The Thread Killer

I used to have a buddy when I was in High School who had a Satellite Dish (and this was back in the days when the Dish was so damn big it took up half your backyard.) He would always tape World Class for me. Some of my happiest memories are saving those tapes for the weekend and then finally getting the TV to myself and watching hours of World Class. My favorite was Bruiser Brody of course...and any time that Abdullah came through and he and Brody would have one of their famous all around the arena brawls, culminating in Brody bashing Abby over the head with a garbage can repeatedly. They were just nothing brawls, but those two used to match up so well, I loved to watch them go at it. Abby would either chop Brody in the throat with that upward thrust, or stab him in the head with a fork, and Brody would answer back with a huge overhead punch, and they'd just go back and forth. They'd always end up in a no contest or double countout, and you always knew that would happen, but it never mattered to me. I saw those guys fight in AJPW in 81, WWC in Puerto Rico, Central States, Montreal International Wrestling (where ABBY was the face and BRODY was the heel) but my favorites were always their brawls in Texas. I'd pay big money to get an Abby/Brody comp or a tape of their best brawls from World Class. Good times.

I agree. I would LOVE to see Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi or Taue live and in person, and I'd probably be marking the fuck out if I was ever lucky enough to see one of them live up close. I know that all of them are nothing close to as good as they were when they were in their primes about 10 years ago...but it would still be a BLAST to see them live. Hell, I would have driven down from Toronto to see Kobashi if that had been possible for me.

Hey sek, did you see Kobashi vs. Sasaki from the NOAH Dome show this past summer? It was a serious chop fest too. I wouldn't say it was a MOTYC, but the atmosphere reminded me of Rock/Hogan, and it wasn't boring to watch, that's for sure. I read somewhere that Kobashi got one of his teeth broken in half during the match with Joe...any sign of that happening?

After one of the fights at the UFC show tonight (which was otherwise disappointing, by the way) UFC President Dana White came out to make some major announcements... Liddell/Couture III is signed, sealed and will be delivered on February 4th 2006. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Awesome. Former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir is finally making his comeback in 2006. Arlovski vs. Mir WILL finally happen in 2006. Dana thanks the fans for their support of The Ultimate Fighter. The coaches for season 3 are announced and they are KEN SHAMROCK and TITO ORTIZ!!! Both Ken and Tito make their way out. Ken gets cheers, Tito gets a mixed reaction. Ken and Tito get into a shoving match! This going to make for some VERY interesting television, since these two guys legitimately HATE each other. Finally, Dana announces that he has RE-SIGNED BJ Penn. For those of you who don't know him, Penn is a former UFC wonderboy, who choked out Welterweight Champ Matt Hughes easily to win the belt. He then violated the terms of his contract by taking a fight for K1 in Japan...and then got busted for punching a cop. I guess he and Dana have patched things up. Fight results for those who care... Jeremy Horn defeated Trevor Prangley by Judges Decision. This was a rather boring fight, and it looked like Prangley actually won...but as Dana says, never leave the fight in the hands of the judges because you'll never know what they'll do. It was amusing to hear Horn try and justify the judges call and get booed like hell...although he did also admit that even he thought he lost. Georges St. Pierre defeated Sean Sherk by TKO. This was a pretty good fight...GSP looked awesome, and after the fight he literally got on his knees and begged for a title shot. Funny stuff. Matt Hughes defeated Joe Riggs by Tap Out. This was NOT a title match because Joe Riggs couldn't make weight. Kudos to Hughes for taking the fight anyhow, as he could have opted out. Joe Rogan rightly pointed out that Riggs probably had nothing in the tank after trying to hard to cut weight. Gabriel Gonzaga knocked out Kevin Jordan. This may have been the worst fucking fight I have ever seen in my life...EVER. Both guys were WAY out of shape, sloppy as hell, and afraid to engage. The announcers were openly mocking how bad they were, and the fans were chanting "GO HOME" at the fighters...that's how bad it was. With like 30 seconds to go, Gonzaga finally rushed Jordan and knocked him out with a sick looking forearm...and then celebrated like he had won a gold medal. This was a fucking abortion and I'll lay hard money we never see either guy in UFC again...with good reason. This was awful. Rich Franklin knocked Nate Quarry the fuck out. Man...Nate almost got himself KILLED in this one...TWICE. I was amazed that the ref didn't stop it after a knockdown...but then Franklin hit Nate SO hard he knocked him out on his feet...Quarry was literally OUT before he hit the ground. Sick looking ending. Afterward, Franklin said he felt he had to do that to make up for the fight before theirs.

