The Thread Killer

So I sat down and watched some NOAH tonight? Third Great Voyage ? From the Budokan 11/5/05 Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki This was a rematch of sorts from the NOAH Dome show this past July, ?Destiny.? Sasaki and Kobashi had what was voted by Tokyo Sports and Nikkan Sports (and a lot of other people) as the Match of the Year for 2005. I wouldn?t agree with that, as it was mostly just two insanely popular guys stiffing the living hell out of each other in front of a super hot Tokyo Dome crowd?but it was a fun match. No technique, just a lot of this: However, hats off to NOAH because Sasaki had never competed for ?the ark? and he is consistently named as the first or second most popular wrestler in Japan, right there with Kobashi. They had never faced. This was definitely a dream match that the fans wanted to see, and NOAH gave it to them. This time around, it was the two most popular wrestlers in Japan against each other again in a long anticipated rematch?but each one brought a mentor along for the ride. Sasaki had his Sasaki Office prot?g? Nakajima, and Kobashi had the only student to graduate the NOAH dojo in 2004, Go Shiosaki. This match had the added element of the older and tougher guys pretty much torturing the kids, with the young stars showing lots of guts every time they battled back and threw everything they could at the superstars. I really liked this match a lot?in fact I enjoyed it more than I did the Sasaki/Kobashi match from the Tokyo Dome. This match had the same brutal intensity of the match from Destiny?but also had the added advantage of some good high flying stuff from Go Shiosaki, and some amazing kicks and footwork from Nakajima. I swear, Shiosaki can defy gravity. This was no technical masterpiece?you?re not going to get that from Kobashi at this stage in his career, and from Sasaki EVER, but it was a lot of fun to watch and the added element of the students along for the ride gave it a different dimension which was great. I highly recommend this match. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Genichiro Tenryu And then there was this. After seeing Misawa?s performance against Kawada in the Main Event at Destiny, I had hoped he might still have a couple of classics left in him. This sure wasn?t one of them?and I?m thinking if he does have anything left, Tenryu sure isn?t the guy he?s going to get it with. This match just made me sad. Tenryu has been over the hill since?I don?t even know when. I guess he had some okay matches when he came back to AJPW 5 years ago?but aside from that, I never liked his stuff in SWS, or WAR, and I never saw his NJPW run. His NOAH run has not been the disaster that I thought it would be, but I?m starting to see that was more as a result of safe booking than skill. He looked AWFUL here, as he botched a simple powerbomb and vertical suplex badly. Misawa? Ugh. He looks to be about 30 pounds too heavy and a couple of steps slower than he should be. He has lost a lot of zip off his famous forearm shots, and it?s painful to watch him run across the ring now at half speed, almost stumbling. In this match, Misawa looks to have legitimately injured his neck. Tenryu suplexed him on the ramp, and then Misawa just kind of laid there for a while. Actually, Misawa did a lot of laying around in this match, which wasn?t fun since Tenryu was not the guy to go after him. The few highlights of this match were Misawa?s reaction when Tenryu wanted to shake hands?Tenryu not taking no for an answer?and then Tenryu almost kicking Misawa?s head off his shoulders. Misawa finally got up after that, and we saw a lot more zip on those forearm smashes, let me tell you. There was also a half hearted knife-edge chop/forearm shot exchange, but all that did is remind me of when both guys were a lot younger and better. I?d avoid this match if you were ever a fan of either one. I hate to say it but I think Misawa needs to seriously think about hanging it up before his reputation takes a serious Flair-like beating. It makes me sad to see the man who I consider to be the best wrestler of all time stumbling his way through a farce like this in front of a mostly silent crowd. The man who took part in what I consider to be the greatest singles match and the greatest tag team match of all time deserves better?and so do his fans. GHC Tag Team Title: Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Morishima ? vs. KENTA & Shibata Now, from the ?Holy Crap I Wasn?t Expecting This To Be Good? file? Morishima & Yone