2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

Cracks me up that Lord Tensai is really Matt Bloom from Peabody,MA. He is a great character.

 

Well, if Lord Tensai doesn't get over, they can always resurrect the Hip Hop Hippo:

Perhaps he could tag with another wrestler whose nickname comes from combining a fearsome animal with an urban music genre.

 

Tensai vs. Funkasaurus. Do it. Do it.

 

. . . In a loser leaves the company match. And it ends in a double disqualification. It's like the bad gimmick kill switch easy button.

 

i would like it if lord tensai, through his translator, talks about how he, as is common with japanese men, has a naturally hairless back.

it's funny, i have no interest in watching lord tensai, but i enjoy talking about him.

 

Better yet, make it a contract on a pole match. Neither man can manage to climb the pole, so both lose.

 

Finally had the chance to watch the second disc. Here's my review.

A note on disc 1. While settling down to watch disc 2, the main menu video was playing. There were plenty of clips of wrestlers in cages and of the cage itself. Every image I saw was from a match on this set though. The one exception if of Roddy Piper about to climb in the big blue bars steel cage. Based on his look, I'm willing to bet it was from the December 1989 MSG show where he battled Rick Rude in a really fun cage match. It makes me wonder if Piper/Rude was originally scheduled to be on this DVD set. You can check out Roddy Piper's DVD set from 2006 to see that great match.


Disc 2

Ric Flair (c) vs Lex Luger - WCW World Title - Capitol Combat 1990
A couple of quick notes, Luger is the reigning US champion. The steel cage is the same one used at Halloween Havoc 1989 and it's basically a Hell in a Cell. On to the match - Luger had spent the last two weeks in the hospital due to a knee injury. That knee injury led to a staph infection and several days of a 100+ degree fever. Despite the cage being pretty flimsy and contains huge holes in between the bars, it serves the very basic purpose. Especially in the first half, all Flair is trying to do is escape from Luger. Flair tries climbing on the cage, but Luger always catches him. Flair's basically ****ed. Once Flair is busted open, it seems like it's only a matter of time before Luger finally wins the WCW World Title. Luger looks to get the win with a superplex, but the force coming down injures his already hurt knee. This is where Flair goes on the offense, concentrating on Luger's hurt knee. Yet, despite already being injured, having the knee banged up and having the best wrestler of the 80's beating down on you, Luger still refuses to give up. This brings out the Four Horsemen to try and interfere. Once again, the cage serves it's purpose of keeping the Horsemen (Minus Windham) out of the ring. Eventually Sting comes out and chases the heels to the back. However, this really just allows Ole Anderson to find the operator of the cage and force him to raise the cage up. Barry Windham runs out from the back and attacks Luger as he has Flair up in the Torture Rack position. In only the second time I can ever remember such a result in a cage match, a DQ finish happens. The heels come back to further their attack on Luger until someone can finally raise the cage back up so Sting and the debuting El Gigante can make the save. This had a really good story to it. Even though I hated the finish, it made sense. The Horsemen are the biggest cheaters in wrestling and Flair knew Luger was capable of beating him. The big moment wasn't Luger finally beating Flair for the belt (Even though that would have been a perfectly acceptable story), but rather Sting returning from injury to win the belt at the Great American Bash. Had Luger won the belt, this probably would have been a MOTYC. Instead, it's just a really good match. 3 3/4 Stars.

The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs Rick Rude w/Bobby Heenan - WWE World Title - Summerslam 1990
This match has been built up since before Wrestlemania 6 when Rude began training for his eventual showdown. It was during this training that Rude cut his hair. Oddly, this is also a rematch from the July 1990 SNME. Rude is a bumping machine in this. While I hardly ever hear anyone talk about it, Rude dives from the top of the cage twice to try and deliver a flying fist. This was a type of bump you didn't see in 1990. In all honesty, Rude is just awesome and I can't say enough good things about him when it comes to these Warrior matches. Another rarity for 1990 WWF was Rude being busted open. It may not be high on the Muta Scale, but blood didn't really happen in 1990. Even though Bobby Heenan normally steals the show with his big bumps, he has to settle with being the second biggest bumper of the match. His interactions with Warrior late in the match is still top notch though. In the end, after Rude taking the biggest risks of his career and Bobby Heenan cheating (Including slamming the door in on Warrior's head), it's still not enough to beat Warrior. A press slam to Rude gives Warrior enough time to escape the cage to score his first (And only) successful WWE Title PPV defense. This was actually a lot better than what I remembered. Still, the story was fairly weak at times and Warrior didn't add anything to the match. Still, better than what I remember is an automatic thumbs up in my book. 2 1/2 Stars.

The Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage w/Sherri - MSG - January 21, 1991
Am I the only one surprised that the WWE included two Warrior matches when neither was crucial to have? This match took place just two nights after the Royal Rumble where Randy Savage cost Warrior the WWE World Title against Sgt. Slaughter. As a result, Warrior is a little upset. This was your typical house show match where neither guy put in too much effort. Especially for an amazing talent like Savage, you can easily tell when he's not trying as hard as he can. Despite it being a cage match, there isn't much violence about it. The amount of times someone is slammed into the cage can probably be counted on one hand. Thanks to Sherri's interference, Savage is able to drop down and win the match. Likewise, it's a very house show match because they went out of their way to send the fans home happy. This includes Warrior ripping Sherri's clothes off, further attacking Savage and when Sherri returns in a new dress, Warrior presses her high up in the air before dropping her. The post-match events blows away the actual bout. If nothing else, they allowed the best stuff to happen at the end, so the boring match was partially forgotten. 2 Stars.

Shawn Michaels (c) w/Diesel vs Marty Jannetty - WWE IC Title - White Plains, NY - August 17, 1993
This was one of those matches that was taped on a night where the WWE recorded several weeks worth of shows. Since it wouldn't air on any weekly show, it was recorded exclusively for Coliseum Home Video. Pretty standard stuff with the story being Marty having to contend with Michaels, the limitations of the steel cage and Diesel refusing to let him escape the cage without a struggle. Michaels ends up winning after Diesel holds Jannetty up on the top of the cage long enough for Michaels to escape through the cage. The real reason to watch this is for Johnny Polo. Raven was a true forgotten gem of this period for his commentating. He's hilarious and can make a lousy match entertaining. I imagine they added this match strictly to have something from Michaels because it's neither really good nor does it have any importance. 2 1/4 Stars.

Mankind vs Triple H w/Chyna - Summerslam 1997
Foley's first babyface WWF feud. At the previous PPV, Canadian Stampede, these two ended up brawling all over the building. As a result, they're forced inside of the cage to get a proper winner. Mankind is especially popular due to a series of "Shoot" interviews he had with Jim Ross on Raw and for the fact that Summerslam took place in New York. Same storyline as the previous match with the heel's bodyguard giving the babyface a really difficult time. Yet, this match is so much better solely because of Foley. Despite not being able to have blood, Foley too so many violent hits against the cage that it didn't matter. Whether there was blood or not, the match was violent. Isn't that what a cage match should be? Besides having a good match, it also has the importance of being Foley's biggest WWE moment up to this point. While on top of the cage, Foley dives off with a falling elbow on Hunter plays to Foley's fascination with Jimmy Snuka's October 17, 1983 dive on Don Muraco. It's a great feel good moment. 3 1/2 Stars.

Mr. McMahon vs Steve Austin - St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1999
If Austin wins, he is awards McMahon's number 1 contender's spot at Wrestlemania 15. Even though the match only lasts about eight minutes, the whole pre and post match events clocks in around 25 or so minutes. They probably could have trimmed off some time to not let it drag any. Still, the booking made perfect sense. McMahon got his ass kicked from the beginning until the end. Looking back, Mr. McMahon put on one amazing performance. The guy was fifty-three years old and IIRC this is only his first proper match. Yet, McMahon takes a giant bump from the top of the cage down through the table. The table eventually breaks, but not before McMahon bounces off of it hard. Besides the table bump, this match will forever be remembered as the night The Big Show debuted for the WWE. It's an awesome debut and the only negative I can think of is that the WWE wouldn't give us an Austin/Show feud following Wrestlemania. This felt like a huge match. On one side, was the man who had destroyed the top two guys of the 80's. Now he can finally battle the biggest star today (Past tense obviously). That's money. Anyways, Austin wins as Show launches him at the cage. The cage wall breaks and Austin falls out of the ring. It's not a workrate match, but it was fun, memorable, featured a huge debut and was a good use of a non-wrestler. 2 1/2 Stars.

