AEW Five Fingers of Death 12/16 - 12/22 Part 2

AEW Collision 12/21/24

Claudio Castagnoli vs Darby Allin

MD: This had a great beginning and a great finishing stretch and both were somewhat invalidated by what immediately happened thereafter. Claudio is a guy who, like Christian, is used to working matches against the same opponent multiple times. While Christian is a genius in that area, Claudio is no slouch. The C2 in general has allowed him to play upon spots and finishes and invert them over time.

In this case, Claudio and Darby played off the start of their last match together, where Claudio kept moving out of the way whenever he got knocked to the floor early, thwarting Darby's attempt to dive on him. This time, he didn't wait for the bell. Instead he leaped right at Claudio, clinging on to him all the way up the ramp and enabling the balcony dive. That was a great start considering what had come before, but I don't think it meant much in the grand scheme of the match. Once the bell rang, Claudio hit a lifter and followed it with a ridiculous Giant Swing. That did give him the advantage but it also gave him a huge round of applause. Remember, this is the guy who betrayed Bryan Danielson. At times, the crowd is going to have to "give it to him" because he is so impressive but doing one of the biggest swings ever in AEW in front of this slightly smarkier crowd was probably a mistake. There's been too many such things out of Claudio as of late and it's not doing any favors for the Deathriders storyline, already struggling as it's cordoned off into one small area of the main event and not creating any overarching effect on the show overall (save for the first few weeks). 

Of course these two are a natural pair for heat and hopespots and comeback and it was all impressive. I liked how Claudio would at times just lift Darby up by the waist and that's something he ought to do more if he can. And then the finishing stretch hit just right with another big spot through a table on the floor, and Claudio going for his recent finishing move, that clothesline after an opponent barely makes it in from the count. Sometimes patterns can get too repetitive and take you out of a match because it's no longer believable but I buy these guys getting into this situation given the physical force that is Claudio Castagnoli. So Darby ducks it and they keep going through levels of escalation, with Darby finally getting hit with it and kicking out, with Claudio going for the Ricola Bomb only for Darby to turn it into a Code Red, for Claudio to get his knees up on the Coffin Drop, and then to hit the Ricola Bomb leading to a kickout not once but twice. With anyone else it might be a bit much but with Darby, at this point so late in the C2 it felt like proper escalation.

It built to a pretty clever finish where Claudio, frustrated by Darby's resilience in the face of his best moves, went for a chair. The ref took it and when distracted, Claudio hit him with knucks. Clever finish, right? 

One little problem.

Red Velvet had turned heel the night before doing it to Leyla Hirsch in an even more clever way since she used a turnbuckle rod and a hidden wrench she had gotten from under the ring. Same finish (which is not a common finish! I've barely ever seen the sort of switcheroo played out here, ever!) two nights in a row in front of the same crowd, one of which being a heel turn. Not to mention that the knucks would be a better gimmick for Velvet anyway as a puncher (I've got a campaign going for her to dust off the Heart Punch; I think it'd be unique and super over). I don't even know what to say. I haven't seen a lot of complaining online so they probably get away with it, but you'd almost have to put Velvet in the Deathriders and say that Claudio had been inspired by her actions or something otherwise to cover it. They lucked out I guess, but it, like the Swing and the opening flourish not meaning anything, definitely put a blemish on an otherwise excellent match. 

ROH Final Battle 12/20/24

Dustin Rhodes/Sammy Guevara vs The Righteous (Double Bullrope Match)

MD: This was a good complete package with a solid build that added something different (and violent) to a pretty well put together PPV overall. I think, especially given the build, I would have wanted a bit more of a straight brawl instead of something so plunder-filled with tables and ladders and what have you, but that's hard to avoid in almost any match of this sort in the era that we live in. We see what Blood and Guts and War Games look like these days. 

That said, my favorite parts of this were when Dutch and Dustin were brawling out on the ramp (even if it devolved quickly into Dutch's Bossman slam) and surprisingly Sammy laying in forearms on Vincent on the floor (which quickly led to Sammy hitting the post and eating an Orange Sunshine). I could have used about thirty percent more of that (or sixty, or ninety, but I get it). Speaking of Sammy taking that, despite the Tornado Tag nature, they did a good job of getting people out of the way so that the big themes could play out, most especially through Dutch going through the barbed wire table of course. And Sammy wiping out as well. 

I thought those key moments hit. The nearfalls with Sammy making a last second save all worked for me. What worked even more was how at one key juncture, it was Vincent, having escaped the Rope, using it to choke out Dustin. You'd expect that moment and the subsequent comeback by Dustin to belong to Dutch, and Dutch was the one Dustin beat in the end, but despite the familial connection being Dutch's, Vincent was the one who was pulling the strings, and in this case, pulling the rope around Dustin's neck. 

At some point, I really would like to see AEW/ROH trust in a crowd to do a more minimalist brawl, especially when there's a solidly built issue like this one, but maybe this wasn't the match for that (I'm not entirely sure Dustin feels like what he has to offer along those lines is enough for a 2024 audience, though it is, 100% because no one can do it like he can). It certainly wasn't the crowd. More on that momentarily. 

Athena vs Billie Starkz

MD: When you look at a match as a thought experiment interesting things can happen. In this case, they were putting together and executing a match with over a year of build, yes, but also with just a few weeks of build, but more importantly, one where most of the crowd and the audience watching at home weren't actually familiar with either. That's fascinating. I had misgivings about the build, which I noted last week, but the reaction online didn't pick up on my misgivings at all; instead people were just frustrated that Billie didn't win on her second chance and that Athena wasn't freed up to go to the main roster. 

It showed a clear lack of understanding of the week to week storytelling that was occurring. Tourists dipping in on ROH for a PPV and the year end PPV at that, and ones with ulterior motives and interests as well. They didn't plan on hanging around ROH so they wanted Athena where they could more easily and regularly see her. They're more familiar with the idea of Billie Starkz than the Billie Starkz who has been on screen in 2024 and more than that, the idea of an idea of someone like Billie Starkz, a young talent beloved because of her indie run who was ready to take a title. 

I won't speak to real life, but on screen, she wasn't. She absolutely wasn't ready to win. I know everyone made fun of Heyman noting how early the Bloodline storyline was in being completed, but here it's valid. Billie hasn't even really seen the light yet. She's still a heel. She's just a bullied, put upon heel who petulantly stomped her foot until she got a title shot. She wanted more attention not Athena. She didn't outright claim that Athena was evil or wrong or had to be stopped. If anything, she was trying to be her own Athena. If their match last year really got her established in MIT, then ultimately this one should start the road for her to leave it and find herself, but I'm not 100% that's the path they're going to take with her. I do think Athena is headed for bigger and better things, at least in the short term. I'd like to see Billie get some different mentor but outside of Emi Sakura (and wouldn't that be interesting?), no one in house really fits the bill. 

I thought the match itself was good. Just to focus on the finishing stretch, the moment where Athena clearly has an advantage and could go for the O-Face but chooses to use the mic instead out of paranoia/a lack of more fiber/Lexy wanting to please her and then almost losing because of that was a perfect character beat. And that moment in the corner after she had eaten Billie's finisher once and ended up back on her shoulders with the turnbuckle pad in hand is an absolutely perfect encapsulation of Athena as a talent. Yes she's agile. Yes she's believable. But it's her emotiveness in the moment! She went from the worry that she was up in the electric chair position to the surprise that she had the turnbuckle pad in her hand to the savvy bit of control that she could hit the poison rana all within a split second and it played out on her face like a method actor. She was living it and it was all organic and not overwrought. No one else in wrestling today can do that. 