are kind of a thrown together Tag Team Championship combo who I?d not seen since they beat Suzuki & Marifuji. I am NOT a fan of Yone. Sure, he makes me laugh and has the best look?more specifically hair in all of Japan hands down? but as a wrestler he drives me bonkers. He has presence and charisma to spare, but his offensive arsenal consists primarily of kicks that he misses about 25% of the time?and worse than that, he DOES NOT SELL for shit. It drives me up the wall to see some of the best talent in NOAH unload on him, and he either pops right back up or kind of grimaces a bit. Morishima I could always take or leave. At one point, I thought he was the more talented of ?Wild II? but it seemed to me that Rikio got serious about training and improving, and Morishima got serious about going back up to the buffet for seconds. Rikio went on to end the historic GHC reign of Kobashi?and Morishima went on to eat an entire turkey in one sitting. As a team, and the GHC Tag Champs, Morishima & Yone actually have a few things going for them, I'm surprised to say. They?re over big, which is a plus. Also, the weird mesh of Battlearts inspired kicking from Yone and standard NOAH Heavyweight Wrestling from Morishima is a strange but fun combination. It helps that Morishima is not in the greatest of shape, but in this tag team he gets to take breaks on the apron and catch his breath...maybe have a quick snack. This was my first look at one time NJPW up and comer, now freelancer Shibata who has formed a new team with KENTA called ?Takeover.? Surprisingly, they wrestle like heels, with a lot of quasi-cheating, showboating, and general disrespect for their opponents. This match was awesome, because it was laid out very well. Takeover took turns kicking the ever-loving hell out of Yone?which I enjoyed because he HAD to sell a lot of it?it was STIFF and it looked like it hurt like a sumbitch. Morishima played the partner who wants to tag in, but can?t seem to get anything going role very well, and Takeover added to this by constantly provoking him, kicking him off the apron and slapping him. This fight went a good 30 minutes, and was packed with near falls. As always KENTA looked awesome. Shibata isn?t as technical as I would have expected, but he throws a mean kick and did well for himself. As I said earlier?Yone and Morishima make a lot better team than I had expected, which might have been why I enjoyed this match so much. It was a pleasant surprise and if you see it, I think you?d quite enjoy it. GHC Heavyweight Title: Akira Taue vs. Takeshi Rikio ? This match was the reason I was watching this show. As many people know, Rikio is the man who ended Kobashi?s epic 13 defense and almost 2 year GHC reign, and since then had been having what could only be described as a lackluster reign. It wasn?t out of lack of effort on NOAH?s part to get him over, either. His first shot at Kobashi on 03/06/04 was actually a very good match, in my opinion and I can see why they finally picked him to be the guy who won the belt last March. He?s young, he?s strong, he?s in great shape, and he seems to know all of the basic power moves. His first defense against Saito was?man?I couldn?t even sit through it, it sucked so bad. Then again, I blamed that on Saito sucking, and the fact that nobody bought him as a legit threat. I know I didn?t. Also, it didn?t help that that match got upstaged by the start of the SUWA/KENTA feud, Suzuki & Marifuji fighting Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki in a hot match, and the outstanding Akiyama & Tenryu vs. Kobashi & Shiosaki match, which featured the infamous incident when Kobashi actually busted open Tenryu?s CHEST with repeated chops. That was a hard match to follow?and with Saito, you ain?t gonna do it. His second defense against Tanahashi (who many North American fans are now getting to know thanks to his recent matches in TNA) was actually a very good match?the problem is that it was totally overshadowed by the double Main Event on the Destiny Card at the Tokyo Dome of the aforementioned Sasaki/Kobashi Dream Match and Misawa vs. Kawada for the first time in 8 Years. I guess Misawa?s last attempt at putting Rikio over was when he literally did it himself on 09/18/05. I?ve not seen that match, but I?ve heard it?s pretty damn bad. Having seen Misawa on this show, I don?t doubt it?and I guess that Rikio was not enough for Misawa to work with and carry to a watchable match. Rumor had it that this match was the final nail in the coffin for the Rikio experiment. So