Talk about Disc 1 of the 1990 Yearbook here!
My thoughts from back in 2012
DISC 1
Let's get this decade started!
Perhaps the best/worst wrestling music video ever, featuring stars from the CWA and clips of matches from Europe. Owen Hart, Akira Nogami, PN News and others make appearances. We also get clips of Vader vs Otto Wanz at the end. There is some cool wrestling in this video, actually.
But yeah, this is pro wrestling. I wish I hadn't watched this so many times on YouTube, so it felt a little fresher.
Someone more knowledgeable than me should name all the wrestlers in this.
Late note: You can click through to the above-linked thread to get those names.
Well, this is absolutely a dream match on paper. Some insanely fluid, fast-paced mat sequences get us started. Casas looks not too far removed from losing a hair match. The Santo/Casas mat exchanges are just on a different level than everyone else's, which are already pretty great, and they also mix in lots of playing to the crowd. It's really fun to see the crowd get so into the matwork.
I didn't expect Ultimo to be so good so early. Yes, the gimmick added a lot, but he was in a ring full of legends and didn't look even slightly out of place. Nothing good ever comes out of shaking Fuerza Guerrera's hand, or hugging him. Why can't anyone in lucha ever realize this?
Hamada and Casas have sort of a violent exchange in the third fall that leads to Hamada bending him like a pretzel on the mat while Panther and Fuerza complain about too much aggression. Casas and Ultimo have great chemistry as they always do.
Hell of a match to kick off the year. They cut a Michinoku Pro-like pace and hit some beautiful spots. All of the pairings worked and even within the match, there was quite a bit of variety. Any MPro fans should go out of their way to check this out. 4*
El Hijo del Santo & Blue Demon Jr vs. Eddy & Mando Guerrero (WWA 1990)
This is another strong match, but in a very different way than the trios match. It's more about hate and aggression, with Eddy and Mando taking it to Santo and Demon and doing a lot more brawling. I don't think it's as good as the other match, but it does have a more main event feel, and the Demon turn on Santo is very well done. There's a lot to like here, but it had a tough act to follow. 3 3/4*
Yeah, the crowd didn't react much to this, which is too bad. I thought this was a really fun match. Bobby Fulton, for whatever people normally say about him, was excellent here. I love his little match-within-the match with Kawada that starts with the handshake diss, continues with the attempts to stomp tag team partners behind the ref's back and so on. He's not as athletically gifted as Rogers, but he brought the most personality to this of the four. I love how upset he gets about Fuyuki bringing a chair into the match, and starting a slapfight with Fuyuki was great! In spite of all this, he's the first to extend a handshake at the end. What a quirky motherfucker, I love it! This is the kind of midcard, high-workrate match that I know the long-time AJ fans grew to miss as the decade wore on. They did quite a bit with the time they had. 3*
Akira Hokuto & Yumiko Hotta vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita (AJW 1/4/90)
One thing I really like about this is how mat-based it is. None of the four of them have fleshed out their personalities as much as they would later in the decade, but it's a little refreshing to see everyone working a lot more basic. Basic AJW is still a lot more action-packed than most styles, but I really enjoyed the relatively slow build. Hotta ends up isolated and worked over by Yamada, and later Mita by Hokuto, and I love how this reverse chinlock being sold as death gets over than a lot of the more daredevil stuff. The choke is a killer move here, even if they do hold on to it way too long to really seem as dire as they try to make it out to be. The crowd is also interesting here. AJW crowds were always unique, but they clearly don't sound like the interpromotional crowds yet. The teen girl screaming is still in half effect.
I think one of the things I'm looking forward to most after watching this match is seeing exactly how Hokuto went from this to Dangerous Queen. 3 3/4*
Brutus Beefcake is mercilessly cutting the hair of a jobber whose only crime is trying to make a living in the WWF when Rick Martel decides to play hero. He points out Beefcake's absurd sense of fashion, and responds by showing him what true fashion is. Beefcake, who doesn't seem to care at all that he's scarred his opponent's soul for life, decides to take it a step further by chasing Rick Martel off of the stage and taking his shears to his beautiful rainwear! Martel ends up losing his jacket while Beefcake mocks him. Only in the WWF could a guy who cuts people's hair without provocation and then destroys the property of anyone who dares call him on it be a babyface.
