Here's a MOTD for you, from SNME. It's not a technical masterpiece, but it's got some of the best psychology and in-match character work ever from two of the masters (Jake taunting Elizabeth while pinning Savage is a highlight for me), and a really fun story as they both just shamelessly try to out-heel each other. Proof you don't need to have an incredible moveset or a million reversals to put on an entertaining match if you just understand character and story. *looks pointedly at WWE Creative*
I fucking love this match. Wasn't it on the SNME DVD? I seem to recall it being somewhere recently.
These two worked really well together regardless of alignment which makes me curious, was there ever a face Jake/heel Savage match during the latter's Macho King run?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was on the SNME DVD. You loved it then, too.
ReplyDeleteAwesome match, should have been on the Roberts DVD too (goodness knows, it would have benefited from a couple more matches like this!)
ReplyDeleteMacho Man has pretty much no wasted movement in the ring. Every step is filled with some sort of emotion. Every motion conveys something. Unreal performer, who for some odd reason tends to get criticized by some of the greats for "obsessively planning details of matches". That's a bad thing?
ReplyDelete"Proof you don't need to have an incredible moveset or a million reversals to put on an entertaining match if you just understand character and story. *looks pointedly at WWE Creative*"
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I think "looks pointedly at all major American indy feds like ROH and DGUSA" would be more appropriate.
Yep. Great collection, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteThe difference with Savage was that even though his matches were mapped out they still felt, for lack of a better word, organic. You never saw him setting up a spot.
ReplyDeleteJust sign of how great he genuinely was.
Ah, when the IC belt meant something.
ReplyDeleteLove the DDT chant just after Savage enters the ring. I'm *such* a Jake Roberts mark. I really hope he manages to stay on the fucking wagon for the rest of his days. If it wasn't for him and the DDT, I may never have become a wrestling fan. I got sucked in after seeing his WM2 match via Showtime (they showed a 2 hour version a month or two afterwards; ran it like a movie. Anyone else remember this?), and then looking for more, and being enthralled by his promos. All the other stuff I've had a love/hate, on again/off again relationship where wrestling is concerned all goes back to that moment when I saw a DDT and went, "What the FUCK was that???"
Watching this match also brings home how much I disliked VKM on the mic, and how much I loved Jesse. Gimme Gorilla/Jesse all day long, and especially on WM Sunday.
And see, that's how you do a commercial break without taking too much away from the match...tie one guy up in the ropes, have the other guy wander around (or play hide the snake)...love it.
It's not like everything was perfect during this era; far from it. And, the main event stuff happening right now is pretty compelling to me. But one thing I don't need to revisit is 80s type crap characters like the fucking matadors and el torito. Fandango is cut from that same cloth, but somehow, the guy has managed to make the gimmick work....at least for me.
OK...enough rambling. Had a long day, and gotta be up early. Y'all have a great weekend.
Can anyone enlighten me on the backstage reason they were doing a heel vs heel match like this one? Was Vince just experimenting? Did he want to turn one of the two of them face? It seems especially odd.
ReplyDeleteYep. I'd say a lot of that comes back to pride in one's craft, and lots of practice.
ReplyDeletePurely speculation...I think they were testing the waters on turning one of them face; checking crowd reactions and such.
ReplyDeleteI will have no negative talk towards El Torito thank you.
ReplyDeleteHowever you can say as much bad stuff about Los Matadores as you want, not so much that I hate the gimmick but that fact that Epico and Primo are two of the least charismatic wrestlers I've ever seen, and I've seen a LOT of wrestlers since 1990.
Jesse's SO good here- "you're gonna see some GOOD, down-home cheatin'!" I love it when the heel announcer actively encourages dirty tactics.
ReplyDeleteI like when Jake goes for the DDT and Jesse comments that "it's a little early to try the DDT". I liked when at least the announcers pretended wrestling was real and sold the matches.
ReplyDeleteYou guys must have missed his entire WCW run.
ReplyDeleteI would rather watch the Gobbledygooker than the midget bull.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'd also rather watch Hunico instead of Epico or Primo.
I'm with you. The whole idea of wearing an opponent down in order to apply certain holds or one's finisher has gone the way of the dodo.
ReplyDeleteIn my case, kind of, yeah. I never was much of a WCW fan. I wasn't watching when Hogan debuted, nor when Savage went over as well. I watched during the whole NWO thing, but that was because I went over to a friend's house and we'd watch Nitro and Raw back to back. You could do that on the west coast. I dug Jericho and Guerrero, and remember watching was is now and infamous match between Regal and Goldberg, but I still wasn't a WCW mark.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I do remember from Savage's run (aside from bulking up on steroids, presumably) was his changing the way he landed the elbow after an injury and hurting some guys.
But, that shouldn't detract from his body of work before that. And, WCW during that time seemed to have the effect of making many wrestlers not give a shit anymore...thought that doesn't really excuse it.
If TNA wanted to do something RIGHT they'd have Jake come in for that "Gut Check" challenge. He could even bring Page and Hall with him.
ReplyDeleteRandom thoughts:
ReplyDeleteSavages robe is ugly as fuck.
That is one of the FEW times I've seen Savage actually wear the belt. (he usually carries it)
Tito said in his book that Savage used to (in his opinion) overplan his matches and wanted to make sure certain spots were worked in. But it was rare that he botched moved.
ReplyDeleteSavage would have been a good behind the scenes dude that laid out matches.
Savage's robes were always gaudy, to say the least. Some were, as you said, ugly as fuck. Some were pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteI always like it when guys wear the belts. Of course, in the case of Bubba Ray Dudley while he was tag champ, around the neck (presumably because it wouldn't fit around his waist) is cool. I don't watch TNA, so I'm not sure what he does with their strap.
Fair enough. But man it's painfully obvious Carlito got the charisma transplant in the Colon family.
ReplyDeleteCause, you know.
ReplyDeleteApples.
And, speaking of bad gimmicks, how about we bring in a manager and call him The Puppet Master; all he does is manipulate the shit out of his clients. His mascot?
Puppet H.
(yeah, I know, LOD had Rocko...but I miss Puppet H)
My favorite line was after Gene was finished interviewing Jake; Jesse said: i don't know if he was holding a microphone or a vibrator. That left Vince stunned and was so funny for the time.
ReplyDelete