here comes Taue! Anybody who loves the 90?s AJPW stuff like I do has to have at least a small soft spot for Taue. Anybody who took part in that many MOTDC?s is okay by me. In NOAH his stuff has been pretty bleh though. His team with Sano does nothing for me?mostly because Sano isn?t trying at all. The feud with the Dark Agents and Taue was moderately interesting, but I freaking hate all of the Dark Agents except Sugiura (and how HE got stuck with those lumps I?ll never know) so I haven?t seen much of out of Taue since NOAH?s first year. He?s basically your very loved and highly respected veteran who does not a lot of anything, mired in the midcard. I have rarely seen such a rabidly vocal crowd in NOAH as we saw for this match. They were chanting Taue?s name from the get go, and at one point they actually BOOED Rikio. I was booing myself, as he took some LAME bumps, dished out some really weak looking offense, and the worst thing was, he avoided all of Taue?s patented outside the ring moves, especially the Nodowa from the apron?which I (and all the fans in the Budokan) wanted to see pretty damn badly. I don?t know if it was the fact that Rikio looked like his heart wasn?t in this match, I don?t know if it?s because he looked sloppy and disorganized, or I don?t know if it?s because the whole Rikio reign was a scrub, but man the fans were not on his side. I should make it clear?this match is not a good match by any means. If you had to snowflake rate it, it might get 2 stars. What made this match special was the fact that the fans were so vocal, and dammit?you just had to feel good for Akira Taue getting the win when nobody would have predicted it a couple of months ago. You knew that he was just going to be a transitional champ, and you knew that he?s over the hill and more suited for Tag Team action now?but for this one night?it was like the fans, and NOAH were saying thank you to Akira Taue for all his years of hard work and so many classics?and it felt good?even if the match was lackluster. The response he got once he got the win has to be seen to be fully appreciated. I?m glad I saw this match. NOAH on NTV LIVE From The Budokan in Tokyo 1/22/06 I wanted to see this show for the much pimped KENTA vs. Marifuji GHC Jr. Title Match, and for the Taue vs. Akiyama GHC match?but the friend I was watching it with was tired from working all day, so he had to split. We?ll catch the two ?must see? matches next week, and if anybody actually cares, I?ll post a review of them like I did these ones. Meanwhile, I saw? Misawa, Sugiura & Mushiking Terry vs. Sasaki, Nakajima & Mushiking Joker See, now THIS is how Misawa should be wrestling. If he insists on staying active, this is the ideal role for him. He was only in the ring for brief bursts during this match, and because it was against Sasaki, the crowd was hyped for it. He didn?t blow any spots, his speed wasn?t a major problem, and he wasn?t in the ring long enough to show too much weakness. My understanding is that the whole ?Mushiking? deal is exactly like Tiger Mask in the 80?s and Jushin Thunder Liger in the 90?s?except rather than cartoons, the characters are based on a very popular children?s video game about characters who?eat bugs. Terry is so obviously Kotaro Suzuki that only a child couldn?t see it, and rumor has it that Joker (who?s mask covers much more) is Ricky Marvin. When they fight in these personas, they seem to use an overly theatrical lucha type style, but trust me?it?s over. When either Mushiking character tags in, you can actually hear little kids in the audience cheering, which is cute. It was cool to see Misawa and the first ever graduate of the NOAH dojo Sugiura mix it up with Sasaki and Nakajima. Much like the Kobashi match I wrote about earlier, it really adds to the whole outsider, Sasaki Office vs. NOAH angle. I would say that I?d like to have seen this as a straight up tag, but I don?t know if Misawa could have physically handled that, which may have been why this was booked this way. This match was basically a clusterfuck, but it was a harmless fun one. The segments with Misawa and Sasaki were fun. Nakajima looked very good and was very effective when he was in there. Surprisingly, Sugiura kind of phoned it in during this match, which is too bad. Then again, he?s a mat wrestler, and with Sasaki and the Mushikings in there, there isn?t going to be a whole lot of mat wrestling going on. Terry and Joker both looked very good for what they are doing with those characters, and have adjusted to the roles quite well