control. Nakamura traps him in a flash triangle where Tanahashi's arm drops twice, which was a pretty heated nearfall. Nakamura kicks out at one on Sling Blade. I think a well-timed one count can be pretty effective tool ala well-timed no selling. That one count was not well-timed. Tanahashi's High Fly Flow eats knees leaving him prey for Landslide, but that only gets two. Tanahashi blocks the Super Landslide attempt and defeats Nakamura with the impressive combination of a powerbomb, High Fly Flow and Tiger Suplex.

I do not all the intricacies of New Japan booking at this point, but this match seemed pretty definitive in defining their future roles. Tanahashi was going to be the ace of his generation and was being set up to wrestle current Ace, Nagata, whom he ultimately vanquish in a changing of the guard. Nakamura would his Tenryu to his Jumbo or Kawada to his Misawa, the number two who will get the title and run with it, but never be the Ace. From a kayfabe point of view, Nakamura does not seem to be able match Tanahashi's firepower. He worked the ribs well, but really could not get the job done. Then he had to rely on his two big bombs: a flash submission and his Landslide, but it was too little too late. Tanahashi demonstrated his dynamism being to work effectively in control and underneath. The finish stretch needed to be built a little better, but baby steps and this was a great body of a match with a good finish. ****

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AJPW Triple Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki vs Yuji Nagata - Tokyo Dome 01/04/07

Nagata against a dickish heel that busts him open is always gold. Nagata would have been great in the South in the 80s. Suzuki doing the Burt Reynolds laying down on the ramp with the titles and saying "Come get me, big boy" was awesome. Suzuki is an absolute ass to start and suckers Nagata into the ropes.  Where Suzuki is able to apply a triangle choke and then on outside he smashes a chair over his head to bust him open. Suzuki doing Burt Reynolds pose again in the ring with all ringside photographers taking pictures. Suzuki goes for the kill with the chair, but people are trying to  stop him and Nagata is able to kick the chair back into Suzuki's face. The playing field has been levelled and now Nagata is going open a can of whoop ass. I loved this opening, but the rest of the match was too uneven to rank among the best Nagata matches. Besides the slapfests, it was the loooooooooooooong time between spots. I am not one to usually complain about this, but when a hiptoss out of an ab stretch has a 45 second before next contact I am going to zone out. Nagata had a bit more fire against Makabe and Murakami. Suzuki does well playing the overmatched heel but times his comebacks well with the sleeper and piledriver. Nagata is too blinded by hatred to pin Suzuki after a wicked back drop driver and pulls him up. Suzuki is able to knee Nagata in the head and applies the sleeper. Nagata goes for the armbreaker to get out as before, but does not have enough strength. Nagata passes out and in a great finish to an uneven match.

Minoru Suzuki is very entertaining to watch, but I have yet to see him really knock it out of the park. The Mutoh & Kobashi matches, which are thought were better than this were hosed by his opponent's idiosyncrasies. Here Nagata could not match his own level hatred that he could tap into against Murakami & Makabe. It is a great layout, but falls a bit short on execution. ****

