RIP Silver King, Pt. 2

Silver King/Juventud Guerrera vs. Kaz Hayashi/Blitzkrieg WCW Thunder 10/21/99

ER: This is a fairly infamous WCW TV match, where they let these four go fast for 10 minutes and everyone broke out new and crazy offense. Blitzkrieg is just as much fun in 2019 as he was in 1999, a guy much more in line with Amazing Red than a few dozen Red clones that came after both. He was constantly moving forward and always coming up with some fresh attack, occasionally getting hung up but more like how the best short stops are the most aggressive short stops. Derek Jeter may have barely made errors, but he also didn't get to anywhere near as many balls as Jack Wilson. I'll take Wilson. Blitzkrieg is one of those great flyers who throw nice strikes and stiff shots in between their spots so it actually ties things together, instead of just moving to new spots. He gets great height on offense and really leans into Silver King beating the shit out of him. And King looks incredible here. He hits the highest flapjack possible on Blitzkrieg, throws these super high and violent knee lifts, stiff kicks, his great flipping legdrop, really helps Blitzkrieg through a couple tough spots, hits a gorgeous double springboard moonsault, just a total superstar showcase for King. But if King looks like a superstar here, then I suppose that would make Juvy a megastar. Juvy probably has a pretty solid claim at being the #1 wrestler in 1999 WCW, and this match is one of his masterpieces. He glues this whole thing together and really keeps all the parts moving, really keeps segments sharp by hitting a ton of wicked knife edge chops, snaps off impossible ranas, makes all of Kaz/Blitzkrieg's offense absolutely soar, I mean he and King should have gotten pushed to the moon after this. This whole thing holds up remarkably well. It's a fantastic spotfest that reads as well as classic M-Pro or the JAPW stuff not far after. The flying still looks tremendous, with Kaz hitting a crazy height Asai moonsault to the floor and making it back in time to break up the pin after King's epic moonsault, and there's bananas stuff that is crazy enough that it would still seem crazy in 2019, like King picking up Blitz for a powerbomb but getting hit with a Kaz missile dropkick, causing him to then take a reverse rana over the top to the floor. I mean my god. This is rightly a legendary WCW b-sides match, as fun as ever.

Silver King/El Dandy vs. Dean Malenko/Saturn WCW Thunder 10/28/99

ER: This was a fairly thankless performance for King/Dandy, but I thought it was important as it was the first TV appearance of Dandy and King as a team, and I love that they ended up getting a little TV push because of the team. Malenko and Saturn swallow them up for a lot of this, though we get a great moment down the stretch where Dandy hits a big missile dropkick and punches Saturn in the face. Saturn and Malenko (and Benoit) were getting a big EDGY push at this point, so the match was definitely designed to be their showcase, and they looked good! They looked like two guys who should get showcased. Malenko even punches Dandy with a chain wrapped around his fist, which is a very weird thing to see Malenko doing. This whole thing was more than worth it just for King getting murdered with an absolutely insane Demolition Decapitation, with Saturn hitting a brutal kneedrop while King was draped over Malenko's knee. That King agreed to take it at all is all the proof you need of his legendary status.

Silver King/El Dandy vs. Kaz Hayashi/La Parka WCW Thunder 11/11/99

ER: Give these four a tight 5 and watch what they can do! Total blast, the first half is basically Park working misdirection spots around King/Dandy, doing goofy dancing, making King accidentally punch Dandy, moving away from offense and then mocking them; but King hits a big dropkick while Park is dancing, and we get a funny moment where Park hits an awesome lariat and then goes for his headlock takeover/headscissors on both of them...and Dandy just drops him to the mat and puts the boots to him. Why hasn't anybody else ever thought of that? Los Fabulosos work nicely together and Dandy was given a lot to do here, really showing off a couple nice bumps but looking tough as hell on offense. Both were great at integrating Parka's comedy into things, and the Park/Kaz team playing chair guitar was weirdly something that could have had legs. I coulda watched these teams match up all the time.