Chairshot Classics

Chairshot Classics: WCW WrestleWar ’92 – Destroy Or Be Destroyed!

Published

5 years ago

August 29, 2018

Match #7 for the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship: WCW Light Heavyweight Champion ‘Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs. ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk
Pillman gives a handshake and the action starts. Collar and elbow and Brian gets the arm first. Zenk reverses into a hammerlock, into the side headlock. Shoulder tackle from Zenk, they avoid contact and both men try a drop kick at the same time. They size each other up, drop toe hold by Pillman and he works on the left arm. Zenk is held with a hammerlock and Pillman piles on with the knees. A whip to the ropes and they hook arms with simultaneous clotheslines. Snapmare by Pillman and a knee to the head for one. Collar and elbow, side headlock by Pillman, Zenk throws him toward the corner.

Pillman leaps frogs over him but Z-Man lands the arm drag. A lateral press gets two and Z-Man goes back to the hammerlock. Zenk tries to flip him into a pin but can’t. He slips into an arm bar on their feet. To the ropes and Pillman lands a head scissor and an arm drag into the arm bar. Snapmare into the head scissor submission by the reigning champ. They roll over and it’s broken on the ropes. Pillman sends Zenk who steps in and reverses into a backslide. After a two count, he gets another with a surprise inside cradle. Zenk with a sunset flip and he still can’t get three. Pillman with some heavy chops and a drop toe hold, he stays on the knee hard.

Pillman goes for a flip onto the knee and Z-Man moves out of the way. Zenk takes the opportunity to stomp on Pillman’s back, lifting him for a big vertical suplex. Z-Man drives his knees into the back and then lifts him for a back breaker. Zenk goes for a big splash but he’s met with a set of knees. Pillman trips him with a low kick and regains control with shots to the left knee. Pillman turns him over into a half crab as the ref checks on Zenk. Pillman grabs the leg but is kicked in the head with the enziguri, he kicks out at two. Zenk is in control with a chop and an Irish whip, Pillman moves, Zenk goes down and the champ locks in the figure four.

Tempers are flying and they exchange slaps to the face. Z-Man works hard to spin Pillman over and he finally gets there. Pillman instead rolls again and the hold is broken on the ropes. They are slow to their feet, Pillman landing open hand chops. Irish whip to the corner, Pillman is flipped to the apron. Brian springboards into the ring and Zenk counters with a power slam and a very close pin. Chops are exchanged, they hit the ropes, Pillman executes a crucifix for two and a half. Brian hammers a forearm and seats Zenk on the top turnbuckle.

Z-Man frees himself and knocks Pillman to the mat, he lands a big flying cross body but is slow to make the pin, Flyin Brian kicks out. They run the ropes and collide in the middle of the ring once again, this time head first. Pillman is up first, Zenk reverses the whip and lifts the champ high in the air landing face first, he gets a very close count. Both men are wobbly, Z-Man can’t stay on his feet. Pillman flies off the top rope but he eats Zenk’s big boot. There’s a quick cover but Flyin Brian is in the ropes. Zenk calls for a flying drop kick, Pillman stops short causing him to miss, he flips over for a bridging roll up and he retains the belt.
Winner and STILL WCW Light Heavyweight Champion: ‘Flyin’ Brian Pillman (Roll-Up)

EA’s Take: Alright, that was better – finally some heat and action you can invest in. Both of these guys are tremendously athletic, but they told a good story between the ropes of trying to disadvantage the others’ strengths with mat work. Z-Man takes the loss, but he looked very good along the way and dare I say, possibly the best we’ve seen of him. It may have been a handful of years before it really took hold in the USA, but I’m really enjoying this early 90’s Light Heavyweight division.

Match #8 – IWGP Tag Team Championships #1 Contender’s Match: WCW World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka
Scott and Fujinami get us started. Collar and elbow tie up, Scott gets position but Fujinami fights back and there is a clean break. They tie up again and Scott is taken over with an arm drag. Scott with a single leg pick up, Fujinami gets to the ropes. A tie up, Scott with a fireman carry take over but can not pin him. Fujinami reverses the whip, shoulder block by Steiner, he scoops Fujinami but can’t get much on the fall away flam. Iizuka rushes the ring and he gets it better. Big clothesline by Steiner on Fujinami.

