Wolfpac In Da House: WCW April-June 1998

Hey yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,

WOLFPAC IN DA HOUSE!!!

Rappers nowadays should bring back the background track of random crowd noise

The only thing that the Wolfpac ever gave us of value was that theme song. Fun fact: the only wrestling shirt I owned as a child was a Black & Red NWO Wolfpac shirt.


There Can Be No Good Without Evil

Pro wrestling, especially North American pro wrestling, is built on the fundamental dichotomy within human nature: good and evil. While in the real world there are shades of grey & mitigating circumstances, pro wrestling magnifies the difference, like only it can, through outrageous angles and larger than life characters. Pro wrestling is not just limited to this black and white distinction of good versus. In fact, some of the best wrestling angles those that accentuate the more realistic elements of actual moral quandaries, but sometimes they can be the most confusing. Like anything in this world it is all about execution. At the end of the day like Big Sexy once so eloquently put it, "Who is going to make the comeback? That's your babyface". The beauty of wrestling is that anybody can be a babyfaces and heels depending on how they're presented. A monstrous man that mows down all his competition, always moves forward and is a supreme asskicker. Is that Vader or Goldberg? One was a wildly popular babyface and the other a villanous heel and it all depends on the presentation. I have seen a flamboyant British cross dresser get over as a babyface in 80s Alabama. Pro wrestling is what we all make it, but I am of the firm opinion you need good and you need evil. What drives the business is rooting for someone to get their ass kicked and to see someone kick ass. As my idol, "Diamond" David Lee Roth once perfectly captured the essence of pro wrestling "It is wish fulfillment". It all stems from good versus evil.

Truer Word Have Never Been Spoken

In the spring of 1998, WCW had the most loaded main event roster since 1980s WWF and the argument could be made it was even more densely packed. It featured Hollywood Hogan, Sting, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, The Giant, Lex Luger, Roddy Piper, and Bret Hart. By July, you could add Goldberg and DDP to the main event mix. Even with the departure of Flair, WCW had a eleven bonafide main eventers. On paper this sounds magnificent for the year of 1998. Now recall how pro wrestling is driven, it is driven by babyfaces versus heels. At the end of Spring Stampede, WCW had a grand total of one main event heel (Hollywood Hogan). They had 8 main event babyfaces, 2 upper midcard babyface acts about to break out. The number two heel act is a toss up between Raven and Chris Jericho. What looked like an impressive main event infrastructure now looks horrible. I would lay the blame for WCW's underwhelming 1998 on its inability to cope with fundamentally poor babyface to heel ratio.

How can you have an impending Civil War in the NWO and keep all the WCW babyfaces occupied? Hollywood Hogan is only one man and that means one match per card. Between Februrary and October, Hollywood Hogan wrestled on 8 PPVs and only missed one. The previous year between Februrary and October, he wrestled on 5 PPVs and missed 4 PPVs. How was that possible? The heel infrastructure included Savage, Nash and Hall. The Hogan saturation effect will be investigated in the next quarter. Here he is involved in only a paltry three feuds: Savage, Piper and Nash. Here we will focused on how keeping a healthy ratio of babyfaces to heels caused the demise of WCW.

Bret Hart: Babyface or Heel?

A lot of critics of WCW in this time period specifically target the mismanagement of Bret Hart in 1998. After the Flair feud, it became apparent WCW did not have anything for the former WWF top main event act and probably the best US worker of the 90s. People were clamoring for the Hart vs. Hogan match, but Hogan had issues with Sting, Savage, and Piper and looked like an oncoming collision with Nash & NWO Civil War that superseded Hart's match. WCW took a new direction with Bret Hart and turned him heel joining NWO Hollywood as the promotion's number two heel. Given the state of the company and who they had, I actually think their hand was forced in a lot of ways. If you take Hogan staying heel, Nash turning babyface, and Savage out for the year after mid-June, there is really no sensible number two heel on the roster. There are some fantasy booking scenarios I would like better, but Bret Hart was definitely the best number two heel they had at their disposal. Now that they had selected a direction for Bret Hart, things did start to look up with a good PPV match against Savage and teaming with Hogan. The NWO Civil War would likely afford him opportunities to wrestle Nash, Luger and Sting in marquee, but as we will see in the next quarter WCW would become indecisive on how they wanted to utilize Bret and that would ultimately be his doom.

NWO Wolfpac: Wrestling's Motley Crue

Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, Konnan, Lex Luger and Sting. Has there ever been a stranger, more disparate collection of wrestlers? Once again, looking at how the main event roster is structured, their hand is forced. Nash and Savage would need reinforcements to wrestle the Black & White and they needed to establish they were the babyface group. Sting was directionless since failing as the Champion and Luger was also directionless since the Savage feud. By bringing in Sting and Luger, you immediately bolster the Wolfpac with top babyfaces, establish them as a top babyface act and have cache with the fans. The only problem is what ties them together. Nash wanted Konnan because Konnan makes the group seem cool and hip. Sting and Luger are buds, but Sting and Luger should hate Nash. Now it is not really a Civil War, but just a hodgepodge of wrestlers thrown together wearing the same shirt. That was the problem with the NWO Civil War. Due to the poor babyface:heel ratio and weak management, the wrestlers were not given proper motivations for joining these groups. So it just became about what t-shirt you were wearing.

Thankfully, DDP, the best working main eventer on the roster, never joined the Wolfpac. He would have made way more sense than Luger/Sting as he is old Nash friend and he speaks and acts more like Nash. Wolfpac was where careers went to die. Backstage politics killed the Wolfpac, but that is for next blog. In kayfabe, DDP is a self-made man who does not need anyone's help. Backstage, he saw the Hogan versus Nash war and he saw the opportunity to be a main eventer by being Hogan's opponent in turn he main evented 5 straight PPVs including the WCW 1998 main event of the year against Goldberg at Halloween Havoc.

NWO Hollywood: Warm Bodies

What would eventually become the NWO B-Team, NWO Hollywood was supposed to be the supporting heel infrastructure to absorb the babyface-laden roster and through June it looked like a strong opposing force. The Giant turning on NWO Hollywood may have not been explained properly, but on paper was the most sensible of the Spring Shuffling. He hated Nash and had fought Nash on 4 of the 5 first PPVs of the year and had neck broken by him. It only made sense for him to join the faction that was going to war with Nash. In June, he main evented the Great American Bash against Sting in one of the better Sting matches of the year. Joining the Giant was Scott Hall after shockingly turning on Nash. You can argue whether or not a proper Nash vs Hall match is something people wanted to see, but at the end of the day WCW needed heels. Turning Luger would have made even less sense and the Hall turn had the hook of a Nash vs Hall feud. However, Hall's personal demons derailed the feud and one of the the two primary drivers (the other being Hogan not wanting anything to do with them) that derailed the Wolfpac.

Wolfpac Is DOA: Civil War Is Over Before It Began

In the following blog, named Hogan Doen't Need Your Civil War, we will discuss why the NWO Civil War went nowhere from  a backstage perspective. However, even looking at the buildup, you can see that it was really no motivation. The crux of the issue should stem from the fact that fissures in the NWO have opened up because Hollywood lost his stranglehold on the title. This opens his once unquestioned leadership to the two strongest possible claimants, the Macho Man and Big Sexy. However, inside of the NWO imploding from within, Sting and Luger are shoehorned to the Wolfpac to fill out its ranks. While Bret Hart, The Giant and Scott Hall fill out NWO Hollywood. Since there is no common bond between these men, there is no motivation to feud and thus no heat. The future booking does it no favors, but the setup was piss poor and was hasty solution to rectify the the heavy babyface roster.

My Recommendations & Solution

 There was one fundamental booking tenet WCW needed to be followed better was the use of logical and well-motivated turns. In the Spring of 1998, it feels like they reshuffled because they were compelled to rather than thinking it out and this results in a piss poor summer. The other recommendation is one that is unique to WCW and that is to maximize the potential of their large roster size by cycling people in and out.. In reality, there are so many top spots (in my opinion, 6-8 spots, at any given time) so give people some rest and write people out using injuries and firings to develop other characters and further existing storylines. If you realize, well fuck I really don't have anything for Lex Luger why don't I have Bischoff go on a firing spree or maybe Scott Steiner could take his ass out. Now you are putting heat on someone existing and building sympathy for Luger's return instead of Luger just randomly wrestling people in a different color shirt. While I tend not to try to bore people with my fantasy booking, I think in this scenario it is appropriate for me to offer a solution.


Now, there are some caveats, if the Hogan vs Nash backstage heat was as bad as it seems then there is really nothing that can be done to remedy a NWO Civil War. So if you take the egos out and allow me to start booking after Starrcade 1997. I say you build to Hogan vs Nash at Bash At The Beach 1998 as it is the two year anniversary. The crux of the feud is the MegaPowers vs The Outsiders, but it is presented as the NWO is in flux. All four wrestlers are still NWO, but the Outsiders are the babyfaces challenging the established system.  The underlings don't really know who to commit to in the war and their allegiance sways as the war goes on. I think the most crucial difference is that WCW guys are happy about in-fighting, but still need to interact with the NWO because of championship matches and personal feuds. My special twist is that I would have Goldberg turn heel and join the NWO as Hogan 's mercenary. This is especially useful once Savage has his injury. Goldberg turns on Hogan at Bash at the Beach and Nash, Hall and Goldberg make up the core of the new NWO. The mission of the NWO is destroy WCW and now they will use of their homemade wrestlers as the weapon to finally kill it.  The next blog will look at why I think Goldberg would have better utilized early in his career as a heel as opposed to a heel.

It is clear in April of 1998, WCW had a babyface to heel imbalance and the steps they took to rectify caused for a very bad summer on top of the company. Had they taken well thought out steps using the wrestler's history and motivations they could have taken these months as shuffling months, but rebuilt to something better. Furthermore, cycling main eventers in and out would have prevented overexposure and cooling off main eventers from lack of direction.