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe - NJPW 07/06/07

I don't know if Makabe banged Nagata's wife or owes him money, but Nagata came out of the gate guns blazing. It set the tone for the rest of the match. This was not going to be a wrestling match; this was going to be a fight. It was one hellacious fight. Makabe had made the transition from junior heavyweight to heavyweight and in addition bleached his hair and joined Great Bash Heel, which to the shock of no one is a heel New Japan stable. I love the matchup between the Ace and a pure heel brawler because you get so many technically proficient title matches. It is always a great change of pace to watch a violent Japanese brawl. Especially since Nagata's biggest problem is that he is so, so dry. He exuded real hate in this match and you felt that he wanted to destroy Makabe. Makabe for his part went balls to the wall heel using every dirty trick and just being a general asshole. Right off the bat, he tries to duck out the ropes to stall and Nagata ain't having any of that and Makabe straight away goes for the eyes, but Nagata will not denied. That hot opening establishes everything you need to know about these two. Nagata is willing to fight fire with fire brawling in the crowd and chairshots, but the ref keeps getting in his way and he ends up wearing a chair for a collar around his neck, always a nasty visual. Makabe busts out scissors and rips Nagata's forehead open. I'm sold, I love this match! Makabe works the cut and sends Nagata to the wolves and a melee ensues with the Young Boys attempting a save. While Makabe is complaining about the ref's count, Nagata fires up and hits these HUGE elbows. These are fuckin Misawa-level elbows and Makabe is covered in blood. I am a sucker for the double juice! Nagata looks to rip Makabe's arm off and when he makes the ropes the ref has to tackle Nagata off him. This is intense! GBH is in and it is mayhem! Nagata beats them back. Makabe hits a low blow on a back drop driver attempt. He hits a German and Death Valley Driver, but only gets two! Makabe flips the crowd off and wraps his arm in the chain, but the ref sees it and won't count. That ref has some big cajones to stand up to this lunatic. A chair is discreetly slipped in (I had to rewind to catch it) and Makabe piledrives Nagata on it. When the ref sees the chair, he flips the fuck out and bounces against the mat. This ref deserves a cut of the gate he is working overtime to put this whole shebang over. Makabe misses King Kong Knee Drop triggering the finish stretch. Back drop driver and Makabe kicks out at 1 and beats on his chest. Nagata kicks his head off twice and then hits a back drop driver to polish him off. 

No. 1 in this blog with a bullet

I love chaos, violence and brutality. This matchup had it in spades. Everyone including the ref had their roles down pat. This is the best that Nagata has ever looked as the New Japan ace. He was fighting for pride and the championship. Makabe was such a low-down heel. There was such urgency and struggle throughout. This along with Kobashi/Ogawa has been one of my favorite finds from doing this project. I need to rewatch it again to finalize my rating, but I am going err on the high side and go ****1/2. Reviewing the list, I am downgrading to ****1/4, but I am going to rewatch anything ****+ so this is still very much in flux as I am just using star ratings as a guide and this is my first time ever using them.

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I set lofty expectations for myself with 4 blogs in 4 days and only fell one short, which is pretty damn good for me. I am one match away from finishing Steamboat in '94 and also should have Dangerous Alliance parts 5 &6 up climaxing with the Wargames '92 match. LETS GO HEAT!

SuperBrawl II Review: History of the Dangerous Alliance Vol. 4 (Rude, Anderson, Austin, Eaton and Zbyszko)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Today I got a free burrito at Chipotle and the only reason I can surmise is because I am what a real, sexy man is supposed to look like. I thought that poor girl was going to pass out from hyperventilating just looking at me. That's Animal Magnetism, BABY~!

I thought it would be fun to do a little compare and contrast between where WCW was at the time of SuperBrawl II and where WWF would be a month later at Wrestlemania VIII. I went back and forth on the criteria I would use to judge who had the advantage. First and foremost, I am a fan so in-ring quality and entertainment are the most important factors to me. However, drawing power, booking and just overall star power were taken into consideration.

Top Talent Leaving

Hulk Hogan/Sid Justice/Jake Roberts/Roddy Piper vs Lex Luger

In one fell swoop, the WWF lost two out of three top babyfaces and heels coming off Wrestlemania VIII. Jake Roberts was just hitting his stride as a sinister heel in the Savage feud and would have served well as a No. 2 heel under Flair to facilitate the rise of talent. Sid is a strange cat. You just can't put your finger on why he is over, but he always finds a way to get over with the live audience. He could have went either way as a main event face or heel and would have given WWF a big man option when it was about get a lot smaller. Finally, you have the two cornerstones of the Hulkamania Era. You can go either way on their departure. You never want to lose big time talent like Hogan and Piper that have a history of drawing. However, they were able to parlay Piper's exit into a big time Wrestlemania victory for their now number 2 face, Bret Hart. Hogan's rub for Sid even if half-assed was moot because of Sid leaving shortly after Hogan. When the main event of your biggest show does not even stick around for Summerslam, that's going to send the WWF reeling. 1992 was a time of transition by the time Hogan returns in early 1993 it is evident that Vince could not stop the bleeding and they had careened into the Dark Ages. WCW also had a main event leave after SuperBrawl II, but Luger for all intents and purposes had been written out of the storylines. He was just there to put over the new top dog, his buddy, Sting. Going into Luger's 1991 WCW World Title run is a whole another blog, but suffice to say Vader had everyone saying Lex Who?

