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Post by elliott on Sept 24, 2019 5:18:31 GMT -5
Feels like this should have been nominated long ago. Man, after watching this again, I don’t know what to say. At the time of course it was called a 4 ¾ * match or 5 stars. Then the narrative became it was overrated compared to Liger’s matches in Japan at the same time and doesn’t hold up well. I see where the first opinion comes from and I have no idea what to do with the second opinion. Outside of the two famous matches with Naoki Sano, this is every bit as good as what Liger was doing in Japan. Pillman blows off the leg selling and screws up a reversal of a powerbomb into a rana. But other than that, this is pretty fucking spectacular. We all like to talk about how Liger would have been a great wrestler if he never did any high flying moves, because Liger really didn’t do as many high flying moves as his reputation may have suggested. This is why he had that high flyer reputation. He’s doing dives off the top, to the floor, etc the whole match. He’s doing flippy cartwheels just for added flashy, rollups, head scissors etc. This is as high flying and bomb heavy as the El Samurai match. Only it also has really good psychology. The crowd INSTANTLY falls in love with Liger so they basically pull a Hogan/Rock and Liger works face for the first half of the match with Pillman working heel. They finally get the crowd back on Pillman’s side with the longish figure 4 segment before going into the finishing stretch full of all the awesome moves you’d hope to see in a Liger in Japan in 1992 match. If this match doesn’t hold up and “isn’t great” then no Jushin Liger matches hold up. Somebody watch this and explain to me how Liger vs Owen Hart from NJPW is better than this.
Say what you will about Jesse Ventura, the man has an amazing voice. Him saying “Jushin Thunder Liger” is like melted butter. Jim Ross made it 10 entire minutes without bringing up Pillman playing for the Bengals. That has to be a record. God bless Jesse for just ignoring it.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Oct 5, 2019 4:44:24 GMT -5
Can all of SuperBrawl II be nominated? Not only an amazing match but very influential.
WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Brian Pillman - WCW SuperBrawl II
I have this match on the Brian Pillman DVD set and have always thought it was great, but at the time they were editing out Jesse's commentary. I have to say I was really impressed with The Body and how much he put over Liger. Dusty, God bless him, I think really did like the luchadores, but just did not take them seriously. The less said about Heenan and the Luchadores the better. Here, Jesse was putting over how intimidating Liger looked, how great he was both on the mat & the air, and how he had earned the respect of the crowd and that the USA chants were just out of reflexive patriotism. I used to think it was a close call between Jesse and Heenan, but the more and more I watch the more it is becoming a no contest in favor of The Body.
Watching the match this time around, it definitely came off more as an exhibition and showcase of Liger and Pillman's talents as athletic wrestlers. I would not call this an out and out spotfest because the transitions were still pretty tight, but it was clear that story was to WOW. After the early establishment that they were equals, I did like that Pillman was wrestling his usual rugged style (dropkick to the outside, chops, matwork) as a contrast to Liger's moonsault and back handspring (nice pop for that one). It was weird they did not payoff the Liger surfboard attempts. It is always great when an opponent has something scouted and give maximum effort to avoid it, but I thought after wearing him down more that we would get the surfboard for a good nearfall type spot. There were some parts of the match that I did find too back and forth. Like Pillman hitting a nasty back drop driver and then pretty much immediately taking heat to the knee. I thought Pillman had been working pretty effectively as the subtle heel so maybe this was to reestablish him as the babyface, which seemed to work because in the figure-4 was when the U-S-A chants started. After the figure-4, Pillman starts to mount a comeback, but Liger drops him over to the floor and heads to the top. It was cool to watch the crowd all stand and be stunned by the somersault from the top to the floor. This is an example of why I would not say this was a total spotfest at this point they has demonstrated that Liger is a high-flyer so they want to showcase Pillman in that role so they have an epic struggle over a suplex back into the ring and ends up with Pillman running Liger's head into the turnbuckle leaving him prone to Air Pillman. Sure, Pillman blows off the legwork, but hey at least he did not just hit Air Pillman they actually bothered working a transition. Now Pillman hits a suplex over the top rope to the floor, which I always mark out for because it is so rare and then a cross body from the top to the floor. Two can play at that game, Mr. Liger. Here again is where it gets a little spotty with Pillman taking signature chin bump on the railing (always nasty), but then meeting Liger with a dropkick (pitch perfect) as he came off the top.
Too often you will only see wrestlers establish they are equals by going for the same moves early on, but I like they continued that thread later into the match with both going for dropkicks and spinning wheel kicks. It felt like you were watching the two of the best in their respective styles. They do a really hot Japanese-style finish stretch with a ton of bombs and nearfalls that is very reminiscent of the Pillman/Badd finish stretch at Fall Brawl '95. I am not going to do a laundry list of moves as it much better to watch it yourself, but I will give them praise for their urgency and struggle they gave these spots. Also shout out to Liger for taking that super front suplex hard on his stomach. The build to the superplex was well-done and when it did not get Liger the fall, it got a nice pop. Liger going for the kill with the diving headbutt, but crashing and burning was an excellent finish. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. I am surprised my man, Jesse The Body did not bust out that cliche because that was a perfect way to sum up the finish. ****1/2
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 14, 2020 18:00:55 GMT -5
Third. Not even close to Liger's best but a really fun showcase. Influential as hell.
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