I remember Cal making a comment in a review of a Kennedy/Taker match about how Kennedy always worked kinda awkward-looking in his mat exchanges and holds and stuff like that. Not awkward-looking in a bad way, but awkward-looking in a way that makes the stuff seem more organic and realistic, like they're really struggling. That's what we see early on here-- they really just do some basic headlock exchanges, but it comes across really well thanks to great facial expressions from both guys, and they both just look like they're working so damn hard to get into and out of these holds. They don't deliver gorgeous, textbook Benoit/Angle-esque exchanges; they deliver a bunch of ugly but snug matwork, and then Kennedy throws a good elbow, and Matt's sell is even better, and they exchange some strikes and Kennedy's nose gets busted open, and then Kennedy takes a realistic and ugly-looking bump to the outside. The whole match looks like an ugly fight. Kennedy works the arm for a bit, and Matt's selling is really tremendous. The arm work doesn't last long enough for the selling to become a focal point, but it's noticeably great.
But Matt Hardy's punches are the best part of the match. Seriously, they look insanely good. All his comebacks are well-timed, and the crowd eats them all up because he's Matt Hardy, and he really doesn't do much other than throw these ridiculous fucking punches. I could watch Matt Hardy punch bad guys in the face forever. Kennedy gets in some awesome cutoff spots, including a nasty running knee, and a cool spot where he tosses Matt off when Matt's going for his bulldog spot.
But Matt is definitely the star-- he was a legit great worker at this point-- with awesome facial expressions while he's caught in holds, and fantastic selling, and really tremendous punches.
Just a really good TV match that felt like a total slugfest and looked like a nasty brawl between two tough bastards.
Randy Orton vs. Eddie Guerrero - Smackdown 10/14/2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQFi...BB9A7&index=15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztfPNd8uQ0w
Had no idea this ever happened, but I'm glad I caught it because it turns out it was a really fun little 10-minute gem. Happened just after No Mercy, where Eddie lost a title match against Batista after spending the whole match refusing to cheat and take any shortcuts. So, the match opens with some fine exchanges-- we know from his series with Benoit that Orton could work stiff and snug, and though this doesn't match the manliness of those matches, both guys throw some really good uppercuts. But it really gets fun when Orton pokes Eddie in the eye, provoking Eddie to start cheating. He hits an eye poke of his own and chokes Randy with the tag rope and it's great: nice revenge spot with the eye poke, and good character development in general. Randy hits a beautiful dropkick right before the break to take control. I normally wouldn't bother to recap a dropkick, but ya'll really need to see this one. Right in the goddam face. Orton's control stuff is fine and his headlocks look better than usual. Really great cutoff spot where, after hitting a backbreaker (which Orton sold really well), Eddie charges, only to get caught with a drop toe hold. Eddie just launches himself full-throttle into the middle rope, and it looks great. Randy goes for multiple pins but can't win, so he takes Eddie to the outside and smashes his face on the announce table. As before, dirty stuff from Orton prompts dirty revenge stuff from Eddie. Orton sells having his face smashed into the table even better than he sold the backbreaker from earlier. There's even more good stuff, as Eddie gets launched arm-first into the steps, and then they work a good sleeper spot, and then Eddie makes a really fiery comeback, throwing a zillion elbows into Orton's ribs to get out of the sleeper.
Finish is pretty disappointing, but it is what it is. Really nifty match for the most part, and it's definitely worth checking out. A legit program between these two could've been really special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQFi...BB9A7&index=15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztfPNd8uQ0w
Had no idea this ever happened, but I'm glad I caught it because it turns out it was a really fun little 10-minute gem. Happened just after No Mercy, where Eddie lost a title match against Batista after spending the whole match refusing to cheat and take any shortcuts. So, the match opens with some fine exchanges-- we know from his series with Benoit that Orton could work stiff and snug, and though this doesn't match the manliness of those matches, both guys throw some really good uppercuts. But it really gets fun when Orton pokes Eddie in the eye, provoking Eddie to start cheating. He hits an eye poke of his own and chokes Randy with the tag rope and it's great: nice revenge spot with the eye poke, and good character development in general. Randy hits a beautiful dropkick right before the break to take control. I normally wouldn't bother to recap a dropkick, but ya'll really need to see this one. Right in the goddam face. Orton's control stuff is fine and his headlocks look better than usual. Really great cutoff spot where, after hitting a backbreaker (which Orton sold really well), Eddie charges, only to get caught with a drop toe hold. Eddie just launches himself full-throttle into the middle rope, and it looks great. Randy goes for multiple pins but can't win, so he takes Eddie to the outside and smashes his face on the announce table. As before, dirty stuff from Orton prompts dirty revenge stuff from Eddie. Orton sells having his face smashed into the table even better than he sold the backbreaker from earlier. There's even more good stuff, as Eddie gets launched arm-first into the steps, and then they work a good sleeper spot, and then Eddie makes a really fiery comeback, throwing a zillion elbows into Orton's ribs to get out of the sleeper.