Recommended Matches:

Randy Savage vs Bret Hart - Slamboree 1998
Sting vs. The Giant - WCW Great American Bash 1998
Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Chris Benoit - Nitro 6/22/98

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Randy Savage - WCW Spring Stampede 1998

Fun fact: This is the first PPV I ever begged my parents to order because my favorite wrestler, Randy Savage was challenging for the World Title. Oddly, I had no recollection of this match until the end when all the memories came flooding back. It is weird because I still vividly remember the Hogan vs Savage match on Nitro the next night that royally pissed me off as a child. Crazy what sticks with you.

I don't know if it is the face paint, but Sting is just so frigging lame. The complaint seemed to be that Hogan took most of the SuperBrawl match and that is why it sucked, but as I expected Savage would be more giving, but still Sting did not look he gave two fucks. He was just going through the motions and his selling was just dogshit. Savage looked like a car wreck with the huge knee brace and the taped arm. Sting really needs to ditch the trench coat that's the second time sometime has attacked him before he could get it off. I loved Savage selling the punch and then punch through it. That's not someone no selling that is selling how fucking nutzo he is. Savage does his best to wrestle for one between taking bumps over the top rope, selling the arm and then taking back over on offense with good heel offense. Tony gets in one of his more infamous lines about the bales of hay being abrasive and the particulates getting into respiratory tract. He has a point, but man did it sound fucking lame. Sting just randomly stops selling, but not in the way that elicits a crowd reaction because he is hulking up. He will literally just stand up and stand there. It happened at least twice, It is honestly like he forgot how to wrestle. Liz gets in the ring and gives him a chair shot and then all the memories come rushing back. I know something big is going to happen BOOM! Liz takes a Stinger Splash. WOW! Savage is like kthxbai and looks to use the distraction to elbow Sting on the chair, but Hogan interferes. Sting hits the Slop Drop, but here comes Big Sexy to hit the Jacknife and pulls Savage to win.

The booking fucked up Sting, yes, but he did not do himself any favors. He was shitting the bed in the ring. Resetting to Hollywood to transition to Goldberg was actually a pretty gutsy and intelligent thing to do. I am going to give WCW kudos for that. Savage tried as he might, but was too banged up to salvage this match. This is neck and neck with the SuperBrawl VIII for shittiest main event match of '98, but I think this one takes it because there was more Sting offense and Hogan's effort in SuperBrawl VIII is to be praised.

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs Hollywood Hogan - WCW Nitro 4/20/98

The match I hated the most as a child, fresh off seeing my hero win the World Championship at Spring Stampede he faces Hogan in what is basically an extended squash.When you add together that Savage prefers taking heat when he is a face, that he was injured and Hogan loves working on top it really was not to be unexpected. At first, Hogan looked a little bit more plodding than he had in the other matches I had seen from this year. The badmouth was still there, but the same energy was not there. Savage was on top of his game acting like wounded animal that would occasionally lash out, but the pain would overwhelm. Not often you get to see Hogan work over a body part and it is admirable. Savage is great at peppering in heated hope spots that get the crowd to pop like using the belt and the Big Elbow, but he lands on the injured knee! Hogan goes back to the knee, spinning toe hold and a figure-4. This has been a great story in terms of Savage being too banged up and defending his title the next night and Hogan is just licking his chops. Savage going crazy and choking Hogan draws a big pop. The finish goes into overdrive with The Disciple attacking the ref. Beefcake has one of those faces that just can never recognize him when he changed gimmicks. Nash coming in powerbombing Hogan got a massive, massive pop. This makes the Goldberg title victory all the more intriguing because I am surprised they did not put the belt on Nash. Hart nails Nash and puts Hogan on top. It is not going to blow you away, but on WCW main event sliding scale this was pretty good. The novelty of Hogan working a body part was cool. Savage doing his crazed wounded animal selling keeps the match entertaining throughout. I have seen better Hogan performances on the year though.

Resetting to Hogan makes complete sense now that I have seen the Sting title reign. He was in no shape to carry the belt. Savage as a one day champion is a fine transitional champion because he will be on the shelf soon and it sort of puts to bed the Hogan/Savage issue shifts to Hogan/Nash and Savage/Hart, which is not a bad one-two punch, but Nash is so interested in hanging out with his buddy, Hall in that miss their window to pop a big buyrate with Hogan/Nash on top. Bash at the Beach 1998, the two year anniversary of the NWO, Nash vs. Hogan on top would have been huge. Alas. I understand the reset to Hogan and I think they went with gutsier move to put it on Goldberg. I would have probably played it safe and put it on Nash. WCW just when you think you have them figured out they keep you guessing even all these years later.


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Randy Savage vs Bret Hart - Slamboree 1998

Man, this show was in Worcester, c'mon Dad, why didn't we go? Can't bitch too much he did take me to Boston Brawl in January that year and that was one helluva show. On paper, this show does not seem like much, but hell this was pretty entertaining. It was not as good as their SNME 1987 match, but compared to pretty much all the other main eventer vs main eventer matches this was a MOTY. Savage's knee is clearly messed up as he has a giant brace and his usual mobility is gone, which means that chaos is lost in a match that really needed that to take it over the top. I liked the both of them using heel tactics early and was glad that Savage did not do his usual babyface match where he takes heat immediately. The brawling was not the best ever, but it is good stuff. What worked so well was that Hart's formula meshes so well with Savage's babyface formula. Hart works on top in such a compelling fashion and Savage is so great at selling the knee. Hart looked so crisp with his strikes and that piledriver. I loved Savage's comeback with the one legged suplex. Then hitting the elbow drop, but injuring the knee. That was a great nearfall. I was surprised that the Northeast was not more into Hart. Things went into overbooking hell with Elizabeth (WTF) and Hogan (well at least that makes sense). Piper sucks. Hart wins by submission or maybe DQ, who knows, but finishes aren't that important in 98 WCW. The match was pretty good thanks to both's just natural charisma. ***1/2


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Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart vs Randy Savage & Roddy Piper  

WCW Great American Bash 1998

WCW has lost any sort of direction as Hogan is fighting his two least interesting opponents of the six different matches/feuds he has on his plate. Hogan has the Nash/Wolfpac, Savage, Piper, Hart (frenemy), DDP and Goldberg all gunning for him in one form or another within a month of this PPV. I don't mind running everything through Hogan, but they need to use him to spin matches off of him and creating a buzz for that. Instead we have Nash & Wolfpac spinning their wheels until Hogan finally leaves in October, Bret Hart as Brutus Beefcake's more proficient twin, and Goldberg wrestling squashes as champion. I will say DDP was minted as a main eventer thanks to Hogan so I don't begrudge him that. Still, c'mon Hogan/Piper and Hogan/Savage is so played out at this point. Savage being the catalyst for causing the NWO Civil War is fine, but they needed to transfer the heat to Nash now for the fresh match, but egos got in the way. Piper just needs to go away.

The match is surprisingly fun, but it has a throwaway Nitro main event feel. Hogan was great in the babyface shine stooging for Piper and Savage. It is painful seeing Savage basically wrestle on one leg. You could see how much more he wanted to give. Piper was just awful and seemed blown up like two minutes into the match. Hogan did the best he could with two lame opponents (one literally and one figuratively). Brother Bruti hits Piper with the title belt as he is running the ropes. Hart is great in heat segment and Hogan is also great at cheating. I love them riling up Savage on the apron. It was definitely the most exciting part of the match.  Savage sliding the chair onto Piper's abdomen when Hart goes down for his trademark headbutt was genius.Savage gets the tag and Hogan cowers and the crowd goes wild. Savage just can't move like he needs to capitalize on the heat. Savage goes up top for the elbow, but Piper is whipped into the ropes and Savage falls and wrenches his knee. The announcer blow this call so bad. Hart applies the Sharpshooter to give NWO Hollywood the victory.

Hart is sure working towards the match with Hogan, eye-roll. If they replaced Piper with someone worth a damn, this would have been decent. Hogan is actually a pretty good worker in 1998, he is just working with shit usually see Apathetic Sting, Injured Savage and Shitty Piper. I'd love to see him against DDP or Luger this year. Instead we have shitty celebrity matches and the fucking Ultimate Warrior to finish his year.Maybe the Goldberg match will be good.

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Randy Savage vs Roddy Piper - WCW Great American Bash 1998

The last match should have been main event of a Nitro and this singles match should have stemmed from all the confusion at Slamboree 1998. Hogan & Hart vs Wolfpac (Nash & Luger) would have made a lot more sense or even Hogan vs DDP World Title match would have been incredible. If only I could have booked WCW 1998 and people listened to me, it would have been a field day. First order of business, fire Roddy Piper, a shitty promo and even shittier wrestler. Piper does not want to fight Savage after his knee has been destroyed. Savage hits the world's worst clothesline and hits the elbow and fucks up his knee. We at least get one last random act of violence towards a ref as Lil Naitch takes a great bump off a bump. I'd love a wrestler crib Savage's random act of violence against refs character. Piper applies the figure-4 and Savage never comes back. Team Madness never happened...Team Madness never happened...Team Madness Never Happened. Piper needs to go the fuck away too!


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Sting vs. The Giant - WCW Great American Bash 1998

Surprisingly, The Giant was one of the better booked wrestlers of 1998 for WCW. He had his issue with Nash, had his neck broken, came back and then proceeded to try new ways to exact revenge. At first, it was teaming with Piper against Hogan & Nash and then finding a tag partner to rob Nash of the tag titles. It did not feel super heated from the promos I watched because nothing was super focused, but hey match-to-match it was pretty good. Giant joining NWO Hollywood makes sense from a babyface:heel ratio perspective more than anything else, but hey he hates Nash so that makes sense! Sting joining the Wolfpac is just the lamest thing ever. Sting is just not cool.