They slow it down and iizuka is tagged in. Collar and elbow, Scott with position but it’s flipped. Irish whip and a shoulder block by Iizuka, follows it with a scoop slam and an elbow off the second rope. He heads for the top rope and lands a 360 flip, but Scotty kicks out at two. iizuka tries spinning Scott into the Boston crab and he has it locked in. Scott uses his upper body strength and he bridges back to his feet. The younger brother delivers a douible underhook powerbomb, he lifts Iizuka on his shoulder, tags in Rick who enters with a big elbow drop. Rick grabs a reverse chin lock, but Fujinami reaches over and gets tagged in. Side headlock takeover by Fujinami.

Back to a vertical base and they jockey for position, Rick finally gets the advantage and sends him with a German release suplex. Back to the reverse chin lock and Scott is tagged back in. Fujinami is sent for the ride and gets a back elbow. Scott locks in a half crab but it’s broken by the ropes. Collar and elbow, Scott gets position and tags in Rick. Fujinami fires the first shots and lifts Rick on his shoulders. Tag is made, Iizuka flies off the top rope and Rick reverses it into the belly to belly suplex. Scott takes offense to the double team and the referee restrains him. Forearms from Iizuka followed by chops. They hit the ropes and Rick lands a football tackle and an elbow getting a two count.

Fujinami is back in with some quick strikes and he rolls into a mat submission on Steiner’s ankle. Rick is able to roll Fujinami over, but he can’t get a three count. Fujinami drags Rick to the corner and he stretches the hamstring. Iizuka is tagged back in and he keeps up with the theme of breaking down the leg. Rick cradles him over for a two count but can’t escape the hold. Finally, Rick rolls into a hammerlock and he takes control. Scott is tagged in and he quickly delivers a tilt-a-whirl slam. A slow pin only allows for two. Scott with some mat wrestling, double chicken winging his opponent. Single leg suplex by Scott and older brother returns to the action. More mat submission work, Fujinami distracts Rick by climbing the turnbuckles but he ultimately stands down.

Rick lifts Iizuka on his shoulders and drives him upside down into the corner. It’s Scott’s turn again and he hooks in an abdominal stretch that moves into a suplex. Iizuka kicks out at two, but Scott relentlessly stays on the arm bar submission. Scott cradles him but the ropes break it. Iizuka is close enough to make the tag and Fujinami breaks the hold. He provokes Rick on the other side and all hell breaks loose. The ref restores order and Fujinami grabs an abdominal stretch. Pinning predicament but Scott kicks out. The Japanese star holds on with a headlock, he throws some rights.

Scott gets his knee up to the midsection, muscles him down with a botched hip toss and tags in his brother. Fujinami fends off the forearms and shoves his way to his own corner to make the tag. Iizuka lands some quick kicks but Rick takes him down with a double leg pick up. A belly to belly and a lateral press but Fujinami breaks up the pin. Scott is tagged in, snapmare to Iizuka but he rolls into a tag. Scott and Fujinami tie up, Iizuka tries a cheapshot but Scott takes them both out with reverse hip tosses. A double Steinerline is ducked from Scott, but Rick flies off the turnbuckle to land one. The ref redirects him back to his corner.

Scott sets up Iizuka on the top turnbuckle but Fujinami suplexes him from behind with the referee turned. iizuka with a bridging suplex but he can’t hold it, Scott kicks out at two. Fujinami is tagged in and he hits a spike piledriver. Fujinami holds Scott in a full nelson and Iizuka hits him with a drop kick. Scott is sent for the ride and finds himself caught in a dragon sleeper hold. Scott wisely gets to the ropes, Fujinami goes for it again but Scott kicks him in the face and hits a clothesline. They run the ropes and and collide in the middle of the ring, the double count is on.

