Glass Hand Disolving: Faces of Fear

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Vs The Rockers (WrestleMania 7)

This is the sort of platonic ideal of an opening match. It's all action, probably leans a bit towards the Rockers, but back and forth, up and down, nonstop. I would say that it probably has more to do with Marty and Shawn, but Haku and Barbarian keep up their end of the bargain. 


Vs The Orient Express (MSG 7/1/91)

So, in this particular instance, the Orient Express is Kato and Mr. Fuji, and this is mostly built around Mr. Fuji and Bobby Hennan, who is on commentary. A lot of this is Kato trying to put a dent in the Barbarian, and not having much success. Eventually, Fuji gets in there and does some 'karate' that Haku has to sell. I'm not saying it's great, I'm not saying it should have happened, but the crowd is kind of into it. It's a lot of gaga, in service of a feud that is pretty much entirely about the managers, but it does get the job done.


Vs The Outsiders (Starrcade 1996)

The early NWO stuff is in this weird place where the angle is WCW vs NWO, and WCW should be the faces, but that just isn't the reality. On top of that, here you've got Meng and Barbarian having to work this match as kind of both heel and face. They get spots to shine, but they also work a heat segment on Scott Hall. It is fine, but I'm not sure I'd say it really works. Plus, the finish is either rushed or not executed as cleanly as it should be.


Vs Eddie Guerrero & Chris Jericho (Nitro 2/24/1997)

This is a pretty good TV match, and sort of the ideal Faces of Fear match. Jericho and Guerrero can bump all over for Barbarian and Meng, and Meng and Barbarian can bump for the cruiserweights when it is warranted. It is pretty much non-stop action for 10 minutes. It's Nitro, so of course Dean Malenko has to come out and cost Eddie the match, but this is a near-perfect TV tag match.


Vs Taylor & Finlay (Nitro 1/25/1999)

This is a lumberjack match. That doesn't really factor into the match all that much, but it's nice to see one of the Villanos out there. I think that seeing these names gives you a sort of expectation that is ultimately unfulfilled. There's not enough clubbering, not enough bomb throwing; it just kind of is a match, and given the people involved, that is just not what you want to see.


Verdict:

I think these guys are in some good matches, and capable of being in good matches, but those matches are kind of specific types of matches against teams that are just, well, better.


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