Timbo Slice

JBL had his notes prepared for the Sting debut last night and started reading off accomplishments, which is hilarious considering, you know, it was a surprise that he was coming back. That being said, he dropped Aja Kong during the Divas match and I'm pretty sure it cracked up Cole and Lawler because there was a good 15-20 seconds of silence before Cole responded. Cole during the main last night was actually close to sounding like Cole at his best.

Ah, so that's how it's gonna happen. Cena's team will win and then he'll bring them back to power.

Wow. That show just looks...really not that good. How do you not have a third SS match there? I'll still pop like a crazy man for Sting when that music hits, though.

Most likely. They've been pushing that since the return with the WWE commercial.

Ha, Van Hammer as the male bimbo is terrific. Either that or Bagwell. Really enjoyed being a part of this one. A lot of great stuff from everyone.

Well, WWE took their best announcer off the air and put him in a way less visible role as the commissioner of NXT, so I'm not sure how much they value commentary right now. They also don't really have a distinctive voice. Ross was distinctive, Schiavone to an extent was distinctive, early King, even Styles to an extent, and he was such a one-trick pony that he was at least something different to listen to. I never got that with Cole, don't get it with JBL, don't get why Alex Riley is behind a microphone. Hell, I'd love a shot but at this point, I can't imagine me wanting to call something straight with someone screaming in my ear. I just don't think they care about commentary. It's at the bottom of their list of importance when it comes to production of a show, and that's on McMahon and Dunn.

His one-year deal had a lot to do with that, too. When he wasn't doing that UK tour and had previously gotten a ton of money wrestling for Wrestle-1 in Japan, there wasn't much keeping him there. Then when he broke his ankle, they did everything they could with him but decided it wasn't worth his push. The Brock stuff only happened because they figure it was the only way they thought he could draw. And then Brock decided he wasn't about that life either. The HHH stuff looks bad (hell, it almost always does), but I think the Goldberg stuff was fucked from the start.

Sure, but what's to stop him from making a phone call to try and make it happen? I'm not saying Paul is being 100% truthful (although the fact he said it right away makes me think it couldn't have been complete bullshit either), but he reached out to AAA, he reached out to FMW, he reached out to Michinoku Pro, a phone call or two to see if it could happen makes sense, at least.

Hayabusa and Shinzaki were semi-regularly working AJPW after the '97 RWTL, meaning that there was an in there for Heyman if he wanted it. I'm guessing the injury put the end to those talks, though.

Misawa/Kawada was the first one I thought of. Then Flair/Funk. Sting/Vader. Hogan/Savage.

Makes sense that he asked for that to happen and got Shinzaki and Hayabusa, though.

Heyman just said he almost got Misawa/Kobashi for Heatwave '98, getting Hayabusa/Shinzaki instead. Holy crap.

Hansen, Funk, Flair, Lawler, Jumbo, Misawa, Kawada, Tenryu, Fujiwara, Bockwinkel, Savage, Lyger, Rey off the top of my head. I'd say my Top 5 being some combination of Hansen, Funk, Flair, Lawler and Jumbo is pretty set in stone.

Yeah, the fact that Eddie/Brock isn't on that list is the one travesty off the top of my head.

Could Shelton Benjamin work?

I'll never get the idea that because the fans loved in the arena that we should, too. The idea that the crowd can give a match atmosphere and excitement means that it was a great match should be like anything else anyone criticizes in a match. A lot of stuff I'm reading about modern New Japan is that it's been considered great because there's so many heated exchanges and great crowds, and that's been the basis for people saying it's been so great. Atmosphere adds to a match and it can subtract from a match just as much. My motivation is pretty simple: Tell a good story in the ring. If it's with highspots? Great. If it's with face/heel dynamics? Great. If it's with a payoff of a long storyline? Great. Is it because the stakes are high? Great. All those stories can be told well. They are far from being similar match archetypes.

I would put them in consideration. I'm watching them against Scorp and Bagwell from HH and they do some really great work. Plus those two street fights with Catcus and either Sullivan or Payne were just too great. I think I see them maybe at the bottom of my list.

I've only seen a couple Rogers matches and haven't really dived into the Chicago stuff as much, but he's going to garner some consideration. He really was ahead of his time in a lot of ways and I feel like he's someone that could have hung with anyone in the ring in any era up through the 80's. Just a fantastic worker.

He's overrated, but that doesn't mean he's not a good wrestler or a good worker. Great base, good on the mat, has the Ciclope reveal against Jericho at Slamboree '98 that's one of my favorite WCW moments ever, but I don't think he's gonna make my list, as much as I enjoy his stuff.

I'm thinking my top female workers will feature Jaguar, Aja and Hokuto in some order. While the length of time of her best work is short, the sheer volume within that time is something else. Arguably the best woman's match ever, arguably a Top 5 women's tag match ever (Although as time goes on, I have the Queendom tag at #2 behind only the Dream Rush tag), great work in the '93 Grand Prix, great work in the '92 TLTB...for a good three year span, and especially in 1993, she might have been the best wrestler on the planet and she worked hurt for a good amount of time. She also was the antithesis of the style that Toyota championed, which makes her even better in my book. Knew how to tell a story better than any other wrestler at the time, maybe save Stan Hansen, who had major feathers in his cap with Kawada and Kobashi in 1993. My gut says Top 50, but I won't be surprised if she gets into the Top 25.

1. Bobby Eaton Best right hand ever. Best swinging neckbreaker ever. Great bumper. Could watch him all day. 2. Rick Rude Good lord, Rude in 1992 was fantastic in basically every way. 3. Vader Can't wait to rewatch the strap match with Sting as I go through the pre-Hogan WCW PPVs. 4. Rusev The calls for him being the Most Improved Wrestler this year are undercutting that he never really sucked. Now that he's getting a chance to shine, he's been terrific. 5. Bull Dempsey Dude busted out the Face Eraser AND the Vader Attack this past week and does a great fat guy flying headbutt. One of the few shining spots on NXT.

Come for the Johnny Sorrow, stay for the pop Johnny and Steven have when I mention a certain masked wrestler doing a headbutt.

Oh man. I know Jarrett's been wanting JR to jump onboard, but JR calling a Japanese match nowadays really seems like it wouldn't fit. Interested to see who they come up with for that.

Yessssssss. Can't wait to hear this.

Not including women wrestlers when a vast majority of them influenced their male counterparts in something like this is really odd to me. Almost screams exclusion. Just because there hasn't been any female wrestling that has touched what the Japanese women were doing over 20 years ago in recent times doesn't mean they shouldn't be included.