Both men make their tags, Rick sends Iizuka for the ride and nails him with a Steinerline, kickout at two. Rick with a belly to belly suplex, Fujinami makes the save. Scott rushes to stop the interference. Meanwhile, Rick seats Iizuka on the top turnbuckle and lands a belly to belly from there. We have new #1 contenders!
Winners: The Steiner Brothers (Rick/Top Rope Belly-To-Belly Suplex)

EA’s Take: A couple spots of miscommunication, but overall a great match. Without looking it up, I’m fairly confident Rick and Scott go on to win those titles. Not to be “that guy” groaning about a great move, but the belly-to-belly reversal from the shoulders didn’t feel as organic as it did last show when it felt like their opponents were attempting to use their own move against them.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Classic SummerSlam

Attitude Of Aggression #277- The Big Four Project Chapter 4: Summer Slam ’88 & Survivor Series ’88

Published

3 weeks ago

March 2, 2023

David Ungar

Attitude Of Aggression #277- The Big Four Project Chapter 4: Summer Slam ’88 & Survivor Series ’88

The Attitude Of Aggression returns for Chapter 4 of The Big Four Project, a chronological analysis, review, and discussion about WWE’s Big Four PPVs/ Premium Live Events. On this Episode, Dave is again joined by the one and only PC Tunney to discuss two more huge events in pro wrestling history, the inaugural Summer Slam and Survivor Series’88. However, the guys are also joined by the debuting DJ of The Mindless Wrestling Podcast to join in the festivities. Summer Slam ’88 was a key event in the story of the rise, and eventual fall, of The Mega Powers. But it also saw a different kind of explosion as The Ultimate Warrior burst upon the scene like few had before him with an iconic dethroning of The Honky Tonk Man. The fellas look at how the events of that night in MSG nearly 35 years ago redefined an industry. From there, Dave & DJ recap the second Survivor Series. While not as unique or good as the first Survivor Series, there were still many key moments that took place that night. The Mega Powers would be the sole survivors of their match that night,,,,but they would not survive as a united force for much longer. What changed that night in Richfield, Ohio so long ago? We have the whole story for you here on Chapter 4 of The Big Four Project!

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Chairshot Classics

Chairshot Classics: What I Watched #16 – ECW Guilty As Charged 1999

Breaking up the 2018 time travel with a much deeper dive! Harry goes back to some prime ECW with Guilty As Charged 1999!

Published

7 months ago

September 2, 2022

Harry Broadhurst

Greetings, salutations and welcome back. Harry here once again with another edition of ‘What I Watched’. As the calendar year turns to 1999 on my watch-through of all things ‘big three’ wrestling, I covered Starrcade 1998 in an earlier edition of WIW. I figured since this is probably the last year where all three major companies are relevant (at least at the start), it could be fun to compare and contrast how I feel about the respective PPVs when compared to some of the independent wrestling I’ve been covering recently. Or even going back to the PROGRESS or Impact Wrestling shows that I’ve covered before. I am fully aware there are going to be some bad shows in 1999. But there is also a lot to talk about in a drastically changing industry. Let’s do this, shall we?

ECW is in flux as talent losses haven’t yet gotten to what they would become but names like Sandman, Mikey Whipwreck, Bam Bam Bigelow and others are no longer with the company. To make matters worse, the ECW-FMW relationship is falling apart now as well as a Chris Candido and Sunny (sorry, Tammy Lynn Sytch) no-show of a scheduled FMW appearance. Paul Heyman himself is the first person we see telling us the card is going to change…how much does it change? The WayBack Machine takes us to January 10th, 1999 in Kissimmee, FL as it’s time for ECW to be Guilty as Charged!