Best Sting match of the year as he actually wrestled like a normal wrestler you know trying to execute exciting offense and selling well. Giant is just an athletic freak of nature. Watching him yesterday move around at Survivor Series last night and then watching him rock it 16 years earlier was incredible. He started by rushing into the corner and laying out on the corner for Sting to kick him around. Stinger Splash eats a big boot. Giant's heat segment is actually pretty good. Sting's finish stretch was actually exciting and fun. He dropkicks the knee, but cant get the Scorpion Deathlock because Giant is just too big. Three Scorpion DeathDrops with teases of Giant chokeslam and had my house rocking on Thanksgiving with my Dad and Mom getting into it. Just a touch better than DDP match as they keep it short and sweet. ***

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Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Chris Benoit - Nitro 6/22/98

In 1998, Bret Hart is the opposite of Sting in terms of his effort and his opportunities. Sting was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion and consistently in the main events of PPVs even after the fact. From what I have seen from Sting at SuperBrawl and Spring Stampede, he looked out of shape, bored and just generally disinterested. Whereas since the Hart/Flair feud, Hart pretty much disappeared from the company until his direction became Hogan's lackey when he by and away the most versatile main event wrestler they had. He has shown already this year that he can work convincingly as a babyface or heel and against fellow main event talent or against the new breed of talent like a Benoit.

The famous match is the Owen Hart tribute match the following year, but this was a really fun TV match nonetheless. Benoit is just a pugnacious pitbull the entire match and Hart is just so amazing as the cocky heel cutting him off at very corner with dubious tactics. They work the typical opening of Benoit outwrestling with Hart because of his quickness and sheer effort. Benoit's work was just dripping with determination, which is so refreshing. I am actually going to go back and watch the DDP/Benoit/Raven feud and Benot/Booker/Finlay later. I am especially intrigued by DDP/Benoit because they seem to be two wrestlers trying the hardest in the promotion. Hart takes back in the corner and starts unloading. What I really love about this match is how much Benoit is trying to hit through this. It is not that he is not no selling. It is that he is just not backing down and he is fighting Hart every step of the way, but Hart is always one step ahead. Finally, it is Hart hotshotting Benoit that stymies Benoit. I love that it is not an abrupt transition to the heat segment. It is a work in progress to get Hart fully in control. Like I have said before, Hart is so good from his body language and facially expression how he thinks Benoit is below him, but then also Hart sells Benoit's hope spots with a slight bit of shock. The finish run is a fun bomb throwing fest by Benoit who is just relentless. Yes, the selling like after the missed Diving Headbutt should have sold bigger by Benoit, but instead he was focusing on just keeping everything going and the crowd popping with big spot after big spot. It was fun watching him challenge Hart with suplexes including the Dragon Suplex and a wicked almost snap superplex. Benoit traps Hart in the Cripple Crossface, but Stevie Ray distracts him and Hart blasts him with a foreign object in the back of the head. Hart actually bothers to sell it to the ref by putting Benoit on top of him then "kicking out" and putting him into the Sharpshooter.

It was fun for Hart to be really be tested for the first time since Souled Out. Benoit was making the most of his opportunity against Hart. I am sure was excited to wrestle Bret Hart. I just loved his character as this relentless force that only knew forward and no reverse. Hart was the perfect heel foil. There were some selling issues, but the layout put over Benoit huge and the finish run was very fun. ***3/4

Dropping The Ball: WCW February-March 1998

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Dropping the Ball: Sting vs. WCW

The common position asserted is that WCW mismanagement of Sting's return and its immediate aftermath dissipated all the heat built up in 1997 for Sting. I would contend that Sting did more to torpedo himself than WCW did to fuck him up. I have no idea if Sting was trying to reinvent his wrestling style to match his new darker, edgier persona or if he legitimately just could not give two fucks about wrestling, but he absolutely shit the bed in every match I have seen him in during this time period. The only thing could save him was DDP's safety net of pre-planning his matches and DDP's ridiculous work ethic to drag him to a good Nitro main event. Even then, he was clearly the worse of the two wrestlers. I know this will sound counter-intuitive to most wrestling fans, but it is not like his opponents were dogging him. Hogan at SuperBrawl clearly had his game face on and was constantly moving the action forward. It was Sting's shitty staggered selling and bored movements that were dragging the match down.  Hogan looked like a man ready to compete to keep his top spot and Sting looked like he rather be anywhere else. There was one point where Sting just stopped selling like it was not even a no-sell spot. He just stood up straight and nothing happened. It was like what the fuck, dude. There is just no way a promotion can survive with that type of performance from their champion.

WCW's hotshot booking did Sting no favors. He was shoehorned into the NWO Civil War fighting Savage in his first televised match since the Hogan/Sting rematch when it really did not revolve around him. Sting should be the catalyst for the NWO Civil War because he has taken the title not in these throwaway main events. It seems all of Hogan's focus is on the Macho Man and the NWO dissension. It would have be a simple plot device to have Hogan and Savage gunning for Sting to prove to the rest of the NWO, who the top dog is by defeating the Stinger. In this scenario, Sting becomes important because he is a measuring stick for greatness rather than taking a backseat to Hoagn and Savage. It only gets worse in March when Hogan/Savage main event over him and Hall. Hogan & Savage was clearly the bigger match, but Sting/Hall felt more like an upper midcard match rather than a co-main event and was wrestled like a comedy match (that was Hall's prerogative not Sting's, still Hall's schtick was way more entertaining than Sting's general shittiness). Having Sting play second fiddle to Hogan/Savage does no favors for Sting, but his performances are as much to blame as the bad booking. In the next month, I will argue in favor of WCW's booking decision to relieve him of the title so soon because he was clearly flopping in the ring.

Uncool 

The MEGAPOWERS EXPLODE~! Ten Year Later

 I would have executed this story a little differently, but overall I like the fact there is a direction and it feels important. Hogan has his major main event aura that carries any program he is involved in and Savage is so unpredictable and dangerous that really creates a buzz when he is in the ring. It is funny Savage is known for his heavily pre-planned matches because almost everything he does feels organic and wild. The problem stems from the fact that story never advances in a meaningful fashion. Hogan/Savage keep going back and forth as friend and foe. I know, I know they are wrestling's ultimate frenemies, but at some point the story has to advance and they actually have to break up. The Uncensored cage match should have been that point of no return, but the next night on Nitro they are teaming against Sting and Luger. Do not get me started on the fact that Uncensored Cage Match just ended without a pinfall or submission. It was just a standoff and Savage decking Sting. I get they wanted to set up Savage and Sting for the next PPV, but that was so ham-fisted. This was when I first thought WCW's egos and mismanagement was harming the company. The direction had become muddied. Sting was bombing as champion and Hogan/Savage was having trouble moving forward. They could not decide if the NWO was falling apart or regrouping. Hogan/Savage should have been the catalyst for something bigger, but it really never amounted to anything. At the end of March, WCW feels a little stale and confused, but with potential Hogan/Hart and Hogan/Nash matches very much salvageable.

Bret Hart Is In WCW...Doing Nothing

Starting a new job usually means a week or two of just not doing a whole lot in my estimation. Yes, there is some training, but everybody is so busy, you sort of fall through the cracks. Well, Bret Hart has been in WCW for a couple months and they just do not have anything for him. Really Crush turns on him in Nitro! He would go out and call out Hogan and the consequence is that he is top on the NWO B-Team's hit list? The fucking B-Team? He is wrestling a washed up Curt Hennig, are you shitting me.  It would only get worse for Bret once WCW made him actually you know do stuff, namely be Hogan's lackey. Don't worry Bret, Ric Flair and Lex Luger are also doing nothing.

The greatest problem plaguing WCW in 1998 was the lack of direction in the main event, which is already evident as everyone is taking a backseat to Hogan/Savage and even that feud is having a hard time moving forward. It will only get worse. In 1997, Hogan/Sting was the overarching story, but you had compelling main event feuds like Hogan/Luger, Savage/DDP and Outsiders/Flair&Piper that kept the viewer constantly hooked and provided direction. Instead, now if your name is not Hogan or Savage you are left to twist in the wind.

There are incredible number of pictures of Bischoff acting as Hogan's mic stand on the internet

Recommended Match: WCW World Champion Sting vs WCW US Champion DDP - Nitro 3/24/98

Stupid Angle: Ending of Hollywood Hogan/Randy Savage Uncensored Cage Match.

Randy Savage vs Lex Luger - SuperBrawl VIII

I was actually pretty excited for this coming off Souled Out and Luger had his ribs taped so I was expecting a nice wrinkle. These guys have great chemistry, but this is not as fun as the Souled Out match. I like Luger establishing early that his ribs are injured and he can't do a basic press slam. That is how you establish a hook to a match. Savage cheapshots and works the ribs while being his usual wildman character. Luger makes his inevitable comeback and as the NWO swarms the ring. Luger and Savage fight them off together. Hogan leaves Savage for dead as he gets racked. This would come back to bite Hogan. This was pretty much the end of Luger's status as a major player in WCW until late 1999 as he stuck in the dead end Steiner vs Steiner feud and then in the Wolfpac and finally injured. It was a decent match, but I enjoyed the Souled Out match more.

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Hollywood Hogan vs Sting - WCW Superbrawl VIII 

Vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship

Sting looked like and wrestled like a sad mime. it was one of the most pitiful performances on a grand stage I think I have ever seen. Sure some wind had been taken out of his sails because they botched Starrcade '97, but still they put him over at Souled Out. Booking or not, when you are out in front of those fans, you control your destiny. He just did not want it. He did not look like gave one single fuck. Hogan on other hand was on his A-game. I was shocked at the amount of effort he was putting into this match. He was working a ton of great heel tactics. He was constantly moving and there was a sense of urgency. You got the impression the belt meant everything to Hogan. At first, he was not taking any chances. He was going to whip Sting with the belt and he was going to cheat like a muthafucka. You felt his desperation. Like any egomaniac, his hubris seemed to be his downfall, he would begin to toy with Sting and Sting would get a hope spot and he would quickly cut off as if it was a wake up call. On top of that you got the sense of entitlement from when Nick Patrick came in. "Do you know who I am, I am Hollywood". The egomania, the entitlement, the desperation, the cowardice all was a perfect confluence of a heel. Hogan has his limitations, he can't bump at all and his offense is pretty straightforward. It was never really all that boring because he was always moving and always coming up with a  new way to cheat. Sting looked like all his charisma has been sucked out by a vacuum. His selling was awful. Standing around and staggering a bit is not selling. Get fucking pissed that this asshole is treating you like shit. Let the crowd know you are in pain. Anything besides what ever the hell that was. Maybe the problem was he was trying to get over a new gimmick he was not suited for. Sting the overgrown child hopped up on sugar in the ring suited him so well that this solemn and somber character was just hard for him to really execute. He needed to be a badass and he just felt like a sad mime. The finish sucked so hard. Savage clearly should have fended off the NWO members while Sting made Hogan tap to the Scorpion Deathlock. Having Savage scoop up Sting's heat and just have Sting pin Hogan right after the spray paint can shot was so lame.