But yeah, it must be weirdly aggravating to book a PPV more or less how you should, but having the fans just unprepared for what they're about to see. The 2024 ROH PPVs have a much better build than 2023 ROH PPVs, with the TV really setting things up, even if I don't agree with every decision, but it's almost wasted on the audience that tunes in a couple of times a year relative to the crazy sort of sickos matches they were doing without build previously. Like I said, an interesting thought experiment. This match certainly deserved a better reception online overall.

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RIP Virgil: A Weekend With Vincent

For the last 2+ years I've spent every day writing a book painstakingly reviewing every single match that took place in 1997 WCW. One of many guys making this project worth continuing has been Vincent's work as the nWo's Enforcer, the man stationed to the front lines who doesn't actually realized he's the weakest link of the coolest gang. It's a great role made greater by everything that Vincent brings to it. Here are two classic nWo Vincent performances from a summer weekend of 1997 WCW TV. These are the first two WCW reviews I've posted publicly on Segunda Caida since starting the book, and it feels Correct that my first full preview of what my WCW book will be like is to honor Vincent. A Real Character. 

Each match is under 2 minutes and showcase Vincent's incredible charm. His ability to act cool without realizing he's not. I don't think anyone actually did it better. 

DDP vs. Vincent WCW Saturday Night 8/9/97

The story goes that Charles Wright was the guy in line to get Vincent's eventual spot in the nWo, but seeing the perfect way Vincent embodies his Lowest on the nWo Totem Pole Role, I really can't visualize what The Godfather's place would have been. Vincent's role was an important one. A wrestling stable of a certain size needs a clear weak gazelle, a man there to take bumps that the higher ups won't take and stare up at lights the higher ups will never see. Without Vincent, the nWo might be more formidable, but I'm not sure how it would work. Would Wright and Norton have teamed instead of Norton and Bagwell, and would Bagwell have in turn wound up as the nWo Vincent? I'm not sure if that's better, because Buff really thrives in Vicious & Delicious in ways that I don't think Kama The Extreme Fighting Machine would have. Vincent is too damn good at being exactly what he should be in the nWo and to the nWo that the other ways just don't make sense. Adding one guy to the bottom makes the whole group better. 

Who else in the nWo would have been pinned by DDP on a Saturday Night, taking 30 seconds of a 90 second match to even lock up, reacting visually to the boos of the crowd and even flinching at DDP's BANG? Vincent spends the match making a beeline for the ropes any time DDP locked in a slight advantage (which was every time contact was made), sticking his body through the ropes to make the ref back DDP up, DDP kicking him in the ass while Vincent's torso is halfway out of the ring and those tight Guess jeans are framing his perfect set inside the ring. When Vincent finally steps to DDP he walks right into an elbow smash and jabs, a big kick to the stomach. His knees are turned to a fine powder with DDP's pancake piledriver, a move I'm surprised more guys didn't just refuse to take. Vincent takes the Diamondcutter like he was writing a manual for 2009 Christian. Heaven needed a champion, and the nWo needed a Vincent. 

The Giant vs. Vincent WCW Pro 8/10/97

This is incredible. This is the moment. And I fully understand why the cameras cut away from this moment, but whomever chose to  do what, it was incredible. Upon entering the ring Vincent attempts to "roll" in over the top. He doesn't attempt to enter the ring like Solar with any kind of beautiful arc, but more like a guy skinning the cat into the ring. Rolling over the top, casually. Smoothly. Except Vincent, upon holding the top rope and rolling in, clearly gets hung up between the middle and top ropes, and so the camera cuts away for several seconds. When they cut back Vincent is only just getting himself untangled from the ropes. This man rolled into the ring and got hung up in the ropes like they were made of fly paper, then stood up and walked to the center of the ring like a man who didn't just loudly shit his pants while stepping into a room where all eyes were on him, casually removing his sunglasses with the biggest smile on his face. 

I hold firm to my belief that Vincent knows exactly what character he is playing, knows his exact role on the entire roster hierarchy, and perfectly understands that he is the man who needs to act untouchably cool while also stepping on any possible rake in sight. For all we know, the camera cut was only unfortunate timing, and Vincent was actually intentionally lying across the middle rope, in the same way Jeff Jarrett lies across the ropes in the corner to taunt his opponent. But I choose to believe that Vincent was hung up in those ropes like he was caught in a tuna net, and that he 100% knew exactly what he was doing, and fully understood his role as a guy who thinks he's cool and has no actual idea that he is not, but would also do whatever it took to maintain his status as the least cool guy in the Cool Guy stable. 

Getting stuck in the ropes was only the beginning of Vincent's brilliant Zero Offense performance, as the cool guy getting into the ring in the least cool way possible then tries his damndest to stay physically away from The Giant. He avoids contact as long as possible and is scared the entire time he's in the ring, and it's all perfect. He at first acts like he's merely circling behind Mark Curtis while circling the Giant with good intentions, but then he Hey Buddy claps Curtis on the back the way a stranger would when he was about to force a man into doing an unexpected illegal favor. A man passes you on the street and gives you a head not and a shoulder clap, suddenly you find yourself as a human shield. As Vincent fully hides behind Mark Curtis in the corner, Curtis - a human shield who was in no real danger - looked like he had no idea Vincent would be holding him as a shield for so long, and looked to actually be trying to wriggle away so Vincent could take his medicine. And Vincent is that, a child trying to not take medicine. 

He takes comic flat back bumps when he gets thrown to his back and headbutted, gets kicked in the ass when stumbling away, dragged back into the ring as he was trying to frantically army crawl the floor on his stomach. His crossbody is caught, and Giant's backbreaker is among his most backbreaking, even though his insistence on keeping his hands balled into fists while clutching Vincent -  instead of gripping Vincent's back and balls with full increased pituitarily outstretched hands - shows he is a Giant who feels shame and is no wild giant at all. He has the restraint of modern man's guilt showing through those balled fists, and it is a tell that all of Universal Studios can read. Were they to meet an actual Forest Giant, they all know that beast would have no problem gripping them squarely by the ass and genitals for any reason, and now they all know The Giant is no beast, but simply a large man who has been sadly touched by mankind's insistence on feeling shame. Imagine The Giant asking someone which ear is "the gay ear". Sad. 

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 11/6 - 11/12

AEW Dynamite 11/8/23

Darby Allin/Sting vs Outrunners

MD: This was a tight piece of business, obviously, a way to keep the Sting farewell tour feeling special, in front of a crowd that was chanting for him in the early going, and a nice way to throw a bone to the Outrunners who ape his early aesthetic, maybe by way of the Beverly Brothers. That meant they could lean on Darby coming off of injury and let the Outrunners play the numbers game early, sneak in the clever tag out of a suplex position that we saw Darby and Orange Cassidy use when they were teaming in the already-missed house show run, and give Sting his iconic moment of shrugging off the double back elbow. Small nitpick: maybe have him win with the Death Drop considering that a Scorpion Deathlock played into the finish of the previous match, but at the end of the day, let Sting be Sting too, you know? A fun match that lets everyone in the crowd who hadn't been watching wrestling in 89 say that they got to see Sting live.

