Ring of Honor - Top 25 in 2002 - Pt. 2 (of 5)
19. Christopher Daniels vs. American Dragon (Ring of Honor - 3/30/02 "Round Robin Challenge")
The opening match of the night starts quickly and fairly intensely. Dragon grounds Daniels with his plain matwork, but they don't stay there for too long. The pacing is great here as it's fast and slow with just the right amount of both, which keeps the crowd into it, but neither burns them out nor bores them. Daniels breaks down the neck and Dragon sells it very well and you can almost see it happening. The final few minutes are back-and-fourth, but Dragon's offense is hindered by his hurting neck. Strong clean win by Daniels and Dragon will only have a short while to prepare for Ki. The length here was fine, but trying to sell an injury in such a short match is kind of lame. I think stretching this and Daniels going after Dragon's neck.
Rating: ***1/2
18. American Dragon vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 12/7/02 "Night of the Butcher")
The finals of a really poor #1 contenders tournament with these two knocking of new comers Chad Collyer and EZ Money respectively in the first round. London emerged as a major in a few months earlier in a "street fight" against Michael Shane. These two are the top workers (IMO) out of the two waves of Shawn Micheals' Wrestling Academy. This is a great match here with them working a nice combination of stiffer than average strikes, limited matwork and some campy face-heel stuff to make this different. Dragon, who was starting his "call me Bryan Danielson" phase, heels it up here beating on the young up-and-comer. The fans don't really get into that stuff like I'd prefer, but you can't depend on the smart marks for making good marks. I think he figures that out and decides to lay in the strikes rather than play a prick. It works really well because I think a lot of indy heels mail it in on the working side and just do the cheap heat. He studied under Regal though so he knows where it's at. London is a superb underdog type and hits plenty hard here, so we actually get one of the stiffer ROH matches. The finish is excellent with Dragon getting pounded down again and again, but refuses to die before London hits the Shooting Star and scores the upset win. Dragon could be a great touring junior working an Otani style where he punks out people and lets them win every once and a while. It's a role that everyone gets into, yet few do it. A nice step in the right direction for him and London looked as good as I've ever seen him look in his typical role.
Rating: ***1/2
17. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide (Ring of Honor -11/16/02 "Scramble Madness")
A logical battle after Joe choked out Homicide at the last show in a six-man tag. Homicide played a big part in the popularization of puro-influenced wrestling on the East Coast and Joe has been doing that style on the West Coast for a few years now, so it's a fun battle in that sense. Homicide's shoulder is taped up and you know he's gonna taken an ass-whoopin here. Joe interestingly works on his eye early on, making Homicide's offense seem more desperate because he's smaller and all hurting. Nice seesaw action with both guys hitting hard and doing some head-dropping too. The end is strong with Joe pounding the dog outta Homicide, but he manages to sneak in a flash pin. A nice simple story where it was all visuals with no real intricacies. One of the lesser talked about ROH matches worth checking out.
Rating: ***1/2
16. Low-Ki vs. Christopher Daniels (Ring of Honor - 3/30/02 "Round Robin Challenge")
The feud that would become the main program for ROH in their first year is the second in the Round Robin Challenge, where Daniels made Dragon tap. Daniels turns down the handshake early and Low-Ki explodes on him, controlling the opening segment of the match with all the stiff strikes you expect and a few submissions here and there, it all being well done and Daniels selling puts it over the top. Daniels turns it around with a slower, more methodical pace as is appropriate for heels. Ki gets strong hope spots in the last part before leading into a slick reversal into a clean submission victory that sets up the last match big. A great 12-minute match, but producing a classic in that span of time is nary impossible.