I don't really feel bad for Sting. I don't think he deserved the title after that performance. Did Hogan gobble him up at the outset? He sure did, but Sting could have done things to make that worthwhile. He could have called for more hope spots, he could have shown more fire, more pain, more anything really, but we got apathy. Hogan wrestled like his career was on the line and did a great job. Sting needed to carry his weight. I do not fault them one iota to going back to Hogan to transition to Goldberg. Sting blew it.

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Look at Hennig's friggin arm! WOW!

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Curt Hennig w/Rick Rude - WCW Uncensored 1998

Of all the stars of yesteryear that I have seen in 1998, Curt Hennig has been the absolute worse for wear. I felt so bad for him because he could not do any of his famous bumps. At one point he tries to do his spin out bump, but looks like shit. He gets pissed. You can't tell if it is because he is selling being outwrestled by Hart or if he is pissed that he is not able to perform at his old level. During Hart's comeback, they tried to wrestle their usual sequences but Hennig was taking all his bumps so awkwardly to avoid landing on his back that I was worried he was going to hurt himself. In actually, reminded me of Rude in 93, who would contort himself in such weird ways to avoid back bumps. On top of that, he was working extra light and just not very convincing. From what I saw, Rude should have been the one in the match. He looked great cheapshotting Hart, moved well and even took a bump off the apron. Hell after the match he did a Rude Awakening coming down right on his back. Rude looked great and was doing his best to add heat to the match. Bret wrestled his standard stuff, but due to Hennig's limitations there was just not much he could do. When it came to selling Bret did the best he could to make Hennig's stuff look credible, but there was just no heat. Hart wins with the Sharpshooter, but is left laying by Hennig and Rude. The angle going in is that NWO has a target on Hart's back. We saw that play out a little during the match with Hennig & Rude targeting the knee, but would have liked to see something more violent. This is not a good match at all and it is depressing to see Hennig in that condition.

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Scott Hall - WCW Uncensored 1998

Crow Sting is just a shitty wrestler. The Avenging Angel character is wicked cool and a really genius idea, but fuck Sting just sucked at this point of his career. Hall was pretty damn funny with all his stooging and falling outside of the ring on his ass. I was always a mark for his staggered Giant walk after a chokeslam. Sting could not fucking sell cheap central heat to Eskimos. The Sting falling face first into Hall's junk was also pretty funny. Should they really be having a comedy match with Sting and the World Title? No, they shouldn't but it was the best part of the match by far because Sting could not work anyways. There is interference, a ref bump, Dusty Rhodes drops an elbow, but Sting hits the Slop Drop to win. Nothing match. If Hall was wrestling in the midcard and doing this schtick, it would have been awesome. If Sting were not wrestling at all, it would be even more awesome.

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Hollywood Hogan vs Randy Savage - WCW Uncensored 1998

Worst match ever? No. For instance, I thought their Halloween Havoc 1996 match was much worse than this. Once again, Hogan looked game to have a good match and was very energetic. I really don't understand the complaints of the match plodding. They were cutting a good pace and Hogan never really rested once. I don't know if Savage's knee is already hurt, but they go into Savage babyface match mode, which means he gets the shit beat out of him for most the match. The big difference between this and Sting match is that Savage is selling incredibly well. You really feel like he is hurt and a bit discombobulated by all of Hogan's offense. Hogan whipped him pretty good with belt and wish Savage whipped back a bit harder. I liked the first Hogan cutoff sending Savage into the cage hard on a backdrop, which is the only spot to get universal praise from the reviews I read. If WCW were a bunch of pansies and let use see the double juice, I think this could be more entertaining. I am surprised how dead the crowd was for this because everything I saw was pretty decent and given the personalities I thought that would magnify the reaction. Savage hitting the double axe handle from the top of the cage was a crazy spot that woke the crowd up. The ref just letting them out of the cage to do some basic brawling and then head right back into the cage was lame. The finish was fucking atrocious with Savage & Sting standing off against Hogan & Disciple for an eternity only for Savage to deck Sting. Maybe the reason why Sting did not give a flying fuck was because he was booked like a dope. Stupid shit aside, this is not the worst match of all time. I think the cage inhibited them more than anything else because could have been helped by more brawling around the ring. It is a pretty average match, but Hogan and Savage both seem to have some gas in the tank.

The Song Remains The Same

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs WCW US Champion Diamond Dallas Page WCW Nitro 3/23/30

DDP is in that period of being a super hot midcard act like Austin in 97 or Rock in 98 that is useful to creating some really dynamic booking and fun matches. What I love from a guy like DDP in this spot is that he has a enough natural buzz and charisma that he generates a lot of interest and heat going up against one of the top dog in spite of the fact he is most likely going to lose. He still gains plenty of momentum from just being shown as an equal to the World Champion and there is no booking anxiety stemming from his jobbing.

DDP does a great job throughout the match expressing through his body language and actions how important this match is. He is focused and determined to prove that not only he belong with Sting that he was a very credible threat to being World Champion. The intense lock up and just his posture made you believe he was taking this match very seriously/ Larry Z added a ton to this match by commenting that DDP may have jacked himself up too much and that the calmer, more experienced Sting may be able to take advantage of this. You see just that as Sting almost hooks the Scorpion Deathlock on a overzealous Page. Page sells how quickly it all could have been taking away. He doubles down and goes for the Diamond Cutter, but is thrown off. They hook each other in chinlocks and I am not too enamored with either of them going for it. I did not think either one needed to use the chinlock. Sting has looked the best he during this stretch because he looks to be trying harder on offense and also wrestling he did before the Crow gimmick. I think he was just more comfortable with that level of energy, facebusters and the out of control splash. Not everyone can reinvent themselves in the ring and once he got back to doing what brought him to the dance, he felt more natural and interesting. His selling still left a lot to be desired. I liked DPP getting the knees up on the out of control splash and he goes for the Diamond Cutter out of the corner, But Sting reverses into the Scorpion Death Drop to a huge pop. I loved the beginning and the finish. They definitely would go on to build off this foundation to have an all-time great WCW match the following year on Nitro. ***

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In March of 1998, the Austin Era officially had gotten underway and with a little help from Mike Tyson, WWF was poised to reclaim its throne. WCW may have had a weak two months, but a reset to Hogan as champion is certainly building to one of two major marquee matchups: Hogan vs Hart or Hogan vs Nash, right? Right? Still in the wings you have the People's Champion and blue collar Diamond Dallas Page and the monster Goldberg surging up the card to inject life. Will WCW rebound with a newfound direction in spring?

The Fall of the New World Order: WCW Souled Out 1998

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Guess who is back in circulation? I don't know what you may have heard, but what I need right now is good-time American pro wrestling.

Ryback's Motto

So that is not exactly what Diamond Dave said, but the point remains I needed to something different from all the puroresu from the 2000s, which I will get back to this week. For now, I just needed something different and it does not get much more different than WCW in 1998. I cut my teeth on WCW 1998, but because it is what I grew up on, I have rarely looked back on it. Rather than leave the memories alone, I decided to go back and revisit my childhood. Much to my surprise, I found WCW Souled Out 1998 to be such a  good show, I have decided to review it.

Review & Analysis of Booking:

When you think of 1998 WCW, you think of mismanagement, celebrities, lack of direction, meandering faction warfare, bad Ultimate Warrior appearances and a held down midcard. Watching Souled Out 1998, I saw a  vibrant wrestling promotion that had rebounded nicely from the royal clusterfuck that was Starrcade 1998. The company had four very strong programs on top that would keep the viewer hooked week to week, but also could deliver a strong payoff if booked properly. The most prominent was the dissension within the New World Order.

The eventual New World Order civil war should go down as one of the great booking atrocities in pro wrestling. I would go as far as to say this is an Invasion-level botch. The WWF fucking up the Invasion basically brought it down to its current level of popularity and WCW fucking up the NWO civil war tanked the company to the point it no longer exists. If you watch Nash powerbomb Hogan on the April 20th edition of Nitro, you will see people were rabid for Nash vs Hogan. The New World Order Civil War could have carried them through 1998 in a similar vein to the overarching Sting avenging angle story of 1997. 1997 WCW was characterized by strong focus in the main event with interesting programs like Hogan/Luger, Savage/DDP and Outsiders/Flair &Piper where everyone had a direction. In January of 1998 with the full-time return of Sting and Bret Hart, the Civil War and a red hot midcard, there seemed to be no reason to doubt WCW's health.  At this point in January 1998, the Civil War was still in the nascent stages and they were using the unhinged, paranoid Randy Savage as the catalyst for NWO dissension.

Savage was having issues defeating  WCW stalwart and flag-bearer Lex Luger, but that is not why they were given the main event slot. They were positioned there for two really well-thought out reasons. First and foremost, the NWO dissension was being positioned as the number one program for the year and thus was given the main event status. Secondly, for once, WCW was actually going to send the crowd home happy with Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock and Luger racking Nash. WCW was finally winning over NWO because there are cracks within NWO. Ending the show on this note, emphasizes the ramifications of the WCW World Title being in jeopardy and how Savage's possible secession was affecting the NWO's efficacy. Sting and Luger are finally turning the tide and we need to watch next week to find out what is going on with Hogan, Savage & The Outsiders.  In addition, the second biggest program, the status of the World Heavyweight Championship played a big role in heightening the tension. Hall had been promised a World Title shot in February, but was now being put on the backburner for a Hogan/Sting rematch at SuperBrawl and he walked away disgusted at Hogan getting another shot.  Without the title, things were starting to fall apart around Hogan, which is good booking progression. Taking the Starrcade debacle as a given, the best thing for them to do was use this PPV to promote their rematch at the next PPV and keep moving forward.