Ring of Honor 11/9/23

Eddie Kingston vs Angelico

MD: Of all of Eddie's great quality, maybe the greatest is that every match he's in, no matter how little build or notice it gets, instantly becomes a grudge match. It's because the chip on his shoulder is so big that any contest, be it an enhancement match or a dream match, tumbles right into it. Just to stand across the ring from him unlocks all sorts of grievances. Heel, face, storyline or no, he takes it personal and he makes it personal. You look at him the wrong way and it's an insult. And there's no right way to look at him if you're his opponent. That gives us, as viewers, reason to care about each and every match. 

It can be a little exhausting too. It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but you don't let go and relax when watching Eddie wrestle. He carries a weight and you carry it with him. That feels good. It has substance to it. When he walks a mile, you walk that mile with him, and you're better off for it, but it's hard. And sometimes, it leaves some possibilities on the table. An Eddie Kingston match is going to be a fight. This isn't Bryan Danielson who is endlessly adaptable and reactive. Eddie's a black hole and you can't escape his gravitational pull. Traditionally, if you're wrestling Eddie, it can only be about one thing, that chip, that insult, that grievance.

The belt kind of changes that though. Yes, sure, Eddie is going to see it in personal terms; you want to take away what he cares about, what he clawed and scraped for, what he fights for every day, something he cares about more than you ever could. But it's also business too. And more than that, it's wrestling, the grandeur of wrestling along with the blood, something that you might not think a guy like Eddie would understand. But he does, because he understands what it means to be an ace, to carry a weight upon his back that's not just the burden of life, to carry a company, the hopes and dreams of everyone in the back, the reputation of everything that came before. 

That means we get to see a little bit of a different side to Eddie in these matches. Yes, he took it personal when Angelico made the challenge, but that didn't define this match; it just provided some extra color to it. Eddie's used to charging forward with a certain sort of abandon. He's used to being a man with nothing to lose. Now he has something to protect. That meant he came at this different. Angelico's always dangerous so he started the match by switching from one hand to the next, and avoiding a lock up, cautious. But he's Eddie so he got goaded in and threw a shot that let Angelico start to twist and tear at his hand. But he's Eddie so he pushed through it and kept throwing those chops, relentless. 

In return, Angelico realized that he wasn't going to get a quick tap on Eddie, no matter how skillfully he tied him up. He started throwing low kicks, started throwing his body at Eddie with dives. Angelico could chip away at his arm or his leg, but he couldn't make a chip larger than that one already on Eddie's shoulder though. All it ever takes is one backfist to change the complexion of the match and that's what it did here. Still, they gave Angelico a kickout and then finished things with the Northern Lights Driver, a nice hierarchy decision that helps keep over one of Eddie's four viable finishers after the story with Claudio where he needed to escalate to the power bomb. The variety of opponents and the more ace-tinted approach to these matches has been a nice change of pace, especially knowing that Eddie can take things deep into a land of grudges whenever the situation calls for it.

AEW Collision 11/11/23

Adam Copeland/Sting/Darby Allin vs Vincent/Dutch/Lance Archer

MD: Very complete, very satisfying match given that it had two commercial breaks, a little less time than some other Collision main events, and a lot of personalities to highlight on the face side. We've seen some matches lately where they hold back Sting and you sort of would expect them to do that with Copeland too here but they cycled through all of the faces early on (teasing Darby being in trouble and having him smack Archer away and dart to the corner) and gave the crowd a taste of everyone before they leaned into the first commercial break not with the usual transition into heat but with chaos and everything breaking down. That gave us the great shot of Sting elatedly dragging Vincent around the ringside area. It wasn't until the end of the break that they had Dutch jump him to lead into the first face-in-peril. It's important to have a little bit of variety now and again.

I always see the commercial breaks as an opportunity. Someday when AEW's on a streaming service and people are going back through these the same way that we watch 1992 WCW or 95 All Japan or 84 Mid South or old Houston footage, we'll hopefully have the international feed to watch and not have to worry about picture and picture and it'll be a net positive overall. It stops the proclivity for pure action for the sake of action and forces interaction with the crowd and a doubling down with the story at hand. 

This was our second look at Copeland and while he was fine against Luchasaurus, he wrestled like someone with something to prove here, hitting a dive, asserting himself with clotheslines, hitting a double team with Sting which harkened back to his late 90s creativity with Christian, eating Dutch's Bossman Slam with wild momentum. He's such an interesting case in some ways, someone who great up as much of a fan of wrestling as could be, but that has spent the entirety of his time within a carefully controlled system. He's someone that excelled in gimmick matches, that had offense which maybe wouldn't have held up in a less produced environment. He can't compete with the conditioning of  a lot of the AEW talent, but relying on smoke and mirrors instead of sheer athleticism might make him stand out, especially if he leans into his height a bit more than he has in his career. A lot of his major WWE feuds were against his size or larger than him. I'm curious how he resets this last act; he's suggested an interest in facing a lot of the ex-WWE guys that he missed in the 2010s, the Samoa Joes and Andrades and Malakai Blacks of the world, and to port his WWE act over against new a generation he missed could be of some interest, but the real value would be if he took what made him special over the years and tried to figure out how to refine it in a world without corporate limits and monolithic preferences. That doesn't necessarily mean aping Sting's proclivity for crazy dives. It doesn't just mean blood and pile drivers and a freedom of speech either. I don't entirely know what it means. Were I Copeland, I'd be spending every second of this borrowed time that was an impossibility ten years ago trying to figure out the myriad possibilities before me though. For the first time in two and a half decades, he can be anything and do anything; for someone who loves pro wrestling, what could that possibly look like? 

Here, in this bizarre WAR six-man with Jake Roberts on the outside and very unlikely partners on the inside, it looked like a pretty good start actually.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Saturday Night 10/17/98

1. Lenny Lane vs. Kidman

If you had come up to me and asked "Is 8 minutes a long time", my snap judgment answer would probably be "No, not really". But it really does depend on what that 8 minutes is spent doing. 8 minutes waiting for your food to arrive? Not bad at all as long as the conversation is pleasant. 8 minutes waiting at a traffic light? Very long. 8 minutes of your lunch break? Well that goes by super fast. 8 minutes of Lenny Lane vs. Kidman? Well good lord this is a long 8 minutes. I'm not totally sure we needed a 6 minute Lenny Lane control segment, but brother we got it. Again, 6 minutes doesn't really sound like whole lot of time, but when filtered through the context of "Lenny Lane doing offense" then it becomes clear very quickly that Lane does not have 6 minutes of material. Lane has among the worst punches I've ever seen in a major fed. Sub Chris Chetti. Sub Shad Gaspard. Just punching a foot past Kidman's head. At one point he's clearly just making up stuff as he does some sort of people's elbow type legdrop, coming off the ropes and strutting and then kinda standing there before hitting a legdrop. He and Kidman get brutally crossed up on a bulldog spot which sees them running the same direction, side by side, with neither holding onto the other one, until Kidman just stops and falls onto his face. But luckily for us they redo the spot immediately so we know what it should have looked like. For those scoring at home on the "How badly did Kidman injure his opponent on the Shooting Star Press", his knees landed on Lane's thighs/knees, so Lane likely had some sharp pain and bruising, but is also thankful he didn't catch Kidman's knees squarely in the balls.