Rating: ***1/2
15. Christopher Daniels vs. Donovan Morgan (Ring of Honor - 4/27/02 "Night of Appreciation")
Morgan's ROH debut as both West Coast wrestlers meet on the East Coast...weird. Too bad Daniels never mentions how he beat Morgan in the first King of the Indies tournie, but I guess that'd mean Morgan would have to get one back here and you don't wanna spoil anything. They do straight wrestling with Morgan doing headlock work, which is fine. This is simple stuff with not many highspots, but the work is solid and it's busting with nice, lil' intricies. They limit the big bumps, so that when they actual deliver them the fans like it, which is how you work boys. This was very much a APW type match minus about 5-10 minutes of matwork because they just don't have the time. Morgan was made to look like a great counter wrestler and that's how he got it done. This made Morgan to a degree, but the chorus of boo's after doesn't tell if he's over or the fans just hate him. Too short to really make the impact that a 25-minute match with more meaningful matwork would have had, but they got the crowd going with their aborted NoCal style, which is cool. Nothing looked sloppy, but they were tired with the closing sprint, but they kept it together.
Rating: ***3/4
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ring of Honor - Top 25 in 2002 - Pt. 1 (of 5)
In the past couple years, Ring of Honor (ROH) has made strides to become a bigger and more significant pro-wrestling company. It's unique brand of pro-wrestling has made an internet darling for years, but the company has certainly had its growing pains since its inception in 2002. The product is undeniably excellent in terms of in-ring match quality, but in recent times it has tried to develop in the realm of storylines and angles.
In that first year, ROH took their approach, secured top independent talent, notable free agents and made an impressive go at it. While that product differs from the current product in many regards, it is still significant in looking at how far the company has come in the past near-decade.
I will be presenting a series of reviews I did from 2002-2004 featuring the top 25 matches from ROH in those formative years. From the time of Ring of Honor being designed largely to fill the coffers of RF Video until the sexual solicitation scandal that led to Rob Feinstein selling his shares of the company and ROH taking a new turn under the ownership of Cory Silkin.
**Please excuse some of my ratings if they seem low, basically they are to be taken with a grain of salt.**
25. Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams (Ring of Honor - 10/5/02 "Honor by Glory")
These two competed in the big ironman match and are the first of any of the pair to wrestle each other since that match, as weird as that seems. The big Briton shows great agility and that Euro-goodness we all love. Daniels re-establishes that he's the heel here by "breaking the code of honor" in an effort to stay even early on. Williams' offense is so excellent and Daniels gives him a lot of room and sells like a champ. The finish is strong with Daniels escaping again and again, before using the ropes to get the pin. Decent, though it lacked something. Williams is yet to have a "off" match in the US from what I've seen.
Rating: ***1/4
24. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels (Ring of Honor -11/16/02 "Scramble Madness")
These guys had an tremendous match in June, so I'd expect something of that level at least. Styles is pretty on here, which means as long as Daniels can keep everything in order this'll be good. This is kind of more of the same, a lot of counter-wrestling, big moves and a fair amount of hard strikes. It was the indy-style countering though that was the best here as these guy's appeared to be in one another's mind. Not a slick and story-driven as the June match, which is amongst ROH's best matches for sure...it was the best match on their best show after all. I expect more out of high-caliber rematches and this didn't deliver on the level it should have I didn't think. I guess the heat between thew two was kind of lacking and they were more "having a good match" than telling a story. AJ gets his win back, which is fine, the post-match brawling with ROH guys and the Prophecy is fine as well. This just seemed to lack most of the qualities that made first so excellent.
Rating: ***1/2
23. American Dragon vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 11/9/02 "All-Star Extravaganza")
This is the final match in a gauntlet series that was very well booked in my humble opinion. We saw London defeat his rival Michael Shane (who had a previous match with CM Punk) that saw him take a pounding. Then after a strange Tommy Dreamer promo and a cheapshot by Shane, a fast-paced match with Red, he met American Dragon. The strategy is simple, break London down with submission holds and stiff strikes. London is banged up, but still has fight in him, but is it going to be enough. The finish makes sense, Dragon going over a weakened London and it strongly sets up a rematch, however the actual moves made it fall flat. London got a nearfall, but Dragon came back with a Dragon Suplex and Cattle Mutiliation for a quick tap. I prefer pinfalls in this situation and at least a fight until the very end. Contextual this is hit-and-miss, stand alone this is hit-and-miss. I would have preferred they worked more for the context, however Dragon still had a match with AJ Styles after this. The rematch is far more interesting methinks.