EDGE: WCW. WWF had way too much top talent leave all at once. WCW was better prepared for their exit building around the Dangerous Alliance and gaining Vader and Miracle Violence Connection.

Ace Face

Sting vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage

Up until the '97 Crow Sting character, this was Sting at his height in terms of crowd reaction and card positioning. He was feuding with Cactus Jack, Luger and the Dangerous Alliance all at once and holding his own. He was on his way to the historic Sting/Vader series, one of the few WCW series that gets talked on the same level as WWF series by WWF fanboys. Still there was seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel for WCW in terms of business. Was that Sting's fault or WCW's business direction? A lot of folks have poked holes in Sting's WON Hall of Fame candidacy due to his inability to draw. However, that is hindsight coming out of SuperBrawl II and looking towards Vader, it seems like the sky is the limit for WCW and the main event scene. On the other hand, things look bleak for Savage as the remaining bastion of the Hulkamania yesteryear gone by. His story from Wrestlemania II to Wrestlemania VIII (just tracked by Wrestlemanias) is amazing and climaxed him with getting his girl back, returning from retirement and winning the World Title. Unlike movies or TV, wrestling never ends, but it should have ended there for Savage. Don't get me wrong Savage had plenty left to give, the way story arc was setup it was hard to go anywhere. He had a dearth of opponents. They seemed content to let Flair work on top for the rest of 92, but never be The Man. They lost Sid and Roberts leaving a newly minted singles Shawn Michaels to be the number two heel. The fact that story felt like Savage was an old man coming back for one last hurrah and just not having any opponents made this a bad situation for Savage.

EDGE: WCW. Savage had two things going for him. He was a better wrestler than Sting and he had Vince McMahon. The WWF promotional machine could buoy Savage even if he did not have much in the way of talent. Sting had his charisma and better opponents and booking. As a businessman, I'd take Savage and Vince, but I am not a businessman. I am a fan and give me Sting and Vader.

Nuclear Heel

Rick Rude vs Ric Flair

Flair in WWF was just weird. I need to do some more research on Flair's post-Wrestlemania run up until his departure in January of 1993. He was definitely the top heel in the promotion, but was seemingly never really featured again. He was just an odd fit in the WWF. I know he would regain the title and have two great matches with Bret, but it just did not seem right. Rick Rude on the other hand was just hitting his stride. The heat he was getting at SuperBrawl II and how well he was wrestling. Rude's 92 is on par with just about any single year heel runs. I am talking Flair in '85 or '86 or Savage in '86 heel run level.

EDGE: WCW. This is a slam dunk. Flair is Flair, but WWF was not letting him run the show. Rude was getting to Flair levels in '92. He was besting him at his own game.

Biggest Return
Ricky Steamboat vs Ultimate Warrior

The fan in me says this is an easy decision. Steamboat all day, BABY! However, in the sea of departures, Warrior was the lone bright spot for the WWF. He was young enough not to be considered to be a part of the old guard, but old enough to have veteran experience working in Wrestlemania main events. He was a huge boon to Vince to utilize him with Savage to give Savage a partner and opponent on his level. However, Warrior was also batshit crazy and would flame out anyways. Steamboat was cool and calm. Every week, you knew Steamboat was going to have a great match with anybody. He was a great utility player helping out Dustin and Douglas as a tag partner, Austin as a opponent or carrying the company as the top feud with Rude.

EDGE: WCW. Closer than you would thinking going in, but Steamboat offers too much flexibility and proved to be able to work on top with Rude. Warrior is just too unstable. 

Rising Heel
Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels

This is where WWF starts to pick up the slack. It is almost like 1992 was this role reversal. For years, WWF was so strong on top while WCW could claim a higher amount of good working depth. However, WWF had a strong crop of young talent. Austin would end up being one of the biggest crossover superstars of all time and destroying Shawn Michaels, but in 1992 there was no way you could tell that. He barely had any offense. He was strong in the fundamentals, but still too green. Shawn has been kicking ass with the Rockers since 1986 and was a veteran at this point. Yes, he was in a new role as a singles heel, but having watched a shit ton of Rockers footage this guy could flat out go. He was thrusted into a number two heel role that he was not really ready for, but still had great matches with Savage and Bulldog on the year and main evented Survivor Series '92. Not too shabby for a tag team specialist, right Gorilla.