Finish is pretty disappointing, but it is what it is. Really nifty match for the most part, and it's definitely worth checking out. A legit program between these two could've been really special.
Cactus Jack vs. Sting - Submit or Surrender - 11/16/1991
Right, so the youtube thing says this is an "I Quit" match, but they tease a 10-count KO spot, and they eventually go with a KO finish. Not that that's a knock or anything, but they don't quite deliver on the "Submit or Surrender" tag. Doesn't matter, though, because this match is really great. Don't remember the Beach Blast match well enough to say whether I thought this was better or not, but I know I liked both a lot. Foley is really great at taking dudes who aren't comfortable in "hardcore"-type environments and making them look great in a brand-new element, and that's just what he does here, resulting in an uber-fun brawl. Foley comes out with a trash can, wearing a Sting shirt that's all torn up and has a big "X" on it. Love little crazy man stuff like that from Foley. There's also a moment where he hits sting with a chair and then he kisses the chair. Awesome.
Right, so the youtube thing says this is an "I Quit" match, but they tease a 10-count KO spot, and they eventually go with a KO finish. Not that that's a knock or anything, but they don't quite deliver on the "Submit or Surrender" tag. Doesn't matter, though, because this match is really great. Don't remember the Beach Blast match well enough to say whether I thought this was better or not, but I know I liked both a lot. Foley is really great at taking dudes who aren't comfortable in "hardcore"-type environments and making them look great in a brand-new element, and that's just what he does here, resulting in an uber-fun brawl. Foley comes out with a trash can, wearing a Sting shirt that's all torn up and has a big "X" on it. Love little crazy man stuff like that from Foley. There's also a moment where he hits sting with a chair and then he kisses the chair. Awesome.
Anyway, match is mostly Foley. He rocks Sting early but then he whiffs on a clothesline and tumbles to the outside with that awesome over-the-top rope bump he takes. Sting smashes Foley's face around on the outside, and then he beats him up with a rubber trash can. I could complain about a rubber trash can being a garbage weapon (PUN!!!!), but it was kid-friendly Sting in 91 WCW, so whatever. And a top-rope splash onto a trash can that's over Foley's head actually seems like it would hurt both guys, maybe. Foley's transition spot to take control is really great: Sting whips him to the ropes and goes for a leapfrog, but Foley headbutts him in the nads. Then he hits a leg drop on Sting's nads and dares the ref to do something about it. Foley tosses Sting around for a while, and Sting takes some great-looking stuff. There's an awesome hope spot/cutoff exchange where Sting goes for a splash in the corner but misses. He catches himself and tries to come off the top rope only for Foley to catch him and hit a hot shot on the top rope. Hot shot spot wasn't the best-looking thing ever (not even half as good as the hot shot spot from Bourne/Ryder from 5/27/10, for example), but the whole exchange came off really well and looked fluid.
And then there's the chair stuff on the outside, and a pretty great finishing sequence where Foley takes something crazy that looked reckless and dangerous and slick. Awesome little match, probably ****-ish.
Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee - Memphis 12/30/1985 (Dundee's title & hair & wife's hair vs. Lawler leaving town)
Lengthy build-up video shows Dundee turning on his tag partner, Lawler, and then goading him into a title match and then winning using some foreign object, and then bragging about how he got to face Flair, the world's champion, and then refusing to give Lawler a rematch. Lawler threatens to bust up his car to get a rematch; Lawler turns into an alcoholic; Dundee laughs, and we're to the match.
