Timbo Slice

I'm down with this.

HOLY SHIT, PARV!!!!! Before I even clicked on the title of the thread, that was the first thing I was going to bring up. That makes me smile. I also will contemplate knife-edge chopping the hell out of a wall on a semi-regular basis. Also, I'm constantly thinking about music that would be great entrance music. My go to right now is The Darkness' cover of Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead.

Any issues that come up where someone is complaining about a beehive mentality is normally the problem insomuch that he's pissed nobody's conforming to what he or she likes. So I think that's basically bullshit from the get go. I have a huge problem with people coming into an open forum and trying to get people to get on their side about things. That's why I got out of the now-locked thread conversation. Screaming at the Wailing Wall and such. If anything, the GWE project for me has shown a lot of different viewpoints on what people like in their wrestling, and we're only a month in or so. I'm not gonna be pissed if someone has Fujiwara at #1, Austin at #1, Toyota at #1, Flair at #1, Fujinami at #1, whatever. I have no qualms with how anyone perceives wrestling. Come in here with what you like about wrestling. Hear about what other people like. Have opinions. Argue those opinions. But don't try and change other people's minds and then get all pissy because they don't share the opinion you do after watching recommended matches. When shit gets personal, that's when whatever you're saying loses all credibility with me. Your opinion ceases to matter because you haven't learned to have a proper discourse. Like Will said in the locked thread, he can have convos with a Naylor or an Alan, who have a huge difference in what they like in pro wrestling, and still be happy talking about wrestling. I think we all need to take a cue from that, and for the most part, I believe we have. tl;dr, I don't think anything needs to be changed. Keep it up, guys. You're my #1 spot for pro wrestling on the inter webs.

Some joshi teams: (EDIT: Now with reviews!) Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada (Non-Kansai/Ozaki series recs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNiXE-7w00k - vs. Megumi Kudo and Combat Toyoda, 5/5/93 After their match at DreamSlam I that didn't turn out to be that great, the rematch is much better here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdmadlotI-4 - vs. Double Inoue, 1/4/94 First match I saw with Kyoko and Toyota in it where you realize down the line they'll pair off because the styles are so similar. Not a fantastic match per se, but worthwhile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA3CgDMuBjA - vs. LCO (Mima Shimoda and Etsuko Mita), 3/24/94 Coming out party for LCO of sorts, and my favorite non-Kansai/Ozaki tag match. Crush Gals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbVk0uP_3zA - vs. La Galactica and Lola Gonzalez, 1984 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qOh0wKwX8w&index=1&list=PLC635042010AD1015 - vs. Jumping Bomb Angels 3/20/86 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mGVAVfG8QU - vs. Yumiko Hotta and Mitsuko Nishiwaki, 11/87 Wanted to show a variety here more than anything else, showing them as an up-and-coming team, a team at the peak of their powers and then against a couple of youngsters themselves. Jumping Bomb Angels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kHAkRfCXOA - vs. Dump Matsumoto and Bull Nakano, 8/22/85 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IezJckMEbfM&index=36&list=PLNXQ5ENPcvUk-xhNb1aFtDwhhTgDIS29C - vs. Yukari Omori and Hisako Uno (Akira Hokuto), 4/5/86 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qMgmhkQy0A - vs. Crush Gals, 87 Tag League The Best, 9/14/87 First match is a great brawl, second match is on there to show how they can carry a young team and the final match is good to see how they compare to the Gals after they've become the most popular act ever in AJW. I AM nominating Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki on the strength of the series with Toyota and Yamada, though.

I'm gonna have him on my list, probably at the bottom as one of my favorite choices. There wasn't a guy I enjoyed watching more in the middle of the 2000s. When I knew he was going to be on TV with TNA, it was appointment television until they booked him out of the big picture. With him being reasonably healthy, I would love to see the WWE sign him with so much indy talent being brought in just to see what he could do, but I'm not sure he would do it. But when he was at his best, like Dylan said, he has a case for being the best wrestler on the planet.

I think he's the guy who took the baton from Rey as the workhorse for TV matches in recent years. Very flexible in the ring. Great brawler. He has a lot over the past few years that has made me stand up and take notice, but I think the big takeaway is his ability to have compelling matches with basically anyone on the roster at any time. I could see him taking a spot at the bottom of someone's list, but I don't think there will be room for him on mine.

I can't see them there. I think they had some high points, especially in JCP, but I don't see them making my list when I put a lot of emphasis on Southern-style tag team wrestling.

