The Thread Killer

Nobody should EVER get compared to Dave O'Neill...even as an insult. That has to be the meanest thing you could ever say to a person.

I approve of all of the Iron Mike Sharpe love. The man was Canada's Greatest Athlete, you know. If only that forearm injury hadn't crippled him for all those years.

Meltzer didn't like Monsoon?

There's a really funny story in "Wrestling At The Chase" where Heyman breaks kayfabe in front of a bunch of St. Louis fans, and Bruiser Brody slaps the shit out of him.

I don't watch WWE, I think McMahon is a scumbag, and I am not in any way, shape or form a WWE apologist...however the least I can say is that Eddie's widow must be okay with it on some level, or she wouldn't be involved, and at least she is going to be making some money from it, since she'll be appearing on screen. I had read somewhere that Eddie's death had hit the family quite hard financially, so if this can help her, I guess that's a good thing. I guess?

I was out of work for almost six months, so as a result, I hadn't bought anything new to read in ages. Now that I have a new job, and money coming in, I caught up on my wishlist. I just finished reading a bunch of wrestling books, some of which were mentioned in this thread, so I figured I'd dig it up again and throw in my two cents. Hardcore History by Scott Williams is actually quite good. It covers the history of ECW from start to finish. I think because the author is a reporter, he has a very good grasp on how to properly structure a story, and conduct interviews which get the information you need to tell the story. He had cooperation from many former ECW stars, and Dave Meltzer as well. The book does not come across as totally buying into Paul Heyman's supposed genius, nor does it do a total hatchet job on him. (That's a surprise since he thanks John D. Williams in the forward.) The book also provides some great insights into Heyman's problems with Stephanie since he joined the WWE. If you were an ECW fan, even casually, I'd get this book. I know there is now a WWE version of ECW history...endorsed by Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer...but I'd skip that and get this. Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling is very similar to the ECW book. Written by a reporter, it gives a fair account of the Hart Family and their legacy left through the Stampede promotion. He gets interviews with many of the key players, Bret Hart, Bruce Hart, Keith Hart, as well as tons of the older stars such as Bad News and Abdullah. The later chapters of this book read like a modern day horror story...I was totally floored as I read of the implosion of the Hart family after Owen's death...and I came out of this having little respect for Martha Hart, and to an even larger extent, Bruce Hart. I actually know a guy who briefly trained under Bruce Hart last year, and he confirms the worst of the stories in this book. Even the so-called "beloved" Ed Whalen doesn't escape close scrutiny, and we see things behind the scenes that Whalen did to both help and hurt Stampede wrestling. I should note, if you are one of the people who loved Dynamite Kid's book, you should read this one. The author interviews Tom Billington's ex-wife, and gets her side on a lot of the things covered in that book. There is at least one chapter devoted to Dynamite Kid, and like Billington's book, it's very interesting and adds even more insight into this amazing performer. My only gripe is this...I myself used to watch Stampede Wrestling in the late 80's. McCoy spends a ton of time on the glory days of Stampede, but then pretty much skips over the era which I was most familiar with. Guys like Benoit barely get a mention, and even worse, some of the top talent from that era like Beef Wellington and Gary Allbright get no mention at all. Still in all, I would highly recomend this book. Wrestling At The Chase: The Inside Story Of Sam Muchnick And The Legends Of Professional Wrestling is a good book...but I have a few problems with it. To say that Larry Matysik looks at St. Louis through "rose colored glasses" would be an understatement. He dishes next to NO dirt on anybody...and in many cases he actually glosses over some obviously unpopular people. Dick Murdoch is referred to in glowing terms...which as a worker, you can't disagree with. As a human being? It's pretty much a documented fact that Murdoch was a total racist jerk, and that gets no mention whatsoever...Murdoch is made out to be a saint. We hear about how Butch Reed got held back in St. Louis and Kansas City, and Matysik actually asks "could it be because of his skin color?" when Matysik was one of the few people who could say for a fact if it was. Same problem with Brody. Larry Matysik pays some lip service to the reputation Brody had, and mentions his no showing events due to money disputes...but then he goes on to dedicate a chapter to what a great guy he was. I was shocked that he admitted that Brody destroyed the evidence of David Von Erich's suicide in Japan...because he shares next to no inside information aside from that incident. Surprisingly, one of the few names that Matysik has less than great things to say about is Harley Race. He dedicates a few paragraphs to talking about how once Race was part of the ownsership of the St. Louis