it seems. I wouldn?t go so far as to recommend this match. It was one of those matches you really enjoy at the time, but then can?t remember anything remarkable about it afterward. It was like the wrestling equivalent of fast food. Rikio & Akebono vs. Kenta Kobashi & ?Junji? Izumida Okay?this match FUCKING SUCKED. Rikio is going to have to learn to rise above the match he is in, if he ever wants to get back to the top. You know what his problem is? If he?s in there with somebody who sucks, he lets them drag him down to their level. He looked plain old bored in this match, like he was going through the motions and wasn?t even trying to make it work?and when you?re teamed up with a 600 pound bag of shite, you have to work. As I said earlier, last year Rikio and Kobashi had one match that was excellent, and one match that was passable. There was no reason why he couldn?t have put in the effort when he was in there with Kobashi, but he didn?t. Meanwhile, Izu obviously wasn?t moved to put in any effort either, which is ridiculous. This was the most high profile match he has been booked in since I have been watching NOAH, and he stumbled around with his eyes half closed, delivering the fakest looking headbutts I have ever seen this side of the Junkyard Dog, and running slower than Misawa. They can change his name to ?Junji? but he still sucks?and I wish he had only tried more. This was his chance, and he fucked it up. He could have busted ass during this match to show that he wanted a push, but instead he sucked it up and killed the heat that this match had. Yes?this match had heat?for a while. That would have been because for whatever reason, Akebono is over. I guess because he?s a sumo. Well he?s also a fat tub, who can?t walk from one side of the ring to the other without gassing out. Seriously?he SUCKS. The worst part of it all were his stupid facial expressions, his attempts to look menacing, and his reaction to getting chopped by Kobashi. Kobashi had him in the corner for his patented repeated knife edge chopfest, and Akebono kinda winced, looked like he was going to cry, and half slumped down while half heartedly pushing Kobashi away. Kobashi is not totally guiltless, either. I love the guy. However, there are two types of Kobashi fans right now. The kind who think he hasn?t lost a step since the glory days in AJPW, that his match with Joe in ROH was a 5 Star Classic, and that he?s the greatest wrestler in the world today?and those who think he is broken down, and relying on the same old spots to pop the crowd. I think a bit of both is true. He is still in great shape, although it?s obvious his knees are still bothering him and they always will. He doesn?t go to the top rope anymore for the flying tackle or the moonsault. He doesn?t do the running legdrop or the Burning Hammer anymore. All Kobashi does now is CHOP and CLOTHESLINE, with the odd half-nelson suplex thrown in for good measure. (For example, the the animated picture of him and Sasaki above.) The thing is?that still makes for a half decent match. IF he?s in there against somebody good. Compared to the shit that WWE puts out, Kobashi still is one of the best around?but he?s not Kobashi of 1993, or even 1998. He can?t do what he used to, just like Misawa can?t, Kawada can?t, and Taue can?t. He?s aged. He?s probably still got a few years left in him, especially if all he does is lift weights, and throw chops. Here?s the problem. Now if he?s in there with somebody who can do the same, like Joe or Sasaki, he can have a half decent ?chopfest.? Maybe 3 snowflakes. (Which is all the match with Joe was?sorry to Meltzer and his parrot HTQ at TSM.) Put him in there with some load like Akebono, or ?don?t make me try? Rikio, and you get what this match was?SHIT. Akebono was leaning all over the place, panting and sweating. The man jiggles when he leans on the ropes, and is genuinely unpleasant to look at. Rikio is proving why he failed as GHC champ, and Izu is proving why he?ll never be a name in NOAH or get farther than he has. I assume this match got booked because Akebono is the current Bob Sapp in Japan. Over with the people, everybody wants him. It made business sense to use him, because he probably sold tickets?but man does he suck. If All Japan or New Japan wants him so bad?they can have him. All 600 freaking pounds. So anyhow, there is my NOAH night. Two very good tag matches, one fun six man, and a sentimental moment for Taue. Not bad and if you get a chance, tell me what you thought if you see these matches. - Dave