Outsiders vs MegaPowers: Tell me that wouldn't draw

The match that most feel deserved top billing was the great Bret Hart vs Ric Flair match that was wrestled for purely pride to see who the best was. In a promotion filled with WCW vs NWO, it was refreshing to watch two world class wrestlers compete for the sake of being called the best. Much like the NWO Civil War, WCW bungled Hart's run, but for one month they used him perfectly. The match set him up immediately to be a major main event player in WCW before that all went to hell. I understand that this was a feud featured prominently and was the best match. The match really did not have any consequence and it was not going to be the vehicle to carry the company forward. It is the perfect No. 2 or 3 match because it features main event players with a strong story, but does not carry the company. The other major match was the Clash of the Titans to find out who the True Giant of WCW was. Again it is a simple hook, but incredibly effective especially when you see The Giant and Kevin Nash go toe to toe.  Them playing up Nash's no show at Starrcade by having them both put up 1.5 million dollar bonds really added to the atmosphere.   I can't remember the last non-Wrestlemania where the WWE presented four marquee programs that made me want to tune in for a PPV.

But wait there is more! WCW actually had midcarders that were over. Say what! Yes people actually chanted things like "Raven Sucks!", "Jericho Sucks!", and raised the roof with Booker T. People were invested in the wrestlers not just the moves they were doing or the amount of nearfalls there were. To think, DDP nor Goldberg were even on this card! WCW had a roster that would make the current WWE very envious. Souled Out 1998 is missing that one blowaway classic from being considered an all-time great PPV. Hart & Flair and Benoit & Raven are both great wrestling bouts, but they are not at the elite level to carry this consistently good PPV to the next level. Still from top to bottom, this card was always very good from the lucha libre opener to Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock. Easily one of the best WCW PPVs of the NWO era.

Highlights:

Match of the Night: Bret Hart vs Ric Flair

Honorable Mention: Chris Benoit vs Raven

Funniest Moment of the night: Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff trying to act.

Match Reviews:

Juventud Guerrera/Super Calo/Lizmark Jr/Chavo Jr. vs 

Psicosis/La Parka/Silver King/El Dandy - WCW Souled Out 1998

Forget the NWO Civil War, the Chairman of WCW was their biggest missed opportunity!

Perfect opener in getting the crowd energized for the rest of the card. I always thought Super Calo was anything but cool with his silver surfer mask and shades, but he was not half-bad. It may have been that Psicosis was bumping for him. Psicosis was great as usual bumping around for everybody and wish we got more of him. Surprisingly what really grabbed this crowd's attention was a wicked intense chop exchange between Silver King and Lizmark Jr. I know that Silver King is known for working a bit of a stiffer style in Lucha and have always wanted to check more of him out, but Lizmark really surprised. I thought he was easily the second best guy in this match. He was kicking ass in there. Juvy got his 450 splash in, but I was a bit surprised he did not get more time to be featured. I know everybody loves El Dandy, but this match did not showcase his talents. The dive train was fucking excellent and definitely the best part of the match. Chavo really did not do much besides get the win to set up his big push into an angle with Uncle Eddie. Without a doubt, the big star of the match was La Parka. Even though, I have not watched La Parka's new Lucha stuff, I am always so happy to hear how well he is doing because he is always one of my favorites as a child. He just owned this match with all his antics. It was so immediate how much charisma this guy had and the crowd totally latches onto him. I loved him falling flat on his the apron. The corkscrew Asai moonsault was sick. The crowd ate up La Parka's chair rampage. Doing his strut on the chair and then the way he walked away so proud was hilarious. La Parka is the MAN! Very fun spotfest. ***1/2

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Raven vs Chris Benoit - WCW Souled Out 1998

"Raven Sucks!" chants ring out early and are eventually replaced by "Benoit! Benoit!" chants. Midcard acts that are over, well how about that! I am a pretty big fan of Raven character, but I freely admit he has very few great matches to his name, but this is probably his best in WCW. He really looked on his A-game punishing Benoit and working hims over with simple, but effective moves. The early surprise attack with dropkick off the apron and then using the railing and bulldog on chair were all great moments to keep relentless Benoit down. Benoit did a great job selling all these attacks and how even though he usually only has one gear: forward; Raven has effectively stymied. The one issue with this segment was Raven almost worked it too neutral. The reason he was getting heat was because his character was so detestable, but besides the sneak attack he was not really doing anything reprehensible. I think with some more heeling and bit more chickenshit, this would have built to an even better Benoit home stretch and a bigger crowd reaction. Still for Raven on offense this was really good shit. I love the Benoit transition being a drop toehold onto the chair calling back to Raven doing that to Scotty Riggs (one of most impactful moments of my childhood. I thought that was some fucked up shit back then). Benoit absolutely and royally kicks the ever loving shit out of Raven. Give Raven credit he was selling, bumping and stooging for Benoit and making him look great. I wish I watched the angle leading up to this because it would have made the beating all the sweeter, but I remember enough about Raven to get me behind Benoit. In what may have been the stupidest fucking thing of all time, Benoit does a diving headbutt onto a chair that is Raven's face. My Dad used to shit all over Benoit for just doing the diving headbutt. This just takes it to a whole new level. The finish stretch is short and compact and put everything that needs to be. They tease a bit of drama with Raven nailing a DDT out of a Northern Lights Suplex. So now you don't know who will win because Raven is beat up he can't capitalize. When he goes for it again, Benoit puts him in the crossface, Raven enjoys the pain of the Crossface before passing out. You put over Raven as this sick masochist and Benoit as a unrelenting badass. I think if Raven reminds us why he is a heel during that opening stretch that this becomes the match of the night on a surprisingly great card. As it stands, it is very good match, but just missing that little something. ***3/4

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WCW Crusierweight Champion Rey Misterio Jr vs Chris Jericho - WCW Souled Out 1998

I thought they worked smart match around Rey's knee going above and beyond the typical Jericho works Rey Jr.'s knee over. Again it is so refreshing to watch a midcard match where both acts are over, huge "Jericho Sucks" and Rey is generally well-liked by WCW fans. Jericho is great at false sincerity early interacting with the crowd I wish they would give him the mic to cut a promo beforehand. The early part of the match establishes Jericho is a dick and has the weight advantage. Rey is able to overcome this with his speed, but eventually this cost him his mobility when he goes for the proto-619, which he used as a fake out move. I liked how after that Misterio tried other tactics to stay in control like grounding Jericho and even going after Jericho's illustrious mane. Rey is really good at selling the knee, but how much is really selling, we don;t know. Rey goes for another high risk move but Jericho hotshots on the top rope. Jericho is great at showboating. Rey works through the pain and gets one last ditch high risk move (somersault plancha). He blows out his knee. Rey tries to persevere, but they work a great finish where Jericho counters the hurricanrana off the top rope into a Liontamer. The Liontamer and Crippler Crossface both over on the same show was cool. I love the Jericho character and they work the best possible match given Rey's limitations.

Role Model for the Free World

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Promo Theater with Jo Jo Dillon, Roddy Piper, Scott Hall, Hollywood Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Sting.

Piper is insufferable. I thought he was so fucking lame as a child and nothing has changed. He says some really bad jokes when it is time to be serious about what is number 1/2 (NWO dissension and the fate of the World Title are pretty intertwined) program in WCW. Hogan wants Hall to jump Sting, but he walks away disgusted because his World Title shot gets postponed. Ooooo drama! Hogan and Bischoff do a hilariously bad job of acting. While Sting has a weird conniption fit of crotch chops. I loathe Crow Sting. Sting is just so terribly uncool, which is what made his original, "overgrown child hopped up on sugar" gimmick so much fun.

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World TV Champion Booker T vs Rick Martel - WCW Souled Out 1998

I am a pretty big Martel mark after watching some of his AWA stuff and especially his Strike Force work. I know how much people rave about his two month resurgence in WCW before injuries finally coerced him to retire so I was pretty amped for this. It was the only match on the card I was let down by. Martel was just wrestling his standard Model match and holding Booker's hand through the whole match. I have never been a big Booker fan. I get why he is cool. He definitely has a presence to him. The dude had no clue what he was doing out there. He would just keep going back to that weak armbar to just go back to his next spot without really doing anything to the arm. The match picks up once Martel is on offense. Credit where credit is due, they work a pretty cool transition where Booker seems to have accidentally heabutted Martel in the family jewels on a leapfrog, but Martel was just faking and exploited Booker's sympathy. From there it was your basic Martel Model match work the lower back in a smart, concise fashion to set up the Boston Crab. Once he finally applies it, Booker makes the ropes and then hits his axe kick and a shitty and dangerous Harlem Hangover to win. Has there ever been a non-shitty, non-dangerous Harlem Hangover. WHAT?!?!? You build your entire offense to this move and then it gets blown off by Booker making the ropes and just hitting two moves to win. Where are the transitions? Where is the consequence? It is a decent little match, but the finish sucked and Booker is so limited. 

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Scott Hall w/Madonna's Boyfriend vs Larry Zbyszko w/Dusty Rhodes - WCW Souled Out 1998

Is that Eddie Trunk? Say it aint so, Dream!

Hall is the master of making old guys seem like credible threats. At Slamboree 1997, the Wolfpac put Flair, Piper and Greene over huge and here he made this match so much fun. I loved him starting off cocky and Zbyszko showing him up with some amateur moves. Hall gets more and more frustrated as this goes on. They do a great job building that tension that if Hall can just walloop Larry with a right that the match will be all over. Eventually Larry can't keep it up because of Louie Spicolli  (Madonna's Boyfriend is such a great gimmick name) and Hall catches him with a wicked right while he is down. The crowd tells me why Larry may not have been the best choice for this role because there is a pretty big Larry Sucks chant. Then a Hall Sucks chant follows and back to Larry Sucks. This is not some sign-songy bullshit. You see people in the crowd pointing at each other telling to shut up. I was getting into the heat and Hall did a great job manhandling Larry Z. Then of course in the moment everyone wanted to see here comes Big Dust. What a moment! The crowd was jacked for this and everyone was on their feet to see Dusty deliver the Bionic Elbow. Then he hits the Living Legend and Dusty reveals the nWo shirt and I am pissed. Hall should have gone over Larry Z and they should have built to Dusty vs Hall! Tony and Bobby reacting in shock and disgust came off really organic like they were shoot pissed off. It added to the moment, but I think Dusty lacing it up one more time for WCW would have been huge, but maybe he physically just couldn't go. This was a really fun match between Hall and Zbyszko, who both knew their roles well. Hall was great clowning around for Zbyszko, but when it came time to get heat he got mean. You can't ask for much more for a heel exactly what you want. Larry is not the most likelable guy and thus was not a great fit for this role, but he did wrestle a strong babyface performance. Last good Scott Hall match? ***1/2

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I didn't watch Ray Traylor & The Steiners vs. NWO B-Team because I actually have other things to do in my life. They were playing up Scotty Steiner's short fuse around this time and then once he turned heel he was a chickenshit. Go figure. He is much better as a loose canon once WCW starting booking him that way.