What a great collection of minds! Sherri is the BEST. She even sells for everyone in this segment. I do think these very tidy segments were fun in hyping the Rumble, though.
Dustin Rhodes is doing his Duth-Tay voice. Gary Young, seemingly fresh off of playing Ronald McDonald for Halloween, responds and does a really good promo. He calls Dustin an abortion that somehow survived. I will avoid jokes about constitutional rights, as much as I don't want to.
Lawler is here to tell us the origins of King Cobra. Vaguely racist stuff, but the punchline at the end of the long story about King Cobra's real name is tremendous. Just wait for it. It says a lot about how they view King Cobra when Eddie Marlin cuts most of his promo for him before he even shows his face. If you enjoyed Jerry Lawler in this segment, brace yourselves for a very fun set!
Norman has been working on a painting of Woman and is here to present it to her (and Nitron). The picture is quite hideous, which causes Woman to break it and slap him! Norman takes out his frustrations on Nitron until Kevin Sullivan runs and breaks the painting over Norman's head. It's a funny moment because they smear the red paint on his face in an attempt to emulate blood. Lance Russell chimes in at the tail end of the angle and somehow makes this seem credible in the final seconds of the segment.
Ric Flair, who even finds a way to work the word "henceforth" into his declaration, announces that Sting is now a member of the Four Horsemen, in an important interview that would set the tone for the entire year in WCW. Arn and Ole get in a few words as well.
Ric Flair and Scott Steiner receive awards from Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Scott Steiner is awesome standing there half-nude while the other three are in suits. Flair puts over the PWI award in a huge way. I miss these segments.
The Horsemen are excited to have Sting and board, and Sting is happy to be there! I was pretty young and didn't see a turn coming, but looking back, I'm not sure how I didn't. It's not because these segments telegraph it, but rather because having all of these guys on the same side really limited them.
Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri Interview (Challenge 1/7/90)
Savage and Sherri couldn't be more optimistic about the Royal Rumble. They briefly tease the feud with Dusty, with Sherri casting some words of warning toward Sapphire. Can I just state how awesome MACHO KING RANDY SAVAGE was? I'm bound to say it again.
This was an outstanding match! Eaton looks fantastic here, and does more awesome things than I could ever point out, but the figure four headlock is genius, as is grinding the side of Flair's head on the ringpost to set up Cornette sneaking in a racket shot. Bobby also takes some beautiful bumps -- the stammering one off of Flair's shoulderblock early on is great, and later in the match, he takes a backdrop and a hiptoss on the arena floor. As for Flair, this is what I imagine a lot of his late 70s/early 80s Mid Atlantic babyface matches were like. Dave was right on when he called this "PPV calibre" in the WON. Flair even puts the figure four on the right leg! (Before getting interrupted). The finish was good too, considering all the interference Cornette had gotten away with. Fun to see the two best wrestlers in the company given time to show what they can do. 4*
On a later rewatch:
I think this is one that I like even more this time around. I've actually re-watched it a few times since originally posting in this thread. I think this match more than anything else in 1990 shows the lost potential of a babyface Ric Flair. There was absolutely no reason to turn him.
Something we've seen play out in wrestling many times is that when established headliners get to a certain point where they can still contribute but have a really strong resume behind them, they turn babyface because fans see them as "theirs" and just don't want to boo them anymore, regardless of how they made their name. By 1989, Flair had entered that point in his career. If anything, I think the heel turn decreased his relevance. I don't know that he was the guy WCW needed to build around anymore, but he was absolutely a guy that was going to mean a lot more in the big picture as a top babyface than he would as a top heel. I also think he would have been more effective in passing the torch to a new top heel than he would have been in passing the torch to a new top babyface. It doesn't mean that he can't effectively portray a heel, but it does mean that it's not the best role for him at this stage of his career. People wanted to cheer him.
