Resident Evil

Maybe I'm watching different matches but I just don't see the laziness. And the selling -- I don't remember one match of his where I was put off by his selling. There almost seems to be an irrational byist against Norton and because of his "nonselling" people don't think straight when they watch his bouts. Guys, the guy is a monstor and shouldn't be bumping around like the Dynamite Kid. He's legit one of the strongest people in the world with more muscle and strength on his frame than just about anyone. He's also charasmatic and has good execution on a nice arsenal of moves. What's not to like? Eh, maybe Norton's the last true heel in the vein that he's so good that even all the smarks can't take the hate blinders off. I'll never, ever understand this. Man, I could name over 50 Scott Norton matches that I could just throw in the VCR and have a good to great time watching them. Norton for example is easily in my top 100 wrestler list in smarkschoice. In fact, he's pretty high up and I almost think I should put him up even higher because everyone else doesn't give the guy his due.

Norton was better than Hogan. Man, Norton's got to be the most underrated wrestler of all time. It's criminal how people talk about him. I'll never understand why people are so hard on him. WP -- Watches almost every Scott Norton match he has on tape and enjoys them a good deal. And it's just not because of the "over the top" music either.

I was glad Benoit didn't join in at the end. He's my hero and I don't like to see my hero drink. That was one of the good things about the show. Also keep in mind that they have that 12hr restriction of alcohol rule before matches now. I didn't mean drinking necessarily, but to maybe just get a crowd pop and that's that. Like I said, they're on NBC, let the mainstream audience know who Benoit is and all that, that he's facing JBL at WrestleMania, etc. They're obviously using this show to build to Mania, it makes sense if they give Benoit a bit more time than to be Austin's difference maker. Everything was extreamly boring tonight. They should've featured Benoit more prominately is something I agree with. However, it shouldn't be during a beer drinking contest. It should've been in a wrestling match. And they needed him on the card tonight because the wrestling was either nonexistent or lacklustre with the exception of Shane vs Michaels. Too much focus on Austin getting over and not enough on Benoit and JBL.

I was glad Benoit didn't join in at the end. He's my hero and I don't like to see my hero drink. That was one of the good things about the show. Also keep in mind that they have that 12hr restriction of alcohol rule before matches now.

I hated the show. There were only 1 or 2 good things about it. The rest sucked and was the worst WWE show I've seen in a long time. I don't even care to comment about it because it's just not worth that amount of time.

Douglas vs Scorpio was awesome.

My tape buying has come to an absolute hault due to financial reasons but I still have a couple of questions anyway: 1)You're not selling to Canada? 2)Would you be able to get these DVDs sometime in the distant or not so distant future? It's a nice set of matches.

So I was just watching some Dynamite Kid towards the end of his run in All Japan and thoughts of respect came through my mind. DK was still an awesome striker (in fact; he was heads and shoulders above any of the other 5 guys in the match) but it was obvious he was hurt and not the same wrestler he used to be. However, the fans love him and I mean loved him. The pop he got here in this particular match and the pops he was getting against the Malenkos were unreal. In fact, the pops were as good as they ever had been during his career. To me, it came across as one thing and one thing only -- That is of course respect. This in turn brought me back to thinking about the fans respecting wrestlers in the WWE which is something I've been doing a little bit over the last while or so. The WWE is an interesting place as far as seeing how the crowds as a collective group react to certain things. The quality of the WWE booking is varied usually pandering to the horrible side, the WWE seemingly has its own way of thinking and from the looks of it like to do things out of spite or whatever else; the fans are now more unpredictable than ever before and it has seemingly caught on (Thank you Canada) that it's okay to rebel against what the WWE is doing. All of this brings us to the fact that the crowd is doing whatever it wants. So it makes it all the more impressive whenever a wrestler truly gets over with the fans especially considering that the WWE crowds are the largest in North America. There are a certain group of wrestlers that from what I've seen have gained the respect from the crowd and no matter what they do are going to have a sizeable portion of the crowd cheering for him. Now this isn't necissarily (I don't know how to spell that word) a list of an internet smark but a list of who I believe the overall crowd truly respects. They are: The Undertaker -- Definitely more respected among the fans than the smark community where he's generally underrated. It's just not the locker room boys. Myself, who has been a Taker fan and a Taker disser(mostly during biker Taker) at times now loves the Taker. I respect his longevity, his toughness, his ring presence and his wrestling skill. I can't see myself ever turning my back against him as a fan Shawn Michaels -- Definitely more respected by the crowd than the smark community he has gotten to a point where he's always cheered by the audience. Yes, he's a face but like I was talking about before the crowd today is more rebellious but yet they don't boo Michaels Eddie Guerrero -- Perhaps the king of respect in the WWE. He was just too good at what he did for the crowd to hate. Face/heel/tweener or whatever. Eddie exuded charisma and talent in the WWE and the fans new it. Chris Benoit -- There was a point not too long ago where Benoit had his name chanted in every single match for quite a long streak. Along with Eddie he may be the king of respect in the WWE thanks to his legit super work ethic in the ring and his no nonsense charactor which has and always will be seen as cool. Rey Mysterio Jr. -- I think the fans recognise his hard work and his ability to be in top notch matches all the times. Plus he has the size thing going for him as it's difficult not to respect such a small wrestler who uses so much fighting spirit to climb even the largest mountains Yes, there are others as well. Some wrestlers like HHH I believe have partial respect. Matt Hardy has the respect thing going for him too. I think a lot of it comes down to being a wrestler that is charasmatic and talented enough to reach to the audience. The other big thing is longevity. The 5 wrestlers I mentioned earlier have all been around for awhile and during that entire time they have delivered for the most part for their audience. Throw in a touch of notsgolia which comes with the longevity and you got a bunch of wrestlers that the fans no matter what the WWE does will probably never turn against. Just a few thoughts to pass time before LOST comes on. What do you guys think?