Holla if ya hear me!

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Kevin Nash vs The Giant - WCW Souled Out 1998

This was way more entertaining that it had any right to be. There was major heat for this and it felt like a real Clash of the Titans. Can't think of a time after this where The Giant ever felt like such a big deal. I guess Maywheather? WWE eventually found their footing with him as an upper midcarder they could plug into the main event when needed. Here, he felt like one of the hottest superstars on Earth. Nash to his credit seemed very willing to put him over and stooge for him. They did some great spots to build the tension and then The Giant just steamrolled him with great action. Nash actually busted some shit I have never seen from him, a fucking leapfrog and a tope. I don't care if the tope does not look like Psicosis the fact he tired was pretty damn cool and out over the aura how much this match meant. The Giant catching Nash and throwing him into the post was awesome. Nash is a big dude and it was crazy seeing Giant pick him up and just move him around at will. They sort of lost steam until the end when Giant was signaling for the Chokeslam. Hot coffee is back, BABY! Nash hits a low blow and then GANSO BOMB~! Seriously, a very scary looking spot and I am glad The Giant was ok. All in all an entertaining clash between two super heavyweights when I expected shit. Souled Out 1998 maybe the best PPV of the NWO era, everything has been at least good and am actually going to watch the entire PPV because how good the marquee matches have been. ***

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Bret Hart vs Ric Flair - Souled Out 1998

The last great Ric Flair match or just the last great Flair match in WCW? I can't think of another great Flair match in WCW after this. Even a year later with Hogan, Flair still had some gas in the tank, but he was not given the opportunities just like Hart was given the opportunities. However, on this night, they made the most of what they were given to have one of the best WCW main eventer vs main eventer matches in the NWO era. What I loved about this match especially in stark comparison today is the the two-spot transition. It is never an abrupt change of control everything is earned. Hart shows Flair up early on the mat and with a figure-4. So Flair regroups and realizes that he ain't winning this one fair and squared. In typical Flair fashion, he takes over in the corner, but Hart still has enough left that Flair needs a back suplex out of a headlock and a well-timed low blow to consolidate control. Then similarly when Flair is chopping away in the corner, Hart fires up with punches, but it is the swinging neckbreaker and an attack on leg. It is a false transition as Flair pushes Hart into the railing and begins working over the knee. Flair worked the leg really well, but also kept up the illegal tactics. Hart busted out a nice enziguri, which I don't remember him using all that often. It was a great hope spot. I have not seen Flair/Hart from 92 in years so does Hart always do the strap down no-sell in these matches because that was a cool touch. I wish he deviated from more from his usual finish run and just beat the shit out of Flair and maybe threw some more cheap shots back in Flair's face. The superplex/Sharpshooter finish is quite decisive and a victory like this should have warranted a WCW World Title shot. But WCW's booking was in such disarray post-Starrcade that they never followed up on it until they turned Bret heel. Bret looked to pick up right way he left off in WWF with crisp offense and selling the knee well. Flair looked inspired, but a little gas. He made up for it with his tried and true tricks and his great verbal selling. It was a great story with Flair looking to prove he could still hang even if it was through cheapshots, but coming up short and thus making Bret Hart look like one of the big hitters if WCW was competent. ****

WCW did not know what you were all about.

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Randy Savage vs Lex Luger - Souled Out 1998

I always thought these two had great chemistry with one another. I know a lot of people will write this off because of the participants and the year, but this was really energetic. It shows how much the knee injury fucked up Savage because he looked great here. He was flying around taking cheapshots. Savage and Liz were such a great heel tandem at this point with just non-stop heeling. Luger always seems motivated against Savage and was cutting a good pace here trying to get out from Savage's nefarious tactics. I liked the short quick crowd brawling and Luger really urgent on countering Savage. Luger's cliche finish sequence was pretty lame, but hell Torture Rack finish to win the match. I know Savage/Luger was hardly the biggest match on the card with Nash/Giant and Flair/Hart. However, neither of those matches would have finished the show with the image of Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock and Nash in the Torture Rack. WCW sending the crowd home happy is definitively a novelty. I thought it was a fun sprint, not PPV main event worthy, but a fun match. ***

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Souled Out looked to set the table for another banner year for WCW. They had hot midcard acts like Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, DDP, Raven, Goldberg and Booker T that could grow with each other as evidenced by the future Benoit/Booker, DDP/Raven and Jericho/Malenko feuds. On top of that, WCW would look forward to Sting's reign as champion, the imminent NWO civil war and Bret Hart shaking up the main event offering fresh match ups. However, as the next months bear out, it is not too easy to predict the future and some of it is not even WCW's fault.

You suck! You really, really suck!

KENTA Speeds At Night: KENTA, SUWA, Daniel Bryan (Juniors Japan, 2005-2006)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Beef stew is good stuff, man. 

I spent the majority of last year watching puroresu matches from the 2000s decade to determine my Top 100 matches for the Best of Japan in 2000-2009 project. In doing so, I wrote a review for every match I watched and was published them here on RidingSpaceMountain.Blogspot.com, but began slacking. Now I am making up for it with Puroresu Thursdays! Every Thursday I will publish a blog looking back on the 2000s of Japan. 

We begin where I left off which in the middle of the decade, 2005 & 2006, looking specifically at the junior heavyweights. At this point in time, KENTA (now Hideo Itami in WWE's NXT) had cemented his place as the number one junior heavyweight superstar in Japan. On the strength of KENTAFuji tag team, KENTA was poised for a big junior heavyweight singles run, while Marufuji was promoted to the heavyweight division to shore up a lack of depth. 

Going into this project, KENTA was one of the wrestlers I was most interested in exploring. Here is well-regarded as one of the premiere super workers of the 2000s. His work in 2003 & 2004 garnered him such a large following in the US that he is brought into Ring of Honor as a special attraction draw for dream matches against the likes of Bryan Danielson and Low Ki. His proponents point towards his ultra fast-pace, athletic style with stiff strikes and innovative spots as what makes him one of the best workers of the last decade. His detractors with equal zeal attack his tendency to rush from spot to spot, blowing off selling and generally disregarding the structure of a wrestling match to pack more shit in. The truth for me is somewhere in between. Overall, I side with the detractors in that if KENTA is left to his own devices, he is generally not very good for what I enjoy in pro wrestling.

The key phrase is "left to his own devices". If there is someone like a SUWA, who reigns him in by delivering one helluva classic heel performance, or a Bryan Danielson, who reigns him in by slowing down the match, then KENTA becomes one of the most exciting and entertaining workers of the last decade. It is like SUWA and Danielson held KENTA's hand through. They just offered KENTA a structure whereas his strengths could be best displayed. KENTA is in a lot of ways the junior heavyweight equivalent of 00's Kenta Kobashi. He is a destroyer. He is going to plow through you with a combination of speed and power. It is this general, head-down, bulldozer, meathead-like approach that wins him matches. Just like Kobashi when he sells, he is very, very good. He is great at evoking sympathy and making you root for the comeback and just like Kobashi he is at his very best up against a strong heel.

SUWA was that strong heel for KENTA like Takayama was for Kobashi. SUWA just knocked it out of the park at being the biggest piece of shit ever. He picked on old legends, blasted KENTA with a briefcase, berated the ref, and cheated like a violent muthafucka. The whole crux of the match (as I explain below) is that after SUWA intentionally blasted KENTA to get disqualified early. It is NOT KENTA that demands the restart. It is the ref. The ref wanted justice to be served so badly to this prick that even if KENTA was injured, he was the best man to do it. Throughout the match, the ref is powerless to stop SUWA. SUWA punts KENTA right in the balls, but the ref believes in KENTA and his faith is rewarded when KENTA unleashes the a most unholy ass-whupping on SUWA. In that my friends, was the best damn KENTA singles match ever.

BAD GUYS WEAR PINK~!

KENTA vs. Bryan Danielson was a classic clinic of great pro wrestling that featured a great build from the mat to the air and to an amazing finish stretch and for my money the second or third best KENTA singles match. This blog ain't all about KENTA. In fact all the promotions get some love on this blog. New Japan offers up a tag team bloodbath featuring Gedo & Jado against Kanemoto & Inoue, which I thought went on a bit too long, but it has a good hook. The surprise to me was how fun All Japan's junior heavyweight division was with Shuji Kondo (formerly of Toryumon) at the helm. Kondo is a short, stocky powerhouse that is a ton of fun. He does a bit of trouble remembering to sell, but he is just so much fun to watch. His real classic is against my personal favorite, Katushiko Nakajima in 2007. However in 2006, he has a fun, bullshit match with AKIRA and a marvelously executed match with Hayashi. The Hayashi match just missed my top 100 for lack of a story and good selling, but the offensive execution is flawless and breath-taking.

This was the nadir for the junior heavyweight division before the resurgence in 2007, but for nadir, the top shelf quality is pretty damn high as KENTA delivers some hellacious matches.

Match Listing:

Gedo & Jado vs Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue - NJPW 3/4/05

Bloodbath. The beating on Wataru is the hook, but goes too long and hot tag is not satisfying.

NOAH (Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki) vs. Z-1 (Shinjiro Otani & Tatushito Takaiwa) 

Honestly don't remember one memorable spot. Boring. 

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs SUWA - Budokan 09/18/05 ****1/2

Classic, classic babyface versus heel match. Master class in heel heat and babyface comeback.

