Timbo Slice

Good stuff with some cute moments, so to speak. Atlantis and UG did well to have a good match and I think everyone liked the change of pace CMLL brought. Good to see Cavernario bust out the splash to the floor. By the time they do this next year, he'll be higher on the card, I'm sure. Definitely want to see what night 2 brings.

Yeah, that's why people are getting antsy about a call up for Neville.

I have the Apple TV and it's been great for me. Really zero hangups at all since I started watching it. Interestingly enough, I have this computer hooked up to the TV that I use as a server to have all my files in one spot (Wrestling, DVDs, etc.), but that's become the way I watch NJPW World, too. If they do get an app on the Apple TV somehow, I'd be stoked, but that's not happening anytime soon.

If that happens, I'd love to be the moderator. CANADA! TEXAS! WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME????

I think Johnny's comment about him seeing a bunch of ROH Scramble matches from a decade ago being better than this rings true, but I think they were also told to cut time and it actually helped out a lot. Decent stuff and I like O'Reilly in a team, especially with Fish having been around the block in Japan a few times. Bucks stood out (INDYTAKER!) and it was good fun.

The only way I see it happening that way is as a last resort. If Rollins stalls out, him winning the belt at WM becomes the best heel tactic he could do.

The thing that probably hurts Punk is that a lot of his big moments don't have a lot of staying power in the long run. I'm not sure how much of that is his fault, though. By all accounts, he was a good worker, sometimes great, and has a lot of longevity. What'll tilt him in a lot of ways is how much people liked his indy work.

Eventual disappointment is Samoa Joe in TNA. Although there were a couple years where he was teflon and you had hope, but they never pulled the trigger, truly. Hero was a disappointment in WWE but it's starting to look like he just wasn't a fit. There's a chance Cesaro could be that unless The Masters get over big and he gets one final shot. I also think Christian coming back from TNA was a disappointment, but I'm not sure how much of that was WWE incompetence and how much of it was that his star was gone after he left TNA, which is saying something.

That reads like the best of all our lists combined, which is pretty great.

It might be a throwaway match of sorts, but I found this Murdoch/Wahoo match from PR in '91 that could be fun.

Well, if that doesn't signify Brock isn't coming back, I don't know what could.

Good show. Hope there aren't too many jump to conclusion mats being bought in anticipation of certain opinions on the show, but even those who were totally big fans of the show weren't throwing out hyperbole in describing what they liked. Good stuff all around.

Johnny hoping UWF rules meant the return of Bill Watts is tremendous.

I thought the show was fine, but there wasn't anything completely blow away outside of the Ibushi/Nak match, which felt like the only truly special Dome-level match on the show. Takahashi and Okada seemed content to throw out their greatest hits in a lot of ways, and while I enjoyed the tag title match and Naito/Styles, there wasn't much on this show that made me feel like it was this godsend product at all. There's definitely a high ceiling to NJPW right now, but I don't think it's leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

Yeah, I'm with OJ. It can be both. Doesn't have to be one or the other.

We fucked up in the black Survivor Series match. No JYD.

For a company that knows how to book ahead so far in advance, having the Rumble in fucking PHILLY of all places really is hilarious. Everything they do in that show is gonna blow up in their face.

I'm fine with my NJPW commentary. No need to hear Striker throw out cringeworthy Japanese trivata during matches. I jumped on board with NJPW World today. Gonna blow through the 2014 stuff before the Dome Show. I think it's worth $8.50/month.

SummerSlam '94. Bull Nakano freaked me the hell out as a kid, loved the cage match, Taker return, Neilsen bullshit, all of it. Totally captivated 10-year-old me and will always hold a soft spot in my heart for it.

Meltzer is also working off the basis of the AJW golden era in the 90s, where Manami Toyota became his favorite female worker of all time, and he's always been a fan of the uptempo style that Toyota championed. I'm going to assume that because he's not seeing work of that caliber that he's not exactly gonna jump on that wagon with Charlotte or Sasha, regardless of how good they are now and could be.

Opportunities for great matches? Does that mean there were a ton of great Hollywood Hogan matches? Or a ton of great Konnan matches? Or a ton of great Takeshi Rikio matches? Or a bunch of great Triple H matches? Larry Zbysko in the late 80's AWA? There are plenty of people who aren't fans of Dusty Rhodes, too. Antonio Inoki...do I need to go on? There are obviously plenty of great performances at the top of the card, but that doesn't automatically mean they are in good matches. Guys who are up top on cards normally have the most HEATED matches or are the best DRAWS. That doesn't necessarily mean best MATCH. My point is that being a main eventer doesn't directly correlate to having good matches. Being a (lower) mid-carder doesn't correlate to having bad matches. If you're basing this all solely on work (which many people are), then there are gonna be plenty of guys on lists that aren't considered main eventers.

EDIT: Adam Pearce was indeed backstage helping out in the production of the show. Pretty sweet.

Kikuchi worked a lot down in the card. Most of Japan's juniors, actually. Mid 90's WCW luchadors. i understand why this thread was made, Parv. I know you're trying to prove a point. My point is that card placement doesn't really matter in the end.

I'd like to point out the first guy that was nominated for this thing was Meng.

It's all relative. There's guys who work on the lower mid-card who do good enough stuff that it's tough to not consider them, and then there's guys who work at the top of the card, work a completely different style and it still works. If you're looking for a specific style of work, there's going to be a smorgasbord of wrestlers that are going to be very similar and card placement won't mean a damn thing.