Rating: ***1/2
22. Steve Corino & Low-Ki vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka (Ring of Honor - 11/9/02 "All-Star Extravaganza")
A so-called "Zero-One Challenge match." Ki's place would be filled by CW Anderson the next night at Corino's PWF show, which was a fun *** match. What's funny is Anderson and Ki are juniors in Japan, even though they're top guys in PWF and ROH respectively. So basically this is the top tag team in Japan against two gaijins who aren't really on their level as far as status, but who cares? The fans love Otani and his tactics, so there are no real heels here, which makes it funny. Tanaka is the big worker here because that's just how is, while Ki hangs best he can and Otani & Corino just do their schticks. This is decidedly better than the PWF match as its a little more innovative and more fun in my opinion, however gauging Emblem's efforts in America is kind of ridiculous because it's a different world to them and they work differently.
Rating: ***1/2
21. American Dragon vs. Spanky (Ring of Honor - 4/27/02 "Night of Appreciation")
This was the final match in the Heartbreak Gauntlet Series that featured some pretty uneventful short matches, but it started the Shane-London feud I guess. London over Hope in a clipped match, Shane over London in like 4 minutes, before a nifty little Shane-Spanky match. After Shane played a bleeding babyface who takes Spanky the distance before going down. Big pop for Dragon and you knew you'd see these two in there somewhere, so why not make it the final match. Dragon busts out his garb from the TWA days for this match and I'm diggin' it. Dragon controls most of this as you'd expect and you just dunno which way this'll go. Spanky, after being the heel in the previous bout, is slowly getting over as the lovable goofball (how can't you love a guy with Hawaii print pants with a torn out crotch?) This picks up really well with Dragon killing the kid, who's getting over great because he can take a beating and is spunky and stuff. A fantastic final few minutes and finish that made this just awesome. These two needed a rematch, but we'd never get it. For something so short this was really all one can ask for. Despite some of the shortcomings due to Spanky working around 30 minutes at an elevated rate, but he sold really well and got over well with Dragon really carrying him when he needed to. Really enjoyable match.
Rating: ***1/2
20. Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Donovan Morgan vs. Low-Ki, Doug Williams, Homicide (Ring of Honor - 11/9/02 "All-Star Extravaganza")
The first tag title defense and it's a six-man. Fine by me as long as it has some order to it unlike the "scramble tags." Ki and Morgan open things up nicely with fast-paced counterwrestling. The big men check in (Williams and Joe) and pace things a bit. Then Daniels and Homicide (the respective capitains) do there thing. Ki-Daniels is given no fanfare as Daniels is merely playing the weak link of his team, which makes sense because he's the smallest, but he is the leader after all. Williams ends up playing his team's for much of the match, which again is fine, but he is the big man so it looks kind of funny. They did the dive-after-dive deal, the finisher teases and hits towards the end. The finish is kind of anticlimatic, but served its purpose. This has qualities of those great early 90s AJ tags, but it's obviously not on quite that level.
Rating: ***1/2
In the past couple years, Ring of Honor (ROH) has made strides to become a bigger and more significant pro-wrestling company. It's unique brand of pro-wrestling has made an internet darling for years, but the company has certainly had its growing pains since its inception in 2002. The product is undeniably excellent in terms of in-ring match quality, but in recent times it has tried to develop in the realm of storylines and angles.
In that first year, ROH took their approach, secured top independent talent, notable free agents and made an impressive go at it. While that product differs from the current product in many regards, it is still significant in looking at how far the company has come in the past near-decade.
I will be presenting a series of reviews I did from 2002-2004 featuring the top 25 matches from ROH in those formative years. From the time of Ring of Honor being designed largely to fill the coffers of RF Video until the sexual solicitation scandal that led to Rob Feinstein selling his shares of the company and ROH taking a new turn under the ownership of Cory Silkin.