Lawler comes out with a big eye bandage because of something that had happened in an earlier match. It makes for a really great visual as the bandage looks all bloody and stuff, and Lawler sells semi-blindness brilliantly, especially in the early parts of the match. He whiffs on all sorts of punches and it just looks great. Dundee dominates the first half of the match. It's literally ALL Dundee, and it works great. He dances around and heels it up and hides in Lawler's blind spot, and he throws really fantastic punches, and Lawler's selling is even better. The match is mostly punches, and the fact that it comes off as one of the best matches ever anyway is a testament to the quality of both guys' characters and selling. Lawler-in-peril is really great. The fans clearly love him, and he draws sympathy really well, and Dundee comes across as a total dickbag.
The transition to Lawler's comeback is great, too-- he bounces off the rope after taking a ten-minute long beating and throws this wild punch that miraculously connected. Dundee's sell was great, but I totally loved how Lawler threw the punch: it looked like the desperate effort of a blind dude who was in a bad way, and it seemed like the punch had about a one-in-a-million chance at connecting as well as it did. Then they go to commercial, which was probably my only problem with the match. I felt like I missed something important. They come back and Lawler throws Dundee into a bench, which looks reckless and great, and then they tease a countout. Dundee grabs his wife and tries to run away to save their hair, but Lawler chases, and they punch each other through the crowd, and it all looks great. Then Lawler goes up some stairs and gets thrown over the rail and onto the ground. Not sure what he landed on because they didn't cut to it, but it looked like a really wild spot. That whole sequence was awesome, from Dundee being a shitbag heel, to Lawler refusing to take what would have essentially been a forfeit, to the brawl, to the bump, to the teased countout-- Dundee literally drags the ref back to the ring to make him count-- to Lawler returning with blood all over his face, looking like a madman. He takes some punches and yells and comes back and rocks Dundee all over the place, and I'm totally into it, like, "Fuck yeah, Lawler's gonna rock this dude and it's gonna be great."
But then they call back to the match where Dundee won the strap as he comes out of a corner with some object, and I'm crushed, and then I imagine what the folks in Memphis must have been feeling. I mean, Lawler was a goddam superhero, and then he had to leave because some fuck head cheated. I mean, he was about to win, and then BOOM. He's gone.
Fuck Bill Dundee.
Great match. Infinite stars. Not really sure where I'd rate this on an all-time-ish list, mainly because I haven't seen enough 80s stuff. But if this had happened in the WWF and I'd watched it for the poll, it would've been a lock for my top 20, and it would've had a good shot at my top 10. Both guys were just great in their roles, and the atmosphere was great, and the selling was top-notch, and the structure was flawless, and the finish was as heartbreaking as the fall of a hero should be.
Lengthy build-up video shows Dundee turning on his tag partner, Lawler, and then goading him into a title match and then winning using some foreign object, and then bragging about how he got to face Flair, the world's champion, and then refusing to give Lawler a rematch. Lawler threatens to bust up his car to get a rematch; Lawler turns into an alcoholic; Dundee laughs, and we're to the match.
Lawler comes out with a big eye bandage because of something that had happened in an earlier match. It makes for a really great visual as the bandage looks all bloody and stuff, and Lawler sells semi-blindness brilliantly, especially in the early parts of the match. He whiffs on all sorts of punches and it just looks great. Dundee dominates the first half of the match. It's literally ALL Dundee, and it works great. He dances around and heels it up and hides in Lawler's blind spot, and he throws really fantastic punches, and Lawler's selling is even better. The match is mostly punches, and the fact that it comes off as one of the best matches ever anyway is a testament to the quality of both guys' characters and selling. Lawler-in-peril is really great. The fans clearly love him, and he draws sympathy really well, and Dundee comes across as a total dickbag.
The transition to Lawler's comeback is great, too-- he bounces off the rope after taking a ten-minute long beating and throws this wild punch that miraculously connected. Dundee's sell was great, but I totally loved how Lawler threw the punch: it looked like the desperate effort of a blind dude who was in a bad way, and it seemed like the punch had about a one-in-a-million chance at connecting as well as it did. Then they go to commercial, which was probably my only problem with the match. I felt like I missed something important. They come back and Lawler throws Dundee into a bench, which looks reckless and great, and then they tease a countout. Dundee grabs his wife and tries to run away to save their hair, but Lawler chases, and they punch each other through the crowd, and it all looks great. Then Lawler goes up some stairs and gets thrown over the rail and onto the ground. Not sure what he landed on because they didn't cut to it, but it looked like a really wild spot. That whole sequence was awesome, from Dundee being a shitbag heel, to Lawler refusing to take what would have essentially been a forfeit, to the brawl, to the bump, to the teased countout-- Dundee literally drags the ref back to the ring to make him count-- to Lawler returning with blood all over his face, looking like a madman. He takes some punches and yells and comes back and rocks Dundee all over the place, and I'm totally into it, like, "Fuck yeah, Lawler's gonna rock this dude and it's gonna be great."