2. Barry Horowitz vs. Vincent

Man, I really really like late 90s Vincent. What the fuck? He has no offense whatsoever, but does little things that just work. He's like what Stevie Richards added to late 00's Sunday Night Heat. Here he does some cool hot shots on Barry, then chokes him in the ropes while hitting these awesome body blows. Horowitz does cool things too and I love him stomping both of Vincent's hands while he's on the mat. Vincent does really hilarious "ohhhhhh my hand...OHHHHH MY OTHER HAND!" selling. Some cool spots in this that you don't ever see. Vincent has Barry in a headlock and ran up the turnbuckles with it and when he went to flip it into a bulldog (like Kidman would do) Horowitz just planted him with a back suplex. At another point Vincent had Barry draped over the top rope, and climbed to the top to do a guillotine leg drop! But Barry moved an Vince crotched himself and it was awesome. I loved Vincent's finisher in WCW, too, the single arm DDT rolled into a Fujiwara armbar. I REALLY want to see Vincent against Finlay, Taylor or Regal.

3. Rex King vs. Wrath

Would have rather seen an old Memphis guy against Kidman or Vincent or Horowitz but whatever. King hits a nice dropkick and a really cool spinkick in the corner (that Wrath pusses out on). Wrath...does stuff...until the match ends. Guy just isn't very memorable in squash matches.

4. Meng vs. Hardbody Harrison

An actual fun Meng squash!! I kinda gotta give Harrison some credit on this one as he leaned all in on Meng's offense and took some pretty nutty things. Meng planted him with a powerbomb and hit a brutal piledriver. He also hit two different big boot variations and numerous stiff strikes. He also kept pulling up Harrison on 2 counts which is great. We all KNOW Harrison is a total sleaze bag, but it has to be said that he really LOOKED like a total sleaze bag here. And he had to be pissed that the cameras never focused on the image OF HIMSELF he had shaved into the back of his head. That shit don't come cheap.

5. Bret Hanmer vs. "Hole in One" Barry Darsow

Match sadly never starts as Darsow says he needs to work on his swing and get back into golf shape, so he leaves the ring and Hanmer gets the count out win. Hanmer was a large gassed up guy with a nipple ring (ew) who later got to be Simon Diamond's bodyguard Dick Hurtz in ECW.

6. Fit Finlay vs. Chris Jericho

If you heard Finlay/Jericho were given 12 minutes then on paper you'd think that would be a really good match, right? Well, it turns out it was pretty disappointing. Most matches on WCWSN don't get this much time, but these two didn't really seem like they had a gameplan to fill that much time. There were plenty of fine individual moments: Jericho hits a cool running shoulderblock on the floor, vaulting off a chair. Jericho does a cool tombstone reversal by doing a reverse rana, planting Finlay vertically. The coolest and weirdest moment sees Jericho go up top for an axehandle, and Finlay catches him in the breadbasket, like ya do. But what makes it super cool is Finlay sells the arm like a 220 pound human just came crashing through it from the top rope. Well, obviously that makes 100% logical sense, but I have never seen anybody do it before. Of course that would destroy your shoulder if you hit somebody while they fell from above. So Jericho instantly pounces on the arm, stomping on it getting to bust out one of his hundreds of armbar variations. But then the weird kicks in, as after a couple minutes of getting his arm worked over, both of them just kind of stand up and Finlay transitions back to offense, doesn't sell his arm again and Jericho never goes back to the arm. And that's really the story of the match, as both guys do things, they hit moves clean, but nothing went anywhere. It was a pretty solid waste of 12 minutes, but a waste indeed as it just never evolved past "just filling some time".

7. The Gambler vs. Saturn

Boy Saturn has some boring transitions back to offense. He just waits for Gambler to do his stuff, then just immediately does stuff back. Gambler does some cool things though, like hitting stomps with one foot while standing on Saturn's hand with the other. That's a real nice touch. He hits a go behind at one point that Finlay should have stolen. Saturn has him in a waistlock, Gambler grapevines a leg to attempt a trip takedown, Saturn braces to avoid being taken down, and Gambler dupes him by hitting the go behind. Saturn stinks bad in this though and it only goes 90 seconds.

8. Lodi vs. Konnan

Well shit. Those are not really the two names I'd be looking forward to getting this show back on track. And this match is not good. Konnan has the shittiest way of getting guys into position to take his trademark moves. It reminds me of old Eliminators matches where they'd just walk there opponents into position as if they were placing mannequins. Okay, just stand riiiiiight there. Don't move.

9. Scott Hall vs. Disorderly Conduct

Well Hall comes out - to the surprise of everybody - just looking multiple sheets to the wind, and then gives a super rambling drunk promo on Kevin Nash, saying he's giving Nash the night off because he can beat these two "JAY-brones" by himself. He also throws his toothpick at the camera, misses, shrugs it off, then pulls out another toothpick from behind his ear and nails the camera. Well okay that's fucking awesome. Match actually starts out fun with Hall being cocky and then D.O. taking over with double teams. Hall fighting back is cool as he was throwing some nice rights, but D.O. cheating to transition was better with them always throwing Hall into the ropes so the one on the apron could sneak attack. At one point Hall just kinda wants to go home though so D.O. stop doing offense so Hall can hit a couple Outsiders Edge.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Saturday Night 2/13/99

Saturday Night 2/13/99

1. Bobby Blaze vs. Jerry Flynn

This was pretty awesome right here. Both guys threw big suplexes and big chops and this was a pretty great strike-based sprint. Flynn matches are always dependent on how much of a beating his opponents are willing to take, and Blaze is a pudgy guy who will take some kicks, throw some neat suplexes, and that all happens here. Flynn looked like a beast here and I especially loved his spinning kick in the corner. Blaze was a man and took is right on the chin. Loved how Flynn had a habit of just finishing guys with a tight armbar after throwing a suplex.

2. Johnny Swinger vs. Vincent

a 30 second Vince squash!? Swinger couldn't have felt great about himself after taking a 30 second loss to Vincent. That being said, Vincent has been a WCW B-Sides MVP contender on rewatch. I have no clue where he got good, but his late 90s WCW stuff has been killer. Here he uses a really cool single arm DDT into an Americana to get the quick tap.

3. Dave Burkhead vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

I may be the biggest Dave Burkhead fan online . I'm pretty sure he was never involved in any classics, and he didn't have a great look, but he did a lot of small things better than most guys. Here he really made me appreciate taking a drop toe hold as he seems genuinely surprised by it and just does a hard face plant. At first I thought Burkhead was just a lumpy jobber, but now that I've had the privilege of seeing more Burkhead matches than most human beings, I can officially be called a Dave Burkhead fan. Dude was rock solid and always threw cool stuff into his jobber matches. He's like the Barry Houston of the late 90s. I showed this match to my incredulous friends who thought I was lying to them about how awesome Burkhead was, and they were all way down with Burkhead by the end of the match. Dude knew how to put over offense (he took a German suplex and tornado DDT right on the dome).