#16 out of 100 - Must Watch

AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs AKIRA - AJPW 1/8/06

Fun American-style bullshit with interference and cool spots. Kondo is a great powerhouse

AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs. Kaz Hayashi - Sumo Hall 8/27/06 ***3/4

Flawless, marvelous offensive execution. Weak on selling, transitions and story.

KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - NOAH 12/02/06 ****1/2

Home Run Blows against slow & steady offense, makes for a cool clash of strategies.

#24 of 100 -Must Watch

Cleans up nicely, don't he?

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Gedo & Jado vs Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue - NJPW 3/4/05

Weirdly enough, the only Gedo & Jado match I have ever seen was live at ROH this past May. I actually enjoyed that match as I believe the opener (may have been second on). I read some reviews for this one and Gedo/Jado are famous enough that I ought to watch some more to get a feel for their work. I know their rep as Southern-style workers in Japan that sometimes suck out loud, but then can always flip a switch and rip it up.

That being said, I do not think Gedo & Jado are not the critical drivers that will determine your feelings for the match. That will rest with Wataru Inoue. I remember Wataru Inoue as the young punk badass from the first Liger/NOAH tag match, but this match almost seems like retrogression as he young boy victim for the brutality and violence of Gedo and Jado. This is easily one of my favorite styles of Japanes wrestling: Veteran & Young Boy versus the brutal heels. I did not think this one really superseded some of the better ones I had seen (Miyamoto and Shiga). The strong point of the match was also the weak point. They lived and died by that heat segment. Inoue getting blasted by that chair and tapping a gusher was great, but then he just died. I need some hope spots. Otherwise, it is really no different than finish run overkill. Hope spots can be generated from Kanemoto, who only interfered once. Inoue deadweighting and then kicking out was just not sitting well with me. It was all there for them to knock this one out of the park. It is one of those things where too much of a good thing (babyface selling) did them in. The transition to get Inoue out of there was pretty lame. He basically just hits a flip lariat after Kanemoto had some interference and they ran a tease spot. Don't get me wrong, it gets a huge pop. There was just not much struggle, it was abrupt and it was a just generally lame move.


As for the rest of the match, the beginning was boring as all hell, just fast forward to the chair shot. Kanemoto is a pretty good house of fire because his facewashes are a great crowd-pleasing spot, but he seems to be looking for the tag too quick. The double heel hook was a great visual. I liked Kanemoto saving Wataru from the crossface and the superbomb, but he needed to do that earlier. Jado reminds us it is 2005 with rolling Germans and a barrage of Crippler's Crossfaces. Wataru goes for flash finishes with a cradle and then gets a submission does not even hurt. He literally has the arm bent in a way it should go. This was sillier looking than the Cena STFU (let me squeeze my biceps together). The match has a ton of potential, but suffers from too many problem for me to consider this in my Top 100. It is entertaining with a hot hook and a great crowd. I recommend it for a watch, everybody else seems to like it more than me, but I think mileage may vary based on how much you liked that heat segment. ***

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NOAH (Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki) vs. Z-1 (Shinjiro Otani & Tatushito Takaiwa)  NOAH 3/5/05

Ohtani & Takaiwa versus Kanemoto & Minoru this was not. It is a rock solid match, but really only Otani gives an inspired performance. The other three gave the type of performances you would expect on a weekly RAW. Dont get me wrong, this match would win match of the night on most RAWs. It is just the usual lazy transitions and hit my spots type wrestling with a bigger finish run than you would expect Stateside. What was the point of this match? Was it to lead into a Suzuki/Takaiwa Junior Heavyweight feud? Was Misawa just in there to lock up with Ohtani?
Ohtani is heeling it up early mockingly giving the crowd a pair of thumbs down. Thats right crowd, you suck! Suzuki gets the jump on Otani and hits a big splash to the outside and tags out to Misawa. This is the whole point of the tag match from my perspective. Misawa vs Ohtani, baby! What makes Ohtani better than most Japanese wrestlers in the 00s is that he actually sells the elbows like they hurt before winding up and delivering a chop. It is much more entertaining than the interminable Kobashi/Sasaki CHOP WAR~! After destroying both Otani and Takaiwa with elbows, Misawa tags out to the kid, thinking he cant possibly get into trouble. Of course, two  seconds later Suzuki is in a half crab. Ohtani during this heat segment is the whole point to watch this match.

Otani busts out some great heel gold here, Not just the basics like eyerakes and fishhooks, but also an awesome punt to the nutsack when Suzuki was looking to fire up and mocklingly leading a Kotaro chant before dropping him on his head and pinning with one foot. In what became a sad precedent we get a lame transition to a Misawa tag. Misawa ends up in peril and this leads to an Otani facewash, which is a highlight. Misawa then decides lets go home and hits a Tiger Driver and tags in Suzuki. The finish run like the rest of non-Otani parts of this match was mediocre. You know its 2005 because Suzuki dials up a 619! Misawa and Suzuki hit a couple double teams and his big false finish is a Gory Special. After this Takaiwa kills him dead with a double powerbomb and a DVD. Misawa does not even bother to act like he cares to save him and basically gives up.

Three wrestlers were just going through the motions and Ohtani's actions were not enough to make this into a great match. The transitions in this were some of the laziest I have seen. ***

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GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs SUWA - Budokan 09/18/05

Some things transcend language and CULTURAL barriers, one of those things is old men ready to put a snot-nosed punk in their place as the Budokan roared when Joe Higuchi almost came to blows with the ultra-prick,  SUWA. SUWA just owns this match and gives a career performance as a total unlikeable dick. You know that boring proceeding before every NOAH title match where the old dude (Joe Higuchi) reads off a scroll. SUWA spices that up and rips the scroll out of his hands and tears it up.  KENTA gives him a kick in retaliation and is ready to kick some ass. The Japanese announcer lets us know that the Champ Is Here!!! So not only did CM Punk and Daniel Bryan rip off KENTA, but Cena too!


The backpeddling SUWA grabs the ring bell and blasts KENTA with it. SUWA uses a briefcase to batter KENTA in plain view of the ref, who has no choice but to disqualify him to a chorus of boos. SUWA revels in his DQ loss knowing he beat up the champ.

 Upon rewatch, I have a newfound appreciation for the match because I missed the real key of the story. At the beginning, SUWA pisses KENTA off by disrespecting Higuchi. In his fury KENTA leaves himself vulnerable to a ring bell shot and then SUWA attacks KENTA with his steel box. Now the ref lets one of these shots go and my reasoning is not because he is a bad ref. It is because SUWA wants to be disqualified. He wants to beat KENTA up and embarrass him by leaving him laying. Yes, KENTA will win the match, but he will leave the battlefield able to walk. On the second shot, the ref is hand is forced and he has to disqualify SUWA. SUWA celebrates a loss and this gets the crowd riled up as KENTA is writhing in pain. Here is the key to the whole match. It is NOT KENTA that demands the match be restarted. It is the ref. The ref is pissed about SUWA's behavior and he wants to see SUWA's ass handed to him. He restarts the match because he believes in KENTA so much to put SUWA in his place even if this puts KENTA's title at risk. SUWA realizes this and knows he has carte blanche. The ref won't disqualify him again because the ref, the people, Higuchi and KENTA want to kill him. SUWA pulls out all the heel stops with my favorite being probably punting KENTA right in the balls in front of the ref. The ref is totally powerless. SUWA even spanks the ref with the turnbuckle pad and and throws it Higuchi. He has free reign is taking advantage of it all. However, the ref's confidence is paid off as KENTA delivers one helluva asswhupping to SUWA. I just watched KENTA/Akiyama before this and KENTA whiffed on pretty much every head kick. In this match, I really don't know how SUWA's head stayed on his body because KENTA was nailing him with those kicks. The Holy Shit Go 2 Sleep out of that position and a barrage of knees to the head were amazing.

 Some dude at ringside just decides to restart the match and KENTA runs the down the ramp to go attack that asshole, SUWA. SUWA proves too much for him and he is just getting everyone hot. Joe Higuchi is ready to take off suit and trade hands with him. He takes off the turnbuckle pad and hits the ref with it. The ring crew and young boys are hot at him. SUWA just openly punts KENTA in the nuts and then rams him testicles first into the post. A man with no cares is a dangerous man and SUWA is a dangerous man. KENTA is struggling and trying to fight back, but SUWA always seems to have a closed fist waiting for him. Finally, KENTA hits a springboard clothesline to turn the tide. SUWA's answer for this a big suicide dive through ropes and KENTA whacks his back on the railing. This is the big countout tease of the match. I am not usually one for an elaborate sequence, but once we are back in the ring they do a nice sequence that looks they actually to hit each other only for SUWA to hit his big blowaway dropkick which KENTA takes the Dragon Kid bump for. SUWA goes for he Pedigree, but KENTA counters into a Go 2 Sleep. I love how they have a closed fist exchange instead of a chop or elbow. It really sells the intensity and hatred. You know the kicks to the head that Daniel Bryan always whiffs on well KENTA actually hits those here. He hits three and they look nasty as fuck. An exploding knee later and he retains his title over that jerkface SUWA!

KENTA when not moving a million miles an hour and being forced into working underneath is one of the best workers in the world. Takayama, SUWA and Danielson all had KENTA's best matches by forcing KENTA to work underneath, hit hope spots and make a compelling finishing run. They reign him in and don't let him fall prey to his worst habits. KENTA is no Kenta Kobashi, but stops this from becoming a Kobashi/Ogawa or Kobashi/Takayama classic is that KENTA is too stoic on his comeback. Yes he hits him hard and yes he has urgency, but does not seem all that much different than he is wrestling Marufuji. Kobashi is more expressive and I would have loved to seen more anger from KENTA. SUWA just ripped it up in there with a total master's class in heeling. KENTA is not as easy opponent, you have to suffocate him or he will get away from you and make you wrestle his match. If KENTA found that extra gear in the finish stretch, I would say this is the 2005 MOTY, but it falls just short. ****1/2 

I reward those who keep reading

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AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs AKIRA - AJPW 1/8/06

AKIRA brings out a scale with him to have Kondo weighed before the match. Automatic *****! I actually like how Americanized All Japan was in this period. It was really different than New Japan and NOAH. This is a match that may benefit from watching it in 2014 instead of 2006. I may have been sick of liberal outside interference in 2006, but in 2014 it is pretty fresh (i don't watch 2014 New Japan so the Bullet Club is not something I see). I thought it was a nice little device in this match. Another thing I love about All Japan is they have video packages before their matches reviewing the angles. Awesome, now I know this is going to be hot and heavy instead of a championship style match. Kondo was really into dueling limb work, but blowing off the arm selling when necessary in 2006 & 2007. I do enjoy him as a junior powerhouse, but we did not get to see much of that. AKIRA was really fun in this, but it does not reach the level of the Kanemoto or Minoru Tanaka matches.