As for Bobby Eaton, what else can really be said? This match shows that if presented properly, there's no reason he couldn't have been a solid, upper midcard singles heel, especially with Cornette in his corner.
This is the case for a lot of my favorite matches for the decade (even though this was taped on December 14 in Peoria I've since learned), but it's especially true of this match -- it's more an interesting glimpse of what might have been than it is a promise of something awesome fully realized. Ric's decade was all over the place and he came out of the 90s a broken man, but this match proves that it didn't have to be that way. It could have been so beautiful, as an 80s pop singer with the same first name as his third wife once said.
FUNK'S GRILL! He invites us to call the Hotline to listen to him rap, which is an infinitely better idea than listening to Gene Okerlund make up things. Kevin Sullivan is the guest, decked out in a suit! He gets personal with Terry and doesn't know how he can get along with a nitwit. He also calls Dory a nitwit, which is likely true. They have a discussion about compassion and its rightful place with regards to Norman, which is oddly compelling. This segment is a wonderful argument. I could listen to these guys debate personal value systems and the ways of the world all day long.
Funny to hear Ross and Cornette bury Gary Hart for his poor strategy leading to Muta's losing streak at Starrcade '89. We also get some Jim Ross racism, openly asking if there are any nice looking Oriental guys. That said, Muta drops the TV title to Arn in a good match with an especially hot final few minutes. Arn was really over as a babyface with this crowd. Muta is on the way out, but shows sparks of what made his '89 run so memorable, especially in his kicks. Seeing Arn get this reaction, and seeing the chemistry between Arn and Sawyer in the post-match interview, just reiterates my view that the timing was horrible in turning the Horsemen at the Clash. 3*
Last few minutes of some good action from Mid South Coliseum. Travis breaks a guitar over Dundee's head and secures the win.
Back at the studio, Dundee is out in cow-print pants and a studded leather jacket with the remains of the guitar. Dundee SHOOTS, pointing out that Travis was raised in Lexington, KY, not Texas, and that he grew up wanting to be like Bill Dundee. They're hyping a guitar-on-a-pole match between these two on Monday night, which I would buy a ticket for.
Travis sends in a taped promo strumming a guitar, and Dundee responds to that too. "You look exactly what you are, a big woman!"
This all wraps up with a music video set to "Jailhouse Rock" of Travis doing his full gimmick. All the clips are from Dallas, but he is really into his gimmick. Lots more Travis to come on this yearbook. That segues into him singing and playing "Love Me Tender" horribly with his back turned to the camera in an Elvis jumpsuit. This is really more a feature than a video, and it's a great one that shows all the stuff that was so fun about one of the lost great workers of the time.
Lawler is out on his Zach Morris cell phone, allegedly having conversations with Donald Trump, Christie Brinkley and Art Modell. He makes the studio audience just sit there like bumps on a log while he finishes his fake conversation, which is funny. This goes on for several minutes, past the point you think it's going to stop, which just makes it better. Forget Jericho trolling the WWE Universe, this is much more fun.
Dirty White Boy finally comes out with the Soul Taker to show solidarity for the upcoming six-man at MSC, where they'll be teaming up. Lawler mentions that he thought of a great gift idea for Dutch at Christmas, but how do you wrap a bathtub? They run down their opponents - Dutch Mantell, Chris Champion and Steve Austin. In a standout moment, Lawler says "This Steve Austin guy weighed 47 lbs before he found steroids!"
Jerry Lawler + Dutch Mantell, Chris Champion & Steve Austin + King Cobra (USWA 1/13/90)
Chris Champion, Dutch Mantell and Steve Austin - one of the weirdest six-man teams I've ever seen - are out. Welcome everyone, to the greatness of Chris Champion's hair. It gets better. Lawler, who's hosting the show with Dave Brown at this point, is behind the booth and bickers with the three of them during their promo.
Lawler's phone rings and King Cobra comes out at the same time, which makes Lawler ask if someone said free cheese. Cobra offers this Steve Austin nobody $1000 to step aside in the six-man tag, so he can team with Dutch and Chris Champion. Fans erupt at the idea, since no one really cares about Steve Austin as much as they do King Cobra.