Triple H (c) vs The Rock - WWE World Title - Rebellion 1999
From the UK October PPV. It was during the UK tour that Vince Russo left the WWE to go to WCW. This is also three months after their previous cage match on Raw. The match repeats some of the same spots as their Raw match. Most notably, the false finish of a man getting out of the cage, but with the referee knocked out, the match continues. Once again, Chyna attempts to interfere, but this time she has a lot more luck in helping her man. Chyna slams the door in Rocky's face and later fought The Rock on top of the cage (Very similar to what Sherri did with Warrior earlier on this disc). What makes this match different from their Raw match is the addition of the British Bulldog. Bulldog plays the role of the disgruntled employee who feels he should be in the match instead of the Rock. Bulldog interferes to attack both men. Despite not being on Hunter's side, Bulldog does drag The Rock down from the top of the cage so that Hunter can slowly climb down to win. Surprisingly, I found myself enjoying the match once everyone started to interfere. It's a cluster****, but sometimes cluster****s can be fun. These UK PPV's can be pretty unremarkable, but this was more than good enough to headline one of their PPV's. Slightly better than their Raw cage match, but it can't compare to some of their 2000 battles. 3 1/4 Stars.

Overall
Overall, I have to admit that disc two was a disappointment. Four of the matches are already on DVD, two of which on the previous cage match DVD. I can understand the justification of adding Foley vs Hunter, but did we really need to see Michaels vs Jannetty? I'm still waiting for the WWE to release the Steiner Brothers vs Money Inc from the Summerslam Spectacular 1993. It's from the same time period as Marty vs Michaels, it's pretty awesome and it's never been released on DVD. Another DVD and another chance for the WWE to release Shamrock/Rock/Foley from Breakdown 1998, but they miss it again. It's not as if it's some meaningless match. Foley's in it! Rock even wins it to earn himself a title shot! I'm also disappointed at the lack of variety for the 90's disc. Only one non-WWE match? I'm still waiting on Flair vs Savage from Superbrawl VI to be released on DVD. Although it was rare, I know ECW had a few cage matches as well. Throwing a random ECW cage match on would have given the WWE another thing to brag about to entice viewers to buy the disc. If there's one reason to check out this disc, it's to see Lex Luger vs Ric Flair. When the match listings were first released it was that match and another that made me want to buy this set. While the match may not be a MOTY or anything, it was still good enough that I can take something away from this disc. Likewise, I'm happy to see the WWE add a random rare match like Rock/Hunter. Would I have preferred to see another WCW or ECW match in it's place? Of course, but it's at least not another full copy from another DVD (Although clips of it is shown on the Bloodbath DVD). On the plus side, I knew going into watching this that disc 2 would offer the least.

One disc to go...

 

Am I the only one that misses the old school WWF blue cage? Before they went to the traditional chain link cage, they used the same blue cage, but painted black, no?

 

I never liked that thing. Thought it always looked stupid. And now that I'm a little more knowledgeable about wrestling, it looks like it HAD to be more dangerous for the guys in the ring, right? The chain link can have its rough edges and bust you open, but there's plenty of give in the panels. You can whip a guy into the side, and he can spring off it and still give a good-looking spot.
The blue cage is basically steel bars without much give. Seems like somebody could really get messed up running into that thing.

As an aside, the Hogan-Bundy cage match at WM2 is the first time I can remember them using the blue cage. Was that the first match with it?

 

I remember watching the televised WWF house shows from MSG and the Spectrum in the 80s, and they'd have about a 15-minute intermission before a cage match so the ring crew could assemble the thing. They'd switch between promos to shots of the ring crew working. It was cooler than it sounds. It really made a cage match feel important.

 

I definitely agree with this. They also did the cage matches far less frequently then, and plus, it's not like there was YouTube or anything to re-watch stuff.

In the 1990s, I remember keeping a tape I had of a Raw for years and years because it had my favorite match. It was a cage match on Raw with the Steiners and Money Inc. Scott won because it was one of the first times the WWE stressed the "feet touch the floor" - Rick held IRS on his shoulders, even with Dibiase punching him, until Scott got out of the cage.

 

As far as I know, the Hogan/Bundy match was the first with the blue bars. I read somewhere it was used because the WWF thought it'd be easier for the fans to see in the cage on the closed-circuit TV.

I also remember reading an interview Rude gave before he died in which he said he hated the blue-bar cage because it felt like running into a wall. The other cage had more give.

As for me personally, I like the old-style mesh cage. It just looks more formidable. The blue-cage looked hokey.

As far as the feet touching the floor, one of my cool memories was an SNME cage match between Hogan and Orndorff in which they both climbed out and touched on the floor simultaneously. On opposite sides of the ring. I remember using my VCR (ha-ha) super slo-mo to see if they touched at the same time, and they did. I thought it was a neat trick, until I learned years later that the show was taped. I figured they rigged the tape to make it seem like they touch at the same time.

Also for Hogan in the cage, I'm pretty sure it's been posted here before, but he also had one of the all-time greatest bumps when he superplexed the Bossman on SNME.