TNA could use another couple of Tag Teams. They have The Naturals, Team Canada, AMW, Team 3-D, The James Gang, and LAX...but since they actually seem to have an idea how to use Tag Teams, some more fresh blood in there is good. I would assume (and hope) that if these guys leave WWE they won't be able to use the same gimmick. They have experience as a team, so they can just find something new to do.

Remember back when Triple H had has famous angle with Booker T leading up to Booker T's World Title Shot at WM19? The one which a brilliant writer at 411 wrote about HERE? When that writer went batshit about the angle in that column, he got a zillion emails from WWE fanboys, explaining that the poor taste was okay...because Triple H was the "bad guy" and Booker T was the "good guy" and was going get his revenge in the end. I had one friend of mine explain to me as if I was an idiot, that the ONLY way that the WWE would do something this risky would be if the good guy won in the end. Otherwise, why would they have done it? Hell, read the quotes from the WWE moron in that 411 article. He as much as predicts that Booker would get some revenge. I wouldn't watch WM19 based on principle, due to this angle. I was told by a person who I trust and respect, that not only did Triple H win the match, he managed to make Booker T extra weak in the process, by hitting him with the pedigree and then waiting an unusually long time to finally cover him and get the pin. Booker's "revenge" never came. There are those pathetic fans now who claim that Rey will go on to win the World Championship and dedicate it to Eddie. Even if that happens, it will not excuse this angle. It won't make up for the damage done. It won't erase what was said. On top of that, as we saw from the end to the Triple H/Booker T feud...in cases like these the good guys don't get to win anyhow. There probably won't be any hollow meaningless storyline victory. If history is any indicator, Randy Orton will be rewarded for his disgusting speech by fighting Kurt Angle at WM for huge money, and Rey will end up fighting on the undercard. If that happens, at this point I'll be hard pressed to feel sorry for him. The only people I feel for at this point is Eddie's family.

Off topic for a second, but both Lance Storm and Test have posted on their sites saying they are disgusted by this Eddie angle, and according to SD spoilers, it continues this week. I am truly disgusted by this, I really am. How Eddie's family must be feeling, I can't even imagine. I won't go as far as saying this is the worst thing the WWE has ever done...I've been a wrestling fan for 27 years and that would be a tough call...but I can say that it will be a long fucking time, if ever...before they ever get another dime of my money. I can pay for TNA shows, like the one this Sunday, knowing that my money is supporting a struggling company which doesn't do stuff like this. The need for a real alternative to the WWE has never been bigger. And I agree that the chance this blog is a work is there. The only thing that makes me think it isn't, is that Foley reportedly has a creative control clause, and I can't see him willingly agree to something like this. He went on record as being against the Katie Vick storyline, and cancelled a Byte This appearance over it, and he also bad mouthed the Big Show's Father Dying of Cancer angle, until they turned it into an obvious comedy bit, when the Bossman crashed the funeral in the Blues Mobile. I do think Mick is a bit of a hypocrite on many levels. He has morals, but ignores them when there is yet another pay check in it for him. I think he could have done loads to help get TNA off the ground, and he pulled out of that deal so he could get Orton and Edge over? Feh. I'd like to think he's real about this blog, I would. If it turns out he isn't, then the little respect I have left for him goes out the window.