EDGE: WWF. Hindsight, give me Austin every time. In 1992, this is a slam dunk, HBK crushes Stunning Steve. 

Rising Babyface

Ron Simmons vs. Bret Hart 

WWF may have had a bleak present, but the future was so bright that their next top talent needed to wear shades during promos. Ok, that cant all be gems. In Simmons' defense, he was a decent power wrestler. I would need to see more of his promos to gauge his charisma. He was overpushed too soon to attempt recreate Junkyard Dog's magic, but I think he was a solid hand. Bret offers a Steamboat like flexibility with a promotional machine that could manufacture Sting-like charisma. Bret did have charisma, it was subtle and mostly demonstrated in the ring, but McMahon is a genius because his booking and promoting extracted the most out of it.

EDGE: WWF. The future is bright from a fan's perspective for WWF.

Creepy Character

Catcus Jack vs Undertaker

This one is the toughest of the match ups. Undertaker had a great mystique and character. The matches, which in part were due to his opponents, were just bad. The wild man Cactus was having better matches and also being pushed harder in the main event. He was Sting's opponent at Beach Blast and the main thorn in Simmons side (he was injured and forced to be a manager). 

EDGE: WWF. However, at SuperBrawl II, Cactus seemed like a niche character, before being pushed up the card. Whereas, Undertaker seemed like a huge deal beating Jake at Wrestlemania VIII before being put in his own little world where he fights strange monsters. So just looking at the two events I would take Taker, but down the road I would say Cactus. 

Top Heel Tag Team

Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton vs Money Inc.

As much as I hate to say, Anderson & Eaton are overrated on name value. If they stayed together longer or positioned better than maybe they could be an all-time great tag team. Instead they are dream team that does not live up to the hype. They felt behind the Rude/Steamboat, Austin/Windham and Windham/Zbyszko feuds in the Dangerous Alliance pecking order. Whereas, Money Inc carried the shallow WWF tag division through '92 into '93 even being Hogan's opponents for his return at Wrestlemania IX.

EDGE: WWF. Money Inc. was a solid ace heel tag team and a good use of DiBiase and Rotundo in the twilight of their careers. Anderson & Eaton should be better on paper, but were overshadowed by their fellow Dangerous Alliance members.

Top Face Tag Team

Steiners vs Natural Disasters

I don't care how many people tell me the Steiners are just spot monkeys. They are my kind of spot monkeys. Two big Michigan Men throwing around jabronis. I don't know if they make my top ten tag teams of all time, but they are two of my favorites. I don't care how many people tell me John Tenta is not that bad. One half of the Natural Disasters is the fuckin Shockmaster!

EDGE: WCW. GO BLUE!

Did WWF have anymore tag teams?
Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham vs Field

LOD/Nasties were horribly misused by the WWF, which could have had a deeper tag division. The WCW was downright shallow by their standards, but I wanted to spotlight how good the Dustin/Barry team was because they are so neglected. They had classics against Zbyszko/Austin, Rude/Austin and Miracle Violence Connection. I would actually say they were a better tag team than Steiners in '92. Also, what a great learning experience for Dustin and a way to protect him from a singles run too soon and a great way to keep Barry relevant and help out the kid.

EDGE: WCW. Definitely check out a lot of Windham & Rhodes in '92.

