Queue Slayer #2

Every couple months Jessie and I do this thing we affectionately dubbed "Queue Slayer". What we do is pick 6 completely random wrestling shows or DVDs, we both watch and rank all the matches, then we post our scientific findings here. We have thousands of DVDs in our collection so this exercise allows us to sift through some of that footage and give things an honest appraisal. Enjoy!

Brian

1. Madison Eagles vs. Cheerleader Melissa - 7 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
2. Ayako Hamada vs. Tomoka Nakagawa - 6 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
3. Minoru Suzuki/Super Tiger II vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Mitsuya Nagai - 6 (RJPW "BRAVE of LEGEND" 6/17/10)
4. Trik Nasty & TJ Phillips vs. Jason Kincaid & Eric Darkstorm - 5 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
5. Jessie McKay vs. Nicole Matthews - 5 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
6. Tiger Shark vs. HIROKI - 5 (RJPW "BRAVE of LEGEND" 6/17/10)
7. Rey Mysterio Jr. & Konnan vs. Psicosis & La Parka - clipped - 5 (ECW 10/28/95)
8. Ayumi Kurihara vs. Daizee Haze - No Countout Match - 4 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
9. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Rocco Rock - clipped - 5 (ECW 10/28/95)
10. Riki Choshu/Great Sasuke/Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Tenyru/Tatsumi Fujinami/Ultimo Dragon - 5 (RJPW "BRAVE of LEGEND" 6/17/10)
11. Alexander Otsuka, El Gran Hamada & Akifumi Saito vs. Masao Orihara, Black Shadow & Kendo Nakazaki - 4 (RJPW "BRAVE of LEGEND" 6/17/10)
12. Marty Jannetty vs. Black Cat - 5 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
13. Nevaeh vs. Sara Del Rey - 4 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
14. Marty Jannetty vs. Raven #1 - 5 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
15. Michael Facade vs. Zac Vincent vs. Flip Kendrick vs. Shiima Xion - ZERO G Scaffold Match - 5 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
16. Misaki Ohata vs. Portuguese Princess Ariel - 4 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
17. Tiger Mask (Sayama) vs. Black Tiger (RJPW "BRAVE of LEGEND" 6/17/10) - 4
18. Marty Jannetty vs.  Dean Malenko - 4 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
19. Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Quebecers - 5 (WWF Raw 1/10/94)
20. Super Rider vs. Hayato Mashita - 3 (RJPW "BRAVE of LEGEND" 6/17/10)
21. Marty Jannetty & Chris Adams vs. Barbarian & Hugh Morrus - 4 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
22. Mad Man Pondo vs. Yuko Miyamoto - 4 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
23. Marty Jannetty vs. Louie Spicoli - 4 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
24. "Ciclope" (Dean Malenko), Evan Karagias, Damián 666, El Dandy, El Grio, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Marty Jannetty, Billy Kidman, Lenny Lane, Psicosis, Silver King, Super Calo, Johnny Swinger, and Villano IV - Cruiserweight Battle Royal - 4 (WCW Slamboree '98)
25. Serena Deeb vs. Kellie Skater- 3 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
26. Sarita vs. Taylor Wilde - 3 (TNA Xplosion 11/24/10)
27. Allison Danger vs. Leva Bates - 4 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
28. Vance Desmond vs. Eugene - 4 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
29. Danny Boy Collins vs. Fit Finaly - 4 (Mick McManus' World of Wrestling)
30. Marty Jannetty vs. Chris Benoit - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
31. Rachel Summerlyn & Jessica James vs. Athena & Bonesaw - 3 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
32. Marty Jannetty vs. Raven #2 - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
33. Marty Jannetty vs. Barry Horowitz - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
34. Marty Jannetty vs. Scott Steiner - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
35. Marty Jannetty vs. Vincent - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
36. Mikey Whipwreck vs. Sandman - Ladder Match - 3 (ECW 10/28/95)
37. Cactus Jack vs. Tommy Dreamer - clipped - 3 (ECW 10/28/95)
38. Supreme vs. Jon Moxley - 3 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
39. Marty Jannetty vs. Lenny Lane #1 - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
40. Rockers vs. Steve Lombardi & Terry Gibs - 3 (WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/19/88)
41. Irish Airborne vs. Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare) - 4 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
42. Marty Jannetty vs. Horshu - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
43. Marty Jannetty vs. Brian Adams - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
44. Skull Murphy & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Steve Adonis & Pete Roberts - 3 (Mick McManus' World of Wrestling)
45. Rockers vs. Iron Mike Sharpe & The Intruder - 3 (WWF Superstars 6/18/88)
46. Battle Royale - 3 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
47. Marty Jannetty vs. Lenny Lane #2 - 3 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
48. Jamilia Craft vs. Cat Power - 3 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
49. Marty Jannetty vs. Perry Saturn - 2 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
50. Marty Jannetty vs. Williiam Worthy - 2 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
51. Steve Grey vs. Johnny Saint - 3 (Mick McManus' World of Wrestling)
52. Taylor Made vs. Melanie Cruise - 2 (SHIMMER- WOMEN ATHLETES Vol. #33)
53. Marty Jannetty vs. Chris Jericho - 2 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
54. Mal Sanders vs. Steve Grey - clipped - 2 (Mick McManus' World of Wrestling)
55. Marty Jannetty vs. Frankie Lancaster - 2 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
56. JT Smith vs. El Puerto Ricano - 1 (ECW 10/28/95)
57. Marty Jannetty vs. Konnan - 2 (Best of Marty Jannetty in WCW)
58. Dances with Dudley vs. Hack Myers - 1 (ECW 10/28/95)
59. Zach Gowen vs. Ultimo Drunko - 1 (IWA East Coast "Legacy of Brutality" 11/6/09)
60. Clive Myers vs. Johnny Saint - clipped - 1 (Mick McManus' World of Wrestling)
61. Pitbulls vs. Tony Stetson & Don E. Allen - 0 (ECW 10/28/95)