They run down the upcoming MSC card while random guys run out to cut promos.
In what will become a fairly regular feature on this yearbook, Lawler walks around the studio and insults people. Pretty hilarious.
Cornette acknowledges the Flair/Eaton match, which is a nice touch, considering WCW's tendency to ignore its B shows on its A shows. Corny wants to know why Sting got the title shot at Wrestle War instead of Lex Luger. Flair points out that it's because he won the Ironman tournament at Starrcade '89.
Woman quickly interrupts, using "Great Balls Of Fire" as entrance music. She offers to help Flair in his match with Sting, and also suggests that she may be able to help him in ... ahem ... other ways. Flair is worried that if the Horsemen let Woman in the door, it would be a distraction. He doesn't want to mix business with pleasure. But he tells her how awesome she is to close things out.
She doesn't quite seem ready to give up on this idea yet.
We get a clip the week before of Cactus turning on Lee Scott after teaming with him and losing the match, which was Cactus's whole gimmick at this point. Lee Scott challenged him to a match, and that's how we got here.
Lee weighs 212? Who are they kidding? Anyway, this is included because how often do you get to see legendary jobber Lee Scott in a competitive match? He looks really good, and why wouldn't he, as he was a solid wrestler and a more-than-willing bumper.
Cactus gets his first win and continues to punish him after the match.
Fun and novel.
Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ricky Fuyuki (AJPW 1/14/90)
Jumbo/Tenryu gimmick match - the idea of doing a singles match with these two, but throwing in two underlings to make it fresh and give them new ways to respond to things. Tenryu repeatedly takes this match to violent places where Jumbo clearly isn't comfortable. Being so protective of Tiger Mask is interesting. Tenryu tries to rip his mask off, throws chairs at him, brutalizes him with punches and more. Fuyuki tries to be a good soldier and follow Tenryu's lead. The mask ripping consistently gets loud boos and "Tiger!" chants.
Jumbo gets to a point where he's seen enough and runs into the ring and starts pummeling Tenryu, but the referee quickly sends him back to his corner. He finally gets the hot tag, which gets a nice pop, and the inevitable Jumbo/Tenryu face-off picks up the heat in a big way.
GREAT finish, as Tenryu tries to lariat Jumbo out of the half crab position. Jumbo collapses and ends up cinching in the hold even more, which makes Fuyuki immediately submit and gives Jumbomask the win. Tenryu walks away in disgust in the post-match, leaving Jumbo and Tiger to help him back to his feet. Fuyuki reluctantly accepts their help after prodding from the crowd.
Cool match. 3 1/2*
Imagine that. Vince backs off after attempting a dumb power play with the cable companies. Viewers Choice will now carry the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania, which is spun as being a result of the WWF fans calling their cable companies to demand it. Talk of patriotism and American values so makes this is fascism wrapped in the flag.
Fantastic effect of Gene Okerlund cutting into All-Japan programming with WWF pay-per-view carriage news. — PeteF3
I really wish this had opened a PPV in 1990 instead of happening on an MSG show. I wouldn't call it obscure, but it may end up as the best WWF match of the year, and deserves to be far more talked about. Classic big man-little man layout. The Rockers have all sorts of great David vs Goliath sequences up their sleeves and look really good pulling them out. Shawn and Marty look like the best tag team in the world in this match, getting both the small details and the big spots right. Shawn getting so excited rooting for Marty that he stands on the top rope to cheer him on is a great moment. Too many awesome highspots and sequences to count. This match should be studied and emulated. They managed to make Warlord, who was by no means good in this match, look good anyway. 4*
This is one of those matches that I can't possibly give a fair shake the first time around, without being more familiar with the UWF style. I felt a little disconnected from it, but context always helps. I do like the match at times, but I don't really know if this is above or below the normal standards in the UWF. I'll revisit when going back through the decade. As it stands, it feels like the first 10 minutes of a New Japan juniors match, just with that being the entire match.