Overall: WCW wins 6-4, but in an uncharacteristic fashion. WCW, to me, has always been the deeper promotion. In this comparison, they won based on their strength on top. Sting, Rude, Steamboat and later Vader is a murder's row of main event talent. However, WWF has a stronger midcard with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels waiting in the wings to rise to the top. Austin and Dustin were a lot greener than Hart and Michaels, but were certainly promising prospects. The tag division in both promotions were much more shallow than they had been in the 80s, but Dustin & Windham still turned in a year really strong year as a team. WWF struggled to find a groove in 1992. WCW had a remarkable first half to 1992 before strange booking decisions (hey it is WCW, after all) torpedoed any momentum.
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WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Brian Pillman WCW SuperBrawl II ****1/2 (Match of the night for me in a loaded night. This holds up remarkably well that not only showcases Liger and the New Japan Junior style, but it is also a string struggle for the newest WCW title. I loved the finish as a "live by the sword die by the sword" spot)

Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin) w/Mad USA vs.Lonestar Blonds (Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes) - Superbrawl II ****1/4 (One of the best tag team matches in 90s WCW history. Barry and Dustin are red-hot looking for revenge and Zbyszko & Austin are excellent heels in every way. This is a must-see match)

WCW World Tag Champions Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) w/ Mad USA vs The Steiner Brothers - SuperBrawl II ***1/4 (Dream match on paper underwhelms. They did not seem on the same page and nothing really flowed)

WCW US Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW SuperBrawl II ****1/4 (This match is not talked about enough. Yes the Beach Blast match is better and candidate for best WCW match of the 90s. This match does have the sort of weak finish, but features some absolutely great wrestling and Rude proving why his '92 run is one of the greatest in history)

WCW World Champion Lex Luger w/Harley Race vs Sting - WCW SuperBrawl II (This is not Luger being lazy. He was leaving for a new job and was conditioned for that new job. It is clear early that he was trying hard to get his buddy, Sting over. Even if the match is underwhelming, Sting has come such a long way since 1990 and really feels like the Ace of WCW)

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WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Brian Pillman 

WCW SuperBrawl II

I have this match on the Brian Pillman DVD set and have always thought it was great, but at the time they were editing out Jesse's commentary. I have to say I was really impressed with The Body and how much he put over Liger. Dusty, God bless him, I think really did like the luchadores, but just did not take them seriously. The less said about Heenan and the Luchadores the better. Here, Jesse was putting over how intimidating Liger looked, how great he was both on the mat & the air, and how he had earned the respect of the crowd and that the USA chants were just out of reflexive patriotism. I used to think it was a close call between Jesse and Heenan, but the more and more I watch the more it is becoming a no contest in favor of The Body.

Watching the match this time around, it definitely came off more as an exhibition and showcase of Liger and Pillman's talents as athletic wrestlers. I would call this an out and out spotfest because the transitions were still pretty tight, but it was clear that story was to WOW. After the early establishment that they were equals, I did like that Pillman was wrestling his usual rugged style (dropkick to the outside, chops, matwork) as a contrast to Liger's moonsault and back handspring (nice pop for that one). It was weird they did not payoff the Liger surfboard attempts. It is always great when an opponent has something scouted and give maximum effort to avoid it, but I thought after wearing him down more that we would get the surfboard for a good nearfall type spot. There were some parts of the match that I did find too back and forth. Like Pillman hitting a nasty back drop driver and then pretty much immediately taking heat to the knee. I thought Pillman had been working pretty effectively as the subtle heel so maybe this was to reestablish him as the babyface, which seemed to work because in the figure-4 was when the U-S-A chants started. After the figure-4, Pillman starts to mount a comeback, but Liger drops him over to the floor and heads to the top. It was cool to watch the crowd all stand and be stunned by the somersault from the top to the floor. This is an example of why I would not say this was a total spotfest at this point they has demonstrated that Liger is a high-flyer so they want to showcase Pillman in that role so they have an epic struggle over a suplex back into the ring and ends up with Pillman running Liger's head into the turnbuckle leaving him prone to Air Pillman. Sure, Pillman blows off the legwork, but hey at least he did not just hit Air Pillman they actually bothered working a transition. Now Pillman hits a suplex over the top rope to the floor, which I always mark out for because it is so rare and then a cross body from the top to the floor. Two can play at that game, Mr. Liger. Here again is where it gets a little spotty with Pillman taking signature chin bump on the railing (always nasty), but then meeting Liger with a dropkick (pitch perfect) as he came off the top.