4. Scotty Riggs vs. Kaz Hayashi

Man Kaz Hayashi is fucking awesome. I remember digging him in 1999, but this guy is looking top 20 in the world from everything I've re-watched so far. Everything he does looks gorgeous and it's so accurate. He does that gorgeous tumbling moonsault from the top rope into the ring, and also over the top to the floor and it looks super graceful. Guys also give Kaz tons of offense in his matches even though he almost always ends up losing. Kaz takes like 70% of this match and it's awesome. Finish was Kaz leaning way into the 5-arm and holy shit Kaz Hayashi was like top 5 in WCW at this point.

5. Lodi vs. Kidman

I...truthfully didn't have much opinion on Lodi before watching this match. I don't remember seeing him wrestle much before the whole Lenny/Lodi thing, and even then I don't remember if he was good, bad, horrendous, awesome, whatever, who knows. But he seemed pretty damn good here. He took a monster bump into the guardrail and threw a really great knee lift (which is a move that a lot of guys do terribly). There was a GREAT spot where Lodi was trying to load one of his gloves in the corner, dropped it, and when he bent down to pick it up Kidman ran up and caught him in his springboard bulldog move. It was one of the greatest examples I've ever seen of "guy occupying himself while other guy sets up convoluted offense". How many times do people just bend at the waist waiting to take a move (looking at YOU Booker T axe kick), and Lodi of all people makes taking a move look entirely logical and makes Kidman look WAY better in the process. Finlay is the best at logically getting into position for opponents' signature offense, but now I'm genuinely looking forward to more Lodi!

6. The Cat vs. Booker T

Booker has aged horribly on this rewatch. I remember really liking him and now I'm starting to think the time I actually really liked Booker was like 3 months at the very beginning of 1998. I remember loving the Martel and Saturn matches from Superbrawl and some of the Benoit series, and now I'm realizing that might be it as far as WCW Booker. Harlem Heat has been dreadful. It's all sorts of sloppy kicks and posing. Cat looks pretty clueless here as well. It's not as bad as it could have been and has some pretty inspired moments (Cat got leveled on a nice short arm lariat) but then it ends in a DQ and it's like Whhhhhhhhhy!?

7. Horace vs. Chris Benoit

So as well as being the biggest Dave Burkhead fan, I'm pretty sure I may be the biggest Horace fan as well. I really dig Horace and this was a pretty good late 90s WCW dream match for me. Horace has some nice stuff in this including a great yakuza kick, a big tope (to one of the guardrail sides of the ring, not even into the entrance ramp side!!), takes all of Benoit's suplexes really well for such a large guy (reacts great to the snap suplex as well, shaking his finger at Benoit afterwards). Matches ends with Vincent running in to break things up, and then Mongo runs out and get this - doesn't look very good.

8. Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr.

Classic late 90s cruiser action, and you really have to be a hardened asshole to hate on this kinda stuff. A lot of nerds nowadays will complain about "he should have sold _____ longer" and blah blah blah but whatever, this was two of the all time great cruiserweights doing tons of cool moves and reversals at a blindingly fast pace and it ruled. Cool flips and a rad Juvi springboard spinning heel kick and rad reversals and pre-shitty Rey tattoos and pre-weird Juvi stories about selling birdseed and gym bag-shitting and whatever. My girlfriend and I loved every second of this and it really brought me back to the days where I wouldn't give a shit about heavyweights and bought all my wrestling tapes based on all the rad cruiser matches on it. 90 stars.

9. Brian Adams/Vince vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

This was supposed to be Brian Adams vs. Dean Malenko, which sounds kinda shitty on paper. But it was changed pre-match to the tag you see above, which to me sounds completely AWESOME on paper and explains the earlier, shorter Vince match. Seriously, late 90s WCW Vincent is a revelation, just the perfect syndicated TV worker. Really knew how to cater his style to whatever guy he was working and he really may be the great lost late 90s superworker. His work against Malenko here was great, flying into his silly leaping flipping calf kick and once he goes on offense really begins the story of the match (working over Dean's back and building to the Benoit hot tag). He has all sorts of cool forearms and clubbing blows and an amazing elbow drop to Dean's back, with Adams then working it over with a nice tilt-a-whirl slam and just stretches Dean over his knee. Yeah it all gets no sold by the end of the match but the work by nWo was strong and you can't expect much more from a 6 minute Saturday Night tag that ends in a run-in. Personally, I thought Adams and Vince smoked the vanilla midgets in this match.

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 12/19/98

1. Glacier vs. Mike Sullivan

Glacier's back! And he's still not that good, but kinda better than I remembered him being. Mike Sullivan is also back, and he is even worse than I remember him being. And I don't remember Mike Sullivan at all. Glacier was weird as he really didn't bump much, and sometimes his offense looked good and stiff, and other times his kicks looked about as good as Eric Bischoff's. Here he threw some really cool jabs in the corner on Sullivan, really odd southpaw shots to the temple that looked really cool. And then Sullivan charged out of the corner with some of the WORST babyface-on-fire punches I have EVER seen. His fist was soaring right past Glacier's head, thrown at a 3/4 slot, so that his wrist was kinda grazing the side of Glacier's neck. Bleeecccch. But he bumped real big for Glacier's kicks and stuff, so...something.

2. Kaz Hayashi vs. Hole in One Darsow

Kaz has been one of the brightest spots of these shows, looking downright top 20 in the world in everything. But here he gets to do nothing. There isn't really a match. Darsow works the stick and looks awesome in his gold gear, and is pretty funny teasing the crowd. "Who's having fun to-NIGHT!?" *tepid response* "Yeah, I wouldn't like living here that much either." Golf challenge breaks down, Darsow is DQ'd.

3. Al Green vs. Wrath

Green did...not get much offense here. Wrath looks like the best possible version of Rocky Mountain Thunder. Wrestles like him, and looks like a really juiced version of him. Same haircut, too.

4. Chris Jericho vs. Booker T

Booker T was a guy that I liked in 1998, but it's pretty shocking in retrospect how bad and sloppy he looked most of the time. He has been one of the worst things about going back and watching this stuff. It's not just that he looks lousy most of the time, it's also that he was usually one of the bigger names on any given syndicated show, so his matches would get way more time. So guys like Kaz Hayashi would get 3 minutes, while Booker would get 8. Jericho looked really great in the first half of this, really getting into position nicely for Booker, and just having an insane amount of body charisma. Jericho was me and my sister's favorite wrestler in 1998. He just slayed us and this was dead smack in the middle of the top knot/kimono/Ralphus era. He was totally killing it here until Booker gassed and Jericho locked on a chinlock. AND LORDY was it a bad chinlock. Not one part of his arm was touching one part of Booker's neck. It looked like a guy posing for a picture with his arm around his mother. That happens for awhile and then Stevie Ray runs in for the DQ. Gross.

5. Barry Horowitz vs. Kanyon

Kanyon on the stick was so money. Like a bank full of money. Crowd was way into him here, and they were way into this battle of Jewish Faith vs. Homosinuality.

6. Kaos vs. Prince Iaukea

I weirdly enjoy both of these guys, probably more than most people. Iaukea seemed like a who would get good. There was always a moment in each Iaukea match where he would have a giant bump and you'd be like "This guy is going to be awesome" but then you realized you were saying that for like 5 years. High Voltage is a guilty pleasure of mine. I admit to always marking out for their springboard moves. And that's really the best part of this match, right at the end: Kaos hits a big springboard clothesline and Iaukea leans way into it and sprawls out all nasty from it. We rewound many times. I think this Iaukea guy is going to be awesome.

7. Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Vincent/Bryan Adams

Well this match was fucking awesome. People are going to pull out the "pretending to like a shitty wrestler to sound kewl" card, but holy shit is Vincent one of the best things about this rewatch project. Dude makes total throwaway matches watchable, and he really steps up his game in bigger matches like this. He is responsible for holding this one together, actually. Benoit looked good and dished a beating, but the beating was made way more fun by Vincent stooging around the ring for him. He was really weird, in that he always seemed like he was playing a guy that wasn't really a wrestler. He's probably most similar to Stevie Richards, I guess. Neither guy really has any offense, but what they do they do really well. Vincent is such an anomaly in that I don't remember him being any good at ALL in WWF. I don't know when exactly he got good, but he is flat out awesome in '98 WCW. His control segments are great, as he dishes out tons of backrakes and clubbing blows. His clubbing blows are awesome as they aren't quite punches, aren't quite clubbering, but they land somewhere around the dudes neck/throat and look awesome. He bumps great, and always makes tagging in Adams a big deal, either by desperately scrambling to him or by cockily strutting over to take him in like "Yeah you know I was just beating your ass, now here's the big man." Match gets tons of time, gets some good nearfalls, and is a great Vincent showcase. Great stuff.

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 11/27/99

Chris Adams vs. Saturn

This was short but fun, with Adams getting nice comebacks spots until Shane Douglas shoves Adams off the top, allowing the Rings of Saturn to get locked on. Adams looked really great in this, taking a nasty bump running full speed into the ropes, getting tangled up and falling hard to the floor. He also used a Stunner as a move to transition into hitting the superkick (with the superkick looking great to the shock of nobody). Saturn didn't look bad, but threw some real loose forearms and punches. Douglas was wearing this awful unbuttoned glittery red shirt, like something a "fun dad" would wear to embarrass his teenage daughter during her slumber party.

Villano IV vs. Juventud Guerrera

Villano vs. Juvy was spot after spot after spot, no cares to selling, but who cares? They take it to the mat for a bit, do a bunch of cool headscissor rolls, neat ranas, Villano comPLETEly no sells a huge suicide dive (Juvy hit the dive over the top rope to the floor, Villano just took it, didn't budge at all, slapped Juvy, then threw him head first into the floor. WTF?), Juvy going for a headscissors out of the corner, but V4 tossing the headscissors onto the ref, who tossed it back onto V4 who then took the scissors, Juvy doing the People's Elbow (Scott Hudson: "Is that supposed to hurt!?"), with Juvy winning with the Juvy Driver. buncha spots crammed into 4 minutes, most of them looking cool. What's not to love?

Curly Bill vs. Lash LeRoux

Curly Bill/Vincent has been a real treat in rewatch. Somewhere between Virgil and here he got good. Here he carries Lash to a real fun match, missing a giant fistdrop off the middle (and selling it great), bumping big from the apron to the floor (almost smacking the back of his head on the guardrail), stomping on Lash's face after a failed sunset flip, scraping his boots on Lash's face, and wearing baggy Tommy Hilfiger jeans while portraying a redneck. Lash was along for the ride, and of course won, but this was Curly Bill's match.

Adrian Byrd vs. Jeff Jarrett

The constant hum of piped in ambient white noise and fake boos during syndicated WCW makes any episode of Saturday Night sound like I'm watching Eraserhead. Creative Control does a run-in to help JJ handle Byrd (::groooooaannn:: I forgot their names were Patrick and Gerald. Bleccch), and this was a basic squash until Byrd got a couple nice hope roll-ups at the end. One of the schoolboys was actually really close, and briefly fooled me. Whatta sucker I am.

Elix Skipper vs. Allan Funk

Funk LEVELS Skipper with a shoulderblock to start, like when Albert Belle mowed down Fernando Vina. Match wasn't much, just a couple rookies. Funk gets his spots in the first half, Skipper gets the 2nd half. Funk hit mostly power offense (big powerslam, nice German) and looked better than Skipper (whose offense was bunch of light as air crossbodies and a big springboard dropkick that was also light and floaty and looked like it would not hurt a man).

Sonny Siaki vs. Rick Cornell

Man were Siaki and Cornell on the gas. Cornell does a couple cool leg sweep takedowns that I never remember him doing when he later became Reno. Siaki chokes Cornell with his own ponytail, which is a pretty great use for a stupid looking ponytail. But man these Power Plant matches aren't that good. Every one of them is worked with one guy taking the 1st half, and the winner taking the 2nd half, and none of the guys really have their own personality at this point. This match might mark the moment when the "Roll the Dice" took the indies by storm!

Johnny Attitude vs. Meng

Meng/Attitude was real odd, with Meng eschewing an ass-beating, and instead doing normal pro wrestling moves (vertical suplex, snap mare, body slam), and then just hitting the Tongan Death Grip. Even Larry seemed perplexed. "Why is he doing all these wrestling moves? Why isn't he just beating this guy?" For a guy I don't remember at all, I have now seen 3 Johnny Attitude matches.

Berlyn vs. Frankie Lancaster

Wow Lancaster really was the Bob Holly of WCW, just without ever getting pushed. Same balding bleacher hair, same juiced up physique (their body shape is also almost identical), both throw a nice dropkick. Berlyn was a gimmick I actually liked, and I thought Alex Wright actually looked cool and pulled the whole thing off. But I can see why Berlyn never went anywhere after that Duggan PPV match, and matches like this where he works 50/50 with fucking Frankie Lancaster.

Texas Outlaws vs. Creative Control

This went 2 minutes, CC won with a sideslam. I don't think one of the guys even tagged in. Creative Control, everybody. The Powers That Be. For dudes that were as large as the Harris Bros. were, they sure had a way about them that didn't make them feel very dangerous or tough or scary. They were 6'8" tall guys that looked odd with no facial hair, threw the punches that whiffed, weak big boots, slams with no impact. I mean, just not threatening for guys that took up so much space in a ring. Outlaws masks were totally badass, btw.

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 2/14/98

2/14/98

Dave Taylor/Doc Dean vs. British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart

Taylor/Doc is a fun team and Taylor got to control a bunch early here, really picking on Bulldog. Even when he was bloated and pilled up Bulldog always kinda woke up against stiffer competition. Taylor rocks him with some uppercuts here and Davey made a chinlock look really good during this period of his career, as his face was so bloated and purple already that it really got over that he was having the life choked out of him. Of course you know who was going over here but it was a nice finishing sequence with Davey hitting the powerslam and Neidhart tagging in to hit his slingshot shoulder tackle (then running and tackling Taylor with a super stiff shoulderblock).

Renegade vs. Sick Boy

OK...something might be wrong, as I...kinda sorta liked Renegade vs. Sick Boy. Neither guy really looked good at all, but they were a couple of big guys exchanging big moves. Something about it worked for me. It was like a heavyweight X Division match, your move my move, but something about it worked. It was short and enjoyable. Renegade looked way less like Warrior at this point, and a lot like Lorenzo Lamas, TV's Renegade. Sick Boy had a bunch of stuff he usually didn't hit well, but kinda hits it well here (including a mean springboard back elbow that took Renegade's head off). Renegade hits a fucking plancha! Sick Boy even finished with a Can Opener! Like a couple years before Mark Coleman! Call me crazy, this wasn't bad.