Wrestling Club, he started refusing to do jobs for anybody, except Giant Baba. He especially takes exception to Race losing the Missouri title to David Von Erich via countout. I find that ironic for two reasons, firstly, Matysik seems reluctant to say something bad about ANYBODY, and secondly, in every wrestling book I've read...Mick Foley's, Dynamite Kid's, Billy Graham's, NOBODY has anything bad to say about Harley Race. We find out later in the book that Race and Matysik ended up being business rivals, and that might explain why Race is one of the few people Matysik says anything remotely resembling negative about. Of course...he doesn't mention that Brody went over 6 years without ever jobbing. In fact, he tries to make it sound like Brody put Jumbo over in Japan, when the match he's talking about was a countout...just like Race and Von Erich! Matysik also gives you the impression that every match that ever took place in St. Louis was a five star classic, at one point he brings up the infamous Flair/Brody 60 minute match which caused all the hoopla over at the Wrestling Classics board a while back. Matysik talks about how Brody and Flair didn't keep one hold on for more than a minute, and the match was all action...when there is video tape evidence (which I have seen) that proves otherwise. Matysik does an excellent job of explaining the Muchnick booking philosophy, however he paints it as the "right" way to do things. Obviously, that is up for debate. No managers except for Bobby Heenan...and no manager interference. No ref bumps. Blading should be rarely done, if ever. No brawling outside the ring. He even alludes to people getting disqualified for jumping off the top rope. Matysik goes into how feuds must be logical and not require outlandish reasons for starting...but then tells a story of the Dick The Bruiser/Ric Flair rivalry which was born when The Bruiser stomped on Flair's robe and called him a SISSY! Ooooh. Cutting edge stuff there! Some of the things Muchnick did however, were very logical and should be required reading for anybody wanting to book a fed. His approach to championship titles, and to the fans is admirable. There is a lot of good in this book, no doubt. Here's the thing...I've SEEN Wrestling At The Chase...the actual Television show. It's carried on the Fight Network. It's filmed in a Hotel Ballroom...with one static camera, and a ring which is HUGE...24X24, as opposed to 18X18. Some of it is good...but some of it is boring as a dog's ass and plain old outdated...as are a lot of Matysik's ideas. Many of the things I love about wrestling would never have been allowed back then, and I don't think Matysik truly understands that. The book itself is laid out in a goofy fashion as well, chapters are interupted with wrestler profiles every other, and he actually reprints some of his old St. Lous Wrestling newsletter articles which are about as engrossing as watching paint dry. There can be no doubt whatsoever that Vince Russo should have been forced at gunpoint to read this book. It highlights what is wrong with wrestling today...but maybe that's part of the problem. Rather than telling many interesting stories, Matysik gets caught up in talking about how great things were back in the old days. If you can get a copy of this, it's worth a look, but be prepared to roll your eyes a lot. Superstar Billy Graham: Tangled Ropes is one of the best, if not THE best Wrestling Autobiographies I have ever read. He goes the exact opposite of Matysik, Graham dishes dirt on EVERYBODY...Murdoch was a bigot, Gagne was a doofus, Backlund was a rube...and he himself was a junkie. He tells about how Jimmy Valliant was once so fucked up on drugs he bladed his arm, with a scalpel, while Graham had him in a headlock...because he thought it would be a good time to get juice. He tells a hilarious story about Mad Dog Vachon getting drunk on an airplane, and threatening to jump out the door...and Graham suggests that if he'd been there, he would have pushed him. Graham is just as hard on himself as he is on anybody else in his book...he details his descent into hell with drug abuse, no shows, infidelity, and self pity. He talks candidly about his overdoses and the lies he told. Part of the book can be seen as an attempt to suck up to Vince...but in all honesty he just tells as he remembers it and tells one hell of an interesting story in the process. Graham had one of the most roundabout routes to wrestling stardom I've ever seen. He went from Bodybuilder to Preacher to Bouncer to Football Player to Wrestler, with a bunch of other careers inbetween. Even if you don't like Superstar Billy Graham, it's hard not to enjoy this book. I liked it so much I bought the DVD "20 Years Too Soon" and was impressed by that as well. Highlights are the awesome Graham Promos (which are STILL better than a lot of the stuff we see today) and the Graham vs. Dusty Rhodes feud which sold out Madison Square Garden three times. If you're a wrestling fan...you should read this book, it's that simple.

I was reading HTQ's recap of the Observer, and saw this... You know, I'd hate to think this is actually true...but the sad thing is that it probably is. Unreal. For somebody to work on a creative team in wrestling, and not know who Brody and/or Hansen are? Un-freaking-real.