Too often you will only see wrestlers establish they are equals by going for the same moves early on, but I like they continued that thread later into the match with both going for dropkicks and spinning wheel kicks. It felt like you were watching the two of the best in their respective styles. They do a really hot Japanese-style finish stretch with a ton of bombs and nearfalls that is very reminiscent of the Pillman/Badd finish stretch at Fall Brawl '95. I am not going to do a laundry list of moves as it much better to watch it yourself, but I will give them praise for their urgency and struggle they gave these spots. Also shout out to Liger for taking that super front suplex hard on his stomach. The build to the superplex was well-done and when it did not get Liger the fall, it got a nice pop. Liger going for the kill with the diving headbutt, but crashing and burning was an excellent finish. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. I am surprised my man, Jesse The Body did not bust out that cliche because that was a perfect way to sum up the finish. ****1/2

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Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin) w/Mad USA vs. 

Lonestar Blonds (Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes) - Superbrawl II

Paul E. must have hired a Director of Wardrobe Operations as Madusa looks a million times better in that green dress, but what the fuck Stunning Steve. You go from tights that have a floral lampshade pattern to the design of birthday party plates for a seven year old. Dr. Tom was right. What the hell is so Stunning about Stunning Steve?

Well his clothesline duh. At this point, it was pretty much Austin's only offensive weapon, but boy was it one helluva weapon. Anytime, he got in trouble he would bust that bad boy out and Dustin sold it like a sumbitch. I will say just to get the negative out of the way early: Austin's greeness rears its ugly head in this match and is what drags this match down just a tad as he really does not have the offense to compete at this level. His reliance on the chinlock especially during the Dustin FIP took a match that I would say otherwise is a MOTYC down a notch. I hate to sound down on the match because I was rocking and rolling with them in lock step and I was looking forward to the Dustin FIP because he is so great in that role, but I thought Austin stymied him with such a blase control segment that it cooled off the match. Enough dwelling on the negative, when there is so much positive in this match namely Larry Z getting his ass royally kicked.

The Texans whoop the Dangerous Alliance's ass early. This is where Austin is in his element. He may not have much in the way of offense, but he ain't afraid to show ass and bump around for the babyfaces. Of course, Larry Z made his career on being an obnoxious heat-seeking magnet. When Big Barry is done playing around with Austin and throws him to Larry, the crowd is on Zbyszko with a big "Larry Sucks" chants and he has a conniption fit on the apron. What ensues is some of the best babyface revenge you'll ever see with The Cruncher bumping, stooging and screaming for Barry & Dustin. When Barry picked up Larry from the cover, it is those type of small things that really put over a blood feud match. This is not about wins and losses, but inflicting pain and gaining retribution. The little things are what separate the classic matches from the great ones.  I loved Dustin going after the hand of Larry and would have loved to seen that explored more in depth. In contrast to the Dustin FIP, the Windham FIP was really well-done with Barry working in some great hope spots (like going for the lariat, but only propelling himself over the top rope to the floor) and selling really well. The Dangerous Alliance was really on point with using the guard rail and keeping things moving with Windham. The Dustin hot tag was fun because Austin and Zbyszko are just so good at maximizing the impact of a babyface's offense at this point. They really make you feel that everything has gone off the rails and they could be beaten at any moment. Then Austin blasts Dustin with a clothesline. I discussed the Dustin FIP above and wished we would have saw more Cruncher at this point.  Dustin hits Austin with a nasty Stung gun where Austin's forehead looks to catch the top rope. Windham is in like a Zbyszko-seeking missile and crushes with a barrage of lariats capping off with one off the top to win that match.

Short of calling this a street fight and adding blood, this is about as damn good a heated, revenge match you will see in the context of a normal tag rules match. The babyfaces were out for revenge and came out swinging early. The Dangerous Alliance bided their time and when the opportunity arose they cheated like muthafuckas to get the advantage and Austin had Dustin's number with the clothesline. Dustin and Windham would not be denied on this night and picked up the victory and a modicum of revenge. Dustin still looks wise beyond his years. Windham was red-hot and looked great in his face in peril. Larry Z is perfect for these matches with his verbal selling and stooging. Austin would eventually become the complete package, but in terms of bumping there were few better at this time. One of the best WCW tag team matches and a great showcase for the heat that Larry Z could generate. ****1/4