I used to love Mick Foley. I wasn't any bandwagon jumper either. I followed Foley during his first WCW run...when I saw Sting kick his ass during his infamous "sit down" strike. I loved his Tag Team with Max Pain, and actually paid real money for Spring Stampede 1994 to see the Street Fight with the Nasty Boys. Being a fan of both ECW and IWA/FMW I followed him after WCW. King of the Death Match was the first Japanese Tape I ever bought. I was thrilled when he came to the WWF as Mankind, loved the feud with Taker, and was there watching for his career peak in 1997-2000. I own an autographed first addition of "Have A Nice Day." I wasn't upset when he came out of retirement at WM2000 to be in the Main Event. I own "The Three Faces of Foley" "Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops" and "Greatest Hits and Misses." I've paid a great deal of money to see his DVD's and tapes, get his books, and see him live. Around the time "Foley is Good" came out, I started to get a little tired of Mick. His bitching about all sorts of things in that book, and the fact that it was half sermon defending Vince McMahon, and half attempt to make money from the people who bought Have A Nice Day bugged me. The fact that he constantly refers to his fans as losers who have no life and no girlfriend started to bug me. My wife is plenty hot, thanks Mick...and she liked you too. Then he started showing up everytime he had something to pimp. He wrote two or three new books, and there he was on WWE television pimping them. He came back to fight Randy Orton...somebody who I thought didn't deserve half the rub that Foley gave him. He started to look less and less like the Hardcore Legend and more and more like the cheap shill that he is. When he turned down a chance to help TNA, and went back to Vince, even though he was sick about the WWE direction, that sealed it for me. The man wasn't getting another dime from me. He's already a zillionaire, his constant greed was getting under my skin. I felt like he needed to shut the fuck up and go away. I felt he was turning into a bloated pimp who looked nothing like the man who won the King of the Death Match, cut the "Cane Dewey" promo, or even who fought Triple H at Madison Square Garden twice. I heard he was planning on fighting at WM this year, and for the first time as a one time Foley fan, I didn't give a shit. Then I read this on WWE.com... I reprinted this, because for all I know, the WWE will take it down once they see it. He might be a greedy pimp and a shill, but it's nice to know he still has morals and will stand up for them. Thanks again, Mick.

The problem is that I've never seen any Joshi, and my only major exposure to Lucha has been from Bob Barnett's AAA Classics Set. I have all 25 discs, but they only really cover the 90's. So I have seen the best of the seventies from Japan and North America, I have seen all of the best 80's and 90's stuff from Japan, North America and Canada (Stampede and Montreal.) Without having seen any pre or post 90's Lucha, and without having seen any Joshi, I wouldn't feel qualified to vote. From what I have heard and read, if I haven't seen the likes of Shinobu Kandori, Akira Hokuto, Manami Toyota, etc. etc. then I wouldn't be able to give an educated opinion. If it was the top 10 male wrestlers of the 90's or something...then I could probably be very confident in my picks, having seen the best of all over the world in that time period.

I wouldn't mind a couple of the matches with The Hollywood Blondes vs. Steamboat & Douglas from WCW. I wonder if they're going to have Stampede footage as well?

I'm confused...if Rey won the Rumble, why wouldn't he get a Title Shot at WM? Isn't that the rule still?

Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Triple Crown - 1/19/95) This is Kawada's one successful Triple Crown defense after he defeated Steve Williams on 10/22/94 at the Budokan. People who love the first two Joe/Punk matches should watch this one. I saw Joe/Punk I & II last weekend, and watched this match this weekend. The first two Joe/Punk matches are praised as classic matches, and they are excellent no doubt...but this match is another example of a very well paced "broadway" match, where the two participants slowly build to a 60 minute draw, and it doesn't become obvious until the last 8 minutes or so that there probably won't be a winner. You can tell by about 55 minutes in, when both guys have hit all of their big moves, and Kobashi starts to crawl around the ring on all fours that they are kinda killing time...but still in all there are a great series of near falls in the last 15 minutes. A lot of people crap on this match because there isn't "a finish" or clear winner...especially because Kawada ended up losing the TC to Stan Hansen at the Bodokan that March so this is the only match where he retained. You can debate that Kawada should have ended up beating Misawa in 94, or that he deserved a better reign or whatever...but looking at this match on it's own you can't deny that it is a very good if not great performance, especially by Kawada. The no selling is at a minimum, and some of the near falls are great, as I said. You won't get any argument from me when you say that Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi on 06/12/98 for the Triple Crown is the best match these two guys ever had...however for those that think that Joe/Punk are the GREATEST MATCHES EVAR~!!! or that Flair had some great 60 minute matches with Steamboat or even his one in St. Louis with Brody...watch this match. I wouldn't say this is a "forgotten" classic...but it's funny that Kawada/Kobashi/Misawa etc. had SO many great matches, that people tend to think of the top 5, and forget that they had some lesser know matches like this one, which still blow away anything that happened in North America for the most part.