Harley Race Killer Kowalski Don Leo Jonathan

He got caught with some pot, it's not like he killed somebody. What should they have done to him? According to the statutes in Ohio, he can probably plead out and get a whopping $100 fine. This isn't that big a deal from a legal standpoint, it's impact from a moral standpoint is debatable, and it's impact from a PR standpoint is minimal. I can't see Vince complaining about bad PR from this, when this past week he had simulated oral sex on his show, and last week people getting covered in shit. What's he going to say...that RVD and Sabu sullied the WWE's image?

I'm still betting on Sabu getting suspended at best, or fired at worst, and RVD getting jobbed out (which he already did last night) and then suspended for a while until this thing blows over...or a "firing" where all parties agree that he can come back after things calm down. This has been done in the past, and I bet that's the way they handle it this time. Although, the two X factors are that ECW probably needs those guys, and that Johnny Ace is a big moron...so who knows how those factors will play into how this all works out.

I'm betting they "fire" both of them, with the understanding that if RVD stays out of trouble, he gets hired back in a few months, like Duggan, Eddie, Noble etc. Sabu I would guess is pretty fucked though.

From Puroresu Power: (NOAH) Kensuke Sasaki will replace Kenta Kobashi in the "dream" tag match main event of the 7/16 Nippon Budokan show. It's now Yoshihiro Takayama & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa. The Takayama/Sasaki vs. Misawa/Akiyama match has many storylines to play off of. First, Sasaki was the guy Takayama fought on 8/8/04 in Osaka in the G-1 and ended up causing Takayama's stroke (with this match taking place a week after Sano and Takayama had a slugfest in the NOAH ring in Nagoya). Second, Sasaki can now be set up (with a win) for a GHC title match against Akiyama to buy time if Kobashi cannot return. As a fill-in, Sasaki was the man who had the epic chop battle last year with Kobashi at the Tokyo Dome. Third, Misawa was the man who sent Takayama to the hospital after a GHC title match (September 23, 2002 at Nippon Budokan). Also added to the 7/16 Budokan card is Takeshi Rikio & Takeshi Morishima vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA.

Dave Ditch from Puroresu Power and Inside Pulse summed it up really well...

From Zach Arnold @ Puroresu Power: (NOAH) A shocking announcement was made today by NOAH President Mitsuharu Misawa, as Misawa announced that Kenta Kobashi would undergo medical treatment to remove a renal tumor (kidney cancer). The tumor was discovered during a medical check-up. Medical consultation is currently taking place. There is some concern that the tumor could be malignant. His participation in the "dream" tag match (he was going to partner with Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Jun Akiyama & Misawa on 7/16 at Nippon Budokan) is now canceled. Misawa noted that Kobashi was maintaining his strength both physically and mentally. Tamon Honda also commented on the situation, given that he and Kobashi are the GHC tag champions. The hope is that due to the early detection of the tumor, Kobashi will be able to get it removed and continue his wrestling career. Let's hope for a speedy recovery. From Green Destiny: Kobashi Undergoes Operation to Remove Tumor NOAH President Mitsuharu Misawa announced today that during a routine medical checkup on the 19th, a CAT Scan found that Kenta Kobashi had a 4-5cm tumor in his right kidney. It is unclear at this stage, pre-extraction, whether the tumor is malignant. The course of treatment is still to be decided, with Kobashi recuperating at home. Due to this condition, Kobashi has been forced to cancel all upcoming bookings he is scheduled for, including his part in Takayama's dream return tag match. Kobashi made a statement, apologizing to both the man he was going to stand beside after a 2 year hiatus from the ring, Yoshihiro Takayama, and all the fans that were looking forward to the match. Kobashi said that it was the encouragement of the fans that he has continually received that will help him rally through his current condition, and that he was grateful for the continued support of the fans and hoped the fans would continue to support Pro Wrestling NOAH in his absence. Misawa made one final footnote to Kobashi's statement, stating that Kobashi's first concern upon learning of his condition was for the effect it would have on his wrestling matches, rather than his own body. Typical words for a man who has given so much for the sport of Professional Wrestling. It's terrible whenever anybody gets cancer, no matter who it is...but this is stunning news. I'm hoping for good news about this situation.