Everybody assumed it was Angle, but maybe it was Eugene. It is difficult to resist saying that if I was saddled with that gimmick, I'd be suicidal too. And YES...I have heard the stories that he thought it up himself and "asked" for the gimmick.

Take a look at Piper in that movie "They Live." He was ripped. If you can get a copy of it, check out Dynamite Kid's book, lots of interesting info about roids in there. He points out that a lot of people don't understand that you can go on the juice to slim down too, like Hercules did when he changed his gimmick. He even claimed that Billy Jack Haynes was on roids, which I never would have guessed.

I have seen Bret say in a television interview that he thinks he could get into good enough condition to have one last match, and that it bothers him that he had to retire on somebody else's terms not his. I have heard him say on a radio interview that it is far more interesting to him to consider working for TNA than the WWE as well. He has said he may appear on WWE television but never as part of an angle or storyline. I'm not saying it's going to happen, I'm not even saying it's a good idea...but these are things I have heard Bret say during interviews here in Toronto...so it's possible.

Bret has said in a couple of radio interviews that he would like to work with TNA in some capacity to help them. Off the top of my head, I can see him managing a team of Canadian kids in a feud against Team Canada, or taking Larry Zybsco's place as the NWA Director of Authority. I think Bret being involved with TNA would be a HUGE coup for TNA, based on name recognition alone. His face on the shows would probably convince a lot of people to tune in and see him, even if he wasn't wrestling. Besides...and I know this is WAY out there...he has said two things in interviews that I have seen. Firstly...he would like to see if he would be able to wrestle again as a challenge to himself, to see how much he has recovered from his stroke. He has also said he would never appear in a WWE ring again. He has been resolute in saying that...that he will never work for the WWE...but he has said that the way his career ended has left a bad taste in his mouth. He wanted to go out on his terms. I would say one last match is very possible. If the rumors are true and Benoit could end up in TNA as well...then anything is possible. Of course, this whole line of thought involves a hell of a lot of speculation and wishful thinking.

Strange, I remember Zach Arnold reporting earlier in the year that they don't test for roids. Ah well. I have been off PRIDE for quite some time anyhow.

I'm not going to argue that PRIDE doesn't pay more than UFC, because they clearly do...but I think there is more to it than that. Let's not forget that PRIDE does not test fighters for steroids (which is fine because I don't think they're illegal in Japan) but UFC does because they have to as mandated by the athletic commission. I honestly think that the major reason PRIDE has not sent any fighters to UFC, and the reason PRIDE still hasn't run the show in Vegas that they've been talking about for YEARS is because the PRIDE guys would have to piss in a cup, and DSE doesn't want that.

Oh my gawd, finally somebody agrees with me about Mir. UFC was promoting him as the Golden Boy, (which is why I loved it when Ian Freeman knocked his ass OUT) but I never saw him tested against anybody really good...mind you Pride has all the top heavyweights locked up. I think that Dana White badly wants a poster boy. For a while it was Tito, and he wanted it to be Mir. Mir was young, good looking, cocky, handsome, and from Vegas so he was over with the fans. I honestly think if you put him in there with somebody like Nog, Cro-Cop, or Fedor, he'd have been destroyed in two minutes. I always said about Mir...don't believe the hype.

Like Dave Fucking Batista knows what is and isn't wrestling. He's a juiced up dope who's about one or two more injuries away from being a historical footnote. I'm no huge fan of spot-fu, but the idea that Batista of all damn people is in any position to judge what wrestling is, that's what pisses me off. Who the hell does he think he is, Lou Freaking Thesz? Try having a match that doesn't suck, roidboy...then tell me about wrestling.

I agree with all of your points...but I must say that Abyss's music and Sabin's music is awesome.