**Please excuse some of my ratings if they seem low, basically they are to be taken with a grain of salt.**
25. Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams (Ring of Honor - 10/5/02 "Honor by Glory")
These two competed in the big ironman match and are the first of any of the pair to wrestle each other since that match, as weird as that seems. The big Briton shows great agility and that Euro-goodness we all love. Daniels re-establishes that he's the heel here by "breaking the code of honor" in an effort to stay even early on. Williams' offense is so excellent and Daniels gives him a lot of room and sells like a champ. The finish is strong with Daniels escaping again and again, before using the ropes to get the pin. Decent, though it lacked something. Williams is yet to have a "off" match in the US from what I've seen.
Rating: ***1/4
24. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels (Ring of Honor -11/16/02 "Scramble Madness")
These guys had an tremendous match in June, so I'd expect something of that level at least. Styles is pretty on here, which means as long as Daniels can keep everything in order this'll be good. This is kind of more of the same, a lot of counter-wrestling, big moves and a fair amount of hard strikes. It was the indy-style countering though that was the best here as these guy's appeared to be in one another's mind. Not a slick and story-driven as the June match, which is amongst ROH's best matches for sure...it was the best match on their best show after all. I expect more out of high-caliber rematches and this didn't deliver on the level it should have I didn't think. I guess the heat between thew two was kind of lacking and they were more "having a good match" than telling a story. AJ gets his win back, which is fine, the post-match brawling with ROH guys and the Prophecy is fine as well. This just seemed to lack most of the qualities that made first so excellent.
Rating: ***1/2
23. American Dragon vs. Paul London (Ring of Honor - 11/9/02 "All-Star Extravaganza")
This is the final match in a gauntlet series that was very well booked in my humble opinion. We saw London defeat his rival Michael Shane (who had a previous match with CM Punk) that saw him take a pounding. Then after a strange Tommy Dreamer promo and a cheapshot by Shane, a fast-paced match with Red, he met American Dragon. The strategy is simple, break London down with submission holds and stiff strikes. London is banged up, but still has fight in him, but is it going to be enough. The finish makes sense, Dragon going over a weakened London and it strongly sets up a rematch, however the actual moves made it fall flat. London got a nearfall, but Dragon came back with a Dragon Suplex and Cattle Mutiliation for a quick tap. I prefer pinfalls in this situation and at least a fight until the very end. Contextual this is hit-and-miss, stand alone this is hit-and-miss. I would have preferred they worked more for the context, however Dragon still had a match with AJ Styles after this. The rematch is far more interesting methinks.
Rating: ***1/2
22. Steve Corino & Low-Ki vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka (Ring of Honor - 11/9/02 "All-Star Extravaganza")
A so-called "Zero-One Challenge match." Ki's place would be filled by CW Anderson the next night at Corino's PWF show, which was a fun *** match. What's funny is Anderson and Ki are juniors in Japan, even though they're top guys in PWF and ROH respectively. So basically this is the top tag team in Japan against two gaijins who aren't really on their level as far as status, but who cares? The fans love Otani and his tactics, so there are no real heels here, which makes it funny. Tanaka is the big worker here because that's just how is, while Ki hangs best he can and Otani & Corino just do their schticks. This is decidedly better than the PWF match as its a little more innovative and more fun in my opinion, however gauging Emblem's efforts in America is kind of ridiculous because it's a different world to them and they work differently.