What I Watched #16

ECW Guilty as Charged 1999

1/10/1999

Millenium Theatre in Kissimmee, FL

Runtime: 2:40:30 (Peacock)

Commentary By: Joey Styles (PBP)

THE RESULTS

Match 1: Axl Rotten/Ballz Mahoney win 3 team tag elimination match, eliminating Little Guido/Tracy Smothers @ 10:44 (Danny Doring/Roadkill eliminated @ 8:15)
Match 2: Yoshihiro Tajiri pins Super Crazy, dragon suplex @ 11:37
Match 3: Psycho Sid Vicious pins John Kronus, powerbomb @ 1:31
Match 4: Bubba Ray and D’Von Dudley def. New Jack/Spike Dudley, both Dudleyz pin Spike @ 10:05
Match 5: ECW TV Title- Rob Van Dam pins Lance Storm, bridged German suplex @ 17:46
Match 6: Justin Credible pins Tommy Dreamer, That’s Incredible on ladder @ 18:44
Match 7: ECW Heavyweight Title- Taz defeats Shane Douglas © by KO, Tazmission @ 22:15

THE BREAKDOWN

Three Team Tag Elimination Match
Started as a straight up 2 vs. 2, but within the first two minutes, Ballz and Axl (Axl making his return to the company after the passing of his grandmother) join the frey and it becomes your traditional ECW three team brawl. Nothing really stands out here but the overall work is good enough for what the match is supposed to be. The elimination of Doring and Roadkill is well done, as a FBI double-team fishermanbuster looks really cool and gets a decisive win for what was to be the original match. They do give the win to Axl and Ballz here, which I get given the fact they are a popular act, but I personally think that Guido and Tracy were a better team during the time frame. (**½)

Super Crazy vs. Tajiri

Yes, it’s the feud that never ends. But this is where it begins. Both men were relative newcomers to the American wrestling scene with both having had limited exposure on WWF TV (both were in the Light Heavyweight title tournament). This is a good match but not a great match and honestly, I think timing is the issue here. Eleven minutes may seem like a lot but knowing what these two would be capable of down the road once there is more of a fan and time investment into their matches, it ends up being a good starting point but probably not the blow away match that ECW was expecting to deliver here. (***)

John Kronus vs. Mystery Opponent

So, ECW fans are notorious for their belief that the “big oaf” style of the WWF and WCW wouldn’t work in ECW. Obviously, they are wrong. Guys like Big Dick Dudley and 911 became massive fan favorites due to their look, not anything they could do in a wrestling ring. You can add another name to that list, as Psycho Sid makes his ECW debut here (following an introduction by the ‘Judge’ Jeff Jones) and absolutely kicks Kronus’ ass in less than two minutes. Sid was never anything special in the ring but he is one of the more charismatic big men in wrestling history so the cult-like following is easy to understand. Too short to rate, but fun for what it was. (X)

Dudleyz vs. New Jack/Spike Dudley

Sixteen year old Harry getting into ECW was a huge Joel Gertner fan. Thirty seven year old Harry going back and watching these shows is an even bigger fan of Joel Gertner. Granted, his shtick is incredibly juvenile but sometimes, you just want to laugh…

The match is your standard ECW garbage brawl. Most New Jack matches definitely have a similarity to them that does not hold up well for re-watching. I will openly admit to being a Spike Dudley mark and he does well taking an ass whooping from Bubba Ray. The Dudleyz definitely have their moments in ECW (the best is still to come in my opinion) but this isn’t one of their best performances. I will give props to New Jack for taking 3D on the ramp, even if it doesn’t come across the cleanest. About what you’d expect, but nothing more. (**)

Rob Van Dam vs. Masato Tanaka was the originally scheduled match and I think it could have been fun. However, Tanaka apparently has visa issues which prevent him from being able to get into the US for the show and thus ECW has to pivot quickly. I do have to give credit to Lance Storm for his pre-match promo here. For someone who is not known as one of the better talkers in wrestling history, he does a really good job explaining the situation with the 3 way that was supposed to happen (Storm vs. Spike vs. Jerry Lynn (cracked pelvis)) and then calling out Rob Van Dam since his opponent wasn’t there either. Storm has a really good closing line for the promo too: “I’m not the ‘Whole F’n Show’, but I am the best damn part of it’. That is one of the lines that sticks with you and you remember it.

