Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,
I saw our Lord, Savior and Personal Redeemer this past Thursday at the Boston Garden as He demonstrated why he is the personification of Love and Mercy. I had my personal qualms with His return to Cleveland to a city that does not deserve a Man of His Magnificence after they showed their true colors as entitled, spoiled and petulant brats. What Bron Bron has shown time and time again is that he truly has an infinite capacity for Love and why I struggled with this decision. Wishing him the best, but at the same time not wishing Cleveland nothing but ill will in terms of sporting ventures, I tuned out of this basketball season. Then my Father told me that LeBron would be returning to Boston for the playoffs. I had never seen the Greatest Athlete of my Lifetime in a playoff game. It was very tempting and praying on it. I realized that LeBron was teaching us the greatest lesson in forgiveness and mercy. He no longer just embodied Love, he embodied Mercy and showed he is True Love manifested in a perfect individual.
 |
| His Mercy Endures Forever. |
For those here for just the pro wrestling, that probably made no sense, but in short LeBron James rules and everyone else drools. From a man I have nothing but love for to a man I have nothing but disdain for here is Chris Benoit. I end this WCW viewing project with a slew of Chris Benoit matches from 1999, the last time WCW was truly WCW. Benoit was at worst the second best wrestler in America in 1998-99, where I give DDP a slight edge over him. He finally had put all the pieces together. His brutal mechanical efficiency was now being showcased in strong match layouts and his selling was par excellence. He dragged one last good WCW match out of Ric Flair. In a clash of the two best wrestlers in America, DDP and Benoit put on the best Thunder match in history. That is not saying much, but I don't think anyone has ever thought about it, but now you know! I think his two best matches come later in the year against the World Champion Sting and the Owen Hart Tribute match with Bret Hart.
The Sting match was a discovery through the Pro Wrestling Only Yearbooks and it was tremendous a real hidden gem that no one really talks about. It was an old school championship bout with the upper midcarder pushing the champion to his breaking point, but coming up short due to nefarious tactics. For someone who had never worked heel in his career up until that point, Sting looked great at controlling the match and making it feel dramatic. Between this and the DDP match, Sting had quite the 1999!
The Owen Hart Tribute match, which was a beautiful gesture is of course stained by the Benoit murders, but stands as a great statement of what true pro wrestling is. It is hold and counterhold. It is two combatants trying to execute a strategy to win a contest. It is each opponent reacting to each other, the circumstances around them and moments within the match. In a few weeks, WCW would hand over the reigns to Vince Russo, who obliterate any semblance of pro wrestling of pro wrestling and replacing it with common trash and the wrestling taking a back seat to inane skits. In essence, this match was WCW saying goodbye to pro wrestling and thus a fitting match to end the viewing project.
Goodbye, WCW.
Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit - WCW Thunder 5/27/99
Best match in Thunder history? I would hear arguments against, but going through PWO and the Smarkschoice poll I am not seeing anything that was close to this. Benoit and DDP are the best workers in WWF & WCW in 1998-99 (I have never watched ECW from this era). It is such a treat to watch them work and I am going to seek out the Road Wild 99 match. I really don't see how it can any else than good. It is amazing DDP is just as good as a heel as he was as a babyface. He makes Benoit look like a million bucks in this. Having watched a ton of Benoit in 99 now, the commentary team and the wrestlers were clearly working hard to make Benoit feel like a main event babyface. The angle here is that Flair, who is loony tunes, gave DDP/Bam Bam a tag title shot over his Horsemen buddies. This has now transitioned into a youth vs. veteran storyline. Has that ever really worked in America?
These two just make every move seem like the most important thing in the entire world when they are working. Everything is so urgent and heated. I loved Benoit's reversal of the usual discus clothesline with a Crossface. DDP, all shook up, heads for the hills and all of sudden you see Benoit fly into screen and wipe him out. I LOVE THIS MATCH! We are only two minutes into it. DDP always ups his game against Benoit and hits a wicked back elbow to turn the tide. I like how organic it felt like you thought he was going for the Irish Whip, but he stops short with a nasty back elbow. The ring can not handle this fight. Benoit just keeps coming so DDP hits a low blow in the corner and then drops him head first on the top turnbuckle. DDP works a great fucking short heat section. We are taking nasty gutbusters and wicked big boot when he has him hung out on the ropes. Benoit was selling like a champ here. You could really him sucking for air. DDP asks the ref to check for the time and he chokes him with tape. It is official DDP was a Wrestling God in 1999! That's the most awesome thing I have seen in months! Benoit mounts a comeback off a jawbreaker on a sleeper. German with a bridge for 2 and then another one with a bridge. I like the rolling Germans with a bridge after each a lot better! DDP lunges for the ropes on the third one and that trick knee acts up. Love it! DDP hits a nice spinning powerbomb for his nearfall. He signals for the Diamond Cutter, but Benoit gets a backslide. DDP looks for the Cutter again and CROSSFACE! Bam Bam Bigelow runs in for the DQ and Flair attacks Benoit for his insubordination for good measure.