Rating: ***1/2
21. American Dragon vs. Spanky (Ring of Honor - 4/27/02 "Night of Appreciation")
This was the final match in the Heartbreak Gauntlet Series that featured some pretty uneventful short matches, but it started the Shane-London feud I guess. London over Hope in a clipped match, Shane over London in like 4 minutes, before a nifty little Shane-Spanky match. After Shane played a bleeding babyface who takes Spanky the distance before going down. Big pop for Dragon and you knew you'd see these two in there somewhere, so why not make it the final match. Dragon busts out his garb from the TWA days for this match and I'm diggin' it. Dragon controls most of this as you'd expect and you just dunno which way this'll go. Spanky, after being the heel in the previous bout, is slowly getting over as the lovable goofball (how can't you love a guy with Hawaii print pants with a torn out crotch?) This picks up really well with Dragon killing the kid, who's getting over great because he can take a beating and is spunky and stuff. A fantastic final few minutes and finish that made this just awesome. These two needed a rematch, but we'd never get it. For something so short this was really all one can ask for. Despite some of the shortcomings due to Spanky working around 30 minutes at an elevated rate, but he sold really well and got over well with Dragon really carrying him when he needed to. Really enjoyable match.
Rating: ***1/2
20. Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Donovan Morgan vs. Low-Ki, Doug Williams, Homicide (Ring of Honor - 11/9/02 "All-Star Extravaganza")
The first tag title defense and it's a six-man. Fine by me as long as it has some order to it unlike the "scramble tags." Ki and Morgan open things up nicely with fast-paced counterwrestling. The big men check in (Williams and Joe) and pace things a bit. Then Daniels and Homicide (the respective capitains) do there thing. Ki-Daniels is given no fanfare as Daniels is merely playing the weak link of his team, which makes sense because he's the smallest, but he is the leader after all. Williams ends up playing his team's for much of the match, which again is fine, but he is the big man so it looks kind of funny. They did the dive-after-dive deal, the finisher teases and hits towards the end. The finish is kind of anticlimatic, but served its purpose. This has qualities of those great early 90s AJ tags, but it's obviously not on quite that level.
Rating: ***1/2
Bobby the Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All
Author, Ghost Writer, Editor: Bobby Heenan, Steve Anderson
Publisher: Triumph Publishing
Released: 9/02
The Good
Hilarious in parts, kind of funny in others, dull in other areas. Heenan's career is condensed greatly and he mostly delivers humourous little stories and puts them in some sort of order it seems. There are some great ones about ribs, wrestlers being dumb, wrestlers being funny and so on. The more serious parts are nice and his humor makes them more interesting than the typical rambling childhood/parenthood/family stories.
The Bad
This is light read and a fun one...that's all. Anyone can do this in an afternoon and not get much out of it other than a few laughs. Heenan doesn't give much insight aside from how he thinks things are flawed nowerdays, which is more being out-of-touch than being insightful. Everything is so here and there that it's hard to say any number of things add up to equal a sound argument. The WCW stuff could've been better as he'll say they did this and that and it's so stupid, but doesn't always provide an alternative. This guy KNOWS wrestling, he knows how to work a match and even better how to work the crowd, but you'd not get all that from this all too short story.
The Rating: ***
Author, Ghost Writer, Editor: Bobby Heenan, Steve Anderson
Publisher: Triumph Publishing
Released: 9/02
The Good
Hilarious in parts, kind of funny in others, dull in other areas. Heenan's career is condensed greatly and he mostly delivers humourous little stories and puts them in some sort of order it seems. There are some great ones about ribs, wrestlers being dumb, wrestlers being funny and so on. The more serious parts are nice and his humor makes them more interesting than the typical rambling childhood/parenthood/family stories.
The Bad
This is light read and a fun one...that's all. Anyone can do this in an afternoon and not get much out of it other than a few laughs. Heenan doesn't give much insight aside from how he thinks things are flawed nowerdays, which is more being out-of-touch than being insightful. Everything is so here and there that it's hard to say any number of things add up to equal a sound argument. The WCW stuff could've been better as he'll say they did this and that and it's so stupid, but doesn't always provide an alternative. This guy KNOWS wrestling, he knows how to work a match and even better how to work the crowd, but you'd not get all that from this all too short story.