The match itself is very good but not great. It is better than anything else on the show, so perhaps I’m rating it on a slight curve for that. Van Dam’s selling is sporadic but to be fair, Van Dam’s selling is always sporadic. The biggest thing for me is that despite that, they still keep an impressive pace and the match is by and large clean. There is a super weak chair shot by Storm (which the crowd gives him a good ration of shit over), but they do manage to turn that crowd around for the finishing sequence. A little surprised by the choice of finish, but I imagine that has something to do with telling the idea that Storm got caught and wasn’t soundly defeated like most of Van Dam’s prior opponents had been. (***½)

Stairway to Hell- Justin Credible vs. Tommy Dreamer

The problem for Credible in ECW is that Paul wanted you to believe that Justin was this huge deal but truthfully, the booking never actually treated him as such. Yeah, he won…A LOT…but more often than not, it was almost treated as an afterthought. He very rarely won the big matches on his own and while I get that as a heel, you want to give him that sense of dickishness, as a wrestling fan eventually you have to make it look like the dude could stand up on his own. Dreamer has long been a favorite of mine, even if he has overstayed his welcome in the ring on occasion. You know going in that win or lose, Tommy will bust his ass to give you as good a match as he is capable of.

As for this match, it never reaches that next level that you expect a gimmicked semi main event of a PPV to reach. It’s not actively bad or anything (in fact, probably up there for Credible’s best match in ECW to date) but with the stipulation and the gaga around it, it feels like there was so much more it could have been. The finish comes off really flat as well as it renders the whole point of the stipulation useless and only serves to put more heat on Credible by way of Funk. (**½)

So, I’ll be a little nicer to this match then some other reviewers I’ve seen for a couple reasons. It completely accomplishes the goal that Heyman set out for it. Taz comes out of the match looking like a world beater. Douglas comes out of the match as the face of the company who “went out on his shield” as the old phrase goes. Sabu looks like a lunatic and a viable threat to take the title at any time he damn well pleases. Candido comes off as a huge dick and sticks the final knife in Douglas’ back for the end scene. So the story telling is magnificent.

The match itself? At least a good five to seven minutes too long for that story. I get wanting that epic storytelling to fold out but when you guys are down and low on ideas, it might not be the worst idea to take it home. The other issue is that by trying to serve so many masters, Heyman causes the main event to end up being epically overbooked. Granted, that is an ECW trademark but for what was to be the crowning moment for Taz, I don’t think the 73rd Airborne needed to be a part of it. Sabu could have just as easily returned post match to set up a run with Taz. Or Candido could have turned on Douglas post match to give him a direction going forward since Taz would be occupied with Sabu. I’m not saying it completely takes away the moment but it does make it mean less than it could or should have in the overall scheme of things. (**)

THE FINAL REACTION

Best Match/Moment: Rob Van Dam vs. Lance Storm, although I do think their match at the first ECW PPV ‘Barely Legal’ (which I imagine I’ll eventually do) is better
Worst Match/Moment: The main event. What could have been an awesome moment for the ‘Human Suplex Machine’ and the biggest ass kicker in the company is ruined with a boring crowd brawl (to the home viewer) and a couple of run-ins that either end up actively taking away from it.
Overall Show Score: 5.5/10
MVP: Joey Styles is the best thing about this show with his one man performance. There is a reason he was such a major influence on what I did as an announcer.

THE SIGNOFF

It’s not a bad show. It’s just not a particulary good one either. And while ECW would put out worse, it only barely outdoes Starrcade 98 to avoid the worst show of the return thus far.

So, where do we go from here? January of 1999 had no chill. The very next Sunday would see the first WCW outing of 1999, called Souled Out. The Sunday after that would be the 1999 edition of the Royal Rumble. I’m going to hit both of those but as a fair warning, I’ll probably try to mix an Independent show from 2018 in the middle of them. Hope to see you guys at Souled Out. And feel free to check out my archives by clicking on my name at the top of this review. Thanks for reading, everyone.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!