Len Denton vs. Jerry Flynn

This had an odd set up, as Disco came out to face Denton, and gave him a Chart Buster (which Denton sold like a fish out of water, all flopping awesomely like mad). Then Disco left, and Flynn came out to face Denton. And the match started and Denton got up and worked a match like he hadn't just been hit with a stunner. Real odd. Flynn beat him real quick though, threw some nice kicks, and Denton took a sick DDT right on his head.

Villanos vs. Disorderly Conduct

Villanos vs. Disorderly Conduct is pretty much a Saturday Night B-Sides dream match. It will finally answer the question of who is higher on the WCW totem pole. I'm pretty sure I've never seen either team win a match, so the answer iiiiiiisssssss........Villanos! The Villanos are above Mean Mike and Tough Tom!! I genuinely didn't know how this one would go (again, one of my favorite things about WCW syndicated programming). Villano V was just super awesome in this, really beating the shit out of MM and TT. Favorite spot was when V5 was thrown into the ropes, and Tom kneed him from the apron as he hit the ropes. V5 just turns around, punches Tom in the face, then punches a charging Mike. Awesome. V4 hits a rad spin kick right to Mike's gut, then compresses Mike's neck with a DDT. God bless you for taking it that way, Mean Mike. V5 hits really great ambidextrous chops, equally brutal with his left or right arm, D.O. miss a tandem clothesline and FINALLY, for the record, the Villanos finishing move is a crossbody from the top rope, while the opponent is on one of the Villanos' shoulders. I don't know if it got used again, as I wasn't aware the Villanos ever won even one WCW match.

Yuji Nagata vs. Chris Adams

I really liked Nagata's WCW run, and his kick combos made him really fun to play as in WCW vs. nWo Revenge for the 64. This match wasn't long, but Adams really stiffed Nagata up with wicked elbow and forearm shots, they threw in a lot of spots, with both guys getting cool throws, and Glacier running in and blasting Adams with an Icicle Kick to the back of the head, allowing Nagata to get the Nagata Lock.

Kendall Windham vs. Meng

Kendall Windham is fast becoming my favorite WCW late 90s wrestler and this match ruled. There were no slams or nothing like that, it was all strikes for 4 straight minutes. Kendall throws a mean left hand Meng mixes up his shots with cool body blows. Both guys just throw punches for 4 minutes, roll to the floor and throw punches, back in the ring for more punches. Kendall dodges the Death Grip a couple times, but Meng finally just boots him in the face and locks it on. Awesome stuff. Why wasn't Kendall a bigger star? He had size and looked like a badass.

Frankie Lancaster vs. Marty Jannetty

On a roster that had some dated looking guys in 1998, I don't think anybody looked as dated as Marty Jannetty looked in '98 WCW. Match was pretty short with Marty looking good and Lancaster looking like the most gassed dad you've ever seen. Marty really planted him with the Rocker Dropper, too. If some dude had already sued a previous employer because of my finishing move breaking his neck, I personally would be careful doing it in the future. But that's me.

Silver King/El Dandy vs. Juventud Guerrera/Super Calo

OK, you got a match between Juvi/Calo and Dandy/SK. Juvi has a mask vs. title match with Chris Jericho in a week or two. Who goes over in this match? If your answer was "El Dandy pinning Juvi", then you would be correct. Of course nobody in a million years would have ever guessed Dandy getting the fall in any match, let alone over the Juice, let alone over the Juice in a match a week before the biggest WCW match of the Juice's career. What's more, the ref was out of position for the pinfall and distracted, so Dandy held the Dandy Roll for over 9 seconds and it still got the 3 count. One of the odder and more unpredictable finishes I've ever seen. I love you WCW syndicated TV. Everybody looks great in this and they all get to hit pretty spots. Cool headscissors galore, Juvi hits a massive springboard dropkick, Calo hits his rad forward roll headscissors off the top, Dandy takes a giant bump over the top to the floor, and Dandy gets to nail his great punch. Too much great shit to mention here, AND Dandy taking the fall? Too great.

Rick Fuller vs. Hugh Morrus

Morrus threw a stiff clothesline and nailed his "run up the ropes, turnaround clothesline", but then overshot his moonsault. I'm a big Fuller fan but he didn't get much here.

Konnan/Vincent vs. Steiner Bros.

Well Vincent looked AMAZING in the main, and boy did he take a crazy beating from the Steiners. Scott almost dumped him on his head with a belly to belly, Rick gives him the fasted and most dangerously painful Oklahoma Stampede I've ever seen (running him full speed stomach first in to the buckles, with Vincent's knees whipping over the top rope. If Steiner had been offline then one of his knees would've shattered into the ringpost), powerslam off the top, etc. It gets to a point where Vincent tries to tag out and Konnan backs away, and Vincent's face is priceless. He then gets bulldogged off Scott's shoulders for the loss. Fun match I wasn't expecting much from (since Konnan may be the worst in WCW...him or Stevie Ray).

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Worldwide 7/4/98

My favorite way to watch my favorite wrestling is to just grab a random disc out of the stacks, no cherry picking, no looking up matchlistings, just going in blind. Sometimes you get bent over hard and end up sitting through Stevie Ray vs. Konnan, and other times Orion smiles upon you and you get a gloriously random mix of the most fun wrestling ever. So I went into the vaults and pulled out 7/4/98, the 222nd birthday of this great nation of ours. And WCW wished America happy birthday with one weird fucking episode.

1. Vincent vs. Marty Jannetty

First off, Marty fucking Jannetty (!) gets a clean pin over a member of the nWo halfway through 1998! WHAT!? Vincent looked awesome here, hitting an assortment of fistdrops and "Hitman" style elbow drops. Then Jannetty somehow gets the win. Insane. Did not see that coming. That's one of the great things about syndicated WCW, is that you get weird hierarchy matches between people that you've never seen win one match. Who wins a match between Van Hammer and Scott Vick? There are often no foregone conclusions with these matches. I didn't even know Marty was employed this late, let alone winning matches.

2. Lenny Lane vs. Spike Moore

Spike Moore was a guy I have NEVER seen before. He was wearing a pirate skull shirt and kinda looked like Droz. Match was close to getting the full point, before Lenny sold a roll up like a clothesline and then they just awkwardly cut to a finish. Moore hit his shoulderblocks really hard and looked decent. I could not find any information on the guy. Anybody?

3. Magnum Tokyo vs. Bobby Blaze

Blaze threw some fine suplexes and Tokyo grinded his crotch in Blaze's face a bunch, and Larry Zybszko kept calling Magnum "The Japanese". What? Really? This match could not take place anywhere else.

4. Villanos vs. High Voltage

THIS was totally awesome, with Villanos looking great as always, and RAGE and KAOS hitting their fun springboard power moves and bumping shockingly well. RAGE and KAOS were a pretty damn fun team looking back. I remember enjoying Rage's NJPW stint earlier this decade, but didn't remember if he was any good or not. For a team that jobbed constantly in WCW, the Villanos always seem to get put over strong on commentary and by their opponents. Teams always give them a bunch of offense (even if there's usually quite a size difference). Shoot, Brian Knobbs had a competitive 8 minute match against one of them, and most heavyweight workers don't get that much of a rub from Hogan friends. Good times.