They'll be on the list. I'm trying to think how many Arn tag teams will be on this list for me when it's all said and done.

For a Top 25, they're on the fence, but these guys truly were innovators. They pushed All Japan's tag team wrestling in a new direction that got picked up throughout the rest of the 1980s and then when it got to the 1990s, produced some all-time classics. I really want to consider them for my list, though.

They will definitely be on my list. Fantastic brawlers, great sellers, and knew how to make a big match memorable. I could see them in my Top 10 when it's all said and done, actually.

I want to find a spot on my list for her because of the Ozaki/Kansai tag series and the awesome IWA Title match with Toyota, but I don't think she has enough. I think she's definitely overlooked during the time period, but she won't be on my list.

I have a blind spot with Bull before she became the top dog and after her Dump's Army stuff, but everything from when she got on top moving forward is really strong stuff. She'll be on my list somewhere.

I think talking about how a pro wrestler overstayed his welcome being a detriment to his case when there's plenty of evidence that Flair was one of hundreds who did so, just on a much larger scale, is pretty hilarious. Especially considering what happened tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Mistakenly put Ozaki instead of her in talking about the Toyoda match in Toyoda's thread, which is a boneheaded move on my part. I like the Onita comparison, and while I am weighing big matches heavily in how I construct my list, I'm not sure if she has enough to make my list. That being said, she really has had some fantastic matches, and depending on where I place the other joshi workers I like, she might sneak on.

There are plenty of wrestlers who know how to make a match compelling without all that action, though. Workrate and move set always seem to come up together in discussions I've seen. Or that they use a lot of cool moves. And then that becomes what fans think of when that term comes to mind and wrestlers who throw more nuance into their match get penalized in their minds. To me, work rate has been what Matt's statement means. And because that's how I perceive the term, I truly believe it doesn't matter.

I actually really liked the main event in parts, but Michaels wasn't that great to me. Sid knowing his role came off way better for me. There was some timing that was off.

That is definitely a standout match. The two late standout matches for me are the Kawada/Kobashi 6/12/98 match (and not just because it happened on my birthday) and that match.

Yeah, I was talking to Loss about him and I think the one thing Sting has for him is his willingness to go outside his comfort zone against certain guys. He didn't have the same match with Vader as he would with Regal or Foley or Luger or Flair. He adapted well. I understand if people think he wasn't the best guy in those matches, but he was a good worker.

The AJPW style that everyone who was a fan of from the 1990's basically ended after the 1/20/97 match with Misawa and Kobashi. That transitioned into the head drop heavy stuff that permeated the rest of the decade, and while the 1/20/97 match was the start, the 6/6/97 Misawa/Kawada match basically confirmed the direction they were going in and the Kobashi rematch in October kicked it into overdrive.

It's not a pass because of substandard output. It's whether or not that substandard output takes so much away from the stretch where he was considered great. It's an easy comparison, but Jordan wasn't that great with the Wizards and people are quick to forget about it because of what he did from 91-98. My argument about Flair is that a lot of people talk him down from his high horse because of what he did later in his career without considering what he did when he was at his best. Basically that whatever Flair did post-Hogan arriving in WCW was crap. And because Lawler and Funk and Tenryu and Fujiwara had some great late-career performances that Flair gets penalized for not being as great as them later in their career. Where if you compare the best of Flair and the best of the other guys when they were at their peaks, then it's a much more difficult decision to make. I'm definitely not against taking in the entirety of someone's career, but I'm definitely against weighing the bad stuff that happens later in the career for the sake of outliers. Careers aren't all built the same. Some wrestlers age gracefully, others burn out too quickly. But just because a few did age gracefully doesn't mean they all have to.

He'll be in my Top 50 but with him being one of my favorites of all time and the fact that I was present at his best match ever, it's hard for me to look at him without personal bias. He might get into my Top 25.

Also the 6/1/93 vs. Kobashi/Misawa and the 5/21/94. If you're interested in them, they also have two 60-minute matches on 1/24/95 and 10/15/95. If they aren't my #1, I'm gonna be very surprised, but they're Top 5 easy for me right now.

One of the teams I'm considering for #1. Best babyface tag team of all time. Probably the best team at constructing a finishing run that I've ever seen.

I think the AWA set showed they were indeed a great team and that they worked well regardless of the opponents. I'm pretty sure I'll have them in my Top 25 when it's all said and done.

The one that was on the Memphis set.