The match starts off with some decent amateur wrestling, but could be hotter given what I saw in video package. Kondo lariats the post. So we expect AKIRA to exploit this and remove this weapon. All Japan was really into selling an injury, but then doing a move anyway. I still can't figure out how I feel about that versus outright no-selling. AKIRA misses a kick and his foot gets in ropes and BOOM chair shot to the knee by who I assume is Brother YASSHI, but I could be wrong. The knee work is solid and I love the fact Kondo uses the outside to great effect and throws AKIRA into his buddies. Kondo stupidly sets AKIRA up for a superplex. I hate that why would you give someone the high ground. AKIRA snaps the arm over the top rope. AKIRA works the arm and YASSHI gets nervous climbs on the apron, but brains Kondo with the briefcase. AKIRA climbs to the top and SPLASH! But only two. Kondo abruptly puts Akira in an inverted Texas Cloverleaf. Could have used a better transition there. Then the outright interference happens after a ref bump, but AKIRA's buddies chase off YASSHI. Kondo still hits a superplex. The finish run was concise and mostly well-done. AKIRA gets his hope nearfalls, a nasty German and backslide. Then Kondo hits two wicked lariats to win.

This a fun, breezy 15 minute match. It is entertaining and easy to digest, which I appreciate. Are there flaws, yeah, but it is a fun way to spend 15 minutes. ***

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AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs. Kaz Hayashi - Sumo Hall 8/27/06

The one constant of All Japan from the 70s through now is their disregard for the junior heavyweight division. Even NOAH as a spiritual successor to All Japan cultivated a strong juniors division led by KENTA and Marufuji. Even though Mutoh took over AJPW in the 00s coming from NJPW with a strong junior's division did not seem to change AJPW's stance on juniors wrestling. With that being said the token All Japan match of 2006 is a junior heavyweight encounter between two of Ultimo Dragon's students, Hayashi and Kondo.

Before, I get to the match a very skinny Stan Hansen gets into the ring to do the duties of reading from the scroll before a championship match and it was just such a cool touch to see Hansen again. He was wicked over.

This is one of the prettiest matches I have ever seen. It was like you strip Dragon Gate matches of any comedy and just have them play it totally straight, which makes sense since they are both Dragon's students. I can appreciate beautiful execution and from a technical level this is nearly perfect. Hayashi has the best looking hurricanarana I have ever seen and Kondo is one of the best at taking it. Hayashi really looks likes he is grabbing with his legs and forcing his opponent over. Kondo really throws himself into the bump. Hayashi's middle rope senton was fan-fuckin-tastic. He was going a million miles an hour. On the SLOW motion replay, he still looked like he was going fast. Kondo is a great powerhouse junior like a smaller version of Sasaki. He was really able to work on Hayashi's knee and some very impressive powerslams and one great spear. Of course if you are a powerhouse in Japan, you best have a nasty lariat and his destroys Kojima's and looks badass. Hayashi is a big fan of Emerald Flowsion, but when that can't secure him a victory he does what every wrestler does he tries the move from the top rope. In a move, I never EVER thought I would see. Kondo hits a Flip DDT. When we were growing up, my younger brother always said his finishing move was going to be the Flip DDT. I don't know if he is going to be crushed or excited that someone finally pulled off that move. A moonsault and lariat polish off Hayashi and Kondo retains the belt.

So now the other SHOE drops, this match is great eyecandy, but there is not substance to any move. Kondo moves over Hayashi's knee really effectively. I love when he caught a Hayashi rana attempt and put him in a Boston Crab. What does Hayashi hit as his comeback move a wicked fast back handspring elbow. O BUT HE REMEMBERED TO SELL AFTER THE MOVE! He would do this for his 3 next big spots that required the knee, hit the move and sell the knee, before abandoning it altogether. I am happy he did put some effort in, but c'mon man! Look, I don't think just because someone attacks your knee you have to be crippled, but maybe you could hit your spots at half-speed or at least show you are struggling. The end of the match is a total bombfest with very little selling. 

To me this is the PERFECT MATCH to show fans or up and coming wrestlers look you are not going to get a better executed match, but see how they just rattle off moves and without that framework it is all inconsequential. Hayashi and Kondo are amazing to watch and I am sure if you put them in there with a Liger, 90s Sasuke, 90s Otani that they would have had some phenomenal matches. You pair this execution with a great layout, I am seriously saying five star classic without it you are just left wondering what might have been. ***3/4 

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KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - NOAH 12/02/06

This may shock a lot of PEOPLE but the amount of matches I have seen Bryan Danielson wrestle as Bryan Danielson is probably only a handful and the vast majority are live. I was just never one to really ask my parents for money to buy wrestling or any item for me. Of course, my Dad would take me to the matches when they came to town and usually one 1-2 PPVs a year, but other than that not much. This mentality would continue into college. I always saw live events as special exceptions and would go to ROH whenever they were in town, but never felt that my limited college money should be spent on indy wrestling. I am hoping to change this in the near future and really hunker down and watch some golden age ROH. This match gives me hope that really is all that it is cracked up to be because Danielson was amazing in this match.

As I said in the SUWA review, the one constant in great KENTA matches is make KENTA work for it. Don't let him work his million mile an hour match, but make him sell and build up to that frenzy. What is interesting is I really feel like 2013 Daniel Bryan and mid-00s KENTA are really similar in working style. Bryan is better at building a match and slowing it down on his own accord. However, he has been prone to blowing off selling to get his shit in and his real selling point in the ring is his million miles an hour pace. Having not seen a lot of Daniel Bryan as Bryan Danielson, I was interested if they were going to try break the moves/minute record or something. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well this turned out. 

The one odd thing to get out of the way is that the crowd is dead throughout the majority of the match. Was this one of Danielson's first tours in Japan? Were they just unfamiliar with him? The feeling out process is slower than I expected and very mat based where Danielson seems to have the advantage. KENTA looks to pick up the pace, but Danielson gets a hiptoss and converts that into a cross armbreaker. Excellent wrestling as KENTA is more as home with an uptempo pace so Danielson wisely slows it down and at the same time damages the arm. KENTA freaked out that Danielson almost got a submission victory actually slows down the match with a chinlock in a way to reset the match because he has been outclassed thus far. Once Danielson get back on top he is just working that arm relentlessly with all sorts of crazy submission moves. KENTA hits a snap powerslam and is still selling. Danielson's answer to KENTA is a Robinson backbreaker and a diving headbutt. I get a little worried here because they move quickly into a roll-up barrage when the diving headbutt was such a big spot. Danielson continues to go for home runs as he hits a huge splash to the outside over the guardrail on KENTA, but in the process hurts his knee.

After the big dive, Danielson sells the knee kipping up on one knee after a missile dropkick, but KENTA had taken more punishment up until that point. So Danielson started back on offense with the missile dropkick. The knee messes him up a bit and KENTA hits a guillotine DDT, which he usually does not expect his opponent to sell (ala the Harley Race piledriver) so he looks to follow that up with a springboard move, but Danielson catches him with a German and then goes to lock on the Chickenwing Crossface (having had worked on the arm). There is a great struggle over this hold and here at his first real chance to pick the knee KENTA does. He applies the Texas Cloverleaf, but Danielson makes the ropes and when Danielson does put on Cattle Mutilation he cant hold it because his bad knee. There is an excellent headbutt vs kick war and Danielson was throwing some Garvin like nasty headbutts. Danielson goes for the Crossface Chickenwing again, which would avoid bridging on the bad knee and almost assuredly secure the victory, but KENTA fights like mad to get out of it. The next time KENTA gets on offense he goes back to Texas Cloverleaf, but gets countered into a pinning predicament. After that Danielson is relentless with a barrage of Cattle Mutilation. He attempts to hit a Tiger Suplex/Cattle Mutilation combination, but KENTA is able to bridge one into a pinfall. Awesome spot! At this point, KENTA has solidly got his ass whipped. He gets an Ace Crusher and quite naturally starts bust out his big guns: Exploding Knee and Kicks. Danielson's last stand is a roll-up barrage, but KENTA is stringing together too many kicks at this point. He hits the Go 2 Sleep to secure the victory.

I love this match as a game of strategies. Looking at this from a kayfabe perspective, Danielson is a better all-around wrestler. KENTA thrives in the uptempo game and with his kicks. Danielson stymies him early and never really lets him get going. Danielson is working the arm effectively, but does not have the knock out blows like KENTA so he goes for big gambles like the diving headbutt and the big splash, but this costs him his knee, which messes with one of his best submissions: Cattle Mutilation, which requires bridging. KENTA goes after the knee, but he is not very adept at working over body parts and nearly gets burnt with a cradle counter to a Cloverleaf. So KENTA has a fucked arm, has been getting his ass beaten and cant really take advantage of the knee, but has an opening with an Ace Crusher. So he goes to what brought him to the dance, big fuckin home run swings right at Danielson's head. KENTA always has the puncher's chance and he landed some big ones late. Danielson should have stuck to the arm game plan, but got lured away with big gambles then ended up ruining his chances to apply Cattle Mutilation. If only he was able to get that Crossface Chickenwing. Larry Z would have been proud at this exhibition of the HUMAN game of chess. My match of 2006 so far! So I went back and rewatched Akiyama/Taue GHC Championship and by the slimest of margine, I am putting that one over this one because the continuity from beginning to end. ****1/2

A True Happy Ending

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Next week for Puroresu Thursdays, we cover all the best All Japan matches from 2005-2009 highlighting such awesome matches like Nakajima vs Kondo and Tanahashi vs Suwama.