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WCW World Tag Champions Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) w/ Mad USA vs The Steiner Brothers - SuperBrawl II

On paper, Anderson & Eaton versus The Steiners is a dream match, but like so many it falls short of expectations. It is not a bad match per se, but when you have two greatest heel tag team workers paired up against one of the most over babyface tag teams the expectations are high. The story of the K. Allen Frye regime in early 1992 WCW are matches dripping with effort due to monetary incentives. However, Arn and Eaton who never needed bonuses to compete at high level actually turned in a rather lukewarm performance. There was very little of the characteristic big bumps from Eaton or Arn's stooging and cowering. In fact, the timing seemed off and a little bit awkward such as the outside bit and the double suplex hope spot. They seemed more synchronized once the heat segment on Scott kicked in, but it was a little too late to salvage a classic. The Steiners were their usual bomb throwing selves. It was clear that Scott had no idea how to follow up any of his spots. He looked like an early UFC wrestler who knew how to take his opponent down, but had not clue what to do with him once he got him there. So you get a lot of really cool, power amateur spots taking Eaton, but he just kinda lets him back up. In some ways, it is the Steiners' fault for not knowing how to wrestle a complete match, but Anderson and Eaton have carried lesser teams to great matches so I am putting the blame on them for not being more into match and feeding the Steiners. I really liked Scotty's tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the ramp, Rick being a goofball and the Doomsday Device. However, these are just spots and there was no real flow to the match. They tease a Dogface Gremlin in Peril section before settling into one with Scotty based off Arn running Scott's head into Eaton's head, which is such a bitchin' transitions. From there, the match picks up with the Dangerous Alliance hitting their bombs on Scotty like Eaton's kneedrop, Arn's DDT and the Rocket Launcher on the ramp. The last move takes a lot of Eaton and he tags into Arn who gets sent into Eaton's foot. The hot tag to Rick is short and features an awkward attempt at Rick trying to slam Eaton while hoisted on Arn's shoulders. Rick looks to have secured the victory with a Steiner Bulldog, but Eaton saves and Madusa hands powder to Arn throw into Rick's face. The temporarily blinded Rick Steiner suplexes the ref, which Jesse says should trigger the DQ. Scott runs through his finishing sequence hitting a Tiger Driver and Frankensteiner to seemingly win the WCW World Tag Team Titles. However, the refs convene and it is decided that belts be returned to the Dangerous Alliance since Rick suplexed the original ref. Scott Steiner was an offensive dynamo, but a definite spot monkey that really had no idea how to connect his spots. Rick is a fun hard hitting wrestler. You would think with two ring generals and capable heels like Anderson and Eaton they would be the glue to fill in between the Steiners spots, but the match felt cold and awkward at times. I am not the only who felt that way as the crowd was lukewarm until the hot finish run even chanting "We Want Flair". It is not classic that you would think it should be, but it is still a pretty decent match. ***1/4

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WCW US Champion "Ravishing" Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW SuperBrawl II

Rude gets nuclear heat during his pre-match spiel. He can't even get a word in edgewise until he brute forces his way through their jeers and boos. From that all the way to the end of the match, Rick Rude looked like the heir apparent to Ric Flair as the lead heel in WCW for the foreseeable future. I am not saying he is the next Ric Flair because there are plenty of differences, but the way he carried himself and structured a match is in the mold of an ace NWA touring champ heel. He shines up his opponent with lots of stooging and bumping and when it is time to get heat he is a mean sumbitch. I'm actually kinda pissed that the injury derailed him so much because I really think he was something special. His 1992 is nearly untouchable from a one calendar year standpoint as a heel. You'd have to go back to Flair in '86 or so to come close. Then imagine the 1-2 punch of Vader and Rude on top. I don't care if WCW sucked at promoting, it would be helluva lot fun to watch in retrospect. That Dustin series with '92 Rude would have absolutely killer. Enough dwelling on what could have been and let's be grateful for what we have and that is a most excellent Rude/Steamboat series.