But then they call back to the match where Dundee won the strap as he comes out of a corner with some object, and I'm crushed, and then I imagine what the folks in Memphis must have been feeling. I mean, Lawler was a goddam superhero, and then he had to leave because some fuck head cheated. I mean, he was about to win, and then BOOM. He's gone.
Fuck Bill Dundee.
Great match. Infinite stars. Not really sure where I'd rate this on an all-time-ish list, mainly because I haven't seen enough 80s stuff. But if this had happened in the WWF and I'd watched it for the poll, it would've been a lock for my top 20, and it would've had a good shot at my top 10. Both guys were just great in their roles, and the atmosphere was great, and the selling was top-notch, and the structure was flawless, and the finish was as heartbreaking as the fall of a hero should be.
Low-Ki vs. American Dragon - Submission Match - JAPW 6/7/02
Man, this was cool. It's a submission match, so they go to the mat and trade holds for most of the thing. I'm not going to bother trying to recap the holds because there was a bunch of stuff I'd never seen before, but it all looks awesome and painful. The camera work really helps, which is surprising considering it's obviously a low-budget deal. But there's just a single camera, no commentary, and the camera man gets in close and low to the mat so you can really see the stiffness of the mat work and the holds. It helps that both guys are willing to get stretched, and both guys bring some great facial expressions, and both guys grunt and yell really well, so you get a sense that all of the holds hurt a lot. There isn't much body part focus, which means selling isn't a huge issue, aside from the immediate reactions to holds, which are all awesome. And the lack of body part focus isn't a knock at all-- it actually makes the match come across as more organic. It really feels like they're looking for the upper-hand on the mat, taking whatever openings they get because they both know a handful of holds that'll make a guy submit without any build, as long as they get it locked in in the middle of the ring. Naturally, the ropes come into play a lot. And there are some really stiff strike exchanges, and there's an awesome moment where Dragon locks in an STF and just starts throwing forearms at the back of Ki's head. Just tons of awesome little stuff like that throughout to make the 20 minutes fly by. Seriously, the forearms looked totally nasty. Everything in this match just looks nasty, like they're really trying to fuck each other up.
Stiff and manly and totally worth watching. I'm not an expert on stuff like this, but I thought it was great, and it looked legit, and I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
Man, this was cool. It's a submission match, so they go to the mat and trade holds for most of the thing. I'm not going to bother trying to recap the holds because there was a bunch of stuff I'd never seen before, but it all looks awesome and painful. The camera work really helps, which is surprising considering it's obviously a low-budget deal. But there's just a single camera, no commentary, and the camera man gets in close and low to the mat so you can really see the stiffness of the mat work and the holds. It helps that both guys are willing to get stretched, and both guys bring some great facial expressions, and both guys grunt and yell really well, so you get a sense that all of the holds hurt a lot. There isn't much body part focus, which means selling isn't a huge issue, aside from the immediate reactions to holds, which are all awesome. And the lack of body part focus isn't a knock at all-- it actually makes the match come across as more organic. It really feels like they're looking for the upper-hand on the mat, taking whatever openings they get because they both know a handful of holds that'll make a guy submit without any build, as long as they get it locked in in the middle of the ring. Naturally, the ropes come into play a lot. And there are some really stiff strike exchanges, and there's an awesome moment where Dragon locks in an STF and just starts throwing forearms at the back of Ki's head. Just tons of awesome little stuff like that throughout to make the 20 minutes fly by. Seriously, the forearms looked totally nasty. Everything in this match just looks nasty, like they're really trying to fuck each other up.
Stiff and manly and totally worth watching. I'm not an expert on stuff like this, but I thought it was great, and it looked legit, and I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
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