The Rating: ***
Sunday, June 27, 2010
David Schultz [RF Video Shoot Interview]
The Good
The shoot interviews that tend to pique my interest are those with very honest and out-spoken or those with people who I've never heard in a non-kayfabe setting. With David Schultz you know you're getting all that. Based on his reputation and even his Dr. D character, Schultz seems like he'd have to necessarily be highly enjoyable even if he's a fraction that personality he portrayed. Although he is more low-key and does not smack Feinstein around (or even berate him!), Schultz is not afraid to speak his mind at all. Without seemingly overly bitter, Schultz explains his distain for liars, wimps and `rasslers who can't work. He is really positive about many people in the business, especially if they can work. Even someone like Jerry Lawler, who is not a fighter, he can respect them as master of psychology. An unexpected highlight of this was the part about being a bountyhunter, which brought him more fame and success than pro-wrestling. I expected this to be really good and it pretty much delivered.
The Bad
I honestly expected David Schultz to be very bitter toward pro-wrestling and specifically Vince McMahon and the WWF. While he was not really negative toward the business, he was very negative toward the WWF/WWE and especially Vince McMahon who he feels lied to him. Most of this revolves around the John Stossell incident where Schultz slapped the 20/20 reporter around as part of an expose on pro-wrestling. Although he proclaims Vince put him up to it, he was fired soon after (although that could have just as well stemmed from an altercation with Mr. T) and has been kind of written out of WWF history. He tries to explain his legacy there - getting Hulk Hogan over as a white-hot babyface coming off their violent feud in the AWA, getting his manager Roddy Piper over and defending the business by smacking around Stossell for Vince. There is validity to all of that, but his brief run, lack of big main events and departure before the big pay-per-views have made it difficult to really substantiate his role. Obviously David Schultz is highly opinionated and some of his opinions you'd disagree with, some of his views on race you'd disagree with and some of the political views he shares towards the end you might disagree with. I try not to hold it against people in these shoot interviews, but there is certainly a couple parts that made me cringe.
The Rating: ****1/4
The Good
The shoot interviews that tend to pique my interest are those with very honest and out-spoken or those with people who I've never heard in a non-kayfabe setting. With David Schultz you know you're getting all that. Based on his reputation and even his Dr. D character, Schultz seems like he'd have to necessarily be highly enjoyable even if he's a fraction that personality he portrayed. Although he is more low-key and does not smack Feinstein around (or even berate him!), Schultz is not afraid to speak his mind at all. Without seemingly overly bitter, Schultz explains his distain for liars, wimps and `rasslers who can't work. He is really positive about many people in the business, especially if they can work. Even someone like Jerry Lawler, who is not a fighter, he can respect them as master of psychology. An unexpected highlight of this was the part about being a bountyhunter, which brought him more fame and success than pro-wrestling. I expected this to be really good and it pretty much delivered.
The Bad
I honestly expected David Schultz to be very bitter toward pro-wrestling and specifically Vince McMahon and the WWF. While he was not really negative toward the business, he was very negative toward the WWF/WWE and especially Vince McMahon who he feels lied to him. Most of this revolves around the John Stossell incident where Schultz slapped the 20/20 reporter around as part of an expose on pro-wrestling. Although he proclaims Vince put him up to it, he was fired soon after (although that could have just as well stemmed from an altercation with Mr. T) and has been kind of written out of WWF history. He tries to explain his legacy there - getting Hulk Hogan over as a white-hot babyface coming off their violent feud in the AWA, getting his manager Roddy Piper over and defending the business by smacking around Stossell for Vince. There is validity to all of that, but his brief run, lack of big main events and departure before the big pay-per-views have made it difficult to really substantiate his role. Obviously David Schultz is highly opinionated and some of his opinions you'd disagree with, some of his views on race you'd disagree with and some of the political views he shares towards the end you might disagree with. I try not to hold it against people in these shoot interviews, but there is certainly a couple parts that made me cringe.