That's being a little unfair, as there is more drama than that, and the match doesn't feel chopped off, but that's generally the working style here. I'm sure at some point a UWF match will give me something I can't find in the first half of really good Liger vs Otani. 3*
Comments (3)
I love how this all flowed. I am so looking forward to how everything progresses, especially AJPW. Possibly the highlight of the entire disc for me though is Rockers vs. Powers of Pain. What a great match! On to disc 2!
I think i'll comment as I watch, rather than wait til the time that I've completed the disc, as that is hostage to the vagaries of fate and I would hate to see this space go unused after kinda pushing for it. From my notes on what I've already watched: -'We Are Dynamite' It is so classically pro wrestling that this was five years after the Super Bowl Shuffle. As a song, I would rank it somewhere below 'Get Metsmerized', but it's great, goofy fun to start out the first disc. -El Hijo del Santo, Yoshinari Asai & Gran Hamada vs. Negro Casas, Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera (WWA 1990) I thought Santito and Casas looked awesome here, they are really the foundational feud of my lucha fandom and it was cool to hear the crowd reaction to them pairing off as early as 1990. Hamada kicked ass throughout, I yelped at him headbutting the shit out of Casas hahaha. It was cool to see Asai so early on, but 'athleticism' and 'smoothness' aren't really attributes I prioritize, so his whole style left me a lil cold, whereas with Fuerza I have the insincere handshake/hug routine to grasp onto. Three and a half * El Hijo del Santo & Blue Demon Jr vs. Eddy & Mando Guerrero (WWA 1990) The first fall was fun heel beatdown stuff, in the second I felt like my attention wandered a bit, maybe a me thing. I think I need to see a lil more prime-era Mando, I wasn't really feeling it here. Eddy, however, looked as good as I would expect for this period in his career (several posts in the linked thread call out his gorgeous European uppercuts, and for good reason). The finish was as lame as everyone says; even in a less self-conscious era of wrestling Demon mistaking Mando for Hijo del Santo is totally absurd. Three * Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki vs. Fantastics (AJPW 1/3/90) Oh fuck yeah! Love me some Fantastics. I dunno if I can explain this properly, but I feel like for a(n American, at least) tag team to be truly 'iconic' you have to be able to tell which guy is which based on their names? Like when you look at vintage pics of the Rn'Rs, you don't need to be told which guy is named Ricky and which is Robert. 'Robert Gibson' just sounds like a Joe Flaherty looking dude. Just like 'Bobby Fulton' sounds like a peacocking blonde to me. The match itself was quite good, I enjoyed how the aggression really amped up as the match wore on until Fulton and Fuyuki were just smacking each other. Fuyuki is a guy I never really heard talked up that much, but I really love him in Footloose, the thread kinda alludes to him falling off after. I'm interested to see how much of his later stuff makes later volumes, and whether it follows the consensus view. If this was the #3 tag title at the time then that is just wild, this is more than solid as a match. Three and a half * -Akira Hokuto & Yumiko Hotta vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita (AJW 1/4/90) Though I've always had a soft spot for bloody brawlers like Dump Matsumoto or Las Cachorras Orientales, I have a really hard time getting into the hyper-athletic joshi sprints that seem to epitomize the 'high end' of the style. This was not the match to cure me of this prejudice, though I did love the plethora of soccer kicks. Really all the strikes were pretty sick; I hope to not harp on any one point when going through this stuff, but it is so refreshing to go back into old footage and see strikes exchanged with real intention and urgency, not rote back-and-forth. The crowd is amazing throughout, which does go a long way with me, but can't rightfully go higher than a gentleman's three *. Rick Martel + Brutus Beefcake (Superstars 1/6/90 Yeah, don't like hearing Vince McMahon at all. Think I might go back and forth on watching the WWF stuff, at least until it hits the late '95 era that I have some remembrance of. Brutus' puffed-up face (et al) is at least a bit of camp, and Martel playing up his Quebecois sliminess is fun for me as a Maritimer. Classic McMahon 'obnoxious babyface acts like a heel but we cheer because the "real" heel is (group)', where the best you can say is at least 'group' is effete Frenchies and not something way worse. Brother Love: All WWF managers (Superstars 1/6/90) Oh Sherri. So incredible, so wasted on this. Dustin Rhodes Promo / Gary Young Promo (USWA 1/6/90) Holy shit that 'Duthtin' promo is wild! It honestly struck me even harder than 'Grogeous' Gary, who looks like he's been living a bit rough and is certainly eager to make an impression with his talk of survived abortions and whatnot. Jerry Lawler + King Cobra (USWA 1/6/90) I love Eddie Marlin, he had such a great sense of himself and his role as the promoter. On promos he gets across a fully realized character, you get the sense that he could be obstinate or headstrong if pushed, but he is ultimately fair-minded and pragmatic when dealing with the star talent. He does a helluva job cutting a promo for King Cobra. Lawler's promo is fun in the sense of watching a great storyteller amuse himself unspooling a yarn, and I generally like smarmy heels, but I get the sense that he really won't end up showing his ass too much in the end, so it kinda grates.
