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April Wrasslin' |OT| A Max Landis Production

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Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
I'm delighted that the infamous Nobuhiko Takada vs. Bob Backlund match from 12/22/88 in UWF is back on the Web, so here we go. If you only think of Bob Backlund from his mid-1990s WWF run, you need to see this to understand why people say Backlund is underrated.

Backlund definitely looks shook by these kicks that Takada is throwing to his legs and head. Backlund evades a series of kicks and gets fired up; if nothing else, check out Backlund's fired up dance. He goes for a single leg, but Takada blocks him, and they stand back up. Backlund is using his amateur skill to take Takada down and try to get leverage, but Takada's too good for that. Takada gets a single leg takedown, and they stalemate again. This makes the #grapplefuck stuff in Evolve and elsewhere look like the choreographed dance they're accused of being; this shit feels real in the way the best pro wrestling can be. Backlund hits an abdominal stretch takedown, for God's sake. Backlund's emotion and selling is phenomenal; there's a moment when he slaps his fingers to get some feeling in an arm that Takada trapped that delighted me. Listening to the crowd pop for a neck crank about a third of the way into the match makes me wistful, and the cutaway to the huge bespectacled man yelling at Takada to get up was perfectly timed. Shit that wrestlers would use for rest holds, such as the neck clutch that forces Takada to use a rope break, are high spots. After Takada is forced to burn a rope break, he goes back to kicks to create space and takes Backlund down for a legbar. The legbar forces Backlund to use a rope break. Takada pounces with knee strikes, and Backlund responds with a huge delayed back suplex. Takada is downed, and Backlund tries to destroy Takada's arm with a Fujiwara armbar. Backlund's had enough of this shit and tries to take Takada's head off with an elbow, putting Takada down two falls. Takada rises and hits a flurry of strikes and a spin kick to knock Backlund down for the first time. But it's not enough for Takada, who hits Backlund with a backdrop driver and a flurry of kicks; Backlund suffers his first fall. Backlund pulls another little piece of pro wrasslin' out with a pinfall (!) attempt in a UWF match. Takada tries to get out, but he gives up his back to Backlund, who gets a headlock on. Backlund tries to choke Takada with his leg, which opens him up for Takada to roll out with a single leg crab. Takada goes back to the kicks, uses a judo throw to take Backlund down, and gets an armbar. Backlund bridges up to relieve the pressure, and Takada kicks him in the gut. Backlund bridges up a few more times, and Takada lets go, drags him into the middle of the ring, and puts Backlund back into a legbar. Backlund tries to step up out of the legbar, fails, and reverses it. The zoom in on Backlund's clenched fists as Takada tries to sink in a Fujiwara armbar is beautiful. Backlund's face gets busted up by a Takada kick to the face, and he looks dazed, wondering how and why he came to wrestle worked shoot matches in Japan. But he's not done yet; he uses a side headlock takedown into an armbar to force Takada to burn another rope break. A flurry of elbows and a release double underhook suplex sets up a Boston crab, which forces Takada to burn another rope break, a headlock, and the crossface chickenwing. Takada burns a rope break, and Backlund steps on Takada's face as you can see why these ending sequences and some of Backlund's exaggerated selling got Backlund criticized backstage for incorporating too much pro wrasslin' into this match for UWF's liking. A slam takes Takada down again, and Backlund locks in a legbar. Takada ain't taking that shit and kicks Backlund in the face and chest to get out. Backlund refuses to eat any more of Takada's kicks and tries to block them with his hands. Backlund valiantly fights an ankle lock and a single leg crab as blood streams from his nose down his face. The match ends on a TKO, and Backlund stands up like he's not sure what happened. He refuses Takada's handshake offer, and I wish we got more of Backlund's work in Japan because this was great.

I remember watching this too, Backlund is an amazing, AMAZING dude.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I assume he's referring to this http://harlot.media/articles/2622/a-wrestler-in-character-sent-fans-to-harass-misgender-me which I don't think is fair to lay entirely at the feet of Aries.

I don't get why she assumed Aries personally and thoroughly inspected her twitter account before a one sentence pithy reply (in response to her unprompted "I hope he gets his face caved in.") It comes off as a random throwaway retort and interpreting his "don't harass people" tweet as a double-down seems just random.
 
Hmmm, didn't Sunny fuck him for coke way back when?
Rumor has it. To make matters worse, they said Chris would send her to his locker room to do it. Then one time Shawn saw she got some and he took her. Candido went around asking if Ahmed knew where she went and of course he didn't know.
 
Here's the thing: there is no way I'd be able to do one without the other. It's nice to be able to hop back and forth when one isn't cutting the mustard. Not that "changing the channel" always yields a superior product; but at least it's a change in flavor (from yellow to dijon, in this metaphor analogy(?) Words don't even make sense right now. So sleepy...).

I might give RAW a try just so I can process Halloween Havoc. I don't know. Too much wrasslin.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
What's an appropriate response for a ring announcer mispronouncing your name during your entrance?

Austin Aries's answer:
austin-aries-crotch-christy-hemme.gif
I remember this. I thought it was funny.
 

Backflip

Junior Member
Looks like Triple H will be wrestling in Europe over the next two weeks:


https://instagram.com/p/BEO3VhGvwJ8/

They added H because Taker was announced as being part of the tour a few weeks before Mania and they just told everybody that he wouldn't be on the show. Seeing that that pissed a lot of people off, and that the shows are severely lacking star power, they turned to the only guy they could turn to.

I'll be at the show in Paris. It's always weird going from Mania and Raw to the house show in Paris. They really should tape a show in Paris, the crowd is always so hot.
 
They added H because Taker was announced as being part of the tour a few weeks before Mania and they just told everybody that he wouldn't be on the show. Seeing that that pissed a lot of people off, and that the shows are severely lacking star power, they turned to the only guy they could turn to.

I'll be at the show in Paris. It's always weird going from Mania and Raw to the house show in Paris. They really should tape a show in Paris, the crowd is always so hot.

Yeah, I'd have thought the regular UK Raw's would have proved the model. The Japan Raw's were fun.
 

Backflip

Junior Member
Yeah, I'd have thought the regular UK Raw's would have proved the model. The Japan Raw's were fun.

A few years ago, they held a house show in the Arena of Nîmes, a Roman amphitheatre in the South of France. That looked so cool I still can't understand why they didn't tape it.

2968188585_1_3_p3Cm6EMc.jpg
 

Zach

Member
The Rock vs. Austin on this random RAW was electric!

That being said, even with great crowd reactions, Austin matches are always so bittersweet. He was so much better before that gah dang piledriver. :(
 
Zach, curse you for making me try out this RAW. Vince on commentary. Lawler talking over in-ring interviews.

On the other hand, Razor Ramon.
 

Zach

Member
I don't hate Vince doing commentary. He has his moments. But I wouldn't consider him even good. His biggest strength was knowing where he wanted storylines to go, so he could kind of direct the audience's perception on the fly.

But dude's a stiff ham.
 
I don't hate Vince doing commentary. He has his moments. But I wouldn't consider him even good. His biggest strength was knowing where he wanted storylines to go, so he could kind of direct the audience's perception on the fly.

But dude's a stiff ham.

Vince hit his peak with his feud with Austin, but yeah, he was pretty stiff sometimes.
 

Zach

Member
Even with the questionable creative, broken man WCW Bret is still solid in that ring, brother. Currently watching him take on this Chris Benoit fellow.
 
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