The Rating: ****1/4
Icons of Wrestling: Lou Thesz
Director: Dale & Claude Barnes
Distributor: TWC (The Wrestling Channel)
Released: 1/06
Featured Talent: Pampero Firpo, Hard Boiled Haggerty, Antonio Inoki, Charlie Thesz, Lou Thesz
The Good
If you have never seen any footage of Lou Thesz, this is a neat little featurette about him. It offers a lot of photos, video and comments that gives some insight into why many have considered him the greatest pro-wrestler ever. This gives a very brief overview of a long and full career breaking up the story into two halves. First are the early years with him cutting his teeth and being managed by “Strangler” Lewis. Then after explaining his hand-to-hand combat training during World War II, it covers the post-war period. This second part features the advent of television and focuses on his time in California. There is quiet a bit of footage of him and his family on the beach, hosting a party and playing on his ranch. Then fast-forward to the mid-70s when he is working periodically in Japan as a legend and meeting his third wife Charlie. It is difficult to cover such a career and this is about as good as one would expect to get in less than thirty minutes. Lou Thesz is pretty candid and there is a semblance of order to the story.
The Bad
While this came out a few years ago, since the advent of youtube, something like this seems dull. While there is only a fraction of Lou Thesz’s matches saved on video, most of it is him as a balding forty year old man. He was a great athlete, a great performer and a great champion, but it is difficult to dress up this footage and get that idea across. Things just look so different and he looks so old that some explanation is required to pull out the positive aspects and that is not really done here. Another issue is that everything that Lou Thesz said had a reason behind it, whether it was to put someone over, protect his own legacy or whatever. It is part kayfabe, part fuzzy memories, but it adds up to a not-so-honest version of history. While Hooker is a great book, it has that dimension to it and so does this. Lastly, if you want to memorialize someone, spell their name correctly.
The Rating: ***
Director: Dale & Claude Barnes
Distributor: TWC (The Wrestling Channel)
Released: 1/06
Featured Talent: Pampero Firpo, Hard Boiled Haggerty, Antonio Inoki, Charlie Thesz, Lou Thesz
The Good
If you have never seen any footage of Lou Thesz, this is a neat little featurette about him. It offers a lot of photos, video and comments that gives some insight into why many have considered him the greatest pro-wrestler ever. This gives a very brief overview of a long and full career breaking up the story into two halves. First are the early years with him cutting his teeth and being managed by “Strangler” Lewis. Then after explaining his hand-to-hand combat training during World War II, it covers the post-war period. This second part features the advent of television and focuses on his time in California. There is quiet a bit of footage of him and his family on the beach, hosting a party and playing on his ranch. Then fast-forward to the mid-70s when he is working periodically in Japan as a legend and meeting his third wife Charlie. It is difficult to cover such a career and this is about as good as one would expect to get in less than thirty minutes. Lou Thesz is pretty candid and there is a semblance of order to the story.
The Bad
While this came out a few years ago, since the advent of youtube, something like this seems dull. While there is only a fraction of Lou Thesz’s matches saved on video, most of it is him as a balding forty year old man. He was a great athlete, a great performer and a great champion, but it is difficult to dress up this footage and get that idea across. Things just look so different and he looks so old that some explanation is required to pull out the positive aspects and that is not really done here. Another issue is that everything that Lou Thesz said had a reason behind it, whether it was to put someone over, protect his own legacy or whatever. It is part kayfabe, part fuzzy memories, but it adds up to a not-so-honest version of history. While Hooker is a great book, it has that dimension to it and so does this. Lastly, if you want to memorialize someone, spell their name correctly.
The Rating: ***
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Skandor Akbar [RF Video Shoot Interview]
The Good
Sometimes these old-timers have had such full careers that when they have the opportunity to reflect upon them, they can be much more fascinating and multi-dimensional than you might original think. Skandor Akbar is just such a person. He is so closely identified with the glory days of World Class (which is a debatable point because he came in after Gary Hart's booking run) that he's become known as World Class survivor who is well-spoken and legitimate. Skandor Akbar's time in World Class is realistically one of a series of great runs as a manager and he had time in various promotions as a wrestler and a booker that is just as noteworthy. If you enjoyed his appearances in the two World Class documentaries, you'll dig this. He covers Tri-State in the years before Bill Watts, Australia in its glory years, Tennessee, Atlanta and many others from the 1960s and 1970s that are often left unexplored by the shoot interview world. Skandor has a laid back approach and he's very enjoyable to listen to without being particularly venomous. Past the historical career, Skandor Akbar became a key figure in the early careers of Steve Austin, The Undertaker and JBL/Bradshaw and has run a training camp for years, so he has a respectable perspective on the modern sport of pro-wrestling.