I have a legit fondness for the DK/Tiger Mask Sayama Series. If I was to pick the greatest LHW of all time...I would probably have to agree about Liger, based on the length of his career and number of classic matches that I have seen. If you love LHW action, you really should check out NOAH. They have such an awesome Jr. Heavyweight Division right now...KENTA, Kotaro Suzuki (Mushiking Terry), Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Takashi Sugiura, Naomichi Marufuji, SUWA, Ricky Marvin, El Oriental, Abysmal Negro, and you could probably even throw Mohammed Yone and Go Shiosaki in there too, although they usually compete with the Heavyweights.

I have. It's awesome. I remember the first time I saw it, when the bell rang at the end, I said to my friend "There is no way that was an hour...there were no serious rest holds. They shaved time." We went back and rewatched it later with the counter on the VCR, and it clocked out to 62 minutes. John Williams from tOa said this about that match: If you can get your hands on this match, do it.

He does get a reaction...everybody hates him, just not in the way that heels are supposed to be hated. TNA fans seem to hate him in a "get off my TV" sort of way, not a "you're a bad guy" kinda way. As far as AMW, they're sucks. They whine all the time on television, and the only people who cheer for them are teenage girls...so that's probably the reason why nobody cares that they're heels now...nobody really seems to like them anyhow.

Am I wrong to think they did this so they can have him drop it back to Raven, or to somebody else on the Spike debut show?

Amazon.ca does indeed ship to the states...and you'll probably save money on it too.

In my opinion, the best place for MMA info is Sherdog. For example look HERE for a good rundown of all of the UFC shows. They also have an awesome fighter database with won loss records etc. Just beware the forums.

I know they aren't considered "the big leagues" but aren't some of Race's students in NOAH? Now that Modest & Morgan's Pro-Wrestling IRON is closing, I hear that Race's school will be the gaigen home base for NOAH...which is why Kenta and KENTA are heading there.

I agree. The guy runs the show and is very involved in this whole process. It's his baby, he has every right to be on it...it's not like he's all over the actual PPV's or anything. He's the guy who make the decisions, so it's logical to have him there. As far as the show this week? WEAK. I mean it was produced well, but two guys quitting set a bad tone, and the injury couldn't be helped...although you have to wonder if putting them through two 3 hour workouts may have contributed to the problem.

Here the thing though...it's a FIGHT. It's even an entertaining fight. I was wowed when I watched it...but isn't a the point of Mixed Martial Arts to showcase Martial Arts skills? I didn't see any real skills showcased in that fight...I just two guys repeatedly punching each other in the head. This is not about me deciding what is and isn't MMA, it's about what MMA really is. My problem is that Frye vs. Tak is exactly that kind of fight that gives ammo to the idiots who don't understand MMA as a sport, call it barbaric, and want to see it banned or off television. These people don't appreciate the training, strategy, skill, and knowlege of human anatomy you need to have in order to be an MMA fighter. I honestly don't think MMA is about pounding the hell out of your opponent (that's boxing.) It's about out-thinking your opponent, finding his weakness, and exploiting it. In my opinion, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera is the greatest fighter alive today, because he can do it all. He can stand and bang, but he can also tap you out. Look at his fight with Cro-Cop. That fight showed what happens when you put a well rounded Martial Artist in the ring with a striker. I love Takayama as a wrestler. I loved his GHC title shot against Kobashi last year...but the man is not a Mixed Martial Artist. He's a brawler...and in my opinion (and this is just my opinion) the sport doesn't need guys getting in there and beating the hell out of each other in the head. All it takes is some moron like John McCain to see that, and MMA is off PPV again. I think the sport is evolving...past those kinds of things, that's all.

See, that's not a Martial Arts fight. That's two morons with no style taking turns hitting each other in the head. Anybody could do that. All that proved is that either it was worked (which with PRIDE is always a possibility...especially if a Japanese Fan Favorite is involved) or that both of them have really thick skulls and are hard to knock out. That was basically like early UFC...two untrained people with no technique clobbering each other. If you're going to talk about a probably worked PRIDE slugfest involving Frye, at least go with his match against Shamrock at PRIDE 19. At least that one had some leglocks and whatnot, instead of non-stop blows to the head. If you want a real MMA fight...with skill and technique, see Carlos Newton vs. Sakuraba from PRIDE 3 (6/24/1998) for an example.

I found his series with Sabin in TNA to be pretty damn cool. Other than that, I found him to be rather blah.

Nicely done, Sek. I actually laughed out loud at that one.