The Kikuchi/Morton comparison is interesting...I had actually never though of that before, but you can't argue that Kikuchi didn't have the whole face in peril act down to a science in AJPW. Hell, a couple of weeks ago I saw Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. KENTA and Marifuji and I was still entertained by Kikuchi, and he's basically held together by bandages at this point. I was saddened when Kobashi went with Honda as his partner to go after (and win) the GHC Tag Titles over Kikuchi. I guess they wanted Kobashi and Honda to be "Team We Can't Walk" or "Team Huge Kneepads"

I wish they'd hurry the hell up and work out a Canadian TV deal. It's a pain in the ass having to get one of my friends to download the show and burn it on a DVD...and by the time I get it, the spoilers are going to be all over the net. Vince is being a dick. The Fight Network wanted the ECW show on their schedule, but he won't make a deal with them because they show so many other feds as well. According to Dave Meltzer, Vince "wants the Fight Network to fail." I highly doubt it will, because they show a lot of stuff, boxing and MMA, and fighting movies on top of just wrestling, it appeals to more than just wrestling fans. Vince needs to accept that it's a good way to get his show out there and stop being a jackass. His not supporting the channel isn't going to break it. TSN already has RAW, Sportsnet has Smackdown, and in the meantime, we get no ECW dammit. And I agree that people online need to: a) Stop expecting the new ECW to be exactly like the old ECW and Stop Predicting doom and gloom right away. We're two episodes into the new show, and the ratings for the first one were above expectations. Even the XFL took an entire season to tank...and it's ratings pretty much sucked from day one. This is SO much like the fucking idiots who hate on TNA and bitch non-stop about how the company is going to go under any day now. FOUR FUCKING YEARS LATER they're still bitching. GAH! Sometimes I hate "smarks."

There are two other ways of looking at that. 1) When you take steroids, you get injured a lot. (See: Batista.) 2) Karma's a bitch.

They are totally repeating the same mistakes, which is insane. The other thing that is driving me bonko, is that they are not treating ECW as a seperate brand. The next WWE PPV has a bunch of ECW guys on it. Gah! On the plus side...Sabu's attack on Cena had me marking out like mad. Damn I love Sabu when he's on.

Hey TC, I don't know if you ever used to hear about those independant shows that Ricky Johnson (Rocky Johnson's brother) used to run down at the CNE in Toronto...but I got to see Sabu fight there a bunch of times. I saw him fight Scott D'Amore before he was a big fat load, Scorpio, and Funk even. One of the guys who worked there told me that Sabu stays in character 24/7 unless he's around his friends or family. They had to pay him a ton to get him to do some autographs. I actually have a piece of smashed table autographed by Sabu, and the guy who worked for the CNE who sold it to me told me that Sabu scared the shit out of all the guys who worked there.

Actually, I didn't get into ECW until I came online in early 1997. I heard all about it, and decided to order some tapes. I started watching before Barely Legal, but not by much. I ordered the two tape set they used to offer called "Extreme Revoultion" I think it was, which was more or less a highlight set for new people getting into ECW. I was hooked from there, and went back and ordered everything I could get my hands on. I saw a lot of the best stuff from 94-97 after the fact, but as of 97 I started following it and that's when I started going to shows in Buffalo and whatnot. So in truth, I never saw a lot of the "classic" stuff until afterward. For example, Foley was already in the WWF by the time I started watching...and I only caught the tail end of the Raven/Dreamer feud, and The Eliminators. Pretty soon, they were off to WCW.

I'm as big an ECW fan as you'll find out there, and I don't think ECW was about wrestling alone. As I've said elsewhere, one of the things I loved about ECW was that it provided a bit of everything...storylines (Raven vs. Dreamer, Raven vs. Sandman, Foley vs. ECW)...comedy (Early Dudleys stuff, Mikey Whipwreck)...women (Francine, Beluah, Kimona)...insane brawls with guys like The Sandman, Sabu, Funk, and Dreamer...and then wrestling with guys like Eddie/Dean, Lucha Stuff, or RVD/Jerry Lynn. You add all that together combined with the ECW fanbase, and that was what made ECW what it was.

We don't get the Sci-Fi network in Canada, so we have no ECW yet. A friend of mine is downloading the show and burning it to DVD for me. I feel bad that the show sucked. I hope they get better. Filming at the same time as Smackdown is dumb, if you ask me. I am hoping the ECW arena show will be better.