Well, we call this thing Queue Slayer but this time around we didn't really "slay" it but more or less trudged through it whilst both being supremely busy with other projects (both of blog and non-blog nature). Still, gave us an opportunity to tackle a bunch of diverse shit and that's the name of the game. I like games. I especially like Journey to Silius so why not try it after reading this?

The first thing I watched was the IWA East Coast (i.e. IWA Eat Toast). This sort of bottom of the barrel (not the drum used to toss at villains in Double Dragon) independent show can sometimes be a chore but I found this one fairly enjoyable. Sure, it had travesties, like Ultimo Drunko and regrettably an Irish Airbourne tag match, but it redeemed itself with the sleeper hit of this edition of QS the Nasty/Phillips vs. Kincaid/Darkstorm tag. I believe I passed this disc on to Geo or Adam so whoever has it in their possession now... cheers!

RJPW ran wild over my top ten with three selections. I thought, generally, this event had some of the better finishes and forward-thinking booking which I look for in my favorite pseudo sport. I loved, loved, loved the tag with the BattlArts guys and liked the Tiger Shark bout a good deal including the ballsy suicide dive to the floor. Then in #10-11 I had both of the big six-men tags which were more fun then my recent discovery that Mountain Dew Pitch Black is back.

SHIMMER Vol. #33 was a bright spot on the menu. The majority of the show was fine and good but the last third of the event was just jam-packed with awesomeness. Madison Eagles vs. Cheerleader Melissa was my superlative #1 and a great "main event" style match with big nearfalls, drama, etc. It was so good it hurt and that's not paronomasia -- I actually had to watch it from a wheelchair. Hamada vs. Nakagawa was right up there with it's hard-hitting explosiveness. McKay/Matthews and Kurihara/Haze both got much love from me and I enjoyed some of the lesser ranked stuff off of the show also like the return of Serena Deeb (and her humongous rack).

Jessie's three choices for this incarnation were all lacking in one way or another but that's the crux of these assignments. The ECW show was all over the place and just further cemented their decaying memory in my mind. It had several unnecessary squashes, its twi best matches was neutered by editing, and then there was that weird deal during the Dreamer bout where it was intercut with footage of him talking in a dark room inexplicably cutting away from the in-ring action.

The WoS stuff from Britain was a big disappointment. It wasn't the poor quality of the dubbed footage, nor the uniqueness of the style, or anything, it was simply bad or nonexistent finishes all across the board which drove me insane. The Finlay bout was the best of the batch although felt sort of exhibition-like. The first Saint bout when to a draw, where Johnny was too busy turning himself into a pretzel and joshing in jest to ever look like he was trying to win, then it was decided by a coin toss of all things! Other matches had ref bumps, odd rulings, etc. and I just didn't connect with it at all.