5. John Nord vs. Goldberg

WHAT THE FUCK was Goldberg doing on WORLDWIDE in the middle of 1998!?!?!?!?!? Was this taped in like 1997!? Why was John Nord wrestling in 1998!? What the hell was happening here? I love you WCW!!!

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Worldwide 8/1/98 & 8/9/98

My buddy Charlie was down from Portland and we had picked up several Simpler Times 6-packs earlier in the day and had been putting them to good use all afternoon. At some point around midnight he wanted to watch wrestling, which was odd as he hadn't watched wrestling since the boom period of '97-'00. So I threw in some '98 WCW which is the greatest wrestling to watch drunk, sober, happy, depressed, neutral, angry, melancholy, etc. If you are feeling complete and utter ennui in life, I think it's fair to say that a couple episodes of WCW syndicated television are a nice cure-all. These shows are infinitely rewatchable, and they're pretty much the greatest possible wrestling you could ask for. Everything is a surprise, as WCW had about 600 people under contract and taped things 3 years in advance, so you never knew who was gonna show up. "Didn't Billy Joe Travis die 2 years ago? John Nord was getting a TV push in '99?" Those kinda questions get asked every episode. The wrestling is booked in a vacuum and at times you feel like a kid again because you don't know who will win. When you get match ups like Silver King vs. Super Calo, that's a push right there. No way I know who's winning. Armstrongs vs. Disorderly Conduct? Jeez, I've never seen those teams beat anybody, so no clue who goes over when both sides meet. This is only a few of the reasons why WCW syndicated TV is, was, and will always be my favorite wrestling. You get it all. Lucha, tassles, fat guys, face punching, hillbillys, awesome fans, relaxed commentary, and the sweet, sweet wrestling. So enjoy the new feature: My Favorite Wrestling!

WorldWide 8/1/98

1. Ultimo Dragon vs. Saito

SAITO either wrestles now (or recently) as Ryo Saito or Super Shisa I think, and this was good fun as a teacher/student match should be. Saito looked real good here eating Ultimo's offense. Saito got to do a ton of moves and the crowd was way into it. Ultimo threw a spin kick that caught Saito right under the chin and it was great. For a guy who hates stiffness, Ultimo sure popped him there. I can't think of any other situation where two Japanese guys working in a vacuum would get the crowd this excited.

2. Sick Boy vs. Julio Sanchez

Sick Boy was not a good wrestler. Time has told us that. And I will forever hate Sanchez since ECW used him regularly as a wrestler while employing Chris Hamrick as a manager. Travesty. These guys looked like mirror images of each other here, one in cutoff shorts, one in tights. These guys weren't great. Although Sick Boy's pedigree really plants guys painfully. He doesn't let go of the arms like HHH. And Sick Boy did a fist drop, so what more could you really ask for?

3. Kendall Windham vs. Disco Inferno

This might sound like hyperbole to some, but Kendall vs. Disco might be the best WCW match I've seen in ages. Not sure how much influence the Simpler Times are having at this point. The only syndicated matches (off the top of my head) that could compete with it are Benoit vs. Big Train Bart (Necro's trainer) from '95, Kendall/Barry vs. B.A./Swoll from '99, Hak vs. Bull Pain from '99, and Raven vs. Kaz Hayashi from '99. Kendall vs. Disco was just too completely awesome and -- no joke -- made Kendall look like one of the best in the world. Kendall's left hand is arguably the greatest punch in wrestling...EVER. Seriously. It looked like a million bucks in this match. Kendall punched Disco the whole time, stomped him in the corner, kicked him hard in the stomach, and MAN did Disco sell it all well. He sold each of Kendall's punches perfectly, whipping his head back, writhing on the ground holding his face. Disco's comebacks were peppered in perfectly as well with a great swinging neckbreaker and a piledriver that Kendall took and sold GREAT! This match was awesome and Kendall just looked like a monster, completely badass. Disco helped that out to a big degree. These guys made each other look great and this was just a killer match that gets a bunch of time, like 7-8 minutes. I would rate this 8 stars.

4. Juventud Guerrera/Psychosis vs. Villano IV/V

For those of us who got big into lucha, I assume WCW syndicated TV had some hand in that, and stuff like Villanos IV & V vs. Psychosis/Juvy gave us a short fun sprint with some big dives, a big springboard dropkick, Psychosis dumping himself on his own head, and good times had by all. If all lucha was like this, but longer and with even more guys, then of course we were going to start buying tapes.

WorldWide 8/9/98

1. The Gambler vs. Hugh Morrus

Morrus really stinks here but THE GAMBLER is a guy I've always dug, and he gets even better the more I see him. Morrus is always really selfish in his squash matches, taking like 95% of them with so-so offense. Gambler had a nasty back elbow and not much else, which is a shame as whenever he gets the chance he always has great offense. It's funny that Gambler was a jobber back then, but somebody like Karl Anderson gets regular Japan bookings these days with the same look and less talent. Anderson doesn't even have a jacket with playing cards on it. Idiot.

2. Vincent vs. Frankie Lancaster

This was a real nice Vince showcase and he really made the most of it. Just stiffs up Lancaster the whole match, takes a big bump for him, and ends it with one of the nastiest arm bars I've seen. He did a single-arm DDT and looked like he just posted Frankie's wrist right into the mat and then wrenched it into a great Fujiwara armbar, but working it from his back. Just awesome. Vincent/Curly Bill could really work, and it would only come through in small flashes of brilliance like this. You know Frankie Lancaster today from his debilitating kidney disease (I assume).

3. SUWA vs. Jerry Flynn

SUWA match! SUWA at one point was my favorite wrestler in the world, and with Finlay is the man I most wish would return to wrestling matches. SUWA was my favorite in the workd like 5 years after this match. I'm not even sure Toryumon had started at this point. Flynn's matches are always best when his opponent doesn't mind being a punching bag (erm...kicking bag). When he's in with a bigger star, usually that guy won't take any of his stiff kicks. But lower card guys and foreigners? Yeah. You're getting kicked. SUWA was not the biggest dick in wrestling as he would become a few years later, but he still was doing stuff like eyepokes and snarling at all the wide eyes in the crowd. Flynn kicks him a bunch and this was awesome.

4. Sick Boy vs. Hardbody Harrison

To the surprise of everybody, this wasn't that good. The only thing Harrison was worse at than wrestling, was defending himself in court.

5. British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart vs. Steve & Scott Armstrong*

This was a perfectly fine little tag to main event the start of My Favorite Wrestling, with Armstrongs getting plenty of offense and heeling it up. Bulldog has looked pretty lousy at other points in WCW, but he looked alright here. But these kinds of matches are almost always the Armstrong show, and an Armstrongs tag that gets 6+ minutes is almost always going to be good.

And that's kinda the best thing about WCW syndicated TV. For some reason (atmosphere, sense of surprise, beer) even the crummy matches have worth and are fun. It's the ultimate pro wrestling comfort food. And it's why it will always be My Favorite Wrestling.

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