Norman the Lunatic + Woman (WWW 1/6/90) Norman painted a picture, and Woman is predictably unempathetic. Nice touch with the red paint, as noted above. Those forearms looked a little light I guess, not much to talk about here. I guess I should say that I find this particular genre of wrestling storyline/character at best mildly embarrassing, just to get my biases out there. Horsemen Interview (WWW 1/6/90) Pretty cool promo, loved when Ole stumbled in like a sweaty old drunk to essentially just reiterate 'yeah bitch, only the best! Horsemen for life!'. It is hard for me to imagine any other outcome for this than Sting getting turned on in fairly short order, though a cool 'hinge point' could be what if Sting wasn't a team player and couldn't stand being in Flair's shadow so he turned to lead anti-Horsemen group like the Muta/Hart faction, his bug-eyed delivery always read comic book villain to me as a kid. PWI Award Winners (WCWSN 1/6/90) I always liked it when companies would acknowledge the Apter awards (or, in Memphis, the 'fan vote' ie, WON awards) and base a segment around congratulating the wrestlers who won, it's the type of thing any legit sport would acknowledge and play up and every once in a while you can build an angle around it. Steiner did look hilarious in his lil' briefs. Four Horsemen Interview (WCWSN 1/6/90 Sting is pumped up! Arn is repeating basically what he said last time! Fun. Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri Interview (Challenge 1/7/90) Savage is a blast as the Macho King. Sherri is great as well, though the Moms Mabley reference is a lil' rough. Ric Flair vs. Bobby Eaton (Main Event 1/7/90) I enjoyed the announcer putting over the ill effects of the headlock in the early going. The weird 'press slam setup into hot-shot on the barricade' spot off the apron was very cool, I'm not sure i have ever seen that done that way before. They are very effective from the start at establishing Eaton as a solid mid-card heel who always has at least a puncher's chance, so then once Cornette interferes and they get a bit of heat the match becomes quite compelling, the crowd stays engaged throughout the heat. Following up on the racket shot to the throat with the repeated figure four leglocks around the neck and head is very smart, wish they'd had more time to work Flair struggling with his oxygen intake and stuff. Flair's fiery comeback is so fucking great (goddamn I wish we had more babyface Flair footage!), then Eaton taking that crazy backdrop on the outside is the icing on the cake. Tremendous match, basically everything I would want out of this level of title defense. Four * Funk's Grill: Kevin Sullivan (Power Hour 1/12/90) I love lowkey babyface Funk, he is so authentic. Kinda wild to see Sullivan in the same lowkey style; WCW is a blank spot for me from late 89 to the mid-95 Hogan vs Dungeon stuff so I am more familiar with the maniacal Sullivan who even when he is not shouting has a real menacing edge, here is downright philosophical. I really wish more contemporary wrestlers would adopt the more conversational, 'Ali talking to Cossell' type tone that Jerry Lawler had in Memphis rather than just declaiming to one another or delivering 'funny' banter back and forth like a low-rent sketch troupe. This shows exactly how effective a more subtle approach can be, this is much better TV than Norman being berated and tottering around like an idiot child.