The Marty in WCW comp. came out of nowhere and while it did get repetitive I actually liked it more than I'd imagined I could. There's a few obvious standouts for me, the Black Cat bout, which saw Marty get punched right in the teeth, the first Raven bout from an episode of Thunder where Marty took a nutty bump into the ringpost on the floor, and the Malenko match. It was interesting to note he broke pretty much even in terms of wins and losses so it was intriguing trying to figure out the hierarchal booking and context while working through it.

Overall, a fun romp, not unlike Summer Wars, and similar to the film, afterwards I felt both closer to my fellow man yet distrustful of the power of unchecked technological power so not sure how that happened but we'll have another installment of Queue Slayer in a couple months which promises to be the biggest, most beastly yet.

Jessie

1. Madison Eagles v. Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER 33)- 6
2. Fit Finlay v. Danny Boy Collins (Mick McManus England)- 6
3. Riki Choshu/ Great Sasuke/ Daisuke Sekimoto v. Genichiro Tenryu/ Tatsumi Fujinami/ Ultimo Dragon (Real Japan 5th Ann)- 6
4. Misaki Ohata v. Porteugese Princess Ariel (SHIMMER 33)- 5
5. Rey Mysterio jr/ Konan v. Psicosis/ La Parka (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 5
6. Trik Nasty/ TJ Phillips v. Jason Kincaid/ Eric Darkstorm (IWA East Coast)- 5
7. Ayako Hamada v. Tomoka Nakagawa (SHIMMER 33)- 5
8. Marty Jannetty v. Lenny Lane #1 (Best of Marty in WCW)- 5
9. Minoru Suzuki/ Super Tiger II v. Yuki Ishikawa/ Mitsuya Nagai (Real Japan 5th Ann Show)- 5
10. Marty Jannetty v. Chris Benoit (Best of Marty in WCW)- 5
11. Athena/ Bonesaw v. Rachel Summerlyn/ Jessica James (SHIMMER 33)- 4
12. Vance Desmond v. Eugene (IWA East Coast)- 4
13. Serena Deeb v. Kellie Skater (SHIMMER 33)- 4
14. Marty Jannetty v. Black Cat (Best of Marty in WCW)- 4
15. Daizee Haze v. Ayumi Kurihara (Shimmer 33)- 4
16. Marty Jannetty v. Dean Malenko (Best of Marty in WCW)- 4
17. Skull Murphy/ Kendo Nagasaki v. Steve Adonis/ Pete Roberts (Mick McManus England)- 4
18. Mad Man Pondo v. Yuki Miyamoto w/ Terry Funk as Ref (IWA East Coast)- 4
19. Jessie McKay v. Nicole Matthews (SHIMMER 33)- 4
20. Taylor Wilde v. Sarita (TNA Xplosion)- 4
21. 1-2-3 Kid/ Marty Jannetty v. Quebecers (WWE Raw 93)- 4
22. Irish Airborne v. Hallowicked/ Frightmare (IWA East Coast)- 4
23. Tommy Dreamer v. Cactus Jack (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 4
24. Marty Jannetty v. Louie Spicoli (Best of Marty in WCW)- 4
25. WCW Cruiserweight Battle Royal Slamboree (Best of Marty in WCW)- 4
26. Mikey Whipwreck v. Sandman Ladder Match (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 3
27. Marty Jannetty v. Lenny Lane #2 (Best of Marty in WCW)- 3
28. Naveah v. Sara Del Ray (SHIMMER 33)- 3
29. Mal Sanders v. Steve Grey (Mick McManus England)- 3
30. Marty Jannetty/ Chris Adams v. Hugh Morrus/ Barbarian (Best of Marty in WCW)- 3
31. Alexander Otsuka/ Gran Hamada/ Akifumi Saito v. Masao Orihara/ Black Shadow/ Kendo Nakazaki (Real Japan 5th Ann Show)-
32. Original Tiger Mask v. Black Tiger (Real Japan 5th Ann. Show)- 3
33. Marty Jannetty v. Raven #1 (Best of Marty in WCW)- 3
34. 2 Cold Scorpio v. Rocco Rock (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 3
35. Tiger Shark v. HIROKI (Real Japan 5th Ann. Show)- 3
36. Marty Jannetty v. Raven #2 (Best of Marty in WCW )- 3
37. Battle Royal (IWA East Coast)- 3
38. Rockers v. Iron Mike Sharpe/ The Intruder – 3
39. Steve Grey v. Johnny Saint (Mick McManus England)- 2
40. Marty Jannetty v. Barry Horowitz (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
41. Marty Jannetty v. Vincent (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
42. Marty jannetty v. Chris Jericho (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
43. JT Smith v. El Puerto Ricano (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 2
44. Clive Meyers v. Johnny Saint (Mick McManus England)- 2
45. Allison Danger v. Leva Bates (SHIMMER 33)- 2
46. Michael Façade v. Zac Vincent v. Flip Kendrick v. Shiima Xion Zero G Scaffold (IWA East Coast)- 2
47. Jon Moxley v. Supreme (IWA East Coast)- 2
48. Super Rider v. Hayato Mashida (Real Japan 5th Ann. Show)- 2
49. Marty Jannetty v. Konan (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
50. Rockers v. Steve Lombardi/ ? – 2
51. Marty Jannetty v. Frankie Lancaster (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
52. Marty Jannetty v. William Worthy (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
53. Marty Jannetty v. Perry Saturn (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
54. Dances with Dudley v. Hack Myers (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 2
55. Marty Jannetty v. Horshu (Best of Marty in WCW)- 2
56. Marty Jannetty v. Scott Steiner (Best of Marty in WCW)- 1
57. Pitbulls v. Tony Stetson/ Don E Allen (ECW Arena 10/28/95)- 1
58. Marty Jannetty v. Brian Adams (Best of Marty in WCW)- 1
59. Cat Power v. Jamilia Craft (SHIMMER 33)-1
60. Taylor Made v. Melanie Cruise (SHIMMER 33)- 1
61. Ultimo Drunko v. Zach Gowan ((WA East Coast)- 1