The Bad
Sometimes it seems like shoot interviews are really great, but they are just missing that something special. Skandor Akbar led a fascinating career and he is a great storyteller, but this interview was just not on the same entertainment level that I would have hoped. He is perhaps a little too low-key and little too affable to get over like a Honky Tonk Man or even a Ricky Morton, but for many I'm sure they'd thoroughly enjoy this.
The Rating: ****1/2
The Good
Sometimes these old-timers have had such full careers that when they have the opportunity to reflect upon them, they can be much more fascinating and multi-dimensional than you might original think. Skandor Akbar is just such a person. He is so closely identified with the glory days of World Class (which is a debatable point because he came in after Gary Hart's booking run) that he's become known as World Class survivor who is well-spoken and legitimate. Skandor Akbar's time in World Class is realistically one of a series of great runs as a manager and he had time in various promotions as a wrestler and a booker that is just as noteworthy. If you enjoyed his appearances in the two World Class documentaries, you'll dig this. He covers Tri-State in the years before Bill Watts, Australia in its glory years, Tennessee, Atlanta and many others from the 1960s and 1970s that are often left unexplored by the shoot interview world. Skandor has a laid back approach and he's very enjoyable to listen to without being particularly venomous. Past the historical career, Skandor Akbar became a key figure in the early careers of Steve Austin, The Undertaker and JBL/Bradshaw and has run a training camp for years, so he has a respectable perspective on the modern sport of pro-wrestling.
The Bad
Sometimes it seems like shoot interviews are really great, but they are just missing that something special. Skandor Akbar led a fascinating career and he is a great storyteller, but this interview was just not on the same entertainment level that I would have hoped. He is perhaps a little too low-key and little too affable to get over like a Honky Tonk Man or even a Ricky Morton, but for many I'm sure they'd thoroughly enjoy this.
The Rating: ****1/2
Monday, June 21, 2010
Inside the Office - Rene Goulet
The Good
There are only a handful of people who have worked in the capacity that Rene Goulet has in the WWF and few of them have had extensive shoot interviews. Many of the company's more recent road agents have only had short runs, little authority or limited varieties of experience. Goulet had a strong run with the Fed from the mid-80s until the mid-90s and has great experiences to draw upon. The main focus seems to be on running things during house shows, reporting back to the office and gauging good shows from bad ones. This has a lot of inside info that you may never hear otherwise.
The Bad
For the uniqueness and longevity, I expected so much more here. Sean Oliver is great at pulling a quality interview out of almost anyone, but this just did not click for some reason. Goulet hinted at some things and seemed fairly honest, but was unwilling to say anything too juicy, controversial or of great interest really. This had a few good stories and some worthwhile information, but was pretty dull and that probably explains why it clocked in at under two hours.
The Rating: **3/4
The Good
There are only a handful of people who have worked in the capacity that Rene Goulet has in the WWF and few of them have had extensive shoot interviews. Many of the company's more recent road agents have only had short runs, little authority or limited varieties of experience. Goulet had a strong run with the Fed from the mid-80s until the mid-90s and has great experiences to draw upon. The main focus seems to be on running things during house shows, reporting back to the office and gauging good shows from bad ones. This has a lot of inside info that you may never hear otherwise.
The Bad
For the uniqueness and longevity, I expected so much more here. Sean Oliver is great at pulling a quality interview out of almost anyone, but this just did not click for some reason. Goulet hinted at some things and seemed fairly honest, but was unwilling to say anything too juicy, controversial or of great interest really. This had a few good stories and some worthwhile information, but was pretty dull and that probably explains why it clocked in at under two hours.
The Rating: **3/4
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