Tack on a finish and this is a contender for best free TV WCW match of the late 90s. Incredibly heated stuff early on that made Benoit look huge loved the early Crossface and crazy dive. DDP worked an outstanding heat segment like the best short one I have seen in months. I loved the Benoit finish stretch. Really, really good shit. Watch this match! ****
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Benoit vs Ric Flair - WCW Thunder 6/3/99
I have been singing the praises of DDP in recent months, but in the back of my head I have known there was one challenger to his "Best in America" throne in this time period and that is Chris Benoit. Where DDP faltered, Benoit managed to pull out a very good match from Flair and showcase him at his best since 1998. The match was set up the week before when Benoit decided to challenge Flair's ruling to give the Triad the tag title shot instead of Benoit & Malenko. Benoit and DDP rocked it last week and after Benoit looked poised to win Bam Bam & Flair put the boots to Benoit. What helps this most is that Benoit is a strong definitive face for heel Flair to play off. Benoit and Flair started off firing chopping each other. Benoit goes with the old standby of applying the figure-4 to Flair and continues to work the leg. Flair uses the eye poke to take advantage, but still sells the leg. Flair leverages Asya outside to interfere on his behalf. Benoit is at his bets here chopping through Flair's offense or rattling off a snap suplex. Flair's big push is the kneecrusher/figure-4 combo. Benoit reverses the pressure. The match, commentary and the arena make Benoit seem like a big deal and a babyface on the rise. Flair goes for the bridge/backslide spot which we have not seen from him in awhile. Benoit hits a clothesline and a diving headbutt. This time Flair's new buddy, DDP saves. Not as much heat as the DDP match and some disjointed moment, but the Benoit push continues. But if a push happens on Thunder, is it really happening? ***1/2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 9/20/99
Sting doing a kneelift cutoff was more surreal than seeing Sting in a WWE ring. After years upon years of Sting getting cutoff by heels, it was just so strange for him to finally do the kneelift. Then I was just as discombobulated when Sting's kneelift was reversed into a cradle, it was just so wrong. Overall, I loved this match, it felt super dramatic and Sting just has a huge presence in this match. The weird part of this match was that Sting worked the early portion as a babyface. He would hit these big spots and Benoit would have to bail on the outside to catch his breath. They were working this like a Clash of the Titans match for a Mania or a Dome it was really neat. Sting looked great in this match everything had purpose and an energy to it. The crowd reaction was definitely mixed for the Woos. It almost feels like they are doing an interesting evolution of the Sting character. Yes he did something rotten at Fall Brawl, but that is not going to change who he is in the ring, but it changes the crowd response. That would be some high-end booking if that was the plan. Benoit picks an ankle starts to go to work on the legs of the Stinger. Benoit gets in a nice bridging Deathlock, but he goes for the dropkick on the Tree of Woe one too many times and Stiing posts Benoit. AT this point, Sting does his mid-match turn and starts breaking down Benoit with really well-timed elbows and chinlocks. Benoit is just great at the chippy, upper midcarder with thee short bursts of energy, but Sting always has a cutoff. Sting hits a huge front suplex. They are building great drama on every nearfall. I am really blown away how food this is right now. The commentary is really putting over Benoit. Sting goes for out of control top rope splash and eats knees. Sting tries to recover quickly, but ends up eating turnbuckle on the Stinger Splash. Benoit signals for the heatbutt and he hits it! WOAH! 1-2-NO! Double hot sequence right there! Benoit pours it on with rolling snap suplexes and now the Crossface, but too close to the ropes. Sting is disoriented and desperate shoves Benoit into the ref. Benoit looks powerbomb, but goes piledriver WOW! Count to 1000, but there is no ref and the crowd is counting along for Benoit. Benoit now with rolling Germans and again gets the visual fall, but Luge comes comes in and cracks a bat across his exposed abdominals. Benoit sells this like a champ and Sting retains. Here comes Flair who looks great throwing punches in the corner. DDP here to help heels as Hogan clears the ring. Tony hypes Hogan/Hart/Flair vs Sting/Luger/DDP. You know, as a WCW mark, I would have loved to see where this was going without Russo's interference. It may not be the most inspired or unique booking, but definitely piqued my interest.
I really liked this match and thought both Sting and Benoit looked king-size in this. Sting looked great as King of the Hill, which he has shown flashes of in his career, but this is unique as he is a heel in this match and he plays the finish so well. This was the perfect match for Benoit to be having at this point of his career taking a heel champion to the limit and within a year finally climbing that mountain if this was a normal company. Really strong TV match. ****
No comments:
Post a Comment