For this 2nd round of our new project, we chose to even go further off the map and while the first couple discs I watched yielded somewhat pathetic results in the end the project was another enjoyable experience. I’m going to run down my top 12 and some thoughts:

Miss Madison has been showing up a lot lately, esp. in Chikara and the guys are digging her. This is my first look at her and she’s up against the always fun to watch Cheerleader Melissa. This match is interchangeable with most men’s main events, Melissa took her beating like a queen, her selling was down pat and Eagles, while not having any of the qualities Vince looks for in hiring a big breasted, short, tan chick for his promotion, she had everything you’d want out of a wrestler. She had good pace, extremely tall, and knew how to work both ends of a match, offense and defense. Some big falls near the end had this going over most of WrestleMania’s output from this year and that ain’t no lie!

I actually dug the hell out of this match from England, we all know of Finlay’s greatness, here it’s on display along with character; he has this Native American heel woman, plump all over, who rubs out his legs pre-match and interferes liberally as Finlay bumps all over the place for Danny Boy. Some great juice and a fun 3 act story all put this near the top of my list.

This legends 6 man tag was just a visual treat for my eyes. Besides Sekimoto and most Tenryu, I grew up either studying the other 4 guys legends or watching them fight in the rings of New Japan. I loved watching this, I didn’t see any blown spots, not that it would have mattered, as just seeing these 6 great competitors interlock was enough fun for me to warrant any longtime puro fan to watch this. Some highlights were Tenryu lighting up the youngster Sekimoto with nasty punches, Fujinami still looking like he could main event any puro show in the country, and Ultimo’s exchanges with Choshu were really fun. Loved Sasuke’s new look, guys looks in pretty good shape too.

Ariel looked scarily like that rumored love child of Harvey Whippleman & Bertha Faye but she can work for a biggun. Ohata was all about the arm locks, and with Ariel’s size and Ohata’s tenacity, her fighting for locks then fighting to get an actual submission off this horizontally challenged woman told some of the best narrative on any of these discs.