WP -- Wondering what kind of chaos would happen in the WWE if such a rule was implemented today especially considering how everyone is told to wrestle in this day and age. I loved that rule. So simple but yet so, so effective. If I was in charge of any wrestling federation it would immediatly be implemented.

Thanks for the reply

Do you think it could possibly mean all those nonsensical, stupid indy moves where you're trying to figure out just exactly who gets hurt in them and why one would go for such a move in the first place?

What are "avalanche-style" and "vertical drop" moves? I'm not familiar with those terms.

I know I see things in matches that others don't. Take the 11/18/95 WCWSN match for instance. I watched it and I thought it was absolutely brilliant in every single way possible. I've related my feelings about how that match works for me (and I believe at least some of the audience) and how it connected with me. Take in comparison now the debut match of Benoit against Eddie on Nitro. Great match where the story is perhaps clearer to more people on an overall basis. People go back and forth on which match is better from what I've seen. Some go with the Nitro bout. Some people at TOA go with Saturday Night. Some tape dealers go with WCWSN and so on and so on. There's gotta be a reason for that and the reason is (if we take out the notsgolia/byist and stuborness factor that people display with sports) this ---- The actions of Benoit and Eddie on one particular night connected with us more than their actions on another particular night. For these two matches, there will be always be people on both sides of the fence and that's because we see different things in our bouts.

I think anybody who reads my posts a little bit knows I don't like dissing matches or harping on negatives too much. Sure, I'll do it once in awhile especially when I compare something but I feel too bad about dissing somebody's work. Joe vs Kobashi was pretty good. Danielson vs London 2 out of 3 falls I did not like but that's not the match I was talking about. I know you like it a lot Tim and I respect that. And to show I'm not ROH byist I must say I really enjoyed the rescent Low-Ki vs KENTA match and thought the crowd wasn't as bad as usual! And I really want to see the Danielson vs Noble tight fight. Spanky vs Noble was fun too.

Personally, I tend to comment on only things that I outright notice and believe that are there. How things affect me and how I think they affect the crowd. But still even if the intention is not there and it comes off exceptionally well than it still works. The intention is unimportant in this case; what happens and what comes across to the viewer is all important. This'd be the same thing as writing a book or something and getting lucky by having your story come out better than you ever intended. Or guessing on a school test and getting the answer correct. The end result and not the intention is what's all important. There've been some match matches where I wonder where everybody gets their crazy ideas from. There's one highly regarded 5 star ROH match in particular (Which I hate) where everybody says there's this clear, concise story. When I watch it, I don't see it and even if it is intended it doesn't matter because the story doesn't come off that obviously. There's no urgency or passion to it. As much as I love my AJPW there've been some matches there where I really found people to be reaching. So yeah, it happens.

Am I reading that original post wrong? Because I could swear that it says it's going to be a weekly show.

Anyone at the top is a mark for themselves otherwise you wouldn't be there. You've got to be a mark for yourself in order to succeed.

What match?

"If you don't believe in yourself; if you don't really believe in your heart wether(whatever?) you or anyone else says; if you don't believe you're the best than you're already beat." Quote by Bret Hart. Just felt like sharing one of my favourite quotes of all time. Comes off better in real life than it does in print.

Thanks for the intervies. Very interesting.

That's why be bring Rey over from Smackdown

The news about Rey going over to Raw is depressing. They big time fu**ed with Benoit by putting him over on Raw after the Rumble and now they're going to do the same with Rey. All just to feed HHH.

Manami Toyota's Ocean Cyclone suplex. Maybe my fav move in wrestling. I think it's not used much because it's a difficult move to preform correctly. The strength, the athleticism, the flexability, the counters your opponent can counter with, the nastiness of being dropped backwards, the realistic looking pin and even the anticpation of all the different possibilities that can happen once the move is attempted. There are a few finishers that I don't know the name of which I've liked. Several submissions moves fall in this category. Top rope powerbomb. DK's Jumping spike piledriver.

Buddies and I used to have headlock as well as frontfacelock contests where someone would clamp on a hold and the other would try to escape. So much fun.

They covered up his deformed pecs up nicely in that Vince picture.