After tonight, it's probably going to end up like 1995 all over again for a while. We're going to end up with a bunch of smarky smark types who point out that the matches were spotfests, or hardcore trainwrecks, and that anybody who liked it must be a mutant, or stupid...blah blah blah. ECW was, and I hope will be again, about more than the quality of each match. I always found that ECW shows were best viewed as a whole, and that like all of my fellow Kool Aid Drinking Mutants, I believe that Paul E. could bring the best out in his guys, and show them doing what they do best. If it's high flying spotfu, brawling, or whatever...they do what they can do best...and they don't half ass it. I attended a bunch of ECW shows, and they were unique in that the fans and their insane love for the product was a huge part of what made ECW into ECW. Vince doesn't own that, and he can't control it. He can manipulate it into making money for him, and it probably will make money for him...as long as he's smart and lets Paul E. run the show. The minute ECW becomes Raw or Smackdown style Sports Entertainment, it will stop being ECW in the eyes of ECW fans, and they will turn against it. As long as Paul E is writing it, I'll buy it. As soon as somebody compromises that, I won't. If that makes me a mutant, then so be it. I can live with that. All I know is that tonight I saw something that I haven't seen elsewhere for a LONG time...and that's a passion for a product. That's what the tOA types hate about ECW, Paul E., Joey Styles, and the ECW fans. ECW doesn't fit into their idea of what good wrestling is, or should be...aka Joshi or AJPW from 1989-1998. ECW fans love the product, they're vocal, a lot of them don't care that the shows aren't made up of * * * * * matches...so it does not compute. Not everything in wrestling does work on a technical level. ECW to me is about emotion, and cheering for the underdog. To me, Paul E. trying to make his vision of ECW fly under the nose of Stephanie McMahon and Johnny Ace is just as much of a "revoluiton" today as it was when he was trying to compete with WCW. It's about something that isn't glossy and pretty, and well produced, and sexy. I don't care who OWNS it...The Sandman, and Terry Funk, and Sabu will never be on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. It's not for everybody, but I loved it, so I'm glad to see it back, and to hell with anybody who has a problem with it.

I saw the show. The crowd was quite simply...INSANE. I have NEVER seen a rabid crowd like that before...they were louder than the ECW fans last year. Show started with the promo by Heyman thanking the fans for bringing ECW back. That was the gist of it. It should be noted that Heyman really seems to be building up the fact that this is not the old ECW, is it the NEW ECW. The Lawler/Tazz angle was next. The crowd was super-heated for this...but it ended right away. It was more comedy than anything, and I do believe that is because Tazz is in no shape to wrestle. Angle vs. Orton was a good match, but not great. Angle is wrestling a whole different style, tons of matwork and very little bumping. He is way over with the ECW crowd. Orton did a lot of stalling and running away. Angle won, it was pretty good. The tag match was meh. Crowd was hyped as hell for Tajiri. It was as good as a TV tag match. Big Show came out to new theme music and beat everybody up. I think they're doing with him what they did with Sid in ECW back in 99. JBL cut a heel promo, and got good heat for it, but really it was more of the same old shit from him. Nothing new or exciting, really. He's a wrestling god, blah blah blah. He's the new color guy on Smackdown I guess. Sabu vs. Mysterio was a SPOTFEST ROYAL but at least two of those spots were legit HOLY SHIT spots...especially the one that ended the match. I've been an FMW and ECW fan for years and the spot that ended the match still freaked me out, somebody could have been crippled there easily. Mick's prematch promo was hilarious. The match was a car wreck, but it was a good ECW car wreck with barbed wire, fire, and blood. I can't believe what Terry Funk put himself through in this match. It was something else, and the match of the night in my opinion. Balls vs. Tanaka was short, and to the point. Balls was WAY over, as was Tanaka, but he looked OFF. He's really slimmed down and he did nothing in this match. Balls caved his head in with a chair shot, and pinned him. That chair shot was BRUTAL. Eugene got caned by The Sandman. Yep. His new music is actually pretty good, but his entrance just isn't the same without Enter Sandman. The Main Event was...WOW. Cena got KILLED by the crowd. I have NEVER seen somebody so hated in my life, I don't think. They chanted just about every bad thing you could think of at him. I almost felt sorry for him for a minute. RVD looked okay, but in my opinion, his match against Mysterio on Wednesday was better than this. To me, the obvious ending is that RVD got the pin from Heyman, so Vince says it doesn't count...Heyman says it does...and there you go. RVD has a semi-legit claim to a title, but Cena has a legit claim to keeping it. This show was ALL about the crowd. I have NEVER seen anything like it in my life as a fan. The matches were all pretty much poor to fair at best, but the atmosphere and the novelty of the event more than made up for it. It wasn't a good wrestling show...but it WAS an EVENT that I'm glad I saw.

By who? Tenryu had a good stretch in AJPW from maybe 86-90. His matches against Chosu's Army and then his Triple Crown Matches were good. From there, he's been a big pile of MEH. He's awesome in his current cranky old guy role, but he hardly puts on good matches anymore, with the very rare exception. Maeda really only had his series of fights with Takada in the UWF, and then what else? I would say that he had a lot of influence on the course of puroresu with the advent of the UWF and his push for more realistic matches and clean finishes, but other than that, I've never seen a lot of people pimp him up as one of the all time greats.