ECW gets on the board with a clipped match featuring 4 of the most stellar Lucha practicioners this side of a bingo hall. Just watching the highlights of this had me salivating to have been in that arena on that night, so I would know the full conclusion of this epic. From what we can see, the AAA dudes took full advantage of their hardcore surroundings. As the new owner of the ECW arena spoke so prophetically, “new owners, same shitty food” well with ECW, same lower standards when they actually have something good on the card.

This was the surprise of the set for me, as Eric Darkstorm was the standout on this show. The whole card was a mixed bag of slobs and high spot artists, these 4 guys got a huge chunk of time to tell a back and forth tag team storyarch and it was damn fine. Darkstorm looked like he was playing a Native American warrior without all the usual accessorizing stereotypical gimmicks on him. He wrestled barefoot though and I loved the look. My fave thing here was the break up of the pins w/o this breaking into a match where all 4 guys are roaming the ring brawling, ala WWE style.

The two pure Japanese women tore it up here, as Hamada got a pass from Orlando, away from 2 mins of work each month and watching the constant ego stroking around there to actually come work a match. I loved her aggressiveness and there were some huge spots in this one. Just straight up pure hard hitting Puro action, just with boobs.

I can’t quantify what exactly I liked about Marty v. Lenny, as watching 20+ matches from Jannetty’s catalogue in ’98, it’s a little like doing a day’s worth of laundry, it’s the same cycle. Lenny though still had that bright eyed look as if he could really be a big star in this business until it was beat out of him by jobbing for 3 years straight on WCW Sat. evening programming I think only me and Brian were viewing. Their styles meshed pretty well and Jannetty looked game to the make the youngster look very good.

This match is also involved in our Nitro project, I know Brian’s aired some misgivings about it, but it had nasty Benoit beatings on capable Jannetty to sell it and I bought it. There’s some interference near the end, but it didn’t bother me from the earlier 5-6 minutes of fast paced action.

Another Real Japan offering, this mostly featured those fun loving shoot fighters from the BattlArts promotion. It was nice seeing a match of theirs without that one strange camera angle. Suzuki fit in perfectly well amongst them and I was into Ishikawa, a guy many pimp as amazing, but I’ve never seen too many performances I really loved, But this was it, his unique counters, always moving into the advantageous situation, despite his wispy air waving like a field of wheat I was loving watching his performance.

This was the SHIMMER opener of the card and I liked the characters: Athena’s got some attitude, like a late night customer at Burlington Coat Factory who’s switching tickets on Baby Phat purses and she’s super athletic, sort of like a Sharmell that could work. Bonesaw is greener than the Easter eggs I dyed with my daughter this weekend but had some nice physical touches. The Jessica & Rachel show were exactly what this card needed to open: fast paced, energetic chicks who like to eat a clothesline. This also got a lot of time and was for the better, as a 2-3 min. run through spots kind of sprint would have put me off and not shown me anything these 4 were capable of, but instead, I was pleasantly surprised.

By virtue of everything else being sub-par this one makes it on; Eugene, still running with the gimmick I’m sure he was ready to quit this business over when he was saddled with it 7 years ago, has toned it down and sticks to mat wars when he’s in the ring. I didn’t get a strong sense of Desmond, as it was obvious Eugene was running the match but he didn’t seem inept. Paced well and a simple finish, I couldn’t ask for much more.

Bottom 5:
The worst of the worst, the Pitbulls opened up their respective show and plowed through their opponents much like I’d imagine they would with Francine’s gaping holes in the seedy motel they were staying in that night while Johnny Mnemonic played on Cinemax in the background…..Jannetty v. Adams had no business in a WCW ring, as Adams sneered and snarled around a shitty moveset finishing off Marty in record time so they could make their 7:00 pm nose candy pickup……Cat Power couldn’t get a date if she paid her own prostitution fees, nor can she work; her opponent Jamila looked absolutely ridiculous and the commentators trying to put over her weak strikes and “heart” almost made me read the Hulk Hogan autobiography again to get some truthiness back in my system…..Taylor is a trainee, but is no more a wrestler than Sarah Palin is a decent human being. To make this a decent match, she needed someone more on a Misawa level not a Melanie Cruise level……..Drunko was just that, some sad jerkoff in a mask who should have been left in the alley where he was found. Gowan looked like a LeBron James caliber athlete next to him and a Nelson Mandela caliber human. The comedy in this was so bad even Blue Meanie would cringe watching it