As much as Rude was the star of this, Steamboat looked tremendous in this. I have run hot and cold on Steamboat. Sometimes, he can just be too mechanical, but that may just be a by-product of the WWF environment because re-watching his '94 stuff and the work against Dangerous Alliance he was been on point. Steamboat was on fire early looking to avenge the belt-whippings and Rude Awakenings he had received. He was just all over the arm and not just with the typical armbars and armdrags, but wrapping the arm around the post. Rude really shines here in the way he sells the arm and continues to sell the arm throughout the entire match! Steamboat does not forget this is a championship match so he does go for a pinfall early. The struggle in this match was great with Rude desperately trying to stymie Steamboat and when he would be forced to use his left arm he would sell it and not be able to capitalize. Steamboat was always fighting back during Rude's brief spells of offense. This was the perfect time for a chinlock. You have a hot babyface opponent that got off to a wicked fast start and you want to slow the match down, sap some of his energy and get some wind back into your lungs. If people just thought about when they used chinlocks (looking at you, '92 Austin) then it would not be reviled as a resthold. You gotta love Rude selling his left arm during his hip swivels and poses. He is just the man at this point. At this point, Rude is really targetting the neck especially after delivering the two Rude Awakenings from Clash 18. He hits a hoshot and a piledriver. Great arm and neck psychology, this match is just rocking. Steamboat, who is in dire straits, grabs anything he can get his hands on and delivers a kneecrusher and applies the figure-4. Rude recovers and it is clear the arm is hindering him more as he delivers forearms off the top. We hit the Rude staple electric chair drop out of the chinlock. Steamboat levels the playing field after some back and forth with a top-rope superplex, but cant get the three. Steamboat gets a little cocky ans starts mocking the hip swiveling, but looks more like he is trying to show us some surfing moves. Would have liked to seen that spot earlier in the match as now is the time to get down to business. Steamboat hits the flying judo chop and goes for the second one, but his Personal Ninja smashes a brick cell phone over his head. I wonder who that could be?

Tack on a real home stretch and a better finish and this is a MOTYC easy. I know the Beach Blast match is better and some go as far as saying the best 90s WCW match and I look forward to rewatching that, but this match definitely deserves more praise. The body of this match is terrific with the dueling arm/neck psychology. They are struggling through every transition neither man is giving an inch. Rude and Steamboat both put on a clinic in selling and how you can make each other and match so much better by taking the time to make every spot meaning something. The finish stretch was a little abrupt and would have liked to seen an extended one. The swerve with Dangerously as the Ninja was great for extending the feud. I have no problem with the finish just that run up was too abrupt. ****1/4

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WCW World Champion Lex Luger w/Harley Race vs Sting - WCW SuperBrawl II

Most reviewers take this match to the woodshed and given that it was World Title Change, yes it was underwhelming, but it was not a bad match. My biggest bone to pick is people blaming Luger's laziness/apathy. Yes, clearly given his enhanced bodybuilding physique, wrestling was not his number one priority. However, if you watch his performance he was trying his damnest to give his buddy Sting a good match. In fact, at the beginning of the match, I thought they were wrestling at a clip that would have made this a great match. Luger was explosive and it was during this time the crowd was at its hottest until the finish. It was a well-done story of one up manship. Luger started of offense and Sting hit the Stinger Splash. Luger hit the powerslam and Sting his the German Suplex. Luger goes for the Rack and Sting puts him in the rack. Once Luger wriggled free, I first noticed him breathing heavy. The match quality and heat declined precipitously with Luger meandering around the ring trying to get his wind back during his heat segment. It was interesting to me how much Luger incorporated Flair's style into this match. He used corner cheating twice and begged off twice. Sting's kick out of the piledriver was very anticlimatic. Sting's comeback was ho-hum, but his punches looked better than usual and Luger sold pretty well for him. The cross body sure is a popular finish for world title changes as the initial pop was small because it was unexpected, but the sustained ovation shows that Sting was definitely over like rover with the WCW crowd. As soon as, Luger lost his wind so did the crowd and the match never recovered. I would blame Luger's physique rather than his attitude for the failure of this match. I would have loved to see Luger bumping around for Sting before the win, but still it was a nice moment for Sting. Sting feels like a bigger deal in 1992 than he does in 1990 and it finally feels like he has arrived.

I NEED A TIME MACHINE!