That makes both of you.

A look at my sig should show you my guilty pleasure.

Here's the thing though...are they even losing money? From what I remember (and correct me if I'm wrong) they're still making money because they are making cuts and layoffs and whatnot. I agree that the product is pure ass, but they aren't bleeding money like WCW was, are they?

He did bust out the Scorpion Deathlock on Sunday...although that's not what got the win.

When I saw that match with Martel (then AWA World Champ) and Flair (then NWA World Champ) as a team against Jumbo and Tenryu I was blown away by how good Martel was. As a Canadian, I was used to seeing him in boring matches with Dino Bravo and bloody brawls with Abdullah, both from Montreal, and of course his run as "The Model." I want to get some more Martel from AJPW.

Didn't he blow out his knee in that triple threat match with Booker T and Saturn for the TV title? And wasn't it just one of those things, rather than somebody else causing the injuries?

This child must be named Damien. There is no other choice.

I remember Beef (or Biff) Wellington well from my days watching Stampede on TSN. He and Benoit were a great team, and I always wondered why he never made it big.

I agree that Juvi should have a mask vs. mask match even though he doesn't wear one anymore. It would be as good as the Hair vs. Hair match that Paul Ellering and Teddy Long had back in WCW...when both of them were almost bald and were looking for an excuse to totally shave their heads.

To me, it's always sad when I find out that a character I bought into was a jerk when the cameras weren't rolling. I was sad when I heard that Brody and Onita were both jerks...since both of those guys were characters I liked. I was also saddened when I heard that both Misawa and Kawada hated Americans. Sometimes it's better not knowing what your favorite stars or wrestlers are "really" like off stage. The myth is almost always better than the truth.

I agree about Missy Loss, but doesn't Stephanie draw bad heat simply because she's annoying and most people know what she does backstage? To me, she always got "change the channel" heat, not "kill the bitch" heat. I never saw Stephanie as being terribly effective at her on screen role.

Back when I was a lad, the WWF used to run a huge show on Boxing Day every year at Maple Leaf Gardens, and I went for 4 years in a row I think. It was good times...and since Jack Tunney was the promoter he would sometimes book matches that you'd never see elsewhere. I remember one year he ran Psycho Sid (with Harvey Wippleman) vs. The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) and they were both heels. It was awesome. Then again...I was younger then.

It's looks like she's mining for boogernuggets, and smoking at the same time!

I would say that All Japan from 1990-1999 or so produced the longest streak of high quality matches that any organization could ever hope to. Hell, I was looking over my collection the other day, and noticed that I have no less than 260 matches from AJPW during the 90's in my collection. I honestly don't know how anybody who has seen any of the 90's AJPW stuff could argue that any other fed put out this quality of work over this long a period of time. If you are the kind of person who puts stock in Meltzer's star rating system, then check out THIS and you will see all the proof you need.

I guess a lot of that depends on how good this new "King's Road" promotion ends up being. If it comes off as planned, then it sounds like it might take what little fan base AJPW has left with it. Then again, AJPW still has Kojima and he's pretty popular. What I'd love to see is Kojima end up in NOAH.