Thursday, December 29, 2011

Jushin " Thunder" Liger in WCW - Part 3

Final part y'll, have a safe and happy new year!

1) v. Chris Benoit (Starrcade 1995)- 5
Realize watching this that Liger had some stuff he always used in America, the deep armdrags, the somersault plancha outside. Tony mentions Liger has a Saturday Morning cartoon in Japan; and to think we had to sit through Eek the Cat just to get to X-Men. This has been more aggressive than I remembered; to be fair it's been probably 6 years since i've seen this match. The Benoit superplex, damn, ageless like Shakespeare. Really sloppy Ligerbomb near the end; this match felt like it had a great beginning, no middle and a lackluster ending. Funny hearing Dusty as he normally can't even call a hurricanrana spot on commentary; forget about it since this one was botched. Bad booking since this was for company pride and a WCW guy (Taskmaster) cost it for him.

2) v. Dean Malenko (WCW Nitro 05/06/96)- 5
Here's an interesting match; going to give it a second chance. when we did the Nitro project it finished in the 50-100 range but I had it at 120 on my list, me being the lowest on it. Well 3 minutes in and we haven't gotten past the opening ground work, which has been solid, but a lot of the time we're staring at Ric Flair at a dinner complete with candleabras. Liger selling the hell out of a really cool MMA type leglock and the aftersell too; nicely done. And the leg is fine 30 seconds later. CARTWHEEL SOMPA! Just fun to say sort of like "Ass-tastic" Take notes peeps; that's how you complete a plancha. The finish was real strong though, some big moves from Dean.

3) v. Steve Doll (WCW Saturday Night 05/18/96)- 2
If Steve's a doll, you can call him Bloated Armstrong. Tony just mentioned the Cruiserweight Title changed hands on Worldwide; scary. Doll is looking motivated and strangely Liger only completes 2 moves here; a superplex and a flying headbutt. This was quick but fun; Dusty made a weird comment saying "Steve Doll looking for a little relief" while Doll was in control?

4) v. Konnan (WCW Slamboree 1996)- 5
This was all about counters; the crowd wasn't really into much of it, but i found myself just digging them countering each other for 12 minutes; them going to finishers and power moves almost feels false actually. And I think the ending came off flat due to a complete 180 in the story of the match. Check it out if you've never seen Konnan pre-NWO.

5) w/ Kensuke Sasaki v. Scott & Steve Armstrong (WCW Worldwide 05/26/96)- 3
Scott wasn't a bad hand, despite having the physical appearance of a wet mop. Dropkick is better than anything Steve does here. Liger gets in and gets off his token 5 spots; Kensuke just kind of bulls them around and the Hokuto Bomb changed Steve's personality, dear god.

6) v. Eddie Guerrero (WCW Pro 06/15/96)- 4
This was 4 minutes of Liger v. Eddie just going for it; Pretty damn good.

7) v. Billy Kidman (WCW Pro 06/26/96)- 5
Kidman is so tiny here, looks like he should be wrestling for a junior high school instead of a million dollar conglomerate. There's a really cool face push for him here, the Florida fans are digging him and Liger eats it up giving Kidman way more offense than he was going to pre-match, guaranteed. Would have loved to have seen a rematch years later once Kidman figured stuff out

8) v. Shinjiro Ohtani (WCW Prime 07/22/96)- 4
It's a damn crime against humanity this only gets 4 minutes. Ohtani starts feeling it and this is back when his springboards were the prettiest thing in the biz besides a topless Sytch

9) v. Steve Armstrong (WCW Prime 08/05/96)- 2
This has nothing to do with the match but the video quality is pure shit. Armstrong just looked lost, or possibly blitzed, who knows what was going in his personal life. Liger still gives him some spots but they're all pretty mundane

10) v. Rey Mysterio jr (WCW Starrcade 1996)- 6
Think I've reviewed this before, saw this show live on PPV, happened on my birthday so I got it and while it's probably not what a lot of people would expect, still a good watch. Liger is particularly nasty, sort of like a career torturer here, just prolonging the violence as this gets a lot of time. Neither man takes a huge chance here just doing what they do so great. Interesting finish where Rey tries to kick out right at the 3 count.

11) v. Ultimo Dragon (WCW Nitro 12/30/96)- 4
Again, a damn shame this only garners 5 minutes. The Asai here is just too sweet. Tony mentions both men will wrestle at the Dom show just days from now, wish that was on here.

12) v. Juventud Guerrera (WCW Nitro 11/29/99)- 3
Juvi badly injures his arm about 2 minutes in on a shitty dive and it's useless. But, give him credit for really pushing himself as it goes on. This has a lot against it, "Buzzkill" or Roadkill as Heenan calls him is spouting off some ridiculous peace talk and a tequila bottle is the finish. Pass.

13) v. Chris Benoit (WCW Thunder 12/02/99)- 5
Benoit's a roided out monster here. Their chemistry is still there after all these years, the best sequence is a back and forth ending with Benoit eating a Coppo kick in the mouth like a Whopper sandwhich. Juvi was on commentary ripping Liger (which was all true, via his RF shoot we watched years back where he said Liger was unprofessional) but how stupid to be saying Liger didn't cooperate on a dive on national TV. Just idiotic. Really uncreative finish to this killed recommending it unless you're a completist and need to view to finish their epic rivalry.

14) v. Psicosis (WCW Nitro 12/06/99)- 4
Pace just was not there but there were some damn good spots in this, Psychosis just killing himself on big bumps. Magistral cradle finish? Okay, why not

15) v. Silver King (WCW Worldwide 12/25/99)- 5
Kind of a hidden gem. Like how SK comes right out and blasts Liger with a superkick in the face. These guys worked a lot of reversals and were trying to get a Lucha-lite style going. If you can find it watch it.

Bonus v. Great Sasuke (world Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96)- 7
I've not seen this show but I could tell it was in front of an American crowd as the first 6 minutes is all technical stuff the crowd hates. It's kind of placecard anyways. You can tell Liger studied because he is in the perfect place for every single Sasuke signature spot. The running senton bomb melts your heart. A good Ligerbomb is a Christmas present for the ocular cavity.

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